A Two Week Eating Adventure! Sisters (and kids and husbands) take on summer (and Deluxe Dining Plan) in WDW! - Update - Leaving Tomorrow!!

[CatandMouse]

Hi All!

I am Cat and this is my first trip report after countless Disney vacations. I am excited to have an extended visit this summer with my sister and her family! Intros coming up...

We are staying our first week in two rooms at the Contemporary Resort (Garden Wing, Standard View rooms) and the last week combined in one Deluxe Room at BoardWalk Inn (because husbands will be returning home).

My crazy crew consists of DH (not a Disney fan but tolerates the occasional visit and loves seeing the kids enjoy it all), DS, I'll call him Dash (age 8, turning 9 this trip!), and DD, I'll call her Rapunzel (age 3 - long haired, goofy and and princess crazy). This is us at Tokyo Sea last year.








My sister has two daughters (I'll call them Elsa, age 7 (turning 8 this trip) and Ariel, age 5)




Every summer we have a "Sister Trip" to Disney. The reluctant husbands join us occasionally. Here is my family back in the 70's at the Polynesian Resort.




This is actually the FIRST trip we have done a combined family trip though. If we take husbands it usually just with immediate family. I can't imagine any issues coming up... but we'll see.

I can't start this planning report without mentioning my oldest son, Connor. Connor passed away 5 years ago at the age of 8. But he is with us for each and every trip. In his too short life he visited Disney World over 10 times and took 4 Disney Cruises. He was a fan like his momma



Love that face


For the first week of our trip we are doing the Deluxe Dining Plan so we have a LOT of Table Service Dining. The second week is Quick Service Dining Plan.

I'll lay out the itinerary in the next post... Thanks for reading!

 

[CatandMouse]

Day 1 - June 29th
- Depart Austin and arrive at MCO at 3:00pm. Magical Express to Contemporary Resort (hopefully to rooms that are ready). Get settled in and get ready for first dinner...
- 7:00pm 1900 Park Fare

Day 2 - June 30th - Animal Kingdom
- Try to arrive at AK in time for rope drop (even earlier would be great), use FPs in AM
- 12:15pm Tusker House with Rivers of Light Package
- Return to resort for break and head back to AK around 4:30/5pm
- Quick Service dinner at Flame Tree BBQ
- Rivers of Light (with reserved seating from lunch)

Day 3 - July 1st - Magic Kingdom (Today will be my niece's ("Elsa") birthday)
- 7:05am Chef Mickey's
- Magic Kingdom (opens at 9am)
- Use AM FPs
- Quick Service lunch (maybe Sleepy Hollow or Columbia Harbour House)??
- 1:00pm Harmony Barbershop appointments
- Return to resort for break
- Head over to Wilderness Lodge by boat
- 5:15pm Storybook Dining at Artist Point

Day 4 - July 2nd - Epcot (Today will be my son's ("Dash") birthday)
- Travel to Epcot for early "pre-park opening" breakfast
- 8:05am Garden Grill
- Use AM FPs
- World Showcase wanderings
- 1:00pm Teppan Edo
- Return to resort for break
- Quick Service dinner??
- Evening off from parks - enjoy pool and resort

Day 5 - July 3rd - Magic Kingdom
- 8:15am Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique appointment
- Use AM FPs (which are all 3 for character meet & greets to take advantage of makeovers)
- Quick Service lunch??
- Return to resort for break
- Head over to Fort Wilderness from Contemporary by boat
- 6:15pm Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review (Cat 2 seating)
- Return to Contemporary Resort
- View 4th of July Fireworks at MK from the resort area (I don't want to mess with trying to deal with MK crowds)

Day 6 - July 4th - Epcot
- slow start morning - plan to get to Epcot by noon
- use FPs
- 1:50pm Via Napoli
- tour World Showcase in afternoon
- 8:00pm IllumiNations Dinner Package at Rose and Crown (SO excited to have reserved this!)
- 9:00pm IllumiNations from R&C seating

Day 7 - July 5th - VIP TOUR! (MK and HS)
- 8:20am 1900 Park Fare (my niece can't wait to meet Mary Poppins!)
- Return to resort for break
- Head to MK around 1:00pm
- 1:30pm Jungle Skipper Canteen
- 2:45pm - Meet VIP Tour Guide at Main Street Train Station
- 3:00pm - special viewing area for Festival of Fantasy parade
- Travel to HS with tour guide, visit Toy Story Land attractions and RnR
- Travel back to MK with tour guide, visit some MK attractions (Buzz, 7DMT, PP, BTM, PotC if possible)
- Quick Service dining??
- 9:00pm - special viewing area for Happily Ever After fireworks

Day 8 - July 6th - Hollywood Studios/Epcot (Resort Transfer Day)
- Today we check out of Contemporary Resort and check in to BoardWalk Inn
- Leave bags with Bell Services for transfer to next resort
- Head to Hollywood Studios in the morning to use FPs
- 12:00pm 50's Prime Time Cafe
- Leave park to head to resort for break

... Week 2 ... To Be Continued...

Any advice on how to organize the VIP tour would be appreciated! Thanks for reading!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Joining in!

That is so fun that you and your sister go together every year. I could definitely see myself doing that with my sister in the future!

What a great trip you have planned! Are the bolded restaurants the ones you plan on using the DxDDP on? I will be doing the deluxe meal plan for the first time this trip coming up and hoping I can handle all the food! haha

 

[elsbit]

It looks like a great itinerary! I am no help on your VIP tour, having never done one. One thing I noticed is that I am not sure you are using up all of the credits with the DxDP. To use them up, we usually do 1 signature and 1 TS a day, and we don't use them on QS because it is a money loss so to speak (which may not matter to your planning). Tokyo Sea is on our list to visit. We actually honeymooned in Japan. We are waiting until our youngest is out of diapers to take all the kids to Japan.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Joining in!

Your plans look great and I’m looking forward to your review of dinner at 1900 Park Fare as it is one of the meals I’m hoping to book for my trip.

Yay on seeing Illuminations with a dinner package before it’s no longer available.

Good luck with the VIP tours

 

[CatandMouse]

Joining in!

That is so fun that you and your sister go together every year. I could definitely see myself doing that with my sister in the future!

What a great trip you have planned! Are the bolded restaurants the ones you plan on using the DxDDP on? I will be doing the deluxe meal plan for the first time this trip coming up and hoping I can handle all the food! haha

We love our sister trips! We bicker for sure but because we are sisters we bounce right back. We tend to have the same tolerance levels too (for crowds, heat, hunger) so we tour Disney really well together. And the memories with the cousins are precious!

As for the dining plan, my room has the Deluxe Dining Plan and we are going to share credits with my sister's room for the Table Service locations. We still have a few extra remaining which we will probably just use for those Quick Service spots or maybe grab a last minute ADR somewhere. Gives us some flexibility. Its A LOT of food - so I hope by doing it this way we won't waste credits (or feel super full the whole time )

 

[CatandMouse]

It looks like a great itinerary! I am no help on your VIP tour, having never done one. One thing I noticed is that I am not sure you are using up all of the credits with the DxDP. To use them up, we usually do 1 signature and 1 TS a day, and we don't use them on QS because it is a money loss so to speak (which may not matter to your planning). Tokyo Sea is on our list to visit. We actually honeymooned in Japan. We are waiting until our youngest is out of diapers to take all the kids to Japan.

Toyko Sea was amazing! I wish I had more time to visit - we only went for a day. My husband had a business trip to Tokyo so we decided to use air miles and join him! Sort of crazy with a 2 and 8 year old (at the time). But they did amazingly well! The trickiest part was maneuvering a stroller around the public transportation - we were always looking for elevators, ha! We loved the city (what an amazing place to honeymoon!) and the food and the adventure! We were there over Thanksgiving week so we did one day at Disney Sea on Thanksgiving Day (no turkey for us) and then did Tokyo Disneyland on our last full day there. We will definitely go back despite the 16 hour flight!

The Dining Plan is going to be on our room and we will "pay" for some of the meals for my sister's room. I am glad they let you share credits on DxDP because this way we can do some of the fun character meals for the whole group (plus HDD is a must!). I think we still have some extra credits that we plan on just using for last minute Table Service locations or Quick Service. I am with ya about trying to maximize credit value

 

[CatandMouse]

Joining in!

Your plans look great and I’m looking forward to your review of dinner at 1900 Park Fare as it is one of the meals I’m hoping to book for my trip.

Yay on seeing Illuminations with a dinner package before it’s no longer available.

Good luck with the VIP tours

Thanks for reading! I am excited about 1900 Park Fare too. Its been a LONG time since I went. We (hopefully) will have enough time to get into our room and get the girls all princessed-up for the dinner

I was online about 1 hour after a post had been done about the IllumiNations Dinner Package reservations being released and I was able to get a table for 4 for the night of July 4th. Then it was sold out! So my sister and her crew also have a regular R&C ADR for around 7:15pm. She is just planning on asking for a patio seat and hoping for the best.

I am super excited about the tour! We are starting in MK at 3pm to view the Festival of Fantasy parade, then off to HS for the Toy Story Land rides, then back to MK for some rides there before the special viewing area of Happily Ever After. My husband is very anxious around crowds so I thought this could be a good way for us all to experience the parade/fireworks without (as much) stress.

 

[CatandMouse]

With 10 days to go I have started packing!

Yes- that’s a lot of princess dresses. I have to narrow them down a bit. Maybe to 4? Haha!

Special dining/event clothes for my daughter:

1900 Park Fare dinner - Cinderella dress
Chef Mickey’s - Minnie dress
Artist Point - Snow White dress
BBB - she still has to pick princess but probably Elsa
1900 Park Fare breakfast - Alice dress
Trattoria - either Rapunzel or Ariel (still deciding)

There’s also the matching shirts I’m putting together. I’m glad my 8 year doesn’t mind still matching his younger sister.

Is this fun or overdoing it?

 

[CatandMouse]

Continuing with Week 2 planning...

On Day 8 we transfer resorts to the BoardWalk Inn. The husbands fly home this day. So my sister and I and the four kids are all staying together in a Deluxe Room. It is a "Club Level" room. I'll be sure to post pics of the daily food offerings found in the lounge. Since we will be very full from the previous week of Deluxe Dining Plan we are doing Quick Service Dining for this week. I think we'll be ready for more flexibility too. I only have a reservation for Be Our Guest. We love staying in the Epcot Resort area. It makes spending the evening in Epcot so easy. We will probably spend most nights over there having dinner at any of the great QS options around.

Day 8 - July 6th - Transfer Day
- We recently found a reservation for a late brunch at Trattoria and we may change the 50's Prime Time lunch for this instead. (I think we will - kids love Rapuzel and Ariel, who doesn't?!)
- Bye-Bye husbands - off to the Magical express
- Afternoon/Evening at Epcot
- 7:00pm La Hacienda (we made this reservation just in case we have extra Deluxe Dining credits we need to use up by the end of the day)
- IllumiNations (maybe from restaurant?)

Day 9 - July 7th - Hollywood Studios
- Walk to Hollywood Studios for morning FastPass+ selections in this park (Slinky Dog, Rock n' Roller Coaster, Disney Jr. Dance Party)
- Quick Service lunch - Pizza Port? Studio Catering?
- Return to resort for break
- Open evening for any park (probably Epcot)

Day 10 - July 8th - Animal Kingdom
- Animal Kingdom (opens at 8am, Extra Magic Hour)
- Use AM FPs
- Quick Service lunch - Flame Tree BBQ
- Return to resort for break
- Open evening for any park (probably Epcot)

Day 11 - July 9th - Hollywood Studios
- Resort morning - enjoy pool
- QS lunch at resort (BoardWalk Bakery)
- Afternoon/Evening in Hollywood Studios
- Use FastPass+ selections for afternoon
- QS dinner in HS
- Fantasmic!

Day 12 - July 10th - Any Park
- This is one totally open day. I made FastPass+ selections for Hollywood Studios but we could change these

Day 13 - July 11th - Magic Kingdom and Glow Nights
- Magic Kingdom morning
- 8:20am Be Our Guest
- use FPs
- Return to resort for break
- 7:00pm Glow Nights at Typhoon Lagoon

Day 14 - July 12th - Animal Kingdom
- Last full day at parks
- Head to AK in time for first FastPass (9:30am)
- We switched our parks days a bit so that we can catch the new Animation Experience at Conservation Station (opens the day before on the 11th)
- Open evening for any park (probably Epcot)

Day 15 - Departure Day
- 8:30am flight so we will be meeting the Magical Express around 5:30am


Thanks for reading! I will update with the actual events soon ...

 

[Cloe Colton]

Love the outfits for the girls! Definitely not overdoing it in my book but I am a notorious overpacker! haha

The plans sound great. DH and I just got back from our CL stay at Contemporary/Grand Floridian and I can't imagine not doing CL going forward. You will love it! I've heard really great things about Boardwalks club level. Definitely on my list of places to try!

 

[CatandMouse]

Love the outfits for the girls! Definitely not overdoing it in my book but I am a notorious overpacker! haha

The plans sound great. DH and I just got back from our CL stay at Contemporary/Grand Floridian and I can't imagine not doing CL going forward. You will love it! I've heard really great things about Boardwalks club level. Definitely on my list of places to try!

I feel like I will be overpacking but... oh well
We got upgraded to GF Club level once and it was amazing! Totally spoiled. Can’t wait for BWI.

 

[CatandMouse]

You know its almost time when you have checked in for your flight! yay!! In less than 24 hours we will be in Florida! Whoohoo!

Side note -- over the last week I had a small panic when my My Disney Experience just stopped working. Stopped showing all linked dining, tickets, etc. And it wasn't something I could just refresh and they would reappear (had that happen too). So I called tech line and my account basically broken - too many "markers" on account from so many years and so many trips. I was asked to open a new MDE account with a different email address. Then the agent took over an hour (close to two actually) and had to transfer all my reservations (room, tickets, dining and fastpasses) to the new account. So stressful. And it took a couple more calls to get it completely correct because they missed a few dining the first time and then the BBB and Harmony Barbershop couldn't be re-linked to new account. I still have reservations but they just don't show up (a little annoying but ok). One of the agents said they are starting to see this issue with older account and frequent travelers. So uh oh.

More from Disney tomorrow...