We are getting close! 33 days to check in, so 31 days until we leave. Woohoo! This will be our first summer trip, but we have gone in early Sep and were there in Oct when they set some kind of heat record, so hopefully we will survive the heat.
We have 4 nights at BCV and 9 nights at Poly (Std vw Studio). I have requested a room for the BCV stay, but still debating at Poly whether to request a ground level (walk-out) or 3rd floor (hope for a good view). It’s our first time at Poly, and I am so excited to stay there! I love the idea of a 3rd floor balcony, but the walk out would be great for the kids (DD16, DD12, DS9).
This is our first trip without any extended family. It’s just the Fab 5! With DD16 being a Junior, we feel like she can’t miss 2 weeks of school, thus… a summer trip, which allows us to stay longer. Our WDW dates are Aug 12-25, so we are hoping most people are back to school by then, and we have such low waits that we don’t even need a Touring plan. hehe
We will definitely struggle with the heat (It’s been unusually cold here - the high for tomorrow is 68!), so we plan to rope drop and do as much as we can in the mornings until it gets too hot. We will spend the afternoons at the pool or waterpark (maybe a nap for me), and then back to the parks in the evenings. We will have 4 nights of extended evening hours, and are debating whether to do MNSSHP on the 22nd.
I do have ADR’s for each day, but am debating about canceling most of them, so we have more flexibility. We were hard core masters at using the Free Dining deal - until that ended, so we have done most of the fun character meals several times “for freeeee”. Now paying full price out of pocket for 4 “adults” just seems insane unless it’s something we REALLY want to do. We are trying to keep costs a little lower this trip, especially since we are there so many days.
We only have a few “must do’s” for dining this trip. DS9 wants to do T-Rex (every time!!). We have never done Sci-Fi or O’Hana bkfst (DD16 loves Stitch), so I think we will keep those. Boma is my favorite, so I might keep that one. I also have a Yak & Yeti and Skipper Canteen, which are favorites and not as spendy. I booked a Trattoria breakfast just in case the Bon Voyage bkfst comes back, but if not, we will skip that one.
I also have a few others we have never done…Olivia’s, Sebastian’s, Boatwrights, and Whispering Canyon. We never seem to have time to do those off property meals, so I thought maybe this long trip is the time. We would like to explore the Port Orleans resorts, OKW and WL, so those could be a draw if we want to leave the pool early.
One other thought is that MNSSHP would cost almost the same as one meal at Story Book, Tusker, BOG, etc, so I’m thinking if we do more quick service, maybe we can do the party.
We have never done MNSSHP, and that is such a toss up of is it worth it - I know we would love the show and the parade, so I feel like it would be cool to do it once. Also, I can get a slight discount through SOG, so it would seriously be less than eating at Storybook…
We drive down (1880 miles) from Northern MN, so we have a vehicle to get around and to get groceries. We like to have sandwiches and other food in the room. We seem to always need to eat after we get back at night, and the QS is an hour wait - or closed. Also, for rope drop, we make our coffee in the room and bring bkfst to eat while we wait. Saves time and money! By 9:30, we’re looking for more coffee and a giant donut or cinnamon roll of some kind - I can’t wait! Gaston’s cinnamon rolls are good, but the ones at AK Harambe market window are amazing! (at least that’s how I remember it) And breakfast at EPCOT…so many options!!
If you can’t tell, I am kind of struggling, because I have nothing left to plan!! My spreadsheets are done. Is that even possible?? DH and the kids are tired of hearing me say, “Where else should we eat?” I keep looking for a Beaches & Cream ADR at the exact perfect time, but I’m not sure we really want one, it’s just something to do… so I thought I would reach out to the Liners for some Disney conversation to keep me distracted. help. please.
My kiddos are similar in age to yours and they LOVE MNSSHP. It is just so much fun…and who doesn’t love trick-or-treating at any age!?! The Boo to You parade and the Sanderson Sisters stage show are just the best! That would be my vote.
What an awesome trip! Can’t wait to hear how it goes.
Hi,
What an exciting trip! We arrive at WDW on the 17th for 10 days before school starts, staying at WL. It’s become our go-to resort over the years. Like you, I have spreadsheets for daily plans and ADRs planned to be just so. I have culled down our dining reservations to the ones that we really want but I know that we’ll end up going with the flow when we get there, particularly if the heat does us in. We are from Ontario, Canada and while it’s hot and humid here (nearly 40C or more than 100F yesterday with the humidity), Florida always feels like a hot bath.
We are going to try Citrico’s and Topolino’s Terrace for dinner this trip and we’re also going to do brunch at Olivia’s Café, which we have yet to manage to do. I’ve also got Morimoto Asia (a first!) and Chef Art Smith’s for dinner so that we can spend a bit more time at Disney Springs this trip (our previous visits have tended to be rushed). I’ve got a final dinner reservation to plan out and keep looking to see if something strikes my fancy.
We’re flying in and will not rent a vehicle, so still need to firm up our car service and have been buying the necessary summer precautionary items (Body Glide, cooling towels, moisture wicking shorts/tops, etc…). Am working on moisture-wicking socks next. My packing lists will come after that… 
We have the same touring style as you. We’ve got day Park Hoppers and some break days planned. When we’re in the parks, we’re up and at 'em, ride hard, relax/swim/spa (+dole whip) then head back for some touring in the evening hours. We’re also contemplating the Halloween Party on the 22nd but that may be a game day decision. We went to the Christmas Party during the November Hurricane and let’s just say that it put a ‘damper’ on things (not to mention that we had to abandon our sandals in Florida as they were absolutely ruined/disgusting).
Enjoy the final bits of planning… It’s tough at this point when you are planner because you move into waiting mode after you have double and triple-checked everything. I’m planning a European holiday for next summer though so already have spreadsheets started for that which helps me with my need to organize something! Have a great holiday!
Have you been down the Thrill Data rabbit hole? That could kill some time.
Sounds like a great trip! I just did my first summer time trip as well. It was hot, but not so bad that it would deter me from going back in the summer again. We did have some feel like temps at 110 while we were there but the difference between that and some trips I have taken in September were negligible. My daughter who is super heat sensitive tolerated it pretty well. She had a neck fan she liked and a cooling towel which she said helped. I wish I had a wide brimmed hat of some kind because the sun was strong and even a little shade makes a difference. We would wet our heads and arms a little at the splash and misting areas they have at the parks.
My daughter just saw T-rex for the first time while we were there as we never really made it over to DS. She just put that at the top of our list for next time LOL. How is the food there?
That is a great point, and something I hadn’t considered. I was worried about it selling out, but I don’t think that’s going to happen on these early dates this year. I think it’s a great idea to wait until we are there to decide, and keep an eye on the weather and see how exhausted we are! As much as I love to plan, spontaneity is fun too!
With no fastpasses to plan in advance and reservations being green every day, it feels like we can just change our plans at any point during the trip. I have our in park reservations all planned after 2pm in case we want to start in a different park than I had planned. It will be interesting to see how it goes.
One reason we like to plan ahead is that we are so cheap that when we have to decide on the fly where to eat, we can never decide, because nothing sounds good enough to spend money on at fast food restaurants. Hopefully that won’t be an issue with lots of great QS options around (thinking about Peco’s Bills, Satuuli Canteen, Docking Bay 7, Columbia Harbor House), and when it’s so hot, we might just live off of dole whip and stuffed pretzels! Except for DD12 who needs real food, and will always choose a cheeseburger over a snack. It is really so fun to talk about food options!!
T-Rex food is decent, similar to Rainforest Cafe (same company). I think of it like an Applebees or Famous Dave’s. Lots of bbq and burgers. We like to request the Ice Age room. It’s the coolest (both temp and atmosphere). We also always order the giant smoking dessert (dry ice is super cool), which ends the meal in such a fun way, we keep coming back! It is a really fun atmosphere. Same advice goes for Rainforest Cafe - go in with low expectations, and enjoy the atmosphere and get the big dessert (I think theirs has sparklers). We have Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America here in MN, so we save that for a winter treat.
Pretty much what I was going to add …
This is new to me. It looks fun…
Funny story… After they got rid of paper fastpass, I used to track wait times in a spreadsheet throughout the year and for at least a month before our trip to plan out when to go to which parks and what rides to rope drop, etc. One year, I got my DH involved in planning by asking him to create a program to track wait times. He definitely got into that, and we had fun predicting wait times and making plans for when to go on what rides. Then I found Touring plans! I can’t believe they stole my idea!
We had planned to tell the kids we will let them each pick a bag of candy at the store, and only hit trick or treating if it is where we are already going, so we can maximize the party. Ha! See the Sanderson Sisters and Jack (DS9’s favorite). Definitely see the Boo to you parade and fireworks. Then and then rides, characters, and snacks.
When the kids were little, we watched YouTube videos of character meet and greets and parades and rides, so they would know what to expect and not be scared. We would find favorite ones and make playlists that we watched over and over. HA! After our first trip with the girls, we found a CD with the music from the Main Street Electrical Parade, so the kids would parade around the house in their light up shoes with all the lights off. We were SO sad when the Electrical Parade ended.
When we discovered the Boo to You parade, we watched it all the time. That and the Silly Symphony Skeleton Dance. It would be so cool to finally see it in person! Yeah, I think we have to do it!
I second this. I’m looking at a slimmed down TS plan myself. Pricing has gotten crazy and we’re not huge eaters so buffet and Pre-Fixe are really a lot of food for 1 meal. If we do any of these, we’re making it count for 2 meals that day, lol.
Have you seen Thrill Data?! 
Your trip sounds fantastic! We stayed at the Boardwalk Villas for 6 nights in January, as part of a longer stay and found Trattoria to be the best breakfast - even without the characters. So maybe hold off cancelling that one. We ended up eating there 3 times. It’s one of the only non-character, sit down, a la carte options at Disney for breakfast and the food was terrific quality. It’s so convenient to all the Epcot area resorts, and with park hopping not until 2 (at that time) the Epcot breakfasts were out unless it was an Epcot day (unlike previous visits). The other standout sit down restaurants for us were Boma, Skipper Canteen, Il Mulino and Yak & Yeti.
Are you going in August or July? If it’s August, would you be interested in sharing Memory Maker? I am not sure if there are different requirements for Canadian internet once you get home, which could be the only hangup. I have never shared a memory maker with anyone but family, but since we are going w/out extended family this time, and have no one to split the cost, $170 sounds like a lot! Just thought I’d check…
I have no other advice, but the answer to this is definitely no. 
You are SO right! I have been watching DFB on YouTube, and adding snacks and other food that looks awesome, so we don’t forget to try some of them. There is always more that can be added to the spreadsheet! hehe
Hi! We are there in August like you. Happy to discuss sharing Memory Maker with you if you like. 
Hi! I’m also looking for a memory maker share if you have one
Sorry for leaving this thread hanging about MM. I could not convince DH that it would be a good idea.