Confessions of an obsessive planner... Let the countdown begin!!

[-Hope-]

I'm not sure how many readers I have lately but thought I'd post a few questions as I'm playing around with our budget...

I have tips for our airport shuttle, Mousekeeping, DME and our TS meal in the budget... do I need tip money for anyone else?

I also want to be sure I have enough for our 'walking around' money. In addition to tip money I also have the money to pay for 1900 PF (we're on the QS dining plan so this is OOP) and about $350 for everything else.

Do you think $350 will be enough? The kids have their own souvenir money- they've both saved up about $50 plus they'll get something from my mom as well as a gift envelope from us before we leave. Dh and I aren't big on souvenirs though I may buy myself something small and the kids Christmas ornaments (they get one every year to commemorate something special and what will be more special this year than Disney!? ). We'll also need to buy 2 meals while traveling, one on the way down and one on the way home. The rest of the money is for buying drinks that aren't on the dining plan- like Grey Goose Slushies and margaritas. I'm not a big drinker, more of a sipper really, and probably won't want a drink every day- but will probably have more than one on those Epcot days.

Will we need money for anything else? We aren't planning to go off property or take any cabs.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Well, my moto is that there is never enough extra spending money for Disney! (I still haven't added up the receipts from our trip b/c I'm scared to see the total! LOL) but I know that I'll be sending you along with a little money for a few drinks, if that helps!

 

[Charlefours]

Love the idea of catching the ferry in hopes of seeing Wishes from the lagoon!! It will be a magical experience for sure! I hope it works out for you.

I'm in the same boat of not liking to standing around trying to figure things out. Having a rough idea, but allowing for spontaneity, is the way I am approaching it too.

You are too funny Hope!! I am so glad I could inspire you just a bit!

I see you want to go back to EP via the IG--how are you traveling to it from the resort? Saved FW attraction would have to be TT!!! I think your plans are doable. The crowds are lighter in September so you should be fine. I will let you know what I think of the crowds if you like since I am there right before you.

The hour after the park ends, I do not believe any shows or attractions will be running. The shops and some restaurants stay open and possibly the PP photographers are out but I was under the impression the other things stop.

I think your budget is good. With the QSDP, you get mugs and two snacks. I'm not sure if you are big snackers/eaters in general but with so much going on and the heat, I think the plan will be enough. The only thing would be water--are you bringing bottles to refill from fountains (like in the CS restaurants at the pop machines) or standard ones? It would help eliminate snack credits used on water since it is hot you will want to keep drinking.

 

[starann]

Yep, I don't call myself an obsessive planner for nothin'. And yes, I do have those PP cards.

Of course you do!!! What was I thinking!!! LOL!


As for money.....I think you have it all figured out! I still have to do all that. Ugh. I've been spending 'spare time' (which is not really spare, but time I should be doing 1000 other things, but am not!) on the DISign thread thinking of new ways to drive my husband batty!!!!

 

[-Hope-]

Well, my moto is that there is never enough extra spending money for Disney! (I still haven't added up the receipts from our trip b/c I'm scared to see the total! LOL) but I know that I'll be sending you along with a little money for a few drinks, if that helps!

You know you don't have to do that but if you do then I'm going to have to order two drinks at the tequila bar- one for each of us- and then I'll have to drink them both!

Of course you do!!! What was I thinking!!! LOL!


As for money.....I think you have it all figured out! I still have to do all that. Ugh. I've been spending 'spare time' (which is not really spare, but time I should be doing 1000 other things, but am not!) on the DISign thread thinking of new ways to drive my husband batty!!!!

Oooh, I have spent many hours on the DISign boards!

 

[-Hope-]

Love the idea of catching the ferry in hopes of seeing Wishes from the lagoon!! It will be a magical experience for sure! I hope it works out for you.

I hope so too!

I'm in the same boat of not liking to standing around trying to figure things out. Having a rough idea, but allowing for spontaneity, is the way I am approaching it too.

You are too funny Hope!! I am so glad I could inspire you just a bit!

You are full of good ideas!

I see you want to go back to EP via the IG--how are you traveling to it from the resort? Saved FW attraction would have to be TT!!! I think your plans are doable. The crowds are lighter in September so you should be fine. I will let you know what I think of the crowds if you like since I am there right before you.

Not TT- my kids don't like the super fast rides. It's actually not a super popular attraction at FW but we're looking forward to it- I'll post it on our 2nd EP day. I think we'll take the bus to DHS and then take the Friendship Boat over. I don't think it will take much longer than trying to walk all the way through FW to get into WS and the boat will be one more experience we get to have. I left it off of the itinerary in hopes of surprising the kids.

The hour after the park ends, I do not believe any shows or attractions will be running. The shops and some restaurants stay open and possibly the PP photographers are out but I was under the impression the other things stop.

Thanks for that info! I can't find now where I read the info but even if that's the case it's okay- I think we'll get it all done, it would just be nice to have a bit of a cushion. I think we'll save HISTK and SOA for last since we can do those after the park closes. That will also help because I won't have to rush the kids at the playground which, even though they are big kids, they are both looking forward to.

I think your budget is good. With the QSDP, you get mugs and two snacks. I'm not sure if you are big snackers/eaters in general but with so much going on and the heat, I think the plan will be enough. The only thing would be water--are you bringing bottles to refill from fountains (like in the CS restaurants at the pop machines) or standard ones? It would help eliminate snack credits used on water since it is hot you will want to keep drinking.

We are going to take a couple of water bottles with us to refill in the parks (along with some flavoring packets in case we don't like the water- we live in the country and are used to well water). I don't think we'll need extra food either. I've been over the menus pretty extensively and seen the portion sizes in TRs and the food porn threads. Thanks for helping me feel better about the $$!

 

[lexmas]

Whew, catching up. I think the plans look great. It all depends how crowded Epcot is, but if it's anything like it was last time I went in September, you should be able to get all of it done.

DHS seems like it will be a laid back day. Plenty of time for snacking!

It all depends how much you're going to spend on extras, but I'm sure you will be able to work within that budget just fine. Since it's a one time trip, I'm sure you'll spend more on souvineers than people like me, since I'm trying to spend as little on souvineers as I can since we're going back so many times!

 

[-Hope-]

Whew, catching up. I think the plans look great. It all depends how crowded Epcot is, but if it's anything like it was last time I went in September, you should be able to get all of it done.

That's what I'm counting on- low crowds plus the GAD FPs will make it manageable. And maybe a little

DHS seems like it will be a laid back day. Plenty of time for snacking!

I think we're going to need the laid back day at that point!

It all depends how much you're going to spend on extras, but I'm sure you will be able to work within that budget just fine. Since it's a one time trip, I'm sure you'll spend more on souvineers than people like me, since I'm trying to spend as little on souvineers as I can since we're going back so many times!

We won't spend much- we just aren't souvineer people. I prefer pictures as my souvineer. I feel pretty good about the amount of $$ we're taking and am pretty confident now that it will be plenty.

 

[-Hope-]

Up next... Magic Kingdom!

When I was making my plans I really wanted to get to the MK earlier in our trip but this just made the most sense with crowds so I decided to wait. Dh HATES crowds and I think we'll get more accomplished with lower crowd levels. Both of those things will matter more in the long run than getting to MK earlier in the week.

In much less magical news I just found out yesterday that the Mad Tea Party will be closed for refurb during our trip. Kya and I are both SOOO disappointed by this news. The teacups are quintessential Disney and I feel like we are really missing something special. There are other refurbs happening during our trip (IASW, Star Tours, One Man's Dream) but this is the only one I'm really, truly upset about. I'm just glad we know now instead of finding out when we arrive. I took it out of the touring plans and I think it will sting a bit less since we have time to get used to the idea.

Even w/o IASW or teacups our MK day is pretty full. We've saved Tomorrowland for our 2nd day in the MK but this is still by far one of our busiest days... good thing we'll have that laid back day at DHS the day before!

I'm honestly not sure what I'm most excited about on this day! Haunted Mansion is my goal for the morning but only because Kya had already picked Splash Mountain- I LOVE Splash Mountain!! At first I thought the kids weren't going to do it because of the drop but when I explained that it wasn't a fast or jerky ride they were on board. We've watched the planning dvd a few times so they know how big the drop is and are okay with it as long as it's not fast. (I just hope they don't chicken out when they see it in person! )

Then when we come back in the evening we'll get to see Spectro/Wishes! When I was in the MK on my senior trip we left before dark so I've never seen these and I can hardly wait! This is going to be a magical day- even without teacups!

 

[Charlefours]

Your MK day looks good--busy, but good. Are you using your GAD FP today or saving it from the second MK day? With it being September, I really hope the crowds will be light. I sometimes check the WDW Lines App on my phone, and the crowds really do seem really light compared to July/August.

I'm sorry about the MTP being closed!! I definitely agree it is better to have found out now than to be surprised when you are down there.

 

[-Hope-]

Your MK day looks good--busy, but good. Are you using your GAD FP today or saving it from the second MK day? With it being September, I really hope the crowds will be light. I sometimes check the WDW Lines App on my phone, and the crowds really do seem really light compared to July/August.

I'm sorry about the MTP being closed!! I definitely agree it is better to have found out now than to be surprised when you are down there.

We're using the GAD passes on this day- not a lot that we'll need it for on the 2nd day. It's not even really a full day, we just plan to take advantage of the fact that we can enter the park @ 4 with our MNSSHP tickets.

I've read tons of Sept. TR and I think the crowds are lighter- however I think you'll fare better than me with that. It seems like the last week of Sept. is the busiest. Lots of folks trying to get in for FD and F&W makes this a popular week! It's still relatively low and all but one of our park days is green according to TGM (our 2nd AK day is yellow but we're not doing much so I'm not worried) so I think we'll be okay!

Thanks for they sympathy about MTP- I'm already adjusting to the idea but Kya is very disappointed.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Ugh, I share your pain, that sucks! I know once you get there, it won't be as upsetting b/c there will be other things to see and do, but it's still a bummer. What about Barnstormer? Will you do it now then? (is it still open? I haven't been keeping up) I think your kids would like it, but not sure if they would try it!

 

[-Hope-]

Ugh, I share your pain, that sucks! I know once you get there, it won't be as upsetting b/c there will be other things to see and do, but it's still a bummer. What about Barnstormer? Will you do it now then? (is it still open? I haven't been keeping up) I think your kids would like it, but not sure if they would try it!

I'm not sure about Barnstormer, I haven't been keeping up either because we weren't planning to do it. It's not on the refurb list but I'm not sure if anything in Toontown is on the list since the whole area is being refurbed. I'll have to check it out (and see if the kids would even be interested).

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I think they will love it and want to ride over and over if they try it! It's very smooth and it's a quick ride, doesn't take much time. There's really not a bigger drop than splash, in fact, the splash drop is way bigger, I believe.

 

[-Hope-]

I just checked and TT is still open. Early reports were saying it would close this fall but now they're saying not until January. This does throw a monkey wrench in things because if we go into TT Kya's going to want to walk through the houses. I'm thinking our break is going to be short this day and not include any pool time. Maybe we could just take the ferry over to have lunch at one of the CS restaurants at a resort instead of going all the way back to our room. I'll have to make a note of that option and see what we're up for.

It's good to know it's not jerky, I'll have to let them look at it and see what they think of the speed- drops don't bother them but speed does.

 

[-Hope-]

Hmmmm... seriously considering the idea of not going back to the room on our MK day and reworking the touring plans to spend more time in this park. I had completely missed the updated dates for Toontown because I'd written it off as 'not going to happen so why bother'. Now that I know differently I'd like to try to work it in but there's no way we're going all the way back to ASMu, even if all we do is tour Mickey and Minnie's houses and ride barnstormer. We'd spend all of our 'break' on the buses! I suppose we could take a cab back and forth but that just seems silly.

We can take the ferry on a nice relaxing trip that goes from MK to GF to Poly. It's supposed to be a nice relaxing trip and we enjoy being on the water as a means of relaxation. So, we'd ferry over to the Poly for a CS lunch (and a Dole Whip!) and then ferry or monorail back to finish the day. It would be a 12+ hour day without going back to the resort to rest but we'd at least have a chance to get out of the park for a bit.

The day before is our DHS day which is lots of shows and we'll finish up early and be well rested for rope drop the following morning. The day after is our 2nd Epcot day and since all but one attraction will be in WS we were planning to sleep in and not get there until about 10:30 or 11.

So, what do you think? With the restful days before and after and the ferry ride in the middle would it be crazy to attempt staying at MK all day? Or will it be manageable if its our only full on day? Another upside is that we wouldn't have to rush for ANYTHING because we'd have plenty of time in the park to accomplish everything we want.

 

[lexmas]

I'm so sorry the tea cups will be closed! It makes me sad for you since you said you won't be going back soon. You'll be having tons of fun though and you won't miss it too much.

I would think you could do one 12 hour day without a break, no problem. I'm sure we'll do one or two of those and we have the babies. Not something you want to do every day, certainly (well, that's not true...my DH would LOVE to do that every day) but once won't be too bad! You might like not having to ride the bus back in the middle of the day and just taking it slow!

 

[-Hope-]

I'm so sorry the tea cups will be closed! It makes me sad for you since you said you won't be going back soon. You'll be having tons of fun though and you won't miss it too much.

I would think you could do one 12 hour day without a break, no problem. I'm sure we'll do one or two of those and we have the babies. Not something you want to do every day, certainly (well, that's not true...my DH would LOVE to do that every day) but once won't be too bad! You might like not having to ride the bus back in the middle of the day and just taking it slow!

Thanks for the no-tea and sympathy. I know we're going to have so much fun and in the long run it won't matter much.

And I think you're right, one long day will be fine. It makes sense for that day to be at MK because it's the furthest from our resort and well, because it's the MK! I went on all ears and found pics of Captain Cook's at the Poly and it is a lovely little QS restaurant. There's even outdoor seating. And a super helpful DISer on the transportation board posted pics of the resort launch so we'll know just what to look for. He also said the ride is very relaxing and will provide us with a great mid-day break.

So, now I'm adding a couple of attractions to my MK plans and scheduling in some time just to explore MS without feeling rushed. I'll post the new plans later!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I'm refraining from discussing this here with you since I know you will be here tomorrow and I want to save all the Disney chat until then!

 

[-Hope-]

I'm refraining from discussing this here with you since I know you will be here tomorrow and I want to save all the Disney chat until then!