Hi, I am looking for some feedback on our 17 day trip in October please. My husband and I went back in 2017, so i have a good knowledge of the parks, waiting in lines and how much walking we will be doing! It is me and my husband, our 2 children (3&5) and my in-laws. We are staying at a Villa in Kissimmee. I have read lots about going back to the resort for lunchtime naps/ rest time, but this (I think) will be a bit tricky for us given that we are not staying on site and cant just hop on a bus back to the hotel. Also some of the plans for the evening will probably purely depend on how the kids are doing, maybe the youngest will head home and we stay ect.
I know we are trying to fit a lot in, there are some rides that we will probably miss, things that the kids wont / cant do and things that we last time and that we did in Paris last March (eg. Tower of Terror) hopefully this will give us a bit more time, as we really do want to do the new rides like Tron & Guardians ect. For context, we took our then 1 & 3 1/2 yr old to Paris in March last year, the 1 year old spent most of his time in his pushchair (which wont be the case this time, although we are taking a double stroller) we did 2 days one from 10:30am-close (9:45ish) the second day 10am - 8pm. He coped really well for 2 full on days, i appreciate 2 days is very different to a full on 2 weeks in and out of parks, but he walked the whole time apart from to be carried out of the park after fireworks.
This is a day when MNSSHP (the Halloween party) happens at MK, so it will close early, at 6:00pm to day guests, with no regular fireworks. The Halloween party has its own fireworks.
You can see fireworks at Epcot.
Since you are staying off-site, there are several quiet(er) places in the parks or nearby hotels where the kids can try to catch a nap.
Welcome! Looks like a great plan. One comment: are you sure you want to have a rest day on the very first day? I guess I just feel like the beginning of the trip is when energy/excitement levels are the highest. Not sure I would want to waste that on shopping, but people are different, and maybe shopping is that important to you .
Just something to consider…
This is actually something I was wondering about when I took another look at the plan today. Shopping actually meant a food shop haha and the villa has a pool so i didnt know if the kids might want to stay there and play for a bit, but yes i was thinking whether to capitalise on the jet lag and get into a park asap. This is definitely what I would prefer to do, but didn’t know if that was realistic with the kids having had such a long day the day before and I think the in laws want a chance to relax(?!?!), but don’t want us to do the ‘first park visit’ without them. Maybe just a half day at MK?
I feel reassured that you both think the rest is ok, the last few days i thought we would play by ear and if my eldest wanted to go back and do anything again, or if we didn’t get to do ‘all’ of a park we could do some more that we missed.
I had the same thought- I wouldn’t put a rest your first day as you’ll have the energy unless you have a really long flight. You didn’t say where you’re coming from. Why not just have a grocery delivery?
Every kid is different, but my kids (currently ages 8 and 5) are always really excited to get on rides and meet characters when we arrive. So if it were me, I would add more theme park days to the beginning of your schedule and more rest toward the end of the schedule. I read your post about the concerns with the first day … maybe sleep in and spend a half day (Noon-5:00 pm?) at Magic Kingdom so the kids can get a taste of the Disney magic and excitement?
For breaks, you can always go to a nearby resort for a rest. Grab a drink, shop, look around. Hop the monorail for MK, do the EP area resorts for EP/HS or take the Skyliner to CBR or AoA - the kids would love to see the theming and playground at AoA
Travelling from UK. Grocery delivery is a good idea! Thanks for the input, yes i think utilise the first day!
Also good idea to put more at the front of the trip, I did have the plan like that to start with but then was unsure if we would be pushing them too hard, but I think you might be right with that. We do have a couple of days planned at the beach before we come home, Fri, Sat and fly home Sun afternoon, we havent booked anything yet but had looked at the Indian Rocks (?) area. No where set in stone, we were just considering a few days at the beach to relax before we come home - any suggestions on this welcome too!
One thing that I noticed is the Halloween Horror Nights in you plan. I am not sure if I would take kids that young to HHN… It might be too scary for them at this age, but you know your kids best.
As of mid-day break, we did not do one even when staying on property with young kids. We started early and stayed as long as kids were enjoying the parks.
Hi, no the kids wont be coming far too scary for them, WAY past bedtime! and under 14s are not allowed haha. In-laws will be looking after them while we enjoy a child free evening being scared to death !
So reassuring to hear of someone who didn’t do breaks during the day, we were just thinking of taking a long rest in a shady area somewhere for some lunch or doing some calmer, maybe indoor things around 1pm ish and then seeing how the kids do the rest of the afternoon, yes table service meals is a good idea. Thanks for this! Really helps knowing that other people have managed to do it without having to leave the park. Although I might plan a little wonder round one of the resorts one day as a break as I would love to see the Poly or some of the other ones that have nice lobbys ect.
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