OFFICIAL OCTOBER 2017 pretrip and trip report!

[ruthies12]

Made our FP selections this morning! We are headed to MNSSHP on Oct 9 and I scored 2 FP for the 4-7 time period. We really want to ride 7DMT, and unfortunately, there was only 1 time available, 5:10-6:10, so only 1 other FP would work. The other one we got was for PP from 4:05-5:05. Hopefully we can get some Pixie Dust and score 1 other FP after we ride 7DMT, as long as we get there early, so it's before 6!

Our other park day is Epcot on Oct 11. We plan to rope drop Soarin, so we got FP for SE, TT, and Turtle Talk. We want to try to get everything in Future World done early, so we can spend the majority of the day in World Showcase since, let's be honest, we are only going for the food. And wine.

60 more days!!!!!

Well this is extremely funny- we too plan on being in Epcot on 10/11 and we also are rope dropping Soarin! Maybe we should meet up at the Fort bus stop and go together lol? I fastpassed Imagination, Mission Space, and FEA for us. This will be our second Epcot day, we will be there the prior Sunday also. Hoping to hit up lots of F&W booths myself, especially the chocolate booth!

 

[mickeyfan0805]

I will start by admitting that I have not read all 9 pages of this thread (my DIS focus has been on a WDW/cruise trip that will take place next week), but the approaching FP+ window has me getting more focused on our October trip as well. So - here we are!! We are WDW vets and DVC owners, but will finally be fulfilling a 7 year dream of camping at the Fort. I will haul the 1,250 miles solo, DW will fly with the kids, and then I will haul back. Arrival October 26, departure November 5 - MNSSHP, ToT at the Fort, Cart Parade, and early Christmas decor at MK! We can't wait!!

 

[ruthies12]

I don't think I posted this yet- my trip to destin did, of course, include a stop at the disney store outlet. While there I found pirate princess ear hats that match my dd's pirate shirts that they are wearing to MNSSHP. Got these ear hats for only 7 bucks each!!! What a great deal

 

[FrozenOne16]

Well this is extremely funny- we too plan on being in Epcot on 10/11 and we also are rope dropping Soarin! Maybe we should meet up at the Fort bus stop and go together lol? I fastpassed Imagination, Mission Space, and FEA for us. This will be our second Epcot day, we will be there the prior Sunday also. Hoping to hit up lots of F&W booths myself, especially the chocolate booth!

That is funny!!! We are undecided on using our car to get to Epcot or using transportation. I really want to make rope drop since it is our only Epcot day. I feel like it's gonna be a catch 22 situation

OMG Chocolate!!! We will probably do that booth at the end of the day. I am not a fan of chocolate in the heat. I am excited for the Cheddar Cheese Soup in Canada though! I can't justify Le Cellier quite yet, so I have never gotten to try the soup. It is a must for me!

 

[FrozenOne16]

Just got back from the Dollar Tree! Ours already had some Halloween decorations out! So we stocked up with some cool lights and decorations for our campsite! So excited!

 

[N365PA]

Well we were going to be there Oct 23-27 in a tent...well my parents decided their time with their pop-up was over...so we bought it from them.

2001 Jayco Summit 10SG. The vinyl has seen better days (just getting a bit old) but it has been garage kept from day one! Can't wait to take my kids camping in the same camper I spent many a high school trip in!

 

[PaHunter]

I will start by admitting that I have not read all 9 pages of this thread (my DIS focus has been on a WDW/cruise trip that will take place next week), but the approaching FP+ window has me getting more focused on our October trip as well. So - here we are!! We are WDW vets and DVC owners, but will finally be fulfilling a 7 year dream of camping at the Fort. I will haul the 1,250 miles solo, DW will fly with the kids, and then I will haul back. Arrival October 26, departure November 5 - MNSSHP, ToT at the Fort, Cart Parade, and early Christmas decor at MK! We can't wait!!

Now there is some dedication, towing solo.

 

[mtnminnie]

haha...I think towing solo might be quite peaceful.....depending.....

 

[proudmomof4]

We are also planning on Epcot for 10/11, the crowd calendar shows it as a slower park for that day, but maybe those calendars really aren't accurate?

 

[mtnminnie]

I really, really hope crowd calendars are accurate as we have planned our trip into the parks around them. But, then again, I am trying to prepare myself that a "5" is still a massive amount of people.

 

[Teamubr]

I will haul the 1,250 miles solo, DW will fly with the kids, and then I will haul back.

Now there is some dedication, towing solo.

haha...I think towing solo might be quite peaceful.....depending.....

I have done this twice when I had a conference at the Gaylord Palms. I would tow down solo, do the conference and DW and DS would meet me at the end of the conference.

I do all the towing while everyone else sleeps/reads/complains anyway. Solo means I don't have to listed to snoring/complaining and I make considerably less stops. When I was racing and was all over the country, we only stopped for fuel or wanted to switch drivers. We usually traded off the driving once a trip, unless it was a close track we could get to in under 5 hours or so.

It is nice to have someone else along to talk to once in a while, but the solo thing isn't that bad if you're going to be driving all of it anyway.

j

 

[mickeyfan0805]

I have done this twice when I had a conference at the Gaylord Palms. I would tow down solo, do the conference and DW and DS would meet me at the end of the conference.

I do all the towing while everyone else sleeps/reads/complains anyway. Solo means I don't have to listed to snoring/complaining and I make considerably less stops. When I was racing and was all over the country, we only stopped for fuel or wanted to switch drivers. We usually traded off the driving once a trip, unless it was a close track we could get to in under 5 hours or so.

It is nice to have someone else along to talk to once in a while, but the solo thing isn't that bad if you're going to be driving all of it anyway.

j

I am having mixed reactions about the journey. I do all of the driving when we tow and, as you say, the family is often off in their own worlds when we do it. I think the biggest challenge is that our trailer is 35' long, so we are over 53' when hooked up. While I do all the driving the wife is very helpful when we are oookung for manageable gas stations and stops. Nonetheless, I am taking 2.5 days for the drive each way, so I have plenty of room to take my time.

 

[Teamubr]

You have about 250 miles further than I do. 2 1/2 days should be a nice way to break it up. And 53 ft isn't bad. I go right at 65. Besides, the trailer is going to follow where ever the truck goes. Keep the truck moving in the right direction and you won't even notice the 53 ft behind you.

j

 

[mickeyfan0805]

You have about 250 miles further than I do. 2 1/2 days should be a nice way to break it up. And 53 ft isn't bad. I go right at 65. Besides, the trailer is going to follow where ever the truck goes. Keep the truck moving in the right direction and you won't even notice the 53 ft behind you.

j

Yep - never and issue with towing. The rig handles beautifully and issues have been limited to one blowout in about 15k miles. Unfortunately, I have to stop every 200 miles for gas. That's when I will miss my wife's eyes in scoping out potential stations. Still, adventures are all a part of it. It's been a 7 year dream for the family to camp at the Fort, so it is well worth it!

 

[jabrabu]

I am 60 days out today, so I made my FP+ reservations this morning. I was in a hurry due to other appointments, so they are probably not optimized, but I did pretty well.

For the tough ones to get (Flights of Passage, Seven Dwarfs, Navi River, Frozen Ever After), I got FoP for day 6 of the trip at 11:55am. I also got a FP for Rivers of Light, so very happy for those. My other AK day is day 3 of the trip, and FoP was not available for that day, but I got Navi River at 10:45am. Day 2 is MK, and I got 7 Dwarfs in the afternoon. I would have preferred morning, but this is okay. For EPCOT, my priority was Soarin' so I didn't get a FP for Frozen Ever After. I went on the Frozen attraction during a solo trip in Feb, and I don't really care to do it again, but my wife and son have never seen it so we may try to do it at rope drop or if the wait isn't too long.

 

[jabrabu]

Here is my itinerary, if anyone is interested.

Sat, Oct 14: Arrive, probably early afternoon, check into Fort.
Ohana reservation at 3:30pm. (We have never been before.) I'd like to go later and then watch the fireworks from the Poly, but nothing is available after 3:30.

Sun, Oct 15: Magic Kingdom
FP+ for Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain in the morning. FP+ for 7 Dwarfs in the afternoon.
Park closes at 7pm for the MNSSHP.
Trail's End dinner reservation for 7:20pm.

Mon, Oct 16: Animal Kingdom (morning extra magic hour)
Try to rope drop FoP.
FP+ for Na'vi River, Safari, and Everest
Boma dinner reservation at 7:50pm (we like Boma but haven't been in years)

Tues, Oct 17: Water Park
We haven't been to a Disney World water park. Any recommendation on which one?
We may go to Disney Springs after the water park, and may do the campfire in the evening.

Wed, Oct: 18: EPCOT, then MK at night
Might try to rope drop Test Track or Frozen Ever After
FP+ for Soarin', Pixar Film, and Spaceship Earth (my son really like Spaceship Earth)
Enjoy Food and Wine Festival
Take monorail to MK for evening stuff. I really like to do Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder at night. Watch the evening fireworks.

Thurs, Oct 19: 2nd day at AK
FP+ for FoP, Lion King, and Rivers of Light

Fri, Oct 20: DHS
FP+ for Toy Story Mania, Star Tours, and Tower of Terror
I'll probably ride Rock n Roller Coaster as a single rider.
DHS probably isn't a full day park for us, so we may take the boat to EPCOT in the afternoon for more Food and Wine or other good dining. Then we might go back to DHS for the Star Wars Fireworks. Or, we might go back to a water park or just enjoy the campground.

 

[Cosmic]

@jabrabu I've been stalking the wait times on the Touring Plans app, and the waits for Frozen stay pretty reasonable before FP+ starts at 11... as long as Test Track is running. If TT is down, it seems like all those people head over to FEA.

 

[ruthies12]

Working on personalized trick or treat bags for my dds for mnsshp to go with the pirate outfits. Got one almost done

 

[ruthies12]

Other dds is done. 50 days!!!

 

[superblonde29]

Well we are missing 3 days of our trip that I was hoping to pick up. We moved our ressies from April 2017 to an unplanned trip in October due to our motorcycle accident. What is anyone's thoughts on me being able to pick up the 28th-1st! We are currently scheduled to depart on the 28th and recheck in on the 1st which of course we wouldn't do. Has anyone picked up nights this close? Thanks