Lucius Best
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2015
It is great to have a plan, but for your first trip, there's no way to know what your family is going to like/hate/want to do over and over. And you're leaving tomorrow, so it's too late to blow it up and change everything.
In general, I agree with what others have said, you have underestimated the time it will take to travel, both between the resort and the parks, and from one ride to another within the parks. There's a lot of travel time, and not enough park time.
I think it's kind of pointless to plan things out to the minute. On our trip last month, as the family "expert" I made sure we were at rope drop everyday, we had our FP+ reserved in morning, and I had a general idea of where we wanted to go. Then the park opens, and everything goes haywire. We'll stick to the general plan, but if we see a ride with no wait, we might jump in it. If a planned ride says 30 minute wait when we were expecting only 10 minutes, we'll skip it and try to get a FP later. Some days the crowds were busier than expected, some days less busy. Maybe it starts to rain so we skip Thunder Mountain. Maybe the park is still empty at 9:30am and we ride Thunder Mountain 5 times in a row. Maybe Splash Mountain breaks down, and the crowds go to Thunder Mountain instead so the line gets ridiculously long. You have no idea what is going to happen.
You also have a 4yo. For example, on my 5yo niece's first trip, we had no idea what rides/parks she would prefer. Halfway through the week, we decided to switch up our schedule for the rest of the week to add more MK mornings because Thunder Mountain was her favorite ride.
Here is my critique:
May 25: FP+ makes it easy to pop into a park late and ride something like Soarin with only a short wait. You're coming from the UK with a 4yo? Long travel day on the first day of the trip, and the plan is to ride Spaceship Earth, walk 1 mile to the back of the park for teriyaki chicken, then walk 1 mile back to Soarin'. There are tons of places to eat closer to Soarin. With the time change, when you get back to CBR, it's going to feel like 2AM?
May 26: Very good getting to rope drop. You might have too much in the morning. JungleCruise will take longer than 10 minutes. TikiRoom and CountryBears are good "anytime" rides, i.e. good rides to do in the afternoon when the parks are crowded and hot and you've done everything else, and it is nice to just sit inside with A/C and watch a show. Tom Sawyer's Island can also take a while depending on how much fun your 4yo is having exploring caves and play areas. If you get to MK rope drop, with FP, you can easily bang out all of Fanytasyland (7Dwarfs, PeterPan, Mermaid, SmallWorld, Dumbo, Teacups, Pooh, Carousel) before lunch. Personally, I would FP PeterPan/Pooh/Barnstormer in the morning. Then get a 4th FP for something like Jungle Cruise for later. You have timing problems after your resort break: only two hours in the park, then dinner will be rushed, Chef Mickey at 8:30pm could be a zoo, note that even though you have an ADR, you might have to wait 10-15 minutes. You might not make it back to MK in time for fireworks. This is also second really late night in a row.
May 27: I like this day, you can sleep in, get to Epcot and use your FP and see all of Future World.
May 28: You don't really know when your Jedi Training window is going to be, depends on how many people beat you there. I would try to switch that late ToT FP to before your break, then you can get a 4th FP for later. You have a lot of shows, which can suck up a lot of time, you might not even have 2 hours back at resort. With 12:15pm lunch ADR, tough to make the 1:20 Stunt show, that is all the way in the back of the park. If you do make it, it's 40 minutes long, then 15 minutes to walk back out to the bus, you're not getting to CBR until ~2:30-2:45pm. If leave after lunch, getting back to CBR at 2pm, you'll have to be on a bus by 3:30pm to make it back to the 4:20 stunt show.
May 29: Astro Orbiter line moves ridiculously slow, you don't want to do it midday like this. Afternoon lines are going to be heavier than mornings. You definitely want to get a 4th FP for Thunder/HauntedMansion/Pirates, but it's possible there won't be any availability before you have to go to Ohana. Thunder will have longest line, Pirates probably shortest.
May 31: Lot of travel this day. Sci-Fi pretty close to fireworks.
June 1: Animal Kingdom is a very very big park. It might take 15-20 minutes to walk from gate to Safari? The Safari ride is 20 minutes long, and even if you return with FP, it still might take 10-15 minute wait before you actually get on the ride. No need to do Bug and Maharajah Jungle Trek so early, they have no wait, can do them whenever is convenient. At rope drop you can do either Everest or Safari with little wait. Leaving the park before 11am for lunch doesn't make sense to me at all.
June 2&4: So much traveling these days, you're probably looking at 2+ hours waiting for and riding buses and boats. You've got so many park visits where you're just popping in for a couple of hours and then heading somewhere else. It's not a very efficient use of your time. And you have to factor in the walking time in and out of the parks.
June 3: Sleeping in before Epcot is fine, you've got your FP+. You might be able to do Figment with no wait between Nemo and Soarin, then you can get into the countries quicker.
June 5,6,7: I like the general idea of these days. You're getting to the park at rope drop and have your FP in the morning, so you can get lots of the big rides done, then you can have flexibility after lunch to do more rides, get more FP, hop to another park, or go back the the resort for rest/pool/nap.
June 5: Don't waste your time looking at Oasis exhibits on the way in, the first hour is when lines are shortest, you can check out those exhibits when leaving. I only see 2 FP, might as well get one for Dinosaur/Everest/Safari. Don't forget about the Pangani Trail near the Safari.
June 6: Popping in to MK to ride Space Mountain late afternoon on a Saturday without a FP, I would expect wait to be anywhere from 50-70 minutes?
June 7: You really do not need FP for Laugh Floor or Mad Tea Party. I would ride those standby and switch FP to Peter Pan/Pooh/Buzz
In general, I agree with what others have said, you have underestimated the time it will take to travel, both between the resort and the parks, and from one ride to another within the parks. There's a lot of travel time, and not enough park time.
I think it's kind of pointless to plan things out to the minute. On our trip last month, as the family "expert" I made sure we were at rope drop everyday, we had our FP+ reserved in morning, and I had a general idea of where we wanted to go. Then the park opens, and everything goes haywire. We'll stick to the general plan, but if we see a ride with no wait, we might jump in it. If a planned ride says 30 minute wait when we were expecting only 10 minutes, we'll skip it and try to get a FP later. Some days the crowds were busier than expected, some days less busy. Maybe it starts to rain so we skip Thunder Mountain. Maybe the park is still empty at 9:30am and we ride Thunder Mountain 5 times in a row. Maybe Splash Mountain breaks down, and the crowds go to Thunder Mountain instead so the line gets ridiculously long. You have no idea what is going to happen.
You also have a 4yo. For example, on my 5yo niece's first trip, we had no idea what rides/parks she would prefer. Halfway through the week, we decided to switch up our schedule for the rest of the week to add more MK mornings because Thunder Mountain was her favorite ride.
Here is my critique:
May 25: FP+ makes it easy to pop into a park late and ride something like Soarin with only a short wait. You're coming from the UK with a 4yo? Long travel day on the first day of the trip, and the plan is to ride Spaceship Earth, walk 1 mile to the back of the park for teriyaki chicken, then walk 1 mile back to Soarin'. There are tons of places to eat closer to Soarin. With the time change, when you get back to CBR, it's going to feel like 2AM?
May 26: Very good getting to rope drop. You might have too much in the morning. JungleCruise will take longer than 10 minutes. TikiRoom and CountryBears are good "anytime" rides, i.e. good rides to do in the afternoon when the parks are crowded and hot and you've done everything else, and it is nice to just sit inside with A/C and watch a show. Tom Sawyer's Island can also take a while depending on how much fun your 4yo is having exploring caves and play areas. If you get to MK rope drop, with FP, you can easily bang out all of Fanytasyland (7Dwarfs, PeterPan, Mermaid, SmallWorld, Dumbo, Teacups, Pooh, Carousel) before lunch. Personally, I would FP PeterPan/Pooh/Barnstormer in the morning. Then get a 4th FP for something like Jungle Cruise for later. You have timing problems after your resort break: only two hours in the park, then dinner will be rushed, Chef Mickey at 8:30pm could be a zoo, note that even though you have an ADR, you might have to wait 10-15 minutes. You might not make it back to MK in time for fireworks. This is also second really late night in a row.
May 27: I like this day, you can sleep in, get to Epcot and use your FP and see all of Future World.
May 28: You don't really know when your Jedi Training window is going to be, depends on how many people beat you there. I would try to switch that late ToT FP to before your break, then you can get a 4th FP for later. You have a lot of shows, which can suck up a lot of time, you might not even have 2 hours back at resort. With 12:15pm lunch ADR, tough to make the 1:20 Stunt show, that is all the way in the back of the park. If you do make it, it's 40 minutes long, then 15 minutes to walk back out to the bus, you're not getting to CBR until ~2:30-2:45pm. If leave after lunch, getting back to CBR at 2pm, you'll have to be on a bus by 3:30pm to make it back to the 4:20 stunt show.
May 29: Astro Orbiter line moves ridiculously slow, you don't want to do it midday like this. Afternoon lines are going to be heavier than mornings. You definitely want to get a 4th FP for Thunder/HauntedMansion/Pirates, but it's possible there won't be any availability before you have to go to Ohana. Thunder will have longest line, Pirates probably shortest.
May 31: Lot of travel this day. Sci-Fi pretty close to fireworks.
June 1: Animal Kingdom is a very very big park. It might take 15-20 minutes to walk from gate to Safari? The Safari ride is 20 minutes long, and even if you return with FP, it still might take 10-15 minute wait before you actually get on the ride. No need to do Bug and Maharajah Jungle Trek so early, they have no wait, can do them whenever is convenient. At rope drop you can do either Everest or Safari with little wait. Leaving the park before 11am for lunch doesn't make sense to me at all.
June 2&4: So much traveling these days, you're probably looking at 2+ hours waiting for and riding buses and boats. You've got so many park visits where you're just popping in for a couple of hours and then heading somewhere else. It's not a very efficient use of your time. And you have to factor in the walking time in and out of the parks.
June 3: Sleeping in before Epcot is fine, you've got your FP+. You might be able to do Figment with no wait between Nemo and Soarin, then you can get into the countries quicker.
June 5,6,7: I like the general idea of these days. You're getting to the park at rope drop and have your FP in the morning, so you can get lots of the big rides done, then you can have flexibility after lunch to do more rides, get more FP, hop to another park, or go back the the resort for rest/pool/nap.
June 5: Don't waste your time looking at Oasis exhibits on the way in, the first hour is when lines are shortest, you can check out those exhibits when leaving. I only see 2 FP, might as well get one for Dinosaur/Everest/Safari. Don't forget about the Pangani Trail near the Safari.
June 6: Popping in to MK to ride Space Mountain late afternoon on a Saturday without a FP, I would expect wait to be anywhere from 50-70 minutes?
June 7: You really do not need FP for Laugh Floor or Mad Tea Party. I would ride those standby and switch FP to Peter Pan/Pooh/Buzz
