The Ever Changing Resort PTR, June 2016...Completed!

[ArielSRL]

I'm here! Got excited just reading your plans. I second the idea of putting your first FP+ on that MK day from 2:30-3:30 to give yourself a little more wiggle room. So far, it looks like we will only be overlapping on 6/8. However, I have been going back and forth between doing AK on 6/7 vs. 6/9. Figured I would let when I am able to get a RoL package settle it for me.

Yah! Glad you are here! Keep me updated on the AK day plans....

 

[hlrababy]

Finally made it over Renee!!!

 

[ArielSRL]

Finally made it over Renee!!!

YAH! Thanks for joining in!

 

[ErinF]

We are eating at Chef Mickey's on Thursday the 9th as well!!! Our reservation is at 5:40. Looks like it will be fairly easy to bump into you all at least once on our trips!!

 

[ArielSRL]

We are eating at Chef Mickey's on Thursday the 9th as well!!! Our reservation is at 5:40. Looks like it will be fairly easy to bump into you all at least once on our trips!!

Yah! A DIS meet up!

 

[punkin413]

Any idea if 3pm is a good estimate for arriving at the park??

If I were you, what I'd do is make my first FP around maybe 2:45-3:45 and make it one that you don't really care too much if you miss. We had planned on getting to MK around 6:00 on our arrival day and because bell services didn't deliver our luggage for way longer than I ever expected (and we needed some of that stuff to head to the park), we didn't get there until around 7:00. And we missed our first FP. But I did that on purpose b/c I didn't want to stress about it. Just a thought.

Also, as far as your QS meals, I wouldn't stress too much about changing plans if you need to. Like for example if you're not near Cosmic Rays when it's around time to eat dinner and that's what you were thinking that night, change it up and go to Pecos Bill's. The plan never seems to go like I think it will, so I've learned that not having my heart set on things that can be changed is the way to go. Especially with having kids....expect the unexpected! And you probably know all this already but just wanted to throw that out there.

Your plans look great, but of course I already knew that!

 

[punkin413]

Oh, one more thing - you had asked for suggestions for Epcot. Surprisingly the BEST chicken tenders I've ever gotten for Seth at WDW (besides Narcoossee's) were at the QS location in Morocco. They were great! So that's now a favorite spot of mine.

 

[ArielSRL]

If I were you, what I'd do is make my first FP around maybe 2:45-3:45 and make it one that you don't really care too much if you miss. We had planned on getting to MK around 6:00 on our arrival day and because bell services didn't deliver our luggage for way longer than I ever expected (and we needed some of that stuff to head to the park), we didn't get there until around 7:00. And we missed our first FP. But I did that on purpose b/c I didn't want to stress about it. Just a thought.

Also, as far as your QS meals, I wouldn't stress too much about changing plans if you need to. Like for example if you're not near Cosmic Rays when it's around time to eat dinner and that's what you were thinking that night, change it up and go to Pecos Bill's. The plan never seems to go like I think it will, so I've learned that not having my heart set on things that can be changed is the way to go. Especially with having kids....expect the unexpected! And you probably know all this already but just wanted to throw that out there.

Your plans look great, but of course I already knew that!

I wish I had more of a solid idea on when we will get to MK. I am totally guessing at the 3pm, but it sort of an educated guess and a conservative one, I thought. But then, I think how we prefer to be in the room first (though they have til 4 so I don't know if we would want to wait that long). We will definitely bring our own luggage but I think it's a lot easier to do at SSR than AKL, where you guys were. We will have to get the stroller and ECV but I asked for the stroller to be delivered at 10 to make sure it's there.

I could probably change my FP plan but if I do I'll have to tinker with the touring plan bc it has us arriving at the third FP attraction right around 4:15. Basically the touring plan is PP around 3:10 (FP 2:15-3:15), 7DMT around 3:25 (FP 3:15-4:15), Pooh 3:45, then Under the Sea around 4:15 (FP 4:15-5:15). FYI: under the Sea is predicted at that time of day to have one of the three longest waits so that's why I'm scheduling that one. I don't necessarily mind moving my FP to a little later, I'll just probably need to add one more attraction in between my 2nd and 3rd FP attraction. Also, I like the strategy of scheduling the first as something that isn't that big of a deal, so that would def be the under the sea one (out of those 3), so again, I don't mind but I just need to switch some stuff around on my touring plan. Another FYI: I used Touringplans.com so the plan is very specific. I realize we may not stick with that due to various reasons, I just like having a plan going into it.

As far as QS, we are definitely flexible but Mom is picky so she basically told me what she likes and I tried to make it work in the plan.

Oh, one more thing - you had asked for suggestions for Epcot. Surprisingly the BEST chicken tenders I've ever gotten for Seth at WDW (besides Narcoossee's) were at the QS location in Morocco. They were great! So that's now a favorite spot of mine.

Good to know. I see lots of chicken nuggets at Disney in the boys' future. Lol

 

[punkin413]

Oh wow.....you are WAY more planned that I could ever be, and I'm a travel planner!!! My plan (other than the FPs I have) is usually "Fantasyland - 9:00-12:00; Tomorrowland - 12:00-1:30" and so on. But more power to you!

Yes, Seth ate so much dang chicken nuggets and fries last trip. I think he had a grilled cheese at BOG and everywhere else was chicken! Other than breakfast, of course. Drove me nuts but that's what he loves, and it's vacation. So whatever!

 

[ArielSRL]

Oh wow.....you are WAY more planned that I could ever be, and I'm a travel planner!!! My plan (other than the FPs I have) is usually "Fantasyland - 9:00-12:00; Tomorrowland - 12:00-1:30" and so on. But more power to you!

I am very planned out, for sure. I have never planned a Disney trip this extensively before, though. I'll explain why I am this time.

• For one, Disney seems to make it so you have to have a really good detailed plan to have a good trip and I really want this one to be good because its the first one AJ will really remember and we don't get to Disney as often as I like. Our last trip in 2012 was very much unplanned because Dad was dealing with medical issues (the blood clot) and AJ was 9.5 months old...so we skipped a lot of stuff that we really wanted to do.
• Two, I have NEVER booked a trip this early before, so TouringPlans.com was a cheap way ($10 for the year) to feed my obsession and pass the time!
• Three, I am a total FP+ newbie so I really had no idea when to book my FPs. So I defaulted to the "experts" and used TouringPlans.com to plan out my days, which then told me when would be good times to book my FPs.
• Four, it was a good way to make sure we experience the attractions that we want to.

Honestly, I didn't have to do much work. Just put in the attractions we wanted to experience and in what order (so we don't criss cross) and it pops out a plan with wait times, walk times, and attractions times, which is nice to have an idea on.

I will say this...it is with 100% certainly we will deviate from the touring plans. I mean, I have two kids under 5 and my 2 mid 60 yr old parents. The recipe for disaster is ever-present...lol.

BTW, I'm pasting my Arrival Day touring plan in the next update (below).

Yes, Seth ate so much dang chicken nuggets and fries last trip. I think he had a grilled cheese at BOG and everywhere else was chicken! Other than breakfast, of course. Drove me nuts but that's what he loves, and it's vacation. So whatever!

Yeh, and I'm actually planning to try to use the QS credits for adult meals so I can split between Will and AJ, and basically, the most kid friendly adults meals are the chicken nuggets.

 

[ArielSRL]

Arrival Day Plans 6/4

Okay, so I'm going to post screenshots of my arrival day touring plan. One, I realize its a little obsessive compulsive, but I feel much better doing this trip with extensive planning. Doesn't mean we will stick to this every step of the way. As a matter of fact, I'm 100% certain we will deviate from these touring plans several times throughout the trip. But it is a good resource to use, in my opinion, and it was a cheap way ($10 for the year) to feed my obsession and pass the time until our trip.

Another note: I am highly considering (based on suggestions here...thanks, y'all!) pushing back the start time for our FPs to at least 2:30 (maybe 2:45) and switching them so that Under the Sea is first because that one is probably the one we care the least about. Honestly, I am only planning to schedule it as a FP because touring plans gave it a 75 min wait (based on historical data) and that was one of the three longest waits of the day.

So, if I switch it would be Under the Sea, 7DMT, Pooh, Mad Tea Party, then PP. Or UtS, Pooh or MTP, 7DMT, Pooh or MTP, then PP. I'll play around with it later and see what works best.

ETA: I realize I cut off the headings in the screenshots so as far as the columns of numbers after the attractions: wait time; attraction/meal/break/etc. time; free time until next step in the plan; walk time to next step.

Here ya go:


I realize this is extensive and we may not be able to do all this but I'd rather have the plan than not. If we decide to stay later in the park, we certainly can. If we decide to leave earlier, that works, too. I had initially scheduled MSEP for this night, but then I rethought it based on crowds and based on the fact that we will probably be tired from the days events.

Critique away.....

 

[ErinF]

I love Touring Plans!!! I think I've been a yearly subscriber since 2008 or 2009. We bought the Unofficial Guide for our first family trip in 2008, so that's when I became familiar with them. I didn't make personalized touring plans though until our last WDW trip in June 2014, and then I used them again for our DL trip last summer. Need to get on that for this June's trip asap! From my experience using them, it goes really well for the first 5 to 8 attractions and then we get derailed a bit for various reasons (restroom stops, snack breaks, we decide to do something different just because, or the wait times are a little off). Easy to get back on track though, you can just skip ahead a few steps if you want, or just look at what time it is and where you should be according to the touring plan and head there. I'm with you and I like to do extensive planning, if for no other reason than it helps assure we'll get to do the things that we want to do most!

 

[Jfsag123]

I love that you are a specific planner! I do the same thing, and also go in with the knowledge that things can (and will) shift, but I like to have a specific game plan. I also love that one of the open tabs in your screenshot is "How to Take a Screenshot." When I saw that you had included them, my first thought was "Gosh, I wouldn't even know how to take a screenshot", then I saw that and felt a little better. BTW, started writing my own PTR, as I felt inspired to get in gear. Will probably be ready to post next week.

Are you planning on using extra fastpasses? We found availability to be plentiful for many rides at the MK. Our first day of our last trip (which occurred over spring break, so pretty crowded), we used 7 fastpasses and didn't start our first one until around 3pm. I went into the trip not loving the idea of FP+ over legacy FP, but left converted.

 

[twinprincesses09]

We will have a few overlapping days with you too! We arrive 5/30 and depart on 6/7, but doesn't look like we are at the same parks on the same days. Just as an FYI, Gay Days designated park for Saturday is MK. We are avoiding it that day purely due to the increased crowds that it will bring. However, I am making sure that MK is the first park we visit, so I understand you wanting to go there first.

 

[ArielSRL]

I love Touring Plans!!! I think I've been a yearly subscriber since 2008 or 2009. We bought the Unofficial Guide for our first family trip in 2008, so that's when I became familiar with them. I didn't make personalized touring plans though until our last WDW trip in June 2014, and then I used them again for our DL trip last summer. Need to get on that for this June's trip asap! From my experience using them, it goes really well for the first 5 to 8 attractions and then we get derailed a bit for various reasons (restroom stops, snack breaks, we decide to do something different just because, or the wait times are a little off). Easy to get back on track though, you can just skip ahead a few steps if you want, or just look at what time it is and where you should be according to the touring plan and head there. I'm with you and I like to do extensive planning, if for no other reason than it helps assure we'll get to do the things that we want to do most!

Yes, I was so happy to try out touringplans.com. I had read lots about them before so it was an easy decision to make to go with them! Yes, while I would love to stick to the plan since I so carefully crafted it out...I know that's not realistic. I recently starting playing around with the app and it seems so user friendly for "in the park" time. If we skip over a few steps, I can reshuffle or just change them to another day.

I love that you are a specific planner! I do the same thing, and also go in with the knowledge that things can (and will) shift, but I like to have a specific game plan. I also love that one of the open tabs in your screenshot is "How to Take a Screenshot." When I saw that you had included them, my first thought was "Gosh, I wouldn't even know how to take a screenshot", then I saw that and felt a little better. BTW, started writing my own PTR, as I felt inspired to get in gear. Will probably be ready to post next week.

Are you planning on using extra fastpasses? We found availability to be plentiful for many rides at the MK. Our first day of our last trip (which occurred over spring break, so pretty crowded), we used 7 fastpasses and didn't start our first one until around 3pm. I went into the trip not loving the idea of FP+ over legacy FP, but left converted.

LOL about the screenshot thing. I know how to do it on my ipad and iphone but until yesterday, had no clue how to do it on a pc. FYI, on the laptop, you press the "PrtSc" button, then you paste it into "Paint" and you save it. Or at least that's one of the ways and the way that worked best for me.

Link up that PTR when you get it posted! I'd love to read it!

And yes, we are really hoping for additional FP. I actually have an alarm set on my phone for every Saturday after our initial ones will run out and I check availability just to see what we might be able to get! LOL. Yes, I am a little obsessed!

We will have a few overlapping days with you too! We arrive 5/30 and depart on 6/7, but doesn't look like we are at the same parks on the same days. Just as an FYI, Gay Days designated park for Saturday is MK. We are avoiding it that day purely due to the increased crowds that it will bring. However, I am making sure that MK is the first park we visit, so I understand you wanting to go there first.

I kind of forgot about gay days but my friend goes every year at this time and she said she was in MK with them last year and it seemed fine. Definitely, based on touringplans.com, the Saturday will be the busiest day we experience. But because we have a good plan and 2 other full MK days, I'm not going to worry too much. But thanks for reminding me! And thanks for reading!

 

[ArielSRL]

So I played around with changing FP times to later and therefore moving attractions around on Arrival Day and it all ended up changing the wait times fairly significantly. Mad tea party went from 14 to 23 minutes. Dumbo from 27 to 31, etc, etc. so I made the executive decision to stick to the previous FP times, but just switch up the order. Under the Sea first at 2:15, PP at 3:15, and 7DMT at 4:15. If we end up getting there later than 3, we can lose the Under the Sea FP, and just try to ride it later during MSEP or Wishes (if we are still there). And if we do get there later, I should know early enough to go on the app and switch up that FP to an attraction after 7DMT. That would give us til 4:15 to get to MK and ride PP, which should be doable.

 

[Paigevon]

Love your pre-trip report!! I "excessively" plan just like you do!

 

[ArielSRL]

Love your pre-trip report!! I "excessively" plan just like you do!

Thanks for joining in! I plan to post day 2 plans in the next day or two!

 

[ArielSRL]

Day 2 Plans 6/5

Back again with another update! First off I wanted to post a photo of my Disney Countdown:

And no, I didn't make it. I bought it off Etsy. I doubt it's hard to make but I don't have the time nor the cricut machine...lol. In any case, I love it. I was so excited when it came. And AJ is so excited to change the numbers every day. Currently we are at 74 days until Disney and 14 days until our FP window opens. I'm starting to get organized for that by putting all my notes and ADRs in one place. I also downloaded a spread sheet and may bite the bullet and use that to put everything in one place.

Ok, so like I mentioned in an above post, I am planning to keep FP times the same for Arrival Day but I did switch them around:

I think that will work out better and if we miss UtS, we'll just try again later that night or another MK day.

On to Day 2. We'll be headed back to MK for Rope Drop. Mom and I are planning to get up around 6:30am to start the coffee and the getting ready process. I'm sure AJ and Will won't be far behind. Honestly, my dad is the only one I'm worried about. He says he can get up on time...but he rarely gets up before 9 or 10 now, so I highly doubt it. In any case, if he isn't up or ready, we will leave without him - which might work out better (more on that in a second). We plan to be at the bus stop by 8. For the most part, we will drive our car to the parks. One of the reasons is my dad, who is a type 1 diabetic and suffers from nerve damage due to that, has a handicap placard, so we will be able to park close to the entrances. We even plan to drive to MK most of the time, but for rope drop, I think the bus is best. It might be a little tough on Mom and me if Dad doesn't make the early morning bus trip because we will have all our stuff, the two boys, and the double stroller I rented but we'll make do. Back to Dad...if he comes after us, he can just drive the car, so we will have it there for our midday (well mid-morning on this day) break. Also, we are hoping to stay in the Springs section of SSR but will probably walk to the Paddock bus stop because Springs is last and we will most definitely want seats.

Our break on this day will be a little earlier than we prefer but AJ has a Pirate's League appointment at 3:30, so for us to have a worthwhile break, we need to head out of the park by 11:30. Counting on an hour each way to go back and forth, that only leave 2 hours for the break. Not much but I think necessary.







Okay...so there it is. I was a little worried about making the FP's so late but according to touring plans and their historical data, the waits should be very manageable this day. And, I think FP are more valuable after our break, than before.

Oh and suggestions for where to watch the castle show and Wishes. We may do the TTC ferry boat dock if we are ready to get out of there, but, we'd miss the castle show, so I'm not sure. We'll, most likely, play it by ear.

One more thing I forgot to mention. Mom doesn't do any thrill rides or rides that go around, plus Will will not be allowed to ride a handful or more rides so she is going to get back to me on whether or not to schedule different FP for her that overlap with ours.

Let me know what you think and if you see anything that looks like a glaring mistake. Thanks, in advance, for reading or any advice!

 

[Jfsag123]

Your plans look great! The only thing I might worry about is getting in and out of CHH within 30 minutes at prime dinner time, but you've left yourself some wiggle room, so I think it should be fine even if it does end up being a little busy.