Hello fellow Disney fans!
This is my first pre-trip report ever, and I tend to be a very detailed person, so I am apologizing in advance!!
I would consider myself a Disney veteran, having been to The World at least 8 separate times not including the year I had annual passes while living in Florida. However, I realized that is has been at least 6 years since I have been to Walt Disney World, and that needs to be fixed. I will admit that I have been frequenting Universal Studios more in the past several years. Don’t throw stones at me just yet! I am an absolute Harry Potter nerd, so I’m sure you can understand the draw for me…AND I was able to get free passes on several occasions from a good family friend, so that’s hard to pass up!
However, 6 years feels far too long in between visits so I am righting that wrong this year! I am also incredibly excited because my boyfriend will be joining me and he has never been to WDW (minus 1 day at DHS a million years ago – so I don’t really count that!)
Here I am at 5 years old on my first Disney trip…check out those pigtails!
As for the background of the trip, here we go….
We (my boyfriend Mark and I) began discussing a possible Disney trip around January of this year. We had been talking about how it would be awesome to go to WDW together and really take a full week to enjoy ourselves. In the past, our trips to Universal are 2-3 days on average and are a supplemented by to 2-3 days at my mom’s house in the Vero Beach area, and it always feels like a non-stop whirlwind. Knowing how much there is to see/do/eat at WDW I explained that a full week would be ideal (necessary). At this point we were honestly just fantasizing about taking a trip and what that would be like.
With all of the talk and excitement though, we agreed that if we saved $xxxx.xx amount by a certain date that we would take a trip this year. Our past Universal trips have been at the end of September/beginning of October and we have always been able to get very good flight prices, and we think it’s a great time to go in terms of crowds/weather. We decided our “decision-date” should be by the beginning of August at the latest for us to be able to get a room/flight/ADRs/etc.
WELL! Thankfully to portions of our tax returns and being thrifty little-savers, we were able to reach that $$ goal by March. Even before it was set-in-stone I had already started my research because the idea was already tempting me! I had been checking Southwest flights on a daily basis for any good deals, and one day a great deal for the two of us popped up. I reserved it immediately. I still check every now and again to see if there is any better deal since Southwest has an easy cancellation policy, but I’ve snagged the best rate so far.
In my research I discovered several blogs that I found to be incredibly helpful. What I did before Pinterest, Twitter, Forums, Blogs, etc. is beyond me! These blogs are where I first learned about Disney’s Free Dining promotion. I had never heard of this before and I was very excited to learn more since it would be (most likely) taking place when we were there (the dates hadn’t been announced yet.) I read everything I could about the Free Dining Promo and knew I really wanted to try and nab a spot.
Before even learning about Free Dining I was mentally planning our trips around what we would eat. The boy and I can seriously put back some food, so I figured the dining plan is probably a great option for us. It will also just be the two of us, so we don’t have to worry about kid-friendly options and things of that nature, so I knew I wanted to enjoy some good TS options.
I had heard plenty of mixed reviews about the dining plan previously, but when I calculated out what I would most likely order at the restaurants I wanted to go to, it seemed like I would break-even or come out on top. AND if we were able to get the free dining, we would be in a great spot.
I also did the math out in comparison to a room only discount, but we would be in better shape with the Free Dining promo. I’m also one of those people that has a hard time justifying spending that much money on a hotel room where I basically plan on showering and sleeping. That’s pretty much it on a Disney vacation for me. The rest of the time is in the parks, DS, water parks, etc. With all that said, a stay at the Poly or GF is on my bucket list of things to do at Disney! A girl can dream.
This is my first pre-trip report ever, and I tend to be a very detailed person, so I am apologizing in advance!!
I would consider myself a Disney veteran, having been to The World at least 8 separate times not including the year I had annual passes while living in Florida. However, I realized that is has been at least 6 years since I have been to Walt Disney World, and that needs to be fixed. I will admit that I have been frequenting Universal Studios more in the past several years. Don’t throw stones at me just yet! I am an absolute Harry Potter nerd, so I’m sure you can understand the draw for me…AND I was able to get free passes on several occasions from a good family friend, so that’s hard to pass up!
However, 6 years feels far too long in between visits so I am righting that wrong this year! I am also incredibly excited because my boyfriend will be joining me and he has never been to WDW (minus 1 day at DHS a million years ago – so I don’t really count that!)
Here I am at 5 years old on my first Disney trip…check out those pigtails!
As for the background of the trip, here we go….
We (my boyfriend Mark and I) began discussing a possible Disney trip around January of this year. We had been talking about how it would be awesome to go to WDW together and really take a full week to enjoy ourselves. In the past, our trips to Universal are 2-3 days on average and are a supplemented by to 2-3 days at my mom’s house in the Vero Beach area, and it always feels like a non-stop whirlwind. Knowing how much there is to see/do/eat at WDW I explained that a full week would be ideal (necessary). At this point we were honestly just fantasizing about taking a trip and what that would be like.
With all of the talk and excitement though, we agreed that if we saved $xxxx.xx amount by a certain date that we would take a trip this year. Our past Universal trips have been at the end of September/beginning of October and we have always been able to get very good flight prices, and we think it’s a great time to go in terms of crowds/weather. We decided our “decision-date” should be by the beginning of August at the latest for us to be able to get a room/flight/ADRs/etc.
WELL! Thankfully to portions of our tax returns and being thrifty little-savers, we were able to reach that $$ goal by March. Even before it was set-in-stone I had already started my research because the idea was already tempting me! I had been checking Southwest flights on a daily basis for any good deals, and one day a great deal for the two of us popped up. I reserved it immediately. I still check every now and again to see if there is any better deal since Southwest has an easy cancellation policy, but I’ve snagged the best rate so far.
In my research I discovered several blogs that I found to be incredibly helpful. What I did before Pinterest, Twitter, Forums, Blogs, etc. is beyond me! These blogs are where I first learned about Disney’s Free Dining promotion. I had never heard of this before and I was very excited to learn more since it would be (most likely) taking place when we were there (the dates hadn’t been announced yet.) I read everything I could about the Free Dining Promo and knew I really wanted to try and nab a spot.
Before even learning about Free Dining I was mentally planning our trips around what we would eat. The boy and I can seriously put back some food, so I figured the dining plan is probably a great option for us. It will also just be the two of us, so we don’t have to worry about kid-friendly options and things of that nature, so I knew I wanted to enjoy some good TS options.
I had heard plenty of mixed reviews about the dining plan previously, but when I calculated out what I would most likely order at the restaurants I wanted to go to, it seemed like I would break-even or come out on top. AND if we were able to get the free dining, we would be in a great spot.
I also did the math out in comparison to a room only discount, but we would be in better shape with the Free Dining promo. I’m also one of those people that has a hard time justifying spending that much money on a hotel room where I basically plan on showering and sleeping. That’s pretty much it on a Disney vacation for me. The rest of the time is in the parks, DS, water parks, etc. With all that said, a stay at the Poly or GF is on my bucket list of things to do at Disney! A girl can dream.
Hopefully it will work out. And don't let it go too quickly, otherwise it will be over before you know it 
I could help but think you remind me of myself! Last year was my BF first time at disney and i so badly wanted him to love it as much as me! We went just about the same time the 19th-26th i think. The weather was HOT so its definitely smart of you to plan for breaks! Your fastpass choices sound perfect! I would possibly think about switching toy story to rope drop, you could still do Rockin after and a fastpass for rockin later in the day. But that depends on how much you guys like roller coasters 
Food and wine was cooler/better than i thought and probably one of the biggest factors in turning my BF to the "magical" side so i would say its a must, even for just a little. Also monorail resort hopping on one of our MK days, he loved it! And it was a nice break. You guys have to wear costumes for MNSSHP! Almost everyone does, its part of the fun!
