Please help with itinerary

[lknut01]

Three kids ages 5, 6, 6 and DH and I will be arriving at Orlando at 1:00 on Saturday (1/24) and staying till 3:00 pm on Friday. Can anyone take a look and approve this rough itinerary?
Sat. - Check in at YC and get to MK around 3:00 or 4:00 till close then monorail to Epcot for dinner then walk to YC to watch fireworks from hotel
Sun - Early Entry at MK
Mon - AK till close (5 pm) and character dinner at Chef Mickeys at 7pm.
Tue - MGM
Wed - Epcot
Thu - Breakfast with Cinderella and revisit anything the kids loved in MK, then what?
Fri - open till 3?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. PS... we've never been to WDW.

 

[swilphil]

Saturday at MK is a madhouse. It may not be so bad at that time of year. Since you are staying at YC and have dinner plans at Epcot, I would reconsider. On Saturday, you could go to Epcot for a little longer or spend the afternoon at MGM before going over to Epcot for dinner. YC is right next to Epcot and a short boat ride to MGM. I don't think you will have much time at MK Saturday afternoon, depending on when fireworks are at Epcot and what time you plan to eat. Don't forget that you are staying at the resort with the BEST pool in all of WDW, maybe even the whole world!! If it's warm enough Saturday afternoon, you may want to let the kids play at Stormalong Bay until you head to Epcot. Is there a reason you want to watch the fireworks at the YC instead of staying in Epcot to watch them?

Sunday at MK sounds great. EE will really help. Head to Fantasyland if you have little ones.

Monday AK I would cut to a half day, and then spend a little time at MK before you go to Chef Mickey's or go back to the hotel and hit the pool before your PS. AK is a half day park, at best.

Tuesday and Wednesday at MGM and Epcot sound good. It looks like you are doing Early Entry at each. You may want to head out of the EE park at midday, it tends to get crowded. You could go to MGM Tuesday a.m., then go to Epcot in the afternoon/evening. I would skip Epcot's EE, since you've gotten up early the other days. You could go back to MGM and do anything that you missed on Tuesday. Are you going to Fantasmic?? I also like MGM in the evenings, and the park shouldn't be too crowded since it had EE the day before.

Thursday at MK sounds good.

Friday--If you are planning on doing parks, you might want to do favorites at Epcot/MGM since they are closest.

Don't forget to go to the Boardwalk one evening.

 

[lknut01]

Thanks for all of the great information. I thought we'd watch the fireworks from our hotel because everyone would be exhausted and might not make it till then but we'll change to staying in Epcot.
Should we avoid ee altogether except for that first MK sunday? We're really not into getting up too early and racing toward gates or anything. We'd like to take it easy.

 

[Harambe]

I agree with splitting your time between two parks a day. But the slow periods are the best for EE!!! You get tons done and it isn't really crazy so please use this feature.

I would do the EE Sunday morning at MK (do Fantasyland and Adventureland), then leave around 11am, go to AK and spend the afternoon (catch this parade!). For dinner, go to Cape May Buffet at the Beach Club - right where you're staying! This meal is super!

Now - after a busy Sat. and Sun., sleep in on Monday morning. Go to your pool for the rest of the morning. Go to MK and do ToonTown and maybe Tomorrowland (jump on the train right at the enterance to MK, then get off at ToonTown). A quick monorail ride will bring you to the Contemporary for your Chef Mickey dinner (take the monorail back to Epcot when you're thru to pick up your Yacht Club bus since MK will probably be closed).

You have the right attitude about enjoying your stay rather than exhausting everyone. Have fun.

 

[lknut01]

Great advice! I think I'm going to re-work the plan to do exactly as you said. Thanks so much. I love these boards!

 

[XStAnt]

If you are not going to get up early and take advantage of Early Entry I'd stay away from that park. However, I strongly suggest doing EE for MK--well worth getting up early.

Your kids may be tired on arrival day. I'd play it by ear and see if they'd rather stay at the pool that day. If not, give some consideration to going to MGM for Fantasmic that evening. This way you can leave MGM early on the day you do that park. Kids might start tiring out early by then.

Also, think about taking a mid-day break so the kids can nap or relax. At those ages they get overstimulated very easy. You have extra days on Thursday and Friday to do what you missed by leaving for a mid-day break.

Give some thought to going to Hoop Dee Doo Review and/or Cirque.

Have fun.