Please critique our Itinerary

[kb0325]

First trip to Disney as a family; Dad/mom and our two older kids (5 and nearly 4)

We're staying 7 nights, with a 6day (currently, open to extending it) park hopper.

Thurs: arrive afternoon
*Hotel Swim
*Downtown Disney for dinner

Fri: Animal Kingdom
FP: Kil Safari 1150
Tough to be a bug 205
Dinosaur 330

Will somehow fit in in the Lion King show

Saturday: Hollywood Studios
FP: Star Tours: 845-945
Little Mermaid: 1010-1020
Toy Story Mania: 1055-11:55

Sunday: Epcot
World showcase in the morning

FP: Maelstrom 335
Nemo: 535
Turtle Talk 635

Monday: Magic Kingdom (Day 1)
FP: Space Ranger 905-1005am
Tales w/ Belle 1205-105pm
Peter Pan : 2-3pm

*Elec Parade and Fireworks at night

Tuesday: No plans at this point; considering visiting a few parks at leisure

Wednedsday: Magic Kingdom (Day 2)
FP: Space Mountain 1140-1240
Anna/Elsa meet: 240-340
Big Thunder: 535-635


Other thoughts:
We made FP selections before 7dwarfs coaster opening was announded; Should I replace one of our other selections for Monday or Wednesday, or make the FP selection for it on Tuesday?

I can add another day to park hopper, if we wanted to do fireworks at Epcot or Magic Kingdom the night we arrive, that way we don't have a late night after an early morning.

We're also planning on going back to hotel in afternoon for rest times, so I'm open to doing one park in the morning, and another in evening.

I welcome any comments or thoughts.

 

[Alesia]

It would be helpful to know the exact dates of your trip.

Keep in mind that the world showcase doesn't open until 11:00, so going there in the morning isn't an option. I would move those Epcot FPs to the morning and do WS in the evening.

My family would need way more time in Epcot.

If you want to ride 7DMT, you'll really want to get a fastpass for it. Standby waits will build quickly.

And, yes, you can add another day to your tickets.

 

[Main Street Matilda]

Your schedule looks good but if I could make a recommendation based on my first family trip. I only had my 2 sons at the time and they were 3 and 5. I was so concerned about missing something that I scheduled a day in each park with an itinerary that included nearly every attraction I thought they would like. Consequently, we were so exhausted that the trip felt more like "boot camp".

It was not until later trips that I realized that the kids, especially on their first trip, don't really understand what they didn't get to see. Keeping that in mind, I would do 2 days in either MK or EP and enjoy them at a more leisurely pace and skip either AK or DS this time. At the very least, you'll have a great incentive to go back.

 

[mrsp1030]

Are you planning to do RD? If so, you can easily adjust Peter Pan as if you go there first, it will be less crowded.

 

[lazer]

Just one thing to think about. A lot of people, me included, like to go to MK first to start off the vacation. There's nothing like starting a vacation at the castle! But, just my opinion. We've gone many times and I wouldn't want to wait until day 3 or 4 to go to MK.

Oh, and from the time my son was 3, until now, he has loved Epcot and we spend a lot of time there!

 

[kb0325]

I did the other parks for Fri/Sat because I heard that weekends are most crowded at that time.

Our dates are June 12-19th, so I know it's peak season anyway... maybe the Fri/Sat dates don't matter.

Good to know about WS hours.

 

[Alesia]

Are you going to DHS for the Star Wars Weekend events? If not, you should be aware that the park will be insanely crowded on the 14th.

 

[laughinplace199]

A lot of little ones are scared of both ITTBAB and Dinosaur. I'm not saying yours will be, but it's something to be prepared for.

All three of my kids hated ITTBAB until they were a bit older. The older two will now do Dinosaur, but the youngest (DS7) will not.

 

[kb0325]

Is star wars stuff only at HS? Husband and kids would love the star wars stuff, but not the intent of our trip.

 

[MandiC]

I don't think it's so bad to not do MK the first day. We did Epcot on our first day. It's Disney either way and honestly, I liked that the kids got to enjoy Epcot for what it is rather than comparing it to MK.

First trip to Disney as a family; Dad/mom and our two older kids (5 and nearly 4)

We're staying 7 nights, with a 6day (currently, open to extending it) park hopper.

Thurs: arrive afternoon
*Hotel Swim
*Downtown Disney for dinner

Fri: Animal Kingdom
FP: Kil Safari 1150
Tough to be a bug 205
Dinosaur 330

Will somehow fit in in the Lion King show

If you get to AK at Rope Drop and do Kilimanjaro Safari right away you could switch the FP to Lion King. Honestly I have heard such negative things about Tough to be a Bug that we didn't even try it. We went with our two daughters, and between them and myself we hate bugs...don't think I'd enjoy feeling like they are crawling all over me I also wouldn't make any FP for later than 3pm personally. You can get through AK fairly quickly (we were done by 3 and we did Kali River Rapids and Expedition Everest) and it is a perfect opportunity to go back and swim at the resort or explore (we stayed at POR and there is a ton to do! I can't remember when the night water show starts at AK but that would be something to look into.

Saturday: Hollywood Studios
FP: Star Tours: 845-945
Little Mermaid: 1010-1020
Toy Story Mania: 1055-11:55

Sunday: Epcot
World showcase in the morning

As the PP said, World Showcase is not open until 11am. You also will not likely be able to see everything in Epcot in 1 day. We did one side of future world and one side of the world showcase each of our two days. You'll want to chose what is a 'must see' for you here if you do one day in Epcot

FP: Maelstrom 335
Nemo: 535
Turtle Talk 635

Monday: Magic Kingdom (Day 1)
FP: Space Ranger 905-1005am
Tales w/ Belle 1205-105pm
Peter Pan : 2-3pm

*Elec Parade and Fireworks at night

I can't speak for June, but when we went a FP for Space Ranger just after opening would have been a complete waste. We went on Space Mountain, Space Ranger AND Tomorrowland Speedway within the first hour of opening. Either way I just wouldn't waste a FP for a ride in that first hour. Even if you keep it for the same ride I'd switch it to later in the day so you have that first hour to try to take advantage of lower crowds. Coming back to this question if you switch Space Ranger to Mine Train. I'd also be tempted to just wait it out for Peter Pan and switch that FP to a parade FP.

Tuesday: No plans at this point; considering visiting a few parks at leisure

I would really consider doing Epcot again on this day

Wednedsday: Magic Kingdom (Day 2)
FP: Space Mountain 1140-1240
Anna/Elsa meet: 240-340
Big Thunder: 535-635

Just a suggestion but we liked dividing MK up by lands. One day we did Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square and the other we did Tomorrowland and Adventureland. It made it so we weren't backtracking and got to wonder out way and see everything.

Other thoughts:
We made FP selections before 7dwarfs coaster opening was announded; Should I replace one of our other selections for Monday or Wednesday, or make the FP selection for it on Tuesday?

I would think a Mine Train FP would be a must, the waits will be very long. If it were me I would switch the space ranger spin FP for Mine Train. When we were there the waits for Space Ranger were usually 20min or less. We were there at a low crowd time but it definitely had shorter waits than many other rides.

I can add another day to park hopper, if we wanted to do fireworks at Epcot or Magic Kingdom the night we arrive, that way we don't have a late night after an early morning.

Why are you doing the hoppers? They cost more and you aren't doing more than one park any of the days. Honestly I never even felt the desire to go to more than one park in a day. I'd save the money and if you want to do the fireworks the night you arrive maybe go try the beach at the Polynesian. It is free and I have heard the views are nice, but honestly that first night I'm glad we just rested up for our big week

We're also planning on going back to hotel in afternoon for rest times, so I'm open to doing one park in the morning, and another in evening.

You know your kids best, but honestly going back to the hotel if you are relying on Disney transport is time consuming. I wouldn't have wanted to and as I said, I never had any desire to do more than one park. There were 3 days we went back to the resort early. One to rest, none of us actually got any rest. One to swim after AK (AK will not take a full day). One was because of rain (our HS day). We only actually ended up going back the 'rest' day and it just took up a huge chunk of the day for 'nothing'
I welcome any comments or thoughts.

 

[Simba07]

I would not take 4/5 year olds on dinosaur. It can be terrifying for kids that age, even ones that love dinosaurs. There were a few kids in DD's preschool who did it and had nightmares for weeks. DD was terrified just from their descriptions. I would swap that for lion king or meeting Mickey.

 

[kb0325]

If I have a Fast Pass for Meet/Greet with Anna/Elsa, do all four of us (me/husband and our 2 kids) all have to use our FP?

 

[kb0325]

and when do the fireworks FP show up? (if I wanted to swap Peter pan ?)

 

[MandiC]

Anyone who is wanting to get into the ride/attraction through the FastPass line needs a FastPass for it. They won't let 4 people in on one person's FastPass.
I'm not sure when they release firework/parade FP because I didn't know about them beforehand! I have heard that the Wishes (Magic Kingdom fireworks show) FastPass area isn't the best view. The electrical parade one is supposed to be great though. I was standing right next to the roped off area for FastPass in Epcot for IllumiNations and it was a great view, we really only showed up 45 minutes early too, which I didn't think was too bad, the kids wanted to sit down and rest at that point anyways.