"Must Do" help

[dr&momto2boys]

I have one week to convince my MIL and SIL's family to stay an extra day at WDW on our trip next May.

As it is now, we would have 2 full days for MK and 1 day each for DHS and AK. They don't want to do Epcot and that's okay (we're going early to do it ourselves.)

It seems like enough days, but I know once we start actually planning what we want to do, it will be tight. It's been since Fall 2007 that I've planned the details.

Please remind me which parades, shows, etc. not to miss so I can make sure we have enough time planned! List everything and anything so I don't forget anything. I'll cut out what we're not very interested in. We'll have 6 adults and 5 kids ages 6, 5, 4, 3, and 1! We'll stay at the Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary resort.

We want to do a princess meal, probably Chef Mickey's too and we'll likely do the dining plan--so 1 sit down meal per day. All of this of course cuts into park time!

I'd like to plan 1 evening where the grandparents get to go out alone. And one eveing where the 4 parents get to go out alone. Any suggestions for non-park activites for those times would be great too.

Thanks for the help! I don't have enough time to put it all together myself!

Reply with your "must do" and I'll add it to the list:

Wishes
Fantasmic
Spectromagic
IllumiNations
AK Parade
Dream along with Mickey
Belle's Storybook Time
Character meet & greets
Stitch Show at MK
Block Party Bash at DHS
Playhouse Disney at DHS
Little Mermaid at DHS
Beauty and the Beast Show at DHS
Lion King Show at AK

 

[Perditamarie]

It is nice to have a sleep in/resort day to actually relax on your vacation. Use this day to putter at your resort, spend time at the pool, go to a water park, check out Down Town Disney, or even see La Nouba, which is fabulous. You could even do a dinner show like Mickey's BBQ, Hoop De Doo Revue or the Luau w/o it impacting your evening fireworks/park touring.

There is also the Boardwalk area, which is fun at night w/street performers, midway games, surrey bikes, ice cream/candy/bakery treats, as well as several restaurants. Also, there is a campfire and movie at the Beach Club Beach.

Fort Wilderness also has a petting zoo, pony rides, campfire w/Chip and Dale as well as a movie at night.

It is a shame there is no interest in Epcot....it is wonderful to explore that park....even just the World Showcase, which is awesome at night and all the wonderful restaurants.

Happy planning.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

It is nice to have a sleep in/resort day to actually relax on your vacation. Use this day to putter at your resort, spend time at the pool, go to a water park, check out Down Town Disney, or even see La Nouba, which is fabulous. You could even do a dinner show like Mickey's BBQ, Hoop De Doo Revue or the Luau w/o it impacting your evening fireworks/park touring.

There is also the Boardwalk area, which is fun at night w/street performers, midway games, surrey bikes, ice cream/candy/bakery treats, as well as several restaurants. Also, there is a campfire and movie at the Beach Club Beach.

Fort Wilderness also has a petting zoo, pony rides, campfire w/Chip and Dale as well as a movie at night.

It is a shame there is no interest in Epcot....it is wonderful to explore that park....even just the World Showcase, which is awesome at night and all the wonderful restaurants.

Happy planning.

I know... we'll do Epcot and stay an extra day even if they don't! (We all went together in 2007 too and they feel like they don't need to repeat Epcot and some other stuff.) I really need to convince them to stay that extra day so we can have a little leisure time...but I'm sure we won't have much time for stuff other than park stuff (with them.)

What parades and nighttime shows are the best these days?

 

[mmeb144]

Hit the library and check out the Unofficial Guide to WDW. It has touring plans that you should be able to use as a baseline for planning the most important things to see and do. I use them as starting points and add and subtract depending on my time and needs.

It's hard to know exactly what the needs are for your party. I planned a family trip to WDW back in 2007. I assumed that my brother and his family would want to attack the parks from opening to closing. He actually listened when I said that we (my immediate family) went back to our resort in the afternoon to swim and nap. He did the same thing, and on his first visit, too! I was so surprised. I borrowed a touring plan from the Unofficial Guide to make sure that his family got to see the cool stuff.

This all boils down to make sure to talk with your in-laws to find out what kind of WDW vacationers they are.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

This all boils down to make sure to talk with your in-laws to find out what kind of WDW vacationers they are.

We all went together in 2007 and got along really well. I had made an itinerary for us all with the help of TGM! Ideally we would nap/pool in the afternoon like we did last time. My concern is that with the timeframe they have alloted this time we'll be much to rushed.

Right now I want to make a ROUGH plan of things we shouldn't miss to show them what they'll be missing if they don't plan to stay another day. My fear really is that they'll realize that they want to stay an extra day too late for us to change our reservations. They don't understand that it is a big deal to reserve DVC resort rooms 11 months ahead of time (and plan point usage) and changes aren't easy to make. (If possible at all.)

 

[kshattuck]

I would make sure to add the shows -- especially the one at the castle (can't remember the name!?!) with Mickey, Minnie and all of the princesses, Belle's Storybook Time, etc.

I think adding the character meet and greets (such as the princesses, fairies at Toontown) could potentially garner you an additional 1/2 day

Have fun! Sounds like it will be a great trip!

 

[martd82]

I would make sure to add the shows -- especially the one at the castle (can't remember the name!?!)

Dream along with Mickey.

If you are like me it would be bugging me all night until I remembered it.

 

[Starwater]

I would definitely call Wishes a "must do," especially with kids in the age group you mentioned. I think they'd love it.

Illuminations is also really exciting and beautiful to see, so I'd put that as a close second.

We're going to be trying out the Garden View Tea Room at the Grand Floridian this time around, just for kicks. It might be a nice idea for the grandparents or even for the grandparents & grandkids!

Here's the link: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningdetail.cfm?Restaurant.ID=305

 

[Starwater]

Oh, also -- I vote for the 50's Prime Time Cafe at DHS for a big family dinner as one of your TS meals. Its the kind of restaurant where you can go with a big family group and really have a laugh together. And the food is delicious! Mmm... Pot roast to die for!

 

[sharonabe]

You said May trip, right? The flower and garden show will be going on at Epcot, which brings in a lot of different events. HS, MK, and AK all have afternoon parades. HS has Fantasmic, MK has the Spectromagic and Wishes, and Epcot has Illumination...all in the evenings. There is the new block party/dance party event in MK. A new Stitch show in MK. There is also a flag ceremony in MK at sundown. The kids in your party are a little young, but there is a High School Musical show at HS. Of course, there is also Playhouse Disney, Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast at HS and the Light, Motors, Action and Indiana Jones and now American Idol...I'm not sure you could do ALL of those in one day.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Thank you! Thank you! Great Ideas!
Is the dance/block party different than the Stitch show or are they the same thing?

Edit:
Block Party Bash looks to be a DHS parade. Does that mean th Stars and Motor Cars one is gone?

 

[sharonabe]

Block Party Bash is the DHS parade and Stars and Motors is gone. But there is also a dance party at MK that I don't remember the name of. It's part of the Celebration theme and it is different than the Stitch show which is in it's own venue near the Carrousel of Progress.

 

[sharonabe]

I finally had to go look up the name of that MK street party...it is Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It. It is NOT the regular 3 pm parade, but a smaller parade of 5 floats that ends up at the hub with a giant street dance party.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Why not just add an extra day to your reservation and let them keep their schedule as is?


What happens if you talk them into the extra day and things do not go as planned? They may blame you for "forcing" them to waste money on an extra day they ended up not enjoying.