Planning Tips.

[gingernick]

Hi, have any of you seasoned Disneyites got any tips for us 1st timers on how best to plan a trip to Orlando, the parks & eating out. There is sooo much information here I don't know how best to collect it all. I have Simons book (Brits guide, Which is excellent) but any tips from you guys would be most appreciated.

 

[SidB]

This sounds quite simplistic, but it worked for us first time. We listed all of the attractions, restaurants and shopping outlets we wanted to visit. We got this from the Brits Guide and some personal recommendations. Then we made a little chart broken down in am/pm/evening sections. We then took our list and cut it into pieces. We shuffked the pieces around until we came up with a plan. Needless to say we changed it as soon as we got to Orlando. Even so, it gave us a plan that everybody could check and change before we left.

 

[Disney owl]

Have a plan though ours is more basic than sidB's. Just 1 or 2 things down per day rest flexible.

Take a break in middle of your day - come out of park & have hand stamped & hit your pool.

If driving jot down row numbers / letters. those car parks are huge & I could never recognise our hire car.

Put something (non-valuable ) on view in your car to make it easier to find. We took cardboard windscreen shield with us & it helped to keep car a little cooler.

 

[KayleeUK]

I am a nerd I have a plan broken down to AM,PM & EVE what we are doing and where we are having dinner, this could change whilst we are there but I build it around EE and my PS's

 

[signtalker]

Then I Am a nerd also!!!!

Kaylee, I always break mine down into AM/PM and evening, where we are eating parade times,rest breaks(drinks),eveing entertainment etc etc.

Our holidays have always gone like a dream,and it always makes us laugh to watch all the brits in the parks that havent planned and have no idea!!!.

jules

 

[UKDEB]

Hi gingernick and welcome to the DIS

It would help us to know what you've done so far. Have you booked anything, and if so, what? Onsite/offsite? Will you have a car?

 

[UKDEB]

D'oh! I've just seen the info in your signature! So, obviously offsite. Will you have a car?

 

[lenny l]

deleted

 

[Celestine]

I'm also a planning nerd then! However, the first time I visited I did no research & no planning & to be honest saw very little. This time I planned & we saw heaps. Yes, the plan changed, but it stopped the bickering that invariably occurs when either DH or I have the map & can't make a decision, or worse still makes it more complicated than it really is. If you want to see the sort of plans I made, send me an e-mail

 

[gingernick]

Hi, thanks for all your replies so far. UKDeb if it helps heres what I've done so far, booked flights from ebookers, accommodation direct from Holiday Inn Sunspree LBV, a car from Holiday Autos & booked Discovery Cove for us to have a Dolphin Swim. Wasn't going to hire a car but the info on this site changed my mind. I know we won't see any where near it all but would like a taste of as much as possible. Family of 4 consisting of me, DW, DD aged 8 & DS aged 6, going 3/4/04 coming back 18/4/04. We would like to do at least 1 character meal, probably Chef Mickeys for dinner 1 week (maybe breakfastosauros? at AK another week), we will be eating out all the time, maybe go to the coast for the day (at the weekend)? Also plan on doing MK, Epcot, AK, MGM, U studios, U IOA, T Lagoon & Seaworld. We plan on taking a break at lunch times at the parks & hiring a buggy. This holiday is mainly for the wife & kids enjoyment (I'm sure I'll enjoy it too) as long as they have a great time I'm happy to take a back seat. OMG I've just read what I've typed, I've gone on a bit there, I hope I haven't bitten off more than we can chew. Oh thinking of getting tickets from Ticketmania, when should I order now or nearer Easter.

 

[Mr Ed]

You can fit in everything you have mentioned , but you will pay for it! We did all that on our first visit and my wife and kids (6 & 4 at the time) were shattered. Last visit we did MGM, MK, AK, Epcot, Typhoon Lagoon, Discovery Cove and Sea World. This was more than enough on little legs and we did everything we planned in each park.

I would suggest you try dropping US & IOA for this visit (you WILL go again)!

Discovery Cove is a fantastic day and you get a 7 day pass into Sea World included.

You will have a fantastic holiday, whatever you finally decide to do.

Ed

 

[Red-Snapper]

As you are there for 2 weeks I would suggest you dont drop US?IOA. AS previous people have said you WILL have time for what you have planned.

US/IOA will give you a good all-round impression of what Orlando has to offer - not just Disney.

Just make sure you have some rest days in between the major days out and everything will be fine. Keep a plan but be prepared to be flexible and change things around.

We always do Seaworld on our first full day as it is a good more relaxing intro to the parks.

Have fun !!

 

[Enright78]

Drink water a lot.

Plan but not too much, be able to go with the flow.

Read read read Simons book

Try NON Disney things too

Remember, you will go back, take it from them as knows

And....don't forget the sunscreen!


Oh yes...have fun and don't be embarassed to be silly, you will never see most of these people again!

 

[vernon]

I generally have a planned itinerary that maps out activity (ie which park) and meals. I almost never stick to the itinerary, but it does help to have an idea of what you REALLY want to do and allocate days for those things, if you change plans you can fit in an "important" thing later in the trip. I didn't do this the first trip and found I had one day left but still had 3 days of park tickets which were "use em or lose em" . Obviously that isn't an economic way to use the tickets.

With the visit to DC and the weeks worth of SW passes I would plan to make a lot of use of those. I've found with kids that age they can get tired bashing the parks day in, day out but they want to spend time in the parks. Using the SW passes for several "half days" gives the kids the feeling they have had a "park day" but doesn't leave them too exhausted. It allows you to have a lie in if that's needed, maybe a couple of hours shopping at Belz or the outlet malls, 4 or 5 leisurely hours at SW with still time to get back to your hotel and freshen up before going out for a nice meal somewhere, alternatively you can get to SW for opening time, stay there until say 2.00 and then retire to the pool at the hotel for the afternoon. Either way it's a much more relaxed way to do things. With park tickets running at $200 per day for your family making extra use of the SW offering could free up $700-800 for you to spend on other things.

I would rethink the beach day, I'm not sure you'll have time and considering the 90 minutes drive there (and back) you would struggle to get much more than 5 hours at the beach. I would opt for a day at one of Disney's excellent waterparks, TL particularly IMHO has all the feel of a day at the beach with the added fun of waterslides.

I'm presuming you're there for 2 weeks. In your situation I would plan 1 day at DC, one day at US (IMHO you're kids are likely to be a little small for a lot of the IOA rides) , one full day at MK (no break), one day morning to AK (leave about 4.00) with evening at MGM for fantasmic and a few rides, one morning at MGM for the rest of the rides ( leave about 4.00) that evening at Epcot for Illuminations and one Disney park day to split between MK and whichever park you feel you want to return to. I would certainly have one day at TL and think about a day at BB if the kids find they enjoy TL. That's 7 full days entertainment, but using SW for 4-5 "half days" coupled with pool or shopping it still leaves you time if you want to try IOA for one day or my preference would be a day at BG. Having already bought your DC ticket I wouldn't buy anything more than a 4/5 day Disney hopper plus. I'd have two Disney park days then the SW/DC week leaving the remaining 2/3 Disney hoppers or waterpark days at the end fitting in US and anything else at the end.

If you leave some things out, don't worry too much you will be back LOL

 

[UKDEB]

I think it's important to have a good idea of what you want to do (and you clearly have), even if you don't turn it into a detailed itinerary.

I'd say you should be able to do all the things you've identified. Orlando isn't a relaxing holiday, especially the first time when you're keen to do everything, so as long as you're aware of that and willing to be flexible, you'll be OK. I would advise not to try blitzing everything, though. Take time to soak it all up, or you might come home feeling something was missing. Don't forget to factor in some shopping time - Premium Outlets, Mall at Millenia and Florida Mall are my favourites. And Festival Bay at the top of I-Drive is all but finished.

US and IoA are 'must-dos' in my book. Even when US was just the Studios and a parking lot, I loved it as much as Disney. Now with the IoA, CityWalk and the resorts it really is a serious contender.

Make use of Fastpass at WDW and avoid Early Entry days. As you may know, Disney opens one of its parks early for resort guests each day. The designated park gets very busy by mid-morning. NEVER visit MK on a Saturday! That is unless you want to see something like SpectroMagic and Saturday's the only day it's showing whilst you're there. Even then, go just for the parade and avoid the park the rest of the day.

Current EE days are:

MK - Sun, Th
Epcot - Wed
MGM - Tu, Sat
AK - Mon, Fri

US and IoA are busier at weekends, but then so are the shops, water parks and beaches, so you can't avoid the crowds altogether.

I would try to do the things you most want to do first. Then if you run out of time it won't be such a big deal.

 

[neilybealy]

wise words

US and IOA are a definite must do - as is citywalk

i would have liked to spent more time here in the evenings on our last trip (due to going with 9 other family members including a baby) but we'll just have to do that next time !!!

we also spaced out our rest days by going to the water parks - didn't get much rest though at BB but hey ho, we had so much fun instead we didn't want to just lay there in the sun

the rest of it we just decided the night before where we wanted to go the following day

it worked for us but you may like things to be a little bit to a plan

my g/f and i did say though that next time we might try staying onsite in the epcot area as there's much more going on in the evenings

 

[gingernick]

Hi, many thanks to you all for your excellent comments, Vernon you said almost exactly what my wife & I had planned so far. I have lots more questions about Universal (will read up some then post at a later date). Many thanks again.