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

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

Not sure but there's really not much choices for little kids- muppets, little mermaid or frozen. I was thinking of using an. FP for frozen too. I think general consensus is you don't need FP for shows. Would love someone else's opinion too.

That's about where I'm at with HS too. It's just funny to me that the park with the fewest choices (I think?) is turning out to be the most difficult to plan for. I would expect to have this sort of trouble with MK or maybe to a lesser extent Epcot.

 

[Iowamomof4]

delete -- I forgot it was this thread that originally pointed me to the info about the SW fireworks. Sorry!

Anyway, still trying to decide how much this messes us up. We'll all be very sad if we don't get to see the SW fireworks, but we still love Christmas so a holiday show would be neat. I just hope we find out one way or the other VERY soon!

 

[Candycane83]

That's about where I'm at with HS too. It's just funny to me that the park with the fewest choices (I think?) is turning out to be the most difficult to plan for. I would expect to have this sort of trouble with MK or maybe to a lesser extent Epcot.

AK and DHS seems difficult since I'm avoiding shows. Lol! I just read the FP thread again. It ranks frozen as a 'B' choice since it has a separate access. (Ranking is A,B, and C) So not a bad choice apparently...

 

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

AK and DHS seems difficult since I'm avoiding shows. Lol! I just read the FP thread again. It ranks frozen as a 'B' choice since it has a separate access. (Ranking is A,B, and C) So not a bad choice apparently...

Yes that thread was a big help planning FP. I have it bookmarked and refer back to it often.

 

[Mintycake]

Did you get Little Mermaid or Frozen Sing Along?

Yes. My fp are rnr, frozen and mermaid. I figure I can pick up toy Story either after our ppo breakfast or SDFP (same with star tours and possibly tot )

 

[Talby]

Thanks @Talby are you doing this? Hmm... my last night...

Well, let's just say we have it booked, and that I'm thoroughly considering my options! Probably not unlike many here, the trip we end up taking barely resembles the trip we started out with! Before all the tips and tricks and advice I've gathered from the collective wisdom and experience here, our vacation definitely looked different. But this particular dessert party I have had my eye on and have been stalking from the get-go. I found a video of it early on and fell head over heels! I'm leaning towards yes.

Anyone going to book? I was reading about it the other day, but:

1. I'm not sure if we would be hungry for the desserts since we will be snacking and drink all day in WS
2. I heard there a lot of good spots to view Illuminations. (We've never seen it)

Thoughts?

This is from 2014 so the menu will be different. But this is what reeled me in!

We have never seen IllumiNations before either and I'm so excited about it! I hear the same thing about lots of good options for viewing. What I'm drawn to about this party is the space. You have your own little piece of real estate to watch IllumiNations from. See that view?! Not crowded, completely unobstructed, no such thing as a bad table apparently (from what I've read) even if you aren't "front row". I figure we'll be knee-deep in desserts and treats on many of our Disney days, what's a few (dozen) more?! haha This would be early in our trip, so we won't be completely on sugar overload just yet! In my experience, one need not be hungry in order to enjoy dessert. Maybe you could stick to savory around the WS and stop a couple hours before this dessert party? Maybe?? Oh---there's sparkling wine and cheese fondue too. It probably falls in the "indulgent"category, but at Disney so does a bottle of water when you consider what it costs in the real world! lol And this is ILLUMINATIONS!!

Thank you! Booked!

Oh YAY @PlutosUnDr8d! I hope you have the best time!! I've pretty much talked myself into it at this point! lol



@LBlovesM&WDW and @BDFmom Quite an undertaking and I appreciate the well wishes! Still trying to wrap around the fact that this is for my driver's license holding, VOTING in the next election, 18-year-old BABY! Seriously, she was 2 just the other day! And @BDFmom lalalalalala....I can't hear you...lalalalalala (fingers in ears)....lalalalalala.....about that CSS thing-a-ma-jig....lalalalala

 

[Mintycake]

Well, let's just say we have it booked, and that I'm thoroughly considering my options! Probably not unlike many here, the trip we end up taking barely resembles the trip we started out with! Before all the tips and tricks and advice I've gathered from the collective wisdom and experience here, our vacation definitely looked different. But this particular dessert party I have had my eye on and have been stalking from the get-go. I found a video of it early on and fell head over heels! I'm leaning towards yes.

This is from 2014 so the menu will be different. But this is what reeled me in!

We have never seen IllumiNations before either and I'm so excited about it! I hear the same thing about lots of good options for viewing. What I'm drawn to about this party is the space. You have your own little piece of real estate to watch IllumiNations from. See that view?! Not crowded, completely unobstructed, no such thing as a bad table apparently (from what I've read) even if you aren't "front row". I figure we'll be knee-deep in desserts and treats on many of our Disney days, what's a few (dozen) more?! haha This would be early in our trip, so we won't be completely on sugar overload just yet! In my experience, one need not be hungry in order to enjoy dessert. Maybe you could stick to savory around the WS and stop a couple hours before this dessert party? Maybe?? Oh---there's sparkling wine and cheese fondue too. It probably falls in the "indulgent"category, but at Disney so does a bottle of water when you consider what it costs in the real world! lol And this is ILLUMINATIONS!!



Oh YAY @PlutosUnDr8d! I hope you have the best time!! I've pretty much talked myself into it at this point! lol



@LBlovesM&WDW and @BDFmom Quite an undertaking and I appreciate the well wishes! Still trying to wrap around the fact that this is for my driver's license holding, VOTING in the next election, 18-year-old BABY! Seriously, she was 2 just the other day! And @BDFmom lalalalalala....I can't hear you...lalalalalala (fingers in ears)....lalalalalala.....about that CSS thing-a-ma-jig....lalalalala

The party looks great! Tempting!

 

[Talby]

Not sure but there's really not much choices for little kids- muppets, little mermaid or frozen. I was thinking of using an. FP for frozen too. I think general consensus is you don't need FP for shows. Would love someone else's opinion too.

@SilSprBea and @Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL and @anyone else considering FP for shows......I've read (and been told by a few CMs for whatever that's worth) that FP seating at shows is reserved seating and is often better than what you'll get without a FP. It has been explained to me that not ALL the great seats are in the reserved FP section but many are. We are FP'ing Beauty and the Beast because it is a high priority, even though it likely isn't necessary. It's important so, what the heck, we'll use 'em.

The party looks great! Tempting!

"Anything Disney" and "tempting" seem practically interchangeable.

 

[Iowamomof4]

Just bought party tickets for 11/27!

I had no problems making fastpasses right away, either. Of course, no 7dmt. Oh well.

 

[SilSprBea]

Just bought party tickets for 11/27!

I had no problems making fastpasses right away, either. Of course, no 7dmt. Oh well.

This is a silly question because I'm not doing a party but am curious about how it works if we decide to do this on a future trip. I've noticed that some people made fast passes for between 4-6 on their party day using the hard tickets as phantoms. But I also thought I heard others (maybe @Lisa F) say that at 30 days out she could make party fast passes. Do you get to make two sets? Just confused how it all works.

 

[SilSprBea]

This is a question for @Lisa F or others who feel they get the whole SDFP thing because I'm afraid to ask in the SDFP thread!

I borrowed a set of magic bands from my friend who went to Disney 2 1/2 years ago. I also borrowed a set of plastic card admission tickets from my cousins who went a few weeks ago since I was worried about the batteries in the 2+ year old borrowed magic bands.

The magic bands are linked my fiends MDE so they should work at a kiosk as long as the battery is good, right? I feel like I read that magic bands needed to be linked to an MDE to work but that cards worked without linking to an MDE.

The used plastic ticket cards aren't linked to an MDE. From what I read on the SDFP thread that should be ok right? I don't need to link them to phantoms on my MDE right? The only advantage of creating a phantom and linking would be to "see" your selections on your phone right? You can only do SDFP at a kiosk though. I could take a picture of my selections and see them that way. I'm a little afraid of creating phantoms on my account less I accidentally erase my real FP by mistake while trying to add SDFP at a kiosk, or preventing my cousins from linking their cards in the future.

I'm thinking of using the ticket cards as my SDFP set because I'm afraid of the batteries on the older magic bands.

 

[pigletgirl]

Guys/Gals, just a rumor, but I've read it in various sources.... Also to keep in mind, this is Disney, so this could all change in 10 minutes.

BUT, I read that the Star Wars fireworks may only display during the busy holiday weeks. So, for those of us getting down there the weekend after Thanksgiving may have a chance to view them. The rest of us may be SOL.

I also apologize is someone has posted something like this! I just thought that would be a huge bummer for us, especially DH!

 

[Iowamomof4]

This is a silly question because I'm not doing a party but am curious about how it works if we decide to do this on a future trip. I've noticed that some people made fast passes for between 4-6 on their party day using the hard tickets as phantoms. But I also thought I heard others (maybe @Lisa F) say that at 30 days out she could make party fast passes. Do you get to make two sets? Just confused how it all works.

I just went ahead and bought our tickets directly through our account and assigned them to my family. We do have park tickets for the day of the party but I can't make fastpasses on them ahead of time because those park tickets are linked to a package that doesn't begin until the next day. I was able to use the party tickets to make fastpasses because we have an on-site room only reservation on the party day so the 60-day fastpass benefit kicked in there. Hope that all makes sense. If your party tickets are not linked to phantom people, you will only be able to make one set of fastpasses per day. That whole thing is way too convoluted for me to bother with. lol

 

[Iowamomof4]

Guys/Gals, just a rumor, but I've read it in various sources.... Also to keep in mind, this is Disney, so this could all change in 10 minutes.

BUT, I read that the Star Wars fireworks may only display during the busy holiday weeks. So, for those of us getting down there the weekend after Thanksgiving may have a chance to view them. The rest of us may be SOL.

I also apologize is someone has posted something like this! I just thought that would be a huge bummer for us, especially DH!

Rteetz posted tonight that there's a rumor floating around that SW fireworks will be replaced through the holidays with a holiday projection/fireworks display of some sort.

 

[pigletgirl]

Rteetz posted tonight that there's a rumor floating around that SW fireworks will be replaced through the holidays with a holiday projection/fireworks display of some sort.

That sounds like it would be an amazing thing! The only reason I posted it was because I've read about it more than once today.

Again, who knows!

 

[rasadkowski]

Early morning/really late night y'all! I was too excited to go back to bed. I was able to book the dessert party for our mvmcp I know this is not 1am worthy excitement, but I had to tell someone! That reserved parade viewing was just whispering in my ear, taunting me..
Thank you @Talby for your expert adr hunting tips!....I caught me a big one!

 

[Lisa F]

btw just went to look at the SDFP situation and I can only check for 1 now - my son with the AP. Mine are all booked so it won't let me check. But

This is a question for @Lisa F or others who feel they get the whole SDFP thing because I'm afraid to ask in the SDFP thread!

I borrowed a set of magic bands from my friend who went to Disney 2 1/2 years ago. I also borrowed a set of plastic card admission tickets from my cousins who went a few weeks ago since I was worried about the batteries in the 2+ year old borrowed magic bands.

The magic bands are linked my fiends MDE so they should work at a kiosk as long as the battery is good, right? I feel like I read that magic bands needed to be linked to an MDE to work but that cards worked without linking to an MDE.

The used plastic ticket cards aren't linked to an MDE. From what I read on the SDFP thread that should be ok right? I don't need to link them to phantoms on my MDE right? The only advantage of creating a phantom and linking would be to "see" your selections on your phone right? You can only do SDFP at a kiosk though. I could take a picture of my selections and see them that way. I'm a little afraid of creating phantoms on my account less I accidentally erase my real FP by mistake while trying to add SDFP at a kiosk, or preventing my cousins from linking their cards in the future.

I'm thinking of using the ticket cards as my SDFP set because I'm afraid of the batteries on the older magic bands.

for the magic bands, there are TWO chips in the band... one is an active RFID chip and that is the one that has the battery length of 2-3 years. That one has the longer range and is used for ride photos and like at BoG so they can find you when you place your order, stuff like that... that is the one that dies. The passive RFID chip which is what you use for FP+ I think has a longer life. So the old magic bands should work just fine especially since you don't want to use them for photos etc.

from what I understand the ticket cards are always good to use for SDFP. I'm not sure what you mean about not being linked to MDE but I think because they contain media on them, they are linked internally even if no one uses the app and because of that you can use them for SDFP. They have an identity associated with them even if you don't really have access to it. Magic Bands are sold unlinked to allow you to link them later - because once you link either a ticket card OR a magic band, you can't unlink it and change who it belongs to. It belongs to that person forever.

I'm not sure if that helps lol. You don't need to create phantoms and link those tickets (not sure if it would let you link expired tickets) but if those tickets have been used for admission before and FP+ before (made same day I guess if they didn't link it to MDE) then they should be fine for you to use for SDFP. For your friends magicbands, you wouldn't link the to your account as much as list them as friends so you can see their stuff. I think it is tricky to get phantoms to show on your phone (there is a new huge post about that that i have not been able to read and digest) so I'm not sure I'd worry about that. Someone else recommended just keeping a cheat sheet rather than taking photos of the kiosk (or maybe both? I only skimmed that post too and need to read it when I can digest it as well) to keep track of your FP+. It makes sense to write them all down in one place rather than scrolling for a pic on the phone, I'd maybe take a pic and then sit somewhere else and write them down or something.

I hope that helps a little bit?

 

[Candycane83]

Congratulations @Iowamomof4 and @rasadkowski so much good news last night!

@SilSprBea im terrified of posting on the SDFP thread too, lol! From what @Lisa F has told me before, the tickets need to be linked to a phantom. also she did say she could make 2 sets of fps since she linked the mvmcp tickets to phantoms at 30 days. But now that I think about it, I'm thinking she should be able to make it at 60 days... wonder if she tried already.

 

[Lisa F]

Early morning/really late night y'all! I was too excited to go back to bed. I was able to book the dessert party for our mvmcp I know this is not 1am worthy excitement, but I had to tell someone! That reserved parade viewing was just whispering in my ear, taunting me..
Thank you @Talby for your expert adr hunting tips!....I caught me a big one!

this is totally 1am worthy excitement!!!!!!

I still haven't given mine up and am thinking of doing the same thing @Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL is doing... use it for the parade and desserts ONLY. I am thinking of bringing a container with me to grab some desserts and doing so and then heading out into the hub for better fireworks viewing. not sure if that is nuts or not though.

Also kiddo is begging me to do Illuminations Sparkling dessert party lol. I am thinking of doing it either for the finale of my long Epcot day except i have biergarten dinner at 6:20... but wondering if maybe we just have dinner and skip dessert we'll be ready for dessert an hour later.... right now the last thing I have planned for the day is FEA FP+ from 7:20-8:20 and I had been planning to just find a spot in and around mexico for Illuminations or maybe SDFP the FP+ spot, which is also right near there.

The other time i could fit it in is after F! if F! is at 7pm... that is also on evening EMH at Epcot so we could potentially do Soarin' with FP+ and then head to the dessert party (it spaces dinner and dessert party further apart as I have dinner at H&V for 4:30pm). It would be a nice night and we could potentially sleep in the next day before our 10am Garden Grill ADR and skip the RD madness. The problem with this is if they expand hours and change the time of F! to 8 I'd be kind of SOL for that whole plan.

Then I could potentially fit it in after CA Grill but I was planning to do RoL if possible that day... but if there is no SW fireworks I can do RoL on my AK day.

gah why won't they release more info? blah. could seriously use some help figuring it out.

 

[Lisa F]

Congratulations @Iowamomof4 and @rasadkowski so much good news last night!

@SilSprBea im terrified of posting on the SDFP thread too, lol! From what @Lisa F has told me before, the tickets need to be linked to a phantom. also she did say she could make 2 sets of fps since she linked the mvmcp tickets to phantoms at 30 days. But now that I think about it, I'm thinking she should be able to make it at 60 days... wonder if she tried already.

lol just answered your pm about it.

Tickets hold admission media on them when you buy them and you can use them for FP+ without linking to MDE, but you can just use them as SDFP if you don't link them... there is no other way to make FP+ ahead of time. If their TA did it for them it means that he/she created an MDE account for them and just never shared it with them, but it exists out there. If they did not use FP+ at all.. well.. not sure why but whatever, it doesn't matter. You technically do not have to create a MDE account with tickets to use FP+ I don't think, you can book them same day at a kiosk.

the short answer is that my MVMCP tickets are linked to phantoms who are only in the first night of my split stay, one night at AKL, not when I am going to MVMCP. I don't want to put them in my reservation for the Poly for reasons I explained privately but it is just basically not worth it to me as I have FP+ made under my regular tickets for that day. I bought 7 day tickets but will in actuality only end up using 6 days of them so I was able to book for MVMCP day under my regular tickets no problem, and kiddo has an AP. The 7 day tickets were only $10 more than the 6 day so I bought them ages ago before I knew my plans with the DVC 25th anniversary discount. if I waited with the price increase and lack of discount they would have cost me about $60 more so no biggie if I don't use that last day. I booked Peter Pan and 7DMT with my regular tickets so there is nothing else I NEED at 60 days anyway, I should be able to pick up another two at 30 days (I don't even care much what)