Planning park strategy loosely

[believer]

I need your suggestions...trip in January.
This will be our second trip to WDW. We have two days planned for MK, 2 days for EPCOT, 1 in AK, and 1 in HS. Perhaps I will get park hopper too.
Last time we did not see EPCOT at all. We also spent two days in MK last time, however we started in Tomorrowland, and spent almost the whole day there. So this time I want to start in Adventureland and work counterclockwise. How far do you think we will get at that time of year? My kids are 5 and 8 and pretty timid about the big thrill rides. I do not want to rush through like last time either. Is Fantasyland realistic? The other thing is that we will be celebrating my DD 6th Bday on the second day in MK, so onthat day I want to do Ariels' Grotto and Pixie Hollow (where IS that anyway?!)
PLease let me know any suggestions for MK (and EPCOT too) you may have. I do not want to criss cross the park, and I do not want to rush rush rush either.

Second question, where can I find a schedule of the parades and fireworks before I get there?

 

[susykt4]

Unless you're going the first couple of days of January, you should have NO trouble! If at all possible, I'd still recommend getting to the parks at opening. You will be able to accomplish a TON before any kind of crowd hits. Avoid the early entry parks for resort guests and you will be golden. If you hit Fantasyland at park opening on your daughter's birthday, you should be able to ride everything (except maybe Mickey's Philharmagic- see it later) before Ariel's Grotto (right by Dumbo ride) opens at 10am. Expect to wait a while to see Ariel. The Fairies are in Toon Town which is next to Fantasyland. They are hugely popular so again, go as early as possible. Maybe your son and husband can hit Tomorrowland for a while while you and DD do the fairies and Ariel?

We usually spend an entire day in Future World and then a restful half day in World Showcase. My DD9 doesn't like thrill rides, but loves Test Track. She also loves Soarin'. I'd go to whichever is most appealing to your family first and then make your way around. These rides will usually have waits even in January, but if you go early you will accomplish everything.

My biggest advice is on your Studios day go straight to Toy Story Mania at rope drop and get Fastpasses and get in line. The kids and adults will likely love it and I could NOT BELIEVE how busy it was!

Google "Steve Soares" for parade times, character times and locations, etc. He has an excellent site!

 

[ferrytale]

Have to agree with the PP! Do not rush through anything, just enjoy it! We had the same issue with Tomorrowland this time - we spent most of our day there!
I would suggest heading toward Fantasyland first and then plan to be at Toontown when it opens - I think that is usually an hour after the park opens. The line for the fairies is AT LEAST an hour long if not longer thoughout the day so if you can get there early to get in line do so. We had to skip it b/c DS just wasn't going to wait that long just for his mom to see Tinkerbell...lol.
If you can, try to do the breakfast buffet at Crystal Palace - you can get early seating(though it is probably close now if they have anything left) and get in before the park opens. Eat and head right back to where you want to go for the day and you can avoid the crowd at rope drop.
Have a great time!

 

[Rylee]

Check Park Hours, Extra Magic Hours, Parade times, etc, at the WDW site.

Are you staying at a Disney Hotel? If not, or if you don't have Hoppers, don't visit the park with the EMH, as that park will be more crowded on that day.

(Hoppers- We've had trips with and without Hoppers... We find our family really doesn't need them, "hopping" can waste a lot of time traveling from one park to another. We do like the flexibility they offer for dining options though, as a lot of restaurants we like are located in Epcot.)

Even though you don't want to rush... you should really try to get to each park as early in the morning as you can. You can see and do a lot more before the park gets crowded.

Learn about FASTPASSES and use them!

MK - With the ages of your children, and since you mentioned they are timid about thrill rides, you should go straight to Fantasyland and ride the attractions first thing in the morning. On your 2Nd day at MK, you might want to head right to Toontown. (When finished there, ride the train to another location.)

Epcot - is basically divided into 2 parts - Future World and World Showcase. My kids' favorite rides include, Soarin', (most popular, use FP) Test Track and the attraction Turtle Talk with Crush. (Your children would probably like the Nemo ride, too.) For World Showcase, buy a kids passport and visit the kidcot locations in each country to make it more interesting for the kids.

For your daughter's birthday, have you considered booking a character meal with the Princesses?

Have fun!

 

[*Seanaci*]

Take your time. Sounds like you already are planning on not wanting to rush anyhow with spending 2 days each in the best parks (IMHO lol). Get there at park opening and/or take advantage of EMH. You should be able to get through all of MK in your two days there doing that. As for Epcot...start out with what you know your kids WILL do. Then make your way around the park to see and do the rest.

And rest assured, that as they get older, they will warm up and LOVE the thrill rides.

 

[believer]

Thank you all for your advise. I have booked a Birthday Dinner at 1900 Park Fare for her special day. Need to order a cake; I have been checking out the cake thread religiously, nothing has jumped out at me yet.

Are you suggesting that it might be best to do Fantasyland one day and Toontown the second day?

 

[Keri]

My toontown advice is to pick one day to do the parade, and the other day go to toontown right at parade time. The lines for the princesses & fairies have always been MUCH shorter then. We have typically waited 15-30 min for the princesses & around 30-40 for the fairies. The times they have on the board are usually close to double your actual wait time, in our experience (in early Dec).

I agree with going to Fantasyland first one day. The other idea on Ariel is to go during one of the nighttime things -- we went during Spectromagic, got there just before she closed, only waited about 10 minutes. We've also gone in the evenings when nothing was really going on & only waited about 30 min. It's crazy popular, even during non-peak times.

In our experience, Adventureland wasn't crowded & we were able to ride everything we wanted without issue later in the day. We did Fantasyland first so that we got a few of those rides in, and grabbed fast passes for the ones we couldn't (Peter Pan, Pooh). Then went to adventureland where we were able to walk onto Magic Carpets like 3x in a row (v. standing in line for Dumbo for 2x that long for one ride), got FP for Jungle Cruise, basically walked onto Pirates, etc.

We don't do much of a "plan" either, we just sort of let the kids guide us. We try to do most of what they want in one 'land' before we leave it, but will go back later if they want. We ALWAYS get distracted by Tea Cups on the way to Toontown, so leave a few minutes for that :lol:

I agree about going straight to TSM at HS. We got there JUST after rope drop, went straight there, the line was already insane AND my DH had to stand in a long line for FPs. He got those while we saw characters by the Hat, then we got a second set after we rode, which were for late afternoon. Worked great that we were able to go 2x, but I know when it's really crowded (which you shouldn't have an issue with) they run out of FPs REALLY early in the day. Everything else there is pretty easy to walk onto, except the thrill rides, but even those can be (we walked right onto Tower of Terror after the 2pm Belle show, and my DH went right on RNRC).

The only thing I'd consider for HS is a fantasmic package if they are still doing limited shows. It was nice to not stress about the long line and getting there crazy early to get a seat!!

 

[believer]

I have decided I will take the family to a starting point each day, and we will go from there. At least that is my decision today, after reading so many different touring plan options. I quit. It will be fun no matter what where when...

 

[kohlby]

I found that is was very difficult to plan with young kids. So our generic plan was to be at rope drop each day, get fast passes for the popular rides ASAP, and start the day with something that they both would enjoy. In MK, we go to Fantasyland right away. The Dumbo line gets the longest due to slow loading time, so do that one first. We find that doing a lot of rides in Fantasyland right away puts everyone in a good mood! We do end up criss-crossing some but it's not a big deal to us.

Our Epcot plan ended up being to skip the World Showcase. That cut down on the walking and the kids were able to spend all day in Epcot without the World Showcase. Since you have two days in Epcot, maybe do the World Showcase on the second day to cut down on walking.

 

[believer]

WE will do Fantasyland first on the second day. Just wondering if we should get in line for Tinkerbell, Ariel, or Dumbo first. WWYD?

 

[Pixie Princess]

WE will do Fantasyland first on the second day. Just wondering if we should get in line for Tinkerbell, Ariel, or Dumbo first. WWYD?

I will give you a piece of advice that a colleague gave to me prior to our first trip regarding seeing Princess (or Pixies now) in Toon Town... be at the MK at opening or just after. Get your autograph book and head directly to Toon Town to be there when it opens (1 hr after MK opens). Once open head straight to the tent. This turned out to be very good advice. I checked out the wait for the princesses one day in the afternoon and it was 2 hrs. On our last trip we found out the Pixies were in Toon Town so we headed back there (middle of the day).. the wait was 90 min. It seems they have taken the princesses place in the long wait for signatures.

As for Ariel.. I don't think she exists. Without fail every trip we go to her grotto and the sign says she'll be back in 60 minutes. We come back.. same sign. I see people waiting in line, but no Ariel. I've seen pictures, but I think they are fake.. part of some vast conspiracy.. like the moon landing.

Seriously, I would seek out the Pixies or Ariel first depending on which the DDs like more. While the princesses are also at Toon Town, so there is more bang for the buck in going there first, you can see many of the princesses in locations around Epcot. As far as I know Ariel and the Pixies are only at the MK.

Dumbo you can catch easily anytime. It does take a while to load, but the longest wait I've ever seen is 30 min.

 

[believer]

That is so funny about Ariel. I can, however, personally attest to the fact that SHE DOES EXIST I met her, my kids met her, my nieces, all of us. My son (then almost 7 ) told her all about his one friend and how he was hoping they would be in the same class next year, since they were in the same preschool and kindergarten, blah blah blah...and we had to change the subject to move the pictures and line along. It is a memory I will never ever forget. She was so sweet and acted like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Thanks for your advice. Plan has been determined. Day 2 -which is her birthday, Fairies first (since we already met Ariel!), then to check out if Ariel line is long, then rides...perhaps Dumbo or whatever they see first.
We have a lunch with the princesses at EPCOT, so that part is covered- TG!

 

[ferrytale]

Your DD will LOVE her bday dinner at 1900 Park Fare. We had my neice's bday dinner there in September and we ordered a cake - it was DELICIOUS. We had so much left my sister had them box it and they took it back to the hotel...when I called a couple days later to see if she had any left she said "sorry" they had just finished the last piece! It was just a basic cake, but very classy - fit right with the atmosphere. I think it was vanilla with a mouse or ganache filling - but my sister said there were so many options she didn't know what to pick!
Have fun & stay warm, it's cold down there!

 

[Aliceacc]

I know you said you didn't want to criss cross the park, but hear me out. Here's what we did in August:

We got to the park at rope drop. My husband took the kids, at their pace, to Adventureland. I went and immediately got fastpasses to Peter Pan, then met them at Big Thunder. We then did Splash and Pirates. (So no criss-crossing for anyone but me. ) We also HAD to hit Aladdin; it's my daughter's favorite. Then we got a Fastpass for Haunted Mansion, and hit Fantasyland (having still not used that first fastpass.) That's pretty much how we played it; every time our fastpass window opened, one of us would go get a set and meet the others. At about noon, when we were ready to head back for a swim, we used all the fastpasses, one after the other.


In Epcot, I went to get fastpasses for TestTrack then met everyone at Soarin'.

In Animial Kingdom, I got fastpasses for Kali (we're not Expedition Everest kind of people) and met them at the safari.

At Hollywood Studios, it was fastpasses for Toy Story Mania.

So I'm the only one who really got a workout; the kids didn't feel it at all. But they got on all their rides multiple times with no stress.

Have a wonderful trip!!!!