Wow, this is a FAST MOVING GROUP!
I was out running errands most of yesterday and finally got some computer time. Between Part 2 and what has happened here in Part 3 I was 19 pages behind!!!!
I'll just do some quick responses from the last part and try and catch up here in part 3 separately
WedgieSock:
Happy Saturday! Thanks so much for that! You work is appreciated
Happy Sunday now! You're welcome on the map, I had fun putting it together
I agree with the above (about DHS touring) but if you have evening EMH you might just squeeze it all in.
That is true, the extra hour or two can make the difference in being able to catch all of the major stuff.
The latter yes. If F! is at 6.30, you'll be in Streets of American by 7.30 at the latest so that give you 30mins (the show is 10ins long) if my recall memory serves me right.
If you are scheduled for a NPH night then I would DEFINITELY do the package. That way you get in the CP Package line which is way shorter.
That sounds good to me, catch Fantasmic! and then stroll over to catch one or two cycles of the lights.
I am trying to swing the Candlelight Dining Package but haven't been able to land one late enough (latest I've found was 5:45pm). We land at 4:23pm and I plan on checking in via phone ahead of time so we technically can pick up keys, sign, and drop off carry-ons in our room and be on a bus between 5:30-6pm. Another 30 minutes to an hour to get to World Showcase puts us at 6:30-7pm. I think I'm just going to have to let go of that happening
Thank you, it was something I just had to do .... for humanity.
We've had some rain recently which has been a good thing, we really need it! Hope the weather holds out for your trip tomorrow.
I like that, donuts for the good of humanity!
The weather has cooperated, unfortunately DD2 has come down with a cold

so we're just having a quiet day and will go pumpkin hunting next weekend. Glad you got some rain too!
Maddie's Nana:
Wow - great work!! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see it.
You're very welcome!
Tltorrez:
DHS is the least cohesive of the parks. It's a weird mix of things so it totally depends on what you're into. The trickiest part of planning DHS is scheduling the three shows (LMA, B&B, IJ) plus the parade. If you're seeing all those and riding the headliners - TSM, RNRC, ToT, Star Tours - now you're almost at a full day. If you're seeing characters (Buzz & Woody, Lightning, random characters in the Art of Animation Building) that adds more time. Fantasmic sucks up a couple hours; we usually do that on one of our Epcot days. And now we haven't even talked about the non-headliner rides. Plus there are a few things geared to little kids that you can't/won't do - Jedi Training and Disney Junior.
Yes, it is such an eclectic park, and with the streets it is one of the trickiest to navigate, especially when trying to get from LMA to IJ or B&B. I guess in the end it comes down to choosing what you want to see and managing time from there
For us, I've done the thrill rides and they weren't my favorites. Since the rest of the family won't ride, they're skippable. We went last year and rode everything else, saw the shows and met the characters. Took a full day plus two partial to do everything including Fantasmic and Jedi. None of those really thrilled us enough to repeat except TSM (for DS) and Fantasmic. So we're only planning to see those plus the things that have changed since our last trip: Star Tours (closed last time), Muppets (refurb), Osborne (this is our first Christmas trip). So we'll hit a few things in the morning, then come back one evening. We'd just rather spend more time at the other parks.
Sounds like a plan. Our 13yr old DD2's goal is to ride ToT & RnRC a total of 13 times combined. She rode DL's ToT 5 times when she was 5 and RnRC & ToT 8 times when she was 8. She actually wanted to ride both 13 times but I told her it would take all day and my head would explode
I should also mention that people feel the same way about AK. Some people do it in a half day. But for us it's a day and a half at least. But that all depends on how much you want to stop and see every animal. If you're mainly focusing on traditional attractions you're done by 3pm.
Also very true, we have a very extensive animal park about an hour from here so we're probably going to skip the safaris this year. We still easily do a full day at AK no matter what.
Thanks for the map. I was just wondering if the made new ones. I always keep a copy in Evernote and its driving me nuts that they're not updated. I wonder if they'll wait until the Grand Opening?
You're very welcome! I figure they'll have to release a new map soon since they're doing sneak peeks to the public at several of the attractions.
I don't think you could realistically catch the turn- on and Fantasmic (if there's only one show). We decided we didn't want to see the lighting anyway. The ceremony seems to be nothing special and it's most crowded then. The lights don't go off until half an hour after park closing so there's plenty of time after.
That seems to be the general thought on it. I'm liking that idea more and more as we can grab dinner and then go find good seating for Fantasmic! and rest our feet. Then take in the lights before we leave :-]
My 13 yr old daughter is really into Skylanders too. Good job coming up with party ideas for you boy.
levenhopper:
I think Abby and I are more into the rides than the shows. We've talked about wanting to do wanting to do: RnRC, ToT, Star Tours, TSM, The Beauty and the Beast show, and Fantasmic!. Anything else would be awesome, but those are our top picks.
If things go the way they did last trip DD2 and I will get the best of both worlds. Our first day there will be more shows and stuff. And then the girls get a Daddy/Daughter Mommy/Daughter day where each girl pics a parent and a park they want to go back to. Last time it was DW and DD1 at EPCOT and me with DD2 (the daredevil) back at DHS riding all the thrill rides over and over
ksromack:
I love this! It's now safely saved to my WDW file! Thank you!
For us, DHS is 1.5 day park. Our first day is really only an evening with late EMH......I plan to do Osbourne Lights AND am praying for a late Fantasmic the same night as it's EMH. We plan on being there for the turn-on of the lights....is that at 5:30? I guess I better get that time in my head! As for CP package.....I knew I wanted it and we aren't even seeing NPH. I hate wasting precious park time in a line more than an hour long.....so the package is a necessity for us!
Thank you and you're very welcome - I enjoyed putting it together!
Good plan on DHS and I hear ya on the CP package. I'm still trying to get a decent time that works with our schedule.
On that note, does anyone know how late the restaurants take reservations for the Candlelight Processional Dining Package (trying to coordinate with the 8:15pm showing)? I may be looking for a time that doesn't exist.
mom2travel:
Thank you!
You're very welcome!
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1stvisit0909
My thoughts exactly, though I would loooove to shoot at WDW. I know! A solo trip for mom just to take pictures!
PhoenixStrength:
I think one of my favorite things about taking solo trips is taking the time to take pictures of everything. My trip in Feb I took 400-700 pictures per day on a 8.5 day trip.
And I'm late to the conversation, but I have never used park hoppers and have never wished I did. I think they are a waste of time and money. The time you spend travelling park to park you could do several rides instead. JMHO though.
I agree with both of you about taking pictures in the parks - I try for a morning towards the end of each trip to just explore a particular park and take a bunch of pictures. I'm a camera nut in general ...I posted soooo many pictures on my last TR
We've done park hoppers in the past but I found that we only used them once so don't do them anymore. There is enough to do at each park to fill a day for us.
Another question for the group - I tried to follow the link to the Facebook page that is out there in conjunction with this page and it just took me to the main FB page. Does anyone have the name of the page?
Now back to the last baker's dozen of pages here on Part 3!!!