We are finally returning in August 2018 - Draft plan

[kirkie11]

Fantastic! Thanks all! Typhoon Lagoon it is then! 😊

[tonyspurs81]

Hello all,

It's been a little while since I posted our draft plan and since then we have booked our ADR's and tweaked our plan a little. We have just over 100 days to go so the excitement has started to kick in.

We decided we couldn't wait to get to the Magic Kingdom for the fireworks so we've decided to do Animal Kingdom on the Sunday morning, and Magic Kingdom Sunday afternoon. Then on Tuesday do it Vice Versa Magic Kingdom in the morning and Animal Kingdom in the afternoon / evening.

We also couldn't get a reservation at Be Our Guest, so decided on having lunch at the Skipper Canteen in Adventureland.

Other changes include confirmation that we will be having dinner at the Yachtsman steakhouse on our date evening, followed by an evening on World Showcase. Any advise on using uber from Epcot would be appreciated!


On our rest day we decided against going to Splitsville as we thought it looked overpriced and our daughter is probably still a little to young to get the most out of it. We've opted for a relaxed evening at Disney Springs and we plan to try Blaze the Pizza place.

We've also booked the Fantasmic dining package at the Hollywood and Vine. I know the reviews aren't great but we like character meals and we had an awful view for Fantasmic 7 years ago so we thought we'd go for it.

Our final change is to our last day which is lunch at Kona Cafe. An excuse to get out of the heat during the afternoon sun and check out a resort we would love to stay at in the future.

So our plan now looks like this:

Thursday 16th August -
Overnight stay at the BLOC hotel at Gatwick, with evening meal at Giraffe.

Friday 17th August-
We are flying Premium economy with Thomas Cook. We will most likely have a good English breakfast at the airport to nourish us for the long travel day ahead. Once we arrive at the Villa we will nip to Walmart for some provisions and then order a takeaway to eat in the villa (Takeaway suggestions welcome).

Saturday 18th August -
Morning: Epcot Rope Drop - We will try and do Frozen and then spend rest of the morning in future world.
Lunch: Sunshine Seasons.
Afternoon: Resting at Villa / Pool time.
Dinner: Millers Ale House
Evening: Rest at Villa.

Sunday 19th August -
Morning: Breakfast at Tusker House and Animal Kingdom.
Lunch: at Villa with 2 - 3 hour rest.
Late afternoon & Evening: Magic Kingdom with Fireworks
Dinner: Whatever we fancy in Magic Kingdom.

Monday 20th August -
Rest day at Villa
Breakfast: IHOP
A trip to Disney Springs
Dinner: T-Rex at Disney Springs

Tuesday 21st August -
Morning: Magic Kingdom rope drop
Lunch: Skipper Canteen
Rest at Villa
Late afternoon & Evening: Animal Kingdom including Rivers of Light
Dinner: Flametree BBQ

Wednesday 22nd August -
Breakfast: Denny's
Morning: Rest at Villa / Pool time
Afternoon and Evening: Hollywood Studios including night time show.
Dinner: Sci-fi diner

Thursday 23rd August -
Rest Day with pool time
Fit in a round of Mini- Golf.
Nanny to look after Ivy whilst T&K have a date night at World Showcase and the Boardwalk. Dinner: Yachtsman steakhouse. We plan to use Uber to get around.

Friday 24th August -
Breakfast: Bon Voyage Breakfast at Boardwalk.
Morning: Epcot - with a focus on World Showcase.
Lunch: World Showcase counter service (we fancy either Mexico or Morocco.
Afternoon: Rest at Villa for 3 to 4 hours.
Late afternoon & Evening: Back at Epcot for ROE.

Saturday 25th August -
Morning: Rest at Villa / Pool time including lunch
Afternoon: Animal Kingdom
Dinner: Outback Steakhouse

Sunday 26th August -
Rest Day
Breakfast: Perkins
Afternoon: Shopping at Outlets inc. Bargain hunting - Fit in a round of mini-golf (probably Winter Summerland)
Evening: A relaxing stroll around Disney Springs
Dinner: Blaze Pizza

Monday 27th August -
Breakfast: Ohana
Morning: Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Columbia Harbour House
Afternoon: Magic Kingdom
Evening: Rest at Villa and eat in. Perhaps watch a film on the Villa cinema screen.

Tuesday 28th August -
Morning: Hollywood Studios
Lunch: At Villa including 2 - 3 hour rest
Late afternoon and evening: Hollywood Studios including Fantasmic.
Dinner: Fantasmic dining package at Hollywood & Vine.

Wednesday 29th August -
Rest Day at Villa with pool time and perhaps a trip to the cinema.
Dinner: Applebee's

Thursday 30th August -
Last full day
All Day with no rest: Magic Kingdom including Fireworks and a sad goodbye.
Lunch: Kona Cafe
Dinner: Serious Magic Kingdom snacking!

Friday 31st August -
Lazy morning at Villa including packing
Spend some time at Disney Springs including a last lunch at the Earl of Sandwich.
Catch our flight home.

Saturday 1st September -
Arrive at Gatwick at 7.30am feeling jealous of family members who can sleep on planes. Get taxi home and start planning Christmas at DLP :-)

I've started planning which Fast passes we would like and made a list of priorities for us as a family. As we are not onsite we can only book these 30 days out, but nonetheless we have a plan and hope to get all our must do rides if possible. I doubt we will get Seven Dwarfs mine train and Flight of Passage but we will try.

What are peoples views on using fast passes for character meets? Is it worth it or are the queues for characters not too bad?

I've also started playing with the Touring Plans software, and hopefully will put daily plans together once I know what fast passes I am able to get.

[Alice Disney]

Originally Posted by tonyspurs81

Hello all,

It's been a little while since I posted our draft plan and since then we have booked our ADR's and tweaked our plan a little. We have just over 100 days to go so the excitement has started to kick in.

We decided we couldn't wait to get to the Magic Kingdom for the fireworks so we've decided to do Animal Kingdom on the Sunday morning, and Magic Kingdom Sunday afternoon. Then on Tuesday do it Vice Versa Magic Kingdom in the morning and Animal Kingdom in the afternoon / evening.

We also couldn't get a reservation at Be Our Guest, so decided on having lunch at the Skipper Canteen in Adventureland.

Other changes include confirmation that we will be having dinner at the Yachtsman steakhouse on our date evening, followed by an evening on World Showcase. Any advise on using uber from Epcot would be appreciated!


On our rest day we decided against going to Splitsville as we thought it looked overpriced and our daughter is probably still a little to young to get the most out of it. We've opted for a relaxed evening at Disney Springs and we plan to try Blaze the Pizza place.

We've also booked the Fantasmic dining package at the Hollywood and Vine. I know the reviews aren't great but we like character meals and we had an awful view for Fantasmic 7 years ago so we thought we'd go for it.

Our final change is to our last day which is lunch at Kona Cafe. An excuse to get out of the heat during the afternoon sun and check out a resort we would love to stay at in the future.

So our plan now looks like this:

Thursday 16th August -
Overnight stay at the BLOC hotel at Gatwick, with evening meal at Giraffe.

Friday 17th August-
We are flying Premium economy with Thomas Cook. We will most likely have a good English breakfast at the airport to nourish us for the long travel day ahead. Once we arrive at the Villa we will nip to Walmart for some provisions and then order a takeaway to eat in the villa (Takeaway suggestions welcome).

Saturday 18th August -
Morning: Epcot Rope Drop - We will try and do Frozen and then spend rest of the morning in future world.
Lunch: Sunshine Seasons.
Afternoon: Resting at Villa / Pool time.
Dinner: Millers Ale House
Evening: Rest at Villa.

Sunday 19th August -
Morning: Breakfast at Tusker House and Animal Kingdom.
Lunch: at Villa with 2 - 3 hour rest.
Late afternoon & Evening: Magic Kingdom with Fireworks
Dinner: Whatever we fancy in Magic Kingdom.

Monday 20th August -
Rest day at Villa
Breakfast: IHOP
A trip to Disney Springs
Dinner: T-Rex at Disney Springs

Tuesday 21st August -
Morning: Magic Kingdom rope drop
Lunch: Skipper Canteen
Rest at Villa
Late afternoon & Evening: Animal Kingdom including Rivers of Light
Dinner: Flametree BBQ

Wednesday 22nd August -
Breakfast: Denny's
Morning: Rest at Villa / Pool time
Afternoon and Evening: Hollywood Studios including night time show.
Dinner: Sci-fi diner

Thursday 23rd August -
Rest Day with pool time
Fit in a round of Mini- Golf.
Nanny to look after Ivy whilst T&K have a date night at World Showcase and the Boardwalk. Dinner: Yachtsman steakhouse. We plan to use Uber to get around.

Friday 24th August -
Breakfast: Bon Voyage Breakfast at Boardwalk.
Morning: Epcot - with a focus on World Showcase.
Lunch: World Showcase counter service (we fancy either Mexico or Morocco.
Afternoon: Rest at Villa for 3 to 4 hours.
Late afternoon & Evening: Back at Epcot for ROE.

Saturday 25th August -
Morning: Rest at Villa / Pool time including lunch
Afternoon: Animal Kingdom
Dinner: Outback Steakhouse

Sunday 26th August -
Rest Day
Breakfast: Perkins
Afternoon: Shopping at Outlets inc. Bargain hunting - Fit in a round of mini-golf (probably Winter Summerland)
Evening: A relaxing stroll around Disney Springs
Dinner: Blaze Pizza

Monday 27th August -
Breakfast: Ohana
Morning: Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Columbia Harbour House
Afternoon: Magic Kingdom
Evening: Rest at Villa and eat in. Perhaps watch a film on the Villa cinema screen.

Tuesday 28th August -
Morning: Hollywood Studios
Lunch: At Villa including 2 - 3 hour rest
Late afternoon and evening: Hollywood Studios including Fantasmic.
Dinner: Fantasmic dining package at Hollywood & Vine.

Wednesday 29th August -
Rest Day at Villa with pool time and perhaps a trip to the cinema.
Dinner: Applebee's

Thursday 30th August -
Last full day
All Day with no rest: Magic Kingdom including Fireworks and a sad goodbye.
Lunch: Kona Cafe
Dinner: Serious Magic Kingdom snacking!

Friday 31st August -
Lazy morning at Villa including packing
Spend some time at Disney Springs including a last lunch at the Earl of Sandwich.
Catch our flight home.

Saturday 1st September -
Arrive at Gatwick at 7.30am feeling jealous of family members who can sleep on planes. Get taxi home and start planning Christmas at DLP :-)

I've started planning which Fast passes we would like and made a list of priorities for us as a family. As we are not onsite we can only book these 30 days out, but nonetheless we have a plan and hope to get all our must do rides if possible. I doubt we will get Seven Dwarfs mine train and Flight of Passage but we will try.

What are peoples views on using fast passes for character meets? Is it worth it or are the queues for characters not too bad?

I've also started playing with the Touring Plans software, and hopefully will put daily plans together once I know what fast passes I am able to get.

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I think your plan looks great. We travel with a child in August too & always have pool time in the afternoon whilst its hot. We then go back to the parks for dinner & evening once it's a little cooler. We stay onsite so nipping back & forth to hotel is perhaps a bit quicker & easier for us but you said your villa is close by so you should be fine.
We found that our daughter was very jet lagged waking at 5am for the first few mornings so for those evenings we weren't able to do too much but later in the trip she was sleeping till a more reasonable time in the mornings & could last the whole evening. I think I had expected the jet lag to only last a day or 2 like for adults but I really think it effected our daughter for longer & I had to cancel a couple of evening adrs as she was too tired to enjoy them.

We used some FPs for character meets last time as my daughter was 8 & very keen to gather autographs. This year she's 10 & more interested in the rides. We have lots of character meals booked though so she'll get her autographs that way.

Have a great trip!