Pre-Trip Our (Hopefully Pandora Thrown In) F&G Trip 2017

Hi fellow Disney fanatics! It's me @MySmallWorldof4 and welcome to my first Pre-Trip report @figmentfan423 , @ajrwdwgirl , @MinnieM123 , @21stamps , @Songbird76 , @Zipitidoda , @betty rose , @donaldtoo , @MOXOMUMD , @Courtney6682 , @Mr Ferret 88 , @Goofyernmost , @imahistorygeek , @Scoppin @Tony the Tigger , @TheMouseFan , @Ciara @Tuvalu @StarWarsGirl @Gabe1 and everyone else that I know I am forgetting. Sorry don't mean to forget. Too many of us crazies on this board.;)

Here are the basics for now.

Who is going Me, My DH, DD(15), DS(13), DD(9), and DD(6).

Here is a pic of my brood in front of the train station at MK before they put up the barrier. Taken in 2013
kids2013.jpg

Here is a pic of me and my used to be little guy.:arghh:
disney2013meandb.jpg

You may not be seeing me again, as I am generally the one taking the shots.;)I don't look any different, I swear! :D

We are staying in The Cabins at Fort Wildnerness. This has been a favorite of my kids since 2015. They love driving around in the golf carts. This will be our 3rd stay there.

Our tentative plans are:

We are driving 13-14 hours from PA after DH is done with work on May 18 and sleep over in South Carolina, or we will leave here at 1 or 2am and drive straight through and hopefully get on Disney property by 4pm on the 19th.

Friday May 19
Arrive at Disney Springs. We have a 5pm at Raglan Road. Hopefully we get to see the Irish dancers.
Check into FW and go enjoy the pool.

Saturday May 20
EPCOT
Fastpasses
Test Track
Living With The Land(mine and my DH's favorite place in all WDW).
Spaceship Earth
No ADR's on this day. We plan to try the food from the kiosks or grab something for picky eaters along the way.
Maybe play some mini golf at Winter/Summerland after. Pool in the afternoon.
For dinner, we will try Territory lounge. The fondue sounds awesome!
If we are up for more roaming we may catch the MK fireworks at Poly or GF. If we are too tired we will just call it a night.

Will continue plans later.

Thanks for reading!:)
 
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MySmallWorldof4

MySmallWorldof4

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Zipitidoda said:
Just caught up. All of your plans sound perfect. I love the planning almost as much as going...almost. :happy:

I'm also very interested in Art Smith's. We only wanted to stop in for a drink. Do you know much about them. Is there just a lounge that you know of that you can go in and sit down?
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I read that adjoining the restaurant is it's bar called Shine Bar. You can either sit inside or out for it. And there is also a togo counter there. I read all this at disney food blog because I had no clue. :) I cannot wait to eat there. It gets such rave reviews. :hungry:

And thanks for reading along!:)
 
Zipadeelady

Zipadeelady

Well-Known Member
MySmallWorldof4 said:
I read that adjoining the restaurant is it's bar called Shine Bar. You can either sit inside or out for it. And there is also a togo counter there. I read all this at disney food blog because I had no clue. :) I cannot wait to eat there. It gets such rave reviews. :hungry:

And thanks for reading along!:)
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I was looking on allears.net at our options at DS and came across Homecomings and definitely put it on our to do list, then I read some reports and they mentioned Art Smith's and I wanted to add that too :rolleyes:. I didn't even realized that they were one and the same.

After reading your response I had a duh moment that they have the Shine Bar. I forgot that I had read about it earlier. Not sure if it's my busy schedule at the moment or old age kicking in but I seem to forget things :oops::)
 
MySmallWorldof4

MySmallWorldof4

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Zipitidoda said:
I was looking on allears.net at our options at DS and came across Homecomings and definitely put it on our to do list, then I read some reports and they mentioned Art Smith's and I wanted to add that too :rolleyes:. I didn't even realized that they were one and the same.

After reading your response I had a duh moment that they have the Shine Bar. I forgot that I had read about it earlier. Not sure if it's my busy schedule at the moment or old age kicking in but I seem to forget things :oops::)
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Hey we are all entitled to forget things. Doesn't make you old, just human. Plus I think all the excitement of planning a Disney trip makes all of us a little loopy. :)
 
MySmallWorldof4

MySmallWorldof4

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
New update. Dh has switched his work schedule so that now we should be leaving home by 2PM. So hopefully that means that we will skirt around DC before rush hour. We will spend the night in Savannah, which means our Friday drive to Disney will only be 4 hours! We should be there for lunch now.:) Oh where or where to eat? We have a 5PM ADR for Raglan Road. I could push that to 6, and maybe go to Blaze Pizza for lunch? Oh decisions, decisions.:D
 
amjt660

amjt660

Premium Member
MySmallWorldof4 said:
New update. Dh has switched his work schedule so that now we should be leaving home by 2PM. So hopefully that means that we will skirt around DC before rush hour. We will spend the night in Savannah, which means our Friday drive to Disney will only be 4 hours! We should be there for lunch now.:) Oh where or where to eat? We have a 5PM ADR for Raglan Road. I could push that to 6, and maybe go to Blaze Pizza for lunch? Oh decisions, decisions.:D
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Great news
Bypassing traffic saves time
Extra hours at WDW - Priceless

Max
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Premium Member
MySmallWorldof4 said:
New update. Dh has switched his work schedule so that now we should be leaving home by 2PM. So hopefully that means that we will skirt around DC before rush hour. We will spend the night in Savannah, which means our Friday drive to Disney will only be 4 hours! We should be there for lunch now.:) Oh where or where to eat? We have a 5PM ADR for Raglan Road. I could push that to 6, and maybe go to Blaze Pizza for lunch? Oh decisions, decisions.:D
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Good luck but DC Friday rush hour starts at 3 and goes until about 8:( It lasts longer but seems to be less heavy because it's more staggered. At least that's what I've found
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Premium Member
MySmallWorldof4 said:
Yeah, government workers don't work until 5.;) We will check traffic before we leave. We can always just take 81, I just find that road so annoying.
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Some agencies work a 5-4-9 and get every other Friday off, some work 7-4:30 and so on. I find Friday to be the best rush hour for getting through DC:joyfull: Some trips we went 81 north because we stopped to see relatives double:hungover:
 
MySmallWorldof4

MySmallWorldof4

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
figmentfan423 said:
Some agencies work a 5-4-9 and get every other Friday off, some work 7-4:30 and so on. I find Friday to be the best rush hour for getting through DC:joyfull: Some trips we went 81 north because we stopped to see relatives double:hungover:
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We are leaving Thursday, but just realized a little while ago that we should be leaving the house at 1. Dh will be done by 12. I originally thought he would be done by 1 but he said he should be home by 1 so that is even better.:)
My dd6 is already itching to pack. She keeps asking, "When are you going to pack? I want to pack my own things this time." She actually has a small backpack and she packed it full of small toys and coloring things last month!:D
 
93boomer

93boomer

Premium Member
MySmallWorldof4 said:
New update. Dh has switched his work schedule so that now we should be leaving home by 2PM. So hopefully that means that we will skirt around DC before rush hour. We will spend the night in Savannah, which means our Friday drive to Disney will only be 4 hours! We should be there for lunch now.:) Oh where or where to eat? We have a 5PM ADR for Raglan Road. I could push that to 6, and maybe go to Blaze Pizza for lunch? Oh decisions, decisions.:D
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Yayyy!!! Four hour trips are so much better!! :)
 
MySmallWorldof4

MySmallWorldof4

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So since we plan on getting there around lunch time, if our room is ready, and our golf cart is available, we will head to the room first and go to the pool. We will eat lunch at the snack bar. Maybe dh and I will share since dinner is still early at 5:45. Don't want to be too full to enjoy Art Smith's restaurant. I am looking forward to the mac and cheese.:hungry:
 
gdisneyfans

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
MySmallWorldof4 said:
As per advice from @figmentfan423 I changed our GG ADR, but could only get 4:05, but realized that if I kept the 6:50 we may not get to see illuminations seeing as how others had 2 hour meals there lately. This just means that we will need to have an early lunch at MK and maybe dh and I will share that falafel burger. Yes I know @figmentfan423 you did make it sound too goood to share, but I need to save room for Land veggies. ;)

I have as of yet not been able to change Art Smith's ADR yet, but will keep trying. No biggie.

My dd15 made this little beauty yesterday.
View attachment 195959 I always think that making your own things may be cheaper then buying them at the parks, but the Michael's bill was ouch. :eek: Oh well. It is unique and she has enough supplies now to make more for her sisters. :) And for anyone who would like to pay good money for them. ;):D:p
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The ears are adorable! Great job to your DD:) Can't wait to see pictures of her wearing them!
 

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