Labor Day Weekend, a labor of love?

[annmarieda]

I finally got ridemax. I have been playing around trying to get my days planned out. Not the easiest task when you want to fit EVERYTHING in. I forgot too, that even though it is a great program and you can decide what show times to what times your breaks are...it still takes some flexibility. I will get to more of that on my next post when I tell of what I have come up with for 9/2. I think I will leave off times for all the days except for arrival and departure. If anyone truly cares to know what time we are going on a specific ride or seeing a specific attraction, just ask.

So on to 9/1. This is the day we arrive. We do have park tickets for this day and one ADR. It is hard to say exactly what time we will be able to get to the park, so I did not do ridemax. We will just have to play it by ear. This is hard for me to do, but I will survive.

Itinerary
5:30am PST. Leave for airport
6:30am PST. Arrive at airport
8:30am PST. (approx.) Board plane
8:45am PST. Scheduled take off.
5:17pm EST. Scheduled landing.
(unsure of the times for the following)
Arrive at POP Century
Check in
Find Room
Pick up fridge from storage
Leave for MK
(depending on how much time we have go into MK)
8:40pm ADR for Ohana
(hopefully we can catch a bit of wishes at dinner)
After dinner back to room

 

[annmarieda]

This is the only day we will be going to DHS. In some ways it makes me sad, I do like this park. It seems like there isn't much to do, but when trying to fit everything together I realized why. There are quite a few shows and each show takes up time to wait for and then time to watch. I spent way too much time trying to figure out how I was going to get everything in. I took off things, put on things. Ridemax was really struggling to give me a good schedule. It wants to give you breaks on top of the breaks scheduled and there just ISNT enough time in the day for that when you want to see all the shows. Another problem I ran up against was the fact that it sets maybe too much time for walk through attractions. Zoe does not need the full amount of time to run around Honey I Shrunk the Kids Play Area. We also do not need to be at Fantasmic as early as the program wants us to be. I finally decided to remove all scheduled breaks such as my ADR for Mama Melrose and not even put Fantasmic on.

Here is what I came up with.

Itinerary 9/2

Rope Drop
Get TSM Fast Pass
Start Tours
Great Movie Ride
Get RRC Fast Pass
Backlot Tour
Beauty and the Beast Show
Starring Rolls for lunch
Kira -Rocking Roller Coaster w/ Fast Pass while the rest of us take a break
Get TOT Fast Pass
Toy Story Mania w/ Fast Pass
Kira & Zoe-Honey I Shrunk the Kids while Mom & I-Lights Motor Action Show
Muppet Vision
ADR for Mama Melrose's
Indiana Jones Stunt Show
Kira & Zoe-Tower of Terror with Fast Pass While Mom & I take a break
Playhouse Disney Show
Voyage of the little Mermaid
American Idol Finale (view from outside so that we can only watch part)
Magic of Disney Animation (watch presentation and only play a little)
Fantasmic
Back to room to collapse!!!

 

[annmarieda]

We will have two days in Epcot. This is a relief since I didn't have to cram so much into one day. Still, it will be packed. It is also an EMH day but I only scheduled till closing. I am sure that Kira will stay late, but my mother and I probably won't.

Ininterary 9/3

Rope Drop
Test Track
Spaceship Earth
Get Soarin' Fast Pass
Living with the Land Boat Ride
Seas With Nemo and Friends
Turtle Talk with Crush
Captain EO Tribute
Journey Into Imagination
Image Works Kodak Labs
Sunshine Seasons for Lunch
Soarin' w/ Fast Pass
Universe of Energy
Get Mission Space Fast Pass
Beaches and Cream (we may not have enough time for this)
Kira - Mission Space w/ Fast Pass While the rest of us take a break
Inoventions East
Club Cool
Inoventions West
ADR for Coral Reef
Seas Aquarium
Illuminations
EMH - not sure who is going to stay or what they will do.

 

[KELLY]

I finally got ridemax. I have been playing around trying to get my days planned out. Not the easiest task when you want to fit EVERYTHING in. I forgot too, that even though it is a great program and you can decide what show times to what times your breaks are...it still takes some flexibility. I will get to more of that on my next post when I tell of what I have come up with for 9/2. I think I will leave off times for all the days except for arrival and departure. If anyone truly cares to know what time we are going on a specific ride or seeing a specific attraction, just ask.

So on to 9/1. This is the day we arrive. We do have park tickets for this day and one ADR. It is hard to say exactly what time we will be able to get to the park, so I did not do ridemax. We will just have to play it by ear. This is hard for me to do, but I will survive.









Itinerary
5:30am PST. Leave for airport
6:30am PST. Arrive at airport
8:30am PST. (approx.) Board plane
8:45am PST. Scheduled take off.
5:17pm EST. Scheduled landing.
(unsure of the times for the following)
Arrive at POP Century
Check in
Find Room
Pick up fridge from storage
Leave for MK
(depending on how much time we have go into MK)
8:40pm ADR for Ohana
(hopefully we can catch a bit of wishes at dinner)
After dinner back to room

So glad you got in on a fridge swap. My dates are all taken up. Probably because we get there on a Firiday and Leave on a Sunday not your normal Sat to Sat schedule. We are paying the fee to rent a fridge for 10 days so worth it in the long run. Dh won't have to pay over 5.00 for a beer this year.

Glad you are getting things done. It seems like latley I need to do so much more but I do have all the girls clothes in a bag ready to be packed.
My step son and his girlfriend live in FL so they decied to join us. They are taking the train and then a taxi to get to pop. I got them a room but I had to go threw orbitz to get the best price. Disney didn't have any pop rooms available. Plus we told them we would get there tickets and food. They are FL residents so I have been reading up on that for a week now. Trying to get the best deal. We didn't do the FD for them since they are only coming for 4 days.


We still haven't bought MNSSHP tickets yet. I'm still on the fence about adding hoppers. DD want to see fantasmic but I'm not going to hs the day of fantasmic I think it will be to busy. We never use hoppers but we may this year. So much more to do.

 

[annmarieda]

We will only have one full day in this park. I would love to try and fit more in, but it just won't work. Kira is not fond of running to Expedition Everest right away, but that is the only way we could get it done.

Itinerary 9/4

Rope Drop
Kira - Expedition Everest while the rest of slowly make our way to Jungle Trek
Maharaja Jungle Trek
Get Kali River Rapids Fast Pass
Break
Festival of the Lion King
Break
Get Kilimanjaro Safaris Fast Pass
Pangani Forest Trail
Rafiki's Planet Watch
Kilimanjaro Safari w/ Fast Pass
ADR for Tusker House
Flights of Wonder Show
Mickey's Jammin Parade (we won't be able to sit all the way for this)
Kali River Rapids w/ Fast Pass
Finding Nemo the Musical
Port Orleans to explore
ADR for Boatwrights
Downtown Disney (don't know how long we will explore)
Back to room.

 

[annmarieda]

So glad you got in on a fridge swap. My dates are all taken up. Probably because we get there on a Firiday and Leave on a Sunday not your normal Sat to Sat schedule. We are paying the fee to rent a fridge for 10 days so worth it in the long run. Dh won't have to pay over 5.00 for a beer this year.

Glad you are getting things done. It seems like latley I need to do so much more but I do have all the girls clothes in a bag ready to be packed.
My step son and his girlfriend live in FL so they decied to join us. They are taking the train and then a taxi to get to pop. I got them a room but I had to go threw orbitz to get the best price. Disney didn't have any pop rooms available. Plus we told them we would get there tickets and food. They are FL residents so I have been reading up on that for a week now. Trying to get the best deal. We didn't do the FD for them since they are only coming for 4 days.


We still haven't bought MNSSHP tickets yet. I'm still on the fence about adding hoppers. DD want to see fantasmic but I'm not going to hs the day of fantasmic I think it will be to busy. We never use hoppers but we may this year. So much more to do.

I am glad to have got on the swap. I do wonder if I will really need it, but I figure we have always had one..so we should have one this trip too.

We won't be going to MNSSHP since we will be there right before it starts. I am jealous! I wish I had thought of that and booked just a bit farther out. Oh well, there are always other trips to maybe look forward too.

We have never bought hoppers either. I always have us so scheduled that we have never had the energy to really go to another park. This will actually be the first time we leave to go to other resorts for dinner. I am excited about that.

 

[Joyciemc]

I love reading your schedules! They're different than mine because I park hop a LOT. It seems like you do a good job of fitting everything in that you want to get done!

 

[annmarieda]

I love reading your schedules! They're different than mine because I park hop a LOT. It seems like you do a good job of fitting everything in that you want to get done!

Thanks, hopefully ridemax wont let me down and my wait times will be like what they are projecting....

I would almost be scared to park hop. I think it would be great when you have a park you want to go to after the one you are in closes, but... I have us going and going within our park of the day that I am not sure I could schedule it around hopping too.

 

[tinacaplan]

You are certainly getting a lot into every day. We'll park hop a bit and we also have to schedule in naps..does ridemax account for those?

 

[annmarieda]

You are certainly getting a lot into every day. We'll park hop a bit and we also have to schedule in naps..does ridemax account for those?

Yup, you can schedule the naps as well...although I have found it easier not to add those to the ridemax plan and then kinda follow what they suggest as break times. Ironically, this has worked for my ADRs for those first few days I have done. If I add them into the plan, ridemax freaks out and I cant get everything scheduled. If I leave them out...it gives me a break around that time anyway AND I get everything in. Strange program!!! However, I love that the wait times it is suggesting are averaging 10 minutes max.

 

[flamestarrdust]

All your itineraries look great. I am thinking of signing up for something like ridemax but not sure yet.

 

[annmarieda]

All your itineraries look great. I am thinking of signing up for something like ridemax but not sure yet.

I love ridemax. I do know how to work it to my advantage though. It took some time to get it to fit everything in for DHS and I was quite discouraged. It is disheartening when you plug everything you want to do in and then tell it to make your plan and it comes back telling you that you have too many things you want to do in your allotted time. I always have to play around to get the schedule just the way I want it... but in the end, I do get it set in a way we can live with. (even if it means that Kira has to run to Mount Everest right away )

 

[annmarieda]

This is our first day in MK. We will have two. Both days the park is open late, but this will be one with EMH. I can not even begin to imagine staying at the park until 1am. I am sure Kira will. Who knows though. Since we are taking a fairly long break in the afternoon, maybe I will be good for a late night.

Itinerary 9/5

Rope Drop
Dumbo
Get Peter Pan's Flight Fast Pass
Snow Whites Scary Adventure
Cinderella's Golden Carousel
Mad Tea Party
Goofy's Barn Stormer
Mickey's Country House
Toon Park
Donald's Boat
Minnie's Country House
Get Winnie the Pooh Fast Pass
Columbia Harbor House for Lunch
Story Time with Belle Show (I read somewhere that this is going away)
Mickey's Philharmagic
Winnie the Pooh w/ Fast Pass
Peter Pan w/ Fast Pass
Hall of Presidents
Break
Dream Along w/ Mickey Show
Dreams Come True Parade
Liberty Belle Riverboat
Back to Pop Century
Downtown Disney
Wolfgang Puck Express for Dinner
Back to Magic Kingdom
Haunted Mansion
Main St. Electric Parade
Wishes Fireworks
EMH

Longest projected wait time for anything that day? 15 minutes!!! And that is for the Fireworks since ridemax recommends arriving to your spot 15 minutes early. I should say...I will probably wait longer for the buses to and from the park.

 

[Joyciemc]

This is the day our schedules line up a little! Though we won't be heading over to the MK until later, since we are moving from Portofino Bay at US this day.

Maybe I'll see you at the MK

 

[javaj]

Yeay, another Labor Day pre-trip report! We just planned a Labor Day 4.5 day trip and I've been searching for my fellow travelers.

We're also traveling without DH, as he will be out of town for his job (although I think he may be Disney-ed out like your DH, which is fine since we have our "real" WDW trip planned for January 2011). Kids (8 and 4) and I will be going with my sister. Kids don't know though, and I plan on it being a surprise (if I can keep my mouth shut until they figure it out at the airport!)

 

[annmarieda]

This is the day our schedules line up a little! Though we won't be heading over to the MK until later, since we are moving from Portofino Bay at US this day.

Maybe I'll see you at the MK

Yes, you can look for us.... My mom will look as though she is the mom of two of us..and it will be questionable as to who Zoe belongs to. Four girls though...NO guys!

Yeay, another Labor Day pre-trip report! We just planned a Labor Day 4.5 day trip and I've been searching for my fellow travelers.

We're also traveling without DH, as he will be out of town for his job (although I think he may be Disney-ed out like your DH, which is fine since we have our "real" WDW trip planned for January 2011). Kids (8 and 4) and I will be going with my sister. Kids don't know though, and I plan on it being a surprise (if I can keep my mouth shut until they figure it out at the airport!)

Yay, another traveler AND reader. I am impressed...I would NEVER be able to keep the trip a secret.

 

[annmarieda]

Oh how sad, this will be our last day in Magic Kingdom. I hate that we are going two days in a row, but since EMH is on one day and then we have Kona ADR's on the next, it seems to be the best option. I know we could go to another park and still do Kona. It just seems easier to be at MK and then go to Kona.

Anyway...

Itinerary 9/6

Rope Drop
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Break for my mom while we ride BTMR
Get Splash Mountain Fast Pass
Aladdin's Magic Carpets
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of the Caribbean
Splash Mountain. (I hope I can survive) w/ Fast Pass
Tom Sawyers Island
Country Bear Jamboree
Tiki Room
Carousel of Progress
Get Space Mountain Fast Pass
Lunch (not sure where. I would like to go somewhere in Adventureland)
Break (might go back to the hotel for a while)
ADR for Kona Cafe
Back to Magic Kingdom
Kira and probably Zoe -Space Mountain w/ FP while mom and I take a break
Get Buss Lightyear Fast Pass
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
Stitch's Great Escape
Tomorrowland Speedway (we usually skip this but we promised Zoe)
Buzz Lightyear w/ Fast Pass
Astro Orbiter
Back to POP!

 

[annmarieda]

So in spring of 08, the promo that we went to WDW on included a gift card. I just happened to come across it in my drawer. Guess what? I called to see if it had anything left on it...and it does! a whopping 9 cents!!!! Would have been amazed if it had more on it, but was impressed that it was still tracked. I know that in WA gc's don't/cant expire...but I was not sure if that was the case in other states.

just had to share...

 

[tinacaplan]

Your ridemax plans are truly impressive. Can't wait to try it out myself. Your plans are making me very excited, so I can only imagine how you must be feeling right now.

 

[annmarieda]

9/7 will be an easy day. We will leisurely stroll. It should be a good day.
9/8 will be the day we head home. We still will get to do quite a bit at Animal Kingdom.

Itinerary 9/7

Early Morning at Pop Century
World Showcase
Maelstrom
Grand Fiesta /tour
ADR for Le Cellier
World Showcase
Dinner in World Showcase
Break (not sure if we will stay in the park, go to the hotel or go to DTD)
Illuminations (if we leave the park, it is likely we will not go back for this)

Itinerary 9/8

Donald's Safari Breakfast
Primeval Whirl
Dinosaur
Triceratop Spin
Boneyard
Its Tough to be a Bug
Discovery Island Trail
Get Expedition Everest Fast Pass
Break
Lunch at Yak and Yeti counter service
Break
Kira & Zoe - Expedition Everest w/ FP while mom & I continue break
Return to Pop to catch DME