The Graduation Celebration- July 2018 PTR

LeiaIsAPrincess2

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 10, 2018
I recently joined the DisBoards because I love spending time reading the trip reports so I guess it’s only fair that I write one too. Right?! I’m fairly new to the boards, to WDW, and I’m definitely not a writer so please bare with me. And off we go!


My Backstory

I’m a mid-30’s Realtor from Minnesota and I live with my 3 dogs, 1 cat, and 2 parrots.
29133439_2219881574692439_5533866899047186432_n.jpg


My parents took my brother and I on a trip to WDW when I was in elementary school and it was not a great trip. It was far more expensive than my parents realized, especially for food, and we kids were big ride wimps which caused everyone to miss out on many attractions.


Fast forward 20 some years, my cousin (DC1) invites me on her yearly vacation to WDW and I readily agree. We plan for 6 months and go in Feb. 2018. I promise not to wimp out on any rides (easier said than done) and we have a wonderful time and I’m completely hooked. Our trip was 4 park days plus a little time on arrival day and departure day and it just wasn’t enough for me, especially since it rained on our Animal Kingdom day and we left early, and Animal Kingdom wasn’t even a park the first time I went to WDW. I’m a huge animal lover, in case you couldn’t tell, and spent 18 years working in the animal care field. I knew I needed to come back.
27460016_2168965699784027_3188228484345513511_n.jpg


In April, we start thinking about another cousin’s (DC2) high school graduation. I really wanted to do something special for her, so DC1 and I offer a trip to WDW if she wants to use some of her graduation money towards it. Everyone is all for it so we slowly start pulling the trip together. Why we went so slow, I’m not sure. We are all super planners but the spring was busy. We also had another cousin interested in joining us plus a friend of DC2’s, so we were waiting on final confirmation plus pricing cabins vs. rooms, etc. Neither of them decided to go so we’ll be a party of 3.


As May was creeping up, DC1 suggests we go over the 4th of July. We know if will be hot and crowded, but we love the idea of spending the holiday at the parks! On the evening of May 1st (60 days out), we actually purchased our room, tickets, and made our Fastpasses and ADR’s. We got extremely lucky and were able to book everything we wanted!!! Luckily DC1 is an experienced WDW vacation planner and knew exactly what she was doing.


Stay tuned for our itinerary and more!
 
The Details

People: Me (Leah), DC1, and DC2 (who wish to remain anonymous). We are all cousins.

Place: Staying at Port Orleans French Quarter. We stayed here is February and it was fantastic

How: 7 day Park Hoppers and Disney Dining Plan. The 3 of us have very different eating habits so the dining plan works great and we each picked a few of our TS meals.We will use Disney Transportation as well

When: June 30th-July 6th, 2018

Why: Do you even have to ask? Because it’s Disney! (and DC2’s graduation)


The Plan

Day 1 - June 30th

Depart from MSP at 7am and arrive at MCO around 11. Take the Magical Express to POFQ to drop off our carry-ons and head to Disney Springs for lunch. We have fastpasses at Animal Kingdom in the evening.

ADR- Spiltsville Dining Room

FP’s- Na’vi River Journey, Dinosaur, Rivers of Light

I’m actually really excited to see Rivers of Light, it looks beautiful. We did Na’vi & Dinosaur on our last trips and I enjoyed them both


Day 2- July 1st

We are spending the day at Magic Kingdom and have morning fastpasses. We’ll be meeting our Aunt and Uncle, who live just outside Orlando, in Disney Springs for dinner.

ADR- Maria & Enzo’s

FP’s- Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

I love all 3 of these rides so it should be a great start to the day!


Day 3- July 2nd

Back to Animal Kingdom and then hopping to Magic Kingdom in the evening.

ADR- Crystal Palace dinner

FP’s- Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, Flights of Passage

Expedition Everest was very intimidating on my last trip but because one of my favorite rides. I haven’t been on Kali or FoP yet but both look great.


Day 4- July 3rd

We’ll be spending the day at Magic Kingdom and enjoying the fireworks at night.

ADR- Skipper Canteen

FP’s- Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain

I haven’t been on Splash Mountain yet and I’ll be honest, I’m nervous. Drops are not my favorite thing but I’m not wimping out.


Day 5 - July 4thpixiedust:

Our only planned day in Epcot unless we do some hopping. This is my favorite park so I’m hoping it’s not too crowded this day.

ADR- Via Napoli

FP’s- Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, Mission Space

It’s so hard to pick a FP between Soarin’ and Test Track but we’ll be happy using the single rider line. Mission Space will be green side only!


Day 6- July 5th

Hollywood Studios and Toy Story Land Day! I’m so excited that we can be there during the first week.

ADR- Sci-Fi Dine-In

FP’s- Rock N Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Slinky Dog Dash

As I’ve mentioned, I’m a ride wimp and RnR is at the top of my intensity level but I rode it before with my eyes only closed a little while and maybe it will be less scary the second time. Tower of Terror was my biggest worry on the last trip since I hate drops but I never really got that stomach leaping sensation and I really enjoyed the ride. Slinky Dog looks super fun too!


Day 7- July 6th

We’ll have to catch the Magical Express around noon but we’re heading back to Hollywood Studios in the morning. We have booked all our fastpasses but we probably won’t be able to use them all.

FP’s- Alien Swirling Saucers, Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster

None of us love spinning rides but we couldn’t pass up the chance to ride the second new Toy Story ride!

Then we'll be off on the Magical Express and I'll be writing the trip report!
 
It's Packing Time!

Why is packing always the worst part of preparing for a vacation? It should be fun because it means you are close to leaving, right? I usually makes lists and lists of what I plan to pack but nothing actually makes it in to my luggage until right before I go. This trip has to be a little different because the next 5 days are crazy busy and then we go, so I tried (I really did) to get some things packed this weekend.

I started by pulling out the clothes that I wanted to make sure I don't accidentally wear this week because there's no time for extra laundry. Because I'm a super organized person and an OCD planner, all clothes got packed as outfits. 6 days, 10 outfits? Well, I know it's going to be hot and wet and I'll want multiple outfits some days.

20180623_175532.jpg
I also found this super cute Mickey string backpack at Target and decided to use it as one of my park bags. It kind of got packed but then I unpacked it to spray it with some waterproofing spray to help preserve the stuff inside. Will I remember to grab it off the hanger in my basement before I leave? Only time will tell.

20180623_175549.jpg
Basic clothing, swimsuit, multi charger, hat, and some toiletries packed and that was enough for me. The rest will have to wait a few more days.

20180624_070417.jpg
Now the dogs are pouting because they saw me packing and Weasley has decided he should come with.

We also had some planning drama this weekend over where my pets will stay while I'm gone and how we are all getting to the airport. I usually bring all my pets to my parents to stay. However, that fills my parents house with my 3 dogs, 1 cat, and 2 birds plus their own cat and 2 more birds. The cats don't get along and the dogs go a little crazy not having a yard to run in, so after much debate, my mom will stay at my house with my pets and my dad will stay home with theirs. Let's hope it all goes well!

We need to be to the airport by 5am on Saturday and we need a car that can hold all 3 of us, plus a driver, plus all our luggage. Now I live practically on airport property (my "neighbor" across the street is the airport) but DC1 lives about an hour west of me and DC2 lives about 45 minutes away. DC1 also doesn't drive and my car will not hold all of us. Luckily, my mom has offered to have both cousins spend Friday night with her then they will all come and pick me up on the way to the airport Saturday morning. Problems Solved!
 
Final Countdown!

Just 17 more hours until we get on a plane to head to MCO! (not that I'm counting or anything). Bags are packed, Magical Express is booked, pets are settled in, and just a little more work to do before I'm done for the week. I'll be picking up DC1 when she gets off work tonight and my mom is picking up DC2 so we can all meet at my parents house for dinner.

I also got some magic band decals from Magic Your Band to surprise them both, I already put one of mine on and I have a Pluto decal for my new yellow band as well.

20180628_191104.jpg

It's not totally straight but I've always been adhesively challenged!


Stay tuned for my trip report including our time at Toy Story Land!
 



GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts


Top