Fall 2016 planning (continuation of 2016 Free Dining Watch)

[RedWolf95]

I have never heard of this after hours thing, is it something they've been trying for awhile? I just want to get my MNSSHP tix so everything we need to book can be nailed down and we can focus on good flight prices!

Also, do you guys use a touring plan when you go? We haven't been since 2012 so we havent used the FP+ system yet, but everything I read online says it's basically the only way to avoid unbelievably long lines anymore, so a touring plan is essential. We have been every 3 years for as long as I can remember, so we are by no means Disney newbies but the stuff I'm reading online about October crowds being out of control lately has me a bit spooked!

Well, with the exception of 2014, we have gone for 5/6 nights each year since 2010 (start dates as early as 10/22 and as late as 10/30) and have never used a touring plan. I read the unofficial guide and we come up with some general idea of what our plan will be each day but I have not found that you need a detailed plan. The only rides that we have found you absolutely must have a fast pass or are going to have a long wait (even first thing in the morning) are 7DMT and Toy Story. Peter Pan can also be difficult. Soarin is always pretty busy and I'm sure will see an uptick this year with the new show. Test Track can also be a pretty long wait without a FP. Generally all the other rides we are able to ride with no more than about a 15 minute wait. We do use the app a lot to monitor wait times and hit rides when the waits are low which probably means we may do a lot more walking but it has worked well for us.

 

[RedWolf95]

I'm a little bummed that we aren't going to MK on our first day, but with MNSSHP, I figure (and crowd calendars everywhere agree) that nonparty days are going to be PACKED. Our last trip was almost 1/2 of this one, 5 PACKED days at the parks including the day we arrived and the day we left, and I wanted to do this trip much differently, so we have 9 nights this time and nothing happening the day we arrive and nothing happening the day we leave.... AND we have some time scheduled for breaks/pool... which we didn't last time because we wanted to do everything in 5 days (and only 4 nights). So, my plan is to go to MK on every party day until 7pm and then leave for dinner! I figure 3-4 times will still be plenty of time to see everything we want to see.

We really find (and I've seen this mentioned in Unofficial Guide as well) that it's better not to go to MK the first day. It builds up the anticipation and once you go to MK (especially for kids) it can make the other parks a let down. We have always either done HS or AK our first day. To us though the most important thing is to look at what the park levels will be and plan accordingly to help avoid crowds. Unofficial Guide and easyWDW give lots of suggestions on how to plan which days to go to which park.

 

[cshell624]

I followed the crumbs and found this board too. I didn't post much at all on the other one but did follow it the past few weeks. I'm still exhausted from our all-nighter to get free dining on Monday. I really wanted to stay at POR again but couldn't travel during the dates it was offered. We ended up with CBR 11/26-11/03 (I think we'll come in on 11/25 and just do a room-only stay). Had originally planned for a 11/16 arrival but those dates weren't looking promising before the big drop so I had to revisit the calendar. When things went live at 3 CST for us we grabbed our 2nd set of dates. Last time we visited it was paper fast passes so I have a lot to learn. I have way too many months to plan and obsess over this trip

 

[cshell624]

Love easywdw. He also does great reviews of the F & W festival.

 

[CandiceF]

Yay!!! I'm here! We had fios internet, which was bought by frontier. We lost internet service when we tried to stop our low battery warning. It's been a week and hoorah, back to 2016 with internet!!
The free dining watch was so much fun, I know this will be also! All I could find were locked threads lol.



These are exactly our dates at CBR. I hear a lot of love for CBR. How are the QS and TS locations there?

Nice to see y'all!!

Glad you're here! We have never tried the TS at CBR but it has been getting really great reviews! The quick serve is really good, it has a little of everything. The kids meal comes in a little sand pail the kids loved it! They also had a lot of GF options for me. I wanted pizza and they made me a GF one even though it wasn't on the menu. They are GREAT with allergies!

 

[Iowamomof4]

Is anyone else waiting for midnight to see what, if anything, opens up?

 

[mfly]

FYI - I just dropped 3 water/pool view rooms at CBR from 09/09-09/18.

We decided to stay at POR instead!

 

[margievis]

Is anyone else waiting for midnight to see what, if anything, opens up?

Im trying.. but so sleepy!

 

[Iowamomof4]

Im trying.. but so sleepy!

Me too! A minute ago I nearly closed my laptop out of habit to go to bed and had to stop myself! 10 more minutes... zzzz....

 

[RocketGirl3]

Is anyone else waiting for midnight to see what, if anything, opens up?

Since I'm up, why not!

 

[Iowamomof4]

Well... nothing new for me. Guess I'm off to bed and will try again in the morning. I know my TA is also looking for me, maybe we'll find Nemo eventually.

 

[RocketGirl3]

Well... nothing new for me. Guess I'm off to bed and will try again in the morning. I know my TA is also looking for me, maybe we'll find Nemo eventually.

Nothing new for me either at CBR. I'll look again in the morning. Good luck with finding your Nemo room!

 

[margievis]

Nothing new for my dates either. Good night all!

 

[SunnieRN]

Glad you're here! We have never tried the TS at CBR but it has been getting really great reviews! The quick serve is really good, it has a little of everything. The kids meal comes in a little sand pail the kids loved it! They also had a lot of GF options for me. I wanted pizza and they made me a GF one even though it wasn't on the menu. They are GREAT with allergies!

Hi Candice, it's nice to 'see' you!! Many thanks for the CBR information! I'm excited for my first stay there.

Better luck to everyone for tomorrow! I hope you all get exactly what you're hoping for!

 

[pooh'smate]

We were able to get free dining today for 9/19-10/3 @ POP. Neither myself or my ta could get it when it was released but today all of a sudden it was there so don't give up hope for those of you who want free dining. It didn't show up today until about 3:30pm so don't give up just because you don't see anything in the morning

 

[sahm2two]

@lizlmartini here you go!

 

[revdisney33]

PH story for my and DD.....we had been several times and surprised her on her 10th birthday....so her and I did the challenge... All 4 parks and Downtown Disney (still can't say Disney Springs) in one day. Did our favorites in each park. Had FP for mid afternoon, so hit EMH in the morning. Then off we went. It was a fun adventure.

 

[Sharongal74]

PH story for my and DD.....we had been several times and surprised her on her 10th birthday....so her and I did the challenge... All 4 parks and Downtown Disney (still can't say Disney Springs) in one day. Did our favorites in each park. Had FP for mid afternoon, so hit EMH in the morning. Then off we went. It was a fun adventure.

My DD 15 wants to do this! not sure if my DH and dd11 are gonna join us. I'm sure it will be fun!

 

[sahm2two]

We really find (and I've seen this mentioned in Unofficial Guide as well) that it's better not to go to MK the first day. It builds up the anticipation and once you go to MK (especially for kids) it can make the other parks a let down. We have always either done HS or AK our first day. To us though the most important thing is to look at what the park levels will be and plan accordingly to help avoid crowds. Unofficial Guide and easyWDW give lots of suggestions on how to plan which days to go to which park.

We had that issue last time. We went to MK first and then Epcot... in the rain. It was terrible! Hardly anything for toddlers to do at Epcot when it rains... There were 0 characters out. If we had had PHs we wouldve left and gone somewhere else. And then that made us feel like we wanted another MK day so we skipped AK.
This time we have HS scheduled first and then MK our second day with more MK sprinkled throughout the rest of the trip!


Unrelated to the parks, does anyone else have a Disney shopping problem? I still have 5 months to go and I can't stop buying Disney shirts! I really need to go through my girls stuff because they're going to end up with more outfits than days! (Again... That happened last trip too but at least then they were toddlers and used their extra clothes a few times!)

Dh is a huge star wars fan and he's got a ton of shirts from Walmart recently so he'll probably just wear a SW shirt every day. And one mickey shirt he has still from our last trip.
We are the type that love Disney but don't wear much of the stuff outside the parks.

Also I want the target shoes but haven't got around to buying them yet.

Seriously, it's a problem. Oh! And I'm putting together a disbound outfit for Ariel to wear when we go to MK one day and meet Ariel! She's my favorite princess and has been since I was a kid.

 

[damskipi13]

Also I want the target shoes but haven't got around to buying them yet.

What are the target shoes?