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View Full Version : Anyone want to review my DW schedule?



maybeebaby08
09-16-2013, 09:52 AM
We're going for our first time in 25 days! I'm so excited! I was hoping the experienced Mamas here could look at my plans and see if they look good? We're staying at BC and will have a car. DD's are 5 & 18 months.

Fri- Flight Arrives at 10:30- get rental car, check in/ drop luggage at BC. Head to MK, hopefully see Rapunzel. Park closes at 7, head to Beaches & Cream for The Kitchen Sink.

Sat- Animal Kingdom- Breakfast at Tusker house at 10:10, head to park after stay til 5/6.

Sun- Magic Kingdom- Breakfast at 8:15 at Crystal Palace, stay til early afternoon. Go back to hotel and relax. MK is open til 1 am so DD1 & I will head back in the evening maybe around 6-1. (She's a night owl and with a nap will love going with just me and so late.)

Mon- Relax, hang out at Pool, maybe go later in afternoon to Hollywood Studios.

Tues- Check out of hotel and head to Hollywood Studios til around 3. Fly out at 6:30.

I'd love any input & advice, thank you!

egoldber
09-16-2013, 10:13 AM
No Epcot??? But you're staying a 5 minute walk away!

maybeebaby08
09-16-2013, 11:19 AM
No Epcot, we're going during Food & Wine Festival and I think it'll be too crazy. From everything I've read I don't think my girls will like it very much at this age?

egoldber
09-16-2013, 11:35 AM
Epcot is by far my kids favorite park and has been for a long time.

Food and Wine is not that crazy, although it is somewhat busier at night than typical during that time. We have been during F&W many times.

maybeebaby08
09-16-2013, 05:10 PM
Good to know! Most of what I read said F&W is busy, avoid it if you're not into it. In glad its not as busy as i was thinking. What do your kids like there?

fivi2
09-17-2013, 09:21 PM
We're going for our first time in 25 days! I'm so excited! I was hoping the experienced Mamas here could look at my plans and see if they look good? We're staying at BC and will have a car. DD's are 5 & 18 months.

Fri- Flight Arrives at 10:30- get rental car, check in/ drop luggage at BC. Head to MK, hopefully see Rapunzel. Park closes at 7, head to Beaches & Cream for The Kitchen Sink.

Sat- Animal Kingdom- Breakfast at Tusker house at 10:10, head to park after stay til 5/6.

Sun- Magic Kingdom- Breakfast at 8:15 at Crystal Palace, stay til early afternoon. Go back to hotel and relax. MK is open til 1 am so DD1 & I will head back in the evening maybe around 6-1. (She's a night owl and with a nap will love going with just me and so late.)

Mon- Relax, hang out at Pool, maybe go later in afternoon to Hollywood Studios.

Tues- Check out of hotel and head to Hollywood Studios til around 3. Fly out at 6:30.

I'd love any input & advice, thank you!

Your plan is so different from what we usually do, I am not really sure how to respond, but since you haven't had very many responses, I thought I'd weigh in :)

Day 1 looks fine. Why does the park close so early?

Day 2 - I would do this day differently. We like AK (and people like the parade) but we have never stayed past about 2:00 there. It gets hot. There are things there that I really enjoy, but not a huge number of must dos. (for us.) I would get there and do the Safari before your breakfast. So get there for rope drop (assuming it is at 9:00). and then do Safari first. After that, you'll probably have time for the animal trail in Africa, then check in for your adrs. (if you can't make it or if the wait is too long, then at least pull a fast pass right before your breakfast - assuming the return time works) After breakfast, figure out the next Festival of the Lion King and head to that. Then pick one or two other things - either find some character meets, or do Triceratop Spin and the Boneyard playground (my girls LOVE this), or do the Asia trail and watch the bird show. (You can do train and conservation area, but tbh we didn't love that.) By then, you will probably be hot and tired. I would leave early afternoon and head to the pool at BC or hop to EPCOT if you have hoppers. People do like the AK parade, but we have never stayed long enough to see if. Mileage varies, of course, but this is what I'd do this day.

Day 3 looks fine if your dd can handle it. Although emh days are supposed to be crazy crowded (I don't know crowd level your trip).

Day 4 - If you are going to sleep in, I would make this an Epcot day. (Although you won't be able to do rope drop at DHS the next day either... As I understand it, if you want to ride toy story, rope drop is important. ) Epcot with young ones can be good for a late start. You have the character spot, living with the land boat ride, and spaceship earth in future world. And seas with nemo and turtle talk. World showcase you have various performers, characters, the mexico and norway boat rides, Agent P and the Kidcot stations. (The last two were huge with my girls at 4.5 yo and again at 7. yo).

last day - check out and do DHS. I have never been to DHS, so clearly it isn't a priority for me! ymmv.

Anyway, this is what *I* would do, but you know your family best! Look and see what you think will appeal to your girls - you will have fun no matter what!

mattiew
09-17-2013, 10:42 PM
Do you have Park Hoppers? Does your flight leave Tuesday at 6:30 pm or do you want to arrive at the airport at 6:30?

Friday - a go with the flow plan is great! Go with the attitude of we'll do what we can on arrival day.

Sat - I agree with the PP, get there when AK opens, hit some of your "must dos", have breakfast and then go back to the park. I would review the show schedule during breakfast and pick which shows (if any you would like to see). We have never stayed all day at AK, we've fit everything in before close. If an early morning would make the day miserable, then stick with your plan. Your kiddos are little and if they are tired/hungry it just isn't fun.

Mon - We like to arrive at HS first thing in the morning. Many of the rides become difficult to get on later in the day and there are so many shows! Take a look at the show schedule and that may help you decide when or if to go.

Tues - Go back to the favorite park (assuming you went to HS). Make sure you have PLENTY of time to get to the airport. Car rental return, traffic, and security always seem to take longer at MCO. They do a good job but the volume is HUGE!

Also keep in mind, getting around (park to park, park to hotel, etc) takes longer than you think it is going to (at least that has been our experience).

Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!

maybeebaby08
09-18-2013, 07:51 AM
Thank you for the responses, they're a big help.
I tried to base each day around the crowd calendar and pick the least busy days for each park.

Friday night is the Halloween Party that's why the Park closes early, it's rated as a green day at MK so I figured it would be an a good day as a first day.

Sat- My husband really wants to do AK, but I think we'll get there at rope drop and plan an early day.

Sun- I read Extra Hours can make it busy but it's one of the recommended days still for MK, plus we're meeting family there and I figured the older kids would like the later hours. I'm guessing being at the park at midnight will be one of the highlights of the trip for DD. since its not a red day I think the trade off of crowds will be worth it.

Mon- I think we'll do rope drop at HS this day, instead of later.

Tue- Our flight leaves at 6:30, I'll plan extra for returning car, check-in etc. I think this might be a better day to relax by the pool, maybe do Downtown Disney.

We don't have Park Hoppers, we have 5 day passes. I'm ok using 2 days in one though and having one day without going to a park.

Thank you again for the responses, the Disboards are overwhelming and I've never been so don't know exactly how to plan.

fivi2
09-18-2013, 08:20 AM
Last I heard, you can't use two days in one day. You have to have hoppers to go to another park in one day. I think it will be hard to get up for rope drop at dhs if you are out until 2am the night before but you know your family best. Either way you will have fun!


Eta - I think you are fine without hoppers we haven't ever had them. I just wasn't sure what you had.

maybeebaby08
09-18-2013, 10:26 AM
I didn't know you couldn't use 2 days in one! I know rope drop will be hard the next day, probably won't make it. How much of a pain would it be to send DH to rope drop for Fast Passes then come back and get us? How long are lines without a Fast Pass?

egoldber
09-18-2013, 10:43 AM
You can't get a FP on a ticket that hasn't been used for a park entry for that park on that day. And he can't use your tickets without you.

fivi2
09-18-2013, 11:09 AM
I didn't know you couldn't use 2 days in one

Well I would double check me but I believe it is true!

Lines depend on crowd levels and what you want to ride. Shows you are probably okay whenever but headliners (esp toy story) might be an issue. But I have never been to dhs so I haven't spent much time researching it.

egoldber
09-18-2013, 11:30 AM
I think that for DHS, the main concerns are Toy Story Mania and the Jedi Training if your kids want to sign up for that. My kids are not into Star Wars, so we have never done that. But TSM can and will shut down FP distribution very early in the day, even at low crowd level times.

hillview
09-18-2013, 12:51 PM
I would get to the parks for rope drop as much as humanly possible.

Tinkerbell313
09-18-2013, 01:05 PM
I apologize if OP already answered these questions or if OP does not want to do FP+

If you are staying at Beach Club, you should be eligible for the Magic Bands and FP+. Have you logged into My Disney Experience and see if you are able to set them up? We just came back from a weekend trip to DW staying at AKL which is also testing FP+ and Magic Bands. We really liked them and we liked that we could choose our FPs several weeks in advance. We did not have to get up early to get to DHS for TSM as we had already chosen TSM has one of our FPs. We also got FPs for viewing areas for Fantasmic, Illuminations and MSEP/Wishes as well.

maybeebaby08
09-18-2013, 02:21 PM
You can't get a FP on a ticket that hasn't been used for a park entry for that park on that day. And he can't use your tickets without you.

Thank you, I wasn't sure how it exactly worked.

I'm torn I know DD1 will love going at night and alone with me, but now I'm not sure it's worth the crowds. The park is open til 1, with EMH til 3. Will she be so exhausted from the other days that I should just forget about taking her late night and switch my days around to non EMH days for lower crowds?

egoldber
09-18-2013, 02:32 PM
If you are staying at Beach Club, you should be eligible for the Magic Bands and FP+.

I thought these were still in the test phase and had not yet been fully implemented?

Tinkerbell313
09-18-2013, 03:27 PM
I thought these were still in the test phase and had not yet been fully implemented?

It is a testing phase but everyone staying at the resort is eligible. If you don't get your bands ahead of time, you have the option of getting the grey colored bands when you check in to the resort. But the test phase is actuall just a slow roll out if the actual system. I saw the resort schedule and pretty much all resorts will be active by the end of October.

crispychicky
09-19-2013, 11:57 AM
I apologize if OP already answered these questions or if OP does not want to do FP+

If you are staying at Beach Club, you should be eligible for the Magic Bands and FP+. Have you logged into My Disney Experience and see if you are able to set them up? We just came back from a weekend trip to DW staying at AKL which is also testing FP+ and Magic Bands. We really liked them and we liked that we could choose our FPs several weeks in advance. We did not have to get up early to get to DHS for TSM as we had already chosen TSM has one of our FPs. We also got FPs for viewing areas for Fantasmic, Illuminations and MSEP/Wishes as well.

You should definitely do this now. If you're not really sure what to choose for FP+s, I recommend http://www.easywdw.com/category/cheat-sheets/

maybeebaby08
09-19-2013, 03:09 PM
We're staying at Bonnet Creek so we can't get FP+ :(

fivi2
09-19-2013, 06:13 PM
We're staying at Bonnet Creek so we can't get FP+ :(

I think we all thought you were staying at Beach Club when you wrote BC. (which is why egolber said epcot was a 5 minute walk away).

megs4413
09-19-2013, 10:00 PM
I think we all thought you were staying at Beach Club when you wrote BC. (which is why egolber said epcot was a 5 minute walk away).

yes, Bonnet Creek is traditionally abbreviated WBC. :)

egoldber
09-19-2013, 10:20 PM
Oops! My bad!!!! :o

mariza
09-19-2013, 11:43 PM
You can't use 2 park tickets in one day for different parks. This is exactly what I was planning to do but they told me you have to have a park hopper. I was hoping to buy a 7 day ticket for a 5 day stay and do more than one park on one or two days, but was told the only parks that you can do that with is the water parks. So you can do MK and Blizzard Beach in the same day on a base ticket (assuming you bought water park tix of course) but you can't do MK and AK (for example) in one day.
Also, a tip for AK, as soon as you get to the park go to the Safari and grab a Fast Pass, then go to breakfast. By the time your done eating you should be almost ready to ride and its very close to Tusker House. I just realized after typing all this I didn't check your dates, hope you haven't travelled already!


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maybeebaby08
09-28-2013, 07:54 AM
Sorry about the confusion with the abbreviations, there's so many. Thanks for the AK tip! I'm not a big planner for vacations, but planning Disney makes me feel like we're going to miss something huge if there's not a big plan and sprint to get Fastpass'. It's overwhelming. I made our dining reservations 6 months ago but dropped the ball with Harmony Barbershop for DD2's first haircut, they're booked solid. I thought I could book closer to our trip for some reason. It's the one thing I really wanted to do, kicking myself now.