Thoughts on First Draft of Itinerary?

[Disney Dining Dad]

I haven't been to WDW since the summer of 2018 with my then four-year-old. She's now 11 with a six-year-old sister. I was wondering if you could provide feedback on the first draft of my itinerary? We have the dining plan, but I've decided to skip the two-credit restaurants, even though we really enjoyed Cinderella's Castle, Be Our Guest, Yachtsman's Steakhouse, Flying Fish, and Monsieur Paul the first time around. We also have a hopper pass, if that matters when reviewing this. Thanks very much.

Sunday, July 5

Arrive at Wilderness Lodge

Depart for Magic Kingdom

Lunch at Columbia Harbour House

Lightning Lane: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean

Dinner at Skipper Canteen

Fireworks

Return to Wilderness Lodge

Monday, July 6

Quick breakfast at Wilderness Lodge

Depart for Animal Kingdom

Lightning Lane: Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Na’vi River Journey

Lunch at Satu’li Canteen

Return to Wilderness Lodge

Dinner at Ohana

Return to Wilderness Lodge

Tuesday, July 7

Quick breakfast at Wilderness Lodge

Depart for EPCOT

Lunch at Regal Eagle Smokehouse

Lightning Lane: Frozen Ever After, Soarin’ Around the World, Spaceship Earth

Dinner at Via Napoli

EPCOT nighttime show

Wednesday, July 8

Quick breakfast at Wilderness Lodge

Depart for Hollywood Studios

Lightning Lane: Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror

Lunch at Woody’s Lunch Box

Return to Wilderness Lodge

Dinner at Toledo’s

Return to Wilderness Lodge

Thursday, July 9

Quick breakfast at Wilderness Lodge

Depart for Magic Kingdom

Lunch at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café

Lightning Lane: Jungle Cruise: Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid: The Magic Carpets of Aladdin

Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern

Fireworks

Return to Wilderness Lodge

Friday, July 10

Pool time at the resort

Lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe

Depart for home

 

[woody5]

Why pay for park hoppers if you are not planning to park hop?

 

[KT0191]

I think there are better initial LLs for your second MK day other than Little Mermaid and Magic Carpets. Those are really easy to get during the day. Winnie the Pooh, Buzz (if open which it should be by then) or even a repeat of Haunted Mansion and Pirates.

 

[Marthasor]

I wouldn't go all the way to Toledo to eat dinner after being at DHS and going back to WL. Consider something on the monorail loop. You could take the boat from WL over to Contemporary and eat there or do a 1 TS meal at GF or Poly. Or just stay at DHS and consider eating at one of the EP resorts - taking the Skyliner from DHS could be fun. I also wouldn't watch the MK fireworks both nights unless you really love fireworks. Seeing them from Fantasyland is kind of fun and you could do some rides at night while the fireworks are happening which typically means shorter lines. I agree with PP - no need for hoppers if you are only doing one park per day.

 

[cruising spud]

Just my thoughts:

Are you planning to do Early Entry? When you say "quick breakfast at Wilderness Lodge" do you mean eating at one of the Wilderness restaurants? If so, I would save yourself time and eat in your room with food bars, cereal, etc you bring from home. This way you can easily make it to the parks in time for Early Entry, which will give you a great leg up for the day.

Example-

We were in Animal Kingdom in January 2025. We did early entry and walked onto Na'vi.. Then did it again-no line. Then headed to the Safari, where we walked on. Had a LLSP for FOP. Did all the other rides and shows we wanted. Ate lunch at Satu’li Canteen.

 

[Disney Dining Dad]

I wouldn't go all the way to Toledo to eat dinner after being at DHS and going back to WL. Consider something on the monorail loop. You could take the boat from WL over to Contemporary and eat there or do a 1 TS meal at GF or Poly. Or just stay at DHS and consider eating at one of the EP resorts - taking the Skyliner from DHS could be fun. I also wouldn't watch the MK fireworks both nights unless you really love fireworks. Seeing them from Fantasyland is kind of fun and you could do some rides at night while the fireworks are happening which typically means shorter lines. I agree with PP - no need for hoppers if you are only doing one park per day.

Thanks for this input. I admittedly didn't look closely at a map to see that Coronado Springs is all the way back near Hollywood Studios. So, I agree that wouldn't be ideal.

What do you think about Steakhouse 71 at the Contemporary instead? I've heard it's not as good as Toledo, but it would be a lot closer to the Wilderness Lodge after we get cleaned up, and I'm hoping to have at least one "fine dining" experience while avoiding the two-credit restaurants I mentioned we went to several times on our last trip.

 

[Disney Dining Dad]

Just my thoughts:

Are you planning to do Early Entry? When you say "quick breakfast at Wilderness Lodge" do you mean eating at one of the Wilderness restaurants? If so, I would save yourself time and eat in your room with food bars, cereal, etc you bring from home. This way you can easily make it to the parks in time for Early Entry, which will give you a great leg up for the day.

Example-

We were in Animal Kingdom in January 2025. We did early entry and walked onto Na'vi.. Then did it again-no line. Then headed to the Safari, where we walked on. Had a LLSP for FOP. Did all the other rides and shows we wanted. Ate lunch at Satu’li Canteen.

By "quick breakfast at Wilderness Lodge," I meant grabbing a quick pastry and eating it on the property before boarding the boat or bus to a park. Not sure if it will still work that way, but in 2018, that's what we did...filled up our refillable cups, had a donut or two by the pool, and then departed for the day.

 

[Disney Dining Dad]

Why pay for park hoppers if you are not planning to park hop?

It was tough to include in the itinerary, but I should have mentioned that if this trip is like our last one, we will likely hop over to another park at the end of the day a time or two. For example, in 2018, we used our fast pass on the Frozen ride so we couldn't use one on Soarin' or Test Track, and thus, we went over to EPCOT and did those late at night (on different nights, if I recall correctly).