Disney Adventure 2017
13 day trek across the lower southeastern states
Quotes:
Happy Harveys’
How much longer
Where are we?
Can we swim at the pool?
Where are we eating?
I’m hungry
I’m past hungry
(We must have seen HAN-gry 17 times!)
Kids Disney surprise
quotes (before/after reveal):
Why are we driving in Disney World?
Are we going to Disney?
I wish we could go to Disney. We are already here.
We’re going right now? Why right now…it’s so late! (Cale)
Disney for 4 days! (Reece)
Dissssneeeeyy!!!
We're at Disney! This is crazy!! :)
Reece made friends on every ride, in every single line.
Cale hated drops in general.
Magic Kingdom: (several are repeated below)
Rides for fast passes: Space Mountain, Seven Dwarf Mine
Train, Peter Pan, Pirates, Splash Mountain, Railroad, Buzz Lightyear
Other cool stuff: Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse
Eats: Crystal Palace-character dinner, Dole Whip (stand),
Cinderella’s Royal Table- (didn’t do this but have heart it’s a cool experience
but $$)
DISNEY TIPS:
Download the Disney
app to your phone!
Book your fast passes
in advance:
Using a travel agent gets you 60-90 day access to
book them early before your trip
Book them back to back. Use the 3 up early in the day then
you will have more to use through the rest of your day at each park.
Do the Dining
Package: easily pays for itself, then some! Know how many quick service,
snacks, and sit down/table dinners you have for the entire time. Plan that out,
booking table service meals/character dinners AS SOON AS you book your trip.
These places fill fast and your reservation ensures that you have a spot and AC
in the hot parts of the day! Dinners were nice breaks for the outside. This
particular package is so nice when you don’t want to think about $ once your in
the park.
Do the Photo
Pass/Memory Maker: All the pictures you take in the park are covered and
download straight to your app! Remember to download your pictures once your
home by the date they tell you!
Get up close for
Magic Kingdom fireworks on the upper right side of the castle. Tinkerbell
flys over you at the end and makes for some great pictures. Get there 1 hour
before the 9pm show to get your seat. I managed to find a spot for us 40
minutes before one but it was a process!
Buy Disney Gift Cards
in the Months before you go from Walmart, Target, Sams, etc. That way you have
money set aside before you go. We gave these to the kids for money they got to
spend on stuff they wanted. Super helpful to give them $$ and YOU hang onto it.
Save on the Disney
Hotel: Before you read this, stay where you want. I’m very logical and if
you’re at the park from 7-8am-11pm to midnight daily, save your Monday and use
an All-Star Disney resort room. You sleep and shower there, literally nothing
else. The kids used the pool one night and it was HUGE with a good gift shop
and dining hall with free drinks in the cup that is included on the dining
package. The cup is free refills only at your resort hotel, not the parks. BUT
take it with you to the park. Pour your drink in it from lunch. The cups are
huge and some places that are quick service allowed free refills.
Magic Kingdom:
Opening show for the
day- front of cinderella’s castle
Fast Passes:
7 Dwarf Mine Train
Buzz Lightyear
Splash Mountain
Railroad
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Peter Pan
Space Mountain
Fun rides/ shows (no
fast pass if wait is short):
Barnstormer
Dumbo- cool indoor
play area at this is optional
Pooh
Magic Carpets
Astro Orbit: if
you hate heights it might get you. It did me and rode it at night. I personally
did not appreciate that it angled slightly being up that high and would not
ride it again. This is the only ride I feel this way about. J
Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse
Stitch Show
Laugh Floor (Monsters Inc)
Small World (long, cool ride, indoor for most lines if its
raining)
Animal Kingdom:
Have a fast pass for
Flight of Avatar. GREAT RIDE! One of the BEST! Cale hated it because of
thrill/drops. It’s all 3D, so if you hate that you can CLOSE YOUR EYES, which
he quickly learned…once he finally listened. J
He tried to crawl out but literally you can’t easily thank goodness.
Tusker House is
where we did a character safari lunch. Great buffet and good AC. Arrive at your
reservation time and check-in, expect a short wait.
Yak & Yeti:
quick service- most counters can give you gluten free options, so just ask.
Starbucks: There’s
one at every park. You can use a “snack” for this! A bonus because I needed
coffee day 2-4!
Rides to Fast Pass:
Kilomanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest,
Avatar, Navari Jungle Cruise (Pandora), Dinosaur
Tree Awakening:
Check times. Starts at 9pm and goes every 10 minutes
River of Life:
Night boat lightening Parade (10:30pm if your not exhausted by this point)
Hollywood Studios:
Jedi Training:
through 12 years old. Arrive at the park early!! 2.5 hours before it opens or
make breakfast reservations at Hollywood and Vine to get in park early. They
only take a certain amount of “Jedi’s” daily so get there to sign them up.
Eats: Drive-In
(eat in the old cars)
Hollywood & Vine (character dinner)
Backlot Express (Star Wars quick service lunch)
Fast Pass:
Tower of Terror
Aerosmith Rockin’ Roller Coaster (check the height limit-
Cale was 44” and couldn’t ride it)
Toy Story Mania (SOOO much fun you have to do it 2-3 times!)
Star Tours
Fun Stuff:
Storm Trooper March: parade that open the day in AM
Indiana Jones Epic Stunts
Star Wars: Launch Bay- meet the characters!
Beauty and the Beast: check times; for us they were before
2pm so catch it early
Fantasmic: night show
Star Wars Fireworks: 9pm- awesome but overlaps with
Fantasmic times a bit
FROZEN (sing-a-long):
this was my pick! AND PROBABLY one of the FUNNIEST things I’ve gone to. The 2
hosts are SNL great! Do not miss it especially if you like the music already.
Such a fun time! (Times run throughout the day.)
Epcot/Magic Kingdom
Day Split: (Day 4):
Sorry if you like this place. It was fine, but not for me. I’m
a saver and next trip I will not save time for this park unless the kids just
want Test Track again. I’m glad I didn’t give it any more than 3.5 hours on the
last day.
Rides:
Test Track: This
is why you go!! Get there early. We did our fast passes at lunch and on at
Magic Kingdom. You cannot book fast passes at multiple parks. Epcot opened at 8
and we walked very briskly to the back left corner to this ride for a 30 min or
less wait. GREAT RIDE! Build your own race car and then “test” it out!
Spaceship Earth:
Within the famous Epcot ball. Cool ending to the ride.
Soaring: Jody and
Reece did this. Cool quick world tour in a hang glider.
Nemo: Cale and I
did this. Very special time with my little guy. He’s still a fan of the movie
he’s loved as long as he’s been alive. Nemo ride, walk through aquarium
section, and do turtle talk show (~10-15 minutes).
Extras to Take into
the Park:
-Ponchos: it rains a
lot so be prepared!
-Camel Back for water (saved us in the 90 min wait lines
when fast passes were not available)
-Water bottles/spray fans
-Chilly Pads
-Extra snacks, Gatorade
-If you have small kids take a stroller! There is stroller
parking everywhere across the park. Have a stroller with folding ability,
making it easier to go through buses and check points at the parks. Cale was 6
and rode the whole time. He traded Reece whose 9 when she was super tired from
all the walking. Animal Kingdom for us was exhausting and many things were back
and forth and seemed spread out.
-Take 2 power sources to charge your phone. Switch them to
LOW Battery source under settings to save charge. We had 2 charged power packs
and used them daily; charge them back up at night.
-Tennis shoes are a must. Flip flops are pain waiting to
happen. Do not do it. You’re gone too much of the day to mess with anything but
tennis shoes that are supportive. There were people in wedges, flops, converse,
etc that just were not great choices when you’re doing multiple days in the
park. No jellie sandals. You’re asking for blisters galore!
Savannah, GA
Historic Downtown
Wormsloe Plantation
entrance for the famous tree lined drive shot! (This for me was epic!)
Hilton Head, SC
Beach House Resort- highly recommend this place
Good pool, poolside movies for kids, good eats, live bands,
beach access is direct from the pool.
Catch 22: dinner
Doughboy Pizza: great chopped salads and pizza
Bonus Stops &
Visits:
Duck Commander
Monroe, LA
Kristin & Jonathan
Fairhope, AL
Pier, Lunch, and Mr. Gene’s Beans
Destin, FL
Beach!!
Ole Miss Stop to visit Cara & Brian
Oxford, MS
Big Bad Breakfast is the best!
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