9 Parks. 8 Days. A December 2016 All Orlando Trip Report

[MinnieLovesTigger]

And so we reach hypothetical Saturday, the final full day in our mad dash through Orlando. Today's installment is being brought to you courtesy of The Cure's Friday in Love, which is firmly stuck in my head even though it is Tuesday and we are talking about Saturday.

First stop: Magic Kingdom! The 8:00 open means we will be out of bed early because we will want to reach the TTC at 7:00. My paranoid self is freaked out that are tickets won't work because somehow the first day of our 2-day hoppers will have been used the days of MVMCP instead of our party tickets. The tech people told me that my tickets are prioritized correctly but I still worry. We've had this problem in the past and it took HOURS of prime park time to straighten out. So I'm not going to totally relax until Mickey's head turns green.

Once through the gates, we will head as quickly as possible to Peter Pan! We would also like to fit in the Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and the Haunted Mansion early. Goal is to do as much as we can before breakfasting with Tigger and Friends at the Crystal Palace at 10:00.

After CP, we will probably do the Tiki Room and Pirates before heading to Animal Kingdom for the afternoon. I'm terrified that Rivers of Light will somehow open and ruin my plans. We have FP+ for Dinosaur and will do that and It's Tough to Be a Bug (one of my favorite Disney things ever!) plus all of the animal trails.

In what is probably not the greatest scheduling ever given the CP late breakfast but we are leaving it alone, we have a 3:45 ADR at Tusker House for a late lunch with Donald and Daisy. 5:00 FP+ for the safari so we can ride right at sunset and a 6:00 FP+ for Expedition Everest. I find EE terrifying but I want to try it once in the dark and DH has to ride too many roller coasters by himself anyway.

We will then meander our way out since we've never seen AK in the dark and to catch a Tree of Light Awakening before heading back to the MK.

Other than obtaining a Dole Whip at some point, our goals are limited. We will probably do CoP and Philharmagic since we expect it to be busy on a Saturday night. Try to ride a mountain or two during the fireworks. Maybe go through Hall of Presidents, which we usually skip since we live in the City of Presidents, but is probably a must do this year of all years. And then we will finish up at the Haunted Mansion and the PeopleMover before bidding a sad goodbye to Disney for 2016. And probably 2017 since someone who shall not be named snuck in a second trip this year.

 

[MinnieLovesTigger]

One final hypothetical installment. On Sunday 12/11 we will sleep in a bit before having a last breakfast at the hotel, packing up the car and Miss Kitty, and beginning the long drive north. Insert sobbing noises. Nothing to look forward to except winter break with the in-laws. More sobbing noises.

We may make a run all the way for home, particularly if we get a relatively early start, but it is a 13 hour drive if everything goes perfectly and we only make super quick stops for gas and snacks and bathrooms. So the real goal is somewhere in North Carolina. The Waffle House will be involved in the return trip since the Cracker Barrel got the nod on the way down.

Home by mid-afternoon on Monday, unload the car and Kitty1, go pick up Kitty2 and MonsterDog, and we are done!

Tuesday off to rest and do the laundry and then back to work on Wednesday.

Now that the hypotheticals are out of the way, I can get started on the reality. 10 days to go!

 

[MinnieLovesTigger]

I was so confused thinking you were going back to your hotel to watch a parade..and then I thought "Macy's doesn't have a parade on tv next Thursday"...so I googled that there's a parade at Universal the week after Thanksgiving with most of the floats from the NYC one. That is SO COOL. My dad wanted us to go to the NYC parade one year when we were little but we got there and it was FREEZING so we left. It will be much nicer in Orlando!

LOL! I remember going once to the NYC parade once when I was really little and I also remember being freezing!! On our trip a few years ago, I saw all the floats tied up around the lagoon and thought they were really cool. I didn't pay attention to the fact they actually recreated the parade though. So I'm not missing it this year!

 

[MinnieLovesTigger]

With only a week to go before we start our drive, I've reached that crazy pre-trip stage where I buy all the things. My husband packs by putting clothes in a suitcase. I seem to need to buy new clothes. Or shoes. Or toiletries. Or whatever.

This week's purchases have included long sleeved t-shirts because I think it might be a bit chilly, two pairs of shorts because it might be hot, ponchos because it might rain, and a sun hat because I lost my favorite hat on Labor Day and it might be sunny. I've obviously spent a lot of time checking the forecast and it is not very certain.

Plus water shoes for both of us, a waterproof camera, a new backpack, memory cards and filters for the regular camera, vitamins because I don't want us to get sick in the next week, and a new bottle of sunscreen.

I swear it feels like I spend more money the week before vacation than I do on the vacation itself.

 

[dramadrew]

Tuesday, December 6 - This is going to be a pretty leisurely morning. Breakfast at the hotel with nothing else on my the schedule except . . . The Penguins Up Close Tour! I get to pet a penguin!!!!!!!!! I am more excited by this than almost anything. My deal loving self is a little irritated by this week's announcement that this tour will also be a Blue Friday BOGO and we are already booked and paid. I don't want to cancel and lose the spot so I suppose I'll just try this book it again next Friday at the sale price and then call to get it straightened out.

If this is an awesome experience and you want to do it again, being a Maryland Zoo member, you can get a discount on their penguin encounter. 30 minute tour where you can meet their ambassador penguins and at the end you can pet them and take photos. I did it recently and loved it. Have fun in Orlando!!

 

[MinnieLovesTigger]

If this is an awesome experience and you want to do it again, being a Maryland Zoo member, you can get a discount on their penguin encounter. 30 minute tour where you can meet their ambassador penguins and at the end you can pet them and take photos. I did it recently and loved it. Have fun in Orlando!!

How did I not know this??? I think I have a new number one on my list of things to do in 2017. Thank you!

 

[MinnieLovesTigger]

Only five sleeps, 4 days of work, and a heck of a lot of packing to go!!!!

I'm starting to get really, really, drive my long suffering spouse crazy excited! My habit of checking the Orlando forecast is starting to pay off because it is FINALLY improving and it is almost close enough to start to put some stock in. Fingers and toes crossed that it stays sunny and mid-70s!

I think I've also got everything with tickets and hotels booked, confirmed, and ready to go. Disney tech confirmed that my tickets are prioritized so that our MVMCP tickets will be used prior to our park hoppers. Universal confirmed that the voucher I received from redeeming frequent flyer miles for one of the tickets will be good even though the date of travel is wrong. Sea World was great about canceling the full price penguin tour and confirming that we are booked with the Black Friday BOGO tour. The Residence Inn confirmed that they will be happy to host Miss Kitty.

Making four customer service calls in a row had me steeling myself for an afternoon of frustration but everyone I talked to was so friendly, nice, and helpful. It made me want to push my luck and call the cable company to demand a rate reduction or something just to see how far my good phone karma could take me.

I've also done the laundry and started packing. Well more started making piled of stuff that needs to be packed rather than packing but it is a process. I'm starting to realize that I am so much more disciplined when I travel by air. I can usually make any trip work with our two carry-on roller bags plus a big tote for me and a backpack for him. The car on the other hand? My list has 12 separate bags or items like the cooler and litter box that I'm counting as a bag. 4 of them involve the cat but still.... I can only blame so much overpacking on a little cat and the need to pack clothes and shoes for both warm and cool weather.

Finally, in proof that I'm a wretched person, I was kind of happy to hear that the latest preview of Rivers of Light still had technical difficulties. I was terrified that it was going to open unexpectedly and mess up my Animal Kingdom day last spring. And I've been terrified again about it happening this trip. I would kind of like to see it someday. But I definitely don't want its premiere interfering with my plans for a quiet and peaceful evening at the AK. On the other hand, we were randomly asked by a CM at the Peter Pan ride if we wanted to eat at Be Our Guest and ride Under the Sea the day before New Fantasyland opened to the general public in 2012. I wouldn't mind something like that happening again!

 

[MinnieLovesTigger]

3 sleeps and 2 work day until liftoff!!!!

Final packing lists are finished and most things are in the suitcases or piled up ready to go. A load of laundry Thursday night, gather everything up and load the car on Friday morning and we should be ready to hit the road!

Not all things have been as smooth as my last report though. The forecast has returned to rain and thunderstorms which has me back to hitting refresh about every 10 minutes. And then the bank called to tell me they cancelled my credit card because of a fraud alert. A fraud alert triggered by buying gas at our regular gas station like we do every week or two. And of course it is the card that all the tickets and trip reservations are tied to. And of course I won't have the new card in hand by Friday. We've got a backup account so it doesn't grow a complete monkey wrench into the works but it did make me go GRRRRR.

But still. Three more days so all is well!

 

[andyw715]

On your Discovery Cove day I would recommend getting there by 7. That way you can get an early Dolphin Swim time. While the dolphin swim was the highlight of the day, it was nice to have it early and be able to relax for the rest of the day snorkeling and exploring without having to keep an eye on the clock for a later dolphin swim appointment.

Check-in starts at 7:15, that will give you time to have a nice breakfast, get your locker and wetsuit/vest, and then swim with your dolphin.
We were lucky our group (a 9:05am appointment) had the privilege of 2 dolphins in our adventure.
Little "Prim" daughter of "Rose" was our first dolphin, very playful and loved to jump and splash. Then up was "LaToya" a DC veteran, who actually trained our trainer. It was such a good time, my 2 daughters (10 and 8) had grins ear to ear the entire day.

 

[MinnieLovesTigger]

Great advice! Thank you!!

 

[MinnieLovesTigger]

I think it is fair to say that the PTR is finished because we are HALF WAY TO ORLANDO!!!!!

I'll be back to put up the finished report once we are home and rested. In the interim, I am instagramming parts of the trip. User name MinnieLovesTigger. The account is private but I'm happy to add friends!!