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

[Candycane83]

About 2am, while nursing my 4 month old, the Crystal Palace reservation popped back up and I was able to grab it AND get an email confirmation!

Never been so glad to have an infant who nurses every 4 hours!

Congrats!!!! So happy for you!

 

[Mintycake]

Awesome @dreaminginplaid !

Yes I was on MDE this morning too as I'm stalking how long the wait is for FEA! LOL

 

[dreaminginplaid]

Awesome @dreaminginplaid !

Yes I was on MDE this morning too as I'm stalking how long the wait is for FEA! LOL

I have a friend who is there today. It was 90 minutes posted and they were on the ride after 45 minutes. So not too bad! That was probably over an hour ago.

 

[dreaminginplaid]

call! people are saying they can book by calling!

The thing about calling is you can get an idiot sometimes! I called to see if we could split up our 11 to get Garden Grill and she said she couldn't find ANY tables for our 11 on 12/1 for lunch anywhere at Epcot. And I was looking on my phone at the same time and there are tons of restaurants. Including Akershus. Just not GG. Which may be fine since my group is now undecided if that's what we want or not. Sigh.

 

[Candycane83]

I have a friend who is there today. It was 90 minutes posted and they were on the ride after 45 minutes. So not too bad! That was probably over an hour ago.

I saw a report saying that fastpass wait is now 5 mins only. I'm guessing once they really get the ride going it should not be as bad... Fingers crossed

 

[Candycane83]

The thing about calling is you can get an idiot sometimes! I called to see if we could split up our 11 to get Garden Grill and she said she couldn't find ANY tables for our 11 on 12/1 for lunch anywhere at Epcot. And I was looking on my phone at the same time and there are tons of restaurants. Including Akershus. Just not GG. Which may be fine since my group is now undecided if that's what we want or not. Sigh.

This is why I would rather wait for the system to be back up! It's not yet though...

 

[Candycane83]

MDE is up now for anyone interested!

 

[Mintycake]

I saw a report saying that fastpass wait is now 5 mins only. I'm guessing once they really get the ride going it should not be as bad... Fingers crossed

It seems that they are getting their stuff together for the ride. And the meet and greet never seems to exceed 30 mins from what I can see - and we're in peak season now. My plan may be to FP+ the ride the first Epcot day (the same day we RD Joy and Sadness) and then if she loves it we'll RD it the next day (and use our tier 1 FP+ for Soarin that day). We're entering from International Gateway - so we'll have a bit of a hike to either attraction. So I'll likely release the Akershus breakfast OR look for a later breakfast meal - since then we can enjoy the ride at rope drop and then still have breakfast (which will go over better with our family).

 

[Mintycake]

Have any of you been to Biergarten? I've been thinking of booking it. My mom is German and the menu is making me nostalgic for the days when she used to cook up all that lovely German food (she's unfortunately too sick to cook these days). My only fear is my super picky DD. It says there are "Kids offerings" but since DD doesn't like a lot of kid food I'm scared she'll be stuck eating bread and fruit, and it's a pricey meal to take her to just for nostalgia sake.

 

[Candycane83]

It seems that they are getting their stuff together for the ride. And the meet and greet never seems to exceed 30 mins from what I can see - and we're in peak season now. My plan may be to FP+ the ride the first Epcot day (the same day we RD Joy and Sadness) and then if she loves it we'll RD it the next day (and use our tier 1 FP+ for Soarin that day). We're entering from International Gateway - so we'll have a bit of a hike to either attraction. So I'll likely release the Akershus breakfast OR look for a later breakfast meal - since then we can enjoy the ride at rope drop and then still have breakfast (which will go over better with our family).

I have thought abot doing a PPO for garden grill but it just doesn't work. We have one for crystal palace on our last day but even for that, I'm hesitating... I think whichever you think will be more enjoyable for your family is best. It is important to experience what WDW has to offer but it's also important to remember it's a vacation (I need to remember this too, lol)

 

[Candycane83]

Have any of you been to Biergarten? I've been thinking of booking it. My mom is German and the menu is making me nostalgic for the days when she used to cook up all that lovely German food (she's unfortunately too sick to cook these days). My only fear is my super picky DD. It says there are "Kids offerings" but since DD doesn't like a lot of kid food I'm scared she'll be stuck eating bread and fruit, and it's a pricey meal to take her to just for nostalgia sake.

I booked it for lunch. I figure it's cheaper for lunch so if family doesn't enjoy it as much, we can snack around the world after... Is there anything on the menu your DD will eat?

 

[Candycane83]

@PolyRob have you found availability for the 11th for GG yet? I see to not be able to find any availability for that day still!

 

[PolyRob]

@PolyRob have you found availability for the 11th for GG yet? I see to not be able to find any availability for that day still!

I have not found anything on 12/11 either! It appears every other day has opened. I am unsure if its that Saturday is already booked or maybe Disney did not release them yet? I was so tempted to call while MDE was down, but figured I would not get any useful information besides to keep checking which is what it seems like we are both already doing!

 

[Candycane83]

I have not found anything on 12/11 either! It appears every other day has opened. I am unsure if its that Saturday is already booked or maybe Disney did not release them yet? I was so tempted to call while MDE was down, but figured I would not get any useful information besides to keep checking which is what it seems like we are both already doing!

Maybe a few dates are not loaded yet... I looked at all my dates and don't see 8th and 11th....

 

[PolyRob]

Maybe a few dates are not loaded yet... I looked at all my dates and don't see 8th and 11th....

It has to be that! I have been looking for Garden Grill on 12/11 since my 180+ dining window opened and nothing. I guess our search continues. Only 160 days to go!

 

[Mintycake]

I booked it for lunch. I figure it's cheaper for lunch so if family doesn't enjoy it as much, we can snack around the world after... Is there anything on the menu your DD will eat?

Not sure other than fresh fruit and bread.... but she might enjoy the music.

 

[Candycane83]

Not sure other than fresh fruit and bread.... but she might enjoy the music.

If that's the case, maybe you could try going somewhere with a German inspired menu before WDW and see if she likes it... If she doesn't, maybe you could put it aside for next time

 

[Candycane83]

It has to be that! I have been looking for Garden Grill on 12/11 since my 180+ dining window opened and nothing. I guess our search continues. Only 160 days to go!

@PolyRob 11th is available!!!

 

[dreaminginplaid]

After several tries, I was able to get 2 reservations for the same Candlelight show at Garden Grill for 6 people and 5, just 10 minutes apart! I'm even thinking the 6:45 show might be better for our kids so they can get a little dinner before the show vs. getting hungry halfway through the 5:00 show.

Or they will be completely exhausted from our first day at Disney that they all fall asleep in the show and miss the whole thing!

 

[Candycane83]

After several tries, I was able to get 2 reservations for the same Candlelight show at Garden Grill for 6 people and 5, just 10 minutes apart! I'm even thinking the 6:45 show might be better for our kids so they can get a little dinner before the show vs. getting hungry halfway through the 5:00 show.

Or they will be completely exhausted from our first day at Disney that they all fall asleep in the show and miss the whole thing!

That's great!!! Glad it worked out for you. I actually did 3 single reservations for BOG for lunch one day within 15mins. I wish they were more flexible with their reservation system and be able to lump these reservations!