Too Much in 14 days?

sydwolfe1014

Earning My Ears
Joined
Nov 5, 2019
Hey There! ! My sister and I are planning a 2 week Disney adventure in November/December 2020. I listed an outline below of what we (Me-30, sister-21) plan to do on our trip. 1) Are we crazy to think this is all possible? 2) Are we missing any "must do" activities?
Day 1- Spend night at Hyatt Regency
Day 2- head to Port Canaveral and board the Disney Dream for a 3 night Merrytime Cruise (first cruise ever!)
Day 3- DCL in Nassau (planned to stay on board and explore the ship...Rainforest room possibly?)
Day 4- DCL in Castaway Cay- definitely enjoying the beach
Day 5- disembark and head to POFQ for full stay at WDW; plan to head to AK for the afternoon and hoping for Le Cellier dinner reservations/exploring a bit of Epcot
Day 6- Typhoon Lagoon for the day and MVMCP at night; considering Tony's party ticket too
Day 7- MK for a bit in the morning to do rides we couldn't the night before; resort hopping to look at Christmas decorations; Cir du Soleil at night
Day 8- Epcot all day and Boardwalk fun at night
Day 9- Universal Studios
Day 10- no plans at all for a rest and recharge day; maybe the spa at DSS in the morning for me and either a park(depending on ride times) or Disney Springs at night
Day 11- HS for the day with the Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam! or Star Wars dessert party at night
Day 12- AK for at least 1/2 a day(figure this is the best option to snag FoP FP tickets); afternoon and evening open schedule
Day 13- Keys to the Kingdom tour; afternoon and evening open schedule
Day 14- relaxing morning, with a likely 5pm flight (so we'd get picked up at about 2pm)...worth going to another park? Disney Springs relaxing morning?

We've never been to WDW as adults and as you can see, are willing to splurge a bit on the experiences. We were last in WDW in 2008 as 17 and 8 years old so a lot has changed since then! My sister will have turned 21 about 1 week before this trip, so I'm sure we'll enjoy Epcot, Boardwalk, and Disney Springs. If there are any other experiences we should consider, both on the cruise and WDW, please let us know!
 
Day 5- disembark and head to POFQ for full stay at WDW; plan to head to AK for the afternoon and hoping for Le Cellier dinner reservations/exploring a bit of Epcot

Day 6- Typhoon Lagoon for the day and MVMCP at night; considering Tony's party ticket too

Day 7- MK for a bit in the morning to do rides we couldn't the night before; resort hopping to look at Christmas decorations; Cir du Soleil at night

Day 13- Keys to the Kingdom tour; afternoon and evening open schedule

Your plans seem to assume that your energy level will be high morning, noon and night. For most people, that is not true.

Any time you have more than one thing planned for a day, such as the ones I have mentioned above, you should ponder what your energy level will be that night. This is particularly important if you are paying extra for your evening plans.

Day 5: Expensive dinner. This will be after travel + get settled into hotel + AK. You might be too tired to enjoy that expensive dinner. If you want to eat an expensive dinner in Epcot that night, and you want to spend time at a park, then spend that time at Epcot.

Day 6: You are paying extra for a party that goes from 7:00 pm to midnight. You are thinking of paying even more for a party within the party. This will be after Typhoon Lagoon. Make sure you don't exhaust yourself at Typhoon Lagoon during the day.

Day 7: You are paying extra for Cirque du Soleil. This will be after Magic Kingdom and resort hopping to look at decorations. Don't exhaust yourself before the show even starts. Also, I don't know what time the performance ends, but using Disney Transportation to get back from Disney Springs often requires a long wait and a long time on the bus. Don't assume you will be back at your hotel shortly after the show lets out.

Day 13: Keys to the Kingdom is a 5-hour walking tour. You may be tired by the time it ends, so you might want to be flexible about the afternoon and evening rather than having firm plans.
 
Suggest reducing costs by deleting some of the ticket events and using the monies saved to do a split stay POFQ and Beach Club, and do the Epcot (including restaurants) and HS part of the trip while at Beach Club. When at POFQ a few dinners at Disney Springs is in order.

Travelling from one location to another at Disney eats into your time and makes for longer and more tiring days. Try to combine activities in the same area into the same day.
 


Hey There! ! My sister and I are planning a 2 week Disney adventure in November/December 2020. I listed an outline below of what we (Me-30, sister-21) plan to do on our trip. 1) Are we crazy to think this is all possible? 2) Are we missing any "must do" activities?
Day 1- Spend night at Hyatt Regency
Day 2- head to Port Canaveral and board the Disney Dream for a 3 night Merrytime Cruise (first cruise ever!)
Day 3- DCL in Nassau (planned to stay on board and explore the ship...Rainforest room possibly?)
Day 4- DCL in Castaway Cay- definitely enjoying the beach
Day 5- disembark and head to POFQ for full stay at WDW; plan to head to AK for the afternoon and hoping for Le Cellier dinner reservations/exploring a bit of Epcot
Day 6- Typhoon Lagoon for the day and MVMCP at night; considering Tony's party ticket too
Day 7- MK for a bit in the morning to do rides we couldn't the night before; resort hopping to look at Christmas decorations; Cir du Soleil at night
Day 8- Epcot all day and Boardwalk fun at night
Day 9- Universal Studios
Day 10- no plans at all for a rest and recharge day; maybe the spa at DSS in the morning for me and either a park(depending on ride times) or Disney Springs at night
Day 11- HS for the day with the Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam! or Star Wars dessert party at night
Day 12- AK for at least 1/2 a day(figure this is the best option to snag FoP FP tickets); afternoon and evening open schedule
Day 13- Keys to the Kingdom tour; afternoon and evening open schedule
Day 14- relaxing morning, with a likely 5pm flight (so we'd get picked up at about 2pm)...worth going to another park? Disney Springs relaxing morning?

We've never been to WDW as adults and as you can see, are willing to splurge a bit on the experiences. We were last in WDW in 2008 as 17 and 8 years old so a lot has changed since then! My sister will have turned 21 about 1 week before this trip, so I'm sure we'll enjoy Epcot, Boardwalk, and Disney Springs. If there are any other experiences we should consider, both on the cruise and WDW, please let us know!


You are trying to do way too much. You can do it, but I would say you will not enjoy any of it. One of the best things a WDW vacation offers is details. Lots of details to enhance your stay. If you are so busy trying to get from one event to another you miss the very reason DIsney is different from any theme park. On a first trip as adults I would skip most add ons. They are expensive extras that take a lot of time from everything you already paid for. If you choose to buy a party ticket, go to the party. Relax during the day, enjoy your resort, may resort hop a bit, in the area, have a nice early dinner and then just experience the party.

WDW is HUGE. Travel takes time, a lot of time IF you are in Animal Kingdom stay there. It's stunning and is not a 1/2 day park. The options for a meal are good,

If you are going to Epcot, dine in Epcot. This is a beautiful park, especially around the Holidays.

DO not underestimate the crowds. I really do not know if more people are visiting during the Holiday season or if Disney has made cutbacks in staffing,but DIsney Parks get busy. The MK is only open late three nights a week, and it is a small park to begin with, so it is very crowded. But worth visiting in the evening. Epcot has the Holiday festively and candlelight Processional. Both attract a lot of people. You would be surprised how tiring being in the middle of a lot of people can be. Include time to navigate in your park plans.

Take a day off. A whole day. Have breakfast, relax and then do some Holiday resort hopping. Plan a meal at one of the resorts you visit. If you go into a park go for evening entertainment and dinner.

ETA: If I was planning the trip I would plan to visit WDW first and woudl end the vacation with the cruise.
 
ETA: If I was planning the trip I would plan to visit WDW first and woudl end the vacation with the cruise.
As someone who did a cruise and followed it with a short WDW visit, agreed. I don't regret it, but I would not do it that way again. The cruise gets you used to two things:
1.) Relaxation
2.) Included meals

Going to WDW afterward was a shock to my system, and not in a good way. I had grown accustomed to lazy mornings, attentive service, and slow, indulgent dinners on the cruise. Then I got to WDW and it all felt too fast paced and less personal, and the sticker shock was painful when I took myself out to a nice dinner and actually had to pay the bill at the end of it. Objectively I know the food on the cruise isn't "free," but you get used to not having to get out your wallet and it gets easy to forget that you just shelled out the money in advance. Then you go to pay WDW prices for food and it feels terrible.
 
Looking at your schedule, there is some potential downtime in some of your evening so I think it's an aggressive plan but not impossible or too tiring.

My only thought is that I'd do WDW first, then the cruise but if you can't change things around I don't think it's a deal breaker.
 


Thank you everyone for your feedback, we'll definitely keep some of your suggestions in mind!

@Best Aunt Since we're doing the Disney Cruise first, we're reconsidering if we'd even appreciate, let alone enjoy a dinner at Le Cellier that first night. Originally we weren't doing the cruise, so it was an idea to start off the trip with a nice dinner. We're relooking at our day of resort hopping, so will keep your ideas in mind!

@jamescanuck2001 Funny you should suggest that, as we were originally going to do a split stay between Boardwalk and French Quarter for those exact reasons. However, once we considered adding a cruise, we realized we could use the difference in resort price to almost pay for the cruise.

@Nancyg56 We plan to be in the moment at each item on the trip, the idea of such a long trip being that we can take our time and enjoy each part. We know we won't be able to do all the rides at each place, so the thought was a "preview day" and a full day at each place. If something catches our eye at Epcot one day and we can't fit everything else in at that park, I like to think our days allow us to revisit. I'm sure we'll be looking forward to our Saturday of no plans. If we could line the cruise up with time off from work better, we'd likely add it to the end of the trip, but we'll see how things pan out this time around :).

@YawningDodo That is probably the only negative side of the order we've picked- the relaxation and then the craziness. We'll see how it goes and know for any future trips!
 
Looking at your schedule, there is some potential downtime in some of your evening so I think it's an aggressive plan but not impossible or too tiring.

My only thought is that I'd do WDW first, then the cruise but if you can't change things around I don't think it's a deal breaker.
We looked at the dates and it just wouldn't fit into our schedule to flip the order around. Our day-to-day lives are very go, go, go so we're thinking/hopping any break from that will be relaxing in of itself. Its been a long time since either of us have been on a vacation, so we're looking forward to some plans, yet plenty of options to switch the order up, and allow for downtime too.
 
Regarding the afternoon at AK followed by dinner at Epcot -- I would not do this. AK and AKL have great food options. I'd dine at AK or AKL, and leave Epcot for some other day.

Regarding the Keys to the Kingdom tour -- if you keep this in your plan, I think it would make more sense near the beginning of the trip, so that any remaining time at MK will be more meaningful after what you learn on the tour.
 
Day 5- disembark and head to POFQ for full stay at WDW; plan to head to AK for the afternoon and hoping for Le Cellier dinner reservations/exploring a bit of Epcot
Day 6- Typhoon Lagoon for the day and MVMCP at night; considering Tony's party ticket too
Day 7- MK for a bit in the morning to do rides we couldn't the night before; resort hopping to look at Christmas decorations; Cir du Soleil at night
Day 8- Epcot all day and Boardwalk fun at night
Day 9- Universal Studios
Day 10- no plans at all for a rest and recharge day; maybe the spa at DSS in the morning for me and either a park(depending on ride times) or Disney Springs at night
Day 11- HS for the day with the Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam! or Star Wars dessert party at night
Day 12- AK for at least 1/2 a day(figure this is the best option to snag FoP FP tickets); afternoon and evening open schedule
Day 13- Keys to the Kingdom tour; afternoon and evening open schedule
Day 14- relaxing morning, with a likely 5pm flight (so we'd get picked up at about 2pm)...worth going to another park? Disney Springs relaxing morning?

5. What time are you getting to your resort and what time are you planning to be at AK? If it's not early it the day you won't make any of those things. Just leaving your resort and getting into AK could take over an hour. Say you leave the resort at 12 but you don't get into the park until like 1-2; then what? Do rides? Each ride in the parks is anywhere from 30 mins to a 3 hour wait -if you don't already have FPs you'll probably only be getting on one or two before dinner reservations. So say 3 hours in AK including rides and a (quick) dinner.

By now it's already 5pm and both AK and Epcot close at 8-9. Which means you spend another hour getting to Epcot and another hour running through it because you're getting close to park close and fireworks. You COULD make it...but barely and that's if you went at the times that I mentioned -any later than 12 to start those plans and it's probably not happening. It takes forever to park hop and both Epcot and AK are huge in the sense that everything you want to see is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy far into the park.

For me I'd either do a full day at AK or a full day at Epcot. Spoilers: Dine at Epcot.

6. TL park hours are generally 10:00 - 5:00 during winter season so this day is actually rather conceivable.
Get there early at park open with your bathing suits already on and knowing which rides you want to do.
Leave the park before park close at like 3-4. You'll ideally get back to your rooms around 5. Change and grab a snack (there's more at MK so don't go nuts) and leave as soon as possible.

Like, really, really, really, really, really, really, really really really really fast. Because whenever I say EVERYONE is going to the parties I mean EVERYONE. Have you ever seen the monorail line at the Grand Floridian during Christmas time? It's a disaster. Leave early because it gets crowded FAST.

You won't be doing that Tony's ticket thing I'll almost guarantee you.

7. If you get to MK at 8:00 (not park opening because doing that in general is ridiculous); and you want to ride 3-4 rides and we assume that each ride is roughly an hour+ wait you won't be leaving the park until about 2pm. Then that's another hour-ish to travel to your first resort.

It is a conceivable plan but it really depends on how you'll feel that day. During Nov it's usually still really hot or chilly, and if either of those bothers you then you might not feel up to walking around and traveling to resorts to look at decorations. Plus if you're trying to get to the show after...that's risky time-wise.

12. "Day 12- AK for at least 1/2 a day(figure this is the best option to snag FoP FP tickets); afternoon and evening open schedule"

Animal Kingdom is not a 1/2 day park anymore, not if you want to experience the entire park.
If you want the best rides then start looking for FPs ahead of time. Also, a little fairy told me that if you get in line BEFORE the announced park close then you'll be allowed to ride the ride. Most people leave lines to go watch the shows at night -this is the optimal time to get in line because they get shorter and no one knows that you'll be allowed to finish if you just wait.

But definitely get the tickets way before you even get close to that date -otherwise you'll be in that line for 3 hours or waiting until park close.

14. Unless you're going somewhere early in the morning I wouldn't chance it. I certainly would not be going to a park because you're almost guaranteed to miss your flight. If anywhere Disney Springs and an 8am arrival -not start. DS is also really big and if you have any last minute shopping or interests you'll want longer than 2-3 hours to look at things before you have to leave for the airport.

As for the Keys to the Kingdom...it is rather brutal. I'd take that open afternoon and turn it into an extended nap -your feet will thank you later.
 

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