Plans... Have I made any huge rookie errors????

[maximom]

Hope you guys can take a look and point out anything obvious.

Because of our budget and family size (me, DH, DS 17, DS 5) we needed room and decided to go offsite. I was able to snag a great deal for Cypress Pointe from Hotel Kingdom thanks to this website.

Dh's best friend is flying us into the Kissimmee airport in his private plane on Saturday. I got a deal with my Costco card for a full size car from Budget (located about 7 miles from airport) for around $150/wk. We'll just have the FBO drive us to Budget in the crew car, this is usually a free service. Sounds like CP is fairly close as well and I hope we're checked in by 5PM.

Here's the rest of the plans:

Sunday - Seaworld
Monday - Epcot
Tuesday - MK
Wednesday - REST
Thursday - Disney Studios
Friday - BEach (not sure which one will take suggestions)
Saturday - head home
Sunday - Get relaxed before going back to work on MOnday

I don't have all my dining plans set, it would drive DH crazy. He likes some things to be a bit less structured. I do plan on eating in our room quite a bit though.

So how does it look? I would probably rather do the beach earlier in the week but DH wants to do it last and I caved.

One other thing is that oldest DS would like to do Disney Quest but I'm not sure when to schedule it.

Thanks!

 

[HopperFan]

You have put three very full days first. Why not rest between EPCOT and MK? MGM is the easiest park to do.

BEACH - do you mean like the ocean beach ? Are you going to stay out there or do a day trip ? If it is a day trip I suggest the Atlantic ocean it is much closer.

ps We often do Disney & Beach. Beach is much better at the end. The ocean is very relaxing after the parks.

 

[maximom]

I guess I could switch MK to Wednesday and rest on Tuesday. My reasoning behind the original schedule was (1) since we aren't staying on-site I was trying to avoid the EMH park days (2) Thought we would be EXHAUSTED after day at MK and would need a rest.

I am referring to a day at the beach and haven't decided where to go. I know the Atlantic is closer (not sure how much) but thought the Gulf side would be better. It would be a day trip though.

Thanks again

 

[HopperFan]

I was just thinking that all three of those are tiring parks.

SeaWOrld is pretty spread out and being that many things are timed shows, sometimes you have to hustle. EPCOT is a large park with so much to do, you'll want to check it all out. Magic Kingdom is more condensed with more ability to cut back and forth, but again there is much to see.

We are regulars and once we did do what you are doing and ended up doing nothing on the last day - we were to do something but didn't because we were simply exhausted.

Your beach trip is probably about 45-60 minutes to Atlantic vs 90-100+ minutes Gulf. We used to stay yearly outside of Tampa (and do day trips to Disney) and if you are going that way, do your homework so you don't waste time searching for a public beach. Most of the condo/motel owners were very quick to chase us off "their beach" even though we would stay right across the street. The beaches are more narrow. You'll want to look for a public beach - I think there is a large park in Clearwater. The Atlantic has wide beaches and no one chases you off. Just a different sand and water.

 

[Barb D]

Your 17yo could certainly strike out on his own and go to DQ on your rest day. That is, unless he wants to - like - rest. I don't know how the transportation from your hotel is, but if all else fails he could probably get a bus to EPCOT, and then get another bus from EPCOT to Downtown Disney. He might want to check out the Virgin Superstore (no, you don't buy virgins there...it's a huge record store) while he's at DD.

What kind of passes are you getting? Are you getting some kind of hoppers, or three one-day one-park passes? If you get 4-day hoppers you could pop into AK for a brief visit. Even if you don't use the 4th day, it won't expire. Or you could get 4 day passes, skip Seaworld, and have another day to see some of your favorite WDW sights.

 

[lwilson105]

For a first trip to disney world should I make a schedule like this also? we are going for 2 weeks and the 1st week we are devoting to disney and the 2nd week we are doing universal, seaworld and a day trip to clearwater but that is about how far I have went on the planning. Suggestions Please?

 

[HopperFan]

Some of us do Disney commando style

First - are you registered with Mousesavers.com. If not, do it.
Monthly newsletters and links to discounts.

I do recommend that when you get closer you pull up the Disney calendars on their site. For each day you want to know the Park Hours, Parade Times, Evening event times, and Early/Evening event times. This will help you plan which days you want to go to which parks. Some nights may have Spectro at MK, some may not. Depends on time of year. Factor in what kind of tickets you have. You should compare UPH to regular hopper and figure if you want any plus. Also if interested in DQ and if you need tickets, try online. ALWAYS plan down time. We are going on Sun, MK on Mon, hotel bliss on Tues, Epcot on Wed, home on Thurs. BUT we are regulars and will be back in July.

ALSO check the Sea World/Universal sites. Just recently my son found if we ordered online, for $94 we could get 5 consecutive days at Universal. Last year I think Sea World offered an annual pass for cost of one day. They also bundle the three together some. Cousins once bought a one day and park gave them a second day free.

Clearwater - to beach ? Again, do your homework and locate a public beach with facilities if possible.

You can always always deviate from the plans, but have found that the only folks who have complained to me about their trips made no plans and found themselves overwhelmed.

Again - plan down time, even if it is a nice long meal somewhere, you'll need to energize !!!!!

Leaving in 5 days

 

[Gillian]

For beaches, all of the gulf towns between clearwater beach & st pete beach have a public beach with a parking lot. Clearwater is big and has a large parking lot. It looked like there were bathrooms and a playground there, but we just drove by so I'm not sure. Lots of people there, even on a weekday in May.

We liked the southern part of St Pete Beach, called Pass-a-Grille, because the beaches were shorter (easier for us with little ones) and there weren't a lot of people. There is a snack bar with bathrooms and other public bathrooms near the other end of the beach. $5 to park all day, and you can move your car to another area of St pete beach if you want. There was another big public beach in St Pete that looked nice.