January 2014! So Far Away!!! First Trip :)

[MMCook5780]

So I'm a bit OCD and sometimes it causes me some problems and anxiety. I do a lot of research on things before I make decisions and then I obsess about my decision. Was it right or should I do this? Sometimes that shuts me down and I just stay home. But not this time

So far I've looked at a lot of things and everyone has their own opinion on what to do at Disney. Below is just a rough idea of what I'm finding to be the consensus when looking around. Please let me know what you think and what I'm missing!

Epcot is a 2 day park. 1 day Future World, 1 day World Showcase.
Magic Kingdom is a 2 day park. 1 day arrive at Rope Drop, 1 day start later and stay for Fireworks.
Disney Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom are 1 day parks. Fantasmic is at DHS.
And we should start with MK so the Castle begins our vacation!

Travel light in the parks, Use Child Swap, Take breaks mid day and really think about if Park Hoppers are necessary.

So what do you guys think?

 

[Deesknee]

So I'm a bit OCD and sometimes it causes me some problems and anxiety. I do a lot of research on things before I make decisions and then I obsess about my decision. Was it right or should I do this? Sometimes that shuts me down and I just stay home. But not this time

So far I've looked at a lot of things and everyone has their own opinion on what to do at Disney. Below is just a rough idea of what I'm finding to be the consensus when looking around. Please let me know what you think and what I'm missing!

Epcot is a 2 day park. 1 day Future World, 1 day World Showcase.
Magic Kingdom is a 2 day park. 1 day arrive at Rope Drop, 1 day start later and stay for Fireworks.
Disney Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom are 1 day parks. Fantasmic is at DHS.
And we should start with MK so the Castle begins our vacation!

Travel light in the parks, Use Child Swap, Take breaks mid day and really think about if Park Hoppers are necessary.

So what do you guys think?

Sounds pretty good. I would add Epcot World Showcase has Illuminations at night.

And stay hydrated & sunscreened in FLA.

 

[DMGeurts]

So I'm a bit OCD and sometimes it causes me some problems and anxiety. I do a lot of research on things before I make decisions and then I obsess about my decision. Was it right or should I do this? Sometimes that shuts me down and I just stay home. But not this time

I sometimes have the same issues...

So far I've looked at a lot of things and everyone has their own opinion on what to do at Disney. Below is just a rough idea of what I'm finding to be the consensus when looking around. Please let me know what you think and what I'm missing!

Epcot is a 2 day park. 1 day Future World, 1 day World Showcase.

I agree with this to some extent. Yes, it is usually a 2 day park - however - no matter how I try, I can never stay exclusively in one side of the park on any day... Even when I have tried to block it out that way - I always end up wandering to the other side to do some of those attractions too.

So, I really suggest that you don't limit yourself too much... Do the things that must be done right away, and enjoy the rest of your day. Epcot is a great park to take an afternoon break in your resort, because it is so huge.

Magic Kingdom is a 2 day park. 1 day arrive at Rope Drop, 1 day start later and stay for Fireworks.

I agree with this. We actually do it as a 2.5 day park. We always spend the evening of our arrival day there, so then we don't feel the pressure of having to make it our first day park. And we love to be there in the evenings - it's just so magical.

We always try to do RD at MK... And one of the days, we also do an early breakfast ADR, so we are in the park before opening... We get a lot of great pictures that way.

Disney Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom are 1 day parks. Fantasmic is at DHS.

DHS is a 1 day park for us - but it's a FULL day. We usually don't leave for an afternoon break at this park, just because there are so many shows to do, that it's hard to leave. It's a "small park" relatively - so we really just take our time and wander.

AK is a 2 day park for us. It is our 2nd favorite park, and we love spending time there... We love EE and ride it as often as possible, and we love the rest of the park too. We always take an afternoon break here and come back a few hours before closing. We also do one of our days with an early, before park opening breakfast at Tusker House. Nothing better than walking through an empty AK - except for walking through an empty MK.

And we should start with MK so the Castle begins our vacation!

Yes, this is why we purchase an extra day of tickets, so we can start at MK the first evening - after that, it doesn't really matter to us when we make it back there. We also try to end at MK too.

Travel light in the parks, Use Child Swap, Take breaks mid day and really think about if Park Hoppers are necessary.

I agree with "traveling light" in the parks. Our first 2 trips - we carried this AWFUL heavy backpack full of stuff that we never really used or needed. Granted, the girls were much younger then... but mostly it was full of my gigantic planning binder - which we never really referenced much at all. Our last trip, I just carried my UPB and had a few essentials in it. The girls carried their messengers with a 2nd pair of shoes/flip flops and ponchos. So we were very light and it worked out well.

I dont have anything to say about child swap, we never did use it.

Our last trip was the first time we were able to do mid-day breaks, because it was our first on site resort stay - and I must say that I am not sure I could ever do Disney again with out them. They seem like such an inconvenience - but they are wonderful. I highly recommend you try them.

We have never done park hoppers. We have never needed them. Instead, I subscribe to Touring Plans and choose the best park days I can get from that, plan my park days accordingly, make my ADRs and that's all. If we take a mid day break - we always go back to the same park. If it was busy earlier, it's almost always much nicer in the evening. So, I've never been able to justify Park Hoppers. Some people can't live with out them though.

So what do you guys think?

HTH!

D~

 

[MMCook5780]

Sounds pretty good. I would add Epcot World Showcase has Illuminations at night.

And stay hydrated & sunscreened in FLA.

Illuminations...I think I'm going to have to research what shows are where!

I sometimes have the same issues...



I agree with this to some extent. Yes, it is usually a 2 day park - however - no matter how I try, I can never stay exclusively in one side of the park on any day... Even when I have tried to block it out that way - I always end up wandering to the other side to do some of those attractions too.

So, I really suggest that you don't limit yourself too much... Do the things that must be done right away, and enjoy the rest of your day. Epcot is a great park to take an afternoon break in your resort, because it is so huge.




I agree with this. We actually do it as a 2.5 day park. We always spend the evening of our arrival day there, so then we don't feel the pressure of having to make it our first day park. And we love to be there in the evenings - it's just so magical.

We always try to do RD at MK... And one of the days, we also do an early breakfast ADR, so we are in the park before opening... We get a lot of great pictures that way.



DHS is a 1 day park for us - but it's a FULL day. We usually don't leave for an afternoon break at this park, just because there are so many shows to do, that it's hard to leave. It's a "small park" relatively - so we really just take our time and wander.

AK is a 2 day park for us. It is our 2nd favorite park, and we love spending time there... We love EE and ride it as often as possible, and we love the rest of the park too. We always take an afternoon break here and come back a few hours before closing. We also do one of our days with an early, before park opening breakfast at Tusker House. Nothing better than walking through an empty AK - except for walking through an empty MK.



Yes, this is why we purchase an extra day of tickets, so we can start at MK the first evening - after that, it doesn't really matter to us when we make it back there. We also try to end at MK too.



I agree with "traveling light" in the parks. Our first 2 trips - we carried this AWFUL heavy backpack full of stuff that we never really used or needed. Granted, the girls were much younger then... but mostly it was full of my gigantic planning binder - which we never really referenced much at all. Our last trip, I just carried my UPB and had a few essentials in it. The girls carried their messengers with a 2nd pair of shoes/flip flops and ponchos. So we were very light and it worked out well.

I dont have anything to say about child swap, we never did use it.

Our last trip was the first time we were able to do mid-day breaks, because it was our first on site resort stay - and I must say that I am not sure I could ever do Disney again with out them. They seem like such an inconvenience - but they are wonderful. I highly recommend you try them.

We have never done park hoppers. We have never needed them. Instead, I subscribe to Touring Plans and choose the best park days I can get from that, plan my park days accordingly, make my ADRs and that's all. If we take a mid day break - we always go back to the same park. If it was busy earlier, it's almost always much nicer in the evening. So, I've never been able to justify Park Hoppers. Some people can't live with out them though.



HTH!

D~

Thank you for all the feedback! I'm definitely taking notes

 

[MMCook5780]

Ok, First...SAVERS! I love that place. If you've never been you should visit their website and see if there is one around you. www.savers.com
I get all of Riley's clothes here and we find the most awesome stuff. Over the last 2 weekends I've found 3 books on Disney (even if they are outdated, they are good for reference and were less than $3 each!) and we found The Piglet Movie dvd to add to our collection!

Now, Taxes! I received my tax refund into my account this morning and it just made my day! We have been struggling bad these last few weeks. We want to take Riley to Sesame Place for her first vacation in May and I needed this money before I could start planning that trip. So there might be a mini TR for that in the future!

And finally, Riley. The other night she was wearing her princess nightgown and she was so cute. She got it for her birthday from her Uncle. I just love when she wears it, so I thought I would share!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

And on a side note (kind of), I gave my Mom and Sister their Micky Heads this morning. They loved them

 

[Iamthequeen]

So I'm a bit OCD and sometimes it causes me some problems and anxiety. I do a lot of research on things before I make decisions and then I obsess about my decision. Was it right or should I do this? Sometimes that shuts me down and I just stay home. But not this time

So far I've looked at a lot of things and everyone has their own opinion on what to do at Disney. Below is just a rough idea of what I'm finding to be the consensus when looking around. Please let me know what you think and what I'm missing!

Epcot is a 2 day park. 1 day Future World, 1 day World Showcase.
Magic Kingdom is a 2 day park. 1 day arrive at Rope Drop, 1 day start later and stay for Fireworks.
Disney Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom are 1 day parks. Fantasmic is at DHS.
And we should start with MK so the Castle begins our vacation!

Travel light in the parks, Use Child Swap, Take breaks mid day and really think about if Park Hoppers are necessary.

So what do you guys think?

I tend not to be too much of a planner, and we just go with the flow. DH and I always visit the MK on our first day - to us it just doesn't seem like WDW before we visit the MK - and again on our last day. We tend to spend several days here. We go to different sections of the park on different days.

We tend to spend 3 days in EPCOT - one day in Futureworld and 2 days in the World Showcase. We take our time going around and sit and rest frequently (because we are old!) rather than take mid-day breaks.
Also, we only spend 1/2 day in the AK - just not our favorite park, but I'm hoping to spend more time there during this year's trip to see somethings we haven't seen before.

DHS is a full day for us also, but usually only one day.

We have planned a few "down" days this trip so that we can go to DD and go play mini golf. We are not much for the water parks. DH wants to make sure we see all the parades and fireworks shows. I usually plan our park days based on our ADRs, but not always, so we get the park hoppers.


In addition to Wishes at the MK, Illuminations at EPCOT, DHS has Fantasmic, so you might want to include that one too.

The first year we went on the dining plan, I made most of our ADRs at various resorts. While the restaurants were good and for the most part not crowded, it was an adventure getting to them since we had to go from our resort to a park and catch a bus to the resort where we were dining. This time all of our ADRs are in the parks.

The best advice I can give is not to try to do everything. You will only exhaust yourself and your family. Pick some things that are "must dos" and go with the idea that you will come back!

 

[Iamthequeen]

I also agree with traveling light in the parks - you will get tired of carrying too much gear that you probably will never use. I usually carry a small purse with my wallet, phone, sunscreen and camera. I made this purse for our last trip. The only thing I wish I had was a place to carry a water bottle.

I'm making a slightly larger one for this year's trip, only because this one was a bit tight with the camera in it and I'm including a section for a water bottle.

We've never used child swap, so I don't know exactly how that works. Also, we've never been for rope drop. I didn't even know anything about it until we got back from our last trip, but I doubt that we will make it to any this time either.

 

[DMGeurts]

I also agree with traveling light in the parks - you will get tired of carrying too much gear that you probably will never use. I usually carry a small purse with my wallet, phone, sunscreen and camera. I made this purse for our last trip. The only thing I wish I had was a place to carry a water bottle.

I'm making a slightly larger one for this year's trip, only because this one was a bit tight with the camera in it and I'm including a section for a water bottle.

We've never used child swap, so I don't know exactly how that works. Also, we've never been for rope drop. I didn't even know anything about it until we got back from our last trip, but I doubt that we will make it to any this time either.

T!!!!!!!!!!! How come you'v never shown me that bag???? I love it!!! You know I love bags! LOL

D~

 

[rharper1496]

Joining you from the 2014 thread!

So I'm a bit OCD and sometimes it causes me some problems and anxiety. I do a lot of research on things before I make decisions and then I obsess about my decision. Was it right or should I do this? Sometimes that shuts me down and I just stay home. But not this time

I know the feeling, it's one of the reasons our plans have changed so often my DH is begging me to just pick something and stick with it. No matter what you pick, you will have a wonderful time!

Disney Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom are 1 day parks. Fantasmic is at DHS.
And we should start with MK so the Castle begins our vacation!

Travel light in the parks, Use Child Swap, Take breaks mid day and really think about if Park Hoppers are necessary.

So what do you guys think?

Is Riley really into the Disney Jr. characters yet? DHS is going to be a full day for us, between Lightening and Mater, the Dis Jr characters, the Pixar characters and Star Wars stuff it might well end up being my son's favourite day of the trip. IMO DHS is a really fun park for the preschoolers. If you end up there on an evening EMH day they do a Disney Jr dance party after the park closes to the non-resort guests that is supposed to be a lot of fun.

Travel light for sure! Our first trip I made the mistake of thinking we had a stroller basket so it was no big deal. Learned my lesson the first time I had to park the stroller and haul everything out of it to take with me.