Planning a most unconventional first trip - February 2019 (Updated 12/20)

cadien

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 19, 2017
So neither my spreadsheets nor my Touring Plans account is quite adequate anymore for keeping track of everything I want to do on this trip and why. And I have what seems to be a very typical husband in that he does not want to discuss the details, let alone repeatedly. So here I am!

Who

Myself, husband, and 7-year old DS, who will still be 7 in February.

What

Three nights at WDW. Yes, just three. (Breathe.) For our first-ever visit. I told you it was unconventional.

When

February 7-10, 2019. Supposedly a great time. No cheer or dance competitions. No races. Not a holiday weekend. And probably the Arts Festival!

Where

Resort: Jambo House, Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Parks: Two days at Epcot, one at Animal Kingdom. (Breathe!)

Why

We're taking our second Disney Cruise. The first was April 2018, a Marvel Day at Sea. We had a great time and booked another It lets us off in Port Canaveral on a Thursday morning so it just made sense to stay until Sunday and try out WDW. It makes much more sense to do a cruise after a parks visit, relaxation-wise, but timing-wise that isn't an option.

How

Read on....
 
A little more on our travel background.

DH and I are both from the west coast. DH is from the L.A. area. So Disney = Anaheim to us. Although we still live west of the Mississippi, we're now east of the Rockies, and apparently that's all it takes for Disney to be shorthand for Orlando instead. That's been a big adjustment for us. And as a 5th generation Californian, DH has a certain amount of snobbery about the one true park. So that's one reason we're doing the two parks that are most unique to Orlando. Also, we regularly visit family in Southern California so we have opportunities to experience the Magic Kingdom (and a decent amount of Hollywood Studios) there.

All that said, we're not really a Disney family. And we've avoided the whole princess thing with only having a son. What we are and always have been, however, is a Marvel family and a Star Wars family. (DH and I actually met at San Diego Comic Con.) So that's what sucked us in. And then I discovered pin trading, which I enjoy all out of proportion to how I feel about most of the films themselves. The icing on the cake for DH, who was the most disinterested in WDW of us, was the opening of Donald's Dino Bash. With the new opportunity to meet Launchpad and Scrooge. He was all about Disney Afternoons as a kid, and has shared all the tapes (and then DVDs) with our son, so that made his attitude do a 180.

Our original plan for 2019 was a Norwegian cruise to the Baltics, including two days in St Petersburg. We've cruised Norwegian before. It's not nearly as classy as DCL but it's about a third the price. We both have mostly Scandinavian heritage, and it's a very kid-friendly kind of itinerary. Vikings! And, you know, St Petersburg. Our dominant travel style can best be described as 'cool old buildings.' Our honeymoon was centered around the Alhambra. But we've chosen to tone that down a bit with a child along. But our last several vacations have been tropical, which isn't my thing at all, so we were looking forward to getting back to Europe and museums.

And then I stumbled across an article in the NYT about how Puerto Rico is really hurting for tourist dollars right now. And I've always wanted to see Old San Juan. And the bioluminescent bays. And the food! And, well, it's the least we can do for Lin Manuel Miranda. (Yes, we've seen Hamilton. Yes, it really was all that.) So some poking around and I find a Disney cruise that starts in San Juan, meaning we can fly in a couple days early. (I get very little leave so we ever can't do things 'properly.') DH gave it a big thumbs up and we had our travel agent change the reservations. For the DCL people, it's 4 nights on the Wonder. Short but then we have the parks. Stops in St. Thomas and Castaway Cay. We really loved Castaway Cay. Even me, the total non beach person.
 
The lodging.

This one was pretty easy. I knew the Poly was ridiculously out of budget, so I was looking at the moderates (to avoid food courts) and the Caribbean sounded fine. Except for the construction, of course. Port Orleans is much more popular but mostly for location, it seems, and I didn't think that mattered so much on a short trip. Then again, on such a packed-full trip, does the hotel matter at all? We're not getting a resort day, or even any afternoon breaks. We already know from experience that DS can just keep going. We dragged him around all kinds of national monuments from morning to night last summer without any complaints. Really, he has more endurance than we do. And I figure February means we don't need to worry about heat exhaustion quite so much. Also the pools may be much less appealing.

When I outlined our best options for DH, he keyed right onto Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's the least expensive of the deluxes, of course. And he really loved the idea of the animals. And loved how much DS would love the animals. DS is a huge animal lover. Watches tons of Wild Kratts. Gets various National Geographic kids books from the library. So that was settled.

Our travel agent automatically booked us into a DVC room but I ended up asking to move to a standard room. We won't be preparing any meals in our room, or even storing leftovers. And I wanted to be sure of getting housekeeping every day.

We aren't used to having a travel agent. It's actually my in-laws agency. They've abruptly had to stop traveling due to health and had a big nonrefundable credit to use up, so we're using it for them and then paying them.

I originally thought it made sense to upgrade to Club Level when the opportunity came. It's not much more, especially for just three nights. And the snacks sound great. But since we won't ever be there for meals, even breakfast, it's pretty pointless.
 
Meal plan

Getting unconventional again. We booked the Deluxe Dining Plan!

That was not originally the plan. Especially after friends who went this spring really hated it. But after running the numbers and reading lots and lots of posts, I think it's the best deal for us. And even if it just comes close, there's extra value to the not having to think about it. Especially coming right off a cruise where all the food is included in your fare. That would be a nasty transition. Our son is under 10, so that helps with the value. We always order alcohol. We always order appetizers and/or dessert. We want to try signatures. And we want to snack A LOT.

Food is always a huge thing for us on trips. (Okay, and at home.) For my extended family too. It drives my stepfather crazy that at breakfast on vacation we'll inevitably be talking about what we'll do for lunch, and so on. I bought those Disney Food Blog dining and snack guides and have read them more than once.

I'll get into restaurant specifics later on. We do have ADRs! Everything we wanted. That was shockingly easy. I didn't even have to get up early. (Yay for not caring about princesses!)

(The friends who hated it. Their parents hosted the trip and made table service reservations three meals a day, every day. It was the constantly stopping to sit down and eat a slow meal that they disliked. We won't do that.)
 


Day 1 - Animal Kingdom

This day has been causing the most aggravation. Especially because I keep forgetting we're not starting out the day there. I haven't tried Express Walk-Off on a cruise before, but we'll probably do it this time. If we skip breakfast, we supposedly can get off the ship at 7:15 or so. Then take private transportation to the park. If we wait for Disney transportation, it won't leave before 9:00. And Disney transportation from their cruise ship to their park is not complementary, so that's not an incentive. Two hours difference is a lot.

I've also cut our time short at the other end with the Pirates & Pals Fireworks Cruise. We'll have to leave by 5:30. Which means not seeing Pandora at night. So I may try to figure out a way to move the cruise to a different evening. It has to happen regardless. DS has never seen fireworks. Except for on the cruise ship and it was cloudy. It was barely 5 minutes so that doesn't really count. Every 4th of July, he's fallen asleep before they start. Ditto at Disneyland. And yes, the cruise means that we don't see the Happily Ever After projections, but we won't know what we're missing. And we're not going to that park regardless, so we can't do the dessert parties as an alternatives. (I'd be all over the Star Wars one.) Peter Pan was in heavy rotation at our house from an early age, so I know he'll enjoy that angle.

Animal Kingdom is a priority because it's not something they have at Anaheim, it's educational (we're pulling him out of second grade for a week), DS loves animals, and I'm not into rides so I need something else going on. (More motion sickness than disinterest.)

Unconventional moment: We're not doing Pandora rides. We haven't seen the movies and it doesn't seem worth all the waiting in line. Not with such little time.


I disagreed a lot with Touring Plans on the order we should do things, so this is what I ultimately ended up with with an 11:00 arrival. Hopefully we'll get there sooner.

Expedition Everest (FP)

Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe
-- We really like street musicians. Especially drummers.

Yak & Yeti table service -- 11:45 ADR obtained

Harambe Village Acrobats
-- DS is in gymnastics and loves acrobats of all kinds.

Kilimanjaro Safaris
--There are recommended times of day for this but I don't know how feasible they are with everything else we're trying to fit in.

Festival of the Lion King
-- I gave DS a choice between this and Finding Nemo and this was his pick.

Kali River Rapids
-- Depending on the weather. We'll have ponchos regardless.

Dinosaur.

Donald's Dino Bash
-- The goal is to end up here around 3:00 so we can do the character meets right before the dance party starts at 4:00. DS loves dance parties.


The plan before I booked the fireworks cruise was to follow the dance party with dinner at Satu'li Canteen then dessert (lumpia) at Pongu Pongu and wander around Pandora after dark. And maybe see Rivers of Light. But now we'll probably have to fit in food some other way. Or just make all the provided snacks before the cruise count as dinner.


Originally, there was also Wilderness Explorers and the Maharajah Jungle Trek and Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, but we lost so much time. And DH is not willing to go ride-free. Even I really want to do Everest. Although I'm concerned that with a Fast Pass we'll miss all the interesting queue details. We spent over an hour in line to do Jungle Cruise last year but there was so much theming that it was pretty bearable.

We'll probably drop Kali River Rapids in favor of some general nature hiking. We do regularly visit our local zoo, so it's not that much of a novelty. Rafiki's Planet Watch is way too much travel time of course. And I worry about whether DS would enjoy Wilderness Explorers if he can't finish it. Or would that just be frustrating. This is the sort of area where other people's experiences are really helpful to hear.

It's Tough to Be a Bug was never under consideration. If they even still have it. DS hates bugs, although we keep explaining how beneficial (and harmless) most of them are. And even harmless 4D rides have given him the heebie jeebies, so nope. The other Dinoland rides could be worth checking out if we get through the character lines more quickly than anticipated.
 
Day 2 - Friday - Epcot - Future World

First we have 7:30 reservations for the breakfast buffet at Boma.

Order set by Touring Plans:

Spaceship Earth

Meet Baymax

Living with the Land

Journey Into Imagination with Figment
- This was a lower priority but I added it in when we seemed to have plenty of time

JAMMitors
- More drumming!

Mission Space: Green

Advanced Training Lab

Club Cool for exotic soda flavors
-- I may disagree with Touring Plans and put this after Figment instead.

Coral Reef Restaurant -- 1:00 ADR
-- This one has a pretty mixed reputation but of all kinds of animals, DS has always been particularly interested in the underwater ones. Octonauts was a big obsession for a good two years. So this is the restaurant we picked more for him than for us.

The Seas with Nemo and Friends/Turtle Talk with Crush/Main Tank and Exhibits


And that only takes us to about 3:30. I'm leaving the rest of the day open for now for the Arts Festival. And maybe a side trip to Ample Hills Creamery. It sounds like this is where we'll be closest to it.

We have 7:00 dinner reservations at Sanaa. And hopefully we can then check out the animals with the night vision goggles before conking out. We all go to bed pretty early even on vacation.


DS has never had any interest in cars. Or Cars, although he's seen them all. And DH doesn't care about them either. So no Test Track for us. And DS has recently developed a fear of heights and is quite firm about bypassing Soarin.
 
Day 1 - Animal Kingdom


Animal Kingdom is a priority because it's not something they have at Anaheim, it's educational (we're pulling him out of second grade for a week), DS loves animals, and I'm not into rides so I need something else going on. (More motion sickness than disinterest.)

Unconventional moment: We're not doing Pandora rides. We haven't seen the movies and it doesn't seem worth all the waiting in line. Not with such little time.


I disagreed a lot with Touring Plans on the order we should do things, so this is what I ultimately ended up with with an 11:00 arrival. Hopefully we'll get there sooner.

Expedition Everest (FP)

Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe
-- We really like street musicians. Especially drummers.

Yak & Yeti table service -- 11:45 ADR obtained

Harambe Village Acrobats
-- DS is in gymnastics and loves acrobats of all kinds.

Kilimanjaro Safaris
--There are recommended times of day for this but I don't know how feasible they are with everything else we're trying to fit in.

Festival of the Lion King
-- I gave DS a choice between this and Finding Nemo and this was his pick.

Kali River Rapids
-- Depending on the weather. We'll have ponchos regardless.

Dinosaur.

Donald's Dino Bash
-- The goal is to end up here around 3:00 so we can do the character meets right before the dance party starts at 4:00. DS loves dance parties.




Originally, there was also Wilderness Explorers and the Maharajah Jungle Trek and Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, but we lost so much time. And DH is not willing to go ride-free. Even I really want to do Everest. Although I'm concerned that with a Fast Pass we'll miss all the interesting queue details. We spent over an hour in line to do Jungle Cruise last year but there was so much theming that it was pretty bearable.

.

My 2 cents as I am still a newbie but LOVED Animal Kingdom and Epcot is my kid's favorite park ironically.
Safari is so great in the morning because the animals are out in the cooler weather, (although Disney magic helps keep them in view any time of day, even in the chilly mornings of February) THIS IS A MUST attraction unless you have been to Africa for a safari- you will ALL love it. I would choose that over Kali River Rapids if you don't have time. (It's just a large tube ride that is in all the Six Flags style parks.)

The trails are so much better than a zoo. Seriously better- blow your mind/ this is DISNEY not a traditional Zoo. Especially the bats. Woah...yes- take the nature walk!
Even if you have not seen Avatar, if you can get a FP to ride Navi River, I think your son would really love it because it is an amazing dark ride with super awesome effects. Honestly- our kids never saw Indian Jones before watching the show and they still loved it.

Everest is great, just check the wait times while you are there because we walked right on and didn't need a FP at all. The great thing about the Touring Plans is that you CAN change your plan once you are there based on the crowd level....we went in February and we got to do everything in AK and Epcot multiple times so you may have more time than you realize.

The only other dinoland rides are the same as you would find at Disneyland and your son is likely too short for Primeval Whirl.
EPCOT-
Test Track is AWESOME. My kids rode it four times and asked to ride it first when we go back, so maybe walk by to see what he thinks, or watch a Youtube video with a point of view to see what he thinks.

If you are not Gluten Free- split a schoolbread in Norway- it is not the best in the world but it is pretty tasty and giant. Now if they would start selling Krumkake.

YES to Figment, we also rode that 3 times LOL. I don't think you need to schedule a time to go taste soda at Club Cool, just go when you are near (And have a camera ready for a taste of Beverly)

Make sure you leave plenty of time to walk around the aquarium- it is HUUUUUUGE and amazing.

Be in the first to do Turtle Talk with Crush- your son will love being in the first row if possible. We actually went a second time at night when there was almost no one there and the kids got to talk to Crush :D Heck- I wanted to talk to him!

As much as I am totally upset that they cartoonified Maelstrom, I would say ride it anyway because it still has the Norwegian history- even if it has singing sisters thrown in. Go for the longboat, not Olaf LOL.


You guys are going to love it and have a blast- and if you decide to skip Pandora rides, at least walk around and look at the theming. ( I have yet to see it in person but if it is anywhere near as awesome as the videos I see, it has to be amazing)
 


Oh! Behind the Seeds tour! We need to work that into our Future World day too. But that should be pretty easy.
 
Joining in! Excited to see what you're planning.

Two days at Epcot, one at Animal Kingdom. (Breathe!)

No MK?? I get that you have seen a lot of the same in Cali, but it's the Magic Kingdom!

Yes, we've seen Hamilton. Yes, it really was all that.

Agreed. I saw it in NY. I got chills, cried, the whole shebang. It was really that good.

We booked the Deluxe Dining Plan!

We always order alcohol. We always order appetizers and/or dessert. We want to try signatures. And we want to snack A LOT.

Oh man, that's a LOT of food, especially when you're trying to jam so much into only a couple of park days. It sounds like you've already checked out the menus and know that you'll use the credits, though, so it's not like you're going in blind. Interested to see the rest of your adr plans.

Then take private transportation to the park.

To the park or to the resort? I'm curious how this works with luggage...

Expedition Everest (FP)

So, what if you move this to the afternoon, after Kali River? You should go straight to Africa when you get there, but the safari, market, Yak and Yeti, Lion King, then work your way around to Asia and finally Dinoland. It seems like you're adding a lot of extra walking on an already tight day to do this first, then go to Africa, then shuttle back to this side of the park.

And I worry about whether DS would enjoy Wilderness Explorers if he can't finish it. Or would that just be frustrating.

This is my big fear as well. I think, with only 1 day in AK, my girls will be disappointed by how little of the wilderness explorers they are able to get done.
 
Day 2 - Friday - Epcot - Future World

First we have 7:30 reservations for the breakfast buffet at Boma.

Order set by Touring Plans:

Spaceship Earth

Meet Baymax

Living with the Land

Journey Into Imagination with Figment
- This was a lower priority but I added it in when we seemed to have plenty of time

JAMMitors
- More drumming!

Mission Space: Green

Advanced Training Lab

Club Cool for exotic soda flavors
-- I may disagree with Touring Plans and put this after Figment instead.

Coral Reef Restaurant -- 1:00 ADR
-- This one has a pretty mixed reputation but of all kinds of animals, DS has always been particularly interested in the underwater ones. Octonauts was a big obsession for a good two years. So this is the restaurant we picked more for him than for us.

The Seas with Nemo and Friends/Turtle Talk with Crush/Main Tank and Exhibits


And that only takes us to about 3:30. I'm leaving the rest of the day open for now for the Arts Festival. And maybe a side trip to Ample Hills Creamery. It sounds like this is where we'll be closest to it.

We have 7:00 dinner reservations at Sanaa. And hopefully we can then check out the animals with the night vision goggles before conking out. We all go to bed pretty early even on vacation.


DS has never had any interest in cars. Or Cars, although he's seen them all. And DH doesn't care about them either. So no Test Track for us. And DS has recently developed a fear of heights and is quite firm about bypassing Soarin.

See, that just sounds like a lot of food to me, especially because you get apps and desserts at both a la carte and I tend to way overdo it at buffets. :-)

Do you want pictures with Mickey and friends? Since you're not using your tier 1 FP this day, the Epcot m&g is supposed to be cute and they just moved out to tier 1.
 
Day 3 - Saturday - Epcot World Showcase

Our last day already.

The plan until just a couple days ago was to get breakfast at Les Halles. But then I saw the review of the Bon Voyage character breakfast by @earfulofmagic and realized the menu is perfect for both DH and DS. And the Boardwalk is very convenient to Epcot. Although ADRs had been open for a couple weeks now, there were still two times available -- 7:30 and 10:00. Since World Showcase doesn't really open until 11, I picked the 10:00. That will give us some relaxing animal viewing time on our balcony at Jambo House.

That reminds me. We did spring for an official savanna view instead of hoping that a partial view would be enough. I know that the odds were in our favor but DH didn't want to take that chance. We were at least fiscally responsible in that we went for two queen beds instead of a king and a sofa bed. We have a queen at home and both sprawl, so a king is a favorite luxury on vacation. But not at these prices.


Like most people, we're starting our tour in Mexico and ending in Canada. Just in time for our 7:05 dinner reservation at Le Cellier!

We might do Agent P. Not if it's only available on our phones though. I have one of the older battery hogs.

Definitely doing the Three Caballeros ride. That's one from my childhood. Well, in reruns on Sunday nights. But I was a kid during the Disney Dark Age. Already in college when the renaissance started. So that affects what I am and am not sentimental about.

We'll try to catch the Vikings at the Norway pavilion but no interest in Frozen Ever After. (Sorry.)

The movie in China sounds worthwhile. And a photo with my favorite Disney princess! Right now Touring Plans says that the acrobats won't be there in February, which will be a bummer if true.

We'll check out Germany and Italy but probably skip the U.S. pavilion. Nothing political. Just trying to keep the day international and novel.

Japan of course has more drummers! And although I'm not really a shopper, I hear that the department store there has lots of fun stuff. And DS is a big fan of kawaii.

Morocco is where we intend to have lunch, at Spice Road Table. (Without an ADR.) So there may be back tracking. And we'll spend more time there than average because we really like Middle Eastern architecture and design. Will also try for a photo with Jasmine.

France's acrobats are currently on the schedule at least. And they have a movie. You'd think I'd love Belle, since I'm a librarian, but she's such a snob!

It will be interesting to see what the Mary Poppins sequel this winter does to the meet and greet in the United Kingdom pavilion. We'll try. DS really enjoys the original and it was always a favorite of mine. Despite also enjoying the books. And there's Alice. Although I'd have to resist making a Tom Petty joke. Really looking forward to the shopping here. Mail order Hob Nobs are always stale!

Canada will be nice, if familiar. My mother is Canadian and I regularly visited family. Plus I grew up in Alaska, where you really end up having as much in common with Canada as with the lower 48. It's certainly closer! I love that they have the Victoria Gardens, although I'm not sure what it will look like in February.

I did spend a lot of time looking into Illuminations dessert parties and packages, but nothing grabbed me. And neither did the menus of the best places to have dinner in order to watch from your table. And then this week I finally got around to watching a YouTube video and I think DS would be bored to death. There were really long stretches of nothing happening. So we'll play all that by ear. (Mickey joke!)
 
Do you want pictures with Mickey and friends? Since you're not using your tier 1 FP this day, the Epcot m&g is supposed to be cute and they just moved out to tier 1.

We'll have just gotten off a cruise, so that won't be an issue. You get all eight in different outfits every day. With almost no lines. You really get your money's worth out of the photo package!
 
Like most people, we're starting our tour in Mexico and ending in Canada. Just in time for our 7:05 dinner reservation at Le Cellier!

If you're hitting Boardwalk first, you're coming through the international gateway between UK and France. Probably better to start there, rather than Mexico, though I'm not sure if that messes with your meal timing.

You get all eight in different outfits every day. With almost no lines.

Very cool! We have only cruised NCL with the girls (our budget was nowhere near Disney pricing) so no character meets there. :-)
 
Joining in!

and the Maharajah Jungle Trek and Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, but we lost so much time.
As a pp said upthread, if you have spare time, I think you would all enjoy these.

Coral Reef Restaurant -- 1:00 ADR
-- This one has a pretty mixed reputation but of all kinds of animals, DS has always been particularly interested in the underwater ones. Octonauts was a big obsession for a good two years. So this is the restaurant we picked more for him than for us.
I did a review of Coral Reef in my June report; the food really isn't as awful/inedible as reviews say. Eating by the aquarium is enchanting.

The movie in China sounds worthwhile. And a photo with my favorite Disney princess!
Reflections of China is great! We always watch that and Impressions de France because we enjoy them so much.
Mulan is my favorite leading lady too!

but probably skip the U.S. pavilion.
We always skip this pavilion, too. We've gone into the gift shop once to complete the Festival of the Arts scavenger hunt (you look for modified versions of famous artworks, one in each pavilion). It's like $5.99 to buy the map, you place stickers as you complete the map, then you show your completed map for a "prize." This past year they were limited edition pins themed to the festival.

And we'll spend more time there than average because we really like Middle Eastern architecture and design.
The Morocco pavilion is great for wandering through, they designed it well.

France's acrobats are currently on the schedule at least. And they have a movie.
Both of these are fantastic.

I love that they have the Victoria Gardens, although I'm not sure what it will look like in February.
The flowers in the gardens will still be in bloom!


For a short first trip, you're fitting in tons of great activities! I like all of your plans. :goodvibes
 
Hi there! I'll be following along, love your plan. We love going on a cruise and then hitting a theme park. This time around I think we're going to try to go on one afterwards (we have a wedding in Tampa before our Disney trip so we can't do it beforehand) but we've never been on DCL. I'm sure it's going to be so lovely! I've always wanted to go on DCL but it's way more expensive than the other cruise lines. plus we don't even have any kids! i will say that express walk-off is way better than having to wait. you just have to carry your own bags (at least on RC that's the case) instead of leaving them out on that last night. This has never been an issue for us and we way prefer it over having to wait until your number is called. Most of the time, you can even grab a pastry and coffee from the buffet too. again, this is just my experience on RC so i'm not entirely sure about the process on DCL.

San Juan is amazing! We loved the Fortress there and also did the Mixology Tour (worth the money!) at the Bacardi Factory. Also, don't be tricked by taxi drivers.. the Fortress is definitely close enough to walk to from downtown and it was actually quicker than taking a taxi because of all the traffic.
 
San Juan is amazing! We loved the Fortress there and also did the Mixology Tour (worth the money!) at the Bacardi Factory. Also, don't be tricked by taxi drivers.. the Fortress is definitely close enough to walk to from downtown and it was actually quicker than taking a taxi because of all the traffic.

You inspired me to just check and our hotel is only 0.7 miles from the Fortress, so we chose well! (El Convento.)

One small bummer is that DCL has an amazing kid-oriented San Juan excursion with historical re-enactors, but since we're leaving from San Juan rather than stopping there, it's not available. I checked around and even emailed a San Juan travel blogger and it's only a Disney thing. You can't do it through someone private.

My lack of vacation time is the one thing that allows us to rationalize Disney cruise prices. We could do 7-10 days on someone else for the same price as a Disney 4-day, but I can't be gone that long regardless.
 
I'm bummed we're going to have to skip Disney Springs completely. I tried really hard to fit it into our schedule. I think our son would love T-Rex Cafe, of course. And I really want to try Homecomin' and Raglan Road. Plus there's a Star Wars shop! And Marvel! And pin trading!! So financially, it's really just as well we can't fit it in this time around.

I definitely have enough things in the theoretical 'next trip' category to fill up an entire week. No wonder people keep coming back when they hadn't originally intended to.
 
Accessorizing!

Here's an area where I could use some guidance. How many people actually do outfits or ears or whatever? It seems to be everyone I know, but I don't know the actual participation level.

We're definitely decorating our Magic Bands. Because we all pretty much immediately knew what we wanted.

Me:

MB2_SmallWorld__43696.1531268980.png



DS:

372c83c32d64bcc13936c907e297d3f4.jpg



And DH is just taking it on faith that I'll be able to find him a Darkwing Duck magic band. They did recently release DuckTales versions, so I'm crossing my fingers.
 

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