I always dreamed I would celebrate graduation at WDW... just not with...

[emsstacey]

This summer, I graduate from my PhD program and I have been secretly longing to celebrate at WDW! Of course, right?!?! Well... it just so happens that my daughter placed first in her division at our state Beta Convention and is going to now compete at the National Beta Convention this June/July at WDW!! Woo-hoo! I just didn't plan to celebrate with a group of high schoolers, but I am not complaining!

I am trying to plan and not plan, all at the same time, since there are so many unknowns. This is what I do know so far...

We are staying June 26-July 2 at All Stars Music.
We are flying in late the 26th and flying out late July 2.
I have a lunch BOG reservation on July 28th at 11:40 and 2 day park hopper passes.

Our main sponsor has decided to buy 1 day Universal passes for everyone on Friday... WDW park days are Tuesday and Wednesday. All other days have Beta convention things going on at least part of the day.

I could use some major help planning the hopping park days! We originally decided against park hoppers but we were going to be the only ones not hopping and gave in to peer pressure.

Here are my thoughts:

Tuesday June 27th...Look for fp+ for AK on Tuesday... hopefully grab some for Pandora. I'm not sure whether to start at AK or EPCOT... can we rope drop anything at AK and then have fp for another park later? Who has any idea what AK is even going to be like? SO many unknowns!

Wednesday June 28th: Rope Drop MK... lunch at BOG at 11:40 and then afternoon FP+ for either MK or DHS. We are not huge DHS fans but love Rockin' Roller Coaster.

Thursday will be a pool/Beta day (convention is PM)

Friday: Beta AM/ Universal afternoon and evening.

Saturday: Beta AM- evening free (Disney Springs? ADR?)

Sunday: Beta AM- afternoon free... fly out at 10:55.


I would LOVE some help planning the two park hopper days and maximizing our time. I think it would be great to rope drop a park, then head to another with fp reserved... but I'm just unsure how to do it, especially with our reservations and desire to see AK.

Thanks for following along and any help you have while I plan!

 

[mdsouth]

Hi,

I thought I would join in and help you talk through your plans with someone else who loves Disney. I went on a similar trip in 2014 when my son's marching band marched in the Magic Kingdom. I did not go as a chaperone but just tagged along and connected my family trip to the same time they were there. My daughter and I actually fly down four days before the band arrived and had some time to ourselves before the band came. The band was just going to be there three days and that was not enough for me. When the band arrived, I made plans to be in the same park as the band was so that we could catch some time with my son and see the band march. It worked out well but it was extremely hard to plan since I had to work around the band's schedule and it kept changing. I would make ADRs and FastPasses for one park and then I got a notice that they had switched park days! Frustrating but it all worked out in the end. So, I can relate to how planning this trip for you may be. Tell me are you just planning your park days for just your family or for the entire high school group?

 

[emsstacey]

Thank you for joining me! I am luckily, only planning park days for a few of us, not the entire group.

I was finally able to make our FP+ selections this week. Here are our plans...

Tuesday: RD DHS to ride the main rides before heading to AK. 10:45 EE, 11:55 Kilimanjaro Safari, 12:55 FoP. Afternoon at resort/pool. We will probably head to EPCOT Tuesday night or return to AK.

Wednesday: RD MK. 10:20 BTMR, 11:40 BOG lunch ADR, 11:50 Peter Pan. Afternoon at resort/pool. Return to MK around 7-ish. 8:45 7DMT FP+. Depending on what my girls want to do, we may go to another park before hopping to MK for the night EMH and 7DMT FP.

Thursday: Sleep in. Brunch/pool. Afternoon head to EPCOT area resorts to roam and eat dinner before convention at 7:00pm.

Friday: General Session at 8:30 am. Afternoon/evening at Universal. (Not sure about heading there so late, but the club is paying for the ticket, and I want to see Harry Potter stuff.)

Saturday: General Session at 8:30am, afternoon at Disney Springs.

Sunday: General Session at 8:30am. I'm thinking we will book the Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian for around 2pm. Magical Express won't pick us up until 7:30 pm, so we have the afternoon free!

Thanks for listening!