It started out so organized...then...A Nov. 2017 PTR

[JennyWren]

Soooo....scrap all of my preliminary plans for day one that I had posted months ago...and pretend we are back at the beginning in the introductions because....

We have an additional 'child' joining in on the magic...let me introduce Dalten!!! Dalten is Anna's BFF and one of my 'adopted' children (and sometimes my favorite of ALL of my kids...just kidding ...but in my defense, he helps out around the house more than Anna).


This will be Dalten's second trip to WDW, having previously went on a marching band trip. He doesn't know what his favorites are just yet, since they didn't have a ton of touring time on his last trip, so this is practically his first visit.

Next up...the 'Finalized Itinerary'....

 

[kclark9830]

Your trip is close! I hope you have an amazing time. How is your son's epilepsy now?

 

[JennyWren]

Your trip is close! I hope you have an amazing time. How is your son's epilepsy now?

Thank you, I have no doubt that we will!

Steven's epilepsy, unfortunately has not seen any great improvements thus far with the VNS. We have good days--1 or 2 small absence seizures--and we have bad--clusters of 30 or 40 seizures over the course of an hour or two. I must say that I think we are starting to see less of the bad days, on the bad days though his energy gets drained completely.

 

[JennyWren]

Our Magic Bands arrived last Tuesday and you could say that some of us were very excited....



I still haven't received our DME luggage tags and we are now 16 DAYS AWAY!!! Needless to say I am on hold with guest relations as I write this....

I have all of our ADRs made--not that I made many because I am trying to keep this trip as laid back as possible--and all of the FPs booked. Since then Disney has changed the park schedules, and while that threw a small monkey wrench in things, I've decided I'm not going to mess with what I have scheduled and just roll with it.

I have also tried my level best to adjust Steven to the idea of the new Soarin and the fact that Splash Mountain (one of his favorites) will be closed. I think we should be okay with Soarin because the film has added lots of animals, but Splash is going to be a thorn in my side. I have not broached the Maelstrom issue, I can just not come up with a suitable explanation for the Frozen madness. Disney should have a special unit that deals with these type of neurological/corporate decision related catastrophes...

Next up, schedules for Day One and Two...

 

[JennyWren]

So without further ado, I present my less than perfect schedule....

Day One (if we can call it that...)

Due to money saving measures, we don't actually fly out of Pittsburgh until 3:35p. This means that we can sleep in, since we don't need to leave the house until 1p. This also means that we don't arrive at MCO until 5:50p...so no park time...Ugh.

What we do have is 8:45p reservations at Raglan Road. I know it's cutting it close to actually rely on the bus service to get us from MCO to ASMu to DS, but I have faith (and also I made the reservation through Open Table, so if I see that we won't make it I can cancel and not lose the $10 per person to Disney).

Day Two

We have an 8:55a ADR for brunch at the Trail's End. Why you may ask? Anna read about this buffet a while back and has been dreaming about the all-you-can-eat Applewood Smoked Brown Sugar-glazed Bacon ever since, and the rest of us are going because she said so.

This is actually something that requires us to do something we have never done...use an Uber...not sure how this works and I'm honestly a little nervous about it. However the alternative is not only time consuming, but could result in a meltdown of epic proportions....Imagine taking the bus--on the first park day, no less--to MK and then not going into the park, but taking a boat to *gasp of horror *....a buffet...



So, once Steven suffers through the horror of the brunch buffet, we are off to the Magic Kingdom!!!! **commence flapping**

After the necessary stop at guest relations to set up Steven's DAS, we have 11:35a FPs for the Jungle Cruise, which if my timing is correct should be our first stop and is Steven's all time favorite!!! Sort of a sorry-you-had-to-eat-out-of-community-food-bowls consolation prize for Steven...

We also have a 1:15p FP for 7DMT, before splitting up at 4p for a break from teenagers (and I'm sure they will need a break from us as well).

Mike and I have ADRs at the Plaza for 4p, followed by FPs for Buzz Lightyear, while the Three Caballeros have FPs for Space Mountain.

We will then meet up again around 7, then we will determine Steven's energy levels and go from there.

Moving on to Day Three and Four in the next post....

 

[JennyWren]

I'm back again....

Day Three

My plan is to keep it as simple as possible, so that we can just see how everyone is doing. Mike's knee is in pretty bad shape, so between that and Steven's epilepsy I don't want anyone to overdo.

We are going to start the day out at the AK, where we have FPs for the Safari and EE in the morning. Perhaps grab some Flame Tree for an early lunch, before a 12:45p FP for FoP.

After that, we shall see how everyone is holding up and either go back to the hotel for a bit or hop directly over to Epcot.

I didn't make ADRs for this day, since the plan is to spend the rest of the day at Epcot. I have soooo many F & W items on my to do list and Anna and Steven love to snack around the world.

I am planning on sending the teens back to the hotel after Illuminations and taking some Mike and me time to find someplace (either ESPN or Splitsville???) to catch some Monday Night Football.

Day Four

Again, no ADRs for this day either....see I'm going to be totally relaxed....

We are going to start out at DHS, this is likely the only time we will spend here, since so much is closed. Our first FP of the day is for Star Wars, since I'm thinking we will leave Mike sleep in and he is not a fan. Then we have later FPs for RnR and ToT. Neither of which has ever appealed to Steven, but we shall see how it goes.

I do want to check out the new Baseline Tap House before we leave, the Bloody Orange Cider is pinging very loudly on my radar....

Then once again, we will hop over to Epcot to finish out our day. While we are there, Anna wants to go on the Behind the Seeds tour. It's been on her radar for a long time, but not anyone else's...however Mike is interested (he actually has a degree in horticulture, even though he doesn't actually use it) so she is finally getting to go.

Anyway, pretty boring stuff on paper, but it will be more fun than it sounds!!!

 

[JennyWren]

Day Five

This is going to be something new, the plan is to sleep in *gasp*, then spend the entire day at the AK. We have never spent an entire day there, but with the addition of ROL we decided to try it. This is definitely subject to change!

We have FPs for Na'vi River Journey, EE and ROL and an ADR at Yak & Yeti. We shall see how this goes, also I am worried about AK and Mike's knee. I want him to rent a scooter, but being a man....well, we all know how that's going....

Day Six

We have a LOT jam packed into this day....

We will be back st the MK with FPs for BTM, HM and 7DMT. Then an ADR for lunch at BOG. After that Mike and I will head back to the hotel to get ready for date night and the kids will be on there own to find entertainment.

Mike and I currently have ADRs for Artist Point AND California Grill. Depending on how the spirit moves us--or how the spirits move me, Mike doesn't drink, we are going to have dinner at Artist Point, then dessert at CG....but this could also be subject to change!

Day Seven (unfortunately, our last day for this trip)

Planning on ending our trip at Epcot, though depending on how the rest of the week has gone, we may head elsewhere to catch anything that we didn't get to.

As of now, we have FP for Soarin', Mission: SPACE (Anna, Dalten & Mike), Figment (Steven & I) and SE. Also, subject to change (shocking, I know), an ADR for Beaches & Cream.

Our flight leaves at 8:55p, so I am planning on the UnMagical Express requiring our presence back at ASMu by 5:30p.

And that is our plan...or unplan....or general guideline