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

[rasadkowski]

My ds15 saw our plans last night on my computer and was NOT happy at first glance. Too much Epcot, he says, not enough MK, DHS, AK. He's also disappointed I'm planning a down day/Disney Springs day on our party day. <Sigh> He definitely doesn't have to be with us all the time and is more than welcome to go to a different park on one of our Epcot days. I didn't have enough time last night (it was late) to sit down and really show him that, even though we have park days planned, it doesn't mean there isn't flexibility to go somewhere else if desired. I think he's just worried we won't have enough time to get everything done (he's right, we won't) and he thinks if we took some Epcot time and made it MK time we'd be better off. I think MK is a great park, but it's full of "one-and-done" rides, imo. Carousel of Progress, Tiki Room, Mickey's Philharmagic, Jingle Cruise, PoTC, People mover, Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, Speedway, etc... are all in that category for our family. If we split that list into 3 different days and then hit Space Mountain, 7dmt, and BTMRR one time each of those 3 days, I think we'll all be pretty happy. I just need to talk to him again and tell him that.

Seriously though, when he walked by my computer last night and saw my spreadsheet and reacted like that at first, I felt like a rapidly-deflating balloon. In the end, I'm just happy someone is finally expressing an INTEREST in what I'm working on day and night!

I completely understand!! My husband has expressed no interest at all in the planning. If anything he wishes I didn't have to spend so much time checking for open adrs And I definitely understand that It's getting so close to fp time, and I'm really discouraged with my trying for one more adr. (then again...it always seems like it's "just one more!")
BUT, yesterday I was telling him about how I was concerned about our early mornings and the timing of our dinners. When I told him we had a free day, he immediately asked why we weren't adding another park day. Huh?! where did that come from!? He said we'd likely be going back to the hotel earlier than we think on most days so the girls can relax before dinner, so we should have the extra day to do what we don't end up getting to on those days we head out early. I was at first thrilled that he actually wanted to do more! But then I immediately had this feeling of anxiety about more planning (fp for that day, where would we go, would I need more adrs?!!) so...still planning..and really really hoping for that last adr

 

[rasadkowski]

and no dinner at BOG. DD won't eat a thing on that menu. LOL.

that's how I feel about CRT breakfast

 

[Wood Nymph]

I think that our fastpass day will be Oct 4th. The big unknown is the Star Wars schedule. I hope they release it sooner than one month ahead of time, like they did for October.

 

[SilSprBea]

I'm trying to decide what day to got to HS. We are arriving early on 12/4 so I figured lunch then head to Disney springs for alittle while so we can get to bed somewhat early. 12/5 I was thinking MK, 12/6 resort day for pool, maybe take the monorail and check out decorations at other resorts, then the party at 4. 12/7 I planned on Epcot, and 12/8 we move to AKL so I figured 12/8+12/9 at AK. 12/10 we want to go to universal the. 12/11 we come home. I don't see where HS fits in here. Too much time at AK? Skip DS and do HS the first day instead? I would like to do H&V (which of course I had in my cart but pressed cancel instead of next so I lost it).
It's me and my husband taking our 1 year old son if that helps.

@CaleCakes Your plans are similar to ours in many ways. We arrive early on 12/4 and decided to add an an afternoon at the MK since our kids are prime MK age at 3 & 5! We're only going to be there for a few hours pre-party. Crowd calendars have it as one of the less crowded of our stay. We'll be done by 7 since we won't have party tickets. Since we're doing some hours on Sunday, we're going to break up our Monday with time at the MK in the AM, resort/nap time in the afternoon, and evening/dinner at MK. We figured the extra hours on Sunday would make up for the resort time on Monday. We opted to make Tuesday our HS day. Wed we are at Epcot and Thursday we are at AK. We're only doing 1 day at AK and going back to MK on Friday. We didn't plan a full Disney Springs day, but figured we'd do Disney Springs one evening during the week, probably the Friday night after MK since it is a party night and we won't be attending it.

 

[Mintycake]

@Candycane83 I got an alert for air transat flight sale to Orlando.

 

[Lisa F]

and speaking of flow and out of control ADRs....I make my FP on Oct 3! less than a month! I feel like I really need to nail down the flow thing. and to throw another wrench into things, now DD said she wants to meet Beast at BOG. I told her he's only there for dinner so she's like 'can we have dinner there?" ARGH. So what do you think? DD (6), DH, Me. Staying at BC. This is just ADRs and parks....no fp yet.

12/2 - late arrival - Boardwalk QS dinner with Ample Hills for dessert

12/3 - HS day. 8:05 ppo breakfast H&V, lunch: either Mama Melrose 12:25 Fantasmic lunch OR 12:40pm 50s Prime Time. I'm hoping for SW dessert party but the Fantasmic lunch is my back up plan. If that is what happens, I have a 50s prime time dinner at 4:15pm also reserved. Then hopefully SW dessert party or Fantasmic.

12/4 - MK day. 8:05 ppo BOG. This is also EMM day too but I hear it won't impact PPO people. Don't flame me but we're doing cupcake and coffee and then will likely grab a snack later with an early lunch. we plan to stay in Fantasyland this day - maybe make it to Tomorrowland as well. QS lunch at Cosmic Rays and then leave by 4pm to go to the Poly (Take the boat?). Drop off DD at Lilo's playhouse so DH and I can go for dinner at 5:45pm Kona cafe and drinks either at Tambu or Trader Sams. Pick up DD at 9:30pm and uber back to BC.

12/5 - Epcot day. 7:30am Cape May - should be easy as it's at our resort. Finish by 8:30am (I think reasonable since we'll be one of the first there) and walk to International Gateway Epcot. RD at international gateway by 9am to hit Futureworld for Joy/Sadness and Soarin. DH will to Test Track single rider while we wait for Joy/Sadness. Then we all go on Soarin, Living with the Land, Behind the Seeds tour, Imagination. (grab a quick snack if needed at Sunshine Seasons). We may skip living seas as I hate aquariums and DD does not care for them either. She also doesn't want to see Ellens Energy and I think we wont' enjoy Mission space. So that leaves Spaceship earth and meeting Mickey. Then to Norway for FEA (hoping to FP) and lunch in France at the bakery (or snack around WS). Hope to have this all done by 1:30pmish and then back to BC for pool/nap break. Back to Epcot at 5:30pm to do anything else we want to do. I have a few ADRs - Teppan Edo at 4:15pm and Tokyo Dining at 7:10pm (with the idea we will watch Illuminations from there). But then I think DD might enjoy Teppan Edo more - I don't know, so I'd have to move that. I just want a good spot to watch the fireworks. Then after Illuminations, to bed.

12/6 - Epcot day 2. Here's where I'm confused....then we have a 8:25am, 10:25am, and 1:25pm Akershus reservation since I can't decide. We could RD again but we'll be done with Future world and nothing in WS is open except Norway and Mexico. And I don't want to rush Akershus for the sake of FEA since we'll hopefully be able to FP. So I'm leaning towards the 10:25am and we could have a sleep in/later morning. Then head over to IG, do Akershus brunch, go to Mexico, and finish World Showcase. We can always meet A&E again if DD is dying to do it and then of course FEA. Probably stay with late start until about 2:30pm (lunch around WS again) and then back to resort for pool/nap/break. We have DD at the Sandcastle club so will drop her off at 4:30pm and then DH and I will likely go back to Epcot to explore WS and maybe hit some rides like Ellens Energy. I'm actually thinking with skipping Mission Space, Living Seas, there really isn't a heck of a lot to do at Epcot. So romantic stroll in WS it is. Pick up DD around 9:30pm again and bed.

12/7 - MK day. Two plans of attack:

Late start: I have a 10:55 Ohana so we sleep in and then go directly to Poly, then to MK. No breaks!
RD: Drop Ohana 10:55 (I have multiple Ohanas) and RD Mk. Since this is a non party night it will likely be busy so I thought I'd take advantage of RD and low crowds. We have a 1:45pm BOG lunch which Id drop if we keep Ohana. Would leave MK after this for a break and come back for night time shows around 6pm. Either way I would finish Fantasyland this day and maybe try for Haunted Mansion. I also have a Skppers Canteen dinner which I'm going to drop. I also have Narcoosees at 9:05pm which is late so we could watch fireworks from there.

12/8 - MK day. Two options:
RD: Ohana 7:30am breakfast (crazy) then head to MK.
Late start: Ohana 10:30am breakfast, then head to MK. But with this I'll need to change our Pirate's league reservation at noon. I'm thinking I could hopefully move it to the previous day. The focus this day will be Fronteirland and we plan to catch the Festival of Fantasy parade from there. Because it's a late night previously, I'm leaning towards this...but also hoping I can move Ohana to 9 or 9:30am which means I won't have to move Pirates League and then hopefully Ohana won't be as backed up.
Either way we have a 6:35pm dinner at 1900 Park Fare...hoping to move to 7pm so we can spend a little more time before we're kicked out of MK due to party night. But I'm okay as is too. Then from GF we'll uber back to BC and pack.

12/9 - early departure.

Thoughts?

a few thoughts:
-as long as disney does not have a fixed menu/minimum at BoG for lunch then you can have a cupcake and coffee. I know some people want to fight about it but you're not breaking any rules so let it go
-if you are at MK from RD to 4pm you will be able to do more than just fantasyland. Prob a lot of tomorrowland as well.
-sunshine seasons discontinued breakfast. I think the starbucks and electric umbrella still have options but SS breakfast fell to budget cuts shortly after they reopened it.
-there are tons of good spots to watch Illuminations from all around the lagoon. you do not need to snag a perfectly timed dinner ADR to have an amazing view of Illuminations.
-I would go with your 10:25 Akershus. You can always come in for RD if you want to and basically RD FEA if you decide to and do mexico (right near there) and then go to your ADR OR you could just sleep in. it gives you the most flexibility day of.
-if you want to keep narcoossees i'd do the late start on 12/7 and just go straight through. I have narcoosees that day but it is at 5:35, planning to go back to the parks for nighttime stuff. MK is open til midnight that night for EMH, did you know? Then for 12/8 I'd show up when you're ready and do the pirate thing.

 

[Candycane83]

@Candycane83 I got an alert for air transat flight sale to Orlando.

Thanks for the heads up! I saw it too but it does not work for us because it's a weekly flight. Our dates won't match unfortunately...

By the way, on another note,I found a California Grill this morning for Dec 7 at 5:25pm. Not sure if you want it? If not I'll just let it go again!

 

[Candycane83]

Cancelling if anyone wants this: Chef Mickeys 9:35am Dec 10 for 3

 

[Lisa F]

Thanks for the heads up! I saw it too but it does not work for us because it's a weekly flight. Our dates won't match unfortunately...

By the way, on another note,I found a California Grill this morning for Dec 7 at 5:25pm. Not sure if you want it? If not I'll just let it go again!

maybe i want it! just kidding. i'm good with ca grill earlier and narcoosees that night!

 

[Candycane83]

maybe i want it! just kidding. i'm good with ca grill earlier and narcoosees that night!

LOL, you haveall your ducks in a row already! Of course except SW dessert party

 

[Wolfpack]

We are doing the party on 12/1

Haven't posted my plans yet. We don't have too many ADRs...We are big snackers. We are celebrating DS birthday why we are there. He lucky his birthday is during a good week

 

[Mintycake]

Thanks for the heads up! I saw it too but it does not work for us because it's a weekly flight. Our dates won't match unfortunately...

By the way, on another note,I found a California Grill this morning for Dec 7 at 5:25pm. Not sure if you want it? If not I'll just let it go again!

Let me think about that?

 

[Candycane83]

Let me think about that?

Sure no hurry.

 

[Candycane83]

We are doing the party on 12/1

Haven't posted my plans yet. We don't have too many ADRs...We are big snackers. We are celebrating DS birthday why we are there. He lucky his birthday is during a good week

Nice!! I think it's great to celebrate a birthday there! Any snacks you are particularly looking forward to?

 

[Lisa F]

We are doing the party on 12/1

Haven't posted my plans yet. We don't have too many ADRs...We are big snackers. We are celebrating DS birthday why we are there. He lucky his birthday is during a good week

My son's birthday is on 6/3. It will be his half birthday on 12/3, hopefully SWaGS PAR-TAY night!

 

[Mintycake]

My son's birthday is on 6/3. It will be his half birthday on 12/3, hopefully SWaGS PAR-TAY night!

LOL my DD celebrates her half birthday too!
@Candycane83 I think we're going to stick with Narcoosees for dinner. The menu is a bit more tempting to me as I'm not a meat eater (I do eat seafood though) and DD likes pasta more than pizza. DH will be able to get a steak either way but it's the Nemo cupcake that has won DD over

@Lisa F as always your advice is spot on and I think I'm either going to have to move Ohana or move Pirates League.

 

[rasadkowski]

Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a great week! I'm really sad about my daughter starting 1st grade tomorrow. It's her first year of full day everyday school, and I'm so sad! She is so excited though
I have a few adrs to cancel, and I'd just add them to the sheet, but I figured I'd ask first I thought some people were looking for chef mickeys, so let me know if you'd like one of these!
Chef mickeys 12/7 6:25 for 6
Chef mickeys 12/8 5:25 for 6

 

[Wolfpack]

Not sure about the star war party. DS birthday is 12/4. We have done the wishes party before. He has a major obsession with Star Wars....like he's the kids who reads the books. He wants to do jedi training on his birthday to we will be there at RD.

Once we do fast passes we will make some better plans. Honestly is a very relaxing trip just 3 of us (one poor kid and two very Disney crazy parents) so we can just relax and go. Our big spurge is the MVMCP, none of us have ever done a party before.

 

[TiggerManiac]

@Lisa F , this thread is about to hit the magic maximum page number of 250, when it will get automatically closed down and we won't be able to post. You should probably be the one to start the follow-on thread, that way you can edit the first post with any important info/links we may want to have readily and easily accessible. Maybe once we hit page 247? That way we'll have plenty of posts left to leave links to the new thread.

 

[Lisa F]

@Lisa F , this thread is about to hit the magic maximum page number of 250, when it will get automatically closed down and we won't be able to post. You should probably be the one to start the follow-on thread, that way you can edit the first post with any important info/links we may want to have readily and easily accessible. Maybe once we hit page 247? That way we'll have plenty of posts left to leave links to the new thread.

there is a limit to the number of pages? who knew! I will get it started since i started this one with the original person (she posted the first post but we had discussed it in PM. never knew it would get so big and wonderful. she ended up having to leave the dis for personal reasons ) I will be happy to and it might actually even be a good thing so we can keep a first post with pertinent info including the list of people, their dates (which Kimberly started), potential meet ups, a link to your spreadsheet.