Itinerary for our 1st trip to WDW in September - how does this look?

[Murmur]

Hopefully this is the correct place for this...

This is our first trip to WDW - myself, DW and DD (4 1/2 yrs). We are staying at POP for the whole trip and have upgrade the QS to the regular DP.

1) I have no breakfast ADR's planned. Knowing my wife and daughter, these would be a waste of dining credit - so all dinner ADR's.

I have two days scheduled in EP (Sunday and Thursday). I not sure if Epcot would be fine being done in 1 day with a 4 yr old. Would it make more sense to switch our last two days (Thursday/Friday) and only doing one day of EP and making it 3 days for MK.
- Thursday (change from Epcot to HS)
- Friday (change from HS to MK)

All thoughts, comments and critiques are appreciated. Our first trip and I want all of us to have a great time, but not feel like a chicken without it's head running all over the place - I fully know our plans will be thrown out of whack by things our DD likes/doesn't like. Just trying my best to create a magical trip for my family (hopefully the 1st of many).


Saturday, Aug. 30th - Arrive at POP around 4:30ish. Don't have tickets for this day so would consider DTD or hanging out at the pool.

Sunday, Aug. 31st - Epcot
- arrive at RD (9:00 am.)
- Soarin, Living with the Land
- 9:30-10:30 Seas with Nemo FP+
- 10:30-11:30 Soarin FP+
- 11:35-12:35 Turtle Talk Crush FP+
- After Turtle Talk take lunch break, and take it easy in the park
- Visit some new attractions or take in some new rides
- 5:25 Akershus ADR
- Current plan is to then head back to POP after dinner

Monday, Sept. 1st - MK
- arrive at RD (9:00 a.m.)
- Ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, It’s a small world
- 9:45-10:45 Peter Pan FP+
- 10:55-11:55 Jungle Cruise FP+
- 12:00-1:00 Pirates of Carribean FP+
- Lunch right after Pirates and take a break in the park
- Disney Parade, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Prince Regal Carrousel, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor or maybe re-ride some of the mornings rides again before dinner
- 5:55 Crystal Palace ADR
- Most likely head back to POP after dinner

Tuesday, Sept. 2nd - AK
- Arrive at RD (9:00 am)
- Ride Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, Ride Primeval Whirl, TriceraTop Spin
- 10:05-11:05 Dinosaur FP+ (will let me daughter see videos of the ride just to make sure not too scary)
- 11:10-12:10 Adventurers Outpost Soarin FP+
- If we are moving pretty well in the morning, we would try to each lunch and take a little break after Kali River (and give time to dry off)
- 12:25-1:25 Kali River Rapids FP+
- After lunch I would like to make sure we do Finding Nemo the Musical, Festival of the Lion King and Flights of Wonder, Boneyard
- 5:00 Sanaa ADR
- After dinner back to POP

Wednesday, Sept. 3rd - MK
- Arrive at RD (9:00 am)
- Ride Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Astro Orbiter, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, The Barnstormer, Journey of the Little Mermaid
- Lunch/Break around 11:30 a.m. (trying to get ADR for BOG lunch)
- 12:05-1:05 Seven Dwarves Mine Train FP+
- 1:20-2:20 Enchante Tales with Belle FP+
- 2:20-3:20 Meet Anna & Elsa FP+
- Festival of Fantasy Parade in Frontierland
- 5:25 'Ohana ADR
- Would like to go back and walk around MK and take in some additional rides that our daughter had previously enjoyed
- Head back to POP

Thursday, Sept. 4th - Epcot
- Arrive at RD (9:00 am)
- Ride Test Track, Sum of All Thrills in Innoventions East, Mission: SPACE:
- 10:15-11:15 Test Track FP+
- 11:15-12:15 Spaceship Earth FP+
- Take a lunch break after Spaceship Earth
- 1:10-2:10 Maelstrom FP+
- Walk around and enjoy Epcot until dinner
- 4:45 Coral Reef ADR
- After dinner either walk around EP or head back to POP.

Friday, Sept. 5th - HS
- Arrive at RD (9:00 am)
- Ride Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
- 9:15-10:15 Tower of Terror FP+
- 10:15-11:15 Toy Story Midway Mania Earth FP+
- 11:15-12:15 Star Tours
- Do lunch after Star Tours and take a little break
- After lunch do some of the stage shows - Muppet Vision 3D, Beauty and the Beast, Indiana Jones
- 5:50 Chef Mickey ADR (might change this to an HS restaurant - didn't realize how far it was from HS)
- Will visit some characters as well - not sure of the exact timing for these
- Fantasmic (depending on how DD is doing)

Saturday, Sept. 6th - Depart for home

 

[monique5]

Hopefully this is the correct place for this... This is our first trip to WDW - myself, DW and DD (4 1/2 yrs). We are staying at POP for the whole trip and have upgrade the QS to the regular DP. 1) I have no breakfast ADR's planned. Knowing my wife and daughter, these would be a waste of dining credit - so all dinner ADR's. I have two days scheduled in EP (Sunday and Thursday). I not sure if Epcot would be fine being done in 1 day with a 4 yr old. Would it make more sense to switch our last two days (Thursday/Friday) and only doing one day of EP and making it 3 days for MK. - Thursday (change from Epcot to HS) - Friday (change from HS to MK) All thoughts, comments and critiques are appreciated. Our first trip and I want all of us to have a great time, but not feel like a chicken without it's head running all over the place - I fully know our plans will be thrown out of whack by things our DD likes/doesn't like. Just trying my best to create a magical trip for my family (hopefully the 1st of many). Saturday, Aug. 30th - Arrive at POP around 4:30ish. Don't have tickets for this day so would consider DTD or hanging out at the pool. Sunday, Aug. 31st - Epcot - arrive at RD (9:00 am.) - Soarin, Living with the Land - 9:30-10:30 Seas with Nemo FP+ - 10:30-11:30 Soarin FP+ - 11:35-12:35 Turtle Talk Crush FP+ - After Turtle Talk take lunch break, and take it easy in the park - Visit some new attractions or take in some new rides - 5:25 Akershus ADR - Current plan is to then head back to POP after dinner Monday, Sept. 1st - MK - arrive at RD (9:00 a.m.) - Ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, It’s a small world - 9:45-10:45 Peter Pan FP+ - 10:55-11:55 Jungle Cruise FP+ - 12:00-1:00 Pirates of Carribean FP+ - Lunch right after Pirates and take a break in the park - Disney Parade, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Prince Regal Carrousel, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor or maybe re-ride some of the mornings rides again before dinner - 5:55 Crystal Palace ADR - Most likely head back to POP after dinner Tuesday, Sept. 2nd - AK - Arrive at RD (9:00 am) - Ride Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, Ride Primeval Whirl, TriceraTop Spin - 10:05-11:05 Dinosaur FP+ (will let me daughter see videos of the ride just to make sure not too scary) - 11:10-12:10 Adventurers Outpost Soarin FP+ - If we are moving pretty well in the morning, we would try to each lunch and take a little break after Kali River (and give time to dry off) - 12:25-1:25 Kali River Rapids FP+ - After lunch I would like to make sure we do Finding Nemo the Musical, Festival of the Lion King and Flights of Wonder, Boneyard - 5:00 Sanaa ADR - After dinner back to POP Wednesday, Sept. 3rd - MK - Arrive at RD (9:00 am) - Ride Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Astro Orbiter, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, The Barnstormer, Journey of the Little Mermaid - Lunch/Break around 11:30 a.m. (trying to get ADR for BOG lunch) - 12:05-1:05 Seven Dwarves Mine Train FP+ - 1:20-2:20 Enchante Tales with Belle FP+ - 2:20-3:20 Meet Anna & Elsa FP+ - Festival of Fantasy Parade in Frontierland - 5:25 'Ohana ADR - Would like to go back and walk around MK and take in some additional rides that our daughter had previously enjoyed - Head back to POP Thursday, Sept. 4th - Epcot - Arrive at RD (9:00 am) - Ride Test Track, Sum of All Thrills in Innoventions East, Mission: SPACE: - 10:15-11:15 Test Track FP+ - 11:15-12:15 Spaceship Earth FP+ - Take a lunch break after Spaceship Earth - 1:10-2:10 Maelstrom FP+ - Walk around and enjoy Epcot until dinner - 4:45 Coral Reef ADR - After dinner either walk around EP or head back to POP. Friday, Sept. 5th - HS - Arrive at RD (9:00 am) - Ride Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster - 9:15-10:15 Tower of Terror FP+ - 10:15-11:15 Toy Story Midway Mania Earth FP+ - 11:15-12:15 Star Tours - Do lunch after Star Tours and take a little break - After lunch do some of the stage shows - Muppet Vision 3D, Beauty and the Beast, Indiana Jones - 5:50 Chef Mickey ADR (might change this to an HS restaurant - didn't realize how far it was from HS) - Will visit some characters as well - not sure of the exact timing for these - Fantasmic (depending on how DD is doing) Saturday, Sept. 6th - Depart for home

Just a quick glance @ your plans. So I am assuming, which I do not like to do, that your daughter is tall for 4.5 & adventurous. Numerous rides you listed require you to be 44" or 48" (I.e. EE& PW @ AK), BTMRR, SM, TofT, etc) Also, Dinosaur is scary for a lot of kids so definitely watch on YouTube & verify height requirements. If you decide to ride it, purchase glow sticks from local Target or Dollar Tree. I didn't see 7DMT & it's height is only 38". Also, on SM it's single seat only, do she would be riding in seat by herself???? Or are you doing rides by yourself with your DD?

Also, no mention on H&V, breakfast & lunch only with characters. Characters include Jake, Sofia, Handy Manny & Doc McStuffins. This is only place to meet Doc. Disney Jr. live on Stage? Voyage of the Little Mermaid?

CM: allow 1-1.5hr to get there by Disney transportation.

EP: most have that 44" requirement. So I do not see needing 2 days there. I would add another day @ MK.

Please let me know if you would like sone help or other suggestions. Have fun planning your trip!!!

 

[darkwing818]

Maybe it's just me (or i'm just not reading correctly), but it looks pretty aggressive, for example, Monday 9/1 at MK, you're going in at the rope drop at 9:00 & you are planning to do 4 fairly popular rides before your 9:45/10:45 Peter Pan FP+. I suppose it could work, but if it's crowded, who knows. I suspect you will all be hustling either way. Good Luck & enjoy your Trip & many more.

 

[LetsDoDisney!]

Be sure to check the showtimes at AK, not sure if you can fit FOTLK, Nemo, Boneyard and FOW between 2ish and 5pm. Nemo and FOW especially have limited shows per day.......

Is your daughter very adventurous? At 4 my son would not go on Rockin' Rollercoaster, TOT, EE, Dinosaur, anything fast and scary like that, not to mention that he wouldn't have been tall enough for some anyway.

He is 8 and we are just now planning to do Dinosaur and EE this coming trip. Some kids are fine though, you know your daughter best!

Have a great trip!

P.S. I had to go look this up.....- 11:10-12:10 Adventurers Outpost Soarin FP+.......couldn't figure out what that was and thought I was missing something haha! I see that the Soarin' part is just a typo, and the Adventurers Outpost is what they now call the character Meet n' Greets. I learn something new every day.

 

[ariane37]

Hi there! Just going to echo some pp's on a couple things Monday the 1st you do have a # of popular rides planned between 9:00 & your 9:45 PP FP. It may work, especially if you go to PP towards the end of your FP window. I know you did say in your post that you're aware your plans may veer off schedule at times, so just keep an open mind and if you don't get them all in before PP, you an always rearrange.

Also on the 1st, MK is closing at 7:00 for the first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (I know b/c I'll be there). You do say you'll probably go back to the resort after your 5:55 ADR, just wanted you to know in case you decided to hang in MK.

OK next, AK. DEFINITELY do Festival of the Lion King, I think it's the best show in WDW!!! Also think Flights of Wonder is great and your daughter will probably enjoy Nemo. However, I don't know that all 3 of them will fit in those afternoon hours due to their scheduled times. I believe you can view the times somewhere online but not sure where, maybe someone will come along with that info

One more thing, sorry this is long! Some pp's mentioned checking height requirements for your DD, which is a good suggestion. As far as the rides being scary: watching YouTube videos, either yourself or with your DD, is a good idea. But I think, and of course its just my opinion, I think that unless you REALLY believe a ride will scare her, you should let her try it if she wants to. My kids started going when they were both toddlers and over the years I've been surprised a few times when they enjoyed a ride I thought would scare them. Also surprised that my DS12 will go on absolutely EVERY roller coaster/thrill ride they have, but still won't go back on Haunted Mansion.... lol anyway, again just the opinion of one person. Enjoy your planning!

 

[DopeyDame]

I'm sure you'll get lots of feedback here, but maybe post it over in the family board as well. There are lots of parents there with experience taking a 4 year old, and they usually have a slightly different perspective then the theme parks board. Between the two, you should get some great feedback!

Now I'm off to actually read your plans and I'll come back with my thoughts ;-)

 

[DopeyDame]

OK, I'm back.
When my son was four he LOOOOOVED Epcot. I'd keep the itinerary at 2 days in Ep and 2 in MK. I think 3 in MK will be overkill.

As PP's have said, your schedule is definitely aggressive, but in timing and in rides for your 4 year old. How tall is your daughter?
We're still trying to decide if we're taking our 5 year old on Dinosaur - it's REALLY scary for little ones. If you do chose to do it, maybe do it later in the day so if she gets freaked out it won't effect too much.

The basic outline of parks, FP+ and meal reservations looks great. the only meal I'd question in Sanaa. You know it's at Animal Kingdom Lodge, not the actual park, right? Which means you'd need to leave the park by 5ish. That seems like cutting your day short in AK - we love it there! Maybe see if you can get a Tusker House (character dining buffet) or Yak and Yeti reservation instead.

ETA: The absolute biggest piece of advice is to go with the flow and follow your daughters lead. She's little and the parks can be hot and overwhelming even for the best of us. Take breaks when people start to get crabby. It is SO much better to only do half of your plan, but have a fantastic time, then to do your whole plan but be miserable. Remember, it's supposed to be fun!

 

[MrInfinity]

This is our first trip to WDW - myself, DW and DD (4 1/2 yrs). We are staying at POP for the whole trip and have upgrade the QS to the regular DP.

You're going w my basic 6-day plan.

This is your first trip? This is planned like some of the best.

Yes you are good to keep EC for 2 days. But also good that you're leaving early on both of them. The 4-year old won't get a huge benefit there, not as much as the MK, but you need you-time too, and EC is as much for the adults. So I'd keep it and not switch to 3MK / 1EC.

Overall your times look good! You probly won't get on quite as many things in the early mornings... But that'll be fine, they're things you'll just pick up later. Like the Haunted Mansion and Small World you can easily pick up in the evening or after you use your first 3 FPs pull extras to one of these attractions later.

For arrival day, DTD is fun, but under a lot of construction right now. Worth doing if you haven't been! I would probly do that for a couple hours.

At AK too I think your plans are ambitious to completely circle the entire (biggest) park via Safari - EE - Dinoland / Primeval all in time to make a 10-11FP for Dinosaur. Move Kali to the 11 slot, just do Safari-EE, then you'll barely make Kali which is in the same area. Then head to Nemo which is near Dinoland, and do those rides and Nemo around each other due to location.

Your walk to the Safari, then from Safari-EE is beautiful, there is so much to see and enjoy especially for a first-timer you will very quickly abandon this aggressive schedule here. Give yourself more time. 4-year old will enjoy simply doing the Wilderness Explorer quests which can take 20 min to a half-hour each.

 

[katt789]

Not sure about some of the bigger rides, would you be doing a rider switch with them or would your dd be also going on them? Remember if you're doing a rider switch it will take longer if both of you will want to ride!

Going on that, sometimes it seems you have a lot of rides penciled in before a relatively early fast pass opens up, do as much as you can, but make sure you're not late for that fp!

Is there a specific reason you're skipping wishes, electrical parade & celebrate the magic?

Defintely don't miss fesitval of the lion king!! I would skip dinosaur as well, it still freaks me out and i'm 25

Have a great and magical trip!!

 

[lindanj]

You might want to consider taking a break at the hotel on some of the days. We just got back and I know that when we got to the parks at RD we were ready to head back to the hotel for a rest/pool break in the pm and then head back to the parks. Otherwise it might be too tiring for your DD. Being it is your first time you might not realize how much walking is involved and how tiring that can get. But it seems like you are on the right track. Be sure to check the height requirements on some of the rides you mentioned. Good luck and have fun.

 

[rdearth]

Just remember:

"No battle plan survives the first contact with the enemy."

I have a general idea of rides and attractions we need to see, but the idea of scheduling a time for them (unless you've got them through FP+) seems unlikely to really happen. Other than FP+, I might know which one I need to hit first and second, but after that, it's wherever and whatever....especially when you have a 4-year old with you.

Also, I'm not sure a 4-year old can actually do Soarin' even if they meet the height requirements...you will still potentially be about 30 feet off the ground.

Otherwise, the park strategy looks very good to me. We always do Epcot twice and MK twice and the others once. My general strategy is to do Epcot as early in the week as possible and do as much as we possibly can and stay as long as we can on that first day. That way, the second Epcot day later on in the week might just be a half day at the park and half day at the resort pool, or Downtown Disney, etc.

I guess that's my only minor issue with your plan is that you don't have a day built in to rest if you need it. Along with that possible half day at Epcot, we also generally go to MNSSHP one night, so that automatically gets us an evening of rest (pool) and a morning or rest (pool). You will have some evening time when you go to AK though.

I like that you haven't built in time to go back to the hotel mid-day. You see that in so many guide books, but really, if you're not going in the middle of summer and the parks aren't open 12-14 hours a day, hoofing it back to the resort for a nap or whatever is a huge waste of time (IMO). You're better off letting the 4-year old konk out in a stroller in the shade while you get ice cream or watch the Hall of Presidents or something.

EDIT TO ADD: Looking at your schedule a little closer, I noticed that you are leaving each park after dinner. I wouldn't do that. For one thing, get your money's worth. But, secondly, there's just something magical about closing down a park...not that you have to do it every single time. Just be sure to take your time leaving the park because there is nothing magical about the crowds stumbling out.

 

[Murmur]

First off - a BIG thanks to everyone for their thoughts and suggestions!!

Going over my plans again, I can see how I tried to cram a bit too much into some of the days. I realized that I did't leave much time for anything else other than go..go..go - no time to shop, various breaks in the day, snack stops, moments to stop and just enjoy the atmosphere. I almost feel like I turned into Clark Griswold!

Tonight I am going to take some of the suggestions here and modify my plans to give us plenty to do, but not to overdo it and give some breathing room throughout the day.

We did a trial run at Kings Island not too long ago to see how our DD would do at a theme park...and she was non-stop! Her favorite was the roller coaster, and was a little disappointed that she was just a tad bit too short for some of the larger coasters. Once she had the chance to sit in the front, she wanted the front every time...and every talks about sitting in the front at Disney. She is currently 43" and I had held out hope that she would make the spurt to 44", but I don't think that will happen. I will be removing all of the rides requiring 44" out of our plans - if by some miracle she hits 44" then we will add them in as a surprise.

We have watched plenty of the rides on youtube, but didn't do Dinosaur (and glad I did based on some of your recommendations). The two rides she currently does not want to do are Haunted Mansion and Dinosaur....everything else she is gung-ho for.

I had Wishes and MSEP originally penciled in and will see about putting them in since I am lightening the load a little more during the day. For AK, Sanaa was one that I thought would be really great to hit. Being there at the start of dinner and getting a window table to watch the animals sounded like a great idea. They do have a 5:10 reservation available which would give us a little extra breathing room at the restaurant. Of course the animals thing is also a gamble depending on the weather.

Again, I can't thank everyone enough - your insight has been invaluable! I didn't get a chance to hit everyone's comments (this reply has become long enough). I'm just glad to be on the right track...with a month to go I started to panic and second guess everything...but feel more assured now.

 

[CounselorX]

My wife and I will be there the same exact days as you and also at Pop

 

[LetsDoDisney!]

You are way ahead of a lot of people with the plans you have, with it being your first trip! You have a great plan, and will have a great time....enjoy enjoy enjoy!

 

[minniegirl19]

people might not agree with what I'm about to say but me and my sister were the same way when we were younger we loved rides and were always go go go. is your daughter exactly 43"? have you measured her recently. Hopefully she will get a spurt in a month but what my parents used to do was get a little higher tennis shoe and then if we had to we would stuff them with tissue paper! we ended up tall enough and it worked every time to get on all the rides lol just a suggestion

something no one has mentioned…
does your daughter love frozen? I'm assuming she does like every little girl… the frozen summer fun ends september 1st I would try to switch days and fit that in. Also if you do I would suggest a mid day break (pop isn't far from studios) so she can make it for the frozen fireworks at 10pm. I haven't seen them yet (10 days till our trip) but watched on youtube and they are amazing! happy planning and have an amazing trip!