Like a challenge? Need serious itenerary review for group of 12! LONG!!

[GEM]

I am taking a group of high school students to WDW in June for 7 nights. These are theater students of mine, kids that, for the most part, I've been working with since they were in very early elementary school. They are great kids, and I have no worries about the trip. I have taken them to New York and London for theater tours without any issues at all. There will be 10 students 9th-12th graders, and two of us chaparones. We are staying at All Star Movies. While there, we are going to be participating in three special sesions - an acting class at Epcot, a video production class at MGM, and backstage tour of the Cirque theater. We will also be putting a theatrical spin on lots of the usual Disney activities - talking about Disney's use of desgin in the parks and resorts, technical elements in shows, that sort of thing. And, of couse, we're going to have just lots of plain old Disney fun. These kids are really excited! None of them have ever been before and they are definately not "too cool" to have some Disney fun. When I surveyd them, the number one thing on their "to do" list - meet Mickey and Cinderella!

I've put together a basic itenerary. I've tried to include some down time on most days, but I couldn't make that happen on a few days due to our class schedule. I want to keep them busy and having fun - but I don't want them to end up exhausted and miserable. They do pretty well with long days and early mornings/late nights - but I don't want to push them too hard. I would love it if some very brave souls would look this over and offer opinions! I'm open to all suggestions and thoughts of all sorts!

Unless I've listed somewhere specific, all meals will be counter service.

Kids College WDW Itenerary
June 4th-11th, 2006

Sunday, June 4th:
-Flight to Orlando
-Arrive at MCO and take Magical Express to All Star Movies
-Unpack, explore resort, swim, etc.
-Dinner at Food Court
-Downtown Disney

Monday, June 5th:
-Breakfast at Food Court
-Epcot
-Future World
-Lunch
-Acting/Improv Class 1:00-4:00pm
-World Showcase
-Dinner
-Illuminations at 9pm

Tuesday, June 6th:
-Breakfast at Food Court
-MGM
-Lunch at Sci Fi at 11am
-Production Class 12:30pm-2:30pm
-More MGM Touring
-Dinner
-Fantasmic at 9pm

Wednesday, June 7th:
-Magic Kingdom
-Breakfast at Crystal Palace at 8am
-Lunch
-Leave around 2pm
-Nap/Swim Time at Resort
-Dinner at 1900 Park Fare at 7:45pm
-Magic Kingdom
-Wishes at 10pm
-Spectromagic at 11pm

Thursday, June 8th:
-Breakfast at Food Court
-Cirque Backstage Tour 8am-10am
-Disney Quest
-Lunch
-Blizzard Beach for late afternnon to closing
-Animal Kingdom Lodge Tour
-Resort
-Dinner at Food Court
-Free time to swim, relax at resort, etc.

Friday, June 9th:
-Animal Kingdom
-Breakfast at Donald's at 8am
-Lunch
-Nap/Swim Time at Resort
-Dinner at Food Court
-Cirque at 9pm-10:30pm
-Evening EHM at Magic Kingdom 11pm-2am

Saturday, June 10th:
-Sleep late!
-Leave for Fort Wilderness by 11am
-Fort Wilderness Tour (visit stables, etc.)
-Lunch at Trail's End at noon
-Wilderness Lodge Tour
-Typhoon Lagoon for late afternoon to closing
-Resort to shower, clean up, etc.
-Dinner at Food Court
-Boardwalk for dessert, shopping, entertainment, etc.

Sunday, June 11th:
-Breakfast at Food Court
-Play Mini Golf if flight time permits!
-Magical Express to Airport
-Flight Home



THANKS!

 

[roadtripper]

Just three words--Can I come?
Looks really great to me, as long as you are flexible with some of it--it's not like high school kids won't tell you how they're feeling, particularly drama students !
The only part that I wondered about was touring Wilderness Lodge and AKL-- will kids be into that? Are there architectural demands for their coursework that require this? I've never been on one of those tours, though, so I'm not speaking from experience. Have a great time!

 

[snowbunny]

This looks very reasonable to me. Very well thought out and doable.
Like the previous poster I'd question whether the kids are going to want to go to a couple of the resorts just to tour them - for example, if you're all going over to AKL, it is possible to have dinner there instead of looking at the resort and then going back to the food court? Trying the food at AKL would also be educational, if finances allow.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I think it looks great too except for the wilderness lodge and touring fort wilderness. Our 3 teen ds did the horseback riding at ft. wilderness and found it to be "lame" so I guess the teens would probably be focused more on the food since it looks like they are sleeping late and skipping breakfast. Good luck with your group.

 

[Goofy4]

Looks good! They are very fortunate to have someone putting so much thought into the plan. Be sure to celebrate my birthday on the 5th ;-)

Just a couple thoughts:

-If you can catch Fantasmic on the first night, that could make your MGM day much shorter or allow more time to enjoy the rides. You might then head over to the Boardwalk via boat -- a very nice view in the evening. Perhaps then Jellyroles (oops, I think they would all need to be 18?), Ice Cream, Spoodles, ESPN?
-Not much time for DisneyQuest. If they like it, you might have to drag them out.
-Dinner at 1900 Park Fare at 7:45pm... I would be tempted to get back in to the MK for Dinner -- just to spend a little more time there.
-You might want to keep a close eye on the entertainment schedule at Epcot and plan accordingly. There might be some relevant drama/shows (learning opportunities).

Just thoughts -- it looks like a very fun time.

 

[GEM]

Thanks for the thoughts. The kids are really interested in seeing the different resorts, especially the WL and AKL. Most of them are very interested in design and architecture, so I think they'll enjoy it. We aren't doing actual Disney guided tours at those resorts, just giving them some information and giving them times to explore the resort, grounds, giftshops, etc. We're going to do lunch at Fort Wilderness followed by just a bit of time to walk around and see the stables, etc. before we head over to Wilderness Lodge to look around a bit there. I'm pretty sure they'll have a good time with all of that.

Any other thoughts?

 

[Goofy4]

Most of them are very interested in design and architecture, so I think they'll enjoy it.

If you haven't already, check out:

The Imagineering Field Guide to Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World (Paperback)

 

[GEM]

Thanks for the suggestion. I just ordered one. It sounds fascinating!

 

[marylou]

They do have a self guided tour/list of hidden Mickeys of WL, you have to ask at the desk for it
If you are eating at the food courts anyway, why not try the food courts at WL and AKL. Depending on if the kids are big eaters (what teen isn't) You may get more mileage out of all you can eats/buffets etc i.e. Boma, Hollywood and Vine (which just happens to be part of the Fantasmic Package), Whispering Canyon etc While I was at Epcot I would try some of the restaurants there too
Are you getting the dining plan?

 

[GEM]

Thanks for the info about the Hidden Mickey's at WL. I'd forgotten about that.

No dining plan. We have a special package through the Youth Education Program, and you can't add the plan to that.

We didn't want to do many sit-downs anyway, both because of the time factor and because they aren't big eaters, or very adventurous eaters - mostly chicken strips and pizza. I figured we would get a better value by eating at the food courts (where they have lots of safe choices) than by spending over $20 for dinner at Boma, when they would mostly just fill up on stuff from the kids table anyway, or at an Epcot restaurant where they would probably just order a $15 entre they wouldn't like.

As for eating at the WL, there really isn't a food court at Wilderness Lodge. They do have a snack bar, but it has a very limited menu. For just about the same price, we can eat lunch at the Trail's End buffet where they'll have more choices. Trail's End is a great deal and has tons of tasty, but familiar items for the kids. I think that's probably the best choice for our FW/WL time.

Other than Trail's End, we're only doing a few sit down meals - Sci Fi for lunch (because they saw the pictures and went nuts for it and I enjoy the burgers and shakes anyway, Cinderella's dinner at the GF (because they really want to meet Cinderella, and this is a good way to do it while getting a look at the GF), and Cyrstal Palace and Donald's (both because of the variety of food and the characters and because we got 8am ressies at both places which gives us just a bit of a jump on the crowds when the park opens at 9am). And of course, breakfast sit downs are cheaper, which was a consideration as well.

Other than that, we'll stick with some counter service places in the parks and eat quite a few meals at the ASM food court. They'll have refillable mugs, too, which will help keep costs down when we eat at the food court.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for exposing kids to new food and encouraging them to try new things. When I go on trips with friends and family, Boma, Spoodles, Ohana, and all the World Showcase restaurnats are tops on our list! But we really can't afford to do too much experimenting on this trip, since the kids are raising the money themselves.

 

[lvdsny]

The Polynesian Resort and the Contempory are also fun to look thru. They are both on the monorail line. We like to sit on the beach at the Polynesian and watch the fireworks at Magic Kingdom. Very relaxing. The kids are so lucky to have you as their teacher and friend! Say hi to Mickey for me........
Mary