Planning Spring Break Trip - Would LOVE advice on my touring plan!!!!

[BlondeAppetit]

I am planning a Spring Break trip for my family.

I am planning a 7 day trip from Sunday to Saturday. We were going to stay at POR - Riverside with a standard 6 day ticket and meal plan but with the pool closing and the announcement of the Spring deal, I decided to switch to Pop Century, add a 7 day ticket with Water Park and more with standard dining for less. Thoughts on that switch? Now $3100 for a family of four (youngest is 2.5, oldest is 6). Great value in my option. Figured kids could get their pool fix with slides at water parks.

I have been trying to develop an efficient plan since it will be crowd level 9s for our trip. My kids have been to WDW for past two years, so understand that we may not be able to do it all. I just want an enjoyable, fun, and somewhat relaxing vacation.

I am heading to all of the parks on preffered or most preffered days, FYI.

REVISED AGENDA (edited per your advice):

Sunday:

Travel Day - drive from SC, arrive around 3-4pm.

Check in

Head to Magic Kingdom (open until midnight but we would leave after 9pm Wishes or potentially 10pm MSEP)
2 Fast Passes for Rides
6:30pm - The Plaza (dinner and ice cream - out of pocket) - dinner - thought it would be good to have a scheduled dinner with the crowds and a mini-Kitchen Sink would be a fun way to celebrate out first night!
Ride - Carousel and Small World bc those are our FAVs too.
Fast Pass - Wishes (9pm)
10pm - MSEP - TBD - I figured after Wishes we could walk towards the front of the park and watch from top of Main Street ro stay in Wishes area even though viewing is not ideal.

Monday:

Breakfast at food court. Relaxing morning at resort.
Water Park in morning - Blizzard Beach (opens at 10am) for appeal to younger kiddos.

Back to hotel around 1pm-ish to rest and change.

Head to Epcot for dinner around 4pm.
Fast Pass for Test Track for DH and DD - get rider swap for later in trip
Dinner at Garden Grill 5:40pm.
Fast Pass for Finding Nemo
Fast Pass for Turtle Talk with Crush
9pm - Illuminations? Maybe pending kiddos.

Tuesday:

Head to Magic Kingdom

8:20am - Be Our Guest Pre-Park Opening Breakfast
12pm - Lunch - Crystal Palace
Fast Passes
3pm - Festival of Fantasy Parade
Leave park after parade

Back to resort to swim, rest

Head to Boardwalk or Disney Springs for evening - maybe?

Wednesday:

Breakfast at food court. Relaxing morning at resort.
Water Park in morning - Typhoon Lagoon (park opens at 10am)
Leaving by 12:30 at the latest. Have lunch at resort, change, and rest.

Head to HS
One fast pass before dinner
5pm dinner reservation with Fantasmic package at Minnie's Seasonal Dine.
Two fast passes after dinner
Fantasmic at 8:30pm.

Thursday:

Magic Kingdom

Get to MK for Park Opening to see the show
Breakfast at Gaston's Tavern
4pm - Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue
7pm - possible Chip & Dale's Campfire Sing-a-long? TBD on the spot

Friday:

Animal Kingdom

Relaxing morning at resort - pack, etc.
11:30am - lunch at Sanaa at AKV (out of pocket) - first seating to request a table by the window
Head to AK
Rides, Shows, etc.
FP for Safari, Rivers of Light Show and one more.
Evening Safari
Hopefully, new RIVERS OF LIGHT SHOW

Back to pool to swim.

Saturday:

Check out.

Head to Epcot
8:30am - Breakfast at Akershus
Use three fast passes

Head home early afternoon.

 

[BlondeAppetit]

 

[BlondeAppetit]

Any advice is welcomed. Especially from those that enjoy the Water Pass and More Add On.

 

[skuttle]

We were at WDW this past Easter. We were there the WEdnesday before Easter through the Friday after Easter. We had a fabulous time, but it was very crowded. Our kids were 11, 4, and 2.5 at the time. If any of the parks have 7am morning EMH, I highly recommend taking advantage of that if you can. We were able to get SO much done during those early morning hours before the crowds arrived. Totally worth it. We did it about every other day and it made a huge difference, and also allowed us to use FPs for other rides because we were able to knock out a lot during those morning hours. My kids tend to do better during early EMH than late, though.

We were able to swim every day of our trip, which was nice. A couple of evenings it was a little chilly with the wind, but during the day was never a problem.

We also ended up spending more time at Epcot than normal due to Flower & Garden. DH and I loved trying things at the food booths (like a mini Food and Wine). The kids liked the two playgrounds set up around Future World. We also did the Easter Egg hunt (not sure if you'll be going around Easter time).

We used a FP for Wishes during our Easter trip and thought it was worth it. We did 3 MK days, so we used the Wishes FP for the last MK night since it was the last night of our trip and the only time we made an effort to see the fireworks.

We saw the Star Wars fireworks during our short trip right before Christmas and loved them.

We did the water parks and more a couple of years ago when we went for the 4th of July week. My kids were younger then (10, 2.5 and 11mths). We enjoyed both water parks a lot, but we did them mostly for my 10 year old since he had never been and it was his birthday week. My younger kids would have had just as much fun at the resort pool and splash pad! Blizzard Beach was definitely more kid friendly. Because we had it, my older DS and DH went to Disney Quest as well and enjoyed it well enough since it was included in our tickets. We didn't do mini golf. My youngest were too young for that. There just would have been golf balls flying everywhere! LOL!

If you leave a credit card with the front desk and don't mind them putting your room charges on that card, you really don't have to do anything to check out. You just pack up and leave. I don't think you'd have a problem making any ADR, even 8:30am if you are pretty much packed up and ready to leave early enough. I probably wouldn't chance it though!

We did Be Our Guest breakfast and, while we enjoyed it, I didn't really think it was worth it. DH enjoyed it more than I did. And our kids didn't eat anything. Nothing appealed to them so they just ate some of the pastries.

DH and I had a great dinner at Sanaa. Never been for lunch. However, if you'd rather not leave AK, we LOVE the Tusker House character meal. We've done breakfast, lunch and dinner and enjoyed all three! My favorite! We did it in April and then again in December.

 

[AL_Girl]

We've never done water parks so no advice there.
Just skimming over it looks like a lot of traveling time. On your arrival you have eating dinner at the food courtand then the plaza at 630. On your 2nd day you plan on getting back to hotel at 1 and between 1 and 530 you are going to rest, get ready, travel to Epcot, have fast passes and be at garden grill for res. I promise I'm not picking at anything but it just seems like a lot if traveling. I know every kid is different but I wouldn't spend so much time heading back and forth for resting.

 

[mrzrich]

I agree that you are underestimating travel time, especially with the high crowd levels that week

 

[mrzrich]

Sunday:

Travel Day - drive from SC, arrive around 3-4pm.

Check in

Maybe eat dinner in food court if we did not eat in car.

Head to Magic Kingdom (open until midnight)
2 fast passes for rides
6:30pm - The Plaza (out of pocket) - dinner
Possible Wishes or Electric Light Parade FP - thoughts on which is better during busy crowds?
This may be our only night seeing the MK fireworks with the crowds and younger child. Thinking of the Wishes FP 1st. Would you do both?

Why eat at the Food Court 3-4 pm and then eat again at 6:30?

 

[mrzrich]

Monday looks good.

Tuesday, if you are going back to the resort after lunch, might I suggest you go back to the resort and eat lunch instead? Everything Pop is a lot less crowded at lunchtime than any QS in Magic Kingdom.

OR Plan B...

5 O'clock dinner Dinner then 7pm campfire? Again, I think you underestimate the time to eat, get down mainstreet, catch a boat to FW, walk from the FW boat dock to the bus stop and then catch the bus to the Meadows. I think you are going to stress yourself out trying. If you don't plan on spending the night at MK, why are you going back there for dinner? Why not lunch at Crystal Palace instead? Leave MK when you feel like you need your rest break, and then head to the campfire that night.

 

[mrzrich]

Wednesday looks good.

Thursday.. looks good, but do not underestimate your travel time to Hoop Dee Doo. If you really want to do the campfire, consider the 4pm Hoop Dee Doo, and then go to the Campfire.

 

[senadler]

A couple of comments:

During spring break it may not be warm enough first thing in the morning to enjoy the water parks. When my daughter has gone, the afternoon tends to work better. I also think that during a crowd 9 week it is most important to try and do early mornings in the park. By late morning/early afternoon it will be packed.

I would also caution your plan for a pre-park BOG. If your dates are surrounding Easter I would be surprised if hours are not adjusted for an 8 AM or even 7 AM MK opening.

 

[mrzrich]

Friday looks good.

After the kiddos are asleep that night I would get as much packed as possible. Put it all near the door so its ready to go. Just leave out what you'll need in the AM. Since your driving, you may even want to pack the car a little. (Nothing valuable, just dirty laundry, etc)


Saturday
I'm not sure what you are asking regarding an efficient check out. You just pack your bags and leave, there is nothing to do. I personally would try for the 8:30 Akershus if you want to get a few rides in before going home.

 

[mshanson3121]

I am planning a Spring Break trip for my family.

I am planning a 7 day trip from Sunday to Saturday. We were going to stay at POR - Riverside with a standard 6 day ticket and meal plan but with the pool closing and the announcement of the Spring deal, I decided to switch to Pop Century, add a 7 day ticket with Water Park and more with standard dining for less. Thoughts on that switch? Now $3100 for a family of four (youngest is 2.5, oldest is 6). Great value in my option. Figured kids could get their pool fix with slides at water parks.

I have been trying to develop an efficient plan since it will be crowd level 9s for our trip. My kids have been to WDW for past two years, so understand that we may not be able to do it all. I just want an enjoyable, fun, and somewhat relaxing vacation.

I am heading to all of the parks on preffered or most preffered days, FYI.

Tenative Agenda - please share with me your advice!

Sunday:

Travel Day - drive from SC, arrive around 3-4pm.

Check in

Maybe eat dinner in food court if we did not eat in car.

Head to Magic Kingdom (open until midnight)
2 fast passes for rides
6:30pm - The Plaza (out of pocket) - dinner
Possible Wishes or Electric Light Parade FP - thoughts on which is better during busy crowds?
This may be our only night seeing the MK fireworks with the crowds and younger child. Thinking of the Wishes FP 1st. Would you do both?

OR - Depending on the Star Wars situation at HS, this could be a good Star Wars night?

Why are you eating at food court if you have a 6:30 ADR? Skip that. Also, while every child is different - but to spend all day in a car, check in, eat and then head out to MK for that late of a night with a 2.5 year old sounds like pure disaster to me, IMHO, and I think could be setting you up for the rest of the trip. I would NOT attempt such a late night here. You're ALL going to be tired. Instead, I would arrive, check in, and head to MK, and do 3 FP+ rides, then plan on being back to the resort for a decent bedtime, as close to normal as possible. Allow the kids to get a good nights rest, so they're not starting their trip out overtired.

Monday:

Breakfast at food court.
Water Park in morning - possibly Blizzard Beach for appeal to younger kiddos.

Back to hotel around 1pm to rest and change.

Head to Epcot - will be heading back on last day too.
FPs
Dinner at Garden Grill 5:40pm.

9pm - Illuminations?

Maybe walk to the Boardwalk in the evening.

I'm assuming you will be doing one or the other - Epcot evening with Illuminations OR Boardwalk, not both. Don't try both. If you allow the kids a good rest in the afternoon, then I would skip the Boardwalk, and stay for IllumiNations.

Tuesday:

Head to Magic Kingdom

8:20am - Be Our Guest Pre-Park Opening Breakfast
Lunch - Sleepy Hollow?
Noon-ish - Mid-day break - swim at hotel, rest, and head back to MK for evening
5pm - Dinner at Crystal Palace

Depending on crowds - maybe leave early and head to Fort Wilderness for Chip & Dale's Campfire Singalong(by 7pm) OR stay and watch evening entertainment in MK.

Assuming you did IllumiNations last night, keep this night short and let the kids be in bed on time, so that they're not so overtired, when you try and do Fantasmic tomorrow night. So - skip the Sing a Long and skip the evening entertainment. I'd just do dinner at CP, and then head back to the hotel. Let the kids swim a bit or something before bed.

Wednesday:

Breakfast at Food Court
Water Park in morning to mid-afternoon - Typhoon Lagoon. Maybe mini-golf too?

Back to hotel to rest and change.

Head to Hollywood Studios in the mid-afternoon to use 3 FPs. - Toy Story, Frozen, Star Tours
5pm dinner reservation with Fantasmic package at Minnie's Seasonal Dine.
Fantasmic at 8:30pm.

This is an EXHAUSTING day you have planned for such young children. A water park is exhausting. Plus mini golf. Then running back to the hotel to change (there is NO time for rest here with what you have planned), running to HS to use 3 FP+, then make your dinner reservation. I'm exhausted just thinking of it, I can't imagine what your 2.5 year old would feel like! Lol. Water park until noon. No mini golf. Go back to the hotel for lunch and then a real rest. Head to HS in the late afternoon, use one FP+ before dinner, save the other for after.

Magic Kingdom

Get to MK for Park Opening to see the show
Breakfast at Gaston's Tavern
Rides, etc. - lunch at Columbia Harbour House?
6:15pm - Hoop Dee Doo Revue

I would do lunch then head back to the resort for a nice long rest. Do HDDR, then head back to the park to watch the MSEP and Fireworks. I'd also do a lunch in MK, too, instead. Trying to eat at Harbour House is just yet more back and forth which is a time-eater and also exhausting for kids.

Friday:

Animal Kingdom

Rides, Shows, etc.
11:30am - lunch at Sanaa at AKV (out of pocket) - first seating to request a table by the window
Evening Safari
Hopefully, new RIVERS OF LIGHT SHOW

Back to pool to swim.

Seeing as how you had a LATE night the night before if you stay for Wishes, then I honestly, would not enter AK until your lunch ADR (and I might even try and move it to a bit later). Allow everyone to have the morning to sleep in and rest after the night before. Then, use your FP+ for the afternoon, and just stay through until ROL/evening Safari.

Or, do RD, rides/shows etc... lunch, then go back for a nice rest, and then come back for Safari and ROL.

Saturday:

Check out.

10:30am - Breakfast at Akershus (or 8:30am but thought that might be cutting it too close unless anyone had advice on efficiently checking out).

Use three fast passes

Head home early afternoon.

Thank you in advance for your help!

I haven't been to WDW when the crowds have been so large and since it is a week long vacation, I am okay with not rushing around so I don't mind not maximizing every minute.

I also have never used the Water Park and more option but would like to visit the water parks at least twice.


Despite saying you're okay with not rushing around, not maximizing every minute - that is EXACTLY what you have done. You have a really busy, exhausting trip planned. IMHO, way too much for the ages of children you have. The biggest concern is, you're doing a LOT of late nights with a 2.5 year old. And sleeping in a stroller in a park, being disturbed when it's time to head back to the hotel, being disturbed when being tucked into bed at the hotel, and then getting up early and doing it all over again, every night... I really don't see it ending well. I think you're going to have a very cranky, over tired 2.5 year old who is going to potentially make your trip quite miserable. While yes, it means skipping some stuff, that's really what it is to travel with a child that young. I would definitely plan on having some nights at the resort in bed on time. Make sure you're allowing time for resting and allowing normal nap and sleep schedules as much as possible. Don't underestimate how long it is going to take you to get out of park, back to resort, up to room to rest, then back again. Easily 1 hour each way. So, if you want a good rest (1-2 hours at least), you need to carve out basically a 4 hour chunk each day for that.

 

[AL_Girl]

For us it works better to make sure we are back for bed at night at a reasonable time rather than resting during the day. We've traveled with our youngest to WDW when she was 7 months and a little over 1year and the only days we went to our room for naps were when a park had late night EMH.

 

[BlondeAppetit]

We were at WDW this past Easter. We were there the WEdnesday before Easter through the Friday after Easter. We had a fabulous time, but it was very crowded. Our kids were 11, 4, and 2.5 at the time. If any of the parks have 7am morning EMH, I highly recommend taking advantage of that if you can. We were able to get SO much done during those early morning hours before the crowds arrived. Totally worth it. We did it about every other day and it made a huge difference, and also allowed us to use FPs for other rides because we were able to knock out a lot during those morning hours. My kids tend to do better during early EMH than late, though.

We were able to swim every day of our trip, which was nice. A couple of evenings it was a little chilly with the wind, but during the day was never a problem.

We also ended up spending more time at Epcot than normal due to Flower & Garden. DH and I loved trying things at the food booths (like a mini Food and Wine). The kids liked the two playgrounds set up around Future World. We also did the Easter Egg hunt (not sure if you'll be going around Easter time).

We used a FP for Wishes during our Easter trip and thought it was worth it. We did 3 MK days, so we used the Wishes FP for the last MK night since it was the last night of our trip and the only time we made an effort to see the fireworks.

We saw the Star Wars fireworks during our short trip right before Christmas and loved them.

We did the water parks and more a couple of years ago when we went for the 4th of July week. My kids were younger then (10, 2.5 and 11mths). We enjoyed both water parks a lot, but we did them mostly for my 10 year old since he had never been and it was his birthday week. My younger kids would have had just as much fun at the resort pool and splash pad! Blizzard Beach was definitely more kid friendly. Because we had it, my older DS and DH went to Disney Quest as well and enjoyed it well enough since it was included in our tickets. We didn't do mini golf. My youngest were too young for that. There just would have been golf balls flying everywhere! LOL!

If you leave a credit card with the front desk and don't mind them putting your room charges on that card, you really don't have to do anything to check out. You just pack up and leave. I don't think you'd have a problem making any ADR, even 8:30am if you are pretty much packed up and ready to leave early enough. I probably wouldn't chance it though!

We did Be Our Guest breakfast and, while we enjoyed it, I didn't really think it was worth it. DH enjoyed it more than I did. And our kids didn't eat anything. Nothing appealed to them so they just ate some of the pastries.

DH and I had a great dinner at Sanaa. Never been for lunch. However, if you'd rather not leave AK, we LOVE the Tusker House character meal. We've done breakfast, lunch and dinner and enjoyed all three! My favorite! We did it in April and then again in December.

Thank you so much for detailed comment. I am thinking that the hopper would be a good add on for this trip to take advantage of the EMH. The cost would be minimal and it sounds like the rewards would be great.

My oldest loves water parks so just like your oldest, this would be mostly for her. I will be about 6 months pregnant by Spring Break so I would be hanging with the little one. I will have to think on this one. I wish that Pop had a slide!

Thanks for your advice abotu check out. We have typically had a leisurely last day and slowly checked out and then headed to a character meal. I appreciate your option on the 8:30 Akershus.

We did Tusker on a previous trip and since we had two other "Mickey" meals, I am interested in trying Sanaa. AK should have the night asafari and evening show so I was trying to leave my evening free to enjoy those activites. The bus ride to the Villas may be a welcome mid-day break.

Thanks again for everything!

 

[BlondeAppetit]

We've never done water parks so no advice there.
Just skimming over it looks like a lot of traveling time. On your arrival you have eating dinner at the food courtand then the plaza at 630. On your 2nd day you plan on getting back to hotel at 1 and between 1 and 530 you are going to rest, get ready, travel to Epcot, have fast passes and be at garden grill for res. I promise I'm not picking at anything but it just seems like a lot if traveling. I know every kid is different but I wouldn't spend so much time heading back and forth for resting.

Totally had the food count on day one in there in error. I should have delelted it when I added The Plaza reservation.

I was thinking we could leave the water park around one. Back to resort and change and then to Epcot for 3pm-ish. I appreciate our comments and I am going to look into travel directly from the water park to Epcot. I have looked online, the info is limited around bus schedules.

I am sure there are lockers rooms where we could change at the Water Park and we would have astroller that we could stash our wet clothes on, etc. That woud be more efficient.

 

[BlondeAppetit]

I agree that you are underestimating travel time, especially with the high crowd levels that week

Thank you. I have only stayed at monorail resorts. So I need to take that into more consideration.

 

[BlondeAppetit]

Thank you for your feedback! I think that I am trying to do too much too. My kids are night owls (against my liking). I truly only planned on seeing the fireworks on the first night in MK.

The water parks don't open untl 10am. Maybe that will change.

I am going to review your notes. I like your ideas.

 

[hsmamato2]

I am not familiar with those crowd levels, but I think water park then Epcot is going to be extremely wearing on all of you, and then you have an early breakfast the next day...consider in your plans the travel time, will you be driving or taking a bus? I have always thought in busy season, earlyearlyearly in the big parks is what saves the day- then if you want a wp later in the day, that's a better option. Personally with such young kiddos, I'd be planning less travel time, less hopping around,and more relaxing in between main activity times....

 

[Hopefully]

I agree strongly with mshanson3121. I think you have way too much planned. There are days you say that you are returning to ret at the same time as you plan on doing something else. To me it is a recipe for disaster

 

[mshanson3121]

Thank you for your feedback! I think that I am trying to do too much too. My kids are night owls (against my liking). I truly only planned on seeing the fireworks on the first night in MK.

The water parks don't open untl 10am. Maybe that will change.

I am going to review your notes. I like your ideas.

If water parks aren't open until 10:00 (and that probably won't change), and you really want Wishes that first night, maybe you could try something like this:

Sunday:

arrive around 3-4pm.
Check in
Head to Magic Kingdom (open until midnight)
6:30pm - The Plaza (out of pocket) - dinner
MSEP & Wishes


Monday:
Sleep in/rest in the morning. Late breakfast at food court.
Head to the water park around 11 or 12. (Definitely BB)
Head back to your hotel to change around 2 to rest and change.
Head to EP in time for your Garden Grill 5:40pm.
Then do your FP+
9pm - Illuminations


Tuesday:

I would do a full day at MK here.
Do your 8:20 ADR at BOG
Spend the morning at MK doing rides
Have an early lunch around 11:30 to beat the crowds. Try and choose a place where you can go in, sit down and have a more leisurely meal for a break.
After lunch, hit up Tom Sawyer's Island - it's a nice place to get away from the crowds and take it easier, spend some time there for a rest. Other low-key attractions would be the Carousel of Progress etc...
Stay and watch the FOF parade (one of our biggest regrets is not seeing this)
5:00 ADR and then leave the park as soon as you're done.
Spend your evening at the hotel swimming, and RESTING. You've now had two very late nights, with another one coming up tomorrow.
See if you can watch Dream Along with Mickey on this day, as well. It's a great show, our kids loved it.


Wednesday:
Breakfast at Food Court
Water Park: Typhoon Lagoon.
I would plan on leaving by 12:30 at the latest. Have lunch, change, and rest.
Leave for HS in time for your 5pm dinner reservation with Fantasmic package at Minnie's Seasonal Dine.
Use your FP+ after dinner.
Fantasmic at 8:30pm.

Thursday:

Magic Kingdom
Get to MK for Park Opening to see the show
Breakfast at Gaston's Tavern
Rides, etc.
Have a later lunch in MK (around 1:00)
Go back to your hotel for a swim/break.
6:15pm - Hoop Dee Doo Revue

Friday:

Animal Kingdom

Spend the morning packing and getting ready to leave tomorrow, since Sanaa is NOT in Animal Kingdom, it's really a huge waste of time to go to AK first for about an hour or so, just to have to leave the park again to get to Sanaa, then turn around and go back.

11:30am - lunch at Sanaa at AKV (out of pocket) - first seating to request a table by the window
Head into AK, and use FP+ for rides
Evening Safari
Hopefully, new RIVERS OF LIGHT SHOW

Now, if the ROL and Evening safari are not going to be up and running by this point, instead I would do something more along the lines of this:

Head to AK for rope drop
Stay for the full day enjoying the rides and shows
Try and get a supper time ADR for Sanaa around 4 or 5
Head back to the hotel after Sanaa to swim, and pack and get things in order to leave tomorrow

Saturday:

8:30 am Akershus (if you follow my advice and pack and get ready to leave on Friday, you'll be able to have everything packed and ready to go, so all you'll need to do is throw your dirty pjs and morning toiletries into your suitcase and head out the door)
Spend the morning at EP, use three fast passes
Head home early afternoon.