Iām very happy for you!!! I just did something similar taking my daughter on the Wish last minute and almost cancelled it last minute because of the pull to be a Responsible Adult, but I am SO VERY GLAD I took the trip. And you will be too.
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Totally unrelated but I recently took my daughter to see Olivia Rodrigo last minute. Bought the tickets online at 6 PM for 7:30 show and then proceeded to drive the 90 minutes to the city where the concert was. We arrived just as the opening act was finishing their set. It was awesome! Spontaneous can be better than planned!!
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Iām going that weekend, and planning to try 4p1d on Saturdayā¦ the crowd have historically not been that bad (read: worse than any other weekend) and the actual holiday is a Mondayā¦ while most people have it off work, lots use that day to travel home.
I got ASS on Priceline for right around $100/night Fri/Sat/Sun, and Iām treating myself to HRH (and UXP) for Monday night because I got a great ap rate and Iām flying back early Tuesday morning.
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As far as last minute trips to soothe & distract go, thatās absolutely my jam. One year they had MK open for 24 hours that same weekend in May, and Iād just finished a hell semester in NYC. Iād gotten back to MI for the summer the Sunday beforeā¦ that Tuesday night I planned the weekend for my niece and I, which involved the only surprise trip I ever did.
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I was reviewing my plans before I turn the lights out for bed and I realised Iād made a minor screw-up: I hadnāt taken into account my change of hotel from UOR to ASMu. This takes place on my MK day.
I had an idea. Would this work?
Iāve booked breakfast at S71. This gets me directly from UOR into CR. Where I drop off my bags (despite not staying there). I have breakfast, walk to MK, spend a couple of hours there and then either go back to CR to work or go to GF. Back to MK after work. Make a final return to CR after park close to pick up my bags then Uber to ASMu for a very late check-in.
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Works well. Or, I wonder if you could have your bags transferred to ASMu like you would for a split stay. Keep what you need, send the rest on to ASMu. Then you could just take the bus from MK straight to Music.
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Iāve taken my backpack to the bell desk at Poly when we did breakfast there on my fly home day and it was fine, but it was just a backpack.
How much luggage will you have? You may be better off just getting up at the butt-crack of dawn and getting to ASMu before starting you day.
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I like to persuade myself that all the uncharge events I book (though not for this trip) are for your benefit, as Iām trying them out and giving them a review.
So it is that I found myself ordering these:
They were $38 between them and I figure maybe they work, maybe they donāt, may as well give them a try. Iāve looked at the weather forecast for next week and Iām, erm, somewhat anxious about it.
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You are always so selfless about these things!
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I think I finally went to bed last night at 4am.
I did some tinkering. Obviously. Mostly designed to make things simpler.
Iāve reconfigured my MK day. I still have the 8.45am breakfast at S71 but rather than walk to the park, come back, work, go back to the park, Iām going to shift the lesson times two hours earlier and start work at 10am rather than 12 noon. This will also allow me to get to MK in time for the parade at 3pm, as Iāll be done working at 1pm. Iām going to take the risk that I can just drop my suitcase off at CR before breakfast and just leave it there all day. I liked @JenniferB1975ās idea of asking if they will transfer the bag to ASMu for me. I even thought of a clever form of words, āIām transferring to ASMu today, is it possible to have my case taken there?ā No lie there. They might accidentally assume Iām transferring from CR, but thatās a them problem.
Iāve booked an 11am breakfast at TAF for my EP day. Iāll be working at BW anyway, so itāll just be convenient to eat there when I get there. There arenāt any in-park options that appeal or are available. Iāll rope drop at 8.30am and slowly make my way to BW, starting at Soarinā.
Similarly, Iāve booked an 11.15am breakfast at Boma for my AK day, as Iām going to be working there anyway. It is one of my favourites. There will be some faffing as Iāll rope-drop AK (for NRJ rather than FOP) to get that done, so I canāt just start at AKL in the same way Iām starting at CR on the MK day. Iām hoping to get a FOP ILL before breakfast, too. Early entry is at 7.30am and Iāll leave about 10.30am.
For my HS day Iāll have breakfast at Ronto Roasters. I have booked a sneaky dinner at 50s PT because I really like the food there.
So one ADR booked at each park / attached hotel. So far as dinner is concerned, EP will be a matter of grazing festival booths. AK Iāll be going to Satuāli, obviously. Probably. Maybe Iāll venture out somewhere else. HS I have 50s. MK? Who knows. Itās not great, is it. Maybe Iāll book CP, get some character action in. The rest will be snacks and treats.
I just booked CP lunch at 3.30pm. Parade is at 3pm. I should be good, right?
So far as work is concerned, I reckon I can pack pretty lightly. When I do online lessons, I usually use my 13-in iPad Pro to write on (using Microsoft OneNote) and my iPhone as my screen for FaceTime. I took this last time I worked from WDW, but this time Iāll use my iPad mini. I bought a stand for my iPhone, which I use for the FaceTime calll, which was quite bulky, but I have a very cool charger / block (see picture) which also acts as a stand for the phone and is really small. Last time I used my AirPods Max, but this time Iām going to go with my AirPods Pro. This will all easily fit into my Marvel Loungefly (though it will be fighting for space with all the cooling equipment and the water bottle 
). I figure this time I wonāt need to use a locker in the parks. Though Iām getting bag-searched every time, obviously.
I nearly booked an HEA dessert party. I pulled myself back from it.
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Especially if you are willing to watch the parade from Frontierland or Liberty Square, where it passes by earlier than Main Street.
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Remember, donāt plan too much 
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Ooh, that umbrella id quite pretty. Much nicer than mine.
CR will hold your bags, no problem. I have never had an issue with this at any hotel, Disney or otherwise.
Iām doing the same in reverse on my departure day. Uber from OKW to GF with my bags, lunch at 1900 Park Fare, parks then Uber to airport.
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Iām trying so hard not to. I do seem to crave certainty and I worry about starving to death.
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I 100% feel this. I commend your attempt to āgo with the flowā. I do think having some cornerstone plans help to not plan every. single. detail. I mean, I havenāt achieved that level of loosey goosey yet 
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Yes, this right here.
My fave AK meal is Nomad bread service, savory and sweet (aka bread service and then churros). Who needs protein?!
Good job. Donāt overbook. I have been unimpressed with post covid dessert parties.
I do too. Every time I go āunplannedā i end up spinning in circles wasting time, get decision fatigue and do nothing. But, as I remind myself, you donāt need ADRs for certainty. Look at snack menus. For dinner, you will have x snack from y booth x4, with a 5th penciled in in case of the hungries. Or Les Halles + Tangierine Cafe + Affogato in Italy + Guac at La Cava. Or some such.
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In EP, you might try to do a walk-up at the bar for Space 220 IF you want to try the most sublime elevated carrot cake Iāve ever had. Iām sure @FOMOm_VA will back me up on this.
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Some philosophy while I wait for my lunch to cook.
I do think the reality is that ā when it really comes down to it ā we are all alone in this world. I donāt have any kind of religious faith (and letās not go there) so I donāt have the āyouāre not aloneā support that this gives to people. I only know of the existence of one living blood relative ā a cousin ā and after a flurry of contact when our mothers both died last year, that has fizzled out. Probably not surprising: we hadnāt seen each other in over 40 years.
Of course we have friends and partners (and dogs, and rats) but the only person you can really absolutely rely on is yourself. And so many people, me included, seem to find it really hard to be their own best friend and supporter.
You really need to look after yourself and put yourself first. You really do have to put your own mask on before helping others.
Objectively this trip next week is nuts. Iām right in the middle of my busy period at work. I have a trip in six weeks anyway. (And another ā to New York ā two months after that.)
But I just knew I couldnāt hold it together for that long. And other people were noticing it, too.
I do get hurt when ā however playfully ā people point out my inconsistencies. Maybe I should be more of a closed book and then people wouldnāt notice them. I donāt fully understand it, but there is something about WDW and UOR. I have found nowhere else in the world like them. Yes, sometimes I have felt I have moved on / grown out of them / grown bored of them. Other times, I feel the need to rush back as a matter of urgency.
I do kind of understand it. Itās an inner child thing. Itās at least in part about letting your inner child know that at least someone loves him. I am literally taking him to Walt Disney World, every childās dream.
Of course my superego is making me work while Iām there. My inner child lives inside a 55 year old grown-up who knows he has bills to pay.
I pushed myself too hard this (academic) year. After some maybe reckless COVID aftershocks (four WDW trips in 2022?!) I felt the need to rein everything in and seize back control. Iāve taken zero proper holidays in the last twelve months. Iāve cranked up my hours and I work seven days a week. (Yeah, yeah, I donāt do full working days like other people, but a day with even three hours work in it is a day when you are not fully relaxed and restoring yourself.)
My recent birthday trip was just a long weekend. It wasnāt exactly relaxing. I slept in a different bed for four nights. My leaving-Calvin-with-Sarah anxiety decided to give me mouth ulcers and it made eating miserable the whole trip. And I was with a group of people who, delightful as they are, kind of had me in common and I was the butt of a lot of jokes. A lot. All the time. Too much. When I got home I plunged into a more serious depression than I have in a long time.
I fought my way out of that, but this trip is the final (I hope) aftershock. Itās about me seizing control and putting myself first. And letting my inner child have a Butterbeer and wander around Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. (While trying to ignore the fact that the founder of it all has become a crazy person, but the work is bigger than its creator, right?)
Ooh. I think my lunch is ready.
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I donāt even like carrot cake and I dream about that cake. Go just for that.
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Exactly this. And all of us here have the exact same inconsistencies, which is the only reason some of us point them outā¦ we have been there (the "never again"s), done that (the "must visit within the next week or will combust"s), and yet we are still here, tossinā dollas (or pounds) at Disney.
Or the culmination of emergence from a darker place, a celebration of that season of life being done-zo, a return to joyful fun, a reward for making it through a tough time.
tl;dr - makes a lot of sense to me. howās packing?
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