November '16 Girls Trip Advice....lend me your ear.

[jones1jc]

Hey y'all! I'm still fairly new at the DIS and I've mostly been a lurker...just got back from my first trip to the parks in about a decade, so the first one I fully planned, because I'm a grown up now It was also my DS(5)'s first trip AND I got to surprise my 11 year old sister by taking her along for her first visit...Overall it was a smashing success! And the boards here helped so much in making it smooth, especially taking two kids in two different age categories by myself. NOW I'm back because I GET TO GO BACK THIS YEAR!!!! What!? The second trip (holy moly, that's so amazing to me, 2 trips in one year, never thought I'd have the opportunity) is going to be an adults only, girls trio for me and 4 of my sorority sisters from college. I'm very excited and I took point on organizing the trip.
This is where all of you wonderful people at the DIS come in (again, this really is a lovely resource for Disney lovers). I'm trying to start making the preliminary itinerary (that ADR window is approaching fast, you know).
So here's the breakdown, we'll be at Disney from Novemer 3-6 staying at the cabins at Fort Wilderness...I'm going down a day early to spend some time with my best friend who works for Disney. Since we have limited time and it's a first trip for 3 of the girls, I'm trying to pack in 'Greatest hits' magic. Annnd one day is devoted to Universal, because you know, Harry Potter. Anywho, my plan is essentially to have 1.5 days for Disney. We've already agreed to concentrate on just MK and EPCOT. Cool. Where you all come in is giving me a little feedback on my plan for accomplishing this.
We are purchasing park hopper tickets, so my idea is to do an Epcot half day, with a Magic Kingdom evening (EMH is showing for that date currently), then on departure day (we're all taking flights that depart after 6 PM) doing an MK morning. We're 5 adults and I'm approaching this as a highlights type of thing, so I feel lied as long as the EMH doesn't change, this is workable. The other option would be to do Magic Kingdom for the whole day, then EPCOT on departure day...but seeing as it's food and wine and there's the opportunity to get sloshed (sorry, not sorry) that's not my favorite option. So, darling DISers, give me your advice...considering the time table and the goal, what seems like the better option?

 

[danny1649]

First see if either park as early entry or late night extra hours. Make sure to book your Fast Passes and Dining reservations ASAP. Have a basic plan of things you really want to enjoy and what you would skip to another trip . If you fall behind your schedule a bit just go on and come back later . Please don't get stressed out it will ruin your trip.

 

[jones1jc]

First see if either park as early entry or late night extra hours. Make sure to book your Fast Passes and Dining reservations ASAP. Have a basic plan of things you really want to enjoy and what you would skip to another trip . If you fall behind your schedule a bit just go on and come back later . Please don't get stressed out it will ruin your trip.

Magic Kingdom currently has evening EMH scheduled. That's what I'm banking on, any way. I just wanted to make sure it didn't seem totally crazy to split the day that way. Whew! On the trip this month I used the Lines app and the Undercover Tourist app, along with our fast passes to make it less stressful and more go with the flow. We didn't wait in line any longer than 20 minutes for anything...and we just looped back to it later if the waits changed. That's my plan for November, too. If it worked with kids, it would work with adults too, right? Thanks so much for responding and giving me a little confidence in my plan before I start making ADR's next week.

 

[BippidiBoppidi]

Ok, so I have been on two separate trips that I think will be helpful in giving a little advice. The first was in college (2007, so some things have changed) with 3 friends (two guys, two girls...one of the guys worked at Disney in the past so we had a little insider help). Then I took my DH for the first time in 2014. Here are some of the things we did that worked:

When I went with friends, we only did one day at Disney. Morning at Epcot, we did one quick pass through the WS. At the time, not everyone was 21, so we didn't get to partake in the drinking around the world. So I'm sure you would spend longer there with your group. We did spend 2 hours waiting to ride Soarin' and also did Mission Space.
Then took to monorail to HS for a few rides, which it sounds like you girls weren't planning on doing anyway.
Finally, we headed to MK. We were probably in MK by early afternoon (around 3 or so). Rode a few rides, watched a couple of shows...everything was jam-packed for sure, but we got a lot of the highlights in. It was my BFF's first trip to Disney, too, so we even did quick "first-timer" things like the teacups.
Dinner reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern (at the time they had Character Dining for dinner there, so we got to meet the whole gang...not sure if they still do that). It was a good place for us because it wasn't as crowded and had good food everyone enjoyed. Of course, we also got the best of the best for character photos, which was great for avoiding the lines for that in the park.
We ended the night watching Wishes in front of the castle. It was a jam-packed day, but so memorable...looking back, I can't believe it was only one day, it felt like more!

Then I took my DH...it was his first trip and of course I wanted him to be impressed so he would be excited to go back. Definitely wanted to get in all of the iconic Disney things I could! We did Disney Springs the night we arrived (no park tickets that day), which was great because it got us in the Disney spirit and there were still plenty of things to do and see.
First day we spent entirely at MK. Rode SM about 6 times, had FP+ planned throughout the day. We just did a quick meal for lunch. We went back to the room late afternoon and had a pizza, time to relax. We were sweaty from being out all day so got showers and changed clothes for dinner. We had dinner at CRT....DH actually proposed during dinner. But I will say it was also nice to have a fancy meal, and meet all the princesses! That might be fun for a girl's trip. We didn't get to watch Wishes (we could see it going on from inside at our table, but I'm looking forward to DH seeing a whole show).
Our second day we spent half at HS and the second half at MK. Dinner was at BoG, which was our favorite meal! We had reservations but got there early and asked to eat in the West Wing, so had to wait about 30 minutes. We LOVED the atmosphere there, had a great server, wine with dinner, and got to meet Beast. I would recommend BoG over CRT but both were great. We also had time to shop around and just sightsee all the Disney must-sees! We did go to Frontierland during the evening parade. Since we don't have kids, we aren't too into the parades right now and we rode Splash Mountain twice and Thunder Mountain a few times. You get "stuck" over there until the parade is over, but that's not a bad thing because there's less of a crowd.

Long post, but I hope I gave you something helpful! We are planning on doing a half day at Epcot in October, and booked an extra night for exactly the reason you don't want to do it a morning before you leave Overall, I definitely think a half day at Epcot and two half days at MK are perfect!

 

[aussie_princess]

Since you'e staying at Fort Wilderness, may I suggest having breakfast one morning at Trails End? I'm a little biased because it's my favorite, but it really is the best breakfast buffet on property (I mean they have chocolate chip Mickey Waffles!) and because it's literally right next to the boat dock, after you've eaten you can just hop a boat over to MK and the monorail.