Is this reasonable??

[Jaxs27]

I just added hopper passes to our package. I am wondering if this sounds reasonable or not....

We have a 3 and 2 year old. Both are very flexible kids and go with the flow for the most part. I am wanting to get up and get to AK first thing and spend the morning there. Go back to the resort at 1 (All-star Movies) to rest and nap. Then head out to MGM and try to be there by 3. The only thing we are really wanting to do at MGM is Playhouse Disney and the Toy Story stuff. So we would stay there until about 5:50-6 and leave and go to Epcot for Dinner and Illuminations. I have a PS at Le Cellier that night. I figure if we get to Epcot at 6 we could go to the Living Seas before they close and then do dinner. I have been to Epcot myself and I don't think the kids would get a lot out of it at this point. The main reason for going to Epcot at all is to eat at Le Celliar and for my dh to see it (he has never been). One thing we won't be taking the bus, we are driving so that should cut down on time. Is this a total crazy plan or does it sound like it could work?

 

[patrenoe]

Yes, it could work just be very very flexible. You're children might be fine sleeping in the stroller most of the day but if they start to get cranky then you know what you need to do.I have seen many a baby do fine all day long while a lot of toddlers need to go back to the room for a rest period. It all depends on the child. Have a great time on your vacation.

 

[EthansMom]

It wouldn't work with my kids. Firstly, because it would take roughly half an hour (by bus, maybe 15-20 minutes by car) to get back to the resort to nap and then my kids would need at least 2 hours to nap and a few minutes of cranky groginess before I could get them loaded back up to head back to the parks. Basically, a one hour nap isn't a good enough break for my kids.

If it were me, I would omit the MGM portion from this day and go to MGM at the beginning of another day (and then hop on to another park after I'd done everything I wanted to do at MGM), if the length of my visit permitted. And I'd use the extra time to get more of a break -- maybe take the kids to the pool for half an hour before nap time.

Plan on being at Playhouse Disney at least 30 minutes before showtime. We missed out on this show last time because we didn't realize we needed to be there so far ahead of time.

My kids love The Living Seas -- one hint, when you enter the waiting area, there are two sets of doors. If you take the doors to the right with everyone else, you will end up watching a "Jacque Cousteau" - style intro movie thing that has no appeal to young kids. Instead, take the doors to the left to skip the movie and head straight for the fish and other sea creatures. "Turtle Talk with Crush" was cute but didn't hold any appeal for my kids who are 1 and 3.5 -- plus there was a wait of about 10 minutes and Turtle Talk lasted maybe 10-15 minutes. My kids would have preferred watching the fish in the aquarium.

BTW, my 3 year-old also liked Ellen's Energy Adventure, Spaceship Earth, Test Track (40" height req), and Soarin' (40" height req) at Epcot. You should definitely pull a fast-pass (ask at the fastpass machine about getting a babyswap pass) so you and your husband can go on Soarin' -- it's like hangliding over California. If you get the babyswap ticket, it can be used anytime, including BEFORE you use the other fastpass. So one of you could use the Babyswap ticket and then the other person uses the fastpass when it comes time or vice versa. Also, if your 3 year-old is tall enough for Soarin', the babyswap ticket can be used for more than one person at a time, so if you pull him/her a fastpass, he/she could go on Soarin' with both parents (2 times yay!).

I hope this helps!

 

[bigbabyblues]

I don't think you can leave AK at 1, go to ASMo, take a nap, and be back to MGM by 3. It might work, but it would be tight. You might not leave AK and get right on a bus, it might take 10-15 minutes for the bus to come, then you have the drive time (not very long of a ride) to ASMo, and you'd have to leave the room by at least 2:30-2:40 to get to MGM by 3. That only leaves about an hour for a nap, BUT, that will work if that's all the nap they need. Every family is different. My boys nap for at least 2-1/2 hours at a time. I believe there is a boat that goes from MGM to Epcot (you might check on that), that might be fun for a change from the busses. We stayed at Movies last fall and had a great time, BTW.

The Playhouse Disney show is really cute, my boys loved it last year (just under 4 and 15 months at the time), and the Toy Story characters got us some great pictures. As long as the PHD show is going on at the time you're going to be there, and the TS characters are out at that time, those two things shouldn't take too long to get accomplished, but I don't think they were close together. It might depend on the time of year too, the lines for the TS characters had a really long queue, and if it's full it will take awhile. We had to line up for the PHD show about a half hour or so before it started. I don't have the link for the site, but if you do a search on Steve Soares Entertainment, he has a schedule of the times of all the shows and regular character appearances on his website, it helped me with our last trip.

Have a great time!

(edited for typos)

 

[Cindy & Mickey]

I wouldn't recommend more than two parks per day if you're Park Hopping. It's easy to underestimate the sheer magnitude of these parks. Distances, unanticipated wait times, crowds, heat, etc -- can really eat into your day.

If you're trying to split your day, you can divide up your AK day with your MGM day. AK is a small park, relatively speaking. Allow at least 45 minutes to exit the park and return to your hotel room. And again, at least 45 minutes to leave your hotel room and get inside the next park.

Epcot is HUGE, and requires lots of walking, even for us grown ups. I remember one time where we were running behind at MK and had 1 hour to catch the monorail and make it to our ressies at the French Restaurant. We almost had to jog to make it to the Epcot lake boat, and thank goodness that was there! I would have collapsed from a heat stroke if I had to run the distance from the front gates at Epcot to the French Restaurant. Yeouch!

Also, be careful not to overestimate what your kids can tolerate. They'll have high expectations, and they'll want to linger over things you might not have anticipated. If you run them too much, in the end everyone's cranky.