PLANNING HELP- February 2018 Presidents Day Help and Advice Needed

[Abharmagic]

Anyone want to help me with a trip I have booked that has a very concrete unknown? My DD has a sports event at WWoS. The schedule for the event won't be released until January 2018. The good news is her sport is one that begins and ends in a 4 hour (or less) session. No tournament. No entire days spent at WWoS. Show up- compete- awards- leave. One day 4 hrs. Sessions could be as early as 8AM-12PM or as late as 6PM-10PM or any 4 hour window in between 8AM and 10 PM. She will just pull one session one day. The hardest part is just not knowing until a month and a half (or less). I need a little help with thinking it through and some creative ideas for booking a few "must dos" with a huge unknown. Looking for a rough draft to follow to book our ADRs. My 180 day ADR window is in August. Even my 60 day FP window will fall while still in the unknown. I'm a planner. This is a bit stressful for me, but not insanely so. We are WDW veterans.

VACATION DATES:
February 14-19, 2018
Meet dates February 16-18, 2018
(DD will compete/have an obligation on one of those days for 4 hours)

COMING FROM:
USA- Pennsylvania
Flight lands 12 noon in Orlando

TRANSPORTATION:
Disney Transportation
+
Uber/cab to and from WWoS

MY GROUP:
2 Adults
2 kids- DD 13, DS 11
We have been 6 times in the past decade as a family. Some have been dedicated WDW trips, some have been split trips with other parks (Universal, Seaworld, Legoland).
We are currently booked at Wilderness Lodge (for now... I'm prone to changing my mind/reservation)

WHAT I NEED THE MOST HELP WITH:
-Thinking through ADRs when I may have to cancel one in January due to having to be at the meet.
-How would you recommend booking must dos? Book that ADR twice on two different days? Especially for the hard to get ones.
- PRESIDENT'S DAY WEEKEND!! Advice, experience, etc. Guessing this is a busy time due to the premium prices on rooms. What should I expect? High crowds? Hard to book ADRs? Chilly weather? Since it's Feb are Park hours typically shorter.
- Kids really want to do the following
-Pandora, Frozen Epoct Ride
-We have been to MK many more times than any other Park due to attending MVMCP and MNSSHP. It's the Park we will spend the least amount of time focusing on this trip.
-We are staying at WL due to a very low rate/deal and we like the Deluxe Resorts.

** We are a healthy, very active family that is ok with being on the go. Especially in February where we won't experience insanely hot humid days. We are ok planning whole days in the parks. We are also ok with skipping Disney Springs. BTDT... too many times to count. I know it's changed a lot, but trust me- we are ok with skipping it.

ROUGH DRAFT ITINERARY:
* We have 5 Day Park Hoppers*

Day 1-(Wednesday February 14)- Arrival Day; Check-in; Magic Kingdom; Dinner at Ohana (DH request- his favorite); Back to MK until close. Would like to do: The Mountains, Mine Train, Dumbo, Small World, Buzz, Haunted Mansion, POTC. We are ok if we don't get to all of these. We literally rode these over and over at MVMCP and MNSSHP the past two years.

Day 2-(Thursday February 15)- RD Epcot; lunch at CS ???; Dinner at San Angel Inn (my request I love it here). We plan on staying open to close. Must Do- Soarin, Frozen, Test Track, Mission Space

Day 3-(Friday February 16- Potential Meet Day). RD Amimal Kingom; lunch CS???; dinner Rainforest Cafe (kids request... don't get me started ). *Should I book it for lunch and dinner in case that's the day of the meet- then cancel one when I know? Must Do- Pandora stuff, Expedition Everest

Day 4-(Saturday February 17- Potential Meet Day) RD Hollywood Studios; early lunch at Sci Fi (kid and DH request); Mid day break- Possibly return for Fantasmic or back into AK for nighttime show. Must Do- ToT, RnR

Day 5-(Sunday February 18- Potential Meet Day) Epcot World Showcase stroll; Via Napoli (may book lunch and dinner to guarantee we don't have to cancel for meet and then cancel one when schedule comes out). Evening either Fantasmic or AK nighttime show whichever we haven't done.

Day 6-(Monday February 19)- Departure Day- Breakfast at Whispering Canyon (DS request). Leave for airport.


Advice, suggestions, etc. mostly I need help with thinking through how to book my family's must do ADRs on the days there is a potential for having to cut our time short at the Parks. Again: It'll only be one day. One 4 hr period. BUT we won't know when until a month and a half before we are to go.

 

[cmarsh31]

We went this year for President's Day/Week, plus the Princess Marathon a was the following weekend. We were able to get all of our choice ADRs (for 10-16 people) and Fast Passes (but Pandora wasn't open, so I'm not sure how that will play in this year). I'd probably book one or two ADRs with two times if they are absolute must-dos, but with park hoppers, you can probably work out whatever else once you know the schedule. Two weeks before we went, ROL opened up and I ended up having to change 3 days of our schedule to accommodate. It made the planner in me insane, but wasn't as difficult as I expected. The new EPCOT Festival of the Arts overlapped with our first weekend as well, which did make World Showcase a bit more crowded on Sunday - it was practically empty, though at 11am on President's Day so we had a great time hitting all the photo ops and art stands.

We did the same - the weather was fantastic, we hit all parks all the time, skipped Disney Springs, and just had a few afternoons when we swam in the pool before going back for dinner and shows.

 

[mdsouth]

I can relate to your situation. My son's high school marching band went to WDW in 2014 and marched in MK. We had no firm dates at first just Jan or Feb and then we later got the dates which fell during President's Day week. I managed to get ADRs and Fastpasses only to have the actual date of when we would be at MK and EPCOT and MGM switched around about two weeks before the actual trip. That was frustrating but it all worked out.

Having been during the same time frame that you will be going just know that the crowds will start to really build on Thursday and huge over the weekend. We had warm eighty degree weather for a couple of days and swam but then it was cool the rest of the week and just highs in the 50's and 60's which still felt fantastic to us since we had left snow and ice and below zero temperatures.

I suggest making ADRs for your must dos on two days just in case the days switch. We missed out on O'Hana when our days switched but there are dining cancellations and so we were able to pick up something else.

 

[cvsimon23]

We are in the same boat right now. Do you know what time they performed? I’m thinking if I had that I could try to plan some.

 

[mdsouth]

I think the parade was at ten. But I know we saw another one with high school bands a bit later, probably around 11 or so. In our parade it was just us and two other high school bands that were separated a bit. There was nothing else in the parade. I expected that at least a few of the Disney characters or something would be in the parade or at least lead the parade. But, nope, just the high school bands.

The parade started in the MK hub near the entrance and then they walked up Main Street and around the hub in front of the castle. The parade finished near Splash Mountain.