Would love help with my itinerary!

[Susan Storm]

Thanks so much for coming here! I hope you can help! I'm traveling to Disney World on May 22nd for 7 nights/8 days. It will be me, my husband, my mom, 10-year-old daughter, 7-year-old son, 2-year-old son, and I will be 4 1/2 months pregnant at the time (which means I'll be skipping all the thrill rides except for I hope Kilimanjaro Safaris - any thoughts on that would be great!). We're staying at Port Orleans Riverside for the first five nights and Art of Animation Cars Family Suite for the last 2 nights.

I'm trying to come up with a schedule that allows everyone to do what they want and see what they want without exhausting everyone - and that's where I could use your help!!

This is what I have scheduled so far:
Day 1 (May 22) - Resort day after arrival at noon. Pool. Early bedtime.

Day 2 (May 23) - Epcot Day -
Rope Drop Morning 9 AM Park Opening
Fastpasses for Spaceship Earth 9 AM, Test Track 10 AM, Character Spot 11 AM.
Visit Future World and see what we can
Lunch somewhere in World Showcase and see Voices of Liberty at 12:30
Leave Park after Voices of Liberty (Around 1:15) and go to the hotel for naps and swimming till 6 PM
6 PM - head back to Epcot for dinner and Illuminations. Dinner ADR at La Hacienda de San Angel at 7:15 PM. Then find a good spot for Illuminations. Leave after Illuminations at 9 so I'm assuming we get back to the hotel around 11 PM?

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom Day -
See when everyone wakes up and try to leave for Magic Kingdom no later than 9:30. MK opens at 9:00 AM this day.
Fastpasses for Splash Mountain 10-11 AM, 7DMT 6:30-7:30 PM, Peter Pan's Flight 7:30-8:30 PM.
Head to Adventureland and Frontierland and do what we can - use Splash Mountain FP.
Lunch ADR at Crystal Palace at 11:35 AM.
After lunch head back to hotel till 6 PM for naps and pool
6 PM - Head back to Magic Kingdom - do 7DMT Fastpass, Peter Pan Fastpass. Explore fantasyland and then find a parade viewing spot and stay for fireworks at 10 PM. Go back to hotel.

Day 4 - Animal Kingdom Day
Sleep in day. Leave for Animal Kingdom between 9:30-10 AM (Park opens at 9 AM).
FP for FOTLK at 11 AM, Kilimanjaro Safaris 1 PM, Expedition Everest 3 PM.
See FOTLK with FP at 11 AM. Get to Tusker House for 11:40 AM ADR. Do FP for Kilimanjaro Safaris and everyone else does Expedition Everest while I explore the park and try to give 2 year old a time to relax while taking the Wildlife Express Train around and doing nature trails in the stroller so maybe he will nap. Stay till closing at 6 PM. If they change the schedule with ROL then I will have to re-do this with an afternoon break and coming back for ROL.
Back to hotel and in bed around (hopefully) 8 PM - again, if ROL happens then I will have to change this.

Day 5 - Magic Kingdom Day
Be at rope drop for 9 AM opening.
FP for Space Mountain 9 AM, Buzz Lightyear 10 AM, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 11 AM.
Head to Tomorrowland and do that with the family. Then head up to Fantasyland for Winnie the Pooh, Mad Tea Party, Barnstormer, Dumbo.
11:30 AM - Lunch in fantasyland
12:15 - Head out of park for afternoon break
5:30 PM - Head to Boma for ADR at 6:20 PM. After dinner get kids to bed and maybe DH and I go to MK to wander around.

Day 6 - Magic Kingdom Day
Leave for park between 6:30-7:30 AM for RD at 8 AM EMH.
FP for Barnstormer at 10 AM, BTMRR 11 AM, Splash Mountain 12 PM. Spend morning in Storybook Circus then take the train to Frontierland. Lunch QS there.
1 PM - Back to hotel for naps and pool.
6 PM - Head back to MK for 7:20 ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern. Try to do Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom and spend more time in Liberty Square/Frontierland/Adventureland and watch parade from there and see Fireworks from there (if kids can make it that late).

Day 7 - Kids Pick Day
This is really tough for me because I like to have a plan for everything, but at this point I'm going to let the kids pick which park we visit this day. I'm going to tentatively set up FP for Toy Story Midway Mania, Star Tours, and Tower of Terror - but if kids decide they want to go to another park this day that's fine. We'll also arrive depending on when the kids wake up and all that.

Day 8 - Departure Day - Visit Animal Kingdom
Sleep in. Pack up stuff into car. Head to the last park - Animal Kingdom. I'm going to tentatively set up FP for Animal Kingdom 11 AM - Kilimanjaro Safaris, 12 PM - Finding Nemo, and 1 PM - Expedition Everest. Eat lunch somewhere in there or after and then drive home and kids can sleep in the car (it's an 8 hour drive).

 

[hedberg1661]

I think you really did a nice job of planning things out. My one suggestion for you since you are a planner...when you say "see what we can see" type of thing in the various parks I suggest you research where characters are located and at what times. Perhaps you could "magically" find X character and your kids will be excited to get autographs, pictures, etc.

 

[Susan Storm]

I think you really did a nice job of planning things out. My one suggestion for you since you are a planner...when you say "see what we can see" type of thing in the various parks I suggest you research where characters are located and at what times. Perhaps you could "magically" find X character and your kids will be excited to get autographs, pictures, etc.

Thank you! Yes! I have general attraction routes I wrote down, but I figured it would be too much for anyone to read! Plus they are very loosely based and I know with 3 kids and 3 grown-ups I'm going to have to be very flexible. I do like that idea a lot though about the characters, thank you!!!

 

[Hootch]

On day 2, if you get to the parks by 9:30, the line for Splash and BTM won't be too bad at that time.

The MK was by far the easiest park to get additional FPs. We got some good ones as late as 8:00 PM.

We have let the kids choose their favorites the last day also. There is nothing wrong with them choosing the night before. You may have an opportunity to schedule FPs for the next day. Getting TSMM reserved is a good idea if you think that will be one of their choices. It is often fully booked the next day.

You will probably have time for multiple rides on Barnstormer on day six. If your kids want to do either Barnstormer of Dumbo again, the lines in the evening are usually short.

Looking for animals on the Tree of Life may be something to entertain your youngest. There are a couple of programs; Lion Guard and Wilderness Explorers, that might interest your kids. At Epcot there is a Phineas and Ferb game that my daughter loves. Several pavilions participate. You have an electronic gadget that shows pictures of locations in the pavilion and they have to find them. At times the communicator can make this happen like making a puff of smoke appear.

We took our three and a half year old son when my wife was pregnant about the same number of months. The naps are good for you and your two year old. Our daughter's first trip was a short one. We tried to pack too much in along with a very long travel day. Not much fun having a kid melt down in Prime Time Cafe.

Congratulations and good luck.

 

[HM2012Butler]

The earlier you can get up and out the better. I know vacation is for relaxing but disney does not work that way. MDW will be more crowded than your average weekend so you'll be fighting larger crowds

 

[Susan Storm]

On day 2, if you get to the parks by 9:30, the line for Splash and BTM won't be too bad at that time.

The MK was by far the easiest park to get additional FPs. We got some good ones as late as 8:00 PM.

We have let the kids choose their favorites the last day also. There is nothing wrong with them choosing the night before. You may have an opportunity to schedule FPs for the next day. Getting TSMM reserved is a good idea if you think that will be one of their choices. It is often fully booked the next day.

You will probably have time for multiple rides on Barnstormer on day six. If your kids want to do either Barnstormer of Dumbo again, the lines in the evening are usually short.

Looking for animals on the Tree of Life may be something to entertain your youngest. There are a couple of programs; Lion Guard and Wilderness Explorers, that might interest your kids. At Epcot there is a Phineas and Ferb game that my daughter loves. Several pavilions participate. You have an electronic gadget that shows pictures of locations in the pavilion and they have to find them. At times the communicator can make this happen like making a puff of smoke appear.

We took our three and a half year old son when my wife was pregnant about the same number of months. The naps are good for you and your two year old. Our daughter's first trip was a short one. We tried to pack too much in along with a very long travel day. Not much fun having a kid melt down in Prime Time Cafe.

Congratulations and good luck.

Thanks so much for your help! I am REALLY excited about Animal Kingdom (it's my 2nd favorite park) and I would love to do Wilderness Explorers with my kids! Also the Phineas and Ferb game sounds great!!

I definitely want to try to balance out catching some of the evening entertainment and the most important rides with plenty of rest, so that's my biggest challenge right now Hopefully no crazy meltdowns will ensue!

 

[Susan Storm]

The earlier you can get up and out the better. I know vacation is for relaxing but disney does not work that way. MDW will be more crowded than your average weekend so you'll be fighting larger crowds

Yes, I definitely want to take advantage of rope drop as much as possible. I also know the evening fireworks are a big deal to my family, so I don't want to wear out the kids and the toddler by doing late nights followed by early mornings too much. I figure if parks are really crowded I'll just use our fastpasses then fill up the other time with shows, atmosphere, and low-line type stuff (Tom Sawyer Island, trails at AK, Carousel of Progress, shows at WS, etc,.)

 

[Hootch]

There is a book that tracked the building of Animal Kingdom, The Making of Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park, that you can get pretty much get for shipping costs. Melody Malmberg is the author and who also happens to be Joe Rohde's wife.

 

[Baptist]

Your plans look great. Be sure to check out the night vision googles at AKL after your Boma dinner. AKL has other cool stuff going on there for the kids. Be sure to check their schedule.

The one change I would make is with the Liberty Tree Tavern. It's one of my least favorite restaurants in WDW. I would opt for a last minute BOG reservation or the new Jungle Navigation Co. Canteen.

 

[TJDisneymama]

i personally would not waste FPs on 9-10:00 a.m. slots (unless it was like 7DMT or TSM). Why waste a FP to save 5 minutes at 9:00 when you can use it later and potentially save 30+ minutes.

 

[Tara1988]

On day 3, it doesn't make sense to me to get a late start, have an early lunch about an hour after you get to the park, then leave for an extended period. Also, you're planning to do the safari during the hottest part of the day. Animals will be less active, so the ones you do get to see will be just lounging in the shade. First thing in the morning is best.

 

[richieb05]

As a fellow planner, I would just suggest to expect anything. When I visit with a large group (more than 4 people), everything changes. Sometimes the kids want to stay longer in the park, or you get stuck in a ride and can't make it to your ADR. So be prepared for that as well.

However, it sounds like a wonderful trip, and with three days at MK, you can't go wrong.

 

[Arielismyfave]

Great itinerary!

A suggestion for arrival day is to ride the boat from POR to Disney Springs for dinner/shopping. That is something my LO loved and still remembers as an awesome start to the trip.

Also for Sorcerers of the MK I would get cards each time you are in MK starting with day 3. Ask to play starting in Main Street and the portals are all close. Aside from the first day, play at least 1 portal and then each person in your party can get a new pack after scanning their band at the firehouse. With 6 of you having MB you can score a lot of cards.

 

[Susan Storm]

These are all really good suggestions and thoughts - I will definitely be implementing a lot of your suggestions - Thank you!

 

[Susan Storm]

On day 3, it doesn't make sense to me to get a late start, have an early lunch about an hour after you get to the park, then leave for an extended period. Also, you're planning to do the safari during the hottest part of the day. Animals will be less active, so the ones you do get to see will be just lounging in the shade. First thing in the morning is best.

This is really good to know as this is one of the things I am most excited about! Thank you!