Need Help With My WDW Weekly Itinerary ...

[jolaf408]

Hey Friends!

My friends and I are FINALLY getting out to WDW for our first time, from October 21 - 29. It'll be all of our first times going, and I've kinda taken the lead on planning everything as far as our itinerary and dining reservations (which I don't have ideal times for lol) go.

First off, if there's anything I've learned from all my planning and research, it's that planning a trip to WDW is sooooooooooooo much different (and stressful!) than planning a trip to Disneyland! So, kudos and shoutout to all of you guys that have done this multiple times! I envy you all.

And second, here's what our schedule looks like as of now ... (we have 5-day park hoppers with the water parks ticket option).

----------

10/22 (Sat.) - Typhoon Lagoon
10/23 (Sun.) - Magic Kingdom
- 9:20pm dinner reservations at Chef Mickey's (we're a sucker for Goofy's Kitchen at DL) -- can hopefully switch to an earlier time though
10/24 (Mon.) - Disney's Hollywood Studios (possibly park hop to Epcot?)
- 4:15pm dinner reservations at Hollywood & Vine
10/25 (Tues.) - Free Day (which I want to delegate back to MK, assuming we won't be able to finish everything on Sunday)
- 10:10pm dinner reservations at Ohana (obviously, hope to be able to switch to an earlier time)
10/26 (Wed.) - Epcot
- 3:40pm reservations at Via Napoli
10/27 (Thurs.) - Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios
10/28 (Fri.) - Animal Kingdom
- 7:35pm dinner reservations at Boma

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My thoughts on the whole thing are that out of all the 4 Disney parks, MK and Epcot may be the ones we need more than one day in, which was why I wanted to use our Free Day (10/25 - Tues.) for the Magic Kingdom again, and park-hop from Epcot to DHS (or vice versa) on Monday, 10/24 -- because I don't think we may necessarily need a whole day at DHS? Mind you, I haven't factored in how long it will take getting from one park to the other , so I don't know if I'm being too ambitious when I say I want to parkhop, lol.

Lastly, and I'd love your guy's input on this -- my friends and I really want to go to the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal on Thursday, 10/27 -- but we're having trouble trying to figure out what to do in the day. Initially I just wanted to spend the day at Islands of Adventure, but if we add IoA to the mix, we'd be looking at ... $180ish for tickets just for that day ($110-ish for single day admission + $75 for the HHN add-on). We're kinda divided on what to do, because we wanted to see Harry Potter World and all that stuff, but we'd like to save some money too, hehe. I was thinking if we ditched IoA in the morning, that we could go to Typhoon Lagoon in the early morning (and instead of doing Typhoon Lagoon on Saturday, 10/22, we'd do Blizzard Beach instead since I think that's BB's last day open?).

Personally, I don't mind missing IoA if it comes down to it, since I live in Northern CA and have Universal Studios Hollywood, but two of the friends are saying, "Well, when are we ever going to be in Florida again, lets just do it!" ... and I don't know what to do, so I'd rather listen to the opinions of strangers (great strangers) instead

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give, I really appreciate it!

 

[sharonabe]

I like the idea of doing BB on Saturday and then Typhoon Lagoon the day of the party. The only caution I might add is that going to a water park before the party could be a little tiring, and you may not enjoy the party as much. However, you sound like a group of young adults, so you probably have more energy than I.

You've chosen the best parks to park hop. EP/MK has the monorail which makes park hopping between the two easy and fun with a total time of about 30 min depending on how long you have to wait for the train. EP/HS has the boats outside the back (World Showcase) entrance that are very relaxing. You can also walk between the two, again out the back entrance, but it's about a 20 min walk. Take a look at the sticky of Robo's maps to get an idea of park hopping between these two.

One more caution is Chef Mickey. You will probably be disappointed if you're comparing it to Goofy's Kitchen, but if seeing the Fab 5 is your goal, I'd keep it.

Is there a particular reason for Hollywood & Vine? It doesn't get very good reviews. I think you would enjoy Sci-Fi or 50s Prime Time more. Also if you are going to park hop that day, you probably want a true lunch ADR or a later dinner ADR to make hopping more feasible.

 

[Laura's Dad]

If you could spend a little more time at Epcot and the MK you will enjoy each more. You could definitely park hop to Epcot by boat on Monday. The Sunday MK day is a good choice. It is usually busier on Saturday and Monday (first day of most people's trip) You could do a little time at the MK on Tuesday. I wouldn't go there the entire day, though. You may want to build some time in to go to Disney Springs on either Saturday after Typhoon Lagoon or on Tuesday. Have a great time.

 

[GillianP1301]

For a trip that length, I would not dedicate an entire day to free time/non park time. But, I'm a go go go type person. Without a car, your easy hops are going to be MK/EP and DHS/EP because of proximity.

On the Monday, I think a hop to Epcot is a good idea. I'm not sure if you have a specific reason for choosing H&V for dinner (characters maybe?), but it's one of my least favourite buffets on site and there are so many awesome dining options at Epcot. I would consider hopping and have dinner at EP and spending the evening there.

More MK on Tuesday would be my choice. If you really want some rest time, then you could do a pool afternoon on that day.

As for your IoA dilemma - I think you would enjoy the park that day, but it sounds like it's ultimately a $$ decision. Your alternate plan of a water park that day is a good one. Or, if you do end up doing a full day in the parks on Tuesday, maybe Thursday becomes your rest day before the Halloween Horror Night.

 

[acc82]

I have comments in RED....

10/22 (Sat.) - Typhoon Lagoon
10/23 (Sun.) - Magic Kingdom
- 9:20pm dinner reservations at Chef Mickey's (we're a sucker for Goofy's Kitchen at DL) -- can hopefully switch to an earlier time though
I like this - doing MK on the first day is a great choice. Use your energy when you have it! I will say that you'll be watching fireworks from the restaurant with that dinner time. If you're cool with this, that's fine. If you want to be closer (in the park), then you may want to eat breakfast there instead.
10/24 (Mon.) - Disney's Hollywood Studios (possibly park hop to Epcot?)
- 4:15pm dinner reservations at Hollywood & Vine
I'd make a lunch reservation at HS and park hop to MK. That way you can finish up everything that you didn't hit on sunday. I like Sci Fi dine in - super cool place to eat. I don't know that there is enough at epcot for you to park hop and do a full day. Usually, a full day is plenty. There is food and wine right now so you could park hop simply to eat dinner. For those that like rides, there just isn't as much at Epcot and there are plenty at MK. OR you could start in the morning at another park and then hop to HS, that way you'll be able to see the star wars fireworks.
10/25 (Tues.) - Free Day (which I want to delegate back to MK, assuming we won't be able to finish everything on Sunday)
- 10:10pm dinner reservations at Ohana (obviously, hope to be able to switch to an earlier time)
If you don't want to do MK today, you could just have a pool day. Those are nice to have mid-vacation when you start to get tired. Ohana is a great choice for a free day!
10/26 (Wed.) - Epcot
- 3:40pm reservations at Via Napoli
10/27 (Thurs.) - Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios
10/28 (Fri.) - Animal Kingdom
- 7:35pm dinner reservations at Boma

----------

My thoughts on the whole thing are that out of all the 4 Disney parks, MK and Epcot may be the ones we need more than one day in, which was why I wanted to use our Free Day (10/25 - Tues.) for the Magic Kingdom again, and park-hop from Epcot to DHS (or vice versa) on Monday, 10/24 -- because I don't think we may necessarily need a whole day at DHS? Mind you, I haven't factored in how long it will take getting from one park to the other , so I don't know if I'm being too ambitious when I say I want to parkhop, lol.

I agree - you don't really need a whole day at Hollywood studios. You could park hop to Epcot, but I'd recommend MK because it's so big and hard to do in one day.

Lastly, and I'd love your guy's input on this -- my friends and I really want to go to the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal on Thursday, 10/27 -- but we're having trouble trying to figure out what to do in the day. Initially I just wanted to spend the day at Islands of Adventure, but if we add IoA to the mix, we'd be looking at ... $180ish for tickets just for that day ($110-ish for single day admission + $75 for the HHN add-on). We're kinda divided on what to do, because we wanted to see Harry Potter World and all that stuff, but we'd like to save some money too, hehe. I was thinking if we ditched IoA in the morning, that we could go to Typhoon Lagoon in the early morning (and instead of doing Typhoon Lagoon on Saturday, 10/22, we'd do Blizzard Beach instead since I think that's BB's last day open?).

I wouldn't say that you necessarily need to do both blizzard beach instead of or in addition to typhoon lagoon, unless your family loves waterparks. I personally enjoy TL much more than BB. If you can afford to do a day at Universal, I say go for it. As a Disney-phile, I acknowledge that Harry potter world is really cool. It's worth seeing especially since you're traveling so far to come here.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give, I really appreciate it!

 

[jolaf408]

Thanks for the insight you guys!

@sharonabe thanks for the blurb about the EP/MK monorails and for the boats and back entrance by World Showcase. Didn't know about either, and a 20 minute walk is DEFINITELY shorter than what I thought it'd be. I've read many reviews on Chef Mickey's, and haven't been too impressed with what I read (and the $50 dinner pricetag, ouch!), but we're suckers for anything all-you-can-eat, and photo-ops, hehe. Dinner at Hollywood & Vine was more of a placeholder reservation, if anything, because anything else we were interested in didn't have reservations available! But -- may DisBoards is my lucky charm, because I just checked and was able to find 8:10 dinner reservations at Sci-Fi!

@Laura's Dad Glad to hear Sunday is a good day for MK! I actually didn't even realize Disney Springs was an outdoor shopping & dining complex, whenever I saw others mention Disney Springs, I just assumed it was just another hotel/resort, so this is pretty great! We'll definitely be checking that out on Saturday after TL or BB. THANKS!

@GillianP1301 thanks, I'm also a GO-GO-GO always up at the crack of dawn person! I know our trip length is on the shorter end (my ideal time frame would've been 10 nights, so we for sure could've incorporated Universal without feeling crunched for time), which was why I wanted to make sure whatever "free days" we had, could still be used to go back to the parks. For that Monday, I was able to find dinner reservations at Sci-Fi at DHS, so I'll be canceling Hollywood & Vine (it was more of a placeholder reservation, since at the time of making reservations, I couldn't find anything! Sci-Fi must've just opened up ...), so now I'll probably look into some type of early lunch at Epcot that day And yeah, you're right -- figuring out how to justify the extra $$ for IoA is hard ... I honestly wish we had ONE extra day, so we could just have two days to dedicate between both parks then, and get a multi-day ticket so we can justify the high costs. I do think like you mentioned the water park is a good alternative, and also a good opportunity for a rest day! I know everyone would love a rest day, but sleep -- schmleep, we can do that when we get back home!

@acc82 breakfast reservations were my ideal goal, but anything i could find at Chef Mickey's was only for late dinner -.- I was, however, able to get dinner reservations at Sci-Fi on Monday, so I'm looking forward to that! I'm hoping we can do 7:30 Fantasmic, and then follow up at dinner? Sci-Fi looks realllllllly cool! Thanks for your input on Epcot too, nice to hear that you think a full-day should be plenty, and it might make me rethink what we currently have going on ... I know for sure we want at least 1.5 or 2 days at MK, so I'm feeling good. As for Universal -- ah! I was hoping I would come across someone saying it isn't too great and that I'm not missing out on anything

 

[GillianP1301]

Thanks for the insight you guys!

@GillianP1301 thanks, I'm also a GO-GO-GO always up at the crack of dawn person! I know our trip length is on the shorter end (my ideal time frame would've been 10 nights, so we for sure could've incorporated Universal without feeling crunched for time), which was why I wanted to make sure whatever "free days" we had, could still be used to go back to the parks. For that Monday, I was able to find dinner reservations at Sci-Fi at DHS, so I'll be canceling Hollywood & Vine (it was more of a placeholder reservation, since at the time of making reservations, I couldn't find anything! Sci-Fi must've just opened up ...), so now I'll probably look into some type of early lunch at Epcot that day And yeah, you're right -- figuring out how to justify the extra $$ for IoA is hard ... I honestly wish we had ONE extra day, so we could just have two days to dedicate between both parks then, and get a multi-day ticket so we can justify the high costs. I do think like you mentioned the water park is a good alternative, and also a good opportunity for a rest day! I know everyone would love a rest day, but sleep -- schmleep, we can do that when we get back home!

Sci-Fi is one of our must do ADRs every trip, that totally makes staying for dinner worthwhile at DHS. I hear you on the US/IoA dilemma. My son wants to see Harry Potter stuff next trip, so I said we would go. Our trip is 10 days, so I'm planning for the 2 day Universal ticket which makes it a lot easier to stomach. The one day ticket is a hard hit, for sure!

My mantra when we are at WDW is "No Sleep at Disney"!! and that's the way we roll, but I come home really pooped!

 

[danielocha30]

The nights at MK both are going to be interrupted by your ADR, did you check the fireworks times? At chef Mickey's you won't be able to see the fireworks while eating, contemporary do have a viewing area but outside de restaurant at Ohana you have to be at the Poly or at least heading there by the time the fireworks are going on, getting out of MK after fireworks takes time even to just hop to the polynesian, unless is not in your plans to see wishes everthing looks good to me.

 

[jolaf408]

@GillianP1301 so since there's 5 of us, I created a survey and it looks like we're gonna bite the bullet and do IoA and the HHN after ... the vote was 3 to 2 in favor of doing both ... I opted for the water park in the day instead and HHN after, but oh well, I'm more than happy to compromise! Fortunately I have a second job where I can just freely pick up shifts at, so I'll try to hopefully get enough to offset the daily ticket for IoA! So envious of your 10 days, and I totally second your mantra!

@danielocha30 honestly, I wasn't even considering the fire works or night time entertainment, my mind was so fixated on ADR's XD I just checked and it seems like the Sunday and Tuesday we plan on spending at MK have fireworks at 10pm that night, my Chef Mickey's ADR is at 9:20pm and Ohana on Tuesday at 9pm now ... not sure what to do now!

 

[disneylove16]

Hey Friends!

My friends and I are FINALLY getting out to WDW for our first time, from October 21 - 29. It'll be all of our first times going, and I've kinda taken the lead on planning everything as far as our itinerary and dining reservations (which I don't have ideal times for lol) go.

First off, if there's anything I've learned from all my planning and research, it's that planning a trip to WDW is sooooooooooooo much different (and stressful!) than planning a trip to Disneyland! So, kudos and shoutout to all of you guys that have done this multiple times! I envy you all.

And second, here's what our schedule looks like as of now ... (we have 5-day park hoppers with the water parks ticket option).

----------

10/22 (Sat.) - Typhoon Lagoon
10/23 (Sun.) - Magic Kingdom
- 9:20pm dinner reservations at Chef Mickey's (we're a sucker for Goofy's Kitchen at DL) -- can hopefully switch to an earlier time though
10/24 (Mon.) - Disney's Hollywood Studios (possibly park hop to Epcot?)
- 4:15pm dinner reservations at Hollywood & Vine
10/25 (Tues.) - Free Day (which I want to delegate back to MK, assuming we won't be able to finish everything on Sunday)
- 10:10pm dinner reservations at Ohana (obviously, hope to be able to switch to an earlier time)
10/26 (Wed.) - Epcot
- 3:40pm reservations at Via Napoli
10/27 (Thurs.) - Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios
10/28 (Fri.) - Animal Kingdom
- 7:35pm dinner reservations at Boma

----------

My thoughts on the whole thing are that out of all the 4 Disney parks, MK and Epcot may be the ones we need more than one day in, which was why I wanted to use our Free Day (10/25 - Tues.) for the Magic Kingdom again, and park-hop from Epcot to DHS (or vice versa) on Monday, 10/24 -- because I don't think we may necessarily need a whole day at DHS? Mind you, I haven't factored in how long it will take getting from one park to the other , so I don't know if I'm being too ambitious when I say I want to parkhop, lol.

Lastly, and I'd love your guy's input on this -- my friends and I really want to go to the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal on Thursday, 10/27 -- but we're having trouble trying to figure out what to do in the day. Initially I just wanted to spend the day at Islands of Adventure, but if we add IoA to the mix, we'd be looking at ... $180ish for tickets just for that day ($110-ish for single day admission + $75 for the HHN add-on). We're kinda divided on what to do, because we wanted to see Harry Potter World and all that stuff, but we'd like to save some money too, hehe. I was thinking if we ditched IoA in the morning, that we could go to Typhoon Lagoon in the early morning (and instead of doing Typhoon Lagoon on Saturday, 10/22, we'd do Blizzard Beach instead since I think that's BB's last day open?).

Personally, I don't mind missing IoA if it comes down to it, since I live in Northern CA and have Universal Studios Hollywood, but two of the friends are saying, "Well, when are we ever going to be in Florida again, lets just do it!" ... and I don't know what to do, so I'd rather listen to the opinions of strangers (great strangers) instead

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give, I really appreciate it!

I think you have a good plan of attack. I do agree with the PP that advised against a down day with your length of stay. It's smart to use it to park hop and get to anything you missed at MK or Epcot.

Regarding IOA, it is extemely different from Universal Hollywood. I live Universal and IOA in FL. Universal here in CA is boring to me, and we finish in half a day. But, if it's a matter of $$, did you have any interest in Disney Springs? Or, you could use this as your "rest day" and sleep in and relax until Halloween horror nights, and go to MK/Epcot 10/25. Good luck, and I hope you have a wonderful trip!

ETA: I also agree with PP about Hollywood & Vine... did you want to go there or was that all that was left? I would take the boat to Beach/Yacht Club and go to Cape May Cafe, or even to one of The Boardwalk restaurants. Or, if you're parkhopping to Epcot, there are tons of good restaurants there.

 

[jolaf408]

I think you have a good plan of attack. I do agree with the PP that advised against a down day with your length of stay. It's smart to use it to park hop and get to anything you missed at MK or Epcot.

Regarding IOA, it is extemely different from Universal Hollywood. I live Universal and IOA in FL. Universal here in CA is boring to me, and we finish in half a day. But, if it's a matter of $$, did you have any interest in Disney Springs? Or, you could use this as your "rest day" and sleep in and relax until Halloween horror nights, and go to MK/Epcot 10/25. Good luck, and I hope you have a wonderful trip!

ETA: I also agree with PP about Hollywood & Vine... did you want to go there or was that all that was left? I would take the boat to Beach/Yacht Club and go to Cape May Cafe, or even to one of The Boardwalk restaurants. Or, if you're parkhopping to Epcot, there are tons of good restaurants there.

After deliberation with the travel group and a survey that I had everyone complete since we couldn't come to a unanimous decision lol, we're just gonna go for IoA (5 in our group, 3 voted for doing both IoA and HHN after while myself and another opted for the water park in the day and HHN afterwards). So, at least that's done with. Now I'm just going to try and pick up a couple of shifts at my second job to offset the costs for that Thursday! I agree, Universal (Hollywood) is boring to me, the only thing that interests me is the tour, but granted, I haven't been back since Harry Potter opened.

Someone else mentioned Disney Springs, and it seems like something I'd love to squeeze in after Typhoon Lagoon on Saturday! But I think we've opted for Uber and Lyft the whole trip, so I don't know how realistic that's going to be? Maybe carry around a trash bag with all of our wet clothes in it? LOL.

Hollywood & Vine was more of a placeholder since I couldn't find anything else, but a couple of days ago I was able to snag 8:10pm dinner reservations at Sci-Fi, which I'm super stoked about! It was completely booked when I initially tried, so I must've lucked out on timing when I checked again. Hoping to find somewhere for lunch at Epcot that afternoon now!

 

[KittyKitty]

I am not a Halloween Horror type of person, but I do follow Tim and Jenn Tracker who are. Here is their video of this year's HHN.

 

[Mama Lo]

Maybe you should consider eating at Crystal Palace on 10/23 instead of Chef Mickey's. I'd go with a late breakfast time around 10:30. You will get breakfast and also sample lunch while you are there. Then maybe have a quick serve dinner so you can see the fireworks more easily? This will allow you to stay in one place on that day. Things are so much more spread out at MK then at Disneyland and there is a chance that it may be hot out (gross hot like you never get in California).

Your late dining reservation might work out perfectly with your time zone change. When we were at Disneyland we were banging down the doors to get in. It's likely you will close the parks! Speaking of that, look to see the "kiss goodnight" at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Charmagne]

I was planning to do MK for two days, but now I'm thinking of doing Epcot for two days. I live in CA and go to Disneyland all the time. From looking at the fastpass choices at MK, it's fairly similar to DL, so I might go with epcot a second day. Plus the FW fest is happening so I've gotta see that more than once. Just my two cents, but if you're not a foodie, it might not be as worth it.

 

[dkrauss]

Please keep in mind on the Oct 23, your 1st MK day...........the park will close at 7pm for MNSHP. The MK has other parties on the 25th, 27th, and 28th. The one that might be a bother is the one of the 23rd since you have such a late Chef Mickey reservation.

Doug