Game Plan, Any suggestions?

[becca011906]

Ok i think we finally have our game plan down! My family is me, dh, ds5, dd3, dd12months. We are also bring along disney first timers w/ us that is a family of mom, dad, dd10, dd8. We are going to get down there on 9/3 and checking out 9/10. This is what we are thinking...

Friday 9/2: kids out of school at 12:00, finish packing up the van's and head out about 2:00 so we get through indianapolis before rush hour. stop to eat some where that the kids can get out and run off some energy maybe find a park or something. Drive through the night

9/3 Saturday: stop in the AM to get the kids out again and run some energy off! Hopefully we will be about to the FL state line by then. Get to the resort, check in if we can, or play around the pool, get lunch some where, get to walmart and get some breakfast food, ect. Bed early to recover from the drive.

9/4 Sunday: My family is going to MK for the day, the other family is going to universal. We plan to get there when it opens and spending the full day with the kids and a leasure pace. Eating prolly 1 CS meal and 1 TS meal. park closes at 8:30 back to the resort by 9-9:30 baths and into bed.

9/5(labor day) Monday: Either a relaxing day at the resort or drive out to the beach. Lunch and dinner in the resort or take picnic lunch to the beach...

9/6 Tuesday: MGM for the day, get there at opening again with both families. Spend all day w/ snacks. eat something about 3-4. fantasmic that night, to the resort and off to bed.

9/7 Wednesday: Epcot, same idea as above. Spend the whole day till closeing and watch illuminations. Back to the room and off to bed.

9/8 Thursday: MK Spend the day with the other family prolly showing them around and seeing the stuff we missed on Sunday. Doesn't close till 10pm so hopefully the kids will nap in the stroller. b/c this is going to be a long day!! Lunch and dinner in the park prolly cs for lunch and ts for dinner.

9/9 Friday: AK all day till 5 when they close. Lunch in the park, then back to the resort for dinner in the room.

9/10 Saturday: check out at 11. either head home or over to the beach on the way home to spend a few hours, then drive all night home some time sunday!!!

So any suggestions? We aren't doing park hoppers just don't think it's worth it for this trip with our kids ages and our bugget... Any suggestions on the beach? Any days we should switch around?

 

[ErinInCT]

Are you sure your kids can go all day? It looks like other then one day you have planned to go to a park ALL DAY. I have a 5 yr old & 2 yr old & there would be NO WAY they could do that. We had to come back every afternoon for nap (for the little one) & swimming (for the older one) to get some down time. If you really are going to be all day at the parks I recommend eating in an a/c restaurant (it is super hot in Sept) for all meals (sit down meals) & planning some "boring" rides in the mid afternoon (like TTA or Jungle Cruise or maybe HOP to get the kids to sleep !!)
I don't think you need all day at MGM for your family. There is just not enough for kids of your ages (imho) to stay all day. Plus there will be practically no lines (we went in Sept last yr, they barely even had to open FP since it was so uncrowded) so you can get a lot more done in a shorter period of time. I also don't think AK is an all day park (also mho).
Are you staying at Disney?
I recommend taking your days where you plan to stay all day & go home around lunch time for a break (maybe bathe/shower then). Then go back late afternoon (4ish) & spend the evening. You'll be able to get everything done & be a lot more refreshed.
Good luck & have fun!

 

[wannabee princess]

One suggestion I would make is to skip the drive to the beach. After spending all the time in the car to drive there and then the drive back, I would probably not try to take the kids for a long drive on a rest day. (I know that you can get to the beach in less than 2 hours, but still think it is just adding too much car time). I also would skip the trip to Walmart - can't you just pack breakfast food instead?

At Epcot, I would plan a sit-down lunch if you are spending the entire day - it is a big park to do in one day!

We have spent full days with little ones sleeping in strollers (or on the train! ) and so I know it is doable depending on the kid. My youngest would just doze off (never fussy) as we pushed the stroller (or get on the train in MK). But, I also have seen kids that are plain ole tired and cranky and would have done better if they had either not been woken up in the morning (let them wake when they wake - no Mom/Dad making them get up and going) or been allowed to go to a bed for a nap.

We always try to plan for 2 days "on" and a day "off" follwed by 2 days "on". So the four days in a row being at a park at opening and then staying until closing just sounds really overwhelming with the little ones. Just be flexible, and alert for when your kids are ready for a break.

 

[becca011906]

i think my kids will do fine sending the whole day at the parks, my oldest hasn't naped in about 3 years, my dd that will be 3 y/o can nap about anywhere any time! LOL For getting the baby to nap all i need to do is sit and nurse her or tie her on my back in my carrier and she'll be out in a matter of min. She usally still takes 2 naps a day about 1 hour each. We didn't want to take time out of the day to return to the hotel b/c we figured it would take atlest 45 min to get to the hotel fromt he park especally if we are MK. that will be about 1 hour at the resort that's 3 hours out of the parks in the after noon broken down to $ that's $15 an hour we paid to be in the parks, so that would be wasting about $45 ro so. we are staying at bonnet creek resort so it's not "disney" but as close as a disney resort. I think if i can talk everyone eles into it we'll do the beach on the way home.... Any other suggestions?

As for GMG my to older kids can and will ride all the stuff there including TOT and star wars show, and we want to see all the kids shows to little mermaid, beauty and the beast, playhouse, and we have to see fantasmic the kids loved it last year... maybe we could sleep a little later hat day get there about 10-11???

 

[luvdisney999]

I would switch your MGM and EPCOT days. I went to MGM in Nov. where we had previously not waited for anything all week for more than 10 min. When we got to MGM at early opening, it was fine. By about 11, the park was SO crowded!!! Shows were full 30 minutes in advance, when we had walked up to them a few minutes before they started just a few days earlier (on a weekend!)

My advice is to go to MGM on Wednesday, since most people will have been there on Tuesday. You should find less crowds - we did that in June and were SO glad we did!

Also, I re-read your info. and realized you aren't staying on-site. Tuesday is EMH for on-site guests - means they can get into the parks early. Lots more crowds from Disney's on-site guests will go there too.

MGM is one of my 2 favorites - I think you definately want to spend the whole day there. The problem with MGM is the show time schedule. If you want to see 3 or more shows - you need the time. Between arriving 20+ minutes in advance (probably about the right time needed for Sept.) and watching the show, each one takes a little over an hour. Add to the fact that the shows don't seem to coincide too well with each other (another words, you will have a lot of down time in between the time one show starts and the next begins), and it really begins to add up.

If you want some help planning MGM, P.M. me. I'd be more than happy to help. I've been working on our next trip and it's not for several months! I like to help people plan!

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