August Trip - Questions!

[pixiepurls]

Hello everyone!

I am new to DIS, and I see so much wonderful information here I thought I would look for some advice.

I have planned a 5 day trim in mid-august. It's going to be hot! I thought it would be an easier time to get reservations and well its summer and we want to go, school starts in early september here. I have an almost 5yo and almost 7yo, both with birthday 2 weeks before and after our trip so its very much a Birthday Trip. We have previously been to Disney Hilton Head (really lovely) and WDW when the girls were little. I also went for 2 very short days when a family member was having surgery right after her trip so my oldest and I went for a quick trip to spend time with her. It was AMAZING and I was dying to bring my 4yo! So this is our chance!

I've registered for our magic bands (need to call to connect our flight for magic express tomorrow as the website won't let me) and we've made various reservations...

Art of Animation CARS
Free Park Hopper Option
No meal plan

Reservations:
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall - Which princess come to this? I've never been. The cinderalla castle one was so expensive and I did it years ago with the kids so thought we would try this instead and save a little $$ plus well, this had an available resveration and cinderalla castle didn't!
Disney Festival Of Fantasy Parade Fast Pass - "Centra Plaza Viewing Area" how does this work? I thought it was very interesting and I believe Anna/Elsa are in this parade and wanted the girls to be able to see them.
Meeting Anna & Elsa MK Meet and Greet - I have not managed a FP for this, its at 9am so how do I get there earlier if the park opens at 9am and it starts at 9am? Is it worth it?
Enchanted Tales with Bell FP - How long does this take? It says to arrive between 9 and 10am. Is this worth the FP?
Meet Cinderall & Repunzel Fairytale Hall - Worth the FP?

My 6yo doesn't seem to care too much about meeting princesses but I think my 4yo will freak out over it. Bell is her favorite, but of course she loves frozen.

For the reservations at 9am, and the park opens at 9am how are we supposed to get to the spot by 9am??

Advice on beating the heat? My sister said to sleep in late and stay up late. Will be interesting to see if we can get the 4yo to last until the park closes, but we will have the fold up mclaren stroller if we find we need one at night for her to sleep in. My 6yo straight up fell asleep on the bus back to the resort those two nights I went before and it was terrible to cary her but this time my husband will be with us!

I see posts that sound like people getting extra fast passes through out the day, was I reading that correctly?

I have FP for some of my favorites, It's a Small World as its new now an amazing, the cool Fast Track at Epcot (I don't think my 4yo can ride it due to hight restrictions ugh!), the new snow white ride and the cool Toys ride that you shoot stuff for points. Be Our Guest restaurant for my girl who loves belle and because its so amazing inside... I want to sit by the snow, is it possible to ask??

Even though we have park hopper i would bet we stick to MK and Epcot. Anything amazing at the other parks we can't miss? Hoping to stop by the lego store if we have time. I love that dinosaur restaurant. I've not been on the new snow white ride and really barely looked at the new fantasy land as I was basically going at mach 10 following my sister and her kids around. I can't wait to just take our time and have several days in MK!

We got to get that pack of cards when we left but she didn't actually get to play the game and I know my husband will have fun doing that with her so this time we plan to do that, any recommendations not hat card game thing? Any spots that are a must or is it in a certain order?

Sorry for so many questions THANKS!

 

[mesaboy2]

For answers to at least some of your FastPass questions, see the green link in my signature below.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Hello everyone!

Reservations:
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall - Which princess come to this? I've never been. The cinderalla castle one was so expensive and I did it years ago with the kids so thought we would try this instead and save a little $$ plus well, this had an available resveration and cinderalla castle didn't! We love Akershus. When we went last year - you took a picture with Belle when you entered. Then Snow White, Ariel, Sleep Beauty and Cinderella came to the tables.
Disney Festival Of Fantasy Parade Fast Pass - "Centra Plaza Viewing Area" how does this work? I thought it was very interesting and I believe Anna/Elsa are in this parade and wanted the girls to be able to see them. I personally wouldn't waste a FP on a parade. We never had a problem getting a good spot.
Meeting Anna & Elsa MK Meet and Greet - I have not managed a FP for this, its at 9am so how do I get there earlier if the park opens at 9am and it starts at 9am? Is it worth it? You can get an early morning ADR breakfast and then when it ends you can get to the Meet and Greet earlier than 9am. I would still try for a FP - you might get it closer as people cancel.
Enchanted Tales with Bell FP - How long does this take? It says to arrive between 9 and 10am. Is this worth the FP?
Meet Cinderall & Repunzel Fairytale Hall - Worth the FP?

My 6yo doesn't seem to care too much about meeting princesses but I think my 4yo will freak out over it. Bell is her favorite, but of course she loves frozen.

For the reservations at 9am, and the park opens at 9am how are we supposed to get to the spot by 9am?? As I said above you can get an early morning ADR breakfast and then when it ends you can get to the Meet and Greet earlier than 9am. I would still try for a FP - you might get it closer as people cancel.


Advice on beating the heat? My sister said to sleep in late and stay up late. Will be interesting to see if we can get the 4yo to last until the park closes, but we will have the fold up mclaren stroller if we find we need one at night for her to sleep in. My 6yo straight up fell asleep on the bus back to the resort those two nights I went before and it was terrible to cary her but this time my husband will be with us! We go to the parks in the morning and have a TS for lunch to get out of the heat. We usually go back to the room to relax. Then had back to the park about 6pm or 7pm (For the parks that are open late). If they are not open late then we just have a nice lunch to get out of the heat. We bring the mister fans. They really help. We usually take 2 backpacks to the parks with water bottles, fans and ponchos. Also don't forget that it will rain just about everyday. Bring ponchos!

I see posts that sound like people getting extra fast passes through out the day, was I reading that correctly? You get a 4th FP after you use your 3 FPs.

I have FP for some of my favorites, It's a Small World as its new now an amazing, the cool Fast Track at Epcot (I don't think my 4yo can ride it due to hight restrictions ugh!), the new snow white ride and the cool Toys ride that you shoot stuff for points. Be Our Guest restaurant for my girl who loves belle and because its so amazing inside... I want to sit by the snow, is it possible to ask??

Even though we have park hopper i would bet we stick to MK and Epcot. Anything amazing at the other parks we can't miss? Those are our two favorites - except now HS has the Frozen summer with all Anna and Elsa events. Especially for your 4 year old. Hoping to stop by the lego store if we have time. I love that dinosaur restaurant. I've not been on the new snow white ride and really barely looked at the new fantasy land as I was basically going at mach 10 following my sister and her kids around. I can't wait to just take our time and have several days in MK!

We got to get that pack of cards when we left but she didn't actually get to play the game and I know my husband will have fun doing that with her so this time we plan to do that, any recommendations not hat card game thing? Any spots that are a must or is it in a certain order? I guess you mean the Sorcerers of Magic Kingdom. It doesn't matter what order you do it. I don't know the particulars but my DS loves it.

Sorry for so many questions THANKS!

No problem. I hope I helped out - ask anything other questions that you have. Enjoy your trip!

 

[Aliceacc]

Welcome to the Disboards!

I agree with the previous poster: we head to the parks at rope drop, and tour until about noon or so. Then we head back to the resort and swim/ nap away the afternoon. We return for dinner, refreshed and ready for some more relaxed touring.

We also order groceries from www.gardengrocer.com We get 2 cases of water (for the 5 of us for a week over the summer), park snacks and room munchies. If you're thinking of only ordering water, you can order from Staples and they'll deliver for free. (NOTE: this works only if you're not staying at a convention resort. The OP isn't.)

The princesses at Aukerhaus vary. There will be 5, but I'm not sure we've seen the same 5 on different occasions. But the character interaction is great-- they come table to table for autographs and pictures-- make sure you pack autograph books for the kids, along with a click Sharpie. (Autograph books in the parks can be expensive. We always ordered ours from here: http://www.laughingplace.com/store/Category-RC-520.asp )

As far as the extra FP's go, I'm not counting on those 4th or 5th passes. The parks are crowded in summer, and there are only so many FPs to go around. If we get lucky, great, but we're hitting our favorites with the first 3 FPs, and seeing other big favorites at rope drop.

Mesaboy has a fabulous thread on which FP's are most likely to save you the most time:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3143281 Personally I would reconsider that Small World Fastpass, and ride it standby-- there are too many rides that build a LONG wait that I would rather FP, though of course your opinion may vary.

As far as the Parkhoppers go, we find them amazingly handy. One year we went to AK, got soaked on Kali, and then the weather turned cold and wet and stormy. After about half an hour of that, we went back to the resort, changed, and hopped to Epcot, where we had a lovely afternoon. A day or two later, we returned to AK, before hopping somewhere else.

You may very well find that your kids are too tired for a late night one night-- those park hoppers will enable you to see Wishes or Illuminations on another night when they're more awake.

 

[JudyAL]

We've been visiting in August for the past 3 years, this year will be July.

I don't recommend sleeping in late. It'll be cooler earlier although humid. What other have said is good advice. Another way to do it is plan to do some things outside and then go to a show or indoor ride that's air conditioned. We don't take breaks during the day, we just duck inside for a little while to cool off. There's enough to do inside to break up the day so you're not outside in the heat all day.

Have fun!

 

[ariane37]

OP as far as your Be Our Guest question, it sounds like you got a FP for lunch? In that case you can definitely sit in the ballroom where you can see the "snow" falling outside the windows. At lunch you can pick where you sit. If you made a dinner reservation your table/room has been assigned already. We've had dinner there 4x and managed to be seated in all 3 rooms so never requested a certain room, you can ask but I would think it may be difficult for them to accommodate all room requests at dinner. But again it sound like you're doing lunch there so no problem

 

[pixiepurls]

For BOG we got 4:15 PM, I'll take what I can get! Wish it was lunch too.. I'll double check restorations a few times before I leave to see if something pops up.

 

[katilac]

Your dd may surprise you. My girls were 6 & 8 on our first trip, and we spent an unbelievable amount of time on that trip (and the next one) meeting characters. And they weren't even very into the princess stuff before we went!

We did Akershus way back in 2006, so it may have changed, but my first bit of advice would be not to be TOO hungry, because the food was gross, lol. They met several princesses there: Belle, Jasmine, Aurora, maybe even one or two more. They took a lot of time talking and taking pictures, so well worth it even though we didn't like the food. They do have typical kids' meals.

Meet and greets tend to have very long lines. Is a fast pass worth it? It kind of depends on whether your kids will pass it up if the line is long or not, but it's really hard to tell that in advance. I will say that, ime, the lines for the rides tend to go up and down, but the autograph lines are just always long. We waited close to an hour to meet Snow White back in the day (no FP in hte old days!), but my kids were happy as clams.

If your kids don't normally sleep late and stay up late, I wouldn't attempt it at Disney. On our first couple of trips (almost exact same ages & time of year), we went to the parks early, headed back to the rooms for a rest during the afternoon heat and crowds, and then returned to the park. We didn't do late night shows or fireworks until near the end of the trip, b/c I knew my kids would be exhausted and cranky otherwise.

If you have hoppers, I would definitely take them to all of the parks for at least a bit. I bet they would love the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom.

 

[mrstomrice]

AS for the heat, we hit the parks in the morning and stay hydrated with the free ice water. It is available at every stand that sells fountain drinks. Are your girls Frozen fans? There are several special events at DHS this summer! I highly recommend the premium party. Information is here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/hollywood-studios/frozen-summer-celebration/

 

[GillianP1301]

We've gone to WDW the 2nd half of August our last trip and are headed back again this year. I love the heat, so it rarely bothers me or my family much. My son is now 6. On our last 2 trips (age 4 and 5), I found the key to success was keeping meal and sleep times as close to his usual home routine as possible. He's an early riser and a big breakfast eater, so we always had an early ADR, usually a character buffet and that started our day off really well. We would tour until fatigue started to set in. Some days that was after lunch, other days closer to supper. We would head back to the resort for pool/relaxing time whenever fatigue hit. Only once did I plan a night in the parks and that was near the end of the vacation for Wishes. I just know my son and I know that multiple late nights would've been too tiring for him and would've led to a less than successful trip.

Now that he's 6, his stamina is getting higher and I know from daily outings we do around home, that he is much more capable of missing bed time by an hour or two without too much of a negative impact to the next day. I'm still not planning many late nights in the park, but I'm also not super concerned about being back in our room before 8pm. I am also adding in a lot of lunch ADRs as a built in break/cool down period for our day.

For beating the heat, I recommend sunscreen & hats (I know it seems obvious, but blows my mind how many people I see walking around WDW in August with no hat... insane), keep a water bottle handy for frequent hydration. Slow your pace down a bit, which you will likely do anyway with LO's the age you have, but remembering that it's not a race from one attraction to the other is important. Build breaks into your day, whether it be with a meal break or just taking a seat in the shade with a Mickey Bar watching people go by. A misting fan is a good cool down trick too and can keep a young child amused for a stretch as well.

 

[isaboo]

We'll be there about the same time I think! Others have given you great answers.

 

[mrstomrice]

Here's a link to the August trip page: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3131293

 

[ParrotBill]

I often visit WDW in the second half of August. Crowds decline in the 2nd and 3rd weeks and are quite light the last full week before Labor Day. As long as they don't open free dining up in August, reservations for restaurants are fairly easy to get even on the same day, except for the very popular ones.

FP+ may still be hard to get same day, since capacities are still being managed and demand is high. I am also not counting on a good 4th or 5th.

I do recommend you prioritize what to see at MK and EPCOT, then consider the other 2 parks.
AK: Safari, Legend of the Lion King are don't miss. Walk through the Gorilla and Tiger habitats.
Studios: Voyage of the Little Mermaid; Star Tours (motion ride, careful but worth it), Muppets, Toy Story Mania (need FP) and all the new Frozen stuff!

 

[PrincessJasmineDVC]

Being the child of a teacher, my family has always gone on our big Disney trips in August.

My family gets up nice and early to be at the parks for opening. You can get quite a few attractions done before it gets too crowded and hot. We usually grab something to eat at the park for lunch and then head back to the hotel for the afternoon to swim, cool down (change out of our sweaty clothes from the morning), and/or nap. We then head back out around 4 for dinner and more attractions at a park. It's usually much more comfortable then.

The good thing about Disney is that a lot of the rides and waits are indoors. So even if you do have to wait, it's rather comfortable (Unless you're riding Big Thunder, which may have the hottest wait outside of Splash Mountain...without the water to cool you off after!).

We also find Animal Kingdom to be one of the hottest parks out of the 4. So we only go for the early morning. (Try to ride the safari early, as we have had the most luck spotting more animals first thing in the morning.)

Another thing to keep in mind is that the thunderstorms are like clockwork. We always joke that the "4 o'clock clouds are rolling in" as it feels like every day at 4, there is a thunderstorm.

Maybe we're just masochists, dealing with the Florida humidity and heat, but we keep going back for more! We'll be down there from the 6th-12th this year. It's getting close!!

 

[PrincessJasmineDVC]

Just had the chance to actually go through and read (rather than skim) the previous posts and realized my skimming skills may need a little work.

I agree with the previous posters, as evidenced by my post. haha

 

[Cloudless Nights]

Disney research showed that the idea that you see more animals in the morning on the Safari is a myth. And we always go on in both the mornings and afternoons and have seen many animals each time.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...r-favorite-animals-at-disneys-animal-kingdom/

OP, we have gone in August every year for several years, and though it is definitely hot, we have found crowds to be pretty manageable.

 

[ariane37]

For BOG we got 4:15 PM, I'll take what I can get! Wish it was lunch too.. I'll double check restorations a few times before I leave to see if something pops up.

If your DD loves Belle, I would keep the 4:15 unless you want/find a later time! BOG dinner reservations are not easy to come by . Many people feel differently but we much prefer the dinner menu to lunch. And, if you aren't seated in the ballroom for dinner, you can still walk through and look at the snow.

Just in case you aren't aware, you can't make reservations for lunch. You can get a FP or just get on line. The FP won't count towards your 3 for the day and, from what I've been reading, very near to your trip you may get an "invite" to make a FP lunch reservation. You can also go to a special website, not the regular dining one, put in your confirmation # and make a reservation (not sure of the website but I'm sure someone else will post it).

And if you do manage to make a lunch FP, I'd keep the dinner reservation, too

 

[Toeknail]

For beating the heat, I recommend sunscreen & hats (I know it seems obvious, but blows my mind how many people I see walking around WDW in August with no hat... insane)

Just FYI, I have always found it far to hot/humid to wear a hat in August at WDW. I start to melt not because it is so sunny, but because it is 95 degrees out with 95% humidity - the hat just makes my head sweat like crazy. A visor might help, but otherwise I just make sure to apply plenty of sunscreen.

 

[ZoZo]

My family gets up nice and early to be at the parks for opening. You can get quite a few attractions done before it gets too crowded and hot. We usually grab something to eat at the park for lunch and then head back to the hotel for the afternoon to swim, cool down (change out of our sweaty clothes from the morning), and/or nap. We then head back out around 4 for dinner and more attractions at a park. It's usually much more comfortable then.

This is great advice. The hottest part of the day is the afternoon, so it's worth it to get up early, hit the parks until lunchtime, then go back to your hotel for a swim/rest to cool off. Then head back to the parks around dinnertime when it's cooler. The good news is the parks are pretty uncrowded in the mornings, because lots of people don't like to get up early on their vacations!

To beat the heat, I recommend drinking lots of water (it's easy to get dehydrated); wearing moisture-wicking clothes when possible; wearing a hat or visor; using a battery operated fan (or misting fan); and taking advantage of air-conditioned attractions and restaurants throughout the day. These strategies, coupled with avoiding the heat of the afternoon when touring, should help a lot to keep you cool.