Newly-ish-weds! Please critique our itinerary :)

[MinnieEsq]

Hey folks! First-time poster here, so excited to be jumping into the fray. I've always loved WDW, and was lucky enough to have parents who indulged me repeatedly during my childhood. Now I'm planning my first trip with my husband (got married this past fall), and am trying to make the most of it, so I'd love any wisdom on improving the itinerary we've got so far.

Key background details are as follows: We're a (currently) child-free couple, ages 27 and 29, headed on this trip as just the two of us. We'll be in WDW from May 9 - 14, staying at the Yacht Club, on the DxDDP. Our aim is to enjoy some great food and, while in the parks, enjoy as many attractions as interest us, all without going commando or feeling too overscheduled. I'm hoping we can take afternoon breaks from the parks when needed, especially on days with nighttime spectaculars we'd like to see. DH enjoys thrill rides but I'm a mild-to-moderate chicken, so we've purposely directed FP+ away from some of the big-&-scaries (e.g. Tower of Terror, Rock n Roller Coaster); however it's worth mentioning that I can handle things like BTMRR without a problem, so if people think it's worth considering some of the thrill rides I've left out, please pipe up!

With that preamble out of the way, our itinerary is below, put together based on recommended park days and tips I've picked up based on lots of reading on this board and elsewhere. Most help is needed on the MK and HS days, but all commentary is greatly desired and appreciated!

May 9 - Animal Kingdom
Flight gets in mid-morning
FP+ at Kilimanjaro Safari, 2 - 3pm
FP+ at Kali River Rapids, 3:40 - 4:40pm
FP+ at Expedition Everest, 5 - 6pm
ADR at Jiko, 7:30pm

May 10 - EPCOT
ADR at Captain's Grille, 7:30am
[aiming to arrive for RD at International Gateway and head straight to Soarin']
FP+ at Living with the Land, 9:40 - 10:40am
FP+ at Spaceship Earth, 10:40 - 11:40am
FP+ at Test Track, 12 - 1pm
[The idea is to move toward WS after Test Track, and use snack credits for lunch at the F&G kiosks.]
ADR at Yachtsman Steakhouse, 6:30pm
Return to EPCOT for Illuminations

May 11 - Hollywood Studios
[Debating whether to arrive at RD on this day ... ]
FP+ at Great Movie Ride, 11:10 - 12:10pm
FP+ at Star Tours, 12:15 - 1:15
ADR for Fantasmic Dining Package, Mama Melrose, 1:30
FP+ at TSMM, 2:55 - 3:55

May 12 - EPCOT, Redux
[No RD for this day, it's mainly intended as a low-key WS day - hence the peculiar FP+ choices, which will probably go unused.]
ADR for character breakfast at Cape May Cafe, 8:30am
FP+ at Soarin', 11:20am - 12:20pm
FP+ at Turtle Talk w/ Crush, 2:45 - 3:45pm
FP+ at The Seas w/ Nemo, 3:45 - 4:45pm
ADR at Fulton's Crab House, 8pm

May 13 - Magic Kingdom
[Arriving for RD, planning to head left toward Adventure- and Frontierlands first.]
FP+ at Big Thunder Mountain, 10 - 11am
(Would love to stop at Columbia Harbor House for lunch somewhere in here.)
FP+ at Space Mountain, 12:50 - 1:50pm
FP+ at Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, 1:55 - 2:55pm
ADR at Narcoosee's, 9:05pm (to see Wishes!)

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! Looking forward to chatting about the trip with everyone. For me, the planning is half the fun

 

[MinnieEsq]

Bump for the morning crowd. Got a bit lost in the overnight shuffle there

 

[Disflyer]

Welcome to the boards and congrats on the wedding!

A few questions, you say your flight gets in mid morning but what time? Are you driving, getting a taxi, or using MDE?

It will be a few hours from you land until you travel to the hotel, check in, get lunch, and finally get to the park.

If you land at 10AM it could easily stretch to 1:00 by the time you get to your room (if using MDE). Then to get on a bus and rush to KS you are right at 2pm. Doable yes but tight.

Looks like fun!

 

[MinnieEsq]

Thanks for the reply, Disflyer!

Our flight gets in at 11am, and as of now we're using ME and then internal WDW transportation. We are considering renting a car once we get onto the property (likely using the Alamo/National desk at the Dolphin), but we're not to sure on that since of course we may want to enjoy drinks with some of our dinners, and the responsibility of driving back to our resort afterward would put a bit of a damper on that.

On arrival day, we're fine with holding out on having lunch until we've arrived at AK to be sure we make any FP+ windows we've booked.

 

[denneg]

Congrats on the wedding! My DH and I had many fun Pre-kid trips, so I'll try to give you some ideas!


First, on you HS day, I know you don't like ToT, but if DH would want to go alone, I'd trade the Great Movie Ride for that. You could stand in line with him and enjoy the Pre-ride stuff, then use the chicken door (not my words, no offense meant!) and meet him after. RnR has a single rider line, so you could do the same there and both stand in line, watch the show, and you can exit out when he gets on.

I feel like you need more ADRs? Or is that my imagination?

If you have the energy one night, take advantage of staying on the Boardwalk area and go to Jellyrolls. Get a table to fully enjoy!

I say skip the car. You can easily walk or take the boat to Epcot and HS, and getting back from later nights, it's easier to jump on a bus.

 

[MinnieEsq]

Congrats on the wedding! My DH and I had many fun Pre-kid trips, so I'll try to give you some ideas!


First, on you HS day, I know you don't like ToT, but if DH would want to go alone, I'd trade the Great Movie Ride for that. You could stand in line with him and enjoy the Pre-ride stuff, then use the chicken door (not my words, no offense meant!) and meet him after. RnR has a single rider line, so you could do the same there and both stand in line, watch the show, and you can exit out when he gets on.

I feel like you need more ADRs? Or is that my imagination?

If you have the energy one night, take advantage of staying on the Boardwalk area and go to Jellyrolls. Get a table to fully enjoy!

I say skip the car. You can easily walk or take the boat to Epcot and HS, and getting back from later nights, it's easier to jump on a bus.

That's a great idea about using the chicken exits (no offense taken! LOL) and letting him ride alone, I'll definitely ask him if he'd like to do that. If I did switch out ToT or RnR for my GMR FP+, would it be more important to arrive at RD if I want to be sure to get on GMR without much of a wait?

As for ADRs, for a lot of lunches I figured we'd do counter-service; I'm trying to avoid mid-day ADRs so we have more freedom to roam the park. Also, all of the dinners we have scheduled are 2 credits because they're Signature dining, so we're using up more DxDDP credits than it probably looks like at first glance. Will we run into much trouble aiming for counter-service lunches sometimes, or deciding on the fly to do breakfast at the hotel without an ADR? Captain's Grille for breakfast doesn't seem to be too much in demand so I thought we might be alright as walk-ins if necessary. (I see us ending up there a few times because I hear they have Mickey waffles! )

 

[denneg]

No, you shouldn't have any trouble using CS or even trying for walk up at sit down places for breakfast or dinner! If you go back to the pool or get a late start one day, the Boardwalk Bakery is one of our favorites for lunch (and you can do a good breakfast there too, but no waffles!). The sandwiches are delicious, you get a beautiful pastry for dessert, and a good selection of drinks. Great bang for you DDP buck! We will use snack credits there and bring breakfast stuff or dessert back to the room, too. It's a nice switch from the fast food choices in the park!

Tell DH that once you have kids, you end up riding alone a lot, so no one thinks its strange! May will be our first trip where one of us will be off with our new baby, and the other will ride with our 5 year old, then we swap. So DS gets to go twice on everything, lucky kid!

Oh, and I'm not sure about the Great Movie Ride, I've never heard of a long wait for it, but we are all thrill riders and skip it! Best suggestion is to look at MDE the week before and get an idea on wait times. That will help give you an idea! Even the day before you go into the park, you can peek and see how it is.

 

[Clare]

I second the suggestion to visit Jellyrolls - it is super, super fun!

 

[MinnieEsq]

Awesome, thanks for those tips! Definitely going to try to work in a trip to Jellyrolls.

Does anyone have thoughts on our set-up for the day in the Magic Kingdom? Only having 3 FP+ selections for that day is a bit worrisome, so working it right seems to be more of a challenge.

 

[MinnieEsq]

Last bump (promise ) for the evening set. Thanks!

 

[zdad]

I can see from the FP and dinner times that you have breaks and relaxation in your plan, but I would suggest that actually put those break time into the written plan. Staying on site, its easy for you to get back to your resort and chill. We found that planning a few hours each day to specifically relax is the key to enjoying the entire time. You noted not wanting to be a park commando, and this is one way to help.

The other thing we find as a good "relaxer" is to plan a 1/2 hour every time you are in the park to just sit and people watch. we usually do it with a Mickey Bar in hand.

Other than that you have a good plan in place. Make sure you know the Extra Magic Hours for the parks each day of your visit. Its a great way to get in super early. We find the late night extra magic hours tend to be crowded and we usually avoid them.

Have a GREAT time.

 

[mom2cgj]

I think your plan looks great. The only thing I would be concerned about is making the Safari FP with your flight time. If you get lucky and your flight is on time and ME goes quickly, you'll be fine. If not, it might be close. However, with the way you have the rest of the FP and ADRs for the day, I wouldn't change it. Just something to keep in mind! Have a great trip!!