Help! Disney World trip planning experts needed!

[Raine81]

Hello all! I am hoping there are some Disney planning experts who are in this group that can help me out with planning our trip to WDW as I am completely overwhelmed! I would so love to hear all your suggestions on how you would plan the perfect trip with the details I am posting below. What park reservations would you make for each of the days and why? Which days would you schedule the Christmas parties for?

The trip will be hubby and I, plus our 6 year old son (autistic), with 10 day park hopper plus water park option tickets. My son has never been before. My hubby and I have been but last time was in 2007!

Our son will need DAS and we hope to get Genie + for as many days we can afford while there as there will be I am sure many rides my son will be too scared to go on so hubby and I will have to do rider swap. We have a stroller rental.

Something else I just learned today via a DAS FB group is apparently you can’t use DAS during special events like the Christmas parties? Is this really true?

We are renting DVC in deluxe resorts so will be able to access the extra magic hours at Magic Kingdom on Wednesday’s and Epcot on Monday’s. It is a split stay between Poly, Boardwalk and Wilderness Lodge.

We are not morning people, we are night owls so likely won’t do much if any rope dropping.

Additional things we would like to attend are:

• Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
• Jollywood Nights
• Hoop-Dee-Doo Review
• Possibly Cirque Du Soleil at Disney Springs

I have no idea where to try and slot these things in, but am hoping to get them done I think earlier in the trip when the ticket prices are cheaper for the 2 Christmas events.
With the announcement of the Christmas parties today I am second guessing all my daily park reservations because MVMCP is happening on 6 of the days we are there meaning the park will close early to people that don’t have the special event tickets and I had imagined initially park hopping to Magic Kingdom a fair amount because I have a feeling that may end up being my son’s favorite park that he will constantly want to return to. I hate that park hopping doesn’t start till 2PM! I miss the days where you could go where you wanted, when you wanted.
The only certainty I have with my park reservations so far is we want the first day and last day to be Magic Kingdom for sure. When I made the park reservations months ago I tried my best to base it on the crowd calendars.

The very last 2 days of our trip (after the cruise) where we are staying on Disney property just to chill after an epic vacation (no park tickets), I am hesitant to book anything because I am worried that we may end up not feeling well after being in a Petri dish of germs for so long. LOL I don’t want to spend money on something that is non refundable (tickets) and I expect we will be exhausted after having to get up sooooo early to disembark from the cruise ship on Nov 26. But at the exact same time in my head, I am like but we are back at Disney, how can you stay on Disney property and NOT go to the parks. Ahhh!!! I also don’t know what on earth to do on Nov 26th because we will be kicked off the ship so early, I doubt the resort will let us check in that early so I don’t know what to do with our time (we won’t have a car).

I feel like I am drowning in the deep end with organizing this trip. Also so much FOMO on something when it’s a trip we’ve spent so long saving for and likely won’t be able to afford to go back for a very long time if ever unless we win the lottery! I desperately just want this trip to be perfect for my dear kiddo!
Our trip looks like this so far:

Nov 7th, 2023: Arrive in evening. Check in at Poly. Get organized for first park day. Maybe go to Disney Springs for dinner if we aren’t too tired.

Nov 8th: Magic Kingdom

Nov 9th: (Check in to Boardwalk) Hollywood Studios

Nov 10th: Magic Kingdom

Nov 11th: (Veteran’s Day) Rest Day

Nov 12th: Animal Kingdom

Nov 13th: Epcot

Nov 14th: Animal Kingdom

Nov 15th: Hollywood Studios

Nov 16th: Hollywood Studios

Nov 17th: Epcot

Nov 18th: Magic Kingdom

Nov 19-26 Cruise

Nov 26th-28th: Check in to Wilderness Lodge. Chill at resort for 2 days by the pool before flying home early morning on 28th. (No park tickets).

 

[loves to dive]

Not sure you are going to need 3 days at HS, especially if you are hopping. What I usually do is just make random park reservations, no reason for any of them since I know I will be hopping every day. You will need at least one reservation for Epcot and MK if you plan on doing the virtual ques. If you are going to the MK party, no reason to book MK on that day, book another park and maybe spend a leisurely morning at that park. You really have plenty of time with 10 park days to really spend some extra time at the resorts and take your time at the parks, especially with hoppers since you can just leave a park if it gets too crowded and move on. Yes the 2pm rule is a pain but easy enough to work around with the amount of time you have. What we do is go to whatever park in the morning, we are not rope drop people since my son has a daughter under 3 right now. Then we leave around lunch and go back to the resort for her to nap and to just get some rest. Then that afternoon/night we head to a different park. Unless he is a big character fan, not sure he would need the HS party. There will be lots of characters and things for adults to do but given the amount of time you have there, you really won't need to do the rides that night.

 

[Raine81]

Not sure you are going to need 3 days at HS, especially if you are hopping. What I usually do is just make random park reservations, no reason for any of them since I know I will be hopping every day. You will need at least one reservation for Epcot and MK if you plan on doing the virtual ques. If you are going to the MK party, no reason to book MK on that day, book another park and maybe spend a leisurely morning at that park. You really have plenty of time with 10 park days to really spend some extra time at the resorts and take your time at the parks, especially with hoppers since you can just leave a park if it gets too crowded and move on. Yes the 2pm rule is a pain but easy enough to work around with the amount of time you have. What we do is go to whatever park in the morning, we are not rope drop people since my son has a daughter under 3 right now. Then we leave around lunch and go back to the resort for her to nap and to just get some rest. Then that afternoon/night we head to a different park. Unless he is a big character fan, not sure he would need the HS party. There will be lots of characters and things for adults to do but given the amount of time you have there, you really won't need to do the rides that night.

Thank you for your ideas!

 

[scrappinginontario]

DAS is available to be used during EEH and parties. A friend just sent me this:

When we went to the last MNSSHP it was our first day so we were getting our DAS on our party day. CM told us YES it was available to use (which old days it was not). She said what happens is that your DAS square will disappear from your phone for the time between when the park closes at 6 pm and party starts at 7 pm. If you want one then you must go to the attraction to get it. We went to Pirates and got in person. Once the party was in gear the button is to return to use. This keeps non party guests from booking them after they were supposed to have left.

 

[WDW Trooper]

Wow - what an amazing trip you have planned! We usually go in February, so I can’t speak to the holiday parties, but have a couple thoughts on your plan:
- It looks like you are only at the Poly for two nights. I would definitely not try to make it Disney springs in that time since it’s so far, I would try for something at one of the monorail resorts, easy to get to and lots of great options.
- In general you may not need so many days at the parks. It’s good to have your reservations and you can decide as you go. If the weather is decent, we absolutely love going to Typhoon Lagoon on non-park days (or even in the morning, back to hotel to rest, then a park in the evening). Especially since you have park hopper plus. We’ve also done the foot golf and mini golf, which we enjoyed.
- We did the Hoop Dee Do Revue last time we were there (was with my hubby, two 12 year olds). It was so corny but we laughed so much. I was really glad we did it. The downside is that it’s kind of a pain to get to from most places; I would definitely book this for one of the nights you are staying at Wilderness Lodge, as it’s super close. You can also cancel up to 24 hrs before in case you need to.
- We prefer to go to the parks in the afternoon / evenings. I use Genie+ and set an alarm for 7, plus every two hours after park opens to book my lightning lanes, then just keep modifying them to stack them in the afternoons. It worked great when we were there in Feb.

Good luck, I’m sure your son is going to have an amazing time!

 

[dizneedoll]

I’ve used DAS for years and yes, you can use them at the parties. You may have to go a guest services umbrella and have them link your party tickets to DAS but it’s an easy process.

 

[Raine81]

DAS is available to be used during EEH and parties. A friend just sent me this:

When we went to the last MNSSHP it was our first day so we were getting our DAS on our party day. CM told us YES it was available to use (which old days it was not). She said what happens is that your DAS square will disappear from your phone for the time between when the park closes at 6 pm and party starts at 7 pm. If you want one then you must go to the attraction to get it. We went to Pirates and got in person. Once the party was in gear the button is to return to use. This keeps non party guests from booking them after they were supposed to have left.

Thank you for sharing this information

 

[Raine81]

Wow - what an amazing trip you have planned! We usually go in February, so I can’t speak to the holiday parties, but have a couple thoughts on your plan:
- It looks like you are only at the Poly for two nights. I would definitely not try to make it Disney springs in that time since it’s so far, I would try for something at one of the monorail resorts, easy to get to and lots of great options.
- In general you may not need so many days at the parks. It’s good to have your reservations and you can decide as you go. If the weather is decent, we absolutely love going to Typhoon Lagoon on non-park days (or even in the morning, back to hotel to rest, then a park in the evening). Especially since you have park hopper plus. We’ve also done the foot golf and mini golf, which we enjoyed.
- We did the Hoop Dee Do Revue last time we were there (was with my hubby, two 12 year olds). It was so corny but we laughed so much. I was really glad we did it. The downside is that it’s kind of a pain to get to from most places; I would definitely book this for one of the nights you are staying at Wilderness Lodge, as it’s super close. You can also cancel up to 24 hrs before in case you need to.
- We prefer to go to the parks in the afternoon / evenings. I use Genie+ and set an alarm for 7, plus every two hours after park opens to book my lightning lanes, then just keep modifying them to stack them in the afternoons. It worked great when we were there in Feb.

Good luck, I’m sure your son is going to have an amazing time!

Thank you for the suggestions!

 

[Raine81]

Not sure you are going to need 3 days at HS, especially if you are hopping. What I usually do is just make random park reservations, no reason for any of them since I know I will be hopping every day. You will need at least one reservation for Epcot and MK if you plan on doing the virtual ques. If you are going to the MK party, no reason to book MK on that day, book another park and maybe spend a leisurely morning at that park. You really have plenty of time with 10 park days to really spend some extra time at the resorts and take your time at the parks, especially with hoppers since you can just leave a park if it gets too crowded and move on. Yes the 2pm rule is a pain but easy enough to work around with the amount of time you have. What we do is go to whatever park in the morning, we are not rope drop people since my son has a daughter under 3 right now. Then we leave around lunch and go back to the resort for her to nap and to just get some rest. Then that afternoon/night we head to a different park. Unless he is a big character fan, not sure he would need the HS party. There will be lots of characters and things for adults to do but given the amount of time you have there, you really won't need to do the rides that night.

Regarding the virtual ques… If we want to park hop to Epcot in the afternoon for GOTG will it be possible to get a spot in the afternoon or is our only real chance going to be in the morning/early afternoon?

As long as there is availability can we modify park reservations right up until the last minute?

I am contemplating changing all my reservations to mostly Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios because I know those parks sold out last year, whereas as far as I know Animal Kingdom and Epcot didn’t. I am going mental trying to figure out the best strategy for my son with the park reservations. I think he is going to prefer MK and want to repeatedly go back there and MK closing early for 6 of the days we are there because of MVMCP is throwing me off.

 

[Narcoossee11]

10 day is a looong time. 10 day PH !!
Your attitude should be a very calm , easy pace. You will not be able to do full days.
Go for a few hours, see how your son will handle parks and crowd.

IMO , you have too much planned. Parks, water parks, night party's, dinner show.
You will need the cruise to relax after the ORL part.

 

[Kitty & Covs Covs]

Great trip! A few things that stand out:

1) I’d skip Disney Springs for dinner the first night. There’s so much to see and do at the Polynesian and other monorail resorts, you don’t need to push yourself to go all the way out there. At the 60 day mark for Advanced Dining Reservations, look for Ohana reservations in a window late enough you’d be able to make it post-flight. Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary could also be fun, because you could watch the fireworks from the outdoor view area on the 4th (?) floor. There is also a water electrical parade on the lake you can see from the Poly beach. Tons to do right where you are!

2) Someone else said this but three days at Hollywood Studios is a lot unless you’re pacing yourself hard, taking big rests, or planning to leave at 2pm. Some things you might look into though are the Fantasmic Dining Package (you get a dinner reservation and a special seating area at the show) or taking a pause to ride the Skyliner over to Toppolino’s for a late breakfast. Or, go to Toppolino’s for breakfast, don’t worry about rope dropping, and take the Skyliner over to the park.

3) Wilderness Lodge has a great campfire at night with Chip n Dale. You might also consider that one night to relax but also feel very immersed in all things Disney.

4) There is plenty to do outside of the parks for your post cruise days. Research the restaurants at Disney Springs and the resorts to find fun ones to try. Go to Boma for the buffet breakfast at Animal Kingdom Lodge, for example, and take a peek at the animals on the Savanna.

Have fun!

Hello all! I am hoping there are some Disney planning experts who are in this group that can help me out with planning our trip to WDW as I am completely overwhelmed! I would so love to hear all your suggestions on how you would plan the perfect trip with the details I am posting below. What park reservations would you make for each of the days and why? Which days would you schedule the Christmas parties for?

The trip will be hubby and I, plus our 6 year old son (autistic), with 10 day park hopper plus water park option tickets. My son has never been before. My hubby and I have been but last time was in 2007!

Our son will need DAS and we hope to get Genie + for as many days we can afford while there as there will be I am sure many rides my son will be too scared to go on so hubby and I will have to do rider swap. We have a stroller rental.

Something else I just learned today via a DAS FB group is apparently you can’t use DAS during special events like the Christmas parties? Is this really true?

We are renting DVC in deluxe resorts so will be able to access the extra magic hours at Magic Kingdom on Wednesday’s and Epcot on Monday’s. It is a split stay between Poly, Boardwalk and Wilderness Lodge.

We are not morning people, we are night owls so likely won’t do much if any rope dropping.

Additional things we would like to attend are:

• Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
• Jollywood Nights
• Hoop-Dee-Doo Review
• Possibly Cirque Du Soleil at Disney Springs

I have no idea where to try and slot these things in, but am hoping to get them done I think earlier in the trip when the ticket prices are cheaper for the 2 Christmas events.
With the announcement of the Christmas parties today I am second guessing all my daily park reservations because MVMCP is happening on 6 of the days we are there meaning the park will close early to people that don’t have the special event tickets and I had imagined initially park hopping to Magic Kingdom a fair amount because I have a feeling that may end up being my son’s favorite park that he will constantly want to return to. I hate that park hopping doesn’t start till 2PM! I miss the days where you could go where you wanted, when you wanted.
The only certainty I have with my park reservations so far is we want the first day and last day to be Magic Kingdom for sure. When I made the park reservations months ago I tried my best to base it on the crowd calendars.

The very last 2 days of our trip (after the cruise) where we are staying on Disney property just to chill after an epic vacation (no park tickets), I am hesitant to book anything because I am worried that we may end up not feeling well after being in a Petri dish of germs for so long. LOL I don’t want to spend money on something that is non refundable (tickets) and I expect we will be exhausted after having to get up sooooo early to disembark from the cruise ship on Nov 26. But at the exact same time in my head, I am like but we are back at Disney, how can you stay on Disney property and NOT go to the parks. Ahhh!!! I also don’t know what on earth to do on Nov 26th because we will be kicked off the ship so early, I doubt the resort will let us check in that early so I don’t know what to do with our time (we won’t have a car).

I feel like I am drowning in the deep end with organizing this trip. Also so much FOMO on something when it’s a trip we’ve spent so long saving for and likely won’t be able to afford to go back for a very long time if ever unless we win the lottery! I desperately just want this trip to be perfect for my dear kiddo!
Our trip looks like this so far:

Nov 7th, 2023: Arrive in evening. Check in at Poly. Get organized for first park day. Maybe go to Disney Springs for dinner if we aren’t too tired.

Nov 8th: Magic Kingdom

Nov 9th: (Check in to Boardwalk) Hollywood Studios

Nov 10th: Magic Kingdom

Nov 11th: (Veteran’s Day) Rest Day

Nov 12th: Animal Kingdom

Nov 13th: Epcot

Nov 14th: Animal Kingdom

Nov 15th: Hollywood Studios

Nov 16th: Hollywood Studios

Nov 17th: Epcot

Nov 18th: Magic Kingdom

Nov 19-26 Cruise

Nov 26th-28th: Check in to Wilderness Lodge. Chill at resort for 2 days by the pool before flying home early morning on 28th. (No park tickets).

 

[ak517]

I never have my park reservations set in stone until I start making dining reservations, and I wouldn't worry about park reservations selling out, especially more than 60 days out. You seem to have a lot of flexibility in your trip aside from selecting holiday party days. I would start there, nailing down the dates you want to go either based on price or weekday versus weekend options and # of times you want to attend the parties! Cirque du Soleil might be nice on one of your rest days, or the days after your cruise.

Thinking about my guiding reservation preferences, I probably base them around something like:
1. party days
2. dining reservation availability
3. # of times I want to get an AM VQ at either Epcot or MK, assuming the VQs for both are still around

I don't think I'd try to plan based on crowd calendars because you'll probably run into crowds every day (except at MK on party days). About 10-14 days out I start checking thrill-data to see what wait times and G+ sell-outs for specific rides are looking like so make a loose plan. With such a long stay, you should have no problem riding your favorites multiple times!

On party days, so you aren't completely wiped, I would probably take it easy, maybe pop into a nearby park for a parade, character meet, show, or something else low-key, and a meal/snack, but otherwise hang out at the resort or resort hop. If you're at Boardwalk you can rent a Surrey bike to ride around the area or easily pop over to Riviera after a quick ride on the skyliner.

Also I think you mentioned fireworks: like someone else mentioned, the 4th floor walkway between CR and BLT is actually magical, but then again I've never watched the fireworks from the Poly beach! I would absolutely take advantage of seeing the Electrical Water Pageant. It goes around all the Bay Lake resorts and the times are listed in MDE, so you could easily see it several times.

Have fun planning, don't stress, and enjoy your trip! It sounds amazing.

 

[loves to dive]

Regarding the virtual ques… If we want to park hop to Epcot in the afternoon for GOTG will it be possible to get a spot in the afternoon or is our only real chance going to be in the morning/early afternoon?

As long as there is availability can we modify park reservations right up until the last minute?

In theory, yes there is a chance to get a virtual que after you hop in at 2. I've seen vloggers posting some days it was still open that late.

Yes, you can modify park reservations up to last minute if they are available.