Ticket, Resort, and First Day questions.

[orourkco]

I am plannign a trip in August that my family does not know about. I have a few questions-

1. I have a trip balance of 400.00 left- if I pay it off next week, when do I actually get the trip tickets? I will need to steal them out of the mail before my family sees them.

2. We are arriving at Disney at 10:00 in the morning- should we hit a park, and which one would you chose for a half day visit? (DD9, DS6, DD1)

3. I was planning on doing dinner at Mama Melrose with the Fantasmic deal. How exactly does that work? What time should I make dinner reservations for- in order to make the show?

4. I read somewhere that dining reservations can be done online at the Disney site, but I can't find it... I do see resort reservations online now- which is AWESOME!

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[daleswife]

I am plannign a trip in August that my family does not know about. I have a few questions-

1. I have a trip balance of 400.00 left- if I pay it off next week, when do I actually get the trip tickets? I will need to steal them out of the mail before my family sees them.

2. We are arriving at Disney at 10:00 in the morning- should we hit a park, and which one would you chose for a half day visit? (DD9, DS6, DD1)

3. I was planning on doing dinner at Mama Melrose with the Fantasmic deal. How exactly does that work? What time should I make dinner reservations for- in order to make the show?

4. I read somewhere that dining reservations can be done online at the Disney site, but I can't find it... I do see resort reservations online now- which is AWESOME!

Any help would be appreciated.

You should get your package in the mail around 30 days out. Your tickets will NOT be in there. Just vouchers.

I personally would do MK for a 1/2 day. It is a big park and you will need more than one day to get it done. Plus if you are going for more than one day then that extra 1/2 day would be good to make sure you dont miss a thing!!!

The fantasmic dinner package is fun. You can make the ressies for just about any time you want but I would do it around 5 or 6 so you can make sure you get to the show. I think they have changed the entrance since I did the package though so I cant help you much there.

I have never known dining ressies to be made online. It would be wonderful if they were, but I dont think its so at this moment. Im sure someone will correct me if I am wrong

Have a fun trip!!!

 

[TheDizMom]

I agree you should get them about 30 days out from your trip. You will get a packet that will have the vouchers for everything that you have reservations for. Your room key when you check in will be not only your access to your room (I am assuming you are staying on-site), but will be your park tickets and what you use if you are on a dining plan. It can even be used like a credit card throughout the parks and resorts if you leave a credit card number with your front desk when you check in. It is kind of your key to the city. If you are doing Magical Express those tickets and bag tags etc will come separate and actually be a ticket.

We have always come in later so never done a park the first day, but I agree with the PP that Magic Kingdom is the best one to go for if you want to do a half day. You will never see it all in one day and that is always the best park for the kids as far as I am concerned (It's actually everyone's favorite in this household ). Just be aware that it will be hot!!! We went in August and had a great time regardless, but the afternoon can be a scorcher, so bring along suits and a swim diaper so the kids can go splash at Mickey's Toontown for a cool down. Remember here too that if you are using the ME you won't get your bags right away, so if you want to have suits for this or the pool put them in your carry-on bags.

While we have done Fantasmic we have never done the dinner thing there. We have always gone to The 50' Prime Time first. Regardless, I too believe you can only call to get reservations for sit down restaurants beginning 180 days out from your trip. If you are planning to do this before Fantasmic be on that phone 180 days out so you make sure to get a time that enables you to still get decent seats at the show. It fills up fast.

Have a great trip .

 

[jewjubean]

I agree you should get them about 30 days out from your trip. You will get a packet that will have the vouchers for everything that you have reservations for. Your room key when you check in will be not only your access to your room (I am assuming you are staying on-site), but will be your park tickets and what you use if you are on a dining plan. It can even be used like a credit card throughout the parks and resorts if you leave a credit card number with your front desk when you check in. It is kind of your key to the city. If you are doing Magical Express those tickets and bag tags etc will come separate and actually be a ticket.

We have always come in later so never done a park the first day, but I agree with the PP that Magic Kingdom is the best one to go for if you want to do a half day. You will never see it all in one day and that is always the best park for the kids as far as I am concerned (It's actually everyone's favorite in this household ). Just be aware that it will be hot!!! We went in August and had a great time regardless, but the afternoon can be a scorcher, so bring along suits and a swim diaper so the kids can go splash at Mickey's Toontown for a cool down. Remember here too that if you are using the ME you won't get your bags right away, so if you want to have suits for this or the pool put them in your carry-on bags.

While we have done Fantasmic we have never done the dinner thing there. We have always gone to The 50' Prime Time first. Regardless, I too believe you can only call to get reservations for sit down restaurants beginning 180 days out from your trip. If you are planning to do this before Fantasmic be on that phone 180 days out so you make sure to get a time that enables you to still get decent seats at the show. It fills up fast.

Have a great trip .

Its now 90 days out.

 

[TheDizMom]

They switched it back to 90 days,huh? Thanks for the heads up. That's good to know, last I heard it was still 180.

 

[orourkco]

thanks to everyone for your thoughts/ideas. Yes, we are staying onsite (CSR).
I was amazed to get an early flight- actually I just bought the flight yesterday- I have been tracking it. Each day it listed for around $350.00 for each of us (there are five). Yesterday they posted a special for $199 each! I had to jump on it- am I crazy for buying plane tickets so early?
Thanks for the heads up on the reservation thing- I heard somewhere that if you were staying onsite it was 90 +10- what exactly does that mean???
Does that mean that at 90 days out (from my first day at Disney) I can make my reservations for my entire trip, rather than calling 90 days from each day of my trip- does that make sense??? Or does it mean I can make ressies 100 days from the start of my trip? I may have answered my own questions, huh?
I hope and pray that I get the most knowledgeable and patient staff member when I call to make ressies- because I am lost.
Thanks again everyone.

 

[nopdwife]

Yes, you answered your own question. You can make your ADR's 90 days from your arrival and if you are staying on site, you can make up to 10 days of ADR's. Understand? I've always had patient rep's when i've called to make mine. ALthough once I got a guy who didn't seem to know what HE was talking about. He tried to tell me that I couldn't make my Chef Mickey ADR yet but I had called the day before and made one. I just wanted to change it. I knew what I was talking about and he eventually did it. One tip, alot of people have said they've called first thing in the a.m. and have had to wait long periods of time to get help but i've called around lunch time(central time) each time and have never waited longer then 2 minutes. Good luck and i'm sure your family will be very excited when they learn of the trip you've got planned for them!

 

[Lesley Mahler]

If you are doing Chef Mickey or CRT, you can still book those 180 days out, but only those!!

 

[TheDizMom]

Don't worry the res agents are very patient and helpful. I had to book for 7 nights and 11 people and the agent was great. Just have a good idea of where you want to go and what day, and the entire process should be pretty easy.

 

[KSG'sDisneyMem]

If you want to do a 1/2 day at a park I agree MK is the one to see. However, I love having that check in day to tour the resort, use the pool and UNPACK! CSR is a large resort and your kids will love the pool. You may not be able to get into your room at 10:00 am but they will tell you which building your room will be in and a number to call periodically to see if the room is ready. They will give you your room key upon arrival but cannot release your room number to you until the room is ready. You could pack swimsuits and water shoes in carry on bags and have available to go to the pools. Then just leave the rest of your luggage at check in and they will bring to your room later. They have locker room type restrooms by the pools for changing. It is also VERY hot from 11 am until about 4 in the afternoon. You can decide what is best for your family regarding a visit to the park that day. I would recommend having a swim at the pool, lunch at Pepper Market (which is their unique version of the food court), and then getting into your room and unpacking. If you really want to get to the parks in the afternoon, take a nap/rest and then go to the park that has evening magic hours, if there is one for the night you check in. It is much cooler in the evening and you will have spent the day enjoying your resort and resting. Also, you can no longer book CRT and Chef Mickey's 180 days out. I just booked my ressies for Chef Mickeys at the 90 day mark as I had been told that all ressies are now only accepted at the 90 day mark. Keep in mind, you CAN book all of your ressies for your entire stay, at the 90 day mark of your check in date. So be ready with all of your requests and do them in one phone call. I book Fantasmic! dinner package at Hollywood and Vine as it is a buffet and we have more choices that way. The restaurant, which in your case will be Mama Melroses, will give you a ticket to enter Fantasmic! You will enter now at the main entrance for the show and stay to the right for the priority seating you get with your package purchase. At the very entrance to the theater, they have a CM looking at tickets and directing you to the right. You cannot get through this CM without the dining package ticket. Hope you have a magical trip! Oh, one other thing to note; all the seating for the package seatings are to the right of the theater as you enter so keep in mind that, while seating is set aside, it is not centrally located. You should plan to arrive well in advance, especially since Fantasmic! is now only shown 3 times per week. Not sure if this will change for August or not, but they fill that stadium every night for this popular show. They will start letting people in about 1 hour ahead of the show so be sure to be there at least in that time frame.

 

[snubie]

If you are doing Chef Mickey or CRT, you can still book those 180 days out, but only those!!

That is not exactly true. You can now book CM and CRT up to June 19 (I think that is the date) and then it reverts to 90 days like all other ADR's.