I’ll definitely shoot for the earlier part of the lunch period for 50’s. If I do like an 11:30 or 12:00 lunch, with the 6:15 HDD sitting, I think that part will be ok.
Hmmm… so you’re suggesting I change the ROL package to go with the TH breakfast, and make it later. I do like that idea, and it also drops one of the questionable PPOs I was looking at. I was looking forward to trying Tiffins, but if I really wanted to, we could do a dinner there on our arrival day.
I’m so glad I posted for input here! Whatever I eventually settle on, it’s so nice to get these different perspectives and suggestions!
I hadn’t even thought of this. We saw the show on our last trip and really enjoyed it! I just looked up the package, and I see that it also includes the safari?? (ETA: I see now that Tier 1 includes the safari, Tier 2 does not.) OK, now I’m interested in this! As of right now, I’m only seeing this available up through the end of September. Do they release these only a couple of months in advance?
I am thinking about swapping our first two days - arrival day at HS, Friday full day at AK. With two full days at AK, we could do both the Lion King/Tiffins package, and the ROL/TH package. That would also give it a somewhat earlier night on Friday, with the Universal day on Saturday, which will be a very long day.
This is sounding like a good plan! I had been semi-set on AK for arrival day since it is closest to our resort, but HS is almost as close. And I’m feeling very “iffy” about HS for this trip anyway… excited but apprehensive about the SWGE chaos. So I think I’d rather have that be the 1.5 day park vs. AK.
I have heard great things about the Tier 1. We are doing the tier 2 because we are on free dining and it is included. Let me know how you like Tier 1, I plan on taking a trip with less people and would love to do this package.
AK is my favorite park. The first trip I did as an adult, I had no intentions of going there, then we loved it. We do 2 days there every time.
Do you know if the safari on Tier 1 get us something more than the regular safari? For the $25 cost difference (x4) I am not sure I want to do Tier 1, if it basically just buys us a safari FPP. But if it includes something more than that, I would consider it. It looks like I can’t book this for a while anyway, so I guess I have some time to think about it… lol.
Yes, it is a special “behind the magic” safari. Our guides met us at Lion King where we sat in a reserved front row section. The safari loaded in an exit area. There were 8 of us on the safari with two guides. They stayed as long as we wanted after the safari to answer all questions.
Well, that does sound pretty amazing! My dh would LOVE it. How does the timing work? I see on the Disney page that “The order of each experience may vary, with the dining component coming either before or after the show and safari.” When do you find out, and how do you plan other FPPs around that?
You book your Tiffin meal and they then schedule your Lion King. We had a 6:30 Tiffins ADR. They booked us at Lion King at 3:00. We had to go to Tiffins at 2:15. They gave us a lanyard and told us to be at the back door of FoLK between 2:30-2:45. At the end of the show we were escorted to the safari. The safari ended around 4:45. We did a FP at 5 and then went to Nomad for drinks before dinner .
Edited my OP with the current status of my revised plans. I’m now re-thinking the Akerhus breakfast altogether. The original thought was to do it as a PPO and then get to FEA. But I am worried about the early morning after a looooooong day at Universal (which I would be willing to skip, but alas I’m outvoted on that one lol).
So I was thinking, we have never been anywhere the Boardwalk/Beach Club area, and I would like to see it, so maybe Ale & Compass breakfast? The food looks good and the price is right (also starting to worry about the accumulation of high-priced ADRs lol).
How about Trattoria al Forno for breakfast? They have breakfast slots until 11:30, I think. It was truly a delicious breakfast; best I’ve had at WDW. Plus, the character interaction was great!
I hate that you’re getting rid of Akershus; it’s our favorite restaurant at Epcot.
I considered Trattoria also. I think we need about 3 additional days on our trip… there are too many restaurants that I want to go to! LOL! I compared it to Ale & Compass, and both look great. I enjoy the characters, but with 2 teen boys, that’s generally not a priority (although I bet they would enjoy the princesses… lol). The tie-breaker was the cost, and also getting to peek at a resort that we’ve never been to. Although we haven’t been to the boardwalk either. Accck… so many decisions! lol
We are probably NOT doing the dining plan this trip, because I think it will cost us more than paying out of pocket. Have not completely decided yet.
We did have the plan on our last trip, and the convenience and “all inclusive” feel is awesome, as is the lack of “sticker shock” in that you get that all at once when you pay for it up front, lol. But I am pretty sure that it would be cheaper for us to pay as we go. I want to do Tier 1 for HDD and Lion King, so we wouldn’t use the package for those. I also think there might be meals where some of us might get by with splitting an entree, but with the plan we will feel compelled to all order full meals. And dh and I are not big drinkers, so would not likely get our money’s worth out of that part of it… or would have a glass of wine that I didn’t really want, “just because it’s already paid for”.
That said, we aren’t trying to be TOO vigilant about pinching pennies, so I really do only see the cost factor as a possible tie-breaker. However I am trying not to overdo the character meals, like I said with a 16 and 18/turning19 yo, it isn’t a great ROI lol.
I asked about the dining plan because of your original plan and all the buffets. When you have that many $55 buffets and if you have a drink ($15) the plan for the day is paid for.
I’ll take a look at that one. I did use the TP one, and it said that the dining plan would NOT save us money (by at least $600, and that’s not accounting for any split entrees), but this one might be more specific to our plans. Thanks!
Ohhhhh right… the other thing I had trouble with on that one is that it only goes up to an 8-night stay, and we are staying 9 nights, so I have to fudge it a little. We basically get an extra day’s allotments for our Universal day.
As of right now, I’m only seeing this available up through the end of September. Do they release these only a couple of months in advance?
lol). The tie-breaker was the cost, and also getting to peek at a resort that we’ve never been to. Although we haven’t been to the boardwalk either. Accck… so many decisions! lol