Just how tired are we going to be?

Walt Disney World Touring Plans
1

With FPP day fast approaching, I started to tackle the touring plans for each day.

We are staying in ASMov for 11 nights in January and initially, the plan was to have 8 park days with two no-park/rest days in between. However, my Junior Planner (DS12) insisted on ‘making the most out of it’ and now we (DH, DS12, DD7, and myself) have all 10 days planned with park activities.

I am a bit worried about being burned out half-way through the trip. On the other hand, perhaps this is an opportunity to take it a bit slower and have shorter days in parks spending most evenings in the pool (weather permitting)?

If anyone is interested in critiquing my plans - I would really appreciate it. I was staring at these for the last few weeks long enough, so I might not see obvious for everyone else errors.

Here we go:

Day 1. Arrival at 10:30 am. ME to resort, DS for VOID. Early dinner at Raglan Road.

Day 2 - MK
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=3583243

Day 3 - Epcot
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=3583231

Day 4 - AK
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=3583238
Dinner at Boma - 6 pm

Day 5 - HS
I must say that planning for HS before the RotR opening is a pain :cold_sweat:
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=3583256
Dinner at T-Rex - 5:30 pm

Day 6 - Epcot
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=3583266

Day 7 - HS
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=3583261
Rest in the afternoon. Dinner at Sanaa - 7 pm (I know, I know it will be dark)

Day 8 - AK
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=3583251

Day 9 - MK
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=3583227
Dinner at Artist Point - 6 pm

Day 10 - HS
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=3704155

Day 11 - MK
Slow start, brunch at Trail’s End at 12 pm
https://touringplans.com/plans/print?id=3704162

Leaving early next day.

2

To me this looks alright, as long as you really are done with most park days after dinner and you (or your family) dont feel the need to close the parks nightly like my teenagers would try for, lol.

3

I didn’t talk the time to look through all the TP’s but we were there for 7 days and even though we did a couple of half or 3/4 days, we still probably could have benefited from a resort day with no agenda. Even when we were planning on going to the parks at 10:00 am and leaving at 6:00, having to get up, ride the bus, march around, and follow a schedule is still taxing.

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4

We always go for 2 weeks and have never had a rest day. We go in summer so park hours are longer than in January. We RD probably 12 of our days, and are there till close about 10 days. We usually only do a couple of morning EMHs though and just one evening EMH.

3 Likes
5

No closing parks nightly for sure. I have a feeling that kids will be the first to bail out and ask for the pool time :smile:. They might be all exited in the morning, but will start whining soon after lunch.

6

I hear you. The plans are mostly to come up with good times for FPPs. Will will stay more or less flexible on the rest.

I am spending A LOT of time drafting the plans, but when the trip starts, I tend to forget all about them and use more as a guide.

7

If I will ever go solo or at least with older kids, that would be my choice too. :slight_smile:

8

Which resort are you staying at? I would suggest to split the difference and have 1 resort/relaxation day (but if staying close to a park, go to the park on that day for about 1.5 hours just to use 3 FP). That said, your days are not overpacked so you could probably make it work.

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9

Staying at All Star Movies, so no park is walking distance.

10

Well we’ve done it with kids of 5, 7, 11 and 14. Of course we all get tired, but it’s not unmanageable.

ETA not 4 kids though! That would be like herding cats. Either 1 or 2 kids each trip.

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11

Story of my life! :laughing:

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12

I tend to schedule out everything for “best case energy levels” just because I would rather have everything planned and then cut back as necessary than have more energy than anticipated and no plan to do anything with it!

We did 9 park days in a row with my 4 kids this February. And I did 8 park days in a row in late July with 4 kids by myself. No rest days. And it was fine. I actually think I’d go nuts with a full rest day with everyone on top of one another in the room.

In February, we did a few RD-mid-afternoon days, a few lunch-close days, etc. Never RD-close. In July I had 3-4 hour breaks built into every afternoon mainly because I was concerned about the heat. And you are correct - most days it was the kids crying uncle and wanting a break before I was ready!

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13

I just glanced at the first half of your plans. I think they look pretty good. One thing to consider is adding breaks every few steps. 15 minutes or so. You may not need all of that time but that allows for stopping to take pictures, grabbing a Mickey Bar, going to the restroom, stopping in the souvenirs shops that are at the end of a lot of major rides, etc. Your TP as it is simply assumes you are going directly from one attraction to the next without pause and in my experience with touring with kids it never goes that efficiently. :laughing:

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14

I will use this term going forward!! Yes, I would rather over-schedule now and if we need to drop an attraction or two, so be it.

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15

Yes, I was aware of this when creating the plans. Will try to mitigate by the following:

  • Set walking speed to very relaxed (we can walk fast if need to)
  • Taking bathroom breaks before/during/after lunch
  • Staying in the park xxx minutes longer
  • Dropping an attraction (although this is the last option :laughing:)

The thing is that I just do not know WHEN we decide we need a break, so it’s hard to schedule for this…

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16

The not knowing when is tricky. Have you read many trip reports? I always find those super helpful just reading everyone’s actual experience…I’ll link mine…they are both pretty long so read as little or as much as you think is helpful. :wink: Our February report (Our February Trip Report) will likely have similar weather to what you’ll experience in late January and my July report (Trip Report 7/26-8/3 - 4 kids + me!) includes my niece who is close in age to your oldest and may help more with the “how will the kids handle everything” sense of the trip. Milder February weather made it much easier to hang out in the parks for long periods of time. In July the heat was oppressive and we needed breaks.

17

The point of putting in a 15 min break every few steps as @DeepInTheHeartofTexas suggested is that over the course of the day, you’ll stay on track without having to know exactly when you will actually break. Setting the speed to very relaxed will account for quick stops like bathroom breaks.

3 Likes
18

Thanks, I love reading trip reports. Nice way to end a day and relax, but can be very informative, that’s true. Recall your trip report from this summer, but will gladly read February (this was before I joined the forum).

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19

Thank you for re-assurance!

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20

No problem. You’ll be fine!