At Least We Are All Tall Enough For Barnstormer! A June 2017 PTR...updated 6/1

[kastoney]

Thanks for the shout-out, I didn't know you had a PTR going on. But I'm here now!!!!!!!

Agree with Ariane that skipping boathouse is likely a good idea, at least on your first day. I'd take it nice and slow, enjoy the pool, then perhaps just eat at Whispering Canyon that night or take the boat to FW and try trails end. If you did the ladder they also have the campfire/movie with chip and dale that the boys would likely love.

 

[ArielSRL]

I hate to say it, but I think dropping the Boathouse will probably end up being the best thing I'm dying to try it also so I understand you booking it anyway and I'd do the same thing, but after this years trip I KNOW you don't want to rush on arrival day. If you do arrive by 2, get to the pool by 3 and back to the room to change by 4:30, to the bus stop by 5:30...... You're looking at at least 6 for DS. And that's IF you arrive by 2. Plus you may want an early night. So dropping Boathouse and maybe using your coercion skills to woo AJ away from the pool with the promise of Legos lol may fit your plan better. Sorry Renee

No need to apologize. Thank you for the opinion! I pretty much agree. The more I think of it, the more I think I may not even make the ADR. I just don't see where it will work out. But I'm ok with it. I've been thinking we will need to not do a family Disney trip in 2018 to do repairs around the house with our tax refund money (what we use for our Disney vaca) but I'm gonna push for a long weekend with DH, so Boathouse might be better for that anyway.

 

[ArielSRL]

Thanks for the shout-out, I didn't know you had a PTR going on. But I'm here now!!!!!!!

Agree with Ariane that skipping boathouse is likely a good idea, at least on your first day. I'd take it nice and slow, enjoy the pool, then perhaps just eat at Whispering Canyon that night or take the boat to FW and try trails end. If you did the ladder they also have the campfire/movie with chip and dale that the boys would likely love.

Welcome! I just started so you aren't late! And yes, I'm pretty much in agreeance on skipping Boathouse. I'm thinking more of a QS, whether it be Roaring Fork or one at DS. We are def doing WCC and Trails End (for brunch) but later in the week. I need to see if I can fit that campfire in somewhere though.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Jfsag123]

So over the past few days I've been narrowing down ADR times and I think I have a pretty good idea save 15 or 30 minutes either way. Of course, that bugs me somewhat bc that's what happened to me last trip and I ended up having to try to change times by about 30 min or so to fit better in our schedule after we got all the updated info from Disney like 2 weeks out. But it is what it is. I'll wait til the hours are published next week before finalizing and posting.

I'm back today though bc I think I've already made changes...lol. After reading @kastoney 's report about Beaches and Cream, I really think my boys would love this (and me, too)! Seems like a fun meal. So I started looking to see where I could fit this in our plans and we all know how lacking DHS is in food options, so what better to add it on a DHS day! I mean, it is just a boat ride away (is 30 min a good amount of time to plan for the boat, each way?) so why not?

But then I started thinking how out of control my dining has gotten, so 1) I need to figure up approximate costs and 2) I probably need to drop at least one planned TS. Since I have been going back and forth with The Boathouse ADR on arrival day, that is probably the one I'll end up cutting. I hate to give it up bc I have heard sooooo many good things and the options look great but I do not want to feel rushed/overbooked on arrival day. That's what happened last year and it set the tone for the entire trip.

I'll still end up booking the ADR just because who knows what may change between now and then, but I'm fairly certain we will give it up.

I'm going back and forth on Beaches and Cream myself. I had it scheduled originally this year then ended up cancelling, though we did get ice cream from the to-go counter. I think 30 minutes each way is fine for the boat ride. A lot of it will depend on your timing for arriving to catch a boat. I think there was one time in the middle of the day when we just missed a boat and the wait for the next one was about 10 minutes. The ride is nice and relaxing.

And yes, I agree, I would drop the Boathouse ADR and free yourself up on arrival night just in case. There are a lot of good QS options in DS or you also have the option of the Wilderness Lodge restaurants.

 

[ArielSRL]

I'm going back and forth on Beaches and Cream myself. I had it scheduled originally this year then ended up cancelling, though we did get ice cream from the to-go counter. I think 30 minutes each way is fine for the boat ride. A lot of it will depend on your timing for arriving to catch a boat. I think there was one time in the middle of the day when we just missed a boat and the wait for the next one was about 10 minutes. The ride is nice and relaxing.

And yes, I agree, I would drop the Boathouse ADR and free yourself up on arrival night just in case. There are a lot of good QS options in DS or you also have the option of the Wilderness Lodge restaurants.

Thanks for the reply! BandC sounds fun, and the sundaes....oh my! I had heard the boat ride is about 20 min but I figured that's only if you get right on...so I was hoping 30 would be a good average. I guess we could walk if need be but who wants to in all that heat?

Thanks for the opinion on Boathouse. I was just being overly ambitious when I first started planning. after the dust settled and I started looking at those plans more closely, I knew it was too much. Thanks for agreeing with me...lol!

 

[ArielSRL]

Still waiting on hours to be posted. I was going to post my updated plans tonight, regardless, but I'm enjoying my wine a bit too much tonight. I'm off for a week so what can I say? I'll update tomorrow, I think! Maybe we will get June hours by then...or they could just be locked away somewhere with ROL. Haha

 

[ArielSRL]

Updated Park/ADR List

Okay, so June hours were released today and I don't see any major changes. EMH's are the same as the previous months. We all know they will, most likely, extend hours at least 1/2 a month out, if not a few other times before the trip. Last year they had PM EMH at DHS on Friday night and they have it added to most upcoming months but not after February, so we'll see if they add that in. Of course, we are avoiding almost all EMH except the Friday AM one at MK.

I did decide to skip The Boathouse on arrival day, though it is killing me to give that up. There are just so many good reviews. Oh well...another trip. I decided to add Beaches and Cream. So here's what I have planned so far:

Sat 6/3 (Arrival Day) ~ Arrive between 1 and 3pm, get unpacked and settled in room, explore resort, swim (?), QS at Roaring Fork, Disney Springs (Lego Store, Once Upon a Toy, Tren-D, World of Disney).
Sun 6/4 (MK rope drop, midday break, back for evening) ~ Crystal Palace 10:30am, QS either 5pm or 7pm.
Mon 6/5 (Epcot rope drop, midday break, DHS evening) ~ Garden Grill 10/10:15ish, early QS dinner at PizzeRizzo, Star Wars Dessert Party.
Tues 6/6 (MK rope drop, midday break, back for evening) ~ BOG lunch 11/11:30am, WCC dinner 5pm
Wed 6/7 (Epcot rope drop, midday break, back for evening) ~ Les Halles later breakfast, Via Napoli dinner 6:30/7pm, Illuminations. I would love for us to go to MK for PM EMH here but I think that might be pushing it too much. Though, I might could help Chad back to the room with the boys and then head over for a little bit myself, seeing as I'll be right there at WL. Hmmmmm, food for thought.
Thurs 6/8 (AK rope drop, midday break, back for evening depending upon hours) ~ I want to stop at Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery for a bite (maybe first thing after KS) but we may still need a QS lunch before our break, Sanaa 5:30pm.
Fri 6/9 (MK rope drop, midday break, back for evening) ~ O'hana 11:15am, QS around 5 or 7pm.
Sat 6/10 (DHS, midday break, back for evening) ~ H&V PPO 8:10ish, Beaches and Cream 5:45pm, Fantasmic.
Sun 6/11 (Departure Day) ~ Trail's End brunch buffet 12pm

So yes, there is a lot of rope drop mornings, and I truly want to try to hit them all. I've just seen how much can be done during that time, while we MISSED it. I know it may be hard to do late nights and early mornings but we have the midday breaks planned and I feel like we can get a good 4, possibly 5, hour break in, if we can get to RD and get a lot accomplished. We will also have the double stroller if the boys fall asleep at times of the day other than our break. The Friday at MK will definitely be an 8am opening if EMH stays the same and probably even if it doesn't. Currently Tuesdays are EMM mornings, so that would be a 9am opening for non-EMM attendees (like us). Sunday, I am unsure of because that was EMM previously when they had 2 going. Now there is only one, so who knows if they will add back another one for the busier months. It would actually be nice if it was a non-EMM morning and an 8am regular opening, being as that is our first park day and we should be raring to go.

Also, I don't know which night I will try to see Wishes and Once Upon a Time (which I'm not thrilled about and we may skip if it is still 45 minutes after Wishes). Plus who knows if they add a nighttime parade by then. Last June, we did CtM and Wishes on a different night than MSEP and that worked out well. Most likely we will do them on Sunday or Tuesday night, as opposed to Friday, bc we will have the PPO breakfast on Saturday, though it sure would be nice to have that as one of our last MK memories.

As far as Jedi Training, we will do that Saturday and that is the reason for the H&V PPO. If they end up not allowing sign ups before breakfast, then we would cancel the PPO and probably just do a QS early lunch. Last June, we signed up for the last JTA. I wanted it to be a little cooler for AJ and I wanted to see if they would light up the light sabers. However, it back fired b/c it got cancelled and we got washed out bc of the rain. I will definitely watch the weather forecast for that day, but I'm thinking it might be better to do the first show so that we just get it done and out of the way. Also, the timing of the Beaches and Cream ADR might mess with a 7:40 JTA bc AJ would have to report by 7:10. I could make the B&C ADR sooner, but I want to try to hit Character Palooza before getting on the boat over to B&C.

As you can see, some of our QS are planned and I will probably plan them out further but will leave most of them as flexible, most likely. My DH loves the Muppets so we are going to hit up PizzeRizzo even if its for something light before the SW Dessert party.

I would love to hear your opinions. See any red flags? Please let me know. ADR day is Monday, December 5th and I am taking off the morning to make sure I get it all done without the anxiety of trying to get ready for work, as well.

Up next: Booked ADR List

 

[Jfsag123]

Your plans look great to me! So far it looks like we will only overlap on one day - 6/7 at Epcot. I think you can do it with the rope drops, and you know I come as a big time non-morning person. Do your boys tend to wake up early normally or are they typically late sleepers? I know that can potentially make a big difference in how well multiple days of RD go over.

I love that you found spots for both night time things at DHS. I'm struggling with that! And maybe this year we'll have Rivers of Light...maybe

 

[ArielSRL]

Your plans look great to me! So far it looks like we will only overlap on one day - 6/7 at Epcot. I think you can do it with the rope drops, and you know I come as a big time non-morning person. Do your boys tend to wake up early normally or are they typically late sleepers? I know that can potentially make a big difference in how well multiple days of RD go over.

I love that you found spots for both night time things at DHS. I'm struggling with that! And maybe this year we'll have Rivers of Light...maybe

Thank you so much for the input. My boys usually get up around 7 or 7:30. Even if they go to bed late. Will is the only one that can sleep late but he can also wake up real early. MK may be rough but the other parks should be ok. Though I'm also thinking MK will be the easiest to get to from WL. The rest of the parks, we will drive to. I'll probably wake up first and get everything going and get them up as late as I can. I just need to make sure we stick to the midday break schedule so we get that rest time in.

Yes, both DHS evening events are a priority so I had to make the time. I'm a little worried about not having enough Epcot time, though, but we'll make it work. It shouldn't be my least favorite park but it kind of currently is.

Ok, so we will definitely have to schedule a mini meet for 6/7! I'm looking forward to (hopefully) finally meeting you!

 

[Jfsag123]

Thank you so much for the input. My boys usually get up around 7 or 7:30. Even if they go to bed late. Will is the only one that can sleep late but he can also wake up real early. MK may be rough but the other parks should be ok. Though I'm also thinking MK will be the easiest to get to from WL. The rest of the parks, we will drive to. I'll probably wake up first and get everything going and get them up as late as I can. I just need to make sure we stick to the midday break schedule so we get that rest time in.

Yes, both DHS evening events are a priority so I had to make the time. I'm a little worried about not having enough Epcot time, though, but we'll make it work. It shouldn't be my least favorite park but it kind of currently is.

Ok, so we will definitely have to schedule a mini meet for 6/7! I'm looking forward to (hopefully) finally meeting you!

Mine are also early risers regardless of bedtime. It helps a lot for RD! We adults can force ourselves out of bed each day with our eyes on the prize, but I don't know how successful we'd be if we had kids that were going to fight us on that. And I approach the mornings similarly to what you're talking about. I do as much as I can the night before (re-organizing the park bag, laying out clothes for the kids), then DH and I get up a little before them to have ourselves ready and divide and conquer in prepping the kids. I value every precious moment of sleep in the mornings and have found this to be the best way to get me the most moments.

The midday breaks help so much too! I was worried this time because none of us ever napped on the breaks except one person one day (...me...) and I didn't know how useful they would be for recharging and being able to go back and not wear out in the evenings, but it worked wonderfully. And yeah, getting to the MK when you're already in the MK resort area is sooo much easier and faster. I obviously can't comment on coming from WL on the boat, but we have done the boat to and from GF and it was great.

That meet-up is happening! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

 

[ArielSRL]

Mine are also early risers regardless of bedtime. It helps a lot for RD! We adults can force ourselves out of bed each day with our eyes on the prize, but I don't know how successful we'd be if we had kids that were going to fight us on that. And I approach the mornings similarly to what you're talking about. I do as much as I can the night before (re-organizing the park bag, laying out clothes for the kids), then DH and I get up a little before them to have ourselves ready and divide and conquer in prepping the kids. I value every precious moment of sleep in the mornings and have found this to be the best way to get me the most moments.

The midday breaks help so much too! I was worried this time because none of us ever napped on the breaks except one person one day (...me...) and I didn't know how useful they would be for recharging and being able to go back and not wear out in the evenings, but it worked wonderfully. And yeah, getting to the MK when you're already in the MK resort area is sooo much easier and faster. I obviously can't comment on coming from WL on the boat, but we have done the boat to and from GF and it was great.

That meet-up is happening! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

I do the whole outfit in ziplock bag thing for the boys, which is so helpful! Yeh, I think the boys will be good. If I'm worried about anything it would be the Friday and Saturday bc we are doing 8am EMH at MK then PPO breakfast at DHS, and those are our last days. But maybe we will just make the nights before earlier nights based on how we feel.

But like I mentioned, I'm just truly hoping the schedule works out and as long as we can get to the parks early, those midday breaks should work out.

I'm getting so excited for ADR day!

 

[ArielSRL]

Just some ramblings....

One - I like that my DH is hands off on the planning but I don't like how I can't bounce things off him. For one, he really has no idea what I'm talking about and two, he doesn't care to know. He wants a trip all boxed and wrapped and delivered with a big bow. So it gets frustrating sometimes. As far as ADRs, it's ok, because I just need to make sure there is something on the menu he will eat (example: a steak). But soon enough, I will need his input on attractions....bc I really, truly don't know enough about his amusement park habits as we haven't ever attended one together.

Two - I'm annoyed because apparently the WCC menu has changed somewhat. For one, prices were raised a little bit. I can get over that, but the thing I'm most annoyed about is it appears they took the crab cake off the menu and that's what I planned to order! I am not a BBQ fan at all, and because we took Boathouse off the schedule, I was really looking forward to the crab cake at WCC. I'll still book it because one, we will be right there at WL, two, my DH is a huge BBQ/brisket type fan and we never have it at home bc I don't like it, and three, I think it will be fun for everyone, especially the boys. I'm hoping maybe it was a seasonal thing and maybe they will put it back on? If not, I may end up ordering the steak, but then there goes my plan of ordering apps and desserts at TS. I mean, I honestly don't need a huge entree, drinks, and dessert. I'm going to have to watch that menu as the trip gets closer.

Ok, I think that's enough ramblings for Thanksgiving...unless I think of some more later on! Time for dinner....nom, nom.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I think your plans look great! Your meals are making me so hungry...less than 10 days for us until we fly down!
I would like to try the boathouse too but it's been so much of an afterthought since we are big park people that we can't get to Disney Springs as often.
I think your plans to hit up Pizzarizzo is good idea for a quick meal before SW fireworks!

 

[ArielSRL]

I think your plans look great! Your meals are making me so hungry...less than 10 days for us until we fly down!
I would like to try the boathouse too but it's been so much of an afterthought since we are big park people that we can't get to Disney Springs as often.
I think your plans to hit up Pizzarizzo is good idea for a quick meal before SW fireworks!

Thanks for your input! Yes, I am a huge park person, too, so I can't dedicate more than one evening to DS. My DH loves the Muppets so I had to get PizzeRizzo in.

 

[ArielSRL]

Ok, so not an official update but ADR day is Monday, so I'll have one after that. Hoping it all goes well, though I'm sure the plans will at least need to be tweaked several times as we get closer to June and things play out with updated hours and/or experiences. Still excited for that initial booking though!

On another note, I spent one day last week just planning out my adult beverages for our AK day. I printed out menus and looked at maps and even started a touring plan, all so I could plan when and what I want to drink! Lol.

The stand outs are a frozen run and coke (love frozen cokes) or an Island Cappucino (too hot?) from Isle of Java, a Tikiti Punch or Sugar Cane Mojito from Dawa Bar, a Pineapple Dole Whip with rum from Tamu Tamu (of course!), and a Himalayan Ghost from Thirsty River. Anybody have any input on these or others you really liked?

I'll have to plan out the other two adult drinking parks as well!

Oh, also looking at what I want to order from Kusafiri in the AM. Looking at the breakfast wrap but really, I think the sweet things are probably the way to go here. I like the sound of the elephant ear, the brownie paw, the danish chocolate twist or one of the speciality cupcakes (leaning toward the White Chocolate Elephant)!

Also thinking Flame Tree for QS lunch. I'm not a big BBQ fan but hubs is and they have hot dogs for the boys, so I'll probably make do with something.

Anyway, just something to do to pass the time. 181 (since its past midnight...lol) more days!

 

[ariane37]

OMG I haven't commented in a long time That stinks about the crab cake at WCC. I get why they change menus of course but it's annoying. I wasn't happy at all when they changed the LTT lunch menu about a month before our Thanksgiving trip. I get why you'll still book it (and speaking of, YAY for ADR day tomorrow!!!) and I suppose if you have to go off-plan and order an entree there it's not that huge a deal, then you can stick to your app/dessert plan everywhere else. But I'll cross my fingers they bring the crab cake back
I think that's great you have an adult beverage list for AK lol!! Sadly I haven't had any on your "to drink" list - I've had plain old beer there, of course the delicious sangria from Harambe Market and a drink from Yak and Yet QS but I can't remember the name. However I betcha when you post your Epcot adult beverage list I'll be able to comment there
Good luck tomorrow! And after you're done making your ADR's, enjoy your day off

 

[ArielSRL]

OMG I haven't commented in a long time That stinks about the crab cake at WCC. I get why they change menus of course but it's annoying. I wasn't happy at all when they changed the LTT lunch menu about a month before our Thanksgiving trip. I get why you'll still book it (and speaking of, YAY for ADR day tomorrow!!!) and I suppose if you have to go off-plan and order an entree there it's not that huge a deal, then you can stick to your app/dessert plan everywhere else. But I'll cross my fingers they bring the crab cake back
I think that's great you have an adult beverage list for AK lol!! Sadly I haven't had any on your "to drink" list - I've had plain old beer there, of course the delicious sangria from Harambe Market and a drink from Yak and Yet QS but I can't remember the name. However I betcha when you post your Epcot adult beverage list I'll be able to comment there
Good luck tomorrow! And after you're done making your ADR's, enjoy your day off

It's ok about the commenting. I'm not really on any normal posting schedule so it's hard to keep up, plus you were busy getting ready and enjoying your trip! Btw, I commented on your new TR but you didn't quote it along with the other comments so I hope you saw it!

Yeh, I'm quite disappointed on the no crab cake thing. I love me some crab cakes and since we dropped The Boathouse, I don't think there's a one on any menu of any restaurant we are hitting up in June. Oh well. The steak will probably be excellent and will provide some leftovers for another meal.

I'll have to write down the sangria and check out the Y&Y QS menu. I don't think I looked at that one at all.

Yeh, DHS may not take me very long to plan out, but I'm thinking Epcot is going to take awhile....lots o' drinks!

Thanks on the luck! Hopefully it will go smoothly. I just need to get it done asap before everyone else starts waking up and bothering me...lol!

 

[ArielSRL]

Booked ADR List

Okay, so the morning finally arrived...ADR Day! I took this morning off so I could book without the added stress of trying to get ready for work. It worked out perfectly, as far as that aspect goes. And in general, it was fine as I was able to book 8 out of 10 ADRs on the day and, pretty much, the time I wanted. My biggest issue is that neither Hollywood & Vine (Sat 6/10) nor Crystal Palace (Sun 6/4) were bookable today. And yes, I even called in to check on those two, just in case the CM could do it. No can do.

I had read H&V wasn't bookable from the DIS a few days ago and from FB last night, so no big surprise...though I have no idea what the issue is. For giggles, I went back and tried to book in May and it was bookable for early/mid May but not late May, so again, not sure what the issue is. I've heard they haven't loaded those dates/times in the system yet? But that doesn't really make sense to me. I want to book it as a PPO to get signed up for JTA early so I'll just keep an eye (and a TP ressie finder) on it.

As far as CP, I saw that someone booked it for June 1st (on 11/28) from one of my FB groups and when I tried to book it and couldn't, I checked every month back to February and nothing showed as available...so I'm thinking glitch there. I'll keep checking for that one and I have a TP ressie finder set up for it, as well.

We are arriving Saturday 6/3, in the (hopefully early) afternoon for a resort/DS day, with QS only; departing Sunday 6/11 after our brunch (see below). We have 7 day park hoppers for Sunday 6/4-Saturday 6/10. Many of our meals will loosely bookend our midday breaks.

So here is the booked list:
Monday 6/5 ~ Garden Grill 10:10am, Beaches & Cream 5:50pm (prefer this on Sat 6/10)
Tuesday 6/6 ~ Be Our Guest 11:30am, Whispering Canyon Cafe 5:05pm
Wednesday 6/7 ~ Via Napoli 6:45pm (trying to see Illuminations afterward)
Thursday 6/8 ~ Sanaa 5:15pm (preferred, if AK hours are extended), 7:40pm (if AK hours are not extended)
Friday 6/9 ~ 'Ohana 11:15am
Saturday 6/10 ~ Beaches & Cream 5:40pm (preferred)
Sunday 6/11 ~ Trail's End Brunch 11:45am (departure day)

Please no flaming for the multiple ADRs for B&C and Sanaa, please. I mentioned the reasoning for Sanaa above. As far as B&C, it all depends on when/if I can book the Star Wars dessert party, as I want to do B&C on our other DHS evening.

So I'm excited to get those initial bookings done. If there are changes to hours or once I complete my touring plans closer to the trip, there will most likely be some tweaking, as well as the addition of our QS plans! However, until then, any and all opinions are welcome! Thanks, in advance!

12/7 ETA: Booking opened for Crystal Palace this morning. I got a text from touring plans reservation finder and got it booked for Sunday 6/4 at 10:35am! Yay! Now just waiting on Hollywood & Vine.....

Up next: Odds and Ends

 

[alex9179]

I hopped over from your June 2016 trip report to read your PTR. Your trip has made me realize how much easier I need to take it given the heat/humidity! I live on the Gulf Coast, so it's pretty awful in the summer, but I hibernate in the A/C I'm going to have to toughen up.

Two thoughts for your trip-

If you find that your schedule permits, The Boathouse may have availability on Opentable. We're also going to DS on arrival day and may try a walk-up or an Opentable reservation at a TS, if we don't feel like getting nibbles here and there. It will probably depend on the weather! I might need A/C and a drink

On your AK day, it might be easier to just go over to Jambo and enjoy the cultural presentations, animal watching, sipping an adult beverage in peace if the kids fall asleep in the stroller Leaving after lunch and trying to make a 5:15 ADR (if hours don't change) may be pushing it if you're looking to travel to/from VWL. It's something to have in your back pocket if your schedule gets tight. We may be doing just that before our late lunch at Sanaa and use the shuttle to go to Kidani.

AKL's list of fun for the kids
http://kennythepirate.com/wp-content/uploads/akl_recreation.pdf

 

[ArielSRL]

I hopped over from your June 2016 trip report to read your PTR. Your trip has made me realize how much easier I need to take it given the heat/humidity! I live on the Gulf Coast, so it's pretty awful in the summer, but I hibernate in the A/C I'm going to have to toughen up.

Thank you for joining in! I'm an A/C hibernator, too!

Two thoughts for your trip-

If you find that your schedule permits, The Boathouse may have availability on Opentable. We're also going to DS on arrival day and may try a walk-up or an Opentable reservation at a TS, if we don't feel like getting nibbles here and there. It will probably depend on the weather! I might need A/C and a drink

I will definitely keep that in mind! Thank you for the suggestion.

On your AK day, it might be easier to just go over to Jambo and enjoy the cultural presentations, animal watching, sipping an adult beverage in peace if the kids fall asleep in the stroller Leaving after lunch and trying to make a 5:15 ADR (if hours don't change) may be pushing it if you're looking to travel to/from VWL. It's something to have in your back pocket if your schedule gets tight. We may be doing just that before our late lunch at Sanaa and use the shuttle to go to Kidani.

AKL's list of fun for the kids
http://kennythepirate.com/wp-content/uploads/akl_recreation.pdf

Thanks. Yeh, that AK schedule is very much in the air bc of the posted hours. I'm assuming they will extend until 10, maybe later, so then we will definitely do the break, then the 5:15 (could very well be tweaked to a little later) ADR, then back to AK for the nighttime stuff. But if the hours don't change, we would probably skip the break and do the 7:45 ADR, then head back to WL semi early. Thanks for the link!