*******Official August 2017 Countdown Thread ~ Feeling hot, hot, hot!!!******

[suse66]

Joining in on the August fun as I booked my second solo trip for AKL from August 21-28th! I am so excited for MNSSHP as I've always wanted to do this and can't travel during the fall as I work in a school. Looking forward to chatting about all our fun plans in the sun and heat!

 

[Tomh]

I have figured out the BEST part of MNSSHP starting on the 25th - for me anyway.

It will give me a chance to go to Skipper Canteen again since there are too many things I want to try on the menu for one visit! (This is NOT usual for someone gluten-free!!)

As much as I looked forward to this restaurant opening when I saw the construction, when it finally did, I couldn't find a thing on the menu that I was interested in. Glad to hear that there are indeed people who enjoy it! Kind of wish that they would add a few simple plain options as well though. A little comfort food goes a long way. I kind of feel the same way about Be Our Guest. Some members of my family love it, some just can't find a thing there they are interested in. I think they should just add a couple of simple things to the menu there.

 

[TJDisneymama]

As much as I looked forward to this restaurant opening when I saw the construction, when it finally did, I couldn't find a thing on the menu that I was interested in. Glad to hear that there are indeed people who enjoy it! Kind of wish that they would add a few simple plain options as well though. A little comfort food goes a long way. I kind of feel the same way about Be Our Guest. Some members of my family love it, some just can't find a thing there they are interested in. I think they should just add a couple of simple things to the menu there.

i agree, i was so xcited to try Skipper Canteen but nobody in our party really enjoyed the food much.
we do love BoG though, it's our favorite restaurant. i always just get the filet and it is delicious.

 

[TI double-GUH ER]

How long are the rains late August? I know if a hurricane is coming then there will be lots of rain and wind. How about a normal late August rain and when in the day does it happen?

Last time we went we had a few days where it rained for an hour in the afternoon, but also several days where it just rained all day. No hurricane - just rain. Not a big deal, but it happened to wash out the days we were planning to do water parks, and so we had to change plans a bit.
If you're in the parks, I recommend making sure you have decent footwear- wet socks aren't fun- and a poncho. With those two things, you can pretty much just keep touring.

 

[TI double-GUH ER]

Anyone changing plans or days for the MNSSHP?

 

[MeghanEmily]

Anyone changing plans or days for the MNSSHP?

Looks like we may be! We were hoping for a party on the 25th, but not really planning for it, so now we don't have time for it in our schedule. We decided we could just cut something...or we could just add an extra day to our reservation to make more room! haha you may be able to guess which we decided on...

 

[TJDisneymama]

I'm starting to re-think my plans now......On 2 days I have us arriving at rope drop and staying 'til dinner time (around 5:00 in the park....MK & EP), then back to resort for evening swim/resort time.

One day I have us arriving after lunch, staying 'til park close at 8:30 (HS for Fantasmic)

And then one day I have us arriving late morning to MK for DD's BBB appt, then staying 'til park close for fireworks (9:00 pm).

But now I'm concerned about the afternoon heat in the parks and wondering if I should switch to the early morning arrival/mid-day break at resort/back to the park for the evening plan instead.???? I hate to waste all that time going back and forth on the buses if I do the mid-day break though........that's potentially 2-3 hours spent waiting for and riding on buses.

I do also have a resort/swim day planned on day 4, and we should have a bit of swim time on arrival evening. So I do have a lot of swim time planned, it's just more the question of should we be out of the parks in the afternoon heat?? Or maybe I should have planned our TS meals to be lunch vs. dinner, so we could have a break during the worst heat.........why am I thinking of this now, 3 months after I made my ADRs?????

 

[Tomh]

I'm starting to re-think my plans now......On 2 days I have us arriving at rope drop and staying 'til dinner time (around 5:00 in the park....MK & EP), then back to resort for evening swim/resort time.

One day I have us arriving after lunch, staying 'til park close at 8:30 (HS for Fantasmic)

And then one day I have us arriving late morning to MK for DD's BBB appt, then staying 'til park close for fireworks (9:00 pm).

But now I'm concerned about the afternoon heat in the parks and wondering if I should switch to the early morning arrival/mid-day break at resort/back to the park for the evening plan instead.???? I hate to waste all that time going back and forth on the buses if I do the mid-day break though........that's potentially 2-3 hours spent waiting for and riding on buses.

I do also have a resort/swim day planned on day 4, and we should have a bit of swim time on arrival evening. So I do have a lot of swim time planned, it's just more the question of should we be out of the parks in the afternoon heat?? Or maybe I should have planned our TS meals to be lunch vs. dinner, so we could have a break during the worst heat.........why am I thinking of this now, 3 months after I made my ADRs?????

3 months after making ADR's, I would just leave things as they are, and do the best you can with it. We always stay at the park from open until close. It does get pretty hot in the afternoon, but that is a good time to wander through the shops, see air conditioned shows, stop for a drink or snack, etc.

 

[TJDisneymama]

I ended up also grabbing a lunch res. on 2 of the days......my first MK day I can't do anything about b/c it's BoG for dinner, and I don't want to do QS lunch (its my bday dinner ) .

So I just have to decide if I want to do lunch instead of dinner on those other 2 days. Options are:

Day 2: EP - arrive at rope drop. Do future world in the morn, then head over to the WS around 1:00 (DD wants to do the Passport book). Originally I had a 5 pm ADR for dinner at Rose & Crown so I figured we'd do the whole WS, ending with dinner at Rose & Crown, and then leaving. now I also have a 1:00 lunch there so Thinking maybe starting off the WS with the lunch break at R&C. With dinner at R&C, what if we finish the passport early and it's so &%#^ hot, and we still have to hang around waiting for our R&C ressie, ya know? This way, doing lunch instead, however long it takes us to do the passport, is how long we have to stay (or if so miserably hot that she just wants to give up early).

Day 5: MK - arriving around noon for BBB appt., planning to stay til park close (9 pm). Originally had 5:00 pm CRT dinner, now I also have a 1:00. Wondering if we should just do BBB, then go straight to CRT since we'll be right there anyways and DD will be freshly made up, have lunch like 1-2:00, then have the rest of the day/evening to do what we want.

What do you think?

 

[Disneylover99]

I ended up also grabbing a lunch res. on 2 of the days......my first MK day I can't do anything about b/c it's BoG for dinner, and I don't want to do QS lunch (its my bday dinner ) .

So I just have to decide if I want to do lunch instead of dinner on those other 2 days. Options are:

Day 2: EP - arrive at rope drop. Do future world in the morn, then head over to the WS around 1:00 (DD wants to do the Passport book). Originally I had a 5 pm ADR for dinner at Rose & Crown so I figured we'd do the whole WS, ending with dinner at Rose & Crown, and then leaving. now I also have a 1:00 lunch there so Thinking maybe starting off the WS with the lunch break at R&C. With dinner at R&C, what if we finish the passport early and it's so &%#^ hot, and we still have to hang around waiting for our R&C ressie, ya know? This way, doing lunch instead, however long it takes us to do the passport, is how long we have to stay (or if so miserably hot that she just wants to give up early).

Day 5: MK - arriving around noon for BBB appt., planning to stay til park close (9 pm). Originally had 5:00 pm CRT dinner, now I also have a 1:00. Wondering if we should just do BBB, then go straight to CRT since we'll be right there anyways and DD will be freshly made up, have lunch like 1-2:00, then have the rest of the day/evening to do what we want.

What do you think?

Both good changes.

We try to book TS lunches over dinners during August because our plans tend to unravel as the day rolls on. The heat and the rain can really make you cranky.

If you're rope dropping Epcot, I would definitely recommend a lunch reservation, that way you're not compelled to stay in WS if the weather is tiring you out.

I would definitively do CRT right after BBB when your daughter is feeling glamorous and fresh. You all might be hot messes by 5pm.

 

[TJDisneymama]

Both good changes.

We try to book TS lunches over dinners during August because our plans tend to unravel as the day rolls on. The heat and the rain can really make you cranky. This is my first summer trip with a child along. I've done adult only trips in august which are way more laid back, and we never felt compelled to stay in the parks, if it was too hot we just laid by the pool, or too rainy we just went and took naps, lol. So I have no idea how DD will fare with the heat.

If you're rope dropping Epcot, I would definitely recommend a lunch reservation, that way you're not compelled to stay in WS if the weather is tiring you out. Exactly, I know that the WS can feel like the desert on hot days. I know one time DH and I had grand plans to spend the afternoon snacking and drinking around the WS (august trip). We got from Mexico to like Italy and were like 'screw this', hopped on the friendship boat and went back to the hotel. we were drenched in sweat. I always remember it because DH had a huge sweat stain on the front of his shirt in the shape of a hidden mickey.

I would definitively do CRT right after BBB when your daughter is feeling glamorous and fresh. You all might be hot messes by 5pm. Yep. Plus, I'm lazy in the heat. we're literally going to be RIGHT THERE at CRT after BBB, why not just get it done then instead of traipsing back across the park 5 hours later?

I feel much better about our plans now. Now I just need to adjust our touring plans for those days. !

 

[TJDisneymama]

So the only day we need to power through the whole day is my first MK day, (which is my bday so DD thinks we're going to do all kinds of fun/exciting things that day in celebration, lol). We have 5:00 BoG ressies. I don't want to be out too late that night as we're rope dropping EP the following day so I figured a full MK day beginning with rope drop and ending with our BoG dinner at 5:00. I hope we can make it through the day. I guess I should really strategically plan my FPs and touring plans in general.....outdoor attractions (dumbo, jungle cruise, magic carpet, etc.) &character meets early in day and indoor stuff later in afternoon when heat is at its worst.

 

[Pills]

25th was a scheduled MK day for us, so that's likely our party day (first full day down). We have to have the peanut talk with my older one, though.

We have a water park day, and are trying to keep days open so we have options (we've only made 4 ADRs for 9 days). We're going 8/24-9/2. 8/24-8/27 have plans, we'll need an AK day in there, and 8/31 is the start of Food & Wine.

As someone who's taken a few August trips, I'll give this advice: Take it slow. The worst day we ever had down there was in 2015 when our bus stop at CSR closed without any warning (I complained to Disney about it). We had to then rush to get to our BoG ADR when the heat index was already over 100 degrees at 10:30, and we had planned to hop to Epcot afterwards. Luckily(?), a thunderstorm went through when we were almost at the front of the TT line, and we ended up sitting in the nice A/C for an hour, which completely rejuvenated us. You know the usual - drink water, stay in shade, get into A/C as much as possible, but RELAX, too.

 

[Kudmani]

So the only day we need to power through the whole day is my first MK day, (which is my bday so DD thinks we're going to do all kinds of fun/exciting things that day in celebration, lol). We have 5:00 BoG ressies. I don't want to be out too late that night as we're rope dropping EP the following day so I figured a full MK day beginning with rope drop and ending with our BoG dinner at 5:00. I hope we can make it through the day. I guess I should really strategically plan my FPs and touring plans in general.....outdoor attractions (dumbo, jungle cruise, magic carpet, etc.) &character meets early in day and indoor stuff later in afternoon when heat is at its worst.

You could also take the monorail over to one of the resorts for a couple hours if you wanted to take a break from the park in the middle of the day.

 

[TJDisneymama]

So.....topic of the week: Hollywood Studios. What is your touring strategy at HS? I'm finding less and less stuff that interests us there each trip. Really, I'd be ok with skipping it altogether except that feels wrong, and I do like the street performances and general atmosphere. But trying to put my touring plan together....there's really no "must dos" there for us, except TSM. Especially on this upcoming trip with it being just me and DD, we won't be doing ToT or RnRC like when DS is with us (DD sits out). We aren't into star wars so we can skip that section. DD's too old for Disney Jr. characters so can skip those meets. We do love Fantasmic and are doing the F! dining package, so that's really the main focus of our HS day, but when I originally started planning my days it originally was going to be a full day park just because it always has been, but as I tried to plan the day I had to keep pushing our arrival time to later and later, because there's not enough to fill our day and have us make it to F! at 8:30. So now I have us arriving at 3:30 for our dinner and still wondering what we will do for 4 hours while we wait for Fantasmic.....thinking about the attractions besides TSM: Muppets - eh, probably skip. Indiana Jones - eh, probably skip. BatB, Frozen, Little Mermaid shows - eh, eh, eh. Maybe because we just saw them all in November, I'm not dying to see them again, I don't know. I guess that will be a good time to get as much autograph-hunting in as possible. I suppose I will focus my touring plan on which characters are where.
We do enjoy the little street shows so am happy will get to watch some of those. Usually we are in a rush to get to our next attraction so can't stop for more than 5 minutes.
Just wondering everyone else's thoughts on HS these days.
I actually have the same issue with our AK day, but I'll save that topic for another day, lol.

 

[Kudmani]

So.....topic of the week: Hollywood Studios. What is your touring strategy at HS? I'm finding less and less stuff that interests us there each trip. Really, I'd be ok with skipping it altogether except that feels wrong, and I do like the street performances and general atmosphere. But trying to put my touring plan together....there's really no "must dos" there for us, except TSM. Especially on this upcoming trip with it being just me and DD, we won't be doing ToT or RnRC like when DS is with us (DD sits out). We aren't into star wars so we can skip that section. DD's too old for Disney Jr. characters so can skip those meets. We do love Fantasmic and are doing the F! dining package, so that's really the main focus of our HS day, but when I originally started planning my days it originally was going to be a full day park just because it always has been, but as I tried to plan the day I had to keep pushing our arrival time to later and later, because there's not enough to fill our day and have us make it to F! at 8:30. So now I have us arriving at 3:30 for our dinner and still wondering what we will do for 4 hours while we wait for Fantasmic.....thinking about the attractions besides TSM: Muppets - eh, probably skip. Indiana Jones - eh, probably skip. BatB, Frozen, Little Mermaid shows - eh, eh, eh. Maybe because we just saw them all in November, I'm not dying to see them again, I don't know. I guess that will be a good time to get as much autograph-hunting in as possible. I suppose I will focus my touring plan on which characters are where.
We do enjoy the little street shows so am happy will get to watch some of those. Usually we are in a rush to get to our next attraction so can't stop for more than 5 minutes.
Just wondering everyone else's thoughts on HS these days.
I actually have the same issue with our AK day, but I'll save that topic for another day, lol.

If you would be interested in moving your Fantasmic! reservation up to an earlier lunch, you could probably knock out everything you wanted to do before lunch and then spend the rest of the day in Epcot until time to head back for Fantasmic! seating. We did this with lunch at Mama Melrose and a QS dinner in World Showcase. Took the boat back to HS to give our feet a little rest that evening. It made for a really nice day.

 

[Tomh]

I ended up also grabbing a lunch res. on 2 of the days......my first MK day I can't do anything about b/c it's BoG for dinner, and I don't want to do QS lunch (its my bday dinner ) .

So I just have to decide if I want to do lunch instead of dinner on those other 2 days. Options are:

Day 2: EP - arrive at rope drop. Do future world in the morn, then head over to the WS around 1:00 (DD wants to do the Passport book). Originally I had a 5 pm ADR for dinner at Rose & Crown so I figured we'd do the whole WS, ending with dinner at Rose & Crown, and then leaving. now I also have a 1:00 lunch there so Thinking maybe starting off the WS with the lunch break at R&C. With dinner at R&C, what if we finish the passport early and it's so &%#^ hot, and we still have to hang around waiting for our R&C ressie, ya know? This way, doing lunch instead, however long it takes us to do the passport, is how long we have to stay (or if so miserably hot that she just wants to give up early).

Day 5: MK - arriving around noon for BBB appt., planning to stay til park close (9 pm). Originally had 5:00 pm CRT dinner, now I also have a 1:00. Wondering if we should just do BBB, then go straight to CRT since we'll be right there anyways and DD will be freshly made up, have lunch like 1-2:00, then have the rest of the day/evening to do what we want.

What do you think?

I don't handle heat super well, and we visit Disney in August every summer. I manage to get through the entire day without melting, or melting down. There are plenty of indoor spaces in Epcot where you can get out of the heat for a while, and cool down. Mexico is entirely inside, big stores to wander through in China and Japan, Frozen Ever After in Norway, the American Adventure is all indoors. Plenty of gift shops in the other pavilions, and lots of opportunities to sit down and enjoy a cold beverage. You may find that if you take it slow and easy, and grab a drink and relax whenever you are feeling hot, that World Showcase is plenty tolerable even in August heat.

 

[Tomh]

So.....topic of the week: Hollywood Studios. What is your touring strategy at HS? I'm finding less and less stuff that interests us there each trip. Really, I'd be ok with skipping it altogether except that feels wrong, and I do like the street performances and general atmosphere. But trying to put my touring plan together....there's really no "must dos" there for us, except TSM. Especially on this upcoming trip with it being just me and DD, we won't be doing ToT or RnRC like when DS is with us (DD sits out). We aren't into star wars so we can skip that section. DD's too old for Disney Jr. characters so can skip those meets. We do love Fantasmic and are doing the F! dining package, so that's really the main focus of our HS day, but when I originally started planning my days it originally was going to be a full day park just because it always has been, but as I tried to plan the day I had to keep pushing our arrival time to later and later, because there's not enough to fill our day and have us make it to F! at 8:30. So now I have us arriving at 3:30 for our dinner and still wondering what we will do for 4 hours while we wait for Fantasmic.....thinking about the attractions besides TSM: Muppets - eh, probably skip. Indiana Jones - eh, probably skip. BatB, Frozen, Little Mermaid shows - eh, eh, eh. Maybe because we just saw them all in November, I'm not dying to see them again, I don't know. I guess that will be a good time to get as much autograph-hunting in as possible. I suppose I will focus my touring plan on which characters are where.
We do enjoy the little street shows so am happy will get to watch some of those. Usually we are in a rush to get to our next attraction so can't stop for more than 5 minutes.
Just wondering everyone else's thoughts on HS these days.
I actually have the same issue with our AK day, but I'll save that topic for another day, lol.

My touring strategy for Hollywood Studios will be exactly the same as my strategy last August . .. . skip it until there are some attractions there that really interest us. Right now, Hollywood Studios for us is Rock n Roller coaster for my DS, rest of us have no interest in it, Toy Story Mania, Muppets 3D, Star Tours, Indiana Jones, maybe Little Mermaid, The Great Movie Ride and Fantasmic. It is barely a half day. DD won't ride Star Tours, DS has no real interest in Little Mermaid. When they still had the backstage tour, and Lights Motors Action, and a parade, we could pretty well fill the day, but right now, to us, it isn't worth the cost of the admission ticket.

 

[MeghanEmily]

So.....topic of the week: Hollywood Studios. What is your touring strategy at HS? I'm finding less and less stuff that interests us there each trip. Really, I'd be ok with skipping it altogether except that feels wrong, and I do like the street performances and general atmosphere. But trying to put my touring plan together....there's really no "must dos" there for us, except TSM. Especially on this upcoming trip with it being just me and DD, we won't be doing ToT or RnRC like when DS is with us (DD sits out). We aren't into star wars so we can skip that section. DD's too old for Disney Jr. characters so can skip those meets. We do love Fantasmic and are doing the F! dining package, so that's really the main focus of our HS day, but when I originally started planning my days it originally was going to be a full day park just because it always has been, but as I tried to plan the day I had to keep pushing our arrival time to later and later, because there's not enough to fill our day and have us make it to F! at 8:30. So now I have us arriving at 3:30 for our dinner and still wondering what we will do for 4 hours while we wait for Fantasmic.....thinking about the attractions besides TSM: Muppets - eh, probably skip. Indiana Jones - eh, probably skip. BatB, Frozen, Little Mermaid shows - eh, eh, eh. Maybe because we just saw them all in November, I'm not dying to see them again, I don't know. I guess that will be a good time to get as much autograph-hunting in as possible. I suppose I will focus my touring plan on which characters are where.
We do enjoy the little street shows so am happy will get to watch some of those. Usually we are in a rush to get to our next attraction so can't stop for more than 5 minutes.
Just wondering everyone else's thoughts on HS these days.
I actually have the same issue with our AK day, but I'll save that topic for another day, lol.

We're spending the second half of one day at HS and that's it. I wanted to go back to Brown Derby for the cobb salad since we didn't go last trip, and we want to get back to Fantasmic. We'll FP TSM for both of us and ToT and ST for Nathan. That's about all I have for HS plans until they have new offerings.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

So.....topic of the week: Hollywood Studios. What is your touring strategy at HS? I'm finding less and less stuff that interests us there each trip. Really, I'd be ok with skipping it altogether except that feels wrong, and I do like the street performances and general atmosphere. But trying to put my touring plan together....there's really no "must dos" there for us, except TSM. Especially on this upcoming trip with it being just me and DD, we won't be doing ToT or RnRC like when DS is with us (DD sits out). We aren't into star wars so we can skip that section. DD's too old for Disney Jr. characters so can skip those meets. We do love Fantasmic and are doing the F! dining package, so that's really the main focus of our HS day, but when I originally started planning my days it originally was going to be a full day park just because it always has been, but as I tried to plan the day I had to keep pushing our arrival time to later and later, because there's not enough to fill our day and have us make it to F! at 8:30. So now I have us arriving at 3:30 for our dinner and still wondering what we will do for 4 hours while we wait for Fantasmic.....thinking about the attractions besides TSM: Muppets - eh, probably skip. Indiana Jones - eh, probably skip. BatB, Frozen, Little Mermaid shows - eh, eh, eh. Maybe because we just saw them all in November, I'm not dying to see them again, I don't know. I guess that will be a good time to get as much autograph-hunting in as possible. I suppose I will focus my touring plan on which characters are where.
We do enjoy the little street shows so am happy will get to watch some of those. Usually we are in a rush to get to our next attraction so can't stop for more than 5 minutes.
Just wondering everyone else's thoughts on HS these days.
I actually have the same issue with our AK day, but I'll save that topic for another day, lol.

We are doing 2 half days there. I really don't think we need to spend that much time there, but the kids (22, 20 and 13) all want to ride their favorites. The oldest 2 like ToT. I do not. We will all ride Toy Story and Rock N Rollercoaster. My youngest loves Star Tours, so that is a must. We didn't like Fastasmic or BatB show. We probably won't do the Little Mermaid show unless we are boiling. We have never seen Indiana Jones, so we might see that one. We don't care for Great Movie Ride. Muppets, not watching it again. We probably will see the Frozen show. It has been 3 years. The only food they requested was Sci-Fi Dine-in. We will probably look for characters. I am looking at my itinerary and I just noticed another day I had scheduled a few hours at DHS. Going to have to see why I did that. I am not sure why we need that much time there.