NorthernCalMom
Compulsive Touring Planner
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2012
Hello; we booked a trip to WDW for the coming Easter weekend. There are four of us, two of them teenagers (13 & 15 yrs old). Assuming that all goes as planned (which given the craziness that was 2020 I no longer take for granted), we’ll be staying at the All Star Movies resort. Our package includes three day single park tickets. We also got a Universal park-to-park single ticket. I made park reservations for three days: Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom (the choice of parks was a majority decision, and I and my suggestion to somehow fit Animal Kingdom in there was outvoted). Fourth day is dedicated to the two Wizarding World of Harry Potter parks at Universal.
We have tons of DL experience but are WDW newbies. I’m a big planner, and coming up with intricate touring plans has always been one of my most fun activities in preparing for our DL trips. Disboards’ CA section has been an amazing resource for me throughout more of a decade of yearly DL trips.
I started reading my way through the Disboards WDW section and an finding myself utterly overwhelmed with the mountain of information I am finding (a good problem to have, of course, but also a challenge, because I’m struggling to figure out where to start). Please find my information/planning outline (and questions that came up for me--I'll number any question in case any of you is able and willing to answer specific ones) below. The order is not indicative of priority but due to how things popped into my head. If you feel so inclined, I would very much appreciate feedback and/or hints about what I’m missing. Anything that I could possibly ask is probably already covered somewhere here, so I do welcome links to existing threads. This is bound to turn into a lengthy post, so I apologize in advance for violating this board section’s unofficial “talk less, read more” policy.
(1.) I figure a big part of my preparation will consist in listing what attractions are open and (with my kids) which of the open ones are our must-dos. I have some understanding of which of the attractions differ from those in DL, and those will of course be very high on our list of priorities. One great resource here will probably be people's (post-COVID closure reopening) trip reports. I of course also vow to, after our trip, write a detailed trip report myself to help future Dis-ers with their planning. I am planning to, between now and our trip, log wait times for our must-do rides to explore those rides' queues' lulls and peaks (keeping in mind that differences in park capacity limits between now and then may cause shifts). Question #1: Any absolute musts that you can think of (or can you think of--and link--any Disboard's threads that talk about this)?
(2.) Since All Star Movies is still closed right now, I will monitor their status and will, once they reopen (current plan is March 22, I believe) to find out about COVID-related policies and people's experiences. I've already looked at the existing All Star Movies threat to get a first, general idea. Question #2: Anything that I should know and that I may not easily stumble across in my research?
(3.) I will use both WDW's official website's counter service menus and this board to come up with a few rough ideas as to which eateries may be a good fit for us. We are a "come early and tour hard" kind of family and usually don't do sit-down dining, so I don't have to worry about ADR. I will temper my expectations as to the quality of counter service, since I have heard that Disneyland may be doing a better job on that end, but will be open to be pleasantly surprised. I am determined to, on our Epcot day, try all the things! Question #3: What are your don't miss (especially for people who haven't been to WDW before and who probably won't go again after any time soon) counter service foods?
(4.) Since we are passionate rope droppers and I have heard that the officially posted opening hours seems to be guidelines rather than set in stone rules and that parks often open earlier, I am definitely trying to get more information about pre-posted time openings of the three parks we are planning to visit (HS, Epcot, MK). Question #4: Do you have any advice or experiences (or threads you can link about this)?
(5.) We've never done Rise of the Resistance. I'm already practicing (a bit hard to practice the early drawing for boarding passes, since I'm on the West coast, but I'm determined) with the app and have read most of the post-COVID parts of the thread on that topic. Questions #5 a) & b): Any advice or secrets that I may miss in my reading the thread? Have the policy changes to two drops instead of one and off site access through the app changed the recommendations as to how to get boarding passes?
(6.) Since we won't rent a car, I will research transportation between the airport and the hotel, the hotel and the parks, and the hotel and Universal. We booked through "Get Away Today," and their "WDW concierge" service is supposed to help us arrange transportation from the airport to the hotel (I'm particularly concerned about COVID-related capacity restrictions and about being aware of any reservation system that might be in place for the complimentary Disney bus). I looked at shuttle service to Universal, but the "Get Away Today" dude, with whom I talked on the phone, recommended getting a cab instead. I'm not a big fan of Uber. Question #6: Should I get over my Uber-phobia, and do you have any other tips about this (or is there a thread about this that you could link)?
(7.) From what I have read, Magic Bands are not absolutely necessary, as long as we're willing to make use of the app. However, I would love to get a discounted Magic Band for myself only; as a souvenir and to just get the full WDW experience. However, when I access the "discounted Magic Bands for ticket holders" link through the app, I don't get the option to only purchase one of the $5 bands. It seems to be an all (one magic band for each person in our party) or none kind of deal. I was planning to visit our local Disney store today to see if they can help. Question #7: Any advice?
Question #8: What am I forgetting?
We have tons of DL experience but are WDW newbies. I’m a big planner, and coming up with intricate touring plans has always been one of my most fun activities in preparing for our DL trips. Disboards’ CA section has been an amazing resource for me throughout more of a decade of yearly DL trips.
I started reading my way through the Disboards WDW section and an finding myself utterly overwhelmed with the mountain of information I am finding (a good problem to have, of course, but also a challenge, because I’m struggling to figure out where to start). Please find my information/planning outline (and questions that came up for me--I'll number any question in case any of you is able and willing to answer specific ones) below. The order is not indicative of priority but due to how things popped into my head. If you feel so inclined, I would very much appreciate feedback and/or hints about what I’m missing. Anything that I could possibly ask is probably already covered somewhere here, so I do welcome links to existing threads. This is bound to turn into a lengthy post, so I apologize in advance for violating this board section’s unofficial “talk less, read more” policy.
(1.) I figure a big part of my preparation will consist in listing what attractions are open and (with my kids) which of the open ones are our must-dos. I have some understanding of which of the attractions differ from those in DL, and those will of course be very high on our list of priorities. One great resource here will probably be people's (post-COVID closure reopening) trip reports. I of course also vow to, after our trip, write a detailed trip report myself to help future Dis-ers with their planning. I am planning to, between now and our trip, log wait times for our must-do rides to explore those rides' queues' lulls and peaks (keeping in mind that differences in park capacity limits between now and then may cause shifts). Question #1: Any absolute musts that you can think of (or can you think of--and link--any Disboard's threads that talk about this)?
(2.) Since All Star Movies is still closed right now, I will monitor their status and will, once they reopen (current plan is March 22, I believe) to find out about COVID-related policies and people's experiences. I've already looked at the existing All Star Movies threat to get a first, general idea. Question #2: Anything that I should know and that I may not easily stumble across in my research?
(3.) I will use both WDW's official website's counter service menus and this board to come up with a few rough ideas as to which eateries may be a good fit for us. We are a "come early and tour hard" kind of family and usually don't do sit-down dining, so I don't have to worry about ADR. I will temper my expectations as to the quality of counter service, since I have heard that Disneyland may be doing a better job on that end, but will be open to be pleasantly surprised. I am determined to, on our Epcot day, try all the things! Question #3: What are your don't miss (especially for people who haven't been to WDW before and who probably won't go again after any time soon) counter service foods?
(4.) Since we are passionate rope droppers and I have heard that the officially posted opening hours seems to be guidelines rather than set in stone rules and that parks often open earlier, I am definitely trying to get more information about pre-posted time openings of the three parks we are planning to visit (HS, Epcot, MK). Question #4: Do you have any advice or experiences (or threads you can link about this)?
(5.) We've never done Rise of the Resistance. I'm already practicing (a bit hard to practice the early drawing for boarding passes, since I'm on the West coast, but I'm determined) with the app and have read most of the post-COVID parts of the thread on that topic. Questions #5 a) & b): Any advice or secrets that I may miss in my reading the thread? Have the policy changes to two drops instead of one and off site access through the app changed the recommendations as to how to get boarding passes?
(6.) Since we won't rent a car, I will research transportation between the airport and the hotel, the hotel and the parks, and the hotel and Universal. We booked through "Get Away Today," and their "WDW concierge" service is supposed to help us arrange transportation from the airport to the hotel (I'm particularly concerned about COVID-related capacity restrictions and about being aware of any reservation system that might be in place for the complimentary Disney bus). I looked at shuttle service to Universal, but the "Get Away Today" dude, with whom I talked on the phone, recommended getting a cab instead. I'm not a big fan of Uber. Question #6: Should I get over my Uber-phobia, and do you have any other tips about this (or is there a thread about this that you could link)?
(7.) From what I have read, Magic Bands are not absolutely necessary, as long as we're willing to make use of the app. However, I would love to get a discounted Magic Band for myself only; as a souvenir and to just get the full WDW experience. However, when I access the "discounted Magic Bands for ticket holders" link through the app, I don't get the option to only purchase one of the $5 bands. It seems to be an all (one magic band for each person in our party) or none kind of deal. I was planning to visit our local Disney store today to see if they can help. Question #7: Any advice?
Question #8: What am I forgetting?
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Plan on using Mobile Order a lot. If you know that you want to eat lunch at a certain time, then you should submit your mobile order earlier in the day so you can pick the time you want.
