It always helps to have more eyes looking for issues, so I humbly submit my initial plan for the consideration of the TP gurus!
Right now I’m looking at:
Day 1 - MCO arrival at 10:35am. We weren’t planning a park day since we won’t arrive at WDW until after noon, but it just occurred to me that we could use our tickets from this week’s cancelled trip to go to a non-MK park if we want.
Day 2 - Disney Springs (Bibbidi Bobbidi for the 4 year-old, and lunch at Morimoto) then MVMCP (with dessert party)
Day 3 - HS (RD, with midday break after a late H&V Fantasmic lunch)
Day 4 - MK (noon - 6, it’s a party day) then maybe Epcot EMH with the 10 year-old
Day 5 - Epcot (10:00 or 11:00 - 6:30 dinner at Chefs de France… ). We have breakfast reservations for either Garden Grill at 9:05, or Cape May Cafe at 9:30, and I’m really undecided on which one to keep… I’m leaning toward GG though, because they have Chip & Dale and the fantastic cinnamon bake, even though I actually like Cape May’s breakfast a little better.
Day 6 - MK (pre-RD ADR at Crystal Palace until after the parade… it’s the day with the early close at 4:30pm) then HS with the 10 year-old
Day 7 - AK (pre-RD ADR at Tusker House, until we’re done or 5:45 dinner at Yak & Yeti)
Day 8 - Supercalifragilistic breakfast, then airport.
All days with CLs of 3/4, so I’m not too worried about very long standby lines. We have 5-day military hoppers, and then MVMCP for 11/26 so we can hop as needed. Currently we’re booked at BLT 11/26-12/2, but we have waitlist requests for Beach Club 11/25-11/28, and GF Villas 11/28-12/2.
Do you think I’ll be good to get FoP FPP at 60+6 (our WDW BLT reservation begins on day 2, so that’s when I planned on trying for my FPs)?
The idea that we could do a park on day 1 has me thinking (a dangerous pastime, I know)… what are the chances of getting FEA at 30 days? I’m thinking maybe we could do that for the first day, when we (as of right now, we have a waitlist request in but who knows if we’ll get it) will be staying off-property and that way we can use our main trip FPP for TT or Soarin since I know us well enough to know that we won’t be RDing anything on that day.
I don’t know what your carryover ticket situation is exactly, but it’s worth noting that after you cross the 4 day threshold, adding extra days is only around $20 per person. So even without the extra tickets, I’d try to extend the tickets and do the extra half day at the park. Even 6 or 7 hours at the parks is pretty good value at that price…
We have military hoppers (I thought I’d mentioned that up there, but apparently not) and you can’t add days to those because they’re so deeply discounted. In fact, it was only this year that they gave an option for the 5th day. We get a 5-day hopper for less than $250. I’m still thinking that extra day might be good if it means we have an extra day for FEA FPs, though I’m not sure how long the 4 year-old will last after a 7:35am flight.
Looks like a good plan. The only thing that stood out to me were that you weren’t RDing MK and Epcot and I think RD is important at both of those parks.
I’ve thought about that because the CLs at 3/4 are still a bit higher than our usual 1-3 during the week before Labor Day, but we really aren’t RD people, in general. We like to have an easy morning and nice breakfasts whenever possible, so we try to only have early starts once or twice (we’re doing 3 on this trip already) per trip. We do have an RD at MK one day (we’ll get in at 7:45, and CP breakfast isn’t going to take us more than an hour), and we’ll be at MVMCP and then have 14 hours more of low-CL time at MK so it’s less imperative there.
What time is your Crystal Palace reservation? Unless it’s right at 8 I’d rethink that since it’s your only RD day at MK and maybe change it to a brunch. Since the gates open an hour before the park really opens those preRD ADR’s aren’t nearly as valuable as they used to be. I think your AK plan would be dependent on if you get a FOP FPP, hopefully you do since it’s at the end of your trip.
I’m guessing the little one will be asleep by the end of the fireworks, so one of us will take her back to the room. It’s still a sketchy situation for RD that next day though, so I didn’t plan an ADR for that morning just in case we don’t make it.
It’s 8:05… and we have the Christmas party and two other days with FP there. It seems nuts to 3-years-ago Me, but AK and Epcot are actually my biggest concerns, as far as lines and/or maybe not getting to do everything goes.