Last July my son’s ex-girlfriend asked me for help planning an August 2019 WDW trip for her son’s 5th birthday. We met and planned her trip. She then booked and later applied a discount: All Star Movies, 6 day 1 park tickets, dining plan and Memory Maker.
I met with her before ADR day and have checked in on her a few times. She told me a co-worker was also helping her. Today I walked into this:
She never booked dining.
She booked 6 instead of 7 nights and had flights booked Sunday-Sunday (this was fixed today)
Fast pass day is on Wednesday but will not do it on her own and we will do it at 10:30am, instead of 7:00.
So, start with fast passes? Crowd calendar? Dining?
Thoughts? Ideas?
Oh yeah- her son has his heart set on eating in the castle for his birthday and I love that kid…
Wow, that’s a bit of a pinch the co-worker put her in. I’ve found that most people outside this lovely bunch don’t really have a clue as to all the logistics of planning. You are a sweet person to step in and help your son’s ex girlfriend with planning. You are one of the most helpful people on this website so hopefully others will chime in with some advice. I’d say set up reservation finder for a CRT res asap.
I don’t know what their budget is but wasn’t there a recently announced CRT/dessert Party type event? I remember it being pretty costly but just thought I would mention it.
You could get BoG right now. Party of 2? Not going to be PPO, but it’s definitely available that week. I’d book it and put in the resfinder for 2 dates for CRT.
Is any dining available at the castle on his birthday? If not, I’d set up a reservation finder (and Mouse Dining finder) immediately. That day is MK. Otherwise, I’d start with MK day as he’s 5 and I think young kids expect MK when they hear “We’re going to Disney!”
Otherwise, yeah, I agree with PP. Map out dining getting whatever is best available and then do FP.
I planned super last minute last year and was able to get it done. I’d start a google sheet and share it with her so she can help you map out her plans.
I’m eyeballing a trip with my sister and her kids next summer and my tentative plan is:
Arrival Date - MK (ADR at CRT or CP)
Day 2 - AK (ADR at Tusker House)
Day 3 - Resort Day
Day 4 - EPCOT - Future World and World Showcase / Magic Kingdom / Animal Kingdom (Breakfast: Bakery in France, ADR Lunch BOG); AK only if needed (and that may be me taking a couple kids there while my sister has the other three at a pool)
Day 5 - MK / Departure (ADR for lunch at CRT or CP - whichever we didn’t do Day 2)
**I’m hoping DAH-HS is available and we can do that one night. Otherwise, we’ll skip it.
And stalk the August ADR drop thread on the dis boards. I had good luck there - even for PPO BOG. Oh, and overlapping FP times too - that’s how I was able to get some things.
Can I book it under my name and add them to the reservation? I actually have her and her son in my profile from a trip we all took together but now she has her own account.
I did this for a friend because I happened to see CRT available. I booked it for myself and her child (who was on my friends list) then she had to call to change it to her name and her credit card but it wasn’t a problem. Just a little bit of a pain.
