Planning itinerary, 1st day, last day, help!

[Jen D]

Is is me, or is planning an itinerary like a Rubiks Cube? I have several different itineraries, none seems right. But my biggest problem is figuring out what (and how much) to plan for arrival and departure day.

Let me back up. The players are: Me. Disney planner, game for everything. My husband. Fine with the vacation but tends to rebel if overscheduled or sleepy (we will only do EE one or two days, or I think I will lose his support.) Finally, the kid, little girl who will be 4 two days before we leave for the trip (in late September.) Can't wait, has been to DL and can't wait for the World. We have seven days including travel days-- we are leaving on a Sunday morning-- I am planning an early morning flight that will get us into Orlando by 9am. We leave the following Saturday-- I can schedule an evening flight out if I want. So, I have seven days, although two of those are light days because of travel. I also am thinking mid-week, probably Wednesday, we'll do nothing or maybe just a water park. PI at night for us.

Do you all think first-day touring is okay? I was thinking nothing too punishing-- maybe we'd hit Epcot for a few hours, but not try to stick it out until Illuminations that night. Or is there a better thing to do first day? I thought maybe we shoudn't do a park at all, but then I am not too comfortable with taking Wednesday off. I think if we get there that early we'll be fine. If we get our room right away, we can take it easy for a few hours, then tour; if we don't get our room, we can tour right away and come home early,

Finally, what about Saturday? I figure we could just leave our last day open-- tour if we want, or just leave the days on our Park Hopper for another trip.

Why am I obsessing over this early? Don't know. There are a few priority seatings I am trying to schedule around-- Monday night is our anniversary, I want CA Grill. I'm hoping for Cindy's table. I want Brown Derby on our MGM day and Chefs de France on one of the Epcot Days.

I guess mostly I am asking for opinions on first and last day touring. My problem is I am creating a stealth itinerary-- scheduling the trip without making my dh feel overscheduled!

 

[drogerstn]

Travel can make you tired, so touring a park on your arrival day may take a lot out of you. You'll get up early and have to travel to the airport and wait on your flight, fly to Orlando, then drive or ride to WDW.

You can get checked in at your hotel even if a room is not available in the morning; if you're lucky a room might be available and you can settle in before going to the park. If you tour a park on that Sunday, you can get a lot done in the late afternoon and evening in any of the parks. I haven't checked the normal hours of operation for the different parks in September, but you might consider going to AK for Sunday afternoon then going to Epcot or MK. I would want to visit a park that stays open late if using a park hopper so I'd feel like I'm getting my money's worth.

There are a lot of things to do without visiting the park on Sunday and/or Saturday. If I was to do one or the other, I'd rather visit the park on the arrival day than the departure day. You have to pack for the return home and check out of the hotel and I'd feel rushed the whole day. I'd rather get a mid morning to early afternoon flight departure so I could spend some time packing, have a nice breakfast, and hopefully arrive home with a little time to get things done on Saturday or at least feel rested enough to get caught up with things at home on Sunday.

I think a day off during the middle of your stay is a good idea; however, this would leave you with 4 full days to tour the parks. I consider 4 days a minimum. If you don't think you'll be back in a while, then I'd recommend working in a touring plan for your arrival day to get the most out of your visit.

 

[Muddie]

Jen!

Where will you be staying? Will you be renting a car while you are there?

Have you made plans what to do when DD gets tuckered out or decides to take a nap 1/2 hour before a PS? I would be more concerned about DD, than DH--afterall, DH is old enough to pout in the room by himself if he gets grumpy

 

[Jen D]

Ha! No, we're planning on heading back to the hotel (Riverside) for a little bit after lunch so the kid (and her dad)--- can rest. Most of our "big" PS, with the exception of Cal Grill (when she will be at a kids club) , I am planning on doing at lunch-- that way it costs less and we can eat light for dinner. And hey, if the family loses steam before the PS-- well, we skip it. big deal. I love planning, but I'm not nuts. And no, we won't have a car.

We plan to "take the break" every day as they say-- however, this is hard at that time of year because the parks close so early.

 

[robinb]

One of my favorite "first night" things to do is dinner at Chef Mickey's where we can meet the characters right away. Then, we take the monorail round trip and ask to sit in the front. If we're lucky, we get to see the fireworks at the MK from the Contemporary. The great thing about this plan is that we don't "burn" any days on our passes, but we still have the maximum of Disney magic.

 

[jesdmill1]

I definately recommend a character meal on your first night - it really helps you get into the spirit! We leave the last day open for revisiting our favorite things one last time or seeing things we missed.

 

[KJMAX1]

Because youll have two children with you, I would definately not go to power touring a park. Just in my husband and my case alone we didnt even plan to tour a park the first day. Here are my suggestions.

1) Tour Downtown Disney. My husband and I ate dinner here and saw Cirque the first night.

2) Visit other resorts. Not only did we miss other resorts but we missed the good food options most resorts have to offer.

3) Enjoy your own resort. We loved our resort, especially at night. Sit by the pool, and enjoy getting ready for your touring. Call and confirm all your ressies.

4) Enjoy a campfire gathering, and cow-poke movie at Fort Wilderness.

5) Watch the Electrical Water Parade at the Poly.

One tip is, my husband does not like to get up early. Since we went in the summer the parks were open late. Our first day at an EE was unbearable!! I would suggest if you arent going to be at the gates an hour before they open, go to a park who just had their EE the day before. Epcot was like a ghost town for us, and we got to sleep in late and stay out later.

Most of all, have fun!

 

[TerriBelle]

We usually don't go to the parks on our arrival and departure days. I remember one trip when my daughter was around 4, that our flight left at 7:00AM from baltimore so we got to DW early. We tried going to the MK and she fell right asleep on the first ride! All the excitement and the early morning flight finally caught up with her. Since that trip we have changed to having a relaxing day with swimming and Chef Mickey's for dinner to get everyone in the mood. Our last day we hung out at the BW and rented the bikes to drive around. This time we might try the miniature golf if our flight is late enough.

 

[DisneyMom92]

The kids just will not allow us to not do one. I also love a little light touring that first day to set me in the mood. We have started a tradition of doing AK the first day. We get there about 4 p.m. The park closes either at 7 or 8, depending on the time of year, and 3-4 hours at AK is enough for us at any one time. We plan another visit for morning and figure we see everything we want to. We have always capped this off with dinner at RFC. I have read such awful reviews on this board that we are questioning that this year.

BTW, dh stays at the hotel and relaxes by himself while we tour. He doesn't want to tour that first day and we don't make him

 

[puffkin]

We are first timers too and are arriving around 9:00am. Thanks for all the great tips. We have tickets to see Cirque our first night and plan to tour DD. We are also thinking about possibly touring the monorail resorts in the afternoon to check them out. We are leaving our last day open to go back to anything we missed, or to hit DD to do some last minute shopping.

 

[Disney Doll]

Some ideas for first day touring: You will be arriving at WDW at about 9AM...chances are your room won't be ready. My suggestion is that you have in your carry on the stuff you would need to go to the pool . When you arrive at your hotel, check in. If by some stroke of absolute luck, your room is ready, then thank your lucky stars that the clean life you've been living finally paid off!!!! If your room isn't ready, I would go and have breakfast, and then relax by the pool for part of the day. DH can lay in a lounge chair, DD can swim, play, lounge, you can swim,lounge etc. I don't know which resort you're staying in, but if it's one with a character breakfast, all the better!! Let them know at the desk that you'll be waiting around the resort at the pool, and you would so appreciate it if your room could be ready sooner as opposed to later! After you get your room, you can relax there for a while if need be, or maybe DH and DD willl be ready to hit a park for a while in the evening, since they've had some "down time". Then you can go to EPCOT, see Illuminations and leisurely stroll around. Or you can go play mini golf at one of the courses. The idea of dinner at Chef Mickeys and riding the monorail is a good one too! My only concern is if you take Wednesday off, you'll only have 4 touring days for the parks. Think about a park in the AM, a break at lunch back at your hotel, a different park in the PM. If you take Wednesday off to go to a waterpark, that's still seeing Disney etc. Try not to get too caught up in having to see everything...I don't think you can do it in 7 days, unless you want to keep up a killer pace, but then DD will get tired and cranky and no one will enjoy themselves!!!! I would book a flight for later in the PM on departure day...you can always use that day to see the one thing you may have missed somewhere. When we go, we take a 7AM flight out, which gets us to WDW by 10AM, and a 6PM flight from Orlando to home...gets us home around 9PM. We have a good portion of departure day to spend in the world! One more very imporatnt thing....RENT A STROLLER!!!!!!!!!! I know DD is 4, maybe she doesn't use a stroller at home anymore. Remember how tired you get walking around and then remember that she takes 4 steps to your one to keep up. I can't emphasize enough....RENT A STROLLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SBarrett]

I think it's important to keep it mellow that first day. Since you won't have a car, take the boat from Riverside to Downtown Disney for lunch (Wolfgang Puck's and Rainforest Cafe are good bets). Then amble around Downtown Disney for a while; your child will likely love the Lego area in the Marketplace. Go back to your hotel by boat and rest for a while. I like Epcot the first evening (take a bus); it's large and doesn't feel as crowded. Eat a light dinner at the Land Food Court or go for the character dinner at the Garden Grill Restaurant to get acquainted with Disney characters. Then see some of the shows at Epcot World Showcase (the British Invasion, Off Kilter, Imaginum Living Statues, etc.). The last day can be planned as you go, depending on what you sense your family is enjoying. Most young kids enjoy the childrens' swimming areas, so one of the water parks (Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach) makes sense. Or revisit some of your favorite attractions.

 

[luvmy2sams]

I would highly recommend dinner at Chef Mickey's on your first night in town. It's a great way to get in the spirit of WDW. Touring Downtown Disney and/or the resorts will also get you in the spirit without wearing you out on your first day.

As for your last day, on our trip we left that day open so that we could return to our favorites or hit things we'd missed during the week. You'll be surprised how many favorites you'll want to hit "just one more time."

Have a great trip!

 

[PattiPB]

I agree wholeheartedly with the Chef Mickey's suggestions for the first night! Amongst other things, it is a good first introduction to the HUGE characters in a relaxed setting.

Our last day is "Kid's choice!" Whichever Park, whatever attractions they want to be their last memories of WDW.

Patti

 

[karylrocks]

I am also wondering what to do that first and last day. I have not made flight arrangements yet but after last time (11/94), leaving Oregon at 9 am and arriving at our hotel at 9 pm, I decided that it would be better to take a late night flight, sleep on the plane, and get there early in the morning. Then I thought we would tour one of the parks until we drop and get to bed early that night. Any thoughts?

Also, how much time should I allow to get back to the airport? (We are planning our trip for Dec. 15-22.)

 

[JimV]

On our first trip to Disney we packed it all in and wished we had more time at our resort on the last day.

Last time, we spent day one at the resort (CBR) swimming, etc. getting the kids to bed early for an early start at AK the next day. This worked out really well. We alternated the early days with late mornings. Our last full day at the parks started with character breakfast at CP, revisiting favorite attractions for the kids, and going on an Illuminations Cruise followed by ice cream at Beaches and Cream. We then dawdled at the resort the next day, playing around, going miniature golfing at Summer/Winterland and having a good time before taking off.

Now, during the five days in between, my family felt like I was pretty intense on doing what I wanted, but then the last trip I was on, since I knew exactly what and when I wanted to be places I was able to make my spontaneous wife's plans work out very well with casual suggestions and she really liked the planning that we did (Fantasmic dinner, Character meals, Illuminations Cruise, etc.)

-- JimV

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Mickey's Toontown is also a fun place to tour the first day. We arrived about 4:00 at MK and took the train to toontown. We met Mickey and rode Barnstormer and got a snack. Then found a spot for fireworks. Because toontown is small and we limited our touring to only there we did not feel overwhelmed but were in the park. On this trip we had Length of Stay passes (they are called something else now) so we figured we may as well use the day.

I agree with everyone about the last day being favorites day. That is also the best day to carry the video camera. Just don't pack all the chocolate your bringing home as gifts in the trunk when you check out of the hotel. LOL