Planning nighttime entertainment

[mel2014]

We're going from 4/21 to 4/30 and I thought I had my itinerary well laid out, but now I'm having second thoughts about my nighttime plans. My kids are 6 and 8, so I'm doubtful about their abilities to do long days, even with a big break in the middle (my 8-year old in particular becomes crabzilla with too little sleep). I was already planning to skip Fantasmic, since we've since it twice at Disneyland. My current plan (now that ROL is showing when we're there) is:

Sat: arrive on red-eye, nap for few hours, spend a few hours at HS, early bedtime
Sun: Rope drop MK, skip a break, head back to hotel around 5:30
Mon: EMH at AK, leave park at 3:00 for long break midday, return to AK around 6:30-7:00 for ROL
Tues: Rope drop EP, leave midday for break, come back for Illuminations
Weds: sleep in, Blizzard Beach, early bedtime
Thurs: PPO ADR BOG, leave park midday for break, come back for Wishes
Fri: sleep in, get to EP around 11, mainly to explore World Showcase, skip break, early bedtime
Sat: sleep in, Typhoon Lagoon, HS in the evening for rides and Star Wars a Galactic Spectacular
Sun: sleep in, hit up HS for FP attractions and shows we missed on 4/21, back at hotel by 3:00 for Magical Express back to airport.

I'm considering two possible changes:
(1) Instead of doing Illuminations on Tuesday, hop over and do Star Wars that night, since it will be earlier in the vacation and we will be "fresher" and then plan to do Illuminations on Friday; or
(2) Keep Illuminations on Tuesday, but plan a break on Friday and hop over to Star Wars on that night.

My kids are huge Star Wars fans, so now I'm thinking that postponing that until the last night of the trip might not be the best idea. If we did Star Wars Tuesday and ended up missing Illuminations on Friday or Saturday, it probably isn't the end of the world (My husband and I saw it in 2003 and while it was enjoyable for us, it is definitely more abstract, so I'm not sure the kids will appreciate it as much).

Which change makes the most sense (if either)?

 

[IrishNYC]

From experience with my then 5 year old who needed her sleep, it became evident very quickly that nighttime plans were not to be counted on, and in the end, never happened.

The only changes I would make (if your sleep needing kid is like mine): Mon: Break earlier than 3 if you're planning for a long break. I would also add another MK visit in place of one of the 3 DHS visits, and just plain accept that some of the nighttime events might not happen, especially after spending a long time at the waterpark.

 

[mel2014]

From experience with my then 5 year old who needed her sleep, it became evident very quickly that nighttime plans were not to be counted on, and in the end, never happened.

The only changes I would make (if your sleep needing kid is like mine): Mon: Break earlier than 3 if you're planning for a long break. I would also add another MK visit in place of one of the 3 DHS visits, and just plain accept that some of the nighttime events might not happen, especially after spending a long time at the waterpark.

Thanks! We may just have to play it by ear for the nighttime activities other than ROL (where we have a Tusker House breakfast/dining package, so it has to be Monday night). In December 2014, we did a 5 day trip to Disneyland and were able to rope drop every day (and even do EMH one day) with 2 late nights for World of Color and Fantasmic/fireworks, but I know the kids won't be able to sustain that for 9 days.

The reason for the 3 partial HS days is that Star Tours is my son's favorite ride and my daughter is a huge upside-down roller coaster fan, so I'm trying to get them multiple rides on Star Tours and RnRC with FP+. Plus our arrival day on 4/21 is supposed to be crowded in all the parks, so I figured the shows at HS would be a good and non-frustrating start to the vacation. Depending on what we are able to accomplish on those first two HS days and what the kids end up liking, we may do a last minute change of park for 4/30.

My frustration with Animal Kingdom is that they're trying to be a nighttime park, but so many of the activities and entertainment still end at 5, which makes it hard to plan a midday break and still get the "must dos" done. I want to do our FP attractions (Safari, EE, and Kali), see Lion King and Nemo, and do some character meets before we leave the park. We may drop Nemo (currently on my itinerary for 1) and do the character meets then and leave the park closer to 2.

 

[mel2014]

Hmm, I just remembered that the Garden Rocks concerts will be going on Friday 4/28 and Sat. 4/29, which I'm assuming will make EP more crowded, so maybe keeping Illuminations on Tuesday and hopping over to HS Friday night makes more sense.

 

[IrishNYC]

We were in EP last year for F&G and will be there this year for F&W and are purposely skipping weekends in hopes crowds are lower, because it seemed to help last trip. My daughter also loves roller coasters and ToT, and we're only there for 4 days plus a party day this next trip, so I'm having a tough time planning, especially knowing we won't be back again for a while. My fingers are crossed she'll be happy meeting characters at meals so we don't have to wait for any meets other than Star Wars characters.