Itinerary help - 1st family trip SW or Rest day?

[modernscarlett]

We're heading down for our first family trip 11/18-11/25. We'll be myself and DH, our 8 yo DD, and my 60'ish parents. A this point, we have 6 day park hoppers, and have the following planned:

11/18 - arrive Orlando 12:30 - ME to CSR, MK in the afternoon/evening
11/19 - Epcot
11/20 - MGM
11/21 - MK
11/22 - SW ?????
11/23 - Epcot
11/24 - AK
11/25 - early departure

My question is, with all of that, will we need a rest day in the middle on Wednesday? I'd love to do SW as I think my DD would love it, but I don't want to be overwhelmed and overtired, either. If we do SW, I need to buy advance tickets to take advantage of the discounts.

I've also considered adding another day to our park hoppers just to have the option of going back if we'd like.

Any suggestions or feeback, please?

Lori

 

[rlovew]

I really enjoyed SW last year when I spent a day there. Take a look at the website and see if it sounds good to you- all of there attractions and rides are on their site. Whether you will be tired or not depends on your touring plan. If you have a basic idea of what you are doing and a general idea of how the parks are laid out then it might not be bad. On the other hand if you plan on seeing and doing everything without a break then I would say you will be exhausted beyond belief unless you take a day to rest.

 

[srgibbs]

Just my personal opinion here. Looking at your schedule I think I would skip Seaworld. It is rather pricey and doesn't look to me to be that exciting. I would add an extra day onto your magic your way ticket and do another day at Magic Kingdom. It shouldn't cost but may $5-8 more per ticket to add an extra day on. We were there last year and my kids just loved Magic Kingdom. One and 1/2 days there is really not enough in my opinion. Hope you have a wonderful time.

 

[mmmcq]

Lori,

We love SW and go there every other trip and do something different as in a dinner near the whales or feed the penguins, etc. It's a nice change from the parks and your parents might enjoy it.

It really depends on how you spend your time generally with vs without your parents. Your 8 yr old is perhaps old enough to go to a park later in the evening. There is at least one day on your schedule (because we're there the same time) when there are late hours at MK. You could do SW with your folks and then go to the late night park with your son later if your parents don't want to venture out.

We like to do split days - am in one park, resort for lunch/nap/swim and then park for dinner (mainly Epcot)....so we tend to get more visits at each park - not necessarily more hours. We don't do the 8 hours at a park thing anymore.

But overall it looks like a good plan.

 

[modernscarlett]

Thanks for the feedback. Anyone else have opinions?

 

[clkelley]

It sounds like you are using Magical Express. How are you planning on getting to SW?? Renting a car for a day? Mears? Lynx??

Since you won't have your resort a quick bus/boat/monorail ride away, you will be tempted to stay all day at Sea World just to get your money's worth. (Those one day tickets are EXPENSIVE)

I would add another day to the parkhoppers and just use that day as a rest/filler day.

 

[Frantasmic]

Is Nov 18 an EMH evening for MK? You arrive at 12:30, but probably the earliest you can get to the parks is 2:30 with Magical Express and checkin and everything.

I went last year with the same time frame and that Saturday before Thanksgiving took a long time to get from the airport to the hotel and checked in.

My point is that if MK isn't evening EMH, you will only get 5 hours for a full day of park hopping.

I don't have any other options, but I don't think that takes full advantage of a park hopper ticket.

 

[modernscarlett]

It sounds like you are using Magical Express. How are you planning on getting to SW?? Renting a car for a day? Mears? Lynx??

Since you won't have your resort a quick bus/boat/monorail ride away, you will be tempted to stay all day at Sea World just to get your money's worth. (Those one day tickets are EXPENSIVE)

I would add another day to the parkhoppers and just use that day as a rest/filler day.

Thanks. We would have to rent a car for the day, thus adding to the expense. I'm thinking I may just need to have a rest/swim day (weather cooperating) for my DD who would live in a pool if so allowed.

 

[modernscarlett]

Is Nov 18 an EMH evening for MK? You arrive at 12:30, but probably the earliest you can get to the parks is 2:30 with Magical Express and checkin and everything.

I went last year with the same time frame and that Saturday before Thanksgiving took a long time to get from the airport to the hotel and checked in.

My point is that if MK isn't evening EMH, you will only get 5 hours for a full day of park hopping.

I don't have any other options, but I don't think that takes full advantage of a park hopper ticket.

I know that we're not "maximizing" our day there, but can't take DD on her first trip to Disney and NOT take her to MK right away. Plus it was just a few $$ more to add a day. Thinking I may be adding another one now as well.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Just my personal opinion here. Looking at your schedule I think I would skip Seaworld. It is rather pricey and doesn't look to me to be that exciting. I would add an extra day onto your magic your way ticket and do another day at Magic Kingdom. It shouldn't cost but may $5-8 more per ticket to add an extra day on. We were there last year and my kids just loved Magic Kingdom. One and 1/2 days there is really not enough in my opinion. Hope you have a wonderful time.

We used to have a Sea World in our home town that we would take the kids to, way back when, at it was good, but that was because there wasn't much else around here. Having done that in the 70's we have no inkling to see a new version in Orlando especially while at WDW. We enjoy the leisure of not using a car while on vacation and thats why we pick WDW over 38 times.

As for your question, by your itenary, you have alot going on. We're in our late 50's ourselves and I know we enjoy the mid day breaks alot. We head back to the resort, we paid alot for, deluxe, to enjoy the pool and lounge and room. We recharge ourselves for the evening outing of a different park, having said that, we're still tired when returning in the evening after the second park. Throw that together for 2 to 3 days and I always schedule a down day inbetween. Either the women go shopping, men stay at pool or lounge or we all do the DTD of a short time and catch lunch at Capt. Jacks and head back to the resort pool. Down day evening we like to do our annual HDDR dinner.

I always want our vacations to be relaxing as much as possible and after visiting WDW all these times, we do just that. We've seen it all, have AP's, and come and go as we please, and are coming back. Coming home, relaxed, refreshed and non achy from a Disney vacation make each visit more and more enjoyable. Scheduling too much into a stay makes everyone cranky and you are always rushing around. OUr thought is to stop and smell the flowers, do other things around the World and take it at a relaxed pace.

 

[suevee]

If you were staying for 10 days, then yes to SW. However with only six days you will have more than enough to do in DW. I would consider adding a day so you can take breaks each day or upgrading to a park hopper plus and take one day for the Water parks, fantasia mini golf, and/or Disney Quest.

If you go commando style in the beginning you WILL hit that wall by day 3 or 4 and be so tired you won't be able to do much, or even want to get back up on your aching feet.