I don't mean to brag, but...

[stitch09]

This is a pretty amazing itinerary, if I do say so myself!! As you can see in my signature, my family will be in Disney in a matter of days!! This summer, a lot of my dad's family will be joining us- there will be 15 of us there. Hmm, 15 people on our 15th trip to Disney... I typed this itinerary up so everyone in our family could have a copy and know exactly what's going on! Also, I just love planning for our Disney trips, so I really didn't mind making it! So, let me know what you think! These plans are obviously what fits us best (following EMH, park hopping, taking breaks and eating at some great restaurants; etc.), and we've been several times, so we know what works for us! Hope you all like my way of planning, I'll be happy to plan your vacation for you! Please, not looking for suggestions on how to fix our plan (like I said, we've got it down pat! My dad and I are known around here for our Disney vacation planning ). Just a few comments on how it looks; etc. Oh, and the note at the bottom about IASW- a family inside joke! My aunt absolutely loves Small World, and we always joke how annoying it is with the continuous music, just to make her upset! It's all in good fun, and I knew that note at the end would crack everyone up! Anyways, I thought I'd share with my fellow DISers!

Walt Disney World Itinerary 2010

*Please remember, nothing is set in stone. Plans may change based on people, weather; etc. Feel free to do your own thing. This is just what we (my dad and I) figured were the best plans for the greatest vacation possible.*

Saturday, July 24th:
-Everyone arrives at WDW at various times in the afternoon. We figured we have several options to spend the afternoon before dinner. They include, but are not limited to:
-Lunch at Caribbean Beach Resort food court (a lot of history for us there)
-Shopping and/or lunch at Downtown Disney
-Swimming at Swan Pool/Lunch at Swan Pool
-Wandering around the Swan and Dolphin, taking in all the atmosphere
-Walking to EPCOT to see a few shows

-Check into rooms and get ready for dinner
-Walk/Take boat to the Beach Club for dinner at Cape May Café (6:40 pm)
-Walk (or take boat if raining) over to EPCOT
-Wander around World Showcase and find a good spot for fireworks
-Watch Illuminations, Reflections of Earth at 9 pm
-Head back to Swan, do a late-night swim in the pool (around 10 pm)
-Adults hit the bars on the Boardwalk while kids stay in the hotel room

Sunday, July 25th:
-Early Entry EPCOT (opens at 8 am- head straight for Soarin)
-Lunch on own
-Back at the Swan, at EPCOT; etc.

-Take a break at hotel (?)
-Head over to EPCOT again in the evening
-Possibly see some shows before dinner
-Dinner at Garden Grill (5:55) in The Land at EPCOT
-Hop on monorail to head over to Magic Kingdom
-Late-night at MK (open until 1 am)

Monday, July 26th:
-Early Entry MGM (opens at 8 am- head straight to Toy Story Mania)
-Lunch whenever
-Break/Freshen up at hotel
-Good day for swim at pool (there’s no dinner reservation, so there’s no reason to rush to AK)
-Quick dinner at Animal Kingdom (Flame Tree BBQ) or possibly Swan
-Late-night at AK (open until 11 pm)

Tuesday, July 27th:
-Early Entry MK (opens at 8 am)
-Those who are eating there, lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table
-Lunch whenever
-Possible good time for a swim at the pool
-Head to EPCOT for dinner at San Angel Inn (6:00 pm) at WS Mexico
-Late-night at EPCOT (open until 12 am)


Wednesday, July 28th:
-Early Entry AK (opens at 8 am- head straight to Expedition Everest)
-Lunch whenever
-Take short break at hotel
-Take boat to MGM for dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby (5:25 pm)
-Late-night MGM (open until 11 pm)
-Possible good time for another late-night swim

Thursday, July 29th:
-Early Entry MK (opens at 8 am)
-Leave MK and hop on monorail to Polynesian
-Breakfast at Ohana (10 am)
-Get back on monorail and head back to MK for a little longer (use any Fast Passes; etc.)
-Break at hotel
-Possible good time for a swim at the pool
-Head over to EPCOT
-Dinner at EPCOT around the World Showcase
-We know some people may not want to do this, so do dinner wherever or
whenever you like. The WS has many great quick-service (fast food type)
restaurants, so we thought it’d be fun to share a meal at most of the countries
and eat “Around the World” for our dinner. Think fish and chips at England,
egg rolls and such at China, fresh sandwiches at Norway, pastries at France,
teriyaki chicken and shaved ice at Japan; etc. Not to mention some of the best
Mediterranean food you will ever eat at Morocco!

-Late-night EPCOT (open until 12 am)

Friday, July 30th:
-There are no set plans during the day, so do whatever you would like for your last day
-There is an Early Entry at MGM, so if you’d like, head over there (opens at 8 am)
-For us (DBEM), we like spending a lot of time at EPCOT on our last day, seeing shows at the WS, riding Soarin; etc.
-Short break if needed at hotel
-Head over to MK
-Quick dinner somewhere in MK (we usually like to do Cosmic Rays or Pecos Bill)
-Late-night MK (open until 2 am)

Saturday, July 31st:
-Everyone departs WDW and heads for home (super big sad face)






Important Things to Remember

A few reminders so you don’t forget some of the most-needed
materials to face the World!

-Theme Park Tickets/Receipt for the Tickets. If for some reason you lose your tickets, your receipt is as good as the tickets, so make sure you hang onto it!
-Sunscreen (you’ll need it both for swimming and the parks)
-Comfortable Walking Shoes
-Flip-Flops/Shoes for the Pool
-Cell Phones, Still Cameras, Video Cameras; etc.
-Chargers for Cell Phones, Cameras; etc.
-Sunglasses, Hats; etc.
-Credit Cards and Cash (almost all places accept cards, but it’s good to have cash just in case. Plus, if you buy something that only costs a couple bucks, it’s easier to just use cash than it is to keep track of receipts worth tiny amounts.)
-Any Disney Gift Cards you have bought/received
-Some type of bag to carry in the parks (if you think you’ll need one)
-Water Jug (so you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg buying bottles in the parks)
-Some Change! We always take a bag full of pennies for the Expedition Everest line alone…
-Snacks/Food for the theme parks and for the hotel room
-Since food is quite pricey at WDW, we usually do most of our breakfasts and
light lunches in the hotel room (we never eat much for lunch on days that we have dinner reservations). Granola bars/pop tarts for breakfast, bags of
chips; etc. Plus, even buying snacks in the parks is expensive, so we like to take snacks in our park bag. Rice crispy treats, mini chips ahoy/mini oreos, trail mix; etc.

Our Disney World Vacation is fast approaching!! Can’t wait!!


*This just in: It’s a Small World is closing on July 23rd for now and for always. We might as well not even walk over to it…*

 

[nchulka]

What's the deal with having pennies in the EE line, is this something I don't know about???

 

[Malela9]

Have a great trip. I will be there when you are. We are doing lots of fun things that I am looking forward to as well!
My personal favorite thing to do is go to Disneyland one day and WDW the next! (I'm doing it again this time with my new Premier Annual Pass!!!!) See you in Florida!

 

[stitch09]

It's kinda a tradition of ours, it's nothing official, and by that I mean, it's not an official "Disney secret" or anything. In part of the queue of EE, the area where you weave around all those bells, there is a little area that has little decorations/"artifacts". Well, there is a little cup/gauntlet type thing in the center of all these various items, and we always try to make the pennies into the cup! (there's a ton of coins on the ground around it, so it's not like you're breaking any rules). It's almost like throwing coins into a fountain, only you have a little target to aim for! I've only made it once over all these years! It's just a fun way to spend part of your time in line, and we love handing out pennies to my little cousins or other kids in line. I'm not the best at describing things, but I hope this helps!

 

[stitch09]

Have a great trip. I will be there when you are. We are doing lots of fun things that I am looking forward to as well!
My personal favorite thing to do is go to Disneyland one day and WDW the next! (I'm doing it again this time with my new Premier Annual Pass!!!!) See you in Florida!

Wow!! That's awesome! I hope you have a great trip too!

 

[minniejack]

Wow!! That's awesome! I hope you have a great trip too!

I didn't see anything on the 27th about Singing Happy B-day to MinnieJack...

 

[Heidi Loves Disney]

Makes me wish I was going with you.
Have a great time!!!

 

[Mom2Elliot]

We will be there at the same time, so I'll just use your plans - what time should I show up for CRT?

Have a good time with your family!!

 

[SusieBea]

I just wanted to say "GO BOILERS!" (DH, DD, and I are alums; other DD is an IU grad - black sheep)

 

[topmonkeygirl]

That sounds like a lot of hopping around to me. On the 29 you're going to MK at 8:00 and then have breakfast ressies at Ohauna at 10. You get into MK ride a ride maybe 2 then you have to jump on the monorail for your breakfast reservation. Then breakfast is over and you get back to the MK around 11:00-11:30 ride a ride or 2 maybe see a show then you want to take a break back at the resort. So you head over to Epcot around 4:00, then it's time to eat again. If Epcot is open until 12:00, does that mean you're staying that late and then getting up for rope drop the next morning? If not that means you will only have spent about 5 hours in the park, and most of that time is spent walking to and from the front entrance.

I'm not trying to rain on you parade I'm just saying with that many people and that much going on I think it's going to be hard to actually get any quality time doing anything. But that's just me.

DH and I are going in Dec for 7 days and I feel like I have over planned our trip and we're only doing 4 days in the parks, and 1 day shopping at DTD.

I hope you have a wonderful trip.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Sounds like a fun itinerary. You must have a lot of energy. LOTS of morning EMH and evening EMH on the same day, several days in a row. We can only manage one or the other.

 

[Robo]

*This just in: It’s a Small World is closing on July 23rd for now and for always. We might as well not even walk over to it…*

Are you making a joke about Small World?

 

[sam_gordon]

LOTS of morning EMH and evening EMH on the same day, several days in a row. We can only manage one or the other.

This is what I didn't get. Are you just listing the EMH's so folks in your party will know, or do you actually expect them to be at MK until 1am, then at DHS 7 hours later for RD?

My only other comment is on 7/27:
Those who are eating there, lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table
-Lunch whenever
Do you have ADR at CRT? What if someone who hadn't told you earlier decides "Hey, I'm at MK, I want to eat with my group at CRT."

 

[afwdwfan]

I just wanted to say "GO BOILERS!" (DH, DD, and I are alums; other DD is an IU grad - black sheep)

The proper thing to say would be...

BOILER UP!!!


And back to the original post, looks like a busy schedule, but I'd be more than happy to join you if you need more people to go with you.

 

[WDSearcher]

So ... are you not planning on any parades, night parades, fireworks or Fantasmic? I only ask because it seems that these would be things that a large group of 15 would need to plan for. Or are people on their own for those? You mention IllumiNations, but not any of the others. It's not like a group of 15 can just show up ten minutes before a parade and get a good spot ... and I would think a plan as to where and when to meet in order to get seats would be essential for Fantasmic! (Or even for shows like Beauty & the Beast, Lion King, Nemo ...)

Or are those details that are on the "master" list, but not on this more condensed version?

Otherwise, though... looks like a great itinerary. Have fun!

 

[stitch09]

This is what I didn't get. Are you just listing the EMH's so folks in your party will know, or do you actually expect them to be at MK until 1am, then at DHS 7 hours later for RD?

My only other comment is on 7/27:
Those who are eating there, lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table
-Lunch whenever
Do you have ADR at CRT? What if someone who hadn't told you earlier decides "Hey, I'm at MK, I want to eat with my group at CRT."

My family has never really had a problem with getting up early and also staying up late. We seem to become super-humans when we're at disney! So when I post the EMH, even if some people don't get there at RD, they'll still be getting there around opening time. It won't be a problem for most of us, but I do know that my cousin and her 2 younger kids will head back from MK after the fireworks...

Also, with CRT, only a few people are going. My older cousin did make an ADR, but I wasn't sure what time she made it for, thus the reason for having no time posted. The only people going are her, her husband, their 2 kids (one of them a little girl who is obsessed with princesses), and my cousin's parents. So, a total of 6 people. The rest of us have NO interest in going (we've done it before, we personally thought it wasn't worth it for how much it cost. plus, it's the 4 people in my family and my uncle and his 4 sons, so practically all guys who could care less about eating in the castle! ), so we will have no desire to join them. Like I said, she did all that planning by herself- making ADR, and she has that confirmation number. The rest of us (the 9 of us) will just keep doing rides and eat at some CS.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

That sounds better. If you really have 15 people going, it's a good idea to let everyone do their own thing at their own pace, and go back to the hotel as needed.

 

[stitch09]

Sounds like a fun itinerary. You must have a lot of energy. LOTS of morning EMH and evening EMH on the same day, several days in a row. We can only manage one or the other.

Like I said in another post, my family turns into super humans at Disney!! We've never gotten up early enough to get there way before RD, but we always get to the parks, at the latest, by 8:30. What's nice about staying at the Swan is we take a boat to MGM and to EPCOT, so on the days, for example, when we'll be out late at MK, the next morning trip to MGM is just a short boat trip away, so we don't have to allow too much time for travel.

 

[stitch09]

That sounds like a lot of hopping around to me. On the 29 you're going to MK at 8:00 and then have breakfast ressies at Ohauna at 10. You get into MK ride a ride maybe 2 then you have to jump on the monorail for your breakfast reservation. Then breakfast is over and you get back to the MK around 11:00-11:30 ride a ride or 2 maybe see a show then you want to take a break back at the resort. So you head over to Epcot around 4:00, then it's time to eat again. If Epcot is open until 12:00, does that mean you're staying that late and then getting up for rope drop the next morning? If not that means you will only have spent about 5 hours in the park, and most of that time is spent walking to and from the front entrance.

I'm not trying to rain on you parade I'm just saying with that many people and that much going on I think it's going to be hard to actually get any quality time doing anything. But that's just me.

DH and I are going in Dec for 7 days and I feel like I have over planned our trip and we're only doing 4 days in the parks, and 1 day shopping at DTD.

I hope you have a wonderful trip.

I can see why you may have been concerned about this, but like I said in my original post, we've been doing this for years, and everything we have planned we have tried before, so we know it works. For example, on that early MK morning, we did the same exact thing last year- early entry, then breakfast at Ohana, then back to MK. It was great! We'll get to MK at 8, and we'll be able to (we know, by experience) knock out most rides in Fantasyland before we have to head to Ohana. Then, we'll be back to MK and have time to do several rides. We probably won't take too long of a break at the Swan... And we do not have a dinner ADR at EPCOT that evening, so there is no reason to get there around 4. We'll probably go a little later. I know we have a lot of people going, but everyone's been to Disney before, and they all know what's in store/what to expect.

Thanks for your comment and concern. We do have a lot planned, but that's how we do our vacations. On paper yea it looks packed, but it really is a relaxing, fun vacation!

 

[stitch09]

I didn't see anything on the 27th about Singing Happy B-day to MinnieJack...

Happy early Birthday!!