Monday Arrival
DD thinks we are going to FL for some warm weather and a hotel and a pool.
We give her MB box and she opens it thinking the “watches” are cute but only function to get us on a bus.
She makes it to the line for DME to Coronado before she looks around and asks if people around us are going to Disney. We give her “the letter” that explains her itinerary and she is stoked.
We arrive at Coronado and it’s a little chilly to be at the pool so we decide to resort hop on the monorail. It’s about 4ish and we take a bus to MK, Monorail to each resort. We get off at Poly to press our first penny and grab a snack of coconut meatballs at Capt’n Cooks and our very first Dole Whip - regular for DD and with rum for DH and I. Amazing.
We stop at GF to see the egg displays.
We make it back to hotel for an early night to get the part started early the next morning.
Tuesday - Waking up at CSR and going to HS
6:30am - wake up to Mickey Mouse’s voice
6:50 - out the door
Check luggage into storage and on the bus at Coronado
7:19 - at the entry to HS
7:50 - get let in the tapstiles for a H&V rez PPO
Go directly to Jedi Training Sign up and get our preferred slot at 11:10am
Third family in the door for an 8:00am Rez at H&V
8:15 Meet Handy Manny
8:25 Meet Sophia
8:34 Meet Jake
8:36 Meet Doc McStuffins
We should have gotten going at this point but our Allergy Mickey Waffles that we ordered when first walking in just arrived and then DD had to go to the bathroom - oy
8:53 in front of Rockin Roller Coaster and we are way back. Whoops
9:30 we are on the ride!
**This is where I start to panic about already being behind on our TP so I chat it up and realize that I can optimize as we go. Easy peezy and we are back in business.
10:11 we are Meeting Mickey and Minnie
Bathroom break and water refill and we are back at the spot to meet for Jedi training at 10:40
11:30 and we are done with Jedi Training
11:35 we are in FP line for TSM
12:00 we are meeting Stormtroopers
12:26 we are meeting Kylo Ren
12:37 we stop for a Photopass opp
12:38 in FP line for TT
12:57 AND we drop!
1:05 DS is getting a hotdog and a frozen drink while DH and I split a frozen adult drink at Backlot Express. We mobile order while resting in the shade.
1:30 We are FPing Star Tours and pick up a FP for Muppet Vision while in line
2:10 We are in Muppet Vision, visit a gift shop
Next we head towards entrance to register for DAS at Guest Services and to weed out our DD photos from Jedi training at the photo hut and have them hunt down our missing RRC photo
We Hop on a bus to Coronado to check out, take a Lyft to Hilton Buena Palace to check in and are in the floating Lagoon with drinks and food from home by 4pm.
DD wants a gift from SW shop and DH and I decide we want really nerdy shirts so we shower, dress, and are back to HS around 7:00pm
We shop, we hang out, we get a FP for Fantasmic,
Watching Fantasmic and run over to the SW light show and we hang back as the park empties which is just the greatest.
We are tired so we Lyft back to hotel after seeing first bus fill up.
Wednesday Hilton Buena Vista Palace and AK and it’s a hot one
6am - Wake up and out the door by 6:45 to see if we can get shuttle
7:05 - Shuttle arrives and we hop on
It’s a beautiful ride but by the time we get to tapstiles at 7:30 we are many families back
7:35 - They start letting folks in to get over to FoP and thankfully we walk fast
We actually don’t mind being so far back at this point. The line moves at a very steady and leisurely walking pace and by the time we are done we’ve seen this beautiful part of the park.
8:40 - FoP and we are out of the gift shop. DD ended up loving this ride, despite some jitters. She did have to take glasses off and look down at herself quite a bit of the time.
BUT it was AMAZING - so beautiful.
We follow the TP
9:00 - Kali River Rapids
9:30 - We sit for a snack, take some photopass opps, and argue about whether Tricerotops Spin is worth going on
We let DD work off some steam in the Boneyard while DH and I caffeinate and take turns with washroom breaks
10:30 we are in line for Dinosaur
11:15 FP and we are on Na’vi river
11:30 Mobile order a Rib Dinner with extra beans and share between the three of us. Perfect and less than $20
12:28 we are using a FP for Everest
12:30 until 1:30 we find first aid to get some allergy meds, grab some dole whip, wander the Hirambe area and catch the acrobats
1:30 we use FP to get on Kilamanjaro Safari and see a ton of the animals - really cool! And we grab a FP for Nemo later
Here’s something I would have skipped - the Wildlife train to Rafiki’s. We are bored and cranky at this point but we breeze through, use it as a bathroom break, hop back on the train back.
We wander a bit and get more photopass opps
3:45 and we are seeing ITTBAB then on to Nemo’s musical. Neither worth it IMO if you have to wait more than 10 min - which we didn’t.
By about 4:45 we are eating at Yak and Yeti thanks to our Landry card getting us past the line. It’s a good thing because we were getting a little hangry. We snag a FP for Everest while there.
We wander back over to Pandora for some evening pics and a drink.
7:30 We trek back over to Everest and ride again.
We decide we need to conserve energy for the coming days so we fill our popcorn bucket, watch the Tree of Life light up and get a photo taken, and we are on our way back to the hotel, skipping the Light show
While it didn’t feel like we got a lot in this day either, I think part of the “magic” of AK is taking in the scenery and the animals which we loved. We absolutely skipped the dinoland carnival ride area which was really a choice made because we get similar rides several times a year near home.
Thursday - Hilton to CBR and Epcot
Plan was to leave early, check bags at CBR and leave from there to Epcot for EMH. We wanted to do all rides before lunch and spend rest of day in the WS. But oh boy it did not go as planned.
Up at 5am to pack up, get ready, and catch a Lyft from Hilton to CBR with our bags.
We get lost on CBR property and find out you cannot walk to the Lobby/Luggage storage. After also figuring out that there are park buses and internal buses at CBR, we decide to split up. DH takes luggage on internal bus and DD and I wait for the Epcot bus.
7:30 - DD and I arrive at Epcot main entrance and make it through for RD pretty near the front of the pack with a plan to cut left to go to FEA. Whoops. It’s roped off.
8:01 - I try to talk DD into just doing TT since we are so far ahead and she is having none of it so we cut right to take the walk across the little bridge that goes around the first aid building and we make it to FEA.
8:20 - we finish FEA - not bad but not she wants to meet Anna and Elsa
8:40 - we meet A&E and I feel like we’ve burned through Magic Hours inefficiently but it’s fine. Get a call from DH who has made it in and is riding Spaceship earth
8:50 - we meet up with him and hop on SE (again for him)
We spend a hot minute in project tomorrow when DD gets bored pretty fast so we go to Space Orange.
9:10 I decide I can’t take Orange and meet up with DD and DH at the end
9:20 After a bathroom break we head to FP Soarin which actually takes a bit longer than expected
10:15 We FP to Living with the Land
11:35 We are getting on Test Track
11:45 Reservation at Coral Reef where the food was surprisingly good. We had the Mahi Mahi and DD had the chicken drumstick.
1:00 We hop on JImagination
Plan here was just to make it to America by about 5:30 (the halfway mark)
We do the Kidcot thing, shop, and enjoy the flower displays and at least one food or drink from each country.
1:30ish - We make our daily First aid Stop and head to Mexico
2:20 - we are in Norway
2:50 we are in China
3:20 we are at the Outpost
4:40 we are in Germany
5:15 we are in Italy
5:30 we are in America - OMG Key Lime beer and I’m in love
5:37 we are in Japan and DD is eating sushi - her fave
6:10 we are in Morocco and listen to the live music while eating some fried cauliflower
6:50 we are in France
7:00 we are in UK where we find some chips to munch and some telephone booths to play in
7:15 we are in Canada and DD is excited because she spent 4 years of her childhood there.
We find there is no Propellor or Alexander Keiths beer and move along
7:30 we are back near the front and we have a FP for the show.
BUT FIRST!
Test Track one more time.
We get a Dole Whip (with rum for the adults of course!) and take a bathroom break before finding our spot.
We take a bus back to CBR (barely! It was so full) and get back about 10 and wait an hour before our luggage arrives. DH patiently waits up for it while DD and I crash :
Really happy with how this day panned out overall so I finally feel like I’m getting into a Disney Groove which is good because MK is next!
Friday! CBR and MK EMH
We are pumped people! We are out and ready for the very first MK bus at 6am sharp.
6:30 we are off the bus headed to bag check
We breeze through and they hold us - we are on the right, right under the train track. A tad before 7 they let us go.
7:00 - we are the first to meet Tink!
7:05 - first photopass of us in barely daylight in front of castle
7:10 - Peter Pan’s Flight
7:30 - Meet Rapunzel / Tiana
8:00 Tomorrow Land Speedway (I hated that this sucked up time and was not fun)
8:15 Barnstormer
8:35 Pooh
9:00 FP Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
9:15 It’s a small world
9:30 we head up for our 9:45 BOG rez where we ordered ahead and breezed right in
10:30 Haunted Mansion
11:00 Hall of Presidents
11:30 over to Tomorrowland for our FP Space Mountain
Then we head over for the Parade
12:45 we hop on AstroOrbiter with DAS
1:00 Peoplemover
1:20 Go to the Fantasyland train station to take over to Splash Mountain
2:00 FP Splash Mountain
DD needed a cold drink so we get a slushy and go over to First Aid for my daily Allergy dose and head over to the boat launch to get us over to Wilderness Resort
I grab a FP for Big Thunder later
We play on the playground, walk around, go to the gift shop, get an adult drink and we are seated right at 4:30 for our Trail’s End Rez. Really quality buffet!
Back on the boat over to MK for the rest of the day!
6:00 we walk through Swiss Family
6:15 starts to sprinkle a little so we make a DAS rez at Pirates and go to Philharmagic
6:45 FP Big Thunder and grab a Jungle Cruise FP
7:00 Pirates
7:30 FP Jungle Cruise
7:45 walk over toward Tomorrow Land side of castle to watch HEA and grab a mad tea cup FP while waiting
9 - DD is on teacups (the adults don’t do spinny things) and I grab a FP for Big Thunder
9:30 - Tomrrowland Speedway (DH and DD do this again while I get popcorn, make a DAS at Seven dwarfs, and roam around. It takes them forever and we are near meltdown)
10:20 and they are out and we stop for a latern photopass and some water and some bathrooms
10:50 FP Big Thunder
11:30 DAS Seven Dwarfs
Last photopasses of the night and we head back to CBR in a Lyft. We really felt like we conquered MK and DD chooses Epcot as the Park to visit tomorrow.
The Hilton Burns Vista Palace has some large pools and a floating circular thing with the big tubes so you just float around this curvy path all blissed out in my case with a glass of wine. Of course, I bring box wine and put it in my coffee cup. Shhhhhhh
Finally - final day at WDW
DD9 was given the option of which park she would like to return to and she picked Epcot. This was our lazy day. Had it been nice, we would have done a pool morning, but it was not to be. We sleep in. It’s 8:30 and we mosey around, packing up, getting ready, and deciding what to do. We take a stroll over to the pool of CBR. We pick up our gift shop packages, and we grab some ETOH in our coffee cups for the bus ride over. We arrive about noon.
It’s sprinkling so we head to a gift shop to look for a couple things.
It’s Flower and Garden so we head over to the butterfly house.
It’s beautiful.
1:15 we manage to get a FP for Soarin
1:30 We ride Nemo.
and then we stroll through the aquarium
DD9 wants to do the Easter egg hunt so we find the gift shop to get the map and head out.
4:00 we are in Japan
4:15 in Morocco
We breeze through the eater egg hunt at this point and really just make sure we get another glorious glass of key lime beer.
We get back over towards the Main entrance to WS and hop on a boat.
We take the International gate and wander over to YC and stroll over two Swolphin.
We pick Il Mulino at the Swan and, well, it’s just ok
We walk over and take the last boat over.
DD9 realizes we missed Pennies from Mexico and Norway so we do that and then run over to
Garden Rocks to catch the end of Electric Light Orchestra.
DD9 picks Italian Ice for dessert, then
We rush to our 8pm Test Track FP.
we stroll back over to get Dole Whip with Rum
and we watch the night show around Canada.
It was an amazing relaxed last day in the parks.
Sunday we got up, waited for our bags to be picked up, made it to Mass at the Contemporary, and had Easter brunch at Cape May before riding the monorail to Poly for one last dole whip.