Some of y’all know from another thread that I will be hosting my brother’s girlfriend on her first ever trip to wdw!! She doesn’t want to go park warrior style, and wants to see SWGE, ride haunted mansion and see the castle. I think she would also love TOT, Pandora, the tree of life, GOTG, Tron, HEA and the live BTAB at HS, though that’s less of a priority.
If all goes well with flights we should be in the world by 10a Tues and will need to leave by 5p Weds. I think we start w SWGE in case of rain since that’s most important.
We are staying at VGF.
Tues June 13
7a - ILL Tron and ROTR, G+ TOT
10a HS arrival, Go to SWGE
1030 - book MF
Experience all of SWGE including snagging an Oga’s reservation and a ronto roaster
1230p book HM
4 or 5p BATB
Stop in VGF for rest and daylight pics of resort studio!
Castle pics
Tron
HM & memento mori
Casey’s and mickey bars on the Hub for late dinner while we wait for fireworks
June 14
7a - ILL GOTG and FOP
NRJ g+
10a - KS G+
Y&Y or Satuli or Nomad lunch
EE
Hop to EP
Gotg
Uber to MCO around 5p
Doable right?! RIGHT? (But really, is it?)
The first day we can easily drop BATB, TOT, memento mori and the stop at VGF if needed. The second day I purposely scheduled light in case we are rained out of HS stuff and need to do SWGE Weds am and just hit Pandora and the tree after hop time.
Also, I’m gonna bridge my ticket to an AP while I’m there cause yolo
I would plan on two mornings at SWGE - do ROTR, MFSR and Star Tours twice. See if you can find any characters. Go and meet Chewy, Darth and BB-8. Browse the shops. If she’s a SW geek, I think you could easily fill two mornings there.
I think your key will be pushing things like the TOT out, so you avoid criss crossing the park. And can experience SWGE, then the Hollywood Blvd side.
Since you will have extr LL bookability, I would consider a SDD or TSMM (because they are right there and so fun) or a MMRR for the same reason. If you run out of time, skip them! If she likes MFSR, definitely single rider it for a second chance ride.
Aw come on, I didn’t even mention the fact that the entire reason I planned this trip is because I have to have DS9 at the airport at 330a for his first ever sleep away camp, so I figured I might as well get on a plane too.
Honestly, we can skip Epcot. If we manage time in SWGE, seeing the castle, and time in Pandora and seeing the tree, we will be good.
That said I think your first day is reasonable and not overly packed. I hope your room is ready by the time you get to VGF - that could be the only hiccup.
Your second day seems manageable too. The only question will be whether she thinks going all day long the day before and starting relatively early the next day will be too much. It’s a relaxed itin that day though. I might skip the hop to EP - don’t forget how long it can take getting around! Or (gulp) skip AK if you think she’d enjoy EP more. I think hopping with such a short (6ish hour) day is too much of a time suck.
You know your friend best as to whether Epcot or AK would be better for a noob trip. That caveat aside, personally my family would choose Epcot as the more distinctly Disney thing and in my opinion it has more variety. Plus on a shorter day the hop from Epcot back to HS if your friend wanted more time in SWGE is much easier and more predictable than any hop from AK (assuming skyliner is running). So I’d argue it’s easier to play that park hop by ear. But you know best and as others have stated you’re a pro!
I think excitement and adrenaline will get her through that first long day. Resting at the room sounds like it’s going to be a stretch though with everything else.
Does she know much about AK or care about Avatar? I would prioritize GOTG and WS over AK personally.
My last day of the liner meet I slept in because of a migrain, then spent 3 hours in AK (plenty of time for FOP, NRJ, KS and EE in your plan), bused to Riviera for a long lunch at Topploino’s and then hopped to EP to ride GOTG, took the bus back to All Stars and got on the 4:00 shuttle to the airport.
It felt nice and relaxed - so I think you can do it too!
My family so vegan so I can help with that a bit!
We love the allergy waffles served at Disney resorts! Dole whip (all fruit flavors minus coconut), Mickey pretzels (minus the cheese), and popcorn is all good to go. At HS, they have dairy free ice cream at the place near TOT, the specialty popcorn in Batuu is vegan as well as the blue and green milk. Epcot has the delicious sorbet in France that we love. They also have a couple items at Kringle bakery in Norway! In Sunshine seasons, they have a yummy dirt pudding type dessert. During flower and garden festival, they have the tres leches cake with is the bomb!
The only concern I might have is that your plan revolves around ILLs, LLs, and ADRs all in very narrow time windows. My strategy was to decide which park on which day well in advance of my trip. Right at my 60+10 day I would book all of my ADRs, and if there was one that I really wanted, if it was only available on 1 or 2 days, then I would alter my “master plan” to fit those in (I was never able to get an ADR for Oga’s for any of my 8 park days; the only way I got in was because a friend had an extra seat at hers). Then at 7:00 I would try to make any ILLs or BGs that I could, and then planned the rest of the day around them and any ADRs I had. Also, you can’t always get LLs for the times that you want them. One thing that ILLs, BGs, and LLs have taught me is that hour-by-hour planning before you arrive is at best frustrating and at worst a complete fail.
