Is this a silly way to tour WDW?

[SFMommy]

I think that I have convinced my DH to take a week off of work and go to WDW over Easter 2016. So we could have 7 park days if we want. We will be coming from San Francisco and it will be our first (and maybe last) trip to WDW.

I am assuming that Easter will be crazy busy. So I was thinking of getting to a park at RD and leaving after lunch. Then we can relax at our resort and enjoy SAB (I think we will stay at BC or YC). And then have an ADR for dinner at a resort (1900 Park Fare, Ohana, Hoop Dee Doo). Or we could hop into Epcot and have dinner at the WS.

Is it silly to only "tour" and see attractions in the morning and spend the rest of our time swimming, relaxing or exploring other resorts?

At DLR I am programmed to go, go, go as we are usually on there for 4 days. And there isn't as much other stuff to see in DLR. So we spend most of our time in the parks there.

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[SabbyR]

No that sounds perfect to me!

 

[Crystal824]

I think your plan sounds great as long as you understand you will perhaps miss quite a few attractions. There is nothing wrong with that because if you stay in the parks, you will miss the great resorts and dining. WDW is so big, you won't do it all in a week anyway. It really depends on what you want to do.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

You also have to take into account transportation to and from the resorts which can eat into your day. Quite a bit tour like that, we do now but in the beginning everything was so new to us it was go, go, go from park opening to park closing. WDW has so much to see and do, it can't be done completely in one trip. Which is how first time visitors morph into frequent visitors so don't count on it being your last trip!

Also, WDW is a large area and a lot of walking and some people young, old and in between need a nap or quiet time.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Not silly at all. Your vacation is about you. My only concern would be ADR availability. If you are going this Easter and haven't booked them yet, I would consider doing so soon.

What is nice about being on California time--late dining times would work.

ETA: My eyes missed 2016. Disregard my ADR concern.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

I think that your plan sounds great. If you are staying at Beach Club or Yacht Club, you definitely want to enjoy SAB pool. If you hit the parks at RD, tour until 1/2ish, you will hit a lot of rides. I would suggest having FP+ booked and perhaps using a suggested crowd park calendar. Also, character dinners are 1/2 the fun. If you are going to places like 1900 Park Fare you don't need to line up for characters in the parks, thus using the morning park hours for rides only. I would also suggest Cape May Cafe some morning for an early breakfast (at Beach Club) or a pre-park opening at Akershus if DD is into princesses (get a 7:00am reservation ADR if park is opening at 8:00) Even if you went commando, you couldn't see everything, so why not do what you can, enjoy SAB and a nice dinner / walking the Boardwalk at night. That's a holiday for everyone

 

[Alesia]

It's really just a matter of personal preference. My family would be miserable on a trip like that, but other people would love it.

 

[sharonabe]

I mentioned this on another thread of yours, but will reiterate it. Your bodies are going to have a difficult time getting up for rope drop. Easter Week may have some 7:00 a.m. openings and WILL have 8:00 for sure. You'll want to be out of your resort and at the bus stop around 7:00 a.m for an 8:00 opening. That's 4:00 a.m. your time! That means you're getting up around 3:00 a.m. Unless you adjust quickly, I would try doing the first few days the other way around and be at the parks around 2:00 until close.

 

[Planogirl]

You might want to work in some night time attractions such as fireworks and parades but otherwise your plan sounds good.

 

[rwdavis2]

One thing to consider is, assuming you have Park Hopper tickets, is to hit the first park at rope drop but make your FP+ reservations for a second park later that day (afternoon or evening).

 

[SFMommy]

I mentioned this on another thread of yours, but will reiterate it. Your bodies are going to have a difficult time getting up for rope drop. Easter Week may have some 7:00 a.m. openings and WILL have 8:00 for sure. You'll want to be out of your resort and at the bus stop around 7:00 a.m for an 8:00 opening. That's 4:00 a.m. your time! That means you're getting up around 3:00 a.m. Unless you adjust quickly, I would try doing the first few days the other way around and be at the parks around 2:00 until close.

When we fly to the East Coast, we try to take a 6:00 a.m. flight so that we are waking up at 3:00 a.m. to get to the airport. We sort of force our bodies to adjust. We went to NYC last Easter and woke up by 8:00 a.m. on our first morning to see the Empire State Building.

I was thinking of later mornings the first 2 days and then regular early morning wake-ups the rest of the trip.

We understand the advantages to getting to the parks early, so I don't really see us sleeping in and then dealing with crowds later in the day. When we go to DLR for Thanksgiving, we wake at 5:45 every morning to be at the gates by 6:45 for 7:00 EMH. But I know that we'll need to add lots of time at WDW for transportation to the parks.

Thanks for your advice!

 

[Thing 1]

Nothing wrong with it at all just be flexible but with a plan. I would plan to be at an AM EMH each day, and to be sure to have all your FP planned for maybe mid- late morning. You can then leave if you get overwhelmed by the crowds or stay if you are still good. Remember that after you use your three planned FP, you can get one more at a time. That will get you onto more rides as the crowds grow. Easter can be busy enough that park closings can be an issue so watch crowds levels where you might have a credit card hold on an ADR. I would add hoppers to allow you to leave crowded parks for less crowded ones. Consider if you want to see any of the night time entertainment. Crowds often decrease later in the day and after a afternoon break, you might want to return to a park.

 

[canadiandisneynut]

Our family is in the park by 9 930 and then back to our hotel by 1230 1 pm every day. We swim our afternoon away and relax and then return in the evening. Because we do this we find we do not need a park hopper and we never have any "I'm tired" meltdowns. Animal Kingdom closes early in the day so we usually until around 3 pm. If we ever want to go back out that night we book an ADR at a resort or head Downtown Disney

 

[Masonmj84]

I don't think it's a silly way to tour at all.

In fact, you've described almost perfectly the way we prefer to do Disney (only difference is that we typically go during "off-season" times and do split stays at different resorts).

We are not at all commando types and prefer to not be in the parks say between 1 and 6 pm (even durring "off-season" times). Along those lines, I've found that with a good RD touring plan (with strategic use of FP), we can really get a lot done in 3-4 hours without rushing (at least at the times of year we go).

For our family, a day split between the parks, the resort pool, and a nice sit down dinner is the perfect mix. It's a big reason we love Disney (just enough variety to keep the kids entertained with just enough relaxation to suit the adults).

Most of our relatives (who stay off-site and visit parks commando style not only at Disney but also Universal, Sea World, Lego Land, etc.) think we're nuts. To them, we're way overpaying on lodging/dining, spending too much time trapped inside Disney, and not getting the bang for the buck for our park tickets. But to us, their vacation style doesn't seem like a vacation (seems exhausting). But we're not them and they're not us. So who are we to judge them and who are they to judge us?

Bottom line: it's YOUR vacation. Do what works for you.

 

[Chaoster]

Easter break on the east coast is different then the west coast. Depending when it is it might not be as crowded.

 

[Alesia]

Easter break on the east coast is different then the west coast. Depending when it is it might not be as crowded.

Easter is the same on both coasts.

 

[bumbershoot]

It's really just a matter of personal preference. My family would be miserable on a trip like that, but other people would love it.

Absolutely. And same here.

If we go swimming, we are DONE for the day. And, for us, a 7 day trip is just getting started. We've done 8 nights at Disneyland and still haven't done everything we wanted to do. So a 7 day WDW visit is going to be "commando", or as commando as we can given that we'll still be dealing with jetlag through the 4th day.

Your bodies are going to have a difficult time getting up for rope drop.

I agree.

Unless you adjust quickly, I would try doing the first few days the other way around and be at the parks around 2:00 until close.

That's what we do on a shorter visit.

We went to NYC last Easter and woke up by 8:00 a.m. on our first morning to see the Empire State Building.

Up by 8 isn't fun, but what about up before 6 to get to the gates at 7? That's getting a little different.

But if you've done more east coast trips than that, and you KNOW that nothing has changed with your child, then go for it.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

For you, this plan may be fine. For me, it would not work.

One, the cost of tickets is too high. I try to force some breaks, but sitting around when I could be enjoying attractions drives us a little nuts. A slightly better, alternative to doing half days is perhaps alternating full days with non park days.

Two, this type of touring would not work for us because we value late nights far more than mornings. We try to do both (arrive near rope drop most days, but always close a park). If MK is open past midnight during our visit- we are there.

Three, late nights far less stressful than rope drop. In the morning crowds are building, folks are rushing. Folks are juiced on caffeine Late at night, crowds are waning, people are relaxed. Easter week, we find evenings far more useful.

The parks are magical after dark. Disney understands the power of lighting. The best parade in all the parks is the night parade in MK. we don't bother with the rest. The only other show we never miss is Wishes.

Certainly avoiding the worst of the afternoon crowds is a is a decent idea. Too bad it's also a rather popular plan. The pools are empty in the morning.

The more we are able to zig when the crowd zags, the better. That's my best general suggestion!

 

[nkereina]

Its not a silly way to tour, but if you're used to the "go go go" at DLR, you'll feel the same at WDW - possibly moreso. There's a lot more to see and do. If this were going to be my potential once in a lifetime trip, I wouldn't be satisfied knowingly missing attractions.

It will be busy, yes, but if you plan strategically and utilize touring plans that are available through various sites, you can maximize your time.

FWIW, we do the parks in the morning, leave around lunch to relax and go in the pool, and then visit another park (or the same one) around dinner time. This might even be a good strategy so you still catch night time entertainment, and you can take advantage of later park hours and PM EMH.

 

[BethR9]

Doesn't sound silly to me at all!