Live in California and am headed to WDW for my honeymoon this May. Did
Disneyland AP's for a year so I'm pretty familiar with DL. WDW appears to require so much more planning and is so much bigger! We're staying off-site and renting a car to drive in.
Yes, WDW is a lot bigger. For a DLR vet that has pros and cons. There is definitely more to do - especially outside the parks - but it takes a lot longer to move around so you burn more time each day in transportation just getting places.
As for planning, using the "wing it" approach works better at DLR than WDW. Yes, one can wing it at WDW but it is likely you will miss out on some things. So some level of planning is usually a good idea.
Thinking of doing a dessert dining package to get a good view of a fireworks show. Which package should I get? I was wondering about MK's package. I was thinking with the Happily Ever After show being new, that show would be really crowded since I'm going to the parks for 5 days between May 21-27.
I can't really help you there as I have never done this. For MK fireworks we usually just find a spot and watch them. There are FP options for fireworks if that is a concern for you. Yes, there will be a new show. But WDW is not like DLR in that it draws a ton more people for things like this. AT DLR there are so many AP holders who live within easy driving distance that something new like a fireworks show can draw in massive numbers of people. At WDW most visitors are on a vacation from farther away and do not have the flexibility to just come and visit on a whim. So I would not be too worried about it.
Further, at MK the hub area for fireworks is much larger than at DL and it does not have nearly as many trees to obstruct the view. So there are a lot more good viewing spots.
Will be staying at our hotel one day to "relax" with each other all day.
This is a really good idea. At DLR when we do a multi-day (typically 3-4 days) trip we just power through all the days consecutively. At WDW we always plan entire "off" days or at least several "half days" where we sleep in and hang by the pool or go see a movie or something and then maybe go to a park later in the day. We rarely do three park days in row because it just wears you down. Especially in WDW's hotter and more humid months.
We enjoy character dining and was thinking of one or two of those, preferably in the parks so we don't have to go back and forth. I understand it's quite a trek with WDW being so much larger and spread out than DL. I know I'm quite late to making reservations for some of these.
We have never done a character meal at DLR or WDW so I can't help you with this one.
Must do (and busy) rides at each park? Fastpass rides? From what I've read so far Snow White is a must do.
As the PP said, Pandora opens at AK on May 27. You may want to plan for that. With your five park days, you will likely want one day at each park and then a second day at either MK or Epcot. MK is sufficiently similar to DL park that Epcot may be the best choice for a second day.
Use MesaBoy2's FP sticky thread at the top of the forum for FP information. FP aka FP+ is very different from DLR and takes some getting used to. It has pros and cons. On of the many cons is choosing your FPs and FP windows 30-60 days in advance (30 for you since you are staying off-site). Two of the many pros are not having to run around collecting FPs on foot and not having to make Rope Drop each day in order to maximize your FP options. Read the FP+ thread and develop a plan to get FPs. I recommend doing this from your PC and not smartphone app.
MesaBoy2 also has guidance one which FPs to get. I could go down a long list for you, but will leave that to MesaBoy2. Briefly, I would make sure to get these FPs:
MK: Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Epcot: Either Test Track or Soarin (then try and hit rope drop on yoru Epcot day and do first whichever ride you do not have a FP for)
DHS: Rockin Rollercoaster
AK: Expedition Everest and either or both of the new Pandora rides if you choose to go on the 27th (no one knows yet if Disney is going to allow guests to book FPs for both rides or not - my guess is they will not allow that)
If you choose not to do AK on the 27th, be careful which day you do choose that week because on one of the days the park closes at 3PM for an event and you would not want that to be your AK day. Check park hours especially at AK before choosing a day there to visit.
Anything else we should try planning for? We were thinking of doing a little wandering around the resorts and/or Disney Springs at some point.
Since you are offsite
I would highly recommend choosing park days to avoid days where there are Extra Magic Hours for Disney hotel guests. Those parks will be busier that day and you will not be able to take advantage of the extra hours - a double whammy. The only exception would be AK on the 27th where you would have to tough it out.
Dining. You can make dining reservations now. If I were you I would spend time ASAP figuring out which parks to visit on which days and then making at least a few dining reservations ASAP.
There are so, so, so many dining options at WDW that I and others could go on and on about your options. Here is my short list that gives some good options out of the many:
MK: Surprisingly few good options for just dining but several for character dining - you may want to try for a character meal here. BOG (Be Our Guest) is still on everyone's hot list and hard to get a reservation for.
Epcot: Depends on what type of ethnic food you like. Le Cellier is a good steak option. We just had a very nice meal last week at Nine Dragons in China. Coral Reef is also still a decent choice.
DHS: I never miss Sci-Fi Dine-in. Brown Derby is a nice for an upscale meal.
AK: I am less experienced here with dining. Have done Yak and Yeti once. RainForest Cafe is the same as at DLR so you may or may not want to dine there. We usually do.
California Grill is a nice and special option around MK fireworks time if you can get a reservation. Maybe on your "off day"?
If it were me I would suggest skipping Disney Springs. It is just shopping and dining and a little entertainment. Nice if you have extra time but probably not worth spending your prime time at.
Good luck!
ETA: I forgot shows. Lots of options but I would recommend
- Festival of the Lion King and Flights of Wonder at AK. The new Rivers of Light at AK is pretty cool and worth doing if you can make it work. You can get a FP for this.
- Indiana Jones Stunt show at DHS.
- I would recommend skipping Fantasmic at DHS - it is not as good as the one at DL IMO
- Illuminations at Epcot
