Three generations, is this too much in the schedule?

[scurvyfreedman]

Wife and I are taking our two daughters 8 1/2 and 5 1/2, plus my mother-in-law (mid 60s) this October. I'm hoping it's relatively cool, I've heard that October weather can vary between 90s and 70s.

Staying offsite at Hilton Bonnet Creek property, which I've read has very good Mears busses, although the schedules aren't available this far out. I'm willing to rent a car if that is more convenient. The hotel has a lazy river and water slide.

We have a lot of things already planned, but I wanted some feedback as to whether this is too much and we need to scale back or swap some of our scheduled days.

5 day-park hopper passes.

Sunday- arrival around noon. Should be at hotel by 1:30.
Enter MK around 3pm. Stay until 7pm when MNSSHP begins. Eat table service.

Monday- DHS morning. ADR at 50s PT Diner for lunch. Leave park at 2pm. Rest at hotel/maybe swim.
EP at night. ADR at Marrakesh for dinner. Still considering alternatives, but options are slim. Stay for IllumiNations?

Tuesday- AK morning. ADR at Yak and Yet for lunch. Leave park at 2. Rest at hotel.
MK evening. ADR at BOG for dinner at 6:20. My youngest loves the Beast so this is a must do. MNSSHP tix. Probably leave after parade. Can't imagine we'll make it to the fireworks. This is our most aggressive day in terms of activity, and it comes after our second busiest.

Wednesday- EP morning. Not a rush day. ADR at Askerhus. Leave park when tired. Swim at hotel. Date night with wife this night or next. Maybe Disney Springs? Could go back to EP with kids and do IllumiNations this night or Fantasmic at DHS.

Thursday - MK morning. ADR at Plaza for lunch. Wanted to lock something down, but not fixed on this lunch. Leave park when tired. Open night plans. Date night with wife this night or previous. Maybe Disney Springs? Could go back to EP with kids and do IllumiNations this night or Fantasmic at DHS.

Friday - relax at hotel in morning. Depart for airport at 10:30am.

Any advice on whether or not to bring stroller for my younger daughter? We went 3 years ago and had two strollers. My youngest was only 2 1/2 so she needed it, but my oldest needed it too b/c otherwise it was "unfair." We only used one at night and the little one did a lot of walking while the older one rode.

 

[monorailsilver]

The only thing I am thinking is you might be tired from all the going back and forth to the room to rest and FYI, if you are tired, don't swim, nap! I made that mistake with my oldest. We went back to the room (Poly), dh stayed with our son who was 22 months and I took our 4 yo swimming with the baby (growing in my tummy, lol). She wasn't tired when we got back to the room and hadn't napped in a few years so I thought this would be good.

Well she fell asleep in Epcot at about 7 for a quick nap and luckily slept that night. After that we all took a mid day break to nap.

I would plan a non park day if possible. Everyone needs that day to recoup if you are going going going, especially the little ones and every your MIL.

My parents were in their upper 60s when they came with us and were pooped, now my mom comes to FL with us in April and last year she was exhausted and all we did was go to the beach every day.

ADRs are going to take a good portion of your park time too, 1-2 hours I am thinking. We just do QS, not the dining plan, and eat where ever we are. Just reading it looks like you are only going to have an hour or two rest/pool time with all the traveling back and forth whether it's waiting for a Mears bus or taking the car.

But really, who am I to say, you know your family best, its been 3 long, very long, did I say long?? years since I have been there. Well besides lunch twice in 2014 in the old DtD. And it will be 2 very long impatient years before we go back.

 

[J'aime Paris]

I agree with monorailsilver, lots of good advice.

If it were me, I'd do either the ADRs or the rest time. Not both. It really eats up a lot of your day. You should over-estimate transportation times, and sit down meal times.

I personally would do less ADRs. You will have more flexibility/spontaneity with your day.

Also, on Tuesday, you indicated that you have MNSSHP tix. Thats terrific and your kids should enjoy it a lot!
That said, why would you leave the park at 2pm, when you can enter for the party at 4pm? Either leave earlier to get ready for the party, or stash the costumes in a locker until you want to wear them. Just a suggestion...i wouldn't miss a minute of the party time! (And 2 sit down meals and party candy would be way too much food for most during potentially warm/hot weather. Really makes you sluggish and tired.)

Have a great time whatever you decide!!

 

[AshleeH]

I would agree with the others, staying offsite (even as close as Bonnet Creek) will eat up a lot of travel time if you don't have your own car to use. We always take a midday break in October because it is hot and crowded - we try to avoid the peak time for both and go back to our room, but we book for the prime location that we'll need and it's not a hassle to get back to the hotel. We also have our car for EP/HS days, so we're back in our hotel room while some people are still waiting for buses. It makes a world of difference.

However, since you're planning on a different park or other option from the morning, you'll have travel time anyway, so just be a little less structured with how you take your break. If you don't have an ADR or FP, don't try to stick to the schedule and stay in the park until 2:00. Leave when you're ready. When I say we take a midday break, we're usually done by noon and rolling out of the park as huge crowds are streaming in. Peak times are between 11-3, so a midday break at 2:00 defeats the purpose of avoiding the heat and crush. And it will be hot, even in October. Most common temp seems to be high 80s-90s when we're there. It's even been in the 90s at night, many times, so don't go expecting cool fall temperatures. Not saying it couldn't happen, but we always go in October and have never experienced anything even remotely cool. And only a few nights that I would term "comfortable".

 

[JinxedSydney]

Gotta jump in and say yes to the above posters. It's pretty full. Even our travel days wore us out, especially my parents (mid 60's). And if the temps are up, it'll suck your will to live. Nothing like hot, muggy days to bring out the inner beast. Even standing in line for a ride gets dicey.

In regards to the stroller, you can rent the doubles at the park. Our first trip, our 5 year old didn't use it once. And the second trip, the 8 year old asked if I was joking when I asked about getting one.

 

[chris31997]

I agree with the others. I would scale things back.

Things to consider: 5yr old keeping up with short legs. We did the no stroller thing with our 5 yr old, and he kept up BUT we had to go slower. MIL, does she have healthy issues that might require her to slow down some. Mine has COPD, and struggles to walk long distances and refuses a wheelchair. My mom has weight and bad knees working against her. Keep this in mind. While the ADR's provide a chance to sit and recover, it is alot of food and kiddos get antsy. Mine lids would have driven me nuts wanting to do things and not sit down to eat. Most days we ate breakfast and dinner, and then snacked througt out the day.

 

[glassslippergirl]

Got to agree. Try to keep it to one TS per day. My DS4 couldn't sit through two long sit-downs restaurant meals a day-- and it eats up a lot of valuable ride time. Definitely rent a car;bus service is slow and undependable. If you're going to do breaks back to the hotel and move between parks, make it as easy as possible.

 

[roseaster]

My kids can easily do 2 TS meals a day. To us, that wouldn't be a problem. We never did the middle of the day back to the hotel thing, even on site. It took up a lot of time, and the kids would fall asleep on the bus and then be awake at the hotel.

If any of the kids were still napping they usually napped in the stroller. Not to mention you have TS lunches, so that is downtime.

The only thing I would change is the day of MNSSHP. We never get park tickets for a party day (we have been to many MNSSHPs) We sleep in and relax at the pool during the day and head over to the party at 4pm (they will let you in at that time with party tix) MNSSHP is 1 of our favorite things and we stay late that night. The kids love it. The parade and the fireworks are WDW's best.

4 day hoppers would save you a little money, too.