Trip Itinerary please review- opinions?

[nataliesdaddy]

5/16 Monday
MGM
This is gonna be a long day as we don't plan to leave until after Fantasmic. I figured with the time it takes to travel between the CR and MGM. The number of sit down shows (rest) and our ressie for dinner (4:20pm) we should stay all day. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to do this? I'm concerned this is too much for one day. This is what I have planned so far.

- Breakfast in our room (bringing our own cereal).
- Spend day at MGM doing almost everything. Hopefully alot of sit down shows.
- Lunch @ ABC Commissary.
- Afternoon Touring.
- Hollywood and Vine for Fantasmic Dinner package @4:20.
- More touring til' Fantasmic (9PM)

I'm thinking of getting later PS for dinner, leaving, coming back for night time touring and Fantasmic but I'm not sure of how long the commute is between the CR and MGM. If it is very long I would rather stay in the park.

Your itinerary looks great - I kind of question this day though. I have questions of my own also because I have planned a day somewhat like this...an ALL PARK ALL DAY kind of day... and I lso have a 4ish PS for the fantasmic dinner... and there must be at least 4 hours once dinner is done to be at MGM before fantasmic ... so I am thinking maybe I should back off on that day.... HOWEVER... my kid is 9 now and a real trooper so maybe its ok

all in all though I think you have an excellent trip planned.

 

[bigcrit]

Your itinerary looks great - I kind of question this day though. I have questions of my own also because I have planned a day somewhat like this...an ALL PARK ALL DAY kind of day... and I lso have a 4ish PS for the fantasmic dinner... and there must be at least 4 hours once dinner is done to be at MGM before fantasmic ... so I am thinking maybe I should back off on that day.... HOWEVER... my kid is 9 now and a real trooper so maybe its ok

all in all though I think you have an excellent trip planned.

We just weren't sure we wanted to travel there and back 2x. Hopefully our grls can make it thru....

 

[bigcrit]

I just heard that Disney changed EMH for May. Here is the new list.

May 2005
Morning Extra Magic Hours
Magic Kingdom® Park - May 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 20, 25, 27
Epcot® - May 2, 3, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30
Disney-MGM Studios - May 1, 3, 8, 10, 15, 17, 22, 24, 29, 31
Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park - May 7, 14, 21, 28

Evening Extra Magic Hours
Magic Kingdom® Park - May 4, 11, 18, 25
Epcot® - May 3, 12, 19, 26
Disney-MGM Studios - May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park - May 5, 10, 17, 24, 31


I wonder if this changes anything for our trip? Any thoughts?

 

[kpm76]

Your plan looks great to me. DH and I are park commandos so I appreciate ambitious schedules....however, we do not have kids yet so I'm sure at some point we'll have to slow down a bit....but your kids are a bit older and will more than likely not want to leave the parks anyway....one suggestion, have you looked into renting a car so that you have more flexibility with transportation? DH and I always relied on Disney transportation (which is very good...we never had any trouble....except for the time we were staying at the All Stars and had a PS at Chef Mickey's...felt like we had to take planes, trains and automobiles to get there but that was our fault for not planning properly) until our last trip....we rented a car for our four day trip and it cost us the same amount as having a Town Car drop off and pick up.....we loved it!! Felt like we saved so much time and had much more flexibility....now I know with Magical Express you no longer will have to pay to get to and from your resort and the airport, but you may also spend a lot of time waiting for it on both ends....nobody knows yet because it has not begun service.....if you do your research and look for discount codes, you can get a car for really cheap....good luck and have a magical trip

 

[bigcrit]

Your plan looks great to me. DH and I are park commandos so I appreciate ambitious schedules....however, we do not have kids yet so I'm sure at some point we'll have to slow down a bit....but your kids are a bit older and will more than likely not want to leave the parks anyway....one suggestion, have you looked into renting a car so that you have more flexibility with transportation? DH and I always relied on Disney transportation (which is very good...we never had any trouble....except for the time we were staying at the All Stars and had a PS at Chef Mickey's...felt like we had to take planes, trains and automobiles to get there but that was our fault for not planning properly) until our last trip....we rented a car for our four day trip and it cost us the same amount as having a Town Car drop off and pick up.....we loved it!! Felt like we saved so much time and had much more flexibility....now I know with Magical Express you no longer will have to pay to get to and from your resort and the airport, but you may also spend a lot of time waiting for it on both ends....nobody knows yet because it has not begun service.....if you do your research and look for discount codes, you can get a car for really cheap....good luck and have a magical trip

Is there a charge for parking? For on-property guests? Just curious if renting a car would be cost prohibitive. Thanks for replying.

 

[marriedmarylander]

We will be there the same time (may 16-22). We are also doing MGM on Monday for Fantasmic and Epcot on Thursday. We may try to see Spectro at MK on friday too.

But maybe it's just me but if you are only going to hop on one day (AK, MK on Wed) why pay the extra $ for a hopper ticket? Maybe instead you can go to DisneyQuest? If you have two water parks I assume you have plus pack (it's a better deal than paying water park admission).

What we are going to do that Wed is do Blizzard Beach (or Typhoon Lagoon) and go to MK at night for EMH. Maybe you can do AK another day along with DisneyQuest or just rest/relax?

Also if you don't want to be ALL day at MGM why go when it opens? Why not just go around 1PM or so?

 

[HappyLawyer]

i think it is awesome, i am glad to see i am not the only planner- i am doing mine in a calendar form for the family, it's so exciting

 

[OurDogCisco]

Too funny. We are there from May 14 through May 22nd. And, we have priority seating at CRT for the 15th too. Small world.

I've stayed at the polynesian & Contemporary and the time to travel to MK was probably 30 to 45 minutes up one hour during busy times like summer. That is from leaving your room and walking to the monorail stop and then, walking to the park, going through security, etc... All this is dependent on how crowded the park is. When we stayed at the Contemporary it was a long walk from our room to the monorail. Everything at Disney world is HUGE... especially to a young child.

I am worried about my 7 1/2 year old especially with all the walking. My friend went during President's week with a 3 year old and a 6 year old. They were staying off site 20 minutes away so, they didn't have much option of going back to their room for a mid day break. The 6 year old definitely had to use the stroller more towards the end of the week especially at night. They took a lot of breaks but the walking can be alot.

This time we are staying at Beach Club Villas. Can't wait... GL...

 

[OurDogCisco]

Oh, one more thing... Who are you following for your park days. You mentioned TourGuideMike. We are using tourguidemike but some of park days are different.

Tina

 

[bigcrit]

We will be there the same time (may 16-22). We are also doing MGM on Monday for Fantasmic and Epcot on Thursday. We may try to see Spectro at MK on friday too.

But maybe it's just me but if you are only going to hop on one day (AK, MK on Wed) why pay the extra $ for a hopper ticket? Maybe instead you can go to DisneyQuest? If you have two water parks I assume you have plus pack (it's a better deal than paying water park admission).

What we are going to do that Wed is do Blizzard Beach (or Typhoon Lagoon) and go to MK at night for EMH. Maybe you can do AK another day along with DisneyQuest or just rest/relax?

Also if you don't want to be ALL day at MGM why go when it opens? Why not just go around 1PM or so?

Maybe starting a little later will be best. Hmmmm what a goof idea. Does anyone else have opinions on this? Can we see all the "majors" getting there around 11am or so?

 

[bigcrit]

Oh, one more thing... Who are you following for your park days. You mentioned TourGuideMike. We are using tourguidemike but some of park days are different.

Tina

Tina,
Because I am so obsessed with this trip I have, TGM, UG, UG /w kids, Passporter and soon to get the tours from www.touringplans.com . If only to feed my need for more Disney info that I probably already have. SOMEBODY STOP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just want to be the most informed Disney guest ever... HeHe

 

[OurDogCisco]

Based off of TourGuideMike I picked different park days. I'm using tourguidemike too. I can't wait...

 

[OurDogCisco]

I was just looking at my schedule and we actually have two non-park days and 6 park days. We are flying red-eye from California from Friday night so, I didn't plan on going anywhere on Saturday except the pool at our resort. We'll probably eat at Beaches & Cream. And, wait for our groceries from WeGoShop. We are staying in a 2 bedroom condo.

Then, on Wednesday we are planning a non-park day too to see downtown disney, hang at the pool & do the Hoop De Doo Dinner.

I guess, my point is that you can't possibly see everything in one trip. Hopefully, you can plan many more return trips.

Tina

 

[OurDogCisco]

Maybe starting a little later will be best. Hmmmm what a goof idea. Does anyone else have opinions on this? Can we see all the "majors" getting there around 11am or so?

We are doing this for a different park, Magic Kingdom. On Tuesday we want to see the night time shows so, we don't plan on arriving until 11 or noon. I know that is a no-no but I know our kids couldn't make it the whole day even if we took a mid-day break. I planned a early dinner at around 5 pm (that's early for us since we usually eat around 7 pm at home) at Crystal Palace. I think, the sit down dinner will give our kids rest time. However, we plan on hitting MK at least 3 of our mornings here so, I am not as concerned about missing rides. I probably didn't help answer your question though...

 

[J/T Gramdma]

Your plan sounds good but time and distances may be longer than you think especially if it is busy. Also one of the great thing I like about WDW is there is no :kiddie rides" everyone can and will be able to ride and enjoy all rides.

 

[kpm76]

Is there a charge for parking? For on-property guests? Just curious if renting a car would be cost prohibitive. Thanks for replying.

No charge for parking And when you check in they give you a piece of paper that indicates you are a resort guest and you leave it in the dashboard for the guards at the parks to see and you can park in the lots.....I highly recommend it.....

 

[bigcrit]

No charge for parking And when you check in they give you a piece of paper that indicates you are a resort guest and you leave it in the dashboard for the guards at the parks to see and you can park in the lots.....I highly recommend it.....

So does everyone rent a car? I was thinking it would be such a waste. Sitting there while we took buses and rode the monorail. I was thinking the CR is on the monorail and since our 2 biggest parks were on the monorail it would be easy. Thanks for pointing this out though. I would rather find out now than run myself ragged on our trip.

 

[kpm76]

So does everyone rent a car? I was thinking it would be such a waste. Sitting there while we took buses and rode the monorail. I was thinking the CR is on the monorail and since our 2 biggest parks were on the monorail it would be easy. Thanks for pointing this out though. I would rather find out now than run myself ragged on our trip.

I don't know if everyone rents a car but for us it seems to work. Granted, the last two visits we are at POFQ, so not a monorail resort. Before our last trip, we would have Tiffany Town Car pick us up from the airport and then bring us back to the airport...cost was $95 plus tip......in Jan we went for 4 days and DH found a good rate to rent a car and so it was about the same to have the car as it would have been to have the town car.....we went with the rented car because it would then give us the flexibility to return to the airport just before our flight home instead of having to go whenever the town car scheduled to pick us up.....in some cases, that can give you an extra couple of hours in the parks etc. We initially did not plan to use the car to drive to the parks but we changed our mind and realized we were saving ourselves a good amount of travel time....plus no waiting in lines for busses etc. In June we are going for 5 days and we were able to get a car for $93....bear in mind, it's only DH and I so we only get a small car, usually a Malibu Maxx....if I were staying at a monorail resort I think I'd still get a car but probably only use it for parks other than MK...esp. at CR....you can walk to MK......Magical Express sounds wonderful but my only hesitation is the wait time....you have no idea how long it is going to take you to get to and from the airport and you chance losing valuable park time....also, when visiting Epcot, AK and MGM plus DD and the water parks, are you willing to wait for busses (which are usually very good)? If you have PSs for restaurants at other resorts you might welcome having a car (note my above post about trying to get from the All Stars to the CR...not fun).......just some of my thoughts...hope this helps

 

[bigcrit]

I don't know if everyone rents a car but for us it seems to work. Granted, the last two visits we are at POFQ, so not a monorail resort. Before our last trip, we would have Tiffany Town Car pick us up from the airport and then bring us back to the airport...cost was $95 plus tip......in Jan we went for 4 days and DH found a good rate to rent a car and so it was about the same to have the car as it would have been to have the town car.....we went with the rented car because it would then give us the flexibility to return to the airport just before our flight home instead of having to go whenever the town car scheduled to pick us up.....in some cases, that can give you an extra couple of hours in the parks etc. We initially did not plan to use the car to drive to the parks but we changed our mind and realized we were saving ourselves a good amount of travel time....plus no waiting in lines for busses etc. In June we are going for 5 days and we were able to get a car for $93....bear in mind, it's only DH and I so we only get a small car, usually a Malibu Maxx....if I were staying at a monorail resort I think I'd still get a car but probably only use it for parks other than MK...esp. at CR....you can walk to MK......Magical Express sounds wonderful but my only hesitation is the wait time....you have no idea how long it is going to take you to get to and from the airport and you chance losing valuable park time....also, when visiting Epcot, AK and MGM plus DD and the water parks, are you willing to wait for busses (which are usually very good)? If you have PSs for restaurants at other resorts you might welcome having a car (note my above post about trying to get from the All Stars to the CR...not fun).......just some of my thoughts...hope this helps

Any idea's where to get some discounts on car renting in Orlando area?

Thanks

 

[bigcrit]

hmmm. I just got a rate of 118.00 for the week. I wonder if it's worth it? Hmmmmm. I guess I have more research to do. what should I do. Thius would definitely help my MGM day. Is it tough to get around the area if it's busy? Is there alot of traffic inside WDW? Commuting between parks?