8 Nights 9 Days - A Vacation that Challenged the Plan (and my sanity)

Enjoying your trip report! So glad you got over your strep throat before traveling!

I didn't know Port Orleans rooms can accommodate 6 guests. What room category was this? We are staying at the Yacht Club and even though they have the pull down bed, it only accommodates 5 guests so we had to book a separate room for the additional guest. Thanks!

The 6th guest is my 1.5 year old daughter who slept in a pack and play. Technically doesn't count against the number of guests in a room so you can get away with it.[/QUOTE]
 
The 6th guest is my 1.5 year old daughter who slept in a pack and play. Technically doesn't count against the number of guests in a room so you can get away with it.
[/QUOTE]

I'm sorry! I misread your post and thought the youngest was 3 so that makes perfect sense! I'll remember that for our next trip in December 2020. We'll have a 9 mo old as part of our party and we wanted to stay at Riverside.
 
@heaven2dc

With Riverside, you're stuck with the Alligator Bayou. You have two choices, try to get as close to the lobby as possible, or get as close to the West Depot as possible. I stayed in between and it was a small hassle of walking a lot. Not a big deal mind you, but there were better spots.

I stayed in Building 28.

427880

If I had a choice, I'd pick building 26 or 34/24. West Depot is the first bus stop on the resort. The lobby or the South Depot is the last.
 
really enjoyed you trip story! I'm definitely gonna be rethinking some of my park order choices. thanks for the insight.
 


Enjoyed reading this! Your date night sounds lovely. Totally agree about hopping not really being worth it with kids - we did our first trip with a kid and stroller this year and I couldn’t believe how exhausting it was just getting on and off the bus and through security with all the stuff. How do these tiny humans need so many things?!
 
Who is in your party and what are your plans?
My girlfriend and I will be traveling there at the end of October for MNSSHP. our trip is 10 days, we have 5 day passes. I was planning on doing full days in each park, and 2 days at the "other" park. The girlfriend is a huge Harry fan, and I get to go to Halloween Horror Nights. and drag her through the scare houses, so win win. My original itinerary was something like this:

Day1: Arrival, offisite hotel, Volcano Bay, Disney Springs for Dinner
Day2: Check-in Wilderness, Universal for Halloween Horror Nights
Day3: Magic Kingdom, Be our Guest, EMH (morning), MNSSHP
Day4: Epcot, food and wine
Day5: Universal/Islands of Adventure
Day6: Off day, pools and resort hopping
Day7: Hollywood Studios, Brown Derby for Dinner
Day8: Animal Kingdom, Tusker House for Dinner
Day9: Magic Kingdom, skipper Canteen for Dinner
Day10: Breakfast, Depart for airport

After reading your trip rundown I feel like either dropping Epcot all together or turning it into a half day. Same deal with AK. I tried conning my girlfriend into ditching one of those days for renting a Corvette and cruising to Canaveral so I can nerd out! and we could relax at the beach. And maybe go to either park for dinner.
I really think we need to make day 4 an off day, because the first few days are incredibly long, and I don't want to burn my lil lady out.
Also a coworker of mine just got back from Universal and told me its really just a one day park, especially with the Flashpass. Which we did purchase, along with Horror Nights passes. Any one have experience with that park?

Im hoping I didnt overload our schedule
 


My girlfriend and I will be traveling there at the end of October for MNSSHP. our trip is 10 days, we have 5 day passes. I was planning on doing full days in each park, and 2 days at the "other" park. The girlfriend is a huge Harry fan, and I get to go to Halloween Horror Nights. and drag her through the scare houses, so win win. My original itinerary was something like this:

Day1: Arrival, offisite hotel, Volcano Bay, Disney Springs for Dinner
Day2: Check-in Wilderness, Universal for Halloween Horror Nights
Day3: Magic Kingdom, Be our Guest, EMH (morning), MNSSHP
Day4: Epcot, food and wine
Day5: Universal/Islands of Adventure
Day6: Off day, pools and resort hopping
Day7: Hollywood Studios, Brown Derby for Dinner
Day8: Animal Kingdom, Tusker House for Dinner
Day9: Magic Kingdom, skipper Canteen for Dinner
Day10: Breakfast, Depart for airport

After reading your trip rundown I feel like either dropping Epcot all together or turning it into a half day. Same deal with AK. I tried conning my girlfriend into ditching one of those days for renting a Corvette and cruising to Canaveral so I can nerd out! and we could relax at the beach. And maybe go to either park for dinner.
I really think we need to make day 4 an off day, because the first few days are incredibly long, and I don't want to burn my lil lady out.
Also a coworker of mine just got back from Universal and told me its really just a one day park, especially with the Flashpass. Which we did purchase, along with Horror Nights passes. Any one have experience with that park?

Im hoping I didnt overload our schedule

You're vacation is different than mine with kids. But just some things to think about from my opinion.

I don't think that I would ever do a park day on a party night. It's like you're paying double for the same thing. Your Day 3 is going to be nothing but crowds from morning to night. Up to you though with your tolerance for those kind of things.

Maybe you can use that extra ticket on your off day for dinner/breakfast and a few attractions in your favorite park.

Epcot F&W is extremely popular, and you shouldn't use my experiences with kids to shade a typical experience at Epcot without kids. If I were doing it, I'd probably show up at lunch or after. That's when the park started getting more crowded.

The rest of your plans are awesome though. It really depends on when you start your day. Full day/rope drop? Or come in at lunch? End of October is great.
 
Loved your trip report! Reading it made me tired! We usually travel in January with our grandson but that will likely end soon as he’s approaching “real school” age.

However we’re heading down shortly for our first adult only trip in 25 years for food and wine! I can’t wait! We love EPCOT, our kids loved EPCOT, and our DGS loves EPCOT. DHS has been the one we skip or half day! We’re from the Gulf Coast and used to the heat and humidity but I’m already dreading the heat!

Glad you had an awesome trip and your planning was amazing!
 
Loved your report! It is interesting to see how trips change when the family dynamic changes. I remember all too well lugging so much around so my kids had every item they could possibly ever need. Stashing a bunch of saved food from meals under the stroller, then forgetting about it. Praying for no melt downs. People darting in front of the stroller and then getting mad at me if they got clipped. I could go on and on. Now my girls are 9 and 13 and it is so much easier!!! Of course there are certain things I miss from the earlier trips, but now we love letting them help us plan the trips. They can go rope drop to park close now too. I will say I'm doing my first August trip next year so it will be interesting to see how they do. We did used to do Labor Day week trips so I'm sure it would be similar and we are from the south so we are a bit used to it.
 
Glad you had a great trip and a bonus of date night!!! Can't go wrong there. August is tough. That humidity! By the time you make if for your next trip you are going to definitely be a trip planner pro.

I actually really like Epcot but we are skipping it in December. I am glad to see they are working on some upgrades. We will pick it up again in February for the Festival of the Arts.

Enjoy planning your next trip!
 
That was a wonderful trip! Thanks for posting.

I laughed at "Epcot proper is dead. It feels like a NJ mall from the 80s". The outdated theming is sad (Sunshine Seasons, Land Pavilion, Electric Umbrella area, empty innovations/ seedy conference halls, etc) but I still LOVE Epcot. So happy it's getting an overhaul. It's my fav park along with AK. Park preferences change depending on the ages of your party and touring style. WDW is special due to that variety with options for everyone at different points thru life.

We went once in August and never again! Didn't help that I was sick with my first very bad sinus infection but the weather irritated everybody. Just not as enjoyable as other months, not even close.
 
We went once in August and never again! Didn't help that I was sick with my first very bad sinus infection but the weather irritated everybody. Just not as enjoyable as other months, not even close.

Sounds like my trip! Thanks for reading.
 
I love your trip report! Thank you for writing it. For the most part, we only go on adults only trips now and have a blast! Have you though about renting DVC points? The full kitchen and the washer/dryer make for a much more relaxed trip.
 

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