Never say Neverland: Easter '18, May/June '18, July '18, Sept '18, Nov '18 TRs (8/22 UPDATE!)

So I had planned to do another July update last night...and then I ended up spending my evening just moving photos and videos off my phone and onto my home computer for backups...AND I have finally managed to catch the cold that the rest of my family has already had yesterday...just in time to have a big presentation at work I had to do of course. Well the presentation was short, it was just a bigger audience than I'm used to and I do not enjoy public speaking. It was fairly quick and painless though. However I spent the rest of the night mostly curled up on my couch and today I keep my handy box of tissues near me at all times.

Learned yesterday that the friends that joined us for our recent trip now will NOT be there when we are back in November. They ended up moving up their trip a few days early to save some money, so they fly out on Tues and return Friday and we fly down on Saturday. Oh well.

I'm still working on a tentative Saturday plan and trying to decide who that should include. My brother and family most likely won't arrive until evening but we should be on property before 11am. That gives us the day to do some stuff as we may not be able to check in at Shades of Green until after 4pm anyway. We all have annual passes (us and my FIL) so a park would be a good idea for us, but even if my husband's sister and family are in town I don't know what their plans are as I've heard rumor they plan to do some time in Universal first. I'm not even sure when though. I haven't exactly reached out to try to get an idea of her plans as the less time I have to spend around her and her husband and kid the better. Ok, so she isn't too bad and my nephew is also okay lately, but her husband just IRKS me...can't explain it...just do not like him.

Anyway has anybody read the recent dining reviews for Tony's at MK? They seem to be improving if you can believe what you read, so I'm tempted to try it. I managed to snag a 3pm dinner there one day so we'll see if I keep that.

I spoke to my brother on the phone the other night and my 4 and 6 year old nephews also chimed in and they are excited about the trip. I told them they would be staying in a hotel where they can see GIRAFFES from their balcony! They seem pretty excited about that so I can't wait to see their reaction once we are there. So fun. I really can't wait to spend time with them.

 
We ate at Tony’s in June and we were all pleasantly surprised!!!!

That's nice to hear. We are big fans of both Italian restaurants at EPCOT as well as Mama Melrose at HS, but it's nice to have an option at MK now as a possibility. I definitely think I'd like to give it a try again soon if at all possible.
 


You need to try Il Mulino! Each time we've gone there have been kids there, so even though it's kind of a "signature" it's not too fancy for kids. It's totally the best Italian on property!
 
July 2018 Celebration of Life - Day 4

It was another great day and we had some plans to get in a few parks. We drove over to the MK and hopped on the monorail.

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Lovely sight!

We decided to head to the back of the park and catch a ride on BTMRR. I think the line was pretty short...or seemed that way.

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Next up was a ride on Splash Mountain!

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I'm guessing the rest of our group chose to sit out the water ride...oh well. I don't recall us getting terribly wet.

We were feeling a bit hungry...and I don't think we had an ADR...but we decided to check out Jungle Canteen. My son and I had such a good experience here back in May during our mini trip...I was looking forward to this one.

Sadly it wasn't the best. Our server wasn't entertaining at all. We didn't get a ton of food as we had a big meal planned for that evening. At least she brought my son out this cupcake:

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He enjoyed it but didn't eat too much of it.

I think we must have then made a choice to monorail over to EPCOT to catch the ride we did not make the night before...Test Track.

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Oh and we caught this view...can't wait to see the new Guardians ride when it's done:

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I don't think we hung around here for too long...but we did get a photo on the way out:

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I had planned a break....but have a feeling we didn't get it. I assume we went to dinner next, a place I haven't been to in many years and wasn't sure what to expect...but it was just a monorail or two ride away!
 


July 2018 Celebration of Life - Day 4 Continued

I was looking forward to this meal for sure, even though it seems the reviews go up and down from time to time. I think the last time we ate here was maybe 2007? So it was time for another try.

Any ideas?

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In celebration of my MIL, my FIL ordered her very favorite drink at WDW. My husband ordered one as well:

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My FIL didn't finish the Lapu Lapu but handed it to me. I had no problem finishing it and enjoyed it. I only wish I had enjoyed one with my MIL when she was still here.

So if you guessed O'Hana for dinner...you would be correct. If you want to know how it was...it was outstanding! Our server could not have been any nicer and the food was all pretty delicious. I don't think there was anything I didn't try and didn't like as it was all very good.

I'm so glad we made the decision to try this place again. I wish it wasn't so hard to get a reservation here.

I really don't recall what we did after dinner. I don't have any photos so perhaps we just called it an early night once again.

It has been a good day and not too crazy. I feel like we came back later and that was the night I went on the great hunt at our resort for dessert. I managed to track down a Mickey Ice Cream bar near the pool but I was wishing there were more options like the cupcakes I can always find at the Contempo Cafe or Captain Cooks.
 
Eventually I am hoping to finish this July TR and then do a quick one for our Universal trip with Disney sprinkles that took place in September. We shall see.

I wanted to share a quick story from over the weekend. My SIL lives in NC with my brother and family and they have 3 dogs, all purebred dogs, and the newest one they have been training as a show dog. Well actually my SIL has a "handler" that she hires to show and work with her dog so the dog can get his "Champion" status. Sometimes the handler goes to dog shows taking her own dogs as well as other dogs. Over the weekend, there was a dog show here in Maryland that they participated in and my SIL came along with her dog and the friend...they had 5 dogs in the hotel room with them.

Anyway...after the competition on Saturday they came out to visit us as we live a short distance from the dog show. They brought all 5 dogs so they would have the chance to stretch their legs in our fenced in yard...and of course our puppy Harley didn't know what to do with herself to have so many dog friends around. We ordered some sushi for all of us and chatted for a while that evening.

As it turns out this friend is getting married this month...and has chosen to honeymoon in Walt Disney World...during the SAME time we are there! She was telling me the story about this, how she and her husband-to-be registered for all of these "events" at Walt Disney World but didn't know they had to book them, including the resort stay.

Honestly learned something new...didn't even know that was a thing. Somehow she did manage to get their resort booked and they happen to be staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge...just like US! I just looked up their registry...and yes you can contribute money towards park tickets, excursions, meals, etc...they still have quite a ways to go though.

And she has yet to book ANY of her meals or rides...or any of that.

Now my SIL only learned this information a few days ago herself...as they were driving up to MD from NC...and as soon as she heard all this she knew what she had to do...put her in touch with ME of course!

Unfortunately I didn't get much time to chat with her over dinner but I've already assured her that no matter what she is WELCOME to join us for our Thanksgiving Dinner which we already have booked. I already know we have one more spot than we need for that...and I'm sure they can add one more to the table for us...after all what is 17 people when you have 16 booked already?

Hopefully I'll be able to help her out with some of her other planning needs but she has yet to contact me. I feel terrible that they have this honeymoon scheduled and yet have nothing planned out. She has three tours on the registry: Keys to the Kingdom, EPCOT Sea Aqua and Wild Africa Trek. She has a Character Dining Experience on there (but hasn't booked anything). And she has Monsieur Paul and Artist Point as dining options...again not booked.

Those will all be tough. She can probably book the tours...but she would need to call pretty soon. Dining will be tough too. I'm just not sure if as part of the honeymoon planning that a Disney person has some ability to book some of the things they want, sorta like concierge has access to reservations that regular people may not be able to book.

Anyway instead of planning for 16 people now, I have two additional people I want to try to help out.

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In the meantime, I've made some minor tweaks to our November plans thus far.

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SATURDAY:
Arrive 9:15am MCO airport. Check-in at Shades of Green for one night. Lunch at Tony's Town Square. We have three FP+ reservations at Hollywood Studios in the afternoon, but I'm not sure if we should drop them in favor of MK reservations since we have the Tony's lunch reservation. Now that this place has had some recent favorable reviews I thought we should try it again.

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SUNDAY:Check-in at Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani. We can try to hit the Magic Kingdom in the morning for a few hours before brunch at Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary. After Chef Mickey’s Brunch, spend the afternoon/evening at the Magic Kingdom. Watch the lighting of the Castle. Optional: Dinner at The Plaza at 4:10pm for Dina and Kids, John and family only. Sanaa Reservation for other family members..

FP: 2:10pm: BTMRR; 7:50pm: SpaceMt; 8:50pm: 7DMT
Meals:
11:45am: Chef Mickey's Brunch(14A2C)
4:10pm: The Plaza Restaurant (9A2C) (J & M & Kids, Dina, Noelle, Noah, Dad, Linda)
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MONDAY
Spend the morning at EPCOT. Arrive close to 9am opening and ride Soarin’ standby, followed by The Seas with Nemo. Head to Test Track followed by Spaceship Earth and Mission: Space. Character lunch (optional) at Garden Grill for John & Megan and kids or grab a small snack and leave around 2:30pm and head to Disney Springs to have an early dinner at T-Rex Cafe. Evening option at any park.

FP: 10:20am: TestTrack; 11:35am: SE; 12:40pm: MissionSpace

Meals:
11:55am: Garden Grill (3A2C - John/Megan/kids only)
3:30pm: T-Rex Cafe (7A1C) FOOD AND DINOSAURS!!! (my SIL has SANAA booked this night and I think DH is joining them)

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TUESDAY:
Arrive at Animal Kingdom close to 8am opening. Ride Na’vi River Journey standby, then head to Expedition Everest and ride standby. Head to Dinoland and do rides there plus Dinosaur. Catch showing of Festival of the Lion King then lunch at Satu’li. Ride Safari. Optional early dinner at Tusker House. Break in afternoon. Possibly pick up DS at airport. Booked dinner at Fontera Cocina in Disney Springs because DS and I loved this back in May and I thought it might be nice to return. Maybe head to AK park for the evening and catch Rivers of Light.


FP: 11:35am: Safari; 12:35pm: EE; 5:25pm: FofP

Meals:
3:40pm: Tusker House (8A2C)
7:45pm: Frontera Cucina (11)

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WEDNESDAY:
Arrive close to 9am opening of Magic Kingdom. Breakfast at the Plaza. Then head to ride SpaceMt (standby), Buzz, TTA, and then head over to ride BTMRR using FP+. Lunch for all at Liberty Tree Tavern. Next ride Peter Pan and any other Fantasyland attractions. OPTIONAL: Sanaa, Rose and Crown Pub for dessert only and Illuminations Viewing.


FP: 10:10am: BTMRR; 12:55pm: PeterPan; 3:10pm: 7DMT

Meals:
9:20am: The Plaza (11)
11:15am: Liberty Tree Tavern Lunch (14A2C)
5:25pm: Sanaa Dinner (8A)
7:50pm: Rose & Crown Pub & Dining Room (Dessert & Illuminations only) (8A2C)


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THURSDAY:

Arrive close to 8am for opening at Hollywood Studios and head to Toy Story Land immediately to ride Slinky Dog, Alien Saucers and Toy Story Mania all standby. Afterwards head to Tower of Terror and possibly Rock N’roller Coaster. Ride SlinkyDog again at 2:30pm with FP+. then head to Animal Kingdom Lodge for Thanksgiving Dinner. Evening maybe at HS for Fantasmic! OR at Magic Kingdom for final night.

FP: 11:50am: Tower; 1:05pm RnRC; 2:30pm: SlinkyDog
(SIL has 5:20pm FOP)

Meals:
3:30pm: Boma - Flavors of Africa THANKSGIVING Dinner (14A2C)
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FRIDAY:

Check out of Animal Kingdom Lodge. Head to Animal Kingdom park for final rides. Spend the day there with dinner at Tiffins OR can catch dinner at Ale & Compass for CP Dinner Package, followed by 8pm Candlelight Processional at EPCOT. Drive to hotel near airport that evening for final night.

FP: 10:05am: EE; 11:35am: FOP; 12:40pm: Dinosaur
Meals:
4:20pm: Ale & Compass Candlelight Processional Dinner (8:15pm show)
6:30pm: Tiffins

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So I probably don't need that breakfast at The Plaza on Wednesday but when I saw it open up I booked it. I'll probably drop it in favor of more rides. I'm not sure we'll do the CP Dinner either, but I booked it just in case. I'm not sure how we'll spend our last full day. Since my oldest son arrives on Tuesday, he will miss out on EPCOT so it might be nice to do that Friday along with FoP which he'll also miss earlier in the trip.

I'm sure some other stuff will change too. Squeezing in Sanaa is tough but something my husband's family wants to do and he will probably join them but I don't think the rest of us would be interested in that.

Hard to believe that we are just over four weeks away.
 
Amazing how much people don't realize about the planning aspect. I at least know for EVERY vacation I take at least something about what needs to be booked early, etc. I have a friend right now going in May -- to Universal and Disney. I keep trying to help, but they are reluctant to plan, so I'm butting out. I tried to tell them since he is a retired vet he COULD maybe stay onsite at Universal for cheap for that part of trip but they're staying the whole time at Shades, which is fine... they are determined that the Studios are a favorite but everything they want to do -- well, the rides/shows aren't there anymore! Anyway, if folks don't want help, what can you do?
 
Your plans sound awesome! Keep The Plaza for breakfast. I'm dying to know how it is...:P

Oh well then by all means I'll make sure I go for you Jenny! ;) I really would like to try it also...but fitting it into such a tight schedule probably isn't my best move.

Amazing how much people don't realize about the planning aspect. I at least know for EVERY vacation I take at least something about what needs to be booked early, etc. I have a friend right now going in May -- to Universal and Disney. I keep trying to help, but they are reluctant to plan, so I'm butting out. I tried to tell them since he is a retired vet he COULD maybe stay onsite at Universal for cheap for that part of trip but they're staying the whole time at Shades, which is fine... they are determined that the Studios are a favorite but everything they want to do -- well, the rides/shows aren't there anymore! Anyway, if folks don't want help, what can you do?

Yeah I totally get it...if people don't want the help you can't do much. When people ask me, I try to give as little or as much information as they want and TRY not to overwhelm them but sometimes that is tough to do. I'm hoping this girl will reach out to me, I sent an email to my SIL and she forwarded it to her...so we'll see.
 
Oh well then by all means I'll make sure I go for you Jenny! ;) I really would like to try it also...but fitting it into such a tight schedule probably isn't my best move.

This made me do a little smile.8-)

Isn't it hard trying to fit everything in????? You always think you have a lot of time...
 
July 2018 Celebration of Life - Day 5

Ok so we were now on day five, and we'd gotten a lot accomplished. We now had passes that included waterparks...so we wanted to make sure we spent some time checking those out.

Our goal today:

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I don't recall what we did about breakfast, but I do know we ended up taking some food with us to the parks. I stopped at a grocery store that morning and picked up some sandwiches to take with us.
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So we enjoyed some time on the lazy river for sure.

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And of course the cave...also known as the place where we usually try to keep each other from forcing our tubes into the cold waterfalls:

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At some point we headed back to our "chair" homebase to enjoy our lunch which was nice. Then we had to do some slides:


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Yes even my 70+ year old FIL gets in on some slide action.

More lazy river:

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We still had a few more things to do here though.
 

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July 2018 Celebration of Life - Day 5 CONTINUED

I know for sure we rode the family raft ride, most likely did that first to avoid the long wait. I think we arrived at the park close to 11am but there was still a wait.
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Later in the day some of the "big" boys decided to ride the what was call the "butt" crusher.

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Everybody survived. :)

Then it was time for some more relaxation.

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We didn't hang out for too much longer after this. It was time to head back, relax for a bit, and enjoy some park time later in the day.






 
This made me do a little smile.8-)

Isn't it hard trying to fit everything in????? You always think you have a lot of time...

I'm so glad. Yes it is so difficult. I've been there enough that I don't NEED to see or do everything, but it's the pressure of giving the rest of the group the best experience that gets to me. There is never enough time and last trip with them (two years ago) I really didn't push the rope drop mentality or anything, giving them time to just take in each morning in the room. That may not happen this trip.

OMG! I LOVE how your FIL joined in!!!! That's awesome!

Yes he is always game for anything and everything for the most part. It's quite entertaining.
 
If there is one thing I cannot stress enough...it's stalking rates for flights and rental cars. Yes it seems a bit time consuming...but worth it for the cost savings.

Since we need a vehicle that will hold 6 people for our return trip to the airport, it's important we get a good rate. When we first booked our flights I had a rental minivan booked for $470 and a rental SUV for $485.

Last night I managed to book a crossover SUV for $386 for the same timeframe.

There is no penalty when you book a rental vehicle if you don't show up. I sometimes have a few booked just to see what rates I can get and then I do my best to remember to cancel them as we approach the actual travel dates.

Oh and the flights...well we only changed them TWICE since booking back in August. We changed to the local airport and changed our return date from Friday to Saturday. That cost an additional $32 per flight. Then I changed my son's flight so he would fly down on Tuesday instead of Saturday with the rest of us. That was another $11 for me to change his flight...or $43 from the initial booking.

And looking now...the RETURN flight alone on the Saturday after Thanksgiving is now more than I paid RT for any of those flights. So don't see that changing downward at all like my rental car.

I probably won't get a much better rate than that for such a busy week but I'm pretty happy about the savings so far.
 
So that November schedule...yeah it's changed a lot already.

Go figure.

The good news for @Jenny Sanders is that I've added a late breakfast at the Plaza for our arrival day...here's hoping we can make it. We are always hungry after flying in the morning so now the plan is to go straight to MK from the plane. We probably won't make the early Tony's reservation but we might do the later one.

I made FP reservations at MK for our arrival day...since that makes the most sense.

I was able to book some late evening FPs for my son on his arrival day...at AK...including FLIGHT OF PASSAGE. He may have to ride alone or we'll see if somebody can be added to it later. I also move all of our FoP reservations up to earlier times. I like this plan so much better.

I booked a Tokyo Dining CP lunch for the 5pm CP show on Friday. Anyone ever eaten at Tokyo Dining?

I dropped the Frontera Cucina late dinner. It's just too much.

I removed my FIL from our Slinky Dog reservation on Thanksgiving Day and moved him to a time that closely corresponds with my SILs plans to ride FoP I guess after Thanksgiving Dinner on the same day. I'm not sure what the rest of us will do but since it's our last evening together I'd like to do something fun.

The new plan was shared with more family members but I've let them know...it will probably change again. I still like the changes that I've made for now.
 

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