A Spring Adventure: Wilderness, Flowers, and the Force (with Cam and Luke) PTR Updated 5/22 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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A Spring Adventure: Wilderness, Flowers, and the Force (with Cam and Luke) PTR Updated 5/22
My countdown calendar say 67 days until our next WDW adventure, and since my excitement is building, let’s get this pre-trip report started.
Time:As many of you know, annually the Matthews trek home the first couple of weeks in June. We’ve been doing this since June of 2003, but now that both Luke and I are retired, every month of the year is a possibility. As so many PassPorters, this winter has been harsh here in northwestern Kentucky. The school system I used to formerly work for has missed as of this week 16 days of school and will be going through the first full week of June, even though they started the first week of August. That is one very long school year, and if I were not retired, it would have infringed on our usual time for the annual trek home.
Shortly after we got back from our October trip, Luke felt it was time to begin planning for the spring/summer trip. We discussed going at our usual time, but then realized if we could go a little earlier then we’d miss a bit of the heat and humidity as well as the crowds. Initially, we backed up to the last week of May, but we weren’t too pleased with the crowd levels for that time on touringplans.com. While I checked crowd levels, Luke looked for resort availability on the DVC website. We knew since we were going earlier we wanted to be there for the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. A first for us and one of our WDW bucket list items. With that in mind, we moved to the first of the month, and almost thought we had our dates.
But then we wondered if we would be disappointed if we weren’t there for Star Wars Weekends. Since our summer trip has coincided with SWW since 2003 (11 experiences total), there was a good chance we’d be bummed at not being there. So now we needed to check crowd levels and resort availability for a time that would include both F&GF and SWW. When all the information on SWW started coming out, we were pleased that we’d kept it as part of our adventure. Even though we weren’t ready to book flights yet, Luke wanted to check out when the best times to flight might be.
With all the criteria established (F&GF, SWW, May, lower crowd levels, and best airfare rates) plus our optimal stay set at 8 nights/9 days, we finally set our dates. Any guesses???
> > > > > >
Monday, May 12 through Tuesday, May 20
F&GF will be in its final week and bonus is that festival merchandise is usually 50% of that whole week. I’ll later share some of the items I hope to purchase.
The first SWW weekend will be at the end of our adventure.
Predicted Crowd Levels of 3 or 4 for the first three days and last two days with levels of 5 or 6 in the middle.
Our best airfare options came to flight on a Monday or Tuesday, which works for us both going and coming.
Yea...another Cam and Luke trip report!!!
I especially like the 50% off merchandise part! Never thought of that.
Also being there for F&GF and SWW...pretty AWESOME!!
Looking forward to reading more...
I'm so glad you've started your PTR--a sure sign that the snow will be melting soon! It's great to have more flexibility with choosing dates, isn't it? Mid May is one of my favorite times of year at WDW. I know you'll love seeing Epcot in all its glory at the festival.
Yea...another Cam and Luke trip report!!!
I especially like the 50% off merchandise part! Never thought of that.
Also being there for F&GF and SWW...pretty AWESOME!!
Looking forward to reading more...
for joining in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeL
Okay checking in and your not 6 to 7 pages in Must be a mistake on my part. Love that you hitting SWW that is on my wish list for one day
You got in on the TR from the very beginning! WooHoo! This will be our 12th SWW and we're still discovering new things about it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by purplegal
Looking forward to following your report, we miss you by a few days.
I'm so glad you've started your PTR--a sure sign that the snow will be melting soon! It's great to have more flexibility with choosing dates, isn't it? Mid May is one of my favorite times of year at WDW. I know you'll love seeing Epcot in all its glory at the festival.
This winter has been harsh, and every time I thought I'd start this PTR, my mood took a down turn with the weather. But watching the weather this morning, the forecaster predicted highs for the next two days of 55 and 60. I got so excited for spring I had to start. We got tickled at ourselves when we realized that we planning our usual trip when we could go anytime. the flexibility.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KHarrod
Checking in to follow along! My bucket list also includes a trip during the F&GF. I'm very excited for you!
I have loved seeing others' photos of F&GF, and wanted to go every time I read those TRs. But as a teacher, we just couldn't make it. I'm so happy that we finally can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by B.M.
I've only been once during the F&GF, but I would surely love to go again during that time!! Sounds like great dates to go!
We'll definitely be evaluating this time of year in case we'd like to return to the F&GF and SWW at the same time in the future.
Yay!!!!!!!!! I have been waiting for the PTR to start!!! I can't wait to read all your details - they are so fun and informative! I'm glad you get to do SWW and the F&G Festival. It will be my 1st festival too - I'm just hoping they have the Peter Pan pin still available when I am there - which is when you and Luke are there too! I can't wait to see you both - a DW trip just isn't the same if we don't see you. Can't wait for your next update!!!
Yay!!!!!!!!! I have been waiting for the PTR to start!!! I can't wait to read all your details - they are so fun and informative! I'm glad you get to do SWW and the F&G Festival. It will be my 1st festival too - I'm just hoping they have the Peter Pan pin still available when I am there - which is when you and Luke are there too! I can't wait to see you both - a DW trip just isn't the same if we don't see you. Can't wait for your next update!!!
I'm so glad that you two will be there when we are! I thought of you immediately when I saw the Peter Pan pin.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrDolphin
Yeah!! A new Cam and Luke report. I hope you really enjoy F&GF. I've never done SWW. Might have to look at doing that someday.
We are Star Wars fans, but I think anyone can enjoy the little extras, like Mickey as a Jedi knight and Minnie as Princess Leia. One year they had a robotic R2D2 who is one of my favorites. I was such a kid when the controller had him walk over near me.
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This will be our 12th SWW and we're still discovering new things about it. 
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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