timing/schedule/planning questions

[jenhum]

I am trying to finalize our itinerary for our upcoming Disney trip (10/21-10/27, Poly/BC split stay), and had some questions as I try to make sure we're not up too late one night and then up too early the next morning, etc.

1. About how long will dinner take at Whispering Canyon, coming to and from Poly?

2. What time do we need to leave Poly for a 9 am open (assuming we want to be at a decent spot in the rope drop crowd)?

3. What time do we need to leave Poly for an 8 am BOG breakfast? Does this change at all if it's an EMM day?

4. What time do we need to leave Poly for an 8 am Akershus breakfast? We will have a car and can drive that day if it's quicker.

5. What time would we need to leave BC for an 8 am Akershus breakfast (currently have it booked when we're still at the Poly, but would trying to get it changed to after we move to BC).

6. What time is HalloWishes? Hoping to watch it from the Lava pool.

7. What's the bus time from Poly to AK? Would it be a lot faster to drive? Would much prefer to take the bus, but would consider driving if it's considerably faster.

8. Would it be ok to eat at Beaches&Cream in swimsuit coverups, or would we need to go back to the room and change first?

Sorry for all the "what time" questions! I want to make sure I'm allowing plenty of time for everything, and I know some of you seasoned DW travelers will know the answers. Thank you!!!

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

The reason I can't give a better answer is that I don't know how fast you walk or eat. The bus schedule is unknown - you could wait zero minutes or an hour (if something went wrong with a bus this could happen to you as it has to us) though they are supposed to be every 20 minutes.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

1. Meals often take 90minutes and up. Breakfasts w/out characters may be faster, eating early is often faster. It isn't just the meal, ADR's aren't reservations...it kinda just means eventually you'll be seated. It might be on time, it might be an hour late. desserts also lengthen a meal, but characters only go around so quickly. Character meals are not fast.

2. I'm no big fan of arriving before the gate opens. Been there, thought it was a complete waste. So you'll get totally different opinions there. I HATE being in the gate crush. You typically don't actually get crushed, it is more the go-getters have an annoying NEED to be first, and don't care if they are very rude. transportation can be a bit variable, but the monorail ride is under 15minutes, as long as it is running. ALL WDW is variable. Don't expect any of it to be precise. Longer commutes can take 30-60mintes. we try to arrive right after the gates open. I'd allow about 20min from Poly (to arrive NEAR RD), but you'll add more if it is important to arrive before the gate opens. But for me, I'm not trying to make an ADR, so I'm not worried if a boat doesn't arrive right away. If you have an ADR- you need to allow extra time to be certain to arrive in time for it. Hopefully that makes sense.

3. Transportation is less frequent before the parks open. BOG is at the back of the park, so you should allow about an hour for this, I'd say.(from the monorail platform). There are a number of unknowns: security, tickets all working properly, etc. Security is a big unknown these days.

4/5. driving quicker to Epcot from Poly. Drive is about 20min...plus all the variables I already mentioned. Akershus is also at the back of the park. Are you SURE you REALLY want to do this many early breakfasts? you'll be getting up VERY early to make them happen. IMO, the parks are best after dark.from Bc, the walk takes about 20minutes,plus getting through security, etc.
6. Dark o'clock-ish If youa re doing 8am breakfasts, you'll likely be zonked come fireowrks time. To make 8am breakfasts, we'd haveto be up around 5am. DISers rave about eating before a park opens opens, but I don't see the appeal, and I'm pretty well versed in WDW. After dark is better time to be in the parks. We also try to avoid being IN a meal around Rope Drop.
7. Driving is faster, if you don't get lost. Use GPS. In the past, AK buses stopped at Water park. I heard they changed, but I don't knowfor sure. Driving is still going to be FASTER. Almost always.
8. Band C is pretty informal. You need shoes and cover ups, I'm pretty sure, but you don't need to be fancy. When last we visited, they were in the process of replacing the locker room. Most WDW pools have a locker/changing room if you want to change before eating. Getting up to your room is also easy enough if you choose to do that.

As I said in top point, TS meals can be a bit slow. When we dine at the Bc pool, we tend to eat at the outdoor place. ALso October will likely be good swim weather, but it might be on the cooler end of happy swim weather. So, weatherwise, you might be happier changing before eating, unless you are eating at the outdoor place. OH- if you have kids- the outdoor place kid meals do (or did) come with a sand bucket and shovel.

There' no one way to do WDW- not at all- but we find that doing quick breakfasts and quick lunches, then maybe TS dinners works well with WDW touring. I've done breakfast ADR's, and they just slow us down in the morning.

 

[jenhum]

1. Meals often take 90minutes and up. Breakfasts w/out characters may be faster, eating early is often faster. It isn't just the meal, ADR's aren't reservations...it kinda just means eventually you'll be seated. It might be on time, it might be an hour late. desserts also lengthen a meal, but characters only go around so quickly. Character meals are not fast.

2. I'm no big fan of arriving before the gate opens. Been there, thought it was a complete waste. So you'll get totally different opinions there. I HATE being in the gate crush. You typically don't actually get crushed, it is more the go-getters have an annoying NEED to be first, and don't care if they are very rude. transportation can be a bit variable, but the monorail ride is under 15minutes, as long as it is running. ALL WDW is variable. Don't expect any of it to be precise. Longer commutes can take 30-60mintes. we try to arrive right after the gates open. I'd allow about 20min from Poly (to arrive NEAR RD), but you'll add more if it is important to arrive before the gate opens. But for me, I'm not trying to make an ADR, so I'm not worried if a boat doesn't arrive right away. If you have an ADR- you need to allow extra time to be certain to arrive in time for it. Hopefully that makes sense.

3. Transportation is less frequent before the parks open. BOG is at the back of the park, so you should allow about an hour for this, I'd say.(from the monorail platform). There are a number of unknowns: security, tickets all working properly, etc. Security is a big unknown these days.

4/5. driving quicker to Epcot from Poly. Drive is about 20min...plus all the variables I already mentioned. Akershus is also at the back of the park. Are you SURE you REALLY want to do this many early breakfasts? you'll be getting up VERY early to make them happen. IMO, the parks are best after dark.from Bc, the walk takes about 20minutes,plus getting through security, etc.
6. Dark o'clock-ish If youa re doing 8am breakfasts, you'll likely be zonked come fireowrks time. To make 8am breakfasts, we'd haveto be up around 5am. DISers rave about eating before a park opens opens, but I don't see the appeal, and I'm pretty well versed in WDW. After dark is better time to be in the parks. We also try to avoid being IN a meal around Rope Drop.
7. Driving is faster, if you don't get lost. Use GPS. In the past, AK buses stopped at Water park. I heard they changed, but I don't knowfor sure. Driving is still going to be FASTER. Almost always.
8. Band C is pretty informal. You need shoes and cover ups, I'm pretty sure, but you don't need to be fancy. When last we visited, they were in the process of replacing the locker room. Most WDW pools have a locker/changing room if you want to change before eating. Getting up to your room is also easy enough if you choose to do that.

As I said in top point, TS meals can be a bit slow. When we dine at the Bc pool, we tend to eat at the outdoor place. ALso October will likely be good swim weather, but it might be on the cooler end of happy swim weather. So, weatherwise, you might be happier changing before eating, unless you are eating at the outdoor place. OH- if you have kids- the outdoor place kid meals do (or did) come with a sand bucket and shovel.

There' no one way to do WDW- not at all- but we find that doing quick breakfasts and quick lunches, then maybe TS dinners works well with WDW touring. I've done breakfast ADR's, and they just slow us down in the morning.

Thank you so much for your input and advice! It is very much appreciated. The only reason I had planned on the BOG and Akershus breakfasts were to get a slight advantage on lines. We are big breakfast people, but we are really not huge morning people, so I think I may knock it down to just one 8:00 breakfast, and we'll make it work with FPs. We do shower at night, so we only need 20-30 minutes in the morning and we are ready to walk out the door. But there's no need to exhaust us just for the possibility of an extra ride or two. At least half of the mornings I'm planning on us sleeping in, and the other half we'll be getting up early for RD.

 

[jenhum]

The reason I can't give a better answer is that I don't know how fast you walk or eat. The bus schedule is unknown - you could wait zero minutes or an hour (if something went wrong with a bus this could happen to you as it has to us) though they are supposed to be every 20 minutes.

That makes sense! I guess I was looking more for opinions on when you (the general you, haha) would leave. I definitely realize that the transportation will vary a lot. We got lucky with busses on our first trip (AoA), and I'm hoping that this trip will be smooth too, esp since we'll have more than one option.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

The buffets are BIG breakfasts indeed!
I tend to be a small eater in the morning. When we've done breakfast buffets, we timed them for 10:30am, and then skipped lunch. more recently we have discovered Club Level, and like that much better. (CL offers a continental breakfast.) After a buffet, I don't feel like rushing or going on thrill rides. On the other hand, being a bit ZIPPY in the morning pays off.

Now maybe we take a long time getting ready, but at WDW and US, we tend to start around 6:30am. We drink coffee for a bit, and push to leave the room by about 8:10am for breakfast at our hotel food court. With CL, we can condense that a bit. If we are taking a bus/boat/monorail, we aim for about 8:40am. (But we don't beat ourselves up if it ends up being closer to 9am.) Keep in mind- before we head out - we kind of run down check list of sorts: Did we apply sunscreen/deodorant? Check weather? Pack jackets/rain ponchos? Cash for the day? Bottled water? What is our ADR time? The day before you leave, you also have to think about boarding passes, packing, etc.

Last trip, we arrived at the WL bus stop, and the posted wait was long. (new electronic boards!) We walked/jogged to the boat launch, and discovered that the boats had JUST been suspended due to fog (a few minutes after we arrived). We then jogged back to the bus stop, and still waited (at least) another 15min for a bus to arrive. (didn't quite follow posted wait) It takes a few min for the bus to load, and a bit longer if a scooter has to load. I think we arrived at MK about 9:20am. Normally we arrive closer to 9am.

The park gates sometimes (often?) open a little before the posted 9am, but they (often) hold guests in the middle of the park. I've done it before, actually a number of times, and didn't see that it gave us a huge advantage. We've also found ourselves standing outside a closed entrance, and to me, that's a waste. Some DISers love it, but to me- waiting is waiting is waiting. a half hour outside the gate is NO better than half an hour in any other line. I like to get 90% of that first hour, but avoid the pre-opening folks.

Some DISers like 8am breakfasts, but I wouldn't want to eat a very large meal very early. If you arrive very early, you'll tend to be seated on time. But our meals have sometimes been very slow due to things that weren't our fault. Hard to predict. If a slow meal is keeping me from rides, I'm not happy. With quick serve breakfasts, we grab and go if it helps.

The most valuable park hours are the later PM hours, and the first hour of the day. Now PM hours and crowds vary, but I think they are more valuable. Many folks do their 3 pre-booked FP, and leave. Major holidays they stay later, during events they stay later. If it rains, folks clear out. If it gets cold, folks clear out. If people paid for a hard ticket event, they stay. As Halloween gets closer, overall crowds will probably increase. BUT, also know - in the 8am-9am hour crowds are building. As night progresses, crowds get lower and lower.