The "So Cheap it's Practically Free" Trip--4/30-5/3 About This Page:

[SharonK0527]

My daughter is 15 now but when she was younger, we did several surprise trips. One of them reminded me of something Adam said about where you just start driving and tell him in the car where you're going. We did that one time - we told DD we were going to the store and instead we went to the Airport

I know 3 days sounds like no time at all but I'm sure he'll be happy to be there and he'll have a great time doing whatever you guys are able to do

[KimandMark]

The obsession continues. He voice searches YouTubeKids for "Space Mountain Roller Coaster Tycoon" and "Everest Tycoon" and "Disney Minecraft" over and over and over again. He's also graduated to general POV roller coaster videos, with a current fave being something called Twisted Colossus (that I insist on calling Sisters Gollashes just to annoy him).

We also watch some Disney atmosphere videos, just music and stuff and I showed him snips from Fantasmic, a show he's never seen. Until pretty recently, loud noises and fire really scared him, but he seemed to think this would be a good show. And as I'm trying to figure out our days I have a plan and a question.

To recap: we arrive Saturday, which will surely be MK afternoon and evening. Sunday is HS early entry that I'm planning to avoid by going to AK in the AM for a quick ride on Everest and then we'll swim and hit MK again in the evening. Monday I'd planned for HS in the afternoon, maybe going to Epcot for dinner and Illuminations. I've got FPs for TSMM, ST, and ToT.

And he really wants to do Jedi Training again, but that means a rope drop arrival at HS. And I'm not doing that on EMH on a Sunday! So Monday is the day. I guess we could do it Tuesday, but what if we don't get a time before we need to leave for the airport? And honestly, I'd like to end our trip at MK, you know, a monorail ride and then to the airport?

So my thought for Monday is this: HS for rope drop and the frantic run to Jedi Training sign up and aim for 4PMish showtime. Then leave. Ugh. But go to Epcot via IG. Do some stuff, lunch, then monorail to Poly to swim, then back to HS (ugh again, with this plan). My idea is that we'll do all evening activities at HS so we can see Fantasmic. I tried at first to book a dinner package but they are sold out for Mama Melrose. But maybe that's for the best.

In honesty, I don't love that show, and I don't know if Adam will like it, but he seemed interested in the video. My personal choice would be to do HS in the AM, no FPs just live with the line, do Jedi Training ASAP and then go swimming. We'd go to Epcot in the PM with FPs (ha, too late now?) maybe just do quick service dining (SPice Road is good though) and see Illuminations. Adam did like that.

I suppose we could do that Sunday night instead, it's not like he going to make it to 10PM for Wishes (I can hope, but my plan was to see them from the beach on Saturday night while still had a relatively rested kid). The more I write this the less I want to see Fantasmic. All that waiting...and then what if he's scared?

This also means no Pirate Adventure unless we do it the day we leave, which would mean no MK. But we can't do it all, right? Something has to give. I was pretty hot on the Pirate thing for Monday at first because I liked the idea of my own nap by the pool or whatever. But then we do we do Jedi? As I said, we leave Tuesday and getting from HS back to the Poly for bags and ride seems more stressful than I'd like, but don't leave for the airport until 12:30 or even 1...

So what say you?
OPTION 1:
Sat: MK
Sun: AK early, MK night
Mon: HS (to sign up)/Epcot early, HS night with Jedi and Fantasmic
Tue: MK

OPTION 2:
Sat: MK
Sun: AK early, MK night
Mon: HS early, Epcot night
Tue: MK or Pirate Cruise

Or some other version. I'm leaning hard to OPTION 2...

[DMA]

I agree with option 2. Too much back and forth with Option 1.

[MayraLR]

I'd go with option 2 also. Option 1 has too much running around, I think it could be tiring for your little guy.

[Colexis Mom]

#2!

[cattailmarsh]

I think option #2 with trying for an early Jedi Training Academy. You can still do MK while he does the Pirate cruise & then all take a long monorail ride before your departure. I love Fantasmic but it is a little hard for little ones to follow however if he liked Illuminations I assume he would like Fantasmic. It has tons of characters that he would recognize.

Guess that was not all that helpful for you - but just my opinions.

[Cam22]

I'm voting for Option #2 because the other wears me out reading it.

[KimandMark]

Originally Posted by Cam22

I'm voting for Option #2 because the other wears me out reading it.

That is what happened as I wrote it!! It seemed fine and then I realized that we'd spend about three hours that day on transportation and no one wants that.

And as to MK and Pirate--I do not give two hoots about which park I go to, but I'm 100% sure that if he doesn't go to MK on his last morning, we'll have a problem on our hands.

So the new plan, focusing on doing nothing very new or stressful and keeping our days semi-relaxed is streamlined. I switched some FPs and the only dining reservation we had. Now it looks like this:

Sat: arrive around 1; FPs BTMRR, MT, and SM all after 5:30PM. I'd like to see if we can maybe swim before we head over as we wait for our room to be ready; my other thought was to make these FPs for between 2 and 4 so we can do something right away if our room isn't ready and then come back, swim, fireworks from the beach. I'm hoping for our room to be ready, but that's probably not likely, huh? See, writing it all down helps me see the flaws in the plan. Now I'm switching FPs to mid to late afternoon and we'll come back when the room is ready.

Sun: AK in the morning, just for Everest and maybe Safari, but maybe not. I'll let Adam decide this, but I'm pretty sure he won't agree to skipping it. Then we'll head back to Poly for pool and lunch that afternoon, and MK at nighttime.

Mon: Option 2 wins the day. HS and Jedi training, no HS FPs though, we'll have to deal with the lines (what lines, Star Tours never even has a line when I've been there and we'll avoid TSMM like the plague). Adam is on the fence about ToT so maybe yes, maybe no on that. Again, pool time and lunch for the afternoon. Then Epcot, for my only useful FP of the day-TT. Mission Space (easy version) and SE are also important to the boy, but then we're going to hit World Showcase for a stroll around to Italy, dinner at Tutto Italia and Illuminations. We've had wine at Tutto but never sat for a meal. Adam likes adult cheese (read: stinky and/or not yellow) and is pretty familar with this kind of arrangement (read: we have wine, he has cheese, everyone enjoys themselves).

Tues: MK.

I'm not even mentioning Pirate Adventure Cruise thing, because we won't see it to remind him about it. Jedi Training, on the other hand, is pretty hard to miss and if we didn't sign up but then he saw kids fighting Vader? Yeah, no.

We're also going to a car service. We'll just have carryons and the car service is the fastest method, I think. We'll do a grocery stop, but just for a few things that keep us from buying breakfast and lunch for the boy (uncrustables, apples, goldfish, juice boxes, cereal) and of course, wine and snacks for the adults.

45 days.

[DMA]

Sounds great! You did well packing a lot in to the few days you have.

[cattailmarsh]

I think you have streamlined the trip well & if Adam wants to change things (when he learns of the trip) then nothing is so set in stone that ot can't be slightly altered to accomodate the whims of a Disney educated youngster - LOL. As for what you have done it really looks good. Even with trying to keep things to a minimum - your few days will be very busy & well spent.

[Colexis Mom]

Great plans!

[Cam22]

Your new plans look very manageable! For a short trip, you all are still getting lots in while having relaxing pool/resort time. That looks like a win to me!

[KimandMark]

Thanks for all of your replies, I've made a few changes but nothing drastic. We're 18 days out!!

Adam still doesn't know but I've had to feel out various things to make this work better. He's pretty sure that he liked the pirate adventure more than Jedi training, and we've been talking about the closings at HS, how there isn't as much to do right now. So we might be able to skip it altogether. And we've had a scheduling rub that really only affects the night before we leave, but jams us up in ways I'd prefer not to deal with the right before a trip.

In taking all of your thoughts (and others' stories from the internets) I'm trying to make sure Adam doesn't have expectations of going somewhere else. So no tricks with where we are going. BUT now we've got two events the night before we leave that make babysitter or staying with Baca and Mimi a necessity. First is a surprise 40th birthday party. The birthday girl deserves an awesome birthday more than anyone else I know; she has a daughter with PMG and works tirelessly taking her to therapies and a preschool program for special needs, making allergen-free pureed meals delivered via a feeding tube, and being an advocate for CP Rochester among other organizations. She almost never gets to go out, mostly because her daughter's needs and allergies are such that she doesn't trust many people. So we CAN'T miss this party.

On top of that, Adam's best friends birthday party is at the same time! Ugh.

We could have a babysitter take Adam to the birthday party, but decided that Baca was a better option. But Baca doesn't like to babysit at our house; he prefers that Adam sleep at his house so that he doesn't have to stay up late waiting for us (well, he doesn't want Mimi to stay up late and she can't be left alone) so usually we just do a sleep over. Except that we need to be heading to Buffalo by 6:30AM at the latest.

So our plan is to do the sleep over and make it clear that Baca and Mimi are very busy the next day and that we are coming to get Adam very early but that we'll definitely do something fun that day. That way he won't have the idea that he's going to play all day with Baca and be sad about leaving.

Hope that works.

I also decided to book the Pirate Adventure for Monday, followed by some swimming and Epcot for the evening. Adam likes SE, MS, and TT and appeared to enjoy Illuminations. So I booked a 7PM dinner at Tutto Italia and hope that grown ups have a nice day!! With two hours of AM time booked for Pirates and the strolling World Showcase with a beverage, plus a dinner we like, it should be good. Adam likes WS, but doesn't realize it, the kidcot stops, the music, and the people to talk to all agree with him. Plus he likes some "grown-up" cheeses, so apps at Tutto will work.

I booked our car today too. Quicksilver. The rental car was a bit less but I'd have to carry a booster seat and we also like the idea of just heading right out with the driver. No responsibility! We'll mostly be going to MK and the bus ride to AK one day isn't the worst. DVC Poly rooms are walkable to TTC too, so the Epcot ride should be nice for us. Carry on only this trip too, so the getting whisked away immediately sounds great!

I'm leary of the bus but would be willing to change my tune if someone could assure me I wouldn't be waiting forever...

[Cam22]

The night before does put a big kink in your plans. Hoping it all works out for you all! When we stayed at the Poly last May, we typically only had a few minutes wait for a bus. I do want to be honest though because one day we had a 15 -20 minute wait. We weren't in a rush, so it didn't cause issues for us, but I know it can be annoying if you have plans.

[cattailmarsh]

So nice that despite leaving so early the next day you are still taking part in the birthday parties. Especially the one for your friend. This sounds like a huge deal for her & it's so wonderful that you are putting her needs first.