Please critique my plan! 1 week at OKW w/2 preschoolers

[Jeuce]

Important details...

• Going in early May w/2 (almost 3) YO, 4.5 YO, myself, my husband, and my mom.
• Staying 7 days at OKW w/6 days of park tickets. We will be driving there, so we'll have a vehicle with us, but would prefer to use Disney transportation most of the time (my hubby wants the relaxation of not driving all week).
• Will be heading back to the resort everyday for naps from 2-4, so AM is before nap and PM is after.
• My hubs wants a sit down meal everyday and all of us want the general feel of the trip to be relaxed while still fitting in a lot of the fun rides and shows.
• My mom will be staying back at the resort when the girls go to bed and my husband and I would like to have some date nights. I would love recommendations! These would be on the evenings we're not staying later for the night time shows.

This is the daily plan I've come up with...
Day 1: AM-arrival and check in (hoping for early room...if not we'll need to find somewhere for the girls to nap in their strollers until 4 pm check in)/PM-Dinner at Boardwalk (?)
Day 2: AM-Hollywood Studios/PM-Hollywood Studios, Fantasmic Dinner (?)
Day 3: AM-Magic Kingdom/PM-Magic Kingdom, CRT Dinner (crossing all my fingers and toes for an ADR), staying for fireworks
Day 4: AM-Sleep in, Brunch at O'hana, pool time/PM-EPCOT back of park (?), staying for Harmonious
Day 5: AM-EPCOT?/PM-EPCOT front of park, dinner at Garden Grille
Day 6: AM-Animal Kingdom/PM-Disney Springs, dinner at ??
Day 7: AM-Magic Kingdom/PM-Start driving home

How is this looking?

Some of the things I'm wondering...
-Where to get dinner on Day 1? Thinking about heading over to the Boardwalk (we would drive), but could do Disney Springs or just stay at our resort and eat at Olivia's
-Whether or not to do Fantasmic dinner package and if so, which restaurant?
-Whether or not to do EPCOT all day on day 5 or have another 'lazy' morning?
-Drive directly to the Polynesian for brunch on day 4 or take Disney bus to MK and then monorail over?
-Best restaurant for little ones in Disney Springs?

I SO appreciate any feedback!

 

[Specter]

My family has no experience with the resort so can't speak to that part but I'll chime in where I can.

We took DD two months before she turned 3. At that time there was very little that she could do at Hollywood Studios, but she has always been on the petite side. She turns 5 in May and she is just cracking 40 inches now, even though she feels like she's getting tall when I pick her up.

If your kiddos are taller then obviously disregard, or if the older is tall enough and someone can entertain the younger, but at the time for us DD could really only ride Runaway Railway and Toy Story Mania. And, given that several of the other rides are thrill rides, depending on how your older kiddo feels you might consider that park for your late start day?

By contrast, there were 7 rides at Epcot that she could ride at that age/height, if you remember to include the Gran Fiesta Tour in the Mexico pavilion.

As far as possible dinner spots go for night 1 or your Disney Springs night, DW and I found several years ago that we love Raglan Road. While it is a bit loud, DD also really enjoys it because of the dancers and musicians.

DW and I have done the Fantasmic package before and really enjoyed it but we tried to do it with DD when she was 10 months old. The problem is that we did not take a midday break that day, big mistake, and she was melting down so we ate dinner and then skipped the show because she was just not having it. And the opportunity did not present itself on the trip later when she was nearly 3. In general, though, she does like fireworks and I think she would have enjoyed the show if we had done it. We are planning to on our next trip, probably next year.

All in all I think your plan looks good. I would probably do Epcot all day. DD loved Frozen Ever After and wanted to ride it multiple times, and Epcot is a sneaky amount of walking even for a Disney park.

And I would ride over to MK for your brunch and then hop on the monorail. DD enjoyed that experience, too, FWIW.

However it all shakes out, enjoy your trip!

 

[jtopp]

Love going to Olivia's on check in day. For us, it's a relaxing start to our vacation.
'

 

[Earningmywings]

My boys have always loved T Rex and Rainforest Cafe at DS. Epcot back end (I assume you mean the world showcase), does not have much for the kids to do. If they are ok sitting in the stroller and rolling around it will be fine. If they don’t like to sit in the stroller they may get bored. Although with your schedule they may enjoy a day chilling in the stroller to relax. We always put Epcot at the end of our trips when the kids were little for this reason, they would usually get some extra naps in while we toured the countries. I would consider only doing Epcot 1 day and either go back to MK or knock a day off your tickets.

 

[CharissaOKC]

I think your schedule looks pretty good. One suggestion I have is to swap some of your dinners for lunches. This has worked for us with younger kids. We get at the parks when they open do a ton of rides then have lunch around 12 and head back to the room to rest. This gives you more flexibility for dinner. If the kids are tired and your mom wants to stay with them in the evenings you won’t be as concerned about missing or canceling an ADR.

Also would your mom be comfortable taking to the kids back to the resort by herself? That would help a lot with your planned date nights. Otherwise you will spend a lot of time getting them back to the resort and settled then going back out as a couple. Maybe have Garden Grille be a lunch then you could go to Epcot for a date that evening and leave the kids with your mom? Epcot is a huge park and I think 1.5 days is great!

Fantasmic dining packages usually have weird times they want you to eat. Like 2-4 so you may not be able to find a time that works with your schedule.

For arrival day I would say either eat at Olivia’s or go to DS. The Boardwalk will be more trouble than it’s worth.

 

[Mcardi9279]

For day 4 and your brunch at Poly, since you have a car I would just drive over to Poly if you have a reservation because you‘ll be able to park at the resort with a dining reservation. It will take less time unless you want to experience the monorail.

 

[genebean203.5]

This is the daily plan I've come up with...
Day 1: AM-arrival and check in (hoping for early room...if not we'll need to find somewhere for the girls to nap in their strollers until 4 pm check in)/PM-Dinner at Boardwalk (?)
Day 2: AM-Hollywood Studios/PM-Hollywood Studios, Fantasmic Dinner (?)
Day 3: AM-Magic Kingdom/PM-Magic Kingdom, CRT Dinner (crossing all my fingers and toes for an ADR), staying for fireworks
Day 4: AM-Sleep in, Brunch at O'hana, pool time/PM-EPCOT back of park (?), staying for Harmonious
Day 5: AM-EPCOT?/PM-EPCOT front of park, dinner at Garden Grille
Day 6: AM-Animal Kingdom/PM-Disney Springs, dinner at ??
Day 7: AM-Magic Kingdom/PM-Start driving home

How is this looking?

Some of the things I'm wondering...
-Where to get dinner on Day 1? Thinking about heading over to the Boardwalk (we would drive), but could do Disney Springs or just stay at our resort and eat at Olivia's
-Whether or not to do Fantasmic dinner package and if so, which restaurant?
-Whether or not to do EPCOT all day on day 5 or have another 'lazy' morning?
-Drive directly to the Polynesian for brunch on day 4 or take Disney bus to MK and then monorail over?
-Best restaurant for little ones in Disney Springs?

I SO appreciate any feedback!

Overall, I think you have a super solid plan! To me, your timeline seems manageable and accounts for the breaks that every member of your family will appreciate! But since you asked for critiques, I will happily oblige!

Day 1 - depending how early you get in and if you get lucky enough to get an early check-in, you might want to consider packing a swim bag for the day! The pool at OKW is a lot of fun and having a bag separate from the suitcases would let you more easily take advantage of that time. For dinner, I do really enjoy Olivia's. Solid food and easy to get a reservation. If you do want to go to Disney Springs, consider taking a boat ride from OKW! If you are looking for something to do at OKW, be sure to stop by the community hall. They have games and movies to rent, arts and crafts, and more.

Day 2 - if you are going to do a sit-down dinner anyway, then I would say the package is worth it for Fantasmic. Otherwise, getting a "good" seat for Fantasmic isn't as hard as other nighttime shows since its an outdoor theater with seating.

Day 3 - if you don't get the ADR right away, just keep checking. Especially check in the couple of days before day 3. That is often when people will start cancelling a reservation that they have been holding on to "just in case". Heck, even day-of you might have some luck!!

Day 4 - because you are coming in the afternoon, a lot of the rides toward the front of the park tend to have really low waits in the afternoon. Obviously this will be day dependent, but keep an eye on some of the wait times for those smaller rides (re: nemo, spaceship earth, living with the land, Moana walkthrough)

Day 6 - only a half day at DAK? My heart! haha just kidding, I know that for most it is a half day park, it's just my favorite. Again, consider taking the boat from Disney Springs back to OKW.

Again, your plan already looks great! Not over planning and leaving time for magic to fill the gaps is a great strategy!

Bonus tip - in the MDE app, on the map, you can toggle between "wait times" (the default) and other helpful info (like bathrooms). But wanted to mention that you can find characters and what times they will be out. Since you mentioned that you are trying to get CRT, I am assuming you may have a princess fan or two in your group. There are quite a few princess meetings in EPCOT if you know where to look for them!

 

[westie55]

California Grill on top of the Contemporary resort is amazing for date night. If you go during the fireworks, they turn off the lights and pipe in the music. It’s really special. We go to Disney every year and this meal is always outstanding.

I have 3 young kids and I always prefer not to go back to the resort for naps. Going to the bus and back to the parks is very time consuming, and if you are staying at OKW you will have to take the bus everywhere. It’s not just travel time; you also have to factor in time spent waiting for buses, getting back through security at the parks, etc. Especially if you plan to only stay back there for a couple hours, it’ll feel like you finally get back and have to immediately pick up and leave again, which is the opposite of relaxing. I would let your kids nap in their stroller if at all possible. With mine, if they were tired they’d be asleep in the stroller long before I had time to get them back to the resort.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Important details...

• Going in early May w/2 (almost 3) YO, 4.5 YO, myself, my husband, and my mom.
• Staying 7 days at OKW w/6 days of park tickets. We will be driving there, so we'll have a vehicle with us, but would prefer to use Disney transportation most of the time (my hubby wants the relaxation of not driving all week).
• Will be heading back to the resort everyday for naps from 2-4, so AM is before nap and PM is after.
• My hubs wants a sit down meal everyday and all of us want the general feel of the trip to be relaxed while still fitting in a lot of the fun rides and shows.
• My mom will be staying back at the resort when the girls go to bed and my husband and I would like to have some date nights. I would love recommendations! These would be on the evenings we're not staying later for the night time shows.

This is the daily plan I've come up with...
Day 1: AM-arrival and check in (hoping for early room...if not we'll need to find somewhere for the girls to nap in their strollers until 4 pm check in)/PM-Dinner at Boardwalk (?)
Day 2: AM-Hollywood Studios/PM-Hollywood Studios, Fantasmic Dinner (?)
Day 3: AM-Magic Kingdom/PM-Magic Kingdom, CRT Dinner (crossing all my fingers and toes for an ADR), staying for fireworks
Day 4: AM-Sleep in, Brunch at O'hana, pool time/PM-EPCOT back of park (?), staying for Harmonious
Day 5: AM-EPCOT?/PM-EPCOT front of park, dinner at Garden Grille
Day 6: AM-Animal Kingdom/PM-Disney Springs, dinner at ??
Day 7: AM-Magic Kingdom/PM-Start driving home

How is this looking?

Some of the things I'm wondering...
-Where to get dinner on Day 1? Thinking about heading over to the Boardwalk (we would drive), but could do Disney Springs or just stay at our resort and eat at Olivia's
-Whether or not to do Fantasmic dinner package and if so, which restaurant?
-Whether or not to do EPCOT all day on day 5 or have another 'lazy' morning?
-Drive directly to the Polynesian for brunch on day 4 or take Disney bus to MK and then monorail over?
-Best restaurant for little ones in Disney Springs?

I SO appreciate any feedback!

one thing to think about is having child fall asleep on way back to resort and then waking up with a very short few minutes of nap and then not going back to sleep. it did not work out with one of our grandsons when he was 17 months old. he fell asleep on the bus and screamed for the 2 hours that we tried to rest in room. also plan on older one to want to stay at the pool over just about anything else. our grands ate and only one that they wanted something else was Ohana when staff brought them kid food from other places there. Granted we paid full price for them. as for your another lazy morning I would follow the kids lead. if they are up and ready to go then head to park. if not then let them sleep. I would play that as it happens and not make any early plans that can not be changed

 

[Trinity88]

Looks pretty good to me.

One thought I had was that AK would be a big draw at that age and I'd spend more time there. Lots of animals to look at, Lion King show, etc.

I also like the idea of more lunches or even brunches. We love the 10:30 time at Crystal Palace, Tusker, or Garden Grill. Gives us an indoor break mid morning, get a couple of attractions in after, then head back to the hotel. Olivia's at OKW is a great place to eat too.

We liked the fantasmic dining package and were able to get the meal at a normal time. We love Mama Melrose (I know some don't) at HS. The package makes getting a seat at fantasmic easy.

When we went when the kids were little, I'd ask them after what their favourite part of the trip was. It was always the pool. lol So don't underestimate time in the pool. I'd do more pool time on day 5.

Looks like a fun trip!

 

[pixiedust33]

Your plan looks great to me! Just to echo what others have said, I would consider some lunches instead of dinners and you might want to think about a CRT lunch as a backup plan on your last day? As you probably know, the later in your trip, the more likely you are to get the ADR you want at the time you want, so it would also probably be easier to get then.

For your arrival day, I would probably not book a TS if you're not sure how nap time is going to go that day. We go in May with my 2.5 year old and we're planning to stay at our resort on arrival day because I'm not sure how nap time will go and don't want to start the trip with an overtired kid at a table service restaurant.

 

[Anna131517]

We also prefer to do our big meals early afternoon with kids. For HS fantastic dining package I’d go with Sci Fi Dining if you can get it. Thwre’s something about the dark and the movie playing that actually makes my kids be quiet and calm during the meal. It’s relaxing for me as a parent!