Ah yes...
the search for the perfect plans.
:::ahem:::
I mean, the search for the perfect non-itinerary itinerary.
Dropping the park hopper option of our passes has brought into sharp relief that which I have not attained.
The melding of a fine schedule.
Oh ho ho, what's this you say? How can the TK clan possibly follow a schedule?
Well, in truth, we won't really. ADRs? Booked. Which days in which parks? Figured out. ADRs rebooked? Yup.
Confused? I know I am.
Now that I've decided to lose the hopping, if this is something that I intend to stick to, then we needed to commit to a slight rearrangement in the schedule. A trifle, really.
To something we already had before.
Which was humorously pointed out to me by the lovely ADR CM that I spoke with this evening, as we joked and chatted about children and life and such. Which is a little scary. Not the children and life and such but the fact that that poor woman can see every single ADR change that I've made. Bless her. Bless her for partaking in the insanity that is a pirate's life for three.
But let's backtrack, shall we? To about 730ish this evening. Whereupon I was fairly certain I need to flip two things, and wanted to check park hours and thought, Hey! Now is a perfect time to make my park hour/extra magic hour spreadsheet.
Oh, how I love my spreadsheets.
So helpful.
So useful.
So much information contained in the trip report binder, my wonderful trip report binder.
:::sigh:::
So I checked my park hours, and was able to essentially confirm what I already knew.
That the Brown Derby needed to get moved back to Wednesday.
Here's why. We only have three ADRs that are in the parks. All the others are actually at resorts, making it easier to be more flexible about which park we go to on which day. Except that there's a logical way for me to do things. And I'm begin to sound very un-pirate-like, but don't worry, I can bring that back around, trust me. Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?
So here's the plans...ahem...the non-itinerary itinerary...
Sept 14 - Sunday
Flight 700-950am
Get our bags, meet up with our towncar service
Make a grocery store run
Pick up soy milk, cereal, apple juice, any snack type items I didn't feel like packing
Arrive at the Wilderness Lodge
Check in
Pray the room is ready. If it is, get sit'chuated, take a nap.
If it's not, head to the pool or the Magic Kingdom.
Get sit'chuated in the room later.
Whenever we get to the Magic Kingdom, regardless of the hour, make a beeline for Casey's and order the yummy, the delectable, the oh sooooo good hot dog. With fries. And some cheese sauce. Oh yeah, baby.
Ride some rides, have some fun, carry on, schmooze, and go home happy.
Home to the Wilderness Lodge.
And turndown service.
Get a good nights sleep.
Boy those oddly look like plans...weird.
Sept 15 - Monday
Wake up when we wake up. No set times on a pirate's life for three.
If the little nut is so obliged, head to the pool for a nice morning swim.
Lunch will be either at the resort or at Epcot depending on how early the swim is.
In Epcot, stick towards the front of the park, ride some rides, do the Character Connection, perhaps the Disney Visa Meet & Greet, end up at The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Perhaps have a little convo with Crush. "DUDE!!!"
Coral Reef Dinner - 530pm
Perhaps stay for Illuminations, most likely not. It is highly probably I will not see fireworks on this trip. DS does not like loud noises. Asks me to shut the door when I blow dry my hair, puts his hands over his ears when I vacuum, and hated the fireworks last year. However, I am well versed in all that is three year old, and I know this could possibly change. Fingers crossed.
Those sort of look like plans too...hmmm...
Sept 16 - Tuesday
Ahhh....a relatively non-planned day!
Wake up when we wake up.
Perhaps swim, perhaps leisurely head to the Contemporary.
Chef Mickey Breakfast - 1120am
After dining with Mickey and Friends, boys head to the arcade, I head to shopping!
Meet up with boys at arcade, play some games.
Head back to the Wilderness Lodge for a nice nap.
After nap, get ready for
MNSSHP.
Party like it's Halloween!
Okay, that looks better.
Sept 17 - Wednesday
Ch-ch-ch-changes!
Sleep in. We're going to need it after the par-tay!
Roll our lazy selves out of bed and head off to MGM.
Brown Derby Lunch - 1200pm
Do whatever it is we do in MGM. Oh yeah, and that Toy Story Mania ride.
And perhaps a junky apple.
And dinner at the Commissary.
In no particular order.
There's not a ton I need to do here, but I really want DS to see the new Playhouse Disney show, and if possible, DH, would love to watch Lights Motors, etc...however I'm concerned about the noise level. We'll see.
That's better too...it just looks more flowy.
Sept 18 - Thursday
Can you say breakfast at Boma?
Yum, yum.
Boma Breakfast - 1020am
I'd like to pretend we're the kind of people who would go the Animal Kingdom before breakfast...but...I know us...and I kind of doubt it.
Let me digress and give you a little glimpse into the world of the TK clan on vacation.
TK wakes up early. As usual. Boys are still sleeping. TK attempts to get ready quietly, but DS wakes up, and proceeds to make plenty of noise to wake DH up, who still fights waking up with all he's got.
I get ready, the boys get ready, and little in the room breakfast snack ensues for DS so he's not starving, we take our sweet old time, watch some morning cartoons and basically roll out the door an hour before our ADR time leaving us plenty of time to get to our ADR but not much time to do anything else. Why? Why would we be so lax? Because we re-lax. It's vacation!!!!
Anyhoo, after breakfast, head to the Animal Kingdom.
I have specific wants here.
Which is weird for me.
Since DS has taken such a shine to the Lion King, I want him to see the Festival of the Lion King.
I would like to see Finding Nemo, but I'd pick the Lion King over it, because he's more jazzed over that movie right now.
It would be nice to go on the safari, and do some jungle treks. Maybe meet some characters.
Yup. That's pretty much it. Oh, and perhaps watch DS play in the boneyard. Unless we're melting from the heat.
Which we always are at the Animal Kingdom.
In which case, around park closing-ish, I'll look at DH and say "Downtown Disney? Retail therapy?"
And the man will say yes, and I have four words as to why.
Once.
Upon.
A.
Toy.
DH and DS heaven!
Dinner while either be at the Rainforest Cafe (we have a gift card) or if that's crazy busy (usually is) McDonalds. We've never taken DS into the McDonald's in downtown, and it's huge, and it's a treat, and I know he'd love it.
And we'll shop.
Til we drop.
And our wallet say stop.
Or maybe not.
Maybe we'll ditch the whole downtown idea, go back to the resort, hop in the pool, and cool off.
And then go to downtown.
Ha ha! Options!
Pirate-y options!
See, I'm flexible!!!!
Sept 19 - Friday
Grand Floridian Cafe Lunch - 1230pm
If we can, we'll swim before hand. I'd like to head over a little early anyway and do my little mini shopping/enjoying the Grand Flo.
Oh, and the spa has the best lotion! It smells grapefruity, and you can only get it there, and every time I use it, it reminds me of the Grand Flo and Disney. And I'm almost out.
I'm thinking after lunch we'll head over to Epcot, and check out the countries. We love to shop/browse in the countries. Slushie margarita anyone?
Sept 20 - Saturday
Crystal Palace Lunch - 1145am
I'd like to get to MK in the am, since we'll be leaving mid-day for Lapu Lapu Fest.
Lapu Lapu Fest - 400pm, although I anticipate DH and I will probably head to the Poly a bit early, maybe let me browse, take some pics, etc.
Finally relinquish Tink and Missy to their dinner ressie, head back to the MK. Maybe catch a ride, stake out a spot for the 8pm Spectromagic.
Sept 21 - Sunday
Departure Day
Up in the air.
I'm leaning towards the 310 flight.
Even though it's more money.
All I can think of is that last fling with MK. One last hot dog/Dole Whip/a cinnamon bun to take home. :::sigh:::
We'll see.
So these are the pla...I mean, the non-itinerary itinerary.
I bet you're still wondering why the Brown Derby had to go back to Wednesday. Well it's because of park order.
Yup, you heard me. Park order.
As in TK must start her trip with MK and Epcot and end her trip with MK and Epcot. And sandwich MGM and AK in between the two. Always.
It's how we always do our trips, and it's how I like it.
Why? Well, lots of reasons. For me, it's not Disney until I see the castle. Must, must, must see the castle first. It's like...like...home. Like putting your ticket in, walking through the turnstile and looking up at the train station, and thinking, I'm here, I'm here.
Then walking under the tunnels, anticipating that moment. That moment when you'll finally walk out into the sun and stand in the middle of Main Street and see one of the best sights you could possibly see. The Castle. The beacon of I'm on vacation. I'm part of Walt's dream. I'm here with my family, we're happy, we're healthy, and life doesn't get much sweeter than this. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it.
And I have to start there. I have to start my vacation with that moment. And now I get to share that moment with my son, who upon seeing the castle one year, said, and I quote, "Ooooo...."
And I like to start and end with Epcot as well. I like to get my ride on in the beginning, and get my shopping on at the end. I always like to save some shopping for the end of the trip, that way, you've sort of cased the parks, and know what's peaked your interest. Not that I do a lot of shopping, by any means, but I like to explore all my options before committing to something. Much like the way I agonized over whether or not to keep this trip, cancel completely, or try to book something else. Yes, I'm just that much fun.
Why is it still pirate-y?
I told you I'd bring it back around, remember?
I have one simple reason.
These plans are not set in stone.
Not one ADR, not one park, not one thing isn't changeable in some way.
If we wake up one morning and don't feel like making our lunch ressie, you can bet your sweet patoot I'll be on the phone to Disney Dining and saying, hey what's available for dinner tonight?
Seriously, hakuna matata.
I know it's free dining. I know lots of things get booked. I know we don't care. I booked the ADRs, they're there like a security blanket, but if things need to change, they change.
That's the beauty of vacation.
