Help! Do we need a rest day and other planning ?'s

[Whistlebee]

Hi all! I'd consider myself a Disneyland expert...I've been an annual passholder for years and we go often....BUT we have our first trip to WDW coming up in March and yeah it's a little overwhelming. Our current plan is doing 1 park per day with our last day park hopping to do our favorites (yes, we'll buy 5 day park hoppers). I am usually more of a commando style person very heavy on maximizing our rides per day and we treat Disneyland and California Adventure as one big park, park hopping back and forth as needed. We'll have a group of 6, 4 adults and 2 teens.

My husband is coming with me on this trip and he is not a theme park person or Disney parks person AT all. And my friend's husband is also currently burnt out on Disneyland because they've been going so much. So, mostly to make this trip as easy on my husband as possible we are planning on getting Premiere passes for MK, HS, and probably EPCOT. It is something that we can afford even tho I don't view it as the smartest use of money! I also will admit I'm infatuated with the idea of a more leisurely style trip. As I am the planner and often go to DL with groups of 10-15 people. I am the one always on my phone refreshing all day long to maximize our rides. A trip where I'm not doing that sounds amazing.

My main question is if we should plan on a rest day or not? We are staying at Swan Reserve. Our current plan is to go to the parks maybe at 9:30 with PP. Tour all day (maybe pop out for lunch or dinner) and then back to the same park to finish up after lunch and into the evening. Our dates are March 5th-9th. If we don't do the rest day, my daughter and I plan on park hopping on our last day with MPLL before a late flight to hit our favorites one more time. IF my husband wasn't coming I'd park hop between 2 parks every day. I know that would be my personal preference. But, I'm trying to make the trip as enjoyable for him as possible.

I'm wondering if we are mostly doing 1 park per day with PP, if we will still need a built in rest day? Will we be less worn out by not having to rope drop (coming from west coast) and not having to zig zag back and forth between LL rides. I feel like a shorter trip would be better for our two husbands, but I don't want us all to be exhausted by the end either. It's decision time as our 60 day dining window opens soon.

My other question, is which planning sources, websites do you guys recommend? I'm trying to figure out which day we should go to each park? Best dining options? Highlights of each park? How to watch fireworks or other nighttime show, etc. Or if you have personal recommendations I'm all about that too! Thank you for any help you can offer!

 

[gottalovepluto]

You won’t need a rest day. That much PP will way minimize your walking. You might park hop on AK day to like EP for dinner. There is really no reason to go back to your hotel and then haul all the way back out to AK.

I’d get a dining package for Fantasmic. Guaranteed center seating and you don’t have to be there an hour+ before.

 

[Whistlebee]

You won’t need a rest day. That much PP will way minimize your walking. You might park hop on AK day to like EP for dinner. There is really no reason to go back to your hotel and then haul all the way back out to AK.

I’d get a dining package for Fantasmic. Guaranteed center seating and you don’t have to be there an hour+ before.

Thank you so much ! I recognize you from the DL side of the boards. I used to be very active over there....not so much anymore. But I really appreciate your advice!

 

[hardcorestitch]

You made the right call to keep it to 1 park per day! This is where you can tinker with the standby and not rely upon LL.

 

[Whistlebee]

You won’t need a rest day. That much PP will way minimize your walking. You might park hop on AK day to like EP for dinner. There is really no reason to go back to your hotel and then haul all the way back out to AK.

I’d get a dining package for Fantasmic. Guaranteed center seating and you don’t have to be there an hour+ before.

I love the idea of park hopping to Epcot for dinner on our AK day!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I love the idea of park hopping to Epcot for dinner on our AK day!

Being at SR makes it so easy with the boat access. If you have q’s about SR or the Swolphin complex (they share amenties) hit up the Swan Dolphin SR thread on the resort board. It’s a nice hotel, you’ve made a good choice.

 

[Whistlebee]

Being at SR makes it so easy with the boat access. If you have q’s about SR or the Swolphin complex (they share amenties) hit up the Swan Dolphin SR thread on the resort board. It’s a nice hotel, you’ve made a good choice.

Awesome, love to hear we made a good choice! Mostly chose it so we could get a good price on a 1 bedroom suite and have the walking distance/boat ride to 2 resorts. Undercover Tourist has amazing deals on the 1 bedroom suites!

 

[CarolynFH]

I love the idea of park hopping to Epcot for dinner on our AK day!

Just remember that requires a hopper ticket, and compare the cost of a 5-day base with the cost of a 5-day hopper. If the only time you plan to hop is that one day, it might not be worth the cost, especially with all the wonderful restaurants at your hotel, Swan & Dolphin, Yacht & Beach, and Boardwalk!

PS if some of your travel companions aren’t into Disney much, they might need a rest day from the parks even if you don’t. There’s a lot of other things to do besides parks!

 

[CarolynFH]

Awesome, love to hear we made a good choice! Mostly chose it so we could get a good price on a 1 bedroom suite and have the walking distance/boat ride to 2 resorts. Undercover Tourist has amazing deals on the 1 bedroom suites!

At SR you’re walking distance to all the Epcot resorts as well as to Epcot and DHS (or can ride the Friendship Boats to all).

 

[Whistlebee]

Just remember that requires a hopper ticket, and compare the cost of a 5-day base with the cost of a 5-day hopper. If the only time you plan to hop is that one day, it might not be worth the cost, especially with all the wonderful restaurants at your hotel, Swan & Dolphin, Yacht & Beach, and Boardwalk!

PS if some of your travel companions aren’t into Disney much, they might need a rest day from the parks even if you don’t. There’s a lot of other things to do besides parks!

Good point that the break might be good for our two husbands! What restaurants do you suggest at the Epcot resort and Epcot hotels?

 

[CarolynFH]

Good point that the break might be good for our two husbands! What restaurants do you suggest at the Epcot resort and Epcot hotels?

Oh my, there are so many! We enjoyed Amare, right there in the Swan Reserve, as well as Il Mulino for Italian and Rosa Mexicano for Mexican (not Texas-Mex) in the Swan. We like Flying Fish on the BW for seafood and Beaches & Cream in Beach Club for sandwiches and ice cream (although the Fountain in the Dolphin is good for that too). However, there are many more than that - on the WDW website or app, pull up the map of the Epcot resorts area and click Dining or Restaurants.

 

[MICKIMINI]

I would definitely build in some free/optional time into your schedule. IMO from 50+ years going to WDW, it is such a huge place (40 square miles) and each day is very demanding. You chose well as far as resort goes so you can get to two resorts painlessly. We often meet our son and DIL at WDW and plan many of our meals around the parks, however we give them plenty of time to themselves and tend to meet them there, eat, have a snack and watch fireworks.

You can take the SkyLiner to Riviera from EPCOT International Gateway. Topolino's is great for a character breakfast or a fancy dinner and fireworks. Can't miss here!

Take a break at EPCOT, go back to the resort and relax/swim and then go back for dinner and fireworks. We often stay at BWV and take a break EVERY day!

You can take the monorail from EPCOT to MK for a split day. When you get to TTC, take the Resort Monorail and have lunch at Poly. Personally, I would recommend Capt'n Cook's at Poly. It is QS and you can eat outside. Your monorail trip will take a bit of time and QS will make up your time vs an ADR. The lobby at Poly is pretty sweet! MK is great at night.

Just a few ideas...

Enjoy and try to relax a bit!

 

[Whistlebee]

Oh my, there are so many! We enjoyed Amare, right there in the Swan Reserve, as well as Il Mulino for Italian and Rosa Mexicano for Mexican (not Texas-Mex) in the Swan. We like Flying Fish on the BW for seafood and Beaches & Cream in Beach Club for sandwiches and ice cream (although the Fountain in the Dolphin is good for that too). However, there are many more than that - on the WDW website or app, pull up the map of the Epcot resorts area and click Dining or Restaurants.

Thank you, I will take a look at all of these!

 

[Whistlebee]

I would definitely build in some free/optional time into your schedule. IMO from 50+ years going to WDW, it is such a huge place (40 square miles) and each day is very demanding. You chose well as far as resort goes so you can get to two resorts painlessly. We often meet our son and DIL at WDW and plan many of our meals around the parks, however we give them plenty of time to themselves and tend to meet them there, eat, have a snack and watch fireworks.

You can take the SkyLiner to Riviera from EPCOT International Gateway. Topolino's is great for a character breakfast or a fancy dinner and fireworks. Can't miss here!

Take a break at EPCOT, go back to the resort and relax/swim and then go back for dinner and fireworks. We often stay at BWV and take a break EVERY day!

You can take the monorail from EPCOT to MK for a split day. When you get to TTC, take the Resort Monorail and have lunch at Poly. Personally, I would recommend Capt'n Cook's at Poly. It is QS and you can eat outside. Your monorail trip will take a bit of time and QS will make up your time vs an ADR. The lobby at Poly is pretty sweet! MK is great at night.

Just a few ideas...

Enjoy and try to relax a bit!

Thank you so much, these are all great ideas and I appreciate the advice! I'm especially taking to heart the advice to build the free/optional time into our schedule! I originally had BWV booked, but with my husband coming now a 1 bedroom will fit us better. The remodeled rooms at BWV look super cute tho!

 

[Marthasor]

On your AK day, I would not hop to EP in the evening. As PP mentioned, there are some great restaurants right at Swan Reserve, Swan and Dolphin - Rosa Mexicano is fantastic as are bluezoo, Il Mulino and Kimonos (I haven't tried the new steak place). I would chill at the hotel and eat at one of those restaurants. If you are planning on spending the whole day at each of the other parks, I would just see which restaurants appeal in each one and do a nice leisurely lunch - so much to choose from in EP (we love Shiki Sai), in DHS we really like Sci Fi and Brown Derby. The food in MK isn't great, IMHO - if you are there on a day where MK closes late and you will have the opportunity to maximize your time there, you may want to consider taking a monorail ride (or boat ride to WL) in the afternoon and eating at one of the MK resorts - we like Whispering Canyon at WL, Steakhouse 71 at CR and the new Wailulu Grill at the Poly Tower.

 

[CarolynFH]

Thank you, I will take a look at all of these!

Don’t limit yourself to those! As mentioned above, there are more in those resorts than I listed!

 

[Whistlebee]

On your AK day, I would not hop to EP in the evening. As PP mentioned, there are some great restaurants right at Swan Reserve, Swan and Dolphin - Rosa Mexicano is fantastic as are bluezoo, Il Mulino and Kimonos (I haven't tried the new steak place). I would chill at the hotel and eat at one of those restaurants. If you are planning on spending the whole day at each of the other parks, I would just see which restaurants appeal in each one and do a nice leisurely lunch - so much to choose from in EP (we love Shiki Sai), in DHS we really like Sci Fi and Brown Derby. The food in MK isn't great, IMHO - if you are there on a day where MK closes late and you will have the opportunity to maximize your time there, you may want to consider taking a monorail ride (or boat ride to WL) in the afternoon and eating at one of the MK resorts - we like Whispering Canyon at WL, Steakhouse 71 at CR and the new Wailulu Grill at the Poly Tower.

Thank you so much for these great suggestions! I like your idea of hanging at Swolphin that night and eating there too. And I appreciate the other dining ideas too.

 

[glocon]

Just finishing up a trip staying at the Swan, and I have to say the food in this area is really good!

This trip we ate at Flying Fish and Bourbon Steakhouse and while both were delicious, BS wins for just a smidge better food and much better/friendlier service.

In the past we’ve been to BlueZoo multiple times and keep going back, and to Rosa Mexicano (for breakfast) and both were amazing!

The only place I haven’t seen mentioned here and would highly recommend is Jiko on your Animal Kingdom day. Since AK closes so early, go to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner. Jiko is the best food on property imo. And Sanaa is delicious there as well.

 

[Miffy]

OP, since money isn't an object, how about a VIP tour for one of your days?

 

[loves to dive]

You have already received some good advice but I'll add a little tweak. There is nothing that says the husband(s) can't spend some time outside of the parks while you and others go to the parks. If the two hubbys play golf there are loads of options around Orlando. They can even play mini-golf right there at the Dolphin. They can hang out at the resort, they can go walk around the BW. My hubby isn't a fan of WDW, crowds or people in general. He has been to WDW twice with me (I either go solo or go with my son and his family). When he comes we bring our RV and camp at the Fort. He and the dog will spend the time he doesn't want to go to the parks touring the Fort in the golf cart of just relaxing in the RV. He will go to the parks maybe for 3 hours max. and maybe once a day. I go off on my own the rest of the time.