Pre-Trip 3 Couples Going on an Adventure in Nov' 2019

Later this year, I will be embarking on a week long stay at Walt Disney World. My wife and I have not been there since March of 2018 so I've dying to get back. But I want to keep this first post simple and give you all of the details.

How:
So how did this trip come about? Well, our good friends have been wanting to visit WDW with my wife and I for a long time now. They asked us if we would be willing to go with them in November of 2019 and we, of course, said yes. Our friend is a school teacher so she gets a week off here in New Jersey. I know it’ll be a bit busy because of the runDisney event and Jersey week but I know we’ll make the most of it.

Who:
Matt (Me)
Melissa (my wife)
Miguel
Lindsey (School Teacher)
Doug
Kim (Sister of Lindsey)

Miguel and Lindsey are the ones who asked us on this trip. They are as big as Disney fans as Melissa and I are. We were trying to decide who we should invite on this trip and we decided to invite our other friends Doug and Kim. So cool story here. Doug is one of my longest and closest friends. I've known him since we were kids in middle school. Miguel has been a good friend of mine for a long time as well. I had started working with him when we were teenagers. Over the years, Doug and Miguel eventually met and had become friends as well.

Miguel and Lindsey met 6 years ago and will be married by the time we go on our Disney vacation. Doug went out on a date with Kim after meeting on a dating app. On their first date, they realized their mutual connection. Lindsey & Kim are sisters and Miguel & Doug are friends. They have now been dating over a year.

Now we are all friends and excited to go on an adventure with each other!

When:
November 2-9, 2019 (Saturday to Saturday)

Like I said earlier, we are going because Lindsey has off from her job as a school teacher. Her schedule only allows going during the those breaks or summer. I refuse to go in the summer ha.

Where:
Old Key West (2 Bedroom Villa) - Matt, Melissa, Miguel, Lindsey
Coronado Springs - Gran Destino Tower (Standard King) - Doug, Kim

My father in law is DVC member and allows us to use points his points every year. Very appreciative of that! He let's his kids use the points now which is great for us.

We chose Old Key West because it was the only resort that was available for that extended amount of time. His home resort is Vero Beach so we couldn't book that 11 months out and had to wait until the 7 month mark. We could have done a split stay but I didn't want to be bother with that. Honestly, I love Old Key West. My wife and I stayed there last year and we fell in love with it. It's so quiet and it honestly feels like you are returning home for the day. Miguel and Lindsey will be staying with us in the room as well.

Doug and Kim could have stayed with us as well but they wanted to get a place for themselves. So they found a great deal over at the brand new Gran Destino tower at Coronado Springs. I am very excited to check out the new tower. They actually had no idea it was new until I told them after they booked.

ADRS:
Crystal Palace - Breakfast
Toledo - Dinner
Cape May Cafe - Dinner
Ohana - Breakfast

Those are the only ADRs I have right now. We will figure it out later for rest of the days because I feel have to keep some spontaneity on your trip. I have never eaten at any of those places so I'm really excited to try them.

Special Ticketed Events:
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party - Friday, Nov 8
Up Close with Rhinos - Still need to book

None of us have done the Christmas party before so we are all very excited. We already booked our tickets and will be going on the very first night of the party! I know it'll be busy but I'll make sure to be patient with the crowds. I've done the Halloween party before so I know what to expect for the most part.

I also really want to do the Up Close with Rhinos tour at Animal Kingdom. We all agreed to do it, now we just have to book it. Very excited for that!

Other:
We are only buying a 5 day ticket with no park hopper. So we'll be making the most of those days. We are also giving ourselves some time to relax by the pool, visit Disney Springs and the other resorts.

I also have a Monorail Crawl planned. Well start by going to the Wave in the Contemporary. Then we'll head over to Trader Sam's at the Polynesian. Next we'll head over to the newly opened Beauty and the Beast themed lounge at the Grand Floridian (at least it's suppose to be open). Lastly, we'll take a boat to the Wilderness Lodge for one last drink at Geyser Point.

So that's pretty much it for now. I'll keep updating as time goes on and our plans shift around. Also, I have my own Disney podcast called X-S Press if anyone is interested. I put out two episodes a week: an episode on theme park news and an episode where I interview past cast members.

Anyways, can't wait to continue telling everyone our plans on our upcoming adventure. Let me know what are your thoughts on our upcoming trip!

 

[zeebs758]

I can tell you from this months experience that they are still packing the people in... it was definitely a once and done for us...

What advice would you give me for going this year? I'm going to attempt to watch all 3 main events: Boo to You, Fireworks and Hocus Pocus. Boo to You is lowest priority?

Tell me about your experience.

 

[zeebs758]

Following along and looking forward to reading of your adventures! Your trip sounds like it will be so much fun.
Couple of comments, we love AKL, the rooms are quite large and the hotel is beautiful!
We ended up using Uber quite a bit from there due to distance, but it didn't kill the budget.
You mentioned The Boat House, we had one of the best meals I've ever had at Disney there.

Thank you! While staying at AKL, what should I take advantage of? What is a must thing to do while staying there?

I feel like we will be using Uber a decent amount. There are 6 of us and can split the costs. I'm excited for the Boathouse but we are trying to get a California Grill reservations if we can get one so we'll see!

 

[Rista1313]

What advice would you give me for going this year? I'm going to attempt to watch all 3 main events: Boo to You, Fireworks and Hocus Pocus. Boo to You is lowest priority?

Tell me about your experience.

Well we didn't attempt to see Hocus Pocus, so I can't comment on that. What we did do is (I know I know this is crazy) we paid for the dessert party so we could see the fireworks without getting crushed by the crowd. We could see Boo to you, from that garden area, not super clear, but clear enough that I didn't feel the need to wait for the next one to see it again. We also had an ECV, so it was easier... not saying you should pay, just saying what we did. So I guess I really have no comment of a good stradegy!

If you read my Trip report, you can see pictures.. it's day 1 of park days, so you wouldn't have to go very far. https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/its-a-meet-up-palooza.960094/

 

[AKemily]

That's awesome that you have the same dates as us! Our schedule is kind of flexible and we will be park hopping as well so maybe we'll see ya. I'll have to post a photo of us later!

Glad to hear you enjoyed your stay at the B. We'll only be there for a couple nights but I'm excited.

11 people is a lot! It's gonna be hard to get dining anywhere haha. What do you have booked so far?

If you can, I am doing a Monorail Crawl meet up on the 7th if you are able to make it!

Give me a follow on Instagram if you're on it so we can connect that way!

Yes, it's our biggest group yet - 7 adults and 4 children (all 4 years of age and under ). We managed to get an Ohana reservation which was very surprising. It's not at the best time (3:50), but with 4 kids, earlier is better than later. We are also planning on doing Hoop de Doo, which is a new one for all of us! We're still keeping an eye out to see if there are any other good ones we can snag.

I will keep that in mind for the 7th for sure! With all the young kiddoes our days will likely be very unpredictable! But I'll give you a follow on Instagram so I can see where you're at.

 

[zeebs758]

Yes, it's our biggest group yet - 7 adults and 4 children (all 4 years of age and under ). We managed to get an Ohana reservation which was very surprising. It's not at the best time (3:50), but with 4 kids, earlier is better than later. We are also planning on doing Hoop de Doo, which is a new one for all of us! We're still keeping an eye out to see if there are any other good ones we can snag.

I will keep that in mind for the 7th for sure! With all the young kiddoes our days will likely be very unpredictable! But I'll give you a follow on Instagram so I can see where you're at.

My bad, I meant Wednesday November 6th. That's good you got a Ohana reservation though. You might be better off trying to split reservations to make it easier. You may not sit together though. Via Napoli in Italy is a great option as well. Perfefct for bigger groups.

 

[AKemily]

My bad, I meant Wednesday November 6th. That's good you got a Ohana reservation though. You might be better off trying to split reservations to make it easier. You may not sit together though. Via Napoli in Italy is a great option as well. Perfefct for bigger groups.

Ah okay, the 6th we are at Universal all day, so that definitely won't work. We did do a split reservation at Sanaa, however we likely won't keep it as we don't really want to sit apart. Thanks for the tip!

 

[mmnw]

We purchased the Disney Dining Plan last night! For the first time ever, my wife and I will be using the dining plan. We purchased the middle tier plan that includes 1 quick service and 1 table service per night. I'm really excited about it because we usually purchase alcoholic beverages with our meals so that will save a lot of money since the meals include them.

What are your best tips when using the dining plan? We want to use a lot of our snack credits at the Food & Wine Festival.

My tip regarding the dinning plan is to ask what is covered or review if what you ordered is part of the plan. My experience is you will get an entirely different answer each day. Sometimes kid can have a larger bottle of milk or OJ vs the kids size. Sometimes adults can have an adult beverage and a carbonated beverage. Sometimes not. Ask if something is considered a snack. There are posts on “snacks” that some use as breakfasts. I don’t have a good grip on that. . One time we reviewed our quick service meals with the check out person. Told it was all covered. Later realized things were being deducted incorrectly. We went to the front desk and they believed what we told them.

 

[MickeyCB]

Thank you! While staying at AKL, what should I take advantage of? What is a must thing to do while staying there?

I feel like we will be using Uber a decent amount. There are 6 of us and can split the costs. I'm excited for the Boathouse but we are trying to get a California Grill reservations if we can get one so we'll see!

AKL is beautiful and there is a lot to do around the resort. There are great places to dine, and nice quiet places to sit and chat. We didn't use the pools but heard they are great.
Since you have a large room and Savannah view, have some groceries delivered in, coffee, adult beverages etc. and enjoy those large balconies!

Regarding the dining plan, we love it, but not everyone does. We definitely are in the order nicer entrees group. We use up most of our credits except snacks.
And at the end of the trip, while it is a very poor use of credits, if you have a quick service remaining they will convert it to several snacks. Maybe 3 or so? Disney travel pros will tell you it is a poor use of credits, but I do enjoy grabbing a few Mickey snacks on the way out to have at home!

 

[zeebs758]

My tip regarding the dinning plan is to ask what is covered or review if what you ordered is part of the plan. My experience is you will get an entirely different answer each day. Sometimes kid can have a larger bottle of milk or OJ vs the kids size. Sometimes adults can have an adult beverage and a carbonated beverage. Sometimes not. Ask if something is considered a snack. There are posts on “snacks” that some use as breakfasts. I don’t have a good grip on that. . One time we reviewed our quick service meals with the check out person. Told it was all covered. Later realized things were being deducted incorrectly. We went to the front desk and they believed what we told them.

Thanks for the advice!

AKL is beautiful and there is a lot to do around the resort. There are great places to dine, and nice quiet places to sit and chat. We didn't use the pools but heard they are great.
Since you have a large room and Savannah view, have some groceries delivered in, coffee, adult beverages etc. and enjoy those large balconies!

Regarding the dining plan, we love it, but not everyone does. We definitely are in the order nicer entrees group. We use up most of our credits except snacks.
And at the end of the trip, while it is a very poor use of credits, if you have a quick service remaining they will convert it to several snacks. Maybe 3 or so? Disney travel pros will tell you it is a poor use of credits, but I do enjoy grabbing a few Mickey snacks on the way out to have at home!

Sounds good to me. I plan to make use of all of my dining credits so i dont have anything leftover at the end. Hopefully that is easier said than done.

 

[zeebs758]

We leave in 8 days for Walt Disney World! I think we are in a good place with our plans. Here is the updated version of our trip:

Friday - Nov 1 - Halloween Party

• Fly in at 12:30am and arrive at the B Resort
• Melissa and I working remotely from 8am-12pm
• Wine Bar George Reservations at 12:45. So excited to finally eat here!
• Going to Halloween Party at Night

Saturday - Nov 2 - Arrival

• The rest of the gang arrives at 12:30AM
• We are all staying at the B Resort so we'll meet up in the morning.
• Head over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge around 10am to drop off our bags.
• I believe we will be spontaneous during the day and will have to figure out what we want to do.
• 5:10PM Reservations at Cape May Cafe in Beach Club
• Go to Jelly Rolls and Ample Hills Creamery afterwards

Sunday - Nov 3 - Hollywood Studios

• Use extra magic hours at HS.
• Oga's Cantina reservation at 11:40am.
• The afternoon is pretty flexible, not sure what we'll decide to do for dinner.
• We want to see Galaxy's Edge at night.

Monday - Nov 4 - Animal Kingdom

• Rope dropping that morning
• Leave park mid-day to rest a bit
• Head back to see Pandora at night
• Sanaa for dinner at 8:50pm.

Tuesday - Nov 5 - Relax/Pool Day/Epcot

• We'll sleep in and get in rest
• Go to the pool
• Head to Epcot in late afternoon
• 6:00PM Reservations at San Angel Inn in the Mexico Pavilion
• Epcot Forever is a must see on my list so we'll be doing that at Night
• Extra Magic Hours 9PM-11PM

Wednesday - Nov 6 - Magic Kingdom

• 8:15AM Reservations at Crystal Palace and the park doesn’t open until 9am.
• Stay in Park until mid-afternoon
• Refresher and/or nap
• Monorail Crawl which includes stops at the Contemporary, Polynesian and then the Grand Floridian
• Back to the Magic Kingdom for EMH. The park will close at 11PM

Thursday - Nov 7 - Spontaneous Day

• This day is pretty open. I got a Flight of Passage fastpass so we'll def be at AK but I think we are gonna park hop that day.
• Right now I have a 8:15PM reservation for Boathouse and a 9:25pm reservation at California Grill. We are still figuring out which one we want to do.

Friday - Nov 8 - Christmas Party

• Morning and afternoon are free. Not sure what we want to do yet.
• Head to Magic Kingdom at 3:30 for the Christmas Party.

Saturday - Nov 9 - Departure

• Everyone leaves this day.
• Melissa and I's flight departs at 5:30, Doug & Kim depart at 6:30 and Miguel & Lindsey depart at 1PM.
• Going to AK to see the new Christmas decorations

So I don't see our plans changing as much right now. We kept the schedule open so we could be spontaneous. Anyways, can't wait to go!

 

[Rista1313]

Matt... I know your still in the land... but I was listening to your daily updates on the podcast, and I have to say I totally agree with you about the lack of Crispness on flight of passage now. It was still amazing, but I'm wondering if those goggles are starting to get scratched up making things less crisp?

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Matt... I know your still in the land... but I was listening to your daily updates on the podcast, and I have to say I totally agree with you about the lack of Crispness on flight of passage now. It was still amazing, but I'm wondering if those goggles are starting to get scratched up making things less crisp?

i know I’m in the minority, but I honestly didn’t think FOP was that great last year. I’ll go on it with my stepson in December so he can experience it, but meh

 

[zeebs758]

Matt... I know your still in the land... but I was listening to your daily updates on the podcast, and I have to say I totally agree with you about the lack of Crispness on flight of passage now. It was still amazing, but I'm wondering if those goggles are starting to get scratched up making things less crisp?

I literally just rode it again and it looked better this time. The cave scene still looked a bit off though.

 

[Rista1313]

I literally just rode it again and it looked better this time. The cave scene still looked a bit off though.

Hmmm different goggles? Different theatre? Either way I want the crispness back!

 

[zeebs758]

Hmmm different goggles? Different theatre? Either way I want the crispness back!

Haha I feel ya! It's still a fantastic ride though.