Spur of the Moment trip - NOV 2014 - 18 days out!

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This is my first attempt at making a trip report. I thought that it would be fun to attempt at putting one together. I have received many suggestions from everyone here regarding some of the most often overlooked things to do.

Our Background:

Disney for us is about making memories. We took a trip back in Nov 2009 with our son who was 3 at the time. We had the best week in our entire lives. We brought his cousin who was the same age as him along with us. Sadly, in the summer of 2011 he suddenly unexpectedly passed away. Disney will always hold a special place in our hearts because of so many precious memories that we had with our son. If he could have had anything he ever wanted, this week long trip was it!

These are a few memories from our trip in 2009 and why Disney for us truly is the happiest place on Earth.



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Fast forward to this month, November 2014. We had decided to visit family in NC for Thanksgiving. I mention to my DW "Since we are already halfway there, what would you think about taking the kids to Disney World?"

So that set the ball in motion, planning a week long trip 18 days out, all on a spur of the moment! Both my wife and I are Disney Addicts! Thankfully we were able to find rooms at Shades of Green and we are thankful that Disney has once again this year renewed their Military discounted tickets.

So, here is what I have been able to hastily put together for our family's trip. We are driving down from Buffalo, NY with a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a 9 month old!

 

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Intro

Pre Planning

Drive Down/Day 1

Day 2 - Animal Kingdom

Day 3 - EPCOT

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Day 5 - Hollywood Studios

Depart WDW

 

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After getting a late start on setting up our Fast Passes due to our last minute decision, we were still able to get most of what we wanted, even only being 18 days away from check in.

I purchased my tickets from Shades of Green and was able to link the vouchers to My Disney Experience so that we could start reserving our Fast Passes. Sadly, we were too late in planning to purchase Magic Bands to link up, but we will have to do that on Day 1 at either Shades of Green or, most likely, Down Town Disney. We do not need the Magic Bands, but we wanted to experience the whole package and like the aspect of the bands. I can't wait to see their faces once they have their own "Mickey Bracelets."

We really wanted to attend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party while we were down there this time. Thankfully tickets were still available for when we wanted to go. One other item that we find invaluable is the Memory Maker photo pass. I purchased it ahead of time for $149.00. I did not read all of the fine print, as the 30 day window that you have to view your photos starts 3 days after you prepay for the MemoryMaker, not 30 days after the 1st photo is taken as are the ones that you purchase for $199 at the parks. When you prepay for the Memory Maker, you cannot use it for the first three days after the purchase. When you buy the Memory Maker at the parks, you can use it immediately. If you do buy it ahead of time at the cheaper rate, make sure you do it at least 4 days prior to your 1st day at the parks.

We have the Disney Visa and used our Disney Reward points to buy the Memory Maker. We will also use the Disney Reward card to pay for the Sleigh ride at Ft. Wilderness and to purchase the Memory Bands. The rest of the rewards we will save for our next trip (planning 3 years from now) and it should pay for our rooms, tickets, and Dining Plan. We usually end up between $600-$700 in rewards points each year.

So, what we were able to tentatively set up for our Fast Passes:

Tuesday, November 18, 2014 - Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park
Kilimanjaro Safaris®
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
It's Tough to be a Bug!®
12:55 PM - 1:55 PM
Festival of the Lion King
2:30 PM - 2:50 PM


Wednesday, November 19, 2014 - Epcot®
The Seas with Nemo & Friends®
11:55 AM - 12:55 PM
Living with the Land
1:05 PM - 2:05 PM
Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot
2:20 PM - 3:20 PM



Thursday, November 20, 2014 - Magic Kingdom® Park
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin®
9:35 AM - 10:35 AM
Meet Tinker Bell at Town Square Theater
11:10 AM - 12:10 PM
Jungle Cruise®
12:50 PM - 1:50 PM

7:00 PM - 12:00 AM - Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party



Friday, November 21, 2014 - Disney's Hollywood Studios®
For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Star Tours® – The Adventures Continue
10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
The Great Movie Ride®
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM


We are not doing the Dining Plan, so advance dining reservations were not an issue. We had the Dining Plan one time and we really found it to be too much food for us. We ended up with so many credits left over that we had trouble using them all and splurged on dozens of snacks at Down Town Disney to take back with us on the drive home. It is nice for Table Service, as there is no way we would ever be able to afford to eat that way each day. Thankfully our room at Shades of Green has a refrigerator so we can pack lunches and snacks to take with us. Our Toddlers are picky, so this just works out better for us and DW and I can share an appetizer or two at a Table Serve if we so choose.

I think on our last day at Hollywood Studios, once we finish the frozen sing along that we will cancel the rest of our Fast Passes and try for some of the ones that had already issued out the max number of Fast Passes online. It's worth a shot.

 

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We have decided to leave on Saturday evening, driving down from Buffalo, NY to NC. In our experiences, the overnight is a lot easier with the toddlers and infant for long drives, as in this case 11 hours.

We plan to arrive in NC on Sunday morning. We will most likely leave late at night or very early Monday morning, as it is an 8 hour drive to Disney. We would like to get there in the late morning 9am - 10am range.

Here is our itemized Day 1 plans:

-Arrive at Shades of Green to retrieve our 4 day Park Hopper vouchers.
-Head to Down Town Disney and exchange vouchers for park tickets.
-Purchase Magic Bands for the group, link or activate the Magic Bands to our tickets and our Fast Pass reservations.

By now it will be early lunch time and we are thinking of eating at Splitsville. It will be early and possibly we can have a game of bowling with the kids.

After lunch it should be time to check in to our rooms at Shades of Green. After we are all set with our room, we will take the Disney bus transportation to The Cabins at Fort Wilderness.

Here we have the following activities planned:​

Looking at all of the animals, to include the horses used for the MK parades, at the ranch.
Playgrounds for the kids to play on since the 2 days of long drives, Pony Rides, Horse drawn Sleigh ride through the woods and the Cabins area
Camp fire with Chip and Dale, complete with roasting marshmallows, Watch the Electrical Pageant

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By now it will probably be time to head back to Shades of Green resort, across the street from the Polynesian Resort. Shades of Green is formerly known as The Golf Resort. Shades of Green is surrounded by two PGA Championship Golf Courses, Disney's Palm and Magnolia as well as the nine hole Oak Trail. Both have a driving range and putting green. We could take the bus and catch a connecting bus to Shades of Green, take a bus to the MK and take the Monorail to the Polynesian and walk across the street to Shades of Green, or take the ferry to the MK and take the Monorail.

 

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Our day starts with a full breakfast at the Resort. We don't plan to get up too early. We just figure that whenever the kids wake up, we'll go to breakfast and then off to Animal Kingdom.

Fast Passes for Animal Kingdom:

11:15am - Kilimanjaro Safaris
12:55pm - It's Tough to be a Bug
2:30pm - Festival of the Lion King

Some of the things that we really would like to do with the kids while in the park:
The Boneyard
Dino-Sue
Conservation Station
Wilderness Explorers
Wildlife Express Train
Finding Nemo - The Musical
Flights of Wonder
And the parade, however I am reading conflicting information if the parade is currently ongoing.

For lunch, I always must stop at the Tusker House Restaurant. I lived in Kenya for a year and love to converse in the limited Swahili that I still speak.

Once the park is closed, 5pm today, we have tossed around the idea of heading over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and maybe having dinner there. We wanted to see the sights of the Resort, as a DVC contract purchase at this resort is continually talked about. Another option would be to head to either MK or EPCOT. If the weather is nice, then we will probably head back to the resort and have a family swim in the pool. Things really depend upon the moods of the little ones.

 

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Our day starts with a full breakfast at the Resort. We don't plan to get up too early. We just figure that whenever the kids wake up, we'll go to breakfast and then off to EPCOT.

Fast Passes for EPCOT:

11:55am - The Seas with Nemo and Friends
1:05pm - Living with the Land
2:20pm - Meet Disney Pals at the Character Spot

Some of the things that we really would like to do with the kids while in the park:

Behind the Seeds (our toddlers love plants and animals), we figure this tour would be great right after our Living with the Land Fast Pass although it will be an extra $56.00.
Candlelight Processional (if available, I've seen that it doesn't start until after Thanksgiving).
Journey Into the Imagination with Figment-this is one of their favorites
Spaceship Earth
Turtle Talk with Crush
SeaBase
Project Tomorrow
Kidcot Fun Stops-the kids will really have fun making their own souvenirs
Grand Fiesta
Ellen's Energy Adventure
British Revolution
Canadian Lumberjacks
Jeweled Dragon Acrobats
Evening fireworks

Places that we are certainly going to eat at is in Morocco at Restaurant Marrakesh or Tangierine Cafe and in Norway at Kringla Bakery.

We figure on EPCOT, since the park is open late, that we will head back to Shades of Green for an afternoon nap with the kids. We would like to go back again in the late afternoon / early evening and complete some more character meet and greets and spend more time in the aquarium and other major rides that the kids would like. DW and I also talked about just keeping the kids in the double stroller as they napped, which would allow us the freedom to experience each of the countries. It really all depends on the crowds and what our mood is.

Also when were were at Disney World for 2 weeks for Christmas and New Years this past year, in Morocco there was a really good belly dance show where all of the kids had the opportunity to dance to the music and the belly dancers. This is something that we would like to catch again. All of the kids really enjoyed this show.

 

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This is the day that we are most excited for, and the longest. There are extra magic hours from 8am-9am, regular park hours from 9am-7pm, and then MVMCP from 7pm-Midnight.

We will start with using the extra magic hours in the morning (possibly waiting standby at Meet Elsa and Anna which open at 9am). We will skip breakfast at the resort, but pack accordingly.


Fast Passes for Magic Kingdom:
9:35am - Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
11:10am - Meet Tinkerbell at the Town Square
12:50pm - Jungle Cruise

Our children's favorite characters are Tinkerbell, Jessie, Mickey, and Minnie.

This is going to be a long day for us, as we have MVMCP in the evening hours.

We will most certainly be taking a nap at the resort in the afternoon to break up the day.

The activities that we want to make sure that we get to do are:​

Character Meet and Greets:
-Meet Anna and Elsa at Princess Fairytale Hall
-Meet Buzz at Tommorwland
-Meet Disney pals as circus stars at Pete's Silly Sideshow
-Meet Tinkerbell at Townsquare Theater
-Meet Mickey at Townsquare Theater
-Meet Toy Story friends near Splash Mountain

Parades (our kids LOVE watching all of the parades):
-Festival of Fantasy parade
-Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It! Street Party
-Main Street Electrical Parade (If available)

Fireworks:
-Wishes nighttime spectacular

Live shows:
-Main Street Philharmonic
-Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Tutorial
-Dream Along with Mickey
-The Royal Majesty Makers
-Nightly Flag Retreat

Rides / Attractions:
-Astro Orbiter
-Cinderella's Castle
-Frontierland Shootin' Arcade
-It's a Small World
-Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
-Mickey's Philharmagic
-Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor
-Peter Pan's Flight
-A Pirate's Adventure - treasure hunt
-Tomorrowland Speedway
-Tomorrowland People Mover
-Disney Railroad
-Pirates of the Carribean

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party:​

Character dance parties (dressed in their Christmas outfits)
Character Meet & Greets (dressed in the Christmas outfits)
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime parade
Celebrate the Season Stageshow
Holiday Wishes Fireworks​

 

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This is probably our kids' favorite park. They love Star Wars and the Toy Story ride. They really love the live shows as well.

Fast Passes for Hollywood Studios:
9:00am - First the Time in Forever: Frozen Sing-Along
10:15am - Star Tours
11:30am - The Great Movie Ride

These are the things that we really want to do at Hollywood Studios:​

Live Shows:
-Beauty and the Beast Live-on Stage
-Disney Junior - Live-on Stage
-Jedi Training Academy
-Voyage of the Little Mermaid


Character Meet n Greets:
-Meet Buzz and Woody at Pixar Palace
-Meet Mike and Sully near Streets of America
-Meet the Incredibles and other Disney characters at The Magic of Disney Animation

Other Events:
-Osborne Family Dancing Lights
-Honey I Shrunk the Kids movie set adventure
-Muppetvision 3D
-Toy Story Midway Mania
-Wandering Oaken's Frozen Snowground

This park does close early, 8pm each day that we are here and the Osborne Family Lights is from 6pm-8pm each evening. We figure once the park closes, we could head over to EPCOT to catch the fireworks if the kids still choose to do so. This will be our last day and EPCOT has the extra late hours, so we will probably take advantage of that.

 

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Check out is 11:00am at the resort. So after a few long days we will probably sleep in a bit. Breakfast at the resort before checking out. Once we check out, we are tossing around a few ideas.

We could head to Down Town Disney, like we usually do on our last day, or I was thinking about heading over to Caribbean Beach Resort and playing a round of mini golf at Fantasia Gardens and Fairways Miniature Golf.

Then after that we will make the 8 hour drive back to NC and stay with family through Thanksgiving. After the holiday, it's back to Buffalo!

Does anyone else have any ideas on what to do on the last day?

 

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We will be leaving in 3 days! It is getting really difficult to keep this secret from the kids...

 

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I've been really watching the Disney website these last few days, hoping that some of the Fast Passes that we had wanted would open up. Thankfully, we have had a few that did!

We were able to find a Mickey meet and greet Fast Pass in MK. We swapped that with the Jungle Cruise that we originally had. (Major score!)

Another one that opened up was for Toy Story Midway Mania! We swapped that with the Star Tours ones that we had. Another major score! We also switched The Great Movie Ride with Disney Junior Live on Stage. Our kids love Disney Jr. with Jake and The Neverland Pirates.

Now, if only Anna and Elsa would open up, then we would have everything that we had wanted. A&E are the most sought after Fast Passes from reading through all of the forums.

 

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Finally arrived in Disney! The kids did really well with sleeping in the van overnights. DW and I, not so much. We will have to tweak that somehow for future trips.

Thank you to everyone for your help, tips, and suggestions. I am thrilled to say that by following your help that we were able to get Fast Passes for Anna and Elsa (at 5 days out!)

Once we get settled in, I will update with our iternary changes and the Shades of Green report. One thing that I found to also be a tremendous help was by reading other trip reports.

Kids are still snoozing and we still haven't told them!

 

[mdsouth]

Finally arrived in Disney! The kids did really well with sleeping in the van overnights. DW and I, not so much. We will have to tweak that somehow for future trips.

Thank you to everyone for your help, tips, and suggestions. I am thrilled to say that by following your help that we were able to get Fast Passes for Anna and Elsa (at 5 days out!)

Once we get settled in, I will update with our iternary changes and the Shades of Green report. One thing that I found to also be a tremendous help was by reading other trip reports.

Kids are still snoozing and we still haven't told them!

S
I just found your report! So cool that everything lined up for you. Amazing that you scored Anna and Elsa fastpasses. The kids must be ecstatic!
Looking forward to reading more. Have
A great day!