Need help with itinerary - first time visitor to WDW

[tazmad]

I need help figuring out my schedule for my first-ever visit to WDW. I'm traveling in June with my husband and 10-year-old son. I'm tying our trip into a business conference I'm attending. We will be buying five-day park hopper passes for both Universal and Disney, because I get discounts through my conference and the five-day passes end up being the same price as three-day passes.

I've already booked the Wilderness Resort for the two days we arrive early, before my conference, and then trying to figure out the other hotel to book after my conference ends. I'm staying at the Hyatt Orlando for the four nights of my conference since my company covers that hotel but not Disney hotels.

Friday night - Arrive in Orlando. Dinner and hotel this night is at Wilderness Resort
Saturday - All day at Magic Kingdom, hotel this night is again the Wilderness Resort
Sunday - Morning at Hollywood Studios (extra magic hours in morning), possibly afternoon at Magic Kingdom (unless we want to stay at Hollywood Studios all day)
Monday - I work, my husband will take our son to Magic Kingdom during the day, and then Universal in the evening when I'm off work
Tuesday - I work, my husband will take our son to Universal
Wednesday - I work, my husband will take our son to Universal or somewhere else outside of the parks
Thursday - I'm off work, we will all go to Epcot today because there is an extra magic hour in the morning - need to pick a Disney hotel for tonight
Friday - We will all go to Magic Kingdom in the morning (extra magic hour) and Animal Kingdom afterward - need to pick a Disney hotel for tonight
Saturday - We will all go to Universal today - need to pick a Disney hotel for tonight
Sunday - Depart

Any thoughts on this rough schedule and what would work better timing wise? I'm also wondering if I should skip the park hopper and just get single park passes. I'm not sure how much time each park warrants.

Thanks!

 

[GlassHalfFull]

I need help figuring out my schedule for my first-ever visit to WDW. I'm traveling in June with my husband and 10-year-old son. I'm tying our trip into a business conference I'm attending. We will be buying five-day park hopper passes for both Universal and Disney, because I get discounts through my conference and the five-day passes end up being the same price as three-day passes.

I've already booked the Wilderness Resort for the two days we arrive early, before my conference, and then trying to figure out the other hotel to book after my conference ends. I'm staying at the Hyatt Orlando for the four nights of my conference since my company covers that hotel but not Disney hotels.

Friday night - Arrive in Orlando. Dinner and hotel this night is at Wilderness Resort
Saturday - All day at Magic Kingdom, hotel this night is again the Wilderness Resort
Sunday - Morning at Hollywood Studios (extra magic hours in morning), possibly afternoon at Magic Kingdom (unless we want to stay at Hollywood Studios all day)
Monday - I work, my husband will take our son to Magic Kingdom during the day, and then Universal in the evening when I'm off work
Tuesday - I work, my husband will take our son to Universal
Wednesday - I work, my husband will take our son to Universal or somewhere else outside of the parks
Thursday - I'm off work, we will all go to Epcot today because there is an extra magic hour in the morning - need to pick a Disney hotel for tonight
Friday - We will all go to Magic Kingdom in the morning (extra magic hour) and Animal Kingdom afterward - need to pick a Disney hotel for tonight
Saturday - We will all go to Universal today - need to pick a Disney hotel for tonight
Sunday - Depart

Any thoughts on this rough schedule and what would work better timing wise? I'm also wondering if I should skip the park hopper and just get single park passes. I'm not sure how much time each park warrants.

Thanks!

This seems like a VERY enthusiastic schedule.. if you don't plan on using a park hopper, there is no reason to pay for it. I enjoy park hoppers because I can leave a park and go back to the hotel and relax or eat dinner and then go to a different park each night. With how crowded your schedule will be/is I am not sure your husband and kid are going to utilize park hoppers at all except Sunday where I can promise you will not be able to fill a whole day at Studios unless you arrive after the crowds and are delayed getting to everything. Personally I'd probably leave the Studios after your first pass thru, and then go to Disney Springs for some grub/early dinner/walking around, then go back for night time show/a few more rides if you are ok with not buying a Park Hopper.

Separately, I would say Park 2 Park for Uni are almost essential if the kid likes Potter, since that experience isn't just a walk across Citywalk anymore.

 

[tazmad]

Thanks for your input. It probably is too enthusiastic. I need to make sure I come up with a reasonable schedule for everyone. On the days I'm working, they can pretty much do whatever they want, which might just be swimming at the hotel pool Luckily the Hyatt has a really nice one. Not comparable to the Disney deluxe hotel pools, but still pretty nice.

My son's dad, my ex, died a month ago, so I really want to make this trip special for my 10-year-old. He needs an unforgettable vacation. I was supposed to just go on my own for work, but decided to take him with me when his dad died. I can't leave him home without me right now.

 

[GlassHalfFull]

Thanks for your input. It probably is too enthusiastic. I need to make sure I come up with a reasonable schedule for everyone. On the days I'm working, they can pretty much do whatever they want, which might just be swimming at the hotel pool Luckily the Hyatt has a really nice one. Not comparable to the Disney deluxe hotel pools, but still pretty nice.

My son's dad, my ex, died a month ago, so I really want to make this trip special for my 10-year-old. He needs an unforgettable vacation. I was supposed to just go on my own for work, but decided to take him with me when his dad died. I can't leave him home without me right now.

I am sorry to hear about your/and ultimately his support loss, and think your idea to get him out of the house and experience it is exactly what would warrant a super busy schedule then

 

[tazmad]

I am sorry to hear about your/and ultimately his support loss, and think your idea to get him out of the house and experience it is exactly what would warrant a super busy schedule then

yeah. that's what I was thinking. but I can't wear out my husband, too. he's 46.

I normally plan out vacations much farther in advance than this. it's short notice so I have a lot of catching up to do.

 

[GlassHalfFull]

I would just buy the Universal Annual pass. it's only between $284-$384 (depending on type of pass) for non resident.

I would assume the 5 day OP is talking about is 225$ though since thats the current rate through my work..

 

[GlassHalfFull]

Park hopper is nice. For example today, Flight of Passage/Avatar has been down all day. So you would be stuck at Animal Kingdom without park hopper.

Having that flexibility is nice, but I am not sure OP was asking for reasons why Park Hoppers are nice. I know plenty of people who buy single parks and if a ride is down they just go back to hotel early etc..

 

[tazmad]

I would assume the 5 day OP is talking about is 225$ though since thats the current rate through my work..

That's a really good deal. My company offers a 5-day 2 park pass for $253.

The annual basic pass is $284 per person. So it's not much more. I just don't see myself returning to Orlando in the next year and that is still $87 more for three passes. hmmmm....

 

[tazmad]

Oh, and the park hopper 5-day for Disney is part of the deal of buy 4 days, get 1 free, but if you don't do the park hopper, you don't get the fifth day free.

So it's $434 for a 5-day park hopper and $373 for 5 days one park per day. $62 more per person for the hopper feature.

 

[tazmad]

Quick question - can we get early entry hours for the day we check into our hotel, or only for the following day/s?

I ended up changing it around a bit. I looked at magic hours, etc, and where we were staying each night. I ended up booking our second Disney hotel for the final three nights of our stay. We will be at the Animal Kingdom Lodge the last three nights, so here's how it pans out.

Friday night - Wilderness Lodge, dinner there (won't arrive until 6 pm)
Saturday - Wilderness Lodge, spend day at MK
Sunday - MK, spend night at Hyatt
Monday - Pool for husband and son during day, me work (ugh), evening at Universal (I want to see his face the first time he experiences Harry Potter. He's only seen the Universal Studios Hollywood version which I've heard is lame in comparison), spend night at Hyatt
Tuesday - Universal for husband and son, spend night at Hyatt
Wednesday - Universal for husband and son, spend night at Hyatt
Thursday - Either Epcot or Hollywood Studios, spend night at AKL
Friday - Either Epcot or HS or AK, spend night at AKL
Saturday - Either Epcot or HS or AK, spend night at AKL
Sunday - airport