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Disney Experts... need help planning
We (DH DS 5, and myself) are going down Sunday the May 6th returning Saturday the May 12th. Park days will be M-F 5 day park ticket no hopper. We will be staying OP with a rental car and 5 mins away. We have reservations for 7:45pm on Tues at Chef Mickey's. DS does not nap anymore and should be good til about 10p 2-3 of the nights as long as we go back to the resort mid afternoon for a 2-3 hr break/downtime. We don't want to go go go and him be exhausted and ill by Tues. We plan on hitting each park then going back to MK (I am assuming) on Fri.
With that being said here's the plan based around EMH (we are avoiding EMH days completely) and days where I have read the parks are a bit more crowded. The crowd level is either a 4 up through Wed the Thurs-Fri its a 5 .
Mon- MK arrive a 8:30 for opening ceremony open at 9am stay til whenever DS seems tired, possibly going back for Wishes at 10p.
Tues- AK (sleep in arrive around 10 stay til 4ish. Chef Mickeys 7:45p then back to the resort.
Wed. Epcot or HS?? arrive around 9:30-10 Can't decide. Should we try to stay for Illuminations or Fantasmic...is it worth it with a 5.5y/o? or should we play putt putt?
Thurs Epcot or H.S??? arrive 9:30-10 whichever we didn't do Wed.
Fri- MK arrive whenever no hurry since we went on Monday.
I have read arriving at opening is best at any of the parks. That it reduces your wait time for many popular rides but with a crowd level 4 or 5 how important is it???
How's it look? None of us have ever been so I want to make the most of it without it being too exhausting? We would like to be able to stay out late 10-11 a couple night but know that DS will not be able to every night. So I am trying to plan where if we are out late we arrive at the park the next morning at little later...he will sleep in if out late the night before so thats a positive! Disney experts would you change it at all?
Re: Disney Experts... need help planning
buy park hoppers and avoid pretty much every issue above regarding which park on which day. they are expensive but imo worth every stinking penny.
also i find that with extra hours DURING thehours the crowds are less. it's after the hours when the public shows up that it gets more crowded.
dh and i are kid free and generally plan our days there around a break int eh afternoon. we get to the parks early-to get there before all of you that will sleep in that day
, stay until early afternoon, go back to hotel, swim, nap, shower, then go back out again later for evening/night time fun.
illuminations is a nice show, so is fantasmic. i think it will depend more on how tired ds is.
We love Fantasmic and Illuminations. Both are worth it in my opinion.
Are you getting your son a stroller? I highly recommend it if you are not. Orlando Stroller Rentals are great. They bring it right to you. Even if DS doesn't nap, the constant walking will be tough. I got one when DD was 5 as just in case but I actually preferred her being in it because I couldn't lose her that way. I was and still am considering it for this trip and she will be turning 7.
I usually just stay in the park for the entire day and do not go back to the resort because I think it wastes too much time, but that is just me. I take a full day off from the parks. The first year we went DD was just about 4 and we only did 3 days of parks for a week. 2nd time she was 5 and we did 4 days of parks for a week. We are going in a few weeks and this is the first time we are staying OP and doing 5 days for a week. We arrive early on a Wed and leave in the afternoon the following Wed. We are planning on taking the Saturday off from the parks for a break.
I was in Epcot/MK during Spring Break week and Epcot had EMH. It didn't seem to be any more crowded than any other time I have been there off season. EMH are an advantage to staying on property. Use it, especially if you are planning on returning to your resort in the afternoon for a break.
Have fun!
getting there early to avoid longer lines is still going to be helpful. may is regular season so it will still be a bit crowded. make sure you also use Fast Passes to your advantage, and be sure to return within the 1 hour window on your ticket because they recently started enforcing that.
if you wew going to pick between illuminations and fantasmic, id do fantasmic. for illuminations you need to be pretty close to the water to get the whole effect.
That time of May is still a little quiet as most kids are still in school and you haven't hit Memorial Day yet. It's a great time to go, but remember the heat. Our hot, humid weather can wear many people out quick if you're not used to it. Drink plenty of water! We bring those reusable bottles with the filter so we can fill up at the fountain.
I'd recommend doing your best to arrive at AK as early as possible - the animals are most active in the cooler parts of the day which is before noon.
And another rec for Fantasmic and Illusions. I'm 29 and they're still an awe to watch for me. I'm sure a 5yo would love either one. Illusions I think you can see from farther away as it's more laser and lights.
You'll be there for the Epcot flower and garden festival which is one of my favorites. As a person born without a green thumb, it's just amazing what these people can do with plants!
Have a great time!!