10th anniversary! Kaleido family June 2018 Pre-Trip Report

[Kaleidodad]

Hey gang, this is my first pre-trip report (although I do intend to go back and report on our previous family trips), for our WDW trip on June 11-17!!!

So this will be our FIFTH family WDW trip since March 2016: since then we have each - Kaleidodad, Kaleidomom, Charlotte(DD8), Caroline(DD6) - been to WDW on our birthday, and now this one will be for our 10th wedding anniversary. This is also our second DVC trip since we bought in last year, and we're doing a split stay at BLT and Poly (our home resort). We bought Gold AP's for the first time, so that we can feel less like we have to be in the parks ALL day, and so we can pop into MK on our arrival and departure days too. Here we goooooo!!

• MONDAY, JUNE 11 (Arrival Day)

We should arrive at MCO around 2 PM and will take the Magical Express to check-in at BLT. We stopped by BLT to see the fireworks from the Top of the World Lounge last time, and we ate at Chef Mickey's once, but otherwise we have not really been here. Really looking forward to some resort/pool time during this trip. But that's not for today: we are getting straight over to MK as soon as we can!

Once we activate our AP's and get into MK, we will definitely stop by the firehouse for our Sorcerers cards, and then we'll make our way to Fantasyland for our first FP+, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 5:30. Our first trip was for Caroline's 4th birthday, and unfortunately we "traumatized" her to roller coasters on Big Thunder Mountain, so we're hoping this trip we can at least get her to appreciate 7DMT.

Then it's on to dinner at Tony's Town Square at 6:30. This restaurant seems to be so polarizing, but we are big Lady and the Tramp fans (one of our Cavaliers is named Lady), so we just love the theming at Tony's. I expect we'll split a bottle of white wine after our day of travel. Then it's next door for FP+ Meets with Tinkerbell (we never miss Tink) and Mickey, then we'll go find a spot for Happily Ever After. MK is open until 11, so we'll probably try to get some of the classics like Small World and PhilHarmagic, then walk back to our resort for the first time - nice!

• TUESDAY, JUNE 12

Hopefully this is just a hot Orlando summer morning, as we have no early plans except to hang out at the Bay Cave Pool... If anyone has a great lunch recommendation at the Contemporary or even taking the boat over to Wilderness, I'm all ears.

This is another second-half MK day, and my only real goal is to conquer the "Mountain Range" with Charlotte, who absolutely loves coasters! We might get there for the afternoon parade, but then we're actually going to split up around 3:30 - Charlotte and dad will book it over to Space Mountain, while Caroline and mom will head to Adventureland, where they have a FP+ for Aladdin's Magic Carpets and will maybe do some Pirates Adventure maps to earn us some paper FP's.

Then Charlotte and I will take the train over to meet back up, and Kaleidodad & mom will rider swap with her on Big Thunder Mountain. Meanwhile, Caroline should be happily snacking on something magical at the BTM photo spot. Dinner ADR is at Jungle Skipper Canteen, which we have not done before. Then one more FP+ for Splash Mountain: we have told Caroline it's not a coaster, and it has such fun theming/story, so let's hope it goes ok!

We'll probably just hang out in Adventureland and Frontierland through the rest of the night: obviously need to do Pirates and Jungle Cruise; Tiki Birds and Country Bears are sentimental favorites; and we like to do the Magic Carpets a few times, love the sights and sounds above Adventureland after dark.

• WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13

For the next 4 park days, we are basically following Kennythepirate's crowd calendars, picking "green" parks for each day. So it's EPCOT on Wednesday, from rope drop to Illuminations.

We start with Soarin' at rope drop, one of our top family favorites in all of WDW. We have morning FP's for Spaceship Earth and Mission: Space (green), and we'll be sure to see Figment, Nemo, and Baymax this morning too. We currently have Coral Reef ADR for lunch, but could end up cancelling that for a QS alternative. Afternoon and evening will be in the World Showcase, maybe trying counter-clockwise since we always seem to go clockwise in the past. FP+ for Frozen at 2 pm, otherwise we can take our time and try to finish up the girl's passports from our last trip. There are still a couple missions of the Phineas & Ferb spy game we need to finish too.

Ten years ago, we took our honeymoon to Paris, so for our anniversary trip to EPCOT we will get dinner at Chefs de France. I'm open to all recommendations of what to order there. Hopefully at some point in the day I can nab an extra FP+ to take Charlotte on Test Track, and then maybe a viewing spot for Illuminations. Then back to BLT for a relatively early night after a long day (but MK is open until 1 AM for EMH so you never know!)

• THURSDAY, JUNE 14

This is our actual anniversary, and our resort switch day. I'll need to get our bags picked up by bell services first thing in the AM, as we have morning FP+ Pooh and Peter Pan, and then to Meet Rapunzel & Tiana (Rapunzel is Caroline's favorite). Then we'll probably head over to the Poly (welcome home!) and grab lunch there, and spend the afternoon at the Lava Pool.

Hopefully we can get into our Poly room to freshen up, since we have ADR for Cinderella's Royal Table at 4:30 (it was either that or 10 PM for CRT!) - we have never been and thought it was a worthwhile splurge on our anniversary trip. Really looking forward to seeing the inside of the castle!

This will probably be a Tomorrowland evening for the most part, but we'll see where the FP's take us... There will be much negotiation over which daughter gets to sleep in the Poly DVC studio's murphy bed each night.

• FRIDAY, JUNE 15

We picked Animal Kingdom for this day because this is when we could get Flight of Passage FP+ and Rivers of Light dining package. Actually we have to split up again for our Pandora FP's, because Caroline is not tall enough for FOP, so we may just do two on Navi River Journey and two on FOP, unless we get a little Disney magic...

We won't necessarily rope drop, but we'll bus to AK pretty early as we have 9:55 FP+ for Kilimanjaro Safaris, followed by 11:30 checkin for Festival of the Lion King (maybe our favorite show in all of WDW). Then our ROL dining package has Tusker House lunch at 12:45, followed by our Pandora FP's in the early afternoon. So that leaves us with the rest of the day free until ROL at 9:15.

Is the new UP bird show worth seeing, and is it easy to get into without advance FP's? Is there much really worth doing in Dinoland? How about the Nemo show? Here again I'm all ears. AK Africa is one of my favorite WDW lands, so I'm happy to just hang out there for awhile. We have had good and just-okay experiences with Flame Tree BBQ: any suggestions on whether Harambe Market is a better QS dinner?

Last time at AK, for Charlotte's birthday trip last year, we must have ridden Expedition Everest 6 or 8 times, just FP'ing it for 2 over and over and over, so that is probably her favorite ride of all, and hopefully we can do it a few times again before ROL. We'll all be really ready for bed after this full park day.

• SATURDAY, JUNE 16

This is primarily a resort day, just hanging at the Lava Pool and seeing what else there is to do around the Poly. Probably grab some lunch at Oasis or maybe Kona. But then we will bus or Uber it over to Hollywood Studios for the late afternoon/evening.

Our DHS FP's are for Star Tours (5:30) and Frozen Sing-Along (7:00) and then Fantasmic since we don't really have time for a third attraction. We have only seen F! once on a previous trip, and I especially loved it so much (see my avatar ) that I really wanted it at the end of this trip. Too bad we can't see the Star Wars fireworks, but that will have to wait for next time...

• SUNDAY, JUNE 17

The saddest of WDW days: departure day. Fortunately we don't have to get on the Tragical Express until 2 or so, so that leaves enough time for one last visit to MK! We have 8:30 breakfast ADR at Be Our Guest, not sure if we'll actually keep it but just in case, and then FP's for 7DMT and Peter Pan before we say goodbye. Maybe try to get in one last swim after lunch. Then it's back home to Ohio - and back to work for me on Monday morning.

So that's my Kaleido family pre-trip report... Any comments or suggestions are welcome!
Just 17 days to go!!!