Have 6 days in DW--does this sound like a good plan?

[ntengwall]

This will basically be our first time in Disney (I went last when I was 6 and hubby went when he was 11) with our 3 boys, ages 3 1/2, 7 and 9. I am getting ready to sit down and plan which parks on which days based on the Touring Plans site info but our basic plan will be:
Arrive at 9 am on Saturday, Feb 4th. Not sure if we will do anything that day or not (any advice??? Maybe go to Downtown Disney for dinner??). Sunday do a park other than MK since Touring Plans says that's the worst day to go. Maybe MGM that day. Monday do AK, Tuesday do MK, Wed take a day off (we are staying at a house with a pool), Thurs do Seaworld, Friday do Epcot.
Am I over-planning by expecting to do a park a day? Should I mix it up and do one park during the day and another at night?
Thanks for any advice...we are very new to this and I really want to be as prepared as possible!

 

[Densgirl]

I think that sounds great. On our first night we usually have dinner at a resort restaurant. We usually do a restaurant at a resort near MK and try to catch the Electrical Water Parade and Wishes either from the restaurant(ex-Ohana)or from some part of the resorts property.

I think a park a day is doable. We park hop but only to use the EMH when staying onsite. I think a day off in the middle is key too. Everyone gets a little punchy in my family after about the 3rd or 4th day. Sounds great I hope you have fun.

 

[Dale-n-Chip]

We did Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary our first night. This accomplished several goals:
1. We got to do a character meal without "wasting" valuable park time (character dining just takes too long for me to do it when I could be in the parks instead--but that's me!).
2. Got us in the Disney spirit and got DS a chance to see the characters and get comfortable with them.
3. Since the Cont. is on the monorail, we did a round-trip ride. We are monorail geeks--we just love it!
4. There are also a couple of viewing decks at the Cont. to see the fireworks.
5. Since the monorail runs to both the Poly and GF, we got off and went down to the beach at the Poly to see the Electrical Water Parade.
6. It gave us the lay of the land so the next morning when we drove over we knew where we were going.
7. Most importantly, gave DS (Dale) the chance to meet up with the most important Disney character in his world: Dale the chipmunk! Meet Dale, check. Meet Mickey, check. Now the vacation can begin. . .

Good luck!

 

[ssdeverell]

I think that looks like a great plan. I think you should plan something for arrival day, but not a park. DTD or dinner at a resort hotel are great choices. You guys are getting there so early that you will want to do something. Just an idea, but DH and I are going to rent those sea raycers at one of the monorail resorts on our first day. That might be fun for you, but possibly a bigger boat.

A park a day is a good plan. We do that, too. I like to concentrate on each park for the full day and not hop around. I think the off day in the middle is wonderful. We started doing breaks in the middle of the day on our last trip, and that really helped. Not sure how that would work for you since you are staying off-site.

You are going to have a great time! Enjoy!

 

[alicenwonder99]

You're getting in really early on your first day. I would get to a park your first day. We always go to Epcot on our first night. And the last 2 times, we didn't get to Epcot until around 7-7:30pm. If your plane lands at 9am, you could plan to get to Epcot by around 2-3pm. Future World is usually alot slower during that time and you could tour all of FW that first day, then end the day with a nice dinner at one of the countries (Japan is really fun for the family).

The other suggestion I have is to not spend the whole day at a park. Since you have 3 children with a very young one, I would spend no more than 8 hours a day at the parks. A great thing we did this last trip was to get to MK (on a Sunday) at opening and then leave around 6pm to FW for HoopDeDoo. The only thing I would have done differently was to go to the earlier show (we were at the 7:15pm show). This show is something that your children will LOVE! And if the weather is nice that evening, you could spend some time at FW going on a wagon ride (very relaxing), or checking out the free campfire and movie (very fun).

Another suggestion is to make sure you find time every day for the kids to run around. Walking through the parks and standing in line isn't the same as letting the kids run around. Especially your youngest who will be in a stroller. Ak and MGM have play areas for the kids that you can easily spend an hour or more letting them run around.

Going from one park to another in one day can be a little bit too much with younger children. From the posts on the DIS board, there doesn't seem to be a concrete answer: some families like it, others don't. If you had just the 2 older boys, maybe it wouldn't be too hard, but with the 3 boys, it could be more trouble than it's worth.

The main thing I've learned from my trips to WDW is not to spend all day long in the parks with the children. It's just too much for them. When it becomes too much for the children, then it becomes too much for the parents. The best plan is to get to the parks when they open and then leave after about 8 hours. Spend the evenings at your rental house swimming and relaxing.

Have fun.

Mary

 

[addicted2disney]

Monday is now EMH morning for Animal Kingdom. That is going to make that park more crowded than usual. Epcot has night time EMH on Friday which is going to make THAT park more crowded. Can you swap and do Epcot on Monday and AK on Thursday? Id also look into adding a day and heading over to MK for the night so you can see SPectromagic parade. I dont think you and the kids want to miss that! The are also showing it on Monday night and THursday night. You will want to see the night time shows at MGM and Epcot.. so maybe if you dont care about crowds at AK on Monday, go ahead and do AK, and then hop to Magic Kingdom for SPectromagic. If its possible to add a day ( I think it gets pretty cheap to add days ) You can still go do DTD, or try getting the character meal at Chef Mickeys, or even in MK at Crystal Palace ( pooh characters). Like someone said, that would be a fun way to start your trip!
AK is going to close probably at 5. If you do it on Friday, You might want to hop back to a park that day. You can take a bus right from AK to another park. We go every January, and we tend to hop to Epcot as many nights as we can. We love walking the countries at night. THe more we go, the more time we spend at Epcot. The kids all love it there too.

Since

 

[fanofdisney]

If you want to stay and watch fireworks, or even if you don't, I would strongly suggest you go back to the hotel during the day for a swim and a nap. The kids will need it, and so will you! You need a break during the day.

 

[dougsmom98]

I think your plan looks good but I am concerned that with young children you may want more time in Magic Kingdom especially your first visit. We have been when our boys were 2,2, and 4 and then again when they were 3,3 and 5. They loved Magic Kingdom and we spent 3 days there on each trip. Our next trip they will be 5,5, 7 and our daughter will be 8 months and we will spend 2 days in Magic Kingdom and one day in each of the other parks. It is still so magical for them. On our first trip, we didn't even go to Epcot except for dinner one night and to see Illuminations. We didn't go at all last time. This time we will spend an entire day because my oldest is a history/geography buff and wants to spend time at each of the countries.
As for afternoon naps, my kids didn't need them on our first trip because they slept in the strollers when they needed to. The trip was also in December and the weather didn't wear them out. On our second trip, we went in June and it was so hot and humid that we had to go back to the hotel and swim and change our clothes. We are going over Presidents week this time and I am not planning on taking an afternoon break.

 

[blessedby3]

I agree with spending more time in the MK with your kids so young. My kids are 15,10 and 7 and we still spend most of our days in MK. Our whole family loves this park the most. We spend 2-3 days here and the remainder on a 6 day pass in the other parks.

 

[addicted2disney]

I honestly dont think you are going to need to go back for naps. The weather isnt going to be so hot that you need a break, the parks arent open very late. We are making our 12th trip. Our kids have never needed to go back for a nap nor have any of the 3 had a meltdown or tantrum or anything like that from not napping. Bring a stroller for your 3 year old.

We take our breaks at MK by staking out our afternoon parade spot on Main street around 2. We sit by Casey's Corner. We go get lunch and sit on the sidewalk and eat. The the kids usually want ice cream, and thats right across the street. By then, its 3, and the parade is coming. The parade hits Main street right around 3:20, its about 15 minutes long. So we accomplish this... sitting and resting for an hour and a half, eating lunch, and watching the parade from a great front row spot.

I also agree that your kids will want more time in MK. even more reason to add a day You can add Saturday of arrival day, spend the evening at MK, see spectro, then go back all day on Tuesday, then do AK on Friday and hop to MK after the parade at MK.

 

[MOM POPPINS]

This will basically be our first time in Disney (I went last when I was 6 and hubby went when he was 11) with our 3 boys, ages 3 1/2, 7 and 9. I am getting ready to sit down and plan which parks on which days based on the Touring Plans site info but our basic plan will be:
Arrive at 9 am on Saturday, Feb 4th. Not sure if we will do anything that day or not (any advice??? Maybe go to Downtown Disney for dinner??). Sunday do a park other than MK since Touring Plans says that's the worst day to go. Maybe MGM that day. Monday do AK, Tuesday do MK, Wed take a day off (we are staying at a house with a pool), Thurs do Seaworld, Friday do Epcot.
Am I over-planning by expecting to do a park a day? Should I mix it up and do one park during the day and another at night?
Thanks for any advice...we are very new to this and I really want to be as prepared as possible!

If it were me I would do MK in 2 days. It's so much nicer to have 2 days to cover most of it. I would try and go to Sea World on another trip since this is your first visit. Adding on a day to your WDW themepark tickets will not be very costly and you can save on not paying for your Sea World admisssion. If it were me I would skip Sea World this time around. Happy Planning!

 

[afcgirl]

We are also going for 6 days (in March), arriving on a Saturday morning.

We would never skip a park on our first day. My kids would kill me and we are way too excited! We have to hit MK on our first and last days, whether Touring Plans says to or not!

Also, you can definitely combine your AK and MGM days, so I would do that and then add more MK. Since you are not staying on Disney property, you will not be able to take advantage of EMH so I would NOT combine Epcot and MK on the same day if I were you.

Our plan is:

Saturday: MK and of course Wishes afterwards.

Sunday: Epcot then pool break then MK (EMH night).

Monday: AK morning then MGM evening.

Tuesday: Epcot all day and Illuminations at night.

Wednesday: MK morning then AK evening (EMH night)

Thursday: MK then Boardwalk for dinner.

Good luck!

 

[ntengwall]

Thanks so much to everyone for their great advice! I have so much to think about, but the 2 things that I have taken away from this thread is that we probably should go to MK on Sat when we get there and also to combine AK and MGM into one day and get more MK days. Thanks again!!!!