A WDW Trip... Well Because it's WDW! (Pre Trip 11/13 - 11/20)

[LSUlakes]

Aint that the truth!

I was putting together our touring plans and my husband was all "you know it's not going to work out like that, right?" But I told him I wanted to have at least a rough idea of the best Fastpass times to get. So I get you!

Let me know if your three year old naps in the stroller! I hope mine does.

We were lucky on our last trip to only have one really big melt down. One of those when they are so tired, but refuse to sleep despite your best efforts to get them to nap. Lucky for us, we just so happened to be in Epcot where adult beverages are everywhere and options are good. We also decided not to do the dinning plan, because eating "out" (table service as opposed to QS) many nights in a row became more stressful than relaxing with a little one. She was so good before and after a meal, but put her in a high chair, and it was a different child. So, a few meals this time, but mostly QS to have a more relaxed meal time.

You got to take advantage of the FP+ system. It helps save time for the popular attractions. I just go a step farther to see what else we can do and try to make we don't skip something we may not realize we wanted to do. Kind of what happened on our last trip. I learned and now have a much more detailed plan, even though it probably wont go according to it. lol

DD loves the stroller! Since she was old enough I would take her out for my runs and she would stay awake for about a mile then sleep. As she has gotten older, she makes it a lot longer. She ask frequently during the week for me to go for a run to push her. So she is very comfortable in the stroller and does take naps. She took one in it out our tailgate 2 weeks ago, so it looks like we are still in good shape. The key is she wants it to be moving to fall asleep, but once asleep we can take a rest. I will let you know if that changes on this trip though. Probably will since I talked her up so much about it. hahaha.

 

[LSUlakes]

DAY 4 - Animal Kingdom 11/17/16

I think this is the most difficult day to plan for. There is a lot to do, and not.... that is until the construction is completed. However we are going to spend most of our day treating part of the day like a Zoo Day.
6:00 AM - Hour long run.

*9:00 AM - "Rope Drop" to Expedition Everest (EE from now on). Going for back to back rides on this one.
*9:45 AM - FP#1 - EE, this is the back to back option. Get there early, request CS, single riders line (if open yet). Then DW's turn and then repeat for scheduled FP time, but just using the FP line of course.
*10:30 AM - Flights of Wonder
*Flame Tree BBQ - A early lunch and I have heard excellent things about this place!
*It's Tough to be a Bug - Im not sold on this yet, as I've read some small children find the attraction to be scary... It may get skipped.
*Tree of Life - Thought this would be a good time to let DD explore and let her imagination run wild.
*2:00 PM - FP# 2 - Finding Nemo, The Musical. Last trip we watched the Lion King show, this year is Nemo's turn.
*Wildlife Express / Rafiki's Planet Watch - Trains are always fun, and I think I read something about petting animals....
*Zoo time - This is when we will just walk around the paths and check out the different animals, a little low key but something I think we will all enjoy. Solid family time IMO.
*5:00 PM - FP# 3 Kilimanjaro Safaris - I'm going to let a little bit of my nerd side show here... So, on this particular afternoon Sunset is for 5:31PM. Animals tend to be most active in the early morning hours and also around the time the sunsets. The AM FP+ were booked up when I got to it, so late afternoon was the next best option. Its late enough that we may see the animals moving around a bit, but not so late that its to dark to see everything. Probably over thinking the whole thing anyway, but that's my story and I'm going to stick with it.
*6:45 PM - Epcot. AK closes at 7:00, and I wanted to go to a park that was open later, but that also gave us enough time to do a thing or two so that's why we left a little early.
*Sunshine Seasons - Menu looked good to me. Thoughts? It is also near Soarin, which is the primary ride chose for this afternoon.
*Soarin
Find a good place for a beverage and viewing area around the World Showcase
*9:00 PM - Illuminations & Park Close.

The morning schedule is going to be a bit tight for this day, but the afternoon has more time that can be adjusted. Another day with a lot of first it in, and a "early" night for us.

 

[Dis5150]

Yeah, we did the night time Kilimanjaro Safari and while there were tons of animals out and active, we could not see them very well and it was frustrating.
LOVE Flame Tree BBQ! DD26 and I go several times each trip, sometimes just head to that park for dinner there. We always split the half chicken w/an extra piece of the jalapeno cornbread! Yummm!

 

[LSUlakes]

DAY 5 - Epcot & Hollywood Studios 11/18/16

This time we will experience reverse the part of the day we are at each park. Maybe even sleep a few minutes later...

*9:25 AM FP# 1 - The Seas w/ Nemo & Friends
*Living with the Land or Spaceship Earth - Not sure which direction we will go here.
*10:45 AM FP# 2 - Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot
*Tangierine Café - Really enjoy the lunch here.
*Meet Aladdin & Jasmine in Morocco
*1:30 PM FP# 3 - Frozen Ever After. The youtube video of this ride looks like it will not disappoint!
*2:45 PM - Arrive to Hollywood Studios by boat. I enjoy the boat rides at WDW.
*The Great Movie Ride - Will be my last time to ride it before they change it next year.
*4:00 PM - Beauty & the Beast Live on Stage
*4:30 PM - Disney Junior Live on stage. I am going to say it will be very difficult to make both of these. I think we will have to chose one over the other, as I don't see any way to pick B&B and make it to the 4:30 show in 5 minutes.....
*5:35 PM - ADR 50's Prime Time Café - Loved the food here on my last trip and it was a must to eat at again.
*6:45 PM - Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!
*7:00 - 9:00 PM EMH
*Toy Story Mania
*Rock N Roller Coaster
*Tower of Terror
*9:00 PM - Park closes.

Another fun filled day at two parks with a new night time show to watch at DHS. Only one more day worth of plans left with our final day being at Magic Kingdom. In other news, we finally purchased memory maker, and checked in. 10 days to go!

 

[rteetz]

Looks good.

I think 5 is a good time for the safari. You might even get lucky and have RoL... not to throw a wrench in your plans though.

 

[LSUlakes]

DAY 6 - Magic Kingdom 11/19/16 (Our Last Day)

This will be our last day in the parks, and what is more than likely to be the most crowded day in the park with schools across the country letting out for Thanksgiving Holiday. My expectations on how much will get done is not high, and outside of FP+ we will more than likely stick with some of the lower key things to do at times. However, it is going to be a long day at the park with the park closing at 11:00 PM and EMH till 1:00 AM. So, from rope drop to close will be a 16 hour day. Where can I buy redbull in the park? lol

*8:30 AM - Arrive for a decent spot for the Rope Drop Ceremony
*9:00 AM Park Opens
*Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater. I hope that this takes no more than 1.5 hours, fingers crossed!
*10:30 AM - FP# 1 - Pirates of the Caribbean
*Train from Frontierland to Fantastland
*11:55 AM - ADR - Be Our Guest. We all enjoyed our meal here on our last trip, even with DD having a little melt down... on the floor.... in front of the drink dispenser....
*1:15 PM - FP# 2 - Haunted Mansion
*Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid
*3:00 PM - FP# 3 - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train - If DD did not get on this ride our previous trip, this is likely our last shot. Conversely if she did get on it and it didn't go well, then CS it is. Last option, she loved it and cant wait to get back on it again.
*After 7DMT, our plans open up. The idea is to do a little souvenir shopping and riding rides that DD had really enjoyed for a few hours.
*Cosmic Rays Starlight Café
*People Mover
*Monsters, Inc, Laugh Floor
*Buzz Light Year Space Ranger Spin
*10:00 PM - Wishes Fireworks
*10:45 PM - Once Upon a Time - A NEW SHOW!!! I am excited about being here for something that is fairly new!
After the show we plan to just continue taking it easy and making decisions on the fly until either we cant go any more or 1:00 AM comes.

In summary, even though this is our longest park day, its probably going to be the most laid back day of the trip. Leaving time to window show, eat a bunch of unhealthy snacks, or anything else. I think that will help with making it late into the evening, but a child can only do so much, so I wouldn't be surprised if we left shortly after the shows that night.

So, now its time to start thinking of any last minute things we want to bring with us and start laying things out prior to my least favorite pre trip activity, PACKING.

Thank you for reading along and will update with any changes and a weather forecast as we get closer to the weekend. Then the next step will be to come back here a few days after the trip and let yall know how everything went... with pictures of course!

 

[mzpoirot]

Joining in! We are going Nov 12-18th so our trips are very close!
Praying that we have good weather while we are there....so far, so good!
Have fun packing

 

[LSUlakes]

Joining in! We are going Nov 12-18th so our trips are very close!
Praying that we have good weather while we are there....so far, so good!
Have fun packing

Thanks for reading along! If you see us out at the parks, don't hesitate to say hello. I have also started the weather watch and temp wise things look really good. Morning starting off in the upper 50's to lower 60's and high in the 77-82 range. Only one thing that could make things a little interesting early next week. Looks like a frontal system is going to pass through late Monday night into Tuesday morning. It's all about timing and the current forecast could move that rain chance +/- 24 hours. How much it will effect our day at the park will really all be based on timing of the front. Lets hope it passes while we are all sleeping Monday night!

 

[rteetz]

Looks like a long and fun day! BTW the new show is called once upon a time

 

[LSUlakes]

Looks like a long and fun day! BTW the new show is called once upon a time

Thanks for pointing that out. I don't how I confused that... I will change it. lol

 

[girliea]

Your plans look great! Yall are gonna have so much fun!
Is everyone feeling better?

 

[LSUlakes]

Your plans look great! Yall are gonna have so much fun!
Is everyone feeling better?

DD is doing much better. I am still dealing with a cold, but nothing bad enough to hold me back from going about my daily task. Thanks for asking and commenting.

 

[LEsherick]

Im staying at Pop and I will also be at MK on the 14th hoping the weather is great for all of us.

 

[LSUlakes]

Day one a success! Lots of changes in the plan but still worked out well.

 

[kittylady1972]

Day one a success! Lots of changes in the plan but still worked out well.

GLAD to hear it's going well so far! Can't wait to read more about your trip.

We're heading to Florida ourselves in just 3 more days!

 

[LSUlakes]

Didn't think about this until recently but for snapchatpics you can look me up falgoustjerry. At Animal kingdom today.

 

[LSUlakes]

Interesting side note. Discussing SEC sports on a quite bus with a fellow SEC fan will upset a lot of people even though you admit your team is irrelevant in the conference