Touring Plan Flexibility Question

Walt Disney World Touring Plans
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It’s my first time using Touring Plans, traveling with a DS9, DD11, and DW on DAS. We are staying at AoA Feb 5-11, arriving 5PM or 5th and taking DME there and back, with a pickup at 2PM on Feb 11.

We have 6 day tickets without PH. It’s a first trip for S&D, and DW and I haven’t been since 2010. Based on guides, we decided to do (in order) EP, AK, HS, then MK for two days, followed by a ‘flex day’ morning until 2PM to wrap up whatever else we wanted to see. I’d like some feedback on my current plan, with suggestions on optimization.

Day 1 : Arrive 5PM. I get a car (Lyft?) to pick up groceries at Publix while family waits for ECV delivery and swims at AoA. Disney Springs or Boardwalk in the evening if not exhausted, or even adding a 7th day to the ticket and catching a night show at a less-crowded park (freeing up another evening during the week)

Day 2 : 8AM ADR Bon Voyage breakfast at TaF, or EMH Epcot (tough choice!). Plan is Epcot Revised, with intention to end the day watching Fireworks from La Hacienda with 7:15 ADR.

Day 3 : AK, with possible sleep-in :Animal Kingdom

Day 4 : HS at RD, breakfast at Oga’s at 9:50, Lunch at Sci-fi at 12:50. I’m guessing from my touring plan that we won’t necessarily see everything, so this could be our return Day 7. (DHS Day 1). If we don’t see items during the day and are using the Lines app, is it possible to copy the desired attraction easily to a new day’s TP?

Day 5 : MK Day 1. This is where I started getting confused. I copied over the Happy Family TP, but made the mistake of Optimizing after adding our BoG Lunch ADR and BBB ADR. For a straight two day split, how do experienced liners tend to split up the attractions? Copy of Magic Kingdom Happy Family Two-Day Touring Plan - Day 1

Day 6 : MK Day 2. This ended up a very short day - Copy of Magic Kingdom Happy Family Two-Day Touring Plan - Day 2. What would you recommended moving to this day or adding to the afternoon? We’ll sleep in for sure, but looking for other suggestions

Day 7 : Flex Day - whichever park we didn’t get to see everything we wanted, that’s where we go.

Final Question : I saw a great suggestion regarding souvenirs, where you take pictures of anything the kids want for a souvenir and where it is located, then you go back later to get it. Since we aren’t doing PH, I want to avoid a situation where something they want is in a park we don’t want to go back to on the flex day. If we call the store it was located at and put it on our magicband, can we have it delivered to our resort without having to be physically present at the store?

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You’ll need to tick the “publish this plan” option on your TP’s for the rest of us to see them.

Just a couple of thoughts. Have you considered grocery delivery? Amazon Prime Now, or Garden Grocer, for example. Then you can go to the pool too!

What about doing your Epcot EMH, then leaving for a late brunch, then coming back? You can walk from the International Gateway entrance at Epcot.

I haven’t been yet, but my understanding is the food options at Oga’s are limited. But of course you’ve got to go! The breakfast wraps from Ronto Roasters look very good if you need more food!

MK: Personally, I like to tour most of the park each day, rather then split it (such as spending all of Day 1 on the Fantasyland/Tomorrowland side and all of Day 2 in Adventureland/Frontierland). I just have more fun that way. I don’t think there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to plan it.

Hope that helps. :slight_smile:

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For a first-time trip especially, I would be hesitant to wait to go to MK, which is quintessential Disney!, until the end of the trip. Could you consider switching your AK and MK day maybe? I’d probably have switched AK to day 6 but looks like you have BoG lunch and BBB so maybe hard to switch those reservations.

We usually do at least 2 days at MK, and usually do Fantasyland and Tomorrowland on one day and the rest of the park on the other day–after knocking out one side, we will work in a few repeats from the other side if we can.

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Another option is to purchase the souvenirs when you see it and have it delivered to the gift shop at your resort . It’s usually available for pick up the next day. They call you and leave you a message in your room. You don’t have to hold anything as you tour the park.

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Not just publish the plan, but then use the published plan link, which is different from the link you use for yourself.

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Thanks - rookie mistake, I published now so they should be viewable. The Bon Voyage breakfast was mainly to get a character meal that still allowed a la carte options. I’ll try and move that reservation, I agree that a later morning reservation would be great!

I’ll mark Ronto Roasters for sure - DS and I probably will need a bit more :slight_smile:

For the MK ‘split’, how do you recommend splitting the FP headliner options? When I’m not focusing on individual lands, it can seem a bit overwhelming at times

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DW was given the advice that if we start with MK, the kids may be more bored with the other parks, as they aren’t the fantasy and escape that MK is. DW made the proclamation, and since we’re taking the kids out of school a few days, she wants them to pay attention to the educational parts of EP and AK without going full-blown escapist immediately. :man_shrugging:

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You are adding a lot of unnecessary walking by doing step 6 in this plan where you are. If you are set on doing it, then you might want to have a different reservation for step 7, or at least different time. Look at your walking times in your plan.

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Thanks - great catch. There’s no reservation at LHBP - I’ll set the lunch time with greater flexibility and see where it ends up.

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If you are using the optimizer, you might do better to tell it to optimize for walking time, and set your walking speed to very relaxed. This will give you a plan that doesn’t go all over the place. Then, once you are happy with the order of events, set your walking speed back and then EVALUATE, not optimize to get a more realistic time frame.

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I don’t think it’s an issue leaving MK to the end if you think that is what your kids will like best.

The AK plan looked exhausting given how much it’s bouncing you around the park from one end to another. If it were me I would sacrifice wait time some if needed to avoid crossing the park so many times.

MK - opinions will differ on this but I thought it helped us a LOT to not do open to close touring. Taking a break for awhile on your fireworks day and moving some of those items to the next day to even it out could help avoid feeling exhausted by the end.

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That’s an interesting thought. We’ve taken our kids to Disney quite a few times from ages 18 months to 17 years and have found that they have parts of every park that they love for completely different reasons. My only reason for my previous comment is that if they are expecting the castle, it’s a small world, and space mountain, they might get impatient waiting for 5 days to get there. But, especially if you manage expectations, no matter the order of parks, you will have a fabulous trip!

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I tend to agree with this. Even for myself, while I love aspects of all the parks, MK is definitively Disney. I think once you get over with the initial awe and wonder of MK on day 1, then everyone is more open to all the other experiences in the other parks. But if you hold off on MK, you risk everyone just wishing they were at MK and finding it more difficult to enjoy EPCOT, AK, HS, etc.

This is true, for sure! :slight_smile:

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I don’t like optimize that much. Sometimes, it bounces me around, even when I tell it to minimize walking.

So, I use optimize to see how it shakes out, with moderate speed and minimize walking. For all 4 parks, I took out a park map and rearranged a bit the attractions, shows, eating, and breaks based on the maps to really minimize walking and to force it to do what I wanted to do. I’ll tell it to evaluate once I’m done. I’ll admit that I have to evaluate a number of times afterwards still but I like the plans better at the end than when I optimized them.

Get good outlines together that you you like and then wait until after FPP day so that you can really set your park plans. Then, you may have to move it again, if they redo park hours.

I’m 45 days out. I’ve redid my plans after I finished modifying my FPPs. I anticipate minor redos once Disney modifies its hours, especially if it is opening up ROTR in HS.

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In order for it to work well, you have to set your walking speed to very relaxed. Only then did I find it does a good job. The down side is that the time estimates for getting from one place to another are way off, which is why I suggest setting the walking speed BACK to normal once you have your order of events fairly stable and then re-evaluate it.

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I notice you haven’t got breaks or meals in your plans except for the BOG lunch. I suspect you’ll want to add those. :wink: I like to choose a restaurant even for QS meals. There’s nothing to stop you for going somewhere else, but if I’ve accidentally reached hangry and have limited decision making ability, I’ll have an option ready to go that is nearby and that I’ve pre-screened for having acceptable food.

I’d allow more time for the Pirate’s Adventure, 30-45 minutes. If you don’t take as long as planned, it just means you have time for Dole Whips. Problem solved. :icecream:

That first day really does have you pinging around like pinballs. It’s a tough call for FP’s. I think I’d do the Adventureland/Frontierland stuff first with no FP’s, then head over to Fantasyland and have my FP’s for those attractions. Think about whether you want to save anything specific for after the BBB makeover. (ETwB, for instance.) Do attractions/lunch until time for BBB, then finish up Fantasyland after the makeover. Plan a leisurely dinner for yourselves, then fireworks! That should leave you with a decent amount of time for getting distracted and enjoying the moment.

Then you can use FP on Day 2 for stuff in the other lands.

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If I have to redo TPs after they post new park hours, I will use your advice.

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