T H R E E magical days to go!
Oh my goodness -- it's the
T H R E E day countdown!
Our
Lightning Lane reservation day went about as I expected it to. The process was very straightforward on the app, and I was able to select everything that we wanted initially. I wasn't thrilled with the times selected, but I fiddled faddled the rest of the day and got our park plans about 90% of the way there. I am confident that we'll have a good experience picking up filler things as we use our lightning lanes throughout our trip.
With Lightning Lanes secure, our park plans and touring strategy are solidified! Spoiler alert: it's a lot of early wake ups!
August 14th: Travel + Disney Springs
3:30am: wake up
5:00am: head to airport
6:25am: checked in and through TSA
7:25am: depart BWI
9:45am: land at MCO
11:00am: transit to AoA
12:00pm: arrive at Aoa
If our room is ready (we're about 50/50 with it being ready or not with our track record) we'll unpack and relax, very likely go to for a swim. We have 7:00pm dinner reservations at Terralina and plan to stay for Dreams that Soar. If the weather is unfavorable, we'll consider bowling at Splitsville and want to make it a point to hit Gideons, World of Disney, Sugarboo, and Art of Shaving (and probably a bunch of other stores too).
August 15th: Animal Kingdom + Magic Kingdom
5:30am: wakey wakey
6:30am: bus to AK
7:30am: rope drop Navi
8:30 - 9:30am: FoP LL
9:10 - 10:10am: Safari LL
10:15 - 11:15am: Expedition Everest LL
11:25 - 12:25pm: Kali River Rapids LL
My two favorite shows in AK are Feathered Friends in Flight and the Nemo show, so I am hoping we can squeeze both those in, along with the Lion King show, before our midday break. We may have a QS brunch in the park, I think it'll depend on how wet we get on Kali! We have an early dinner reservation this day at Steakhouse 71 and want to stay hungry for that.
We'll take our midday break and then Uber to the Contemporary at 4:45 for our 5:15 dinner reservations at Steakhouse 71. After dinner, we'll take the monorail (monoraaaaail) to MK.
7:20 - 8:20pm: Tron LL
I want to try to get on this closer or after sunset, so we may start with other rides in Tomorrowland or Mickey and Minnie's meet and greet..all depending on stand-by times.
Once begin using our LLs earlier in the day at AK, I am going to start booking LLs for after 8:00pm in MK. I am hoping to get Haunted Mansion, BTMRR, PoTC. It would be amazing to pick up Tiana's or Jungle Cruise! We want to be sure to catch Happily Ever After at 9:00p and it would be nice to already be in Frontierland or close to it. That said, I wouldn't hate it if we were at the very end of Main Street USA, close to the exit to easily leave MK after the parade.
August 16th: Magic Kingdom + Hollywood Studios
5:30am: wakey wakey
6:30am: bus to MK
7:30am: rope drop Tomorrowland, hoping to do Space Mountain, Buzz, and the People Mover
8:10 - 9:10am: Tron LL
8:40 - 9:40am: Haunted Mansion LL
I would love to squeeze in It's a Small World at this point
9:40 - 10:40am: PoTC LL
10:35 - 11:35am: BTMRR LL
QS lunch at CHH (one of my favorite QS locations - thank God the hushpuppies are back!)
Then we'll take the train to the front of the park to leave for our midday break.
Around 3:20pm, we'll take the Skyliner to HS; we have 4:35 dinner reservations at Roundup Rodeo BBQ! I will try to pick up additional lightning lanes for Toy Story Mania, Runaway Railway, and Smuggler's Run for after dinner.
8:30 - 9:20pm - RotR LL
9:05pm - Oga's Cantina for drinks
August 17th: Epcot and Typhoon Lagoon
5:30am: wakey wakey
7:00am: Skyliner to Epcot (imagining that the line is incredibly long)
8:30am: Rope drop Remy's and maybe Frozen
9:15 - 10:15am: Guardians LL
10:35 - 11:35am: Living with the Land LL
I have late-day LLs for Spaceship Earth and Soarin, but we'd like to actually be on our midday break at that time, so I am going to try to make, at minimum, Soarin' happen between 10-12p since we have 12:05 lunch reservations at Garden Grill.
We'll wrap up Epcot after our lunch and take our midday break. We have H2O Glow party tickets at Typhoon Lagoon this night and since we have PH+, we may head over there a couple of hours before the party starts..depending on how we feel.
August 18th: a Magic Kingdom kind of day
No park hopping this day!
5:30am: wakey wakey
6:30am: bus to MK
7:30am: Rope drop Tomorrowland
9:00 - 10:00am: Tron LL
10:00 - 11:00am: Haunted Mansion LL
Around 11:30am, we will start heading towards the monorail to make our 11:55am breakfast (brunch? lunch?) reservations at 1900 Park Fare. I am super excited for this meal and for the characters.
I'm a 36 year old woman
After lunch, we'll take our midday break and then head back to Magic Kingdom and focus on the other side of the park. I am hoping to pick up a LL for Jungle Cruise
6:05 - 7:05pm: PoTC LL
7:00 - 8:00pm: Tiana's LL
With the extended break on this day, we'll close down MK and have a QS dinner in the park. We've never eaten at Cosmic Ray's, so that's on the table as an option. They have a grilled chicken sandwich with crispy onions and a Coke cherry BBQ sauce that sounds seriously so good! I also would love to try the Lunar Lemonade (pass the Tums!)
August 19: Hollywood Studios
Another day of no park hopping!
5:30am: wakey wakey
7:00am: Skyliner to Hollywood Studios
8:30am: Rope drop Runaway Railway
9:10 - 10:10am: RotR LL
10:25 - 11:25am: Slinky Dog LL
11:25 - 12:12pm: Toy Story Mania
QS lunch at Woody's Lunchbox
We'll take our midday break and then head back to Hollywood Studios around 4:00pm since we have early dinner reservations at 50's Prime Time Cafe as the Fantasmic package.
After dinner, we'll focus on catching some shows and have a LL for Tower or Terror, would love to pick up a LL for RnRC before our 9:00pm showing of Fantasmic.
August 20th: Epcot and MNSSHP
5:30am: wakey wakey
7:00am: Skyliner to Epcot
8:30am: Rope drop Remy's and (maybe Soarin')
9:15 - 10:15am: Guardians LL
9:30 - 10:30am - Living with the Land
Now, if we are able to rope drop Soarin' and then head to Living with the Land, we'll drop the LL for it and THEN head to Guardians. We also have a Spaceship Earth LL for 10:15 - 11:15 that I may drop if we can walk onto that early on.
11:00 - 12:00pm: Frozen LL
12:00pm: lunch at Biergarten
This is our last park day and since we have MNSSHP on this evening, we'll try to squeeze in our favorite pavilions and shows in the World Showcase and take our midday break a little later than planned. We'll see how we are feeling.
I haven't thought about how we'll tackle MNSSHP, I want to watch a few
Youtube videos from opening night. All I know is that the next day we have 7:50am breakfast reservations at Ohana and then we have to head back to the airport!
Whew - what a post!
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