ProphetPaul’s Planning Process - Part 3 - Plan 2.0

2019 Jan 17 - Part 2 - “Perfect” Plan(s)
2019 Jan 10 - Part 1 - Proposal
2019 Jan 4 - Paul’s Dream is Renewed
2018 Oct 11 - A Dream Delayed

Well, it’s been a few weeks since I posted my “perfect” plan, long enough for me to realize it was far from perfect. I’ve completely changed things around. The biggest change is that we’ve decided to make use of Park Hopper tickets to split days up and maximize Tier 1 FPs. We’ve also decided to upgrade from the Boardwalk Inn to a 1-bedroom Boardwalk Villa by renting DVC points. The price is almost the same, except we’ll purchase trip insurance to cover the possibility that we will need to cancel the trip (no refunds on DVC bookings). I’ve also managed to get DW on board with the 8-night itinerary (instead of 6 or 7 nights). She was concerned that the kids would get burned out on the trip after 4 or 5 days and just want to come home. This is certainly a possibility, but I’ve planned our itinerary to address it. I think the boys will be fine (who knows about DD1, she’s only 2 months old right now!), and here’s why:

  • each day is significantly different (perhaps they’ll get burned out on “new” though?)
  • we are switching hotels after the 4th night, so should feel fresh on days 5 and 6
  • we are taking long breaks each day
  • we’ll spend 2 mornings and 2 evenings out of the parks

My only major concern in this regard is naps/rest on arrival day and our “homeless” day when switching hotels (especially since DVC check-in is 4PM). If the kids are all exhausted, I do think they will get burned out. But we won’t know until we’re there.

Now, as far as the day-to-day plan, I’ve really re-arranged some things, and the “narrative” has had to change a bit. For the better though. It’s more “perfect”. I’ve also taken off some of the later evenings (no more pirate fireworks cruise :frowning:). After discussing “burnout” with DW, my first goal with the new plan was to maximize rest and minimize stress. I tried to put things in the evenings that I could go without if we are all too tired and we just want to call it a day. There are a few exceptions.

Well, I guess I will just go ahead and give a day-by-day breakdown again. It’s a lot to sift through, and a lot is copied straight from the previous plan (just rearranged). Note that I’ve removed a lot of the “color” here, so if you want a little more meat, you can look back at Part 2 – “Perfect” Plan(s).

Saturday 10/26 – First Experience

  • Morning/Afternoon: Arrive! NO Chef Mickey’s for lunch anymore, we’ve opted for a later arrival, probably 1:30ish depending on DME. I’m sad about this change, but it really reduces the stress of arrival timing.
  • Evening: Meet Mickey/Minnie ( FP1 ), explore Main Street, dinner at Casey’s Corner , see Cinderella’s Castle, it’s a small world ( FP2 ) will be our first ride, then Prince Charming Carousel, PhilharMagic, and Peter Pan’s Flight ( FP3 )
  • Finish with HEA Dessert Party

Sunday 10/27 – Let the Magic Begin!

  • No More Fantasyland EMM - we can do everything without it and save $250!
  • Morning: We will knock out most of Fantasy Land and Tomorrowland; 7DMT ( FP1 ), Space Ranger Spin ( FP2 ), lunch at Pecos Bill’s if DS4 is up for Splash ( FP3 )
  • Naps/Rest 1-3PM (ish)
  • Evening: visit Fort Wilderness; Tri-Circle-D Ranch, early dinner at Hoop-Dee-Doo , finish with carriage ride if boys up for it

Monday 10/28 – A Studio Sunrise and a Night Safari

  • Morning: Toy Story Land EMM, followed by as many shows as possible ( FP1 if necessary?) and Fairfax Faire for lunch
  • Naps/Rest 1-4PM (ish)
  • Evening: AK round 1, starting with dinner at Satu’li Canteen , then Na’vi River Journey ( FP2 ) and Kilimanjaro Safari ( FP3 )

Tuesday 10/29 – Mickey’s Halloween Party!

  • Morning: visit Grand Floridian and 1900 PF for breakfast then Disney Springs, World of Disney, PhotoPass Studio (in Halloween costumes), and Homecomin’ for lunch (no lunch-time entertainment at Raglan Road during the week :frowning:), maybe Aerophile if it works out
  • Naps/Rest 1-4PM (ish)
  • Evening: MNNSHP!

Wednesday 10/30 – From Belle to Elsa (this is our “homeless” day between resorts)

  • Morning: PPO breakfast at Be Our Guest, Tales with Belle ( FP1 ), meet Gaston afterwards, then Storybook Circus: Barnstormer ( FP2 ), Dumbo, meet Goofy and Donald
  • If room ready by 12ish (unlikely): bus to Boardwalk, check-in, and hopefully take naps
  • If room not ready by 12ish: monorail to Epcot, then lunch at Garden Grill, followed by nap-inducing attractions in Epcot (Pixar Film Festival, Impressions de France, etc.)
  • Evening: Beauty and the Beast sing-a-long, then Norway pavilion, Kringla Bakeri for dinner, Frozen Ever After ( FP3 ), and Anna/Elsa meet and greet

Thursday 10/31 – Extra Magic in the Future, A German Interlude, and a Studio Finale

  • Morning: EMH in Futureworld: RD Soarin’ (rider swap), Spaceship Earth ( FP1 ), M:S Green (rider swap), Mexico, China (meet Mulan), and Germany ( Biergarten for lunch)
  • Naps/Rest 1-4PM (ish)
  • Evening: finish up shows at Hollyweird, Star Tours ( FP2 ), dinner at PizzeRizzo , Runaway Railway ( FP3 ), and Fantasmic! if boys are up for it

Friday 11/1 – Lions, Aliens, and Dinos, Oh My!

  • Morning: DW is no longer planning to run Wine & Dine 5k, PPO breakfast at Tusker House, Kilimanjaro Safari, FOTLK and meet Timon, Flight of Passage ( FP1 ) for me and DW (taking turns) while having long lunch at Satu’li , then wrapping up with Dinosaur ( FP2 ) and Expedition Everest ( FP3 ), while kids are in Boneyard
  • Naps/Rest 2-4PM (ish)
  • Evening: visit Wilderness Lodge and Artist Point for dinner

Saturday 11/2 – Fun Running and a Magical Ending

  • Morning: I run the Wine & Dine 10k, then to ESPN WWoS for 100-m dash (DS4 and DS3), followed by lunch at WWoS Grill .
  • Naps/Rest 12-4PM (ish)
  • Evening: back to MK to hit anything we missed, will book FPs for Splash, Big Thunder, and 7DMT in case boys want to ride them again (or modify to something else of their choosing)
  • The Grand Finale: dinner at CRT

Sunday 11/3 – The Big Run

  • Morning: I run the Wine & Dine Half Marathon, then pack, airline check-in, followed by lunch at Beaches & Cream , and Fantasia Gardens if we have a later flight
  • Afternoon: DME out of the bubble…
  • Evening: Be sad. Very, very sad…
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Something that sticks out wrong to me: a PPO beakfast at BOG the morning after MNSSHP. I would recommend you sleep in and then pack to leave the resort. Your kids are going to be exhausted, that is a late night. Even if you don’t stay until midnight, you want to at least stay for the fireworks.
Also, you cannot prebook FPP in 2 parks on the same day. So skip the one at HS and preplan all 3 at AK.

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Really? I haven’t read that before. That’s screwy… Plan 3.0 coming up next, I guess.

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Cool we completely overlap dates. We are doing MNSSHP on the 29th and some of our other days/parks overlap…so if you are in need of grandparent type greetings…I’ll have my liner button on! I think this plan makes a lot of sense with less possible burnout. I know it’s hard to cut out items, but when our boys were young we often did way too much at WDW and learned the hard way

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I love it (agree with @Wahoohokie warning that late at MK then early at MK might be a mistake, and on the warning on FPP restriction to one park at a time) – and I completely forgot that Runaway Railway should be open for business for W&D race weekend which I’m planning to run so thanks for upping my planning excitement level!

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You can prebook 1 and then hope you can get others in another park, but you won’t be able to count on them. After doing EMM (which is fabulous, by the way), you won’t really need any FPPs unless you want to ride TOT and RNRC. The shows don’t need them.

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The only one I’m keeping in the back of my mind is Lightning McQueen. DS4 loves Cars so it will be a “must”, and I have no idea what the auditorium will be like, capacity-wise. That being said, the CL will probably be in the 3-6 range, so maybe not an issue in any case.

So on Thursday, I could book Spaceship Earth (FP1) for the morning once we get in the park (and only pre-book the other 2 at HS for the evening)?

Awesome! It’s our first trip, so we’re super excited! Where do you get a liner button?

https://www.zazzle.com/touringplans

This is our 2nd trip as empty nesters. I hope you all have a complete blast

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I think the plan will be to leave the park after the 9PM parade. I don’t think the boys will make it to the Fireworks. The idea of the BOG breakfast is really just to see the inside, not to get ahead of RD. But I’d still like to get into the park early. I may push it to an 8:45 ADR. We are all early risers, so I think we have a good chance of success. B&B is DS4’s favorite movie (and mine!). I’d really like to do dinner there to meet the Beast, but it was either that or CRT for the grand finale on the last night. CRT won.

Thanks!

I’m afraid no. If you have FPP booked at HS that day, you cannot book at another park until you use the HS FPP. Which if you are at Epcot in the morning would require you to hop on the Back to the Future ride first. :-):upside_down_face:

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Well this certainly adds a level of complexity to my plans. Thanks for the help.

You can prebook one at Epcot, then once it is used try to book 2 more at a different park. Availability will not be good on the popular FPP. I don’t try this at all, I want to know I have 3 rides set up in advance in one park. Park hopping actually messes up my plans for FPP generally, so I generally avoid it. Everyone thinks differently, though. I am not willing to take a chance on what is available for FPP the day of. I need to know I have Slinky and FOP 2 different days, plus all our other favorites.

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I am going to save you more money. Drop MNSSHP. You will be paying big bucks for 2 hours of high crowds and frustration. I love MNSSHP, but only with kids that can stay up late. Keep your BOG pre RD and do that after a good night’s sleep.

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I think you are better off pre-booking HS and just do standby for Spaceship Earth

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Well, we’ll get there around 4ish, so more like 5 hours. We’re doing this instead of trick-or-treating at home, since we’ll be at WDW over Halloween. I know crowds could be bad, but Tuesday parties are the least crowded historically. We’d also really like to see the villains. They are some of DS4’s favorites. Thanks for pushing me to re-think that though, the wheels are turning in my head.

Rope drop Spaceship Earth, you won’t be able to book any FPP at Epcot if you have them prebooked at HS.

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I’m just trying to help you plan with all of the things I have learned over the years, certainly not trying to talk you out of a special event. I might have done 3 MNSSHPs in one week in 2017. :rofl: Even if you go early, there are no special Halloween events before 7, except waiting in line for characters. I totally get wanting to go though.