Andre
16 Apr 07, 11:50 AM
We don't normally do Itineraries per se. Partly cos my DW hates being organised - well, by anyone else but her that is! - and she says that a holiday is to relax, stay in bed till 10am and do very little - although shopping is a must, of course! Also my DD (now 7) makes any kind of "commando style" touring plan impossible, even if we wanted to, as we often have to go back to the hotel in the afternoon so she can have a rest and a swim. DSIL has also come with us for the past few years, and she tends to go with the flow most of the time (but of course she wants her shopping time too!). I tend to stay in the parks til I drop, or until they throw me out, whereas DW and DD would probably go back to the room, watch TV, and get something to eat locally. None of us really like Universal, Sea World, etc very much, so we tend to mostly do Disney in a very relaxed way.
In the past, we've always just taken days as they come, usually deciding in the evening where we plan to go the next day for the first week or so, and then roughly plan out the remaining week to fit in everything we've missed so far. None of us feel like having two large meals every day, so we tend to get breakfast at the hotel and perhaps a counter-service meal later, with a few sit-down meals booked as and when we feel like it.
And therein lies the problem of course: meals. The whole DDP effect has made casual bookings for our favourite restaurants (such as Le Cellier and Chef Mickeys) impossible, and last May we didn't really manage to get anything much booked during the two weeks we were there. So this year I knew we were going to have to book our main meals well in advance, and to do that I'd need to plan out roughly where we would be on those days, so that's why I've ended up writing an itinerary of sorts. And since I was having to plan a bit anyway, I've tried to base the park days around the www.touringplans.com (http://www.touringplans.com) crowd calendar.
So here goes, what does everyone think to the following as a general plan; most of the park days were chosen based on the lowest predicted crowd levels:
[U]Wednesday 26th Sept (FLIGHT/FREE): Arrive at Beach Club late afternoon after Virgin flight from Manchester. Nothing planned as everyone will want to crash out (although as it's my birthday I'm determined to walk over to Epcot to catch Illuminations - but I fully expect to be on my own)
Thursday 27th Sept: We're always awake very early on the first morning due to the jetlag, so off to Magic Kingdom first thing (this is DD's request) and then leave around lunchtime to maybe do our first supermarket trip? Chef Mickey's Character Dinner at 5.30pm (today will be my extended birthday) and then back to hotel for a fairly early night.
Friday 28th Sept: Still likely to be early risers at this point, so 8.30am Segway Tour booked for me and DSIL in Epcot, then meet the others afterwards for a pleasant stroll (!) around World Showcase on the opening day of Food and Wine.
Saturday 29th Sept (FREE): 9am Character Breakfast at Cape May restaurant at our hotel, then a free day with maybe some Downtown Disney shopping? I gather the NFFC are having an event over these past few days, so I might pop over to see their merchandise sale today at Coronado Springs Resort? Perhaps go and watch SpectroMagic & Wishes in the evening if we feel up to it? (that might be me on my own again!)
Sunday 30th Sept (FREE): Shopping Day - probably Mall at Millenia, Florida Mall, etc. Just added a booking for 7.40pm Dinner at Kona Café at the Poly, but may cancel that depending on how the day goes and what we've eaten ealier.
Monday 1st Oct: Epcot (today is Epcot's 20th Anniversary, so this one is my choice - I will be near the Fountain Plaza Stage at 10am for the re-dedication ceremony and maybe track down some fan meets). 6.30pm Dinner at Le Cellier, then watch Illuminations. We may not want to spend all day at Epcot, but it's an easy walk back to hotel if we want a break.
Tuesday 2nd Oct: Magic Kingdom. 10.30am Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique at the castle for DD. Then after watching the 3pm parade, 4pm Liberty Tree Tavern Character Dinner, and then back to the Beach Club for an evening Illuminations Cruise (there are 20 of us going, we got two boats booked!)
Wednesday 3rd Oct: This is our hotel-change day, so pack up our stuff in the morning and load cases into the car. Then spend the day in Studios, with a 12.40pm Lunch at the Prime Time Café before watching the afternoon parade and then going back to check in at Port Orleans Riverside (I'll try to arrange a nice room location a few days beforehand). This is the only day that Animal Kingdom has late EMH while we're there, so I'll probably pop over there later to get some dusk/evening pictures - not sure if anyone will be joining me though.
Thursday 4th Oct: Animal Kingdom. The park shuts at 5pm so that should work well with us leaving a bit early and going back to the hotel for a rest before going on to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in the evening.
Friday 5th Oct: Magic Kingdom. MK shuts earlier today due to more evening events, so 7pm Whispering Canyon Café Dinner.
Saturday 6th Oct (FREE): Beach trip, St Pete, or other day out.
Sunday 7th Oct: Animal Kingdom & Studios mop-up day, as needed. Might be a bit busy due to being Columbus weekend, so make an easy day of it. Fantasmic in the evening for those who want to?
Monday 8th Oct Columbus Day (FREE): 9.50am Akershus Princess Character Breakfast (mainly for DD). Nothing too much planned as it's a public holiday. DW and DSIL want to do another day of shopping in the Sales so they'll probably head off to the malls while DD and I will do whatever we feel like. In the evening, I've booked a 7pm Horsedrawn Carriage Ride at our hotel (POR).
Tuesday 9th Oct (FREE): Available for whatever we feel we still need to do, with probably a final fireworks viewing in the evening. Will try online checkin the evening before the flight.
Wednesday 10th Oct (FREE/TRAVEL): Depart around 2.30pm for the airport (I'll try to arrange for a late hotel checkout) so we'll spend the morning packing and swimming. Probably do the Virgin DTD bag drop thing and then maybe pop over to the MK for a last few hours?
So that's eight meals pre-booked (nothing too adventurous as we'll have a seven-year-old in tow) and five other booked activities planned (all shown in bold). Whenever we don't cope with a full day at one of the parks, we'll probably do other stuff like hire a boat from the Poly on the Seven Seas Lagoon, some more shopping trips, visit some of the other Disney hotels, have some Downtown Disney shopping time, etc.
DW probably thinks this is far too much planning already, as she doesn't want to even think about holidays until just before - but I really couldn't do much less planning and still be able to get all the meals booked (which she does want to do). DSIL is happy as long as any plans include plenty of shopping time, and she wants it to be September NOW - and DD will enjoy anything that involves characters, ice-cream or water.
So what does everyone here think, have I gone off the rails anywhere? :)
Andre
In the past, we've always just taken days as they come, usually deciding in the evening where we plan to go the next day for the first week or so, and then roughly plan out the remaining week to fit in everything we've missed so far. None of us feel like having two large meals every day, so we tend to get breakfast at the hotel and perhaps a counter-service meal later, with a few sit-down meals booked as and when we feel like it.
And therein lies the problem of course: meals. The whole DDP effect has made casual bookings for our favourite restaurants (such as Le Cellier and Chef Mickeys) impossible, and last May we didn't really manage to get anything much booked during the two weeks we were there. So this year I knew we were going to have to book our main meals well in advance, and to do that I'd need to plan out roughly where we would be on those days, so that's why I've ended up writing an itinerary of sorts. And since I was having to plan a bit anyway, I've tried to base the park days around the www.touringplans.com (http://www.touringplans.com) crowd calendar.
So here goes, what does everyone think to the following as a general plan; most of the park days were chosen based on the lowest predicted crowd levels:
[U]Wednesday 26th Sept (FLIGHT/FREE): Arrive at Beach Club late afternoon after Virgin flight from Manchester. Nothing planned as everyone will want to crash out (although as it's my birthday I'm determined to walk over to Epcot to catch Illuminations - but I fully expect to be on my own)
Thursday 27th Sept: We're always awake very early on the first morning due to the jetlag, so off to Magic Kingdom first thing (this is DD's request) and then leave around lunchtime to maybe do our first supermarket trip? Chef Mickey's Character Dinner at 5.30pm (today will be my extended birthday) and then back to hotel for a fairly early night.
Friday 28th Sept: Still likely to be early risers at this point, so 8.30am Segway Tour booked for me and DSIL in Epcot, then meet the others afterwards for a pleasant stroll (!) around World Showcase on the opening day of Food and Wine.
Saturday 29th Sept (FREE): 9am Character Breakfast at Cape May restaurant at our hotel, then a free day with maybe some Downtown Disney shopping? I gather the NFFC are having an event over these past few days, so I might pop over to see their merchandise sale today at Coronado Springs Resort? Perhaps go and watch SpectroMagic & Wishes in the evening if we feel up to it? (that might be me on my own again!)
Sunday 30th Sept (FREE): Shopping Day - probably Mall at Millenia, Florida Mall, etc. Just added a booking for 7.40pm Dinner at Kona Café at the Poly, but may cancel that depending on how the day goes and what we've eaten ealier.
Monday 1st Oct: Epcot (today is Epcot's 20th Anniversary, so this one is my choice - I will be near the Fountain Plaza Stage at 10am for the re-dedication ceremony and maybe track down some fan meets). 6.30pm Dinner at Le Cellier, then watch Illuminations. We may not want to spend all day at Epcot, but it's an easy walk back to hotel if we want a break.
Tuesday 2nd Oct: Magic Kingdom. 10.30am Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique at the castle for DD. Then after watching the 3pm parade, 4pm Liberty Tree Tavern Character Dinner, and then back to the Beach Club for an evening Illuminations Cruise (there are 20 of us going, we got two boats booked!)
Wednesday 3rd Oct: This is our hotel-change day, so pack up our stuff in the morning and load cases into the car. Then spend the day in Studios, with a 12.40pm Lunch at the Prime Time Café before watching the afternoon parade and then going back to check in at Port Orleans Riverside (I'll try to arrange a nice room location a few days beforehand). This is the only day that Animal Kingdom has late EMH while we're there, so I'll probably pop over there later to get some dusk/evening pictures - not sure if anyone will be joining me though.
Thursday 4th Oct: Animal Kingdom. The park shuts at 5pm so that should work well with us leaving a bit early and going back to the hotel for a rest before going on to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in the evening.
Friday 5th Oct: Magic Kingdom. MK shuts earlier today due to more evening events, so 7pm Whispering Canyon Café Dinner.
Saturday 6th Oct (FREE): Beach trip, St Pete, or other day out.
Sunday 7th Oct: Animal Kingdom & Studios mop-up day, as needed. Might be a bit busy due to being Columbus weekend, so make an easy day of it. Fantasmic in the evening for those who want to?
Monday 8th Oct Columbus Day (FREE): 9.50am Akershus Princess Character Breakfast (mainly for DD). Nothing too much planned as it's a public holiday. DW and DSIL want to do another day of shopping in the Sales so they'll probably head off to the malls while DD and I will do whatever we feel like. In the evening, I've booked a 7pm Horsedrawn Carriage Ride at our hotel (POR).
Tuesday 9th Oct (FREE): Available for whatever we feel we still need to do, with probably a final fireworks viewing in the evening. Will try online checkin the evening before the flight.
Wednesday 10th Oct (FREE/TRAVEL): Depart around 2.30pm for the airport (I'll try to arrange for a late hotel checkout) so we'll spend the morning packing and swimming. Probably do the Virgin DTD bag drop thing and then maybe pop over to the MK for a last few hours?
So that's eight meals pre-booked (nothing too adventurous as we'll have a seven-year-old in tow) and five other booked activities planned (all shown in bold). Whenever we don't cope with a full day at one of the parks, we'll probably do other stuff like hire a boat from the Poly on the Seven Seas Lagoon, some more shopping trips, visit some of the other Disney hotels, have some Downtown Disney shopping time, etc.
DW probably thinks this is far too much planning already, as she doesn't want to even think about holidays until just before - but I really couldn't do much less planning and still be able to get all the meals booked (which she does want to do). DSIL is happy as long as any plans include plenty of shopping time, and she wants it to be September NOW - and DD will enjoy anything that involves characters, ice-cream or water.
So what does everyone here think, have I gone off the rails anywhere? :)
Andre