Sep 2018 Rough Itinerary/Plan - Thoughts/Suggestions welcome!

[blobula]

Hello,

In September 2018 myself, my wife, our two children (ages 2 and 4) and my parents will be heading to Disney. This will be the first time for my wife and kids, and the first time in a VERY long time for myself and parents.

My wife and I did visit Orlando in April for our 5th anniversary, however we went to Epcot and Universal Studios.

I feel like I'm in some sort of weird Disney bubble getting this stuff planned out and booked. I'd appreciate your thoughts and suggestions mainly on the rough itinerary I have in place. It probably won't be followed to a 't' but I like having some sort of idea of what the days will hold and it will also help me figure out which dining experiences to plan for.

I have currently booked two rooms at each of the following resorts:
Art of Animation
9/13 - 9/15 (Little Mermaid room)
I booked here for a couple nights mainly because of the theme. I think the kids will love it!

Port Orleans French Quarter
9/15 - 9/20 (Garden View)

I booked here based on a lot of feedback of it being an extremely nice and quiet resort, having one bus to MK, having a boat that goes to Disney Springs, and also more relaxing for the adults perhaps.

Rough Disney Itinerary
9/13/18 - Thursday:

• Arrive in Orlando early afternoon (11:30am with time change)
• Take ME to Disney property and check-in
• Explore the area, pool time
• Not exactly sure what we are planning for food. I was thinking 'Earl of Sandwich' or 'Blaze Pizza' at Disney Springs, also was thinking of hitting up a resort. Geyser Point at Wilderness lodge seems like a good place with nice views.

9/14/18 - Friday:

• Animal Kingdom
  • Hopefully trying to get FP+ reservations for 'Flight of Passage', 'Navi River Jouirney' and 'Safari'
• Not ADR's on this day
• Return to resort in the afternoon for naps, pool time, etc...
• Go back to Animal Kingdom at night

9/15 - Saturday:

• Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno at 10:15

• Go to Epcot
• Return to resort in the afternoon for naps, pool time, etc...
• Back to Epcot for Iluminations

9/16 - Sunday:

• Free day, Pool, Disney Springs or driving to the beach

9/17 - 9/19 - Monday through Wednesday
Various things to do during these three days

• Magic Kingdom
• 9/16 Be Our Guest lunch ADR

• Return to resort in afternoon for naps, pool time, etc...
• Magic Kingdom fireworks evening (start/end with this)
• Character break
• Disney Springs in evening
• Hollywood Studios (half day)?

9/20 - Thursday

• Return home

I'd appreciate any suggestions when it comes to planning for meals (especially those that need reservations). Places you loved and worth a visit. I have a bit more research to do on this as well as character meals.

I don't believe we will be purchasing the Disney dining plan as I don't think it's a good fit for our family. Besides the ADR breakfast we will eat breakfast in the room as I do plan on having groceries delivered.

Thank you!

 

[JoMarch]

Hi!

Art of Animation - I'd stick to either "Finding Nemo," "Lion King" or "CARS." I stayed in the "Little Mermaid" section and found the rooms too far away from the Main Building/food and bus transportation.

Itinerary - For my trips, I like to be in each park for at least one "day time" and one "night time." Especially Animal Kingdom and the new Pandora - it has a totally different vibe and look in the evening versus day.

Pre-Plan everything!!! Plan meals and all ride fast passes. Disney has changed so much over the last 10 years. If you don't plan, you could be shut out of some of the popular rides and attractions.

 

[21stamps]

My advice is to make a list of things you want to do- attractions, restaurants, resort time.. but don't start making an itinerary now.
It will drive you crazy when things change in a year and a half..lol

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

Just so you know, the only standard rooms at Art of Animation are in The Little Mermaid section. And you definitely need to make reservations at any table service meal you are planning.

 

[blobula]

Thanks! I wouldn't mind staying in a suite at AoA, but I just can't see paying over $300 for it. I'd much rather stay at AKL in a regular room if I'm going to pay that much.

 

[21stamps]

We did a same day reservation at POFQ, didn't request a specific area.. but I was very happy with the location! From our room number it shows that we were in building 2. It was very pretty and peaceful in that section., I'd recommend it! But I don't think you can go wrong anywhere at that resort

 

[blobula]

Awesome to know. Thanks!

 

[carriebeth]

I notice you did not mention Epcot in your plans. Are you not going to go to Epcot at all? I also saw you were going to Animal kingdom 2 days. If it was me, I would go to Animal Kingdom only 1 day and Epcot the other if going to Animal Kingdom twice would eliminate being able to go to Epcot. I just think that each park is unique and visited at least once if possible. Also, I think you could do quite a bit in Animal KIngdom in one day so if you have to drop it down to just one day there it won't be that tragic. A lot of people talk about Hollywood being a 1/2 day park etc. Our family really likes Hollywood and would never consider doing less than a full day there. There are some rides that your littlest one might not be able to go on or maybe both your children would be too afraid of if they are big enough but they are great attractions and I still think the adults should go on. My kids don't mind sitting out waiting for things like Rockin Rollercoaster when they are too small to ride. There is always a lot going on around them for them to watch and do so they are fine.

Our family never goes back to the resort for rest or naps when we are at parks. You know your family and what would work best, however. I have 8 kids and the younger ones will take a little nap in the strollers when they need it. For us, trekking back to the resort would take too much time and effort and anyone who was beyond napping age would be real irritated to have to leave the parks. We usually hit the attractions that the little ones are too small to ride during nap time if possible. My kids are daredevils, however, and ride every big ride they can as soon as they are able to make the height requirements. My daughter had just turned 3 last year when we went and was thrilled to just make the height for things like Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain etc.

Depending on what time you depart on your last day, you can get a good amount of park time in there too. We always opt for the latest flight possible. Our thinking is we already paid for the rooms overnight, might as well maximize our time and hit the parks once more. We also take an early flight in for the same reason. We usually go to MK our last day and redo all of our favorite stuff. We also schedule one last sit down meal for lunch or late breakfast. Sometimes we schedule that at another park, like Epcot, since we have park hoppers and it opens up more dining choices.

LIke it was mentioned, you will certainly want to plan ahead and make dining reservations at 180 days out as soon as they open up and same for fast passes, book as soon as you are able. Dining does book up and you have a bigger party so it won't be super easy to book things later or try to walk in places without reservations.

 

[DryerLintFan]

My advice is to make a list of things you want to do- attractions, restaurants, resort time.. but don't start making an itinerary now.
It will drive you crazy when things change in a year and a half..lol

I'll agree with this. My daughter was just shy of two when I started (over)planning our trip for December. Six months later she's a completely different person and developmentally leaps and bounds ahead of where she was back then. Now she bosses me around in complete sentences, too I've had to become a lot more flexible in the way I plan this trip.

Definitely take a look at all four parks, specifically looking for what attractions would interest you and the kids. My daughter is obsessed with Frozen, for example, so that means we'll head over to Epcot for a day. We

 

[ALONZO LAUREL]

We are doing september the free dining and less crowds should help. We loved AoA its perfect for kids IMO and seems like they would love just being at the resort in the pool or foodcourt area. Ill see when september things come up when im there and post.

 

[kimberlymautz]

If you're going to do any parks for two days I'd suggest Magic Kingdom, especially with kiddos at 2 and 4. We did a day and a half there with my daughter and niece (2 and 5) and easily could have spent an entire extra day. We did almost everything we wanted, but there were still some things we missed out on.

Everything else seems like a great start.

 

[bluetiedye]

First I have to say I am impressed with your planning

Only thing I'd add is that you may want to consider going to a Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party one night. I doubt they have 2018 dates announced yet, but surely there will be one or two nights to go during the range you will be there.

 

[FirstTimeForeigner]

My 4 year old and 7 year old enjoyed our character breakfasts. Since they weren't requesting specific characters yet it helped us check off the character experience without having to line up. It was little pricey but the breakfast meals were cheaper. The kids liked Winnie the Pooh characters in Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom). Disney jr. characters in Hollywood and Vine (Hollywood studios).

 

[blobula]

Thank you everyone for your feedback, I really appreciate it. There's still a lot of time, but the one thing I really am struggling with preparing is the type of character meals our family would do. My daughter will be 5 and loves the princesses so a meal involving those characters is a must. Any recommendation? I feel like a breakfast meal would be hectic having to get up early to make it on time. My son will be 3 at the time, currently he has no particular fondness toward Disney characters... is there a particular all around character meal suggestion for him?

I guess what I'm really asking is if I'm booking two characters meals which ones are the best? And besides character meals which places are a must to go to?

Thank you!

 

[Dave B]

Cinderella's Royal Table ( MK ), Askerhaus with all the princess'( Epcot ), 1900 Park Fare( Grand Floridian ) Tusker House ( AK ) would be my choice

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

If your daughter is in to princesses and you're willing to pay for it, go for Cinderella's Royal Table. It will be a wonderful experience for her. As for the other meal, I'd suggest either Chef Mickey's or Garden Grill.

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

I second the Epcot day. I love Epcot and it’s a much quieter and peaceful park. I feel like it’s more relaxed there. My daughter loves the rides there (especially bc there’s no wait for most of them).

 

[blobula]

Getting closer to our Disney trip! Everyone including the grandparents are extremely excited.

Dining reservations opened up for us so I have booked the following..
Breakfast on Saturday at Trattoia al Forno before our day in Epcot. It’s close to Epcot and the new breakfast features my kids favorite Disney characters.
Lunch on Tuesday in the castle at Be Our Guest.

So far that is it. I think we’d only do one more reservation. Debating Ohanas.

When do we know if the dining plan might be able to be added for free for a September stay?

 

[Tuvalu]

When do we know if the dining plan might be able to be added for free for a September stay?

This site will have the information if/when Free Dining is announced.

To clarify, you cannot just add the Dining plan “for free” to your reservation. If the offer happens you can try to “modify” your existing reservation, but know that in the past Little Mermaid rooms at AoA and rooms at Port Orleans French Quarter have been excluded from Free Dining promotions.

If “Free Dining” is important to you, know that you may have to switch resorts to qualify for it.

 

[DarthVader]

9/14/18 - Friday:

• Animal Kingdom
• Return to resort in the afternoon for naps, pool time, etc...
• Go back to Animal Kingdom
• Dinner at Animal Kingdom?

9/15 - Saturday:

• Animal Kingdom

Two days of Animal Kingdom back to back? I would think some other park might be useful