23 responses

  1. JC
    January 30, 2016

    This site is too much!! My question is a clarification request: what does D2 from above mean – “2. Do online check in, requesting as you do special location points”??

    Other than that, as of now, only critique of your information I have is that you haven’t mentioned when discussing trade offs that, for instance, you may miss rides in January but are with loved ones and that compensates. Is there a way to get hard copy maps to prior to arrival at the parks?

    Reply

    • Dave
      January 31, 2016

      JC, When you do online check in, you can click to boxes on a form like this one: Wilderness Lodge Room Request Form

      There’s probably a million trade-offs I haven’t mentioned! On the particular one you note, that’s true for every week of the year, so is no help in distinguishing among them.

      I’m not aware of a source of official maps but you can print the ones you can find online.

      Reply

  2. Jan Biggerstaff
    September 29, 2015

    We are taking our 2 grandchildren for their first Disney visit 4/2-4/9/16. Granddaughter is 9 loves princesses and Frozen. Grandson is 4 and loves Toy Story and pirates. Of course they both should see Mickey and the gang. What would you tweak about your itinerary? We have a 6 day parker hopper Sunday – Friday. May also purchase the regular dining plan. Any other suggestions? Thank you!

    Reply

    • Dave
      September 30, 2015

      Jan, the itineraries on this site are designed for kids 8 and older, and won’t be appropriate for such youngsters!! However, you can find little-kid-centric itineraries in Chapter 6 of my book!

      Reply

  3. Carrie
    June 29, 2015

    Love your site! I’m using your lower crowd itinerary for planning. We arrive with my soon-to-be 6 year old boy on Sunday, 8/30, for a 5 day trip, returning late on Saturday, 9/5. Your itinerary doesn’t match up exactly with our dates so I’m interested in your opinion on what I might need to shift around. Particularly, I’m rethinking doing MK two days in a row. We might want to go back to MK on our last day (Friday). I bought the 5D PH but could add a sixth day if we needed it for a half day on Saturday. My son loves water slides, so trying to use that some too.

    This is what I have planned so far:
    8/30: Travel Day, Polynesian check-in, Chef Mickey’s dinner
    8/31: AK, Water Park afternoon, Dinner @ Ohana
    9/1: MK, BOG for 8:15 breakfast
    9/2: MK, Lunch @ CRT, Very late dinner @ BOG
    9/3: HS, EP (flexible, no reservations, rest)
    9/4: HS, Fantasmic Dinner Package
    9/5: Ohana Breakfast, Water Park, Depart @ 6pm.

    Interested in your expert opinion. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Dave
      July 1, 2015

      Hi Carrie–this looks great to me!

      Reply

  4. Jay
    June 8, 2015

    I am taking my 7 year old for our first, likely only, trip in mid-August to take advantage of the cheaper rates for a monorail resort. We will have four days. I already have your book! With two days at MK, using day of arrival at AK, I am left with the last day. I wanted to do Epcot and just skip HS entirely, but daughter really wants to see Olaf somewhere. Is he anywhere but HS? I think Epcot seems so iconic I hate to miss it. Any advice on last day? Should we do HS in a.m. and then Epcot in afternoon? I cannot extend my stay due to time constraints for all my vacations. I could probably persuade her away from HS if both is too much for one day. She also wanted a water park, but I think the hotel pool will be a better value for four days! Thanks for any advice. It’s my first trip, too!

    Reply

    • Dave
      June 9, 2015

      Jay, just HS–which, frankly, is more fun for most 7-year-olds than Epcot…

      Reply

      • Jay
        June 9, 2015

        Thanks, Dave. I’ll reconsider going there instead. We have a dinner at Cinderella’s Table planned, so I can probably do without the Akershus lunch I also have scheduled. I appreciate your help!

        Reply

  5. Danielle
    March 18, 2015

    Hi we’re going on our first disney vacation as a family of 5 2 adults 2 toddlers and a teenager. We are staying from the 3rd to the 9th. Plan on using our 4 day basic passes Sunday through Friday. Need some help on planning because certain days MK closes for Halloween party so we don’t want to go on those days but also want to go to many character meals please HELP!!

    Reply

    • Dave
      March 18, 2015

      Danielle, what month?

      BTW, party nights are much lower crowd during the day at MK than nights without the parties. You’ll see more from 9a-7p… See this for more.

      Reply

  6. Michelle
    February 2, 2015

    Hello. Do you offer itineraries for individual park? As in a strategy for what time to arrive, what to do first, etc? Sorry if I overlooked them. Thanks.

    Reply

  7. Suzanne
    October 17, 2014

    Wow, all of this is so overwhelming. I’ve only ever spent 1 day at Disney and don’t have a very good frame of reference on planning. We are driving to WDW and will be taking a 5.5 year old and a 2.5 year old.. this will not be our only trip and the 5 year old has been talking about going to Disney for almost a year. Anyway, we are looking at going the first full week of May 2015, but think that given the age of our girls that 9 days will be too long. I’m thinking of something more like driving on Saturday/Sunday, starting the parks on Monday and probably doing 4 full days and leaving on Friday or Saturday. What are your thoughts on how long to go with little girls this young and a good itinerary where we can be sure to see as many princesses/Mickey friends as possible? Thanks for this great site and all of your efforts in providing this information!

    Reply

    • Dave
      October 18, 2014

      Suzanne, for kids that age, and knowing you can return, you can do almost anything. Four full days is just fine, as is a trip focused pretty much on the Magic Kingdom.

      I don’t have itineraries for kids that age on this site, but see the “Character Centric” itineraries in my book The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit

      Note that the link is the 2014 edition–the 2015 version will be out soon

      Reply

  8. Leah
    September 15, 2014

    Now that we’ve decided we’re on AofA for 3/1-3/6/15 (no hopper, dining plan), I’m looking for itinerary help. We’d like to go to Epcot at least one day of the garden fest which begins 3/4th. Typically, we like to get out by 8:30am, hit a park w/no EMH; coord meals either at the park of the day or a resort near, plan an off day for DTD, other down time for visit Ft Wilderness for pony rides/smore’s/ movie night, maybe see the Boardwalk this time/surry bike… It’s our 2nd visit but not since 2010 so a nice gap, much will seem new. Itinerary suggestions/resources? We did well w/brkfst in the rm, varied quick service for lunch w/ late morn Ohana brunch, loved Kona, Sunshine Seasons. Didn’t see Hollywd Studios last time. Look forward to ideas! thanks again! Leah

    Reply

    • Dave
      September 17, 2014

      Leah, all my itineraries are integrated and lengthy, so they have too much for you. Best for you will be the park itineraries that will be in the 2015 edition of our book, which should be out in 4 to 6 weeks.

      Avoid AK the 1st, HS the 2nd, Epcot the 3rd, Ak the 4th, MK the 5th,and Epcot the 6th.

      Reply

  9. Soledad
    August 20, 2014

    I am travelling with my sister, nieces and children (total 8) and arrive in midday 16 Sep. We have 4 -Day Magic your Way. We do not care about Epcot and we currently do not have reservations for anything. How can I use the FastPass + Lower-Crowd Itinerary and adapt it for us? Thanks!

    Reply

  10. Mary
    July 6, 2014

    My husband and I (in our 50’s) are arriving 10/5 in the early evening and leaving on Saturday the 11th. We have Hopper tickets Monday-Friday. Using the FastPass + Lower-Crowd Itinerary-Six nights, what days should we switch? We have dinner reservations 10/7 at Don Shula’s for our 25th anniversary. Other than that we are open and don’t care about character dining or entertainment for young children. Any suggestions you have will be useful. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Dave
      July 7, 2014

      Mary, it doesn’t adapt well to being shifted that week. Here’s what I’d do:

      10/5–take off, unless you can arrive in time to see Illuminations at 9p at Epcot If so use “Monday” in the itin
      10/6 Epcot– use “Thursday” in the itin
      10/7 Animal Kingdom, going from there to Shulas (AK becasue it has no evening stuff to miss) Use “Tuesday” in the itin
      10/8 MK Use “Saturday” in the itin
      10/9 HS USe a one-day HS visit from one of my other itineraries e.g. this one https://yourfirstvisit.net/2014/05/23/hollywood-studios-sunday-fastpass-lower-crowd-seven-night-itinerary-saturday-arrival/
      10/10 MK Use “Friday”

      Thin or chnage the character meals and you’ll be set!

      Reply

  11. Mandy W
    January 14, 2014

    When we used Magical Express for our trip a month ago, we landed at Orlando airport around 5 p.m. Our bags didn’t arrive at our room at Port Orleans Riverside until around 3 a.m. This was much longer than we had anticipated; we’d been expecting 10 or 11 p.m. When I spoke to a cast member about it, she said that when we were ready for bed, we could have called Bell Services and delayed the delivery of our luggage until the next morning. Now, I’m not sure what time it would have been delivered – it might have made it difficult to make it to our first park at rope drop. As it was, though, we were tired and groggy the first day from being woken up in the middle of the night. It definitely didn’t ruin our trip, but it wasn’t a welcome addition, either. I wanted to let everyone know to make the phone call to Bell Services if your luggage hasn’t arrived by the time you are ready for bed.

    Reply

    • Dave
      January 15, 2014

      Thanks, Mandy!!!

      Reply

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