First Trip together to where dreams come true! but Busy, Busy!!

[mkalmghty]

Planning our first trip to WDW as a childless millennial couple! I haven't been back to WDW in 15 years and my girlfriend has never had the pleasure. I am so excited to share this with her, and can't wait to see her reactions when we first arrive at MK! Let me tell you, she probably thinks I have gone crazy. I have been having way too much fun researching, planning and watching videos all about WDW in the last 2 months. Its all I talk about!! After reading some pre trip plans and some post trip reports i am hoping I didn't over do it.

My girlfriend and I will be traveling there at the end of October for MNSSHP. our trip is 10 days, we have 5 day passes. I was planning on doing full days in each park (no Hopper), and 2 days at the "other" park. The girlfriend is a huge Harry fan, and I get to go to Halloween Horror Nights. and drag her through the scare houses, so win win. My original itinerary was something like this:

Day1: Arrival, offisite hotel, Volcano Bay, Disney Springs for Dinner
Day2: Check-in Wilderness, Universal for Halloween Horror Nights
Day3: Magic Kingdom, Be our Guest, EMH (morning), MNSSHP
Day4: Epcot, food and wine
Day5: Universal/Islands of Adventure
Day6: Off day, pools and resort hopping
Day7: Hollywood Studios, Brown Derby for Dinner
Day8: Animal Kingdom, Tusker House for Dinner
Day9: Magic Kingdom, skipper Canteen for Dinner
Day10: Breakfast, Depart for airport

After reading YesterDark's trip report. I feel like either dropping Epcot all together or turning it into a half day. Same deal with AK. I tried conning my girlfriend into ditching one of those days for renting a Corvette and cruising to Canaveral so I can nerd out! and we could relax at the beach. And maybe go to either park for dinner.
Is AK a full day park?
I really think we need to make day 4 an off day, because the first few days are incredibly long, and I don't want to burn my lil lady out.
Another option i had been mulling over was to splurge on the Ultimate Disney Classics VIP Tour (GF thinks its a waste of money). Has anyone done this tour? is it worth it?
Also a coworker of mine just got back from Universal and told me its really just a one day park, especially with the Flashpass. Which we did purchase, along with Horror Nights passes. Any one have experience with that park?

 

[stewart715]

You are half daying the wrong parks. The only park that deserves a half day is HS. And no offense to YesterDark, but that was his first ever visit to Epcot. I would never consider planning my vacation around a first time visit report from a stranger on the internet.

Epcot can be a full day park if you make it. Animal Kingdom is now certainly a full day park. Hollywood Studios, may or may not be at this point with the new FP tiering and lack of rides.

Your plan looks good, IMO.

 

[Eeyore daily]

Since SWGE will be open when you go I would say all the parks would be full day parks but to me HS is still a half day park even when that opens. AK to me is a full day as is Epcot. I can do Universal and IOA in one day but it will probably differ with you. If it's her first time I wouldn't cut any parks out just so she can at least visit all of them but that's my opinion.

 

[stewart715]

In my opinion, the best Disney trips are when you don't rush to do everything. Just take in the atmosphere. Sit down on a bench and enjoy an ice cream. Maybe stop in to see a show that you've never seen or thought to see but because you walked by when it was starting. Soak it in

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Hello and welcome to the Dis! How exciting to be planning your first trip together.

I was in your shoes back in 2012, planning my first trip since going once as a child. It can be very overwhelming. My best advice to you is to take everyone's advice with a grain of salt. Both on the Dis and in real life, people can be great sources of information but also have very strong opinions.

I think your plans look great the way they stand. Don't discredit any ride, experience or especially entire park until you experience it for yourself. My (now ex) boyfriend hated Epcot so on our first trip together, we didn't step foot into the World Showcase but I later discovered I adore the World Showcase.

Another option i had been mulling over was to splurge on the Ultimate Disney Classics VIP Tour (GF thinks its a waste of money). Has anyone done this tour? is it worth it?

I personally don't feel that tour is worth the money. With two days in MK, you shouldn't have a problem hitting all those attractions unless you have your heart set on splurging on a VIP experience. There are many other tours which offer exclusive experiences that you can't get without a tour. Also, look into the food and wine special events and see if any are happening on your Epcot day that interest you.

Also a coworker of mine just got back from Universal and told me its really just a one day park, especially with the Flashpass. Which we did purchase, along with Horror Nights passes. Any one have experience with that park?

You can hit the highlights of USO/IOA in one day but if you want to really experience the park, shows, characters, explore the shops in the Harry Potter areas, you'll appreciate extra time. Also, for HHN, if you're in Universal Studios before the event starts, you can participate in "Stay and Scream" and stay in a holding area until the event starts and you get a head start on the houses before the guests waiting outside the gates without a day ticket.