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

[Mrs.AMC]

Forgive my ignorance. How did you get an alert?

There are a few Disney dining alert sites, some free, some cost. Not sure links are allowed but Google will find them

 

[Faithful Raider]

Feels like forever since I've updated. We leave in 3 days and I'm really not feeling it any more. This last week just totally drained me. I'm still not 100%. Most of my symptoms are improved, but still having some GI issues even today. Fatigue is killing me. Imaging myself doing 9 park days in a row the way I'm feeling has me stressing even more. Just not in a good vacation state of mind, especially one as complex as a WDW vacation. If things were different, I'd probably be pushing to cancel.

In terms of our plans, we are pretty set, but still a few issues. The biggest was that we FINALLY got a reservation for TREX. I heard on my ADR FB group that if you have a Landry's card you can actually call and make a reservation using your card number. So we tried....and it WORKS!!! This was literally the first "must do" ADR we were trying for at 60 days, and we finally booked it like 4 days before our trip. So.... if you want TREX this might be an option if you can't get a time reserved through Disney. In addition, I was worried about our lunch options at HS for 1/31, and ended up snagging a 50's Prime Time reservation for a light lunch. Our plan is to do an appetizer or two, and the sampler for us to share. I know it's 3 in a day at HS, but that leads me into my other issue (see below). So here's where our plans look now:

1/27 - TREX at 6:15pm
1/28 - AK/MK: 10a Tusker House*, 4:45p Be Our Guest*
1/29 - MK: 11a Cinderella's Royal Table*, 3:15p Wine Bar George, 9p Bull & Bear
1/30 - EP/HS: 9a Homecomin', 6:50p H&V* (Minnie) - then home after dinner
1/31 - MK/MK: 11:50a Chef Mickey's*, 7:05p Artist Point Story Book*
2/1 - HS/HS: 8:55a H&V* (DisJr), 1:45p 50's Prime Time Cafe, 7:25p Sci-Fi
2/2 - EP/EP: 8:45a Topolino's* Character Breakfast, 11:50a Space 220 Lounge, 5:45p Coral Reef
2/3 - AK/AK: 8:05a Boma, 6:30p Boathouse
2/4 - EP/EP: festival day + Drinking Around the World (not sure if I like it on a Friday though b/c crowds)
2/5 - MK/MK: 6:10p Liberty Tree Tavern and farewell fireworks at MK.

Part of what is killing my excitement for this trip is the CROWDS! No one knows why, but the crowds at MK (and HS apparently) today have been utter insanity for this time in January. Examples of times I saw today for this cold, supposedly sleepy time of year include 7DMT@150, Peter Pan@120, Jungle Cruise@100, HM@90, SM@90, BTMRR@85, and the real insane stuff of reports of Little Mermaid at 70 (I saw it at 60 at one point myself) and Barnstormer at 75!! Come on, you can't possibly expect me to be excited at the prospect of waiting 75 minutes for Barnstormer can you?! And I understand, there are always crowds at WDW. Today was "predicted" to be a 4. We have literally like 1 day scheduled at a 4 our entire trip, the rest are 5-7 out of 10. That has me freaking out. And G+ is clearly not the solution, based on the amount of complaining I've read today on various sites and social media platforms. Complaints of G+ running out of the "good rides" by 10am. I looked about an hour ago and Little Mermaid G+ was already booked out near to park close. That's simply insane if you ask me. I know a lot of people say "a bad day at the parks beats a good day pretty much anywhere else," but look at how much tourists are paying for that one day. I mean, we are so blessed that our hotel, flight, and car rental didn't come out of our pocket. If it had, we'd easily be spending over $2000 a day on this trip. I dunno, maybe it's because I'm still not 100% but seeing those waits today just sent me over the edge. Yeah, if we hadn't used points to book most of our costs, I'd be cancelling and booking a cruise a year for the next 10 years for me and DW instead. UGH!!! Don't forget that during traditional busy times, Disney ramps up with extra staff, extra show times, longer park hours, added entertainment, after hour parties, and so on. None of that happens when it's busy in January. And the thing is, I KNEW it was going to be busy. I feel like I've been acting like Chicken Little telling everyone that it's going to be crowded. But I was thinking crowded like 30 minute waits for most rides and 60-90 minutes for E ticket ones. But dang! This is like worst case scenario. Crowded, cold, and covid. Wonderful...... Sorry if this is sounding negative, but that's where my mind is at now. I feel like that if crowds stay like this or, heaven forbid, get even worse, how am I supposed to adjust our plans to deal with it? And I realize that some people might think I'm overreacting, but most families don't have our DD6 to contend with. For most, if a kid got off barnstormer after waiting more than an hour and said "I wanna go again!" most parents would be like "heck no it's too long to wait for again" and just head to the next ride or show. If DD6 did that, it would either be us saying no, then witnessing a meltdown that has everyone staring at us and DD6 hysterical. This happens, and often enough to know that our answer would have to be Yes.... and waiting another hour for that ride. Yes, we have DAS, and that would be the only way she could wait. I know some people use DAS as a "hold my place in line" to then get in another standby line, but if lines are all approaching an hour, then there's no way DD6 can wait in a line like that. We are realistically looking at riding maybe 3-4 rides with these waits before we have to take a break back at the hotel. And that's if we rope drop/early entry. If DD6 wakes up in a mood and we can't get to the park until 10? DW says I'm overthinking and that since I can't control the crowds I shouldn't worry and just go with the flow. Yeah, that's the exact kind of thinking that ends up with DD6 having a "bad day".

Because of this, I'm really at the point where I'm expecting to ride just a few rides a day. Or none. And if that's how it is, I really just want to book fun things to do, like ADR's and off-site stuff. We already slotted in Wine Bar George on 1/29 and already are planning more time in Disney Springs. Because of the weather we have to push back our pool day to one of the days where it's above 70. Oh yeah.... weather. I've been wanting cooler weather for our trip. But this weather is all over the place. A high of 52 on Saturday, then near 80 the following Saturday. 30 degree swings in high temps sure make planning fun!

I sure missing planning Disneyland trips...... Unless I'm just floored by WDW I'm already thinking I'm never doing this again.

 

[CTDisneygal]

Because of this, I'm really at the point where I'm expecting to ride just a few rides a day. Or none. And if that's how it is, I really just want to book fun things to do, like ADR's and off-site stuff. We already slotted in Wine Bar George on 1/29 and already are planning more time in Disney Springs. Because of the weather we have to push back our pool day to one of the days where it's above 70. Oh yeah.... weather. I've been wanting cooler weather for our trip. But this weather is all over the place. A high of 52 on Saturday, then near 80 the following Saturday. 30 degree swings in high temps sure make planning fun!

I sure missing planning Disneyland trips...... Unless I'm just floored by WDW I'm already thinking I'm never doing this again.

I am really sorry. I hope the trip ends up being wonderful!

 

[SLThomas318]

Not sure if you have ever eaten at TRex or if this was already mentioned, but every so often the volcano erupts and it get’s dark, flashy, and louder… just a heads up!

Your ADR’s give me so much hope! We’ve been discussing dining for our summer trip and I haven’t had much hope, but you snagged amazing reservations at great times!

I hope you guys are able to enjoy yourselves! (But I understand all your concerns… Disney is different these days and the inability to pre-plan rides is stressful!)

 

[CindysMice]

I saw on another thread that MK is busy because it’s closing early tomorrow so a lot of people went there today. Not sure about HS, but I feel like it’s almost always a crowd level of 6 or above. Sometimes a 5. Touring Plans scale lol.

We are going basically the same dates. I am going 1/27-2/5. I am also noticing the crowds this year do seem large. Many people have commented they see lots of European visitors which makes sense. It’s a bummer because you plan and plan and pay and pay and you picked this time of year for a reason. To make it worth the money. I totally get it. I did the same.

I really do have a feeling you will crush this trip even with the crowd levels though. You are very prepared and have DAS which will help. I know it’s not a golden ticket, but it will keep something on the schedule and I feel it can work well when you book long waits right before your meals as eating TS kills time. It seems lightening lanes are average 10 min wait and many times walk ons so that will be good too. For some of our down time between LLs I plan on pin trading with my DS6 (7 on Sunday!). We can hop to different merch stores, which I like lol, and it’s something that will keep him focused/entertained.

I can’t wait to see how your trip goes. I’ve been kind of lurking on your journey lol.

 

[Faithful Raider]

Just a few last things as i should make a trip report but wanted to update the last few days before we left as it might help someone.

Felt like the whole world was trying to stop us from going on this trip. First all the crowds this week, then the weather. Then my health... That GI issue turned into what may have been a gallbladder attack for me. Had pretty strong abdominal pain, especially after eating. Went to my drs office 2 days before we were to leave, fully expecting to have to cancel this trip and have surgery. Dr did physical exam with a painfully positive Murphy's sign (they push on your right upper stomach when you breathe out) which typically means gallbladder. Did some labs. Next morning had to go 12 hours without food or water to do my ultrasound. Dr called me the afternoon before our flight, said everything looked normal (have to do a HIDA scan next) but was cleared to travel. Things improving but still have occasional pain, but I've hardly eaten this week and have been super careful to go easy on fats, just in case.

If that wasn't all, DD15s mom (my ex) just tested positive. She had a brief contact with DD15 a few days ago, but she's tested negative with our home test. That could have been bad. Keeping an eye on her next few days just in case.

The night before the flight I hardly slept. Because I felt terrible all week I could prep everything I wanted, and DW was gone for work, so we had a crazy last day. Hardly slept before our flight and had some pain to boot. DW kept saying I looked terrible and we should cancel. I kept a brave face until we were in the air. DW saw me and later told me if she knew I was as bad off as I was she would have just cancelled. Good news is yesterday started feeling a little better and today I'm at about 80%. That ECV really coming in handy because walking does make my abdomen hurt more. Did the morning in AK and had no issue and even encouraged DW to swap with me when I felt good so she could get a break.

Not to go into much detail (probably will do so on a trip report instead) but DW told me she forgot what it was like to vacation with DD6. She's now realizing she has to lower her expectations (like I've been saying all along). 2 meltdowns this morning already, one at Tusker House when we sat down, which we were able to improve her mood especially when Daisy came to our table, and DD6 made it through breakfast and ate 2 mickey waffles! She loves Mickey waffles at home and we were glad she liked these too. 2nd meltdown was at Animation experience when she couldn't draw Pumba as well as us, and this ended up being the end of AK for the day. We grabbed her fries at McDonalds (thank heavens it's close) and got to the hotel and all is right with the world again. I know DW is disappointed but it's going just as I expected and planned for. Few hours then hotel break then back when DD6 mellows out. So far that's working. Once this becomes her new routine she'll do much better.

 

[HooperSnag]

we’re down here now and the crowds are larger than we’ve ever seen for Jan. Good luck!

 

[bsmcneil]

I don't know if you all are back yet and/or recovered but I'd love to hear how things went. I had a good time but man, I kept having to readjust my/our expectations. I think I just barely figured it out accurately by the night before we left!