4th visit - but first time itinery - please advise

[Sean_and_Sue]

Hello All:D

The last two occasions we have been, I've just made a very rough guide as to what we are going to do on which day. However, Thanx to the Dibb, came accross so much info about things we knew nothing about but would like to experience, that I think we really need something a tiny bit more structured:)

The deal is, 6 of us, travelling out on 7th October, for 18 days:jump: We have booked with AA, stopover in Chicago on the way out, Boston on the way home. 3 Adults (self, Sean and Mil) - Mil has some health problems, and it means that we have to pace ourselves to a certain extent, plenty of rest days, can't do lots of early mornings. 3 children - strong willed 5 yr old DD(scared of nothing), 11 yr old son, with some mild learning dissabilities, quite hyper on occasion and 13 yr old (going on 40, fave words "Whatever", "Cool" and "Minging" - you get the picture). Villa with pool and pool heating booked, very near big Walmart, booking EVC for the hol for mil.

I've checked out EMH and parade/firework times..................must do Spectro, Illuminations and Fantasmic. Dolphin and Shamu shows also a must

PLease, please feel free to comment and advise - this is probably the last time Mil will be able to come with us, and I desperately want to get it right.

Sat 7th Oct - arrive,unpack, stock up at Walmart, take away and crash!

Sunday 8th Oct - AM - breakfast buffet out, back to villa pool till after lunch.
PM - Gatorland - this is the kids choice, plus Mil has never
been.
Evening - Meal out - prob Bennigans

Mon 9th - Celebration/shopping - never done Celebration yet. Would
like to try Sweet Tomatoes in the evening.

The first two days can be swapped round, if anyone thinks its preferable for any reason:D

Tue 10th - MGM - plan to arrive around 11am, hopefully book ADR for
late lunch, at 50's Prime Time, stay on till closing, pizza or
takeaway for tea.

Wens 11th - Typhoon lagoon or Blizzard Beach, would like
reccommendations for suitable meal that evening? (DD1
and Mil dont do fancy or spicy or pasta or sea food:cry: )

Thurs 12th - Pool for a couple of hours, then Epcot - want to try out
Beaches and Cream for the Kitchen Sink:D Stay at Epcot
for Illuminations, grab tea in Park, not sure where - after
"sink" probably won't want anything heavy, can always get
snack at villa after Epcot.

Fri 13th MK - Getting there around lunch time, staying for Spectro
and wishes, thinking of ADR - but not sure where? Eating
early evening though.


Sat 14th - Def Breakfast out, SeaWorld, Spooktacular if the gang are up for it, pool & pizza if not!

Sun 15th - TL or BB, then maybe onto MK again - suspect Mil would
like to see Spectro more than once, lol. Probably Tea out,
before hitting MK



Mon 16th - Sean has always wanted to visit one of the beaches,
So I have marked Clearwater for this day. Would like
to do Seasreamer, but don't know if it has to be booked?
Or even how to go about it?

Tues 17th - If everyone isn't too tired, SeaWorld - getting the 1 day
ticket that gives you 7 days, and as we all love this place,
at least 2 days are a must - and this is the only way I can
think of to fit it in. Pizza by the pool for tea.

Wens 18th - TL or BB, tea out - again, looking for suggestions?

Thurs 19th - Most of day by pool, MNSSHP - planning on getting to park
around 5 or 6pm, after early tea.

Fri 20th - Mil and kids will be zonked after MNSSHP, so quiet day -
Shopping in the afternoon, Pool am and pm, takeaway
tea.

Sat 21st - Easy morning, MGM just after lunch. Tea out - and again
sugesstions welcome:D

Sun 22nd - MK, from as early as poss - would love ADR for character
meal, but totally confused as to where:( Looked at lots of
menus (for lunch) think buffet would be best?

Mon 23rd - 2nd to Last full day :cry: Packing am, and then - as is tradition
for us, last evening spent at Epcot - have to see
Illuminations at least one last time!

Tues 24th - Kids and Mils choice - Gatorland, shopping, or Air boat Dinner out - again kids choice where!

Wens 25th.........Flight at 4.55pm, so last breakfast out, hopefully packing
done, so sort villa, then lunch out before plane.





And thats it folks:D

As said, any/all advice and comments welcome

Thanks

Love Suexx

First edit now taken place - have swapped MK and SeaWorld round on 13th and 14th, so we have the option of Spooktacular at SeaWorld!

Second edit - for some reason, had us flying back on 24th, instead of 25th - lord knows how I managed that!!!!!!!!!!! However, extra day now catered for!

[MichelleP1]

Hello,

Looks good (from my limited experience!) I can advise re the Seascreamer, you just book when you arrive and you can usually get on a trip within a couple of hours. Re recommendations for meals out, our faves which you don't have on your itinerary are Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Bahama Breeze.

[Sean_and_Sue]

Thanx Michelle, specially for the restaurant choices and the info on Seascreamer:D

Love Suexx

[wilma-bride]

First thoughts, am I being blind or are you not doing AK? Regarding ADR for Sat 14th how about the Plaza restaurant at MK? Basic food and slightly cheaper than some other TS restaurants in the parks. Very nice though :tounge:

[Sean_and_Sue]

Hiya Joh - no, your not blind - we are not doing AK. I know lots of people love it, but its our least favourite park - we find it too claustrophobic, last time Mil found it so hard to negociate on the evc (she set her personal best record that day - hit 7 folk when doing just 1 u turn:rolleyes: ), even the kids arn't fussed on the place.........tough to be a bug is great, and the river rapids - but we honestly don't like much else about it:(

Thanks for the info on the Plaza restaurant - off to check it out now - hopefully will book the ADRs in the next week, so I need to decide on where and when:D

Love Suexx

[wilma-bride]

As an aside, I just noticed that, although you arrive on the 7th, you are flying home the same day as us. Presumably you are flying from MCO though so no chance of 'bumping' into you at Sanford?

BTW, for your character meal have you considered Chef Mickey's? Although it's not actually in the park, it is at the contemporary which isn't too far so you could get there and back fairly easily. If not that then, personally, I would go for Crystal Palace.

[Sean_and_Sue]

Yes, flying home from MCO - we would have preferred direct from Sandford, but as we are going for 18 days, we couldn't get flights to Sanford:(

I have looked at CP and thats the one I'm most tempted by, so far:D Havent looked at Chef Mickeys - I never thought about going to a resort for a character meal, though I don't know why:erm: Thanx Joh - its another one for me to check out:D To be honest, would love to book 4 or 5 - but as i said, with Mil and the 5 yr old, I don't think its worth the risk of making a lot of fixed bookings and having any of the gang dissapointed if Mil is too bushed to come along - and I know that the kids especially wouldn't enjoy a special meal as much if she isn't there.....................for some of the less popular places, I may try actually booking on the day we go to the park, on days other than the booked stuff - that way if we are lucky enough to get something, its a bonus for us and the kids:D

Love Suexx

[MichelleP1]

Crystal Palace is great, we took our dd there last October and she loved it. I haven't done any of the other character meals but personally I think it's more convenient to do one in the park rather than in a resort.

[Sean_and_Sue]

Thank Michelle - think I'll have to put this to the vote with the kids:D They both look good - though I think you have a valid point about the convenience (with 3 kids, I'm all for convenient, lol) - I'm balancing that out against the chance to visit one of the resorts, which we have also never done before - I know I'd enjoy that, and the chance for a look round, but not sure if the kids would:(

Love Suexx

[loadsapixiedust]

It looks like you are going to have a lot of fun!

I wouldn't worry too much about a meal in Epcot on the 12th you will have all the tasters from the Food & Wine Festival to munch on as you tour World Showcase.

On your water park days TL is handy for Downtown Disney so you could eat there, BB is close to AKL so how about trying Boma?

22nd at MK how about Crystal Palace for a meal, with characters and a buffet so should keep everyone happy.

[Sean_and_Sue]

Thanx Lynn:D

The food and wine festival is great for me, Sean and the two youngest - its Mil and DD1 who are fussy - I know that neither tried anything by way of food from it last time:( But - can always grab them fish and chips and they can stroll round eating that!

Like the idea of DTD for the waterpark days - isn't the Earl of Sandwich there? Read about it, and would quite like to try that too, so I think on one of the rest shopping days, thats something I could add:D

I would love to try Boma - but again, kids and mil - showed DD the menu and got a YUCK in response :angry: But - there is a slight chance that Sean and I might get just one sneaky meal out alone - in which case, that is high on my list:D

Definately drawn more and more to CP - havent seen any negative comments, and the menu offers plenty of choice:)

Thank you, everyone for your input ..............its really helpful, and hopefully, by the time its fianalised and we experience it, this time i'll be better able on my return to offer any tips or help to others planning - its shocking that even after 3 visits, that we are finding out so much more and didn't realise BD (before Dibb) just how much we havent even known about and missed out on for our previous visits!

Love Suexx

[carys]

Hi Sue we think crystal palace is great in Mk and again is a buffet. But we think Sunday is one of the busiest days at MK as it is the park everyone wants to go to.We have to do it on a Sun this year as it is DD 5th birthday and that is what she wants but it wouldnt be my choice. Just a thought.We have been to chef Mickeys which is nice but same food as Crystal palace just different characters and not in MK. Hope you have a fantastic time .Like you we have been many times but this is the first time i have written an itinerary as i am trying to fit in some of the DIBB reccomendations ! Carys x

[Sean_and_Sue]

Hi Carys - yep, EMH on the Sunday for MK, but in the evening - so I'm hoping if we go in the morning, and leave mid afternoon, it won't be too bad (fingers crossed)................as we always do Epcot on the final day, I just thought it would be nice to have an ADR for MK, near the end of the holiday, and if we book it for lunch, and the park then starts to get really busy - we can just hop off back to the villa to chill, or hit the shops:D

I wish we had found the Dibb a long time ago, too , lol .................I have a list as long as my arm, of things to do and places to go, snaffled mainly from trippies - I reckon though, we could go for a month, and I still wouldn't fit everything in................its really difficult trying to balance it out, so I include the bulk of stuff that appeals to all, and also make sure that everyone gets to do/see their particular favourites!

Love Suexx

[highlander447]

Hi on AK remember theres Everest now its a great rollercoaster ride if u like that sort of thing, Earl of sandwich is good they also do great salads:thumbs-up

[Sean_and_Sue]

Highlander - yep, we know about Everest - there are at most, 2 of us that might be brave enough for that ride - not enough, after discussion, to persuade us to spend any time there. Earl of Sandwich is now a must do, and the info that it does nice salads is a bonus, so thank you:)

Right - you guys wont believe this....................but I have made a major error:blush: We actually fly home a day later than I have on the itinery:omg: Dont ask me how I managed to get that one wrong:erm: Anyway, now for Tues 24th, have added a day where we can do Gatorland again (the kids love this place) or shopping or an air boat trip:D Would have liked this day to be Epcot, but are getting 14 day Ultimate Tickets...............and the last day is on the Monday, 23rd:( Giving the kids and mil the choice of what happens on the last full day:D

Love Suexx

[Sean_and_Sue]

OK - Kids and Sean have had a look -DS, Ben is very impressed - lol, he has copied it out and - being as he is off school poorly today, is sat with a pencil making notes on his "copy" - he now knows what an ADR is and has even copied down a plan of the villa and is putting together his own "holiday file" - wonder where he gets it from, :pgig:

After suggestions from rest of the family, here is a revised itinery:D

Sat 7th - Arrive, find villa, walmart for supplies and either pizza or McD's for quick takeaway, unpack and bed.

Sun 8th - Taking advantage of jet lagged induced early rising, out for breakfast (DS says it must be a Golden Coral, first morning) then onto Gatorland. Back to the villa when we are all ready, pool for rest of day. If the gang are up to it, Bennigans for Dinner, if not, another takeaway.

Mon 9th - Breakfast out (DD wants Dennys) then onto Celebration, Earl of Sandwich for lunch, then shopping. Head back when ready, pool and chill, Dinner out - Sweet Tomatoes.

Tue 10th - Breakfast at villa, get to MGM for around 11am, ADR for lunch at 50's Prime Time. Stay at MGM as long as the gang want, back to villa for takeaway (Subs and salad, or small pizza if stuffed from lunch) and chill out round pool.

Wens 11th - Tyhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach for the day, breakfast en route, back to villa for chill, pool and takeaway

Thurs 12th - Lazy morning at villa, Epcot for around lunchtime, Beaches and Cream for 'Kitchen sink', Stay for Illuminations, evening meal 'on the hoof' - Food and Wine tasters for those that will, McD's or fish and chips for those that wont!

Fri 13th - Morning shopping, then onto MK - may try Plaza for lunch, stay in park for Spectro at 8pm, and Wishes. If anyone hungry, pick up something on way back to Villa.

Sat 14th - breakfast on the way to SeaWorld, aiming to get there between 11 and 1pm, stay on for Spooktacular - will snack when hungry in park.

Sun 15th - Breakfast at villa, TL or BB, back to villa to shower and change, out for Dinner - looking into Olive Garden, Sweet tomatoes and Red Lobster?

Mon 16th - Early start, after breakfast at villa, off to Clearwater for the day. Found either Smokey Bones or Gondolier for light lunch, and Frenchys Rockaway Grill for dinner:D

Tues 17th - Visit to Earl of Sandwich, then SeaWorld - a case of get there when we arrive and leave when ready. Takeaway and chill round pool for rest of day.

Wens 18th - TL or BB for day, pick up takeaway en route home, chill out round/in pool

Thurs 19th - chill round villa most of day, head for MK around 5pm, after early tea at villa, MNSSHP

Fri 20th - if the kids and Mil need an easy day, TL or BB, if not SeaWorld. Dinner out at Bennigans or Sweet Tomatoes

Sat 21st - Breakfast at villa, chill round pool till after lunch, then MGM for afternoon & Fantasmic (is Fantasmic on only on certain nights? And if so, where do I check this out?)

Sun 22nd - shopping am, MK for 12pm, ADR for Crystal Palace for 1.30pm, leave when ready after that. Pick up dinner on way back to villa

Mon 23rd - last days use of tickets, so am pool, (and I'll get most of the packing done) then Epcot for last view of Illuminations. Eat at park

Tues 24th - Breakfast out, then let Mil and kids decide on one or two of the following - air boat ride, Gatorland, shopping, Celebration. Last Dinner out at Bennigans.

Wens 25th - have to leave villa at 11, but, if we can, will get out earlier, breakfast out, maybe mooch around DTD or one of the malls, the MCO for around 1pm, and then home:cry:


Its just been slightly tweaked, here and there. Sean and I were talking, and we both agreed that a lot of time was wasted by not deciding in advance over if we would eat at the villa, or eat out, and on what and where we were going to eat- so this time, as far as we can, we are going to decide in advance. Bennigans feature heavily because we know that the food is nice and that there are lots of choices there for the whole gang. Sweet Tomatoes - from what I have read - looks like it will appeal in the same way - plus, I think we all get a bit sick of the endless chips and no veg:(

Again - please feel free to comment:D

Love Suexx

[highlander447]

Hi only thing I'd suggest is the visit to the earl I'd try after a Disney waterpark then a wander around DTD or DQ:grin:

[Sean_and_Sue]

Hi only thing I'd suggest is the visit to the earl I'd try after a Disney waterpark then a wander around DTD or DQ:grin:


Thank you - I meant to include The Earl................adding it in for luch, after Celebration on the first Monday, as we also want to look at some of the shops in DTD:D

Also been searching the Dibb for alternative restaurants to try...................have come up with
Bahama Breeze, Red Lobster and Olive Garden, so going to try to fit in at least one visit to each of them.....................just been looking at Bahama Breeze website - sat here drooling, lol

Love Suexx

[Dizzy]

Thurs 12th - Pool for a couple of hours, then Epcot - want to try out
Beaches and Cream for the Kitchen Sink:D Stay at Epcot
for Illuminations, grab tea in Park, not sure where - after
"sink" probably won't want anything heavy, can always get
snack at villa after Epcot.

Fri 13th MK - Getting there around lunch time, staying for Spectro
and wishes, thinking of ADR - but not sure where? Eating
early evening though.


Sat 14th - Def Breakfast out, SeaWorld, Spooktacular if the gang are up for it, pool & pizza if not!

Sun 15th - TL or BB, then maybe onto MK again - suspect Mil would
like to see Spectro more than once, lol. Probably Tea out,
before hitting MK


Lol Sue............R U following us :d:

Thurs. Oct. 12th......Epcot. DD's and myself are going to have the Princess Storybook breakfast while the 3 'men' do the segway tour (I really want to do this myself but DD is too young ). ADR (http://www.thedibb.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=134) at the Rose and Crown in time for Illuminations.

Fri. Oct. 13th.......Magic Kingdom for the last day with an ADR at Crystal Palace for Dinner.

Sat. Oct. 14th....Chef Mickeys (I think) for a last breakfast for DD and DSIL then DTD for a bit of last minute souveneir shopping before taking them to the airport at lunchtime. We will then head back to the villa to freshen up and then Seaworld for a few hours for Spooktacular, no rush as it dosn't shut until 10pm.

Sun. Oct. 15th..... After looking at the poll I posted last week Typhoon Lagoon just won the vote for the best water park so that's where we are heading today. Then do some shopping, back to the villa to freshen up, maybe a park for a while and Kobi for dinner.

[Sean_and_Sue]

Just seen this Sarah :pgig: Got a couple more ADR's to book today (:blush: - yep, another two, though these will prob be the last, lol) and then was going to post a revised itinery - those 4 days stay pretty much the same though:D So if you fancy saying "Hello", can tell you that at TL, we will be camped out on the vollyball beach (where we can have a smoke:blush:) for the day:D:D:D

Love Suexx

[disneydarling]

HI there chilli's is a very nice and reasonable cheap restaurant for a meal out and there is alot of choice so im sure you'll find something for everyone:grin: enjoy!!:tounge: