Touring Plan options on a School Trip

Hello,

I have never used Touring Plans or the Lines app before, but I am going on a school trip to WDW in early February and found this site through a planning book from a relative. Since I have never used either the site or the app before, and this will be my first time visiting all of the parks except for Hollywood, I thought that the premade plans would be the best option.

However, I am going with a music group that has portions of the day blocked off for workshops and a performance. Because I am traveling with a school group, I will be arriving at the parks around 9 15, which I believe throws a wrench in ropedropping any of the major rides as well.

Here is the current itinerary we have been provided:

Feb. 5 (Thursday) - Fly in, arrive at HS around 5 pm, staying until the end of Fantasmic

Feb. 6 (Friday) - Magic Kingdom, staying until the end of the fireworks

Feb. 7 (Sat.) - EPCOT, staying until the lightshow is done

Feb. 8 (Sun.) - Performance @ Disney Spings in the morning, HS in the afternoon, staying until end of the evening show

Feb. 9 (Mon.) - Animal Kingdom until 2:30 (build in some time to meet up with the whole group), fly home

What are your recommendations?

Edit: There is also a workshop TBD, probably 2-3 hours long

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Arriving at the Parks at 9:15 isn’t optimum but at the same time it will not decimate your visit. Where you are staying will have an impact on how you tour, so let’s start there. Where will you be staying?

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That’s good to hear. We might get to the parks earlier than that, but it depends if the group is able to leave on time. I think it’s safer to assume that won’t happen with a large group of high schoolers, and be pleasantly surprised if it does happen, but correct me if I’m wrong.

We are staying at an out-of-park hotel about 10 minutes away from the parks, and have bus transport to and from the parks every day.

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It sounds like you will not qualify for Early Theme Park Entry (ETPE), but to be sure, check this list: Early Theme Park Entry Hotels . You also do not qualify for Extended Evening Theme Park Hours (EETPH).

My past experiences were something similar to herding cats.

I see that you have been looking at some of the pre-configured plans. Are you a subscriber, which gives you access to the premium plans?

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That checks out :sweat_smile:

I have not purchased access to the premium plans yet, mostly because I wasn’t sure there would be a touring plan that worked well for the chopped-up style of the trip, but I am definately open to purchasing a subscription if there is a good premium plan for this situation. I was reviewing the Unofficial Guide Touring Plan for each of the parks, and it seems like a decent starting point to get a good idea of the best rides for my group (high schoolers and a chaperone). However, I think the number of rides I would need to cut to make the performance/workshop days work doesn’t really make it worth it.

Not a problem, you just won’t be able use those as a starting point. However you can create and optimize a plan from scratch. Look at the custom plans, pick one that best fits your situation and create a list of attractions / shows / parades that interest you. Once you have a list created you can move on to create a custom touring plan. Post your list back into this topic.

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I find plans useful for figuring out how long it takes to walk from one point to another, as well as a general idea of how long a wait might be at a certain time of day.

I generally create morning and evening plans (we often break in the middle of the day, sometimes with one park in the morning and another in the evening), which is something that might work for your broken up days as well.

Also, I don’t know if you’re considering purchasing any lightning lanes (it should be possible even with performing group tickets, from what I’ve read in trip reports?) - crating possibly plans can help you determine what sort of time saving you could get.

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Update: Got the finalized itinerary

Thursday - 1/2 day HS

Fly into Orlando @ 4:00 pm

Travel to HS directly, est. arrival @ 5

Stay until the park closes @ 9

Must be boarding the bus by 9:30

Friday (Feb 6.) - Workshop + MK

VERY early morning, loading bus @ 5:45 am for workshops

Arrive at MK around 9:30 am after the workshop is done

Watch fireworks, must be boarding the bus @ 9:30 pm

Saturday - Epcot + Band Performance

Load bus @ 8 am to travel to Epcot

Watch the band march at the world showcase @ 9:45 am

Watch the nighttime show @ 9 pm

Must be loading bus @ 9:30 pm

Sunday - Performance + 1/2 day HS

Sleeping in a bit, must be loading buses to Disney Springs for performance @ 10 am

Arive @ HS around 1 pm, need to eat lunch then

Stay until the end of the night show, must be loading the bus @ 10 pm

Monday - 1/2 day AK

Board buses for AK @ 9 am (arrive around 9 30 ish)

Must be loading buses for the airport @ 2 pm

Meals @ the parks

The cost of the trip includes a $25 dining card each day, and transfers over to the next day/park if there is money left over. Making reservations is a bit iffy at this point, but any places I should absolutely try to go to? I don’t have a strong need to go to a character meal and I want to try to use the dining cards without going too much over budget each day, but other than that, I’m open to anything.

Thur. - Dinner @ HS

Fri. - Lunch and Dinner @ MK

Sat. - Lunch and Dinner @ Epcot

Sun. - Lunch and Dinner @ HS

Mon. - Lunch @ AK

Sorry for the info dump, got a bit overwhelmed, but I am halfway through making my tentative custom plans rn.

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$25/day would barely cover 2 kids meals at quick service much less at a sit down restaurant. I’d look at those $$s ahead of time and factor in spending a bit more.

Are you chaperoning or just traveling with the kids to watch performances? That’s going to affect how free to plan you actually are.

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Yeah, I was planning on spending more, but I wanted to make sure that I used the dining cards included in the trip to my advantage. I am budgeting around $40 per day for myself, including the dining cards, which should cover the 8 meals I plan to eat at the parks with one sit-down meal if I can get a reservation, and snacks will be a separate line item (I plan on bringing most of my own).

I will be attending the workshop and the performance with the group, and I will be watching the band when they march in Epcot.

I just got done working out touring plans for each of the parks based on the performances and schedule for the buses. I will link those in a little bit.

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@linsalt @mary32830 Thanks so much for your help with all of this.

Here are the plans that I made, with tentative locations for food, none of which are sit down resturaunts.

Custom Touring Plan: Hollywood Studios 2/5 - HS half day (afternoon/evening) on 2/5

Custom Touring Plan: Magic Kingdom 2/6 - MK full day on 2/6

Custom Touring Plan: Saturday 2/7 - Epcot - Epcot on 2/7 with a break to watch the band march

https://touringplans.com/plans/5540489/print - HS half day (afternoon/evening) on 2/8

Custom Touring Plan: Monday 2/9 - AK - AK in the morning on 2/9

I’m having the most issues with the AK plan, because we board the buses to get to the airport at 2. The top priority for that day is the safari ride and the 2 Avatar Rides. Any recommendations?

Prioritize Everest, FOP, and the Safari. Highly consider buying a LL for FOP. Do the priorities first. Skip Wilderness Explorer (that feels more for little kids) and skip Kali River Rapids (it’s not really a very unique ride).

I’d add some more breaks to the MK plan. 20 minutes for meals and no restroom breaks (or shopping breaks) is a tad optimistic.

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I don’t see any fireworks or parades in your plans. From your first post, you are planning to stay for some, so I would consider adding them. :slight_smile:

With the plan as listed, I don’t think you’ll have enough time for Toy Story Mania! and get back to the bus in time (doesn’t have you leaving the ride until ~9:30). I wish there were a way to get TP to estimate walk time at the end of the night / leaving the park (trying to think of a way to simulate it). Either reduce the time somewhere else, or move it to Sunday with Slinky Dog?

I think you’d save a little walking if you went ST → Rise → DB7 → TSMM → ToT / RnRC - I’m curious how that would trade off with estimated wait times.

I would consider buying LLSP for Rise at least. I believe the single rider line should be quicker, but it bypasses part of the pre-show?

Also, if you did LLMP for this day, you could in theory use it on all three of TSMM / ToT / RnRC even with arriving late in the day, so you might consider the time saved to be worth it? You could check how much time TP thinks you would save there as well - it might be comparable to the LLSP for Rise and save more time.

(This assumes you’re not touring with other people who won’t have LLSP / LLMP.)

(I can’t see times for this plan.)

I’m confused that TP made your first ride be Magic Carpets of Aladdin, even with arriving at 9:30am. For what it’s worth, I prefer Dumbo over the Carpets for spinner rides at MK (obviously personal preference).

I really like Under the Sea (Little Mermaid ride), so I personally would choose it over a couple of items on your list (e.g. Carpets, Speedway, Astro Orbiter, Philharmagic; I haven’t actually seen MILF). Similarly, PeopleMover is beloved by many - I tend to skip it because I get motion sick on it (go figure), but I mention it for your consideration. I also love the Tiki Birds for nostalgia, and see above for Dumbo.

Not a huge fan of Cosmic Ray’s, but you can at least see Sonny Eclipse, who I do love! There aren’t a lot of great options at MK - I like Sleepy Hollow the best for Nutella fruit waffles and corn dogs. I really want to try Gaston’s Tavern in April, but it’s a little out of your way.

I’m assuming that the parades will be loaded into the schedule eventually… I recommend both of them. Festival of Fantasy should be at 3pm? We found a great last minute spot in the queue for Sleepy Hollow (also snacks), or also in that area, near Hall of Presidents.

Starlight parade starts at Main Street (opposite direction from Festival of Fantasy) - where you want to be may depend on where it is in your plan / what you’re doing afterwards. I’d definitely add both to your TP so that the plan sets time aside for the parades themselves (not holding spots).

After dark, I recommend Tomorrowland (including under the canopy of Tron - you can walk there even if not riding) and if you have PhotoPass (or even without), the photo spot near the Tangled bathrooms with the lantern.

You may want to watch HEA fireworks from Main Street if you want to be sure to make it to the bus by 9:30. The Internet says the length of the show is 18 minutes (let’s say 20), and the hub gets super congested - definitely could take more than 10 minutes to leave the park. Hopefully others who are more familiar will comment on good places to watch and how early to be there.

I don’t see a break in the plan for watching the band? If they’re back in WS, I would use a restaurant near where they’ll be performing as a placeholder, so that you’ll get some idea of walking times.

This plan has you do a bunch of walking back and forth - I’m curious if you either set it to reduce walking time a little more or rearranged to a more efficient path and optimized, if it would really hurt your wait times that much.

I’m especially looking at Imagination → Seas → Land → Japan → Guardians. You probably can take the boat across to Japan which helps, but that’s a lot. Are you set on Katsura Grill for lunch? It’s not my favorite personally.

If you do single rider line for TT and Remy, you should save some time. If you also get LLSP for Guardians, that reduces three of the biggest waits on that day.

Did you mean to have both Mission Space green and orange? And Living with the Land twice?

If you like Pirate’s Adventure at MK, I’d set a little time aside for DuckTales, e.g. Japan and Germany (there’s a thread somewhere with people’s favorites that we can dig up if useful).

I highly recommend setting aside time for the American Adventure and Voices of Liberty. If you need to remove items, I would probably say Turtle Talk and the Space Lab (as well as the duplicate Mission: Space and LwtL). I don’t think the Morocco pavilion will take 25 minutes to explore either (were you specifically interested in something there?).

I’m guessing Frozen Ever After didn’t fit in your plan, but personally, I’d choose it over Remy by far. Gran Fiesta Tour too.

Jammitors are fun if you have time, although I slightly prefer Green Army in DHS and the Africa drummers in AK.

I highly, so highly recommend setting aside time after dark for Journey of Water and the Spaceship Earth light show. This is a great time to go to Club Cool and hang out for a bit in the central garden area. Probably my favorite thing in all of Epcot, and I am obviously a Figment stan.

For Luminous, you will need to stake out a spot to watch at least a little before the show. This is my least favorite night show across the parks. You’ll probably want to find a spot between Canada and Mexico so that you have less of a walk to the bus afterwards.

Pavilions and food notes:

  • You’ll want time to look at art. Consider snacking from the FArts booths as well versus Katsura and La Cantina
  • Canada: maple popcorn; waterfall
  • UK: Fish and Chips; gardens
  • France: Les Halles is great for sandwiches as well as treats (I really love the Yogurt Parfait there), even if the line seems long; Brioche ice cream sandwich; crepe shop is solid. Fountains are nice but often mobbed
  • Morocco: The cookies are good. It’s pretty but kind of a shadow of itself.
  • Japan: Zen gardens, Mitsukoshi. I really like DuckTales here. Matsuriza is fabulous. Great picture spots.
  • American Adventure: show / Voices of Liberty
  • Italy: Honestly kind of boring imo, but the mask shop is surprisingly nice (they have little souvenir boxes that aren’t too pricey)
  • Germany: pretzel bread pudding!; Karamel Kuche (note: mobile order is super helpful here); model trains are fun; clock shop; DuckTales
  • China: Pretty both outside with the ponds and inside where Mulan meets (lobby of the show, I think - also a great usually quiet place if you need a rest). Probably skippable.
  • Norway: Kringla is another place where you can get sandwiches and treats. The aplekake was good, and I have read raves about the chocolate chip cookie (on my list to try next trip).
  • Mexico: I love the inside of this pavilion, and it has great souvenirs. Definitely check it out. I have read good things about the guacamole at La Cava, but I’m not sure I’ll stop there just for that.

https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/all-of-the-dfb-food-booth-reviews-for-the-epcot-festival-of-the-arts/ - Disney Food Blog is a little over the top sometimes, but they have a full list of everything available plus some reviews.

There’s also a great app called WDW Food&Wine that loads food booth info for all the festivals.

ETA: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/epcot-international-festival-of-the-arts/

It’s a really long day to do all of Epcot - pace yourself… :slight_smile:

(I can’t see times for this plan.)

You are repeating a number of attractions (RotR, ST, ToT). I would recommend considering swapping at least one for the Frozen Sing-Along (so funny!). I haven’t seen the Little Mermaid or Villains shows, but some people have really liked them in recent trip reports.

I recommend riding Slinky Dog after dark if you can manage it. I like Toy Story Land best at night.

I also think you would really enjoy the Green Army Drum Corps in TSL - looks like their last performance is around 4pm, so it won’t work on your first day but should be possible here.

So little time at AK!

100% get the LLSP for Flight of Passage. No question. If you can do the EE single rider line, that will save time too.

I would drop Wilderness Explorers for sure (it’s not 25 minutes - it’s like little scout badge stands all over the place), Drop Kali River. Don’t walk out of your way to see Dino-Sue or even Divine (or Kevin, who is super fun).

See the Tam Tam drummers in Africa if you can and just soak up the atmosphere.

Winged Encounters is amazing if you can manage it.

Do at least one of the trails - I’d say prioritize Maharajah Jungle Trek in Asia, but people love the Gorilla Falls trail too. Play Disney Parks app is fun for the trails but does take a little more time.

You probably don’t have time for Feathered Friends in Flight, but if you do, it’s really fun. Same for Festival of the Lion King.

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