Background: My GF and I are WDW fanatics in general, and Epcot fanatics specifically. We both grew up in Florida and went to the parks often as kids for day trips and short overnight trips. Last year (June 2013-June 2014) we had Florida Resident Epcot After 4pm Passes and went to Epcot 23 days over the year. We spent both birthdays in Epcot and had SO. MUCH. FUN.
In July of this year we moved to New Jersey to be closer to New York and more professional opportunities since we had both finished our respective Masters degrees. I'm an opera singer and she's a writer and living in Florida was very limiting for both of us, plus we hate eternal humid summers, so the New York area was a natural fit. But that means we can't take spontaneous weekend trips anymore as driving would take up so much of the time we'd prefer to spend in the parks/resorts and flying last-minute is quite cost-prohibitive. We booked a trip for November of this year but a gig came up for me (yaaay!) and we had to cancel (boooo). BUT circumstances have allowed us to book a January trip and we could not be more excited!! This is the first trip we have planned this far in advance (I know it's not even that far in advance to most people who are booking many months in advance but for us this seems so far away!).
So without further ado, here are the plans we have so far!
Monday:
In July of this year we moved to New Jersey to be closer to New York and more professional opportunities since we had both finished our respective Masters degrees. I'm an opera singer and she's a writer and living in Florida was very limiting for both of us, plus we hate eternal humid summers, so the New York area was a natural fit. But that means we can't take spontaneous weekend trips anymore as driving would take up so much of the time we'd prefer to spend in the parks/resorts and flying last-minute is quite cost-prohibitive. We booked a trip for November of this year but a gig came up for me (yaaay!) and we had to cancel (boooo). BUT circumstances have allowed us to book a January trip and we could not be more excited!! This is the first trip we have planned this far in advance (I know it's not even that far in advance to most people who are booking many months in advance but for us this seems so far away!).
So without further ado, here are the plans we have so far!
Monday:
- Fly into MCO, arrive 6:40pm, take DME to Pop Century
- If we aren't too exhausted and have time, MK EMH until 11!
- Morning EMH at Epcot!
- Possibly breakfast at Boulangie Patisserie
- Park-hopping to DHS. Haven't been there in several (not sure how many) years.
- Light quick service lunch during the day as we are going to...
- California Grill at 7:35pm! We have never been here and are so excited to try it!
- Morning EMH at AK. We haven't been to AK in probably at least 5 years.
- A significant but not too heavy lunch so we're ready for...
- The Jiko Wine Tasting! We both enjoy drinking wine and trying new wines and learning about wine, and Wine+Disney=a great combination!
- Hang out and explore the AKL area until...
- Dinner at Sanaa at 5:45pm
- Depending on how we feel, probably on to another park, or back to Pop Century for some rest.
- This morning is still out there. We have an 8:20am breakfast reservation at Akershus. We've never been and would love to be able to get into Epcot early but we're not sure about the value for the price. We're not picky eaters but we are vegetarians so we wouldn't be eating all the fish and such, so we may cancel this. We'll see. If we don't do this we may sleep in and/or spend the morning at MK or DHS. Edit: decided to book Kona Cafe for a late breakfast since it seems like it will be a better value for what we will eat, plus we're big fans of KONA COFFEE! That way we can also take advantage of MK EMH.
- In any case, we will end up in Epcot for at least part of the day so we can make our early dinner reservation for... After Kona might be a nap, or might be straight to Epcot for...
- San Angel Inn at 5:15pm! I haven't been in 12+ years and she's never been so we are super excited! I know I keep saying we're excited about everything, but we really are!!
- This might end up being our Drink Around the World Day. As many times as we've been to Epcot we haven't actually attempted DATW. Don't worry, we'll likely be sharing and definitely pacing ourselves and staying hydrated!
- Perhaps Illuminations in the evening...If we don't end up doing DATW we might opt for a few hours in DHS or MK.
- Definitely a sleep in day. We will either navigate transferring within the Disney transportation situation or take a cab to our...
- 10:50am breakfast at Boma! I can't even tell you how excited I am for this.
- The afternoon will be catch-up time. Whatever we missed during the week or want to do again will go in this time frame.
- If necessary we'll take a nap at the resort; otherwise we will go directly from wherever we are to Epcot once again for...
- A 6:20pm dinner at Via Napoli! This will be our third visit to the restaurant. Then...
- EMH until 11:00pm at Epcot! If DATW doesn't happen Thursday maybe it will on Friday.
- If we aren't too exhausted from the partying at Epcot the night before there is a possibility of some more catch-up in the morning
- Sadly, at some point during the morning we will check out of Pop and board the DME bus for the return trip.
- 1:25pm flight back home.
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