Itinerary help for a newbie

[ljca79]

It is our family's first time at Disney. Our boys (5 and 2) do not know yet, so I am in this alone for the moment as my husband has deferred to me. STRESS! I do know it will be so magical regardless of what we do or do not do, but I want to take full advantage.

What do you guys think of the following itinerary? All suggestions for improvement welcome!

Sunday arrival

Sunday night -
Chef Mickey's dinner

Monday -
8:00 a.m. Breakfast at the Crystal Palace
11:00 a.m. FastPass for Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
3:45 p.m. FastPass for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
7:00 p.m. FastPass for Journey of the Little Mermaid

Tuesday -
9:05 a.m. FastPass for Star Tours (older child and one parent)
9:20 a.m. FastPass for Disney Junior Live (younger child and one parent)
3:05 p.m. FastPass for Toy Story Midway Mania
4:30 p.m. FastPass for Frozen Sing-Along
5:15 p.m. Dinner at Mama Melrose's (plus Fantasmic show)

Wednesday -
Day of no parks (hotel/resort day)

Thursday (early magic hours at MK) -
8:05 a.m. Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table
10:00 a.m. FastPass for Magic Carpets of Aladdin
11:15 a.m. FastPass for Tomorrowland Speedway
3:00 p.m. watch parade
3:30 p.m. FastPass for Meet Mickey in Town Square

Friday -
9:05 a.m. - FastPass for Kiliminjaro Safaris
10:05 a.m. - FastPass for Dinosaur (older child and one parent)
10:30 a.m. - FastPass for Meet Mickey (younger child and one parent)
11:30 a.m. FastPass for Finding Nemo the Musical

We also have the option of CRT breakfast on Monday morning instead of Thursday morning, or doing CRT dinner instead of either breakfast. Also could move the Crystal Palace Breakfast reservation to Thursday morning.

Any and all thoughts appreciated! We will definitely need downtime mid-day for the younger child (and us!) to nap. Thanks so much for reading this!

 

[minnie mum]

I was a little surprised by some of your choices, but every family is different.

Mesaboy has an excellent thread about FPs, strategies, and priorities. What FPs are really worthwhile, and which ones, generally, are not.

Easywdw.com has a very good crowd calendar, the recommended parks for each day, as well as detailed explanations of the factors that affected those recommendations. There are also cheat sheets for each park. These include park touring strategies and ways to prioritize each FP to maximize your park touring efficiency.

 

[ljca79]

I was a little surprised by some of your choices, but every family is different.

Mesaboy has an excellent thread about FPs, strategies, and priorities. What FPs are really worthwhile, and which ones, generally, are not.

Easywdw.com has a very good crowd calendar, the recommended parks for each day, as well as detailed explanations of the factors that affected those recommendations. There are also cheat sheets for each park. These include park touring strategies and ways to prioritize each FP to maximize your park touring efficiency.

Which of my choices surprise you? Please steer me as, sure every family is different, but we are pretty "typical."

I have looked at the Easywew schedules, but find confusion because I think we need a mid-day break it does not include. As soon as I start to figure it all out, I get confused. I sound like an idiot - I assure you I am not. Rather, I am incredibly overwhelmed by all of the possibilities. Again, I am trying hard to stay calm as I know the trip will be great regardless of which FastPasses I get, but I do want to do my best!

 

[HollieS]

One thing that jumped out at me was you have CRT at 8am during the EMH, so when you finish eating around 9 people will have had over an hour to queue up in lines. It will be a busy day and you'll have missed the hour "perk" that makes it worth it.

 

[SeilerBird]

I think you did an outstanding job of planning. You have done your homework. Now don't worry anymore and just get ready to enjoy. WDW will exceed your expectations in just about every way.

 

[HollieS]

What I found helpful in the beginning planning stages was to cut out pieces of paper and write on them things we wanted to do. Then I could move them around on the table trying out different orders. It helped me organize how long I needed in each park and good times for our family to do stuff.

I included must do restaurants, rides, shows, pool time and rest times.

 

[Cleaverdisney]

I like your plan. I would try to get a FP for Peter Pan especially with kids that age. My DS(4) loves that ride and it has very long waits. I would drop Monters Inc or Aladdin as neither of those has very long lines.

 

[ljca79]

One thing that jumped out at me was you have CRT at 8am during the EMH, so when you finish eating around 9 people will have had over an hour to queue up in lines. It will be a busy day and you'll have missed the hour "perk" that makes it worth it.

Thanks! I moved the 8:00 a.m. to 10:05, which will work out better for us all around. I now feel better about doing breakfast instead of dinner, which I have read (everywhere!) is the way to do CRT.

I have also dumped Monsters and Aladdin for Jungle Cruise and Peter Pan. Keep 'em coming if anyone else has observations. Thanks, too, for the encouragement.

 

[msmama]

It is our family's first time at Disney. Our boys (5 and 2) do not know yet, so I am in this alone for the moment as my husband has deferred to me. STRESS! I do know it will be so magical regardless of what we do or do not do, but I want to take full advantage. What do you guys think of the following itinerary? All suggestions for improvement welcome! Sunday arrival Sunday night - Chef Mickey's dinner Monday - 8:00 a.m. Breakfast at the Crystal Palace 11:00 a.m. FastPass for Monsters Inc Laugh Floor 3:45 p.m. FastPass for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin 7:00 p.m. FastPass for Journey of the Little Mermaid Tuesday - 9:05 a.m. FastPass for Star Tours (older child and one parent) 9:20 a.m. FastPass for Disney Junior Live (younger child and one parent) 3:05 p.m. FastPass for Toy Story Midway Mania 4:30 p.m. FastPass for Frozen Sing-Along 5:15 p.m. Dinner at Mama Melrose's (plus Fantasmic show) Wednesday - Day of no parks (hotel/resort day) Thursday (early magic hours at MK) - 8:05 a.m. Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table 10:00 a.m. FastPass for Magic Carpets of Aladdin 11:15 a.m. FastPass for Tomorrowland Speedway 3:00 p.m. watch parade 3:30 p.m. FastPass for Meet Mickey in Town Square Friday - 9:05 a.m. - FastPass for Kiliminjaro Safaris 10:05 a.m. - FastPass for Dinosaur (older child and one parent) 10:30 a.m. - FastPass for Meet Mickey (younger child and one parent) 11:30 a.m. FastPass for Finding Nemo the Musical We also have the option of CRT breakfast on Monday morning instead of Thursday morning, or doing CRT dinner instead of either breakfast. Also could move the Crystal Palace Breakfast reservation to Thursday morning. Any and all thoughts appreciated! We will definitely need downtime mid-day for the younger child (and us!) to nap. Thanks so much for reading this!

You don't mention when you're going so your FP choices may not be bad but personally I don't think you need one for Monsters Inc or the Flying carpets and you could maybe use them for something better. I assume you're not going to do any of the mountains? If so, definitely use the FP's there.

Also Dinosaur is pretty scary for a 5 year old, I think. YMMV, if he likes being scared and thrill rides. I know my son and know that he'd never ride another ride again if I took him on that one.

I'd also try to make sure you're going to work your way around the parks in a logical order. For instance, maybe do all your Tomorrowland FPs on the same day and then another "land" for another day.

Have fun!

 

[richmo]

I think your plans look good. I'm glad you have down time in there too and I would second the suggestions to move off the Laugh Floor and Aladdin FP's.

One thing I would do differently is I'd be going to Epcot over DHS, but that's personal choice. My kids enjoyed Epcot, even at that age. At a minimum, maybe use one of your down times to take the Epcot monorail and you'll loop over part of the park.

Since its your first, remember you can't do it all, so don't try. Your plans look solid. Don't sweat the little stuff...you've done the planning, now DE-STRESS!

 

[Mikie]

You've got a great start and I like the other recommendations you've already taken to tweak things. I love beginning with Chef Mickey on arrival day! I think it's clear from other posts and your answers, but just in case - all your rides are good choices, just not necessarily needing a FP (Monsters Inc and carpets are still fun! your FP would just be more "valuable" on a different attraction)

In AK, I might suggest that the parent and younger child spend some time at the Boneyard play area, which is not far from Dinosaur, while the others are on Dino. My 6 year old loves that area and it's a nice respite for kids where they can run freely, vs the relative structure of standing in lines. You could rschedule the Mickey meet for later in the day, or really not use a FP if it was just "filler" for you.

Also, I second Richmo's idea of using the Monorail as down time, especially if you need a break, but arent' really taking hours off to go back to your hotel. My kids all love a loop on the monorail and basically think it's one of the rides.