Inside of 3 weeks, need critique on final itinerary

[sudokujesus]

My girlfriend and I, in our late 20s and early 30s, have not been to Disney World in about 20 years. We are going together in a few weeks. I've been planning the details of the trip to try to maximize our days and just wanted some feedback. What will work, what won't work, am I missing attractions that I need to see, does the timing work, is the order reasonable, etc. I am banking on crowds being a bit lighter than average because kids will mostly be in school but I do realize Food & Wine and Free Dining is going on so that could negate that. What do you guys think overall about crowd levels this particular week?

We will be arriving by car Saturday, September 9th. 4 park days (Sun/Mon/Tue/Wed) and then we are doing 3 days of Universal (separate thread to be created later).

We will check into our hotel (All-Star Music) and then drive to the Yacht Club for a dinner reservation at Yachtman's Steakhouse. Following dinner, we will catch the end of a few college football games nearby at ESPN Club or Martha's Vineyard.

Sunday September 11
Wake up, eat breakfast in the room, and drive to Magic Kingdom at 8am for 9am opening. Take monorail from parking lot to main entrance. (Was curious, would we be better off taking a bus from the hotel directly to the front gate? What time do they start running?)

Ride Order:
7 Dwarfs Mine Train
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Under The Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
Mickey's Philharmagic
It's A Small World
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (FastPass 10:05-11:05)
Pirates of the Carribbean
Jungle Cruise
Peter Pan's Flight (FastPass 11:10-12:10)
Country Bear Jamboree (might skip)
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room (might skip)
Lunch at Columbia Harbour House (est. time 12:45)
The Haunted Mansion (FastPass 1:40-2:40)
Liberty Square Riverboat
Swiss Family Treehouse
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress
Space Mountain (after Haunted Mansion, I will look for FastPasses around 3:30, but any time is fine)

Could finish touring around 4 I am hoping? And then could maybe ride a few things over again that we really enjoyed. Park closes at 7, so no fireworks show, and we will be eating dinner outside of the World that night.

Monday September 12
Wake up, eat breakfast at the hotel, and drive to Epcot at 8am for 9am opening.

Ride Order:
Soarin'
Test Track
Mission: SPACE (Green)
Innoventions East
Living With The Land
The Seas With Nemo & Friends (FastPass 10:35-11:35)
Lunch at Sunshine Seasons (est. time 11:20)
Spaceship Earth (FastPass 11:45-12:45)
Journey Into Imagination With Figment
Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival
Mexico, China, Germany, Italy Pavilions
Voices of Liberty
American Adventure Pavilion
American Adventure showtime (3:00pm)
Japan, Morocco, France, UK, Canada Pavilions
Reride any Future World rides we liked earlier
Frozen Ever After/Norway (FastPass 5:50-6:50)
Dinner @ Teppan Edo (7:40 reservation). If we finish dinner before the 9:00 fireworks, great, but if not, we will be back the following night to see them.

Tuesday, September 12
Wake up, eat breakfast at hotel, drive to Hollywood Studios at 8:00 for 9:00 opening.

Ride Order:
Rock 'n Roller Coaster (probably twice)
Tower of Terror
MuppetVision 3D
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (FastPass 9:50-10:50)
Toy Story Midway Mania (probably 2-3x, FastPass 10:50-11:50)
Walt Disney: One Man's Dream
I am guessing we can finish this park up by around 12:30 or 1, eat lunch at ABC Commissary and then leave the park. We want to return to Epcot later (closes at 11pm) so we can take in the fireworks, probably eat dinner in the park, and redo anything we missed. Might also have time for either an afternon nap or an afternoon dip in the hotel pool before headed to Epcot. What do you guys think would be the best use of this time? Also, we only have two FastPasses for Hollywood Studios. What would be other good rides to use it for?

Wednesday, September 13
Wake up, eat breakfast at hotel, drive to Animal Kingdom at 8:00 for 9:00 opening.

Ride Order:
Avatar: Flight of Passage
Na'vi River Journey
It's Tough To Be A Big!
Kali River Rapids
Expedition Everest (FastPass 10:00-11:00)
Finding Nemo: The Musical
DINOSAUR (FastPass 11:20-12:20)
Festival of The Lion King
Lunch at Harambe Market (est. time 12:30)
Kilimanjaro Safaris (FastPass 1:05-2:05)
Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
Maharajah Jungle Trek
Flights of Wonder
Primeval Whirl

This should finish up by 3:30-4:00, and then we are headed back to the Magic Kingdom to redo anything we missed.

We have dinner reservations that night for 7:50pm at Liberty Tree Tavern but to be honest, we would really like to move it up a little earlier to give us more breathing room to see Happily Ever After at 9:00. What would you guys do about this?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and contributions! Very excited!

 

[becca_]

A few points/tips/etc..

1. I would not personally drive to MK, especially in the morning the TTC can be a disaster - you are better off using hotel buses.
2. I'd do Test Track then Soarin', Soarin' has lessened wait times because of the 3rd theater, but TT wait times get high after about 9:30.
3. For HS, you can get a ToT FP as well, I'd do that. Toy Story, Star Tours, and Tower.
4. To be at AK to get on FoP you should get there earlier... like 7am. You will find hour long wait times for Flight of Passage even at opening, so try to push you Everest FP back a bit, unless you can't.
5. I'd just suggest to allow more breathing time for lines, you will probably not get to do everything on your lists especially if lines are long.
6. I'd cancel LTT unless you go straight from AK to MK, you'll probably be there later than 3:30 if you do everything on that list.

I hope all goes well!

 

[Cowboy Steve]

Howdy and good day to you!

This is a pretty aggressive schedule, and in a couple of parks you are criss-crossing back and forth. Not only can that wear you out, it takes time. For example - EPCOT: You are starting with Soarin', which is an excellent idea! But then cross the park to hit Test Track and Mission: Space, before returning to where you started for Living with the Land and The Seas. Is that in order to try and minimize wait times? If so, than it might not be a bad plan, as Test Track wait times are usually the longest behind Frozen Ever After and Soarin'. But it is a hike. Even going as often as I do I sometimes forget the scale of the parks - specially EPCOT. Another example is at AK - you have a FastPass time for Dinosaur around noon - why not hit Primeval Whirl at the same time? You walk right past it to get to Dinosaur... and the lines usually aren't very long for PW. It would save you from walking all the way back over to Dinoland at the end of the day. AK is another park that is deceptively big, and it can take a while to get places. Now, understand, this is advice from someone 20 years older than you lol. While the Disney Fiancé and myself are in really good shape and not overweight, we still plan our days around walking as efficiently as possible. Long days of walking on concrete and pavement will wear you down regardless of age.

MK is always the busiest park - regardless of the time of year. And you will be there on a Sunday. You are planning on being there for the rope drop, so that will help. Driving yourself to the park is almost always quicker but not as convenient. The bus terminal is right next to the front gate, so that is kinda nice! Taking the bus early in the morning might not be bad, but if you stay until close there will be a pretty healthy line to catch a bus back to your resort. One thing people always underestimate is the amount of time using the Disney transportation can take. There are lots of choke points in the MK that are always clogged with strollers (seems like everyone has a stroller the size of a small car these days), so it will take you longer to get around the park than you think. So it is doubly important to plan your day accordingly - hit everything in one area before moving on to the next.

Table service meals (with reservations) for us have always taken about 90 minutes. We don't hork down our food like we haven't eaten in a week, but we don't take our time either. Every minute we are sitting at the table is a minute we aren't enjoying the park. It jus takes that long. Buffet style meals are about 30 mins faster. So I would move up your time at the Liberty Tree Tavern if you can. But remember, that is your second park that day, and you need to allow a good hour to get between parks if you are using Disney transportation... I would suggest using Uber or Lyft to save time.

 

[nickys]

My girlfriend and I, in our late 20s and early 30s, have not been to Disney World in about 20 years. We are going together in a few weeks. I've been planning the details of the trip to try to maximize our days and just wanted some feedback. What will work, what won't work, am I missing attractions that I need to see, does the timing work, is the order reasonable, etc. I am banking on crowds being a bit lighter than average because kids will mostly be in school but I do realize Food & Wine and Free Dining is going on so that could negate that. What do you guys think overall about crowd levels this particular week?

We will be arriving by car Saturday, September 9th. 4 park days (Sun/Mon/Tue/Wed) and then we are doing 3 days of Universal (separate thread to be created later).

We will check into our hotel (All-Star Music) and then drive to the Yacht Club for a dinner reservation at Yachtman's Steakhouse. Following dinner, we will catch the end of a few college football games nearby at ESPN Club or Martha's Vineyard.

Sunday September 11
Wake up, eat breakfast in the room, and drive to Magic Kingdom at 8am for 9am opening. Take monorail from parking lot to main entrance. (Was curious, would we be better off taking a bus from the hotel directly to the front gate? What time do they start running?)

Ride Order:
7 Dwarfs Mine Train
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Under The Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
Mickey's Philharmagic
It's A Small World
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (FastPass 10:05-11:05)
Pirates of the Carribbean
Jungle Cruise
Peter Pan's Flight (FastPass 11:10-12:10)
Country Bear Jamboree (might skip)
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room (might skip)
Lunch at Columbia Harbour House (est. time 12:45)
The Haunted Mansion (FastPass 1:40-2:40)
Liberty Square Riverboat
Swiss Family Treehouse
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress
Space Mountain (after Haunted Mansion, I will look for FastPasses around 3:30, but any time is fine)

Could finish touring around 4 I am hoping? And then could maybe ride a few things over again that we really enjoyed. Park closes at 7, so no fireworks show, and we will be eating dinner outside of the World that night.

Monday September 12
Wake up, eat breakfast at the hotel, and drive to Epcot at 8am for 9am opening.

Ride Order:
Soarin'
Test Track
Mission: SPACE (Green)
Innoventions East
Living With The Land
The Seas With Nemo & Friends (FastPass 10:35-11:35)
Lunch at Sunshine Seasons (est. time 11:20)
Spaceship Earth (FastPass 11:45-12:45)
Journey Into Imagination With Figment
Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival
Mexico, China, Germany, Italy Pavilions
Voices of Liberty
American Adventure Pavilion
American Adventure showtime (3:00pm)
Japan, Morocco, France, UK, Canada Pavilions
Reride any Future World rides we liked earlier
Frozen Ever After/Norway (FastPass 5:50-6:50)
Dinner @ Teppan Edo (7:40 reservation). If we finish dinner before the 9:00 fireworks, great, but if not, we will be back the following night to see them.

Tuesday, September 12
Wake up, eat breakfast at hotel, drive to Hollywood Studios at 8:00 for 9:00 opening.

Ride Order:
Rock 'n Roller Coaster (probably twice)
Tower of Terror
MuppetVision 3D
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (FastPass 9:50-10:50)
Toy Story Midway Mania (probably 2-3x, FastPass 10:50-11:50)
Walt Disney: One Man's Dream
I am guessing we can finish this park up by around 12:30 or 1, eat lunch at ABC Commissary and then leave the park. We want to return to Epcot later (closes at 11pm) so we can take in the fireworks, probably eat dinner in the park, and redo anything we missed. Might also have time for either an afternon nap or an afternoon dip in the hotel pool before headed to Epcot. What do you guys think would be the best use of this time? Also, we only have two FastPasses for Hollywood Studios. What would be other good rides to use it for?

Wednesday, September 13
Wake up, eat breakfast at hotel, drive to Animal Kingdom at 8:00 for 9:00 opening.

Ride Order:
Avatar: Flight of Passage
Na'vi River Journey
It's Tough To Be A Big!
Kali River Rapids
Expedition Everest (FastPass 10:00-11:00)
Finding Nemo: The Musical
DINOSAUR (FastPass 11:20-12:20)
Festival of The Lion King
Lunch at Harambe Market (est. time 12:30)
Kilimanjaro Safaris (FastPass 1:05-2:05)
Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
Maharajah Jungle Trek
Flights of Wonder
Primeval Whirl

This should finish up by 3:30-4:00, and then we are headed back to the Magic Kingdom to redo anything we missed.

We have dinner reservations that night for 7:50pm at Liberty Tree Tavern but to be honest, we would really like to move it up a little earlier to give us more breathing room to see Happily Ever After at 9:00. What would you guys do about this?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and contributions! Very excited!

For Epcot: you are heading from Spaceship Earth over to Figment and Pixar(anti-clockwise), then back (clockwise) to Mexico for WS. Heading right around WS and then continue to Norway for FEA. You'll have looped one and a half times around by the time you ride FEA.

Why not just continue from Figment and Pixar up thru Canada, UK etc to the America Pavillion, then on around to FEA and finish off at Mexico? Just once around WS and you're back in FW to re-ride anything you want as per plan.

It might not seem like much. But you have 11 countries in about 4 hours, that's 20 minutes each. Not very long. Enough to walk through, have a wee look, pop into a couple of places but not really enough time to explore or do the film shows etc. Mexico (inside), China, Japan, Morocco, France, UK and Canada all have hidden areas to look at. Adding in that doubling back and that extra walk round to FEA just means even less time in each country.

 

[Dads 2 Boys]

My girlfriend and I, in our late 20s and early 30s, have not been to Disney World in about 20 years. We are going together in a few weeks. I've been planning the details of the trip to try to maximize our days and just wanted some feedback. What will work, what won't work, am I missing attractions that I need to see, does the timing work, is the order reasonable, etc. I am banking on crowds being a bit lighter than average because kids will mostly be in school but I do realize Food & Wine and Free Dining is going on so that could negate that. What do you guys think overall about crowd levels this particular week?

We will be arriving by car Saturday, September 9th. 4 park days (Sun/Mon/Tue/Wed) and then we are doing 3 days of Universal (separate thread to be created later).

We will check into our hotel (All-Star Music) and then drive to the Yacht Club for a dinner reservation at Yachtman's Steakhouse. Following dinner, we will catch the end of a few college football games nearby at ESPN Club or Martha's Vineyard.

Sunday September 11
Wake up, eat breakfast in the room, and drive to Magic Kingdom at 8am for 9am opening. Take monorail from parking lot to main entrance. (Was curious, would we be better off taking a bus from the hotel directly to the front gate? What time do they start running?)

Ride Order:
7 Dwarfs Mine Train
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Under The Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
Mickey's Philharmagic
It's A Small World
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (FastPass 10:05-11:05)
Pirates of the Carribbean
Jungle Cruise
Peter Pan's Flight (FastPass 11:10-12:10)
Country Bear Jamboree (might skip)
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room (might skip)
Lunch at Columbia Harbour House (est. time 12:45)
The Haunted Mansion (FastPass 1:40-2:40)
Liberty Square Riverboat
Swiss Family Treehouse
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress
Space Mountain (after Haunted Mansion, I will look for FastPasses around 3:30, but any time is fine)

Could finish touring around 4 I am hoping? And then could maybe ride a few things over again that we really enjoyed. Park closes at 7, so no fireworks show, and we will be eating dinner outside of the World that night.

Monday September 12
Wake up, eat breakfast at the hotel, and drive to Epcot at 8am for 9am opening.

Ride Order:
Soarin'
Test Track
Mission: SPACE (Green)
Innoventions East
Living With The Land
The Seas With Nemo & Friends (FastPass 10:35-11:35)
Lunch at Sunshine Seasons (est. time 11:20)
Spaceship Earth (FastPass 11:45-12:45)
Journey Into Imagination With Figment
Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival
Mexico, China, Germany, Italy Pavilions
Voices of Liberty
American Adventure Pavilion
American Adventure showtime (3:00pm)
Japan, Morocco, France, UK, Canada Pavilions
Reride any Future World rides we liked earlier
Frozen Ever After/Norway (FastPass 5:50-6:50)
Dinner @ Teppan Edo (7:40 reservation). If we finish dinner before the 9:00 fireworks, great, but if not, we will be back the following night to see them.

Tuesday, September 12
Wake up, eat breakfast at hotel, drive to Hollywood Studios at 8:00 for 9:00 opening.

Ride Order:
Rock 'n Roller Coaster (probably twice)
Tower of Terror
MuppetVision 3D
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (FastPass 9:50-10:50)
Toy Story Midway Mania (probably 2-3x, FastPass 10:50-11:50)
Walt Disney: One Man's Dream
I am guessing we can finish this park up by around 12:30 or 1, eat lunch at ABC Commissary and then leave the park. We want to return to Epcot later (closes at 11pm) so we can take in the fireworks, probably eat dinner in the park, and redo anything we missed. Might also have time for either an afternon nap or an afternoon dip in the hotel pool before headed to Epcot. What do you guys think would be the best use of this time? Also, we only have two FastPasses for Hollywood Studios. What would be other good rides to use it for?

Wednesday, September 13
Wake up, eat breakfast at hotel, drive to Animal Kingdom at 8:00 for 9:00 opening.

Ride Order:
Avatar: Flight of Passage
Na'vi River Journey
It's Tough To Be A Big!
Kali Rapids
Expedition Everest (FastPass 10:00-11:00)
Finding Nemo: The Musical
DINOSAUR (FastPass 11:20-12:20)
Festival of The Lion King
Lunch at Harambe Market (est. time 12:30)
Kilimanjaro Safaris (FastPass 1:05-2:05)
Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail
Maharajah Jungle Trek
Flights of Wonder
Primeval Whirl

This should finish up by 3:30-4:00, and then we are headed back to the Magic Kingdom to redo anything we missed.

We have dinner reservations that night for 7:50pm at Liberty Tree Tavern but to be honest, we would really like to move it up a little earlier to give us more breathing room to see Happily Ever After at 9:00. What would you guys do about this?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and contributions! Very excited!

As others have said, the plan for MK on 9/11 in all due respect is completely not possible and unrealistic. The zig-zagging you are going to do is going to eat up the majority of the time.

I think your plans for the parks are far too unrealistic in my opinion.... I'm not sure you are taking into account walking to the attractions, shopping, wait times, bathroom breaks, etc...

I wish you the best in your endeavors though and I'd love to offer you any assistance to help streamline your time.

 

[sudokujesus]

The timing of the plans I am using are coming from touringplans.com. I have it marked that I'm a fast walker, which I am... but I will maybe try and work on rearranging a few attractions to minimize walking a bit.

Thanks folks.

 

[12in12]

How exciting that you are going back to WDW. I really hope you will have a nice time but after reading your plans I am not sure you have realistic expectations. If you want to be at a park first thing in the morning and go on rides quickly you need to be there at least 45 min.before it opens. I agree with what most people have posted that your schedule seems unrealistic and you will not have any time to actually enjoy anything if you try and stick with it. Your AK morning is completely impossible as FoP alone will take you at least an hour if you are very lucky, but arriving just when the park opens means by the time you reach FoP the line will probably be 90min plus. Even without a wait, the ride with the pre shows takes 20 min.
If you do decide to drive to the parks you have to factor in parking time etc. At MK it can take 45 to get from the parking area to the MK. Then you have to go thru bag check etc. I would look again at your schedule and pick maybe 3 or 4 must do things in each park and consider anything else a bonus. Having some time to relax and not speed walk through the parks will mean you will enjoy it more.

 

[nickys]

The timing of the plans I am using are coming from touringplans.com. I have it marked that I'm a fast walker, which I am... but I will maybe try and work on rearranging a few attractions to minimize walking a bit.

Thanks folks.

Couple of things to think about. The TP wait times for Pandora are not a good guide, simply because they do not have the historical data to be able to be accurate.

And even with the TP wait times, which would normally be reasonable you do need to be careful. Not sure what wait time you have for 7dmt. If you are at the front of the rd crowd you could be on and off the ride by 9:10 ready for a 10 minute wait at Pooh. Likely that's what TP has said. If on the other hand you are in the mele heading for the ride you may not be on it until 9:30, by which time Pooh could be sitting at a 45 minutes wait, likely at least 30. So suddenly one false assumption sets you back a whole lot of time.

By setting walking pace to fast, you are ignoring the fact that there is much more to "admire" at WDW than rides. That pace is fine for park commandos who go at least once a year. I fear that pace will mean you miss so much of the fun and atmosphere of being there. And there's no contingency built in.

 

[Po'Rich]

Here are just some random thoughts while reading through your plan:

• As many have said, I think you need to build in extra time for traveling between attractions.
• An hour to get to the park might be doable, but it is not completely realistic. I believe Disney recommends planning 90 minutes (which has been my experience as well).
• Just looking at what you have planned for your first hour (or two) at MK, you don't take into account any sorts of delays. Yet, if you take this plan as your ideal, just be willing to be flexible while at MK. For example, again looking at your plan before your first FP at MK, you may be able to do some of those attractions, but then plan to come back to hit the others later in the day.
• I don't see Splash Mountain on the MK list? Am I missing it? IMHO, this is a must-do ride
• EPCOT: plan more time to really see the World Showcase. There is A LOT of street entertainment. Yet, your plan has you seeing 4 pavilions in 2-3 hours. This can be done if you rush past most of them, but if you take the time to explore a bit, it might take more time. Try to catch some of the street entertainment
• DAK: If you can get a FP for FOP, do so. Otherwise, plan to wait over an hour for this ride alone (yes, even at park-open).
• I have waited over half-an-hour just to order food at a quick service.
• You are criss-crossing the park again. You are going from Dinosaur (on one side of the park) to Festival of the Lion King on the other.
• Typically, I tend to use a map when I plan my visits and either go clock-wise or counter-clockwise around the park. We still put in 18,000+ steps per day

I hope this helps. I have to admit that I've never been in September, and the times I can go are fairly crowded.

 

[nickys]

Here are just some random thoughts while reading through your plan:

• As many have said, I think you need to build in extra time for traveling between attractions.
• An hour to get to the park might be doable, but it is not completely realistic. I believe Disney recommends planning 90 minutes (which has been my experience as well).
• Just looking at what you have planned for your first hour (or two) at MK, you don't take into account any sorts of delays. Yet, if you take this plan as your ideal, just be willing to be flexible while at MK. For example, again looking at your plan before your first FP at MK, you may be able to do some of those attractions, but then plan to come back to hit the others later in the day.
• I don't see Splash Mountain on the MK list? Am I missing it? IMHO, this is a must-do ride
• EPCOT: plan more time to really see the World Showcase. There is A LOT of street entertainment. Yet, your plan has you seeing 4 pavilions in 2-3 hours. This can be done if you rush past most of them, but if you take the time to explore a bit, it might take more time. Try to catch some of the street entertainment
• DAK: If you can get a FP for FOP, do so. Otherwise, plan to wait over an hour for this ride alone (yes, even at park-open).
• I have waited over half-an-hour just to order food at a quick service.
• You are criss-crossing the park again. You are going from Dinosaur (on one side of the park) to Festival of the Lion King on the other.
• Typically, I tend to use a map when I plan my visits and either go clock-wise or counter-clockwise around the park. We still put in 18,000+ steps per day

I hope this helps. I have to admit that I've never been in September, and the times I can go are fairly crowded.

Splash is down for refurb at the end of this month I believe, until November.

 

[Po'Rich]

Splash is down for refurb at the end of this month I believe, until November.

Sorry. I didn't check the refurb schedule before replying.

 

[DisneyDaver]

As my wife reminds me, part of enjoying a WDW is not having every little detail planned out. Sure, you need ADRs, Fastpasses and a general idea, but I'm concerned you have so much detail and scheduling that you will lose out on some of the fun. And as others have pointed out, lines and travel time can often take longer than you expect so your schedule may be very hard to keep.