One week? Why don't we make it two? - June PTR **05/25 Last Update**

[MarieLightning]

Good morning to all!​

(Or afternoon, or evening, or whenever you feel like ready this. You be a rebel and read it in the middle of the night. I'm not gonna tell you how to live your life.)​

I've been a little MIA these past few months (you know the drill, Post Disney Depression, work was crazy, holidays were crazy, then work was crazy again, etc), which means Amber got to take upon her the bulk of our latest Trip Report - which you can find a link for in my signature if you haven't been following along.​

But my PDD has been subsiding these past few weeks, and now I'm getting back in the 'psyched to plan everything' stage of things.​

Which is good, cause we're just a little over four months away from departure day!​

​

I was, as usual, debating whether or not I wanted to do a Pre Trip report. It often gets to the point where I don't really have anything left to say or do. To top it off, I zero percent have an exciting day to day life so I can't even fill those dry spells with fun personal happenings.​

With that being said, however, I've still decided to go ahead and give you a few sneak peeks at our upcoming trip, because guess what?​

IT'S GONNA BE BIG.​

In fact, it's lining up to be our biggest and longest trip to date.​

I almost used the word extravagant in there, but then I remember there are things like presidential suites and VIP tour guides on property. We're so not there yet. Or probably ever.​

(To give you an insight on the probability of even that 'probably ever', it's all dependant on lottery winnings. You looks up the odds. I like my delusions too much to do that myself.)​

​

So if you're up to following with my ramblings, I'll be so glad to have you along for the ride!​

If you're not, well, I'll never know now will I? ​

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(But no really I love you come back!)​

​

Stay tuned for more details coming up! We're gonna make this a fun ride, or die trying!​

(Figuratively)​

 

[MarieLightning]

Table of Content

The 5 Ws
The Plan - Part 1

Quick Update
New TR Link

The Plan - Part 2
Double Digits!
What's A Pre-Trip Report Without Changes?

Back From Non-Disney Vacation Update

Here Come The FastPasses!
Some More Changes
Dress Up Disney
Let's Make A Splash?
It's All About The Ears
Work In Progress
Jumpstarting Our Vacation

And We're Off
​

 

[MarieLightning]

The Five Ws

Let's get technical!

I mean, these are pretty much the main first points to highlight on a Pre Trip Report, right?

Gotta let you guys know when we're going so you can try and avoid us


The What!
Our longest ever Orlando and Disney vacation!

The When!
We'll be flying into Orlando on May 27th, and flying home on June 11th! Fifteen whole nights, woo!

The Why!
Like we actually need a reason?

Although, there is a reason why we are doing two weeks instead of our typical 8-9 nights stay.

That reason is named Amber (I have the best wife, honestly).

Not that I'd ever be against two weeks, but she's usually the voice of reason when it comes to spending money, so most decisions get deferred to her.

So imagine my surprise when, a few months ago, after we'd decided on doing a week trip in late May or early June, she came up to me and suggested we do two weeks instead.

Her logic? We have Annual Passes, so there's no extra ticket cost on the Disney front, and it's just the one flight ticket regardless of it it's one or two weeks, so the only extra costs to contend with are the hotel and food. Which, you know, isn't not much, but it's doable.

So when flights came out, we went ahead and booked them for the two whole weeks!

The Where!
We'll be changing hotels a whooping three times this time around!

I mean, technically we did that last time too, over a much shorter period of time, so you know. We can take it.

Our first three nights, we will actually be off property. Gasp!

Because we'll actually be doing... Universal Studios! Double gasp!

It's gonna be our very first time visiting Universal. We are both super excited of finally seeing Harry Potter World (funny story, we met on a Harry Potter website), and since we were doing two weeks, we decided we might as well finally head over there.

We are not staying at a Universal hotel because although I can, for some reason, ignore the upcharge of Disney property versus off property, I can't bring myself to do that for Universal.

So we booked three nights, from May 27th to May 30th, at the Rosen Inn Universal. Honestly, for that one I definitely went with price. It's five minutes away from Universal, so although it does offer a free shuttle, if it doesn't fit our needs with the times or if we can't get on it, it won't be a horrendous cab ride.

On May 30th, we'll officially be going home!

Our second hotel, for a five nights stay from May 30th to June 4th, will be...

Coronado Springs Resort!

I'm actually really excited about this, as it's helping along my goal to stay at every Disney hotel on property. Nevermind that we have a large array of Deluxes (well, all of them) we haven't stayed at yet, now we'll have knocked out four of the five Values and three of the five Moderates!

I mean, sure, the hotel itself looks pretty gorgeous too, but you know. I have my priorities straight.

Speaking of Deluxe, though...

We're starting big, guys. I'm not sure how we'll ever be able to go back to normal after this...

Because our final and longest hotel stay, for seven nights from June 4th to June 11th, will be at...

The Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

I already feel not fancy enough and I haven't walked in to check in yet.

Amber and I have two very different approaches at the thought of staying at the Grand Floridian.

I plan on keeping all my nicest clothes of the trip to wear for that week.

She plans on dressing up nice and fancy on check in day, to make it look like she belongs, and then she's gonna spend the rest of the week walking around in shorts and crop tops.

She's a rebel.

All kidding aside, I am super excited to stay at the Grand. It will most likely be a once in a lifetime thing, and there's a very specific reason why we can do this at all, but I can't wait to just take it all in. We will definitely take a lot of midday breaks, guys.


And last, but not least...

The Who!
I'm gonna start with myself, because I can!

My name is Marie, I'm 27, soon to be 28 (proof of getting older - I keep forgetting my age) and I am French-Canadian, born in Quebec although part of my heart now belongs to the part of central Florida that's ruled by a mouse. I work for a Canadian travel wholesaler, selling cruises, although if I could somehow end up just selling Disney for a living I'd be a happy camper.

I cannot pick a favorite park for the life of me, but the feel of the Magic Kingdom does get to me the most. I could ride Toy Story Mania until my arm falls off, and Expedition Everest... all day basically. I mourn for the old Soarin', I could watch Cinderella and the Princess and the Frog any day, and I pretty much have the soundtrack to Moana permanently stuck in my head.


Next up is my lovely wife!

Her name is Amber, 23 going on 24. She was born in Michigan but became a permanent resident of Canada to be with yours truly. Of course, she's always trying to get us to move to Florida, but ultimately she's a pretty happy transplant. She's in her first year of studying Nursing in college, with four more years ahead of her (yikes) and she hopes to work in either oncology or psych once she gets through with the schooling.

Epcot is her favorite park, although she will often get nostalgic for Tomorrowland at night. She's always going back and forth as to whether the Haunted Mansion or The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is her favorite ride, and she is super excited to get to ride Dinosaur again (it was down for refurb in August. I was not sad). Belle is her favorite princess, and she's been raving about Zootapia since it came out.


For the first portion of the trip, it will be just the two of us.

Then, on June 4th, we'll be joined by two more people!

Crazily enough, we met them cause of the Disboards! It was actually a couple of years ago, now. I was writing the Pre Trip Report for our November 2015 trip, and this stranger messaged us out of the blue. She told us she'd been following along with our reports, loved them, and had just found out we'd be at Disney at the same time, so we should catch dinner together!

Well, not only did she and her husband end up treating us to dinner (at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, no less), they also invited us to join them on an IllumiNations cruise. Amber probably still gets tears of joy in her eyes when she thinks about it.

We ended up having an awesome time during both meet ups, and we've been keeping up with each other on Facebook ever since. We also decided that we should try to go to Disney together in the future, so here we are!

Now extravagant could definitely describe their typical touring style They just bought a condo this past year however, so they decided to be reasonable people and keep it to a minimum this time around.

So here they are! (With us. Obvs.)

We've got Margaret, who just turned 25. She was born and raised in New England, and she works for a consulting firm. She's usually all up for spending as much time as possible in the Magic Kingdom, although she also enjoys Animal Kingdom. Her favorite ride is Splash Mountain, but don't take her anywhere near Mission:SPACE. Her trips generally include as a must a pre-park opening breakfast for Crystal Palace, and her favorite movie is Up.

And last but not least is the only guy of the trip (he's gonna have to get ready to be surrounded by a lot of estrogen), Chase! He actually grew up in Florida, although now he obviously also lives in New England, where he works for Amtrak. We're pretty sure he's around my age. We've a bit fuzzy on the rest of the details I mean, he's technically in our Facebook group chat. He muted it when he realized how much the three of us talk though He does love going to Disney, but Margaret tends to be in charge of most of the planning. All we'll say is, he's definitely gonna be on the 'stay away from Mission:SPACE' camp as well.


I'm sure some people will think we're taking a risk in planning a vacation with people we've not spent a lot of time with, but honestly, looking back on the other group trips we've taken, I think this is probably one of the most risk free vacations we'll have taken in a while, save the ones we go on by ourselves. And although we had minor glitches in our past group trips, they ultimately all went pretty well and created wonderful memories.

We're all used to our own Disney ways but we're also all good with compromising. I know my personal take on it is, for one thing, we have a few days by ourselves before we meet up, so if Amber and I want to make sure to get a few things done that we're not sure will fit in the following week, we have that time to do so. And then, we're just to the point where we're lucky enough to go often enough that we no longer feel the pressure to do and see it all. We can take it easy, smell the roses, and enjoy each other's company.

Overall, I'm super excited because I think it'll be great to be there with likeminded Disney fans. We'll have fun just enjoying the parks and enjoying the resorts and talking about how much we miss our respective cats. Plus, they're awesome people (and I'm not just writing this cause Margaret is reading this... hey Margaret!), so there's that ​

 

[Denamac]

I'm here! Sounds like a great trip! I have the same goal...to stay at all Disney resorts. I'm making great progress, and knocking 2 more out this year. We are staying at POR for the first time in March (then over to BW, but stayed there before) then Beach Club in September.

 

[MarieLightning]

I'm here! Sounds like a great trip! I have the same goal...to stay at all Disney resorts. I'm making great progress, and knocking 2 more out this year. We are staying at POR for the first time in March (then over to BW, but stayed there before) then Beach Club in September.

Welcome!

I mean, I think as far as goals to have, it's a pretty good one

We stayed at POR in August as we loved it! It was a lot more manageable than we had anticipated (it was our first big resort, really, having only done the All Stars and POFQ before) but we had a pretty awesome location. I'm pretty sure our walk from either the lobby, or our closest bus depot, to our room was shorter than any walk we've ever had at the All-Star Music. Also, it's gorgeous, so there's that

We almost stayed at the Beach Club actually! But Margaret really loves the Grand and we were up for any Deluxe so we ended up switching over. The new rooms are sooo pretty, and I'm already jealous of your easy walk to Epcot

 

[VACamm]

I just found your pre trip report, and OH MY GOOOOSH! I am so jealous of 1. how many nights you are going for and 2. that you are staying at Grand Floridian! Wow wow WOW! You are living my dream!!

I can't wait to read more!

 

[Princess Leia]

That's exciting you are going back so soon. Looking forward to hearing your plans.

 

[MarieLightning]

I just found your pre trip report, and OH MY GOOOOSH! I am so jealous of 1. how many nights you are going for and 2. that you are staying at Grand Floridian! Wow wow WOW! You are living my dream!!

I can't wait to read more!

Thanks for joining in!

It is definitely a dream come true! We've always talked about treating ourselves to staying at the Grand somewhere down the road, for a big anniversary or something, so to check it off our list so soon was definitely not expected!

It's so funny though about the length. Amber reminded me the other day, before our very first trips, she was looking at some trip reports or something and there was a mention about someone who was going for two weeks, and I was like... this is such a long time, what would you even do at Disney World for two weeks?

How little I knew then. Obviously, I now know better

That's exciting you are going back so soon. Looking forward to hearing your plans.

I knooow, and yet it still feels like we haven't been in ages! We've just been too spoiled these past few years, I don't know how we'll ever deal if we have to make it every other year at some point.

 

[mustlovecats]

I'm here and following along!!! I can't wait to read more even though it's my trip too.

We can't rule out an extravagent touring style just yet, there is still plenty of time to win the lottery!

 

[MarieLightning]

I'm here and following along!!! I can't wait to read more even though it's my trip too.

We can't rule out an extravagent touring style just yet, there is still plenty of time to win the lottery!

I mean, if anything you'll be able to see what we're gonna be doing before you guys get there

Fair point! We've won 40$ so far, not bad but definitely not enough to go full out. Amber has limited our lottery playings to once a month though, so we'll get four more chances until we leave

 

[MarieLightning]

The Plan - Part 1​

So, we're still a little far out to start planning a point by point schedule of our day (and to be honest, I highly doubt we'll do that at any given time for this trip) but there's still a few things we're already sure to do, and some things we're also hoping to fit in there!​

Might as well start sharing that info, so here are some of our plans for the first week of the trip!​

Saturday, May 27th​

First day of vacation, yay! We'll be flying out of Montreal at 8:05 AM, arriving into Orlando at 11:20. I feel like it's been a while since we've done a morning arrival, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm looking forward to it - although, not quite so much to the super early wake up call it's entail.​

From that point, we are gonna head over to our hotel in the Universal area. We're still not sure exactly how we're gonna do that part - we may book a shuttle, we may take a cab. We had looked into the idea of taking a bus, which is much cheaper, but ultimately we're not up for the hassle and the long route. We'll look into the details once we get a bit closer to the date.​

Then, we'll hopefully be able to check in and drop off our luggage, and from there, we'll head over to Epcot!​

Wait, what?​

Okay, so I know I said we were starting this trip with Universal. That was the plan - is still, technically, the plan. Hence the Universal area hotel.​

We were actually not planning on hitting any park on arrival day. We were gonna relax, and try to hit up the outlets, which we've never been to, to try and find some good discounted merchandise.​

Then, we found that the Flower and Garden Festival would be ongoing during this weekend.​

And it would be the last weekend.​

We love Flower and Garden. Epcot is so beautiful all decked with its topiaries and colorful flowers, and we enjoy the food booths almost as much as during Food and Wine. Plus, we're always down for finding some discounted Festival merchandise because it's the last weekend and they have to sell it up. We also figured that, even if we went to the outlets and found discounted merch, it probably wouldn't stop us from buying plenty of full price souvenirs.​

So, we decided to just skip the outlets and head over to have some Epcot time instead!​

Again, I'm not a hundred percent sure how we'll do that transportation. We may Uber both ways, since we haven't signed up for it yet so we could each benefit from a free ride.​

ADR for the day: Le Cellier!​

Sunday, May 28th​

First Universal day! On this day, the plan is to hit up Universal Islands of Adventure. The main goal is to see as much of Hogsmeade as possible, but I'm sure Amber would also love to check out Seuss Landing since she grew up on Dr Seuss books.​

ADR for the day: None.​

Monday, May 29th​

Off to Universal Studios we go! Again, first and foremost, we want to explore Diagon Alley. It's not that Universal itself doesn't hold any appeal for us, but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter really it what we want to see. It's gonna be a pretty busy weekend, being Memorial Day weekend, so we're aware we'll come across crowds and that'll probably limit what we can do, hence our putting a priority on all things Harry Potter.​

ADR for the day: None.​

Tuesday, May 30th​

It's finally Disney day!​

We'll check out first thing in the morning (probably around 8 or 9) and head... somewhere.​

If we book a shuttle to get to our Universal hotel, we may just book it as a roundtrip transfer from the airport. So we'd head back that way and catch the Magical Express to Disney property.​

Otherwise, we'll probably again try to compare cab/Uber/Lyft/whatever other option is available to us.​

Once we get to Coronado Springs, we'll check in and see if our luck from August holds (we had rooms ready when we checked in both at Pop and Riverside, and it was like... 9-10 AM both times). If so, we'll head to our room and unpack. Otherwise, we'll just leave our luggage.​

And then off to Disney Springs!​

We decided since we had a lot of Disney time ahead of us, we wanted to take some time to relax, enjoy the Springs and our resort. As such, the day we're changing resorts seemed like a good place to put in an easy going day.​

We'll spend morning and some of the afternoon at Disney Springs, probably stop somewhere for lunch. Amber would like to try D-Lux so that may be what we do, but there's obviously no lack of choice.​

Then, once we're done, we'll head back to the resort and spend the rest of the evening relaxing. We figure we'll have dinner at the resort (because we also want to someday have checked off all the restaurants on property ), do some swimming, maybe catch the Movie Under the Stars of the night. Really, this is gonna be a boring day to read about guys, I'm gonna warn you already.​

ADR for the day: Maya Grill.​

Wednesday, May 31st​

This is the day we've been waiting for for several years now.​

Finally, we're gonna attempt it.​

The Four Parks One Day challenge!​

So, I'm not entirely sure how we're gonna pull it off as of now.​

Initially I was hoping to do it on a day where Animal Kingdom has morning EMHs, but as of now, there are no morning EMHs for any park on that day, only evening at Magic Kingdom.​

As such, we may start at Hollywood Studios, because lines tend to grow faster there than they do at Animal Kingdom. Then we would head to Animal Kingdom, and hopefully get both parks done by early afternoon.​

After that we'd spend the rest of the afternoon at Epcot, and then of course, finish at Magic Kingdom. We'll probably keep our FastPasses for Magic Kingdom.​

Of course, this is a super broad plan, and I'm hoping we'll get morning EMHs thrown in there at some point, which could change the plans. Stay tuned!​

ADR for the day: None.​

Thursday, June 1st​

Initially, this was gonna be a pretty inconsequential day. Either spent at Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, maybe a bit of Animal Kingdom time thrown in there, who knows.​

And then, the announcement came for the DisAnniversary, on June 1st.​

And that there is something in the works. Something we should find out very soon.​

And based on what those somethings typically are (based on previous Disapaloozas), erm, we want to be there. Sign us up, buttercup.​

So, for now, I'm leaving this day pretty widely open. Ultimately, we're expecting it to be an evening event, but I'm not gonna plan anything that I then have to throw a wrench into. Of course, it'd be a pretty good wrench, but a wrench nonetheless.​

We did think about making a breakfast reservation for Be Our Guest - actually managed to snag one - on that day.​

Then we looked at the prices.​

No thanks.​

ADR for the day: None.​

Friday, June 2nd​

This is gonna be an Epcot day. We spent too little time at Epcot to Amber's taste last trip, and much too little time exploring the World Showcase, so this will be the perfect time to make up for it.​

We'll probably spend most of the day in that area of the park, although we'll for sure do a few things over in Future World as well.​

ADR for the day: Restaurant Marrakesh.​

Saturday, June 3rd​

Not entirely sure how the whole day is gonna go just yet, but this is most likely to be a Hollywood Studios day - or I guess afternoon, as we will take it easy in the morning, with a brunch in the plans.​

We for sure plan on at the very least ending the day at Hollywood Studios, as Amber wants to see the Star Wars fireworks again.​

ADR for the day: Trail's End.​

​

So that's it for our first week! For the most part, still pretty broad. Once we get closer to making our FastPass+ selections, we'll probably get a bit more specific, but even then, I don't think we'll necessary want to make a super strict touring plan either. We quite enjoyed our more relaxed pace in August.​

If anyone has any suggestions as for the transportation we need to plan (from and to the airport from our Universal hotel, and from Universal area to Disney area) I'll be glad to hear them!​

Also, if you have any Universal tips for us, be sure to share them as we'll be complete newbies on that side of Orlando theme parks!​

 

[Princess Leia]

Plans sound good to me. I am sure you will really enjoy Universal. There are some great rides and theming. I have quite a bit about Universal at the start of my 2015 trip report if you fancy a look. Are you getting park to park tickets?

 

[MarieLightning]

Plans sound good to me. I am sure you will really enjoy Universal. There are some great rides and theming. I have quite a bit about Universal at the start of my 2015 trip report if you fancy a look. Are you getting park to park tickets?

Awesome, I'll definitely have a look!

We talked about it a little, but we decided not to. Ultimately, we have two days there, and I think there's enough in each park to spend a full day in each, so the extra money to be able to ride the Hogwarts Express just doesn't seem worth it at this time. Maybe in the future though!

 

[Princess Leia]

Awesome, I'll definitely have a look!

Great - hope it helps. Feel free to comment or ask any questions.

We talked about it a little, but we decided not to. Ultimately, we have two days there, and I think there's enough in each park to spend a full day in each, so the extra money to be able to ride the Hogwarts Express just doesn't seem worth it at this time. Maybe in the future though!

It is very easy to walk between the parks as they are literally right next to each other. There will be so much else you will want to do beside the Hogwart's Express anyway. I love some of the rides at Universal/IOA.

 

[MarieLightning]

Great - hope it helps. Feel free to comment or ask any questions.

Will do! I'll probably have to wait til next week to read up on it cause scheduling and stuff, but I'm looking forward to learning more about Universal! It's so weird to go from planning something I practically know from A to Z, to something I've just heard of here and there without any real knowledge of it.

It is very easy to walk between the parks as they are literally right next to each other. There will be so much else you will want to do beside the Hogwart's Express anyway. I love some of the rides at Universal/IOA.

We'll definitely want to try and fit as much as possible, if we ever step out of the Wizarding World But yeah, we are planning on returning in the next few years. We're planning a trip with a few friends of mine in 2019, and with my family in 2020, and in both camps there are people who'd really like to see WWoHP, so both of those trips will include a Universal segment.

 

[MarieLightning]

Alright, super quick update to say...

I may have lied when I said my day to day life is boring.

There's a pretty good chance some exciting stuff is gonna be happening tomorrow.

If it is, I likely won't be able to update it here, so check out our Instagram!

Marie || Amber​

 

[Cara]

Wow! How exciting! Can't wait to hear all about it. Enjoying your pre-trip report too!

 

[MarieLightning]

Wow! How exciting! Can't wait to hear all about it. Enjoying your pre-trip report too!

Thank you!

It was definitely a crazy, last minute happening, stressful til practically the last minute, but we had a great time. I'll probably do a quick Trip Report for it, though we have less pictures than we normally do as we were actually filming a lot, plus it rained some yesterday and our cameras aren't waterproof.

We made it home without any hiccups though, but the return to work this morning (and school for Amber) was pretty rough!

 

[MarieLightning]

Alright, so not much happening on the front of this PTR at this point.​

I mean, we do have pretty much everything booked, and it's still another two months until we can select our FastPasses.​

We may or may not add or change a few more dining reservations, but for now that's on a stand still, and this is basically my stance on how time is moving right now...​

In the meantime, however...​

For everyone that didn't have a look at my previous tiny update, announcing something potentially exciting coming up...​

Here's our newest, shiny Trip Report!​

"There's Nothing To Do At Disney World!"​

That's right, we were just over at Disney last weekend! It was a super short trip, flying in on Friday morning and flying home Sunday night, but we had a great time!​

So since I don't really have anything to say for our upcoming trip at this time, feel free to have a look ​

 

[MarieLightning]

The Plan - Part 2​

Alright, here comes the second week plan!​

That one is likely to be a lot more flexible, so a lot of these plans could end up changing, but as of now, this is what's we've got on the horizon!​

Before I go on, I do want to mention a couple of updates to our first week plan.​

On Saturday, May 29th, we have replaced Le Cellier with Via Napoli.​

On Tuesday, May 30th, we have replaced Maya Grill with Homecoming at the Springs. It was originally in our plans, and then we decided to skip it, but we've been hearing such good reviews lately that we decided to go back to the first plan of action.​

On Thursday, June 1st, we've added an ADR at the Diamond Horseshoe for lunch. Hopefully whatever DisAnniversary event happens that day won't cause us to cancel it, because I'm excited to check it off the list since it's never been open while we were there before.​

Without further ado, here's week two!​

​

Sunday, June 4th​

This morning will start with our Coronado Springs check out...​

Followed by our Grand Floridian check in!​

Pinch me, I must be dreaming.​

Of course, our room is very unlikely to be ready by the time we head over to the resort, but I just want to bask in the loveliness of the Grand lobby.​

Margaret and Chase will be flying in on this day, so I don't know that we'll do much in the morning before they arrive. Maybe we'll just relax at the Grand, get some breakfast, or if by some miracle our room is ready, we may start unpacking to get that squared away. Or we may decide to head over to a park for a couple of hours, we'll see how we feel on that day.​

After Margaret and Chase arrive, we'll be heading to the Magic Kingdom!​

We do have the fireworks Dessert Party planned, with the Plaza Garden viewing, so I'm excited to do that again.​

ADR for the day: Be Our Guest Lunch​

Monday, June 5th​

So far, we are looking at doing Animal Kingdom on this day.​

The plan would be to hit it up as soon as it opens, with the morning Extra Magic Hours.​

I don't know if the park is likely to be much busier than usual, as both Pandora and Rivers of Light should be operating at this point. Currently, the plan is to do as much as we can between 8 and 10 that would be the 'older' attractions, like the Safari, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, etc.​

We do have a late breakfast planned with the Rivers of Light package, so that should at least get that squared away.​

We'll most likely prioritize Pandora rides for our FastPasses in the afternoon. Of course, no Animal Kingdom day is complete for me without watching Festival of the Lion King.​

It'll actually be our first time being in Animal Kingdom at night, so that'll be interesting.​

ADR for the day: Tusker House​

Tuesday, June 6th​

We may just be heading to Epcot on this day, although we'll see if it's all day or some of the day or whatnot. We do have dinner planned, and of course Amber will want to see IllumiNations as many times as she possibly can. We'll see if this is a day where we do or do not split, as Amber and I are a bit bigger lovers of Epcot than Margaret and Chase are, and so we typically feel the need to spend a bit more time there than they might, but we'll see what happens!​

ADR for the day: Le Cellier​

Wednesday, June 7th​

Hollywood Studios time, most likely! I don't know that we'd do more than one HS day during the week, and so it seems like a good enough reason for it to be in the middle of the week.​

We'll be following our HS tradition by having a Fantasmic Dining Package for lunch, and then do whatever else we want throughout the day. If I can ride Toy Story Mania more than once I'll be a happy camper, but that's not usually easily achieved, so we'll see how it goes.​

After Fantasmic the plan is to head over to the Magic Kingdom for evening Extra Magic Hours.​

As it stands, Hollywood Studios hours are scheduled until 8:30 PM that night, with the Fantasmic showing 9 PM, and then EMHs at the Magic Kingdom are from 9 to 11. So as it stands now, it's a big tight.​

However, Disney is historically pretty bad at extending their hours more than a few weeks out, and based on last year's calendar, there is not a single day in June where the park closed earlier than 11, which would put the Extra Magic Hours from 11 PM to 1 AM. Obviously, plenty of time then to make it from Hollywood Studios to the Magic Kingdom.​

Based on our experience transfering parks last year, I will likely suggest we take a bus to the Contemporary and walk from there rather than take the bus from HS to MK. Or even just take the bus back to the Grand and take the monorail from there.​

ADR for the day: Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano​

Thursday, June 8th​

This is the day for which we have talked about the least, but since by this point we'll only have hit up the Magic Kingdom once for a full day, and then hopefully the previous night for the evening EMHs, we'll most likely return there for this day!​

And that's really about all I can tell you about it ​

ADR for the day: None​

Friday, June 9th​

Second to last day of the trip. Man that's rough.​

This would be our return to Epcot, if all stays as is. We have lunch plans (you'll never guess where... yeah that's a lie, you should really know what's coming here) and exciting evening plans on this day, so it should be a great way to do our last Epcot day of the trip.​

In the plans, currently, is an IllumiNations Cruise! Last time we did it was actually with Chase and Margaret after they invited us, and it was so incredible and magical, I can't wait to experience it again.​

Also, I'll probably have a lot less qualms about enjoying the various snacks up for offering (and probably taking most of them back to the room with us tbh).​

We'll be amazed, Amber will cry, and thus will end our night.​

ADR for the day: Teppan Edo (duh)​

Saturday, June 10th​

This is it. The day it comes to an end.​

Excuse me while I cry a little.​

I know it'll have been two weeks by then, but I still don't think I'll be ready to leave. Although, I will be more than ready to see our baby kitty again. She'll have great catsitters, but still, not her mamas.​

Anyway, back on track.​

Of course, no trip to Disney World is complete for us without spending the last day in the Magic Kingdom.​

Granted, we'll need to spend some time packing, because duty calls, and we may also want to soak in some more fancy feelings at the Grand, but ultimately, we'll want to enjoy our last park day.​

We do have plans to be out of the park for the fireworks because of our ADR, so that will be the very first time for Amber and I seeing Wishes from outside the park (with the exception of a few times we've caught it from the buses, which doesn't really count). Ironically, this past January, when Margaret and Chase had their own quick trip, it was their first time seeing Wishes from *inside* the park.​

ADRs for the day: Crystal Palace Breakfast and California Grill Dinner​

Sunday, June 11th​

Check out day. Now I cry for real.​

Our flight leaves early, but not ungodly early. We'll probably be picked up by the Magical Express around 7:30 - 8 AM, so we'll have to say goodbye to Chase and Margaret. Hopefully we'll benefit from the easy check out where we don't have to stop by the desk, since I'm the main guest on file, but they'll be staying later. If anything we'll check how to arrange that earlier in the week.​

Our flight will depart from Orlando at 11:40 AM, and we will be landing in Montreal at 2:44 PM. Of course, granted there's no schedule change until then (although I wouldn't mind a change for a slightly later departure).​

So, that's about it.​

It's a big trip, but I'm so excited for it!​

Honestly, I could spend a month at Disney and I'm sure I wouldn't get tired of it.​

I'd miss my cat, but that's about it.​

Only one week left until double digits!

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