Haven't posted in a year - we just decided to go from 11/18 - 11/24 and stay at the Poly.
A note for those who haven't tried "winging it" during busy operating seasons/days. My family has for the last 3 WDW trips employed very careful preplanning - maybe not 100% commando but pretty close and we've always gone during early December. We have a great time, but I'm also ragged on for being so anal in preparations. Well last July, we were on our way to Destin FL when the a hurricane came through, so we changed gears and went to WDW (staying at CBR with) for five days. Day 1 like clockwork - with everyone enjoying themselves immensely - so the family said - "let's sleep in and just wing it" at MGM. I immediately got a little shaky at the thought, but hey, they've always been good troopers so let's try it.
Needless to say, when we got to the park at 11:00 AM and there was a 20 minute wait to get into the park, and all the fastpasses already had 4+ hr. return times (if they weren't all gone) that everyone gained a new found appreciation of the wisdom contained in these forums. Hell, the lines to get a Coke were longer than the lines at the attractions we normally experience when we plan. We were all miserable -- and it wasn't because of me saying "I Told You So". We went back to our regular touring plans for the final 3 days and everything was once again right with the World.
This time, my DD, DS & DW are more actively engaged in planning this trip and it's making the planning stage even more rewarding.
A note for those who haven't tried "winging it" during busy operating seasons/days. My family has for the last 3 WDW trips employed very careful preplanning - maybe not 100% commando but pretty close and we've always gone during early December. We have a great time, but I'm also ragged on for being so anal in preparations. Well last July, we were on our way to Destin FL when the a hurricane came through, so we changed gears and went to WDW (staying at CBR with) for five days. Day 1 like clockwork - with everyone enjoying themselves immensely - so the family said - "let's sleep in and just wing it" at MGM. I immediately got a little shaky at the thought, but hey, they've always been good troopers so let's try it.
Needless to say, when we got to the park at 11:00 AM and there was a 20 minute wait to get into the park, and all the fastpasses already had 4+ hr. return times (if they weren't all gone) that everyone gained a new found appreciation of the wisdom contained in these forums. Hell, the lines to get a Coke were longer than the lines at the attractions we normally experience when we plan. We were all miserable -- and it wasn't because of me saying "I Told You So". We went back to our regular touring plans for the final 3 days and everything was once again right with the World.
This time, my DD, DS & DW are more actively engaged in planning this trip and it's making the planning stage even more rewarding.
) We ended up in Epcot on a Saturday during the Food & Wine Festival - oh yeah - there was 13 of us and they couldn't understand why we couldn't find a resturant to eat at 
