Trip Report July 26-August 4 (pre, during, and post)

The Plans

Day 0 - Monday, July 26
We leave our house a little after lunch for the impending 15+ hour drive. It's actually usually quite enjoyable as we bring Disney books, listen to Disney music, and to keep the little one entertained she gets a prize (usually something Disney-ish from the dollar store) each new state we go through.

Day 1 - Tuesday, July 27
6am (assuming a successful drive) Check in at Boardwalk Villas. Now, in our dream universe our room is ready. This dream has only come to fruition once.
7am Drive over to Magic Kingdom for the first monorail ride and to be ready for the opening show. We have a special place in our hearts for this show since a year and a half ago we got to be the Family of the Day.


Yup, that's us!
8am DW and DD head for Dumbo and the Teacups while I get FPs for Space Mountain and then pick up some breakfast at the Bakery
8:30am We're fast eaters, so should be heading to the rest of the FL rides now (Pan, IASW, Carousel, Winnie, Philharmagic). If we don't get all of them, we'll score them later in the week
9am At the rope for Frontierland. Hop on Big Thunder and maybe Splash (if the line is short) then over to Adventureland. We can usually do just about everything over there in an hour or so.
10:30am Space Mountain with our FPs
11am Chef Mickey's for last Breakfast seating (although it will be our lunch)
After lunch, we'll drive back to the Boardwalk (again hope our room might be ready).
2pm Walk over to Epcot and while DW and DD start a Kim Possible adventure, DD tries to score Test Track FPs. This is where we can use Mobile Magic to check if FPs are still available!
3pm That room better be ready, because I need a nap!
Relax and have dinner in the Boardwalk area and try to recover from driving all night!
7pm Back over to Epcot to use our Test Track FP, find a good spot for Illuminations and get our EMH wristbands.
9:30pm After Illuminations, a couple quick boat rides (Mexico and Norway) and back the room for much needed sleep.

I warned you we were big planners. For the rest of the plans, I'll just go with an outline, but as you can see obsessive/compulsive serves us well.

Day 2 - Wednesday, July 28
9am Enter Epcot through International Gateway. Do Soarin' and get Soarin' FP.
9:45 Spaceship Earth
10:55am to Beach Club for breakfast (aka early lunch) at Cape May Cafe
12ish back to room for rest, pool time, nap
3:30 Walk to Epcot and do Soarin' with FP
4:30 Dinner at Sunshine Seasons
5:30 Living with the Land, then over to Nemo and Crush
7pm Maybe catch the British Invasion at UK on the way out
8ish Early to bed.... (hasn't made us wealthy yet)

Day 3 - Thursday, July 29
7:15am Catch the bus to Magic Kingdom
8am Tomorrowland - Space Mtn, Buzz, Monsters, maybe Astro Orbiter (DD is still not sure about that one - I know her dad could skip it!)
9:15 Grab some food at the Bakery again
9:45 Check in the for the Family Magic Tour! Can't wait for a few hours of silliness in the park!
1pm Back over the Boardwalk area for some light lunch and rest (and pool time)
3pm Take the boat to Studios and maybe catch MuppetVision (our favorite) and get Star Tours FP
4pm Dinner at Mama Melrose (F! package)
5:30 Indiana Jones show
6pm Star Tours, maybe find some characters, another MuppetVision?
8pm To Fantasmic!
10:15 Much needed sleep.

Day 4 - Friday, July 30
7:15 Check out, pack up the car, then drive to Studios
8am Dash to Toy Story. Do it once and get FP for later. Then over to our DDs first time on Tower of Terror. She loves free fall rides, so is very excited about this. MAYBE do RRC. She is 47.5 inches tall, so if a growth spurt hits this week, we'll do it, but we aren't ones to put tissues in her shoes or anything.
9ish Grab some breakfast at Fairfax Fair
9:15 Voyage of the Little Mermaid, then maybe catch Playhouse Live (DD says she has outgrown, but once we are there, I suspect she'll want to do it)
11:30 Beauty and the Beast Show
12:15 (hopefully) Toy Story with FP
1pm over to AKL to check in and grab lunch for DD (parents are skipping lunch today), then relax by the pool and hopefully move into our room.
4:15 Drive to Grand Floridian, check DD into the Kids Club, because mom and dad are going to Victoria and Albert's and sitting at the Chef's Table. It's our 10th anniversary gift to each other (and the next years Christmas gifts, and birthdays, and possibly will mean foregoing any new clothes until 2020)
10pm Back to the room.

Day 5 - Saturday, July 31
7am Up and at 'em and over to Animal Kingdom, breakfast along the way
8am Expedition Everest - do it and get FP, then over to the Safari and a casual walk through Pangani
9am Kali River Rapids as soon as it opens
10am Festival of the Lion King
11am get in line for the 11:30 Finding Nemo
12:15 Expedition Everest with FP, then counter service lunch somewhere!
1:30 back to the room for pool and short nap
3pm MAYBE a quick return to AK for the parade, then bus to MK
5pm Don't even think about going in MK, grab a boat to Fort Wilderness
6:30 Mickey's Backyard BBQ!
10:30 Back to the room (hope to catch the bus before the fireworks end)

The rest coming soon, have to take DD to camp!

Have a fabulous trip... DH and I will be there from 7-30 till 8-9 also doing a split stay. Ours in between Caribbean Beach and AKL_Kidani... can't wait to read more!

I will be there Tuesday as well waiting for the EMH rope drop and then dash to dumbo. You must read touring plans as well. Look for me I will be wearing a Maroon Atlanta Thrashers T-Shirt. I know but I am a true fan. I wear it to harass the Canadians as I am eating in Canada for lunch that day.

Day 6 - Sunday, August 1
7:30am at Epcot for the EMH rope drop
8am Do Test Track and get FP for later, then do Mission:Space (the easy side)
8:45 Princess Breakfast at Akershus
10am Do as much as we can in World Showcase - boat rides, movies, shows, most likely another Kim Possible adventure (DD loves Kim)
12:30 Grab lunch somewhere in Epcot, do Test Track with FP
1:30 Back to room for nap, pool, relax
5pm Over to TTC and monorail to Grand Floridian for dinner at 1900 PF (yes, it's an all princess day) with DD in her Drizella dress. Each trip, DW makes her a new costume - last time it was Anastasia, so Drizella was jealous!

6:30 over to MK and our final (?) visit to Toontown, then MSEP and fireworks. If we are all still awake, maybe a ride or two during EMH.
11:30 Finally back to the room and some sleep!

Day 7 - Monday, August 2
8am Drive over to Blizzard Beach for at least a half day of H2O fun
1:30 Back to the room for a nap
4pm Catch the bus to Animal Kingdom
4:30 Grab an FP for something (MobileMagic will help us again)
5pm Flights of Wonder
6pm Dinner at Tusker House
7pm Do what we can with FP and EMH - definitely Tough to Be a Bug and if the growth spurt has come through, Primeval Whirl
9pm Back to the room to sleep.

Day 8 - Tuesday, August 3
7:30am Ready for EMH at Magic Kingdom
8am Haunted Mansion and revisit Fantasyland or Tomorrowland
9am to the Barber Shop - our daughter is 6 and has had 2 haircuts in her life, both at the Barber Shop. Spoiled, yup!
10am Visit to Tom Sawyer Island (grabbing a Splash Mtn FP on the way)
11am maybe ride the riverboat, maybe Splash with FP
12pm Storytime with Belle
1pm drive over to Coronado Springs to get lunch at Pepper Market (tied for best counter service deal on site with Wolfgang Puck Express)
2pm Back to the room for daily R&R
5pm Drive over to Epcot for dinner at the Garden Grill
6-7:30pm Explore Innoventions
8pm Back to room and early to bed for long day ahead

Day 9 - Wednesday, August 4
We generally keep our last day in the parks relatively open. Right now, it appears we will do another day at the Studios to see the parade and the HSM show (DD loves HSM).
5pm Time to hit the road and hope that at least one of us can stay awake driving overnight!

So, there's the plan. Did we miss anything? Let me know - there might be enough space in our homemade guidebook to pencil a few things in!

I'll be back during the trip to keep everyone informed (whether you want me to or not!).

WEDROD said:

I will be there Tuesday as well waiting for the EMH rope drop and then dash to dumbo. You must read touring plans as well. Look for me I will be wearing a Maroon Atlanta Thrashers T-Shirt. I know but I am a true fan. I wear it to harass the Canadians as I am eating in Canada for lunch that day.

Click to expand...

Yup, read the Unofficial Guide cover to cover about 5 years ago. Filled it with sticky notes, attached tabs to the pages, pulled it apart. Got the 2008 update and read that one with vigor as well. Now, we've developed our own ideas and plans. For a while, we used the PassPorter guide quite a bit while actually in the parks - love the layout of that book.

Then, for our trip this past Xmas-New Years, my wife actually made our own guidebook. We download all the latest menus from wherever we can find them, got all kinds of scavenger hunts, hidden Mickey locations, etc and she typed everything up and put it in a mini-binder. It is most excellent.

We'll be on the lookout for you on Tuesday morning!

Your plans look good. I can tell you have done your homework. I try to make plans as well but I have found after many years of touring that after about day two the come apart as the Family and the feet get tired. I guess the older I get I do not rebound as quikly after a full day of touring. Have a safe trip down.I will keep an eye out for your as well.

I can't wait for your trip report..you're already have so much detail!!! Please please please make sure you give us a good Victoria and Albert's report and your opinions and whether it's worth the $$ it cost! I've never been there but I've always wanted to so I live through others that have!

HAVE A GREAT TRIP!!!!!:wave:

So, just to let you know....DD is going to get in on the fun with this. Yesterday, she told me there were certain things that I HAD to post as part of the reports, so here are her comments:

"My new rides are Tower of Terror, Expedition: Everest, maybe Rock N Roller Coaster, and maybe Primeval Whirl. Oh, and maybe Astro Orbiter. My other new things are Fantasmic!, Indiana Jones, Cape May Cafe, Garden Grill, Mama Melrose, Kids Club, and my most exciting new thing is the Family Magic Tour."

WEDROD said:

I will be there Tuesday as well waiting for the EMH rope drop and then dash to dumbo. You must read touring plans as well. Look for me I will be wearing a Maroon Atlanta Thrashers T-Shirt. I know but I am a true fan. I wear it to harass the Canadians as I am eating in Canada for lunch that day.

Click to expand...

HAHA! I should join you with my Penguins shirt!

Looks like a great trip! I'm interested to hear about the Victoria and Alberts too!

So, here we are 24 hours out from the big drive and 48 hours out from Magic Kingdom. I don't know about anybody else, but this is always a difficult time for us. There's a whole lot of big excitement in the house - packing bags, choosing what to take, getting snacks ready for the car - a general feeling of "are we there yet?" Tomorrow morning that feeling will reach a fever pitch and then.... we have to sit for 15 hours and take turns driving and trying to sleep in the car. I know when I was a kid and my parents would drive me and my sister down, I would get so excited that invariably during about the first hour or so of the drive I would get sick (not car sick, excitement sick) which was a particular joy for my sister! I've grown out of the getting sick, but that huge surge of adrenaline that then needs to find someplace to go in a long tedious drive down I95 is still a royal pain.

those last few hours are the worse. you just want the vacation to be here.

First off - the bad news, forgot to bring the card reader, so pictures will have to wait until we get back home. Sorry!

Day 0 - Drive was the quickest ever, I think. Almost no traffic anywhere. Which was quite nice!! We got to the lobby at the Boardwalk Villas at 4:30am, checked in, then napped in the lobby and got a little cleaned up in the bathrooms until 7am, when we could get our Keys (needed for EMH and Dining).

Day 1 - Back in our good friend, the car, at about 7:15am and were the fourth car in the lot at MK at 7:25am.
7:50am - Opening Show!
8:00am - DW and DD head to Fantasyland and I head for food and Space Mountain. No line in the Bakery, so I grab breakfast (gotta love a big croissant with egg and cheese and a huge blueberry muffin with two drinks for one counter service credit) then get Space Mountain FP. Meanwhile, the ladies get to Dumbo, decide not to even wait the 5 minutes for the line, so do a Carrousel ride and then meet me at the Teacups.
-- I should mention that the morning EMH at MK were particularly crowded based on my experience - Peter Pan had a 25 minute wait at 8:25am!
8:25am - Now full of good food, time for It's a Small World and Mickey's Philharmagic! Oops, quick pit stop to meet Mary Poppins and Bert (wow, Bert!!).
9:10am - Over to Frontierland, where Big Thunder wasn't open yet and Splash already had a 35 minute wait. Darn all these early risers! But, no worries, to Adventureland!
9:15am - Pirates, Magic Carpets of Alladin, Treehouse. Jungle Cruise also appeared to have not opened on time so the line was already pretty long and we skipped it.
9:50am - HAD to meet Ariel and Prince Eric at the Adventureland Veranda.
10:15am - Time to use the Space Mountain FP (which was a bit slow for the FP line, almost a half hour for line and ride).
11am - at Chef Mickey's to refuel. All you can eat was very welcome by this time!
12:15pm - Back to the Boardwalk to pray that our room is ready. No luck. We decide that rather than go to Epcot, we are just going to hang out at the Boardwalk, have an ice cream and wait.
1pm - ROOM IS READY, awesome!!! Up to the room to shower, and rest.
1:30-4:30pm - Big nap. So nice! From the drive, I had only had about 3 hours sleep, DD had about 4 hours, DW had the most with 5 hours. We were a bit slow to wake up, so at about 5pm we got the boat over to Epcot.
5:15pm - We grabbed a Kim Possible adventure on the way in (adventure time between 6 and 7:45pm). Since we were still not fully awake, we decided to go to The Seas first and ride Nemo before dinner. Then to The Land, where (one of my personal favorites) Living with the Land had NO line, so we did that.
5:45pm - Dinner at Sunshine Seasons - love the rotisserie half chicken!
6:45pm - Take the lagoon boat over to Germany and do the Germany Kim Possible adventure. Much to our surprise, this time we managed to stop Professor Dementor from controlling the world with Pretzels!
7:45pm - Find a spot for Illuminations right next to the Mexico construction site - with a table! Excellent. While we wait, DW and I take turns going on Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico with DD. So, she loves getting two boat rides before...
9pm - Illuminations. Great seats for a very enjoyable show. This is my favorite fireworks at Disney, so I am a happy camper.
9:20pm - A short walk to Norway to ride Maelstrom for EMH. After a little discussions, we decide to go back to Future World and do Turtle Talk and Journey Into Imagination. Both were walk-on and for the first time, DD got picked to ask Crush a question in Turtle Talk, so everyone was happy!!
10:30pm - Finally back to the room and asleep around 11pm for MUCH needed sleep.

Day 2 - Come on now, we just woke up. Plans for the morning are already being revised, but it's off to Epcot we go!

Day 2 (now it is almost over, so I can share!)
Did as close as we come to sleeping in and waited until after 7am to get up and get ready for the day.
8:15am - A brisk walk over to International Gateway at Epcot with a stop at the Coffee kiosk for a cinnamon roll and a drink.
9am - Park opening and time to hoof it over to Soarin' before the entire crowd descends upon it. Got FPs for later and rode it once before 9:30am. Walked over to the other side of Future World and rode Mission:Space (green side for our digestive sanity) and got some more FPs for Test Track.
10:20am - Did some shopping at Mouse Gear and also picked up 2 Kim Possible missions for later in the evening.
10:55am - Cape May Cafe for breakfast with Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. This was a great breakfast. I cannot rave about it enough. Since we had the latest seating, it was clearing out and we got a lot of quality time with the characters and very good food. DD liked the eggs and bacon enough to get a plate of them (instead of a Mickey waffle!!).
11:45am - As we walked around Y+B Club resort we happened past Periwigs and the ladies decided it was a good time for a manicure. If you can't splurge on vacation, when will you?
12:30pm - Back to the Boardwalk and about an hour of pool time, then an hour of nap time.
3pm - Back to Epcot for the evening. First, Kim Possible in Mexico. Then over to Test Track to use FP. Sadly, there was some thunder and lightening around, so they were not running at the time, so we scooted over to use our FP at Soarin'.
5pm - Dinner at Electric Umbrella. The menu has changed a bit - no more Island chicken salad (which we were looking forward to) but still easily feeding three folks on two CS credits.
6pm - Test Track is up and running, but the delay has caused a 30 minute wait in the FP line, so it will wait for another day. Spaceship:Earth gets a visit instead. I know most of this website is people complaining about the ending of that ride, but for a 6yr old, the ending is the highlight. She got to pick her own ending by herself and loved it!
7pm - Kim Possible mission #3 of this visit, this time in the UK. Then back to the Boardwalk for some rest, relaxation, ice cream, and in just a couple minutes - Illuminations from our balcony.
...and to all a Good Night!

You are quite the trooper to find the energy to be in Disney and complete your trip report as you go!
We got home a couple weeks ago, and you are letting me relive the moments~thanks!

From your mum

I'm lovin' it! What a great way to stalk "my kids"from afar:wave:.

i am really enjoying your trip report! and props to you for managing to find the energy to get through day 1 after that long drive! its seems like you guys really know how to tour the world during peak season and still get to enjoy it. can't wait to read more and see pictures when you return!