Need advice for our trip

[bigredsfan]

Here goes:

We are planning our first family trip to Disney, and will be spending 3 days in the park. I have the dining plan, and want to do as many character meals for the kids as possible. Here is my rough plan for the trip:

Day 1- spending day in MK, having lunch with Cinderella. Will have inlaws with us that day so will do whatever for breakfast and dinner

Day 2- need help. I would like to do Crystal Palace and Chef Mickeys. I have read that CM's is okay but we are picky eaters so won't mind okay food as long as I can eat, lol. Crystal Palace looks fun for the kids, but not the dinner meals in terms of lots to eat. So here is my thought, and note we are staying at the POP.

Morning: breakfast at Crystal Palace. Then drive/monorail to Animal Kingdom to spend half a day or more and have lunch

Dinner: pick up car or drive to the Contemporary for Dinner at CM's, then change at POP and use MK with hopper and MGM for magic hours.

We will have a car with us so I have no problem driving for breakfast at CP, then driving/monorail over to AK for the day. For dinner at CM's is it a far drive from Animal Kingdom or the POP? Hopefully nobody is confused and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

 

[bigredsfan]

Here goes:

We are planning our first family trip to Disney, and will be spending 3 days in the park. I have the dining plan, and want to do as many character meals for the kids as possible. Here is my rough plan for the trip:

Day 1- spending day in MK, having lunch with Cinderella. Will have inlaws with us that day so will do whatever for breakfast and dinner

Day 2- need help. I would like to do Crystal Palace and Chef Mickeys. I have read that CM's is okay but we are picky eaters so won't mind okay food as long as I can eat, lol. Crystal Palace looks fun for the kids, but not the dinner meals in terms of lots to eat. So here is my thought, and note we are staying at the POP.

Morning: breakfast at Crystal Palace. Then drive/monorail to Animal Kingdom to spend half a day or more and have lunch

Dinner: pick up car or drive to the Contemporary for Dinner at CM's, then change at POP and use MK with hopper and MGM for magic hours.

We will have a car with us so I have no problem driving for breakfast at CP, then driving/monorail over to AK for the day. For dinner at CM's is it a far drive from Animal Kingdom or the POP? Hopefully nobody is confused and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

wasn't sure if I can edit, but let me know how this sounds for Day 2:

-drive and park car at Magic Kingdom to have breakfast at Crystal Palace
-monorail over to AK for the day, and have dinner at Chef Mickey's
-monorail back to Magic Kingdom from Chef Mickey's
-monorail/drive over to MGM for magic hours

HELP me please, lol..


okay done more reading on here and now confused, bare with me if you can:

-I gather no monorail fruns from MK to AK, what is the TTC? BUS?
-if both mornings I use the parks we need to get to MK, is the walk shorter for us if we drive and park there, or bus from the POP?
-also, should I just take my car and drive from MK to AK, then back to AK or just use the bus service?
-lastly, if I want to use magic hours which are at the MGM I guess I can't take the monorail there from MK, I have to drive or bus?

 

[Muziqal]

Yo bigredsfan...you do need some help dude! WDW rookie - lol.

If it's one thing that first timers never really get, it's the size of the place and how best to get around. The place is massive. But don't worry...you're in good hands on this board.

1. No monorail from the MK to AK. You're right.
2. TTC = transportation ticket centre. Like a transportation hub for disney just outside the magic kingdom. lots of buses stop there, etc. someone stop me if i'm wrong, but buses from your resort (POP) take you right to the MK. I think they used to drop you off at the TTC and you'd get on the monorail to go to the MK. No need anymore, I believe. drops you right off at the front entrance of the mk.
3. you may just want to consider using the disney buses for your trip instead of worrying about driving and having to park in each separate parking lot. just a thought. take the bus from the mk to the ak. take the contemporary bus from ak for your dinner at CMs (there's a bus to every resort from every theme park). then take the monorail from contemporary back to mk if you want (it is very close to mk and connected via monorail in a loop around the mk resorts - poly and GF). whether you take the bus from POP or drive is up to you. I always find the bus a lot easier. to each their own though...and you have kids, i don't....but the tram ride to the parking lot and then the walk to your car probably takes more energy than just coming out of the park and getting in the bus line. but, the buses can get packed and some people like to be in the comfort of their own car at the end of a long day at the parks instead of a bus with standing room only. again, personal preference.
4. you're right again. no monorail from mk to mgm. the mk and epcot are the only two parks linked by monorail. take a bus from mk to mgm.

sounds like you have a lot to see in a couple days!! let me know if there's anything else.

 

[tmli]

Do you have the deluxe dining plan? Seems like alot of table service in a short period of time. Personally I think you are going to spend so much time eating or travelling to eat that you will not see much else. You didn't say how old the kids are but honestly if it was my first visit I would settle on one character meal a day and then just "relax" and enjoy the parks.

I was exhausted just rteading your plans, lol!!!!

 

[Claud26]

hi,it all depends on how old your kids are but I think you are spending a lot of time on the Bus. And I would use Disney Transportation instead of taking the car.
I would switch CP & CM around
you should aim to be at AK at park opening 9am

1.Take Pop Bus to MK and then walk over to CR (right next door) I belive park busses start Running at 7am and I don't think it would take you longer than 20min to get to MK


2.Breakfast at CM at 7:30am
You could then take the AK Bus from CR, and be there at park opening.
I heard Breakfast at CM is better than dinner

3.Then Take the AK Bus back to CR, walk to MK and have dinner at CP

4. Take Pop Resort bus at MK, change Clothes?? (I believe that what I read) and then take MGM Bus from pop OR if you aren't changing I would walk back over to CR and take the MGM bus from there.

FYI, that sounds like a Crazy busy day !! I know I could not do that with my kids. (4 & 7 yr old) ... Good Luck

I'm assuming you have Park hopper tickets??

 

[MinnieMommy]

Hi Bigredsfan!

We're here to help!

I think the dates you are travelling will also impact the advice we would like to offer! Then we may have a better idea of crowd levels, park hours etc. Also, the type of dining plan you have will impact how many table service meals you will receive.(i.e. Lunch with Cinderella at the castle is 2 TS credits using the DDP)

As Tmli said, if you are only going to have 3 park days, you may be spending too much time on sit down meals. Character meals are great, but they can take a big chunk of time out of your day. If you are going to do a character breakfast, you may want to try to get an ADR for before park opening. Also, keep in mind that there are LOTS of characters throughout the parks, so if your main goal is to meet characters, you'll have lots of other opportunities.

As Muziqal said, you may want to re-consider transportation and use Disney busses etc. It may be much easier than returning to the parking area, getting to your vehicle, driving to the new parking area, getting to the park entrance etc. I hate to sound negative, but your plans seem to be doing a lot of criss-crossing, that you may want to avoid.

 

[bigredsfan]

Yo bigredsfan...you do need some help dude! WDW rookie - lol.

If it's one thing that first timers never really get, it's the size of the place and how best to get around. The place is massive. But don't worry...you're in good hands on this board.

1. No monorail from the MK to AK. You're right.
2. TTC = transportation ticket centre. Like a transportation hub for disney just outside the magic kingdom. lots of buses stop there, etc. someone stop me if i'm wrong, but buses from your resort (POP) take you right to the MK. I think they used to drop you off at the TTC and you'd get on the monorail to go to the MK. No need anymore, I believe. drops you right off at the front entrance of the mk.
3. you may just want to consider using the disney buses for your trip instead of worrying about driving and having to park in each separate parking lot. just a thought. take the bus from the mk to the ak. take the contemporary bus from ak for your dinner at CMs (there's a bus to every resort from every theme park). then take the monorail from contemporary back to mk if you want (it is very close to mk and connected via monorail in a loop around the mk resorts - poly and GF). whether you take the bus from POP or drive is up to you. I always find the bus a lot easier. to each their own though...and you have kids, i don't....but the tram ride to the parking lot and than the walk to your car probably takes more energy then just coming out of the park and getting in the bus line. but, the buses can get packed and some people like to be in the comfort of their own car at the end of a long day at the parks instead of a bus with standing room only. again, personal preference.
4. you're right again. no monorail from mk to mgm. the mk and epcot are the only two parks linked by monorail. take a bus from mk to mgm.

sounds like you have a lot to see in a couple days!! let me know if there's anything else.

okay, you first, lol:

Thanks so much for the comments. After reading the other comments it might be easier doing the bus thing rather than driving/parking, etc. If the bus does directly drop off then I may do that. Day 1 will be our Magic Kingdom full day, and magic hours are at night.

This rookie got not sleep last night worrying, lol

 

[bigredsfan]

Do you have the deluxe dining plan? Seems like alot of table service in a short period of time. Personally I think you are going to spend so much time eating or travelling to eat that you will not see much else. You didn't say how old the kids are but honestly if it was my first visit I would settle on one character meal a day and then just "relax" and enjoy the parks.

I was exhausted just rteading your plans, lol!!!!

Lol sorry about that. We have the basic dining plan, and actually only will be in the park for two full days. On day 1 I we will be with the inlaws, and it is my mother inlaw who wants to take my 6 year old for lunch with cindy baby, so she is paying and I wont have to use the table service part of the plan then. This leaves us 2 table service meals on day 2.

 

[bigredsfan]

hi,it all depends on how old your kids are but I think you are spending a lot of time on the Bus. And I would use Disney Transportation instead of taking the car.
I would switch CP & CM around
you should aim to be at AK at park opening 9am

1.Take Pop Bus to MK and then walk over to CR (right next door) I belive park busses start Running at 7am and I don't think it would take you longer than 20min to get to MK


2.Breakfast at CM at 7:30am
You could then take the AK Bus from CR, and be there at park opening.
I heard Breakfast at CM is better than dinner

3.Then Take the AK Bus back to CR, walk to MK and have dinner at CP

4. Take Pop Resort bus at MK, change Clothes?? (I believe that what I read) and then take MGM Bus from pop OR if you aren't changing I would walk back over to CR and take the MGM bus from there.

FYI, that sounds like a Crazy busy day !! I know I could not do that with my kids. (4 & 7 yr old) ... Good Luck

I'm assuming you have Park hopper tickets??

Yes we got lucky and got the deal with the free upgrade to the Park Hopper. I know it's crazy but we are there for 2 full days only so I want to take advantage of trying to do the most we can. Day 1 will be a full mk day and night as it is magic hours time. Seeing that I can do 2 table meals on our second day I may as well do character meals. CP comes well reviewed, but I do not like most of the food on the dinner menu so figure do the breaky there, and dinner at CM'S which looks a bit more up to snuff if you will.

I do not like the breakfast choices in AK and want to do that park in the morning of Day 2, so was hoping it won't be too rushed eating at MK then I guess bussing over to AK for the day. I should have a good 7 hours there. I would then bus back to MK and monorail over to CM'S for dinner and spend a bit of time at MK before we head to MGM if we can still stand, and will bus it there I suppose, lol

 

[bigredsfan]

Hi Bigredsfan!

We're here to help!

I think the dates you are travelling will also impact the advice we would like to offer! Then we may have a better idea of crowd levels, park hours etc. Also, the type of dining plan you have will impact how many table service meals you will receive.(i.e. Lunch with Cinderella at the castle is 2 TS credits using the DDP)

As Tmli said, if you are only going to have 3 park days, you may be spending too much time on sit down meals. Character meals are great, but they can take a big chunk of time out of your day. If you are going to do a character breakfast, you may want to try to get an ADR for before park opening. Also, keep in mind that there are LOTS of characters throughout the parks, so if your main goal is to meet characters, you'll have lots of other opportunities.

As Muziqal said, you may want to re-consider transportation and use Disney busses etc. It may be much easier than returning to the parking area, getting to your vehicle, driving to the new parking area, getting to the park entrance etc. I hate to sound negative, but your plans seem to be doing a lot of criss-crossing, that you may want to avoid.

k tired now, lol. We are there for 2 full days only so need to pack in what we can. And the lunch with Cindy is paid for by the inlaws, so we can have 2 sit down meals on Day 2. I figure an 8am breakfast at CP, bus to AK for the day and do a counter service for lunch then end of day bus back to MK where we can change if needed, then monorail it back to CM's. Yea a bit crazy, but if we are still up to it head back to MK and kill some time there before heading on bus to MGM. The days we are going are March 9th and 10th, they are viewed as less busy I believe...

 

[Muziqal]

glad you got some good advice on here. worth the lack of sleep i hope!

as everyone said, you may have a lot planned for 2 days...but that's what you got, so work with it. sounds ambitious to some. but if you can do, i say do it!

it does sounds like you'll be spending a lot of the 2 days on sit down meals and transportation. nothing wrong with that...you want to get to specific places for specific things.

i think what the other posters are trying to say is that you might regret, after the fact, that you spent so much time in the sit down restaurants instead of in the parks.

i went to disneyland with kids the first time this summer...my cousins are 8 and 4. they loved the character breakfasts and it was an experience i think they all loved (them and my uncle and aunt). however, they had 5 days in disneyland - and disneyland is no where near as big as WDW. the kids were exhausted by afternoon of each day and they had to go back to their resort for a swim and nap before meeting up with us after dinner each of the two days we spent with them.

from experience of working there, the "least happiest" common sight was parents fighting, while the kids were screaming and crying 'cause they were all exhausted and felt they only had a few days to pack in everything. it happens a lot down there. there's so much to do and see that it becomes, "we need to be here by 4 and then there by 7 or we will miss everything else!".

my only advice: take the 2 days you do have there with your fam and have a great time! make your trip about what you guys see...not about what you miss or what you should see and where you have to be. you might just miss the magic of it all if you're worrying about being 10 different places in 2 days (i think that's what some of the other posters were trying to get across). the size of the place really does overwhelm some people and the time and energy it takes to get everywhere really does impact some people's trips (again, this ain't disneyland...the property is about the same size of san fransisco city). but if you're game to hit all of those 3 parks in 2 days, just do it! lol see as much as time and your legs allow and have a blast. there's always the next trip you can look forward to if you do miss something you wanted to see.

 

[bigredsfan]

glad you got some good advice on here. worth the lack of sleep i hope!

as everyone said, you may have a lot planned for 2 days...but that's what you got, so work with it. sounds ambitious to some. but if you can do, i say do it!

it does sounds like you'll be spending a lot of the 2 days on sit down meals and transportation. nothing wrong with that...you want to get to specific places for specific things.

i think what the other posters are trying to say is that you might regret, after the fact, that you spent so much time in the sit down restaurants instead of in the parks.

i went to disneyland with kids the first time this summer...my cousins are 8 and 4. they loved the character breakfasts and it was an experience i think they all loved (them and my uncle and aunt). however, they had 5 days in disneyland - and disneyland is no where near as big WDW. the kids were exhausted by afternoon of each day and they had to go back to their resort for a swim and nap before meeting up with us after dinner each of the two days we spent with them.

from experience of working there, the "least happiest" common sight was parents fighting, while the kids were screaming and crying 'cause they were all exhausted nd felt they only had a few days to pack in everything. it happens a lot down there. there's so much to do and see that it becomes, "we need to be by 4 and then there by 7 or we will miss everything else!".

my only advice: take the 2 days you do have there with your fam and have a great time! make your trip about you guys see...not about what you miss or what you should see and where you have to be. you might just miss the magic of it all if you're worrying about being 10 different places in 2 days (i think that's what some of the other posters were trying to get across). the size of the place really does overwhelm some people and the time and energy it takes to get everywhere really does impact some people's trips (again, this ain't disneyland...the property is about the same size of san fransisco city). but if you're game to hit all of those 3 parks in 2 days, just do it! lol see as much as time and your legs allow and have a blast. there's always the next trip you can look forward to if you do miss something you wanted to see.

lol exactly. Now tell me if I revise things, this might make more sense:

Day 1: Breakfast at Crystal Palace (early), then spend day/night in MK including Cindy lunch

Day 2: a) Breakfast at POP then bus to AK for day which is the early magic hours day for AK; bus back to TTC and tram over to Chef Mickey's for dinner; tram back to MK for a couple hours of night fun; if not too tired bus/drive over to MGM for magic hours if not trashed

This actually makes much more sense on Day 2 as we could go directly to AK not going to MK first, etc.

 

[Muziqal]

lol exactly. Now tell me if I revise things, this might make more sense:

Day 1: Breakfast at Crystal Palace (early), then spend day/night in MK including Cindy lunch

Day 2: a) Breakfast at POP then bus to AK for day which is the early magic hours day for AK; bus back to TTC and tram over to Chef Mickey's for dinner; tram back to MK for a couple hours of night fun; if not too tired bus/drive over to MGM for magic hours if not trashed

This actually makes much more sense on Day 2 as we could go directly to AK not going to MK first, etc.

sounds like you're getting the hang of things...not such rookie after all.

sounds like a plan to utilize the early magic hours at ak on day 2 and saves you some running around. take the bus from ak (contemporary hotel bus) straight ti chef mickeys though. bypass the ttc. they do have a bus from ak to contemporary, right? then you can take the monorail from contemporary back to the mk (fun little ride that takes you around the seven seas lagoon - ask the cast member if you can sit with the monorail driver on the way back to mk). then you're right, head on over to mgm for extra hours. there are some pretty cool things at mgm.

 

[bigredsfan]

sounds like you're getting the hang of things...not such rookie after all.

sounds like a plan to utilize the early magic hours at ak on day 2 and saves you some running around. take the bus from ak (contemporary hotel bus) straight ti chef mickeys though. bypass the ttc. they do have a bus from ak to contemporary, right? then you can take the monorail from contemporary back to the mk (fun little ride that takes you around the seven seas lagoon - ask the cast member if you can sit with the monorail driver on the way back to mk). then you're right, head on over to mgm for extra hours. there are some pretty cool things at mgm.

hey, maybe I just am I am not sure if a bus goes direct from AK to the Contemporary but that would make it easier I believe....would like to know if that's all possible. Glad you like my new ideas, got breakfast at CP planned for Day 1 at 8:05pm and dinner at CM's at 6:35pm day two.

Tx for all your help gang.

 

[MinnieMommy]

Bigredsfan you are on the right path now!

I'll make one more suggestion....
if you haven't called for Advanced Dining Reservations yet...
do it now! (1-877-939-3732)
Especially for the early morning ressie at Crystal Palace. You may want to make sure in-laws have the Cindy's ressie as well.

Have fun with the rest of your planning! Ask lots of questions whenever you need to!

 

[MinnieMommy]

hey, maybe I just am I am not sure if a bus goes direct from AK to the Contemporary but that would make it easier I believe....would like to know if that's all possible. Glad you like my new ideas, got breakfast at CP planned for Day 1 at 8:05pm and dinner at CM's at 6:35pm day two.

Tx for all your help gang.

The laughing place has a good transportation planner http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/asp/twiz.aspx
These are the options they give for Animal Kingdom to Contemporary:

Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park -to- Disney's Contemporary Resort

* Add 5-10 minutes at each segment wait time for transportation.
Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park BUS Disney's Contemporary Resort : 25 mins.

Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park BUS Transportation & Ticket Center MONORAIL Disney's Contemporary Resort : 49 mins.

Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park BUS Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground BOAT Disney's Contemporary Resort : 47 mins.

 

[bigredsfan]

The laughing place has a good transportation planner http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/asp/twiz.aspx
These are the options they give for Animal Kingdom to Contemporary:

Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park -to- Disney's Contemporary Resort

* Add 5-10 minutes at each segment wait time for transportation.
Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park BUS Disney's Contemporary Resort : 25 mins.

Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park BUS Transportation & Ticket Center MONORAIL Disney's Contemporary Resort : 49 mins.

Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park BUS Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground BOAT Disney's Contemporary Resort : 47 mins.

hey thanks for the info! I would rather not drive while on holidays, so am hoping the bus route works well. It doesn't look like there should be a long time between AK and Cont.Resort.

And yes, I have already booked our dining times: 8:05am at CP on Day 1, 6:35pm at CM'S on day 2 after AK day.

Cheers