MUST DOs for our first ever trip...with a tween

[deedubb]

That's awesome! You will have so much fun.

I know everybody does Disney differently, but I will just make a comment on how we like to do it. We never do the same park twice in a row. We like to mix it up a bit. Finally, to us, Disney is MK, even though there is so much more to Disney than just that one park. We always end our vacation at MK if possible, capping it off with Wishes (now HEA). That for us is just the perfect way to end the vacation. Anything else would be a letdown.

 

[erinch]

I would pick the east coach beach as well! There are at least little waves on the Atlantic side! I grew up in SoCal and the gulf coast has nice sand, but it might as well be a lake.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

It looks great! I would suggest ditching the cruise around World Showcase, however. They have boats you can take for free around World Showcase and you can also ride the Friendship boats, for free, right outside the International Gateway entrance to EP to travel around the EP resort lake. I would, perhaps, replace it with an Illuminations cruise or one of the fireworks dessert parties (MK or EP).

 

[KittyKitty]

One thing first timers say is they didn't realize how big WDW is. It is 45-47 square miles. You have a lot of stuff planned.

There is a lot of time spent on eating. That takes a lot out of your day. If you're into eating at sit down places, keep it as is, but if not, then I would reduce the dining plan to regular dining plan.

Is your daughter into princesses? Would she want to dress up as one? At her age, she might be into teenager stuff. But you know her best.

As a senior(when did that happened??!) I don't see any breaks, but could be reading your itinerary wrong. Since you normally walk 5-10 miles a day at WDW, resort pool time(or nap time) may be wanted. Also good broken in shoes.

POR has a great pool(s). I would not add water parks.

Have a great time!

 

[robl45]

That would be kind of the itinerary we would have done in the 80's when there was magic kingdom and epcot. I personally think you are trying to fit in way way too much stuff. I would eliminate the beach personally and probably the water park too as I'm sure you probably have a water park locally. Animal kingdom will likely need a second day if you want to do both pandora rides and the rest of the rides at the park. Definately need another day if you want to do the shows. Hollywood studios doesn't have too many rides now, but the things that are there are a lot of fun. Tower of terror and aerosmith are two of the best rides at Disney. 2 days at MK with one doing BBB is going to eat up time. You may need more time there if you want to do everything especially with the elimination of late night hours.

This October will be our first trip EVER to WDW! 9 nights and staying at POR with 8 day park hopper...possibly adding waterparks...we will play it by ear...or forecast closer to trip date. I would LOVE feedback as to MUST DOs while we are there. We will have 4 adults, 39, 44, 60, and 65 yrs and 1 child 9 turning 10 while there. Here is what I have painstakingly been planning for almost a year now...

Arriving at noon on
FRIDAY at POR...dinner at Raglan...Cirque du Soleil at 9pm
SATURDAY....HS with dinner at Brown Derby w/ Fantasmic
SUNDAY...B-DAY!! MK w/ MNSSHP Dinner at CRT oh and mid day res for bday girl at BBB!
MONDAY....MK again...late lunch at BOG...tried so hard for dinner but no luck! Late Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern
TUESDAY...AK Breakfast at Tuskerhouse, Dinner at Sanaa (I know its not in the park but I hope AK stays open late for glowing Pandora experience! And we just thought it was neat to see the animals while we eat.)
WEDNESDAY....Breakfast at Kona Cafe then heading to Cocoa Beach for a few hours because none of us have ever set foot on ocean beach before so why not while we are so close?!? We are from the midwest! Dinner at Ohana.
THURSDAY...EPCOT Noon res for Day Cruise Around The World and Dinner at Coral Reef
FRIDAY...EPCOT again...Breakfast at Akerahus and Dinner at Biergarten
SATURDAY....WATERPARK DAY....Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno... and Dinner at Boma
...sadly Sunday heading home...

I reserved our FP+ for everything I could think of including early 9am Safari at AK. Our plan for each day at the parks is to do less walking if possible instead of running from one side of the park to the other for rides. So we looked at the maps and will be working our way from one end to the other with HS and AK. MK will be right side starting with Fantasyland on day 1 and left side with Adventureland on day 2. Same for EPCOT, one side day 1 and other side day 2. Depending on our time, we may have time to do rides more than once.

Since we have the deluxe dining plan for 3 of us, my parents have a separate room and no plan...we are sharing credits to get the most out of it. Love that many breakfast options at our resort cafe are available with snack credit.

So what am I missing?

 

[DreamFlightCpt.]

It looks great! I would suggest ditching the cruise around World Showcase, however. They have boats you can take for free around World Showcase and you can also ride the Friendship boats, for free, right outside the International Gateway entrance to EP to travel around the EP resort lake. I would, perhaps, replace it with an Illuminations cruise or one of the fireworks dessert parties (MK or EP).

Agreed, spend the day walking around and exploring on land first, then get a unique perspective over the world showcase later on at night.

Both restaurants at the poly are great. But personally I'd rather split it up between two different days, however, it could be fun looking forward to coming back later on.

Don't fret about BOG. You'll like it just the same at any time of the day.

I'm pretty jealous, must say! Just had a little one come yesterday so no trips to the Mecca for at least a couple years. It appears like the only hard plans you really have are dining plans, which is a good way to go. Don't feel like you have to plan every attraction ,etc to the minute. GO WITH THE FLOW! And sometimes if the the group wants to split up for a while, go for it. Meeting for meals and special things later on the the day will make it more enjoyable. Can't tell you how many times of seen/stories I've heard of groups going to WDW and wanting to murder each other by the end of it after being with each other 24/7.

Have fun!

 

[magyargirl]

It looks great! I would suggest ditching the cruise around World Showcase, however. They have boats you can take for free around World Showcase and you can also ride the Friendship boats, for free, right outside the International Gateway entrance to EP to travel around the EP resort lake. I would, perhaps, replace it with an Illuminations cruise or one of the fireworks dessert parties (MK or EP).

What is this "free" you speak of? I am intrigued! Friendship boats? I didnt know we could take a boat for free. Please tell me more...and thank you for the tips!

 

[bashuck]

You didn't say what time your dinner was for at CRT on the night of MNSSHP but I'd just suggest it be for between 5-5:20 as to ensure it doesn't overlap the party time.

 

[magyargirl]

Agreed, spend the day walking around and exploring on land first, then get a unique perspective over the world showcase later on at night.

Both restaurants at the poly are great. But personally I'd rather split it up between two different days, however, it could be fun looking forward to coming back later on.

Don't fret about BOG. You'll like it just the same at any time of the day.

I'm pretty jealous, must say! Just had a little one come yesterday so no trips to the Mecca for at least a couple years. It appears like the only hard plans you really have are dining plans, which is a good way to go. Don't feel like you have to plan every attraction ,etc to the minute. GO WITH THE FLOW! And sometimes if the the group wants to split up for a while, go for it. Meeting for meals and special things later on the the day will make it more enjoyable. Can't tell you how many times of seen/stories I've heard of groups going to WDW and wanting to murder each other by the end of it after being with each other 24/7.

Have fun!

Thank you for the tips! And congratulations!!! I was thinking how splitting up would be because my parents most likely wojt be riding everything we will. I definitely dont wanna plan down to the minute. We like being spontaneous but like the idea of fast pass reservations so we dont wait all day in lines.

I have been going back and forth on restaurants because I want to try different types of food we wouod normally not have the chance to at home and also like the special exoeriences as well.

I was trying to check out an package for illuminations and I cant get it to come up on the reservations page on disney website.

 

[magyargirl]

One thing first timers say is they didn't realize how big WDW is. It is 45-47 square miles. You have a lot of stuff planned.

There is a lot of time spent on eating. That takes a lot out of your day. If you're into eating at sit down places, keep it as is, but if not, then I would reduce the dining plan to regular dining plan.

Is your daughter into princesses? Would she want to dress up as one? At her age, she might be into teenager stuff. But you know her best.

As a senior(when did that happened??!) I don't see any breaks, but could be reading your itinerary wrong. Since you normally walk 5-10 miles a day at WDW, resort pool time(or nap time) may be wanted. Also good broken in shoes.

POR has a great pool(s). I would not add water parks.

Have a great time!

Our plan is to ride most of the rides once, maybe twice. But because the entirety of the parks is so vast, we wanted to get in as mich as possible. We love the idea of so many different dining experiences and so that is why we have sit downs each day...and for some much needed rest for our feet!

DD is on the fence about princesses...she loves Repunzel snd Tiana and now Belle....but not into getting dresses on and all that. BBB ressie will be hair, makeup and nails for her special day. She LOVES Descendants but ai havent seen anything Descendants related at the parks.

 

[magyargirl]

Sounds like an awesome plan. What about fireworks?

I cant tell if I replied to this, but we have DHS Fantasmic for Saturday, MK Hallowishes on Sunday with MNSSHP, MK HEA on Monday....though we dont have any special dessert cruise or Terrace viewing. Just planned on being by the castle for the show. Tuesday we want to do the Rivers of Light at AK, Thursday and Friday, gonna try to see Illuminations as a FP. Did I miss anything?

 

[vinotinto]

I cant tell if I replied to this, but we have DHS Fantasmic for Saturday, MK Hallowishes on Sunday with MNSSHP, MK HEA on Monday....though we dont have any special dessert cruise or Terrace viewing. Just planned on being by the castle for the show. Tuesday we want to do the Rivers of Light at AK, Thursday and Friday, gonna try to see Illuminations as a FP. Did I miss anything?

That sounds good! You don't really need a FP for Illuminations.Theres plenty of areas to watch around the lagoon.

 

[notrub98]

Our plan is to ride most of the rides once, maybe twice. But because the entirety of the parks is so vast, we wanted to get in as mich as possible. We love the idea of so many different dining experiences and so that is why we have sit downs each day...and for some much needed rest for our feet!

DD is on the fence about princesses...she loves Repunzel snd Tiana and now Belle....but not into getting dresses on and all that. BBB ressie will be hair, makeup and nails for her special day. She LOVES Descendants but ai havent seen anything Descendants related at the parks.

Just my 2cents but if she isn't into princesses, she may feel out of place at BBB...

 

[magyargirl]

She likes getting her hair done...becuz it is so rare that she has that done. She likes to paint her nails. She just isnt into the princess dresses anymore. She was Belle one year, cinderella one year and was an excellent Merida a few years ago! But as a pre-tween I dont see that interest anymore. She is all about Descendants now....funny...ths opposites of what she dressed up as in previous years! Lol!!

 

[magyargirl]

You didn't say what time your dinner was for at CRT on the night of MNSSHP but I'd just suggest it be for between 5-5:20 as to ensure it doesn't overlap the party time.

Its at 7:05 and thats okay because we have at least 3 hours to enjoy MK after dinner. And this will give us a chance to either get back to our resort and dress for the party...we have a car rental....and get back for dinner. We want to make sure we catch Happy HalloWishes and the parade. I think is will be a blast to do the rides at night too!!

 

[mustinjourney]

This October will be our first trip EVER to WDW! 9 nights and staying at POR with 8 day park hopper...possibly adding waterparks...we will play it by ear...or forecast closer to trip date. I would LOVE feedback as to MUST DOs while we are there. We will have 4 adults, 39, 44, 60, and 65 yrs and 1 child 9 turning 10 while there. Here is what I have painstakingly been planning for almost a year now...

Arriving at noon on
FRIDAY at POR...dinner at Raglan...Cirque du Soleil at 9pm
SATURDAY....HS with dinner at Brown Derby w/ Fantasmic
SUNDAY...B-DAY!! MK w/ MNSSHP Dinner at CRT oh and mid day res for bday girl at BBB!
MONDAY....MK again...late lunch at BOG...tried so hard for dinner but no luck! Late Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern
TUESDAY...AK Breakfast at Tuskerhouse, Dinner at Sanaa (I know its not in the park but I hope AK stays open late for glowing Pandora experience! And we just thought it was neat to see the animals while we eat.)
WEDNESDAY....Breakfast at Kona Cafe then heading to Cocoa Beach for a few hours because none of us have ever set foot on ocean beach before so why not while we are so close?!? We are from the midwest! Dinner at Ohana.
THURSDAY...EPCOT Noon res for Day Cruise Around The World and Dinner at Coral Reef
FRIDAY...EPCOT again...Breakfast at Akerahus and Dinner at Biergarten
SATURDAY....WATERPARK DAY....Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno... and Dinner at Boma
...sadly Sunday heading home...

I reserved our FP+ for everything I could think of including early 9am Safari at AK. Our plan for each day at the parks is to do less walking if possible instead of running from one side of the park to the other for rides. So we looked at the maps and will be working our way from one end to the other with HS and AK. MK will be right side starting with Fantasyland on day 1 and left side with Adventureland on day 2. Same for EPCOT, one side day 1 and other side day 2. Depending on our time, we may have time to do rides more than once.

Since we have the deluxe dining plan for 3 of us, my parents have a separate room and no plan...we are sharing credits to get the most out of it. Love that many breakfast options at our resort cafe are available with snack credit.

So what am I missing?

The two things I would likely change is Breakfast at Kona and dinner at Biergarten. The breakfast is supposed to be awesome -- but I just wouldn't want to deal with the hassle of getting everyone ready in the morning at a set time the day you're going offsite to the beach. Beach days should be chill...without any timelines. I'd personally vote to grab something at the hotel, or try and find some cool breakfast place that is on the way. Eating at Kona is going to cost you about 2 hours of your day when it's all said and done.

I'd drop Biergarten and hit up the food and wine kiosks. You'll be able to use snack credits at the booths and almost of the food is pretty good -- incredible variety.

Aside from that -- you might want to try and work in some options where not everyone is touring together all the time. It can be hard moving a group of 5 -- especially if the older adults are not your parents. We just did a trip with my in-laws, and it was sometimes hard for me herding the cats since I couldn't bark out commands like a drill sergeant. I try and have the whole group together for 4 or 5 hours -- eat one meal together -- and then the group can break up. In your case, you could do just you and DH and DD while the GPs do their own thing (Epcot might be a good spot for this since epcot is a bore for most young kids -- particularly the world showcase). I also try and work some time with the GPs and the kids together while DW/DH get some alone time in the parks. Disney with your kids is awesome -- but F&W without kids is a lot of fun too...and you won't have to deal with a melt-down.

On that note -- be prepared to be flexible. The best made touring plans can get torn up to shreds 1 hour into the day.

Our first trip, I had an optimized touring plan that I spent hours on...only to realize that the walking pace I had used grossly overestimated our group's pace and after 1 hour in magic Kingdom, we were already 45 minutes behind "schedule." At that point, I just ripped up the piece of paper and went with the flow. No sense in stressing out over it at that point. Of course, I was traveling with an infant and a toddler -- so it will be different from a 9/10 year old.

Lastly--don't worry about doing everything on this trip. It's literally impossible. As they say, make sure you're able to stop and smell the roses. Good luck!

 

[magyargirl]

The two things I would likely change is Breakfast at Kona and dinner at Biergarten. The breakfast is supposed to be awesome -- but I just wouldn't want to deal with the hassle of getting everyone ready in the morning at a set time the day you're going offsite to the beach. Beach days should be chill...without any timelines. I'd personally vote to grab something at the hotel, or try and find some cool breakfast place that is on the way. Eating at Kona is going to cost you about 2 hours of your day when it's all said and done.

I'd drop Biergarten and hit up the food and wine kiosks. You'll be able to use snack credits at the booths and almost of the food is pretty good -- incredible variety.

Aside from that -- you might want to try and work in some options where not everyone is touring together all the time. It can be hard moving a group of 5 -- especially if the older adults are not your parents. We just did a trip with my in-laws, and it was sometimes hard for me herding the cats since I couldn't bark out commands like a drill sergeant. I try and have the whole group together for 4 or 5 hours -- eat one meal together -- and then the group can break up. In your case, you could do just you and DH and DD while the GPs do their own thing (Epcot might be a good spot for this since epcot is a bore for most young kids -- particularly the world showcase). I also try and work some time with the GPs and the kids together while DW/DH get some alone time in the parks. Disney with your kids is awesome -- but F&W without kids is a lot of fun too...and you won't have to deal with a melt-down.

On that note -- be prepared to be flexible. The best made touring plans can get torn up to shreds 1 hour into the day.

Our first trip, I had an optimized touring plan that I spent hours on...only to realize that the walking pace I had used grossly overestimated our group's pace and after 1 hour in magic Kingdom, we were already 45 minutes behind "schedule." At that point, I just ripped up the piece of paper and went with the flow. No sense in stressing out over it at that point. Of course, I was traveling with an infant and a toddler -- so it will be different from a 9/10 year old.

Lastly--don't worry about doing everything on this trip. It's literally impossible. As they say, make sure you're able to stop and smell the roses. Good luck!

I was kind of swaying that way with Epcot as far as food is concerned. But I want to make sure we amke the most of our DXDP. We added that because se knew there would be some awesome restaurants we wanted to try. I love being spontaneous with some structure...as far as FPs go but I definitely cant see us planning everything down to the minute or the hour. The FP ressies I have are based on location in the parks and so we plan on justvstarting from one end and working our way around. I saw touring plans where people are walking back and forth just to get rides in. Shile that may be great for some families, we are more laid back.

There will be some rides and shows that we arent really goijg to be interested in. So I am not even going to try to check everything off the BIG WDW list. And I think that will save us time and stress.

I have been on the fence about KONA because we really wanna see the shore. And I dont wanna blow 2 hours at breakfast. Maybe njxing that would work better. Thank you for the tips!

 

[mustinjourney]

I was kind of swaying that way with Epcot as far as food is concerned. But I want to make sure we amke the most of our DXDP. We added that because se knew there would be some awesome restaurants we wanted to try. I love being spontaneous with some structure...as far as FPs go but I definitely cant see us planning everything down to the minute or the hour. The FP ressies I have are based on location in the parks and so we plan on justvstarting from one end and working our way around. I saw touring plans where people are walking back and forth just to get rides in. Shile that may be great for some families, we are more laid back.

You sound a lot like me with the DxDDP. I always try to maximize the value as much as possible. The only problem is that I keep finding myself trying to fit my vacation schedule into my dining schedule. And that's just not the way it should be since you're there for the parks and not the restaurants. Don't get me wrong, the restaurants are nice -- but they are not (for the most part) world class cuisine. In short -- don't alter your vacation to make the most of the dining plan. You're spending the bulk of your money on the tickets/hotel/travel aspect -- don't let your inner desire to maximize "savings" dictate how you spend the bulk of your vacation time.

The last two trips we've done, I've gotten the dining plan for part of the split stay -- and both times, I told myself I wouldn't do that again. We are usually much happier just ordering what we want and paying cash. Of course -- for our upcoming trip, I started doing it again. Just can't help myself in trying to beat the mouse and get good value. I also have the tables in wonderland card, so that helps bring the cost of table service meals down considerably -- and is often a better value than the dining plan since the dining plan has so much food.

With that said, what you have planned with using the DxDDP split between two rooms is the best way to go. You're going to come out way ahead on it already -- so I wouldn't sweat having to absolutely maximize it. Needless to say, I understand your inner struggle -- I'm right there with you.

One last thing to think about -- yes, the dining plan can "save" you money if you get steaks for every meal -- but the problem with getting the most expensive entree is that you're now tipping a lot more than you would normally since your comped bill is a lot more expensive than it otherwise would have been. it's not uncommon that your bill using dining plan ends up being $40 per person when you would have otherwise spent $25 per person. Sure, it's only $3-$5 extra in tip -- but that is per person and per meal. And with 5 people, you're going to be spending an extra $15-$25 per meal. All that to say that the "free" kona breakfast isn't so free.

 

[magyargirl]

You sound a lot like me with the DxDDP. I always try to maximize the value as much as possible. The only problem is that I keep finding myself trying to fit my vacation schedule into my dining schedule. And that's just not the way it should be since you're there for the parks and not the restaurants. Don't get me wrong, the restaurants are nice -- but they are not (for the most part) world class cuisine. In short -- don't alter your vacation to make the most of the dining plan. You're spending the bulk of your money on the tickets/hotel/travel aspect -- don't let your inner desire to maximize "savings" dictate how you spend the bulk of your vacation time.

The last two trips we've done, I've gotten the dining plan for part of the split stay -- and both times, I told myself I wouldn't do that again. We are usually much happier just ordering what we want and paying cash. Of course -- for our upcoming trip, I started doing it again. Just can't help myself in trying to beat the mouse and get good value. I also have the tables in wonderland card, so that helps bring the cost of table service meals down considerably -- and is often a better value than the dining plan since the dining plan has so much food.

With that said, what you have planned with using the DxDDP split between two rooms is the best way to go. You're going to come out way ahead on it already -- so I wouldn't sweat having to absolutely maximize it. Needless to say, I understand your inner struggle -- I'm right there with you.

One last thing to think about -- yes, the dining plan can "save" you money if you get steaks for every meal -- but the problem with getting the most expensive entree is that you're now tipping a lot more than you would normally since your comped bill is a lot more expensive than it otherwise would have been. it's not uncommon that your bill using dining plan ends up being $40 per person when you would have otherwise spent $25 per person. Sure, it's only $3-$5 extra in tip -- but that is per person and per meal. And with 5 people, you're going to be spending an extra $15-$25 per meal. All that to say that the "free" kona breakfast isn't so free.

That is such a good point! I have been on the fence for a while wondering if I made the right decision about the dxddp. But we love foox and trying new things and so we are gonna take advantage of this chance. I think if we get the chance to visit wdw again, we may not do the plan and just be a bit more fruggle. I budgeted quite a bit for this trip and added a lot of extras because it is DDs bday celebration and an way for me not to worry too kuch about the bill. But in thinking about it now....the dxddp is over $2k for the 3 of us and has we wondering are we really gonna spend over two thousand dollars on food in 9 days? And my answer is I just dont know so do I wanna risk it? Yep...the struggle is real! Lol!

 

[robl45]

Its at 7:05 and thats okay because we have at least 3 hours to enjoy MK after dinner. And this will give us a chance to either get back to our resort and dress for the party...we have a car rental....and get back for dinner. We want to make sure we catch Happy HalloWishes and the parade. I think is will be a blast to do the rides at night too!!

3 hours is not a lot of time. Best honest advice. Whatever you planned for, expect it to take longer than you think.