7 nights, 3 boys, 1 wild trip - AKL in May 2016 *COMPLETE!*

[hokieinpa]

Day 3 Plans - 5/3 - Magic Kingdom

This is our first Magic Kingdom day! We'll try to be at the bus stop bright and early to make it to MK for the Opening Show. I love this show and we missed it in December because our only MK day was also our party day.

After the show, we'll head straight to Space Mountain. This is the first year that Nate will be tall enough to ride Space so he's very excited! We may get a Rider Swap pass so Nate can ride again or we can hang on to it for later. Next we'll take on Evil Emperor Zurg with Buzz Lightyear and might take a second spin if the standby line isn't too long. We'll finish up Tomorrowland with a ride on the PeopleMover - one of my favorite rides!

Our Crystal Palace ADR is at 10:30 so we'll head back over to Main Street. This is my favorite breakfast time since we can get in several attractions before we eat, we get to sample both breakfast and lunch items (at a breakfast price!), and we're usually full enough to get all the way to dinner with some snacks. I'm excited to have that Puffed French Toast again!

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After having breakfast with our friends from the Hundred Acre Woods, we'll head over to Frontierland for a ride on Splash Mountain with a 12:00 FP+. We'll get a Rider Swap pass again and let Nate and Colin take a second ride. Then we'll go to the train station to ride the WDW Railroad to the front of the park.

It will be time for a break back at AKL at this point - swimming, napping, resting in general.

When it's time to head back to the park, we'll go straight to Peter Pan for our 6:00 FP+. While we're in the area, we'll see Philharmagic and ride the Carousel. We also have a 7:00 FP+ for Small World so we'll ride that as well before going to Liberty Square or Frontierland to get a spot for MSEP.

Once we're all settled in our spots for the parade, we'll send one or two people to grab food for everyone - Columbia Harbor House is what I'm thinking right now. We'll enjoy the parade and then find a spot on Main Street for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes!

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Magic Kingdom is open until 11:00 this night so if we're up to it, we might go back to Fantasyland and Storybook Circus. If the boys are too tired, we'll just head back to AKL for the night.

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Next up will be our rest/resort day!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a perfect MK day! And Crystal Palace is for sure a must do!

 

[ArielSRL]

Great MK day! Can't wait to see the photos of the actual day!! 2 weeks now, right?? Yay!

 

[hokieinpa]

Sounds like a perfect MK day! And Crystal Palace is for sure a must do!

I'm excited to see MK with no holiday decorations actually. We've only even been in October and December so it's been decked out for Halloween and Christmas. And I love Crystal Palace - our only repeat ADR this trip!

Great MK day! Can't wait to see the photos of the actual day!! 2 weeks now, right?? Yay!

Yes, 2 weeks!! I just started packing last night so it's getting really real now!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[hokieinpa]

Getting so exciting! I would play the first night by ear and see how everyone is feeling and see what the weather is like. (But inside my head I would be jumping up and down to go and see the fireworks and to get a good spot, which is the part of me that drives DH crazy!) I also enjoyed my most recent trip because I also had only been in November before. I hope you get as nice weather as I enjoyed!

I think I'm going to do just like you said - just decide that night what we'll do. If everyone seems tired after our flight, we'll stay at WL. If we can handle it, we'll head to HS. But I'll have a hard time letting that night in the park go!

And I'm excited too to see everything in a different way - no holiday decor and F&G at Epcot! Glad you had a great trip!!

 

[hokieinpa]

Day 4 Plans - 5/4 - Rest Day (Resort + MK for Jim and Jamie)

This will be our break day since we will have reached the midpoint of our trip. After our late night at MK seeing MSEP and Wishes, hopefully we can sleep in (as much as the boys allow at least). We have a Boma ADR at 10:15 so we'll just have to head downstairs a few minutes before. This breakfast has gotten great reviews, especially from @Elevationist , so I'm very excited to try it!

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After breakfast, we'll head back up to change into swim stuff and go down to the pool. The plan is to swim, explore the resort, watch the animals, let the boys play on the playground...just relax in general. I'm sure we'll head up to let Jake and Colin nap at some point that afternoon.

We're going to eat dinner at The Mara that night, which should be quick and easy. My parents are going to watch the boys this night so that Jim and I can head to MK for EMH. As soon as they have dinner settled for the boys, we'll leave for MK. I think their plan is to have dinner, let the boys play on the playground and walk around the resort, and either watch the movie by the pool or one of the DVDs we'll bring from home (we have a player in our Villa).

We have FP+ for MK for Splash at 6:05 but I'm not sure if we'll make it before the window ends. If not we have a FP+ for Big Thunder Mountain at 7:05 so I know we will make it for that. Our next FP+ is at Haunted Mansion for 8:05. I'm thinking we might head over to Tomorrowland after but the plans are really up in the air. There are 2 MSEP this night so I think we'll wait until a little after 9 before finding a spot for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes at 10.

After Wishes, we might try to ride something or just grab a snack and get a spot for MSEP. After the parade, EMH are until 1am so we have lots of time! I think we'll try to ride Haunted Mansion again, maybe BTMRR and Splash, Space...all the things that we have a hard time riding when the boys are around. I'm not sure if we'll make it to 1am but we're going to try! I'm really looking forward to a little grownup time at MK!

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Next up will be our day at Animal Kingdom!

 

[missjackiemcg]

I love that you're planning for grown up time at MK! I love being with Jimmy at MK, but spending time with just my DH is really magical too I hope you make it til 1 a.m.! Then you can report to me about the Kiss Goodnight--I've never been able to see that in person. Maybe in December

 

[missangelalexis]

This sounds like a GREAT day! Some family time PLUS some alone time with DH! I'm really excited for you 2 to have a night to yourselves!

 

[ArielSRL]

Great update! Love the plans.

I don't think I'm getting any alone time at a park this trip...though I may have to look into it if there is a late night EMH. I could leave the boys with my folks and head out alone. Next June, when its my DH and me and the boys, I think we'll do a Club Villain or something then some adult ride time. Probably not a late night because the kids would be at a kids club but we'll at least get some time in.

 

[hokieinpa]

I love that you're planning for grown up time at MK! I love being with Jimmy at MK, but spending time with just my DH is really magical too I hope you make it til 1 a.m.! Then you can report to me about the Kiss Goodnight--I've never been able to see that in person. Maybe in December

I'm excited for a little glimpse of what October will be like! I hope I can make it to the Kiss Goodnight! I'm usually fast asleep at 1:00...but maybe the Disney magic will keep me awake!

This sounds like a GREAT day! Some family time PLUS some alone time with DH! I'm really excited for you 2 to have a night to yourselves!

It will be really nice to have some time at MK together - I think it will be totally different than with our family or by myself! And I'm excited to see MK during EMH. We never get to stay for those!

Great update! Love the plans.

I don't think I'm getting any alone time at a park this trip...though I may have to look into it if there is a late night EMH. I could leave the boys with my folks and head out alone. Next June, when its my DH and me and the boys, I think we'll do a Club Villain or something then some adult ride time. Probably not a late night because the kids would be at a kids club but we'll at least get some time in.

Thanks! I'm pretty excited for a day to explore. I think the boys will love the pool at AKL. And then the night at MK just wraps the whole thing up perfectly!

I think a date night sounds great! I've heard really great things about the kids clubs. Everyone I've talked to has had a hard time getting their kids out of there! Maybe you can get a few hours in a park or a nice dinner at the resort with time to walk around after?

 

[hokieinpa]

Day 5 Plans - 5/5 - Animal Kingdom

I fell behind! I knew it would happen but I'm hoping to catch up tonight.

So Day 5 brings us to our one and only day at Animal Kingdom!

It's not super vital that we be there right at rope drop so we'll take it a little easier this morning and be down at the bus at 8:00 for the 9:00 opening. We'll take a little look around Discovery Island and the Tree of Life. Nate is recently obsessed with the Tree of Life and loves listening to the area music on D-Cot!

We have a 9:05 FP+ for Kilimanjaro Safari so we'll head there next. If we have time after the safari, we'll look around the Pangani Forest Trail before heading over to our Tusker House ADR at 10:30. I'm excited for this meal and it's at our favorite brunch-y time!

My plan is to take the Wildlife Express over to Rafiki's Planet Watch. I think the boys will be very excited about the Affection Section! We'll explore the whole area. After we finish up there, we'll take the train back over and head to Asia for our 1:35 FP+ at Expedition Everest. We'll get a Rider Swap since both Colin and Jake won't be tall enough to ride. They will go over to DinoLand and ride Triceratops Spin while they wait I'm thinking.

We'll let all of the boys play in the Boneyard for a bit and then it will be time for our Dinosaur FP+ at 3:05. This will be another Rider Swap time since Jake isn't tall enough to ride. It will getting pretty close to park closing at this time but I want to try and catch the last performance of FOTLK at 5:00. I would also love to grab dinner at Flame Tree on our way out but we'll see how that all works out.

Then it will be an early night back to AKL. I'm thinking we'll get dinner at Mara if we didn't eat at Flame Tree. Then it will be swimming and maybe the movie by the pool! A nice relaxing night!

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Next up will be another Epcot day!

 

[missangelalexis]

Your plans sound great! An early night back at the resort will be nice

 

[ArielSRL]

Yay for a set AK day. Mine is so far from set (thank you Disney) it's hilarious (good problem to have though) but I digress.

Looks good! A nice relaxing night will be fun I'm sure. I wish I had more pool time built in, but it is my boys' first "real" trip so maybe we'll do some downtime next trip.

Looking forward to the rest of the plans!

 

[hokieinpa]

Your plans sound great! An early night back at the resort will be nice

I'm excited to spend more time at AK since we've only been there once. I'm disappointed about ROL but there is still plenty to see and do! And I'm glad we're having a few early nights. Hopefully we won't be quite so exhausted this time!

Yay for a set AK day. Mine is so far from set (thank you Disney) it's hilarious (good problem to have though) but I digress.

I had to rework everything after the ROL disappointment but I guess you still have no idea! How frustrating!!

Looks good! A nice relaxing night will be fun I'm sure. I wish I had more pool time built in, but it is my boys' first "real" trip so maybe we'll do some downtime next trip.

I think it will be nice to swim and explore the resort. It's looks so beautiful that I want to take plenty of time to enjoy it! We didn't do much pool time our first trip either so I understand!

Looking forward to the rest of the plans!

Coming soon - I'm going to catch up next week! Or at least I better since we leave next Friday!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[hokieinpa]

Lol - taking it easy means down to the buses by 8 am? I was lucky and had late sleepers, so I try to see 8 am only on workdays if possible. I did make it up that early for one day on my last trip, so I'm not hopeless, just a lazy princess I guess!

We're up at 6:30 most weekdays to get everyone ready for school so getting to the bus at 8am is sleeping in! But I think sleeping in on vacations is part of the fun too!

 

[hokieinpa]

Day 6 Plans - 5/6 - Epcot

We'll be back for another day at Epcot! I'm really excited to have 2 full days to explore Epcot this trip. I hope we can take as much time in the World Showcase as the boys can stand. I'm going to get those passports for them the first day and we'll get them signed and stamped in each country. I think it will be a really fun activity!

So this morning will start with us heading straight to the Character Spot. I like making a stop here to see 3 of the classic characters with a chance for nice family pictures. Next up we will ride one of my mom's favorites - Living with the Land. After that, we have a FP+ for Figment. This was a giveaway FP+ because I doubt we'll need it but it's for 9:30. We'll take some time to hang out in the play area after the ride and visit the Musical Melodies playground nearby.

Next up will be Spaceship Earth with an 11:10 FP+ with time to play the games after. Next, we'll take on Test Track again with a FP+ at 12:10. We'll need to get a Rider Swap pass since Jake is still a short stack. I'm thinking he'll spend that time on the Cactus Road Rally playground after and the boys will join him later. After they enjoy the playground for a bit, it will be time to head over to the World Showcase!

This time we'll start with Mexico and lunch at La Cantina de San Angel. Hopefully we can get a seat with a water view too! A ride on the Gran Fiesta Tour and hopefully meeting Donald will be next.

We'll make our way around the World Showcase. There won't be much for us to see in Norway but in China we want to try and see the acrobats again. If they boys are up to it, we may try to see Reflections of China. I actually think Nate would enjoy this but not sure sure about Colin and Jake.

In Germany, we'll watch the trains and get a treat at Karmell-Kuche! Nate also wants to get a pickle ornament here since they learned about that tradition in social studies this year! If we need to, we'll check out Italy and America as well, making sure to get the boys' passports filled out in each country.

Once we're all done in the World Showcase, it will be time to take the boat back over to Future World and head back to AKL for the day. It's another early-ish night for us. I love Illuminations but it's the one that is least likely to be interesting to the boys. So we'll head back and start packing up because the next day will be our last park day. But we'll spend the night enjoying AKL so that part is happy.




Next up will be our last park day, Magic Kingdom again!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[hokieinpa]

Yup, so much to see, and a different perspective to be sure with young boys. I think that's a great thing about Disney, different things that appeal to everyone. I can see how Illuminations might not be their cup of tea, especially after a long day, so enjoying AKL will be a wonderful alternative.

I agree 100%. One of the biggest draws for people to keep coming back is that Disney really has something for everyone from rides to characters to culture to amazing food and drink! Illuminations is amazing but not nearly short enough or "exciting" enough to keep them entertained. I'm planning on catching it again in October!