Help needed planning the details of our trip (newbie)

"Thank you! My only issue is my youngest is super excited for bbb. She will eat that up. I know it will be crazy hot though. I agree that we should probably cancel Crystal Palace. I was just trying to get the kids a chance to see Mary Poppins. A friend suggested that HS and Epcot should only be half days, but having not gone in 20 plus years I wasn’t sure."

Crystal Palace has Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eyore, and Piglet for every meal, no one else. Mary Poppins is often at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian for breakfast only.
 
In order to do Jedi training, you've got to have a rope drop morning at HS; there's just no other way to sign up and do it. The way you have it planned works well. If you want to see F!, I might try to do that on July 2. They have a 9:00 and 10:30 showing that night, so you would have time to get there after you VN dinner.

With all the other recommendations, I think I would agree to drop Crystal Palace (especially since Mary Poppins isn't there). Do you have time for a breakfast before you head home on the 7th. You could do 1900 Park Fare that morning as one last hurrah!

Your 8 a.m. BoG is a good choice for PPO. You'll be out in time to beat the crowds to either 7DMT or Peter Pan. However, keep an eye on the park hours. There's always a chance that they will change those and open at 8:00 OR give MK an early EMH since it is a holiday week. If that happens, you'll want to drop that ADR as it will put you behind everyone else.
 
Even with all the information online there are some excellent
guide books about traveling to WDW with children. The Unofficial Guide by Bob Sehlinger(I think that’s correct) and another written by a woman and her daughter-I’m sorry, I can’t remember their names-that we found very helpful on our grandson’s first visit. Your local library will probably have copies. They might be very helpful choosing rides and coming up with a loose traveling plan.
And if your girls want to do BBB, of course you should do that! I just want to say don’t worry about getting everything done! Your girls won’t know the difference and you will still have a wonderful time!
And because I’m a retired librarian, if you don’t download the e-book, you can find the print version in 917.59 :teacher:
 
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Are you going to have time for a break/nap with your BBB reservation? I think I would grab 3 FP’s for July 2nd at MK for the evening. Check into AKL, explore the hotel, spend some time at the pool, then head to MK for FP’s & a nice dinner (or maybe GF for 1900 PF?) and HEA fireworks. Then sleep in a bit on July 3rd for your afternoon BBB and CRT ADR. Or, if possible, switch BBB and CRT to July 2nd. I would ditch Crystal Palace altogether.

Another thought, if you are willing to get up early, would be to be at HS on July 2nd for RD and Jedi training, then check-in to AKL and spend the evening there waking up refreshed for your MK day. Then make July 4th an all Epcot day.
 
Are you going to have time for a break/nap with your BBB reservation? I think I would grab 3 FP’s for July 2nd at MK for the evening. Check into AKL, explore the hotel, spend some time at the pool, then head to MK for FP’s & a nice dinner (or maybe GF for 1900 PF?) and HEA fireworks. Then sleep in a bit on July 3rd for your afternoon BBB and CRT ADR. Or, if possible, switch BBB and CRT to July 2nd. I would ditch Crystal Palace altogether.

Another thought, if you are willing to get up early, would be to be at HS on July 2nd for RD and Jedi training, then check-in to AKL and spend the evening there waking up refreshed for your MK day. Then make July 4th an all Epcot day.

Thank you! You have given me a lot to think about. I have ditched crystal palace. I need to decide if we need a break after universal on July 2, and if that is the case we could go to MK in the evening. Or hit HS bright and early on July 2, but there are EMH for HS that morning. Would we need to be at the park before 7am to get Jedi training?
 
Thank you! My only issue is my youngest is super excited for bbb. She will eat that up. I know it will be crazy hot though. I agree that we should probably cancel Crystal Palace. I was just trying to get the kids a chance to see Mary Poppins. A friend suggested that HS and Epcot should only be half days, but having not gone in 20 plus years I wasn’t sure.

If your daughter has her heart set on BBB I would do it! It will be fun for her to go to CRT all dolled up. You will get opinions all over the place on whether Epcot is great or boring for young kids and whether HS is a half-day or full-day park. Personally we love Epcot and are excited to take the grandkids there next month. They are little (13 months- 5 1/2). But reading this article really helped me plan for our days. http://www.buildabettermousetrip.com/epcot-with-young-children/

It's a little out-of-date since Ellen's Energy Adventure is now closed. But I liked the child-centered focus of the writer in considering how to plan your Epcot time. I think a family could easily spend a full day at Epcot, especially if you want to meet characters. Mary Poppins has a regular meet and greet schedule in the United Kingdom as does Alice in Wonderland. Jasmine is in Morocco, Belle and Aurora in France. So many opportunities if your kids want to meet characters. My older grandkids are excited to get Passports and have them stamped as they go to the different countries in World Showcase.
 
Again, thank you to everyone for all of your suggestions. They are helping me get a better idea of what will work and what won’t. I have made some changes. Please let me know how this looks. Also, am I giving enough time for AK on July 6? Thanks.

Drive to Orlando June 29, stay at Embassy Suites Lake Buena Vista

June 30 check in to Hard Rock Universal Day (Harry Potter)

July 1 Universal Day (Harry Potter)


July 2 leave Universal. Epcot Day
Check in AKL

ADR 9:45 Grand Floridian

ADR 6:20 Via Napoli (pay out of pocket for family pizza)


July 3
(EMH:HS 7am, MK 10 pm -12am) MK DAY

3pm Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

ADR 5:40 Cinderella’s Table


July 4 (EMH:HS 7am, AK 8am) HS/EPCOT DAY

Hollywood Studios in AM (I was thinking of going in the am to try and get a Jedi training spot)

Epcot for dinner and fireworks (as of now there are no spots available for a fireworks package.)

ADR 5:15 Akehaus (I am still on the fence about this ADR due to picky eaters, and may cancel if I know I can find the princesses elsewhere.)


July 5
(EMH:Epcot 8am, HS 7am) MK DAY

ADR 8:00 am Be our Guest (10 am Be Our Guest reservation as a back up Incase EMHs change)


July 6 (EMH: MK 8am, HS 7am and 10pm) AK DAY

ADR 8:00 am Tusker House

ADR 5:10 pm Chef Art Smith @ Landings

July 7 Drive home
 
My only piece of advice is this......Get a fastPass for Flight of Passage at AK. You can do rider swap if your little one can’t ride. Don’t miss it.
 
ADR 5:15 Akehaus (I am still on the fence about this ADR due to picky eaters, and may cancel if I know I can find the princesses elsewhere.)

Since you'll be at Epcot, would you consider finding some Princesses there? CRT will have Cinderella, Ariel, Princess Aurora, Snow White (subject to change of course).

At Epcot these princesses have scheduled meet and greets (no FP). There may be others I'm forgetting.
Jasmine-Morocco
Mulan-China
Alice and Mary Poppins-UK
Belle-France

ETA: on your AK day, would you be willing to make a later breakfast ADR - say 10:30 or so? That way if the park opens early that day you won't be "behind" by having a meal while others are going to attractions in a relatively less crowded part of the day.

I believe lunch at TH begins at 11:00 so if you have a late breakfast you'll have those breakfast items plus possibly some lunch items to choose from - for just the breakfast price.
 
I disagree with your friend that epcot is a half day park. It was my kids favorite. Much more low key than MK, and has some awesome rides, meet and greets, and experiences. My kids were 4, 6 and 8 on our last trip, for reference. They loved Soarin, test track, nemo, figment, baymax meet and greet, character spot (goofy, Minnie and mickey), the phinneus and ferb scavenger hunt, frozen, entertainers in the countries, spaceship earth, Donald's ride in Mexico, and meeting Pluto. This was our best day at WDW.
 
Drop CP and leave BBB and CRT. I think BBB will give you a nice, air-conditioned break from the park during one of the hottest parts of the day, and CRT will let your princesses show off their princess-y-ness. It will still be a really long day, especially for your 5 year old. You could take a break and leave the park before BBB, but leaving and returning to MK is exhausting in itself. I'd stay the whole day, and make sure to do things that let you sit in the a/c a bit (Mickey's Philharmagic is a fun show, and great for that).

Drop Hollywood & Vine, get to the park really early, and do the earliest Jedi Training show you can get. Hopefully it will be early enough that you can get a break between HS and Epcot. I'd keep Akershus, and watch Illuminations.

The 5th might end up having to be a short day, depending on the endurance of your 5 year old. If I was in the parks open to close two days in a row (even with a midday break), my almost-5 year old would probably not be doing too great on the next day. Make plans for the time that you think you'd want to be in the park that day, but have some flexibility. For example, I frequently mark an attraction on my touring plan as a possible last attraction, meaning we'd be okay leaving anywhere after that point, and still feel like it was worthwhile to visit that park that day.

We love Tusker House. Keep that one. It should have plenty of breakfast foods for the kids, as well as more adventurous foods if you and your husband want something besides just eggs and breakfast meat. If you have an interest in doing Pandora, consider moving the Tusker reservation a little bit later, and going straight to Navi when the park opens (5 year olds can be a bit slow for rope dropping FOP). We really liked how our AK turned out on our last trip. We did Navi at rope drop, then Safari, then Tusker. Then we had FP for the other stuff that was important to us (FOP, Dinosaur, Everest). We are planning the same approach for our next trip because it was just such a smooth day.
 
ADR 5:15 Akehaus (I am still on the fence about this ADR due to picky eaters, and may cancel if I know I can find the princesses elsewhere.)

Since you'll be at Epcot, would you consider finding some Princesses there? CRT will have Cinderella, Ariel, Princess Aurora, Snow White (subject to change of course).

At Epcot these princesses have scheduled meet and greets (no FP). There may be others I'm forgetting.
Jasmine-Morocco
Mulan-China
Alice and Mary Poppins-UK
Belle-France

ETA: on your AK day, would you be willing to make a later breakfast ADR - say 10:30 or so? That way if the park opens early that day you won't be "behind" by having a meal while others are going to attractions in a relatively less crowded part of the day.

I believe lunch at TH begins at 11:00 so if you have a late breakfast you'll have those breakfast items plus possibly some lunch items to choose from - for just the breakfast price.

Oh I didn’t realize there are additional princesses at CRT. That could help eleminate the need for Akehaus. I was able to book an ADR for Tusker House at 10:35. I still have my 8am ADR. Do I understand correctly that a 8 am Tusker House ADR while technically a prepark ADR it won’t help us beat the crowds at all?
 
Drop CP and leave BBB and CRT. I think BBB will give you a nice, air-conditioned break from the park during one of the hottest parts of the day, and CRT will let your princesses show off their princess-y-ness. It will still be a really long day, especially for your 5 year old. You could take a break and leave the park before BBB, but leaving and returning to MK is exhausting in itself. I'd stay the whole day, and make sure to do things that let you sit in the a/c a bit (Mickey's Philharmagic is a fun show, and great for that).

Drop Hollywood & Vine, get to the park really early, and do the earliest Jedi Training show you can get. Hopefully it will be early enough that you can get a break between HS and Epcot. I'd keep Akershus, and watch Illuminations.

The 5th might end up having to be a short day, depending on the endurance of your 5 year old. If I was in the parks open to close two days in a row (even with a midday break), my almost-5 year old would probably not be doing too great on the next day. Make plans for the time that you think you'd want to be in the park that day, but have some flexibility. For example, I frequently mark an attraction on my touring plan as a possible last attraction, meaning we'd be okay leaving anywhere after that point, and still feel like it was worthwhile to visit that park that day.

We love Tusker House. Keep that one. It should have plenty of breakfast foods for the kids, as well as more adventurous foods if you and your husband want something besides just eggs and breakfast meat. If you have an interest in doing Pandora, consider moving the Tusker reservation a little bit later, and going straight to Navi when the park opens (5 year olds can be a bit slow for rope dropping FOP). We really liked how our AK turned out on our last trip. We did Navi at rope drop, then Safari, then Tusker. Then we had FP for the other stuff that was important to us (FOP, Dinosaur, Everest). We are planning the same approach for our next trip because it was just such a smooth day.

Thank you for all the info! That plan for AK makes sense. I added a 10:35 Tusker House ADR (I can cancel the 8am ADR one I finalize everything.) I updated my plans to drop CP and H&V. I added Grand Floridian for breakfast on July 2.
 
Do I understand correctly that a 8 am Tusker House ADR while technically a prepark ADR it won’t help us beat the crowds at all?

Based on my experience as a stand-by FoP person "in the herd" on a park opening day of 9:00, I would say that a technically "PPO" breakfast of 8:00 would not provide an advantage and likely a disadvantage if you are rope dropping FoP. We were let in through the turnstiles about 7:45. Then it was a process described elsewhere to make our way to the actual ride, which we were on before 9:00. You'd still be sitting in the restaurant when the early bird FoP riders were already in the ride.
 
Based on my experience as a stand-by FoP person "in the herd" on a park opening day of 9:00, I would say that a technically "PPO" breakfast of 8:00 would not provide an advantage and likely a disadvantage if you are rope dropping FoP. We were let in through the turnstiles about 7:45. Then it was a process described elsewhere to make our way to the actual ride, which we were on before 9:00. You'd still be sitting in the restaurant when the early bird FoP riders were already in the ride.
That makes sense! Thank you.
 
Thank you for all the info! That plan for AK makes sense. I added a 10:35 Tusker House ADR (I can cancel the 8am ADR one I finalize everything.) I updated my plans to drop CP and H&V. I added Grand Floridian for breakfast on July 2.

One of the good things about Tusker House is that they are usually able to seat you early. So if you wrap up Navi and Safari by 9:30 or 9:45, they'll probably still seat you once all of the parties that checked in before you are seated. Or you can use that time to do something else (Tough to be a Bug?). Keep in mind the trails don't open at the same time as the park, so they may not be available until after 10.
 

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