Intinerary input

[violentlyserene]

I think i need some experienced eyes on my plans. We are going in Oct sometime between the 19th-25. It's my husband, myself and 2 1/2 year old twins (boy and girl). This is my first big vacation as an adult and the first trip we've taken since the kids were born so i want to make the most of it. We definitely want to go to the halloween party one of the days and I'm considering going to fantasmic if we stay on saturday. There's also a morning at the beach planned and that's probably going to be the day of the halloween party unless it's on our first day in which case we'll just take another morning. I'm hoping to stay at the Howard Johnson so we'll be close for breaks if needed but we'll have a stroller they are comfortable enough in to sleep. Thoughts?


plan a
arrive at hotel on mon 10/19
tues-park day
wed-park day
thurs-park day
friday-park day
sat-check out, dtd in afternoon, drive home

plan b
arrive at hotel on mon 10/19
tues-park day
wed-park day
thurs-park day
friday-park day
sat-park day (possibly including fantasmic)
sun-check out,dtd, drive home

 

[YukonMommy]

So I would always recommend a 5 day hopper (no beach day), which would fit into your plan b! That being said depending on how long your drive is and what time your eta is on the Monday I would consider doing dtd that day. After a car ride it might feel good to walk around and let the kids get some fresh air, or you could hang out at the pool if you are pool people. I just think if you swing F! sat night you will have 2 tired toddlers the next day who might not be keen to check out stores in dtd.

Have a magical time!

 

[violentlyserene]

We'll be driving from wa so not really sure what time we'll be getting in. I haven't planned that part yet. The twins are very good travelers and the type to keep going as long as there's excitement then pass out in the car but who knows. DTD doesn't neeeed to be the last day, just seemed like a good fill for our last day since we would like to leave for home around dinner so they sleep in the car.

So you don't think 5 days would be too much? I'm a little worried it would be overkill but i'd rather not have to rush around to everything. And I forgot to add in the two character meals. One for all of us at Surf's up probably and then a princess meal for my daughter and I while the boys go do something else special that I should figure out at some point.

 

[NannyBeBe]

Five days will definitely not be too much. There will be things you and your little ones will want to do more than once, and it will also give you time to do the things that you might omit if you were rushed. I remember taking our twins when they were very young like yours (they are 32 now) and it was so much fun. You will have a great time.

 

[Butterfly123]

I think it depends on your family. When my kids were little we did either 3 days or 3 1/2 days. They were tired after that! Now we do more. We also didn't do the wilder rides when they were little, so there were some things we didn't do. Now with DCA having so much more to do I think 4 days if fine. Not that you couldn't fill 5 days with fun!

 

[agamble]

Not saying anything bad about HOJO, it's a nice hotel, but there are much closer hotels if being close is important. One of the big draws of HOJO is that it has a "water park", but in October that may not matter much. There are several closer hotels that often have lower rates than HOJO. Desert Inn, Park Vue, and Best Western are all right across the street and include free breakfast, which HOJO does not.

 

[SMD]

A half day at the beach can be pretty tiring, especially for little kids. Is your plan to take them to the Halloween party or get a sitter in your room? I'd rethink doing both on the same day with the kids. You could easily do 4 day hoppers, plus the Halloween party as a 5th partial park day. Do your DTD day the day of the party. If you want to do a beach day, do midweek or on arrival or departure day. Also, doing the beach day as a whole day allows you to be a little more flexible if there's rain. If it's tied to the day you have party tickets, it's less moveable. Fantasmic should also run on Friday, so you could also plan it there.

 

[violentlyserene]

Not saying anything bad about HOJO, it's a nice hotel, but there are much closer hotels if being close is important. One of the big draws of HOJO is that it has a "water park", but in October that may not matter much. There are several closer hotels that often have lower rates than HOJO. Desert Inn, Park Vue, and Best Western are all right across the street and include free breakfast, which HOJO does not.

there was one closer on the get away travel map while getting quotes but it was a couple hundred more. maybe the rest are sold out for our dates? A 15 minute walk is plenty close so I wasn't too worried about it.

 

[violentlyserene]

A half day at the beach can be pretty tiring, especially for little kids. Is your plan to take them to the Halloween party or get a sitter in your room? I'd rethink doing both on the same day with the kids. You could easily do 4 day hoppers, plus the Halloween party as a 5th partial park day. Do your DTD day the day of the party. If you want to do a beach day, do midweek or on arrival or departure day. Also, doing the beach day as a whole day allows you to be a little more flexible if there's rain. If it's tied to the day you have party tickets, it's less moveable. Fantasmic should also run on Friday, so you could also plan it there.

the beach is really more just so we can say we've seen the real ocean. 2-3 to see tide pools and such is plenty, nothing strenuous. We've got a beach nearby for longer days. The kids will be going to the Halloween party.

I looked at last years Fantasmic schedule and it was just sat and sun in late oct but I'll go double check. Id love to see it but I'm not sits it's worth it with the kids.

 

[cmpeter]

You can enter the parks for the Halloween Party at 3:00. I think I would plan beach and Halloween party on separate days. I also think 4 days would be plenty in the parks.

Personally, I think a 15 minute walk to the parks in the morning is fine. But, it's a lot different when you are walking home at the end of a Disney day. I would keep checking for closer hotels. I have stayed at both Best Western Park Place Inn and Tropicana and wouldn't hesitate to stay at either again. They are closer to the Disney main gates than the Disney hotels.

 

[tanyaegangibson]

I think Hojo's is really quite close (especially if you have a stroller for the kids) and that the water features there would really go over well with kids that age. We go to DLR every October, and we've never *not* had hot weather then, so I'm sure the water play area would get some use!

 

[Imdboss]

Hello fellow WA family!
So my thoughts are: 1) skip the beach, but if you feel you really really want to do it go on Saturday before you leave. 2) MHP is super fun, been 3 times, will your kids last that late? 11pm or 12 depending on the night of the party. If they will only stay awake until 9 or 10 then it's probably not worth it since it doesn't start until 6 or 7. 3) if you do MHP then I would go to DTD earlier that day, back to room for nap and change into costume. 5) always get a 5 day park hopper if it fits budget and schedule! There's never enough time to do it all. 6) DTD is so accessible from the parks that you might find yourselves going there more than just the one time. We usually hit it a few times during our stay. 7) there's a new Marriott opening up in July that's really close and has a water park so you might want to consider that hotel also

 

[violentlyserene]

Hello fellow WA family!
So my thoughts are: 1) skip the beach, but if you feel you really really want to do it go on Saturday before you leave. 2) MHP is super fun, been 3 times, will your kids last that late? 11pm or 12 depending on the night of the party. If they will only stay awake until 9 or 10 then it's probably not worth it since it doesn't start until 6 or 7. 3) if you do MHP then I would go to DTD earlier that day, back to room for nap and change into costume. 5) always get a 5 day park hopper if it fits budget and schedule! There's never enough time to do it all. 6) DTD is so accessible from the parks that you might find yourselves going there more than just the one time. We usually hit it a few times during our stay. 7) there's a new Marriott opening up in July that's really close and has a water park so you might want to consider that hotel also

The kids will be up for a quite a bit of it at least and once they pass out in the stroller, we can finish trick or treating ourselves or do a couple ride swaps depending on how we feel. The Halloween party is the whole reason we're going in Oct so it's the biggest priority. The beach an afternoon option the day we drive home is a good idea. I was considering in that my options. Do you drive from Wa or fly? If you drive, I'd love any thoughts you have on the trip. I haven't really considered much there beyond being glad we have a minivan with dvd players in the seats.

I looked again at hotels and gat seems to have the best prices and the simplest plan for cancellations and changes so we'll stick there but it looks like Castle Inn and Del Sol Inn are a bit less than HOJO so we'll look there too.

 

[Imdboss]

The kids will be up for a quite a bit of it at least and once they pass out in the stroller, we can finish trick or treating ourselves or do a couple ride swaps depending on how we feel. The Halloween party is the whole reason we're going in Oct so it's the biggest priority. The beach an afternoon option the day we drive home is a good idea. I was considering in that my options. Do you drive from Wa or fly? If you drive, I'd love any thoughts you have on the trip. I haven't really considered much there beyond being glad we have a minivan with dvd players in the seats.

I looked again at hotels and gat seems to have the best prices and the simplest plan for cancellations and changes so we'll stick there but it looks like Castle Inn and Del Sol Inn are a bit less than HOJO so we'll look there too.

MHP is so much fun, your kids will love it (well you and DH also). That's the one thing I'm going to miss this year since we changed our annual Oct trip to Aug, hoping to find lower crowds in Aug though vs the time we would normally go in Oct. We always fly down there. We aren't long car ride people so I can't even imagine that long of a drive!

 

[tiffjoy]

We've been taking our girls since one and 10months, respectively, and have learned that a break day in the middle is really valuable. In order to beat crowds and long lines, and allow for afternoon naps when they are little, we arrive around park opening. Then we stay (after a break at hotel, usually) until they pass out. This tires them out, and we found a break day that includes a beach visit is a nice relaxing change that recharges them for the park. JMO. I wouldn't go on the party day though. When we went, my then DD2 took a long nap and managed to stay up until midnight as a result. We did the pool in the morning, lunch at DTD, shopping, then nap. That's what I would do for that day. We typically get four day hoppers and that's enough to do what we want and still save some things for next time.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I would stick with Hojo if I were you. It's a great hotel, the walk is easy (even at the end of the night, especially with kids in strollers) and the water park is awesome. I wouldn't worry about the weather too much and enjoy some down time at the pool when you can! I would go with the 5 day park hoppers if it's in the budget. Even with little kids, I'm positive you can fill that time. My kids like to do certain rides more than once, so it's nice to know we have the time to do it. I'm not a big beach person, so I can't really help with the advice there.

 

[tinklvsu]

I'd go plan B with the additional day - two park days in a row, then a break day (morning at the beach, then DTD or Halloween Party, then two more days of parks.

We frequent WDW way more, but still like the idea of break days no matter which park I'm visiting.

 

[SMD]

Depending on your route, what about a beach stop on the way drive home? Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach or somewhere else on the central coast.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

ok what I would do is this
I'd first try the three closest hotels call them don't just look online. Best western can be 125 a night with the free membership card they have. for a king bed and pull out couch.
I would do 4 day hopper and the Halloween party.
2 days at the park
day off/ Halloween party (you can get in at 3 or 4 pm)
2 days park
Home and beach day same day

Hojo's was fine when we stayed but no breakfast, and LONG night time walk kinda told us not to stay again unless we had too. desert inn wasn't my fav but it did work. It was close

 

[violentlyserene]

I would stick with Hojo if I were you. It's a great hotel, the walk is easy (even at the end of the night, especially with kids in strollers) and the water park is awesome. I wouldn't worry about the weather too much and enjoy some down time at the pool when you can! I would go with the 5 day park hoppers if it's in the budget. Even with little kids, I'm positive you can fill that time. My kids like to do certain rides more than once, so it's nice to know we have the time to do it. I'm not a big beach person, so I can't really help with the advice there.

I'm sure repeat rides will definitely be a thing and my budget concerns were laughed at so 5 days it is! How long is the walk? My husband really likes the water park option and looking at it closely, the twins will go nuts for it so HOJO it is! No breakfast does not matter at all. They wouldn't eat it anyway, I have celiac and my husband doesn't eat breakfast. We may skip the beach and plan an afternoon at the waterpark instead as a bit of a break. Stopping at a beach on the way home is a good idea too so we don't take up park time doing it.