Hi All! This is my very first pre-trip and trip report on this site. My hope is that it can help you and/or your family when planning your Disney World adventures! I intend to update this thread each night of our Disney trip to bring all of you a truly ‘live’ experience. First – we will start with a little background info:
DH and I planned a Disney trip to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary. I have been to Disney World only once (back in 2000) and DH has been several times before, mostly when he was young with his family. A few months after we put our deposit down, we found out that we were pregnant! Holy moly! We had only been married a few months at that point and were so incredibly thankful for this blessing! In the midst of our excitement, DH sat me down and had a conversation with me about our trip. We planned to go in March and I would be 7 months pregnant. He thought I would be too uncomfortable in all my ‘glory’ to really enjoy all that Disney has to offer (ride restrictions, walking, swollen ankles, peeing every 15 minutes), not to mention flying in the last trimester. As much as I didn’t want to agree with him, I honestly didn’t know how I would feel, this being my first pregnancy. So with tears in my eyes, I had to make that unfortunate phone call to Disney to cancel our trip. I have to say – what a great company! As upset as I was (you guys, I take vacations VERY seriously!!) the rep who took my call was so positive and funny! We got every penny refunded back to us with no hassles.
Well I wish I could say that we had a fairy tale ending, but just a few weeks after cancelling our trip, we suffered a devastating miscarriage. DH and I were totally winded by the entire experience. With medical bills adding up and my head swimming with emotions, Disney was the last thing on our minds.
Fast forward through the holidays and the brutal polar vortex that the eastern half of the country experienced this past winter. We planned a very last minute (and quite inexpensive) cruise in order to get away from the frosty days. One of our stops was Port Canaveral where we decided on a day trip to Magic Kingdom. One day was just enough to convince DH and I that we both wanted to come back and have that Disney vacation we missed out on.
So please allow me to share with you the details surrounding our upcoming vacation:
Hotel: We started looking at prices back in June and figured out what our budget was. I previously stayed at Port Orleans - Dixie Landings (now French Quarter) and had an amazing stay. DH and his family stay at the Polynesian on their trips, but my wallet cannot afford that luxury! DH wanted to stay at Coronado Springs and honestly, I didn’t care. Coronado Springs offered exactly what we wanted: a quieter hotel option with not as much over the top kid-themes (not trying to hate on the kid themes, just being honest). After looking at the pictures online, I was hooked! Once the free dining plan offer came out, the choice was basically made for us.
So we settled on a timeframe after Labor Day, September 2nd-9th 2014 at CSR, free dining plan, and a 6 day park hopper. Our hope is that most kids will be back in school and the crowds will be at lower number…and also for me personally, that fall decorations will be up at Magic Kingdom!!
Transportation: We will be using Magical Express for the first time this trip and I’ve heard from many people just how easy and convenient it is just check your bags and forget about them! So I’m hoping our experience will be the same – also looking forward to seeing how long it truly takes to get our bags. Having been on 7+ cruises, I’m used to arriving somewhere and not having my bags for a few hours and we never seem to have any issues. Knock on wood!
Boy…airfare has gone up, up, and away!! I checked Orbitz, Travelocity, and Expedia; all the major sites. Imagine my surprise to find flights from Philadelphia Int’l to MCO for $700+!! The last flight I booked for us was last year for our honeymoon to Honolulu direct and it cost $1200 total for the two of us. Somehow that math doesn’t work in my head…1000 miles equals $700, but almost 5000 miles is $1200?!?
A friend referred me to look into Frontier Airlines. They fly from smaller and larger airports regionally. They have low fares but they do charge for bags. So after some research, I booked two roundtrip tickets from PA to MCO for $296 total. I signed up for their Frontier Discount Den program (no cost to me) and if I check in online 24 hours before my flight, I can pay $15 per bag instead of the normal $25 at the gate. I am really satisfied with the price and I am excited to try out this airline and see if we like them!
Extras: I have never been to a Cirque show so we decided to ‘splurge’ and book tickets for La Nouba our first night (Sept 2nd). We also decided that since we do not have park tickets on the day we arrive, we will spend the day at Downtown Disney shopping, have dinner, and then see the show!
ADR: I didn’t realize how important booking reservations were until a few weeks ago. I’m part of this page on Facebook where people share info on Disney planning and tips. So many people post about not being able to get reservations at restaurants they want to go to or that the wait times are over an hour. Since it’s just the two of us and we enjoy set dining times, I’m totally taking advantage of ADR for each night of our trip. I booked all of our reservations back in June and had no problems being 90 days out (give or take a day). Below is the schedule of our dining:
09/02/2014: Bongos Cuban Café in Downtown Disney – I keep thinking about Sponge Bob every time I see the pineapple! In all sincerity though, this place looks fun and I would love to sit in one of the little coves!
09/03/2014: Sanaa Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village – We are both very excited to try this place; we chose it for the view and the atmosphere. We originally picked Jiko, but Sanaa had more options and was only 1 TS credit.
09/04/2014: Maya Grill – Coronado Springs Resort - We are huge Mexican food fans and this is right in our hotel!! I’m very willing to test out the margaritas here…
09/05/2014: Chefs de France – Epcot – This one is my pick! J'adore la cuisine française!
09/06/2014: Teppan Edo – Epcot - Hibachi is fun and interactive to begin with, so we are looking forward to see what Disney magic is added to the experience.
09/07/2014: Boatwright’s Dining Hall – Port Orleans – I want to go back to Port Orleans to see what has changed in the 14 years since I’ve been there. We also want to try the beignets and eat some Cajun food!
09/08/2014: Kona Café – The Polynesia Village Resort – No doubt this place will remind us of our Hawaiian honeymoon, I’m sure. I think it’s the perfect spot to spend our last trip, catch some fireworks afterwards and walk along the water. I’m hoping the construction will not hinder the atmosphere!
We’ve planned all dinner times between 6-7pm, which is when we normally eat. We are both ‘foodies’, so after many reviews and checking out A LOT of menus, we found these options best for us. I am looking forward to hotel hopping, so being able to eat at the other resorts will be fun for me. If any of you have reviews you could pass along, please do!
Fast Passes: Our strategy for the parks is to use the extra magic hours whenever possible. That is driving which park we intend to spend the most time in each day. We opted for fast passes on the rides that we want to go on that we think will have the longest wait times. We booked these about 58 days out. You can tell based on the rides which park we will be in:
09/03/2014: Animal Kingdom: Kilimanjaro Safari, Dinosaur, and Expedition Everest
09/04/2014: Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan
09/05/2014: Soarin, Spaceship Earth, the Seas with Nemo and Friends
09/06/2014: Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, Star Tours
09/07/2014: Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain
09/08/2014: NOTHING!!
Since we have the park hopper, we can go to more than one park each day and we fully intend to take advantage of that. We love Illuminations and Wishes, so we will most likely alternate our nights with those activities.
So here we are…it’s the end of August and our trip is a few weeks away. The days seem to creep by slower and slower and I feel the need for that extra bit of Disney magic to boost me along.
Our magic bands arrived last week (mine is pink and DH chose red) and I received the coveted FP+ email for Be Our Guest. I didn’t know what this was until I asked some folks on the FB chat. Again, I took advantage of this and pre-selected our arrival lunch time (12:02pm-12:35pm) and pre-ordered our food options. We are doing this lunch on our first day at Magic Kingdom. I know BOG is extremely popular, but I don’t want to stand in that queue waiting in the hot sun for lunch, so I’m curious to see how successfully this pre-order process is. Have any of you used this yet?
We decided to be ‘that couple’ and wearing matching Mickey/Minnie t-shirts. I purchased them from Etsy and they weren’t super expensive. $25 for two; they have Mickey and Minnie on the back holding hands (across our backs).
Still thinking about getting one or two more shirts, but I would also like for us to get some while we are there. I just don’t want to pay $45 for a t-shirt!! Anyone have recommendations for a nice store in DTD?
Does anyone else watch SeeYaReelSoon?? I just love them!!
Stay tuned....11 more days!!
DH and I planned a Disney trip to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary. I have been to Disney World only once (back in 2000) and DH has been several times before, mostly when he was young with his family. A few months after we put our deposit down, we found out that we were pregnant! Holy moly! We had only been married a few months at that point and were so incredibly thankful for this blessing! In the midst of our excitement, DH sat me down and had a conversation with me about our trip. We planned to go in March and I would be 7 months pregnant. He thought I would be too uncomfortable in all my ‘glory’ to really enjoy all that Disney has to offer (ride restrictions, walking, swollen ankles, peeing every 15 minutes), not to mention flying in the last trimester. As much as I didn’t want to agree with him, I honestly didn’t know how I would feel, this being my first pregnancy. So with tears in my eyes, I had to make that unfortunate phone call to Disney to cancel our trip. I have to say – what a great company! As upset as I was (you guys, I take vacations VERY seriously!!) the rep who took my call was so positive and funny! We got every penny refunded back to us with no hassles.
Well I wish I could say that we had a fairy tale ending, but just a few weeks after cancelling our trip, we suffered a devastating miscarriage. DH and I were totally winded by the entire experience. With medical bills adding up and my head swimming with emotions, Disney was the last thing on our minds.
Fast forward through the holidays and the brutal polar vortex that the eastern half of the country experienced this past winter. We planned a very last minute (and quite inexpensive) cruise in order to get away from the frosty days. One of our stops was Port Canaveral where we decided on a day trip to Magic Kingdom. One day was just enough to convince DH and I that we both wanted to come back and have that Disney vacation we missed out on.
So please allow me to share with you the details surrounding our upcoming vacation:
Hotel: We started looking at prices back in June and figured out what our budget was. I previously stayed at Port Orleans - Dixie Landings (now French Quarter) and had an amazing stay. DH and his family stay at the Polynesian on their trips, but my wallet cannot afford that luxury! DH wanted to stay at Coronado Springs and honestly, I didn’t care. Coronado Springs offered exactly what we wanted: a quieter hotel option with not as much over the top kid-themes (not trying to hate on the kid themes, just being honest). After looking at the pictures online, I was hooked! Once the free dining plan offer came out, the choice was basically made for us.
So we settled on a timeframe after Labor Day, September 2nd-9th 2014 at CSR, free dining plan, and a 6 day park hopper. Our hope is that most kids will be back in school and the crowds will be at lower number…and also for me personally, that fall decorations will be up at Magic Kingdom!!
Transportation: We will be using Magical Express for the first time this trip and I’ve heard from many people just how easy and convenient it is just check your bags and forget about them! So I’m hoping our experience will be the same – also looking forward to seeing how long it truly takes to get our bags. Having been on 7+ cruises, I’m used to arriving somewhere and not having my bags for a few hours and we never seem to have any issues. Knock on wood!
Boy…airfare has gone up, up, and away!! I checked Orbitz, Travelocity, and Expedia; all the major sites. Imagine my surprise to find flights from Philadelphia Int’l to MCO for $700+!! The last flight I booked for us was last year for our honeymoon to Honolulu direct and it cost $1200 total for the two of us. Somehow that math doesn’t work in my head…1000 miles equals $700, but almost 5000 miles is $1200?!?
A friend referred me to look into Frontier Airlines. They fly from smaller and larger airports regionally. They have low fares but they do charge for bags. So after some research, I booked two roundtrip tickets from PA to MCO for $296 total. I signed up for their Frontier Discount Den program (no cost to me) and if I check in online 24 hours before my flight, I can pay $15 per bag instead of the normal $25 at the gate. I am really satisfied with the price and I am excited to try out this airline and see if we like them!
Extras: I have never been to a Cirque show so we decided to ‘splurge’ and book tickets for La Nouba our first night (Sept 2nd). We also decided that since we do not have park tickets on the day we arrive, we will spend the day at Downtown Disney shopping, have dinner, and then see the show!
ADR: I didn’t realize how important booking reservations were until a few weeks ago. I’m part of this page on Facebook where people share info on Disney planning and tips. So many people post about not being able to get reservations at restaurants they want to go to or that the wait times are over an hour. Since it’s just the two of us and we enjoy set dining times, I’m totally taking advantage of ADR for each night of our trip. I booked all of our reservations back in June and had no problems being 90 days out (give or take a day). Below is the schedule of our dining:
09/02/2014: Bongos Cuban Café in Downtown Disney – I keep thinking about Sponge Bob every time I see the pineapple! In all sincerity though, this place looks fun and I would love to sit in one of the little coves!
09/03/2014: Sanaa Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village – We are both very excited to try this place; we chose it for the view and the atmosphere. We originally picked Jiko, but Sanaa had more options and was only 1 TS credit.
09/04/2014: Maya Grill – Coronado Springs Resort - We are huge Mexican food fans and this is right in our hotel!! I’m very willing to test out the margaritas here…
09/05/2014: Chefs de France – Epcot – This one is my pick! J'adore la cuisine française!
09/06/2014: Teppan Edo – Epcot - Hibachi is fun and interactive to begin with, so we are looking forward to see what Disney magic is added to the experience.
09/07/2014: Boatwright’s Dining Hall – Port Orleans – I want to go back to Port Orleans to see what has changed in the 14 years since I’ve been there. We also want to try the beignets and eat some Cajun food!
09/08/2014: Kona Café – The Polynesia Village Resort – No doubt this place will remind us of our Hawaiian honeymoon, I’m sure. I think it’s the perfect spot to spend our last trip, catch some fireworks afterwards and walk along the water. I’m hoping the construction will not hinder the atmosphere!
We’ve planned all dinner times between 6-7pm, which is when we normally eat. We are both ‘foodies’, so after many reviews and checking out A LOT of menus, we found these options best for us. I am looking forward to hotel hopping, so being able to eat at the other resorts will be fun for me. If any of you have reviews you could pass along, please do!
Fast Passes: Our strategy for the parks is to use the extra magic hours whenever possible. That is driving which park we intend to spend the most time in each day. We opted for fast passes on the rides that we want to go on that we think will have the longest wait times. We booked these about 58 days out. You can tell based on the rides which park we will be in:
09/03/2014: Animal Kingdom: Kilimanjaro Safari, Dinosaur, and Expedition Everest
09/04/2014: Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan
09/05/2014: Soarin, Spaceship Earth, the Seas with Nemo and Friends
09/06/2014: Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, Star Tours
09/07/2014: Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain
09/08/2014: NOTHING!!
Since we have the park hopper, we can go to more than one park each day and we fully intend to take advantage of that. We love Illuminations and Wishes, so we will most likely alternate our nights with those activities.
So here we are…it’s the end of August and our trip is a few weeks away. The days seem to creep by slower and slower and I feel the need for that extra bit of Disney magic to boost me along.
Our magic bands arrived last week (mine is pink and DH chose red) and I received the coveted FP+ email for Be Our Guest. I didn’t know what this was until I asked some folks on the FB chat. Again, I took advantage of this and pre-selected our arrival lunch time (12:02pm-12:35pm) and pre-ordered our food options. We are doing this lunch on our first day at Magic Kingdom. I know BOG is extremely popular, but I don’t want to stand in that queue waiting in the hot sun for lunch, so I’m curious to see how successfully this pre-order process is. Have any of you used this yet?
We decided to be ‘that couple’ and wearing matching Mickey/Minnie t-shirts. I purchased them from Etsy and they weren’t super expensive. $25 for two; they have Mickey and Minnie on the back holding hands (across our backs).
Still thinking about getting one or two more shirts, but I would also like for us to get some while we are there. I just don’t want to pay $45 for a t-shirt!! Anyone have recommendations for a nice store in DTD?
Does anyone else watch SeeYaReelSoon?? I just love them!!
Stay tuned....11 more days!!
