Starting to plan for November

[Emer O'Sullivan]

hi all, one month away from adr date and working on my plans. Heading for 9 nights in November (9-18) with DH, DD5 & DS3. Were staying in the yacht club, and will have park hopper tickets. We land at 7pm on the Friday night (and will be dealing with a 5 hour time difference and 2 small kids!), so no plans for arrival day. So, day 1 (Friday) - MK, considering BOG for lunch, head back to resort after lunch possibly Beaches &Cream or Cape May for dinner (maybe walk over to HS to see Fantasia), Day 2 - AK with Flame Tree BBQ and Tiffins ROL package, Day 3 - MK (my birthday), California grill for dinner (get babysitter), lunch?, Day 4 - resort for the morning Epcot for DH and i (use kids club) in the evening - last night of F&W (hopefully snack and drink around the world, and watch illuminations), Day 5 - water park and HDDR.
This is where I star getting confused. Day 6 - HS and DS (T-Rex) for dinner, Day 7 - resort for the morning, Afternoon MK - BBB & CRT for early dinner (MVMCP is on, but hopefully we can decide on the day, possibly too late for the kids), Day 8 - last night, RD EP with Akerhus breakfast, or water park again (think they'll be a big hit) and dinner at O'hana. Day 9 - what to do with the morning? Flight not til eveningand we can walk to HS or EP.Would like to fit Bon Voyage breakfast in somewhere as DD big Ariel fan.
All thoughts/comments much appreciated - too much/too little?

 

[Shrfleen]

I would personally go to the Bon Voyage breakfast, you are in the area already so it isn't out of the way. You can also do some pool time at Yacht Club before you leave.

 

[Emer O'Sullivan]

Agree. We'll more than likely be heading home to cold wet winter weather, so a relaxed morning with a nice meal and some pool time sounds fun. We have park tickets for that day regardless so may make some fast pass reservations for either HS or EP regardless.

Am I missing any must do's?

Also, we have 14 day park tickets and feel like MVMCP might be overkill - thoughts? We'll be there the quietest week of the party so hopefully if we change our mind we can buy tickets last minute. Also, if we get California grill the night I want we'll be able to see the Christmas fireworks.

 

[Shrfleen]

With the kids a young as they are, MVMCP might be a bit much. I'm 26 and can barley make the entire time lol

I think you hit a lot of the must do's. It looks like you have a good plan of where you wanna be and when. That is where we are at in our planning process too.

 

[Emer O'Sullivan]

Thanks feels like I have been reading, researching and reviewing for the last 2 months!!

 

[Shrfleen]

Me too. We are also going in November on 12-18.

 

[Emer O'Sullivan]

I love all the planning. Makes it way more exciting.
Can't imagine just turning up with no ADR's or fastpasses

 

[LuvMyEAR]

I would pass on MVMCP, unless you find you are only doing 1/2 days in the parks most of the time. Your children may stay awake, but it is possible you won't! Just kidding, sort of. Your plan is really great but it is also a busy one.

Like you, I utterly love the planning, and watch out for every tweak in park hours, crowd trends, etc, and go fully armed with our FP and ADRs in place. My best advice, though, is to make a quick, honest assessment every single night before bed... and cancel any ADRs or other plans which seem like they might be more than you can -or want -to handle the following day. I say ADRs because you are charged a fee if you don't show up. FPs can stay, or you may want to make some tweaks. If you are dead on your feet by Day 4, taking it slower on Day 5 may be better than checking all the boxes on a schedule. We learned this the hard way, even travelling with two extremely fit teenagers and trying to do everything!

You'll be settling in just as we are heading home... here's to a beautiful Nov!

 

[Emer O'Sullivan]

Thanks @LuvMyEAR - that's what I'm afraid of. Trying to leave half a day empty each day. But you're right, will have to reassess as we go

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Just curious, why do you have 14 day tickets for a 9 night stay?

 

[Emer O'Sullivan]

Hi @ENJDisneyFan its just the way the package worked here (Ireland), the deal when I bought was 25% off park tickets and 14 days for the price of 7. You can't buy individual day tickets here. And they're all park hopper.

 

[kboo]

Quick question - have you traveled across such a big time difference with 3 and 5 year olds? We went to Hawaii in January with our 5yo and 1.5 yo and it was a 5 hour time difference and ... I'm wondering if you may be being a bit ambitious with your evening activities. Our kids, even our 5yo who can go go go, was asleep by 7 early in the week, and by 8 at the end of the week.

 

[Emer O'Sullivan]

No, we haven't. They've only been around Europe so only a one hour time difference.
I suppose that's what's making me nervous. 2 of the evenings we'll get a babysitter so they can get to bed early, and we can enjoy the parks at night.
I think dinner ressies will have to be early enough and there's a high chance we'll miss the fireworks.
I know the 5 year old will push through so as not to miss anything, and my husband will be quite happy to have an early night with the 3 year old

 

[kboo]

No, we haven't. They've only been around Europe so only a one hour time difference.
I suppose that's what's making me nervous. 2 of the evenings we'll get a babysitter so they can get to bed early, and we can enjoy the parks at night.
I think dinner ressies will have to be early enough and there's a high chance we'll miss the fireworks.
I know the 5 year old will push through so as not to miss anything, and my husband will be quite happy to have an early night with the 3 year old

Don't underestimate how tired you will be from all this, too! Especially because the kids will be up EARLY. Most of the sitters have a 4-hour minimum, so think about whether that's worth your $. In Hawaii (not Disney) our kids were asleep by 7 most nights and up around 5am every day. We (the adults) were falling asleep by 9pm. We did do one night out with a sitter for the kids, got back around 11, straight to bed, and we were VERY tired the next day. Keep in mind that at the Poly you can see MK fireworks from the beach/pool area no matter where your room is - a nice compromise would be to have the kids in PJs and ready for bed, watch fireworks from the resort, and go to bed.

Also, you can use the time difference to your advantage (sort of - one morning in Hawaii the kids were hungry for breakfast and nothing was open at 6:30am when we were up and walking around the resort...kids had already been up for a while.... ) by booking pre-park opening ADRs and going to rope drop, etc. You'll just end up shifting the fun stuff to earlier in the day. I would plan on eating dinner at 5pm every day, and if you can work in activity after dinner, consider it a bonus but don't try for it - and don't risk any $ on evening things. I.e., FPs for Fantasmic or ROL (if they offer) but don't book a dining package or special event like a dessert party in case the kids lose it and you have to call it early.

Lesson learned when we only had a 3yo - we had FPs to see Wishes and she had a huge meltdown around 8pm at the Fantasyland/Tomorrowland border, luckily after dinner but she was way too tired. We pretty much had to force her into the stroller, strap her in, and then wheel her, screaming and flailing, through the crowds gathering for Wishes, and walk back to the Contemporary. I was so bummed, but we had no fireworks viewing on that trip. Kid just couldn't make it.

In Hawaii, we did a luau on our 2nd to last night, and since it was January, it ended around 8pm. We put the baby in the carrier and let our ODD (5.5 by then) ride the stroller. It was a 20 minute walk back to our room, and both kids were asleep in <5 minutes after walking out of the luau.

Last suggestion - rent a double stroller so the kids can rest in them, and plan evening activities near you or on the monorail (so they can fall asleep as you're leaving the park and stay in the stroller all the way back to the room).

 

[Emer O'Sullivan]

Definitely going to rent a double stroller.
I agree with the adr times, will try and keep them early.
The balconies are one reason I went for the yacht club - DH and I can sit out on the balcony while the kids sleep (if we have the energy).
Should probably move HDDR to later in the week then, when they're more acclimatised.
Really wanted to see the fire works myself but it's going to be tough!
Are they earlier in November as its dark earlier?

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Hi @ENJDisneyFan its just the way the package worked here (Ireland), the deal when I bought was 25% off park tickets and 14 days for the price of 7. You can't buy individual day tickets here. And they're all park hopper.

Oh, that makes sense!!

 

[kboo]

Definitely going to rent a double stroller.
I agree with the adr times, will try and keep them early.
The balconies are one reason I went for the yacht club - DH and I can sit out on the balcony while the kids sleep (if we have the energy).
Should probably move HDDR to later in the week then, when they're more acclimatised.
Really wanted to see the fire works myself but it's going to be tough!
Are they earlier in November as its dark earlier?

Oops, sorry, I for some reason thought you were at the Poly, not YC. Sorry!

Yes, fireworks and ROL should be earlier - I was trying to link to a schedule but couldn't find one. But I think the earliest, in my experience, still would start at 8pm, which is REALLY late for your kids with a 5 hour time difference. Our older daughter has been to Hawaii 2 or 3x, I can't remember now - when she was 2-ish, we had horrible meltdowns at dinner because she was overtired. On this last trip, she did a lot better, but was still early to bed and early up - we ended up shifting her a little but not all the way, which did make it easier to get back on track when we got home. If you can get both kids to nap in the afternoon, you may be able to get them out and not melting down in the evenings, but don't count on it.

Oh, and also - you may not need the balcony, lol. Our kids were so exhausted in Hawaii that they would fall asleep with the lights on, so DH and I just hung out in the room. That never happens at home.

 

[Emer O'Sullivan]

Lol. Never happens here either.
Took them to a Thomas Land (Thomas the tank engine) 2 weeks ago and the 3 year old wouldn't go to sleep til 10pm, and was wrecked the next day and slept all afternoon.
I know it will be better to get them up early and to bed early in the long run. And everyone says you see more in the parks that way too!
So parks til noon/1 and back to the hotel to relax/rest followed by early dinner and see how it goes