Need some guidance on how to 'speculate' the winter hours...

[Sunshine1010]

I have a trip planned for December. As everyone knows, the hours aren't out yet, but my date (June 6th) is fast approaching on being able to make my ADR's.

I've read on here that people are using last year's hours to 'formulate a plan'. But, I have to admit....I'm totally confused.

People look at last years hours. But --- for example: Dec. 1, 2007, may be a weekday, and this year's Dec. 1 may be a weekend. HOW is everyone figuring out which EMH hours and regular hours there are if the dates are on different days of the week.

I'm sorry if I sound ignorant...maybe it's the cold medicine!!!!

Any help would be appreciated.

[Ian]

Using historical park hours is really just a guideline. Don't look at dates ... look at "the first Monday in December" instead.

But bear in mind that historical park hours really mean very little in terms of what this year's hours look like.

For example, look at when this year's Christmas Parties are scheduled. That will tell you more about MK's hours than anything else will. Special events vary so much from year to year that it's very difficult to derive anything from when something happened in the past.

[alilprincessmom99]

I am in the same boat as you are Sunshine1010, I am ready to start making ADR's, but I can't without the hours. I was considering using last year's hours as a guideline as well, but it seemed too confusing to me too. But I think about it like this, most people can't make their ADR's either, so we shouldn't have too much of a problem getting what we want.

[sgundell]

The hours for your trip should be posted before you need to make your ADRs. I was in a similar situation last year and it worked out perfectly. The Disney website posts the park hours six months in advance. Glancing at the website this morning, it appears that the December hours/schedule have now been posted.

[alilprincessmom99]

I just went on this morning, and although it looks like November and December hours are posted, when you actually click on November and December, when the calendar appears, it just says hours unavailable on each day.

[Disneyatic]

I used last year's Dec hours to formulate a rough plan of my ADRs.
What I did was get a 2007 and a 2008 calendar and put them side by side.
Then I looked at the week/days I was going to be there and figured out how they fit in with the week/days of 2007 and matched the estimated park hours up that way.
The hardest thing is EMH because you never know if they'll change and park hours for MK, but DHS, Epcot and AK all pretty much have the same regular park hours most of the month so they weren't as hard.

For example, the first week (Sunday to Saturday) of December 2007 is Dec 2nd thru 8th and those hours will more than likely correspond with November 30th thru December 6th of this year.
So you can look at what the hours were for Dec 2nd thru 8th of last year and tentatively plan using that pattern for your trip the first week.

[Disneyatic]

I am in the same boat as you are Sunshine1010, I am ready to start making ADR's, but I can't without the hours. I was considering using last year's hours as a guideline as well, but it seemed too confusing to me too. But I think about it like this, most people can't make their ADR's either, so we shouldn't have too much of a problem getting what we want.

Don't bet on being able to wait because of the delay in the hours being released, especially if when you are going is a relatively popular/busy time. I bet most people are going ahead and making their ADRs even without the park hours being released!
It would totally stink to wait and then not be able to get what you want.
If there is something that you really have your heart set on, I would go ahead and book it at your 180 day mark and then just work with it!

[r4kids]

Don't bet on being able to wait because of the delay in the hours being released, especially if when you are going is a relatively popular/busy time. I bet most people are going ahead and making their ADRs even without the park hours being released!
It would totally stink to wait and then not be able to get what you want.
If there is something that you really have your heart set on, I would go ahead and book it at your 180 day mark and then just work with it!

I completely agree. When we make our ADR's I try to go during hours I know will be great. First things in the morning for any bkft ADR's, 5pm if there is a show we want to see that night. For example Spectromagic is usually certain days during value season @ 8pm followed by fireworls @ 9pm. So I make our dinner ressie for 5pm that day. Fantasmic is usually 8pm most nights. Again a 5pm ressie. Or if you want scheduale a late lunch like 3:30 or 4pm and that way you don't miss anything. Good luck

[kdsjjb]

The hours for your trip should be posted before you need to make your ADRs.

Thanks for that laugh, sgundell! That was a good one.

Don't bet on being able to wait because of the delay in the hours being released, especially if when you are going is a relatively popular/busy time. I bet most people are going ahead and making their ADRs even without the park hours being released!
It would totally stink to wait and then not be able to get what you want.
If there is something that you really have your heart set on, I would go ahead and book it at your 180 day mark and then just work with it!

I agree here 100%. I called this morning and after being on hold for 15 minutes, found out that there was hardly any availability for LeCellier for our trip. Wound up with a 6:15 dinner, but not on any of my first three preferred days.

I did a comparison of the 2006 and 2007 hours and laid out my 2008 plans by comparing the two prior years. It was a bit more difficult making the ADR's than I thought it would be, (Seemed like A BUNCH of people were calling at the same time) but I'm fairly confident that I'll be OK. I would hate to find out that some people are making multiple ADR's, just because they dont want to do a little research.

[alilprincessmom99]

I guess you all are correct. I should just go ahead and make my ADR's and plan around them, rather than wait for the hours to come up.

[kadesha]

Well I absolutely cannot make my ADR's without knowing the hours. We only get base tickets, so I can go no further in my planning until they are released.

I called today, because regardless of hours,I want to eat in the castle for our anniversary. I was told that they calendar should have been released today, but since it wasn't "maybe it will be tomorrow." Don't really know how reliable that is though.

[Sunshine1010]

Kdsjjb --- when r you going?

[kdsjjb]

Kdsjjb --- when r you going?

180 days from today. Thats why I was a little suprised with the ADR difficulties.

[wdwnomad]

I'm in the same boat as everyone else although I have until Tueday to make my ADR's. I can only hope the park hours come out before then. In the meantime, I did my best to figure out the park hours and my plan using the historical hours and the MVMCP dates.

One other thing to keep in mind about making ADR's during this time in Epcot is Disney is probably holding back a lot of time slots. They are keeping them for the Candlelight Processional Packages. If you aren't going to be doing a package then ADR's are going to be limited. However, once the packages are released you should call back to see if any non package ADR's open up. I think most people go and book a regular ADR at the place they want to eat at for the CP in case they can't get the package. If they are able to secure an ADR for the CP at the place they want they should go and cancel the regular ADR.

[Taja]

I had to make my ADRs today--4:30 a.m. MST. *yawn* I really was not ready to wake up yet! *LOL*

Crystal Palace's latest reservation time was 6:00 p.m. on days when the park most likely will be open very late (not MVMCP) based on last year's hours. We had a 9:00 p.m. ADR last year at CP--nada this year. So Disney apparently hasn't updated the hours for TS operations yet, either.

I only made four TS ADRs for the 11 nights, and probably will change or cancel one of them.

[Bri]

Hey all the november and december hours are posted on disneyworld.com under the calendar. I just checked.

[Dakota Rose]

I made a rough draft plan for our Jan 09 trip using the historical hours and the calendar on my PC. I put my dates in a spread sheet and in parentheses next to 'em I put the coordinating dates from 2008. For example, Jan 21 2009 would coincide with Jan 19 2008. It's probably way over complicated and may not even be accurate, but for now it works.