First Time to Disney - need some help strategizing

[emthewondergirl]

Hello!
My sister in law told me about this site and am hopeful that someone can help us out!

We are going to Disney for the first time, arriving the evening of 9/29 and staying through 10/4. This is a celebration of my finishing grad school and all of us surviving in the process! LOL! Our kids will be 9 and nearly 7. They like rides, but aren't super bold/adventurous in the rides they like. We are staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which I know is not very centrally-located and will require a little time for getting to and from the park. We'd like to definitely spend the majority of the time in the Magic Kingdom and thought maybe we'd do Animal Kingdom one day, Epcot maybe another and the rest of the time Magic Kingdom. We don't want our vacation to be jam-packed, nonstop. We are the kind of people that like a less frantic pace, but we also want to be sure we plan well enough to get to see and do things with the kiddos!

I was roughly thinking that maybe aiming to be in the parks in the AM and the evening may be nice - less crowds, more mild temps, etc. and then return to the hotel during the afternoon to unwind, play in the pools, etc.

I was hoping for some feedback as to whether or not this is a good strategy to allow us to both feel a bit relaxed and unwind from the craziness that has been our last two years, but also allow for us to see and enjoy the Disney experience!! Thoughts?

Also, are there any restaurants that you'd strongly suggest? we are doing the meal plan, we have reserved a character breakfast in the castle (which is probably the only one we will do and feel strongly about doing! LOL!)

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

 

[gap2368]

Getting to the park when they open ( really 45-60 minute before it opens) and then going back to the resort if you need a break and back to the park in the evening is a great option.

Also I would down load and pay for touring plans

 

[BarlowFamily]

Congrats on finishing Grad School! What an accomplishment!!

9 and 7 are great ages for a first visit to WDW! We haven't stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge, but have have reservations for January and I've been planning. From what I've read, there are lots of neat activities (animal, cultural and food activities) to do at the Lodge, that might be great after you land on the 29th or if you have a free day during the week. I am a huge fan of Touring Plans. I wasn't sure a membership would be worth it, but let me tell you IT'S WORTH EVERY PENNY. You spend so much on a trip to WDW, for less than $20 a Touring Plan Membership builds you personalized Touring Plans, so you can get to the rides you want with minimal waits. You can set it for a very leisurely walking pace and enjoy your day.

A day at each Animal Kingdom and Epcot will be wonderful. It really does take two days in Magic Kingdom! Check some crowd calendars ahead of time to see crowd projections for each park, that will help you plan which park to go to on which day - and know what parks to get Fast Passes for ahead of time. After a quick glance at some calendars, I would suggest:

30 September, Monday: Animal Kingdom
1 October, Tuesday: Magic Kingdom (MK closes early for a Halloween Party, but the crowds will be low and there's an extra magic hour if you're early birds)
2 October, Wednesday: Resort Day. Relax, swim, do some resort activities
3 October, Thursday: Epcot
4 October, Friday: Magic Kingdom (if you don't leave early in the day, another early close for MK low crowds, even a few hours in the morning you'll get to do/see a lot)

And like mentioned above, the earlier the better. Really, those first few hours are so much more enjoyable that when people start packing in. I understand some folks don't want to wake up early on vacation, I get it, but if you can it;s worth it.

Which meal plan are you doing? Quick Service, Regular or Deluxe? My restaurant suggestions change upon which plan you're on and depends on what/how your family likes to eat.
Quick Service: Magic Kingdom, Be Our Guest breakfast or lunch (a last minutes reservation will likely open up week of)...there are so many other great values for QS (We love D-Luxe Burger in Disney springs too, those Boozy milkshakes!)
Regular: Character Meals/AYCTE (buffet) meals are a great value on this plan. Paired up with a good value quick service and you'll be doing great
Deluxe: Quick service meals are not a good value on this plan! But Table Service where you order off a menu are. You'll get App, Entree, Drink AND Dessert here so at most restaurants you could split meal!

The castle is a two credit meal, and might be better to pay for out of pocket. Remember the dining plan is for each night, but credited to your magic band all at once. Disney Food Blog also covers some great snack credit values. If you drink alcohol, it makes the dining plan a better value.

Can you tell we are a Foodie Family? Have some fun on the Disney website checking out restaurants in those three parks and at AKL. Everyone could pick one place they really want to try. We have a Disney Restaurant Bucket List we're working our way through.

Enjoy your trip! And take a break from your school work to do some Disney planning! Be sure to let us know how it goes! Congrats again!!

 

[tguz]

Just my opinion but on a 5 day Disney vacation, we would not take a resort day. We would visit all 4 parks and use the last day to revisit our favorite park or may be 2 parks if you have the park hopper.

 

[gap2368]

Just my opinion but on a 5 day Disney vacation, we would not take a resort day. We would visit all 4 parks and use the last day to revisit our favorite park or may be 2 parks if you have the park hopper.

I too never take a resort day I have an AP but what i do is take a mid day break one day for a few hours

 

[Sara_H]

One thing to keep in mind if planning to go back to the resort for the afternoons, you will leave the park and wait for the bus (could be 5 minutes could be 20), then you will get to your resort and swim or whatever, then get ready to go back to the parks which will require you to wait for the bus again and go through security again (which in theory won't be as bad as it is in the morning). Just know that it won't be a quick "hop" back to the resort...it is time consuming. Taking breaks can be nice and sometimes necessary but can waste a lot of time too.

We went in 2018 for a week when my kids were 9 and 7 and we spent all day in the parks with the exception of 1 day where we left AK by mid-late afternoon. You can still be in the parks without feeling like you are being rushed around...it all depends on how you plan and what you want to do.

 

[YesterDark]

You have a 9 and 7 year old, I would definitely not do more than 2 full park days in a row. I have a 6 4 and 1.5 yo and if you click my Trip Report link in my signature you'll see the schedule in that thread of how I plan a vacation.

Do you have tickets for every day? If so, I would do something like this: (I don't know when your breakfast is scheduled)

9/29 - Arrive, relax, explore the resort and get into Disney/Vacation mood. What time do you land?
9/30 - Magic Kingdom - I always start and end my vacation at the MK.
10/1 - One of the other parks
10/2 - Resort day, swim, have fun, go into a park you didn't go in to on 10/1 and do dinner/fireworks. I'd suggest evening times when it's cooler out and not breakfast for non full park days.
10/3 - Magic Kingdom
10/4 - Depart

When I do touring plans for my family I always book my FP for the morning so you can get into your 4th, 5th etc. Fastpasses quickly. I always plan where I will eat for Lunch and Dinner so that decision making is done. (Book reservations if needed) Then I essentially plan out places to relax during the day like: People Mover, Hall of Presidents, Carousel of Progress, Shows etc. that I can sit down and relax for 20-30 minutes. Let the rest come to you.

If you do full day parks 3 days in a row with younger kids, then you'll all be exhausted by Day 3. If you do half day parks with meals etc, it's gets better. Have fun.

 

[_19disnA]

If this is your first Disney trip, good to recognize there are all sorts of ways to experience it. Some people are the go-go-go type who are at the park the minute it opens and stay until closing, while others take a more casual approach. There is no one right way to experience it that works for everyone. What matters is deciding what works for your family, none of us can tell you that. Disney involves a LOT of walking, waiting, crowds and (depending upon the time of year) HOT weather. If everyone is exhausted and cranky after 3 days of an overbooked schedule, your vacation will certainly be less enjoyable.

Making FastPasses ahead of time reduces the wait time for those three rides, however, you need to decide which park you will be at to make them worthwhile. Good to know the basic layout of each park so you aren't arranging FastPasses that have you zig-zagging all over the park getting to your next ride.

 

[YesterDark]

I re-read my most and I edited it. I meant to say I would definitely not do more than 2 full park days in a row.

Sorry! And by that I mean, Rope Drop until fireworks as full days.