PS's and Hopping?

[tekmom]

Hi! We are getting hoppers for our first trip to disney in July. How can I make PS's if i'm not sure where I'll be hopping to? Anyone know? I know I would like two sit down dinners and at least one lunch but where will I be? How do you do it? Thanks!

 

[goofy4tink]

Most of us have a pretty good idea where we'll be each day. Sit with a guide book and try to get a feel for where you'll be on a given day. You may start the day in MK and then hop over to MGM. You might want to base it on which park has early opening or late closing that day. You can make a PS and then cancel it if you find that you aren't going to be anywhere close to that park.
Most of us have some kind of a plan in mind...not so much a commando style but we tend to know where we want to go and what we want to see/do. So, maybe you could make one PS for each day...or two PSs in a day..say one at MK at Crystal Palace for dinner and one at LeCellier in Epcot (World Showcase). Then, when you figure out which park you'll be in, go to Guest Services and cancel the one you don't want.

 

[tekmom]

Thank You! Because this is our first trip, even with planning it's so hard to figure out where to eat...so many places look good! I didn't know that you could make multiple PS's in different areas around the same time. Maybe I should do that..thanks again!

 

[blueeyez]

We are going in September for our 1st trip also. I just don't want to be tied-down to a PS. Do they charge a fee if you cancel the same day? I feel like we can't really decide until we know the park hours, including early openings and late closings. Does anyone know where I can find this for September? I see on some websites, the hours are only posted for months of May & June. I'm so not a procrastinator so it's driving me nuts! I don't know the lay of the land, so to speak, so I don't know how long it would take us to get from one park to the other.

 

[Bob P]

Hi Blueeyez,

September park hours and EMH will not be released until early July.

There are no fees for cancelling PS late (unless it is a credit card guaranteed PS, like CRT).

Here is a link to historical park hours, but the hours this September may not be the same. EMH was not in effect last September so there's no history, but this year EMH hours have been fairly consistent from month to month.

http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/calendar/historical/archive/default.asp

 

[LisaS]

Thank You! Because this is our first trip, even with planning it's so hard to figure out where to eat...so many places look good! I didn't know that you could make multiple PS's in different areas around the same time. Maybe I should do that..thanks again!

While I don't think Disney prevents you from making multiple PSs in different parks for the same time, it's not very helpful to your fellow park visitors. There are a limited number of PSs available for each meal at a given restaurant. While you are holding on to those extra PSs to keep your options open until the last minute, other people who call to try to get a PS for one of those restaurants, and who genuinely want to eat there and plan to show up, will be told "sorry -- nothing available". It makes it hard for others to plan when people start to tie up multiple PSs.

I know it isn't easy to predict so far ahead of time exactly what you will want to do day by day during your trip, especially since it's your first visit. But unfortunately that is just the way it is if you want to make your dining PSs ahead of time. When we went the first time we didn't park hop much at all. We ended up spending whole days in each park because everything was new to us and there was no way we could do a whole park in less than a day. We started each day with a big breakfast at our hotel and then headed for a park. We had a snack at some point during the day and then had dinner in whatever park we were visiting that day. (Since AK closes early (5pm) we had dinner that night at Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge.)

We need to have a few non-park days during our trip to relax and recharge. We usually do 2 park days, then a resort/pool day or a water park day, then 2 park days then another resort/pool day. On our first trip, for our non-park days we made PSs at restaurants at our resort or neighboring resorts because I didn't want to waste a day on our park tickets just to go into a park to eat. But with the new MYW tickets, adding additional days is very inexpensive so on our trip this year, we often had dinner in a park even on our non-park days. We stayed at Yacht Club so it was easy to walk to Epcot or MGM for dinner and that expanded the list of restaurants we could choose from when making our dining plans.

I guess what I would suggest to you is to start by coming up with an overall plan for which parks you will do on which days, and which days you might want to take a break from the parks. Then make PSs that make sense based on where you expect to be that day. You said there were lots of restaurants you want to try so for non-park days, look over the list of restaurants you haven't already booked and pick one to go to on that non-park day.

You should expect that during your planning phase you will revise and refine your plan, so count on making several calls to Disney Dining while you get things sorted out. Also Disney may pull a few surprises that cause you to have to revise things. For example, maybe SpectroMagic at MK gets moved to a different night so you end up having to switch your MK day to whatever day Spectromagic is on, and this will cause you to make some changes to your PSs a few weeks before your trip.

And remember there are lots of good places to eat and you won't get to do them all in one visit. Just hope that over time you'll make more visits to WDW and get to try some of the ones you missed the first time!

 

[tekmom]

Thank you very much for your response! I won't make the multiple PS's...I would be very upset if I couldn't get a PS because of someone's multiples. The one day for sure i know where I'll be is my MK day...so that's taken care of. Is it possible to walk from MGM and EPCOT and viceversa? If so, I could make my dinner reservations for maybe epcot. We are already doing the Fantasmic package at BD the night before we leave and that was our only MGM plan. I'm trying to decide between LeCellier and Yachtsman for dinner one night. Which has better steaks...the husband is a meat and potatoes guy and we are doing Boma for me. Is walking from MGM or EPCOT to The Yachtsman doable? So far I'm thinking Boma on arrival, lunch at MK(haven't decided where yet) and dinner at a steak place for the husband. any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[LisaS]

Is it possible to walk from MGM and EPCOT and viceversa? If so, I could make my dinner reservations for maybe epcot. We are already doing the Fantasmic package at BD the night before we leave and that was our only MGM plan. I'm trying to decide between LeCellier and Yachtsman for dinner one night. Which has better steaks...the husband is a meat and potatoes guy and we are doing Boma for me. Is walking from MGM or EPCOT to The Yachtsman doable? So far I'm thinking Boma on arrival, lunch at MK(haven't decided where yet) and dinner at a steak place for the husband. any advice greatly appreciated!

I've never walked all the way from Epcot's International Gateway to MGM, but I've walked between Epcot and Yacht Club and between MGM and Yacht Club. We love to walk and we move along at a pretty good clip. It took us about 10 minutes to walk from YC to Epcot's International Gateway. When we walked between YC and MGM I didn't time it but I would estimate it took us about 20 minutes.

There are boats you can take that go from Epcot's International Gateway to the Epcot resorts (Boardwalk, Yacht and Beach Club, the Swan and the Dolphin) and then over to MGM and then back to the Epcot resorts and back to Epcot's International Gateway. So you could get on at Epcot and ride the boat all the way to MGM (or vice versa), or start at either park and get off at Yacht Club if you are dining at the Yachtsman's Steakhouse. The boat trip takes almost as long as walking since it makes all those stops along the way but it's a fun ride and great when your feet are just too tired to make the trip on foot.

 

[Bob P]

Is it possible to walk from MGM and EPCOT and viceversa? If so, I could make my dinner reservations for maybe epcot. We are already doing the Fantasmic package at BD the night before we leave and that was our only MGM plan.

Definitely! Last week we walked from the Studios to Epcot, did Soarin' and TT, and walked back to the Studios for dinner and Fantasmic! Or, as Lisa said, you can take the boat. Walking will probably be faster unless the boat is waiting at the dock when you leave the Studios.

Have fun!

Bob

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

Please note that the Friendship boats run all day between the International Gateway of Epcot to the Disney Studios. Along the way they stop at the Beach/Yacht clubs, Boardwalk, and Swan/Dolphin. It's a slow ride but very relaxing, especially after all the walking at WDW. If you want to walk between the Studios and the International Gateway I would estimate it around 25-35 minutes depending on how fast you walk. It is a very pleasant walk that takes you by the Boardwalk resort, Swan/Dolphin and then you can stay along the boardwalk itself or cross the bridge and walk beside the Yacht and Beach clubs to get to Epcot. Very nice area with a lot of restaurants. Check dining on allearsnet.com for the hotels in this area since there is a great variety of food available.

 

[philaround]

I always know which parks I'll be visiting for each day of my vacation so I'll know where to make my PSs. I don't get too detailed about exactly how I am going to tour each park, just some general guidelines.
I like to feel a little control over my movements but feel a lot of pressure if I set down a touring plan and find myself rushing to get from one attraction to the next.