Last minute advice on Oct. itinerary?

[HappygirlMagill]

I'm about to make the calls. May I have your opinions please?

I've never needed to plan our itineraries before, always playing things by ear. But this year we don't want to miss a few events requiring advance purchase. I'm so afraid of regretting my choices as there may be no way to change plans later when tix are sold out.

We already know that we're arriving mid-day on Sunday, 10/23/05 and we're scheduled to leave mid-afternoon on Saturday, 10/29. We'd like to attend MNSSHP as well as a Spirit of Aloha dinner. We'd like at least one full day at each park. Here's what I've come up with.

Sunday: Check-in, then off to MK until 7pm, then dinner (somewhere? we often eat dinner a little later anyway)
Monday: MGM until 7:30 Fantasmic, then dinner (somewhere?)
Tuesday: AK until 5:00, back to hotel to change for 8:00 Luau (SOA)
Wednesday: Epcot (dinner in a foreign country) until Illuminations, 9:00
Thursday: Free/Relax day then get into costume for MNSSHP between 4 and 6 pm until 12:00 a.m.
Friday: MK (dinner) until 10:00 close
Saturday: DTD shopping? until departure mid-afternoon.​

What do you think? How's the order of events? Any suggestions for the blanks? I'm so nervous! Is it really the time to write it in stone? Gotta hurry or I won't get the tix I want anyway! *biting nails*

 

[Bob P]

Hi Happygirlmagill,

I'm not sure what calls you need to make now? You can't make October PS yet...

Also, you don' treally know what time the parks are closing while you are there (except Epcot), do you?

I'm sorry if I'm being dense, maybe I'm missing something?

Bob

 

[kilee]

I will admit I read this twice too and I'm confused. The park hours for October have not been released yet, nor the EMH schedule. So, I'm not sure where you came up w/ the hours for things???

Most dining PS's are made 90 days out. However, the luau is an exception to that, and you can get your MNSSHP tickets if you have not done so yet.

 

[HappygirlMagill]

I got projected hours for October from the Dis Board's Park Hours page

And you're right. The only tickets I'll be purchasing now are the Luau and MNSSHP. But deciding which nights for those pretty much determines when I do other things.

Assuming the hours were correct (which I understand they're only projected based on previous years, subject to change), what do you think?

 

[Bob P]

Hours have been changed around a lot the last few years. Not only that, June 2005 hours are still changing. I wouldn't assume anything until the official October hours come out in early August and even then you'll need to keep checking becuase they do change often.

The projected hours are more to give you a general idea..

Bob

 

[HappygirlMagill]

*sigh*

Really, I know this. Just pretend. Nevertheless, I have to decide what days to buy tix for MNSSHP and Luau, and whatever days I wind up with would have an effect on when I'd do other things. Just wanted to know what people thought about the itinerary I have in mind.

 

[Lucky4me]

I think your itinerary looks good, but you may not feel like going back to MK for a 3rd day especially on Friday after being there till midnight Thursday. Maybe this can be a day to go do whatever you missed at all the parks. Good idea to buy your tickets for the Luau and Halloween party now and work around them later.

 

[rob'n]

Hi and Happy Planning!

We went last Oct. and are going again this Oct...we make the day of the MNSSHP a light one...so you can best maximize the late night...and then the day after we usually do something like a water park (opens around 10, I believe) or DTD...something low key, too!

Thursday will be a great day for MNSSHP...tends to be more crowded on the weekends!!

Good luck and have fun!!

 

[HappygirlMagill]

Thank you so much! I can't believe how stressful this is! I just got off the phone with Sophia Louisa at Disney Reservations and, boy am I sweating! For us these are VERY big decisions. I'll be so relieved when I can put this part of the planning behind me and get on with other plans, like our costumes!

 

[Lynn4Mel]

The day you go to MK, are you planning on doing MNSSHP that day as well?

 

[rob'n]

Don't stress...well...don't stress too much!
This is really a big part of the fun!

I would say your biggest concern right now is which night are you going to do the MNSSHP...we don't have our tickets yet but we did book a ps at LTT for 5:15...you might want to think about what you will do for dinner that night. They are taking ps's for LTT and Tony's right now. It's not a must to eat dinner at the park but we did it last year and it was really neat and added a lot to the evening...plus we were in a great part of the park when we came out of dinner...HM, Pirates...then the parade.

The other stuff can't be booked til July...so just relax and have fun reading the boards and glean all the info you can from everyone here. Check out the restaurants board to see where you might like to try. We have somewhat of an idea of where we'd like to visit each day but at this point you need to be really flexible...times are not out and the EMH can change everything. Even when we are able to book our ps's 90 days out, we won't know the park hours so adjustments will have to be made.

Is your hotel all set? We have ours booked but are hoping for AP rates to come out.

In the meantime, keep asking questions and have fun learning!!