Picking a date for 2020
My kids and I have been tossing around the idea of going as a family for quite some time. My 3rd child, Kelsey, wanted to take her 4 yr old for her birthday next year. So we convinced my oldest that she and her 2 boys needed to go as well... and a New Adventure begins. After some life complications Kelsey isn't able to go after all, so we moved dates around and have a plan.
I'm the primary planner as Martyne doesn't care as long as he is fed, showered and gets some alcohol lol. Morgan had never been so that leaves me. I'm ok with this as I know the boys pretty well.
Our 2020 trip looks like this -
June 28th - July 5th, 2020
POR - Riverside
Deluxe Dining
4 days of Disney Park Tickets with more to be added there.
1 day of The other place tickets... Morgan said she needs to see HP and the beach
or she's not going ---- fine, whatever it takes
We have not made a decision as to whether we want to fly or drive from Chicago. The extra time to drive isn't a concern. I am not patient and I don't ride well so we are weighing the convenience of flying vs driving, saving money and having a potential a then 49 yr old meltdown. I've been reading a lot about driving, including trying to find Trip Reports here that talk about it. It seems the drive is about 18 hours without stopping for gas etc. So I'm counting it as 22 hours all inclusive. Meaning we would need to leave Chicagoland around 8am Saturday morning by car.
Looking at flights I'd love to be on a 5:50am flight putting us in Orlando around 9:30am ish.
We are going to wait until Southwest comes out with pricing and see how it looks and go from there.
Dining -
Martyne is dead set on having the
DDP. He seems to feel like with everything being paid for in advance we save ourselves from another melt-down, hence a crisis averted.... he has never planned an event in his life so he doesn't realize the crisis could happen a million times over before we even get there.
I'm planning on TS breakfasts and dinners and leaving the daytime open for QS or whatever we decide that day. I realize everyone has an opinion about sit down versus grab'n'run meals. This is what works for our family
So far we have these on our list of places in no particular Order. Martyne and I have eaten at some of these places, but not all. We are sticking to 1 credit meals so Morgan and the boys can try a lot of different places. The boys are foodies and there isn't much that they don't like. I have no concern about the amount of food. Both boys can eat as much as Martyne and are active in sports etc. We are open to suggestions so PLEASE feel free to list your favorites!
Table Service Quick Service
Rose & Crown Flame Tree BBQ
Tusker House Columbia House
Rainforest Cafe
Mama Melrose Fantasmic Pkg
O'Hana (Breakfast)
Chef Mickey
1900 Park Fare - Breakfast & Dinner
Crystal Palace
Park Days
So far we have 4 park days on our reservation. Martyne & Morgan will be gone one day visiting up the road; one day we are going to a Beach, probably on the Atlantic side, but not 100% sure yet. The boys and I will for sure be adding at least 1 more day once we get down there. It could turn into 2 days for each of us and one more for Morgan and Martyne. We check out on the 5th and I would really like to spend the 4th in a park before leaving, preferably MK if we don't end up with PH.
We are planning to take the earliest flight out of Chicago, or if driving arrive at sun up, on Sunday, June 28th. The idea is to getthere, get my
scooter, find our room if its ready and get to Epcot as soon as possible. I love Epcot but I know my grandboys will not particularly enjoy walking through the countries... I get some kids do, but mine both have ADHD and some other issues; both Mom and I think that we worry about this once we get there as she doesn't think they will want to either. I'm ok with that as long as I get to do the PIck-A-Pearl again in Japan. When we went in 2015, Martyne and I bought 2 oysters. He had never seen this so I thought ok I can give one to my mother. We take our turn to crack them babies open and VOILA I got one-7.5" pearl and in the other shell was a set of 6.25" twins!!!! That was AMAZING!!!! So instead of my mother getting one. I have a necklace and earrings lol. I promised my mother I would get her one on my next trip to make up for this.
Our tentative Schedule -
Sunday 6/28 Epcot
Monday 6/29 Animal Kingdom
Tuesday 6/30 Hollywood Studios - Lightsaber and 2 droids for the grands are high on our list; at this point we will need to make a decision for more tickets as I know we have to have 1 day left in order to add more days.
Wednesday 7/1 Magic Kingdom
Thursday 7/2 Martyne & Morgan visit up the road - Me, Emmett & EJ are "tentatively" going back to Hollywood Studios.
Friday 7/3 BEACH and International Drive Shopping Day
Saturday 7/4 Park day and/or Disney Springs
Sunday 7/5 Check Out
However a little girl was born a few months earlier on May 31st. She grew to love Sorcerer Mickey and wanted to be Cinderella when she grew up.
