I don't even know where to start - help!!

[kbmartin]

I would consider doing two and a half days if you can. Party evening, one full day at MK and a other day at another park.

I definitely second this, as well as staying on Disney property. I would always recommend Animal Kingdom over Hollywood Studios. I haven't done it myself, but I have heard amazing things about the character meal at Tusker House at Animal Kingdom. AK has thrilling rides (Expedition Everest, Flight of Passage, and Dinosaur), some more laid-back rides (the safari is not to be missed) great shows (The Lion King and Finding Nemo in particular), delicious counter service food at Satuli'i Canteen, and amazing theming.

With that said, if you do all of this in a row, you are going to be quite tired! It's a lot to experience - and walk through - in just over two days.

 

[Tksolomom]

The only rides that are really hard to get at 30 days are 7DMT at MK, FOP at AK, The new toy story rides at HS, and Froz n at Epcot. If those rides are not important than you may want to stay offsite because of cost. With a rental car you will eithe pay for parking at the hotels if on-site, or at the parks if off-site.

I would do MK one day and AK the other (my favorite parks but do what appeals to you). If you are offsite, do not go to the park with EMH, but if onsite I would go to that park to get the extra rides in the morning when it is slowest. I would do a character meal too as others have mentioned, maybe breakfast at a restaurant outside the park on your check out day (Tratoria al Forna might be a good choice as it has Arial, Prince a Eric, Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder). My family also really enjoys 1900 Park Fare for dinner (we haven’t done breakfast but I hear it has good character interaction).

 

[720L]

Sit down meals can take awhile, since you're only there 2 days I wouldn't do one. Or what a PP suggested, do a breakfast on check out day. If you stay at the Contemporary, you could do Chef Mickeys.

Also if you stay at the Contemporary, you can walk to MK instead of having to wait for a bus/monorail.

October is my favorite month to visit Disney! The weather is usually perfect, and MK is all decorated for Halloween!

 

[dachsie]

Since you are going to only be there for 2 days and want to maximize your time, I think you probably wont be in your room much so I would not recommend paying the exorbitant price of staying in one of the monorail resorts. I would say either do your Airbnb or a value resort - whichever works in your budget best. I would definitely spend one day at MK and either split a day between AK then EP with park hopper tickets or choose just AK for the rides if no park hopper. Given you are only going to be there 2 days, you may still have difficulty getting some of the headliner rides FP even at 60 days so you will definitely want to rope drop to ride. Another option which would give you more of a taste, would be to go to a MNSSHP at 4-12pm which is 8 hours in MK, go daytime to a different park and then the other day at another park. You will get 3 parks in or with hopper could get all 4. Lots of options.

As far as eating goes, I would try to get some TS restaurants just to get the break from running around the parks. 1900 PF dinner is a fun one with Cinderella, Prince charming and the stepsisters who are a riot. They may grill your son on his suitability as a suitor. lol Its on the monorail from MK at the Grand Floridian. Another fun one is Tusker House in AK or Garden Grill in EP for Mickey and friends. QS restaurants that are good would be Columbia Harbor House and Pecos Bills in MK, Flame tree BBQ in AK - you could probably share a meal there. There are a boatload of them in EP like Sunshine Seasons, Tangierine Café, Yorkshire Fish shop.

Another good resource to find out things is allearsnet.com. Not a forum, just has some good info for planning.

But most of all, remember you cannot and will not see it all. Do what you can and enjoy it. Figure out your priorities and the rest is lagniappe. Have a wonderfully, magical time!

 

[wcw57]

well, well, well......WELCOME!!!

 

[coast2coastmickey]

With two days at WDW, I would stay on property wherever fits your budget, and go both days from the earliest opening to park close.

Day 1: Magic Kingdom. Get 3 fast passes for the family for the first 3 hours of the day. Then keep trying to get fastpasses for all the other rides/character meets that you all want to do. Eat quick service for each meal. Once you've had your fill, take the monorail to Epcot (this will require hopper tickets). Spend the rest of the evening there, riding rides, eating food, and exploring.
Day 2: Animal Kingdom. Get 3 fast passes for the family for the first 3 hours of the day. Explore a bit, then shift over to Hollywood studios for the early afternoon. Spend the afternoon there. Then, head back to Magic Kingdom to end the night and cap off your short Disney trip.

It'll require a lot of stamina and walking, but your kids will have seen all the parks, ridden what they wanted, and my strategy of going from rope drop and using 3 fastpasses early means you can schedule fastpasses at any other park one at a time after that, saving time in line. I would also search for information on the fastpass refresh strategy, though I haven't used that strategy myself.

If you want to do a character meal, see if you can do, on your second day, a late Be Our Guest dinner. I hear the food is much better than breakfast and lunch, and you get to meet the beast, and eat in the castle. The kids will love that as a sort of last hurrah of the trip. It's a hard to get reservation though, so if it's not available now, keep checking every day until you get it.

 

[Corwin]

I'm trying to plan a trip to Disney in October, but I've never been and I am getting completely confused trying to work out what I should book, what I shouldn't, and what is a realistic plan. Posters on another online forum I use pointed me in this direction, so I'm hoping that people can either answer my questions or point me towards the information. (I have tried to find it myself, to avoid being That Poster who wants everyone else to do the work for them - I'm just making myself more and more confused though!)

Anyway, we are a family of four - boy is 12 and loves roller coasters and water rides; girl is 8 and hates roller coasters and water rides but adores Disney characters (all of them)

We are flying into MIA on Oct 8 and leaving a week later, but plan to spend two days in Orlando doing Disney stuff and the rest of the week exploring Florida.

We live in the Caribbean so are used to the heat, and are also not overly bothered at having access to a swimming pool as we are lucky enough to have our own at home. This is likely to be our only trip to Disney for a long time, so want to get the essential "Disney experience" IYKWIM

So - my thinking is that we should just concentrate on the Magic Kingdom for both days rather than try to cram in another park?

And we should stay as close as possible to the MK - but I can't tell whether the benefits to staying in an actual Disney hotel outweigh the price of staying in a nearby AirBNB?

We should sign up for FP for the main attractions we want to do, but is there anything in particular we should pay extra for?

We aren't bothered about eating junk for two days, so is it easiest to just buy from concessions there rather than tie ourselves to a meal plan?

Sorry for the random questions - any help for this newbie very much appreciated

If you are from Curaçao (as implied by your username), my family was in your neighborhood for a week last month in Bonaire. We had a great time!

Anyway, here's my advice for WDW:

• Strongly consider a longer visit than two days at Walt Disney World (WDW). Your kids are the perfect age for WDW, so I would dedicate this trip to that. In fact, I would recommend spending the whole week at WDW. On our first family visit, we originally planned to spend six nights. I subsequently spent a lot of $$ extending the trip by a night because none of us wanted to leave.
• On that same note, keep in mind that WDW tickets are fairly expensive, but get considerably cheaper on a per-day basis the longer you visit. One- and two-day tickets are by far the most expensive (on a per-day basis).
  
• Get this book (available in paperback or on Kindle): "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2018." I planned our first family first trip exclusively with this book. In my opinion, it's the best single source of info available.
• This book is also good for people planning their first visit to WDW: "The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2018"
• You save a considerable amount of time by staying on site in a Disney resort hotel. While the efficiency of WDW transportation is debatable at times, I love not having to commute to the parks from the "real world" each day. For my first couple of visits to WDW, I stayed offsite, and felt like I spent an inordinate amount of time in traffic and parking. Staying in a Disney hotel also extends the Disney park experience and theming back to your accommodations.
  
• WDW isn't your typical theme park. Part of the experience is the dining (and is one of the reasons we keep going back). You can do a lot better than eating junk. You don't necessarily need a meal plan, but having some reservations at sit-down table restaurants is part of the experience.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I agree with the first two points Corwin makes. I suggest taking a careful look at WDW pricing and how much the per day cost of tickets goes down as you add more days, so you understand the choice you are making. A third day at WDW will cost quite a bit less than visiting a non-WDW Florida theme park for a day.

We do short trips to WDW, but we've seen everything many times, and still it is hard to only do one day at WDW. We've also explored FL beyond WDW. Lots to see in FL! Still, with WDW, we try to be careful not to try to do too much in one trip. A full day at WDW is a FULL day.

The other big question in all of this is, "How many hours per day you are capable of touring?" Both in in terms of your endurance, AND how many hours the parks are open on the days you wish to go. If MK closes at 6pm, you might do better at a different park.

If you plan to maximize your park time, then the value resorts will probably be a great choice, unless you prefer upscale hotels. The value hotels have fun Disney character theming and great food courts. Even though you don't plan to swim, it is worth knowing that all WDW hotels have fun pools. Many have water slides (though not the values) and above average theming.


Simply, at WDW, time is money. Convenience costs extra. Options that cost less, often take more time. There are many options though, so it really depends where you want to spend a little extra.

People are suggesting a character meal not because of the food, but for the easy access to multiple characters in less time. You can stand in line (30min+ each) to see characters, or have characters come to your table while you eat (for $40+ per person). Many character meals are located at WDW hotels, so you could do a character breakfast on check out day/arrival night.

If MK is your priority, then I suggest a hotel as close as possible to MK. Take a close look at how much time it will take to get from your hotel to MK, and plan accordingly. An offsite hotel might mean fighting traffic every morning. The local highways and roads get backed up during rush hour. Even on WDW property, travel time varies quite a bit to get around. The monorail hotels are close to MK and have extra amenities, but they cost quite a bit extra, especially if you don't care about most of the amenities they offer.

You could spend two happy days at MK, but MK closes early most October days, so you'd probably get much more hours of park time for the same price if you choose a different park on your second day. I generally just choose the one with the best park hours, as long as you think you have the endurance to be in the parks from 9am-park close.

 

[soccermom54]

With only 2 days at WDW, absolutely stay on-site to make the most of your time and Disney transportation. I agree with what has been said to focus on the Magic Kingdom and be aware that Mickey's Halloween parties will have the park closing early on several nights. Unless you plan to attend the parties, check the park hours by day listed on the Disney World website. If the park closes at 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. that is a party night and you may want to plan to visit the park on a non-party day to get longer hours and best use of your park admission unless you have hoppers. This board will give you wonderful advice on all aspects of your trip. Relax and have a wonderful time

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I definitely second this, as well as staying on Disney property. I would always recommend Animal Kingdom over Hollywood Studios. I haven't done it myself, but I have heard amazing things about the character meal at Tusker House at Animal Kingdom. AK has thrilling rides (Expedition Everest, Flight of Passage, and Dinosaur), some more laid-back rides (the safari is not to be missed) great shows (The Lion King and Finding Nemo in particular), delicious counter service food at Satuli'i Canteen, and amazing theming.

With that said, if you do all of this in a row, you are going to be quite tired! It's a lot to experience - and walk through - in just over two days.

For us the longest park hours would be top priority, but we also like AK over HS.
We thought Tusker House was just so-so. Instead, we much prefer Satu'li Canteen in Pandora. I agree with everything else you suggest!



Oh, I just though of another way OP can make good use of their time. If the parks will be closing early on the days we plan to visit, then we try to eat dinner after they close. If so, you have tons of options that can be lots of fun for the evening. Everything from Disney Springs, to a character meal, to visiting the hotels (for QS dinner or maybe a character meal). Even if you want to keep costs low, you can still enjoy taking a boat form MK over to the Grand Floridian quick serve and maybe eat outside then stroll the grounds.

If you will be AK park until close, them the Mara (QS) or Boma (TS) at Animal Kingdom Lodge are very close, interesting, and open pretty late. Oh, and I think they still let folks borrow night vision goggles to see the animals after dark. Just the artwork in the lobby is something to see!

For HS, you might try eating at your hoe resort or the hotels near HS: Swan, Dolphin, Beach/Yacht Club Hotel, or the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk is especially pretty at night, and has walk-up: pizza slices, hot dogs, ice cream, sweets. There's also multiple tables serve options if you decide you are in the mood for TS that night. The Dolphin also has several decent QS options.

Some WDW QS eateries aren't very exciting, but many have unique and healthy options. Most WDW hotel food courts have a variety of options.