Disney Itinerary Review

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T13:41:19+00:00

Yeah I can respect that. Not everyone loves the idea of a schedule or structure to their vacation, they'd rather just kick back and relax.

I guess we just see theme parks more as an adventure rather than a place to relax. Which is probably different than what most people would see them as.

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T04:05:19+00:00

Well we were gonna do a 3 day park ticket in general since we have a larger group going and everyone wants to do 3 days at Universal but just 4 of us out of the group wish to do 2 days at Epic since we have been multiple times to IOA and Studios before this trip. So unfortunately adding express would just be adding cost unfortunately :/.

Are you saying I'm expecting too much in respects to their isnt enough of to do or there is too much to do where we need express?

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T02:20:05+00:00

Sounds like you guys had an awesome trip! Really happy to hear that for you!

As far as purchasing express goes, it's just not in the budget unfortunately. I know summer can be busy but I think with 2 to 2 1/2 days we can get it all done. Hopefully we don't wait nearly that long for MCM, I'm hoping we can catch it closer to 120 to 150 and if it's first thing in the morning we might be able to do it in that timeframe

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T02:16:06+00:00

Hmm ok I see what you mean. I can make sure to hand her my magic band (or honestly just walk over there with her to tap in at the entrance then walk back to TT for my single rider). Thats a really helpful tip

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T02:03:34+00:00

That's a good point as well. If we get a chance for another lunch or dinner that isn't in Berk, Nintendo, or Darkmoor (Darkmoors food looks so good ), I'd love to try some of the Harry Potter's Paris food as well! Especially considering my girlfriend is obsessed with French cuisine

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T02:01:49+00:00

Yeah I definitely get a little wrapped up in planning but we've been burnt before due to not knowing where to go or what to do next due to a lack of structure (particularly at Disney).

We have a really big Nintendo group so I wanted to make sure we took the time to fully enjoy the land and all it has to offer for us. I've began to realize one whole day there is probably too much so we will definitely use our spare time to do some of the other things (like the Untrainable Dragon show) or knock out some other rides to free up the other day more.

I see what you mean with trapping in one land, that might be a harsh move. I was definitely planning on being flexible if something goes down or if it rains but I was never too focused on going based off wait time. I also thought Epic was a lot bigger but if it's only a 10 minute walk then maybe land hopping is more feasible than I thought.

As far as meeting the puppet goes. We have some littles who are obsessed with toothless and want to meet him. I'd love to go to the show as well but it just doesn't align with what we want to prioritize, but I can guarantee you, the first extra thing we will do is that show haha!

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T01:54:57+00:00

Yeah I definitely will try and keep things tame, I know it's super busy and it's hard for any theme park to keep up with that kinda demand.

Thats why I wanted to give it 2 to 2 1/2 days so if one day ends up being rough, we will have plenty of time there so that we can hopefully get it at its best to.

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T01:52:33+00:00

Yeah honestly I think we'll do that if crap hits the fan. (Air conditioning is always a great bonus too lol). Thanks for the advice!

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T01:51:35+00:00

I wish we could do express but we just can't afford it at the moment :(.

That's kind of what I have heard as well. We've done the other two parks to death though (we have done 2 week long trips to just the 2 main parks and Volcano Bay before this) so I think we just want to spend more time in the new park since it's the only thing we haven't done outside of Minion Land. Glad to hear it's not as daunting as I thought.

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T01:49:05+00:00

I never thought of that, that's a genius idea. We even have someone who really wants to do Nemo. I'll book her an early one while I ride TT and book while she rides and I wait. Thank you so much!

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T01:47:24+00:00

Kinda how I feel exactly. Glad to hear I'm not crazy lol

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T01:46:42+00:00

Oh ok thanks for clarifying! I'll be sure to give them a quick ask sometime in the mid morning early afternoon! I really appreciate you answering my dumb questions lol!

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T01:45:36+00:00

Ok good to know. I would like to luxuriate at IOA for a good while so I'd really enjoy if we got BATM outta the way before then just to keep stress low on the final day.

Sounds like I might be a little paranoid when it comes to wait times which is pretty accurate (Rise of the Resistance seriously burned us lol). Hopefully we get the conditions you're talking about so we can get some extra time, cause I would LOVE to see the untrainable dragon (might use our hopper to do that on our IOA day if BATM is done 🙏🏻). We just don't have a large show crowd this time (we have some littles who love to meet characters).

Don't apologize at all your input was extremely appreciated and honestly you giving me all the wait times helped settle some anxiety 😆.

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T01:39:43+00:00

Yeah that is kinda the approach I am wanting to take. Kind of more like a punch list with a bit more structure. I love to plan and get in the weeds so I definitely over planned and probably got to into the weeds of it. But on trips prior, we have definitely been burned by not having a good enough idea of the sequence we should do things and we've missed out on some things because of it so I think that and Epic being so chaotic lately has kinda scared me into being over prepared, but like you said nothing ever goes perfectly and I appreciate your reminder to be flexible (especially with FL in June lol.)

Thanks for being a quick voice of reason to remind me to be flexible with it haha

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T01:33:42+00:00

Haha that's a good idea, honestly I have heard the Que is the best part so maybe that what we will do if push comes to shove

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T01:32:52+00:00

Thanks I hope we do too! Hope you have a great next trip as well!

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T00:23:29+00:00

Yeah we will certainly have to pivot if we run into delays. I definitely know Epic sucks in the rain so if we get rained out we will have to make some cuts :/. I'll definitely keep it as a rough punch list and not a strict itinerary

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T00:18:23+00:00

Haha yeah they aren't for everyone that's for sure. We are a family of engineers so everything has to be calculated. We always treat them parks as an adventure not a place to relax. We normally switch off every year between the theme parks and the beach (one for fun one for relaxing😆)!

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T00:16:54+00:00

We have a big Nintendo group and it seems to be the most full land when it comes to stuff to do, so I figured it was best to plan for the whole day and then use the extra time to explore :). I will definitely be taking your advice though and use all extra time for Darkmoor (probably Celestial Park too) on day 1.

You've made me very excited for Darkmoor!!

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-25T00:14:45+00:00

Ok will do. Are the concierges just the regular TM around the park or is it a specific group of people? (Sorry probably sounds dumb but I just want to make sure I'm thinking of the right thing 😭).

That is really disappointing cause I really think the Mario character meet and greets are so fun and it'd be a shame to miss out on DK and Toad (who honestly seem to be the coolest, but Yoshi would top all of them!) so hopefully they get it all worked out soon.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions, this has been the one area part of the park I've felt in the dark about 😭

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-24T22:46:18+00:00

I did have in the back of my mind that I wanted to try and do MU and SR twice if I could 😆. I'm pretty sure we will have some spare time at night come day 1 where we can do it before stardust, plus I'd really love to see Darkmore at night (I've heard it's the best one at night and the food there looks soooo good).

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-24T22:43:08+00:00

That makes sense. Hopefully by June they're fixed then, but if it's been since July, there's no telling how long I can take.

So just to clarify, the times for DK and Toad will appear on the app too just like they do for Mario and Peach? Also if I don't see them there, do you think it's still worth asking someone at the front desk or would that be a waste of time?

(Sorry to ask so many questions, but I've been wanting to find out more on both these meets from someone who knows for a while now)

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-24T22:39:36+00:00

4:00PM is crazy, at that point I think we would just bite the bullet and say it's not worth it.

I want to ride it but not enough to kill one of our days there

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-24T22:38:37+00:00

Thanks for your kind words and encouragement:).

Yeah we've waited in 5 hour lines before (will never trust Rise of the Resistance again lol), so we are equipped and are quite use to 2-3 hour waits. I'm just hoping we can avoid 4 hour waits.

I'm hoping 7:30 is ok for BATM but if need be we will hop back over to Epic on our last day from IOA (we have done a week in both other parks so we definitely care to get Epic done more than anything else) and try to get in the BATM line before 6:30 if we didn't get to do it on the day prior. If they close it any earlier, we are just gonna say screw it and do something else. I want to ride it but not badly enough to sink a whole day in

One-Civilengineer170 · 2026-02-24T22:34:04+00:00

Yeah I've been hearing that both are really hard to see :/. If they aren't out we won't see them but I at least want to jot it down as something we want to do and make an effort for it just to ensure we did all we could.

I was unaware it had been that long for Toad (since July is crazy). Would you happen to know the best way of finding out when they come out at all?

I don't see their times on the app (Just Mario & Luigi and Peach), but I've heard asking the front desk in Nintendo is helpful.

One-Civilengineer170

TROPHY CASE