October 2017 Trip Planning

[jabrabu]

We are planning a trip to WDW, staying at Fort Wilderness 15-21 October. This will be our first time camping there. I'm retired military, so we usually stay at Shades of Green. I'm pretty good at planning our WDW trips, but there are a couple of things that I'm still sorting out for this trip. It will be my wife and me and our 10 year old son.

We will be driving from MD, planning to leave on Friday the 13th (scary). I'm hoping to get fairly close to FL on Friday so we can arrive at WDW around noon on Saturday. For Saturday night, we could book Shades of Green, which would be the most cost-effective. However, I was thinking of staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for that night. We have visited that resort, and loved it, but have never actually stayed there. It looks like I can rent DVC points and get a studio room with a Savannah view for about $115 more than a Shades of Green room, which might be worth it to me for the experience. However, we are planning to check into the Fort very early on Sunday and try to make the EMH at DHS, so this doesn't give a whole lot of time to enjoy the AK Lodge (and its great dining and pools) unless we arrive fairly early on Saturday.

I have a 24 ft. motorhome, and I have a Full Hook Up reservation. I'm thinking the 1600 loop looks good so that we'll be close to the Meadows Pool area. What is the strategy for getting a desired loop? I've heard of calling a week before arriving, and I've heard of checking in at 6am. Any recommendations?

For park plans and tickets, I can get the Military Salute tickets. I was thinking it would be nice to less park time and spend more time at the campground, Disney Springs, and maybe checking out some of the other resorts. The 4-day hopper would be enough, but the 5-day hopper is only about $20 more, so it seems worth it to have the option of another day at the parks if we want. We have never gone to a Disney water park, so I'm also thinking of upgrading to the Hopper plus Water Park Fun tickets. Is it worth going to a water park vs. just doing the theme parks and campground?

I welcome any comments and suggestions. Thanks.

 

[jabrabu]

Here is my rough plan:

Saturday, 15 Oct, arrive at WDW. Check into Shades of Green.
If time, go to Disney Springs.
Walk to Polynesian and watch MK fireworks from the beach.
(I was hoping to get a dinner reservation at Ohana, but there are none available that day.
Option: Stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Enjoy pools. Eat at Boma or Sanaa.

Sunday: DHS
Check out of hotel, check into Fort Wilderness.
Go to DHS for EMH (if up early enough).
Take boat to EPCOT to eat
Go back to DHS for Star Wars Fireworks

Monday: Animal Kingdom
Go to Animal Kingdom (EMH)
Try to get FastPass for Rivers of Light. Or consider getting Dining Package.

Tuesday: Water Park
Go to a Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach
Go to Disney Springs
Campfire at Ft. Wilderness
Watch Hallowishes fireworks from campground

Wednesday: Magic Kingdom
Go to Magic Kingdom
Take monorail to Poly for early dinner (have Ohana ADR 3:40pm)
Go back to Magic Kingdom for fireworks and stay until tired (open until 11pm)

Thursday: EPCOT
Go to EPCOT (EMH)
Enjoy Food and Wine stuff
Early afternoon hop to another park, or water park, or campground (depending on what family wants)

Friday: Magic Kingdom
Go back to Magic Kingdom (EMH)
Eat at Be Our Guest (have ADR for 2pm)
Then hop to AK, or water park, or Disney Springs, or enjoy campground

Saturday: Check out and head toward home.

 

[jabrabu]

I would consider going to Mickey's Halloween Party one night if I didn't already have a park ticket for the day, but since I'll already have park tickets it doesn't seem worth the extra cost.

 

[peg110]

I would consider going to Mickey's Halloween Party one night if I didn't already have a park ticket for the day, but since I'll already have park tickets it doesn't seem worth the extra cost.

We had tickets to MVMCP a few trips back. Even though the official start time was 7PM, they would allow you in at 4PM. So we planned things that way and saved our park ticket for another day. Is that a possibility for you?

The other thing, however, is that you have a fairly "Packed" schedule there. No time for "Down Time" to relax (and enjoy the fort). Also I see you are checking in the first night at Shades of Green and then checking out and checking in to the fort the next day with expectations of doing EMH for DHS. That may be a challenge unless your plan is to park in the overflow, check in, then go to the park for EMH while you wait for your site to be assigned and then come back to set up your site. While you CAN check in at 6 AM, there is NO Guarantee that they will have a site ready. (you can "Opt" for the first available however, but that's no guarantee either.) Additionally, even if you site IS ready when you get there, getting in and settled (or settled enough) and then back out in time for EMH is going to be rough.

I also like to use EMH differently. I avoid the park that has EMH (morning) hours TODAY and opt for the Park that had EMH (morning or evening) LAST NIGHT. Most folks don't go to the same park 2 days in a row (except maybe MK) and many tend to go to the parks to take advantage of EMH. This leaves that park very crowded. If I go to THAT park tomorrow, it tends to be less crowded. Going to a park with Night EMH isn't as bad because many folks (particularly with younger kids) don't stay out that late.

We have also found that the cost of the Hopper (for us) just isn't worth it. I see that you are planning on going to one park but eating in another, in which case you would need the hopper. We would just schedule or dining for a particular park to coincide with the visit to that park. To use the Hopper to get more rides in is challenging because you will spend (typically) an hour or more just leaving one park and getting to the next.

 

[jabrabu]

peg110, thanks for the reply.

Yes, my plan was to check in early and park in the overflow while we went to a park, assuming that our site wouldn't be ready until later in the day.

Your EMH plan makes a lot of sense. However, I've had really good luck with going to the park that has EMH. I remember one day we did EMH at the MK, and we did 8 attractions before 10am, and by noon we had done pretty much all that we wanted. One possible issue, though, is that as my son has gotten older he is waking up later, so it may be more difficult to be up and ready early enough for EMH. I'll make an alternate plan using your approach as an option.

I agree that the schedule is pretty packed. I do have some flexibility in the later days so we can just enjoy the pool or go to Disney Springs or just relax. I'm thinking that we can go to a park in the morning and use EMH and FastPass to visit the attractions we want, then early to mid-afternoon we can go back to the campground or maybe to a water park.

Regarding the park hopper option, the military tickets are park-hoppers and the price is really good, so it's nice to have that option. I think that DHS will only be a half-day park for us, and it's an easy boat ride to EPCOT to enjoy the Food and Wine Festival, and then we can go back to DHS for the Star Wars Fireworks. My son's favorite park is the AK, and the hopper also gives us the option of hopping over there if we want.