Am I squeezing too many activities in my WDW vacation?

I went to WWoHP last year, and with the HE train, it is certainly doable to get in both HP worlds in one day. Maybe not all the Universal attractions, but certainly both HP worlds. Which are AMAZING, btw. I LOVED seeing the new Diagon Alley!! I think it was worth it to go.) I *might* have gotten teary-eyed on Escape from Gringotts because it was so awesome!) Just a hint, if you are going to get a 1 day park-to-park, check out this website--it's the cheapest i've seen anywhere. I saw the link on a post from the budget board, where someone said they use it:
http://store.usssa.com/Products/122-universal-orlando-park-tickets.aspx
 
Have you considered booking a room at a Universal hotel one night for early entry and unlimited express passes to those parks? We did this in November. The price for the room at the Royal Pacific was less than the cost for 3 express passes for one day.

The Harry Potter parts are impressive for sure, but easier to tour if you have that hour for early entry. Just a thought.

Also, you can always have an aspirational plan that gets pared back if need be. I have a complicated spreadsheet, but once we get on property, some things inevitably go out the window - and we have a great trip anyway.
 
We pack a lot in on our trips, so all of your days look fine except for the landing at 6am and being at Epcot at 9am. You probably wouldn't even be in WDW until 07:30 at the earliest. I know for me, we used to fly in super early which meant getting up at 02:30am and then we'd head straight into Epcot for the day. By 7pm we all felt sick and could never make it fireworks. Our flight was only 2.5hrs and I can't sleep on planes. So our next trip, we're flying in the night before, getting a good night's sleep then hitting the parks. But if you think you can do it, then by all means. Just try to find some time to catch up on some sleep.

I do agree with the others, while I love TL, I would skip it if you only have a few days. It's not worth skipping a proper day at MK or a day at HS or AK for. But again, just my personal preference. Only you know what you're family would prefer to do.
 
I would skip TL and DTD. I would not expect to be able to get to Epcot that early in the morning after a redeye flight. And I might try to rearrange things so that I was epcot the night before my Universal studios day. Leaving MK after midnight and being to US for opening is going to be REALLY rough, especially with jet lag.
 
I am not sure if WDW is ever a option again for years to come.

To my eyes, you barely have WDW in there. You have a waterpark, you have a mall (DTD). You have a party, you have Epcot. And you have WW. 1.5 WDW parks. Epcot...the F&W festival is just wandering and eating. Wander, eat for a couple hours, go hit some rides. I like Epcot a lot, but could even see myself getting there bright and early, doing what I want to do there, and THEN going to the Halloween party at MK. Combine the days.

Cut out DTD; what are you anticipating doing while there? There is nothing special there.

Have you considered booking a room at a Universal hotel one night for early entry and unlimited express passes to those parks?

Yes, and I'd go further than that, and would just stay at Uni and have a car. They aren't doing anything at parks that require them to stay at WDW, and the perks at Uni are better for while they are at Uni.


On a Uni party night, only US park is closed early. IOA will still be open later. It's hard because "Universal Studios" is the name of the whole place AND of a park, so sometimes people think the whole place closes early. It's just the one park where the party is. So you can end at IOA (go *back to*, hopefully) IOA after US park closes for the party!
 
We are go-go-go folks. However, we did find on our last trip that some sleep does come in handy. Still, I think your plan is doable.

I do like this one better:
Alternate idea:
Wednesday night flight 10pm - 6am
Thursday: sleep in MNSSHP 4pm - 12am
Friday EpcotF&W Festival 9am - 8:30pm
Saturday WWoHP (both parks) 8am - 7pm
Sunday Typhoon Lagoon 10am - 2pm
 
To my eyes, you barely have WDW in there. You have a waterpark, you have a mall (DTD). You have a party, you have Epcot. And you have WW. 1.5 WDW parks. Epcot...the F&W festival is just wandering and eating. Wander, eat for a couple hours, go hit some rides. I like Epcot a lot, but could even see myself getting there bright and early, doing what I want to do there, and THEN going to the Halloween party at MK. Combine the days.

That's true I don't have much of WDW in the current schedule. I highlighted favorites because we have been to WDW twice before and spent a lot of time at MK, Epcot, & HS. We also tried Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party which we loved. Living right next door to the Disneyland Resort we get a frequent Disnet fix. This made us want to try WWoHP at least once. But I don't mind switching things up. That's where the DIS boards come in handy. I appreciate all the feedback and ideas. DTD was more of a shopping and leisure day but AK is looking pretty good right now. Especially because I have never been.
 
i am going to also suggest a night at a universal hotel. We did this in Nov 2013. Longer Trip - 7 nights. DD was 10 at the time.
Here was our schedule:
Friday - late flight - Hard Rock Hotel
Saturday - Universal Studios - 1 park - rope drop to closing
Sat Hard Rock
Sunday - universal studios - other park rope drop till 2 pm
Sunday Night - MVMCP
Sunday - Thurs Wilderness Lodge
Monday - Friday - Disney Parks - Rope Drop everyday
One of those nights we did DTD.

If I had to compress the trip that included UNiversal I would still do 2 days at Universal staying on site hitting Disney Hard Ticket party the same day as Universal. I would just focus on Disney Parks and skip DTD and Waterpark.


Pack snacks and explain to everyone they can sleep on the flight home.
 
We are go-go-go folks. However, we did find on our last trip that some sleep does come in handy. Still, I think your plan is doable.

I do like this one better:
Alternate idea:
Wednesday night flight 10pm - 6am
Thursday: sleep in MNSSHP 4pm - 12am
Friday EpcotF&W Festival 9am - 8:30pm
Saturday WWoHP (both parks) 8am - 7pm
Sunday Typhoon Lagoon 10am - 2pm

Hey! You are coming to Disneyland's 60th next month I see. That's awesome! Where are you from?
Have a magical trip!
 
DTD on Sundays are packed with locals. I would agree with other pp forget Universal this trip
 
I would recommend the following changes to your itinerary to make the most of your trip and not be overwhelmed:

Wednesday Night flight 10pm - 6am
Thursday Epcot F&W Festival 12:00 Noon to Park Close/Illuminations (This will allow you time for much needed rest from your red eye flight)
Friday Enjoy your Resort Pools and Relax before MNSSHP
Friday MNSSHP 4pm - 12am Head to MNSSHP around 3pm
Saturday WWoHP (both parks) 8am - 7pm
Sunday DTD 11:30am - 4pm

Hope this helps! Enjoy!
 
The only issue with saying rest after the red eye is if there room isn't ready.

So I think keep the original plan but I would play the water park by ear, if your not up in time skip it and do DTD and then MNSSHP or pool then party.

Last day is then open for with another park DTD or a water park....
 
I just wanted to add since I didn't see this suggestion.. Not sure if this is doable but would you be able to add a night to your reservation for Wednesday night and explain that you'll be checking in early Thursday morning? You'll have to pay for a night that you won't be using fully but it might be worth it to sleep and rest? Not even sure if Disney would be okay with this but wanted to throw it out there?

I saw WWoHP back in 2011 and I can't wait to go back to see the updated part! I think you'll love it! and I just went to DL for the first time this year! I bet the 60 celebrations will be fabulous.

Hope you have a fantastic vacation!
 
if you do plan on going to TL be sure to have a backup idea in case the weather doesn't cooperate
 
If you don't want to pay for an extra room night you might not have to. Explain to the check in cast member that you were on a red-eye flight and will take the first available room in the category you reserved. Since you're arriving mid-week, it might not be an issue. I know I did a one night trip where I arrived at hotel before park opening. My room was ready and waiting for me.

I agree with others that your MNSSHP should be that evening and you should sleep and swim before it.
 
If you don't want to pay for an extra room night you might not have to. Explain to the check in cast member that you were on a red-eye flight and will take the first available room in the category you reserved. Since you're arriving mid-week, it might not be an issue. I know I did a one night trip where I arrived at hotel before park opening. My room was ready and waiting for me.

I agree with others that your MNSSHP should be that evening and you should sleep and swim before it.

That's a great idea. I read on third party POR website that you can fax in a request 5 days before for any room requests. I think that's when they start assigning them. I could request for a early check for a room that might be ready for us. Doesn't hurt to ask.
 
It's a bit much for me, but that doesn't mean you can't do it and be fine. My husband and I did a redeye flight from WA state in 2012 -- We arrived at MCO around 6am just like you, and after dropping our stuff off at our resort (and a quick 1hr power nap since our room was ready!) we spent the day at AK...we were certainly fine for a while, running on excitement, but it hit us HARD mid-day and kind of messed up the next morning because we were just so tired (still made rope drop the next day, but were exhausted). We were only able to get about 1-2hrs of actual sleep while on the plane.

I do like most of avic77's suggestion of switching things around a bit and losing DTD in favor of AK or DHS (or back to MK or Epcot if you prefer). Moving your party night to Thursday would allow you time to nap if you're lucky enough to have your room ready or you can do DTD until it's time for the party which would be a bit more low key than doing Epcot while tired. The downside is that if you're really planning to be at the party until midnight, you will be beyond exhausted. No way could we have done a redeye then stayed up until midnight the morning we arrived.

I don't know, the more I think about it, I think your plan is pretty solid the way it is...arriving at 6am should give you enough time to make rope drop at Epcot (or close to it) and for the first part of the day you'll be excited and running on adrenaline so you'll be fine. If you find yourselves really tired in the afternoon, you can hang out in the countries and people watch (or ride the Ellen ride and nap! LOL) and just relax. You may get lucky and have your room ready for you when you arrive in the morning, or they can send you a text message when it is ready. Since Typhoon Lagoon is the following day, you'll get to sleep in a little bit (and you don't have to get there at 10am if you decide you need a little extra rest) and recharge. With a trip that short, I would personally cut out the water park and just swim at your resort or have a regular park ticket to casually stroll through AK or DHS but if your heart is set on it, go for it!

We spent one day at Universal Studios/IoA during our trip and were able to do everything in both parks before 3pm, but it was in February during a low-crowd time and this was before the second HP area was built. :) If your goal is to only do all of the HP stuff, you'll be fine for time and I'm sure you'll have time to do other things also. If you finish early this day, you can go to DTD if you want. I keep mentioning DTD because I think you'll have several opportunities to squeeze it in without dedicating a full day for it. We ultimately decided to skip DTD on our last trip because we aren't into shopping really but we had many chances to squeeze it in.
 

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