Help!I need a strategy for planning timing with the parks with 3 and 5 1/2 year old

[happydisneyday]

Hello all! I am hoping to get some strategy on how to tackle the parks I will have myself, my hubby and our 2 boys 3 and 5 1//2.
The reason I am so nervous is that our trip is June 11 to 18th. (booked because my 40th birthday is on the 13th) but I understand that school will be out (not in Canada) but in Florida and the parks will be very busy. I have usually travelled during the quieter times and I don't want to be waiting in lines for hours and melting in the heat.
I normally have tried to avoid the parks on the emh days but this trip we are staying at Wilderness Lodge which I have not stayed at since 99 when we got married and honeymooned down there. Since I am qualifying for the emh's should I just go for it and try to be there right for "rope drop" or go to a different park for rope drop? ( I really don't know what else to do to try to get on some of the busier rides) Also how crazy are the night emh's and do they keep the kiddie rides open that my boys would like?

I have 5 day hoppers with waterparks added. I was thinking of skipping Saturday as we arrive so late maybe just going to Disney Springs or seeing if there are something like a weiner/marshmallow roast at Fort Wilderness (is that an actual thing) or just hitting the pool at our resort / supper and an early night?? I am open to suggestions.

Also then which parks on Sunday?Would Animal Kingdom be maybe less busy so a good option? or should I do Magic Kingdom and then if it get busy go to a waterpark in the afternoon or back to the room for a swim?

Monday? Hollywood Studios for rope drop try to run and get on Toy story then go to star wars?

(my youngest is 39.5 inches I am hoping he grows 1/2 inch this month so he can go on Star Tours too)

Tuesday my Birthday, Magic Kingdom. (unless it is going to be killer busy) ( I thought the dwarves mine ride is the one I need to get them on first then maybe tomorrow land speedway and buzzlight year are their fav's. (We are skipping the big coasters so the dwarves mine is all I get!)

Wednesday waterpark? a way to give my husband a less hot day? which one..

Thursday Epcot? ok choice?(should I try for Soarin first?) Anything new in the last few years at Epcot I should know about?

Friday back to Magic Kingdom? (try to do pirates of C and Jungle cruise etc and buzz again)

I really want to see the night time stuff too at all the parks which is why we got the park hoppers in case we just get tired one night or it is too hard to get into at Hollywood studios, I am not sure if I can use them more efficiently for a certain strategy?

I skipped the dining plan, and I am just going to be flexible to eat wherever is quick service as my kids don't sit still for long meals. Places like Peco's Bills and tomorrowland Terrace I think its called.

I feel like my brain is gong to explode, I am looking at fast passes but the dwarves mine ride didn't have one untiategiel 920 pm! And Toy story mania looks hard to get. I didn't know we were going to upgrade our Disney trip to stay on property until a few days ago when my hubby surprised me. So I have some serious planning to do.

If you were me with the 2 boys what would you do? All thoughts and strategies appreciated!

Also anything special I should pack for that time of year? raincoats does it have a lot of afternoon showers? water bottles? light coats for evenings?

[MNNHFLTX]

Take a deep breath--:) I don't blame you for being overwhelmed. First thing I would suggest is to make your Fastpass reservations now for what you can get (that is even remotely acceptable). Better times will probably open up as you get closer and people cancel and change things around. Just keep checking back. If you can't get FP's for them, the three rides I would be at the parks early for EMH would be Soarin' (unless it's closed to switch over to the new film), Toy Story and the Mine Ride.

Are your boys morning or night people? Maybe it's just me, but I would probably not take young kids that age to the evening EMH; it's usually just too late and makes for crabby kids, especially if they're getting up early the next day. A lot of people recommend taking a midday break with the kids to go back to the resort, but with my family (when my son was little), we much preferred to get up early for EMH, do the parks through late afternoon and then head back to the resort for swimming, supper and relaxation.

A lot of people also recommend going to the non-EMH parks to avoid crowds, but in our experience we could get so much done in the first couple of EMH hours that it was totally worth it. Then we would hop over to another park for the rest of the day.

Good luck with all your planning! Yes, pack ponchos and water to take to the parks. In June in Central Florida, I highly doubt you'll need jackets in the evening (we lived there for 12+ years, so I am speaking from experience!) But you can bring them with you just in case. :)

[cuteduck223]

I agree. get some fastpasses. We go in June almost every year (our kids are 1 and 7 this year). Always plan to be at rope drop 20-30 minutes before official opening or EMH opening if your family are morning people. We typically do two things depending on the park and the small human attitudes: 1-take a break around 1, and head back into the parks around 4 or 5 for dinner (and if the girls have napped, or at least rested, we do evening EMH). However--my girls are disney girls, and they HATE napping when there could be something fun going on-my oldest has NEVER napped during a break time (on the bus, in her stroller, during an air conditioned show-sure--but NEVER in the room during a break).

The other thing we do is stay in the parks until about 4, and then do a fun evening activity--springs, mini-golf, swimming, campfire. Electric Water pageant. Something that is a little more low key by evening time so we don't enter full melt downs.

You know your family best. Relax, see what you can see. If you miss something, or wait in line 3 times to ride peter pan because the boys love it--then thats good enough. Stressing out and rushing around won't be fun for anyone. Happy birthday! Be celebrated, have fun!

There is a campfire with chip and dale at fort wilderness if you wanted to head over there on arrival day. I am also a big fan of the electric water parade that you can see from the beaches.

As far as jackets--i am in the opposite camp--we went 2 years ago and i had not packed a jacket, and wanted it every night (my daughter didn't, but i did!).

[magicman]

What an exciting post with fantastic questions!!! First of all, Happy Birthday!!! Secondly, I'm not going to try to answer all of your fantastic questions, but I'm going to throw in my two cents.

In my opinion, your kids are old enough to have a preference. As an adult, I pick the park(s) for the day, but I let every family member tell me what their "one must do" for that day/park are. then I build a game plan to ensure we hit the "must dos" using: (1) fastpasses, or (2) rope drop or (3) staying til park close as my key techniques. Also, I would say rope drop on an EMH morning is as good as a fastpass, but at noon the EMH park is usually a very full park and we bounce.

My other tip is the "poncho tip". I buy a bunch of dollar ponchos before I go to WDW. They don't take up any space, and I can easily carry them each day. They serve as "one day use rain coats or cold weather garments" then they get discarded.

Lastly, managing your 39 1/2 inch child's expectations on riding the big rides...Don't mention rides that they might not get to ride if they're tall enough. The parks are sticklers on this as they are risk averse and give zero latitude on height requirements.

Have a magical birthday!

[savafan]

The 3rd track just opened for Toy Story Mania, and yesterday the wait times were showing at 5 minutes. Right now it's showing as 40 minutes, which is a decent wait, but no where near as long as the 90 minutes I'm used to seeing