Critique my plans, struggling getting it all in vs not doing too muchu

[bear_mom]

Cast: dd (16) and I. End of August, free dining, upgraded to regular dining plan. 5 nights, 6 days (only 4 park days due to travel).

day 1: arrival day, land at MCO, ME to Pop, CS dinner.

Day 2: EMH DHS, DTD for lunch/shopping (dd's request), back to resort to rest, MK EMH, ADR for dinner at CP.

Day 3: Epcot all day, mid-day break(?), CS lunch, ADR dinner at Via Naploli. Probably not Illuminations.

Day 4: 7am breakfast at Chec Mickey, 8:30 KTTK tour, back to DHS for evening EMH, ADR at Brown Derby.

Day 5: AK for the am, CS lunch, back to resort, MK for the evening, ADR at BoG.

Day 6: check out, flight home around noon, CS breakfast.

Wishes will either be day 2 or 5. Frozen fireworks Day 4, maybe Fantasmic, maybe not....

 

[PetePanMan]

busy, but I like it. Suggest you see Wishes for sure (which looks like the plan) and perhaps one other nighttime show. You might be tired for illuminations on your long Epcot day so Fantasmic after Brown Derby would be great evening.

 

[itchin2go]

Day 2 is the only one I question - lots of travel and both AM and PM EMH.

 

[Lucius Best]

Interesting plan, there's a lot here, but you have nothing planned on travel days, and you have breaks on all of the park days. And you can always sleep on the plane.

Day 2 could be very long, and parks will be busy with EMH on weekend, but you have a break planned. Are you thinking reserving the 3 FP+ at HS or MK? You would probably need to stay after midnight at MK for the lines to get short.
Day 3 we like Via Napoli. We don't usually break on Epcot days because there are so many places in World Showcase to relax. Staying for Illuminations would be "early" compared to your other days.
Day 4 KTTK very nice. FP+ makes it possible to hit HS late in the day and be able to ride rides. Concern would be getting to 7am Chef Mickey on time, assuming MK opens that day at 9am, do buses start running at 6:30am or 7am?
Day 5 looks fine, AK is do-able without FP if you get there at rope drop.

 

[MrInfinity]

I don't really care for the Day 2. That sounds crazy to do HS, DS, hotel break and MK all in one day. Then Day 4, you do MK and HS in reverse.

Rather than HS-MK and MK-HS, why not just do one HS (all day) and MK (all day)? Just move your Brown Derby (day 4) to Day 2 (lunch) and then go HS (morning - Brown Derby lunch) followed by DS (DTD) for the evening. And then the other day is just all MK. Move your CP dinner to day 4.

That's what I'd do... cut out some of the hopping.

 

[bear_mom]

Day 2 is the only one I question - lots of travel and both AM and PM EMH.

Dd really wants to go to go the World of Disney and Goofy's Candy Co. I was thinking of taking the bus from DHS to POR and the taking the boat for a more relaxing time.

Interesting plan, there's a lot here, but you have nothing planned on travel days, and you have breaks on all of the park days. And you can always sleep on the plane.

Day 2 could be very long, and parks will be busy with EMH on weekend, but you have a break planned. Are you thinking reserving the 3 FP+ at HS or MK? You would probably need to stay after midnight at MK for the lines to get short.
Day 3 we like Via Napoli. We don't usually break on Epcot days because there are so many places in World Showcase to relax. Staying for Illuminations would be "early" compared to your other days.
Day 4 KTTK very nice. FP+ makes it possible to hit HS late in the day and be able to ride rides. Concern would be getting to 7am Chef Mickey on time, assuming MK opens that day at 9am, do buses start running at 6:30am or 7am?
Day 5 looks fine, AK is do-able without FP if you get there at rope drop.

I think I will save the FP+ for MK on day 2. Hopefully being at DHS early, we will able to do a few things and then head to DTD once the park starts to get busy. Depending on the parade/Wishes schedule we might do rides during that time.....

Getting to Chef Mickey should be okay from reading the transportation board, but I'm also prepared to taxi it if needed.

This is kind of a whirlwind trip to do the KTTK tour. I plan on going to bed early on our arrival day to rest up and with the breaks, hopefully we will be able to power through.

 

[Mikie]

I don't really care for the Day 2. That sounds crazy to do HS, DS, hotel break and MK all in one day. Then Day 4, you do MK and HS in reverse.

Rather than HS-MK and MK-HS, why not just do one HS (all day) and MK (all day)? Just move your Brown Derby (day 4) to Day 2 (lunch) and then go HS (morning - Brown Derby lunch) followed by DS (DTD) for the evening. And then the other day is just all MK. Move your CP dinner to day 4.

That's what I'd do... sounds like unnecessary hopping to me, to split HS-MK followed by MK-HS.

I agree it would be too much for *me* and you could eliminate the extra expense of hoppers, BUT doing two different split days gets them more total EMH hours (morning and event at DHS and evening at MK). It also allows a different strategy for using early hours to get rides one day then FP at that park when it's the afternoon park.

Seeing your second post, OP, it looks like you know you're in for some busy, but not insane days. I agree that the boat to Disney Springs (is that name in official use now?) can be a relaxing and fun part of the day in itself.

 

[scrapquitler]

Day 2 is the only day that seems crazy to me. With EMH in the morning and at night, it's going to be a very LONG day, which in itself is not terrible, but you've got a lot of back and forthing there with the DTD at lunch time. If you can find another place to move the DTD on a different day it will make day 2 easier and less exhausting. Do you arrive early enough in the day on your arrival day to do DTD then?

 

[hammie59]

Day two is a concern time wise. Buses don't go from parks to DTD, so you would have to take one to a resort, then transfer to another bus. We found that out the hard way a few years ago. Seems like you'd be spending a lot of your time on a bus. From DHS, you could also take a boat or walk to one of the EPCOT resorts and pick up a DTD bus from there, but it's still extra travel time and I believe you'd be stopping at other resorts on the way. Just something to think about.

 

[bear_mom]

Day 2 is the only day that seems crazy to me. With EMH in the morning and at night, it's going to be a very LONG day, which in itself is not terrible, but you've got a lot of back and forthing there with the DTD at lunch time. If you can find another place to move the DTD on a different day it will make day 2 easier and less exhausting. Do you arrive early enough in the day on your arrival day to do DTD then?

No, I don't think so. Plane doesn't land until 6:30, 1 1/2-2 hours to Pop puts it kinda late to head there. Especially with wanting to go to EMH in the next morning.

I realize it is a lot of travel time on that day, but not sure where else it fits.....

Unless, we go to DTD after dinner in Epcot. But would still be a late night followed by an early morning. Via Napoli reservations are at 5:30.

 

[ariane37]

If you aren't concerned about Day 2, I'd leave it alone In March DH and I did AK (got there around 9:30) then bus back to our resort (BWV) and bus to DTD for lunch and a bit of shopping; bus back to our resort around 5, stopped in the room and headed out to EPCOT. So really the main differences with your plan are that we weren't up for early EMH and we were back in our room by about 11, so a shorter day than you're probably planning. Plus we walked from our resort to/from EPCOT, but at 16 I totally could've done the day you have planned. The key is for you to keep up with DD lol!!!

 

[ariane37]

Let me add, make sure you leave Chef Mickey early enough to get checked in for your KTTK tour. We did the 8:30 in March. They want you there 15 minutes early. Our tour ended up starting at exactly 8:28 and you don't want to be late!