Feedback on my plan

[Nikki_Arden]

Good idea on the FP for Splash. DW does not like the idea of getting soaked. But if I time it so it would be the last ride before heading back to the hotel for nap time, then we can change then. Initially I thought of splitting MK days, but I wanted to finish MK while we were at Poly to make use of the Monorail. I saw a bunch of posts about avoiding MK on a Monday, so that left Saturday and Sunday for MK.

Thanks for the feedback!

If your DW is worried about getting wet, I'd suggest ponchos. For Splash but also for the random rain showers Orlando gets.

 

[mcross923]

Ellen's Energy at Epcot features dinosaurs in a much more kid friendly setting. It's long (I think like 40 minutes). You sit in theater seats, watch a movie with Ellen Degenerous about fossil fuels, and then the theater seats move slowly through a track that takes you through prehistoria. It's a good way for your kids to see moving dinosaurs that aren't scary and a good way for you to get off your feet, cool down and rest for a little while. You will not want or need to use a fast pass in it.

Cool, thank you for the tip. Sounds like something much more appropriate for our kids.

Hey Mcross -
If you are already planning on eating at a place that offers a Fantasmic pkg, consider booking the pkg. It might make your life easier for a mild upcharge (not sure if there is an upcharge at H&V.) Might be worth it to you. You only have to arrive at the theater 20 minutes before the show and you'll get prime seats. No worries about fastpasses, or waiting in a queue, or bad seats. With two kids in tow, it might be worth it to you.

Awesome, thanks for point this out, I hadn't realized the upcharge is only a few bucks. I'll look to see if I can make this change.

Thank you both!

 

[Lynzer4]

Might I suggest for your down Day an evening at Disney springs.

Also while I know your kids like cars I wouldn't consider that a super fun thing to do on my first day per say. I think there are a lot of cool things to see just on the monorail. Maybe do the MK loop then hop on the Epcot loop so they can see what's Epcot looks like. Get back to the hotel for some pool time before dinner. The pool will have a lot of fun pool games going on. Plus in the evening they have movies that play.

I would also recommend the split up of your MK days thought I know you have ADRs

 

[Disney_Fan_01]

Like someone else suggested earlier, try to get all your FP's for early in the morning. You will be able to select additional ones using your phone app after you have used all 3. It is huge when planning rides with kids as all rides have a wait time in the afternoon and evening. Little kids may become impatient if they have to wait on average 30-40 minutes for every single ride that you choose to do. Make use of the Fast Pass system to your advantage

 

[mcross923]

Is your H&V a fantasmic pkg?

Also, if you are switching to Beach Club, you might want to resched your DHS day to when you are staying at BC. Maybe switch your AK day since AK is "away" from the Poly as well as BC. You can take the Friendship boat to DHS from BC. They run every 15 min. Don't forget about the Boardwalk, either, when you're at BC. Ample Hills Creamery is some pretty good Ice cream if you are into that. Boardwalk also has street shows.

H&V offers Fantasmic packages for both lunch and dinner.

Hey Mcross -
If you are already planning on eating at a place that offers a Fantasmic pkg, consider booking the pkg. It might make your life easier for a mild upcharge (not sure if there is an upcharge at H&V.) Might be worth it to you. You only have to arrive at the theater 20 minutes before the show and you'll get prime seats. No worries about fastpasses, or waiting in a queue, or bad seats. With two kids in tow, it might be worth it to you.

Thanks for the tip on the Fantasmic dining package, I just booked it for H&V lunch. So this is the regular lunch buffet with Disney Jr. characters, plus I get a voucher for reserved seating at Fantastic later that night at 8:30 PM? My ADR says "1st show"... are there sometimes two Fantasmic shows?

Chris, thanks also for the tip, I spent the afternoon switching my AK and DHS days so had to cancel and find/book ADRs and FP+ for each park. Makes great sense to take advantage of the boat from BC to DHS instead of bus from Poly.

 

[mrzrich]

Thanks for the tip on the Fantasmic dining package, I just booked it for H&V lunch. So this is the regular lunch buffet with Disney Jr. characters, plus I get a voucher for reserved seating at Fantastic later that night at 8:30 PM? My ADR says "1st show"... are there sometimes two Fantasmic shows?

Currently it is Disney Jr at breakfast and lunch, and Minnie and friends for Dinner. For your trip in March, currently, Disney Jr characters are supposed to be at lunch. Starting in Mid May, Minnie and Friends will be taking over lunch as well as dinner. Disney does add the disclaimer to all character meals that "characters are subject to change".

Yes, sometimes, during busy times there are 2 fantastic shows, but the dinner package vouchers always say "1st show"

 

[Miss Frankie J]

Hello,

Thank you for all the very helpful information on these boards… I’m a Disney newbie, fortunate enough to take our first Disney cruise last year and caught the Disney bug since. We’ve been planning our first family (DD7 and DS4) WDW trip since last summer and again fortunate enough to be able to go this year. My wife and I have been to WDW before, and it will be our kids' first time. We rented DVC points from David’s for a Poly/Beach Club split stay, easy process thus far. Alas, got my FP yesterday and we are 59 days away. Looking for feedback on my plan:


Friday 3/31
10:30 AM - Arrive MCO
12:00 PM - Arrive Polynesian via Disney Magic Express
Find a place for lunch at Poly, check room availability
2:00 PM - Monorail ride to MK, bus to Art of Animation (my kids love Cars)
4:00 PM - Back to Poly
5:15 PM - Spirit of Aloha dinner
9:00 PM - View Wishes from Poly Beach

Saturday 4/1 - MK
8:05 AM - PPO BOG
9:00 AM - Stanby on 7MDT, then Winnie the Pooh
10:00 AM - FP for Peter Pan
11:00 AM - FP for 7MDT (for a second round)
Lunch somewhere
2:10 PM - FP for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger
3:00 PM - Back to Poly for afternoon nap
5-6:00 PM - Back to MK to explore Fantasy Land and Tomorrow Land
9:00 PM - Wishes (if kids are up, which I’m sure they’ll be up)

Sunday 4/2 - MK
8:00 AM - PPO Crystal Palace
11:00 AM - FP Big Thunder Mountain
Lunch somewhere
1:30 PM - FP Pirates of the Caribbean
2:30 PM - FP Jungle Cruise
Afternoon nap, then back to explore Frontier Land and Adventure Land
9:00 PM - Wishes (if we skip Monday’s)

Monday 4/3 – DHS
After 2 days of PPO, might wake up a bit later this day
10:00 AM - FP Toy Story Mania
11:20 AM - FP Star Tours
12:15 PM - ADR Hollywood and Vine Lunch
2:15 PM - FP Frozen Sing Along for 2:30 PM show
Explore the rest of DHS
8:30 PM - Fantasmic

Tuesday 4/4 – SeaWorld day
Check out of Poly, send bags to Beach Club
Taxi to SeaWorld and back to Beach Club

Wednesday 4/5 – Rest day
Hang out at pool of Beach Club, hope the weather is good
DW may want to do some shopping at the outlet, so I plan to rent a car from the Car Care Center and drop her off while the kids and I enjoy the pool at BC for the day. Pick up the wife, drop off the car, and call it a night with dinner somewhere.

Thursday 4/6 – EPCOT
8:00 AM - ADR Akershus
9:00 AM - Hop on FEA, then hopefully Soarin’
10:30AM - FP Test Track (still debating if I should FP FEA and standby TT instead)
11:30AM - FP Turtle Talk with Crush
Lunch somewhere
2:15PM - FP Spaceship Earth (not sure if the kids will like Mission Space at this age)
Explore rest of EPCOT, head back to BC for nap if needed
9:00PM - Illuminations Fireworks

Friday 4/7 – AK
10:45 AM - FP Kilimanjaro Safari
11:45 AM - ADR Tusker House
Catch Festival of Lion King sometime
3:30PM - FP Dinosaur
4:45PM - FP Finding Nemo Musical 5PM show

Saturday 4/8 Disney Springs
8:30 AM - ADR Cape May breakfast
Check out of Beach Club
Head out to Disney Springs and stroll around
4:00 PM - Disney Magical Express to MCO
7:00 PM - Fly home

We haven’t introduced our kids to Star Wars yet, and DW and I aren’t into it too much. Kids aren’t that into meeting characters or princesses either. At our Disney cruise last year, meeting the princesses and Ana and Elsa was an OK thing for them.

With so much rave about FEA, I’m debating if I should get FP for FEA instead of TT, would appreciate your thoughts on this. Since we’re there for PPO Akershus I’m hoping to just go to FEA right after and be ok with a 30 minute wait. I know my DS will love TT as he’s so into cars and trucks right now.

Are my back-to-back FP times OK?

DS still needs to nap, but can probably power through the day without one and just sleep earlier that night. But I’m scheduling an afternoon nap for MK and EPCOT days since it’ll be easy to head back and forth. We plan to rent a stroller from an outside company and delivered to the hotel.

Anyway, thank you for reading and any feedback is welcomed. I’ve been lurking on the boards the past year and this is a great community and resource. I hope to start contributing like everyone else, but I’m still a newbie so not sure how much I can contribute yet.

Marcus

MK: Looks solid I book my FP+ back to back as well in order to get more later on in the day
AK: FP+ on the shows can be useful or not. I found that I didn't need a FP for the Nemo show or the Lion king show. however if you have no other rides that you want to go on that needs one then I'd leave your plans as is.
Ep: Since you are doing breakfast at Akershus I would try and standby FEA and FP TT. TT is so much fun your son will love it. I FP+ this every time multiple times because I love it so much!
HS: we were able to get through all of HS in half a day, granted we didn't see every show. Still you might be able to push your day back even more since you will have a long day at MK the day before.

Overall I think its a great plan! Enjoy your trip!

 

[mcross923]

Currently it is Disney Jr at breakfast and lunch, and Minnie and friends for Dinner. For your trip in March, currently, Disney Jr characters are supposed to be at lunch. Starting in Mid May, Minnie and Friends will be taking over lunch as well as dinner. Disney does add the disclaimer to all character meals that "characters are subject to change".

Yes, sometimes, during busy times there are 2 fantastic shows, but the dinner package vouchers always say "1st show"

MK: Looks solid I book my FP+ back to back as well in order to get more later on in the day
AK: FP+ on the shows can be useful or not. I found that I didn't need a FP for the Nemo show or the Lion king show. however if you have no other rides that you want to go on that needs one then I'd leave your plans as is.
Ep: Since you are doing breakfast at Akershus I would try and standby FEA and FP TT. TT is so much fun your son will love it. I FP+ this every time multiple times because I love it so much!
HS: we were able to get through all of HS in half a day, granted we didn't see every show. Still you might be able to push your day back even more since you will have a long day at MK the day before.

Overall I think its a great plan! Enjoy your trip!

Thank you both for your replies!

 

[HHMcG]

Initially I thought of splitting MK days, but I wanted to finish MK while we were at Poly to make use of the Monorail. I saw a bunch of posts about avoiding MK on a Monday, so that left Saturday and Sunday for MK.

This was the first thing that jumped out at me. My family would not be happy having MK done in our first two days. MK is, well. so magical. We like to spread it out so we know we get to come back. We always save our second MK day for our last day. I know it makes sense to do MK when you are at Poly. But the heart wants what the heart wants and I always want more MK. I would seriously consider switching your second MK day with AK. None of those fp should be too hard to switch.

FEA - Since you are doing the PPO breakfast at Akershus I think it is a good gamble to skip the FEA fp+. Just get to Akershus early, get the bill quickly and don't linger over things too much so that you can get out of Akershus on time. I would plan it the same way.

Naps - I know it's been said here a million time - but try to be flexible. Our first trip with kids (DD4 & DS2) we tried to go back to the room for naps. The kids could not be forced to sit still. The baby screamed in his PnP. It was a 2+ hour fight and no one slept. Turns out they would dose off in the stroller as needed. So that is what we did the rest of that trip and ever since. Whatever works is good. Be flexible.

I think your fp selections and schedule are fine. Some headliners/thrill rides are missing but I assume it is due to your kids ages. I don't like rushing thru all my fp just to make more, like others have mentioned. It makes me feel too rushed and focused on planning versus enjoying the here and now. Just me, just my preference.

Oh and our trip (4/5-4/12) over laps yours, almost there!

 

[4GoofyCrew]

Dinosaur is the only ride my DD has come off crying. She starts shaking even at the mention of it (she's 8). My nephew, a complete adrenaline junkie, was white-faced and even admitted it was maybe too much for him.

Yikes! This is good to know. I had watched a POV YouTube and it looked doable, but maybe not.

If your nephew didn't like it, don't think our kids would like it. They are NOT adrenaline junkies. I have FP for it but I think I'll switch to something else instead. Thanks for the heads up!