Hello, everyone, and welcome to my first pre-trip report! Everyone else’s amazing, entertaining TRs have encouraged me to try my hand at it, so please follow along if you’d like!
When: November 26-December 10
Where: Disney’s Boardwalk Villas (Nov. 26-Dec. 3) and The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (Dec 3.-Dec. 10)
Who: My Dad (Matt, 60), me (Carrie, 27), and my Mom (Ele, 60)
My parents and I love Disney. Like, we really love Disney. They first took me to WDW when I was four, and though I unfortunately don’t remember much from that trip, it cemented a love of Disney in me. I’ve seen just about every Disney movie in theaters, I watched the Disney Channel religiously growing up (let’s hear it for the classics I grew up with, like Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, Duck Tales, Goof Troop, Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers, and more!), I constantly listen to Disney music, I collect tons of Disney stuff (pins, LE dolls, art, etc.), and my bucket list revolves around Disney destinations (Tokyo Disneyland, I will eventually reach you!). In short, I’ve lived a Disneyfied life and am completely unashamed! I am the first to admit, the shine has come off a little in some areas, but my appreciation for Disney (and especially the people who work for Disney…the Cast Members, the animators, the storytellers, the musicians!) hasn’t waned and I hope it never does.
OK, my “yay for Disney” rant is over.
This will be my fourteenth trip to the World, the thirteenth of which will be with my parents! I went with my friends from college last year, so this is our first trip as a family since 2014, when we attended our first Food & Wine Festival and first MNSSHP, and stayed at the Boardwalk for the first time!
We had a blast!! Especially at MNSSHP! 2014 was the only year they did the Villain’s Sinister Soiree at Cinderella’s Royal Table, and though it was pricey, it might go down as my favorite Disney memory! I really wish they hadn’t discontinued it for the HalloWishes Dessert Party
(This is us waiting for the parade in the special viewing section for Sinister Soiree attendees.)
(At the dessert portion of the Soiree at CRT. Can you tell Maleficent was kinda scary by my face?)
Since we joined the DVC in 2001, we’ve stuck to our home resort of Wilderness Lodge. We love Wilderness Lodge—its theme, its intimacy, its food, its pool, its…well, its everything. It is 100% our favorite resort on property.
(Screw construction...nothing beats this tree!)
That being said, when we went in 2014 for F&W, we wanted to be able to utilize the International Gateway (which is the best thing ever, in our humble opinions) as much as possible, so we strayed and cheated on Wilderness Lodge with the Boardwalk. My mom loved it, because she has a bad knee and nothing kills her and it more than that LOOOONG trek in from the buses at Epcot. We spend most of our time in Epcot in World Showcase, so the International Gateway is a great plus for us.
We were hoping to stay in an Epcot Area resort again for this trip for that very reason. We settled on the Beach Club Villas, mostly because of Stormalong Bay. However, I didn’t realize two things, having never really strayed from WL in our fifteen years as DVC members: 1) the Beach Club does not have a whole ton of DVC rooms and 2) When we are going is the lowest point value, so that’s when basically every other DVC member is going too, haha. So we didn’t get Beach Club, but we were lucky enough to get our first week at Boardwalk!
(Ah, Boardwalk...)
So we’re doing a split stay, first week at Boardwalk and second week at WL. This will be our first split stay that isn’t cruise-related, so I’m excited! We’re still on the waitlist for that second week at Boardwalk, but I am not counting on that happening. I know there’s a ton of construction happening at WL, but we’ll grin and bear it. These chocolate Mickey waffles from Roaring Fork will make it all worth it:
We have Gold Annual Passes, without the Water Park and More option (my dad can’t swim), and we’re not on the dining plan. We used it when it first debuted, when you got an appetizer, entrée, and dessert…great value! But it started losing its value on every subsequent trip, so we haven’t done it the last few times. Plus, we love to get multiple appetizers and adult beverages, so it’s not really suited to our dining needs. Also, my parents have started sharing more meals as they’ve gotten older, which Disney is happy to do (sometimes with a plate-sharing charge), but they wouldn’t be with the DDP!
So there you have it. In my next posts I’ll let you know where we managed to get ADRs (our 180-day mark was May 30, a.k.a. Memorial Day, and I was in a wedding that afternoon…it was awesome to wake up at 6 a.m……not), what Fastpasses we’re planning, more of our general plans (like the drive down…oh yes, we drive from New Jersey), and some special surprises (I’m hoping to surprise my parents with a dessert party!). Thank you for following along and please comment with any advice, or just to say hi! I’d love to chat with more people on here!!
99 days!!
When: November 26-December 10
Where: Disney’s Boardwalk Villas (Nov. 26-Dec. 3) and The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (Dec 3.-Dec. 10)
Who: My Dad (Matt, 60), me (Carrie, 27), and my Mom (Ele, 60)
My parents and I love Disney. Like, we really love Disney. They first took me to WDW when I was four, and though I unfortunately don’t remember much from that trip, it cemented a love of Disney in me. I’ve seen just about every Disney movie in theaters, I watched the Disney Channel religiously growing up (let’s hear it for the classics I grew up with, like Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, Duck Tales, Goof Troop, Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers, and more!), I constantly listen to Disney music, I collect tons of Disney stuff (pins, LE dolls, art, etc.), and my bucket list revolves around Disney destinations (Tokyo Disneyland, I will eventually reach you!). In short, I’ve lived a Disneyfied life and am completely unashamed! I am the first to admit, the shine has come off a little in some areas, but my appreciation for Disney (and especially the people who work for Disney…the Cast Members, the animators, the storytellers, the musicians!) hasn’t waned and I hope it never does.
OK, my “yay for Disney” rant is over.
This will be my fourteenth trip to the World, the thirteenth of which will be with my parents! I went with my friends from college last year, so this is our first trip as a family since 2014, when we attended our first Food & Wine Festival and first MNSSHP, and stayed at the Boardwalk for the first time!
We had a blast!! Especially at MNSSHP! 2014 was the only year they did the Villain’s Sinister Soiree at Cinderella’s Royal Table, and though it was pricey, it might go down as my favorite Disney memory! I really wish they hadn’t discontinued it for the HalloWishes Dessert Party
(This is us waiting for the parade in the special viewing section for Sinister Soiree attendees.)
(At the dessert portion of the Soiree at CRT. Can you tell Maleficent was kinda scary by my face?)
Since we joined the DVC in 2001, we’ve stuck to our home resort of Wilderness Lodge. We love Wilderness Lodge—its theme, its intimacy, its food, its pool, its…well, its everything. It is 100% our favorite resort on property.
(Screw construction...nothing beats this tree!)
That being said, when we went in 2014 for F&W, we wanted to be able to utilize the International Gateway (which is the best thing ever, in our humble opinions) as much as possible, so we strayed and cheated on Wilderness Lodge with the Boardwalk. My mom loved it, because she has a bad knee and nothing kills her and it more than that LOOOONG trek in from the buses at Epcot. We spend most of our time in Epcot in World Showcase, so the International Gateway is a great plus for us.
We were hoping to stay in an Epcot Area resort again for this trip for that very reason. We settled on the Beach Club Villas, mostly because of Stormalong Bay. However, I didn’t realize two things, having never really strayed from WL in our fifteen years as DVC members: 1) the Beach Club does not have a whole ton of DVC rooms and 2) When we are going is the lowest point value, so that’s when basically every other DVC member is going too, haha. So we didn’t get Beach Club, but we were lucky enough to get our first week at Boardwalk!
(Ah, Boardwalk...)
So we’re doing a split stay, first week at Boardwalk and second week at WL. This will be our first split stay that isn’t cruise-related, so I’m excited! We’re still on the waitlist for that second week at Boardwalk, but I am not counting on that happening. I know there’s a ton of construction happening at WL, but we’ll grin and bear it. These chocolate Mickey waffles from Roaring Fork will make it all worth it:
We have Gold Annual Passes, without the Water Park and More option (my dad can’t swim
), and we’re not on the dining plan. We used it when it first debuted, when you got an appetizer, entrée, and dessert…great value! But it started losing its value on every subsequent trip, so we haven’t done it the last few times. Plus, we love to get multiple appetizers and adult beverages, so it’s not really suited to our dining needs. Also, my parents have started sharing more meals as they’ve gotten older, which Disney is happy to do (sometimes with a plate-sharing charge), but they wouldn’t be with the DDP!So there you have it. In my next posts I’ll let you know where we managed to get ADRs (our 180-day mark was May 30, a.k.a. Memorial Day, and I was in a wedding that afternoon…it was awesome to wake up at 6 a.m……not), what Fastpasses we’re planning, more of our general plans (like the drive down…oh yes, we drive from New Jersey), and some special surprises (I’m hoping to surprise my parents with a dessert party!). Thank you for following along and please comment with any advice, or just to say hi! I’d love to chat with more people on here!!
99 days!!
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and we already have a hotel reservation. Just as an FYI, our traveling style may frustrate some of you. We take our time. I mean, we’re leaving Thursday morning and don’t plan on rolling into Disney until early afternoon on Saturday. Getting there is truly half the fun (OK, a sixth of the fun) for us!
We’ll then go into Magic Kingdom for a bit, without much of a plan since it’ll be super busy, just to see the Castle and stroll down Main Street U.S.A.!
. He is sure gonna be surprised all vacation!