Overdoing it at Disney
 

Hi everyone,
After several messages on these and other boards, I've organized my trip to Disney and am excited to go for the first time. We have a 5 and 7 year old, and will be there from 11/1-11/5, 4 nights. Below is my schedule - and I am aftaid of overdoing it. I'm afraid it's too ambitious. I'm OK with things not going to plan, in fact, that's usually how our vacations are...but this is our first and probalby only trip to disney, so I want to do it right. Any thoughts or changes before I go? Thanks to everyone for all of your help!


Thursday:
Arrive in Orlando @ 11:00am
Magic Kingdom - maybe arrive by 2:00?
No official dinner reservations, want to enjoy magic kingdom without having a schedule. Will eat a counter-service dinner somewhere in MK. 9:00 fireworks.

Friday:
9:00am Princess Breakfast in Epcot
Enjoy Epcot for half day

Take a Break in Hotel

After Break: MGM. Dinner reservations
at Sci-Fi Drive-In at 6:30. Probably no fireworks tonight, kids will be pooped. IF they are up for it, we'll see the light show.


Saturday: Animal Kingdom very early...
Father arriving at 3:00pm. Early dinner at 4:15at Raglan Road (Irish pub) in Downtown Disney. We'll take the boat there from Port Orleans. He'll probably leave by 6:00pm. Depending on kids, may go to a park for a little, we'll see.

Sunday:
Favorite Park Day! Tackle whatever park the kids want to return to...

Take an afternoon break

6:30 reservations at Epcot, Biergarten. Stay and watch our final fireworks show at 9:00pm

Monday:
We have to leave the hotel for the airport at 11:30am. Flight at 2:45pm. Depending on whether or not the kids sleep in, I may ask them to pick ONE favorite ride for us to tackle in the morning. Otherwise, I think they might get annoyed waiting around. We only plan to do disney once, so this would be their last chance...

I assume you've checked the schedule for each of the parks. The closing times vary from park to park and day to day.

Also, be prepared that if the kids begin to wilt you may want to cut the day short.

I don't know if you're staying on site. However, if you begin to see them drag around noon time, you'd be better off getting back to the hotel and hang around the pool for a couple of hours and then head back. Waiting until 3-4PM and they've had it will just end the day then. That's what we did years ago when the kids were about that age and it worked out well.

What kind of Disney tickets are you planning on? Are you thinking of spending a whole day's admission on one last ride the day you leave?

We are staying on site at the Port Orleans.

We have a 5 day park hopper. It was the same price as the 4 day park hopper, so no reason not to get it - but i don't think it's the kind of ticket that you can keep forever...

You forgot one thing - the kids are going to want to swim in the pool at the hotel - unless you blindfold them whenever it is in sight.

Sounds possible, as long as you are flexible. Keep repeating to yourself - the goal of this is to have a nice vacation together as a family, not get "credit" for the most attractions/rides in the least time. That means if kids want to sit and eat an ice cream instead of running to get in line someplace, that is what you do.

Try to forget that you can swim in a pool and eat ice cream for a lot less money than a trip to WDW.

Hi.

Well I hope you have fun at Disney.

I saw your trip and it seems great to me. I have a 6 year old and she can usually go all day long.

She loves the night time stuff. Wishes fireworks, are every night. Spectromagic, which is usually Saturday nights 1 hour from closing. Fantasmic in MGM, again close to closing time. And my little one's #1 favorite, Illuminations at Epcot.

My advice, (I go to Disney for weekends usually 4 times a year) is just play it by ear. It is real easy to get around the parks. A trip from the Magic Kingdom to Epcot is only about 20 minutes (including walking and monorail time) and most other parks are a short bus ride away. So it is easy to bop from one park to the next, if you have the park hopper feature on your tickets. Before you go, take a look at the park maps online, let everyone tell you their "Must See's" those rides and shows they cannot leave WDW without seeing. And make sure to hit these at all costs.

Take advantage of extra magic hours. For resort guests each park will either open one hour early or stay open up to 3 hours later each day of the week. So check the times guide, you never know if your early risers can make it to the Magic Kingdom at 8 a.m.

Some rides I think are must sees. Like Soarin at Epcot in the Land. I see young and old go on and love this ride. My aunt is very car sick and motion sick and she loves this ride. But, the fast passes go quickly, they are usually gone by 2 p.m. And the line gets long by the afternoon, most times it is 45 minutes. So get there early and ride it.

If you have a boy, take him to the Lights, Action Stunt show at MGM. Real cool car stunts, and check your times, Lightning McQueen and Mader from Cars usually roll out and visit for photos right outside the stadium.

Girls love, Beauty and the Beast stage show at MGM, but they only have like 5 shows a day, and they fill up fast.

Have fun, I am sure you will have a magical vacation.

Actually, your park hopper ticket is good forever. At least that is the way Disney has done it in the past. Study and figure out how to use the Fast Pass. It is a shame that most people don't use them or are just to lazy. Epcot is cool, but is our least favorite thing at Disney. You might just hit the highlights there. Soarin is good. Our favorite thing at Disney is both of the water parks. Get to the parks before they open, take breaks in the afternoon and stay until they close. Crowds our least a couple hour right when it opens and a couple of hours before it closes. Don't miss the parades. One adult needs to get a seat on the curb an hour before the parade starts. Do not let your kids get in the parade with one of the characters. When our daughter was 5 Peter Pan took her from us and she was dancing with him as part of the parade. About that time the parade ended, and he just turned her loose. We couldn't find her for about five minutes in a sea of thousands of people. Its good to get meal reservations for at least one meal per day ahead of time. If your kids have the energy don't miss Fantasmic, Illuminations and Laser show is awesome at Epcot. Don't miss the 3D shows at Animal Kingdom and MGM. I think your trip is very doable. If it rains, count it a blessing and keep going, the crowds are lighter then. I bet you will be going back after this trip. It is just to much fun. Family trips are just about my favorite thing to do. We try to take a couple a year. This is what we save our money to do. You should also allot plenty of time for character greetings throughout the parks. You w

Park hopper tickets are no longer good forever unless you upgrade that option.
Your plan looks very doable and relaxing. The only problem I see is that your only day at MK is the day you arrive. You wont get to the park until 11:00 ish which is late for the park. That is about the time that the crowds roll in. Fast passes will be starting to sell out for the bigger attractions at that point as well.
You do have th option of going the last day though which is nice.
Get to the parks EARLY when possible...at least a half hour before opening. You will have much more time without the crowds and ride 90% more rides than later.
Pick up a copy of the "Unofficial Guide" It is a VERY valuable tool for Disney World.
Also check out www.disboards.com for more info than you could possibly imagine on all things Disney. Have a great trip!@!!

I think you are right about the park hopper - I remember them telling me that on the phone.

I also agree about the first day at MK - but hoping they will want to go there on Sunday since I've basically kept that day free to go to whichever park they want.

Good to hear that it's a doable schedule - yes, I have to keep telling myself that I wont get a prize for seeing everything! I will def. look for the signs of fatigue.

Not sure about the swimming...although I will keep that in mind and hope to get there for an hour or so some afternoons. My girls have been asking for Disney for 4 years, and we are not amusement park type of people. So, knowing them I am fairly certain that swimming will be low on the priority list. And, I've already paid for it all - so the money is not an issue (meaning, missing a day at a park/using a ticket...). But, good to know that they might want to do that.

Finally, we've heard a lot about the 3-D shows, the beauty and the beast, etc. Are there fast passes for these, or is it first come, first serve?

Thank you!

Just a heads up that the International Food and Wine Festival will be going on at EPCOT. We go yearly...we're skipping this November to cruise. There are many adult oriented activities around the park and it brings large crowds on weekends, so doing it early on Fri is a good thing. I love Soarin, Planet Earth and The Seas. Walking through "the countries" is fun, but may be really tiring for the 5 yr old. there will be kiosks set up in front of every country where you can get nibbles for a price.
http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/ep/fw07/fw07b.htm

Another thought for you... Mickey's Not So Scarey Halloween Party will be happening at MK on the 2nd. It is actually the final night of the party. It runs from 7:00-midnight though entry is allowed at 4:00.
There is special versions of the fireworks as well as the parades. Trick or treating for the adults and kids and all the characters are dressed up in costume as well. It is a great way to see the park in a different light. Seperate admission is required however.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/halloween.htm
Regarding the Fast Pass...some rides have them some dont including the 3-d rides. Here is a list of rides WITH fast pass
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/fastpass.htm
Hope this helps!

The others are correct. Your park hopper ticket is not good forever UNLESS you PURCHASE the no-expire option.

I think your plans look good. Obviously, if the kids get tired, you'll have to wing it, but it looks doable to me.

Have fun!

Your schedule looks fine, although I agree that you may be short-changing the MK. Since you have Sunday as a re-do day it should be okay.

Are you using Disney's Magical Express service to get from the airport to your hotel? If so, it worked quickly and efficiently, although you'll arrive before your bags do. That will enable you to grab lunch and head to the park when you arrive.

Your kids will *love* the Biergarten! My kids really enjoyed dancing to the polka band.

I agree that the "Unofficial Guide" book is very helpful. Includes touring plans (if you're into that) and also a very helpful chapter on what's too scary for little kids.

One thing you might be prepared for is bad weather. We found that MGM was the best park for a rainy day because there are more shows that are indoor or covered than outdoor rides.

panhandle mentioned that Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is on your day at MK.

I didn't check. However, if that's the case the MK will be closing at 7PM for regular day guests and requires a separate admission for the Halloween Party ($50. per person).

We were there a few weeks ago for a granddaughter's birthday.

You can enter for the Party at 4PM and they put a colored wrist band on you. I'm not sure how they get the regulars to leave at 7PM but they must have a way. You are identified by the wrist band.

The Park then remains open until about 11PM with a couple of Mainstreet Theme Parades and a few events.

We didn't see most of it since we had reservations for the Character Dinner.

If your kids are the hearty type, mine of similar age are, I might suggest you think about staying out as late as possible on Sunday night when the Magic Kingdom has extra magic hours. You need to check the schedule as the times vary, but the park could be open as late as 2:00 a.m.

You might also want to consider if you have the time on your schedule for Blizzard Beach. Disney's water parks are great and BB is really fun for young kids. If you don't have time for the whole water park, their mini-golf course, Winterland-Summerland, is based on the Santa Claus theme. The Winterland part is a bit better.

You can take a quick look here: http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm#mk for MK menus - including counter service. I think the food at MK is generally pretty lackluster, but Columbia Harbour House has good mac and cheese for kids and the fish offerings for adults make a nice change from burgers. If you're closer to Tomorrowland when the kids get hungry, Cosmic Rays has the widest variety of counterservice food and some robots that kids enjoy watching.

Have fun! Don't forget comfortable shoes and sunscreen.

It sounds like a practical itinerary, but one thing I haven't heard from a lot of the other posters is how important it is to make reservations for dining at Disney. Not just for restaurant occasions that you're sure you want to include in your plans, but for any meal that you plan on eating that you don't want counter service. I have heard horror stories about people weren't feeling rigid about what they ate and figured they would just wing it and eat wherever they could get seated, and then discovered that they could not get seated ANYWHERE. That said, the only meal we would have had a real problem with was our dinner at the Concourse Steakhouse, where they were turning away all walk-ins for the whole night. Also, I don't know how well it would work for you with young children, but the meal plan is a great value, especially if you are hearty eaters. Also check out www.mousesavers.com for tips on how not to spend all the money in the world at Disney and still have a good time.

Thank you all!

I have the disney dining plan, and have made reservations for our 4 table-service meals. We are at Epcot Norway Princess Breakfast on Friday morning, MGM Sci-Fi Drive in Friday night, Raglan Road Saturday Night, and Biergarten Sunday Night. We made the Raglan Road b/c my father is visiting and will not have tickets - he is only staying for dinner, so we figured a trip to Downtown Disney would be fun. We can even take a boat from our hotel apparently.

Thanks for the counter-service ideas. I had heard that Columbia Harbor House was good, but had not heard about the other one.

On our Thurs, I believe there is no Halloween event (11/1) at the MK - I think the last one is the following night, 11/2. We've decided not to do that b/c by then we will have had three major halloween parties/events at home - so I don't think it's worth the extra cost for us. But I have heard it was fun, so thanks for the tip.

I promise to come back here and report my trip - you've all been such a great help!

I have a feeling they'll be wanting more of the Magic Kingdom - it is best to get there early (which won't work for you on your first day). It is not good to go there early, when there are extra-early opening hours, unless you get there extra-early, as the park is extra crowded on early opening days.

Some downtime back at the hotel/pool in the afternoon is a nice break. It always seemed like a waste of Disney vacation time to me, but the kids liked the break. Then, we'd go back to a park for the entire evening.

My kids loved Blizzard Beach at those ages.

Have fun!

Several thoughts:

As mentioned above, check out Extra Magic Hours--1 hour before scheduled park opening in the morning (MGM on the 3rd, AK on the 5th will open at 8 a.m.), 3 hours after park closing in the evening (Epcot will be open until midnight on the 2nd and MK will be open until 1 a.m. on the 4th). The early AK might end up being a good place for your departure day.

Learn how Fastpass works, and use it!
http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/fastpass.htm

To avoid disappointment, look ahead of time at the height restrictions:

http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/rr.htm

Re Port Orleans: Enjoy the pool! Don't know which part of Port Orleans you are in--both pools are fun, but the French Quarter pool is particularly attractive to the kids. Also you can take a boat ride to Downtown Disney from Port Orleans. Our son could play forever at the Lego store there.

Sorry for the serial reply, but:

Just noticed you are eating at Raglan Road Saturday night. That would be a good opportunity to take the boat from Port Orleans.

Blizzard Beach is great but I wouldn't try to squeeze it in to your trip; plenty of other stuff for you to see and do (that you've already paid for). Same with the Halloween party.

Sounds like a good plan for your first time.

# 1 - If you are arriving at 11:00 am and are using Magical Express, you will arrive usually within an hour and a half at your resort. If you are driving from the airport in a rental car or limo, it's about the same. Only in rare and very crowded circumstances will you arrive as late as 2 p.m.

# 2 - Eat no later than 6 pm on your first day, and grab a spot for the parade no later than 7 pm for the 8 pm parade, which is SpectroMagic, followed by Wishes, the fireworks story and show, centered around the Castle. My recommendation to you is to sit at the hub in front of the castle around the circle where there is built in seating, facing the castle so you will have a birds eye view of both.

# 3 - Looks like you are at Port Orleans. You will need to grab a bus as early as possible for your 9 a.m. breakfast. If you are driving in, give yourself plenty of time to walk to the park and get to the countries, which is quite a hike.

# 4 - You won't be able to grab a fastpass for Soarin' as Future World doesn't open until 9, and you will be at your breakfast by then. However, try not to miss this. If the wait is under an hour and you have the time, go for it, after breakfast.

# 5 - Make sure you have purchased the park hopper option or you won't be able to go from Epcot to MGM later that day. Even though you believe your kids may be tired that night, I would strongly suggest viewing Fantasmic. It is absolutely marvelous. If you convert your Sci-Fi reservations into a Fantasmic Package, you will have priority seating at Fantasmic, at no charge to you. And believe me, as the stadium holds upwards of 2000 people, you will not want to wait in that line. It is well worth going.

#6 - Good thinking in regard to Animal Kingdom - get there early when the animals are fresh and it isn't so hot. Head straight to the Kilimanjaro Safari. Don't miss "It's tough to be a bug" and be careful on "Dinosaur" as it may be too tough on the little ones.

# 7 - In order to get to Downtown Disney from Port Orleans by water, you will need to be staying at the French Quarter, otherwise, you will need to go from Riverside to the French Quarter to catch the boat.

# 8 - The food at Raglan Road is quite average and very expensive. I've had dinner there twice. The atmosphere,however, is wonderful; there is live Irish entertainment but that doesn't start until 8.

# 9 - Biergarten does not offer views of Illuminations if that is what you would like. The best place for dining and viewing would be Rose and Crown in England.

That's about all I can think to add. It sounds like you would have saved considerable time and energy by using a Disney Authorized Travel Planner for your first trip, but you did well. :)

Nice tips EH!
Regarding Fantasmic(Which I agree is a MUST DO!)Disney has changed Fantasmic dinner packages now. The only 3 restaurants available for this package are Mama Melrose, Brown Derby, and Hollywood and Vine
All three are now paid in advance cost is around (not exact)45.00 Brown Derby, 29.00 MM, and 23.00 per person for Hollywood and Vine. Since these are prepaid there is NO refund less than 48 hours. So if it rains and Fantasmic is canceled...your out of luck. I opted to not buy the package this year as it just didnt seem to be as good of a deal as it was in the past.

Whew!!!

I am having flashbacks to the trips we took to Disney when our kiddies were young. I heartily agree with Gail's early comment - there are no prizes for seeing the most attractions. My husband had us on such a tight schedule, we had to run to keep up!!! The kids were happy just plodding along and soaking up the exciting atmosphere. If they missed something -- and I doubt they did! -- they wouldn't have been any the wiser.

Hubby just recently asked when we are taking the grandkids to Disney!
Ha! I bet he won't be "leading the charge" these days!

We had a Disney Guide on our last trip (early October) as it was part of the prize we won at my daughter's school.

He reserved seats for us at Fantasmic so we were able to get there a few minutes ahead of time.

He stated that the restaurant package was not really all that great. He said they don't have the best seats and it just isn't worth the extra cost. He suggested that if we did this show again, to go a bit earlier, grab some seats, and have someone grab dinner at the food court.

You CAN take the boat to Downtown Disney from Port Orleans Riverside. The boat picks up there, then stops at Port Orleans French Quarter and then goes on to Downtown Disney.

Oh my goodness, I love these boards.

Couple of things:

1. We are using the Magical Express, so I am happy to hear we'll to MK earlier than 2:00pm...

2. This is great to know:
"Eat no later than 6 pm on your first day, and grab a spot for the parade no later than 7 pm for the 8 pm parade, which is SpectroMagic, followed by Wishes, the fireworks story and show, centered around the Castle. My recommendation to you is to sit at the hub in front of the castle around the circle where there is built in seating, facing the castle so you will have a birds eye view of both."

3. My husband mentioned jumping out of breakfast for a moment to grab a fastpass to Soarin' on Friday morning (or us grabbing our seats and he follows behind a few minutes later). Our reservations are for 9:00am, so otherwise we'd have to get a fastpass afterwards, which would be ok I guess...but not ideal.

4. We have the park hopper, and the dining plan.

5. We are staying at the French Quarter. Any suggestion on where to get a room (they said I can call the hotel directly 4 days in advance and request a building.)

6. I've heard Raglan Road is average. I was having trouble finding another reservation for 6 people in a downtown disney restaurant that used the dining plan (again, I have a florida relative visiting us for dinner that night). It's an early dinner (4:15), because he will have a 2 hour trip home. So unfortunately we'll miss the entertainment. Any other recommendations for that night would be great.

7. Our resevations for Biergarten/Epcot are at 6:30 - they have a 7:00 show there, which I am looking forward to. But, I think we'll be out in time to watch the fireworks from another viewpoint. Any recommendations for a good spot to grab?

Thank you!

I just got back from a full tour of Florida (Complete with a 3 day trip to Orlanda and the parks) with my 14 and 10 year old grandsons. Sounds like you did what we did and have it well thought out. The only thing I'd like to say that made our trip much less expensive was we bought the "Meal Deal" bracelets. For $20 a piece you can eat and drink all you want all day long. We were skeptical at first but when kids (and adults) start riding rides and walking they STAY hungry. We saw families of 3 and 4 paying an average of $40-$50 per meal to eat at the part. The $20 was a real bargain. They give you these great big plastic cups (good to keep and take home) and we threw them in the book bag and everytime someone would need to fill up with water, juice or soda we could just walk into the restaurant and fill them up at no cost with our bracelets on. You can also pretty much eat anything you want and as much as you want with those bracelets on and the food was fairly decent. You can get everything from burgers and nuggets for the kids to pasta, pizza, etc. and again you can eat all you want and it includes meal, drink and dessert as many times and as often as you want to go in one of the restaurants and eat. We spent almost 13 hours at each park on consecutive days so that was a lot of eating.

Take raincoats. It rains there every day this time of year and we just kept riding. We chose the "rainy" part of the day to ride the water rides because we were already wet anyhow. But do toss some flimsy raincoats in your bookbag.

Hope you have a great time. We had a ball. I can give advise on what NOT to do on a trip like this. Never go to Disney Parks AND drive to Key West all in the same trip. We did it but I don't know how. We crammed Disney, Miami and Key West (parasailing, snorkeling and jet-skiing) into a seven day vacation. I can't begin to tell you how tired we were upon our return. I had to go back to work to get some rest.

Have Fun!!

We just returned from WDW last week, trip with 2 adult children and 2 grandchildren and had a great time. RE: Raglan Road. We enjoyed it a lot, good choices for food, but a bit pricey. We were on the meal plan and we were able to enjoy appetizers (scallop forest for 2 very good), entree, and dessert. The desserts were VERY good!! Kids not crazy about the mac and cheese, but they are very picky. There are a few other good choices for the kids. Take the boat ride from Riverside( we stayed there). A relaxing ride and a nice change from the bus! Have a wonderful time, we did!

regarding the fast pass, here's a little known fact because it isn't publicized. when you get a fast pass, it will give you a time period of one hour to return to ride, i.e., 1:20p to 2:20p. but it really never expires. so if you can't make it to the ride by 2:20, you can still use it later that day.

if your husband does get fast passes for soarin (my favorite ride!) prior to your breakfast, the time period could be up before you are done with your meal. if it is, don't worry about it, you can still use the passes.