Week long vacay to WDW...how do these plans look? Please help me with my questions!

[dminnie]

We’re a few weeks out from our WDW trip. I’m so excited! We’ve been many times, but never for a whole week! I’m probably overthinking everything. How do these plans look? A few questions I have are at the top. This will likely be the last family trip to WDW for a long time...2 kids in college and starting next year, it will be more difficult to find times for all of us to go. We cannot add any park days to our tickets(they are unused non-expiring). We are OOP for dining. I think I’m a little more into going than everyone else and I really want it to be a special trip for everyone.

1. I’m spending WAY too much time planning this. How do you you stop? Seriously. I think if I plan too much more, it will just irritate everyone else to no end. They are already over my questions about do you want to do this or that. I’m going to have to take a deep breath when they want to change up the things I have planned.
   
   
2. On the EMH morning for AK. We do have a FP for FOP. Is it worth it to arrive super early to ride it when the park opens. From what I’m reading we’d need to arrive at 6:15 so we wouldn’t have to wait in line for FOP. Yikes.
   
   
3. On the AK day, we’re going to HS mostly to see the Star Wars fireworks. Would you do that, or go back to AK to see the Rivers of Light show. Can you see those shows from anywhere in those parks? I don’t plan to have fastpasses for that.
   
   
4. Lunch the last day? I feel really stuck on this. Most of the TS ADRs are at the beginning of the trip. I’m thinking it might be nice to have a more relaxed meal for lunch that day. I’m thinking about trying Spice Road Table or Restaurant Marrakesh….or should we have CS things since it will be the Flower and Garden show? We haven’t eaten at a lot of Epcot restaurants and I’d kind of like to try out another. DD like to try a variety of foods. Everyone really likes Tangierine Cafe, so we’ll probably get that on the other day we’re at Epcot. They also don’t want to be tied down to a lot of ADRs in our schedule...but I feel like we might enjoy a relaxed meal towards the end of the trip.
   
   
5. Which Water Park? None of us swim much, but we want to try one out(and we have free tickets). We’ve never been to any water park. Lazy rivers and shorter slides are probably our style.
   
   
6. Generally, how do these plans look?

Day 1
Flight arrives in evening. Staying at CBR. Might order pizza when we get there. Breakfast most days will be some snacks I’m packing along.

Day 2
MK: Fast passes for BTMRR, PP, SDMT
BOG for lunch, Grand FL Cafe for dinner
MK fireworks (what’s the difference between Happily Ever After and Once Upon a Time?)

Day 3
AK: EMH from 7-8 am! (Note: because of back and other issues, we’re not doing Safari ride)
FOP at opening with no fast pass (should we try for this or just stick with riding it once later?)
Navi’ with no fast pass
EE (FP)
Lion King Show
Satu’ll Canteen for early lunch
FOP (FP)
Rest at resort during early afternoon
Early dinner at Rose & Crown (Epcot)
Flower and Garden series concert at Epcot
HS for Star Wars fireworks ….or go back to AK for ROL?

Day 4:
Boma for breakfast and then getting rental car to go to Tampa/Clearwater.
We’ll get back to CBR around 11 or 12 in the evening.

Day 5:
Drop off rental car and get to EPCOT at opening
Soarin- no fast pass
Seas with Nemo - FP
Living with the Land - FP
Test track - single rider
Tangierine Cafe for lunch
Frozen - FP
Rest at resort for afternoon
EPCOT - Flower Garden food kiosks for dinner
Illuminations at 9:00
MK open until 11 and then EMH 11-1
Rides at MK until when we crash!

Day 6:
Mostly a rest day. Maybe have breakfast buffet in foot tent at CBR? Is it any good?
Water park and maybe putt putt. Is the food any good at the water parks?
Early evening: Disney Springs for shopping and CS dinner(Polite Pig or Blaze pizza...dessert Ghirardelli AND Sprinkles!)

Day 7:
EPCOT morning until early afternoon
I still need to switch our fast passes from MK to Epcot for this day.
What to have for lunch? See above question.
Rest/swim at resort in the afternoon
MK for some kind of CS dinner(Columbia Harbor House...or any other suggestions?)
Ride a few rides again and see MK fireworks. MK is open for morning EMH and stays open until 11 pm. I think it will be packed, but we’ll mostly want to see the fireworks there on our last night.

Day 8: Take DME for early morning flight home...and, hope that everyone had so much fun, they'll still want to figure out a way to go back again soon!

If you read all this and have suggestions, thank you!

 

[Ensusieasm]

Yes, it's worth getting to AK early for that extra FOP ride! I did it three different mornings a couple weeks ago. For an 8 am opening I was on the bus at 6:40. They let us in the park at about 7:15 and on the ride at 7:30. So, for your 7 am opening, you may need to plan your arrival earlier than you mentioned so you can be closer to the front.
Happily Ever After is the full fireworks and projections show. Once Upon a Time is an additional castle projection show without fireworks.
I like Typhoon Lagoon's lazy river best. Food isn't great in the water parks, by they have some offerings.

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

I personally don't think it is worth it to get to AK to ride FoP if you already have Fastpass. We were able to get a Fastpass for FoP later in the day and we completely avoided that area in the morning. Instead, we got to go to EE and ride it by ourselves, as well as everything else in that area. The other rides in AK are all walk on in the morning, especially since everyone rushes to Pandora. But that's just me!

Rivers of Light is just okay, I would see the Star Wars one if you're a fan of Star Wars.

 

[sharonabe]

Star Wars Spectacular over Rivers of Light for sure!! SWS is very well done. You'll need to be in the area in front of the Chinese Theater, but you can get there 15-30 min before and be able to see pretty well. Don't go to the right (towards TSM), though. A lot of the fireworks are shot from over in that area, and the trees lining the courtyard there do block them a bit.

Another vote for Typhoon Lagoon. The wave pool is great and the family ride is fun. Definitely shorter slides than BB too.

 

[AllieBoo]

Will the rest of your family want to get up super early to be at AK first thing to ride FOP? I see you have two teenagers, so unless they are cool with that, I wouldn't try to worry about squeezing in that extra ride. Get there around park opening and ride EE a few times instead. You may be able to snag another FP for it later in the day anyway.

Both water parks are great. My kids prefer BB over TL slightly.

 

[dminnie]

Thanks for the comments so far! I went to change our fast passes for the last day from MK to Epcot and decided to keep them at MK. I changed the times on them to the evening since that's when we'll be there. We won't have any early in day fast passes at Epcot. Hopefully, we can get there to ride what we want at opening. At least we'll be sure to have some things to ride at MK on our last night. It's supposed to be a 9 for crowds at MK that day, so this will ensure we can get on some things! Only a 6 for crowds at Epcot that day, so I guess we can take our chances there.

 

[happymommy]

1. I’m spending WAY too much time planning this. How do you you stop? Seriously. I think if I plan too much more, it will just irritate everyone else to no end. They are already over my questions about do you want to do this or that. I’m going to have to take a deep breath when they want to change up the things I have planned. Gotcha! I spend too much time as well!
   
   
2. On the EMH morning for AK. We do have a FP for FOP. Is it worth it to arrive super early to ride it when the park opens. From what I’m reading we’d need to arrive at 6:15 so we wouldn’t have to wait in line for FOP. Yikes. I think not. You've got college kids. Let them sleep. It is vacation, and you have a FP for it.
   
   
3. On the AK day, we’re going to HS mostly to see the Star Wars fireworks. Would you do that, or go back to AK to see the Rivers of Light show. Can you see those shows from anywhere in those parks? I don’t plan to have fastpasses for that. We caught a few minutes or ROL a couple trips ago; left. Nah. Star Wars seems best.
   
   
4. Lunch the last day? I feel really stuck on this. Most of the TS ADRs are at the beginning of the trip. I’m thinking it might be nice to have a more relaxed meal for lunch that day. I’m thinking about trying Spice Road Table or Restaurant Marrakesh….or should we have CS things since it will be the Flower and Garden show? We haven’t eaten at a lot of Epcot restaurants and I’d kind of like to try out another. DD like to try a variety of foods. Everyone really likes Tangierine Cafe, so we’ll probably get that on the other day we’re at Epcot. They also don’t want to be tied down to a lot of ADRs in our schedule...but I feel like we might enjoy a relaxed meal towards the end of the trip.
   
   
5. Which Water Park? None of us swim much, but we want to try one out(and we have free tickets). We’ve never been to any water park. Lazy rivers and shorter slides are probably our style.
   
   
6. Generally, how do these plans look?

Day 1
Flight arrives in evening. Staying at CBR. Might order pizza when we get there. Breakfast most days will be some snacks I’m packing along.

Day 2
MK: Fast passes for BTMRR, PP, SDMT
BOG for lunch, Grand FL Cafe for dinner
MK fireworks (what’s the difference between Happily Ever After and Once Upon a Time?)
Looks awesome!

Day 3
AK: EMH from 7-8 am! (Note: because of back and other issues, we’re not doing Safari ride)
FOP at opening with no fast pass (should we try for this or just stick with riding it once later?)
Navi’ with no fast pass
EE (FP)
Lion King Show
Satu’ll Canteen for early lunch
FOP (FP)
Rest at resort during early afternoon
Early dinner at Rose & Crown (Epcot)
Flower and Garden series concert at Epcot
HS for Star Wars fireworks ….or go back to AK for ROL?
No, I think ROL is overrated. We left.

Day 4:
Boma for breakfast and then getting rental car to go to Tampa/Clearwater.
We’ll get back to CBR around 11 or 12 in the evening.
Are you sure you can't bridge your tickets to add a day? Are they special military ones? Once used, they can be upgraded. I've been to Tampa a lot, but my kids would nix that from Orlando.

Day 5:
Drop off rental car and get to EPCOT at opening
Soarin- no fast pass
Seas with Nemo - FP
Living with the Land - FP
Test track - single rider
Tangierine Cafe for lunch
Frozen - FP
Rest at resort for afternoon
EPCOT - Flower Garden food kiosks for dinner
Illuminations at 9:00
MK open until 11 and then EMH 11-1
Rides at MK until when we crash!

Day 6:
Mostly a rest day. Maybe have breakfast buffet in foot tent at CBR? Is it any good?
Water park and maybe putt putt. Is the food any good at the water parks?
Early evening: Disney Springs for shopping and CS dinner(Polite Pig or Blaze pizza...dessert Ghirardelli AND Sprinkles!)
When we did water parks (just me and my kids, stayed off site that trip which was 15 nights, we brought a large cooler with food and drinks, as it's allowed there). That being said, my oldest of course didn't want our sandwiches! BRAT! We prefer Typhoon Lagoon, for the wave pool, but it drove my nuts as my kids were young, I was alone, and those waves!!!!). The food there is typical counter service food; we just brought because we were there so long and had a kitchen. Putt putt is fun! We did both same trip.

Day 7:
EPCOT morning until early afternoon
I still need to switch our fast passes from MK to Epcot for this day.
What to have for lunch? See above question.
Rest/swim at resort in the afternoon
MK for some kind of CS dinner(Columbia Harbor House...or any other suggestions?)
Ride a few rides again and see MK fireworks. MK is open for morning EMH and stays open until 11 pm. I think it will be packed, but we’ll mostly want to see the fireworks there on our last night.

Day 8: Take DME for early morning flight home...and, hope that everyone had so much fun, they'll still want to figure out a way to go back again soon!

If you read all this and have suggestions, thank you!

Sorry long reply, but I added some comments. Not sure why you can't add days once you use tickets; they can be bridged, and the cost is usually minimal at that point (I've done it several times).

I think I may be there the same time as you! They just added EMH to MK from open to 11pm to 1am! Those late nights, the parks are pretty cleared out. Now I have older kids too, so (next trip it's just youngest and me, as it often is) sleep in and then do afternoon/evenings.

 

[VAfamily1998]

The Navi River line gets long as well (though not as long as FOP) so I would concentrate on getting in the standby line for that instead of a FOP, since you have a fast pass for that.

I haven't seen the Star Wars Fireworks but I've seen Rivers of Light. RoL was ok...but I wouldn't make a special trip to AK all the way from Epcot for it. HS is so close to Epcot so it will be easier to get to.

For your Day 6 rest day, have you considered one of the other "hidden gem" buffets at another resort? I'm specifically thinking of the Wave at the Contemporary or Trails End at the Fort Wilderness Campground? Since it's a "rest day" you can take your time and explore the campground or rent boats/bikes if the weather is nice.

Have a great trip!

 

[dminnie]

Sorry long reply, but I added some comments. Not sure why you can't add days once you use tickets; they can be bridged, and the cost is usually minimal at that point (I've done it several times).

Our tickets are old non-expiring...we bought them right before they stopped selling non-expiring tickets. They were fully loaded...10day/park hoppers with water parks. We'll still have 1 day left on them after this trip. We'd just rather keep that day for another time...I don't know how bridging works, but I wonder if they'd let us upgrade on that trip. This will be the 4th trip we've used them on(2 days, 2 days, 1 day and this time 4 days)!

 

[dminnie]

The Navi River line gets long as well (though not as long as FOP) so I would concentrate on getting in the standby line for that instead of a FOP, since you have a fast pass for that.
That's a good idea. Hopefully, we can get there before that has too long of a line.
I haven't seen the Star Wars Fireworks but I've seen Rivers of Light. RoL was ok...but I wouldn't make a special trip to AK all the way from Epcot for it. HS is so close to Epcot so it will be easier to get to.
Good point that HS is closer..we could probably even walk off some of our dinner to get there!
For your Day 6 rest day, have you considered one of the other "hidden gem" buffets at another resort? I'm specifically thinking of the Wave at the Contemporary or Trails End at the Fort Wilderness Campground? Since it's a "rest day" you can take your time and explore the campground or rent boats/bikes if the weather is nice.
Those might be nice ideas. It would be a good day to have a TS meal. I mostly looked at Downtown Disney for ideas since I know the others like to shop a little there. I didn't really see any TS there that everyone would be excited about(strange, because there's so much there). I doubt we'll stay at the water park for long, so we'll have time to explore a little.
Have a great trip!

Thank you!

 

[VAfamily1998]

Thank you!

You're welcome!

My kids are younger than yours (I have 4 kids that are between the ages of 11-17) but one of our favorite TS restaurants at Disney Springs is Ragland Road--especially during the music/dance shows. They start around 4 pm on weekdays, and for brunch on weekends (I think at noon?) but double check the times! The food is really good!

 

[suevee]

We like Typhoon Lagoon better than Blizzard. More shade. I do spring for the private cabana (350$). It comes with towels, water, refillable glasses, comfortable shaded seats great to sit out small rain, fridge, safe, and ceiling fan. I am not a water park person but grands are. For me this is the best way to spend the day. Also private and have attendants who will pick up food for you. I like the ones by the lazy river.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Having a bunch of ADRs is a pain. Play it by ear on Day 7 lunch. You’ll have the F&G kiosks, and there are so many places in Epcot to choose from for lunch.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.