Magical Kingdoms Disney Blog

Okay so you’ve booked your Disney vacation - now what? If you’re like me you have a long countdown until you can say “I’m going to Disney tomorrow!” A lot of people think that once you have your lodging and park tickets booked that you are set to go; however one of the best things to enjoy in Disney are the endless food options! And since I highly recommend the Disney Dining Plan you’re going to want to take advantage of making reservations as far in advance as you can (which will most likely soon only be 120 days in advance instead of Disney’s usual 180 days).  Having a schedule/itinerary for each day of your trip will not only keep you organized, but it will also ensure you get to do and see what you want to while you’re there. It takes a little research and planning but my feeling is, you are paying this money to go, you should make the most of it!

 Here is an example of a schedule we use when planning our Disney trips.

My first step is to always check park times, fireworks/parade schedule, and Extra Magic Hours**(you must be staying at a Disney resort to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours) times before making any decisions about where I will be on which days. This will become especially important since Disney is reducing the amount of times certain parades and shows (ie Fantasmic) will be performed. These events are on my “must do” so I try to schedule my trip accordingly.

Once you have determined that, then move on to deciding your dining reservations. Keep in mind if you want to eat at a park restaurant (ie Chef Mickey’s or Cinderella’s Castle) you will need to use a ticket to get into that park so plan to spend some time in that park before/after your dining reservation.

Resort restaurants usually are easier to plan but make sure you factor in enough time to get from one place to another.

 Example: Let’s say you want to eat at Le Cellier in Epcot, Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the California Grill in the Contemporary for the week of September 19th-26th.

On the 19th Epcot is having Extra Magic Evening Hours and Illuminations is at 9pm. I would try to plan dinner for around 7ish at Le Cellier and then you would be able to catch Illuminations afterward and still have a few hours in the park! On the 21st Wishes starts in the Magic Kingdom at 8pm. I would recommend having a late dinner again in the California Grill around 7pm because watching Wishes from the observation deck on top of the Contemporary is an amazing sight! For Boma, some people may want to pick any day to do Animal Kingdom and then just head over for reservations on Boma in the Animal Kingdom Lodge for an earlier dinner since Animal Kingdom closes around 5. Although some people like to clean up before dinner after walking around a park all day and may want to schedule time to go back to their resort for showers and maybe even a nap before heading off to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for Boma reservations. Your schedule may look like something below: **Note you can add your confirmation number for your dining reservations right on the schedule

You can fill in the rest how ever or even leave the rest of the days blank and let the rest of the vacation come what may!

 The downside to planning like this for many people is as they say “a vacation is for relaxation” and vacation is about getting away from the schedules and routines of everyday life. True. Schedules like this are not meant for everyone and especially when traveling with little ones where it’s not always possible to stick to a schedule.

I would recommend using this as a guideline for your trip though. I always feel bad at first for people who return from Disney and said they had a horrible time and will never go back. I kindly ask them why and everytime it always seems had they done a little research and planning their trip would have been much different.

 Also keep in mind this can be used just as a guide for how your trip will play out. You can certainly deviate or even change your plan when you arrive.

So for me, it’s always better to plan and schedule but we all make our own Disney Magic in our own ways!

If you like this post then please subscribe to the RSS feed.

Bookmark

             

Powered by Bookmarkify™