Long detailed schedule help for "first timer"

[LeslieB123]

This is my first trip to Disney World as an adult. I went as a kid but not since I was about 10 years old and I'm 34 now. I've read a lot but would love it if someone else could take a look at my schedule and tell me what you think.

I'm travelling with my husband and 3 kids, 10 year old son, 6 year old daughter and 16 month old son. We have 10 days of tickets and will be in Orlando for 12 days. We're hoping to see and do everything and not be stressed. My 10 year old doesn't mind doing "little kid" things and my 6 year old is 44" tall. I'm trying to avoid kid meltdowns and feeling like we are rushed all the time. I want to be able to look around and soak in the magic. I also want some downtime at the resort (just off Disney property) to swim and relax. We don't have park hoppers, so just one park per day. I'm staying off site so no fastpasses are booked yet. All fastpass times are just what I hope to get. I know it might not be possible.

Monday, May 1: Arrive at resort in the evening.

Tuesday, May 2: Epcot (World Showcase)
I'll try to get a fastpass for Frozen Ever After but that's probably not possible
Rope drop to Frozen Ever After
Go around World Showcase

Wednesday, May 3: Magic Kingdom (Fantasyland and Liberty Square)
Rope drop to Enchanted Tales with Belle
9:45 Reservation at Be our Guest Restaurant
Under the Seas, Circus, Winnie the Pooh
11:00 fast pass Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Carousel
12:00 fast pass Peter Pan's flight
It's a Small World, Liberty Boat Ride
9:00 Wishes Fireworks (this night or next MK night)

Thursday, May 4: Animal Kingdom
We are spending this day with friends who have gone to Disney every year for the last few years. We'll be following them around and spending the day in Discovery Island and Africa. They are staying onsite so already have fastpasses. This is what they have booked for fastpasses:
9:50 Meet Disney Pals
5:30 Festival of the Lion King
7:05 Kilmanjaro Safaris

Friday, May 5: Hollywood Studios (Sunset Boulevard and Animation Courtyard)
Beauty and the Beast show
10:00 fastpass Tower of Terror (splitting up group for booking fast pass and using rider switch, DH and DS)
11:00 fastpass Rock and Roll Coaster (rider switch, fp for DD and me)
Shops, Disney Junior, Star Wars prop store, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Walt Disney dream, Great Movie Ride

Saturday, May 6: Epcot (Future World) This day seems like a lot, split into two days or do it all in one?
9:00 fastpass Spaceship Earth
Project Tomorrow, Ellen's Energy Adventure
11:00 Mission Space-Orange for DH and DS, Green for DD and me
Advanced Training Lab
12:00 fastpass Test Track (rider switch, DH and DS)
Innoventions, look at plants/gardens, Short Film Festival, Image Works, Journey into Imagination
4:30 Soarin
Living with the Land, Circle of Life, look at plants/gardens, Seas with Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush
9:00 Illuminations

Sunday, May 7: Day off from parks

Monday, May 8: Magic Kingdom (Adventureland and Frontierland)
Swiss Family Treehouse
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
10:00 fastpass Jungle Cruise
Enchanted Tiki Room show
11:00 fastpass Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates Adventure (in between fastpasses, maybe more than one if DS really likes it)
Picnic lunch at Tom Sawyer Island
2:00 fastpass Big Thunder Mountain (rider switch, DH and DS)
3:00 fastpass Splash Mountain (rider switch, DD and me)
9:00 Wishes fireworks (this night if didn't go first MK night)

Tuesday, May 9: Hollywood Studios (Echo Lake)
Rope drop to Jedi training sign up
Indiana Jones show
10:00 fast pass Star Tours
Muppet Vision 3D show, Olaf, Star Wars: Path of the Jedi
11:00 fast pass Frozen Sing Along
12:25 Reservation at 50's Prime Time Cafe
2:00 fastpass Toy Story Mania

Wednesday, May 10: Day off from parks

Thursday, May 11: Animal Kingdom (Dinoland and Asia)
9:00 fastpass Dinosaur (too scary for 6 year old daughter?) (rider switch, DH and DS)
Triceratop Spin, Primeval Whirl, Boneyard play area, Finding Nemo Musical
12:00 fastpass Expedition Everest (rider switch, DD and Me)
1:00 fastpass Kalie River Rapids
Maharajah Jungle Trek, Flights of Wonder
9:15 fastpass Rivers of Light

Friday, May 12: Magic Kingdom (Tomorrowland, Main Street shows and parades)
Monsters Inc Laugh Floor show
11:00 fastpass Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
Carousel of Progress, Astro Orbiter
12:00 fastpass Space Mountain (rider switch, DH and DS)
Tomorrowland Speedway, Mad Hatter Tea Party
2:00 Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire
3:00 Parade
Look around Main Street shops
9:00 Fireworks, new Happily Ever After show

Saturday, May 13: 10th day of tickets, flexible day. We could use this for another day at Epcot or we could just leave it open for whatever park we want to go again.

Sunday, May 14, go back home.

If you read all this, thank you! So, what do you think of the plan?

 

[FelisLachesis]

It looks pretty good. I think Epcot split into two days is fine, one day for Future World and one for World Showcase. I did it in one day, and I don't remember much of World Showcase at all.

If your kids were older, this schedule could've been compressed a bit, but the way you stretched it out for your younger children was well planned.

You have resort days, and that's a good thing.

I don't see any glaring issues with your schedule, just be flexible for when your FP window actually opens up. Things may shuffle. Your three days in MK might be in a different order, depending on what Fast Passes you actually obtain.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Wednesday, May 3: Magic Kingdom (Fantasyland and Liberty Square)
Rope drop to Enchanted Tales with Belle
9:45 Reservation at Be our Guest Restaurant
Under the Seas, Circus, Winnie the Pooh
11:00 fast pass Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Carousel
12:00 fast pass Peter Pan's flight
It's a Small World, Liberty Boat Ride
9:00 Wishes Fireworks (this night or next MK night)

If this is your order of doing things, i think you're morning is very overly optimistic. I would recommend doing Pooh after breakfast then Mine train and then Carousel, Small World and then Peter Pan. Then go back towards the circus doing Under the Sea on the way.

But by 10:30 which is the earliest you'll be done with breakfast Under the Sea and Pooh are both going to be looking at 15-20 minutes.

On the dinoland day the morning looks a little condensed. A thing to note is that the time in line is often the time until the pre-show, but then those can take a while themselves. It took us 40 minutes to do a rider switch on dinosaur with a 10 minute line... It took us 25 minutes each on Mission space orange with a 5 minute line. I would plan an hour for every rider swap even when you have the fastpass.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Also I don't see many plans to stop and meet characters or have a character meal. I hope you reconsider that because the characters are what truly set Disney apart in my opinion.

 

[glassslippergirl]

Tuesday, May 2: Epcot (World Showcase)
I'll try to get a fastpass for Frozen Ever After but that's probably not possible
Rope drop to Frozen Ever After
Go around World Showcase

If you can't get a a FP for FEA, I'd get a tier 1 for Soarin on this day. You can schedule it for toward the end of the day and hit it on the way out.

Wednesday, May 3: Magic Kingdom (Fantasyland and Liberty Square)
Rope drop to Enchanted Tales with Belle
9:45 Reservation at Be our Guest Restaurant
Under the Seas, Circus, Winnie the Pooh
11:00 fast pass Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Carousel
12:00 fast pass Peter Pan's flight
It's a Small World, Liberty Boat Ride
9:00 Wishes Fireworks (this night or next MK night)

Thursday, May 4: Animal Kingdom
We are spending this day with friends who have gone to Disney every year for the last few years. We'll be following them around and spending the day in Discovery Island and Africa. They are staying onsite so already have fastpasses. This is what they have booked for fastpasses:
9:50 Meet Disney Pals
5:30 Festival of the Lion King
7:05 Kilmanjaro Safaris

Friday, May 5: Hollywood Studios (Sunset Boulevard and Animation Courtyard)
Beauty and the Beast show
10:00 fastpass Tower of Terror (splitting up group for booking fast pass and using rider switch, DH and DS)
11:00 fastpass Rock and Roll Coaster (rider switch, fp for DD and me)
Shops, Disney Junior, Star Wars prop store, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Walt Disney dream, Great Movie Ride

Saturday, May 6: Epcot (Future World) This day seems like a lot, split into two days or do it all in one?
9:00 fastpass Spaceship Earth
Project Tomorrow, Ellen's Energy Adventure
11:00 Mission Space-Orange for DH and DS, Green for DD and me
Advanced Training Lab
12:00 fastpass Test Track (rider switch, DH and DS)
Innoventions, look at plants/gardens, Short Film Festival, Image Works, Journey into Imagination
4:30 Soarin
Living with the Land, Circle of Life, look at plants/gardens, Seas with Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush
9:00 Illuminations

This does seem like a lot, but it's doable if you plan to stay in Epcot all day. It will be a long day, and someone will likely have to miss stuff to stay with the baby when napping. Next day is a rest day, so there's really no harm in going hard this day. I would still keep the last day open because I think kids the age of yours would prefer an extra day at a MK rather than Epcot.

Sunday, May 7: Day off from parks

Monday, May 8: Magic Kingdom (Adventureland and Frontierland)
Swiss Family Treehouse There is no need to use precious RD time in the treehouse. I don't see HM on your itinerary. Maybe hit that first. Better yet, hit BTMRR OR Splash for an extra ride for the big kids; the other parent can hit the treehouse with the baby.
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
10:00 fastpass Jungle Cruise
Enchanted Tiki Room show
11:00 fastpass Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates Adventure (in between fastpasses, maybe more than one if DS really likes it)
Picnic lunch at Tom Sawyer Island
2:00 fastpass Big Thunder Mountain (rider switch, DH and DS)
3:00 fastpass Splash Mountain (rider switch, DD and me)
9:00 Wishes fireworks (this night if didn't go first MK night)

Tuesday, May 9: Hollywood Studios (Echo Lake)
Rope drop to Jedi training sign up
Indiana Jones show
10:00 fast pass Star Tours
Muppet Vision 3D show, Olaf, Star Wars: Path of the Jedi
11:00 fast pass Frozen Sing Along
12:25 Reservation at 50's Prime Time Cafe
2:00 fastpass Toy Story Mania

Wednesday, May 10: Day off from parks

Thursday, May 11: Animal Kingdom (Dinoland and Asia)
9:00 fastpass Dinosaur (too scary for 6 year old daughter?) (rider switch, DH and DS)
Triceratop Spin, Primeval Whirl, Boneyard play area, Finding Nemo Musical
12:00 fastpass Expedition Everest (rider switch, DD and Me)
1:00 fastpass Kalie River Rapids
Maharajah Jungle Trek, Flights of Wonder
9:15 fastpass Rivers of Light

Friday, May 12: Magic Kingdom (Tomorrowland, Main Street shows and parades)
Monsters Inc Laugh Floor show
11:00 fastpass Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
Carousel of Progress, Astro Orbiter
12:00 fastpass Space Mountain (rider switch, DH and DS)
Tomorrowland Speedway, Mad Hatter Tea Party
2:00 Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire
3:00 Parade
Look around Main Street shops
9:00 Fireworks, new Happily Ever After show

Saturday, May 13: 10th day of tickets, flexible day. We could use this for another day at Epcot or we could just leave it open for whatever park we want to go again.

Sunday, May 14, go back home.

Consider hitting Liberty Square (riverboat) and Tom Saywer Island in MK. Also, consider a ride on the train in MK. All are fun for kids and doable on a trip as long as yours.

On one of your down days, consider renting a boat at the Contemporary or a surrey bike at Fort Wilderness. Fun!

My last question is about your plans to eat. Will you be eating CS in the parks? If so, you may want to look in to places ahead of time and factor that roughly into your schedule. Or are you bringing lunch in? There's a lot of inexpensive family restaurants just off property probably close to your hotel. If you want advice in advance, there's a Orlando Hotels forum here that will be happy to help, but really most are chains you have at home.

I love that you're giving yourself so much time and have such a flexible schedule! Have fun!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Overall I think it looks like you have a good plan. One suggestion I would have (that you can find on a lot of the touring sites) is to break up your Epcot days a little differently. If you hit half of future world and half of World Showcase on each day you can break things up a little differently. So for example, do the left side of the park (Test Track, Mission Space, SSE, Mexico, Norway, China, etc) one day and the right side (Soarin, LwtL, Nemo, Canada, UK, etc) the next. This way you have a split of rides and wandering around WS on each day which the kids might like (mine would not be happy about an all WS day with no rides). Also, WS doesn't open until 11 anyway. Epcot is your very first park of your trip, so your kids will be rearing to go first thing in the morning so you should take advantage of that energy and get some rides in. If it were later in your trip, a leisurely 11 am arrival might be nice but I wouldn't

We'll be at Epcot May 2nd and DHS on May 5th too. I'll wave.

EDIT: I missed that you said you were going to RD FEA that morning. I would still try to head back to FW to get some other rides in.

 

[Tomh]

This is my first trip to Disney World as an adult. I went as a kid but not since I was about 10 years old and I'm 34 now. I've read a lot but would love it if someone else could take a look at my schedule and tell me what you think.

I'm travelling with my husband and 3 kids, 10 year old son, 6 year old daughter and 16 month old son. We have 10 days of tickets and will be in Orlando for 12 days. We're hoping to see and do everything and not be stressed. My 10 year old doesn't mind doing "little kid" things and my 6 year old is 44" tall. I'm trying to avoid kid meltdowns and feeling like we are rushed all the time. I want to be able to look around and soak in the magic. I also want some downtime at the resort (just off Disney property) to swim and relax. We don't have park hoppers, so just one park per day. I'm staying off site so no fastpasses are booked yet. All fastpass times are just what I hope to get. I know it might not be possible.

Well, first off, congratulations, this sounds like an amazing first trip to Disney!
It was 20 years between my Senior Class trip to Disney World (1988) and my first family trip to Disney World (2008) at 39 years old, so I can sympathize. I had no idea what I was doing, two new parks had opened since my previous trip, lots of big changes.

Monday, May 1: Arrive at resort in the evening.

Tuesday, May 2: Epcot (World Showcase)
I'll try to get a fastpass for Frozen Ever After but that's probably not possible
Rope drop to Frozen Ever After
Go around World Showcase

Once you finish Frozen Ever After, you won't be able to directly do World Showcase. World Showcase doesn't open until 11:00. I know Frozen Ever After is pretty popular, but as long as you are there at Rope Drop, I don't think it will take you 2 full hours to get through it. You might want to book two FP+ for Future World maybe starting at 10:00 - 11:00, and then 11:00 - 12:00 if you can. Use that second one as close to 11:00 as you can, and you'll still get into World Showcase shortly after it opens for the day

Wednesday, May 3: Magic Kingdom (Fantasyland and Liberty Square)
Rope drop to Enchanted Tales with Belle
9:45 Reservation at Be our Guest Restaurant
Under the Seas, Circus, Winnie the Pooh
11:00 fast pass Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Carousel
12:00 fast pass Peter Pan's flight
It's a Small World, Liberty Boat Ride
9:00 Wishes Fireworks (this night or next MK night)

Your morning looks a little tight to me. I've never done breakfast at Be Our Guest, but I would expect it to take an hour give or take a bit. I usually allow an hour for quick service meals, and an hour and a half for table service. Assuming you get done with that meal at 10:45, I'm not certain that you will have enough time for all 3 of those attractions before Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

That is alright though, leave them scheduled that way, just be mindful of the time, and if you start running close, just move things around, and hit one of those rides up later in the day.

Thursday, May 4: Animal Kingdom
We are spending this day with friends who have gone to Disney every year for the last few years. We'll be following them around and spending the day in Discovery Island and Africa. They are staying onsite so already have fastpasses. This is what they have booked for fastpasses:
9:50 Meet Disney Pals
5:30 Festival of the Lion King
7:05 Kilmanjaro Safaris

Looks like an easy day. We absolutely LOVE Festival of the Lion King. In my opinion, it is the best show in all of Disney World. Flights of Wonder is amazing as well, so if you find you have extra time, you might consider it.

Friday, May 5: Hollywood Studios (Sunset Boulevard and Animation Courtyard)
Beauty and the Beast show
10:00 fastpass Tower of Terror (splitting up group for booking fast pass and using rider switch, DH and DS)
11:00 fastpass Rock and Roll Coaster (rider switch, fp for DD and me)
Shops, Disney Junior, Star Wars prop store, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Walt Disney dream, Great Movie Ride

I have questions here. No Toy Story Mania? I would think that would be a top priority with kids! Personally, I would do Toy Story at rope drop, and try to catch Beauty and the Beast on standby. I might also use my 3rd FP for perhaps Star Tours (just guessing that if you are visiting the Star Wars prop store, there is at least one Star Wars fan in the family)

Saturday, May 6: Epcot (Future World) This day seems like a lot, split into two days or do it all in one?
9:00 fastpass Spaceship Earth
Project Tomorrow, Ellen's Energy Adventure
11:00 Mission Space-Orange for DH and DS, Green for DD and me
Advanced Training Lab
12:00 fastpass Test Track (rider switch, DH and DS)
Innoventions, look at plants/gardens, Short Film Festival, Image Works, Journey into Imagination
4:30 Soarin
Living with the Land, Circle of Life, look at plants/gardens, Seas with Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush
9:00 Illuminations

Yup, this day seems like it will be tight. We tend to tackle Epcot in 2 days. We do half of Future World each day.

My suggestion, May 2nd you'll be in Epcot. Rope Drop Frozen Ever After, and see if you can work in Test Track, Mission Space, and Elen's Energy Adventure before returning to World Showcase. Use FP+ if you can get them. Knocking that stuff out of the way would leave you this morning to do the OTHER side of Future World, hitting Soarin' Living with the Land, Circle of Life, Nemo and Turtle talk, and Journey / Pixar Short Film Festival. Then, you could finish the day wandering World Showcase.

Kids, in my experience, tend to enjoy Future World a lot more than World Showcase, so giving them Future World both mornings keeps them happier, you still get plenty of World Showcase time, and you manage to do most everything there is to do in Future World in the morning, when World Showcase hasn't opened yet anyway.

Sunday, May 7: Day off from parks

Monday, May 8: Magic Kingdom (Adventureland and Frontierland)
Swiss Family Treehouse
Magic Carpets of Aladdin
10:00 fastpass Jungle Cruise
Enchanted Tiki Room show
11:00 fastpass Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates Adventure (in between fastpasses, maybe more than one if DS really likes it)
Picnic lunch at Tom Sawyer Island
2:00 fastpass Big Thunder Mountain (rider switch, DH and DS)
3:00 fastpass Splash Mountain (rider switch, DD and me)
9:00 Wishes fireworks (this night if didn't go first MK night)

I would tackle this differently too. Rope Drop (assuming you will be there at opening) is the best time of the day to hit stuff. The lines are shortest, and you can get a lot done relatively quickly. Swiss Family Treehouse NEVER gets long lines, really. I wouldn't waste early morning time on that, as you can go there pretty much any time of the day, and never wait more than a couple of minutes.

At park opening, I would head straight for Big Thunder, and do that standby. The wait should be very short at that time. After that, I would look at the wait for Splash, and might do that standby as well, if the wait is still at 20 minutes or under. This would free up two FP for other attractions, OR give you the option of doing Big Thunder, and Splash again later.

Swiss Family Treehouse, I would do later in the day, towards sunset. It is a bit cooler, the line will still be next to nothing, and the views from the top of the treehouse, with the sun setting, will be amazing, make sure to bring your camera!

Tuesday, May 9: Hollywood Studios (Echo Lake)
Rope drop to Jedi training sign up
Indiana Jones show
10:00 fast pass Star Tours
Muppet Vision 3D show, Olaf, Star Wars: Path of the Jedi
11:00 fast pass Frozen Sing Along
12:25 Reservation at 50's Prime Time Cafe
2:00 fastpass Toy Story Mania

Ah, . . . there is the Toy Story FP. I would still be tempted to fit it in that first day, and then again here as well. It is a pretty cool ride, doing it twice wouldn't be a bad thing. This looks like a pretty good plan, and I have to say, we really enjoy 50's Prime Time

Wednesday, May 10: Day off from parks

Thursday, May 11: Animal Kingdom (Dinoland and Asia)
9:00 fastpass Dinosaur (too scary for 6 year old daughter?) (rider switch, DH and DS)
Triceratop Spin, Primeval Whirl, Boneyard play area, Finding Nemo Musical
12:00 fastpass Expedition Everest (rider switch, DD and Me)
1:00 fastpass Kalie River Rapids
Maharajah Jungle Trek, Flights of Wonder
9:15 fastpass Rivers of Light

Dino . . . maybe too scary, depends on the kid. Watch a youtube video with her, turn up the volume, see how she reacts. It is LOUD. If the video bothers her at all, then I would be concerned. This looks pretty doable to me.

Friday, May 12: Magic Kingdom (Tomorrowland, Main Street shows and parades)
Monsters Inc Laugh Floor show
11:00 fastpass Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
Carousel of Progress, Astro Orbiter
12:00 fastpass Space Mountain (rider switch, DH and DS)
Tomorrowland Speedway, Mad Hatter Tea Party
2:00 Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire
3:00 Parade
Look around Main Street shops
9:00 Fireworks, new Happily Ever After show

I might switch things up a bit here. Astro Orbiter, and Tomorrowland Speedway can get some pretty serious lines. Monsters Inc generally doesn't take more than 15 to 20 minutes to get into. I would probably try to do Tomorrowland Speedway, and Astro Orbiter as soon as the park opens. That kind of goes against doing the mainstreet shows, but I think if you wait to do those standby at the times you are suggesting that you may run into some long lines. It is not unusual to see both of those with 40 minute plus standby lines.

Saturday, May 13: 10th day of tickets, flexible day. We could use this for another day at Epcot or we could just leave it open for whatever park we want to go again.

Maybe use this extra day in MK, it does have more rides and shows than any other park. You could use this flex day to do Mainstreet USA at park opening, then use a few FP+, and just wander, enjoy the sights and sounds, wander the shops, what ever. We always do 10 days in the parks, we always spend at least 4 of them in MK.

Most important, don't be a slave to the plan. If you are running out of time, cut something out, don't try to force it all in. Sometimes less is more! Always remember to have FUN!!!!

 

[LeslieB123]

Wednesday, May 3: Magic Kingdom (Fantasyland and Liberty Square)
Rope drop to Enchanted Tales with Belle
9:45 Reservation at Be our Guest Restaurant
Under the Seas, Circus, Winnie the Pooh
11:00 fast pass Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Carousel
12:00 fast pass Peter Pan's flight
It's a Small World, Liberty Boat Ride
9:00 Wishes Fireworks (this night or next MK night)

If this is your order of doing things, i think you're morning is very overly optimistic. I would recommend doing Pooh after breakfast then Mine train and then Carousel, Small World and then Peter Pan. Then go back towards the circus doing Under the Sea on the way.

But by 10:30 which is the earliest you'll be done with breakfast Under the Sea and Pooh are both going to be looking at 15-20 minutes.

I just planned the Fantasyland day in that order because of the map. If I can actually get the 11:00 fastpass for Seven Dwarves (maybe unlikely) and the 12:00 fastpass for Peter Pan's flight, is this your order:
Winnie the Pooh
11:00 fastpass Seven Dwarves
Carousel
Small World
12:00 fastpass Peter Pan
Under the Sea
Circus
Liberty Boat Ride

Is there better times to try to get the fast passes? I'm assuming Seven Dwarves Mine Train and Peter Pan are the ones I should try to get.

 

[LeslieB123]

On the dinoland day the morning looks a little condensed. A thing to note is that the time in line is often the time until the pre-show, but then those can take a while themselves. It took us 40 minutes to do a rider switch on dinosaur with a 10 minute line... It took us 25 minutes each on Mission space orange with a 5 minute line. I would plan an hour for every rider swap even when you have the fastpass.

This is what I had for Dinoland day:
9:00 fastpass Dinosaur (too scary for 6 year old daughter?) (rider switch, DH and DS)
Triceratop Spin, Primeval Whirl, Boneyard play area, Finding Nemo Musical
12:00 fastpass Expedition Everest (rider switch, DD and Me)
1:00 fastpass Kalie River Rapids
Maharajah Jungle Trek, Flights of Wonder

I'm not sure DD will go on the Dinosaur ride. Is it too scary for a 6 year old girl? I don't want to give her nightmares. If we all ride on it, should I try for a 1:00 Expedition Everest fastpass and a 2:00 Kali River Rapids fastpass? That way we won't be as rushed that morning? Maybe either way we should. I think they'll like the Boneyard play area so I'd hate to drag them away too fast.

 

[LeslieB123]

Also I don't see many plans to stop and meet characters or have a character meal. I hope you reconsider that because the characters are what truly set Disney apart in my opinion.

My daughter is looking forward to meeting characters... If we don't get fastpasses, how long of a wait should we expect for most characters? Are there any character meets that we should definitely get fastpasses for? We will get them the one day at AK because that's what our friends we are going with that day got.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I'm not sure DD will go on the Dinosaur ride. Is it too scary for a 6 year old girl?

My DDs didn't like it at all. The oldest didn't like it at about 6. She went thru the ride with her head in my lap and hasn't been on it since. Middle DD went at 4 and 5 and had her face covered the whole time. She doesn't want to go on it again. That said neither had nightmares and my oldest is very sensitive.

 

[LeslieB123]

If you can't get a a FP for FEA, I'd get a tier 1 for Soarin on this day. You can schedule it for toward the end of the day and hit it on the way out.

Good idea! I was thinking it was a shame that we wouldn't use a fastpass because we weren't planning on going to FutureWorld that day, but that's a good idea to go to it on the way out.

This does seem like a lot, but it's doable if you plan to stay in Epcot all day. It will be a long day, and someone will likely have to miss stuff to stay with the baby when napping. Next day is a rest day, so there's really no harm in going hard this day. I would still keep the last day open because I think kids the age of yours would prefer an extra day at a MK rather than Epcot.

I think this is what will will plan to do. If the kids (or the parents get too cranky in the afternoon, we'll just leave knowing we have one extra day to come back to Epcot if we want.

Monday, May 8: Magic Kingdom (Adventureland and Frontierland)
Swiss Family Treehouse There is no need to use precious RD time in the treehouse. I don't see HM on your itinerary. Maybe hit that first. Better yet, hit BTMRR OR Splash for an extra ride for the big kids; the other parent can hit the treehouse with the baby.

I don't think we'll do HM. I don't like scary things. I like the idea of going to BTMRR though! Good idea! I had that planned for later in the day. What do you think about planning to rope drop to BTMRR and then go back to it and Splash Mountain in the afternoon with fastpasses?

Consider hitting Liberty Square (riverboat) and Tom Saywer Island in MK. Also, consider a ride on the train in MK. All are fun for kids and doable on a trip as long as yours.

The riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island are on the schedule. We'll definitely do them. I'll look into the train ride.

My last question is about your plans to eat. Will you be eating CS in the parks? If so, you may want to look in to places ahead of time and factor that roughly into your schedule. Or are you bringing lunch in? There's a lot of inexpensive family restaurants just off property probably close to your hotel. If you want advice in advance, there's a Orlando Hotels forum here that will be happy to help, but really most are chains you have at home.

Other than the two sit down meals, we plan to bring lunch in the rest of the time and just buy snacks. We may buy one or two CS meals but not more than that. How much time should I factor in for snacks and CS meals? How bad is the wait for food? I looked into restaurants around our resort. We're from Canada so some our new to us, but there looks like there are lots of good options. We're staying in a timeshare resort with a kitchen, so we can cook too. We plan on stopping at a grocery store on our first night and stocking up on snacks, picnic lunches and easy to make meals for dinner.

Thanks for your input!

 

[CJN]

I would swap your first two days of Epcot and MK. When our kids were your age, starting out in world showcase just would not have felt like the right introduction to the parks, even if you get a FEA fp. Plus, some of the crowd calendars recommend against Epcot on Tuesdays, although good plans will help. Conversely, MK is a terrific introduction and is generally a recommended park on Tuesdays. That's where we'll be on May 2nd.

 

[KrazeeK120]

A lot of people have given you good advice, but I wanted to throw out that I wouldn't think anyone over the age of 6 of 7 (if that) would be frightened by HM. Certainly, no run-of-the-mill adult would be scared of it.

 

[LeslieB123]

I would swap your first two days of Epcot and MK. When our kids were your age, starting out in world showcase just would not have felt like the right introduction to the parks, even if you get a FEA fp. Plus, some of the crowd calendars recommend against Epcot on Tuesdays, although good plans will help. Conversely, MK is a terrific introduction and is generally a recommended park on Tuesdays. That's where we'll be on May 2nd.

I should have planned it that way, but I made breakfast reservations at Be our Guest on Wednesday, May 3. I made the reservation that day because I wasn't sure about booking something for the first day and now it's not possible to change it. I've talked up Epcot, so I think they'll be happy either way. They are pretty easy going. And hey, it's still Disney World! I think we'll do a couple of Epcot rides first thing like others have recommended, so they'll get some rides in on the first day.

 

[LeslieB123]

Once you finish Frozen Ever After, you won't be able to directly do World Showcase. World Showcase doesn't open until 11:00. I know Frozen Ever After is pretty popular, but as long as you are there at Rope Drop, I don't think it will take you 2 full hours to get through it. You might want to book two FP+ for Future World maybe starting at 10:00 - 11:00, and then 11:00 - 12:00 if you can. Use that second one as close to 11:00 as you can, and you'll still get into World Showcase shortly after it opens for the day

Good advice. I'm thinking this for the first Epcot day:
8:30 Rope drop to Frozen Ever After
Character meet Elsa and Anna
Will we be able get some schoolbread before leaving Norway or is only Frozen Ever After and Royal Summerhaus open before 11:00am?
10:00 fastpass for Test Track
Another ride if we have time
11:00 World Showcase opens
8:00pm fastpass for Character Spot
9:00pm Illuminations

 

[LeslieB123]

I might switch things up a bit here. Astro Orbiter, and Tomorrowland Speedway can get some pretty serious lines. Monsters Inc generally doesn't take more than 15 to 20 minutes to get into. I would probably try to do Tomorrowland Speedway, and Astro Orbiter as soon as the park opens. That kind of goes against doing the mainstreet shows, but I think if you wait to do those standby at the times you are suggesting that you may run into some long lines. It is not unusual to see both of those with 40 minute plus standby lines.

Does this look better for our third MK day (Friday, May 12)?
Rope drop to Tomorrowland Speedway
Astro Orbiter
11:00 fastpass for Space Mountain
Carousel of Progress
Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover
12:00 fastpass for Buzz Lightyear
Stitch's Great Escape
Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
(2:00 fastpass for Seven Dwarves Mine Train)
2:00 Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire
3:00 Parade
(8:00pm fastpass for Seven Dwarves Mine Train)
9:00 Fireworks

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

I should have planned it that way, but I made breakfast reservations at Be our Guest on Wednesday, May 3. I made the reservation that day because I wasn't sure about booking something for the first day and now it's not possible to change it. I've talked up Epcot, so I think they'll be happy either way. They are pretty easy going. And hey, it's still Disney World! I think we'll do a couple of Epcot rides first thing like others have recommended, so they'll get some rides in on the first day.

The first year we took the kids, we did Epcot and AK before magic kingdom because we figured anything other than MK was going to be a let down for them after MK so there's different schools of thought on where to start. As you said, either way, it's Disney World!

 

[mrzrich]

Monday, May 1: Arrive at resort in the evening.

Tuesday, May 2: Epcot (World Showcase)
I'll try to get a fastpass for Frozen Ever After but that's probably not possible
Rope drop to Frozen Ever After
Go around World Showcase


While you CAN go to Frozen at Rope drop, the rest of Workd Showcase doesn't open until 11 AM. Get a Test Track FP this day. Do Mission Space this day too and avoid criss crossing the park on May 6.

Wednesday, May 3: Magic Kingdom (Fantasyland and Liberty Square)
Rope drop to Enchanted Tales with Belle
9:45 Reservation at Be our Guest Restaurant
Under the Seas, Circus, Winnie the Pooh
11:00 fast pass Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Carousel
12:00 fast pass Peter Pan's flight
It's a Small World, Liberty Boat Ride
9:00 Wishes Fireworks (this night or next MK night)

It is very unlikely at the 30 day mark that you will get FP for 7DMT or Peter Pan that early in the day. I'm not saying you won't get a FP, I'm just saying 11 AM in unrealistic



Saturday, May 6: Epcot (Future World) This day seems like a lot, split into two days or do it all in one?
9:00 fastpass Spaceship Earth
Project Tomorrow, Ellen's Energy Adventure
11:00 Mission Space-Orange for DH and DS, Green for DD and me
Advanced Training Lab
12:00 fastpass Test Track (rider switch, DH and DS)
Innoventions, look at plants/gardens, Short Film Festival, Image Works, Journey into Imagination
4:30 Soarin
Living with the Land, Circle of Life, look at plants/gardens, Seas with Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush
9:00 Illuminations

I would get a FP for Test Track on your first day, its actually not that far from Norway. Would make this day a little less crazy. Also Inventions are closed. You couldn't pay me to give another 45 minutes of my life in Ellen's Energy Adventure. Circle of Life is pretty bad too.

 

[Tomh]

Good advice. I'm thinking this for the first Epcot day:
8:30 Rope drop to Frozen Ever After
Character meet Elsa and Anna
Will we be able get some schoolbread before leaving Norway or is only Frozen Ever After and Royal Summerhaus open before 11:00am?
10:00 fastpass for Test Track
Another ride if we have time
11:00 World Showcase opens
8:00pm fastpass for Character Spot
9:00pm Illuminations

Sadly, I don't know for certain if the bakery is open that early. This looks much more doable . . . Character spot is in Future World though, and Illuminations is back out at the lagoon. If you can, grab that fastpass for the character sport for earlier, maybe 11:00 . . . that way you can do that while you are still in Future World, and save some backtracking and extra walking. You might find a short line for Mission Space and be able to knock that off. Ellen is always a short line, but it takes 45 minutes to get through the attraction. This leaves you a bit more time in the evening to find yourself some snacks and drinks, and grab a nice spot to sit and enjoy Illuminations.