WDW "Never have I Ever" Trip (updated 2/5/2019)

Unvoiced_Apollo

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 30, 2018
My dad and I (both adults) are planning a Father-som trip for ourselves to Disney World come this February. I remember visiting the park once when I was a kid, but i was so young I barely remember going on Dumbo and Peter Pan. I thought for sure I also got on Maelstrom, but the videos do not match my recollection.

We also took a trip at the very end of November of 2017. We arrived the Saturday after Thanksgiving, thinking we'd suffer major crowds but that everyone would be back in school. We didn't account for the hard ticket events or the people trying to beat them. But we had a ton of fun. Went on both the Ultimate Day of Thrills Tour and Wild Africa Trek. We visited Disney Springs and saw Coco. We made the "mistake" of not getting ADR's, but staying at Animal Kingdom lodge, we were always able to find a reservationfor Boma and had one night both at Jiko and Sanaa. Otherwise, it was quick service at the Mara or the parks (save for the meals provided by the tours).

Part of the trip was solo because my dad got a little sick (cold) and had to rest half the day. But I ended up meeting all the princess characters and Tinkerbell as a result. There was an awkward situation with Ariel (innocent one I swear). Overall it was a good trip but left feeling a little "we did it', don't need to do it again".

But then a year later I started to get that itch. To go back down. But I wanted to avoid that "been there done that" feeling. After talking to my dad, he agreed to let me do the planning. And so the question was how I would approach this.

So I asked myself two questions:
1. What did we miss out on as adults?
2. What would we have loved to do as kids? (Not that I wouldn't love to do what we're doing, but I would see things differently through the lens of a child rather than through the lens of my current adult form)

So this trip in part involves imagining what I would do as a kid if I had my dad's wallet and 5 days at Disney World (aside from travel and accommodations). The other part was planning to view some shows we missed on our last trip (we took one in 2017).

Travel:

I decided to be a little unconventional, and we are taking the train. Given the cost and time, flying is still preferable. However, I wanted to do something unique, so chose the Auto Train from Virginia to Florida. We even went with getting a room instead of riding coach. This will be our first time riding in a train with an actual bed. I just hope the rocking lulls me to sleep instead of being kept awake

Hotel:

Port Orleans Riverside. Yes we're well aware Disney is charging for parking now, but we were prepared for the ding to our budget.

Park Activities (Rides are accounted for in a later post, just didn't feel like listing that part of the plan until I had my fastpasses):

1st Day - Magic Kingdom/After Hours at Animal Kingdom
Be Our Guest (Dinner)(4:40).

2nd Day - Animal Kingdom
Tusker House Character Meal (Lunch)(dining package)(3:25)
Rivers of Light (dining package)

3rd Day - Epcot/After Hours at Magic Kingdom
Trattoria Al Forno Bon Voyage Breakfast (11:35)

4th Day - Hollywood Studios
Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano (Lunch)(2:50)
Fantasmic! (dining package)

5th Day - Magic Kingdom
Cinderella's Royal Table (Dinner) (4:30)
After Fireworks Dessert Party with Plaza Viewing(7:00 check in)

Really looking forward to this trip and these new experiences.
 
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It all sounds Amazing to me! Memories will surely be made.
Have a great time... and safe travels!
 
New update

We found out Animal Kingdom was having an After Hours Event on the day of the fireworks party. Luckily it's well early enough I was able to change the date to our last day for a nice finale to the vacation
 
Finally decided to share my itinerary. As mentioned before, taking the auto train for a unique experience. We do have a Magic Kingdom visit on arrival day & our fastpasses are packed back to back, but we have an after hours event later that week at MK and a second day time visit, so we're pretty flexible if we don't get a chance to do our first fastpass if we're delayed by the train.

Duration: 2/18-2/24

Day 1 - Departure - Amtrak Auto Train
  • Check-in by: 1:00 PM
  • Ticket - Superliner Room w/ bunk Beds. Priority offloading
  • Dinner provided
Day 2 - Arrival Day - Magic Kingdom - After Hours at Animal Kingdom

The biggest sticking point here is if the train is delayed. But if things go according to plan...
Port Orleans Riverside check-in (online completed)

Arrive at Magic Kingdom By 1:00 PM
  • Big Thunder Mountain 1:00 PM
  • Space Mountain 2:00 PM
  • Haunted Mansion 3:00 PM
    • Be Our Guest 4:40 PM (Dinner)
Leave for After Hours at Animal Kingdom


Day 3 - Animal Kingdom (what? Two doses of animal kingdom in a row?)
  • Kilimanjaro Safaris 9:25 AM
  • Expedition Everest 11:10 AM
    • Tusker House Restaurant 3:25 PM (Lunch)
  • Avatar Flight of Passage 5:10 PM
  • Rivers of Light 7:00 PM

Day 4 - EPCOT (Morning Extra Magic Hour aka EMH) - After Hours at Magic Kingdom
  • EMH - Soarin', Living with the Land, etc.
  • Spaceship Earth 9:00 AM
  • The Seas with Nemo And Friends 10:05 AM
    • Trattoria Al Forno - 11:35 AM (Bon Voyage Breakfast)
  • Frozen Ever After 1:20 PM
  • Exploring World Pavilion Up Until 6:00 PM at the latest
Leave for After Hours at Magic Kingdom. I intend to watch the fireworks here in addition to Saturday's main event.


Day 5 - Disney Hollywood Studios
  • Rope Drop Slinky Dog Dash
  • Standby Alien Swirling Saucers/Toy Story Mania 10:50 AM (Order depends on when we get out of SDD)
  • Tower of Terror 1:00 PM
    • Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano 2:50 (Lunch)
  • Rock 'n' Roller Coaster 4:50
  • Fantasmic!

Day 6 - Magic Kingdom
  • Seven Dwarves Mine Train 9:20 AM
  • Splash Mountain 11:30 AM
  • Pirates of the Caribbean 1:35 PM
    • Cindrella's Royal Table 4:30 PM (Dinner)
    • After Fireworks Dessert Party - check-in 7:00 PM
Day 7 - Depart Disney World. We'll be driving that day instead of taking the train
 
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One other thing to add to my list: Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.

I don't intend to fully play the entire game considering everything else, but I do enjoy free stuff so getting those cards and playing a round might be fun
 
Gearing up for my trip in two weeks, decided to add "Character autographs" to my list of never dones since I have quite of few character opportunities.

I wanted something a little unique but relatively easy to sign & carry. Having watched the Tangled series, I remembered that Rapunzel's mom gave her a journal. Since I'm doing the Bon Voyage Breakfast, I thought it would be fun making a book cover using the "journal" fold out they provide (knew about them from all the photos of them in reviews). I bought a pocket notebook, which is what will be covered and used for most autographs. I did an image search for the best pictures to do this. With a little skill in google doc editing (and a practice sheet to get good measurements), I think I did a pretty good job (save for a little extra white space):
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I also have a satchel I'm hoping Flynn will sign
 



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