Originally Posted By Dalia3001 I posted a while ago about getting a AP for Christmas, and my husband got one for each of us, so we're planning our first trip of the new year for the first weekend of March. We will be there Thursday through Monday. I just went through a bone marrow transplant which has hopefully cured my Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and may have some more treatment before the trip, but so far the doc's have all ok'd the trip. Here's the thing; usually when I go to DL, I have it PLANNED. We are in line half an hour before opening and have a schedule order of rides, take advantage of EE, take a break in the afternoon, and then back for more. I have not been there over a weekend when they are open to midnight in forever though. I am thinking considering that I have less energy than when I'm at my best, and that my wonderful husband might enjoy the trip more this way that we might (GASP!) sleep in in the morning, get room service breakfast and make our way over to the parks in a more leisurely manner. Then ride what we want to hang out, get a few fast passes, and come back to fully enjoy the park at night, which we have never really gotten to do, as we have tried to come off season and early closing times and the time of year really only gave us an hour or two of darkness. Does this sound nuts? Will it be horribly crowded at night? Any tips to enjoying the park at night, where to be when? Fantasmic will not be playing, and we would like to see the fireworks at least once from a good spot. How early should we be there to "stake out" a good spot? What is the best spot? Is there an almost equally good spot you can sort of just wander over to nearer to the last minute? Thanks for your help in advance. : )
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 I have a couple of other questions, actually. : ) The vouchers that we got in the mail say they need to be used to get our PAP by March 11. Do you know if our passes will be good till next March? Or only until next December when we purchased them? Also, I am a little worried about the fact that I am now completely bald, lol. I still will be, unfortunately, when we go to DL, so I will be either wearing a wig or a hat or a scarf or something on my head. How strict are they about looking like your photo for subsequent visits? Would they make me take off a scarf? I really don't want my DL AP to have my bald head on it, lol. Would they accept a driver's license to prove who I am on a subsequent visit if I look a bit dissimilar to my AP photo?
Originally Posted By fidoprincess Congrats on your recovery! First, your pass will be good until March 08, when you first activate and use it. 2nd, I would not worry about the picture, they will not make you take your scarf off if you tell them. Who knows, by then your hair might be growing back in and look fashionably fuzzy? My ds had a crew cut when he got his pic and now his hair is looong and a few CMs do a double take but we had no problems nor were we asked for any additional ID. We were told that you could pay an addtional fee to get a new picture (think it was around $30) so maybe down the road if the pic bothers you, do that. I hope that you find something comfortable to wear, a wig can get awfully hot and uncomfortable, you would be better with a scarf and remember, don't worry about your appearance! Not at DL! We ALL wear things we would not be seen in anywhere else (thinking of Dumbo shirt and butt pack I had on last time-lol). We have done DL every possible combination of ways-lol. Getting there early, leaving in the afternoon for a break and then going back in the evening is really the best way to do the most and not get overtired. It really does get more crowded as the day goes on, no question about it. However, many times my kids were too too tired to head out at the crack of dawn so we have gone in later too and still enjoyed the time. Still, if you go later and make use of FP, you can still do much of what you want. And having an AP changes your thinking because you KNOW you will be back if you miss anything this trip. Our last trip was "leisurely." We just did what we felt like-lol. We only made EE one day and the rest we just kind of rolled in whenever and we still had great fun. If you sleep later, you can stay later! We did go in to the park, play around, have lunch and then go to the pool most days and then head back in the evening but that was because my kids love the pool almost as much as DL. I found that making at least one dining reservation each day gave us a time to relax and enjoy the atmosphere. We like at least one full service meal a day to sit down and be served and sort of planned the day around that. For example, we had lunch at BB so that day we tried to get into the park by 11 and enjoyed a relaxing lunch and spent the rest of the day at DL. For me, it eliminates the anxiety over "where are we going to eat" and the long lines or worse, not being able to get in at all. Where are you staying? It really helps if you are within easy walking distance. Check out the room service prices, we found the prices to be really high at the resort hotels and not very good at all. It was more relaxing to get up and walk over to Storytellers or Goofys or even RFC. Many times, we just called disney dining when we woke up and got PS for that morning rather than wait in any lines. Sometimes we picked up danish and pastries on the way back at night and had those in bed with coffee we made in the room-yummy and decadent. As for the fireworks, hopefully others will chime in but it really does take planning and waiting for a good spot. The one and only time we actually waited right in front of the castle, some of us watched the late parade while others staked out the spot so I would say we really were there 2 hours ahead of time. We never had luck just popping up before the show and finding a good place to see them. Congrats again and I know you will have a wonderful trip!
Originally Posted By SuzieQ I never set an alarm when I go to the parks, yet I always manage to see and do everything I wanted to. Leisurely is the only way to go!
Originally Posted By nemopoppins You have AP's now so take it easy. You can always do what you missed on the next trip.
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 Thanks everyone!! fidoprincess - your suggestions are great, thanks so much. We are staying at the GCH (yay!) and I appreciate your tips about room service and bringing home pastries on the way back to the room at night. PS ressies are always good. I just had a really positive checkup with my doctor, and she marked my DL dates on her calendar, so it looks like we will be able to go!! So maybe now I'll start thinking about PS res. I think that the one a day idea is a great one, maybe we'll try out some new restaurants this time. We've done BB, Napa Rose (we're going back for sure) and the Carnation Cafe. I'm not allowed to eat at buffets for another 6 months, which narrows down some options, but lots of other choices available. Yay, I feel like I can go into full planning mode now! I think we can hack the waiting two hours for the fireworks if we bring some cards and I send my husband for lots of Hot Chocolate and treats. : )
Originally Posted By threeundertwo If you really like to plan the order of your rides, and you're not as familiar with weekend and evening crowds, you might enjoy using ridemax (ridemax.com). You can set your touring speed to slow, check off what rides you want, build in whatever breaks you want, tell it when you want to start and when you want to get on the last ride, and it will create a schedule for you. It's a lot of fun to use while you're planning. It's really the best way to take advantage of fastpasses.
Originally Posted By threeundertwo I hit submit too soon! I also meant to say congratulations on your recovery!
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 I LOVE ridemax, but got sort of off results from them the last few times I've used them. I think it was because I used it this September, when crowds were much lower than anticipated, and the previous October when they were much higher than anticipated. But for a weekend, that sounds like a great idea, and setting the pace to slow, something I never would have considered, is genius!! I'll have to see if my subscription is still good from September, but I think I'll have to get a new one, lol. Thanks for all the congrats, I am recovering, just praying that this time they got the cancer for good. : ) P.S. The first time I ever used Ridemax I loved the software so much I wrote the guy a gushy email which he still quotes on the frontpage of the ridemax website, lol.
Originally Posted By threeundertwo Great! I think the best thing about Ridemax is that no matter what kind of ride experience you want to have - a lot or just a few - it can figure out how to have the least walking/standing time. I'll have to go look at the website to see your gushy quote!
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 I just love playing around with it. Only problem is I have to do it on my husband's computer. They should make a mac version.
Originally Posted By threeundertwo I like giving it hard tasks like Alice and Indy 10x each in one day, just to see if it's possible. (it is. Doesn't mean I'd actually *do* that though!)
