We’re Going For the Record...A Record Number of Resort Changes! A June 2015 PTR - Updated 6/10

[MEK]

Sounds like a great combo of resorts. I was looking at some of the prices for summer, because I need one night for my August vacation, and I noticed that the prices of the value resorts was pretty close to the prices of the moderate resorts. Sheesh. I had sticker shock.

Anyway - CSR is a lovely resort with a wonderful pool. I am sure you will absolutely love it. And, seriously, who doesn't love POP? You can stay at POR next time!

 

[cstorm65]

Sounds like a great combo of resorts. I was looking at some of the prices for summer, because I need one night for my August vacation, and I noticed that the prices of the value resorts was pretty close to the prices of the moderate resorts. Sheesh. I had sticker shock.

I know. Thank goodness for the annual pass holder discount we are getting on our Pop room. It saved 30% I think which is a pretty nice savings with summer rates!

Anyway - CSR is a lovely resort with a wonderful pool. I am sure you will absolutely love it. And, seriously, who doesn't love POP? You can stay at POR next time!

I hope so. We are pretty excited about it despite having to give up Animal Kingdom Lodge. I think the vibe of the resort looks pretty cool. And everyone says they love it like you did, so that must be good.

 

[cstorm65]

Day 1 Plans

Ok...let’s get into this planning thing! We are flying down to Orlando out of Dallas. We are flying on SW Rapid Rewards points and it was half the cost than it would have been out of Oklahoma City, so we will travel south the night before. Our flight leaves around 6:30 AM, but luckily you can go to Orlando nonstop on Southwest now, so we will be on the ground in Florida by around 9:30!

Once we land we will hop on the Magical Express to Pop Century. Hopefully our room is ready, but our plan is to head to Downtown Disney for lunch if it is not and have lunch at Earl of Sandwich! I will be eating one of these:

If our room is ready we may just have lunch at the food court, swim, and then head to Downtown Disney for dinner at Earl.

That’s really it. We don’t like going to a park on our arrival day, so we will just take it easy and do some Downtown Disney.
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Up Next: Day 2 Plans​

 

[KatMark]

I like your arrival/day 1 plans. I'm not a big fan of hitting the parks on the first day unless it's a short trip (or a short period with my best friends and hence why I am going to a park on my first day!).

LOVE Earl of Sandwich. Which sandwich is that?

 

[AshBriSmi]

A little late but I'm here... Love your plans so far! Sounds awesome! Looking forward to hearing the rest of your plans!!

 

[MEK]

Nothing like booking flights on points. Gotta love that.

EOS is definitely on my summer hit list. That sammie looks so yummy!

 

[cstorm65]

I like your arrival/day 1 plans. I'm not a big fan of hitting the parks on the first day unless it's a short trip (or a short period with my best friends and hence why I am going to a park on my first day!).

We are fans of that either since we usually do long trips, but I agree if we were on a shorter trip I can certainly understand it.

LOVE Earl of Sandwich. Which sandwich is that?

The Full Montagu...think I spelled that right! It is my favorite!

A little late but I'm here... Love your plans so far! Sounds awesome! Looking forward to hearing the rest of your plans!!

Thanks for reading and being a part! Great to have you aboard!

Nothing like booking flights on points. Gotta love that.

Especially with flight prices now days!

EOS is definitely on my summer hit list. That sammie looks so yummy!

Thanks to you and Kathy both commenting about it I'm now craving a sandwich from here in Oklahoma!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 2 Plans

I hope everyone had a great weekend. It was crazy around here with track meets for three straight days, Thursday-Saturday, then a wedding shower on Sunday for some friends. Everything went well thought and this was my last busy weekend of this school year. I still have track meets and some other events, but this was the last time I have to worry about things falling this many days in a row, which is nice!

On a Disney note I did manage to stay up late enough Saturday night to make our FP+ reservations for this trip. I have a pretty rough plan, but I got some good selections. I am going to go back through each day in detail while I do this report so I can see if my times will work. Ok, enough with the small talk, let’s plan!

On our first full day we will be heading to the happiest place on earth:

We plan on arriving in time to get a good spot to watch the opening ceremony before entering the park. DS loves it when the Choo Choo Train comes in during the show! After the park opens we plan on taking care of all of the things DS likes in Fantasyland such as Pooh, The Barnstormer, and one of his favorites…

And we will probably get in a meet with these guys:

I’ve got a FP+ for one of us parents to ride Splash Mountain and then the other one can use the child swap as DS won’t be ready for this ride yet. That is actually the only FP+ we have in the morning. We find it easy enough to ride plenty of rides in the morning without FP+ that we just save them and use them when we return in the evening.

By this time it will be time for lunch and it is kind of a tradition for us to hit Columbia Harbour House on our first Magic Kingdom day. Such a good counter service option and the upstairs seating is great!

We will take a midday break as usual and return to the Magic Kingdom in time for our dinner ADR where we can also order one of these:

http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums...orld/Day 7 - June 27/DSCN0899_zpsb86a6860.jpg

We loved dinner at the Plaza last time we were at Disney World. It was easy, cheap for a table service, the food was great, and you can order from the Ice Cream Parlour menu for dessert!

That night we have FP+’s scheduled for Seven Dwarves Mine Train, after dark of course, and for Peter Pan. I think we will also use the other FP we had left from the morning to ride Space Mountain and then get a child swap for the other person. We are not sure if DS will be ready or want to ride Seven Dwarves, but we have a FP+ for him anyway. He is tall enough but we will see if he wants to.

We will probably plan on heading out around parade time or just after it ends by using the Main Street bypass. We used it last summer and it was super easy to get out of the park between the parade and fireworks. We need to get out and get to bed as we have another rope drop tomorrow!

Up Next: Day 3 Plans​

 

[MEK]

Mine Train after dark sounds great. I really have to try that. Both of my rides have been day time.

I agree that the upstairs of CHH is great. I love it up there and I love the food.

I love seeing your "old" pictures with your new plans. Awesome!

Glad your school year is starting to wind down.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

That sounds like a great first park day! Your Fastpass+ selections sound great - my SDMT reservations are during the day, but I'm hoping I'll be able to swing a super late night ride during an EMH night. I think you have a good plan!

I'm very excited to eat at CHH again with our KTTK tour - I hear nothing but great things.

 

[cstorm65]

Day 3 Plans

It’s the weekend!!! Hopefully you all are enjoying it as much as we are. I got up early this morning and mowed the lawn and went for a run so I have all that out of the way and can now just enjoy Saturday! DS is now taking a nap so it is a great time to share another day’s plans.

On day three we are heading here:

We love the Animal Kingdom and have a great day planned here. We are going to head straight back to Kilimanjaro Safari as soon as the park opens. We have never done a Safari in the early morning, but we want to since we have heard the animal activity is much better. So, this will be that day for something new! And DS just loves the safari!

We have some FP’s for what is one of my all-time favorite theme park attractions:

We also have FP’s for the Adventurer’s Outpost. We loved this meet and greet last year. You get Minnie and Mickey at the same time, which is different and they are in their safari outfits.

We aren’t sure where we will have some lunch. We love Flame Tree BBQ, but eating outdoors in the hot summer can sometimes be unappetizing. We ate a Restaurantosaurus last year and the food was solid and it is air conditioned, which is a big plus. We will probably just see what the temperature is and what sounds good at the time.

We are also going to take in both Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo the Musical. We’ve done Festival of the Lion King on all of our trips and it is great, but haven’t seen Finding Nemo since DW and I’s very first trip four years ago, so we want to see it again, and DS may finally be old enough to sit and watch.

Finally we have FP’s here:

That was a throwback picture from DW’s and I’s first trip in 2011. I enjoy Dinosaur, DW not as much, so I guess if she doesn’t want to ride I’ll just have to swap her Magic Bands for a little while and get a second ride in!

We do plan on staying here until around 3:00 or so, which I know is late, but it is our only day in Animal Kingdom and we want to see both shows which is hard to do and get out of there any earlier than that.

After a short break we have dinner reservations tonight. Can you guess where from this picture?

Yes, our beloved ‘Ohana! I am a DisDad to the core and a trip wouldn’t be complete without a stop at the meat lover’s paradise! We don’t have plans to go to any other parks tonight, just head back and get to bed, another rope drop tomorrow!
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Up Next: Day 4 Plans​

 

[MEK]

Nice Day 3 plans. I love that picture of you on EE. You look like you are having a great time!

It's a beautiful weekend here too. The weather is fabulous!

I hear ya on not wanting to eat outside in the hot weather. That doesn't appeal to me either. I like Restaurantsaurus because its big, has tons of bathrooms, and you can usually find a seat.

I love Nemo! It's my favorite show on property. It's so well done.

And, of course, who doesn't love Safari?

 

[cstorm65]

Nice Day 3 plans. I love that picture of you on EE. You look like you are having a great time!

What a great ride! I thought about posting DW's photo from the ride, but she just sits there like she is bored to death!!

It's a beautiful weekend here too. The weather is fabulous!

Great...they are predicting a very wet spring for us, which is good since we are on a three year drought, but hopefully it doesn't bring severe weather, just rain would be good.

I hear ya on not wanting to eat outside in the hot weather. That doesn't appeal to me either. I like Restaurantsaurus because its big, has tons of bathrooms, and you can usually find a seat.

I agree. I did think though about ordering at Flame Tree and carrying it to Restaurantosaurus. I wonder if they could make it at Flame Tree where we could carry it??

I love Nemo! It's my favorite show on property. It's so well done.

We remember loving it when we saw it 4 years ago, and now DS is finally old enough to sit there and let the show hold his attention! Can't wait!

And, of course, who doesn't love Safari?

I've never met anyone!!

 

[hokieinpa]

Following over from your last TR - almost done with that one so I'm excited to read about your plans for this summer!

Your plans sound great so far! I have 3 boys (5, 3, and almost 2) so I'm sure we have similar touring plans and hit the same attractions!

We always do DTD/swimming on our arrival day as well - a much more relaxing intro to the trip than a park.

My sons all loved the MK opening show too - except our during our first trip in October the train was down for renovation. We're all excited to see the show WITH the train next time! And 7DMT at night sounds amazing!

I like the AK plans too. We barely made it through FOTLK last time but I'm hoping the boys will all be old enough next trip to watch that and Nemo.

 

[cstorm65]

Following over from your last TR - almost done with that one so I'm excited to read about your plans for this summer!

Thanks for hopping over and letting us know you're here! Glad to have you.

Your plans sound great so far! I have 3 boys (5, 3, and almost 2) so I'm sure we have similar touring plans and hit the same attractions!

I bet it's very similar. Such a fun age!

We always do DTD/swimming on our arrival day as well - a much more relaxing intro to the trip than a park.

We agree for sure, especially with younger kids. Travel days are so tiring for them. It's better just to relax once you arrive and get to bed at a reasonable time.

My sons all loved the MK opening show too - except our during our first trip in October the train was down for renovation. We're all excited to see the show WITH the train next time! And 7DMT at night sounds amazing!

We love the opening show. It just sets the tone for a great day! It is really cool at night!

I like the AK plans too. We barely made it through FOTLK last time but I'm hoping the boys will all be old enough next trip to watch that and Nemo.

I know. DS lost interest a little, but this time he should be really into it (knock on wood!).

 

[KatMark]

I could have sworn I responded to the Day one plans at the MK, but I must not have hit submit. Great plans and two of my favorites -- Columbia Harbor House and the Plaza on the same day.

The next day sounds great; I really love AK. I'm glad you are going to do both FOTLK and Finding Nemo. I have yet to see Mickey and Minnie there...need to put that on my list.

 

[cstorm65]

I could have sworn I responded to the Day one plans at the MK, but I must not have hit submit. Great plans and two of my favorites -- Columbia Harbor House and the Plaza on the same day.

Glad your comment came through now! Love both of those also. They are to often overlooked places in the Magic Kingdom.

The next day sounds great; I really love AK. I'm glad you are going to do both FOTLK and Finding Nemo. I have yet to see Mickey and Minnie there...need to put that on my list.

It is a cool meet and greet since you get both of them at the same time. And we think it is a nice use of a FP+ since there are really only two major rides you need FP's for at Animal Kingdom. So, why not use it and see them with very little wait.

 

[KathyM2]

I'm here following along! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your plans! Good strategy to ride Dinosaur again!!

 

[cstorm65]

I'm here following along! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your plans! Good strategy to ride Dinosaur again!!

Thanks for joining in! Glad to have you along for the ride!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 4 Plans

I hope you are all having a great weekend so far! I am excited because we are one week closer to summer break and the end of school, but more importantly one week closer to our trip. We are under 50 days! On to our day 4 plans.

We should have gotten a great nights rest as our stomachs were extremely full due to our dinner at ‘Ohana the night before. The plan this morning is to get up and head to rope drop here:

Our plan at rope drop is to head to one of DW’s favorite attractions, Test Track, and let her jump in the standby line while we grab a child swap pass for me to use later. Hopefully the line is short and then I can use the child swap pass once she is finished. We are also going at Epcot this morning without FP’s. We are saving those to use in our evening park as we will be park hopping today. So after Test Track we will do some of DS’s favorite rides, The Seas with Nemo and Figment. He loves both of those. We will most definitely stop here, which is the only place we will let DS drink soda!

I may also try and get this to happen again:

Beverly Face!!

After this fun morning we will head back to one of our favorite meals at Via Napoli for lunch. My favorite memory from this is DS finishing off the dessert:

After Via Napoli we will head back for a nap and break at Pop Century, before heading back to Magic Kingdom for the evening. We are planning on a nice long evening at Magic Kingdom because we have some sleep in time scheduled tomorrow as it is a resort change day.

We have FP’s set up tonight at the Jungle Cruise as well as Winnie the Pooh for the whole family and then DW and I will split some rides later on using FP+ and child swap on Space Mountain and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

We do have a reservation tonight at the Tomorrowland Terrace Fireworks Dessert Party. I went ahead and decided to give this event one more try despite our last trip, which you can read about here. Hopefully we caught them on a bad night and this event will be as good as it was the first two times we did it. This should be a great night. We will see how late DS makes it!
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Up Next: Mini-Spring Break Trip Report Part 1​