Pre-Trip Very First Post for my very first Disney World Trip- with a Very Merry Christmas Party!

Hello! My name is Danielle, and this is my first post on this site (though I have been lurking for a little bit). I am 28 years old, live in WA state, and have one fur baby (pictured in avatar). My two biggest passions in life are wine, and everything Disney. I have been to Disneyland many times, but never to Florida. It's nice to meet you! Welcome to the pre-trip report for my very first trip to Disney World :) I am writing this in hopes for some advice on the upcoming trip, but also because I am so excited!!!!! :joyfull:

Who's Going:
-Myself!
-My boyfriend, J. J has also been to Disneyland many times, but never to Disney World
-Two friends of mine (C & M) will join us for 3 nights during the trip as well!! They have a reservation at Pop Century, and have both been to the World a few times before

About the trip:
J and I will be staying at Old Key West for 9 nights in December of this year (less than 270 days to go!!!). We have 9 day park hopper tickets with Memory Maker and plan to visit each park at least twice over the course of the trip. Plane tickets have been purchased as well with a 9am landing on our check-in date. At this present time, I think our very first park upon arrival will be Epcot. We will get Christmas Party tickets for one of the nights C & M are there, and plan on doing the MtMK tour with them too.

There are so many things we want to do I am getting slightly worried about overbooking us :oops: BUT since we don't know when we will make it back again, and there is always the chance of things changing/closing/etc, I also want to try and experience as much as we can! So here are two lists of current plans we have. If anyone has input about things we should skip, must try, am missing, etc- I would greatly appreciate hearing it!

Things we want to do:
-Very Merry Christmas Party
-Rivers of Light dining package at Tusker House (breakfast)
-Fantasmic Dining package at Hollywood Brown Derby (dinner)
-Star Wars Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party
-Marceline to Magic Kingdom Tour

Restaurants:
-Cinderella's Royal Table (breakfast)
-Ohana (dinner)
-Be Our Guest (dinner, but also possibly breakfast on a different day. Still deciding.)
-California Grill (dinner)
-Yachtsman Steakhouse (dinner)
-Beaches & Cream (lunch- this is the only reservation J asked me to make. He really wants to try the Kitchen Sink :hilarious:)
-Sanaa (lunch)
-San Angel Inn (lunch)
-Teppan Edo or Le Cellier (dinner)
-Flame Tree BBQ (lunch)
-Columbia Harbor House (lunch)
-Trader Sam's Grog Grotto (drinks)
-Jock Lindsay's Hangar Bar (drinks)

We still have around 2 1/2 months before we can start booking dining reservations, so there is lots of time to re-think our plans :)

I can't really think of anything else to add at this moment, so thank you to anyone who has read this! Hope you have a wonderful day :)
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
Welcome to the boards as an official poster and the Trip Report Forum in particular
You have a great start to your first trip to WDW and have done the right thing by starting this PTR.
We will help/support/advise as much as you want us too.

First point of caution is to try to plan for a "I am never going back trip"
Usually adds stress and frustration so just go with the flow and do what you can.

You will notice a big increase in planning required for WDW compared to DLR (but we are here to help)

Following along!!

Max
 

Fankle

Active Member
Welcome! Also following along.

Will you spend some time at Universal too or just Disney? (We're fans of both and usually incorporate a couple of Universal days into a longer trip.) Rivers of Light and Star Wars Galactic didn't exist when we last visited but we've done Fantasmic a few times. We're considering the Tiffins dining package for Rivers of Light. (I have read that there's less capacity/longer standby lines for this.) However, the amphitheatre for Fantasmic is huge so a dining package isn't essential. We have a trip planned for August. I've made dining reservations. Now I need to consider carefully which ones to keep! I've started to write my pre-trip. Will start posting soon.....
 

DisneyDanielle329

Member
Original Poster
Welcome to the boards as an official poster and the Trip Report Forum in particular
You have a great start to your first trip to WDW and have done the right thing by starting this PTR.
We will help/support/advise as much as you want us too.

First point of caution is to try to plan for a "I am never going back trip"
Usually adds stress and frustration so just go with the flow and do what you can.

You will notice a big increase in planning required for WDW compared to DLR (but we are here to help)

Following along!!

Max

Thank you very much for your kind words :) That is very smart advice to try and avoid viewing it as we are "never going back," as I can already agree it causes stress! I am thankful there are such kind people here offering to help!
 

DisneyDanielle329

Member
Original Poster
Welcome! Also following along.

Will you spend some time at Universal too or just Disney? (We're fans of both and usually incorporate a couple of Universal days into a longer trip.) Rivers of Light and Star Wars Galactic didn't exist when we last visited but we've done Fantasmic a few times. We're considering the Tiffins dining package for Rivers of Light. (I have read that there's less capacity/longer standby lines for this.) However, the amphitheatre for Fantasmic is huge so a dining package isn't essential. We have a trip planned for August. I've made dining reservations. Now I need to consider carefully which ones to keep! I've started to write my pre-trip. Will start posting soon.....

We are just doing Disney World for this trip. Once Star Wars land is open at Disneyland we want to make a trip down to see it, and are currently planning to add Universal Studios onto that trip. That is good to know that a dining package wouldn't be necessary for Fantasmic. We will probably do it still simply because we want to see the show and eat at the HBD anyways, so it seems like an easy way to accomplish both of those things haha.

I look forward to your pre-trip report!!
 

KatieLVT

Well-Known Member
Sounds like an awesome trip to plan! My family and I are also going in December of this year! We usually try to go in November/December, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The crowds are manageable and the decorations are up, plus the weather is usually good as well. I did notice you had Star Wars dessert party listed...in the past they have not offered that during the holiday times. I may be wrong about that, but I do remember when we went last time they had switched out the Star Wars fireworks show for the Jingle Bell Jingle Bam show instead. They had a dessert party for that as well, and I do not recommend it based on my experience. I was disappointed they didn't have Star Wars. Maybe it will be different this year, but you may want to come up with a back up just in case. Look forward to reading more!!
 

DisneyDanielle329

Member
Original Poster
Sounds like an awesome trip to plan! My family and I are also going in December of this year! We usually try to go in November/December, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The crowds are manageable and the decorations are up, plus the weather is usually good as well. I did notice you had Star Wars dessert party listed...in the past they have not offered that during the holiday times. I may be wrong about that, but I do remember when we went last time they had switched out the Star Wars fireworks show for the Jingle Bell Jingle Bam show instead. They had a dessert party for that as well, and I do not recommend it based on my experience. I was disappointed they didn't have Star Wars. Maybe it will be different this year, but you may want to come up with a back up just in case. Look forward to reading more!!

Thank you for your comment :) I am almost as excited about the Christmas decorations as I am about visiting the parks! I also appreciate your mentioning the lack of the Star Wars fireworks show in the past- though I am pretty disappointed to hear it! That was one of the things my boyfriend was most excited about :( At least now we know we know have a back up plan for it! Very glad to hear it is a good time of year to go!!!
 

slipperalwaysfits

Well-Known Member
For now, in terms of dining, you may want to make a ressie at Beaches and Cream, they have great sandwitches and burgers. But, the kitchen sink is crazy big and hard to finish! On Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, the Parlour Ice Cream shop has a mini-version of the Kitchen Sink for two people, which may satisfy you without feeling over-full.

Be Our Guest for dinner is amazing, although they are changing it to a prixe-fixe menu.

Columbia Harbor House for lunch is a wonderful stop! We love their variety and it's in a great location!
 

DisneyDanielle329

Member
Original Poster
For now, in terms of dining, you may want to make a ressie at Beaches and Cream, they have great sandwitches and burgers. But, the kitchen sink is crazy big and hard to finish! On Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, the Parlour Ice Cream shop has a mini-version of the Kitchen Sink for two people, which may satisfy you without feeling over-full.

Be Our Guest for dinner is amazing, although they are changing it to a prixe-fixe menu.

Columbia Harbor House for lunch is a wonderful stop! We love their variety and it's in a great location!

Thank you! Glad to hear good things about all of those places :)
 

DisneyDanielle329

Member
Original Poster
Well it has been quite a while since my last post, but we have secured a ton of additional details now so I figured it was time for a quick update!

We still need to book our Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour, and there are a few experiences I am hoping to book that aren't available yet, but aside from these things we were able to get every reservation we wanted- and at the times we wanted them for! Very exciting!!

Here is our current list of booked reservations and plans. Because we have park hopper tickets we may very well move between parks later in the afternoon (especially towards the end of our trip), but the listed park is the "starting park" for each day that we will book all dining and fastpass+ reservations for:

Day one: Hollywood Studios
-Land at MCO around 9:20am
-Lunch at Hollywood Brown Derby with Fantasmic Dining Package

Day two: Magic Kingdom
-Pre-park opening breakfast at Be Our Guest
-Dinner at Skipper's Canteen
-Watch Happily Ever After fireworks
-Evening cocktails at Trader Sam's

Day three: Animal Kingdom
-Arrive early to try and rope drop FOP
-Lunch at Tiffins with Rivers of Light Dining package
-Dinner at Sanaa
-Evening cocktails at Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar

Day four: Hollywood Studios
-Lunch at Sci Fi Dine-in theater
-Dinner at Beaches & Cream
-(Hopefully) Star Wars Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party, or just some form of fireworks show to watch
-Evening cocktails on the Boardwalk

Day five: Epcot
-Dinner at Teppan Edo
-(Hopefully) Frozen Ever After Dessert Party or some kind of Illuminations Dessert Party
-(Hopefully) Star Wars VR Experience at Disney Springs
-Evening cocktails at the Edison

Day six: Magic Kingdom
-(Ideally) start with Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour
-Dinner at Ohana
-Attend Mickey's Christmas Party!

Day seven: Animal Kingdom
-Late breakfast at Tusker House
-Possibly watch Rivers of Light again
-Dinner at California Grill (timed to see MK fireworks show during dinner)
-Possibly Trader Sam's after dinner for night cap

Day eight: Epcot
-Breakfast at Kona Cafe
-Lunch/cocktails at San Angel Inn
-Dinner at the Yachtsman
-Evening cocktails at Epcot "Drinking Around the World"

-Day nine: Magic Kingdom
-Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table(!!!)
-Dinner at Be Our Guest
-Watch Happily Ever After again (if not too crowded at park)

And that is all that we have so far! If anyone has any suggestions about things we are missing- please let me know :)

Less than 150 days to go!!!
 

DisneyDanielle329

Member
Original Poster
Exciting news! We have finally made just about all of the dining and party reservations for the trip, and have made some changes and updates too. Here is the new version of our itinerary:

Day one: Animal Kingdom
-Land at MCO around 9:20am
-Lunch at Tiffins with Rivers of Light Dining package
-Dinner at Sanaa
-Evening cocktails at Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar

Day two: Magic Kingdom
-Pre-park opening breakfast at Be Our Guest
-Dinner at Skipper's Canteen
-Happily Ever After fireworks dessert after party (standing option at Tomorrowland Terrace)
-Evening cocktails at Trader Sam's

Day three: Hollywood Studios
-Lunch at Hollywood Brown Derby with Fantasmic Dining Package
-Dinner (or just dessert) at Beaches & Cream

Day four: Epcot
-Lunch at Teppan Edo
-Frozen Ever After Dessert Party
-Evening cocktails on the Boardwalk

Day five: Hollywood Studios
-Lunch at Mama Melrose's
-Dinner at the Edison
-(Hopefully) Star Wars Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party, or just some form of fireworks show to watch
-(Hopefully) Star Wars VR Experience at Disney Springs
-Evening cocktails around Disney Springs

Day six: Magic Kingdom
-Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour
-Dinner at Ohana
-Attend Mickey's Christmas Party!

Day seven: Animal Kingdom
-Breakfast at Tusker House
-Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ
-Possibly watch Rivers of Light again
-Dinner at California Grill (timed to see MK fireworks show during dinner)
-Possibly Trader Sam's after dinner

Day eight: Epcot
-Breakfast at Kona Cafe
-Lunch/cocktails at San Angel Inn
-Dinner at the Yachtsman
-Evening cocktails at Epcot "Drinking Around the World"

-Day nine: Magic Kingdom
-Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table(!!!)
-Dinner at Be Our Guest
-Watch Happily Ever After again (if not too crowded at park)

We are very happy with all of these plans, so hopefully we won't have to change too much around anymore! Our fastpass+ booking opens on October 5th, but I haven't quite narrowed down our selections yet. Once I have made some choices I will post them to see if anyone has any feedback (which is always appreciated)! And if anyone has any comments now regarding our itinerary listed above, or suggestions for our upcoming fastpass+ selections, I would love to hear them :)
 

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