My First time and I need Planning Help!

[cwilso1987]

Family of 4, kids are 11 and 5. This will be our first big Disney trip and I am a little overwhelmed with what to do on what days. I'm typically just a play it by ear, go with the flow, but I feel like I need to have some sort of plan especially since the kids are going. We are arriving 11/15, going to the MVMCP the day of arrival. We are staying off-site 11/15-11/22. We have 5 day park hopper plus tickets. I figured do the party Thursday, maybe rest Friday, but then I don't know what to do after that, as in which parks to visit on which days. I know with it being Thanksgiving week, I'm sure it will be busy. Any suggestions?

**Edited to add, that we will be staying on-site the first night due to last minute changes to our trip and unable to add an additional night onto our off-sight reservation. The end of the week we will be taking a short Disney cruise. Also, this is a surprise for our children, so I can't ask their input about what rides, shows, restuarants, etc. another reason I'm a bit overwhelmed. Keeping it a secret and hiding everything is a job in itself.**

 

[bobbie68]

Hi I think with all the planning in advance you need to do,(fast passes, dining and extras that you might want to look at trip reports and do research. Personally we like to put a rest day more in the middle to the end of a vacation. We find more benefit out of it. I would after Thursday make a trip to all 4 of the parks. You can do this by splitting up park hopping. This way you can see what your family likes the best then you can go back to the parks that you liked more and spend more time there.

I think with Toy story opening you might want to make DHS that your second park to visit on Friday then park hop over to Epcot if time. These two parks are closer together so a little quicker for transportation.
I would go to Animal Kingdom on Saturday or rest day or I would on then go to AK on Sunday or rest day. Monday and Tuesday back to MK and whatever other parks you liked. The one thing we don't do (personal choice) is go to a park on our check out day if we are flying. It is to stressful to worry about getting back for DME. We like to take the time if we have it and relax by the pool then get ready.

Hope you enjoy your vacation.

 

[bashuck]

It might be impossible to get a Slinky Dog FP on the second day of their trip though, far more likely anyway towards the end. We almost always go to one park in the morning and a separate park in the evening but we stay on property and spend some time at the pool. That approach may still be practical for you. There are plenty of non-park things to do for one day other than just stay at your hotel. Fort Wilderness might have some things you are interested in as far as nice pony rides for the 5 year old and archery and a great campfire setup with Chip n Dale and smores.

 

[cwilso1987]

Thank you both! I feel crazy for saying this, but I had it set in my mind that we needed to do one park, all day, completely forgetting that we can "park hop." So thank you both for that lol! I've been doing tons of research on Kenny the Pirate and Touring Plans and I even ordered a book that I have read. I think just from all the research, I've gotten completely overwhelmed and a tad bit burned out.

 

[Bete]

The Disney Springs Offsite resorts have the same perks as Onsite Disney resorts with regards to FP+. If you are at one these then you can get the 60 day window to make this reservations. Otherwise, you will have 30 days ahead to get those reservations. You can do 3 FP+ in advance. Make sure you do those fastpasses. You can download the Disney Magical Experience app (DME).

With regard to extra early and late magic hours, again the Disney Spring Offsite resorts have that perk, too.

Most who stay offsite without the perks avoid the days the parks have the extra magic hours.

Many like the idea of going for rope drop to the parks. The parks are less crowded early on.

If you want to eat at a table service restaurant in the park make sure you do advance reservations for it.

Many enjoy doing the Candlelight Processional at Epcot. This starts with Thanksgiving week. Many get a dinner package for the Candlelight Processional to get reserved seating. Prices vary for this depending on what restaurant you choose. Make sure you get the label sticker for the show if you do this activity. Also, at Epcot there usually is a Gospel group performing at the fountain stage for Christmas time. The Voices of Liberty in the American Pavillon of World Showcase perform Christmas songs. Each country in World Showcase has storytellers for Christmastime. Not sure now your kids will enjoy these activities, but this is the special activities that are done at that time of the year.

Magic Kingdom's castle gets special effects for Christmastime. It's transformed into an ice castle at night.

The Disney resorts are decked out for Christmas and we especially like the Grand Floridian. They even have a mini orchestra doing Christmas tunes.

 

[Klayfish]

Don't let all of that stuff overwhelm you. Take a step back and take a deep breath. You don't need to have a huge plan if you don't want to. We're play it by ear people too, and we also stay offsite.

Just my personal feeling, but I'm not a fan of "rest days". I'm not implying you should spend 12 hours a day in the parks. But you do there for WDW, so go. Even if it's only for a half day, and you spend the rest of that day relaxing. A 6 day ticket isn't much more than a 5 day.

As for what park on what day, just IMO, it truly doesn't matter. Thanksgiving Day in MK will be crowded...later in the day, but beyond that just pick what you want. Here's what we do...we make a very loose plan of what park on what day. No real rhyme or reason. We don't look at crowd calendars, EMH, etc...they're meaningless to us, it truly makes no difference. Nor do we rope drop, ever. But we truly do it just randomly, pretty much on a rotational basis...A,B,C,D,A,B,C,D. I know others may not agree, but I don't feel it makes any difference if you're in MK on a Wednesday or AK on a Tuesday. Make your FP+ 30 days out for whatever you pick. Then just go and enjoy. Let the day take you where it may. If you understand FP+ system, you can still get on a lot of rides, even during Thanksgiving week. Use the 3 you made at 30 days (don't worry, you'll get a good selection), then try to get more after you use them.

If you want to have a very tight plan, no problem, go for it. But if your nature is to wing it, then absolutely wing it. No reason not to.

 

[cwilso1987]

Don't let all of that stuff overwhelm you. Take a step back and take a deep breath. You don't need to have a huge plan if you don't want to. We're play it by ear people too, and we also stay offsite.

Just my personal feeling, but I'm not a fan of "rest days". I'm not implying you should spend 12 hours a day in the parks. But you do there for WDW, so go. Even if it's only for a half day, and you spend the rest of that day relaxing. A 6 day ticket isn't much more than a 5 day.

As for what park on what day, just IMO, it truly doesn't matter. Thanksgiving Day in MK will be crowded...later in the day, but beyond that just pick what you want. Here's what we do...we make a very loose plan of what park on what day. No real rhyme or reason. We don't look at crowd calendars, EMH, etc...they're meaningless to us, it truly makes no difference. Nor do we rope drop, ever. But we truly do it just randomly, pretty much on a rotational basis...A,B,C,D,A,B,C,D. I know others may not agree, but I don't feel it makes any difference if you're in MK on a Wednesday or AK on a Tuesday. Make your FP+ 30 days out for whatever you pick. Then just go and enjoy. Let the day take you where it may. If you understand FP+ system, you can still get on a lot of rides, even during Thanksgiving week. Use the 3 you made at 30 days (don't worry, you'll get a good selection), then try to get more after you use them.

If you want to have a very tight plan, no problem, go for it. But if your nature is to wing it, then absolutely wing it. No reason not to.

Thank you! I think I feel a bit overwhelmed because this will be our first BIG Disney trip and possibly our last one of THIS size, so I think I'm trying to do too much in too little time. We are also doing a short Disney cruise at the end of the week. We've done Disney cruises before so I told myself that those days could be our "rest" days, but I don't want to do sooo much during the beginning of the week, that we are too exhausted to enjoy the last part of the week either. We are also military, so I'm not sure if they offered 6 day tickets. The lady only told me 4 and 5 day. We also got the "plus" option to possibly do the water park too.

 

[GillianP1301]

If you are normally a go with the flow type then don't stress yourself to the point of over planning. You are correct though, you should do some planning to maximize your time. Here's what I would suggest you do:

1) Determine how many days you want to spend in each park. You have 5 days so I would probably do 2 MK and 1 each at the other parks. Sounds like you have hoppers, so that will give you some flexibility to do one park for the majority of a day and hop if you want to see a nighttime show or eat a meal at a different park.

2) Figure out if you want to have any table service dining. If you do, they will need to be booked ahead of time and some of the harder to get ADRs will book up right when the window opens at 180 days. So once you have figured out which park on which day, slot in any TS meals you want into that plan

3) Figure out which fastpasses you want to book ahead of time. You are staying offsite so that means you can book 30 days in advance (unless it's one of the Disney partner hotels that give the perk of the 60 day booking window the same as onsite guests). That 30 day window is going to make it very difficult, if not impossible to get a Flight of Passage FP at AK and I suspect Slinky Dog in Toy Story Land may be the same, at least for the first few months. If you have the onsite perk of the 60 day window, you can book for the length of your vacation which means the later in your trip you are trying to book the hard to get fastpasses, the more chance you'll have of getting them.

For me, those 3 steps are really the only "must do" as far as planning go. Some people enjoy putting together touring plans with a full itinerary of rides and when to ride them. That's fun for some people to put together (I'm one of them), but if that's not your thing, I really don't see it as necessary, especially if it will just stress you out. However, I would at least recommend familiarizing yourself with each of the parks but looking over park maps and attraction lists and at least identifying your must do attractions so you can be sure not to miss those. It's also good to have some idea where things are in each park so you don't end up wasting time in park lost and fumbling with a map trying to figure out what to do next. Once you have a basic lay of the land, it makes going with the flow a lot easier.

 

[DisneyPrincess1984]

I agree that you don't need to take one whole rest day. We like to do rope drop and get a lot done in the mornings - and then if we feel the need - take a rest by the pool in the afternoon - and then go back at night. This is why we never do anything other than park hopper.

 

[cwilso1987]

If you are normally a go with the flow type then don't stress yourself to the point of over planning. You are correct though, you should do some planning to maximize your time. Here's what I would suggest you do:

1) Determine how many days you want to spend in each park. You have 5 days so I would probably do 2 MK and 1 each at the other parks. Sounds like you have hoppers, so that will give you some flexibility to do one park for the majority of a day and hop if you want to see a nighttime show or eat a meal at a different park.

2) Figure out if you want to have any table service dining. If you do, they will need to be booked ahead of time and some of the harder to get ADRs will book up right when the window opens at 180 days. So once you have figured out which park on which day, slot in any TS meals you want into that plan

3) Figure out which fastpasses you want to book ahead of time. You are staying offsite so that means you can book 30 days in advance (unless it's one of the Disney partner hotels that give the perk of the 60 day booking window the same as onsite guests). That 30 day window is going to make it very difficult, if not impossible to get a Flight of Passage FP at AK and I suspect Slinky Dog in Toy Story Land may be the same, at least for the first few months. If you have the onsite perk of the 60 day window, you can book for the length of your vacation which means the later in your trip you are trying to book the hard to get fastpasses, the more chance you'll have of getting them.

For me, those 3 steps are really the only "must do" as far as planning go. Some people enjoy putting together touring plans with a full itinerary of rides and when to ride them. That's fun for some people to put together (I'm one of them), but if that's not your thing, I really don't see it as necessary, especially if it will just stress you out. However, I would at least recommend familiarizing yourself with each of the parks but looking over park maps and attraction lists and at least identifying your must do attractions so you can be sure not to miss those. It's also good to have some idea where things are in each park so you don't end up wasting time in park lost and fumbling with a map trying to figure out what to do next. Once you have a basic lay of the land, it makes going with the flow a lot easier.

(I'm going to edit my original post to add this detail) But initially we were arriving Friday, but changed plans last minute an added an additional day. So Thursday, we are staying on-site just for a night. Will I be able to book fp 60 days in advanced?

 

[GillianP1301]

We aren't rest day people either. We do 9 days with 10 day tickets so we are in the parks every day including arrival and departure day. That being said, we don't do open to close every day either. On my current trip that I'm planning, I have 3 days that are morning to night and the rest are either early morning, with a break and then back to a park in the evening, or a sleep in morning following by an afternoon/evening. I leave a lot of flexibility in my plans by putting fastpasses at the start of my planned time in the park. That allows me to hop if I want, go back to the resort if I want and/or book additional fastpasses without worrying about missing out on the 3 I booked.

 

[GillianP1301]

(I'm going to edit my original post to add this detail) But initially we were arriving Friday, but changed plans last minute an added an additional day. So Thursday, we are staying on-site just for a night. Will I be able to book fp 60 days in advanced?

Yes you will be able to do 60 days. What I'm not sure of and I'm sure somebody else can help with this, is whether you can book the fastpasses for the 5 day duration of your tickets at 60 days or not even though the rest of the time is offsite. That would be great if you could though!

 

[3gr8boys]

If you are normally a go with the flow type then don't stress yourself to the point of over planning. You are correct though, you should do some planning to maximize your time. Here's what I would suggest you do:

1) Determine how many days you want to spend in each park. You have 5 days so I would probably do 2 MK and 1 each at the other parks. Sounds like you have hoppers, so that will give you some flexibility to do one park for the majority of a day and hop if you want to see a nighttime show or eat a meal at a different park.

2) Figure out if you want to have any table service dining. If you do, they will need to be booked ahead of time and some of the harder to get ADRs will book up right when the window opens at 180 days. So once you have figured out which park on which day, slot in any TS meals you want into that plan

3) Figure out which fastpasses you want to book ahead of time. You are staying offsite so that means you can book 30 days in advance (unless it's one of the Disney partner hotels that give the perk of the 60 day booking window the same as onsite guests). That 30 day window is going to make it very difficult, if not impossible to get a Flight of Passage FP at AK and I suspect Slinky Dog in Toy Story Land may be the same, at least for the first few months. If you have the onsite perk of the 60 day window, you can book for the length of your vacation which means the later in your trip you are trying to book the hard to get fastpasses, the more chance you'll have of getting them.

For me, those 3 steps are really the only "must do" as far as planning go. Some people enjoy putting together touring plans with a full itinerary of rides and when to ride them. That's fun for some people to put together (I'm one of them), but if that's not your thing, I really don't see it as necessary, especially if it will just stress you out. However, I would at least recommend familiarizing yourself with each of the parks but looking over park maps and attraction lists and at least identifying your must do attractions so you can be sure not to miss those. It's also good to have some idea where things are in each park so you don't end up wasting time in park lost and fumbling with a map trying to figure out what to do next. Once you have a basic lay of the land, it makes going with the flow a lot easier.

GillianP1301 really gets at what I would advise to do in order to do some planning without stressing and detailed scheduling (unless you decide that's your thing!). Those steps are the key (pick the primary park of the day, pick/schedule TS ADRs, schedule FP+). There is plenty of time between your 180 ADR day and your FP+ day .... it doesn't come at you all at once. Plus, ADRs and FP+s are changeable (noting, or course, that hard to get ones are more difficult to tweak)

A few things that work for me...

The flexibility of hopping is key for us. My family doesn't want every minute planned. I make a schedule for the morning/early afternoon that includes FP+ and a TS meal....but most late afternoons/evenings are left open for swimming, hopping to another park, nighttime show of choice, etc)

I don't plan for a rest day, but I do keep in mind that the kids, especially DS11, really appreciate swim time. You can enjoy a park without spending the whole day.

We "Divide And Conquer" when our kids want to do different things or be in different places. Really makes it easier for us and can make for special one on one time.

I really enjoyed using the TouringPlans.com custom touring plan feature after I made our ADRs. I mapped out what we wanted to do the first part of the day and used the line predictions to create a FP+ wish list. (And got it all on my 60.) I am sure it won't all work out like it does on paper...but I had something to base my FP+ on and we will roll with whatever happens when the time comes.

Happy planning!