February - Taking Work and School Off!!!

If you have 4 kids, and you're not independently wealthy, should you plan a trip to Disney World?  How about multiple trips over the course of a year?  Of 1.course you should!  I won't spend much time explaining why you should go.  I mean, of course you and 80,000 or so of your friends would love to attend the park each day!!!  I'm going to share my experiences over the course of this year to illustrate how my family and I make the most of our Disney experience without breaking the bank.

We bought an annual pass for the family at Christmas time.  I'll revisit that trip at another time.  For now, I'm describing the follow up.  You see, Christmas and New Year's are exceptionally busy at the parks.  Those weeks and days are the  busiest of the year.  There are beautiful decorations and extended hours, and special shows that are worth seeing, but to truly experience Disney, it is sometimes best to go in a "down" time.  Thus, we scheduled a trip in February.  Yep, took the kids out of school on a Friday and a Monday, and made a long weekend trip to the Orlando area.

Our trip was to be four days in the parks, starting on a Friday, and finishing up on a Monday.  We would travel home on Monday in order to get the kids back to school and my wife and I back into our normal work routines.  So, how did we decide to maximize our timTTe?

First, we made the 6.5-7 hour drive from our home to the parks driving through the night.  We planned on being in the park on Friday morning, so we left our home about 11:00 pm on Thursday night.  The park opened at 9:00 am, so we had plenty of time.  Our kids slept in the car, and my wife and I took turns napping.  We arrived about 2 hours early, so we parked in a quiet parking lot, rested, grabbed some breakfast, and then headed to the Magic Kingdom early enough to be near the front of the line at the rope drop.

For us, getting to the parks early is required.  The best time to ride with the shortest waits is first thing in the morning.  Of course, we had already scheduled our Fastpass + selections 30 days in advance, so we knew some of our destinations, but during that first hour in the park, you can choose 2-3 of your favorites, and ride them knowing that you will not have to wait in line.  Our morning went like this; walk directly to the Seven Dwarves Mine Train ride and walk right on the ride, then over to Space Mountain with less than a 10 minute wait, then over to Buzz Lightyear with less than a 10 minute wait, then to our first Fast Pass at 10:15 with Big Thunder Mountain.  In just over 1 hour we had ridden 3 of the top priority thrill rides and Buzz Lightyear with almost no waiting in line!

These results vary based on the season.  For example, during Spring Break or a holiday, you may only get 3 rides instead of 4 during that first hour, but the general plan is the same.

Lunch is always exciting down at Disney.  This time around we headed over to the Polynesian resort and Captain Cooke's quick service.  We had never been there, but decided to try it out.  During our visit we ate the pulled pork nachos, fish tacos, and pulled pork sandwich.  This is not your Southerners pulled pork!  It was a pineapple and vinegar based meal, which was fitting.  My two youngest did not love the food, but I appreciated Disney actual seasoning the items well.  We may not go back for lunch, but I'd still recommend it.

Next day was Epcot.  This is probably my favorite park.  Once again, we were there at the rope drop.  We headed straight over to the Test Track,  After we got off, we did Sum of All Thrills, Test Track single rider (each member of my family, even the 9 year old), then Mission Space.  At that point, we had finished that side of the park and headed over to Nemo, and Soarin'.

We grabbed lunch in the Sunshine Seasons, basically the cafeteria in the Land Pavilion.  Once again, this was a first for us.  Things that attracted us were the multiple healthy dining options such as chicken, salmon, pork chop, etc.. and the refillable soda fountain.  The food was very well prepared, large portions, and enjoyed

by the entire family.  We still had enough appetite to grab some goodies later in the day from the French bakery.  I mean who doesn't love some creme brulee'?

Another thing we decided to do on this visit was to exit the park and take a walk on the boardwalk.  This is a short walk from the Epcot World Showcase.  It is fun to see the resorts, let the kids pin trade and just enjoy the magic.  We stopped at the fire pit in front of the Yacht Club resort, roasted some marshmallows, and enjoyed the beautiful early evening.  They were setting up to watch a movie on the beach, but we decided to walk back into Epcot.

The next day we headed to the Hollywood Studios.  Once again, rope drop....I think you are starting to get the point.  We headed straight in towards Toy Story Mania.  The ride was down, not working.  This didn't really slow us down.  We immediately headed to Rockin' Rollercoaster, walked on, then rode again as single riders.  We then rode Tower of Terror, did a art class, then Rockin' Rollercoaster again.  Sometimes rides break down.  We still got to ride Toy Story later in the day, just didn't get to go twice as we had hoped.

The final day was spent at the Animal Kingdom  We walked straight back to Expedition Everest and rode it twice with no wait, then the Safari, then Dinosaur.  This time of year, there was basically no wait on any of the rides, at least nothing over 10 minutes.

We had a nice trip.  We made some good memories and have some stories to tell.  Trips for us don't just happen without some planning.  I'll share some planning suggestions in future posts.

Here's hoping your next trip is both soon, and amazing!