My September Plans! Opinions welcome :)

So this is pretty well what we’ve finalized, let me know what you think!

Sept 5 – Travel Day, transport from airport with Happy Limo,
including 15 minute grocery stop. Dinner at QS at resort, hop in the pool, and
see Yehaa Bob at 8:30p. OR boat to DTD and pick up some breakfasty items for me
from Erin McKenna’s Bakery

Sept 6 – Be at bus stop by 7a or cab to Contemporary. Pre-RD
breakfast at Crystal Palace at 8:10a. Touring Plan 9:30a-1:45p. CHH lunch around
2p, hop outside to watch Festival of Fantasy parade at 3p. Touring Plan
3:30-8p, dinner at The Plaza at 8:20p. Hop outside onto Main Street when
finished, Celebrate the Magic at 9:45p and Wishes at 10p. Hang around on MS and
shop until mass exodus of people ebbs. Bus home.

Sept 7 – Breakfast in room. EP RD at 9a. Touring plan
9a-12:15p, walk to Boardwalk. B&C lunch at 1p, walk back to EP. Touring
Plan 2:30-7p. TE dinner at 7:20p. After dinner, take boat to HS, watch Frozen
Fireworks at 9:45p. Bus home.

Sept 8 – Breakfast in room. AK RD at 9a. Touring Plan
9-11:45a, lunch at Y&Y at 12p. Touring Plan 1:30-5p, bus to AKL. Animal watch
5:15-5:45p, dinner at Sanaa at 6p. After dinner, bus to EP/HS and then bus
home. Arrange Car Care Shuttle for the morning. Hop in the pool/hot tub.

Sept 9 – Breakfast in room. Car Care Shuttle at 7a, pick up
rental car by 7:30a. Drive to Universal, park and be at gates by 9a. Touring
Plan morning at IOA including lunch at Mythos around 1p. Take Hogwarts Express
to US and Touring Plan 2:45-7p. Dinner at Hard Rock at 7:30p. Drive home.

Sept 10 – SLEEP IN. Breakfast at Sassagoula (POFQ) around
10a. Head to outlet mall, shop till we drop. Eat lunch at the mall. Afternoon,
head back to resort and pool. Drive to Contemporary for dinner at CG for 7:40p. Drive home.

Sept 11 – Leave resort at 7a, check in at Discovery Cove
7:15-7:30a, get dolphin swim time assigned. Find our “spot” for the day and eat
breakfast (provided). HAVE THE BESTEST DAY EVAR. Leave 5-5:30p, drop off car at
Car Care Centre and shuttle back to resort. Freshen up, dinner at Boatwrights
(at resort, no transport required) at 7:30p. Collapse in bed.

Sept 12 – Breakfast in room. HS EMH RD at 8a. Touring Plan
8-11:15a. Fantasmic! Lunch package at MM at 11:35a. Touring Plan 1-6:15p.
Dinner at 50’s PT at 6:30p. Arrive at Fantasmic! amphitheatre at 8p, show at
8:30p. Bus home.

Sept 13 – Breakfast in room. MK RD, arrive by 8:30a to see
Welcome Show (can’t miss). Touring Plan 9-11:30a, lunch at BOG at 11:45a.
Afternoon break 1-4p (nap/swim) at resort. Go to EP, Touring Plan 4-6:45p.
Dinner at SRT 7:05p, request table to watch Illuminations. Illuminations at 9p.
Join mass exodus from park, bus to Contemporary. TotW (hopefully) for drinks 9:45p. Cab home.

Sept 14 – Breakfast at QS at resort around 8:30a. Bus to
Blizzard Beach for 10a. Spend day there, eat lunch when hungry at Lottawatta
Lodge. Bus home at 5p. Freshen up, boat to DTD for Raglan Road at 7p. Shop
after, boat home.

Sept 15 – SLEEP IN. Breakfast in room/at QS at resort. Pool.
Pack. Repeat. Get on MK bus at 3:15p to arrive for 4p. Use a couple FPP’s, get
dinner at CHH at 5p. Get in line for Jack Skellington M&G at 6p. Party
starts at 7p, goes till midnight. Parade at 8:15p and 10:30p. Fireworks at
9:30p. Villains Mix n Mingle at 7:45, 8:55, and 10p. Trick or treating!

Sept 16 – Finish all food. Stuff final items in suitcases. Magical Express pickup between 10 and 10:30a. Come home. Wahhh.

5 Likes

I’m so glad you posted all this because it gave me some ideas as well. Specifically, also catching the Frozen Fireworks after our Epcot evening on Sept 7, and looking into rental car from the car care centre.

Your plan looks great - really fun, but not too packed! Also, still jealous of your MNSSHPing - but I know you’ll have a super amazing time for all the folks who won’t be there =D

Our plans in common: We’re doing EP on the 7th and AK on the 8th, and may also be doing RD at MK on the 13th, but will only be there a couple hours, as that’s our departure day.

Also curious - what’s your strategy for getting into TotW? We’ll be staying at BLT, but on rented points, so I was curious if there might be a way for us to sneak up there on the down-low for a drink =)

I’m worried it might be too packed for Mom! She’s going to review tonight and let me know if there’s anything she wants to drop. I told her there are a couple non-negotiables, but that otherwise things were open to cut back.

The Car Care Centre seems really great, since they have the free shuttle service to pick you up from your resort to get the car, and drop you off after you bring the car back.

I’ll eat some candy for you at MNSSHP!! Hahaha I’m so unbelievably excited for that, very glad we were able to extend by a day and include it in the plans!

We should plan a Club Cool meetup or something! Has anyone done a Beverly Liner Meet before??

For TotW I have a friend who’s an owner who might be coming by that weekend. That part is still up in the air, but I’d love to be able to go up there, even just once :smiley:

looks good! sounds like a fun trip. If mom thinks it looks a bit full, you could start your AK day later than 9am. I bet you could still get the park done if you started after 10am. just a thought. so jealous you get to do Discovery Cove! I’m really looking forward to that in a year or two, when DD meets the age 6 requirement to swim the dolphins! We will all be expecting a full trip report from you!

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You are going to be there the same time that I am! Are you staying at POR or POFQ? We are at POFQ from 5Sep-12Sep. Sounds like a fun trip though.

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We’re at POR!

Looks like a wonderful trip @mALYficent

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I think it looks fantastic! You have included ALL OF THE THINGS - so very well done! It’s going to be a wonderful trip!! :smile:

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One thought: the Car Care Center generally does not have the best deals. Given that you also have limo and taxi rides in your plan, you may find that you can rent a car from MCO for your whole trip for less than your total current transportation expense. Check carrentalsavers.com daily for the best deal, rebooking each time you find a better deal.

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At this point, it’s still cheaper to do it the way it’s currently planned. Cheapest car rental for the entire trip is EZ Car, for $292.31 in an Economy size car. Car rental for the couple days that we need through Undercover Tourist (Alamo-Intermediate size car) is $171.60 + $68 for Happy Limo + 2 estimated cab rides @ $15 each is $269.60. It’s definitely something to keep an eye on though! Thanks! :smile:

ETA: The couple of times I do have cabs in the plans are also more necessary and we wouldn’t want to drive anyway. For Pre-RD breakfast, I don’t want to have to park at TTC, I’d rather take Dis transport right to MK or cab to Contemporary and walk. And with planning a night of drinking, I’d rather have a cab than have to make one of us a designated driver.

Since your trip is in September the rates are still quite high - they will go down considerably as you get closer to your date (but they often go back up when you get really close).

Are you keeping plans the same with the changes issued in crowd calendars this week? I’m worried - I have ADRs already at highly desired restaurants but now think we need to be touring different parks than I planned - I mean why go to a park that is a 4 when another is a 1? Agh! Super excited but advanced planning without complete info has really messed me up.

AK is a lot less crowded later in the day / after 3pm.

I am keeping the same days after the CC changes, it only affected a couple of my planned park days, and they all dropped! This was what I did to plan our days, and this is with the updated numbers, so it still looks good.

I wouldn’t worry too much about about picking the right park, as per the Touring Plans gurus having a good TP is far more important than being in the least crowded park on a given day. If you have set up good plans that work with your ADRs, then stick with them.

Love your spreadsheet - looks a lot like mine. My chosen park crowds dropped but so did other parks and now I’m In a pickle - we arrive 9/11 & fly home 9/20.

@mALYficent - I think that it is your spreadsheet that is getting the love here :slight_smile:

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You arrive on my birthday!!! :smiley:

I’m a huge spreadsheet person. All the text in my initial post was my verbatim way of telling Mom what our plans are; she’d have a heart attack if she looked at my full spreadsheet :smiley_cat:

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We are going t be at the same MNSSHP - are you guys doing costumes? Trying to decide - we usually buy some while at WDW but DS8 has outgrown most of what is sold in the parks and so I’m undecided

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Yes we’re doing costumes! Both of us will be villains, mom is going as Cruella and I’ll be Maleficent :smiley: