personally, I leave 2 hours to get to Pop. Get off plane, stop at bathroom, wait in line (sometimes) to board DME then wait for it to fully load. 30 min drive to Pop, often with a 5 min stop at AoA. It may not take that long but I’ve found it common to take 1 1/2 to 2 hours. From there, do you want to go to your room? Do you need to fit in a meal? All these things will make a difference in your FP booking times.
Similar situation here for next year but last time, I was on a solo trip in a refurb room. Are there hangers or do I need to bring some?Our kids are similar in age to your kids and our last stay was for 14 days. We didn't find it to be too tight at all. The storage under the bed was helpful and my 11 year old was in charge of the Murphy bed each day. She's fairly neat, and organized, so she made the bed and put it up and down each day. That was easy to do and really helped to create space.
We also like to completely unpack on our two week trips. 3 of us like to put our clothing in packing cubes in the drawers while my husband likes to pack and hang his clothing from a hangar in an accordion like packing cube. We also hang a huge bag for dirty clothing and do a load of laundry when it fills up. That's about it!
Sounds great! You'll be the envy of all people you tell.Personally, I don't even like SWGE -- I'm a Star Wars original trilogy fan. I just want to be able to tell people that I've been there 10 times already.
There are hangers. We've never brought our own.
I have to go back to Pop so that I can get on the Skyliner! You know, arrive "in style."It's part of the fun, an excuse to take the Skyliner. Otherwise, I don't even want to be there if I had to take the bus, even if the bus takes the same amount of time. Where's the coolness? (From Epcot, I won't go back to Pop, just walk quickly straight to HS, I love that walk).
Also, being back at Pop and in my room helps me calm my brain. I get overwhelmed being in the parks all day. I find looking at the glassy Hourglass Lake, even for a moment, really takes my stress away. Pop is like a "relaxation treatment" to me. Otherwise, I can't make it to DHS, I'll be too worn out.
The late nights shouldn't be too much of a problem. We plan to get up daily at 10 a.m. and be back by 10: 45 p.m.. DS3 normally gets up at 10:30 am and goes to bed at 10:45 p.m., so he should be OK, plus he can sleep in the stroller because as I understand it, you don't have to fold the stroller on the Skyliner. I will give DS3 a bath in the afternoon so that he can go straight to bed after getting back from DHS.
As to the crowds, you have a point...I might not be able to walk around SWGE once fast enough to make it back in time. I don't want to be stuck inside for an hour. If it looks so crowded that I would not be able to move easily in there, then I won't go in. I would just take a quick peek near the entrance, then turn around and leave before I get swept away in the sea of humanity. Still counts as "a visit to SWGE" in my mind!That way, I can get back even faster.
Yes, that's very, very important for bragging rights! Not just for me, but also for DS13. He can tell his nerdy friends that he went to SWGE 10 times and watch them burn in jealousy. Makes for a fun conversation starter! And also to be able to tell DS3 later that when SWGE opened, he went there 10 times! And it doesn't have to 10 times. If it ends up being only 7 or 8 times, it will be very great also.
But thanks for pointing out the crowd situation so that I can be mentally prepared. It will be OK to just look at the entrance because I don't even want to be in there. But in 10 days I hope to be able to walk all the way around inside at least once so that I can talk about it accurately. And I just need to luck out one day out of 10! If it's crowded but I can still maneuver in there, that's all that matters. I don't care if the big crowd "diminishes my experience" being that I don't care for the experience. I just want to get it over with. So this is going to be a daily quest for us: it's the journey, not the destination!
Yeah, it's stressful, but exciting. Imagine how fast I can get there and back. It's never been done before in the history of Pop!
Pop's preferred room and the Skyliner are very important to my plan. Without either one my plan is off. I already booked the room, so I just need the Skyliner to be good and ready by September, at least the Pop and DHS branches. I'm confident that they are aiming to get the Skyliner ready for SWGE.
There are some hangers. There are never enough for me, much less anyone else in my family. I just pack my shirts and dresses into my suitcase on their hangers and redeposit them on the rack in the room.
Try The Plaza. I've had good luck getting a PPO ADR there. For our next trip I was silly and booked it at 0755 before they announced EMM and what do you know, there's a EMM that morning so I'll be entering MK around 0745 along with all of the EMM people! So much for an empty castle picture with my family
All that has been publicized for the Hippy Dippy Pool refurbishment is Winter 2020 which we anticipate to be Jan/Feb 2020. The pool and pool bar area are included as far as we know. There are 2 other pools at Pop that will be open although neither of those have pool bars.
We are avid Pop-ers as we have stayed there 3 or 4 times a year for the last 10 years. We are also late risers and get the food court around 10:30 a.m. and haven't really had any trouble (no chaos). The time of year you go can also be busy with the 15ers and cheer squads. We always go last week March through first week of April and last week of September through first week of October give or take and a couple trips sprinkled in for good measure.
The 15s are Tour Groups of South American girls celebrating their 15th Birthday.
Most are given the choice of a LARGE party at home or a trip to WDW(some will also go to NYC and Miami and Bahamas)and,in addition to WDW,most will also go to Universal,Sea World,Busch Gardens,etc.
Some will also have Private Parties(some with South American entertainers),attend Orlando Magic games,etc. as well as Quinceanera celebrations in World ShowPlace.
The largest numbers,BY FAR,are from Brazil and Argentina with smaller numbers from Uruguay,Paraguay,Chile,Venezuela,etc.
It is VERY interesting when Brazil and Argentina encounter each other-they DO NOT like each other-mainly because of Soccer.
Their rivalry is like Alabama v. Auburn or Ohio State v. Michigan on STEROIDS!
The "main" months for the migration of The 15s are late June/July/early August for their Winter Break and January/February for their Summer Break.
I am very familiar with The 15s as we go every July for my Birthday and,for the most part,they are really nice young ladies,but they can get "out of hand" at times!lol
They now use Private Buses alot and that has helped greatly as has the introduction of the Super Greeters in the Summer.
I present to you the LEGENDARY PHENOMENON KNOWN AS THE 15s!lol
Thanks! That's the hope, that it won't be so packed that I can't get in even at 10 p.m.. I will be going on starting the 6th day of its opening (September 3rd), and I really feel that it won't be so bad by night time near park closing. I am not waiting in line, though. I will just leave and try again the next day.
