Planning Help Needed

[takemc]

My children, ages 6 and 11, will be visiting WDW for first time in May (5/26 to 6/2). We have Park Hopper + Water Fun tickets and are staying onsite at the Contemporary. My children want to tour the parks in the following order: Animal Kingdom on Wed., 5/27, Hollywood Studios, Thurs., Magic Kingdom, Fri., Epcot, Sat. and the water parks on Sun. and Mon. Neither the children or I are roller coaster riders. Based on websites and books I have read, I think we should do Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, water parks, Epcot, and end with Hollywood Studios. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance.

 

[IWannaBuildASnowman]

Personally, the order in which you visit parks matters less than how busy each park is going to be that day. I switched our entire itinerary around based on when I could get the FPs I wanted at different parks, heh. Keep in mind the water parks may also be dependent on weather - you could want to change everything up. So what I'm saying is don't be too tied to the park order this early in the game.

 

[MrInfinity]

The main factor here is just whether you want to hit a Star Wars Weekend day at DHS. If so, move DHS to the Sat or Sun, which neither of those plans has. If you're not into Star Wars at all, then either one is fine. If it was me I'd split the Water Parks, just to break up the trip. I'd do DHS on the weekend and a water park on the other weekend day. I'd also probly lead with a water park.

Maybe something like this:

Wed: BB/TL --MK evening
Thu: AK
Fri: EC
Sat: BB/TL --MK evening
Sun: DHS
Mon: MK

If you don't want to do Star Wars Weekend, then I'd do it earlier in the trip, not later. It's kind of a busy park to end with.

Just noticed you have hoppers, so switching! I think you'll end up visiting the MK on Saturday night after the water parks. Remember you can walk to the MK from the Contemporary. I would pick FastPasses for the MK on these days assuming you'll do that.

 

[takemc]

Thanks for the responses. Nope, not into Star Wars at all. 11 year old is not into character meets. Six year old says as long as I see Mickey and the fireworks I am cool. I guess I am stressing because all I read about is how you need to plan, plan, plan, so that you get your ADR and FP+. This is right up my alley because I am a planner who does charts and everything. Children are more like my husband, lets have fun, go with the flow and see where it leads. I am worried that their attitude will change when we get to WDW and they will want to do something and can't because I did not schedule it in advance.

 

[HatboxHaint]

My children, ages 6 and 11, will be visiting WDW for first time in May (5/26 to 6/2). We have Park Hopper + Water Fun tickets and are staying onsite at the Contemporary. My children want to tour the parks in the following order: Animal Kingdom on Wed., 5/27, Hollywood Studios, Thurs., Magic Kingdom, Fri., Epcot, Sat. and the water parks on Sun. and Mon. Neither the children or I are roller coaster riders. Based on websites and books I have read, I think we should do Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, water parks, Epcot, and end with Hollywood Studios. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance.

Change all your plans now. Spend about 3 days in MK and the rest of the time resting. optional: animal kingdom 1/2 to 1 whole day or a waterpark day as a rest day. Unless you are an old school disney freak then Epcot is a bust. DHS is pretty much a bust with all the closures and boring rides/shows.

 

[HatboxHaint]

Personally, the order in which you visit parks matters less than how busy each park is going to be that day. I switched our entire itinerary around based on when I could get the FPs I wanted at different parks, heh. Keep in mind the water parks may also be dependent on weather - you could want to change everything up. So what I'm saying is don't be too tied to the park order this early in the game.

If you stay on site and book 60days out you wont' have snowman's problems. When you 60day window hits go to your MK day(s) first and get your A&E and Minetrain FP's then go to your "other park" days and get those particularly TSMM is your are attemping DHS which is basically the ghetto of WDW right now.

 

[sharonabe]

Water parks will be more crowded on the weekend days. I would also split them up and not do them back to back.

Check out easywdw.com for recommended park days.

As to the need to plan and your families desire to wing it, you can do all the planning and then just follow the plan. They probably will not even realize they're not "winging it." Explain that the choice for which park on which day is based on crowd levels. I bet even they would prefer to go to a park with relatively lower crowds.

Oh, if they are not in to Star Wars at all, you'll want to avoid HS on Fri/Sat/Sun as well.

 

[KimBean]

Are both your kids boys? First time?

Your kids are of ages that -I hope this does not offend -but you can't really take what order they want to do the parks in any consideration whatsoever. They have no idea of how picking the right park to visit can make or break a trip. And they shouldn't have to. They are just kids that should get to go and enjoy because mom and/or dad did all the heavy lifting.

You are going at an extrememly crowded time. Everyone just got out of school.

easywdw.com has this as 7-9 for the whole time. You will have to plan, plan, plan... Which sounds like you are willing to do and believe me it is a blast!!

I would do:

MK, water park, HS, AK, water park, EP.

If you have hoppers... I would finish AK by 2 and head back to MK that day. This second MK day would still be a recommended day and you could see the nighttime entertainment on that day so on Day 1 at MK you can focus on rides. Make sure you show the kids what there is to do there, on the website and see what gets a big reaction. Then focus on those things for FP+.

You do not need FP+ for parades or fireworks. They are a luxury and you will need FP for rides/attractions at this busy time of year.

 

[takemc]

Thanks everyone for the advice. KimBean I am going to try your plan. I also checked out the website you gave. The 11 year old is a very precocious girl (academically gifted). She picked the order after watching the dvd sent by Disney and reading about the attractions for each park on a site called *****************.com. Right now her interests seems more in the different type of cuisines she can try then the park themselves. I have one more question. I am thinking of utilizing touringplans.com. Have any of you used this site? Is it worth it? Thanks again for your help.

 

[siskaren]

I am thinking of utilizing touringplans.com. Have any of you used this site? Is it worth it? Thanks again for your help.

I would recommend reading this post from easywdw.com regarding Touring Plans:

http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized/thanksgiving-week-disney-world-wait-times-and-a-touringplans-takedown/

 

[BlondeAppetit]

I agree with the PP. Easy WDW all the way.