We ended up booking our vacation through MVT, a travel agency notorious for customer service and fantastic deals! Many of their vacation packages are actually at a steeper discount than you'll find through Disney direct or anywhere else! So far, I am very happy with them! We are using their agent, Brandi, and she has been so dedicated and knowledgeable! If you'd like a free quote from them, just click on MVT and it'll take you to their site!
So, with the balance, room, dining plan, and park tickets clearly in place our next big step was to choose any meals that may or may not need a reservation and have it ready by the 180 mark! Since we knew, roughly, which days we want to be in which park it made it a little easier! We've gone through probably five "itineraries" that have been changed until we finally seem to have the plan that will work best for us - which included adding a day to our trip so we can enjoy a resort day in the middle of our stay!
To start planning your park days, I'd suggest looking at the things that are a priority to your family. We know we'll need a rest day, so we added that to the middle of our trip. We also really want to book the Early Morning Magic at the Magic Kingdom which allows you entrance to Fantasyland before the park opens as well as an All You Care to Enjoy breakfast! That experience is only offered on Sundays and Tuesdays, and since we won't be there on a Sunday - Tuesday *has* to be our Magic Kingdom day! Knowing that meant we could fill the rest in easily.
Another must for us is the Hollywood and Vine Character Breakfast in Hollywood Studios, since we fly in on a Monday that would be too close of a time crunch to risk, Tuesday is Magic Kingdom, Wednesday is rest day, that leaves us Thursday and Friday - Friday being our travel day back home. So, you can see how knowing what's on your "must do" list is imperative to planning your days and dining reservations!
Now that we know which park we want to be in each day, talk it over with your family! I was comfortable not doing a dining reservation at Hollywood Studios for dinner and just letting the day happen, but my husband really wanted to try the 50's Prime Restaurant which is by reservation only.
I've found that it's also helpful to have a tally mark space in your notebook if you're doing a Dining Plan! We are utilizing the middle-tier Disney Dining Plan, so I started by noting how many of each meals we get and then as I marked off our "must-do" meals, I tallied them up. This is important because not all meals are created equally. The dinner at Be Our Guest is now a Signature Meal. That means 2 Table Service Meals per person. So we're using 6 TS credits for one dinner. Which, considering we're pretty vanilla eaters, seems like a waste - but it's also the only way for us to meet C's favorite character - The Beast. And so we'll use them. But anyway, tally marks for the win!
So now you have your itinerary planned, your restaurants picked, and the 180 day mark is approaching. The reservation window opens at 7 am Orlando time. Which meant 6 am CST where I am. I set my alarms and had the MDE app on my phone ready to go! And then it wasn't loading...and I panicked. I rushed - half asleep - to the computer and got the Disney website going, all the while frantically refreshing the app. And then it worked.
The good news is - I got all of my reservations and at times that I think will work for my family! AND it really wasn't as hectic as I thought it would be! The bad news is...well, there isn't. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail! And I am all about planning this trip!!
So there you have it! The next update will be our 60 day Fast Pass+ day where we'll plan out ALL the princess visits! And then at 30 Days it'll be PAY IT OFF day! And then we'll be there! Woohoo! Make sure to stay tuned as we wind up the planning and then post there!
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