A Whole New World: DL vets go to WDW! January 2019 PTR

[Collmal]

As a couple, DH and I visited Disneyland once a year or so until we had our first child. When she was 2, our family began visiting Disneyland once or twice a year, even after adding little sister! We took a break to buy a house and visit Aulani a couple of times, and now we are heading to WDW!

Our cast of characters is myself, DH, DD10, DD6, DMIL, and DFIL.

We will be staying at Saratoga Springs from January 3-11; it extends our winter break, but the girls will be on independent study, so there will be no impact to their attendance or academics.

My initial plan so far is this:
Thursday, January 3:
Travel Day; we arrive in Orlando at 3:15. I plan to check in, and either eat dinner at the resort or Disney Springs, and explore Disney Springs for the evening. We will need to go to bed early for the next day!

Friday, January 4:
Magic Kingdom, because I believe trips should begin and end with the castle! It is an early EMH, so we will be at the bus stop a bit before 7 since EMH starts at 8am. We have a 10 am ADR at CRT, and I’m not sure if I want to try BBB before or later in the day. I also definitely want to to the HEA dessert party with Garden Plaza viewing, but I am struggling with whether we should do the before or after party!

Saturday, January 5:
Epcot day. We have a 8:40am pre-RD ADR at Garden Grill that I am trying to move up closer to 8. Will they let me in at 8? I’d like to be able to get in an early ride on Soarin’!

Sunday, January 6:
Hollywood Studios. Another early EMH day! I am debating on a late H&V breakfast ADR. Definitely want to sign up for Jedi training for the girls and want to do the Star Wars fireworks dessert party. I’m debating how much of a priority Fantasmic should be; we’ve watched it a million (give or take ) times at DL, so should we try to squeeze it in at WDW?

Monday, January 7:
The last high crowd level day of our trip, so I thought we’d sleep in and then see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time! I hear Cocoa Beach is a good one, but not sure how to get there. Uber? Rent a car? We will be going to Universal on the 11th and need to get there and to the airport on the 13th, too. I definitely need advice and suggestions!

Tuesday, January 8:
Animal Kingdom. I have an 8:05 Tusker House ADR (pre-RD), so I am hoping for an early Safari! This ADR also has ROL preferred seating. We also have a 5pm Rainforest Cafe ADR.

Wednesday, January 9:
Park hop day! We have a 1pm ADR at BOG, so I know we will be at MK to ride what we missed or loved, but no other plans yet. I figure FP+ luck might help plan this day.

Thursday, January 10:
Our last Disney day, and another day I plan to hop. These last two days I plan to take Minnie Vans between parks.

I am furiously planning FP+ reservations now!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Joining in. I'm bring my 5 yo girls for our first family trip in February-March 2019. Your plans look like tons of fun!

I also definitely want to to the HEA dessert party with Garden Plaza viewing, but I am struggling with whether we should do the before or after party!

That's a long day for a 6 yo to start off a long week with lots of early mornings. You know your kids, but mine would be total crabs the whole trip if I started things off with that long of a day- they'd just never recover. I'd do the party later in the week on a morning you aren't RDing EMH. If that doesn't work, then I'd definitely pick the before party.

We have a 8:40am pre-RD ADR at Garden Grill that I am trying to move up closer to 8. Will they let me in at 8?

So, I know regardless of whether you have an 8:05 or and 8:30, you can go in before 8, check in at GG, and they will often seat you right away rather than making you wait for your reservation time. I think the cut off is reservations before 8:45, but maybe ask on the dining reservation board to be sure.

We also have a 5pm Rainforest Cafe ADR.

For that time in January, RoL is a 7:15 start, so you have to be there by 7:00 at the very latest to use your dining pass (for better seats, 6:45 arrival). After 7, seats are no longer guaranteed. Rainforest is all the way out past the main entrance and the dining plan entrance for RoL is up in Asia, about a half mile walk. If that reservation has a delay in getting you seated, or service is slow, you could be cutting it really close on RoL.

 

[disney-inspired]

Joining in - fellow DL vet over here!
We're going in late January but love seeing other people's plans!