diff --git a/client/src/components/shared/Toast.tsx b/client/src/components/shared/Toast.tsx
index 6bb5d3c3..97478499 100644
--- a/client/src/components/shared/Toast.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/shared/Toast.tsx
@@ -102,7 +102,9 @@ export function ToastContainer() {
       `}</style>
       <div style={{
         position: 'fixed', bottom: 24, left: '50%', transform: 'translateX(-50%)',
-        zIndex: 9999, display: 'flex', flexDirection: 'column-reverse', gap: 8,
+        // Above modal overlays (which sit around z-index 10000 with a backdrop-filter
+        // blur) so error toasts paint on top and stay legible instead of blurred behind.
+        zIndex: 100000, display: 'flex', flexDirection: 'column-reverse', gap: 8,
         pointerEvents: 'none', maxWidth: 420, width: '100%', padding: '0 16px',
       }}>
         {toasts.map(toast => (
diff --git a/server/src/mcp/tools/days.ts b/server/src/mcp/tools/days.ts
index 6bed7bb1..4b73b3fa 100644
--- a/server/src/mcp/tools/days.ts
+++ b/server/src/mcp/tools/days.ts
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ export function registerDayTools(server: McpServer, userId: number, scopes: stri
         tripId: z.number().int().positive(),
         dayId: z.number().int().positive(),
         text: z.string().min(1).max(500),
-        time: z.string().max(150).optional().describe('Time label (e.g. "09:00" or "Morning")'),
+        time: z.string().max(250).optional().describe('Time label (e.g. "09:00" or "Morning")'),
         icon: z.string().optional().describe('Emoji icon for the note'),
       },
       annotations: TOOL_ANNOTATIONS_NON_IDEMPOTENT,
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ export function registerDayTools(server: McpServer, userId: number, scopes: stri
         dayId: z.number().int().positive(),
         noteId: z.number().int().positive(),
         text: z.string().min(1).max(500).optional(),
-        time: z.string().max(150).nullable().optional().describe('Time label (e.g. "09:00" or "Morning"), or null to clear'),
+        time: z.string().max(250).nullable().optional().describe('Time label (e.g. "09:00" or "Morning"), or null to clear'),
         icon: z.string().optional().describe('Emoji icon for the note'),
       },
       annotations: TOOL_ANNOTATIONS_WRITE,
diff --git a/server/src/nest/days/day-notes.controller.ts b/server/src/nest/days/day-notes.controller.ts
index a293e950..fbbe45fb 100644
--- a/server/src/nest/days/day-notes.controller.ts
+++ b/server/src/nest/days/day-notes.controller.ts
@@ -17,9 +17,10 @@ import { CurrentUser } from '../auth/current-user.decorator';
 
 type DayNoteBody = { text?: string; time?: string; icon?: string; sort_order?: number };
 
-// Mirrors the legacy validateStringLengths({ text: 500, time: 150 }) middleware,
-// which runs BEFORE the trip-access check — so an over-long field 400s first.
-const MAX_LENGTHS: Record<string, number> = { text: 500, time: 150 };
+// Runs BEFORE the trip-access check, so an over-long field 400s first. The `time`
+// cap matches the shared dayNote schema (max 250) and the note dialog's counter;
+// it was 150 here, which rejected valid 151–250 char notes with a confusing error.
+const MAX_LENGTHS: Record<string, number> = { text: 500, time: 250 };
 
 function validateLengths(body: Record<string, unknown>): void {
   for (const [field, max] of Object.entries(MAX_LENGTHS)) {