WDW Commando Club

[AirGoofy]

Originally Posted by AirGoofy

I am a WDW Park Commando (against DW's wishes). May I join the club? Why didn't I find this thread earlier?

I guess I need to provide some justification.

My commando day starts before the park opens - 8:05 ADR at CRT, CP, Akershus, or Tusker. I just can't bring myself to do the DHS breakfast yet again. My commando strategy used to involve stocking up on the FPs earlier in the day and using them at the end of the day. It looks like I need to adjust that now.

[Disney Commando]

Originally Posted by AirGoofy

I am a WDW Park Commando (against DW's wishes). May I join the club? Why didn't I find this thread earlier?

Norm, You are member #187, I do know you are a Commando, but I don't know why you didn't find us earlier

[AirGoofy]

Originally Posted by Disney Commando

Norm, You are member #187, I do know you are a Commando, but I don't know why you didn't find us earlier

Thanks. The property values are sure to plummit now.

[twokids0204]

Originally Posted by AirGoofy

Thanks. The property values are sure to plummit now.

Norm...

How could you not have known of this place?

Something tells me though, that post counts in the Commando Club are about to skyrocket.

[Disney Commando]

Originally Posted by AirGoofy

Thanks. The property values are sure to plummit now.

Originally Posted by twokids0204

Norm...

How could you not have known of this place?

Something tells me though, that post counts in the Commando Club are about to skyrocket.

[Disney Commando]

A coworker came up to me today and said I hear your the person to ask about Disney, so I said what do you want to know, she told me she is going the 3rd week in March, so I asked what do you have planned, she said nothing I asked if she had any ADR's, she said no, I asked if this was her 1st trip, she said yes, her and her husband are bringing there 20 something kids for the 1st time, She asked about the books out, but I have not read them so I really couldn't answer, she said she knew I gave some big tips to other coworkers that had a blast, but I had to tell her that they have been there before or had a lot more planning time, I had to be honest with her, I told her if it was me I would be fine, but if you don't know what your getting into, your in for a shock, she was quite surprised when I told her this was not like going to Six Flags or Busch Gardens, I told her I would help with what I can but I will be holding back, since I know for sure they would be overwhelmed if I gave them the full picture

[twokids0204]

Originally Posted by Disney Commando

A coworker came up to me today and said I hear your the person to ask about Disney, so I said what do you want to know, she told me she is going the 3rd week in March, so I asked what do you have planned, she said nothing I asked if she had any ADR's, she said no, I asked if this was her 1st trip, she said yes, her and her husband are bringing there 20 something kids for the 1st time, She asked about the books out, but I have not read them so I really couldn't answer, she said she knew I gave some big tips to other coworkers that had a blast, but I had to tell her that they have been there before or had a lot more planning time, I had to be honest with her, I told her if it was me I would be fine, but if you don't know what your getting into, your in for a shock, she was quite surprised when I told her this was not like going to Six Flags or Busch Gardens, I told her I would help with what I can but I will be holding back, since I know for sure they would be overwhelmed if I gave them the full picture

I've been in the same sitiuation... with co-workers who were going with no planning.

Thing is a LOT of people do that, and still have a good time.

Imagine how much better it would be if they actaully had some really good restaurants booked, or had starategies to beat the lines.

You still can help with a rough touring plan, or tips on getting on the big ticket rides.

i.e. At DHS, make sure you hit TSM first, ToT and RnR (with single rider line if to busy), and ST. On the way to these you will see some smaller attractions and shops, take time to appreciate the little things, but don't miss out on the big attractions. And make time for F! at night.

2 Sentences, and the ball is in their court.

Oh, and explain how Fastpasses work currently, and how they will work first week in March.

[AirGoofy]

Originally Posted by twokids0204

Norm...

How could you not have known of this place?

Something tells me though, that post counts in the Commando Club are about to skyrocket.

Kettle. I don't get over to this forum very often, but looks like I'm here to party.

Originally Posted by Disney Commando

A coworker came up to me today and said I hear your the person to ask about Disney, so I said what do you want to know, she told me she is going the 3rd week in March, so I asked what do you have planned, she said nothing

I have learned to handle these requests as well. They can still have fun, but if you try to overwhelm with stuff, they just shut down.

[AirGoofy]

Originally Posted by Planogirl

As for packing a park bag, I solve that by not bringing one. Light wallet goes in one pocket and cell phone & tiny bottle of sunscreen goes in the other. I try to wear cargo shorts so I can carry what I want without a bag. We breeze right by the bag check area.

DW insists on carrying a bag. It made sense when children were in diapers. But, now that they are 10 & 8, I say no more bag. She disagrees and wins.

Originally Posted by Disney Commando

For my dinner ADR, I usally make for a out of park resturant, this way after dinner it's off to a different park (usally the one with the EMH for the night), then depending on what time it closes off to DTD or the Boardwalk.

the EMH's in the a.m. go back to the resort sometime during the day,hit the pool,take a nap go to dinner and hit the park that has the evening EMH's (this time of year some are open really late) IMO the a.m, and night time are the best times to get alot done.

Losing park time to transportation time to eat? What is this nap thing you speak of? Inconceivable.

Originally Posted by Rekenna

I forgot to mention, a true Commando must be in good shape. Make sure to practice walking before your trip. I always start in on my treadmill, when I have a hard time going I think of Disney and that helps with my workouts. In fact I need to start training right away, I will begin tomorrow!

I'm in terrible shape but still manage commando. Pace yourself - turtle vs hare

Originally Posted by disneyjunkie

I bring a variety of shoes.

Sneakers for early morning/afternoon touring

comfortable flip flops( for me that means they must have an arch) to change into when/if my feet get hot

cute sandals to match dresses/skirts for dinner ADRs.

Don't forget water shoes for water parks/pools

I try to get new pair of shoes before we go for all the walking we're about to do. Crocs for the pool.

Originally Posted by Disney Commando

If you come across unexpected crowds, How do you deal with it

I used to collect FPs in morning and use them in afternoon. Guess I'll need a new strategy.

Originally Posted by AlexWyattMommy

.
PS-I have spray on sunscreen so I can spray the kids and keep moving.

My strategy is to be on more attractions and stay out of the sun. Or, stop in philharmagic, soak up air conditioning, and reapply sunscreen. Not sure how happy others would be with the spray type inside there.

Originally Posted by dvczerfs

i always wondered how many people walk around with that info on a card or paper in there pocket while at the park? if they do, how they set theres up and what it looks like? mine is simple, the day and date on the top. am = m.k pm = epcot. than under each am or pm, i have our adrs and special events. on the bottom right side of the paper i have all four parks hours. the emh times are all ready in the park hours. anyone else carry this info with them??????

What is this paper you speak of? You have an iPhone now!

[AirGoofy]

Originally Posted by scrappinmom

We also do super commando our last day - MUST hit the mountains at MK, TOT and RNR at HS, Everest at AK, and we end with TT and Soarin, then and only then am I ready to get on the plane!

Sounds fun but too much transportation time for me. We just prefer to pick a park and ride the same rides repeatedly.

Originally Posted by icesk8abc

I have meals planned. I have already started running ridemax for similar park days. I will have printed itineraries for every day, with a mini laminated copy for all the adults in the party. While I definitely love sitting on a bench and watching the magic occur, this is a scheduled "ice cream, soda, or other snack" break. I go every other year and absolutely love seeing everything I can each trip.

Don't forget the Dole Whip snack. Pineapple/vanilla swirl is the best.

Originally Posted by stitchywoman

We will be there Aug 15th-21st. I always find it is fun with a group of people that know how to have Disney fun (that's how I got DH hooked, and I ended up getting a Disneymoon out of it).

DW disneymooned there as well. Her first trip and my second trip. No ADRs. No plans. Just fun - commando style - in the parks.

Originally Posted by Disney Commando

MNSSHP 7pm - 12am Halloween Night. most likely the most packed out of all the MNSSHP dates.

The gate opens at 4 with MNSSHP tickets.

Originally Posted by stitchywoman

We get in at 11:30 on the 15th. Planning on going to MK and CRT for dinner...hoping to watch wishes and if we can see any of it spectromagic.

At some point I need to go to shades of green and get the military tickets as it is my way of keeping my no expiration date tickets intact so we can come back. I just found the tickets were still on sale last night and got DH VERY excited about it. This trip is DBFF present for her birthday and Christmas. We are doing the DXDDP..

We did DP and DxDP. I love food, but could not handle it all on DxDP. Plus, we list too much park time to meals. Character dining is a must. That way, you get pics and autographs without standing in line for greets in the parks.

[AirGoofy]

Originally Posted by Minnie Lor

I'm not doing MNSSHP this time. It's a budget trip. We went a couple of years ago and thought it was fabulous. Got a great pic of headless horseman. Also the imagineers did a great job with the lights on Main Street. Everyone should do it once.

What's a budget trip? We have never met a budget yet.

Originally Posted by verygfy

A lot of the reason we haven't done waterparks is we tend to also go in the fall, at Christmas and not really waterpark prime time..

We have done WPs to try them, but not returned. We have Splashin Safari (Holiday World) 30 miles away and their WP rivals WDW.

Originally Posted by APB513

My name is Angela and I AM a Disneyholic

We are lucky as the only treatment for this condition is more trips to WDW.

Originally Posted by Rhongepooh

Yep, forget the maps. . . if you don't have the park layout memorized before you arrive I would question your true mommando-ness!

Absolutely memorized. Although, I tend to get turned around at DHS sometimes.

Originally Posted by Minnie Lor

I'm afraid to report that I failed as a Disney Commando during my solo trip a few weeks ago. I had the big spreadsheet and it never left my pocket. I totally went with the flow and how I felt at the moment.

All in all, it was a very relaxing, non-commando trip. Who knew that you could have fun by slowing down.

Commando can still be spontaneous and slowed down. We never run for rides or other stuff like that. No apologies needed.

[AirGoofy]

Originally Posted by ktjohn

1. Disney in January is the best way to commando! You don't get slowed down by heat or sun! You can accomplish way more when you're cold, because you walk faster to stay warm! Also, we always go in January (leaving in 2 days, actually!!), and we can walk on most all the rides with no lines, no waiting! This means we can frequently ride something 3 or 4 times in a row without waiting more than a few minutes.

Never been in January. We've been in September with no crowds. It is fun walking onto the rides with no wait.

Originally Posted by Disney Commando

Nice We are charter card members and we try to pay it off every month, since we usally have a trip planned with 0% for 6months we can hold off up to a certain amount if it's a tight month

So far we have cashed out at least $2500 in reward dollars since it started, that's like free money I love it when they do the 3x or 5x promo's, we make sure we bang it in

We use ours to buy MNSSHP tickets.

Originally Posted by juliebug1997

While I know that I could plan my trip down to the minute with the proposed new system, I'm not sure I like it either. I let dining dictate most of our schedule. We'll see how this all works out. It could be several years before any of this even comes to fruition.

We do this as well as we don't do park hopper.

[AirGoofy]

50 pages skimmed and I haven't seen this trick offered yet. How many do single rider lines? Yes, we ride separately, one parent goes first and waits at exit for each child, but you beat the line. Also, sometimes 1 dd doesn't want to ride and will hang with other parent in exit shopping area while other parent and other child ride single rider.

[AirGoofy]

Originally Posted by Disney Commando

WOW I just read that when Star Tours reopens it will have over 50 random destinations They are making a Galactic Passport to keep track of the destinations visited

I wonder how long it will be before someone has done them all,

We did 3 trips, one where Darth Vader uses the force to stop the ship. That was really cool.

Originally Posted by supersuperwendy

It's so hard to be a commando and a DVC member! Most DVC members slow down in the parks or skip the parks etc. We are the total opposite. My poor brain nearly exploded today with planning. We can change our DVC reservations for our Dec. trip in 2 days. This morning I went into overdrive trying to come up with a plan! Most DVCers wouldn't take into consideration making rope drop when deciding on what resort to stay at! Thinking about BWV my husband was like..well we could leave early, skip the boat and walk to be at the front of the pack at DHS. Thinking well..how would rope drop be from the international gateway? We went over the transportation times and possibilities from every dvc resort to every park haha. We need an intervention!!!!

We have slowed commando since being DVC, as we do one commando day at the park and one day at the resort. But, we pick which parks based on where we are staying. When we do BLT, we are doing MK, MNSSHP, and Epcot. When at BWV, we do DHS and Epcot. We don't do AK very often.

Originally Posted by DisDadDoc

There's no show, Ron, but the kids go into the storytime area and interact with Rapunzel as a group and dance with her. Seems more fun than storytime with Belle, but we didn't go in (just watched part of it from a distance- those lines are long!)!

We waited an hour at lunch time in October for Rapunzel. DW went to get lunch and all 4 ate while we waited in line.

[AirGoofy]

Originally Posted by supersuperwendy

Ok Commandos.....Who else is already planning their 2012 trip? I am!!! I've already made a list of ADRs for next summer!!!

Waiting on my waitlist right now to make plans. Only 1 trip planned to WDW this year.

Originally Posted by LAS321

We have been trying to get to DTD and have ice cream at Ghiradelli's after a QS dinner. This year we have built that in after EMH at MK in the morning and breakfast at Crystal Palace, then back to the resort for some "down time" and to DTD at night. It seems like a good plan, but it might be tough to have that much time out of the parks...

We include a day at DTD in our trip. That can be commando as well. We did the Characters in Flight balloon ride last year. Fun!