6 Day Itinerary Help

[kss]

Hey everyone,

My fiance and her Mom will be in WDW for 6 days/6 nights in mid-September. Last time I was in WDW was in the 80's. 2 of us are in great physical shape. Donno what hotel yet - either Disney resort or nearby Kissimmee hotel.

Here's my tentative itinerary..

Sunday - Leave South Florida at 3pm and arrive at 6-7pm. 8pm - visit Downtown Disney (its free to get in, right?) and eat dinner and walk around.

Monday - Magic Kingdom

Tuesday - Magic Kingdom morning/Epcot afternoon-evening

Wednesday - Epcot

Thursday - MGM

Friday - Blizzard Beach

Saturday - Animal Kingdom

I don't want to plan it to the point of what we'll do each hour, but I'd like to know how much time to expect to be at each park and when the best time to do each thing is (maybe it doesn't matter as we're going at a quiet time of year). And what to start with and what restaurants to avoid, if any.

Any tips are appreciated!

Thanks a lot.

 

[dave2822]

welcome to the boards :wave:

i have some input, i'm sure others will probably get more specific than me.
1. i would suggest staying at a disney resort simply because of transportation, the leisure of going to and from the parks, and the Extra Magic Hour ability. plus, disney resorts are quite cool !
2. i wouldnt change anything about your first day, downtown disney is a great day 1 idea, free of charge to walk around. (may i also suggest walking the boardwalk, which is also very nice and you can get a good view of the EPCOT fireworks too)

now, if you do stay at the disney resorts, you can utilyze EMH, and then you can plan your itinerary according to what is open early and late. you are right in doing MK and EPCOT for 1.5 days and MGM and AK for one, but feel free to hop back and forth more if you feel comfortable with it. blizzard beach is an awesome in between day to give you a rest from the parks.

make sure to see all of the nighttime events, wishes, illuminations, and fantasmic. perhaps you should adjust your schedule so that AK isnt your last day, because it closes earliest, there is no night time events, and it isnt the grand finale like an MK would be to end your vacation.

so, try doing MK first and last, fitting everything else in the middle. also, stay at a disney resort!!! grab those benefits of EMH and their transportation!

enjoy your trip :sohappy:

 

[kss]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. Where would you start off at the Magic Kingdom in the morning and roughly what pattern of where to go would you use (if it matters at all)?
Same with Epcot.. ?

When should I start looking up events/schedules and where assuming we'll be there from September 18th-September 24th?

If the parks open at 9am and I'm not staying at a Disney Resort, should we plan on arriving at the park at that time roughly?

I hope we get to stay at one of the Disney Resorts, but if not, its because we're spending a month in Florida, including a week in South Florida, Disney, a week in The Keys and topping it off with a 7 day cruise. If the only thing I don't get is having to stay at a cheaper hotel outside the park, I'll smile my way into Disney.. But I appreciate the tip.

 

[dave2822]

hey again!

for the magic kingdom, start off in tomorrowland, ride space mountain, followed by buzz lightyear definetly.
then do what time permits, tomorrowland, fantasyland
however, whenever it is 10 am, one hr after opening, that is when frontierland opens!! lol high tale it over there pick up a fastpass for splash and ride thunder (or vice versa). in the afternoon attack adventureland, liberty square, doing as much as time permits of course, and remember you will be back to ride rides again or ones that you missed.

you MUST MUST get to MK at 8 am if it opens at 9, especially not being a resort guest. i think buses will begin running for resort guests at around 7:30 am for those days, (though disney may never admit this) sometimes they will open the parks a smidge early.
for epcot, definetly go for park opening, enjoy test track and mission:space (if you can stomach it!) first, and fastpass soarin. world showcase opens two hours after park opening, so you can explore the showcase then, just walking around nice and leisurely, of course you may need to spend more time with test track or MS as well.

again, this is only my opinion. keep in mind i get fanatical about when to do what in the parks lol, but i think these are some good tips :wave:

p.s. since you havent been to wdw in a while, take some time to look over park maps to get a general feel for the layout and where you will be walking (and sometimes sprinting) to. plus, park hours, parade times, etc will be available by july i would imagine for september, though subject to change

 

[kss]

Hey,

Now it looks like I'll be staying at the Disney Resort (though that could change overnight!). If so, what does it mean? Why get there an hour before opening if its during late September when there are less crowds?

Ok, so we start at Tomorrowland and go from there, thanks!

 

[dave2822]

well, thats a good point. actually i may not be the person to ask about september crowd patterns, im only there in the peak of the summer sun .. lucky me :lol:

my reasoning would be of course to beat the crowds, because just about everyone heading to tomorrowland and space mountain first, and you get caught in the middle or end of that rush, thats not pleasant.

but, again, i have a limited perspective being caught up in crazy summer crowds. perhaps someone else who goes frequently off season is better in tune to crowd flow in september. i doubt youll have much trouble getting a lot done though, with smaller crowds.

 

[Laura]

Hello! I think your itinerary sounds fine. I would do it almost the exact same way if I didn't have kids (since I have 2 little ones we have to spread things out over several days that could otherwise be done in 1 day).

The only thing I'd change is due to a personal preference. If I'm going to the same park on 2 different days I like to spread it out instead of doing it back to back. So I'd change your schedule to...

Sunday - DTD
Monday - Magic Kingdom
Tuesday - MGM
Wednesday - Epcot
Thursday - Blizzard Beach
Friday - Mk/Epcot
Saturday - Animal Kingdom


FYI - with the crowds being so low in September you will do great, and will not need to utilize EMH. My husband and I went in September 2003 and did 5 parks in 2 1/2 days and hardly missed anything.

 

[Laura]

Oh, and I'll disagree about the Magic Kingdom. I always go left first - Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, then Tomorrowland last. I think the crowds tend to head to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland first so I go the opposite way. Plus I think Frontierland and Adventureland are better looking during the day, where Tomorrowland is better looking at night.

 

[KYfriedPanda]

I'd agree with Laura about the crowds tending to head towards tomorrowland first... however, don't forget about fastpass... if you do go to tomorrowland first, don't make frontierland your last stop... use fastpass at splash mtn, then head back out and do whatever you'd like to do next... vice versa for frontier first and space mtn fastpass... the park is big, but it certainly doesn't take too long to walk from one end to the other... well worth the fastpass trip Of course, you might not even have TOO many crowds there in september to deal with... So just remember not to rush to do everything and enjoy yourself

 

[kss]

I appreciate the tips. So if most crowds rush to Tomorrowland, its best to head somewhere else. The point on Tomorrowland looking better at night makes sense to what I remember from years ago. How much will we need fastpass in September?

What's the Boardwalk like? What other "must see" things are there besides what I have above? If we *do* finish the parks earlier than expected, what do we do on the last, say, free day besides go back to what we missed?

Say we stay at the All-Star Music or Movies Resort, are there any amenities or "bonuses" that I should look into other than the ones we spoke of? What about food - did any of you get the food package? How much do you budget a day for 3 adults with food? Is there any restaurant we should avoid?

Thanks again!

 

[kss]

Now to Epcot - where should we begin our day? (assuming its on the afternoon of the 2nd day..) And with MGM and Animal Park, I guess you just play in as it goes.. We plan on doing Blizzard Beach - if so, do we need to do the other water park? What's there to do on the Boardwalk? When is the parade at the Magic Kingdom -- I know we want to see that at least once.

 

[righttrack]

Now to Epcot - where should we begin our day? (assuming its on the afternoon of the 2nd day..) And with MGM and Animal Park, I guess you just play in as it goes.. We plan on doing Blizzard Beach - if so, do we need to do the other water park? What's there to do on the Boardwalk? When is the parade at the Magic Kingdom -- I know we want to see that at least once.

EPCOT.... Remember its huge and will tire you out the most. I would start the PM, by making a purposeful walk through Futureworld onto World Showcase. I would suggest stopping and riding some key attractions along the way on ONE SIDE ONLY, such as Spaceship Earth, Test Track, Mission:Space, OR, Spaceship Earth, Living With the Land, Soarin', Figment. So you hit that one side of FW, plus Spaceship Earth in the middle, and head onwards to World Showcase. Now tour, and shop til you drop. Be sure to get a nice dinner there as well. Feel free to use the boat transportation (Morocco to Canada is great). If you want to eat on the Boardwalk, you can extend your tour through World Showcase to the Boardwalk, but there will be quite a bit of walking! Stay for Illuminations.

My next EPCOT day would be one that is dedicated to Futureworld mostly. Purposefully riding the busy rides at park opening (EMH or not). Then experiencing the rest of FW. I would not be as headstrong about seeing World Showcase that day, but mosying over to eat a meal and visiting anything missed or revisiting.

My point is this. Epcot is big. Hard to do in one day.

 

[Disney_Belle]

I could never stay off site when i go to WDW. Ever since I have stayed at the all stars I always go back to the all stars. I dont find a point in spending excessive amounts of money to go to the parks. for some people who enjoy being at the hotel deluxes are good. but im 21 so im never ever in the hotel (except to sleep) i guess one day I will stay at another hotel, when i plan on spending time in it to enjoy it.

Another thing is I too start in adventure land. I also watch wishes/spectromagic the first night im at MK then the rest of my vacation I go back to MK at night and do the rides while everyone is lining up to watch wishes and spectro. In one night, during april vacation/easter week I did splash twice, Big thunder, Haunted Mansion, Mickey's Philharmagic, it's a small world, space mountain, tomorrowland speedway, and buzz lightyear (twice in a row). there were no waits on anything!

And as mentioned before Epcot is extremely tiring (Every Person Comes Out Tired). Usually I go into innoventions first and play around grab a fastpass for TT or M:S (or now soarin) as soon as you can! because TT especially go fast. Then I head over to World Showcase and I always start in Mexico and make my way around. Then I come back and do Future World and use my FP for whatever I got it for. Then always before I leave I go on Spaceship Earth.

Disney Studios - I avoid Sunset Blvd until the end of the day. Though sometimes I grab a FP for Rock n' roller coaster ( i try to ride as much as possible!) then I go past the great movie ride and to the left and I do start tours, Muppetvision 3 -d, and come around the back. I always stop to meet Sorcerer mickey too then I go to up near One Man's Dream into the animation area and then i go on Great movie ride. Then I do Sunset Blvd. Thats just the way that I go about Studios.

Animal Kingdom - No real set pattern but I always go towards camp minnie mickey first rather than dinoland.

these routines always seem to help me fight the long lines when.during april vacay/easter week the longest I waited for anyride was supposed to be 40 minutes but then got turned into 2 hours because TT broke. We couldnt get a fast pass because that was the day we were leaving and there werent any available times until 4 -5 pm (this was at 10am!) and we had to leave at 3 and my brother had never rode it before.

But regardless of what I do I hope you have a wonderful trip and make some great memories!!!! Enjoy your trip! :wave:

 

[ypcat]

Say we stay at the All-Star Music or Movies Resort, are there any amenities or "bonuses" that I should look into other than the ones we spoke of? What about food - did any of you get the food package? How much do you budget a day for 3 adults with food? Is there any restaurant we should avoid?

If you book your tickets and resort as a package, definately look into plus dining option. We got it for our trip next week mostly thinking it would be a convenience of paying up front and not have to worry how much we are spending on meals. Fran did some calculations the other day and we are saving ~$50 for the two of us over 4 days.

Of course your milage may vary depending on how your family wants to do things. If you usually like to just grab something on the go, you probably won't save money. But something to think about and decide if it is right for you.

 

[kss]

How much is plus dining? Do you have to order it with your Disney Resort package or can you buy it casually at the park/resort?

 

[righttrack]

For a family of four (2 adults, 1 12 year old, 1 6 year old) it added about $900 for the week. I know what you are saying, you can eat for less than $900 for the week. Trust me, you can't or you won't, and you won't eat as well. If you were only planning to eat counter service meals the cost would be $750 average.

 

[ypcat]

How much is plus dining? Do you have to order it with your Disney Resort package or can you buy it casually at the park/resort?

Unfortunately, you have to buy it with a resort/ticket package. We have it for our trip next week, but when we plan to go back next January, we will only be buying resort as we will have days left on our current tickets. Here's hoping they change the rules

 

[UKMickeyFan]

I agree with spreading your days out between the parks and doing MK at the beginning and end, but don't limit yourself to 1 park one because you might want to hop between parks especially if MK is only showing fireworks and Spectromagic on a few nights which they often do in low seasons. If your gonna stay at a disney resort I would suggest POP century over All Stars, it is the best value resort and is in a much better location.
Watch out for extra magic hours, if they are running morning ones then avoid the park that has the extra hour and head for a park without it and aim to be there for opening. EMH on a morning attracts all resorts guests and makes the other parks really quiet. We went to MK and did Dumbo, Peter Pan, Carousel, Pooh, Tea Cups and Cars in tomorrowland in the first hour! Also getting there early especially at MK and AK they have little shows occuring at opening time which are quite cute.
Try and make sure you make Priority Seatings for your meals if you are having table service and want to plan where you are going to eat, you can do it when you get there as it will be quiet but it garuntees you a table so it is a god idea.
Hope you have fun