Critique my dining itinerary (and help me with Hoop Dee Doo)

[DisneyWishes14]

First off let me say, I absolutely love BC. That is the resort that we always stay at. In August, you will certainly want to take advantage of SAB because it is an amazing pool. I think a lot of people have given great advice already.

I totally understand wanting to do the deluxe plan for the signature restaurants.I personally am a small eater (QS kids meal for lunch is plenty) so it would not be my choice, but I can see your reasoning. I will say that Yachtsman is delicious and a must do if on this plan. I also love CG. The views are great and the food is pretty good.

In terms of ADRs, I would suggest making them for all your must dos, even if some of them are not for dinner. As long as you cancel 24 hours ahead of time, you will not be charged. I was in WDW in November and could not get a Beaches and Cream reservation to save my life. So if you think you want to eat there, then definitely make one. That place is very small and fills quickly. The ice cream is only Edy's so nothing special so please do not go there just for that.

Make sure to factor in the money that you will need to pay oop for tips and any alcoholic beverages you may purchase (if that is something you want - love my glass of wine with dinner). Also when do you plan to use your 2 snack credits a day? I totally get not worrying about what your kids order to eat and not finishing it if the plan is already paid for. But you may end up paying more in the end when you add in the upgraded cost and tips. If you would order an app, meal, and dessert at each meal than the plan is the way to go. I am sure your trip will be great either way. I will be following along to see what you actually pick.

Good news (for those who drink), alcoholic beverages are now included in the 2018 Disney dining plans: http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...cialty-alcoholic-and-non-alcoholic-beverages/

 

[YYC-Rob]

Disneywishes - You beat me to the punch! I was gonna comment on the new alcoholic drinks and the 7 am (EST) booking times!

Jules - Good tip on factoring in the tips. I have no idea what we will use the snack credits for. I will let my kids go rampant there. If we have some left over near the end of the trip I will try to find something non-perishable and stock up on them in my suitcase! Might cause issues at the border back to Canada though, ill have to look into that.

Jack & Monica - Love the long post! Makes me feel like I'm not the only one obsessive about their passions. Im going to try and respond "in quote". Not sure if that will work but we will see. My responses will be in **.

One of the things I think you are missing here is the balance of scarce resources. I am not talking about money. I am referring to mainly time. There are three things that are usually sought after at WDW -- the first I assume you already have locked in -- an on-property resort. The second, you are well in control of getting -- restaurant/show reservations. The third is what I think you are a little fuzzy on. It is getting to enjoy the attractions that you want without having to wait in line for two hours per attraction. You have a big advantage in that you are going to be able to go to the parks multiple times. Because you are going in the summer, you have to consider the crowds, and you have to be a little strategic in your planning as far as the attractions go.

** So we have the last week of August and first week of September booked. These are traditionally lower crowd times. For the equivalent weeks in 2017, Touringplans actually shows a number of the days as a 1/10 for crowd level during our second week. I will ADR the big rides for our morning parks and I imagine the rest should be pretty short waits. **

I apologize if you know these things already. I am going to talk about 1 person. I assume you are getting park hopper tickets (that allow you to go to multiple parks per a single day. With your schedule above, (if I counted correctly) you will need 10 park hopper tickets (I did not see you mention the water parks but I will bring that up later).

**We have 10 day park hopper tickets for each person with the water park upgrade**

With each park hopper ticket, you will be able to go to multiple disney parks each of 10 separate days. With each park hopper ticket, you will get 3 fast passes (and only 3).

**From what I gather, you can now book more than 3 FP after you have used your original 3. I intend to make my FP for 930, 1030, 1130, then try to snag something for later in the day at the second park. With the lower crowds and cancellations, I am hopeful**

These can be scheduled 60 days ahead of your planned vacation. For you -- I will use an imaginary date -- Saturday July 7, 2018 as the arrival day of your vacation. Since you are spending so much time at WDW, I would not schedule a park day on your arrival day. I would schedule, however, two great meals. One of the things I try to do on my vacation is to go to the California Grill for a late night dinner. This works perfectly if you do not get to the resort until late morning or early afternoon. I schedule an 8:45 seating so that we are in place when the MK fireworks go off. They pipe in the music from the display. You are at the top of the contemporary and have a thrilling view. (You can start scheduling your meal reservations 180 days from your arrival date). But I am getting off track.
**It isnt in my last post there but Day 1 is actually the day after our arrival. Our flight is about 5.5 hours to MCO. If everything goes smoothly we will be at BC around 630 pm. Our kids will likely be a bit wonky from the plane time so I intend for us to eat at BC (Cape Mae Cafe) and do some swimming**

My main concern for you is that you will spend a lot of time waiting in line for the really good attractions. These attractions are the scarcest commodity. Disney gives you a lot of tools in order to still have a great experience (even at the height of the summer season). Since it has been a long while since your last visit, I would recommend you choose parks that use EMH. These are available just about every day. There are morning extra magic hours and evening extra magic hours. RIght now in August 2017, perhaps the toughest/most sought after FP is the Avatar Flight of Passage (FOP) ride at AK. People are having a tough time getting a fast pass for this attraction. Folks that are staying on property can schedule their fast passes 60 days out. A lot of people will quite literally be up at midnight of the 61st day before their vacation just so they can go online to the my Disney AP and schedule this fast pass. One of the advantages that you have is the length of your stay. Most people will not be staying 13-14 days on property. You fast passes will open up for the entire vacation period. So if you were staying 13 days from 7 JUL 18 to 20 JUL 18. You would be able to book fast passes for the entire vacation time frame starting 60 days out from 7 JUL 18 (the last day of your vacation would be 73 days out!

**I will definitely be awake at that 60 day mark at for 7 am EST to book my FP. I also heard that you can only book 10 days of your trip ahead of the 60 days, not the entire length of trip. I think I heard this on a few podcasts. So Ill set my alarm and be ready for a few nights in a row**

Disney, for the most part, opens up the really good attractions during EMH, so you can ride at least two of these in that first hour before the park opens. You then can enjoy your three fast passes later in the morning with plenty of time to make lunch at a signature restaurant in the park you are at.
At that point, you could go back to the resort for some rest to get geared up for going back to the park in the evening after a good dinner.
Here is a day I have planned for an upcoming visit in January of 18. We arrive on a Saturday, and we are staying at the Wliderness Lodge. I have dinner reservations for California Grill that night. We will eat at either Roaring Fork or Geyser Point (both are quick service places at or by the Lodge).
Sunday is a sleep in day, we will go to Disney Springs to scratch the itch my wife will inevitably have to buy souveniers for family not with us. We will eat at D-luxe burger there and will go to the Hoop de doo Revue for the 4:00 dinner show. We will relax at the resort after that. Monday will be our first day at a park. We will go to AK that day. Here is my plan: It is an EMH day so we will be at the park at around 7:15-7:30. They will usually open earlier than the posted 8:00 time. Depending on how lucky I was in getting fast passes will dictate which rides I go on during EMH. If I am able to get a FOP fast pass, I will go to the Na'Vi river journey (also new and also in demand). After that I will go to the Kilimanjaro Safari. It is always good to go as early as possible on the safari for more active animals. My fast passes will then be the following: Kali River Rapids/ FOP / and festival of the lion king (highly recommend not missing this). We will also do the Primeval Whirl (low grade roller coaster) and Dinosaur. Absent from our lineup is Expedition Everest. That is a must do, but my wife is not a fan of big roller coasters.
If I do not get an FOP fast pass, then my day will be this -- EMH FOP and Na'vi river journey -- FP for the safari. kali river rapids, and the festival of the lion king.
We will eat lunch at the Yak and Yeti. We will go back to our resort for the afternoon. We will eat dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. and then debate if we are going back for the night activities at AK.

** Ive heard Pandora is really worth seeing at night!!**

That is just an example of one day's planning. It does not include all of the things available at AK. You will have the luxury of getting a second crack at the key rides on a second day at AK. You will probably be able to get at least one fast pass for FOP.

We have a plan that we stick to, but we still have flexibility built in -- (do we go back to AK for the evening? Do we feel like staying at AK for more attractions after lunch. It's a bugs life/Finding Nemo the musical/ etc.)
Here are some resources that will make this easier:
First is hat attractions are open during EMH at each park:
(MK) https://touringplans.com/magic-kingdom/attractions/morning-extra-magic-hour
(AK) https://touringplans.com/animal-kingdom/attractions/morning-extra-magic-hour
(HS) https://touringplans.com/hollywood-studios/attractions/evening-extra-magic-hours
(EPCOT) https://touringplans.com/epcot/attractions/evening-extra-magic-hours

**Thanks for the links. If my family is up for it, I will definitely get the into EMH. Thats what those mid day naps are for!**

Have you considered going to one or more of the water parks? If you upgrade your Park Hopper to a Park Hopper Plus you will have an equal amount of free admissions to one of a number of other venues to include the two water parks and the two minature golf courses.

Since you are going for so long of a time, I would encourage you to consider the water parks.

I apologize for the length here. I do tend to get carried away.

My responses melded into the quote. Not sure how to fix it but they are there!

 

[nco91590]

Ok, so I see a lot of comments about too much time eating and traveling to eat. And on a 5-7 day trip I would agree. Our last family trip was for 10 days we had plenty of park time. We went in August as well, so we ended up doing mostly 1/2 days in the parks, leaving after lunch and heading back out at night and still did and saw everything we wanted to.

2 weeks is a LONG time in WDW. I wouldn't sweat it too much.

My only advice would be to space out your meals more. But other than that, I think DxDP is perfect for long trips!

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

You can book fastpasses 60 days in advance of your check-in date for your entire trip. I'm staying more than 10 days and was able to book for my entire trip in one shot. Dining ADRs are limited to check-in date plus 10 days but fast passes are not.

 

[Jack & Monica]

Just an FYI for your own trip and for OP's, you can't make FP+ at midnight, 61 days prior to your trip. You could in the past, but it has been changed. You can start making FP+ at 7:00 am EST, 60 days prior to check-in. Just want to let you know so you can get a little sleep the night before

That is good to know for the future. Thanks! I am actually doing a split stay one night at Wilderness Lodge followed by a Disney Cruise, and then going 10 days back at the Wilderness Lodge. I have never done a split stay before, but my understaneding is that I will be able to book fast passes 60 days out from my first day. I am hoping that works.

 

[kreckl]

I have never done a split stay before, but my understaneding is that I will be able to book fast passes 60 days out from my first day. I am hoping that works.

No
Can't book meals for the 2nd leg either.

 

[Jack & Monica]

Krecki -- I have just booked all of my meal reservations. You are right; I was able to book 19 JAN (the one day at WDW before the Cruise), but had to wait until this past Monday to book the second half of the WDW meal reservations.

 

[kreckl]

Yes, we almost always do split stays, and have been frustrated with this! Especially if you are just moving from one WDW to another with no break in between ( although I wish it would have worked for you too, I sort of get it if you leave property.)

 

[YYC-Rob]

You can book fastpasses 60 days in advance of your check-in date for your entire trip. I'm staying more than 10 days and was able to book for my entire trip in one shot. Dining ADRs are limited to check-in date plus 10 days but fast passes are not.

This is good to know. I had heard that split stays are considered "seperate" visits by MDE and the reservations stuff. Too bad thats true.

Now that I've settled down on a rough itinerary I think that I will book interesting lunch ADRs anyways. Ill just hang onto them "in case" and drop them if we are feeling pressured. I will also make them for either whatever our morning park is, for near our resort, in epcot (so close), or assume we eat in water park.

Sigh... 380ish days to go until our trip. What milestones do you guys look forward too outside of ADRs and fastpasses? Im thinking 1 year till we leave, 1 year from end of trip so I can sign up for a year of touringplans, 10 months out for flights, 6 months for adr, 2 months for FP, 1 month for reveal to my kids(yes I am going to keep it a secret, I dont care if my wife thinks I wont be capable!)

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

This is good to know. I had heard that split stays are considered "seperate" visits by MDE and the reservations stuff. Too bad thats true.

Now that I've settled down on a rough itinerary I think that I will book interesting lunch ADRs anyways. Ill just hang onto them "in case" and drop them if we are feeling pressured. I will also make them for either whatever our morning park is, for near our resort, in epcot (so close), or assume we eat in water park.

Sigh... 380ish days to go until our trip. What milestones do you guys look forward too outside of ADRs and fastpasses? Im thinking 1 year till we leave, 1 year from end of trip so I can sign up for a year of touringplans, 10 months out for flights, 6 months for adr, 2 months for FP, 1 month for reveal to my kids(yes I am going to keep it a secret, I dont care if my wife thinks I wont be capable!)

Unfortunately, you're correct about the split stay.

I looked forward to putting the deposit down, adr day, day free dining was released, booking flights, days MNSSHP and FEA dessert party were announced, day I surprised the kids with the news (for us it was DD7's bday, about 3.5 months in advance), fast pass day, day I paid the trip off, and the day I received the magic bands. Now that we are at our 15 day mark, every day is a bit of a celebration!

 

[Jack & Monica]

One of the things I just learned is that it pays to call as opposed to just booking dining reservations on the AP. I had to book 10 days worth of dining and missed on only two of the times and dates I wanted. I would have been able to still eat at the restaurant I wanted, the AP just did not have my desired time available. I tried calling and got the times I wanted.