Pleeeease Review Our Itinerary

[dcmbshafe]

Well, after reading 3 guide books (even though I've been to WDW over a dozen times) and a lot of consternation waiting for the May hours to be published, I finally have been able to put together our itinerary. Please give me any and all feedback or suggestions.

When: May 16-21
Where: Boardwalk Villas, 2 BR
Who: Me, DW, DD4, DS3
Car: Yes
Tickets: 4 days & 3 pluses remain on last year's PHP

We will be spending a couple of days at a relative's condo. near Vero Beach prior to checking in at BWV on 5/16, so we are planning to drive up to WDW on Sunday early afternoon (check-in at BWV isn't until 4pm). It is an hour-and-a-half drive, so we have decided to not make Sunday a park day.

Sunday

Check-in at BWV
Monorail Resort Hopping
8pm PS at California Grill
Watch Wishes from CG

Monday

EMH at AK
Afternoon Break at BWV/Pool
Evening at Epcot & Illuminations

Tuesday

EMH at MGM
Afternoon Break at BWV/Pool
Evening at MK & Spectro.

Wednesday

Character Breakfast @ Cape May
DTD
Afternoon Break at BWV/Pool
Mini-Golf @ Fantasia Gardens
Rent Mouse Boats at Poly or Contemporary
7pm PS at Ohana's
Watch Wishes from Poly Beach

Thursday

EMH at MK
Afternoon Break at BWV/Pool
Evening at MGM & Parade & Fantasmic

Friday

Check-out of BWV
Typhoon Lagoon
Check-in to "Other" Hotel
Flex. Evening

We will be leaving on Saturday and won't really have time to do anything that day.

***

So, here's the big question in my mind - we only have the BWV through Thursday night so we have to find a place to stay on Friday. Here are the options:

Option #1: Keep the itinerary as it is and find an inexpensive off-site hotel for Friday night. We would esssentially pack up most of our stuff before checking out of BWV and use one bag for our clothes for Friday and Saturday.

Option #2: Get a room at the Poly or Contemporary, move TL to Thursday and do theme parks on Friday (ending up with MK).

Option #3: Get a room at the Swan or Dolphin, move TL to Thursday and do theme parks on Friday (ending up with MGM).

The up-side of option #1 is that it is a little more of a relaxing way to end the trip and it is a less expensive option. The down-side is that being off-site might be a downer way to finish up after being at BWV. The up-side of options #2 & 3 is that we would remain on-site and finish the trip with a bang. The down-side is that it is more expensive, we lose EMH at MK and, in the case of option #2, we lose MGM parade and Fantasmic.

Any thoughts/advice/feedback?

 

[jcemom]

Hmmm...I see your dilemma. Can you spend the last day somewhere on-site but still keep the schedule as is? I know it would cost more, but it would avoid the "let down" as well, without causing you to miss Fantasmic and MK's EMH.

 

[Straitlover]

You didn't list it, but you can do TL and theme parks on Friday w/ option #1, too, if you have UPHs rather than regular hoppers. YOur UPH is good until midnight of the day you check out. So, if you check out Fri morning, you can still go to the parks until midnight.

If you are using regular PH or PHP, then this does not apply.

Personally, I would go w/ the cheapest option.

EDIT: nevermind. I just re-read the original message and saw you have PHPs.

 

[dcmbshafe]

I guess we could stay on-site and keep the itinerary as-is....hadn't really considered that.

 

[jcemom]

Maybe choose a resort where you'd like to spend the evening. WL, have dinner at Whispering Canyon and go over to FW with the kiddos for some activities--petting zoo, campfire, wagon ride, whatever. Or AKL, dinner at Boma, and check out the animals. Or the Poly with dinner at 'Ohana. Lots of choices!

 

[dcmbshafe]

C'mon guys...I really appreciate the two responses I got, but I was hoping I'd get some more feedback - I put a lot of effort into designing this itinerary!

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I recently stayed offsite for the first time at High Point (a timeshare) and found that the drive to and from the parks was WAY shoter than I expected it to be. In fact, when we go back in December and stay onsite, we decided to rent a car, as driving is just way faster than Disney transportation.

I would go with option # 1. Save a little on hotel & keep your itinerary as is (it sounds so fun!)

How much time do you spend in the room? I know we hardly spend any and thus, we can't really see spending the $$ on a better room because we are hardly ever there. We'd much rather put that $$ towards a nice meal somewhere.

I say keep it as is, go with the cheaper hotel. A pool should not be a big deal, since you will be spending the day at a water park Maybe treat yourselves to a pricy dinner that night or get something a little more $$ than you'd usually spend on a collectible Disney item for yourself


Another thing I found, is it's sometimes hard to do MK on the "last day" because it's just harder to leave!

 

[dcmbshafe]

EsmeraldaX: thanks a lot for your reply. Right now, we tend to spend a little more time in the room due to the age of the kids. As I'm sure you noticed, we are planning on going back to the room for an afternoon break every day. One thing I was thinking about is trying to find an offsite hotel for Friday that has early check-in available. The kids probably won't last too far at TL past 1 or 2 at the latest and it would be nice to have some place to go for them to rest and/or take a nap. Good thought about avoiding MK on the last day, too!

 

[disney4us2002]

I'd personally stay onsite, even if it meant the values. In looking at your schedule, my questions are: you are arriving Sunday but not hitting MK til Thursday (at least for rides)? I'm counting just 3 park days, is that correct? You have three nights set aside to view Wishes, is that correct as well?

If you decide to stay offsite on your last night, I'd probably move my DD day & water park visit to the last day and use the EMH & park tickets while still at BCV.

 

[dcmbshafe]

disney4us - you are correct, we only have 3 park days scheduled. I wanted to go for 4, but DW is concerned about burning out the kids, which is why I put in the "down-day" on Wednesday. We most likely will not see Wishes on Tuesday since it isn't being shown until 9:30 and the kids will likely be spent by then...we'll probably just leave after Spectro. So, we'll probably be seeing Wishes twice, both times from outside the park (which is a little better for DS as he is somewhat sensitive to loud noises). On Tuesday, I envision that we'll get to MK by 5pm, so we will be able to do a few attractions before getting positioned for Spectro, but essentially you are correct in that we'll be doing most of our MK attractions on Thursday with EMH.

Thanks a lot for your response!