Magic Kingdom itinerary help

[Roscoe18]

Okay, so we're headed to Disney in November - first trip for me in many years, and the first for our DS8 and DD5. I have a pretty good idea of what we're doing each day, but I keep going back and forth on our two MK days and I figured I'd see what you guys thought.

We'll be in MK on 11/26 and 11/27. For 11/26, we have a lunch at BOG for 1:10 and currently a dinner at our resort around 5:30 (I'm hoping to switch that to Ohana, but it's not a huge deal). We are thinking of a mid-day break there but it's not set in stone. For 11/27, we have a BBB appointment at 10:10, Chef Mickey's at 12:40 and the MVMCP that night. We will DEFINITELY be taking a mid-day break here.

My current plan is to do Fantasyland and Tomorrowland on 11/26, with Frontierland and Adventureland on 11/27. I figured we'd have more time on 11/26 and we could always ditch the mid-day break if we felt we needed more. There's just more stuff we wanted to do in those two lands overall.

My question is about the crowds - Touring Plans has 11/26 as an 8 and 11/27 as a 3 (due to the party, I assume). Am I crazy for doing the traditionally more populated areas on the more crowded day? For that matter, is there an appreciable difference in crowds in each section of the park? If I get good FP's, this might be a moot point anyway. Oh, and I hear there's EMM on 11/27, which we will not be doing. Will that affect my choice in any way?

This is such a minor problem, LOL, but it's part of my continual obsession with planning this trip. Thanks!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Okay, so we're headed to Disney in November - first trip for me in many years, and the first for our DS8 and DD5. I have a pretty good idea of what we're doing each day, but I keep going back and forth on our two MK days and I figured I'd see what you guys thought.

We'll be in MK on 11/26 and 11/27. For 11/26, we have a lunch at BOG for 1:10 and currently a dinner at our resort around 5:30 (I'm hoping to switch that to Ohana, but it's not a huge deal). We are thinking of a mid-day break there but it's not set in stone. For 11/27, we have a BBB appointment at 10:10, Chef Mickey's at 12:40 and the MVMCP that night. We will DEFINITELY be taking a mid-day break here.

My current plan is to do Fantasyland and Tomorrowland on 11/26, with Frontierland and Adventureland on 11/27. I figured we'd have more time on 11/26 and we could always ditch the mid-day break if we felt we needed more. There's just more stuff we wanted to do in those two lands overall.

My question is about the crowds - Touring Plans has 11/26 as an 8 and 11/27 as a 3 (due to the party, I assume). Am I crazy for doing the traditionally more populated areas on the more crowded day? For that matter, is there an appreciable difference in crowds in each section of the park? If I get good FP's, this might be a moot point anyway. Oh, and I hear there's EMM on 11/27, which we will not be doing. Will that affect my choice in any way?

This is such a minor problem, LOL, but it's part of my continual obsession with planning this trip. Thanks!

OK, overall it looks good. Crowd calendars are helpful tools but not something to live and plan by. Party days will be busy, that's unavoidable; the EMM on 11/27 will not effect your plans, it's a small, limited ticket event that will have no major impact on your itinerary.

Do you plan on doing rope drop to MK on either of your MK days, that will definitely make a world of difference in getting on rides you can't get FP+ for for whatever reason and will get you on more rides than if you arrive later in the day. Are you attending the party? If you are, you will arrive at the party later than I would, I believe you can get in around 4pm for the party.

On your 11/26 day, I think it's too many ADRs too close together, we usually only do one ADR/day as they are time suckers. And if you add a midday break, you will have very little MK time that day. If it were me, I'd do only one ADR for a lunch and wing it with the midday break if you need it. Then come back to MK around 4ish for the party.

You're not crazy for doing any of what you've planned, that time of year is a usually busy time no matter how you slice it. But rope dropping and having a good plan can help you hedge the crowds.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

On 11/26 I would probably keep the BOG lunch but drop the dinner ADR. You may end up not needing the afternoon break and decide to stay longer at MK, you don't want to be tied to a reservation at your resort.

 

[YesterDark]

I personally never planned MK to do specific lands one day and the other on another day. My usual planning is to grab my fastpasses early, finish them and jump FP to FP by scheduling them on the app on my phone (see the refresh thread). I enjoy strolling through the whole park every time I go. That's personal taste though, and it allows more flexibility during the day for my family if they decide to do something different or one part of the park is particularly crowded that day.

As far as your mid-day breaks, Chef Mickey's is a pretty good break. It was enough for my family of 4 that included a 4 yo, a 3 yo and a pregnant wife. It a solid 2 hours in the middle of the day. I think any time you're doing a sit down meal, that should be break enough, especially when you have dinner that day too. But again, that's personal taste but it's something to consider. Your 8 and 5 year old should be able to handle it.

Best piece of advice is to stay flexible in your plans and don't try to do too much schedule your day around breaks and parades. Use the fast pass system to your advantage and avoid stand by lines whenever possible.

 

[Roscoe18]

Thanks for the advice guys. My biggest takeaway is to drop the dinner ADR on 11/26, which I think makes a lot of sense. When looking it over, it does seem to eat up too much of the day.

I do plan on RD both days so I figured we can get a bunch done between that and FP in the early part of the day. I do plan to use refresh liberally!

I just wanted to build in a break at least on the party night because I know that one will push the limits of my kids’ endurance. But rather than the resort, we might just do the monorail loop or something to get out of the crowds for a bit

 

[YesterDark]

We did the monorail back from Chef Mickeys and that was fun. We also did the train around the park which is great too.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I personally don't take mid-day breaks on days when I have a lunch ADR, because then you're spending quite a lot of time out of the parks. Lunch at 1:10 means you're doing lunch from around 1-2:10, and then dinner at your resort at 5:30 (unsure which resort) means you'll be leaving the park probably around 4:45 (later if you're at an MK resort). If you take a break in between that, I don't see when you'd be in the park! I would choose lunch or dinner, or do a very late dinner, or you may be spending most of your time going from one location to another & not riding rides (particularly on the 26th). But, I'm the kind of person who wants to maximize my time in the parks. If you're there more to stroll & try food you haven't before, then maybe stick with all the ADRs.

 

[sharonabe]

If you manage your expectations for Nov 26, you'll be okay. That day WILL be VERY crowded since it is a Monday and sandwiched between two party nights.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

My touring MK predates touring websites by decades. We've never used a touring plan at MK, we just use a little strategy.
We don't strictly tour by lands, but I like your idea of picking a place to start your day. Generally, we find our best bet is to only develop a rough idea of where we might go, then modify freely as our day progresses, except to generally try to use all FPasses and ADR's.

We also usually limit ourselves to one ADR per day. BOG is a quick serve at lunch though. Slower than many other QS, but faster than most WDW TS, especially if you pre-order your meal. (Though I'm not overly impressed by the pre-order system. It just saves you from waiting in line.) We were fine doing BOG + a dinner ADR, though we typically eat 6-7pm.

Timing to get to your dinner really depends where it is. It doesn't take all that long to get to 'Ohana, but getting to a further resort takes up to an hour. ('Ohana used to be great, but we won't be back for a while, as our last few meals weren't good. Our most recent meal was REALLY bad. Seated very late, terrible service, meat served room temp!) You might just want to keep the ADR you have.

We sometimes take breaks, but most of the year we don't force them except summer. Summer = afternoon breaks. In November, you'll have the opposite problem: it can get quite cold at night. You may end up wearing jeans all day, or you might end up with afternoon shorts+ a trip to the room to change into warm clothes for the evening park touring, especially if you are staying late for the party.

Most days, we manage to cover most of MK, but we never cover everything. I suspect you'll also be able to cover more than two lands per day, but it depends how you tour.

I tend to focus on getting FP for times we want. EMM will have an impact in that Fantasyland will already be busy at RD. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about trying to plan very much. If you feel like doing something that day, do it. If the line looks crazy long, come back later. We usually get all the e-rides just fine, but if something has a crazy wait, we just have fun doing the things that don't have crazy waits...or we try to laugh our way through the line enjoying the sights and sounds.

Sure, use your phone some to get FPasses, just don't so wrapped up on managing FP that you forget to joy your day! Sometimes we have more fun if we don't use our phone. Like I said, my time at WDW goes WAY back. Touring WDW should be fun, not stressful.

 

[sharonabe]

EMM will have an impact in that Fantasyland will already be busy at RD.

This is not true. EMM has virtually no impact on touring and busyness of the park. It's limited to about 200 people, and they will be done with 7DMT and PP by the time the park opens, so the two most popular rides in FL will be just as if they were never there.

 

[MomOTwins]

I say keep both ADR's on the 26th because you will be so horrified by the crowds on a sandwiched non-party day that you will not want to go back to the park after lunch anyway, and might as well head straight from lunch to your resort. If you get FPs for Peter Pan, 7DMT, and Space Mountain in the morning, it is maybe doable that you can squeeze in a big chunk of fantasyland and tomorrowland. But I seriously doubt you will be able to do every attraction before lunch since the crowds will be nuts by 11am.

 

[Roscoe18]

I say keep both ADR's on the 26th because you will be so horrified by the crowds on a sandwiched non-party day that you will not want to go back to the park after lunch anyway, and might as well head straight from lunch to your resort. If you get FPs for Peter Pan, 7DMT, and Space Mountain in the morning, it is maybe doable that you can squeeze in a big chunk of fantasyland and tomorrowland. But I seriously doubt you will be able to do every attraction before lunch since the crowds will be nuts by 11am.

Ha! That's not encouraging, but was kind of what I was wondering about the crowd situation.

 

[Roscoe18]

My touring MK predates touring websites by decades. We've never used a touring plan at MK, we just use a little strategy.
We don't strictly tour by lands, but I like your idea of picking a place to start your day. Generally, we find our best bet is to only develop a rough idea of where we might go, then modify freely as our day progresses, except to generally try to use all FPasses and ADR's.

We also usually limit ourselves to one ADR per day. BOG is a quick serve at lunch though. Slower than many other QS, but faster than most WDW TS, especially if you pre-order your meal. (Though I'm not overly impressed by the pre-order system. It just saves you from waiting in line.) We were fine doing BOG + a dinner ADR, though we typically eat 6-7pm.

Timing to get to your dinner really depends where it is. It doesn't take all that long to get to 'Ohana, but getting to a further resort takes up to an hour. ('Ohana used to be great, but we won't be back for a while, as our last few meals weren't good. Our most recent meal was REALLY bad. Seated very late, terrible service, meat served room temp!) You might just want to keep the ADR you have.

We sometimes take breaks, but most of the year we don't force them except summer. Summer = afternoon breaks. In November, you'll have the opposite problem: it can get quite cold at night. You may end up wearing jeans all day, or you might end up with afternoon shorts+ a trip to the room to change into warm clothes for the evening park touring, especially if you are staying late for the party.

Most days, we manage to cover most of MK, but we never cover everything. I suspect you'll also be able to cover more than two lands per day, but it depends how you tour.

I tend to focus on getting FP for times we want. EMM will have an impact in that Fantasyland will already be busy at RD. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about trying to plan very much. If you feel like doing something that day, do it. If the line looks crazy long, come back later. We usually get all the e-rides just fine, but if something has a crazy wait, we just have fun doing the things that don't have crazy waits...or we try to laugh our way through the line enjoying the sights and sounds.

Sure, use your phone some to get FPasses, just don't so wrapped up on managing FP that you forget to joy your day! Sometimes we have more fun if we don't use our phone. Like I said, my time at WDW goes WAY back. Touring WDW should be fun, not stressful.

Thanks for the advice here. My wife was really into the idea of Ohana, but I'm hearing some bad stories lately, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise that we didn't get it!

I figured we'd bring sweatshirts for the evening and stash them in a locker if we don't take a break. But I do like the idea that it won't be witheringly hot during the day (at least we hope). Part of the reason we wanted to do this trip in November.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

If you do a quick search, you an find multiple sites that list weather averages. In my experience, November can be a bit unsettled weather-wise, also February. The major air currents start to dip wildly. One day might be shorts weather, but the next it is kind of raw.

November average high is 79, average low is 59. Record high was 93, Record low was 28.

Once during a trip in November, I kid you not...ove the crouse of one week....one night it was SO cold flurries were reported not far from WDW. A few days later, we were wearing shorts! We also saw some rain that week, and a raw windy day.

The challenge comes when you try to pack for November. One trip (I want to say Dec), we booked Cali Grill, and wanted to dress nicely for it. We checked the weather report, and packed clothes according to the forecast- as predicted right before we left for FL. Unfortunately, as can happen in the cool months, just a few days later the ACTUAL weather was MUCH colder. We felt we had no choice but to dress more warmly, and the results weren't all that fancy.

Other cool month trips, we maybe had a nice arrival day, and kicked ourselves because we didn't take advantage of it...again, nice weather was predicted, but never materialized, and the rest of the trip was- IMO - too cold for happy swimming. If you wish to swim, and get a nice day, I suggest seizing the moment.

Yes, we like heavy sweatshirts in a dark-ish color, bonus if it also has a hood. That way it can also be worn in rain, and are good in wind. Layers are also good for days with temp swings. for some reason, Ecpot tends to feel cool at night (the water?), while all the plants at AK help keep to block some of the wind, and it feels nice.

If you are not sure about hotels, a set up like the one at WL and AKL is good- where the pool is close and partly protected by the building. WDW pools are heated, so if weather is a iffy, you can still swim, then make a quick dash into the building.