Coordinating PS and Theme Park Itinerary

[sorchamac]

I'm at 98 days out and I'm trying to figure out what PS I want to make. I'm basically a first timer. I've been a lot when I was a kid, but it's not the same as when you have to plan it yourself. And, we always did counter food from what I remember.

Anyway, how do you figure out what time you want to be eating at any given day at the park? I have the sample Itinerarys from TourGuideMike and Unofficial Guide and Passporter, so I can use those as a guide. But I'm going Nov 27th - Dec 4th, not the most busy times. And I'm also not into the crazy pace of the TGM or Unoff itinerarys.

Or maybe I'll just wing it -



Any ideas?

Sorcha

 

[momxx5]

We usually figure out which park we are going to on which day. We also decide if we are going to eat at any of the "hard to get PS for restaurants".

We do a lot of counter service because with 5 children it is hard to take time away from the fun to sit down and eat. I am looking forward to the day that they will appreciate fine food too - LOL!

We did make PSs for Chef Mickeys, PSB Breakfast and Sci-Fi. We ate at Trail's End(do not take PS) and L'Afredos(make PS from cell phone while walking from Misson Space to World Showcase).

Another thing to consider, if you are travelling with small children you may want to have a PS, because even in off season the wait can be over an hour. Remember that the parks close earlier in off season so some restaurants may have limited seating times and resort restaurants will be busier in the evenings.

So, if you are really wanting to do some special meals then I would make PSs for them.

 

[disneyjenca]

I was in your same situation planning for our up-coming trip -- lots of trips as a kid, but this is my first to plan (and pay!) for it myself.

When planning the trip for my husband and I, I started with the most difficult reservations/PS's and worked forward from there.

#1: A fireworks cruise
#2: Dinner to go with the cruise
#3: Cirque
#4: The Keys to the Kingdom tour

When those were set, we made and ranked a list of the restaurants we really wanted to hit, both those that we'd want PS's for and counter-service ones.

Next we figured about how many days we'd want in each park.

Then came the giant Disney planning board! -- posterboard marked up like a calendar and pieces of paper with the park names and restaurants. I spent a lot of evenings moving around those pieces of paper until I'd worked out a plan to hit all of the places we really wanted to eat and co-ordinated that with the parks. It was a blast, and kept me occupied for a long time! Got those PS's, and then stopped.

No more planning. I want the opportunity to be spontaneous. This way we have the big reservations made, a general plan for morning/afternoon parks, and lunch and dinner plans. But we can be flexible within this, or leave it completely if we want to.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[bigbabyblues]

I knew how many days we had and what places we wanted to eat, so I made the breakfast PS before park opening if possible (Donalds, Crystal Palace, and Princess Storybook), and the dinner PS around our normal dinner time, except for LTT for MNSSHP, had to take 4:35 because that's what they had. I only made one PS for each day, so we aren't tied to such a schedule, but we can still do character meals and/or a sit-down meal each day.

Enjoy your planning!

Steph

 

[lentesta]

Hi Sorcha,

Thanks for using the Unofficial Guide. I think we planned the lunch times around noon-ish for the adult touring plans, and a bit earlier for the kids. Scheduling a meal for, say, 11:30 am on, and any time for dinner, would probably work out just fine.

Let me know if you have any questions about the Guide's touring plans.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

 

[sorchamac]

Originally posted by lentesta
Hi Sorcha,

Thanks for using the Unofficial Guide. I think we planned the lunch times around noon-ish for the adult touring plans, and a bit earlier for the kids. Scheduling a meal for, say, 11:30 am on, and any time for dinner, would probably work out just fine.

Let me know if you have any questions about the Guide's touring plans.

Sincerely,

Len Testa

Thanks for replying Len. Actually, that's pretty much exactly what I plan to do, have lunch about 11:30 where possible or noon. I'm planning on a sit down lunch then, because most of the restaurants I want to try are at the parks. Also, I figure that would be a good time for the kids to sit and rest. Then we'll pick up a lighter dinner, or hit a sit down restaurant at a hotel.

The Unofficial Guide is unbelievable. As a statistician I really appreciate all the data you've collected and how you've analysed and presented it. I'm probably one of the few people that read with great interest your development of the "perfect itinerary" using linear programming! Not that I'm going to follow it because 1. I'm going at a supposedly less crowded time, and 2. It's too much running around for us and two young children. That being said, I could take or leave TGM but your book and the Passporter are essential for my planning.

Sorcha

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

I'm working on my touring plans and dinner schedules for November. I booked the hard to get PS at 90 days out but I'm still waiting for the park schedules so I can plan dinner around the shows, parades and fireworks.

I use The Passporter and The Unofficial Guide for all of my touring plans.

 

[Dreamin' Disney]

I'm also waiting for the November calendar to come out but I think I fumbled the ball because I didn't try to book anything at the 90 day mark.

But since we are staying concierge level, I have put in a request with them for all our PS's and waiting to see what we'll get.

In the meantime, I based my plans on the expected park hours and show times, based on last November. At least I'll have something for now and make a few changes once the calendar comes out.