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

[nicynot]

So, since I don't have park hours, and I would have normally had this all narrowed down by now, I made a rough draft of my vacation. Going with 3 others, a complete newbie and 2 who have never stayed on site/haven't been since before Everest has opened. We have 2 garden view rooms (since standards were sold out) and we are all purchasing the dining plan.

12/1 - arrival at MCO around 12:30pm. Check in @ POFQ. NAP and then I thought I have this narrowed down to walking over to POR and doing the pasta station, and then boating right over to Disney Springs and find dessert there. No messing around with resort hopping, no wasted time. BUT I'm kind of thinking maybe Cape May or something like that

12/2 - since there is a mvmcp this night, my plan after a quick muffin for breakfast, head right to MK. BOG lunch? GASTON's CINNAMON BUN!! Stay until the parade ends, and chill and the resort. HOPING AK is open this night! TuskerHouse with ROL package? or Rainforest Cafe and stay till they close

12/3 - hollywood studios, not sure how to hit all the headliners yet.. I will FP RNR, head straight to TSM at opening, and then hope for my best with ToT. Not sure if we'll do lunch or not, or if we will take a mid day break? I plan on doing Trails End BBQ buffet around 4 and then MK for the night, but as I am typing this it seems like waaaay to much for people to handle...

12/4- animal kingdom in the morning!! probably early Resturantosaurus. Use pofq as a bus transfer point to get to hollywood studios for a 430 fantasmic package at Hollywood and Vine. Watch fantastic, and then i need to wait and see if anything star wars will be going on that time of year! It would be great if this park had emh this night.

12/5 - Epcot Morning, lunch at american pavilion and then also going here for the evening i think. Not sure if a break midday will be needed. Via Napoli or... MAYBE a Candlelight Dinner package, but I'm still up in the air if i am going to see it or not. I hope i have enough time to get around to all the countries to see some xmas around the world, do the rides in the future world and see illuminations.

12/6- MVMCP day!! so.. Disney springs for the morning and afternoon before we head to MK for 4, and try to get some fp+ for the 330-7 windows. I think we will do a breakfast buffet, maybe 1900 Park fare, or do a restaurant for lunch in Disney springs for the table service meal of the day, depends on what opens up there. Cosmic Rays for a later Quick Service dinner (chicken and beans!) and of course a Gastons cinnamon bun during the night.

12/7 - departure day. Lunch in DS? Couldn't find a flight until 5 so will spend the morning sleeping in, and then head to Disney springs until we need to leave. We won't get off the plane until 12am and then its a 1.5 hour ride home from the airport. I will be working at 830 the next morning .........

12/1- 1 qs (6ts left 5qs left)
12/2- 1qs, 1ts? (5ts left, 4qs left)
12/3- 1ts (4ts left 4qs left)
12/4- 1qs, 1ts (3ts left, 3qs left)
12/5 - 1 qs, 1 ts (2ts left, 2qs left)
12/6 1qs, 1ts (1ts left 1qs left)
12/7- ??

I feel like I haven't left enough time at EPCOT, and that I might be planning to much and exhaust people..

 

[Lisa F]

up waiting for southwest flights to load. anyone else???

 

[myhoney]

Me! I thought it was 6 am, but I still can't get dates past 11/4.

 

[BOST99]

Me! I thought it was 6 am, but I still can't get dates past 11/4.

me too. I just keep refreshing the page waiting...

 

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

Same here. Hopefully website updates soon.

 

[Lisa F]

on the SW thread they said it updates the page where flights will be released right at 6am but they don't actually load the flights until between 6:15-6:30am. good luck everyone!

 

[Lisa F]

I got my tickets! WOOHOO. Flying out at 2pm on Friday 12/2 (earlier in the fall flights were like 1:30 but actually the 2pm flight allows me to take a bit of a later ferry so that's good) and returning 12:25 on Saturday 12/10, which is what I expected.

I think I got in at the lowest tier and I doubt many people were fighting me for these dates, especially the friday dates - the return dates are already $9 higher than they were when I bought. But $461 total (will prob do early bird but just not right this second) - in september of 2014 I paid $448 and watching fares in the fall I was prepared to pay anywhere from $450-650. I had $400 in southwest gift cards already from rewards so only had to pay $61OOP.

I think the people who are most shaking now are the ones who are booking the holiday flights. no one fighting to fly out of providence the first week of december I'm guessing lol.

I guess it is time for me to see about buying my MVMCP tickets now. It is a little surreal that my flight is booked!!!!!!

 

[myhoney]

Got ours, too! $116 one way, but we had enough RR points that all 6 seats were covered! Flying back to Buffalo at 6:30pm, so we can have a good part of the last day at the parks. @Lisa F - it is VERY surreal to have flights booked. It just means it's really happening!

 

[Lisa F]

aaaaaand so it begins.... the bloodletting of money spending on this trip (DVC reservations so haven't spent much money yet.) $461 on plane tickets, $190 on MVMCP tickets... all but $61 on previously purchased discount or rewards paid for gift cards.

 

[Lisa F]

Got ours, too! $116 one way, but we had enough RR points that all 6 seats were covered! Flying back to Buffalo at 6:30pm, so we can have a good part of the last day at the parks. @Lisa F - it is VERY surreal to have flights booked. It just means it's really happening!

I'm wondering if I should have gotten the credit card. I thought you need like 110,000 points to book one ticket but in a thread I saw it is more like 5000? the 50k points could have bought me a few tickets? I am so confused! I guess I should have looked into it a bit more carefully :-/ I just saw all this stuff about 110,000 points for a "companion ticket" and didn't realize that the 50k points could have maybe paid for all of my flights. i totally would have gotten that card!

 

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

I got my tickets! WOOHOO.
I guess it is time for me to see about buying my MVMCP tickets now. It is a little surreal that my flight is booked!!!!!!

Me too!

It feels "official" now that airfare is booked! No turning back now! I feel the prices were pretty good so I just committed to buying now and save myself the agony of constantly checking over and over just to save a couple bucks, then possibly miss out if my dates sell out or if prices go up.

I scored Long Island to MCO in December for $135 there and $155 back. I figure the lowest the will go is $129 each way so I'm not going to torture myself over $100~$200 savings.

And like you it's time for MVMCP tickets now because airfare fell into our budget limits. WHO WANTS HOT CHOCOLATE?!!!

 

[myhoney]

We just got the card for this trip! We had to spend $2k in 3 months (which we easily spent on our room at WDW!) and then we got 50k points. Our flights were ~6400 points each. So, we still have 11,000 points left for another trip. Every year on your card anniversary, they give you 6,000 points, too. There is a $99 annual fee. We only had 25,000 points for Jet Blue, so we got 2 tickets free for the flight down, and paid for the rest. $588 for 4 seats. ugh.

 

[Lisa F]

We just got the card for this trip! We had to spend $2k in 3 months (which we easily spent on our room at WDW!) and then we got 50k points. Our flights were ~6400 points each. So, we still have 11,000 points left for another trip. Every year on your card anniversary, they give you 6,000 points, too. There is a $99 annual fee. We only had 25,000 points for Jet Blue, so we got 2 tickets free for the flight down, and paid for the rest. $588 for 4 seats. ugh.

ugh i wish i realized that. i kept seeing things about 110k points for a companion ticket and i'm like, i'm not spending all that money for one free ticket.

I did pay for about $320 with rewards stuff but I could have put $200 of that toward disney gift cards. Oh well

 

[Lisa F]

anyway what's done is done and my budget is on track (i was looking at some fall fares and people reporting having to pay much more than last year and bracing myself for having to throw down up to another $200 for my tickets so very glad it was in the $400 range instead).

@Candycane83 let's figure out this chef mickey thing. I have one morning in flux - we are going to do disney springs and maybe go swimming if weather and time permits (honestly an hour or two at disney springs is plenty for me! I just like the disney specific stores at the marketplace, we do the christmas shop and world of disney and i like to look at the gallery and have some ice cream and that's about it for me).

I am going to try for a 4:30 dinner at Hollywood and Vine with F! package. My kid LOVES the character meals and will always pick character meals over others and this is the only dinner we are doing. I am seriously back and forth on it but we are going at xmas time and even though doing the MVMCP we will not be spending hours on line to see characters. We'll do the parade, fireworks and lots of rides til we can't ride anymore.

He said he would like going to chef mickey's in the morning even though it is the same characters. The other option is to do our Ohana breakfast here and do something else OOP later in the week when I had planned Ohana.

We just have never been and I am meh on both CM and on H&V due to mixed food reviews. But we are doing DxDDP and these are both very pricey character meals (well CM breakfast is less pricey than dinner but more pricey than other breakfasts) that I would be disinclined to do if I was paying OOP (either of them would not rise to the top of my list). Also my kiddo is 8 and the next time we come will be out of prime character time. So part of me is just "now is the time to do it." Part of me is like "hell on earth, two mediocre character meals in one day (these are the two that make me the most nervous). Part of me is "how cool to eat breakfast in the contemporary" and part of me is "but damn mickey twice in one day" lol.

I guess I am leaning toward adding it.

Thoughts on my crazy?

 

[Tattylou]

I didn't realize so many ppl wait for southwest to release their flights. What is the draw? Is it price or good experiences or both? We are flying jetblue when we go and from what I see the prices for our flights are similar to southwest. Just curious. I'm not generally airline loyal. I fly whoever has good price at times of day I want, but I want to make sure I'm not missing something.

 

[Tattylou]

anyway what's done is done and my budget is on track (i was looking at some fall fares and people reporting having to pay much more than last year and bracing myself for having to throw down up to another $200 for my tickets so very glad it was in the $400 range instead).

@Candycane83 let's figure out this chef mickey thing. I have one morning in flux - we are going to do disney springs and maybe go swimming if weather and time permits (honestly an hour or two at disney springs is plenty for me! I just like the disney specific stores at the marketplace, we do the christmas shop and world of disney and i like to look at the gallery and have some ice cream and that's about it for me).

I am going to try for a 4:30 dinner at Hollywood and Vine with F! package. My kid LOVES the character meals and will always pick character meals over others and this is the only dinner we are doing. I am seriously back and forth on it but we are going at xmas time and even though doing the MVMCP we will not be spending hours on line to see characters. We'll do the parade, fireworks and lots of rides til we can't ride anymore.

He said he would like going to chef mickey's in the morning even though it is the same characters. The other option is to do our Ohana breakfast here and do something else OOP later in the week when I had planned Ohana.

We just have never been and I am meh on both CM and on H&V due to mixed food reviews. But we are doing DxDDP and these are both very pricey character meals (well CM breakfast is less pricey than dinner but more pricey than other breakfasts) that I would be disinclined to do if I was paying OOP (either of them would not rise to the top of my list). Also my kiddo is 8 and the next time we come will be out of prime character time. So part of me is just "now is the time to do it." Part of me is like "hell on earth, two mediocre character meals in one day (these are the two that make me the most nervous). Part of me is "how cool to eat breakfast in the contemporary" and part of me is "but damn mickey twice in one day" lol.

I guess I am leaning toward adding it.

Thoughts on my crazy?

I'd do them. We have done the double character meal days before and it is fun. My kids would do character meals for every meal. They love it.

 

[Tattylou]

So I am on the fence about the Christmas party... it would be my husband, myself, and our sons who will be six and eight. We have never gone at Christmas time before (usually we go in spring). My concern is is the cost of it worth it? Esp bc my kids are usually exhausted by 9 in Disney. I have 2 friends each telling me different things. One says it is a must at least once. The other says too crowded and not worth the cost. I am looking at Fri, Dec 2. Anyone in same situation going for it or not? What are your thoughts?

 

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

So I am on the fence about the Christmas party... it would be my husband, myself, and our sons who will be six and eight. We have never gone at Christmas time before (usually we go in spring). My concern is is the cost of it worth it? Esp bc my kids are usually exhausted by 9 in Disney. I have 2 friends each telling me different things. One says it is a must at least once. The other says too crowded and not worth the cost. I am looking at Fri, Dec 2. Anyone in same situation going for it or not? What are your thoughts?

We are doing one MVMCP with out DD8. We are planning on doing it on our "off day". So we will sleep a little later, have late breakfast, resort hop to look at decorations etc. Then maybe go back to our room around 2~3 pm for naps/freshen up. After that I'm hoping we'll be ready for a late party night.

 

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

I didn't realize so many ppl wait for southwest to release their flights. What is the draw? Is it price or good experiences or both? We are flying jetblue when we go and from what I see the prices for our flights are similar to southwest. Just curious. I'm not generally airline loyal. I fly whoever has good price at times of day I want, but I want to make sure I'm not missing something.

I've been waiting for Southwest because they are the only airline that flies to Orlando from our regional airport which is about a 10 minute drive from our house and we get free parking there. If not Southwest then we would have to fly out of one of the 2 NY airports. Which means 1.5 hour drive (2.5 in rush hour traffic), parking fees or car service to and from the airport.

 

[Candycane83]

anyway what's done is done and my budget is on track (i was looking at some fall fares and people reporting having to pay much more than last year and bracing myself for having to throw down up to another $200 for my tickets so very glad it was in the $400 range instead).

@Candycane83 let's figure out this chef mickey thing. I have one morning in flux - we are going to do disney springs and maybe go swimming if weather and time permits (honestly an hour or two at disney springs is plenty for me! I just like the disney specific stores at the marketplace, we do the christmas shop and world of disney and i like to look at the gallery and have some ice cream and that's about it for me).

I am going to try for a 4:30 dinner at Hollywood and Vine with F! package. My kid LOVES the character meals and will always pick character meals over others and this is the only dinner we are doing. I am seriously back and forth on it but we are going at xmas time and even though doing the MVMCP we will not be spending hours on line to see characters. We'll do the parade, fireworks and lots of rides til we can't ride anymore.

He said he would like going to chef mickey's in the morning even though it is the same characters. The other option is to do our Ohana breakfast here and do something else OOP later in the week when I had planned Ohana.

We just have never been and I am meh on both CM and on H&V due to mixed food reviews. But we are doing DxDDP and these are both very pricey character meals (well CM breakfast is less pricey than dinner but more pricey than other breakfasts) that I would be disinclined to do if I was paying OOP (either of them would not rise to the top of my list). Also my kiddo is 8 and the next time we come will be out of prime character time. So part of me is just "now is the time to do it." Part of me is like "hell on earth, two mediocre character meals in one day (these are the two that make me the most nervous). Part of me is "how cool to eat breakfast in the contemporary" and part of me is "but damn mickey twice in one day" lol.

I guess I am leaning toward adding it.

Thoughts on my crazy?

Honestly, I think it's because of the dining plan I'm considering all these character meals! It's crazy (but not really since they are the most expensive cost-wise and mediocre in food ). So my thoughts are, since your son love character meals, go for it! 2 mediocre meals in one day would not kill you. As long as your son likes it, you and your son finds something edible, then it's all worth it! Mind you, if we actually push forward with our December plans, I have 4 character meals planned within our first 3 days! And then just 2 more for the rest of the trip (6 days). I'm still trying to tweak since I want to go to DS while I'm still on the dining plan to spend those snack credits! I think DS would be a great place to spend snack credits especially with all the new offerings. I can't wait to try Amorette! That hot chocolate sounds like it's a great use of snack credits!

My plan for our first full day at Disney is Chef Mickey right now is to do a 7:30am ressie then MK. (Figure it's a good idea to try rope drop for one day early in the trip and to start the trip at MK). We'll spend 2-3 hours then head back to AKL and have a meal at Sanaa using 1 credit only, pay partial OOP (So the meal would be lighter) At around 4pm, we would head to AK and have Tusker House for dinner on ROL! See I'm crazier than you! What do you think?