Need help planning our first Disney World Trip.

[Mark Wilson]

Hello, Myself and my girlfriend will be doing our first Disneyworld trip in October. She went when she was about 15 or so, I've never been. We are both 29. We went to California 2 years ago and went to Disneyland for 3 days and had a blast.

This trip we will be arriving at MCO at around 4:30 PM Orlando time on October 24th. We are staying at the POP century resort from Oct 24th Till Oct 30th (We will leave late that evening, so it can be an entire day) We have the quick service dining plan (So we're looking at quick service and snack recommendations for all the parks) We also got the park hopper and the water park option (Hopefully it'll be warm enough for the water parks!)

The first evening we plan to go to Epcot as it is open lastest that evening. (9:00 PM) Not really sure what time we will be able to get there once we land, get on the magic express, get to the hotel, and bus, but hopefully still with a couple hours to get on a couple rides and maybe watch Illuminations.

Typhoon Lagoon closes Sunday Oct 27th till Dec 21st, so we plan to do Typhoon Lagoon either Friday or Saturday. As it's only open till 5:00 we plan to use our park hopper and go to another park once it's closed.

We've tried to come up with a plan for which parks we should visit which days but it gets pretty confusing. Any pros able to lend a hand? Able to make some suggestions on which places to eat?

Thanks!

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

Hello, Myself and my girlfriend will be doing our first Disneyworld trip in October. She went when she was about 15 or so, I've never been. We are both 29. We went to California 2 years ago and went to Disneyland for 3 days and had a blast.

This trip we will be arriving at MCO at around 4:30 PM Orlando time on October 24th. We are staying at the POP century resort from Oct 24th Till Oct 30th (We will leave late that evening, so it can be an entire day) We have the quick service dining plan (So we're looking at quick service and snack recommendations for all the parks) We also got the park hopper and the water park option (Hopefully it'll be warm enough for the water parks!)

The first evening we plan to go to Epcot as it is open lastest that evening. (9:00 PM) Not really sure what time we will be able to get there once we land, get on the magic express, get to the hotel, and bus, but hopefully still with a couple hours to get on a couple rides and maybe watch Illuminations.

Typhoon Lagoon closes Sunday Oct 27th till Dec 21st, so we plan to do Typhoon Lagoon either Friday or Saturday. As it's only open till 5:00 we plan to use our park hopper and go to another park once it's closed.

We've tried to come up with a plan for which parks we should visit which days but it gets pretty confusing. Any pros able to lend a hand? Able to make some suggestions on which places to eat?

Thanks!

You are going to get different opinions, very different, so just pick the plan that fits your personality.
I have to check the park hours calendar for those dates before I give any suggestions.

 

[Weather_Lady]

With 6 full days, this would be my suggestion as to how to allocate your time. (I'd also suggest: arrive every day at park opening, tour for 3-4 hours, head back to your resort for 2-4 hours after lunch to relax, take a nap and/or swim, and then head back to the parks and tour for another few hours, getting to bed early enough that you can be at another park for rope drop the next day. There are other ways to do it, but if you want to maximize the number of attractions you can experience, rope drop is the best way):

Magic Kingdom - 1 1/2 to 2 full days
Epcot - 1 to 1 1/2 days
Animal Kingdom - 1/2 day or skip it altogether
Hollywood Studios - 1/2 to 1 day
Water park - 1/2 to 1 day

For attraction reviews and suggested touring plans, check this site out:
(EDIT: for some reason this site is blocking the link: to get there, go to easy wdw dot com and click on the link for "cheat sheets")

Better yet, buy a copy of the "Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" and read the reviews for the restaurants and attractions, since what you see and where you eat are a highly customized thing to choose. MAKE DINING RESERVATIONS ASAP, as many of the more popular places are already going to be booked up this close to your travel dates, so you want to choose from the best of what is left. (Don't worry - there will still be many great options available now.) Also, visit the official Disney World website and order your free set of Disney World park maps, so you can familiarize yourself with the layout of each park.

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

Are you doing MNSSHP? They will be closing MK at 7 for three of your nights, so make sure and plan around that.
For the water parks, I would start at an early extra hours park and then when it warms up a little, head to the water park. You could do HS on Friday mornings early hours and then head over to one of the water parks for the afternoon, and then head to any other park that is open in the evenings.
Most of the QS except ABC Commissary are fairly good. Look at the menus on allears and see what they have you will enjoy and the prices.

 

[zeebs758]

I recently planned for my upcoming trip with my girlfriend and here are some things I did:

1. I looked at was the Extra Magic Hours and how can I fit them into our schedule.
2. Made an itinerary for which days to visit the parks
3. Booked advanced dining reservations
4. I am staying 6 nights, 7 days and visiting all four parks in 4 days. Leaves us 3 days to do whatever we want

We have a similar schedule to you and your girlfriend so check out my Pre-Trip Report and see if it is any help.

 

[Mark Wilson]

I guess we will be doing MNSSHP. I haven't bought tickets yet, but from everything on this forum it sounds fun. Don't think I need to make advance dining reservations for quick service places. Thanks ratherbeinwdw for the tip of going to a park for early magic hours then heading to a water park when it warms up. I think we will do that. Just worried about how long it takes to get from park to park. (Anyone have any info on average times to get from park A to park B?)

 

[Disnee4Me]

for distances from park to park (or to a resort), go here: http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx

 

[zeebs758]

for distances from park to park (or to a resort), go here: http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx

thats awesome, great link!

 

[JillC LI]

In large part, the answer to this question depends on your touring style. If you want to maximize your time in the parks like we do, then my suggestions are: (1) check park opening and closing times including Extra Magic Hours, and take advantage of those when deciding which parks to visit on which days. Early Extra Magic Hours require discipline to get up that early, but the parks are nearly empty during those early hours and you can get in an immense number of popular attractions before the crowds hit; (2) buy your tickets now for MNSSHP because it can occasionally sell out; (3) if you want to see a show like Fantasmic at DHS, check the nights that it is showing so you can make sure to be in that park on the right day; (4) buy the "Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" so you know what you really want to see and do; (5) make wise use of FastPasses; (6) check online menus at the Quick Service places you are considering. Some QS places we like are:

MK - Cosmic Rays (you can see the Sonny Eclipse show while you eat);Pecos Bill
EPCOT - Sunshine Seasons; Yorkshire County Fish Shop; Tangierine Cafe
DHS - Bill & Min's Dockside Diner
AK - Flametree

Pop Century is a great resort. Have a wonderful time!

 

[Mainahman]

We always looked at the Extra Magic hours and worked around that. IF say Animal Kingdom opened early, i got up and went to ride Everest, then came back and the girls were up and ready to hit Magic Kingdom or Epcot. Fast Passes for sure!! one time we were able to get to Magic Kingdom to get fast passes for Buzz, then walk right on for one ride, then come back for another later on. We stayed at pop and got lucky with our room. I had requested the 50s or 60s wing, and ended up on the back side looking out at what is now the Art Of Animation. It was a super quiet room away from all the pool noise. Take time to enjoy the resort too if you can. We went in August so it was a bit different, but we would come back every day at high noon to cool off in the pool and gather our plans for what park we were heading to at night. oh and of course HAVE A BLAST!!!

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I believe when going from Waterparks to the Main Parks, that doesn't qualify as park hopping. You would be then using 1 WP day and 1 Park day sperately.

Well to answer you question about Quick Service suggestions.
Downtown Disney - Cookes Of Dublin, Wolfgang Puck Express, and I like Bodie's All American for my salad fix!
Magic Kingdom - Columbia Harbour House or Be Our Guest (quick service for lunch only)!
Animal Kingdom - Flame Tree BBQ! Hands Down!
Hollywood Studios - Backlot Express
Epcot - I don't think I've ever tried Quick Service restaurants here lol. The Table Service options are hard to resist. We typically save most of our snacks credits and use them to snack around world showcase

Remember to take of advantage of your snack credits! We loved getting our Starbucks fix for free! And since the Food and Wine Festival will be happening while your there, you could sample food from around the World using your snack credits!

BTW Pop is close to the new resort Art of Animation, both Pop and AOA have really good food courts!

 

[Disnee4Me]

thats awesome, great link!

We are all here to help each other. My goal next year is to spend and "off" day visiting all the resorts to check out their Christmas decorations and I'm using this to figure out the shortest timeframe from resort to resort.

 

[UberPlannerMom]

Are you foodies? I am going to hope the answer is no since you are hitting counter service places. With that in mind I am going to basically lay out what my husband always votes for in the parks.
Counter Service
Magic Kingdom- Cosmic Rays in tomorrowland, Columbia Harbour House in Liberty Square, Pecos Bill in Frontierland. He used to go for Pinocchio's Village Haus in Fantasyland but it has changed to flatbread stuff so I don't know how that will go over with him. He is definitely excited to try lunch at Be Our Guest.
EPCOT- Sunshine Seasons went over well, Sommerfest was good but he hasn't asked to go back, and his pick this year is the Yorkshire County Fish Shop
Hollywood Studios- Pizza Planet! It gets a bad rap around here because it is just standard park pizza but I have to say that it is just fun to try to fool yourself into believing you are in a bit of the movie. They didn't nail it in replicating the movie but it's close enough for us.
Animal Kingdom- so, we always end up stuck at pizzafari and always say we aren't going back. It's not bad but the surroundings are just too crowded for us. This year we are going to try to make it to flame tree before just have to eat! Haha!

Snacks
Magic Kingdom- If you like pineapple then head to Aloha Isle in adventureland for a dole whip or dole whip float. I am definitely going to head us toward Gaston's in new fantasyland for the shank and to Sleepy Hollow for a Nutella Waffle and other baked goodies. We almost always end up with a pretzel in tomorrowland,
EPCOT- Ahhh snacking around the world. Some people drink around the world but snacking around the world sounds more appealing to me. ESPECIALLY in france! Hit up the little boulangerie patisserie in france and have at it!
Hollywood Studios- Have you looked up the cupcakes at Starring Roles? If so I need say no more!
Animal Kingdom- Quite frankly we always end up so hot here that all our snacks go to random kiosks for mickey ice creams!

Now that I have gone through all the food things let me be the downer of the thread. We HATE the bus service. Sometimes things are great and then other times you are stuck waiting an hour for a bus to show up to go back to the hotel and then an hour to get one back to the park. I just want you to know that just because it says it takes 11 minutes from point a to point b you have to know that sometimes you'll be closer to an hour and eleven minutes instead. Rumor has it that that issue is more prevalent at value resorts but I have no idea if that is true. Any way you cut it I think you are better off not getting your heart set on doing Hollywood Studios for 2 hours and then a water park for 3 hours and then a nap for 2 hours and then EPCOT for 5 hours. With all those trips you may end up cutting one or two things out when the day comes. You also may not. It all depends on the day. Go with the knowledge that the fun is being there. If you focus on what you get to do instead of what you might miss you will enjoy yourself immensely more.

Best of luck and happy vacationing!

 

[dancingelkhound]

I used Touringplans.com to look at the predicted crowd levels for my dates, and used those as a guide for which days I would spend at which parks.
I also used it to make a note of the days of any fireworks (Illuminations, Fantasmic, Wishes etc), so that I could be sure I wouldn't miss any of them.
Using those two as a guide, my schedule basically worked itself out.

 

[Brandon Bowman]

Hello, Myself and my girlfriend will be doing our first Disneyworld trip in October. She went when she was about 15 or so, I've never been. We are both 29. We went to California 2 years ago and went to Disneyland for 3 days and had a blast.

This trip we will be arriving at MCO at around 4:30 PM Orlando time on October 24th. We are staying at the POP century resort from Oct 24th Till Oct 30th (We will leave late that evening, so it can be an entire day) We have the quick service dining plan (So we're looking at quick service and snack recommendations for all the parks) We also got the park hopper and the water park option (Hopefully it'll be warm enough for the water parks!)

The first evening we plan to go to Epcot as it is open lastest that evening. (9:00 PM) Not really sure what time we will be able to get there once we land, get on the magic express, get to the hotel, and bus, but hopefully still with a couple hours to get on a couple rides and maybe watch Illuminations.

Typhoon Lagoon closes Sunday Oct 27th till Dec 21st, so we plan to do Typhoon Lagoon either Friday or Saturday. As it's only open till 5:00 we plan to use our park hopper and go to another park once it's closed.

We've tried to come up with a plan for which parks we should visit which days but it gets pretty confusing. Any pros able to lend a hand? Able to make some suggestions on which places to eat?

Thanks!

Whew ok here we go wall of text...
So my suggestions of certain days have to do with crowd calenders in hopes of saving you time in line! (This was the most crowd efficient but if you would rather move things I can change it around for you)

Oct 24th-Arrive, Tour Downtown Disney, Disney Quest
Oct 25th-MK (Not so Scary Party?)
Oct 26th-Typhoon Lagoon/Epcot
Oct 27th-AK/HS (Fantasmic?)
Oct 28th-Epcot
Oct 29th-MK
Oct 30th-HS

I suggest taking two days to enjoy all of MK and a day and a half for Epcot. HS and AK can eaisly be toured within a day. Don't over do things on your arrival day relax go shopping and that night I would instead (If you booked a MYW package) use the free 2 disneyquest passes. On the 26th Go to Typhoon Lagoon and enjoy the day there, and catch late night Epcot so you can view illuminations and maybe squeeze in Test Track or Soarin. The 27th you can easily get through AK before closing and take that night to check out Downtown Disney some more, relax poolside, see circus de soleil, or eat dinner outside the park. You COULD even park hope to HS to see Fantasmic since you will not have time on the 30th (As long as it's showing then) On the 28th come back to Epcot ready to ride (Or revisit) the big attractions and you don't have to press yourself to get out again after illuminations on that day.

NOW

Foodwise for each park (And outside) for quick service dining (All menus can be viewed on Disney park site):
POP Century: Has a AWESOME food court (Not sure if you can use QD credits) but a great way to start the day if you want a early Breakfast
Downtown Disney: Earl of Sandwich is inexpensive and delicious. Rainforest Cafe has horrible food and horrible service. Please do not eat there.
Magic Kingdom: Be our guest, Columbia Harbor House, Cosmic Ray's
Epcot: Biergarten, Sunshine Seasons (Probably the Best), Yorkshire County Fish Shop, Tangerine Cafe, Boulangerie Patisserie (Great sandwiches but unsure if they are on dining plan)
HS: Pizza Planet, Abc commissary
Ak: Flame Tree BBQ

Ok think i covered all the bases....
If you have any more questions feel free to ask, I LOVE making disney plans for others


http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...gEGryfuOYiNjWfl0jmwhLWw&bvm=bv.52288139,d.eWU

 

[Mark Wilson]

Thanks for all the replies! I haven't had time to browse through them all yet.

We ARE foodies, however, we also aren't millionaires, we went with a value resort, which unfortunately only gets us the quick service dining plan. (Got in on the free dining plan) Going with a moderate resort would have been another few hundred dollars--granted that would have gotten us the standard dining plan. We do not plan on spending any time at the resort (other then sleeping)

Good friends of ours went last year and got the standard free dining pass. They both said it was wayyy to much food (They each had 2 sit down meals, and 3 quick service meals on their last day) They also said it takes a lot of time outa the day, and made for way more planning.

We'd rather go to the parks, eat when and where we want to eat, and get back to the parks--and save a few hundred dollars. Plus tips on top of the sit down meals.

If you guys reaaaaly think it's worth it for the sit down meals, I might call in and ask about upgrading.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Thanks for all the replies! I haven't had time to browse through them all yet.

We ARE foodies, however, we also aren't millionaires, we went with a value resort, which unfortunately only gets us the quick service dining plan. (Got in on the free dining plan) Going with a moderate resort would have been another few hundred dollars--granted that would have gotten us the standard dining plan. We do not plan on spending any time at the resort (other then sleeping)

Good friends of ours went last year and got the standard free dining pass. They both said it was wayyy to much food (They each had 2 sit down meals, and 3 quick service meals on their last day) They also said it takes a lot of time outa the day, and made for way more planning.

We'd rather go to the parks, eat when and where we want to eat, and get back to the parks--and save a few hundred dollars. Plus tips on top of the sit down meals.

If you guys reaaaaly think it's worth it for the sit down meals, I might call in and ask about upgrading.

The deluxe dining plan is definitely a lot but the standard dining plan is perfect! Trust me, even though you may want to maximize your park time, table service meals are great opportunities to get some shade, get off your feet, and eat great while never leaving the park. But since you are going this October, many restaurants are probably booked up. So I would check the site and see whats available. If nothing that suits your interest, than I would stick with your QS dining plan but being you won't probably make it to your resort until after 6 pm on arrival day, I would spend the money and book a "welcome to disney" meal. Maybe surprise your GF with a nice signature meal or even the table service meals are great. Then make use of all your QS meals!

 

[Brandon Bowman]

You will find a much better quality of food if you take a few sit down meals. You can easily get everything done and have time to eat if you optimize your touring plan

 

[UberPlannerMom]

Thanks for all the replies! I haven't had time to browse through them all yet.

We ARE foodies, however, we also aren't millionaires, we went with a value resort, which unfortunately only gets us the quick service dining plan. (Got in on the free dining plan) Going with a moderate resort would have been another few hundred dollars--granted that would have gotten us the standard dining plan. We do not plan on spending any time at the resort (other then sleeping)

Good friends of ours went last year and got the standard free dining pass. They both said it was wayyy to much food (They each had 2 sit down meals, and 3 quick service meals on their last day) They also said it takes a lot of time outa the day, and made for way more planning.

We'd rather go to the parks, eat when and where we want to eat, and get back to the parks--and save a few hundred dollars. Plus tips on top of the sit down meals.

If you guys reaaaaly think it's worth it for the sit down meals, I might call in and ask about upgrading.

I would definitely call and upgrade to the dining plan, not the deluxe just the standard dining plan. We love having a little time in the day when we can sit in the air conditioning. If you do let us know and I am sure we would all happily suggest table service! Haha!

 

[danstpeter]

"tables in wonderland"?