Now live-ish! Surprising my 8 year old son and 6yo nephew but 1 night only

Walt Disney World
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Hi wise liners,

I have expiring credit with southwest and get TA rates on my ticket and room, so I had the idea to surprise my 8yo DS, who’s had (like most kids) a bit of a year, especially lately, with an overnight at WDW. I got flights, tickets, room and VMAH tickets, and managed to snag Savis for 1 and Space 220 for 2!

Then my SIL called to tell me about a really crappy situation my 6yo nephew is going through. DS and DN were BFFs until covid and haven’t seen each other since Jan 2020 (there’s a bit of a story there/vax issue but now that DS is vaxxed idc). I told her about my plan and suggested they meet us (they live in TX) at WDW, never thinking she’d say yes.

Welp, their flights are booked, tickets purchased and names added to our room. But now I’m at a loss for planning. I know DS’s faves and he doesn’t need a booster seat and has been a bunch of times, so our plan was to pack a small backpack with fresh undies and toothbrushes and take an uber directly from MCO to AK, hopefully if flights go well in the park by 1030/11.

Well, DN is small and needs a booster. He’s never ever been to Disney. He’s tall enough to ride most everything but RnR.

I’m SO glad they’re coming; DS will absolutely lose his mind. If he doesn’t cry with happiness I will be surprised. But now my plan is kind of shot. Plus, if DS tires out during VMAH, it’ll be fine because he has ridden everything. But DN’s only time ever in MK will be during VMAH, so… I NEED YOUR LINER EXPERTISE. We have G+ and will buy ILL.

Details:
Both flights land around 930a on 12/14.
Room is CR main tower
Flights leave 530p 12/15.

Here’s what we really want to hit:
FOP
EE
KS

MMRR
All of TSL
ROTR
MF - can skip if we have to
Savi’s

Rat
FEA
SE - can skip
MS - can skip
TT - can skip
Space 220

VMAH:
POC
Splash
BTMRR
PPF - can skip
Space
Buzz
Enchantment - can skip
Xmas parade
Minnie’s fireworks

SIL & I aren’t above letting the kiddos share a Coke and some sugar to power through VMAH, but I highly doubt DN and SIL will be up for RD the next am (DS wakes up before 6 no matter what). So I know something’s gotta give (and no, there are no VIP tours avail and you can’t even hop on the wait list at this point). But I CAN hire a private car with car seat to pick us up so we don’t have to wait for DME.

Here’s what I was hoping:
Flights go perfectly (shhhhh let me live in my fantasy world)
7am snag ILL for EE 1045, FOP 1130 and G+ for 11a KS; Rat 230p, FEA 3
Land 9:30, in car by 10:15
Drop off at AK
EE (this is my son’s absolute favorite ride in all of WDW or UO for that matter, so he will ask me when we get to ride it until we actually ride it lol)
KS, once I tap in, grab SE/TT/MS, whatever is available for 3
FOP
Bus to Beach/Yacht or BW (this is the real wildcard IMO)
Enter Epcot in IG
Rat
FEA
Then SE/MS/TT whatever we have time for
6p Space 220 (going to try to move this up to 5, but…), use TS meal as rest time
Mono to MK
We are likely to miss most of enchantment even if we check in for space at 545, but that’s okay because neither kid knows what they’re missing at 1115 minnie’s fireworks are supposed to be great
Go left and ride POC, Splash, BTMRR
grab popcorn and a spot for 945 parade
ride PPF, Space, Buzz, anything else we have time for
Grab spot for 1115 fireworks
Mono to CR

This is ambitious on a well-rested day, but DN and SIL’s flight leaves DAL at 6a and ours leaves ORF at 720, so… we’ll see.

I’ll wake up at 7 and snag:
ILL for MMRR and ROTR, 7DMT for 2 if we didn’t get time in VMAH
earliest SDD I can get
Hopefully we’ll make it into the park by 930 or 10
MMRR
SDD, as soon as I tap in try to get TSM
TSM, try to get AS2
AS2
ROTR
Bus to MK or CR
Daytime Main Street/castle pic and 7DMT
Car picks us up at CR at 330 for 530 flights.

I mean, surely this is POSSIBLE, right? Or am I totally Disney crazy? Any other ideas? I also have a Space 220 lunch for 3 booked 12/15 at 1255, so we could lunch and then have a car pick us up at epcot and take us directly to the airport, but i’d need to snag one more seat and we’d need to do HS the previous day so more buses.

Or maybe we start directly in HS and then walk to EP? Might make more sense since we aren’t likely to get early am SDD anyway, and eliminates buses for the day entirely? But HS is where we want to ride the most and are thus most likely to need the most time…

Tell me how far off from reality I am so I can manage my own expectations, plz and thx.

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Well, the first problem is that unfortunately, you can only book 2 ILLs per day, period. Even if you’re park-hopping.

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LOLLLLLLLLLLL I overlooked this little detail. Dang. This makes a big difference.

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So some of these ILL were gratuitous anyway. I don’ t need one for EE (does anyone, ever?), but since we are SO short on time I figured it couldn’t hurt. FEA might be a bit of a line, too, but this just means I will def not do HS and EP on the same day. I can do FOP at AK and Rat at EP Tues, and MMRR/ROTR Weds. EE line should be 20ish min, and FEA might be hairy but if we miss it we’ll live.

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That won’t be difficult at all since you’re already sitting at a table that accommodates four. You can easily modify when you check in.
The rest of your plan sounds ambitious, but optimistically achievable. You’ll all be toast at the end of day 2, but it will have been worth it. Sounds like a ton of fun!

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So I’d be able to just add one more upon online checkin if i took that 1255?

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Yes you should. There’s a screen in the check-in process where you confirm your party size. You make the change there.

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I’ve never tried that before and def feel like I should already know this. I’m missing all the details because I’m so overwhelmed w/ the enormity of what I’m trying to achieve in less than 48 hrs LOL

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9

Wow. I love your ambition.

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I’m tired just reading all that. I’m excited for the Littles to see each other again. I know no matter what it will be memories that last a lifetime.

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Me too. My biggest worry is the early flights plus VMAH. I also am contemplating skipping AK (blasphemy I know), but my son talks about EE at least weekly. Maybe going to HS upon arrival, dinner at epcot then vmah? Then sleep in day two, either going back to hs or to AK, then a couple hours if daytime mk for pics? Idk.

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I would do the parks with the most attractions first before AK since the focus there is pics and EE.

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I am now thinking:
Epcot upon arrival
Space 220 late lunch (that’s like 130p for us lol)
Decide if we want to go to AK or back to resort
If we go to AK, try to see KS before it closes if we can, but focus is pandora at night (sunset at 530) and then a ride on EE, seeing tree lit up on our way out
Back to resort to rest until we are ready to party

That would mean:
7am - remy vq, TT g+, fea ILL, evening fop ILL.
Then stacking Navi and KS g+ as we go

If they are out of juice we skip AK

Then HS the next day and get mmrr and rotr ILL plus SDD, all in the 11-1ish block so we can sleep in.
Then from the 1-330 block we can either ride more at HS or take daytime MK pics

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I think that sounds excellent.

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So, here is the latest plan:

At 7, remy vq, TT g+, fea ILL, evening fop ILL

MCO to CR to drop off bags. My SIL insists, even though they’re just backpacks (she is 4 months pregnant (nephew #3!!!)).
Hop on mono
We’ll probably be hitting the tail end of EE here depending on flight/mono luck, but ride SE, TT, MS, once we’re done snag KS G+ for late, and then I (finally) snagged an 1150 Space 220 lounge reservation. Eat, then use FEA ILL, grab cookies to go from Germany, America & L’Chaim before Remy VQ. Walk out of the IG to YC/BC bus stops, where we’ll go to AK. (Or mk to cr if kids want to rest).
That’s 3-5 rides and an ADR. I think it’ll be 3-4ish when we get to AK depending on buses.
Once we get to AK, take pics of the tree and then either EE or KS depending on what time it is (so that we can hit KS before it closes). Then FOP ILL, walking around Pandora at night a bit and then tree lights on the way out.

On the way out, decide if we want to bus to CR or directly to MK. My SIL says DN will need some protein with his sugar or he will get a migraine (DS could exist on sugar alone), so currently putting together some dinner options we can explore, including Citricos Lounge, Pinocchio’s, Kona walk up, JCSC walk up, steakhouse 71 lounge or even some chicken tenders from golden outpost if we are really short.on time.

Then party depending on what time we get into the park. If at 8 or so, grab food at golden/sleepy hollow/Pecos, ride stuff and plop down for the parade, then make our way around, trying to be done-ish by thr 1115 fireworks (apparently DN will hit his wall around this time).

That’s day 1. HS the next day, hopefully with savis but no luck there yet.

The other thing I forgot is that my SIL can’t ride everything. The only thing I would skip at mk at her stage in pregnancy is space mtn, but she has had a series of miscarriages so she probably won’t ride much.

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TWO MORE SLEEEEPS!!! still terrified this will derail somehow. Effing covid. Oh, and DH just said “when are we going next as a family?” I said "how about mothers day?

“Sounds great!”

!!!

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Hooray for another trip! Have you put this trip’s info into a Touring Plan?
I think it would help a lot since you have a bit of a time crunch.

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Yes, but because we aren’t really planning to ride anything standby (we don’t have time lol), it has only helped a little, mostly with walking time. I’ve substituted “meals” at quick service spots near the rides we plan to ILL or G+ but that’s it.

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How are you feeling, btw?

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Better. Thanks so much for asking!

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