Only 3 Mouseketeers do Disney on land and at sea - First Ever Pre-Trip Report

[All Star Paul]

As this is my first trip report any and all feedback is welcome. I suppose I should set the scene with a little information about who is going and what our Disney credentials are.


Left to right, Heather, me, Katie and Kerry with my alter ego in the back.

Me (Paul) - 45 at the start of the trip but 46 by the end of it, if it doesn’t kill me. I am the planner, the chauffeur, the baggage handler, and the solver of problems, many of which, I am reliably told, I caused in the first place.

DW (Kerry) - Age - In her prime. She has matured like a fine wine, ahem, no more to be said here, I am not completely stupid. Also loves Disney holidays, other hobbies include organising the rest of us whether we need it or not.

DD – (Heather) 15 - Fashion expert and loves communicating with everyone except her parents. You will constantly see her texting, phoning, on MySpace, MSM etc, but when I ask her what is going on in her interesting, dad funded, life do I get more than a one word answer? In a word - No.

DD – (Katie) - 18 is not coming with us this year, for the first time. This is a shame and we will miss her greatly. She always livens things up (mostly in a good way but not always – If she were a Disney character she would be a cross between a wicked Drama Queen and a sweet and witty princess. (Although now that I think about it, most of her jokes are at my expense.)

Poppy – The dog. A 2-year old rescue dog. Also not coming. I only mention her as she is Kerry’s third, and dearest child and this is the longest she will have been away from her since we got her last year. I wonder how many days it will take before she asks me “I wonder what Poppy is doing now?” and “I wonder if Poppy is missing us?” My bet is before the wheels leave the ground, but we shall see.



Disney Credentials - We have quite a bit of Disney history. This will be our seventh trip to WDW, and we have been to Disneyland in California twice (most recently in 2008) and Disneyland Paris twice. For all of our past visits to WDW we have stayed on site at the various All-Star resorts. We love staying on site and this time because of the free dining deal we are staying in two different resorts as you will soon see. We also decided to push the boat out this year and go on a 4-night cruise. Well, we probably won’t actually have push it out. I was just being clever there......or not. Any way here is the plan.

Leave from Gatwick on August 12th. Only 20 mins from where we live. Fly indirect with US Airways to Orlando via North Carolina. Another first, we usually travel with VA but it saved us about £200 per person.

11 nights in Port Orleans French Quarter with the Free Dining Plan – See ADR list below.

4 night cruise on the Disney Wonder

3 nights in Pop Century (Scopa Towers for those of you who listen to the WDW Today podcast)

We are not taking a car this time due to the broken stay, trying to reduce costs and the fact that we don’t plan to do anything off-site on this trip. We are using Magical Express from and to the airport and the Disney Cruise Line coach to and from the cruise terminal.

We are really looking forward to the trip but I hope all the transport stuff works out. The journey out there could be very long if we have any connection issues and I hope the DME works well and we don’t spend too long waiting for the coach or on the coach dropping off at lots of other resorts.

I have booked all of our ADR and we got most of what we wanted, apart from T-Rex.

Here is what we got;

Tutto Italia, Wolfgang Puck, Coral Reef, Yak and Yeti, Teppan Edo, 50’s Prime Time Diner, Brown Derby, California Grill, Le Cellier, Sanaa, O’Hanas and Nine Dragons.

I am happy with all of them, except maybe Nine Dragons and I still may try and swap that for something else. Most of the restaurants are new to us with the exception of Cali Grill, Le Cellier, Brown Derby and Nine Dragons.

We have eaten in Nine Dragons a few times but not since it has been refurbished. I know it is expensive relative to Chinese Restaurants outside WDW but we have always liked it and we always ask for a table overlooking the water.

I am disappointed that Space Mountain will be down when we are there but we will see Spaceship Earth for the first time since it was refurbished, although from what I have already heard I am going to be disappointed by the second half which holds a special place in my heart, but that’s another story. Also we are looking forward to seeing the updated Haunted Mansion. We saw the one in California last year and it was great. We also did Toy Story Mania in Disneyland but we are looking forward to doing it again in Florida.

The only other thing new to us is the American Idol experience at the Studios. Not sure if I am looking forward to that or not but will give it a try - in the audience that that is! Me singing would not be Fantasmic.

I want to try and see a bit more of the live in-park entertainment if possible and, as we are staying at Port Orleans, I definitely want to see Yee Ha Bob at least once. One thing I am truly gutted about is that we never got to the Adventurers Club and it is gone now. When we first went to Disney our kids were small and Pleasure Island was never really on the agenda but last time I wanted to go and we actually made plans that got changed at the last minute and now we will never get the chance unless it comes back somewhere else.

So we are nearly ready to go. It's July 28th as I write this. We just got our paperwork from Disney, we got our dollars and loaded up our fairfx card. Kerry is freaking out in case we get Swine flu just before we go but I refuse to get stressed about it, you could say I am being pig-headed

All being well I will give you a full report as soon as we get back.

[mandymouse]

Your plans look great Paul. Your trip is very similar to ours, as we're doing an all Disney holiday, on-site and 4 night Cruise

Have you been on a Disney Cruise before ? It's the best

Our 18 y.o. originally wasn't going to come with us this Summer, but thankfully she's changed her mind now

I hope you have a great time

[All Star Paul]

Thanks Mandy. This is our first cruise of any kind. Looking forward to it. I did read a few posts on the cruise boards about the menu changes being a disappointment but hopefully the food will still be good. Yes it is a shame Katie is not coming this time, but hopefully absence will make the heart grow fonder and she will come with us next time. Hope you have a great holiday.

[suzycute]

Sounds like you have a fantastic trip planned! You will love the Wonder!
I have been exactly the same amount of times to each of the parks as you have (ie 2 x DLP, 2 x DLR and WDW#7 trip in September) and, like you, we usually stay on site and use ME.

Will be looking forward to reading your report when you get back

[Pinky166]

A great trip you have planned there Paul! I too am doing a split stay with free dining & our first cruise in September.

I hope you have a great time & I look forward to reading all about it on your return.

[irongirlof12]

that is the cutest wee dawgie , no wonder your DD harps on about her!

plans sound great.

[Loubbylou]

Your plans look great and I hope you all have a lovely holiday.

Looking forward to your trip report, POFQ is one of the resorts we are considering staying at for a couple of days next year.

[jen_uk]

That is the cutest dog!

Great trip report, your plans look fab I know exactly how Kerry feels about the swine flu, I've been worried all week that we will get it before we go next week!

[natalielongstaff]

Awww cute doggie, your trip sounds great x

[Pegasus928]

Sounds like you have the makings of a great trip planned.

Looking forward to hearing all about it when you return

[All Star Paul]

Thanks to everyone for their comments. Only 6 days to go, only 4 more at work, definitely getting that Florida feeling now.