I’m trying to finalize our plans for our trip from 11/24-12/2. We will have grandparents and our three girls (11,10 and 7). Not experienced Disney travelers. I would love input on the plans I have and areas where I’m wavering.
Sat 11/24 - Grandparents won’t arrive until probably 11pm
Sun 11/25 - Epcot - I’m hoping I don’t kill them with my intent to RD EPCOT, lunch at Garden Grill. Debating between leaving in the afternoon and coming back or just staying as long as we feel up to it and then having and earlier night. I am interested in the Holiday Storytellers and it looks like some of them finish early so I think we would be able to do more of those if we just stay for the afternoon.
Mon 11/26 HS - Again RD since I don’t have FP for SDD. I’m debating here between staying all day and having lunch at 50’s Primetime or leaving midday and taking the boat over to check out christmas decorations at the boardwalk area resorts and have lunch
Tuesday 11/27 MK - Only open until 6pm projected low crowds. Again RD and hopefully get a full day in the limited hours. Eve either open or Disney Springs
Wednesday 11/28 AK - Do we stay all day or leave midday to check out christmas decor at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Thursday 11/29 - Open w/ Evening HDDR. I have considered adding MK day since it’s a low crowd day closing at 6pm. Otherwise Christmas decoration resort tour… or Resort day… Anything we should see near or on our way to Hoop Dee Doo?
Friday 11/30 - Epcot Candlelight processional and Illuminations
Saturday 12/1 - Ohana Breakfast. MK but not sure when we will go. It will be busy. We have a reservation for the fireworks dessert party and there are EMH. We leave early the next morning.
Since you plan to do Epcot evening (Candlelight and Illuminations) on Friday, and because you want to do the Storytellers, personally I would plan to stay through the afternoon and then leave, rather than leave and come back. I think leaving and coming back would make you feel more rushed.
Rope dropping Epcot isn’t a huge need. If they can’t make it, though, you could plan to meet up…you and the kids RD, and grandparents come a little later before lunch.
I don’t think you necessarily have to pre-plan. You can play that by ear (similar for other days). Some find plenty to do at AK to fill the entire day. Others, not as much. It really matters how much you want to prioritize seeing Christmas Decor over doing AK. Since you only have one AK day listed, I would put more weight on staying at AK. You could see the AK Lodge decor on Thursday, for example, instead.
You don’t need to take the boat. In fact, it is likely slower to do so than to just walk over, as I understand it. Of course, you could do the best of both worlds and have lunch at Primetime, but spend more time towards the evening hours touring the Boardwalk resorts.
Thank you so much for your feedback! As I’m finalizing the touring plans I think I get too caught up in trying to figure out where each thing fits it. Realistically I just need the starting plan and some options for us and see where we go from there! Thank you for calming me down!!
11/25 - I would not leave in the afternoon unless your crew seems like they really need a break while you are there or you are planning to stay at the park late. Epcot is huge so just walking to/from the entrance/exit can take a long time depending where you are. Then you add transportation time and an unneeded break can cut out a large part of your day. What resort are you staying at?
11/26 and 11/28 - Again, I would not plan on the breaks (unless you really want to see the resort decorations).
I would suggest moving your second MK day from 12/1 to 11/29 … Thursday vs Saturday will make a huge difference in the crowds. If you want to see resort decorations, maybe do that on Saturday and then go to the MK for the dessert part and your 3 FP+s.
A follow up question on our Day 1 at Epcot. We just changed our plans to fly in late the night before (yeah me… avoids 20+ hours in the car!!) would you try to RD. Epcot or just take our time getting there?
We’re staying at Port Orleans Riverside.
I feel like we “should” see the resort decorations based on posts I’ve read but maybe I should just have those in the back of my mind as extras if we have the time/ desire.
We currently have 6 day park tickets. I have considered adding a day so we could also do MK on 11/29 but I won’t be able to add the day until we arrive. We have the dessert party booked for 12/1 since we wanted to be able to have an evening for fireworks.
I was also told by a Disney CM that we have been given 2 anytime FP/ person/ day of our trip due to some issues we had with our reservations. I am hopeful that this is true as it would help alleviate some of the stress from the plans!! (they aren’t good for Pandora or Toy Story Land)
Nice! Love it when there is some pixie dust sprinkled about!! I’d be happy if they just fixed my reservation issues even without pixie dust–I’ve called twice and spent a total phone time of 1.5 hours and still the problem persists. Maybe some day their IT will figure it out.
Every family is different in terms of schedules and amount of sleep they need, but if it were me, I would not do RD the morning after flying in late at night. I’d much rather add an extra day to ye tickets, spend Thursday in MK when crowds are projected to be low, and then spend a little time at Epcot on Saturday before heading to MK for the fireworks.