Monthly Archives: October 2013

STEP 3 – SPECIAL EVENTS

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So you may be wondering…why all this planning? Isn’t this supposed to be about relaxing and doing everything at will? Yeah…kinda. But it’s also about seeing all the things we really want to see, and with a little planning, we can make things happen that cannot happen without planning. A quick browse along their website, or a phone call to their customer service department (“Have a magical day!”) can easily help you discover what funky stuff is going on that isn’t commonly known that you might want to participate in.

Here’s some examples from our current trip….

During the time period we’ll be in Disney, the following special events are happening:

The Not So Scary Halloween Party

What it is: the MK is closed briefly then opened again for Halloween. The entire park is done in a Halloween theme, creepy music is coming out of the speakers, there’s a parade where the wicked witch flies out of the castle and into the night (instead of Tink!), a fireworks display that is absolutely awesome, and best of all, only a limited amount of tickets are sold. Some of the events are trick or treat events for children. So that means less people in the park, of those people, less are on the rides. You basically have pretty much free run of the park for several hours. Totally worth a separate admission ticket of 60-ish bucks.

Why Plan in Advance: We’ll be there for nine nights. Out of those nine, one is the night we arrive really late, so it’s really eight nights. Out of those eight, the Not So Scary event is only happening for four of those eight, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. We need to buy those tickets before they sell out (and they do, as it gets closer to Halloween especially) and make sure it doesn’t interfere with the rest of our dining plan.

How we resolve it: There’s a couple of options. One is to schedule a dinner in the magic kingdom (which is Be Our Guest this time around) that lets us out into the park at approximately park re-open time. We like that option, but it’s not available this time as the Be Our Guest Dinner has been scheduled for us on a night where there’s no party. Other options are to schedule an early dinner somewhere else and arrive via bus or monorail, or even by boat. I like the Boat rides. This time, we are scheduling it on an open day that has no other planning. We’ll play that day by ear. (We DO do that sometimes, once we get all the stuff that requires planning out of the way.)

Side Note about Not So Scary: The fireworks display for this (which lights up the night so bright you can literally read a newspaper by it) starts the same way the Wishes one does…except it’s the wicked witch that flies out of the castle on her broom instead. That’s a great thing to see, but you need to see the front of the castle. The best viewing place is probably the bridge that leads to Tomorrowland. ALSO, the Villains parade starts with the Headless Horseman galloping down main street. He is NOT doing a slow stroll…it’s really neat. So you want good viewing for that as well. There’s seats over by the Diamond Horseshoe that are there for people to play checkers, but they’re hard to get. That would be the best seating, I think. Elevated AND a seat.

Electric Light Parade (MK):

Different times on different nights of the week.

What it is: This is a parade where each float is lit up by hundreds of lights. Many times, the floats themselves are animated and do things. Although I’m more fond of the newer version of this called SpectroMagic (the floats are more animated than the original version, and there’s even a volcano that unfurls into Chernabog!), the beauty and the magic of all these animated floats lighting up the dark cannot be denied. A beautiful thing to see.

Why Plan in Advance: Because this is such a cool event, people line up way in advance to get a good seat. Like an hour in advance. You can stake out your place early and hang out and munch while you’re waiting for it to come by. Unlike fireworks which are up in the sky, if you have a bad seat, you can’t see much, and because there is so much detail on the floats, it’s worthwhile to see it from up close.

How we resolve it: We’ve scheduled a 6:30 dinner at Be Our Guest (Also takes care of a dinner we want) that will get us out at 7:30 ish, at which time we’ll take a lesser known pathway (I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you….j/k…but I have to do it in person and give you a verbal description. There’s just some pathways that some people don’t know as much about that provide great shortcuts) and catch the parade as it leaves the main circle and heads toward Frontierland.  As the parade ends, we have to move towards the front of the castle for two reasons…

Reason Number 1 –

Wishes Fireworks Spectacular (MK):

same as nights as ELP, and different times. Usually around 9pm ish.

What it is: This is one of my favorite fireworks shows. The opening of it makes me cry…I remember this voice coming through the loudspeakers, and it was all these single moments of disney characters making wishes….”I wish I could go to the ball…,” “I wish I was a real boy…,” “I wish…,” and there was this ONE FIREWORK, this one single shooting star of light and for a moment you could feel EVERY KID IN THE PARK all holding their breath and making wishes at the same time….It was incredible, the energy wave was HUGE. Then the real fireworks started, and by the end, well…it’s so beautiful it just makes you cry.

Why Plan in Advance: So we need to not be surrounded by trees. It’s likely we will be because of the parade. So we just need to move a couple of hundred feet towards the front of the castle. That helps for Reason number 2. There’s another thing…this fireworks display starts with Tinkerbell flying out of the castle and into the night. It’s just nice to see her do it and you need to be able to see the front of the castle for that. If you’re facing the castle, she heads out of the right and flies off into the Tomorrowland direction.

Reason Number 2

Movies on the castle (MK)

What it is: we forgot what it’s called but for 15 mins or so, they show a movie on the castle itself using it for a movie screen. It happens different times on different nights, right after the fireworks displays.

Why plan in advance: Because we’ve never seen it before, we don’t know if this will be able to be seen from everywhere…but we do know it will be seen from the front of the castle. So if we gradually move towards the main circle, we should see it just fine.

Electric Water Parade

(various): every night, time depending on which hotel you are watching from.

What it is: I think I mentioned before, it’s a series of animated floats made of lights that float down the river near the hotels. It’s set to music.

Why plan in advance: Well, you want to be in the right place at the right time, and it’s not at the parks, so you have to plan it or just be really really lucky.

How we resolve it: We have a 6:30 pm dinner reservation at O’Hana’s. (fulfilles another dinner requirement!) By the time we get out, we’ll head to the beach on property, relax in the sand with a Dole Whip (one of the snacks that everyone loves. I think it’s kind of like a creamsicle, but it’s with pineapple instead, I’m not sure. Either way, I’ll probably be drinking something alcoholic) stick my toes in the sand, and wait for the parade in one of the hooded doohickies they have to shield you from the wind on the beach. Awesome.

Illuminations Fireworks(epcot):

Every night at 9pm.

What it is: A great fireworks display that goes on on the main body of water in epcot every night at 9pm. They trot out a giant globe made of LED’s and show movies on it. Kinda neat.

Why plan in advance: Literally thousands of people surround the lagoon to watch the display. There are a couple of special options, for example there’s a pirate dinner package which will put you actually OUT ON THE LAKE IN A BOAT during the fireworks, but we’re not paying for that. What we usually do is plan dinner at Canada (one of my dinner preferences) and time it to come out right around 9pm. It turns out that Canada is an elevated building, so all you have to do is pull up a section of wall and sit down and wait. You’ll be above everyone, and you get a great view. There are other places like that around…the terrace over by the Rose and Crown Pub in England is another great and somewhat isolated viewing spot, but we had that reserved for us during our wedding, so I imagine that other people reserve that spot as well. Technically, you’ll be able to see it from everywhere around the lake, but it’s nice to not have to stand on your toes. So it doesn’t really NEED planning, except for comfort level.

How we resolve it: Like I said, usually dinner in Canada, but not this time. This time we have dinner planned at the Biergarten, so I expect that the best nearest viewing area will be right by the miniature train setup they have there. There’s a little bridge that’s elevated ground for landscaping purposes, and I think that will be a great place to view from. BONUS, it has a rail to lean on!

Voices of Liberty (epcot, American Adventure):

15 minute shows every day, every 45 mins from 12:30 PM to 4:15 PM

What it is: The Voices of Liberty are an a capella group. There’s about a dozen of them in the group, and they perform within the American Adventure pavillion right under the dome. They do some classics, and some more contemporary stuff, but all with a kind of patriotic theme. They also do a special carol selection around Christmastime, which is really neat as well.

Why plan it in advance: 15 minutes is a short show time, and the best acoustics are right under the dome. You can go up and sit on the floor (in fact they encourage it) and the sound is awesome. If you miss it, the chances of standing around for 45 minutes to listen for 15 minutes when Disney beckons is kind of slim. So we just want to be aware of the show times on the day we’ll be there to not miss them by buying a snack when we could just wait 15 minutes and get it after.

How we resolve it: We just keep an eye on the time when we’re in American Adventure territory. Doesn’t hurt to grab a funnel cake and hang out.

Non-Special Event – The Hoop Dee Doo Revue

non special because it runs two times a night on certain nights.

What it is: I think I covered this in dinners. I’ll let it go.

Why Plan it in advance: Because it’s in an out of the way place, Fort Wilderness, only accessible by boat or bus. Also, it’s a show with a start time and a dinner, and it has a tendency to sell out because it’s so good. So yeah, reservations, are a good idea.

How We resolve it: We made dinner reservations. That’s it. I hope to take the boat over. I like that boat.

= = = = = =

This does not touch on all the things we don’t really care about, like the Stars and Cars parade in MGM, or the Toy Story Parade, or anything like that. Each park has a couple of parades a couple of times a day. Technically, you can see fireworks from everywhere, but not if you’re indoors, or if you’re surrounded by leaf bearing trees. Some fireworks or parades are worth getting a good seat for.  All that really remains are final finishing touches. It sounds like we’ve planned a lot of stuff, but we haven’t really, because of careful timing, we’ve left quite a bit of open space on our calendar, and we’re seeing all the things we really want to see. So final touches come last…but there’s hardly anything to that, I think.

 

Planning Disney – STEP 1 – Where and When

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STEP 1 – choose when and where for how long

Now that I’ve listed all the parks, the earliest and first step is choosing which parks you’re going to, when you’re going, and for how long. Although it’s warm in Florida for most of the year, one of the water parks close down during different months in the fall/winter for maintenance…so if you have your heart set on snorkeling with sharks, you better make sure they’re not shutting the Lagoon for maintenance. Also the time of year affects what special events are available.

So we’re going during the Halloween season, and we’re going for a decent length of trip. (I’m fuzzy for security reasons.) We’re not hitting any water parks, though mini-golf MIGHT be on the menu, we haven’t decided yet. We’re hitting MK, AK, Epcot for sure. We now hit other places in Orlando, so we’ll hit Universal this trip (No Seaworld this time) and we’re deciding on how long and when still as we’re not that far in planning yet.

In this step, I really want to emphasize how much better it is to stay ON DISNEY PROPERTY.

I used to think that was a bunch of hype-ey crap, but now that I’ve done this a few times, here are the reasons why, and here are some budget solutions as well:

A) Driving in and parking means having to find a place, having to remember where it is. It also means fighting the lines of folks to get in, finding your car to get back, and driving back out along with every other tourist. There’s also about 16 bucks a day for parking. You can stay off site, but then you’re stuck with their schedule for their shuttles, which may not be as convenient, as opposed to the constantly running buses at the hotels on site. The nearby hotels aren’t as nearby as they could be (it’s certainly not New York) and if you’re driving on unfamiliar roads at night while exhausted, that just sucks. The parking lots are so huge they have trams that drive around to give you a ride to the park. This is incredibly time consuming, which doesn’t sound like it’s such a big sacrifice until you consider:

B)How exhausted you and your children will be. Almost no child gets tired at Disney World. There’s too much stimulation. But by the time you start to leave and the park closes down (different times of night for different parks and events) we see it all the time, every time. The kids pass out. They’re asleep sometimes before they even get to the gate, and they’re dead weight, along with all the souvenirs you’ve bought. If you have the type of kid that needs a nap and then wakes up ready to run again, you have to make sure you don’t wake them up while finding the car, strapping them in, driving to the hotel, unpacking them and the car, putting them to bed, etc., and if they wake up and realize they’re in the land of the Mouse, getting them back to sleep might be a problem.  By contrast, when you stay on Disney property, you get on a bus, someone else drives, you arrive very quickly without having to negotiate unfamiliar roads, and your hotel room has of course been Disnefied in your absence (often with your stuffed animals posed around the room watching TV or looking out the windows waiting for you to get there. Once ours were on the bed which had been turned into a “swimming pool” with towels, and my teddy bear was holding on to the TV remote.) It’s really nice for the kids, if they’re still moving.

C)Speaking of souvenirs – when you stay on Disney property, you can sign a slip of paper, and they will send the items directly to your room. It takes a day for delivery, so you can’t do it on your last day, but when you come “home” all your items are in your room waiting for you. No carrying it around the park. **addendum – Rob says that he believes they no longer deliver to the room, only to the main desk. We’ll confirm that when we get back, if someone remembers to ask**

D)Early open hours – One of the parks (it rotates which ones) will open early every day for the guests that stay on property. If you can get your kids up and moving early, that means you can get first crack at some of the newer more hard-to-get-to rides. We find, however, that most people with children INTEND to do that, but don’t actually get to do that, because kids are kids and foil plans. Our usual plan is to hit the early-open park really early, and then leave around lunch and hit any park that is NOT an early-open, as the early-open park tends to get crowded by all the people who tried to get there hours ago. The non-early-open is, by contrast, much less crowded.

E) Another little known secret – Disney Wake Up Calls – When you stay in a Disney hotel, call and ask for a wake-up call, and then get your kid to answer the phone.  Have a video camera ready.

Wake up calls come from the Disney characters themselves, so Mickey, Tigger, Goofy, you name it, call and tell you how glad they are that you came to the park and how they can’t wait to see you. Rob and I have to share the phone in the morning, it’s pretty awesome.

SO – Budget solutions on that…..

DELUXE

– MONORAIL CIRCUIT – The hotels go by order of convenience, really. The most expensive hotels are the ones that are on the monorail circuit. The monorails run to both the MK and Epcot and are truly the quickest methods of transportation. I don’t know all the hotels by heart (I’m sure Rob does) but among that list are the Grand Floridian, the Contemporary, the Polynesian (which has a Hawaiian theme) and I think the new one they just built is on the circuit as well. So with a monorail hotel you not only get to ride the tram (“por favor mantengense alejado de las puertas!”) which is a nice experience in itself (if you have a small child, ask for the front car. The view is great, and when I was little they used to give out little co-pilot wings) but really is super-super convenient.  Rob has just piped in to tell me that not all the deluxe hotels are on the monorail circuit. AK Lodge and Wilderness Lodge are two examples. Also epcot resorts the Yacht and Beach Club (those are for really rich folk as far as I can tell. They have their own restaurants and dining experiences, and sometimes have more than one.

MODERATE – The mid-range hotels are nice. I rather like them. I think my favorite so far has been the Mexican themed one, Coronado Springs…I meant to get to their swimming pool but I never did. Port Orleans has a mardi gras flair, but there’s also the French Quarter which has theming there as well, and a third part called Dixie Landings which has a plantation style theme. The mid-range hotels have large group dining, but they also have a restaurant. There’s others, but those stand out to me.

VALUE – there are many many other hotels on the property, each one with it’s own design and flair. The budget ones are called the “All-Star” hotels, and believe me, you’re not really sacrificing. Each of them also has theming, All-Star Movies, Pop-Resort, Music, and I think Sports are the themes, and there’s everything from giant toys to climb on to memorabilia all over the place. The rooms are smaller, the pools aren’t as themed, but really…how much time are you going to spend in your room anyway?

BONUS VALUE: As far as I’m concerned, if you like camping, Fort Wilderness is totally the option! If you can drive to Disney and bring your camping equipment, you can camp on the grounds and get all the benefits of being on property (I don’t know how they take care of your souvenirs…they probably send them to the courtesy desk and you pick them up there) for much cheaper. I remember my very first trip the year Disney opened and we camped on the grounds. They sent a little tram around to pick up all the kids and take them to a place where they showed old Disney movies on a screen (Mouse and Goofy cartoons I think) in order to give the parents a little down time and privacy. I don’t know if they still do that, but it’s something to consider. Rob and I have never done this, though if I ever win Lotto, this is totally on my list of things to do. I’ll probably rent one of their log-cabins, though.

STEP 2 – CHOOSE YOUR RESTAURANTS.

…in the next note. But why is this next? I’ll explain that too.