First trip - sound ok or too much?

[Alidoll]

Hi

Taking DD (8) to New York and Disney World with DH. I’m the person organising everything (DH nods whenever I ask him about it and says “ah but you’re so much better at these sort of things”) so been left to plan days and everything else.

I’ve done the ADRs so now it’s onto narrowing down the FPs and fine tuning so I’m ready for FP day.

None of us are particularly fond of thrill rides involving drops etc so Space mountain, BTM are out but could someone have a wee look over my plans and see if it’s do-able or will lead to WW3 on the tantrum front. We did DLP last year so DD seen castle / Main Street so not imperative we go to MK on the first day.

Day 1 - flight to New York (arrive mid morning so transfer to hotel about 2pm). Walk to Macy’s then Times Square - Disney Store, M&M world then Bubba Gump for dinner. Back to hotel

Day 2 - Uber to pier 63 then boat tour round Manhattan. Onto hop on, hop off bus (already have NY pass) dinner somewhere near hotels can have early night).

Day 3 - Uber to Top of the Rocks, walk to Bloomingdales then through Central Park to Natural History Museum. Subway back towards Times Sq and a bite to eat then evening bus tour over to Brooklyn

Day 4 - flight to Florida. Transfer to Riverside (mid afternoon). Boat to Disney Springs. ADR - Raglan Road and back to hotel

Day 5 - HS. DD wants to do Jedi training so sign up for that at rope drop.
FP - star tours, Toy Story Mania and Muppet 3D
Lunch - Mama Melrose (Fantasmic package)
PM - Jedi training then wander round park (beauty & the beast, Indiana Jones - dependant on Jedi training time)
QS At Backlot Express then Fantasmic

Day 6 - Epcot
FP - Soarin, Turtle Talk and Under the Sea
Figment then into Pavilions (Canada to Japan doing Kidcot stations and Remy Scavanger Hunt part 1). Pick a pearl with DD and snacking with F&W on the way
Dinner - Teppan Edo ADR (7pm)
Illuminations

Day 7 - MK
Rope drop Pooh, Teacups, carousel
FP for PPflight, Enchanted tales with Belle
Lunch ADR - BOG
Afternoon - Haunted Mansion (FP) then lenticular photo
ADR - Liberty Tree Tavern
Relax until the fireworks

Day 8 - MNSSHP
Bus then monorail to Ohana ADR (10am) though might take Uber or Mickey Van
Back to hotel - relax
Bus to MK to party for about 4.30. Buzz Lightyear and People mover then line up for character meet with Pooh and gang (DDs favourite character being Piglet).
QS at Columbia Harbour House
Haunted mansion (trick or treat stops along the way). Frontierland for Boo To You parade.
hocus Pocus Show then fireworks

Day 9 - Day off!
Walk to POFQ for Beinets (breakfast) then boat to DSprings.
Lunch at T-Rex (at this point DD and DH will likely return to hotel to swim and I’ll do damage to my holiday savings).
QS at Riverside then Yeehaa Bob at 8.30pm

Day 10 - Epcot 2
Mickey & friends character meet, Test Track then Mexico before FP for Frozen (FP)
Round the pavilions till back at Japan (Kidcot and Remy scavenger hunt part 2 then walk round to Garden Grill (ADR at 7pm) then back to hotel as Saturday night and F&W on so will be busy with locals

Day 11 - AK
FP for Safari, Lion King Show
Lunch at Tusker House
Spend day at park with FOP FP in afternoon. Stay till dark to see Pandora at night and tree of life lit up (not bothered about Rivers of light). QS at Santuli Canteen

Day 12 - Vinelands
Uber to Vinelands Outlet
Lunch there then Uber back to hotel mid afternoon. Pool time / relax then over to 1900 Park Fare for ADR at 8pm

Day 13 - MK
Rope drop as appt at 9.10 for Pirates League
FP - Pirates, Jungle Cruise, possibly 7 SDMT
ADR - Crystal Palace lunch
Afternoon free for last minute extraction of cash from purse / wallet

Day 14 - head for home (flight to Chicago then to U.K.)

Day 15 - arrive home

I know it’s a lot but will take breaks for snacks and to people watch etc. Feel that returning to Riverside from the parks for a rest each day would take too long. DD managed 9am till 9pm at DLP fine and hates afternoon naps so doubt she’d do so even if we did return to the hotel. She’d have a few days to recover before returning to school on the Monday.

Too much?

[Twiggy1953]

Originally Posted by Alidoll

Hi

Taking DD (8) to New York and Disney World with DH. I’m the person organising everything (DH nods whenever I ask him about it and says “ah but you’re so much better at these sort of things”) so been left to plan days and everything else.

I’ve done the ADRs so now it’s onto narrowing down the FPs and fine tuning so I’m ready for FP day.

None of us are particularly fond of thrill rides involving drops etc so Space mountain, BTM are out but could someone have a wee look over my plans and see if it’s do-able or will lead to WW3 on the tantrum front. We did DLP last year so DD seen castle / Main Street so not imperative we go to MK on the first day.

Day 1 - flight to New York (arrive mid morning so transfer to hotel about 2pm). Walk to Macy’s then Times Square - Disney Store, M&M world then Bubba Gump for dinner. Back to hotel

Day 2 - Uber to pier 63 then boat tour round Manhattan. Onto hop on, hop off bus (already have NY pass) dinner somewhere near hotels can have early night).

Day 3 - Uber to Top of the Rocks, walk to Bloomingdales then through Central Park to Natural History Museum. Subway back towards Times Sq and a bite to eat then evening bus tour over to Brooklyn

Day 4 - flight to Florida. Transfer to Riverside (mid afternoon). Boat to Disney Springs. ADR - Raglan Road and back to hotel

Day 5 - HS. DD wants to do Jedi training so sign up for that at rope drop.
FP - star tours, Toy Story Mania and Muppet 3D
Lunch - Mama Melrose (Fantasmic package)
PM - Jedi training then wander round park (beauty & the beast, Indiana Jones - dependant on Jedi training time)
QS At Backlot Express then Fantasmic

Day 6 - Epcot
FP - Soarin, Turtle Talk and Under the Sea
Figment then into Pavilions (Canada to Japan doing Kidcot stations and Remy Scavanger Hunt part 1). Pick a pearl with DD and snacking with F&W on the way
Dinner - Teppan Edo ADR (7pm)
Illuminations

Day 7 - MK
Rope drop Pooh, Teacups, carousel
FP for PPflight, Enchanted tales with Belle
Lunch ADR - BOG
Afternoon - Haunted Mansion (FP) then lenticular photo
ADR - Liberty Tree Tavern
Relax until the fireworks

Day 8 - MNSSHP
Bus then monorail to Ohana ADR (10am) though might take Uber or Mickey Van
Back to hotel - relax
Bus to MK to party for about 4.30. Buzz Lightyear and People mover then line up for character meet with Pooh and gang (DDs favourite character being Piglet).
QS at Columbia Harbour House
Haunted mansion (trick or treat stops along the way). Frontierland for Boo To You parade.
hocus Pocus Show then fireworks

Day 9 - Day off!
Walk to POFQ for Beinets (breakfast) then boat to DSprings.
Lunch at T-Rex (at this point DD and DH will likely return to hotel to swim and I’ll do damage to my holiday savings).
QS at Riverside then Yeehaa Bob at 8.30pm

Day 10 - Epcot 2
Mickey & friends character meet, Test Track then Mexico before FP for Frozen (FP)
Round the pavilions till back at Japan (Kidcot and Remy scavenger hunt part 2 then walk round to Garden Grill (ADR at 7pm) then back to hotel as Saturday night and F&W on so will be busy with locals

Day 11 - AK
FP for Safari, Lion King Show
Lunch at Tusker House
Spend day at park with FOP FP in afternoon. Stay till dark to see Pandora at night and tree of life lit up (not bothered about Rivers of light). QS at Santuli Canteen

Day 12 - Vinelands
Uber to Vinelands Outlet
Lunch there then Uber back to hotel mid afternoon. Pool time / relax then over to 1900 Park Fare for ADR at 8pm

Day 13 - MK
Rope drop as appt at 9.10 for Pirates League
FP - Pirates, Jungle Cruise, possibly 7 SDMT
ADR - Crystal Palace lunch
Afternoon free for last minute extraction of cash from purse / wallet

Day 14 - head for home (flight to Chicago then to U.K.)

Day 15 - arrive home

I know it’s a lot but will take breaks for snacks and to people watch etc. Feel that returning to Riverside from the parks for a rest each day would take too long. DD managed 9am till 9pm at DLP fine and hates afternoon naps so doubt she’d do so even if we did return to the hotel. She’d have a few days to recover before returning to school on the Monday.

Too much?

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You’re obviously much younger than we are, but still I don’t think you’ve taken into account the heat or the time difference. I really think you should try and schedule a slower day before day 9. Also I don’t know whether you realise how big the area is but the travel times between places can be long. For instance the day you’re going shopping, having lunch and returning mid afternoon with an ADR at 8, I think you’ll be lucky to get any pool time and still get to GF for your ADR. Maybe you’ve all got a lot more stamina than me but I think you should probably be a little more realistic about what you can achieve. It’s a holiday after all not a military operation.

[Mortimer Mouse]

Yes, it's alot. However, you don't say what time of year you're going. It's easier to go at that pace in December than it is in September.
Have a later start on Day 6. Going from morning to evenings are not fun for our family.

I would space out the firework evenings more, so you have some for later in the holiday, perhaps on day 9 and 12, when you've had a more chilled out daytime.

If day 10 is a Saturday, I would only do an morning in Future world and be back to the hotel at lunchtime if it's F&W time. Does Garden grill do lunchtimes at the moment?

[firsttimemouse]

Personally I wouldn't attempt rope drop to fireworks. Doesn't mean you might not be able to manage it, just not for us. I think it's different when you're at dlp as you're not doing so many days in a row and you're not dealing with the heat in quite the same way.

I reckon with rope drop and fast pass you can get loads done by about 2pm.

There's a few rides which I'm not sure would need a fp, muppet 3D, turtle talk with crush and possibly lion king show. I subscribed to Touring plans and built my own plan which really helped me get a good idea of which rides might need a fastpass. It was fairly accurate.

We only did 7 days at wdw and did go on the vast majority of rides using touring plans, rope drop and a few pre park adrs. . We didn't see all of the fireworks though as we just couldn't fit it all in. We always went back to the hotel in the afternoon even if it was just to sit and watch TV for a bit. Saying that we went to a different park in the evening than the one we'd been to in the day.

[Alidoll]

Ok thanks. We’re going at the beginning of October so might leave out the fireworks on day 7 then and just do the hallowishes fireworks instead as our booking for Liberty Tree is at 6pm or so. Our booking for 1900 means we’d probably miss the fireworks on day 12 but could try and watch them from the Grand Floridian (outdoors?). Won’t see the projections but do they project he music if it’s a nice evening?

I’ve subscribed to Touring plans so day 7 at MK is a 10 as it’s one of the few days that week that doesn’t have MNSSHP on (so has the usual fireworks that night).

Just wish Disney wasnt so regimented anda more spontaneous!

[firsttimemouse]

Originally Posted by Alidoll

Ok thanks. We’re going at the beginning of October so might leave out the fireworks on day 7 then and just do the hallowishes fireworks instead as our booking for Liberty Tree is at 6pm or so. Our booking for 1900 means we’d probably miss the fireworks on day 12 but could try and watch them from the Grand Floridian (outdoors?). Won’t see the projections but do they project he music if it’s a nice evening?

I’ve subscribed to Touring plans so day 7 at MK is a 10 as it’s one of the few days that week that doesn’t have MNSSHP on (so has the usual fireworks that night).

Just wish Disney wasnt so regimented anda more spontaneous!

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We were there on some busy days over Easter and it wasn't that bad using a Touring plan. We weren't particularly spontaneous but we did really enjoy everything. My view is that when we get to the point in the day where it's not feeling fun we go back to hotel for a bit. The afternoons are the busiest part of the day which is why we avoided them.

Don't forget mobile food ordering on the app, seen that on YouTube and it makes a massive difference.

[7SeasSailor]

Our youngest DD was 8 when we first took her and she lasted all day in the parks without any problems. I wouldn't pay much attention to "taking a slower pace because of the heat" stay hydrated and if you stop for any reason get into some air-conditioning. I'm 71 and I manage ok.

[YorkshireT]

I’m another who has no interest in spending every hour in the parks from rope drop to fireworks. I’ve found there is no need on a 10 day plus stay.
We stay in nice resorts so like to enjoy the resort a bit.
We tend to get to the park early and come home about 2. With all the travelling it’s still 3.30 before you get to the room, changed and in the pool. If you have an adr it doesn’t give you much time to have some downtime before you are getting ready to go out.
If we are doing fireworks, we’ll plan to hit the parks about 3, a few fastpass and dinner before they start.
We will have at least 1 day at a water park and also like to do the mini golf etc.

[Ridersmom]

My only advice is as soon as you hear I'm tired (hot, my feet hurt, etc) from your daughter, go back to the hotel. Do not try to push her and get in a few more rides.

WDW is large and the walking is a lot. We have found the best strategy is to go early (are you doing any EMH's?), leave when the crowds come in and return around dinner time. We also change parks and cannot imagine not hopping.

ETA: I would not wait to do AK. It is my favorite park and I think it's great for kids-lots to see and do and they can do most rides.

Also, do compare WDW to DLP-it is much larger. I have not been to DLP but have been to DL and they are very different parks even if they have some of the same rides, which are not the same even when named the same.

[jampxx]

Day 3 NYC eat at Juniors!