I just reserved the HEA Plaza Garden desert party. I have done this in the past and is such a perfect way to enjoy the amazing fireworks and projections. Looking forward to it!

We just did the same! We've never done a dessert party before. We booked the After Fireworks Party since it's just 2 adults this trip. The one time I saw HEA I had a terrible spot where we could only see the top 1/3 of the castle, maybe less. (It was a rainy night and the DS I was there with has some sensory issues, so finding a dry place to watch was more important than having a good view. A bad view was still better than what I'd have seen from the bus as we left!)
 
@nancy155 & @Rach3975 -- Yay!!! I really don't think you'll regret the decision at all! We're actually not going to see HEA this visit because I don't want to be back in the general viewing masses with two young kids during party season, and the Dessert Party isn't in our budget for this year's trip (finally breaking down and doing a meal at CRT while are girls are still young enough to be over the moon about it). I do wish that the garden view HEA party, but I still find the cost worth it w/o that added value. I think we're going to try catching HEA from the Poly beach or boat dock this visit.
 


Seems like this trip is sneaking up on me way more than my previous ones, outside of making ADRs and FPs I don't feel like I've done any thinking for this trip.

I will say I'm so glad to be going in November for the first time, normally we are mid-late October and still get some really hot days. Hoping to wait a couple of extra weeks helps give us more mild days.
 
I heard about a photo studio you can go to in Disney Springs that is free with Photopass. It's supposed to have Christmas backgrounds. Has anyone done this? I'm hoping to squeeze in a shot for the Christmas card.
 


I heard about a photo studio you can go to in Disney Springs that is free with Photopass. It's supposed to have Christmas backgrounds. Has anyone done this? I'm hoping to squeeze in a shot for the Christmas card.

I haven't done it, but here's a link to it on DIsney's site. I think there's also a more limited version that opened in MK sometime within the last few months. I don't know much about the MK version, other than that it's a lot smaller than the DS location and offers fewer options, but we may stop by and get a few photos done on our trip. Probably not going to make it to DS this trip.
 
FINALLY! I was finally able to order Magic Bands today!! Definitely didn't get choice #1, but some new options became available today so hopefully everyone likes what I chose. So glad to be able to stop refreshing that madness.

Omg, yes! Initially I didn’t realize you could check out in advance so I had the ones we loved saved in our account and was just waiting for our ship date and then they kept disappearing so I did a chat and was told about having to check out immediately once you get what you’d like. I’ve been trying for months since then with no luck! All 3 we were looking to get are never all available at once!
 
Which three are you trying to get?
Well, my boring husband just wants grey, ha!! So that’s easy! I have varied for my little boy and I because things keep disappearing! For him, I really wanted the Mickey bday one since we’re going for his birthday but I haven’t seen that in over a month, so then I was trying to get the 2019 one but also haven’t seen it recently? For me, I was going back and forth between the small world, aqua castles, and the white and gold MK one. I saw a Christmas one pop up recently which I didn’t like the color of and wondered maybe if I hold out a few weeks if they’d have more holiday ones? I love the idea of a Christmas one! It’s just really hard to find the correct combo of them available at the same time!

We always do room only, not a package, but this time we have a package. How far ahead do your magic bands ship? It used to say on MDX what your ship date is, but now it just says choose by _____ date to pick up at your resort at check in?
 
I too got frustrated with the upgraded MB and finally pulled the trigger b/c there was a perfect one for my son (Villains). I settled for my daughter with just the red band with small Minnie dots. I reallllly wanted Small World for her but it just didn't come together. I got plain bands for me and hubby.
 
Well, my boring husband just wants grey, ha!! So that’s easy! I have varied for my little boy and I because things keep disappearing! For him, I really wanted the Mickey bday one since we’re going for his birthday but I haven’t seen that in over a month, so then I was trying to get the 2019 one but also haven’t seen it recently? For me, I was going back and forth between the small world, aqua castles, and the white and gold MK one. I saw a Christmas one pop up recently which I didn’t like the color of and wondered maybe if I hold out a few weeks if they’d have more holiday ones? I love the idea of a Christmas one! It’s just really hard to find the correct combo of them available at the same time!

We always do room only, not a package, but this time we have a package. How far ahead do your magic bands ship? It used to say on MDX what your ship date is, but now it just says choose by _____ date to pick up at your resort at check in?

Yeah, I've checked every day for at least 30 days and there hasn't been Mickey BDay :( I think now that his birthday celebration is over, that won't come again.
2019 has definitely popped up about once a week.
I too am wondering if new ones will be coming here shortly. Seems like they're cutting it close though.
Today mine said I had 6 days left to customize it.
If it helps, log in at 8:45 and refresh refresh refresh. Between 8:45-9am (central) is when the biggest release of styles is made. They are definitely updated throughout the day, but that morning time frame is your best bet.
 
Hey all,

First. I tend to over-explain things as I like to give detail, so please bear with me... :rolleyes1

We are nearly 50 days out until we embark on our WDW and DCL vacation... and I have a few thoughts and questions that perhaps some of you guys might be able to comment on. Well, we normally wouldn't be caught dead travelling to Disney Parks & Resorts over US Thanksgiving (or comparable holidays) and the weekend that follows it. However, due to changes that were necessarily made in our flight arrival itinerary on the part of our airline, we took it upon ourselves to re-book our arriving flight to arrive into Orlando instead of Miami a few days earlier than anticipated (as we initially planned to do just the cruise) and then just rent a car and drive up to Miami early in the morning of our cruise departure date.

So we went from arriving and sailing on December 2nd in Miami, to arriving November 28th at around 10:30 AM in Orlando. We found good price with my discount to stay the few nights at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, which I've never stayed at so I'm looking forward to that. At the time of re-booking, I didn't realize we would be making a WDW stay overlapping with Thanksgiving... I'm Canadian and have Thanksgiving in October so I initially didn't think anything of it until after booking and then realizing there was a holiday marker on my iPhone calendar and that it was US Thanksgiving... to which I immediately audibly exclaimed, "Oh... crap!!"

Anyways, with all that context out of the way... how bad do you think it will be this year during Thanksgiving and the weekend that follows it? I know historically that it is one of the worst times of year to visit in terms of crowds, but with this year's attendance being lighter than usual... maybe it won't be too bad? The reason I think otherwise though is because of what booking FP+ earlier this month was like. I got online RIGHT at 7 AM EST to book and even though I was right on everything, Slinky Dog Dash was completely sold out and many of the sought after attractions like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Avatar Flight of Passage were not available for morning return times but were giving times out for later in the day (luckily they were there at all, though I typically prefer to get our 3 FP+ selections over with in the late morning/very early afternoon so that we can get on with our day and make more FP+ choices as we go).

I really don't know about this. I've had trips to WDW in August in years past and so long as I was right on the money for getting online to book at 7 AM EST 60 days out, I was able to snag Slinky Dog Dash and other attractions early in the day with no problem. I've never faced the experience of getting online right at my time window and having ANYTHING sold out before... is this a common occurrence? Have I just been lucky in past years?? Slinky was our #1 FP+ priority but we settled for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster instead as we thought that was a logical runner up based on how slow that one moves through people and how long the queues can get.

Which leads me to my next question... we will be visiting Disney's Hollywood Studios on Friday, November 29th... like I said we have a FP+ for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and also Star Tours - The Adventures Continue and Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! scheduled for our day. We also have a 3:05 PM lunch ADR at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant. So those are the definites of our day... but I am wondering with Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge now in the mix, how should we deal with our rope drop and first hour plans? Should we rope drop Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run or Slinky Dog Dash when the park opens? What about Toy Story Mania! and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror?? I'm just wondering how we should deal with crossing off those attractions with no FastPasses in play...

Also on the topic of DHS, finding any 2 person ADRs for Oga's Cantina has been impossible, even when I checked months ago. Seems I can find openings on all of the other days we are at WDW, except the Friday we have allotted to DHS (I'm a CM using a mixture of Cast admission and regular tickets, so that's why were a locked in to certain days). So anyways, I tried searching Oga's Cantina for 1 person openings, out of curiosity. Wouldn't you know it, there were several times available throughout the day that I could snag. So, I did... just because I could. Managed a 9:55 AM breakfast ADR. I suppose that my main question here is if I show up there with an ADR for 1, what is the likelihood that my significant other will be allowed in with me? I ask because I know one year when I couldn't get an ADR for 2 for Be Our Guest Restaurant on a past trip, I did manage to find a lunch opening for 1 and I took it, showed up, said I had one other with me and they permitted us in without batting an eye. Not sure if Oga's Cantina would be a little more strict on that...

So other than DHS on the 29th... we plan to get right onto Disney's Magical Express at MCO and once we get to our resort on property, drop our stuff and hit Epcot immediately (FP+ for SSE, MS & SATW) with Disney Springs in the evening after Epcot closes.. Saturday the 30th will be our Magic Kingdom Park day (FP+ for SM, SPLSH & SDMT) and Disney's Animal Kingdom Park in the morning and afternoon of December 1st (FP+ for EE, KS & AFOP), with a return to Magic Kingdom for the rest of the evening as we have tickets to attend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (it'll be my first time at WDW during the holidays... so I am pretty excited to see all the festive decor). If there are any tips or comments anybody could provide tailored to the above plans, that would be great but I do have one thing that I am mostly worried about...

You see, I have a breakfast ADR at Kona Cafe for 10:55 AM on our Magic Kingdom day... Saturday, November 30th. Our plan was to rope drop the park and spend the first hour and a half or so of the day doing stuff there, then hop the monorail over to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort for breakfast, and then ride it back to finish up the rest of our day at MK. My question is, with it being Saturday on the Thanksgiving weekend, how likely would it be for us to get locked out of the park due to capacity reasons after we return from breakfast? I'm hoping that it is unlikely to happen but you never know. If it does close, would the fact that we have FP+ selections, but also more importantly, a dinner ADR at Be Our Guest Restaurant allow us in if there's any sort of admission block??

Likewise, on Sunday, December 1st, our Animal Kingdom day... we would like to go grab lunch at Sanaa with our ADR at 11:55 AM... but I am also curious to know the likelihood of being shut out of there as well? I'm guessing it would be less likely than MK on a Saturday... but I'm still hoping that somebody with the experience or educated guesswork abilities can help shed some light on these types of situations.

Any other advice or tips to make our trip go all the smoother would be GREATLY appreciated as well! Big thanks to anybody who has read through all my ramblings above... :thanks:
 
The upgraded magic bands should ship immediately, the plain ones usually ship later. I'm not sure what happens if you get a mix.
 
Oh... I also forgot to ask about monorail and bus transportation hours. After the Magic Kingdom Park closes (10:00 PM) on our MK day, we plan to hop the monorail over to Trader Sam's at the Poly for a drink or two... what time does the monorail operate until? Would we be able to monorail back to the MK bus depot and catch a bus back to our resort?? Or... I'm thinking we might have to bus to Disney Springs and then to our resort after we are done at Sam's? Or are both of those plans pretty much off the table and we'll need to simply summon a Lyft back to Coronado??
 
You have many questions, but I'll try to help with some..

I'd try getting the other person into Oga's...you never know. Another idea is to book another 1 person reservation around the same time and then check-in together.

As far as crowds go, there are only two levels of crowds at WDW - crowded and more crowded. Expect heavy crowds. If the crowds are lighter, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

A good strategy for getting on popular attractions without FP+ is to get in line 5 minutes before the park closes. Usually the posted wait time is exaggerated, and you should be on the ride in less time than it says.

I wouldn't worry about the parks reaching capacity. However, an ADR in a park would allow you back in if a park was not admitting any more guests. Do a search for the different tiers of closures for a better understanding of how it works. I'd be shocked if AK ever closed due to capacity.

As far as transportation back after Trade Sam's, I do Uber/Lyft. It will be much quicker than busing to Disney Springs to catch another bus or taking the monorail back to MK to catch a bus.

Hope that helps a little. Have a great trip!
 
Yeah, I've checked every day for at least 30 days and there hasn't been Mickey BDay :( I think now that his birthday celebration is over, that won't come again.
2019 has definitely popped up about once a week.
I too am wondering if new ones will be coming here shortly. Seems like they're cutting it close though.
Today mine said I had 6 days left to customize it.
If it helps, log in at 8:45 and refresh refresh refresh. Between 8:45-9am (central) is when the biggest release of styles is made. They are definitely updated throughout the day, but that morning time frame is your best bet.

Thank you so much! I’ll try that!! I’ve had luck a few times only to have it say they were suddenly unavailable when I went to check out! I’ll keep trying!
 

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