Rest day ? and advice on Cinderella
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| Thu, 01-04-2007 - 4:40pm |
I need some advice. We are planning a trip to Disney World in late April/early May. We will be driving down and staying 6 nights. I have scheduled a 1/2 day for rest in the middle of the week, but can't decide whether to take the morning off and then hit a park or take the evening off after hitting one in the morning. Any opinions or BTDT experience?
Also, I have been trying to get some input from my DS age 4. He was afraid of the characters last summer and it doesn't look like he is planning on warming up to them for our upcoming trip. The only character he seems mildly interested in meeting is Cinderella because "she is sooo be-u-te-ful". I don't really want to do the CRT because of the cost and the fact that he is likely to change his mind (not to mention that I'd have a hard time getting the ADR!). I know she is at 1900 Park Fare too and that is an option (although I have heard that the Mad Hatter is pretty aggressive). Anyone know how often Cinderella appears in the Judges Tent? I guess we could always ask a CM when we are at MK. My DS told me on the last day of our trip last summer that he wanted to meet her and I have always felt bad that he didn't get to. But, he also told everyone he met that he was going to ride the teacups at Disneyworld for months before our trip and wouldn't even go near them, LOL.
Here is a very tentative schedule for our trip in case you want to look at it for my first question.
Sat- Arrive around 3, check in, probably swim then either to BW or MK for Spectra/Wishes
Sun-AM at AK, rest, PM at MGM (maybe Fantasmic)
Mon-AM at MGM, rest, PM at Epcot (will stay for Illuminations or leave if too tired)
Tues-this is the rest day. Either MK in am and rest for PM or rest in AM and try to make it to 3pm parade at MK for PM
Wed-AM at Epcot, rest, pm at DTD or evening EMH at AK if we want to
Thurs-Early EMH at MK, rest, let kids pick the PM park if we have seen Spectra/Wishes
Fri-go to either BW or DTD then head home :( DH does't want to be on the road too late (12 hour drive).
I would appreciate any input. I am sorry this is so long :0
TIA Charis

I'd play your rest day by ear. If you end up staying for Illuminations than take the morning off. If you go back early and don't stay for Illuminations then take the afternoon off.
Cinderella has pretty much been a regular at the Judges tent for a few years now. When you walk in to the Hall of Fame gift shop the lines are to your right. There are 3 of them and above each line it tells you who is in the room. The left one is generally B list stars or 'storybook characters', the center princesses, and the right alternates between some A listers and the 100 acre woods gang. There are pictures of each character present, and something new this past trip (and still handwritten!) they had posted wait times! The princess line averages 45 minutes, but of course since they can chat with you the experiance is more personal.
I agree with Sonya about playing by ear the rest day.
Thanks. I actually got DH to look at schedule last night and give me some input instead of getting the ususal "Hm, mmm, looks fine to me", LOL. We had pretty much decided on the same thing about playing it by ear that day.
Thanks for the info about Cinderella too. I was thinking I had read somewhere that she was a regular in the Judges Tent, but I wanted confirmation :) We will probably just plan on trying to meet her there since I am not sure my DS will acutally cooperate once he sees her. He told me he does not like characters that don't talk, but he also refused to have his photo taken with Alice in June (I don't think he's ever seen the movie though). That is cool about the wait times! I did check the tent last trip, but the line looked so long and with no wait time posted I was afraid to chance it.
We haven't booked anything yet. DH wants to wait for refund, but I would like to go ahead and book our rooms. Could I do a room only for right now then upgrade to a package later or is that more trouble than it is worth?
Thanks for lending me all your knowledge!
Thank you. I realized after I posted that the Mad Hatter is at breakfast not dinner, LOL. I like the idea of booking the ADR for later in the week, just in case. I am thinking of doing another character meal too just in case my boys get over their fear :)
Glad you like my schedule, for some reason it felt very reassuring to get feed back from you guys, lol.
Thanks again!
You could book room only and your deposit would be 1 nights stay. But if you know you're going to do a package you should either book a basic package - room & 1 day ticket- or book your whole package. Your deposit is $200 and the balance is due 45 days in advance. If you went the room only route you'd have to totally cancel and rebook later. It's a mess financially if you use a debit card though because while Disney is really good about refunds on room ,the official line is 'it will show up on your next billing cycle' which means it could be 4-6 weeks before the refund deposit is actually there. So while I've never personally or professionally had any problems with a refund showing up in less than 2 weeks, if you know you're doing a package I would suggest booking it. If you won't get your refund until after the 45 day mark, book and pay for the basic, then upgrade to what you want when you have your deposit. The difference would be due at that time.
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