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

[Karla07559]

This thread just moves way too fast for me to keep up but I love it because there is always new people and new plans and it's exciting
Probably going to try to get my things together and finalize my plans I need to pick those darn FPs... Might upload my spreadsheet on to here so you can all help me out... The time is definitely ticking away quickly now! FP day is quickly approaching.

Also I'll be in Disneyland 10/3 as an early birthday gift to myself for Mickeys Halloween Party! So definitely going to look up some tips for that going a little crazy here.

 

[JamieOak]

I think this looks balanced especially for 2 adults.

I keep looking at it saying "More Epcot time!" I'm 2nd guessing the 1.5 days at HS. It seems like you can get everything done in 1 day, or 2 half days.

 

[Candycane83]

I keep looking at it saying "More Epcot time!" I'm 2nd guessing the 1.5 days at HS. It seems like you can get everything done in 1 day, or 2 half days.

This is exactly what I keep thinking too. (more Epcot time) I think for two adults though, it really depends on what you want to do. I find DHS appeals to some people more because of the rides. EPCOT is more for exploring WS as opposed to rides (at least this was the case for me and DH before)... We enjoyed EPCOT more at that time. But this may be because we enjoy food more! hahaha!

 

[pigletgirl]

A little off topic but came across this thread about Sanaa offering breakfast beginning Sept. 21st. Just an FYI for anyone trying fit this into their plans.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/sanaa-breakfast-starts-today.3549180/

Cool! What a fun way to view the animals.

I was just looking at my ADR's to see where I'm at and Holy Moley! I have way too many, and it's getting hard to wade through them. Part of the problem is that I keep changing my days around so it's hard to let go of some of them because I'm afraid I'll change my days back again. With a party of 6, ADR's are much harder to come by than a party of 2 or 4. I really want to get things pared down so other people can have my reservations we aren't going to use.

Once your FP's are booked, the ADRs will be easier to sort out.

 

[Candycane83]

This thread just moves way too fast for me to keep up but I love it because there is always new people and new plans and it's exciting
Probably going to try to get my things together and finalize my plans I need to pick those darn FPs... Might upload my spreadsheet on to here so you can all help me out... The time is definitely ticking away quickly now! FP day is quickly approaching.

Also I'll be in Disneyland 10/3 as an early birthday gift to myself for Mickeys Halloween Party! So definitely going to look up some tips for that going a little crazy here.

So jealous of you!! Love Disneyland!! Although I think it does not entail as much planning as WDW. Nothing really entails as much planning as WDW... (I do love the planning but it's driving me nuts sometimes)

 

[pigletgirl]

@JamieOak you can't ever have too much Epcot time! Especially with the holiday entertainment it could actually take a few days to view all the things that you want to!

HS right now is kind of a toss up. If you have a Disney Jr fan or SW fan, its hard to fill an entire day with rides and shows. You could also spend the afternoon/evening in Disney Springs if you were done with HS. I think after 3pm, they'll have a bus that goes directly to Disney Springs.

 

[JamieOak]

This is exactly what I keep thinking too. (more Epcot time) I think for two adults though, it really depends on what you want to do. I find DHS appeals to some people more because of the rides. EPCOT is more for exploring WS as opposed to rides (at least this was the case for me and DH before)... We enjoyed EPCOT more at that time. But this may be because we enjoy food more! hahaha!

It's very hard to judge how long to allott for each park. But I definitely need 2 evenings in HS just to make sure we can see F! and the SW fireworks. So it would have to be 2 PM half days.

Mmmmm we love food too!

 

[JamieOak]

@JamieOak you can't ever have too much Epcot time! Especially with the holiday entertainment it could actually take a few days to view all the things that you want to!

HS right now is kind of a toss up. If you have a Disney Jr fan or SW fan, its hard to fill an entire day with rides and shows. You could also spend the afternoon/evening in Disney Springs if you were done with HS. I think after 3pm, they'll have a bus that goes directly to Disney Springs.

Thank you for that feedback! Definitely no Disney Jr fans here. We are meh on SW. We want to see it, but I'm not scheduling in all the shows/videos they do on SW. We'll do Star Tours and go through Launch Bay. It seemed that all the shows like Beauty and the Beast live and Voyage of the Little Mermaid was making my touring plans build up. I just might have to cut the Frozen Sing Along if I do 2 half days! haha.

Yes I did hear about the DS buses from parks after like 4pm or something. But the problem with HS is you need 2 evenings there to see both F! and SW fireworks it seems. So shortening my HS day would free up the morning instead.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Yes. They've even been known to make the decision to extend the park hours DURING that day, like if AK was scheduled to close at 5 but then they extend the hours to 6 while people are actually IN the park.

This is true. We were in Mk when they announced that they were going to extend the evening hours by one hour that night. They will do that if the park is unexpectedly crowded that day.

I'll be there Nov. 27 through Dec. 4, attending MVMCP on the 27th (no other parks as we drive in that day--we're making it to Lake City the day before so it's only a 2-hour drive to Orlando that morning). I also have a question (not technically for December, but it's part of my trip that ends in Dec. so....) I managed to snag a Be Our Guest reservation for that night at 8 (I know, I know, don't do dining during the Party, but we really wanted to eat at BOG and it was the only one available. I'm amazed we got it at all). Do you think we'll have time to eat and make our way back out to either Main Street or, more likely, the back of the castle in Fantasyland (in front of 7DMT--I have a friend who worked the Mine Train and she said the fireworks look great from back there, and it's less crowded) by 9:30?

Although your friend is correct that the fireworks view is less crowded from Fantasyland - don't do this with the special MVMCP fireworks. You will miss the very cool Celebrations show and you won't get the effects of the fireworks juxtapositioned against the castle, as they should be seen. When you view them from Fantasyland all you get is a whole bunch of exploding fireworks going off in every direction, even right over your head. Your friend has probably seen Wishes many times so watching this crazy explosion of fireworks is probably fun for her. But I would never do this again for the special party fireworks. Never!!! We watched the MNNSHP fireworks from Fantasyland last year and I am still upset that we missed the real show. ETA: And you can't hear the music that accompanies the show.

 

[RobinDragonryder]

I think the fireworks might change to 10pm... (because this is what happened in the halloween party)... With this, I would say for the party, it seems better to watch from the front if you can as the fireworks are 360... Keep trying to look for an earlier reservation! I know I just found one earlier for my date 12/8 2 days ago!

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. If they move it to 10, we'll definitely try to get in front of the castle for the fireworks. I've also heard that watching from the top of Swiss Family Treehouse is a viable option. Anyone have any experience with this/know if it's a good idea?

ETA:

Although your friend is correct that the fireworks view is less crowded from Fantasyland - don't do this with the special MVMCP fireworks. You will miss the very cool Celebrations show and you won't get the effects of the fireworks juxtapositioned against the castle, as they should be seen. When you view them from Fantasyland all you get is a whole bunch of exploding fireworks going off in every direction, even right over your head. Your friend has probably seen Wishes many times so watching this crazy explosion of fireworks is probably fun for her. But I would never do this again for the special party fireworks. Never!!!

Aha. I'll definitely try to get in front of the castle, then. Thanks so much!!

 

[Candycane83]

It's very hard to judge how long to allott for each park. But I definitely need 2 evenings in HS just to make sure we can see F! and the SW fireworks. So it would have to be 2 PM half days.

Mmmmm we love food too!

What I'm doing is for my DHS days (2 nights and one morning as well because of fireworks and fantasmic)- I'm eating at EPCOT before I head to DHS.... The only meal I am having at DHS is H&V dinner. I feel that hopping between DHS and EPCOT is very convenient so you have nothing left to do at DHS, just hop to EPCOT.

 

[JamieOak]

What I'm doing is for my DHS days (2 nights and one morning as well because of fireworks and fantasmic)- I'm eating at EPCOT before I head to DHS.... The only meal I am having at DHS is H&V dinner. I feel that hopping between DHS and EPCOT is very convenient so you have nothing left to do at DHS, just hop to EPCOT.

Good point, it doesn't really need to be completely planned for hopping between them. I will just need to pick which park to make FPs in for that day and what timeframe. Beyond that it can be flexible. Most of my park hop days start at either MK or AK and end at EP or HS. Since we are staying in the Epcot area, we'll bus to the first park and bus to the 2nd park (or back to resort for break), then walk/boat to the 2nd park.

 

[Candycane83]

Good point, it doesn't really need to be completely planned for hopping between them. I will just need to pick which park to make FPs in for that day and what timeframe. Beyond that it can be flexible. Most of my park hop days start at either MK or AK and end at EP or HS. Since we are staying in the Epcot area, we'll bus to the first park and bus to the 2nd park (or back to resort for break), then walk/boat to the 2nd park.

Yup, especially since there's so much to see at EPCOT without FPs anyway.

 

[Lisa F]

Ditto I'm in the same boat, and I feel badly too. But I bet lots of us are in similar situations, and we all feel the same way. After fp day ill feel so much better and I hope to be able to help some people out. I'm totally new at this, and I have this fear I won't get any fp for the days we're there. We're not park hopping, so last night I was getting all nervous that I should be prepared to change park days. Trying ( in @Lisa F 's words) to keep my crazy in check

lol i don't remember saying that to you but i talk like that about myself all the time. my crazy is a force unto itself!

 

[areno79]

Nah, we had a major home repair last spring so we had to switch to AoA and then move our trip later (had been planning on September) just to make it work.

Same reason we're staying at AoA instead of a mod or deluxe. Our finished basement flooded on my bday in May, so taking a trip at all this year wasn't even on our radar. Then DH relented in July and agreed to a trip to treat ourselves after a series of unfortunate events. (Besides the flooded basement, his car was in a hit and run, and our fence randomly caught on fire...all within a month of each other.) I'm happy to be able to go to Disney at all, especially getting to do so many "special" things!

Unfortunately, you can't see the Magical Express reservation in your MDE account. The ME people are independent contractors, which is probably why the reservation doesn't show up in the MDE accounts. You can always call the ME people if you want to double check.

There are plenty of spots to watch Illuminations. I would use the fp for Soarin'.

Ahh, okay. That makes sense why I couldn't see it on MDE. Do you know how long it takes to get your luggage tags? I want to know how long I should give them before I start calling

 

[Lisa F]

Well I'm not getting anywhere just looking at this myself right now, so I figured I'd share for opinions. All comments welcome! I still seem a long way away from being done. I'll post my chart first and then my thoughts below.

View attachment 196094

View attachment 196095

Arrival day: I was planning to stay at Universal longer originally, but we'll have already had 2 full days in Universal. So I think we'll just need enough time to go around and hit our favorites again (definitely the Harry Potter stuff). But I want to leave any early afternoon plans loose so we can play it by ear and stay a little longer at USO if we want.

Day 1: I hope they extend AK hours more. I put Epcot in there with a ? because I think we'll be too exhausted after AK. But you never know. We need to get to bed early this night. I'm not sure of my dining yet either. I need to plan another meal and maybe move the Yak & Yeti later. All depends on the dang ROL schedule!

Day 2: I'm pretty happy with this day. It's a long day for us, so we may want a longer break between parks, or we'll just push through it with the help of caffeine.

Day 3: Um I have no dining at all planned, but otherwise it looks good so far!

Day 4: Ahhh, sleep in day! MVMCP! Not sure what to do beforehand. We could either resort hop or hit up Disney Springs.

Day 5: It seems odd to me that day 5 is our first time at HS! I planned the entire day here to make up for that.

Day 6: AK/HS day to redo our favorites or catch what we've missed. Timing is very loose right now. AK is first due to AM EMH and HS last due to SW fireworks. later evening is open for some late-night entertainment. Maybe Jellyrolls on the BW?

Day 7: MK/EP day to redo our favorites or catch what we've missed. Timing is very loose right now. Since it's a party night at MK I put it first on the agenda, so we'll end our WDW time in Epcot.

So there isn't much to comment on dining-wise, but how is my planned park time looking? Is this a decent breakdown of days per park for 2 adults?

blown away!

 

[Karla07559]

Aha. I'll definitely try to get in front of the castle, then. Thanks so much!!

You should have plenty of time you said dinner at 8:05 right? The show is at 10. I know because originally it was scheduled at 9:30 so I scheduled an 8:40 pm ohana dinner and after my ADR day they made it 10 pm lol #ClassicDisney but we roll with it right. Your dinner time should work perfectly maybe you can ask for a warm drink and sweet to go and have desert while you wait for the show.

Edit: that time is what is scheduled for 12/8 but of course I didn't check every holiday wishes just figured they would all run on the same schedule

 

[rasadkowski]

lol i don't remember saying that to you but i talk like that about myself all the time. my crazy is a force unto itself!

no not to me directly but it was something like how you're here to help as long as I help keep your crazy in check too or something like that!!

 

[Lisa F]

I keep looking at it saying "More Epcot time!" I'm 2nd guessing the 1.5 days at HS. It seems like you can get everything done in 1 day, or 2 half days.

agree. in fact i am planing 3/4 of 1 day and i feel like i am doing everything i want to do. two evenings in addition though, one for each evening show. so i guess it is really one full day (if you take one evening show and add it on to my 3/4 day) and an additional evening.

 

[BDFmom]

Hi. I'm Barbara and I'm an ADR hoarder. I've tried to let go. Honest, I have .

I have a narrowed a bunch and only have a plan A and plan B. I dropped plan C and plan D. If Disney would just release SE dessert and ROL I would having let go of the extras.

The struggle is real!!

No matter how much I plan there is not enough days.... I have 10 park days