How do you plan?

[shelanaoaktree]

How do you plan which day you are going to a specific place?

We would like to just "wing it", while we are in WDW in July. Is this a bad idea? I did make a PS for the Hoop Dee Doo for our 1st night there since we are staying at FW.

I'm just not sure how to go about making a PS if I'm not sure which day I'll be at a certain location. We are bringing 4 children with us.

The 4th of July we will be at MK, but that is the only day we have planned out.

Any suggestions?

 

[hoosll]

I love to plan and we do a lot of sit down meals.

First read up on the restaurants - many of them have great themes or character meals.

Since you are going during the summer which can be very busy and you have a "large" group you should make a couple of PS for any restaurants that you really would like to visit -

I'm not sure what age your kids are but sit down meals with good theming:

50s Prime time in MGM
Ohana at the Poly
MK castle for any meal - breakfast with princesses is very hard to get
The Land at Epcot character meal
SciFi at MGM has good theming but I don't think it handles parties larger than 4 well.
Rain Forest Cafe at AK


I'm sure others have favorites.

 

[BCV23]

I love to plan too. First I map out which parks on which mornings. Then I plan our meals and make PSs. I think Birnbaum's book is good for getting an overview of restaurants and a feel for what you might be interested in trying. Then check the menus and narrow it down.

 

[shelanaoaktree]

The ages of the children are as follows, dd-16, 33-11, ds-9 and dd-6.

Is it possible to make a PS from the FW Cabin the morning we are going to each park? or is that to risky?

50 Prime Time is one place I really want to go to, just not sure whether lunch or dinner is the time to go.

 

[disney queen]

the time of year you are going i would say it is a little "risky" making PS on the morning of. you have made PS for july 4th right? we were there last year and saw many, many people turned away from lecellier for dinner.

 

[crisi]

We make a chart. Across the top, each day of the trip. Down the side AM, PM and a place for PSs and things we should know about on the bottom.

We make a list of everything we need to see and do and another list of the restaurants that interest us. We then cut them into half day "units" So for six days in the park we have twelve "units" Typhoon lagoon - one unit (afternoon). The list of stuff we have to do in the MK is 3 units. If you were going at a busy time, you could get another unit out of "nights" if the park was going to be open late.

We then slot the units into the chart. We prefer MK in the morning (less crowds, few restauarnts that interest us) and Epcot in the afternoon (crowds aren't as big an issue, and lots of places for dinner). AK is a morning park (animals are awake, closes early) MGM an anytime park. But we will do MK in the afternoon sometimes, or spend the whole day at AK.

Once we think we know where we are going to be when we want to eat, we look at the list of restaurants we have and pick someplace nearby.

Make PSs. You don't NEED to use them and if you change your mind you can call the morning of and see if you can switch around. But if you don't have them and call the morning of and nothing you are interested in is available, you will eat a lot of counter service (the chicken fingers are good, but they get tiring after awhile) - especially when you get desperate because the kids are hungry.

 

[shelanaoaktree]

Thank you all for your help. Since we are staying at the cabins a lot of our meals will be eaten there, so I guess we could plan a couple meals to eat out.

We are planning on going to MGM our 1st day there--so maybe PrimeTime?

either way--thank you all for your help

 

[Fantasia Sam]

Also if you are early risers then you can make the most of the Magic hour days:

Sunday = MK
Mon = AK
Tues = MGM
Wed = Epcot
Thur = MK
Fri = AK
Sat = MGM

Be sure to get there for the commencement of the Magic hour and then as it gets busier through out the morning leave that park and head to another via the pool Even though we stayed on site we found Magic hour mornings to be pretty busy (alot of the on-site guests use this) and so would avoid where possible. Hope this helps to decide when to do what park and therefore when and where to make a PS for.

 

[shelanaoaktree]

Thank you. We are hoping do do the early magic hour, we figure since it's going to be soooooooo hot, we'd do parks, morning and evening and the "relax" in the afternoons.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

Originally posted by shelanaoaktree
Thank you. We are hoping do do the early magic hour, we figure since it's going to be soooooooo hot, we'd do parks, morning and evening and the "relax" in the afternoons.

Good plan we did this a couple of times to avoid the big crowds of the day who come in on an already buzzin', with on-site guests, park. Hope you get to plan a couple of meals as well.

 

[magic teacup]

I don't have as many trips as many people and we've done it both ways........PS and no PS at all. We did commando tour last year and other than the Luau didn't PS a single time and were all very happy. This time in late July for some reason..........Fairytale package I think it will be more crowded and seating will be gone or limited for the places and times we really want to sit in Air Conditioned comfort and eat. Also my 76 year old mother is our guest. When the parks are hot that AC feel sooooo gooood. We are doing parks early, taking a break back at the All Star pool or going to a PS at one of the monorail hotel restaurants. We will all regroup then and go from there.
Plan which park you want to visit ahead of time with alternate plans for rain or whatever and know where you are going in that park ahead of time. If you don't all others who have a direct plan will swoop in front of you on the rides while you plan with a map. Get a guide book and plan with the kids, we have the best time sitting down together and discussing "All things Disney". There are some fun restaurants for kids that you may miss if you don't PS soon......or at least when you get to the WL. ex: O'hanas, Chef Mickey's, Mickey's BBQ, Cinderella's Royal Table, I haven't tried PT Cafe or Sci Fi but people on the Dis boards like them too. Best of luck you'll have fun regardless just may be less stressful on you if you have PS's.

 

[shelanaoaktree]

Thank you all so much for your help! I will take your advice. We have decided to do 1 Character breakfast (AK), and 2 dinners besides the Hoop Dee Doo which I do have a PS for.

I really didn't want to plan out every day--but as DB pointed out, we can just eat where the PS is, we don't have to spend the whole day in that particular park.

You are right, vacations are suppose to be relaxing, not on the phones trying to make ressies, or waiting in line for hours to eat and then be turning away, especially with 4 children.