Hi dear Liners.
I’m going in august to WDW, we have a 10 night stay at Pop Century. It’s my first time, and I have so many doubts in terms of planning… Can I post my plan so you could advice for any major mistake that maybe I made? It’s me, DH, DD15 and DS13.
The first day (friday 16th) we are travelling from Miami, so we plan to arrive at the hotel, go to Disney Springs and maybe a visit to the Walmart/Target/Publix (any recommendations?).
Saturday 17th we visit Kennedy Space Center, so when we come back maybe we hop with the Skyliner to EPCOT for some fireworks and/or last minute Ratatouille or Frozen, or just dinner and pool at the hotel.
Sunday 18th Magic Kingdom, rope drop till close. Rest at midday at GF or Poly.
Monday 19th Animal Kingdom, rope drop, late breakfast at BOMA and back to AK. Evening at DS (for example)
Tuesday 20th MNSSHP, pool or maybe a late morning visit to EPCOT (GoG boarding group), then late lunch at Stakehouse 71 and to MK for the party.
Wednesday 21st rest morning and then afternoon at EPCOT.
Thursday 22nd Hollywood Studios, rope drop till close (Fantasmic). Or stacking for a late morning.
Friday 23rd MK if needed (or if we want to repeat, I know it closes at 18h). Or maybe some other park rope drop (¿EPCOT?). And then rest afternoon (visit to our family in Orlando)
Saturday 24th Typhoon Lagoon
Sunday 25th Hollywood Studios. Stacking or rope drop, it depends on my previous experience on thursday haha.
Morning 26th. We change to Universal Resort. I suppose we would make a last visit to our favourite park or whatever.
My main doubt now is that we don’t have a dedicated day for EPCOT…
Did this last year and it was perfect. We had lunch at 2 for reference.
Overall I think your plans for each individual day look okay. It’s a big busy trip, and you may find you need a bit more rest time than you’ve built in (or to use those stacking plans vs rope drop to close). August is hella hot and that heat and humidity just zaps you. If you’re from the south it will be less of a big deal. But if you’re from the north it will hit harder.
Also August tends to have those afternoon storms, and it is hurricane season, so just be aware of that. Prepare to zig when you’ve planned to zag - have a backup plan if only in your mind.
This is my concern about your rope drop to close plans and even for late morning arrivals to the park. Many people do early mornings, midday break from the worst of the heat, then back in the evening after it cools off a bit and the storms have passed. If you want to stack instead of RD you might be happier with arriving late to the park, doing indoor attractions until it cools off, then hit your stack. Sounds like an awesome trip. Enjoy!!
haha, I’m from Madrid, Spain. Here’s is veeeery hot in summer (105F), but also very dry. So yes, we are aware that we would have our struggles with Florida’s humid heat.
Thanks both for your tips. One doubt, for a midday break at MK, if we want to return to the hotel, would you go by car (we’ll have a rental) or by bus?. Maybe the hussle to go to the TTC with the full midday heat is not worth it…
When I say late morning for getting to the parks, I meant like 13-14h or so haha, we spaniards have very late schedules… Maybe for americans that is mid afternoon…
When’s the most typical hour for afternoon storms in august, btw?
I like that you are planning in lots of different activities and have built in breaks.
My only flag is the “rope drop to close” days. It is hard in the heat. But if you all from Madrid maybe you are uswd to the heat? Pop is very central so easy to travel to and from the parks - you will have the option.
So just be ready to play it by ear. On the HS day, you may want to hop the skyliner back for a mid day break (for example).
EPCOT is huge. Breaking it up into pieces is fine IMO. Personally any day I was planning on setting foot in EPCOT I would get a VQ for Gaurdians (except your MK days when you need a Tron VQ) because I love that ride so much.
My DD is 13 and we really enjoy sleeping in and stacking for later. But we also have trips where we rope drop, break, and return. (This is a good strategy when you aren’t buying Genie+)
Very exciting trip! I think you are set up for a great time. You will be able to take your time and won’t have to push yourselves to “see it all”.
Ah!! We went to Barcelona last July which was hot enough for us. We will have to go back to see beautiful Madrid in a different season. Yes, the humidity makes FL heat feel even hotter but at least you are very used to managing hot days. That helps a lot!
I would be inclined to go by bus. It will likely be faster. And much more pleasant than managing TTC. We have stayed at POP several times now and there are usually frequent busses.
yes, different schedule than us! This might work as I said. When you get to the parks do indoor attractions and shows until it cools off a bit.
Great question. We have avoided August!! In June and Sept whenwe have been there mid afternoon (13h-17h) is most common.
This is VERY early after an MK close (last year it was 10pm- might not make it back to Pop til 11pm). Personally my crew wouldn’t make it. Last year EE was 7:30am- yikes. If it were me I would have a late breakfast at Boma, then AK and have dinner in DS. The crowds should be low. Last year the park stayed open till 7pm. So 8 hours in AK is adequate.
A party day I assume? You could do so much even with a late start on a party day.
Looks like you have it broken up- 17th evening, maybe 20th for a few hours, 21st evening, maybe some hours on the 23rd. On the 25th you could stack for HS evening and visit EP in the morning to do anything you didn’t get done on prior visits to EP. You could also do a morning visit to EP on the 26th.
Even from the south it’s hard to handle midday unless you are just lounging around.
Since you will have a rental car - pretty much any Target or Publix nearby is just fine! Just remember that Pop! doesn’t have real fridges, just beverage coolers…so no frozen items or things you need kept super cold.
Our beverage cooler last weekend was decent. I kept pizza in there for a couple days. I wouldn’t trust milk more than a day or so. Last trip for AoA I bought shelf stable milk (Horizons I think). Because you can put it in the fridge to get cold but it won’t go bad if it’s not at standard fridge temp.
OMG, my trip is veeery close. Friday 9th is my LLMP advance reservations day, and still with doubts, planning for Disney is fun but is hard also
This is my “new” plan (minor changes, because there is no more G+ and stacking…)
Sunday 18th Magic Kingdom. VQ for Tron, LLMP (JC, HM and WtP?), rope drop SM and Buzz, then get a LL for Tiana’s after some drop, hopefully. The rest of the LL, we will be improvising. At 1PM VQ (can I repeat Tron? if not, TBA). Midday break (after the parade) and back to the park in the afternoon.
Monday 19th Animal Kingdom, rope drop Pandora (FoP and NRJ), then KS and EE, brunch at BOMA (11:20) and back to AK. Would you buy LLMP? Or maybe LLSP for FoP is better? I don’t want to waste a lot of money, but it’s my first (and probably once in a lifetime) trip to WDW, and we can splurge a little.
Tuesday 20th MNSSHP, pool or maybe a late morning visit to EPCOT (GoG boarding group), then late lunch at Stakehouse 71 (1.40PM) and to MK for the party. We will enter before the party crowds because we have tickets for our whole stay (¿maybe queue for Jack and Sally before they let the party people enter the park?)
Wednesday 21st rest morning and then afternoon at EPCOT. As we can choose times with LLMP, I’m thinking of buying it and reserve either FEA or Remy (most probably FEA because Remy has drops).
Thursday 22nd Hollywood Studios, LLMP, hopefully SDD, ToT and TSMM, rope drop Rise of the Resistance. When I plan my TP here, I have like 3 hours of free time, so we may go to our hotel for a nap.
Friday 23rd MK if needed (or if we want to repeat, it closes at 18h). Or maybe some other park rope drop (¿EPCOT?). And then rest afternoon (visit to our family in Orlando)
Saturday 24th Typhoon Lagoon
Sunday 25th Hollywood Studios. Or not. This is my biggest doubt right now. I don’t know if we would have done everything we wanted on the 22th, but maybe come back with a more relaxed itinerary would be great? Shall I buy LLMP?
Morning 26th. We change to Universal Resort. I got Space 220 reservations for 11.30, so we would go to EPCOT I suppose haha.
It is cheaper at AK but it may not be necessary for you. Personally I would RD Navi and SP FoP. Then hit KS, KRR (if it’s on the agenda), then EE. You should be able to do this all easily before Bomas.
If FEA is a priority I would. I don’t like that queue. And that line is dreadfully long sometimes.
Maybe have 23rd as a rest day and that Sunday be the MK repeat or EP repeat if needed.