I did it! Hubby is convinced and we're headed to WDW next year! Suggestions if you're up for it?

[Canadian Harmony]

We have never been - we're DLR/DCA fiends as we're on the We(s)t Coast of Canada - and getting hubby to agree has been a two year battle. Partly due to politics, and partly due to the time it takes to travel between the west and east.

Our kids are dancing in NYC end-July of next year, and our oldest is graduating, so we decided to just go big and not stay home

It's going to be about 3 weeks all told, and having never been to WDW or USO I'd appreciate suggestions to the itinerary before I have to make firm plans regarding park reservations, food, and rides.

Right now we'll have enough points to stay in a studio savanna view (and only need to borrow 9 points from next year, so that's cool). The basic itinerary is:

Arrival day around 10am. We'll ask Bell Services to hold our bags and head off to AK. I'd like to ride FoP, Na'vi River, and eat at Satu'li.
Day 2 - MK. Meals at Westward Ho, Crystal Palace, and Jungle Navigation Co. As we're used to DLR, I think I'd like to focus on the rides we don't have - Mine Train, Carousel of Progress, Speedway - as well as our faves - BTMM, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion. Anything else?

Day 3 - Epcot. Meals at Boulangierie (France), Nine Dragons (China), Regal Eagle (USA). What are some interesting things to do?

Day 4 - HS. Meals at ABC Commissary, Woody's Lunch Box, Hollywood & Vine for the Minnie meal. I'd like to ride Slinky Dog, Rock n Roller Coaster, and M&M's Runaway Railway.

Day 5 - AK again. Meals at Rainforest Cafe, Harambe Market, and Yak & Yeti. Our next attempt at the rides from day 1, and if we can, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, explore the trails to see the animals, and that evening do the sunset safari.

Day 6 - We're headed to the Orlando Speedway this day. Once we're back, we'll eat a bit from the resort and hang out.

Day 7 - MK again. Meals at Cinderella's Royal Table, Columbia Harbour House, and Tony's Town Square. This will be our chance to get the rides we missed the other day.

Day 8 - Epcot again. Meals at Garden Grill Buffet, Rose & Crown (UK), Biergarten (Germany).

Day 9 - HS again. Meals at Docking Bay 7, Catalina Eddy's, Brown Derby. This will be our Batuu Day.

Day 10 - Resort day. Maji Pool Bar and Boma.

Day 11 - off we go to Universal and with luck staying at Royal Park. At arrival we'll ask Bell Services to hold our bags while we head to the pool.

Day 12 - VIP tour (we love tours to get the lay of the land). Meals are on the tour, and Fire Eater's Grill.

Day 13 - Mostly HP stuff - Hogwarts Express, Diagonalley, meals at 3 Broomsticks and the Hopping Pot, and then dinner at Richter's Burgers.

What do you think? I like to tour smart, not hard, so if possible I like to go land-to-land. When we go to DLR, our first ride is always BTMM. When we're at DCA, our first ride is Incredicoaster.

All suggestions welcome.

 

[Best Aunt]

I'd re-think the meals.

A lot of people don't do table service restaurants for breakfast because typically ride lines are shorter in the early morning. The time you're spending at Rainforest Cafe or Cinderella's Royal Table could mean you accomplish less that day because you aren't doing any rides early.

On the other hand, Westward Ho, when it's open, has donuts and one breakfast sandwich. Not that I'm opposed to donuts. But if you're going to eat donuts, you can buy a box of donuts in the Animal Kingdom Lodge gift shop the night before and eat them in the room while you're getting ready.

On Day 8, you have 3 table service restaurants. You'll barely have time to do anything other than eat that day.

I don't think you said how old your kids are. They might find the Tomorrowland Speedyway to be "lame." It's really designed for kids to feel like they're driving, but it's on a rail so you can't really control where you're going, and you can only go about 7 mph. I'm not sure that should be on your "not to be missed" list.

Disney World is a lot bigger than Disney Land. Don't forget that you will spend much more time getting from point A to point B than you are used to at Disney Land.

For your stay at Universal, did you mean Royal Pacific Resort? If so, you're going to want to find out which HP attractions are open early for people staying at Universal hotels, and which have Express Pass (which is included in the cost of RPR), and plan around that. You might already know this, but Diagon Alley is in one park and Hogsmeade is in the other park, so you need a 2-park ticket if you want to cover both in one day. Diagon Alley is amazing; Hogsmeade not so much so. (But that's the perspective of someone who can't do the rides due to motion sickness.) Both are in the very back of their parks. If it's hot and humid, make sure you have water bottles with you; you don't want to try to walk from RPR to the Harry Potter section of the park without being able to drink water while you're going. Even if you take the water taxi, it's still a long walk from where it lets you off.

 

[Mommy2cody]

That is a lot of table service restaurants. I would suggest eating breakfast at your resort.. even in your room. Especially at Epcot. You want to be able to snack around the world! You will be way to full! Our first trip we did breakfast or lunch and then a dinner table service meal and it was way too much! Maybe just pick the ones your really want to do!

 

[_19disnA]

Since you have never been to Disney or Universal, good to know those places are HUGE and involve a LOT of walking (think in terms of MILES). In addition, July/August tends to be the hottest time of the year in Florida. Unless you are Olympic athletes, doing 5 (& 3) consecutive park days will be exhausting. I think a better plan would be to include a rest/pool day (or 2) in place of so many consecutive park days. July/August also tends to be the most crowded since even though it is hot, many families choose to go at those times when their kids are not in school, so the parks will likely be VERY crowded.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

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[loves to dive]

I agree with others that might be too much food. Despite what you may have heard, the meals aren't small. I would probably just do one TS meal a day with maybe a character breakfast thrown in here and there if you must. How old are your kids? You say your oldest is graduating, from high school? That one might not want character meals at all. If you must do two TS make one breakfast and maybe one late lunch/early supper and fill in the rest with snackish type food. Or, get to the park early and knock out a few rides while it is less hot (notice I did not say cool) then take a break around 10 ish at one of the resorts for a late breakfast.

As others have mentioned, it will be hot and it will be rainy. I'm talking walking on the sun hot and it most likely will rain every day. Could be a quick 5 min. shower or could be a gully washer. After it rains it will be steamy. Did I mention it will be hot and it will rain? And it will most likely be crowded so you probably want to build in some down time at the pool mid-afternoon.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

Thank you everyone! This helps me tweak things for sure. We aren’t able to change our dates because of the dance weekend in NYC, and we’re fully expecting it to be hot and humid, but there’s just no way around it.

I’ll take your suggestions and update the spreadsheet. Yes, I’m a spreadsheet person now.

 

[DisArmyWife215]

Thank you everyone! This helps me tweak things for sure. We aren’t able to change our dates because of the dance weekend in NYC, and we’re fully expecting it to be hot and humid, but there’s just no way around it.

I’ll take your suggestions and update the spreadsheet. Yes, I’m a spreadsheet person now.

Echoing what others have said...While you are tweaking I would skip Rainforest Cafe and opt for Satuli Canteen at AK. It's QS and our favorite food while in Pandora, everything if fresh and flavorful. I would also rethink Nine Dragons in Epcot, although the food is decent, it's very comparable to most Chinese food restaurants you've likely been to before.

Have a great trip and stay hydrated! Florida summer heat can be a beast!!

 

[Nahanni]

We generally make reservations for sit down lunch for a nice cool, relaxing break and to avoid the chaos at QS locations. For us, light breakfast in room (PB&J, bagels, pastry, etc) and QS/TS dinner. On occasion, we'll book a last breakfast buffet reservation (Crystal Palace, Hollywood & Vine, Tusker House) slot as it crosses into lunch so you get to sample both.

 

[midwestdee]

Personally, the LAST thing I would waste time or money on is table service restaurants. I admit I am not a foodie but for what I’m spending on a WDW vacation, I’m not wasting 2+ hours in a restaurant.

 

[Lisa_lvspplmvr]

Skip Tomorrowland Speedway it’s like breathing gasoline on the sun . Don’t forget Peoplemover at MK !

I would go to Ohana if possible when at MK. We love the breakfast there. You can take the monorail over to the Polynesian. It’s a beautiful resort .

At Epcot we love Via Napoli for the pizza .
You have to go to Club Cool to try the free sodas from around the world . The Land is a must do not at DL . Of course Remi , Guardians , Test track , Spaceship Earth , Frozen , Figment etc are all must dos . So many things at Epcot that are not at DL .

Karmel Korn from Karmel Kuche in Germany . Les Halles in France for breakfast and sandwiches. Kakagori in Japan .

 

[Her Dotness]

Tony's? Ummm, no, unless you want mediocre Italian.

Try Liberty Tree Tavern instead for some good American comfort food family-style in an atmosphere suggesting Colonial America.

You'll get a far better breakfast with characters at 'Ohana rather than CRT. Save CRT for a return sometime. It's fun IF the princesses are all back but who knows if they will be even that long in the future.

Heartily agree to skip Rainforest Cafe which is standard chain restaurant stuff. Nine Dragons, same.

And do be prepared for getting around WDW taking far longer than you'd think. Going from Epcot to MK can take more than an hour!

In Epcot, go around World Showcase, peeking into each country's pavilion. There's a wonderful Japanese department store, for instance. A great place to find anime and manga-related items as well as distinctive Japanese snacks.

Ahhhh, yes. Karamell Küche in the German pavilion. Wonderfully decadent caramelly yumminess. A must-do!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

You've already gotten a lot of great tips on here but I will echo the amount of time and energy it takes to navigate around WDW compared to DLR. Also, the PPs are not joking about TS meals. 2-3 TS meals a day is a time sucker. For summer trips we stick to a mid/late afternoon (after 3p when it rains usually) ADR so we have a guaranteed out of the sun/heat meal in AC and then we pick other QS meals that have good indoor locations. If you add a resort only day, maybe do Disney Springs and try rainforest cafe there if it's a must do. But there are many more better dining options at AK than Rainforest cafe. It's like eating at Friday's or Applebees. Overall, you have an awesome trip planned, have fun!!

 

[sheilafri]

Personally, the LAST thing I would waste time or money on is table service restaurants. I admit I am not a foodie but for what I’m spending on a WDW vacation, I’m not wasting 2+ hours in a restaurant.

I am a foodie. If I’m going to spend big bucks on a meal it won’t be at WDW. The few “nice” TS places I’ve gone to have been okay but they are not worth the time and money. I’ll go to Paris for my fix of truly good food—and pay less.