Help, trip planning questions

[DisneyBound]

Im booked and got all the books and decided what we MUST do when we go. I want to get PS for the things we want to do, but I have pulled my hair out trying to get a general schedule planned. This is what I have but I could use some help with it.

Tues we arrive at the Port Orleans Riverside at about 3pm. I left that night open for Downtown Disney or whatever...

Wed, I would like to plan the Pirate Cruise from 10-12 for my little ones, and then guessed at AK since Ive heard its the smallest to get through. I would like to plan a character dinner at chef mickeys since AK closes earlier than the other parks. (is this too much and too spread out to plan for one day?)

Thurs, Character breakfast at Hollywood & Vine and then the day at MGM, since we will already be there

Friday Disney

Saturday Epcot

Sunday, we leave at 10am. I thought I may be able to fill in another character B L or D on fri or saturday. What worries me is Wed...it seems too congested and alot of running by bus. Is there something that would be more practical? (we are going in mid Sept with our 15, 9 and 4 year olds)

and who knows if the PS will be available those days, ugg...should I make those and then plan around them??

 

[GenerationX]

My guess is that your Wednesday WOULD be too much running around. I would move your Chef Mickey's character meal to Friday, when you'll be at the Magic Kingdom. Chef Mickey's is at the Contemporary Resort and only a 5-10 minute walk (or a short monorail ride) from the Magic Kingdom.

As for whether or not you'll get the PS, a number of WDW websites have PS Calculators. Given the restaurant, date, and meal, the calculators return the first date in which you can make the PS. Call that day.

 

[cm1988]

Wild Wednesday

With the "Pirate Cruise" (that's a new one, to me) ending at noon... I'd assume you wouldn't be at Animal Kingdom until close to 2 pm... so it could be a really short day when you consider the early closing.

Also wouldn't rush to a character dinner, since you're planning breakfast with the gang the next morning anyway.

Have you considered a Water Park for one morning or afternoon... or just enjoy the hotel pool? Or DisneyQuest? Or mini-golf (WinterSummerland recommended).

My #1 suggestion for folks is to always remember you won't get around to everything... even if you stay a full week. Hit the must-sees at your comfortable pace... then relax and enjoy the fantasy all around you.

 

[Disneynutcase]

Sounds to me like you'll be doing a four day park hopper. If so, I agree with a bit of the advice already posted and that is try to keep yourselves in one area or at least with good access to quick transportation.

If I recall correctly, the Pirate Cruise thingy is out of one of the MK adjacent resorts. Why not instead do the afternoon at either MK or get on a monorail and do some of Epcot?

When we went to WDW during the waning days of this last year's spring break, we found Epcot to be totally easy to get thru as opposed to other parks. Aside from Test Track, there's nothing else that's drawing large amounts of people. We walked onto almost everything with very little wait, even in the afternoons. But MK, DS/MGM and AK were entirely different stories--crowds and lines.

If you want to do AK, I'd recommend getting up early to get there right when it opens. This park gets remarkably hot temperatures at mid-day compared to the other three parks--least it feels like it. They have a very nice character breakfast and also a decent one at Rainforest Cafe, so you can arrive, do a few attractions, eat, do several more attractions and probably be done with everything by mid-afternoon.

Then you can use the remaining time in the afternoon and evening to head back over to Epcot to hit anything else you missed. And you could even have a PS at your favorite Epcot restaurant waiting for you for dinner.

I would be hesitant to do all of what you have planned for your Wednesday since it will involve a lot of bus riding. Chef Mickey's actually makes a nice and easy get-away for lunch or dinner during a day at MK. I'd save it for then. But I also highly recommend Crystal Palace for lunch or dinner. We found their food selection to be superior to Chef Mickey's, found the restaurant itself to be far prettier, and the character interaction (Crystal Palace has Pooh) to be just as fun. Plus since you said you're doing Hollywood & Vine, you'll be seeing Mickey, Minnie & pals already.

You might want to consider doing Chef Mickey's on your arrival day for dinner. We did that on our arrival day and found it to be an exciting and fun way to begin our vacation. The characters really got us ready and anxious for all the fun that was to be had in the next days.

I also noted that you said "little ones." We went with four kids ages 2-8 and found that there was tons more to do at AK than there was at Disney Studios. I know it depends on the kids, but if we were able to go back to WDW tomorrow for four or more days (and we're not!), we'd make Disney Studios our shortest day or at least the one with a nice break in the middle. The thrill rides are absolutely the best and some of the shows are cool, but most of it is either too scary or too sophisticated for younger brains.

Definately try to see Fantasmic, though. I'd highly recommend using the Fantasmic Dinner Package (which you can book a week in advance from any Customer Service window once you're there). Although it won't put you front and center, you'll end up with a nice dinner and not have to grab seats 90 minutes before show time.

As far as PS rezzies go, MK places can be booked 60 days in advance, almost everywhere else can be booked 120 days in advance. Unless you want to have breakfast in the castle, every place you mentioned is relatively easy to book when you do it as far in advance as they'll let you.

Whoa! This got long! Good luck. Hope this helped.

 

[hadleybarth]

One thing that we like to do is have character lunches rather than breakfast or dinner. This gives a chance to sit down in a nice air conditioned building in the hottest part of the day and regain some lost energy--this is really helpful for little ones (like your four year old), and the grown ups. Also, the lines are at their longest in the afternoon, so we feel we are eating when the lines are long and riding in the AM while they are still short.

We actaully have a trip planned in September in which the kids will do the pirate cruise and then we are heading to AK for the afternoon. We have found that because AK is such a small park, most people arrive early and then leave when they are done to do something else. The last two trips we went on, AK had crowds and lines early but you could walk onto just about everything during the last two to three hours the park is open (very few people stay after the parade--and you can get a lot done during it if you are willing to skip it). We usually go to the last show of Tarzan Rocks wich actaully lets out after park closing. You will probably not be able to see and do everyting at AK (due mostly to show schedules) , but you could do quite a bit.

But, I don't think I would try to add on a character dinner the same day--you might be to exhuasted to manage the rest of the trip!

 

[Disneynutcase]

I concur a bit with what Hadleybarth says about late afternoon crowds at AK. However, the parade (which is getting crowds due to its reputation for being superior to most other WDW parades) runs at 4:00 keeping people in the park until 4:30 or 5:00. AK's schedule is kind of hinky, just like the other three parks now. During peak season, they keep it open until at least 6:00, sometimes as late as 7:00. But I've seen schedules where it has closed at 5:00 (which was before the Dinorama expansion, so that may not happen anymore).

However, know that any afternoon touring does limit you a bit. Fast Passes for the Safari, Kali River Rapids, and quite possibly Primeval Whirl will probably be done for the day, meaning you'll be stuck in stand-by lines. Also, the animals tend to be out during cooler morning hours and are either slugs or not in sight in the PM when it's hot--something to consider.

But if you do opt to go late and if your show options are limited (meaning you have to choose between two shows at around the same time), definately go with Lion King over all others. It's one of the best live performances that Disney has ever offered.

Also, if you are there in the PM, don't forget that the Jammin' Jungle Parade is indeed one of the best they have going in WDW. My family saw all the parades and had this one second to only Spectromagic. But again, seeing it will take up some riding/attraction time.

By the way, AK is NOT a small park by any definition. It is in fact very spread out. So don't go there thinking it's like DS/MGM with everything right next to each other.

 

[hadleybarth]

From your post, it sounds like this may be your first trip to WDW (or at least your first one in quite a while). If this is true, and you only have four days, I am curious as to why you are putting the kids on the Pirate Cruise. I have heard nothing but great things about it, and I will be putting my kids on it in September. But, this is their sixth trip to WDW and we have several more planned. I don't think I would want to do it if it would cost me a half day at the parks when I only have four days to begin with. Of course, you may have a special reason why they really want to do this, which is fine. But if were me, I'd stick with dinner at the Chef Mickey's on the night you arrive (as suggested above) and then spend a day at each park.

Also, (again as recommended above) make Fantasmic Dinner Package Reservations! We actaully sometimes make these for the day we go to AK (make sure the reservation is for at least two hours after latest time you will leave AK is). This is because (as suggested above) we are not always able to keep the little ones happy at MGM all day, and many of MGM's shows and kid friendly areas (even the playground) close for several hours before Fantasmic making it hard to wait around for Fantasmic with kids. So, we see it the night after we visit AK which gives us the flexibility to move to another park around mid afternoon when visiting MGM if we need to.

 

[Eeyore]

Originally posted by Disneynutcase

I would be hesitant to do all of what you have planned for your Wednesday since it will involve a lot of bus riding. Chef Mickey's actually makes a nice and easy get-away for lunch or dinner during a day at MK. I'd save it for then. But I also highly recommend Crystal Palace for lunch or dinner. We found their food selection to be superior to Chef Mickey's, found the restaurant itself to be far prettier, and the character interaction (Crystal Palace has Pooh) to be just as fun. Plus since you said you're doing Hollywood & Vine, you'll be seeing Mickey, Minnie & pals already.

I read a week or so ago that the crystal palace is going to be closed for refurbishment for a few months, I believe starting in July or August. If you haven't already, I would suggest checking out www.wdwig.com they have all the trip planning resources you could possibly need. My biggest piece of advice would be try to slow down and relax and enjoy the little things. I know it can be daunting with so much to see and do, but you can't see everything, so just remember you are on vacation:animwink: - have fun!!

 

[DisneyBound]

thanks for all your help! This is my first time to disney in 14 years and my kids and dh's first time ever. MGM and AK didnt even exsist when I went the last time :animwink: I decided to skip the pirate cruise, i was concerned that my youngest wouldnt go with strangers and I also didnt like that it ate up the whole morning and part of the afternoon. Ill save that for next trip. I moved the Chef Mickeys character dinner to Friday at 530, hoping that maybe we would want to go back to one of the parks for the parade or fireworks later...if not, that's ok too. Im trying not to overplan and disappoint myself. We have ultimate park hopper passes, that means we can go to any of the four parks during the 5 days as much as we want right? I appreciate all the feedback, I dont know how I would be planning anything without this board

 

[cm1988]

Ultimate Park Hopper

Originally posted by DisneyBound
thanks for all your help! This is my first time to disney in 14 years and my kids and dh's first time ever. MGM and AK didnt even exsist when I went the last time :animwink: I decided to skip the pirate cruise, i was concerned that my youngest wouldnt go with strangers and I also didnt like that it ate up the whole morning and part of the afternoon. Ill save that for next trip. I moved the Chef Mickeys character dinner to Friday at 530, hoping that maybe we would want to go back to one of the parks for the parade or fireworks later...if not, that's ok too. Im trying not to overplan and disappoint myself. We have ultimate park hopper passes, that means we can go to any of the four parks during the 5 days as much as we want right? I appreciate all the feedback, I dont know how I would be planning anything without this board

Yes. The Ultimate Park Hopper includes admission from check-in until the time of check-out to multiple parks and attractions on the same day --- the four theme parks plus Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, Pleasure Island, DisneyQuest, and the Wide World of Sports (if there's a game).

 

[Maria]

Wow... If you have that kind of park hopper, take advantage of it from check in!!
If you say you are arriving at 3pm, you can go to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon for a quick swim, then watch Illuminations at Epcot, so you are not so tired when you actually visit that park...

I agree with someone who said that AK is great for kids, so please don´t underestimate that park... It´s very entertaining, so give it the time and try to arrive early because it also gets really hot! After you are done with AK, you can go to a water park or do Fantasmic, or a character dinner.

:animwink: