Does this sound like too much downtime?

[AlohaAnnie]

I'm still hoping someone can give me some advice as to what to change in our itinarary???
Do you think a 1/2 park day on the first saturday and 1/2 park day on the Friday "free day" would help liven up the itinarary?

Yes, I do

 

[CAStevens218]

You can wait until you get there to add days to your ticets, so you could play it by ear and see what works. As long as you still have 1 day left on your ticket, ou can still add more (someone please correct me if this has changed).

This is what we have started doing. For example...we are going for 6 days in February. We currently have 4 day tickets. We might go to Universal, we might go to Sea World, or we might decide we want more Disney time. If we want more Disney days on our tickets, we will add them there.

One thing I do agree with is getting to the parks first thing...there's just nothing like it! You can get so much done with no crowds and enjoy your resort in the afternoons instead...as long as being up and out early would work for your family.

Enjoy your trip!!!!

 

[WedgieSock]

Do you think a 1/2 park day on the first saturday and 1/2 park day on the Friday "free day" would help liven up the itinarary?

I think that would help and is a good option for your touring style

 

[siskaren]

We have a 5 day base ticket that starts on Tuesday when we check into wilderness lodge. Can we make it a 6 day and be able to use it the saturday we are at ASsp?

I didn't realize that it will only cost us $60 more for a 7 day park ticket vs the 5 day we orginally have. Can I purchase two more days and use one maybe the Saturday for half a day before DTD and then that Friday that is our "free' day? Will that make it less of a relaxing vacation yet still give us time to recouperate?

When you say that your ticket starts on Tuesday when you check into WL, do you mean that you have a package? If so, you can pick up your tickets up to 3 days before your package starts (see post 15-I in the ticket sticky at the top of this forum for information on how to do this), so you could definitely get them on that first Saturday and then I would go to Epcot for a few hours and check out some of the Holiday Storytellers, which wouldn't involve a lot of walking (so would still be plenty relaxing), plus Epcot is right next to both Boardwalk Inn and the Beach Club, so it would be easy to fit in with your other plans for that day.

You would have to add a day to your tickets in order to do this, but make sure you wait until after you've used the tickets at least once before you upgrade (the explanation for this is in post #6 in the ticket sticky). You can then wait until Friday to see if you're up for getting some park time that day and add the 7th day then.

 

[monica9]

Friday- land around 4pm. Take ME to all star sports. Grab quick Service for dinner, end day. Agree, good plans after travelling.

Sat- Go to DTD early afternoon, walk around. Head to boardwalk inn to walk around (always wanted to visit it). go to the clambake at beach club for dinner. end day. Resting in the morning and you're not going to a park, ok there is always tomorrow isn't DTD and walking around boardwalk for a couple hours ok? I can probably shop for 5 hours especially since we have so much disney rewards and its two weeks before christmas.

Sun- Check out of ASsp and get mears taxi to renaissance hotel at seaworld.
Check in as early as possible, head over to Seaworld for the day and night (also have free all day dining there). Late night Nope, no park today, you're leaving Disney to go to seaworld .... ok. Of course a park, just not a disney park. Will be at SW from hopefully 10am until 11pm when it closes.

Monday- Sleep in, walk around resort (if its warm take advantage of their hotel splash pad). Get to Seaworld in afternoon. Dine with shamu dinner and then end day. More rest in the morning, only at Seaworld instead You can only do so much at SW for 2 days. They also have an awesome splash pad and pool at the renaissance. Don't people hang at their resorts during vacation?

Tuesday- Check out of Ren. and take mears taxi to Wilderness Lodge and check in. Walk around WL then hit Epcot by 1pm hopefully. Dinner at Garden Grill. Stay for illuminations. End day Its day five and you only just enter a Disney park? Yes, our vacation wasn't orignally supposed to start until Tuesday. I booked it from Tues-Tuesday and then decided to add some days since we can.

Wednesday- ohana for b-fast, MK all day, Chef mickey for dinner. watch fireworks somewhere at CR. end day Ok

Thurs- Sleep in. walk around resort. Visit monorail resorts by 2pm. ohana for dinner 5pm, MVMCP until as late as we can handle. end day Resting most of the day. I've heard many people suggest not doing a park day before doing MVMCP b/c its just too draining. Our friends we were with last year did that for MNSSHP and regretted being in the parks all day and then trying to stay awake until midnight.

Frid- Free day. Do laundry, swim if warm enough, when it gets dark go to fort wilderness and do the campfire sing a long and movie outdoors. maybe check out the lights at fort W. end day More rest Yes. I want to take advantage of our deluxe resort and I heard there is so much to see between WL and FW.

Sat- sleep in and have lunch at whispering canyon at 1130. head to holly wood studios until close to see osborne lights. end day Restful morning Yes restful morning, why not? We don't like HS and only going there because we want to see the osborne lights. Truthfully don't need to go there until its dark.

Sun- Tusker house at 930am and stay at AK all day. Head back to resort and get a good nights sleep. Ending the day late afternoon for more rest. No, park closes at 6. Going back to resort for dinner. By the time we finish dinner and head to the room it will be about 9pm Don't think a 9am-9pm day is considered resting.

Monday- MK. BBB at 930, CRT 1030, MK all day until close. Cool!

Tuesday- Check out and head home.

 

[monica9]

When you say that your ticket starts on Tuesday when you check into WL, do you mean that you have a package? If so, you can pick up your tickets up to 3 days before your package starts (see post 15-I in the ticket sticky at the top of this forum for information on how to do this), so you could definitely get them on that first Saturday and then I would go to Epcot for a few hours and check out some of the Holiday Storytellers, which wouldn't involve a lot of walking (so would still be plenty relaxing), plus Epcot is right next to both Boardwalk Inn and the Beach Club, so it would be easy to fit in with your other plans for that day.

You would have to add a day to your tickets in order to do this, but make sure you wait until after you've used the tickets at least once before you upgrade (the explanation for this is in post #6 in the ticket sticky). You can then wait until Friday to see if you're up for getting some park time that day and add the 7th day then.

Thanks! Sounds like a good idea! Didn't know we can do that. Looks like that's what we will do!

 

[Love Tink]

This looks, to me, like an itinerary created by someone who A) Doesn't really like the Disney parks very much and B) Is thinking much more about what she will enjoy than what her four-year-old will enjoy (unless your four year old is the only one in the world whose idea of a WDW vacation is sleeping late, sitting around the resort for hours, viewing nighttime shows, having lengthy meals in upscale restaurants and wandering around resorts where she isn't even staying).

Maybe the best change you can make to your itinerary is setting it at a completely different destination.

 

[kohlby]

We find it works best to get there at RD, since our kids can't handle too many late nights. If you have physical limitations and need to reduce your park time, then the rests are understandable. But if possible, I'd make the rests more in the evening than the morning. I've learned that I can't get my kids to nap. And I can't get them to sleep in. But I can get them to bed on time.

Here's what I see:
Sat: Okay, I totally understand. That's the Sat of t-giving week. We're doing the same since I don't want to waste a park day during high crowds. Plus, it gives my kids a guaranteed pool day right off.

Sun: You're at a park SW, so this does count as a park day

Mon: SW again. Since Sunday has the Christmas shows, it makes sense to sleep in if you're staying up late on Sun.

Tues: Epcot at 1-10pm. Are you sure you want to do this to your 4 year old? This is your second late night for a non-napper and you're not that far into your trip. I'd go for RD and leave when your 4 year old acts like it's time to leave instead.

Wed: MK, busy all day - from breakfast through fireworks. That's a very, very full day for a 4 year old. Make EP above earlier and then you might get through it. Or you may not. Our focus is just MSEP this trip since I don't know if my younger two will manage staying up for wishes. (But our next day is an off day so we might).

Thurs: MVMCP. This would make late night #3. The more you have, the more it builds up and the more you risk an overtired child.

Fri: After all those late nights, you're going to need an off-day. But even without them, I still think an off-day could be good here, since you just had 5 days with parks.

Sat: HS - again, later. But at least the Osborne lights aren't terribly late. But it still can count as a late-ish night by this point in the vacation after those other late nights since your child won't go to bed early. I'd actually go for RD and stay all day if you can handle it here. That would make for 9-6:30.

Sun - AK, starting early enough here. But play it by ear to figure out if longer or shorter day. I think it's good your not hopping since you have a 4 year old and ideally will do a long time at HS the day before.

Mon - MK all day until close. Since it's your last park day, as long as y'all can handle is good.

*What we do is plan just two "late" nights. One is before our off-day and "late" means no later than 8:30 ideally, though we're shooting for more like 8:00. Our other late night is our last night, since anything goes on that night!

 

[jlovesee]

I think your schedule i s just fine. I don't have kids, but to many times I have seen kids screaming, crying, because of over stimulation, or kids who's favorite part of the trip was the swimming pool (I think you will be ok in early December swimming). Christmas is AMAZING and to really experience Disney christmas, takes time to check out all the hotels, and attractions even outside of the park.

As far as not hitting Disney until day 5... There are other great attractions in Orlando OTHER THEN DISNEY. Sea World is definitely one of them. So do I not like Disney because on our coming trip we don't plan on visiting a Disney park until day 4 of our 9 day trip? (really!), or that we only plan on spending 4 - 4.5 days in Disney parks? We love it, but it is a VACATION and not boot camp.

Personally I think you will LOVE Wilderness Lodge at Christmas, it is just absolutely amazing, and with it being next door to Fort Wilderness, plus having many things to do at WL itself you will have a great time.

Jennifer

 

[3BoysRDisneyFreaks]

for us that would be way too much down time, but you know your family.
I see your comment about shopping on your second day. Are you shipping your stuff home because shopping on the second day and then moving hotels a few times before you leave with all of your stuff would be a pain.

Have a nice trip!

Sarah

 

[PetePanMan]

I would consider adding disney park (perhaps Epcot) to the Saturday - your first full day. You could combine with your current plan (ie visit Boardwalk, cape may dinner etc.)

 

[ilovemk76]

Sorry to bore you but I know there are some people that enjoy looking at other peoples itenarary ( I know I'm one of those).

So my husband doesn't want to talk about disney this past year and always said he'll talk about it the day before. He knows I obsess about it and he is the total opposite and just goes with the flow.

Well, now that we are 6 days out, he decides to ask to look at the itenarary and wants to have imput about it! 6 days before we leave!!

So my question is, do we have too much downtime? He thinks we should go to MK more. I think its just enough time.....

Here goes:
me, DH and 4 1/2 year old DD

Friday- land around 4pm. Take ME to all star sports. Grab quick Service for dinner, end day.

Sat- Go to DTD early afternoon, walk around. Head to boardwalk inn to walk around (always wanted to visit it). go to the clambake at beach club for dinner. end day.

Sun- Check out of ASsp and get mears taxi to renaissance hotel at seaworld.
Check in as early as possible, head over to Seaworld for the day and night (also have free all day dining there). Late night

Monday- Sleep in, walk around resort (if its warm take advantage of their hotel splash pad). Get to Seaworld in afternoon. Dine with shamu dinner and then end day.

Tuesday- Check out of Ren. and take mears taxi to Wilderness Lodge and check in. Walk around WL then hit Epcot by 1pm hopefully. Dinner at Garden Grill. Stay for illuminations. End day

Wednesday- ohana for b-fast, MK all day, Chef mickey for dinner. watch fireworks somewhere at CR. end day

Thurs- Sleep in. walk around resort. Visit monorail resorts by 2pm. ohana for dinner 5pm, MVMCP until as late as we can handle. end day

Frid- Free day. Do laundry, swim if warm enough, when it gets dark go to fort wilderness and do the campfire sing a long and movie outdoors. maybe check out the lights at fort W. end day

Sat- sleep in and have lunch at whispering canyon at 1130. head to holly wood studios until close to see osborne lights. end day

Sun- Tusker house at 930am and stay at AK all day. Head back to resort and get a good nights sleep.

Monday- MK. BBB at 930, CRT 1030, MK all day until close.

Tuesday- Check out and head home.

Any suggestions?

Too much down time and too much resort changing.

 

[tstidm1]

I may add an additional park day to it. Maybe, I would add a WFP & more to get to see something different on the off days. I am a little jelly of you doing 12 days in Orlando. Hope you enjoy them no matter what.

 

[Feckless]

The first time we went to Disney, my DS was 6 and my DD was 8. Every day, my DD would ask me, "Is today a rest day???" I was shocked that she didn't want to spend all her time in the parks. This past May, DD was 11. She was go, go, go and wanted to be in the parks all the time. I had booked a ton of rest time in my overall plan - more than you have! Luckily, I had bought a ticket for every day we were there to reduce my feelings that we had to get the most out of each ticket, if you KWIM. Your DD will remember this trip, and you want to make it the most fun for HER. Having her exhausted won't do that!

My suggestion is to keep your mind open to buying extra tickets once you get there - it won't be that expensive to add on - and just go with the flow. Have a wonderful trip!!

 

[KellyNY]

Not that you have too much down time, you do not have enough parks time. You spend too much time walking around resorts and btw, changing resorts 3 times and a lot of time at TS places on parks days. I am afraid you may be as tired as your last trip because of that but you will not get park experience. If this is fine with you, then you are all set.
Since you have ADRs it is difficult to change much, esp. 6 days away from the trip. I would suggest however to do DTD on your arrival day, eat there. Next day check whatever hotels you want in Epcot area and go to Epcot.

 

[kvnchapman]

Sorry to bore you but I know there are some people that enjoy looking at other peoples itenarary ( I know I'm one of those).

So my husband doesn't want to talk about disney this past year and always said he'll talk about it the day before. He knows I obsess about it and he is the total opposite and just goes with the flow.

Well, now that we are 6 days out, he decides to ask to look at the itenarary and wants to have imput about it! 6 days before we leave!!

So my question is, do we have too much downtime? He thinks we should go to MK more. I think its just enough time.....

Here goes:
me, DH and 4 1/2 year old DD

Friday- land around 4pm. Take ME to all star sports. Grab quick Service for dinner, end day.

Sat- Go to DTD early afternoon, walk around. Head to boardwalk inn to walk around (always wanted to visit it). go to the clambake at beach club for dinner. end day.

Sun- Check out of ASsp and get mears taxi to renaissance hotel at seaworld.
Check in as early as possible, head over to Seaworld for the day and night (also have free all day dining there). Late night

Monday- Sleep in, walk around resort (if its warm take advantage of their hotel splash pad). Get to Seaworld in afternoon. Dine with shamu dinner and then end day.

Tuesday- Check out of Ren. and take mears taxi to Wilderness Lodge and check in. Walk around WL then hit Epcot by 1pm hopefully. Dinner at Garden Grill. Stay for illuminations. End day

Wednesday- ohana for b-fast, MK all day, Chef mickey for dinner. watch fireworks somewhere at CR. end day

Thurs- Sleep in. walk around resort. Visit monorail resorts by 2pm. ohana for dinner 5pm, MVMCP until as late as we can handle. end day

Frid- Free day. Do laundry, swim if warm enough, when it gets dark go to fort wilderness and do the campfire sing a long and movie outdoors. maybe check out the lights at fort W. end day

Sat- sleep in and have lunch at whispering canyon at 1130. head to holly wood studios until close to see osborne lights. end day

Sun- Tusker house at 930am and stay at AK all day. Head back to resort and get a good nights sleep.

Monday- MK. BBB at 930, CRT 1030, MK all day until close.

Tuesday- Check out and head home.

Any suggestions?

Day 1 looks good, although I would probably head to DTD for an hour or 2 to look at their decorations at night and see Santa at his chalet. Bed by 8:30 or so.
Day 2: Because you got a good night's sleep, I would add a Disney park to this day and go mid-morning. Then I would hear to the Boardwalk area for a lesiurely stroll around dusk before enjoying Cape May. Aim for bed by 8pm for DD.
Day 3: Head to Renaissance after waking at a "no stress" pace. Maybe grab a to-go breakfast from AS food court on your way out. Aim to be at SW by 11am. Enjoy your day, but no need to push too hard or stay too late, since you get to go back tomorrow. I think 8 hours or so would be more than sufficient.
Day 4: Wake whenever, eat breakfast. Enjoy resort if the weather permits. If not, go ahead and head to SW. Leave after Shamu dinner.
Day 5: Wake and eat. Leave Ren by 10am. Check into WL. I would have fun checking out the lobby, but leave for Epcot as soon as possible. Are you having lunch at WL or in the park? If fireworks are a big deal, stay for Illuminations. If not, head home around 8pm.
Day 6: Have you checked the show schedule for MK? This will be a fun, but full, day.
Day 7: Good plan to relax on your MVMCP day! Althoug I would drop Ohana for dinner and go to the parks at 4pm.
Day 8: Definitely sleep in and relax a bit until 11 or 12. But then I'd head to a park, at least for 4-5 hours. It will be dark enough to enjoy the Fort's lights by 5:30 or so. Don't plan on staying for the movie (it will keep you up later), but roast some smores and see Chip and Dale if that would be fun. If the latter is not a big dea, stay at the park longer, and just tour the campsite lights.
Day 9: Why don't you see if you can get an ADR for Hollywood and Vine in the am? Your DD might like BatB show, Disney Playhouse, the HISTK playground, Muppet Vision, Fantasmic, VLM show and TSM. I would do Osbourne as soon as it got dark, depending on Fantasmic.
Day 10: Great plan for AK. It usually closes early, so you all will be in bed by 7pm no problem.
Day 11: Fun MK day! What time does the park close that night?
Day 12:

 

[MomRN]

I'm jealous of your 12 days! I don't know that I will ever be able to take that amount of time; we usually do 7 days.

Everyone is different. One thing is for sure, if I told my son we were going to Disney and we didn't go to a park within 24 hours... there would be anarchy! We always go to Magic Kingdom after arrival. The last time we went on our arrival day we went on Pirates, to the Hall of Presidents, something else (can't remember) and ate dinner at Liberty Tree. That was it. My step-daughters friend, who came with, was surprised we went at all considering we were only there a few hours. Sacrilege I tell you.

So, as a family that doesn't park hop... here is what our schedule looked like with a 6 year old, 2 teenagers, and 2 adults:

Saturday: arrived, went to MK for a few hours
Sunday: slept in, went to Epcot, left early (skipped Illuminations)
Monday: DHS- got there at rope drop, stayed all day, did Fantasmic
Tuesday- MK early, but not rope drop. Left early
Wednesday- AK at rope drop, left at 2, went to DTD to look around. Late night
Thurs- son did Pirate adventure that morning, but besides that we only did the Halloween Party... got there around 6, left at midnight
Fri- slept in... another MK day (can you tell our favorite park?) was there about 12-6 because packing needed to be done
Sat- departure day. Yes, even on departure day we do a park if time allows. We had from 11-2 to be at the parks. Son got to choose 1 park and 3 rides we would try to do. He choose (of course) MK. Wanted to do Aladdin, Dumbo, Splash, and Space (I know, that's 4, but it was so hard to choose just 3!). We were able to do those 4 rides with a little time to spare, on a moderate busy day.

So, that's how we do it. I don't know if you can pull some ideas from our plan or not... but I would definately suggest another MK day!

 

[monica9]

This looks, to me, like an itinerary created by someone who A) Doesn't really like the Disney parks very much and B) Is thinking much more about what she will enjoy than what her four-year-old will enjoy (unless your four year old is the only one in the world whose idea of a WDW vacation is sleeping late, sitting around the resort for hours, viewing nighttime shows, having lengthy meals in upscale restaurants and wandering around resorts where she isn't even staying).

Maybe the best change you can make to your itinerary is setting it at a completely different destination.

My daughter only likes to go on 4 or 5 rides at disney. She LOVES parades and shows and Seaworld will probably be her favorite park because of all the shows truthfully! We will have 3 MK days to loop around the 5 rides she will go on and she will want to see all the characters more than the rides.
When I say sleeping late, I mean until 830am tops. my husband hates rushing out after waking up so after gathering all of our stuff, getting ready, eating and taking a bus to a resort, we won't get to a park until probably 1030 at that rate. I don't need to wake my child up at 7am on vacation to get there at rope drop to "like disney parks".

90% of our ADRs are based around my daughter and are character meals. We don't do upscale restaurants at Disney.

Yes, we are staying in a deluxe and want to enjoy the resort as well. There is a lot to see there, a pool to swim in and there are activities during the afternoon for kids and their parents to participate in at the deluxes. She will also love to see the juggler and entertainment at the boardwalk as well. DTD will be fun for her since santa will be there, christmas carolers, etc. Going on rides isn't the only part of disney.

The reason we have so many split stays is because it was last minute decision b/c flights are cheaper and we were orignally going to drive. We added SW two days before WL b/c this may be the only time we can go to seaworld at christmas time and have heard the show are great. We had the money to book at Renaissance for a couple days, so we said why not? We did not want to go to Seaworld Friday and sat and then move to Disney sunday b/c SW will be mobbed the day after thanksgiving

We are not spending $500 to add on 2 day park tickets to our All Star reservation just to go to a park saturday night when I can just add 2 days to our already existing tickets from WL. So we can't go to a park on Saturday but we will probably end up going for 1/2 a day on the friday we had a "free day".

I don't see whats wrong with visiting other resorts near christmas time. There is so much to see at the world. have you ever gone near christmas time? For example, GF has "make your own gingerbread houses". I truly think my daughter will enjoy that.

Anyway, thanks for all the advice everyone. We are very excited to go to Disney especially our first time at christmas and first time as a family at a deluxe! Getting very excited. Now on to packing........

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

My thought would be to see what happens when you get there. Your daughter is a year older now and may act totally different (may want to try more rides, get bored at shows, etc). Take your cues from her.

 

[LucyBC80]

Isn't it awesome how different everyone's touring style are?

I have 10 days planned for my family and we only have 1 1/2 days to rest. One sleeping in day for our DHS day, one half day a EPCOT and another half day after a EMH in AK.

OP, I think you know your family best and only you can decide what works for you and what doesn't. That being said you can always add park days to your tickets if you sense your family is getting somewhat bored. Disney is more than capable of doing that for you. Don't change your itinerary NOW. Wait for until you are there and see how DH, DD and you are handling things.