The Sunshine Family (and Little Dude) Does Disney Again! - PTR - Sept 2011 UPDATED 7/25 - Page 10 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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(I broke the above into two posts, that last post was to long...)
Anyway, there was a point about the Dessert Party. Looking at my schedule, I see that I have Wed, Thurs and Fri nights free. Well, Wednesday isn’t a good day because that’s Animal Kingdom day, when Stitch will be separated with Little Dude. I’m doubting that she’ll have the energy after being on extra alert all day for doing a night show. Thursday is out because that’s one of the worst days at DHS, as it was the original Fantasmic! show night. Friday is a possibility, but not a definite. That’s the day DB is flying in and who knows if he’ll have energy for a show that night. Having both DB and myself there makes the crowds easier to deal with as we provide buffer on either side. So that would be the ideal night to go. But only if DB is up to it; it won’t work if he’s tired from working and then flying down.
So, thinking these things through, noticing that I have the Dessert Party booked twice, I realized that my priorities changed. Even if I didn’t mean for them to change, they changed. If Fantasmic! is still a priority, then I should cancel the Dessert Parties to give us the flexibility needed to plan for it. But I didn’t want to do that - and that’s when I realized that Fantasmic! was just not going to happen on this trip.
And I realized that I was ok with it. The Dessert Party, the Wishes Fireworks and Tinker Bell on the zip line had become a higher priority, without me realizing it. And I was good with that.
Stitch and I are hoping to take a trip to The World in January, 2012. Just the two of us and Little Dude. January would be prime time to catch Fantasmic! It’s another low-crowd time of year, possibly even lower than Sept. It’s also not hot & humid like Sept is, so that would take care of the sweaty smell of too many people baking in the sun all day.
So, really, this may be working all out for the best.
Yeap It just took me some time to get my thinking there and I'm glad that I started writing everything out as it let me see the problem much more clearly.
I am sad that there is a very good possibility that we won't see Fantasmic! But at the same time, I'm thinking of all the worries I won't have to do now. That show may be really good, but that crowd, combined with hot weather, looks to be the perfect recipe for disaster for Stitch. And she'd sit through it because she knows I want to see it. And then what? We'd be back where we were after the first full day of our last trip - with Stitch basically in tears wanting to go home because we pushed too hard.
So I am happy about all of this. It makes more sense, it will cause less problems (we would have had to leave several nights open to try and do Fantasmic!) and we get to see Wishes *twice* which we are all excited for.
Part 3 or 4 - The part where I think we’re slightly insane (or at least, I’m slightly insane.)
So, with the big four questions mostly resolved, and most of our table service credits booked, with the exception of three which will be free floating, I started tweaking. Well, started would not be accurate. I’ve been tweaking - probably been tweaking too much, honestly! Does anyone else do this? Keep checking to see if you can get a slightly earlier ADR, or maybe slightly later? Even if it’s only 15 minutes? Or 5 even!?
Anyway, so tweaking away, having a better idea of which park on which day, I started to map out what to do in each park. Not in any order per se, but writing down all the character meet & greets that we wanted to do, and their times. Noting all the rides that are Stitch’s wish list combined with mine. Realizing that there are only four rides in all of MK that I have not done! I think I have a new goal for the trip, LOL! Once I put together a list like that, I realized that our late breakfasts may be too late. While it sounds really nice to get up later for a 9:30 breakfast, Mickey and Tink have already been doing meet & greets for 30 minutes at that point. Tack on the hour or so for the meal, and we’re already “behind!” When did the Fairy Godmother and Mary Poppins become a priority?
Another thing driving this planning is the Fantasyland expansion. When it comes, later 2012 or early 2013, Magic Kingdom is going to be packed. And I have a feeling that MK is going to be packed for a long time; it’s going to be the “hot” park for a couple of years. I think that even in low crowd months, this park is going to be packed. I’m expecting that for future visits we won’t be spending multiple days there. We’ll probably spend more time in Epcot, maybe even DHS!
So, I want to try and fit in as much MK as we can this trip, without getting sick of the park
As long as people keep having kids and some of us can revisit our kidhood MK will allways be a HOT PARK So sometimes we'll probably just have to take it in , in smaller bites
Does anyone else do this? Keep checking to see if you can get a slightly earlier ADR, or maybe slightly later? Even if it’s only 15 minutes? Or 5 even!?
LOL i was tweaking this morning!! I do it all the time because now that everything is pretty much planned out i have nothing to do...so i tweak
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Your idea for the Dessert Party is great. Any time you get to sit back and enjoy anything at disney sans crowd is the bomb (probably why I like Feb so much). Your choice to wait on Fantasmic is smart. I've only been once. While it's something everyone should see - I can't justify waiting all that time for a show and then dealing with the insane crowds leaving the theater. See it when the crowd levels are lower.
A suggestion. If possible, snag a seat in the sleigh outside of the Christmas Shoppe in Liberty Square to watch the parade. We plopped ourselves there about an hour and a half early, strolled across the street to get some excellent Chicken and Rice Soup and other snacks from Sleepy Hollow. The was the best viewing spot ever. The sleigh sits across from the castle so you can watch the lights change color and once the parade starts all your pics will have the castle in the background. The sleigh is up higher, above the crowd and surrounded by a fence. VIP if you ask me.
Another suggestion. Bookmark http://www.wdwent.com/ this website lists meet and greet times as well as any other entertainment going on at WDW. Check it just before leaving so you have the most up to date info. It will really help you get all the pics you have on your todo list.
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Last edited by jennie622; 07-26-2011 at 04:30 PM..
Sounds like your plans are coming along nicely! Even if you are still "tweaking" them I think we all do it, I know I do right down until we are leaving! I'm constantly looking over my passporter and my planning notes, all the while getting strange looks from DH, wondering what else I could possibly be planning I can't wait to hear about your experience at the Dessert Party, we've never done it before and I'm not sure we will with my DDs peanut allergy (Desserts are almost always a no no for her, and I'm just not sure that there will be enough for her to eat to justify the cost), so I'm happy with living vicariously through others' reports!
Sounds like your plans are coming along nicely! Even if you are still "tweaking" them I think we all do it, I know I do right down until we are leaving! I'm constantly looking over my passporter and my planning notes, all the while getting strange looks from DH, wondering what else I could possibly be planning I can't wait to hear about your experience at the Dessert Party, we've never done it before and I'm not sure we will with my DDs peanut allergy (Desserts are almost always a no no for her, and I'm just not sure that there will be enough for her to eat to justify the cost), so I'm happy with living vicariously through others' reports!
Don't let the allergy stop you - Disney would make a special plate all for her, prepared with the care that they would for anything else that she wanted to eat. Someone else posted on the boards about needing sugar-free and was more than satisfied with the options and the CM checking multiple times for a refill.
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i was tweaking this morning!! I do it all the time because now that everything is pretty much planned out i have nothing to do...so i tweak 
I can't wait to hear about your experience at the Dessert Party, we've never done it before and I'm not sure we will with my DDs peanut allergy (Desserts are almost always a no no for her, and I'm just not sure that there will be enough for her to eat to justify the cost), so I'm happy with living vicariously through others' reports!
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