May 2011 PTR - Our First Coupled Trip!

[Edgehopper]

New to the DIS boards, but not to WDW! Here's the group:

Me (27M): Engineer who wanted to be an Imagineer turned lawyer (I applied for one of the Imagineering internships in college, but didn't get a response). I've been to WDW at least 10 times, but haven't been since summer 2006 (right after EE opened), and that was with my mom and sister (then an HS sophomore). Currently in NYC.

DGirlfriend (23): Animator who wanted to work for Pixar stuck in a web programming job. We've been together over a year, and watched "Up" on our first date. We love Disney/Pixar! But she's never been to WDW!

The dates: May 14-21. Actually planned to hit as late as we could before school gets out; only after setting the dates did we realize that we're also hitting the last weeking of F&G and the first SWW. Both special events I've never been to!

Where we're staying: Not officially reserved yet, but leaning towards POFQ. I want to go with a Moderate for price and comfort reasons, and we'd prefer the smaller resort with less walking. Also with beignets. And the boat to DTD. I stayed there in 2006 and liked it.

Planned Itinerary and ADRs:

ADR List: Biergarten, Ohana, WCC, Hoop Dee Doo, 50's Primetime, and either Marrakesh or Teppan Edo.

Sat. 5/14: Arrive MCO around 10-11 AM, check in hotel, lunch at POFQ food court. Head to Epcot for F&G and World Showcase, trying to arrive by 2-2:30. ADR at Biergarten around 7, followed by Illuminations.

Sun. 5/15: MK (EMH PM 9-mid) all day, with O'hana for dinner around 7. Planning to watch the water parade from Polynesian, then return to MK for after hours rides.

Mon. 5/16: Blizzard Beach 10-4, WCC for dinner around 6, head to MK for Electrical Parade and Wishes. Considering Wishes dessert party if available for that day.

Tues. 5/17: Epcot FW in the morning, Sunshine Seasons for lunch. DHS afternoon primarily for shows, especially Fantasmic. Primetime Cafe for dinner.

Wed. 5/18: AK 9-6, Flame Tree or YnY counter for lunch, 9:30 Hoop Dee Doo

Thurs. 5/19: DHS morning for rides, maybe an early Star Tours II? DTD and DisneyQuest in the afternoon and evening.

Fri. 5/20: Typhoon Lagoon 10-4, Epcot late (PM EMH 9-mid). Either Marrakesh or Teppan Edo for dinner, or some other WS restaurant.

Sat. 5/21: DHS for SWW until as late a flight as I can reasonably schedule! Sci Fi Dine-In OOP for lunch.

Critique my plans! Nothing's been actually finalized yet--I don't think any of the ADRs up there were the very high demand type that closes out more than 90 days ahead of schedule. And we're still waiting on vacation approval for DGF before booking the trip.

 

[Edgehopper]

Minor crisis yesterday--I almost jinxed our trip! Right after I posted this report, DGF's boss told her she couldn't get a week of vacation in May, without much of a good reason. Fortunately, this morning, they approved it So we're back on!

A few questions for the crowd:

1. Keys to the Kingdom: worth it? When is it? Our MK day is a crowd level 1.9, best park day with PM EMH, so if we do KttK that day, we should still be OK for doing everything we want? Also note that we don't need to spend time waiting on M&Gs or on Dumbo.

2. The only time for O'hana on our MK day is 8:40 PM--the park's open until midnight. Do you think that'll take up too much of our PM EMH time? Maybe replace with CP? (there are 5:50 and 6:50 ADRs still open there)--or flip around WCC and CP then, since we're trying to hit the 9:00 MSEP on 5/16?

3. We want to go to Fantasia Gardens somewhere--where to fit that in our plans? I'm thinking we could do it on our 5/20 (TL + late Epcot) day, leave the waterpark by around 2-3, change, head to Fantasia Gardens by around 5, grab ice cream at Beaches 'n Cream, boat to Epcot for late EMH.

 

[Edgehopper]

Update 2-4: We are booked! ADRs are made, here's the new updated itinerary:

Sat. 5/14: Arrive MCO at 11 AM, check in hotel, lunch at POFQ food court. Head to Epcot for F&G and World Showcase, trying to arrive by 2-2:30. ADR at Biergarten at 7, followed by Illuminations.

Sun. 5/15: Keys to the Kingdom in the morning, then MK (EMH PM 9-mid) all day, with Whispering Canyon Cafe for dinner at 7:30. Return to MK for after hours rides.

Mon. 5/16: Blizzard Beach 10-4, head to MK for Electrical Parade and Wishes, including the Dessert Party.

Tues. 5/17: Epcot FW in the morning, Sunshine Seasons for lunch. DHS afternoon primarily for shows, especially Fantasmic. Primetime Cafe at 7 for dinner.

Wed. 5/18: AK 9-6, Flame Tree or YnY counter for lunch, 9:30 Hoop Dee Doo.

Thurs. 5/19: DHS morning for rides, maybe an early Star Tours II? DTD and DisneyQuest in the afternoon and evening, with a 5:30 ADR for Planet Hollywood

Fri. 5/20: Typhoon Lagoon 10-4, Epcot late (PM EMH 9-mid). Chefs de France at 8 for dinner.

Sat. 5/21: DHS for SWW until around 4, plane departs MCO at 7:20. Sci Fi Dine-In OOP for lunch.

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So, in addition to going there with DGF rather than mom and sister, here are the new things to hit this time around that I've never done before:

MK:
Keys to the Kingdom Tour
Fireworks Dessert Party
Winnie the Pooh Ride (we've pretty much skipped Fantasyland the last few times).
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
Main Street Electrical Parade in current version.

Epcot:
The Seas with Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush (we skipped this last time out of remembered boredom with the original Living Seas).
Karramel-Kuche (sp?), the caramel store at Germany.
Flower & Garden Festival events.
Updated Spaceship Earth (didn't it update since 2006 in some way?)
Probably won't fit on the seats for Sum of All Thrills, unfortunately.

DHS:
Toy Story Midway Mania
American Idol show
Everything Star Wars Weekend related
Characters from "Up" and other recent Pixar movies
Animation Academy
Pixar Parade

AK:
Finding Nemo show
Mickey's Jungle Safari Parade

 

[GAGirlInVA]

We are going on an adult only trip in April. We are also looking at taking the Keys to the Kingdom Tour...

 

[Edgehopper]

And...now I need to shift a few things. But for a good reason--I'm planning to propose the first day, at Epcot! And a second reason--I'd like to get in Jellyrolls, and may not want to rush to Epcot on that last night. So now here's what I'm looking at:

Sat. 5/14: Arrive MCO at 11 AM, check in hotel, lunch at POFQ food court. Head to Epcot for F&G and World Showcase, trying to arrive by 2-2:30. ADR at Chefs de France at 7, followed by Illuminations.

Sun. 5/15: Keys to the Kingdom in the morning, then MK (EMH PM 9-mid) all day, with Whispering Canyon Cafe for dinner at 7:30. Return to MK for after hours rides.

Mon. 5/16: Blizzard Beach 10-4, head to MK for Electrical Parade and Wishes, including the Dessert Party.

Tues. 5/17: Epcot FW in the morning, Biergarten for lunch. DHS afternoon primarily for shows, especially Fantasmic. Primetime Cafe at 7 for dinner.

Wed. 5/18: AK 9-6, Flame Tree or YnY counter for lunch, 9:30 Hoop Dee Doo.

Thurs. 5/19: DHS morning for rides, maybe an early Star Tours II? DTD and DisneyQuest in the afternoon and evening, with a 5:30 ADR for Planet Hollywood

Fri. 5/20: Typhoon Lagoon 10-4, Boardwalk and mini-golf late, planning to go to Jellyrolls. Counter service dinner or OOP Beaches & Cream?

Sat. 5/21: DHS for SWW until around 4, plane departs MCO at 7:20. Sci Fi Dine-In OOP or counter service for lunch.

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A few other thoughts--I'm thinking of cancelling KttK so we can sleep in on Sunday. That's still the best day for the MK, though.

For the proposal, I'm trying to decide between three topiaries: Disney Couples, Beauty and the Beast, or Rapunzel's Tower (we really liked Tangled). Ideally there'd be a Wall-E and Eve or Carl and Ellie topiary, but I haven't heard of those existing. Thoughts? I'm leaning towards Disney Couples at the moment because the Tower's not as impressive as I thought, and the location is good if we go counterclockwise around WS.

I don't know the Boardwalk area that well restaurant/foodwise, any suggestions for what to do that night?