20 years is way too long and I am clueless PTR- help-i've got transporation confusion

[that's nice]

well, that's why you have the dis! We can help you throw this thing together in no time! <snip> I suggest getting the Barnum's official Walt Disney World Guide book and the Unofficial Guidebook. <snip>

I totally agree with becka.. I saw you already got the Unoffical guide. I wouldn't try to read it from front to back.. it can get overwhelming. Take it slow with the book and you will be OK. Your biggest asset is the DIS don't forget about the search option on the top on the page on the right hand side.... very useful!!

I just recently converted my "i'm a grown up and don't do kid things, I am only going to Disney for you" DBF to a "I'm not talking to you because you're going back to Disney without me" type guy?

That was me before our 1st trip..... now 5 in 2 years. LOL

but then parade time came around. he was holding my daughter and after a couple of minutes, he turned to me and said, "come up here, you have to have a chance to see her face like i am"
and i just thought, that is it, that is what this is all about. maybe he can be converted....

This is exactly what got m hooked. We took the fairy over from the TTA and I was just watching my DD... she was so excited. When we stepped onto Main St. and she saw the castle that was it. I was hooked! I think I even wrote this in my TR!!!

Our trip style is also something we have different thoughts on. So I think our compromise will be to hit the major rides early in the day and then swing the rest of the day. My goal is to cover as much as possible in the time period we have, rides, shows, fireworks, parades, etc. Mom doesn’t even really want to be planned as far as dining goes – she just wants to be where she wants to be when she wants to be there- so I just made the ADR’s for all. I’m going to take advantage of my free food!

i've planned to take advantage of EMH. I've read conflicting views on this, but we aren't hopping, and are visiting most parks only one day, so i think we may need the extra hours. i'm hoping the dates will be slow enough that this wont backfire on me, but i don't know how to get the crowd prediction thing. do i have to subscribe still even though i have the unofficial guide? or is there somewhere else to get this info?

Unfortunately, you need ADR's especially with FD. This makes it hard to have a 'relaxed' touring style. But with some planning and the knowledge that if all people can't or don't want to go to an ADR then that's OK. Also if you can't make your ADR call Disney Dining and cancel... that way another family can get a late ADR or even a walkup might get a little I have Dining and Reservation programed into my phone. (another sign of a DISer!! )

i've planned to take advantage of EMH. I've read conflicting views on this, but we aren't hopping, and are visiting most parks only one day, so i think we may need the extra hours. i'm hoping the dates will be slow enough that this wont backfire on me, but i don't know how to get the crowd prediction thing. do i have to subscribe still even though i have the unofficial guide? or is there somewhere else to get this info?

I've read conflicting reports too. We have always stayed away from EMH's while staying offsite and at Disney too. The Unofficial Guide usually lists parks with EMH's as ones to avoid. I just checked their website and you have to subscribe before seeing more than 30 days out. Up until 9/1 if you bought the book you could see 1 yr in advance... WOW that stinks.

awww, thanks. you make me feel special, cause you were the one who sold me on the forum side of these boards

WOW didn't know that!!! Cool!!!!

BTW, your kids are so cute!

 

[onelilspark]

Your kids are adorable!

 

[reyasmommy]

Your kids are Super Cute!!!! Everytime I see pictures of baby boys I get so excited for my little guy to make his appearance.

 

[lbuzz52]

Your kids are Super Cute!!!! Everytime I see pictures of baby boys I get so excited for my little guy to make his appearance.

oh, so excited for you! i'm having fun with my little guy- i had my heart set on anothe dd, but he stole it right away. definetely a mommas boy. and i'm having fun trying to find things other than teeshirts with racecars and puppies. i love the challenge!

Your kids are adorable!

thanks!

That was me before our 1st trip..... now 5 in 2 years. LOL



This is exactly what got m hooked. We took the fairy over from the TTA and I was just watching my DD... she was so excited. When we stepped onto Main St. and she saw the castle that was it. I was hooked! I think I even wrote this in my TR!!!





Unfortunately, you need ADR's especially with FD. This makes it hard to have a 'relaxed' touring style. But with some planning and the knowledge that if all people can't or don't want to go to an ADR then that's OK. Also if you can't make your ADR call Disney Dining and cancel... that way another family can get a late ADR or even a walkup might get a little I have Dining and Reservation programed into my phone. (another sign of a DISer!! )



I've read conflicting reports too. We have always stayed away from EMH's while staying offsite and at Disney too. The Unofficial Guide usually lists parks with EMH's as ones to avoid. I just checked their website and you have to subscribe before seeing more than 30 days out. Up until 9/1 if you bought the book you could see 1 yr in advance... WOW that stinks.



BTW, your kids are so cute!

i'm really hopeful for the conversion but i honestly think that will also depend on my family's behavior- its never as easy to travel with in laws.
i think i'm going to come up with a non emh backup- and see what i think from there

 

[onelilspark]

We traveled with my Aunt, Uncle and my 2 cousins (so 1 extra related family unit!) back in '96 over the 4th of July. We learned 2 things from that trip: 1) we will never go over the 4th again and that we do Disney very differently. We wound up splitting up during the day and then meeting up only for meals (we all had park hoppers.) They were very go-go-go, get up for rope drop and don't stop until the park closes...quite frankly, they got cranky very quickly. My family is a little more liesurely. When we're up, we go to the parks, when we all got hot & tired, we headed back to the resort to swim, then we came back at night...it works much better for us, but for my Aunt & Uncle, that kind of liesurely pace drives them crazy. So if you find that your styles just don't mesh, for the sake of future holidays, don't be afraid to split for a bit! Even if instead you all agree to go to the same park and just do your own thing

...sorry, that was a lot more long winded than I intended!

 

[lbuzz52]

you are right spark, i'm sure we will need to split a few times for sanity sake


so... i think i know why i'm not getting anywhere on here.
there is just too much info to possibly absorb- and for me its a million times worse because i get sidetracked so easily. like a few minutes ago i went to look for pics of bbb and instead ended up spending a half an hour salivating over the pics on that food porn thread.

 

[lbuzz52]

so i have a couple questions-
what beverages are available for the resort mugs?
do you have a bag you recommend for park days?

 

[lbuzz52]

I really really wanted to keep this a secret. I really wanted to surprise my daughter the day of the trip. But my sister just doesn't always pay attention. And we all were sitting there at family dinner on Sunday and a Disney commercial comes on and she says -cayden (that's my nephew) saw this commercial and said, look mommy, i'm going there. i gave her quite the vulgar look- it seems that she had already forgotten it was supposed to still be a secret and she told my nephew. she felt that it wasn't a big deal, she said maya won't understand. but the thing is, my dd will get it. and i was scared someone else would slip and i wouldn't get to be the one to tell her.
so i decided, oh, maybe i'll order the ears from the disney store online and tell her that way. well, i thought about it just long enough for them to sell out. i tried to come up with some other creative way, but nothing jumped out at me. so with just ten weeks left my immediate family went out to eat and i brought a goody bag- nothing special, just a couple of disney tees and some princess figures (she loves figures lately). so we get our dinner order in, we hand her the surprise-here's how the conversation went

me-lets see, tinkerbell, cinderella, minnie mouse, etc, do you know what these people have in common
maya- no
me- where do they live
maya- disney world
me- so why do you think we might be giving you these things from disney world?
maya- i dont know
me- we are going to disney world.
maya- oh- can i have my water now


seriously- that 's the response i got. but a few minutes later, it seemed to start clicking. she started asking if we will eat with cinderella and mickey, and those sorts of things. but for a while there i think steam was coming out of my ears. i just wanted her to have this ridiculously cool response.

but now, i'm glad she knows, i'm having so much fun teaching her everything i remember about it. and we've replaces our nightly story time with park ride videos on youtube

 

[shordiebecka]

The resort mugs- soft drinks, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, water, juices. Pretty much anything that is in the food court in the self serve section!

Bag for the parks- I found that not bringing a bag in the parks is best for me, but with so many people and young children, I know that's not an option for you! Some of the things I've heard a lot about are the bagallini and the VB Hipster for smaller bags. Bigger bags- the more room the better- are you getting a stroller on property? or bringing one?

Well, it's good that she knows now! She probably doesn't understand how exciting it is that she is going! You should make a countdown calender with her- I've seen lots of good ideas on the board for countdown calenders! Maybe that would make her more excited. Have you ordered the Disney Vacation Planning DVD from the website yet? It's free and a blast to watch..if you want it, order it soon cause it takes a while to come!

 

[lbuzz52]

The resort mugs- soft drinks, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, water, juices. Pretty much anything that is in the food court in the self serve section!

Bag for the parks- I found that not bringing a bag in the parks is best for me, but with so many people and young children, I know that's not an option for you! Some of the things I've heard a lot about are the bagallini and the VB Hipster for smaller bags. Bigger bags- the more room the better- are you getting a stroller on property? or bringing one?

Well, it's good that she knows now! She probably doesn't understand how exciting it is that she is going! You should make a countdown calender with her- I've seen lots of good ideas on the board for countdown calenders! Maybe that would make her more excited. Have you ordered the Disney Vacation Planning DVD from the website yet? It's free and a blast to watch..if you want it, order it soon cause it takes a while to come!

so no milk, right?

we are bringing a stroller from home- we will have a diaper bag or maybe two but want something small to take on the rides- basically to hold money and cameras and kttw.

i went to the disney store and got disney dollars- she gets one everynight as long as she behaves. we have a cross it off the calendar style countdown calendar, but i have to admit, for some reason i am horrible with those things. we had one last Christmas and i think we only actually remembered about three times.

i've got the vacation planning dvd, but stupid ole me can't find my dvd remote and so i can't get past the first screen! so instead we've been watching the videos and the fireworks and looking at trip reports.
last night it was tower of terror, and pooh. she's not sure abOut TOT (to be honest, neither am i ) and she informed me that she must tell tigger and his pink friend hello when we arrive.

i really need to settle down and make a must-do list and a back up plan if we decide to skip emh but i keep coming on here and looking at trip reports and reviews instead. they just get me so excited!

 

[that's nice]

Once your DD sees the castle, the characters, and everything else I'm pretty sure she will be excited! Don't worry about her initial reaction!

Having the stroller is great. You can pack a bag or 2 and just hang them or stick them under the stroller. No carrying any big bags. Now that my DD is potty trained our diaper bag has been downsized. I'm sure we will bring her a change of clothes and a sweatshirt incase it gets cool at night.

 

[shordiebecka]

No milk..if your DD (or anyone) drinks a lot of milk, I would recommend placing an order with Garden Grocer and ordering some half gallons of milk- they fit in the fridge- and just using those. Milk can be used as a snack credit on the dining plan though, and I'm pretty sure that they sell half gallons in the gift shops (for a hefty price)!

 

[onelilspark]

Haha, I love your daughter's reaction. That's funny.

I just ordered a 1 shoulder backpack for the park. I usually just carry a larger purse than normal, but I always wind up carrying 2 bottles of water in it and then it's heavy and I can't find anything...so I'm trying something new! We'll see how it goes

 

[lbuzz52]

okay- i finally got into the crowd calendar without paying any extra. i'm not sure what i was doing the other day, but it worked today.
so we've got a range of 4's to 7's
can you tell me more about what the number means. is it an average, or is it related to the crowd at the worst park, or how do they arrive at those numbers?

 

[that's nice]

4-7 is very manageable. If you are looking at the crowd calendar scroll down a bit more and you can see what each # means.

The number is the guesstimate of the PEAK wait times at a park. Usually in-between 1-4 o'clock. If you are there for rope drop you can accomplish many rides with minimum wait.

 

[lbuzz52]

4-7 is very manageable. If you are looking at the crowd calendar scroll down a bit more and you can see what each # means.

The number is the guesstimate of the PEAK wait times at a park. Usually in-between 1-4 o'clock. If you are there for rope drop you can accomplish many rides with minimum wait.

okay, then it doesn't look too bad!

so what are your thoughts on this.
here are the days that have the worst "vibes"

Friday- level 7, worst park AK- my planned park- AK (late EMH)
Monday- level 7, worst park- MK & AK- my planned park- MK (late EMH)
Tuesday- level 5, worst park, EC- my planned park- EC (early EMH)

on Friday, i'm pretty much seeing no chance of making rope drop where ever we go- we have MNSSHP party the night before.
on Monday, we have a decent chance of making rope drop. we will be at HS the night before with EMH of 10 pm
on Tuesday, it is a EMH, but again, i don't know if we will make rope drop- i'd say that one is 50-50. we have late hours at MK if we go there but who knows how late we make it. it won't be as important to stay late but want to utilize it by riding during parade times.
so if we switched Fri and Mon, Fri would change from a worst park to a best park, and Mon would still be at a worst park. but we would lose three hours at each park Mon & Fri.
my wed & thurs at MK are set in stone for me- have to do the MK first and thurs is a 4 plus we have CRT in the am and then the MNSSHP. i could toy with HS on Sunday also but again would lose hours.
so also back to the whole EMH thing. with these crown levels, would you switch things up?

 

[that's nice]

Tell me again... are you guys getting hoppers too or 1 park a day tix?

All the people that are coming back are reporting that the lines are very small... with many rides being walk on.

If you look at the calendar MK is always the worst park on Mondays.. It seems like we are always at MK on a Monday. LOL Also AK is best every Thursday.

On Tuesday Epcot is the worst park with a 5. I would not be worried about this at all.

So on Friday at AK you need to think of your Must-do's like Lion King or Nemo and any rides. Use FP and have a plan. I would think you should be OK.

Anyone else want to chime in????????

 

[MissBritt]

I'm loving your report so far. Your daughter's reaction to the news is priceless. But she will be giddy when she sees it for herself! BTW, how do I find crowd levels?

 

[that's nice]

I'm loving your report so far. Your daughter's reaction to the news is priceless. But she will be giddy when she sees it for herself! BTW, how do I find crowd levels?

http://www.touringplans.com/tp2/UG2_index.php?PageID=0

Check on the left hand side for Crowd Calendar. The next 30 days are free.
If you have the Unofficial Guide to Disney you can see up to a year in advance.

 

[lbuzz52]

Tell me again... are you guys getting hoppers too or 1 park a day tix?

All the people that are coming back are reporting that the lines are very small... with many rides being walk on.

If you look at the calendar MK is always the worst park on Mondays.. It seems like we are always at MK on a Monday. LOL Also AK is best every Thursday.

On Tuesday Epcot is the worst park with a 5. I would not be worried about this at all.

So on Friday at AK you need to think of your Must-do's like Lion King or Nemo and any rides. Use FP and have a plan. I would think you should be OK.

Anyone else want to chime in????????

i tried to read some trip reports from last october/november to get the feel of crowd levels, but keep getting sucked into the REALLY long ones so i haven't gotten too far yet. but for some reason i was thinking that october crowds are slightly bigger than september?

so you think that epcot is okay, and have handle the mk on a few mondays. i'm not willing to give up crt on the thursday to switch those days around. friday we will have animal kingdom open until 8pm (i need to review what is open for the emh) and it will be our third day of the mk, so hopefully it will be mostly filled with redos of favorites. plus, if we really need to, the emh makes the days long enough to go to the hotel for a break. so i guess unless someone wants to talk me out of it i may brave the schedule as is. it sure sounds easier than trying to redo the adr's.

oh, no park hopper this time. again unless someone can talk me into it. i just that with the large group, the baby, my parents, that one park will probably be enough.


OH YEAH- i got my Ohana's reservation moved up on arrival day- now its at 645 instead of 820. I wasn't even adding the time change in there and started worrying about how late it would get if we had to wait a while. hopefully, the new time will leave us full and wired from the bread pudding to catch the fireworks on the beach!

so whats all the "pin" hype? are my dd and dn going to fill left out (4 and 3 years)