So overwhelmed. Please help!

[Skiton]

Hi, we are DL vets trying to plan a 6 or 7 day (park ticket-wise) trip to WDW for mid-May of next year. It is DH, me, and our 8 and 10 year old boys. Compared to DL, WDW is a beast! I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how we should structure our days/week.

Things that are must-do's for us-
:Midweek visit to one of the water parks.
ate night for DH and I at Victoria and Alberts w/out kids.
:Be Our Guest for dinner one night at MK.
:Charcter breakfast (preferably not princesses) one morning.
: At least two or three other nice dinners like Flying Fish or Boma or something along those lines. We do love
good food and love exposing our kids to it.

In addition to all this, I should mention that at DL we ALWAYS take advantage of the early hours but don't stay out late, but with the time change we'll probably do the opposite at WDW. Actually see the fireworks for a change but sleep a little later the next day.

Any thoughts?

 

[JAG107]

As a So. Cal. native who travels to WDW almost annually, I can recommend a few things. Definitely don't plan on rope dropping every morning, because getting up at 6am to get ready and make it to a park by 8 means 3am at home! The parks are absolutely magical at night, especially Epcot, so I'd say it's well worth staying out in the evenings, enjoying a great meal, and strolling the parks in the evening ambiance without worrying about getting back to the room to get up early. Our first trip ever was in early May, and even though it was only for 2 days it was so uncrowded, we were able to do lots of stuff without feeling pressure of missing out on anything.
I don't have any experience with character meals or water parks, so I don't have much to say other than I hear Chef Mickey at Contemporary is lackluster.
Boma is a great buffet, one of the better ones on property, and Flying Fish was just refurbished and has rave reviews. Get your Be Our Guest ressies RIGHT AT THE 6 MONTH MARK.
Fantasmic is not a big deal to miss, it isn't nearly as impressive as the show at DL. Instead, try to see Illuminations one night at Epcot. No need to camp out for a spot, you can always find a good spot somewhere right up until showtime.
Skip Soarin, and instead use the FP see the stuff you don't have at DL--Frozen, Test Track for example.
I could go on all night, I'm sure someone else will chime in.

 

[kappyfamily]

We are in Oregon and grew up going to DL. Now we are hooked on WDW, there's just no comparison. A couple things for us and I think with your kids being the ages they are, schedule some "out of park" time. Meaning don't be afraid to take a day/half day and play mini golf, rent a couple little speedboats (it's tradition now for us, some of my best and favorite pics are of the kids in these boats), go to ft wilderness and have a dinner then take a carriage ride around, when you go to AK take the bus to AKL and have dinner at boma and see the resort and the animals,it's amazing. A good character bfast is garden grill at Epcot or ohanas with lilo and stitch.

We are trying Homecoming at DS for our first time in couple weeks, the reviews look incredible. Cali Grill is also a fantastic spot if you can get the ADR.

Also, we did a monorail scavenger hunt and split up in 2 groups and each group had things we had to find at the resorts on the loop then we met up at a certain time to see who found the most. It was fun! Have a great time planning and an even better trip!

 

[Wishingspell]

The garden grill at Epcot has a Mickey and friends character breakfast and I have heard fairly good things about the food there (better than chef mickey's at least).

The crystal palace at mk has a Winnie the Pooh character breakfast that I have also heard good things about. I have only eaten there for lunch and the food and character interaction were very good.

Agree with above poster about fantastic, I've seen videos for disneyland's and yall's is much better. I would definitely see wishes (mk) and illuminations (Epcot) fireworks. HS also has an excellent Star Wars fireworks show.

You can sleep in and plan your fast passes for later in the day so you can stay up later to watch the shows and not lose so much sleep during the trip. Are you familiar with fast pass+?

Happy planning and I hope you have a wonderful time!

 

[disneymom0104]

Good character breakfasts (for us) would be Crystal Palace (Pooh and Friends in MK), Tusker House (Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Daisy in AK), Garden Grill (Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale in Epcot). Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary is fun, too (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald)- but most similar to Goofy's Kitchen. There is also Ohana in the Polynesian which has Lilo and Stitch and maybe Mickey and Pluto? I can't remember.

My family loves Biergarten in Epcot as well as Ohana (dinner) in the Polynesian Resort.

We are coming from CO and do try to make rope drop most of the time- we do this at DL as well. The parks at night are fantastic, too. There is A LOT more space to cover at WDW. Even spending 10 days there, there are still things that you don't get to, which is different than DL. DL does have more rides in the 2 parks than WDW has in the 4- we had a 6 year break in WDW trips with 3 DL trips in between. On our last trip to WDW last month one of the things that stuck out the most was at DL you have access to every ride and attraction every day (assuming park hoppers). You can ride ToT and Pirates and Soarin EASILY all in the same day. MK obviously has a lot of rides, but the other 3 parks have a lot less in the actual ride dept. There is plenty to do in all the parks, but it is a different pace than ride, ride, ride- that we at least do at DL. I also think most rides are better at DL- but do prefer Splash at WDW. You will enjoy the large walkways and space you have to move around! Not nearly as much shoulder to shoulder crowds- especially in the Pirates/Adventureland area! Fantasmic wins hands down at DL. But the fireworks are all worth seeing!

 

[Tasmen]

One of the biggest adjustments (other than omg all the planning) you'll have to make is Fastpass+. You'll need to get your fastpasses figured out 60 days before the trip rather than picking up as you go like you can at DL. As already suggested, skip the Soarin' FP. You can experience at DL and I would suggest using the Tier 1 FP for Epcot for the Frozen ride or Test Track (probably a better pick for you).

For a character meal, I'd suggest Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh and friends) or Tusker House in AK (Donald Duck, etc).

I would absolutely NOT miss the Star Wars fireworks at Studios. They are a new addition since I went last night but if they are anything like the fireworks from Star Wars weekends, they will not disappoint.

Another difference is the distance between the parks. You can't really walk between parks like you can at DL. You'll need to plan for transportation time if you want to park hop.

You are going to have a great time!

 

[pmaurer74]

Boma is a good idea and they can see the animals at AKL. Ohana breakfast might be good if they like Lilo and Stitch. Tusker Breakfast is also another good idea with the characters. I am doing the opposite of you. I am a WDW native going to DLR in June for the first time and I feel overwhelmed, mainly with transportation.

 

[TexasKiwiPrincess]

So many great suggestions for character meals already! We loved Tusker house. Between the food and character interaction, we feel like Tusker House was the best character meal we've had on Disney property. We made a "brunch" reservation that worked out very well for us. I don't think they actually offer brunch, but we made the earliest lunch reservation possible. (This may be a very good option for those accommodating a time change.) They still had most of the breakfast offerings available (Mickey waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon) and the lunch buffet was just beginning, so it was the best of both to us! The character interaction was top notch and the food was delicious. I tend to be a bit more adventurous with food and really appreciated the Tusker House menu.

As far as trying to structure your trip, after you figure out where you are staying, the next thing I would recommend is to pick which park you want to visit each day. You listed a Mid-week water park visit as your top priority, so I would plan around that. My family also has to plan a rest day in the middle of our trip, usually our 4th full day is our rest day. I highly recommend a rest day. After you pick your Water park day, decide which park on the other days. There are several Crowd Calendars available that can help with that! (Also, are you planning on using park hoppers?) Once you know where you guys will be each day you can pick where you want to eat, and then plan Fast Passes around those meal times.

My girls are close in age to your boys and they loved MK at night. One trip we were able to stay until the Kiss and they rode Barnstormer 10 times, with no wait. A couple of times they didn't even get off the ride! They love those memories of late night in Magic Kingdom. Have fun planning and I hope you have a great trip!

 

[Klayfish]

I haven't been to DL, so I can't draw a comparison. But it sounds like you've got a great plan there. No need to worry or be overwhelmed. Make the reservations for the things you listed and enjoy. From your list, it seems like you're more interested in the restaurants than the attractions, so focus on those plans. The water parks aren't particularly crowded (but they are awesome), so that'll be easy. If you're going to get there later, do the "big" slides last, the lines go down shortly before closing. We don't eat in WDW restaurants, but I know that BoG is hard to get a reservation, so get that done ASAP. The very few restaurants that we've tried in WDW didn't need reservations...specifically the ones in Epcot's World Showcase. You can walk right in and get a table.

For date night, I presume you've got a babysitter, so plan it with her/him and go for it.

Remember, you're going to be a WDW rookie. You were a DL rookie once, think back to that experience. I always encourage WDW rookies to relax, forget about the crazy advanced planning some people do and just take in the sights and experiences. Getting overwhelmed and stressed over it can ruin the fun.

 

[Aravan24]

The character breakfast at Cape May Cafe (at the Beach Club) is excellent...both the food and the character interaction. I would also recommend Sanaa at The Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kadani Village. The food is wonderful (definitely try the bread service) and you can get a view of the animals right outside the restaurant from your table.

Beyond that, make sure you plan some time mid-day to go back to your resort and relax, swim, etc to avoid the worst of the heat. We always like to plan our dinners and then scatter our FastPasses around those since we love being in the parks late afternoon and especially at night. For the water park day do that late morning until mid-afternoon and then spend your evening in a park if you can manage it.

Hope you have an amazing trip!

 

[BlueFairy]

When you are planning all of those meals, it is tempting to pick them based on cuisine and overall appeal. That's important, but location is really important as well. Knowing where you will be that day and putting the restaurant as close as possible is paramount. If you have to allow 70-90 minutes each way to get to a resort restaurant, you will be eating up a lot of your fun time navigating the buses. Spend some time over on the Transportation board to understand how to get around WDW property (the same physical size as Boston, btw). Trying to eat at AKL when you will be closing your day in MK and staying at POFQ, for instance, doesn't make much sense.
So, on your Epcot day, choose Epcot restaurants or something in the BW area. Save DS restaurants for water park or rest days. MK day can include any MK area resort. And so forth.
Perhaps also choose your resort based on proximity to all your top choices if dining is that important. An Epcot or MK deluxe will give you the most flexibility there.

1)pick your resort and choose a travel agency that will watch for discounts for you
2)make that BOG and Victoria and Alberts ADRs at 6 months
3)plan your park days and include rest time
4)make the remaining ADRs
5)make sure you have tickets purchased and understand FP
6)get FP+ reserved at 60days (or 30 if you are offsite)
7) Watch crowd calendars, park hours, ADRs, and FP for things to change and open up around 45 days. Tweak as needed

 

[Skiton]

This is all really helpful, thank you! I've been reading up on fastpass+. It seems easy enough, I think the hard part will be picking which rides at what time in which park that far in advance. But I think it's a great idea to figure out where we're eating first and plan them around that.

We'll have park hoppers, and my thought was that most days we'd probably hit one park in the morning and maybe a different one for dinner/evening (after heading back to the hotel to relax). A lot of the restaurants we're interested aren't in the parks, though, but at resorts. I suppose then we'd just plan to be at the park closest?

When we do DL it's for shorter trips and we're pretty much go, go, go all day. I'm assuming that I'd burn everyone out pretty fast at WDW if I tried to do that.

 

[Skiton]

Boma is a good idea and they can see the animals at AKL. Ohana breakfast might be good if they like Lilo and Stitch. Tusker Breakfast is also another good idea with the characters. I am doing the opposite of you. I am a WDW native going to DLR in June for the first time and I feel overwhelmed, mainly with transportation.

Do you know where you'll be staying? What part of transportation is worrying you?

 

[Skiton]

I also have a very stupid question. When you're at WDW and all of the rides are spread out between four parks, and you're planning to spend the better part of the day in one of those parks but there are maybe only 3 or 4 rides there that are of interest to you...what exactly do you DO all day? Everyone keeps saying, you can't possibly see and do everything in a week, but I'm not fully understanding this.

I say this because at DL, as someone pointed out, you can walk to every single ride and attraction. And even to and from your hotel, in many cases. So our days there are basically just bopping from one thing to the next all day long. Last time we went we rode Space Mountain, Buzz, Star Tours, BTMR (twice), Splash Mountain and Radiator Springs Racers all before 11:00 a.m. This is clearly not the way it works at WDW.

 

[pmaurer74]

Do you know where you'll be staying? What part of transportation is worrying you?

We are staying at the Grand California. Getting from the airport, LAX to DLR and we want to drive to San Diego for a few days and/or spend a day at the beach.

 

[pmaurer74]

I also have a very stupid question. When you're at WDW and all of the rides are spread out between four parks, and you're planning to spend the better part of the day in one of those parks but there are maybe only 3 or 4 rides there that are of interest to you...what exactly do you DO all day? Everyone keeps saying, you can't possibly see and do everything in a week, but I'm not fully understanding this.

I say this because at DL, as someone pointed out, you can walk to every single ride and attraction. And even to and from your hotel, in many cases. So our days there are basically just bopping from one thing to the next all day long. Last time we went we rode Space Mountain, Buzz, Star Tours, BTMR (twice), Splash Mountain and Radiator Springs Racers all before 11:00 a.m. This is clearly not the way it works at WDW.

at EPCOT I average 8 miles of walking a day. There are several, rides, character greetings and things to do at each park. I would suggest 1-2 days. MK takes 2-3 days to do as there are shows,paradise, characters greetings a lot of rides. Animal Kingdom can be done in 3/4 of day but with Rivers of Light it should era full day park. There are several shows that eat up time. Hollywood Studios is a 1 day park in soon s 2 days park. Again a lot of shows that eat of time.

Keep in mind waiting in lines for rides, walking, eating and especially transportation eat up time. I have heard it takes 35 days to do everything at WDW. There are dessert parties, hard ticket events, tours plus Disney Springs.

 

[dkrauss]

Hi, we are DL vets trying to plan a 6 or 7 day (park ticket-wise) trip to WDW for mid-May of next year. It is DH, me, and our 8 and 10 year old boys. Compared to DL, WDW is a beast! I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how we should structure our days/week.

Things that are must-do's for us-
:Midweek visit to one of the water parks.
ate night for DH and I at Victoria and Alberts w/out kids. "Do you have a baby sitting plan for this?"
:Be Our Guest for dinner one night at MK. "Be ready to go on ADR day (180).....BOG can be a tough get.....best plan it more for the end of the trip because it could be easier to get then"
:Charcter breakfast (preferably not princesses) one morning. "Crystal Palace in MK and Cape May Cafe at Beach Club are great"
: At least two or three other nice dinners like Flying Fish or Boma or something along those lines. We do love
good food and love exposing our kids to it. "Don't overwhelm with TS meals............especially at locations away from your home resort. You'll spend way to much time going/eating"

In addition to all this, I should mention that at DL we ALWAYS take advantage of the early hours but don't stay out late, but with the time change we'll probably do the opposite at WDW. Actually see the fireworks for a change but sleep a little later the next day.

Any thoughts?

Comments added in blue in quote Have a great vacation!

Doug

 

[ktlm]

We are WDW vets that also love DL. With all the changes in the past few years, WDW can be overwhelming for DLR people and for newbies, and for people dealing with the changes for the first time. First, where are you staying? That could influence some restaurant recommendations. For example, the Yachtsman Steakhouse at Yacht Club resort is terrific, but it would take park time to go there, but if you are staying at one of the resorts in walking distance and will be back at the resort some any way- it is a great choice. The first thing to realize is that unlike DLR where you can get anywhere in a short amount of time, WDW is huge and if you are park hopping or going to Disney Springs (DTD) or a resort for a meal, the transportation alone can take you an hour or more to get from point A to point B. You definitely want to think about distances when planning meals or hopping.

Next, you have stated that your must-dos include Victoria and Alberts and Be Our Guest. Unlike at DLR where dining reservations are generally easy to get, these are hard to get items. You want to be online when your dining opens up at 180 days, to try to get these 2 places. If it were me, if these 2 places are must dos, I would do that even though it means setting an alarm, getting up and booking them, and going back to bed. Our last trip, I booked right when the window opened up at 180 days and still could only get BOG dinner late in our trip (and unfortunately thanks to Hurricane Matthew, the park was closed that day so we didn't get our BOG dinner this trip). BOG dinner can be really hard to get. We enjoy it though and it is fun to meet the Beast. I think V&A is very hard to get too-- we have not done that one.

Character Breakfast--- with your time change, have you thought about a character lunch instead? WDW, the best times of day for shorter lines are around rope drop and late at night. For us, with just a one hour time change, pre park opening breakfasts have never worked for my morning adverse DD. If you do breakfast when the park opens, you lose a lot of time. We really enjoy doing lunch. That way we get some time in the park in the morning, and then take a nice TS break for lunch to recharge and gear up for more. We enjoy lunch at Tusker House at AK (Mickey, Daisy, Donald, Goofy) or at Crystal Palace (Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore). At Tusker house, we have booked at 10:45 and then we get some of the breakfast buffet and often items start changing over to lunch. If you are going to do breakfast during park time, I would recommend Tusker House, because AK is typically pretty easy to do things even if you don't get an early start. MK that morning time means more. I will say though, that I think generally WDW is more crowded in the early hours than DL. We love how empty DL is the first couple of hours in the mornings-- I think it has to do with that local crowd. We don't get that feel at rope drop at WDW. The lines are shorter than they will be in the afternoon, but nothing like that early morning empty feel at DL.

As far as structuring your days, because of the ADR situation at WDW, the best thing to do is decide which parks you want to do which days before your ADR deadline. Then you plan your ADRs based on the park you are going to attend that day. On your water park day, you could plan a nice dinner at a resort or DS, since that won't interfere with theme park time. Allears.net has all the menus for all the restaurants. You definitely should plan a meal at World Showcase in EPCOT. When we go to DLR, EPCOT is the one thing we really miss. My family loves Biergarten. It is a German buffet in a restaurant with a great atmosphere and a German band that puts on shows throughout the day. It is a lot of fun. If you like Blue Bayou atmosphere- then the San Angel has that same type of atmosphere only with a Mexico flair (not at all the same type of food as Blue Bayou). Teppan Edo is fun if you like the Hibachi Grill experience (but it is pretty similar to the ones we have at home). There are other good restaurants throughout WS as well. You want to book dining reservations at that 180 day mark. You can always change things around later based on availability, but you want some ADRs in place at the outset. Assuming you are staying on property, then at 60 days out you want to book FPs. FP+ can be annoying and intimidating, but it is just something you have to deal with at WDW. Again, you want to book something, but you can always change it around later based on availability.

Have fun!!!

 

[Wishingspell]

I also have a very stupid question. When you're at WDW and all of the rides are spread out between four parks, and you're planning to spend the better part of the day in one of those parks but there are maybe only 3 or 4 rides there that are of interest to you...what exactly do you DO all day? Everyone keeps saying, you can't possibly see and do everything in a week, but I'm not fully understanding this.

I say this because at DL, as someone pointed out, you can walk to every single ride and attraction. And even to and from your hotel, in many cases. So our days there are basically just bopping from one thing to the next all day long. Last time we went we rode Space Mountain, Buzz, Star Tours, BTMR (twice), Splash Mountain and Radiator Springs Racers all before 11:00 a.m. This is clearly not the way it works at WDW.

The parks are soooo much bigger than Disneyland or dca,and the attractions are farther apart. Also, It takes so much longer to get to the parks because they can be miles from each other and whether driving or taking a bus (or monorail or walk if at certain hotels near certain parks) that eats time as well. Not to mention, Florida has frequent afternoon thunderstorms that will temporarily close rides if lightening is in the area so that eats time as well. It's just so much bigger and spaced out and lacks a lot of convenience that dl does.

 

[BlueFairy]

This is all really helpful, thank you! I've been reading up on fastpass+. It seems easy enough, I think the hard part will be picking which rides at what time in which park that far in advance. But I think it's a great idea to figure out where we're eating first and plan them around that.

We'll have park hoppers, and my thought was that most days we'd probably hit one park in the morning and maybe a different one for dinner/evening (after heading back to the hotel to relax). A lot of the restaurants we're interested aren't in the parks, though, but at resorts. I suppose then we'd just plan to be at the park closest?

When we do DL it's for shorter trips and we're pretty much go, go, go all day. I'm assuming that I'd burn everyone out pretty fast at WDW if I tried to do that.

Yes, if you must eat at resorts, make them close to the park of the day.

We have 2 house rules - No hopping and only 1 TS per day. Both eat up a lot of park time. Since you are hopping, then I would suggest being sure to have your meals in the parks rather than resorts. Transportation takes forever unless you Uber everywhere. Don't underestimate how long it takes to go from A to B. Say you want to start your morning in MK and end in Epcot, with a resort lunch in between at WL. From your hotel, allow 45 minutes to get to the MK gate. Assuming you are there by 9 (and already through the gates) you may only get 4 hours in the park before you have to leave. 30 min to WL via boat (and that's a quick trip. Going somewhere further afield might take an hour or longer). Now it's 1:30 and you're eating lunch. Done by 2:30. 45 minutes to take a bus somewhere. To your resort? That means you're probably running out of break time. Or to Epcot? You're not inside Epcot until almost 3:30. By now you've already spent almost 3 hours of your day riding or waiting for transportation. That's not good bang for your buck to me. If you cut out that resort or lunch stop, you save yourself a lot of time.

Yes, you will burn out faster at WDW than DL. The heat and the walking are intense. But hopping back to your resort for rest tacks on transportation time. It's a balancing act. In seasons with late hours, it can help to sleep in, get a later start and stay til park close. With shorter hours, you will want to get going and make the most of the time the parks are open. Maybe call it quits a little earlier in the evening and relax in a restaurant or by the pool.

I also have a very stupid question. When you're at WDW and all of the rides are spread out between four parks, and you're planning to spend the better part of the day in one of those parks but there are maybe only 3 or 4 rides there that are of interest to you...what exactly do you DO all day? Everyone keeps saying, you can't possibly see and do everything in a week, but I'm not fully understanding this.

I say this because at DL, as someone pointed out, you can walk to every single ride and attraction. And even to and from your hotel, in many cases. So our days there are basically just bopping from one thing to the next all day long. Last time we went we rode Space Mountain, Buzz, Star Tours, BTMR (twice), Splash Mountain and Radiator Springs Racers all before 11:00 a.m. This is clearly not the way it works at WDW.

Do you want to just ride headliners, or really experience all that WDW has to offer? You can knock out a big chunk of the highlights in a week. You cannot really have an in-depth experience in 1 visit.

From the bus stop to your first ride is often a 15 min walk all by itself. The walk from the front of Epcot or AK to the back of the park might be 30 min for a slow walker with distractions. So, 3-4 rides, plus a meal, a snack, maybe a parade or street performer . . . a couple of character meets . . . you are starting to fill your day. You can knock out rides in quick succession if you have a commando touring plan and understand how the crowds flow.

Bottom line, to me . . . Newbies should understand what it means to try and do too much. A lot of advice here is given by experts who know how to zig when the crowds are zagging. They may not stop for that unexpected detail or surprise. They are adept at getting through their must-dos quickly and adapting on the fly.

DL may be a breeze to you, but we toured very slowly because it was all new to us. I suspect WDW will be similar for you. Taking time to see those details and get to know the park will eat up your day pretty quickly.

Have fun!