We have always done commando style touring when at Walt Disney World in the past, but we know this trip is going to be different. But that's not a bad thing. We can't wait to see the parks through Grant's eyes and experience everything in a slower manner!
As stated in my initial post, we are staying at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort and we have three rooms for our party (hopefully two of them will be connecting). This will be our first time staying at CBR and our second time staying at a moderate resort. The first time was our February 2006 trip, in which we stay at Port Orleans Riverside. We really enjoyed that resort but we want to check out as many Disney resorts as we can and look forward to booking a different one on each trip if possible. This will only be my parents second trip EVER to WDW, with the first being way back in April of 1989, and their first time ever at a Disney resort (we stayed off site that trip).
With that being said, here's our tentative itinerary...
We plan on leaving the great Tar Heel state on Friday January 3 at approximately 6:30pm and driving as far south as we can before stopping for the night hopefully somewhere in Georgia. We originally were planning on leaving Saturday morning, but we thought, for Grant, the more we chopped up the 8-9 hour drive the better.
Saturday we will take our time driving (possibly stopping a few times for shopping, eating, etc.) and arrive in Orlando sometime that evening. The plan is to stay as close to WDW as we can at a reasonably priced hotel so that we can get to the parks as early as we can on Sunday morning to start our vacation!
Note: We originally had booked our trip arriving on Saturday, but we took advantage of Disney's "Stay, Play and Dine" offer which didn't apply unless we checked in beginning Sunday January 5.
Sunday January 5
We will try to check in as soon as we arrive at WDW, but if our rooms aren't ready (which I fully expect them not to be), we will just leave our luggage and head to our first park - Disney's Hollywood Studios! We have FastPass+ reservations for Tower of Terror (12-1), Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (1:10-2:10) and Toy Story Midway Mania (2:55-3:55). We also have ADR's at 50's Prime Time Cafe for dinner at 5:25pm. Depending on how Grant is holding up, we will probably go back to CBR to check in (and take a nap) before heading over to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours that night. The MK is open until 12:00am and we want to take advantage of those Extra Magic Hours! We also want to stop by Casey's Corner and ride Splash Mountain as many times as we can since both will be closing on January 6 for refurbishments that will last considerably longer than our trip. Splash is one of our favorites, we can't miss it!
Monday January 6
Hopefully we didn't stay out too late the night before because we have a 7:50am ADR at Chef Mickey's! After breakfast, we are heading back to the Magic Kingdom for the better part of the day. We will probably head to Fantasyland first and let Grant experience some attractions before heading back down Main Street to get Grant's first hair cut at the Harmony Barber Shop at 10:30! After that, we are going to get him (and probably all of us) a set of Mickey ears before continuing our day at the MK. We have FastPass+ reservations for Space Mountain (12:50-1:50), Peter Pan's Flight (1:50-2:50) and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (2:50-3:50). We don't have any set plans for that evening as so much is going to depend on Grant. I would like to hop over to EPCOT that night for dinner at a quick service location in World Showcase (la Cantina de San Angel is my favorite) and catch Illuminations.
Tuesday January 7
The plan is to sleep in a little and then head over to Disney's Animal Kingdom. We have FastPass+ reservations for Kilimangaro Safaris (11-12), Expedition Everest (12-1) and Dinosaur (3:15-4:15). Sandwiched in between EE and Dinosaur, we have a 1:15pm lunch ADR at the Rainforest Cafe, which is Brooke's favorite. We don't have any other plans for that day, although I have to have Flame Tree BBQ at some point during our trip (this day or another). A few options for that night are: turn in early and get some rest, resort hop (if Christmas decorations are still up) or head over to DHS and try to catch Fantasmic and the Osborne Lights (agian, if they are still up).
Wednesday January 8
Hopefully well rested, we plan on rope dropping EPCOT. We will probably head to Soarin' first, but we have FastPass+ for that later, so we may head to Test Track first (even though TT has a single riders line that we love to take advantage of). EPCOT was the only park that had the tier FP+ when I made the selections, so the only attraction we got FP+ for that we really needed it for was Soarin' (1:35-2:35). Other FP+ selections for the day include The Seas with Nemo and Friends (10-11) and Spaceship Earth (11:50-12:50). I know, I know. We may not even use those depending on the wait times... That evening we will be heading back to Hollywood Studios for our 7:00pm ADR at Sci-Fi Dine In! Brittany and I ate there on our anniversary trip in 2011 and loved it! We can't wait for the whole family to experience the atmosphere.
Thursday January 9
Today is definitely a sleep in day! I know we are all going to be worn out and are going to need some extra rest by this point in the week, especially my little man. After a leisurely morning, the plan is to go back to the Magic Kingdom where we have the same FastPass+ as we had on Monday - Peter Pan (2:15-3:15), Space (4-5) and Big Thunder (6-7). WIth Splash being closed, I just couldn't justify burning a FP+ on anything else in the MK. As soon as we ride BTMRR, we are hopping the Monorail to the Polynesian for our 8:30pm ADR at 'Ohana! We are going to try to check in early so we can watch Wishes (8:00pm) from our table, but if we can't get in early, Plan B is to watch it from the beach at the Poly.
Friday January 10
Another late start is the plan for today. Once everyone is ready, we are going back to Hollywood Studios where we have the same FastPass+ as we did on Sunday - Toy Story (2-3), RnRC (3-4) and Tower (4:30-5:30). That evening we are heading back to the Magic Kingdom area and taking a boat over to Fort Wilderness for our 6:50pm ADR at Trail's End. After dinner, we want to catch the Electric Water Parade from the dock. This is a childhood favorite of Brittany and Brooke's.
Saturday January 11
Our last day
Probably going to get another later start today, but not too late because we have to the at the Poly at 1:05pm for our lunch ADR at Kona Cafe. We plan on hitting the Magic Kingdom after lunch before hopping to Animal Kingdom to experience that park's rare nighttime hours (they close at 8:00pm). After we close down DAK, we might head back to the MK to finish off our trip...
Sunday January 12 is our travel day. We are driving the entire way home. It may take us all day, but that's the plan.
Well, that's it for now. As of today, we are 15 days out and our trip will be here are gone before we know it! Be sure to check back toward the end of January for the Trip Report! In the mean time, feel free to follow along on our trip - I'll be posting pictures and comments on Instagram (jonclendenin) and Twitter (@jonclendenin). Let me know if any of you have any special requests for pictures or investigative reports... Haha. Later.
