Help! We need a plan!

[RC Fan]

Hello!

We are going May 23rd to May 30th and have to pack a a lot in a short period of time. Our list of priorities is as follows: IOA, AK, MK, BB, TL, MGM, Epcot and Sea World. Can anyone offer me some advice as to which park to hit when?

 

[disney4us2002]

I would begin by breaking down your days into 2 segments - a morning touring plan, then a break, then an evening touring plan. Are you staying onsite at Disney, Univ or offsite altogether? I have to assume you will have a car if you're going in so many different directions.

At the Disney parks look at what it is you want to do. Are you interested in hitting the best rides, seeing the daytime parades or the nightly fireworks/parades? Those are the best ways to break down the days. During your stay certain nighttime entertainments may only be offered specific days so put those in the schedule first as they aren't flexible and then plan around what it a must do.

You can expect the temps to be pretty high and the crowds to grow as you get closer to Memorial weekend.

On your arrival and departure days are you able to do any real touring? What types of tickets will you have? Five day hopper pluses?

Just to give you an idea, you might plan your week like this:

Sun: Arrival, check in, unpack, head to Epcot for evening & Illuminations.

Mon:

 

[disney4us2002]

I would begin by breaking down your days into 2 segments - a morning touring plan, then a break, then an evening touring plan. Are you staying onsite at Disney, Univ or offsite altogether? I have to assume you will have a car if you're going in so many different directions.

At the Disney parks look at what it is you want to do. Are you interested in hitting the best rides, seeing the daytime parades or the nightly fireworks/parades? Those are the best ways to break down the days. During your stay certain nighttime entertainments may only be offered specific days so put those in the schedule first as they aren't flexible and then plan around what it a must do.

You can expect the temps to be pretty high and the crowds to grow as you get closer to Memorial weekend.

On your arrival and departure days are you able to do any real touring? What types of tickets will you have? Five day hopper pluses?

Just to give you an idea, you might plan your week like this:

Sun: Arrival, check in, unpack, head to Epcot for evening & Illuminations.

Mon: MGM am, break, TL, no park in evening as tired and early tomorrow at AK.

Tues: AK til 2-3, break, Magic Kingdom in pm for Spectro & wishes

Wed: MK til 3, break, MGM in pm for Fantasmic

Thurs: Islands of Adventure day

Fri: Seaworld til 3, break, head to BB around 4

Sat: Epcot til tired, MK for final night


This assumes you want to try to hit only the best of the best rides & shows and you have at least 5-day hoppers. We always end with MK but that is of course, personal preference.

 

[RC Fan]

Hello!

We are staying offsite. We will be using the hotel shuttle for Disney and Mears Shutlle to go to IOA and Sea World. We are basically interested in two things: thrill rides and eating/drinking. We are not interested in parades or fireworks. We get in Sunday about 2:30, so I don't know how much time we will have for anything the first night. We each have a five day Park Hopper Plus, as well as single-day admissions to both IOA and Sea World.

 

[disney4us2002]

oops, sorry about that posting. The telephone interrupted my thought processes, lol.


The biggest thing for thrill rides is to hit those parks first thing. Our strategy at MGM for instance is to immediately go to RnRC, get a fastpass, ride it, go to Tower of Terror, come back to RnRC and ride with fastpasses, get a 2nd fp when we get off and then ride it again later with the 2nd fp. Did that make sense?

Epcot will be the same. For MS and TT, you will have to get there at opening. TT's fp were usually gone by 1pm.

Since you're offsite, stay away from the parks on their early entry days.

 

[RC Fan]

Yes, that makes sense.

I don't think we are going to go on Mission Space as we have heard mixed reviews. I do like Test Track though, and I love all the different food at Epcot.

I want to try to hit the Tower of Terror at night as it is spookier.

 

[XStAnt]

RC Fan,

To maximize time I would pick only one waterpark for this trip. Save the other one for a later trip. While there are differences in the parks, they have many similar rides. Since this is your first trip you have a lot of other things to do and I would concentrate more time on the parks.

I would not rely on your hotel shuttle for transportation to Disney. Those shuttles typically only make a few runs in the am and a few runs in the pm. If you want to get a real early start or want to stay a little late (i.e. to see the luau or go to the boardwalk) the buses will not be at a convenient time. Definitely look into renting a car. Check out www.mousesavers.com for info on rental car discounts.

Definitely try Mission Space. So what if you have heard some mixed reviews on it. You love thrill rides and this is one of the few thrill rides at Epcot. Give it a try. The worst that happens is you'll be a little disappointed.

I don't know what hotel you are staying at. You may want to keep an eye on this board and mousesavers.com for info on discount codes for Disney resorts. You may be able to get a cheap rate on a budget resort. While they are not the most luxurious I get the impression you will not be spending a lot of time in a room and aren't looking for fancy extras. This will let you take advantage of early entry, which will help maximize your time and get in more rides, etc. It would also eliminate the need for a rental car since you can rely on Disney transportation to the Disney parks. They run more frequently, about every 20 minutes all day long.

If you keep your off site reservation stay away from the park having EMH that day. It does tend to make that park a little more crowded.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[RC Fan]

Hi XStant!

We are staying offsite and I think we got quite a decent deal. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Maingate East.

I stayed on Disney the last time I was there. I thought the Grand Floridian should have been a lot nicer for the price they charge and the hype they give it, so I decided to try offsite this time.

 

[msr709]

I don't drive so rentals are out for me when I travel alone so while I agree that staying onsite does provide Disney transportation which is more consistent, I've also stayed at DTD hotels and their transportation is very competitive. Depending on the hotel you select and the time you go, you can have great transportation. The buses from DTD hotels are much more comfortable (they are "commuter" buses, so they are cushioned seats, not hard plastic like the Disney ones). I stayed at the Grosvenor and its the next to last pick up but since I went the week before Xmas it wasn't crowded and fullfilled my needs, I just had to keep track of the bus schedule which wasn't so hard to do. I also split my stay b/w Disney and HRH or Royal Pacific and that made things a lot easier. JMHO! Have fun with whatever you decide, YOU'RE GOING TO DISNEY!!

 

[CHARLADIZ]

Hey we will be ther the same time as you and like you are trying to fit in alot. We have been before but our 19 year old niece who has never been will be with us so we are trying to do both water parks and IOA since she has never been. We are staying on site so our plan probably wouldn't work for you and we're not doing SeaWorld but we are doing Disney Quest
Sunday arrive early and check in Pop Century Go to MGM around 12 and stay till closing so we can see Fantasmic
Monday EE AK leave after lunch and go to TL
Tuesday MK all day
Wed Sleep in Disney Quest 15 yo son and 19 yo niece want to stay here all day!
Thursday Epcot Hotel break pool Epcot at nite
Friday BB then go to IOA (Ibought the Express Pass plusses for 16.00 each so we should be able to do IOA from about 3-8)
Saturday Figuring parks will be crowed because of mem day MGM EE do TOT and RNR hop to epcot for lunch and maybe TT and MS then hop to MK and hopefully do Splash (my fav) and just walk around iif too crowded
Sunday breakfast Kona Cafe DTD head home

 

[RC Fan]

Hi CHARLADIZ!

Is Disney Quest the big video arcade in Downtown Disney? If so, we did that the last time.

What is the advantage of the Express Plus at IOA? Can you buy it at the gates even though you pruchased your pass ahead of time?

Are you excited? I know it is a ways away but we are extremely excited.

 

[CHARLADIZ]

Yes DQ is the huge arcade and my son loves. Thought we would plan a whole day for it and then if we decide to do something diffferent we can (visit the boardwalk play putt putt) The express plus is a separate ticket that alows you one "front of the line pass " for each attraction than has express lines. Its differnet than the free ones because you don't have a certain time to come back and you don't have to wait before getting another one. you can purchase them from guest services at the park. They are date specific I ordered mine already and had to put a specific date (Friday) I did it so we could go to a waterpark first and be able to go to IOA later in the day. And YES I AM EXCITED!!
This will be our 5th trip to Disney but like I said my 19 yo nieces first so I am so excited for her! I just want everything to be perfect.

 

[RC Fan]

I have been told I am over-planning the whole thing but our week is so busy we have to have a plan, and a good one at that.

This will be my second trip to Disney. We also have a 'newbie' coming with us so it is always fun to see that person's reaction.

I am really hoping it won't be too busy.

 

[RC Fan]

CHARLADIZ,

Where did you buy your Express Plus Pass? That sounds awesome. Aparently that is another detail I overlooked.

 

[XStAnt]

RC Fan,

I don't think you're overplanning (at least no worse than the rest of us loonies ). Just try to understand you will not get to do everything. There is just to much to do and too little time. I think five days in the Disney parks is a good amount of time to get most things done. With the other activities you'll be exhausted by the end of the trip, but so what?? Enjoy yourselves and take a day to rest when you get home.

As long as everyone in your group understands that there will be things you won't/can't get to you'll be okay. It's all about realistic expectations. To keep any disappointments to a minimum one person once suggested that everyone make three lists. The first is your "must dos." These are things you'd die if you couldn't do it. Keep it short and realistic. Your second list is your "I don't really need to do this on this particular trip (or ever)." Do you really need to go on Dumbo if you don't have small kids? The third list are things you'd like to do if time, but if you miss some of them you'll still live. Fit these attractions in as time permits or the opportunity arises.

Once you have these lists it becomes a little easier to plan your trip.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[CHARLADIZ]

The express plus tickets can be purchased on line through the Univeral Theme parks webiste. It is a little tricky though. Instead of going to tickets you go to vacation packages a little window on the right hand side comes up and asks for your departure date - you put the date you want the tickets for and there is a little box right above and you click on tickets only you hit enter and then go on the next screen and a list of available tickets will come up. It will have IOA express plus and the price for the day you want them (Depending on the time of year they range from 10-25 ours being 15.68 I think) and then you can order from there. If you cant' find it let me know and I'll go back to it to make sure I havent left out anything. They did send me an email before they processed my order to make sure I knew I had to have separate admission tickets (which I already have and theat they are date specific.

 

[RC Fan]

Hi CHARLADIZ!

I just wanted to thank you very much for your help with the Universal Express Plus pass. With your help, I ordered mine this morning.

Thanks again! I hope your trip goes very well!