questions- parade etc.

[my2girls]

Hi all,
We're going to wdw next week for my dd's b-day. The girls are 6.5 and my little one will be 5. We're staying at POR, and I'm looking for some answers to my last minute questions:
1. Any tips on how to do spectromagic with the kids and get out of the park in one piece and as quickly as possible? We have an early dinner res for a character bfast the next day, so they'll need their sleep! Without thinking, I booked a dinner reservation at liberty tree tavern for 6:40, and didn't realize that it was so far into the park, figuring that we'd eat, then watch, then go home. Now I think I'd better reconsider as I'm afraid of getting stuck in the crowds trying to leave. Any tips on where to eat, where to watch, how to get out?

2. If we're staying at POR, can we drive the car to one of the other hotels, such as one on the monorail or even ferry at wilderness lodge, park there, take the monorail to the hotel, and then drive back to ours? (I figure not, but thought I'd ask)

3. My dd really wants to see the lion king show, and another nemo. I'm thinking that two may be too much. Which one is better, and how long will be need to line up to go?

Thanks so much for any help. I didn't realize how much planning is involved.
Lori

[bnme]

1. I forget which direction the parade runs, maybe someone can chime in with that. We like to watch the parade along the hub in front of castle or right near the entrance by Tony's porch. If you could time a ressie right there that would be ideal but probably hard now. I would eat at a counter service place and get ice cream when you are waiting for the parade to start. I have not found it too crazy leaving after Spectro because people are waiting for Wishes.

2. You are not supposed to do this but people do (I have a few times for various reasons). The hotel may ask why you are parking their and not allow you in. The monorail can be really crowded so I am not sure it is worth it strictly for avoiding crowds. We have done it if we have a meal at Chef Mickeys then want to go straight to the park. If you are driving to the park it is usually a breeze getting out.

3. Both of these shows are REALLY good. But each are a little on the longer side so it really depends on your kids. They are totally different. I like Lion King better. We usually go in the off-season so never arrive more then 20ish minutes beforehand.

Have a great trip!

[my2girls]

Thanks so much for the reply. Regarding spectro, which do you think is best:
we have character bfast at crystal palace, morning at the park. We have the following options for the rest of the day:
1. lunch, again at crystal palace or
2. lunch at liberty tree tavern

afternoon at hotel pool etc

Dinner options-
1. liberty tree tavern at 6:45
2. The plaza restaurant at 6:45
3. Kona cafe at same time

End up with spectro parade, not going to stay for wishes due to kids won't be able to get up next day.
Thanks for any advice!!
Lori

[egoldber]

What time is Spectro and what time is Wishes? I think most people who stay for Spectro stay for the fireworks, so if you leave right after Spectro, that's not a bad plan. Also Spectro starts at the front of MK and ends in Adventureland. So if you have dinner at Plaza, you'll be able to see it and exit more easily than if you eat at LTT.

You are not supposed to park at a monorail hotel and monorail in. We've done it when we had a lunch/dinner reservation at the hotel, but even then I think it is technically only allowed for a certain time period, although no one ever said anything to us.

The Nemo show and LK show are both very good. We usually just walk right into the LK show, I doubt you will need to be there far ahead of time. Nemo does line up, but as long as you don't care if you are close, I think you could probably walk in 15 minutes ahead of time with little trouble. Just FYI, the Nemo show is a little long and is a bit prone to technical difficulties and delays.

[my2girls]

Spectro is at 9 and wishes at 10, from what I can tell. There's just no way that I can keep them up that late and then get them up to make it to MK for 8:10 breakfast at Crystal palace. My little one is so foul in the morning as it is if you wake her early!
Thanks for the advice! We'll do plaza for dinner. Given that, what would you do for lunch? My dh likes sit down vs counter service for the reprieve from the heat, I'm indifferent. But right now we can do CP (again) for lunch buffet at 11:30, or LTT closer to noon (or counter service). I was planning to grab a fastpass before lunch, then after lunch maybe do the fastpass ride, then go back to the hotel for a break. Back for dinner and spectro.
THanks so much for the tips!! There seems to be so much involved in planning this trip!

[egoldber]

What about Tony's Town Square for lunch? Or since you will be at the MK late, maybe monorail to a hotel for lunch?

ETA: Most of the CS locations are air conditioned.

[Momof3Labs]

What time is your breakfast at CP? I can't imagine doing a sit-down lunch after that huge breakfast. You'll all be stuffed, and will barely have walked out of there before you're heading for your next meal. But I'm not a person to do more than one (if even one) sit-down meal per day at WDW.

If Spectro is at 8pm, you had better stay in the park for a 6:45 dinner. You won't be back by 8pm if you go to Kona Cafe, and definitely won't have time to stake out a spot along the parade route (you need to do that well before 8pm). OK, I've convinced myself that even 6:45 is late for dinner because that won't give you time to find a spot. Can you get an earlier dinner reservation?

[my2girls]

Thanks! this can be hard...
bfast is at 8:05, lunch close to noon (or 11:30 if we go back to CP again, which I'm leaning against). Spectro's at 9pm and wishes at 10, as far as i can see. That's okay timing wise, right? It happens to be my dd's 5th b-day that way, so we wanted to get in a sit down lunch or dinner to do cake.
Lori

[JTsMom]

I agree about 3 sit downs being a lot. You'll be spending 1/2 your day waiting to eat/eating/getting to the place, plus it's a crazy amount of food! I can't do more than 1 a day, and even that's pushing it. We usually end up skipping 1 or 2.

I don't think you mentioned how long you are going for, but is there any other day you could do Spectro/Wishes? It would be a shame to miss the fireworks. They really are beautiful, and imo, so much better than they are anywhere else. If it were me, I'd skip CP for Wishes in a second.

[egoldber]

If it were me, I'd skip CP for Wishes in a second.

I second this. Finding another evening to do Spectro and Wishes may be a better plan. They are both very magical (although exiting the MK afterwards is NOT magical LOL!!!).

No way would I do 3 sitdowns in one day. Also, that is a very long day in the MK. To make an 8:05 breakfast, you need to be at the TTC (if driving) by 7:30 at the latest, and even that is pushing it. It can easily take a full 30 minutes to get into the MK from the TTC and then you have to walk to CP.

[JTsMom]

I will say though that doing CP before the park opens is kind of cool from a photo-op standpoint. We got some great shots when we did it this past year. If I couldn't switch days, I'd still sacrifice it for Wishes though. If you want to do a lot of photos, you really need to be there as early as you can though, and you'll still have to wait to be seated.

[my2girls]

Uggh... just when I thought I had the plan down...
We were hoping to take the disney bus from our hotel to the MK park for the early breakfast there. Is that not possible early in the morning, or will we need to drive? If the busses are running, how long will it take?
Thanks so much for the advice!

[my2girls]

Ok, so I'm realizing that I made a mistak in the description. We have the 8:05 am bfast at CP, then the following day we have another breakfast at Hollywood studios around the same time. I had read that it was better to do bfast in the park to get in early, so that's why I booked them, since we have the meal plan. I can always skip the bfast at CP and do lunch there instead, just grab a small bfast at the hotel. But what time would we have to get to the MK to get into the park for 9am admission. I heard that the lineups might be big at that time, so to avoid having to wait so long, we'd need to be there for 8 anyhow (hence why I booked the bfast). We're there for a week, so could always do the show another night.
Thanks so much for helping me to sort it out, what do you think would be best??!

[Momof3Labs]

You can take the bus over to MK, but be sure to allow enough time to wait for the bus, ride the bus over (you may stop at other resorts before going to MK), walk from the bus station through security through the ticket booths and back to CP. You'd probably be leaving the hotel no later than 7am, I'd say, and possibly earlier.

[JTsMom]

What time of year are you going? Is it high season?

[Momof3Labs]

What time of year are you going? Is it high season?

Next week. So higher season than some of us travel :wink2:, but probably not the absolute busiest time of the year.

[JTsMom]

Hmmm- I'm a rope drop fanatic, even during the slow time of the year, but I don't think I'd show up at 8 to get to the front of the line. I haven't been to Disney during the summer since I was a kid though, so take that fwiw. I'd probably show up closer to 8:30.

Are you following a touring plan?

If you're really committed to truly doing front of the line type of rope drop, you're probably not going to make it with the 8:05 ADR anyway. We had that same time slot last time, and we missed it by about 10 mins (which was fine). We didn't even get to see half of the Pooh characters. That meal takes a while if you really want the whole experience. If it's not that big of a deal to you, eat fast, and plan on not seeing everyone, you can probably just make it, but you'll have to really watch the clock.

If you can do the show on another night, I would. Make sure you check the calendar for which nights it's running though.

I always aim to do it our last night (which is usually a Sat) b/c that way, we're not worried about rope drop the next day, and b/c it's a big ending to the trip.

[egoldber]

For a 9 am opening, it you arrive at the TTC at 8:15ish, you'll be outside the main entrance by 8:45 which is plenty of time. They start to let people through the turnstiles around that time, but don't let you into the main part of the park yet. Get a map and a timeguide. Around 8:55 they do the opening show which is really cute (and can I admit that I always tear up? :o ) and then they open the park.

Getting there for an 8:05 breakfast gets you into the park early and the views of the castle and Main Street with NO crowds is priceless. But it does make for a very, very early start to the day.

[my2girls]

Thanks so much everyone for the great advice! I've decided at this point just to keep things the way they're laid out right now. We'll do the breakfast at *805 and hope for the best, a counter service lunch instead of sit down, back to the hotel for afternoon. Dinner at 6:45 at plaza, and then fireworks. I'm not sure how the kids will handle it, but I guess we'll find out. My head is starting to spin with all the planning involved in this and the many things that I read or hear keep making me feel indecisive. Hopefully no matter what we do, we'll have a great time, and we have the whole week to enjoy whatever we do and see. I've decided to take the attitude that we don't need to do too much, just to enjoy what we are doing (the kids won't knowthat they've missed something, and there are many years ahead).
At this point I have the unofficial disney touring plan, not sure if there's a better one out there. I know that I really want to hit Dumbo and it's a small world, so hopefully we'll at least get those in. Thanks again.

[JTsMom]

Think about Tour Guide Mike. It's worth every penny imo.

And Beth, I KNEW I wasn't the only one that cried during the opening! :p

[egoldber]

If it makes you feel better, I cry at the fireworks too. ;)

[alien_host]

Hi all,
1. Any tips on how to do spectromagic with the kids and get out of the park in one piece and as quickly as possible? We have an early dinner res for a character bfast the next day, so they'll need their sleep! Without thinking, I booked a dinner reservation at liberty tree tavern for 6:40, and didn't realize that it was so far into the park, figuring that we'd eat, then watch, then go home. Now I think I'd better reconsider as I'm afraid of getting stuck in the crowds trying to leave. Any tips on where to eat, where to watch, how to get out?

One night at the MK we caught the end of Spectromagic (we were on rides during most of it) and left just as it ended. It is very crowded on Main St, as you can imagine. If you don't have a stroller, definitely hold onto your kids hands or carry them if one is small. I got the back of my foot rammed by a stroller at least once. I actually think it is easier to navagate without a stroller. So if you are just going to dinner and Spectro you might want to try it sans stroller so you can have more freedom to walk and not worry about injuring the person in front of you ;)

The sidewalks are crowded but once the parade ends, move to the street and there is a bit more room. We got out fairly quickly and went to the monorail and got back to our room with plenty of time to spare for the 10PM fireworks.

Have fun!

[JTsMom]

If it makes you feel better, I cry at the fireworks too. ;) I don't think I cried then, but Spectro is my happy place. lol And if we're being honest- you said teared up during the opening. In reality, I bawled last time. I chalked it up to pregnancy hormones. I seriously could. not. stop.

[Momof3Labs]

I don't think I cried then, but Spectro is my happy place. lol And if we're being honest- you said teared up during the opening. In reality, I bawled last time. I chalked it up to pregnancy hormones. I seriously could. not. stop.


Heck, the ride on ME moved me to tears the first time we took DS2 to WDW.

The Tapestry of Nations parade in Epcot did me in every single time, too. Loved it, still love the music!

[egoldber]

I miss that parade. :( It was my favorite!