Schedule advice needed

[millie0312]

hi everyone-
I thought I had my trip in December planned out as far as which day to which park, but now I'm in need of some advice...
Details: we will be there Tues Dec 8 (arriving 9-10 am in GCH) and leaving late morning on 12/16 (Wednesday), staying on site, we will have 5 park days- 2 1 park per day (not able to upgrade) and 3 days of hoppers. We have 2 kiddos (1 and 8) and 3 adults. We are also meeting my sister there for 2 park days- 12/11-12/12 (she does not have hoppers and cannot change her days) and because we won our trip Disney has one "special" day planned for us- what it entails they will not tell me. We will also have 1 off day to rest, 1 KBF day (meeting friends there) and the arrival and departure day we plan on enjoying DTD. We are waiting at the gates for EE kind of people that take a mid-day nap and then close the parks.

Problem: disclaimer- I realize these are first world problems and life is good no matter what in Disney- I am looking for helpful advice on how to make a game plan- this is not meant to be a complaint- we are happy we are going to DLR!! With that being said- up until now Disney has not been willing (able- not sure which) to tell us what day they were planning events for us- I've been asking multiple times for months now. Well as you know it's kinda a busy time of year at DLR and I had to make reservations and plans with family/friends more then a couple days in advance... I put in a request for the activities to happen on a specific day to give us a day off mid- trip as well as 2 park days with my sister who is coming to spend time with us. Now Disney is telling me after months of asking and requests that they are doing it on the day of their choosing which is apparently 12/13- a Sunday and a day we had planned to not be in the parks (we have reservations for breakfast with my sister before she leaves that afternoon and for the early build a bear session). Anyway- I know I could just continue with my schedule as I planned it and tell Disney no thanks we will just take the trip but no activities, but 1- I don't know what we would be missing out on 2- who would want to miss out on a bunch of cool, free Disney activities in the park and I'm sure they have something up their sleeve that is awesome and I would regret missing! So here lies the issue with schedule- typically the second week in December is less busy then the third week especially with everything going on crowds play a part in my thought process of days in the park, I am meeting my sister 12/11 and 12/12 in the parks- we are planning to use hoppers those days as I will direct her to he non EE park but since we have EE and she's not an early riser we plan on doing EE for a couple hours, then hopping (although maybe if she's that late I should use non-hoppers and just have her meet us at the EE park anyway? Thoughts?). We also need a day off to rest some time and I would prefer it to not be after all 5 park days as it was intended to give us a day to sleep in before hitting the parks again. I also need to fit in 1 KBF day. I also want to make sure I have a good mix of EE at both parks as well as enough time (haha is there ever enough time!) to cover the major rides/shows/parades etc in both parks in our 5 days..... I know the hours are slightly shorter but the crowds may be significantly less on the second week of December vs the third week.

I am sorry for being long winded, but I am hoping with all the info someone can help me come up with a good game plan (yes I realize it's subject to change but we have to start with a plan in our family). I really want this to be a great trip and to not miss out on hanging out with family, Disney activities or killing ourselves with 5 park days in a row (last time after 2 park days my DD and mom were zonked!). Any thoughts you guys have would be welcome on what days in what parks, what days to use hoppers vs non hoppers and what day off and for KBF- TIA!!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I would not miss out on what every they have planed. i would redo my trip to fit Disney sense they are giving you something or another free. What did you win and when? I would re do the reservation with my sister and build a bear on a different day.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I would also rearrange my plans to see what Disney has planned. I would hate to always wonder what we missed out on. I would hope family could understand that!

 

[ArchOwl]

So, if I am understanding this your main concern is figuring out which day to do what? Since your sister's dates are set and not changeable, I would make those your EE days and full park days. I would not in a million years turn down a Disney special activities day, so I would consider the 11, 12, and 13 to be a block of park days.

I would not really factor in the third week of Dec vs the second week. I think there will be little difference as far as crowds go. It is going to be busy. So I would take that out of consideration. The hotels are booked solid for the second week of Dec and I imagine they will shortly be for the third week as well. I don't think you will find much difference between them.

So, you can do something like this:
Dec 8: arrival
Dec 9: Disney park day
Dec 10: KBF or rest
Dec 11: Disney
Dec 12: Disney
Dec 13: Disney
Dec 14: rest or KBF
Dec 15: Disney
Dec 16: depart

Or you could use your arrival day, since you will be there early. You would lose an EE, but gain an extra day.

Dec 8: arrival, Disney park day
Dec 9: Disney park day
Dec 10: rest day or KBF
Dec 11: Disney
Dec 12: Disney
Dec 13: Disney
Dec 14: rest or KBF
Dec 15: rest or KBF
Dec 16: depart

If you really need rest days, I would sacrifice an EE. You will still have at least 3 EEs depending on what Disney plans for you, you could have a fourth. You could use your arrival day to catch shows and fireworks. Otherwise, I don't see much flexibility in your schedule.

I agree it would have been nicer if Disney would have consulted you a bit more, but who knows what they are planning? They may have operational concerns and scheduling problems as well. So I would go with it and make a sacrifice of an EE and a bit of park time in order to enjoy whatever they have dreamed up. I can't imagine you will be disappointed.

 

[millie0312]

So, if I am understanding this your main concern is figuring out which day to do what? Since your sister's dates are set and not changeable, I would make those your EE days and full park days. I would not in a million years turn down a Disney special activities day, so I would consider the 11, 12, and 13 to be a block of park days.

I would not really factor in the third week of Dec vs the second week. I think there will be little difference as far as crowds go. It is going to be busy. So I would take that out of consideration. The hotels are booked solid for the second week of Dec and I imagine they will shortly be for the third week as well. I don't think you will find much difference between them.

So, you can do something like this:
Dec 8: arrival
Dec 9: Disney park day
Dec 10: KBF or rest
Dec 11: Disney
Dec 12: Disney
Dec 13: Disney
Dec 14: rest or KBF
Dec 15: Disney
Dec 16: depart

Or you could use your arrival day, since you will be there early. You would lose an EE, but gain an extra day.

Dec 8: arrival, Disney park day
Dec 9: Disney park day
Dec 10: rest day or KBF
Dec 11: Disney
Dec 12: Disney
Dec 13: Disney
Dec 14: rest or KBF
Dec 15: rest or KBF
Dec 16: depart

If you really need rest days, I would sacrifice an EE. You will still have at least 3 EEs depending on what Disney plans for you, you could have a fourth. You could use your arrival day to catch shows and fireworks. Otherwise, I don't see much flexibility in your schedule.

I agree it would have been nicer if Disney would have consulted you a bit more, but who knows what they are planning? They may have operational concerns and scheduling problems as well. So I would go with it and make a sacrifice of an EE and a bit of park time in order to enjoy whatever they have dreamed up. I can't imagine you will be disappointed.

Thank you! That's exactly what I was asking! I was hoping someone saw a better schedule scenario then I could lol It's good to hear not to factor in the crowds- seeing that later in the third week they have both parks open for EE I was kinda getting scared thinking it might be a huge jump the third week. But maybe if the hotels are booked the second week and not the third it'll be less busy slightly lol doubtful but I can hope right lol! I think I will go with the first scenario since using our arrival day would be rough. Any thoughts on which days to use hoppers vs non hoppers or which parks to do which days?

I would not miss out on what every they have planed. i would redo my trip to fit Disney sense they are giving you something or another free. What did you win and when? I would re do the reservation with my sister and build a bear on a different day.

Thanks! I'm def not worried about Storytellers and Build a Bear as we can change those easily and they aren't very important. Hoping whatever thy have planned it's awesome haha now I'm just trying to figure out which parks which day and what days to use hoppers vs non hoppers so I don't miss out on my sister and the Disney planned day. We won one of the weekly prize trips from the Disneyland 60th diamond sweepstakes so this is the trip from that win!!

 

[ArchOwl]

So, your sister does not have hoppers, correct? If you are going to stay with her for the entire day it makes the most sense not to waste a hopper on those days.

Do you have any idea if you need a hopper on the 13th for the special Disney day?

 

[Jennafoo]

Here's another thing to consider (and I don't mean this as criticism in any way): Your trip isn't actually 'free'. Disney didn't give you a trip out of the goodness of their hearts; sweepstakes and contests are marketing tools. It's possible - probable, actually - that the activities are when they plan to get their marketing collateral: images of your happy family, testimonials, others seeing what you're doing, etc. That would also explain why they need to do it on a certain day.

My point is you may want to check the fine print on the contest you entered, because I doubt you could ask for the trip without the activities, if that's still something you're considering. In other words, depending on the rules, you may be risking more than 'missing out' by telling Disney no thanks.

 

[millie0312]

So, your sister does not have hoppers, correct? If you are going to stay with her for the entire day it makes the most sense not to waste a hopper on those days.

Do you have any idea if you need a hopper on the 13th for the special Disney day?

No she has 1 park per day. As far as Disney- I have no clue. I'm thinking I wouldn't need hoppers but they provided us with hoppers so maybe they expect we have them? After much thought here's what I'm thinking for schedule:
Dec 8- arrive, DTD
Dec 9- DCA with EE, no hoppers
Dec 10- day off, DTD, dinner with sister
Dec 11- DCA with EE, hop to DL for F! Dinner and show, with sister
Dec 12- DL with EE, no hoppers, with sister
Dec 13- DCA with EE, hop to DL for Disney activities
Dec 14- KBF
Dec 15- last park day DL with EE and hoppers
Dec 16- leave
Thoughts?

 

[millie0312]

Here's another thing to consider (and I don't mean this as criticism in any way): Your trip isn't actually 'free'. Disney didn't give you a trip out of the goodness of their hearts; sweepstakes and contests are marketing tools. It's possible - probable, actually - that the activities are when they plan to get their marketing collateral: images of your happy family, testimonials, others seeing what you're doing, etc. That would also explain why they need to do it on a certain day.

My point is you may want to check the fine print on the contest you entered, because I doubt you could ask for the trip without the activities, if that's still something you're considering. In other words, depending on the rules, you may be risking more than 'missing out' by telling Disney no thanks.

Yes- I am ok with them doing that, but since the second portion of the sweepstakes offers a trip or a trip with activities- you choose which depending on what dates they offer you, I'm sure we could just do the trip. I do want to do the activities though, so turning them down doesn't seem like an option in my head- I'd always wonder what I missed out on. I would have been ok with any day if they would have just told me what day it was. I guess I'm not frustrated with the day as much as the fact that we have been planning this for months, I have been asking what day for the activities for months and they kept doing a we don't know number, so I requested a day so I could plan other things like dining reservations as it will be a busy time. I still wouldn't have the date- 2 weeks out!! If I hadn't continued to ask and ask and ask lol I realize they won't cater completely to me, but the activities take time to plan and coordination with a bunch of Disney departments so it's not like they didn't know the dates or potential dates WAY before now- I just wish they would have told me sooner then now. So I am still so happy for this opportunity I just wish I would have gotten some better information on the date sooner. We are still waiting to hear about if we are eating at the BBQ because I would like to schedule it on our own if they aren't but I don't want to wait and miss out and I don't want to schedule it if we don't need it- lol it's a good problem to have though

 

[ArchOwl]

No she has 1 park per day. As far as Disney- I have no clue. I'm thinking I wouldn't need hoppers but they provided us with hoppers so maybe they expect we have them? After much thought here's what I'm thinking for schedule:
Dec 8- arrive, DTD
Dec 9- DCA with EE, no hoppers
Dec 10- day off, DTD, dinner with sister
Dec 11- DCA with EE, hop to DL for F! Dinner and show, with sister
Dec 12- DL with EE, no hoppers, with sister
Dec 13- DCA with EE, hop to DL for Disney activities
Dec 14- KBF
Dec 15- last park day DL with EE and hoppers
Dec 16- leave
Thoughts?

If Disney provided the hoppers, I would probably be safe and use them for your special Disney day. You never know!

I would be hesitant to use a non-hopper for DCA unless you are sure you can make it an all day park.

 

[millie0312]

If Disney provided the hoppers, I would probably be safe and use them for your special Disney day. You never know!

I would be hesitant to use a non-hopper for DCA unless you are sure you can make it an all day park.

We were able to spend a full day there last year without issues, so I'm hoping it won't be one this year although we plan on skipping some that were time consuming last year like the "fair type rides" on the pier.

Ugh- so after about 10 phone calls changing reservations, a bunch of emails, re-typing my itenarary (got to email it to my mom, sister, etc), Disney contacted me and said we put your request in and they will probably fulfill it and put you on the date you requested in the first place. I told them don't worry about it at this point I already changed everything lol They told me the request was already in motion and by the end of today we are back to the initial schedule and I have to once again re-type the old schedule and change all he reservations back again ahh lol

 

[ArchOwl]

We were able to spend a full day there last year without issues, so I'm hoping it won't be one this year although we plan on skipping some that were time consuming last year like the "fair type rides" on the pier.

Ugh- so after about 10 phone calls changing reservations, a bunch of emails, re-typing my itenarary (got to email it to my mom, sister, etc), Disney contacted me and said we put your request in and they will probably fulfill it and put you on the date you requested in the first place. I told them don't worry about it at this point I already changed everything lol They told me the request was already in motion and by the end of today we are back to the initial schedule and I have to once again re-type the old schedule and change all he reservations back again ahh lol

Oh goodness, they aren't making planning easy, are they? I hope it is all worth it in the end, can't wait to hear what they do for you! I hope you have a very special and magical trip.

It is good that you know you can make DCA an all day park. I do enjoy spending a lot of time there, but not everyone feels the same way. Some people see it as a half day park and want to get back to DL. I think with WOC and by doing Aladdin and having a nice dinner, you can definitely spend all day there.

 

[millie0312]

Oh goodness, they aren't making planning easy, are they? I hope it is all worth it in the end, can't wait to hear what they do for you! I hope you have a very special and magical trip.

It is good that you know you can make DCA an all day park. I do enjoy spending a lot of time there, but not everyone feels the same way. Some people see it as a half day park and want to get back to DL. I think with WOC and by doing Aladdin and having a nice dinner, you can definitely spend all day there.

I hope it will be worth it too!! I'm not a surprise kinda planner so it kills me to not know haha I did see a YouTube video Disney made of another weekly winner doing other activities and it looked like they were given fairly awesome treatment so I'm hopeful lol
Yes- we love DCA. We only did 1 full day there last year and we wanted more time! If we did it as a 1/2 day we would need to do more then 1 1/2 day lol! Between 2 WOC, Aladdin, the rides and this year bugs land and the challenge area for our littlest one we could easily fill 2 or more days with just doing things once. This doesn't take into account that we love Screamin', Soarin', RSR, TSMM (we are a bit of a competitive family lol) and will want to ride at least twice or more. I don't love the smaller food options so we may jump to eat at DL or even DTD for a second day there but it's still a great park with lots for us