While you're reviweing itinneraries...

[Ducky4Disney]

(I don't think I spelled that right)

Will you take a look at my WDW plan? Me and DH are WDW vets and like to take it kinda slow. We will be there for 11 days, we have time to see everything we want. My DDad and his GF will be with us for 8 days and Dad has never been. He's a big kid at heart and I think he will enjoy it. I have tried to plan one meal a day.

Sunday: Arrive 12/5 (before Dad) and go shopping for our villa. Dad arrives in afternoon - explore SSR, mini-golf, DTD, and DQ (he loves arcades). Go to PI that night.
Monday: Donald's Breakfastasaurus @ 8:10 am, day at AK, lunch at AK. Leave AK and have dinner somewhere (at SSR?) then go to MK for wishes. Maybe a PI night.
Tuseday: Breakfast @ SSR. Day at MGM, lunch @ 50's PT. Dinner somewhere before we go to MK for MVMCP.
Wednesday: Breakfast @ SSR. Epcot! Biergarten @ 5:55 pm, Illuminations that night. Maybe PI or DQ.
Thursday: Open
Firday: Open. Maybe lunch at Garden Grill and Candlelight Processional?
Saturday: Open
Sunday: Open, Dad departs.

Wow, I have a lot of open space. I figure the first few days will allow them to see all the parks and then decide where to go next. To save $$ we would like to eat breakfast in the villa and maybe a couple of dinners. Being so close to DTD will be great for EoS, great to take home for lunch the next day! We will probably go to DQ every afternoon, and PI every night.

What else can we do that is not too $$$ and will make for a more enjoyable first WDW trip for Dad?

D4D

 

[dcmbshafe]

Sounds like a lot of fun. Here are my comments:

* I'm a little curious about what type of passes you might have. Given the first part of your intinerary, I was assuming that either everyone will have UPH (or PAP) passes or that cost is not an issue because it seems like you have several visits to DQ and/or PI. But then you have all of those open days toward the end...so...if you are getting UPH passes, then I think you should consider distributing your park visits out a little bit more and planning a little more open time mid-day for breaks at the pool or in the villa...but then as I read I started thinking you might be getting PH passes and some sort of combo. pass for PI/DQ as it sounds like you'll be going there a lot...if this is the case, then I think I would distribute your open days so that they are not all at the end - have a park day, then an off day, then a park day, etc.

* You might want to try for an earlier night the first night considering your 8:10 PS the next morning. Given that it is a travel day, I don't know that I would try to make it a PI night (of course, everyone probably does PI a little differently).

* I think it is smart to eat most of your breakfasts at the villa - we almost always do this (although, like you, we usually do one character breakfast)

In general, I like the things that you'll be doing, but I think you might be able to spread it out a little bit more. Not knowing what kind of passes you have makes it a little tough to advise, but I can tell you what we would do - if we had more flexible passes (like UPHs) we would do a lot more shorter (say 2-4 hours) park visits possibly with multiple sessions on some of the days - if we had PHs or PHPs, we would do dedicated park days offset with open days.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

DH and I will have PAP's and my DDad and his GF will have UPH's. I don't have it listed in there, but when I said that DH and I like to take it kinda slow, afternoon breaks are a must! We "park" for a few hours in the morning, then nap, swim, eat, and "park" somemore in the evening.

I was about to say that I wasn't sure if my Dad was a napper, but who am I kidding! Where do I think I get it from? Anywho, afternoon time will be nap/swim/DQ time. We've never done a water park but that's because Dec temps are questionable and one water park is down for rehab - so I expect the other one to be double busy. But we could brave one, we have time!

D4D

 

[CaipiraBob]

By all means, tour all of the resorts and view the decorations!

You can make it a relaxing trip. By staying on grounds you have access to valet parking. Use it that day for the daily charge. Drive up to each resort and drop off the car, which will save you a lenghtly walk from the parking lot so you can spend quality time viewing the sites. Set up a loose schedule for the resorts you believe you'd like to see.

AKL and WL are destinations unto themselves. The other resorts are worth checking out, too.

My wife and I are already planning on visiting several other deluxe hotels to see their decorations this year. I'm curious to see how they did the tree at GF this year. They have a photo on the main page for wdwinfo and I have to see how it turned out .

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I know that there is an actual tour you can take where they take you to several resorts to show you how the decorations are done, but if I'm trying to save money then maybe I'll just make my own tour! I'll do some research into where to eat at different locations and maybe we'll stop for food along the way.

I first saw the Boardwalk when I went to sign up for DVC and I couldn't believe it! It was a whole separate experience unto itself. It will be neat to show him that kind of thing. We could also rent bikes at different resorts. What's the best resor to bike at?

D4D

 

[Cathy K.]

Hi D4D,

I just had one thought when I was looking at your itinerary. I've been reading here on the boards that it can be really hard to get into the Candlelight Processional on stand by. How about making it dinner at the Garden Grill on Friday as part of a Candlelight Processional package so that you'll have reserved seating?

I'll be there the 4th-11th and it looks like we'll be in the same areas a few times. I usually wear a lime green ribbon on my fanny pack so if you see me say hi!

Cathy K.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I think you read my mind! In my original plans I had Garden Grill as a PS for the Candlelight Processional but DH said it would be too much and that he didn't want to see it (is he nuts?). I tried to explain to him that this is something we can *ONLY* see during this time of year and that I have heard that it is spectacular.

Maybe I'll slip this one in on him and then say "Surprise!"

I have Lime green Mickey paint chips for luggage tags. I'll ear one that says D4D - let's see who notices!

D4D

EDIT:
Wow, I'm going to leave this like it was, but I want to point out my own stupidity. In my OP I told you all about GG and CP! DUH! Next time I should read my own post!

D4D