**December 2012 Roll Call** Holidays, FLE Opening & MVMCP!! A very, merry thread!

[TiggerTeacher]

I plan my ADR's and I like to know when the EMH occurs and where. Other than that, I don't do planning for parks. Since my trip is in December right after Christmas, I will look at crowds and kind of plan, but I'm not going to go crazy. I like to just kind of go with the flow, and I've been in the summer and during times where there have been high crowds, so that doesn't bother me; so....I just go and hope for the best!!!!

 

[JLa01844]

Okay mind you I might come off as crazy lol.

I am arriving on dec 10th my plane is scheduled for 11:35. So after getting the shuttle and getting to the resort, we were gonna hit up mk because it has EMH. Also I wanted to do wishes dessert party.

Dec 11- Epcot with cp still have not decided which restaurant

Dec 12-DHS doing FDP

Dec 13- Ak then might tour the resorts for the decorations and have dinner at ohana, or do MVMCP

Dec 14-Mk earlier then do the resort decoration tour later or do MVMCP this night

Dec 15- airplane departs at 3:35pm I was gonna do whichever park till 1pm

Although I read some where the shuttle leaves 3 hours before the flight.
The only park that I know will be packed is Mk on its EMH day does this sound like a good plan

Looks like it is coming together nicely!! I'm going to offer a few suggestions...pay no attention to me if you don't like them!

• December 13th, you could start your resort tour by going to Boma or Sanaa for dinner after Animal Kingdom. You can also look out and view the animals, they also have night vision goggles. Or you can start the tour at Animal Kingdom Lodge, then end at Poly for the 'Ohana dinner. Either way would be awesome.

• December 15th, if you are taking Magical Express to and from the airport, they require you board the bus 3 hours before your plane departure. So that means you would have to be back at your hotel at 12:35...realistically you would need to leave which ever park you are in at 11:45.

 

[JLa01844]

If anyone needs to cancel a CRT or CP reservation (an early one before MK opens)....please tell me first!!!! I desperately need:

12/2 8:05am(ish) CRT or CP
I currently have a 8:00am O'hana that I could release at the same if you wanted to scoop it up.

Second Choice:
12/4 8:05am(ish) CRT or CP

On a different subject I have a question regarding my booking for POR. I was originally at POP! with a room only 30% off pin. I called the CM and told her I needed to adjust my dates slightly due to a new job...and inquired if I would still get the 30% off rate even though I have to modify my reservation and that PIN has expired. She said absolutley....it doesn't matter that the PIN is expired, just that the new dates you select are within the PIN dates. So when I heard that, I questioned her if that holds true if I change my resort. She said yes so that is why I switched. Part of me thinks that she wasn't supposed to do that since the PIN is expired. But she did. Just curious what you guys think...is the info she gave me correct?

 

[kissy]

Count us in for Dec! We decided last week to take the kids on a surprise trip. We're having baby #4 this year (due Sept 20th) so have been telling the kids we couldn't go until next year. Then a couple of things happened this year and DH and I decided we all could use the vacation....I've never surprised the kids before (have DD 15, DD 9, and DS 3). We're staying at ASMu (got 2 rooms because MIL is also coming along). Dec 10-15. We'll probably drive down to get there on SUnday though. Still deciding if I'm going to book sunday night at ASMu or stay at another hotel. Planning on checking out the resorts Sunday to get us in the christmas spirit.
I've made all adr's except for one (BOG of course!)
So far my plans are
10th - MK (hopefully with BOG)
11th - AK, Raglan Road for dinner
12th - HS, Scifi for dinner
13th - Epcot, San Angel Inn for dinner (although thinking about switching to La Haciends. ANyone have any thoughts on this?)
14th - MK Breakfast at Crystal Palace.
15th - home. :-(

Still debating on whether we will do CP or not. I know MIL and I would love it but I'm not sure about the 9 and 4 yr old. Also thinking about cutting out one of the table service meals one day and going to Fultons for dinner one night instead but not sure yet.

 

[budcollector]

i go solo and just wing it, but this is how i kinda have my days planned

Dec. 22 , arrive AK
Dec. 23 , Epcot
Dec. 24 , MK , then HS for Osbourne lights
Dec. 25 , MK ,
Dec. 26 , DTD morning , then a park
Dec. 27 , morning flight out

Dining plans are where ever i'm at and when my tummy needs refueled

 

[ejrj]

Can you add my crew to your list??

Dec 10-16 POR

me, dh, dd 4 & twin dds 2

yay!!!

 

[bellaally]

Looks like it is coming together nicely!! I'm going to offer a few suggestions...pay no attention to me if you don't like them!

• December 13th, you could start your resort tour by going to Boma or Sanaa for dinner after Animal Kingdom. You can also look out and view the animals, they also have night vision goggles. Or you can start the tour at Animal Kingdom Lodge, then end at Poly for the 'Ohana dinner. Either way would be awesome.

• December 15th, if you are taking Magical Express to and from the airport, they require you board the bus 3 hours before your plane departure. So that means you would have to be back at your hotel at 12:35...realistically you would need to leave which ever park you are in at 11:45.

Thanks for the tips, I though so about the magical express, we might just,send our luggage and take a car service later. I don't want to have to be waiting in the airport

 

[Tltorrez]

Okay mind you I might come off as crazy lol.

I am arriving on dec 10th my plane is scheduled for 11:35. So after getting the shuttle and getting to the resort, we were gonna hit up mk because it has EMH. Also I wanted to do wishes dessert party.

Dec 11- Epcot with cp still have not decided which restaurant

Dec 12-DHS doing FDP

Dec 13- Ak then might tour the resorts for the decorations and have dinner at ohana, or do MVMCP

Dec 14-Mk earlier then do the resort decoration tour later or do MVMCP this night

Dec 15- airplane departs at 3:35pm I was gonna do whichever park till 1pm

Although I read some where the shuttle leaves 3 hours before the flight.
The only park that I know will be packed is Mk on its EMH day does this sound like a good plan

Your trip overlaps mine (Dec 3 - 15), so I pulled up my schedule which has all the crowd numbers for each park.

Ok, I see the problem. MK is a 6.8 crowd (out of 10) that first night. Generally, Saturdays and Mondays (because of EMH) are the worst days to do MK. Contrast that with the crowds on Tues (1.1), Wed (1.6), Thu (1.2) and Fri (1.1). Now some of those are low because of closing early with MVMCP. I'm assuming you want to do at least one non-party day at MK so you can see the Electric Light Parade and regular Wishes, so that leaves Wed.

Here's my thoughts - I've been to MK recently on a 6+ day. It was actually our arrival day also so we arrived late. I thought with a good plan, we wouldn't mind and I really love to do MK first. I was wrong. I would never do that again if given the choice. You can get so much more done on a low crowd day that the extra hours don't matter. I would definitely recommend going to MK on Wed to see ELP. Even if you only went half the day and went somewhere else in the morning, it would still be better than going on Monday.

Now, having said all that - if you're not planning to ride a lot of rides and you do the Dessert Party so you're not fighting the crowd for a viewing spot, then it's more feasible. It really depends on what you want to accomplish that day.

I would hit Epcot (1.1) or DHS (3.3) on Monday. Also, although only one Fantasmic is listed at present, there's a decent chance there would be an 8pm Fantasmic that night as well.

Do you have something booked already for CP? If not, double-check to make sure there's still availability. You may not have a lot of options at this point. Same with FDP; I called on my 180+ and still couldn't get the one I wanted. I think Ohana books fast too, though I've never done that one.

Other than that first day, I think the rest of the plan looks great. We're scheduled to be at AK on the 13th too. And the 14th is our Vote Day so we might be at MK.

 

[Phatoomch]

Ok - let's talk touring plans!!

I've picked my park days and made my ADRs accordingly - now it's time to play the parks hardcore! Do you guys all do an actual touring plan? Do you do a schedule? Do you use a set plan from touring plans.com or modify one? Care to share yours? Want me to keep asking questions?

you're scaring me

I don't use any touring plans - I figure it becomes less of a vacation when you know every exact move. I just plan which day for which park, book my ADRs then wing it in between

 

[bellaally]

Had to switch my parks around due to the availability of CP at Epcot and FP at DHS. I was slightly disappointed about the wishes dessert party being sold out both days available during the week we will be there. If Santa wants to get me an early Christmas present it would be two spots opening on the 10th of December lol. We got coral reef for CP, it wasn't our first choice but they do fill up this was the only 5:30 dinner ever other good restaurant was lunch time, I also have to deal with a picky husband that really doesn't like anything other then steak and potatoes. Same thing goes for fantasmic, picked Hollywood and vine. Overall I am still amazingly excited I mean it's Disney for the first time at Christmas time......

 

[Tltorrez]

Ok - let's talk touring plans!!

I've picked my park days and made my ADRs accordingly - now it's time to play the parks hardcore! Do you guys all do an actual touring plan? Do you do a schedule? Do you use a set plan from touring plans.com or modify one? Care to share yours? Want me to keep asking questions?

I have a fairly detailed schedule which includes parks, meals, off days, breaks and generally the hours we'll be keeping that day from start to finish so I know how hard we're pushing it. I also have touring plans for each day. I use TP's custom touring plans option. They recently upgraded it so that after you set your ride order it will tell you your expected wait time, walking time, etc. Or you can have the system optimize the order for you. It's really great.

I put my schedule onto Google Docs. It's an Excel spreadsheet that includes all of my trip planning. Let me know if you have any issues with the link; I haven't shared docs there before.

Terri's Planner

I've done most of my TPs. I'll see if there's a way I can share those. The only area where I don't use a TP is our afternoons in Epcot. We love World Showcase and spend a lot of time there. But our touring plan there is more like a checklist and we prefer to just do things as we feel like it. I have regular touring plans for Future World and the other 3 parks.

 

[ses1230]

Had to switch my parks around due to the availability of CP at Epcot and FP at DHS. I was slightly disappointed about the wishes dessert party being sold out both days available during the week we will be there. If Santa wants to get me an early Christmas present it would be two spots opening on the 10th of December lol. We got coral reef for CP, it wasn't our first choice but they do fill up this was the only 5:30 dinner ever other good restaurant was lunch time, I also have to deal with a picky husband that really doesn't like anything other then steak and potatoes. Same thing goes for fantasmic, picked Hollywood and vine. Overall I am still amazingly excited I mean it's Disney for the first time at Christmas time......

I don't think it is sold out, I don't think the December reservations for the dessert party have even opened yet.

 

[bellaally]

Your trip overlaps mine (Dec 3 - 15), so I pulled up my schedule which has all the crowd numbers for each park.

Ok, I see the problem. MK is a 6.8 crowd (out of 10) that first night. Generally, Saturdays and Mondays (because of EMH) are the worst days to do MK. Contrast that with the crowds on Tues (1.1), Wed (1.6), Thu (1.2) and Fri (1.1). Now some of those are low because of closing early with MVMCP. I'm assuming you want to do at least one non-party day at MK so you can see the Electric Light Parade and regular Wishes, so that leaves Wed.

Here's my thoughts - I've been to MK recently on a 6+ day. It was actually our arrival day also so we arrived late. I thought with a good plan, we wouldn't mind and I really love to do MK first. I was wrong. I would never do that again if given the choice. You can get so much more done on a low crowd day that the extra hours don't matter. I would definitely recommend going to MK on Wed to see ELP. Even if you only went half the day and went somewhere else in the morning, it would still be better than going on Monday.

Now, having said all that - if you're not planning to ride a lot of rides and you do the Dessert Party so you're not fighting the crowd for a viewing spot, then it's more feasible. It really depends on what you want to accomplish that day.

I would hit Epcot (1.1) or DHS (3.3) on Monday. Also, although only one Fantasmic is listed at present, there's a decent chance there would be an 8pm Fantasmic that night as well.

Do you have something booked already for CP? If not, double-check to make sure there's still availability. You may not have a lot of options at this point. Same with FDP; I called on my 180+ and still couldn't get the one I wanted. I think Ohana books fast too, though I've never done that one.

Other than that first day, I think the rest of the plan looks great. We're scheduled to be at AK on the 13th too. And the 14th is our Vote Day so we might be at MK.

Hey I was planning to avoid Mk but since we are arriving late anyway, I was thinking we would get to the parks at around 2pm and I planned Epcot with CP but there were no good times left all were meals before 2 pm and I don't want to chance it. Now I have read that with EMH no one really stays till park closes cause most people have to get up early for the next day or have kids that don't stay up late. So I decided to go on this day do as much as we could arriving late, then go again on Thursday and spent the whole day there including MVMCP so whatever we don't do on Monday we will surely get done on Thursday, hopefully

 

[mhconley]

12/9
Drive to WDW
Clarion Suites Frontgate
Dinner @ Sanaa
Evening @ DTD

12/10
Check-in @ WL
HS
Dinner @ 50's Prime Time
Osborne Family Dancing Lights

12/11
Breakfast @ Whispering Canyon
MK
Dinner @ Tony's Town Square
MVMCP

12/12
Epcot
Dinner @ Teppan Edo

12/13
MK
Dinner @ California Grill

12/14
Breakfast @ Chef Mickey's
Check-out
AK (maybe)
Drive home

Martin

 

[bellaally]

I don't think it is sold out, I don't think the December reservations for the dessert party have even opened yet.

Do you know when they open when I checked online it said no times available from 7pm to 9pm for both days available that week. Since we are less then 180 days out, I just figured it was sold out. Should I call and check?

 

[Tltorrez]

Ok, here are my current touring plans. Though I should warn that these are not typical touring plans even for us. We have been 4 times in the last two years and this trip we're taking my in-laws for the first time. So the mode for the trip is to slow things down, see things we've missed before and pay attention to the details. No commando touring this trip. Also, I'm the only one in the family that actually likes thrill rides so you won't find most of those on this plan. (Though I may still sneak in a visit to Space Mountain.)

You'll also notice that I have World Showcase as a big block on our Epcot afternoons. We love WS but it doesn't really need a touring plan. Instead I create a Touring Plan that's really just a checklist of the things we want to do . For example, this time we really want to do the Morocco tour and the Holiday storytellers. I haven't done that checklist yet.

FYI - If you're using TP, I made liberal use of the Break feature to allow for browsing time, lining up for parades, etc.

Touring Plan - Day 2 - Epcot
Touring Plan - Day 3 - MK
Touring Plan - Day 5 - MK
Touring Plan - Day 6 - Epcot
Touring Plan - Day 8 - DHS
Touring Plan - Day 9 - AK
Touring Plan - Day 11 - AK

I should also mention that usually I mix up the parks more. But we're doing a split stay this trip between BWV and AKV so I scheduled the parks to optimize location.

 

[ses1230]

Do you know when they open when I checked online it said no times available from 7pm to 9pm for both days available that week. Since we are less then 180 days out, I just figured it was sold out. Should I call and check?

Take a look at the dessert party thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2699362

It looks like September dates were just released in July, so it seems like they open around 2 months prior.

 

[Tltorrez]

On a different subject I have a question regarding my booking for POR. I was originally at POP! with a room only 30% off pin. I called the CM and told her I needed to adjust my dates slightly due to a new job...and inquired if I would still get the 30% off rate even though I have to modify my reservation and that PIN has expired. She said absolutley....it doesn't matter that the PIN is expired, just that the new dates you select are within the PIN dates. So when I heard that, I questioned her if that holds true if I change my resort. She said yes so that is why I switched. Part of me thinks that she wasn't supposed to do that since the PIN is expired. But she did. Just curious what you guys think...is the info she gave me correct?

It surprises me that this worked. Having said that, I don't think the regular phone CMs have the ability to override the system. It either works or it doesn't. So looks like you got lucky!

 

[Tltorrez]

Thanks for the tips, I though so about the magical express, we might just,send our luggage and take a car service later. I don't want to have to be waiting in the airport

I would call and ask DME about this. I am pretty sure they won't permit this. Might even violate airline security rules.

 

[bellaally]

Take a look at the dessert party thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2699362

It looks like September dates were just released in July, so it seems like they open around 2 months prior.

Thanks for the thread, this new makes me so happy you have no idea, I can go around eating desserts all day lol, who needs real food lol