Reality Check Needed for My Plans

[glk2009]

This is not our first trip to WDW but it has been awhile (since before Toy Story Land opened, so three years).

I'm having serious anxiety planning out which days for which parks and I would really appreciate any feedback (good and bad, please!) on my schedule. My FP day is coming up, so I feel like I need to settle on the days and be good with it.

It's our family of four - me, DH, DD12 and DD8. We are spending a couple of days at USO and then head to WDW on Monday, 4/20, staying at the Yacht Club. Here's the current plan:

Mon, 4/20 evening: HS. Trying to decide if I should reserve the dessert party or just let us have free time to wander. Also planning to build a droid or two. I've read that the lines are easier while everyone is waiting for the shows, so I am very torn.

Tues, 4/21: MK. We have EMM booked. Considering the After Fireworks dessert party. And thinking of doing a mid-day break since we're going to do VAH later on, so don't need stress about getting it all done.

Wed, 4/22: EP. Considering the Frozen Ever After dessert party. Would love to do all three dessert parties, but that just seems over the top.

Thu, 4/23: HS. Rope dropping to get ROTR (hopefully!). Mid-day break since we're at the YC. Trying to decide if we should see Fantasmic, but depends on if we see the SW Galactic Spectacular show on Monday or not.

Fri, 4/24: AK followed by VAH.

So, I would love to know how my park days look.... I think I've avoided EMH.

And we are definitely doing one dessert party, just don't know which one. I've read tons of posts about how each one is great in its own way, so I probably just need to win the lotto so that I can go to all three.

We thought about DAH at AK (on Earth Day!), but that would be tough with rope dropping HS the next morning.

Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks!!!

 

[WhitneyMB]

Here are my miscellaneous thoughts

• Nothing you put down makes me think you are approaching this in the wrong way. I'm sure your family will have fun even if you don't get 100% of things done (something always breaks after all!)
• I do think three dessert parties would be over the top. It's just a lot of dessert! Also there are some similarities in the menus, so I feel like you would get tired of eating the same/similar things and not appreciate it as much. It's also a lot of time spent sitting in parties.
• I'm a fan of mid-day breaks personally, and the Yacht Club is so convenient for them.
• You have only one possibly chance to get ROTR, the way this is structured. I'm not sure how important that is to your family? Also, the ride is breaking down a lot & then people get a FP to use the next day. I'm not sure your next/last day gives you the flexibility to use it. Good luck planning. It's so tough right now with the set-up at Hollywood Studios!

 

[finedice]

Why avoiding EMH? I agree with PP - there are better things to do with the ticket time than dessert parties every night. at 8 & 12 the girls might prefer a resort pool evening, riding rides with low wait times during the fireworks, seeing Fantasmic!, sundaes at Beaches & Cream, or browsing the shops for swag. Cirque du Soliel might (will) be awesome as well, but more pricey than dessert.

 

[glk2009]

Here are my miscellaneous thoughts

• Nothing you put down makes me think you are approaching this in the wrong way. I'm sure your family will have fun even if you don't get 100% of things done (something always breaks after all!)
• I do think three dessert parties would be over the top. It's just a lot of dessert! Also there are some similarities in the menus, so I feel like you would get tired of eating the same/similar things and not appreciate it as much. It's also a lot of time spent sitting in parties.
• I'm a fan of mid-day breaks personally, and the Yacht Club is so convenient for them.
• You have only one possibly chance to get ROTR, the way this is structured. I'm not sure how important that is to your family? Also, the ride is breaking down a lot & then people get a FP to use the next day. I'm not sure your next/last day gives you the flexibility to use it. Good luck planning. It's so tough right now with the set-up at Hollywood Studios!

Thank you so much!

That is a great point about HS and one chance at ROTR. I hadn’t thought about it that way. We have the option to go on our departure day (Sat, 4/25) — I was debating between HS and EP since they are both so close, so your point is definitely one I need to remember.

Any preference on a dessert party? I can’t decide between MK and EP. I know that three would be too many and if we didn’t actually like the desserts, then it would be extra sad.

We have never done mid-day breaks except for our first trip and that was a disaster. Lol. But I feel like we should take advantage of having Stormalong Bay available to us, so I’m really going to try for a break or two!

Thanks again!!!

 

[glk2009]

Why avoiding EMH? I agree with PP - there are better things to do with the ticket time than dessert parties every night. at 8 & 12 the girls might prefer a resort pool evening, riding rides with low wait times during the fireworks, seeing Fantasmic!, sundaes at Beaches & Cream, or browsing the shops for swag. Cirque du Soliel might (will) be awesome as well, but more pricey than dessert.

Thanks for the reply!

We avoid EMH since it adds to the crowd and we aren’t morning people, so it’s tough for us to get to the parks at the beginning of EMH. If it was evening EMH, then that would be less of an issue.

That’s a great idea about an evening pool break! My kids would love that. I would love low wait times and shopping, lol. We haven’t done a dessert party in awhile, so thought one would be nice for a relaxing way to view the fireworks. Agreed that three is too many. Kids would love Cirque du Soleil, maybe next trip!

In my ideal world (ha!), we would catch the SW show on day 1 and then Fantasmic on our full HS day. I’m just going to have to roll with how our days go.

My main worry was that I had the wrong park picked for each day. Too much time to think and tinker with our plan!

Thanks!!!

 

[glocon]

Any preference on a dessert party? I can’t decide between MK and EP. I know that three would be too many and if we didn’t actually like the desserts, then it would be extra sad.

I’d definitely recommend the MK party. The crowds for HEA are immense and to have a good seat without waiting for long and to be out of the crowds is worth it. And with the after party, most of the park crowds are gone when you are leaving so it’s much less stressful.

 

[glocon]

I will say last year we did do the After party at MK, the SWGSDP and the Rose & Crown Illuminations dinner all in one trip.
I would do that again for sure. Only two were dessert parties, the Illuminations was a dinner. We really enjoyed it. It was a big splurge for us, but we were a party of 2 so not as expensive if a bigger party.

 

[glk2009]

I will say last year we did do the After party at MK, the SWGSDP and the Rose & Crown Illuminations dinner all in one trip.
I would do that again for sure. Only two were dessert parties, the Illuminations was a dinner. We really enjoyed it. It was a big splurge for us, but we were a party of 2 so not as expensive if a bigger party.

Ohhh... dinner for Epcot fireworks. I had not thought of that. It might be too late but I’m going to check that out!

Thanks!!!

 

[glocon]

The dinner is about the same price as a dessert party so that tipped the boat for us. That and we don’t really care about riding the frozen ride (you do get an after fireworks ride in frozen with the dessert party).

 

[glocon]

Actually I think the frozen dessert party may cost more than the dinner!

 

[ucf_knight]

This is not our first trip to WDW but it has been awhile (since before Toy Story Land opened, so three years).

I'm having serious anxiety planning out which days for which parks and I would really appreciate any feedback (good and bad, please!) on my schedule. My FP day is coming up, so I feel like I need to settle on the days and be good with it.

It's our family of four - me, DH, DD12 and DD8. We are spending a couple of days at USO and then head to WDW on Monday, 4/20, staying at the Yacht Club. Here's the current plan:

Mon, 4/20 evening: HS. Trying to decide if I should reserve the dessert party or just let us have free time to wander. Also planning to build a droid or two. I've read that the lines are easier while everyone is waiting for the shows, so I am very torn.

Tues, 4/21: MK. We have EMM booked. Considering the After Fireworks dessert party. And thinking of doing a mid-day break since we're going to do VAH later on, so don't need stress about getting it all done.

Wed, 4/22: EP. Considering the Frozen Ever After dessert party. Would love to do all three dessert parties, but that just seems over the top.

Thu, 4/23: HS. Rope dropping to get ROTR (hopefully!). Mid-day break since we're at the YC. Trying to decide if we should see Fantasmic, but depends on if we see the SW Galactic Spectacular show on Monday or not.

Fri, 4/24: AK followed by VAH.

So, I would love to know how my park days look.... I think I've avoided EMH.

And we are definitely doing one dessert party, just don't know which one. I've read tons of posts about how each one is great in its own way, so I probably just need to win the lotto so that I can go to all three.

We thought about DAH at AK (on Earth Day!), but that would be tough with rope dropping HS the next morning.

Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks!!!

I’d do your ep day before hs. This way if you don’t get rotr on your first try you have another day close by to try again.

 

[glk2009]

I’d do your ep day before hs. This way if you don’t get rotr on your first try you have another day close by to try again.

My EP day is before HS... do you mean HS first? I had it that way and then realized it was EMH (morning) for EP if I did EP on 4/23 and that won’t work out too well for us since rope drop on a normal day is tough for us.

If we don’t get ROTR on our HS day, we can try on our departure day too with fingers crossed for everything to align... early BG and ROTR doesn’t break. Hahahaha.

I think the best solution is a two week trip!

 

[ucf_knight]

Yes

My EP day is before HS... do you mean HS first? I had it that way and then realized it was EMH (morning) for EP if I did EP on 4/23 and that won’t work out too well for us since rope drop on a normal day is tough for us.

If we don’t get ROTR on our HS day, we can try on our departure day too with fingers crossed for everything to align... early BG and ROTR doesn’t break. Hahahaha.

I think the best solution is a two week trip!

yes I meant HS first before EP if you are trying for rotr on a departure day and you get a late boarding group you might not get to ride. If it were me I’d prioritize rotr and give yourself at least two opportunities to try and get a BG. I’ve heard stories of people trying 2-3 times on a trip and not getting to ride.