Our July 26-31 FANTASTIC trip

[CanadianPaco]

Yes it was HOT - so DH rented a convertable! Very cool! We got groceries and headed off to POP! After a quick bite and a dip in their fanatastic pool, we hit MK! Yes,it was busy but we got a FP for Big Thunder and hit Pirates twice, strolled around TomSawyers Island, drank frozen lemonde! We did Philharmagic and It's a Small World. Carsel of Progress - lovely as ever! Then had a blast at Big Thunder! Then root beer floats while we watched the early Spectromagic! Found the golden ears - no problem! Long wait at the bus stop but all in all - a GREAT first day!!! Hot and crowded - yes! Manageable and doable - all with the right plan and attitude!
It was EMH at Animal Kingdom ---- so we chose to do AK on ...

Day 2 - Hit it first thing,a fter breakfast in the room! We drove (roof down) this time! We were second in line at Kali which started running at 9:30am. The 3 of us and a lovely Florida family - rode it three times in a row!! We rode it 5 times last August. DD wanted to "break our record" - so we were determined to do it. Afte the 3rd time, we got off but the CM at the turnstile asked if we wanted to go again! We did! Then after that ride, we got off and walked around again to ride it! Then did it one more time - for OUR record. FYI - according to the CM- the record is 53 times in one day! We hit Camp Minnie and Mickey while the Lion King wrapped up! Then did the Lion King as we dried up! Fab lunch at Flame Tree and back tot the hotel for a dip! PS at O'Hanas that night was INCREDIBLE!! Home for an early bed time.
Day 3 - We drove again - roof down to MGM!! It was MGM time starting with Voyage of the Little Mermaid - a must see for little princesses! Wow!! Very cool! Then Indiana Jone, Backlot Tour and Muppet 3D - lots of sitting, a little walking and mmmh ice cream! PS at 50s Cafe - lovely time and good food!! Back to the car - hotel and a loveley pm by the pool! That evening BIG thunder boomers came in but we went outlet shopping! Dry as a bone.
That night was EMH at EPCOT so we avoided it and went to EPCOT on....
Day 4 - EPCOT after PS at Chef Mickeys!! Super food!!!! We were early so we rode the monorail and got to sit out front!! Awesome - a first for us! The to EPCOT as it opened! DH ran for Soarin' FP! And got 3 for 10am. When DD and I caught up we waited at whole 15 min to do Soarin' in the stand by line! Awesome. Then did the FP ones. Wonderful!! Turtle Talk was EXCELLENT!!Over to Test Track and FP there. Then we toured, shopped and wandered!! Lunched in The Land and FP Soarin' for 5:40pm. Did Test Track - incredible!!!!!!! A lovely ride on Space Ship Earth - a first for us! Another ice cream and back to the hotel for sun and swimming!
Back to the Epcot to dine and ride Soarin'. Then off to the International Side - dinner in Mexico and a rain storm in China. After an hour, 75% of the park LEFT!! Yippee!!! And the rain stopped. Illuminations was as lovely as ever especially after everyone else left! Front row seats and only a 30min wait! Awesome!! 10min car ride back home!
This night was EMH at MK so we avoided it and went to MK on...........
Day 5 - opened the park to minimal crowds!! Awesome plan. Avoid EMH (especially if you have little ones but hit those parks the morning after! It worked every time for us!!) We did Stitch (ewe) and Buzz and of course Cinderellabration all before 9:40am!! A great show!! Then FP Splash!! Waited for it at Pirates - nice and cool! After Splash we FP it again! Shopped and rode Cinderella's Merry go round!!Lovely - did Splash again before going to the Castle for a lovely window side lunch!! Lots of autgraphs - Mary Poppins, Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, and Belle!! Tonnes of fun and a nice meal!!
Back to the hotel for suna and swim!
Back to MK that night - did the Railroad to Toon Town. After a bit of time there, we did It's Small World again - so beautiful!! So well done!!! Rain set in again - leave people leave!!! Dinner at the Starlight did the TTa twice. Space Mountain was down so we got to see it all lit up!! Wow!! It is such a tight space - a tight ride!!! Got it on film too! Then we did Aladin, grabbed a root beer float and settled in - front row for both Spectro and Wishes!! Fantastic evening - fantastic day!! Fantastic trip!

My advice - plan! We knew some rides we couldn't do more than once - I prepped DH (she's 7yrs old). No whinning no surprises! She was happy to do things once if she realized that's all we could. When we could ride it twice, we did!! We were able to ride Soarin' three times in one day because of DH's run, and our planning of when to go!

We took another DIS-ers advice - avoided the EMH at night. And we went to that park the next morning! INCREDIBLE advice! It worked like magic!!!!!

We headed out Sunday for 4 lovely days on the beaches of Clearwater! Landed safely at Toronto's Pearsons Airport yesterday afternoon! We actually drove by the crashed Air France plane! WOW!!! Lucky people!

So there you have it!! This site made the trip !! No othe way to describe it! The advice, the ideas!! THANK YOU ALL!!!

Have a great day!!!

 

[Avalanche]

Sounds like fun. My DH and DS love root beer floats but have never saw them at MK, where did you get them?

 

[OhMari]

Wow, I think I have come to conclusion is try not to do so many things at the park in one day. I am such a commando, I feel I need to do the whole park. I have to learn to relax and just do the things I really want to do. Thanks for posting.

 

[CanadianPaco]

Sounds like fun. My DH and DS love root beer floats but have never saw them at MK, where did you get them?

Oooooooh and they use soft ice cream! It's in the same area as Stitch in Tomorrow land, across from the race track. They sell soft ice cream and coffee drinks! but oh those floats!

 

[briarberry]

Thank you for the EMH tip. We are leaving on Aug. 20 and I had thought we might try the evening EMH at MK but I think I will go with your advice and go the following morning. My daughter is 8 and doesn't do late nights very well!