*** Yay May! OFFICIAL MAY 2020 THREAD!!! Flowers are starting to bloom! ***

[Roscoe18]

Lord I spoke too soon lol. Our non dining was a bit harrowing. Neither Savi’s nor Droid Depot would allow me to book past 5/1 online or the app. Which was really disconcerting because me and the gf have had our heart set on having a super magical inaugural Star Wars Day in Galaxy’s Edge being huge SW fangirls. We saved up specifically for this and cut out other tours/experiences from our budget just for this.

So I set it aside knowing I would have to call for the GF spa appointment and our Oasis pool patio. Spa was taken care of, then I booked the Oasis patio and asked about the lightsabers and droids. Phone CMs get a lot of flack on here but both these ladies were awesome. We got it all booked!!! So on May the 4th we’ll be doing Oga’s, then building droids, then getting lightsabers!!! Idk how I’m getting any work done today lol I’m so excited!!!

Weird, because I booked a Droid Depot appointment this morning right after the dining and had no problems (along with a BBB and a HEA dessert party). You never know with Disney technology though! Glad it all got sorted out.

 

[Farro]

Would eating earlier help? You could be done by the time HEA was happening and maybe get out ahead of the crowds.

I thought of that, but then that eats into the evening of just riding People Mover, etc.

Micky thinks if we eat at 8:30 we'd be done around 9:30 and can make it out pretty easily while people are lining up and still beat the crowds.

Or....we can find a spot after dinner and watch it (never seen) then just linger until crowds die down. We are staying at Gran Destino so would need to take bus home, I feel like those would be massive lines.
What would be a good spot to try and grab to scoot out? Remembering we would be leaving Skipper Canteen around 9:30...

 

[Roscoe18]

ADR Day was a smashing success. We got everything we wanted at optimal times for us, a good mix of places we know we like and places new to us! This was the final tally:

5/2 - Spirit of Aloha
5/3 - L: Skipper Canteen, D: BOG
5/4 - L: Oga's Cantina
5/5 - D: Wine Bar George
5/6 - D: Garden Grill (lunch will be F&G booths)
5/7 - B: Trattoria al Forno, D: Homecomin'
5/8 - D: CRT
5/9 - D: Yak & Yeti
5/10 - HEA Dessert Party
5/11 - L: Kona Cafe

We can't figure out when to fit in breakfast at Kona and GF Cafe yet but I'm not stressing it since those ADRs are so easy to come by. In general breakfast ADRs we tend to make on the fly because the only ones you really need to be crazy prepared to get are PPO times and we're not a fan of those anyway. And I sincerely doubt this will be our final lineup because I'm the sort that loves to tinker with ADRs, lol. I'll grab what I know I want on ADR Day and then cancel or move things or add things nearly up until we go. I have to say today was painless though. No needing to switch between devices, the only hiccups I had on the website were a couple of times I needed to click twice to add a food allergy. Today was way less stressful than our last big trip in October 2018. I was frankly shocked to get 7pm Be Our Guest on only our second day. I'm hoping this bodes well for crowd levels.

Good work! I like to tinker as well, but since most of mine were exactly where I wanted them to be, I didn't have to do much. I did manage to move my Ohana reservation up a little since I wanted to make sure we were done in time to get back to MK for DAH. FP day is really when the tinkering happens. I even told my DW that I might have to call in sick from work that day to spend time moving things around obsessively, lol! But that's months away so I'm not that worried yet.

As for crowd levels ... I sure hope you're right! It would be nice to have a break in that regard.

 

[Roscoe18]

I thought of that, but then that eats into the evening of just riding People Mover, etc.

Micky thinks if we eat at 8:30 we'd be done around 9:30 and can make it out pretty easily while people are lining up and still beat the crowds.

Or....we can find a spot after dinner and watch it (never seen) then just linger until crowds die down. We are staying at Gran Destino so would need to take bus home, I feel like those would be massive lines.
What would be a good spot to try and grab to scoot out? Remembering we would be leaving Skipper Canteen around 9:30...

I can't say for sure, but I can tell you that on our last trip, we often left parks right after the nighttime shows and we had little problems with the bus (we stayed at CSR). YMMV but we didn't have to wait long at any point - maybe we were just lucky?

 

[Farro]

@Roscoe18 - thanks! but maybe it won't be a problem...

You guys, I'm a moron and can't read calendars. Even though the park closed at 10, the show was still at 9.

Sooooo, we can still eat at 8:45, miss the fireworks/Main Street crowds and then maybe sneak in a ride on Pirates after dinner if time. Then just meander out after park close at 10, when larger numbers would leave after the fireworks a bit earlier.

 

[kylenne]

Garrghhh!!!

I just looked at last year's calendar hours and looks like MK closes at 10 instead of 9 on the night I planned Skipper Canteen at 8:45. The point of that dinner was to miss the crowds leaving MK for the fireworks (we don't care to watch them).

Now if we eat then, we'll still be there while the crowds are gathering and get stuck trying to leave through the masses.

I don't want to eat later - thoughts? We tried leaving during the fireworks on a non-party night in October - it was madness. Maybe May won't be as chaotic? I really don't want to leave with the entire park at the same time.

boo.

Leaving MK after fireworks is hairy to be sure but I promise you in May it won’t be nearly as horrible as non-party nights during party season. Last October in particular was a nightmare—that was the first time I’ve ever booked a dessert party and it was specifically to avoid the insanity in the Hub. On that day we rope dropped like 2 rides then dipped to the GF and only came back to MK for dinner and the dessert party. We stayed in the plaza garden upwards of an hour to let crowds thin out and it was still really busy.

The main reason crowds looked like that is the sheer number of parties scheduled means very little opportunity to see HEA for most guests during a typical week vacation. So on the handful of non-party nights the park is PACKED. May doesn’t have that issue because After Hours events don’t shut the park down for day guests. So I think you’ll just deal with normal crazy rather than zombie apocalypse crazy.

You could always eat earlier and hang out in shops. They stay open well after official park close.

 

[Farro]

@kylenne - I read the calendar wrong! Park closed at 10, but fireworks were still at 9.

Assuming the same this year, I can keep original plan. But instead of leaving an already closed park, I can still miss fireworks/crowds during dinner but hopefully sneak in a ride before 10!

Then walk out...slowly...

 

[lobolabo]

Glad everyone got what they wanted!

I'm finalizing what I'm looking for today so that I'm all set for tomorrow.

 

[SMRT-1]

We were able to book everything on our reservation list that we wanted to this morning with only a couple of exceptions.

We were told by the phone agent that our 180+10 didn't apply for "experiences" since we're staying at the Swan and didn't book through Disney, so they wouldn't let us book DiveQuest past 5/2, but that shouldn't big deal; we'll just have to wait a few more days to book it at exactly 180.

Unfortunately, like many others, our final remaining desired reservation is Space 220 which, I think most are aware, isn't taking ADRs yet, so we'll just have to keep a vigilant watch on that one and hope that we're able to snag an ADR at some unknown point in the near future.

 

[lobolabo]

Got everything booked this morning. I was only worried about getting the right time for Ohana, which I got. Woo! I overbooked a little so I can decide later if I want one thing versus another.

I couldn't use the website at all though. It wouldn't show me anything past the 3rd even though I have onsite booked. I had to use the app for everything. I can't even view my plans on the website. Did/does anyone else have this issue?

 

[shairpdrh]

Glad reservations are working out for our May group! I think I have everything we could possibly want after our booking window opened today. I was booking a few separate times today when things came to mind. I was able to get everything when I wanted it and was only fighting system errors on the website for my ADRs.

 

[Roscoe18]

Got everything booked this morning. I was only worried about getting the right time for Ohana, which I got. Woo! I overbooked a little so I can decide later if I want one thing versus another.

I couldn't use the website at all though. It wouldn't show me anything past the 3rd even though I have onsite booked. I had to use the app for everything. I can't even view my plans on the website. Did/does anyone else have this issue?

Glad it all worked out for you. I did everything on the app yesterday, since it was working and easier at such an early hour, so I can't comment on the website issues (though I'm not surprised). I just checked the website though and I can view all of my current plans there. I'm sure whatever is affecting you will be fixed at some point.

 

[lobolabo]

Glad it all worked out for you. I did everything on the app yesterday, since it was working and easier at such an early hour, so I can't comment on the website issues (though I'm not surprised). I just checked the website though and I can view all of my current plans there. I'm sure whatever is affecting you will be fixed at some point.

I use Chrome and it won't load plans, but I checked IE and they load on there. It's such a strange issue. I prefer to use my laptop to plan and book things, but at least the app works.
Hopefully it resolves itself before March.

 

[tzeitel]

My ADR window opened today! I really have no clue what to book when. For some reason I am having a hard time putting this all together - maybe I have been gone too long? Has DLR spoiled me with the ease of going between parks and finding ADRs on the fly? No clue, but I am hoping for the best and not booking too many ADRs right now. The only day I know where we will be for sure is our first day which will be MK of course

• BoG for dinner on our first day, a little earlier than I would like but I will keep an eye out for a slightly later time.
• Sci-Fi for my birthday (the 8th) because (like I said) I'm not sure where we will be on any specific day but I figured that will be 5 days into our trip and hope that will be good for a SDD FP.

Woo-hoo! 2 ADRs for a 10 day trip

I have been refreshing the page trying to get the CG brunch but it is not available yet. Even if booked solid it should still say that they have brunch hours that day like it does on all other Sundays so I am pretty sure it is not booked (it is on day 7 of our trip). I think it is because the 10th is Mother's Day and they might have something special going on. I noticed The Wave is also MIA on that day.
There are others I want to try but just have to figure out the when. I will for sure go to Skipper Canteen, Sebastian's, Spice Rd, The Wave and Homecomin' .
Traveling with a large group is fun but not fun - I don't want to impose my wants but no one else wants to give any input.

 

[Farro]

My ADR window opened today! I really have no clue what to book when. For some reason I am having a hard time putting this all together - maybe I have been gone too long? Has DLR spoiled me with the ease of going between parks and finding ADRs on the fly? No clue, but I am hoping for the best and not booking too many ADRs right now. The only day I know where we will be for sure is our first day which will be MK of course

• BoG for dinner on our first day, a little earlier than I would like but I will keep an eye out for a slightly later time.
• Sci-Fi for my birthday (the 8th) because (like I said) I'm not sure where we will be on any specific day but I figured that will be 5 days into our trip and hope that will be good for a SDD FP.

Woo-hoo! 2 ADRs for a 10 day trip

I have been refreshing the page trying to get the CG brunch but it is not available yet. Even if booked solid it should still say that they have brunch hours that day like it does on all other Sundays so I am pretty sure it is not booked (it is on day 7 of our trip). I think it is because the 10th is Mother's Day and they might have something special going on. I noticed The Wave is also MIA on that day.
There are others I want to try but just have to figure out the when. I will for sure go to Skipper Canteen, Sebastian's, Spice Rd, The Wave and Homecomin' .
Traveling with a large group is fun but not fun - I don't want to impose my wants but no one else wants to give any input.

So great!!!

I think you may want to book Homecomin' sooner rather than later because I read that one seems to go faster than the others.

 

[fely1st]

All your ADRs sound great. I have to wait a little bit but also not . ire what to book, because I usually do a lot of planning for months and when in the Park we often do what we want to do this moment.
@ Farro, first I wanted to say how sorry I am about your loss. Everyone who loves his pets knows how sad you feel. It is a great idea to find friend for Walnut and you give some other kittens the chance for a happy life.
By the way, we stay at the Beach club 05/31 to 06/04. Could you add us?

 

[Farro]

All your ADRs sound great. I have to wait a little bit but also not . ire what to book, because I usually do a lot of planning for months and when in the Park we often do what we want to do this moment.
@ Farro, first I wanted to say how sorry I am about your loss. Everyone who loves his pets knows how sad you feel. It is a great idea to find friend for Walnut and you give some other kittens the chance for a happy life.
By the way, we stay at the Beach club 05/31 to 06/04. Could you add us?

Thank you for your kind words! We are doing better. They aren't even 5 yet, so this loss was hard. But everyday is easier, although we still miss Cashew terribly.
Walnut will get a friend for sure (hopefully two new litter-mates) but we decided to wait until this May trip was over. So we don't have to leave while everyone is getting settled.

You are on the list!!! Welcome to May - you are heading up the tail end!

 

[J-Dog]

Just wanted to say "Hi!".

I'm the guy who noticed that AK was closing early and has no ROL (at least not scheduled yet) on May 6th, so I was then directed to this thread.

We are going from May 3 to May 12. This will be our 4th trip to WDW.

Thanks for the very helpful information!

 

[Roscoe18]

Just wanted to say "Hi!".

I'm the guy who noticed that AK was closing early and has no ROL (at least not scheduled yet) on May 6th, so I was then directed to this thread.

We are going from May 3 to May 12. This will be our 4th trip to WDW.

Thanks for the very helpful information!

Welcome! I believe there would be no ROL on 5/6 (or those other early closing nights in April) because it doesn't get dark until later at that time of year. I purposefully avoided that day for AK once I heard the news. But if you have hoppers, days with early closings tend to have lower crowds since people (like me) will be avoiding them, so you can always start your day there and hop somewhere else for the evening.

 

[Farro]

So your latest nothing to do with Disney at all news...we bought a replacement fish tank! We had one that was gorgeous, but not good for ease of use. Micky had a heck of a time cleaning it, keeping plants healthy, etc. So as a pick us up after Cashew, we got a new all glass, rimless tank. Glass lid.

The light we bought for it also is awesome. It simulates sunrise, daylight, sunset, night. So pretty.

Right now we only have a few fish - our betta died a couple of weeks ago . Now we have about 6 rasboras, 4 otocinclus and shrimp! Going to get 4 more rasboras.
The plants in the gravel will fill in and make a lush, green carpet. Will be gorgeous!