Will Trade: Random Covid Info for Targeted WDW/UOR Info (aka Land of a Gabillion Silly Questions)

Walt Disney World
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I’ve spent a lot of (too much?) time the last year keeping up with Covid info, and only caught bits and pieces of WDW and UOR info. After all, we weren’t expecting to go to either anytime soon…

But nationwide vaccinations for all adults by the end of May! And the nearly irresistible Orlando Informer Universal meet-up at the beginning of June! And DH got an unexpected bonus! So we started looking at other Orlando attractions to pair with the meet-up, got concerned about the haphazard mask enforcement, and landed back at Disney. And then Disney logic fully kicked in…if you’re going to Disney, you want one day for each of the parks, right? And by the time you pay for a 4-day ticket, might as well do 10, yes?

So here I am, trying to plan 10 days at Disney and 2 at Universal and my knowledge from our January WDW 2020 trip is hopelessly out of date…plus staying offsite for the first time since 1988 (we make it to WDW about every 8 years or so, so I’m a lightweight anyway). Last UOR trip was 2010!

So if anyone wants to help steer me out of pitfalls, this is the planning thread for you! (And I obviously need it, since @sliddlenc_686656 has already bailed me out from an Airbnb fiasco!)

Here’s where I am so far:

Party of 7: myself, DH, DD20, DS16, DS11 twins, DM

10 day Disney single park tickets (purchased & park passes reserved)-generally plan to rope drop hard, snack break when the crowds start to build, lunch around 1:30pm, and then leave the parks for the day (that was part of the negotiation for doing 10 days instead of 4)

2 evening Orlando Informer Meet-Up UOR tickets (already purchased)-4pm until they kick us out

5/28 F - Travel Day (Hampton Inn)
Drive 7 hours Houston->Mobile

5/29 Sa - Travel Day (AKL-Jambo House)
Drive 7 hours Mobile->Orlando
7:05pm Dinner - Sanaa (AKL-:white_check_mark: reservations)

5/30 Su - Resort/Relocation Day (then Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek for the duration)
9am Breakfast - Sanaa (AKL/QS)
~11am Snack - Mara (QS/7:30-11:30am) - pre-purchase zebra domes for afternoon
Pool & hang out until @sliddlenc_686656 arrives and checks us in at CWBC (she totally ROCKS, btw!)
6:45/7pm Dinner - Narcoossee’s (GF-:white_check_mark: reservations)
Electrical Water Pageant (GF Beach)

5/31 M - MK
7am Breakfast - Gasparilla Grill (GF/QS/MO)
MK (8:15am-1pm)
~11am Snack - Gaston’s Tavern; possibly also Sunshine Tree Terrace and/or Aloha Isle
1:30pm Lunch - Geyser Point (WL)
Pool & R&R
Dinner in room - takeout from Liberty Square Market (MK) - turkey legs; Lunching Pad (MK) - Mickey pretzels

6/1 Tu - EP
EP (10:15am-3pm)
Snack/Lunch-graze our way around World Showcase and Flower & Garden
Pool & R&R
Dinner in room - takeout from Katsura Grill (EP/Japan)

6/2 W - AK
AK (8:15am-3pm)
~11am Snack - Creature Comforts
~1:30pm Lunch - Satu’li (AK/QS/MO)
Pool & R&R
7:30pm Dinner - Cowfish (CW-need to make reservations)

6/3 Th - HS (DH’s 51st birthday)
HS (8:15am-2:30pm)
10am Happy Hour - Oga’s (SWGE-:white_check_mark: reservations)
11am Lunch - Docking Bay 7 (SWGE-QS/MO)
3:15pm Snack - Beaches & Cream (BC-:white_check_mark: reservations)
Skyliner to Riviera to get DM & kids takeout dinner from Primo Piatto
8pm Date Night Dinner - Morimoto Asia (DS-:white_check_mark: reservations)

6/4 F - UOR
10am - breakfast in room - takeout from Capt. Cook’s (Poly/QS/MO)
Pool & R&R
Arrive 1 hour early for 4pm-12:30am OI Meet-Up
Pre-close TP Archived: USF Pre-Close #1
After that, ride all the non-HP USF rides we can until 8:30pm (1.5 hours after park close)
Then make our way to Diagon Alley and do all things HP there.
Then take the train to Hogsmeade and do all things HP there.
Finish up with IoA rides if time

6/5 Sa - UOR
Brunch - Homecoming (DS-need to make reservations)
Pool & R&R
Arrive 1 hour early for 4pm-1:30am OI Meet-Up
Pre-close TP: IOA #1
After that, ride all the non-HP IoA rides we can until 9:30pm (1.5 hours after park close)
After that we’ll allocate time between HP and everything else in the two parks depending on what we enjoyed most or didn’t get to the day before.

6/6 Su - Resort Day
Brunch - Ragland Road (DS-need to make reservations)
Mini Golf, Pool, & R&R
Dinner - Seito Sushi (need to make reservations)

6/7 M - HS
HS (8:15am-3pm)
Snack - Market-num num cookies; Trolley Car Cafe (Pixar Place)
1:30pm Lunch - Mama Melrose (TS/need to make reservations)
Pool & R&R
Dinner in room - takeout from Padrino’s Cuban

6/8 Tu - EP
EP (10:15am-3pm)
Snack - Les Halles (France)
1:30pm Lunch - Le Cellier (TS/need to make reservations)
Pool & R&R
Dinner in room - takeout from someplace at EP

6/9 W - AK
AK (8:15am-3pm)
~11am Snack - Isle of Java
1:30pm Lunch - Yak & Yeti (TS/need to make reservations)
Pool & R&R
Dinner in room - takeout from Bosphorous Turkish

6/10 Th - MK
7am Breakfast - Gasparilla Grill (GF/QS/MO)
MK (8:15am-1pm)
~11am Snack - Sleepy Hollow - waffles; Storybook Treats - ice cream/Peter Pan float
1:30pm Lunch - Capt. Cook’s and/or Kona To Go (Poly/MO)
Pool & R&R
Dinner in room - takeout from Q’Kenan Venezuelan

6/11 F - AK
AK (8:15am-3pm)
Snack/Lunch-graze our way through Trilo-Bites, Flame Tree, Mr. Kamal’s, Nomad Lounge, Tamu Tamu, where else?
Pool & R&R
Dinner - Nile Ethiopian (need to make reservations)

6/12 Sa - EP
EP (10:15am-???)
Snack/Lunch-graze our way around World Showcase and Flower & Garden
Dinner Option 1: Teppan Edo (Japan/TS need to make reservation)
Dinner Option 2: continue grazing
Dinner Option 3: take out in room from Epcot TBD

6/13 Su - Travel Day (Hampton Inn)
10am CWBC checkout
Drive 7 hours Orlando->Mobile

6/14 M - Travel Day
Drive 7 hours Mobile->Houston

I’ll be putting more details in a spreadsheet and touring plans and will add links.

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I think these are my most pressing questions at the moment…

  1. Tickets - I’m not feeling devious enough to try something like convention tickets or the like. So the TP Ticket Price Comparison Tool is a good path to go? Bump those up against the recent mousesaver newsletter I just got? Do that soon so I can get parks reserved?

  2. I may be feeling devious enough to try a leading reservation for ADRs so I need that explained to me like I’m a five year old. Potential first ADR would be Sat 5/29.

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I would say likely. That’s my plan for one of our days in May also.

I’d also say that B&C will likely require a call. Maybe splitting up your party. And most likely a res finder. I tried to book it this week for our arrival day at 60 days out and there was nothing.

We’re going in May and have a very similar plan - two days UOR + 10 day tickets at Disney. :upside_down_face:

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:rofl::joy::rofl: I want to understand this too

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Oh I just did this. So if your first park day is 5/31 but you want to give yourself a couple of buffering days for ADRs you could book a room online from say, 5/26-6/5 and be able to book your ADRs for those days beginning on 5/26.

I booked at ASM and will cancel the room once my other reservation is within the 60 day window for ADRs. All of your dining reservations should hold.

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There’s an open thread on it right now. I just found out. Will @ you

Edit…*typo

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oh… I did see that but haven’t opened it yet… will go there, thank you!

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Glad you have this trip coming! You honestly need to get away from science articles and WH briefings for awhile (even though your above and beyond dedication is admirable). :grinning:

First thoughts on some specifics, Sanaa is not doing breakfast again yet, but might by then. B&C and Oga’s are going to be super difficult to get for your party size and staying offsite. Leading reservation might be the way to go if it still works for not having a real on-site stay at all.

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Yes, I’d already been reading that thread. But I’m hoping to milk this thread and ask someone to hold my hand through the process! So for a 5/29 ADR at a resort, I would book a max day reservation (what is max day?) starting 5/19 and then walk it back every few days? (Is that the correct terminology?)

Oh, which brings up Pressing Question #3…
Do you have to have a park reservation to book an ADR for that park? Thinking about 6/12 when we will reserve HS initially, but really hope to switch that to EP if we get a BG on a prior HS day. We might want to stick around to do a final TS dinner at EP that evening.

And Pressing Question #4…
Can park hoppers be added mid-trip for only the remaining days? Again, thinking about 6/12, if we don’t get a BG one of the two prior days.

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#3: You can make an ADR w/o a park res. they assume you will make one.
#4: you can add PH at any time but they might charge as if it was for the entire ticket. Someone else can confirm, but I wanted to add on a PH and it was the same cost if I did it at the start or the 3rd day of a 4day ticket.

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See? These are the things I need y’all to tell me! Why don’t they have that info in the WDW app?!? Thanks!

We actually might look at staying on-site for 5/29, if that eases anyone’s conscience at all. Still trying to get our Airbnb mess wrapped up first. (A couple weeks ago, we booked at CWBC through Airbnb with a well-reviewed host, and Wyndham with no advance notice dropped a Memorial weekend blackout on him. Waiting on him to cancel the reservation.)

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Yes to both.

@amvanhoose_701479 , you may have to call for all of your dining. Many places are not taking bookings for over 6 people due to having to space tables out.

Since you cannot have reservations at the same time, you either need to have a different lead guest or call and have the dining CMs book you a second table. Either way means you won’t be able to modify or cancel the ADR - unless someone else has their own MDE account.

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Oh, yes! I meant to ask about this. Both DH and DM have their own MDE account and I have full access to log on to those. So easiest thing is probably to split the dining reservation between myself and one of them? (DM can supervise the kids’ table if needed. Bonus!)

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They charge for PH based on the length of the ticket you bought even if you only do it on the last day.

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Well Sanaa is doing breakfast, but likely not the kind of breakfast you want. It’s a QS grab and go for resort guests.

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You can only book a reservation online for up to 14 days, so if doing a leading reservation, I’d put the hardest to get ones in your earlier WDW stint that ends 6/3 by booking a POP room 5/20 to 6/3 (conversely you could do a POP room for approximately your real dates and have the tough ADR’s at the end of the trip, but it seems you want them earlier). So on the morning of 3/21, you would have access to ADR’s through 6/3. However, with your party size, as was mentioned, you might need to split up and use 2 MDE’s, so you may need a POP room with both MDE accounts to pull that off. Then once you’re truly within 60 days for all the ADR’s, cancel the POP room(s).

ETA: You only get ADRs for 60+10, not the full 14 day res, so in the above example you can make ADRs through 6/3 as early as 3/25, not 3/21.

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Hmm, good to know. Some things are hard to get a straight answer on. I was curious about this a couple weeks ago and asked a CM on chat for the heck of it and they said it was not doing breakfast yet, and the hours online say 11:30 to 10 right now. How misleading.

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Just to throw out one more idea . . . since you’ll have several non-park days, have you all ever been to NASA? I’m not sure if they are still open for tours these days, but when we did this maybe 10 years ago it was fabulous! Kids and adults all loved it. And since you’ll have a car, it’s a pretty easy drive back and forth to WDW.

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Is @amvanhoose_701479 already NASA’ed out from being near Houston? :joy:

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And Pressing Question #5…this one gets really convoluted…

So I’m looking at this on a number of restaurants…
Annual Passholders receive 10% off at this dining location.
10% Discount applies to the non-discounted price of food and non- alcoholic beverages (excluding applicable tax and gratuity) during all available meal periods. Valid for the Passholder and up to three (3) Guests.

Are they selling new AP right now? If we’re already buying 10 day tickets, might the discount come close to break even on buying at least one or possibly two APs?

But then staying off-site we could only book 3 days of park reservations at a time, or do some REALLY fancy footwork with a leading reservation, and I’m thinking that’s just too much hassle if what I’m thinking is even doable…