Ideal trip planning

[lakers]

Well the kids all know were going to WDW for the first time come the 3rd September this year. There so excited....mind you so am i !
We have all been sitting down trying to plan this trip ? but as first timers should we try and do everything or take it easy ?
Can anyone make suggestions about the following plan!
3rd Arrive,unpack and go out for dinner.

4th Seaworld
5th Magical Kingdom
6th Typhoon Lagoon / Dinner ??
7th Animal Kingdom
8th Universal Studios
9th Busch Gardens
10th Wet n Wild / shopping
11th Free day not yet decided / Dixie stampede dinner ?
12th Island of adventure
13th Epcot
14th MGM studios
15th Blizzard Beach
16th Magical Kingdom
17th Disney Laser Quest befor flight home early evening

Any suggestions about the above from all you experienced WDW regulars would be appreciated ive got 5 girls aged 14,12,8,8,3 so would like tmake sure were not tooo tired then again it is Disney! oh yes would £2500 be enough to spend ? have bought disney tickets and flex tickets already?
Hope to book Princess Breakfast a Character lunch and also a fantasmic dinner................not sure where to book fantasmic though.


87 days to go

 

[Miffy2003]

Okay, feel free to ignore me! But I think I might be inclined to add a little more in the way of "rest" days into your plan. It will be energy zappingly hot then and you might find you need a little respite

I probably would give Wet and Wild a miss if you are doing the Disney water parks. Again JMO but I find Wet and Wild a bit barren after the Disney WP (though there are some great slides there).

No SeaWorld? Though appreciate you can't fit everything in!

I would also, because it is your first trip, think about missing Busch Gardens out altogether. Busch Gardens is great and has many fans but looking at all you are trying to fit in there it may be a bridge too far? Though having said that if you are all coaster fans you will get a lot out of Busch. A few of my friends have been recently and bought tickets for Busch before going and ending up not being able to face the drive down on top of a long park day. So the tickets have not been used.

Feel free to ignore any of this, it's just what I would do and we are all different

 

[ely3857]

Hello

5 girls!?! OMG!

I personaly love Wet 'n' Wild and I am sure your older girls will aswell but perhaps not the younger ones so if everything needs to be suitable for everyone then give Wet 'n' Wild a miss and have a lounge about the pool instead.

You do have a nice spread of parks though, A nice mixture of Disney, Non-Disney with a couple of water parks spread around.

Unless you are staying onsite though I would recommend looking at this board for Sept hours as if you are at any of the Disney parks on the EMH days it may be worth jiggling a few round so try and skip that park on that day to try and avoid the crowds.

Also, I am unsure about the £2500.00, Me & DF are taking $3000.00 (£1600.00ish) for two weeks. We have also bought all our tickets already. We shouldnt struggle at all but we are not really big on buying things other then photos. So £2500.00 for a family with 5 kids may be a bit tight, Look out for kids eat free etc.



Jodie

 

[Miffy2003]

The £2500 may be enough for you depending on what you do with the money?

We took £1200 for a fortnight in 2002 - we were on a tight budget but this was enough for 2 adults and 2 children to eat, drink and buy a few souvineers as well Oh the exchange rate then was $1.45 to £1 so you'll get more dollars for your money at the moment too

If you are planning on doing lots of shopping though you may want to take a credit card too. That way you have a back up if you spot something you can't bear to leave behind

 

[JohnnySharp2]

You will definitley need rest days.
I think planning is a good idea, certainly in view of purchasing your theme park tickets, however, personally I would plan the first 2 or 3 days then see how you go after that.
The heat can affect your plans , especially being your first time - it can be a bit overpowering if you have not been before.

Also if you do have a well balanced plan between rest days and parks, you will find it so much more enjoyable.
Do not try and cram too much in , just relax and enjoy , like most of us you will probably go back again.
I think you could possibly split 1 day into 2 park visits, say do Animal Kingdom in the morning, have a break in the afternoon and then go to MGM for example in the evening.
As Universal Studios and Islands Of Adventure are virtually side by side you could do both of these in 1 day too, giving you another free day.

I also agree that Wet N Wild could probably be missed off, especially if you ar doing both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon.

At the end of the day make your own judgements, we all have our own different ideas but once you get out there just do what suits you best.
The one certainty is that you will love it.

£2500 should be more than enough, although it just depends on how much you are going to spend, it's a difficult one to advise on really.

 

[Stella_the_Staff]

Hi, We went the first time in Oct03, at the time the kids were 13, 10 & 9. I would think about dropping Busch Gardens as well. We went to Wet & Wild as well as the disney water parks and enjoyed all 3. Our plan at the time was 2 parks, 1 water park (being the rest day lol). We also went to Clearwater beach for the day which was nice.

 

[lakers]

Hey thank you to all who have replied to my post on here,obviously some good ideas coming from experienced and knowledgeble WDW fans.
Ceratinly given me food for thought about this trip,and credit card will be taken along as a stand by.

 

[richardbay14]

We have been twice during the heat of July / August, and are getting excited about our trip in August this year - the preparing is all part of the fun.

We have found the best schedule to be theme park, water park, theme park, rest/shopping day, then start the cycle again. A vast number of people seem to recommend having a mid-day break and returning to the parks later - the days always seem to go so quick that I cannot figure how people manage to do that.

Once you have your daily plan sorted, an itinery of each park is essential IMHO to maximise coverage whilst minimising walking / effort - use fast passes / express passes to best effect.

Spending money is always hard to judge - depends on where you are staying - eating out or staying in some nights etc, etc. Your budget looks pretty substantial with the good dollar rate - we found ourselves snacking during the day due to the heat (plenty of drinks though) and could only really fancy more formal eating out on the quieter days. In the parks you might occasionally find yourself in a themed shop at the end of a ride - temptations to spend are difficult to resist - we have always found the quality to be excellent and the prices good (dollar rate again helps !)

Assuming your not on-site, a lot of the restaurant chains (see Brit's Guide) have websites with current menus and prices - the four of us 2 adults + DD12 & DD9 struggled to spend more than $60 for a good meal (B-line Diner in the Peabody is our favourite !!)

Have a great time

 

[bigmousefan]

My sister and I went to WDW last year we had both the 10 hopper and the universal pass which we could use in wet and wild, we got there and were there about 10 minutes, long enough to have an extremly quick drink and leave, In my opinion it was dirty and tired looking, the other guests seemed to act complety differently to how they do at disney, there is no magic there, it just seemed hot and overcrowded.

It seemed you had to pay extra for the rubber rings and then carry them round all day. With five girls it may cost a small fortune!

For me getting all the way over there and back was Disney time I was missing out on.

Plan a rest day instead round your hotel pool, you get a break and so do your kids! I hope you have a fantastic time when you go, we sure did!

 

[disneyholic family]

I agree, get rid of Wet & Wild. Stick with Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. W&W is an awful place (nothing on the level of BB and TL).

I'd also get rid of Busch Gardens. It's so far away. Spending that much time on the road is not my idea of a vacation.

If you must drive that far, go the opposite direction to Kennedy Center, which at least is something completely different from a theme park.

If you must have a free day, something we've never done in 30 years (we take half days off every single day - we never spend a full day in any park - and we never take an entire free day), it should be on Saturday, not Sunday. Saturdays are much worse in all the parks than Sundays.

 

[daveyoghurt]

I tend to disagree regarding Wet 'n' Wild, I think it's a great place to go, especially given the difference in ages of the girls, there's plenty of slides that would appeal to them all, sure, there's no 'Disney touch' - but it doesn't pretend to be what it's not. It is however, a great, fun place and definitely worth a visit - especially as you're only planning on staying a half day anyway!

A good way to cool down prior to your purse overheating!

 

[fizz13]

Just had an idea. if you wanted to keep all the parks in your schedule, what about swapping Typhoon lagoon and Wet n Wild days so you won't be dissapointed after going to a disney water park first. Wet n Wild is ok, it just doesn't have the atmosphere and feel of a disney park.

My next move would be to swap the 9th and 10th around so you get more of a rest after Animal kingdom and Universal Studios and you would be more refreshed for Busch Gardens. I like Busch gardens but it seems to be on a scale of its own. I was really shocked how big it was compared to a Disney park so be prepared for some walking. the rides are great, but once again it doesn't have that disney style or the same level of perfection so it has a very different feel. It is nice to go and see the contrast and get some serious thrill rides done.

Have fun,
Claire

 

[wicket2005]

I would just go for it and visit all the theme parks. We have done this every time we have visited and do not have a problem with being tired, way to excited at being there - though tired when we come home though.

 

[disneyholic family]

ok, so go to Wet & Wild, but NOT on a Saturday (as you have it scheduled)...
The weekends there are the worst since the locals come too...
switch it to another day of the week...

 

[xox_Violet_xox]

My best advice is to have a few more rest days and don't stay in each park all day because you are more likely to just well, frazzle lol!! instead go into them in the morning, go out in the afternoon (unless you want to see the parade) and come back a night-time

Well that's what works with my family!!!
Oh yeah you may find yourself needing a bit more time for shopping than just one day. that's what you could do in the afternoons when you aren't in the parks!