Flower & Garden Solo Shot -- Pre-Trip musings
Doing the Single Digit Dance!!
Alrighty then!!!
Cast of characters: Me, myself, and I - 56, going on 15, and loving the solo trips!
9 short days until I am back in 'The World' and so looking forward to getting out of the "I can't make up my mind if it's Spring, Summer or Winter" April we are having. Friday and Saturday were in the mid-80's, but we are having snow flurries today! Go figure!
In any event, I will be (hopefully) riding the DME bus to Pop by this time in nine days, getting ready for a 'short' 6-day trip for Flower & Garden. Got all my FP+ options locked and loaded (including 2 for FoP) and have my daily schedule all laid out. Let's see how closely I can stick to the plan.
Thursday, April 26 - Arrival Day!
Wake up at (or as close as possible to) 2am to get this trip started. Have to leave the house by 3:30 to be in Baltimore for a 6:15am flight. Around 8:30am I arrive in Orlando and make my way to the DME bus terminal for my ride to Disney's Pop Century Resort!
Drop my backpack at the baggage handler at Pop and make my way to the buses.
First planned stop: EPCOT for a bite to eat, a Magner's Pear Cider and a pic or two at Gary's Column. This is becoming/has become my tradition.
Depending upon my timing, I may hit the EPCOT Character Stop for some pics, pick up my Minnie Passholder Magnet, and maybe a ride or two - crowds allowing....
Somewhere after 2pm, I need to make my way toward DHS for my FastPass+ selections. Due to the vagaries of the FP+ selection process, I ended up with Star Tours at 3:05, but a 3 hour break before Tower of Terror, followed quickly by Fantasmic! Never got FP+ seating for Fantasmic! before, so this could be interesting.
After Fantasmic! (if I can hold out even that long) it will be back to Pop to get some rest.
Friday, April 27
MK morning. Had this planned even before I saw that there was an EMH morning here today. Don't know that I'll get up early enough for that, but I already have FP+ options for Haunted Mansion, Tinker Bell Meet & Greet (may try to get Mickey while I'm there as well) and Perter Pan's Flight. Anything else will be 'walk-on' and that's fine by me.
EP afternoon/evening. May try to get a FP+ for Illuminations for later, but I'm just winging it here and hoping to get to see Blood, Sweat & Tears (featuring Bo Bice) this evening. If I can get Passholder entry bands, great, otherwise, I can stand in line or just enjoy from behind the seating area.
Saturday, April 28 (Dapper Day - MK)
AK morning. FP+ options for Na'vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Expedition Everest. Plenty of time between reservations to enjoy the park. I really like AK anyway, so the addition of Pandora gets me here 3 times on this trip.
MK evening. No, I'm not dressing the part, but I have never been down for Dapper Days, so I will be gawking around, checking out the 'festive' visitors. Hoping to be in the park before 3pm, so that I can see the Festival of Fantasy Parade, as I have missed this on my last 2 trips. Plan is to hang around and hit rides/shows/ etc. for the evening and catch Happily Ever After Fireworks this evening. Believe it or not, I missed these on my last trip as well. (What the heck DID I do on my last trip? LOL) Park is open until midnight, but I may turn into a pumpkin long before that. We shall see.....
Sunday, April 29 (Dapper Day - EP)
Uh oh....I had planned an EPCOT morning! This MAY change, but for right now, this is still the plan. My FP+ options are for AK later in the evening, so this is not etched in stone.
AK evening. As I said, my FP+ options are for Dinosaur, FoP and Rivers of Light. Last trip I was on FoP twice and I made sure to get at least two more rides on this for this trip. This is number one. Great ride and worth that use of a FP+ option, but I don't know about waiting in ANY queue for more than an hour. Did Rivers of Light on a whim on my last trip and really enjoyed the show. I was seated all the way back against the wall by the entrance across from Finding Nemo. Looking to see what FP+ seating is like...May bring my Gear 360 rig for this. I have a headband mount that works nicely if I want a 180 degree view. Not sure what I'm going to do after this show, as the park is open until 10:30pm.
Monday, April 30
AK morning. Yes, kill me now! Closing the park one night and opening it back up the next morning at 8am!! I must be crazy!! FP+ for Safaris, Festival of The Lion King, and FoP all before noon. I like the safari first thing in the morning as the animals seem to be more active, just getting their breakfast.
DHS evening. This is planned simply to get the chance to see the Disney Movie Magic projection show and the Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular fireworks. I might not show up until later in the evening so that I can catch up on some rest after leaving AK around noon. (I am getting older, you know!!!!)
Tuesday, May 1 (May Day! May Day!!) - Departure Day ):
EP morning. Yes, I am doing a park on my departure day. Flight doesn't leave until 8pm, so I won't need to be back to Pop for my DME bus until around 4:30 - 5:00...FP+ options here are rather iffy, but I did get Frozen Ever After at 9am, Mission Space, and Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival (WHY? Because it was there and the lesser of the Tier 1 evils!! LOL) Should actually be finished up with these by 11:30am, so my last 4 hours or so are up for grabs. May hit another park, may go to Disney Springs (although I was sorely disappointed on my last visit) or may just go back to the resort and find a place to take a nap! LOL
Back to work bright and ugly Wednesday morning!!! I think I'm going to need a vacation to get over my vacation!! But, as always, it will be well worth it!
