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

[Iowamomof4]

I was looking at touring plans this morning and realized as I was checking fastpass availability (for 1) at Epcot that I could move ahead to future days and it let me go all the way to 11/28, which is our first Epcot day! I could probably have gone a few days beyond that but I stopped there. I'm so excited!

My new dilemma though, is that I think I'll actually be able to book fastpasses at FEA on our first day at Epcot. They'll probably be pretty late in the day, but I think I'll be able to. Now the question is, do I want to? We have 4 days planned at Epcot and plan to hit rope drop at least once, though possibly ONLY once. Because of that, I'm feeling like I might want to pick one other day to have family fastpasses to Soarin'. I keep imagining doing Soarin' on our first Epcot day, but what if dd gets sick after that and misses every other opportunity to ride it? I know, it's highly unlikely, but it could happen. Standby times haven't been too bad for Soarin', so maybe I should just stick with my original plan of booking FEA every day I possibly can with the idea that we could switch those fastpasses to Soarin' or Test Track if we decide once was enough. FEA is definitely the ride she is looking forward to the most, and with its track record of being down frequently, I'm thinking we shouldn't take a chance by not booking it every day. Okay, I think I've talked myself into a decision. Soarin' is much easier to get on without a fastpass and we'll be there at rope drop at least once and very early in the day on at least one other day. I think we'll be okay on standby (I hope).

 

[BDFmom]

@Iowamomof4 That is my plan try to book FEA for each of our planned EP days. And book 7dmt and PP for each of our planed MK days (except EMM day)

 

[Iowamomof4]

@Iowamomof4 That is my plan try to book FEA for each of our planned EP days. And book 7dmt and PP for each of our planed MK days (except EMM day)

I've been surprised at how much of my family has expressed a desire to NOT ride PP again! I loved it! I think I'll be happy with riding it once or twice on EMM day though. It's great, but not THAT great, kwim? Anyway, I definitely have the same plan for 7dmt though.

 

[Candycane83]

for anyone going to Universal and hoping to book character dining, they only book one month in advance. Also, for those looking for reservations for Toothsome (@Mal6586 @areno79 @JamieOak ) the guy mentioned that it is walk in now but they will most likely be taking reservations by December, just call in November.

@LBlovesM&WDW sorry forgot you were heading to Universal too!

 

[JamieOak]

well the best thing about not having kids is that it is a LOT easier to change gears if you want to. I always planned a LOT but then we'd change on a dime, cuz that's how I roll. But that is not how kiddo rolls lol. I can make changes but only to stuff he doesn't know about already.

honestly I am not in general bothered by what other people do unless it is somehow really infringing on my experience. So you want to wear park clothes to ca grill? What do I care? lol. screaming kids who are not semi-quickly removed are a pet peeve of mine... I don't blame you for not being able to prevent it (I wish I had that much control over my kid) but I do my best to not let my child ruin someone else's good time and if he is in a meltdown situation he's going outside where he can work through his emotions without ruining someone else's show/meal/experience. Sometimes you just need to deal... like on a plane. And I might complain to close friends but really not judging. Kids annoyingly enough have their own desires. So OPK doesn't bother me and neither do expressions of joy and wonder and delight even if loud. When you have your own kids you will probably see that for everything that is harder, it is that much better to experience things through them too again nothing against people who don't have kids or don't want them... I have tons of respect for people who can be true to themselves and not make a human being just to make other people happy and then have their heart not in it. It has been a rough road parenting my son and I can only imagine how much worse it would be if I didn't really love him and resented his presence in my life.

Anyway too heavy and philosophical lol. I am having a rough time at work so in a weird mood. Adult trips are great, you can really take time to savor the small things... just sitting and having a drink in epcot. Just do what feels right. Once you have kids you will be doing what you hope will feel right for them lol. Enjoy the ability to do what feels right to you now. I want to take an adult only trip at some point with a friend, it sounds like heaven sometimes!

I agree with you on how some situations can be annoying (like a screaming kid in a restaurant) but that doesn't mean I am judging the parents, as you said. The only thing I can think of that does make me "judgy" is when folks are rude to other people and/or selfish. The basic disrespect for other humans kind of things. And by that I mean by adults, not even kids. They kind of touched on that in the Blackish episode, which I watched last night, when they were going through the FP/VIP lane past all the 'poor saps' standing in the general admission line and boasting about it. haha. It was funny because it's a comedy show, but that kind of attitude is basically what is my pet peeve. And I'm sure I'll see some of that at Disney in a way. Pushing, cutting, etc. But overall I expect people are all just trying to survive their vacation and have the best time possible and are not going to behave like that.

I actually get kind of bummed sometimes that we aren't going to have kids with us to enjoy the experience with, especially when I'm looking at MK plans. My nieces went with my sister and mom back in Feb for cheerleading and I was so bummed. For one, they didn't even invite me! haha. They didn't really plan anything, but they still had a good time. I wish I could've seen it though, instead of just hearing it afterwards. But other times I am glad we are getting to go as adults first, before we take our future kids. Consider it a preparation trip for the future!

Yesterday I watched something my Tivo recorded because I set up a Disney keyword so it records anything with the word disney in it. It was on TCM station and it was a Walt Disney show that aired in 1966 about Disneyland. He talked about the it's a small world ride grand opening and showed a ride through. At the end they showed the Fantasy on Parade (?) and it looked really fun! Goofy got out of his broken looking car and did a little routine trying to fix it. Reindeer pulled kids out of the crowd on the sidewalks to come dance in the middle. I loved when they showed video of the crowd reactions and the kids with big smiles on their face. I mention this because this was one of those times I was a little bummed that we won't have any kids with us.

 

[JamieOak]

for anyone going to Universal and hoping to book character dining, they only book one month in advance. Also, for those looking for reservations for Toothsome (@Mal6586 @areno79 @JamieOak ) the guy mentioned that it is walk in now but they will most likely be taking reservations by December, just call in November.

@LBlovesM&WDW sorry forgot you were heading to Universal too!

Thanks for posting this update here. I hope they take reservations a little sooner than December since we are going 11/25-11/27. Fingers crossed! If not, I'll just schedule in the wait!

 

[Candycane83]

I think try calling in 2 weeks or so and see if they start taking it already. We're going Nov 30- Dec 3 so I was trying to make a reservation for the superstar character breakfast for Dec 1. The guy told me to call back on Nov 1 because they take reservations 1 month prior. I'm thinking he just generalized and basically said to check the same time for toothsome.

 

[JamieOak]

I think there is some truth to the saying that ignorance is bliss! Now that the veil has been lifted, there's no going back! lol There is definitely something calming about having knowledge. Something else that really helped me calm down with the touring plans was to create 2 different lists when it comes to attractions. We have our absolute-must do-and-will-genuinely-be-sad-if-we-don't-experience-it list. Then the oh-this-would-be-so-cool-but-it's-not-the-end-of-the-world-if-we-don't-experience it list. Sometimes those can get blurry, but having a good understanding of priorities has been really helpful. So the ADRs, FPs and MUST DOs are the scheduled part, and the flexibility part is the other stuff. All smothered in magic, of course.

YES...definitely DO use that vacation time to play!

Only 2 seperate lists?? I have 3!

What I did in Excel (because I love Excel) for each park was to list all attractions in one column, all shows/parades in another column, then dining in another (divided in to TS or QS or snacks only). Then I went through and color-coded each one. Green for our "must do's". Yellow for our "want to dos". Orange for the "we can skip it". Then I went back through and sorted them by priority. For dining this was mainly to narrow down the restaurant options for me. But I haven't even looked at the resort restaurants yet! Oh no, I need another list! I secretly love lists.

 

[Meeko5]

I agree with you on how some situations can be annoying (like a screaming kid in a restaurant) but that doesn't mean I am judging the parents, as you said. The only thing I can think of that does make me "judgy" is when folks are rude to other people and/or selfish. The basic disrespect for other humans kind of things. And by that I mean by adults, not even kids. They kind of touched on that in the Blackish episode, which I watched last night, when they were going through the FP/VIP lane past all the 'poor saps' standing in the general admission line and boasting about it. haha. It was funny because it's a comedy show, but that kind of attitude is basically what is my pet peeve. And I'm sure I'll see some of that at Disney in a way. Pushing, cutting, etc. But overall I expect people are all just trying to survive their vacation and have the best time possible and are not going to behave like that.

I actually get kind of bummed sometimes that we aren't going to have kids with us to enjoy the experience with, especially when I'm looking at MK plans. My nieces went with my sister and mom back in Feb for cheerleading and I was so bummed. For one, they didn't even invite me! haha. They didn't really plan anything, but they still had a good time. I wish I could've seen it though, instead of just hearing it afterwards. But other times I am glad we are getting to go as adults first, before we take our future kids. Consider it a preparation trip for the future!

Yesterday I watched something my Tivo recorded because I set up a Disney keyword so it records anything with the word disney in it. It was on TCM station and it was a Walt Disney show that aired in 1966 about Disneyland. He talked about the it's a small world ride grand opening and showed a ride through. At the end they showed the Fantasy on Parade (?) and it looked really fun! Goofy got out of his broken looking car and did a little routine trying to fix it. Reindeer pulled kids out of the crowd on the sidewalks to come dance in the middle. I loved when they showed video of the crowd reactions and the kids with big smiles on their face. I mention this because this was one of those times I was a little bummed that we won't have any kids with us.

Feel free to borrow mine at any point in the trip

 

[Candycane83]

Only 2 seperate lists?? I have 3!

What I did in Excel (because I love Excel) for each park was to list all attractions in one column, all shows/parades in another column, then dining in another (divided in to TS or QS or snacks only). Then I went through and color-coded each one. Green for our "must do's". Yellow for our "want to dos". Orange for the "we can skip it". Then I went back through and sorted them by priority. For dining this was mainly to narrow down the restaurant options for me. But I haven't even looked at the resort restaurants yet! Oh no, I need another list! I secretly love lists.

I need to be as diligent as you and love lists as much as you! LOL! so far, I don't have any true priorities, mostly because I do not know what my son will love. So the first days of parks will really determine it for me.

 

[JamieOak]

Feel free to borrow mine at any point in the trip

That's why we need a meet up for Wishes at MK on 11/30!

 

[Meeko5]

That's why we need a meet up for Wishes at MK on 11/30!

HAPPENING!!!

 

[pigletgirl]

Wow, @JamieOak that's awesome!

TGIF!

 

[Talby]

Only 2 seperate lists?? I have 3!

What I did in Excel (because I love Excel) for each park was to list all attractions in one column, all shows/parades in another column, then dining in another (divided in to TS or QS or snacks only). Then I went through and color-coded each one. Green for our "must do's". Yellow for our "want to dos". Orange for the "we can skip it". Then I went back through and sorted them by priority. For dining this was mainly to narrow down the restaurant options for me. But I haven't even looked at the resort restaurants yet! Oh no, I need another list! I secretly love lists.

I'm clearly slacking! I not-so-secretly love lists! YAY for more lists!!

 

[Lisa F]

Feel free to borrow mine at any point in the trip

lol you beat me to it!

 

[pigletgirl]

I agree with you on how some situations can be annoying (like a screaming kid in a restaurant) but that doesn't mean I am judging the parents, as you said. The only thing I can think of that does make me "judgy" is when folks are rude to other people and/or selfish. The basic disrespect for other humans kind of things. And by that I mean by adults, not even kids. They kind of touched on that in the Blackish episode, which I watched last night, when they were going through the FP/VIP lane past all the 'poor saps' standing in the general admission line and boasting about it. haha. It was funny because it's a comedy show, but that kind of attitude is basically what is my pet peeve. And I'm sure I'll see some of that at Disney in a way. Pushing, cutting, etc. But overall I expect people are all just trying to survive their vacation and have the best time possible and are not going to behave like that.

I actually get kind of bummed sometimes that we aren't going to have kids with us to enjoy the experience with, especially when I'm looking at MK plans. My nieces went with my sister and mom back in Feb for cheerleading and I was so bummed. For one, they didn't even invite me! haha. They didn't really plan anything, but they still had a good time. I wish I could've seen it though, instead of just hearing it afterwards. But other times I am glad we are getting to go as adults first, before we take our future kids. Consider it a preparation trip for the future!

I really dislike it when parents let their kids run wild just because they're in Disney. If our girls are causing a scene in a restaurant, one of us immediately takes her outside. I had one situation when DD1 was about 18 months old, and I didn't leave the venue and I received the worst stares. Never again!

 

[rasadkowski]

Hypothetically speaking, if I were to not book fp for AK on my window, how do you think availability would be for lion king and safari for various parts of the day if I were to look for fp for them shortly before or during the trip?

 

[JamieOak]

Hypothetically speaking, if I were to not book fp for AK on my window, how do you think availability would be for lion king and safari for various parts of the day if I were to look for fp for them shortly before or during the trip?

Looking right now for today's available FPs for a party of 2, I see the following availability:

Safari:
2:05 PM
2:45 PM
3:05 PM
3:50 PM
4:00 PM
4:35 PM
5:00 PM
5:45 PM
6:05 PM
6:45 PM
7:00 PM
7:45 PM

FotLK:
12:30 PM
1:30 PM
2:30 PM
3:30 PM
4:30 PM
5:30 PM

I took at look at tomorrow too, since it's a Saturday with AM EMHs so likely a busier day there. Plenty of availability for FotLK. Lots of times available for the Safari too, but only starting at 12:30pm, and going through 7:30pm. So as long as you are not looking forward to an early morning time slot, you should be fine for that too.

 

[rasadkowski]

Looking right now for today's available FPs for a party of 2, I see the following availability:

Safari:
2:05 PM
2:45 PM
3:05 PM
3:50 PM
4:00 PM
4:35 PM
5:00 PM
5:45 PM
6:05 PM
6:45 PM
7:00 PM
7:45 PM

FotLK:
12:30 PM
1:30 PM
2:30 PM
3:30 PM
4:30 PM
5:30 PM

I took at look at tomorrow too, since it's a Saturday with AM EMHs so likely a busier day there. Plenty of availability for FotLK. Lots of times available for the Safari too, but only starting at 12:30pm, and going through 7:30pm. So as long as you are not looking forward to an early morning time slot, you should be fine for that too.

Thank you ! That's very helpful

 

[Candycane83]

Thank you ! That's very helpful

I think as long as you are not too particular about what time you want, you should be fine.