mvf-m11c
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2009
Riding Down to Diagon Alley with Food & Wine as Well
Hello there and welcome to my latest WDW trip report.
Here are the cast for the trip in October 16th to 23rd, 2015.
Here is me and DAF. I am a huge fan of the Disneyland Resort and I love Walt Disney World as well. I am mostly over on the DL boards. I have wrote a lot of my DL TR from Second All in One Disneyland TR Thread. DAF is the biggest Disney fan in our family which she has went with me to Disneyland Resort (a lot) and WDW twice. She is a Disneyland Annual Passholder just like me where we love and enjoy going to the DLR. When my dad and I made the trip, she was one of the first people that I asked if she would like to come with us during the trip. She was glad that we invited her for the trip which made it nice to have her come with us.
My dad will also be joining us along the trip as well which he wasn’t originally planning on going until he decided a few months ago that it would be nice to go back to Florida and do some things. He is not a big Disney fan like me or DAF but he does enjoy going to Florida and do some things. I don’t know what he will want to do in Florida but he did tell me that he will want to go to EPCOT which is his favorite and he might also golf with Dennis during the trip. I also like to golf but since we only have 7 days in Florida, I decided not to golf during the trip.
Our neighbors Dennis, Ann and Aiko (Ann mom) will be joining us during our trip. Their family and our family have done a lot of trips together from Florida (6 times), Hawaii, Phoenix, Washington, etc. and we always enjoy to go with them. They have went last year during the Halloween/Food & Wine Festival last year which they enjoyed it a lot that they heard that we are going and they are coming along with us as well. It was going to be fun that they are joining us as well.
This will be second time to WDW during the Halloween season which my first time was back in 2012 which was the last time I visited WDW. So much has changed since the 2012 trip from the New Fantasyland, Diagon Alley, FastPass+, Magicband, etc. which I am looking forward too during the trip. This will be my 10th time coming back to WDW (July 96, June 98, June 01, Mar 06, Mar/Apr 07, Mar/Apr 10, Dec 10, Dec 11, & Oct/Nov 12) which my last trip to WDW was in 2012 during the Halloween & Food & Wine Festival Boo to You…and Food & Wine Too! – October 26 to November 2, 2012. This will be DAF third time back to WDW (Jun 01 & Dec 10).
Our trip is not until the third week of October and we will be leaving on the fourth week. This will be my second time to go to WDW during the Halloween season as well the Food & Wine Festival. For all the times I have gone to WDW, I have gone during Spring Break and during the holiday season. I was originally wanted to go back to WDW during the holiday season in November and make it a double trip in which DAF and I will go to WDW first and before coming back home to Sactown, we would stop at the Disneyland Resort during the first weekend of the holiday season on November 13th to 15th, 2015. That is also during the Avenger’s Half Marathon which debut last year in November 2014. The two of us are planning on going to the DLR during the holiday season for the fifth year in a row in November. But after experiencing what the crowds were like during a marathon, we thought about changing our plans but we decided to stay with our usual plan trip in November.
The last time I went to WDW was back in 2012 during the Halloween & F&W Festival. This was my first time experiencing what the Halloween/F&W Festival would be like at WDW and I was impressed with those two events. This was different from the holiday season at WDW or DLR during the Halloween season but the thing that got my attention was the F&W Festival over the Halloween season. I am a fan of the Halloween season at the DLR but at WDW is great as well. DLR has way more Halloween decorations over the MK in my opinion from all the different lands that are decorated, Mickey’s Halloween Party, Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy and Haunted Mansion Holiday where the MK has Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. During the last trip, I went with DAW, my DB and other aunt and uncle’s during the trip in which they haven’t been to Florida in years and were glad that we went. The best part was the F&W Festival where we got to experience the different food stands around World Showcase along with the Party for the Senses that we did.
As of now, thanks to the special deal on Southwest Airlines on June 2nd thru 4th deal, we were able to get tickets to Orlando and back for $387 roundtrip which is a great deal. Earlier, I was trying to find deals on Southwest Airlines and there was nothing available. Now we are secure with our times for the Orlando trip. We will first be leaving Sac at 1:55pm and head on over to Las Vegas first and then head on over to Orlando at 10:55pm. I didn’t want to go that late that night to Orlando but the rate was too good to pass up so we will have to use part of our day on Saturday morning or going late on Friday night to pick up the supplies. On the way back, we will leave Orlando at 4:40pm and head on over to Vegas first and on our way back to Sacramento around 10:55pm. I was glad that we got the late price at a good deal and the one going was not that overly joy but you can’t beat the price.
We will be staying at the Sheraton Vistana Resort which is right across from Highway 4 on the other side of the WDW property. The address is 8800 Vistana Centre Dr, Orlando FL 32821. The reason I am going this year where I haven’t went the last few years to WDW is that my family didn’t have any points available to rent a space at the Sheraton Vistana Resort so we just waited until 2015 which our points were available. This will be my fifth time staying at the Sheraton VIstana Resort and I do enjoy staying at this place where it offers.
Living room and dining room
Here is the problem that I am having with my party members for this trip. There will be times where they want to do things that they will want to do like go to EPCOT, Cape Canaveral, Universal Orlando, etc. I have been told by my neighbors that they will for sure go to EPCOT during the trip but I don’t know how many. It will be one for sure and might be two. My dad is only interested in EPCOT over all the other three parks. He will want to go to Universal to see the new Diagon Alley at UO. My neighbors told me that they have seen Diagon Alley last year so they aren’t planning on going. DAF will have no problem going with me to the other parks around Florida but she already told me that she will not want to do Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Since she has done Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland plenty of times, she doesn’t want to attend it. But she will have no problem doing other things as long as she gets to go to UO to see Diagon Alley. I will upgrade my Disneyland Premium Annual Pass to the Premier AP before the trip which I will upgrade it when I am back at the DLR during the D23 Expo in August. I plan on upgrading to the Premier AP for the upcoming WDW trip since I will be going back and to be able to save on the parking, merchandise and food (at certain places) where it can make a big difference. I love the Premier AP after getting it back in 2010 during the holiday season at WDW. I used it for both the DLR and WDW from 2010 to 2012 where I haven’t got the Premier since I have last WDW in 2012. I don’t know if I am going to have my own rental car for myself but I am going to try to go to WDW as much as possible during the trip.
The goal for the group is to have an enjoyable time in Florida. The one thing that we will all do during the trip is to go to EPCOT during the Food & Wine Festival. Everyone enjoys going to EPCOT when we are in Florida. My neighbors were able to go to WDW last year and to the Halloween/F&W Festival and they had a blast that they decided to join the three of us during the trip. Right now, we have no plans on what international food stands we are going to eat. I know for sure that I am going to go to the Canada stand to get the cheddar cheese soup which is my favorite. There are other stands that I will be going around which will be determine when we get closer to the trip. I am still planning on with our neighbors and DAF what they want to do except for EPCOT that we all agreed on. DAW already told me that she wants to go to Universal Orlando to go to the new Diagon Alley and I am doing the same thing. My neighbors were able to see it last year so they are not planning on going to UO during the trip.
As for my goals, is to enjoy the Halloween/F&W festival at WDW. I have been looking forward to going back to WDW and enjoy the Halloween/F&W Festival. Of course, I will be taking a ton of pictures during the trip. I haven’t decided yet if I am going to rent or buy new equipment for the trip. I will bring along my DSLR, lenses, tripod, etc. for the trip for the daytime and nighttime stuff. I will also will be looking forward to seeing Diagon Alley at UO as well along with DAF. The other one is to ride the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at the Magic Kingdom which opened not too long ago.
I’m also thinking of attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom. The only problem I am having with MNSSHP is that most of the group won’t want to go to the party. My dad and I have attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party during the Holiday season during the 2011 trip but he thought it wasn’t worth the extra money for that event. DAW has attended MVMCP back in 2010 which she still remembers that time when it was the coldest times in Florida. DAF and I have attended Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland in 2010 and 2014 which I also attended MNSSHP back in 2012. They already told me that they aren’t planning on attending MNSSHP but DAF has told me that she will want to watch HalloWishes fireworks from the Transportation & Ticket Center right by the Ferry dock area. I have been wanting to watch the fireworks from the Ferry dock at the T&TC and this would be a good opportunity to watch it where we won’t attend MNSSHP. It was tough of not attending MNSSHP during the trip but I understand why. There were times I am thinking of going solo without the others but maybe I will need more influence to attend the party which I have already did that.
I thought my DB & his GF would be going with us during the trip but she is busy and DB told me that he will not go this time without her which he did back in 2012 where she had to cancel at the last second due to her mom not feeling well. I completely understand their situation and can’t force them to come with us.
As for the plans which is about less than four months away. I am still going over the plans with my neighbors, DAF and my dad to determine what we will do during the trip. The one thing for sure we will do is go to EPCOT for all 6 of us. We are looking at going on the 26th which is also the day where the IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party package will be available. When I first heard about this it did felt like the old Disneyland Fantasmic! Dessert package where you will get a guarantee spot for the show and get dessert as well. My neighbors have done it last year and they have enjoyed it. For me, it might not be worth the extra money since we are there for the F&W Festival and I would even stake out a spot just to see the show. So we will still talk about if we will do the IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party.
For things that I want to do and can’t get in for a dining reservation. The two places that I want to eat on-site during the trip are “Be Our Guest Restaurant” at the MK. I waited almost exactly half a year to get my reservation for those two restaurants and I didn’t even get one from any of the days during our visit. This shows where staying on-site makes a big difference where you can get it a few days earlier before the non-guests do. I also looked to see if there was any reservations for the Raglan Road Irish Pub at DTD and there were some available. The only problem is that most of my group members might not want to eat at this restaurant during the visit. I have been told by @PrincessInOz, @franandaj, & @Leshaface that I should try this place this they have ate at this restaurant in the past. But if DAF has no problem with it, we could eat at this restaurant while the others can do their own things.
I have also looking at what F&W Festival seminar to try. I have done the Party for the Senses back in 2012 and I really enjoyed that seminar where I got to try a lot of great food. Right now, they have told me that they aren’t interested in doing a seminar during the F&W Festival. I have looked at the Parisian Breakfast as well as the French regional Lunches that was recommended by @jedijill and @franandaj. Those two look very nice especially the Parisian breakfast which sounds very interesting.
For the plans this is only a start and it will change over time. But it will be difficult to decide to do on those days during the trip.
Plan
Friday, October 16, 2015
Our flight will leave from SMF to DEN at 1:15pm and will be there less than an hour until the three of us head on over to MCO at 10:55pm ET. I know that it is very late to get to Orlando at that time but we were able to find great deals on Southwest Airlines. Our neighbors won’t be going with us at the same time since they will be leaving Sacramento on Saturday (17th) and come home on the (24th). It will be a very late night to get to Orlando and head on over to the Sheraton VIstana Resort where we will be staying during our trip. We also need to get our supplies for our room (like toilet paper, food, drinks, etc.) but that might have to be the next day on Saturday where we will be there very late. I have got to Orlando that late at night before which is not fun to get to the hotel at midnight.
Saturday, October 17, 2015
I am having a tough decision on what to do the first day since our neighbors won’t be coming until that day. My dad had asked me if we would want to do EPCOT during the F&W Festival. But I remember back in 2012 when we went on the first day where it was so crowded at World Showcase Lagoon where the food stand are around the lagoon and there were long lines. Most of them were locals or students that are off on Saturday to enjoy the food at EPCOT. So I am thinking of going with the MK first or DHS first. I want to see the Festival of Fantasy Parade that day along with Wishes fireworks and Main Street Electrical Parade. But with the crowds are higher over DHS, it might make sense to go to DHS first and do the MK another night since it is Extra Magic Hour Evening. We would be also able to see the 7:30pm Fantasmic! show that night which I do enjoy seeing the DHS F! version.
The only problem is that we would use that morning to get our groceries and supplies from Walmart, Costco, etc. since we will have a car to use for the trip. I don’t think my dad is willing to go back to DHS but he could always change and go with us to DHS for the afternoon and night. I was also thinking about Universal Orlando but I want to start off with WDW first before I go on over to UO to see the new Diagon Alley.
Another option is to go to the MK that day to see Festival of Fantasy parade along with the MSEP and Wishes fireworks that night. There is no other night that would be good to see the MSEP since the days that we plan when there is no MNSSHP are on Monday & Wednesday which we plan to go to those other places like EPCOT, Animal Kingdom or Kennedy Space Center.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
I was thinking of doing Universal Orlando that day since it would be nice to go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure to go to the new Diagon Alley and take the train from IoA to UO and back. Even though I do not want to pay extra for park hopping but this is something that DAF looking forward to as well as me. Our neighbors won’t do that since they went to UO and saw it last year. I was also thinking of going to EPCOT that day but since it is during the weekend, we might not on until another day maybe like watching HalloWishes fireworks from the T&TC that night since we don’t plan on buying MNSSHP tickets.
Monday, October 19, 2015
This is the day that we plan on going to EPCOT during the visit to the F&W Festival. Technically this is the day where our neighbors will be going for sure to EPCOT during the trip and we do plan on joining them as well. Of course, we will be going around World Showcase to try all the different food kiosks during the F&W Festival. Our neighbors are going to do the IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party that night which we will do the same thing as well. I really didn’t want to do this but it would be nice to get a good spot to watch IllumiNations that night without using our FP+ for that day.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Our neighbors are not planning on doing anything that day except for Dennis which he and my dad might go golfing that day. So it will be just DAF and I that day and we are planning on going to the MK that day since we have a 6:05pm reservation at Be Our Guest. I was lucky to get a ressie for BOG during the trip which was one of the hardest ressies to get. As of now, we are not planning on attending MNSSHP which we have a ressie that night at 6:05pm. DAF didn't want to use part of the ticket while eating at BOG so we will just use a regular day at the park where we can go on some rides and see some shows.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Our neighbors are planning on going to Cape Canaveral to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. I haven't decided on what to do that day but I was thinking of going to one of the Disney Parks but it make sense to try a nighttime show that night. It would make sense to watch the fireworks from somewhere around Seven Seas Lagoon. I look at other places like the Polynesian Resort on the beach which might be a good place to watch the fireworks and take shots from there. I might need more info on where from the Poly to watch the fireworks from.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
This will be our last full day of the trip. Our neighbors are not planning on going to the park since Ann mom will be resting that day just like on Tuesdays. I am thinking of going back to the Magic Kingdom again in order to do some things that we didn’t do the first few days of the trip. It will be nice to go back on some rides that we didn’t get to do. Also that night, I thought it would be a good idea to see F! to finish off the last night of the trip. I thought about watch the fireworks from a different spot but we didn’t have F! on the list in which I was thinking of seeing it on Saturday.
Friday, October 23, 2015
Friday is our last day of our visit and our departure day. Our flight won’t leave at 4:40pm ET at MCO so we will have some time to go around Orlando until we have to be at MCO around 2-3pm. This will be good to do some last second shopping at Downtown Disney (which will be Disney Springs next year), the outlets, and possibly someplace to eat somewhere in DTD or in Orlando. That will be determine. Our flight from MCO will go to LAS and be there for a while until we catch our flight back home at 9pm and be back in Sac around 10:25pm.
I have a SoCal trip with DAF to the D23 Expo in August. I haven’t wrote a pre-trip report for the D23 Expo trip but it is all about to enjoy the D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center which is right across the street from the Disneyland Resort. This will be the fourth D23 Expo which began in 2009 (2011, 2013) and I have attended all four events since that time.
Most of the planning in still in progress and I have been talking with my group and my dad said that it is still too early for the planning. I don't think it is too soon for planning since WDW requires a lot of planning than like DL where you don't have to come up with a big plan like WDW. But we will see when we get closer to our trip in October.
Hello there and welcome to my latest WDW trip report.
Here are the cast for the trip in October 16th to 23rd, 2015.
Here is me and DAF. I am a huge fan of the Disneyland Resort and I love Walt Disney World as well. I am mostly over on the DL boards. I have wrote a lot of my DL TR from Second All in One Disneyland TR Thread. DAF is the biggest Disney fan in our family which she has went with me to Disneyland Resort (a lot) and WDW twice. She is a Disneyland Annual Passholder just like me where we love and enjoy going to the DLR. When my dad and I made the trip, she was one of the first people that I asked if she would like to come with us during the trip. She was glad that we invited her for the trip which made it nice to have her come with us.
My dad will also be joining us along the trip as well which he wasn’t originally planning on going until he decided a few months ago that it would be nice to go back to Florida and do some things. He is not a big Disney fan like me or DAF but he does enjoy going to Florida and do some things. I don’t know what he will want to do in Florida but he did tell me that he will want to go to EPCOT which is his favorite and he might also golf with Dennis during the trip. I also like to golf but since we only have 7 days in Florida, I decided not to golf during the trip.
Our neighbors Dennis, Ann and Aiko (Ann mom) will be joining us during our trip. Their family and our family have done a lot of trips together from Florida (6 times), Hawaii, Phoenix, Washington, etc. and we always enjoy to go with them. They have went last year during the Halloween/Food & Wine Festival last year which they enjoyed it a lot that they heard that we are going and they are coming along with us as well. It was going to be fun that they are joining us as well.
This will be second time to WDW during the Halloween season which my first time was back in 2012 which was the last time I visited WDW. So much has changed since the 2012 trip from the New Fantasyland, Diagon Alley, FastPass+, Magicband, etc. which I am looking forward too during the trip. This will be my 10th time coming back to WDW (July 96, June 98, June 01, Mar 06, Mar/Apr 07, Mar/Apr 10, Dec 10, Dec 11, & Oct/Nov 12) which my last trip to WDW was in 2012 during the Halloween & Food & Wine Festival Boo to You…and Food & Wine Too! – October 26 to November 2, 2012. This will be DAF third time back to WDW (Jun 01 & Dec 10).
Our trip is not until the third week of October and we will be leaving on the fourth week. This will be my second time to go to WDW during the Halloween season as well the Food & Wine Festival. For all the times I have gone to WDW, I have gone during Spring Break and during the holiday season. I was originally wanted to go back to WDW during the holiday season in November and make it a double trip in which DAF and I will go to WDW first and before coming back home to Sactown, we would stop at the Disneyland Resort during the first weekend of the holiday season on November 13th to 15th, 2015. That is also during the Avenger’s Half Marathon which debut last year in November 2014. The two of us are planning on going to the DLR during the holiday season for the fifth year in a row in November. But after experiencing what the crowds were like during a marathon, we thought about changing our plans but we decided to stay with our usual plan trip in November.
The last time I went to WDW was back in 2012 during the Halloween & F&W Festival. This was my first time experiencing what the Halloween/F&W Festival would be like at WDW and I was impressed with those two events. This was different from the holiday season at WDW or DLR during the Halloween season but the thing that got my attention was the F&W Festival over the Halloween season. I am a fan of the Halloween season at the DLR but at WDW is great as well. DLR has way more Halloween decorations over the MK in my opinion from all the different lands that are decorated, Mickey’s Halloween Party, Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy and Haunted Mansion Holiday where the MK has Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. During the last trip, I went with DAW, my DB and other aunt and uncle’s during the trip in which they haven’t been to Florida in years and were glad that we went. The best part was the F&W Festival where we got to experience the different food stands around World Showcase along with the Party for the Senses that we did.
As of now, thanks to the special deal on Southwest Airlines on June 2nd thru 4th deal, we were able to get tickets to Orlando and back for $387 roundtrip which is a great deal. Earlier, I was trying to find deals on Southwest Airlines and there was nothing available. Now we are secure with our times for the Orlando trip. We will first be leaving Sac at 1:55pm and head on over to Las Vegas first and then head on over to Orlando at 10:55pm. I didn’t want to go that late that night to Orlando but the rate was too good to pass up so we will have to use part of our day on Saturday morning or going late on Friday night to pick up the supplies. On the way back, we will leave Orlando at 4:40pm and head on over to Vegas first and on our way back to Sacramento around 10:55pm. I was glad that we got the late price at a good deal and the one going was not that overly joy but you can’t beat the price.
We will be staying at the Sheraton Vistana Resort which is right across from Highway 4 on the other side of the WDW property. The address is 8800 Vistana Centre Dr, Orlando FL 32821. The reason I am going this year where I haven’t went the last few years to WDW is that my family didn’t have any points available to rent a space at the Sheraton Vistana Resort so we just waited until 2015 which our points were available. This will be my fifth time staying at the Sheraton VIstana Resort and I do enjoy staying at this place where it offers.
Living room and dining room
Here is the problem that I am having with my party members for this trip. There will be times where they want to do things that they will want to do like go to EPCOT, Cape Canaveral, Universal Orlando, etc. I have been told by my neighbors that they will for sure go to EPCOT during the trip but I don’t know how many. It will be one for sure and might be two. My dad is only interested in EPCOT over all the other three parks. He will want to go to Universal to see the new Diagon Alley at UO. My neighbors told me that they have seen Diagon Alley last year so they aren’t planning on going. DAF will have no problem going with me to the other parks around Florida but she already told me that she will not want to do Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Since she has done Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland plenty of times, she doesn’t want to attend it. But she will have no problem doing other things as long as she gets to go to UO to see Diagon Alley. I will upgrade my Disneyland Premium Annual Pass to the Premier AP before the trip which I will upgrade it when I am back at the DLR during the D23 Expo in August. I plan on upgrading to the Premier AP for the upcoming WDW trip since I will be going back and to be able to save on the parking, merchandise and food (at certain places) where it can make a big difference. I love the Premier AP after getting it back in 2010 during the holiday season at WDW. I used it for both the DLR and WDW from 2010 to 2012 where I haven’t got the Premier since I have last WDW in 2012. I don’t know if I am going to have my own rental car for myself but I am going to try to go to WDW as much as possible during the trip.
The goal for the group is to have an enjoyable time in Florida. The one thing that we will all do during the trip is to go to EPCOT during the Food & Wine Festival. Everyone enjoys going to EPCOT when we are in Florida. My neighbors were able to go to WDW last year and to the Halloween/F&W Festival and they had a blast that they decided to join the three of us during the trip. Right now, we have no plans on what international food stands we are going to eat. I know for sure that I am going to go to the Canada stand to get the cheddar cheese soup which is my favorite. There are other stands that I will be going around which will be determine when we get closer to the trip. I am still planning on with our neighbors and DAF what they want to do except for EPCOT that we all agreed on. DAW already told me that she wants to go to Universal Orlando to go to the new Diagon Alley and I am doing the same thing. My neighbors were able to see it last year so they are not planning on going to UO during the trip.
As for my goals, is to enjoy the Halloween/F&W festival at WDW. I have been looking forward to going back to WDW and enjoy the Halloween/F&W Festival. Of course, I will be taking a ton of pictures during the trip. I haven’t decided yet if I am going to rent or buy new equipment for the trip. I will bring along my DSLR, lenses, tripod, etc. for the trip for the daytime and nighttime stuff. I will also will be looking forward to seeing Diagon Alley at UO as well along with DAF. The other one is to ride the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at the Magic Kingdom which opened not too long ago.
I’m also thinking of attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom. The only problem I am having with MNSSHP is that most of the group won’t want to go to the party. My dad and I have attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party during the Holiday season during the 2011 trip but he thought it wasn’t worth the extra money for that event. DAW has attended MVMCP back in 2010 which she still remembers that time when it was the coldest times in Florida. DAF and I have attended Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland in 2010 and 2014 which I also attended MNSSHP back in 2012. They already told me that they aren’t planning on attending MNSSHP but DAF has told me that she will want to watch HalloWishes fireworks from the Transportation & Ticket Center right by the Ferry dock area. I have been wanting to watch the fireworks from the Ferry dock at the T&TC and this would be a good opportunity to watch it where we won’t attend MNSSHP. It was tough of not attending MNSSHP during the trip but I understand why. There were times I am thinking of going solo without the others but maybe I will need more influence to attend the party which I have already did that.
I thought my DB & his GF would be going with us during the trip but she is busy and DB told me that he will not go this time without her which he did back in 2012 where she had to cancel at the last second due to her mom not feeling well. I completely understand their situation and can’t force them to come with us.
As for the plans which is about less than four months away. I am still going over the plans with my neighbors, DAF and my dad to determine what we will do during the trip. The one thing for sure we will do is go to EPCOT for all 6 of us. We are looking at going on the 26th which is also the day where the IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party package will be available. When I first heard about this it did felt like the old Disneyland Fantasmic! Dessert package where you will get a guarantee spot for the show and get dessert as well. My neighbors have done it last year and they have enjoyed it. For me, it might not be worth the extra money since we are there for the F&W Festival and I would even stake out a spot just to see the show. So we will still talk about if we will do the IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party.
For things that I want to do and can’t get in for a dining reservation. The two places that I want to eat on-site during the trip are “Be Our Guest Restaurant” at the MK. I waited almost exactly half a year to get my reservation for those two restaurants and I didn’t even get one from any of the days during our visit. This shows where staying on-site makes a big difference where you can get it a few days earlier before the non-guests do. I also looked to see if there was any reservations for the Raglan Road Irish Pub at DTD and there were some available. The only problem is that most of my group members might not want to eat at this restaurant during the visit. I have been told by @PrincessInOz, @franandaj, & @Leshaface that I should try this place this they have ate at this restaurant in the past. But if DAF has no problem with it, we could eat at this restaurant while the others can do their own things.
I have also looking at what F&W Festival seminar to try. I have done the Party for the Senses back in 2012 and I really enjoyed that seminar where I got to try a lot of great food. Right now, they have told me that they aren’t interested in doing a seminar during the F&W Festival. I have looked at the Parisian Breakfast as well as the French regional Lunches that was recommended by @jedijill and @franandaj. Those two look very nice especially the Parisian breakfast which sounds very interesting.
For the plans this is only a start and it will change over time. But it will be difficult to decide to do on those days during the trip.
Plan
Friday, October 16, 2015
Our flight will leave from SMF to DEN at 1:15pm and will be there less than an hour until the three of us head on over to MCO at 10:55pm ET. I know that it is very late to get to Orlando at that time but we were able to find great deals on Southwest Airlines. Our neighbors won’t be going with us at the same time since they will be leaving Sacramento on Saturday (17th) and come home on the (24th). It will be a very late night to get to Orlando and head on over to the Sheraton VIstana Resort where we will be staying during our trip. We also need to get our supplies for our room (like toilet paper, food, drinks, etc.) but that might have to be the next day on Saturday where we will be there very late. I have got to Orlando that late at night before which is not fun to get to the hotel at midnight.
Saturday, October 17, 2015
I am having a tough decision on what to do the first day since our neighbors won’t be coming until that day. My dad had asked me if we would want to do EPCOT during the F&W Festival. But I remember back in 2012 when we went on the first day where it was so crowded at World Showcase Lagoon where the food stand are around the lagoon and there were long lines. Most of them were locals or students that are off on Saturday to enjoy the food at EPCOT. So I am thinking of going with the MK first or DHS first. I want to see the Festival of Fantasy Parade that day along with Wishes fireworks and Main Street Electrical Parade. But with the crowds are higher over DHS, it might make sense to go to DHS first and do the MK another night since it is Extra Magic Hour Evening. We would be also able to see the 7:30pm Fantasmic! show that night which I do enjoy seeing the DHS F! version.
The only problem is that we would use that morning to get our groceries and supplies from Walmart, Costco, etc. since we will have a car to use for the trip. I don’t think my dad is willing to go back to DHS but he could always change and go with us to DHS for the afternoon and night. I was also thinking about Universal Orlando but I want to start off with WDW first before I go on over to UO to see the new Diagon Alley.
Another option is to go to the MK that day to see Festival of Fantasy parade along with the MSEP and Wishes fireworks that night. There is no other night that would be good to see the MSEP since the days that we plan when there is no MNSSHP are on Monday & Wednesday which we plan to go to those other places like EPCOT, Animal Kingdom or Kennedy Space Center.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
I was thinking of doing Universal Orlando that day since it would be nice to go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure to go to the new Diagon Alley and take the train from IoA to UO and back. Even though I do not want to pay extra for park hopping but this is something that DAF looking forward to as well as me. Our neighbors won’t do that since they went to UO and saw it last year. I was also thinking of going to EPCOT that day but since it is during the weekend, we might not on until another day maybe like watching HalloWishes fireworks from the T&TC that night since we don’t plan on buying MNSSHP tickets.
Monday, October 19, 2015
This is the day that we plan on going to EPCOT during the visit to the F&W Festival. Technically this is the day where our neighbors will be going for sure to EPCOT during the trip and we do plan on joining them as well. Of course, we will be going around World Showcase to try all the different food kiosks during the F&W Festival. Our neighbors are going to do the IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party that night which we will do the same thing as well. I really didn’t want to do this but it would be nice to get a good spot to watch IllumiNations that night without using our FP+ for that day.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Our neighbors are not planning on doing anything that day except for Dennis which he and my dad might go golfing that day. So it will be just DAF and I that day and we are planning on going to the MK that day since we have a 6:05pm reservation at Be Our Guest. I was lucky to get a ressie for BOG during the trip which was one of the hardest ressies to get. As of now, we are not planning on attending MNSSHP which we have a ressie that night at 6:05pm. DAF didn't want to use part of the ticket while eating at BOG so we will just use a regular day at the park where we can go on some rides and see some shows.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Our neighbors are planning on going to Cape Canaveral to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. I haven't decided on what to do that day but I was thinking of going to one of the Disney Parks but it make sense to try a nighttime show that night. It would make sense to watch the fireworks from somewhere around Seven Seas Lagoon. I look at other places like the Polynesian Resort on the beach which might be a good place to watch the fireworks and take shots from there. I might need more info on where from the Poly to watch the fireworks from.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
This will be our last full day of the trip. Our neighbors are not planning on going to the park since Ann mom will be resting that day just like on Tuesdays. I am thinking of going back to the Magic Kingdom again in order to do some things that we didn’t do the first few days of the trip. It will be nice to go back on some rides that we didn’t get to do. Also that night, I thought it would be a good idea to see F! to finish off the last night of the trip. I thought about watch the fireworks from a different spot but we didn’t have F! on the list in which I was thinking of seeing it on Saturday.
Friday, October 23, 2015
Friday is our last day of our visit and our departure day. Our flight won’t leave at 4:40pm ET at MCO so we will have some time to go around Orlando until we have to be at MCO around 2-3pm. This will be good to do some last second shopping at Downtown Disney (which will be Disney Springs next year), the outlets, and possibly someplace to eat somewhere in DTD or in Orlando. That will be determine. Our flight from MCO will go to LAS and be there for a while until we catch our flight back home at 9pm and be back in Sac around 10:25pm.
I have a SoCal trip with DAF to the D23 Expo in August. I haven’t wrote a pre-trip report for the D23 Expo trip but it is all about to enjoy the D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center which is right across the street from the Disneyland Resort. This will be the fourth D23 Expo which began in 2009 (2011, 2013) and I have attended all four events since that time.
Most of the planning in still in progress and I have been talking with my group and my dad said that it is still too early for the planning. I don't think it is too soon for planning since WDW requires a lot of planning than like DL where you don't have to come up with a big plan like WDW. But we will see when we get closer to our trip in October.
Last edited:
I'm hoping this will be a fine trip.
