The BMOC aren't too big to hit WDW... pre-trip report

[Sydney2977]

I guess I should introduce myself and my family, since this is the first ever pre-trip report for me on this board!
I will start with myself, because I am the oldest- my kids and DH love to tease me about that. My name is Sydney- I was born on my grandfather's birthday and his middle name was Sidney, so my mom just changed the spelling. If you rearrange those letters, it spells "Disney"- coincidence? I think not! I fell in love with Disney as a kid, and was fortunate to go with my parents and brother three times, though we never stayed on property. DH never got to go to Disney before we married, but he has always loved Disney. We have been married for almost 18 years.

We are from Texas, but have lived in the Charleston, SC area since 1998 when he was stationed here at the Air Force Base. I have worked for JCPenney since moving here, currently leading the support team for the store.
Our oldest son Taylor is 17, a senior, who is involved in band (trumpet), Boy Scouts, and JROTC. Our youngest son Jared is 13, in 8th grade, and participates in baseball, band (saxophone), and Boy Scouts.

They will both be the "Big Men On Campus" this year, but they still love going to WDW with mom and dad!

This trip will be our 7th as a family. I love that the boys are older now and can get into planning stuff with me. They help pick park days, food, etc. What they don't know is that we've upgraded to stay at AKL this trip! Can't wait to see their faces when we pull up!

We are leaving to drive down on Sun. Nov. 3rd. Taylor has state band competition the day before, and this is where we can fit in the trip between when DH and I can get off and their activities. Our plans look like this so far:

Sat. Nov. 2 we will drop the dogs off at the kennel

and travel a few hours away to the band competition. We will have all of the bags packed and out. Sun. morning Nov. 3 DH and I will get up, pack the car, get the boys up, we'll eat breakfast, and start the drive. We don't plan to get up too early, but since DH and I are used to getting up early for work, we'll probably be leaving around 8am. We plan to be in the Jacksonville area around lunchtime, so we'll stop for a bite at Whataburger- we miss those from Texas. This should have us pulling up to the AKL by 3pm. Yipee!

Once we get checked in and unpacked in our room, we'll explore the resort a bit, and maybe take a swim. We have dinner adr's at Boma for 6:05pm.

We have eaten here several times for breakfast, but not dinner. After dinner we may go check out the Boardwalk resort and area, and possibly see the Electric Water Pagaent- two things we've never done. Whenever we get tired we'll head back to AKL to get a good night's sleep!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[Sydney2977]

Day2: Disney's Hollywood Studios

For our first full day, we will be heading to DHS. Fantasmic! is playing tonight, and it's Taylor's absolute favorite show. I don't think Osbourne Lights will be showing yet, but we've experienced them twice before, and we could always hop over another night if we decide to.

The morning will begin with a quick breakfast at Mara, then hopping on the bus to DHS.

We have a general idea of what we like to do, but don't go "commando" and rush, especially on this trip. I want relaxation and time to "smell the roses." We may start out at RnR and ToT like usual,


but we are staying for emh, so we may head to TSM first knowing there will be a wait.

Other things we want to experience are: Great Movie Ride,

Indiana Jones,

Lights, Motors, Action,

Backlot Tour,

Muppets 3-D,

and Star Tours.

Actually, I should point out that Ron and I get motion sickness in our old age (I swear I loved these rides when I was younger) so it'll just be the boys on Star Tours. But we both love Star Wars, so we never have a problem enjoying the gift shop while we wait.


Our food plans for the day include lunch at 12:20 at Sci-Fi

and dinner sometime when we get hungry at Fairfaxe Faire. Never tried FF before, but the menu looked good.
As I said before, we have to see Fantasmic!

Emh are from 7-9pm, so hopefully we can get a couple extra rides in before we head back to AKL for the night. Maybe we'll even get to check out some animals when we get back.

 

[Sydney2977]

Day 3: Kind of a down day

We've never technically done a down day while at WDW, but I'm trying it this time. Not sure how the weather will be , but we are starting off the day with breakfast at Olivia's and then checking out OKW resort. If the weather is nice we'll head to Blizzard Beach. (If not we can always resort hop or head to Disney Quest or mini golf at Winter Summerland.)
We plan to stay at Blizzard Beach and try all the slides- we love these things, but have never done a Disney waterpark. I'm looking forward to the Summit Plummet!
We'll grab cs for lunch, and probably head back to AKL around 4:00 to get cleaned up. Depending on when we get done, we'll head to DTD and either do Disney Quest first, then dinner, then back to DQ, or do dinner then DQ.
I made adr's at Planet Hollywood. I know this place doesn't always get the best reviews, but I think it'll be good use of ddp credits, plus we have a $15 credit. We ate here before on Super Bowl Sunday and really had a great time.
I'm excited to get to do DQ again- haven't been since like 2006 I think. Jared wasn't even big enough to do some things yet. He remembered the Aladdin's carpet ride though that I had forgotten! We really liked the Jungle Cruise and PotC games too. And I'm sure we'll have to play all the classic games too. When we're all worn out we'll head back for a good night's sleep!

 

[OhMari]

On your first day you were going to do the Boardwalk and see the Èlectric Water Pagent. These two are at two different areas. I am sure you know this.

I am going to move you to ourPretrip board.

 

[Sydney2977]

On your first day you were going to do the Boardwalk and see the Èlectric Water Pagent. These two are at two different areas. I am sure you know this.

I am going to move you to ourPretrip board.

Thanks- I wasn't quite sure where to put this as I'm new to this site and it's so big!

Yea, we were planning on checking out Boardwalk and hopping on a bus to MK and monorail to one of the resorts to watch the Water Pagaent. Anyone know the best place to see this from?

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Thanks- I wasn't quite sure where to put this as I'm new to this site and it's so big!

Yea, we were planning on checking out Boardwalk and hopping on a bus to MK and monorail to one of the resorts to watch the Water Pagaent. Anyone know the best place to see this from?

The Poly Beach is a great spot to watch it You could head for the Poly Beach to see Wishes and then then Pageant and then head to the Boardwalk for a snack at the Boardwalk Bakery


Subbing to your trip report Your plans sound terrific

 

[Sydney2977]

Day 4: Epcot plus Food & Wine Festival

Today we will again wake up and enjoy breakfast at Mara, maybe some animal watching, and then hop on the bus to Epcot.

Don't know what time we'll get there, but we'll start the morning off in Future World. Our must-do's include:
Test Track (can't wait to ride the new version!)

Soarin'

Living with the Land

Ellen's Energy Adventure (stupid Judy!)

The Seas with Nemo

Journey with Figment

Club Cool

and of course, Spaceship Earth.

There are emh from 9-11pm tonight, so we'll see what we can do before we get hungry for lunch, and then head to World Showcase.

 

[Sydney2977]

Day 4, part 2:

Yey! Time to start eating our way around the world! This will be our 3rd time to experience the Food & Wine Festival! Ron and I aren't into the drinking part, but we may try a drink or two this time. But we're all definitely up for the food part. As far as attractions go, we always stroll through and enjoy each countries pavillion. But we must experience:

and

We'll try to get in a showing of the American Adventure,

and catch some of the great acts from the different countries.
I've already perused the menus fom his year's festival and made a list of what we'll try, based on things we've enjoyed in the past and things I know our family will like.

* beef empanada
* beef skewer

* shrimp taco
* ribeye taco

* Mongolian beef on a steamed bun
* black pepper shrimp w/noodles
* chicken potstickers
* silky spun ice

* bratwurst in a pretzel

* ravioli

* seafood pie

* pork slider

* short ribs w/mashed potatoes
Brazil:
* crispy pork belly w/black beans, avacado, & cilantro
Australia:
* garlic shrimp w/tomato
Singapore:
* chicken curry w/rice
South Korea:
* kimchi dog w/mustard
Morocco:
* meatball pocket
* baklava
Belgium:
*waffle w/fruit
Scotland:
* banofee tart
Greece:
* chicken gyro
Hops & Barley:
* lobster roll
Florida local:
* beef slider
* shrimp w/veggies
When we're done touring the world and stuffing ourselves, we'll probably ride Maelstrom again and head to Future World for a few more rides during emh. When we're tired we'll head back to the resort for a good nght's sleep!

 

[Sydney2977]

Day 5: MK day

I think we'll be up early enough to get the bus to MK for emh from 8-9 this morning, but if not it's no big deal.
The we'll hop on the monorail when we feel like breakfast at eat a quick meal at Comtempo Cafe. I also want to take a little time to check out the Contemporary Resort. We may do this before we go to MK.

First at MK we always stroll up Main St. taking in all the magic.
Then we head to our favorite: PotC!

Since we're already in Adventureland

we'll ride the Jungle Cruise

and the Magic Carpets.


Next we'll head to Liberty Square for the Haunted Mansion

and the Hall of Presidents.


We may head to Frontierland next to do Big Thunder Mt.

and Splash Mt.

If we have time before lunch we may explore Tom Sawyer Island and see the Country Bear's Jamboree too.

Lunch is at 12:40 at Tony' Town Square.


After stuffing ourselves we'll enjoy another stroll up Main. St. and probably venture right this time towards Tomorrowland.

Must do's include Buzz Lightyear,

Carousel of Progress,

Monsters, Inc.,

Peoplemover, (we may do this a few times in between other rides)

Speedway,

and finally Space Mt. (this should give us time for our tummies to settle)


If we didn't get to finish up Frontierland we'll probably head back there. Sometime when we're hungry we'll grab dinner at Pecos Bill's.


We plan to enjoy the New Fantasyland next.

We'll ride the carousel,

Small World,

Pooh,

Peter Pan,

Dumbo,

and the Little Mermaid, and watch Mickey's Phillharmagic.


If we want we'll see the Main St. Electric Parade

and maybe Wishes if we don't see it on arrival night. We'll probably have to do another ride on HM and PotC before calling it a night and riding the bus back to the resort.

 

[Sydney2977]

Day 6: another down day

We'll be taking it easy on this Friday, maybe sleeping in a little and visiting the animals in the morning, maybe swimming. I plan to visit the Grand Floridian
to grab a quick breakfast at Gasparilla Island Grille and then explore the resort. We've got some other resorts we've never explored that we'd like to see this day, including AoA, POR, Ft.W, CBR, YC & BC, Swan & Dolphin, and Saratoga Springs. In between there we have a lunch adr at 12:40 for Kona.

Later in the afternoon we'll go to Winter Summerland for a round of mini golf. We've been to Fantasia years ago, so we thought we'd try a new one.
For dinner we an adr at 6:50 at Whispering Canyon at WL.

After dinner we'll head to DTD to enjoy DisneyQuest again and head back to sleep when we get tired.

 

[Sydney2977]

Day 7: AK day (part 1)

We will begin the day with one of our favorite breakfast meals at Boma!

Then we'll take a quick bus ride to AK!
Hopefully I'll see my favorite Christmas tree when we get there!

We'll stroll through the oasis to see some animals and probably head to the safari first- that always seems to be everyone's first choice.
Wonder how much this little guy has gotten in two years?

We'll take the forest trail to check out some more animals

and ride Expedition Everest.

If it's not too cool we might do Kali River Rapids before lunchand take the jungle trek.

For lunch we'll have at Yak & Yeti cs and find our favorite spot to eat.

We'll hop on the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch and explore there for a while.

The kids and I will ride Dinosaur!

and maybe Triceratops Spin, just for fun!

We hope to catch the last show of Lion King too.

When AK closes at 5pm we will head to MK!

 

[Sydney2977]

Day 7, part 2: MK evening

After departing AK at 5:00 closing we're heading to MK for our last night at WDW! I somehow managed to score an adr for Be Our Guest at 7:00- so excited about this one! We may get a ride or two in before we eat depending on travel time. Or we may take our time, take a ride on the ferry to get to MK, stroll up main street browsing about, and get to Fantasyland at a leisurely pace. Maybe we'll take a train ride around and then get off in Fantasyland. There's emh till 11pm this night, so we'll have plenty of time to get one last ride (or like 10 on PotC) on all our favs. Then it will be time to head back to the resort to crash.

 

[Sydney2977]

Day 8:- departure day

On our last morning we'll grab breakfast at Mara and maybe have time for one last swim. Then we'll clean up, pack up, check out, and say bye to the animals. If there are any resorts we didn't get to check out during our resort hopping we'll do that. We also will stop in to CSR for lunch before heading back. Getting on the road by 3pm should have us back at a decent time. We won't want to go, but hopefully we've packed in enough Disney fun to last a while!