Getting excited and keen to share my plans

[WanderlustNZ]

Glad it behaved!
You could do a PPO bfast at BOG and get on 7DMT that way? Thats what we are doing, and will split the food to keep costs down, since with the pastries platter I think that will be heaps.

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I’ve left getting an ADR too late, plus I’m kinda expecting WDW to change their opening hours for that week to 8am like they did last year.
Hopefully they do, as Touring Plans show the first hour of the day was really quite quiet last year (I’m guessing people don’t like being up as early as 7am to catch the resort bus or boat) and we should be able to ride 7DMT then.
We finish up at MK about 4pm that day as it’s a party day, so I think it’ll be a case of either ride it first or not at all. My family really aren’t fans of waiting more than about 45mins for anything.


As for Everest, I’m finding it quite hard knowing we won’t be doing it. It’s not just my favourite ride, but DH and DS’s too.
I must admit, I’m not yet 100% certain we will pick EPCOT over AK, but it is currently leading the race.
AK has in its favour: better rides, it’s a prettier park, Yak and Yeti (which we love), the light displays at night (particularly the one on the tree of life), and Pandora land (which we haven’t yet seen).
EPCOT has in its favour: all things Xmas, holiday Illuminations, snacking around the world, more room to absorb crowds, less time queuing since we’ll be doing things like the Chip n Dale Scavenger Hunt rather than rides, less chance I will feel guilty about going somewhere with captive animals (although the captive marine mammals at EPCOT are unnecessary and make me angry), and no chance I will be tempted to queue 2+ hours for a ride (FOP).

I know that the last reason is a bit of a silly one, but I’m genuinely worried I will spend the whole day feeling a sense of FOMO if I’m that close to FOP and don’t ride it. It’s almost easier to avoid it altogether. Lol.

 

[KEK1]

Thats a super hard one. AK is our families fave park, we are hitting it 3 times. I had to convince them to do epcot even once! Lol
Pity hoppers are so expensive you could have started the day in AK then gone to epcot for the afternoon. But, your trip is going to be so amazing with SO many things to see and do

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Thats a super hard one. AK is our families fave park, we are hitting it 3 times. I had to convince them to do epcot even once! Lol
Pity hoppers are so expensive you could have started the day in AK then gone to epcot for the afternoon. But, your trip is going to be so amazing with SO many things to see and do

Thanks KEK1

I did consider a park hopper for a while, but you’re right, it’s pretty expensive. Plus we are coming from Universal that morning so wouldn’t make rope drope without it turning into a really LONG day.

At this stage we plan to leave Royal Pacific Resort mid morning, we have a brunch booked at Whispering Canyon Cafe late morning and we’ll spend a little bit of time enjoying the lodge. Then we will head to Epcot very early avo and stay until Holiday Illuminations at closing.

Undoubtedly we won’t be maximising our tickets as well as we could, but I’m also aware that exhausting the whole family in the first week could be a recipe for disaster.

 

[KEK1]

The wilderness lodge looks incredible at christmas time! We need pics pls..will you be doing a TR?

 

[WanderlustNZ]

The wilderness lodge looks incredible at christmas time! We need pics pls..will you be doing a TR?

Hi KEK1.
I agree, WL does look gorgeous at Xmas. I figure we’d better make sure we get some of our money’s worth and actually spend a bit of time enjoying the atmosphere while we’re there.

I’ll definitely post some pics, but as for a Trip Report, I’m still undecided. I tend to write far too much (if you hadn’t already noticed ) and it means I generally give up on any blog-style TR before its properly finished
This time though, I have been considering doing a live TR most nights. Basically a brief summary of our day and a highlight selection of pics. I usually like to scan through our pics each night before bed and post a few to Facebook, so this wouldn’t be much different.
I’m just not sure if there’s any travel forum I follow where there would be enough people interested in reading about all 3 very different parts of our trip.

In completely different news, my Costa Rica tour documents arrived the other day. Such an awesome confirmation of just how close the Trip is getting.

And lastly, remind me please, do you have a rundown of your trip anywhere here on the DIS? I’d love to know how your plans are coming along.

 

[KEK1]

Oooh like the idea of the live TR at night! And think people would be interested in all your holiday, I know I would
So exciting!
Nope, no run down. We arrive in orlando on fri 11th (night) and the first few days are in a house. No absolute plans for that weekend yet, everyone else bar my husband and I want to do outlets (I do want to see the character warehouse), maybe Celebration , maybe go to a national park and see the manatees?
Mon and Tues are universal, staying at HRH so will have EPs.
Tues night move to AKL - Boma dinner
Weds MK - PPO BOG bfast and HEA before party (present to our parents)
Thurs AK
Fri HS Sci fi lunch
Sat epcot PPO garden grill bfast Beaches and cream lunch (will be festival of arts time). Move to OKW
Sun and mon are some public holiday so predicted to be terrible. Planning on doing out of park stuff, resort hopping etc. Sat night dinner homecomin sun trails end. Boys will use this time to do boy stuff (non disney) . Mon AM we have toy story EMM. Mon night move to GF
Tues epcot
Weds MK
Thurs AK and DAH
Fri MK plaza inn lunch . Move to BWI
Sat lunch time leave. Morning walk around boardwalk etc.

It looks pretty busy all written down, hope we wont need a holiday from the holiday... am getting really concerned about all the overcrowding reports. My husband is not really a Disney fan. We went to WDW on our honeymoon in 2013 and it was great (jan). Not crowded, apart from annoying Brazilian tourgroups. We went to DL last year at easter and it was PACKED . He HATED it , to the extent he decided he didnt want to have children after seeing them all! (Yeah, go figure). If this trip is packed as well I dont think I will ever get him in a disney park again... hoping that as we have a long time there we can do what everyone advises and leave in middle of day for a rest/enjoy resort..

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Oooh like the idea of the live TR at night! And think people would be interested in all your holiday, I know I would
So exciting!
Nope, no run down. We arrive in orlando on fri 11th (night) and the first few days are in a house. No absolute plans for that weekend yet, everyone else bar my husband and I want to do outlets (I do want to see the character warehouse), maybe Celebration , maybe go to a national park and see the manatees?
Mon and Tues are universal, staying at HRH so will have EPs.
Tues night move to AKL - Boma dinner
Weds MK - PPO BOG bfast and HEA before party (present to our parents)
Thurs AK
Fri HS Sci fi lunch
Sat epcot PPO garden grill bfast Beaches and cream lunch (will be festival of arts time). Move to OKW
Sun and mon are some public holiday so predicted to be terrible. Planning on doing out of park stuff, resort hopping etc. Sat night dinner homecomin sun trails end. Boys will use this time to do boy stuff (non disney) . Mon AM we have toy story EMM. Mon night move to GF
Tues epcot
Weds MK
Thurs AK and DAH
Fri MK plaza inn lunch . Move to BWI
Sat lunch time leave. Morning walk around boardwalk etc.

It looks pretty busy all written down, hope we wont need a holiday from the holiday... am getting really concerned about all the overcrowding reports. My husband is not really a Disney fan. We went to WDW on our honeymoon in 2013 and it was great (jan). Not crowded, apart from annoying Brazilian tourgroups. We went to DL last year at easter and it was PACKED . He HATED it , to the extent he decided he didnt want to have children after seeing them all! (Yeah, go figure). If this trip is packed as well I dont think I will ever get him in a disney park again... hoping that as we have a long time there we can do what everyone advises and leave in middle of day for a rest/enjoy resort..

Your plans look great! I love that you are getting to sample all those hotels.
I know exactly what you mean about the crowds. We were at WDW in 2013 also (Sep/Oct) and it was great. Our visits since then to both Aulani and DL however weren’t so great due solely to too many people. It can make or break a trip.
But, for what it’s worth, I think your plans are well thought through and you have a whole heap of sensible strategies up your sleeve to help you avoid the crowds.

1) You’re avoiding Marathon Weekend. It’s part of the reason we didn’t do a one week cruise and then head back to Disney. I really like your idea of going to see the Manatees.

2) Yes, MLK weekend will be busy, so it’s good your plans are relaxed this weekend and you have the EMM on the Monday. We are in Anaheim this weekend and the only visit to DL will be to The Void in Downtown Disney. I just couldn’t even consider paying for park tickets this weekend when DL is already extra busy in the weekends as it is.

3) You definitely have time up your sleeve, which I think makes a difference. The pressure not to do everything at once means you can bypass particularly crowded places and come back later. Plus things like EMM and DAH will help. We sadly don’t have those options during our trip as I’d seriously consider them if we did.

I’m keen to hear how you enjoy the Festival of the Arts. I think the Broadway performers they get to sing in the evenings sound so good. When we were there for the F&W festival, I loved that you could go and listen to bands in the evening (there was a joke on the DIS at the time that we were traveling to the other side of the world to go listen to Aussie duo, Air Supply).
For the Festival of the Holidays, I’m less convinced about the Candlelit Processional. The sheer size of the chorus will no doubt sound uplifting, but for this non-religious family, I think it might feel a bit like an hour at church. So we’re just going to walk past and listen for a few minutes instead.

 

[KEK1]

Its probably more hotels than I wanted but as this trip was quite sudden in terms of renting DVC points we had to take what we could get. Esp excited about GFV, always dreamt of staying there!
We are looking forward to it. It was the only way I could convince my family to go to epcot (very musical family, 1 sister is a music teacher and the other one is a composer).

 

[KEK1]

Soo..now I cant decide if I should switch my EMM HS to DAH HS which is being offered on the Sat. It would mean cutting our epcot day short by an hour or so, but we are back there on tues all day. It would be more money, but everyone says TSL is way better at night and we like the other attractions there too..no meal but longer park hours. Cant decide! Recent reports of EMM have sounded pretty busy too..but, only 6 attractions at HS. If we did DAH we would have an extra morning at AK as well , would bring it to 2 mornings and 1 full day...
Thoughts??

 

[Franrose]

Nothing real to offer except that I read a thread just yesterday where people talked about DAH being their favourite Disney extra! Which has made me rethink my plans too, lol. I reckon I could squeeze in an AK DAH...

We have booked an EMM at MK on the 16th. With the crowds being unpredictable (and only going to ramp up as Christmas approaches) I wanted to make sure we got our money's worth in terms of being able to get around all our favourites this trip, so by having EMM at Fantasyland, I could use fastpasses for other things. Don't know when we'll be back again.

 

[Franrose]

Actually, HS sounds tempting too. It's the lower crowds I like the sound of! And they sell it as lower crowds, whereas they don't really sell the Christmas parties that way. One thing I've never been able to see outright is whether you need admission for the park on that day or whether it's like the Christmas parties, and you don't. I could make the 15th work for HS if extra admission isn't needed. Which would mean we could make our actual park days for the weeks following a bit more laid back kwim, perhaps get some more resort time in.

 

[KEK1]

Actually, HS sounds tempting too. It's the lower crowds I like the sound of! And they sell it as lower crowds, whereas they don't really sell the Christmas parties that way. One thing I've never been able to see outright is whether you need admission for the park on that day or whether it's like the Christmas parties, and you don't. I could make the 15th work for HS if extra admission isn't needed. Which would mean we could make our actual park days for the weeks following a bit more laid back kwim, perhaps get some more resort time in.

Definitely the low crowds for me too, but a lot of people have expressed concerns about the number of attractions at HS vs the large number at MK. Unsure if they would sell many less tix at HS to accommodate for that..
It's a hard ticket event so no extra park ticket required. We are booked in to do the MK at the end of our trip.
Of course we wouldn't get all of our money back from cancelling the EMM, guess due to international bank fees etc. There was ar least a $30-40 diff last time..
Like you , also don't know when we will be back. Not inside 10years anyway. And am concerned about the crowds that everyone keeps mentioning ..

 

[Franrose]

Definitely the low crowds for me too, but a lot of people have expressed concerns about the number of attractions at HS vs the large number at MK. Unsure if they would sell many less tix at HS to accommodate for that..
It's a hard ticket event so no extra park ticket required. We are booked in to do the MK at the end of our trip.
Of course we wouldn't get all of our money back from cancelling the EMM, guess due to international bank fees etc. There was ar least a $30-40 diff last time..
Like you , also don't know when we will be back. Not inside 10years anyway. And am concerned about the crowds that everyone keeps mentioning ..

Yes, that's definitely a consideration (the lower number of rides). I wish there were just a few more dates that worked for MK for our trip, lol! Too many Christmas parties.

BTW... bank fees - I was feeling a bit grinchy and annoyed about international bank fees still charged for refunded payments the other day (because I've had a few that were refunded through no fault of my own) - and so did some Googling that indicated if you ask nicely, you might get them refunded too, since they are really fees for nothing. (Fees banks add purely because they can, kwim.) So... I rang my bank, the Commonwealth bank, and asked super nicely - and not only did they refund any of the ones I asked for, they also apologised to me about it all lol! Win! I even got one of the fees for a US hotel I've booked refunded even though the transaction itself has not been (I guess the person I spoke to got a bit trigger happy ).

 

[Franrose]

I should add KEK1, I had a friend visit WDW with her family in Jan last year (about the same time frame as you I think) - she had no complaints about the crowds, so I'm crossing fingers for you that it will not be too bad! (I just had a look, she did a week from the 7th of Jan. )

 

[WanderlustNZ]

It’s probably just as well the After Hour events are not on during my dates as I would be very tempted.

If it was me, I would swap a morning one for an after hours one simply because they are longer and offer more rides.
I would probably pick the AK or HS one with probably the slight edge going to AK because the thought of riding Everest over and over again is very tempting.

Because MK has the most rides out of any of the parks, its rides are generally easier to get on to (or get Fastpasses for) during the day. At least that’s my theory...

 

[WanderlustNZ]

One month, 2 days until our trip and it’s all becoming a bit overwhelming. Work is so busy right now that rather than wish time would speed up, I find myself desperately wishing it would slow down so I have more time to get everything done. Plus I need more time to save some extra spending money.

On the plus side, I’m just about completely planned and booked.

I swapped my Epcot day to an AK day after getting a FOP Fastpass. Still not convinced I made the right decision, but it’s one that has made DS and DH happy, so I guess that’s all that matters.

 

[KEK1]

Yes, that's definitely a consideration (the lower number of rides). I wish there were just a few more dates that worked for MK for our trip, lol! Too many Christmas parties.

BTW... bank fees - I was feeling a bit grinchy and annoyed about international bank fees still charged for refunded payments the other day (because I've had a few that were refunded through no fault of my own) - and so did some Googling that indicated if you ask nicely, you might get them refunded too, since they are really fees for nothing. (Fees banks add purely because they can, kwim.) So... I rang my bank, the Commonwealth bank, and asked super nicely - and not only did they refund any of the ones I asked for, they also apologised to me about it all lol! Win! I even got one of the fees for a US hotel I've booked refunded even though the transaction itself has not been (I guess the person I spoke to got a bit trigger happy ).

Oh wow, that is good to know! Might try that myself as its happened a couple of times. Thanks I am with ANZ so fingers crossed.

 

[KEK1]

I hop

I should add KEK1, I had a friend visit WDW with her family in Jan last year (about the same time frame as you I think) - she had no complaints about the crowds, so I'm crossing fingers for you that it will not be too bad! (I just had a look, she did a week from the 7th of Jan. )

I thought last Jan was the anomaly with the crowds and it was really busy for the 1st time? Maybe that was later in the month..thanks for the crossed fingers when are you going?

 

[KEK1]

I think

It’s probably just as well the After Hour events are not on during my dates as I would be very tempted.

If it was me, I would swap a morning one for an after hours one simply because they are longer and offer more rides.
I would probably pick the AK or HS one with probably the slight edge going to AK because the thought of riding Everest over and over again is very tempting.

Because MK has the most rides out of any of the parks, its rides are generally easier to get on to (or get Fastpasses for) during the day. At least that’s my theory...

I think I will change. Its an extra US$100 but think it will be worth it. I love AK the best too, but this way I will have 4 days to get FPs for it (FP day fri)

 

[KEK1]

One month, 2 days until our trip and it’s all becoming a bit overwhelming. Work is so busy right now that rather than wish time would speed up, I find myself desperately wishing it would slow down so I have more time to get everything done. Plus I need more time to save some extra spending money.

On the plus side, I’m just about completely planned and booked.

I swapped my Epcot day to an AK day after getting a FOP Fastpass. Still not convinced I made the right decision, but it’s one that has made DS and DH happy, so I guess that’s all that matters.

I saw you had changed, think you made the right decision. You can eat Christmas food anywhere and see the real countries.. will be interested to see what you think of FOP.
Are you planning on doing much souvenir shopping ?
I know what you mean re time.. I have just lost my (5yo) dog and I really need time to stop so I can grieve. So devastating. But, as well as trip I have puppies due in 9 days..just wish I could stop time for a bit to mourn 1 life before I welcome others..