Veteran eyes on our plans! First family trip

[MandLBee]

I'd love some feedback on our plans for a Sep/Oct 2017 trip!
There are 7 of us. 4 have neuroatypical behaviors. We are driving from the Nashville area.

Disney Plans So Far! I do have ADRs.

Monday, September 25
-leave from work (6pm)
-arrive Atlanta (12 am)
Tuesday, September 26
-leave Atlanta (8 am)
-arrive Ft Wilderness (3 pm)
-set up camp, eat, campfire
Wednesday, September 27
-Drive to Boardwalk (7 am)
-Character bfast (7:45 am ADR)
-Drive to EPCOT(park hours 9-9)
-FP+ Soarin'
-FP+ Test Track
-FP+ FEA
-Eat around the world, play it by ear
Thursday, September 28
NO PARKS (pool, resorts)
Medieval Times for early dinner
Friday, September 29
-Breakfast at camp
-Drive to Universal
WIZARDING WORLD
Saturday, September 30
-Take boat to MK (7:30)
-BOG ADR (8:45)
-FP+ Tales with Belle
-FP+ 7 Dwarves Mine
-FP+ Space Mountain
Sunday, October 1
NO PARKS (MNSSHP 4-11)
St Nicholas Church
Laundry day
Monday, October 2
Bus to Animal Kingdom
Tusker House ADR 10:45
-FP+ Kilimanjaro Safaris
-FP+ Expedition Everest
-FP+ Banshee Ride

Any suggestions? We have more detailed ideas about parades and fireworks and campground activities, but have to stay open.

 

[dosekies]

Due to the tier system in Epcot, you should only be able to get a fastpass for one of the rides you listed.

 

[MandLBee]

Due to the tier system in Epcot, you should only be able to get a fastpass for one of the rides you listed.

Oh my goodness, thank you! Well shoot. I guess we will just FP Soarin'

 

[Westcoastwild]

Have you been to any of the parks before?

FP FEA. Soarin was a people eater when I was there. Rode it 3 times standby. FEA is limited capacity and the line takes FOREVER.

You can't build a campfire (wasn't sure if you were serious about that)

And I would do hoop de do instead of Medieval, because it's right there and it's awesome.

I think I would add one day to your park passes. You realize that the laundry machines are in the restroom areas? You really don't need another day for laundry but I think you may just need another day for either AK or MK. Both were bigger than I EXPECTED, DON'T MIND THE EMPHASIS, MY KEYBOARD JUST HATES ME

 

[5stljayhawks]

First off, I would say welcome. did the drive from STL. You may want to look headed straight south. Skip Atlanta. If you do head Alt/GA way - KOA foryth, GA.
2) If you can book more time. Just hanging and cruising around to different resorts is fun. Also a half day at gator land is awesome. BYOHD. Bring your own hot dogs. Buy a $1 pack, freeze them and bring them. Just put them in your pocket when you go in.
3) Tuesday, September 26
-leave Atlanta (8 am)
-arrive Ft Wilderness (3 pm)
-set up camp, eat, campfire Bring your own morose kit. hobby lobby or Home depot has wood dowels if needed. I take campfire is at movie night.

Other days look good (ok haven't been to other parks) . Are you all bring costume for MMNSHP? if not, plan on it. Also you can bring a few decoration for the camp site. start searching craigslist and ebay now.

Also check out pin trading.

Check out getting a golf cart for a few days.

Look at getting a few more days at fort wilderness.

 

[MandLBee]

Have you been to any of the parks before?

FP FEA. Soarin was a people eater when I was there. Rode it 3 times standby. FEA is limited capacity and the line takes FOREVER.

You can't build a campfire (wasn't sure if you were serious about that)

And I would do hoop de do instead of Medieval, because it's right there and it's awesome.

I think I would add one day to your park passes. You realize that the laundry machines are in the restroom areas? You really don't need another day for laundry but I think you may just need another day for either AK or MK. Both were bigger than I EXPECTED, DON'T MIND THE EMPHASIS, MY KEYBOARD JUST HATES ME

Thank you!!
Haha re: the campfire! I meant we would go to the Chip and Dale campfire hosted by The Fort, maybe watch the outdoor movie.

I have been to MK and Epcot. I also have older kids with zero interest in Fantasyland, so they and their Dad will be tackling Tomorrowland and some other stuff whilst I hang out with my 6 and 8 year old daughters who want to do everything in Fantasyland We are also doing MNSSHP on the evening of Laundry day, after we go to church first and swim and play (with 7 people, I will need a laundry day, but hopefully just three machines worth, in and out in 2.5 hours) so I'm hoping that will give us a little more MK? Thoughts?

I, of course, would love to do another park day, it's just not in my budget. Or I should say, I've prioritized some dining experiences and also, freakin' Universal is WAY more pricey than Disney, but I can't skip it.

 

[MandLBee]

First off, I would say welcome. did the drive from STL. You may want to look headed straight south. Skip Atlanta. If you do head Alt/GA way - KOA foryth, GA.
2) If you can book more time. Just hanging and cruising around to different resorts is fun. Also a half day at gator land is awesome. BYOHD. Bring your own hot dogs. Buy a $1 pack, freeze them and bring them. Just put them in your pocket when you go in.
3) Tuesday, September 26
-leave Atlanta (8 am)
-arrive Ft Wilderness (3 pm)
-set up camp, eat, campfire Bring your own morose kit. hobby lobby or Home depot has wood dowels if needed. I take campfire is at movie night.

Other days look good (ok haven't been to other parks) . Are you all bring costume for MMNSHP? if not, plan on it. Also you can bring a few decoration for the camp site. start searching craigslist and ebay now.

Also check out pin trading.

Check out getting a golf cart for a few days.

Look at getting a few more days at fort wilderness.

Thank you for the tips! Will look into alternate driving routes for sure. And we are constrained by my work schedule, so that's why the time is so short

The golf cart will be impractical with 7 people, I think. Also expensive. We will just hoof it and use the bus system. I have to keep the Disney portion of our vacay to $3K for transport, tickets, lodging, and food, which is crazy hard. I may have to cancel Tusker or Boardwalk, we will see...

Pin trading! We just started looking into that! The kids are doing lots of chores to earn pins.

 

[5stljayhawks]

Laundry machine are small. I would say 1/2 from what we normally do at home. Bring your own soap and dryer sheet. The diff locations have a number of washers.dryers. Plan on early start you may be able to cycle all through at same time. Two rolls or quarters. Last time I was there was $2 per wash and $2 per dry.

 

[Westcoastwild]

You can pay for laundry with a debit card. Or at least on my loop you could. (I sometimes forget that not everyone is a night owl like me- I did laundry while I chilled in the A/C of the bathrooms when I wasn't in the parks} It is super helpful if you can pack as many quick drying clothes (athletic wear) and towels as possible. The time consuming part wasn't the washing- it was the drying. If you have clothesline, take it to hang suits and towels and park clothes that get wet.

I get the rest. I would personally skip universal, but if you've got thrill ride fans, you probably can't. HP IS amazing but that is, as you said, a very expensive day.

No real need for a golf cart. Maybe bring bikes for the kids if you want to get around the fort? But to get to the park transport, buses seriously were fine.

 

[Westcoastwild]

For the older kids, I'd get a fast pass for thunder and not dwarves. I liked dwarves. But thrill wise, it's a kiddie coaster. And it has the coolest queue- worth doing standby for.

Also, no HS? Other than Space and Everest, aerosmith and the tower are the best thrill rides at wdw. (Probably a budget/time thing, and I understand, but thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[Daniela Rose]

There's also the new pandora rides at AK. Two, both tier 1 so you'd only be able to fp one. One there is a height requirement, the other na'vi river there is not. There's also rivers of light at night.

 

[MandLBee]

There's also the new pandora rides at AK. Two, both tier 1 so you'd only be able to fp one. One there is a height requirement, the other na'vi river there is not. There's also rivers of light at night.

That's good to know! I guess I will FP Navi River for my littler ones, and Banshee flight for the rest.

 

[MandLBee]

For the older kids, I'd get a fast pass for thunder and not dwarves. I liked dwarves. But thrill wise, it's a kiddie coaster. And it has the coolest queue- worth doing standby for.

Also, no HS? Other than Space and Everest, aerosmith and the tower are the best thrill rides at wdw. (Probably a budget/time thing, and I understand, but thought I'd throw it out there.

Okay, Space and Thunder for the olders, then!