How I planned my Disney Vacation, Part 1- Planning to 61days out

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Dear friends,

So my obsessive planning has gotten to the point that I thought I would share my knowledge/resources so far. This is Part 1 of 2 for Planning 61 days out........

Part 1: Choosing a Resort
Bottom Line? Can't help you. We fell by our reservations on accident. I was about to book our trip to Massanutten (in VA) for May, when our timeshare showed us that Disney was open. Booked it and voila! $250 later, I have a week at WDW at Saratoga Springs. Super cheap, and unless you have a timeshare, I have zero advice on how to do this. Let's move on.

Part 2: Figuring out When/Where to spend our week

We have a 3 year old, who will be 4 the week of the trip. So. We knew we needed a day off in the middle of the week. As we are flying in/out, that leaves 6 days to Plan.

Decision 1: This trip is focused on our daughter. In order for all of us to have fun, her needs must be remembered, and we need to not over-plan the day. We will need breaks and rest times.
Decision 2: Take a day off at the pool/just running with little itinerary
Decision 3: Skip (mostly) Epcot.

Epcot is my favorite park, with no exception. However. It is a LOT of walking with very few toddler-centric activities. However part 2- you'll see that we spend an evening there in our itinerary (explanation to follow).

So we came up with the tentative plan of:
Sunday night: Princess/Birthday Night
Monday: Magic Kingdom
Tuesday (off)
Wednesday: Animal Kingdom/Epcot
Thursday: Hollywood Studios
Friday: Magic Kingdom
Saturday: Magic Kingdom

Part 3: Matching Dining Reservations to the Days
A big part of my planning obsession is my nightmare of standing in lines with a toddler in meltdown mode. One way to override this is to skip the character lines. I know that we won't be able to do this entirely, but we can certainly hit a lot of characters if we eat at character meals. Additionally:

  •  I wanted her first evening in the park to be a "Princess evening." So Bibbity Bobbity Boutique and Cinderellas Table were my priorities for our first day [Sunday]. 
  • I wanted most character meals to be lunch, so we could take full advantage of low-crowd mornings in the parks.
    • I wanted lunch roughly 2.5 hours after we got to any park... she's 3 afterall, and thats her max adventure time without breaks.....
  • My husband REALLY wanted to go to TREX
  • I REALLY wanted to go to Be Our Guest
So, 170 days out (because I bought the vacation then- please note to be smart enough to plan 180 days out, pl!!!!)  This is my itinerary after booking dining:



Sunday
Magic Kingdom
510: Bibbity Bobbity Botique

650:Cinderella's Royal Table

Monday
Magic Kingdom

1145: Be Our Guest Restaurant

Tuesday
FREE DAY
10:20 Chef Mickey's [Contemporary Resort]
4pm: T-REX


Wednesday
Animal Kingdom
1015 Tusker House Restaurant

Evening EPCOT
545: Coral Reef Restaurant (Future W)

Thursday
Hollywood Studios
1125: Hollywood & Vine Lunch Fantasmic 1st Show

Friday
Magic Kingdom
1135: The Crystal Palace
Saturday
Magic Kingdom
1145: Be Our Guest Restaurant




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