10 Nights, 9 Days, 2 Birthdays and 1 Magical May 2014 Vacation! **Complete 6-10**

[anniebabymu]

i think your plans look great...this is actually my favorite of all the parks, but i am a Zoology Major so that might explain it I have instilled my love of animals in both of my kids, we try to visit a zoo/aquarium every other month, and they never seam bored...that might change after this visit

A Zoology major! How fun!!

 

[AprilRenee]

Joining in!

We LOVED garden grill, and whispering canyon cafe. We loved whispering canyon enough that we're going back again and the only reason we're skipping garden grill is cause we want to hit a different character meal this time.
50s prime time was ok. We kinda had a lame waiter and the food was meh. I think we may try it again once Caden is older.

And I second (third?) the idea to meet buzz and woody. That's one of my favorite meet and greets! The line is really fun and they're fun! But it definitely gets busy!! So hit it early!!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Well, thanks to me sleeping all day in preparation to work tonight only to find out they don't need me... I can't sleep!

So what better to do at 3am than try to come up with some sort of touring plan for our Animal Kingdom day! I started with tackling Magic Kindgom... but figured that it was impossible to do without knowing what our friends want to do the day they're there. I have no idea if they plan on sticking with us all day or just meeting up here and there. No clue. So look like I'm going to have to harass them!

So here's what I came up with! Of course times may vary, and these are the hopeful FP+ times we get!

Animal Kingdom: 8am-8pm

6:45-7:00 - Be at bus and head to A.K. for R.D.

8:00 - Park opens and we head to Kilimanjaro Safari (stand-by)

In between, if time - Maharajah Jungle Trek... not sure if this will be possible, but just in case!

8:30-9:30 - Expedition Everest FP+ (ride closer to the end of the FP time)

9:30-10:30 - Dinosaur FP+

During E.E. and Dinosaur time- Someone will stay with Harper (we will rider swap E.E. and Dino) and do the Boneyard, Tricera-Top Spin, Meet Goofy and Pluto. Addison can do this as well during the time Party #2 rides E.E. and Dino if she decides that she doesn't want to do them twice!

In between Dinosaur and Lunch- Try to meet Tigger, Pooh and Pocahontas... if time!

11:00-11:30 - Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ

12:00 - Finding Nemo the Musical

1:00 - Flights of Wonder (if everyone wants to... a.k.a. the girls aren't going crazy from sitting around after Nemo! If not we may hit up Maharajah Jungle Trek if we didn't do it before).

1:00-2:00 - Kali River Rapids FP+

2:00 - Leave A.K. (in laws may stay, but we'll take the girls back for rest/swim time)

2:30-2:45 - Get back to Pop

5:40 - Leave Pop and head to Wilderness Lodge

6:50 - ADR at Whispering Canyon Cafe

After Dinner - Magic Kingdom for a few rides if we are up to it! If not, we're heading back and hitting the hay for an early EMH day the next day at DHS!

How does this sound?? Critiques are most definitely welcome! Let me know if this seems doable or totally NOT doable!

Looks like a fun day! If anything, I'd probably do my FP+ for Expedition Everest a little later....I would think at 8:30 the standby should still be somewhat doable.

Hope y'all will enjoy Whispering Canyon! That's a fun place! You mentioned possibly going to MK....it's fun to take the boat ride from WL to MK. We just rode it over and back.....just for the views!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

I think your Animal Kingdom plan looks perfect! You will hit all the most important stuff. I like the idea of the kiddos doing the boneyard while everyone else rides the big stuff! I think your timing seems realistic for what you want to get done. So it should work out well! I can not wait to hear about Addison does on on EE and Dinousaur. We have never done any of the shows at AK except Its Tough to be a Bug. I always say this time lets try Nemo or Lion King and then somehow I end up skipping them. Someday we will try them I am sure. Looks like a good day!

 

[anniebabymu]

Yay!! Thanks for joining in!

Joining in!

We LOVED garden grill, and whispering canyon cafe. We loved whispering canyon enough that we're going back again and the only reason we're skipping garden grill is cause we want to hit a different character meal this time.

Glad to hear you loved these two! I've said it before, but I am soooooo excited about all of our ADR's! I can't wait to eat at our "repeats" again and most definitely can't wait to try out all the new ones!

And I second (third?) the idea to meet buzz and woody. That's one of my favorite meet and greets! The line is really fun and they're fun! But it definitely gets busy!! So hit it early!!

I hope they meet during morning ADR's! If not, I'll probably line up with the girls after TSMM anyways!

 

[anniebabymu]

Looks like a fun day! If anything, I'd probably do my FP+ for Expedition Everest a little later....I would think at 8:30 the standby should still be somewhat doable.

Thanks for the input! I think I was thinking of just getting E.E. out of the way! Ha ha... do the one that is going to freak me out the most done before I can second guess myself for going on it!

Hope y'all will enjoy Whispering Canyon! That's a fun place! You mentioned possibly going to MK....it's fun to take the boat ride from WL to MK. We just rode it over and back.....just for the views!

I figured that we had to get back to MK anyways to hop on a bus to head back to Pop... and I'm sure when we see park we won't be able to say no to it! We've never boated it to any of the resorts from MK, so I'm excited to do that!

 

[anniebabymu]

I think your Animal Kingdom plan looks perfect! You will hit all the most important stuff.

That's what I was hoping for! Knowing that we have neglected this park in the past, I really felt like I needed to put some type of timeline together to make sure it was realistic to hit up all of those things! Thanks for letting me know the timing does seem realistic! You know... everything always looks perfect on paper, but having not done it before you don't really know!

I like the idea of the kiddos doing the boneyard while everyone else rides the big stuff!

At first I kind of shrugged off the Boneyard thinking we wouldn't have time for it! Then I realized that Harper was going to need to have something to keep her occupied and not angry! I can just see the tantrums now... lol! So this will probably keep all the adults happier in return!

I can not wait to hear about Addison does on on EE and Dinousaur.

She loves BTMRR and the Barnstormer, but I know those are on the "tame" side. I'm a little nervous how she'll handle EE... and most definitely nervous about Dinosaur! I think if I warn her in advance and try to make the Dinosaurs a little funny she'll be better... we'll see I guess!

We have never done any of the shows at AK except Its Tough to be a Bug. I always say this time lets try Nemo or Lion King and then somehow I end up skipping them. Someday we will try them I am sure. Looks like a good day!

I'm the same way with the shows! I was ambitious thinking we'd do both our first trip, and of course that didn't happen! And Lion King is closed, so I knew we didn't have an excuse to not hit up Nemo! And before she was introduced to Toy Story, Harper was a Nemo freak! So I know she'll love it!

 

[blueangel2]

I'm the same way with the shows! I was ambitious thinking we'd do both our first trip, and of course that didn't happen! And Lion King is closed, so I knew we didn't have an excuse to not hit up Nemo! And before she was introduced to Toy Story, Harper was a Nemo freak! So I know she'll love it!

DCA has the musical Aladdin. Its an off broadway show. We took dd there when she was 2 years old for the first time, sat in the back at an end in case we had to take her out. The show was amazing and Kaylie was completely intrigued. She sat through the entire show with out saying anything, other than singing along to the songs. We have now seen that show about 3 or 4 times, because she wants to see it every time we walk past the building. It's a great show and a great way to take a break and get out of the heat. Harper will love nemo. My dh and I seen it when we were there in '08 and I can't wait for my kids to experience it.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

I think your plan looks good. AK is always a hard day for me to plan because I've never really liked it until this year. I'm not sure why but we had a great day there this time.

I think harper would be ok at nemo. it's not too long and when we went, our kids (and lots of others), stood in the row instead of sitting in their seat. besides that, they just get fascinated with the ginormous puppets and are sucked in!

 

[anniebabymu]

DCA has the musical Aladdin. Its an off broadway show. We took dd there when she was 2 years old for the first time, sat in the back at an end in case we had to take her out. The show was amazing and Kaylie was completely intrigued. She sat through the entire show with out saying anything, other than singing along to the songs. We have now seen that show about 3 or 4 times, because she wants to see it every time we walk past the building. It's a great show and a great way to take a break and get out of the heat. Harper will love nemo. My dh and I seen it when we were there in '08 and I can't wait for my kids to experience it.

I bet that would be an awesome show! My DH asked me the other day if I'd ever want to go out to Disneyland and DCA and I said yes! So if we ever make that trip a reality, we'll definitely have to check out Aladdin! Love that movie! And good call about sitting towards the back... just in case! I think she'll be fine, but you never know!

 

[anniebabymu]

I think your plan looks good. AK is always a hard day for me to plan because I've never really liked it until this year. I'm not sure why but we had a great day there this time.

I think harper would be ok at nemo. it's not too long and when we went, our kids (and lots of others), stood in the row instead of sitting in their seat. besides that, they just get fascinated with the ginormous puppets and are sucked in!

It looks like you had a great day there! Oh I can't wait!!

 

[anniebabymu]

I was making dinner tonight and Addison was begging Harper to come in the living room and help her pick out a movie to watch... but it HAD to be a Disney movie! I've seen many posts about Disney Movie Nights and always thought that it was a fantastic idea, so it dawned on me... I then asked Addie to come in the kitchen! I said to her, "Do you know what would be fun? What if you pick out a movie that 'matches' our meal!" She thought it was a wonderful idea... and it didn't even take her 10 seconds to think of the perfect movie!

Our dinner I was already making was Parmesan Chicken and Spaghetti... so what movie did she pick??



Lady and the Tramp!

It was nothing elaborate because we really did just decide to do it on the fly... so here are a few pics!




Of course, Addison thought it would be fun to "recreate" the spaghetti scene! So cute!



Harper loves spaghetti so much! We have to strip her down when she eats it because she will be covered head to toe! Lol!



All snuggled up! It's movie time!!

We had a great night and can't wait to do it again! Tomorrow we will be writing all the movies down on slips of paper that we'll put in a baggie to draw out before we make our weekly grocery store run! Addie is really excited about drawing out the movies and watching them every week! Hopefully my in laws will come out for a few of the movie nights to get into the Disney spirit!

Continued in Next Post​

 

[anniebabymu]

Before I hop into another update I just wanted to say that I e-mailed our friend (the wife) to kind of figure out what in the heck we were going to do in the parks the days their with us. As you can see.. we're pretty "go, go, go" tourers and I had no idea what to expect going with them! Well, it turns out they are get there early and leave late people... whew! I got a good feel of what rides/things to do are important to them so that's great to come up with some kind of "park plan" when we're with them! So now it's just a matter of trying to figure out what to cram in each day, but I feel a little more prepared to do so now! And I'd be lying if I said I didn't also try to convince them to staying on property purely to make FP+ easier on me to figure out! Ha ha! Not so sure I fully convinced her though

Okay... now onto the show!






Oh Day 8 and 9... oh how you throw me for a loop! I initially scheduled these days as "open" park days. I knew we'd be going to a park, but had no idea where. Now that I've written the week out up until now, I think I have some idea of where we'll be headed... but not really!

Nothing is really set in stone for these days... besides our ADR's and Friday night! And it will probably stay that way until I can get together with my in laws and figure out what they'd like to do! I want to give them an opportunity to ditch us if they'd like and do their own thing, so one of these days they may venture out into the great unknown. Without their travel planner... whatever will they do?!? Oh don't worry! I'll make sure they're in good hands before they leave!

Let's talk about Thursday (Day 8) first and why it throws me for a loop!

Thursday May 29th

Since it will have been a while since we've dedicated any real time to Magic Kingdom, I'd REALLY like to head there! This day they have early EMH and knowing how valuable morning park touring is now with FP+, that would be a perfect opportunity for us! So I thought... great, no brainer! We'll start out at Magic Kingdom and then head to Hollywood Studios for the evening so we can catch Fantasmic if we didn't see it the night before! Perfect... right?!?

No. Of course it can't be that easy! Why not? Because of our dinner ADR which will be all the way back by MK! Where are we eating?? Well, we have a 7:10 reservation at...



I am soooooooo excited to eat dinner here for the first time! With our reservation time, it makes sooooo much more sense if we spend our evening at Magic Kingdom. While, spending the whole day here wouldn't be awful... it is our last day to re-hit up Hollywood Studios if we want to thanks to Star Wars Weekends. We really aren't the biggest Star Wars fans... so dealing with those crowds really doesn't appeal to me at all! So we could hit up Hollywood Studios in the morning, but would then miss our on early EMH at Magic Kingdom. Blah!

Maybe I'll just set up our FP+ for Thursday for the evening at Magic Kingdom since we know that's pretty much a for sure thing and play the morning by ear. Ughhhh... there's just WAY too much uncertainty for my Type A self! Once I chat with the in laws, I may have a better handle on the day! Because maybe they'd rather spend the day by themselves at Epcot... and if that's the case, then I'm sure they want FP+ set up for themselves there!

Which pops another question in my mind! Maybe some of you can help! I'll have them in my My Disney Experience so I can make/change FP+ for them. And I know we can only book FP+ for one park per day. If my in laws are in my My Disney Experience, but they have their own separate room/tickets/dining package, can I book them FP+ for say Epcot in the morning and us for Magic Kingdom the same day... or is it only going to let us both book for the same park? Things that make you go hmmmmmm....

So after dinner we'll most likely head to Magic Kingdom and take advantage of everybody else watching MSEP and Wishes! Since we will have done both of these already... I'm sure nobody will be opposed to heading to rides during this time!

Then it's back to Pop to rest up for the next day!

Continued in Next Post... oh just scroll down! I'm on a roll tonight! ​

 

[anniebabymu]

Holy Moly... I'm on an updating spree tonight!

Day 9 Plans coming right up!

Friday, May 30th

Oh yes, Day 9. Another day of uncertainty! Maybe not as much of uncertainty as Day 8 though! Our evening is pretty much set in stone, but our morning is pretty much up in the air!

So this morning is dependent on a few things. Did we do Magic Kindgom all day the day before? Did my in laws decide to venture off on their own at Epcot the day before? If we did MK all day the day before, do we want to go back or would we rather head back to AK for awhile? Questions, questions, questions!

So our morning options include...
1. Going to Magic Kingdom if we didn't spend the full day on Thursday there.
2. Going to Epcot if my in laws didn't break free from us and we spent the whole day at MK.
3. Going back to Animal Kingdom

If my in laws spent time just the two of them at Epcot on Thursday, then the choices will probably be between Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. For two reasons, those are the #1 and #2 predicted parks to go to for the day and Derek and I will be spending some time at Epcot this night!

After our morning park we'll head back to Pop to swim/rest... then Derek and I will get ready for our **DATE NIGHT**

My in laws will be taking the girls to Chef Mickey's tonight for dinner at 7:00 and then possibly to Magic Kingdom if they feel up to it, but maybe they'll just head back to Pop and swim. And you know what... I don't really care what they do!! Ha ha!! I'll be busy spending some quality time with my hubby!!!

Derek and I have dinner plans at Via Napoli at 7:00 and then drinking around the World! Well... we won't be taking the full Drinking Around the World challenge, but we'll definitely partake in more than we would if we had children around! I know there are more "romantic" places to eat at Epcot than Via Napoli, but we LOVED it there our last trip! And 9 months later I'm still craving some Zeppole for dessert!

My hubby and I have not taken a child free trip to Disney, so all of our trips have involved pushing a stroller, taking care of a melting down child, keeping tabs on our children and pretty much doing whatever they want. So needless to say... I'M REALLY FREAKING EXCITED!!!

Epcot also has evening EMH this night that we will be staying for! And I'm really hoping that my in laws take it upon themselves to let the girls sleep in their room for the night so we don't wake them up when stumbling in at midnight!

Have I said that I *really* can't wait for this night?!?!?

And I just realized how "text heavy" this update is... and of course I can't leave it like that! Here are a few pics from our last trip of our priceless meet and greet with Ariel in her Grotto! Ariel started talking to Addie about all of her sisters... then she looked at Harper and said, "Your sister has really little fins (feet)... are they ticklish?" The she and Addie had to try and see! Then she asked Addie, "Do you want to see if my fin is ticklish?!?" Of course Addie jumped on it So cute!





What is in store for our last full day at Disney... a.k.a. the 2nd worst day of your trip... with departure day being the 1st of course! You'll just have to wait and find out because three updates is enough for one night! I will leave you with a teaser though! It is chalked full of FUN!!

Continued in Next Post​

 

[AprilRenee]

For day 8 why don't you do MK in the morning, hop to HS around noon when MK gets busy, use your FP+ there, then at dinner time go to ohana and then back to MK for evening. It doesn't take THAT much time to hop over to HS and then there will be a bus directly back to the poly from HS so getting to dinner will be easy. I think there are buses from MK to the other parks. But if not, you can take the monorail to Epcot and then the boat to HS.

And I think you should be able to make separate FP+ reservations for your in laws. I mean you can do different rides I would think you can also do different parks. As long as that person has all 3 in the same park.

Yay for date night at Disney!!

Free choice days are my favorite days at Disney. Every time we leave our last day open to decide on while on our trip. And that's always my favorite day! Haha
FP+ kinda makes that hard, but I think if you decide the night before and make your FP+ choices then you'll probably be ok.

 

[melnbil]

Plans sound great! I wish I could have a date night while we are there, unfortunately there is only the three of us, so we just bring tag-along with us.

 

[lsenquiz]

Commenting on Hollywood Studios day

Hollywood Studios is our favorite park. There is really nothing at this park we do not like (although the stunt show is close for me). I also think that with this park more than any other you need a plan. This is because alot of this park is shows and they are only at certain times.

Our touring plan for DHS usually look like this:

Rope Drop
Star Tours
Rock N Roller Coaster
Tower of Terrer
Indiana Jones - 11:15am
Lunch
Beauty and the Beast - 1pm
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Disney Jr - 2:20pm
Toy Story Mania
Great Movie Ride
Lights Motor Action Stunt Show - 4:10pm
Muppet Vision 3d
Dinner at 50's Prime Time
Fantasmic

Normally we do not do Fantasmic(it is just not something we enjoy) but I am planning it for our September trip for two reasons:

1) We have newbies coming with us and I do not want to decide for them whether they like it or not
2) I plan to get the Glow Ears and they work with Fantasmic

 

[blueangel2]

A date night sound fun! I'm hoping that we will get to experience that one night on our trip...and my parents can do their own thing on another night.

Two days not completely planned...I bet you are I'd be so frustrated

 

[Jackiemarie21]

A date night, you two are such lucky ducks! Someday, maybe we cant talk my parents into going and giving us a date night! Someday!

I think you might be happy that days 8 and 9 are kind of uncertain when you get there. You just never know what little corner of the "world" you may want some more time. For longer trips its kind of nice to have some time to go back and do other things you may have missed or want to do again.

'Ohana is totally worth working around, it is amazing! You guys will love it!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Disney date night? awesome!! you should be excited!

i don't know how fastpass works when you're all in the same party but going to different parks. i'd just say try it when you are able to make your FP selections and see what comes up. it does let you choose who in your party you want for that selection, so it might be fine. also, we didn't have any trouble changing things on the app on my phone when we were there, so i'd just also say not to worry too much. i found it really easy to change things on the fly.

love the lady and the tramp pictures! how cute to recreate the spaghetti scene with dad!