***1st Week of December Thread ADR Plans, Park Hours, and dealing with Pop Warner***

[Mintycake]

12/4 is one of our MK days! We're probably doing EMM the first time on 11/29, but there's a chance we'll love it so much we'll book it again for 12/4 or 12/6.

Yup I'm at MK that day too but we aren't doing EMM because we have PPO at BOG. Since we've never ridden Mine Train before I figure we'll just FP it.

Whoever said their DH said this was too much work for a vacation, my DH said the exact same thing. He totally doesn't get it. Could we go to Disney without planning? Sure, but we won't get as much done and we will be waiting a lot, which he hates. Sometimes I wish he would just appreciate all the work I'm doing!

OK...
1.When is your FP+ window open? Oct. 3

2.When are you planning to book your FP+ for 7DMT? (and how many are you booking?) Probably first MK day (12/4) and possibly as well for 12/7 again. I figure I can always drop it if DD hates the ride. Since 12/4 is a party day I'll be booking around 11am, for 12/7 it doesn't really matter as long as it's not first thing in the morning.

3.When are you planning to book your FP+ for FEA? (and how many are you booking?) Booking for both 12/5 and 12/6 and whatever time I can get. But hoping to do early afternoon or early evening 12/5 and then early afternoon 12/6.

4.What is your third most important FP+? I have to give this one some thought. Probably Rapunzel/Tiana meet. It seems harder to get and I can hopefully cover Cinderella/Aurora at Akershus. As a backup, we have 1900 Park Fare which has Cinderella and I believe Aurora still meets somewhere in the MK? Given we have 3 MK days, I have 9 FP+ to use. I'm thinking the Princesses will take priority over a second mine train. But with the PPO BOG, I think we might head to PP first (hoping all the EMM people are done with it) OR PFH first for Cinderella/Aurora. I just heard the line for Pan builds quickly, but so does the Princess line. We also want to do Merida first thing too so not sure if that should take priority since I can FP the other two options. Since I will be covering Fantasyland and Tomorrowland the first day, then part of Fantasyland and Haunted Mansion etc the other day I will leave it to FP. Fronteirland will be our last day since it's our shortest day in the park.

 

[Candycane83]

I can't believe none of the parties have sold out yet. It sure makes me wonder what's going on. I'm trying not to get my hopes up for lower crowds during our trip, but it's soooo hard not to!

I agree... Seems like there's so many conflicting info too. All resorts are full and ADRs seem difficult to get... But Disney is reducing and removing entertainment,and none of the parties are sold out yet... I wonder if they sell out closer to the date and it's still too far out?

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

I can't believe none of the parties have sold out yet. It sure makes me wonder what's going on. I'm trying not to get my hopes up for lower crowds during our trip, but it's soooo hard not to!

I hear ya. I saw on another thread that someone was looking for a Standard room at any of the values and couldn't find any available for early Dec. Not encouraging news but to be fair I know Pop Warner tends to gobble up a good portion of the Value Resorts.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I wonder if it's all the off-site hotels that are seeing depressed bookings. Maybe people who tend to stay off-site are more likely to vacation elsewhere if they don't like what they see Disney doing or are worried about Zika (I've seen lots of people say how safe they feel from Zika at Disney, but would they feel so safe if they were staying at the local Holiday Inn or renting a condo?) or feel the price hikes are just too much. I mean, maybe they aren't as invested in the Disney "magic" as the on-site visitors? Just a couple thoughts.

 

[SilSprBea]

Hi everyone! I feel like I've missed so much. I had some computer issues-- I mostly use my laptop for being on here because it's easier to post from it than my iPad or iPhone, but my browser kept crashing/freezing on the disboards site, and the Disney site. I think it thought I was thinking Disney too much. I had my browser reinstalled and it all seems to be working now, so back!

So, I know I'm like 20 pages behind and wanted to get caught up before posting, but here is my introduction:

Our Disney trip is 12/4-12/10, and we're staying at POR in a royal room. Our traveling party is me (Beatrice), DH, DD who will turn 5 on our trip, and DS who is 3. It's the kids first time to Disney ever, and while I've been to Disney so many times I've never stayed on property so super excited. It'll be my DH's 2nd trip to Disney and him I'm nervous about because he HATES Disney. We went about 6 years ago to Orlando because I wanted to go to Harry Potter world and we also visited HS and Epcot. He liked Universal enough, but really hated Epcot and HS. That was all pre-kids, so I'm hoping he puts on his happy face for the kiddos! My BFF and her DD (also 3) is joining us for the second half of our trip. She just adopted a little girl and I haven't met her DD yet, so I'm so thrilled we get to do Disney together as our first introduction!

We live in the DC area and we're driving down to Florida for about a 10 day trip. I think I've posted my agenda before, but here goes again:

12/1-- Leave and sleep along the way
12/2-- Drive and sleep in Cocoa Beach
12/3-- Kennedy Space Center in the AM. Sleep in Cocoa Beach
12/4-- Head over to Orlando after check-out. Check-in at POR and head over to MK for a few hours. Dinner at CHef Mickey and view fireworks at Poly Beach
12/5-- Rope drop MK and spend the morning there. Return to hotel for a long break. Back to MK for BOG dinner and fireworks
12/6-- Later start to HS (maybe around 10:30). Fantasmic Disney Jr lunch at H&V. Likely will FP Toystory, Tower of Teror, and Star Tours. Will supplement with SDFP if available
12/7-- THis is my daughter's birthday! We will RD Epcot and spend the AM touring Future World. Back to hotel for a long break and back to Epcot for Akershus Princess dinner. Our hope is to FP FEA in the PM if we can make it work and to meet Ana and Elsa around dinner time. We will see Illuminations. Not sure what our other FP will be yet since FEA is 1st priority!
12/8-- My friend joins us. We will get a later start at AK. I have both lunch and dinner reservations at Tusker House, but not sure how our day will play out yet. I think a lot depends on if there is River of Lights. This is my most up in the air day.
12/9-- Rope drop MK. Lunch at Crystal Palace. More rides in the PM and then go to Disney Springs in the evening. Probably via boat from POR and eat at Wolfgang Express.
12/10-- Check out and breakfast at Cape May for Minnie's Beach Bash. We'll hang out until it's time to leave for our train ride home. The auto train will be another adventure for our family since we've never done it before!

 

[Mintycake]

I wonder if it's all the off-site hotels that are seeing depressed bookings. Maybe people who tend to stay off-site are more likely to vacation elsewhere if they don't like what they see Disney doing or are worried about Zika (I've seen lots of people say how safe they feel from Zika at Disney, but would they feel so safe if they were staying at the local Holiday Inn or renting a condo?) or feel the price hikes are just too much. I mean, maybe they aren't as invested in the Disney "magic" as the on-site visitors? Just a couple thoughts.

Let's face it. Disney is an expensive vacation and if you aren't a planner and not seeing the value in staying on site, it's very tempting to stay offsite. I don't know anyone personally who has ever stayed onsite, and the only reason we're doing it is because we get a travel agent discount through my husband, which brings the price down to approximately what we'd pay at a high end hotel per night. But it also allows us not to have to rent a car or worry about transportation, and the biggest selling point to me was being able to walk to the parks (we're at BC). Most people on this board are very lucky that they can usually afford multiple trips to Disney in their lifetime whereas the average person is lucky if they make it once (if ever!) I also think Pop Warner ate up a lot of the Value rooms and the remainder went to those who can afford them. Either that or the "packages" got booked (disney room, meal plan, tickets) ate up a lot of the onsite resos.

 

[Candycane83]

I wonder if it's all the off-site hotels that are seeing depressed bookings. Maybe people who tend to stay off-site are more likely to vacation elsewhere if they don't like what they see Disney doing or are worried about Zika (I've seen lots of people say how safe they feel from Zika at Disney, but would they feel so safe if they were staying at the local Holiday Inn or renting a condo?) or feel the price hikes are just too much. I mean, maybe they aren't as invested in the Disney "magic" as the on-site visitors? Just a couple thoughts.

That seems plausible... I'm wondering if jersey week and veteran's day will be a better gauge of the crowds.

 

[Lisa F]

Assignment #2:
Assuming everyone will have at least one day in each park, what are your top 3 FP+ for each park?

Just dropping in to say hi everyone!!!
I feel like the calendar is moving soooo slooooowww the closer we get to December!!!

I'm getting really psyched for our MVMCP night. I just took a look at wait times tonight for MNSSHP. Most every ride is 10 minutes or less.

7DMT-10
Space-5
Haunted Mansion-15
Splash-10
Pirates-15
Buzz-10
Magic Carpets-10
Dumbo-10
Oddly enough Tomorrowland Speedway-30

They also have treat locations (as well as characters) for MNSSHP marked on the map in MDE which I thought was pretty cool.

The speedway always seems to have crazy waits to me. I think it is just SO popular with the little ones and it just has kind of limited capacity and loads so slowly. I bet that will drop off as the night goes on and little ones are conking out for bed. Haunted Mansion probably will not have as big of a wait at the xmas party as it does at the halloween party either. EVERYONE wants to go on it for Halloween!

 

[Candycane83]

Assignment #2:
Assuming everyone will have at least one day in each park, what are your top 3 FP+ for each park?

The speedway always seems to have crazy waits to me. I think it is just SO popular with the little ones and it just has kind of limited capacity and loads so slowly. I bet that will drop off as the night goes on and little ones are conking out for bed. Haunted Mansion probably will not have as big of a wait at the xmas party as it does at the halloween party either. EVERYONE wants to go on it for Halloween!

I'm betting what's haunted mansion for Halloween, it'll be jungle cruise for Xmas

 

[areno79]

Hi everyone! I feel like I've missed so much. I had some computer issues-- I mostly use my laptop for being on here because it's easier to post from it than my iPad or iPhone, but my browser kept crashing/freezing on the disboards site, and the Disney site. I think it thought I was thinking Disney too much. I had my browser reinstalled and it all seems to be working now, so back!

So, I know I'm like 20 pages behind and wanted to get caught up before posting, but here is my introduction:

Our Disney trip is 12/4-12/10, and we're staying at POR in a royal room. Our traveling party is me (Beatrice), DH, DD who will turn 5 on our trip, and DS who is 3. It's the kids first time to Disney ever, and while I've been to Disney so many times I've never stayed on property so super excited. It'll be my DH's 2nd trip to Disney and him I'm nervous about because he HATES Disney. We went about 6 years ago to Orlando because I wanted to go to Harry Potter world and we also visited HS and Epcot. He liked Universal enough, but really hated Epcot and HS. That was all pre-kids, so I'm hoping he puts on his happy face for the kiddos! My BFF and her DD (also 3) is joining us for the second half of our trip. She just adopted a little girl and I haven't met her DD yet, so I'm so thrilled we get to do Disney together as our first introduction!

We live in the DC area and we're driving down to Florida for about a 10 day trip. I think I've posted my agenda before, but here goes again:

12/1-- Leave and sleep along the way
12/2-- Drive and sleep in Cocoa Beach
12/3-- Kennedy Space Center in the AM. Sleep in Cocoa Beach
12/4-- Head over to Orlando after check-out. Check-in at POR and head over to MK for a few hours. Dinner at CHef Mickey and view fireworks at Poly Beach
12/5-- Rope drop MK and spend the morning there. Return to hotel for a long break. Back to MK for BOG dinner and fireworks
12/6-- Later start to HS (maybe around 10:30). Fantasmic Disney Jr lunch at H&V. Likely will FP Toystory, Tower of Teror, and Star Tours. Will supplement with SDFP if available
12/7-- THis is my daughter's birthday! We will RD Epcot and spend the AM touring Future World. Back to hotel for a long break and back to Epcot for Akershus Princess dinner. Our hope is to FP FEA in the PM if we can make it work and to meet Ana and Elsa around dinner time. We will see Illuminations. Not sure what our other FP will be yet since FEA is 1st priority!
12/8-- My friend joins us. We will get a later start at AK. I have both lunch and dinner reservations at Tusker House, but not sure how our day will play out yet. I think a lot depends on if there is River of Lights. This is my most up in the air day.
12/9-- Rope drop MK. Lunch at Crystal Palace. More rides in the PM and then go to Disney Springs in the evening. Probably via boat from POR and eat at Wolfgang Express.
12/10-- Check out and breakfast at Cape May for Minnie's Beach Bash. We'll hang out until it's time to leave for our train ride home. The auto train will be another adventure for our family since we've never done it before!

We have dinner at Chef Mickeys on 12/4 and at BOG on 12/5 too!

 

[Iowamomof4]

That seems plausible... I'm wondering if jersey week and veteran's day will be a better gauge of the crowds.

That and Columbus Day and all of Food & Wine and, and, and... pretty much everything from the middle of this week until we arrive. I mean, July 4th was DEAD compared to normal this year! No one could have predicted that. It's hard to say if that was a result of some of the events that had occurred just before that (gator and terrorism) or if it was a sign of things to come for the rest of the year. Seems like Labor Day weekend experienced a decent bump, so we'll see.

 

[Lisa F]

I wonder if it's all the off-site hotels that are seeing depressed bookings. Maybe people who tend to stay off-site are more likely to vacation elsewhere if they don't like what they see Disney doing or are worried about Zika (I've seen lots of people say how safe they feel from Zika at Disney, but would they feel so safe if they were staying at the local Holiday Inn or renting a condo?) or feel the price hikes are just too much. I mean, maybe they aren't as invested in the Disney "magic" as the on-site visitors? Just a couple thoughts.

I've kind of been saying this all along. Even if every room at every disney resort is booked up full due to all of the promos disney has run (mostly free dining, which also accounts for the ADRs being booked up as well... and then the only blackout period for the free dining is pretty much while pop warner is there so they are filling a ton of value and moderate rooms that might otherwise go unfilled without the free dining promo) but none of the offsite hotels are that full, the parks still won't be that full. Park capacity is way beyond hotel capacity. Universal is running promos through end of March (they keep going through my FB feed). It was slow in the summer, it is slow right now (and I know everyone says this is a slow time but i went September 19-26 in 2014 and the place was packed, the party was packed, everything felt packed! I did fine with FP's on what we wanted to ride but I was not expecting the amount of waits I saw posted at most of the rides) and I don't see why everyone thinks it will SUDDENLY be packed first two weeks of December. Josh at easywdw said he is basically no longer doing crowd calendars because it is impossible to predict and anyone who is posting them is making a wild guess... that Disney had previously been releasing crowd information to bloggers but has been tight lipped for the past several months, probably because attendance is down and they do not want to post the numbers about exactly how much because it might freak out investors.

Attendance is down for a lot of reasons - foreigners can't afford it due to their own economies, the zika virus thing and honestly the alligator thing didn't do them any favors either. Disney has also been raising prices like gangbusters lately and they may have found the point at which attendance starts to finally decline in response. This $79 admission for up to 6 people with an AP thing is not something I've heard of before IMO and is a sure sign to me that attendance is still down and predicted to be down for the near future (through the end of the month). The loss of MSEP right before the christmas season says to me that they are not expecting enough admission to carry the costs on it either. I think we are going to see an uptick for food & wine though, people love that and it runs concurrently with MNSSHP, which makes it a GREAT time to go (we went before F&W opened last time...or it opened on our last friday, but that is not something kiddo would enjoy so we ignored it... F&W is opening much earlier this year). I think that is why we are seeing more FP+ gone at the 30 day window, like peter pan... also because that falls over a holiday weekend.

Anyway early december has always been a good time to go. moderate crowds (to me "low" crowds are like, january/february when the weather is cold and miserable and there is nothing going on special at all) with all the christmas stuff. I expect it will be like that. I don't think suddenly everyone who didn't go over the summer or in the fall is going to go that week. I think we are seeing a trend. JMHO of course, I could be talking out my butt.

 

[SilSprBea]

NEW TOPIC (or assignment rather):

I know a lot of people are feeling overwhelmed about the 60 day window and FP+ booking so here is a way to start:

When is your FP+ window open?
When are you planning to book your FP+ for 7DMT? (and how many are you booking?)
When are you planning to book your FP+ for FEA? (and how many are you booking?)
What is your third most important FP+?

IMO if you can answer these 3 questions, you will be fine for booking at the 60 day window. ANYTHING else truly can be changed around with quite some time. I just checked FP+ for 30 days out and it is available for everything except those two. Maybe not every time all day but it is available. Also it's good to discuss our thoughts.

For me, I will go first.

mine opens 10/3

I have 3 MK "days" when I can book FP+ and I'm honestly not sure what I should aim for at this point. They are toward the end of my trip, so that is actually a good thing I think. I am not fussed about when I get it - last time we went we rode it in the morning of our last day because it was all I could get. I think I might aim for sometime during our last day as well - because the other two times I will be there after dark. Does anyone know if this is better during the day or after dark? I actually have no idea. I may book it once at night and once during the day but I don't remember it being my favorite.

For FEA I have decided to target the 7:30-8:30 time frame on my epcot day. I know that is specific but I think it will be easier to grab one later in the day (most people with princesses who are dying to ride it are going to want to grab it earlier in the day I think) than hinge my plans on getting it first thing. I know this pretty much kills my ability to get a 4th FP+ for the day but with SDFP I think I can manage the rest of the Epcot day ok. I am just planning for the one FP+ - kiddo is not frozen crazy but he is Soarin' crazy and I admit it is one of my all time favorite rides too... we are going to both RD it and FP+ it on two separate days.

My 3rd FP+ that I feel is important to book is the 9am Safari (or close to it) on my AK day. Checking availability 30 days out, the early morning safaris go first - the first available for me 30 days out is 12:10am. This is kind of important to the flow of my AK day because I plan to do EMH and do the dinoland stuff and then do safari before my 9:45TH breakfast. There are a few shows I want to fit in and it is kind of a short day so cross your fingers. I'm a little nervous because it is the first day of my vacation so more likely to overlap with people who are from the previous week and will have already booked the good safaris!

Who's next? Would love some input on 7DMT because I am truly at a loss as to how to plan my MK days! anyone else have any feelings about what are better daytime vs. nighttime rides?

Question #1-- Our FP window opens on October 5th. I'm a little nervous about it. I was scared and feeling over my head when I booked my trip that I paid for concierge service when I booked my trip so that my travel agent would do all my reservations and FP, but now that I'm terrified that she won't log in right at 7 and won't target FEA first. I'd do it myself but I already committed to paying her for this service.

Question #2-- We will likely try for 7DMT all three days we will be in the MK-- 12/4, 12/5 and 12/9. I think my kids will really enjoy riding it and will love it. I'm confidant in being able to get it on 12/9 because it is deeper in our trip. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get it 12/4 since it is a lighter day and a party day, but not so optimistic about 12/5.

Question #3-- We will try for FEA on 12/7, which is our 3rd day on our trip. Like I mentioned above, this is our top priority. We will only be in Epcot one day on my daughter's 5th birthday and she's obsessed with Frozen! I'd be heartbroken if we can't get it and I know my husband won't be on board for waiting in line!

Question #4-- Not sure on the next one, but maybe Toy Story at HS. I really wanted to ride this last time I went to HS but the lines were always super long. I think my kids would love this so this will likely be my 3rd priority.

 

[Candycane83]

That and Columbus Day and all of Food & Wine and, and, and... pretty much everything from the middle of this week until we arrive. I mean, July 4th was DEAD compared to normal this year! No one could have predicted that. It's hard to say if that was a result of some of the events that had occurred just before that (gator and terrorism) or if it was a sign of things to come for the rest of the year. Seems like Labor Day weekend experienced a decent bump, so we'll see.

Does food and wine start this week? Yeah crowds this year seems really off,
Summer seems so slow compared to usual. I guess we have to watch what happens from now and plan plan plan! If only work would slow down a little so I could plan more

 

[SilSprBea]

We have dinner at Chef Mickeys on 12/4 and at BOG on 12/5 too!

Really @areno79 what times? Maybe we'll wave to you! We have BOG at 7:10 on 12/5 and right now Chef Mickey at 7:40, but I'm trying to get it a little earlier (not by much, but maybe around 7-7:15) to make sure we have enough time to get to Poly for fireworks viewing!

 

[Iowamomof4]

Assignment #2:
Assuming everyone will have at least one day in each park, what are your top 3 FP+ for each park?

MK: 7DMT, BTMRR, Space Mountain
Epcot: FEA, Spaceship:Earth, Mission:Space (for DH and the boys) (we'll only do S:E and M:S once each)
AK: Kilimanjaro Safari, DINOSAUR, EE
DHS: TSMM, ST, ToT, and then we'll do RNRC for our 2nd day instead of TSMM

 

[areno79]

Assignment #2:
Assuming everyone will have at least one day in each park, what are your top 3 FP+ for each park?

The speedway always seems to have crazy waits to me. I think it is just SO popular with the little ones and it just has kind of limited capacity and loads so slowly. I bet that will drop off as the night goes on and little ones are conking out for bed. Haunted Mansion probably will not have as big of a wait at the xmas party as it does at the halloween party either. EVERYONE wants to go on it for Halloween!

Mine has changed now that we booked EMM
MK- BTMRR, Splash, and maybe Buzz (or Haunted Mansion)
AK- Safari, Kali River Rapids, and It's Tough to be a Bug
EP- FEA, Character M&G, Nemo (SDFP- Soarin)
HS- Fantasmic!, Star Tours, MuppetVision (SDFP-Toy Story)

 

[Wood Nymph]

When we went to the Halloween party last October the rides for children like Dumbo and Winnie the Pooh were walk ons. Rides like Peter Pan and SDMT had long lines all night, even during the fireworks and first parade. Splash Mountain was also a walk on. And our party was sold out. Most people seemed to be waiting in lines for characters or waiting for the parade and fireworks rather than going on rides.

 

[Candycane83]

MK: Pooh PP Buzz Jungle Cruise Haunted mansion pirates (over a course of 3-4 days)
Epcot: FEA spaceship earth character spot
DHS: tsmm frozen, not sure about the last one
AK: safari, ROL? Haha Flights of wonder or festival of the lion king or character spot

I'm pretty lost with DHS and AK. Plenty of choices for MK and Epcot.

 

[Iowamomof4]

Question #1-- Our FP window opens on October 5th. I'm a little nervous about it. I was scared and feeling over my head when I booked my trip that I paid for concierge service when I booked my trip so that my travel agent would do all my reservations and FP, but now that I'm terrified that she won't log in right at 7 and won't target FEA first. I'd do it myself but I already committed to paying her for this service.

Question #2-- We will likely try for 7DMT all three days we will be in the MK-- 12/4, 12/5 and 12/9. I think my kids will really enjoy riding it and will love it. I'm confidant in being able to get it on 12/9 because it is deeper in our trip. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get it 12/4 since it is a lighter day and a party day, but not so optimistic about 12/5.

Question #3-- We will try for FEA on 12/7, which is our 3rd day on our trip. Like I mentioned above, this is our top priority. We will only be in Epcot one day on my daughter's 5th birthday and she's obsessed with Frozen! I'd be heartbroken if we can't get it and I know my husband won't be on board for waiting in line!

Question #4-- Not sure on the next one, but maybe Toy Story at HS. I really wanted to ride this last time I went to HS but the lines were always super long. I think my kids would love this so this will likely be my 3rd priority.

Oh, that makes me so sad! My TA does that stuff for me if I want but doesn't charge anything for it. I certainly understand being overwhelmed at the start though! My first trip, I was so relieved we were going to be traveling with a big group and one of our group members was a TA and was arranging everything for us. Within just a couple months though, I was beginning to feel majorly held back by the group so we added on a few nights at the beginning for just our family. Now we're doing this trip completely on our own (still using the same TA though) so we can decide where we want to be and when and aren't having our trip at all dictated by anyone else! It feels so freeing!