"I can't believe we're staying here!" An Feb'16 DLR PTR (TR link Post #355)

[skier_pete]

Day 5 Plans

Slowly working my way through the plans since there's very little updating to do.

Day 5 is an animal kingdom day. I am really looking forward to getting back to Animal Kingdom. It is my second favorite park behind Magic Kingdom, and we can easily spend two full days exploring it. When DW and I went last year, we hated to cut it from the schedule, but we only had 5 days, and three were devoted to F&W, so one park had to go. Our previous trip in 2013 we DID spend time there - but not enough. Our first day was our arrival day, and we only had a few hours in the park by the time we finished lunch. Our second day we had planned a full day at DAK...but we ended up with this:



Probably one of the worst weather days we've ever had at a Disney park. If we'd stayed longer, it had cleared up, but we spent 3 hours there and we were pretty miserable about it. So, you have to go back FOUR years to when we felt satisfied with our park experience at DAK!

This trip I still probably don't have enough time at DAK. Today we have from rope drop until 1:30 PM, which is when DW and DD are scheduled to take the Y.E.S Animal Behaviors class. We all better dress really light, because DAK is a hot sweaty park, and it's a hot sweaty time of year.

So basically, we have from 9 AM to 1:30 PM, which is quite a bit of time. Figure we need to grab some lunch there, it gives us a few hours to explore. Probably start with the Safari first thing.

One goal of the trip is Expedition Everest. DD really wants to go to Universal to see Harry Potter, but I tell her she has to be able to ride thrill rides if she wants to go there. So, she tells me she is DEFINITELY going to ride EE this trip.



I think we will also try and do one of the trails, and at least two of the shows. I think since they will be on their feet a lot, something cool and sitting is a better choice for this morning. Flights of Wonder is one of her favorites, as well as FOTLK and Nemo. We'll probably skip Kali, as they do not want to be all wet for the class.

So the class runs from 1:30 to 4:30 and I would assume is mostly a behind the scenes tour. I really wish I could go on this one, but I let DW pick the one she wanted to do. Hopefully they will let them take some pictures.

Not sure what I will do while they are in the class. Maybe I'll just ride EE 26 times. Maybe I'll head over to BB and cool off. Maybe I'll go back to the hotel and nap.

Either way once class is over, we'll be heading back to the hotel. We have no plans for the evening at all. Pretty much figure that after a long hot day at AK, a swim will be in order.

I am also not sure what we will do for dinner. Having hoppers, maybe we will hop into World Showcase for some French or Moroccan dinner! I definitely think we will call it an early night, as prior to this we have had three "late" nights in a row. (At least late for us.) The affect of that on DD will be telling. She has always been a "crash early" kid at WDW, and we've rarely been able to be on-the-go later than 8 PM, but now that she is (will be) 12 this might be a different story.

 

[franandaj]

Well it sounds like you have a couple great days planned. It sounds like you've paced them well and you're not running around too much. A nice mix of downtime and running around.

 

[Tinker326]

Hey, I remember that rainy AK day! I was there too! Course we went later & had a cleared out park and got to ride EE a ridiculous amount of time in a row!

And great riding tactic- making DD ride Everest to get to Harry Potter! Surprisingly, Rebecca chose to ride EE in May and picked that as a fast pass. Couldn't get her to touch Tower of Terror or Space Mountain though!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I hope you get to ride EE 26 times.

More importantly....I hope you get a decent weather day for AK.

 

[skier_pete]

Well it sounds like you have a couple great days planned. It sounds like you've paced them well and you're not running around too much. A nice mix of downtime and running around.

It's sort of a different philosophy from how we've toured in the past. It's always been...go,go,go!! And then take a day of rest in the middle. I think with the extreme heat/humidity of August, a more evened pace will work better. Touring in the morning and evening (mostly). Hopefully it works.)

Hey, I remember that rainy AK day! I was there too! Course we went later & had a cleared out park and got to ride EE a ridiculous amount of time in a row!

And great riding tactic- making DD ride Everest to get to Harry Potter! Surprisingly, Rebecca chose to ride EE in May and picked that as a fast pass. Couldn't get her to touch Tower of Terror or Space Mountain though!

Yeah, we were supposed to meet up. You were smarter than us. Actually when we left the hotel in the morning the rain wasn't that bad. Right about the time we got to the entrance of Animal Kingdom, the skies opened up. It poured pretty heavily off and on until about noon, and by that time we were just miserable and sick of it. It being our 8th day of the trip we were also a little weary, so were happy to give up the afternoon.

In hindsight, it would've worked out much better if we'd waited as well and relaxed in our hotel in the AM. But since we didn't really know the weather would turn out that way, it would've been a difficult choice to make. (I think they were calling for rain all day at least until evening.) We also had our Yachtsman/Jellyrolls evening that night, and didn't want to come right from a rainy day in the park to dinner.

I hope you get to ride EE 26 times.

More importantly....I hope you get a decent weather day for AK.

Good weather in August - means to me we hopefully won't catch a hurricane that day! I expect the weather to be either bad or awful.

I am not sure I could stomach 26 times in a row on EE! I actually may go ride Dinosaur - it's air conditioned. Or maybe I'll curl up on a bench in the back of the Nemo show for a nap..."IN THE BIG BLUUUUEEE WOORLLD..." Anything indoors that's low on crowds. Or maybe I'll hop over to DHS to hit up RnRC and Tot, or something crazy like that. (It just occurred to me that maybe I'll just go to the other three parks and get my picture taken in front of the main weenie. DW might be pissed I did a 4-park day without her though so probably not.) I really think I will not decide what to do with my 3 free hours until that day.

Ha, who am I kidding, I'll know exactly what I'm gonna do. Spontaneity doesn't sit well on my shoulders.

 

[skier_pete]

Day 6 -

After two straight days with YES Program events, we are down to our LAST full day at Beach Club - which might be sad if we weren't having another 5 days on the trip!

Today I planned on devoting to Epcot. While we will have spent time in Epcot across this trip, it's been pretty sporadic, a few hours here and there. The plan today is to allow whatever time we want at Epcot, combined with whatever time we want to spend at the resort.

I think it's likely that we actually go to rope drop for this one. Probably head to do whatever we missed so far in Future World.

I think ONE of those things will likely be SOARIN', where we'll probably have a FP+.


At the same time we will probably check out "The Seas" if we haven't already:



I think another will likely be a little later in the morning, for Ellen's Energy Adventure, which while overly long we really like a lot. It definitely gets you out of the heat.





I picture a return to our resort by 1 PM or so, depending on what we do for lunch. Six days in we will be wanting some downtime. I think it'll be several hours of downtime, between more pool time and maybe some room/nap time.

In the evening we will likely visit World Showcase and see some of the entertainment we haven't yet seen. Not sure which country we will hit up....







...but we will definitely be heading one place in particular; Via Napoli. We have a 6:00 PM ADR for dinner here. Since prior to buying into DVC, we primarily travelled using FREE DINING, this was a restaurant we never tried. The primary menu item - Pizza - didn't really work with the DDP. To me, we will order one large pizza and maybe some dessert, and combine this with 15% off for DVC members, it will be a relative bargain versus spending dining credits! This restaurant was my pick, though, as I have heard so many good things about it.

In addition to that, I am really hoping we will be watching Illuminations tonight. I am not sure if we are going to try and get a spot on the England/France bridge or if we will go somewhere else, but if we haven't already caught it by this point, I think this will be the time to see it.

After that, it will be back to our room to probably back up our things. Day 7 is MOVING DAY, our chance to go to a resort that might be even MORE exciting than our current one - THE POLY.

Firsts:
Day 5 - I forgot to post for Day 5. Adriana's first time on Dinosaur, first time doing YES Program on Animal Behavior, First time popping into Epcot for QS dinner
Day 6 - First time at Via Napoli. Possible other firsts of course.

Next up -moving day.

 

[Tinker326]

Good Plans . Hope you like Via Napoli. I loved it & wouldn't hesitate to eat there again!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I think this will be a very relaxed day at Epcot. Having down time in the middle of the day is always great....particularly when you can walk right back to the resort from Epcot.

 

[khertz]

Yay for finally getting to try Via Napoli! One of our favorites, and a great deal for a Disney TS restaurant.

And yay for moving to the POLY!! I am really so excited for y'all that you're staying there. Sure to be a dream!!

 

[franandaj]

I really like Via Napoli even though we only ate there once. They have Arancini which is something I adore and don't get to eat much since it's a slightly obscure dish.

Epcot is my favorite park and you'll be hitting some of my favorite rides.

 

[skier_pete]

Good Plans . Hope you like Via Napoli. I loved it & wouldn't hesitate to eat there again!

Looks like a major positive consensus on Via Napoli! I've heard many good things about it. I tend to avoid Italian at Disney World, since I grew up in a town that was basically a mafia hotbed, and therefore we had many fantastic Italian restaurants. (Some were surprisingly empty much of the time...not sure why that was *wink wink*) Anyways, we rarely do Italian on vacation because my standards are pretty high and most of the countries Italian food standards are pretty low. (i.e. Olive Garden) So never been to Tony's (which we are trying this trip as well, though I am actually pretty leery of that one) or Mama Melrose (which DHS + Italian = avoid). We actually tried Tutto Italia last trip and thought it was pretty good, but I have a little more lax standard for Pizza Places - as Pizza is primarily an Americanized version of Italian food, and while there is some pretty horrible Pizza at Disney (see any kids menu in any park) there seems to be a lot of people that think very highly of Via Napoli - so what the hey!

I think this will be a very relaxed day at Epcot. Having down time in the middle of the day is always great....particularly when you can walk right back to the resort from Epcot.

DW and DD are really liking the mid-day downtime. Now if we can only force ourselves to do it!

Yay for finally getting to try Via Napoli! One of our favorites, and a great deal for a Disney TS restaurant.

And yay for moving to the POLY!! I am really so excited for y'all that you're staying there. Sure to be a dream!!

I KNOW - I still pinch myself randomly. It gets me in trouble at work sometimes!

I really like Via Napoli even though we only ate there once. They have Arancini which is something I adore and don't get to eat much since it's a slightly obscure dish.

Epcot is my favorite park and you'll be hitting some of my favorite rides.

It's funny that I consider Epcot my 3rd favorite park (which is on a very narrow scale) but is the only park I never ever feel we have enough time in. Even our mini-trip last year where we spent 3 of 5 days there we felt like it wasn't enough. I'm sure we'll have the same problem this trip.

 

[franandaj]

We actually tried Tutto Italia last trip and thought it was pretty good, but I have a little more lax standard for Pizza Places - as Pizza is primarily an Americanized version of Italian food, and while there is some pretty horrible Pizza at Disney (see any kids menu in any park) there seems to be a lot of people that think very highly of Via Napoli - so what the hey!

Tutto Italia and Via Napoli are both owned by the same people, the Patina Group. They are an LA based chain of mostly French style restaurants, but they have a great concept and philosophy. They basically run most all the restaurants at DTD in Anaheim and everything within walking distance of the Los Angeles Music Center and to all the catering and restaurants at the Hollywood Bowl. They have of 60 restaurants in LA, New York City, New Jersey and Florida.

 

[NJlauren]

Loving your report so far! Your trip looks amazing and looks like you'll get many first in! Can't wait to hear the rest of your plans

 

[skier_pete]

Tutto Italia and Via Napoli are both owned by the same people, the Patina Group. They are an LA based chain of mostly French style restaurants, but they have a great concept and philosophy. They basically run most all the restaurants at DTD in Anaheim and everything within walking distance of the Los Angeles Music Center and to all the catering and restaurants at the Hollywood Bowl. They have of 60 restaurants in LA, New York City, New Jersey and Florida.

I think I had heard some of this. Didn't know about the Hollywood Bowl. If it's as good as Tutto Italia I'm sure we'll be satisfied.

Loving your report so far! Your trip looks amazing and looks like you'll get many first in! Can't wait to hear the rest of your plans

Thanks for joining in. Looks like you are only a few weeks from your trip. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[skier_pete]

DAY 7 Plans - Sad Day - Happy Day

After six nights at the Beach Club, it is time to say ADIEU! Normally this would be very sad, but it means we are heading for the Poly! We have never done a split stay like this. (The closest we did is having one night at Pop Century at the end of our AKL stay in 2010.) So I sort of think it will almost feel like we are rebooting our vacation. Disney Vacation 2015.1 as it were.

The problem that I see a split stay is I am not sure what a good way to do it is. At one point I thought I would make this a "day off" and just head over to the Poly. The problem with that is if the room takes a while to get ready, what do you do in that case.

Then I thought about doing MK this day, meaning we head of over to that park and then when our room is ready we could saunter over to the Poly. But the problem with that is the park is listed as morning EMH - and I did not want to have to be packed up and moving THAT early.

So, what I ended up with instead is a water park day. I figured the water parks don't open until 10 AM, so we have a little extra time in the morning to get our bags transitioned out of our room. We can check out. (And this is apparently very critical to the transition - you have to actually CHECK OUT at the front desk to have them check you in the other hotel.) Then head to the water park. This time it would definitely be Typhoon Lagoon as we will be doing Blizzard Beach again in a few days!

Beyond that, I still don't have a great feel for how we are going to work the rest of the day. Since we don't actually have any DTD time set aside, I wanted to use this day to go to DTD and Disneyquest, and being that we are already in the area, it might make sense to go there next. But on the other hand, we may just want to get to the Poly and check it out, and instead head over to DTD in the evening. I just don't know - apparently this is another case of "being spontaneous", but to me it is more a case of "not sure what will work best". Perhaps we should even do DTD earlier in the trip, or skip it completely. I just don't know.

Any way you slice it, we will be checking into the Poly today. The excitement of that is big for us. When we started thinking about this trip probably over a year ago I never even though the Poly was a possibility, and we were excited for BLT. But the Poly...I still can't believe it.

 

[kcpinwdw]

So, what I ended up with instead is a water park day.

This is EXACTLY what we are doing on our change over day (sept 1st by the way). We are checking out of Beach Club, heading to Typhoon Lagoon, and then heading to the Poly in the afternoon, probably 4-ish. Then we will have dinner somewhere on the monorail route, and then that night doing Pirates & Pals Fireworks cruise. No park day but still a ton of fun. (Also, I rented a beachcomber shack for TL. We will cancel if the weather looks crappy).

 

[skier_pete]

That's pretty funny - missing matching days by only 2 days. I think this is the third

 

[PrincessInOz]

A waterpark day sounds perfect for resort change over day.

 

[skier_pete]

A waterpark day sounds perfect for resort change over day.

It does seem pretty good. Though in August a water park day EVERY DAY sounds good.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Day 5 - your Animal Kingdom day looks just like ours did... WET! Hope you guys get better weather this time around.

I vote you ride EE 26 times too!! That sounds awesome! Animal Kingdom is my favorite so having a few solo hours sounds amazing to me.

Day 6 - I absolutely LOVE Ellen'so Energy Adventure! It's a bit nostalgic for me as this is one of my first Disney memories as a kid - being completely amazed when the "theater" broke apart and took us into Dino land. Of course it didn't have Ellen in it back then... Is it bad that now I look forward to this ride because I get a 30 minute nap in the air conditioning?

Via Napoli... oh yum! We very rarely go to Italian restaurants because I hate to go places where I feel like I can make the food better & cheaper at home (like pasta & pizza) but this place looks like an exception. Plus it's pretty affordable for Disney!

Day 7 - Yay! Polly day!! That place looks amazing! I think your plan to do TL in the morning and play the evening by ear sounds like a good one. I'm sure you'll want to explore the resort. I know it's technically a bar but are kids allowed in Trader Sams during the day? It looks like such a fun experience!