Fall 2016 planning (continuation of 2016 Free Dining Watch)

[kellyjeanie]

We didn't have a hopper last time because we had a 2-year-old and we went at his pace. We barely made it through the parks we went to, lol. I'm excited to have a hopper this time, and I'm glad you asked for tips, @SJSloan , some good tips here. I plan to use the hopper one day to go hit the Frozen stuff in the morning and then hop over to MK which is more recommended that day, and then another day to see the MK fireworks on a non-party day since I don't want to spend all day in the park on busy non-party days. Other than that so far playing it by ear.

 

[BrookieM2001]

We use our PH primarily for dining. We have a difficult time finding dining options we like at each park so we often hop to Epcot for food and then back again or back to the hotel for a swim or even to a third park! Just depends on what we have seen and what we still need to check off our list. We have also hopped in the evening during a MNSSHP when we MK all day and the have to leave when the party starts, so we go to a different park and see illuminations or Fantasmic that night. We like to end every Disney night with fireworks.

 

[RedWolf95]

Hello!

Now that the FD promotion has dropped, a bunch of people from that thread are looking to keep planning their trips together (and maybe find more deals!). This thread is for everybody who wants to keep that party going!

Followed the cookie crumbs and found ya'll, glad all are keeping the discussion going!

 

[cshell624]

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!

Check out the crowd calendar Josh has and plan which parks on which days you want to go to. Then I would use his cheat sheets as a guide and not an exact plan. Try to avoid booking FP and reservations that have you zig zagging across the park. Look at the park maps to get the lay of each land to help you plan. I am always planning but sometimes you need to be flexible. Even with the best laid out plans things can still happen.....ride breaks down,weather forces delays or heaven forbid someone gets sick (this has happened twice with us)......don't worry it will be ok. I've been 4 times in October and it is manageable.

 

[BrookieM2001]

Actually, we will be leaving MK on our first night at 7 because it's a party night. We are heading to the hotel, eating at Boatwrights for a late dinner, then watching a movie under the stars and roasting some marshmallows at the bonfire, both at POR. But I think every resort has the nightly movies. We thought that might be a fun end for a night since we are traveling longer than we usually do with 9 nights, so we should have some time to spare...

 

[damskipi13]

Followed the cookie crumbs and found ya'll, glad all are keeping the discussion going!

 

[Disneylover99]

Actually, we will be leaving MK on our first night at 7 because it's a party night. We are heading to the hotel, eating at Boatwrights for a late dinner, then watching a movie under the stars and roasting some marshmallows at the bonfire, both at POR. But I think every resort has the nightly movies. We thought that might be a fun end for a night since we are traveling longer than we usually do with 9 nights, so we should have some time to spare...

My kids love the nightly movies more than the fireworks. Sometimes we have to make them go to the parks.

 

[Iowamomof4]

Okay, guys... tell me what the water parks fun & more tickets include. Do they get you into Disney Quest? I know it was slated to close but hasn't yet.

 

[ldauksch]

Hey, I just noticed your ticker! Looks like we will be arriving the same day! Our dates are 12/10-12/16! I'm always excited to find people that will be there at the same time we will!

Exciting! Our dates are almost exactly the same but we check out on the 17th. The 16th is my birthday and I refuse to travel on my birthday. Dealing with security and possible delays are not my idea of a good way to celebrate

 

[cshell624]

I know my husband will roll his eyes all the way to the back of his head if I mention touring plans... But I'll probably just get one and go by it without really telling him exactly what we are doing! Ha!

Who all will be there during food &wine?? When do menus come out? They haven't come out already have they?

Check out the Disney Food blog. They should still have last years menus. A lot of the booths should be the same for this year or at least they have been in the past.

 

[ldauksch]

Check out the Disney Food blog. They should still have last years menus. A lot of the booths should be the same for this year or at least they have been in the past.

I second this and if you sign up to get the newsletter you will receive an email once the post the full menus on their site. Also, I just love to read the reviews of the restaurants on the DFB.

 

[revdisney33]

Thank you @sahm2two

WOW! I have a lot of catching up to do!

I wanted everyone to know that they opened a lot of FD rooms at POP for September just about an hour ago.

I just grabbed 2 rooms for my dates 9/27-10/3 and there are still some available!

Wish I had seen this....was in a meeting. Looking for 9/28-10/4....have ASMu but want POP

 

[sahm2two]

We didn't have a hopper last time because we had a 2-year-old and we went at his pace. We barely made it through the parks we went to, lol. I'm excited to have a hopper this time, and I'm glad you asked for tips, @SJSloan , some good tips here. I plan to use the hopper one day to go hit the Frozen stuff in the morning and then hop over to MK which is more recommended that day, and then another day to see the MK fireworks on a non-party day since I don't want to spend all day in the park on busy non-party days. Other than that so far playing it by ear.

Good call! The last Saturday we will be there we have an adr for CRT and I wanted to see Wishes but it's suppose to be a crowded day so maybe we will start the day off somewhere else and just come to MK for CRT and do whatever until Wishes. I just need to remember I have that option when I'm planning!

 

[littlelamb70]

Exciting! Our dates are almost exactly the same but we check out on the 17th. The 16th is my birthday and I refuse to travel on my birthday. Dealing with security and possible delays are not my idea of a good way to celebrate

Oh how awesome! And I totally agree, traveling is definitely not the way you want to celebrate, especially since it would mean you'd be leaving the most magical place on earth, on your birthday!

 

[VACamm]

It'd be nice, wouldn't it!? Considering RoL was suppose to start last week and they postponed it, I'm assuming they're having some issues?? The Jungle Book thing looks fun though, they probably won't do both though, right?

It'd be nice if they had SOME sort of plan on the website though, having their hours as 9-5pm is silly since I KNOW it'll be later than that! And I've got an adr for Boma at 7:55 and I need to know if I'm going to miss something I can't see earlier/later!

I'm in the same boat with a 6:30pm Boma ADR! I wish they would update the schedule so that we can plan a bit better. I'd really love to see the Tree of Life Awakening

 

[Meeko5]

Okay, guys... tell me what the water parks fun & more tickets include. Do they get you into Disney Quest? I know it was slated to close but hasn't yet.

the Magic your Way Package includes Disney Quest tickets (2).

Water Parks and More includes admission to 1 water park/day for the amount of days you have park tickets, and I think mini golf.

 

[SunnieRN]

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.

Exciting! Our dates are almost exactly the same but we check out on the 17th. The 16th is my birthday and I refuse to travel on my birthday. Dealing with security and possible delays are not my idea of a good way to celebrate

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!!

 

[Meeko5]

I'm in the same boat with a 6:30pm Boma ADR! I wish they would update the schedule so that we can plan a bit better. I'd really love to see the Tree of Life Awakening

I saw a video of the projection show on the tree and it looks amazing!!

 

[ldauksch]

We didn't use our PH much last year either with our 22 month old. We did hop from MK on a Thursday to DHS for the Merry & Bright Dessert Party since it was a MVMCP night. Our last day we went a little hopping crazy though. We started at AK but had a late lunch ADR at Garden Grill but I had promised the starbucks park ornaments to a few people in my FB group so we stopped at MK first before the ADR to make sure I got the MK ornament and then went back to MK after our ADR just to soak up the last little bit of happiness I could. Yeah, we won't be doing anything that ridiculous this year. We almost didn't do the PH this year to save money but with 4 MVMCP (3 that we won't be attending) during our trip, the likelihood of the star wars fireworks continuing along with wanting to see fantasmic at DHS and ROL at AK I figured it would be a good idea in case we needed to squeeze in one of the nighttime shows on a day we weren't in DHS or AK.

 

[Tammil]

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