Our Family is Our Greatest Adventure-- But Disney’s Fun Too!

[EglantineSF]

Hello,

I have been a long time visitor of the boards, and loved reading Trip Reports so much that I finally decided to stop lurking and reach out. Hopefully someone will find our PTR and eventual TR as helpful as I found those that I read-- especially ones detailing trips with toddlers, as ours will be. We are traveling September 12-19, staying at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge.

So, on to our cast of characters:

DH: Project manager, father, husband, friend and one of the most caring, generous people you will ever meet. DH and I met our sophomore year in college, started dating our junior year, and have been together ever since-- 15 years this October! His Disney Favorites are:

Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Character: Donald Duck
Favorite Ride/Attraction: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Favorite Movie: Aladdin; Up (especially the first 5 minutes)
Favorite Restaurant/Bar: Weinkeller (Epcot Germany)

DW (me): Lawyer, mother, wife, and daughter. I have been to Disneyland many times growing up in California, but Disney World only three times. My Disney Favorites are:

Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Character: Mary Poppins
Favorite Ride/Attraction: Haunted Mansion
Favorite Movie: Beauty and the Beast; Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Favorite Restaurant/Bar: Artist Point

Our most recent trip to Disney World was in 2004, when DH and I took our first Disney trip together-- and he surprised me by proposing while watching the fireworks from our balcony at the Wilderness Lodge!
We kept talking about going back one day, but life-- and other trips--got in the way. Then, of course, along came….

DS: A non-stop bundle of energy, who is constantly walking, running and climbing. He will have just turned two when we make our trip to Orlando in September. He is an extremely happy little boy, and thankfully no sign of the “Terrible Two’s”-- at least, not yet! His Disney Favorites are:

Favorite Park: N/A
Favorite Character: Mickey, though he loves Donald and Goofy as well
Favorite Ride/Attraction: Disney Junior Live
Favorite Movie: Frozen
Favorite Restaurant/Bar: N/A

This will be DS’ first trip to Disney World, though he has been to Disneyland and California Adventure twice already. We live in San Francisco, so it’s pretty easy to travel to Anaheim for a long weekend. DS has been on multiple plane trips, including several for 5+ hours, but every time is an adventure. Time permitting, and if anyone is interested, I’ll include a later post with my recommendations for plane rides with an active toddler.

This trip will be an opportunity to enjoy time not just at Disney but also with our extended family. We will be joined by my aunt, uncle, cousin and cousin-in-law on the first day of our trip. They are all Floridians, who graciously agreed to meet us at the park to meet DS and spend the day together. Half way through our trip, my MIL and FIL will fly down from Ohio and join us for two days.

Welcome along to all interested in joining our great adventure!

 

[EglantineSF]

Still getting the hang of these boards, so apologies in advance for any technical mistakes. I think I've figured out how to post photos to further introduce our cast and crew.

First, DH and I during our first trip to Disney World together, aka our Engagement Trip (August 2004):



Second, DS during our trip to Disneyland this Winter-- very excited to meet Pluto!



And finally, our whole family during that same trip meeting Mickey Mouse.

 

[EglantineSF]

On to the actual substance of the PTR! The first thing we discovered when reading the Disboards is that Disney World requires a lot more planning than Disneyland. As you all surely know, Disneyland still involves old school paper FastPasses, and does not have the same number of restaurant reservations-- or the impact of free dining on availability.

The good news for us is that DH and I are big trip planners. We are definitely the people who plan our next vacation while still on the prior one. We were therefore online exactly 180 days in advance scheduling our ADRs, and 60 days in advance for our FP+. We were pretty happy with what we were able to obtain, and although we’ve made a few changes (and likely will make a few more, knowing us). Our current planned daily itinerary for the first half of the trip is below-- in slightly less detail than our Google spreadsheet (as I mentioned, we’re planners).

Saturday, September 12
Fly from SFO to Orlando. We’re planning to take the Magical Express for the first time, arriving at the resort around dinner time. We have our Garden Grocer order arriving earlier in the day, so I’m hoping that we can have everything delivered in time to make dinner and call it a night.

We booked the Villas at Wilderness Lodge for two reasons. First, we got engaged at Wilderness Lodge, and so have a lot of affection and nostalgia for the location. Second, we wanted to have a separate room to spend time in when DS goes to sleep and a full kitchen to prepare meals. I’m concerned neither DS nor I will feel well eating amusement park food all week, so I’m planning for some breakfast/lunches/dinners prepared in the room.

Sunday, September 13
First Magic Kingdom day! I know from reading the boards and EasyWDW that MK is likely to be quite busy on a Sunday, but crowd calendars do not look too bad for this week and it just isn’t a Disney trip without beginning at Mickey’s house.

Our general plan each day is to spend the morning in the parks, followed by a break at the hotel for pool/nap time each afternoon. We’re not sure yet how bad DS’ jet lag will be, or how he will do in the heat and humidity of Florida, so the goal is to not push him too far-- no one wants a cranky toddler! While we have plans some afternoons or evenings, our general policy is that it’s more important to be a happy family than to worry about cancelling plans here or there.

So, back to Sunday plans. We have a.m. FP+s for Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, and Splash Mountain. Our plan is to spend the morning in MK with my family, focusing primarily on Fantasyland, Frontier Land, and Liberty Square. We’ll then spend the p.m. at Wilderness Lodge having nap/pool time. We have a dinner ADR at Whispering Canyon, and then plan to call it an early evening.

Monday, September 14
Hollywood Studios Morning/Magic Kingdom Late Afternoon.

DS loves Disney Junior, in particular “Mickey!,” though he also enjoys Jake and Sophia. We went to the Disney Junior Live Show at California Adventure this winter, and DS’ favorite thing the whole trip was that show. He loves standing up, dancing and singing along. Our plan for Monday morning is to go to Hollywood Studios in the morning and attend the first Disney Junior show.

If we arrive early, DH may try to hit TSMM or Star Tours, but both of those are also available in California and therefore we don’t feel strongly about trading off DS’ sleep versus hitting these rides. After the Disney Junior show we will play it by ear to decide if we want to try to hit another ride or show, or just head back to the room for early nap and lunch.

We then plan to head to Magic Kingdom no later than 2 p.m., in order to make our FP+s for the Festival of Fantasy Parade, Buzz Lightyear, and Talking Mickey. DS loves parades, shows, and meeting characters (or at least he did last winter). We plan to avoid any lines that are more than 15 minutes; it’s just not worth the heat or stress when there are so many other things to do.

After we finish Talking Mickey, we’ll likely wander around Main Street a bit, and then head back to WL for dinner and another early night.

Tuesday, September 15
Epcot Morning/Wilderness Lodge Afternoon and Evening

We’ll start Tuesday morning with an early breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. After that, we’ll take the Monorail to Epcot. We plan to focus on Future World, with FP+s for Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, and Seas with Nemo. DH plans to try the single rider line for TestTrack and maybe standby line for Mission Space, while DS and I check out the Visa Character Greeting and the dancing water in Fountain of Nations. We’ll have lunch either at Epcot (thinking Sunshine Seasons) or back at the room.

After nap time, we plan to spend the afternoon at Wilderness Lodge/Fort Wilderness. Depending on weather and mood, we’ll either check out the pool and playground or head over to Fort Wilderness to see the horses and do some light hiking. We’ll have dinner in room.

MIL and DIL arrive late Tuesday night, so we’ll likely not see them until the next morning.

 

[EglantineSF]

And on to the second half of our PTR plan:

Wednesday, September 16
Second Magic Kingdom Morning!

We plan to spend the morning in the Magic Kingdom, for MIL's and FIL’s only park day. DH and I have a.m. FP+ for SDMT and BTMR while FIL and MIL have FP+ for Peter Pan and Dumbo. The plan is for us to shuffle magic bands around so that two of us take DS on the latter rides, while the other two ride the former. We then all have FP+ for Jungle Cruise. We plan to have a QS lunch at the park, potentially Pecos Bill or Columbia Harbor House.

We’ll then head back to Wilderness Lodge for nap and pool time. FIL and MIL have graciously agreed to watch DS for the evening, while DH and I go to California Grill for dinner and to celebrate my birthday. We’re hoping we’ve timed it right to watch fireworks, but if not we’ll enjoy a nice dinner with just the two of us.

Thursday, September 17
Magic Kingdom (again? yep! I love it!)

We plan to spend the morning at WL with my in-laws, as they will be leaving mid-day to head back home. We will then take the boat to MK for our BOG lunch. After that, we have FP+ for Winnie the Pooh, Enchanted Tales, and Anna & Elsa. Then we'll play it by ear for the remainder of the afternoon, depending on lines, weather, and everyone’s mood.

That evening, we have an ADR reservation at Mickey’s BBQ. Any opportunity to meet Mickey again and dance is a popular one in this household.

Friday, September 18
Animal Kingdom Morning, Epcot Evening.

We plan to spend the morning at Animal Kingdom, with FP+ for Kilimanjaro Safari, Festival of the Lion King, and the character greeting at Adventurers Outpost. We also plan to spend time wandering the trails and playing in the Boneyard. Frankly I imagine it will be hard to drag DS away from AK, as he loves animals and playgrounds. We’ll probably grab QS lunch, maybe at Yak & Yeti’s takeout window.

We will then go back to WL for nap time, as we will all need our energy for a late night at Epcot. We plan to spend the evening wandering around the World Showcase. I’m especially interested in showing DS the trains in Germany, the gardens in England (he loves flowers), and checking out the KidCot stations. We’ll grab QS dinner, possibly in Mexico or England, before the main event-- Illuminations Dessert Party! I’m a little worried about the lack of seating, but DS will have his stroller to chill in if he gets tired. It will be a much later night than he is used to, but he loves music and people, so I’m hoping it all goes smoothly. I’m certainly looking forward to the sparkling wine and desserts-- yum!

Saturday, September 19
Our last day (sigh).

Our flight home isn’t until early evening, so we plan to check out of WL and then spend our morning at either Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom. We have FP+ for Magic Kingdom, but none that we feel we absolutely need to do. If DS loves AK and we don’t feel like we had enough time the day before, then we’ll shift to AK for the day.

If we end up at MK, we have FP+ beginning in the late a.m. for Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and SDMT.

Around 2 p.m. we will head back and take the less-Magical Express back to the airport, and then fly back home. To be honest this is the biggest concern for me of the whole trip, taking a tired toddler on a 6 hour flight home. Not sure how well DS will stroller nap (he is generally not good at it), but with checkout that day we won’t have an opportunity to nap in the room. I’d be interested in any thoughts or experience other parents have with this scenario. Ideally DS will be so tired he will pass out in his car seat on the plane and sleep the whole flight-- we are bringing his car seat along solely to make flights easier, as we won’t use it any other time during the trip but generally he sleeps better in the carseat than in an airplane seat (we have a Cares harness that we sometimes use, but the seat is just too big for him to cuddle up comfortably and really sleep).

So, that’s the plan. For any other parents of toddlers that are reading-- any experience or thoughts you’d care to add? Anything that worked for you to adjust a toddler to the Orlando heat, or a 3 hour change in time zone? We’ve done quite a bit of traveling, but every trip is new and different.

With luck I’ll turn this into an actual TR when we come back.