Critique my semi-planned itinerary

[slickpoetry]

After I first booked my October trip (first time to WDW for my family), I started planning our entire days down to the minute. I decided to scrap that in favor of a "looser" itinerary. So, now I only planned our time from entering the park (hopefully at rope drop) to about 2 PM.

We are going to be at a Disney resort for 5 nights/six days, but we are spending one day at Universal and leaving really early on our sixth day to tour St. Augustine/Jacksonville Beach. So we have two days of regular Disney touring, followed by a third day doing MNSSHP. We decided that our entire time at Disney will be spent in MK for this (too-short, IMO) Disney trip.

Traveling party is me, my wife, our two kids (DS 4 and DD 2) and my in-laws. Easwdw rates all our touring days as "level 5." You'll note that I am trying hard to avoid crowds--thus not going to watch the afternoon parades nor stick around for fireworks (making up for that by watching the parade & fireworks during our MNSSHP night)

Monday--arrival at Orlando
Flight arrives at 2 PM local time. Check into AoA, then take rental car to grocery store and go out to dinner.

Tuesday--Day one at MK

1. Walk up Main Street, take the path to the right of Cinderella Castle from hub to Fantasyland.
2. RIDE the following (in this order): Winnie the Pooh, Seven Dwarves Mine Train (fastpass 9 AM hour), Under the Sea, dumbo, Barnstormer. Time in Fantasyland: 2 hours
3. Walk to Tomorrowland and ride the following (in this order): Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear (fastpass 11 AM hour), TTA People Mover, Monster’s Inc. Show, Tomorrowland Speedway (fastpass—12 PM hour) . 2.5 hours in Tomorrowland.
4. Walk back to Fantasyland. Ride mad tea party. Meet Alice while there. Then ride Prince Charming’s carousel. Meet Cinderella and Rapunzel in FL, if their line is short.
5. Freestyle until dinner. Suggestions: Pete’s Silly Sideshow, Haunted Mansion, liberty square boat. NOTE: We must avoid parade route from 2:30—4:00.
6. EAT DINNER: at either Pinocchio Village Haus in Fantasyland, Ray’s in Tomorrowland, or Casey’s Corner on Main Street (all QS) or Plaza Restaurant on Main Street (TS)
7. Freestyle until going back to hotel. To avoid fireworks crowd, must leave park by 9 PM.
8. Meet Mickey Mouse at TST on the way out of Park.

Wednesday--Day 2 in MK
1. WALK: To Frontierland. Ride(in either order) Big Thunder Mtn. RR, Splash Mountain (fastpass 9 AM hour). We can meet Woody and Jessie at Splash Mountain exit. Time in frontierland: 1.5 hours.
2. WALK to Adventureland. Ride Pirates of the Carribean, Jungle Cruise (fastpass—11 AM Hour), Aladdin. WATCH: Country bears jamboree. Meet Chip & Dale (by CBJ). Time in Adventureland: 2 hours.
3. RIDE: Haunted Mansion. (fastpass 1 PM hour)
4. RIDE: It’s a small world.
6. Freestyle until dinner. Suggestions: See Cinderella, Alice, or Mickey if we haven’t seen them yet. Pete’s Silly Sideshow, Magic Tiki Room, Swiss Family Treehouse, Train, or Liberty Square Boat. After 3 PM parade is over we could tour shops on Main Street.
7. EAT DINNER: at Columbia Harbour House Restaurant. (Yankee Square)
8. Freestyle until we go back to hotel. To avoid fireworks crowd, must leave park by 9 PM.

Thursday--MNSSHP!
1. ADR for Brunch at Cape May Cafe (10 AM)
2. Spend afternoon swimming in resort pool or napping
3. Arrive at MK at 4 PM. Spend 4--7 period going on as many rides as
possible and eating dinner at a QS place.
AVOID MAIN STREET FROM 5—9:00
2. At 7 PM, party officially begins. Take trick or treat path from FL to TL
3. In TL, do Buzz Lightyear ride, then do dance party with Monsters Inc. We should tire of this by 8 PM. Spend 8—9 PM doing "whatever"
4. Be at Casey’s Corner (northside, not on MS) by 9:05 to watch Celebrate the Magic (9:15) and Hallowishes firework show (9:30).
5. Hallowishes ends at 9:45
6. Second parade starts at 10:30. Move to frontierland or Liberty Square to watch this parade. A good spot is by Hall of Presidents.
7. Second parade should be over in this area by 10:55. From 11-12 we do more rides.

Friday--Universal
Saturday--St. Augustine
Sunday--Fly home from Jacksonville

 

[slickpoetry]

My questions for the group here are:

1. Do you think my FP+ choices are good? I will pull 4th FPs when finished using up the 3 alloted each day.

2. Are my time estimates (they are purple in the itinerary above) accurate?

3. Any errors you see, or anything you would change?

 

[ktate82]

It looks good to me. The main thing that does stand out is under your MNSSHP.

4. Be at Casey’s Corner (northside, not on MS) by 9:05 to watch Celebrate the Magic (9:15) and Hallowishes firework show (9:30).

Is that enough time to get a spot for the show and fireworks? Even not along MS, we have walked through this area and it was packed.

 

[Skywise]

I see you're worried about the fireworks crowd at 9 but you'll also have to deal with the first running of the Main Street Electrical Parade around 8:15 when crowds start lining up (I'm unsure of the exact times).

Also, if your kids are up for it you might try fantasy land at night before the fireworks time and then take the last train to main street station (which should be around 9pm) so you can dodge the main street/hub crowds.

 

[GillianP1301]

What stuck out to me...

I see no lunch plans for Tuesday or Wednesday, maybe that's intentional, but you should at least build in a break.

And the other is just a general comment about the length of time in the park for kids your age. My number one tip to anyone going to WDW with young kids is stick to your normal meal/sleep patterns as much as possible. No way my young son could ever stay up that late and remain happy for the entire vacation. But that's my kid... if yours are usually night owls, then no problem. If they aren't, then you may want to reconsider a bit or at minimum, be prepared for not getting your full touring plan completed.

 

[slickpoetry]

It looks good to me. The main thing that does stand out is under your MNSSHP.

4. Be at Casey’s Corner (northside, not on MS) by 9:05 to watch Celebrate the Magic (9:15) and Hallowishes firework show (9:30).

Is that enough time to get a spot for the show and fireworks? Even not along MS, we have walked through this area and it was packed.

First of all, thanks for reading the whole thing!

It will be my first time at MNSSHP so I really don't know what to expect when it comes to this, but I will heed your advice and get to that spot earlier!

 

[slickpoetry]

I see you're worried about the fireworks crowd at 9 but you'll also have to deal with the first running of the Main Street Electrical Parade around 8:15 when crowds start lining up (I'm unsure of the exact times).

Also, if your kids are up for it you might try fantasy land at night before the fireworks time and then take the last train to main street station (which should be around 9pm) so you can dodge the main street/hub crowds.

Thanks for reading it and thanks for the advice! Easywdw's calendar say that the MSEP is running on Wednesday so I'll update my plans accordingly..

 

[slickpoetry]

What stuck out to me...

I see no lunch plans for Tuesday or Wednesday, maybe that's intentional, but you should at least build in a break.

Very good point, I forgot to mention that we are packing sandwiches, snacks and drinks for our lunch those two days. So we save money and also save time (no waiting in line), and we can just plop down whenever and wherever we get hungry and eat. It will slow us down a little bit but not as much as waiting in line for park food.

And the other is just a general comment about the length of time in the park for kids your age. My number one tip to anyone going to WDW with young kids is stick to your normal meal/sleep patterns as much as possible. No way my young son could ever stay up that late and remain happy for the entire vacation. But that's my kid... if yours are usually night owls, then no problem. If they aren't, then you may want to reconsider a bit or at minimum, be prepared for not getting your full touring plan completed.

Another very good point. It will be just me, my wife, and my son going to the MNSSHP (and he will be 5 by that point). He is a little night owl, and at home he is routinely up until 10:30 or 11:00 PM. I don't think he will have too much trouble being in MK until midnight. And the other two days we will be leaving before 9 PM, to avoid massive crowds at departure time.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

 

[ktate82]

First of all, thanks for reading the whole thing!

It will be my first time at MNSSHP so I really don't know what to expect when it comes to this, but I will heed your advice and get to that spot earlier!

MNSSHP is awesome! You will have a blast and the fireworks are some of the best of the year!