Thanks Damavs!
From all of the responses, I think I should pretty much expect to not be able to do Illuminations that first night. Or maybe, I should expect to spy it from the “beach” at Swan. Maybe if the swan viewing area is good enough, I can cross Illuminations off the list. We are all adventurous eaters, and I’m not expecting anything fantastic at Mama Melrose, but it’s more about the package and making Fantasmic simple instead of having to queue up for a seat an hour before the show. If I have it correctly, my FEA fastpass - if I get there on the early side of the FP window, I should have a very leisurely amount of time to get back to hollywood for the 7:30 Fantasmic viewing. Probably enough time to slip the boy a tiny sip of something with caffeine in it for a quick boost. We are coming from Central time, and he is usually asleep by 9pm, so if he isn’t wiped out from touring (or annoyed by the security gates,) I’m still going to TRY for Illuminations since the walk back to Swan from Epcot International Gateway should be no more than 15 minutes putting him in bed at 10pm Eastern (9pm central.) He is a trooper - more stamina than me, but I have no desire to DRAG him to Illuminations. He is an early riser too. Rope drop shouldn’t be an issue for him or me, it’s the Mrs I worry about. For the most part, the afternoon/evening touring plans are light. Fastpasses + nightshow, or Fastpasses + night show plus EMH. I don’t plan on standing in lines for much at all in the afternoon/evening. If the evening EMH are a waste of time (I’m looking at you, Hollywood!) we’ll leave. The rockncoaster will be out of commission during our stay, so TOT, TSM, and the star wars adventure continues will be our main focus for rides at Hollywood. If I can do all of those twice in three visits to hollywood (two sets of EMH, by the way) I’ll consider it a success. The other plans for Hollywood are the Jedi training, and all of the Star Wars themed stuff. I have a feeling the boy is going to lose his mind during the Jedi training, meeting Chewy / Kylo Ren, and the photo opp section.
Also, to all who have given me food for thought, thank you so much again. I do not want to come across as a know it all, because I definitely do NOT know it all. I’m just explaining my thought process for the choices I’m coming up with. This is greatly helping me think this through, and I appreciate each and every response.
11/3
Epcot AM EMH
soarin x 2
Test Track X2 (1 fastpass)
MIssion Space (fastpass)
SPaceship Earth (fastpass)
Journey Into Imag
Turtle Talk
(if any of the fastpasses can be canceled, then reschedule for Hollywood late afternoon. If no fastpasses can be cancelled, then check and grab one for Hollywood late afternoon)
Hop to Hollywood for 12:55 Res at Mama Melrose (Fantasmic VIP pkg)
Relax at Hotel after lunch.
Hop to hollywood for early evening fastpass, maybe a show (watch jedi trainig / Indiana Jones)
7:30 VIP Fantasmic
Boat to Swan (dip in the pool, perhaps)
Dinner at swan.
11/4
Rope Drop at Magic Kingdom.
Last fastpass at 12pm for splash mountain.
Check for fastpasses at Epcot (for immediate use) or Hollywood (for early evening use)
Monorail to epcot.
Lunch at Epcot or swan
Relax at Hotel.
Dinner at hotel
Hop to Hollywood (play the time by ear)
8pm Star Wars Fireworks
Boat to Swan
Saturday 11/5:
7:45 EMM Hollywood
Sign up for Jedi Training. TSMM and Star Wars ride until we are tired of them.
Breakfast gorging at 9:30 am for the buffet.
Check for Character M&G / Star Wars Photo Op area.
Jedi Training
Light lunch at swan
Relax at Swan
Dinner at Swan (BBQ or Seafood Buffet)
Hop to MK for night tour.
Fastpasses are set up.
Wishes at 10.
Sunday 11/6
AM EMH at Hollywood
Sign up for Jedi again
Easy touring, no fastpasses, no big deal.
When crowds get bad, or we get hungry, go back to hotel
Lunch at Hotel and relax.
Dinner at hotel
Hop to MK, fastpasses are already set for night tour.
Maybe wishes again, play it by ear.
Monday 11/7
AK AM EMH
(Lunch at Flame Tree - I’m so jonesing for this)
Done by 1pm
Short break at hotel.
Relaxed tour of World Showcase at epcot. Lots of Snacking at F&W
Illuminations.
Walk to Swan
Back home next day
Illuminations is what I call a sound and light show, centred on the lake, with a definite “story” or theme. The fireworks are just the obligatory part of such a show to keep the interest of visitors who may not understand the commentary. The Swan /Dolphin is misleading you if they suggest you can “see” Illuminations from their beach. All you will see is the fireworks. Which is fine if that’s all you want but I wanted to make sure you realised this.
Second, I may be wrong here but is Flame Tree open? Maybe someone else can confirm but I thought it was getting a refurbishment just now. Having said that I just did a quick check and couldn’t see anything about it. I hope I’m wrong for 2 reasons, first because you say you’re really keen to eat there, and second because I am too, at Christmas!
I think that looks a good plan, I like the improvements for day 1. My only suggestion on Day 1 is see if there are any Jedi slots left at lunch time, you never know, and if you’re not knackered stay at HS for the afternoon. You might find staying more relaxing than going back to your hotel, also if you see a few shows that would give you a longer hotel rest on Sat or Sun.
I am a little confused by this. Do you not want to use all of these FPs? You can make just one or two if you want and as soon as you scan your last one in EP you can book HS.
Yes. I’d rather not need them so I can cancel them, and reschedule the remaining at a diff park later that day. If I’m thinking about this correctly, if I can cancel the last 2, or hopefully all three by a decent time, I can reschedule at the park I’m hopping to later, and have a decent selection.
Exactly. If I have to use them all, then I’ll just grab one for the park I’m hopping to after I check in at the last one. If the lines are favorable, then I’ll cancel (hopefully 2 or more) and then I can reserve those in the park I’m hopping to. If I don’t have to use 2, or 3, then I can reserve them at the park that might be busier later instead of wasting them in lines that are not going to save me that much time.
I’ll check on that, but I thought you can reschedule immediately after cancelled, just like on the mde non-mobile site. I’m assuming that if I have three scheduled, then check in for one, as soon as I check in for one, I can cancel the other two, and then reserve 2 more at a diff park, since we are allowed to schedule 3 at one park, but you cannot reserve those first three at more than one park at initial setup. Since we’re going for rope drop, and the tier 2 experiences have generally low wait times, if I hit the Tier 1 experience early with a scheduled fastpass, and the wait times for the tier 2’s are low enough, I might as well cancel the tier 2’s as early as I can so I can schedule 2 rides at a diff park later, instead of using the fastpasses at the first park, and only being able to schedule 1 fastpass at the park we’re hopping to after I check in for the tier 2 rides at Epcot.
There probably won’t be any jedi slots left by lunchtime, but there’s no harm in trying. If you do 1 FPP in your first park, you can still only book 1 FPP in the second park, not sure if you realise this.
No if you schedule and use one FPP in the first park you will be able to book the next two same day for another park. After the first three then it will be one at a time.
I am not sure about the cancelling. I know if you only schedule one then you can schedule same day the next two in a different park but I don’t know if that loop hole works if you preschedule 3 FPP and then cancel 2 of them. I would be interested in hearing a report back.