Help me plan, please. Planners block!

2019 F&W Trip.pdf (178.2 KB)

I need help choosing which parks to be in for which days. Attached is current crowd level predictions. We are planning 1 MNSSHP and 1 EMM MK - those are the dates in green. We would like to spend a decent amount of time at F&W. These may be my only MK days.

  • How accurate is TP EMH predictions? I’d like to avoid them. I realize there may be AM EMH at HS for a long time.

  • We will have 7 day park hoppers. Might reduce this to 6 days, and hang at hotel on departure day.

  • RD for 9 am openings not a problem. Will park hop with a pool break some days.

  • What are the chances of FOP FPP for Day 1? Would ultimately like to ride it 2x during trip, with the 2nd time on a different day - unless we get lucky and get SDFPP.

*Intending on Boma, Ohana (Sun 11/3) and Kimonos as our Table Service. Possibly Tusker House. No issue with getting these when I log on at 180 for ADR day. But, none of them are in a park - so consider transportation time.

If you’ve come this far in reading, thank you!!

Looks like we will be there most of same days. From what I hear FoP FPP not usually available until 60 + 3, but not impossible for 60 I suppose. Where are you staying? We are doing MNSSHP on the 29th because I heard Tuesday was better than other days; however I assume that close to Halloween, they will all likely be crazy

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Hi -
Even though you said you’d like to avoid emh, I’d suggest you give additional thought to AM AMH + hopping, since you say 9am rope drop is not an issue, and you’ll be hopping. If 8am emh is out of the question, I get it, but 8am emh + pool break + hopping is what works for us, but we are early risers, and early to bed. - Just a suggestion - it’s only an hour earlier than 9am. For attractions, you can usually get in 3 headliners unless it’s crazy busy during am emh, but if you arrive late, all bets are off.

I’m a big fan of Kimonos - not hard to get to. For free you can take a bus to Hollywood, then simply walk or hop on a Friendship boat. Kimono’s is not Disney managed, so the whole adr nonsense is not needed. You might be able to call direct for a reservation, or just use open table.

Also, maybe just syntax of how you wrote it, but Tusker House is in AK.

I’d think FOP FP for day 1 is totally possible, but you might not get the exact time you’d like.

Question for you though - are you offsite, and that’s why you’d like to avoid emh, and you’re asking about fop because fp day is 30 days for you?

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We are staying POFQ.

I’m toying around with the idea of doing Boma the first night, then heading to AK to do a ride or 2, then watching ROL.

FOP x2 is really for me. DD is a huge test track fan, so that is also a must do several times if we can.

WS, especially with F&W is such a time sucker.

We didn’t want to do 29th MNSSHP because of it being arrival day. It’s a lot of money to throw away if our flight has issues. We did the party Sun 28 Oct last year and it was fine. 7DMT was a 40 min wait but most everything else was walk on, or just a few minute wait. Crowded for the parade and Hallowishes though. I think a lot of people who haven’t paid leach onto the parade and Hallowishes… fly under the radar. Anyhow, we loved the party and can’t wait to do it again.

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Yes, TH=AK - this was bad editing on my part. Ohana and TH will be repeats for us. Boma and Kimonos will be new. I need to ask DH how strongly he feels about Kimonos, or if he’d rather spend that time at F&W. The kamachi appetizer looks amazing though!! Does Kimonos make more sense on a HS day, or a non park day? I think LegoLand closes on the early side…

I’m onsite. I can get DH to the bus at 8:00 am, 7:00 am is pushing it. It makes EMH difficult. He’ll do fine for the EMM day, but I can’t expect too many days in a row - unless I have a solid plan for breakfast to accompany my plan for the day. I did leave him behind one morning last trip and he caught up later…this might be ideal. I’ll toss this idea around.

DD and I do this all the time. Keeps everyone happy since DH is definitely not a morning creature! :joy:

@bethro23 if we’re there the same time, how are you planning your days? where are you staying?

Staying at BLT but arriving on 26th (late) and leaving the 4th. As of right now I do have HS days planned - may remove if I see it’s going to be impossible - this trip is just me and DH

  1. 27th MK until late afternoon; evening undecided - may just opt for TS somewhere outside of parks or brave Epcot WS for F& W
  2. 28th - Epcot morning until early evening and then MK HEA dessert party
  3. 29th - nothing during day; MNSSHP eve
  4. 30th - late arrival at AK and stay until close
  5. 31st - MK morning - Epcot WS and F&W evening
  6. Nov 1 - AK RD to afternoon - DS evening or non park TS dining
  7. Nov 2 HS RD to late afternoon - over to Boardwalk and then TS on Boardwalk or DS
  8. Nov 3 - hoping for Cali Grille Brunch, then hang around hotel - hoping to go to HS late afternoon until close (but that likely will not happen because HS may reach capacity) if not - may go to MK late afternoon/early evening
  9. Nov 4 - tragical express

i’m growing more and more worried that our crowd levels will increase as we get closer.

i’ve already warned DH that we may rope drop, do our fast passes, head back to the hotel and not come back to the parks. DD8 and I will not even consider a ride wait longer than 30 min (spoiled by good touring plans I guess).

Trying to squeeze in F&W time this trip is getting to a challenge. Last trip we stayed BC - LOVED walking to Epcot. Didn’t like taking buses from BC, but the walk was great!

I hear ya on the not waiting more than 30 minutes…same here! Also will try and AVOID Food and Wine on any weekend (maybe first Sunday night we will try in evening). When I heard about SW:GE I thought about punting and cancelling, but not going to. I may spend more time outside of parks than in, but so be it! I will say, it’s easier for me to take this attitude without kids going

I’m planning to go in later October too. And I’ve gone beyond the worrying stage … I’m now assuming that the crowd levels for my days will go up as we get closer.

My wife and I have discussed switching to mid-November, but since we don’t know when Rise of the Resistance will open, it’s impossible to know whether late October or mid-November will be worse.

I think the best thing to do is just decide on dates and then prepare a good TP.

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Our general plan each day will be (a) rope drop, (b) ride 3 FP+ between 10 am and Noon, © grab a same day FP for 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm, (d) head back to resort for break, and (e) go back to the park in the late afternoon and try to ride a few of the less popular attraction with lower lines.

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This is where I’m stuck. Deciding on where to be on what day. I already have airfare so the dates of my trip are solid.

DH wants F&W. DD8 wants lots of test track. And Legoland. I just want to avoid as much of the crowds as possible. Boma, Kimonos need scheduled - they’re dinner only and open at 5pm and 5:30 pm. With neither being in a park, the added transportation time is causing me pause. Ohana is hopefully 11/3 - & is non-negotiable. If we don’t go back to the parks after a midday break, the ADRs would be great. If we do go back to the parks, then taking this amount of time feels wasteful as it takes away from our touring time.

last trip I thought 10 nights was too much and I’d be ok with just 7 nights. i’m starting to reconsider my position!

We plan all our TS dinners for either (a) the park we are at, (b) our resort, © if at MK, then a resort TS available by monorail or boat or (d) if at AK, then a late dinner at AKL. Otherwise, it’s too much time wasted traveling. In my opinion, with few exceptions (Cali Grill being one of them) the TS at WDW is not worth spending much time traveling for.

Ideally I would plan Boma for the evening we are in AK and Kimonos on an EP or HS evening due to location.

Kimonos is good. It’s probably going to be as good as your neighborhood sushi joint at home, and similarly priced. It’s not going to be the best sushi you’ve ever had in your life, but for the price, you’ll probably be impressed by the quality, especially if you stick to nigiri. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Kimonos, but I’m fan because in the realm of overpriced everything at WDW, I can have some damn good sushi at a price point that doesn’t seem Disney overpriced, if that makes any sense. The room is nice - hotel sleek, and if you’re into karaoke, then you’ll enjoy yourselves even more. I’d try to get to Kimonos when you’re at EP or Hollyweird, since it’s a quick walk from the IG or DHS.

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i’m inclined to remove Tusker House from our list, keep Boma, and reconsider Kimonos. If we go to Kimonos, that is less time spent at F&W. Although it is helpful to know that no ADR is required for Kimonos, and we can decide last minute to stroll over if F&W feels too overwhelming (it was sooo crowded last time!).

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I may be joining you at Kimonos if F & W gets crazy when I am there ;-). Right now the days I picked are low CLs…but we all know those are likely to increase after SW:GE

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@bethro23 - you probably know this already … CL are determined based on wait times for the rides, not the crowds in WS. Last time, we had low CL in Future World and elbow to elbow in WS some evenings. bottlenecks around Mexico and Canada. I should have packed more patience last time. we didn’t go for drinking, but rather the food. Food lines were not bad, at all. It was just a sea of people trying to get from one country to the other.

I’ll also step aside next time and wait 10 min for the mad rush of people to leave after Illuminations replacement show finishes… that was almost as bad as the mad dash down main street after HEA!!

Yes, I did know that about CLs…but I figure with higher CLs in FW, WS would also increase (I know not necessarily). I did learn my lesson the hard way last time and will NEVER go on a weekend and also be at the booths at 11 am sharp and yes either leave before Illuminations (or whatever the replacement is) or stay for a while afterwards. DH not too keen on this trip…really just wants to go for F&W…could be interesting