***Official November 2014 thread***

[Ferrentinos]

Does anyone have a REALLY good spreadsheet that you use to help plan and wouldn't mine sharing?
I usually use a pretty simple one in Google Drive. I don't like to plan down to the hour, but I like to have a pretty good idea of what the day will hold (especially with DS2). I am a VERY visual person and like to have everything laid out in front of me.

I created a chart on Word that I use for initial planning - but I'm not sure how to share it with you! Any ideas?

 

[DisLadyPA]

I created a chart on Word that I use for initial planning - but I'm not sure how to share it with you! Any ideas?

Could you take a snip of the chart? That should make it a jpg that you could upload.

 

[Ferrentinos]

Could you take a snip of the chart? That should make it a jpg that you could upload.

wow... I feel dumb... I'm not sure I know how to do any of that!!!

Basically I have a column for each day - with the a row with the following headers: Breakfast, AM Plans, Lunch, Afternoon Plans, Dinner, PM Plans

 

[DisLadyPA]

wow... I feel dumb... I'm not sure I know how to do any of that!!!

No worries! That sounds similar to what I currently use. Thanks for the info!

 

[AeroKU]

Does anyone have a REALLY good spreadsheet that you use to help plan and wouldn't mine sharing?
I usually use a pretty simple one in Google Drive. I don't like to plan down to the hour, but I like to have a pretty good idea of what the day will hold (especially with DS2). I am a VERY visual person and like to have everything laid out in front of me.

Here's mine. If you like it, I could email you a copy that you can change around to fit your needs.

 

[Jonesloonybin]

Here's mine. If you like it, I could email you a copy that you can change around to fit your needs.

Wow, that is great! Looks like we will be there at the same time. 11/9 is our arrival day.

 

[mickeyplanner]

We went Thanksgiving week a couple of years ago and loved it. It's cool in the mornings and at night but the daytime is lovely. We didn't get any rain that week, which was nice. A little too cold for pools and water rides IMO (but we're from Texas, so 70 is kind of chilly) but there is a lot of other things to do. Thanksgiving Day is pretty busy of course, but we were able to enjoy a day at MK and have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at CRT. Many restaurants have the traditional meal for that day, so check around if you're there that day. It's usually suggested that you avoid MK on that day because it's the busiest park of the day and Epcot and AK can hold more people better so it doesn't seem as crowded. The longest lines we saw were for the monorail and of course FP for Soarin and TSMM ran out quickly. That won't be an issue with FP+ now though, so just make sure you make your reservations when you can. The holiday decorations are awesome, especially the Castle and the Osborne lights. Photographers were every 5 feet, so if you want your picture taken that's a great time to do it. We did our family Christmas pictures there that year, which was nice. They don't do MVMCP or the Candlelight Processional that week, so if those are on your list you'll have to arrive early or stay late. There aren't any discounts that week either, so again you'll have to arrive early or stay late to try to get some kind of discount. It's not as bad as Christmas/New Years but probably on par with Spring Break.

Have fun! Maybe we'll see you there.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I tentatively have us going to HS on Thanksgiving and would like to get at 50s prime time and see the lights that night to really start the holiday season. We are a rope drop family and hope to do that during our Thanksgiving trip, take a pool break after lunch since we are from PA...70 is hot for us. Then use FP+ for the evenings in the parks. But now having the option to get more passes I am not sure what we will do.

Hey Mickeyplanner! We go over Thanksgiving but we avoid the parks and wait until the week after to hit them up. Last year, however, we broke our own rule and went to MK the day before Thanksgiving and it was Very crowded. We lasted a whole 2 hours and left. We only did restaurants at resorts and did a couple days at DTD over Thanksgiving. If you plan to go to the parks, I recommend you check out a crowd calendar, as they can steer you towards the best days to visit each park. All the Christmas decorations will be up, as well as the holiday music playing throughout the parks. We also really enjoy visiting the resorts and checking out their Christmas trees and specially made holiday decor. Also, for Thanksgiving dinner we did Cape May Cafe and it was great! Haven't decided where to go this year yet. Overall, You will have a great time! Enjoy!

Thank you for sharing your experiences. We leave on Black Friday evening so we can't avoid the parks. I am hoping rope drop and FP+ help us out. I am debating if we should even go in the parks in the evening or if we do I know we will avoid night entertainment except for the lights.

 

[DisLadyPA]

Here's mine. If you like it, I could email you a copy that you can change around to fit your needs.

Wow! That's great, thanks so much! That gives me some great ideas on how to revamp my spreadsheet!

 

[squirrel4569]

Preliminary reports are we're moving our resort to Pop and adding a day to take advantage of Free Dining. We can save nearly $500 by adding a day with FD vs a shorter stay without. We'll be at Pop instead of AoA, but I think that amount of money is worth it.

 

[LucyBC80]

Does anyone have a REALLY good spreadsheet that you use to help plan and wouldn't mine sharing?
I usually use a pretty simple one in Google Drive. I don't like to plan down to the hour, but I like to have a pretty good idea of what the day will hold (especially with DS2). I am a VERY visual person and like to have everything laid out in front of me.

Here's the one I use, made it mysefl from scratch:

If you're interested I can upload the Excel file somewhere.

 

[RejoyceoverDisney]

Congratulations to your son! AP courses are great for that reason alone. He should really capitalize on that momentum and graduate early. I was in a similar position due to AP credits, and a wonderful counselor advised me to grab the degree and go. Saved me a year of college and $20,000! Best wishes on your son landing a summer job!

Thank you!!! Ya if he didn't have a merit scholarship his one semester is $20,000. and his apartment will be paid up for the whole year, so in the end he'll save about $6K....which is nothing to discard but..... If that makes sense.
As I said to my husband it might be to his benefit to stay if there are classes he wants to take because it will be cheaper to get the classes done at this time than to take them part time later.
He really has to set up a meeting with the department head and go over his options and make some decisions. I think this weekend he got a better understanding of his gifts and future. yay.
Oh and the interview had a snag of the manager going home sick, but she scheduled one for him this Friday.
And he was offered some potential work hours by the land lord of his Apartment that is being renovated starting next week to help the contractor. So that's cool too. $$ is nice but so is the experiences for the resume.

LOL you're too funny! Should have said "let me know when you finally convince your hubby!!!!" lol You can do it!!!

Giggles, DH put on the Destination channel and was watching a Disney show tonight. The only reason I wish I could book now is I can get flights for about $160 round trip for the week I'm interested in. pout. And I know by the time I'm ready to book the prices will double. Oh well. Where there's a will it will happen. Positive vibes.


If FD comes out the week we want to go, we'll get that back just in the free dining.The suspense. LOL

 

[squirrel4569]

If FD comes out the week we want to go, we'll get that back just in the free dining.The suspense. LOL

What dates were you planning on going? FD is going to open up May 1 for Disney Visa holders and May 7 for the public.

 

[RejoyceoverDisney]

What dates were you planning on going? FD is going to open up May 1 for Disney Visa holders and May 7 for the public.

Pout, I know. I just saw that. I thought Fall would not be announced until July so I figured I had convincing time to go. Sigh. Pressure.
And well the dates I saw.....doesn't look like we'll get free dining.
I was looking at the week of November 2-6th with wiggle room depending on what happened with the flights. Right now if I come home on the 6th the flight is $75. But only 2 seats left. pout.

Our anniversary is the 5th. That's the only reason I wanted that week. I wanted to be away on our anniversary. Well since that isn't going to give discount, then I'll have to readjust.

If it's meant to be then when I do finally get the green light to book, something will be available. We aren't even sure how many days we will go at this point so.....

Great I'll be playing with the sight now to see prices. geesh

 

[mrsap]

Pout, I know. I just saw that. I thought Fall would not be announced until July so I figured I had convincing time to go. Sigh. Pressure.
And well the dates I saw.....doesn't look like we'll get free dining.
I was looking at the week of November 2-6th with wiggle room depending on what happened with the flights. Right now if I come home on the 6th the flight is $75. But only 2 seats left. pout.

Our anniversary is the 5th. That's the only reason I wanted that week. I wanted to be away on our anniversary. Well since that isn't going to give discount, then I'll have to readjust.

If it's meant to be then when I do finally get the green light to book, something will be available. We aren't even sure how many days we will go at this point so.....

Great I'll be playing with the sight now to see prices. geesh

That's not an official announcement... So don't get upset until its actually announced by Disney! There's still hope!!

 

[CaraMiaBelle]

Pout, I know. I just saw that. I thought Fall would not be announced until July so I figured I had convincing time to go. Sigh. Pressure.
And well the dates I saw.....doesn't look like we'll get free dining.
I was looking at the week of November 2-6th with wiggle room depending on what happened with the flights. Right now if I come home on the 6th the flight is $75. But only 2 seats left. pout.

Our anniversary is the 5th. That's the only reason I wanted that week. I wanted to be away on our anniversary. Well since that isn't going to give discount, then I'll have to readjust.

If it's meant to be then when I do finally get the green light to book, something will be available. We aren't even sure how many days we will go at this point so.....

Great I'll be playing with the sight now to see prices. geesh

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

 

[RejoyceoverDisney]

That's not an official announcement... So don't get upset until its actually announced by Disney! There's still hope!!

Only pouting. Not upset at all. My life has so many up in the air things that I'm really not ready to book right now anyway. I hope the offer "Lives" for a while so I can get other things in order before the drop dead have to book.

Last time we went with my girlfriend and her husband, so we had "have to" from all 4 of us to work around. The only have to is to make sure I have someone to stay with my son.

I can't remember. Does the FD work that as long as you arrive on a date that's in free dining you get it the whole stay? Or you have to be there within the windows? Time to go back and look at flight info.

If I did book something (not flights) is there a time period that I have to change my mind and cancel? For some reason I thought I had until final payment at 45 days.

Lots to consider. Oh and Room only would work fine for me on the week I wanted.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Thank you!!! Ya if he didn't have a merit scholarship his one semester is $20,000. and his apartment will be paid up for the whole year, so in the end he'll save about $6K....which is nothing to discard but..... If that makes sense.
As I said to my husband it might be to his benefit to stay if there are classes he wants to take because it will be cheaper to get the classes done at this time than to take them part time later.
He really has to set up a meeting with the department head and go over his options and make some decisions. I think this weekend he got a better understanding of his gifts and future. yay.
Oh and the interview had a snag of the manager going home sick, but she scheduled one for him this Friday.
And he was offered some potential work hours by the land lord of his Apartment that is being renovated starting next week to help the contractor. So that's cool too. $$ is nice but so is the experiences for the resume.

Good for him! Sounds like alot going on in his near and distant future!

What dates were you planning on going? FD is going to open up May 1 for Disney Visa holders and May 7 for the public.

I saw the rumors, but are we sure the release won't only be through September? I really hope they release plans through December, but that hasn't been their customary pattern.

I can't remember. Does the FD work that as long as you arrive on a date that's in free dining you get it the whole stay? Or you have to be there within the windows? Time to go back and look at flight info.

If I did book something (not flights) is there a time period that I have to change my mind and cancel? For some reason I thought I had until final payment at 45 days.

Lots to consider. Oh and Room only would work fine for me on the week I wanted.

For free dining, the dates released are usually check-in dates. So, as long as you check-in under those dates, you get free dining for the whole stay. And yes, you can cancel packages 45 days or more prior with no penalty. Between 2-44 days, the penalty is $200, but there is no refund at all for cancellations made 1 day or less prior to arrival.

 

[RejoyceoverDisney]

Good for him! Sounds like alot going on in his near and distant future!

I saw the rumors, but are we sure the release won't only be through September? I really hope they release plans through December, but that hasn't been their customary pattern.

For free dining, the dates released are usually check-in dates. So, as long as you check-in under those dates, you get free dining for the whole stay. And yes, you can cancel packages 45 days or more prior with no penalty. Between 2-44 days, the penalty is $200, but there is no refund at all for cancellations made 1 day or less prior to arrival.

Thanks. I'll have to plot that out and see what options I have to get there the week before. I now am going to find the offer.
I know I won't be calling today. Too much to figure out first. But good to know the offers are being put out there.

Edit: got confused for a minute and was thinking the offer for DV was today. Good gives me another day to think about maybe booking offer but not flights since I can cancel if it's not going to work with Respite help.
I can see Hubby rolling his eyes tonight. We'll see. I'm just not comfortable booking and was hoping I could wait a couple months so although it's exciting now, disappointing I didn't get to buy some extra time.

 

[squirrel4569]

I saw the rumors, but are we sure the release won't only be through September? I really hope they release plans through December, but that hasn't been their customary pattern.

For free dining, the dates released are usually check-in dates. So, as long as you check-in under those dates, you get free dining for the whole stay. And yes, you can cancel packages 45 days or more prior with no penalty. Between 2-44 days, the penalty is $200, but there is no refund at all for cancellations made 1 day or less prior to arrival.

Is the Discounts board Joe Black is pretty confident that it will be offered for the rest of the year, September through December. He's been pretty spot on in the past. It's always possible he could be wrong and it is a deviation from the past so we'll see tomorrow.

Thanks. I'll have to plot that out and see what options I have to get there the week before. I now am going to find the offer.
I know I won't be calling today. Too much to figure out first. But good to know the offers are being put out there.

Edit: got confused for a minute and was thinking the offer for DV was today. Good gives me another day to think about maybe booking offer but not flights since I can cancel if it's not going to work with Respite help.
I can see Hubby rolling his eyes tonight. We'll see. I'm just not comfortable booking and was hoping I could wait a couple months so although it's exciting now, disappointing I didn't get to buy some extra time.

I'm going to switch my booking and look at flights for a while. Right now I'm pretty confident we're driving but my wife wants to fly so we don't have to take the kids out of school any longer than needed.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Is the Discounts board Joe Black is pretty confident that it will be offered for the rest of the year, September through December. He's been pretty spot on in the past. It's always possible he could be wrong and it is a deviation from the past so we'll see tomorrow.

Thanks! I think for those of us who will only go with free dining, releasing it throught the end of the year makes it sooo much easier to pick a date. Since the dates are about what I was expecting, November is looking like a lock for us. Can't wait till its confirmed shortly!