Mike's President's Week Trip Report

Kudos to you for speaking up about your room preference! This is my new mantra on vacations. If something isn’t to your liking, speak up - politely- and request what you’d like. Worst thing that can happen is getting turned down. Best thing that can happen is getting something you really prefer.

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Day 3

Today was Magic Kingdom day! We were out of our room a few minutes before 8, and got to the bus depot right as a MK bus was pulling away. :confused: However, there were still others there, and a CM let us know that another bus was being dispatched and was < 10 minutes away… We ended up getting to ride a fairly empty bus, and we got to MK shortly before 8:30, which was fine as we weren’t Rope Dropping any headliners… Walking through the tunnel on Main Street for the first time on any trip always gives me goosebumps - the atmosphere of MK is just awesome and I never get tired of it…

We took the obligatory PhotoPass castle pictures, and then lined up for Rope Drop. The TP had us rope dropping Pooh, which was very exciting for DS1. Back in January, when he was sick with the flu, we introduced him to Pooh by watching the classic movie. So when we told him we were going to see Pooh, he was visibly excited.

We watched the welcome show (which was exciting for DS1), and then made our way to Pooh - as DS1 saw the honeypots and the artwork in the queue, he got even more excited. We were pretty close to the front of the line, and then… nothing. They weren’t loading cars. We waited about 5 minutes and it looked like there was something wrong, so we decided to bail rather than blow up our whole TP - which led to a very upset child. At that point, I re-optimized my TP to come up with a bit of a new plan - only one of two times I did this on this trip.

From there we made our way to Buzz, and while in line, I changed our 11:15 Pirates FP to Pooh so DS1 could get to ride it (without the 45 minute wait we knew it would become). That was painful (the things parents do for their kids :slight_smile:). The earliest FP I could get for Pooh was about 4:30 PM, but after a little modifying, I got it for noon, which would allow us to go right after lunch.

From there, the day went pretty well - we rode everything we wanted to that morning. During the rider swap for 7DMT, DS1 and DW went on the carousel, and during the BTMR swap I took DS1 to the little play area under the Frontierland train station, which was a good way to allow DS1 to run around a little. We ate lunch at BoG (a must-do for DW - and the most “table-service” type of meal we could do with DS1), went on Pooh, which ended up being as big of a hit as expected with DS1, grabbed a couple of additional FPs, and then left for the day around 2 PM.

Regarding BoG - I can’t emphasize enough - place your order ahead of time. When we got there, there was a line going all the way back to where you first check in - for those who hadn’t pre-ordered. Since we had pre-ordered, we walked right in, paid for our meal, and sat down. 5 minutes vs. probably 30…

We decided to avoid the bus wait and called for a Mini Van on our way back, and we got the same driver who picked us up from the airport! It was great to see her as the boys were comfortable talking to her, and it made for a fun ride back. DS8 and I hit the pool while DS1 napped a bit, and then we headed to Epcot World Showcase to find food for dinner.

After dinner, it was my turn to go with DS8 to Epcot for the evening. I had gotten a FP for SSE, and then I finally convinced DS8 to try Mission Space (Green), which he had not done before. He loved it. He’s always been interested in space and being able to place himself as an astronaut was very exciting for him. We wandered around Epcot a bit more, then headed back in time to catch the Star Wars fireworks from our balcony again. All in all, a pretty perfect day despite the initial setback of the ride breakdown of Pooh.

Predicted CL: 7
Actual CL: 9
Steps: 25,697

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Got a chuckle out of reading this because my wife and I did many similar things during our recent trip with DD3 and DS1 and said the same line about “the things parents do for kids”.

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Day 4

This morning we were off to Hollywood Studios. Left the room a little before 8 as usual. Being at the Beach Club, we didn’t have the option to take a bus to DHS. At first, we tried for a Minnie Van, but the app was having trouble locating one (they really need to get more Minnie Vans in the morning). So we decided to start walking and either walk or catch the boat. We didn’t see any boats near or approaching the dock as we passed it, so we decided to just keep walking. it really is a nice walk over to DHS, it only took us about 20 minutes. We got through security and the turnstiles, and waited for rope drop. As we were rope dropping TSM, we didn’t feel the need to go crazy. It was chaotic - DHS’s layout makes rope drop to TSL feel more insane than in the other parks, I think. I can only imagine what it will be like with Galaxy’s Edge…

We got to TSM, waited a little more than 10 minutes, then DS8 and I went to get in line for Alien Swirling Saucers (DW had no interest, so we didn’t rider swap). This was our only legitimate Touring Plans fail for the entire trip. When we first got in line, the wait time said 20 minutes and the Lines app said to expect about 8. Shortly after we got in line, the posted wait time jumped to 40, but Lines continued to say somewhere around 10 minutes… So we waited. The ride wasn’t broken down or anything, it kept moving, but the line was a lot longer than we had thought (they really sneak those switchbacks in there…) . All in all, it took us a little over a half hour to wait. It was fun, it’s a cute ride, but not 30-minute worthy in my book. Still, if my Touring Plans only failed once our entire trip, that’s a win in my book.

After re-optimizing, we used our FP for Slinky Dog - that is one fun ride, a lot more fun than I expected. It’s not a crazy coaster by any means, but has some good thrills and the theming is just a lot of fun. DW and DS8 both listed it as their favorite ride of the trip.

After the Alien’s fail, the rest of the day went off without a hitch - we got on everything else we wanted (we ended up missing a show to compensate for the Alien line, but it was no big deal)… Towards noon though, DS1 was getting really antsy. The one thing about DHS is that it really doesn’t have anything for toddlers. Whereas MK has plenty for everyone, and Epcot has diversions and some rides that can appeal to everyone, DHS really doesn’t. (It has a couple of shows, but getting a toddler to sit through multiple shows isn’t practical…) . So while we were rider swapping things, it became a challenge to keep DS1 happy and occupied. Really, Disney needs to do something like add a playground or a couple of kiddie rides. (Why they didn’t put a playground in TSL is baffling to me - it’s such a perfect opportunity).

While DW and DS8 were riding Star Tours (our last attraction for the morning), I took DS1 to go change a diaper and wander around the Grand Avenue/Muppets Courtyard area. Now, to this point, we had not done any character greetings. We had been thinking about doing one with DS1, but it wasn’t high on our radar because DS8 had never really been interested, and we didn’t know how DS1 would react. As we were heading towards the restrooms, we passed Goofy doing a meet and greet, just as he was heading to go on break. He passed right by us, and reached out to give DS1 a high five. DS1 was thrilled. It really was like magic.

I relayed the story to DW after her and DS8 got done Star Tours. Before I took my turn, I went to buy a Soda for DW while she found a spot on Grand Avenue to wait with DS1. As I was heading to find her, she texted me that they were next in line for Goofy. I joined them and witnessed the cutest interaction. First, DS1 just wanted to get down and run towards Goofy NOW (patience is a skill he has not yet acquired :slight_smile:). Once it was our turn though, we put him down and he ran to Goofy and got a big hug. The smile on his face and the excitement was something that I’ll never forget.

We left DHS after that, and went back for our mid-day break and swim. We had an anytime FP that we had gotten due to a minor issue, and so we decided to keep that for DW and DS8 to go on something at Epcot that night, and because of the Goofy encounter earlier, we made a late afternoon FP for the Character Spot at Epcot. As we were in line, DS1 just wanted for us to put him down so he could run to MIckey. He was getting upset, saying “Go see Mickey, Go see Mickey!!!” over and over again. Once it was finally our turn though, the character interactions were priceless. He met Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie, and his excitement for meeting each one was precious. Even now, several days later, he keeps talking about “Meet Mickey, give hug, Goofy High Five, Minnie hug”, etc… If we had more time this trip, we would have probably done more of these, but for what we did, it was amazing. It did, however, cause us to rethink and ultimately cancel our last-day character breakfast at Cape May. For one thing, DS1 isn’t terribly patient during meals to begin with… We’re lucky if we can sit down for 30 minutes. But given our experience with the characters, he’d just want to go see them and get upset if he couldn’t, which would make for a rather stressful meal. It was unfortunate, but we’re happy with what we were able to do, and we can look forward to doing more character interations and meals next time, once DS1 acquires a bit of patience :).

After meeting the characters, DS1 said “go on ride, go on ride!” Nemo didn’t have a wait, so we went on that one again. DS1 was just beaming. After Nemo, I took DS1 back to our room to go to bed, and DW spent time with DS8 at Epcot. When they returned, I went down to the Beach Club Marketplace and procured 3 Mickey Bars, which we enjoyed on our balcony before turning in for the night. Another magical day, this one highlighted by Slinky Dog and DS1’s first character meets.

Predicted CL: 8
Actual CL: 9
Steps: 25,300

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I think eventually AS2 will calm down and be like the teacups or the carousel and be a good kiddie ride option, but I agree. HS needs space for kids to run.
I’m glad your DS1 was able to do some character greetings. Our 2 year old loved those!

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Day 5

Our last day in the parks (:sob:) was another day at MK. It was a little stressful starting out. We wanted to get there particularly early to try to get some PhotoPass shots in front of the train station, so we left our room at 7:45. As we walked up to the bus station, we saw an MK bus - but it changed its sign to AK, picked up about 3 people, and left. I asked the attendant when the next bus was going to be arriving, and she said that it was weird, no MK bus had been there for 20 minutes, and the next one was scheduled to show up at 8:20(!). She said she was calling in for another bus, but it still took a while. We finally boarded a bus at 8:10, along with half of the resort… Don’t know what happened there, but that was definitely a Disney Bus fail. (At one point we looked at calling a Minnie Van, but none were available…).

We got to MK around 8:30 and were able to get our photo taken in front of the train station, but honestly, some people are really rude. There were people who were standing literally right next to us and wouldn’t move so we could get a photo. I’m not talking about people in the background, or even a few feet away trying to get their own picture, but literally standing right next to DW, to the point that they bumped shoulders. Even when the PhotoPass photographer asked them if they could move over just a little, they ignored her. The photographer did the best she could to get a good shot, and we were able to mostly crop it later, but still, just the inconsiderate nature of some people is beyond me…

Once we got through the tunnel though, it all faded away. That place is magical. Overall, it was a fun day at MK. Plan went off without a hitch, got numerous same-day FPs via the modify trick, went on some stuff we hadn’t gotten to the previous day, and revisited some favorites of the boys (Pooh and the Carousel for DS1, 7DMT and Buzz for DS8)… One attraction that was rather funny for us was Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor. Now, when we went last April, DS1 (then 10 months) loved that attraction. He just smiled and clapped the whole time, especially when Mike Wazowski was on the screen. This time, he loved Roz. In fact, he now sometimes speaks in a Roz-like voice and says something that approximates “Do you have your paperwork” and “I’m watching you, always watching you”. :rofl:

We had a surprisingly good lunch at Pecos Bills, went on a few more FP attractions, and went to the Emporium for some merch. While there, a cast member saw DS1 in his stroller, and gave him a toy car (from Cars). Extra magic, it made his day. We also got him a Winnie the Pooh plush, which he was also thrilled about.

We left MK later than most days since it was our last day, but still decided to take some time for a very quick swim, since, again, it was our last day. On the way back, I was able to snag an evening FP for Test Track, as that is DS8’s favorite ride… We got changed as quickly as we could, and went in the pool for about a half hour, then went back and got ready for dinner. We did Hurricane Hanna’s again, ate by Crescent Lake and just sat there a bit, soaking in the atmosphere.

After dinner, we all returned to Epcot for one last evening. First thing we did was head to check out the line to meet Baymax. Baymax is a favorite of DS8 - he loves the movie and watches the Disney XD show. DS1 also knows who he is. When we got there, the line was practically non-existent - there were two people in line. So we got in line, and met Baymax. He was a really fun M&G - just his mannerisms and motions were great, and he gave DW a bear hug, much to her surprise!

We went on Nemo again and then SSE before DW and DS1 went to head back to the hotel. DS8 and I headed to TT, and then I asked him if there was anything else he wanted to do - and he requested Mission Space. I snagged a FP (which only saved about 10 minutes, but still…) and we rode that as well. Afterwards, I bought him a stuffed Baymax, we took a couple of PhotoPass pictures at night in Epcot, and walked around World Showcase for a bit. We stayed late enough for the torches to come on before Illuminations - the first time DS8 had seen that. I asked what he wanted to do next, and offered to stay for Illuminations, but he said he wanted to go back and have Mickey Bars on the balcony again, which we did, and was a perfect way to end the night and the last day of our trip.

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Sounds like an awesome trip! Thanks for sharing!

Would love to hear your thoughts on Beach Club! Planning on booking that next year.

I love love love the Beach Club (and Yacht Club, I’ve stayed at both). The pool is the best on property, the restaurants are great, and the whole Crescent Lake/Boardwalk area is just really nice. Plus, we love being just a 5 min walk from Epcot. The only downside in my view is that it’s difficult to get to DHS - you either have to take a Ferry, walk, or take some alternative means of transportation - Minnie Van/Lyft/Uber… I wonder if that will change with the Gondolas though…

Let me know if you have any other questions about it!

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Thanks! I’m excited to stay there!

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Day 6 and Final Thoughts .

So not too much to tell about departure day. We had packed most stuff the night before, so we had to spend time packing in the morning. We used the hotel airline bag check for the first time, it went flawlessly, would definitely do that again. After that, we wandered around the resort a bit, taking pictures, taking it in one last time until our Minnie Van picked us up to take us to the airport. The driver of the Minnie Van was a former manager of the Festival of Fantasy parade (as well as the various holiday parades), so I got to have a fascinating conversation about all the logistics that go into pulling off those parades day in and day out… We got to the airport in plenty of time, breezed through security (thank you, TSA pre-check), and made it to our gate with time to spare. Our plane departed about 45 min late though, due to weather in the Northeast, but once we took off it was smooth sailing.

So, final thoughts. It was an amazing, wonderful trip. Several things about this trip had me nervous, but all of them turned into really no issue. Some observations:

  • I was worried about Crowd Levels before this trip. We’ve only ever done 4s, 5s, and 6s (and I think a 7 once). When we first booked the trip, the CLs were 6s, 7s, and 8s, and they rose to 8s and a 10 before we left, and ended up being 9s and 10s. Based on this trip, I’ve come to the determination that crowd levels don’t really matter to us - we can do pretty much any crowd level, although I do think based on what I’ve seen that the Christmas/New Years/Easter “Super-10” crowd levels would probably be a lot less fun for us. But any other time of year, I think we can easily do in the future thanks to the TP software (thanks @len, @fred, and @SteveBloom!). It really does make a level 10 day seem like a 5.
  • Travelling with a 20-month old wasn’t as hard as I thought, and turned out to be magical. Some people say that when you take a child that young, you’re not going for them. That was true last year, when DS1 was basically along for the ride. Sure, he enjoyed looking at things and taking in things, but he didn’t really exerience any of WDW. This year, he definitely did. He’s still talking about the experiences he remembers. This morning he was talking about the “spinning windmills” in It’s a Small World. And even though he won’t remember it as he gets older, it was definitely something that impacted him in the moment.
  • We need a longer trip - not just because we like being in Disney - but because we need to add in a break day. Doing rope drop every day of the trip is tough. It was one thing when it was just me and DW blitzing the parks, but with the kids it’s a lot more tiring. Next trip, I think we’ll try to extend it by a couple of days and build in at least one non-RD morning, maybe some time at the resort / Disney Springs / maybe Mini Golf…
  • Arrival day was stressful, and I am not sure if we should plan on booking it to a park next time. Maybe make arrival day time to just enjoy the resort, or go to Disney Springs…
  • We would definitely do the Minnie Van from the airport again. Good way to start the trip and get into the spirit of things… It’s a splurge, but one we like.
  • I miss doing TS… Doing mostly QS was definitely the right thing for us this trip at this stage in our family life. Hopefully next time we’ll be able to do a little bit of TS… :slight_smile:

So what’s next for us? Given Galaxy’s Edge opening and some things we have going on next year, I think that our next trip will be in two years, sometime spring of 2021 - probably during school vacation week in April. Is it too early to start planning? :wink:

There’s also the possibility for me that I may have a business trip to Orlando in May. If that’s the case, I may do a solo day or two in the parks, which will be a completely new experience for me. If that ends up happening, I’ll be sure to share here! Thanks for reading, and hope some of my experiences and observations are helpful to others planning their own trips!

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Thanks for this great trip report! Even though my DDs are young adults, I learned a lot from what you had to share — looking forward to putting it to good use!

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We have a 5 night visit booked for the fall and now I am thinking maybe we should add a break day to sleep in and not have much planned. Convincing my wife to add another day may be a challenge though … our last visit she was ready to head back home by Day 5.

It’s awesome! We never could have imagined how much fun our 13 month old would have at WDW until we witnessed it!

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Amazing, isn’t it?

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Thanks for writing!

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Such a special and memorable trip for you and your family! We all know how overwhelming planning a family trip can be, but by supporting each other, reading trip reports and getting tips on sites like this, we also know how magical the trips can be! So many overdo it, thinking they must do everything, but you know the secret is knowing your family and doing what works for your family and your trip report illustrates this beautifully! Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to tagging along in the future!

Loved your trip report! Reminded me of our first trip was my youngest was 22 months (her sisters were 5 and 7)!!

We are going in May for her HS graduation trip!

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Thank you for the great trip report. Our kids are grown so it was enjoyable reading about your kids experiencing the magic of WDW. Hope your trip in May happens for you…we will be there 5-4 thru 5-9 :slight_smile:

Thank you for sharing! Can you tell me a bit more about the QS options at BC and around BC? I will be staying with myself and two boys and they don’t care about TS this trip so I am trying to do more QS. thanks!