First time WDW visitor. Critique my trip.

[bethwc101]

So, this is my first trip to WDW, and it's not even a definite. We are currently scheduled for DLR as that is our home park, but with FL making more progress than CA, we are thinking the parks might not be open in CA for our trip so are planning WDW as the fallback.
First ever siblings trip. Two adults, 2 preteens. All 4 of us love thrill rides.
First week of August. None of us have been to FL before, so are planning on hot and humid. We will bring our mini fans, cooling rags, and refillable waterbottles to the park. And bring ponchos just in case. We are planning on a table service for lunch each day to get out of the heat and already have reservations for the one mentioned below.
We are planning on park hopping. I know it can take a significant amount of time and not like DLR, but enough people told me about taking advantage of magic morning, than park hopping to another park as the one with magic morning tends to be the busy park.
I'm still figuring out the fastpass system, but I have listed the ones I will TRY and get when our window opens up.

We are thrill ride people, so let me know if one I selected for FP would be better to do standby and swwap it for something else.

Sat.- arrive. Check in at probably POP
Sun- Hollywood Studios magic morning, hopefully get ROTR BG, Ogas at 11, Hop to AK depending on BG time. Pngu or Yak for breakfast, Tusker for lunch, dinner either flame tree or satu'li. FP hope for: Avatar, Kahli river, expedition Everest
Mon- Free day. Breakfast Kona Cafe. Lunch Sanaa
Tues- Epcot magic morning. Breakfast Sleepy Hollow. Lunch BOG. Dinner. Pecos Billl, Columbia House, or Cosmic Rays. FP: Splash, Peter Pan, Seven Dwarfs. (Peter Pan is a household favorite which is why it was picked over thrill ride, unless it is usually not as long as thrill ride queues.)
Wed- Universal
Thurs- Epcot magic morning Maybe.?? Hop or Start at Hollywood Studios. Breakfast Woody's lunch box. Lunch 50's prime. Dinner either Ronto Roaster, Woody's, or Fairfax faire,. FP: MFSR, rockin coaster, TOT.
Fri- Free day. Maybe Disney Springs?
Sat- AK magic morning. Hop to Epcot. breakfast Les Halles Boulangerie. Lunch Garden Grill, Dinner either regal eagle, tangierine, or sunshine. FP: test tracks, and no idea for the other 2.
Sun - Departure.

Overall thoughts and opinions?
This trip is dependent on another thing. I should be getting a bonus before the trip but because of COVID, who knows. If I do, we are going to VIP tour universal, and VIP tour on SAT. And maybe upgrade to a better resort. Maybe animal lodge or something? or the wilderness one? But because we won't be spending too much time at the resort, I don't know if it's worth it. At DLR we typically stay at the Best Westerns or if it's a special trip than the GCH.

Sorry if this is all over the place. None of us have ever been and it's potentially 3 months away, so trying to plan quickly. As we'll have to pull the trigger this month on hotel so we can get fastpasses on the 60 day mark.

 

[gatorlisa]

Just wanted to point one thing out to you. At WDW, not all extra hours are in the morning. It's "Extra Magic Hour", not "Magic Morning", because some of them are in the evening. On Tuesday, consider your plans with the knowledge that the Extra Magic Hours for Epcot are in the evening (so 9pm to 11 pm). IF things stay on the current usual schedule (and I think right now that's a big IF, given we really have no idea what will happen when they reopen), the typical EMH schedule is below. Morning EMH are 1 hour prior to posted park opening; evening EMH are 2 hours after posted park closing.

Sunday - Hollywood Studios evening
Monday - Animal Kingdom morning
Tuesday - Epcot evening
Wednesday - Magic Kingdom evening
Thursday - Epcot morning
Friday - Magic Kingdom morning
Saturday - Animal Kingdom morning

 

[chris benton]

Just a quick suggestion:
With the crew you have going, and if you are hopping, you might wanna consider an Epcot Resort.
I believe POP is on the skyliner, which might completely negate my reasoning, but I'm not sure when it starts running in the am, or what the lines are like:

Epcot area resorts negate travel time to (and from) two parks. In Wallyworld - time is money. It might be worth the uptick in price from Pop, it might not. But it's nice to know you can leave your room at 7:45 am and be at the Epcot IG before 8am. It's nice to know when you leave Epcot you can be in the pool at your resort before most people are in a line for a bus. Hollyweird will be a little bit longer of a walk, but not by much. You'll also have the Friendship boats for the EP resorts.

Along those lines - Ep resorts are built for hoppers (IMO.) Tt's nice to know that if you are up and at em early at some park, you can come to the resort for a mid day break, but then you already know you can hop over to EP or HS in a matter of minutes. No wait for a bus.

Those travel times really do add up.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

A few things....

Arrival day, if it's not too late in the day, you might want to consider going to Disney Springs, a monorail resort or Epcot/HS Crescent Lake resort for dinner.

FPs for AK and HS Tier 1 attractions are difficult to get in the first few days of your visit because of the +10 window. You are more likely to get those toward your 3rd, 4th, 5th day, etc.

Park hopping consumes a lot of time - like everyone else said. With waiting for buses, security lines, etc., you could lose more than an hour on this. I only started doing it when we got APs after more than 10 years of annual visits. If we hop, we have breakfast in the hotel counter service, go to one park in the AM, have lunch there (sometimes quick, sometimes sit down), head back to the hotel around 2 or 3, chill at the pool, head out to another park after 5 for dinner and evening entertainment. Also, it's a lot easier to hop between Epcot and HS - you can walk. And hopping between Epcot and MK isn't the worst because of the monorail.

Peter Pan always has crazy long lines. If you can't get a SDMT FP, try to run into line right as the fireworks are starting or a few minutes before park closing. Really, that works for walking on any ride. But fireworks might not be a thing during your visit. The castmembers always lie, the sign will say 20 minute wait, the castmember will try to tell you it's a 100 minute wait. SDMT castmember lies like rug.

 

[CynBeth]

With such a short trip and taking 1 day away for Universal I would not have 2 free days. I would spend as much time at MK, Epcot, DHS, and AK as you can without hopping and do DS on arrival day.

 

[Tink9721]

Sun- Hollywood Studios magic morning, hopefully get ROTR BG, Ogas at 11, Hop to AK depending on BG time. Pngu or Yak for breakfast, Tusker for lunch, dinner either flame tree or satu'li. FP hope for: Avatar, Kahli river, expedition Everest

I'm a little confused here. You have Oga's at 11:00 but you're having breakfast, lunch, and dinner at AK? Are you planning on hopping to AK after you get your boarding group, then back to DHS for Oga's, then back to AK for lunch? I think you're underestimating how long hopping takes, especially when you're going to/from AK.

 

[Minniesgal]

Omg that is a lot of meals and a lot of food.

 

[Gehrig1B]

I would not have any free days for such a short stay unless there is a specific reason... Universal is very different in Orlando than in California. It deserves 2 days and is best to visit with express passes. You can stay one night at a Universal deluxe hotel and get free express passes for 2 days. We often take an overnight bag and do 2 Universal days and one night while keeping our Disney hotel, using Lyft to back and forth. Actually saves money as the express passes cost more than the hotel room.

 

[LizzyDragon]

Your Tues and Sat mornings confuse me because you mention planning on doing an EMH in one park and then breakfast in another park. That doesn't seem like an efficient way to do things. I also would not want to park hop before 10am as the crowds are usually at their lowest first time in the morning. You'll waste optimal ride time by hopping in the morning.

Since this is your first time visiting WDW, I actually wouldn't make plans to park-hop from the get-go. Save the hopping to a day-of decision where you've exhausted the options in the park you're in, and want to visit or revisit something in another park.

In terms of what's easiest/fastest to park hop between- going between MK/Epcot is the easiest due to the monorail. Epcot/HS is next due to the Skyliner (you'll have to make one transfer), the friendship boats or the walking option. All other connections between parks will have to be by bus or car. I would plan on an hour for the transfer for any park hop- it may not take that long, but it usually takes at least 30 min.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would drop all of the park hopping. It takes up SO much time and it is so hot in August. Start with base tickets and plan to spend the day in one park. You may also want to consider mid-day breaks. I can't emphasize how hot it is in August. We've gone in late August for the past 9 years - I don't think we've ever made it through a whole day in the parks. Consider early mornings through lunch time, midday breaks and back in the early evenings (that's what we do).

 

[No.1000]

We are AP and like to park hop, but some days we make our fastpasses at the park we are going to in the morning. That way you can pick up extra ones at the second park, particularly MK. Also, I get why you are planning your big meals at lunch, but it is SO hot that you might not enjoy heavy meals that time of day. Keep your options open and have a magical trip!

 

[fly girl]

Ok, a few things...

Do extra morning hours, they are great. And I know many WDW vets plan differently, but we use our FP+'s right away at regular park opening. So, say you had Epcot for day 1. Go to EMH. Ride FEA and possibly a few other tier 2 ride (Nemo, Figment) in that first hour. Then your three FP's:
9am ~ Test Track
10am ~ Mission Space
11am ~ Living with the Land
(in down time from FP's hit breakfast. Sunshine Seasons would work well)

Once you scan magic band for Living, go on app and get 4th FP. I'd try for Soarin'. If you can't get one right away, then park hop. Just like Max Pass, keep refreshing. QS a lunch as you don't know what park you'll hop to if you are dependent upon a good FP.

I do the same thing down the line for other park days. Just keep in mind getting early FP+'s at your 60 day window get easier the further you go out (i.e., you won't find MMRR/SDD/MRSR for your first park day, likely it will be 60+4.)

Meals, am with you I love a nice sit down lunch to cool off. They don't all have to be TS restaurants, esp in MK (Columbia Harbour House is our MK go-to). But you have a lot of table service meals in there. We typically grab a light QS breakfast and have a sit down lunch around 1pm, snack somewhere around 3-4, then dinner at 7pm. But if you want to park hop then a reservation may kill your plans. If you really want a TS lunch, I'd suggest that to be your morning park. Don't park hop back and forth just for meals (exception, you can for HS and Epcot, but still add in time. Any other 2 parks, I would strongly advise against!)

I don't understand your day 1. HS to get boarding group, then hop to AK for breakfast? I know you know hopping isn't like DLR. But going to AK for breakfast and hopping back to HS for Oga's at 11am, then back to AK for lunch? No way. That isn't feasible. All your time will be consumed on the buses. We are park hoppers, but that is too much. Buses are so time consuming, don't put yourself through that misery. This is how I'd do your HS day. (and it wouldn't be day 1 just because Tier 1 FP's won't be available.)
HS:
Arrive early to hopefully get Boarding Group for ROR
EMH: try to hit a Tier 1 you didn't get FP for. Hit QS breakfast.
FP's
9am ~ MMRR, SDD, or MFSR
10am ~ Rock N' Rollercoaster
11am ~ Oga's
12pm ~ TSMM
Lunch ~ Woody's Toy Box

Hopefully sometime close to all of this you'll get ROR boarding group. If it is expected to be mid afternoon, just stay in HS. Don't stress hopping. Keep refreshing for good HS FP's. Remember after you hit Magic Band to get on TSMM, start looking for 4th FP.

Once you are done with ROR (or unless your boarding group is supposed to be in the evening) then park hop.

Free day Kona and Sanaa. Again, 2 places that you have to really travel to. Easiest way to get to them would be Uber (you can Minnie Van too, but with no need for a carseat why pay the premium for a polka dot van?) I would book a late breakfast and an early dinner. Maybe hang at the pool and get a light snack in between on your free day.

I'd also give Universal 2 days. But if you are set on 1 you could do it (esp, if you are not huge HP fans). I'd consider doing Universal at the beginning of the trip, giving you more time from your 60 day window to secure good FP+'s.

Final thoughts, park hopping is great. But we don't go back and forth like we do at DLR ... it is too much of a hassle at WDW.

Hope that helps!

 

[Shellbells]

First hi! You're going to love WDW. Disneyland is my "home" park too since we live in Vegas.
I can tell you that you're probably going to be surprised at how large Disney World is in comparison to DL/DCA. I tried hard to explain it to my DH and he still didn't get it until he went.
Each park is huge in comparison and they can take a lot out of you with the walking plus the heat and the humidity.
We tend to rope drop, eat a late lunch, go back to the room to rest and the go back to the park later and have dinner there. We only eat twice a day when we're there.
We don't park hop but we could since we take a mid day break.
Even if you're physically and mentally able to rope drop and stay at the parks to closing, I don't think you're giving yourself enough time at your morning parks.
You might want to think about having breakfast at your first park. Also give yourself at least an hour to get to the 2nd park.

Oh and don't forget. It's not like Downtown Disney. I mean, it is..but it also isn't. Disney Springs and the resorts have, IMO, the best food and are worth checking out even if you don't eat. We always have a few meals at DS and the resorts. It means not getting to a park until the afternoon or leaving early but for us, it's worth it.
There are a lot of amazing and special things to DW but you have to slow down to notice a lot of it. Especially, AK and Epcot.
I love WDW and would rather go there than DL but as similar as they can be, there are even more differences.
No matter what, you're going to have a great time and I hope you tell us all about your trip when you get back.

 

[sharonabe]

Sun- Hollywood Studios magic morning, hopefully get ROTR BG, Ogas at 11, Hop to AK depending on BG time. Pngu or Yak for breakfast, Tusker for lunch, dinner either flame tree or satu'li.

Tues- Epcot magic morning. Breakfast Sleepy Hollow. Lunch BOG. Dinner. Pecos Billl, Columbia House, or Cosmic Rays. FP:

Sat- AK magic morning. Hop to Epcot. breakfast Les Halles Boulangerie.

With all three of these, you're hopping way too early. If the parks you've listed have extra magic MORNING hours, it's only one hour before the regular opening time. If you're thinking to hop to your 2nd park in time to make park opening at that park, that's not going to happen. You need to "budget" at least 45 min to an hour for park hopping (walking to front of park, waiting on bus, travel time, walking to entrance, security).

So let's say HS opens with EMH at 8:00 a.m., how are you having breakfast at AK but then drinks at Ogas at 11:00 back at HS? Even if you only go into HS to get your boarding group, it's still easily 9:00 - 9:15 before you get into AK. Then you need to reverse and get back to HS before 11:00, so you're leaving AK no later than 10:00. WHY???

If you want to take advantage of the early morning EMH (and we do), you want to spend the best part of the morning at that park. Hop just before or after lunch to your next park. That means, if you're eating breakfast at the park, you need to eat it at the EMH park, not the 2nd park.

 

[Skippyboo]

Okay some of those days make no sense, like going to AK for EMH and then eating 3 meals at Epcot. Also the HS studios then 3 meals at AK with a 11 am Oga’s .

August will be hot & humid. So you want to plan to hit the parks in the morning and then in the evening. Try to avoid the middle of the day.

If you want to do Universal put in at the beginning of your trip. The FP system allows you to make FP at 60 plus the length of your stay. So as others pointed out, the harder to get FPs become easier to get later in your trip. Be ready at 60 days from your arrival at 7 am eastern time to book the FPs, do hardest ones first

WDW is huge. At Pop you can get to Epcot & HS via the Skyliner, MK & Epcot connect via the monorail, Epcot at the international gateway connects to HS via the Friendship boats and there’s a walkway. None of the Disney buses connect hotels to hotels. So you have to use Lyft/Uber or use the parks as a connecting point like going to AK and then the AKL bus to get to Saana. This all takes time so you have to account for this in your planning.

You also have 2 free days plus your arrival day. Disney Springs is open until 12am so it’s a perfect thing for arrival day if you don’t want to hit the parks. There is a lot to see at WDW, you can spend multiple days at MK and not see it all. So I would rethink two free days. Extra days on the tickets cost less for longer ticket lengths.

Eating three meals in a day is a lot. You could do a later in the day breakfast and then dinner and just supplement with snacks or a smaller lunch with bigger dinner or vice a versa.

 

[MomOTwins]

"And bring ponchos just in case." = "just in case" cracked me up a little. You are in August in Florida-- it will rain buckets every day in the afternoon, like clockwork. Bring multiple ponchos per person to account for them getting snagged and torn on something.

Everyone's always explained why Sunday is too much hopping, and why you won't have time to do EMH in one park and breakfast in another park. I would add: if you are going to hop anywhere, hop to Epcot. It is a much shorter hop than AK, and you absolutely do not want to miss your boarding window (sometimes they have been giving only 1 hr to give back). Also, you will not get a FP for Flight of Passage on your first day; need to try for that several days into your trip.

Tuesday: Peter Pan is one of the longest wait time rides; absolutely get it as a FP if you can.

Wednesday: I'd move your Universal trip with your free day on Monday, and your free day from Friday to Wednesday, and then use Friday as a park day. Why? Because as noted above, FP is easier to get at WDW closer to the end of your trip. So Use that valuable Friday near the end of the trip to get a difficult fastpass.

You also asked about the value of upgrading a resort. With August, a nice resort pool can add a lot of value if you decide the parks are just too hot and want to head back and swim for a bit or cool off and have a drink at a resort. Upgrading resorts also typically upgrades the transportation options (e.g., boats/monorail/walking instead of taking the slooooooow buses), making it easier to get from resort to park and back.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

One thing I noticed, is that you have two mornings at EPCOT in addition to an afternoon/evening. I love EPCOT during the late afternoon/evening, but it's pretty boring in the morning that I can't imagine needing two mornings there.

Also, I can't help but support the 'stop hopping' advice. It's your first time at WDW and it's huge. Take just one day per park and you'll have plenty to do without wasting time traveling. I'm an AP, and have been for years, yet I can still easily enjoy a full day at one park.

Plus, you can be 'ready' for Florida summer heat+humidity as well as a Floridian can be ready for Phoenix AZ dry heat. Been there, done that, it's crazy!!! I got headaches from the Phoenix heat and was miserable. Both Phoenix and Florida summers are unlike anything else. Expect to be uncomfortably hot and wet all day (both from sweat and rain).

That said: Do come! It's so much fun (and yes, I've been to DLR several times and love that too). Two days at Universal is also a great plan.

 

[nekonekoneko]

I'm presuming that because Disneyland and DCA are so close to each other, you're thinking that the parks in Florida are all relatively close. Unfortunately, they're not. Remember that WDW is roughly the size of San Francisco, so the parks are quite spread out.

Generally, it will take about 20 minutes to drive from one park to the next. And that's not counting the time to get through the parking attendant. The only parks in walking distance is Epcot to Hollywood Studios, and that's about a 15-20 minute walk.

You will find a bit of familiarity with some of the attractions at WDW, especially when there's a counterpart at DLR. Some things will be in a different place. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is in Critter Country in Anaheim. It's in Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom. Disneyland's Galaxy's Edge is in the main park, Orlando put it in Hollywood Studios.

There will also be differences. Epcot's World Showcase doesn't exist at all in Anaheim. DCA's Pixar Pier and Cars Land have no equivalents in Orlando.

Some people have said that Disneyland's Space Mountain is much better than Walt Disney World's; on the same token, WDW's Peter Pan's Flight it's arguably better than Disneyland's.

But keep the size in consideration, and maybe hopping isn't the best idea for a first time trip to The Florida Project.

 

[danceintherain]

Do you often wake up at 5am? Do you usually wake up that early then not eat breakfast for hours?
Is that how you like to spend your vacations?
Jet lag is no joke. My kids wake up by 7am like clockwork, and I don't use the morning extra magic hours at Disney, because theres a time difference. So 7am is 8am. Regular hours rope drop works decently for everyone except DH (he wants to sleep in on vacation) but it gets harder by the end of the trip....even for me, the Disney fanatic!

We usually do rope drop, stay until around noon (sometimes 1 or 2 if the show schedule isn't accommodating...and it rarely is) then go back to our hotel for around 3 hours and return to the parks in the evening. If we hop, which isn't super common, then it will be after our break.
Sit down in a restaurant for lunch isn't a bad plan, but I wouldnt do that AND park hop. Both are time consuming. I've actually nixed most of our table service dining over the years, because it's expensive and time consuming. I prefer to find a counter service option with indoor air conditioned seating, because it's more flexible.

Also, the heat. I was really nervous last year about going to Disneyland in July, because I had only ever experienced the Florida parks, which we generally avoid in the summer. It got hot-ish, but it was only really bad midday when the sun was highest in the sky.
The Florida heat is pervasive, especially at the end of the summer. Even when the sun is gone, the humidity lingers next to your skin and makes it feel so much hotter.
Then it will rain....so you'll either be covered in a plastic poncho or be wet. Being wet doesn't often help, because its humid, unless theres a nice breeze.

So, even if your touring plan was going to work from a logistics standpoint, you may find yourself tiring more quickly, because it is very difficult to cool down for any period of time. This is the main reason we take our breaks every day: to escape the heat.

I would choose one park per day. I would tentatively plan meals for that day, but recognize that you may need to adjust your plans in order to accommodate FPs.
I would plan to eat breakfast at your hotel as much as possible, because so few places are open in the parks in the early morning ( and they aren't very good) and 9-10am is prime touring time.

 

[danceintherain]

P.S. I know how tempting it is to try to do it all on your first trip. But my first trip to WDW as an adult was 10 days and I still didn't manage to do everything or even get close. We didn't even park hop much during that trip, because there is enough to do in EVERY park to fill 2 days (if you really want to do everything...now that I've been a bunch I know what to skip, so I can do everything I want to do).

I was positively tickled at Disneyland, because I COULD get really close to doing everything in 4 days and I hardly waited in lines at all with MaxPass! This simply isn't possible at WDW, especially with the number of new "must see" attractions. At DLR, the only particularly difficult attraction was smugglers run, which had just opened when I went, and it wasn't even that hard with the single rider line. Oga's canteen was annoying, but mostly because it ended up being a huge let down (who wants to stand at a watering hole? After waiting in line outside even though you had a reservation). The other attractions had been there long enough that there wasn't a struggle to get to them.

At WDW there is at least one "new" attraction in every park. You need to manage your time very well in order to get to do even most of those. If you're trying to fit in most of the other stuff too, then it's even harder.
For example, star wars wasn't even open the last time I went to WDW, and i ended up skipping many of the shows at DHS in order to accommodate the Toy Story land. I also skipped ToT and rockin rollercoaster. I've BTDT, so it was an easy decision. What did I do at DHS, you might ask? Toy story land, the Jedi Training Academy, and the continuous shows. We barely got a break that day, because getting all that scheduled was very difficult.

So I would add days to your tickets, if possible, and I would make a list of everything you want to do in priority order. That way you can look at your list, when FP day comes and quickly make adjustments based on what you can actually get.