I don’t know if this is okay to ask. Is this TMI?? I feel needy, but I would love any input you lovely folks would be willing to give!!
Some preliminary information:
We’re staying off-site, about a 20 min drive
We will be RD-ing every day
“We” are me, my DH, 20 y.o., 15 y.o., and 6.5 y.o.
The 20 y.o. had hip replacement in August–he can walk ok, but minimizing walking will make him happier (and me, too, honestly. I’m older and fatter than I was when we went 8 years ago!).
I’m a type-A, RD to fireworks kind of gal. My family will trustingly follow me off a cliff. I’m trying to balance all of us wanting to see EVERYTHING TWICE with not killing us. Thus, the plans only include the backtracking I thought was really necessary.
We are driving in from Ohio. On park hopping days we will pay for the closer parking. Some of us may ride the bus, to minimize walking (thanks to a tip from a different post).
I am also cheap, so we will eat breakfast at ‘home’ and pack lunches. CS for snacks and dinner.
Without further ado:
Thurs: arrive at Airbnb, grocery shop, get to bed early!
Fri 1/18: MK
arrive 8am to RD at MK (though there are EMH that morning): FRI 1/18 MK Tomorrowland and Fantasyland [Note: I have us trying to get on 7DMT towards the end of the day, but thought we could just see about the wait times/FPP availability/desire on the fly. It seems like we have time to wait that day, but we’re also RD-ing it on Mon, so if we miss it here, so be it.]
Tues: AK a.m., HS p.m.
Arrive 7:45 to RD at AK to hopefully RD FoP & NRJ, then: *** TU 1/22am AK [*Note: I’m not sure how committed we are to the Exploration Trail or Jungle Trek. I’ve been on actual safari in Africa, and we have a pretty amazing zoo. I don’t remember being all that impressed, honestly.]
Arrive at HS ~2:30pm: ***TU 1/22 pm HS
I think it’s more than OK I think folks here love to read other people’s plans and comment on them! At least, I do (I don’t comment too much, but I like to see what other people are up to.)
I think your plans look great…I’d certainly follow them! My only hesitation would be the safari. I wasn’t overly impressed (and I have never been on a REAL safari!), but I wouldn’t wait over half an hour for it.
Enjoy…I hope you can write up a trip report after!!
Look, you are going to have a great time either way but I’m going to break it to you. Your plan is a mess and it is overly ambitious. You will be lucky if you can fit half of those things before your 6-year old crumbles in tears and everyone else in your family along with her.
MK during EMH and staying offsite. Oh boy. This is wrong in so many levels. EMH erodes every benefit from RD and makes that park extra busy so you will be waking up early for nothing. Even if you soldier on. There is no way you can make it to HEA after 7DMT at that hour. There are no time cushions built into your plan. You will not be able to take advantage of the fourth and subsequent fastpasses with your current selections.
Try removing less desired attractions like Barnstormer and Astro Orbiter to create some time and by all means modify like crazy to try to nail down a FPP for 7DMT. It’s difficult but possible and probably the only way to sort of save you Friday plan.
For your Saturday at Epcot, I’m at a loss for words. Same thing. There is simply too much. Try adding FEA and Soarin to the plan so you get a better idea of how much it would take you. I think you under estimate the power of the Festival of the Arts which brings all the locals out of the woodwork during the weekend. My suggestion is to scrap agent P and do Figment’s scavenger hunt instead. It is a lot more fun and your kid gets a plastic cup at the end I think and you do not need to stare at your screen. Other than restarting from scratch, I suggest to try to front load your FPP so you can get to your fourth selection quicker. Your plan is tough, good luck.
I didn’t get to your other plans. Regarding AK, you are right that it is a glorified zoo and nothing new if you’ve been to a real safari and have a good quality zoo back home.
Florida schools get Friday and MLK off. Do you know where they go during the weekend? Yep, that’s right they go to WDW. The crowds will be more manageable Tuesday and after so those days have potential.
Plans are supposed to be a guide, they will fail. Good luck, you really need it. Even if nothing works out, remember that your family will have a great time.
Have you considered having AK on Friday and then make Monday an all day at MK? The EMH make me concerned with how busy MK will be that day.
I think giving yourself a day off is a great plan, especially if you are going to RD to close the other days. I aim to do indoor shows in the afternoon if possible to re-energizer.
I’m sure you will receive great tips on how to maximize your time. Have a great trip!
WOW. Harsh. Here are the same ideas presented in a more constructive, encouraging tone…
I hope you have a great trip! Your plans seem a bit overambitious, though. Here are some thoughts to consider:
An EMH day at MK might not be as effective as you think if you are staying offsite. Even with RD, you will be starting off with an already crowded park.
It’ll probably be hard to get a spot for HEA after riding 7DMT. Also, maybe work in a couple of breaks by taking out some rides you aren’t as attached to, and then if you end up having time for them you can add them back in that day.
Your Epcot plan also looks a bit full. Go in with an open mind and know that you might not get to everything on your plan.
Also take into account that this is MLK weekend so there will be added crowds. However, hopefully the TP CLs have accounted for this
I have no edit for this. Snarky and unnecessary in my eyes.
Whoa, @SneakyPete, chill out a bit there. I did ask for advice. I didn’t say: here is my excellent plan, all bow to my wise and wonderful ways. I’m not going to take the time to respond to every point, but I’ll take all of that under consideration. I do just want to ask: how should I know that my plan is a “mess” if I ran it through the Touring Plans evaluate function? Come to think of it (and no offense intended–an honest question), why should I believe you instead of the software? I think you could’ve probably been kinder. (Also, for the record, the first time we went, me, my DH, 7.5 yo and 12 yo did EVERYTHING we wanted to do in the entire MK in one day. We were tired. We wouldn’t do that again. But still.)
@jessk328 Thanks so much for your constructive reframing. I don’t know if you looked at my plans and agree in substance if not in form with @SneakyPete? I’m going to proceed as if you did:
@jessk328 & @rankel42:
I agree that EMH at MK stinks, but my DH really wants my 6.5 yo son’s first Disney experience to be MK., and so that’s what we’re doing. I did wonder if it even matters if we get there for RD, given the EMH. I evaluated my plans, and was surprised that SM was only a 21 minute wait even so, but I’ve been assured that the TP take that kind of thing into consideration. Is showing up in time for the morning greeting then giving us the best head start we can get that day?
What exactly should I know that the TPs here don’t tell me–about MK and about EP? I worked in meal breaks and tried to minimize walking, as well as having sit-down stuff interspersed through the day. Should I work in more breaks?
This is the first harsh thing I’ve seen here, @jharshey. I would be glad to read your plan, though I will only nod supportively as I am obviously not an expert.
I was actually just trying to revise what I found to be a very discouraging post. TBH, I don’t have experience with EMH, but I think someone posted recently that the waiting times actually aren’t that much longer during EMH days. My days at WDW were a little different…my in-laws had a lot of TS meals scheduled, so we had automatic break time factored in. However, I do believe what I said about going in with an open mind. Know in the back of your mind what is most important to you, and if you end up running behind, cut out the things you aren’t super attached to. On our Epcot day, we ended up missing a couple of things (Turtle Talk and Figment…not sad about Figment but I think the kids would’ve loved Turtle Talk), but we had a lot of fun anyway!
100% agreed! I actually added several things in because I felt like the TP said we had extra time, and I’m more than willing to take them out. Thanks so much for your kindness and advice!
Honestly, after reading the comments above, I rushed to look at your plans. They do look like very full days but that’s ok. One thing you might do is prioritize by adding a note here or there to certain attractions like “can skip if behind” or “only if time”. I do that, and then if we get diverted by a shop or an unanticipated longing for another Mickey bar, I know how to get on track. For MK and AK especially, I put the walking speed to relaxed even though we are pretty quick around the parks. I’ve found that that builds in a little buffer for bathroom, water, photopass, quick gift store browsing stops. I find its harder to do that in HS as so many shows and FPP that we usually try to stick to the plan there. For Epcot, we usually tour 1/2 FW in am, then 1/2 WS in afternoon so its just a loose plan. Just thought I’d share my 2 cents. You do your vacation your way, just be aware that things don’t go accordingly to plan 100% and sometimes it turns out better than planned that way
Normally this forum has amazing and wonderful people who are kind and respectful in their responses. I am sure you will get much more supportive answers coming.
I can completely get the wanting your first experience to be MK. I wish I could find a good solution around this, but if the plans say you can make it work I’m sure it will be fine.
I wonder if it might actually be less stressful to add an extra half day or so at MK and/or Epcot, so you don’t feel like you have to fit so much into your full days there. Like, if you add an extra day of park tickets, you could do a late-start Epcot day on Sunday where you mostly do World Showcase stuff and maybe a couple of rides. That takes some of the pressure off of the full Epcot day, and if you need to leave early it gives you an alternate day for Illuminations.
Maybe make Thursday another MK day, or take away your half day at HS, turn your two half AK days into a full day, and extend that MK morning into a 3/4 day where you stay into the afternoon and then leave for dinner and rest before your early AK morning. A little more time in MK on another day means you don’t have to worry about fitting in the Liberty Square stuff on your first day.
You might want to add more time for meals, and some snack and bathroom breaks. I like the idea of noting on the plan which things are skippable if you need to make up time.
@momfourmonkeys: that’s a good tip about setting the walking pace to relaxed! We’re not big shoppers, but we do use the bathroom! Thank so much for the advice!
That’s a good thought about putting Liberty Square stuff on the second MK day–some of the second MK day stuff is more negotiable to me. I think I put the Liberty Square stuff there because I wanted to watch the parade over there (though I know it puts the parade location on Main St). Anyway, I’ll fiddle with it. I’ll also think about the extra day. I can add a day at the parks, right? So maybe if my first day goes a lot worse than expected, we’ll do that. But there is stuff in Disney Springs that my 20 yo really wants to get to, and we’ll have mass on Sunday anyway. We do have our last day totally unplanned right now, so maybe that will be enough wiggle room. Thanks so much for your thoughts! I appreciate them!
Yes! You can add a day as long as you haven’t used the last day yet. So you could definitely wait and see how it goes and add a day if you need to.
I’m traveling with a 6 year old, too, in a couple of weeks, and I have a lot of backup plans in case things don’t go the way we expect. Our mornings are all decided, but I have a few different ideas in mind for breaks, dinners, fireworks, etc. since if he gets tired or crabby it won’t be fun for anybody.
I think your plans are full but very fun. I agree just mark your must dos—- or put must dos in the morning? Then anything else you get to will be a nice extra?
While there are things you can probably do to “optimize” your plans, I will say that based on the dates you are going, I would expect a lot of rides to be close to walk-ons.
I suppose, technically speaking, you aren’t rope-dropping on days with EMH if you are staying off-site.
Your Epcot day has you pretty much blowing through the countries, with 10 minutes dedicated to each. Since you have one day, and you have empty time in the evening, you might want to take time to smell the roses there. Agent P’s adventure is fine, but it isn’t really something you just stop and do. There are several different adventures across multiple countries. It is fun and worth doing, but you would need to plan time in China, Mexico, France, etc., for each of the adventures. Each one takes about 30 minutes to do.
Your Monday MK day ends at Tom Sawyer’s Island. You only have 30 minutes there. But just the time it takes to take the raft to/from the island takes up most of that time. The island itself I’d give about an hour to explore. Otherwise it might end up just being a waste of time you could spend elsewhere.
The park hopping probably isn’t necessary and could add transit time…but I can see, based on your FPP selections why you did it.
Thus, the plans only include the backtracking I thought was really necessary.
I think folks here love to read other people’s plans and comment on them! At least, I do 
(I don’t comment too much, but I like to see what other people are up to.)
Thank so much for the advice!