help with itinerary June 9-13

[stitchlvr]

Hi all, :wave: Thanks for such a wonderful board! I am new, but am leaving in 6 days for WDW. I have a few questions.

This is our 2nd trip (1st trip in May 2000). I have 3 kids (age 13,9 and 6). My 13 and 9 year old daughters are dancing at Epcot as part of the Magic Music Days on Thurs June 10, 4:00, so if anyone is there come watch my girls!

I should say that my 13 year old will hopefully be dancing, as she broke her foot in practice 3 weeks ago. She sees the doctor on Tuesday June 1 and will hopefully have her cast removed just in time for us to leave on the 5th, driving from Omaha, NE!

We will be staying at All Stars Music, June 9-14. My plan is as follows...tell me what you think, and if you think this is realistic. Keep in mind that we are on the go type people and went nonstop on our last trip when the kids were 9, 5 and 2.

Wed June 9, early entry at Epcot (assuming they are back to the old Extra Magic Hours schedule? anyone know?) stay until around noon and get as many of the big rides in (Mission Space, Test Track etc). Leave Epcot around noon and head to AK for the major attractions there (AK is not my favorite park, but we want to see Lion King, Dinosaur, Tough to be Bug, and the Safari and Kali RR if not too long of a wait). Stay at AK until closing at 6, then head to MGM to get as many of the "little" attractions done as possible (playhouse, Muppets etc). Stay for Fantasmic

Thursday June 10, we only have from 9-12:30 at Epcot before we have to leave to get the girls ready for practice/performance at 4:00. So we are hoping to get done with the major attractions in Future World at that time. Then after they perform, around 4:30 we will stay for as much of the World Showcase as we can see until closing.

Friday June 11, start at either AK or Epcot, finishing anything we didn't get to see. Take a short rest back at the hotel, then head to MK for the remainder of the night, including E-ride night. We are planning on skipping the E-rides during regular park hours, hitting the minor rides and staying for the remainder of the night until 1:00 am.

Saturday June 12, we have the Ohana Character breakfast at 10:40 or so. Then we will rest, enjoy the pool, and possible head to Fort Wilderness in the late afternoon for dinner at I believe it is called Trails End. Trying to catch the hayrack ride to see MK fireworks and/or the campfire/movie with Chip and Dale and/or the water parade.

Sunday June 13, Blizzard Beach (and Downtown Disney if we have the energy)

Monday June 14, finish up at MGM, head to MK (since it is open that night until 11pm) and see Spectromagic if we missed it earlier.


Is there anything you would recommend different? We were looking to avoid MGM on the weekend because of Star Wars weekend (we went to one last time, and would rather avoid those extra crowds). We will of course utilize fast passes whenever possible.

We will be in Orlando a few days before and after our stay on Disney property, so we will have other times to get to Downtown Disney etc.

Any suggestions, comments? Thanks for your help, and sorry for the long post!

 

[wolf29]

Best thing to do on Early Epcot days is to get a Fastpass for one major ride(Mission:Space) then go ride Test Track before the crowd gets too large, then return to MS. We were there last week & for the first hour or so TT was a 5-10 stand-by. Same strategy for Kali & Safari in AK. They both get pretty crowded. Dinosaur is closed for rehab. In MGM, Playhouse is not a minor, but major attraction. Lines get long. No Fastpass. Indiana Jones show is fun & is a Fastpass attraction, as is TofT and Rockin Rollercoaster. Fantasmic is GREAT. Don't miss it. We stayed @ All-Star Music last October and thought is was great. We just returned from FW Cabins. You will enjoy all the activities mentioned. Since you are staying so close, I would suggest going to check out the AK Lodge one afternoon/evening. If your kids like animals it is worth it. Sounds like a busy, fun trip. Enjoy.

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by stitchlvr
This is our 2nd trip (1st trip in May 2000). I have 3 kids (age 13,9 and 6). My 13 and 9 year old daughters are dancing at Epcot as part of the Magic Music Days on Thurs June 10, 4:00, so if anyone is there come watch my girls!

We'll be there June 5-12 (driving down on the 5th from Indiana, so we'll get there at 7pm on Sat).

Our schedule has us in EPCOT on Thursday, and by 4:00 we should be WELL done seeing everything. Where will your girls be performing?

 

[stitchlvr]

They are dancing at Future World West stage. I don't even remember seeing this stage on our last visit, but I believe they said it is partially covered. They are with Acapriccio Dance Company and will be wearing teal and black. There are about 23 girls and 2 boys on the team. It should be a lot of fun! They perform at 4:00 unless its really pouring down rain, in which case they will try to reschedule them for somewhere at one of the parks during the following 3 days. They are doing about 25 minutes of dance, (several numbers with the whole group, and some smaller tap, jazz, pom and tumbling numbers).

Our driving trip won't be quite as quick. We are planning on leaving early Sat morning, but driving straight through (24 hours), alternating drivers. We are going to Daytona Beach for Sunday and Monday nights, arriving in Orlando on Tuesday (off property one night).

Wolf, thanks for the info...great idea with the fast passes. I have heard that Dinosaur reopened early from rehab, but if not, not a big deal. Playhouse is that crazy? We might skip it. My 6 year old is on the verge of being told old for some of it now, so if we can't get into that easily, we'll skip it. Last time we were there it was just Bear in the Big Blue House and we got right in. Indiana J was closed for rehab on our last visit, so we want to see that one. Fantasmic is one of our favorites :sohappy: Won't miss it!

 

[TiggerBelle]

I would not reccommend going to MK on the Monday...That is ALWAYS the busiest day esp in the Summer...So if you have space to switch that up, I would...

 

[wolf29]

Stitchlvr, We just made it into Playhouse on our trip last week.We were in the back of the room, but it was fine. Our boys(2 & $) loved it. Many in the group had waited an hour. You see Bear & the Gang, Ollie, Pooh and Stanley. We came out of Little Mermaid show, right to Playhouse and just got in. Good timing, totally unplanned, just lucky. Indy Jones show is fun. We got fastpasses, watched the Parade just outside and then right in. Using Fastpass really helps things move along. Try to knock off a couple of the big rides first thing in the morning on early entry. You can pair up Buzz & Space MT., Big Thunder & Splash or Haunted M, Peter Pan & Pooh, in Magic Kingdom. Test Track & Mission :Space in Epcot. TofT & Coaster in MGM. Safari & Kali in AK. This plan freed up a lot of time for other things for us, plus it starts the day of on a high note. Have a great time.

 

[stitchlvr]

Wolf: thanks for the Epcot early entry advice...worked wonderfully! We got FP for MS and walked onto TT with less than 10 min. We were able to get those done, plus JIIwF and HISTA, plus Ellen's Universe of Energy done all before 11, plus spending some time in the Coke place and shops etc. We got all the things done at AK that we wanted by closing at 6. Hopped to MGM and rode GMR and watched Fantasmic...all in our first day!