how to schedule your vacation

[AmyandMichael]

Im not even sure what forum to use but we are trying to book a 5-6 day Disney World vacation next Feb, staying on property. Where can I read peoples daily schedule or what people recommend. We do plan on doing all 4 parks?

What type of schedule do you use starting with day 1 getting in about 3pm?

 

[packfan20]

We usually arrive midafternoon but don't use that day to go to the parks. We normally head over to Downtown Disney to get something to eat and to do some shopping. We're going next month and this time we're going to head over to the Boardwalk area since we've never been there.

We then spend 1 day at each of the parks. We always go to MK on the first day and then plan the other days based off the parks' schedules (Fantasmic, Extra Magic Hours, etc). This year we'll have a 5th day where we probably will split between multiple parks (we have the park hopper option).

 

[Dismom55]

We arrive mid morning, we plan our travel that way. We check in and get our KTTW card and since we drive if the room is not ready, we leave everything in the car. Usually time for Lunch, so we go ahead and eat in the counter service at the resort and get our refillable mugs. The we head to MK. (MK is ALWAYS our first park). One by one we go to each of the parks. We also plan one day in DTD. We save the last full day for going to what every park we think we need more of. Presently we have been doing enough days were we can go to each park 2x. On the last day we eat breakfast in the dining room one last time after the car is packed, make one last stop in the gift shop, head to DTD IF we NEED to and hit the road by noon.

We always plan our arrival day on Sunday and departure day so we arrive home on Friday.

 

[tinkrebell]

I just plan my parks based on needed celebrations (HAVE to go to MK for my mom's birthday day, etc) or events (Epcot in morning for MNSSHP night so we can get more out of our basic non-hopper ticket) - then the rest is based on which park closes later, so we can sleep in a bit and then enjoy ourselves to the max! The rest figure themselves out once I know my top priorities =)

 

[pepe of ohio]

We're headed for trip 44 in 70 days and how we plan out our stays is fairly easy. We use no tour guides or subscription services, but take advantage of the morning extra hour and some evening extra hours. Those set up which parks on which days, that extra hour in the morning is a blessing....you can get so much done and be out before the masses arrive, then you can have a leisurely day at the pool before heading back out. we're not people that stay in a park opening to close, we enjoy the resort, pool and amenities and plan time to do just that. Granted our stays are 9-12 nights but we enjoy having no schedules, maybe 2 ADR's and flying by the seat of our pants.

We always plan a down day about mid trip, wife goes off and does her shopping thing, I lounge around the pool, enjoying a book and some drinks, we may play alittle putt-putt, catch the show at POFQ and boat to DTd for dinner or a movie.

Like I stated, nothing too complicated, park hours rule for us, food is immaterial ( TS meals at Disney are mediocre at best) relaxation time and when we tour a park, we go in one direction and catch every attraction that comes along (no criss-crossing the parks to certain attractions) and when we return to that park , go in the opposite direction. Works for us!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I highly recommend The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and also their companion website www.touringplans.com. I use their Best Days/Crowd calendar to schedule our park days for the lowest possible crowds. We avoid the parks with Extra Magic Hour mornings, because that is usually the busiest park of the day. We do some Extra Magic Evening hours, though. I then plan our Advance Dining Reservations for our table service/character meals around those park days. You 180 ADR booking window is already open, so if you plan on eating any table service/character meals, then you need to go ahead and book so you can have a good choice of seating times. The popular restaurants and character meals book up quickly, especially if you are going during any of the free dining dates in February. If possible, I recommend 6 days in the parks - 2 days MK, 2 days Epcot, 1 day DHS and 1 day AK. Also, if you are new to WDW, I wouldn't waste the money on the Park Hopper ticket option.

 

[daraddg]

we drive down and always seem to get there late afternoon so we make dinner plans at DTD and get a little taste of Disney,it's enough to get excited about without being overwhelmed after traveling.With 5-6 days I would hit 1 park a day with maybe an off day in the middle to relax and enjoy your resort if you are staying somewhere you really like though you could easily spend 2 days each at Epcot and MK to see EVERYTHING!