Planning a Walt Disney World trip
Walt Disney World: What do you think of my itinerary?
From lisa ross
Posted December 25, 2005 at 10:26 PM
Your opinion of Unofficial Guide to Disney???
OK, i'm planning a trip late August/early Septermber for my family..
My kids are 4 and 6. Do i go with the tours as described in the book?? just wing it?? go to the parks as descirbed -- saving magic kingdom for last since its the best park and nothing else will compare to them for the kids?
Here is my eary planning ideas: We are staying at the Carribean beach resort.
Arriving on a Sunday late afternoon doing the magic your way - just hang at the hotel swim eat sleep.
Monday - planning Animal kingdom for the day - book a character brunch - get back to the hotel for dinner and a swim.
Tues: - Epcot for the moring and early afternoon - then head back to hotel for swim/beach park dinner.
Wed: MGM all day - pick a place for dinner.
Thur - hang at the hotel and just relax and enjoy
Fri - Magic kingdom in the morning/afternoon - back at hotel for dnr relax
Sat: Epcot in the afternoon till night - eat at that spinning restaurant stay for fireworks
Sun: Magic kingdom in the afternoon/evening - stay for dnr and fireworks
Mon - go home.
i did aready purchase the hopper tickets - just incase i decide to go to two different parks. think it just might be a bit much for the kids and us?
any opinions and feedback appreciated.
lisa
Your plans sound really great! You are going at a good time when it won't be as crowded as it usually is any other time during the year. I would reccomend winging it, but look at all the attractions at the park and mark which ones you would like to go on. Also, a word of advice, use the fastpasses to your advantage! The way to use fastpasses to the fullest is have a plan! WHen you get the fastpasses, do something else if possible instead of waiting around. A good example of this is getting a fastpass for the Safari and then going through the walking animal trails or something else! You will be much more sanity at the end! Also, I would reccomend that you go to MGM for a little longer. There is much to do even though it is the smallest park. Also, try not to go home for dinner or swimming so much in the trip. It takes up alot of time and there are plenty of places to go in the parks that are not that expensive (Colombia Harbor House in Magic Kingdom) for example! I hope you enjoy your trip! You are staying at a great resort with a great pool so don't rule out ALL swimming!
Remember, Have Fun and Take your time!
From T Bone
Posted December 26, 2005 at 7:07 PM
The plans sound good, but I would recommend you eat in one of the countries the night you are in Epcot instead of the spinning restaurant. Even though you have young children, each country has a special kids menu that appeals to any small child. The restaurants in the countries are excellent and you won't have to go far to see the fireworks.
I would probably avoid the two "big" parks over the weekend (EPCOT and Magic Kingdom). You will not be able to move in those two parks on Fri-Sun. I would use one of those days as your "relax and enjoy" days, and use that Thursday for one of the parks. I would also wait to plan your exact park itinerary until Magic Hours are posted. You are staying in an on-site hotel, and will probably want to take advantage of those special hours, or you may want to avoid those parks to try to avoid some of the crowds. Don't expect the crowds to be light, you're planning your trip around Labor Day, typically one of the busiest weeks at Disney, so just keep that in mind (especially Labor Day weekend itself). If you're planning multiple days at the Magic Kingdom, you may want to start and end there. It's great to keep your kids' anticipation up, but it's very possible they may enjoy the other parks as well, as they tend to have much more accessible characters and more manageable crowds during peak times. By doing the MK at the beginning and end of the trip, you can satisfy your kids' anticipation, and still leave them with a sweet taste in their mouth as you leave Florida. The bottom line though is to be flexible, and if you have park hoppers, it is very easy to abandon a park and try a different one.
From what I've heard, Donald's Breakfastasaurous (character dining at Animal Kingdom) is pretty decent, but have heard many more positive reviews from Chef Mickey's at Contemporary Resort and Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom. Dining at Disney can be an expensive proposition, and if you're staying on-site, you might want to consider the dining plan. Also, for any character dining experiences or "signature" dining experiences you're interested in, get ready to make reservations in a couple of months. Again, if you have park hoppers, you can still change your park itinerary if your dining itinerary does not exactly match your park itinerary. If you want to do the more exclusive dining experiences (Cinderella's Royal Table, Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, Donald' Breakfastasaurous, Askerhous, Coral Reef, Le Cellier, California Grill, Ohana, Whispering Creek, Victoria and Albert's, etc...), but be ready to make those reservations 180 prior to the first day of your vacation (viewing your reservation on disney.com will show you how many days until your vacation starts)
The "Unofficial Guide" is a great resource, but I'm not a huge fan of the way information is presented predominantly in narrative form. If you need to find information fast, the Unofficial Guide is not the easiest way to find it, plus it can analyze frequently into unneccessary minutae. It's a great resource to read prior to planning and taking you Disney vacation, but as a guidebook in the park, I would stick to traditional guides (Froemer's, Birnbaum's, etc...).
As far as tours, what tour you take will have to depend on the amount of patience your kids have. I have heard such great things about the Keys to the Kingdom tour, but at over 5 hours long, may be too much to handle, especially with younger kids (I'm not actually sure what the age limit is for that tour is since you can run into characters with their costumes not completely on, and Disney tries to refrain from shocking kids like that). Plus, it kills half a day at the Magic Kingdom, a park that is difficult to do during peak season in two days. I have heard the "Lunch with an Imagineer" (Disney/MGM Sutdios) experience is pretty cool if you're into that kind of stuff, but if this is your family's first trip to WDW, you might want to enjoy the parks before delving into all of the side-trips. You might also want to try one of the waterparks, since you will be in Florida during the scorching dog-days of August. A few hours at one of the waterparks would probably be a great time. The pools at the resorts are nice, but can get incredibly crowded in the summertime. The waterparks can also get crowded, but there's at least some more stuff to do, and it always seems hard to find ways to use up those pluses on you passes.
It's great that you're starting your planning now, but unless you're planning your itinerary around dining experiences and tours, you might want to wait until June before pinning down specific park itineraries. Also consider, WDW's Magic Kingdom will probably begin celebrating its 35th Anniversary at the end of next summer, and there could be a number of special events and attractions that may be announced in the next few months surrounding that celebration.
Try to get over to downtown Disney its close to where you are staying and has some good shops and cheaper food like McDonalds that kids like.
Your plans look great! I also have a 4 and a 6 year old (one boy one girl)-and now we have a 5 month old, too! Be sure to plan to go to Playhouse Disney when you're in MGM. The lines might be long, but it is definitely worth it for the kids! No seats, though, everybody sits on the floor, at first, then, soon the characters are asking everyone to dance, jump, sing, etc. Not sure if you are into Cinderella (0r your kids), but if you are, breakfast or lunch in Cindy's castle is the best in Magic Kingdom. They now take reservations 180 days in advance. Many characters will be there with Cinderella (a lot of them that you can't find elsewhere, such as, prince charming and Peter Pan, although they vary daily), and there is a photo op as you wait to be seated (aditional cost if you buy pics), the red plush royal chair and spiral staircase, whew, it's soo beautiful! Servers in the resturant always refer to every guest as royalty ("of course, princess", "yes, your heiness", etc) and the food is great! American food- you pass the plates at the table, so there's no getting up and down so much.
I think getting the park hopper was a good idea. Since you are staying so many days, the kids will probably remember somethings from previous days early in the week, and want to revisit their favorites. Also, if the weather gives you unexpected rain, you can change plans and get out of the weather. Some places, such as, the big aquarium (which is where the turtle from Nemo has a wonderful little interactive show for kids) are a great place to hang out while it's raining. My kids want to do it over and over (this takes 1-2-hours) because they might not get chosen to speak into the microphone (and ask the turtle a question - yes, he does answer!)the first time. We find that going from Epcot to Magic Kingdom and vice versa is the easiest being that they are connected by the monerail. MGM and Animal Kingdom require that you take a bus from park to park. Also, if you miss the fireworks at Magic Kingdom (they usually start at sundown), with the park hopper, you can just monerail over to Epcot and catch them at 9 pm.
Oh, the name for that big aquarium in Epcot is "The Sea", it is situated near the main entrance to Epcot.
Oh, the name for that big aquarium in Epcot is "The Sea", it is situated near the main entrance to Epcot. Also, the polynesian, Wilderness Lodge and a couple other resorts have kids clubs where you can drop them off at a center in the resort to be babysat for 1 or more hours. My kids went once and now request it everytime!Many wonderful toys, big screen TVs (with disney movie playing), arcade games, dress up closets, etc. I think this is available from 4pm to maybe midnight. $10/hr. includes dinner if they stay during the time it is delivered (around 6). These same places usually have a daily open house (1-3pm) so you can check it out and usually they have crafts set up for the kids to do during that time.
Also, your Animal Kingdom plan is really good! However, remember to get there really early (I think it opens at 8 am!). Animal Kingdom has many great things, espcecially the Lion King, but is definatly doable in one day. Also, remember that Animal Kingdom closes earlier (like 5 or 6!?!?) so thats why it would be best to go earlier! Another thing, and I do not know if you would be interested in since your children are younger, but on certain days, you can get into the parks earlier or three hours later. This works really well with EPCOT and Magic Kingdom! Finally, remember that Fantasmic is the nighttime fireworks at MGM and you need to basically be in your seats an hour before the show if you want a good seat or a seat at all!
Good Luck!
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