***Hey, Hey! Come right in and plan, OFFICIAL OCTOBER 2017 thread!!!***

Rant on:
It's driving me crazy that the AK park hours are still listed as closing at 7:00 and 7:30 in October! I have never seen later closing times in September than in October! My FP date is in 2 weeks and I was really hoping they would revise the October AK hours today.
Rant off.
Please forgive, but seriously, where else can I do this, Facebook?! :)

Have you been able to find anything regarding Oct hours for AK? I was hoping they'd be open a little later also but haven't been able to find anything
 
Have you been able to find anything regarding Oct hours for AK? I was hoping they'd be open a little later also but haven't been able to find anything

Another October person here desperately waiting and hoping for later AK hours. Two weeks from today is FP+ day.
 
So I had a massive FP fail.

I made my FP but couldn't get FOP for my first AK Day (I just made one for my departure day instead which I had planned to leave unplanned and choose the day of where we wanted to spend our last morning in WDW ... I guess it's a planned day now) and I got the rest of my FP but not all of them are at the times I wanted.

You can turn your "fail" into a "win"! My travel agent told me that it's an absolute MUST to go through the queue of FOP at least once because it's amazing. The FP line skirts around it and drops you off at the pre-show room. So...with waiting through the line, you'll be able to experience the whole immersive ride! <3
 
Oh, please let me introduce myself (DisneyWitch) and my Spousal Equivalent of 13 glorious years (WookiePants). We'd like to join this thread too!

In 77 days, 10 hours and 55 minutes, we will be at WDW. Our WDW trip spans from October 20 - November 4, and we're looking forward to Pandora, the Food & Wine Festival and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Yes, we are dressing up for the MNSSHP, but only a little bit. I'm going as Stitch and the guy is going as Grumpy. That means we have character shirts and a hat. Ta-da! Instant costume!

The name of our trip is "The Ghastly Gourmet Tour", and it's been almost 3 years since we were last at WDW. We're going to be in the parks for 10 days (11 if you count the night of the party). We will be staying at Port Orleans French Quarter, eating more beignets than two people should legally be able to. This is our 2nd time experiencing the F&WF and MNSSHP (last time in 2012), and our 4th WDW trip. This is our favorite time of year for WDW.

Like many, I'm already part way through pre-packing. I've secured decorations for our window, consisting of 1 Mickey head and 1 halloween pumpkin lamp, so I can find my room at night when I'm beat after a day of touring! We've finalized our general itinerary - I'm not a commando planner, but you can't just "wing it" at Disney. We have our ADRs done, and are almost paid in full. Our 'special' treat this year is a carriage ride at POFQ on our last night. I have spent WAY too much money on shoes to prevent plantar fasciitis and splurged on other goodies for the trip. But that's what a vacation is for!

By the way, I too was a little taken aback by the short hours at AK in October, as I really wanted to see Pandora and Kilimanjaro Safari at night for the first time. WDW tends to make a lot of last minute changes, so we might get lucky!

Thanks for letting me join your merry band of travelers!
 
Have you been able to find anything regarding Oct hours for AK? I was hoping they'd be open a little later also but haven't been able to find anything
I have been looking at MDE everyday- sometimes several times a day! I promise to report here as soon as I see a change. I don't know where else to look. There is a travel agent site that I know some people check, but I don't remember the URL.
 
I would say that if you have a few thrill rides DH would also do, then still only FP for you and YDS (assuming the older child doesn't want to ride?)...then when you tap in ask for a rider switch pass, which is something you can use if someone is A. too young/small to ride or B. not comfortable riding but isn't old enough to wait alone for you. Does that make sense at all? Because you can easily select a few rides that all of you will get to go on, but just in smaller groups. For example, if DH would ride Space Mtn then you and YDS get FP and rider switch, which will then give a ticket for up to 3 people to return (via the FP line). Rider switch isn't available on rides which have no minimum height requirement (like Pooh). I'm sorry if this is information you already know, I definitely don't want to sound patronizing :goodvibes
Additionally, when you are making FP for multiple people, you can always select which members of your party you're making the pass for before selecting the ride (this assumes you have everyone linked on your account and you can "make plans" for each of them). It can be a big task if you have a large party and a long vacation, but it's pretty fun IMO :rotfl:
Last thing I would recommend, remember that once a person's 3 FP are used (or time has expired) each day, they have another single FP available, one at a time. If you're tapping in for your 3rd FP of the day, while you're in line you can book an additional FP at that time. I had an epic day in April where I used 13 FP in one day between the four parks due to the use of the express transportation buses, luck, and only having my oldest DS with me (DH and other four kiddos were at home).

Happy planning! :) I hope that helped and didn't make it more confusing!!

Thank you! My parents will be there too and dislike most thrill rides, so my older son with hang out with them. And DH won't go on many after being thoroughly traumatized by Space Mountain when he was 8. :D I'm just a little intimidated by coordinating all this for six very different people, but it's good to know it's not too bad. Thanks again!

I'm trying to figure out the amount of time we'll need between rides. That's tricky!
 
I'm trying to figure out the amount of time we'll need between rides. That's tricky!
Yes! I agree. I recently helped my little brother's family figure out some last minute FP and I was constantly trying to remember the layout of the park in my head so I didn't give him 2 things way across the park from each other within a short time frame! It didn't help that I started to merge my memories of MK and Disneyland parks...oh man. :scared:
 
Man I feel like a slacker in October planning- all I've done is get a Kona cafe ADR and debating on a Boma ADR for arrival day. I'll have an AP by then but my MiL and SiL will be dependent on DD's guest passes- which she probably won't have until mid September, so no early FP. We are going mainly for Food and Wine as it's a short trip anyway...and will probably hold off buying our MNSSHP tickets until last minute too...IF my DD is able to be off or late shift one of our days I may drag them out of bed for an AK rope drop to do Pandora...

I expect hours will be extended for MK and AK for October too...
 
Rant on:
It's driving me crazy that the AK park hours are still listed as closing at 7:00 and 7:30 in October! I have never seen later closing times in September than in October! My FP date is in 2 weeks and I was really hoping they would revise the October AK hours today.
Rant off.
Please forgive, but seriously, where else can I do this, Facebook?! :)
I'm feeling your pain... Hoping for the same.., please Mickey, Update!.
 
Yes! I agree. I recently helped my little brother's family figure out some last minute FP and I was constantly trying to remember the layout of the park in my head so I didn't give him 2 things way across the park from each other within a short time frame! It didn't help that I started to merge my memories of MK and Disneyland parks...oh man. :scared:
And the trip was AMAZING!!!

We should all be so lucky to have a sis that you can call at the last minute to throw together the perfect trip for you
 
bahaha AWESOME! Still waiting on my debrief when you're not at the beach. ;) Still excited about it and I didn't even go.
 
Hi all!

Just a double-check...am I missing anyone who wanted to be on the list? Let me know! :)
 
I'm feeling your pain... Hoping for the same.., please Mickey, Update!.

I don't know, I'm starting to lose hope. I'm not even sure MK will be open past 9 on non-party nights. Just looking at July and August hours.
It would be madness not to have October and holiday crowds experience all the new night offerings Animal Kingdom has, but it's already August at this point. I'm sure they know what the hours are.
 
Having anxiety/excitement about making FP reservations tomorrow morning. Got my planner, did my research, now fingers crossed and a little pixie dust...

Brush off that anxiety-I was a full 15 hours late making mine but it worked out fine if not exactly how I had planned. Highly consider booking FOP later into your trip if thats a FP your going for since those are going the fastest. If you plan for it later in your trip you increase your odds since less people have access. Also go for that one first rather than getting you FP's in order.

Everything else from 7D mine train to FEA was available, just a little later in the day than I had hoped for. You can plan around that to make it work out fine. My original plan was to do my FP's kind of early to increase my chance of being able to get additional FP's once those were used but having early afternoon FP's (which is what I ended up getting since I was late to the party) isnt a bad thing either since that is when things are getting busy and a good time to be bypassing lines. It does make my early morning rope drop time important and it makes me glad that I dont have lunch ADR's since I am thinking it would now be best to push lunch back to 2-3 pm. Also as your flexible it will be fine even if the MDE gives you trouble or you stumble along the way.
 
Brush off that anxiety-I was a full 15 hours late making mine but it worked out fine if not exactly how I had planned. Highly consider booking FOP later into your trip if thats a FP your going for since those are going the fastest. If you plan for it later in your trip you increase your odds since less people have access. Also go for that one first rather than getting you FP's in order.

Everything else from 7D mine train to FEA was available, just a little later in the day than I had hoped for. You can plan around that to make it work out fine. My original plan was to do my FP's kind of early to increase my chance of being able to get additional FP's once those were used but having early afternoon FP's (which is what I ended up getting since I was late to the party) isnt a bad thing either since that is when things are getting busy and a good time to be bypassing lines. It does make my early morning rope drop time important and it makes me glad that I dont have lunch ADR's since I am thinking it would now be best to push lunch back to 2-3 pm. Also as your flexible it will be fine even if the MDE gives you trouble or you stumble along the way.
Our AK day is on Thursday- but I left time throughout our stay to do FOP if I don't get an FP.
 

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