Help! My Iternary - Any Thoughts or Suggestions?

[safaulk]

My eyeballs are getting tired from staring at my itinerary so much and my brain is getting fried! I thought I would run my itinerary by my good friends on the DIS boards to see what you thought or see if you have suggestions or ideas.

One thing I don't like is the fact that we are scheduled to go to MGM the night of Sep 25 and then turn around and go back to MGM the morning of Sep 26, but I can't seem to make up my mind as to how to change it. I also am concerned with going to the Magic Kingdom on the morning of Sat, Oct 1. Isn't MK crowded on Saturdays? Do you think it would be not so crowded in the AM or the PM? Should I switch out and go to Epcot in AM and then MK in PM? Also, how are my meal times?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Fri Sep 23 - Arrive in evening - Ressies at Rainforest Cafe 7:30 PM - will try to go to Disney Quest after this

Sat Sep 24 - Epcot in AM, breakfast at Chef Mickey's 7:40 AM, lunch at Garden Grill 12:30 PM - Magic Kingdom in PM, dinner at Cindy's 6:45 PM

Sun Sep 25 - Animal Kingdom in AM, breakfast at Breakfastosaurus 8:10 A.M., quick lunch - MGM in PM, dinner at Sci Fi 7:10 PM

Mon Sep 26 - MGM in AM, quick breakfast, quick lunch - Magic Kingdom in PM, dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern 5:45 PM

Tues Sep 27 - Magic Kingdom in AM, breakfast at Crystal Palace 8:10 AM, quick lunch - Epcot in PM, dinner at 1900 Park Fare 8:10 PM

Wed Sep 28 - Typhoon Lagoon in AM, breakfast at Trail's End (Fort Wilderness) 8:00 AM, quick lunch - Magic Kingdom in PM, dinner at Chef Mickey's 8:20 PM

Thur Sep 29 - MGM in AM, quick breakfast, lunch at 50s Prime Time 12:20 PM - Epcot in PM, dinner at L'alfredo's 8:00 PM

Fri Sep 30 - Animal Kingdom in AM, breakfast at 1900 Park Fare 8:10 AM, quick lunch - MGM in PM, tried for ressies at Mama Melrose's or Hollywood and Vine but nothing available (will keep trying), will do Fantasmic

Sat Oct 1 - Magic Kingdom in AM, breakfast at O'hana's 8:20 AM - Epcot in PM, dinner at San Angel Inn 7:30 PM

Sun Oct 2 - quick breakfast, Downtown Disney, Disney Quest, HOME

Thanks guys!

 

[safaulk]

PS.

If it helps, I can e-mail you my itinerary in Excel. Just let me know!

 

[mhingher]

The only thing I can suggest is to plan in some breaks... it seems like you have some late dinners planned, and then early breakfasts that next day. You'll be in the area a decent amount of time, so I would work in some time to relax at the hotel, or maybe make some of the breakfast ressies later or dinner a little earlier.

Good luck and have a great time!!!

 

[Msslaydbug]

Yes magic Kingdom is very busy on Saturdays. Our whole trip MK was very dead we walked onto most rides and BOOM on Saturday it was maddness. We had expected it to be busier but not like what it was.

I agree with mhingher - becareful of late dinners and early breakfast. We did that a few times and learned our lesson.

 

[bigcrit]

Just a thought. Why so much park hopping? Seems like you will always be on the go. I would probably only park hop for my AK - MGM day.

Just a thought though.........

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Is Disney Quest included in your passes? If so, stopping there after dinner the first night is great, but if not, it's probably not worth the admission to go for just an hour or two.

Also, you might want to plan which nights to see the night shows (Wishes, Illuminations, etc) since your dinner reservations might conflict.
Have a great trip!

 

[the kabuki]

IMO, too much park hopping. It may sound good on paper...we'll take the bus , monorail, etc and head on over to the other park. But it's not really that easy. It's easily an hour between parks, taking into account getting out of one park, waiting for transportation, the drive itself, walking to other park, security lines, ticket lines, etc.

I'd only park hop once or twice during my stay or if the park I'm at just starts to feel way too busy. But to do it every day just seems like too much wasted time.

On the arrival day, you state an evening arrival, then ressies at Rainforest. What time in the evening does your plane land? Again, take into account getting off the plane, getting luggage, ride to the resort, checking in, getting to the room, getting unpacked, freshening up. This all takes time. Might not want to schedule any ADR's on that first night? Or eat something quick, then go to Disney Quest. Rainforest is notoriosly slow for service. I've been stuck in there for 1 1/2 hours for lunch, when less than 1/4 of the place is filled in ,January no less ,and still it's been terribly slow.

Also, why the 2 visits to Chef Mickey's, one for brkfst, one for dinner? With so many restaurants to choose from, why duplicate?

On sunday, why not stay at AK all day, Breakfastorous(sp?) in the AM then the Rainforest for dinner.

Then on Monday do MGM all day, whatever for brkfst, SCi-Fi for dinner. We usually finish MGM faster than the other parks, never feels like we need a complete day there. You could take advantage of this, and start off with lunch at Primetime and head to MGM later in the day-thus giving yourself some sleeping in time. Or you could arrive MGM at opening, finishing up in the early evening and take some much needed rest in your resort, maybe some swimming or just relaxing & an early bedtime

Basically, I would cut down the park hopping, and all the late night dinners and early morning breakfast's. One or two days of that is ok, but I can't imagine being able to keep up that place for 10 days.

 

[safaulk]

Thanks for all of the tips! I will look into not doing so much park hopping. It just seems on most of our trips that we've always gotten tired of one park and hopped to another almost every day. Since we're on the dining plan, I tried to make the most of the dining options. I'm off to review my itinerary now. I don't know why I put in so much park hopping. Thanks again!

 

[Msslaydbug]

If you have your own car than park hopping isn't that much of a pain. We always seem to do one park in the AM and a different one in the PM. It makes it easier since we always have a rental car.

 

[safaulk]

We do have our own car. We'll be driving down. We're only about six hours away. Well, I tried to fix it so we weren't park hopping so much, but it screwed up our dining plans and it's hard to change them at this point. Everything's booked up. Oh well.

 

[Nikayla]

Hope you have LOTS of fun!!! Looks like a great week

 

[MommytoPayton&Max]

When are you planning to watch the evening MK parade? With a 6:45 at Cindy's, you could potentially be cutting it close to the 8:00 parade. Although you should be done by then, you may not get the best seat.

If I was going for this long of a period, I agree with the other post....I would not do half days at MGM. I would give this park a full day and then if you wanted to go back for a little bit to hit some attractions there again, you could still do that. I would be likely to do that as well with AK.

We'll be leaving as you are coming....have fun!

 

[skiingwife]

I just noticed you have a lot of early breakfasts at restaurants at monorail resorts. This would be fine if you're staying at one of the monorail resorts or if you have a car. But it looks like you're at PO. If you don't have a car, I'd consider whether you really want to take the bus to those resorts for breakfast, or if you just want grab quicker breakfasts at PO. I'm planning to do quick breakfasts so I can get to the parks before opening to take advantage of low crowds. Just something to consider.

 

[safaulk]

Well, I've tried and tried to make changes to our ADR's so that we won't have to park hop so much, but it isn't working out. Everything is booked solid! I guess we'll just plan on spending the morning's in one park, and/or go back to the motel for a breather, and then go to the next park. Oh well.