First timer planning 1/27-2/6 WDW trip, plans inside.

[Faithful Raider]

I've been detailing my ADR struggles in the Happy Dance thread for January, but don't want to take up too much space in that thread with my planning, so gonna make a new one here since there's more to my planning than just ADR's.

Planning my first ever WDW trip for dates 1/27-2/6. Done DLR tons, last trip was late Sept 2019. It's me, the wifey, DD15 and DD6. DW is the only one who's ever been, and that was 20 yrs ago. We will be staying at the Waldorf (DW travels a lot for work and we booked our whole stay using points) and renting a vehicle (also with points). We will be applying for DAS for DD6 (autism, anxiety, ADHD, ODD) and I will be using mobility for my jacked up knee/back, with plans (especially the first half of the trip) to come back to the hotel mid-day for DD6 to recoup. This trip is somewhere between me wanting to ride everything and see everything and do everything, and my wife who wants to have lots of ADR's and try lots of snacks and go shopping. So yeah, we're getting lots of ADR's. Since our hotel does not give 60+10 reservation access, I've been getting up in the middle of the night (4am local time) to try and get ADR's at 60 days out for each day. Here's what we have so far:

1/28 (AK/MK) - 10a Tusker, 4:45p Be Our Guest
1/29 (HS) - 10a Oga's, 11:35a H&V (w/DisJr), 3:50p 50's Prime Time, 9p Bull and Bear (date night)
1/30 (EPCOT) - 9a Homecomin', 12:40p Teppen Edo, ---> HS for 3:45 H&V (w/Minnie), 7:25 50's Prime Time (back up for 1/29)
1/31 (MK/HS) - 11:50a Chef Mickey, 2:20p Sci-Fi, 3:45p B&C, 7p Story Book Dining
2/1 (HS) - 8:55a H&V (w/DisJr) (backup for 1/29 ), 2p/5p Brown Derby (will only keep 1), 9:50p California Grill (possible 2nd date night)
2/2 (EPCOT) - 11:30a San Angel Inn, 2:30p Teppen Edo (backup for 1/30), 3:50p/7:50p Via Napoli (will only keep 1)

Our original plan was to leave Hollywood Studios for last, as that has more thrill rides that DD6 will have to build up to, and to start with AK on 1/28 and MK Fantasyland on 1/29, but my wife decided she wanted to do more character breakfasts, so I have been focusing on those. Here are the current issues I'm seeing with our schedule:

1) Because of trouble getting H&V breakfast times, 1/29 has reluctantly become a HS day. This will likely be our shows day and maybe MMRR, depending on how DD6 does.
2) 1/30 started as our 1st EPCOT day. I'm a little worried about crowds since its a festival weekend. Teppen Edo is a must do for DD15. Decided to move our Teppen reservation to earlier so we can hop out later and get our H&V w/ Minnie done.
3) 1/31 was looking pretty good - until DD15 saw we had Sci-Fi (which I was going to cancel). Would love to hit all 4 of these reservations but it means we are only going to MK for 3 hours and no other park stuff that day, which I don't like. If I can't get a Chef Mickey breakfast or Sci-Fi for another day (which is already not looking good) this day might just end up a huge mess.
4) Grabbed that California Grill on 2/1 knowing it's at a post-firework time. That actually would work ok if its just me and the misses, but might just be too late in the end.
5) 2/2 is my "Drinking Around the World" day and honestly my plan was to do no reservations that day and just snack and drink as we go around. Grabbed the Teppen Edo in case something happens and we change our 1/30 EPCOT day. Others are just in case we want them. One thing I did notice is that this was going to be our Coral Reef restaurant day but pretty sure those haven't opened yet (none available our whole trip but plenty the weeks prior). So I'll have to try and snag one when those go live...just another thing I can't take off my To Do list yet. Also wanted to try for a Space 220 Lounge spot that day but looks like they haven't opened up yet either.

Schedule w/ plans and ADR's:

1/27 - Fly in, check into hotel. Wife wants to do TREX that night but no openings. Will try walk up, and since we don't have other plans we are going to make this a DS night unless a hot ADR falls in our lap (we have a park ticket for this day just in case - was only $30 more for that 10th day vs 9).
1/28 - AK rope drop. Safari, then Tusker House @10. Finish Africa and see how far we get into another land before mid-afternoon hotel break. Park hop to MK for BOG @ 4:45p, then a ride or two before Enchantment.
1/29 - HS rope drop. Today's focus will be shows and small rides (TSMM, swirling saucers, MMRR). 10:00 Oga's for a quick peek/drink, then 11:35 H&V with Disney Jr characters. If we stay we have a 3:50p for 50's Prime Time, otherwise back to the hotel for swimming and a date night at Bull and Bear.
1/30 - 9am brunch at Homecomin'. Then over to EPCOT for the Land pavilion and some rides and a few booths. Lunch at Teppen Edo, then park hop to HS for a 3:45 H&V with Minnie, and if we stay a 7:25 50's Prime Time if we didn't do it on 1/29, otherwise back to EPCOT for Harmonious.
1/31 - MK Rope drop. Time for DD6 to go nuts in Fantasyland and maybe Buzz (she loved it at DLR). Hop on the monorail and over to Chef Mickey's for 11:50 breakfast. As it stands we are then headed to HS for Sci-Fi at 2:20 (will try to check in ASAP after hopping) then maybe rushing back to do B&C at 3:45 (likely a few min late). Hotel then Story book Dining at 7. Really don't like this schedule and hope to move Sci-Fi to another day so we can do MK-Chef Mickey-MK-B&C-Hotel-STB.
2/1 - Was originally our full HS ride day. Still have an 8:55 H&V backup if we need it, but this day is now totally open. Might make it another MK day to help DD6 get ready for the bigger rides at HS.
2/2 - EPCOT for Drinking Around the World. If we didn't get Remy on 1/30 will be trying again here. Made a few backup ADR's just in case we need/want them, but waiting for Coral Reef to open spots so we can do it this day. Not planning a hotel return unless we need to, and planning on staying for Harmonious.

For the last 3 days we will need to do at least 1 MK day and 1 AK day. I want to do MK on 2/3 and AK on 2/4 but thinking my almost certain hangover will have me wanting to just stay in bed! Anyway here's what I see:

2/3 - MK full day, Liberty Tree tavern lunch, Whispering Canyons dinner?
2/4 - AK w/ Boma breakfast, Wine Bar George lunch, hop to MK/EPCOT?
2/5 - Catch up day (likely MK morning with an afternoon DS trip for Boathouse and shopping then back to MK)

Things are coming together, but still feel it's too many ADR's for what I would prefer. I have to remember what the overall game plan for this trip is, and of course it's better to have too many ADR's and cancel some than not enough ADR's for where we want to eat.

 

[HooperSnag]

There's a lot here but some initial thoughts:

• First, AWESOME use of travel points!
• You may also find the right credit card also gets you into airport lounges. These are heaven (clean bathrooms, snacks, much quieter, etc)
• T-Rex is hard to get into. You can also take a Disney bus (no parking fees) over to Animal Kingdom and go into the Rainforest Cafe there...slightly easier to reserve than Disney Springs and no park ticket necessary; it can be accessed from both outside and inside the park.
• Non park days are great for everyone. Go to Jambo House, for instance, and check out the wildlife. Or a day of swimming and grabbing Dole Whips at Polynesian.

Have fun!

 

[Faithful Raider]

Last few days didn't bother waking up at 4am. We have noticed that at 12am EST our next 60 day becomes visible and we can see all the available reservation times (just can't click them yet). Didn't see anything we needed so actually got some sleep in which was nice. Biggest shock was DW grabbing a Coral Reef lunch on 2/2 and later a Coral Reef dinner on 2/1. I thought FOR SURE these hadn't opened up yet because there are SO MANY available for December and early January, then nothing after (similar to Biergarten). I'm convinced now that the traditionally "not so busy" weeks of late Jan/early Feb are actually going to be very busy, just looking at reservations. For example, Jan 5-9 (marathon week) has dozens of open Coral Reef slots, and that week is predicted to be between 7/10 and 10/10, where the week from Jan 28 - Feb 4 has ZERO (and considering we are holding 2, I know they have been released).

This morning was randomly checking and found a Topolino's for dinner on our arrival day so I locked it in, even though we were planning TREX that night (but couldn't get reservations). I didn't know it wasn't character dining at dinner, but thinking we still keep it - it's a highly sought after reservation at a good time. Would be happier with breakfast but can't have everything. Picked up a random TREX later in the week but will probably move it if I can get a better time.

We have decided that we will probably be doing G+ and LL$ after all, and likely doing G+ daily and utilizing park hopping with it. I think the crowds will be bigger than expected and with all the dining we want to do we will need some LL's just to save time.

Here's the updated ADR list:
1/27 - 6:40p Topolino's Terrace
1/28 - 10a Tusker House, 4:45p Be Our Guest
1/29 - 10a Oga's Cantina, 11:30a H&V (DisJr), 3:15p 50's Prime Time, 9p Bull & Bear
1/30 - 9a Homecomin', 12:40p Teppen Edo, 3:45p/6:50p H&V (Minnie)
1/31 - 11:50a Chef Mickey's, 2:20p Sci-Fi, 3:45p Beaches & Cream, 7:05p Artist Point Story Book
2/1 - 7:15p Coral Reef, 9:50p California Grill (probably will cancel), also holding H&V and Brown Derby but will likely cancel those too
2/2 - 11:30a San Angel Inn, 2:30p Teppen Edo (backup for 1/30), 2:50p Coral Reef (backup for 2/1), 3:55p/7:50p Via Napoli (need to choose which we want)
2/3 - 8a Boma, 3:00p Yak & Yeti, 6:30p/8:00p Boathouse (need to pick which time)
2/4 - 11:30a Liberty Tree Tavern, 3:00p T-REX, 6:05p Whispering Canyon
2/5 - ???

ADR Wish List (remaining)
1) CRT - anytime
2) Topolino's Breakfast
3) Space 220 Lounge
4) Better times for Sci-Fi/B&C, and California Grill
5) Slot in Wine Bar George somewhere

And I think that's all we have left! Again, it's been a crazy week with this and again I totally see the benefit of having 60+10 over just trying to do this 60 days out. I never thought that this week would have been so tough getting ADR's, especially with so many openings in the weeks/months prior to our trip. Open ADR's 60 days out during our week look like what the weeks before/after Christmas look like right now!! Well maybe not that bad, but certainly worse than the dreaded marathon week looks like. I'm just so happy we've been able to get as many as we have, and with decent times that work with our plans for most of our ADR's. And the crazy thing is, almost none of them came from waking up early (StoryBook Dining is the only one I can recall).

 

[Faithful Raider]

Yesterday was booking for our last day at the parks. Very picked over when I looked at 12am EST, and I could start booking at 4am EST. Not much so I secured some backup times. That's because for the 3rd time I'm having to rearrange ADR's and park days because....

We got CRT!!

And oh man what a story.... So I was waiting to pick up DD6 from school, which is always my lucky score time with ADR's. Flipped through days as I usually do and saw something that I didn't usually see. An 11:00 spot for Cinderella's Royal Table! Well of course I smashed that button, and got hit with the "you have a reservation for this time - do you want to cancel?" notice, which has never been an issue in the past - just click the one I want to keep and move on. Well, I think because the CRT ADR was in between 2 other reservations (10a Oga's and 11:30a H&V), it couldn't cancel both so it gave me an error message and gave me a phone number to contact. HAHA yeah right, like CRT would still be available that long. Well I didn't wanna give up my Oga's so I dropped H&V and then tried again. Got all the way to the park where the total pops up (CRT is pre-pay) but didn't get the green button at the end to light up, which I knew by now means it was gone. During this madness I texted the wifey to see if she could grab it - we also learned that she can book over my reservations without getting the time conflict - but no response. After it was gone she texted back and confirmed she couldn't see it anymore either. All the while, got DD6 packed up and headed home. But DW is an ADR bloodhound, and sure enough just a moment later she's texting me asking for my CCV (how she doesn't have this memorized by now considering how often she asks me for it still astounds me) and then I get the screenshot of the CRT ADR!! That's the 2nd time we've picked up an ADR moments after we've watched it disappear.

Well of course we are stoked (DW more than me but anyway)! But that means rearranging that 1/29 HS day where we had Oga's... and H&V.... and Prime Time. In the end I know it will be better with our schedule but dang... I had that day's schedule done!! SO thankful I had made that backup H&V. Then I noticed something that would have been disastrous. That H&V at 11:30. That's a lunch. LUNCH!!! H&V is the one of the restaurants that have different characters for breakfast vs lunch/dinner, so we would have gone expecting Doc McStuffin's and got Minnie. For DD6 that could have resulted in a meltdown and a quick trip back to the hotel for the day. So in the end it it couldn't have worked out better - got that CRT and exposed a big ADR issue we had.

Yesterday I also discovered why we were having such a tough time getting Coral Reef ADR's for our week, while they were plentiful through Dec and Jan. Disney is holding them to turn into dining packages for the Broadway performances during FARTS (along with Biergarten, garden grill, and R&C). Will probably try grabbing one for our EPCOT day but if not, we still have a regular ADR as backup.

Ready to take a few day break from looking at ADRs. I need a few days to let my brain rest before going through our plans again. I know a few days need reworking, and still have to figure our that Sci-Fi ADR. Anyway, don't want to think about that now. Here's where we are on ADR's currently (like I said, it's kind of a mess right now):

1/27 - 6:40p Topolino's Terrace
1/28 - 10a Tusker House, 4:45p Be Our Guest
1/29 - 11a Cinderella's Royal Table, 3:15p 50's Prime Time (just backup ATM), 9p Bull & Bear
1/30 - 9a Homecomin', 10:40a Sci-Fi (backup), 2:40p Teppen Edo, 3:45p/6:50p H&V (Minnie)
1/31 - 11:50a Chef Mickey's, 2:20p Sci-Fi, 3:45p Beaches & Cream, 7:05p Artist Point Story Book
2/1 - 8:55a H&V (DisJr), 12:30p Brown Derby, 7:15p Coral Reef, 9:50p California Grill (probably will cancel)
2/2 - 11:30a San Angel Inn, 2:30p Teppen Edo (backup for 1/30), 2:50p Coral Reef (backup for 2/1), 3:55p/7:50p Via Napoli (need to choose which we want)
2/3 - 8a Boma, 3:00p Yak & Yeti, 6:30p/8:00p Boathouse (need to pick which time)
2/4 - 11:30a Liberty Tree Tavern, 3:00p T-REX, 6:05p Whispering Canyon, 9:55p California Grill (backup date night)
2/5 - 9a Oga's, 10:05a H&V (DisJr) (backup for 2/1), 2:00p T-REX (backup), 4:45p Oga's (backup), 6:10p Liberty Tree Tavern (backup)

ADR Wish List (remaining)
1) Topolino's Breakfast
2) Space 220 Lounge
3) Better times for Sci-Fi/B&C, and California Grill
4) Slot in Wine Bar George somewhere
5) Finalize park day plans (esp 1/30, 2/4, 2/5)

Right now I need to look at 1/30 and decide if it's an EPCOT or HS day. It's kind of a hot mess. The available ADR's make me think crowd-wise, HS is the way to go. Plus I'm a little worried about EPCOT on a weekend during the festival. Also, 2/4 and 2/5 are looking to be our catchup days. Looking to be MK and HS/MK, but at this point anything can change on these days. Oga's would be nice on 2/5 but would probably work better on 2/1 which would totally free up 2/5, or make it a DS/MK day, with a yummy turkey dinner at LTT followed by our final fireworks show at MK. So looking to ditch the 2/4 LTT for something better like Topolino's - hey I can dream!

Still can't believe how much we've been able to book. It's crazy to think this much work goes into planning a WDW vacation. And we still aren't done. I can't even imaging having to book FP+ times around all these ADR's - how did y'all do it back in the day??

 

[HooperSnag]

A lot of work but we actually enjoy the planning part. Congratulations on CRT!

 

[Faithful Raider]

Been a few days since I updated so I figured I better. Had the talk with DW about starting to make decisions about what to cut. With Coral Reef times dropping, we finalized our 2/2 EPCOT day with dinner there at 5:45pm and cancelled our other times. We thought about booking the Broadway dining package but decided against it, and will just wait for seats, mainly because we want a dinner there which forces us to a) eat early and b) only see the latest show. Plus, I don't think we need a 3 course meal for all 4 of us there (or any of us really - not going for the food).

Still have several "problem days" that I haven't been able to fix. Gonna list them here to make it easier for me to reference:

1/30 - 9a Homecomin', 10:40a Sci-Fi (backup), 12:40p Teppen Edo, 3:45p/6:50p H&V (Minnie). This day is still split between EPCOT and HS. Would prefer this to be EPCOT but DW wants that 6:50p H&V. That Sci-Fi is likely gonna get cancelled. Might be worth stacking G+ at HS for that evening and maybe try for ROTR at the end of the night. But that's probably asking too much of DD6 on day 3. Otherwise we can hop late and just do dinner and head back to the hotel. If we did make this a HS heavy day I wouldn't mind trying to grab Oga's for this day instead.
1/31 - 11:50a Chef Mickey's, 2:20p Sci-Fi, 3:45p Beaches & Cream, 7:05p Artist Point Story Book. I really like the Chef Mickey's time we have for breakfast. Works perfect as a break after rope dropping. Would really love to drop Sci-Fi (for a better day/time) and B&C, and keep this a MK day. Decided we probably will just do B&C window if we want to eat ice cream, but it's not high on our to do list as it is.
2/1 - 8:55a H&V (DisJr), 12:30p/5:30p Brown Derby, 7:15p Coral Reef, 9:50p California Grill (probably will cancel). This is likely going to be our full HS day. Will probably just cancel everything except H&V. Would like to pick up Sci-Fi for this day, or maybe an Oga's. If something awesome fell in our lap this day (like Topolino's breakfast) this day could be totally open.

Everything else is either well scheduled for our plans, or easy enough to move around or cancel.

 

[bsmcneil]

Will be there at the same time and seeing a lot of overlap in plans! Have you considered the Landry's Select Club program? You pay 25 dollars to join, get 25 to spend and it makes getting into TRex, RFC, and Yak & Yeti easier. And then on the off-chance there are any birthdays when you're going, that would get you another 25. I ended up using the heck out of it when I went on a solo trip in Sept (birthday month, plus I had the joining amount to spend). Unfortunately the kids' birthdays don't count - so I'm not necessarily getting a discount when I take them in Jan/Feb (but easier ADRs, and I had gotten a good discount on gift cards for them through Costco).

 

[Faithful Raider]

Will be there at the same time and seeing a lot of overlap in plans! Have you considered the Landry's Select Club program? You pay 25 dollars to join, get 25 to spend and it makes getting into TRex, RFC, and Yak & Yeti easier. And then on the off-chance there are any birthdays when you're going, that would get you another 25. I ended up using the heck out of it when I went on a solo trip in Sept (birthday month, plus I had the joining amount to spend). Unfortunately the kids' birthdays don't count - so I'm not necessarily getting a discount when I take them in Jan/Feb (but easier ADRs, and I had gotten a good discount on gift cards for them through Costco).

Yes when we couldn't get a reservation for our first night we went ahead and got it. Great suggestion!

 

[Faithful Raider]

Had to come update with a quick bit of news. WE GOT TOPOLINO'S BREAKFAST!! Even better, it's for a day that works well (2/1 at 8:45am, on our EPCOT drinking day). Best part about this is I don't have to search for it any more!

Haha was so excited that I forgot to tell the story, so I came back and had to edit it in! DW had an alert set up, and this time it actually went off and we rushed to try to get it! But by the time we got into the MDE (her on her phone, me on the PC), it was gone. But as we have seen with past experience, we knew there was a chance it would appear again 5 or so minutes later. AND IT DID!! It was probably 6-7 minutes of trying when I heard her yell from the other room "I got it!" 2nd time she's scored the near-impossible ADR, under the 60 day window. She's the ADR Hawk!

Oh, and that was our last "must-do" ADR. We also finalized our Coral Reef time when they dropped (5:45p on 2/2), and cancelled the Via Napoli ADR. More cuts will come, I'm sure....

1/27 - 6:40p Topolino's Terrace
1/28 - 10a Tusker House, 4:45p Be Our Guest
1/29 - 11a Cinderella's Royal Table, 3:15p 50's Prime Time (just backup ATM), 9p Bull & Bear
1/30 - 9a Homecomin', 10:40a Sci-Fi (backup), 12:40p Teppen Edo, 3:45p/6:50p H&V (Minnie)
1/31 - 11:50a Chef Mickey's, 2:20p Sci-Fi, 3:45p Beaches & Cream, 7:05p Artist Point Story Book
2/1 - 8:55a H&V (DisJr), 12:30p Brown Derby, 9:50p California Grill (probably will cancel)
2/2 - 8:45a Topolino's Character Breakfast, 11:30a San Angel Inn, 2:30p Teppen Edo (backup for 1/30), 5:45p Coral Reef
2/3 - 8a Boma, 3:00p Yak & Yeti, 6:30p/8:00p Boathouse (need to pick which time)
2/4 - 11:30a Liberty Tree Tavern, 3:00p T-REX, 6:05p Whispering Canyon, 9:55p California Grill (backup date night)
2/5 - 9a Oga's, 10:05a H&V (DisJr) (backup for 2/1), 2:00p T-REX (backup), 4:45p Oga's (backup), 6:10p Liberty Tree Tavern (backup)

ADR Wish List (remaining)
1) Topolino's Breakfast
2) Space 220 Lounge
3) Better times for Sci-Fi/B&C, and California Grill (after watching videos on the 50th menu, we will likely cancel this)
4) Slot in Wine Bar George somewhere
5) Finalize park day plans (esp 1/30, 2/4, 2/5)

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Just curious, has anyone mentioned that it's going to be just about impossible to eat all that food?
Plus, I'm afraid you'll spend more time dining than going to the parks. Though maybe that's your intent?
DH and I are very big eaters and we can't manage but 1 TS meal per day. Some days you have 3! And so many buffets. This is another I question did you research much? The buffet food is, for lack of better words, disappointing quality. I don't want to see you disappointed with what you are getting in the end.
And as mentioned, time. We got home today from 10 days at the parks. We go multiple times a year, for many years. Including Christmas week, so we are used to how things run. Every meal we had took longer than ever before. They are must slower now, and they were slow before.
Anyway, food for thought since you mention it's your first trip.

 

[Shellyred8]

Just curious, has anyone mentioned that it's going to be just about impossible to eat all that food?

I was thinking this same thing! I usually can't do more than one TS in a day, but more the type of person that eats several small meals/snacks throughout the day rather than one or two big meals. Although, if they just do appetizers for some of the places, that might make it more do-able.

Everything listed sounds awesome! But that's going to be a lot of eating!

 

[Faithful Raider]

Just curious, has anyone mentioned that it's going to be just about impossible to eat all that food?
Plus, I'm afraid you'll spend more time dining than going to the parks. Though maybe that's your intent?
DH and I are very big eaters and we can't manage but 1 TS meal per day. Some days you have 3! And so many buffets. This is another I question did you research much? The buffet food is, for lack of better words, disappointing quality. I don't want to see you disappointed with what you are getting in the end.
And as mentioned, time. We got home today from 10 days at the parks. We go multiple times a year, for many years. Including Christmas week, so we are used to how things run. Every meal we had took longer than ever before. They are must slower now, and they were slow before.
Anyway, food for thought since you mention it's your first trip.

I was thinking this same thing! I usually can't do more than one TS in a day, but more the type of person that eats several small meals/snacks throughout the day rather than one or two big meals. Although, if they just do appetizers for some of the places, that might make it more do-able.

Everything listed sounds awesome! But that's going to be a lot of eating!

Yes for sure, dining is our #1 priority for this trip. Few reasons why. DW wants to do as much character dining as we can for our DD6, and I'm ok with that. Think we have every one there is except GG (which shockingly the DW turned down...for now).

Then we have a few must-do's for our group. DD15 wants Teppen Edo and Sci-Fi, DD6 is an aquarium fanatic so Coral Reef is for her, and DW wants to do TREX for our night 1 (over Topolino's dinner... that food... the view....yeah I know, but what are you gonna do?) BoatHouse, and Wine Bar George (which we haven't even slotted in yet). And our Bull and Bear date night is mine. Our plan is to order a variety of things and share them family style when possible. The good news is that DD15 recently became a vegetarian so we get to try some plant-based options we probably wouldn't have picked for ourselves with so many other things we want to try. I imagine 1-2 appetizers, 1-2 entrees, and no dessert unless it's something we can't pass up. Our DD6 is about the pickiest eater on the planet, so we know going in it's a huge waste of $$ when it comes to food for her for stuff like pre fixe meals/character dining and we are ok with it. It comes with the territory with her. I fully anticipate having to run to McDonalds daily for her, and we're ok with that too.

She is another reason we are making dining our #1 priority. With her struggles, we never know what a day in the park might look like. She could wake up psyched to go to the park and ride rides all day and we have to drag her out at close, she could wake up and not want to go to the parks until she's gone swimming, or she could be psyched until we hit the park and something upsets her, gets overloaded, or is tired, has a meltdown and we have to leave. Making rides a priority would almost assuredly end in frustration (as it did for our DLR trip in 2019). We will be applying for DAS for her once we get to the park. There's no sense in trying to pre-book DAS return times for her. And we already know, any rides we do get to go on are pure bonus. For us, that's ok. Like I've said, I'm a long time DLR vet with literally hundreds of trips - like the time me and my brother did walk-on after walk-on on Space Mountain literally from rope drop to park close on a rare rainy SoCal summer day. We were shooting for 100 times and got close (we told everyone after we hit 100 but think it was closer to 70 or 80). So for me, there really are very few rides at WDW I actually care about riding that I haven't gone on already at DLR. Wish I could go back in time and ride TGMR but oh well, at least there's youtube. Anyway, that's why I've tried to plan out our park schedule to ease her in to trying some rides. In 2019 she rode IASM about 20 times, Buzz about 15, and POTC about 10, and that's about it... Gonna start with AK and do the "zoo" stuff, which we know she is already ok with here at home. She loves animals too, which will help. Then we follow up with MK in the PM, but just to see the castle, go to Be Our Guest, and watch fireworks (which we discovered in 2021 she now is ok with and likes, with her noise-cancelling headphones of course). Then day 2 is half day MK (which she will already know now) in Fantasyland. She's ridden the DLR version of nearly everything there so we think she'll be ok with this. Then hotel and swimming (don't want to overwhelm her). Then next day is brunch at Disney springs, then EPCOT for the actual aquarium, Teppen Edo, and some Festival stuff (like if they have the painting again this year). Real mellow day with a few small rides like Nemo and Figment. So on and so on.... we will gauge how she does and change our plans accordingly. Having several ADR's a day forces us (well me for the most part) to slow down our pace to better match what DD6 can more realistically handle. With our planned afternoon breaks (and probably swim breaks too), we realize we won't have a lot of time in the parks. And again, we're ok with that.

So here's what I'm realistically thinking

1/27 - TREX (bleh I really wanna keep my 6:40p Topolino's Terrace)
1/28 - 10a Tusker House, 4:45p Be Our Guest
1/29 - 11a Cinderella's Royal Table, 9p Bull & Bear
1/30 - 9a Homecomin', 12:40p Teppen Edo, 6:50p H&V (Minnie) - then home after dinner
1/31 - 11:50a Chef Mickey's, 7:05p Artist Point Story Book
2/1 - TOTALLY OPEN (need a Sci-Fi on this day to make this plan perfect)
2/2 - 8:45a Topolino's Character Breakfast, 11:30a San Angel Inn (for a light lunch or even just appetizers, more just to vibe inside the pyramid), 5:45p Coral Reef
2/3 - 8a Boma, 6:30p Boathouse
2/4 - 6:05p Whispering Canyon
2/5 - 9a Oga's, 10:05a H&V (DisJr), 6:10p Liberty Tree Tavern and farewell fireworks at MK

Way more manageable IMO. This is what I'm gonna pitch to DW and see. Leaves way more room for snacks and festival treats. If I could, I would plan 3 full epcot days with 2 more hops planned. DW agrees but we both realize the kids would be bored so meh.... Oh well.

Another reason is we want to expand our palette and try lots of fun and new foods! We aren't foodies by any means (me especially, I'm the ultimate meat and potatoes man), but man here in Salt Lake City, the food is just downright boring. I mean sure, there are some ok restaurants here but it's mostly chains or fast food. We wanna blast our taste buds with some amazing deliciousness!

Lastly, we aren't likely to be back anytime soon. DLR is a way easier trip for us and it's close enough for us to drive in case we need to bounce early. Its a combo of right trip/right time with DW's points situation, bucket list by 50 for me, and just needing a vacation now that we'll all be vaxx'ed and boosted by then. So we figured all the $$ we saved on flight/hotel/rental we can spend on food and fun stuff like character meals.

Anyway, thank you for the great comments! Made me think about some stuff, and actually update my plan! Keep 'em comin'!

 

[bsmcneil]

Yes for sure, dining is our #1 priority for this trip. Few reasons why. DW wants to do as much character dining as we can for our DD6, and I'm ok with that. Think we have every one there is except GG (which shockingly the DW turned down...for now).

Then we have a few must-do's for our group. DD15 wants Teppen Edo and Sci-Fi, DD6 is an aquarium fanatic so Coral Reef is for her, and DW wants to do TREX for our night 1 (over Topolino's dinner... that food... the view....yeah I know, but what are you gonna do?) BoatHouse, and Wine Bar George (which we haven't even slotted in yet). And our Bull and Bear date night is mine. Our plan is to order a variety of things and share them family style when possible. The good news is that DD15 recently became a vegetarian so we get to try some plant-based options we probably wouldn't have picked for ourselves with so many other things we want to try. I imagine 1-2 appetizers, 1-2 entrees, and no dessert unless it's something we can't pass up. Our DD6 is about the pickiest eater on the planet, so we know going in it's a huge waste of $$ when it comes to food for her for stuff like pre fixe meals/character dining and we are ok with it. It comes with the territory with her. I fully anticipate having to run to McDonalds daily for her, and we're ok with that too.

She is another reason we are making dining our #1 priority. With her struggles, we never know what a day in the park might look like. She could wake up psyched to go to the park and ride rides all day and we have to drag her out at close, she could wake up and not want to go to the parks until she's gone swimming, or she could be psyched until we hit the park and something upsets her, gets overloaded, or is tired, has a meltdown and we have to leave. Making rides a priority would almost assuredly end in frustration (as it did for our DLR trip in 2019). We will be applying for DAS for her once we get to the park. There's no sense in trying to pre-book DAS return times for her. And we already know, any rides we do get to go on are pure bonus. For us, that's ok. Like I've said, I'm a long time DLR vet with literally hundreds of trips - like the time me and my brother did walk-on after walk-on on Space Mountain literally from rope drop to park close on a rare rainy SoCal summer day. We were shooting for 100 times and got close (we told everyone after we hit 100 but think it was closer to 70 or 80). So for me, there really are very few rides at WDW I actually care about riding that I haven't gone on already at DLR. Wish I could go back in time and ride TGMR but oh well, at least there's youtube. Anyway, that's why I've tried to plan out our park schedule to ease her in to trying some rides. In 2019 she rode IASM about 20 times, Buzz about 15, and POTC about 10, and that's about it... Gonna start with AK and do the "zoo" stuff, which we know she is already ok with here at home. She loves animals too, which will help. Then we follow up with MK in the PM, but just to see the castle, go to Be Our Guest, and watch fireworks (which we discovered in 2021 she now is ok with and likes, with her noise-cancelling headphones of course). Then day 2 is half day MK (which she will already know now) in Fantasyland. She's ridden the DLR version of nearly everything there so we think she'll be ok with this. Then hotel and swimming (don't want to overwhelm her). Then next day is brunch at Disney springs, then EPCOT for the actual aquarium, Teppen Edo, and some Festival stuff (like if they have the painting again this year). Real mellow day with a few small rides like Nemo and Figment. So on and so on.... we will gauge how she does and change our plans accordingly. Having several ADR's a day forces us (well me for the most part) to slow down our pace to better match what DD6 can more realistically handle. With our planned afternoon breaks (and probably swim breaks too), we realize we won't have a lot of time in the parks. And again, we're ok with that.

So here's what I'm realistically thinking

1/27 - TREX (bleh I really wanna keep my 6:40p Topolino's Terrace)
1/28 - 10a Tusker House, 4:45p Be Our Guest
1/29 - 11a Cinderella's Royal Table, 9p Bull & Bear
1/30 - 9a Homecomin', 12:40p Teppen Edo, 6:50p H&V (Minnie) - then home after dinner
1/31 - 11:50a Chef Mickey's, 7:05p Artist Point Story Book
2/1 - TOTALLY OPEN (need a Sci-Fi on this day to make this plan perfect)
2/2 - 8:45a Topolino's Character Breakfast, 11:30a San Angel Inn (for a light lunch or even just appetizers, more just to vibe inside the pyramid), 5:45p Coral Reef
2/3 - 8a Boma, 6:30p Boathouse
2/4 - 6:05p Whispering Canyon
2/5 - 9a Oga's, 10:05a H&V (DisJr), 6:10p Liberty Tree Tavern and farewell fireworks at MK

Way more manageable IMO. This is what I'm gonna pitch to DW and see. Leaves way more room for snacks and festival treats. If I could, I would plan 3 full epcot days with 2 more hops planned. DW agrees but we both realize the kids would be bored so meh.... Oh well.

Another reason is we want to expand our palette and try lots of fun and new foods! We aren't foodies by any means (me especially, I'm the ultimate meat and potatoes man), but man here in Salt Lake City, the food is just downright boring. I mean sure, there are some ok restaurants here but it's mostly chains or fast food. We wanna blast our taste buds with some amazing deliciousness!

Lastly, we aren't likely to be back anytime soon. DLR is a way easier trip for us and it's close enough for us to drive in case we need to bounce early. Its a combo of right trip/right time with DW's points situation, bucket list by 50 for me, and just needing a vacation now that we'll all be vaxx'ed and boosted by then. So we figured all the $$ we saved on flight/hotel/rental we can spend on food and fun stuff like character meals.

Anyway, thank you for the great comments! Made me think about some stuff, and actually update my plan! Keep 'em comin'!

It's a day late (and late in the evening) but if you want my 2/2 SciFi, I'd be happy to work with you. I recognize you might not have PH (we're not doing that) - so it might not be feasible. But it's 8:55pm on the 2nd - shoot me a message if you want it and I can coordinate canceling.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Sounds like you have thought it all out. That was what I was curious about more than anything

I will dwell a bit on T-Rex. Does you wife know this is a below Applebee's quality chain restaurant? Landry's has some good restaurants in their umbrella but the themed ones, Aquarium Cafe, Rainforest Cafe, T-Rex and to some degree Claim Jumpers (believe this is the name) are not in that category. They are really poor quality food. They are selling the theme. And both Rainforest Cafe and T-Rex are incredibly loud. As in they unnerve even the most even keeled kids sometimes. In case something like that bothers your DD. There's so much better than T-Rex, and not much worse, LOL

 

[Shellyred8]

I fully anticipate having to run to McDonalds daily for her, and we're ok with that too.

This just made me smile. Sometimes you just need something familiar! FYI: there is a Mcdonald's by Animal Kingdom (not IN Animal Kingdom, just close by).

You mentioned snacks, so I'll share a few of my favorites:
MK - Fruit and Nutella waffle at Sleepy Hallow. Mickey Krispy treats from the Big Top Souvenirs store. They just seem fresher here than other places, so we always get them here.
AK - The blueberry mousse dessert at Satuli.
HS - I used to love the carrot cake cookie, but I haven't had it for years, so I'm not sure if it's as good as it used to be.
EP - SO. MANY. OPTIONS! The freshly made caramel corn in Germany. My most recent discovery: The Norwegian Kringla at Kringla Bakery in Norway. It's shaped like a pretzel, but is a very different dough from what the Mickey Pretzels are. It's a sweet dough and tastes nothing like pretzel dough. And then the Ice Cream at L'artisan de Glaces in France. These are the standard things that are available year-round. If you are there during a festival, you will have many more things to choose from!

 

[Faithful Raider]

It's a day late (and late in the evening) but if you want my 2/2 SciFi, I'd be happy to work with you. I recognize you might not have PH (we're not doing that) - so it might not be feasible. But it's 8:55pm on the 2nd - shoot me a message if you want it and I can coordinate canceling.

Thank you, however 2/2 is my Drinking Around the World day. I plan on being quite inebriated by that point so I'd probably forget I even have that ADR! lol! We do have park hopper, but that day is one we don't plan on using it. I still have the 1/30 ADR for Sci-Fi, just looking to not make a trip to HS just for that.

Sounds like you have thought it all out. That was what I was curious about more than anything

I will dwell a bit on T-Rex. Does you wife know this is a below Applebee's quality chain restaurant? Landry's has some good restaurants in their umbrella but the themed ones, Aquarium Cafe, Rainforest Cafe, T-Rex and to some degree Claim Jumpers (believe this is the name) are not in that category. They are really poor quality food. They are selling the theme. And both Rainforest Cafe and T-Rex are incredibly loud. As in they unnerve even the most even keeled kids sometimes. In case something like that bothers your DD. There's so much better than T-Rex, and not much worse, LOL

Oh yes.... I'm painfully aware of that while I sit here and look at my Topolino's ADR for that same night. But this is one I'm gonna lose the battle over. DW is dead set on doing it on night 1, mainly because when she was younger, nothing said "we're on vacation!" like Rainforest Cafe, or so she says. And she wants DD6 to have that same experience (I guess). But we are worried she would be a little freaked out by the animals at Rainforest Cafe (because they do kinda look real) whereas she knows dinos don't exist any more and they are fake at TREX, and we think she will be a little more "wow" about the prehistoric vibe, and a little less scared. But yeah, we could totally sit down and she freak out. She has noise-cancelling headphones because she does have an aversion to some loud noises. Which is odd because she's about the loudest kid I've ever known haha! Kind of why I was pushing for it later in the trip, when we can better gauge how she's done, but you know. I'll hang on to the ADR for Topolino's for now, but pretty sure I'll be eating some overcooked Bronto-Burger and soggy fries instead of some escargot and Bouillabaisse that night. Se la vie...

This just made me smile. Sometimes you just need something familiar! FYI: there is a Mcdonald's by Animal Kingdom (not IN Animal Kingdom, just close by).

You mentioned snacks, so I'll share a few of my favorites:
MK - Fruit and Nutella waffle at Sleepy Hallow. Mickey Krispy treats from the Big Top Souvenirs store. They just seem fresher here than other places, so we always get them here.
AK - The blueberry mousse dessert at Satuli.
HS - I used to love the carrot cake cookie, but I haven't had it for years, so I'm not sure if it's as good as it used to be.
EP - SO. MANY. OPTIONS! The freshly made caramel corn in Germany. My most recent discovery: The Norwegian Kringla at Kringla Bakery in Norway. It's shaped like a pretzel, but is a very different dough from what the Mickey Pretzels are. It's a sweet dough and tastes nothing like pretzel dough. And then the Ice Cream at L'artisan de Glaces in France. These are the standard things that are available year-round. If you are there during a festival, you will have many more things to choose from!

YES THE SNACKS!!!! Yep we both have a list of snacks we want to try. Yep that Fruit and Nutella waffle is on DW's list. But some of these I haven't heard of. I'll have to check them out! If y'all have any other snack recommendations, please feel free to add them so I can check them out. Plus we will be there for Festival of the Arts, so can't wait to try all those snacks too! And about the fries.... I guarantee if I asked DD6 if she'd rather eat at TREX or McDonald's, it'll be the golden arches all the way.

Which brings me to what I really think is going on with DW.... I think in her own way, she wants to relive her trip when she was a teen, partly through DD6's eyes. And I can understand that. When DD15 was 4 and went to DLR for the first time, I wanted her to experience the magic the way I did. Because of that, whatever she wants to do, I'm ok with it.

Update for today. Today I learned about the toll roads from MCO to WDW, the visitor toll pass, researched getting around MCO mainly because apparently the visitor toll pass is only available from a vending machine in terminal A, and we are flying in on B. You'd think with all that toll money they could afford to buy another vending machine for Terminal B? Anyway... Also did a little research on our hotel. Need to ask DW about some details (room upgrades, food and drink credit, etc). Also I read reviews about construction going on and it wasn't good. I can't complain really for what we paid (lol nothing), but was hoping to get away from construction noise as they are building new homes behind us and the last almost 2 years it's been non-stop. But at the end of the day, just need a place to crash and for DD6 to have a break. I honestly told DW6 I'd be ok with a tent and sleeping bag over at Fort Wilderness!

Also got my scooter rental booked today. Went through Gold Mobility for a Pride Victory 10 3 wheel. I've used one before at DLR and worked well. I like I can break it down and throw it in the rental car. Tomorrow is 3 weeks until we head down. Its getting close!!

Oh and what's up with the weather? 80's in January? That's a little extreme. I wanna be "chillin" at 65 degrees in shorts and a t shirt!! Today was a beautiful 49 degrees and all the snow was melting. Long sleeve shirt and a scarf was almost too warm, and that was with no sun. If it's in the 80s when we go, I vote we ditch the park passes and do the pool, water parks and Discovery Cove instead!

 

[HooperSnag]

Knew nothing about visitor toll pass. Will research. Thanks!

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Knew nothing about visitor toll pass. Will research. Thanks!

It does come and go. Seems they suspend offering them for periods of time. They are currently offered.

 

[Faithful Raider]

Just stopped by for a quick update. Menu for Festival of the Arts booths dropped today. Man so many things sound **AMAZING** and I already told DW I'm ready to ditch all the ADR's and just eat at EPCOT all week! But in all honesty, my contingency plan is pretty much that. I hope it doesn't come to it, but if the crowds and the weather and omicron and the early mornings and the walking and the meltdowns threaten to derail our trip, then we are ditching everything and relaxing at the hotel pools and EPCOT. Plenty of things we already know DD6 loves (pools, aquariums, disney characters, and McDonalds close by), Japan pavilion for DD15 (she could literally go there every day) and plenty of amazing food and drinks for mom and dad. I know most people don't have to plan for that kind of stuff, but it's second nature to me by now.

The other big news is the updated hours for MK and AK at the end of January. The only day it affects my plan is 1/28, where MK closes at 10 instead of 8. Our plan was to watch Enchantment then bounce, and that's likely to remain the plan unless DD6 is really vibin' to stay later, as we plan on rope dropping MK the next morning. The most interesting thing to me is.... why? Could be to match the hours for closing MK early on 1/24 (kinda matches the total hours), but doesn't explain the AK hours. Could be a lot of new staff has been hired so they can staff the hours better, but with omicron you'd think if they had extra staff they'd use them to back up sick employees. But as I suspect, it's to handle the larger than anticipated crowds. Oh well, in the end I don't think it changes anything for us.

Can't wait to see the vloggers do the festival food reviews next week!

 

[HooperSnag]

We enjoy the vloggers reviews as well and have already checked out the Festival menu. The last time we went to the FOTA, we basically ate our fill at the booths. And everyone in our party could have what they wanted...everyone was happy!