Help needed with our planning

We haven't been to WDW in several years. During the last two days of our most recent visit our then 4 year old was struck with norovirus, the baby was throwing up on the plane ride home and my husband and I fell like dominos soon after. A few months later the baby, 15 months old, was diagnosed with Type I diabetes.

So the little one will be 4 years old soon and our older boy just turned 7. We feel ready to face WDW again, with the younger one being out of diapers and us having gotten used to the unpredictability of his medical needs. We were thinking of early May, 2018 (we are Homeschoolers so off season works for us) but then received a pin code. We moved the trip up to early May, 2017.

Denise at Magical Journeys was wonderful and quickly reserved us a stay at AKL club level Savannah view. A splurge, but the pin code helped. We stayed there once before children and it was lovely. The boys love animals and just completed a fun Africa unit study and my husband would like a relaxing grown up aspect to the trip.

We have 5 days of tickets (no park hoppers) and need to keep to a steady sleeping/eating schedule which will make getting suitable times for ADRs harder. Our 180 day window opens up Tuesday morning although Denise suggested I might have some luck at midnight Monday. Does anyone have experience with this? I used to do ADRs via phone so advice is appreciated.

I used crowd level predictions to choose the days and the goal is to take it at an easy pace and skip Hollywood Studios altogether. Let me know your thoughts on this.

I've been furiously trying to read the latest reviews on restaurants but please let me know if I have any not so good places listed.

So appreciative of your help, feeling last minute here...

Sunday - arrive at AKL, spend time exploring resort, pool, any cultural activities, stories, parade. Dinner at Boma or Mara.

All breakfasts at club lounge, do they have a microwave we might use in the lounge?

Monday - Animal Kingdom, lunch at Tusker House (favorite characters) we will look for Chip and Dale (also favorites) at Rafiki Planet Watch, dinner at Yak n Yeti

Tuesday - Magic Kingdom, lunch at Crystal Palace (they love Hundred Acre Woods), take boat to Ft Wilderness Campgrounds for dinner at Trails End (is 5 or 5:30 pm enough time get to the Chip and Dale sing a long?) Is doing this worth it or maybe we should enjoy time at our resort instead in the spirit of being relaxed. We will be back again in a few years and could stay in a cabin.

Wednesday - show the boys the Cars section of Art of Animation resort (they love Cars), lunch at La Hacienda or Biergarten - which do you like better?, tour International section of Epcot, dinner at Il Mulino and enjoy boardwalk area

Thursday - Magic Kingdom, lunch at BOG and dinner at Ohana (if lucky enough to get these ADRs, never done either, can flip with Tuesday dining plans)

Friday - last dinner at Jiko, but not sure which park, more time in Epcot or should we go to Hollywood Studios?

Thank you so much for any advice!

Clearly my years are off, SO tired. We are going early May, 2018 not 2019

Teresa

Looks like your plans are really coming together.

I don't recall if they have microwaves in the club level refreshment area. I don't recall having need for one but that was club level at Wilderness Lodge and not Animal Kingdom.

It can be a bit of a pain to get to Fort Wilderness, the sing along area and then back to your resort - particularly if you are relying on Disney transportation for all legs of travel. If you're looking for a more relaxing evening, I'd wait to do this when you stay in a cabin at Fort Wilderness. Many/most of the resorts have evening movies so you might opt to do that instead or explore the animal areas with night vision glasses.

Dining is a personal choice but I prefer La Hacienda over Biergarten.

I recently spent a day at Hollywood Studios. While there are some closures there such as the Great Movie ride, we still found enough to do to entertain us for the day. Be forewarned, though, that the closures have centered crowds more densely onto fewer rides. For example, we arrived early for the Indiana Jones stunt show but, by time we shuffled our way into the arena, it was already standing room only. We'd seen the show multiple times in the past so opted now to stand at the back of the theater to see it.

Good luck with your planning and I hope everyone stays healthy to enjoy the trip!!

You can’t make ADRs until 6 am EST onlne or 7 am by phone if you have trouble online the day you hit 180 days. For Sunday I would do dinner at Boma. I would spend Friday doing FW of Epcot.

You didn't mention if you were doing the DDP or not but Il Mulino would not be included. That aside, it has become one of our favorites along with Shula's.

As far as HS I suggested looking over what's still open and see if you can make a day out of it. You know better as to what your children (and husband) would like.

Have fun planning!!

A huge thank you to all of you who responded! Your insights and suggestions are so helpful. I will post a trip report in May to pass on any insights we gained from our trip. Thank you again! -Teresa