It sounds like (if we head to DHS in the early morning) we can have some down-time at the resort in the afternoon! That would be perfect so we may just have the energy to go MK EEMH afterall!
Wow! An evening at MK all alone - that sounds absolutely magical.Oh, what would I do???!!!??? Shop, sight-see and probably some more shopping! LOL!
Joining in the fun!
Great start to your PTR Charity! Can't wait to read more.
So everyone - How close to your actual plans were you when all was said and done?
Not sure how long we will last there, or what time we will even arrive there I guess, but they close at 5:00, so what we do after that is still up in the air! Any suggestions are welcome. 
I'm laughing because the 16th is currently our Epcot day! We'll be there for the full day ending with an Illuminations Cruise which is going to be an early birthday surprise for DW.
Sounds like a fun relaxing day! Not sure what time you'll be entering Epcot since you may have been out late the night before at MK. But since you're planning on leaving Epcot before lunch, you'll need to keep in mind that Soarin FP return times usually hit noon shortly after 10am. And standby times are most likely going to be at least 30-40 minutes during most of the morning hours.
I don't know if there are any bus options from Epcot to BB. It just feels like a bit of a detour to go back to Poly in between since BB is much closer to Epcot. I guess you could boat or trek to Beach Club and take the bus from there to BB but that might just end up taking the same amount of time as going back to Poly.
Regardless, I think you have a nice fun day planned out!
I think it's not unrealistic to think we will be at Epcot when it opens (9:00?) My parents are HUGE early birds. My dad gets up daily at 4:00 am, so he will not be letting us sleep later than 7:00 on any given day I am sure! So, because of this do you think maybe we should just head straight to Soarin' first, and either grab our fastpasses or wait in line and ride right away? I'm thinking that makes the most sense. Since we have no ADR's to make, I think we can afford to be a bit more relaxed with scheduling, KWIM? Let me know what you think of our Epcot plans - they open at 9 right? As always, I appreciate your insight and ideas on how to make our trip just THAT much better! ( Can't argue with that! If you do decide to try to go from Epcot to BB, there are lockers available near Spaceship Earth and at International Gateway. 
Yup! I'm pretty sure we'll run into each other!
I agree that you should head to Soarin first when you enter the park and if you can make it to ropedrop then even better. Should be able to ride stand-by without much wait if you're there at RD. Or if the standby wait time is a bit long (which could be longer than average since TT will be closed), then grab FP, hop over to The Seas, then come back to Soarin at your FP time. And yes, opening time is 9am although based on posts on DIS and Josh from easywdw, it sounds like Epcot may also be opening the turnstiles earlier than the park opening times. We have an 8:05am ADR at Akershus breakfast, and plan is to hit Soarin first at 9am.
And as far as going back to Poly before BB, you had me at Kona Coffee!!
So exciting, isn't it? 83 days and counting!
I am just so darn excited and I want to make sure that we find the time to at least see our most important attractions while there. 
Your Epcot plan sounds good! I was just badgering, I mean talking with my husband, about our daily plans, lol!! I'm really trying to be more relaxed this trip, but we have to have some type of plan. We are going to Epcot on Thursday...straight to Soarin', he and my oldest will probably grab FPs and ride, while I take the two littles over to Nemo to ride and look around. Then we'll ride again when they join us!! It's been on my mind b/c someone at church this morning was asking me for tips b/c they are planning to go the same time as us! It was so hard not to overwhelm her with info...all I wanted to say was call and get your reservations (they still haven't booked).
Oh, and I guess I need to introduce myself ~ I'm Stevie. Maybe you'll see me chasing my 3 wild princesses around the Poly
I am sure you will LOVE AKL, my cousin just returned from there and she said it was incredible. Her kids loved the pool! I am going to go and check out your trip report now! Thanks for subbing in!!! It's funny, but looking at my days so far, we pretty much have every evening free from 5:00 onward! Is that normal? Or do people just go, go, go, go, go for 24 hrs/day?
It all boils down to each person's style and preferences. There's nothing wrong with taking it slow in the evenings. Just like there's nothing wrong with taking mid-day breaks. As long as everyone has fun and gets to experience what's important to them, that's all that matters. Plus you can always play it be ear and add things to your schedule once you're there if needed.
It's perfectly normal!
Since you have park hoppers and no ADRs, you'll have all the flexibility you need to add a park a visit or two to one of your evenings if needed.
Oh, and a little thing I learned from my past trips on how to avoid driving the rest of my family nuts with all my planning: I never actually shared with my DW or my parents (who joined us last time) the itinerary or touringplans I had planned for each day with the exceptions of our ADRs. I used the touringplan as a very loose guideline and when someone would want to do something different or spend more time at a particular attraction, I would just go with the flow and re-adjust the plan in my head. All the research and DIS readings can still never predict which attractions or activities your family is going to like until you're actually there. At least with the research, you can be prepared and avoid a situation like walking by TSM for the first time at 3pm and having your DD declare that we must go on this ride, 90 minute wait time be-damned!!
I don't want to overwhelm them by "micro-managing" every single second of the week, so this is just a rough plan that we will use as a guide for the day's activities. We will probably grab fastpasses for TSM just in case DD wants to ride it later that morning, and worst case scenario - we don't use them on ourselves - but give them to another family as pixie dust! 
