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

[Candycane83]

ugh everyone. I just tried to catch up. It has been a very harrowing few days for me! Got the kiddo back and went to a party and was terrified about this weather event and cancellation of ferries. turned out to be much ado about nothing and we're home and I am exhausted. I was up most of the night so stressed and had to get up at 4am to drive the boyfriend to his flight this morning which then got delayed 3 hours, but we got home thankfully. I feel pretty wrecked right now, I am TOO OLD to be functioning on 4 hours of sleep (i did take an hour nap before and hoping it gets me through the rest of the afternoon). BOOO.

I am not sure I could even absorb what most were saying, but @BDFmom I'm not sure there is a whole lot that is appealing to me after hours at HS. Half a day is enough for me to do what I want to do, lol. I think you should come to the PAR-TAY. my unbiased opinion!

(seriously you should do what is best for your family. for me I am going to seriously limit interaction with others even though I am tempted to meet this one here and that one there because this trip is about me and the kiddo and our time together. It is sacred. A meetup at the party would be great because it is already a crowd situation so knowing some people would be nice I think).

Hope you get more rest tonight! How is the kiddo after his time with his dad?

I agree with you on that @BDFmom you should go with whatever works better for your trip flow! from the looks of it, you're going to have an amazing trip anyway! Your iterinary looks great! but we would love to have you with us on 12/3. unfortunately that's my first night at Disney so I can't do it on 12/2.

 

[Lisa F]

Those are good suggestions!! Thx. I plan to get there at 4!! I totally want to see the parade and be there for a party - already bought tix for 12/1.

we are actually not following my advice this time lol. We have 'OHana at 3:30 BUT I will say that I found that dinnertime on a party night was the quietest time at the park. I think most of the people who end up there are the early risers/early leaver families. They get there at RD and by dinnertime (5ish) they are toast. the 5-7pm time frame was really awesome. So I am hoping to capture most of that myself even wtih 'Ohana before. I figure we are going to also be able to ride the 2 hours after the fireworks which last time we didn't.

Kiddo now stays awake til midnight on special occasions (BF's kids stay up super late and when we are all together that just happens) and his dad kept him up til midnight for a DVC party back in february in the MK. he did fine until the end of the night (at midnight) when the express monorail broke down and they were waiting for a half hour without moving. THEN he melted, but I might too. He also knew it was a long haul back to the car after the monorail and then driving to the hotel (AKL). This is part of why I was so keen on being at a MK resort on the party night. If the poly boats are running i might just take one of those, it will probably be more low key and less crowded than the resort monorail but even the resort monorail is not as much of a zoo as the express back to TTC is.

 

[Candycane83]

@areno79 @Lisa F and I are attending 12/8 Xmas party... Could do a meet up then? Anyone else attending that party?

 

[Lisa F]

Hope you get more rest tonight! How is the kiddo after his time with his dad?

I agree with you on that @BDFmom you should go with whatever works better for your trip flow! from the looks of it, you're going to have an amazing trip anyway! Your iterinary looks great! but we would love to have you with us on 12/3. unfortunately that's my first night at Disney so I can't do it on 12/2.

he ran to see me and had a good day at the party. but he looks very tired (i do not sleep well not in my own bed either so hoping that is it). Today he is unmedicated because we are running short so he is very disregulated, but we are home so him buzzing around and stimming and being easily frustrated is a lot easier to manage than in public and with other people. Looking forward to getting back on schedule. Just glad he was happy to see me

 

[Lisa F]

@areno79 @Lisa F and I are attending 12/8 Xmas party... Could do a meet up then? Anyone else attending that party?

Even though I am trying to keep the focus of on my kiddo, I was talking to @Candycane83 about meeting up and joining forces to hold primo spots for the parade. We could alternate so that neither one of our families are stuck sitting for hours or however long it is. My child can't sit for that long, lol, and it was one of the more challenging things. Also he is the master of the "I have to pee" 5 min before parade start... which would have been a bigger problem if not for us talking to our neighbors while waiting anyway and them being willing to hold our spots while we went. Though he is better now - he is very literal due to the spectrum thing and for a while he was convinced that "have to pee" was "HAVE TO PEE"... if he wasn't near bursting he didn't HAVE to and therefore he didn't want to. In the last 2 years we have made a lot of progress in being super flexible about "trying" before he "has to" so I can plan a little better now. But still I think it might make that boring down time more fun and also more flexible in the kiddos being able to be up and about and moving a bit if they need to be. So to me this counts as trip enhancing as well

 

[Candycane83]

he ran to see me and had a good day at the party. but he looks very tired (i do not sleep well not in my own bed either so hoping that is it). Today he is unmedicated because we are running short so he is very disregulated, but we are home so him buzzing around and stimming and being easily frustrated is a lot easier to manage than in public and with other people. Looking forward to getting back on schedule. Just glad he was happy to see me

That's great! Tiring but it must be great to have him back! are you doing a countdown (to your trip) with him?

 

[Lisa F]

That's great! Tiring but it must be great to have him back! are you doing a countdown (to your trip) with him?

I only got 2 hours of sleep last night worrying about whether we'd be able to get home and i'd be able to go to work and he'd make it to first day of school. I might have a bit of an anxiety problem. BF is on a flight to NOLA right now that was delayed for 3 hours due to the rudder throwing false codes because it was moving in the wind and they had to figure out a way around that. Equipment stuff always makes me nervous. I am a wreck pretty much lol. But I did make it tot he supermarket so i have food for breakfast and food for his lunches and food for dinner for the next few days with leftovers. Taco tuesday will be happening now you all have TMI into my life. Also I got a $2.99 dozen eggs for $0.94 this morning because one was broken. Hey that's almost enough to buy a water at disney! (almost!)

 

[Candycane83]

I only got 2 hours of sleep last night worrying about whether we'd be able to get home and i'd be able to go to work and he'd make it to first day of school. I might have a bit of an anxiety problem. BF is on a flight to NOLA right now that was delayed for 3 hours due to the rudder throwing false codes because it was moving in the wind and they had to figure out a way around that. Equipment stuff always makes me nervous. I am a wreck pretty much lol. But I did make it tot he supermarket so i have food for breakfast and food for his lunches and food for dinner for the next few days with leftovers. Taco tuesday will be happening now you all have TMI into my life. Also I got a $2.99 dozen eggs for $0.94 this morning because one was broken. Hey that's almost enough to buy a water at disney! (almost!)

Aww well I'm glad it all worked out anyway except the lack of sleep you can make up for that in the next few days! great thing is you got all your grocery shopping done with a little discount! That's super mom!

 

[BDFmom]

Is there a list someplace of what night we are each going to be at the parties? I like @Talby idea of having an identifying item that we all have to wave and say hi.

We're doing the party on 12/1!!

@Talby love the idea of some kind of identifying color.

I think the SW party on 12/3 would be so much fun with you guys. I thought it would be easier for food/drink gathering and getting good spots for the Fireworks!
My kids really want to march out with the storm troopers... I think that can only happen if we have a group for the party. Some can go out early and reserve prime spots. Then the kids can march with the troupers (at least the older ones).

@LisaF so sorry you had a rough weekend. It's not like when we were 18 and could function with 2 hours sleep. Hope you get some rest and the kiddo is back in schedule.

I must say I'm kinda jealous of peeps with strollers. It was so easy to pack (over pack) for the day and just toss it all in the stroller. Now I'll have to be very carefully not to pack too much and keep things light.

 

[Candycane83]

Planning dilemma 2459:
Ok I've been pretty settled on my resort choice until today. I just checked Swan hotel and it's less than USD100 more than my reservation for AKL and this is for a resort view room. (Loved dolphin on my last stay) The only other difference is I won't get magic bands with my resort reservation. WwYD??

 

[Candycane83]

We're doing the party on 12/1!!

@Talby love the idea of some kind of identifying color.

I think the SW party on 12/3 would be so much fun with you guys. I thought it would be easier for food/drink gathering and getting good spots for the Fireworks!
My kids really want to march out with the storm troopers... I think that can only happen if we have a group for the party. Some can go out early and reserve prime spots. Then the kids are march with the troupers (at least the older ones).

@LisaF so sorry you had a rough weekend. It's not like when we were 18 and could function with 2 hours sleep. Hope you get some rest and the kiddo is back in schedule.

I must say I'm kinda jealous of peeps with strollers. It was so easy to pack (over pack) for the day and just toss it all in the stroller. Now I'll have to be very carefully not to pack too much and keep things light.

I think there is quite a few people doing MVMCP on 12/1!

I have a stroller but it's one of those umbrella strollers that have barely any storage I still have to try and pack light. (I doubt it will happen and we might have two backpacks with us)

On the SW party, theres pros and cons with picking 12/2 vs 12/3, I think talk it out with your kids to see which is a priority. Since they are teens (I'm not confusing you with someone else am I??) I think they would love for the chance to ride ToT and RnR multiple times?

 

[BDFmom]

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I think there is quite a few people doing MVMCP on 12/1!

I have a stroller but it's one of those umbrella strollers that have barely any storage I still have to try and pack light. (I doubt it will happen and we might have two backpacks with us)

On the SW party, theres pros and cons with picking 12/2 vs 12/3, I think talk it out with your kids to see which is a priority. Since they are teens (I'm not confusing you with someone else am I??) I think they would love for the chance to ride ToT and RnR multiple times?

Yes.. I think my teens would love to ride them multiple times! We could do the party on 12/3 and just head to DHS on 12/2 for the extra hours.

I've considered getting and umbrella stroller just to push our stuff around.


Personally I would stick with AKL.

 

[Candycane83]

We c

Yes.. I think my teens would love to ride them multiple times! We could do the party on 12/3 and just head to DHS on 12/2 for the extra hours.

I've considered getting and umbrella stroller just to push our stuff around.


Personally I would stick with AKL.

Oh that's great if that fits yours schedule!

Lol, I'm not into pushing a stroller but that's me.

Ahh... I can't help but think the Swan is more convenient in terms of being closer to Epcot and DHS especially for RD... On the other hand, AKL seems more unique. I'm so undecided...

 

[Iowamomof4]

Oh that's great if that fits yours schedule!

Lol, I'm not into pushing a stroller but that's me.

Ahh... I can't help but think the Swan is more convenient in terms of being closer to Epcot and DHS especially for RD... On the other hand, AKL seems more unique. I'm so undecided...

Are you going to have your own car? The Swan doesn't qualify for DME either, so there's that. Do you get to make fastpasses at 60 days or do you have to wait until 30?

 

[TiggerManiac]

MVMCP: I just added a second page to our ADR spreadsheet where people can add in which night they're going to MVMCP.

SWGS: I also added a sheet for the Star Wars Galactic Spectacular Party. I didn't put any dates in, since they haven't officially published them yet. If anybody wants me to, I can go back and add the TENTATIVE schedule that we discussed (opposite nights from MVMCP, except for Friday nights which should have both, based on the schedule for October).

Anything else: Feel free to add other extra pages (sheets) to the spreadsheet for anything else. Just click the + sign at the bottom of the spreadsheet, next to the page titles, to add a new sheet.

 

[Candycane83]

Are you going to have your own car? The Swan doesn't qualify for DME either, so there's that. Do you get to make fastpasses at 60 days or do you have to wait until 30?

We're doing a car service because we're staying at universal in the first 3 days of our trip and it's 60 days for FP accdg to the resort thread. Price difference is actually $50 more, not $100 as I initially thought. Makes it harder to decide

 

[Iowamomof4]

We're doing a car service because we're staying at universal in the first 3 days of our trip and it's 60 days for FP accdg to the resort thread. Price difference is actually $50 more, not $100 as I initially thought. Makes it harder to decide

And you aren't doing a dining plan? I'm sure you've already said all of this, but I find it hard enough to keep up with my own plans let alone someone else's! lol

 

[pigletgirl]

I'm 80% sure the Swan Dolphin guests can book FP's at 60 days.

Also, we'll be at the 12/1 party as well!

 

[Candycane83]

And you aren't doing a dining plan? I'm sure you've already said all of this, but I find it hard enough to keep up with my own plans let alone someone else's! lol

I'm on DxDP on the last part of my stay at CR. Hehehe no worries, my plans are messy, we have a triple split stay (3 nights universal, 3 nights AKL, 6nights CR w/ DxDP)

 

[LBlovesM&WDW]

@areno79 @Lisa F and I are attending 12/8 Xmas party... Could do a meet up then? Anyone else attending that party?

Me