***Official April 2013 thread*** SEE POST # 4028

[TJDisneymama]

Right now my plan is looking like:

Sat. 4/13 - arrive at AoA - hang at resort, Chef Mickeys for dinner?

Sun. 4/14 - Hollywood Studios

Mon. 4/15 - Epcot - lunch or dinner at Akershus

Tues. 4/16 - MK - lunch or dinner at BOG

Weds. 4/17 - ??? MK again or AK

Thurs. 4/17 - Depart for Cruise

 

[Mousemommy1]

I have to say, I'm a little surprised at the closing times of the parks for Easter and the week that follows. I'm not complaining, but I'm just surprised. We went on an off week at the end of February/beginning of March a few years ago and there were nights when without PM EMH, Magic Kingdom was open until 11PM or midnight. Well, it's still a good thing we're morning people. Here's what we're anticipating our plans will be:

3/31 (Easter Sunday): AK, arrival day
4/1: DHS (AM EMH)
4/2: MK (AM EMH)
4/3: Epcot
4/4: MK (AM EMH)
4/5: DHS (AM EMH), departure day

I'm sure some of these will change when the recommendations come out, but based on our holiday week experience last year at Christmas, I'm pretty confident these will be our best bets. We love AM EMH, and will take advantage of them often.

Keep in mind that at about a month out, Disney typically updates the schedule with extended operating hours. I too have been in Feb when the park was open until 3 am (with EMH's).

 

[momtwoboys]

I hope for us they don't change the hours! I love the 9:00 opening for MK That 7:00 am opening was tough but we did it

 

[Mousemommy1]

I hope for us they don't change the hours! I love the 9:00 opening for MK That 7:00 am opening was tough but we did it

Opening times usually stay the same.

 

[momtwoboys]

last year the openings were 9:00 and then they changed most days to 7:00am, and it was empty in the parks first thing! The year before they posted the 7:00 am open time right from the start, but that week was the week leading up to Easter. Last year we went a full week after easter ended. So I guess you never know!!!!

 

[TJDisneymama]

yeah, I think they do that sometimes for the crazy busy weeks -- before/after easter (and other holidays). They change opening hours to 8:00 a.m. which means on the morning EMH day it would open at 7.

 

[momtwoboys]

the 7:00 am was opening time, really! there was no EMH it was just 7:00 across the board, April 2011. then April 2012 MOST were changed to 7:00 opening. I remember thinking last year we could sleep in a little then BAM they changed it. Good thing we are early risers. This is why I am kind of hoping that this stays at 9:00am opening! Only park that had that opening was epcot. DHS and AK had 8:00 am openings. I am loving what I see for April 2013

 

[Stefjp]

My trip takes in the last week of April and the first week of may so I think il wait for the May hours before I start planning

 

[pwdebbie]

Thanks for the post! Very excited....I'm REALLY surprised they are up already!

This is the Travel Agent calendar, the official Disney calendar isn't up yet. And don't consider any of this to be written in stone. Disney is known for changing the calendar around a bit, especially as we get closer to April.

does AK normally have (2) morning EMH ?? And does it usually vary like that? One week its M & S, another it's Weds. & Sat, another it's M & W?
Not that it matters much to me b/c we're probably not even doing AK, but I thought it was weird.

Yes, AK usually has two morning EMH days because they usually don't have evening EMH. It all has to do with the animals' schedules. Animals bed down at dusk, so they avoid evening EMH. There have been a few over the years, but it is not something regular.

And you are right. It is usually Monday and Wednesday. I'm not sure why they are changing it up. We were expecting three morning EMH days during our trip and now there are only two.

If you have time, then don't skip AK. It is our favorite park.

On the TA list of hours, does the "PM (2)" indicate that the PM EMH are only 2 additional hours, not 3? Not that we usually do the PM EMH, but just in case we change our mind.

Thanks!

Yes, PM (2) does mean two hours. It used to be three hours but they changed that in the last several months. It doesn't matter to me as we old folks aren't interested in being out past our bedtime. Sticking it out for Wishes and Illuminations is hard enough on dh. I did notice that Wishes is at 9:00 one time while we are there, so that will be our night for that. I really liked our November trip when Wishes was as early as 7:00 p.m. We were able to stick around for the Kiss Goodnight while the park emptied.

 

[TJDisneymama]

the 7:00 am was opening time, really! there was no EMH it was just 7:00 across the board, April 2011. then April 2012 MOST were changed to 7:00 opening. I remember thinking last year we could sleep in a little then BAM they changed it. Good thing we are early risers. This is why I am kind of hoping that this stays at 9:00am opening! Only park that had that opening was epcot. DHS and AK had 8:00 am openings. I am loving what I see for April 2013

but both those years were right before/after easter, right? I wouldn't think that would happen during our week this year which isnt as close to easter this year.

 

[TJDisneymama]

If you have time, then don't skip AK. It is our favorite park.



Yes, PM (2) does mean two hours. It used to be three hours but they changed that in the last several months. It doesn't matter to me as we old folks aren't interested in being out past our bedtime. Sticking it out for Wishes and Illuminations is hard enough on dh. I did notice that Wishes is at 9:00 one time while we are there, so that will be our night for that. I really liked our November trip when Wishes was as early as 7:00 p.m. We were able to stick around for the Kiss Goodnight while the park emptied.

AK is our least favorite so I'm going to leave day 4 open to either go back to MK again, or do AK.

I hear ya, I saw Wishes was at 10:00 all week and I'm like We won't be making that, lol.

 

[gtpoohbear]

So now that we have park hours, here is our plan. Of course, it will depend on being able to get the ADRs we want, but it's what we are hoping will happen anyway

Thur 4/18
Arrive from MCO ~4pm, check in to YC, swim, unpack, etc.
PM - Epcot , (D)San Angel

Fri 4/19
AM - MK, (B)Chef Mickey's, (L)CRT, break @ hotel
PM - Epcot, (D)Via Napoli (pmEMH, but we'll probably just be there for dinner)

Sat 4/20
AM - DHS (amEMH), (B)Room Service, (L)H&V, break @ hotel
PM - Epcot, (D)Teppan Edo, maybe watch Illuminations

Sun 4/21
AM - AK, (B)Tusker House, (L)Yak&Yeti, try to stay for parade
PM - Hang out at resort or BW, (D)Yachtsman

Mon 4/22
AM - Epcot, (B)Cape May, (L)Le Chef's de France, break @ hotel
PM - MK, (D)Be Our Guest, Wishes, MSELP

Tue 4/23
AM - DHS, (B)Captain's Grille, (L)50's PT Cafe, break @ hotel
PM - Epcot, (D)Akershus

Wed 4/24
AM - Epcot, (B)Cape May, (L)Rose&Crown, break @ hotel
PM - DHS, (D)Mama Melrose, Fantasmic!

Thur 4/25
Check out of YC, have luggage transferred to AoA
AM - MK(amEMH), (B)Room Service, (L)Crystal Palace
PM - Hang out at AoA or DtD, (D)T-Rex

Fri 4/26
Fly home @8am

So we'll hopefully get to use 2 morning EMH's, and maybe a little bit of an evening one. And a break at the hotel everyday except our AK day, going to try to push through and stay for the parade, since we are only spending the one day there. But we'll have a relaxing evening at the resort to make up for it.

Now just have to wait for that ADR date to roll around. DH refuses to eat CS, so I have 20 of them to make. Have to come up with a strategy of which to try for first, if minutes matter. I'm assuming BoG will be the hardest to score, maybe followed by Chef Mickey's, since it's so soon in our trip and we really want a super-early seating.

And I think we've talked ourselves into upgrading DD(9) to an adult so that she will have more/better food (on DxDDP). So I guess I need to call and take care of that before we change our minds again.

All this obsessing, for just one week!!!

 

[momtwoboys]

Gtpoohbear that looks great!! I know where we want to eat , I just have to plan my days for parks!!

 

[mom24mouseketeers]

can you specify non-stop on Priceline? Ahhhh, never mind. I think I''m too picky for Priceline. I like to get early morning flights and would be bummed if we ended up on an afternoon or evening flight

I didn't do the name your own price - that was with me picking my flights.

We leave at 12noon and arrive at 2pm (I wanted the girls to get at least half day credit for school)

We return at 6pm and arrive home at 9pm.

That was on United Air - and when I went to the UA website - it was the same exact price as priceline.

T

 

[mom24mouseketeers]

Today I purchased my two girls' halloween costumes (took advantage of the 25% off the Halloween Accessories as well) from Disney of course. I know I shouldn't splurge that much and I am sure I can find the same ones at some Halloween store - but for some reason when that disney box arrives at the front door it creates some excitement!

I was thinking that since the girls both want to be a princess (one is Snow White and the other is Merida) I would save the costumes after Halloween to use at the BBB in MK. Instead of buying the really expensive package - they can go in with their costumes on.

At least this is how I justified paying almost $50 per costume to my husband! HA!

Has anyone done the BBB before? I didn't do it last year... I thought I would give my girls a treat this year.

T

 

[Mousemommy1]

Today I purchased my two girls' halloween costumes (took advantage of the 25% off the Halloween Accessories as well) from Disney of course. I know I shouldn't splurge that much and I am sure I can find the same ones at some Halloween store - but for some reason when that disney box arrives at the front door it creates some excitement!

I was thinking that since the girls both want to be a princess (one is Snow White and the other is Merida) I would save the costumes after Halloween to use at the BBB in MK. Instead of buying the really expensive package - they can go in with their costumes on.

At least this is how I justified paying almost $50 per costume to my husband! HA!

Has anyone done the BBB before? I didn't do it last year... I thought I would give my girls a treat this year.

T

We did BBB in 2009 when the girls were 3 and 5. They loved it!!! It is expensive though. We spent $450 combined for both of them.
We bought the dresses there though.

Last year, they did Pirates League and REALLY enjoyed that!!! And, it's much cheaper.

 

[thunderjones]

We did BBB in 2009 when the girls were 3 and 5. They loved it!!! It is expensive though. We spent $450 combined for both of them.
We bought the dresses there though.

Last year, they did Pirates League and REALLY enjoyed that!!! And, it's much cheaper.

We're planning on the Pirates League for DD. She'll be 5 and ready to ride PotC without freaking out over the skeletons. Very excited for it and it's pretty daggum reasonable.

 

[gtpoohbear]

Has anyone done the BBB before? I didn't do it last year... I thought I would give my girls a treat this year.

T

My DD has done BBB 4 times - and loved it! The makeovers are really cute, plus the experience itself is a lot of fun. Sadly, she has decided that she doesn't want to do it again this trip. The novelty has obviously worn off. But the fact that it took 4 trips for that to happen shows how cool it is

 

[Mousemommy1]

We're planning on the Pirates League for DD. She'll be 5 and ready to ride PotC without freaking out over the skeletons. Very excited for it and it's pretty daggum reasonable.

It's very reasonable. I think it was $70 for both girls. I just realized I said we did it last year...we actually did it this past July.

Might I also suggest doing the Photopass +, if you are planning on doing some character meals and like ride photos. With the Photopass +, we got the pictures included in the cost of that versus paying for them (I think they were about $15), and we got all of the photos they took at Pirates League

 

[Mousemommy1]

Since everyone is posting their current plans, I'll throw ours in there.

4/18 - Arrive at Yacht Club - Our flight does not land at MCO until 8:30 pm, so we'll probably be at the resort around 9:30 pm and will just explore a bit and go to bed.

4/19 - Magic Kingdom in the morning
Pool time in the afternoon
Epcot in the evening

4/20 - Hollywood Studios during the Day
Yachtsman Steakhouse for dinner
Explore the Boardwalk at night

4/21 - Animal Kingdom in the morning
Pool Time
Magic Kingdom in the evening
Hopefully Be Our Guest ressies tonight!!!

4/22 - Epcot Morning
Lunch at ESPN Club (for DH)
Pool time
Hollywood Studios in the evening

4/23 - Pack up our stuff - hand it over to bell services to be transferred to the Poly!!!
Go to Epcot for the morning and then monorail over to the Poly to check in in the afternoon.
Hang in the CL lounge until Magic Kingdom that night

4/24 - Resort day at the Poly
Sleep in, do some pool time, Lunch at Kona
Then at night, we will drop off the kids at the Neverland Club while we head to Tutto Gusto at Epcot for date night

4/25 - Animal Kingdom in the morning
Will try to get Tusker House ressies
Pool time
Magic Kingdom night

4/26 - Hollywood Studios morning
Pool
Epcot evening

4/27 - Magic Kingdom day

4/28 - Last day
We will let the girls pick where we go so they can do their faves again.
Our flight doesn't leave until 9:30, so ME will pick us up around 6:30