Pre-Trip A Not So Scary Very Merry Wine and Dine Dashing PTR

Welcome to my PTR! As of today it is 73 more days until our trip and I am SOOOOOOO very excited!

This will be my 7th visit to Orlando and also my first time ever going two years in a row.

You can check out my last Trip Report here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...icious-dont-believe-us-ask-the-dishes.875066/

We had a fantastic time! But this year we have a MEGA trip planned, check this out:

Dates:

Arrival Date: 24th October

Departure Date: 11th November

18 NIGHTS IN DISNEY!!!!!!!!!


Accomodation:

24th October – 4th November – All Star Sports
4th November - 7th November - Animal Kingdom Lodge (renting vacation points)
7th November - 11th November - Art of Animation


The Cast:

Me - Karen (26)

My Sister – Rachel (21)

My boyfriend – Sleepy

 

[dancingtodisney]

Brief overview of the plan so far:

Friday 24th: Arrive in MCO at 9pm - Ride the Magical Express for the first time WHOOP WHOOP

Sleepy booked later than us and our flights had gone up lots so he on a separate flight via Chicago (ours is via Philadelphia) the plan is for him to pick up the car as he arrives before us

Sleepy will hopefully check in at All Star Sports (also a first for us) ahead of us and be in the room and everything by the time we get there. No plan for the evening as is will be pretty late.

Saturday 25th: This is the only day of our holiday that Typhoon Lagoon will open AND we missed it last year so our first day will be here...

If we are up bright and early we will head to Hollywood Studios first for EMH at 8am and get to Typhoon Lagoon for 10am. Who am I kidding?? Of course we'll be up early!

Afterwards we're planning to drive out to Wallmart and stock up on essentials for our trip, cereal bars for breakfasts, water bottles and soft drinks etc.

We're hoping to get to MK before 6pm and have Fastpass Plus booked in for before our ADR that night!

Meet Cinderella and Rapunzel at Princess Fairytale Hall
5:00 - 6:00 pm
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
6:15 - 7:15 pm
Space Mountain®
7:15 - 8:15 pm

FIRST TIME ON SEVEN DWARFS EEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

That evening we have a reservation at 1900 Park Fare, SO EXCITING!!!!! I am dying to try the strawberry soup!

There is EMH in Magic Kingdom until 2am but we are meeting some friends that over at the same time so not sure what the plan is for after! If we don't I'm thinking a cocktail from the Tambu Lounge and watch the Fireworks from the Polynesian beach (not sure how construction going on there would affect this idea?) then onto MK for EMH.

 

[LisaBelle]

Loved your last TR. Will "Grumpy" be joining you this trip? Plans look great so far. Can't wait to read all about it.

 

[dancingtodisney]

Loved your last TR. Will "Grumpy" be joining you this trip? Plans look great so far. Can't wait to read all about it.

Aw thanks! No there will be a no Grumpy this time and I've upgraded Sleepy to his official name haha I don't feel like I can assign him his TR name until after the trip! Don't worry though you can expect some guest appearances from all new characters this time around.

 

[FlaggNL]

Hey looks great! You will be in the World just before we will leave again! Loved your former TR, so looking forward to the next TR. Although on the other hand.... if you post a TR is it over and that means our trip is also over The good thing is that we only have to wait for 66 days before flying from Europe to Orlando We will be in WDW from Ocotber 17the

 

[dancingtodisney]

Hey looks great! You will be in the World just before we will leave again! Loved your former TR, so looking forward to the next TR. Although on the other hand.... if you post a TR is it over and that means our trip is also over The good thing is that we only have to wait for 66 days before flying from Europe to Orlando We will be in WDW from Ocotber 17the

I was just looking at your PTR and you leave on the 24th! So close! Maybe we'll cross paths at the airport and never know haha
Yes I can't say I'm looking forward to writing my next TR I don't want this holiday to be over! I doubt we'll be back next year so we have to go all out this time. I always heard that the time of year I'm going is really quiet but the crowd calendars have jumped up like crazy for our 18days now...

 

[FlaggNL]

I was just looking at your PTR and you leave on the 24th! So close! Maybe we'll cross paths at the airport and never know haha
Yes I can't say I'm looking forward to writing my next TR I don't want this holiday to be over! I doubt we'll be back next year so we have to go all out this time. I always heard that the time of year I'm going is really quiet but the crowd calendars have jumped up like crazy for our 18days now...

Who knows maybe we cross paths... depends on which airport you are using. We are going by Santford.
I now exactly what you mean! We are also not looking forward for the TR, but on the other hand it is great to share the magical moments with all the people here

The Crowd calenders are better in the period we are in WDW and universal... but on the other hand, if it is crowded or not... it will absolutely be magical

 

[dancingtodisney]

Who knows maybe we cross paths... depends on which airport you are using. We are going by Santford.
I now exactly what you mean! We are also not looking forward for the TR, but on the other hand it is great to share the magical moments with all the people here

The Crowd calenders are better in the period we are in WDW and universal... but on the other hand, if it is crowded or not... it will absolutely be magical

Aw unfortunately not, we're coming into MCO! It is a nice way to relive the memories but last year I just could not bring myself to write my TR until I had my next trip booked!

When we booked originally the crowd calanders were really really good for our two weeks but they shot up recently which is annoying! On the plus side they've also extended the opening hours as a result. I'm really excited to go to the Halloween and Christmas parties in one trip so I understand why those two weeks are popular PLUS we're there during the last week of the W&D festival and the half marathon.

I have noticed though that ADRs are like gold dust now, we looked at trying to change a few of ours and EVERYTHING is booked out solid!

 

[SharonD]

Congratulations on your trip!

We will be there early October and I've noticed the same thing with ADRs - perhaps everyone will spend their time eating, and leave more room on the rides!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Congratulations on your trip!

We will be there early October and I've noticed the same thing with ADRs - perhaps everyone will spend their time eating, and leave more room on the rides!

I'm so stupidly excited it's ridiculous!

It's crazy I've never seen anything like it in September before, I suppose the free dining period doesn't help with that! Luckily we made lots of reservations at our 180+ mark! Still it's a pain when you feel you can't be more flexible!

Fingers crossed for OK wait times!

I see you're headed to MNSSHP, have you been before? I'm doing both that and the Christmas party hopefully but have never been to either!

 

[SharonD]

Have been to the Christmas Party and loved it. This will be our first time for the Halloween Party.

You will have a great time at the parties, especially because you can meet some characters who aren't normally out and about.

 

[LisaBelle]

Aw thanks! No there will be a no Grumpy this time and I've upgraded Sleepy to his official name haha I don't feel like I can assign him his TR name until after the trip! Don't worry though you can expect some guest appearances from all new characters this time around.

I will continue to follow the pre-trip and will definitely watch for the TR in November. Looking forward to the guest appearances!

 

[FlaggNL]

Aw unfortunately not, we're coming into MCO! It is a nice way to relive the memories but last year I just could not bring myself to write my TR until I had my next trip booked!

When we booked originally the crowd calanders were really really good for our two weeks but they shot up recently which is annoying! On the plus side they've also extended the opening hours as a result. I'm really excited to go to the Halloween and Christmas parties in one trip so I understand why those two weeks are popular PLUS we're there during the last week of the W&D festival and the half marathon.

I have noticed though that ADRs are like gold dust now, we looked at trying to change a few of ours and EVERYTHING is booked out solid!

So your landing on the other airport It's closer by Disney than our airport. But we rent 2 cars so we drive ourselves to the villa in Kissimmee

It's a bit like you say... on one hand hard to start with a TR cause the trip is over, on the other hand great to share the magical time with the world

It's great that you have three periods and an event in the park.. Halloween, Chrismans and W&D, and on top of it the Half marathon

We have a special Halloween night at Universal! I know it's not Disney but we need to see the Horror House, special the Walking Dead one !

Yeah we mentioned that everything was booked out.But we're not going to plan the restaurants.... only some fastpass+

 

[dancingtodisney]

So your landing on the other airport It's closer by Disney than our airport. But we rent 2 cars so we drive ourselves to the villa in Kissimmee

It's a bit like you say... on one hand hard to start with a TR cause the trip is over, on the other hand great to share the magical time with the world

It's great that you have three periods and an event in the park.. Halloween, Chrismans and W&D, and on top of it the Half marathon

We have a special Halloween night at Universal! I know it's not Disney but we need to see the Horror House, special the Walking Dead one !

Yeah we mentioned that everything was booked out.But we're not going to plan the restaurants.... only some fastpass+

Yep! We're flying American Airlines so we just went with the cheapest. We've even flown to Tampa before to save on cost.

I love sharing on this forum because everyone is here because they share a love for Disney, when I try to share my excitement with people that don't have the Disney bug they kinda look at you and say 'Isn't Disney for kids' Ggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Oh ye I did that last year, it was so scary! I would highly recommend on the day that you go to Universal as a day visitor if possible (so be in the park before the event) unless you plan on buying fast passes. The wait times got crazy after the first hour. You would miss the opening show from behind the gates but in my opinion it would be worth it.

We normally only book a character meal and maybe one or two others but this time with us staying on property we have lots more booked!

 

[FlaggNL]

Yep! We're flying American Airlines so we just went with the cheapest. We've even flown to Tampa before to save on cost.

I love sharing on this forum because everyone is here because they share a love for Disney, when I try to share my excitement with people that don't have the Disney bug they kinda look at you and say 'Isn't Disney for kids' Ggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Oh ye I did that last year, it was so scary! I would highly recommend on the day that you go to Universal as a day visitor if possible (so be in the park before the event) unless you plan on buying fast passes. The wait times got crazy after the first hour. You would miss the opening show from behind the gates but in my opinion it would be worth it.

We normally only book a character meal and maybe one or two others but this time with us staying on property we have lots more booked!

We are flying with Arke, a typical Dutch airline. We booked a complete package for 7 people. Flight, villa and 2 cars for 7 days!

And ohw I understand you completely. When I tell about DLP and the 5 times a year visit people think we are crazy! When you are there once you have seen it for a couple of years.... yeah right But WDW was 25 ago for me and first time for Ria and Sacha... it's not the cheapest trip so don't knwow if we can manage to return next year but for sure there will be more times the next couple of years. SW os on our wishlist and I saw a TR from a couple that went to Tokyo Resort... well that is on our wishlist as off now

As for now, we arrive at Friday in Orlando. Than the fist day is getting the car, checking in villa and do some groceries. Second day will be Magic Kingdom and Sunday will be Universal with the HH night also! We are not going to buy fastpasses in Universal, I think its crazy to pay for fastpasses. And I guess we will miss the openign show as you describe

Some day in the future we will be on the property with a dining plan.... but not this time!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Sunday 25th: MK, EP AND HS

Ambitious plan for our first proper parks day! MK has a really low crowd rating this day so I wanted to head there first, I'm actually a bit disappointed we can't do MK on our first morning but with Typhoon Lagoon closing we don't really have a choice.

We have our fastpasses booked for MK again as I am hoping that if we use our three in the morning we may be able to get more as the day goes on from the Kiosks within the other parks. I was hoping they would have updated the rules on this and you could book the fastpass plus on the app as soon as your three ran out for another park but no joy as of yet!

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
10:00 - 11:00 am
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad®
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Splash Mountain®
12:00 - 1:00 pm

Aiming to stay at MK for a couple of hours and then get the monorail over to Epcot. We'll have a wander around world showcase and don't plan on doing any rides. We've a reservation at 1.40pm for Chef de France, this will be another first for us! I'm particularly excited about the french onion soup and the crème brulee. @LisaBelle had some great pics from her dinner which looked like the same set menu as lunch

We then plan to wander around the world showcase for a bit longer. I've booked Beaches and Cream for 5.30PM just to try some ice-cream, that may a bit ambitious after our big lunch but I figure it's 4hrs later so might be ok! After ice-cream the plan is for us to head to HS for the EMH there... BUT we also have a reservation at California Grill for 9.40PM!! LONG DAY but hey it's Disney! We may skip HS but you never know at Disney!

 

[dancingtodisney]

We are flying with Arke, a typical Dutch airline. We booked a complete package for 7 people. Flight, villa and 2 cars for 7 days!

And ohw I understand you completely. When I tell about DLP and the 5 times a year visit people think we are crazy! When you are there once you have seen it for a couple of years.... yeah right But WDW was 25 ago for me and first time for Ria and Sacha... it's not the cheapest trip so don't knwow if we can manage to return next year but for sure there will be more times the next couple of years. SW os on our wishlist and I saw a TR from a couple that went to Tokyo Resort... well that is on our wishlist as off now

As for now, we arrive at Friday in Orlando. Than the fist day is getting the car, checking in villa and do some groceries. Second day will be Magic Kingdom and Sunday will be Universal with the HH night also! We are not going to buy fastpasses in Universal, I think its crazy to pay for fastpasses. And I guess we will miss the openign show as you describe

Some day in the future we will be on the property with a dining plan.... but not this time!

OH cool, it's handy when it's all in one nice neat package, our trip is several reservations combined which can be a bit annoying!

I'd say you are very excited to be returning, I've only been to DLP once but would love to visit again. From looking at your latest report a lot has changed lately. FIRST TIMERS!!! I love having first timers around, you get to experience everything through their eyes too! Oh yes I started reading that one too, I was actually in Tokyo Resort myself last year, it was good but I don't think I'd be rushing back, the crowds were just way too much!

Ye the fast pass ticket price is pretty high alright! Hopefully your night won't be too busy, I think I went on launch night so maybe that added to the crowds.

We've got the dining plan only for 3nights but I'm my first time having it... whooop!

 

[FlaggNL]

OH cool, it's handy when it's all in one nice neat package, our trip is several reservations combined which can be a bit annoying! I'd say you are very excited to be returning, I've only been to DLP once but would love to visit again. From looking at your latest report a lot has changed lately. FIRST TIMERS!!! I love having first timers around, you get to experience everything through their eyes too! Oh yes I started reading that one too, I was actually in Tokyo Resort myself last year, it was good but I don't think I'd be rushing back, the crowds were just way too much! Ye the fast pass ticket price is pretty high alright! Hopefully your night won't be too busy, I think I went on launch night so maybe that added to the crowds. We've got the dining plan only for 3nights but I'm my first time having it... whooop!

Yeah I can manage it is a bit annoying to have several reservations. Although I read some TR's that have several different hotels people are staying in. And to me that sounds great. A trip for about 14 days and then 3 or 4 different Disney hotels... it would be nice, so you get to know several locations. I guess I would prefer onsite stay but to be honest the price difference between on- or offsite is huge! And for our wallet too huge LOL

Was it a long time ago you have been in DLP? It changed really a lot the last 10 years! We are in DLP 3 or 4 times a year, yeah I know some people declare us stupid to be there so often! And everytime we are in DLP there are (minor) differences with the stay before.

Yeah it is great to be with FIRST TIMERS, for me it is 25 years ago I was in WDW so it feels also a bit like being a FIRST TIMER. I think we even will the First Timer batch from guest relations when we arrive in WDW. We also consider the Magic Bands, since we are off site the Magic Bands are not part of the deal, but it's nice to have them. Also it is probably easer for the Memory Maker we already bought!

Tokyo really looks great, but as you describe it the crowd is big?

Dining plan for just 3 nights? Well its more than we have LOL! Do you know where you gonna use the dining plan?

It's great to have the pre-feelings

 

[dancingtodisney]

Monday 27th:Animal Kingdom and Shopping

This morning I have a ADR at Tuskar House! Last time we went for a late breakfast and really enjoyed it so we’re doing the same again and have it booked for 10.30am.

There is EMH that morning so plenty of times for rides beforehand!

We have these Fastpasses booked:
Kali River Rapids®
11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Finding Nemo - The Musical
12:30 - 12:50 pm
Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain®
1:55 - 2:55 pm

Rachel is not at all happy with Finding Nemo fastpass as she dislikes this show, I didn’t actually enjoy it all that much myself but I want to give it another shot and we missed it completely last year!

In the evening we are headed to DTD and have a reservation in Planet Hollywood for 6.45pm, I’ve never been and always wanted to go, we always get that voucher as well with our booking and never use it!

Tuesday 28th: Universal & Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween Party
AAAAAAAH and a non-Disney park, look away in disgust!

I am really excited to check out the new Harry Potter area in Universal Studios, I absolutely LOVE the IOA area! I’m purposely avoiding a lot of the info on it so I can be surprised, I’ve not read much about the new ride at all! I have seen pics of the train station though and that looks AWESOME!

After our non-Disney day we are off to our first ever MNSSHP! I am unbelievably excited to meet Jack Skellington and Sally !!! I have no idea what I’m going to dress up as yet so really need to get my thinking cap on!

Our Fastpass Plus:

Haunted Mansion®
4:00 - 5:00 pm
Enchanted Tales with Belle
5:00 - 6:00 pm
Jungle Cruise®
6:00 - 7:00 pm

Wednesday 29th: MK & Epcot

After a late night in MK what could we possibly have planned for first thing the next morning?! Crystal Palace at 8am of course! I’m so excited to be in MK before official park opening! Looking forward to getting some nice pics!

We also have a lunch reservation at Liberty Tree but that is purely to try the sticky toffee pudding, we might not be up to much else! That night is EMH in Epcot and we plan to start eating and drinking around the world and also have a reservation for San Angel Inn yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Splash Mountain®
11:45 am - 12:45 pm
Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade
2:45 - 3:05 pm
Meet Anna and Elsa at Princess Fairytale Hall
3:50 - 4:50 pm

 

[FlaggNL]

Great additions