Well, he also graduated from college at 19 and is working in Cyber security while working on his masters
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OK, so I’ve been slacking the last few days. We really packed a lot in and I’ve been too tired to update the trip report, so I’ll try to catch up.
Day 5 Continued
So I posted a pic from FOP, but didn’t have time to post a full report. So I’ll fill in the blanks now. We woke up at a leisurely pace. We went to AK solely to ride FOP today, which we had a FP+ for 10:30 am. Breakfast consisted of the infamous Tonga Toast. It took 3 of us to finish it.
Then, we took the bus from the Poly to AK. Fortunately, the bus came right away and we managed to get to AK at about 9:30 am. We rode KS again, which the boys loved. Then, we rider swapped with my parents on FOP with our FP+. Standby wait times were about 3 hours, which is outrageous. Glad we had the FP+. The ride was absolutely mind blowing and is quite possibly the best ride I’ve ever ridden. There’s really no way to explain it and give it justice, so if you haven’t ridden it, you just have to experience it.
Lunch was at Satuli Canteen, which was fun. The food was above average and the setting was cool.
Then, we took the bus directly from AK to EP to finish off a few things we hadn’t gotten to. we were there by 2:00 pm. We rode the Nemo ride and then we did some character meets.
Then, did some painting as part of the Festival of the Arts.
Then, back to WS to watch Impressions de France, which is a classic. Dinner was at Rose & Crown, which was just OK. It’s pretty much standard British pub food. By 7:00 pm, we were pretty tired so we turned in early.
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Day 6
Today, we had a PPO breakfast at BOG. We boarded the monorail by 7:15 am and were through the gates by 7:50 am. We pre-ordered our food online, which is an absolute MUST DO, because you enter via a separate pre-order line and they expedite you through the process. We sat in the rose room. Our food was out by 8:10 am and we were finished by 8:45 am to start lining up for 7DMT.
By doing the PPO breakfast and finishing before the 9 am rope drop, we were able to line up and be the first in line for 7DMT. I’ve got to believe that all the PPO breakfast people lining up early is why the line for the rest of the rope droppers is already an hour long at 9 am.
We also had 9:05 am FP+ for 7DMT, so we did it again immediately after rope-dropping it. Then, we enjoyed several of the other fantasy land rides.
Lunch was at the Casey’s hot dog place on Main Street, which serves pretty standard hot dogs. It was good enough to use a counter service credit for, but I probably wouldn’t spend the $15 for a small hot dog and fries otherwise.
Then, FP+ for SM and space ranger spin. A trip to tomorrowland wouldn’t be complete without the Space Ranger slush.
We went back to the Poly and hung out around the resort for a few hours before our 5:00 pm Ohana ADR. I love Ohana, and it’s probably my personal favorite Disney restaurant. I miss the little coconut race that they used to do last time we went about 10 years ago.
We went back to MK at night to ride BTM and SM, for which I was able to snag a fourth FP+. I really love MK at night!
And of course I have to feed my Starbucks coffee addiction. A little dessert never hurt anybody either.
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OK, so time for a few final thoughts. Our last day is tomorrow and the trip went almost as I had planned it. We came last April, but otherwise, I hadn’t been to the world since 2008. During that last trip in April, we were completely unprepared. A decade ago, the FP system was completely different, the crowds seemed to be a fraction of what they are now, you didn’t have to wake up at 6:00 am 180 days in advance of your trip to make ADRs, and the wait times seemed much more manageable without having to plan every last minute.
That’s why I turned to TP and this great community to plan this trip, and thanks to all your great advice, it was everything I hoped it would be.
Here are a few things I learned from this experience:
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Plans change constantly. Out of the 8 ADRs we had, 3 of them changed the night before. One of my favorite meals happened to be Biergarten, which was a last minute decision.
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PPO breakfasts can be a crucial part of your plan. BUT, it has to be the first seating of the morning, so you can get out in time for rope drop. Also, at a TS like Akershus, make sure you ask for your check right away, so you can leave as soon as you’re done. PPO breakfasts allowed us to walk on to FEA and 7DMT without a wait and without running through the park.
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At MK, stack your FP+ back-to-back starting around 30-45 minutes after rope drop This worked especially well for us. This allows you to RD one or two rides, then use your 3 FP+ once the lines form. If you can manage to use all 3 FP+ before lunch, you can start tap, grab, and modifying FP+ for the rest of the day. As I mentioned in an early entry, we were able to do 8 FP+ in one day which happened to be a CL 6 and that was at a leisurely pace with 2 kids in tow. It is definitely possible to get even more if you push it.
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Use snack credits for food at the Festival of the Arts or Food and Wine Festival It’s easy to make a meal of the various foods at the special festival food stalls in WS and everything counts as a snack credit. With those things costing about $8 - 10 each, it’s a great ROI on snack credits!
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Take advantage of bounce back offers We had already set aside a week in September to return. We were going to stay offsite at a Marriott, but I saw this pamphlet in our room, and I snagged a 30% discount on a week at the Yacht Club. Staying inside the World is just more magical!
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Dining at Disney is better than I remembered BOG was well-worth it for us for both dinner and PPO breakfast. breakfast at BOG is quite possibly the best use of a counter service credit in the entire World. I was pleasantly surprised with the food and entertainment at GG and Biergarten for dinners. Ohana is always a good bet for food quality and quantity. I would probably skip Skippers Canteen at MK in the future; the food was ok and the service was not as funny nor fun as they advertise. I did learn that if you can’t get the ADRs that you originally wanted, it’ll be ok. Every meal was good and we weren’t truly disappointed by any of them.
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flexibility is key when traveling with 2-4 year olds I purposely planned busy mornings and light afternoons, including early lunches & early FP+ times. This left the afternoons to be planned on the go. I really wasn’t sure if we’d have to take afternoon breaks back at the Poly or not. It turns out the kids were fine, and the 1.5 year old slept well in the stroller. So instead of taking 3 hrs out of the day to go back, we’d find things to do in the parks while he slept. If this works for you, it saves a lot of time because Disney transportation is not exactly fast.
Well, there’s probably more things I learned, but these were at the front of my mind. Thanks for following!
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What an amazing family adventure! So many wonderful memories made! With no trip in sight, thanks for throwing pixie dust my way by letting me follow along!
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So much fun! Glad it was all you had hoped for! Thanks for sharing!!!
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Truer words were never spoken!
Thanks for sharing your trip report. It looks like you all had a great trip!
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I really appreciate all of your posts - thank you! We will be there in late October with a 2 year old and 4 year old so this was quite applicable - and extremely helpful.
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What a beautiful family! So glad you had a wonderful time.
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