Second Sunday–Autumn-Winter-Spring Itinerary

13 comments

1 Linda { 05.31.11 at 12:52 pm }

We are doing your 8 night 9 day itinerary from 10/15-10/23 for our teen girls first trip to Disney. We are going to do the 10:30 brunch at the House of Blues before we return home. Thinking about flight scheduling, if the show ends at noon. How much time do we need to figure to get back to the Polynesian, take Magical Express or limo service back to airport, etc. Thanks for all of your amazingly helpful info!

2 Dave { 05.31.11 at 2:32 pm }

Hi Linda and thanks!!

Leave at least 4.5 hours, and preferably five hours, between the end of the show and your flight time.

The Magical Express pick up will be scheduled for on the order of 3 hours before flight time, and it will take at most an hour (and likely half that) to get from HOB back to your hotel. The extra time is in case the Magical Express is scheduled for a longer window, and other problems.

3 Linda { 06.09.11 at 1:29 pm }

Ok, after checking further into school schedule and flights I found I could get flights cheaper arriving late Tuesday evening and departing following Tuesday on noon flight (almost $800 cheaper!) So, I could use a bit of itinerary advice. We basically have six full days at the parks and while I find I can follow some of the autumn intinerary, I’m not sure what to do the other days. Other helpful info is that we have decided not to do Cirque de Soleil (both girls are coming back with the Marching Band and will see it in the spring) Hoop De Doo and Gospel Brunch. So, with those eliminations what are your suggestions. If I follow your itinerary I still think these days work, but which is the better for Epcot and a bit of time off . I can’t get EMH at Epcot, except for Wednesday – how important is that? Any advice you can give will be appreciated!

Wednesday – Magic Kingdom
Thursday -
Friday -
Saturday – Magic Kingdom
Sunday – Animal Kingdom
Monday – Hollywood Studios

Your website is a lifesaver!

4 Dave { 06.09.11 at 1:58 pm }

Hi again! Nice job on the airfare…Which Tuesday are you arriving–10/11 or 10/18? (or another )

5 Linda { 06.09.11 at 2:04 pm }

Sorry…. that would be helpful information wouldn’t it. We arrive late in the evening on Tuesday the 18th and depart with a flight at noon on the 25th.

6 Dave { 06.09.11 at 2:54 pm }

Ok, Illuminations at Epcot is fun, and is best on EMH nights, so Epcot the 19th.

The only night in your week that Fantasmic is on at the Studios is the 20th, so the Studios on the 20th. (do the Fantasmic Dinner Package or you may have to wait for hours…)

Because it has AM EMH the 21st and 24th, you want to do AK the 22nd or 23rd. But you want MK for the 22nd for fireworks, so MK the 22nd and AK the 23rd.

That leaves the 21st and 24th. I’d spend the am of each at MK, and leave the rest of each day open to relax or to return to a favorite park!

7 Linda { 06.10.11 at 8:21 am }

Thanks! That was helpful. No luck on reservations for Fantasmic Dining Pkg, but I can keep trying. For your reccomendations above, can we following your “basic” itinerary calendar only on different days (I know there will be some exceptions). Also, I wanted to let you know I had an interesting experience with the travel agent group you reccomended. The travel agent was kind of odd and seemed to be yelling at her kids in the background (I don’t know if she was working from home, or what) and then she really tried to talk my out of the Polynesian which was your reccomendation for first time visitors, and after explaining to her that I was using your website and itinerary suggestions, she acted like she had no knowledge of it. I wasn’t getting a happy vibe, so I ended the conversation and went on to make reservations on my own. (Which was not nearly as daunting as I first thought). Anyway, I just thought you might like the feedback. What I really like about your website is the specific advice on so many subjects. Many of the other sights and books just seem to waffle around saying well, you could do this, but you might want to do that, etc. I really have appreciated all the advice and help. Still hoping for free dining in October Thanks!

8 Dave { 06.10.11 at 8:41 am }

Hey Linda thanks for the feedback!

Couple of thoughts

–The travel agents I work with, like a lot of them, distribute inquiries out to work-at-home agents and sometimes life gets in the way…this happens to me as well (in my real job as a consultant I work at home about half the time, and barking dogs and fights with or among the kids are not unknown ) I’m sorry this happened to you and I’ll pass along the feedback.

–I’m sure that most of them don’t know I exist, and in this they simply reflect the rest of the universe!! I’m still a little and a young site, though growing lots. (You can help by emailing your 1000 closest friends about it, and getting your local newspaper to write about it!) it’s really curious though that the agent tried to talk you out of the Poly. What did she recommend instead or what was her issue with the Poly?

–Re “What I really like about your website is the specific advice on so many subjects. Many of the other sights and books just seem to waffle around saying well, you could do this, but you might want to do that, etc.”–you get it exactly! There are tons of great sites out there with all kinds of fantastic WDW info. But they don’t have an audience in mind other than “everybody,” and/or they aren’t willing to take a stand and thus take the risk of making somebody mad. That creates the niche I’m trying to fill! It means I’ll always be smaller than these great sites, but that’s OK so long as I can help people like you who are the audience I write for!

Thanks again for your thoughtful and detailed feedback.

Dave

9 Dave { 06.10.11 at 8:47 am }

Ooops I forgot to answer your question. You can use the Autumn-Winter-Spring itinerary* as a starting point–especially for the mornings which are the most critical parts–but see also http://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/how-long-to-stay/other-trip-lengths/designing-your-own-walt-disney-world-itinerary/

*http://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/basic-itinerary/alternative-itineraries/itineraries-for-the-rest-of-the-year/v2-of-2009-autumn-winter-spring-itinerary/

10 Linda { 06.10.11 at 8:59 am }

The fact that she was yelling at her kids didn’t really bother me – I’m a mom who works from home as well, so I get that. It was just a little odd. In terms of them not know of your site, I get that too – the only suggestion I would make in your spot where you refer people to them, is to state that the caller (me) would need to have a list of specifics for the agent to reserve – i.e. resort and room preferences, days and dining preferences, dinner event times and preference. I just kind of assumed that if I called and said I’m using this itinerary, they would be able to take the ball from there. It was not a problem that she couldn’t, but a list of what I needed to ask her to do might have helped????? I’m just blathering on, but thanks for the explanation. As far as the poly, she immediately said, well that’s the most expensive resort, let’s see what else we can find for you. We had barely 20 seconds of conversation, so I hadn’t really given any indication of my financial situation (which is just as bleak as most people’s these days) – it was just wierd. I will definitely reccomend your sight to others, especially first timers. I must admit that I haven’t been to DW in years, and didn’t realize an epic research project was going to be in order! One final thought (for the moment – at the beginning of my last epistle, I asked if, given our tweaked itinerary, we could still follow the “day” plans for that particular park. Thoughts?

11 Linda { 06.10.11 at 9:01 am }

I got your answer! Thanks!

12 Dave { 06.10.11 at 2:34 pm }

Linda, FYI I just sent you an email,,,

13 Allison Jones { 06.10.11 at 4:59 pm }

Thanks for the feedback Linda! I would love to hear more about your situation. Please email me directly at allison@destinationsinflorida.com with the name of the agent you talked with, along with any additional details. Did you submit a quote online through Dave’s site or did you call us directly? Thank you for taking the time to email me, so I can follow up.

Our agents that handle these quotes are largely quite familiar with Dave’s website, so I am curious who you spoke with in regards to your vacation. Disney’s Polynesian Resort is a great choice for your Disney World vacation – I LOVE this resort! It is the #1 Disney Resort that we book, so it is quite popular for all of our agents. You will love the quick access by monorail and the new rooms are amazing!

I am glad you got your trip all finalized for October. That is such a fun time of year to visit! Please email me with more details. I would appreciate your feedback.

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