how do you project hours for parades and fireworks for scheduling dinner, etc.

[KIS]

I know it's too early to get an "official" time and days of the week for parades (spectro and the MK "3 pm-ish" parade) and fireworks (Illuminations and MK's Fantasy) during the months of April, 2004.

I was hoping to make some guesses based on history. I mean, I trying to narrow down on where I'll try to request dinners, when to rest (naps and early dinners some days, lunches, pool, short naps and later light dinners on others, etc.). I'd like to have my 5 y.o. daughter see the Spectro parade and at least one firework and may be Fantasmic. But, it's hard to make sense of that without that sort of information. Some restaurants and dining activites require reservations 4 months in advance, correct? Disney's reservationist and website claim it's too early to know. So how do you folks factor in parade and fireworks days and times when it's all such a blank.

Has anyone used previous years' schedules to estimate in advance planning of itinerary? If so, didi it work? Was it a good indicator for you in making your plans? Where did you find this sort of schedule information?

So far I have last April's (2003) park hours, but fireworks and parades are not on it.

I hope you can understand this concern and have some advice to offer me.

KIS

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by KIS
I know it's too early to get an "official" time and days of the week for parades (spectro and the MK "3 pm-ish" parade) and fireworks (Illuminations and MK's Fantasy) during the months of April, 2004.

I was hoping to make some guesses based on history. I mean, I trying to narrow down on where I'll try to request dinners, when to rest (naps and early dinners some days, lunches, pool, short naps and later light dinners on others, etc.). I'd like to have my 5 y.o. daughter see the Spectro parade and at least one firework and may be Fantasmic. But, it's hard to make sense of that without that sort of information. Some restaurants and dining activites require reservations 4 months in advance, correct? Disney's reservationist and website claim it's too early to know. So how do you folks factor in parade and fireworks days and times when it's all such a blank.

Has anyone used previous years' schedules to estimate in advance planning of itinerary? If so, didi it work? Was it a good indicator for you in making your plans? Where did you find this sort of schedule information?

So far I have last April's (2003) park hours, but fireworks and parades are not on it.

I hope you can understand this concern and have some advice to offer me.

KIS

Using last year's hours as a guide is about the best you can do. If you plan to go in April or March though, you do have to make adjustments for Easter. When we were in your same situation, I just "guessed" and most everything worked out just fine. Go ahead and make your "must do "PS and then if the official hours are different from your guess, you can change the PS. Usually (unless it's for something like CRT or V&A's), you can make the adjustments OK.

Try this link for last April's hours - it does show parade and fireworks times:

April 03 hours

Have fun planning!

 

[KIS]

It good to hear that your estimating worked, more or less. I appreciate the schedule, too.

What sort of adjustments would be made for Easter?

We are actually going on 4/24-5/2, which I believe is after Easter. Still, it wouldn't hurt to know.

KIS

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by KIS
.......What sort of adjustments would be made for Easter?

We are actually going on 4/24-5/2, which I believe is after Easter. Still, it wouldn't hurt to know.

KIS

All I really meant was that the hours don't transfer "directly" between years because the dates for Easter change every year. For example, this year Easter fell on April 20 and in 2004 it will be on April 11. The hours for 4/12/03 - 4/27/03 would be the guide you would use for 4/3/04 - 4/18/04.

Since you are going well after the Easter peak, Easter hours won't make any difference to you. FWIW, I think you have chosen a good time to go!

 

[Kteacher]

i think we went one year when easter fell that early, and the hours got extended at the last minute because so many NE schools had their April vacation later. That's what's happenening again this year, Easter is the 11th, and a lot of school vacations are the week of the 19th of April.

 

[KIS]

CarolMN,

Thank you for taking the trouble to spell that out a little bit. Just a little dense. I get what you are driving at. I bet I can follow along with your comparisons to arrive at the dates to compare with 4/24/04...

I would have actually liked to travel to WDW during an off-season. I am married to a teacher who refuses to take time off. We have to go when he is off from school. His last day is 4/23. He has to be back on 5/3.

I am glad it is not the very busiest week at that time. I gathered that much. Still, I know there will be plenty of other school districts that are off at that time and have plans for WDW. Sigh.

I am grateful that we're going and I am sure that we're bound to have a great time. It's our first time.

Kteacher,

I imagine there are different spring break weeks. I've heard Easter week itself is the busiest of that time period.

KIS

 

[CarolMN]

KIS - The busiest "spring break" weeks other than the two surrounding Easter are when the colleges have time off. That's usually/mostly in March. I really don't think the time you are going will be all that busy. Try not to worry - even if it is busy, the parks can handle a lot of people and if Disney expects a lot, they schedule more people to work and extend the hours. We've found that we can spend just as much time in lines during the "slow" times as the busy times. In the slow times, Disney often only has one side of an attraction running.

We've been several times during spring break periods, including the peak Easter times. We always did most everything we wanted/planned to do. The trick for us was to go early, take a break in the afternoon (even if it was just a nice sit down lunch) and then take in the evening fireworks/parades. Use Fastpass. If you think a particular park is too crowded, go to another one. There are lots more helpful hints here on teh DIS for touring in the busy season. You may or may not need to use any of them, but it's always good to have a back up plan if your first thought doesn't work out.

My main point is try not to let the thought of "crowds" spoil all the fun of planning. FWIW, lots of my plans got dumped after we got there (didn't need 'em) - but all the "back ups and alternatives" always came in handy! Sometimes you just feel like doing something else.

Good luck!

Carol

 

[KIS]

CarolMN,

Thanks for the advice and support. May be I should think about this aspect of the trip a little more. I haven't thought about back-up plans. I doubt I can anticipate everything. When you had back-up plans, did that include a second set of reservations for sit-downs? I can see the sit downs as complicating things a little.

KIS

ps This isn't exactly the theme of this thread. May be I need to take this up elsewhere on the boards

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by KIS
CarolMN,

Thanks for the advice and support. May be I should think about this aspect of the trip a little more. I haven't thought about back-up plans. I doubt I can anticipate everything. When you had back-up plans, did that include a second set of reservations for sit-downs? I can see the sit downs as complicating things a little.

KIS

ps This isn't exactly the theme of this thread. May be I need to take this up elsewhere on the boards

What we do for PS is pick one or maybe two restaurants that are absolutely "must do" for us on that particular trip. Those are the ones that we plan to keep no matter what - even if it cuts into park time. The rest of our PS are based on what I think we will want to do. More times than I can count, we changed those plans at the last minute. Often I would stop by the guest services desk at our resort and cancel the planned PS for the next day. Usually, I would then make one for a different restaurant because someone in the party changed his/her mind or really wanted to try something different or visit an old favorite again. I was surprised how often we got a PS with less than 24 hours notice! Had to be a bit flexible sometimes, but it seemed to work out OK.

The back ups or alternatives that I keep in mind are usually a list of things to do if lines are too long or it's too hot or someone (not always the little people, LOL) is too tired, cranky etc. For example, we won't wait more than 15 minutes for some attractions because there are lots of periods where the lines for it are that long or less. If we happen to hit it when there's a lot of people, we just do something else and come back later. Maybe we'll catch a show or a character meet or grab a snack or even go back to the resort for a rest or a swim or a ride on a surrey bike or a water mouse. Sometimes we go to another park or Disney Quest or visit one of the nearby resorts. AKL and WL are worth a visit anytime, IMHO, but they are especially fun to show people who haven't seen them before. Mini-golf and Downtown Disney are fun, too. Anyway, there's always something fun to do - no need to stand in hour long lines if you don't want to. We'd rather do something else and come back later - that's our motto!

HTH.

 

[KIS]

CarolMN,

It sounds like you've had considerable experience coordinating your family's WDW vacations. I appreciate you sharing it because it makes good sense.

I have some reservations, more than two, so may be I need to reconsider.

KIS