"Last Minute" Flower & Garden Festival Trip! Pre-Trip Report

Ok so maybe it's not THAT last minute, but last minute for me! Last month I convinced Jon that we just HAD to plan another trip this April! So with just over 100 days to go I was planning a new trip! For me this is very last minute as our trips are normally planned at least a year and a half out. That being said, it still feels like it's dragging to get here! But today we finally hit our 60 day mark so it's about that time for a pre-trip report!

The People

If you haven't read any of my trip reports before, here's a quick run down of my little family.

Allison aka ME!
I'm obviously a huge Disney freak and have been since day 1. I love all things Disney and Disney World, but my favorite movie is Little Mermaid. I love thrill rides (which we'll be skipping this trip ) and the shows (I'm also a theater nerd. Have been in plays since I was 3 and will be playing Rizzo in Grease the three weekends prior to our trip). I'm also a big foodie and have not been to Flower and Garden since the addition of the food kiosks so I'm pretty excited about that.

Jon aka DH
Jon is a Disney junkie though the Disney World love is spurred on mostly by me He patiently listens to all my Disney World ramblings and even remembers some of it sometimes! This will be our fourth trip together and he took on trip with his family when he was younger as well so this is officially trip #5 for him. He also likes thrill rides and his favorite Disney movie is Aladdin. He used to be a picky eater pre-me but now is willing to try almost anything that I offer to him. He's a BIG eater and can pack away more then you would expect by his frame.

Penny aka Penelope aka P aka Boo aka DD
Penny is 2-1/2 years old and this will be her second trip to Disney. She got pretty rundown and then got a stomach bug of sorts while we were there in December so this trip is 100% about her. Last time we went with my in-laws too and I was preoccupied with trying to please everyone else so I might have tried to push us too hard. This time around we're focusing on hitting things that she missed out on last time, things she really liked last time, and basically just taking it easy and working around her schedule. She LOVES the princesses but she really does like all things Disney just like her parents. Oliver and Company and Peter Pan are the two latest movies to be added to her repertoire. Rapunzel is her favorite character and Under the Sea: The Voyage of the Little Mermaid is her favorite ride.

The Location
Because this is a last minute, budget trip we will be staying at Pop Century this time around. This is our first value resort (with the exception of our one night stay at All Star Sports last trip which we were not too happy with) and we just stayed at our first deluxe on our last trip so I'm a little worried about this transition. I've heard fantastic things about Pop though so we're crossing our fingers I completed online check-in today with a request for "straight to room" so that we can get to the parks ASAP. Hoping this goes better then our last trip as neither All-Star Sports or Saratoga worked with our "direct to room". We have requested a 4th floor lake view room in the 50s section to hopefully have a view of the fireworks.

The Plan
No park hoppers this time around so we have to make the most of our time at each park.

Monday, April 25th - Epcot
*We should be landing at MCO by around 11:30am and taking the Magical Express to Pop to drop off our carry ons and hopefully head straight to the park.
*Late lunch at the F&GF kiosks - I have lots of things on our list to hit! Maybe a taco for Penny from Mexico
*Penny normally naps around 2pm EST so we will probably spend the afternoon exploring the World Showcase while she sleeps in the stroller
*FastPasses at 1:30pm - 2:30pm for Seas with Nemo and Friends (this was Penny's first ride on our last trip, and her first ride ever at Disney World so carrying the tradition), Character Spot from 5:10-6:10pm, and IllumiNations 8:40-8:55pm...I have a feeling we'll be skipping the IllumiNations but just in case
*Dinner at the F&GF kisoks, of course

Tueday, April 26th - Magic Kingdom
*FastPasses for Cinderella and Rapunzel from 10:00am-11:00am, Peter Pan from 11:00am-12:00pm, and Under the Sea from 12:05pm-1:05pm
*Planning on Peco's Bill for lunch and Captain Cook's at the Poly (did I mention that this is a budget trip)?
*I currently have the Wishes Dessert Party booked tonight as a surprise but I'm still undecided on whether I will keep it.

Wednesday, April 27th - Animal Kingdom
*Planning on sleeping in a bit this morning and maybe even hit the pool
*FastPasses for Festival of the Lion King 10:30am-10:50am (may trade this out with our Finding Nemo FastPass if we get started later today as Penny is a bigger fan of Lion King), Kilimanjaro Safaris 11:30am-12:30pm, and Finding Nemo 12:30pm-12:50pm
*Lunch at Harambe Marketplace (really excited to try the curry corn dog!) and dinner reservation at Yak & Yeti at 5:45pm (we LOVE this place and really missed it on our last trip)
*Hoping hoping hoping for Rivers of Light tonight!
*Finding DiVine is a priority today! Jon is fascinated by this and we have yet to spot her!

Thursday, April 28th - Magic Kingdom
*FastPases for Enchanted Tales with Belle from 10:10am-11:10am, Ariel's Grotto 11:20am-12:20pm, and Buzz Lightyear from 12:25pm-1:25pm (hoping to trade this out for Anna & Elsa but there was no availability when I made our reservations this morning)
*We had been planning on chicken and waffles at Sleepy Hollow for lunch but since that has now been taken off the menu we are open to suggestions. We might go with our old standby, Columbia Harbor House, or try for a walk up at the Plaza. I'm open to suggestions, though! I'm thinking we'll walk over to try the Contempo Cafe for dinner.

Friday, April 29th - Hollywood Studios
*Penny almost entirely missed this park last trip because she was sick. There's not a lot to do here for her but we have a pretty strict show schedule to get all of those in.
*FastPasses for Disney Jr from 9:20am-9:35am, Frozen Sing-a-long from 10:05am-10:20am, and Beauty and the Beast from 12:30pm-12:50pm. It was REALLY weird to not make a TSMM FastPass for our Studios day but we're not sure how excited Penny would be about this ride so we opted for better seats at Beauty and the Beast because we know she will love that. We also have to fit in Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Great Movie Ride at some point and then that pretty much knocks out all of the Penny related attractions.
*Really hoping Olaf's meet and greet will be open as Penny would absolutely die over this! And she got to meet Doc, Jake, and Sofia last time but I'm sure she'll want to do these again.
*Jon will probably explore the Star Wars areas while Penny naps.
*I have dinner reservations for us at Sanaa tonight at 5:40pm which I'm super excited about! After dinner we'll go back over to the Studios for the 9pm Fantasmic show.

Saturday, April 30th - Epcot
*Pack and check out of the resort early
*We were really hoping for an early Frozen soft-opening today but it now sounds like this will be a no go.
*FastPasses for Spaceship Earth 9:40am to 10:40am, Living with the Land 10:40am to 11:40am, and Imagination 11:40am to 12:40pm
*Lunch and afternoon snacks at F&GF kiosks
*Back to the resort by 2:50pm for the Tragical Express