We can't go to Disney every year... or can we??

[Jamye666]

So after just telling my DS (6) on our trip WDW this past February to not get used to taking annual vacation to Disney (we visited DL in Jan 2014) I just booked a quick surprise trip for his kindergarten graduation, or becuase these past two trips have renewed my Disney craze. This will be our SECOND trip in 6 months!!! Boy am I a hypocrite, but anyway here I am to start my planning.

I am a single mom so it will be just DS and I. Last two trips we traveled with family, and I really cherished the time when my son and I were alone so this will be really nice. He finishes school early (June 10) compared to everyone else in the northeast due to the amount of snow we had this winter so I though it would be nice to take him for a quick getaway before the summer officially starts.

What I know so far is that we are flying in hopefully in the afternoon on Friday 6/12 and staying at CBR in a Pirate room. Friday night I plan to just hang out at the hotel since it will be his first time there. Pool and dinner at Shutters. Hopefully there will be a campfire/movie under the stars.

Saturday and Sunday will be spent at the parks. We are not getting park hoppers so I have not yet decided which we will go to each day, but it will be AK and MK. Factors into this decision are going to be ADR's, EMH's, and of coarse how early our flight will be on Monday morning. I really want to sit down at BOG since we were not able to when we were there in Feb.

I have so many things to consider and so little time I can't beleive I am putting this all together and we will be there in 40 days!!!

 

[Jamye666]

Hotel, tickets, and one ADR officially booked. Still holding out hope for a coveted BOG ressie before I plan FPs.

 

[Jamye666]

And I have tentatively decided to do AK on Saturday, and MK on Sunday to avoid the EMHs.

 

[Jamye666]

Woohoo I am making great progress today. Flights booked and FP now booked also.

AND this is my 10th post so I finally get some privledges around here

 

[Jamye666]

OK so now my next decision is where to make ADR for Saturday night. This might be a silly question but can you view Illuminations from anywhere outside of Epcot? I was hoping there was somewhere we could eat and see the show, kind of like Wishes and the MK hotel dining areas. TIA!

 

[Jamye666]

Planning a last minute trip is proving to be a little more difficult than I thought. Dinner reservations are so hard to come by!!!!!!

 

[THEDISNEYTHREE]

That is so awesome you're going again!! Have a great time!! I wish you on your ADR'S.

 

[Jamye666]

That is so awesome you're going again!! Have a great time!! I wish you on your ADR'S.

Thanks!

 

[Jamye666]

Tentative Plan for Saturday AK 9-6

I will be packing breakfast so we can have something quick in the room then its on the bus to hopefully be there at Rope drop and heading straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris hoping to catch some early morning activity before the animals get hot, tired, and lazy. From there we will hop on the train and go Rafiki's Planet Watch. Once we are back in Africa we will stroll the Pangani Forest. From there we will head to The Festival of the Lion King. Our dog's name is Nala so I know DS will enjoy this one. I haven't been to AK since 2001 so I have no idea time wise how much this is going to take us but I am hoping to make it to the 11 or 12 show.

After the show is lunch time. It will be at the Flame Tree BBQ if it is open, but if not we will still get a rib/chicken combo to split at one of the kiosks and sit down by the water. Then we will explore Discovery Island, in no particular order. Hoping Pocahantis is there! We will probably skip It's a Bug's Life becuase we saw it in California 18 months ago and DS was not too keen on it.

From here I have two plans depending on how antsy DS is. If he is getting anxious for rides and more stimulation we will head to Dino Land and I will give him some time in The Boneyard. If he is doing just fine we will wander over to Asia. It'll be mid-afternoon by now so we will go through the Maharajah Jungle Trek and get good and hot before we use our FP for Kali River Rapids at which I imagine will be the later end of our 1:50-2:50pm time slot.

Then it will be on to Expedition Everest FP 3:20-4:20pm. I'm nervous I am going to have a hard time get DS on this one... He has ridden Space Mtn in both DL and DW (they are differnt) and didn't like them, but he also rode BTMR, SDMT, and RnR and loved them, so I really don't know what I am going to get. I'm worried that becuase the trip is a surprise I am not going to have enough lead time to talk him into it. When we visited in last time we had a deal that if I took him back to Disney he had to go on all the rides (he also did ToT his first trip in DL and didn't like that one too much either). It took him 3 days to think about it before he agreed!!!! I am just going to enforce our deal this trip too!

Back to AK, after Everest hopefully we are right on time for Finding Nemo. Then we will move along to finish our day in Dino Land. Here I plan to grab a snack from Dino-Bites, then go through Chester's and Hester's. If there is time we will play some games at Fossil Fun. And finally we will finish the day riding Dinosaur FP 5-6pm.

What I left off: Oasis and Flights of Wonder. I am anticipating we are not going to be able to hit everything in one day so I am leaving these out of the plans altogether. I also think Nemo is expendable if we are running late on time later in the day. Like I said earlier this is my first time to AK in YEARS so I welcome any feedback anyone has for me!

 

[Jamye666]

So I scored an 8pm ressie at Beaches and Cream the night of our arrival so I am switching Shutters to after we get back from AK on Saturday. I think my son will really like Beaches and Cream and I have never been there. Still searching for a dinner reservation for BOG for Sunday when we are at MK. Figers Crossed We will get luck!!!!

 

[Jamye666]

OK planning for Sunday: MK. Again breakfast in the room and we are off. We were just here 4 months ago and my son and I both opened (8AM) and closed the park after EMH (2AM) so this time we are going to be way more relaxed. We will get an early start to our day, but don't necessarily plan on seeing the Welcome Show becuase we caught it last time. First let me start with the bad news, PoC is closed for refurbishment. Too bad becuase we are staying in a Pirate room, but we have seen thos both in DW and DL in the past 16 months so not going to dwell on it. I am at least hoping they are still doing the Pirate Tutorial, but there is no schedule up as of now. What we missed last time that we definately need to hit: Astro Orbitor, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Mickey's Philharmonic, Splash Mountain (already have FP+ for), Carousel of Porgress, and all of Tom Sawyer Island. I also want to spend some time exploring Storybook Circus since it was late when we got there last time and a ghost town. Some favorites that are a must: Space Mountain (FP+; full disclosure my son loves rollar coasters, but hates this one because its in the dark, but I'll still force him to ride it with me), 7DMT (FP+), BTMR, the Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan's Flight, Buzz Lightyear, Small World, Jungle Book, and Tomorrowland Speedway. Last time we were there Michkey and Walt were boarded up and the castle was closed so we have to get some good pictures there. My only other goal is to camp out and get a good spot in front of the castle for Celebrate the Magic, and Wishes. For a 10PM show, whats a good time to do this?

As of right now I am planning a QS lunch and dinner. Aggressivly trying to get a BOG dinner ressie (i check twice/day), but if that doesn't work out I have no other dining musts at the MK.

Depending on how the day is going we may take a break and head back to the hotel mid-day when it starts to get real hot and crowded to rest. We would try to head back just before sun-set hoping to catch the flag-retreat on our way back in. I love this ceremony.

Only 35 days to go and I have pretty solid plans nailed down... don't know what I am going to do for the next month with all this anticipation!!!

 

[mercydisney]

Great start. Enjoying reading your pretrip report.

 

[nilla]

LOL - not only will we be at CBR the same time as you (June 8-19 for us), but we're also going to AK and eating at Shutters on Saturday

Awesome that you're able to put this all together on such short notice!

 

[Jamye666]

So excited this is less than a month away!!! Most exiting thing is I was able to score a BOG dinner reservation for our day at the MK. 8:05pm which is later than I wanted so I had to adjust a FP+ but I will take it. This trip is all about going with the flow Got the email my Magic Bands have shipped, so now I just need to stalk the shipment and hope I can get to them before my son sees them, but my neighbor just had a baby so shes home all day (mostly) and she will help. Now that I have everything basically nailed down I'm going crazy with excitment since there is nothing left to plan. It's so hard for me to keep this secret from my son. The one last thing I need to arrange is who is going to dog-sit for us!!

 

[Jamye666]

Exciting day today!!!

 

[RI Disney Star]

Exciting day today!!!
View attachment 98169

Nice! I like the pink. Oh, wait a minute...that's what I had in January.

I am Jessica's mother and I went on her previous two trips. Our trip report for Disneyland is below.

 

[Jamye666]

LOL - not only will we be at CBR the same time as you (June 8-19 for us), but we're also going to AK and eating at Shutters on Saturday

Awesome that you're able to put this all together on such short notice!

If you see us wave hello!!

 

[Jamye666]

OK still 17 days out, but I have planned to the max so here is the official, final, and complete PTR. Starting with the surprise of telling DS.

Wednesday 6/10 Kindergarten Graduation 9AM The whole family is coming but will have to split right after to get to work. We will go home and JC will get his graduation present, which will be our Magic Band box wrapped up. Since we went through this just 5 months ago he should catch on real quick, especially when I tell him we are leaving in 2 days! I will set up the camera to catch his reaction. Later that night I am throwing a graduation party/cookout for him. Just family, and a few close friends and since we are staying in a Pirate room at CBR it will of course be a PoTC themed party.

Thursday 6/11 I will be lucky enough to be working from home to finish all the last minute preparing and packing. The day will drag I am sure.

Friday 6/12, and we are off. Our flight leaves at 7AM so we will be off to the airport around 5:30AM. Thanks to @RI Disney Star for volunteering to get up so early and take us to the airport (and also watch the dog ) even though we are leaving her at home this time. Breakfast will most likely be something in the airport, or on the way. When we arrive in Orland we are using DME and hoping to get to CBR around 11AM. The afternoon we are going to just hang out exploring the hotel. QS lunch at OPR and some swimming. Bathing suits will be packed in our carry-ons in case a) our room isn't ready, or b) DME takes a long time to deliver our luggage. Around 6 we will head out to make our ADR at Beaches and Cream for 8PM. I have no intentions of ordering the Kitchen Sink, but excited for this resturant. I plan to take the bus to Hollywood Studios, then Water taxi to the Yacht and Beach Club so we can check out the views of the Swan and Dolphin campus. Hopefully this leave us enough time to do some exploring at the Yacht and Beach Club before our reseveration. After dinner depending on what time it is and how tired we are we may walk over to Boardwalk to explore or head back right back to the hotel for bed. Hollywood Studios is open until 10PM and Epcot until 11PM so there will be busses, but I may just consider a taxi to get us back to CBR if I am dying to get to a bed!

Saturday 6/13, Alarm will be set for 7:30AM. No dining plan means no need to go to OPR. Coffee and breakfast will be quick and in the room, and hopefully we will be out of room by 8AM and make it to Animal Kingdom for rope drop at 9AM. It is straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris, after that the Wildlife Express train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Once we are back to Africa if there is time we will walk the Pangani Forest Trail. If we are in a rush to get to the Festival of the Lion King then we will skip it. I am hoping to make the 11AM Lion King show. We will say farewell to Africa and head back towards Discovery Island. The one thing we will skip in Discovery Island is It's tough to be a bug. We did this last year in DL and JC was NOT a fan! From what I have read there is very little different between the two so we will definately pass on this. If we have time we will walk out to check out the Oasis that we bypassed on the way in or take a rest in the Boneyard. Also while in Discovery Island we will grab lunch at Flame Tree BBQ (or the kiosk if it still isn't open). JC and I will just split the ribs and chicken combo. After lunch its out to Asia. Hopefully we will have perfect timing to catch a Flights of Wonder show, if not I'm okay with skipping this too. We have a 1:50-2:50PM FP+ time for Kali River Rapids. We can hit the Jungle Trek before or after riding. By now I'm shooting for it to be about 3PM so we can catch the Finding Nemo Musical. From their head back to Expedition Everest for a 3:20-4:20PM FP+ reservation. Fingers Crossed JC will ride without tears (evil mommy haha). From there all we will have left is Dino Land USA. Our last FP+ is 5-6PM for Dinosaur, so we will end the day with that. First here it's Dino-Rama and ice cream. I'll bring extra cash to let JC play each Fossil Game once. Then TriceraTop and the Primeval Whirl as long if the line isn't too long. After we finish our day at the AK it's back to home base, CBR. We have an ADR for dinner at Shutters, and then are going to hang around OPR to watch Illuminations from the beach, and finally it's bed time .

Sunday 6/14, Alarm will be set for 8AM. Again quick breakfast and getting ready and today we are on our way to the Magic Kingdom Saw the Welcome Show when we were there in January so not in a rush to make rope drop here. But first thing is first, Mikcey and Tink in Town Square. We found in January that the lines were super short first thing in the morning so you weren't rushed right through (Tink talked to us for about 5 minutes becuase there was no one in line behind us, it was my favorite part of the vacation). Then it's off to Tomorrowland for our first FP+ 9:50-10:50AM Space Mtn. Again I hope JC has no tears (he's ridden it in DW and DL already, just not a big fan of the darkness). Our only skip in Tomorrowland is Stich. He's one of my favorite characters, but no one needs to see this twice in 6 months. We missed quite a few things here in January so we are going to take our time and make sure we hit everything else. From there we are headed to Storybook Circus stopping along the way to meet Merida. When here in January we didn't get to SC until EMH's at midnight so it was like a ghost town. Great for the lines, but there was no atmosphere, so again we are going to take our time here. From their we will hop the Railroad all the way to Frontierland to use our FP+ for Splash Mtn 1:25-2:25PM. JC has never ridden this one so I am interested to see what he thinks. By this time it will definately be time to eat so it's out to Sleepy Hollow. Waffles are JC's favorite food so eating here is a must, and hopefully we can time it just right to see the Festival of Fantasy Parade. If there was going to be a time to see the Hall of Presidents this would be it but, while I would like to see it, I know JC will have no interest. From there its down to Adventureland. PotC is closed, but I still want to see the Jack Sparrow tutorial, since our trip is sort of based around PotC, and we have never seen it before. My only other must do here is the Jungle Cruise. At this time I would love to head back to the main gate for the Flag Retreat. Such a moving ceremony. From there we are back on the railroad and off to BTMR and Tom Sawyer Island. From there hopefully we can time it for Enchanged Tales with Belle just before our ADR for dinner at BOG. I really wanted to find a great spot in front of the castle to just relax and watch the parade and fireworks, but all I could get (and was very lucky to get) was an 8:05PM reservation. It will work, we should still be out of dinner in plenty of time for Wishes. Then all that is left to finish our night is the Haunted Mansion, and Fantasyland. A must do is Mickey's Philharmonic becuase we skipped this one last time. Then we will prioritize by our favorites: Small World, Peter Pan, and Under the Sea. And to finish it off our final FP+ 11PM, the 7DMT. We will then very sadly head back to the hotel, knowing our vacation has come to an end

Monday 6/15, Again quick breakfast in the room, and onto the DME around 7 to return us home

Do you think I planned enough?? This is the first time I have written a PTR and I am hoping it will be beneficial and keep us on track so we can get to all the things we want to in our three short days, but I'm scared my OCD isn't going to be able to handle it when something goes awry and I will just fall apart. Oh well, "the best laid plans pave the road to hell" right Anyway, I didn't talk about many characters, but there are quite a few that we are going to try to fit it. We did see Anna and Elsa in January, so they are not on our list this time . Also for souveneirs we love to do crushed pennies. They are exciting enough for JC, and they fit right into my budget so they are perfect. Expect to see alot of those in the trip report when we come back.

 

[RI Disney Star]

Sounds like a plan. Have fun!

 

[NJlauren]

So close! I hope you share the video of the sons reaction to the MB's!!

Sounds like a really good plan, happy you were able to get BOG with such little time to plan!