I'm still in the process of working out which rides to try and get a Fastpass for (and thankfully I have a few months to work on that before our 60 day window). But I thought I would share what we have planned so far since its changed from when I first initially started planning the trip.
As you know the "Cast of Characters" has changed to just my oldest daughter, my husband and myself. Unless we find a really, really (really) good deal on a flight we will be traveling the 14 hours from Virginia to Florida by car.
We will leave early on a Friday morning, and drive until we get to Savannah GA, where we will spend the night at one of their local Hampton Inn and Suites. We have stayed at HIAS several times over the years and have never had a complaint with them.
Then early Saturday morning we will depart for Orlando. Of course no trip across the "border" for us is complete without first stopping at the Welcome Center! Got to get that "Welcome to Florida" picture in LOL.
From Savannah we are about 4 hours (and some change) to Orlando. We will probably check into the All Star Sports Resort (if the rooms are available) and then head to Disney Springs for the day (if we can keep hubby away from the outlets and flea markets).
Later that evening we are scheduled to meet up with my other daughter and her husband for dinner at Ohana's (and hopefully a ride around the monorail to resort hop, and catch a glimpse of Magic Kingdom and Epcot. A lot of this will depend on how tight security has become now that they have made the new changes).
Bright and early Sunday morning my daughter and I (and possibly the hubby if he gets up in time) will head to Magic Kingdom for the "rope drop". This is where I have to decide (and hopefully get) which rides to book a Fastpass for. My thoughts at the moment are to get a Fastpass for The Mine Train Ride and Haunted Mansion, and possibly the Pooh Ride because its my daughter's favorite (and try and see The Pirates and Jungle Cruise first thing in the morning before the lines get crazy). We have lunch already set at the Be Our Guest Restaurant for that day, so at the moment our plan is to spend as much time as possible (depending on the crowds, not to mention the heat lol). We are not big thrill ride people so Splash Mountain and Space Mountain are not on the list. I know most people do not consider Splash Mountain a "thrill ride" but my family tried it the first time we went to Disney and never got back on again. I never recovered from that drop or my butt coming out of the seat (and my mom threatened to kill me after we got off. nough said lol)
Of course time will tell if this pans out! If crowds get to bad we will head out for a bit of rest and then head to Animal Kingdom later in the day to try and catch the Festival of The Lion King and just take in the atmosphere of Animal Kingdom. Since we have a five day hopper we can be a bit flexible with our schedule. And since I know from experience how hot it can be in Florida in August the "plan" is to enjoy the trip, but not kill ourselves trying to see everything. We will be back again LOL.
Monday is a full park day (with some rest periods in between...which for us may mean leaving the park and going shopping lol). As of right now I have us entering the Disney Studios early morning hopefully to catch Toy Story Mania (which will be a first for us), Star Tours and The Little Mermaid (and Muppet Mania of course). My "plan" is to catch The Great Movie Ride early or later that day (or on another day depending on how things go). Again, since we don't do thrill rides we will be skipping the Tower of Terror, and Rockin Roller Coaster. Midday we will leave the park and either take a break or take the Friendship boat from Hollywood Studios over to the Boardwalk and then to Epcot for the rest of the day. If it gets to hot or crowded we will probably head to one of the outlets or flea markets (preferably the one with air lol). Then we will probably head back to Epcot for the evening. I've even heard that later at night you might get lucky and get into Frozen in the stand-by line. I will try and test that theory at least once on this trip...but on our main day at Epcot my plan is to get a Fastpass for Frozen.
Tuesday morning we will head to Animal Kingdom Early morning to catch Its Tough To Be A bug, and the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. I am not a big fan of the Avatar movie but I know with its opening less then a few months before our trip that if I want experience at least one the new rides on Pandora land I will have to get an advance Fastpass. This may mean missing Dinosaur this year or catching it in a stand by line (one which hopefully won't be extremely long). If time allows we will also try and see Finding Nemo. We have never ridden the Kali River Rapids, so if we are going to....August is most definitely the time to do it. LOL That evening we will head to Magic Kingdom (Lord willing, after a break...maybe back at Disney Springs, and after dinner at Giordanno's .
If you noticed, I have not said a lot about dining because we probably won't eat in the park that often (although I do have a list of places I would like to try), my husband prefers eating outside the park (I mean, it is actually cheaper in most cases if you are just looking for some burger and fries lol). And I have this "wish list" of Disney snacks I would like to try this go around. My daughter and I intentionally booked at a Disney resort so that if hubby wanted to leave the parks (and we didn't lol) he could and we would still have access to transportation. Again, time will tell how this all pans out! I will have a post next week highlighting some of my "possible" dining choices and the snacks I would like to try this trip.
Wednesday has always been a great day for our family to visit Epcot (and we have been known to stay all day...minus the small break to get something to eat lol). The "plan" for the day is to once again get into the parks early, head to Test Tracks (and then the Land to ride Soarin and hopefully the Under the Seas Adventure ride). A stop at The Cool Station is another family favorite that we will have to be sure to squeeze in. My daughter who will not be with us on this trip, loves Figment so if we don't get to ride this trip it will not be that big a deal. This is the day I hope to get a Fastpass for Frozen (crossing the fingers). Haven't quite decided what other rides to get a Fastpass for yet (still doing my research) and then we will just "explore" World Showcase. I do know I would like to see the Boardwalk at night so we may head out for the afternoon then return later in the day to explore the Studios before heading back to Epcot for the evening (when the fireworks start we will probably hit the Friendship boats to the Boardwalk (maybe for some ice cream at Beaches) before heading back to the resort (or more then likely shopping with the hubby) before hitting the sack for the night.
Two things that I quite haven't figured out how to "add" into my schedule, but that I would really like to do is catch the riverboat from Disney Springs over to the French Quarter to check out the resort. I also have this crazy idea to ride the Orlando Eye (my daughter has already told me her dad and I will have to do this one on our own, but that she is willing to take video and photo shots from the ground lol). Perhaps on one of the days hubby is not interested in going back to the park my daughter and I can take the bus from one the parks to the French Quarter resorts, do a bit of exploring and then catch the boat to Disney Springs and have hubby meet us there. Then we could try out one of the many food offerings at the Springs (more and that in a later blog post).
Our last full day at WDW is on Thursday. Which, I don't know about you but that is probably the saddest day in the world ! By the end of the week my family is usually ready to leave...but not me (hence part of the reason they call me DisneyCyndi AKA the Disneyqueen...because I could live at Disney if I could afford it lol).
Thursday we plan to hit Magic Kingdom with a vengeance (we always start and end our trips at MK and Epcot if we can). I don't have any of that day planned out in my head yet, but more then likely we will try to hit up some of the characters up and also catch some of the classic rides (like the People Mover and Carrousel of Progress). I'm still trying to decide if Peter Pan is worth me using one of my Fastpass tickets on but I have a bit more time to decide. We will more then likely head to Epcot (via the monorail), probably after the afternoon parade for a last look and that evening end our trip with the Castle show at Magic Kingdom before heading back to our room for the night. We will also need to pack up for the sad return home.
Of course I can't leave Disney without one breakfast meal so this year we have Priority Seating at Boma's early that morning before the very long trip back to Virginia (we usual stop overnight when we are heading to Florida, but for some crazy reason...maybe because all of our money has been spent lol, we usually drive the 14 hours back home at the end of the week. The difference now is that the daughter can help drive). LOL
And there you have it folks!! Just think, this is only the pre-trip report! I cannot wait until August to really share my favorite place in the world!
