Unvoiced_Apollo
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2018
- Messages
- 1,013
My dad and I (both adults) are planning a Father-som trip for ourselves to Disney World come this February. I remember visiting the park once when I was a kid, but i was so young I barely remember going on Dumbo and Peter Pan. I thought for sure I also got on Maelstrom, but the videos do not match my recollection.
We also took a trip at the very end of November of 2017. We arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving, thinking we'd suffer major crowds but that everyone would be back in school. We didn't account for the hard ticket events or the people trying to beat them. But we had a ton of fun. Went on both the Ultimate Day of Thrills Tour and Wild Africa Trek. We visited Disney Springs and saw Coco. We made the "mistake" of not getting ADR's, but staying at Animal Kingdom lodge, we were always able to find a reservationfor Boma and had one night both at Jiko and Sanaa. Otherwise, it was quick service at the Mara or the parks (save for the meals provided by the tours).
Part of the trip was solo because my dad got a little sick (cold) and had to rest half the day. But I ended up meeting all the princess characters and Tinkerbell as a result. There was an awkward situation with Ariel (innocent one I swear). Overall it was a good trip but left feeling a little "we did it', don't need to do it again".
But then a year later I started to get that itch. To go back down. But I wanted to avoid that "been there done that" feeling. After talking to my dad, he agreed to let me do the planning. And so the question was how I would approach this.
So I asked myself two questions:
1. What did we miss out on as adults?
2. What would we have loved to do as kids? (Not that I wouldn't love to do what we're doing, but I would see things differently through the lens of a child rather than through the lens of my current adult form)
So this trip in part involves imagining what I would do as a kid if I had my dad's wallet and 5 days at Disney World (aside from travel and accommodations). The other part was planning to view some shows we missed on our last trip (we took one in 2017).
Travel:
I decided to be a little unconventional, and we are taking the train. Given the cost and time, flying is still preferable. However, I wanted to do something unique, so chose the Auto Train from Virginia to Florida. We even went with getting a room instead of riding coach. This will be our first time riding in a train with an actual bed. I just hope the rocking lulls me to sleep instead of being kept awake
Hotel:
Port Orleans Riverside. Yes we're well aware Disney is charging for parking now, but we were prepared for the ding to our budget.
Park Activities (Rides are accounted for in a later post, just didn't feel like listing that part of the plan until I had my fastpasses):
1st Day - Magic Kingdom/After Hours at Animal Kingdom
Be Our Guest (Dinner)(4:40).
2nd Day - Animal Kingdom
Tusker House Character Meal (Lunch)(dining package)(3:25)
Rivers of Light (dining package)
3rd Day - Epcot/After Hours at Magic Kingdom
Trattoria Al Forno Bon Voyage Breakfast (11:35)
4th Day - Hollywood Studios
Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano (Lunch)(2:50)
Fantasmic! (dining package)
5th Day - Magic Kingdom
Cinderella's Royal Table (Dinner) (4:30)
After Fireworks Dessert Party with Plaza Viewing(7:00 check in)
Really looking forward to this trip and these new experiences.
We also took a trip at the very end of November of 2017. We arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving, thinking we'd suffer major crowds but that everyone would be back in school. We didn't account for the hard ticket events or the people trying to beat them. But we had a ton of fun. Went on both the Ultimate Day of Thrills Tour and Wild Africa Trek. We visited Disney Springs and saw Coco. We made the "mistake" of not getting ADR's, but staying at Animal Kingdom lodge, we were always able to find a reservationfor Boma and had one night both at Jiko and Sanaa. Otherwise, it was quick service at the Mara or the parks (save for the meals provided by the tours).
Part of the trip was solo because my dad got a little sick (cold) and had to rest half the day. But I ended up meeting all the princess characters and Tinkerbell as a result. There was an awkward situation with Ariel (innocent one I swear). Overall it was a good trip but left feeling a little "we did it', don't need to do it again".
But then a year later I started to get that itch. To go back down. But I wanted to avoid that "been there done that" feeling. After talking to my dad, he agreed to let me do the planning. And so the question was how I would approach this.
So I asked myself two questions:
1. What did we miss out on as adults?
2. What would we have loved to do as kids? (Not that I wouldn't love to do what we're doing, but I would see things differently through the lens of a child rather than through the lens of my current adult form)
So this trip in part involves imagining what I would do as a kid if I had my dad's wallet and 5 days at Disney World (aside from travel and accommodations). The other part was planning to view some shows we missed on our last trip (we took one in 2017).
Travel:
I decided to be a little unconventional, and we are taking the train. Given the cost and time, flying is still preferable. However, I wanted to do something unique, so chose the Auto Train from Virginia to Florida. We even went with getting a room instead of riding coach. This will be our first time riding in a train with an actual bed. I just hope the rocking lulls me to sleep instead of being kept awake
Hotel:
Port Orleans Riverside. Yes we're well aware Disney is charging for parking now, but we were prepared for the ding to our budget.
Park Activities (Rides are accounted for in a later post, just didn't feel like listing that part of the plan until I had my fastpasses):
1st Day - Magic Kingdom/After Hours at Animal Kingdom
Be Our Guest (Dinner)(4:40).
2nd Day - Animal Kingdom
Tusker House Character Meal (Lunch)(dining package)(3:25)
Rivers of Light (dining package)
3rd Day - Epcot/After Hours at Magic Kingdom
Trattoria Al Forno Bon Voyage Breakfast (11:35)
4th Day - Hollywood Studios
Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano (Lunch)(2:50)
Fantasmic! (dining package)
5th Day - Magic Kingdom
Cinderella's Royal Table (Dinner) (4:30)
After Fireworks Dessert Party with Plaza Viewing(7:00 check in)
Really looking forward to this trip and these new experiences.
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