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

[21stamps]

You guys are so lucky with Southwest... my flights are going to cost me CAD500 per person!




Yes... I'm thinking about it... I may cut either Sanaa or Yak and Yeti from my list... Have you tried either? Any thoughts?

I'm with you there!!! I have not booked our flights because after luggage fees they are over $500 each RT. Hoping something better comes along. That's crazy to me-especially for domestic travel to MCO!!!

 

[21stamps]

Ok Hi All!!!!

Here are my plans--- Input welcome.. and needed!!!

11/24 arrival night (late)- still undecided on resort, or if staying that one night at airport.

11/25- Check in if did not get to our resort the night before.
Epcot and CP dinner package

OR

VIP Tour (easier decision if can get cheaper flights and a 30% room discount!!)
Epcot/HS for the tour.
After the Tour do CP Package

11/26 Check out of (maybe POP?) head to Port Canaveral

11/26-12/3 DCL Fantasy

12/3 Check in to CR. In Room Experience?- this depends on if I book the tour- if so, no Christmas decorations in room.
Breakfast Ohana 11am
Small watercraft (weather permitting)
Late lunch at WC look at decoration around WL
Marshmallows and firepit at CR
Change into pajamas watch EWP & Wishes, go to sleep relatively early.

12/4 MK Rope drop.
BOG lunch
leave MK at 7pm.
Late room service dinner and watch Holiday Wishes from room-- Are these different from regular Wishes?

12/5 Plan A. IF we do the VIP tour the prior week-
Room Service Breakfast
Epcot for Story Tellers
Resort or DS break
Hollywood Studios for Minnie's Holiday Dine F! Package
Plan B. No VIP Tour week prior
Room Service Breakfast
Rope Drop at HS to sign up for Jedi Training
Break
Back to HS for F! Dinner Package

12/6 1900 Park Fare Breakfast
Pirate Adventure Cruise
MVMCP

12/7 Check out Day
Chef Mickey's
Disney Springs T-Rex Lunch
Flight Home

 

[Candycane83]

@Candycane83 I think I am going to not do chef mickey's and move my OOP ohana reservation to that slot. We are not saying at the poly yet but we are going to have a car and can drive there and have breakfast before going to Disney Springs. Then I won't do Ohana twice in one day and can do the lower priced Kona Cafe or even room service that day if we want to while we are OOP.

so we are doing

Friday 12/2: Arrive a 5:10pm MCO, go to AKL
Boma Dinner OOP

Saturday 12/3:Check into BWV, DxDDP
AK day
TH breakfast with package
Yak and Yeti dinner

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday might switch around depending on member mixer schedule - sunday is a red day for HS but I figure if we get there before rope drop/for EMH, sign up for the jedi training academy, have a snack at starring rolls for breakfast and then early Sci Fi lunch and do our 3 fast passes that will keep us busy and out of crowded situations for the day... I think they are expecting morning EMH that day which would make signing up for and getting Jedi Training Academy done early easier because we can sign up during EMH and only competing with resort guests... so fingers crossed on all that!

I am also assuming the merry member mixer is on Monday right now but if it is on sunday or tuesday will swap those days I guess. It has historically been on Monday or Tuesday and last year was Monday so not likely sunday.

Sunday 12/4:BWV, DxDDP
HS morning
11am Sci Fi lunch
5pm dinner at california grill
back to Epcot for fireworks

Monday 12/5: BWV, DxDDP
Epcot all day
Cape May Cafe breakfast
Coral Reef CP package 2:30 "lunch", merry member mixer, CP at 6ish show if they will let me do that, I read somewhere that they are letting you pick whatever show you want rather than assigning it based on dining time this year?

Tuesday 12/6: BWV, DxDDP
Ohana breakfast
Disney Springs
early dinner at Hollywood & Vine with F! package

Wednesday 12/7: check out BWV, check in Poly DxDDP
Epcot in the morning
Garden Grill Breakfast
Narcoossees dinner at 5pm
MK on non party night for MSEP and regular wishes.

Thursday 12/8: Poly Villas, OOP
Kona Cafe breakfast (WAS Ohana)
Resort day OR go to MK for a while then back to resort OR AK for a couple of things. totally flexible. will depend on weather too but would like to try out that poly pool!
Ohana dinner 3:45 (If i can get it, seems as hard as BoG!)
MVMCP

Friday 12/9: Poly Villas, OOP
Crystal Palace breakfast (9:45ish)
MK day
HDDR 4pm
relax at resort, pack, fireworks and electric water pagent either from room or beach (have lake view but if not higher floor will need to go to the beach... might want to anyway)

Saturday 12/10: departure day
room service or kona or capt cooks before we go.

My must get at 180+whatever days to get are in this order:
Ohana 3:45pm on MVMCP day
CP breakfast
TH Breakfast
H&V dinner (I might book one for both Monday and Tuesday so that I can drop the one I don't want once hours and schedules are released and hopefully the merry member mixer. Since I want to do CP package around 2:30PM anyway I should be able to hold both the 2:30 and the 4:30? maybe... hoping the Merry Member Mixer hours are released before or at same time as CP packages)
Ohana Breakfast
the rest I think should not be super difficult to book and will just kind of book them in order with character meals first. Dinners for 2 at signs at 5pm don't seem to book super fast.

@Lisa F your plans look solid now... More concrete and feels like you would keep these I've actually flipped my plans a lot more! Big surprise.

You're right about prioritizing ohana. I've seen threads recently that even at 180 days it's very difficult to get. Your character dining looks pretty nicely spread out too. I feel like mine is too concentrated at the beginning of our stay...

Right now my plans are

Dec 3 AKL
Tiffins dinner

Dec 4 AK day
Tusker House ROL (pre park opening)
Sanaa lunch? (Not sure about this)
Yak and Yeti dinner

Dec 5 EPCOT and DHS
Akershus (10am)
Park hop to DHS
Minnie's Holiday Dinner (4pm)

Dec 6 move to CR
Chef Mickey's (10am)
Go to DS or MK
Narcoosee's (7pm)

Dec 7 EPCOT/ DS
Biergarten (11:30)
Break at CR
Florida Homecoming/ STK (6:30pm) early night

Dec 8 party night
Crystal Palace (8am)
Resort hop and break
Ohana (4pm)
MVMCP

Dec 9
Raglan Road (11:30)
Break
Flying Fish (6pm)
Either EPCOT or DHS

Dec 10 MK
Kona Cafe (9:30am)
BOG dinner (5pm)

Dec 11 EPCOT
Garden Grill (9am)
Coral Reef (5pm)

Dec 12 home
Wave or room service for breakfast

I'm not too sure about dec 7-11... I feel like a lot of tweaking is still needed. I desperately want them to release park hours already!!

 

[Mintycake]

are you doing the DDP? you are planning like you are, lol. since you have a lot of CS planned it is prob not a big deal but I have found that 3 meals a day is a lot if some are TS, lol. But you can snack at those places and not get a full meal.
I am doing F! package at hollywood and vine and strugglign with it due to mixed reviews but I need to suck up and deal... kiddo wants to see the xmas characters adn I just need to keep perspective, but I'd prefer MM.
In MK I think you have decent choices but also maybe consider some of the snack choices if you are not DDP (i mean less fulls it down lunch places). Also the new Pecos bills looks good to me but you may not like that kind of food. there are also cheeseburger spring rolls and the mac adn cheese place with pot roast and that kind of stuff that are not traditional QS places and are nto QS on DDP but are good for a lighter meal.

We aren't doing DDP. DD and I are mainly vegetarian (not strictly but 80% of the time). I also used one of the calculators and basically we came out $70 ahead if we used the DDP. Also I usually just drink water at meals. The other thing is my DD is a very picky eater and doesn't like typical kid food (like burgers, nuggets etc). We plan to mix and match our meals to get her something she will eat (fries, cheese pizza, plain pasta, raw veggies and fruits). And with portion sizes being what I think they'll be, I think it's likely at most places we'll split meals, and certainly we couldn't eat full desserts without bursting! I just find DDP too restrictive in terms of us "working the plan" to make it make sense for us.

I love the Pecos Bills menu but my daughter wouldn't eat anything there We are doing character meals so that we're not wasting time in the parks hanging out for characters (though we will have to suck it up for the ones that don't appear at the meals).

I think we'll structure our day around the TS meals (usually one per day) and then fill in with snacks and CS meals and whatever we order from Garden Grocer (I plan to bring a soft sided cooler into the park with fresh veg and fruit for snacks).

having said that, do you think its too much of a time suck to eat lunch at one of the monorail resorts near MK? I'm just not thrilled with the food offerings at MK. Also If we don't do fantasmic package at HS (2 TS meals might be too much for my daughter in one day, and 50s prime time is a must for her) we're thinking of going back to our resort for lunch at Beaches and Cream.

Also on one of the Epcot days, thinking of RD for Joy and Sadness and then later breakfast at Garden Grill?

 

[myhoney]

You are doing two dinner shows and the BBQ gets soso reviews? I might consider swapping another sig for that for the 2 credits... I think HDDR is the MUCH better dinner show. Not sure what your party makeup is (can't keep track lol) but my kiddo is pretty picky and his favorite meal of our last trip was CA Grill.

We are doing the BBQ for the little ones. We have the 4 kids: 11, 9, 4, and 3. That night is a party night, and we aren't getting tickets. The little ones get pretty excited about Mickey and Minnie, so we figure it will be good for them. As an added bonus, DH and I get beer and sangria! Win-win.We have done Cali before, and it was great, but at a signature, I want to make sure all our kids are well behaved for the other guests' enjoyment. They usually are, but our youngest at CG...no thanks. Too stressful.

 

[Winniebell10]

Dining package for the jungle book show which is the placeholder for RoL was released and TH is on it for sure (as speculated) along with Tiffin. The menu at Tiffin does not really appeal to me (I had hoped it would but nothing strikes me honestly - maybe i will feel different when pictures of food and reviews come out?). I am planning to do TH dining package with night time show whatever it is and Yak and Yeti early dinner.

We are planning to do early HDDR on 12/9 as well! How old is your son again?

what is RD? adn Sorcerer's at MK? I am usually pretty good at that stuff lol.

Hey there! RD is rope drop. Well, I hope......I'm pretty new here, so I hope I didn't just make it up.
One son will be turning 14 on the trip. The other will be 11. How old is yours?
I think I've already changed my mind on our HS day. Just planning on doing 1/2 day. Thinking of putting it in the day after our MVMCP night. But, that could be tough because we want to get to HS early, the 11 year old wants to try to make it to Jedi training.

 

[nicynot]

Ok Hi All!!!!


12/4 MK Rope drop.
BOG lunch
leave MK at 7pm.
Late room service dinner and watch Holiday Wishes from room-- Are these different from regular Wishes?

Yes they are very much different!

 

[21stamps]

We aren't doing DDP. DD and I are mainly vegetarian (not strictly but 80% of the time). I also used one of the calculators and basically we came out $70 ahead if we used the DDP. Also I usually just drink water at meals. The other thing is my DD is a very picky eater and doesn't like typical kid food (like burgers, nuggets etc). We plan to mix and match our meals to get her something she will eat (fries, cheese pizza, plain pasta, raw veggies and fruits). And with portion sizes being what I think they'll be, I think it's likely at most places we'll split meals, and certainly we couldn't eat full desserts without bursting! I just find DDP too restrictive in terms of us "working the plan" to make it make sense for us.

I love the Pecos Bills menu but my daughter wouldn't eat anything there We are doing character meals so that we're not wasting time in the parks hanging out for characters (though we will have to suck it up for the ones that don't appear at the meals).

I think we'll structure our day around the TS meals (usually one per day) and then fill in with snacks and CS meals and whatever we order from Garden Grocer (I plan to bring a soft sided cooler into the park with fresh veg and fruit for snacks).

having said that, do you think its too much of a time suck to eat lunch at one of the monorail resorts near MK? I'm just not thrilled with the food offerings at MK. Also If we don't do fantasmic package at HS (2 TS meals might be too much for my daughter in one day, and 50s prime time is a must for her) we're thinking of going back to our resort for lunch at Beaches and Cream.

Also on one of the Epcot days, thinking of RD for Joy and Sadness and then later breakfast at Garden Grill?

I have the DDP now..was going to upgrade to DXDDP..then thought about it, and with our meals I think we will be better OOP. So, my TA is cancelling the plan. (Poor girl, this is the 3rd change that I've made)

Yes they are very much different!

Oh I'm excited! I hope it won't spoil it that we will be watching before our party night...but could be nice if we jump on a few rides after celebrate the magic!

 

[Lisa F]

I know. Sometimes I get so hung up on memorizing the more advanced acronyms that I totally space out on the basic ones.

I noticed you'll be there in Dec. we will too but the week after you. Looks like the new AK offerings (Tiffins and TH w/JB and eventually ROL) are quickly becoming the hottest tickets in town. What do think? Are these the new BOG and CRT ADRs?......Meaning, are you moving them to the top of your list when 180+10 opens up for you?

hm maybe I should - want to do TH breakfast with RoL package and it seems like only TH breakfast is open right now. I'm not sure they are booking into the fall yet though, only for the next couple of months for JB?

 

[Wood Nymph]

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.

We are lucky to be flying out of Chicago-Midway with lots of SWA flights to choose from. We booked our tickets for our June trip on the release dates because the prices looked good. I watched for the prices to go down, checking several times a week, and the trip down was never cheaper than the price I paid on release date. The flight home, a Wednesday flight, only dropped by $4 and that was only for a few days. Otherwise the release date remained the best price.

The October trip, though, did not have the cheapest flights on release date. I held off buying tickets until I saw better prices, and bought the flight down for just a few dollars less than release date prices. But the price for the trip home dropped from $156 to $99, a big savings.

I've checked the Dec 3-7th SWA prices and they seem high to me. I missed the release date, so it might have been lower. But I'm not buying tickets until I see them go down a lot more than they are now. We have traveled in this early part of December before and I've seen some good sales. The only thing I need to worry about, though, is the Dec 3rd flight. It is a Saturday morning and might have a bunch of Pop Warner kids flying that day. But I don't think the teams will buy tickets for quite awhile yet.

 

[CaliTex]

Since Pop Warner teams won't know who is going until November, no, I don't think they will be buying tickets anytime soon. I don't care for SWA much--but I sure like the prices and the schedule. Funny story: My 10 year old DGS plays Pop Warner, and last season his team was one game away from going to Orlando. At the team meeting he wanted to know if we could stay at WL if the team went, and what dining plan would the team have? The coach said "What?" and my DGS explained the dining plan to him. (He's a center--he is used to explaining things to everyone--lol) But you think the kid has heard us discuss Disney vacations once or twice???

We are going December 10-19, and I sure would love to get BOG for dinner, but I haven't been able to get that restaurant in three years, so I'm not overly optimistic. Not sure what the trick is...

 

[CaliTex]

I can not stand SWA + = BUT I can't beat the price or the schedule. I would fly Jet Blue in a hot second but there is only one flight and its at 4 in the afternoon and so I stick with the SWA SMOOSHIE CATTLE CALL.

 

[Lisa F]

I can not stand SWA + = BUT I can't beat the price or the schedule. I would fly Jet Blue in a hot second but there is only one flight and its at 4 in the afternoon and so I stick with the SWA SMOOSHIE CATTLE CALL.

Honestly I didn't find their boarding to be any different than any other airline with the exception of not having a seat when you get on board. People always line up early. People are always up my *** on that line. At least with SW they have those markers to space people out a bit.

 

[CaliTex]

LOL, Lisa F. It's just me, honestly. I can't stand the "up the @$$-ness" of lining up and pushing forward like the first one on the plane wins $1000.00 and a whole entire can of diet coke all for themselves for the flight. (PEOPLE! RELAX! Both ends of the plane get there at the same time!) It doesn't bother anyone else in my family, so I'm pretty sure it's just me. I like organization and order and rude behavior makes me a little so OF COURSE I VACATION AT WDW because that makes perfect sense But I love Disney. Oddly.

I have such admiration for the people that work with the public day in and day out in a capacity like Disney CMs and airline flight attendants. I'm kinda thinking (No, I'm positive) I could not do it. Some of the behavior I have seen... I'd be pushing passengers out the emergency exit door at 30,000 feet.

 

[Iowamomof4]

Oh, I'm glad I found this thread! We're planning to stay at AoA from 11/28-12/7 w/ free dining (upgrading to DDP unless we need to drop that at the last minute due to $$$).

Current plans for dining:
Crystal Palace breakfast
Tutto Italia dinner
Captain's Grille breakfast
Tusker House breakfast (ROL dining pkg - hopefully!)
Boma breakfast
Minnie's Holiday Dine at H&V
Sanaa dinner (early so we can see the animals, I hope)
Garden Grill breakfast (might make this a CP dining package)
Whispering Canyon Cafe dinner

I have preliminary park plans but I'm waiting on December hours to confirm what I'm guessing for emh. Then I can make things a little more final.

 

[Lisa F]

LOL, Lisa F. It's just me, honestly. I can't stand the "up the @$$-ness" of lining up and pushing forward like the first one on the plane wins $1000.00 and a whole entire can of diet coke all for themselves for the flight. (PEOPLE! RELAX! Both ends of the plane get there at the same time!) It doesn't bother anyone else in my family, so I'm pretty sure it's just me. I like organization and order and rude behavior makes me a little so OF COURSE I VACATION AT WDW because that makes perfect sense But I love Disney. Oddly.

I have such admiration for the people that work with the public day in and day out in a capacity like Disney CMs and airline flight attendants. I'm kinda thinking (No, I'm positive) I could not do it. Some of the behavior I have seen... I'd be pushing passengers out the emergency exit door at 30,000 feet.

I found it pretty orderly and no different than them calling people by row number on a regular airline... if anything, a little more orderly because people line up by section ahead of time rather than hovering around the line trying to be the first in it when their row is called. Also Southwest has 4 flights a day at better times out of the small, local airport that I prefer to fly out of... Jet Blue has 1 and if that flight is cancelled for whatever reason, you are pretty much out of luck (on the transport board people have had that happen to them). And the experience of flying out of a small airport can't be beat - last time I went our plane was 20 minutes early and I was in my car in the satellite lot with my luggage 5 minutes before the plane was even supposed to land. And the small airport is not on a major traffic route - my boyfriend flew into Boston Logan from Bermuda and it took him over 3 hours to make a trip that should have been about 75 minutes without traffic. Also, Jet Blue is more expensive ($165 per person per leg vs $108 with Southwest includes 2 pieces of luggage each). There was no crowding or pushing when I boarded - like I said no more than when they say "now boarding rows 20 and higher" and everyone who is row 20 and higher jostles at once for a place in line and everyone who is 20 or lower is hovering around the line like hawks so they can be first in it when their row is called. Also southwest airlines employees tend to be pretty fun and nice people who seem to enjoy their job. Whenever you see some fun and funky airline video go viral it's always southwest

 

[Lisa F]

Ok Hi All!!!!

Here are my plans--- Input welcome.. and needed!!!

11/24 arrival night (late)- still undecided on resort, or if staying that one night at airport.

11/25- Check in if did not get to our resort the night before.
Epcot and CP dinner package

OR

VIP Tour (easier decision if can get cheaper flights and a 30% room discount!!)
Epcot/HS for the tour.
After the Tour do CP Package

11/26 Check out of (maybe POP?) head to Port Canaveral

11/26-12/3 DCL Fantasy

12/3 Check in to CR. In Room Experience?- this depends on if I book the tour- if so, no Christmas decorations in room.
Breakfast Ohana 11am
Small watercraft (weather permitting)
Late lunch at WC look at decoration around WL
Marshmallows and firepit at CR
Change into pajamas watch EWP & Wishes, go to sleep relatively early.

12/4 MK Rope drop.
BOG lunch
leave MK at 7pm.
Late room service dinner and watch Holiday Wishes from room-- Are these different from regular Wishes?

12/5 Plan A. IF we do the VIP tour the prior week-
Room Service Breakfast
Epcot for Story Tellers
Resort or DS break
Hollywood Studios for Minnie's Holiday Dine F! Package
Plan B. No VIP Tour week prior
Room Service Breakfast
Rope Drop at HS to sign up for Jedi Training
Break
Back to HS for F! Dinner Package

12/6 1900 Park Fare Breakfast
Pirate Adventure Cruise
MVMCP

12/7 Check out Day
Chef Mickey's
Disney Springs T-Rex Lunch
Flight Home

VIP tour, wow. I didn't know I was in the presence of a VIP lol

We did room service dinner at BLT which is same as CR and it was fantastic. The food comes out of the wave. I had the filet. It was delicious. And a drink with a glow cube. It was delicious. Kid had rainbow grilled cheese. don't recommend. and the fries are baked and kind of undercooked and were not a hit. Good thing my kiddo had a rice krispie treat the size of his head to snack on!

 

[Lisa F]

@Lisa F your plans look solid now... More concrete and feels like you would keep these I've actually flipped my plans a lot more! Big surprise.

You're right about prioritizing ohana. I've seen threads recently that even at 180 days it's very difficult to get. Your character dining looks pretty nicely spread out too. I feel like mine is too concentrated at the beginning of our stay...

Right now my plans are

Dec 3 AKL
Tiffins dinner

Dec 4 AK day
Tusker House ROL (pre park opening)
Sanaa lunch? (Not sure about this)
Yak and Yeti dinner

Dec 5 EPCOT and DHS
Akershus (10am)
Park hop to DHS
Minnie's Holiday Dinner (4pm)

Dec 6 move to CR
Chef Mickey's (10am)
Go to DS or MK
Narcoosee's (7pm)

Dec 7 EPCOT/ DS
Biergarten (11:30)
Break at CR
Florida Homecoming/ STK (6:30pm) early night

Dec 8 party night
Crystal Palace (8am)
Resort hop and break
Ohana (4pm)
MVMCP

Dec 9
Raglan Road (11:30)
Break
Flying Fish (6pm)
Either EPCOT or DHS

Dec 10 MK
Kona Cafe (9:30am)
BOG dinner (5pm)

Dec 11 EPCOT
Garden Grill (9am)
Coral Reef (5pm)

Dec 12 home
Wave or room service for breakfast

I'm not too sure about dec 7-11... I feel like a lot of tweaking is still needed. I desperately want them to release park hours already!!

my plans have looked solid to me for months now! lol but they still keep evolving.

I would not leave the park right in the middle of the day for lunch. seems like a HUGE hassle to do that to me. I would do Sanaa dinner first day and then YnY lunch, Tiffin dinner and stay in the park if you want to hit all of those. you are doing dxddp first few days then oop right? our choices are very similar

 

[Lisa F]

Oh, I'm glad I found this thread! We're planning to stay at AoA from 11/28-12/7 w/ free dining (upgrading to DDP unless we need to drop that at the last minute due to $$$).

Current plans for dining:
Crystal Palace breakfast
Tutto Italia dinner
Captain's Grille breakfast
Tusker House breakfast (ROL dining pkg - hopefully!)
Boma breakfast
Minnie's Holiday Dine at H&V
Sanaa dinner (early so we can see the animals, I hope)
Garden Grill breakfast (might make this a CP dining package)
Whispering Canyon Cafe dinner

I have preliminary park plans but I'm waiting on December hours to confirm what I'm guessing for emh. Then I can make things a little more final.

a lot of overlap with me too. Guess i want all of the popular stuff lol

 

[Wood Nymph]

I found it pretty orderly and no different than them calling people by row number on a regular airline... if anything, a little more orderly because people line up by section ahead of time rather than hovering around the line trying to be the first in it when their row is called.

I like the way you line up in the numbered areas. People at our home airport, and sometimes even Orlando, will politely check everyone's boarding passes to make sure they are in the right number order and no one is getting ahead of each other. I also like the free baggage check.

We did room service dinner at BLT which is same as CR and it was fantastic. The food comes out of the wave. I had the filet. It was delicious. And a drink with a glow cube. It was delicious. Kid had rainbow grilled cheese. don't recommend. and the fries are baked and kind of undercooked and were not a hit.

Your meal looks delicious. The Wave had good food. But the rainbow grilled cheese looks terrible. The thought is nice is nice, though.