need some help/Advice: how do you plan?

[Mrsjvb]

Stats:

2 mid 40s adults, no kids.

staying CL AKL 19-29 September

first time on site( we usually stay at SoG) and first time with the DxDP.

Goals: try something new for a change. we normally hit rope drop/early EMH. never have done parades, Wishes or Fantasmic before. I am in a wheelchair in the parks( ambulatory at the resort)

this time we wanna do late EMH and actually see a parade and maybe some fireworks. . will have the military Salute to Heros tickets.

HUGE foodies. so we want to hit a few TS and Signature restaurants we have never done before. not huge fans of Park hopping. will probably not need Tier one FP+( I don't do roller coasters) but do want to take as much advantage as we can.

do you plan around ADRS? around late EMHs?

our ADR window opens soon.

are some places easier to get ressies for lunch as opposed to dinner?

places we really want to try include Marrakesh, BoG, Sci fi, 50s Prime time. would not turn down Le Celier

will probably do Jiko or Sanaa on arrival day( our anniversary) and we intend to use Boma and Mara for breakfast most days.

at least one day will be set aside for DTD and we WILL be doing both safaris.. the sunrise one and the dinner one.

IIRC the sunrise is only offered on certain days so we will probably make that an AK day by default.

seeing as how it is also F&W our Epcot days will NOT be over the weekend and I am happy to use up all our snack credits there that day heheheh.

any advice as to how to prioritize> food/ADRs versus shows/late EMHs?

 

[Mrsjvb]

well thanks for all the help, guys....

out of 113 not one of you had a single thing to comment about?

 

[Missyrose]

Stats:

2 mid 40s adults, no kids.

staying CL AKL 19-29 September

first time on site( we usually stay at SoG) and first time with the DxDP.

Goals: try something new for a change. we normally hit rope drop/early EMH. never have done parades, Wishes or Fantasmic before. I am in a wheelchair in the parks( ambulatory at the resort)

this time we wanna do late EMH and actually see a parade and maybe some fireworks. . will have the military Salute to Heros tickets.

HUGE foodies. so we want to hit a few TS and Signature restaurants we have never done before. not huge fans of Park hopping. will probably not need Tier one FP+( I don't do roller coasters) but do want to take as much advantage as we can.

do you plan around ADRS? around late EMHs?

our ADR window opens soon.

are some places easier to get ressies for lunch as opposed to dinner?

places we really want to try include Marrakesh, BoG, Sci fi, 50s Prime time. would not turn down Le Celier

will probably do Jiko or Sanaa on arrival day( our anniversary) and we intend to use Boma and Mara for breakfast most days.

at least one day will be set aside for DTD and we WILL be doing both safaris.. the sunrise one and the dinner one.

IIRC the sunrise is only offered on certain days so we will probably make that an AK day by default.

seeing as how it is also F&W our Epcot days will NOT be over the weekend and I am happy to use up all our snack credits there that day heheheh.

any advice as to how to prioritize> food/ADRs versus shows/late EMHs?

Lots of questions here...

With the DxDP, my suggestion would be to plan on two TS meals a day. For us (two adults, no kids) that usually ended up being breakfast and a signature dinner. We like to spend as many weekday afternoons as we can at the F&W kiosks (don't forget the culinary demonstrations at the Festival Center) and the DxDP will give you plenty of snack credits to use at the kiosks.

With 10 days, you'll be able to balance fireworks and meals pretty well. We will often book 'Ohana for 9:45 on a Halloween party night. We'll get there early, grab a Lapu Lapu from the bar and head out to the beach to watch Hallowishes before checking in for our dinner.

The sunset safari/dinner is FABULOUS, a true highlight. And Boma breakfast is one of our favorites. Other non-character breakfast places we like are Grand Floridian Cafe, Kona Cafe and Captain's Grille.

Have you eaten at California Grill or Citricos? They're both fantastic. Tokyo Dining and Via Napoli are both worth a look at Epcot, too.

 

[Run princess]

Stats: 2 mid 40s adults, no kids. staying CL AKL 19-29 September first time on site( we usually stay at SoG) and first time with the DxDP. Goals: try something new for a change. we normally hit rope drop/early EMH. never have done parades, Wishes or Fantasmic before. I am in a wheelchair in the parks( ambulatory at the resort) this time we wanna do late EMH and actually see a parade and maybe some fireworks. . will have the military Salute to Heros tickets. HUGE foodies. so we want to hit a few TS and Signature restaurants we have never done before. not huge fans of Park hopping. will probably not need Tier one FP+( I don't do roller coasters) but do want to take as much advantage as we can. do you plan around ADRS? around late EMHs? our ADR window opens soon. are some places easier to get ressies for lunch as opposed to dinner? places we really want to try include Marrakesh, BoG, Sci fi, 50s Prime time. would not turn down Le Celier will probably do Jiko or Sanaa on arrival day( our anniversary) and we intend to use Boma and Mara for breakfast most days. at least one day will be set aside for DTD and we WILL be doing both safaris.. the sunrise one and the dinner one. IIRC the sunrise is only offered on certain days so we will probably make that an AK day by default. seeing as how it is also F&W our Epcot days will NOT be over the weekend and I am happy to use up all our snack credits there that day heheheh. any advice as to how to prioritize> food/ADRs versus shows/late EMHs?

I think the hardest ADRs are BoG and Le Cellier, if even a consideration you must make those at 180 days out. I would also nail down the Safari Days and schedule that as well. Is the EMH schedule out yet? If so use that to plan park days and book ADRs appropriately.

 

[siskaren]

Tier one FP+ doesn't just cover roller coasters - in fact, Rock n Roller Coaster at DHS is the only one that is a tier one FP+. The other tier one choices at DHS are Toy Story Midway Mania (which would definitely be what you would want to choose if roller coasters aren't your thing), Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage and Fantasmic. At Epcot the tier one choices are Test Track, Soarin', Maelstrom, IlluminNations: Reflections of Earth, and Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot.

 

[CocosMeme]

Go to this site : easywdw.com - it is a wonderful and friendly place to plan and the people on the forums are very good at giving tips and helping with plans. Josh has just about anything you could want to know pretty much covered. The monthly calendars with best-worst parks for the day and strategy guides for each park are top notch!

 

[Mrsjvb]

Lots of questions here...

With the DxDP, my suggestion would be to plan on two TS meals a day. For us (two adults, no kids) that usually ended up being breakfast and a signature dinner. We like to spend as many weekday afternoons as we can at the F&W kiosks (don't forget the culinary demonstrations at the Festival Center) and the DxDP will give you plenty of snack credits to use at the kiosks.

With 10 days, you'll be able to balance fireworks and meals pretty well. We will often book 'Ohana for 9:45 on a Halloween party night. We'll get there early, grab a Lapu Lapu from the bar and head out to the beach to watch Hallowishes before checking in for our dinner.

The sunset safari/dinner is FABULOUS, a true highlight. And Boma breakfast is one of our favorites. Other non-character breakfast places we like are Grand Floridian Cafe, Kona Cafe and Captain's Grille.

Have you eaten at California Grill or Citricos? They're both fantastic. Tokyo Dining and Via Napoli are both worth a look at Epcot, too.

not opposed to Citricos. IIRC CG was mostly sea food and shellfish? DH would love it, me, not so much.

been to Tokyo..the real one, and Tokyo Dining doesn't hold a candle to it.

we definitely would be okay with heavy at breakfast and dinner with 'grazing' during the day. as long as I have enough snack credits for a Dole Whip or six, and the occasional caramel apple( sorry , Mickey Bars are not my thing) plus F&W noms I'll be happy.

so do you think I should plan around the two safaris and schedule an Epcot day or 2 during the week to avoid the crowds? and then with what is left plan the other parks. I suppose I could just tell the TA: plan for X park on each day and give me what you can get.

Thanks

 

[Mrsjvb]

I think the hardest ADRs are BoG and Le Cellier, if even a consideration you must make those at 180 days out. I would also nail down the Safari Days and schedule that as well. Is the EMH schedule out yet? If so use that to plan park days and book ADRs appropriately.

yeah. I'd even 'settle' for BoG at lunch.

I never once paid attention to anything but 'early' EMH and even then I tended to only care about AK but we decided this time that Disney at night might be worth looking in to cuz of the heat and lack of large families with little kids

Grazie

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I use easywdw.com website (it's free) and figure out which park is best on which day. Sometimes if I want to do an evening EMH, then I ignore the websites advice and do what I want. I normally make that decision when I'm actually at Disney World though since I have an AP and the rest of the family gets Park Hoppers.

Since you have certain restaurants you want to eat at that are hard to get into, you'll want to adjust your plans based on what days you get into those restaurants if you can get an ADR at them. The same with your AKL safaries - you'll need to plan around those depending on what days they are being done.

We enjoy 50's Sci Fi for lunch and I enjoyed 50's Prime time at lunch. We hated, hated Marrakesh for dinner. I will never go back there. Chefs De France was another place I loved at lunch but had a bad dinner experience. So I say go there for lunch.
I've also enjoyed Via Napoli at lunch but the one time I ate dinner there with my family, it wasn't as good. Service wasn't very good at dinner there for some reason that night.

3 of the family members are night owls and I'm an early bird at our house so at Disney I usually try to adjust my schedule so I stay up much later to enjoy the evening EMH's and the evening fireworks at each park.

Happy planning!

 

[Mrsjvb]

Tier one FP+ doesn't just cover roller coasters - in fact, Rock n Roller Coaster at DHS is the only one that is a tier one FP+. The other tier one choices at DHS are Toy Story Midway Mania (which would definitely be what you would want to choose if roller coasters aren't your thing), Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage and Fantasmic. At Epcot the tier one choices are Test Track, Soarin', Maelstrom, IlluminNations: Reflections of Earth, and Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot.

yeah I am a sucker for TSMM. I resisted for years cuz the standby lines were atrocious and then one year it was actually semi reasonable. I got HOOKED and I have never seen Fantasmic so that's something I want to push for.

TT and Soarin are non negotiable, will need to look at Illuminations and Maelstrom. something tells me Illuminations will win. heheheh

arigato gozaimasu

 

[Mrsjvb]

Go to this site : easywdw.com - it is a wonderful and friendly place to plan and the people on the forums are very good at giving tips and helping with plans. Josh has just about anything you could want to know pretty much covered. The monthly calendars with best-worst parks for the day and strategy guides for each park are top notch!

I have seen that site advertised, I'll check it out.

appreciate it

 

[disney debi]

not opposed to Citricos. IIRC CG was mostly sea food and shellfish? DH would love it, me, not so much.

been to Tokyo..the real one, and Tokyo Dining doesn't hold a candle to it.

we definitely would be okay with heavy at breakfast and dinner with 'grazing' during the day. as long as I have enough snack credits for a Dole Whip or six, and the occasional caramel apple( sorry , Mickey Bars are not my thing) plus F&W noms I'll be happy.

so do you think I should plan around the two safaris and schedule an Epcot day or 2 during the week to avoid the crowds? and then with what is left plan the other parks. I suppose I could just tell the TA: plan for X park on each day and give me what you can get.

Thanks

You should check out the menus at allears.net for CG. Definitely not just seafood and shellfish. Watching wishes from the top of the contemporary after a great meal at CG is a must try.

 

[Missyrose]

not opposed to Citricos. IIRC CG was mostly sea food and shellfish? DH would love it, me, not so much.

been to Tokyo..the real one, and Tokyo Dining doesn't hold a candle to it.

we definitely would be okay with heavy at breakfast and dinner with 'grazing' during the day. as long as I have enough snack credits for a Dole Whip or six, and the occasional caramel apple( sorry , Mickey Bars are not my thing) plus F&W noms I'll be happy.

so do you think I should plan around the two safaris and schedule an Epcot day or 2 during the week to avoid the crowds? and then with what is left plan the other parks. I suppose I could just tell the TA: plan for X park on each day and give me what you can get.

Thanks

Cali Grill isn't mostly seafood, LOTS of options. Here's a link to all the menus for all Disney restaurants.

Disney Dining will never hold a candle to any ethnic food. I've been to Paris, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy stopping into Le Chefs de France.

Yes, make a spreadsheet and fill in the safari days (we did the sunset safari on a Saturday, which got us out of the parks on the busiest day of the week) and put Epcot on Monday and Thursday. Then use the crowd calendar of your choice to fill in the other parks.

 

[siskaren]

yeah I am a sucker for TSMM. I resisted for years cuz the standby lines were atrocious and then one year it was actually semi reasonable. I got HOOKED and I have never seen Fantasmic so that's something I want to push for.

TT and Soarin are non negotiable, will need to look at Illuminations and Maelstrom. something tells me Illuminations will win. heheheh

arigato gozaimasu

You can only choose one tier one FP at each park that has tiering (Epcot and DHS). If you get a FP for TSMM, you can't get one for Fantasmic, and that's not a good choice for FP anyway, because there isn't a reserved seating area for FP+. Similarly at Epcot, you can only choose one from TT, Soarin', IllumiNations and Maelstrom.

 

[PlutoFan10]

Stats:

2 mid 40s adults, no kids.

Goals: try something new for a change. we normally hit rope drop/early EMH. never have done parades, Wishes or Fantasmic before.

HUGE foodies. so we want to hit a few TS and Signature restaurants we have never done before. not huge fans of Park hopping.

Hope you have a great trip!
We usually take a look at the calendar of hours and use that along with traditions (like starting our trip at MK) to plan which days we'll be in which park, then plan ADRs from there (at whichever park or resort area we'll be visiting.)

I recommend BOG for lunch. Easier to get, especially now that you can make reservations.

Since you are foodies, I recommended scanning discussion boards for favorite snacks. One of my favorites is the carrot cake cookie at Writer's Stop in HS. Zebra Domes are often a recommendation from those staying at AK resort.

Illuminations is fantastic, as is the Electric Light Parade. If you have not done Fantasmic, that is a good one, too. Enjoy!