So, what do you do when your friends are getting married in Mexico and you’re flying over from the UK to attend? Add a two week Disney trip onto it of course! Yep, that’s us! How could we not when we’re so nearby? Well, compared to being in the UK, being in Mexico is basically a hop, skip and a jump away from Orlando! And so that’s what we have done!
Ok, a little background. If you have read either of my last two trip reports you’ll know that in Dec 2017 we met Alisa ( @dclfan ) and her fiancé Jerome (trip report here). I met Alisa through talking on this board and after meeting at WDW, the rest is history. Here’s my first post from our joint July 2018 trip which explains our crazy awesome friendship:
And so yes- Alisa & Jerome’s is the wedding we are attending! It’s so amazing to be a part of their day. We are so excited! We have known we are attending since July, but we didn’t know what our exact plans would be until quite recently! We knew we wanted to visit Orlando since we’d be flying over the Atlantic to the wedding anyway, but it took until late September/October to confirm work arrangements & the trip budget! At first we thought it might just be a few days before and after Mexico or maybe a week before then flying home. Nope! We’re coming over for a full 11 nights pre-wedding and then another 4 nights after! 3 weeks of WDW and Mexico awesomeness! We are soooo excited for the wedding; we’ve never been to Mexico, so that’s exciting in itself! And then witnessing this awesome pair that we’ve got to know and share so many fun moments with, even within a year, is just going to be amazing. Let alone getting back to WDW! I can’t tell you how much we are looking forward to that. Even though it was only July we were there it already feels so long ago- and it’s been a stressful few months. This couldn’t be more needed! Plus- celebrating Thanksgiving and experiencing all the Christmas festivities and build up is just the icing on the cake!
So, the who, when and where! Me (Sam) and my husband Russ:
I realised recently that this trip is at almost the exact same time Russ and I took our first trip to WDW together 7 years ago! I’d been many times before with family, but Russ had never been- and didn’t think it would be his thing but was willing to give it a go for his Disney crazy then fiancé! I knew once he was there he would love it and catch the bug- and boy did he ever! Since that first trip together 7 years ago we’ve been back to WDW 9 times (including part of our honeymoon), Disneyland 3 times, Disneyland Paris 3 times, taken a Disney cruise and even visited Tokyo Disney! It makes me laugh as after the first trip or two when talking about WDW with others, Russ would always preface any talk with “Well, I’m not really a Disney kinda guy, but...” and then talk about the things he liked there. Now he just talks about how awesome it is!
So, I’ve now realised this is our tenth trip! Ahh. And how much has changed at WDW in just that time! Here’s some pics from over the years:
So to continue on with the who, there’s also going to be cameos from these awesome guys!
And now the when & where!
November 17th-22nd: Blue Heron Beach Resort, Lake Buena Vista
Nov 22nd-28th: Disney’s All Star Movies Resort
Nov 28th-Dec 4th: Mexico
Dec 4th-8th: WDW (Resort TBC!)
So yep- the trip started today! We flew out this morning and I’m currently writing this on our layover in Charlotte, NC over a beer feeling pretty jet lagged! Our flight to Orlando is in about an hour and we should arrive by 10pm (3am English time!). We’re still planning rope drop for tomorrow though!
And yep, for cost reasons the first part is off-site. We haven’t stayed offsite since our first trip in 2011 (actually we’ve stayed on Hotel Plaza Blvd in the Disney Springs hotels a couple of times, but usually as a night or two either side of onsite. But this feels properly “off site” even though this resort is only 5 mins drive from Disney Springs! We’re quite happy to have our own kitchen though and eat/cook American foods that we can’t get at home- and pretend we actually live over here for a little bit! Just being in America and Florida is vacation to us!
Next up though, it’s a move to onsite! Hooray! 6 nights at All Star Movies. Fingers crossed for a refurbished room! Even more exciting- for the first two nights we will be joined by Alisa / @dclfan! Jerome is away working so he can’t make it (nooo! And sorry Russ you’re left with two crazy Disney Twins for two days, without your Smoked Turkey buddy!) But I know we’re still going to have loads of crazy fun. Plus, it’s Thanksgiving! And we’ve booked Homecoming! It will be a good distraction too for Alisa from all the wedding planning stress!
So two days of Disney Twin craziness and then Russ and I will have another 4 nights at ASM together. Then on the 28th- we fly to Mexico!
We’ll be in Mexico for 6 nights and I’m sure lots of fun times will be had! I won’t report too much on here when there, but I’ll probably post a couple of pics. I’ll also be posting on our group instagram @beauty_and_the_beards (yep we have one lol! We set it up for our trip in July, I think a few WDW magic people followed along our trip! I don’t think we posted too much then- I plan to try and post a lot more this time!)
Russ and I also have a travel instagram (yep we’re one of those couples!) so if you’d like to follow the whole trip when it’s just us we’re @wanderlusttheworldandus
After Mexico it’s back to Orlando for 4 nights and… I don’t actually know where we’re staying yet! Everything so far has been booked up at WDW (apart from Deluxes which are out of our budget this trip) or only have one or two nights available. So I thought I’d wait until nearer the time to see if anything opens up to work out where we’ll go! The Disney Springs hotels are our back up. I’ll update when we actually have a room! I’m hoping for Caribbean Beach for at least a night or two as we loved staying there in July and we especially want to go back now that Old Port Royale and more is open! I really want to try Banana Cabana Bar especially since you can order food from Sebastian’s Bistro there! Those pull apart rolls and dips look yum!
So that’s our plans so far! And this trip is going to be interesting because with the last minute booking- we’ve had about 1 or 2 months to think about dining and way under 30 days for FP’s! It’s going to be a go with the flow trip, seeing which FP’s appear the day before and attempting rope drop or close for things like Slinky Dog and FoP. We’ve managed most attractions for FPs though to be honest, even the more popular ones. The nearer our trip there wasn’t as much flexibility, but the only things that we couldn’t get were Slinky Dog & FoP, and as mentioned we plan to standby those.
We also managed 2 Homecoming reservations and one at California Grill! We don’t have the dining plan, so we’re actually planning a lot of snacks (hello Epcot Festival of the Holiday’s booths!) and getting QS. We’ll see what other TS are free on the day- but we actually quite like sitting at the bar at restaurants and ordering apps or entrees off the menus that way instead anyway. There’s almost always immediate availability anywhere on property when you do that!
So, that is my pre-trip within my live trip report! Orlando, here we come!!
Ok, a little background. If you have read either of my last two trip reports you’ll know that in Dec 2017 we met Alisa ( @dclfan ) and her fiancé Jerome (trip report here). I met Alisa through talking on this board and after meeting at WDW, the rest is history. Here’s my first post from our joint July 2018 trip which explains our crazy awesome friendship:
A long time ago in a magical galaxy (and something something darkside) there were two Disney Twins who were separated at birth and kept apart by the evil Atlantic Ocean (darkside!). They grew up not knowing of each other’s existence, yet their twin-ness continued on. They both grew up loving all that is Disney and knowing Walt Disney World was there home. Both got a tattoo of their favourite line from Beauty & The Beast and dreamed of Adventures in the Great Wide Somewhere. Both fell in love with their bearded, tattooed soulmates and then one day, by a miracle created by Walt himself, they met on WDW Magic and noticed their similarities. They also realised that they both had upcoming trips at the same time. A meeting of fate was about to occur in December 2017...
Ok so we weren’t quiiiite separated at birth!
It’s crazy. We have the most ridiculous amount of similarities and things in common. Interests, general likes and dislikes, dreams, outlook on life, right down to tv shows and other little things. Even stuff from our childhood and things we did and liked back then is similar! Let alone the fact we both have the same tattoo in the same place and both fell in love with guys who have beards and tattoos.
Alisa’s also getting married to Jerome in a small wedding abroad this year, in December- aged 29. The same age I was when I got married to Russ in December in a small wedding abroad- when I was 29!
We still keep finding stuff that we’ve both done, or like, or our other halves have done or something they like that’s the same and being like “OMG we did that/we like that/that happened to us too!” It’s so much stuff now we kind of just shrug it off when something new pops up, like “Well, of course. We’re twins! Duh!”
And even better- Russ and Jerome got on like a house on fire too! In fact at first, those two were chatting away more than us! It was the best trip in December last year. We ended up meeting another 4 times and hanging out. We had such a blast. It really was like we were all old friends. When we said goodbye it was as Alisa & Jerome were going to the Galactic Nights in DHS & it was about 15 mins till the park closed to the public (Russ and I didn’t have tickets) and we all just group hugged in the middle of Hollywood Blvd for like 5 mins ha ha!
And so with that... this is what this pre-trip report is all about! WE’RE GOING TO BE REUNITED!!!!
I am SOOOOOOO excited to see you again Alisa!! These are the only photos of us (I don’t know how we were so lame in the photo taking over 4 days- we were having too much fun I think!) but I love these photos as they show the fun we were having.
And the one group shot of us all!
And a couple Skype shots
Note to selves. Lots more photos this time!! Ha ha I bet we’ll now be the total opposite and take waaaay too many photos!
Anyway, back to the trip! We’ve been planning and trying to make this happen since the day we left WDW. Russ and I have a trip booked for October but we couldn’t stay away that long- and Alisa wouldn’t let me! Originally we tried to make this happen for May, as my birthday is May 29th and over in the UK we have a holiday week at the end of May (in schools & I work in education so I get this too) and also Alisa & Jerome would be in their new Florida home & settled by then, so it was looking like the best time to plan a trip. But timing & finances just didn’t quite work out for May. Boo. So, we kept looking at another time soon that we could go & when Jerome would be home from touring. And it started to look like July could work. Seeing how much Russ and I LOVE America and that we have never been in July- let alone been there for AMERICA'S BIRTHDAY- a trip around July 4th became the plan! We're going to be visiting Alisa & Jerome in Tampa for July 4th before going to Disney World after! We are ridiculously excited. I am pumped to be there for July 4th which is new for us- and to finally be reunited with our Disney Twins!
So... the details!
Who: Well I think you know by now- 4 crazy best-friends-within-hours Disney fans! And multiple Smoked Turkeys.
Russ & I (Sam):
Alisa & Jerome:
A smoked turkey:
When: July 5th-10th (Alisa & Jerome)
July 5th-14th (Russ & Sam)
Where: Caribbean Beach! Yep, we know about all the "magical enhancements" currently happening there (as the CM called them upon booking!) but it's such a good rate and we know what we're heading into. Plus we're going to be spending so much time in the parks and hanging out, it's not about the resort this trip. But Alisa stayed there not too long ago anyway and said it's not really that bad if you're prepared. The newish rooms seem great anyway and we're really liking the look of the new QS at one of the pools! The menu looks great.
So you may also be wondering what all this Smoked Turkey talk is about. Well, back in December we discovered (of course) that this was Jerome & Russ' favourite Disney drink. On our last day hanging out this was what we decided to drink. But as detailed in my last trip report we went from bar to bar on the Boardwalk and no-one was serving them! It felt like a hidden quest to try and find one. So the guys never got to have their drink together. I mean, many other drinks were consumed (of course
So this trip, MANY Smoked Turkeys will be found and consumed! Russ and Jerome are coming for you speciality cocktail menu, be warned!
So I think that's everything! We have a few ADR's booked and Alisa and I have already planned a years worth of plans to fit into our 5 days together in the world, so it's going to be a crazy, awesome adventure! AND WE CAN'T WAIT!
FP+ window is Sunday so that's the next step!
64 Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaays!!!!
And so yes- Alisa & Jerome’s is the wedding we are attending! It’s so amazing to be a part of their day. We are so excited! We have known we are attending since July, but we didn’t know what our exact plans would be until quite recently! We knew we wanted to visit Orlando since we’d be flying over the Atlantic to the wedding anyway, but it took until late September/October to confirm work arrangements & the trip budget! At first we thought it might just be a few days before and after Mexico or maybe a week before then flying home. Nope! We’re coming over for a full 11 nights pre-wedding and then another 4 nights after! 3 weeks of WDW and Mexico awesomeness! We are soooo excited for the wedding; we’ve never been to Mexico, so that’s exciting in itself! And then witnessing this awesome pair that we’ve got to know and share so many fun moments with, even within a year, is just going to be amazing. Let alone getting back to WDW! I can’t tell you how much we are looking forward to that. Even though it was only July we were there it already feels so long ago- and it’s been a stressful few months. This couldn’t be more needed! Plus- celebrating Thanksgiving and experiencing all the Christmas festivities and build up is just the icing on the cake!
So, the who, when and where! Me (Sam) and my husband Russ:
I realised recently that this trip is at almost the exact same time Russ and I took our first trip to WDW together 7 years ago! I’d been many times before with family, but Russ had never been- and didn’t think it would be his thing but was willing to give it a go for his Disney crazy then fiancé! I knew once he was there he would love it and catch the bug- and boy did he ever! Since that first trip together 7 years ago we’ve been back to WDW 9 times (including part of our honeymoon), Disneyland 3 times, Disneyland Paris 3 times, taken a Disney cruise and even visited Tokyo Disney! It makes me laugh as after the first trip or two when talking about WDW with others, Russ would always preface any talk with “Well, I’m not really a Disney kinda guy, but...” and then talk about the things he liked there. Now he just talks about how awesome it is!
So, I’ve now realised this is our tenth trip! Ahh. And how much has changed at WDW in just that time! Here’s some pics from over the years:
So to continue on with the who, there’s also going to be cameos from these awesome guys!
And now the when & where!
November 17th-22nd: Blue Heron Beach Resort, Lake Buena Vista
Nov 22nd-28th: Disney’s All Star Movies Resort
Nov 28th-Dec 4th: Mexico
Dec 4th-8th: WDW (Resort TBC!)
So yep- the trip started today! We flew out this morning and I’m currently writing this on our layover in Charlotte, NC over a beer feeling pretty jet lagged! Our flight to Orlando is in about an hour and we should arrive by 10pm (3am English time!). We’re still planning rope drop for tomorrow though!
And yep, for cost reasons the first part is off-site. We haven’t stayed offsite since our first trip in 2011 (actually we’ve stayed on Hotel Plaza Blvd in the Disney Springs hotels a couple of times, but usually as a night or two either side of onsite. But this feels properly “off site” even though this resort is only 5 mins drive from Disney Springs! We’re quite happy to have our own kitchen though and eat/cook American foods that we can’t get at home- and pretend we actually live over here for a little bit! Just being in America and Florida is vacation to us!
Next up though, it’s a move to onsite! Hooray! 6 nights at All Star Movies. Fingers crossed for a refurbished room! Even more exciting- for the first two nights we will be joined by Alisa / @dclfan! Jerome is away working so he can’t make it (nooo! And sorry Russ you’re left with two crazy Disney Twins for two days, without your Smoked Turkey buddy!) But I know we’re still going to have loads of crazy fun. Plus, it’s Thanksgiving! And we’ve booked Homecoming! It will be a good distraction too for Alisa from all the wedding planning stress!
So two days of Disney Twin craziness and then Russ and I will have another 4 nights at ASM together. Then on the 28th- we fly to Mexico!
We’ll be in Mexico for 6 nights and I’m sure lots of fun times will be had! I won’t report too much on here when there, but I’ll probably post a couple of pics. I’ll also be posting on our group instagram @beauty_and_the_beards (yep we have one lol! We set it up for our trip in July, I think a few WDW magic people followed along our trip! I don’t think we posted too much then- I plan to try and post a lot more this time!)
Russ and I also have a travel instagram (yep we’re one of those couples!) so if you’d like to follow the whole trip when it’s just us we’re @wanderlusttheworldandus
After Mexico it’s back to Orlando for 4 nights and… I don’t actually know where we’re staying yet! Everything so far has been booked up at WDW (apart from Deluxes which are out of our budget this trip) or only have one or two nights available. So I thought I’d wait until nearer the time to see if anything opens up to work out where we’ll go! The Disney Springs hotels are our back up. I’ll update when we actually have a room! I’m hoping for Caribbean Beach for at least a night or two as we loved staying there in July and we especially want to go back now that Old Port Royale and more is open! I really want to try Banana Cabana Bar especially since you can order food from Sebastian’s Bistro there! Those pull apart rolls and dips look yum!
So that’s our plans so far! And this trip is going to be interesting because with the last minute booking- we’ve had about 1 or 2 months to think about dining and way under 30 days for FP’s! It’s going to be a go with the flow trip, seeing which FP’s appear the day before and attempting rope drop or close for things like Slinky Dog and FoP. We’ve managed most attractions for FPs though to be honest, even the more popular ones. The nearer our trip there wasn’t as much flexibility, but the only things that we couldn’t get were Slinky Dog & FoP, and as mentioned we plan to standby those.
We also managed 2 Homecoming reservations and one at California Grill! We don’t have the dining plan, so we’re actually planning a lot of snacks (hello Epcot Festival of the Holiday’s booths!) and getting QS. We’ll see what other TS are free on the day- but we actually quite like sitting at the bar at restaurants and ordering apps or entrees off the menus that way instead anyway. There’s almost always immediate availability anywhere on property when you do that!
So, that is my pre-trip within my live trip report! Orlando, here we come!!
Last edited:
