Itinerary help, please! Need advice/comments!

[luvdisney999]

Wasn't too worried about plans before, but looks like we're going to hit a crowded week. Can you guys give me some advice on how my itinerary looks?

We want to AVOID as many crowds as possible. We are hitting EMH hours, but park hopping to another park to avoid as much as possible. So, any advice?

Wed. Nov. 9 -
8:30 Flight arrives at MCO
11:00 MGM
5:00 50's Primetime dinner
7:00 head to MK
9:00 MK EMH
ride Splash & Big Thunder as many times as possible in the dark!

Thurs. Nov. 10 -
7:00 leave Pop
7:45 breakfast at Kona Cafe
9:00 MK
12:00 EPCOT (want to ride Soarin' before FP's are gone)
2:30 Whispering Canyon Cafe late lunch / early dinner
4:00 MK
9:00 Wishes!
EPCOT EMH?? (if not too tired)

Fri. Nov. 11 -
8:00 MK EMH
2:00 MGM (want to return before Super Soap crowds!)
5:50 dinner at 50's Primetime (can you tell we love this place!)
7:00 Fantasmic!
8:00 EPCOT for an hour? DTD? early night in???

Sat. Nov. 12 -
8:00 AK (only want to do Safari, Dinosaur, & FotLK)
10:30 EPCOT
** Note: If I want to see some Soap Stars, can we walk over to MGM? How long does the walk through the international gateway and Boardwalk to MGM take? Is this a waste of time, considering we will hit all 4 parks in one day and spend most of our time traveling from place to place? Or can we do the walk fairly quickly? (both in our 20's and can walk briskly, but don't wish to run.)
8:30 Head to MK
9:00 Spectromagic
10:00 Wishes!

Sun. Nov. 13 -
7:40 Breakfast at Kona Cafe (gotta have more tonga toast! )
9:00 MK all day! -> last day!!!
7:50 flight leaves for home
** Note: Assuming we have to be back at POP at 4:50 for M.E. bus, should we plan on leaving MK by 4:00?

So, how does it look? Any and all advice/comments are welcome, as I want to get this right! Only 19 days to go and I can't wait! Thanks so much!

aw:

 

[LoveWDW]

Take the boat from International Gateway to MGM. It will take a while, but to walk it at a fast clip would be pretty tiring. I understand it is about a fast 20 walk from BW to MGM. And it would take about 10 min or so to walk from IG to MGM. The boat ride probably wouldn't take much more time than that, and you'd arrive rested.

 

[liamandcaili]

The one thing I would change is your schedule for Thursday. Instead of heading to MK in the morning, go to Epcot after breakfast. I've heard that Soarin' is pretty popular, and if you don't arrive there until noon, you may not get a Fastpass that will get you to Whispering Canyon in time for your PS. I think you will need to allow plenty of time to get to WL from Epcot, and all the transportation you have booked in right now...Kona to MK to Epcot to WL...means you'll be spending more time traveling than at the parks. It looks like you have lots of other time devoted to MK, so it might be better to just head to Epcot and spend the morning there. JMO.

Oh, and walking from Epcot to MGM would be a decent walk, albeit a rather pleasant one. If you were planning on a short skip over there, this wouldn't be it, but if you wanted to just take a nice breather, relax, and take in the scenery, it is nice.

Have fun!

 

[luvdisney999]

Maybe we should spend the morning in MK, have lunch at WC, then head to EPCOT after that. If we are too late for Soarin' FP's, then we'll just wait for the night EMH. Don't they start FP's over once EMH starts?

aw: aw:

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

When do you plan to check in on your arrival day? I don't think that it's realistic to believe that your flight will arrive at 8:30 and you'll be in MGM by 11 am. That's only 2½ hours to deplane, get from gate to main concourse, ride ME bus to POP, check in and then catch a bus to MGM. The drive from MCO to most WDW resorts is 20 minutes by itself. If you're taking ME, you will have to wait for others to also board the bus before departing. And then, the bus will be making stops at resorts other than just POP. If you're lucky, you will be the first stop. But even if that's the case, you will be checking in at the same time that everyone else on that bus for POP will be checking in. It could take a while. Since you're not planning to eat until 5pm, it should not be a major problem, I just want you to be prepared for the amount of time it takes to get around WDW.

On Thurs., it will take about 45 minutes to get from POP-->MK-->Poly for breakfast. That's the amount of time it will take once you get on that first bus. Waiting for that first bus could be as long as 15 minutes. You're only allowing 3 hours in the MK that morning which may not be much time but considering that you would have been there the night before, perhaps it will feel like enough. However, by arriving at EPCOT at 12 noon, you're probably looking at either long lines for the big 3 rides or FP return times that are late into the afternoon. It might be better to skip MK that morning and head straight to EPCOT following breakfast. I would also plan lunch/dinner for a World Showcase restaurant rather than heading over to WL at 2:30. That's a lot of distance to cover just for a meal. Personally, I would skip the trip to EPCOT's EMH that night. You will have had an early morning and the rush to get out of Wishes and over to EPCOT will be crazy.

Friday looks good but again, don't expect to head over to EPCOT after Fantasmic! By the time Fantasmic! empties out and you finally get a boat to the World Showcase (or walk), EPCOT will be packed with people who also want to see Illuminations. You will not get a good viewing spot, plus to exit the park and catch a bus to POP, you will need to go out via the Futre World entrance on the other side of the park.

I don't think that 2½ hours at AK will be enough time to do the 3 things you have planned. The first showing of FotLK is at 9:30, which means that you'll need to be in line at 9:00. The show runs 25 minutes with the next show not starting until 10:40. The Kilimanjaro Safari lasts about 20 minutes and Dinosaur (while only 3 minutes in length) can have hefty wait times unless you FP it. Your best bet: Hit the Safari first, grab a FP for Dinosaur and then get in line for FotLK. Since there are 2 of you, one can grab the FPs while the other gets in line at FotLK. Hopefully the FP return time is after FotLK is over but if it isn't, some CMs will still allow you to enter the FP line as long as your return time is earlier than the current time. Expect to get to EPCOT closer to noon.

Your final day looks good. If you need to be at POP by 4:50, it would not be a good idea to be getting off of Space Mountain at 4:00. I would definitely be waiting for the bus from MK to POP bythen. Travel time is 20 minutes with wait times in the range of 5 to 10 minutes.

To me, your schedule looks frenetic but you're young and child-free on this trip. If you were pushing a stroller or had senior members accompanying you, I would suggest scaling back. Have fun.