Short Trip Planning Help

[Minnie1986]

Hi All,

I'm trying to plan a 3.5 day trip(fly in late 9/20 and leave late afternoon 9/24) to WDW (myself and my 8 year old Godson). He's only ever been to MK and not even for a whole day. I'm trying to figure out how see as much as possible within the four parks (I can't ask him what he wants to do because the trip is a surprise).
Points to keep in mins:
- The things he'll really love are Frozen, Star Wars and Mickey Mouse
- He's afraid of roller coasters

He's never seen Avatar, but I think he'll enjoy Pandora?

Any help/suggestions on planning would be so greatly appreciated!

 

[Weather_Lady]

With 3.5 days, I'd suggest:

1.5 days - MK (begin and end with MK, seeking the fireworks -- plan to meet Mickey here or in Epcot, or else schedule a meal to meet him - at AK's Tusker House, Epcot's Garden Grill, Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, 'Ohana breakfast at the Polynesian, etc.)
1 day - Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (start at HS and hit Toy Story Midway Mania and the Star Wars stuff; then hop to AK for the remainder of the day)
1 day - Epcot (if he's not interested in World Showcase, consider doing Future World only and spending the remainder of the day relaxing by the pool or knocking off the best of HS)

Also, just as a matter of planning, I suggest early morning (pre rope-drop) arrivals. Tour for about 4 hours, eat lunch and then take a good 3-4 hour nap/swim break. Return to the parks around 4pm and tour for another 5 hours or so, leaving early enough that you can get a good night's sleep to be up early again the next morning (except for your last night, when anything goes as far as bedtime)! This schedule might not work for everybody, but it keeps my family refreshed and happy, with no meltdowns (not even from me).

 

[Minnie1986]

With 3.5 days, I'd suggest:

1.5 days - MK (begin and end with MK, seeking the fireworks -- plan to meet Mickey here or in Epcot, or else schedule a meal to meet him - at AK's Tusker House, Epcot's Garden Grill, Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, 'Ohana breakfast at the Polynesian, etc.)
1 day - Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (start at HS and hit Toy Story Midway Mania and the Star Wars stuff; then hop to AK for the remainder of the day)
1 day - Epcot (if he's not interested in World Showcase, consider doing Future World only and spending the remainder of the day relaxing by the pool or knocking off the best of HS)

Also, just as a matter of planning, I suggest early morning (pre rope-drop) arrivals. Tour for about 4 hours, eat lunch and then take a good 3-4 hour nap/swim break. Return to the parks around 4pm and tour for another 5 hours or so, leaving early enough that you can get a good night's sleep to be up early again the next morning (except for your last night, when anything goes as far as bedtime)! This schedule might not work for everybody, but it keeps my family refreshed and happy, with no meltdowns (not even from me).

This sounds ideal. My only concern is that with Pandora opening at AK by the time we get there, is it worth it dedicating a whole day to it or would half of the day suffice? (Getting there early on the day we have 8 am Magic Hours and then doing HS? )

The AK Extra Magic Hours Day is a Saturday or should we do it on a Thursday, when it should be less crowded.

 

[Weather_Lady]

This sounds ideal. My only concern is that with Pandora opening at AK by the time we get there, is it worth it dedicating a whole day to it or would half suffice? (Getting there early on the day we have 8am Magic Hours and then doing HS?)

It depends on how much you want to do there -- skipping the roller coaster (Expedition Everest), and assuming you don't want to see more than one show (Festival of the Lion King is amazing!), you should be able to hit the highlights in the AK (Pandora, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, Triceratop Spin, It's Tough to Be a Bug!, Festival of the Lion King or the Finding Nemo show, and a walking trail or two) in half a day, easily -- especially if you've got that EMH to spend, if you tour wisely (hitting the most popular things first) and make your FP+ there (for the popular things you can't get to first). Candidly, although we love it and try to take our time and enjoy its beauty, AK has never been more than a half-day park for my family.

 

[Minnie1986]

It depends on how much you want to do there -- skipping the roller coaster (Expedition Everest), and assuming you don't want to see more than one show (Festival of the Lion King is amazing!), you should be able to hit the highlights in the AK (Pandora, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, Triceratop Spin, It's Tough to Be a Bug!, Festival of the Lion King or the Finding Nemo show, and a walking trail or two) in half a day, easily -- especially if you've got that EMH to spend, if you tour wisely (hitting the most popular things first) and make your FP+ there (for the popular things you can't get to first). Candidly, although we love it and try to take our time and enjoy its beauty, AK has never been more than a half-day park for my family.

Thank you so much for the reassurance. The highlights of AK are all I care about but I wanted to make sure I wasn't depriving him of anything. It's hard for me to look at planning through the eyes of a kid since I haven't been to WDW with a one in over a decade! Knowing this kid, one show will definitely be enough.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Thank you so much for the reassurance. The highlights of AK are all I care about but I wanted to make sure I wasn't depriving him of anything. It's hard for me to look at planning through the eyes of a kid since I haven't been to WDW with a one in over a decade! Knowing this kid, one show will definitely be enough.

LOL - you never know what will interest and delight a child most until you get there! I'll never forget asking my kids (then 4 and 6) what they loved most about their first-ever day at Disney World. We'd visited the Magic Kingdom and done Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder, the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and a dozen other attractions. Their unanimous answer: "The Enchanted Tiki Room"! (a simple, 1970's-era attraction featuring old-fashioned animatronic birds and a decidedly old-timey soundtrack -- who knew?)

 

[Minnie1986]

LOL - you never know what will interest and delight a child most until you get there! I'll never forget asking my kids (then 4 and 6) what they loved most about their first-ever day at Disney World. We'd visited the Magic Kingdom and done Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder, the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and a dozen other attractions. Their unanimous answer: "The Enchanted Tiki Room"! (a simple, 1970's-era attraction featuring old-fashioned animatronic birds and a decidedly old-timey soundtrack -- who knew?)

I can't lie; the Tiki Room is one of my all-time favorites

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

I would look at the night time shows to see which ones you want to catch. MK will have a new show and all kids want to see fireworks at the castle. Since he is a Star Wars fan he may like the show at HS. Rivers of Light is new at AK. I would probably skip Epcot this trip.

 

[Minnie1986]

I would look at the night time shows to see which ones you want to catch. MK will have a new show and all kids want to see fireworks at the castle. Since he is a Star Wars fan he may like the show at HS. Rivers of Light is new at AK. I would probably skip Epcot this trip.

That's what I was thinking, but he loves Frozen and would really want to go on the ride in "Norway."

 

[Minnie1986]

I would look at the night time shows to see which ones you want to catch. MK will have a new show and all kids want to see fireworks at the castle. Since he is a Star Wars fan he may like the show at HS. Rivers of Light is new at AK. I would probably skip Epcot this trip.

Would you suggest AK on Thursday (when it's theoretically less crowded) or Saturday (when we have an Extra Magic Hour)?

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

It was cute but not worth the hype. We ride it in March and our entire day had to revolve around our FP for it. The only FP we could get was at 4:30 sort of messed up the day.

 

[Minnie1986]

It was cute but not worth the hype. We ride it in March and our entire day had to revolve around our FP for it. The only FP we could get was at 4:30 sort of messed up the day.

Thanks for the heads up.