I'm the Master! Pre-Trip Report 5/16-5/19

[macandcheeseplease]

Hello! Long-time lurker, first-time poster! I figured a pre-trip report would be a great way to showcase my dedication (or obsession, depending on how you squint) to planning WDW trips and introduce myself.

So, hiya! My name is April! I am a central Florida native and grew up going to Disney. We had APs for a good portion of my childhood and stayed a few times a year at Values or did one week at a moderate for spring or holiday break. I love all things EPCOT, Donald Duck, old movies, and mac and cheese! I’m eternally on the hunt for the best bowl of mac and cheese, but I’m still partial to the kind that comes from a box.

My last trip was in January 2021 for my birthday and I had a wonderful time with my family despite the changes in the park. I certainly missed the entertainment and FastPass, but there were some perks of the new situation, namely the distancing. I thought it would be my last trip for a while. However, when Disney released the Florida resident ticket and room deals I crunched the numbers and it was doable!

Disney has always been a place of celebration for my family, and this one is no different! I’ll be celebrating finally finishing my graduate degree! It’s been a long, hard road to finishing it filled with a lot of challenges and changes, and I thought there would be no better place to celebrate than my favorite place in the whole world.

Like most of my other trips, it’s on a little bit of a budget. My mom (DM), who is an absolute saint, will be traveling with me. She likes going to Disney a lot too but says I have enough love for it for every member of our family. We’ll be staying at ASM for 4 days/3 nights. We’ve stayed there before in January 2020 for a birthday trip and thought it suited our needs just fine for the two of us. We bring our own breakfast food and spend a lot of time in the parks so we don’t need anything fancy. We also do not have Park Hoppers, definitely more open to dinnertime kinds of people with a more leisurely pace and a lot of water breaks.

I’ve traveled a few times in May in the past but not under these conditions so the heat plus the masks is going to be a new endeavor. We wear masks all day for our jobs but inside in the A/C. We’re planning on taking our time since we visited recently and aren’t chomping at the bit to do anything.

I hope you tag along to see what we’ll be up to over the next few days and then on our trip!

 

[macandcheeseplease]

So, here’s the plan!

Sunday: Check-In/EPCOT
-We’re driving, as per usual, from our home in the early morning. I’m an early riser so getting up is not a problem, especially if it’s to go to Disney! We’re aiming to get there between 7:15-7:30 and hopefully check-in to our room. We’ll also grab a quick Mickey Waffles breakfast too, which I try and do once a vacation.

-Then, catching a bus! On the last trip, we took the Skyliner to get to EPCOT and we hated every minute of it. Probably not the best move since we’re both desperately afraid of heights. We hope to get there around 10 or so to rope drop. Unfortunately, we’ll be rope-dropping Guest Relations to refresh my DAS pass! But, then we plan to hit Spaceship Earth first thing and then Test Track and Mission Space.

-After that, who knows? We have our favorite attractions that we’ll definitely hit, sometimes more than once if crowds allow. Shopping and the Spike the Bee Scavenger Hunts are musts. The only concrete plan we have is a Lunch/Dinner (Linner?) reservation at Via Napoli at 3:30. We aren’t TS kind of people, but if we’re celebrating we try to have one reasonably priced nice meal. My mom loves pizza and thought trying Via Napoli is a no-brainer!

- We have a list of a few things we’d like to try from Flower and Garden as well:

• Fried Cinnamon Bites
• Caramelized Beignet with Vanilla Cream
• Goat Cheese Tart
• Popsicle Trio
• Cranberry Lime Matcha Green Tea

Monday: HS
-Our main goal is to get a RotR boarding group of course! I had very good luck on both trips so I hope it is still on my side. There are a few things either my mom or I or both won’t do, which limits the amount of time I think we’ll spend here, but we definitely will fill our day! We probably will leave after dinner to swim for a bit or relax by the pool with a book.

-We’d like to be there around 8 for rope drop and scoot over to Runaway Railway! We rode it for the first time in January and loved it so much we went twice! I also love TSMM, Star Tours, and Slinky Dog Dash so those may get multiple rides as well.
We didn’t get to eat at Woody’s Lunchbox last go around, so that’s on the list alongside Docking Bay 7 for either lunch or dinner.

Tuesday: MK
-Rope drop is always a must for Magic Kingdom! DM will do the majority of the rides here so we will probably be here again till dinner. I’m not sure about an ideal strategy but we will probably start at PotC and work our way clockwise. However, PeopleMover is a favorite of mine so multiple rides are on the bill!

-No concrete meal plans, just a list of foods I’d like to try while we’re there. Last time we had some struggles getting full meals that were good so grazing is going to be the way to go.

• Fruit and Nutella Waffle (Sleepy Hollow)
• Mac and Cheese Tots (Friar’s Nook)
• Corn Dog Nuggets (Pecos Bill)
• Citrus Swirl (Sunshine Tree Terrace)

Thursday: Check-Out/AK
-Alas, all good things must come to an end. We’ll pack up the car early and have some breakfast before driving to Animal Kingdom. We both like the park well enough but it gets so hot, especially in the spring and summer. Rope dropping again, probably starting in Pandora with all the other 500 million people.

-We both like the safari and the Animation Experience so those are also on the docket. We’ll also hit both Pandora rides, Dinosaur, and the animal trails. Cheeseburger pods and Blueberry Mousses are a must so we’ll visit Satul’i Canteen for the last delicious lunch before driving home.

All in all, we have a great trip planned! Considering I didn’t think I’d be able to go for a while after January because of my finances and now looking for work, this trip will be a delight no matter what compared to my current situation. The heat and potential rain are nothing new as Floridians, but we’re not going to let it detract from the experience.

I’ll share a trip report once we return, so I hope you keep an eye out for it!

 

[DLo]

Following along . I will be there the same time. We have the same parks planned mon and tues . Can’t get here soon enough !

 

[MaleficentMe]

Following!! So happy for you!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Great plans! Have a good trip!

 

[macandcheeseplease]

Thanks for the kind messages all!

I normally don't like making last-minute plans, but I've made two!

For our HS morning, I snagged an early morning A&C reservation. The price is very reasonable and I received word yesterday that I'm graduating with a 4.0, so extra reason to splurge! It's at 7 AM so we're planning on getting there at 6:40 or so. The only qualms I have are getting a boarding group and taking an Uber. The boarding group I know I can get from anywhere with data and have done before, so I'm less concerned about that. We could drive but I'm so hesitant to leave my car at YC all day. So, we are taking an Uber for the first time. Any help you could pass along regarding taking Ubers at Disney I would appreciate it!

As well, my parents surprised me by booking a Capture the Memories session at Animal Kingdom for some graduation photos! I tried a few times to get a Magic Kingdom one but no luck. I never got college graduation photos because I graduated early and never got around to it. We checked up on a couple of photo services around us and most charged an absolutely exorbitant amount; like, one charged almost $500! So, the $50 plus a small fee to receive the photos is more doable. Plus, very unique!