Please critique my plan, can't decide on certain things...

[JFMom]

Hi All,

Very excited to join the thread. Our family of 3 (my husband and I, and a 7 yr old daughter) are going to Orlando during president's day week. Yes, I know it’s going to be crowded but it's the only time we have available. We are only going to visit two DIS parks: AK on 2/18 and MK on 2/19. We have been to Disneyland in CA and HK, and this is going to be our first time at Disneyworld. We are staying at the Swan and got fast passes for major attractions. Here's our tentative plan but we can't decide on certain things and don’t know how to minimize walking back and forth based on our FPs. Since it’s a crowded week so not sure about ability to get additional FPs.

1. Mon 2/17: redeye flight + morning connection and arrival to Orlando MCO at 9:30am, head to hotel and drop off luggage at Swan. We have Sanaa reservation at 12:15pm and 5:20pm. Need to cancel one but can't decide if we should do lunch or dinner. Plan to walk around Disney Spring, shop, rest and take it slow this first day.
2. Sun 2/18: Animal Kingdom (9am - 8pm hours, no EMH, Kali and primeval are both closed this week)
   • Can't decide if we should 10:50am Tusker House breakfast Reservation with 7:00pm ROL show package, or 5:45pm dinner with 8:15 ROL show package. Have both and need to cancel one.
   • FP times are: Safari at 9:50am, Everest at 2:05pm, and FOP at 3:05pm
   • Tentative plan, arriving by 8:30am for 9am opening
     • Option 1: NRJ > Dinosaur > use Safari fast pass around 10am > Tusker house 10:50am breakfast > conservation station > walk around trail in African/Asian area > use Everest fast past around 2:30pm > use FOP fast past around 3pm-ish, done by 4pm-ish > 5pm Lion King show > Bug > back to dinosaur area for Top Spin, fossil activities, see animals or do a character meet > 7pm ROL show > Dinner at Yak & Yeti (have landry’s card) > stop by life awakening and pandora night view after dinner as we leave the park
     • Option 2: NRJ > Dinosaur> use Safari fast pass at 10am > Bug > gack to dinosaur for TopSpin/fossil activities > lunch at FlameTree or Yak & Yeti > walk around trail in Asian area > use Everest fast past around 2pm > use FOP fast past around 3pm> conservation station > 5pm Lion King show > 5:45pm Tusker House Dinner (done by 7:15pm-ish?> Back to pandora area to look at night view > 8:15pm ROL show > tree awakening on the way out
     • Other suggestions??? Tusker House has a variety of times available for lunch and dinner on this date. We do want to eat at Tusker House.
3. Wed 2/19: Magic Kingdom (9am - 11pm including EMH)
   • Can’t decide if we should do BOG lunch 1:15pm or dinner 8:20pm. Worried about lines too long at lunch even with ADR, but probably won’t’ be able to eat too much at dinner because we’re also doing the 6:30 pm dessert party. Will also do 8am CRT breakfast. FP times are 9:05am SDMT, 11:25am Peter Pan, and 12:35pm space mountain.
   • Plan: 8am CRT breakfast reservation > FP SDMT around 9:15am-ish > Mountain Train > Haunted House > if time allows squeeze in small world > use Peter pan FP by 12:15pm > use Space Mountain FP at 12:50pm > 1:15pm ADR at BOG or quick lunch elsewhere > Jungle cruise > Caribbean > back to tomorrowland for 6:30pm dessert party > fireworks > finish rides at Tomorrowland/fantasyland after fireworks or rush to 8:20 BOG dinner > after dinner, finish rides at fantasy land and tomorrowland.
4. Thurs 2/20: Kennedy Space Center or Universal Studio (haven't decided yet)

Thoughts? Thanks so much!

 

[DisneyGirlMI]

I can’t speak to your dining reservations as we haven’t eaten at most of those. Your MK looks pretty good, but you AK day has a lot of back and forth across the park. That park is huge and it’s an effort to cross cross. I would use a map (available on the MDE app) and plan your rides to minimize having to backtrack (your option 1 has you crossing the park at least 6 times.
For your arrival day, I would schedule a dinner, so that if you are late arriving you don’t miss your reservation. That said, I would probably look for a restaurant in DS to eat at, since you are planning to be there already. You are going to be tired after traveling all night and Sana’a is out of the way. JMHO

 

[DrummerBoy523]

For your arrival day, I wouldn drop the earlier reservation and Sanaa.

Your AK option 1 has you going all over the place. I'd try to optimize that a little bit.

Tusker house is awesome, and your 10:50 will likely get you both bfast and lunch options

As for MK - doing the dessert party kinda makes your dinner BOG a bit overkill. If you are married to the dessert party then absolutely do lunch at BOG.

 

[Oneanne]

Personally I wouldn't make any ADRs on arrival day, as they never seem to work out. Either something happens and I can't make it or I don't feel like doing it when the time rolls around. If you really want to eat at Sanaa drop the 12:15, as that's cutting it pretty close.

 

[JFMom]

Thanks so much! And yucks, I didn't realize i was crossing the park so many times with the AK option 1. I was restricted to the early FP time for the Safari but wanted to rope drop NRJ and squeeze in Dinosaur before the line gets too long. I did look at the map but couldn't quite work out the time and location. Will likely drop the early sanaa lunch reservation on day 1, and will think about whether or not we want to venture to Sanaa for dinner at all. We can probably just do T-Rex or Rainforest at Disney Springs.

Here's a slightly revised AK plan:

NRJ > depending on timing, look at animals on discover island and/or gorilla trail in Africa area > use Safari FP around 10am > Tusker house 10:50am breakfast (hopefully done by 12:30pm or so) > 1pm Lion King show > use Everest fast past around 2pm > walk around/trail in Asia area > use FOP fast past around 3pm-ish, done by 4pm-ish > Bug > Dinosuar/Top Spin/fossil activities> 7pm ROL show > Dinner at Yak & Yeti (have landry’s card) > stop by life awakening and pandora night view after dinner as we leave the park

Considering the lines will be long in the PM, not sure if that's enough time to do the bug show and dinosaur and other activities in the area before heading over to ROL?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If you really want to do Sana’a on arrival day, I would do the lunch. With a red eye, you may be exhausted by 5 pm and room should be ready by then in case you need to crash. Personally, I would check in at the Swan and just head to DS to shop, have lunch, etc. until your room is ready at the Swan.

 

[Kbmas0n]

Are you huge Avatar fans? If not, I would not worry about rope dropping NRJ. It's just not worth it (IMO). It's a slow, dark, ride in a boat with pretty effects. Nothing very exciting or worth a rope drop. I would 100% rope drop Everest. We have been able to ride it five times in a row before any sort of a line built up. Doing this means you could drop the Everest FP and use it for something else.

It's also nice to start in Asia at Everest and work your way to Africa for the Safari FP and breakfast. Perhaps you could try to modify the FOP FP to an earlier time if one opens up? People are changing their plans ALL the time, and you never know what will pop up .

Good luck!

 

[JFMom]

Thank you. Those are all very good points. On Day 1 I think we will just drop Sanaa altogether and head to Disney Springs until our room is ready. We'll probably need the rest.

For AK: we're not huge avatar fans and actually my daughter has not even seen or heard of the movie. We're thinking about rope dropping it to avoid the afternoon long line . We could drop drop Everest instead and use the FP for Dinosaur, but the only FP times available now is past 4:15pm. We did try to move up our FOP FP since 90+1. Initially our FOP time was 7pm and we eventually got it moved up till 3:05pm. We'll keep tracking but not sure how likely it is to be able to move it up any further.

I guess we rope drop Everest and head to Africa, and do 4:15pm Dinosaur FP. We'll then get in line for NRJ after ROL, then have dinner elsewhere.

We could also just plan to arrive around park opening and head to the Dinosaur but I've read often the ride doesn't start till 9:30am despite it says 9am opening time? Then do NRJ near closing....

 

[hes122]

WRT a lunch ADR at BOG, make sure to pre-order online using a browser (not the app). Your time waiting in line will significantly decrease because you won't have to decide what it is you want to eat.

 

[Ksquared]

I agree with posts above:

1. Arrival Day: I would not do lunch. Also, I would switch dinner unless you definitely want to try Sanaa (I have not eaten there but it's because of location. If you plan to walk around DS, then I'd try a restaurant there for dinner, more convenient esp on a travel day when you will most likely be tired

2. I would definitely keep the breakfast reservation at Tusker House. You are close to the lunch switch and can sample foods from both menus at that time. Maybe if you switch your Safari and Everest FP, then you could do Navi, Dinosaur and Everest before breakfast and then go to Safari after (just a thought for a little less walking back and forth). Or go to Navi and stay close to that area for Safari then hit Dinosaur closer to time when you do Everest

3. If I had to choose, I'd do lunch at BOG, esp if you have Breakfast at castle and then a dessert party at 6:30. You can always get a snack later if you are hungry. To minimize wait, order ahead for lunch.

4. Last day, hands down I'd go over to Universal

 

[DrummerBoy523]

Thanks so much! And yucks, I didn't realize i was crossing the park so many times with the AK option 1. I was restricted to the early FP time for the Safari but wanted to rope drop NRJ and squeeze in Dinosaur before the line gets too long. I did look at the map but couldn't quite work out the time and location. Will likely drop the early sanaa lunch reservation on day 1, and will think about whether or not we want to venture to Sanaa for dinner at all. We can probably just do T-Rex or Rainforest at Disney Springs.

Here's a slightly revised AK plan:

NRJ > depending on timing, look at animals on discover island and/or gorilla trail in Africa area > use Safari FP around 10am > Tusker house 10:50am breakfast (hopefully done by 12:30pm or so) > 1pm Lion King show > use Everest fast past around 2pm > walk around/trail in Asia area > use FOP fast past around 3pm-ish, done by 4pm-ish > Bug > Dinosuar/Top Spin/fossil activities> 7pm ROL show > Dinner at Yak & Yeti (have landry’s card) > stop by life awakening and pandora night view after dinner as we leave the park

Considering the lines will be long in the PM, not sure if that's enough time to do the bug show and dinosaur and other activities in the area before heading over to ROL?

you will be able to get a Dino SDFP+ most likely so I would try for later in the day based on the plan above.

 

[wiggy500]

Here's a slightly revised AK plan:

NRJ > depending on timing, look at animals on discover island and/or gorilla trail in Africa area > use Safari FP around 10am > Tusker house 10:50am breakfast (hopefully done by 12:30pm or so) > 1pm Lion King show > use Everest fast past around 2pm > walk around/trail in Asia area > use FOP fast past around 3pm-ish, done by 4pm-ish > Bug > Dinosuar/Top Spin/fossil activities> 7pm ROL show > Dinner at Yak & Yeti (have landry’s card) > stop by life awakening and pandora night view after dinner as we leave the park

I'm no longer getting stressed reading your plan. I think this cuts out walking about as much as is possible. Seems good to me.

 

[Calee]

I think you can get a dinosaur FP as a 4th.

I would definitely not do BOG dinner after a dessert party. It is a pre fixe meal so you have to get (or at least pay for) all the courses whether you are hungry or not. And wont you miss fireworks?

 

[MotherKnowsBest]

Are you married to going to AK? I couldn't imagine going to WDW for the first time and not going to Epcot. Especially since you are staying so close!

 

[JFMom]

Thank you, all. Yes. I think we will cut the BOG dinner and do a BOG quick lunch (hopefully). We'll stick with the revised AK plan and try to get a dinosaur FP for that late afternoon if possible. We did debate between AK vs. Epcot quite intensely but decided on AK, mainly because we are huge on animals.....

We may actually go to Epcot on the third day instead of going to universal studio or Kennedy space center. Still undecided on this 3rd full day. Husband wanted to go KSC cuz there's nothing similar where we live, while my daughter and I are happy enough with MK and AK. We did read a lot of negative reviews on KSC lately so that could change my husband's mine. We haven't purchased any tickets yet but are trying to make this decision soon.

 

[Mesh]

For BOG lunch, you can pre-order online. We’ve never waited in a line doing this. You get to bypass the line on the right of the bridge and go to the left where they send you to the cashier to pay (you can also make any needed changes to order at this point). Hope you have a great trip!

 

[Afabena]

Hi All,

Very excited to join the thread. Our family of 3 (my husband and I, and a 7 yr old daughter) are going to Orlando during president's day week. Yes, I know it’s going to be crowded but it's the only time we have available. We are only going to visit two DIS parks: AK on 2/18 and MK on 2/19. We have been to Disneyland in CA and HK, and this is going to be our first time at Disneyworld. We are staying at the Swan and got fast passes for major attractions. Here's our tentative plan but we can't decide on certain things and don’t know how to minimize walking back and forth based on our FPs. Since it’s a crowded week so not sure about ability to get additional FPs.

1. Mon 2/17: redeye flight + morning connection and arrival to Orlando MCO at 9:30am, head to hotel and drop off luggage at Swan. We have Sanaa reservation at 12:15pm and 5:20pm. Need to cancel one but can't decide if we should do lunch or dinner. Plan to walk around Disney Spring, shop, rest and take it slow this first day.
2. Sun 2/18: Animal Kingdom (9am - 8pm hours, no EMH, Kali and primeval are both closed this week)
   • Can't decide if we should 10:50am Tusker House breakfast Reservation with 7:00pm ROL show package, or 5:45pm dinner with 8:15 ROL show package. Have both and need to cancel one.
   • FP times are: Safari at 9:50am, Everest at 2:05pm, and FOP at 3:05pm
   • Tentative plan, arriving by 8:30am for 9am opening
     • Option 1: NRJ > Dinosaur > use Safari fast pass around 10am > Tusker house 10:50am breakfast > conservation station > walk around trail in African/Asian area > use Everest fast past around 2:30pm > use FOP fast past around 3pm-ish, done by 4pm-ish > 5pm Lion King show > Bug > back to dinosaur area for Top Spin, fossil activities, see animals or do a character meet > 7pm ROL show > Dinner at Yak & Yeti (have landry’s card) > stop by life awakening and pandora night view after dinner as we leave the park
     • Option 2: NRJ > Dinosaur> use Safari fast pass at 10am > Bug > gack to dinosaur for TopSpin/fossil activities > lunch at FlameTree or Yak & Yeti > walk around trail in Asian area > use Everest fast past around 2pm > use FOP fast past around 3pm> conservation station > 5pm Lion King show > 5:45pm Tusker House Dinner (done by 7:15pm-ish?> Back to pandora area to look at night view > 8:15pm ROL show > tree awakening on the way out
     • Other suggestions??? Tusker House has a variety of times available for lunch and dinner on this date. We do want to eat at Tusker House.
3. Wed 2/19: Magic Kingdom (9am - 11pm including EMH)
   • Can’t decide if we should do BOG lunch 1:15pm or dinner 8:20pm. Worried about lines too long at lunch even with ADR, but probably won’t’ be able to eat too much at dinner because we’re also doing the 6:30 pm dessert party. Will also do 8am CRT breakfast. FP times are 9:05am SDMT, 11:25am Peter Pan, and 12:35pm space mountain.
   • Plan: 8am CRT breakfast reservation > FP SDMT around 9:15am-ish > Mountain Train > Haunted House > if time allows squeeze in small world > use Peter pan FP by 12:15pm > use Space Mountain FP at 12:50pm > 1:15pm ADR at BOG or quick lunch elsewhere > Jungle cruise > Caribbean > back to tomorrowland for 6:30pm dessert party > fireworks > finish rides at Tomorrowland/fantasyland after fireworks or rush to 8:20 BOG dinner > after dinner, finish rides at fantasy land and tomorrowland.
4. Thurs 2/20: Kennedy Space Center or Universal Studio (haven't decided yet)

Thoughts? Thanks so much!

Since you are staying at the Swan I would honestly try to get an ADR closer to your hotel. With a red eye flight and a youngerish child it might be worth staying close to the resort. I personally like arrival days to be relaxing hang at the hotel pool days.

For your MK day I would skip 2 sit down meals in one day, especially with a dessert party. The sit down meals are going to be time consuming, and with only 1 day in MK I would not want to do 2. I would keep the AM CRT and cancel BOG dinner. At CRT you will see 5 princesses and at BOG just the Beast. BOG lunch should be quicker as it is quick service? I had one TS per day on my last trip this fall and I felt like that was a lot everyday.

Also, this is just from personal experience but have a contingency plan if your daughter decides she is done with the park before the evening EMH begins. My kids are almost 7 and on our last trip I had factored in evening EMH at MK (I was going to focus on Frontier and Adventureland) but they decided before the fireworks even started that they were just too tired. My daughter wanted to go back to the hotel. I convinced them to watch the fireworks and shortly after we left with the masses. It pained me so much to leave when we still had 2 hours of park time but my kids were tired and just done.

 

[JFMom]

THose are all very good points, thank you. I hope my daughter would be able to at least stay little bit after the fireworks. Besides eating within the Swan or the Dolphin, are there anywhere that are considered closed by for food? Or we'd just look at Disney Springs?

 

[Disney Bubble Lover]

If you’re worried about your daughter having the energy to make it through two or three open to close park days you may want to consider renting a stroller or bringing a lightweight one from home. My son at 7 was totally fine but my daughter still wanted a stroller at 6.5. She never used a stroller at home and the thought of using one at that age seemed strange but you’ll see lots of older kids in strollers at Disney because you’ll put on some serious miles (we ranged from 8-13 miles per day). This allowed us to stay in the park later on EHM night because she conserved her energy throughout the day and could just ride along, take in the sights and chill between attractions. It also allowed us to move around at a faster pace all day because we didn’t have to accommodate her slower walking pace or take turns carrying her around when she was tired.

I concur with others and think you’ve made great changes to your AK day and agree with eliminating the arrival day ADR and choosing the BOG lunch over dinner. As others have mentioned be sure to pre-order BOG lunch on the app to avoid the ordering line at the kiosks. I hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[Disney Bubble Lover]

THose are all very good points, thank you. I hope my daughter would be able to at least stay little bit after the fireworks. Besides eating within the Swan or the Dolphin, are there anywhere that are considered closed by for food? Or we'd just look at Disney Springs?

You could walk or take the boat to any of the Epcot area resorts (Yacht Club, Beach Club and Boardwalk) for additional restaurant options.