I got an email today from a fellow Disney nut that wanted me to review her plan. What a great idea. Maybe this will help you in your planning.

Here’s her plan

Hi!  We’ll be in Disney World May 14-22, 2009.  Could you possibly recommend which parks to visit on which days?  

FYI – If this helps, we are staying at the Polynesian in the Hawaii building (concierge/lagoon view).  2 adults/2 children boys ages 7 &10 by travel time

I need to book my dining reservations (today in my 180 day!) so I’m trying to figure out which parks we’ll be at on each day (rain or shine).  Keep in mind that we avoid the parks on EMH days and evenings and based on historic info we avoid the parks on their so-called “busiest” days (ie. Magic Kingdom on Mondays).

Here is what I was thinking:
Thursday May 14th arriving late afternoon so just dinner @ Chef Mickey’s and call it a night (we can watch fireworks from our room)

Friday May 15th Magic Kingdom AM, (maybe Luau that night 5:15 or park hop?)

Saturday May 16th Magic Kingdom AM, head to Epcot PM (San Angel Inn dinner)

Sunday May 17th Typhoon Lagoon (maybe Whispering Canyon Cafe that night for dinner or park hop?)

Monday May 18th Epcot (Ohana character breakfast), (California grill dinner)

Tuesday May 19th Hollywood Studios (50′s Primetime Cafe lunch), Downtown Disney PM

Wednesday May 20th Magic Kingdom AM, (Hoop Dee Doo dinner 7:15)

Thursday May 21st Animal Kingdom (Donald character breakfast) AM, Hollywood Studios PM?

Friday May 22nd, Magic Kingdom for just a short time (Kona breakfast), have to leave for airport by 1PM

HELP….Does this schedule sound reasonable to you?? THANKS!

Here’s my response

 

Dear

Thanks for the note. I’m jealous. The Polynesian is our favorite resort. I hope you have as much fun there as we did.

Your plan looks pretty good. I especially like that you start and end your time in the Magic Kingdom. I also like that you plan afternoon time outside of the parks. I hope part of that time is getting you and the boys off of your feet for a little while. That’s why I love the Polynesian for families with younger kids. It’s so convenient to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot for afternoon rest and nap time.

One thing I don’t see is any evening time in the Magic Kingdom. I know you can see the fireworks from your room, but there’s nothing like watching the evening parade and Wishes from inside the park. Also, I’d suggest that you schedule a Fantasmic Dinner Package. You’ll get better seats for Fantasmic and won’t have to wait in line as long for the show.

You might want to budget a little more time for Animal Kingdom. We find that it takes almost a full day to see everything, but that we’re pretty tired when we are done. Animal Kingdom is a harder to navigate, and the paths are harder on your feet than the other parks. You end up walking a lot more, it seems. We’re always pretty tired after our Animal Kingdom day. We usually just have dinner at O’hana and watch the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom from O’hana or at the Polynesian Beach.

I don’t know what you’re planning for Downtown Disney, but, all of the clubs will be closed. If you’re thinking of DisneyQuest and shopping you might want to move that to an afternoon.  I’m a big evening in the parks guy. I love the fireworks shows and seeing the parks in the dark. The parks seem to come alive.

Going in mid-May, I wouldn’t worry too much about the so called “busiest” days. You’ll get all kinds of opinions when it comes to crowds, but I believe that mid-May will be fairly light next year. I would avoid the early entry park, but not worry about too much more.

I’m also not a big fan of park hopping. (That could be because I’m cheap and like to save money.) We usually do one park per day and then park hop to our favorite rides on the last day. Disney will let you upgrade you tickets to park hoppers for the remainder of your stay. So we usually just pay for the park hopper option for the last day. Saves us some money.

Here’s a  filler suggestion.

During the afternoon go to the dock at the Polynesian and take the boys out on the Sea Raycer boats. The Sea Raycers are the small little boats you see out on Bay Lake. You can rent them for 30 minutes or more. They’re a lot of fun. If you have a Magic Your Way package you’ll get a coupon for 30 minutes free when you buy 60 minutes.

The last thing I’d suggest is don’t get so scheduled that you ruin the spontaneity. Make sure you don’t get so locked in to THE PLAN that you can’t stop and see the train set in Epcot or stop and watch the talking trash can or any of those little things that sets Disney apart from the other theme parks.

I hope this helps,
Dad

You can post any questions for me in the comments anytime. I’ll try to answer as soon as possible.

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