our itinerary- please look!!

[amyrajo]

This is our first-ever trip to Disney World! (and we're finally doing the single-digit dance!!!)
Would you mind taking a look at our park schedule?? Is there something that I'm missing, or advice/suggestions you can give?? Thanks!!
(Background - family consists of me, husband, son -age 5, daughter-age 9, we have 4 day hopper passes and we're staying on site)
Saturday - arrive about 2:00
check-in, and check out the resort,
swim, etc.
Chef Mickey's for Dinner at 7:00
Maybe Downtown Disney, if it doesn't get
too late
Sun. - MK all day - for Wishes at 9:00
(maybe a rest/swim back at the hotel, if
needed)
Monday- AK until after the parade, then head to
MGM to hit Fantasmic
Tues.- MGM, then later back to MK for Spectro
Wed. and Thurs. - Sea World and a day trip to the
beach or just relax at the hotel
Friday - morning - ?? maybe sleep in, then head to
Epcot and stay until Illuminations

***Rest breaks will be taken, as needed.

 

[dcmbshafe]

Here are my comments:

Saturday - Wishes will be shown at 9pm and, since you'll already be at the contemporary for Chef Mickey, you might consider going up to the observation deck to watch Wishes - alternatively, you could get on the monorail over to the Poly beach...might be a nice way to start - I LOVE doing Chef Mickey on the first night!!!

Sunday - understand that this is EMH day at MK, so the crowds will grow substantially as the day goes on and the park will be even more crowded than normal in the afternoon/evening - particularly if you take my advice and see Wishes the night before, I'd recommend hopping to a different park after your break. Also, if you're already planning on doing MK in the evening Tuesday, you can see Wishes from inside the park that night.

I like everything else - I would suggest you figure out how much time you want to spend at Epcot on Friday - you could potentially go to a different park that morning to do something you missed on your previous park days.

Only other suggestion is, rather than doing a day trip to the beach, consider doing one of the WDW water parks.

Have a great trip!!!

 

[diathoney]

Sunday is early entry at Magic Kingdom - good if you plan to get there early, but crowded later on once the regular crowd arrives. Magic Kingdom is probably THE most crowded park. Sunday may be a busy day with the Spring Break crowds. I know your kids will want to do MK first, but I would recommend swapping AK and MK.

If you are staying at a MK resort, you should try to catch the electric water parade.

Looks like you've got it covered!

 

[jaysue]

Where are you staying on-site?

thanks
jaysue

 

[XStAnt]

You're hitting all the EMH parks. I assume that is intentional and you plan on being there for EMH. If not, go to a different park that day.

On your last day I'd recommend going to Epcot early in the am to ride TT and MS. These rides have long lines later in the day and routinely run out of FPs. You can then leave Epcot for another park and return in the evening for Illuminations (if you don't want to stay at Epcot).

Don't forget to make some PSs. Any evening activities on your off day? Such as Cirque, HDDR, Luau, etc? Just a suggestion.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[amyrajo]

Such great comments/advice! It's REALLY appreciated!!
First of all, we'll be staying at AS-Movies. I did try to plan out the week based on the EE hours...I thought I had read that somewhere - that you should take advantage of that...Is this a mistake??!!
Secondly, we purposely didn't make a lot of PS arrangements...I didn't want to be a 'slave' to a food schedul...we have two reservations for the week- Chef Mickey's and Rainforest Cafe. Am I going to regret this???

Again - thank you SO much! I have found such invaluable information here!

 

[sbrown]

Our family is up early every day, so EE was a big plus for us. We got at least 3-4 attractions out of the way before the parks got crowded. We had 3 PS scheduled, and ended up cancelling all 3, because timing was just too unpredictable with my kids. This board is full of opinions - make choices that best suit your family, and you'll have a great time.

 

[kda]

The EE parks tend to get more and more crowded as the day goes on. Some people like to start out at the EE park and then switch (or keep it flexible and "consider switching") if it seems to get too crowded for you.

If you don't care if you have a sit down meal, or are prepared to eat early or late, PS's aren't so important. I like to schedule a few and we always play it by ear and cancel if we're not in the mood for that restaurant. Once I get to Disney, I also try to schedule a PS a day ahead, which works out fairly well. It's better than trying to wait until the last minute.

Looks like a great trip! And your plan to schedule in breaks, as needed, is very wise.

 

[jaysue]

Looks good to me - ASMovies is a fun resort

I would caution that MK all day on a Sunday including wishes is going to be a long haul - one way to catch a decent break is to take the monorail and grab lunch or early dinner at the CR or Poly or GF or even take the boat to WL for a meal and then go back to the MK

thanks
jaysue

 

[Kaycee]

It's not a mistake to take advantage of EE - in fact, it's a really good idea. The only mistake would be if you went to the EE park without doing EE because those parks are usually more crowded later in the day. The "conventional wisdom" is to either do EE and hop to a different park for the last half of the day when the crowds pick up, or avoid the EE park altogether if you aren't going to EE.

We take advantage of EE at least a couple of mornings each trip. That extra hour may not seem like a lot, but you can get a lot done in that short time before the crowds come pouring in! We have found that EE is especially helpful for MK, and we also enjoy EE at MGM. Epcot is probably the least advantageous of the parks for EE, at least in our experience.

 

[XStAnt]

I like doing EMH. But it only worksif you get to the park by 8:00 am and take advantage of the extra hour. If you won't make it to the park until 8:30-9:00 then I'd go to another park.

You won't regret not making additional PSs. It's not super crowded (assuming you're not there during Easter). Plus, many people don't do too many sit down meals. DW and I usually only plan about 2 for a 5-6 day vacation. We'll play the rest by ear and usually do counter service.

 

[jaysue]

Looks great - the only observation I have is that a full day on EE day at the MK and staying for wishes could be a real long day. Consider leaving the park for a meal and tour of one of the MK monorail resorts or a boat ride over to the Wilderness Lodge for a tour and meal then go back to the MK

thanks
jaysue

 

[Pig Pen]

I have always been able to make a PS for sit-downs after arriving at WDW (except for Character meals).

I laughed one time - I called to make a PS at Boma for 7:00 pm and the CM very sadly told me that nothing was available for 7:00. I thought to myself "Oh no, I should have planned ahead!" But she proceeded to tell me that she could get me in at 7:10 if that was okay. I said GREAT!



I wonder how many people would have freaked out over that 10 minute difference?