Should I split up these days? Input please

[mshanson3121]

We are traveling the last week of June, so I know it will be hot, averages seem to be high 80s to low 90s with high humidity. Our children have ASD/SPD, and routine, especially bedtime tends to be important. They can handle a late night or two, but not consistently, so we want normal bedtimes ( no later than 8:30) as much as possible. As far as heat, DD will be in her glory, DH, FIL and I will be fine, DS doesn't mind the heat, but it does tend to make him cranky. MIL will manage, but has had heat stroke in the past, so doesn't tolerate it as well as she used to. We're staying at Glenbrook Resort, just off Hwy 27, in the Clermont area, about 8 miles from Disney. Apparently we'll be about a 7-8 minute drive from Animal Kingdom, about 12 minutes to the other parks.

Right now, this is what our plans look like:

Day 1: Animal Kingdom, full day, 9-4
Day 2: Magic Kingdom, full day, 9-4 (mostly so we can see the parade)
Day 3: free day
Day 4: Sea World, full day, 9-4
Day 5: Hollywood Studios, half day 9-1
Day 6: Discovery Cove, full day, 8-4
Day 7: Magic Kingdom, morning + evening, 9-12, then go home for a rest, then back for 5:00 BBB, 6:50 CRT, then we'll stay for MSEP and Wishes

I guess I'm worried about the heat, and wondering what your thoughts are on these plans:

- There's not much we can do about the Sea World day, we're staying 25 minutes away, really not worth driving back for a mid-day break.
- Discovery Cove at least we'll be surrounded by water to cool off in, we plan on being there for 8, and since we're not doing the Dolphin Swim, I suppose we can leave whenever we want, if we feel the need.
- Animal Kingdom - this is going to be a park we want a lot of time in since my kids LOVES animals. So, is it better to just soldier through a full day, split it into two mornings of say 9-12 or 1, (we could go the morning of our free day), or since we're so close, should we try and split the day up with a break, say 9-12 and 4-7?
- Magic Kingdom (day 2)... should we look at splitting this up and taking a break, maybe 9-12 and 5-8? My concern with this was: a) how hard will it be to transition the kids out of the park after a few hours, get them settled into the house, then turn around and transition them back into the park? b) We'll miss the FoF parade (though we'll still see MSEP and I realize there's a chance the parade could get rained out anyways c) We have them booked for Pirates League at 9:00 that morning, which will take a good 45+ minutes for the two of them. So not only will that make the morning pretty short, but is it worth spending the money for them to be dressed up as pirates for about 2 hours - because as soon as we get back to the house they'll be jumping in the pool. I'm willing to cancel the Pirates League, but I do really think it's something they would enjoy.

Or, would it be better to just look at doing a shorter MK day, say 9-2, and just skip the parade?

 

[dbramer]

Something struck me as odd about your post. I would double check your drive times. My sister lives in Clermont proper and it takes her almost 40 - 45 minutes to get to the parks. She used to be a CM at Expedition Everest. Just doing a quick google maps exercise using Glenbrook Global Resort Homes address, it indicates a drive time of 21 minutes without traffic to the Magic Kingdom and a 20 min drive to AK. If you are closer to Clermont proper (i.e. farther up 27 since these are resort homes and the addresses may vary) that drive time increases.

Just wanted to let you know if you have never been to that area that Clermont is a drive from Magic Kingdom. Others may have more personal knowledge, but I do know how long it takes since I did visit my sister on my last trip to WDW and it seemed like almost an hour from Pop to my sister's house IN Clermont.

We will be staying at Pop again in August and the drive times for me are more than ten minutes and we are "on property"....

 

[Bete]

You can use misters and make it fun to use them. You can get cool head bands and vests to help. You need to stay well hydrated and take breaks in the air conditioned areas.

Alternate your activities between shows and rides. Then, you can rest and be cool in the inside shows.

Consider skipping parades.

Worse comes to worse use the first aid centers to cool down.

Mid day breaks can help especially if you take a nap. Then, you can go back to the parks later in the day when it's cooler. We have been 20 minutes away and we still took mid day breaks.

 

[lanejudy]

I think you have a pretty good plan. Could it be tweaked? Maybe. But you know your family best so what might be preferable for me might not be best for you. Some of my thoughts...

Contrary to a lot of other people's experience/plans...we rarely do split days. Once we leave a park, we're done with parks for the day. Travel time, changing activity, etc. always seems to take much longer than it "should" and trying to get back to the park doesn't work well for us. We also stick to a relatively early usual bedtime, so I find that doesn't work well for split days. But many, many people swear by the mid-day break back at the resort; so you know your family best. One thing I'd keep in mind is that I believe your travel times look quite quick; depending on time of day, traffic conditions, lines to enter/leave the parking lot, time to walk through the parking lot and actually entering the parks -- it may be a LOT longer than 8 or 12 minutes. I've never stayed at that resort so this isn't based on actual experience.

AK -- if arriving at rope drop we're done by early or mid-afternoon. I'd say this is the one park we still haven't really "figured out" well. I find it exhausting, and in all honesty other than the Safari, Conservation Station and a couple of the walking trails, we don't see many animals; many seem to be asleep or hiding. It's really not like a zoo, if that's your thought to spend lots of time because the kids love animals. Don't get me wrong, we like AK well enough, but I'd never feel need to return for a split day or multiple days.

Are both kids doing Pirates League in the morning of your last day? And then you have BBB scheduled for that afternoon? Sounds like a lot of time spent doing dress-up. I wouldn't do both on the same day. Looks like you plan the afternoon parade for your first MK day, that should be good (weather can happen on any day, you just have to roll with it).

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[mshanson3121]

Something struck me as odd about your post. I would double check your drive times. My sister lives in Clermont proper and it takes her almost 40 - 45 minutes to get to the parks. She used to be a CM at Expedition Everest. Just doing a quick google maps exercise using Glenbrook Global Resort Homes address, it indicates a drive time of 21 minutes without traffic to the Magic Kingdom and a 20 min drive to AK. If you are closer to Clermont proper (i.e. farther up 27 since these are resort homes and the addresses may vary) that drive time increases.

Just wanted to let you know if you have never been to that area that Clermont is a drive from Magic Kingdom. Others may have more personal knowledge, but I do know how long it takes since I did visit my sister on my last trip to WDW and it seemed like almost an hour from Pop to my sister's house IN Clermont.

We will be staying at Pop again in August and the drive times for me are more than ten minutes and we are "on property"....

I'm not sure, I'm going by what the house owner told us, and the reviews on the property seem to confirm it. Guests posted about it being only a 15 minute drive to MK?

 

[dbramer]

I'm not sure, I'm going by what the house owner told us, and the reviews on the property seem to confirm it. Guests posted about it being only a 15 minute drive to MK?

I would use the exact address on Google Maps and make sure...that will factor into your plans. Do not use the park as the destination, btw. For example, to get directions to MK use TTC Monorail Station as your destination. For Epcot, use Epcot Center Dr. HS use N. Studio Dr. and AK use Rain Forest Rd. Otherwise it will give you directions only up to where the public roads end. Spending forty minutes a day just driving would be a lot of time lost and impact your planning.

 

[mshanson3121]

I think you have a pretty good plan. Could it be tweaked? Maybe. But you know your family best so what might be preferable for me might not be best for you. Some of my thoughts...

Contrary to a lot of other people's experience/plans...we rarely do split days. Once we leave a park, we're done with parks for the day. Travel time, changing activity, etc. always seems to take much longer than it "should" and trying to get back to the park doesn't work well for us. We also stick to a relatively early usual bedtime, so I find that doesn't work well for split days. But many, many people swear by the mid-day break back at the resort; so you know your family best. One thing I'd keep in mind is that I believe your travel times look quite quick; depending on time of day, traffic conditions, lines to enter/leave the parking lot, time to walk through the parking lot and actually entering the parks -- it may be a LOT longer than 8 or 12 minutes. I've never stayed at that resort so this isn't based on actual experience.

AK -- if arriving at rope drop we're done by early or mid-afternoon. I'd say this is the one park we still haven't really "figured out" well. I find it exhausting, and in all honesty other than the Safari, Conservation Station and a couple of the walking trails, we don't see many animals; many seem to be asleep or hiding. It's really not like a zoo, if that's your thought to spend lots of time because the kids love animals. Don't get me wrong, we like AK well enough, but I'd never feel need to return for a split day or multiple days.

Are both kids doing Pirates League in the morning of your last day? And then you have BBB scheduled for that afternoon? Sounds like a lot of time spent doing dress-up. I wouldn't do both on the same day. Looks like you plan the afternoon parade for your first MK day, that should be good (weather can happen on any day, you just have to roll with it).

Enjoy your vacation!

The 8 or 12 minutes is merely driving time, that doesn't include walking through the lot, entering parks etc...

No, the Pirates League is actually on our first MK day, sorry I worded that wrong. When I said "day 2" I meant day 2 of our trip, not day 2 for MK, lol.

 

[mshanson3121]

I would use the exact address on Google Maps and make sure...that will factor into your plans. Do not use the park as the destination, btw. For example, to get directions to MK use TTC Monorail Station as your destination. For Epcot, use Epcot Center Dr. HS use N. Studio Dr. and AK use Rain Forest Rd. Otherwise it will give you directions only up to where the public roads end. Spending forty minutes a day just driving would be a lot of time lost and impact your planning.

Interesting, yes, it says it's almost 14 miles, and 23 minutes driving. So no idea. She specifically said the house is 8 miles away, and only a 12-13 minute drive. Unless they just meant to the turn off for World Drive, which looking at the map would be fairly accurate. Oh well, whatever. We just won't do mid-day breaks. Maybe on our last day at MK, instead of doing the mid-day break, we should just plan on going to the parks around 2 and staying through? We could skip the parade and get in some rides while the masses are watching it.

It'd be nice to be closer, but the phenomenal price we got more than makes up for an extra 10 minutes in driving.

 

[dbramer]

Just wanted you to be informed. I would hate for you to go to all the trouble planning and have it messed up due to inaccurate drive times. Have fun....wish I were heading out sooner than August.