Newbie Tour Schedule, Help Requested.

[FayeW]

We are planning our first "real" trip to the world in Oct. (We went to Orlando 2 yrs ago, but MK was the only WDW park we did at that time). We are travelling with another family of first timers, and we really don't know how much time to allow for the parks. We are doing US/IOA/TL & DQ as well, so we really only have 1 day for each attraction, but since it is so inexpensive to take a 7 day ticket vs 4 day ticket, we all will have enough days on our passes that we can pop in to a particular park after spending the day elsewhere, so we will have time for an extra evening or 2 at Epcot or MGM, etc. With that in mind,how much time should we allow for MGM? Is this a full day, commando style park, or should we plan an early morning at AK followed by the late afternoon/evening at MGM? I am trying to figure out some kind of plan because we will be booking the FDP, and I'm not sure what day to schedule it for. Should I just pick an MGM day, make my FDP reservation and be done with it, and hope that there is enough to keep us busy all day?

 

[kilee]

If you give MGM 1 full day-- you will in fact be able to do enough. You will be able to get a really good "dose" of the park. If you want to split it up and only go in the evening you may miss some of the major attractions due to extrememly longer waits and no FP's available. If you can take the time to give 1 park each full day then I'd go that route.

 

[StormalongKay]

I'd agree with Kilee. While you can walk MGM and do most of the rides in under one full day, if you want to catch the shows you will have some wait time. Beauty and the Beast is worth it!

If you decide to stay the full day, book a Fantasmic dinner package. Last time we did the Hollywood Brown Derby and really enjoyed it. Then your seating for Fantasmic is guaranteed so you cut down on the wait time at the end of your day.

Have a great trip!


PS - we always allow 2 days for MK since we like to do the rides there at least twice!!

 

[FayeW]

I'd agree with Kilee. While you can walk MGM and do most of the rides in under one full day, if you want to catch the shows you will have some wait time. Beauty and the Beast is worth it!

If you decide to stay the full day, book a Fantasmic dinner package. Last time we did the Hollywood Brown Derby and really enjoyed it. Then your seating for Fantasmic is guaranteed so you cut down on the wait time at the end of your day.

Have a great trip!


PS - we always allow 2 days for MK since we like to do the rides there at least twice!!

Thanks, we have planned to book the Fantasmic Dinner Package at H & V. I'm guessing that we may be able to get on some popular rides while non FDP people are starting to line up.

One full day at MK should be enough, as we are considering booking MNSSHP, but haven't decided yet. We would do that on AK day, I think, because the family travelling with us will probably not buy hopper passes, and AK closes usually closes earlier than the other parks.

 

[kilee]

Just remember not to try to overplan things. Somtimes doing too much can kill the magic. A nice constant balance is really great. Going to a park all day, then going to MNSSHP all night-- I would really suggest taking the next day off. It will get to be a bit too much.

I took 9 newbies in 11/03, then 1 in 3/04. The biggest complaint from the first group was after 3 days they wanted a break. They felt it was just too much going, going, going. I was thinking I wanted them to see as much as possible. So, I really toned it down the remainder of that trip as well as with our 3/04 trip and things went much better.

 

[FayeW]

Yes, we are trying to plan some activities to act as a "relax" day i.e a couple of big park days, and then TL, another couple of big days, then maybe Blizzard Beach or Disney Quest. We have a lot to do, and nine days to do it in. My biggest problem is trying to decide what to do the first day. We will be staying at Sheraton Safari, and I know that after getting up early ( 5:30 am) that we won't want a highly planned, late night and the kids will want to use the waterslide. Any suggestions?

 

[Tjaleks]

Could someone please enlighten me as to what a Fantasmic Dinner Package includes.

Thanks in advance You guys and gals are awesome and have already helped me greatly.