Trip Report Roll the stone away It's Independence Day! (July 3-5)

Okay folks....
At the beginning of this year, I decided to make it a goal to visit Walt Disney World over Independence Day weekend. Now keep in mind, I've been over New Year's Eve twice, but this is the very first time I am going over Independence Day, plus the first time I will do a weekend trip involving me arriving Saturday, and heading home on Monday afternoon. I ended up booking this at the beginning of May much to my mom's surprise.

Now for the nitty gritty (I am a FL Resident Platinum AP for that matter) -
Here's what the logistics looks like:
Resort: Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Room: Outer Building Garden View
Check-in: 7/3/2021
Check-out: 7/5/2021
Length of Stay: 3 Days, 2 Nights

Oh! And did I mention this is my first time EVER staying at Grand Floridian? I've stayed at the Polynesian in November 2007, Boulder Ridge/Wilderness Lodge in December 2017, Yacht Club in July 2019, and the Contemporary in August and December 2020! So this will make it as being that I have stayed at 4 deluxe resorts (this trip will make 5), and now stayed at all three monorail resorts over a course of 14 years!

But enough blabbering, here's the itinerary!
Day 1 - Saturday July 3, 2021
  • Travel to WDW from Lake Mary, via Deland on Amtrak Train 91 to Kissimmee. Connecting to Lynx Link 56 to the Transportation & Ticket Center, and in turn the Monorail to Grand Floridian.
  • Check-In, Settle-In, Unpack, Lunch, Basin White
  • Game Plan for parks goes like this...
    • EPCOT from 3pm to 5pm-ish
    • Hop to Hollywood Studios from 5pm to 7:30pm-ish
      • Trying to Snag an Oga's Canteen ADR and boy is it a PAIN in the rear!
      • No plans to do ROTR
    • Then hop back to EPCOT from 7:30pm to Park Close at 10:00pm
Day 2 - Sunday July 4, 2021 (Independence Day!)
  • This will be a Magic Kingdom day, no intentions of park hopping
  • I've made two ADRs for this day, Skipper's Canteen (for lunch) and Liberty Tree Tavern (for dinner - which could change to California Grill) - Breakfast will either be with room service or at Gasparilla Island Grill
  • May do a midday break if I feel exhausted
  • I am planning to watch Happily Ever After that evening (either in the park or at California Grill)
Day 3 - Monday July 5, 2021
  • I'll probably get up early and pack everything, and then take my suitcase to bell services for them to hang on to it until I come back to head home.
  • Breakfast - Maybe Grand Floridian Cafe?
  • Park Plans - This will be predominantly be an Animal Kingdom day, again no park hopping. Lunch will be at Restaurantosaurus, dinner will be TBD
  • Going home will involve me taking the Monorail to the TTC, and then my usual Link 50/SunRail routing back to Lake Mary
And did I also mention I got the COVID-19 Vaccine too? Having gotten the second dose on June 13! One thing I'd like to mention to everyone, guys please GET THE COVID-19 VACCINE, especially if you're a WDW FL Resident AP like I am.
 

IanDLBZF

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Only 6 days left!

With the date of the trip quickly approaching, here's what the plan looks like for the rest of the week...
Monday June 28 - Wednesday June 30
  • I have to work those days, and my mom comes over Tuesday to help me pack.
  • Deloitte is having us work from home until the day after Labor Day for that matter
Thursday July 1
  • Deloitte has us off that day, and Friday too, straight through to Monday July 5!
  • I'll use this day to charge my battery packs and camera battery, and run errands as needed
Friday July 2
  • I'll use this day to work to work on cleaning my house, and laundry so that it's done when I come back
  • If needed, I'll finish packing everything so that I am ready to go for Saturday morning.
Saturday July 3
  • I'm going to Disney World that day!
 

IanDLBZF

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Screen Shot 2021-06-30 at 9.18.50 PM.png

And guess what I just snagged a few minutes ago....?!
 

IanDLBZF

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
TWO DAYS TO GO! With me successfully snagging an Oga's Canteen ADR, I've made a slight update to the itinerary...
Day 1 - Saturday July 3, 2021
  • Travel to WDW from Lake Mary, via Deland on Amtrak Train 91 to Kissimmee. Connecting to Lynx Link 56 to the Transportation & Ticket Center, and in turn the Monorail to Grand Floridian.
  • Check-In, Settle-In, Unpack, Lunch, Basin White
  • Game Plan for parks goes like this...
    • EPCOT from 3pm to 5pm-ish
    • Hop to Hollywood Studios from 5pm to 7:30pm-ish
      • Oga's Canteen ADR @ 6:35pm
      • No plans to do ROTR
      • May grab some food at Flower & Garden Fest too?
    • Then hop back to EPCOT from 7:30pm to Park Close at 10:00pm
    • Watching Epcot Forever tonight
Day 2 - Sunday July 4, 2021 (Independence Day!)
  • This will be a Magic Kingdom day, no intentions of park hopping
  • I've made two ADRs for this day, Skipper's Canteen (for lunch) and Liberty Tree Tavern (for dinner - which could change to California Grill) - Breakfast will either be with room service or at Gasparilla Island Grill
  • May do a midday break if I feel exhausted
  • I am planning to watch Happily Ever After that evening (either in the park or at California Grill)
Day 3 - Monday July 5, 2021
  • I'll probably get up early and pack everything, and then take my suitcase to bell services for them to hang on to it until I come back to head home.
  • Breakfast - Maybe Grand Floridian Cafe?
  • Park Plans - This will be predominantly be an Animal Kingdom day, again no park hopping. Lunch will be at Restaurantosaurus, dinner will be TBD
  • Going home will involve me taking the Monorail to the TTC, and then my usual Link 50/SunRail routing back to Lake Mary
 

BigDis

Well-Known Member
Following. Can't wait to read more. Congratulations on getting a reservation for Oga's Canteen. We went there on our last trip to WDW. It was a lot of fun.
 

IanDLBZF

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Following. Can't wait to read more. Congratulations on getting a reservation for Oga's Canteen. We went there on our last trip to WDW. It was a lot of fun.
Was at Oga's Canteen in December 2019 and got a Fuzzy Tauntaun! Man was it good but lips were on fire!
Gonna go for a Jedi Mind Trick this time.
 

IanDLBZF

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
OK party people,
Today was rather fun, but the start was not that great you see I had to be evacuated off of Splash Mountain this morning.
Crowds were not too too bad, however it was rather busy.
Originally I had intended to do dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, but decided to cancel it as I was able to snag in a walk in at California Grill.
Got to see Happily Ever After from there too!
Now for tomorrow: going back to Magic Kingdom and then home! Originally I had planned to go to animal kingdom, however because I am going take Lynx and SunRail home, I decided to go to a park that would be simpler to connect with, in this case using the monorail.
 

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