We "FastPassed" our trip! A Sept 2018 WDW trip on 2 weeks notice! 08/17 Intro & Plans

[TinkerBelle_325]

Hello and welcome to my trip report!


My name is Meg and I've been going to the Walt Disney World Resort since I was 2 years old.


For months, my parents and I have been planning a trip for October 2018. But a few days ago everything changed. For a variety of reasons, October was becoming a problematic time for us to go to WDW. But none of us wanted to cancel! We were all looking forward to a fall trip as it is our favourite time to visit.

After a short conversation, we decided it would be best if we moved it sooner. We consulted our calendars to see what dates would be best. We landed on September 1st - 9th....and it quickly dawned on us that we just reduced our countdown from 2 MONTHS to 2 WEEKS!

Which led to my Mom creating the best trip title ever..."We FastPassed our trip!"

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Meg (that's me)
I am the planner of the family. The MDE whisperer. The dining reservation changer. The FastPass+ booker. You get it lol.
FAVOURITES
Theme Park: Epcot and Magic Kingdom
Ride: Haunted Mansion and Flight of Passage
Restaurant: Jiko, Boma and Sanaa
Drink: Hippopoto-MaiTai from Trader Sam's (TWO SHOTS OF RUM!....)
Snack: Cotton Candy (Disney's tastes better than anywhere else!), Dole Whip

Mom
She is the organizer of the family. I swear my Dad and I would be lost without her!
FAVOURITES
Theme Park: Epcot
Ride: Haunted Mansion
Restaurant: Jiko
Drink: Margaritas
Snack: Popcorn

Dad
He is the spontaneous one in the family, which often results in him trying to change what I've planned and what Mom has organized lol
FAVOURITES
Theme Park: Epcot
Ride: Pirates of the Caribbean
Restaurant: Jiko
Drink: Various beers such as Tusker and Longboard Lager
Snack: Does the Sanaa Bread Service count?


TRIP DETAILS

Saturday, September 1st - Sunday, September 9th
Disney's Coronado Springs Resort


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Travel Day
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Day Nine​

 

[StacyStrong]

Not going to lie - I just got very confused trying to figure out if September happened already.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Not going to lie - I just got very confused trying to figure out if September happened already.

I can’t tell if your comment is rude or meant in a joking fashion. I thought I made it pretty clear in the intro that our trip is taking place in 2 weeks time.


I wasn’t trying to be confusing. I haven’t posted a trip report in forever so if I’ve put this in the wrong area the mods can move it by all means.

 

[StacyStrong]

I can’t tell if your comment is rude or meant in a joking fashion. I thought I made it pretty clear in the intro that our trip is taking place in 2 weeks time.


I wasn’t trying to be confusing. I haven’t posted a trip report in forever so if I’ve put this in the wrong area the mods can move it by all means.

lol I wasn't trying to be rude. I'm just legitimately dumb and I forgot what month it was for a second! Usually I just forget what day of the week it is, haha.

Sorry if it came across as rude! I really didn't mean anything by it.

I feel bad - I'm actually looking forward to hearing about your plans and what kind of fast passes you got with short notice!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

lol I wasn't trying to be rude. I'm just legitimately dumb and I forgot what month it was for a second! Usually I just forget what day of the week it is, haha.

Sorry if it came across as rude! I really didn't mean anything by it.

I feel bad - I'm actually looking forward to hearing about your plans and what kind of fast passes you got with short notice!

Sorry! It can be hard to read tone online lol. Thanks! I'm really looking forward to the trip I got most of the FastPasses I wanted, but not the high priority ones like Flight of Passage or Slinky Dog Dash. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

HOW TO PLAN A WDW TRIP IN 1 DAY!
​

Yup, you read that right! Normally we have months and months to research dining reservations, crowd levels, best days for each park etc. I had done exactly that for our October 2018 trip and was just days away from booking FastPass+....when we moved the trip to the first week in September! ​

While I was thrilled that it reduced my countdown to just 15 days! But in the same token I had to go into planning mode ASAP. I felt like Dash from The Incredibles lol.

Switch the flights....check
Change the hotel reservation....check
Swap the MNSSHP tickets....check
Get new dining reservations....check
See what FastPass+ reservations are available....check

TRAVEL DAY
We live outside of Toronto, Ontario but we'll be flying out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Because of the holiday weekend we decided to stay over in Buffalo the night before our flight. We'll be staying at the Fairfield Inn & Suites and having dinner at Cracker Barrel.

DAY ONE
Our flight isn't until 4:30pm, so we'll sleep in, request late check out and grab a bite to eat before heading to the airport. We arrive in Orlando at 7pm and are hoping to get to Coronado Springs by 8pm or 8:30pm. Because we rent a car and don't rely on Magical Express the timing should work out. We have a late night dinner reservation at Boma.

DAY TWO
Another sleep in day due to the late arrival. We'll head to Publix in Celebration to get some groceries for the room. I have a lunch reservation at Sanaa (the bread service is an absolute must!). Coronado's pool is scheduled to close for refurb in the middle of our stay so we will definitely take advantage of it while it is open! The evening plan is Epcot for F&W Festival but I also have a Via Napoli reservation in case the booths are too crowded.

DAY THREE
Finally a theme park day! Hoping that the crowds will be light even though its a holiday. We'll head to Epcot. Breakfast at Les Halles is one of our favourite ways to start the day. We have FastPasses for Living with the Land and Soarin'. The F&W booths open at 11am and we plan to snack our way around the world for lunch. Stopping in at La Cava del Tequila is also a strong possibility! The afternoon will be spent by the pool again. Dinner is at Kona Cafe before heading to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

DAY FOUR
Heading to Animal Kingdom in the morning. I managed to get FastPasses for Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Navi River Journey. I might try rope dropping Flight of Passage. I've been on it before and I'm the only member of my family that wants to ride it again (Dad got very dizzy towards the end and Mom opted not to try as she gets motion sick). Regardless we will spend some time in Pandora. Lunch is still undecided...trying to pick between Flame Tree which we know and love or doing something new with Satuli Canteen or Nomad Lounge. Can you tell by now that we like Epcot? That's where we'll be in the evening. Once again it will be F&W focused.

DAY FIVE
My favourite morning of any trip: Magic Kingdom! FastPasses are Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Lunch is at Liberty Tree Tavern. The afternoon will be spent by the quiet pool at Coronado and the evening is my parent's anniversary! We'll be having dinner at our favourite restaurant, Jiko.

DAY SIX
Stacey does say that Epcot is phenomenal....so we're off to our favourite park again! Our FastPasses this time are Spaceship Earth, Test Track and Living with the Land. Lunch is at Teppan Edo. In the evening we're headed to Disney Springs. The game plan is to have appetizers and drinks at Homecomin' and at Wine Bar George.

DAY SEVEN
The morning is undecided. I might head to Hollywood Studios and try my hand at rope dropping Slinky Dog Dash. Then I'll meet up with my parents somewhere for lunch. Likely Geyser Point at Wilderness Lodge as it's such a lovely place to relax and have a drink and a bite to eat. The evening will be our last trip to Epcot. We'll have appetizers and dessert at Chefs de France and repeat our favourite F&W booth items.

DAY EIGHT
Another sleep in and low key day....with the option for me to go and rope drop Flight of Passage and then meet my parents at Boma for brunch. The afternoon will either be Disney Springs or the Coronado quiet pools and our traditional last night dinner will be at Jiko.

DAY NINE
We have an early afternoon flight, so breakfast at Coronado before heading to the airport.​