Newbie with a few questions??

[Blackrose]

Hello all,
I have not been a member long, as you can see this is my first post. My wife and I have decided to plunge into disneyworld. I have never been and am just drowning in all the stuff to read. Could anyone tell me just a basic itinerary? I am going from June 17-25. I bought the MYW+ tickets with the hopper add on and am curious if I can upgrade more to the dining as well? When you get the menu, when using this plan, are there restricitons on what you can order off the menu at say , a sit down service? Also, we are staying on site at the pop century and are curious how we get to the resort from the orlando mco airport? Im sure Ill have a ton of other questions, but that is all for now. Thank you very much!

 

[tjkraz]

Welcome!

Don't stress too much. Your 8-9 days is pleanty of time to see a lot (I'd never say "everything") without having to plan too much. Besides, I think it's really hard to plan a trip when you're going in totally blind with no prior experiences.

With regard to an itinerary, here are a couple of tips:

1. Check the official park hours and the evening special events on each night. There are often events that do not occur every night of the week. A good example is the SpectroMagic parade at the Magic Kingdom which often only runs 3-4 nights per week. Consider which of these activities you want to attend, and plan accordingly.

2. Since you are staying at a Disney resort you have access to Extra Magic Hours. The EMH schedule for June should certainly be posted by now. Every day at least one park will open an hour early OR stay open 3 hours late EXCLUSIVELY for guests staying at WDW resorts. The general rule of thumb is that if you don't want to take advantage of EMH (particularly the early morning EMH) then avoid that park for the day since it will draw larger crowds as the day goes on. We were at WDW just a week ago and had great success with the nighttime EMH. But, I don't know if you'll be staying out that late or not. If the posted closing time for a park is 10pm, ALL guests can stay that late--the EMH for Disney Resort guests only would run from 10pm to 1am.

Since you already have your park tickets, I'm not certain that you can add the dining at this point. I was under the impression that the dining package was only offered to those who purchased everything (room, tickets, meals) at once. Try posting on the restaurants board for a more precise answer.

With regard to airport transportation, you're in luck. Disney is currently providing FREE transfers to/from MCO under the heading of Disney's Magical Express. Check the Transporation board for more info, and do it soon because there are deadlines for signing up. But it is absolutely free, so be sure to take advantage. Just remember that without a rental car you'll be limited to Disney property. But I suspect WDW has enough to keep you busy on this first trip.

Hope that helps.

 

[Blackrose]

Thank you very much. We booked through a travel agent, but have not recieved any information yet. =(

 

[KayleeUK]

Just wanted to say Welcome to the DIS

 

[Blackrose]

thank you very much.

 

[vascubaguy]

Hello all,
I have not been a member long, as you can see this is my first post. My wife and I have decided to plunge into disneyworld. I have never been and am just drowning in all the stuff to read. Could anyone tell me just a basic itinerary? I am going from June 17-25. I bought the MYW+ tickets with the hopper add on and am curious if I can upgrade more to the dining as well? When you get the menu, when using this plan, are there restricitons on what you can order off the menu at say , a sit down service? Also, we are staying on site at the pop century and are curious how we get to the resort from the orlando mco airport? Im sure Ill have a ton of other questions, but that is all for now. Thank you very much!

There is indeed MUCH to read and people on here will gladly provide you with more to read.

Tjkraz covered most things you mentioned. If you visit websites such as allearsnet.com you can find things like park attendance on certain days. It can be very helpful in planning which parks you go to on which days. MK on a Saturday is typically a bad thing to do.

As for adding the dining plan, since you have the MYW package you can add on the dining. Just have your travel agent add it for you if you decide to go with that. I have been watching the reviews on this and some people are saving about 50% on food! However, they are eating at places they wouldn't normally eat and ordering things they wouldn't normally get. I plan on doing the exact same thing while I'm there (I have the MYW with dining). Also, on the plan you are NOT restricted on what you can order from the menu. Currently, the only exception is Wolfgang Puck's and Planet Hollywood which set a $ limit on the price of the entree (if you order over that, you pay the difference. however, at wolfgang pucks, there's only 1 entree over the set limit and it's only a couple dollars more). For the table service you get your pick of an appetizer, entree, dessert and non-alcoholic beverage (per person). Counter service: 1 combo meal, drink, dessert; or 1 entree, drink, dessert.

***If you decide to go with the dining plan, you should probably add that pretty soon and then try and make some priority seating requests (advanced reservations). Most of the more popular places are booking up pretty quick, so the sooner the better. If you check out the restaurant board, you can get quite a few recommendations on places to eat (CRT, Le Cellier, Ohana, Boma, Jiko, etc etc etc)

If you have any other specific questions, please let us know and we'll help out any way we can.

Welcome aboard and get ready for a magical experience!!!!

 

[ckoncurat]

From allears.net:
A recent inquiry of Disney regarding which days to visit which parks had the following response:

"During regular attendance periods, our parks tend to be the busiest on the following days:

Magic Kingdom: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday

Epcot: Tuesday and Friday

Disney-MGM Studios: Sunday and Wednesday

Disney's Animal Kingdom: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday"

I would reccomend getting a guidebook to get ideas of which attractions you really want to see. I like the "unofficial guide to walt disney world" for its user comments and touring plans.

In my opinion, the biggest factor that makes people love or hate disney is crowds and lines. If you familiarize yourself with the parks and attractions, ALWAYS get to the parks at or before opening times, use fastpasses and avoid bottlenecks, you can do very well.

 

[DZNYMGCFAM]

Hi and welcome !! I can recommend this..as one person already said, check the park hours and events for every day and night you are planning on being in the parks. Then figure out what days and times you would like to be in certain parks (shows, parades you want to see, etc.). Once you have that figured out then decide what restaurants you want to eat at, then make your dining reservations according to your park schedule. I find this to be very helpful. I forgot to do this one year and found myself calling and having to switch around my dining reservations, which can be tricky when you have some for restaurants that reservations fill up fast!! I wanted to make sure we could take advantage of EMH!!

Have fun!!