I’ve been finishing up my scrapbooking for our April trip and found the touring plans I made up. I thought I would see just how well they helped or mirrored our actual experiences. Here are pics of the plans with notes about actual times and steps.
The first day was pretty close to plan. 7DMT was delayed opening so the timing was off by an hour at the start. We swapped PP for IASW but stayed on plan for FL except for sneaking in HM before heading to “new” FL. Dumbo was only using one side so it cut us close for our BOG res. The TL part of the plan didn’t make sense to me, it would have us doing a lot of backtracking so skipped it.
Day two was Epcot WS and really didn’t warrant a plan, but the times matched pretty well.
Day three was HS and was messed up from the start because Rise was down.
Day four plan was ditched for a spur of the moment 4 parks 1 day.
Overall, it’s fun to make these plans but I’ve learned that they aren’t entirely realistic. It is nice to have steps and a general plan to follow.
It’s a good general guide but you need to build in a sufficient buffer for reality. Just as one example, RotR has a 7 minute duration in your plan. Even if there is zero wait, it’s going to take longer than that just to walk through, even if the preshows aren’t running. Realistically the experience is more like 20-25 minutes at the front of rope drop.
Touring plans are made to be altered day of. When I went to MK last November SDMT my first ride was shut due to soggy weather - so I went to Peter Pan instead, the 2nd ride, then did SDMT when it came back up. I skipped the Tomorrowland Transit entirely as well. What the touring plan does is keep you from wasting time thinking where do I go next? with a mind fogged by the sensory overload that is Disney.
This was our 50th trip to Disney lol, we were just finding the Remy statues. We actually did ride Frozen in Norway, it’s a favorite. They also have a little Norse gods exhibit, bakery and meet and greet. China has beautiful gardens, a movie and sometimes performers. Mexico has a cute ride, restaurant, bar and shopping galore. Plus all the ac you can absorb lol.
Depends on what you want to do. If it a pavillion that just has shops and eateries, you might allocate 15 minutes just to check out the shops and maybe check out some of the architecture, etc. If you want to try some food from a quick service place you might want to add another 15 minutes. If there is a ride, you would want to add the wait and ride time to that. Same with any shows. Finally, if you want to eat at a sit-down restaurant, well, it will require considerably more time!!!
Epcot world showcase is my favorite. I recommend looking at the list of shows you want to see (lots of pop-up performances) and plan your day around them. For example, there are drummers in Japan that are really cool. But I’m good to watch 5 minutes and then head on. No need to stand in the billion degree sun longer than that.
Also, if there is an event like Food and Wine, you’ll want to make a list of any foods you must try and make a note of what country they’re in or near.
The World Showcase is a lot bigger than it appears.
Some countries have cool art and some countries have great shopping. Some have shows.
If it’s your first time, you could just wing it and soak in what you like.
Morocco doesn’t have much going on so 5 minutes there.
I spent 40 minutes shopping in Japan.
There isn’t much in France but eating, same with Italy and Germany.
On our (first time) trip in 2017 we had a PPO breakfast at akershus and I recall it taking us like 20 minutes to get there from the parking lot.
We didn’t spend a lot of time looking at performers and such in world showcase, but it still took us pretty much all day to check everything out. There was lots of little details for us to look at in each pavilion and explore (and pretty sure we used every rest room as we went cause kids), plus photos.
We were wondering! I didn’t realize it was so long.
And my friends really love the perfume shop.
I was disappointed in the shop in front of Les Halles. They used to have a lot of stuff but it feels like a smaller selection.
For Food & Wine they have this free craft you can make. Sand molds.
And a water/tea/iced coffee station.
We stayed there in the AC for quite a while.
I miss the belly dancers.
