Help! Squeezing in Spectro...

[tink2020]

Hello! I need some expert advice and/or reassurance. DH and I are taking mom, dad and 12yo sister for what is quite possibly their first and only trip to the World..... if you've seen any of my other posts, I'm trying to make it as magical as possible, for the short time we're there.

We're going in December, and our current plan is as follows:

Wed: arrive 11:00am, hang out at the resort and the World all day
Chef Mickey's Dinner (6 or 7 ish)
Thu: MGM all day
Fri: MK, MVMCP, etc
Sat: Epcot all day
Sun: DTD, etc then home

I told you it was too short! Here's my dilemma.... I really, really, REALLY want them to see Spectromagic (duh ). Parkhoppers won't solve anything, because I also want them to see Illuminations and Fantasmic, so we can't leave any of the other parks early to hop to the MK for Spectro. The only days MVMCP is not going on are Wed and Sat..... so Wednesday is my only hope!

Should I add on an extra MYW ticket day? At first I thought I definitely should, then we could do AK and hop to MK for Spectro. However, that would mean adding an extra day AND park-hopping.... and we're already busting the budget for these two grad students! I also know my sister will want to spend lots of time around Pop (and swimming, in December.... that's all she can talk about now! lol) so I wouldn't want to be in the park immediately anyway.

If I add the extra day on and we hit the MK at, say.... 3 ish before a later Chef Mickeys..... am I out of my mind? Is it worth the ~$250 (I think) for just a few hours, but hours that include Spectro? (Assuming the historical 7pm close time, 6pm parade stays the same). I guess then on Friday we could go back to the hotel for a few hours, with the extra "visit".

And is Spectro even cool at 6pm?!?! Aagh.... I wish I had more time and money. (lol..... who hasn't said that on these boards?!)

Please help.

 

[tink2020]

One more thing.... originally I had planned to do the Electrical Water Pageant from the Poly, when I thought Spectro wouldn't even take place while we were there.

Am I right in assuming that this is no substitute? I mean, it seemed perfect to enjoy the first night...... but certainly the MAGIC Kingdom would be quite a substitution

But then we probably wouldn't see EWP at all..... big deal? I've never seen it, I don't know what we'd be missing.

 

[hockeybabe]

Hmmm, I'm not sure I understand. It looks like you bought 5 MYW 3-day tickets. To make them 4 day tickets, it would only cost an extra $14.91 per ticket, totalling $74.55, not $250.

(see http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/ticketchart.htm#MYW1)

Assuming that it would only cost you $75, you would still have to decide if that would work for your budget. How late will the park be open until that night? How many hours would you get out of it? I love Spectromagic, but I'm not sure I would pay that much to see it, but if I was only at WDW for the few days you are (which is more than my first and latest trip), I would want to be in the parks every minute I could be (which is what we did last trip). Maybe watch the video and see what you think. You can do a search for "Spectromagic" , and there is a website where you can download a video of it for free. Let me know if you can't find it, and I'll search for it for you.

Good luck in whatever you decide, but we went last year for the "first and maybe the last" time, and believe me, once you go, the rest of your days will be planning for the next time!

 

[tink2020]

Oh, I absolutely love Spectromagic... (sorry if it wasn't clear -- DH and I have been to WDW a few times.... just not the rest of the family, and they can't afford even this time )... it's just been a while since I saw it and I wasn't sure about the whole "just visiting MK for a few hours" thing! I thought about showing the video to my family, but that may ruin it a bit

As far as passes, thanks for the link... I'll have to check it out! I was under the impression that each would be like $40 extra!

I guess I"m just trying to weight out pros and cons of our first day there..... plus the whole water pageant thing. I think right now my mindset is see as much of 'the World' (including outside the parks) as possible, when you're probably right -- they will want more time in the parks than the other resorts, etc...

I'm sorry, I probably should have made all my concerns more clear!

Thanks so much for your help though already, despite my confusing post

 

[Robo]

And is Spectro even cool at 6pm?!?! Aagh.... I wish I had more time and money. (lol..... who hasn't said that on these boards?!)

Please help.

Its quite dark at 6pm in December (shortest day of the year is around Dec. 22). Daylight Savings Time will be long-over.

Spectro is just great at 6pm in Dec.

If you want it to "start" even LATER (at least for YOU), just find a good spot in Frontierland and it won't reach you until between 6:21pm and 6:24pm. Parade won't have concluded there until around 6:50pm-6:55pm.

 

[Goofy4]

Just a couple of thoughts (forgive me if you're well aware of this):

- Since MVMCP is a separate admission (I believe it's just like MNSSHP), you don't have to spend the whole day at MK. As noted, there won't likely be a Spectro on MVMCP nights. On the other hand, I'm not so sure Spectro will show on every non-MVMCP night -- you might want to wait for the schedule.

- As noted, adding an extra day is not very costly. Adding park hopping is much more ($40?). And just in case -- they say you can't "hop" by using an extra day on your ticket :-(

Try to add the extra day ($14.91 ?)!

HTH

 

[tink2020]

Robo... thanks! I assumed that they wouldn't show it if it weren't giong to be Disney quality, but it seems so early right now!

Goofy.... very good point. I think we DO probably want to spend a whole day in MK, but as far as the schedules not being set..... blah. THat's all I have to say about that. They really throw us for a loop, don't they!
Maybe I will just wait until October or whenever the hours are out to upgrade.... my only concern is our Chef Mickey's ADR, though. If we don't do MK that day, we will want to eat much earlier than if we do!

 

[jann1033]

if you don't have to have mk admission to go to the party( never been to one) i'd do ak that day and go to mk on weds.other wise i'd spend the 14 and just go to mk for the first day.( i love ak but by the time youget there it will be late and i wouldn't spend for a hopper for a couple hrs)

i wouldn't spend so much time at the resort. if it is nice, you can swim in the evening( heated pools) since the parks close early or your last day if you want. depending on when you go in Dec it may be cold anyway ( once it was 32 at night the first week of Dec ) so you might want to prepare your sis for that.

we hadn't seen spectro for a long time and i was amazed at how good it was.right up there with illumination or wishes imo( better than fantasmic)

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

personally, I actually prefer the EWP to Spectro ... It may just be because I'm not a fan of the congestion that Spectro creates within the park, and seems to always happen when I'm trying to get to somewhere else.

(signs I need to stop DISing when tired: read the subject line as "Help! Sneezing in Spectro")