Rate my plans, please! Input appreciated :)

[collegejunkie]

I'm a WDW pro, but I am slightly nervous because I'm taking my boss in December. We are going for a meeting and will have some time in the parks. We get along *very* well, but still, the pressure is on as the WDW expert to show her a good time. Here's what I have for now:

Arrival day: plane lands at ~3 pm
Check in to the resort
Disney Springs and dinner reservation at 8 pm - Homecoming Kitchen (new for me). She requested time to shop and browse merchandise to do some gift shopping

Day 1: Meetings until 4 pm
Epcot after
5:30 pm dinner at La Hacienda De San Angel for Candlelight Processional show at 8:15 pm
She loves Christmas, so I thought CP would be nice. She isn't really into tons of rides, so I thought we could walk around and listen to the holiday story tellers and do some easy rides like Soarin' or Frozen (assuming we get FPes) and living with the land because she loves to garden. Perhaps the Behind the Seeds tour if we have time

Day 2: MVMCP
Typhoon Lagoon until 2 pm, then get ready for MVMCP. I realize this will be weather-dependent, so the back up plan is to go resort hopping to look at all the decorations. I would actually prefer resort hopping, but she mentioned wanting to sit on a lazy river and be by pools. If we go resort hopping, I have reservations at Whispering Canyon Cafe for a late lunch before the party. I have no idea what to do food-wise if we go to the water park since we already need to factor in time for showers and to change before the party, so suggestions for that would be appreciated. If I manage to find a Liberty Tree Tavern reservation for around 4:15, I'd love that. Nothing is open there right now for that time frame.
MVMCP where the goal will be to do only shows, fireworks, and the parade. If we get in by 4, I will try to get her on some small rides like IASW, Pooh, Little Mermaid, stuff for little ones that would be slow.

Day 3: She leaves to go home, and I go off to the Bahamas for another vacation (lol!)

So we have fairly limited time with coming in in the late afternoon on arrival day then meetings and so on. I'm trying to get as much low-key Christmasy stuff in there as possible for her. I'm going to be there before this meeting (we're actually heading down 3 days after I return lol), so I'm less concerned about fitting in my own stuff, though I may alter my trip's plans to have a bit less Epcot.

Thanks, all!

 

[wench]

If you want Christmas themed & slow rides maybe take her on Jingle Cruise? And she might enjoy TTA, getting to see the park from a different perspective.

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

I would rethink Typhoon Lagoon unless she realizes the lazy river may not be as serene as she may think.
She may be very happy in a lounge chair by the pool, drink, sunglasses and book in hand.

I would also consider EPCOT dining at a more consistently good restaurant.

Enjoy your trip and, um, your other vaca!

 

[collegejunkie]

If you want Christmas themed & slow rides maybe take her on Jingle Cruise? And she might enjoy TTA, getting to see the park from a different perspective.

Good choices. I will do those

I would rethink Typhoon Lagoon unless she realizes the lazy river may not be as serene as she may think.
She may be very happy in a lounge chair by the pool, drink, sunglasses and book in hand.

I would also consider EPCOT dining at a more consistently good restaurant.

Enjoy your trip and, um, your other vaca!

TL is not my first choice, but that's one of the only things that she requested. I think it will come down to weather, too. I'm not thrilled about La Hacienda. I was hoping to try one of the Italian restaurants, but the timing won't work out. Our meeting goes until 4, and I imagine there will be some chatting after. I wanted to give a buffer before heading over. There is availability at Chefs De France, which I happen to love, but I don't know if it would be good for her. I'm going to keep checking for availability and playing with it - any recommendations in particular for the package?

Haha, thank you It has actually been a weird dream of mine to go straight from WDW to Atlantis, and I've somehow made it happen without any planning. I'm a happy camper

 

[DisneyWishes14]

For the candlelight processional package, I would recommend Spice Road Table (the food is really good) or, start at the Boardwalk and go to Trattoria al Forno (food is better than both EP Italian restaurants).

If you can't find an ADR in MK for your MVMCP day, I would get dinner at Columbia Harbour House. For a QS, the food is good and I find the upstairs dining area to be lovely and not as chaotic as the other QS in MK.

 

[sharonabe]

Typhoon Lagoon lazy river is nice, but make sure she knows there is at least one (and I think two) spots where you can get soaked from an overhead waterfall. Yes, you have control over your own tube, but it is very difficult to miss that one I'm remembering.

Your EP plans. You won't have time to do much of anything other than dinner and the CP. You well know, I'm sure, that 5:30 ADR does not mean you will get in at 5:30. It could easily be 7:00 before you finish dinner. Be sure you know where the CP package line is forming. There are two lines, package and standby. Know where yours is! You'll want to be in line no later than 7:45, and be in the area of the end of the package line by 7:30. Once that line starts moving into the theater, you need to be in it. Your package only guarantees you a seat if you're in that line. You can't walk up to the theater at 8:00 and expect a seat to be waiting for you. Once the package people are in, they open the standby line for all remaining seats. I would NOT venture back into Future World after your dinner. Stay in the World Showcase and catch a storyteller, if they are still out, after dinner. Otherwise just visit the different countries.

 

[Ambehnke]

I for sure would plan to be to MK by 3 to get use of full party time and fast passes. You could do fast passes for all the rides you want to do and be done with them by the time the party starts. Then you'll probably be able to fit in a few more as you're wandering for shows too. I would say you could get your time out of TL by 1 pm especially if what she's looking for there is sitting in a lazy river and by a pool. You can only do that for so long.

 

[sharonabe]

I for sure would plan to be to MK by 3 to get use of full party time and fast passes. You could do fast passes for all the rides you want to do and be done with them by the time the party starts. Then you'll probably be able to fit in a few more as you're wandering for shows too. I would say you could get your time out of TL by 1 pm especially if what she's looking for there is sitting in a lazy river and by a pool. You can only do that for so long.

You can't get into MK with a party ticket until 4:00 (perhaps a few minutes earlier), so getting there at 3:00 would just mean waiting outside until they let you in. Did you mean able to fit in a few more rides or FP? You cannot get FP after 6:30 on party days.

 

[Ambehnke]

You can't get into MK with a party ticket until 4:00 (perhaps a few minutes earlier), so getting there at 3:00 would just mean waiting outside until they let you in. Did you mean able to fit in a few more rides or FP? You cannot get FP after 6:30 on party days.

Sorry I meant Fastpasses... you can do FP 330-430, 430-530, and 530-630. Get there by 330-345 because by the time you go through security you'll be right on time.

 

[collegejunkie]

For the candlelight processional package, I would recommend Spice Road Table (the food is really good) or, start at the Boardwalk and go to Trattoria al Forno (food is better than both EP Italian restaurants).

If you can't find an ADR in MK for your MVMCP day, I would get dinner at Columbia Harbour House. For a QS, the food is good and I find the upstairs dining area to be lovely and not as chaotic as the other QS in MK.

Interesting! Those are not two I would have immediately thought of, but they can certainly be options. I ended up switching to Chefs de France for now because I love it there, but I will need to ask if she has a food preference depending on what is still available when she wants to talk about the details.

I did get a 5ish ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern, so if she really means minimal rides, this may be perfect. I was hoping for LTT, but around 4:15.

Typhoon Lagoon lazy river is nice, but make sure she knows there is at least one (and I think two) spots where you can get soaked from an overhead waterfall. Yes, you have control over your own tube, but it is very difficult to miss that one I'm remembering.

Your EP plans. You won't have time to do much of anything other than dinner and the CP. You well know, I'm sure, that 5:30 ADR does not mean you will get in at 5:30. It could easily be 7:00 before you finish dinner. Be sure you know where the CP package line is forming. There are two lines, package and standby. Know where yours is! You'll want to be in line no later than 7:45, and be in the area of the end of the package line by 7:30. Once that line starts moving into the theater, you need to be in it. Your package only guarantees you a seat if you're in that line. You can't walk up to the theater at 8:00 and expect a seat to be waiting for you. Once the package people are in, they open the standby line for all remaining seats. I would NOT venture back into Future World after your dinner. Stay in the World Showcase and catch a storyteller, if they are still out, after dinner. Otherwise just visit the different countries.

I had forgotten about those - I think I know the one that's especially hard to miss. I'll see what she says.

I'll ask her if she'd rather do the story tellers or the CP based on the time restraints. I didn't think we'd be able to do much, but was hoping for some time in world showcase for at least a few of the story tellers.

I for sure would plan to be to MK by 3 to get use of full party time and fast passes. You could do fast passes for all the rides you want to do and be done with them by the time the party starts. Then you'll probably be able to fit in a few more as you're wandering for shows too. I would say you could get your time out of TL by 1 pm especially if what she's looking for there is sitting in a lazy river and by a pool. You can only do that for so long.

Agreed. The plan was to be at MK as soon as it opens to party guests. I'll see if I can grab up some FPs.

You can't get into MK with a party ticket until 4:00 (perhaps a few minutes earlier), so getting there at 3:00 would just mean waiting outside until they let you in. Did you mean able to fit in a few more rides or FP? You cannot get FP after 6:30 on party days.

I noticed that - my strategy for my first MVMCP is FP beginning at 3:20 or 3:30 and I got a few I was hoping for. I'll try to repeat that for this one too