Surprise Solo Weekend Adventure Time!: An April 2015 PTR - COMPLETED 4/27!

[squeegee]

UPDATE!!!

Well, it's official. Changed it in my signature and everything... My new dates are April 24-27. Yes, I added a night, and also a 2nd day in the parks. And 2 ADRs. More details forthcoming! (I'm currently in the midst of frantically changing my Fastpasses, etc!)

Woohoo!

 

[Tracy161]

WOOHOO!!!!!!! I'm SO happy for you, Billie!!! Let the happiness and excitement continue without distraction now!!!

 

[SarahDisney]

Well, it's official. Changed it in my signature and everything... My new dates are April 24-27. Yes, I added a night, and also a 2nd day in the parks. And 2 ADRs. More details forthcoming! (I'm currently in the midst of frantically changing my Fastpasses, etc!)

Yay! An extra night & day in the parks will be extra awesome! Even though you're missing the tour of the Magic, I know it will still be an awesome trip!
I'm so glad it's official ... although it's not official for us readers until you post more details!!

 

[Elevationist]

I noticed you changed your countdown!!! I'm sure you're glad things are settled now, and SO excited you get to add a park day!!!!!! Sometimes I think a last minute change of plans is exciting. I'm just glad you still get to go can't wait to hear the details!!!!!

It really is such a relief. And now I'm SUPER DUPER FREAKING EXCITED AGAIN!!!!

Woohoo!

I know, right?!

WOOHOO!!!!!!! I'm SO happy for you, Billie!!! Let the happiness and excitement continue without distraction now!!!

Yaaaaasssss! I spent 4 hours this morning changing/moving/altering/re-printing stuff. SO. WORTH IT. OMG.

Yay! An extra night & day in the parks will be extra awesome! Even though you're missing the tour of the Magic, I know it will still be an awesome trip!
I'm so glad it's official ... although it's not official for us readers until you post more details!!

It's going to be the BEST WEEKEND TRIP EVER. I've managed to squeeze so much in now that I really can justify the cost. And more details are coming soon, I promise! Hopefully tomorrow. There's just a couple more bits and peices that I need to iron out, then I can have a full write-up of the new plan! I'm actually thinking of getting the writing started tonight, and then tomorrow just adding the last few details so I can get the post up quicker!

 

[*tinker*bell*]

I'm so excited for you!!! It'll be so much fun, and an extra night and day in the park sounds wonderful! Can't wait to hear all the plans!!!

 

[Elevationist]

19 days until WDW!
**************************************************

Hey, ya'll!

Okay, first and foremost, thank you SO MUCH to all of you for all of your advice and support through this stressful process. Ya'll are the BEST, and I love my DISfriends!

As I teased briefly earlier today, I am happy to announce that my dates have officially been pushed back to April 24-27. Yes, you might notice that's 3 nights, instead of the initial 2 nights I was planning all along.

Last night I had the epiphany that if I drive down on Friday after work instead of waiting until Saturday, I can catch a few Zzzz's Friday night in a cheap off-property hotel, then wake up and hit the ground running (or in my case, rolling ) to fit a second full park day into my trip.

Yes, it will mean spending about $135 extra dollars to do this (between 1-day park ticket and hotel), but when I'm already spending $800 (turns out I will be renting a car, not borrowing one), it just made sense to spend comparatively just a leeeeettle bit more, and get TWICE as much out of the trip.

I've decided to go ahead and share the spreadsheets and my daily plans. I was going to wait until closer to the trip, but SCREW IT, I'M EXCITED. Besides, I would love ya'lls feedback. Ya'll might notice something in my plans I need to fix that I'm overlooking, so better sooner than later!

I like to do a worksheet for each day, rather than one big one for the week. I print them all out and paperclip them. While I'm at WDW, each morning before the I leave the room, I pull off that day's itinerary sheet and tuck it in my bag to take with me. I'll be posting each one in it's own post here on the thread, and I will begin putting those up for ya'll on Monday (because they are on my work computer).

Anyhow, that's as much as I can say for right now. Be ready for four posts tomorrow night, detailing my Daily plans!

I'm so happyyyyyyy!

 

[Elevationist]

I'm so excited for you!!! It'll be so much fun, and an extra night and day in the park sounds wonderful! Can't wait to hear all the plans!!!

I can't wait to TELL you all my plans! Stupid spreadsheets are at work, though, so it's gotta wait until tomorrow.

 

[Tracy161]

YAY YAY YAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! I'm SO happy and excited for you, Billie!!! And I think it's a great idea to tack on another night and double the bang for your buck - I'd have done the same thing!!! Can't wait to see your spreadsheets... I've been giving mine a lot of thought lately and wondering if there's any improvements I can make to them... anxious to see if I can "borrow" (steal!) anything from yours!

 

[cinderkelly]

Can't wait to see the spreadsheets! I have to confess, I don't even know how to DO a spreadsheet! I consider myself an organized person but you're amazing! I don't even own a PC, I do all my DIS'ing on an iPad, but my crazy secret is that is was looking at buying a laptop just so I could post easier .
Ok totally OT but I figured you'd appreciate my excitement, I made an ADR at Blue Bayou in DL for just my DD and I for her b-day. I can't wait! It's my very first ADR ever......can ya believe it??? We've got 12 days to go.....

Back to regularly scheduled programming....looking forward to your trip details!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I'm really glad that you were able to make your April trip work. It is such a nice time of the year to be at WDW.

 

[Chicago Mo]

GOOD FOR YOU! congrats on your longer stay and so happy it all worked out for you!!! YAY!!!!!!

 

[SarahDisney]

I love that you're adding an extra night off-site ... getting to Disney earlier is always an awesome idea!

I'm really excited to read about your daily plans! And I think having a worksheet for each day is a great idea ... that way there's less to carry around each day! I did that in November ... but I also added like 12 things I don't normally add to my plan sheets and ended up carrying the same amount of paper around each day ... oops.

 

[Elevationist]

YAY YAY YAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! I'm SO happy and excited for you, Billie!!! And I think it's a great idea to tack on another night and double the bang for your buck - I'd have done the same thing!!! Can't wait to see your spreadsheets... I've been giving mine a lot of thought lately and wondering if there's any improvements I can make to them... anxious to see if I can "borrow" (steal!) anything from yours!

They're coming! It's busy at work today, so I'm just sorta working on it here and there when I can! Fortunately I did the bulk of the writing last night.

Can't wait to see the spreadsheets! I have to confess, I don't even know how to DO a spreadsheet! I consider myself an organized person but you're amazing! I don't even own a PC, I do all my DIS'ing on an iPad, but my crazy secret is that is was looking at buying a laptop just so I could post easier .
Ok totally OT but I figured you'd appreciate my excitement, I made an ADR at Blue Bayou in DL for just my DD and I for her b-day. I can't wait! It's my very first ADR ever......can ya believe it??? We've got 12 days to go.....

Back to regularly scheduled programming....looking forward to your trip details!

Grats on your ressie! That sounds amazing!

I'm really glad that you were able to make your April trip work. It is such a nice time of the year to be at WDW.

I'm super excited! It's a bit too sunny and hot for me, so it's a good thing it's a short trip. But a good one, I hope!

GOOD FOR YOU! congrats on your longer stay and so happy it all worked out for you!!! YAY!!!!!!

It's all working out beeeeeeaaauutifully!!! The next 18 days can't go by fast enough!

I love that you're adding an extra night off-site ... getting to Disney earlier is always an awesome idea!

I'm really excited to read about your daily plans! And I think having a worksheet for each day is a great idea ... that way there's less to carry around each day! I did that in November ... but I also added like 12 things I don't normally add to my plan sheets and ended up carrying the same amount of paper around each day ... oops.

The way I do my worksheets, I manage to get everything I need onto them, and what I can't I can pull up on my phone in an pinch. The sheet is just there as a guide, to organize my thoughts during the planning process, and then to once I'm there to keep me on schedule so I can try to accomplish all my goals for the day. No, I'm not Type A at all....

 

[Elevationist]

18 days until WDW!
**************************************************

Hey, ya'll!

All right, as promised, the Daily Plans posts shall begin! I'm going to try to post them back-to-back without much time in between, as long as I don't get interrupted. Here we gooooooooo!

DAY 1 - Friday, April 24 - Work, & Travel to Florida

A pretty boring day for the most part.

I'll be working for most of it, but Rachel approved for me to leave early at 5pm (I normally am in the office until 6:30pm or so). My local Enterprise branch is only open until 6pm, so I have no choice but to split early, and she was 110% cool with it. So my mom will be at my work, ready and waiting for me at 4:45pm to take me over to Enterprise to pick up my rental car, and I'll quickly change into comfy traveling clothes first and just leave my own crappy car parked at the office for the weekend. (I work on base, so I know it'll be safe.)

Once we get over to Enterprise, hopefully everything goes smooth and quick. (I'm going to call the branch that day to remind them that I'll be coming in late just before they close to pick-up my car, so my hope is they'll be ready for me.) If all goes well, I'll be on the road by or a little after 6pm.

I'll drive for about 45 minutes, then stop just north of Savannah, GA to zip through the Krystal drive-thru for dinner. I can't get them in my town, and a sackful of sliders just really does make excellent road food!

Another hour and a half of driving or so, and I'll hit St. Mary's, GA. It's the last Georgia stop on I-95 before crossing into Florida, and they're known for having low gas prices. It's also a good halfway point for me to stretch my legs, not to mention that they have a big truck-stop style Petro station there that I'm very familiar and comfortable with, so I always stop here to top off my gas tank, pee, and grab a drink if needed.

Then back on the road for another 3 hours or so, continuing on I-95 to Daytona, then catching I-4 down into Kissimmee. I should arrive between 11pm and Midnight.

Thanks to my job, I got a $30 tax-free rate at the Magnuson Grand Maingate West in Kissimmee, and it's just 1 mile outside of Walt Disney World.

I stayed here for one night during my September trip, and while not the Hilton, there wasn't a thing wrong with it. It's an older property that just came under new management towards the end of last year, and it's currently undergoing a lot of refurbishments and improvements. And most importantly, it was clean and comfortable and I felt safe. It'll be perfectly fine for the 8 hours I'll be there just to shower and sleep.

Here's a few pics of the room I had in September:

See? A little dated, but not a thing wrong with it otherwise. Not to mention HUGE.

So after a quick shower, I'll be crawling into bed for approximately 7 hours of sleep. Tomorrow, my Disney adventure will TRULY begin!

 

[Elevationist]

DAY 2 - Saturday, April 25 - Port Orleans French Quarter, & Magic Kingdom!

So I'll wake up and quickly get dressed and round up my things, nibbling on a snack bar I've brought while getting ready in my room, and will check out by 8am.

I know from my last trip that the drive from this hotel to Animal Kingdom Lodge was less than 10 minutes, so I'm estimating 15-20 for Port Orleans French Quarter. By 8:30, I should be arriving and checking-in at...

I'M SO FREAKIN' EXCITED, OMG OMG OMG.

First I'll swing into Bell Services and grab my trusty steed, an ECV rented through Buena Vista Scooters. (They're the BEST!) Then I'll proceed to check-in.

Hopefully my room will be ready, but I know the chance is slim to none. Since I don't plan on spending much time at the resort today, I'm fine if it isn't. I'd rather get my requests anyhow (Ground Floor, Corner Room, Close to Transportation). If my room by some miracle IS ready, I'll go ahead and move my car around and go find it, and stash my bags inside. If it's not, I'll probably just leave my stuff locked in my car until I get back to the resort that night. Either way, first thing's first: Finding me some REAL breakfast at...

Did somebody say "beignets?!"

After filling up my belly, I'll be headed to the bus stop and catch the first bus I see that's going to whisk me away to the Magic Kingdom!

If things stay on schedule, I should be seeing this by 11am at the very latest...

...beginning 15 hours of Magic Kingdom fun! That's right, it's Saturday, so that means evening Extra Magic Hours until 2am!

I've got an hour or two to just explore, so I'll probably head over to Tomorrowland to see how the waits are for Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear, then start making my way through New Fantasyland for my lunch ADR:

YAAAAAASSSS! I went here for dinner in September and loved it, but have been curious to check it out for lunch. On a total whim today I thought to check for lunch ADRs, not expecting to get anything... But lo and behold, there were TONS of time slots available! I couldn't believe it! So I grabbed up the one that worked best for me, and even pre-ordered. SCORE!

After lunch, I have my first FastPass. As you see from my itinerary, I managed to land the following:

1:15pm-2:15pm: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

4:00pm-5:00pm: Splash Mountain

9:35pm-9:55pm: Wishes

I was so totally stoked because after I got my 7DMT FastPass with the ONLY time it offered me, out of curiosity I went back in to look, and then it was saying NO time available... I got the LAST one for the day!

For Splash Mountain, my favorite ride in the park, I spaced it out a bit later so that I can catch the Festival of Fantasy parade at 3pm. Normally I'm not so hot for the daytime parades, but I do want to see this one at least once. I was all parked and ready to see it back in September, and it got rained out. (SO. MUCH. RAIN. IN. SEPTEMBER.) Which was a big bummer, so I definitely want to catch it this time!

After the parade, I'll head down to my FP for my beloved Splash Mountain! After that, I'll wander around and take my time meandering through Frontierland and Liberty Square and Fantasyland, checking out standby times to see what else I can hit that's sporting a reasonable wait.

I'd like to eventually end up back in Fantasyland to grab dinner at Friar's Nook... I'm itching to try that Pot Roast Mac & Cheese!

I'll skip the first run of MSEP, hopefully catching some shorter wait times instead, then head over to try out the designated FP+ viewing area for Wishes. I had an extremely difficult time with maneuvering through the throngs with my ECV last time, and ended up sitting on it behind a bunch of tall people with kids on their shoulders and iPad raised over their heads... Pretty much missing ALL of Celebrate the Magic, because all that I could see was the tippy top spire of the castle. I've read some pretty great things about the FP+ viewing area, though, so I figured I'd check it out!

If the spot is as good as I expect it will be, I'm going to linger and watch the second showing of the MSEP, then spend a few more hours just wandering and enjoying! There will be a midnight snack in there somewhere. I'm going to try my hardest to hang until 2am. I'm naturally a night owl, but I'll have been up since 7:30am at this point, so who knows if I'll tucker out or not. If I do, that's perfectly okay, since after VERY quick sleep back at POFQ, more like a nap really, I'll be getting back up at 6:30am to head over to...........

 

[Elevationist]

DAY 3 - Sunday, April 26 - Animal Kingdom & Epcot!

...I'll be getting back up at 6:30am to head over to Animal Kingdom!

I'm using my FP+ selections later in the day at Epcot, so I want to catch EMH this morning to try and get as much done as possible. My must-do is mainly Kilimanjaro Safaris (it's my favorite in the park).

After Kilimanjaro, I'll likely hit Kusafiri Bakery before leaving Africa. I read recently about a breakfast wrap they have that has sausage, spinach, and scrambled eggs with goat cheese. On my last trip, I tried the scrambled eggs with goat cheese at Boma, and fell head over heels in love! So if they took those same eggs and turned them into a hand-held version? I am ALL OVER THAT.

Then I'll zip over to check out the wait for Kali River Rapids. Kali was one of two things on my September trip that I didn't get to do, between the rain and just being ready to head back to the room for a rest. The other thing I regrettably had to skip that day was Festival of the Lion King, which I LOVE, and have not seen in it's new home yet! So these two things, along with Kilimanjaro of course, are top priority during the 4 hours I'll be at AK.

OH! And of course... After Kali, I'll be jumping ALL UP in the that wonderful single-rider line for Expedition Everest! Wheeeeee! And if there's still time left, I'll check out doing either Dinosaur, or wander the Maharaja Jungle Trek to pay a visit to my precious tigers. Or depending on how I'm feeling and how early I get my must-do's knocked out, I might even consider dipping back into my resort for a power nap.

Regardless, by 12pm, I'll be heading out to catch a bus to Epcot!

Since my first fast pass of the day is in the Land (hmmmm!) and it'll be about lunchtime by now, my first stop will be Sunshine Seasons for some delicious noms! I don't know for sure what I'll have for my entree, but I'm relatively certain it will be followed by that incredible strawberry shortcake I keep seeing photos of!

I'll keep an eye on the clock and make sure that I'm done with lunch by 2:00pm, because then it will be time to start using those FP+ selections that I nabbed!

2:05pm-3:05pm: Soarin'

3:10pm-4:10pm: Spaceship Earth

4:15pm-5:15pm: Mission Space

The plan is after Soarin' to dip over to Seas for a few minutes. I don't usually bother with the ride, but I do love to spend a little time visiting with my beautiful manatees. And then I'll make sure to be over at Spaceship Earth by 4:00pm at the very latest. Right after that, I'll zip over to Mission Space (go Team Wuss! Erm.. I mean... Team Green! ), and also pop next door to check out Test Track's single rider line. Depending on the wait time, I may or may not do it.

After that, it's time to make my way over to World Showcase, and start exploring and nibbling my dinner around the lagoon! (I do have my final cut for my wishlist for the food booths, I'll post it another time though!) It'll be my first, and possibly only, glimpse of the Flower & Garden festival. I'm super excited and looking forward to it!

Around 8pm, I'll seek and stake out my spot for Illuminations, and get ready for my FAVORITE show at WDW, the one that was the first to make me tear up over the magic of Disney, waaaaay back in 2000. (I can't believe it's been 15 years since I first cried like a baby watching this show and fell in love with Walt Disney World!)

After this, if I'm not dragging too badly (thank God there's Starbucks in the parks now!), I'm going to squeeze a couple more hours of fun out of my quick trip, and head over to Downtown Disney for a little wandering and snacking!

And eventually I'll make my way back to Port Orleans French Quarter via the boat launch, and sleep for my final night in this bed...

 

[Elevationist]

DAY 4 - Monday, April 27 - Character Breakfast & Travel Home

Departure Day... Booooooo!

I'm going to let myself sleep as late as possible to make up for my three days of barely sleeping at all. I'll wake up around 9am, and quickly get dressed and gather my things. (Since this is a quick trip, I plan on not really "unpacking" and trying to keep everything in or near my bag to save time.)

After returning my valient steed to Bell Services, I'll hop in the car and start making my way over to the last peice of my weekend adventure.

See, I always like to do one last breakfast on the final morning. It helps to take the sting out of it being the last day, I think!

So I thought about what I would most ideally like to do. At first I didn't find the ADR I wanted, and booked an alternate. But the next day I decided to look again, and this time I remembered to check for a Party of 2 instead of 1, which I hadn't done the day before (rookie mistake)... And there is was, at almost the exact time I wanted! So I snatched it up and cancelled the other without hesitation.

Where will I be having my last dose of Disney magic this morning, you ask?

O'hana!!! I've been wanting to check out this breakfast for years. The problem is that I freakin' LOVE O'hana for dinner, and I don't want to do the same restaurant twice in one trip. So... I always book dinner, and tell myself "Next time, I'll do breakfast!" Well... As I had no interest in doing any table service dinners on this quick trip... but I DO want one character breakfast for my departure day... And the ADR just HAPPENED to be there at 10:50am and I was looking for one around 11am... Yes. That's pixie dust right there!

After breakfast, the day... and the rest of this post... gets pretty boring. I'll leave right from breakfast, and hit the road home. The same gas stop on the way, but quickly, no time to dawdle. Have to make sure I'm back in Beaufort before 6pm to return my rental car to Enterprise, where my mom will meet me and drive me back to my office to get my car, and I'll head home... Where I predict a quick shower, and an early night. I'm going to be completely pooped and still have to work the next morning!

...And then the frantic watching for the December park hours to be posted shall resume!

 

[deedee2177]

All caught up! I have been following along on your December PTR....how exciting you get to squeeze a weekend trip in before that!! I love your plans, looks like you are going to have a great time!

 

[SarahDisney]

I love seeing all of your plans!
Your spreadsheets are fantastic! I love that they combine a detailed breakdown of the day with conserving space.

So awesome that you now have a full day at MK! I hope lunch at BOG is amazing ... I've also only done dinner, but I really love the castle, it's amazing! YAY for getting a FP+ for 7DMT - so amazing that you got the last one!
I hope the weather works out for FoF ... I know you were upset that it got rained out in September, so I'm really glad you're (hopefully) getting a chance to see it soon!
We had some great short waits during the first MSEP in February! Plus, once the first MSEP & Wishes are over, at least 50% of the guests leave (NOTE: This is not an actual percentage, just my guess), so the lines get much shorter! And if you're having trouble staying up ... Starbucks/Main Street Bakery is open until closing!

Totally with you on your AK must-dos ... I skipped Kiliminjaro Safaris once, and it was bad news. It really is so awesome! I hope you have a great safari with lots of animals coming out to say hi! The new FOTLK theater is nice ... although it doesn't really seem that different than the old one to me

Epcot plans look great too! Make sure you take some time to "wander" around and look at the topiaries - they have some really amazing ones! Illuminations ... such an amazing show! Downtown Disney would be a great end to the day ... but you might be a little worn out after such a long trip, so you may just want to call it quits after Epcot.

Ohana should be an awesome departure day breakfast!

Sounds like you've got a great trip planned! It really will be the best Disney Weekend Ever!

 

[squeegee]

Both my TA friend and my husband have "forbidden" me from making daily spreadsheets like this - and I SOOOOO want to, but they don't think Little Monster will be able to stick to any type of schedule, so we might both end up miserable if we try. LOL. I love seeing the daily breakdown.