Is this too much planning?

[mama2six]

We are taking our family of 8 for the first time ever this summer and with 6 kids, I know I need a plan. However, I don't want to be so overscheduled or tied down that we don't have fun.

I would so appreciate any help and advice from the pros. Thanks in advance!

Our schedule:

Day 1 -

Arrive 3:30 pm

Dinner at Raglan Road 7:30 pm


Day 2-

Epcot (evening EMH)

noon - Princess Lunch in Norway
8:20 pm Teppan Edo


Day 3 -

8:30 am - Pictures at the Poly
10:30 am - Breakfast at 'Ohana

MK: (evening EMH)
7:10 pm - CRT


Day 4 -

9:15 am - Chef Mickey's
Water Park (can't decide which one...)
5:25 - Dinner for mom and dad at the Yachtman Steakhouse
Disney Quest


Day 5 -

MK (evening EMH)
11:30 am - Liberty Tree Tavern
5:55 pm - Crystal Palace (depending on where we are, may cancel and head over to Epcot for a while)


Day 6 -

HWS (morning EMH)
11:25 pm - Sci Fi Diner

AK (evening EMH)
7:30 pm - Tusker House


Day 7 -

Hotel pool and lunch before flying home

[mama2six]

Is that too many character meals?

We are doing 'Ohanas because we will already be at the Poly and Chef Mickey's is for our 2yo's birthday. I scheduled the Norway princess lunch before I got a CRT reservation.

Will we be tired of Character meals and the food they serve?

Our kids are 17, 14, 12, 10, 9 & 2

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Looks pretty good to me. You most definately need to plan for a good trip to WDW, and it looks like you've done a good job of sorting things out without over planning.

The only advice I'd have is to take another look at the waterpark day. Like anything else at Disney, the earlier you get there, the better it goes, so you might not want to have the big breakfast before heading out there.

The kids might love the waterpark (my DD does) and want to stay as long as possible, I had to drag my DD out at closing time (5pm), so it might be a bit much to make an early dinner, and you might be wiped from the day.

As for the character meals, are the kids boys or girls? If they are mainly boys, I would only do 1 princess meal, otherwise you're fine. The character meals are fun, and the food isn't really any different at a lot of the other "kid-friendly" TS meals.

[faline]

How old are the kids? When are you going? Where are you staying?

Having a general plan as you've outlined seems to be the best way to go as it leaves lots of flexibility to go through your day.

When you say "Arrive at 3:30" is that the time your flight touches down or the time you'll arrive at your resort? If that's the time your plane is scheduled to touch down, getting to your resort, checking in, and getting everyone together in time to get to Downtown Disney for your reservation might be a bit iffy especially with such a large group.

I also ask about the ages of your kids and when you're going because if you have little ones with you, it might be a stretch for them to keep going all day long, particularly if you'll be there during the hot and humid summer months.

[the other micki]

I think your plan looks good. The best thing to do is hit those parks at opening with 4 or 5 "must-do" attractions. Once you have enjoyed those, the rest of the day can be more laissez-faire. I would highly recommend mid-day breaks, especially in July. Pool time and a little downtime in the room helps make the vacation much more enjoyable.

[mama2six]

The kids are 17, 14, 12, 10, 9 & 2 - only one boy, the 10yo.

We are staying at the PO French Quarter. So I was hoping that we could make DTD for dinner that first night. The plane lands around 3pm.

I went ahead and changed the princess Norway to a breakfast (hoping we will get out of bed that early!) and booked Chefs de France for lunch. My son would really like to see Remy, but I told him he might not be there.

I have been trying to get later dinner reservations so that we can go back to the hotel for a break in the afternoon and I scheduled our park days for those with EMH so that we could stay late. Thankfully my 2yo doesn't get cranky and will sleep in her stroller.

I am worried about trying to do the water park day with everything else, but it was the only free day. I am trying to get a later dinner reservation, but wanted them to be able to go to Disney Quest as well.

My brain might explode after all of this :mickey:

[gerald72]

Looks good.
The only thing i see is some of those breakfast times will prevent you from being at the parks at rope drop. I always schedule mine an hour before the parks open, or later in the morning.
Also, don't be afraid to schedule more down-time during the week, fir returning to the resort and swimming/ relaxing.

[kemps@wdw]

You may want to relook @ day 4. Earlier to the park the better. And if your youngins' love water parks you may have a tough time getting them out in time to get back to your resort, get ready, and get to your evening ADR. Everything else looks great. A little planning can make for a very enjoyable vaca. :thumbsup:

[SandmanGStefani24]

well as one might note, I cringe at the thought of overplanning...so I'll be gentle.:D

The only thing I would do would be to leave one day open, with no plans of what to do, or where to eat. This leaves room for a change, a new discovery, or for something to make an encore if it was that enjoyable. One day to "wing it" is a nice way to spice things up.

(it's so nice I wing it every day of every trip! lol)

[Tink#64]

Looks good.
The only thing i see is some of those breakfast times will prevent you from being at the parks at rope drop. I always schedule mine an hour before the parks open, or later in the morning.
Also, don't be afraid to schedule more down-time during the week, fir returning to the resort and swimming/ relaxing.

First, let me say that you have done your homework! Most impressive! I'm always worried about family & friends that insist on being spontaneous & going to WDW with no plan & no idea of what to expect! WDW is too expensive & offers too many choices to "wing it" for the whole trip! How can you know what you want to do if you don't know what your choices are? So I say - kudo's on your planning! It's obvious that you've really put alot of time into planning your trip! :party:

I have to agree with gerald 72, I always say, "My only advise is to be there at park opening"! To me, early morning is crucial, for a successful, not stressful, WDW vacation! You can SEE such a difference in the crowd levels from 9Am, to 10AM, up to noon, after that it's packed no matter where you are! We ALWAYS take our break & return to the resort around 3'ish for a couple hours break & dinner by the pool!

We love the characters, but the character meals are VERY expensive and very time consuming. If you are making that committment, just be sure that you aren't going to be seeing repeats of characters & that everyone's in agreement!

The pools at the resort are fantastic! Of course in Disney style! I've tried to get my guys to go to the water parks & they have no interest & I've not pushed as we enjoy the pools & there's never enough time at WDW to suit us! We have friends that wouldn't miss the water parks, so it's a very personal trip & you should do all that you want to do!

My last :twocents: is that if you can schedule a day off or even a sleep in day, it makes a world of difference in everyone's energy level! MY bff, assured me that they would not be taking breaks, that they were a high energy family & she called me on her first park day to tell me about her whole family fighting & crying, they were all tired & just wanted to go back to the resort & swim! :fit:The only park we do all day is DHS (small, less walking) then we sleep in the next day, enjoy time at the resort & in the pool & we head to Epcot in the afternoon to enjoy the WS & IllumiNations! Always one of our favorite days! The other thing I'd suggest if possible, be flexible, have a plan, but be willing to ditch the plan if everyone's not feeling it! WDW's a very exhausting vacation! lol

:pixie: For magical trip and many happy memories!

[Jeri Lynn]

I think it's great to have a plan, and really good to have all your ADR's in place, esp with a big group...however always be flexible...you may wake up one morning and decide that you don't want to go to the park you had planned to.

I always make my ADR's...but we decide in the morning what we want to do for the day...but this is usually on our "girls" trip and we've been many times so we don't always fit everything in, which is fine because we know we have the next year!

I hope you enjoy your vacation!!!!!!!

[magicalmom]

I like your plan a lot - it looks like the ones we make! I don't think you'll get tired of the food - you've got a lot of variety there. (Norway is my personal favorite character meal menu.) And you can always cancel your ressies if you decide to do something else.

A tip: Since no plan can survive all the unexpecteds, I keep a little list in my head of Plan Bs: events or activities we'll enjoy if Plan A is suddenly not going to work. Some we've done, some we haven't (yet).

I won't bore you with my list; it just allows us to have some flexibility. I recommend having Plan Bs, though, as a kind of fun insurance. (Thunderstorms closed the waterpark? Let's go get a snack at the AKL and look for animals) Beats standing around in the rain playing "What do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?"

Over the years, our Plan As have usually gone beautifully. Sometimes we move on to Plan B, and one unforgettable trip involved Plans C,D, and E, but it's Disney World - it's all magical.

Have a wonderful trip!