Pre-Trip We don't have to stay at a VALUE????

So I've been following these reports for ages now and have never done one. Thought this would be the perfect time to work on a pre-trip report and maybe it will inspire me to do a full trip report when we get back.

Little back story here...We have been to WDW 2 times with our kids in the last 4 years. We are currently on an every other year pace. My DH swore that the last time we were there in 2018 was it until we did a trip to include Universal (we don't want to do Universal till the girls are tall enough to ride all rides).

Fast forward to December and my in-laws stopped by to let us know that they were gifting each of their 3 kids and their families a trip to Disney. To say I was excited would be an under statement. Surly my DH would not say no to a FREE TRIP. We were told that we could pick where we wanted to stay. My BIL and his family were choosing AKL, which to me was insane...I do Disney on a tight budget. We decided that we didn't want to take advantage of this amazing offer and choose a moderate, being that we always stay at a value, this was very exciting for us. My DH was fully in...LET THE PLANNING BEGIN!
 
Click to expand...
mlee10

mlee10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Now for the good stuff:

The Details of this trip:

Dates: 3/1/20 to 3/8/20
Where: Port Orleans- Riverside Preferred Room
Cast:
Me: Megan
DH: Patrick
DD: Layla (9)
DD: Stella (8)

IMG_20180308_120231_1 (1).jpg
 
mlee10

mlee10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I am a planner....it made me very nervous that we were booking in December and going in March. I usually plan at least 6-9 months out. We are having to pull the girls out of school for a week but since they are still in elementary school we figured, no big deal!

I started with reservations because we do the dining plan (I know not everyone likes it but for us it's worth it). We have added in places we have never been and some old favorites as well!

ADR's are as follows:
Sunday: Dinner at DS Raglan Road (New)
Monday: Dinner at Crystal Palace (side note: I thought since the girls had been here 2 times are were getting older that they would want to skip this one, but this was their first request)
Tuesday: Breakfast: Trattoria al Forno- Bon Voyage (New)
Wednesday: Dinner at Akershus
Thursday: Breakfast at O'Hana (New...and another side note: Stella is a Stitch fanatic. I mean this kid owns anything and everything stitch we can find. She has been Stitch the last 2 years for Halloween and plans to do it again this year, LOL)
Friday: Dinner at Tuskar House
Saturday: Dinner at Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano (New)

We are really excited to try a few new places this time.

Stitch.jpg
 
mlee10

mlee10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I should add that we will be by ourselves for the first 4 days, which we have never had before. Our first trip was with my parents and our second trip was with our best friends and their DD.

My in-laws will join us starting Wednesday night. They are then staying thru the following Thursday to have time with my BIL's family that fly in the Sunday we fly out.
 
mlee10

mlee10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I was up bright and early on New Year's Day (AKA Fastpass day).

I managed to book everything I wanted. We do not park hop. We did have park hopper the last time we went and did not use it once. We are more of the one park a day type.

Fast pass breakdown:

Sunday- Late arrival to HS so only booked one Fastpass for Rockin Roller Coaster.
Monday- Magic Kingdom: BTMR, SM, Buzz.
Tuesday- Animal Kingdom: EE, Safari, FOP
Wednesday- Epcot: Soarin, Nemo, Mission Space
Thursday- Magic Kingdom: HM, SDMT, SM
Friday-Animal Kingdom: Safari, FOP, FotLK
Saturday- HS (up super early to try to ride RotR): Star Tours, SDD, Frozen

We are a rope drop family and get a lot of riding done in the mornings.
 
mlee10

mlee10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just saw that HS has extra magic hours on the Sunday we arrive. Not sure how tired we will be as we have to be at the airport pretty early but would love to head back after dinner in Disney Springs.

Quick question as we have not spent much time at Disney Springs. Are there buses that go directly to the parks?
 
k8einwdw

k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
mlee10 said:
Just saw that HS has extra magic hours on the Sunday we arrive. Not sure how tired we will be as we have to be at the airport pretty early but would love to head back after dinner in Disney Springs.

Quick question as we have not spent much time at Disney Springs. Are there buses that go directly to the parks?
Click to expand...
Nope. Too many people were cheating the system and parking at DS for free, and then taking a bus to the parks. You can also only get a bus from a park to DS after I believe 4 pm. If we want to go from DS to a park, we’ll usually walk over to Saratoga Springs and grab a bus from there, or bus from DS to the closest hotel to the park we want to go to
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
mlee10 said:
I was up bright and early on New Year's Day (AKA Fastpass day).

I managed to book everything I wanted. We do not park hop. We did have park hopper the last time we went and did not use it once. We are more of the one park a day type.

Fast pass breakdown:

Sunday- Late arrival to HS so only booked one Fastpass for Rockin Roller Coaster.
Monday- Magic Kingdom: BTMR, SM, Buzz.
Tuesday- Animal Kingdom: EE, Safari, FOP
Wednesday- Epcot: Soarin, Nemo, Mission Space
Thursday- Magic Kingdom: HM, SDMT, SM
Friday-Animal Kingdom: Safari, FOP, FotLK
Saturday- HS (up super early to try to ride RotR): Star Tours, SDD, Frozen

We are a rope drop family and get a lot of riding done in the mornings.
Click to expand...
mlee10 said:
@ajrwdwgirl do any of our park days line up?
Click to expand...

Looks like no overlap as of right now. Although we are fairly flexible in our evening plans on Wednesday and Friday night. Still we can be on the look out you never know. I put up an outline of our plans in my pre-trip report. https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/were-going-back-home-to-walt-disney-world.962684/page-3
 
slipperalwaysfits

slipperalwaysfits

Well-Known Member
WOW!! What an incredible gift! Of course you will all have an amazing time!!
riverside said:
What an amazing gift!! That is so exciting!! That's an excellent resort choice BTW!!;)
Click to expand...

@riverside I knew you'd say that!

mlee10 said:
We are really excited to try a few new places this time.
Click to expand...

YES, trying new places is important! Your selections are amazing and I'm sure you'll love them all!
 
A

Auntdj1971

New Member
Looks like a great plan. May I suggest some earlier throw away HS fastpass, that way if you do make it back you could pick up a tier 1 fast pass. Otherwise you are not going to be able to get for another rock and roll or tower of terror.

Also, we just did artist point with snow whife, dopey, grumpy and evil witch. I highly recommend it. The food was great!
 
mlee10

mlee10

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
@Auntdj1971 we tried to get an ADR for Artists Point but couldn't 😕 I've heard nothing but great reviews!

Thanks for the tip on the throw away FP idea!!! Going to do that now!!
 
A

Auntdj1971

New Member
PS.. I just saw they are starting Fast Pass for Smugglers Run....as tier one and then Rock and Roll and TOT as tier 2 ( I think). You might get lucky. :)
 

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

Back
Top Bottom