Park plans, can I get all this done?

[ErinInCT]

Me, DH, DD11 and DD15 - Tuesday September 1 - Sunday September 6
Yes, I have this all on a spreadsheet and I realize I will probably not stick to it perfectly, but I like to have some plan before hitting the parks. I don't have our tickets yet (ordered them thru my husband's work b/c he gets a discount) so I don't have any FP+, but hoping to get them once the tix arrive. Or I'm hoping it'll be uncrowded as tour plans show crowd level as a 1 all days except the weekend when it shows a 3.

Is this possible:

TUES - Fly into MCO at 11:25am and take bus to AKL. Get checked in, unpack, get grocery delivery. Head to DTD for dinner at WPE.

WED - MK in the morning around 10am (we like to sleep in and eat breakfast in the room) - Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. Bring lunch with us to eat while standing in lines. Watch 3pm parade. Head back to AKL to swim and shower. EPCOT in the evening. Take boat from Showcase Plaza to Morocco for 6:40pm folk singers show. Dinner at Tangerine at 7pm. Head to UK to watch the 8pm show of the British Revolution. 9pm Illuminations. Walk to Boardwalk until around 11pmish and head back to AKL.

THURS - EPCOT in the morning around 10am. Future World West side (we only wanna do Soarin', The Seas, Turtle Talk and Figment). Boat from Showcase Plaza to USA for 12:30pm Voices of Liberty Show and 12:45pm American Music Machine. Head back to AKL for lunch, swim, shower. MK in the evening to catch LS rides (HM and HoP), dinner somewhere and watch Wishes at 10pm, Electric Parade at 11pm.

FRI - MK in the morning around 10am - Frontierland (BTMRR and SplashMtn) and finish any Fantasyland we didn't do on Wed (or go back to do our favorites). Back to AKL for lunch, swim, shower. DHS in the evening for VotLM, GMR (or maybe I can get a FP+ for TSMM), dinner somewhere, 8:30pm Fantasmic and 9:30pm Frozen fireworks.

SAT - EPCOT around 10am. Test Track (hubby works for GM so we can walk right on). Innoventions or Soarin' again. Canada lumberjack show at noon. France Serveur Amusant at 1:15pm. Japanese drummers at 2pm. Head back to AKL for lunch, swim, shower. EPCOT in the evening. Boat from Showcase Plaza to Italy for 6:10pm flag thrower show and 6:40pm juggler. Chinese acrobats at 7:30pm. Dinner in Mexico. Hit Spaceship Earth on the way out. Monorail to MK which stays open until 2am. Ride our favorites or anything we missed during the 9pm, 10pm, and 11pm parades and fireworks are going on.

SUN - Check out (boohoo). DHS around 10am. Planning TSMM, Muppet Vision, RnRC, TOT (hoping to get FPs but the tiering thing stinks). If we can't do RnRC and TOT we'll watch the Indy Stunt Show. 50's Prime Time Cafe 1:25pm. Head back to hotel to catch bus to airport.

Is this too aggressive of a plan?

 

[g-dad66]

I think it might be a little aggressive, but starting late every day should make those late night plans feasible. But nothing wrong with having an aggressive plan since you can always call it quits earlier, or take a longer break, if you need to.

I'm wondering about the amount of time for the afternoon breaks though. For example, on Wednesday, if you watch the 3:00 parade, you won't be getting out of the park until about 3:30, and if you're using the Disney buses, you probably won't be back to the resort until 4:15-ish. Then you'll need to be at the bus stop at about 5:45 or so to be sure to get to Epcot in time to take a boat across the lagoon for a 6:40 arrival in Morocco (waiting for a launch can eat up quite a bit of time; it might turn out to be faster just to walk to Morocco).

4:15 to 5:45 isn't much time for a break. We've discovered over the years that any afternoon break for us never ends up being as long as we had planned for it to be.

 

[Tomh]

TUES - Fly into MCO at 11:25am and take bus to AKL. Get checked in, unpack, get grocery delivery. Head to DTD for dinner at WPE.

This should work fine


WED - MK in the morning around 10am (we like to sleep in and eat breakfast in the room) - Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. Bring lunch with us to eat while standing in lines. Watch 3pm parade. Head back to AKL to swim and shower. EPCOT in the evening. Take boat from Showcase Plaza to Morocco for 6:40pm folk singers show. Dinner at Tangerine at 7pm. Head to UK to watch the 8pm show of the British Revolution. 9pm Illuminations. Walk to Boardwalk until around 11pmish and head back to AKL.

I think you may have a few problems here. 5 hours to do Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, not starting until 10. I think that might be tight. 3pm parade, you don't get out of the park until at least 3:30, allow at least half an hour to get to AKL, so 4:00, you are going to be at Morocco at 6:40, means getting into the park probably before 6:15, means leaving AKL no later than 5:45, and probably better to leave at 5:30, or even 5:15. You are going to swim, and shower in less than 2 hours. You SHOULD be at Tangerine by 6:40 for your 7 ADR, but you plan on watching a show in Morocco that doesn't start until 6:40. That means you will be late for your dinner, guessing probably 7:10 or 7:15, and you are going to eat, and then make it to UK by 8 . ..seems very unlikely to me. When you leave Boardwalk at 11, how are you getting back to AKL? Epcot will be closed, you won't be able to enter the international gateway to walk to the front of the park, and there is no direct transportation between resorts.

THURS - EPCOT in the morning around 10am. Future World West side (we only wanna do Soarin', The Seas, Turtle Talk and Figment). Boat from Showcase Plaza to USA for 12:30pm Voices of Liberty Show and 12:45pm American Music Machine. Head back to AKL for lunch, swim, shower. MK in the evening to catch LS rides (HM and HoP), dinner somewhere and watch Wishes at 10pm, Electric Parade at 11pm.

There is no boat to USA, you will have to go to either Germany, or France and walk from there to the American Pavilion. 1:00 you will be done with your show, figure 20 minutes to get to the front gate, it will be close to 2 when you get to AKL to have lunch. Other than the late lunch, this plan should work pretty well.

FRI - MK in the morning around 10am - Frontierland (BTMRR and SplashMtn) and finish any Fantasyland we didn't do on Wed (or go back to do our favorites). Back to AKL for lunch, swim, shower. DHS in the evening for VotLM, GMR (or maybe I can get a FP+ for TSMM), dinner somewhere, 8:30pm Fantasmic and 9:30pm Frozen fireworks.

Without the ability to FP+ BTMRR, Splash, and TSMM, I don't think you will fit them all in the same day. I think two hours (give or take a bit, since you plan on lunch at AKL) is not going to be enough to do BTMRR, Splash, and stuff in Fantasyland as well.

SAT - EPCOT around 10am. Test Track (hubby works for GM so we can walk right on). Innoventions or Soarin' again. Canada lumberjack show at noon. France Serveur Amusant at 1:15pm. Japanese drummers at 2pm. Head back to AKL for lunch, swim, shower. EPCOT in the evening. Boat from Showcase Plaza to Italy for 6:10pm flag thrower show and 6:40pm juggler. Chinese acrobats at 7:30pm. Dinner in Mexico. Hit Spaceship Earth on the way out. Monorail to MK which stays open until 2am. Ride our favorites or anything we missed during the 9pm, 10pm, and 11pm parades and fireworks are going on.

Again, I question the timing here, you are watching the drummers in Japan at 2, show won't end until around 2:15 - 2:20. You will get to the park entrance around 2:30 - 2:40, and then at least half an hour back to AKL (could be longer, you don't mention how you are traveling) so lunch is at 3:00, then you are going to swim, shower, and be back in Italy at 6:10? You will have to be in the park by 5:45, so you will have to leave AKL by 5:15 at the VERY latest, so in no more than two hours and 15 minutes you will feed 4, swim, and get showers? I know this wouldn't work with my family.

SUN - Check out (boohoo). DHS around 10am. Planning TSMM, Muppet Vision, RnRC, TOT (hoping to get FPs but the tiering thing stinks). If we can't do RnRC and TOT we'll watch the Indy Stunt Show. 50's Prime Time Cafe 1:25pm. Head back to hotel to catch bus to airport.

Looks like it probably won't fit in the time you have to get it done. With FP+ for TSMM, you can probably count on doing Muppet Vision, I would expect that RnRC and ToT will be around 40 minute wait at that time of day. In general, I don't think you are really taking into consideration the time it will take to constantly travel back and forth to the hotel. I usually plan on an hour from the bus stop to the park entrance, and vice versa. SOMETIMES . . . it doesn't take that long, but you can't count on it. Leaving the back of Epcot at 2:00, figure 20 minutes to walk to the entrance, then expect an hour to get to the bus stop, stand in line, get a bus back to AKL, and walk to your room. It is now 3:20 Repeat that process on the way in, another hour and 20 minutes of traveling, that is 2 hours and 40 minutes of travel time to spend 2 hours and 15 minutes scarfing down lunch, and trying to get in a hurried swim and shower. To me, it seems like you are just trying to cram way to much in. Pick ONE day to just spend at the hotel swimming and such, then the other days dedicate to the parks. Over the course of your 4 full days, you will spend 10 hours and 40 minutes traveling back and forth between the parks and hotel, seems like a huge waste of time and energy to me.

 

[ErinInCT]

there is no direct transportation between resorts.

I had no idea!! Can we take a bus from Boardwalk to Downtown Disney and then catch a bus from DTD to AKL??

I just don't know if we can stay at a park all day long in the heat. Maybe we won't swim every day, but at least come back to relax and eat lunch and shower? I guess we can play it by ear and just see how we feel. Maybe just sitting on the bus to hop to a different park will rejuvenate us.

 

[sharonabe]

I had no idea!! Can we take a bus from Boardwalk to Downtown Disney and then catch a bus from DTD to AKL??

I just don't know if we can stay at a park all day long in the heat. Maybe we won't swim every day, but at least come back to relax and eat lunch and shower? I guess we can play it by ear and just see how we feel. Maybe just sitting on the bus to hop to a different park will rejuvenate us.

You CAN take a bus to DTD and then back to AKL, but that will probably take about 2 hours. Buses to/from DTD are just crazy. If there is a park that is open late that night, I'd take a bus there and then back to AKL. Your only other option will be to grab a taxi. I can't imagine it would be very much to cab from The Boardwalk over to AKL.

Your afternoon breaks are a little tight, but just going back to the room to get out of the heat will do you good. You have a couple days in there with enough time for a swim, so hopefully that will be enough.

One thing you don't mention on your departure day is the timing of your flight. Make sure you are back at AKL 3 1/2 hrs before that flight! If you miss your assigned ME bus, you will have to find your own way to MCO.

 

[Tomh]

We usually look for in park things to do to escape the heat.

If you were planning on longer mid day breaks, I wouldn't be so concerned about it, I just think that with the travel time in and out of the parks, and dealing with the bus timing, that you are going to find it VERY difficult to swim, eat, and shower in the time you will actually have at AKL.

 

[Sybernova]

We usually look for in park things to do to escape the heat.

If you were planning on longer mid day breaks, I wouldn't be so concerned about it, I just think that with the travel time in and out of the parks, and dealing with the bus timing, that you are going to find it VERY difficult to swim, eat, and shower in the time you will actually have at AKL.

That plan is a REALLY aggresive one. Your kids are going to be exhausted by about day 2/3 and attitudes will begin to reflect it.

I know it's personal preference but you may try one day of rope drop, with an extended nap in the afternoon where you would normally have swim time just to see if you like it. My family tried that last summer and did it make ALL the difference in mood and energy to do anything.

 

[wdwobsessed]

This seems really harried to me.

I know you like to sleep in but if you would get up just one hour earlier and arrive to MK at 9 your first day then you could have a much nicer and less rushed break.

AKL is kind of far removed from the other parks so I don't think you've allotted enough time for transport anywhere.

Just my two cents.

 

[wdwobsessed]

I did want to add that other than the heat the beginning of September is a great time to go. Crowds are at an all time low. I've been that week.

However, the heat is oppressive. We showered & changed clothes mid day every day ... so if heat wears on you, plan for the break.