PTR: Merry Christmas, now plan yourself a trip!

[pwdebbie]

Good call on skipping Soarin'. I had read plenty of reviews from people who said it wasn't bad at all, so that was the very first attraction we did on our very first trip and dh did not handle it well at all. He was gray and shaky for hours afterward. Yes, he has balance problems and dizzy spells, the whole works, but no one warned me that Soarin' could affect him. Now I know! So, spare yourself!

 

[elfling8]

Good call on skipping Soarin'.

Yeah, even before the vertigo stuff started I would have had a hard time on any motion simulator. I am very nervous about this aspect of the trip since I have not flown or been on amusement park rides since it started a year and a half ago. So those type rides and anything that just goes in a circle I figure it is not even worth trying. I can run for FP or a snack while everyone else rides.

 

[elfling8]

Now for our last park day!
HS with EMH @8am

Priority for this day is the Jedi Training Academy, so at RD one adult will take the kids to sign up, and the other will go get FP for Toy Story Mania
If line is short enough, ride TSM, then use TSM FP and ride again.
Star Tours (while I go get FP for Rockn Roller coaster)
Ride Tower of Terror - is there a single rider line? Neither kid will ride this one. DD the ride junkie is afraid of heights and elevators.....
Ride RnRC - use child swap for DS if they let us

Jedi Training in there somewhere
Other things we want to do:
Muppet Vision 3D
Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
The Great Movie Ride
Legend of Cpt Jack Sparrow

Maybe back to Epcot or MK (I will push for EP since it is closer to ADR. Maybe we could leave EP earlier to go to MK the day before)
6:55pm ADR for Kouzzina

 

[skier_pete]

Well, here goes my stab at Epcot. I could probably spend three days here, especially since it is the flower festival, but there are three other people involved

I'm not sure how much we will do at Epcot on Day 3 other than dinner, but I am planning on sticking to World Showcase that day. Again, I have no idea how long this will take - so would love to hear any advise on order of events.

Park opens at 9 - be there for rope drop Epcot has late EMH that day, we will not be staying for it.

Soarin' - DD, DS, DH ride, I will run for TT FP. I can't do motion simulators (migraine associated vertigo - probably would be a bad idea.....)
Ride Figment or head straight to TT
Mission Space (once again, I will pass)
Ellen's Energy Adventure
The Seas, Turtle Talk, Sea base
Innoventions (I could see us getting stuck here for a long time)
-stop at Phineas & Ferb and get transponders
Lunch Tutto Italia 1pm
- possibilities for afternoon: Innoventions, Gran Fiesta Tour, Captain EO (I know it is cheesy, but DS is on a huge Michael Jackson kick for some reason!), Oz garden

Late afternoon/early evening back to POR dinner there?
over to MK for:
9pm TT Fireworks Dessert Party

OK - the stuff you list before your 1 PM lunch would probably take about 8 hours or more. So, a bit of advice. Skip Figment and DEFINITELY skip Ellen's. It's not as bad as some say, but it is very, very long, at least an hour, and if you are limited on time, you definitely don't want to waste it there. I also would consider skipping Innoventions. You are right that kids can spend hours there, but again if limited on time it is not where I would spend mine.

Of the stuff in Future World, I would definitely try for the big three (Soarin, MS, Test Track. Soarin' is not the same as most motion simulators, but if vertigo is an issue I would agree to avoid it. M:S don't bother with, but you could meet the family in the exit area, as there are several really fun interactive games here that could occupy your time. Also, don't miss the Seas which your kids will love. And don't forget Spaceship Earth - the big Epcot Ball. A neat little ride that doesn't take long, but the exit area has a ton of fun interactive stuff that can eat up an hour easy.

I also wouldn't short shrift world showcase. There's so many shows and exhibits to see here, people think it will be boring with kids but our DD likes it. Between the "missions" (which were up until recently Kim Possible) and the coloring stations, and the shows. We particularly love Japan, Miyuki the Candy Lady, Pick-a-Pearl, the Tyko (sp?) drummers and the big store there. Also, Maelstrom is worth a ride. We even like the Mexico boat ride (It's a Small Mexico).

Now for our last park day!
HS with EMH @8am

Priority for this day is the Jedi Training Academy, so at RD one adult will take the kids to sign up, and the other will go get FP for Toy Story Mania
If line is short enough, ride TSM, then use TSM FP and ride again.
Star Tours (while I go get FP for Rockn Roller coaster)
Ride Tower of Terror - is there a single rider line? Neither kid will ride this one. DD the ride junkie is afraid of heights and elevators.....
Ride RnRC - use child swap for DS if they let us

Jedi Training in there somewhere
Other things we want to do:
Muppet Vision 3D
Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
The Great Movie Ride
Legend of Cpt Jack Sparrow

Maybe back to Epcot or MK (I will push for EP since it is closer to ADR. Maybe we could leave EP earlier to go to MK the day before)
6:55pm ADR for Kouzzina

Looks like a good plan. Your opening gambit is good. Understand that DHS does "rope drop" differently. Instead of bunching everyone together, they just start letting people into the park about 20 minutes before opening. I am not sure how this affects Jedi Academy sign-up. The amount of stuff you have planned for the day is reasonable. (Edit: Not sure how this works for EMH either.)

A couple of specific answers. There is NO single rider line for Tower of Terror. RnRC DOES have a single rider line, and it is usually MUCH faster than the FP line. The FP merges with the regular line before the pre-show, whereas the single rider line doesn't merge until the actual ride. I always ride RnRC single rider rather than FP - but this may not work if you are going with DD unless she doesn't mind sitting by herself.

I also think you probably won't be able to use child swap. I think that they only allow child swap if your child is too small to ride the ride, NOT in the case where they just don't want to. I COULD be wrong in this, though so be sure to ask about it. Again as I said with Space Mountain, one option here is get 4 FPs for RnRC, and then each take your DD through the ride once. The ride still takes about 20 minutes with a FP, though, so leave the right amount of time for it.

My advice would be to ride ToT fairly early in the day (between 9-11 AM). The waits for ToT are usually pretty short in mid-morning after the initial rush. If there's no wait (and if the wait time says "13 minutes" that means no wait), ToT can be done in less than 5-10 minutes, whereas RnRC will usually take a minimum of 15-20 minutes unless riding single rider.

And I've already said it...much better to go to Epcot after. Boat to Epcot, then walk/boat back to Boardwalk for Kouzzina is easy. Hopping to MK from DHS the bus will take you to the TTC - requiring a second mode of transport (Monorail or boat) to get to MK. Then to get to Kouzzina you will need to probably take the Boardwalk resort shuttle from MK, which will first stop at the Swan, Dolphin, YC, & BC. Alternately, two monorail rides to the entrance of Epcot and then walk through the back over to the boat dock to get to Boardwalk, which would likely take longer.

My point being:
DHS -> Epcot -> Kouzzina - total transit time about 30-45 minutes
DHS -> MK -> Kouzzina - total transit time about 75 - 100 minutes

So make sure the REALLY want to go to MK over Epcot.

(To get back to POR after Kouzzina may be tricky as well. If DHS is open late enough, take the boat back over there and then take the bus. If not open late enough, consider a taxi. Alternative might be trudging through Epcot fighting the Illuminations crowd at 9 PM. We always build a few taxi rides into our budget, because sometimes its SOO much easier than WDW transport.)

SkierPete

 

[elfling8]

OK - the stuff you list before your 1 PM lunch would probably take about 8 hours or more.
Yikes! LOL

Of the stuff in Future World,
Will def. add in The Seas

I also wouldn't short shrift world showcase.
Hoping to get a bit of that in the evening we have the Biergarten ADR and possibly our last day too

ToT can be done in less than 5-10 minutes
So, DH and I could reasonably ride separately while the other stays with the kids and not eat too much time - if we do it early.

And I've already said it...much better to go to Epcot after.
I agree - your explanation of travel time should help me convince DH as well

(To get back to POR after Kouzzina may be tricky as well.
How about Kouzzina to DTD take boat back to POR?

Thank you so much for all this info. I appreciate the time you took to write it. It is very helpful.

 

[skier_pete]

How about Kouzzina to DTD take boat back to POR?

It is doable, probably better than walking through Epcot but not by much. Buses around DTD are SLOW. Boat ride takes 25 minutes and then the timing of waiting for it. (They do go every 10 minutes in the evening, though.) However, I would still guess more than an hour to get back this route. The boat to DHS and bus back to resort could take just as long, but might with good timing take only 45 minutes.

As I said, we often if we are going to end up having dinner at a resort late, we just budget for a taxi. It might cost $25, but you'll be back in your room in 15 minutes (depending on the wait for a cab) versus an hour+.

 

[elfling8]

Been thinking things over about all the park hopping we are doing, and I think we are going to switch our last two days around as detailed in this post: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3081202

Actually got DH to listen to plans long enough to discuss this one

 

[skier_pete]

Been thinking things over about all the park hopping we are doing, and I think we are going to switch our last two days around as detailed in this post: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3081202

Actually got DH to listen to plans long enough to discuss this one

Well, we're not big fans of hopping, but the hopping your doing on Day 4 (Epcot -> MK) and on Day 5 as long as you don't go to MK is not bad. Your switched plan is fine too. Sure, Epcot is more crowded on the weekend usually, but actually DHS might be better on Friday anyways, even though you lose the EMH. EMH usually makes a park more crowded. I can't comment on Tutto Italia vs Mama Melrose. Plus Epcot handles crowds the best of any park. I don't think Flower & Garden gets the crowds the way Food & Wine does.

Did a quick check on Easy WDW April crowd calendar:
http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/04-april-2013-crowd-calendar/

Looks like they would recommend your changed plans as well as they recommend DHS on Friday and Epcot on Saturday.

The website that must not be named (TP.com) recommends Epcot on Saturday vs Friday, and is neutral on DHS for both days.

Both give a crowd level of 6, which isn't really crowded.

So, while I don't think you are wrong either way, I would say the new plan might be slightly better.

SkierPete

Warning: It's easy to drive yourself crazy coming up with the "perfect" plan.

 

[elfling8]

Warning: It's easy to drive yourself crazy coming up with the "perfect" plan.

This is what happens when you are home with the flu for a week

 

[elfling8]

2 more sleeps til Disney!!!
Here is an updated day to day plan. The biggest change is switching our HS and EP days, thanks to the great advice here
We are just about packed, have lots of room and are off to dinner tonight to wish my Uncle and cousin good luck in the Boston Marathon. They should be done running about the time we are getting on the plane Monday!


Tuesday:
7am to bus stop MK
8:20 am Crystal Palace
Peter Pan, Pooh, Barnstormer, Dumbo, Under the sea, Small world
Haunted Mansion
Lunch - CS or snack
Thunder Mt. Splash Mt.
Break at hotel - swim/nap
Back to MK
Philharmagic, Sorcerer's game, other stuff in Fantasy & Frontierland
Dinner CS
9pm parade?

Wed.
breakfast grab & go
7am to bus stop AK
Kil. safari, EE, Dinosaur, rest of Dinoland
Tusker House 11:30
Lion King, Animal Trails, Affection station
Back to room?
Epcot
Dinner Biergarten 6:10
World showcase - maelstrom, Grand fiesta, pick a pear, phineas & ferb
Illuminations 9pm?

Thurs.
breakfast grab & go
7am to bus stop MK
Buzz, Space Mt, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Jack Sparrow's
Lunch cs
3pm parade?
monsters Inc, tiki room, tree house, tom sawyer.....
Dinner 5:50 1900 Park Fare
back to MK or early night back to hotel

Friday
breakfast food court
7:30/8am bus to HS
1 adult +kids to Jedi sign up
1 adult to TS for FP
ride TS hopefully more than once
Star Tours - Lauren to RnRC
RnRC - L ride single rider & get fp for M & D or get 4 fp take turns riding w/meg
Tower of Terror - D & L take turns, do ? with kids
Lunch Mama Melrose 1:20
muppet vision, indian jones, great movie, cpt jack
Back to room, dinner @ food court POR?
To MK
Wishes Dessert Party 9pm

Sat.
breakfast @ food court
Bus 8am to Epcot
Soarin (Lauren to Test Track)
TT
Mission Space (Lauren to exit area)
The Seas, turtle talk, etc, spaceship earth
lunch cs/snack
Cpt eo, ellen energy adv. innoventions, figment, oz garden, world showcase
Dinner 6:45 Kouzzina @ Boardwalk
play along boardwalk or back to Epcot
Water pgt?

 

[gtpoohbear]

Your plans look great! We get in on Thursday, looks like we will be one park behind you for our 3 overlap days though!

It's getting so close I can taste it

 

[skier_pete]

Water pgt?

I'm not going to tell you to change anything at this point, but are you talking about the electric water pagent on 7 seas lagoon near MK? Trust me, we've seen it, you really aren't missing anything if you don't see it. Certainly not worth traveling from Boardwalk all the way to MK.

Otherwise, have a wonderful time!

 

[elfling8]

electric water pagent on 7 seas lagoon near MK?
Otherwise, have a wonderful time!

Yes - still have no concept of travel time between areas Maybe we'll catch it on our way out of MK one night.

Thanks! And pooh, have a great trip too!

 

[elfling8]

We got back yesterday afternoon. Had a wonderful trip. We had booked a river view room at POR, and requested a second floor room n the alligator bayou section. We got that and more - a corner room to boot! Nice and quiet, short walk to the main pool and buildings.
ME from the airport was good - short wait. Bags arrived a bit late (1am) but heck, we didn't have to lug them around! We had good luck with the buses as well. No trouble at all in the mornings. The couple evenings we headed out were more of a wait. We did end up taking a taxi back from Kouzina - everyone was tired and full and didn't want to wait.
Thanks to all the great disboard advice (with a special shout out to Skier Pete) I don't think we waited more than 20 minutes in any line. The one major glitch was when TSMM broke down while we were in line and was still broken at our FP time. They did let us in the FP line later in the day though when I asked if we could since it was broken. We did end up waiting around a bit in HS after that, given we had to be at Jedi Training at 1210. Kids really enjoyed it, and the PP photog got great shots. DS and DH rode the two big coasters (EE and RnRC) 5 times each I think. We hit Test track 3x and BTMM at least 4.
No problems with the meals at all. We even got into BOG for lunch with only about a 15 minute wait.
Hopefully I'll get going on a real trip report soon, but just wanted to cover some basics and say thanks for the touring advise!

 

[elfling8]

Trip report under construction