Need May Itinerary Help

[Shagley]

I need lots of help coming up with some sort of itinerary for our short stay at WDW in May. Any help you can give me will be appreciated. My sister, two friends and I will be staying only 2 days, and need help getting the most out of our trip. We are not going to go to Epcot, because we won't have enough time to do everything there that we would like to do, so we will save that for the next trip. We do want to go to Blizzard Beach for no more than 1/2 day. We have reservations at Pop for Friday, May 20th and Saturday, May 21st. We each have a 2 day hopper pass, with a DQ or PI option. We want to spend an entire day at MK, but are okay with only being at AK and MGM for a few hours each. We want to get the most out of our 2 day hoppers, and we can go to BB at any time, because we have to buy those tickets separately (the waterparks are not an option on our tickets). Our schedule looks like...

Friday, May 20th - arrive WDW early afternoon. Go to Blizzard Beach, then PI in the evening.
Saturday, May 21st - MK all day
Sunday, May 22nd - AK and MGM - leave by 6:00pm to head to condo on Sanibel Island.

QUESTIONS -

~ I just saw that Sunday, May 22 is EMH in the AM and PM for MGM. Would we be better off to go to MGM on a different day? Would we be able to see more in a shorter amount of time if we went on Friday or Saturday instead of Sunday? I also wonder if we get to MGM before it opens in the AM if we would be able to get through it before it gets too crowded. Maybe since it is also open in the PM, people won't want to get there too early since they can stay late. What do you think?

~ I have heard that the animals on the safari at AK are only active in the morning. Is it worth going to AK if we can't go until early afternoon? The safari is the main thing that we want to do.

~ We are driving, so we will have our own car. Would we save time on Sunday (AK and MGM) if we drove ourselves instead of using Disney transportation to get us from park to park (if we use Disney transportation, we would then have to use it to get back to our car from the park).

~ Since we will not have any children with us, and we are all in our late 20's and 30's, what are the "not to miss" things that we should do (especially at AK and MGM since we won't have as much time at those two parks).

~ Should we skip the sit down meals and stick to counter service and the snacks that we carry in to allow more time for touring the parks, or is there a certain sit down meal that is essential to a Disney vacation?

~ Has anyone driven to Orlando from Central Illinois (we are in Peoria). How long does it take? I am thinking about 19 - 20 hours.


Thanks in advance for all of your input.

 

[ErinInCT]

Your plan sounds fine. MK will be crowded on a Sat but with all adults you should be fine. I would skip a sit down meal to save time. Pecos Bills at MK is a good counter restaurant. Be sure to stay to see Wishes. As far as AK I recommend the safari, Kali & FOTLK. If you have time consider Dinosaur & ITTBAB. At MGM I would do TOT & RnRC. That new car show sounds awesome. I am partial to princesses & if you are all girls you may enjoy VotLM & B&tB. WWTBAM would be fun for your group. If time permits see GMR & Indy. I doubt you'll be able to do all that by 6pm but try your best. MGM is a small park & easy to get around. Is there any way you can leave later for your condo & see Fantasmic? I think you should drive your own car & that would save you a bit of time.
Ok, that being said, if it were me, I would spend the entire time at EPCOT. One full day, one half day (evening) & one day until 6pm is enough time to do most everything I think.
Have fun!

 

[Shagley]

Thanks for the advice Erin! This will be my first trip to WDW (we have been to DL about 6 times as kids), so even though it will be a quick trip, I can't wait!! This will be the first of many, I am sure of that.