Here is my tentative schedule for WDW. Does anybody have any suggestions or recommendations...

I'm mostly wondering about the tours and dining. Are these good choices? Hubby isn't interested in the tours cause he feels that since it's our first trip we should see the park and save touring for next time. Well next time might be in a few years since we live in Hawaii. I thought that since it's our first trip would be nice to take the tours and get the "inside scoop" before we are set loose in the park. Are the tours worth it?

Arrive May 7 about 4pm into Orlando from Hawaii, plan to ride DME to the hotel and walk around the hotel or DTD or Pleasure Island and sleep early

Thurs, Day 1-Early Entry to MK opens @8am-11pm, Keys to the Kingdom Tour @ 915am

Fri, Day 2-Epcot opens at 9am, Undiscovered Future World Tour @845am, Dinner at Teppan Edo @ 615pm, Epcot closes late

Sat, Day 3-Early Entry to Hollywood Studios opens @ 8am, Lunch at Sci Fi @ 11am, Dinner at Chef Mickeys @ 520pm. Maybe Monorail to MK or whatever (Boardwalk, Pleasure Island, Disneyquest)

Sun, Day 4-Pick up Rental Car at Disney Car Center 8am, Water Park day, Dinner at Crystal Palace @ 6p, MK closes late

Mon, Day 5-Early Entry to Animal Kingdom opens @ 8am, Breakfast at Donalds Tusker House @ 1005am, Tour AK park / Head to Hollywood Studios for Dinner at Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Pkg @ 520pm, Fantasmic show @ 9pm, Hollywood Studios closes late

Tues, Day 6-Early Entry to Epcot @ 8am, Breakfast at Akesus Royal Banquest @ 950am / Dinner at Cape May Clambake @ 530pm

Wed, Day 7-Animal Kingdom open @ 9am, Backstage Safari Tour @ 815am, Dinner at Yak & Yetti @ 5pm, AK closes late

Thurs, Day 8-Free Day

Fri, Day 9 (Anniversary Day)-Breakfast at 1900's Park Fare at Grand Floridian @ 8am then ride boat to MK when opens at 9am, Hair/Makeup Appt @ 4pm @ Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in MK (for me), Anniversary Dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table @ 5:40pm

Sat, Day 10-Free Day, afternoon car trip to head up to North Carolina or where-ever we decide.

Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions. Aloha

I would tend to go with your husband's idea. I think it would be much more fun to enjoy the parks on your own, and then take the tours when you have more of a knowledge base built up. I'd be afraid that a lot of the fun stuff on the tours would go right over your head, as you might not have anything to relate them to.

I didn't see any red flags on your dining. Why are you getting a car mid-week if you're staying within Disney properties?

You indicate that it is just the two of you, but a lot of the dining is character meals, specifically those aimed at the young princess crowd. Will you have kids with you? There is nothing wrong with adults doing character dining, but you will not be enjoying a quiet adult meal, as the restaurants will be overrun with little kids. In most cases, you are there more for the characters than the food, but Chef Mickey's food is not bad. I did dinner at 1900 Park Fair with my children, and I really appreciated being able to get a glass of wine with dinner; it really was a bit much, with dozens of little girls running around in princess costumes. You are not doing much park hopping either. We tend to do one early day at Epcot, mostly so that my daughter can get to do Soarin', then make it our later day "hop" through most of the week, to enjoy World Showcase, and the dining. Also consider having more dinners at the hotels, it if is just adults, consider Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, Artist's Point at the Wilderness Lodge, the California Grill at the Contemporary, or any of the other fine dining establishments, that will be romantic. I would not bother with more than one tour. I'm also not sure I would bother with a water park, unless you are really into the slides.

Sorry I guess I forgot to mention although it's only us 2 "Adults" and it's our anniversary we are more casual, character dining, autograph type people then fine dining. But thanks for the suggestion about the other options. To be honest I didn't even look into those, but I will now. Hope it's not too late

As far as park hopping I was read someplace that to park hop it will take about 1 hour so we didn't want to do it too much. Does it really take that long? That's also the reason we are picking up the car so we will have the car in case we need to get to places faster. The first few days we are not park hopping but instead staying and seeing the whole park. Plus since we pick up the car on Sunday we will have it for 2 weeks before the end of our vacation, The car rental said it's discounted by the week.

And the water parks... everybody talks about the heat and humidity so I figured the water parks were a good idea. Also, the tickets we have come with the park hopper and water parks and more so we figured why not...

Thanks for your opinions. It's very much appreciated. I will look into the other dining options and talk to hubby and see what he says.

Mahalo-

I would be tempted to leave the tours until the end of your trip, not the beginning. I am especially thinking about the fact that the tours you have planned start early in the morning - which is peak touring time; you can get more attractions under your belt in the first two hours a park is open than you can during the entire rest of the day. When I take a tour I schedule it for a time when I know the park will be busy because that way I have someone else in charge of getting me through the crowds, and something else to do other than worry about long queues. I think you should get as many of the attractions as you want to experience under your belt before you take time off to learn the other side of the park... It's great to see how things work, but only (in my opinion) once you have actually experienced the magic from the front! Having said that, we did the Segway tour (have you thought about this?) in the middle of our ten day trip, before we had been to world showcase at all, and it was great because we got a crash course in what was there and how it was laid out and organised, before we went to visit ourselves.

The character dining is more expensive and personally I believe the meals are inferior. It is really geared to the kids. There are some really nice casual restaurants. Forget the car, it'll take longer than the 20 minute bus ride. You'll have to take the tram at each park going to the car and then back to the new park plus there is sometimes a wait at the parking entrance booths which the busses bypass. I agree with the previous comments about the tours, they are much better after you've seen the magic then before. I've been on most and I think the're great but only after you get a feel for the parks. And yes, 1 hour is a good estimate to get from one park to the next, they are not close to each other. The car doesn't help. We go to WDW 10 to 20 days annually and have eaten at all the restaurants, if you have any questions, let me know.

Bob

As far as park hopping I was read someplace that to park hop it will take about 1 hour so we didn't want to do it too much. Does it really take that long? That's also the reason we are picking up the car so we will have the car in case we need to get to places faster.

Well, I always get a rental car at the airport and keep it for the entire stay. I don't like waiting for busses, nor do I like cramming into a bus at park closing with dozens of tired sweaty cranky people and their tired cranky noisy kids! That said, it shouldn't take anywhere near an hour to hop from park to park. From Epcot you can hop a monorail to the MK (well, 2 monorails, as you have to change at the Transportation and Ticket Center), which should take about 30 minutes total. Or you can hop a boat from the International Gateway to the Studios, which should take about 30 minutes or so.

There are a couple of good reasons to park hop. First, the park that you start at might get crowded by mid-day. It's great to have the option to leave a crowded MK and zip over to Epcot and see what's happening. Also, the parks close at different times. If I was spending a full day at the Animal Kingdom, for example, which might close at 5pm, I enjoy the option to head over to Epcot or the MK for evening fireworks.

Keep your questions coming - I'm sure you'll get more opinions than you know how to deal with! ;)

I have a question to tag onto here....how does this Hollywood and Vine/Fantasmic package work?

About the Hollywood and Vine/Fantasmic Package. What I've been told and what I believe is it will cost 1 Table Service (all others cost 2) and we get dinner and also preferred seating for Fantasmic.

I hope this is right cause that's what I read and that's why I'm doing this but again never done this before so I'm just trusting the books.

Thanks everybody for your help. I'm going to try and rework my schedule to do the tours later in the trip and if that doesn't work I'll probably just put it on the next WDW trip agenda.

Aloha-

Lucky girl. I am not sure they could get me out of Hawaii with a crowbar, you are leaving one paradise for another so to speak. IMO. We do Fantasmic Hollywood & Vine every year we go ,You are correct only you have quite an uphill walk to go in the back way, and thats the way they take you for your reserved seating its not bad and the show is totally worth it. Once we arrive we park our car and don't see it till time to leave. I have never waited that long for a bus at Disney or a boat Unless you are planning to go off property I wouldn't bother with the car.We are leaving in 7 days, I hope you are as excited as we are.Every time is like the first for us.

Thanks for the car tip. I'm going to check with the car company and maybe we can change the dates. If we pick up the car Saturday May 17 when we leave then we only will need to car for 1 week and 1 day so I'm sure it's cheaper. Thanks - I'll check on that. Also, from what I've been reading May isn't that busy so maybe the buses won't be too bad.

Thanks again-This is so much help.

Like everyone else I like everything but the BK choices in the mornings. If you go to Down Town Disney please give yourself 1.5 hours, each way, for travel. The DTD bus routes are the longest at Disney. Plan one night meal at the Yacht Club resort, (steak house).

Thanks for the help I have since changed my car reservation to pick up after WDW in Orlando and now the full size car for 1 week drop off in New Bern North Carolina is less the $100 with taxes...That means the $500 I'm saving on the car can now be used in the park. I talked to hubby and he said it's worth saving the $500 and riding the Disney Transports even if it takes longer, hopefully it's not that long since we are going in about 2 weeks and it's supposed to be off season.

The other reason we wanted the car was to get food/groceries but instead decided to use garden grocery since they deliver for $12. I'm still debating if I should buy a fridge (the portable type) for the room or if it's okay to just keep filling ice in our collapsable cooler. Will the ice last the day if we leave the a/c on in the room or does housekeeping turn off the air? I thought about renting the fridge for $100 for the 10 days but ebay has those portable ones for about $40 incl shipping.

I also cancelled the tours and only kept the keys to the kingdom (cause I want to see the utilidors). You are right about wasting the prime morning hours on a tour so we decided that since we've been to Disneyland many times and MK is similar to Disneyland it's okay to take a tour in the morning and spend the rest of the day in the park. We won't miss too many good rides if we wait and can go back to the park late if we want to ride stuff.

One more question (at least for now). We are going to the water parks and I was wondering should I bring my own towel from home? or can we take the hotel towel? or do they have free towels at the water parks? When we ride the bus to the waterparks and back what is the dress code? Can I just put a pareo (wrap) over my suit and get on the bus or do I have to put on shorts/shirt or can I just put shorts over my 1 piece swim suit?

Thanks again for all your help, it's greatly appreciated.

There are plenty of towels provided at the water parks. You can get by with just a wrap around your suit - no one will mind seeing a little more flesh!

I could be wrong but I think there's a charge to rent the towels at the waterparks.

Aloha! I wish i was from Hawaii!! About park hopping- if someone already said this, I'm sorry, I tried to read all the posts- remember that some parks don't even require a bus to hop to. For example, MK to Epcot or vice versa is the monorail, which unless you're traveling at peak hours, will not take an hour. You can get to Epcot from MGM and vice versa via the "friendship" boats. It doesn't take you directly to the gate, but it's nice on a warm afternoon to take a boat ride, and explore the boardwalk!

A note about towels- I always find that the waterpark towels are to small for me. I need something big and fluffy to wrap around me then lay out on. They're rough too. I'm picky about towels though:p, so i always bring my own. Have you decided if you're going to go to blizzard beach or typhoon lagoon?

I could be wrong but I think there's a charge to rent the towels at the waterparks.


Well, you may be right. It's been a few years since I've done the water parks. But when I did, there was no charge for towels. Someone clarify?

Well, you may be right. It's been a few years since I've done the water parks. But when I did, there was no charge for towels. Someone clarify?

Towels are $1 I think. Inner tubes and life jackets are free. Lockers have a charge and a refundable deposit.

Okay thanks for the suggestions. I will bring my own towel since I too like towels to be big and fluffy. I actually have a beach coverup towel that I'll probably bring also. 1 to wear and 1 to lay on. I also have a pareo (sarong wrap) that I will wear on the bus. I'm hoping that since this is Disney they won't have a problem with me wearing a wrap around my suit and going back to the hotel. And to answer the question... I don't know which to go but hopefully can do both water parks. If not then probably Blizzard Beach cause I heard it has more rides.

Thanks again for all your help. Keep the suggestions coming. I'm really getting excited.

Oh yeah.. One more thing. I was going to have breakfast with Donald at Tusker House but was wondering if a better choice is the Garden Grill w/characters (I think that's the name of the one that over looks the land ride and rotates). We aren't really picky eaters but love the character interaction (even if we are technically adults).

Thanks again.