Here they finally are. Changed about a bazillion times from my initial plans that included daily breaks and no late nights. Ha!
The first days are flat out, with large amounts of free time in the second half of the week.
Mainly concerned with timing, especially leaving enough time for meals and for travelling when we are leaving a park for an adr. We DO have our own transport. If you happen to see other stupid errors, feel free to point them out too
Epcot Day 1
Pre RD (for now) Akershush CP package
Le Cellier for lunch
nothing planned for dinner, may not even need it-
Fp for frozen ever after that Iām still trying to move a bit earlier. https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=2569856
1/2 day MK Day 3 (rest of the day off and date night)
Iām doing the Senses of Africa tour at 6.45 am, Brian and the boys are doing Pre RD (for now) CP breakfast
1.45 lunch at Homecomin
Disney Springs for the afternoon
Boys in Liloās playhouse from 4.30
Anniversary celebration dinner at Artist Point 6pm or have pizza delivered to the room
buzz lightyear fpp 10.00
BTMR fpp 11.05
Splash fpp 12.05 https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=2740279
Last day Plan A is currently MK and this is what I will be booking fpp for. Plan b and c is for epcot and Ak, no fpp will be booked if we go with those days. Plans are meant to be a loose idea of what we could do more than a followed plan as such.
if at epcot
Plan starting from 10 to hopefully give enough time to deal with breakfast and drive over
lunch probably somewhere like electric umbrella https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=2440275
First off, can you be my mummy, please, and take me with you. I am beyond jealous.
Two tiny things occurred to me.
First, my lunch at Le Cellier was amazingly delicious, but also huge, I barely ate half of it. So Iād book it late and it should carry you through the rest of the day, so ā as you suggested ā no need for a big dinner.
Second, I notice you had a FPP for LwtL. Thatās probably not really necessary, though it can be difficult to find things to spend your FPPs on at Epcot.
Iām a bit worried about you getting from ROL to Jiko in 40 minutes.
First youāll need to get out of ROL in a large crowd. Not sure where your seating will be and where you can exit. Then get to your car, which should be close to entrance since youāll be there early, get to AKL, including the barrier at which theyāll scan your band, park and get to JIko.
To me itās debateable if youāll make it. Can you push Jiko back at all?
In general, expect 7am EMH at MK all that week, other parks will likely open at 8 or possibly 8:30.
Christmas Day, if thereās any delay with any of the fastpasses the knock-on effect may put lunch in jeopardy. As it stands youāve given yourself an hour to get from Splash to the exit (15 maybe in crowds), across to TTC (totally dependent on monorail or ferry), find car, drive to DS, park and find restaurant.
Again I really worry if thatās doable. Traffic could be horrendous, finding parking at DS is always fraught, even finding your way into the nearest parking to Homecoming.
Thanks. Iāve moved Jiko back to 8.35, but Iāll put in a request on the reservation finder to see if something a little later pops up.
Moved homecomin to 2.30.
This is why I ask. I have no idea how long it takes to get places and the maps arenāt super helpful for guessing what traffic and human congestion is like
GJust realised Insaid Xmas Day above when I meant 26th, but you guessed that?
As far as traffic goes, we donāt actually drive at all on property unless itās to change resorts. However certainly on Xmas Day and NYE you really donāt want to be driving on property IMO. For you on Xmas Day, it should be OK as youāll be on the road early.
Last year for instance, on NYE there was gridlock on the main road to MK by about 1pm, all the way back to the interstate. Nothing was moving, and of course they had to slowly get everyone to turn around and head off to other parks. I was waiting for DH and boys to return from the malls and they never made it, they went direct to DS where we met for dinner. But it kinda ruined the plans as he couldnāt drink anything because we knew we had to get the car back to Bay Lake.
I think moving the times of the meals is a good idea. You can always look around AKL and DS first if you get there early.
Iāll look over the rest of the plans when I get a chance. Makes me envious lol!
I did guess that youāre were taking about the 26th. Weāre opting for driving most of the time because ds gets motion sickness on buses. We donāt have a choice for the 26th-theyāll get the bus as my tour starts at 6.45 am at akl!
The crazy crowds is why I havenāt scheduled any park hopping.
Weāre planning on early mornings so hopefully traffic wonāt be too bad on the way in to the parks each day. New yearās eve weāre staying until the fireworks so weāll loiter awhile before leaving. New Years day weāll be leaving fairly early ish.
I should also say we are prepared to ditch the plans and go sleep if we need too
Day 4 (MK) As I said before, MK will likely open at 7 for EMH, so you might want to think about what you would do with the extra 2 hours if youāre going to use them.
I notice all of the TL rides have no time in between, so EMH would at least give you time to maybe fit in CoP and re-ride stuff. Canāt remember exactly what opens early, but Space for sure and Buzz.
Also I notice you havenāt included the Christmas Parade in any of your plans. Is this deliberate. During that week it will be the special Christmas one, shown twice - probably noon/12:30 and 3. Again EMH would let you shuffle things up a bit to be able to see it. If you did Pooh straight after lunch and then did the Parade.
When you see the Castle, try and take time to find Cinderellaās fountain and the wishing well. Donāt rush through!
Day 5 (DHS)
Personally I would head straight to TSMM at rope drop, and do Star Tours and Muppets on the way to Indy. As it stands, if thereās a longer than expected wait for Star Tours or Muppets you are running the risk of missing that fastpass
Also last year on the 30th was the first time I have seen lots of people turned away from the shows and being told to get there at least 30 minutes early for the next one. And Indy was the worst because there are simply fewer shows!
So if you switched things round to do TSMM, then your 2 fastpasses, you could then line up for Indy by half past.
Hopefully you could then fit in Star Tours and Muppets between shows.
Path of the Jedi is a rolling 10 minute film clip compilation. The March of the First Order is far more entertaining imo! And the stage show that follows.
All of which explains why we went back to DHS for a second (half-ish) day on our trip. I honestly found it the hardest to plan, and we werenāt trying to fit in all the shows, but did spend about 90 minutes in Launch Bay, and watched the Star Wars stage show and March etc.
I havenāt yet loooked at your possible 2nd day at DHS though, you may have thought of all this
Iāve left the mk day as if for now with the thought that its likely going to be 7am open, so I will re-evaluate and hopefully end up with a bit of extra time in there. I do have the list of emh attractions handy. No plans on seeing CoP.
The fof parade canāt be put in the tps at the moment because there arenāt any set times. Well should be leaving Tom Sawyer island in time to see it in frontierland on the 31st before going to the treehouse, but it also isnāt a huge deal if we donāt catch all of it.
Thank you for the info on HS. Itās been a bother to plan and the tp just wonāt stabilise when optimising. We do only have the one day there. Iāll have to mess around with it a bit more. Path of the Jedi is gone from the plan! There is so much star wars stuff there
Looks OK. If youāre running late for Soarin you can switch things about, do Circle of Life later etc. Youāre in the right area for lunch, and some free time. I always think 15 minutes for the aquarium is low; it is a big place and if youāre genuinely wanting to see the manatees or whatever, you will spend more time there. But again you can play it by ear. Ditto with the Japan pavilion, itās lovely and peaceful when you get off the main path. You may have extra time if you only do one Mission Space.
Day 7 (AK)
Loads of time to do stuff like the Maharajah Trek and see those tiger cubs (if theyāre on show yet), or the trails in Oasis, Tree of Life and stuff. V
I looked at your other plans but I donāt think thereās much to say about them. Theyāre all pretty relaxed and re-doing stuff I imagine.
New Yearās Day should be fine. Itāll likely not be as busy first thing, due to people having been out the night before and not getting back to resorts until the small hours.
Donāt forget for your last day, if you decide to switch plans you can cancel those fps booked and see what you can get elsewhere. At AK you may not get an early time for Safari but I would think youād be able to get Kali and Dinosaur at least. Ditto with some at Epcot. And if you decided to hop parks, remember you could precook a couple of things and book a 3rd in the second park as soon as you tap in for the 1st one.
Definately havenāt forgotten, but itās hard to guess what will be available day of so I have just left them as is and consider any fpps a bonus if we change our plans
Thanks for the info on the aquarium- I think we will probably stay a bit longer than that too. There are a few things in that plan that we havenāt completely decided on yet, and I can see Dh and the kids deciding they couldnāt be bothered with some of the smaller things when we get there.
Now to keep wrangling with that HS plan
Thank you for so much of your time, it has been a huge help!
@Ladythomas, Youāve planned my dream vacation!!! Jiko on Christmas day!!! Senses of Africa Tour!
Anniversary dinner at Artist Point!!! (donāt do pizza!) Lunch at HomeComin! Breakfast at Crystal Palace! Columbia Harbour House! Hollywood Brown Derby!! 50ās Prime Time!!! Fantasmic! Spice Road Table w. Illuminations! Tiffins!!! (Rainforest Cafeā¦Iām hoping thatās for the kids) Skippers Canteen! Narcoosees!! Wow!!! Youāre hitting all of my favourites except The Boat House, Citricos and California Grill (although thatās slipping down my to do list).
The only worry I have about your plan is youāve got long days scheduled almost every day. Have you ever done a WDW trip like this before? Itās exhausting. Especially with children. My only adaptation would be to either cut out early if the kids are fading, or have the occasional sleep in and drop a breakfast or two. This is just my personal touring strategy, but you know your family best.
Iām very excited for you!!! (I think I broke my own record for # of !!! lol) I hope youāll do a trip report! Enjoy.
Weāve never been. Weāve done other theme parks in this way and are generally very active, but weāre prepared to ditch the plan if needed. Id rather over plan than under plan. Thatās when we end up arguing, dh is indecisive and will change his mind 6 times and Iām on holiday and donāt want to thinkš
make your way there and your welcome to join in though!
