Itinerary Dilemna and food voucher help

[bigcrit]

OK here it goes - I planned this itinerary a month or so ago and was really proud of my efforts.

Recently I called and got an Illuminations cruise for Monday the 16th (My MGM day). Right now I am cutting my day short at MGM and cancelling my Fantasmic package to do the cruise. We will make a special trip later in the week to catch Fantasmic.

I also got 19 counter service meal vouchers from a friend. My dilemna is I already bought the MYW dining plan. I didn't want to offend them by refusing them. She is such a nice person. I have several meals that will use 2 dining options. Any thoughts on how to maximize this good fotune? I have a neighbor who is going in a few months. I will definitely give them some as well.

Any thoughts on how to adjust our itinerary and our PS's and counter service meals would be appreciated.


Here is the original Itinerary posted a while ago
We are a family of four with Twin 8 year old girls. We are in moderately fair athletic condition. My girls love "big kid" rides and don't want to ride the kiddie rides. So to that we will be able to skip some of the "kiddie" rides and focus on bigger attractions but still stopping to meet characters and enjoy alot of the magic designed for their age.

Our trip is for 8 nights 9 days for the week of May 14 - May 22nd. We are leaving Philadelphia in the afternoon arriving in Orlando at 3:55pm. Hoping to arrive at the CR around 4:30. Hopefully we will get a good room arriving that late in the afternoon. We purchased 7 day park hopper's and the MYW Dining plan. I have all my PS's for the week. Our general rule of thought has been to maximize our park time and allow for rest. Most days will have the following schedule (or something close to this).

- Arrive at park very early (first thing).
- Tour parks using info from UG, TGM, Passporter and the disboard of course.
- Leave parks around 1 - 2 PM (except day at MGM)
- Go back to hotel for Rest or swim or whatever we feel like.
- Most of our PS's are for early dinners so we will have a leisurely afternoon, get dressed for dinner - go to dinner then go to a park for the evening.

Here's the outline for our trip considering Park hours and the following, recently posted EMH for the time we will be there.

----------------------------------------------------------
EXTRA MAGIC HOURS
May 8-14, 15-21, 22-28 & 29-31:
SUNDAY EVENING Disney-MGM Studios
MONDAY MORNING Epcot
TUESDAY MORNING Disney-MGM Studios
TUESDAY EVENING Animal Kingdom
WEDNESDAY EVENING Magic Kingdom
THURSDAY EVENING Epcot
FRIDAY MORNING Magic Kingdom
SATURDAY MORNING Animal Kingdom

-----------------------------------------------------------

5/14 Saturday
- Arrive around 4:30PM.
- Chef Mickeys @7:40PM for dinner.
- Couple laps on the Monorail.
- Early to bed for 1st day at MK.

5/15 Sunday
Magik Kingdom
- CRT @ 8:20 AM.
- Lunch @ Pecos Bill's.
- Leave MK around 1pm or 2pm.
- Back to the hotel for rest and relaxation.
- Concourse Steakhouse @5:30PM for dinner.
- Back to MK for night time touring and Wishes.

5/16 Monday
MGM
This is gonna be a long day as we don't plan to leave until after Fantasmic. I figured with the time it takes to travel between the CR and MGM. The number of sit down shows (rest) and our ressie for dinner (4:20pm) we should stay all day. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to do this? I'm concerned this is too much for one day. This is what I have planned so far.

- Breakfast in our room (bringing our own cereal).
- Spend day at MGM doing almost everything. Hopefully alot of sit down shows.
- Lunch @ ABC Commissary.
- Afternoon Touring.
- Hollywood and Vine for Fantasmic Dinner package @4:20.
- More touring til' Fantasmic (9PM)

I'm thinking of getting later PS for dinner, leaving, coming back for night time touring and Fantasmic but I'm not sure of how long the commute is between the CR and MGM. If it is very long I would rather stay in the park.

5/17 Tuesday
Epcot
- Breakfast in Room.
- Lunch @Liberty Inn.
- Leave Epcot around 1pm or 2pm.
- Back to the hotel for rest and relaxation.
- Ohana's @5:00PM for dinner.
- Back to Epcot for night time touring and Illuminations (9PM).

5/18 Wednesday
Animal Kingdaom
- Breafast in room.
- Lunch @Flame Tree BB'Q.
- Back to the hotel for rest and relaxation.
- HDDR @5PM for dinner.
- Boat ride back to MK for evening touring and EMH.

5/19 Thursday
Blizzard Beach - May use this as a makeup day for one of the other parks (depends on weather and future forecast).
- Breakfast in room.
- Lunch at ? ( Ineed to check the dining plan for our options) suggestions?
- California Grill @5:30PM for dinner.
- Back to Epcot for evening touring and EMH.

5/20 Friday
Magic Kingdom
- Breakfast in room.
- Arrive early enough for EMH.
- Lunch @ Cosmic Ray's.
- Leave MK around 1PM or 2 PM.
- Back to the hotel for rest and relaxation.
- Liberty Tree Tavern @5:20 for dinner.
- Leaving the night wide open or back to MK to see Spectro.

5/21 Saturday
- Open day! Whatever we want to do or anything we missed.
- Boma @5:25PM for dinner.
- Open night or possbly DTD or back to MK to see Spectro.

5/22 Sunday
- Breakfast at Chef Mickeys @9:10 AM.
- Possibly going to DTD for souveneirs.
- Leaving - Flight leaves at 4:30 - We are at the mercy of Disney express -


Any thoughts, suggestions or tips on this itinerary would be a big help. I haven't been to Disney since I was 11 in 1977 so I am only going on what I have read and the wisdom of those on these boards. Thanks for all your help everyone

 

[bigcrit]

Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[bigcrit]

Bumped one more time.

 

[**pixiedust**]

This is just my opinion, but that seems like a really full schedule to me. I know you are doing mid-days back at the hotel, but I still think that it's alot, especially with all the PSs that you have. I can see your point in wanting to use the vouchers (how lucky for you! ), but I just think that you are going to be really full and really tired by Tuesday!

 

[05ChristmasSurprise]

5/14 Saturday
- Arrive around 4:30PM.
- Chef Mickeys @7:40PM for dinner.
- Couple laps on the Monorail.
- Early to bed for 1st day at MK

Sounds good. Kind of a late dinner, for this age of children, but since you're getting there late this may work. Especially if you have a time change from your house.

5/15 Sunday
Magik Kingdom
- CRT @ 8:20 AM.
- Lunch @ Pecos Bill's.
- Leave MK around 1pm or 2pm.
- Back to the hotel for rest and relaxation.
- Concourse Steakhouse @5:30PM for dinner.
- Back to MK for night time touring and Wishes.

This looks good as well. Keep in mind that transportation to and from could eat up a good 30-45 minutes each way, so to get back in time for our 5:30 priority seating at the Concourse, you may want to stop for lunch earlier and head to the hotel around noon or 12:30 instead. Also, CRT is a HUUUUGE amount of food - my opinion, the best food in the park - and by the time you sit down and eat, it could very well be 9 or 9:30. So, we found that we weren't really even hungry for lunch after that and just had a snack. Plus, I think you'll be really surprised at how little you can eat with all that walking around. We are HUGE eaters here and planned all of our last trip around where we were going to eat. We ended up cancelling half of our priority seatings and just grabbing the occasional counter service because the sit down meals were so big and took up a great deal of time. Granted, it was fun when we sat down, but it got to a point that we just really wanted to get "the eating part over with" and get back to the attractions. Even the kids weren't hungry with all that walking (plus, a lot of drinking because you get thirsty walking around, so that sort of fills you up).

5/16 Monday
MGM
This is gonna be a long day as we don't plan to leave until after Fantasmic. I figured with the time it takes to travel between the CR and MGM. The number of sit down shows (rest) and our ressie for dinner (4:20pm) we should stay all day. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to do this? I'm concerned this is too much for one day. This is what I have planned so far.

- Breakfast in our room (bringing our own cereal).
- Spend day at MGM doing almost everything. Hopefully alot of sit down shows.
- Lunch @ ABC Commissary.
- Afternoon Touring.
- Hollywood and Vine for Fantasmic Dinner package @4:20.
- More touring til' Fantasmic (9PM)

I'm thinking of getting later PS for dinner, leaving, coming back for night time touring and Fantasmic but I'm not sure of how long the commute is between the CR and MGM. If it is very long I would rather stay in the park.

My favorite park is MGM, by far! I definitely think you are on the right track with eating at the hotel and heading out later. I'd possibly head out to the park around lunch time (maybe 11?) and start the day at that point, because Fantasmic is so late. Unfortunately, you can't get a late priority seating for the Fantasmic Dinner package - from what they told me - they are trying to boost meal sales for the earlier times because the restaurants were completely empty in the late afternoons, but a 2 hour wait at 6-7. So, this is why they do the earlier times. Bummer, huh? Especially for those of us with little ones who get tired and worn out by then. BUT - anyway - I would plan to swim at the hotel pool in the morning so the kids don't get antsy, head to the park around 11 or so and eat lunch, then start touring. There isn't a *ton* to see at MGM, but it's great stuff and lots of shows. You should be able to see a few good shows then, if you plan it right, come out of Sounds Dangerous just before the afternoon parade and sit right on the steps out there by the "busts". It is a GREAT vantage point for the parade and the characters almost always interact with the kids. We had a blast doing this (and there is a Mickey Bar cart right across the street) Then, after the parade you could head down for your dinner and tour the rest of the park after that - until the 8:00 entry for Fantasmic (I think you have to line up at 8, if I recall, for the 9 o'clock show because they release the seats to the general public after that. I could be wrong - maybe it is 8:30).

5/17 Tuesday
Epcot
- Breakfast in Room.
- Lunch @Liberty Inn.
- Leave Epcot around 1pm or 2pm.
- Back to the hotel for rest and relaxation.
- Ohana's @5:00PM for dinner.
- Back to Epcot for night time touring and Illuminations (9PM).

You probably won't be hungry for Liberty Inn AND Ohana's, especially this close together. Unless you eat very early for lunch (like, 11). Also, consider the transportation time which sucks up a lot of time back and forth.[/QUOTE]

5/18 Wednesday
Animal Kingdaom
- Breafast in room.
- Lunch @Flame Tree BB'Q.
- Back to the hotel for rest and relaxation.
- HDDR @5PM for dinner.
- Boat ride back to MK for evening touring and EMH.

Good.

5/19 Thursday
Blizzard Beach - May use this as a makeup day for one of the other parks (depends on weather and future forecast).
- Breakfast in room.
- Lunch at ? ( Ineed to check the dining plan for our options) suggestions?
- California Grill @5:30PM for dinner.
- Back to Epcot for evening touring and EMH.

I'd go to Typhoon lagoon and eat at Leaning Palms, personally. I know they have a kids meal that is served in a sandpail with a shovel.
But, otherwise there is counter service at a couple places in blizzard beach.

5/20 Friday
Magic Kingdom
- Breakfast in room.
- Arrive early enough for EMH.
- Lunch @ Cosmic Ray's.
- Leave MK around 1PM or 2 PM.
- Back to the hotel for rest and relaxation.
- Liberty Tree Tavern @5:20 for dinner.
- Leaving the night wide open or back to MK to see Spectro.

Sounds good.

5/21 Saturday
- Open day! Whatever we want to do or anything we missed.
- Boma @5:25PM for dinner.
- Open night or possbly DTD or back to MK to see Spectro.

5/22 Sunday
- Breakfast at Chef Mickeys @9:10 AM.
- Possibly going to DTD for souveneirs.
- Leaving - Flight leaves at 4:30 - We are at the mercy of Disney express -

Great job!!! Lots of work went into this, I'm sure!

 

[bigcrit]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate your thoughts. I am changing the MGM day. I am going to cancel the Fantasmic package so we can do the Illuminations cruise that night. We will probably do dinner at one of the counter service places. Any recommendations for counter service at MGM?

Thanks again....

 

[05ChristmasSurprise]

Sure thing!

I think we ate at the Backlot Express, which has a wonderful grilled veggie sandwich and sesame chicken salad.

We also got spicy chicken wraps at the Fantasmic theater - "Hollywood Hills" and those were wonderful.

Toy Story Pizza Planet is supposed to be good as well