Update: A Major Wrinkle... Help! A Little Necessary Magic - January 2017

[kamerino]

Hi all!

Edit: As promised.. I've added a few pictures!

I'm so incredibly excited about our upcoming trip (less than 2 weeks away!), and after reading so many of your great pre-trip reports, I though that I'd thought I'd finally write up my own.

Here are the basics...
Who?
Me (Kristen), my boyfriend & best friend (Leo), and my amazing 8 year old daughter (Madi).

That's my kiddo & me during one of our trips last year.

And this is me and Leo, my amazing SO

When?
January 19-23rd

Where?
We're staying at AKL, a savannah view room!

A little context...
Although we make an annual pilgrimage to the happiest place on earth every winter, this year's trip has taken on a special significance. I know that by this point this has become cliched, but 2016 was a very difficult year... at least the second half. In July, my father was diagnosed with cancer and he passed away an all too short 7 weeks later. Within a month of his passing, my partner's mom was diagnosed with cancer as well, the same kind that took my dad. Then on top of all of this, my stepdad of 43 years had a series of Parkinson's related strokes last month, and he passed away this past Sunday. The grief has been overwhelming, even paralyzing, and my poor daughter is confused and afraid after all of this loss. The past few months have been terribly sad, and we're all in desperate need of time to feel a little joy again.

Our original trip was planned a while back (as I said, we go every winter), and we had originally booked a stay at CBR. With everything that has happened, however, I thought that maybe I could do something the would make this trip just more special, more "us," and more filled with the magic that feels so needed right about now. After getting plenty of input from many of you here on these forums, I decided that I would upgrade our stay to AKL...

Why AKL? Well, aside from the fact that it's a gorgeous resort... Our last Disney trip was the first that we took with Leo, my partner with us, and before we went, he was decidedly not looking forward to it. He grew up in Greece, so no nostalgic pull, and just thought that he'd kind of follow us along for a few days and grin and bear it. The first day at MK he looked nearly suicidal, but when we got to AK, he looked happier than I've ever seen him. I knew he loved animals, but he was in heaven! So much so, that we extended our trip by a day just to be able to go back to AK one more time. That park ended up being my daughter's favorite last year, too, and we still talk about the safari, the animals, Wilderness Explorers, animals... lol, all the time. So when it came time to decide on a resort, this one seemed like the natural choice.

Now here's the best part, the "magic." They have no idea. It's all going to be a big surprise. We're driving up from Miami on Thursday afternoon after work (we're both teachers), and they won't know where we're staying until we pull up to the property! I've booked a night safari for that night, too! I'm so excited to see their smiles when we arrive.

I've prepared three little "goodie bags" to be opened at specific points during our drive, and one for when we arrive at the resort. Each bag will have some activities and games for Madi, as well as a "hint" as to the surprise. I'm not sure yet exactly what those hints will be, so I'm definitely open to suggestions! The last bag will have a an AK animal viewing guide (I ordered one from eBay), a resort pin, and a scavenger hunt book that I made for this trip (more on that later), a "Safari Mickey" plush, and I'm sure other things that I'll add as we get closer to leaving.

Next up... the details and itinerary (and hopefully some pictures).

13 days & counting!

Thanks for reading

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Jumping on board as a fellow January traveler! We will be there after you (29th arrival), but still excited to see your plans!

 

[kamerino]

Hi again! So here's part two!

The Itinerary
Thursday, 1/19
We'll leave work/ school at around 4pm, and head directly for the Turnpike heading North. It will takes us about 4 hours, give or take, to arrive. During the drive, I'll give my SO and DD the "goodie (or is it goody??) bags." Like I wrote above, each one will contain a hint as to the big trip surprise!

• They'll open the first when we get on the turnpike. That one will contain a disney coloring/activity book, a few crayons tied up in a ribbon, a disney trivia book, and the first hint... a plastic giraffe.
• They'll open up the second bag during our coffee and donut rest stop. That bag will contain a USB with the Lion King movie for my DD to watch (the second hint!), a $10 dollar Dunkin Donuts gift card for her to "treat us" to our traditional donuts and coffee (a sprite for her!), and a letter from "Mickey."
• The third bag will hold a Mickey ear hat for my DD, a new 2017 magic band that I ordered for her, and a book of Hidden Mickeys. It'll also hold the last hint (maybe a safari Mickey plush?) They'll open this one when we pull onto the Disney property!
• The last bag they'll open at the resort! This one will be full of resort goodies, the scavenger hunt book that I made for this trip, an invitation to the Night Safari, and an animal viewing guide from AKL!

Here's a picture of one of the "goodie bags." She got the first one at Christmas, with our annual passes, a magic band, and a letter from Mickey inviting her in January. I also made her a scrapbook of some of my favorite photos from all of our trips to WDW, since she was 2! The smaller red box had the obligatory matching t-shirts for the three of us with pre-attached Celebration pins with the caption "Surviving 2016," and the larger red box was full of all-thing Disney. And yep, that's a giant Chewbacca tsum tsum!

Once we arrive we'll check-in, drop our bags in the room, and head downstairs to go on our night safari between 10 and 11 pm (So excited... night vision goggles!). Then after a drink or two to unwind, we'll sleep to we're ready for the next few days!

Friday 1/20
After a quick coffee and breakfast in our room overlooking the savannah (yay!!), we'll head over to AK first thing in the morning. We have FP+ for an early morning Kilimanjaro Safari, Dinosaur!, and Festival of the Lion King. The last fastpass is for 12:20 pm, and after that, we'll use the app to try and book later fast passes for HS in the evening. We'll spend the day at AK, enjoying the trails and the animals, and have a QS lunch in the afternoon. We plan to head out of the park at around 4:30.

From AK, we'll head over to HS. Not our favorite park, but it does have my DD's favorite restaurant... 50's Prime Time Diner. We have an ADR there at 6:30. We plan on checking out the Star Wars area, and riding the Great Movie Ride. There are EMH that evening, so hopefully we'll have time to relax and enjoy ourselves there (maybe even a late night Toy Story if we're lucky?)

When all is said and done, we'll head back to our resort, wind down with a drink or two while DD fills out her travel journal (our yearly ritual), before heading to bed for the night!

Saturday 1/21
Today is MK day (with evening EMH)! We plan on going rope drop to park close, as usual!

We have all 3 FP+ for the morning (7 Dwarves Mine Train, Splash Mountain, and Peter Pan. That we we can maximize getting other fastpases throughout the day.

We have an 8 pm dinner ADR at Skipper Canteen (can't wait to try it!).

This will be a total marathon day... exhausting but awesome!

It'll be a late night getting back to the resort, and DD will be asleep on the bus ride back, but I honestly can't wait to sit out on the balcony with Leo and unwind after the long day. This always feels like a good kind of exhausted, you know?

Sunday 1/22
This is Epcot day! My favorite park since it opened up!

We'll wake up early, enjoy our breakfast at the resort and head over to the park first thing. We have FP+ for FEA at 2:30 pm, and for Spaceship Earth & Living with the Land earlier in the morning. It'll take a little bit of luck and timing, but we're hoping to run to Soarin' first thing, then run over over to Test Track, and then slow down for the day, lol. We've run the plan by Touring Plans, and it looks like we should be okay.. crowd levels should be relatively low, and we don't mind standing in line if we have to.

At midday we'll head over to World Showcase, which is my favorite part (I teach history, art history, and geography... go figure!). I've made a "Beer Around the World" card for my SO (his favorite part,lol), and we'll do an Agent P adventure with Madi while we wind our way around, enjoying the sights and the food! While in Japan (aside from the awesome snow cones), we'll look for a pearl! My DD has never done this, and I already bought her a really cool pearl cage pendant to give her once she finds one.

No kidding... best snow cones, ever.

No ADRs today... we like to eat our way around the world so to speak. We all have our favorites, and stop whenever the mood strikes. For me, it's a bowl of lobster bisque, a glass of champagne, and a creme brûlée from Les Halles Boulangerie!

After we've seen and eaten all we can, we'll head back to the resort and enjoy a drink and a late night snack (appetite permitting) while we look over the savannah and unwind.

Monday 1/23
Our last day

Today is our resort day! We've usually made our last day a park day, but this time, staying in such a special place, we've decided to spend our day there.

We're going to try and watch the Flamingo feeding in the morning, Madi can finish up the resort part of the scavenger hunt, and if the weather permits (I doubt it, but who knows?), we might even go for a swim.

The last surprise of the trip is a "farewell lunch" at Sanaa (with those Savannah views & the bread service, I couldn't resist!). I've made an ADR for 2:30 pm.

At around 4 we should be on the road back to Miami, ready to face the real world again, hopefully a bit more refreshed, and with our spirits just a little bit lighter.

Also, here is a link to a post about some of the things that I'm including in the "Great Disney Scavenger Hunt of 2017" book.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-vacation-scavenger-hunt-book-ideas.3561935/

Next up... pre-trip preparations for the big surprise!

Thanks for following along!!

 

[kamerino]

Only 10 more days!

Today was the first day back at work after a pretty rough winter break, and being back in the classroom felt pretty good. But the first day back to work after a long break is never easy, so I spent the entirety of my planning period sitting outside, enjoying the beautiful weather here today (50's and 60's in Miami!), and planning... for Disney! (Don't tell my boss, please!). I'm slightly notebook obsessed, and I spent the afternoon working through packing lists, to do lists, finalizing our itinerary, and deciding on what I'm going to use for those hints in the surprise bags.

I also put the finishing touches on the scavenger hunt book that I've made for my DD. I try to do something to help each trip stand out from the rest, and this year, it's the "Great Scavenger Hunt!" Here a link to what I have so far... I'd love any suggestions!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6-MiFDw4JHsTWNpR0tKUDh5Wms/view?usp=sharing

I've also decided about the hints are going to be inside each surprise goody bag:

• "Do not open until we're on the turnpike" - a box of flamingo band-aids (they're really kind of cute, and my daughter has a semi obsession with band-aids, don't ask me why, )
• "Do not open until we're at our rest stop" - binoculars! (Real ones!)
• "Do not open until we're inside of Walt Disney World" - a plastic giraffe
• "D0 not open until we're at our resort" - Animal viewing guide, resort pin, and a Safari Mickey plush for DD

What do you guys think? I'll order everything in the next couple of days, so I have time to change my mind.

A little more about us...

Madi:
That's my pretty amazing 8 year old daughter. She's so incredibly funny (way funnier than me, without a doubt!), and smart. It's been just the two of us since she was born, until last year when Leo came into our lives. She's adventurous, and my intrepid travel buddy.

• Favorite characters: Goofy and Ariel (loves them equally)
• Favorite movie: That changes all the time, currently a toss up between Moana and Beauty & the Beast
• Favorite park: Epcot
• Favorite ride: Spaceship Earth & Splash Mountain
• Favorite Disney snack: Oh yes, the snow cones in Japan

Leonidas:
My phenomenally intelligent, sweet, and sometimes cranky partner. He moved to Miami from Athens about 3 years ago, and teaches math at the same high school that I teach at. He's my best friend, and I don't know what I'd do without him.

• Favorite character: refuses to answer the question
• Favorite movie: Lion King
• Favorite park: Animal Kingdom
• Favorite ride: Kilimanjaro Safari (and all the trails in AK)
• Favorite Disney snack: does beer count?

Me (Kristen):
I'm a 44 year old high school history teacher, single mom, and despite all of life's challenges and troubles, especially lately, I'm a pretty happy and optimistic person. I have such incredibly wonderful memories of traveling to Disney throughout my childhood, and now as a mom, I love it in a whole new way. My grandparents and parents went out of their way to give me a wonderfully magical childhood, and I'm just trying to do the same for my kid.

• Favorite character: Jiminy Cricket, of course!
• Favorite movie: Beauty & the Beast
• Favorite park: Epcot
• Favorite ride: Spaceship Earth & Carousel of Progress
• Favorite Disney snack: School Bread from Kringla Bakery (soooo good!)

Next up, down to single digits & proverbial monkey wrenches...

 

[kamerino]

Just when I thought that everything was perfect and ready to go, real life has a bad habit of stepping in and giving us a good smack...

My boyfriend has been in Greece since the start of winter break, visiting with his mom and spending some time with her. It's his first time seeing her since she was diagnosed with cancer. He was supposed to be back home this past weekend, since school started on Monday, and like I said before, he teaches with me. Anyway, when he returned from Greece after a summer visit, he lost his passport & visa at the airport and it was never found, and the only way to replace it was to return to Greece. This hasn't gone as smoothly as we had hoped, and he's stuck there waiting for the US Embassy to give him a replacement visa! Then he still has to book his flight home. I don't see how he'll get back before this weekend, at best, and with him having been gone all week, there is no way that our principal will let him take next Friday off, and we're supposed to leave for Disney on Thursday after work! Help!!!

I need suggestions as to how to save this vacation. Do we just cancel Thursday and cut our trip short by a day? That means rearranging ADRs, FP+, our plans, everything. And we'll have to cut out a park or two, if we're to get any time to relax at all. Should I try to postpone it to February? I don't know that we'll be able to get the same rates, ADRs, etc, and my daughter will be crushed (me, too), since we're in major single-digit countdown mode. What do I do??

I need to make this decision rather quickly, and any advice will be so greatly appreciated!

 

[DisneyLifer87]

How terrible! Certainly sending pixie dust your way.

As a teacher, I totally get the principal dilemma. Could you go with your daughter and have him book a flight to Orlando instead of home? Mom-Daughter time would be wonderful for you both to have some magic. That gives you a little wiggle room for him to get a passport and route a flight to you.

You could also look at postponing as a lot of the deals are still pretty decent for the end of the month/beginning of February.