Our HoopDeeDoo Debut (Advice Welcome!)

[Baklava]

***It's the all new Hoop Dee Doo Debut touring plan, now with exciting and fabulous ADRs!***

We're invading Florida!

DH, DS (18) and DD (5) and myself are taking our very first trip to WDW in January!

I have a plan! It's a cunning plan! Well... not so much cunning as carefully thought out and well chosen. Only since I've never done this, it might not be well chosen. Also, I made most of it at 2 am when I could sleep so careful is maybe an over statement... look, can we just agree to call it a plan?

I would love advice. There's a distinct chance I have done this all wrong. We are veteran DLers but WDW is a whole different kind of trip.

So here's the plan:

We will get a hotel near SFO the night before our flight so we can arrive at a not too heinous hour. Time changes mean we land at roughly 12 hours later than we took off. I'm shooting for an arrival around 8 or 9 PM. An easy dinner, probably the hotel food court (how late is that open?) and bed so we can hit the ground running. The upcharge to fly from a closer airport would be at least $600 and we're 2-3 hours from SFO, so this seemed like the way to go.


Day Zero - 1/5

Arrive late in the evening.
Dinner at food court.


Day One - Epcot 1/6 9-9

Flexible breakfast
Asherkus 12:25
Rose and Crown 7:15
Illuminations 9:00


FP+
Test Track
Mission Space
Spaceship Earth



Day Two - Magic Kingdom 1/7 9-8

1900 Park Fare Breakfast- 8:00 AM (non-rope drop day, monorail to MK after)
lunch flexible
3 o’clock parade 3:00
MSEP 7:00
Whispering Canyon - 8:30 PM(short bus ride from and to MK?)


FP+
Big Thunder
Splash (closed?)
Space



Day Three - Animal Kingdom 1/8 9-5

Tusker House Breakfast- 8:00
lunch flexible
Sanaa Dinner 5:30


FP+
Kali River Rapids (closed?)
Dinosaur
Kilamanjaro Safari



Day Four - Hollywood Studios 1/9 9-7

Sci-Fi 12:55
Disney Jr. Dance Party?
Jedi Training Academy?
Captain’s Grille (Lunch, Yacht Club- go by boat) Dinner- 8?


FP+
Toy Story Mania
Great Movie Ride/Star Tours*
Frozen Sing Along/Star Tours*



Day Five - Non-Park, Downtown Disney 1/10

Breakfast up in the air (Boardwalk in the morning?)
Splitsville (with bowling- early lunch) 10:45
Characters In Flight
Pick a Pearl
Raglan Road (Time for the dancers at 5:00- maybe 4:30?)
Pirate and Pals Fireworks Voyage Check-in 6:30 @ Contemporary



Day Six - Epcot 9-9 1/11 EMH AK AM

Breakfast flexible
Marrakesh 12:00
Coral Reef 8:55


FP+

Soarin’
The Seas w/Nemo




Day Seven - Hollywood Studios 9-7 1/12

Hollywood and Vine 8:00
Lunch?
Fantasmic at 7
Late dinner at Boatwrights?


FP+
Tower of Terror/ Star Tours*
Star Tours
Fantasmic




Day Eight - Non-Park (Maybe MK evening) 1/13
Breakfast at Sassagoula?
T-Rex 12:00
HoopDeeDoo Revue 6:15


Day Nine - Magic Kingdom 1/14 9-8

Rope drop
BOG for early lunch 11:00
Spirit of Aloha 5:15
Wishes Fireworks from Poly beach at 8 PM


FP+
Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Big Thunder
?




Day Ten - Animal Kingdom 1/15 9-5

Yak and Yeti (11:00)
Turtle Talk w/Crush
RFC (5:30)


FP+
Expedition Everest
Kali River Rapids
Kilamanjaro or Dinosaur?





Up early the next morning to catch a flight home to California.

 

[Newsies]

Following along!

Welcome to the DIS! Can't wait to hear more about your first WDW adventure!

 

[Baklava]

FLAIL!!!!!

I just booked our room. Now the website is telling me only 206 days until my trip!!!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Um. It is possible I'm just a little excited.

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

We're not fans of T-Rex... AT ALL. However, it is kinda cool to check it out... once. It's chaotic, crazy, and average at best. But again, it should probably be experienced at some point by any Disney fan.

We've been going to WDW for almost 20 years. One rule we live by is always arrive before park opening.... and now with FastPass+.... even still. You can get so much done outside of FastPasses by arriving at the bell.

One trick we've learned about lunch at Epcot is to graze around the world. No lunch ADPs. Just us.

And we're not fans of Corral Reef

 

[Lucius Best]

I'm shooting for an arrival around 8 or 9 PM. An easy dinner, probably the hotel food court (how late is that open?) and bed so we can hit the ground running. The upcharge to fly from a closer airport would be at least $600 and we're 2-3 hours from SFO, so this seemed like the way to go.

Arrival Day- QS dinner. No parks, no frills. (use one of this day’s credits for breakfast on departure day and one to offset a signature? Do dining plans match hotel nights or park tickets?)

You don't say what resort you're staying at. But pretty sure WDW resort food courts are open late (midnight), but not sure if all of the food stations stay open that late. I'm guessing from your plan with 2 TS meals per day, you must have the deluxe dining plan? Pretty sure dining plan matches hotel nights. We've done the regular dining plan a few times, and that was enough for us. 2 TS meals is a lot of food and a lot of time sitting and eating.

Speaking of park tickets, you've got 10 full days, but only 8 days in the parks (2 days each), and 2 days DTD. I would say one day at DTD is more than enough. Note that it's only $10 per person to add a 9th park day, and same thing for a 10th day. On our long trips, our 2nd days at HS and AK usually end up being half days. So for example you could do the park until lunch and then go to DTD, mini-golf, water park, resort hop, etc. Or sleep in, do lunch somewhere, and then go to park in afternoon with 3 FP+ reserved.

First trip to WDW, January is a good low-crowd time to go. I recommend looking at park recommendations at easywdw.com, and also check out mesaboy2's FP+ Guide:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/fa...ed-priorities-and-strategies-part-ii.3326057/

Day 1: Note that BOG ADRs are very tough to get. Since you're staying at a WDW resort, you can book ADRs for your entire trip 180 days in advance ("180+10"). Because of this, you have a better chance of getting an ADR towards the end of your trip. Note that Aloha luau is outdoors, and can be chilly in the evening in January. 7DMT is the most popular ride at WDW right now, line gets crazy unless you go right at rope drop. But Small World and Dumbo don't really need FP. The FP+ guide above has a list of rides by order of FP importance. And I think easywdw.com also has FP suggestions in their "cheat sheets".

Days 2,3,4 all look good. In general, we almost always be at park at rope drop, ride lines are shortest the first hour the park is open. If you're staying at one park all day and not hopping, our strategy was to make our 3 FP+ reservations around 10am/11am/12pm, so that we could get additional FP at the kiosks as early in the day as possible. That worked best at MK since there are so many rides. But I was able to get additional FP at the other parks.

Day 6: You don't really need a FP for Nemo, you could use FP on Mission Space or Spaceship Earth, those lines are capable of getting much longer. There are also lots of restaurants we prefer better at Epcot (Le Cellier, Via Napoli, Chefs de France, Tutto Italia).

Day 8: I certainly wouldn't do a 2nd trip to DTD. HDDR is great, I would definitely upgrade to 9-day tickets (or 10) and make this a MK day, then take boat from MK to FW for HDDR.

Day 9: You don't need FP for Muppets. I would look into the Fantasmic dining packages (eat at HS restaurant and get reserved seating at Fantasmic). Then you could use FP for TSMM instead of Fantasmic.

Day 10: Wilderness Lodge you can take bus or boat from MK.

 

[Baklava]

We're staying at POR!

We're buying 10 day tickets because the flexibility is worth it. If we decide we want to spend an extra day or part of a day in a park on a "non-park" day we'll have that option. I'll look at my plan with your suggestions and see about adjusting some of it.

I think we're going to swap our MK days. Rope Drop on day one is our DL tradition but I'm not sure it's the wisest start for us for WDW. That would push BOG to late in the trip.

I was thinking about using the FP+ for mid-day. Glad to have that reinforced.

The Epcot restaurants... well, they're not *my* first choices, but the teen has his heart set on Coral Reef and much as I'd love to do Le Cellier, I think it's a bit much for the little one. I got Marrakesh but the rest of Epcot is about other people. It's okay. I got most of the rest of the trip by default.

Thank you SO MUCH! I really appreciate the suggestions. I'll be adjusting and posting the update in this thread later.

 

[jandlinz]

So excited for you! Great plans so far. Since you asked for suggestions.
Day 1:MK
BOG lunch may be hard to snag at the beginning of your trip.
If arriving at rope drop. I'd walk on Peter Pan, Small World, then hit Dumbo without using those fast passes. You could probably do Pooh too.
Day 2: AK
Looks good
We've done it at rope drop and walked on EE, Safari, and Dinosaur. It was EMH though.
Day 3:
Looks ok
You probably don't need the Disney Jr. Show though. You could swap this FP for something else.
Day 4:
Looks good
From different touring plans I've read to use FP on Soarin' since smaller kids can't ride test track. You could FP Soarin' and run to Test Track. If DD is to small use a rider swap and then DS rides twice.
Day 6:
No FP needed for Nemo.
Day 8:
You'll love Hoop De Doo Revue. I remember it as a child and hope to one day take my kids. You can take a bus to MK and then walk to The Contemporary and take the boat. That might be a fun thing to do on a day off. You could even ride the monorail and explore the resorts. If you go early January you might even get to see some Christmas decorations!
Day 9:
You don't need a FP for Muppets.
Day 10:
Don't waste money on a cab. Take the bus to MK and then the resort monorail to Grand Floridian. Unless you're running late.
From MK take the boat to Wilderness Lodge. You'll love Whispering Canyon. I have fond memories.
Great FP options. I might suggest trying to get another FP for the Mine Train though. BTMRR is near the back and most people don't go there first so you could swap it for Mine Train if you want to ride it twice. Just do BTMRR first.
Day 11:

One other suggestion is if you arrive at rope drop hit as many rides that get long first before your FP. Try and use your FP up early in the day so you can get more FP at the park kiosks. Hope I've helped.
-Lindsey

 

[Baklava]

Greetings my lovelies!

Know what's really, really dumb? Starting a new pre-trip report because you FORGOT that you already made one. Yeah... I'm sooper special around the edges. Anyway, this right here? This is my For Real Pre-Trip Report.

My ADR window opens tonight/tomorrow morning. 3 am our time, so yes, I'm getting up in the middle of the night for these. Once I have them (and a good nap!) I'll be posting my new and improved plan (which involves taking expert advice on which parks to be in) along with the ADRs I get and go from there. Thank you to everyone for the early advice- I'll be asking for more as we proceed.

WHEE!!!!! 181 days!

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

WHEE!!!!! 181 days!

 

[Baklava]

It's 180! I did well on my ADRs, except a few anomalies that wouldn't book.


1/14 BOG for early lunch (11:00)
1/7 1900 Park Fare Breakfast- 8:00 AM (non-rope drop day, monorail to MK after)
1/12 Hollywood and Vine 8:00
1/8 Tusker House Breakfast- before park opening if possible. 8:00
1/6 Asherkus 1:00 got 12:25
1/13 HoopDeeDoo Revue 6:15
1/14 Spirit of Aloha 5:15
1/10 Raglan Road 4:30
1/6 Rose and Crown 7:45 got 7:15
1/10 Splitsville 11:00 got 10:45 May try for a little later over time
1/9 Captain’s Grille (Lunch, Yacht Club- go by boat) Dinner
1/7 Whispering Canyon - 8:30 got 8:20
1/8 Sanaa Dinner 5:30
1/9 Sci-Fi 7:00 12:55
1/13 T-Rex 12:00 **Hinges on Hoop Dee Doo
1/11 Marrakesh 12:00
1/11 Coral Reef 9:00 got 8:55
1/15 Yak and Yeti (11:00)
1/15 Rainforest Cafe 5:30
1/12 Boatwrights after Fantasmic 9:00

I'll go put them into my first post so my timeline starts to shape up. I'm excited and will keep plugging away at the ones that refused to book.

 

[Baklava]

I should introduce us!

Your Hoop Dee Do Motley Crew

The Trophy Wife - Your enchanting narrator. (Because "Trophy Wife" is more fun to put on forms than "stay at home mom" or "homemaker, that's why.) Also referred to as the Educational Pirate because I boosted my children from the public school system and set sail on the seas of homeschooling. I am the cruise director of the family, both in everyday life and (especially) on Disney trips. The hubs? He's got a sort of vague idea of where we're staying and that there will be food of some sort at some point. Me, I was up at 2:40 this morning to book ADRs. Every scrap of planning here comes from me with occasional off-hand comments like, "Isn't there a castle you can eat in? We should do that..." I'm hardcore, yo.



HusbandMan - My personal superhero. Every girl should have one. He works hard, loves Disney, and flings himself into the experience once we're in the parks. (We're DL vets. We've never been to WDW but we're all Disneyed Up on our home coast.) He's the guy who when his beloved expresses a desire to honeymoon in Disneyland instead of, say, Hawaii, cheerfully rolls with it. Best.Guy.EVAR!

Boy - Boy will be 18 just before we go. He's at the surly teen phase, but he pulls it together at Disney, spends a good chunk of the time with us and spoils his little sister outrageously. (Of course, generally he hits me up for the money to do so, but the idea is his and it's still sweet.) On her first DL trip, right at her 1st birthday, he bought her a different pair of ears every single day- and we were there for 5 days! He's a good kid.

Cupcake - My Mighty Girl. Cupcake is 5 and she's been a ray of sunshine in a family that was pretty quiet and serious. She cracks people up wherever she goes and has an active imagination. Her "pretend friends" are many, but her favorite imaginary companion is Minnie. She's not a princess- at least, when she is she's a swashbuckling princess. The foofy dress is fine as long as it doesn't get in the way of her raygun. She's a daredevil and a dirt magnet and all about rugged play and activity. Ah well, girls will be girls...


We'll be traveling with a DAS for me and a stroller-as-wheelchair card for her. I have an anxiety disorder (we will also be travelling with Xanax) and on bad days tight queues can be overwhelming. The plan is to get the DAS and use only as needed- hopefully never- because having it available is soothing in and of itself and I refuse to take the accommodations unless I need them. The stroller-as-wheelchair may sound odd given the description of Cupcake above. What I didn't mention is the autism. 1 in 88 kids is on the spectrum and of those only 1 in 11 is a girl. She's high functioning and bright but two of her most profound deficits are sensory issues and hand-flapping. In order to avoid her smacking people (she has a poor sense of spatial relationships) or getting overloaded and melting down, we want to provide her the option of a safe haven to retreat to. Again, we choose to use this accommodation only as needed.

Pictures to follow.

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

Children 18 & 5... interesting.

I'm hardcore also yo

 

[Baklava]

Children 18 & 5... interesting.

I'm hardcore also yo

Yep. Currently Boy is 17 1/2, but he turns 18 3 weeks before our trip.

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

 

[Baklava]

The Trophy Wife is at it again and HusbandMan and Boy have asked her to shut up about the planning. What to do... post my revisions HERE where people understand me!

We got all our ADRs and then I started making changes because I'm like that...


Our preferred room at POR got changed to a Royal Room. When the package discounts came out, adding park hoppers and upgrading to a Royal Room meant a savings of $700, so we made the switch. Boy is less than charmed because it means he's sharing a bed now, but we'll probably put the guys in one and me and Cupcake the mad thrasher in the other so at least he's not getting beat up. Or we'll use that bolster pillow as a wall between then. Something. I have decided to *not* freak out about her issues on this one and she seems to have settled down a lot since we started planning. (I had serious stress over her autism and the night flailing and her inability to share a bed reasonably. I am trying to calm down and be more positive.)

We decided to fly out of marginally-more-expensive-but-closer-airport. We've maintained our flights to and from but managed to shave little bits off of the price as sales pop up on Southwest. This may pay for my dream trip to Illinois next year. Yes. I have dreams of Illinois...

I'm having stroller woes, y'all. I have a kid who is really too big and too old but needs it anyway and she's outgrown ours and the guys are tall and pushing most strollers is painful and... ugh. I have a whole thread about that drama elsewhere, so I won't bore you here.

Extensive time and rethinking and obsessive reading of planning sites has caused me to totally redo bits of our trip. Updates are in blue. Comments and suggestions are welcome as always.


The Brand New Hoop Dee Doo Debut

So here's the NEW plan:

We decided SFO was madness and that the cost of flying out of SMF was offset by time, stress, needing a hotel overnight and more expensive parking. I found good enough fares to reduce the difference to a more manageable amount. The lady boarding our dog is in Sacramento and it's all just easier.

We land at MCO at 8:10PM. We'll do dinner at the POR food court and crash and get a fresh start the next day.


Day Zero - 1/5

Arrive late in the evening.
Dinner at food court.


Day One - Epcot 1/6 9-9

Breakfast at the food court unless there's a good breakfast option at Epcot.
Asherkus 12:25
Rose and Crown 7:15
Illuminations 9:00


FP+
Test Track
Mission Space
Spaceship Earth

(Make a beeline for Soarin' at opening)



Day Two - Magic Kingdom 1/7 9-8

1900 Park Fare Breakfast- 8:00 AM (non-rope drop day, monorail to MK after)
lunch We're splitting the party!
After swearing that BoG was plenty of castle and we did not need CRT... I totally caved and booked a mommy and me lunch for Cupcake and I at CRT. Don't feel too bad for the guys- they asked for the closest buffet and so my 6'4" menfolk will be having lunch with pooh bear at Crystal Palace.
3 o’clock parade 3:00
MSEP 7:00
Whispering Canyon - 8:20 PM


FP+
Big Thunder
7DMT (was going to be Splash but Splash is closed for the first part of our trip)
Space



Day Three - Animal Kingdom 1/8 9-5

Tusker House Breakfast- 8:00
lunch flexible
Flights of Wonder at some point. Cupcake is all about birds.
Sanaa Dinner 5:30


FP+
Kali River Rapids (there were suggestions this might be closed, but I haven't seen anything materialize on that front. )
Expedition Everest (We've switched up our first choice for FP+ because we'd like to test Cupcake on this and T-Rex before trying the Dinosaur ride.)
Kilamanjaro Safari



Day Four - Hollywood Studios 1/9 9-7
Sci-Fi 8:00
Head straight to JTA sign ups
Mama Melrose 12:55 (Fantasmic package)
Disney Jr. Dance Party?
Captain’s Grille (go by boat) 8:35 **I pushed this as late as I could but I'm worried. Do I need to scrap this meal? That would be sad.


FP+
Toy Story Mania
Great Movie Ride/Star Tours*
Frozen Sing Along/Star Tours*



Day Five - Non-Park, Downtown Disney 1/10

Breakfast up in the air (Boardwalk in the morning? Skip it and have a snack?)
Splitsville (with bowling- early lunch) 10:45
Characters In Flight
Pick a Pearl
Raglan Road 5:00
Pirate and Pals Fireworks Voyage Check-in 8:45 @ Contemporary



Day Six - Epcot 9-9 1/11 EMH AK AM

Breakfast flexible
Marrakesh 12:00
Coral Reef 8:55


FP+

Soarin’
Turtle Talk w/ Crush
Mission Space or Spaceship Earth? I don't know which one is worth FP a second time



Day Seven - Hollywood Studios 9-7 1/12

Hollywood and Vine 8:00
Lunch? May leave it unplanned.
Boatwrights 9:00 We're at POR, so whatever we do this day ends there. My thought is that if we don't want a full second day at HS, we can now park hop to wherever and still keep the dinner plan intact. (Because I am TOTALLY not missing sugar-free creme brulee.)


FP+
Tower of Terror/ Star Tours*
Star Tours
Toy Story Midway Mania



Day Eight - Non-Park 1/13
Breakfast at Sassagoula?
Considering, if people are feeling feisty, an early morning part day in a park.
T-Rex 12:00
Again, keeping it flexible, but this would be good pool time over at POFQ since Old Man Pool is going to be closed. Depends on weather and moods.
HoopDeeDoo Revue 6:15


Day Nine - Magic Kingdom 1/14 9-8
Pre-opening BoG 8:00!
If the new restaurant in Adventureland is open I'm shooting for that.
Spirit of Aloha 5:15
Wishes Fireworks from Poly beach at 8 PM?


FP+
Seven Dwarves Mine Train/or Anna and Elsa
Big Thunder
Splash



Day Ten - Animal Kingdom 1/15 9-5

Yak and Yeti (11:00)
Honestly, I'm tempted to ditch AK partway through this day and go elsewhere. Maybe we'll cancel RFC the day before. (We are landry's members. We can express lane it if we have a change of heart.) I'll be making our FP for this day on the early side.
RFC (5:30)


FP+
Kilamanjaro
Kali River Rapids
Dinosaur


MDE at 8 am, so the departure morning isn't too painful, but a quick breakfast and a fond goodbye.

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

my two cents: we don't like Yak & Yeti nor T-Rex.

 

[ariane37]

Hello! Came over to your PTR from the Jan. 2016 FB group I love reading about plans for first trips to WDW! I've been to DL once, way back in 1995 and since I wasn't as "into" Disney back then I really don't remember much. So far your plans look good! I'm glad you're trying Marrakesh. DH and I ate dinner there for the first time this past March after cancelling ADR's there on a couple previous trips. We loved it! Going back next month with the boys.

 

[ariane37]

Oh and Flights of Wonder is a really good show Make sure you do the Festival of the Lion King show at AK too; it's just about the best show in all the parks!

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

Flights of Wonder is Awesome!!!

 

[Baklava]

Oh and Flights of Wonder is a really good show Make sure you do the Festival of the Lion King show at AK too; it's just about the best show in all the parks!

I am going to have a hard time selling HusbandMan on any shows. We went to the Aladdin show at DL and it was *awful*. I mean... truly terrible and since it was my idea, he is profoundly dubious about trying. I will have to get him to go "for Cupcake" with low expectations and maybe I can swing that. (And have him be pleasantly surprised.)