Trip Itinerary

[Momto8]

I'm helping a friend at work plan her 1st trip to WDW. They've been to DL before but never to WDW. It is her, DH, her Mom & Dad & 2 DDs - 4 & 7. They are staying 3 nights at CBR and 4 nights at her Dad's timeshare.

Here is what we have put together so far:

Sat. 9/25 - Check in at CBR 3:00pm - lounge at pool - O'Hana's for dinner - Watch Wishes from O'Hana's.

Sun 9/26 - Quick breakfast in room - EE MK - leave around 11:00 or so - go to Epcot - PS at LeCellier for lunch. Spend afternoon at Epcot. Fast food for dinner - Go back to hotel for swim in evening. (They would like to do TT but am afraid all FP will be gone by the time they get there, mid-day, or is it not that crowded this time of year?)

Mon 9/27 - PS for CRT at 8:00am - Counter service for lunch. Spend rest of day at MK. Not sure about dinner - maybe PS at Tony's Town Square. Spend evening at CBR pool.

Tues 9/28 - Breakfast at food court. Check out of CBR - check in at timeshare - spend a day relaxing, swimming at the pool. Maybe shop at DD in evening and make PS at a restaurant there.

Wed 9/29 - Breakfast at condo. MGM at opening and PS for Mama Melrose for lunch. Spend afternoon at MGM and stay for Fantasmic that evening. Will do counter service for dinner.

Thurs 9/30 - Open - maybe swimming at pool and relaxing. Might go back to DD in evening.

Fri 10/1 - Breakfast at condo. AK at opening. Spend about a half day there or a little more and then head to another park to finish whatever they want to see and missed. Need some suggestions on where to eat at AK. They don't want Rainforest Cafe as she can eat there anytime.

Sat 10/2 - Open day - not sure what they are doing this day. I told them they might consider getting another day on their hopper, but her parent's said no, that 4 was enough.

Sun 10/3 - Leave for home

I think they should do a 5 day PH as they have a lot of down time, but her parents don't want to. Said 4 is enough, but I think they would do 5 if her parents weren't coming. But that is JMHO. Also they don't want to do water parks on their first trip.

Let me know if this plan would work as I've never gone in Sept. so not sure what the crowds are like on these days, especially at the MK. She also wants to know if it's necessary to get PS since they don't want to be tied down to them. They do have O'Hana's and CRT already, but wanted to know if it was necessary for the others. I know it is a must in the summer but since this is a slower time, I wasn't sure.

Sorry this is so long.

TIA

 

[jann1033]

i'd stay for illuminations instead of swimming Sunday...i've never gone in Sept but it is supposed to be not real busy so they may be able to do tt later in the day, never hurts to check.

also i would make sure and see wishes inside MK even if they see it at Ohana's since you miss a lot of it out of the park plus you can not guarantee you will have a good viewing table at Ohana's..you might want to check for the days it is on ( and spectro also) since in less busy times it is not shown every night( in winter, when we go ,it is usually i think 2 nights a week) and is a "do not miss" imo i

imo a 4 day pass is not enough. we spent all day and part of another at ak .of course it depends on your interests but you would miss a lot in just 1/2 a day if you have never been there before due to show schedules and have no time at all to see the excellent animal exhibits. we used a 4 day BEFORE AK was open 1 for each park, an extra evening or 2 at epcot after Mk/Mgm closed and 1 to fill in and that was at an even less busy time than Sept. even if the parents don't want to would it be a big deal if they did adn went aday with out them??? evidently the parents have gone before but her kids are going to want to go back to Mk more than i day i am sure.

also since they only have a few pass days they need to maximize their park days and swim on days they aren't going to be in the parks rather than going back to swim instead of staying in a park imo... the weather shouldn't be "that " unbearable" ... hop to epcot after Ak closes and eat there..lots of good sit down and counter in WS ( not sure what time Mk closes in Sept but probably to late to go to epcot so that is probably the only day you could have time to go to another park after closing) and will need a whole day in each park for sure to see even part of it. if they have a sit down lunch in the park they are in ( even if it's techincally counter service, take time to relax and enjoy being off your feet) each day, since the hrs. are shorter i doubt they will "need" to leave before park closing especially if they have a stroller. that way they can take their time and enjoy things rather than rushing around like nuts trying to do what the feel they want to do and missing all the details!

we went to Mk on Sat last Jan and it was a zoo, especially Fantasyland ...so busy we left, since it was close to shoulder to shoulder in fl( other parts not that bad, but they have yound kids so will be spending time there...I think Sunday may not be as bad but it was ee day normally ( we went on Marathon Sunday and they changed ee to AK so we went there instead of MK). however Sat was one of the days they showed wishes/spectro so check those schedules carefully and plan mk on aday they show them..spectro is fantastic and so is wishes ( a little better or at least tied with illuminations imo, Fantasmic we could take or leave more a "did it once" thing rather than a "need to go a few times a trip" like the others!)

 

[jordanyosh]

Random thoughts:

First of all, 4 days will not be enough even during an especially slow period. Have your friend purchase the 5 day hoppers. The parents can still purchase the 4 day hopper. The parents may even enjoy having a day to themselves.

September is slow. Crowds are very light. That said, they do crossover into October. October is the beginning of the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot and there is a MNSSHP on the 1st at the MK. You may have already asked your friend if she was interested in either event, but just an FYI. It MAY be busier at Epcot during that time,but it still won't be really busy. Weekends at the MK are busier because locals will be there as well as tourists.

With small children, I don't know if I would start with the MK and then go to Epcot. It would be hard to drag the kids out of the MK and take them somewhere more adult oriented. I would just do Epcot on that first full day. Then have MK be on that 2nd day.

It's always good to have PS for restaurants. You can always cancel or add them as you go.

Tell your friend to be flexible and go with the flow. Things will definitely happen that may not fit within the itinerary. When we go we always end up tweaking the schedule a little to better fit the energy of the group......

Hope this helps

 

[Momto8]

Thanks for the tips! I knew I could count on you guys for help!

I suggested all of what you said, but she really wants to go to MK on Sunday for EE & then again on Monday for CRT & to do what they can't finish on Sunday. I told her the kids might not want to go to another park after MK, but she thinks they'll be fine. I also suggested staying for Illuminations on Sunday, but she felt that since they would be doing EE at MK that morning, it would be just too long of a day for her DDs. She is considering going back for a rest & then showing up later for Illuminations, which is at 9:00pm that night.

We are going to talk some more about her itinerary & make some changes. I think she will be spending too much time traveling between parks & she needs to cut out some of the swimming at the pools. She needs to decide what she really wants to do - swimming or staying at the parks to see the shows. I told her that she wants to do too much in 4 days at the parks. I agree that a 4-day PH is not enough & I told her that a month ago. And I know it's very hard to do AK in half a day, but they don't have much time with the 4 day pass & she had to cut something out, so she chose AK. A 5-day PH would be much better.

She is going to show her Dad this thread to see if he wouldn't mind her getting the 5-day PHs since he's the one that only wants to do 4 days. She said she knows her DH wouldn't mind a day away from her parents, but she doesn't want to hurt her parent's feelings.

Thanks again for all your help!