Never say Neverland: Easter '18, May/June '18, July '18, Sept '18, Nov '18 TRs (8/22 UPDATE!)

Awesome trip! It seems your reluctant traveler had some fun and hopefully the Imagineer lunch was a great time for him.

I wish we were close enough for short trips but 5+ hours of flight time and three time zones just doesn't work for us. At least I can follow along with you! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks so much! Yes it was a really nice short trip. I'm glad my son seemed to enjoy it as well. The lunch was really fantastic, can't say enough good things about it.

Yeah while I wish we were closer (like within easier driving distance) we do have frequent flights there and we are in the same time zone. Many times you can get flights for $30 one-way, which I've never done yet but I'd love to try sometime in the future.
 
JULY CELEBRATION OF LIFE - THE PLAN

So here is what I have currently for our July trip:

Tues July 3rd
Drive to Autotrain. Plan to leave home by 11am, arrive to station by 1pm latest. Lunch near the station.



Wed July 4th
Arrival in Sanford sometime in the morning; drive to Caribbean Beach Resort and check-in if possible. Lunch (Disney Springs?) then to Hollywood Studios around 3:30pm for dinner and evening rides. Optional break at hotel between dinner and last FP. Fireworks at EPCOT, see 10:30pm Fantasmic! show.

Meal: Dinner @mama Melrose
FP+: 3:35pm RnRC; 4:35pm ToT; 8:20pm: AlienSaucers



Thur July 5th
Early morning at EPCOT (8am-8:30am arrival). Standby ride on Soarin’ and breakfast at Sunshine Seasons. Other rides or walk around World Showcase beginning 11am, making way over to Via Napoli for lunch. Afternoon at waterpark or hotel pool. Back to EPCOT for dinner at Via Napoli (if we didn’t do lunch) or option for off-site birthday dinner. Option: EMH evening at HS or AK.

Meals: Lunch and Dinner ADRs @via Napoli
FP+: 9:45am: Spaceship Earth; 10:45 Test Track; 12:45pm: Mission: Space



Fri July 6th
Early morning at Magic Kingdom (8am-8:30am arrival). Ride 7DMT or BTMRR standby and any other rides until around 10am. Then ride SpaceMt (FP), Splash (FP). Back to resort for lunch/relax/pool time (lunch at Spyglass Grill). Leave at 3:30pm for dinner at ‘OHana. Options: MK at night for 7DMT and other rides; HS evening for Toy Story Land; waterpark evening (8pm closing).

Meals: Dinner @'OHana
FP: 10:25am: SpaceMt; 11:35am: SplashMt; 6:20pm: 7DMT




Sat July 7th
Early morning at Animal Kingdom (8am-8:30am arrival). Ride FP+ rides and any other rides or shows until early lunch/brunch at Tusker House. Resort pool or waterpark after lunch (12pm-4pm). Dinner at Sanaa and evening park time at AK. Maybe catch Rivers of Light finally?

Meals: Breakfast/Brunch @Tusker House; Dinner @sanaa
FP: 9:10am: ExpeditionEverest; 10:10am: Safari; 9:20pm: FlightOfPassage



Sun July 8th
Hollywood Studios early morning (7am-7:30am arrival). Check out Toy Story Land and ride what we can there...possibly SDD first, then AlienSaucers and TSM if haven’t done already. Use FPs for ToT and RnRC. Back to resort for pool/rest or to waterpark. Lunch options at 50s Prime Time or Sanaa. Back to HS around 5pm for dinner at Sci-Fi Dine-In and then Slinky Dog Dash FastPass if not able to ride in the morning.

Meal Options: Lunch@50s Prime Time or Sanaa; Dinner or late dinner/dessert @Sci-Fi Dine-In
FP: 10:25am: ToT; 11:25am: RnRC; 7:20pm: SlinkyDogDash



Mon July 9th

Morning at EPCOT or Magic Kingdom - arrival after 9am. Afternoon break at resort or waterpark, optional bowling or movie at Disney Springs. Dinner back at MK that evening and evening park time until 10pm closing.

Meal: Dinner @The Plaza
FP: 10:25am: PeterPan; 11:45am: BTMRR; 1:10pm: SpaceMt



Tues July 10th

Breakfast and then early morning departure.

*************************

My thoughts about this with two weeks to go: I probably won't tweak this too much more. Overall I'm happy about just about everything. I wish the 'OHana dinner was later, but that was the ONLY one I could get (it's close to 4pm). Our TSL ride FPs are all at weird times and require returning to the park in some cases just to ride (same with FOP) but we can do that if it means avoiding some lines. If we can hit EMH either morning or evening for TSL at HS and get those two new rides knocked out, that would be great. Perhaps the night of July 4th we'll be lucky enough to ride both new TSL rides. We'll stalk MDE to try to move our last FP from that day up a bit, probably during dinner at MM. I would like to THINK we can make those EMH mornings early in trip, but we'll see about that. Making the 7am EMH at HS on Sunday might be tough since it's later in the trip. While I like the somewhat "new" idea of having our last day meal at The Plaza, part of me would love to introduce the family to Skipper Canteen instead.

Before long this trip will be over again and I'll be planning for November. That's crazy to me.
 
Thanks so much! Yes it was a really nice short trip. I'm glad my son seemed to enjoy it as well. The lunch was really fantastic, can't say enough good things about it.

Yeah while I wish we were closer (like within easier driving distance) we do have frequent flights there and we are in the same time zone. Many times you can get flights for $30 one-way, which I've never done yet but I'd love to try sometime in the future.
I feel I am getting a bargain if I can find flights for $200 pp each way!
 


NOVEMBER UPDATE!

So sometime on Friday, I received an email from WDW Reservations...welcoming me HOME! When I get these emails and I have NOT recently booked a room reservation, it means one thing...a room I've waitlisted via DVC has come through!

There were only two waitlists I had (the maximum you can have) and they were for our November trip. They were for either two more nights at Bay Lake Tower (we had 3 nights booked in a 2BR at BLT and 2 nights at SSR) and FIVE nights in a 2BR Savannah View Room at AK Kidani.

Honestly I would have been happy with either. We've stayed at both of these places, but for this Thanksgiving trip we will have my brother and family, including my 4yo and 6yo nephews, with us and they have only stayed at SSR with us Thanksgiving 2016. I wanted them to experience a new resort.

So what did we get...ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE KIDANI VILLAGE! We have a 2BR Savannah View Room so my nephews can step onto the balcony and see GIRAFFES! How cool with that be for them? I still remember our first stay there in May of 2009...it was so cool.

Needless to say, when we visited my brother and family over the weekend in NC I couldn't WAIT to tell them in person about this one. My nephews don't really know but my SIL is certainly excited about it, being an animal lover herself...they do have a small farm after all there.

With this new development, I now had two waitlists open again, and so I've also waitlisted my dad and his girlfriend (that still seems so weird to type) for a studio room at AKL Kidani as well. Here's hoping they get it but if not they will be fine at SSR. I did not request Savannah View for them since I have very limited points left right now.

Very excited about this trip for sure. It might be the next time I even get to see my brother and family. It sucks that they live so far away from us but nothing I can do about that.

****************************

JULY UPDATE

Ok so I was doing a bit of tweaking for our July trip which is a WEEK FROM TODAY as well. I have a few new ADRs in place, but I know we can't do them all. I just read a really good review of Artist Point and that makes me want to try that one now. I think I booked a Yachtsman Steakhouse. Anybody done both and have a preference? I'm not as much of a steak person, but the salmon at AP looked really good. I may not do either of them. I can't even recall what I ended up dropping, if anything. I think right now I have several ADRs per day and I need to weed them out at some point.

I must say, the CM preview reviews I've read of the new Toy Story Land sound pretty...interesting. It sounds like SDD will be a very cool little coaster, might be more fun at night than during the day but right now we are booked for a 7:20pm FP+ on that one, which will still be daylight hours really. We may have to attempt the EMH time there at least once to see the park lit up at night.

So July is looking to be quite busy so far and it appears there are several events that we will be missing due to our scheduled time away. Sorry that I can't help that my planning was so poor. DH and I both had work events we were invited to attend (actually one of his was on Friday) and I think my oldest son is missing a party. I'm sure I won't hear the end of that from him any time soon. We are still really looking forward to this vacation and will have about a month back home to recover before we will head out again...this time to Hawaii! I can't wait to experience Aulani as well, I read so many great things about it and Hawaii overall.







 
I really enjoyed Yachtsman, but there’s a rumor thay Artist Point may be closing/changing sometime soon so if you really wanted to try it, I’d do that.
 


How exciting to get Kidani booked! I love waking up to animals in my back yard.

I have not eaten at Artist Point either but if you at all interested in trying it, do so before it's changed. That said, we did have a nice dinner at the Yachtsman. I'm some help, aren't I?! :D
 
I really enjoyed Yachtsman, but there’s a rumor thay Artist Point may be closing/changing sometime soon so if you really wanted to try it, I’d do that.

Good to know thanks! I've changed it to Artist Point...but of course that's always subject to change as are ANY WDW Plans! ;)


How exciting to get Kidani booked! I love waking up to animals in my back yard.

I have not eaten at Artist Point either but if you at all interested in trying it, do so before it's changed. That said, we did have a nice dinner at the Yachtsman. I'm some help, aren't I?! :D

I know...I think the little boys will LOVE Kidani and seeing animals from their room. Yes I think I'll go with Artist Point perhaps before it changes.

I love both Yachtsman and Artist Point.

Sounds like we really can't go wrong with either one...if we do either one of them at all! :)
\
 
So let's see what I've changed so far...with less than a week to go...changes in RED.


JULY CELEBRATION OF LIFE - THE PLAN v 1.0


Tues July 3rd
Drive to Autotrain. Plan to leave home by 11am, arrive to station by 1pm latest. Lunch near the station.

Wed July 4th
Arrival in Sanford sometime in the morning; drive to Caribbean Beach Resort and check-in if possible. Lunch (Disney Springs?) then to Hollywood Studios around 3:30pm for dinner and evening rides. Optional break at hotel between dinner and last FP. Fireworks at EPCOT, see 10:30pm Fantasmic! show.

Meal: Dinner @mama Melrose
FP+: 3:35pm RnRC; 4:35pm ToT; 8:20pm: AlienSaucers

Thur July 5th
Early morning at EPCOT (8am-8:30am arrival). Standby ride on Soarin’ and breakfast at Sunshine Seasons. Other rides or walk around World Showcase beginning 11am, making way over to Via Napoli for lunch. Afternoon at waterpark or hotel pool. Back to EPCOT for dinner at Via Napoli (if we didn’t do lunch) or option for off-site birthday dinner. Option: EMH evening at HS or AK.

Meals: Lunch and Dinner ADRs @via Napoli
FP+: 9:45am: Spaceship Earth; 10:45 Test Track; 12:45pm: Mission: Space

Fri July 6th
Early morning at Magic Kingdom (8am-8:30am arrival). Ride 7DMT or BTMRR standby and any other rides until around 10am. Then ride SpaceMt (FP), Splash (FP). Back to resort for lunch/relax/pool time (lunch at Spyglass Grill). Leave at 3:30pm for dinner at ‘OHana. Options: MK at night for 7DMT and other rides; HS evening for Toy Story Land; waterpark evening (8pm closing).

Meals: 11:30am: Skipper Canteen; Dinner @'OHana
FP: 10:25am: SpaceMt; 12:10pm: Jungle Cruise (replaces SplashMt FP); 6:20pm: 7DMT

Sat July 7th
Early morning at Animal Kingdom (8am-8:30am arrival). Ride FP+ rides and any other rides or shows until early lunch at Yak & Yeti. Resort pool or waterpark after lunch (12pm-4pm). Dinner at Sanaa and evening park time at AK. Maybe catch Rivers of Light finally?

Meals: Lunch at Yak and Yeti (replaces Tusker House); Dinner @sanaa
FP: 9:10am: ExpeditionEverest; 10:10am: Safari; 9:20pm: FlightOfPassage

Sun July 8th
Hollywood Studios early morning (7am-7:30am arrival). Check out Toy Story Land and ride what we can there...possibly SDD first, then AlienSaucers and TSM if haven’t done already. Use FPs for ToT and RnRC. Back to resort for pool/rest or to waterpark. Lunch options at 50s Prime Time or Sanaa. Back to HS around 5pm for dinner at Sci-Fi Dine-In and then Slinky Dog Dash FastPass if not able to ride in the morning.

Meal Options: Lunch@50s Prime Time or Sanaa; Dinner or late dinner/dessert @Sci-Fi Dine-In
FP: 10:25am: ToT; 11:25am: RnRC; 7:20pm: SlinkyDogDash

Mon July 9th
Morning at EPCOT or Magic Kingdom - arrival after 9am. Afternoon break at resort or waterpark, optional bowling or movie at Disney Springs. Dinner back at MK that evening and evening park time until 10pm closing.

Meal: Dinner @The Plaza
FP: 10:25am: PeterPan; 11:45am: BTMRR; 1:10pm: SpaceMt

Tues July 10th
Breakfast and then early morning departure.


**************

So as you can see no really MAJOR changes. I dropped Tusker House...it's so expensive and we have it booked for November. We've never tried Yak and Yeti so I thought that might be fun...and I'm sure cheaper. I added Skipper Canteen for lunch because we really want to eat there again, but I'm going to warn everybody not to eat too heavy since our dinner that night at 'OHana is early. I dropped the Splash Mt FP and made a JC one instead, because honestly I know my family...not all of them are fond of Splash.


We still need to make a final decision on Via Napoli for lunch or dinner before we get there. If we truly make those early EMH times I'll be shocked. I'd kinda like to try Woody's Lunch Box at new Toy Story Land but I suspect it might be crazy. We most likely won't do BOTH sit downs at HS but we'll see what happens, as that isn't exactly a place where the counter service options are very good.

Weather is expected to of course be hot and humid with chances of thunderstorms every day...not surprising. We'll just need to roll accordingly, which is why we'll have to determine if pool/waterpark time will work out or we just relax elsewhere.

I guess this weekend I'll have to start packing. Definitely looking forward to the trip!
 
Your travel plans look great!
Tim got to do an early preview of Toy Story Land and he was very impressed. He liked both the new rides but felt they were geared more for little kids.
 
Your travel plans look great!
Tim got to do an early preview of Toy Story Land and he was very impressed. He liked both the new rides but felt they were geared more for little kids.

Thanks Jenny! How cool for Tim. I've read all about the new rides of course, but am trying not to read too much as I prefer to be somewhat surprised. While we have FPs for each of the two new rides, they are on different days and I'm sorta hoping we knock them both out on one day to have them done. The crowd reports and times just to get into the new land seem insane! Luckily our first day in that park we arrive later in the day (though on the holiday so that could be ugly) but I'm hoping we at least get to the things we have scheduled (dinner and the 3 FP rides). That day is of utmost importance to all of us.
 
So we are t-minus just over 24 hours until vacation begins. That means about this time tomorrow I'll wrap up work for the day, head home, take our dear puppy dog to my friend's house where she will spend the next week (and probably hate us when we pick her up again because we don't have other doggies at our house that she can play with every day), and then pack up and head out. Since we are taking the Autotrain, it's almost like vacation will start right away for us as the train is a such a fun and unique way to travel. It's so nice to get on the train and be able to move around freely the entire time, enjoy a nice meal together, hang out and just take in the sights as we travel with no need for anybody to deal with driving. Coming home we will have the drive, but the post-vacation drive is usually easier to manage as we are all ready for that downtime after being on the go for so long.

I must say I'm reading the TSL updates...and just WOW. I did have one day where I had a "dream" of us hitting the park during EMH morning, which is stated as 7am right now, but what I'm reading seems to indicate people arriving before 6am and being let in already. Sorry but I just don't see that happening on vacation, even as we do it on a regular basis at home for work.

It seems the daily rainstorms are happening in Florida as usual, so that may alter some of our plans for pool and/or waterpark time. We may have to change up things and hit the waterpark early one or two days, and move our FPs to later in the day instead. Another option we discussed recently was seeing a movie one day. We've never been to the movies in Disney Springs and I think it would be a nice experience, and a way to escape from heat and/or other weather. DS18 would love to see the new Jurassic movie, as would most of us. My DD isn't a big movie fan (unless it's a musical or some kind of chick flick) so we'll see how that goes.

The next few weeks are really going to be quite crazy for me. We will have this vacation, which I know will fly right by and I'm back to work the day after we return, even though we'll most likely get home pretty late (after 11pm I'm sure). I have two days at work, and then I'll most likely be off Friday again to play in a local tennis tournament Friday, Saturday and Sunday (if the team makes it to the finals). The following week I have another 4-day work week as I have one day where I'll be fitting in a few doctor and dental appointments. Plus of course more tennis as usual, as I generally play 2-3 evenings during the week on various teams and then usually 2-3 matches on weekends. I played this past weekend in the 90+ degree heat 3 times but I managed to get through it okay, and I considered it good practice for being out in the Florida heat this week and next week!

Before we know it, August will be here...and we'll be leaving for Hawaii. Then summer will be ending. Seriously it seems like I'll be blinking and it will be done.

Ok so perhaps I'll get to some live updates beginning tomorrow, so stay tuned. I never have luck posting photos from my mobile devices, haven't quite figured that out yet. If I do, I'll happily post some photos as well.

 
I hope you all have a GREAT time and I can't wait to read all about it!

Thanks! A few more hours and vacation will "officially" begin for me, after all of the obligatory last minute stuff I still need to do before we leave of course. :)

Jenny Sanders ^^^ said it all!


Have a wonderful trip!!

THANK YOU both! Funny I just don't seem quite as revved up about this trip, as I told DH this morning. His response? Well MAYBE that's because you were JUST THERE a month ago? :rolleyes1 :scratchin o_O
 
So am I packed? Mostly.

I threw a bunch of stuff into a second/third bag that I really should go through...but haven't...and so I'll need to go home and do that. Some of it could go into my (totally overstuffed already) suitcase I'm sure.

Kids have been assigned some last minute chores for today. Will they get them done?

Cats need prepping a bit, lots of food and water put out for them. I have somebody coming in once a day to feed one of them.

I feel like I should be more excited. I'm just not there yet.

Will I remember to bring the popcorn bucket I forgot to take out? We shall see.

Why can't my husband remember the dates of this trip? (he just asked me again what day we are coming home via chat)

Will I be able to stay awake on the train to enjoy some family time tonight? I just haven't been sleeping very well lately and that includes last night.

Stay tuned....
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top