The Itinerary (so far)
I posted our October itineary toward the tail end of our May trip report, but I thought it would be worth posting here on this PTR with a few more details. While we're still tweaking the final plans (and things are always, ALWAYS subject to change
), this is what our week is shaping up to look like.
Friday: We have a 2 pm flight from Detroit, which means we should be on the ground and picking up the rental car by around 5 pm (pending no delays). We plan to have dinner at Sweet Tomatoes with
@DontRushMe and her DH ..... the first time we will have had dinner there (we've only ever been for breakfast or lunch). We'll check in at the resort, and enjoy a relaxing pool night once we're unpacked and settled in.
Saturday: We plan to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel -- we don't have one near our house here in MI, so we enjoy being able to dine there when we're in Orlando. We will visit Gatorland during the day, have dinner at Rocco’s Tacos with
@chiamarie , and attend Old Town’s Halloween Haunt in the evening with
@DontRushMe and Rich. IF we decide to have a mid-day meal (often we skip those if we have a big breakfast and a substantial dinner planned), we'll just grab something at Gatorland. I know Steve is itching to give gator nuggets a try.
Sunday: It's a full SeaWorld day! We have all-day dining already pre-purchased. It's the final Spooktacular day for the 2018 Halloween season, so we'll be dressing in our Incredibles costumes and taking part in the special events being offered at the park. We have the Animal Ambassadors Tour booked for that morning, and will be meeting up with
@verleniahall and her DH, Sam. We also have passmember Quick Queues for the new ride, Infinity Falls.
Monday: It's a full Aquatica day! We have a Roa's Rapids cabana already reserved, and all-day dining pre-purchased.
Tuesday: We kick off our "Disney Day" with a late breakfast at Boma and touring around Animal Kingdom Lodge. Dinner that night will be at Trail’s End, followed by the Return to Sleepy Hollow event & dessert party at Fort Wilderness in the evening. Between breakfast and dinner, we have no plans……maybe a pool day? We figured that by this point, an afternoon nap and leisurely float in the pool or soak in the hot tub might be a welcome respite from the busy days before and after.
Wednesday (Halloween Day): Ah, this is our much anticipated Discovery Cove day
. We have the dolphin swim this time, so we will plan to arrive early to secure an early time slot for our dolphin swim. That evening, hopefully we can meet up with
@east_coaster to say hello in person! We plan to enjoy a beverage or two at the Tiki Bar that night, and take part in any special Halloween events that the resort will be running.
Thursday: SeaWorld day #2: again, with all-day dining (already pre-purchased). We currently have the Sea Lions Up Close Tour reserved as well.
Friday: Plans call for Disney Springs during the day, meeting up with
@afan . We hope to ride the Characters in Flight balloon again before having lunch at D-Luxe Burger. We'll likely enjoy some time at the Coke Store (meeting the Coke Bear, and having a refreshing beverage while enjoying the view from the rooftop bar), and I am determined to try a Sprinkles cupcake for the firs time. That evening, we have plans to enjoy dinner at Hash House a Go Go with
@pattyw and her DH Joe followed by the Ferrytale Wishes Dessert Cruise from the TTC.
Saturday: we have a morning flight home. Assuming we have enough time, we'll stop for breakfast at Chick-fil-A before heading to the airport. We need to drop the rental off by about 8:30 am in order to allow enough time to get through security and to our gate prior to boarding for our 10:30 flight home.
I'm toying with the idea of moving our Sea Lions Tour to our Sunday SeaWorld day (from Thursday) for two reasons. Firstly, I expect the Sunday to be far busier than the Thursday.....being the final Spooktacular day, I expect the park will be packed with young families. It might be smart to have our two tours scheduled for that busier day when ride lines will likely be long and shows more full, so that we can leave Thursday's slower day to be completely open to take full advantage of the park attractions with shorter waits. PLUS.....the Walrus Up Close tour is being offered 30% off to pass members beginning on the Thursday, so that would allow us to add that on if we so chose (we couldn't do both the Sea Lion and Walrus tours on the same day.....just due to the timing of when each is offered). I'm still mulling it over. I'd love to know what you guys think.