First Time! Right Plan?

[dmatt87]

Hi guys,

I'm leaving for WDW in exactly 3 weeks to celebrate my honeymoon - and it's our first trip there!

I have planned everything, without going overboard, and made my ADRs.

I wanted to know if my schedule makes sense for a first timer or if you have some suggestions

August 20
- Arrival at Coronado Springs Resort around 7:30pm
- Dinner at Maya Grill

August 21
- Day at MK
- Afternoon break at the hotel
- Dinner at Coral Reef
- Evening at MK with EMH

August 22
- Day at DHS
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at 50s Café
- Evening at DHS with EMH

August 23
- Day at EPCOT
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Les Chefs de France
- Evening at EPCOT with EMH

August 24
- Day at AK
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Fulton's Crab House
- Evening in DTD

August 25
- Day at Universal Studios

August 26
- Day at MK
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Tony's Town Square
- Evening at MK with EMH

August 27
- No defined plan
- Dinner at the Wave

August 28
- Plane leaves at 2:30pm

I think it's a great plan but maybe it's a little much

 

[stlbobby]

I think some of the Coral Reef comments on here are a bit harsh. It is a unique atmosphere and I've had some great food there, but Narcoossee's is way more romantic and even better food. Add in the park hopper expense and hassle of changing parks and I'd skip Coral Reef.

 

[cameronmouse]

Early Congrats on the wedding!!!! It looks like you got a great plan to go by, just remember that you may fall of your track while down there but you won't mind at all because you'll be enjoying every second of it. I stood at coronado for my honeymoon as well and I have to say that when we ate at the Maya, it was probably in the top 2 of our meals for the trip, enjoy your trip

 

[erstwo]

Early congratulations and best wishes!!

Looks to be a great trip - post a report when you're done if you can! I love honeymoon reports!

(Also, don't tell anyone, but we really liked the Coral Reef. :lookaroun)

Have so much fun! :wave:

 

[dmatt87]

Early Congrats on the wedding!!!! It looks like you got a great plan to go by, just remember that you may fall of your track while down there but you won't mind at all because you'll be enjoying every second of it. I stood at coronado for my honeymoon as well and I have to say that when we ate at the Maya, it was probably in the top 2 of our meals for the trip, enjoy your trip

We don't mind falling of track because we are there to soak up every second - the only thing we can't miss the ADRs

 

[dmatt87]

Early congratulations and best wishes!!

Looks to be a great trip - post a report when you're done if you can! I love honeymoon reports!

(Also, don't tell anyone, but we really liked the Coral Reef. :lookaroun)

Have so much fun! :wave:

Thanks for the Wishes!

I will definitely post a report - I will try to take notes during the trip... As for the pictures I will take tons, but I'm not sure about taking pictures of the food (my FW doesn't like those type of things) I just need a place to host my load of pictures.

20 days and counting :sohappy:

 

[Monty]

Have a great trip!

I like your planning. For a beginner, it's actually very astute! Not too much but covered the important aspect of Table Service dinning. :king:

I'm a big proponent of the Hopper option, but not for one meal.... I would actually also suggest mixing up your parks a bit. The parks that have evening EMH tend to have more people because of all the folks that are in resorts but don't have the hopper option. So starting your day in a non-EMH park, taking your Resort break and then going to your EMH park will give you better chances at shorter waits for rides in the mornings.

I thoroughly enjoyed Coral Reef when we ate there and certainly put it leaps and bounds above Red Lobster!

EDIT: My son Morgan and I fly in on the 27th! We'll be eating dinner at Le Cellier that evening and at DHS the day you leave.

 

[MyJuliet]

Do not believe you will do this, park hopper, simple MK on coral reefs, is a very expensive option. You can always try a restaurant resort that day, instead. In the resort's restaurant is often less crowded

 

[PhilharMagician]

Not a bad plan for a first timer. Seem like you have done some homework.

A couple of thoughts. Keep in mind that EMH draws the crowds and the parks that hold EMH are typically noticably more crowed on those days. I always stay away from on thier EMH days. If we want to go to EMH we will arrive late in the day just for EMH. Be prepared for some serious heat. Stay hydrated and cool. Planning breaks mid day can be a life saver. Th heat really takes the wind out of your sails and will exhaust you quickly. Plan stops at attractions like Hall of Presidents, American Adventure, Tough to be a Bug and other theater shows to rest and cool off.

I poersonally would not go out of my way to eat at Coral Reef. The view in the restaurant can be amazing, but the food is just ok. I would try to get an ADR at one of the restaurants in the resorts near MK.
Wilderness Lodge: Whispering Canyon, Artist Point
Contemporary: The Wave, California Grill
Polynesian: Kona Cafe', Ohana'
Grand Floridian: 1900 Park Fare, Narcossee's, Citrico's

Or even go over to Animal Kingdom Lodge after your afternoon break and check it out with dinner @ Jiko, Boma or Sannaa. You can't go wrong at any of them

 

[gnuts0306]

Good to know I'm not the only extreme planner

Thanks! We will make a great celebration out of it

Great Plan! I too have all of our days planned out with ADRs.....i dont go to the extent of planning the order of rides we go on or anything, but I definately plan out what parks on what days based on crowd levels, avoiding EMHs, and where our ADR location is.....so being spontaneous is great, but a little planning never hurt anyone lol.....Have a wonderful honeymoon!!

 

[DisneyDadof5]

My 2¢ ...

Cancel Tonys on your MK day and catch the monorail over to the Grand Floridian and try the Grand Floridian Cafe. Really good food/Desserts and only 1 TS credit. Plus you can walk along their beach and enjoy the atmosphere.

The past few times I ate at Tonys, I've felt they were overbooked and we've always felt rushed at dinner time. However, I've never felt rushed at GFC, and enjoy taking my wife to the Cafe every trip.

 

[irmonkey]

If you have park hopper then I'd mix up the park days a little. Hollywood Studios all day gets a bit boring, in my opinion.

When we went for our honeymoon we would do Epcot in the morning and Magic Kingdom in the evening, for example. We actually went to Magic Kingdom nearly every night.

 

[dmatt87]

Great tips everyone...

I'm now considering two things now:

1) Switch my Coral Reef reservation to Ohana
2) On each EMH day, do another park in the morning and go into the EMH park after dinner.

19 days out and still mixing it up...

 

[PhilharMagician]

Great tips everyone...

I'm now considering two things now:

1) Switch my Coral Reef reservation to Ohana
2) On each EMH day, do another park in the morning and go into the EMH park after dinner.

19 days out and still mixing it up...

The schedule mods look good. I think you will be happy with them.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[CaptainShortty]

Great tips everyone...

I'm now considering two things now:

1) Switch my Coral Reef reservation to Ohana
2) On each EMH day, do another park in the morning and go into the EMH park after dinner.

19 days out and still mixing it up...

If you can get Ohana I very highly recommend it. I'm a fan of Coral Reef but Ohana is one of my favorites on property!! The food is FANTASTIC!

If you can switch it around to make it all work, switching the EMH parks around like you said is probably a good idea. It'll just make the parks less likely to be as crowded. If you can't do it it's not terrible but it'll help you out.

 

[ob1thx1138]

For the Coral Reef - we are going more for the atmosphere than the food but the menu and reviews seem very good.

I didn't choose Tony for the pasta - I was more looking ahead to the meat!

I think our bad experience with Coral Reef had a lot to do with our poor seats. If you intend to keep the reservation I would suggest arriving a bit early and requesting a seat up front because when we ate there we were seated in the next to last row of tables so the aquarium was not really the center of attention.

My other suggestion since this is your first visit. I would either pick up the unofficial Guide or subscribe to the touring plans web site and use at a minimum one of their magic kingdom touring plans. We used the 2-day adult plan (we were a party of four with me, my wife and our 16 and 8 year old sons) and we were able to see every major attraction in the magic kingdom in two days and revist all of the mountains and a few other attractions once we had "seen it all" on the second day there which happened to be the 3rd of July. Getting to the parks at rope drop and following the touring plan really helped us out and you can customize them to fit your needs or desires.

 

[dmatt87]

August 20
- Arrival at Coronado Springs Resort around 7:30pm
- Dinner at Maya Grill

August 21
- Day at MK
- Afternoon break at the hotel
- Dinner at Coral Reef
- Evening at MK with EMH

August 22
- Day at DHS
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at 50s Café
- Evening at DHS with EMH

August 23
- Day at EPCOT
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Les Chefs de France
- Evening at EPCOT with EMH

August 24
- Day at AK
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Fulton's Crab House
- Evening in DTD

August 25
- Day at Universal Studios

August 26
- Day at MK
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Tony's Town Square
- Evening at MK with EMH

August 27
- No defined plan
- Dinner at the Wave

August 28
- Plane leaves at 2:30pm

I think it's a great plan but maybe it's a little much

So... since I posted this thread, I've gotten many suggestions and decided to act on some of them to maximize the trip!

I'm doing two parks a day when we can and I've change my reservation on the 26th from Tony's to Kona Cafe!

So here's the updated schedule - let me know what you think :sohappy:

August 20
- Arrival at Coronado Springs Resort around 7:30pm
- Dinner at Maya Grill

August 21
- Day at Epcot
- Dinner at Coral Reef
- Evening at MK with EMH

August 22
- Day at Epcot
- Afternoon Break at the hotel
- Dinner at 50s Café
- Evening at DHS with EMH

August 23
- Day at MK
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Les Chefs de France
- Evening at EPCOT with EMH

August 24
- Day at AK
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Fulton's Crab House
- Evening in DTD

August 25
- Day at Universal Studios

August 26
- Day at DHS
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Kona Café
- Evening at MK with EMH

August 27
- Downtown Disney
- Dinner at the Wave

August 28
- Plane leaves at 2:30pm

 

[CaptainShortty]

So... since I posted this thread, I've gotten many suggestions and decided to act on some of them to maximize the trip!

I'm doing two parks a day when we can and I've change my reservation on the 26th from Tony's to Kona Cafe!

So here's the updated schedule - let me know what you think :sohappy:

August 20
- Arrival at Coronado Springs Resort around 7:30pm
- Dinner at Maya Grill

August 21
- Day at Epcot
- Dinner at Coral Reef
- Evening at MK with EMH

August 22
- Day at Epcot
- Afternoon Break at the hotel
- Dinner at 50s Café
- Evening at DHS with EMH

August 23
- Day at MK
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Les Chefs de France
- Evening at EPCOT with EMH

August 24
- Day at AK
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Fulton's Crab House
- Evening in DTD

August 25
- Day at Universal Studios

August 26
- Day at DHS
- AB at the hotel
- Dinner at Kona Café
- Evening at MK with EMH

August 27
- Downtown Disney
- Dinner at the Wave

August 28
- Plane leaves at 2:30pm

Looks great!! You're in for a great trip! I don't know if you've planned it or if it's in your budget but if you can get tickets for La Nouba the night you're at DTD I would highly recommend it. It's an incredible show and something "extra special" for the honeymoon visit. Just a bit more magic to add in. =) Either way, it looks like you're going to have a blast. Especially since it's your first time! There isn't anything quite like it!

 

[dmatt87]

Looks great!! You're in for a great trip! I don't know if you've planned it or if it's in your budget but if you can get tickets for La Nouba the night you're at DTD I would highly recommend it. It's an incredible show and something "extra special" for the honeymoon visit. Just a bit more magic to add in. =) Either way, it looks like you're going to have a blast. Especially since it's your first time! There isn't anything quite like it!

Thanks! We will do our best to have the most magical time possible :sohappy:

And we will leave room for spontaneity - Cirque du Soleil could be fun

 

[828tnt]

Looks wonderful! Enjoy...but don't spend all your time in the hotel room...

spend "enough" time in your room...:animwink:

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Looks great!! We ate at Kona Cafe for the first time in May and all of us (there were 3 traveling) enjoyed it very much. We wanted to go back during our long weekend in November but we've decided we're going to do 'Ohana instead. We've never been there so we're gonna give it a try!