Opinion on Trip Plans

[Trina7020]

Here is sort of my "Game Plan" I am travelling with a 2 and 3 year old.

Sunday: Arrive MCO at 10am... ME to POP.. no theme parks. Maybe Downtown Disney... CHef Mickey's for dinner

Monday: MK
Tuesday: Epcot
Wed: Studios
Thurs: MK
Friday:

We were going to skip Animal Kingdom this time. But then somebody told me that we don't necessarily need a whole day there. I have an ADR at Tuskers for 8am so we would be ready to hit Animal Kingdom shortly after they opened. Right now my flight home leaves at 6:35... I am guessing Magical Express time would be 3:45ish... So we would have to leave Animal Kingdom 2:300/3:00. Is that enough time for that park? Too rushed for the kids?

The other option is to change my flight to one that leave 8:30ish... but then we won't be home until nearly midnight.

What do you think?

Thanks
Trina

 

[dzneelvr]

On day one, I'd do a ressie at DTD rather than taking buses all the way over to MK for Chef Mickey and then on to the transportation center to get another bus to DTD--that's alot of travel on one day. Or you could eat in at POP and take a direct bus to DTD. Chef Mickey could be on one of your MK days and ride the monorail around the lagoon to MK. When our DD and DS were little, they loved the section of AK that had the kids petting zoo and area plus the safari. I'd go ahead and do that one section hopefully finding time for the new NEMO show--it's spectacular I'd skip EPCOT altogether and spend more time at AK. It's got alot for smaller kids now. I've never been a big fan of going to a park on the last day. With all the packing, etc. it just seems to work out better for us to spend the day at the resort sleeping in, swimming, buying last minute gifts at the shops, maybe walking around one last time for pictures, etc. If you do go to a park you have to figure in the bus time to/from and you absolutely don't want to be late for your airport connection. With a 2 and a 3yo, less can be more, if you know what I mean.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[Trina7020]

Thanks!

What is in DTD for the kids to see? Maybe I should skip that? I was just thinking it was something to do until our 6:20 Chef Mickey's ADR... which I really want to open our trip with.

I know we won't see all of AK in 4-5 hours, but I think we will do it anyway.. lol

 

[PEANUT1]

Don't miss animal kingdom. It's amazing. Even if you only do the safari, its tough to be a bug and the lion king show..its worth it.

 

[d1gitman]

Thanks!

What is in DTD for the kids to see? Maybe I should skip that? I was just thinking it was something to do until our 6:20 Chef Mickey's ADR... which I really want to open our trip with.

I know we won't see all of AK in 4-5 hours, but I think we will do it anyway.. lol

traveling with 2 & 3 yr old, i would skip DTD. travel time is very long to DTD. our experience w/DTD travel times from POP, POFQ, Sports is about 1 hr. each way, all during sept-oct time frames (crowds are not too heavy then). DTD is shops and restaurants and Disneyquest. While the kids will love the stores and the mini legoland, IMHO, one goes to Disney for Disney, not just shopping and food. If you had more time, DTD would be fine.

a few questions...is this your first trip to WDW? what time are you arriving on Sunday? what time are you leaving on Friday? any chance you are able to do Sat-Sat or Sat-Sun? Assuming you are flying, your flight should cost about the same regardless of how many nights at WDW. Your park passes will virtually the same cost for 5 days all the way up to 10 days. You can save on base MYW passes, skip the hopping and fun n more option. The added expense would be hotel & food. If my info is accurate, the value resorts don't whack you for Fri & Sat night rates like the rest of the resorts.

Anyway, to answer your question, I would do:

Sun: Arrive at resort by noonish, afternoon & evening at MK
Mon: AK (it closes at 5:00)
Tues: sleep in, do pool at a resort, Epcot in afternoon-evening (don't need to do whole park for 2-3 yr. olds) Innoventions, soarin, nemo, outdoor fountains, fireworks are biggest attractions for little ones
Wed: Hollywood Studios (MGM) - lots for the little ones
Thurs: MK
Fri: travel home.

We have tried squeezing in a park on our travel day on 2 trips and hated it. We felt rushed and it just ended our trip on an extra exhausting note.

If you can squeeze in extra days on the trip, i would do it. at that point i would add the water park option. Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach have awesome kiddy areas.

We try to have a "down day" after every 2 days of pounding the pavement at parks.

our little ones are currently 7&2. We have gone in 00,04,05,05,05,06,07 and soon to be 08...

Good luck and get lots of photos of your little ones being amazed by Disney.

 

[Trina7020]

This is our first trip to Disney... well I went when I was a little girl, but my husband as never been nor have the kids.

Our flight lands at MCO at 10:00am on Sunday. Not sure how long it will take us to get to POP and all that stuff.


We are looking at two flights... I have to decide Monday so we can book... on we would leave MCO at 6:30 and the other is 8:30... so we will be there almost all day Sunday.

Thank You for the input! It is almost overwhelming to me and I don't want to make the kids miserable in the process!

 

[Trina7020]

Ok.. looking at some info it might be cheaper to add an extra day...


So if we arrive Saturday evening... How would you plan your stay with a 2 and 3 year old?

Sun -
Mon -
Tues -
Wed -
Thurs-
Fri - Flight Leaves at 6:35PM

 

[englishrose47]

Check out Toring plans .com they give you the best days for each park crowd wise I know Tues is best for MK. Next in DTD is a huge lego store that kids love. There really aren't kid orientated restauarants downtown although PH is neat, Epcot'sInnoventions is awesome for kids and cool for parents too . FREE OF CHARGE THEY CAN BUILD A ROBOT AND THERE ARE LOTS OF THINGS GEARED FOR LITTLE ONES. Also Club Kools close by with free pop from around the world. Character meets abound in Epcot I wouldn't missit for little ones . They probably wouldn't care for the world but the Seas and Turtle Talk and the Land boat ride are neat. At MGM try Hollywood and Vine with the li'l Einsteins I think they would love that, CP at Mk with Pooh is great too . Plan on a mid day break little ones need it and Pop is a great family resort to relax at. Better to take a break and maybe get out again for the fireworks later. Just don't try to see it all cuz you can't. Use FP whenever you can and have agood touring plan that fits your needs!! Finally enjoy the Magic!!

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[Trina7020]

What about....

Sat - Arrive
Sun - Animal Kingdom
Mon - Magic Kingdom
Tues - Epcot
Wed - Hollywood Studios
Thursday - MK again
Friday - Plane leaves at 6:35PM so maybe DTD if we felt like it.


Do you think MK should always be first? Of course I paid NO attention to EMH when I made that schedule... lol

Or is this better? I would have to call and change a bunch of ADRs though. I am not sure we would use all the EMH.. but since we don't have hoppers it would be nice if we wanted to come let the boys nap and then go back... I can do that right? As long as we only go into the same park during the single day?

Sat - Arrive
Sun - Magic Kingdom (Evening EMH)
Mon- Animal Kingdom (Evening EMH)
Tues - Epcot (Evening EMH)
Wed - Hollywood Studios (Evening EMH)
Thurs - Magic Kingdom (Evening EMH)
Friday - Plane leaves at 6:35PM so maybe DTD if we felt like it.

What do you think?

 

[brymolmom]

Yes - you can leave and return to the SAME park on the same day even without hoppers - so I love your idea to do the parks with evening extra hours just in case you go back and want to stay a little later.

I think your plans look great. I agree with pp's who said that traveling far on day #1 just for a meal would be tough - you're just getting used to things and if you have an early flight (which it sounds like since you get in at 10) - the kids may want a nap - you don't want to have to wake them, change them and hurry them to dinner - too much stress on day 1.

I have been with my two at ages 2 (dd) and 3 (ds) when we go in 3 weeks they will be 4 and 5 this trip. I do not agree with the skip EPCOT thoughts of some - my kids really like it - Spaceship earth, Nemo, turtle talk, figment - playing in Kodak area after, playing in the 'tubes' in the exit area of Mission Space while mom and dad ride, splashing in the splash areas, seeing Voices of liberty - riding Maelstrom and the Mexico ride - coloring masks, seeing the acrobats. IMO - way more to do than AK or Studios (although my kids do LOVE 2 or 3 things at each of those parks).

One of the pp's suggested Tough to Be a Bug - unless your kids are not scared easily at all - I would skip it (or sit right near an exit) - my 4 year old still does NOT like it at all and has screamed the 2 times we've tried it.

 

[irene_dsc]

What about....

Sat - Arrive
Sun - Animal Kingdom
Mon - Magic Kingdom
Tues - Epcot
Wed - Hollywood Studios
Thursday - MK again
Friday - Plane leaves at 6:35PM so maybe DTD if we felt like it.


Do you think MK should always be first? Of course I paid NO attention to EMH when I made that schedule... lol

Or is this better? I would have to call and change a bunch of ADRs though. I am not sure we would use all the EMH.. but since we don't have hoppers it would be nice if we wanted to come let the boys nap and then go back... I can do that right? As long as we only go into the same park during the single day?

Sat - Arrive
Sun - Magic Kingdom (Evening EMH)
Mon- Animal Kingdom (Evening EMH)
Tues - Epcot (Evening EMH)
Wed - Hollywood Studios (Evening EMH)
Thurs - Magic Kingdom (Evening EMH)
Friday - Plane leaves at 6:35PM so maybe DTD if we felt like it.

What do you think?

What time of year are you going - and how late are the hours? (Off peak season, the parks close a lot earlier) Because, I found that going back to the resort in the middle of the day took a LOT of time. We almost always waited 15 minutes or so for our bus, and then you have the bus ride itself (both ways). If you think the kids will fall asleep on the bus and then you can transfer them, sleeping, it might work, but my dd3.5 didn't take a nap the entire time. But then, she doesn't always take a nap normally, and if there is anything exciting going on, you can be sure she won't fall asleep! We did go back to swim a couple of times, but it wasn't really relaxing, because we had early ADR's to make, and a 6 y/o has a hard time understanding that we need to get out of the pool at 3 pm to go to dinner!

We ended up alternating long days with short days, fwiw, and I avoided EMH days because I thought they would be more crowded. And since we were there the 1st week of January, the parks were open late enough with normal hours that I didn't feel the need for extra hours.

There are also different schools of thought about how to order the parks - as you can see! I was *going* to start with MK, but when I couldn't get my 1900 Park Fare ADR the night I wanted, I reconsidered, and decided to ramp up to MK, instead. I think that was a good idea, since it gave the kids a chance to experience Epcot & AK at a slower pace before MK made them think it should be all about the rides, iykwim.

Another thing to consider is having a complete down day, or at least, half-day, hanging out at the resort pool.

 

[Gillian]

I'd also skip it's tough to be a bug....cute, but just not worth the chance that your little ones will be terrified.

 

[Wendybird55]

It's so darn hard to figure out what to do so far in advance but because you need to make ADRs you have to. You never know what your kids will like and not like and your plans could change based on their reactions. For your first day - I will play it by ear..Depending on when you get to your hotel your room may or may not be ready - also you probably will be hungry and want some lunch. Once you're settled in at your hotel you will see what time it is and how everyone feels. YOu may want to relax by the pool and then go to Chef Mickeys. The kids may be all riled up and want to go to a park. If that's the case I would go to MK since it's close to Chef Mickeys. Or after you relax at the hotel and check it out, you may just want to head over to the Monorail Hotels. The kids would probably enjoy riding the monorail and you can stop at the different hotels and look around before you go to dinner. Downtown Disney in the afternoon is just shopping. There's Disney Quest which is all interactive and video games (extra cost). Pleasure Island (you don't have to pay to get in during day) has shops as well. There's the lego shop which the kids might like because they can play with legos and such and there's the big World of Disney store. But if I were you, to avoid taking a bunch of buses. I would head toward MK and either go to the hotels or spend a little time there before your Chef Mickey dinner.

As far as flying home. I am going in Sept. with my son who will be 23 months. I was very tempted to book the later flight at 7-something to have more time in the park, but decied to go with the earlier 3:58 flight. I figured it would be too long a day for my son plus we have to check out of the hotel early so there's no place to go to rest if we need to. Also the later flight weould mean we'd be at the airport around his dinner time and then he might be tired and fussy on the plane. Plus I read a thread here where a parent said omne of the worst things she did on her tri[ was book a late flight. Her kid and other kids on the plane were miserable.
You may want to check the park schedule and see if any park has early morning hours on the day you leave. If so you may want to go to that park because of th extra time. AK can be done in the morning. For some reason I just find that park the most confusing to get around - especially the first time I went there. So just make sure you know what attractiuons you want to see before you have to head back for ME.

No matter what you decide to do - you'll do what's best for your family and have a great time! Wendy

 

[Trina7020]

Thanks ladies... I have never been so overwhelmed!

My 3 year (Who will be about to turn 4) when we go in June only naps about 1 or 2 days a week anyway.. and even then it was only by 'accident'... my 2 year still naps daily. He is a "sleep where ever he is kinda kid" so I know he will nap in his stroller... which brings me to my other debate of bringing a stroller versus renting..

I don't want to overwhelm them either and I want everyone to have a good time.

I changed our travel plans...

We will actually be arrive like 8pm Sat. night...

Our flight leaves 635 Friday night....

My plan was kinda

S- MK
M-AK
T-EPCOT
W - Studios
T - MK
F - back to their choice

But that doesn't really provide much down time... unless maybe we don't spend whole days in AK, EPCOT, Studios....

UGH!!! This is supposed to be fun!! lol Thanks for the help though!