Pre-Trip The Fab 5 Trip

It seems like I just returned from WDW and I am already gearing up to go back. I have found that future trip planning really is the best cure for the post trip blues!
Welcome to anyone who would like to follow in my next adventure

This trip will feature the number 5 in a few different ways-hence the title

Who: Myself (Erica), DH (R), DD (O-turning 5) and DS (Z-3). This will be our first time of just our immediate family visiting WDW together and I am really excited for it. We typically take trips with other family and friends so it will be nice to get a chance to focus on our kids and ourselves.
When: Early May (5th month)
Where: Split stay between POP and AOA, we have 5 day park hoppers
Why: Celebrating the 5th Birthday of our little princess

Last May, I surprised the kids with a trip. I considered surprising them again this time but when I went without them over New Years I had to let the cat out of the bag. They were perfectly content to stay home with the promise of a future trip. I have let them help with a lot of the planning but I do have a few surprises up my sleeve.

Here are is my favorite picture of all 4 of us from DHs last WDW trip in September 2016

And one from our DLR trip in November 2017

 

[Dave B]

What is DLR?

 

[ELeigh]

What is DLR?

Disneyland Resort

 

[Dave B]

I was trying to figure that out, so Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, got it

 

[ELeigh]

I have a little less than 30 days until I will be making fast passes. I am trying to get my plans together in preparation for fastpasses day.
Travel Day-Fly in after work, arrive late at the Pop and get as much sleep as possible.
Day 1-
AM: Rope Drop MK (9am open), visit Frontierland and Adventureland/lunch at CHH
PM: Ohana dinner at 4:00, MK to Main Street for shopping and pictures

Day 2-
AM: Rope drop HS (9am open) for Toy Story Land (Hoping for a Slinky Dog Dash FP)
PM: Epcot world showcase/Flower and Garden strolling and snacking

Day 3-
AM: Check out of Pop and head to MK EMH (8am) for Fantasyland
Splitting up for lunch: I will take O to Disney Springs while R and Z check into AoA
Princess O has an appointment with Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique as a birthday suprise
PM: Artist point dinner and evening activities at AoA

Day 4-
AM: Rope Drop Epcot (9am open) and lunch in the the World Showcase
PM: MK for Tomorrowland and then Fireworks dessert party.

Day 5-
AM: Relax at the pool and Disney Springs for lunch
PM: AK with dinner at Flame Tree BBQ

Day 6-
AM: Check out Bon Voyage Breakfast and Disney Springs
PM: Fly home

 

[ELeigh]

2 weeks until fast passes!
I have been trying to solidify the fastpasses I am going to try for and time frames.
Part of planning was to measure Z. I have been putting it off as long as possible because he is obsessed with Splash Mountain and really wants to ride this trip, and I had a feeling he wasn't going to grow fast enough to make that happen. We just measured and he is a solid 39 inches in his sneakers.
His reaction: "Am I tall enough for the Heigh Ho ride?" (yes) "Woohoo I'm going on Mine Train!"...."Am I tall enough for Splash Mountain?" (no) "Can my sister still go on Splash Mountain? I want her to" ❤ What a sweet little brother. He will also be happy to hear he can ride Slinky Dog Dash, but I want to make sure I can secure a FP before making promises about this one.
Now I really need to get a SDMT fastpass (or 2) for this guy.

Here is what I'm hoping to snag:
Park Day 1-MK: SM for O and R/SDMT for myself and Z, BTMRR for myself and O, and HM for the 4 of us.
Park Day 2-HS: SDD for the 4 of us, ToT and Star Tours for R and O
Park Day 3-MK: SDMT for the 4 of us and Peter Pan (The kids loved this last time and I really didn't care for it, I refuse to wait in standby for it)
Park Day 4-Epcot:Now that Z isn't tall enough for Test Track or Soarin', our best choice for the Tier one FP will be Frozen Ever After
Park Day 5-AK: I would really like R to ride FoP, if I can snag a FP for him I will, for the kids and I, I will grab a Navi River Journey FP (the only ride in AK I haven't experienced yet).
Other than these I will fill in the blanks with what seems to work well to minimize walking in circles.

I have been having issues with ordering Magic bands for this trip-every time I clicked to customize I would get an error message. This morning I tried again for the 100+ time and it finally worked The kids were excited to pick their bands, O chose purple and Z chose blue.

We have been trying to watch some Disney movies that the kids haven't see yet ahead of the trip, this week we went with what we could find on Netflix and watched Lilo and Stitch and Pocahontas.

 

[DisneyGigi]

We may be there at the same time? My fp day is 9 days from today. We are 5th-11th! Good luck FP day! I have my alarm set so I don’t forgot like last trip.

 

[ELeigh]

We may be there at the same time? My fp day is 9 days from today. We are 5th-11th! Good luck FP day! I have my alarm set so I don’t forgot like last trip.

Yes we have some overlap May 7-13 for us

 

[FlaggNL]

Plans look great! Enjoy the pre feelings!!

 

[Darstarr]

Yes we have some overlap May 7-13 for us

I will be there as well!

 

[ELeigh]

I will be there as well!

So many May trips on the boards fingers crossed for good weather!

 

[ELeigh]

I am 65 days out from my trip and my plan was to look over the plans and firm up what times I was hoping to get for fast passes this weekend.
I had O helping me to choose rides for fast passes on Thursday morning and since I have an AP I was going to show her by making fastpass for this week and then delete it. When I started the process it jumped to May and all of the dates for our trip were open....8 days early!? I have no idea how this could have happened but I immediately went into full gear and booked our 5 days worth of fast passes just in case it was real. So far they still show on my account and I screenshotted them just in case but I am hoping I just got extremely lucky somehow.
Anyone else going around the same time let me know if this happens to you also @Back!Elbow!Shoulders! @Darstarr

 

[Darstarr]

I am 65 days out from my trip and my plan was to look over the plans and firm up what times I was hoping to get for fast passes this weekend.
I had O helping me to choose rides for fast passes on Thursday morning and since I have an AP I was going to show her by making fastpass for this week and then delete it. When I started the process it jumped to May and all of the dates for our trip were open....8 days early!? I have no idea how this could have happened but I immediately went into full gear and booked our 5 days worth of fast passes just in case it was real. So far they still show on my account and I screenshotted them just in case but I am hoping I just got extremely lucky somehow.
Anyone else going around the same time let me know if this happens to you also @Back!Elbow!Shoulders! @Darstarr

I have been trying all day. Not only will it not let me book the May dates, it wont even let me book 30 days out! And I have an AP.

 

[ELeigh]

I have been trying all day. Not only will it not let me book the May dates, it wont even let me book 30 days out! And I have an AP.

Oh wow I guess the system is glitchy :/ hope it ends up working out in your favor!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Thanks for the heads up. I was able to book FPs through the website (not the app). Here’s to hoping they all stay.

 

[Darstarr]

Oh wow I guess the system is glitchy :/ hope it ends up working out in your favor!

Thanks. Been trying all day and no luck.

 

[Doc Disney]

We may be there at the same time? My fp day is 9 days from today. We are 5th-11th! Good luck FP day! I have my alarm set so I don’t forgot like last trip.

Yes we have some overlap May 7-13 for us

I will be there May 3-11
Thats awesome it let you book your Fast Passes ahead of time! It has let me do that several times but this time it wouldn't (I have a feeling it has something to do with my Dad not having a AP) - at least I got most of what I wanted

 

[DisneyGigi]

I will be there May 3-11
Thats awesome it let you book your Fast Passes ahead of time! It has let me do that several times but this time it wouldn't (I have a feeling it has something to do with my Dad not having a AP) - at least I got most of what I wanted

I wondered if it might have to do with APs. So glad I read it in this thread because I am so busy making cakes today I would have forgot. Say hello if you see us!

 

[ELeigh]

I will be there May 3-11
Thats awesome it let you book your Fast Passes ahead of time! It has let me do that several times but this time it wouldn't (I have a feeling it has something to do with my Dad not having a AP) - at least I got most of what I wanted

I am not sure how the APs factor in but I was able to book for myself (AP holder) and my family (non AP). I guess something glitchy with recent changes to the system worked in my favor. Glad you were still able to get good FP

 

[ELeigh]

We are only 45 days out from our trip
Now that we have made it well past the 60 day mark and I am now confident that our fastpasses our secure. From everything I have read from different sources, it sounds like there was some type of glitch when they made some changes to the fastpass system and somehow I got lucky in that glitch.
Now that we have fastpasses I am working on narrowing down my "must eat" list because it's long enough for 3 trips at this point. I have my eye on so many flower and garden snacks but I am hoping to narrow it down a bit more.
I have started packing and I am hoping to make progress with that this weekend. It takes me a long time to pack and I will still end up forgetting something.
Not trip related but since I feel like I need a picture to jazz up this post, here is something I am working on in O's room. I still need to paint the brown boxes but I think this is such a nice way to store our shared collection:

4 of these are Danielle Nicole and two are not, but I love them all. Currently deciding which ones get to go on the trip with us.