We have less than 40 days in anticipation of our magical WDW vacation :sohappy:. DH and I travel each year in September in celebration of our wedding anniversary. This year we are celebrating our third year of marriage. We are approximately 8.5 hours away from the world. Our plans are to leave in the early morning hours and arrive during the afternoon. Each year we try to stay at a different deluxe resort. It seems the both of us have agreed on what resort each time - until this year. I wanted to stay at the Contemporary because MK is my favorite park and absolutely love the idea that the monorail runs directly through it. He disagreed and pushed for the Boardwalk. My thinking was, since we stayed at the Beach Club last year and were so close to EP I wanted a change of scenery (even though we loved the BC), DH gave in to staying at the Contemporary, but I promised him the Boardwalk next year. I thought it would be so cool to wake up and look out the window and see Cinderella’s Castle, so we paid for a Tower – theme park view with a request of a king size bed. We added a 7 day park hopper and the dining plan.
We can’t wait for our 8 night stay and the over-planner I am, I have started packing already! Let’s just hope and pray that a hurricane or tropical storm will not affect Orlando or our home on the Gulf Coast.
At 180 days, I was up bright and early to reserve our dining reservations and happily booked everything we wished. I subscribed to touringplans.com three years ago and have always found the information very helpful and efficient. The crowd levels range from 1-3 (1 being the lowest) during our visit. I know it’s going to be hot, but living on the Gulf of Mexico, I’m used to the excruciating heat/humidity. Usually the afternoon thunderstorms will cool it down anyway, even though the lightening is terrifying.
This is what I’ve planned so far:
Day 1: Depart early morning and drive straight to WDW, we should arrive early afternoon. I didn’t make dinner reservations because being in the car for almost 9 hours I thought we could relax. We’ll probably drop our bags off at the resort and go to Downtown Disney. We’ll eat dinner at our favorite counter service - Earl of Sandwich. After a couple of hours of shopping and eating, we may journey over to MK or EP for the fireworks.
Day 2: Ride the monorail over and grab a quick breakfast at the MK bakery. After spending the whole the day at MK, we’ll head over to Downtown Disney for ADR at Planet Hollywood. After dinner, we’ll finish our first full day with fireworks/parade back at MK.
Day 3: ADR for breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. This will be our first time dining with the characters. After breakfast, we’ll catch the monorail to EP. I plan to grab fast passes for Soarin’. Lunch will be light this day, because we have an ADR for our favorite table service, Le Cellier’s. After dinner, we’ll catch Illuminations.
Day 4: Hollywood Studios with an ADR for dinner at 50’s Prime Time Café. Hard to believe that I have not seen Fantasmic, EVER! We normally save HS to our last night and always in a rush to get back to the resort to pack our bags, car, etc. Another first for us will be Toy Story Mania, the fast passes have always run out and the wait too long by the time we make it to the park.
Day 5: Breakfast at Kona Cafe, cannot wait to try the Tonga Toast. Then, another day scheduled for MK. I’m really disappointed that IASW will be closed during our visit. As irritating as the song is, it’s still tradition to ride once. We have an ADR for Tony’s Town Square. We like Tony’s because of the location. It’s a perfect place to eat and then walk out and wait for the parades/fireworks.
Day 6: Animal Kingdom. We will in all probability sleep in on our day intended for AK and then catch the afternoon parade. Disappointed that Flame Tree BBQ will be closed, so I have no idea where we’ll eat lunch. We’ve enjoyed Rainforest Café the last few times and even though it’s not on the dining plan, we will pay for this meal.
Day 7: Our final full day at WDW will be spent in Epcot. I booked a lunch at Le Cellier’s. We’ve always had dinner, so I thought we would try lunch. We plan on taking our time in the World Showcase to walk around, take a few pictures and enjoy a Grand Marnier slush. I always like to stop in Japan and check out Pick-a-Pearl. We have reservations for Coral Reef for our last night in WDW. Since I tend to over pack for trips, we’ll depart EP early so I can organize our bags/clothes.
Day 8: We’ll have the car packed and ready to depart bright and early for our journey back to the Gulf Coast.
Something different I want to try on this trip is to relax. Previous vacations to WDW, I’ve acted more like a drill sergeant instead of enjoying the vacation.
I’m thinking about purchasing tickets for MNSSHP as a surprise for the DH :king:. We’ve never been before, but heard it is fun. I cannot see the DH dressing in a costume, so I’m looking for Halloween t-shirts.
We’ve been talking about purchasing a new camera so I hope to have plenty of pictures to post in my trip report, especially of our food! I hope you enjoyed reading my long, drawn out first trip report. :wave:
We can’t wait for our 8 night stay and the over-planner I am, I have started packing already! Let’s just hope and pray that a hurricane or tropical storm will not affect Orlando or our home on the Gulf Coast.
At 180 days, I was up bright and early to reserve our dining reservations and happily booked everything we wished. I subscribed to touringplans.com three years ago and have always found the information very helpful and efficient. The crowd levels range from 1-3 (1 being the lowest) during our visit. I know it’s going to be hot, but living on the Gulf of Mexico, I’m used to the excruciating heat/humidity. Usually the afternoon thunderstorms will cool it down anyway, even though the lightening is terrifying.
This is what I’ve planned so far:
Day 1: Depart early morning and drive straight to WDW, we should arrive early afternoon. I didn’t make dinner reservations because being in the car for almost 9 hours I thought we could relax. We’ll probably drop our bags off at the resort and go to Downtown Disney. We’ll eat dinner at our favorite counter service - Earl of Sandwich. After a couple of hours of shopping and eating, we may journey over to MK or EP for the fireworks.
Day 2: Ride the monorail over and grab a quick breakfast at the MK bakery. After spending the whole the day at MK, we’ll head over to Downtown Disney for ADR at Planet Hollywood. After dinner, we’ll finish our first full day with fireworks/parade back at MK.
Day 3: ADR for breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. This will be our first time dining with the characters. After breakfast, we’ll catch the monorail to EP. I plan to grab fast passes for Soarin’. Lunch will be light this day, because we have an ADR for our favorite table service, Le Cellier’s. After dinner, we’ll catch Illuminations.
Day 4: Hollywood Studios with an ADR for dinner at 50’s Prime Time Café. Hard to believe that I have not seen Fantasmic, EVER! We normally save HS to our last night and always in a rush to get back to the resort to pack our bags, car, etc. Another first for us will be Toy Story Mania, the fast passes have always run out and the wait too long by the time we make it to the park.
Day 5: Breakfast at Kona Cafe, cannot wait to try the Tonga Toast. Then, another day scheduled for MK. I’m really disappointed that IASW will be closed during our visit. As irritating as the song is, it’s still tradition to ride once. We have an ADR for Tony’s Town Square. We like Tony’s because of the location. It’s a perfect place to eat and then walk out and wait for the parades/fireworks.
Day 6: Animal Kingdom. We will in all probability sleep in on our day intended for AK and then catch the afternoon parade. Disappointed that Flame Tree BBQ will be closed, so I have no idea where we’ll eat lunch. We’ve enjoyed Rainforest Café the last few times and even though it’s not on the dining plan, we will pay for this meal.
Day 7: Our final full day at WDW will be spent in Epcot. I booked a lunch at Le Cellier’s. We’ve always had dinner, so I thought we would try lunch. We plan on taking our time in the World Showcase to walk around, take a few pictures and enjoy a Grand Marnier slush. I always like to stop in Japan and check out Pick-a-Pearl. We have reservations for Coral Reef for our last night in WDW. Since I tend to over pack for trips, we’ll depart EP early so I can organize our bags/clothes.
Day 8: We’ll have the car packed and ready to depart bright and early for our journey back to the Gulf Coast.
Something different I want to try on this trip is to relax. Previous vacations to WDW, I’ve acted more like a drill sergeant instead of enjoying the vacation.
I’m thinking about purchasing tickets for MNSSHP as a surprise for the DH :king:. We’ve never been before, but heard it is fun. I cannot see the DH dressing in a costume, so I’m looking for Halloween t-shirts.
We’ve been talking about purchasing a new camera so I hope to have plenty of pictures to post in my trip report, especially of our food! I hope you enjoyed reading my long, drawn out first trip report. :wave:
