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

[Candycane83]

So is the Jungle Cruise worth a FP+ before the start of MVMCP (4-6)? Or is it more festive during the event?

I think Jingle Cruise is all through the day and it does not make a difference whether it is during the party or not. Someone correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Candycane83]

you're making me wish I could fit in a second party

Me too LOL!

 

[Lisa F]

I think you've pretty much convinced everyone Boma is great You should go for it! and it's a chance to enjoy AKL one last time. I think it's a great last stop, looks so pretty in pictures! I'm kind of sad I'm not able to stay there this trip. I hope I do go through with the plan of visiting though. I'm actually thinking if I could shift my plans to visit in the afternoon so we could do the free culinary tour at 3:45pm. hopefully, AK hours get extended more.

I love the lobby but I am not super duper crazy about the room decor. it is a bit dark for me. So just visit the lobby!

 

[Lisa F]

Is anyone ready to share their full itinerary yet?

I shared my FP+ and ADRs but I could totally flesh it out to all day plans if it wouldn't bore anyone to death lol

 

[Iowamomof4]

We're doing 1 EMM and 2 MVMCP. The kids had their choice of which to add. They choose the party for the extra rides, snow on main Street, and longer hours. They thought they would be able to accomplish more during the second party in terms of rides. The first party night we'll enjoy the parades and such.

Good points! Which two parties are you doing then? We're doing our first party on Thursday night, 12/1. I don't think we can fit one in prior to that, so our alternatives for subsequent parties would be 12/2 (Friday), 12/4 (Sunday), and 12/6 (Tuesday). The Friday one would be a bit of a problem because we have FEA fastpasses at 5:15, but we could do that and then go to MK for the party. Sunday night would be a challenge because we're planning for AK emh the next morning along with our lone ADR (TH breakfast). So Tuesday night would slide into our plans the best, but it's our last night and who knows if we'll still be standing at that point?

 

[rasadkowski]

I'm trying to decide what I think we'll want to do, just so I can have a hypothetical plan in mind.

My question is:
Are we more likely to want to do 2 MVMCP's or 2 EMM's?

They are such different events! We're doing 1 of each, for sure, but I'm thinking we could do at least one more of one or the other. I'm leaning toward the extra EMM because we don't like crowds and I think the Christmas parties will be super crowded, especially for the parade and fireworks. Otoh, there are so many more rides open for the Christmas party that you can really find something to do in every corner of the park. Plus, it's a much longer event!

If you could afford it and had the time, which event seems like a better one to experience twice and why?

I completely agree with @BDFmom
Even though I haven't done either
We are doing 1 EMM and 1 MVMCP. I stalked the EMM release for December like a hawk. I thought I struck gold with this new event!! lol! And that is actually one reason why a second EMM could be appealing. It could be possible that the event isn't around "forever." I dont know how often new events are announced, and how common it is for Disney to remove them. But, it seems to me that MVMCP would likely be around for a really long time...
HOWEVER, I digress....I still vote for a second MVMCP....
I would love to have another party night. I would like the first to focus on staking out an awesome parade spot and not have to worry about my girls not seeing the rest of what the party has to offer. I'd spend the time up by main street shopping and enjoying the fireworks up there and any other shows..
the second night I'd focus on rides, grabbing some cookies, just walking around enjoying the sights, grabbing some cookies, maybe wait in line to see a character (probably jack ), actually sitting at a TS for a meal during a party!, grabbing some cookies and cocoa...

EMM sounds like such a cool opportunity. I'm definitely glad we're doing it. But, as you said, it is such a short event. I think if you can get fp for those three rides during some of your time at MK besides from your 1 EMM day it would be a good amount of time on those 3 big rides....unless your sole purpose in booking it is for the out of the world PPO breakfast at Pinocchio Village Haus; in that case you may need 2 EMMs.

good luck making your decision!!

 

[Lisa F]

I'm wondering how true that is... I assumed Saturday would be the busiest day of the week...? I know @Lisa F has been saying it should not be that busy and I believe her she gives very convincing arguments and very sound reasoning.

Oh yes, TP is wrong quite a bit. Kenny the Pirate, I have found, is way more in touch with how the crowds will shape up to be.

that is just my gut feeling. first two weeks of december are generally pretty quiet times to go. not like january and february quiet but still pretty quiet. With numbers down all over the place I think it is more likely that the lack of foreign tourists combined with anxiety over an election year and disney hiking the prices while making budget cuts is starting to have an effect on the numbers.... rather than everyone from the summer and fall is saving up to go the first two weeks of december.

both kenny the pirate and josh at easywdw have been saying it is harder to make predictions. FP+ means people are not following the old advice anymore about EMH parks. Also Josh posted here and either strongly implied or straight out and said that disney used to actually furnish attendance predictions to bloggers like him to share with the world but that attendance has been so poor and/or unpredictable lately that they are no longer doing that.

So it could be freakishly busy but there are other explanations for why people think it might be... resorts are full but they usually are pretty full and ADRs are taken up by free dining people coming the week before. I do think that the general huge availability of FP+ for FEA and 7DMT is nothing but good news for crowds... 2 years ago like I said I went in end of september, I expected it to be quiet and it was not. Even though it FELT really crowded we had no issues doing everything we wanted to do and it was a great trip. But I will say that at 60 days+ the ONLY 7DMT FP+ I could get was late in the day on our last day. Insane. I can't believe how much availability there is now, every day all day long. That won't be the case at 30 days for sure and I am also seeing some days where there is not much available in SDFP lately... not like it was a month ago. I think that is due to F&W festival though.

just my predictions. no one kill me if they are wrong. can't do a thing about it anyway!

 

[Candycane83]

I love the lobby but I am not super duper crazy about the room decor. it is a bit dark for me. So just visit the lobby!

Love the look of the lobby too from pictures! Looks gorgeous from pictures n can't wait to see it in person next time I'll find time to do a meal there!

 

[Lisa F]

We are AP holders and the 20% off has been great. We are at the Beach Club and have been taking advantage of it. The 20% discount is good for both food and merchandise at the Marketplace, which has the counter service and the gift shop. We've gotten 20% off at the Boardwalk Bakery, Pecos Bill, Captain's Grille, etc. It even included 20% off our refillable mug and the banana I had for breakfast.

it is putting a ding in my DDP savings, lol. I had taken into account the 10% off restaurants but now everything is at least that. I am still saving a bunch just not as much as before and it is paid for lol.

 

[Candycane83]

Good points! Which two parties are you doing then? We're doing our first party on Thursday night, 12/1. I don't think we can fit one in prior to that, so our alternatives for subsequent parties would be 12/2 (Friday), 12/4 (Sunday), and 12/6 (Tuesday). The Friday one would be a bit of a problem because we have FEA fastpasses at 5:15, but we could do that and then go to MK for the party. Sunday night would be a challenge because we're planning for AK emh the next morning along with our lone ADR (TH breakfast). So Tuesday night would slide into our plans the best, but it's our last night and who knows if we'll still be standing at that point?

Take another look at @Lisa F 's picture honestly I wanted to add MVMCP on my last day too but keep being reminded of that picture!

 

[rasadkowski]

I shared my FP+ and ADRs but I could totally flesh it out to all day plans if it wouldn't bore anyone to death lol

seeing a post with an updated itinerary of your plans is like picking up the anticipated release of a new book in a series....or maybe a good magazine...(i haven't really read any books in awhile )

 

[Lisa F]

***TO EVERYONE HERE***
May I just add to the warm fuzzies? I don't want to dis the DIS, I'm eternally grateful for all I've learned here. However, I have read threads elsewhere where people are so judgemental, in a pretty rude way. I've been stumbling across it kind of a lot lately! Makes me sad. I think we're all just trying to do the best we can to plan the best vacation we can for our families. That judgemental/condescending approach to "helping" NEVER happens on this thread and I adore that! It's all nice and cozy and friendly here, which I think allows everyone to feel very comfortable asking any sort of question. So thanks everyone!

yes, everyone here is great. I love how supportive everyone is! I could not have asked for a better group to plan with, thank you all for making what is already a fun process for me about a million times more fun.

 

[Lisa F]

Take another look at @Lisa F 's picture honestly I wanted to add MVMCP on my last day too but keep being reminded of that picture!

lol that was like 4 oclock in the afternoon.

 

[Lisa F]

seeing a post with an updated itinerary of your plans is like picking up the anticipated release of a book series....or maybe a good magazine...(i haven't really read any books in awhile )

hehe I am just about ready to pull the trigger on dropping Kona (won't be able to get it back again if I do, spotty availability that saturday morning) and pick up Boma. Of course this will necessitate me reposting the ENTIRE THING FROM SCRATCH to show that one change. lol.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I completely agree with @BDFmom
Even though I haven't done either
We are doing 1 EMM and 1 MVMCP. I stalked the EMM release for December like a hawk. I thought I struck gold with this new event!! lol! And that is actually one reason why a second EMM could be appealing. It could be possible that the event isn't around "forever." I dont know how often new events are announced, and how common it is for Disney to remove them. But, it seems to me that MVMCP would likely be around for a really long time...
HOWEVER, I digress....I still vote for a second MVMCP....
I would love to have another party night. I would like the first to focus on staking out an awesome parade spot and not have to worry about my girls not seeing the rest of what the party has to offer. I'd spend the time up by main street shopping and enjoying the fireworks up there and any other shows..
the second night I'd focus on rides, grabbing some cookies, just walking around enjoying the sights, grabbing some cookies, maybe wait in line to see a character (probably jack ), actually sitting at a TS for a meal during a party!, grabbing some cookies and cocoa...

EMM sounds like such a cool opportunity. I'm definitely glad we're doing it. But, as you said, it is such a short event. I think if you can get fp for those three rides during some of your time at MK besides from your 1 EMM day it would be a good amount of time on those 3 big rides....unless your sole purpose in booking it is for the out of the world PPO breakfast at Pinocchio Village Haus; in that case you may need 2 EMMs.

good luck making your decision!!

That is 100% on my mind! That's one reason I'm okay with letting our dining upgrade go. The restaurants will be around in the future, EMM might be long gone by the time we return. MVMCP, otoh, is pretty special because I don't know if we'll make it down in December for our next trip. So, I'm kind of back to where I started. lol

I guess I'm wondering if we should try harder to do a party on our first Sunday night (it's the day after we arrive, during our 2-night room only portion) or possibly on our first Tuesday night (the day we're planning to do EMM - we could do EMM, eat a leisurely breakfast, then leave MK and spend the day at AK before returning for the party that night). If we're thinking we might want a chance to do a 2nd party, it might be worth getting our first done earlier in our trip so as to give us more time to decide and better opportunities to make it happen.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

I shared my FP+ and ADRs but I could totally flesh it out to all day plans if it wouldn't bore anyone to death lol

Absolutely! Let's see 'em.
I really enjoy seeing everyone's itineraries. I always get good ideas from other people's touring plans.

 

[Talby]

@SilSprBea Tomorrow will be a happy day.
FEA for 12/7
2:20
2:55
3:10
3:45
4:10
4:55
5:05
5:40
6:20
6:50
7:15
7:30
8:00
8:35
9:00

Wishing everyone loads of luck tomorrow! Go get 'em!!

 

[rasadkowski]

hehe I am just about ready to pull the trigger on dropping Kona (won't be able to get it back again if I do, spotty availability that saturday morning) and pick up Boma. Of course this will necessitate me reposting the ENTIRE THING FROM SCRATCH to show that one change. lol.

...and don't forget that "2 margaritas" edit while you're at it!

 

[nicynot]

From what I have read, they let everyone in the park at 7:45 who has a PPO. And, they often let people into the restaurant before their reservation time as well (again, from what I've read!)

This would be awesome! iv always rope dropped, but since i don't eat a lot of breakfast, iv never done PPO

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

That is 100% on my mind! That's one reason I'm okay with letting our dining upgrade go. The restaurants will be around in the future, EMM might be long gone by the time we return. MVMCP, otoh, is pretty special because I don't know if we'll make it down in December for our next trip. So, I'm kind of back to where I started. lol

I guess I'm wondering if we should try harder to do a party on our first Sunday night (it's the day after we arrive, during our 2-night room only portion) or possibly on our first Tuesday night (the day we're planning to do EMM - we could do EMM, eat a leisurely breakfast, then leave MK and spend the day at AK before returning for the party that night). If we're thinking we might want a chance to do a 2nd party, it might be worth getting our first done earlier in our trip so as to give us more time to decide and better opportunities to make it happen.

The bolded sounds like a REALLY long day. I'm not exactly sure what time EMM starts (is it 7am?) but that could be something like a 17 hour day if you stay until the party is over........17 WONDERFUL hours, but that's too rich for my blood. I would look like this: walking back to my room that night.