1st WDW Trip with Teens

XMom

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 26, 2010
We have the opportunity to visit WDW from October 15-19th and are Disneyland locals. (Hubby & I have been to WDW once before)

We will have the following kiddos with us: 17M, 16F, 15M, 12F, 12F and myself and hubby.

Our park days will be October 16-18 which is a Friday, Saturday & Sunday. We have chosen to visit MK, AK and HS. Would you suggest any specific days for each park? We are wondering if MK is busier on Saturday than Friday, etc.

We heard yesterday that they are cutting hours so will likely be there from open to close, but if you could eat dinner in each park, would you please make a suggestion as our 60 day window will be next week and we are pretty much clueless! Thank you in advance for any help you can provide to us.
 
I'd probably do MK on Friday. Weekends are busier overall, but guests who arrive on a Saturday will want to visit MK Saturday or Sunday.

I'm not sure if all of the restaurants are open, but I like:

MK - No stunners here. Be Our Guest has a wonderful atmosphere. If you have any Beauty and the Beast fans I'd eat here. We also liked Skippers Canteen.
AK - Tiffins is one of the best restaurants in WDW. Menu is unique, so check it out before booking.
HS - Really no good place to eat here. The kids would probably enjoy Sci Fi for the novelty of eating in a car.
 
Yeah probably AK on Saturday, but the other two could go either of the other days. About meals, I suggest looking at menus. I took a 19 year old who was crazy for characters, so it's hard to guess for teens. At HS, I prefer the food at Brown Derby, but I haven't tried Sci Fi yet. Teens might enjoy that food and atmosphere. At MK, the food is really good at Skipper Canteen for adventurous eaters or Liberty Tree Tavern for comfort food. My favorite place at AK isn't open, so I might suggest counter service instead. There are yummy bowls in Pandora and good barbeque at Flame Tree. Have fun! I'll be there while you're there, hopefully.
 
Don't know how to answer that one with the state of the world at this point.

Under normal conditions I wouldn't try to plan days around crowds, but what you think would make you the most happy. I always do MK the first day and last day because we like to bookend our vacation with that.

Maybe DHS/AK/MK?
 
Don't know how to answer that one with the state of the world at this point.

Under normal conditions I wouldn't try to plan days around crowds, but what you think would make you the most happy. I always do MK the first day and last day because we like to bookend our vacation with that.

Maybe DHS/AK/MK?
This is actually what I was thinking. Hoping HS would be less crowded on a Friday and then ending with MK as our last memory before flying home on Monday.
 
We ate at the Plaza in MK two days ago and Sci-Fi is our fav in DHS but 50s primetime and Mama Melrose are good as well. We really enjoyed Mama Melrose this week. We don’t usually dine in AK but we love Saana at AKL
 
I have 4 kids, my teens always like Be our Guest in MK, Flame Tree BBQ in AK (this is quick service), and Sci-Fi or 50’s Prime Time for HS. With shortened park hours look for resort dining reservations for dinner as a way to see the other resorts. Some of them are amazing and worth the visit! My teens enjoyed Sanaa at AK Lodge, Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge, and Beaches and Cream at Beach Club.
 


I have 4 kids, my teens always like Be our Guest in MK, Flame Tree BBQ in AK (this is quick service), and Sci-Fi or 50’s Prime Time for HS. With shortened park hours look for resort dining reservations for dinner as a way to see the other resorts. Some of them are amazing and worth the visit! My teens enjoyed Sanaa at AK Lodge, Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge, and Beaches and Cream at Beach Club.
Thanks for the info! If we visit another resort for dinner such as Saana, how would we get back to Old Key West? The parks would be closed so would the busses still run?
 
You can get a bus to Disney Springs and then get one to OKW from there if you can get to DS by 10ish. Or Uber, Lyft or a cab.

Also, you have a group of seven people, I would expect your group to be split up on the buses and possibly have to wait for another bus or if not put on separate buses. Each bus only holds around 25 people right now.
 
That’s great to know. We will definitely look into that route. It won’t be too late as I’m sure we will be pooped after a day in the parks.
 
Our teens love Sci-Fi at HS, definitely not 50's PT. IMO that would depend on your kids comfort level with them getting teased by the waitress...they have attitudes which are part of the "fun" but we don't care for it. The vibe is cool, though. We've also had great meals at Mama Melrose.
At WDW, we usually eat at Liberty Tree Tavern if we want a table service meal. BOG is worth doing at least once- for dinner. We love the room where it storms in the windows and the portraits change ( library?).
We never eat TS at AK, only counter service, which has great options. I'd skip Pizzafari unless you like thick doughy pizza.
 
Our teens love Sci-Fi at HS, definitely not 50's PT. IMO that would depend on your kids comfort level with them getting teased by the waitress...they have attitudes which are part of the "fun" but we don't care for it. The vibe is cool, though. We've also had great meals at Mama Melrose.
At WDW, we usually eat at Liberty Tree Tavern if we want a table service meal. BOG is worth doing at least once- for dinner. We love the room where it storms in the windows and the portraits change ( library?).
We never eat TS at AK, only counter service, which has great options. I'd skip Pizzafari unless you like thick doughy pizza.
Thanks for the info. Sunday was our dining reservation day and I’m sad to say we didn’t get sci-fi. I was on right at 3am in California and I even had both my husband’s and my account open and put 4 for one party and 3 of us for another and there were no available reservations available any time of day. I have checked back multiple times with various party sizes(we are 7) and still nothing. I’m bummed, but it’s ok. We ended up with the following:
10/15 (arrive MCO at 3:30) Olivia’s
10/16 HS: Oga’s and 50’s Prime Time
10/17 AK: Splitsville at Disney Springs
10/18 MK: Tony’s Town Square
We have not eaten at any of these places, so I’m sure it will be fine. I check daily for Sci-Fi just in case. Even if we just pop in for a milkshake.
 
I check daily for Sci-Fi just in case
In the past I've had really good luck with the Touring Plans reservation finder. You do not have a subscription to use it. But I totally understand if checking for an ADR is a fun way to build anticipation before a trip.
 
Thanks for the info. Sunday was our dining reservation day and I’m sad to say we didn’t get sci-fi. I was on right at 3am in California and I even had both my husband’s and my account open and put 4 for one party and 3 of us for another and there were no available reservations available any time of day. I have checked back multiple times with various party sizes(we are 7) and still nothing. I’m bummed, but it’s ok. We ended up with the following:
10/15 (arrive MCO at 3:30) Olivia’s
10/16 HS: Oga’s and 50’s Prime Time
10/17 AK: Splitsville at Disney Springs
10/18 MK: Tony’s Town Square
We have not eaten at any of these places, so I’m sure it will be fine. I check daily for Sci-Fi just in case. Even if we just pop in for a milkshake.
People here may know more, but I've never seen a car that could seat 7, so you may want to only look for the separate reservations unless you want to be way in the back at tables. We love the cars! I also recommend using touring plans for your reservation search- they have helped us every time! A lot opens up the few days before your search date as people have to cancel or incur no-show fees, so don't give up and prepare to be flexible if you can.
 
We have the opportunity to visit WDW from October 15-19th and are Disneyland locals. (Hubby & I have been to WDW once before)

We will have the following kiddos with us: 17M, 16F, 15M, 12F, 12F and myself and hubby.

Our park days will be October 16-18 which is a Friday, Saturday & Sunday. We have chosen to visit MK, AK and HS. Would you suggest any specific days for each park? We are wondering if MK is busier on Saturday than Friday, etc.

We heard yesterday that they are cutting hours so will likely be there from open to close, but if you could eat dinner in each park, would you please make a suggestion as our 60 day window will be next week and we are pretty much clueless! Thank you in advance for any help you can provide to us.
I personally would do MK on a Friday, the weekends for that park are terrible right now. AK might be better on Sunday than a Saturday for FOP (which I totally recommend for teens). BGs for Rise are going to be chaotic for all three of these days so HS doesn't really matter. Saturdays right now are doable in HS believe it or not so the big-ticket reservation would be MK on Friday. Table services for these parks I would recommend as follows: MK skip the parks for the table service and head over to Wilderness Lodge for Whispering Canyon Cafe (really good food (pro tip: ask for a large drink) and a fun atmosphere, you can Uber back to your resort after dinner); AK I would recommend Tiffins or Tusker if it reopens but honestly Satu'li's in Pandora is better than both, HS skip the table service altogether and do Docking Bay 7 twice (I'd vote SciFi or 50's depending on how you like the interaction). In both AK and HS right now I'd argue that the quick services are better than the open table services so I'd consider that as well.
 
I personally would do MK on a Friday, the weekends for that park are terrible right now. AK might be better on Sunday than a Saturday for FOP (which I totally recommend for teens). BGs for Rise are going to be chaotic for all three of these days so HS doesn't really matter. Saturdays right now are doable in HS believe it or not so the big-ticket reservation would be MK on Friday. Table services for these parks I would recommend as follows: MK skip the parks for the table service and head over to Wilderness Lodge for Whispering Canyon Cafe (really good food (pro tip: ask for a large drink) and a fun atmosphere, you can Uber back to your resort after dinner); AK I would recommend Tiffins or Tusker if it reopens but honestly Satu'li's in Pandora is better than both, HS skip the table service altogether and do Docking Bay 7 twice (I'd vote SciFi or 50's depending on how you like the interaction). In both AK and HS right now I'd argue that the quick services are better than the open table services so I'd consider that as well.

Thanks for all the info. I think since dining reservations are kind of slim pickins and we have all the park reservations already, we may just leave it. I think I will feel more anxious trying to move it all around for 7 of us than just leaving it be at this point. Since we are from So Cal, we have been able to enjoy Star Wars Galaxy Edge in Disneyland, and have enjoyed all the food, drinks, offerings and even Oga’s. The kids haven’t ridden ROTR, so if they get in a boarding group they will be happy, but if not, they know once our state gets back on track, they will be able to ride it at Disneyland.

We are so spoiled at Disneyland to not have to plan our day, but to just show up and get an old fashion FastPass if we want one and do whatever. WDW feels so planned to me. Probably because it’s a bit foreign to us, but overwhelming none the less.
 
We are there the same days :)
Friday is our resort day. We have MK Saturday and Saturday night Disney springs. My kids love Trex cafe. HS is Sunday.
Hs is the only park that hits capacity.. on sunday afternoon people clear the park by dinner and the last few hours you can have even more breathing room.
 
We are there the same days :)
Friday is our resort day. We have MK Saturday and Saturday night Disney springs. My kids love Trex cafe. HS is Sunday.
Hs is the only park that hits capacity.. on sunday afternoon people clear the park by dinner and the last few hours you can have even more breathing room.
Hmmmm...now I’m feeling like I need to move all my days around. What to do??
 

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