I would go with option 2 to give yourself a much better chance of getting a SDD FP if that ride is important to you. If it isn’t, then option 1 looks good too!
For FPs option 2 is better, but I believe the psychological difference trumps that. Will your group be super excited and wanting to hit the parks early on Day 1 or will they be OK with sleeping in and only arriving at a park on 4pm?
To be honest, they both look like good plans to me. I personally like option 2 because it gives your family time to get acclimated to the destination. It’s a nice and easy entry. Usually young children like yours like the hotel pool best of all. What!?! I can go swimming in November!?! Yes, please. You don’t have reservations you might need to modify or cancel because of unexpected issues with arrival. Regardless of what you end up doing, I’m sure your family will have a fantastic time.
Just remember to create a list of FastPass+ wants in order of importance to you as opposed to chronological order before the window opens up. You will have a game plan. They get gobbled up quickly that morning.
Both plans look good. To me, an important consideration would be staying out very late the night of your party. You will want to enjoy it for as long as you can. For my trip, I knew we would want to sleep later after being out til 1 AM or so, so I chose to do a park where there were less “must-do’s” the next day and we would be ok with having a shorter day and not rope-dropping.
@Jayhawker/@alicescarpa - option 2 definitely seems to give us a better chance to get us the FPs we want. Point for Option 2!
@threeprincessesfourprinces - Your point about staying out late the party night and choosing the next day’s park accordingly is a good one! We’re from SoCal, so MK doesn’t have as many must dos for us other than 7DMT, so doing MK that following day totally makes sense! Another point for option 2.
@douglasE - thank you for the warm welcome! Being from the West Coast, trying to get the family up and out before EMH with option 1 would have been a challenge, so I think your point on easing into the vacation is another pro for option 2! Totally taking your advice on prioritizing the list of FP we want. I assume, based on what we are able to snag, that might change our park line up?
For that first day to properly kick off the vacation, maybe we can do an activity outside of the parks like a character meal or BBB or something else before heading in the party at 4. Anyone have any favorites?
Option 2 seems to be the winner with a slight tweak. I snagged an ADR at Oga’s for the 19th.
That looks awesome. I love you rolan. agree with doing a character meal to kick off the trip before the party - latest lunch ressie would fill you up and get you to the gates on time!
I would just keep the same park days that you have. For example, the first FastPass I would make would be Flight of Passage on Wednesday, November 20th, if you want to do that. Or maybe the first would be Slinky Dog Dash on Tuesday, the 19th. The point is go in order of your importance, not chronological. Make your Fastpass+ selections for the days you would be visiting that park. Just the attraction order would all be according to importance. In other words, do not do all of your Magic Kingdom selections first, unless they are what is most important to you. I totally skipped around from park to park as I made my choices. I did it based on what traditionally had the longest standby lines and consequently are the hardest to get FastPass+ selections. FYI, you can go back afterwards, and modify the times that you originally establish, including the day that you are in the park. I’m not due to arrive until late October and I’ve been able to move up my FastPass times earlier this week, so I’m able to make 4th, 5th, 6th, etc. FastPass choices the day of visit. I have all of my FastPass selections prior to noon, except for 7DMT. I haven’t even arrived yet!
I like these changes and think this is your best option given all the considerations. Just be aware that getting 7DMT at 60+2, SDD at 60+2 and FOP at 60+3 will be challenging. That said, there is not much that you can do to change that on a short trip. I would try to to get FOP first, SDD second and 7DMT third. My own guess (no guarantees) is that with that schedule, you have a decent shot to get FOP and 7DMT later in the day, but SDD is very unlikely to be available at 60+2.
agree with doing a character meal to kick off the trip before the party - latest lunch ressie would fill you up and get you to the gates on time!