Trip Report DVC, Dinosaurs, Buckets & Booze! Now with added London & Paris! COMPLETE!

Hello and welcome to my trip report! The title will make sense I promise… eventually!

We’ve actually been home almost 3 weeks now and I’ve been writing this report for about 2. I just haven’t sorted through all my photos (and had the Disney blues, which always makes visiting the Trip Report forum hard!) but I’ve got a nice free Saturday now to sort through the photos and feel ready to post :)

So I guess the DVC and booze part of the title is self-explanatory, so I’ll start with that! Having bought into DVC on our last trip… what better way to try out all the options now available to us then making this a super-split-stay… and staying in 6 different resorts!! o_O Ok this wasn’t all completely intentional; it just kind of worked out this way (which will be explained shortly!)
It may sound crazy to some, but we actually loved trying out a bunch of different resorts over the 16 nights of this trip! 16 nights meant there was plenty of time to do so!

Now the booze element of the title… well, there was a liiiittle bit of drinking involved! If you’ve read any of my previous reports you’ll know we like a Disney Drink… or monorail crawl! It adds a little extra magic to the already magical day…

Originally I had wanted to name this report When You Wish Upon a Cronut, as leading up to the trip I had been day dreaming about all the delicious Disney food that exists in the magical bubble (don’t we all?!) and the Cronut in all it’s delicious-sugar-filled-butter-pastry-delicious glory is just one of the items that had been most on my mind! I’d not found one over here (in the UK) and there’s just something about sitting down and looking over World Showcase whilst increasing my blood sugar levels & calorie intake by a bajllion with that crazy pastry! Just one of those little ways of knowing I’M HOME when doing so.
However, I didn’t even end up getting a Cronut once this trip!! Despite being there for 16 nights this kind of became a theme of the trip in that some of the things we’d been daydreaming about and talking about doing or eating before the trip- along with some Disney staples- we somehow forgot to do or completely missed! So much so that back home our go-to joke phrase that we say or randomly message each other throughout the day is “Did we even Disney?!” that sometimes goes to “Did we even America?!” “Did we even plane?!” :joyfull:

Don’t get me wrong though, we still had an awesome time and the Disney blues are hitting HARD. It never gets any easier! I literally want to walk out of work every second (yep I’ve been writing this at work… when I can… ssh… who doesn’t go on the boards when at work?!) go get my husband and grab our passports and board a plane back to my real home. If I had the money to do so I wouldn’t look back!

So with all that info already (these first few posts are going to be wordy, sorry!) let’s get onto the who, the when & the where (x6 :joyfull: )

Who: Me (Sam) and my husband Russ

EBC8B509-FF05-4D07-91C9-F70BC57270EF.jpeg


Ok how about a non drinking in Disney photo:

BB736BB9-70AE-4094-B320-6E57B3B074D4.jpeg


We’re from the UK and this was our 11th trip to WDW together (I grew up going, Russ’ first trip was with me) and our first full trip as DVC members! We purchased DVC on the last trip- and actually used a few points right there and then- but this felt like the first “official” DVC trip!

Now onto the when and where…
September 21st-October 7th
16 days of glorious WDW. I can’t believe that it’s over a month now since we left for the trip!

So our last trip was in November/December 2018 and of course the Disney blues had hit hard as soon as we were home and it all felt like FOREVER ago within a month of being back! Although we had some tentative plans in place already for this year, by March/April we had to get bookings secured and make it real so that the Disney blues could become Disney excitement!

So first a little background, because this trip had some changes! And it will also explain the amount of resorts…
Originally we had a Disney Cruise booked for September 28th-Oct 5th. We planned to do a week in WDW before that and stay another 2 nights after the cruise. Having bought into DVC on our last trip (woo hoo!) we decided we wanted to try 2 different resorts in that first week. We quite like split stays and we wanted to try out places we hadn’t stayed before, which now being DVC members allowed us to do. So our original plan was for 3 nights at Copper Creek (our home resort) and 4 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge, before embarking on our cruise and returning for 2 nights at the Beach Club (our favourite resort which we have previously stayed at).

Then along came a slight spanner in the works. We secured Copper Creek for our first 3 nights and Beach Club for the last 2 nights after the cruise. However, AKL was only available for 3 nights- leaving our last night before the cruise without somewhere to stay. We thought we would waitlist AKL, but then I noticed a Theme Park View Studio at Bay Lake Tower was available for that night- and we thought why not? We were planning to do MNSSHP that night anyway, so it would be convenient for that- and we have also done split stays many times before, including 3 resorts in 5 nights once and we actually don’t find it that much of a hassle. So that became our new plan!

Then as happens sometimes, a second much larger spanner was thrown into the works. In May, a bit of a family emergency/situation came up that made it seem like we might have to postpone our trip. As it was quite up in the air whether we would be able to go- along with slight financial pressures- it seemed cancelling the cruise would be for the best. If it later turned out we could still go away, a WDW trip would be more than welcome. So we went ahead and cancelled the cruise, but decided to keep the DVC bookings since they were less of a commitment at that time.

We weren’t too sure until August whether we would be going ahead, when the family situation had settled and we knew we would be ok to take our trip! Whilst we were disappointed to not be cruising with DCL again (we’ve been trying to go again ever since we took our first Disney Cruise as part of our honeymoon nearly 4 years ago) it now meant we had over 2 weeks to enjoy WDW! It had been a good few years since we had stayed solely in Orlando for that long and we can’t wait! 16 days for all the parks, dining and resort time seemed like bliss! We had thought it felt a little rushed the past 3 or 4 trips as they had been shorter and/or filled with plans in & out of WDW (not that those hadn’t been great, we’d just been craving a long WDW trip). There are always so many things we want to repeat alongside new things to try- there never seems to be enough time no matter how long we’re there! And, as we’ve just found out anyway from this trip- 16 nights still isn’t long enough!! I think we actually did less than we’d planned for this trip than on our shorter trips!

So now that we knew we were going and that it would be 16 nights just in Orlando- the only issue was sorting rooms for the week that we originally thought we would be on the cruise for. This was a little more of a headache now with being way into the DVC booking window- and the announcement that Galaxies Edge would be open at that time!
We could only get 3 nights at Saratoga Springs for Oct 1st-4th. We booked it and waitlisted Beach Club/Boardwalk for those nights and hoped it would open up and swap us- and that the night of the 4th would become available either with points or the cash discount. Then I could align those nights with our DVC booking for the 5th and 6th Oct. We had our fingers crossed that we would get our waitlist for Beach Club and end up with 6 nights in a row there at the end!

That just left the 28th Sept - 1st Oct with nowhere booked (and no more points left!). So we decided to do those 3 nights offsite, to save money along with that we also wanted to visit some of the other non-Disney Orlando parks (sshh!) as well as some shopping and relaxing. Even this didn’t work out how we planned! I’ll explain when I get into that part of the trip, but we didn’t get to any off-site parks lol!

So, the waitlist literally 10 days out of the trip moved us to Boardwalk for the 1st-4th! That still left the night of the 4th to book somewhere before the 5th & 6th that we had locked down for Beach Club (are you still following?! o_O). There was no availability with points and no decent discounts for the night of the 4th at the Beach Club or Boardwalk- and since it was just one night it didn’t seem worth the rack rate- so we went for 1 night at Coronado Springs instead! A little crazy when being at the Boardwalk and then moving to Beach Club that we were then popping elsewhere on property for one night in between, but when the Boardwalk/Beach Club rates were near $600 and Coronado was $200… it was worth it. Plus we had wanted to visit Coronado during the trip anyway to see the new tower and restaurants. So for us, it was perfect!

And so, that was our crazy itinerary! :joyfull: For some it might seem like a nightmare, but we do actually like seeing and staying in different resorts- we’d done it before so we knew what it entailed- and as it’s just the two of us we don’t find it too bothersome. In fact, in some ways it makes the trip seem longer and more exciting getting to experience different resorts! We actually enjoyed waking up, calling bell services to collect our bags, heading out to a park and then coming back to a new resort afterwards! When we switched to AKL from Copper Creek our room was ready when we were back and we already had magic bands, so we simply went straight to our new room. It doesn’t usually take much time anyway to pop to check in on the way back from a park if need be- we usually time it so we arrive after check-in time anyway- and our bags have always arrived in a timely fashion after calling, if not having already been in our rooms! The only slight inconvenient time we had was when we moved on and off-site, as this meant we had to grab an Uber (we hadn’t hired a car) and take our luggage with us rather than being able to transfer. At Disney it was easy!

We actually a few years ago spent 3 months travelling- and most of our stays in various cities were for 3 or 4 nights! A couple were even 2 nights- so simply moving around WDW a few times over 2 weeks compared to new cities and countries every few days for 3 months was nothing really!

Ok, finally, here is what the itinerary actually was:
Sept 21st-24th Copper Creek at Wilderness Lodge
Sept 24th-27th Animal Kingdom Lodge
Sept 27th-28th Bay Lake Tower
Sept 28th-Oct 1st Off-site
Oct 1st-Oct 4th Boardwalk Resort
Oct 4th-5th Coronado Springs
Oct 5th-7th Beach Club Resort

I’ll get started on the report soon- I’ll just give a little info on what the trip plans entailed in the next post!
 

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
Sunday September 22nd

I managed to sleep straight through from 11.30pm-3.30am and then I woke up, as usual on our first morning or two coming from the UK to the US. I tried to doze off for a little and between that and scrolling my phone for a bit, by 5am we were both awake and started to get ready for DHS Extra Magic Hours.

Nothing better than turning the TV on to this!

View attachment 420502

When we were ready to leave we realised it was still dark outside! That was a little confusing along with jet lag! It felt like we’d slept through the day or gotten up in the middle of the night! It was sooo quiet.

View attachment 420503

We only saw a couple of other people and we only shared the bus with one other person- and the bus had arrived just a few minutes after we had arrived at the bus stop.

On our way! What time is it?!

View attachment 420494

We got our first look at the new bus stops when we arrived- very nice. And of course, the soon to open Gondolas! So here is an explanation for another part of the title- since they were announced we have called the Gondolas “Buckets”. Or to be more precise, the Death Buckets! Well, that is Russ’ word for them since from when they were announced he has NOT been keen to ride, convinced they are doomed to trap him (ha ha retrospectively now!) or drop off the line crashing onto the roads or lakes. I however had been super excited to ride them! I’m not even sure who coined the term Buckets/Death Buckets between us and Alisa & Jerome, but calling the Gondolas by their real name seems weird to us now, we’re so used to it. During the last trips when they were being built and on this trip as they were opening we’d just yell “Buckeeeeettts!” affectionately at them (well, Russ would grumble Death Buckeeeeetts)! I can’t begin to tell you his glee at being “right” about them after the incident!

Anyhow, passing the buckets we carried on to the front gates of DHS, noticing the new bag check lines/scanners this time. I actually think they did a good job here- and it went up fast.

View attachment 420495

First mickey head scan of the trip- and we were in! Even though we were up early somehow we’d managed to not get through the gates until 6.30am. We weren’t too worried though as the wait times were still very low and the park didn’t have many people in it. First stop- caffeine! Got to get my first Disney Starbucks of the trip! Pumpkin Spice Latte for me and Russ went for a Cold Brew. As we drank our coffees we made our way to Toy Story Land for our first ride of the trip- Slinky Dog! The line said 20 minutes and I don’t even think it took 15. Perfect start to our first full Disney Day! I was so happy to be home and I just love this ride.

View attachment 420496

View attachment 420501

After this we took in some of the small details of the land as the sun was rising- it literally got light as we were on Slinky- before heading over to TSMM- 5 minute wait! Russ beat me, as usual, but it was close! I blame the early start!

View attachment 420497

View attachment 420498

View attachment 420499

View attachment 420505
I feel you on the time difference thing! Same thing happens to me when I go to Disneyland. Coming from the east coast of the US, going to Anaheim gives me three hours. On my most recent trip, I was awake by 5:30 AM every single day!
 

Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I feel you on the time difference thing! Same thing happens to me when I go to Disneyland. Coming from the east coast of the US, going to Anaheim gives me three hours. On my most recent trip, I was awake by 5:30 AM every single day!

Yup! It can be an advantage in some ways for rope drop (and if we ever get back for a Rise of the Resistance boarding group!). We’ve been to the west coast a few times and that’s even crazier with an 8 hour time difference. Takes quite a few days to stop waking up at 3am!
 

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

Back
Top Bottom