*** January 2019 Thread ***

[disney-inspired]

It is much more difficult to get reservations for a party of 6 than I expected. My parents were really wanting to join us for be our guest dinner but even with a party of 2 they have no reservations for dinner on both our magic kingdom days. I was able to pick up a reservation for the 6 of us at sci fi and garden grill at 8 am so that is nice. Theres still 88 days though so hopefully something works in our favor.

I know what you mean! We have a group of 10 and we're trying to get a better dinner reservation at Ohana. Right now we have 3:55pm (which is wayyy too early) but accommodating a group of 10 is bit harder than a group of 4.

Keep looking! I think a lot of stuff pops up as people get their FastPasses and rearrange plans. Good luck!

That's what I'm hoping for when our 60 day window hits. Right after I book our fast passes, I'll be stalking an Ohana reservation.

are you using touringplans.com at all? They have a reservation tracker. It works pretty good. You do have to pay for a subscription but it's like $14 for the year.

I did not know they had this! I just subscribed so I'll have to go over and check this out.
Thanks for the info!

 

[lookame]

I got a 10 am reservation for my daughter to get her first haircut at Harmony Barber shop. I'm not sure its great (we have an 8:25 am BOG reservation...) Im hoping my parents will take my son to ride splash mountain and thunder mountain or something else while my husband and I get her hair cut. Maybe I should...change it?

 

[Amy and kids]

I've been on the boards for awhile but never knew about this thread. My family is going to WDW Jan 8-16. The last time we were to DW was March 04 when my oldest two were 3.5 and 6 months. We have been to Disneyland in April 2010 when all three kids were 9, 6, and 4. They are super excited to go now when they are older and will "appreciate it more". My daughter is obsessed with Disney and is currently in art college for animation with dreams of animating for Pixar one day.

 

[brewhome]

I've been on the boards for awhile but never knew about this thread. My family is going to WDW Jan 8-16. The last time we were to DW was March 04 when my oldest two were 3.5 and 6 months. We have been to Disneyland in April 2010 when all three kids were 9, 6, and 4. They are super excited to go now when they are older and will "appreciate it more". My daughter is obsessed with Disney and is currently in art college for animation with dreams of animating for Pixar one day.

Hi, @Amy and kids! My teenage sons will definitely enjoy being able to do some stuff on their own vs. the last time they were there in ‘13. Let me know what resort you’re staying at and I will add you to the roll call!

 

[Amy and kids]

Hi, @Amy and kids! My teenage sons will definitely enjoy being able to do some stuff on their own vs. the last time they were there in ‘13. Let me know what resort you’re staying at and I will add you to the roll call!

Thank you! We are staying at POR.

 

[brewhome]

Thank you! We are staying at POR.

I’ve added you to the roll call, @Amy and kids! I love POR - it’s so peaceful and the boat ride to DS is great. Enjoy!

 

[SuperNEMOfan]

I just pulled the trigger and bought my first ever annual pass! I’m so excited! For those of you that have them - did you get something in the mail when you bought yours? I got the email confirmation, but I wondered if they send you something in writing about the discounts. I know I can read all about them online, but I do love getting Mickey Mail!

I also bought 5 day hoppers from Park Savers for my hubby and sons... I didn’t want to wait for the new pricing to come out since we are going on marathon weekend and I’m sure the ticket prices will increase.

We bought our annual passes back in July, the only thing we got was a green card in the mail that we have to "trade-in" for our actual annual pass. Once they are activated I believe you get a welcome package and a choice of another magic band

How was your solo halloween trip?! its been awhile since ive been on these boards

 

[brewhome]

We bought our annual passes back in July, the only thing we got was a green card in the mail that we have to "trade-in" for our actual annual pass. Once they are activated I believe you get a welcome package and a choice of another magic band

How was your solo halloween trip?! its been awhile since ive been on these boards

Thanks for asking, it was great! I wandered through Disney Springs from around 10:30-2, and it was nice to go at my own pace. It was so incredibly hot, though, that I ended up sitting down at the bar in Splitsville from 2-3:30 just to cool down (while watching football, drinking a beer, and making new friends!) before heading to MK for the Halloween party. The party was fun... it wasn’t super crowded and I was able to do a bunch of rides, hopped in some of the trick or treat lines just so I could get indoors to cool off here and there, watched the Hocus Pocus show and the parade, and I ended up catching a bit of the fireworks from outside of the park while at the Contemporary waiting for a bus back to DS. I did about 24,000 steps, so it was a busy day. I put a more thorough explanation of the party experience in the MNSSHP thread for those that were interested in how the lines were and such.

Going solo for the day made me realize that I definitely could do a few days by myself and really enjoy it. Since I have the annual pass now, I might plan a solo long weekend in between our family trip in January and my sisters trip in the fall... or, if my sis and I go in early fall, I might head down right before Christmas. I would really like to try the “four parks in one day” challenge!

 

[Thuydee]

We’ll be checking into CBR Jan 1-5 for a quick post holidays trip. This is our first trip in the winter- hopefully some of the decorations will still be up.

 

[brewhome]

We’ll be checking into CBR Jan 1-5 for a quick post holidays trip. This is our first trip in the winter- hopefully some of the decorations will still be up.

Welcome, @Thuydee, I’ve added you to the roll call! You’ll definitely catch the decorations, at least the first couple days of your trip. CBR is one of my favorites! Happy planning!

 

[mblair119]

This is the first time I am going using my newly gotten points I am going to stay at Saratoga Jan 13th through the 20th

 

[brewhome]

This is the first time I am going using my newly gotten points I am going to stay at Saratoga Jan 13th through the 20th

Welcome, @mblair119! I’ve added you to the roll call. Congrats on your points!

 

[brewhome]

I was just looking at our roll call and realized that the first people on our list will have their FP+ day on Halloween! I can’t wait to hear how everyone does with their FP+ selections. Another milestone and one step closer to go time!

 

[xlsm]

I was just looking at our roll call and realized that the first people on our list will have their FP+ day on Halloween! I can’t wait to hear how everyone does with their FP+ selections. Another milestone and one step closer to go time!

I'm one of those lucky Halloween FP makers...who is currently rethinking all of the plans made so far and trying to make final decisions before selecting FPs! Hoping it goes smoothly with no issues, but I only worry about a few passes like FOP and Slinky Dog. Everything else is less critical and easier to get. Last year I don't think I even got around to FPs until a little later in the morning and still managed to get everything.

 

[harddrive]

So we have a slight update to our booking, we are now staying at Coronado Springs instead of All Star Movies.
Seeing as we are there for 2 weeks we thought that we will probably spend a little more time around the resort than we have in the past on our trips, so the little extra money will be worth it.
From most of the reviews we have read it sounds like a great resort and so hopefully it will be a great stay for our first Moderate resort.

 

[brewhome]

I'm one of those lucky Halloween FP makers...who is currently rethinking all of the plans made so far and trying to make final decisions before selecting FPs! Hoping it goes smoothly with no issues, but I only worry about a few passes like FOP and Slinky Dog. Everything else is less critical and easier to get. Last year I don't think I even got around to FPs until a little later in the morning and still managed to get everything.

@xlsm, I always find that if I try for the hard to get ones later in the trip, I can usually get them. I often tweak the times closer to the trip if I can. Hope you have good luck! Can’t wait to hear how it goes!

So we have a slight update to our booking, we are now staying at Coronado Springs instead of All Star Movies.
Seeing as we are there for 2 weeks we thought that we will probably spend a little more time around the resort than we have in the past on our trips, so the little extra money will be worth it.
From most of the reviews we have read it sounds like a great resort and so hopefully it will be a great stay for our fist Moderate resort.

@harddrive, I updated the roll call to CS! Sounds great - I think you’ll enjoy the amenities at a moderate for that length of time... especially the hot tub.

 

[xlsm]

@xlsm, I always find that if I try for the hard to get ones later in the trip, I can usually get them. I often tweak the times closer to the trip if I can. Hope you have good luck! Can’t wait to hear how it goes!

Same - but I've always been pretty lucky even with earlier ones, I've never not gotten one that I wanted, which means this will probably be the trip nothing works, LOL

 

[lookame]

Getting close, while I'm not an October FP picker, I follow close after, in early November. I need to make a plan for FP we want. Oh we also were able to scoop up a reservation for 6 at Be Our Guest. It's not at the greatest of times (4:10 pm) but we'll get to eat all together!

 

[tinabina919]

So we were going to try Universal for the first time now that our daughter is a teen but we just canceled and booked POFQ. Just can't stop coming back! This will be our 3rd January trip and its the best time to go!

1/8-1/12 POFQ

 

[brewhome]

So we were going to try Universal for the first time now that our daughter is a teen but we just canceled and booked POFQ. Just can't stop coming back! This will be our 3rd January trip and its the best time to go!

1/8-1/12 POFQ

Welcome, @tinabina919! I’ve added you to the roll call. Happy planning!