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

[areno79]

JillyH, Hubby and I love character meals too and it's just the 2 of us! I don't care if people think they're only for kids; we love the Disney experience and we love the characters!

We are eagerly awaiting the release of the SW Dessert Party times. I feel like I'm doing so much planning just to have to undo so much of it. I feel like there will be so many of us scrambling to change our plans because they haven't released times/days for so many events!

 

[jillyh]

Thanks @areno79! I feel like most of my plans are solid, just the 8th dinner I am having trouble with. My husband and I are starwars fans, but we are Tower of Terror Fanatics I think one visit we rode it at least 20 times! I asked my DH if he would rather watch fireworks or ride and he said RIDE! I also feel like doing more than one dessert party would be overkill and I'm really excited about the Holiday wished party - especially having a good spot for the parade!

 

[Lisa F]

Hi All, haven't posted in quite a while as we just returned from a long road trip, and I've just caught up on all the posts

Would love any input on my plans that I "almost" have finalized - I think...

12/3 we arrive in the evening - BWI
- dinner at Boardwalk Bakery

12/4
8 am breakfast at Crystal Palace
ride a few rides before it gets crowded
take a side trip to Grand Floridian to check out decorations before heading back to BWI for a break
snack for lunch
7:30 Dinner at Tutto Italia (have reservation finder looking for earlier)

can't decide if I will get FP for MK and try to get 4th at Epcot or just get 3 for afternoon / evening at epcot

12/5
8 am breakfast at Garden Grill
QS lunch (may go to HS for middle of the day)
6:30 dinner at Rose and Crown

will do 3 early FP at epcot so I can try for additional

12/6

AK in the morning
QS lunch at Flame tree BBQ
MVMCP QS dinner followed by Holiday Wishes dessert party

will get FP for late afternoon at MK

12/7
9:10 Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno with CP package
morning at HS
QS lunch

5:00 Candlelight Processional
6:30 dinner at Chefs de France

not sure where to get FP for this day

12/8
8 am breakfast at BOG
3:10 dinner at Minnie's Holiday dinner at H & V (I actually have 3 dinner reservations - H &V, Flying fish and Mama Melrose) after reading the review @Lisa F posted I couldn't resist!

12/9 - departure day

Just my DH and I - I know we are doing quite a few character meals for two adults, but we are kids at heart! I plan on doing early mornings and late nights with breaks in the middle of the day to try and optimize for lower crowds. We won't do early mornings on the 6th and 7th though due to MVMCP. I feel like I need to seriously start thinking about what to do about FP. Anybody else feel that way?

If you want me to let you know how H&V is after I go (I am going on 12/6 so enough time to change your plans) I can drop in quickly to do that. I can let you know if it is as awful as people say, decent, or as good as some reviews say. they are all over the place!

I mean, let's face it. Food will NOT compare to FF. If you want a gourmet experience those are apples and oranges. I am a little disappointed in how stuffy FF feels rather than the fun seaside eatery it used to be though (just me, I once sat at the table next to Pat Sajak and his family there!) - it does not feel family friendly at all so it is off my list. I prefer my disney restaurants to feel disney rather than "more upscale than Disney but could be anywhere" if that makes sense. But if I were just two adults I'd be tempted to try it out given how good the reviews are.

H&V vs MM was a tough choice for me. Really tough! MM is an old favorite from my married days in spite of mixed reviews, H&V has always had a reputation for being deeesgusting and I was never interested in the characters they had there (before kiddo we went to a few character meals, but just a few.) But a new chef came in and the seasonal dine started happening and mickey, minnie, donald, daisy (I LOVE DAISY! lol) and goofy in holiday outfits and I got interested. The reviews are no longer awful though some still are, most are good to excellent. It is a great value on the DDP especially w/F! and in the end it is what kiddo wanted to do so we chose that. I felt like we should either do chef mickey's or H&V and we ended up with H&V because it is a special thing to the season.

Only thing is I wouldn't waste all that time going there and back to HS on your Epcot day, esp around the middle of the day for QS lunch. The choices are FAR better in Epcot than HS.

 

[Lisa F]

JillyH, Hubby and I love character meals too and it's just the 2 of us! I don't care if people think they're only for kids; we love the Disney experience and we love the characters!

We are eagerly awaiting the release of the SW Dessert Party times. I feel like I'm doing so much planning just to have to undo so much of it. I feel like there will be so many of us scrambling to change our plans because they haven't released times/days for so many events!

I'm hoping no one has to undo anything and they keep it going every night. fingers crossed.

 

[Mintycake]

Thank you very much!

Honestly, I've learned so much over the last few months. I already feel way ahead of the game for a first-time planner, thanks in large part to this board!

That's what it's all about - we are all helping each other and having fun!

 

[Lisa F]

Also btw hoping that IF they do RoL they will roll it out BIG and will have shows later than 7pm at AK. If it is at least at 8pm then we could potentially go after a 5pm CA Grill dinner. I might even use my good FPs for that that day since the morning will be EMH at HS so we might be able to get most of what we want to get done in the morning anyway. hmmmm.

 

[jillyh]

LIsa F I totally agree with you about Flying Fish. Also I have a set in stone budget that I've pretty much maxed out. We are on the regular dining plan and would most likely pay for that one OOP. The prices on the new menu are pretty up there! We always like to try eating where we are staying, but I think Trattoria will have to fill that need

I had previously asked about H&V on another thread and was told for 2 adults it would not be worth it, but I love the holiday theme and the food choices seem very appealing. I'm going to continue to keep my eye on reviews. Thanks for the offer of the quick review, but by that point I think I will have my mind made up and will have cancelled 2 of the 3 ressies. I've never been to MM, but it's never been too appealing to me. I just booked it as it seemed like next best option.

As you can see we'll be spending a good amount of time at Epcot. We tend to not like staying in one park all day which is why I was thinking of going to HS in the middle of the day - not necessarily for the QS, but just thought that's where we'd be. Now I'm thinking maybe we should consider DS although we are not big shoppers. Does anyone know if they deck it out for the Holidays like the parks?

 

[Lisa F]

LIsa F I totally agree with you about Flying Fish. Also I have a set in stone budget that I've pretty much maxed out. We are on the regular dining plan and would most likely pay for that one OOP. The prices on the new menu are pretty up there! We always like to try eating where we are staying, but I think Trattoria will have to fill that need

I had previously asked about H&V on another thread and was told for 2 adults it would not be worth it, but I love the holiday theme and the food choices seem very appealing. I'm going to continue to keep my eye on reviews. Thanks for the offer of the quick review, but by that point I think I will have my mind made up and will have cancelled 2 of the 3 ressies. I've never been to MM, but it's never been too appealing to me. I just booked it as it seemed like next best option.

As you can see we'll be spending a good amount of time at Epcot. We tend to not like staying in one park all day which is why I was thinking of going to HS in the middle of the day - not necessarily for the QS, but just thought that's where we'd be. Now I'm thinking maybe we should consider DS although we are not big shoppers. Does anyone know if they deck it out for the Holidays like the parks?

I actually think on the DDP H&V is one of the better values out there. That is the other reason we are doing it - we can do F! package at Mama Melrose any time of the year and it is the same thing, same price and not a bad deal either on regular DDP or OOP. But we are doing DxDDP and this is likely the last time my child will be a "disney kid" on a trip with me so we are going all out. The F! package for the two of us at H&V is almost the same price as my planned dinner at CA Grill for the two of us. It's maybe $20 less. If you are ever going to try H&V while on DDP AND dinner during the christmas holiday season is THE time to do it. Best costumes, best menu, best everything. JMHO about it. You can always do MM on a later trip but I would not choose to do H&V OOP. It's $51.12 w/o F! package and $58.58 w/ F! package. I would not advocate eating somewhere you don't want to eat at all to maximize the plan but I would advocate doing the "good value" stuff while you are on the plan and saving the "less good/bad value" stuff for a later trip when you have a choice between the two. JMHO.

Also just asking because now I've stalked your plans, you are paying for your CP package with breakfast OOP right? I counted up 6 other meals and I'm hoping you chose the breakfast because it was least expensive OOP because you know the CP packages are 2 credits no matter where you eat, right?

Also if you really wanted to do FF, if I counted correctly, you would not have to pay for the WHOLE thing OOP. You would still have 2TS to use so use it for one of you, order the wagyu, order an expensive dessert to share, and then either order an app or two to share and share the main meal and dessert or order a less expensive entree and share dessert. You know what I mean? you can still totally maximize those credits for yourselves and would not have to pay for the whole meal OOP.

 

[Lisa F]

@jillyh also this is my first blush take on your FP situation. Please note that I often will throw something out there then rethink it, but it's just a place for you to start thinking about it.
12/4 - I would FP MK
you have a bunch of other times at Epcot and also Future World empties out in the evenings as people shift over to the world showcase. you may not be able to do tier 1 rides still but you should be able to do anything else in future world with little to no waiting. Mexico should be easy to get on also and you may just want to stick to the world showcase for the evening depending on when you get there - assuming you are coming through international gateway so that dumps you in the world showcase.
I would consider trying to do peter pan standby as close to RD as possible either today or on 12/8. the standby queue is supposedly really awesome now and not to be missed but you still don't want to spend 45 minutes standing in it. When you do your FP's consider geographic location and having things near each other so you are not all over the parks. for example, do 10-11 Splash Mountain and 11-12 Big Thunder Mountain and show up around 10:45 for your splash FP and then go on BTMRR right after.
12/5 -
FP+ would be Frozen and whatever other tier 2 rides you want to ride. none of them seem to matter much. Maybe spaceship earth and one other.
8am GG
ride soarin right at rope drop (people have had great success with 8am GG and riding soarin even a couple of times), ride living with the land, go right to test track. Honestly I feel like test track is a distant third to both Frozen and Soarin' in the tier 1 rides and people will RD either Frozen or Soarin' before they RD Test track. if TT is too busy do something more secondary.
12/6 -
agree with what you've got
12/7 -
FP+ Toy Story, Tower of Terror, whatever third thing you want to get imo the rest don't need it. star tours maybe
12/8 - same as 12/4 as far as advice goes

I think you should be covered on everything major this way.

 

[jillyh]

I actually think on the DDP H&V is one of the better values out there. That is the other reason we are doing it - we can do F! package at Mama Melrose any time of the year and it is the same thing, same price and not a bad deal either on regular DDP or OOP. But we are doing DxDDP and this is likely the last time my child will be a "disney kid" on a trip with me so we are going all out. The F! package for the two of us at H&V is almost the same price as my planned dinner at CA Grill for the two of us. It's maybe $20 less. If you are ever going to try H&V while on DDP AND dinner during the christmas holiday season is THE time to do it. Best costumes, best menu, best everything. JMHO about it. You can always do MM on a later trip but I would not choose to do H&V OOP. It's $51.12 w/o F! package and $58.58 w/ F! package. I would not advocate eating somewhere you don't want to eat at all to maximize the plan but I would advocate doing the "good value" stuff while you are on the plan and saving the "less good/bad value" stuff for a later trip when you have a choice between the two. JMHO.

Also just asking because now I've stalked your plans, you are paying for your CP package with breakfast OOP right? I counted up 6 other meals and I'm hoping you chose the breakfast because it was least expensive OOP because you know the CP packages are 2 credits no matter where you eat, right?

Also if you really wanted to do FF, if I counted correctly, you would not have to pay for the WHOLE thing OOP. You would still have 2TS to use so use it for one of you, order the wagyu, order an expensive dessert to share, and then either order an app or two to share and share the main meal and dessert or order a less expensive entree and share dessert. You know what I mean? you can still totally maximize those credits for yourselves and would not have to pay for the whole meal OOP.

I agree if we ever try H&V this would be the time! and yes paying for CP package OOP which is why I felt the breakfast was a good option. Now you are just tormenting me with the idea of using 2 TS credits to pay for just one of our meals! I had never thought of that and it is an excellent idea!!! Ohhhhhh the indecision!!!

 

[Lisa F]

I agree if we ever try H&V this would be the time! and yes paying for CP package OOP which is why I felt the breakfast was a good option. Now you are just tormenting me with the idea of using 2 TS credits to pay for just one of our meals! I had never thought of that and it is an excellent idea!!! Ohhhhhh the indecision!!!

I would probably still do H&V because for me it would be a "if I'm ever gonna do it now is the time" thing. Unless you plan to come back at this time of year again and do the DDP again etcetc. But the other choices are the most flexible for ddp or oop while that one I just would never pay that much OOP for a character buffet. Unless my child decides it was the best meal of the whole trip and wants to go back some day. then i would cave in a new york minute, lol. But I am going to be less and less inclined to take him out of school and our next trip together will likely be during his february break, which is a week off of everyone else's and a great time to go. and he will be a disney adult by then. so for me it is kind of now or never, but FF will always be there and it may be more appropriate for him as he gets older.

 

[jillyh]

@jillyh also this is my first blush take on your FP situation. Please note that I often will throw something out there then rethink it, but it's just a place for you to start thinking about it.
12/4 - I would FP MK
you have a bunch of other times at Epcot and also Future World empties out in the evenings as people shift over to the world showcase. you may not be able to do tier 1 rides still but you should be able to do anything else in future world with little to no waiting. Mexico should be easy to get on also and you may just want to stick to the world showcase for the evening depending on when you get there - assuming you are coming through international gateway so that dumps you in the world showcase.
I would consider trying to do peter pan standby as close to RD as possible either today or on 12/8. the standby queue is supposedly really awesome now and not to be missed but you still don't want to spend 45 minutes standing in it. When you do your FP's consider geographic location and having things near each other so you are not all over the parks. for example, do 10-11 Splash Mountain and 11-12 Big Thunder Mountain and show up around 10:45 for your splash FP and then go on BTMRR right after.
12/5 -
FP+ would be Frozen and whatever other tier 2 rides you want to ride. none of them seem to matter much. Maybe spaceship earth and one other.
8am GG
ride soarin right at rope drop (people have had great success with 8am GG and riding soarin even a couple of times), ride living with the land, go right to test track. Honestly I feel like test track is a distant third to both Frozen and Soarin' in the tier 1 rides and people will RD either Frozen or Soarin' before they RD Test track. if TT is too busy do something more secondary.
12/6 -
agree with what you've got
12/7 -
FP+ Toy Story, Tower of Terror, whatever third thing you want to get imo the rest don't need it. star tours maybe
12/8 - same as 12/4 as far as advice goes

I think you should be covered on everything major this way.

Thanks for the great suggestions Lisa, I really appreciate your input! Great idea about PP. Last trip we used FP so haven't seen the new queue yet and really want to! I was trying to decide which direction to head from CP as I think most of the RD crowd head straight to Fantasyland or Tomorrow land, maybe it would be a good time to hit Frontierland. I think we'll use 12/8 to do PP immediately after BOG breakfast. I don't get the hype about 7dwarves mine train. It's very cute, but as a ride I much prefer BTMRR. We'll probably just do 7DMT once late on party night instead of using a FP on it.

 

[mstephen87]

If you want me to let you know how H&V is after I go (I am going on 12/6 so enough time to change your plans) I can drop in quickly to do that. I can let you know if it is as awful as people say, decent, or as good as some reviews say. they are all over the place!

I mean, let's face it. Food will NOT compare to FF. If you want a gourmet experience those are apples and oranges. I am a little disappointed in how stuffy FF feels rather than the fun seaside eatery it used to be though (just me, I once sat at the table next to Pat Sajak and his family there!) - it does not feel family friendly at all so it is off my list. I prefer my disney restaurants to feel disney rather than "more upscale than Disney but could be anywhere" if that makes sense. But if I were just two adults I'd be tempted to try it out given how good the reviews are.

H&V vs MM was a tough choice for me. Really tough! MM is an old favorite from my married days in spite of mixed reviews, H&V has always had a reputation for being deeesgusting and I was never interested in the characters they had there (before kiddo we went to a few character meals, but just a few.) But a new chef came in and the seasonal dine started happening and mickey, minnie, donald, daisy (I LOVE DAISY! lol) and goofy in holiday outfits and I got interested. The reviews are no longer awful though some still are, most are good to excellent. It is a great value on the DDP especially w/F! and in the end it is what kiddo wanted to do so we chose that. I felt like we should either do chef mickey's or H&V and we ended up with H&V because it is a special thing to the season.

Only thing is I wouldn't waste all that time going there and back to HS on your Epcot day, esp around the middle of the day for QS lunch. The choices are FAR better in Epcot than HS.

We just went to H&V end of April. We go back in December and none of my crew wanted to dine there again. (We are repeating Akershus, 1900, BOG) We felt super rushed with characters (like less than 30 seconds each) and it was SO rushed and busy in there. We literally shared a large table with another family. The food was pretty bad and the staff was HORRIBLE (maybe they were having a bad day?) We got there 10 minutes before our reservation and still waited about 45 minutes to be sat. Overall- the worst character dining we did. Even my 6 year old minnie mouse addict said no thanks to a return trip there. Hope you have a better experience, but if you like MM I would swap!

 

[Lisa F]

Thanks for the great suggestions Lisa, I really appreciate your input! Great idea about PP. Last trip we used FP so haven't seen the new queue yet and really want to! I was trying to decide which direction to head from CP as I think most of the RD crowd head straight to Fantasyland or Tomorrow land, maybe it would be a good time to hit Frontierland. I think we'll use 12/8 to do PP immediately after BOG breakfast. I don't get the hype about 7dwarves mine train. It's very cute, but as a ride I much prefer BTMRR. We'll probably just do 7DMT once late on party night instead of using a FP on it.

yeah I don't get the hype about it either. neither does my son. But on the other hand... I still feel compelled to do it, lol. I much preferred the old snow white ride to be honest, it was sweet and fantasyland and great theming... a ride through the story. plus the witch at the end routinely made people crap their shorts. the mine train is neither a great storyline nor a great rollercoaster. it does both moderately well but leaves an overall mediocre ride.

 

[Lisa F]

We just went to H&V end of April. We go back in December and none of my crew wanted to dine there again. (We are repeating Akershus, 1900, BOG) We felt super rushed with characters (like less than 30 seconds each) and it was SO rushed and busy in there. We literally shared a large table with another family. The food was pretty bad and the staff was HORRIBLE (maybe they were having a bad day?) We got there 10 minutes before our reservation and still waited about 45 minutes to be sat. Overall- the worst character dining we did. Even my 6 year old minnie mouse addict said no thanks to a return trip there. Hope you have a better experience, but if you like MM I would swap!

we are going to roll the dice. the reviews are all over the place here - some say it is the best character interaction they ever had (most say it is pretty good). Some say the food is awful, some say the food is great. We are doing so many restaurants and 5 character meals so we are willing to take our chances. I like to live dangerously and I can't resist the christmas costumes! I do appreciate the review though. I think I have my expectations set appropriately low but hoping it is better. I doubt I will go away hungry. There is only one way to find out though!

 

[areno79]

I feel the same way about H&V...I really want to see the characters dressed up, and the Christmas desserts from one of the reviews I saw looked yummy. Sadly I couldn't get the F! Package for H&V, and our 6:15 ADR is cutting it super close to even make it to F!, so we may have to cancel it unless we get a FP+ for F!. I wondered if I showed up early if they would be able to squeeze us in...does that ever happen? Or what are the chances a F! Package will open up?

 

[areno79]

Thanks @areno79! I feel like most of my plans are solid, just the 8th dinner I am having trouble with. My husband and I are starwars fans, but we are Tower of Terror Fanatics I think one visit we rode it at least 20 times! I asked my DH if he would rather watch fireworks or ride and he said RIDE! I also feel like doing more than one dessert party would be overkill and I'm really excited about the Holiday wished party - especially having a good spot for the parade!

I will be riding ToT solo, sadly. Hubby will not go near it lol

 

[Lisa F]

I feel the same way about H&V...I really want to see the characters dressed up, and the Christmas desserts from one of the reviews I saw looked yummy. Sadly I couldn't get the F! Package for H&V, and our 6:15 ADR is cutting it super close to even make it to F!, so we may have to cancel it unless we get a FP+ for F!. I wondered if I showed up early if they would be able to squeeze us in...does that ever happen? Or what are the chances a F! Package will open up?

use touringplans ADR finder to try to get something earlier. I bet things will open up esp once the FP+ window opens up. I can explain later if you don't know how to do that.

 

[areno79]

Oh yes, I already signed up for it, and have it searching for something. I'm still on the fence about our Le Cellier res too...I just don't think I want to use 2 TS credits for it when DH really wants to do one of the dinner shows. We did HDDR on our last visit and he loved it, but haven't been able to find a res for the entire week. Then again, we also have a 9:30 CG res on one of the nights since we've never been and want to see Wishes from the restaurant. Too many choices!!

 

[Lisa F]

Oh yes, I already signed up for it, and have it searching for something. I'm still on the fence about our Le Cellier res too...I just don't think I want to use 2 TS credits for it when DH really wants to do one of the dinner shows. We did HDDR on our last visit and he loved it, but haven't been able to find a res for the entire week. Then again, we also have a 9:30 CG res on one of the nights since we've never been and want to see Wishes from the restaurant. Too many choices!!

there is something funny going on with HDDR. not sure if you have been following. you should be able to get something by a month before. When is your Le Cellier? lol i might be interested