First Trip - Would Appreciate Itinerary Advice!

[PenguinGal]

Our family (self, husband, three children 12, 14, and 17) will be making our first WDW trip next month. It was a fairly short-notice trip, and I am just now trying to plan a rough daily itinerary.

We arrive late on Tues. 6/8 and depart noon Tues. 6/15. We will have six full days to tour - Wed. 6/9 through Mon. 6/14. During that time, we want to visit each of the parks, Disney Quest, and possibly one water park. We will be staying on property (POFQ) and have UPH tickets for all six days. We have Cirque du Soliel tickets for Saturday night - otherwise, we have nothing to 'work around'.

I have been following these board and reading the Unofficial Guide to figure out the best/least crowded days to visit each park. (Realizing that in June, all parks will be crowded....) I've read that certain parks tend to be busier on certain days: MK on Mon/Thurs/Sat, Epcot on Fri, MGM on Wed/Sun, AK on Wed/Mon. I've also read that the park with EE that day should be avoided due to heavy crowds. When I factor out those days for each park, this is one possible schedule I come up with:

Wednesday - MK (eride night that night)/Wishes
Thursday - Epcot/Illuminations
Friday - MGM/Fantasmic
Saturday - Animal Kingdom / Cirque du Soliel
Sunday - Water Park? Or Disney Quest?
Monday - Repeat Favorites? Or Disney Quest?

Would really appreciate input from some WDW veterans. Thanks!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by PenguinGal
Sunday - Water Park? Or Disney Quest?

You could do both of these on one day....get to the water park early and leave around 2 or 3. After you go back to your room and freshen up you could head over to Disney quest for the remainder of the day. They have places to eat inside too.

 

[TiggMan]

Your schedule looks fine to me. Just remember to do whatever you want whenever you want - you're on vacation. I didn't see where you have any restaurants booked. If you have a certain one in mind, you may want to book a PS (Priority Seating) reservation.

Have a GREAT time and enjoy!

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by PenguinGal
Wednesday - MK (eride night that night)/Wishes
Thursday - Epcot/Illuminations
Friday - MGM/Fantasmic
Saturday - Animal Kingdom / Cirque du Soliel
Sunday - Water Park? Or Disney Quest?
Monday - Repeat Favorites? Or Disney Quest?

I see you're doing each park all day....that's fine to do but my family likes to park hop. We usually stay in one park from opening thru an hour or so after lunch and then hop to another park to finish the day. That's just our usual method but yours is fine too.

Also, I definitely thing you should book some priority seating. I try to do one a day usually for lunch. That way we sit down in air conditioning and take a little relaxing break from the hustle and bustle. If refreshes us.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

Be sure to get to each park early. Many people go early and then go back to their Disney resort for a break, maybe a swim in the pool. Then they go to another park for the rest of the day.
Absolutely do priority seatings and check out the menus at allearsnet.com
Enjoy your trip!!!!

 

[mcgrawfan]

Disney Quest is open late. You could possible do that in an evening after dinner.

 

[PenguinGal]

I appreciate everyone's help. I did plan to make some PS arrangements but wanted to first figure out which
park(s) we would be at on which days and choose the restaurants accordingly.

About Disney Quest - I know it can get crowded. Is there a "better" time to go when the lines arent prohibitively long? Certain days or times of day? I have a feeling my kids are going to want to try everything in there, so shorter lines would definitely be a consideration.

 

[PenguinGal]

bump

 

[redskiesx25]

hey everyone..i hear you all talking about "Disney Quest"..id just like to let you all know that it is now closed down..sorry for the inconvience...

and about your planning...i am a teenager, like your kids, and for a resteraunt to do PS, i would deff. do a lunch or dinner at the Prime Time Cafe At MGM. The theme is 1960's, and if you put your elbows on the table a certain amount of times, they make you do the song "Im a little tea cup" infront of the whole resteraunt (i know from expierence)...also, you can try the Crystal Palace for a Character Breakfast.

Hope i helped!

 

[HaleyB]

You are an onsite guest... are you sure you don't want to take advantage of the morning hours (Extra magic hour)??? It is true these parks END up with bigger crowds, but you are an informed DISer who knows enough to park hop, right? Onsite guests get to use EMH if they can drag themeselves out of bed for it, and it is the best way to avoid crowds. If you can't get to the parks that early by all means, do avoid the EE park, but if you can plan to start your day in the EE park and then hop to another park later on.

 

[cruisnfamily]

Originally posted by redskiesx25
hey everyone..i hear you all talking about "Disney Quest"..id just like to let you all know that it is now closed down..sorry for the inconvience...

 

[RLewis]

Your schedule looks fine. A couple of notes . . .

When we stay on-site, we always take advantage of EE, so we plan our schedule so that we HIT every EE fay. Yes, the park gets crowded later that day, but in the first 2 hours you can ride more than any other two hours of any other day.

I guess - for first-timers - I would stick to one park in one day (not park hop). It can be hard to time out your PSs at different parks if yo haven't been there before and not sure how long to get from one place to the other.

It might be a little better if you could move your water park up a day or two. As I understand it, the water parks are more likely to be visited by locals on the weekends - and are therefore more crowded. We have always gone during the week.

I would think on your last day you waould want to back to the parks (not DQ).

 

[PenguinGal]

RLewis & HaleyB -

If we do take anvantage of EE but don't park hop, we will probably be dealing with larger crowds as the day goes on. Do the benefits of EE outweigh dealing with the crowds later?

As a first-timer, this is all new to me. I don't want to "overplan" but also want to make informed decisions. I really appreciate everyone's input.

 

[RLewis]

I think EE is well worth it. Tthe last time we went it had been discountinued, and we really missed it.

Look, the parks are going to be packed and hot from 12:00-5:00, regardless of the day. I don't think it makes a big difference (in the afternoon) whether it's an EE day or not.

The amount of rides you can cover in the morning is well worth getting up at the crack of dawn.

Although I still wouldn't park hop, I would advise on going back to your hotel at mid day (right after lunch) until about dinner time. Especially at MK. AK is small so you can cover it by 3:00. MGM is larger, but there are several sit-down theaters so you can get a rest. EPCOT tends to be a slower paced day. But MK tends to wear down on you from all of teh outside waiting areas and just pushing through the crowds.

If you don't want to go all the way back to your hotel, I suggest a late lunch/realy dinner PS at one of the restaurants in Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian, or Wilderness Lodge. These are easy commutes from MK and get you out of the afternoon crowds.

 

[HaleyB]

Originally posted by PenguinGal
RLewis & HaleyB -

If we do take anvantage of EE but don't park hop, we will probably be dealing with larger crowds as the day goes on. Do the benefits of EE outweigh dealing with the crowds later?

As a first-timer, this is all new to me. I don't want to "overplan" but also want to make informed decisions. I really appreciate everyone's input.

I think it is well worth doing EE, you beat the heat and the crowds this way. If you really do not want to park hop do at least find some shade and some a/c in the afternoon. The heat will really zap you otherwise. However I highly recommend afternoon breaks, and if you do that then it is just as easy to go to another park.