Our schedule for the week: UPDATE COMPLETE!
Thursday July 13th:
Driving day. We will leave between 3-5 am (see above). Number of stops will depend on the kiddos, especially the little one. This will be her first trip to Disney and first real family vacation… she has never been in the car more than 2 hrs at a time. I have to be honest I’m a bit nervous about this and how she will do. But I will be sitting in the back seat with her and DD9 (Lord help me!!!) so I’m hoping that will help. We have LOTS of snacks planned. And she loves her bottle still which typically soothes her and puts her to sleep (I was not forcing her to wean from that until after this trip for the sole purpose of the car ride and sleeping!). I’m hoping to arrive by 7 or 8 pm at the latest. We’ll walk to MK to get our APs activated and then turn in early so we rest well for our first day in the parks.
Friday July 14th: Magic Kingdom!
Morning EMH are scheduled for this day. I know this is not the best strategy to go on this day unless we will be making full use of EMH. But we decided to add a day to the beginning of our trip after EMH were scheduled. If we wake up and utilize EMH then great. If not, we will enjoy the extra day and just do what we can. We have FPs for BTMRR, Splash, and 7DMT. I’m also hoping to meet Tinkerbell on this day (I have outfits planned for that, so I have to find a way to make this work!!! Anything other than that will be gravy:)
Meals: Lunch at quick service in MK (possibly Pecos Bill or CHH), Dinner 5:05 pm Chef Mickey’s (don’t throw stones, it is one of our family traditions and DH’s favorite… I have to oblige him with certain requests so he lets me keep planning these trips!
Saturday July 15th: Hollywood Studios
Plans for the day include RD RNR (I hope we can make it with a short wait). FPs for TSM, ToT, and Frozen Singalong (we’ll see how the baby is doing if she can handle sitting for a show… DH and I have already prepared DD9 that one of us may have to get up and take the baby out from things depending on her fussiness factor). I’m also hoping to meet some Disney Jr. characters like Sofia, Jake and Doc. Also want to meet Olaf since he wasn’t doing meets last trip in 2015. We also MUST meet Buzz and Woody (outfits planned around meeting them for this day… we plan to head straight to their meet after RnR if DD9 doesn’t chicken out). Lunch will be at quick service somewhere… I’m not a huge fan of most of the HS quick service places, but I’m trying to be more flexible knowing the baby will affect our touring to a large degree. I don’t plan on making a long day at HS. We’ll probably leave shortly after lunch, head back to BLT for a nap. Then we hope to make it to church that evening at Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church (would love to know if anyone has ever attended Sat evening mass here). This is another one of DH’s requests and I’m happy to oblige to be sure we make it to services. Dinner TBD depending on DD1’s mood/hunger level. We may just grab something at Contempo Cafe and then swim for a bit or stop at Disney Springs (although I’m sure Sat night there is NOT ideal with parking and crowds). Bedtime will be early that night in preparation for the next day.
Sunday July 16th: Magic Kingdom
We have pre-RD breakfast at 8:00 am planned for CRT. Unfortunately I found out about EMM AFTER I had this meal scheduled. But this was a very specific request of DD9 and this is what worked out best based on the park hours and crowd levels for the other parks on other days. I’m hoping it doesn’t affect us too much. I have fast passes for Rapunzel & Tiana M&G, 7DMT, and PPF. Hoping to tackle the majority of Fantasyland on this day. We have no scheduled lunch or dinner ADRs so that we can be flexible to a certain degree after our breakfast and besides FPs. Hoping to utilize the modify feature to get additional fast passes which will help with waits for the baby. I also have quite the goal of trying to watch FOF parade on this day. Not sure how that will work out with DD1 as she usually naps from about 1-3 but in other outings has a hard time falling asleep when there is too much going on. (In Pittsburgh we call that nebby lol). So we’ll see how that works out. We may watch HEA from TOTW Lounge on this night depending on how tired we are. Other option is to watch on Monday or Tuesday. We’ll have to base this on our fatigue factor:)
Monday July 17th: Magic Kindgom and Epcot
This is the only day that we have for sure planned to park hop. I plan to do MK at RD and use some rider swap passes (will get those when we use our FPs on prior days for BTMRR, Splash, and 7DMT as well as possibly others depending on what we get to on Sunday) to minimize waits and get in some of DD9s favorite rides. Hoping to get to Adventureland, Frontierland, and Liberty Square type attractions in the morning. I plan for us to eat lunch around noon-ish somewhere in Frontierland and then head back to BLT for nap/rest. Then depending on the rest schedule, we will head to Epcot sometime later in the afternoon. We have dinner ADRs for Via Napoli at 4:55 so that is when we HAVE to arrive by (even if it means putting a sleeping DD1 in the stroller… thank goodness we will have the monorail to keep her in for that long monorail ride to EP). I have FPs for Character Spot and Spaceship earth prior to dinner, but not worried about using those (I just made them early so that they can expire for my plans for later). Then we have FEA scheduled for 5:50-6:50. I plan to meet A&E at some point either prior to dinner or after riding FEA (again this will depend on DD1, but this is a must do because of our outfits LOL). I’m banking on the potential for scoring some same day fast passes for Soarin on this evening… I know I know I shouldn’t count on this but it will be extra pixie dust if I can find these (see later in the week) for just DD9 and I (DH is not a fan of flying so he doesn’t care for this ride). But I have been checking every day around 6:30-7 pm and for the past week, I have always been able to find a same day fast pass for Soarin for 2 people. So here’s hoping this remains the same next week!!!
Tuesday July 18th: Animal Kingdom
So in my perfect little Disney world filled with pixie dust and fairies my plan will go as follows. We will arrive at AK around 30 min prior to RD. I plan to walk with purpose (with DD1 in stroller and dragging the rest of the crew with us) to NRJ so that we can all ride that first. Then we have FPs planned for FoP which only DD9 and I will be using (see above on DH and flying). I probably will get a RS pass in case DD9 (or myself) really loves the ride as everyone has said it is amazing so that we can ride again if we so desire. Then I have FPs for all of us for KS from 10:15-11:15 and Everest at 11:15-12:15 (if able to, will modify to push times up). Will utilize RS if able as well so DD9 can ride again on EE if desired. Lunch will be quick service on this day depending on what part of the park we are when it’s lunch time. Will head to Dinoland at some point to ride TS and PW (crazy but DD9 LOVES this ride!) and hope to score FPs for Minnie & Mickey M&G in their safari gear. Will head back to resort for rest and then we have Dinner ADRs at Beaches & Cream (will be our first time eating there). Depending on how long dinner takes (and how tired we are) we may consider exploring around the Boardwalk area a bit… but I’m not counting on that as sleep is a major priority for my family so that we can make RD every day.
Wednesday July 19th: Epcot
We plan to arrive 30 min before RD if possible. If we are not able to ride Soarin on our other Epcot day (see above) using the modify trick to get additional fast passes, DD9 and I will be booking it to Soarin at RD and ride this first. If we ride Soarin on Monday (pixie dust my Monday plan works!!!) then we will head to meet Joy & Sadness at RD and then go from there. We have FPs for Nemo, LWTL, and TT scheduled. We also have lunch ADRs at Garden Grill (another first for us this trip). Depending on our stamina (or exhaustion) we may try to roam around World Showcase and explore the countries there. Otherwise we’ll return to our resort and swim (this will probably be DD9’s preference).
Thursday July 20th: Magic Kingdom
Our last day in the parks will be spent at none other than Magic Kingdom! We will start the day out with PreRD ADR breakfast at BOG (first time doing bkft here!). Then we will do some rides in Tomorrowland and potentially repeat some of our faves in Fantasyland if time allows. We have FPs for Buzz, Space, and 7DMT (my DD9’s fave ride which is why we have FPs for all our full MK days). Lunch will be quick service probably at PVH or Cosmic Rays. Depending on how the day is going, we’ll head back for rest/nap and then return for dinner at Crystal Palace at 5:25 pm. It is possible we will stay through the afternoon if DD1 falls asleep in her stroller or remaining in a good mood. The mid-day breaks are typically necessary though for us to cool down in the heat of the day so I’m planning on that unless we are really enjoying our park time. I don’t anticipate us staying too late since we will be driving back the next day.
Friday July 21st: Driving home
Makes me sad just thinking about the end of the trip already. But crazy thing is, our 180 day ADR day is on Sunday July 23rd for our January 2018 trip! So that will make leaving much easier this time knowing we have another trip right around the corner. The continued planning will definitely help.
Excited to follow along, and to hear about Corpus Christi. DH and I will be down at WDW in Oct/Nov and will have 3 masses to catch, and I have been debating between CC and Mary Queen of the Universe. Makes me nervous visiting new parishes 