Help me Plan my First WDW trip... I think its really happening this time...three's a charm.

[PiratesMansion]

Thanks!

Its weird because a part of me thinks it’s the park I might enjoy the most and yet it seems to be the park I’m thinking about the least which I guess is primarily due to the ride count and it not having a whole lot for my daughter. If I’m buying Lightning Lane do you still think it’s important to start on the left side? I guess it ll come down to what LL return times I get? I know ideally you want to do Kilimanjaro Safaris early.

I would start on the left regardless, yes. Most all of the big demand attractions are over there, and Safaris has a lot of variability, such that it may have more repeatability than many other big attractions at WDW IMO.

Another factor in this is that I wouldn't have your kids' first WDW attraction experience be ITTBAB or Dinosaur (which is basically Indy without any of Indy's redeeming qualities anyway and the tone is not appropriately set by the queue at all) unless you're very, very confident they can handle them. Use their experience/comfort level with Indy as a proxy for Dinosaur, and if they're at all skittish about IJA, Dinosaur isn't something I'd recommend for them. Against my advice, my coworker started with *precisely* those two attractions on their first trip a few months ago (kids aged 4 and 8), and while it worked out ok in the end, they were definitely not good starter attractions for his children, and more broadly enjoy similar reputations for most in that age group.

 

[mickEblu]

I would start on the left regardless, yes. Most all of the big demand attractions are over there, and Safaris has a lot of variability, such that it may have more repeatability than many other big attractions at WDW IMO.

Another factor in this is that I wouldn't have your kids' first WDW attraction experience be ITTBAB or Dinosaur (which is basically Indy without any of Indy's redeeming qualities anyway and the tone is not appropriately set by the queue at all) unless you're very, very confident they can handle them. Use their experience/comfort level with Indy as a proxy for Dinosaur, and if they're at all skittish about IJA, Dinosaur isn't something I'd recommend for them. Against my advice, my coworker started with *precisely* those two attractions on their first trip a few months ago (kids aged 4 and 8), and while it worked out ok in the end, they were definitely not good starter attractions for his children, and more broadly enjoy similar reputations for most in that age group.

My daughter isn't tall enough for Dinosaur but she does seem to be a little thrill seeker and not afraid of that sort of content. For example she loves the Jurassic Park movies. Regardless, I appreciate you pointing that out. Unfortunately because of her height there will be a total of 9 rides at WDW that my wife and I will have to Rider Switch with our son while he gets two rides. Gets a little time consuming but oh well. At this point we just hope she hits 38 inches by late April so she can ride Slinky, Kali, and 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. She's a little over 37 inches without shoes so we should be fine by then. Might do a little test run at Smugglers Run this weekend at DL to see if she gets on.

 

[flynnibus]

unless your kids are the type that really like to explore and soak in the little things.. you'll have no concerns with leaving DAK even before closing time. You'll probably find trying to work in the two big shows in your schedule the thing that keeps you most occupied in the park... along with the time commit it takes to do the safari and rafiki's animal watch.

It's hard to 'do it all' simply due to scheduling - but most people decide to exclude things like a lot of the sit down show stuff and then find DAK rather empty for their crew. Avatar helped a good bit because of the time sink and good experience the main ride offers.

Just talk with your kids and figure out which of the show types you want to invest in and that will help you work out your day there.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

I'm just seeing this thread! When are you going?

 

[mickEblu]

unless your kids are the type that really like to explore and soak in the little things.. you'll have no concerns with leaving DAK even before closing time. You'll probably find trying to work in the two big shows in your schedule the thing that keeps you most occupied in the park... along with the time commit it takes to do the safari and rafiki's animal watch.

It's hard to 'do it all' simply due to scheduling - but most people decide to exclude things like a lot of the sit down show stuff and then find DAK rather empty for their crew. Avatar helped a good bit because of the time sink and good experience the main ride offers.

Just talk with your kids and figure out which of the show types you want to invest in and that will help you work out your day there.

That’s good to know. Thank you. We definitely want to do all the rides at AK. As far as shows, there is nothing we’re dying to see there. Would be nice to see ITTBAB one last time but I’m not expecting it to be open. Definitely want to walk all the trails and just explore the park.

 

[mickEblu]

I'm just seeing this thread! When are you going?

4/25 thru 5/3! I saw on another thread that you re going summer time? So HOP, Test Track and BTMRR will be down. Expecting ITTBAB to be down too. Hoping the ROA isn’t behind construction walls and hoping RnRc will be open. Pretty confident RnRC will be open. Less so about the ROA.

 

[flynnibus]

That’s good to know. Thank you. We definitely want to do all the rides at AK. As far as shows, there is nothing we’re dying to see there. Would be nice to see ITTBAB one last time but I’m not expecting it to be open. Definitely want to walk all the trails and just explore the park.

The shows are good - but people have their own tastes.

The Lion King show is a musical in the round.. with acrobats, etc. I'd say its usually appealing to all ages and low commitment.

The Nemo Musical is great - if your the kind that would normally sit through a show at the Hyperion, etc. But if you aren't.. this one is a big time commitment.

The Animal Conservatory thing is nice - but much more like a traditional zoo thing - and the train ride, etc means it's a significant detour vs a 'drop in for 15mins' kind of thing. But that's usually the closest to things like seeing the baby xyz, etc.

The bird shows have classically been well reviewed - but I have no personal experience with them.. we just never got aligned for them.

Since you will be excluded from some rides due to heights.. you should have no problem getting through the park. Just do the rider switch on the marquee stuff so you don't miss it due to kids (like Everest). Skip dinosaur unless you just wanna know how bad things CAN be.

 

[mickEblu]

The shows are good - but people have their own tastes.

The Lion King show is a musical in the round.. with acrobats, etc. I'd say its usually appealing to all ages and low commitment.

The Nemo Musical is great - if your the kind that would normally sit through a show at the Hyperion, etc. But if you aren't.. this one is a big time commitment.

The Animal Conservatory thing is nice - but much more like a traditional zoo thing - and the train ride, etc means it's a significant detour vs a 'drop in for 15mins' kind of thing. But that's usually the closest to things like seeing the baby xyz, etc.

The bird shows have classically been well reviewed - but I have no personal experience with them.. we just never got aligned for them.

Since you will be excluded from some rides due to heights.. you should have no problem getting through the park. Just do the rider switch on the marquee stuff so you don't miss it due to kids (like Everest). Skip dinosaur unless you just wanna know how bad things CAN be.

You know, the Lion King show I feel like is so quintessential AK that I should probably make time for it.

Not only are we going to hit all those rides but we we’ll be doing them twice lol. I don’t think there is one ride we are going (willingly) skip at AK except for maybe that Animal Conservatory train ride if we’re running out of time.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Thanks!

Its weird because a part of me thinks it’s the park I might enjoy the most and yet it seems to be the park I’m thinking about the least which I guess is primarily due to the ride count and it not having a whole lot for my daughter. If I’m buying Lightning Lane do you still think it’s important to start on the left side? I guess it ll come down to what LL return times I get? I know ideally you want to do Kilimanjaro Safaris early.

I would schedule the Avatar rides early as they can both fill up really fast, while the other rides tend to have lower waits by the end of the day. Safari is the only that doesn’t get lower then 20 mins usually besides Pandora. Make sure you take in all the sites, there are loads to explore like the Discovery island trail, the jungle treks in Asia and Africa, they have many animals hidden around like kangaroos, meerkats, otters, howler monkies etc. Try to see shows like Festival of the lion king and Nemo as well.

 

[mickEblu]

I would schedule the Avatar rides early as they can both fill up really fast, while the other rides tend to have lower waits by the end of the day. Safari is the only that doesn’t get lower then 20 mins usually besides Pandora. Make sure you take in all the sites, there are loads to explore like the Discovery island trail, the jungle treks in Asia and Africa, they have many animals hidden around like kangaroos, meerkats, otters, howler monkies etc. Try to see shows like Festival of the lion king and Nemo as well.

Thanks will do! As long as the time slots are still available that is.

For AK I’m planning on picking Kilimanjaro Safaris, Navi River Journey and Expedition Everest as my Multi use LL selections and also buying a lightning lane for FOP. From what I understand as soon as you use one lightning lane you can select another. Should I go with Dinosaur or Kali River Rapids for my 4th selection?

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Thanks will do! As long as the time slots are still available that is.

For AK I’m planning on picking Kilimanjaro Safaris, Navi River Journey and Expedition Everest as my Multi use LL selections and also buying a lightning lane for FOP. From what I understand as soon as you use one lightning lane you select another. Should I go with Dinosaur or Kali River Rapids for my 4th selection?

I’d prob choose Dino, it’s more charming and it’s leaving soon. Kali is basically just Grizzly river but shorter. Just be warned there are some loud moments of dinosaurs growling and moments of pitch blackness. Everest is a lot of fun too and goes backwards.

 

[mlayton144]

Good to know! Thank you! Switching them. Guessing that’s due to locals going to the park to drink?

Locals tend to visit Epcot on weekends esp when there is a festival (flower and garden in your case). The whole drinking thing at festivals really shouldn’t be a concern, IMO it’s way overblown since there are families in every park every day of the week , what’s on your restaurant list?

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

4/25 thru 5/3! I saw on another thread that you re going summer time? So HOP, Test Track and BTMRR will be down. Expecting ITTBAB to be down too. Hoping the ROA isn’t behind construction walls and hoping RnRc will be open. Pretty confident RnRC will be open. Less so about the ROA.

Great, I hope you enjoy! Yes, I'll be there in early-mid July, so I'm slightly more optimistic about HOP, and pie-in-the-sky hopeful for Test Track. I have a hunch you'll be ok with the ROA still being open, or at least not covered in walls yet. RnRC is anybody's guess, but I hope you get to experience it with Aerosmith once. That's the change I'm least peeved about, except for the fact that it's being done to mollify people over the loss of MV3D, which is unforgiveable.

As for Animal Kingdom, go on Dinosaur while you can! I've been pretty vocal about my feelings on the attraction here (one of my all-time favorites). I'm a high school religion teacher, and I've used the fact that Dinosaur is staying open for my upcoming trip as one of my proofs of God's existence. That should tell you how I feel about it (I didn't say I was a good religion teacher).

Everest is underrated because of the bad reputation of the Yeti...if you ignore the Yeti altogether, the roller coaster is one of the most thrilling experiences you can have at WDW (that backwards part...no spoilers, but just thinking about it puts butterflies in my stomach!).

If you're pressed for time, skip Navi River Journey. There are some pretty ardent defenders of that ride on this thread, but it's really a waste of time if you have to wait more than 15 minutes, and it's definitely not worth a Lightning Lane.

I'll be really curious to hear about how your kids enjoy the parks. I'm going with small kids (my niece and 3 nephews, 9 yrs old and below) for the first time (and probably last time until I have my own kids), so I'm not sure what to expect.

 

[mlayton144]

Great, I hope you enjoy! Yes, I'll be there in early-mid July, so I'm slightly more optimistic about HOP, and pie-in-the-sky hopeful for Test Track. I have a hunch you'll be ok with the ROA still being open, or at least not covered in walls yet. RnRC is anybody's guess, but I hope you get to experience it with Aerosmith once. That's the change I'm least peeved about, except for the fact that it's being done to mollify people over the loss of MV3D, which is unforgiveable.

As for Animal Kingdom, go on Dinosaur while you can! I've been pretty vocal about my feelings on the attraction here (one of my all-time favorites). I'm a high school religion teacher, and I've used the fact that Dinosaur is staying open for my upcoming trip as one of my proofs of God's existence. That should tell you how I feel about it (I didn't say I was a good religion teacher).

Everest is underrated because of the bad reputation of the Yeti...if you ignore the Yeti altogether, the roller coaster is one of the most thrilling experiences you can have at WDW (that backwards part...no spoilers, but just thinking about it puts butterflies in my stomach!).

If you're pressed for time, skip Navi River Journey. There are some pretty ardent defenders of that ride on this thread, but it's really a waste of time if you have to wait more than 15 minutes, and it's definitely not worth a Lightning Lane.

I'll be really curious to hear about how your kids enjoy the parks. I'm going with small kids (my niece and 3 nephews, 9 yrs old and below) for the first time (and probably last time until I have my own kids), so I'm not sure what to expect.

IMO Do not skip Navi , it’s short yes, but the vibe and theming is top notch

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

There are some pretty ardent defenders of that ride on this thread, but it's really a waste of time if you have to wait more than 15 minutes

IMO Do not skip Navi , it’s short yes, but the vibe and theming is top notch

See what I mean?

Yes, it's worth doing once if you can minimize the wait for it. My one time on the ride I waited about 15 minutes, and I'm glad I didn't have to wait longer. The original "animatronic waving her arms around" (or was that in Frozen Ever After?) and bioluminescence isn't enough to make me wait around for too long.