Jan 27-Feb 5 Trip Plan - Want to make this the vacation of a lifetime for my wife and son. Feedback on changes appreciated. Thanks!

[Craiggerj74]

Upcoming WDW trip details Jan 27-Feb 5 - What should I change to my plan?

Fly to Orlando on Friday, Jan 27th. Late Lunch res at Homecommin'. Staying at the Dolphin for the first 3 nights. Our plan is to have breakfast in the room, snack when hungry during the day, and sit down dinner most nights.

Sat Jan 28, PP Holywood Studios, Dinner res at Boma.

Sun 29th PP Epcot, Dinner res at La Hacienda de San Angel.

Mon Jan 30th PP Animal Kingdom, check into Saratoga Springs in the afternoon hop to Epcot for Festival Booth dinner. and late park closing.

Tuesday Jan 31 PP Magic Kingdom although we plan to sleep in and go to the park late. 'Ohana Dinner res. MK closes early so we'll hop somewhere after Ohana.

Wed Feb 1 PP Magic Kingdom, Steakhouse 71 dinner res back to park for late close.

Thurs Feb 2 PP Holywood Studios Oga's Reservation in the afternoon and 50's Prime Time for Dinner. Thinking about canceling 50's Prime Time....not sure yet.

Fri Feb 3 PP Epcot, Homecommin' dinner res. Check into Hotel in Flamingo Crossing. Sat Feb 4 PP Animal Kingdom dinner res at Raglin Road. Check out and fly home Sunday.

It is myself (49M), my wife (50F), and son (16M). This trip was initially supposed to happen 2 years ago, but ya know. We have 8-day park hopper tickets and the plan is to not buy Genie+ on our first day in each of the parks. If we need to on our second day, we will. If we are tired or need a resort morning, we'll do that. I am a planner and I've been going over the details of this trip intensely. I want my wife and son to have the vacation of a lifetime. Watching YouTube videos, reading guides...etc. I'd love to hear any feedback on ways to change/improve our trip. Thank you in advance!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

We love the Swan and Dolphin, it's such a great location. Walking to the parks, the boat rides, it's great. I've not stayed at SSR but while you're there, you should also take advantage of any other disney springs restaurants you want to try since it's so close.

I tend to agree that having an Oga's reservation and prime time could eat up a lot of time. As long as you're totally into a sit down meal everyday and ya'll enjoy that type of touring, then I think your trip looks great. For us, it's too many TS meals but we also don't take as long of a trip as you will be. But just keep in mind your travel time to dinners, locations and possibly waiting for your table could be a time sucker and annoying if you have post dinner plans.

Just a note, I would dial back your expectations and lower the pressure to have a trip of a lifetime. I LOVE WDW and always want my family to have a great time, but don't put so much pressure on yourself to be the creator of this idyllic vacation. We have had a number of great trips to Disney and have been many times since the parks reopened back in 2020, but don't build this trip up in your mind so much so, that if one thing is off kilter, you're then disappointed. I'm 100% the planner for my family, so I get that it can be hard but just do your best to have a good time, relax and roll with the punches. Disney is wonderful but it's very much a new world if you've not been post covid and not yet used G+, etc.

 

[Craiggerj74]

Thank you so much for your feedback. I am putting a lot of pressure on myself, and definitely getting my expectations over elevated. One of my big life fears is being unprepared, so in a way over preparing is calming for me. I like having a plan, but I am really good with changing plans when needed (because I’m prepare for that!). I know we will probably cancel some dinner reservations, be it for time, money or whatever reason, and that is just all part of the plan. Thanks for your feedback, it really set me at ease.