First-timer here - made ADR's and park plans, did I make any big mistakes?

[andrews1]

DH and I are going to be at WDW Sept 21st - 28th for the 1st time. We're staying at ASMu. I'd really appreciate it if some of you really experienced people could look over our park plan in regards to the ADR's and let me know if I've made any mistakes as far as travel time between places, or anything else. THANKS!

Friday, 9-21: arrival probably afternoon, thought we'd do dinner in Epcot at Mitsukoshu Teppanyaki at 8:00pm, then watch Illuminations (we'll be there another night if dinner runs late for Illuminations) Not too concerned about this day.

Saturday, 9-22: Probably spend all day at MGM, then go to Downtown Disney for dinner at Wolfgang Cafe at 9:30pm. Really want to eat here, but this was the only time I could get. How long will traveling from MGM to DD, and DD to ASMu take? We're using only Disney transportation, no car.

Sunday, 9-23: MK all day, eating at Crystal Palace for breakfast at 9:25am. Would I be better off with a little later time due to park crowds, or is this good?

Monday, 9-24: All day at Epcot, have lunch res at Coral Reef, 12:10pm and dinner res at 7:10pm at Chefs de France. I know those are 2 pretty big meals in a row, but really wanted to eat at Coral Reef, and heard Chefs de France was good, too.

Tuesday, 9-25: Probably do a water park in the morning & afternoon, maybe late afternoon at MK, then we've got dinner res. in DD at Cap'n Jacks. How long would it take me to get to DD from MK? Is there a monorail between the two?

Wednesday, 9-26: AK all day. Due to lack of TS restaurants we want to eat at in AK, we're planning just to do CS both meals that day, making up for the two TS meals 9-24 at Epcot. ...or would I be better off leaving the park for a while to eat somewhere else (EMH at AK that evening, so we'll probably be back there if we did leave), and forefit one of my Epcot reservations? HELP!

Thursday, 9-27: Not sure what we're doing today, maybe Disney Quest, another waterpark, or whatever park we want to go back to. We've got dinner at Marrakash in Epcot at 5:30pm, then thought we'd take the monorail to MK for Spectromagic and/or fireworks, depending on if we're there on time for Spectromagic. Is this too much traveling for today? We're leaving the next day, so don't want to wear ourselves out too bad for the last day. Or should I be eating somewhere else? DH really wants to try Moroccan food, which is why I booked Marrakesh, but I also read the CS Tangieriene is good, so we could just get the Moroccan there, and try somewhere else for dinner. This day I could really use some help with!

Friday, 9-28: not sure what time we leave, so nothing planned for today

I really appreciate any insight, esp. in regards to travel time and methods between places. We do love food, but really want to relax too, and I'm a little afraid I might have been too ambitious with the running around. Like I said I'm a first timer, so I just guessed at this stuff!

Thanks!

 

[checkwriter]

For that first Sunday, I'd suggest going with an early lunch at Crystal Palace, like 11:30 or 12:00. Instead of breakfast at 9:30, get the the park at rope drop and you'll get to experience so much more with shorter lines. By 11:30 or so you'll be ready for a break and can hit the "b-list" attractions in the afternoon.

I think you've done some good planning. Are you going to use a touring plan? I'd suggest looking into that as another way of maximizing your time in the parks.

I don't see any afternoon breaks built into your days. We typically like to do rope drop or morning EMH if possible and relevant for our park that day, then head back to the hotel for some R&R in the afternoon, then return in the evening (either to the same or a different park). That break can make all the difference. Otherwise things can really get to feel like a grind, which kind of stinks when you're supposed to be on vacation.

 

[slug]

I second the idea to build in afternoon breaks. It gets really hot and you will do a TON of walking without even realizing it.

For the crystal palace breakfast, I'd try an 8am breakfast adr or the latest breakfast adr you can get. I say breakfast instead of lunch b/c the breakfast is so good there. Also, a lot of people eat lunch between 11:30-1:30. if you have a late breakfast instead, you can see more attractions while many people are eating lunch.

The early adr for breakfast is awesome. If you can get into the park before it opens, you can get some great pictures of the park with no people around and a great breakfast at the same time.

 

[andrews1]

Thanks for the tips - is lunch at CP good? I'd heard amazing things about the breakfast, which is why we decided on that. There is an EMH that day at MK, so maybe we should switch to take advantage of that.

As far as breaks go, we're not really as scheduled as we sound, and figured we'd just go back to rest if we felt like it (hopefully not getting in the middle of any reservations).

I'm just afraid with travel time we might be making some errors, I don't want to spend all day traveling to and from places, not really doing anything.

Edited to say, that I was thinking not 8am for breakfast, because our dinner res at Wolfgang cafe is 9:30pm the night before, and I'm guessing we'll be really tired from that - thinking that might be a mistake, too, but i really kinda want to eat there. Maybe I will try the latest break ADR i can get, though.

 

[checkwriter]

I haven't had the breakfast at CP, but the lunch buffet was very good. The kitchen is right by the main buffet line, and the platters are kept relatively small so the food is fresh. Not a steam-table kind of place by any means.

For us, the choice to go with breakfast would depend on whether we were traveling with kids. The MK is such a kid-focused place that I would forego the breakfast in favor of taking full advantage of the EMH and front-loading our day with as many attractions as possible.

 

[septbaby]

Consider going to MK early then to the water park. One of the water parks is near DTD and can more easily get to your Capn Jack's reservation.

 

[checkwriter]

Also, on the travel:

I don't think there is a bus from MGM (or the MK) to DTD. You'll need to go to a resort first, then transfer there to a DTD bus. I believe that is to discourage people from parking at DTD and taking buses from DTD to the parks.

So you could take a bus to POFQ; from there you can take a boat to DTD, which may not be the quickest way to go but could be a very nice way.

There is no monorail service to DTD. Only from the TTC to/from the MK (either express, or 'local' with stops at the Poly, the GF, and the CR), and from the TTC to/from Epcot (two lines). So for your Marrakesh/Spectromagic evening, you'd need to take two monorails; one from Epcot to the TTC, and then transfer across the platform to the monorail to the MK. Not onerous, but give yourself at least at least half hour, maybe forty minutes, maybe even more.

For the AK day, you might want to consider a reservation for a TS meal at the AKL after the park closes, since even with the EMH it will close at something like 7 or 8, right?

Re Coral Reef, see the Dis's Kevin Klose's recent review: http://www.wdwinfo.com/reviews/coralreef.htm

Also, two TS meals in a day will fill you up and take a lot of time.

 

[andrews1]

Thanks for the Coral Reef review. We love seafood, but it's sounding like that's not the place to get it anymore.

OK, so thinking maybe I'll cancel lunch at Coral Reef, and instead add Boma for dinner on 9-26. How do we get from AK to AKL?

Any other ideas?

Also, thinking of cancelling Marrakesh on 9-27 for dinner, since we can try the moroccan food at Tangierene, and swithcing for somewhere else. Anywhere must-do that we missed?

Oh, and what does TTC mean?

 

[slug]

Thanks for the Coral Reef review. We love seafood, but it's sounding like that's not the place to get it anymore.

OK, so thinking maybe I'll cancel lunch at Coral Reef, and instead add Boma for dinner on 9-26. How do we get from AK to AKL?

Any other ideas?

Also, thinking of cancelling Marrakesh on 9-27 for dinner, since we can try the moroccan food at Tangierene, and swithcing for somewhere else. Anywhere must-do that we missed?

Oh, and what does TTC mean?

TTC = transporation and ticket center

 

[slug]

Will you have a car or no?

 

[DisBride2007]

You can easily take the bus from AK to AKL and it is a very short trip. To get back to your resort, you'll have to take a bus from AKL to a park or DTD and switch to a bus back to your resort. Leave more time than you think you'll need every time you take Disney Transportation and call the front desk if you have any questions. It's ALWAYS slower than you think.

 

[andrews1]

no car

 

[*Emily*]

Do NOT go by that review of Coral Reef! It is an amazing, unique restaurant!

 

[checkwriter]

The Transportation and Ticket Center is sort of the main gate for the Magic Kingdom. You park there and then can either take the monorail to the MK or a ferry boat. You can also take the monorail from there to Epcot. It's closer to the MK than to Epcot.

Here's a map of the area: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...d=104447953571558016697.000001131806029fa2dc5

 

[checkwriter]

You can easily take the bus from AK to AKL and it is a very short trip. To get back to your resort, you'll have to take a bus from AKL to a park or DTD and switch to a bus back to your resort. Leave more time than you think you'll need every time you take Disney Transportation and call the front desk if you have any questions. It's ALWAYS slower than you think.

This is a good point re: any resort dining. You'll have to either take a taxi back to your home resort, or take a bus to a central stop -- such as a theme park or DTD -- where you can then switch to your home resort bus.

 

[conandrob240]

All good advice. I agree on Crystal Palace- I wouldn't waste a fairly empty time at the park (9am-11am or so before it gets slammed) eating. Do some early am attractions- if you get there at rope drop you can get through all of fantasy land with short lines in 2 hrs or so. Lunch at CP is heaven- air conditioned and a great break for your feet midday.

Also, I do believe that DisneyQuest is now closed so you can plan something else for that day

 

[Leigha]

I too would rather waste a CS credit than a TS to just try a food. I think you should try the late breakfast ADR. My sister was able to get breakfast and lunch choices doing that once. I don't think you can go by one review of a restaurant either. I think if I were a young couple I would go for the California Grill or somewhere at the Grand Floridian - both of which are easy to get to because they are so close to the MK bus system. Make the best plans you can by looking at the menus on allears.net and don't stress too much! Have fun!

 

[pooch]

DD and I will also be at Teppanyaki on 9/21 - 7:30 ressies!!!

 

[casaazul]

We loved Coral Reef. Great MahiMahi. We had no complaints and the best meal of all.

We all disliked the food at Boma, and we like to try different things. Everything had the same spice in it, which I did not like. BUT the mac and cheese was good, LOL!!

 

[Donold_Fan]

I again would advise on th 8am ressies at CP. We do that once every trip and always get out right at rope drop into adventureland.

Also, I agree about expirimenting with food with a TS. We did Morrocco last time and DW and I split the sampler for 2 and really didn't care for anything they had. DW isn't overly adventurous, but I am and we still didn't care for it and wished that we had just gotten something from the Morroccan CS.

I also agree with the Boma comment about almost all things having the same spice taste to it. DW and DD didn't care too much for it, and DW has eaten quite a bit of aferican cuisine. However, I'd say to still try it, because it's a buffet and you can sample a lot of different things. I found some things I liked, especially one of the soups and was able to fill up.

2 TS's in one day will be too much, IMO.

This may be bad form, and if so, I'll get flamed, but you could go to Typhoon Lagoon, which is the WP closest to DTD and then take a bus over to POR or POFQ (both in the DTD area), then hop one of the boats to DTD instead of waiting for a bus. I think the boat from POR to DTD sounds cool and am looking forward to trying it in Sept. (We are staying at POR). The boats start running every 15 minutes later in the day, so the wait for one of those might be less than for a bus.