First time to Disney World - Need Advice!!

[SpainJ]

First off, hello and thank you for any responses.

My family and I are visiting Walt Disney World for the first time next week! Everyone is so excited! Everyone includes:
Myself (Dad)
My wife (Mom)
Son #1 (10)
Son #2 (9)
My mom (Nana 62)...Nana has been to WDW many moons ago
My sister (42)
Niece #1 (15)
Niece #2 (9)

I'm trying to get an itenaray put together so we can get the most out of our trip. We are arriving on a Tuesday and leaving on Sunday. One note - I have a relative who is a cast member and is willing to get 3 of us per day into the park. He said his "freebie" tickets are Park Hoppers, except they have just recently blacked out Magic Kingdom. So we are thinking about buying tickets for 1 full day at Magic Kingdom and park hopping the other 3 days.

My preliminary 5 day itinerary:

Tuesday
Arrive in Orlando at 3:10pm from Chicago (2.5hr flight)
Check in at All-Star Sports
7:00 P.M. - Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in Magic Kingdom (We already have the hard tickets)

Wednesday
Hollywood Studios - A.M. (Most of the day)
Epcot (Possibly if we are not too exausted)

Thursday
Animal Kingdom
Hotel / Relaxation PM


Friday
Magic Kingdom (All day)

Saturday (Halloween)
Open
*I would like to end our stay with Fantasmic (7:30) and possibly Illuminations (10:00). Is this possible to hop and see both?

Sunday
Depart for Chicago 10:30 A.M. flight

Some notes about us:
We are a high energy family and I believe everyone in the group should be able to keep up...even Nana. We are definately more about attractions than shows. We also all love fireworks. We are planning to go back to the resort for a couple hours every day to unwind (Except Thursday). We'll need it with the late nights.

What are your thoughts? Anything you would do different?

So I would like the expert opinions on:

Advice on Saturday?

Magic Kingdom on Friday? Or should we switch it up?

If you would suggest one show to see, what would it be?

Thanks again for the responses!

 

[wdwrich]

Just one note about your arrival day (Tuesday). The party tickets allow you to enter MK anytime after 4pm, so if you arrive and are raring to go, you don't have to wait until 7pm to get into MK.

 

[SpainJ]

Just one note about your arrival day (Tuesday). The party tickets allow you to enter MK anytime after 4pm, so if you arrive and are raring to go, you don't have to wait until 7pm to get into MK.

Yeah with a 3:10 Arrival I'm hoping the Magic Express can get us to the hotel by 5:00. It may take another hour to shuttle from All-Star Sports to MK. So if we eat a quick meal at the hotel, maybe we can get to MK by 6:00. I'm hoping anyway. Let me know if you think this is reasonable.

 

[Hibiscus]

I think you'd be cutting it very close by trying to see both F! & IllumiNations in one night. People will be setting themselves up in Epcot while your show in HS is just beginning! Also, the mass exodus from F! must be seen to be believed. It's like the Running of the Bulls. I would choose one or the other.

Edit: If I had to pick one, I'd pick IllumiNations.

 

[SpainJ]

I think you'd be cutting it very close by trying to see both F! & IllumiNations in one night. People will be setting themselves up in Epcot while your show in HS is just beginning! Also, the mass exodus from F! must be seen to be believed. It's like the Running of the Bulls. I would choose one or the other.

Edit: If I had to pick one, I'd pick IllumiNations.

Thanks for the heads up. What time should we get to Illuninations and/or Fantasmic, in your opinion?

 

[loves to dive]

If you are go/go/go people and don't care about shows, I would think you can do AK in the morning and HS in the afternoon, thus giving you two days of whatever. If you find there was just something at either park you missed or wanted to see, you can just hop over for that. For us, both are full days but we aren't strictly ride people, we like shows, we like to just walk around and look.

You are going to be there during F&W so expect to spend more time at Epcot sampling the booths than you might have planned. Trust me, they are worth it.

 

[BrianL]

I've done the Fantasmic! to Illuminations thing, and it's pretty doable. In fact, I did a 7:30 F! to a 9 PM Illuminations and made it easily. I did the brisk walk though, so if you are planing on using a bus or boat, it would take longer.

 

[SpainJ]

If you are go/go/go people and don't care about shows, I would think you can do AK in the morning and HS in the afternoon, thus giving you two days of whatever. If you find there was just something at either park you missed or wanted to see, you can just hop over for that. For us, both are full days but we aren't strictly ride people, we like shows, we like to just walk around and look.

You are going to be there during F&W so expect to spend more time at Epcot sampling the booths than you might have planned. Trust me, they are worth it.

I'm not familiar with F&W. Is this something the kids would be interested in?

 

[SpainJ]

I've done the Fantasmic! to Illuminations thing, and it's pretty doable. In fact, I did a 7:30 F! to a 9 PM Illuminations and made it easily. I did the brisk walk though, so if you are planing on using a bus or boat, it would take longer.

So you walked between the two parks and made it?

 

[BrianL]

So you walked between the two parks and made it?

Yes, indeed. Granted, it was only me. I'm an adult in decent shape. The walk is around a mile. It follows the same path the "Friend Ship" boats would take, but the boats stop at each resort dock, and fill up as the park empties after Fantasmic! (most people are going back to the Epcot area resorts). The boat ride can take up to an hour, after you board, depending on how many people are getting on/off at each of 3 stops, so it can theoretically be walked faster. This is kind of a pro trick and not many people use this path. It is well lit and safe though.

You will actually have 2 hours, but it will be a Food & Wine Festival Saturday Night (mine was during F&W, but a weekday). The best spots for Illuminations will be very crowded, so prime viewing might not be available. Still, if you aren't going to see Illuminations at any other time, then you might try for it.

 

[loves to dive]

I'm not familiar with F&W. Is this something the kids would be interested in?

If your kids aren't picky eaters they should enjoy it. They set up booths from countries that aren't normally in the WS with, well food and wine. Small amounts, some maybe 2 bites, some maybe 4. If the kiddos are small you probably want to avoid it at night, I hear some people enjoy the wine part a whole lot (I'm not looking in the mirror here).

 

[SpainJ]

Yes, indeed. Granted, it was only me. I'm an adult in decent shape. The walk is around a mile. It follows the same path the "Friend Ship" boats would take, but the boats stop at each resort dock, and fill up as the park empties after Fantasmic! (most people are going back to the Epcot area resorts). The boat ride can take up to an hour, after you board, depending on how many people are getting on/off at each of 3 stops, so it can theoretically be walked faster. This is kind of a pro trick and not many people use this path. It is well lit and safe though.

You will actually have 2 hours, but it will be a Food & Wine Festival Saturday Night (mine was during F&W, but a weekday). The best spots for Illuminations will be very crowded, so prime viewing might not be available. Still, if you aren't going to see Illuminations at any other time, then you might try for it.

I'm hoping everyone is at Magic Kingdom on Halloween for the MNSSHP and Adults are at home giving to trick or treaters. I'm hoping.

 

[BrianL]

I'm hoping everyone is at Magic Kingdom on Halloween for the MNSSHP and Adults are at home giving to trick or treaters. I'm hoping.

Don't count on it. EasyWDW rates Epcot as the least recommended park that day, though overall crowd level is only 6 out of 10. The MNSSHP will actually drive guests into the other parks as they only sell a limited number of tickets for it and the extra cost is not something everyone wants to spend. I'm not saying don't go to Epcot, I'm just saying be prepared for decent to high crowds on a Saturday night at F&W. IT's still totally manageable if you have a plan and don't mind not having the best view of Illuminations.

 

[CounselorX]

You're leaving in a week and haven't booked fast passes? Or, am I reading this wrong?

 

[SpainJ]

You're leaving in a week and haven't booked fast passes? Or, am I reading this wrong?

No, you're reading it correctly. Because we are getting 3 free tickets from a family cast member, we can't book our fast passes until he let's us into the park. This is very unfortunate, but he's essentially getting 3 free park hoppers for each day we're there. He already purchased discounted park hoppers for the other 5 familk members going. So he's saving us well over $1,000....but no pre-booked fast passes.

 

[ErinCat]

With no FP+, I would plan to hit the more popular attractions at rope drop or last of the night. For the late night, the posted times are often over-estimations. So, let's say that HS is about to close and the posted wait for Toy Story is 60 minutes. That is likely to be an over-estimation. As long as you are in the line by closing time, you get on the ride. Yes, you might wait longer in lines than some people who made their FP in advance. But with this being your first trip, and knowing that no one can see everything in a single trip, just soak in some Disney joy! Also, if everyone is on the same MDE, one person is all that is needed at a kiosk. So perhaps you should designate one person to go to the FP+ kiosk while the rest goes to the first desired attraction at rope drop. You are unlikely to get Anna and Elsa FP or SDMT, but there should be same day FP+ available.

You have not mentioned your plans for food...

 

[larryz]

Clearly, you have an adventurous spirit. I applaud your spontaneity!

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I would recommend Fantasmic over Illuminations if you have to pick one. You could start a thread on that, because it'd probably be a pretty even split.

Also as far as parks, what does EasyWDW say about Wednesday at Epcot? That would probably be my focus and then focus on DHS on Saturday.

Please come back and tell us how much fun you can have without prebooking fp+, we've done it. I know it can be great.

 

[ErinCat]

Are you planning to make any advanced dining reservations? All counter service can get old for some people.

 

[SpainJ]

Are you planning to make any advanced dining reservations? All counter service can get old for some people.

We really tried to get some of the "themed" restaurants booked about 150 days out, but with this being the season for the free dining plans we weren't able to reserve any that interested us. I spoke to a guest services person and she suggested trying to book dining 24 hours before because a lot of people over book with the dining plans and cancel their reservation. Also, this is the one aspect of the trip that I'm really trying to control budget. Also, we're a party of 8. We're having snacks and drinks delivered to the hotel so that we don't have to eat out for every meal. I'm really hoping we can get into something like the 50's Primetime Cafe or the Sci-Fi theatre. Actually I'm going to look again and see what's available.