Disney Veterans: How's this Plan?

[Janepod]

My husband and I are taking our 6-year-old son to Disney World for his first trip in a couple of weeks. We'll be at the Polynesian from 1/22-1/29.

I have been to the World dozens of times, though only one big trip in the last 15 years (spent a week there 10 years ago). My husband went once, age 5. He is not particularly interested in going, but keen on showing our son a good time. So we've accepted that this trip is all about the boy. We don't intend to return again for maybe 5 years or so, so we would like to pack a lot in this time, but we also don't want to run ourselves ragged.

I'm trying to make sure we've broken up our trip well among the 4 parks, as well as Sea World and Discovery Cove. How does this sound? I don't want to get a park hopper pass; feel it will be mostly a waste. I just don't see us doing more than one park in a day with a small child. I also don't think he'll care much about shows (e.g., Fantasmic). We don't want to spend a lot of time waiting in lines. We have all our ADRs and we are deluxe DP. We are not renting a car.

Discovery Cove has to be Monday because they are closed Tues-Thurs, and if we wait until Friday we won't be able to use that admission to get into Sea World free.

Epcot has to be Wednesday because that's the only night I could get Le Cellier.

Sat., 1/22 -- arrive at MCO 9 a.m., then to Magic Kingdom. Dinner at CRT.
Sun., 1/23 -- MK. Breakfast Crystal Palace, lunch Liberty Tree Tavern, dinner Whispering Canyon @ Wilderness Lodge.
Mon., 1/24 - DISCOVERY COVE. Breakfast and lunch there. Dinner 6:00 Artist Point at Wilderness Lodge. MK is open to 11 that night; possibly head there after if we have any energy.
Tues., 1/25 - AK. Breakfast Tusker House, lunch Yak & Yeti, dinner Boma.
Wed., 1/26 - Breakfast 8:00 1900 Park Fare, then son to Pirate Adventure at Grand Floridian. (YAY! Husband and I get alone time!) then EPCOT. Lunch Coral Reef 12:45, dinner Le Cellier 7:20.
Thurs., 1/27 - SEA WORLD. We figured we might as well, as going to Discovery Cove gets us in there for free. Thought we would spend a few hours there, then head to DHS, which will be open until 8. Breakfast 7:20 Chef Mickey, lunch Sea World, Dinner 6:00 Narcoossees.
Fri., 1/28 - MK. Our last day there -- can't imagine our son will want to be anywhere else! Breakfast Ohana, lunch Grand Floridian Cafe, dinner California Grill followed by cruise at 6:45. Perhaps at some point that day we'll visit DTD so kiddo can check out Lego.

My questions:
Is it worth heading to DHS late afternoon, after Sea World? My son will want to do Toy Story and Jedi Academy - what's the latest we can get there and still do those? Should we instead head to DHS in the morning, then Sea World? Alternatively, stop at DHS first thing in the morning, get FP and sign up for Jedi, than Sea World, then back to DHS? Problem with that is it's a lot of moving around without a car. We had planned to get to Sea World via bus from TTC.

Regarding AK day: our breakfast reservation is 9:15 (earliest we could get.) I am thinking we should grab a FP to something before we sit down to eat. What do you think is busiest? My son loves roller coasters so anything is fair game.

Regarding Epcot day: as we'll probably be arriving there close to noon, we'll be in the thick of things. Again, should run and grab a FP to something before our 12:45 lunch -- but what?

Thanks for any and all advice! You guys are great!

 

[McIntoshTx]

Sounds like a pretty good plan and time.

I would say it seems you are hoping from meal to meal too rapidly for my taste. I can not imagine being that hungry each day. Do you think your little one is going to be able to sit thru that many meals when he knows he could be riding and seeing shows? I only ask because my could not.

 

[Janepod]

Sounds like a pretty good plan and time.

I would say it seems you are hoping from meal to meal too rapidly for my taste. I can not imagine being that hungry each day. Do you think your little one is going to be able to sit thru that many meals when he knows he could be riding and seeing shows? I only ask because my could not.

The meal thing is not how I would do it but it's the one thing my husband insisted on -- he has Crohn's disease and is constantly trying to gain weight, so he wants to be sure we sit down for a "real" meal three times a day. The thought of skipping breakfast or having cereal in the room would never fly with him -- man needs his bacon, eggs and toast! Personally I would have gone with the regular dining plan or even QS, but so it goes. I can't really space them any further apart or we'll be eating dinner way too late. My son goes to bed at 7:30 usually; can't imagine it will be much later after a day full of activity. Thanks!

 

[ktlm]

I think your plan may have some issues. I think you have way too many table service meals planned. You are going to be spending all your time sitting in restaurants. Characters meals take approximately 1 1/2 hours. Other meals, usually about a hour, give or take. We usually plan one table service meal a day. Occasionally if we have a TS breakfast, we will also have a TS dinner, but we would not do more than that. 3 table service meals a day, is not going to give you time to get much done in the parks. If we were doing that, I would not leave WDW property during the week, I would not even try to fit non-disney activities in too. If you want to stick to your plan, you need to pick just a few must dos out at each Disney park. You need to be sure to do those first, as you may not have time for much else.

I also don't think you understand how much more time each park takes than in the old days when there weren't as many things to do, or how much longer it takes with a little one. For example, Epcot takes us 2 full days with DD (4), although I'm sure you won't be stopping for Princess meet and greets like we do which takes up time. You have breakfast at 1900 Park Fare at 8 and then the 2 hour Pirate thing at 9:30. You are already cutting it close there. You have to hope to get seated right on time at Park Fare, and even then the character meal itself usually takes 1 1/2 hours. (We've never been seated on time at 1900, but we usually do dinner there, not breakfast). There is a good chance you will miss some of the characters to get your son to the Pirate adventure on time. Pirate adventure gets out at 11:30. You are using disney transportation. It is unlikely that you will be at Epcot right a noon, more likely you get there and be running to the restaurant to try to get to your ADR on time. Chances are, you will be done at the restaurant around 2:00. That only gives you from 2 to 7. Soarin, even in slow times, usually has a 30-45 minute wait. To walk from one end of WS to the other is approximately 1.2 miles, and that is only one side of the park. At 7, you will have to check in to the next restaurant, and you will likely be there until park closing.

How are you getting from Seaworld to DHS or DHS to Seaworld and back? I would think you are looking at quite a bit of travel time eating up your day.

Even during slow times, the fast passes for Toy Story Mania will likely be gone by noon. The standby wait, even in the slow times when we have gone is usually an hour or more. If you are lucky, it may only be 45 minutes. Jedi Academy is something we haven't done and I don't know much about, but from what I have seen on here, I think that is one of those things you have to line up to sign up with the park opens or it isn't going to happen.

Also, I don't see any way you can get to DTD on your last day. You need to realize that DTD is approximately a 20 to 25 minute bus ride from the Poly or GF. That doesn't count the time you spend waiting on the bus itself at the resort. I don't think there is time during the day for you to even make your scheduled meals if you go to DTD.

 

[Tltorrez]

Generally this looks like a good plan. Just a few thoughts.

First, a note on Discovery Cove -- it's much more tiring than you would expect. We were there in Oct and we absolutely loved it. But we were essentially in the water all day long and that is just physically exhausting.

We ended up leaving the park about an hour or two before it closed. Not because we were bored but because we were tired (and chilly). We had dinner planned at Jiko; fortunately we were able to move it up. By then we were all ready to crash. It wasn't has mentally draining as a full day at a Disney park but it was definitely physically demanding.

With regard to DHS -- the latest you can arrive for TSM and Jedi is (seriously!) rope drop. If you have to do both on the same day I would arrive at DHS at rope drop (actually arrive before RD so that you can be at the front of the line) -- you and your son head to Jedi. You should make the first show. Your DH should head immediately to TSM to get FPs. I'm not sure what time the return time on the FPs will be. I guess depending on the return time, either finish DHS and then head to Sea World or head to Sea World right after Jedi and then come back. I would think traveling back though would eat up a lot of time.

Personally I find Sea World to be a full one day park. But then, DS8 *loves* Sea World and we spend a lot of time interacting with the animals. Having said that, we opted to skip Sea World on our last trip even though we had the free DC passes. I would consider that if I were you. I know, psychologically it's hard to give up those free tickets but you'll really be cutting into your Disney time a lot if you make that side trip. Just a thought.

The other thing I noticed generally -- there's no off days. I'm pretty much convinced that you can't do more than two or three days of touring without an off day. Are you planning nap breaks? Are you planning to tour Rope Drop to park closing? We have a nine day trip coming up (8 park days). Day 3 is an off day; light shopping only. Day 6 we have the afternoon off (maybe the whole day). Day 7 is a late start. Day 8 is totally up in the air. And we have naps planned for most of the full touring days. And we're still probably overdoing it. At least in January, full days mean park closings at 8 or 9 rather than midnight. But still, those are long days -- and I don't just mean for the little guy.

One last thing -- I personally don't book more than one table service meal on park days. I know this varies a lot depending on the family. But if you really want to maximize park time, TS sucks up a lot of it. We like to do TS breakfast esp character meals. But then we just do lunch and dinner on the fly at counter service. In January the food lines won't be too long so this would be manageable.

 

[Janepod]

KTLM, what are you doing at Epcot over the course of two days? Epcot is the park all of my friends with kids my son's age have been telling me to skip - that's there's not much there of interest for him. That's why we weren't concerned with starting our day there until noon. But we could run over there and get FP to something while he is at the Pirate Adventure that morning. Would you get Soarin', Test Track or Mission: Space?

 

[vettechick99]

I also think you have a few too many TS planned. I also think with that schedule you are going to be worn out in a day or two. Realize that you are walking sometimes 8-10 miles a day.

I would take out some activities and plan a few free mornings/evenings to do nothing, swim, or whatever.

 

[Janepod]

The Table Service meals stay. My husband and I looked at the menus everywhere and decided CS did not appeal to us. Also, as I mentioned, my husband has Crohn's, so there are tons of foods and ingredients that are off limits for him. He therefore wants to be at the TS places so he has more flexibility, can get the chef to work with him, etc. So other than perhaps changing some of the mealtimes, the ADRs will remain as is.

What activities would you cut? Eliminate the Pirate Adventure? Or skip Sea World in favor of a full day at DHS?

We plan to use cabs to/from Discovery Cove and the city bus to/from Sea World (or maybe a cab.)

Thanks!

 

[Tltorrez]

A lot of people don't seem to like Epcot. But we have 2+ days planned there. I suppose it depends on your child but I know my DS8 will love it. Future World has a lot of science-type things -- Test Track, Mission Space, Living with the Land, Ellen's Energy, etc. and Innoventions Pavilions. Also the Character Spot. A big hit with younger kids is Turtle Talk with Crush and the Nemo attraction. My 5-year old nephew got to ask Crush a question and that was a highlight of his trip.

World Showcase is, of course, all about the different countries. We're big foodies so my son is interested in all the different foods; I know that's not common for 8-year old boys. But each country also has Kidcot stations. You can purchase an Epcot Passport Kit with stickers and flags and get a stamp from each country. We're also planning to do Kim Possible missions. Those are very interactive and appeal to all ages. There are also entertainers -- music, the Japanese candy making demo, acrobats, etc.

 

[Tltorrez]

FYI -- we took a cab to DC. It was under $20 each way. Well worth the cost and very convenient.

I do love Sea World but I would choose between DHS and Sea World and not try to do both. You'll spend too much time in transit.

 

[Janepod]

Well, I think I have figured out a way to free up a little time: Do Sea World on Friday instead of Thursday, giving us all day Thursday at DHS. Friday is our final day at the world, so I'd hoped to spend it at MK, but at that point we will have spent 2 full days plus perhaps one evening at MK. If we go to Sea World first thing and leave there early afternoon, we can still fit in a couple of rides before dinner if we are truly jonesing for more MK.

Now, the AK day -- which FP would you grab first (i.e., before we head into our 9 a.m. breakfast)?

And should we eliminate the Pirate Adventure in favor of a full day of Epcot? My husband and I were really counting on that PA for some alone time ... the three of us are sharing a room all week ... know what I'm saying?

 

[CoachZ]

Are you sure you can not go to Seaworld before Discovery Cove? In 2003 when I went to Discovery Cove I was given a Seaworld pass that was good for 7 days. I'm sure I went to Seaworld before I went to Discovery Cove. But then again maybe theri policies have changed sine 2003.

 

[baler31]

Generally this looks like a good plan. Just a few thoughts.

First, a note on Discovery Cove -- it's much more tiring than you would expect. We were there in Oct and we absolutely loved it. But we were essentially in the water all day long and that is just physically exhausting.

We ended up leaving the park about an hour or two before it closed. Not because we were bored but because we were tired (and chilly). We had dinner planned at Jiko; fortunately we were able to move it up. By then we were all ready to crash. It wasn't has mentally draining as a full day at a Disney park but it was definitely physically demanding.

With regard to DHS -- the latest you can arrive for TSM and Jedi is (seriously!) rope drop. If you have to do both on the same day I would arrive at DHS at rope drop (actually arrive before RD so that you can be at the front of the line) -- you and your son head to Jedi. You should make the first show. Your DH should head immediately to TSM to get FPs. I'm not sure what time the return time on the FPs will be. I guess depending on the return time, either finish DHS and then head to Sea World or head to Sea World right after Jedi and then come back. I would think traveling back though would eat up a lot of time.

Personally I find Sea World to be a full one day park. But then, DS8 *loves* Sea World and we spend a lot of time interacting with the animals. Having said that, we opted to skip Sea World on our last trip even though we had the free DC passes. I would consider that if I were you. I know, psychologically it's hard to give up those free tickets but you'll really be cutting into your Disney time a lot if you make that side trip. Just a thought.

The other thing I noticed generally -- there's no off days. I'm pretty much convinced that you can't do more than two or three days of touring without an off day. Are you planning nap breaks? Are you planning to tour Rope Drop to park closing? We have a nine day trip coming up (8 park days). Day 3 is an off day; light shopping only. Day 6 we have the afternoon off (maybe the whole day). Day 7 is a late start. Day 8 is totally up in the air. And we have naps planned for most of the full touring days. And we're still probably overdoing it. At least in January, full days mean park closings at 8 or 9 rather than midnight. But still, those are long days -- and I don't just mean for the little guy.

One last thing -- I personally don't book more than one table service meal on park days. I know this varies a lot depending on the family. But if you really want to maximize park time, TS sucks up a lot of it. We like to do TS breakfast esp character meals. But then we just do lunch and dinner on the fly at counter service. In January the food lines won't be too long so this would be manageable.

+1
There is not a lot of flexibility in your plan. Even if your son has not had a "meltdown" in years chances are it may happen at Disney. IMO you need to plan either down time EACH day or a full day off.

I would also plan to buy/bring items that you know your DH digests well for him to have for small frequent eating throughout the day. The snacks/foods available at Disney are usually high in fat. I would pre-purchase water to fill the fridge at your resort so that he has access to water at all times.

Having been to Disney many times as a child and taken my own and others I would drop Sea World and Discovery Cove on this trip. Or at least just just do Discovery Cove . I understand you want to get the most out of your trip as you may not return but it is much more enjoyable to actually experience what you are doing and not just go through the motions because you have to be somewhere at a certain time.

With regards to meals, I would at least try to schedule them in places that don't require as much travel as some of them do currently. If you keep things as is at the least I would rent a car to enable faster transportation to the parks and meal reservations.

I would skip the Pirate Adventure for more time at Epcot. After many visits to both Sea World and Epcot, my kids would choose Epcot every time.

 

[baler31]

Well, I think I have figured out a way to free up a little time: Do Sea World on Friday instead of Thursday, giving us all day Thursday at DHS. Friday is our final day at the world, so I'd hoped to spend it at MK, but at that point we will have spent 2 full days plus perhaps one evening at MK. If we go to Sea World first thing and leave there early afternoon, we can still fit in a couple of rides before dinner if we are truly jonesing for more MK.

Now, the AK day -- which FP would you grab first (i.e., before we head into our 9 a.m. breakfast)?

And should we eliminate the Pirate Adventure in favor of a full day of Epcot? My husband and I were really counting on that PA for some alone time ... the three of us are sharing a room all week ... know what I'm saying?

I would grab a Safari FP as we like to do that earlier as the animals are usually more active earlier in the day and also it is near by.

 

[kwdw]

I really think you should consider the advice you are getting here - too much planned and too many TS meals.

You say you want this trip to be about your son having a good time - but right now - it's about your husband's food limitations. I understand he has a real medical condition, but I really think that he can manage to find plenty to eat with just 2 TS meals per day. The CS places, snack bars, and the resort food courts have a fair number of options. And you can always bring things you know he can snack on.

I'd also suggest just staying on property - and not doing the other parks. There is a TON to do at Disney and I think you are underestimating how much there will be to do and see.

You seemed pretty set on your plans, but you did ask for advice......

 

[ktlm]

KTLM, what are you doing at Epcot over the course of two days? Epcot is the park all of my friends with kids my son's age have been telling me to skip - that's there's not much there of interest for him. That's why we weren't concerned with starting our day there until noon. But we could run over there and get FP to something while he is at the Pirate Adventure that morning. Would you get Soarin', Test Track or Mission: Space?

Epcot is the park my DD absolutely loves other than MK. In fact, we went to DL last summer, and the only thing she complained about missing from WDW was Epcot. Now, the thing that might make a difference, is that I'm sure part of the reason DD loves Epcot is that it is full of Princesses in World Showcase in the afternoons. I'm sure your DS doens't care about that. I do know there are people on the Disboards whose boys love Epcot too though.

You can't get him a fastpass without him being in the park. His ticket has to have been used for entry to get a FP, and they won't let you put the ticket through the entry turnstile unless he is standing there. In our experience, Soarin is the longest line, so we Fast Pass that.

Here is how our days at Epcot a few weeks ago went, to the best of my recall. Got there right around rope drop. I ran to Soarin for Fastpasses, while DD stops with DH for pictures with Stich and Daisy. Met up with them and stopped at the character connection for pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto, rode Nemo, saw Turtle Talk with Crush; explored the fish tanks, Manatees etc. briefly; rode Soarin, then booked it to our 12:30 ADR at Biergarten (a long hike away). Normally we would try to ride the Land before or after Soarin, but we did not have time this day. After Biergarten (which took 1 1/2 hours- they have a show in addition to the buffet), we go back and start world showcase at Mexico. Ride the boat in Mexico a bunch of times as it is a DD favorite and usually doesn't have much of a line. Start at one end of world showcase and spend the rest of the day going from one end to the other. Stop at a WS counter service for dinner, or really just a snack this time, as we are all still full from the Biergarten buffet. We stop to visit Princesses and other characters in many countries (Cabellero Donald; Snow White, Belle and Beast, Aladdin and Jasmine, Mulan, etc) and DD likes to stop and watch all the entertainers in the different countries and explore the shops and pick a pearl in Japan. With a 6 year old, you might be doing the Kim Possible Adventures and the Passport at the Kidcot stations and your son might be talking to the CMs and learning about their countries in WS. This trip we did not have time to stop and see the films from the different countries (which DD likes). As I said before WS is 1.2 miles, so it takes time just to walk it, much less explore each country. We went over and rode Test Track right before Illuminations started. We were in the park all day, no breaks, and left when Illuminations started because DD doesn't like it (too loud and you have to be too close to the fireworks for her taste to really be able to see it). So, we were there from 9 to 9 that day.

The next day we went back and did all the stuff we missed the first day. We did things like Journey Into Imagination and the area after that, Spaceship Earth, the Land, the rest of future world (if you do the Ellen's Universe of Energy, that alone is a 40 minute ride), etc. DH usually does Mission Space, but I think he skipped it this trip. We fast-passed Soarin again because it is one of my favorites. We did a little shopping at Mouse Gears, which is the best store at Disney in my opinion. In the middle of the future world stuff, we went back to WS and had lunch at Akershus with the Princesses. We saw a couple of characters we missed the first day. Spent a little more time in WS etc. I can't specifically recall everything we did the second day. That day we got there about 9 and I think we left around 7:00 as DD wanted to go to DTD and it was the only night we could do that.

As far as "off days", DD is high energy and she loves the parks, so we don't do off days. She wouldn't stand for it. This last trip we were there from Sunday to Sunday, and we spent every day in the parks, including the time we had on arrival and departure days.

 

[triplejen]

I really think you should consider the advice you are getting here - too much planned and too many TS meals.

You say you want this trip to be about your son having a good time - but right now - it's about your husband's food limitations. I understand he has a real medical condition, but I really think that he can manage to find plenty to eat with just 2 TS meals per day. The CS places, snack bars, and the resort food courts have a fair number of options. And you can always bring things you know he can snack on.

I'd also suggest just staying on property - and not doing the other parks. There is a TON to do at Disney and I think you are underestimating how much there will be to do and see.

You seemed pretty set on your plans, but you did ask for advice......

I have to say I agree with the above poster pretty much 100%.

You posted that your son goes to bed at 7:30, and that you don't see that going much later on the trip because of how tired he'll be from all the cool stuff to do. Given the breakfast times you've posted, it looks like you will be spending about 12 hours out of every 24 in your room and then getting ready for breakfast.

That leaves 12 hours in the day to get whatever it is you want to done each day.

With 3 TS meals a day, you will be spending 6 hours each day on your meals. (That includes waiting to be seated, which always takes at least 15 minutes and more typically closer to 30) and then time for the actual meal.

That leaves you 6 hours a day for actual touring.

You will of course be spending at least one of those hours each day commuting to the parks (round trip). Longer on days you visit non-monorail parks.

Now we're down to 5 hours. (Or closer to 4 on the non-monorail days.)

On most days, you have meals taking place in at least two different locations. That means you will be spending another 30 minutes to an hour (round-trip) commuting for your meals.

Now we're down to 4 hours. (3 on non-monorail days.)

You are planning 2 full days at non-WDW parks. Depending on how important they are to you, that might be fine, but they also represent a full third of your vacation's available park days.

You are now left with 3-4 hours a day for 4 days to take in all that there is to do and see in the 4 WDW parks.

You said that you don't want to run yourselves ragged, but you also want to try to pack in as much as you possibly can into this trip, as you won't be returning for many years.

You are not doing rope drop on most of those days (or on any of them? I can't remember) so you are not going to be maximizing your ability to gather fastpasses to stretch the little time you do have in each park.

(You posted that if necessary, you might decide to pop over to a park like HS to pick up fastpasses before going on to other activities. Don't forget that this will add an hour to your commuting time for any day you plan to do this - bringing you down to 3 (or 2) hours remaining for touring on those days.)

You have now spent an enormous amount of time and money to fly all the way to Disneyworld to spend 3-4 hours on 4 days trying to fit it all in.

In most of the parks, you will be able to do 2 attractions in an hour (using fastpasses). Shows will take longer. Jedi Training is 30 minutes by itself (assuming you are able to sign up arriving late in the day). Kim Possible (which I recommend) takes 30-40 minutes. Walking from one attraction to another can take a long time - especially in AK and EPCOT.

I think you are going to end up feeling rushed, missing a good chunk of the things you want to get done, and will go home feeling unsatisfied and like you didn't get a whole lot out of your trip.

I have done the whole deluxe dining thing on almost every one of my trips. I know how much time 3 TS meals a day sucks out of your touring. We managed it by having trips ranging from 9-11 nights. And we never left Disney property. And we didn't do so much hopping for our meals.

I (respectfully) offer the following pieces of advice, which of course you can take or leave:

* Drop one TS meal per day. (Assuming your DH is able to manage his Crohn's at home without 3 sit-down restaurant meals each day.) You can order food from GardenGrocer that he typically eats on the run at home if you really have an issue with the CS offerings. Or even pack it from home. I am in no way saying he should alter what he has found that works for him - just suggesting that doing what works for him at home would probably also work at WDW.

* If the 3 TS-meals are still non-negotiable, move their locations so that they are all at the one park where you will be touring, or at your hotel (breakfast & diner only) so you can at least minimize your restaurant commuting time.

* Drop the Sea World and/or Discovery Cove days.

* If the SW and/or DC days are non-negotiable, consider adding a day or two to your trip to make up the lost time.

* Incidentally, I would NOT drop the Pirate Cruise. (I have 2 boys, and they LOVE the various Pirate Cruises offered by Disney.) You and your DH will probably enjoy the time alone as well. Though your 8:00 1900 Park Fare is not very doable with the 9:15 drop-off time for the Pirate Cruise - you should see if you can push up the time, or otherwise just show up half an hour early to check in for your ADR. Worst-case scenario is that one of you will run down to the dock with your DS while the other stays to settle the bill.

Anyway, those are just my lame thoughts. I hope you guys have a fantastic trip no matter what you do! And good luck to your DH as well!

 

[Tltorrez]

Are you sure you can not go to Seaworld before Discovery Cove? In 2003 when I went to Discovery Cove I was given a Seaworld pass that was good for 7 days. I'm sure I went to Seaworld before I went to Discovery Cove. But then again maybe theri policies have changed sine 2003.

Yes, you can go to Sea World before your DC day. We were at DC in Oct. We opted not to use the Sea World passes but we considered it. We spent two very long wonderful days at MK instead.

It's hard for me to advise skipping DC because that truly is a wonderfully unique experience. But as between Sea World and more time at the Disney parks, we took Disney.

 

[Chellymouse]

Your plan is most likely not going to work very well, especially with all of the TS meals. As someone else suggested, order some basic groceries from gardengrocer.com (we've used them for 3 years and LOVE them!) and cut out some, if not all of your TS breakfasts. Also, I would skip Seaworld and DC. While they are awesome, you really aren't going to have time to do them on this trip. I think you'll find that you're trip is going to be very rushed and you're going to miss quite a bit. Even though it's not a terribly busy time of year and even using FP for popular attractions, you're going to miss a bit. DH and I have been going to WDW for 11 years and we wouldn't even keep this kind of schedule for ourselves. It's possible your DH isn't looking forward to this trip or doesn't enjoy Disney due to this type of touring. Also, your DS is going to be wiped out and may not enjoy himself as much. Just MHO.

 

[Janepod]

So much great advice! Thanks! I will definitely try to cut down on the hopping around but not sure how much I can trim it.

As far as meals - I just can't wrap my head around the idea of all counter service lunches. My husband is looking at all the menus saying, "can't eat this ... can't eat that ..." and I'm a vegetarian so quite a bit of what's on there isn't an option for me either. We were at Hershey Park this summer and ate counter service food every day and frankly wanted to blow our brains out -- it is just not the way we like to eat on vacation. To each his own, you know. So I'm thinking I will keep the lunch ADRs for now, but after the first day or two if it really seems like we're not getting as much out of our days as we would like, we'll go with the flow and try some CS.

No chance of scrapping Discovery Cove! Our son is super psyched and can't stop talking about swimming with the dolphins. I do think Sea World will probably get scrapped though, for one last day at the MK. So that's giving us 3 days plus perhaps one evening at the MK - I don't think I can take much more than that.

So here are the changes I made:

Sunday - cancelled Whispering Canyon dinner, rescheduled for 7:30 Narcoossee's (closer to park). If we are having too much fun to stop, we'll scrap the Liberty Tavern lunch and do CS someplace. If it seems like 7:30 dinners will work, I'll move our ADRs for the week later.

Monday - still DC, still Artist Point dinner.

Tuesday - AK - basically our free time there will be 10:30-12:00 and post-lunch (1:30?) until 5:00 closing. Moved our 5:00 Boma ADR to 5:30. Will grab Kilimanjaro FP before heading in to 9:15 breakfast. Any other tips? I think this day seems solid; am I right?

Wednesday - Pirates Adventure, then EPCOT. Sadly we cannot make the 1900 Park Fare reservation any earlier than 8:00 (that's when they open). I think it makes sense to eat breakfast at the GF so we can get to the marina quickly and I will use the advice of having one person wait for the check while the other takes our son to the marina - thanks! We did move Coral Reef to 1:30 though, so that gives us a bit more time to enjoy Epcot before lunch. As far as the rest of the day there, we'll fit in what we can before the 7:20 dinner. If we just get Soarin' and Test Track, fine by me.

Thursday - will be all DHS, no Sea World. Moved Chef Mickey up to 7 a.m. so we can be at DHS when they open. I'll run to TSM and my husband will run to Jedi Academy with son ... lunch will be Sci-Fi at 2 p.m. Any thoughts on dinner that day? Pick a table service place Either at DHS or back at Poly/GF/Contemp. Should we do Fantasmic? I had planned to skip because we hate shows but maybe this one is worth it. Anyway, is this day looking solid now?

Friday - will scrap Sea World unless we are MK-ed out (or if everyone loves DC so much they want more Sea World.) Still doing the Ohana breakfast and the California Grill dinner -- whatever happens in between, happens.

So ... on to more specifics ... the one common response is that we seem to be hopping from place to place. True. Hopefully these changes cut down on a bit of that. I agree with the poster who said no off days; we never do off days and I can't imagine trying to keep the kid away from the parks when he knows he's surrounded by them.

And as to why my husband doesn't like Disney? He hates rides, hates lines, hates crowds, hates being around people, hates consumerism, hates mass market anything -- he is happy to be on the go 24/7, just not at what he is calling A Monument to Crass Consumerism ... but that is a subject for another post

Thanks again for all the tips! I do want to stress that I don't care what rides we go on, nor does my husband -- only that the kid loves it. We want to hit all the marquee rides but feel no pressure to see everything (the kid is 6! He has no idea what he's missing!) We just want to give ourselves the best combination of seeing things, eating well, enjoying each others' company, and having fun. Hopefully this itinerary is getting there!