For those of you who enjoy planning your days at the park..suggestions?

[solanna2]

I'll give you the facts....and you can give me suggestions...deal?

Last vacation was early september - no crowds, no holidays, no special events, a whole week...so it was easy to plan : any park, any day, PS any time..

Now we're doing Thanksgiving week - Arriving late Wednesday, and departing Late Monday...which translates to only 4 whole days at the park, and half a day (day we leave), one of them being huge-crowds-holiday and the rest of them appear to be also highly congested....This means, that I, "plan-every-second-at-Disney" freak, am turning into a stress ball. We really don't like crowds, since we have 3 littles one and the idea of spending more than 20 min. waiting in line freaks me out...but is either those days or next year... ...no need to say next year in Disney time is more like next century...Well, I've read everyone saying that the parks should be avoided Thanksgiving day and you should do every other thing you were planning non-park related...but, we are only there for 4 days, and we were planning to visit only the parks since there is such a short time .
Soooo....what is a Disney fan to do? How could we plan our days so that we visit every park -the only thing we can live without visiting is the World Showcase...sorry Epcot lovers!- in that weekend? We bought already MVMCP for Sunday (we'll be our first!!..woohoo!) and we would like to include a CRB and Chef Mickey's for our princesses and Mickey's fans....
I figured we could have "2 for the price of 1" by booking Chef Mickeys on Thanksg. night, that way we could have our Thanks. dinner AND Character Dining there. Unfortunately when DH called to make PS they didn't have any openings....sooooo I freaked out and told him to get it anyday...he then booked it for the next afternoon ...but, still, I'm not completely satisfied with that arrangement....sorry DH - I can imagine his face now ..

Well, if you're still reading this far I guess you're really in the mood for helping others, and it's highly appreciated....so...any sample itineraries? what would you do?...

Already loving ya'

Mayte
Mom of Soleil (4), Alannah (3) and Gabriel (8 mo)

 

[Hoosier Mom]

You are a brave woman. I don't think I could handle the crowds. If you are locked into those days, couldn't you switch to a disney cruise?

 

[dzneelvr]

Sorry, but I think you may be setting yourself up for a totally chaotic trip. The parks will be jammed, and if you enjoyed it in Sept. when the "livin' is easy"...you may hate it after this trip. But here goes: For T.day, try the princess character meal in Norway first. That may still have some ressies open. Enjoy the parks for part of the day and then head back to the resort for swimming and a PS at either your resort or one close. The main park eateries may already be booked. Your kids will need a mid afternoon nap/downtime anyway. Then you could head back to MK for evening festivities. I would forgo AK this trip. MGM has added kids attractions over the years and you could eat at Mama Melroses for dinner and Toy Story for a lunch. Good luck. It would not be my time of year to go.

 

[klaubaugh]

We just got back last week and the crowds were not that bad, but the best advice I would give to anyone going at anytime would be to get there 15-20 minutes before the park opening. Have a plan as to what rides you are going to do first and also have a volunteer ready to run and get the fast passes you want. We went to MK one morning and were leaving after doing our top 8 attractions there (pooh, splash, thunder, etc.) at 10:30 and just had to chuckle at all of the people pouring in - we didn't wait in a single line that morning!