Around the world in 16 days a May 2014 PTR - Updated 2/14 - Day 3

[lsenquiz]

Day 1
Thursday May 29th
Travel day and Boardwalk Villas check-in​

Today is Gabriel’s last day of school so I am not sure exactly when we will get on the road. I am hoping that his end of year celebration will have already happened and that there will be nothing special planned at school for this day. If so, we will not bother sending him and will get on the road very early (or maybe even the night before and drive part of the way).

If we get a really early or night before start then we will stop at my Dad’s house which is about 30 minutes north of Disney and visit for a couple of hours.


DSC03143 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Gabriel with my Dad

Then I hope to arrive here no later than 3pm.


DSC04557 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Since our room will be ready we will quickly unpack and then head down to the pool


DSC04855 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC04854 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC04860 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC04866 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC04867 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

We will hang out here until dinner time when we will grab a pizza from here:


Boardwalk Pizza by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Borrowed from the internet
We love this pizza!

After dinner we may walk over to the Beach Club and roast some marshmallows on the beach.


DSC03261 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

We will also check out the Movie schedule and may catch the movie on the beach if we are not too tired and it is something Gabriel wants to see:


DSC03263 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After the movie we will head up to the room and call it a night. We have to be up bright and early the next day for our first Star Wars weekend day.

 

[lsenquiz]

Day 2
Friday May 30th
First SWW day Part 1​

Today will be the first of two Star Wars weekend days we have planned for this trip. This will be our 3rd time attending SWW. We attended the first time in 2011 and then again last May. I have to be honest, I have very mixed feelings about SWW. I love taking Gabriel because he loves Star Wars but I absolutely HATE the way Disney handles the character interactions.

For anyone that has never been to SWWs before most of the characters are grouped into 3 or 4 and they rotate in 15 to 20 minute segments. So when you get into line you really have no idea who you might meet when you get to the front. For our trip last May I had a goal to get a picture with every Star Wars character. We went to three SWW days and I came very close to succeeding. I got everyone except Luke, Leia and Vador Goofy. However all the pictures came with a lot of wasted time, stress and one complete meltdown. So this year we will see the characters we can easily get to and absolutely NOT stress out about the rest.

So we will be up bright and early this day to head to Hollywood Studios. We always walk over when we stay at Boardwalk Villas so I will be happy if we start walking by 7:00am. I suspect the park will officially open at 8am but it is not unusual for them to open early on Star Wars days so I want to make sure we are ready to go through the entry gates by 7:30am.

Once everything opens, we will head immediately to get Gabriel signed up for Padawan Mind Challenge.


DSC03817 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

He did this last year but got rained out 5 minutes into the show so I want him to get another try. They only do 2 shows a day with about 20 children per show so we need to make our way straight over there if we want Gabriel to be one of the 40 children signed up for this day.

We will head over to Gabriels favorite ride next - Star Tours!


DSC03771 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Kenny and Gabriel will go ahead and ride while I hold a place in line for all of us to see this fellow:


Photo0125FourBySix by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

We will continue to meet and greet until our FP+ time opens for Tour Story Mania. I hope to squeeze in several M&Gs:


DSC03228 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Commander Cody shares an M&G with Captain Rex and Ventress so we will be fine with whom ever we get.


DSC03242 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Shaak Ti & Mace Windu share an M&G with Kit Fisto & Anakin Skywalker


DSC03233 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Then we will head here:


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


I am hoping to get a FP+ window between 9:30am 10:30am

DSC03834 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After our ride we will head over to find a spot to watch the Motorcade:

DSC03781 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03783 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03799 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03805 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
This fellow stayed at the same resort as us last year.

Up next; more M&Gs, Padawan mind challenge & Hoopla

 

[lsenquiz]

Day 2
Friday May 30th
First SWW day Part 2​

When I left off last we had just finished watching the Motorcade parade. We will probably be hot and hungry by now so we will go ahead and grab some lunch at the only counter service restaurant we like in HS.


Pizza-Planet_Full_12783 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Borrowed from the Internet

After lunch we will try for some more M&Gs. We will just focus on seeing some of the Roamers. These are characters that just walk through the park. You do not wait in line to see them you just walk up. I am not a big fan of this process either because it is really hard to see one of these without accidently cutting in front of someone else because you have no idea whose turn it is. However if you dont just walk up when an opening opens up you will never see anyone.

Roamers:

Photo0087FourBySix by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
She is my favorite


DSC03258 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03247 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
I love these guys!!!

Then I think it will be time for Padawan Mind Challenge. I am hoping that Gabriel gets into the 1:30pm show.


DSC03819 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Every child that participates in Padawan Mind Challenge gets a Star Wars figure.

Next we will take an M&G break to see this show:

DSC04261 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After that we will try to see one of my favorites:


DSC03246 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

She is part of the Cody, Rex & Ventress M&G but really hard to see because she helps with the Jedi Training and so only has a few short M&Gs spots per day

We will also try for:


photo4 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
If we dont get Boba we will get Jango because they share an M&G

By now I suspect it will be time for dinner and we will have reservations at our favorite TS restaurant in all of Disney - 50s prime time. I always order the Roast Beef. It is so yummy!!!!


DSC03848 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After dinner we will try for a few more roamer M&Gs and then find a spot to watch:


DSC03873 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03860 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

We always watch it on the American Idol Screen because trying to get a spot to see the stage is just too crowded. Last year someone got the great idea to pull some nearby benches over to watch which was awesome.


DSC03858 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After that we will call it a day! Up next - Epcot

 

[twinsouvenirs]

how cool!!!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

great pictures!!!

 

[lsenquiz]

how cool!!!

great pictures!!!

Thanks. I think I took over 2500 pictures on our 15 day trip last May so I love getting to share them again

 

[lsenquiz]

Resort Change​

We have decided to change our split stay to a triple split. Now we will be 7 days at BWV, 3 days at AKV & 6 days at VWL!

We booked our three days with a Savannah view in Kidani Village:


animal-kingdom-villas by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


AnimalKingdomVillas_room by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

I am planning two down days and 1 day at Animal Kingdom while we are here so we are really going to get to explore the resort.

I would love to hear feedback or see pictures from those that have stayed at Animal Kingdom and especially anyone who has had a Kidani Savannah view.

Also, for anyone that has stayed here before, do you make a special room request to ensure that you have the best view of the animals? I am hoping for a view that includes these:


AKL_01 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

 

[lsenquiz]

Day 3
Saturday May 31st
Epcot Part 1​

Today we are headed to Epcot. Since it is only a 5 minutes trip from our room we will be able to sleep in a little but still get there for opening. The plan will be to head here first thing to ride standby because we will save our tier 1 FP+ for Test Track:


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

This is my absolute favorite ride!

Next we will head here:


DSC03677 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

This was the very first ride Gabriel ever rode as a baby. We will probably spend a good deal of time in ImageWorks. Gabriel loves this area.


DSC03679 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03680 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Then we will head here:


DSC03683 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
After we ride we will head straight to here:


Turtle-Talk-with-Crush by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Borrowed from the internet

We love Crush and never skip it. In fact, there have been trips in the past where we have seen it 5 or more times in a single trip.

After we spend some time with the “Dude” we will walk around the aquariums until our FP+ opens for Test track. Last year we were lucky enough to see them do an experiment with the Dolphins while we were there which was really cool.


DSC03714 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03732 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

I am hoping to get a FP+ time for TT right before lunch.


DSC03892 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


47794580008 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

So after our ride we will head here to eat. This is my second favorite CS restaurant.


la cantina by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Borrowed from the internet

Up Next; where will we go after lunch???

 

[lsenquiz]

Day 3
Saturday May 31st
Epcot Part 2​

When I left off last we were eating lunch. So sfter lunch we will head to Mission Space:


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Then to Innoventions East and West.


Innoventions by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Borrowed from the internet

Gabriel loves this place and he can spend hours here. We have favorites in both East and West. Some of the ones we will be sure to see are:


DSC05129 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC04110 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC04102 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC05128 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC05130 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After we have had our fill of Innoventions, we will head to the big golf ball(Space Ship Earth).


Photo0120FourBySix by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After the ride we will spend some time here:


DSC04095 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

When we are done here we will make our way back to the World Showcase and meander our way through starting with Mexico. We spent about 4 hours walking through here last year and really enjoyed it.


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03913 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03912 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

We will time our tour so we end up in Japan at the same time as our dinner reservation. We will be eating at Tappen Edo which is one of Gabriel’s favorite TS restaurants. He loves the noodles.


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC03758 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After dinner we will find a spot to watch Illuminations. We do not have to have a fantastic view just a decent one that allows us to exit the park through the World Showcase without hitting too big of a crowd. Long days like this really make me glad that our room is just a 5 minute walk from the park.

 

[lsenquiz]

101 Days until our Disney Vacation​

101 days until Disney Vacation by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

​