Request for feedback on my itinerary.. staying at OKW

[halekai64]

Hi,

Since you all have so much experience I thought I'd post my rough plan for my upcoming trip in March '06.. I'm in the process of making dinner reservations and it seems like everything else we do has to revolve around when and where we're going to eat. I couldn't figure if there was a better place to put this post.. let me know if I should have put it somewhere else.

This is our first trip to WDW as DVC members. My husband and I are 43 and 41. We have boy/girl twins who will be 4.75 yrs old for our trip. We're bringing
my DH's mother who is ~75. We arrive on a Saturday night flight and won't check into our room until about 1:30am (sunday morning). This is a bummer, but I got these airline tickets free so I'm not complaining

Here is my rough outline for the trip: All feedback very welcome!
This is for Saturday March 11th thru Friday March 17th. Our flight leaves
at 2:15 Friday and we've booked DME.

Sunday day – sleep late, get rental car, AP, DDE, groceries.. park at Contemporary ; monorail ride to check out GrandFloridian lobby and resort
Sunday night – Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary

Monday day – up early and go to MK.. OKW pool, playground in the afternoon..
Monday night – Me and DH have dinner at italian Portobella Yacht Club at Pleasure Island and club hop; kids, GM eat dinner in the room

Tuesday day – no theme park ; explore OKW resort.. hang out at pool.. could pool hop if we’re interested..show GM SSR..
Tuesday night – 5pm dinner at Kona Café at the Polynesian resort ; ice cream for desert at Beaches & Cream at Beach club.

Wednesday day – up early and go to MK, back to OKW for lunch, pool, naps
Wednesday night – counter service at Cosmic Rays inside MK.. 8pm parade , 9pm fireworks

Thursday day – up early to AK so we can get on the safari ride; see Lion King show; lunch at Tusker House; pool naps in afternoon..return rental car.
Thursday night – boat ride to DTD from OKW Wolfgang Pucks for 6pm dinner on patio; me and DH to 11pm Fantasmic

Friday AM.. take it easy.. maybe Breakfast at Olivias.. pack, checkout.. DME will probably pick us up at around 11am..

 

[canwegosoon]

Sun Night I would change you ADR to Cindy's dinner at 1900 park fare http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/men_19d.htm . You are going to be at the GF anyway. The food is great and I think your Mom would love seeing her GD dressed in their princess dresses(I hope they have dress up clothes...I have boys). I love CM but I think on your next big trip you could do that(it would appeal to a larger group). Just my opinion...Hope you have a great trip.

 

[halekai64]

Sun Night I would change you ADR to Cindy's dinner at 1900 park fare http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/men_19d.htm .
... I think your Mom would love seeing her GD dressed in their princess dresses(I hope they have dress up clothes...I have boys).

Thanks.. that's a great idea and yes she does have a princess outfit and tiera.. Will make a super photo opportunity with GM ..

(also replying to bump this up and hopefully get more great input tonight )

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

I would see if you can get some more feedback on the Cindy's dinner at Gf. We have done quite a few of the character meals and were actually quite disappointed in this one. Maybe others can give their opinions. We may have hit it on an off night. The food didn't seem as fresh as usual. The large room made it feel very crowded and open vs some of the other character meals where the restaurant is made up of smaller interconnected rooms (ie Donald's breakfastosaurus in AK)

 

[deide71]

Just back from our stay 12/9-12/14 and did 1900 Park Fare for dinner and loved it. We had a wonderful server, and the food was very good with a lot of variety for a buffet. My daughter really enjoyed meeting Cindy and the gang. I highly reccomend it. Just make sure you have an ADR.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Actually, we liked 1900 Park Faire! Lots of characters coming to the tables all the time even if Cindy doesn't.

 

[canwegosoon]

Also on Tues...after your dinner 5pm at Kona, then on to Beaches for Icecream. If you time it right you might be able to get a spot on the bridge to view Illuminations( I have never done it, but I think you might have to stake out a spot at 8-8:15). I get the impression that you like to take a break from the parks, and spend some days not going(I'm a park or 2 every day person) so I think your plan looks good. I would also hit up the Belz outlets for souvies and pins on your shopping day. Also DTD is so much fun

 

[halekai64]

Also on Tues...after your dinner 5pm at Kona, then on to Beaches for Icecream. If you time it right you might be able to get a spot on the bridge to view Illuminations( I have never done it, but I think you might have to stake out a spot at 8-8:15). I get the impression that you like to take a break from the parks, and spend some days not going(I'm a park or 2 every day person) so I think your plan looks good. I would also hit up the Belz outlets for souvies and pins on your shopping day. Also DTD is so much fun

Actually , I AM a park or 2 every day person myself, but when we took the kids to DL in CA last June, they couldnt really handle more than 4 hours of it before becoming totally exhausted and start to meltdown..

Also, since GM is coming along I'm holding back my true instincts to push us as hard as I normally would..trying to avoid putting us in situations where we have to walk LONG distances.. (I am type A and probably fit the comando style touring plan.. ) so I'm trying REAL hard to take this one slow and smell the roses as they say.. so I dont drive the rest of my family crazy

Let me ask you this, are their attractions at MGM or Epcot that you think two almost 5 yr olds shouldn't miss?

Love the Illuminations idea..

 

[Pa@okw95]

Parking at the Contemp is not a good idea. Unlike years ago it is not easy to get into the parking area there. Too many people were using it to go to places other than the Contemp so they cracked down on parking there.

 

[canwegosoon]

Actually , I AM a park or 2 every day person myself, but when we took the kids to DL in CA last June, they couldnt really handle more than 4 hours of it before becoming totally exhausted and start to meltdown..

Also, since GM is coming along I'm holding back my true instincts to push us as hard as I normally would..trying to avoid putting us in situations where we have to walk LONG distances.. (I am type A and probably fit the comando style touring plan.. ) so I'm trying REAL hard to take this one slow and smell the roses as they say.. so I dont drive the rest of my family crazy

Let me ask you this, are their attractions at MGM or Epcot that you think two almost 5 yr olds shouldn't miss?

Love the Illuminations idea..

My twins were 5 (now 7) for their first trip to WDW. They did Star Tours and were fine(DH was not...but I love this kind of ride), This year liked the Great movie tour(I don't know the real name) this year, Millionaire, and Indy Jones. They also like seeking Jesse and Buzz. But if they did not go to MGM they would not miss it(but they did love Fantasmic). They hated TOT. But I think on out first trip we spent 3-4 hours at MGM(it is my least favorite).

At Epcot they liked the Nemo-aquarium like (I don't remember the name) adventure, they have yet to see Crush, they really want to do Soarin, and they were ok with spaceship earth. They played in the fountains, loved Norway ride, and the ride in Mexico(both very low key). They did the Chicken dance at the Beirgarten!!! And of course love Illuminations. My boys like Epcot, but I think they love MK and AK more. Although with all the new additions to Epcot I think it might be a close.

The way I look at it is, you are going to go again!!! As the kids get older there will be more to do. I wish I could do parks once in a while...but I think the next few trips we will be doing less and less in the parks, and targeting what and when we go to. Like I LOVE MK with the extra evening hours...and we went at Easter...so it was a real break from the crowds...and my boys will stay up to 2:30am if they get a 2-3 hour rest in the afternoon, and I don't push them to get out at the crack of dawn (AKA 9AM). You should also look into things like the movies at Fort Wilderness, and there is also a character meet and greet. There is so much to do outside of the parks, you are wise to take advantage of it.

I also agree with you ...if we were taking my MIL, we would be doing a lot less, there is no way she could handle that big of a change to her system.

I hope you have a great trip.

 

[dvc_john]

If arriving that late, I have one suggestion. Call the resort that Saturday and let them know you'll be arriving very late. Ask them to hold a room with your requests for you (ie smoking/non-smoking). Sometimes late arrival seem to get the leftover rooms.

 

[halekai64]

Sun Night I would change you ADR to Cindy's dinner at 1900 park fare http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/men_19d.htm . You are going to be at the GF anyway. The food is great and I think your Mom would love seeing her GD dressed in their princess dresses(I hope they have dress up clothes...I have boys). I love CM but I think on your next big trip you could do that(it would appeal to a larger group). Just my opinion...Hope you have a great trip.

A special thanks to canwegosoon for her suggestion for 1900 Park Fare and also Beaches & Cream. We did both of these and they both were very special.

Here I've attached a pic of our 1900 park fare experience.
Thanks Terri!

 

[canwegosoon]

The twins look so cute...I hope your family had a great time...I had the Strawberry Soup for the first time this trip. I thought the place was great-vs CM seemed a little quieter, and smaller. Food was great-we did breakfast(missed our CM ressie) and Dinner with friends and my boys loved it both times....just no Prince Charming...and my friend and I really wanted our pics with him.
Hope you had a great trip. MIne was good, but I think I am going to need meds to recover!!!

 

[drakethib]

You will love OKW.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[Dean]

It sounds like you'll have a car, I hope so. Many times the CR will not let you park. You may do better parking at the Poly or the overflow lot at GF.

 

[byoung]

Looks good.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Parking at the Contemp is not a good idea. Unlike years ago it is not easy to get into the parking area there. Too many people were using it to go to places other than the Contemp so they cracked down on parking there.

We dined at the Contemporary 3x between Nov '04 and Aug '05. All three times we had PS for either Chef Mickey's or Concourse Steakhouse and never had any problem whatsoever parking there. One time the guard did tell us we had a 3 hour time limit (and gave us a parking permit to place on our dash---that was Nov '04), but that was it.