4 Day trip plan, any thoughts?

[Grumpy56]

Now that I'm am recovering from Christmas I am starting to finalize plans for our 4 day trip at the end of January. :sohappy:
Here's what I've got so far, any thoughts about timing, which days in which parks etc, restaurants I should not miss or avoid, all will be appreciated. It's so fun to run this by all you Disney experts!
We get in late on Wed night, we''ll check into the Contemporary and sleep so we can try to be up early for Extra Magic hour at MK. Plan to spend at least half the day there, then
head over to Epcot in the afternoon. We have a PS at Spoodles at 6:30 then we are off to the Yacht and Beach Club marina to catch our Illuminations Cruise. This is a total surprise for my family, think they'll like it?
Friday I'm thinking MGM all day, try to book the fantasmic dinner package at the Brown Derby(DD's favorite)
Saturday we'll drive the rental car over to IOA. We have never done Universal in Orlando but have been to LA several times. DS(10years old) really wants to ride the coasters at IOA otherwise I wouldn't do it. Plan to be back for dinner at the CA Grill and see the fireworks from up there.
Sunday we have a PS at Cinderalla's Castle (another surprise)so we'll start our day there. If it gets too crowded or we want to do somethiing else we'll spend the remainder of the day at whichever park everyone wants to go to. My prefernce would be Epcot, maybe have dinner somewhere there, DH would like to try either Rose and Crown or Biergarten, we've never done either one. Also open to dinner thoughts outside of Disney since we have the car.
So that's the bare bones of it. Any input much appreciated.

 

[Michael72688]

Over the past few days MK has closed through out the day due to high attendance, but of course that was New Years, but they crowds may still be here. The plan sounds great, I would want to spend more time at MK cause there is so much to do there, and IOA is great, I think it's the best theme park in the world. Hope you have fun!!!

 

[ToTBellHop]

You have to go to Animal Kingdom during your stay! Other than that, I would be tempted to say you shouldn't go with the Fantasmic! package. Since you are going in January, the parks won't be busy. You could get far better seats just showing up a half hour before the show starts. As for dinner the last night, I am always partial to Medieval Times Great dinner show.

 

[jwbeck3]

2 words, ANIMAL KINGDOM; I think at least you could go to DAK in the morning of the second day and then go to MGM after lunch.

 

[Grumpy56]

Originally posted by Michael72688
Over the past few days MK has closed through out the day due to high attendance, but of course that was New Years, but they crowds may still be here. The plan sounds great, I would want to spend more time at MK cause there is so much to do there, and IOA is great, I think it's the best theme park in the world. Hope you have fun!!!

Glad to hear your thoughts on IOA, I'm sure we will have fun, thanks. As to MK, it really is our favorite so I imagine we'll spend most of the 2 two days there. We're hoping that by the end of January the crowds will have gone!

 

[Grumpy56]

Originally posted by DogsRule!
You have to go to Animal Kingdom during your stay! Other than that, I would be tempted to say you shouldn't go with the Fantasmic! package. Since you are going in January, the parks won't be busy. You could get far better seats just showing up a half hour before the show starts. As for dinner the last night, I am always partial to Medieval Times Great dinner show.

That's a good thought about the dinner package, I may just pass on that. Never done Medieval Times, that sounds intriguing, thanks.

 

[Grumpy56]

OK, I really enjoyed Animal Kingdom when we went last spring (our first time) but I'm afraid my kids don't think it has much repeat attraction. They both have said they'd rather do the other 3 parks and IOA so I'm going to go with their wishes and save DAK for our next trip. With only 4 days you can't do everything, but that's OK it means you have something to look forward to the next time. We spent a week there last spring and missed Illuminations so we'll do it this time.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Medieval Times has wenches and servants bringing out four course dinners (they keep changing the menus) which used to involve some vegables, soup, spare ribs, chicken, potato, drinks, and dessert. Great food. But the kewlest part of it is obviously the show. It starts with knights on horseback (BEAUTIFUL horses) participating in a joust (there are six knights, and the arena is divided into 6 sections; you root for your knight and your allies; you boo the others). There is also a part where they show some of the horse's skills. Then dinner ends, and it turns darker (great fog effects, etc), and it turns into all-out battle between the knights, to the death. I won't spoil the end for you, but it's a great show bringing you back to the age of chivalry for a few hours. There are some added attractions as well, if you get there early. There is a falconer, a dungeon, and some games. Great experience.

 

[Grumpy56]

Thanks Kyle for the info on Medieval Times. It sounds like something my kids would really like. Hopefully we can check it out.

 

[FourFourSeven]

I did the half-day IOA thing once, and I strongly recommend it if your kid is interested. If she wants the coasters and such, my advice is this:

1) Get there before opening (duh!)
2) After entering, bear left, and wait at the rope until rope drop.
3) Ride Hulk (first car if possible) first thing.
4) Ride Spiderman next (fantastic ride, in my opinion)
5) Hoof it (quickly, if possible) to the back of the park (which still should be pretty empty), and ride the front cars of both Dueling Dragons rides. There is a door you can pass through from the exit to the entrances again, so you don't need to do a 1/2 mile loop out and in again. Usually the door is open during the early morning, when it's still pretty empty back there.
6) For additional fun, ride Dueling Dragons with one of you in the front of one car, and one in the front of the other. You'll come screaming at each other! It's a complete blast and hilarious, but you can only really do if you get there very early, before the lines show up.

7) Now you can start backstracking and ride the wet rides:
-Jurassic Park
-Bluto's Bilgewater rafts (most fun whitewater raft ride I've EVER been on)
-The log flume ride (not nearly as good as Splash Mountain, but kind of fun)

At this point, you should have gone on most of the long-line rides with essentially no wait. But it's CRUCIAL to get there at rope drop and go on Hulk and Spiderman first. If you want to ride them again, get a Fastpass (or whatever they're called at IOA) for later - you have to get to the back of the park before the rest of the crowd gets there!

 

[Grumpy56]

447,
Thanks so much for the lowdown on IOA, this is just the kind of information I need. I figure we'll see what the weather is like and decide if we want to do the water rides. Do you think if we go first thing on a Saturday morning to IOA we'll be OK as far as crowds? I'm thinking that IOA will be a better choice on Sat than either MK or MGM. Anyway, thanks for the plan, it includes all the rides my kids want to do!

 

[FourFourSeven]

Originally posted by Grumpy56
447,
Thanks so much for the lowdown on IOA, this is just the kind of information I need. I figure we'll see what the weather is like and decide if we want to do the water rides. Do you think if we go first thing on a Saturday morning to IOA we'll be OK as far as crowds? I'm thinking that IOA will be a better choice on Sat than either MK or MGM. Anyway, thanks for the plan, it includes all the rides my kids want to do!

I don't know about Saturday crowds at IOA (I went there midweek). I would think it may have larger Saturday crowds (seeing as it appeals more to teenagers, and possibly local teenagers would go on weekends). But I don' t know for sure.

As for the rides - those are the ones we wanted to do, too! If the weather is even moderately warm, I strongly recommend the Bluto Bilgewater raft ride. I usually don't like raft rides much, but for some reason that one worked really well for me. However, you DO get soaked! The other two water rides are more expendible, in my opinion (though you don't get all that wet on Jurassic Park, despite how it looks).

Again, with the plan I posted, the absolute key is to be there at rope drop, so you can stay ahead of the crowd. I think if you get there 15 minutes later, you'll have decent waits at Hulk and Spiderman, and the whole plan falls apart. Have fun!

 

[Grumpy56]

Thanks again, we'll be there at rope drop, we all like to get to parks early and beat the crowds. As for the water rides we'll do them unless it's really cold. I can't wait!

 

[Disney4648]

I really suggest that you go to Chef Mickeys Buffet. Its located in the Contemporary and the food and atmosphere is great. Their buffet has a huge variety.

 

[CREEKWAYNE]

Chef Mickey's rule!:slurp: IOA is a great ride park. But lacks the atmosphere of WDW. Hulk,spidey,dueling dragon and JP boat are highly recommended. If you don't want to get wet on the JP ride. Wear rain gear. That should keep you mostly dry! I also like Dr. Doom. Kind of like Tower but reversed. If you like shows, I would recommend doing Poseidons Fury! Cool special effects and an awesome ending!:sohappy:

17 days and counting:sohappy: :sohappy:

 

[FourFourSeven]

Originally posted by Disney4648
I really suggest that you go to Chef Mickeys Buffet. Its located in the Contemporary and the food and atmosphere is great. Their buffet has a huge variety.

Hey, if you are going to do Chef Mickey's, here's the way I'm doing it when we go in a couple of weeks:

Grab a VERY quick bite before heading out Thursday morning (something to keep you going in the morning - granola bars or whatever). Go to MK early entry (like you're doing on Thursday). Then go to Chef Mickey's for brunch - they serve breakfast until 11:15. You can leave the park just as it's filling up, have a fun, non-stressful breakfast/lunch, and really only miss the busiest time of the day at the parks! And wave to the family of four with the two young girls if you see us there...

 

[amanda]

i think if you are planning on relaxing a little more on your 4th day, you should go to animal kingdom and watch some of their shows, come back later go to a pool and then maybe go out for dinner somewhere. If you are not planning on relaxing, I would say go to a park with more exciting things to do, like magic kingdom or MGM.

 

[Grumpy56]

Thanks to all of you who recommended Chef Mickey's, I've made a PS for early Friday morning. Should be a good start to our day!
As to our last day, so far I'm still keeping it open so we can do something spontaneous. After breakfast at the Castle, we'll see what we want to do. Who knows maybe we will end up at AK! I am trying to not be too much of a "park commando" though with my family generally likes it that I do the planning and they just get to have fun.