Critique my plan for party of 5

[digidojo]

Pardon the long post. I need honest feedback on my itinerary for family trip next month. I have park reservations, hotel, a couple of ADRs already made. I just want to get some thoughts from those who’ve been around this time.

Going to Disney (3 park days) then Universal (2 days) - May 18-25

Some background:

• Party of 5 including me. All adults. It’ll be my parents, 2 siblings, and I.
• I’m not sure how often we will be together. I’ll have to factor in some flexibility for my party members to do their own thing occasionally. With LL at Disney this might be challenging.
• Originally planned to go in January after new year’s. Due to the Omicron COVID surge we decided to postpone to May, after my brother and sis finish college semesters.
• We figured mid-May would be ideal since it’s before most schools get out and it would be less crowded. Not sure how true that will be though.
• Have considered deferring to early June to catch GOTG Cosmic Rewind, but I don’t think this is ideal as the heat will be worse and schools are out. I am bummed we didn’t catch it, but it’s not a deal breaker imo. We have reservations and tickets, etc. already set and changing it at this time would be a headache.

Itinerary

Day 1 (Wed May 18)

• Arrive at Disney Swan

Day 2 (Thur May 19)

• Hollywood Studios whole day
  • Get Genie+ for Slinky, maybe Tower of terror. ILL for Rise (not sure).
• Do Early rope drop - be at gate by 8am at the latest for 8:30 entry
• Do RotR at rope drop, then Millenium falcon right after
• See what we can get on Genie+ rest of day
• ADR 12:30: Olga’s cantina - we might eat lunch first at Ronto roasters then head over to Olga’s for drinks. I don’t think they really serve food there from what I see on the menu.
• ADR 7:00pm: Sci-fi Dine in Theater - We picked this one as it looked cooler than 50s prime time. Not sure if the food is better/worse.
• Basically plan to do just this park today, see if we might take a midday resort break before coming back for dinner.

Day 3 (Fri May 20)

• EPCOT park reservation - may park hop later
• Get ILL for Remy’s or Rope drop Remy’s (or both)
• Rope drop, be there half hr before early entry
• Hang out in World Showcase after Remy’s since I’m guessing its less crowded there in the morning.
• Do future world for lunch/after lunch - depending if we can get LL for rides
• Park hop to another park after 2pm
  • Undecided if MK or Animal Kingdom
• Got an ADR for Teppan Edo for lunch at 1:40pm or dinner at 5:40pm, but considering dropping the dinner reservation since we might park hop.
• Come back to Epcot in time for Harmonious - not sure how feasible this is if we park hop.

Day 4 (Sat May 21)

• MK park reservation - not sure if we will park hop
• Not sure if we want to rope drop this one as we might be worn out by the third day of parks
• No solid ride plan for this day - we really like Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Space Mountain. Others aren’t must dos but nice to dos.
• Got a lunch ADR for Be Our Guest. Pricy pre-fix menu, especially since we’re 5. Is this worth it?
• Might park hop to Epcot or AK
• Come back in time for fireworks - again not sure if it’s feasible
  • May make more sense to swap the shows - hop to Epcot for harmonious this day, and do MK fireworks the previous day.

Day 5 (Sun May 22)

• Sleep in, check out of Swan, but leave bags at counter to go to Disney Springs
• Hang out Disney springs
• Go back to pick up bags at Swan and head over to Aventura for Universal stay

Day 6-7 (Mon and Tues May 23-24)

• 2 days for Universal. No real plan ride-wise. Want to ride Hagrids for sure.
• May/may not get Express for one of the two days at least. Not sure if it’s worth it depending on how crowded Universal would get on a Monday and Tuesday.

Day 8 (Wed May 25)

• Leave for airport and flight home

I know its a long post and pretty detailed, but I tend to be a hyper planner. I am trying to avoid as much grief with crowds, lines, etc. With Disney it’s especially though with managing reservations and expectations. Universal not as much.

I appreciate any feedback and recommendations. I am also not too familiar with the table service restaurants at Disney World so I picked the ones that looked more interesting, but if theres some that y’all recommend highly I might look at it.

Thanks again!

 

[CynBeth]

For your HS day a lot of people like Sci Fi but we do not care for the food there much prefer 50’s PTC plus unless you get a table if you are in the cars you would be facing front and have to try to turn awkwardly to talk to each other. With 50’s a lot of times the servers depending on which you get are interactive and make it a lot of fun. We have not tried Ronto we rarely do CS due to food allergies. For Epcot have never tried Teppan our favorites are Chefs de France, Coral Reef, Le Cellier, and Tutto Italia. For your MK day we enjoy BOG great theming and food would keep it. At Disney Springs if you are having a meal there we love The Boathouse. We stayed on Universal property for the first time for 2 days at Portofino and loved it! We had not been in years so it had changed a lot. We do not go on roller coasters or anything with a drop but enjoyed the motion simulators and other rides we went on and the shows. We liked that we really did not have to do much planning could go with the flow.

 

[Ben E N]

Looks like a fun-filled few days! The one piece that made me pause was your plans for Epcot. Rushing to Remy, then going back to future world, and then all the way back to Teppan Edo is a lot of walking in just a few short hours. If you could get a LL for Remy for around lunchtime (I know that is a lot easier said than done), or plan on just waiting in line after lunch, I think you will end up a bit happier, as you are not running from one place in the park to another, and then back again.
If you didn't plan on going back to to the front of the park, and had planned on rushing to Remy at the start of the day, what else did you have planned for World Showcase? You could be "hanging out" around there for 5 hours if you end up with a late lunch reservation.
Also, I know you don't want to overextend yourself, but you are paying a lot of money for these park tickets. I recommend you do go to Magic Kingdom early, and then take the afternoon to rest and relax. You can get a lot more done before 10 am than you can after it.

 

[digidojo]

For your HS day a lot of people like Sci Fi but we do not care for the food there much prefer 50’s PTC plus unless you get a table if you are in the cars you would be facing front and have to try to turn awkwardly to talk to each other. With 50’s a lot of times the servers depending on which you get are interactive and make it a lot of fun. We have not tried Ronto we rarely do CS due to food allergies. For Epcot have never tried Teppan our favorites are Chefs de France, Coral Reef, Le Cellier, and Tutto Italia. For your MK day we enjoy BOG great theming and food would keep it. At Disney Springs if you are having a meal there we love The Boathouse. We stayed on Universal property for the first time for 2 days at Portofino and loved it! We had not been in years so it had changed a lot. We do not go on roller coasters or anything with a drop but enjoyed the motion simulators and other rides we went on and the shows. We liked that we really did not have to do much planning could go with the flow.

Thanks for the recommendations!

 

[digidojo]

Looks like a fun-filled few days! The one piece that made me pause was your plans for Epcot. Rushing to Remy, then going back to future world, and then all the way back to Teppan Edo is a lot of walking in just a few short hours. If you could get a LL for Remy for around lunchtime (I know that is a lot easier said than done), or plan on just waiting in line after lunch, I think you will end up a bit happier, as you are not running from one place in the park to another, and then back again.
If you didn't plan on going back to to the front of the park, and had planned on rushing to Remy at the start of the day, what else did you have planned for World Showcase? You could be "hanging out" around there for 5 hours if you end up with a late lunch reservation.
Also, I know you don't want to overextend yourself, but you are paying a lot of money for these park tickets. I recommend you do go to Magic Kingdom early, and then take the afternoon to rest and relax. You can get a lot more done before 10 am than you can after it.

Yeah good point on EPCOT. From what I remember it was definitely a lot of walking, so probably best to divide up World Showcase time and Future world time as two parts like you said. I think World Showcase would be less crowded in morning, and have the Teppan Edo ADR at 1:40pm. Maybe start with Remy’s and just work our way counter clockwise thru World Showcase, do a few of rides in future world, then come back for the lunch? I guess it’ll be more of a day-of decision depending on our energy levels.

 

[RoseGold]

Where's your extended hours??? Swan qualifies for the extended Monday, Weds hours, and you need to plan around these. They are AWESOME. I'd even think about moving around a park day to do MK on Day 1 to get the late Weds hours.

I'd try to eat at both Star Wars quick service. They both have really cool menu items, and it's a fun experience. You could do kind of a brunch at one and an early dinner at the other, so it isn't so crowded. The couple food items Oga's has are really cool to order.

I'm meh on Sci Fi. It might be good to sit down in some AC. You will be able to hop to Epcot for the fireworks that night, if you want to. The other option would be to get in the line for Remy right at close, during the fireworks. There's no ILL$ when you go that late, so the line moves fast. If you come from the gondolas or boat from HS, you come in right by Remy.

I'd skip Teppan. I live somewhere with excellent food, and I know it won't be the quality I expect, and it's taking a lot of park time and cramping the hopping. Lots of other Epcot options, like the crepe window or the pizza window. Or, heck, set an alert and try to go to the Space 220 lounge.

Staying at the swan, it always makes sense to hop back for Harmonious, unless you are at the MK fireworks.

Edit: Looks like that's the only Weds that doesn't have it. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/extended-evening/

 

[Bama Mom]

Honestly for us it would be too much hopping going from one park to another and then back again for the evening fireworks at the original park so I would plan to watch the nighttime show at whatever park I hopped to. But it really depends on how the timing of transportation is because hopping from one park to another can take a big chunk of time (not always but sometimes), especially if you're doing it twice.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

If that is your plan and it makes you and your family happy that's awesome.

 

[digidojo]

Where's your extended hours??? Swan qualifies for the extended Monday, Weds hours, and you need to plan around these. They are AWESOME. I'd even think about moving around a park day to do MK on Day 1 to get the late Weds hours.

I'd try to eat at both Star Wars quick service. They both have really cool menu items, and it's a fun experience. You could do kind of a brunch at one and an early dinner at the other, so it isn't so crowded. The couple food items Oga's has are really cool to order.

I'm meh on Sci Fi. It might be good to sit down in some AC. You will be able to hop to Epcot for the fireworks that night, if you want to. The other option would be to get in the line for Remy right at close, during the fireworks. There's no ILL$ when you go that late, so the line moves fast. If you come from the gondolas or boat from HS, you come in right by Remy.

I'd skip Teppan. I live somewhere with excellent food, and I know it won't be the quality I expect, and it's taking a lot of park time and cramping the hopping. Lots of other Epcot options, like the crepe window or the pizza window. Or, heck, set an alert and try to go to the Space 220 lounge.

Staying at the swan, it always makes sense to hop back for Harmonious, unless you are at the MK fireworks.

Edit: Looks like that's the only Weds that doesn't have it. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/extended-evening/

Thanks for the recs! And the extended hours don’t occur on those days sadly. Was crossing my fingers Disney would announce more extended hr dates but I doubt it at this point. So far the main perks we get are the transportation and Early Entry

 

[Shedrick]

If you’re serious about early entry and you don’t like waiting in ride lines, I would plan to be there an hour early for early entry, especially for Hollywood studios. It makes you one of the very first in line and sets you up for success to rope drop 2 big rides before official park open. I arrived at 7am on my most recent trip with early entry at 8am, official park open at 8:30. We rope dropped slinky dog, ILL Rise, and booked tower of terror as my first genie + LL. I went from from slinky to Mickey and Minnie’s runaway a railway to millennium falcon and finished all of those by 9. I have been booking tower of terror for my first LL due to it only running one elevator side now and the wait in the heat is horrendous. Most people try to get slinky dog for their first LL so if you refresh right at 6:59:59 you can usually get an early time for tower and the earlier you get the earlier you can book your next one.

Epcot you could probably skip early entry if you got a lightening lane for remys and benefit more at magic kingdoms early entry-again trying to arrive an hour before early entry and getting on that first bus. You can get a lot done in the morning and then going back to resort after lunch time to get out of long lines and the heat, then head back before fireworks. If you wanted to do animal kingdom and set on hopping, you could do animal kingdom in the am since it opens early, and then hop to Epcot and be set for a meal and fireworks.

Food—Sci-fi is just ok, my husband and I’s favorite meal is the steak at Be Our Guest. I like that if you don’t like something (like roasted veggies for example they will usually let you swap it out if you ask.) We also really like Via Napoli at Epcot and flame tree bbq at AK.
Sorry for the long post, I just really like talking strategy

 

[digidojo]

If you’re serious about early entry and you don’t like waiting in ride lines, I would plan to be there an hour early for early entry, especially for Hollywood studios. It makes you one of the very first in line and sets you up for success to rope drop 2 big rides before official park open. I arrived at 7am on my most recent trip with early entry at 8am, official park open at 8:30. We rope dropped slinky dog, ILL Rise, and booked tower of terror as my first genie + LL. I went from from slinky to Mickey and Minnie’s runaway a railway to millennium falcon and finished all of those by 9. I have been booking tower of terror for my first LL due to it only running one elevator side now and the wait in the heat is horrendous. Most people try to get slinky dog for their first LL so if you refresh right at 6:59:59 you can usually get an early time for tower and the earlier you get the earlier you can book your next one.

Epcot you could probably skip early entry if you got a lightening lane for remys and benefit more at magic kingdoms early entry-again trying to arrive an hour before early entry and getting on that first bus. You can get a lot done in the morning and then going back to resort after lunch time to get out of long lines and the heat, then head back before fireworks. If you wanted to do animal kingdom and set on hopping, you could do animal kingdom in the am since it opens early, and then hop to Epcot and be set for a meal and fireworks.

Food—Sci-fi is just ok, my husband and I’s favorite meal is the steak at Be Our Guest. I like that if you don’t like something (like roasted veggies for example they will usually let you swap it out if you ask.) We also really like Via Napoli at Epcot and flame tree bbq at AK.
Sorry for the long post, I just really like talking strategy

Thanks for this. The more detail the better. I’m still debating if it’s worth rope dropping Rise if we get there an hour early, then we wouldn’t need ILL for that. The other rope drop candidates for me are Tower, MMRR, or Millenium Falcon.
Like you said if I get a LL for Tower early I could rope drop any of the others above.

 

[covington]

Where's your extended hours??? Swan qualifies for the extended Monday, Weds hours, and you need to plan around these. They are AWESOME. I'd even think about moving around a park day to do MK on Day 1 to get the late Weds hours.

I'd try to eat at both Star Wars quick service. They both have really cool menu items, and it's a fun experience. You could do kind of a brunch at one and an early dinner at the other, so it isn't so crowded. The couple food items Oga's has are really cool to order.

I'm meh on Sci Fi. It might be good to sit down in some AC. You will be able to hop to Epcot for the fireworks that night, if you want to. The other option would be to get in the line for Remy right at close, during the fireworks. There's no ILL$ when you go that late, so the line moves fast. If you come from the gondolas or boat from HS, you come in right by Remy.

I'd skip Teppan. I live somewhere with excellent food, and I know it won't be the quality I expect, and it's taking a lot of park time and cramping the hopping. Lots of other Epcot options, like the crepe window or the pizza window. Or, heck, set an alert and try to go to the Space 220 lounge.

Staying at the swan, it always makes sense to hop back for Harmonious, unless you are at the MK fireworks.

Edit: Looks like that's the only Weds that doesn't have it. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/extended-evening/

Is the pizza window at Via Napoli still open?