We've done WDW in mid-August for our honeymoon and on New Years Eve, so it's only fitting that we continue down the road of ill-advised trip timing by scheduling a vacation over spring break. My wife's a public school teacher, which limits how flexible our schedule can be, but on the other hand, after "enduring" summer and NYE, "how bad can it really be?"
(This is my first actual trip/pre-trip report, so bear with me!)
WHO: The wife and I, as per usual.
WHAT: A slightly-less guerrilla-style vacation (to manage our expectations during Flower & Garden and spring break), with few ADRs but just as many spreadsheets. MK's her favorite park, Epcot's mine, but we're making time for all four...including our first viewing of Rivers of Light!
WHEN: April 6-12, 2017
WHERE: Port Orleans Riverside, to complete our non-FW tour of moderate resorts.
WHY: Because it'll have been five months...our Tables in Wonderland wedding gift expires this summer...we renewed our APs...and our next trip won't be until November for the Wine & Dine half...
Current Itinerary/Plans:
Thursday: arrive MCO 9PMish (hopefully), DME to Port Orleans and, with time, a nightcap at River Roost Lounge
Friday: open-to-close (mostly) at Magic Kingdom: FP+ booked for Space Mountain, Buzz (I will get 999,999 one of these trips...), and Jungle Cruise, with lunch planned at Columbia Harbour House because lobster rolls...and that view from the second floor. I say "mostly" because we'll be sneaking away for a few hours to get dinner at Geyser Point and check out the newest addition to the WDW bar scene, but then it's back into the park with a stop at Starbucks before we camp out on the lawn for what will likely be our last ever viewing of "Wishes" (cue the waterworks). Assuming we have the stamina, after the park closes we'll stop by one of our favorite bars, the lounge at The Wave.
Saturday: slightly more relaxed morning with no fixed departure time (need to put in a few miles on the Sassagoula jogging path -- pure bliss early in the morning), but FP+ for Soarin', SSE, and Mission: SPACE are booked with a stop at Sunshine Seasons for lunch to finally check that one off the list. The English Tea Garden tour looks fun, tasty, and free, but the rest of the afternoon is completely open-ended until Illuminations.
Sunday: early breakfast ADR at Captain's Grill, followed by a walk to DHS to hit up TSM, Star Tours, and ToT before lunch. We're still generally "meh" about DHS, but a recent review of the martini flights at the Brown Derby Lounge has me intrigued, and we were already planning on being back at the Yacht Club for the famed burger at Crew's Cup anyway. Then...that's it for the parks that day (shocking!) -- back to the resort to relax, get some pool time in, and make our one "splurge" meal of the trip at Boatwright's before sailing down to Disney Springs to do some bar hopping.
Monday: another "slow" resort morning, lunch somewhere in Disney Springs (D-Luxe Burger is calling my name), and then over to Animal Kingdom. FP+ are for Everest, the safari, and RoL (late showing), and dinner plans are at Nomad Lounge, far and away one of our favorite in-park establishments. Nightcap at Scat Cat's Club.
Tuesday: AM EMH at the Kingdom and PM EMH at Epcot? This day was made for us. ADR at Grand Floridian Cafe, FP+ for 7DMT, HM, and Buzz (see above -- I want my button!), and then making sure that we manténgase alejado de las puertas on our way over to Epcot for more flowers, more gardens, more kiosks, and perhaps finally taking the Behind the Seeds tour (on our list for many trips now). We've never been at Epcot for PM EMH -- I'm giddy.
Wednesday: after deciding it was worth the extra points to book a later flight, we moved our original 7AM flight to 4:30PM and will partake in two of our now-mandatory WDW trip traditions: breakfast at the French bakery in Epcot and a departure day Mickey cupcake at Boardwalk Bakery.
(This is my first actual trip/pre-trip report, so bear with me!)
WHO: The wife and I, as per usual.
WHAT: A slightly-less guerrilla-style vacation (to manage our expectations during Flower & Garden and spring break), with few ADRs but just as many spreadsheets. MK's her favorite park, Epcot's mine, but we're making time for all four...including our first viewing of Rivers of Light!
WHEN: April 6-12, 2017
WHERE: Port Orleans Riverside, to complete our non-FW tour of moderate resorts.
WHY: Because it'll have been five months...our Tables in Wonderland wedding gift expires this summer...we renewed our APs...and our next trip won't be until November for the Wine & Dine half...
Current Itinerary/Plans:
Thursday: arrive MCO 9PMish (hopefully), DME to Port Orleans and, with time, a nightcap at River Roost Lounge
Friday: open-to-close (mostly) at Magic Kingdom: FP+ booked for Space Mountain, Buzz (I will get 999,999 one of these trips...), and Jungle Cruise, with lunch planned at Columbia Harbour House because lobster rolls...and that view from the second floor. I say "mostly" because we'll be sneaking away for a few hours to get dinner at Geyser Point and check out the newest addition to the WDW bar scene, but then it's back into the park with a stop at Starbucks before we camp out on the lawn for what will likely be our last ever viewing of "Wishes" (cue the waterworks). Assuming we have the stamina, after the park closes we'll stop by one of our favorite bars, the lounge at The Wave.
Saturday: slightly more relaxed morning with no fixed departure time (need to put in a few miles on the Sassagoula jogging path -- pure bliss early in the morning), but FP+ for Soarin', SSE, and Mission: SPACE are booked with a stop at Sunshine Seasons for lunch to finally check that one off the list. The English Tea Garden tour looks fun, tasty, and free, but the rest of the afternoon is completely open-ended until Illuminations.
Sunday: early breakfast ADR at Captain's Grill, followed by a walk to DHS to hit up TSM, Star Tours, and ToT before lunch. We're still generally "meh" about DHS, but a recent review of the martini flights at the Brown Derby Lounge has me intrigued, and we were already planning on being back at the Yacht Club for the famed burger at Crew's Cup anyway. Then...that's it for the parks that day (shocking!) -- back to the resort to relax, get some pool time in, and make our one "splurge" meal of the trip at Boatwright's before sailing down to Disney Springs to do some bar hopping.
Monday: another "slow" resort morning, lunch somewhere in Disney Springs (D-Luxe Burger is calling my name), and then over to Animal Kingdom. FP+ are for Everest, the safari, and RoL (late showing), and dinner plans are at Nomad Lounge, far and away one of our favorite in-park establishments. Nightcap at Scat Cat's Club.
Tuesday: AM EMH at the Kingdom and PM EMH at Epcot? This day was made for us. ADR at Grand Floridian Cafe, FP+ for 7DMT, HM, and Buzz (see above -- I want my button!), and then making sure that we manténgase alejado de las puertas on our way over to Epcot for more flowers, more gardens, more kiosks, and perhaps finally taking the Behind the Seeds tour (on our list for many trips now). We've never been at Epcot for PM EMH -- I'm giddy.
Wednesday: after deciding it was worth the extra points to book a later flight, we moved our original 7AM flight to 4:30PM and will partake in two of our now-mandatory WDW trip traditions: breakfast at the French bakery in Epcot and a departure day Mickey cupcake at Boardwalk Bakery.
We have done breakfast plenty of times at Les Halles, but never thought about Mickey cupcakes for breakfast. 
