Help with itinerary - first timer

Mrs Lapo

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Messages
167
Hello, this is my first family trip. I'm traveling with DH, DD9, DD5 and DS2. My date to book my ADR's is Monday so of course I am now second guessing my itinerary. I was wondering if I could ask for some critique. I am on the Disney Dining plan so I have 9 Tbl, 9 QS and 9 SC to use. I am planning on ordering groceries from Garder Grocer and would like to use our snack credits between meals. I do have a list that I have broken down by park for reference.

Sat 11/22 - Arrival Day - All Star Movies Resort
plane lands at 9:05 am
check in isn't until 3pm so we'll have our swim suites in our carry ons.
I figured we would just explore the resort & eat lunch in the café (1QS)
I am having groceries delivered so I will put them away
ADR - Hoop De Doo Revue @ Ft Wilderness - 6pm show (2Tbl)

Sun 11/23 - Universal Studios
Br - at the food court (1QS)
pack lunch & take cab to US for rope drop
Dinner at 3 Broomsticks (hopefully)

Mon 11/24 - Magic Kingdom
ADR - Br @ Crystal Palace 8am (1TBL)
pack lunch and eat while waiting for parade at 3pm
Pinnochio Village Haus for dinner (1QS)

Tues 11/25 - Epcot
Br in room - Epcot opens at 8am this day
Sunshine Seasons lunch (1QS)
ADR - Dn @ Garden Grill 7pm (1Tbl)

Wed 11/26 - Animal Kingdom
Br in room - AK opens at 8am this day
Flame Tree BBQ llunch (1QS)
park closes at 5pm
ADR - Dn @ 1900 Park Fare @ Grand Floridian 6:30 (1Tbl)

Thurs 11/27 - Thanksgiving - Hollywood Studios
Br in room - HS opens at 9am
Pizza Planet for lunch (1QS)
ADR - 50's Prime Time 5pm (1Tbl)
Fantasmic 6:30pm

Fri 11/28 - Magic Kingdom
Br in room - park opens at 9am
Be Our Guest lunch 11:30 (1QS) - if I can get the FP+
ADR - Dn @ The Plaza 7pm (1Tbl)
Stay for evening FW if we can

Sat 11/29
Here's where it gets tricky... I was originally planning to go back to Epcot but thought it would be more fun to let the kids decide since it's our last full day. But that's hard to do when you have to make all your dining plans 180 days in advance so I was thinking of doing Ohanna at 8am dor our Tbl credit and then it wouldn't matter which park we went bc we could just pack our lunch and use our QS for dinner.

Sun - 11/30
check out 11am
leave for airport by 4 for 6:45 flight (sound reasonable??)
I was saving Ohanna for my departure day so now I need a Tbl sevice for my last day that is also not in a park. I was thinking of just eating Br at the hotel to use 1QS and then head to Downtown Disney and use our Tbl service for lunch. But Idk what to do about our luggage... if the hotel holds it for us then we'd have to go all the way back to get it. So I am thinking I should do something closer...

Advice please?!?! Thank you so very much!
 
For your Saturday meal, how about something at Downtown Disney? Then you could hit any park and some great restaurants are there.
 
If you are taking magical express you are going to have to take it from your hotel anyway and they will pick you up three hours before your flight.
 
you are staying 8 nights so you won't have a table service left on the last day if you do Ohana on your last park day since HDDR takes 2 if I added correctly. I would maybe go ahead and book Ohana for the day you are leaving and then just stick with QS and snacks on the last in park day. If you save up a few snack credits, snacking your way through the WS is aways fun:thumbsup2
 

My thoughts in red...


Hello, this is my first family trip. I'm traveling with DH, DD9, DD5 and DS2. My date to book my ADR's is Monday so of course I am now second guessing my itinerary. I was wondering if I could ask for some critique. I am on the Disney Dining plan so I have 9 Tbl, 9 QS and 9 SC to use. I am planning on ordering groceries from Garder Grocer and would like to use our snack credits between meals. I do have a list that I have broken down by park for reference.

Sat 11/22 - Arrival Day - All Star Movies Resort
plane lands at 9:05 am
check in isn't until 3pm so we'll have our swim suites in our carry ons.
I figured we would just explore the resort & eat lunch in the café (1QS)
I am having groceries delivered so I will put them away
ADR - Hoop De Doo Revue @ Ft Wilderness - 6pm show (2Tbl) Fun show - we loved it!

Sun 11/23 - Universal Studios
Br - at the food court (1QS)
pack lunch & take cab to US for rope drop
Dinner at 3 Broomsticks (hopefully)

Mon 11/24 - Magic Kingdom
ADR - Br @ Crystal Palace 8am (1TBL) Our favorite breakfast!
pack lunch and eat while waiting for parade at 3pm
Pinnochio Village Haus for dinner (1QS)

Tues 11/25 - Epcot
Br in room - Epcot opens at 8am this day
Sunshine Seasons lunch (1QS)
ADR - Dn @ Garden Grill 7pm (1Tbl)Can your little ones handle dinner this late?

Wed 11/26 - Animal Kingdom
Br in room - AK opens at 8am this day This is an early morning considering you have a late-ish night the night before.
Flame Tree BBQ llunch (1QS) one of our favorite CS meals.
park closes at 5pm
ADR - Dn @ 1900 Park Fare @ Grand Floridian 6:30 (1Tbl)

Thurs 11/27 - Thanksgiving - Hollywood Studios
Br in room - HS opens at 9am
Pizza Planet for lunch (1QS)
ADR - 50's Prime Time 5pm (1Tbl)Fun dinner!
Fantasmic 6:30pm

Fri 11/28 - Magic Kingdom
Br in room - park opens at 9am
Be Our Guest lunch 11:30 (1QS) - if I can get the FP+
ADR - Dn @ The Plaza 7pm (1Tbl)
Stay for evening FW if we can

Sat 11/29
Here's where it gets tricky... I was originally planning to go back to Epcot but thought it would be more fun to let the kids decide since it's our last full day. But that's hard to do when you have to make all your dining plans 180 days in advance so I was thinking of doing Ohanna at 8am dor our Tbl credit and then it wouldn't matter which park we went bc we could just pack our lunch and use our QS for dinner.

Sun - 11/30
check out 11am
leave for airport by 4 for 6:45 flight (sound reasonable??)
I was saving Ohanna for my departure day so now I need a Tbl sevice for my last day that is also not in a park. I was thinking of just eating Br at the hotel to use 1QS and then head to Downtown Disney and use our Tbl service for lunch. But Idk what to do about our luggage... if the hotel holds it for us then we'd have to go all the way back to get it. So I am thinking I should do something closer...

Advice please?!?! Thank you so very much!

Will you have a car or are you using Magical Express and WDW transport? If you use ME to get to the airport, you'll need to be at the bus stop at your resort by 3:30-ish. If you're driving, 4:00 is fine.

Are you planning to take mid-day breaks back at your resort? You have some really long days planned, starting at rope drop and going until 7:00 dinners. With a 7:00 dinner, you're not going to be done until at least 8:00. If you're taking a bus back to your resort, you may not get back to your room until 9:00. If you're driving, you could make it back a little sooner.

 
One thing I would suggest is trying to use your QS on your Epcot day in the World Showcase. This just really depends on your family's tastes, Sunshine Seasons is great and all but it is typical park food and Epcot has some of the best food in all of Disney, so it is worth trying some of their yummy food in the World Showcase :)

Sat 11/29
Here's where it gets tricky... I was originally planning to go back to Epcot but thought it would be more fun to let the kids decide since it's our last full day. But that's hard to do when you have to make all your dining plans 180 days in advance so I was thinking of doing Ohanna at 8am dor our Tbl credit and then it wouldn't matter which park we went bc we could just pack our lunch and use our QS for dinner.

I would not do Ohana at 8am on a park day. Might I suggest with your girls ages doing Akershus? It was my daughters' favorite character meal. I also just have to say, unless you are big breakfast people the big breakfasts can get overwhelming, as can having to leave your hotel by 7am so many days of your 'vacation' (and just remember if you are not currently in Eastern time zone you will feel like it's earlier ;) ). We only had 2 early morning TS meals and that was more than enough for us. I much preferred sitting down in the evening with the family for dinner.

leave for airport by 4 for 6:45 flight (sound reasonable??)
I was saving Ohanna for my departure day so now I need a Tbl sevice for my last day that is also not in a park. I was thinking of just eating Br at the hotel to use 1QS and then head to Downtown Disney and use our Tbl service for lunch. But Idk what to do about our luggage... if the hotel holds it for us then we'd have to go all the way back to get it. So I am thinking I should do something closer...

If you have an extra TS (look into that, I haven't added but the pp has a good point about the double table service credits) I think departure day would be a great day for Ohana for breakfast and doing a QS for lunch so you don't have to worry about a meal taking too long. If you are taking Magical Express you can do airline check-in for your checked baggage right away in the morning (and then you don't have to see it again until you get to your home airport! best thing ever) and they can hold your other belongings for you if you want. They will want you on ME for 3:45 if you take it.

We did the dining plan and a lot of days we actually used our snack credits for breakfast. You can get a giant cinnamon roll for one snack credit that was enough to tide us over until lunch. There was a little shop in HS that had some amazing muffins (Main Street Bakery in MK had yummy muffins too...) Just something to think about, lots of times people end up with extra snack credits when they are on the dining plan.
 
Now that I reread, you need to be aware that you only get credits on the dining plan for the number of *nights* you are staying. That would be 8 nights, so you have 8 TS, 8 QS and 8 SC per person.
 
Thank you all for your suggestions. Yes, I miscalculated and I only have 8 DP credits. Therefore I am thinking of doing O'Hanna at 9am on Sat 11/29 then let the kids decide which park to go to that day. And we can either save a few snack credits for our last day. Or if we use our snack credits at the WS in Epcot on the day that we are there (which I've seen on these boards that this is the thing to do so the food must be great) then I will use the QS on our last day. We may even have some groceries to finish up too, who knows.

I did have Akershus for our Tbl option on Tues in Epcot but then changed it to the Garden Grill bc we are doing 1900 Park Fare Wed night. Does anyone have an opinion as to which is better?? I could always find another option for Wed night and put it back in. Especially if Garden Grill is not turning any more (I saw that on another thread..)

Thank you for all of the other suggestions as well. We are on EST so that's one relief. And my kids are usually up by 6:30-7am and out the door by 7:30 every day at home anyway bc my husband and I both work. We usually don't eat dinner until 6:30-7pm at home anyway so that is also not a worry for us but I understand where it may be for others. My main concern is that my son is usually in bed by 8pm at home. I am hoping some afternoon naps will help him stay awake a little later. I am bringing a reclining stroller from home and he does nap in there sometimes when we are out. Even my girls are usually in bed by 8:30 on week nights at home so they may need a nap as well. With that said it looks like a long bus ride from the parks to All Star movie to be going back and forth mid afternoon.. but I think I read that it's only like 15 mins each way, is that right? I'm just not so sure how that will work. And the day that we attend Universal, forget it. That's why I picked to do that our first full day there. I figured we could always try to find a quiet spot to rest if needed.

And I am relieved to hear that I can leave my luggage for the magical express. I'm still not 100% sure what we'll do on our last day but I figured Downtown Disney or the resort are really our only options since we will not have a park pass for that day.

Thanks so much for everyone's input. I am so excited but it's hard to plan considering it's our first time.
 
Everyone is different, but I would HATE all those meal reservations, especially the lunches. We almost never have lunch at a "normal" time while at a theme park because they open mid-morning and we feel like we're just getting rolling when it's time to break for food.
 
I'm only making reservations for the Tbl meals. The QS locations are just a suggestion of where we would like to go based off recommendations and their menus (my kids aren't adventurous eaters) but since they do not require a reservation then we have more flexibility whether we go there or not and what time we show up. Except BOG if I am able to get a FP+ for it. I just figured I would see where we are in the park when the kids get hungry and if we're close to a place we originally wanted to go then great, if not then we'll wing it.

I hate that I have to have all our meals planned at all. I thought we could just wing it the whole trip but I've been told and from reading these boards that you should have a reservation for all your Tbl service meals to guarantee a table otherwise it could be a few hours wait. Especially since we are going over a holiday. I never knew how much planning was required, lol. I am just so very thankful that a friend of mine gave me the link to this website!! You guys are like Disney experts :o)
 
What are the odds that I get my tbl service reservations?? I'm extremely paranoid about having to redo this whole itinerary...
 
We all love Akershus. We do enjoy 1900 PF too but go to Akershus each trip.

I am sure you will be fine getting your reservations - it might be a different time but you should be fine.

My only big suggestion is not doing Hoop De Doo on the 1st day. We don't make any reservations the first day. Just in case we don't get there - then we don't lose any money cancelling. I would do it on your full last day there. We always love to end our stay with a great night. HDD is great.

We love 50s, BOG lunch, the CP characters, and Ohana is our real favorite. It might seem like you are over planning but you are not. Once you are there you will be so glad that you took the time to do this. You should have a great time.
 
We're scheduled to arrive at 9am & were not doing a park that day so I thought it would be a good night for the hoop de Doo revue. I don't want to leave a park early to go & my youngest would never make it through the late show.

I have changed to from 1900 PF to the rainforest cafe. I think subjecting my husband & son to 2 princess dinners back to back would be a bit much lol
 





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