Are my Contemporary Resort Park Hopper touring plans realistic?

[thisfits]

I tried doing 2 full park days on a 5 day trip with DS5 & DS7. The boys were not really enjoying much after 1 pm on the full park days other than sit down shows in the AC. The days with pool time between 1-4pm went much better. I’d strongly consider a pair of strollers, getting a double for the younger pair.

Definitely not doing full park days without a mid-day break, but sounds like the consensus is that the breaks need to be longer.

My only really hesitation strollers is how much I loathe taking them through airports, but think we might have enough leftover ME tags after our luggage to just check them through to MCO.

[kerrilux_625778]

My only really hesitation strollers is how much I loathe taking them through airports

You can rent one for a week for like $100 from Kingdom Strollers. They deliver and pick up from your resort. So easy!

[thisfits]

It could take 20 minutes just to get your food. It is a super busy food court!

Re: fireworks
Since you’re not sure you want to wait, it’s a great time to ride outdoor rides. Peoplemover, Bug Thunder, Splash, etc are all fun to ride during fireworks!

Ha … if we can’t get Sunshine Seasons done in 20 minutes, I’ll probably drop it entirely, leave the park early, and get lunch at Contempo Cafe.

Knowing my kids, and given that we have a Theme Park View, might also just skip HEA entirely and watch from our room: skip the crowds, earlier bedtime. When we did preferred viewing for World of Color at DLR a few years ago, the kids were terrified! They’re a few years older now, but they’re also perfectly happy watching 4th of July fireworks from a mile and a half away. Figure they’ll enjoy HEA from a half-mile away in their PJs.

[thisfits]

Thanks all for your advice. I’ve gone ahead and adjusted the schedule a bit to work in longer breaks (they’re not ideal, but better), and fiddled with the touring plans to make for shorter afternoons and evenings. Updated itinerary below.

Two additional questions:

• How early do we need to be to RD Everest? I figure once the park opens, most people will turn left for Pandora, while we turn right to Asia (and, I’ve heard, possibly beat the crowd by cutting through Dinoland)
• How much time should we set aside for eating a Giant Mickey Waffle at Sleepy Hollow?

MON AM (EP)
08:20am - 09:00am: Garden Grill Breakfast
09:00am - 01:00pm: Touring Plan (RD Soarin’, No FPs)
01:00pm - 01:45pm: EP to CR (Monorails)

01:45pm - 03:30pm: BREAK (lunch at CR; room if ready, convention couches if not)

MON PM (AK)
03:30pm - 04:00pm: CR to AK (Bus)
04:00pm - 09:30pm: Touring Plan (FPs: Dinosaur, FOP, KS)
*Maybe this is heretical, but I’m kinda OK with dropping Na’vi River Journey if the night’s running too long.

TUE AM (AK)
09:00am - 12:30pm: Touring Plan (No FPs, RD EE)
12:30pm - 12:45pm: AK to AKL (Bus)
12:45pm - 01:45pm: Lunch at Sanaa
01:45pm - 02:30pm: AKL to CR (Bus to MK, Walk to CR)

02:30pm - 04:15pm: BREAK

TUE PM (MK)
04:15pm - 04:30pm: CR to MK (Walk)
04:30pm - 08:45pm: Touring Plan (FPs: SpaM, SplM, BTMR)

WED AM (EP)
07:45am - 08:00am: CR - Poly (Monorail)
08:00am - 09:30am: Breakfast at Ohana’s
09:30am - 10:00am: Poly - EP (Monorails)
10:00am - 01:30pm: Touring Plan (No FPs)
01:30pm - 02:00pm: EP to CR (Monorails)

02:00pm - 03:30pm: BREAK

WED PM (HS)
03:30pm - 04:00pm: CR to HS (Bus)
04:00pm - 10:15pm: Touring Plan (FPs: ST, RnRC, SDD; staying for Fantasmic)

THU AM (MK)
08:30am - 09:00am: CR to MK (Walk)
09:00am - 12:45pm: Touring Plan (FPs: 7DMT, PPF, Buzz)
12:45pm - 02:00pm: Lunch at BOG
02:00pm - 02:30pm: MK to CR (Walk)

02:30pm - 03:30pm: BREAK

THU PM (EP)
03:30pm - 04:00pm: CR to EP (Monorails)
04:00pm - 09:30pm: Touring Plan (No FPs, 8pm SRT reservation, staying for Illuminations)

FRI AM (HS)
08:30am - 09:00am: CR to HS (Bus)
09:00am - 01:30pm: Touring Plan (No FPs; lunch at Backlot)
01:30pm - 02:15pm: HS to CR (Bus)

02:15pm - 04:15pm: BREAK

FRI PM (MK)
04:15pm - 04:30pm: CR to MK (Walk)
04:30pm - 08:45pm: Touring Plan (FPs: SplM, BTMR, 7DMT)

[douglar]

My only really hesitation strollers is how much I loathe taking them through airports

I loved the days of strollers at the airport. The TSA people usually ushered us to the handicapped lines. We checked the strollers on the plane walkway for no fee. Made good time walking to the gates without kids running into stores. That all went really well. I miss that.

You can also rent the strollers at the parks if you don’t like taking them through the airport.

[chj1673]

I just got back from a week long Disney trip on Saturday. We took our 5 year old with us. I gotta tell you that our break had to be at least 2 hours to be worth it. That is 2 hours from the moment you take your shoes off to the moment you start getting ready to go back out. You have to remember that the heat really knocks you out. It makes you feel worn down. We had days where weather.com said it felt like 107 outside with 91% humidity. July will be hotter. We did Early Morning Magic 2 of our days and After Hours one of them. We got to each park for either EMM or did a pre-park opening breakfast every morning of our trip and were always out of the park by 1:30 at the latest. We then rested and did not go back until about 5pm. It was the only way we were able to make it, and even then I am still feeling tired and I have been back four days already. Our daughter always claimed to be fine and not tired, but the minute we got back to the room, she was asleep in minutes. Just a heads up as a parent of a fellow 5-year-old.

[Jsanta26]

i agree with long breaks! three hours at least. We went in may and by day two my 5 year old was needing to go back and swim to cool off. it was so hot and they get miserable.
Second, third and fourth the stroller recommendations!

I would also say, just be ready to change your plans at any moment and be ok with it. I actually ended up moving or cancelling reservations day of because we were tired, not hungry or starving and in another area of the park and wanted to just eat rather than walk to the other side and wait for a reservation.

the other thing I can add is that unless you are mobile ordering (which isn’t available at a lot of places), the lines to order food and wait can be 10-15 minutes themselves… make sure you calculate that in!

I would say do one night of HEA, its really worth it, but doesn’t need to be an every time thing. I went and saw it once and the other nights rode rides instead!

[mary32830]

You’re getting up early every day and staying out late. I’d pick one morning for a little downtime. Maybe you don’t have to do that Wednesday Epcot morning and can just go to the pool then head to HS a tad earlier and then spend all day at MK ON Friday (you are paying to be close to MK so spend as much time there as you can). I found getting to Epcot to be a bit of a pain from CR. Just my opinion. Just because you have PH doesn’t mean you have to park hop every day.

I actually like a lot of your plan but it is a tad ambitious with 3 kids, 2 in the preschool set.

[davej]

• Maybe this is heretical, but I’m kinda OK with dropping Na’vi River Journey if the night’s running too long.

I skipped Na’vi’ last year (and have never been on it) so definitely not heretical in my book. Now, if you said you might skip FOP … that would be heretical!

[davej]

Short answer: yes, we’re planning on bringing a double stroller. Maybe even two strollers so all our kids can have rides.

Have you considered renting stroller from one of the third party rental companies that drop-off and pick-up from the Contemporary? We rented 2 strollers and were very happy with that decision.

[davej]

As it happens, most days our first “post-break” step is something we’re willing to drop. I’d claim extreme cleverness, but the truth is it just happened to work out that way, I think.

That’s great! You seem to have a good attitude about this which will be valuable during the trip as things/delays come up. It took me a couple days (and my wife’s wide words) to accept that we could miss certain attractions in my touring plan and still have an amazing time! I learned that being ready to be flexible with the touring plan is important.

[davej]

You actually bring up something I’m a little confused about with touring plans: I assumed the “Walking Time” for the last step is the time it takes to get from that step back to the entrance to the park.

I suspect that is correct, but I do not know for certain. In any event, the touring plan almost never goes exactly as planned from a timing perspective so if the TP says you will reach the exit at 2:00 pm, you may still wind up getting there later.

[thisfits]

the other thing I can add is that unless you are mobile ordering (which isn’t available at a lot of places), the lines to order food and wait can be 10-15 minutes themselves… make sure you calculate that in!

Yeah, not messing with food lines. With the exception of Sleepy Hollow, every meal we’re planning without reservations has Mobile Order available.

[thisfits]

I’d pick one morning for a little downtime. Maybe you don’t have to do that Wednesday Epcot morning and can just go to the pool then head to HS a tad earlier

I LOVE this idea. Thanks!

[thisfits]

Have you considered renting stroller from one of the third party rental companies that drop-off and pick-up from the Contemporary? We rented 2 strollers and were very happy with that decision.

I have, and I’ve looked into pricing and options from various companies, but I think we’re settled on bringing our own. My wife’s pointed out that bringing our own strollers is free (yay Southwest!), and probably pretty painless with Magical Express. They’re a little beat up and our kids have pretty much outgrown them, so we’re OK if they don’t survive this trip.