Pre-Trip An Unexpected Journey

Hello and thanks for joining! This is my first pre-trip/trip report, and it should be an interesting ride!

My husband and I are joining his family for an Orlando vacation April 18th-25th. We have rented a vacation home where all 11 of us will be staying. Cozy, no? Haha. Let's introduce our cast of characters. :)

Hubs & myself:

10245319_692674474129924_1467205696965130885_n.jpg


This is my 4th trip to the World and my husband's 2nd (well technically 3rd but I don't count his visit to the MK at 18 months old). His "first" visit was with my family and me back in 2012 when we were just dating. I was so worried that he wouldn't enjoy it, but he loved it (although maybe not as much as I do lol). Neither one of us have been to Universal, but we're both super excited. I'm a life-long Potter fan, so I'm particularly geeking out. We have had an eventful 2013 and 2014: graduating, getting married, new jobs, and moving out-of-state. We honestly didn't think we'd be back to Orlando this soon simply because of how busy our lives have been.

Mama2:
Husband's grandmother who everyone calls Mama2. About a year ago she put her house up for sale and moved in with Hubs parents. I'm not sure if she's ever been to WDW!

FIL & MIL:
That trip to the Magic Kingdom Hubs took back when he was 18 months old? That's the only time my FIL and MIL have been as well, way back 25 years ago. They can actually remember it though lol. They have a specific memory of riding the tea cups that they always talk about.

BIL1, SIL1, 3 kids:
My BIL1, Hubs older brother, was at the MK for that visit I keep mentioning. He was probably 7 at the time. Then about three years ago his oldest child, my niece, received her Make-a-Wish trip to WDW and Universal. They are actually the only ones in the family who have been to Universal. The kids are 9, 4, and 3, and the two younger ones LOVE Mickey and Minnie. My BIL1 & SIL1 are actually going to tell the kids that they're going to drive to our house (which happens to be on the way to Orlando) for a visit. Once they get there, they're going to tell the kids we're all going to WDW and Universal!

SIL2:
Hubs younger sister who is in college and NEVER been to WDW or UNI. She's taking time off from school to come, but if her school has to cancel classes due to snow, she may have to back out due to an anatomy lab test that would end up falling during our trip instead of before. Fingers crossed she can go!

Originally BIL2, the youngest sibling, was going to be joining us as well. Unfortunately he has decided that he can't afford to take time off from work. :(

This trip is going to be way different than any Disney trip I've ever taken. This vacation has been in the works for awhile now and taken many forms, but it was ultimately decided by the group to spend two days in WDW and three days at UNI. UNI has been running a special where you can buy a two day park-to-park ticket and get a third day free. I've suggested visiting MK and Epcot for our two WDW days, mainly because of the limited attraction line-up at DHS at the moment and the lack of appeal of AK to Hubs & BIL1. We'll also be visiting a beach one day, but as of now I'm not sure which one exactly.

Because of this, I've taken to calling it our Orlando trip or Orlando vacation instead of "Disney" this or that, simply because it will be NOTHING like what I'm used to. My experience has always been staying on site with the dining plan and Disney buses visiting every park multiple times. I'm excited though to change it up a bit and finally visit UNI!
 
Last edited:

dupac

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We took a look at some of the crowd calendars and our agenda looks like this so far:

Saturday: Arrival
Sunday: Islands of Adventure
Monday: Free day (beach or UNI)
Tuesday: Magic Kingdom
Wednesday: Universal Studios
Thursday: Epcot
Friday: Free Day (beach or UNI depending on what we do Monday)
Saturday: Departure

As for meals, we've only scheduled two. Tuesday morning we'll be arriving bright and early at the Contemporary Resort to eat at Chef Mickey's before heading to the MK at 9. Thursday we'll eat at Biergarten for dinner at 6:40 then hopefully catch Illuminations after. The vacation home we're staying in has a private pool and grill, so we've decided to spend the rest of our nights grilling by the pool.
 

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member
Wow you have had a busy few years! Looks like you've got a wonderful family trip planned to relax from it all. I love how you'll be doing lots of different things. The Potter stuff is fantastic to experience.

Wishing you a wonderful time and many memories!
 

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member
Sounds like great plans! And now you can say that the busy years are over and you will have a more than relaxing trip to the World! Enjoy the pre feelings!!
 

mrdrift

Well-Known Member
Love the plans and to be taking this trip with so many family members is really awesome. Can't wait to hear more about the trip plans.
 

dupac

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thank you everyone for the kind comments!

A little more to add at this point. My SIL1 really wanted to schedule the Pirates League for my nephew (4) and BBB for my two nieces (9 & 3). I had no problem making a reservation at park opening on Tuesday, our MK day, for my nephew but I knew it would be a slim chance that I got a reservation at BBB in MK on the same day (this is what happens when you don't take initiative lol). So now I have to figure out when the best time is to schedule BBB in DtD for the girls.

I've also been playing around with the idea of reserving a dinner at one of Disney's signature restaurants for my husband's birthday. His birthday will be on the Wednesday before we leave, so I thought it might be nice for just us to go out. What holds me back is the possibility of bothering other party members by going off on our own for one night. I'm not sure how they're approaching this vacation: are we all vacationing and happen to be doing it together or are we all taking this vacation to be together specifically? We'll see. I may ask SIL1 what she thinks about it.
 

mrdrift

Well-Known Member
Good luck with the reservations for Pirates League and BBB. I don't know your family but since this is your vacation, I would just let everyone know that the two of you are going out for a nice romantic birthday dinner and will catch up with them in the morning. Make the reservations to a signature dinner and just enjoy a quiet evening. I'm sure the family will understand. Let us know which location you choose to go.
 

dupac

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Well, we've figured it out!

Things have been a bit stressful as I realized that our breakfast at Chef Mickey's is actually on Wednesday, not Tuesday. This threw everything off, since we were planning on going to Magic Kingdom on Tuesday. Thankfully, I managed to reschedule my nephew's Pirates League ressie to Wednesday as well as make a ressie for my SIL2 who also wants to be a pirate ;)

On the BBB front, the only times available were Thurs at 6:20 (and we have dinner at Biergarten at 6:40) and Friday at 6:05. We've decided to leave dinner on Thursday alone and book the Friday slot. We'll go to dinner in DtD afterwards. Where? Who knows! Haha. Still working on it.

I also went ahead and booked the late dinner at Cali Grill on Monday for my husband's birthday. Super excited!! Hopefully we'll be able to catch the fireworks.

SIL1 really wants to go to AK with the kids, so we may end up splitting up on Epcot day until dinner.

Our schedule looks like this as of now:

Saturday: Arrival
Sunday: Islands of Adventure
Monday: Beach day, dinner at California Grill at 9:10p
Tuesday: Universal Studios
Wednesday: Breakfast at Chef Mickey's at 7:05a, Magic Kingdom, Pirates League at 12:10p
Thursday: AK/Epcot, dinner at Biergarten at 6:40p
Friday: Free day, BBB at 6:05p, dinner in DtD

FP+ window is coming up next!! Wooo!!
 
Last edited:

dupac

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Good luck with the reservations for Pirates League and BBB. I don't know your family but since this is your vacation, I would just let everyone know that the two of you are going out for a nice romantic birthday dinner and will catch up with them in the morning. Make the reservations to a signature dinner and just enjoy a quiet evening. I'm sure the family will understand. Let us know which location you choose to go.

Yes, after reading your post, I went ahead and booked a dinner at California Grill. I brought the idea up to my husband, and then later BIL1 & SIL1, and everyone thought it was a great idea. Hubs and I are really excited!

:) Great plans! When is your FP+ window?

We can book our FP+ a week from today! I'm already trying to strategize. I know the kids/SIL1 will want a M&G FP+, but I also hope to snag them for 7DMT.
 

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member
We can book our FP+ a week from today! I'm already trying to strategize. I know the kids/SIL1 will want a M&G FP+, but I also hope to snag them for 7DMT.

Wow just a week to go :) Hope you will get what you want! And you really have to talk with the kids that 7DMT is an absolutely have to do ride! It is great and marvelous! Good luck next week!!
 

dupac

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Looking at taking a bit of a trip down to St. Pete's/Clearwater Beach instead of the closer Coco Beach. Still researching, but not sold on it yet. Apparently the Gulf side is nicer (living off the Texas coast, this shocked me) as well as warmer. If anyone has any advice in regards to this, I'd love to hear it!

FP+ selection tomorrow!!! Unfortunately while planning out our touring plan for MK, I discovered that two of my favorite rides, Jungle Cruise and Space Mountain, will both be down the week of our visit. What a bummer. Trying to stay on the bright side though: that means two fewer rides I have to try to cram into one day of touring MK! Haha.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom