My Itinerary - Too Much? Too Little? OK?

[sweetnjmom]

We're staying off site and will have a rental car. I know we won't see/do everything (not our first trip, not our last) and my husband is tired of my planning but I would love any feedback of my itinerary. The trip is a surprise for my son. Several of our days are split due to the ADRs I could get, but we like park hoppers anyway. I probably won't change much, though.

Sunday 5/3 (Magic Kingdom)
Arrive for opening show/rope drop and head to Space Mountain (will try rider swap, as my son won't ride)
10:10-11:10 FP - Meet Ariel (my son's request last trip which we didn't do)
11:25 ADR at BOG
12:40-1:40 PM FP - Peter Pan's Flight
1:45-2:45 PM FP - Splash Mountain
Will leave after Festival of Fantasy Parade -- dinner off site
Pirates & Pals Fireworks Cruise that evening

Monday 5/4 (EPCOT)
We're going to sleep in after our late night, hit the pool, take it easy and arrive at EPCOT by 2:30
2:10-3:10 FP - Spaceship Earth
3:10-4:10 FP - Turtle Talk with Crush
QS dinner in World Showcase (probably American Adventure)
8:40-8:55 FP - Illuminations

Tuesday 5/5 (AK/HS)
8:15 AM ADR at Tusker House
Only spending a few hours here. After breakfast we'll stick around Africa and hit the Safari and maybe Festival of the Lion King; head back to the resort around noon. Plans for lunch at resort and pool time.
Hollywood Studios by 3 PM latest
2:50-3:50 FP - Toy Story Midway Mania
3:50-4:50 FP - Star Tours
4:35 PM - Characterpalooza
5:20 ADR at 50's Primetime Cafe
6:45-7:45 FP - Muppet Vision 3D
9 PM Fantasmic (will try for a 4th FP to this)

Wednesday 5/6 (HS/MK)
9:20 AM ADR for Star Wars Galactic Breakfast
See whatever we see afterwards, characters, shows, stay until early afternoon
Arrive at MK around 4 PM and see what we see
4:40-5:40 FP - Meet Cinderella & Rapunzel
QS Dinner at Columbia Harbour House
5:45-6:45 FP - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
6:55-7:55 FP - Haunted Mansion
9 PM - MSEP ("standby" unless I can switch HM FP) and Wishes depends on my son and how awake he is.

Thursday 5/7 (Animal Kingdom)
10:05-11:05 AM FP - Kilamanjaro Safari
1 PM Finding Nemo Show (no FP)
2:15-3:15 PM FP - Dinosaur (not sure if my son will ride this, may change on the fly)
3:20-4:20 PM FP - Kali River Rapids
5:20 PM ADR at Yak & Yeti
No plans at night, will take it easy.

Friday 5/8 (HS/MK)
8:05 ADR at Hollywood & Vine
We'll see whatever we missed (try to meet Baymax) and leave around noon
Planning to arrive at MK between 2-3 PM.
3:55-4:55 FP - Pirates of the Caribbean
5:00 PM ADR at The Plaza Restaurant
6:05-7:05 FP - Tomorrowland Speedway
7:15-8:15 FP - Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
We'll probably hang around Tomorrowland for the Incredibles Dance Party before leaving. NOT staying for MSEP or Wishes as we head to the airport relatively early the next morning.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Nice job. i think you planned well for staying off site.

 

[kwdw]

Only day I think might be tough is the 5th. Early AK - break at resort - plans to be at HS around 3pmish. That's a long day - with the back and forth. You could hit FOTLK and Safari on your other AK Day. Is Tusker House that important? Are you going for the food or the characters? Could a late breakfast at Chef Mickey's or Cape May substitute and then just go to HS? Your 5th, as planned, will work. I just find that when off-site - the driving, time to enter and exit park, walking/tram to and from car - all takes more work than I think it will.

As for everything else - I think you'll be able to do more than you expect in each day - so if you are listing your main goals - yup - you'll get those done. But I also think you'll have time for more.

 

[sweetnjmom]

Only day I think might be tough is the 5th. Early AK - break at resort - plans to be at HS around 3pmish. That's a long day - with the back and forth. You could hit FOTLK and Safari on your other AK Day. Is Tusker House that important? Are you going for the food or the characters? Could a late breakfast at Chef Mickey's or Cape May substitute and then just go to HS? Your 5th, as planned, will work. I just find that when off-site - the driving, time to enter and exit park, walking/tram to and from car - all takes more work than I think it will.

As for everything else - I think you'll be able to do more than you expect in each day - so if you are listing your main goals - yup - you'll get those done. But I also think you'll have time for more.

Yeah, the 5th is the one I know was a toughie but Tusker House IS important. My son hasn't stopped talking about going back there since our last trip and I couldn't get breakfast there on the 7th, so that's how I came up with this scenario. Not ideal but we'll make it work.

And I was mostly listing my main goals. We hope we'll be able to do more than that.

 

[rapunzels]

My only concern is the travel time between going back and forth between parks and your hotel, for your mid day breaks. The last time we stayed off site, we vowed we would never do it again, in fact that year we purchased DVC. Between parking in the parking lot at each park and driving back and forth for mid day breaks, we were not getting to rest enough for the trouble it was taking. You might find when you start the trip, you need to allot more time for your commute.

btw - We have the Starwood timeshare too, and when we used to stay offsite, it was at the Vistana Villages and the Vistana Resort. Those were the hotels we were staying at when we felt our commute was taking up to 40 min-1hr from leaving the door of our room and getting to the gate of the park we were visiting.

 

[lostmypooh]

On 5/5 I would skip the FP for the Muppets and just get one for Fantasmic. In all the times I've been to see the muppets, I've had no more than a 15 min wait. Maybe I've just been lucky.

 

[lauradis]

The only one that seems long is the 12 hr day.

Depends on how old your son is and the adults endurance.

 

[JessicaW1234]

It looks like a good schedule. A couple of things- I don't think you need a FP for turtle talk at Epcot. Any interest in test track? That is harder to get into.

Also, on your AK day, I see you have kali river rapids before yak & yeti reservation. You will want to bring extra clothes because you will get Soaked (I hate eating in a sit down restaurant all wet!)

 

[sweetnjmom]

My only concern is the travel time between going back and forth between parks and your hotel, for your mid day breaks. The last time we stayed off site, we vowed we would never do it again, in fact that year we purchased DVC. Between parking in the parking lot at each park and driving back and forth for mid day breaks, we were not getting to rest enough for the trouble it was taking. You might find when you start the trip, you need to allot more time for your commute.

btw - We have the Starwood timeshare too, and when we used to stay offsite, it was at the Vistana Villages and the Vistana Resort. Those were the hotels we were staying at when we felt our commute was taking up to 40 min-1hr from leaving the door of our room and getting to the gate of the park we were visiting.

Thanks for your feedback. The desire to take a break is mostly my husband's. We'll see how it goes, as nothing is really written in stone. If we find that you are right, we'll adjust our plans as best we can. Thanks!

Last time we stayed off site (just me and my husband) we stayed at the Grand Beach and had little issues going back and forth from HS or AK -- it was tougher for MK and EPCOT, though.

On 5/5 I would skip the FP for the Muppets and just get one for Fantasmic. In all the times I've been to see the muppets, I've had no more than a 15 min wait. Maybe I've just been lucky.

I totally get your point and Muppets is definitely a throwaway pick. But I needed to pick 3 FP and, from what I understand you need to use all 3 before getting a 4th, right? My Tier 1 pick at HS was Toy Story Mania.

The only one that seems long is the 12 hr day.

Depends on how old your son is and the adults endurance.

My son is 5-1/2 and he'll definitely be cranky after a long day. I will keep trying to see if I can get an ADR for Tusker House on 5/7 and just stay at AK that day. If not, we stick to the plan on 5/5 and take a break in the afternoon.

Edit: Since Tusker House is important, unless we can find a last minute breakfast opening on the 7th, we'll just go there for breakfast (sine my son gets up at the crack of dawn usually) and just stay at AK for a short while before leaving. Plus he loves AK. Just hoping he doesn't fall asleep during Fantasmic! If he's super cranky, we'll skip it. We shall see.

It looks like a good schedule. A couple of things- I don't think you need a FP for turtle talk at Epcot. Any interest in test track? That is harder to get into.

Also, on your AK day, I see you have kali river rapids before yak & yeti reservation. You will want to bring extra clothes because you will get Soaked (I hate eating in a sit down restaurant all wet!)

I had a tough time figuring out FP for EPCOT... my son is afraid of heights so that nixed Soarin' and my husband and I didn't think Test Track would be good for him, since he also doesn't like going "too fast" (and I'm not even sure he'll be happy with the 7DMT). So I chose Illuminations for my Tier 1. I'm not sure what to change Turtle Talk to... Character Spot? EPCOT was hard! lol

And as for AK, I put Kali River Rapids before the dinner ADR because it was in the same section of the park and we didn't want to be walking back and forth so much if possible. We will definitely bring a change of clothes! Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Fantabulously Cherry]

My only concern is the travel time between going back and forth between parks and your hotel, for your mid day breaks. The last time we stayed off site, we vowed we would never do it again, in fact that year we purchased DVC. Between parking in the parking lot at each park and driving back and forth for mid day breaks, we were not getting to rest enough for the trouble it was taking. You might find when you start the trip, you need to allot more time for your commute.

I agree with this. However, I can tell you planned this out very well. Good job!

 

[GillianP1301]

Overall it looks pretty good to me. I'm making an assumption that you have other ideas for what you want to do to fill in all the time gaps between the Fastpasses you have noted.

The only caution I will throw out is your early morning TH after Illuminations the night before. In general, I like to stick with a pretty normal sleep pattern for my son and that works really well for us. Getting to bed after 10pm and then up and at an 8:15 ADR would be a huge challenge for him. You know your family though, so this may not be that big a deal.

 

[sweetnjmom]

Overall it looks pretty good to me. I'm making an assumption that you have other ideas for what you want to do to fill in all the time gaps between the Fastpasses you have noted.

The only caution I will throw out is your early morning TH after Illuminations the night before. In general, I like to stick with a pretty normal sleep pattern for my son and that works really well for us. Getting to bed after 10pm and then up and at an 8:15 ADR would be a huge challenge for him. You know your family though, so this may not be that big a deal.

Yes, I didn't want to list all the attractions we are planning to do in between our Fastpasses. For example, in MK on our first day, we're pretty much going to hit as many rides standby (Buzz Lightyear, Speedway, Teacups, Dumbo, Barnstormer, etc.) in both Tomorrowland and Fantasyland before the Ariel meet, which will try to hit at the end of the hour window. And after our BOG lunch, we'll finish with whatever we can squeeze in before the Peter Pan FP window closes at 1:40.

Initially I wasn't going to bother with Illuminations at all, but I booked the FP just in case my son wants to see fireworks. He's been talking about fireworks (4th of July) a lot lately. That early morning TH breakfast is the only squeaky wheel in our plans. But he rarely sleeps past 7 AM (even after late nights) so I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make that breakfast and spend a few hours in AK after. I'm fine with leaving after 2 hours there, since we'll have a full day at AK on the 7th.

 

[GillianP1301]

Yes, I didn't want to list all the attractions we are planning to do in between our Fastpasses. For example, in MK on our first day, we're pretty much going to hit as many rides standby (Buzz Lightyear, Speedway, Teacups, Dumbo, Barnstormer, etc.) in both Tomorrowland and Fantasyland before the Ariel meet, which will try to hit at the end of the hour window. And after our BOG lunch, we'll finish with whatever we can squeeze in before the Peter Pan FP window closes at 1:40.

Initially I wasn't going to bother with Illuminations at all, but I booked the FP just in case my son wants to see fireworks. He's been talking about fireworks (4th of July) a lot lately. That early morning TH breakfast is the only squeaky wheel in our plans. But he rarely sleeps past 7 AM (even after late nights) so I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make that breakfast and spend a few hours in AK after. I'm fine with leaving after 2 hours there, since we'll have a full day at AK on the 7th.

What if you moved the TH ADR to the 7th? Maybe a late breakfast after your Safari FP? That way if he does want to sleep in on the 5th you don't have to worry about missing your ADR and you could still head to AK that morning after he's up.

 

[sweetnjmom]

What if you moved the TH ADR to the 7th? Maybe a late breakfast after your Safari FP? That way if he does want to sleep in on the 5th you don't have to worry about missing your ADR and you could still head to AK that morning after he's up.

I would love to! At this time there aren't any breakfast ADRs available for Tusker House on the 7th. I'll keep looking and maybe I'll luck out. (May consider ADR sniper... not sure.)