I haven’t read everything here, but I wanted to do LL on our trip when we also did U and WDW and decided against it for time’s sake. I don’t regret our decision b/c we still did not see anywhere near as much as we wanted to at the other 2 places and they are better (supposedly…I have not been to LL but have been to one of the small, indoor ones, in Boston). But, my kids are older (13, 11, 8) and it was our first ever time to U so we wanted to maximize our short time there.
BTW you are right about Epcot. At least when we were there, over Thanksgiving, the construction walls were oppressive. It was hard to get from ride to ride b/c we would get confused, or would start walking one way and then realize we were blocked off from what we were heading towards. We’d been there twice before and I thought I knew the layout…
LL is a sad smidge of the magic of disney… but DS is a lego FANATIC and absolutely loved it when we went in 2018. He’s getting mostly legos for xmas. Unless you have major lego fans that are 8 and under, it’s a DEFINITE skip.
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I changed my mind: you should go to LL b/c of the ages of your kids. I wish I’d been able to do that with mine when they were younger b/c my DS11, when he was about 9, was obsessed—truly!—with legos. By the time we got around to making another trip he was out of the phase and didn’t want to do it. It’s probably not as good as the other parks but will be magical for little kids.
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Looks like you have gotten some tips on narrowing down. My one reminder (for myself too) is to remember who the FOMO belongs to. When I planned the first trip for my little niece, I had a pretty long list of “must dos” - particularly at Magic Kingdom. There were so many things I wanted her to experience - but I, like you, was worried that the day would be frazzled and that the experience would be rushed. Planning got a lot better when I realized that my niece had no FOMO because she didn’t know what she was missing. We had a much better day going with the flow and slowing down the magic so that she and the rest of us could really take it in.
There are definitely things I wish we could have done, and things that popped up and took us off plan because she was was interested, but letting go of the “necessary” list and reminding myself that it is impossible to experience all the magic in one trip helped a lot and made me a much more pleasant trip leader.
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This is a great point, thanks. For each park, I am picking out must dos, getting FPs for them through some combo of tap grab modify + rider switch stretching, and calling anything else a bonus.
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This modified plan looks like a good plan to me. Hope it all goes well!
Thanks! I will be sure to keep y’all posted. Did some calculations on whether or not to get the dining plan and the numbers are really close for the deluxe plan (I know we will end up getting room service too often to make any of the other plans make sense). I think we’ll just pay OOP so that I don’t cringe every time we eat QS. But then I guess I’ll cringe every time we get the bill otherwise LOL.
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Too true! 
Given that you’ve been before and that you just want to hit Harry Potter and Jurassic world, I think you could do one long day on March 1 and then have a light (recovery) day March 2 and maybe do HDD. I wouldn’t add on a HS partial day but this is all hindsight of being a FOMO over-scheduler – we dropped a fair amount of things to keep things sane, and did do a partial HS day that was fun but if we’d skipped that partial day it would have been fine too. But you say your husband likes UO, so if he wants to do more than Harry Potter and Jurassic then having the second day at UO would be nice.
Not being on the dining plan will give you more flexibility. I don’t regret our ADRs since this was a first/possibly only trip and we all much preferred the TS food to QS food (except for Be Our Guest lunch/breakfast), but the scheduled table service meals would be the first thing I’d drop for a future trip to allow for more going with the flow.
Have you considered the AKAH on March 5 just for you and DS, or would he not make it late enough for it to be worth it? I’m just thinking that if he could stay up late that night, you could do AK without FoP FPs, and then if SDD FPs are challenging for March 6 you could make March 6 an MK day and bump HS to March 7. With the proximity of Poly to MK, you and DS could do your MK fireworks and dessert party on March 3 after checking in/dinner.
I might skip DS on Feb 29 to make the first day more relaxing. FWIW, we didn’t end up seeing Pandora at night because of torrential rain and, even though that was on my musts list, I have no after-the-fact FOMO about it.
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I actually thought about AKAH for DH and me, because DH says it’s his fave dis park (prob because it’s always been the least crowded lol). Sadly, DS won’t make it that late. He’s good until about 10 but unless you’re there til close it’s not worth the price IMO. DH loves universal in general, but we will skip stuff like jimmy fallon, fast and furious, etc. we can stick to coasters and HP and JP. I think the HS partial day won’t work because we’d have to be up at the crack of dawn for RotR BG.
I think our only ADRs will be HDD (i’m still wondering if we even have time for that) and probably Tony’s for the parade pkg, just so we have the VIP viewing area (unless anyone has better ideas about unstressful ways to see the parade). I hate that because the QS food is blah but I just don’t think we can do it.
We won’t do DS on 2/29 unless everyone is up for it. That would be the lego store, crayola experience and T-rex probably (for dino/lego-crazed artist DS lol), so i’m not dying to go.
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I think your revised plan makes sense, then! It’s hard, there’s so much to do and having to decide ahead of time what you’re making time for/not really sucks (especially the not part, for those of us with FOMO – I feel you.)
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If you want to do something like AKAH with just your husband there is a great babysitting service called Kids Nite Out. Their info should be on the Disney website. I’ve used them 3 times, from 2014 through last Nov, and was happy each time. It’s expensive but worth it. A babysitter comes to your hotel room and babysits while the adults get to go out. Each time I used this service my husband and I went out on a date and returned when kids had been asleep a long time. It makes a very special memory of the trip that is different than the others b/c you can simply be adults.
Also, I read your entire TR a couple days ago! What fun!
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So I thought about this. Maybe dinner at saana first? But then I heard there arent enough rides open during AKAH to make it worth it?
I have never done an AH event, I only mentioned it b/c you did. On our dates we 1) went to HS at night until close to see the Osborne lights, which they don’t do anymore. Kids were so little then that they couldn’t have lasted until midnight. We had a nice dinner at 50s primetime 2) went to Saana with the other adult who came with us on the day he arrived for dinner, then went shopping at Disney Springs 3) went to The Edison b/c I wanted to see it late night when it’s a nightclub. But you can do anything on your date.
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A brief update after chatting with hubby and tweaking some more:
Mar 1-2: UO days, getting a sitter our first day so that we can ride all the headliners we want and then doing more experiential things/seuss land/shows that DD can do on day 2.
Mar 3: MK, driving from offsite to poly (our poly res begins this day), monorail, get am FPs for Adventure/Frontier to avoid massive RD lines. For crowd-averse hubby, FoF Tony’s dining pkg at 1240, then Harmony first haircut scheduled at 2, then reserved parade viewing area, then collapsing in the room!
Mar 4: Legoland for DS and DH, going for Epcot with DD, FEA, Character Spot and 1 more FP with her (any suggestions?)
Mar 5: Should we go to MK in am or pm this day? Used to be that AM was least crowded, but if we can FP the biggies in Fantasy/tmw in the afternoon, no reason to rush to the park? Or should we go, use BoG PPO ADR at 805, mobile order, then break in afternoon, then come back for fireworks (getting sitter)? Booked dessert party to avoid crowds. If we wait til the afternoon, we will probably go to Wilderness Lodge in the am for Roaring Fork and just to see it.
Mar 6: HS, sitter for DD. The only real plan this day is to get in a BG and then wing it from there. Why does HS dining suck so badly?
Mar 7: AK using EMH, maybe grabbing a day-of Saana reservation if we’re feeling up for it.
HDD isn’t in here anywhere, nor is DS, but I figure arrival day we can see how we feel, and maybe there will be HDD spots at 4p? But otherwise, it covers the musts and hits the priorities of magic, convenience, flexibility… we’re definitely missing some deliciousness though. I’d love to wow hubby with an amazing meal that makes him think “oh this IS for adults, maybe we should come back!” but i’m just not seeing a great time for that.
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You may not actually need a FP for it, but turtle talk with crush might amuse your 1.5 yr old.
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HS dining is some of my favorite: 50s primetime and sci fi diner are wonderful. It’s the atmosphere. Food is also great at 50s primetime, sci fi more like regular burgers and shakes.
good point, i bet DS would LOVE sci fi!