How does my itinerary look ?

[mill4023]

This is our first ever trip to WDW. I've tried to do as much research as possible and I've gotten a ton of great info from everyone here.
I'll be there from 4/28 - 5/7 with DW, DS10, DD7, DD4, DD1. As of now, we'll be at the Fairfield Marriott Village from 4/28 - 5/3, then moving to POR from 5/3 - 5/7.
I'd appreciate any advice or opinions on my current plan.

Thurs, 4/28:
Arrive at MCO at 9:30am.
Play it by ear depending on how tired we are from the flight.
Check in at Fairfield.
Dinner at Chef Mickey's
Fri, 4/29:
Universal Studios
Sat, 4/30:
Epcot
Breakfast w/ the princesses at Akershus EDIT: Make that lunch
Sun, 5/1:
Animal Kingdom
Dinner at Boma
Mon, 5/2:
Sea World
Tues, 5/3:
Check in at POR
Magic Kingdom
Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern
Wed, 5/4:
Magic Kingdom
Lunch at Crystal Palace
Evening EMH
Thur, 5/5:
Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon
Fri, 5/6:
MGM
Fantasmic Dinner package at Hollywood and Vine or Mama Melrose EDIT: couldn't get this one
Sat, 5/7:
Check out
?
Maybe another water park for a few hours
Head to MCO and catch 6pm flight

 

[danny1649]

The only suggestion I would make is,I see you are going MGM 2 days and Epcot only 1.I think you could do most everything at MGM on Saturday and since you have Fantasmic Dinner Package I wouldn't change that day.Epcot is a two day park so maybe go back to Epcot and catch what you didn't do on first visit on Friday.Please don't bonk me on the head this is only a suggestion you do what you feel is best for your family.Have a magical and safe vacation.

 

[franw]

Looks like a great schedule to me. I would pull up the hours of operation for your dates and see when the early opening/late opening days are and fine tune it from that list. We never do the early opening but when the park stays open three hours later for resort guests it is well worth planning for. Have fun.

 

[mill4023]

We only have one day at MGM on that list.
It's MK that we are planning 2 days at.
From what I've read, Epcot can be a little boring for little ones, so I think we'll keep that at one day.
I did look over the EMH schedule and tried to avoid parks on their EMH days. Wed at MK is the one exception and that is because there really didn't seem to be any other days that would be better and I thought it might be fun to do the evening EMH at MK that night. Of course, my little ones may be completely burnt out by 9pm anyway.

The PS's are just what I'm going to try to get. I'm calling tomorrow so we'll see then if I can get them.

 

[mill4023]

bump for more opinions/comments/suggestions/etc.

 

[Drizzo67]

You will absloutely love the princess breakfast in Norway. My DS(8 at the time) and DD(5) loved it. We enjoyed it more than the breakfast at the Castle with Cinderella - not as crazy and rushed.

One small suggestion for the day you check into POR. Don't rush off right away to MK. Take time to look around the resort, swim in the pool (you can even swim in the pool at POFQ - sister resorts). The kids will love it. Don't forget to take a boat ride to Downtown Disney. Look into renting boats, taking a carriage ride etc. The resorts can be just as much fun as some of the parks with a lot less stress. JMHO.

 

[mill4023]

Thanks for the tips.
I just called to get my PS's.
The fantasmic package was all booked at both H&V and MM. But we saw fantasmic at DL last June, so we'll just go without the reserved seating and if it's totally packed, we may skip it.

So here's what I have booked and confirmed:
4/28 - Chef Mickey's - 8:30 pm
4/30 - Princess Dining at Norway - 12:00 pm(starting in April, breakfast, lunch, and dinner will all be character meals)
5/1 - Boma - 6:30 pm
5/3 - Liberty Tree Tavern - 4:20 pm
5/4 - Crystal Palace - 1:00 pm

I definitely want to spend some time just exploring the resort. Especially after having to convince my wife that it was worth spending the extra money to be on-site even though most of our time would be spent at the parks.
Since Tuesday is our first day at MK, I'm sure the kids will want to get to the park as soon as possible. But since we are doing 2 days at MK and are planning on doing EMH evening on Wed, maybe we will just hang out at the resort Wed morning and not go to the park until it's time for our 1:00 PS.
I'm also thinking that since we're doing the water park on Thurs, we'll have some time that evening to spend at the resort.

By the way, what is Norwegian cuisine?
The CM said lunch and dinner at Akershus are traditional norwegian cuisine. I have no idea what that means other than I assume it includes fish. But hey, I'm looking forward to trying new things.

 

[mill4023]

bump for any opinions from the evening crowd.

 

[mill4023]

Another bump for other opinions / advice.

 

[Drizzo67]

I'm not sure about the lunch and dinner cuisine in Norway. We had the breakfast when we went. The food was fantastic. My DH claimed it was the best food the whole trip. It was eggs, potatos, sausage etc. but cooked Norweigen style - some kind of cheese in the potatos etc. The good thing about it was that the food kept coming until you said "Uncle". Once the lunch and dinner thing start happening in April I'm sure a menu will be posted on allearsnet.com. Deb is pretty good about keeping up to date on these types of things.

The only other PS you have that we have done is Chef Mickeys. Get there early, it takes a while just to check in (even with a PS). I wasn't too thrilled with it but we went on Valentine's Day and it was extra crazy. Let me know what you think when you get back.

Enjoy your trip. I'm now in the process of planning our February 2006 trip (3rd trip in 3 years). I'm completely addicted to Disney.

My DH gave me a hard time about the expense of staying on site until he got there in 2004. Now I don't think he'd want to stay anywhere else. It is so part of the Disney experience.

 

[mill4023]

Wow, Feb 2006 ?
I'm having a hard enough time just waiting for April 27. I'm quite certain that if my wife had to listen to me talk disney for 11 months, we'd be divorced by then.

 

[mill4023]

Thought I'd bump this again and see if anyone else has any opinions or suggestions for a first-timer.