Ok. My fast pass day is next week, so I realize these plans will change. This is our first trip to WDW, two adults and our DD2.5. Early September and utilizing EMH. I just wanted to know if I have bit off more than we can chew, or set too high expectations. I feel maybe I have too much planned? Are these plans realistic? The 2 day plans for MK are linked below. The walking speed was set to very relaxed, and I do want to meet Buzz, Jasmine, Aladdin, and maybe a few other random characters we see if lines are short. Also, I imagine we will need potty breaks every hour or 2. Please let me know if you think these are unreasonable. Our evenings are pretty open, in case she is overwhelmed and done by dinner. Our daughter is very laid back and adventurous. But she is still a toddler at WDW, so… there is no telling how she will do.
You have Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire listed for both days (it’s a stage show) and no parade (Festival of Fantasy). Did you intend to do that?
The parade will be right during her nap. So if she is asleep in the stroller, DH and I may watch the parade. As far as friendship faire, I only want to do that once, but it’s in the plan both days for some flexibility. If we see it on day 1, we will skip it on day 2.
Understandable. I’m glad you plan to try to see the parade, if it works.
Hi! Where are you staying? And what are your plans for your other days?
I took my older son at age 1 and can offer some advice from there. I would have at least some expectation that the nap may not happen at the normal nap time. Are you definitely wanting to do HEA on both days? At young ages with stroller naps, I think the mid-day break is actually too much. I would rather just make plans until 2 or 3 and then call it a day from there. I do see you having a really long break, but I think it will feel like you just got to the park and are leaving again. And only 2.5-3-ish hours at the hotel will go by quickly!
Sunday: Arrival day from driving. Storybook dining adr.
Monday: MK day 1
Tuesday: AK
Wednesday: pool day with ohana dinner
Thursday: MK day 2
Friday: HS or Epcot
I only plan to see MK fireworks once. I have it in both days’ plans just to be flexible. I’m hoping stroller nap for MK day 2 since we have BOG lunch. I dont really want to leave for that short a time. We are staying at POFQ. AK I also hope to stroller nap.
My quick impressions – Yes, sadly, you are trying to do too much. I wish I could tell you otherwise.
Day 1 - If you are using Disney buses / transportation to get to hotel it will take 45+ minutes just to get to your room. Basically, half the time of your break will just be waiting on buses & going back & forth. Also, IMHO you’ve underestimated the time it will take you to get food at QS. It may take you 15+ minutes just to get to the front of the line sometimes. Sorcerers of the MK is a walk around the park scavenger hunt. It’s not something you can do in 20 minutes - it’s also not something a 2.5 year old can really do.
My advice is stop at midday. If you really want to see the fireworks, stay through 12pm to see Mickey’s Friendship Fair then go back to either eat dinner at MK or arrive after 7pm to see the show and leave. Be aware, getting out of the park is a long process and it jammed packed, literally shoulder to shoulder, as everyone exits. Bus / monorail waits are probably the longest all day long as everyone is using it at the same time.
Don’t bother with the ETwB FPP if you are going that early. Instead use that to secure either Mickey & Minnie or Tinkerbell as you exit the park after 12pm.
Day 2 – I’m concerned about you trying to get a 7DMT FPP – especially at 9am. It really doesn’t happen often. Not saying never, but the Club Level guests get to pick their FPP at 90 days and can pick multiples of the same ride + other bonuses. Again, I’m concerned about BOG eating time. An hour is probably pretty close, but I’d go with 75+ minutes. I know it’s not a Character Meal, but BOG can be slow and have delays. I’m pretty sure, not 100%, that Merida doesn’t come out until 9am so you need to adjust there. Plus, this is M&G does not have FPP and you can wait an hour + regularly. I’d keep your 8:30am arrival time but change the duration to 45+ minutes (30 minutes of waiting for M&G to start so you can, hopefully, be near the front of the queue & 15+ minutes of actual waiting)
I appreciate you trying to not overdo it or cram, but with 2.5 DD it’s better to plan way less. You may get lucky and be able to do more, but easier on all not to push it. Hopefully, this is the first of many WDW vacations. So you’ll have opportunities to explore more or do your favorites again.
Thanks so much for all the feedback. Looks like I have some reworking to do. I figured the results of my fast pass day would greatly alter these plans. I’ve read that merida starts meeting at 830 on early opening times. I dont know how accurate that is though.
For the sorcerer’s, it’s more for me. And we planned to just do 1 or 2 portals if we get time. That was a placeholder to get the pack of cards.
I will increase the times for meals. And cull my attractions MuST DO list. 
And hopefully, this will be a first of many Disney trips, assuming the crowds don’t keep my DH from coming back.
I confess my heart broke a bit having to tell you. I didn’t want to be a dream killer! 
Yeah… I figured she came out about an hour after park open, but wasn’t sure how that applied to EMH. I’d still advise getting there about 30 minutes early. That queue gets sooo long and is all outdoors.
BTW - Are you using Disney Transportation? It’s reliable, but slow. For $10 you can grab an Uber or Lyft and be in your hotel room in less than half the time of a bus for breaks.
We will keep in mind the Lyft idea for breaks. I’m hoping she will just nap in the stroller. Im afraid she will sleep on the bus, wake up when we get off and walk to the room, and then not nap at all. It’s happened before that way on trips.
I didnt even mention that I want to go to the gift shops at the end of a few rides. I was afraid I had too much packed in there for a 2yo.
Yes to Disney transportation. Or our car. But I think we would take just as long as a bus
Have you thought about switching one of these days to a party day? Those days are just amazing crowd-wise and if you really only want to do the fireworks on one night, having one day end at 6pm won’t hurt!
Second piece of advice is to be really honest with yourself on what time you will arrive. That way you aren’t behind the plan from the moment you walk in.
I also think that maybe it’s not helpful to have some of this stuff on here twice (Fantasy Faire, Tinker Bell, etc.) I totally get what you are trying to do, but I don’t think that it really gives you a real sense of what your days will look like. I would commit to it on one plan, but put enough leeway into your second day to hit 1 or 2 things that you didn’t catch. But that’s just me!
I don’t think your plans are too packed, but I think your days might be too long with a 2 year old. We have found it best to have shorter days and only 1 late night at the end. Instead of a pool day, I prefer more shorter park days (and therefore more FPs) and pool time before or after dinner. Going back to the hotel for nap never worked for us because my kids wouldn’t nap on schedule. Stroller nap in the parks worked best for us. You can try something the first day, see how it works out, and revamp the rest of your days as needed. I like to schedule FPs for before break time so you can get more, but not early enough in the day that you don’t need them. Magic carpets is a good candidate for a 4th FP. you also have 4 FPs on day 1 and 2 on day 2, so I think you need to re-arrange. I also recommend the people-mover and Swiss family treehouse if you have extra time. Those can be done anytime.
I’m going to agree with some of the other people - I think you might be better off making plans until 2 or 3 and then heading back for the day rather than going back to the resort and then coming back - maybe on one of the days you could come back to see the fireworks? That being said, I went with my almost-3 year old in March and he didn’t nap at all the whole trip, so you could just see how it goes? Or schedule some time to go to Tom Sawyer’s Island and try to just go for a stroller nap.
I also don’t know the temperament of your 2.5 year old, but my son (actually both of them, the other one is 5) were terrified by Haunted Mansion. The little guy just buried his face in his dad’s shoulder and cried the whole time.
Must use Uber family for a car seat.
I just did this with a 2.5 and 4.5 yo. Plan must do’s and then extras if time. Try to be done everything you want by 2. If naps happen great you can stay, if. It head back. I was lucky and got stroller naps every day. I would plan for that rather than wasting time with going back to resort. Is this your only trip or will you go back in a few years? My kids go to bed early. I didn’t even attempt a night show even with naps. Not worth it. We can do it next time. Unless your kid goes to bed late and also gets a nap in, don’t do a night show. Maybe last night only.
The circus tent meet and greet is just for 2 out of the 4 characters. If you were intending to do both, make sure you put both in there. (You have Goofy/Donald and Daisy/Pluto might have a longer line. Daisy/Minnie did when they met together.)
Just a note on the Mousekedance party. I don’t like the way TP has this. You probably don’t need to be there a full 15 minutes early, especially if you’re up at the hub, because the parade takes a few minutes to get down there. The dance party goes on for several songs, so you can probably spend about half the allotted time and then move on. We loved it, but still didn’t watch the whole thing.
You have 2 FP for 1 day and 4 for the other. Why is that? Did you do the Enchanted Tales one to trick the TP timing? At 8:30 you’d probably have a pretty short line, so I don’t know that you’d need a FP for it.
I would consider bumping back your Tinkerbell FP on day 2 so that you can take a bit longer break if you need to and skip the show and dance party. (I’d plan the FP for 5:30 so you can watch the 5:45 dance party kick off from the hub and then meet Tink right after. Like I said above, you don’t really need to watch the whole thing.)
Since you’re starting your park day at 7 am, I would also consider making your evening plans identical for each night with the expectation that you’ll only stay once.
We took our 2 year old in January and did 9-12:30 and 5-8:30 park days. It was really valuable for us to take a long break and we still felt like we had a great time.
Thanks everyone for your help! I’ll be doing some culling and re-arranging. And I know when my fast pass window opens, I’ll have to re-arrange again! I just wanted to at least have an idea when to try and get what fast passes when.