Thoughts on my timetable. Updated with confirmed ADRs

[ColinA]

Thanks Colin

Trails End does look like it'll be a good substitute to Liberty Tree Tavern for my meat-loving husband. It also looks like it's pretty good value for money. The pay-off I guess will be with time? From the front gate of MK and back, how long do think I'd need to factor to go across to Trails End for a meal?

Kouzzina does look great and it's convenient for the first half our stay. It's just finding the time and money to fit everything in.

I think that's the second time I've heard Tusker House mentioned as a lunch option as opposed to breakfast (which is what I was going to do). Maybe I should change my son's birthday breakfast to somewhere else (Crystal Palace, Kona??) so we can visit Tusker House at lunch instead.

I woulld suggest Captains Grille over Kouzzina for breakfast, cheaper and more of a range of international food, and then you can catch the bus from YC.

The boats to Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge is central at the front of MK. On the average I would allow 15-20 mins, the boats run often and depends on the wait time, at the FW end it is only about one minute walk to Trails End.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

I woulld suggest Captains Grille over Kouzzina for breakfast, cheaper and more of a range of international food, and then you can catch the bus from YC.

The boats to Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge is central at the front of MK. On the average I would allow 15-20 mins, the boats run often and depends on the wait time, at the FW end it is only about one minute walk to Trails End.

Thanks again Colin.
I think I'm convinced to give Trails End a go. The rustic wood cabin decor looks charming.

I'm also thinking that if Tusker House is a good substitute for Boma, I will scratch Boma off our list. Might try Saana instead.

Decisions, decisions, decisions ....

 

[ColinA]

Thanks again Colin.
I think I'm convinced to give Trails End a go. The rustic wood cabin decor looks charming.

I'm also thinking that if Tusker House is a good substitute for Boma, I will scratch Boma off our list. Might try Saana instead.

Decisions, decisions, decisions ....

We have been to Boma dozens of times but always used to come away feeling slightly light headed as if the food was too rich, the food at Tusker house does not give us the same feeling. The other problem is the long trip to get there.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Hi! I've taken a look at your itinerary and made a few suggestions or comments. We've been to WDW several times, always for extended stays (minimum we stay is 3 weeks! Yep, we're Disney obsessed)

A few things I've noticed. You're doing several split days (starting the day at one park and then heading for another, with a resort stop in the middle.) I'm not recommending not to do that, you know what is best for your family. However just keep in mind that each trip, you should allow an hour to an hour and a half each trip if you're relying on Disney Transportation.

I've skipped over Universal as I haven't spent much time there so hopefully someone else can help you out there.

Sep 28th: Morning transfer from Port to BoardWalk Villas. Go straight to Epcot and explore World Showcase. Snack on F&W festival treats for lunch. Go back to resort at check-in time. Resort Time. Go back to Epcot for dinner and Fireworks.


Sep 29th: Breakfast in Villa (as will be the case for just about every morning from now on). Spend morning at Epcot Future World. Lunch at Epcot - perhaps Sunshine Seasons? Resort Time. Head out about 5 for MNSSHP and begin with Quick Service dinner at the Magic Kingdom.
With your party tickets, you can enter MK from 4pm so I would recommend entering that park at 4pm. There are several reasons. You can either do an early reservation so you don't need to waste party time by having dinner. You can meet the regular characters who are in the parks usually with very short lines. You can also get several rides done as the crowd is generally very minimal.

Sep 30th: Slight sleep in. Go to Typhoon Lagoon till about 1pm. Return for quick, easy lunch from Boardwalk Bakery. Go to Hollywood Studios for afternoon parade, table service dinner and Fantasmic.
In my opinion you won't have time to head for Boardwalk Bakery and make it back to Hollywood Studios for the parade in you leave at 1pm. I'd grab counter service at Hollywood Studios

Oct 1st: Morning and lunch at Hollywood Studios. Resort Time. Go to DTD to have a browse and perhaps visit DisneyQuest for an hour or two. Grab some takeaways (perhaps from Earl of Sandwich) to take back to Villa. People watch from Boardwalk Balcony and hopefully be able to see Fireworks.
You can't see most of Illuminations from the Boardwalk. You can only see the higher up fireworks and you will be able to hear the music. We have seen Illuminations several times when we are around the Boardwalk. Love the Bakery! The cupcakes there are amazing.


Oct 2nd: Morning and lunch at MK. Resort Time. Perhaps go over to the BC to Beaches and Cream (I showed my DH a video of them making a kitchen sink and he said it would be fun for the 3 of us to try and share one). Final evening in Epcot for dinner and fireworks.
Beaches and Cream is worth it! Definitely go there in the afternoon, after Illuminations B&C gets so busy!

Oct 3rd: Sleep in and pack bags. Check out mid-late morning. Go to AK until about 4pm. Check into AKV. Enjoy pool and resort. Perhaps Boma as a treat for dinner.
Keep in mind that you won't get into AK until 1pm roughly with this plan. The parade is one of our favourites and worth seeing. The parade starts at 3:45pm. You can position yourself in the parks so you could leave as soon as the parade has passed where you are.

Oct 4th: Morning at AK with Table Service Lunch. Resort Time. DTD and perhaps La Nouba (will depend on the finances closer to the time).
Tusker House is great for lunch. It is a character meal (Donald, Mickey, Daisy and Goofy. It has great selections, traditional food and something for those more adventurous.

Oct 5th: Slight sleep in. Blizzard Beach till early avo. MK for parade, dinner and Wishes.
Keep in mind the travelling times. You would need to leave Blizzard Beach no matter than 1pm to definitely make it in time for the 3pm MK Parade

Oct 6th: No main parks today as I will have 10-day tickets and 11 days in which to use them. Catch a taxi to Outlet Mall. Spend the morning shopping. Afternoon at whichever of the two water parks we preferred. Evening relaxing and enjoying the AKL. I've heard they do a great drum actvity with the kids in the evening and the Castmembers share tales of Africa.


Oct 7th: Day one of my son's birthdays. He will be having two. Today will be his birthday in NZ time. Tomorrow will be his birthday US time. I'm thinking that I'd like to book a special dinner for tonight at Ohana's. Other than that, I will leave today free for my husband and son to decide what we do. They've expressed a slight interest in Legoland, so we may even end up going there instead of Disney.


Oct 8th: Would like to book a special breakfast for my son's birthday. Any suggestions? Other than that, I will leave the day free for my son to pick what he wants to do for his birthday. The only stipulation is that we get to bed reasonably early as tomorrow will be a tiring one.
We love heading to MK on our final day. You can book a cake for your son's birthday. Grab a Birthday pin for him to wear! as for the breakfast, it depends on what he likes and what park he wants to go to.

Oct 9th. Farewell Disney 9:30am flight to LAX. Check into dayroom at LAX hotel for about the next 7 hours to nap, swim etc. Overnight flight home to NZ arriving early Friday morning.

Hope this helps I'm happy to answer whatever questions you might have

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Hi! I've taken a look at your itinerary and made a few suggestions or comments. We've been to WDW several times, always for extended stays (minimum we stay is 3 weeks! Yep, we're Disney obsessed)

A few things I've noticed. You're doing several split days (starting the day at one park and then heading for another, with a resort stop in the middle.) I'm not recommending not to do that, you know what is best for your family. However just keep in mind that each trip, you should allow an hour to an hour and a half each trip if you're relying on Disney Transportation.

I've skipped over Universal as I haven't spent much time there so hopefully someone else can help you out there.

Hope this helps I'm happy to answer whatever questions you might have

Thank you for all the tips - very helpful.

It looks like we might need to review a few of our transfer times. I was hoping that being so close to 3 of the parks (Epcot and HS first 5 nights, and AK last 6 nights), we might be able to cut back on some of our transfer times, but it sounds like the Water park and MK visits will cause some concerns.
I will have to have a think about whether there's a better way of doing this.

Thanks again.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Have edited my original post and made some adjustments. Hopefully transfer times will no longer be too much of a concern.

I'm so pleased I've started thinking about this timetable now while I'm on holiday. I'm not sure how I'd find the time to do it otherwise.

Heading off soon to spend time with out-of-town family.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[Minniemum]

Oct 6th: No main parks today as I will have 10-day tickets and 11 days in which to use them. Catch a taxi to Outlet Mall. Spend the morning shopping. Afternoon at Blizzard Beach. Evening relaxing and enjoying the AKL. Dinner at Sanaa.

The water park hours in September/October are usually open 10am-5pm. If there is an afternoon thunderstorm, more likely than not, the water park may close even earlier.

The outlet malls usually open at 10am too. Even if you're not a shopper, I think you'll find 1 morning is nowhere near enough.

 

[Marlea98]

I've got nothing to contribute other than to say good luck with your plans We don't find DPs worth it for us as we prefer to go hard all day and our two kids wouldn't be able to sit long enough for a sit-down meal when all they want to do is the rides. But I love looking at the menus and food pics - for one day when the kids aren't with us and we can do things more slower

 

[PrincessInOz]

Re-worked plans look great!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

The water park hours in September/October are usually open 10am-5pm. If there is an afternoon thunderstorm, more likely than not, the water park may close even earlier.

The outlet malls usually open at 10am too. Even if you're not a shopper, I think you'll find 1 morning is nowhere near enough.

Good point. Thanks.
I had no idea the outlet stores opened as late as 10am. For some reason I thought they'd all be open by 9.
Might swap the 2 parts of the day around. Blizzard Beach for a couple of hours in the morning and Outlet Malls for 3-4 hours in the afternoon.

You're probably right about half a day shopping not being enough. Although my husband is the more passionate shopper in our relationship. I figure that if he wants to do more, we can always go back on his free choice day.

So much to do and see; so little time....

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Thank you Marlea and PIO for your kind words

 

[WanderlustNZ]

After hearing how chaotic the first weekend of the F&W festival will be in Epcot, I felt like it was time again to change my holiday schedule (see original post). Still 7 months till we leave and my schedule has already changed 3 or 4 times.

What am I going to be like once park hours are released at the end of next month

This time around I've had some great fun playing with emoticons that I didn't even know existed.

 

[PrincessInOz]

After hearing how chaotic the first weekend of the F&W festival will be in Epcot, I felt like it was time again to change my holiday schedule (see original post). Still 7 months till we leave and my schedule has already changed 3 or 4 times.

What am I going to be like once park hours are released at the end of next month

This time around I've had some great fun playing with emoticons that I didn't even know existed.

Seems like a typical PTR.

Looks good.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Seems like a typical PTR.

Looks good.

Oh that's a relief. I like the word 'typical'.
I'm not used to planning a holiday in this much depth. It's easy to start feeling a tad obsessed

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Our schedule has changed about 10 times since we started planning 6 months ago So changes are more than normal Weekends are not a good time for the F&W Festival - too many locals come in for the weekend, especially Sunday. Unless you're just hanging out in FutureWorld, then you've made the right call to change it.

I can't really comment on Universal. We have only been there once and a single day and didn't enjoy it. That being said, we have never watched or read Harry Potter but the Harry Potter section was amazing!

This timetable will undoubtedly change again once EMH's and MNSSHP dates are announced, and crowd predictions are taken into account.

ARRIVAL


DISNEY WORLD

Sat Sep 28th: Morning transfer from Port to BoardWalk Villas (BoardWalk view studio booked and paid using rented DVC points. 10 day 'Hopper & Water Park and More' tickets bought from Undercover Tourist ).
Go straight to HS to watch shows and afternoon parade. Back to resort for check-in and rest. Back to HS for dinner and Fantasmic. Stroll back to resort and check out the BW at night.
Lunch: Probably QS
Dinner: QS, Sci-Fi diner or Mama Melrose
Sounds like a good plan.

Sun Sep 29th: Breakfast in Villa (as will be the case for just about every morning from now on). Spend morning at HS trying to do TSM and Jedi Training. Spend the middle of the day resting and checking out our resort. Head out about 4pm for MNSSHP. Will try and get a Pirate League booking before the party starts.
Lunch: 50's Prime Time Diner.
Dinner: Probably snacks or QS
You'll want to get to HS as early as possible, I'd recommend no later than 8:15am. You'll want one person to run for TSM Fastpasses while someone takes the kids to the Jedi training sign up. You'll be given a time to return to the Jedi training and since you're going onto the party. The later you sign up, the later the time you'll get, or possibly not even be able to get in.

Pirate League is very popular just before the party so you'll want to make sure you can book this one as soon as they open. I'd recommend an eaely dinner at MK if possible as the food stations aren't all open for the party and the ones that are open, are very busy. You'll waste up to an hour trying to get food.

How little are the kids?I'm only asking because it sounds like a very long day if you want to stay at the party until midnight

Mon Sep 30th: Full Epcot day with Illuminations at the end. Will have a resort break in the middle
Lunch: Biegarten.
Dinner: F&W festival snacks
I'd be inclined to do Biergarten for dinner, rather than lunch. That way if, after snacking around the world, you're still hungry you can have a larger meal. If not, you can have a smaller one. Also the earlier you hit the F&W stations, the quieter they are. By 4pm-5pm, they're much busier.

Tue Oct 1st: A bit of a slower-paced day. Sleep in. Typhoon Lagoon till midday/early avo. Back to Resort. Head to Epcot for dinner
Lunch: QS or Boardwalk Bakery
Dinner: Probably F&W Festival Snacks
You could grab a meal at Typhoon Lagoon. The Boardwalk Bakery mostly only has sandwiches

Wed Oct 2nd: Morning and lunch at MK . Resort Break. Last evening at Epcot
Lunch: Perhaps BOG?
Dinner: F&W festival or a TS somewhere in the World Showcase
If you've done BOG, you might be alright with just snacking on F&W. There are several counter services you could grab in World Showcase. Anywhere that has seating that you can see the lake/Illuminations gets busy. The later it gets, you're better to eat somewhere in Future World.

Thu Oct 3rd: Sleep in and pack bags. Check out mid morning. Go to AK until after the afternoon parade. Check into AKV (Jambo studio booked and paid using rented DVC points) Enjoy pool and resort activities.
Lunch: Perhaps Flame Tree BBQ
Dinner: Mara
Keep in mind your time today.If you only want to go to AK for the parade, lunch and a few rides, you're fine. The Safari, Dinosaur and EE will have a long ride by lunchtime which is when you'll be getting into the parks.

Fri Oct 4th: Blizzard Beach till early avo. The rest of the day at DTD. A bit unsure how to tackle this. I want to go to Disney Quest, La Nouba, and Raglan Rd. I also want to visit the shops, particularly Ridemakerz where my son would LOVE making a car. All this is probably a bit much for one afternoon and evening so something will have to give. I'm thinking La Nouba since it's so expensive. But at the same time I love Cirque Shows after seeing four of the Vegas ones. Decisions, decisions...
Lunch: light meal somewhere
Late Lunch/Early Dinner: Raglan Rd or a QS like Earl of Sandwich
You should be able to fit all of this in if you're at DTD by 3pm. La Nouba will take some time but it's worth doing if you enjoy the Cirque shows. Is there two shows the night you're looking at? 6pm and 9pm? You could do Earl of Sandwich for lunch, Disney Quest, shopping. see La Nouba and then Raglan Rd for a late meal

Sat Oct 5th: Animal Kingdom for a few hours in the morning to see the animals while they're active. Then catch a taxi to Outlet Mall. Spend the rest of the day shopping.
Lunch and dinner: Play it by ear.
You could do La Nouba tonight instead or Disney Quest. The Outlet Mall won't take all afternoon and evening. You could be back at DTD by 6pm-7pm


Sun Oct 6th: Rest morning at resort. Head out middayish to check out the WL (not sure what it is about that resort, but I really want to go have a nosey) MK in time for the afternoon parade. Leave at dinner time to go to Ohana. Return to MK for Wishes and Electrical Light Parade if we have the energy.
Breakfast: Boma
Lunch: snack
Dinner: Ohana
If you don't leave until midday and then head to WL, I'm not sure you will comfortably be at MK early enough to get a spot for the parade. I'd leave a little earlier, maybe 11am? That way you can explore WL and not feel like you're rushing. Also, if you have time, check out the Wilderness Canyon Cafe - they have bottomless milkshakes! They keep filling it up until you're had enough!

Mon Oct 7th: Trying to decide between a day at Legoland or a relaxing day visiting Disney parks we want to see more of. Will probably leave this decision to my husband.
Lunch and dinner: Play it by ear.
A "free" day is always good at this stage of the holiday. You can relax, check out something you've just discovered.

Tue Oct 8th: Today is my son's birthday. Breakfast in the AK. Followed by a day visiting parks of my son's choice.
Breakfast: Tusker House Character Meal
Lunch: light meal somewhere
Dinner: Saana
Try and make the earliest reservation possible (8:05am) so that you can head out to the other parks as early as possible. With Tusker House, ask for your bill once you're seated and settled. It's a set price and we have waited 20 minutes once for the bill here after we were finished. Also, I'd consider jumping on the Safari once you were done, as the animals are VERY active before 10am so it would be worth it, especially if your son loves the animals

FAREWELL

Wed Oct 9th. Magic Express to MCO. Farewell Disney 9:30am flight to LAX (American Airlines) Check into dayroom at LAX hotel for about the next 7 hours to nap, swim and perhaps visit Manhatten Beach. (This dayroom is not booked yet). Overnight flight home to NZ arriving early Friday morning.




Just some random thoughts/ideas. Your plans sound really good

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Thanks so much Disney Princess by taking the time to comment in such details. Your suggestions have been really helpful and given me something to think about.

How little are the kids?I'm only asking because it sounds like a very long day if you want to stay at the party until midnight

I have just one child; my 5 year old son. He'll be turning 6 while we're there. I do worry a bit about long days in parks taking their toll. We'll be fine with the early morning thing, it's the late evenings that will be difficult. Hence the reason I'm trying to schedule breaks in the middle of most days. Even if I can convince everyone to have a half hour power nap, hopefully we'll be able to make the most of the the Halloween Party. I'm so excited about it

I'd be inclined to do Biergarten for dinner, rather than lunch. That way if, after snacking around the world, you're still hungry you can have a larger meal. If not, you can have a smaller one. Also the earlier you hit the F&W stations, the quieter they are. By 4pm-5pm, they're much busier.

This is given me something to think about. I think I thought lunch would be good because it's cheaper and also to escape the mid day heat. But will definitely keep your suggestion in mind.

Keep in mind your time today.If you only want to go to AK for the parade, lunch and a few rides, you're fine. The Safari, Dinosaur and EE will have a long ride by lunchtime which is when you'll be getting into the parks.

Thanks for the heads-up. The thing I'm actually most looking forward to in AK is the animals and the shows (Lion King, Bug movie etc). Hopefully we'll be able to do most of the shows on this day, and if need be, save the Safari ride and animals for our morning visit a few days later. I showed my son some videos of various Disney and Universal rides and EE was the one he said looked the scariest and didn't want to do. My DH doesn't like coasters any more extreme than say Big Thunder Mountain and to be honest, I'm not much a fan of them either. So I'll either go through the single rider queue (assuming they have one???) or will skip EE altogether.

You could do La Nouba tonight instead or Disney Quest. The Outlet Mall won't take all afternoon and evening. You could be back at DTD by 6pm-7pm

This is a really good idea. Will have to have a think about this.

If you don't leave until midday and then head to WL, I'm not sure you will comfortably be at MK early enough to get a spot for the parade. I'd leave a little earlier, maybe 11am? That way you can explore WL and not feel like you're rushing. Also, if you have time, check out the Wilderness Canyon Cafe - they have bottomless milkshakes! They keep filling it up until you're had enough!

Thanks for the tip. Will make sure we've left by 11.

With Tusker House, ask for your bill once you're seated and settled

Another great suggestion.

 

[cola]

EE looks scary, it's actually pretty mild, you look at the height restriction and the fact it is only a lap bar rather than a full shoulder lock down restraint and you can see it is about as full on as Big Thunder. First time I went on alone in the single rider line and ended up in the front seat with it was mild.

Your MNSSHP party day, I'd skip the park in the morning and head out about 3pm to go in at 4pm, this means you will not be using a day of your 10 day ticket. Just make it a quiet day so your DS can last longer in the evening. If you really have to do something, do your WL visit that lunchtime.


Back to your Universal days...... US and IoA are so close together you can easily park hop. US has some construction at the moment, not sure how much should be finished by the time you get there, you may find that you run out of things in US and it's an easy wander back to IoA for another dose of Harry Potter.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

EE looks scary, it's actually pretty mild, you look at the height restriction and the fact it is only a lap bar rather than a full shoulder lock down restraint and you can see it is about as full on as Big Thunder. First time I went on alone in the single rider line and ended up in the front seat with it was mild.

Your MNSSHP party day, I'd skip the park in the morning and head out about 3pm to go in at 4pm, this means you will not be using a day of your 10 day ticket. Just make it a quiet day so your DS can last longer in the evening. If you really have to do something, do your WL visit that lunchtime.

Back to your Universal days...... US and IoA are so close together you can easily park hop. US has some construction at the moment, not sure how much should be finished by the time you get there, you may find that you run out of things in US and it's an easy wander back to IoA for another dose of Harry Potter.

Thanks Cola for taking the time to make some suggestions. :

You and a few others have got me thinking about the MNSSHP day. I'll have to look at it again and see if there's a way to make the morning a bit more relaxing. I think I was banking on the hope that after a relaxing 7 night cruise, we'd have the energy to do 2 or 3 pretty full on days before needing the slower-paced water park day.

Good suggestion about saving a day on the ticket. However, I'm not too worried since I probably only needed a 9 day pass anyway. I decided to pay the little bit extra for the 10th day incase there was a day like this where we wanted to visit a park for just a few hours.

I uhmmed and ahhed for ages about paying extra for a hopper at Universal. It was quite a bit more money, so in the end decided against it. We'll have express passes and there is a lot of rides at Universal that are too scary for us, so we will probably see both parks quite quickly. But in a way I kind of like that. I like that we can 'attack' the parks at a very slow pace, we can check out all the shows and re-ride anything we want to do again (I think Spiderman and Transformers will be possible favourites) and then spend the rest of the day relaxing at the resort.

Lastly, thanks for the heads-up about EE. I think I'll have to try it using the single rider line. When watching the video, DS was scared by the yeti and I know DH hates things that go backwards. They might change their mind once we get there, but I'm not fussed if they want to sit it out.


Here's my WDW wishlist:
To do MNSSHP very early in our stay to have the sweets to carry around as snacks for the rest of the trip.
To try and do all/most of our HS and Epcot visits during the first 5 days while we're staying so close to both parks. Likewise, AK, during the second half.
To save shopping for the latter part of our stay once we see how the money situation is going.
To try and avoid the busier parks on weekends.
To make the second half of our stay a bit slower paced than the first half. I don't want to return home exhausted.
To have some time to enjoy our resorts.

I'm finding it's a real juggle to balance all these things out. So all suggestions to help improve my timetable are gratefully received.


Apart from TSM, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Soarin and Test Track (all of which I think my family will love), I'm not really fussed what rides we do at Disney. For my family I think it will all be about the atmosphere, shows, parades, special experiences etc. At AK, I'm most excited about the Lion King Show and the park theming, at HS - seeing DS do Jedi Training. Epcot - doing those cellphone treasure hunt things (sorry name escapes me) with DS to keep him entertained while DH and I enjoy the 'World'. And at MK - the parades and Pirates League. Also, that Pirate Treasure Hunt thing they're introducing looks great.
DH and I went to DisneyLand about 7 years ago and we did all the well-known rides. The only part of the day that really stood out for my husband was the parade. He raved afterwards about how professional it was. I therefore want to try and make this trip as much about taking the time to enjoy what's going on around us, as rushing from ride to ride. I think all of us will have a more enjoyable holiday because of it.
If anyone knows of any non-ride experiences that are worth checking out, please let me know. Also, has anyone done the Sorcerers Treasure Hunt thing in MK? If so, what was it like?

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Thanks Cola for taking the time to make some suggestions. :

You and a few others have got me thinking about the MNSSHP day. I'll have to look at it again and see if there's a way to make the morning a bit more relaxing. I think I was banking on the hope that after a relaxing 7 night cruise, we'd have the energy to do 2 or 3 pretty full on days before needing the slower-paced water park day.
I think the adults will be fine but I'm not about your 5 year old. Obviously you know him best so know what he can and can't manage. However if you want to stay at the party until midnight (and I'd recommend it because the party does get quieter after the 2nd parade) I'm not sure I'd hit HS that morning. You don't want him to fall asleep by 9pm. A word of advice, see the second parade, not the first! The 2nd is always quieter and you don't have to line up for nearly as long to get a good spot.

Lastly, thanks for the heads-up about EE. I think I'll have to try it using the single rider line. When watching the video, DS was scared by the yeti and I know DH hates things that go backwards. They might change their mind once we get there, but I'm not fussed if they want to sit it out.
EE isn't that bad, my advice would be to watch it a few times before they ride (if they change their mind) there is on particularly good spot where you can see what is does, how fast it goes. It's near the giftshop where the ride lets out. There are always people watching from here.


To do MNSSHP very early in our stay to have the sweets to carry around as snacks for the rest of the trip.
this is a very good idea because you will end up with alot of candy. A word of advice, wait until a little later in the evening. Some of the lines get really long from 9pm and you're basically wasting 30 minutes in line for 2-3 pieces of chocolate. The later in the evening, the quieter the lines are. Also they (usually) have people at the exits as you leave the party who have buckets and buckets of candy and they just hand them out.

To try and do all/most of our HS and Epcot visits during the first 5 days while we're staying so close to both parks. Likewise, AK, during the second half.
This makes sense. If you can walk to your hotel, it makes a huge difference. If you still have to watch the bus, I've found it doesn't make much difference, except AK Lodge.

To save shopping for the latter part of our stay once we see how the money situation is going.
Good idea. A word of advice (because we have done this) If you see something you like but want to wait to buy, do two thing. 1. Write down what shop you saw it in, in which park and how much it is. We have "forgotten" where we saw things and then couldn't find it again, especially if it's one of the more unusual things, like at AK. 2. Take a photo of it. We took photos of the things we were thinking about and a few days before, we looked at the photos and worked out what we wanted to buy. Also you an have any merchandise shipped home for you. This is especially great if you want anything bigger (art work/figurines/ornaments ect) however they still ship anything! We did this on our last trip, we wrote down the code for the items (the CM's can help you work out which number that is) we called Merchandise on our last day and ordered everything. We ended up with 6 HUGE boxes, they charged $120 for shipping (which was nothing when compared to what we bought) and it arrived in Sydney 7 days after we ordered it. Also, Disney guarantees the items won't break. If they do, they replace for free. It's SO much easier then trying to fit it into the suitcase.

To try and avoid the busier parks on weekends.
MK and EPCOT during F&W at the only parks that are overly busy on a weekend. Unless you're there during a really busy time, they're still quite manageable.

If anyone knows of any non-ride experiences that are worth checking out, please let me know. Also, has anyone done the Sorcerers Treasure Hunt thing in MK? If so, what was it like?
It's quite good and alot of fun. The only thing is that it takes alot of time. You have to go and scan your cards and often you're in a line behind 5+ people who are also waiting to scan their cards.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Disney Princess, you're an absolute gem. :

Thanks for taking so much time to help me. You make heaps of great suggestions and I'm taking plenty of notes.