Touring Plan?

[jzmom]

I need some advice from all of you seasoned Disers. I am going to be going Feb. 5-11 with Dh, DD 5 and DS 1. I need to know how much do I need to plan ahead of time? Is it necessary to have it set which parks we are going to which day ? I have my Adrs for the trip.
MOn. CRT Lunch
Tues. Coral Reef dinner
Wed. Boma dinner
Thurs. Ohana dinner
Fri. Marakesh dinner
ON Monday we are going to Magic Kingdom because of our lunch ressie plus Spectro is only on Monday night. Since the rest of the Adrs are for dinner we don't have to be at any speicifc park during the day. We plan on taking a break evryday at the pop.
O.k. I 'll stop rambling. My basic question is do I need to have which parks to go to before we leave.
Thanks for any help.

 

[Minerva]

You don't absolutely need to know where you're going each day before you leave but I would. At least your morning parks so you can make some sort of plan, it doesn't have to be detailed down to the minute, about what you absolutely want to see in each park. Get there early and get those things done first. If I were you I'd go to touringplans.com and check out the daily crowd estimates and the emh parks. Pick a park to go to each morning then after your break play it by ear or go to the park where you're going to eat or closest to where you're eating each evening.

 

[ksumn1]

I think it gives you a little structure to each day. Especially with kids to be able to say Monday we're doing MK, Tuesday AK, etc. One question to you is did you purchase park hopper tickets? It sounds like it. I ask because if you see all you want on MK day by noon, you can go to AK if you want do a few things and go back top the MK for your dinner ADR. We're going June 2006 and we're doing 7 nights, 8 days and plan on hopping alot. EMH when offered on the mornings, then hop to another park when it gets crowded. I would use the park each day as a guide not a rule. I think at that time of year you should be able to see alot before lunch, take your break, hit the parks a little more and still make your dinners, too. Have a great trip!

 

[jzmom]

Yes,I do have park hoppers along with plus option, I think that is what it is called. It was the special for Feb. We are also on the Dining Plan. I doubt we'll do DisneyQuest because I don't think there is too much for my kids to do there. I think we would do a waterpark if the weather is nice. WE are coming from Colorado where it has been especially cold this season. Nice to us is the 70's. Thanks for all of the input. I have a hard time making plans.
Any other advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[liv4god4evr]

Next year when we go we will have some sort of plan, because we went in early Dec. with only ADRs in our plan and it seemed like we didn't get everything in that we wanted to do. I think what I am going to do is ask each family member to tell me what their top 5 want-to-do things are in each park and loosely plan around these ride/characters/shows, so that everyone gets to do at least some of what they want to do. Of course we always keep in mind that we will be back, so if we don't get to do everything then that's ok too.

 

[mom22boys]

I would definitely have a plan. My good friend just went to Disney with her DH, DD 5, and DD 2 for their first family trip. They had a great time, but they barely saw anything. Everytime I ask her "Did you see ....?" The answer is "no." She missed some really big attractions. She didn't see Festival of the Lion King, Peter Pan's Flight, Dumbo, Mickey's Philharmagic, Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Beauty and the Beast, and so much more. She will be the first to admit that she didn't have a plan.

Now as for your question, which park on which day, it depends on your personal touring strategy. Many DISers say to avoid the EMH evening park. We used this strategy and it worked for us. We have a 5 year old and a 2 year old, so we didn't want to be up late anyway. I have also read that if you choose to go to the EMH morning park, try to get out of the park by late morning. We used touringplans.com best days guide to help us. I looked at your dates on the best days guide and combined the avoidance of EMH theory to come up with these suggestions:

Monday A.M.: MK early and then your CRT lunch, but then leave after lunch- MK is typically pretty crowded on a Monday

Monday P.M.: Epcot, avoiding the EMH at MGM

Tuesday A.M.: MK

Tuesday P.M.: Epcot for your Coral Reef A.D.R.

Wednesday A.M.: MGM

Wednesday P.M.: your Boma A.D.R.

Thursday A.M.: AK

Thursday P.M.: your O'hana A.D.R. (you could watch Wishes from the Poly beach or you could hop into MK, I believe it is a Spectro and Wishes night)

Friday A.M.: MK

Friday P.M.: Your Marrakesh A.D.R. (warning this is Epcot evening EMH)

Best of luck with these suggestions! I hope you have as much fun playing around with a touring plan as I do!!!

 

[jzmom]

Mom22boys,
Thank you so much for the help. You showed me some great options that I will definanltly incorporate. You are awesome for doing that for me. Thanks Again!

 

[JenniferW]

I think have a plan, but build in a bit of flexibility. If it rains you may want to go to a different park than you had planned. Also, if you don't make all your ADR's it isn't the end of the world.

Jenn

 

[kittythepoohbear]

I am going to take a different approach and say that while it is good to have structure, leave a lot of room for flexibility, especially with small children. Leave room for the extended sleep-in morning, the afternoon romp at the pool, taking the resort monorail for a ride and checking out all the different resorts, etc.

Is this your first trip as a family? It is so tempting to structure every day down to the hour since there is so much to do. Resist the temptation. Every night, plan, in general, which park you plan to visit the next day. Have everyone in the family circle one or two attractions they can't bear to live without doing. Then go to sleep. When you get up, take your time getting ready (I have no kids of my own, but directed a children's choir for 2 years and have a good idea of how cranky little ones can get when they are tired/excited/bored), head to park of choice and have at it. Visit all the circled attractions. Explore the nooks and crannies of the parks (favorites are little alleys off Main St.). Head back to the hotel if need be and remember that "I Spy" and the "A my name is Alice" game are life savers in long lines (the pirates queue is especially great for "I Spy".) I remember this since these games kept me going through long lines at WDW when I was my mommy's 5 y.o. DD.

Sometimes, my favorite thing to do is have a nothing day. Wake up late and take the first bus to come along to whatever park it may be. Or just sit by the pool till to much relaxation makes me move.

BTW, I noticed your ADRs. I enjoyed many of the same places - CRT was wonderful at lunchtime. The desert was wonderful! Coral Reef was also very good, although we were a bit disappointed in Boma. We expected more authentic food, although the food was still good.

Have fun and enjoy WDW!

Kat

 

[jzmom]

Thanks Everybody for the great advice. We definantly don't want to be commandos through the park. We actually want to enjoy ourselves. Unfortunately sleeping in late is not an option. I am having a good day if Ds sleeps till 6, usually he wakes up at 5. I think I will have a basic plan with touring plans and gague how crowded the parks are. If they aren't too bad than I don't have to worry about the plan. I like the idea of having a couple of must sees, so that way we won't miss anything we really want to see.
Thanks Again

 

[ujpest_doza]

We always do a loose plan that is subject to change due to the weather or how tired we are etc and i take the touring plans best days guide as well to check when we decide to change a day.

 

[mom22boys]

Unfortunately sleeping in late is not an option. I am having a good day if Ds sleeps till 6

Us too! Thankfully it is DS 5 who is the early riser. Now he has a clock in his room and he knows he has to stay in his room and play quietly until 7 a.m. I have tried every trick people suggest and I just can't get him to sleep in!

Anyway, we were always off to the parks early, but we were always back to the resort for an early afternoon rest. It worked well for us. Hope your trip is magical!