I finally put did an itinerary-thoughts?

Avatar for ldunx
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Registered: 03-28-2003
I finally put did an itinerary-thoughts?
11
Sat, 06-10-2006 - 12:27pm

after struggling with it so much I finally got an itinerary. Of course it could all change. I don't have any of the ADR yet. Please let me know what you think. This novice really appreciates all the expert advice. I need all the help I can get.

Sept 30 Sat: Arrive mid afternoon. MK. Low expectations this day, ride what we can, get used to the place. Doing MK on arrival for the kids sake. CS and snacks. If the kids can last will stay for Wishes at 10. If not, no biggie. Specta Magic is at 9&11pm. What is that and do we want to see it?

Oct 1st Sun: Sleep in. Late BK at Chef Mickey's(maybe Ohanah instead). Epcot. No hurry to get there, as world showcase doesn't open till 11pm and I'm hoping to last till 9pm for Illuminations. I don't think there is much for us at FW (a few of the attractions are closed). Maybe will do a late afternoon CS at Sunshine Food Fair. Will need to skip the great dining here at Epcot due to picky kids and my huge dietary restrictions. Thought about doing a TS (share meals)at Coral Reef. Do they have choices other then seafood? That could be a late meal maybe 8pm or so to help us stick around for the 9pm show. Does Illuminations have anything that scares youngsters?

Oct 2 Mon: AK -EMH. Get there at opening. CS early lunch at restaurantosarus. Stick around till the 4:15 parade then back to resort for swimming and down time. CS at the resort for supper.

Oct 3 Tues: MGM Early TS lunch at Sci-fi (was thinking of doing share meal here). Knowing there might be alot of attractions we have to skip here due to my dd's sensory disfuction. I don't want to scare the living daylights out of her. Will leave MGM early to see the Hoop De Doo show at 5pm. Might visit DT disney after the show if kids are up for it. Skipping Fantasmic. I'd love to see it but of all the night shows it sounds the most dramatic which could easily scare dd. (to give you an idea, we had leave Disney on Ice -Beauty and the Beast because there were some loud noises/pops and small sprays of fireworks)

Oct 4 Wed: MK. Get there as soon as it opens. Revisit the things the kids loved from the first day and all the many things we missed too. Plan a early TS dinner at Crystal Palace. Stay for wishes at 9 if we missed on Sat or take advantage of the crowds watching it and do rides if we already saw it.

Oct 5 Thurs: Depending on the time we wish to leave and if we didn't do DT do it then for some CS and snacks before heading out.

whacha think?

~Laura :)

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Avatar for shelb31
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Registered: 08-12-2006
Sat, 06-10-2006 - 2:35pm

Here are a few suggestions based on my experieces. First, absolutely do not miss Spectro Magic! It is totally awesome! Years ago, they called this the Electric Parade. It's very similar. The floats are all lit with lights. So are the character! Even the ones on the floats. One of the highlights of our trips.

It sounds like you haven't checked out the menus on allearsnet.com. You should do that before making a decision about any meals. It's been a few years, but I believe that Coral Reef has non-seafood items as well.

As for Illuminations, it isn't particularly scary, but it is loud. Alysha suggested to someone else to get ear plugs. She used these (successfully) with her daughter. She also noted that when in the MK, don't be on Main St. during the fireworks; they just echo off the buildings. I can attest that they are extremely loud; when ds was 2, we had to leave after a couple of minutes. Thankfully, he has outgrown that. When we have something particularly loud, he wears dh's headphones (like the ones used at Nascar races or for people mowing).

I'm not sure of your kid(s) ages, but why don't you think there's anything in FW at Epcot? My kids are 8 and almost 6, and they love everything in Epcot. Test Track is ds' favorite. We just rode Soarin' this year, and it's now mine and dd's favorite. Turtle Talk with Crush at the Living Seas is totally awesome (pun intended!); it is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while. It's about a 15 min. show where the kids sit down front, and an animated Crush talks to them. He picks people from the audience like "hey, little dude with the red shell and white head (red shirt, white hat), what's your question". Unbelievable! Honey I Shrunk the Audience 3D show is great, too. Plus watching the "jumping" water outside of there. And there's Innoventions where you could literally spend hours. And Spaceship Earth is very relaxing. Another favorite of everyone in the family is the boatride Living with the Land; absolutely wouldn't miss this one!

The rest of your itinerary looks great! I'm glad to see you've figured in down time. That is soooooo important. I can't tell you how many miserably tired kids I saw this trip. I felt like shaking the parents and asking why they were torturing their kids! And that's what it was, torture. You don't have to spend every breathing, waking moment in the park. You can get the full effect with scheduled down times. Of course there are some days where you just have to go, go, go. That's fine as long as you plan on a calm next day.

Hope I haven't overwhelmed you! I tend to go a little overboard.

M'Shel

Disney 2010
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Registered: 05-11-2003
Sat, 06-10-2006 - 2:41pm

I think it looks pretty good to my relatively novice eye.

 

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Registered: 03-25-2003
Sat, 06-10-2006 - 2:43pm

Reading your notes about being scared of popping noises, etc...AVOID watching the MK fireworks from ON Main Street, especially in between the buildings. The fireworks echo bad there and are very loud. But closer to the castle is not nearly as bad. (My favorite place is Liberty Square.)

Illuminations was also loud (mostly the score) and hot (the heat coming from the fire, not the fireworks).

We haven't done Fantasmic! yet...as you can see above, Aly was always a sensitive youngster, and when we went when she was 7, we just didn't have time to fit MGM (our least favorite park) into the 3-day trip.

SpectroMagic is a light parade that is awesome!

For the last few trips, I packed ear plugs from Wal-mart (you can get the putty-like ones in the HBA section and the foam ones in the sporting section).

Alysha


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Registered: 03-25-2003
Sat, 06-10-2006 - 2:50pm

The main reason I wanted to respond to her post was to post the link to the menus since she questioned that..and I forgot...lol

http://allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm

And I agree about Animal Kingdom. I prefer it as a half-day park, possibly 2 half-days, but not all in one day. The animals are most active in the mornings and the parade's in the afternoon.

Alysha


Avatar for ldunx
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Registered: 03-28-2003
Sat, 06-10-2006 - 4:09pm

thanks for the input so far.

Should we maybe skip illuminations? It is at 9pm which is late for us. Kids are 4 and 7 but definate early birds.

If AK only takes half day should I not try to do it on the EMH day? The way I had it planned we would be there from 8-4:30. Too much? Is the parade must do? Should I try to go in the morning or go late too see the parade. My kids see plenty of animals. We have been to every zoo near here in the last few years and also have a zoo pass for a our local zoo.

I didn't know that Epcot FW would have some things that would interest the kids like M'shel stated. Maybe I should try and do Epcot on the EMH which would be Tues. Would we be busy at FW from 8am til WS opened at 11? We could either take some down time back at the resort in the afternoon and go back for the evening or just make it a early night at Epcot if I plan on missing Illuminations.

Is there somewhere that says which parks are busiest on which days? I thought I read that somewhere but can't find it.

Alyssa I will make note of where you said to view Wishes. With spectra magic being an hour before wishes can we see both. Where is spectra magic at?

:)Laura

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2005
Sat, 06-10-2006 - 4:13pm
I'm in a bit of a rush here so I just scanned your itinerary quickly. I wanted to also give you this link at allears regarding food allergies/special needs:

Val, Co-CL Disney Vacations

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Sat, 06-10-2006 - 4:24pm

I think your kids might enjoy doing Future World, then calling it an early night and skipping Illuminations (but it IS a great show). Make sure to check out Innoventions both East & West (there are different things in each), and the Land is great, the Seas (which not sure how they will be during this construction phase), the Imagination pavilion, and more...

Spectromagic starts at Main Street, goes toward the castle and through Liberty Square and Frontierland. You can DEFINITELY see both!

The afternoon parade uses the same route, but does it backwards..starts in Frontierland and ends at the front of Main St.

A lot of people say that AK's parade is their favorite. We have yet to see it. We stayed for the parade one day, and just as it was coming down the street, Aly decided, I don't want to stay for it. Not sure why, but as the last 5 trips have been all about her, we left and went to another park (probably Epcot if she was leading the way!).

We do a lot of zoos, too...I think she's been to 8 or so different zoos (not counting AK), but AK brings a different feel to it. It's not like a zoo at all. There are a few trails which are more zoo-like, but even those bring a special something to them that isn't like other zoos. One thing is that there are CMs that are native to the areas they are representing (like people from Africa in the forest trail). Also, since they don't have a lot of variety like many zoos, they focus on the specific animals they have and make it really authentic. The Safari is AWESOME.

HTH

Alysha


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Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 06-10-2006 - 7:41pm

I think your plan looks good. We did a 1/2 day at AK the first trip but we missed alot, and we didn't enjoy it as much. Last year we did about a whole day and we got to see a lot more and we had a ball. I think you'll have plenty to do there until the parade starts, but it's HOT in that park!

Illuminations is awesome, but it was a little on the loud side; my 4-yo plugged his ears and was fine with that, but all kids are different. Fantasmic scared the daylights out of him, but he's afraid of the villans and the like, plus he was only 3 when we saw it. Epcot holds my kids attention for 2 full days, they love it. There should be plenty in FW to keep you buys, and if it's hot (it will be, lol) there is an interactive-type fountain as you head towards the WS, but it's still in FW, I just don't remember exactly where, and we spent an hour there one day!

SpectroMagic is the nighttime light parade, and it's is wonderful. Don't miss it if you can fit it in. Last year we watched from Liberty Square area, in front of the Liberty Tree Tavern and a little bit down from there and it didn't get as crowded there.

Can't comment much on your character breakfast as far as which one to do, we've done Chef Mickey's twice and we really like that breakfast, but 'Ohana is on the list that I really want to try too!

You're going the same time that we went in 2004, and it was really nice. Still warm, but not horribly hot (upper 80's if I remember right), it wasn't very crowded at all, etc. I hope you have a great trip!!!

Steph

Avatar for ldunx
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Registered: 03-28-2003
Sat, 06-10-2006 - 10:10pm
Is there time after viewing the AK parade at 4:15 to get to Hoop de doo dinner show at 5pm? I was wanting to make some changes but didn't know if that was doable time wise.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 06-10-2006 - 10:30pm

I haven't seen the AK parade (yet!), so I can't say for sure, but just getting from AK to MK, then over to HDDR, I'd say that's going to be pushing it time-wise. I'd probably change that if you can at all, I haven't done that one yet either, so I don't know how often they run it each evening.

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