We just booked a trip back to WDW for late January (1/22-1/27) for our family of five - my husband and I and our three kiddos (10, 7, and our toddler who'll be 23 months when we go). We're staying in a family suite at AOA and we've got the quick service dining plan and 5 day base tickets (we don't hop, it's too much trouble). This is our first trip since 2015 and our first time going in January. I've heard the crowds are pretty low, so I'm looking forward to some short waits. I made some personalized touring plans for each day and I'm having a hard time choosing three fastpasses for each day because some of the predicted waits are so low. I realize things may change and waits may not be as low, but I still don't know what to pick. I'm also hoping for an easy going trip, since we'll be traveling with a toddler. Here's what we have so far.
Monday 1/22 (EPCOT) - our flight arrives at 8:30 am. I figure we'll get to the resort around 10:00 or so and we can take our carry-on bags to the front desk to have them held. My carry on bag will just be a packed park bag, so I'll be ready to go. We'll head to EPCOT to walk around World Showcase and check out the Festival of the Arts exhibits. I'm hoping to get a fastpass for FEA for this day. This will be our most easy going day because I know we'll likely be tired from our early flight and I want us to get to bed early because we have EMM tickets for the next morning. I figure we'll get to WS around noon and stay until we're ready to head back to the resort, maybe 4:00 or 5:00. Dinner will be at the resort and then we'll settle into our room.
Tuesday 1/23 (MK) - EMM - we're shooting for being at MK by 7:15. Our plan is to let the older 2 kids ride 7DMT with either one of us, while the other takes the toddler on Winnie the Pooh a couple of times. Then we'll all do PP together. I haven't decided which ride/meet and greet we'll RD. I welcome suggestions. Once we've rope dropped an attraction, we'll head to Pinocchio Village Haus for breakfast and then finish our day. My touring plan has us doing all of Fantasyland and Haunted Mansion on this day, then shopping on Main Street and ending with the FOF parade. After the parade, we'll head back to the resort. The only fastpass I have on my list is Enchanted Tales with Belle. What else should I fastpass? We'll be coming back to MK later in the week to do the other lands. Should we focus on some characters this day? My kids have never really been interested in meeting characters, but maybe that's because I've never pushed it. Once we get back to the resort, we'll probably take it easy for the rest of the day and catch up on rest after two early mornings.
Wednesday 1/24 (HS) - the plan is to RD TSMM and maybe also get a fastpass for it, so we can do it twice. Then we'll do the Launch Bay and Star Tours (we'll use Rider Swap since the toddler can't ride it). After that it'll just be a few shows and lunch. My older kids aren't into RNR or TOT, so we'll skip those. We may take a break at the resort and then come back for Fantasmic. Or we may just stay in the park for the whole day. Fantasmic is my husband's favorite and we can't miss it. Can we do Fantasmic and Star Wars Galactic Spectacular? Or is that cutting it too close? Is it worth it to do a Fantasmic dining package in January or is that unnecessary? So far, my fastpass choices for this day are TSMM, Star Tours, and Voyage of the Little Mermaid (only added this one to my list because I couldn't think of another to pick).
Thursday 1/25 (EPCOT) - we plan to take advantage of EMH on this morning to RD Test Track (using rider swap) and Soarin' (using rider swap). I think I'll get a fastpass for Soarin', so we don't have to run across the park. Then we'll do Character Spot, Figment, Pixar short films, then head back over to the Land and Sea pavilions to finish those up and have lunch. If the kids are up for it, we'll head back over to WS to check out more of the Festival of the Arts stuff (my 10 year old is really into art and music). So far, I've got Soarin', Character Spot, and Spaceship Earth on my fastpass list, but I'm not sure if I should change that.
Friday 1/26 (MK) - we'll do EMH this morning as well (we're used to getting up really early, so it doesn't bother us to do it so many days in a row). On this day, we'll do Tomorroland, Frontierland, and Adventureland. Then ride the train around and head back to the resort to rest. I want to see the new fireworks show, so we'll come back to the park in the evening for that. My fastpass list is Pirates, BTMRR, and Jungle Cruise, but my touring plan has us hitting those rides in the morning with wait times under 10 minutes. So do I stick with getting fastpasses at those times? Or should we ride those on standby and then get fastpasses for those same rides in the evening, so we can do them again before the fireworks?
Saturday 1/27 - we don't have to be at the airport until 3:30, so we'll probably hang out at the resort for a bit and then head to Disney Springs to shop and have lunch. Can they hold our luggage at the front desk while we're at Disney Springs? How does that work when you have a late flight? We've always flown out in the morning, so we've just checked out of the resort and jumped on the shuttle to the airport. This is brand new territory for me.
That's my plan so far. I appreciate any feedback, tips, or advice, especially with my fastpass selections or timing of things. We don't have much planned in the evenings because we're an early to bed, early to rise type of family. We'll do Fantasmic and HEA, but the other evenings, we'll probably get the toddler to bed after dinner and play card games with the older kids until bed time. We also want to be around the resort to take advantage of the animation class a couple of times. Is it crazy to think we could swim in January? Or will it be too cold?
Thanks in advance for the input!
Monday 1/22 (EPCOT) - our flight arrives at 8:30 am. I figure we'll get to the resort around 10:00 or so and we can take our carry-on bags to the front desk to have them held. My carry on bag will just be a packed park bag, so I'll be ready to go. We'll head to EPCOT to walk around World Showcase and check out the Festival of the Arts exhibits. I'm hoping to get a fastpass for FEA for this day. This will be our most easy going day because I know we'll likely be tired from our early flight and I want us to get to bed early because we have EMM tickets for the next morning. I figure we'll get to WS around noon and stay until we're ready to head back to the resort, maybe 4:00 or 5:00. Dinner will be at the resort and then we'll settle into our room.
Tuesday 1/23 (MK) - EMM - we're shooting for being at MK by 7:15. Our plan is to let the older 2 kids ride 7DMT with either one of us, while the other takes the toddler on Winnie the Pooh a couple of times. Then we'll all do PP together. I haven't decided which ride/meet and greet we'll RD. I welcome suggestions. Once we've rope dropped an attraction, we'll head to Pinocchio Village Haus for breakfast and then finish our day. My touring plan has us doing all of Fantasyland and Haunted Mansion on this day, then shopping on Main Street and ending with the FOF parade. After the parade, we'll head back to the resort. The only fastpass I have on my list is Enchanted Tales with Belle. What else should I fastpass? We'll be coming back to MK later in the week to do the other lands. Should we focus on some characters this day? My kids have never really been interested in meeting characters, but maybe that's because I've never pushed it. Once we get back to the resort, we'll probably take it easy for the rest of the day and catch up on rest after two early mornings.
Wednesday 1/24 (HS) - the plan is to RD TSMM and maybe also get a fastpass for it, so we can do it twice. Then we'll do the Launch Bay and Star Tours (we'll use Rider Swap since the toddler can't ride it). After that it'll just be a few shows and lunch. My older kids aren't into RNR or TOT, so we'll skip those. We may take a break at the resort and then come back for Fantasmic. Or we may just stay in the park for the whole day. Fantasmic is my husband's favorite and we can't miss it. Can we do Fantasmic and Star Wars Galactic Spectacular? Or is that cutting it too close? Is it worth it to do a Fantasmic dining package in January or is that unnecessary? So far, my fastpass choices for this day are TSMM, Star Tours, and Voyage of the Little Mermaid (only added this one to my list because I couldn't think of another to pick).
Thursday 1/25 (EPCOT) - we plan to take advantage of EMH on this morning to RD Test Track (using rider swap) and Soarin' (using rider swap). I think I'll get a fastpass for Soarin', so we don't have to run across the park. Then we'll do Character Spot, Figment, Pixar short films, then head back over to the Land and Sea pavilions to finish those up and have lunch. If the kids are up for it, we'll head back over to WS to check out more of the Festival of the Arts stuff (my 10 year old is really into art and music). So far, I've got Soarin', Character Spot, and Spaceship Earth on my fastpass list, but I'm not sure if I should change that.
Friday 1/26 (MK) - we'll do EMH this morning as well (we're used to getting up really early, so it doesn't bother us to do it so many days in a row). On this day, we'll do Tomorroland, Frontierland, and Adventureland. Then ride the train around and head back to the resort to rest. I want to see the new fireworks show, so we'll come back to the park in the evening for that. My fastpass list is Pirates, BTMRR, and Jungle Cruise, but my touring plan has us hitting those rides in the morning with wait times under 10 minutes. So do I stick with getting fastpasses at those times? Or should we ride those on standby and then get fastpasses for those same rides in the evening, so we can do them again before the fireworks?
Saturday 1/27 - we don't have to be at the airport until 3:30, so we'll probably hang out at the resort for a bit and then head to Disney Springs to shop and have lunch. Can they hold our luggage at the front desk while we're at Disney Springs? How does that work when you have a late flight? We've always flown out in the morning, so we've just checked out of the resort and jumped on the shuttle to the airport. This is brand new territory for me.
That's my plan so far. I appreciate any feedback, tips, or advice, especially with my fastpass selections or timing of things. We don't have much planned in the evenings because we're an early to bed, early to rise type of family. We'll do Fantasmic and HEA, but the other evenings, we'll probably get the toddler to bed after dinner and play card games with the older kids until bed time. We also want to be around the resort to take advantage of the animation class a couple of times. Is it crazy to think we could swim in January? Or will it be too cold?
Thanks in advance for the input!
