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Balancing spontaneous fun w/ Reservations & Itinerary?

StitelMEStitelME member
5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
in Honeymoon Discussions
My FI and I are honeymooning at Disneyworld in FL this coming August and are pulling out all of the stops for the trip. We hired a Disney-specialist travel planner to help us with all of the reservations even. We are staying at the Grand Floridian (one of the Disney resorts) and our planner has made all of our meal reservations for the week so that we are sure to experience as many of the amazing dining locations that we can. We've set up our fast passes to mesh with the full itinerary the planner made for us. It's been great because I could focus on the details of the wedding planning while the planner got to figure out everything for the honeymoon. However - now that we are only a few weeks out, I'm getting nervous that our fun is going to be impeded by the amount of reservations and details that have already been planned out. I don't want to cancel anything but I also want to have fun. Did anyone else have a similar situation where they had their trip pretty fully planned out who can give advice on how to still have fun even though its mostly all planned in advance?

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Re: Balancing spontaneous fun w/ Reservations & Itinerary?

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    jenna8984jenna8984 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    There is probably no penalties or charges for not showing up to a dinner reservation, right? You could keep the reservations as I understand some of the disney restaurants need them months in advance, but you could also just wing it that night and not go if you don't feel like it. I prefer to plan general plans such as "Tuesday we will see these 3 items/ attractions" but I leave the times open to dilly dally and the meals open to whatever we are in the mood for or come across.

                                                                     

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    StitelMEStitelME member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    Actually, I believe that at least two of the reservations do have some sort of charge/penalty for not showing up.

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    daria24daria24 member
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    Some of your dining reservations will have a penalty if you don't cancel 24-48 hours in advance, so be careful (character meals, Be Our Guest are ones I know for sure have a penalty). As for Fast Passes, it is easy to change those times on the app when you are physically there, or there is no penalty if you don't use them. It can take some finagling to change some of the Fast Pass times for the more popular rides (Soarin, Toy Story Mania) but we managed to do it for our group of 6. Two people will be much easier. One thing to keep in mind is that the lines during Magic Hours, especially the night time ones, are SO MUCH shorter than during the day, so if you miss our on one of your Fast passes, you can ride during that time. The Magic Hours are the best perk for staying on property.
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    delujm0delujm0 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper

    I just always advise getting Park Hopper passes at Disney...that way you don't really have to decide where to go on what day...and if you feel like going to one park in the morning and another in the afternoon that is totally doable.  It also allows you to work around your dining reservations (for example, if you have a dining reservation in Epcot one night, and you have a Hopper, you're not stuck in Epcot all day that day...you can do whatever you want and just go to Epcot for dinner).

     

    The fastpasses are very easy to switch around on the app once you get there.  Toy Story Mania and Soarin are the hardest rides to get on (aside form probably the brand new Severn Dwarfs Mine Train) so if you already have passes for those, i'd try to keep them.  There is also no penalty for not using a fast pass, though you're right, some restaurants charge a fee if you don't cancel a reservation in time (or if you no-show).

     

    August can be a fairly busy time of year, so watch out for the crowds.  Also it can be VERY hot...usually when we go in the summer we try to get to the park when it opens, hang for a few hours, go back to the hotel for the hottest part of the day (have lunch, go to the pool, nap, etc), and then go back to the parks in the evening.  Evening Extra Magic Hours are great for getting on rides.  Morning ones are terrible.  Usually we try to avoid whatever park has Morning Extra Magic Hours that day...as basically everyone staying on-property decides to go to that park on that day, and the lines can get long.  The parks tend to stay open fairly late in the summer, so you'll have that going for you. 

     

    Consider getting a Memory Maker...it's the old Photopass Plus product.  for $150 before you leave, you get a little card that will store all of the pictures you have taken on rides and by the park photographers the whole time you're there, and you can download all of them when you get home.  If you only buy a few individual shots, the download can cost $15-20 for EACH PICTURE...so when i go on a big trip i always buy that product in advance.  plus it's a super easy way to get lots of professional photos of both of you on your honeymoon (we just have a lot of selfies and pics of only one of us from ours).

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    StitelMEStitelME member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper

    We actually did get the Park Hopper passes, so most days our "itinerary" has us at two different parks and our dining reservations reflect that. We also did go ahead and get Memory Maker. My FI and I are so bad at getting any pictures of us (I am particularly bad about hopping out of sight when a camera pops out). We figured it would help us make sure to get some pictures of our time at Disney.

    I think my big thing is that I almost just feel OVERscheduled with everything. I'm sure once I'm there it won't be as bad but looking at it all now, it feels like I overdid the planning a little. :-/

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    delujm0delujm0 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper

    I do usually try to get dinner reservations every night ahead of time but that's about it.  Once i get there (or a few days before i go) i mess around with the app to get fast pass reservations.  i don't really feel like it dominates my day at all.  However, if you have fast passes plotted out for a whole week, that can be overwhelming.  Really, each park only has about 3-4 "BIG RIDES" that you REALLY need fast passes for.  everything else can be done during extra magic hours (especially the little kid type rides at the Magic Kingdom because kids usually leave the park right after the fireworks).  So you don't really NEED too many fast passes before you go.

     

    if you're going to be there for more than 4 days, i'd only book fast passes for 4 days (one day at each park) and go from there.  On the days where you don't have anything scheduled, just book stuff when you get there, either the night before or that morning, whenever you decide where you want to go.  We Drank Around the World at Epcot for my bachelorette party, and there were Extra Magic hours at the Magic Kindom that night, and i was able to (while pretty stinking drunk) get on my app at 8pm while ON Spaceship Earth at Epcot and make fast pass reservations for THAT NIGHT on Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Pirates of the Caribbean at the MK.  The first one started like an hour from when i made the resrevation.  My sister and i (the only ones left standing after the drinking) then went over to the MK and did all those rides, and a few others, that night.  We also got an EPIC amount of pictures of us, drunk, meeting Mickey.  I know my mom will treasure those pictures forever.  Ha. :-)

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    StitelMEStitelME member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper

    Because we got a meal plan (mostly so we could pay up front and not have to worry about not having enough money in our account to EAT if I splurged on overpriced souvenirs, etc.), our planner made at least two reservations for us each day we are there (we are there for a week). Each reservation is usually at a different park since we have the Park Hopper so we plan on spending each day at least two places.

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    delujm0delujm0 member
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    Aah i see.  that is more confusing.  i actually never get the meal plan because i don't think it's worth it.  i eat whatever i want whenever i want to while i'm there and it never ever adds up to the amount that the meal plan would have cost.  Usually it's not even close.  additionally, i'm a "have to get my money's worth" person, and the largest meal plan comes with SO MUCH FOOD (if you have twice daily reservations, that has to be the one you're using), i know that i'd be walking around feeling bloated and miserable half of the time if i did that.  Also, Some restaurants also will only let you order certain items on the meal plan and i don't like to be restrained. :-)

     

    that having been said, sometimes Disney does promotions where the meal plan comes free with your reservation, so if i was ever offered that i would obviously take it (it's free) and supplement by buying whatever else i wanted outside of it.  but usually that's only offered with a hotel and ticket package, which i never have because i have a time share there and an annual pass.

     

    make sure at least that your lunch and dinner reservations are like 6-7 hours apart...seriously both of those meals on the meal plan are 3 courses and you'll be so stuffed fom lunch you won't even want to think about eating again for a very extended period of time.  where are you eating?  i think my favorites are probably California Grill, Be Our Guest, Turf Club Bar and Grill, and Via Napoli. Portobello's at Downtown Disney is pretty good too.  and i've heard really good things about Coral Reef, but i haven't eaten there myself yet.  Le Cellier is at the top of a lot of lists, but i don't eat red meat, so that place is just ok for me.

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    delujm0delujm0 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    also, almost forgot...check out allears.net, they have every single menu for every restaurant at Disney. and a lot of other good info too. http://allears.net/
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    StitelMEStitelME member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper

    We did a hotel/ticket package so if i recall correctly (since this was months ago) we either got a really big discount or it was added in free with our package. But we didn't pay full price for it.

    Several of our reservations are not that far apart - though some days we have "reservations" for breakfast and dinner or something. I think it was partly dictated by what reservation times were available.

    I don't remember all of the reservations off the top of my head but here's a few I do: our first and last meals are at Cinderella's castle, Le Cellier, Coral Reef, Mama Melrose, Yak & Yeti... there's obviously more since we are there for 7 days but those are all I remember off the top of my  head.

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    delujm0delujm0 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper

    I ate dinner at Cinderella's castle with my girlfriends once...it was hilarious and awesome.  we loved it.  if you want pictures with the princesses and don't want to wait on line to do so, that place is top-notch.  and they give you a picture to remember it by, which we all love.  the food was fine but not awesome or anything.

     

    reservations for breakfast and dinner instead of lunch and dinner would be my pick too, as breakfast is my favorite and there are a lot of good buffets there.  a lot of days i just eat a big breakfast and then either a small lunch or late afternoon snack before dinner.  a few of those restaurants you mentioned actually count as TWO meals (Cinderella's Castle definitely and possibly Le Cellier as well) so that is also making good use of a free or discounted dining plan i think.  you're going to have a great time.

     

    i have heard that the Polynesian resort has a really good breakfast place...it is right next to the Grand Floridian on the Monorail line, so you should check that out one day if you have the time!

     

    i am actually heading down over Halloween weekend to attend the Food and Wine festival at Epcot and the Halloween Party at the MK and i'm definitely looking forward to it!  we will only eat at the festival for that trip though, so no reservations for us this time around. 

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    StitelMEStitelME member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper

    Actually, I think we are going to the Polynesian resort for breakfast at one point - is it called Kona Cafe or something?

     

    And your Halloween plans sound exciting! We have zero plans for anything for the next few months. The wedding and honeymoon are zapping our "extra" finances for a little while. :-P

    I'm also glad that someone just thinks going to Disneyworld is going to be fun and a good idea. A lot of my family thinks I'm nuts for not choosing a beach or something. But for the money we are spending (including flights), we are getting a lot more comfort tthan I was seeing if we had done something more traditional.

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    daria24daria24 member
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    Oh god breakfast at the Polynesian is the best-their Tonga Toast is so amazing, I just have to not think about the calories. My friend and I literally almost cried eating it, it was so good. And yes it's the Kona cafe-you don't really need reservations for it btw, I've always just walked right in. JIC you end up not making it for your reserved time. 
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    StitelMEStitelME member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper

    Good to know. My planner may or my not have been extra excited and over-zealous, now that i'm re-reviewing all of our communications, about the fact that we were planning our honeymoon. Which I don't mind all that much, I guess, since it means the plans are made assuming we stick to them.

    I guess my next step is figuring out which dining reservations have strict cancellation policies in case we miss them...

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    delujm0delujm0 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    Kona Cafe is supposed to be awesome, i need to do that sometime. I wouldn't personally do Disney for my honeymoon, but that's because i go there multiple times a year, and i used to go every other year as a kid...so i've just done it before. i wanted my honeymoon to be something i've never done before and probably wouldn't do again. if you've never done Disney before, i can see why you'd want to give it a try. it is really fun, especially without kids. Now i just enjoy it as much as i can while i'm there because in the not-so-distant future i'll probably be going there with kids in tow so i won't get to do as much of the adult-friendly activities as i'd like. it was an awesome place for a bachelorette party too.
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