I don't know if there are any Disney obsessed people out there reading...but I am going to Disney World very, very soon, and lately it's all I can think about! Everybody I know, especially my husband, is probably getting tired of listening to me talk about it, so I thought I'd blog about my upcoming trip. And I'm sure I'll blog about it again when we get back...but then, with pictures!
We are lucky enough that soon we will be experiencing a week long stay at the Art of Animation Resort, in a Finding Nemo suite! Art of Animation is considered a value resort, but the suites are far from value prices. We opted to stay here because not only will our little family be going (my husband, myself, and my two daughters, 3 and 5) but my mother and my mother-in-law will also be going. So, we needed space for six people. We didn't want to have two separate rooms, we definitely all wanted to be in the same room. Which meant our options were limited. The deluxe villas were out, they were way above our budget. Which pretty much left the cabins at Fort Wilderness, the suites at All Star Music, or the Art of Animation suites. The cabins were something I thought about for a while. I liked the idea of them. But, I didn't want to have to rent a golf cart to get around the resort, and I wasn't crazy about the set up of the sleeping arrangements. So, it was between Music or AoA. AoA won due to theming and being new. From there, we let the girls select the theme of our suite--they got to choose from Cars, Lion King, and Nemo. Nemo won, and I was very happy because it was my favorite theme as well! My husband could care less. Haha. Anyway, it was a little hard to swallow that the suites are a bit MORE expensive than we would have paid at some deluxes for just the 4 of us (including Animal Kingdom Lodge--my dream resort). But, having our moms here to experience this trip with us and our girls is priceless, so it's worth it to us. There will be plenty more trips and plenty more resorts to stay at. ;)
We have a jam packed schedule! If you're a Disney fanatic like I am, so you probably won't think I'm crazy and are interested in what we're planning on doing. Haha.
I'm not a park commando, I don't have a by the minute or even by the hour plan for us to follow. I've researched via the Disboards, and EasyWDW (great tools for Disney vacationers!) and I do have certain parks planned for certain days. Beyond that, the only things I have planned are ADR's for where we'll be (dining reservations--the good Disney restaurants are impossible to get into if you don't make a reservation in advance, USUALLY) and what ride we will go to first--the most popular rides get lines fast, and sice we plan to arrive at the parks at Rope Drop, we'll go to these first and get them out of the way. Other than that, we'll wing it. See, I'm not TOO bad. And away we go...!
Arrival Day
We hope to be pulling into AoA's parking lot around noon. This is the time we figure my mother-in-law will be getting there--she's flying in and will be riding the Magical Express bus from the airport. Disney is about 7 or 8 hours from us, so we'll start driving the night before and spend the night about 5 hours into the trip.
After check-in, we'll head to Magic Kingdom. I can't be at Disney and my first park (and the one introducing my girls to WDW) NOT be Magic Kingdom! Hopefully we'll be able to spend a good 6 hours in the park that night, depending on when the kids start to get tired. We're definitely renting a stroller, so that will help their stamina, and if they need a quick nap they will probably sleep while we roll them around. But, if they NEED to go back to the room, I won't hesitate to take them. I'm going to try and avoid melt downs as much as possible.
We have reservations at the Plaza for dinner on this night. It's new to us (as are all the restaurants we'll be dining at on this trip), but it is supposed to be a great little sandwich shop/ice cream parlor. We did purchase the Disney Dining Plan, but we will be 2 table service credits short for all of the meals we want to do, so the Plaza is going to be an out of pocket dinner, and the price point here is perfect for this. We'll still get a relaxing sit down meal and yummy food!
Since this is not a full day at the Magic Kingdom, I know we might not get a lot of attractions in. I'm planning on hitting Tomorrowland for sure, because it's so pretty at night. We'll be skipping Astro Orbiter and Stitch. AO scared the crap out of ME last time, b/c it's so high, and I don't think the girls would like Stitch. It's pretty harmless, but they're little and it's an attraction where they won't be able to sit terribly close to any of the adults, so I'm going to play it safe and not do this one. We'll have to use rider swap or fastpass for Space Mountain, which is fine. And all of us will be able to enjoy Carousel of Progress, Tomorrowland Speedway, Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor, and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin!
I'm also hopeful that we'll be able to hit Liberty Square this night, because there are only three attractions. We might skip Hall of Presidents, unless one of our moms really wants to see it. It's not one of our favorites, but defnitely not something we dislike, so we can take it or leave it.
Day Two
Hollywood Studios Day! We'll be up bright and early so we can be there at rope drop, to join in the crowds heading to Toy Story Mania. That's the most popular ride at HS, so it's the one we want to get done first thing. Other than that, we'll meander and hit things as we pass them. I know for sure we will want to see some of the shows: Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Muppets 3D, Indiana Jones, and Disney Junior. We'll let the girls enjoy the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, and the adults will ride Tower of Terror (my FAVORITE) and Rock and Roller Coaster (Hubby's favorite). I'd love to get to the Great Movie Ride, too if we have time, and the Animation Academy. One thing I know I won't ride is Star Tours! My husband and I both had terrible headaches after this ride when we were on our honeymoon. If our moms want to ride it we'll wait on them, but they'll be on their own! We have reservations at 50's Prime Time Cafe this night, which will be our other out of pocket dining experience. It's supposed to be so fun, but not a terribly expensive place, so I think it's a good option to just pay for instead of using our dining credits.
Day Three
This will be a pretty relaxing day, I think. My husband LOVES water parks, so on this day we'll be headed to Typhoon Lagoon. It doesn't open until 10, so we can sleep a bit later! Once I'm there I'll have one thing on my mind...Crush N Gusher! That ride is so much fun. I think hubs and I literally went on it like 20 times during our honeymoon. Ah, the memories.
Our dinner on this night is the Cape May Clam Bake at the Beach Club resort. Another of my husband's request. He loves seafood, and so does his mom. We may stroll on the Boardwalk if we feel up to it after dinner, and just soak in the atmosphere and enjoy being on our vacation.
Okay, this one is probably long enough! I'm write a 2nd post with the rest of our plans. :)
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