mvf-m11c
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2009
Hello there fellow DISers and readers. Welcome to my Pre Trip Report for my October trip to WDW.
My name is Bret and I am a huge fan of Disneyland in Anaheim. I am mostly over on the Disneyland boards and have done a lot of different trip reports on the Disneyland Trip Report thread. I like to videotape the nighttime shows (fireworks, WoC, F! at DL & DHS, Illuminations, etc) and take pictures of anything at the parks that are interesting from flowers, light fixtures, Halloween & Christmas decorations, etc. We are only 81 days away till Boo to You...and Food & Wine Too! Trip. The title was from Sherry E one of the Moderators from the DL threads.
Here are some recent past & upcoming trip reports from the DL threads in the last few months.
I have just finished the [post=45177437]Sneak Peek at Cars Land & Buena Street June 9 - 12, 2012[/post] & my upcoming trip to DL in just 7 days [post=45575426]I’m Racing Back to Cars Land with ‘Bro and his Girl’ in Tow August 13 – 15, 2012 PTR[/post] You can check out My TRs plus Pics & Vids on the Disneyland Trip Reports which tells about me and my past trip reports to DL and WDW.
Going to the DLR is one of the best times in my life since DL is the original park that Walt Disney created. After a fun and great trip to the DLR during the preview of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street before it was open on June 15th and just about to leave too DL next week, it is now time to get my plans all set up for the Halloween season & EPCOT Food & Wine Festival at WDW.
I just concluded my [post=45177437]Sneak Peek at Cars Land & Buena Street June 9 - 12, 2012[/post] Trip Report.
This last trip was the most anticipated trip that my DA and I have ever done going to the DLR. It was mostly to see Cars Land and Buena Vista Street during the AP/D23/Club 33/CM preview. Not only we were there for the preview, it was also my DA birthday which was on the 11th. My DA is one of my favorite aunts and we went to a lot of Disney parks together. This was a great birthday trip for her as well since we get to see Cars Land and Buena Vista Street before it was open to the public in a few days. We have been waiting for almost 4 years for Cars Land to be completed and it finally is completed. Cars Land was even better than we expected when we see it up close. The details of each building were just like in the movie. The best part at Cars Land when it was nighttime and the lights lit up at night just like in the movie cars which played “Life Could be Dream”.
We got to do most of the rides (Radiator Springs Racers 5 times, Luigi’s Flying Tires 2 times, & Mater Junkyard Jamboree once). RSR surpassed our expectations, not just the ride, but it was the AA where they looked really real. The ones that looked real were Mater, Sheriff, Sarge, Fillmore, & Doc Hudson the most while the others use projection mouths. LFT was something that I wanted to ride ever since I saw vintage clips of the Flying Saucers at DL in the 60s. It was not as bumpy as I thought when we saw clips of Disney testing it out. MJJ is a combination of Francis' Ladybug Boogie where the tractor goes to another track and it moves you left and right.
The food at Cozy Cone Motel was great which we got a souvenir cone cup and Lightning McQueen popcorn. We didn’t eat at Flo’s V8 Café which that will be another must do on my upcoming trip. We also got to have three sit down restaurants (ESPN Zone twice and Storyteller’s Café) during the trip.
Buena Vista Street was a great entrance to DCA and we got to walk through BVS during the preview which we have done a lot in the short time we had at BVS. We were hoping that Storyteller’s statue would be revealed during the preview, but it was all boxed up that week.
I have taken over 2,500 pics on this last trip is the most I have ever done on any trip. Most of the pics were from Cars Land and Buena Vista Street.
Here are some pics of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street during the preview in mid June before it was open to the public on the 15th. **Spoiler for people who don’t want to see the pics before they see it in person** If you are reading this Deej, I would skip it since you already told me that you don’t want to see the pictures until you go and see it in person.
Buena Vista Street
Cars Land
Now I am planning my pre trip report for October 26th to November 2nd, 2012 during the Halloween season at WDW.
Cast: Me Bret, my DB, DB GF V, Uncle S, Uncle R, Uncle M, and Aunt H.
This will be my 1st time to WDW during the Halloween. This will be my 9th time coming back to WDW (July 96, June 98, June 01, Mar 06, Mar/Apr 07, Mar/Apr 10, Dec 10, Dec 11) which my last trip to WDW was last year during the Holiday season [post=43486854]Friends and Family Holiday trip to WDW Dec 9 - 16, 2011[/post]. This will be my DB 7th time back to WDW (July 96, June 98, June 01, Mar 06, Mar/Apr 07, Dec 11). This will be V first time to WDW. For Uncle S, R, M and Aunt H this will be the first time they have been back to WDW during the 80s. Everything back then has changed and they are looking forward at what is different from the 80s and now.
Our trip is not until the last weekend of October and we will be leaving on the first weekend of November. This will be my 1st 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 went during Spring Break season and Summer time. The last couple of years, I went during the Holiday season which is amazing with all those Christmas decorations.
Last year trip to WDW during the Holiday season was great and exciting. It was an exciting trip to WDW last year during the Holiday season since it was with my dad’s best friend and his family. They were so amazed during the Holiday season at WDW. I was the guide for the whole trip where we got to do MVMCP, EPCOT with all the Christmas decorations and see how they celebrate the Holiday season. The Osborne Lights at DHS, Animal Kingdom and the Wizardy World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure was amazing as well. We also got to eat at Le Cellier at the Canada Pavilion during the Candlelight Processional which I really like the most. We also ate at Bistro de Paris which is great.
Our whole group will be flying from Sacramento to Houston first thing in the morning around 6 am.This will be my first time flying to Houston International Airport which we mostly go to LAX, Denver, Chicago, or Dallas airports midway to Orlando since there are no direct flights from Sacramento to Orlando. When we get to Houston we will change planes and take our next flight to Orlando International Airport. We should get in Orlando around 6 pm eastern time. While we are at the airport we will get our rental cars and head on over to our hotel during our stay. We should be at our hotel around 7-8pm and then get settled in. We will be renting two cars which my DB, V and me will be driving while Uncle S, R, M and Aunt H will have their own car so if we want to do something different we will have another car.
We will be staying at Sheraton Vistana Resort just right across from the Highway 4 of the WDW property. I have stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort last year with my family during our WDW trip and from 2010. It was a nice timeshare with a master bedroom, two double beds, a living room, kitchen, washer & dryer, plus a patio. We barely spend some time in the room during our trip, but we didn’t do any of the activities at the resort. But there was just way too much to do at Florida and had no time to do any of those things at the resort. We will be getting two rooms while my DB, V and I will be in one of them while Uncle S, R, M and Aunt H will be in the other. Here are some pics of the room from 2010.
Here is the problem that I am having is that my Uncle’s, Aunt, my DB and V are still thinking of what they want to do during our trip. I have come up with different plans based on my history of WDW. But as of now there is nothing planned. But I know for a fact is that they want to visit all four Disney parks at WDW and go to Cape Canaveral. I will be upgrading my DL Premium AP to the Premier AP. Right now I don’t have the Premier AP until I upgrade it at DL next week during my DL trip. Here is the main problem of upgrading from the DL Premium AP to the Premier. I renewed my AP before the price hike in May. I had to pay $479 for the Premium AP. Now the Premier is $849 and with tax it is around $920. The question is it worth paying another $450+ to upgrade to the Premier. I never thought I would be going back to WDW this year or I would have renewed my Premier AP in May. I love the Premier AP after getting it 2010 during the Holiday season at WDW. I used it for both the DLR and WDW for two years and it did pay for the whole thing. It did save me a lot of money on the parking and merchandise, so I am planning again on taking advantage of the Premier AP when I am at WDW. I plan on going to WDW all the days during our vacation from Saturday October 27th to Thursday November 1st. I am hoping that I will be able to get one day on Friday the day we show up, but we will wait and see.
The whole goal for most of my group during our trip is for my uncles and aunt where this may be the only time for them to see Florida and WDW while they can travel. They were not planning on going to Florida if they weren’t feeling healthy. But they want to enjoy Florida while they are healthy and be able to walk. I do have my concerns with them since they are old and might not be able to walk at the parks for a whole day so where we will have to take breaks in the afternoon. They told me that they don’t want to ride in wheelchairs or ECV. I also got to learn not to walk so fast where I am used to walking fast at the parks. The one thing they are looking forward to the most is the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. We are all looking forward to trying all the different food from each of these different countries. They will be looking forward to the food and the wine and beer. They are considering trying one of the special events during the F&WF. But they will get back to me of what they want to try. I told them that they need to make a decision around the 14th which I read is the date where they start letting guests to book for the special events.
My DB and his GF goal are to enjoy the vacation together. They will be with our group to enjoy the parks and they might go by themselves to enjoy other activities in Florida. They want to go to Islands of Adventure to see the Wizardy World of Harry Potter since V is very interested in seeing it ever since my DB went last year with me during the Holiday season. My uncle’s, aunt and I might not go to IoA since they are not big fans of HP and might want to use their time wisely at other places. I don’t know what they want to do since we are not talking about it until after our trip next week to DL. Matt, V and I will be heading to DL in a week to enjoy Cars Land.
My goal for this trip is to be the tour guide for my uncle’s and aunt during the trip. I was really surprise to hear that they want to go to Florida in such a short time. Mostly I plan at least a year of a half a year to plan a WDW PTR in advance. But with less than 3 months until our trip, I have to scramble of planning what to do and what days. Whatever my uncle’s and aunt want to do I will be with them during the trip. Maybe once or twice during the trip I might go to the parks early in the morning or do something by myself.
One of my other goals is to take a lot of pictures of any Halloween decoration at WDW. On the HalloweenTime at DLR Superthread #3- 9/14-10/31; Mickey's Halloween Party starts 9/28 Sherry E one of the moderators on the DL threads had started which has a lot of information about the Halloween season at the DLR. For this trip I plan getting a lot of the Halloween decorations pictures I can. This will be tough but it won’t be as harder than the Holiday season at WDW where almost park, hotel, restaurants, etc. are decorated while I don’t know how much Halloween decorations will be up at WDW. This time, I will do my waiting game like I do at DL for any of the nighttime shows or parades and get a good spot for the videotaping. Do all the nighttime shows at WDW (Wishes fireworks, DEP, Illuminations, & F!). It will depend on how my uncle’s and aunt if they can stay in the park that long at night. We will wait and see when I report about it. I am also looking forward to the F&WF which is something that I want to do since I have went to WDW during all the major seasons (Spring Break, Summertime and Christmas season).
I’m also thinking of attending MNSSHP at the MK. The only problem I am having with MNSSHP is that most of the adults won’t want to go to the party like my group last year during MVMCP. My DB and V are leaning towards of not going to the party while I am the only one that wants to go to the party. If I did go to MNSSHP it is to see Happy HalloWishes fireworks, Disney Villains Mix & Mingle and Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade. I will go around the MK to get candy like any person would do even though I don’t eat candy. This is a very hard decision since I will be the only person in my group at MNSSHP. But after attending MVMCP and MHP at DL, I want to attend MNSSHP. The date that I am leaning towards if I attend MNSSHP is October 30th. I am also thinking is it worth $63 to see the fireworks, show and parade since I won’t be going on any rides and staking out a spot for those shows. It was easy last year since I have multiple people with me so that one of us staked out a spot while the others went to go get food or need to use the restroom.
I will also bringing my Sony HD HDR-XR520V Video camera for the nighttime shows as well as rides. Plus I will bring my Nikon D5100 Digital SLR camera with me for taking as many pictures of the Halloween decorations as well as pictures of our group during this trip. Plus I am looking forward to use the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens that I bought last month for the dark rides and nighttime pictures.
Here is my plan for our trip in two months. This is not official since I need to meet up with my DB, V, my uncle’s and aunt. I will update it later on. But if they let me do all the planning here is what my schedule looks like for now.
Plan
Friday 26th: We will be in Orlando around 6pm eastern time and we will head on over to the Sheraton Vistana Resort to check-in the rooms. That night we will possibly go to grocery stores, Costco, Wal Mart, etc. to get supplies. The rooms are condo type rooms where they have a full kitchen where we could put food and drinks, living room, washer and dryer. We also need to get amenities (shampoo, soap, etc.) since the rooms don’t provide them. The rooms do provide towels where we won’t to buy them. We will decide on where to eat that night, but we are leaning towards fast food since we are shopping that day for the room. I am looking forward to eat at Steak N Shake where it is only available on the east coast and is not available on the west coast.
Saturday 27th: Saturday will be the busiest day during our trip. Right now, the best day to go on Saturday is Animal Kingdom. But I don’t want take my group to AK as the first park of the trip. DHS is not an option since there is an EMH in the morning and the other two possibilities is MK or EPCOT. Right now on touringplans.com, EPCOT is the park to avoid. But I knew that both parks would be busy. So I am leaning towards MK that day so they can enjoy the original park at WDW and see the nighttime shows Wishes and MSEP. Right now this is my best option and I will change it when we get closer to the dates. I am leaning towards AK that day in the morning and MK at night.
Sunday 28th:We are planning on going to EPCOT 2 times during the trip with the group and I might go more than 2 times since I will have the Premier AP. This day is the best day to go to the MK during MNSSHP, but my group already told me that they aren’t planning on going to the party. I thought about going to the party that day, but we will go with EPCOT since they want to be at the Food & Wine Festival. We will go on some of the easy rides and no intense rides except for my DB and his GF. We will go any try as many different kiosks during the F&W Festival. We also plan on watching Illuminations that night.
Monday 29th: Thinking of planning on going to the MK that day. EPCOT is supposed to be the best day on touringplans.com, but we don’t want to go back to back days at EPCOT since we will be going on that day. My DB hasn’t decided what day he wants to go to Islands of Adventure to see WWoHP and he might consider going that day. I will keep going on back to that day or go to other places around Orlando like shopping at DTD or the outlet malls.
Tuesday 30th: The adults want to go to Cape Canaveral to see the NASA museum. So we will not go to the parks that day. It is also a good idea of not using any of our tickets because it’s for only half a day at the parks and it will be a waste. I also thought about going to MNSSHP since it is half a day and see how this party is compared to MVMCP and MHP at DL during the Halloween season. The only problem I have with it is that none of my uncle’s or aunt will want to go to MNSSHP. My DB and V are still undecided if they want to attend MNSSHP after attending MHP at DL back in 2010. Going to MNSSHP is up in the air and will be decided about one month until we get closer to our trip since I don’t want to pay extra on the party day.
Wednesday 31st: Thinking of going to DHS that day. This might be just part of a day at DHS where we would enjoy someplace for Halloween dinner. The park to go that day is the MK during MNSSHP but we don’t plan on going to the party that day. The prices for MNSSHP are way more than the other days so I don’t plan on going that day. It would be nice to go during MNSSHP on Halloween day, but with price and the crowds to be high so it wouldn’t make any sense to go that day.
Thursday 1st: This will be our last full day at Florida and it would be a great ending by going to EPCOT for the last day of the trip and enjoy the rest of the Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT. Just like Sunday, we will enjoy the F&W Festival at EPCOT and try most of the stands around World Showcase. Just be in EPCOT the whole day and come back to take a break in the afternoon. Watch Illuminations where they will like the show the first time and will enjoy watching it again during the 2nd time.
Friday 2nd: The saddest part of the trip where the vacation is over and have to go back home to Sacramento. In the past, I always leave first thing in the morning from Orlando back to Sacramento. I mostly get home at 1pm pacific time. This time we will be leaving at 3pm eastern time where we will have some free time until we head on out of Orlando. This will give us a few hours to go shopping at DTD or the outlets until it is time to head on over to Orlando International Airport and head on home to Sacramento. I might go in the park if I have some time, but it is highly unlikely.
Right now these plans are not 100% done until I talk to my DB, V, my uncle’s and aunt about what they want to do and what days they want to do them. It is very hard to go through a schedule and make a master plan for everyone which they are comfortable with. But with the experience I have at WDW which I am not a vet like I am at the DLR, I can always get ideas from you DISers who are experienced during the Halloween & F&W Festival year.
Dining at WDW Property
Right now, I don’t have any planned sit down restaurants at WDW. I was going to ask my group of where they want to eat at WDW since I still have my Tables in Wonderland card from my last trip which will expire in January 2013. The one restaurant that I want to eat at WDW is Le Cellier (of course just like I said on my last trip which we got lucky due to the CP package). I knew that it is impossible to get a reservation online or by phone so that was out of the question unless we walk up to the restaurant and they can accommodate 7 people in our group. We might do a walk up at a specific restaurant at WDW during the trip and I will report back which sit down restaurant that we will do during our trip. Last year, we did had dinner at the Grand Floridian Café and Bistro de Paris. Hopefully we will be able to have a sit down reservation at WDW when the dates get closer.
We will be eating at a lot of quick counter stands & restaurants during this trip. Mostly it will be at EPCOT during the Food & Wine Festival which we are really looking forward too. Right now, I have a few stands during the F&W Festival that I want to try. The stands that I am interested in eating are Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hops & Barley, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, & Terra booths. Right now, we are not planning on doing any of the special events during the F&WF. I wanted to do the Kitchen Memories with Robert Irvine. But his day is on the 26th which is the date we are arriving in Orlando. I will keep on planning what we will be doing at the F&WF at EPCOT.
I will keep planning on my WDW trip while I am about to leave to the DLR in 7 days. I am so excited to go back to the DLR to do something that I didn't get to see during the preview of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street. I am really looking forward to the Halloween season and Food & Wine Festival at WDW.
Just 81 days until my trip back to WDW during the Halloween season.
My name is Bret and I am a huge fan of Disneyland in Anaheim. I am mostly over on the Disneyland boards and have done a lot of different trip reports on the Disneyland Trip Report thread. I like to videotape the nighttime shows (fireworks, WoC, F! at DL & DHS, Illuminations, etc) and take pictures of anything at the parks that are interesting from flowers, light fixtures, Halloween & Christmas decorations, etc. We are only 81 days away till Boo to You...and Food & Wine Too! Trip. The title was from Sherry E one of the Moderators from the DL threads.
Here are some recent past & upcoming trip reports from the DL threads in the last few months.
I have just finished the [post=45177437]Sneak Peek at Cars Land & Buena Street June 9 - 12, 2012[/post] & my upcoming trip to DL in just 7 days [post=45575426]I’m Racing Back to Cars Land with ‘Bro and his Girl’ in Tow August 13 – 15, 2012 PTR[/post] You can check out My TRs plus Pics & Vids on the Disneyland Trip Reports which tells about me and my past trip reports to DL and WDW.
Going to the DLR is one of the best times in my life since DL is the original park that Walt Disney created. After a fun and great trip to the DLR during the preview of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street before it was open on June 15th and just about to leave too DL next week, it is now time to get my plans all set up for the Halloween season & EPCOT Food & Wine Festival at WDW.
I just concluded my [post=45177437]Sneak Peek at Cars Land & Buena Street June 9 - 12, 2012[/post] Trip Report.
This last trip was the most anticipated trip that my DA and I have ever done going to the DLR. It was mostly to see Cars Land and Buena Vista Street during the AP/D23/Club 33/CM preview. Not only we were there for the preview, it was also my DA birthday which was on the 11th. My DA is one of my favorite aunts and we went to a lot of Disney parks together. This was a great birthday trip for her as well since we get to see Cars Land and Buena Vista Street before it was open to the public in a few days. We have been waiting for almost 4 years for Cars Land to be completed and it finally is completed. Cars Land was even better than we expected when we see it up close. The details of each building were just like in the movie. The best part at Cars Land when it was nighttime and the lights lit up at night just like in the movie cars which played “Life Could be Dream”.
We got to do most of the rides (Radiator Springs Racers 5 times, Luigi’s Flying Tires 2 times, & Mater Junkyard Jamboree once). RSR surpassed our expectations, not just the ride, but it was the AA where they looked really real. The ones that looked real were Mater, Sheriff, Sarge, Fillmore, & Doc Hudson the most while the others use projection mouths. LFT was something that I wanted to ride ever since I saw vintage clips of the Flying Saucers at DL in the 60s. It was not as bumpy as I thought when we saw clips of Disney testing it out. MJJ is a combination of Francis' Ladybug Boogie where the tractor goes to another track and it moves you left and right.
The food at Cozy Cone Motel was great which we got a souvenir cone cup and Lightning McQueen popcorn. We didn’t eat at Flo’s V8 Café which that will be another must do on my upcoming trip. We also got to have three sit down restaurants (ESPN Zone twice and Storyteller’s Café) during the trip.
Buena Vista Street was a great entrance to DCA and we got to walk through BVS during the preview which we have done a lot in the short time we had at BVS. We were hoping that Storyteller’s statue would be revealed during the preview, but it was all boxed up that week.
I have taken over 2,500 pics on this last trip is the most I have ever done on any trip. Most of the pics were from Cars Land and Buena Vista Street.
Here are some pics of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street during the preview in mid June before it was open to the public on the 15th. **Spoiler for people who don’t want to see the pics before they see it in person** If you are reading this Deej, I would skip it since you already told me that you don’t want to see the pictures until you go and see it in person.
Buena Vista Street
Cars Land
Now I am planning my pre trip report for October 26th to November 2nd, 2012 during the Halloween season at WDW.
Cast: Me Bret, my DB, DB GF V, Uncle S, Uncle R, Uncle M, and Aunt H.
This will be my 1st time to WDW during the Halloween. This will be my 9th time coming back to WDW (July 96, June 98, June 01, Mar 06, Mar/Apr 07, Mar/Apr 10, Dec 10, Dec 11) which my last trip to WDW was last year during the Holiday season [post=43486854]Friends and Family Holiday trip to WDW Dec 9 - 16, 2011[/post]. This will be my DB 7th time back to WDW (July 96, June 98, June 01, Mar 06, Mar/Apr 07, Dec 11). This will be V first time to WDW. For Uncle S, R, M and Aunt H this will be the first time they have been back to WDW during the 80s. Everything back then has changed and they are looking forward at what is different from the 80s and now.
Our trip is not until the last weekend of October and we will be leaving on the first weekend of November. This will be my 1st 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 went during Spring Break season and Summer time. The last couple of years, I went during the Holiday season which is amazing with all those Christmas decorations.
Last year trip to WDW during the Holiday season was great and exciting. It was an exciting trip to WDW last year during the Holiday season since it was with my dad’s best friend and his family. They were so amazed during the Holiday season at WDW. I was the guide for the whole trip where we got to do MVMCP, EPCOT with all the Christmas decorations and see how they celebrate the Holiday season. The Osborne Lights at DHS, Animal Kingdom and the Wizardy World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure was amazing as well. We also got to eat at Le Cellier at the Canada Pavilion during the Candlelight Processional which I really like the most. We also ate at Bistro de Paris which is great.
Our whole group will be flying from Sacramento to Houston first thing in the morning around 6 am.This will be my first time flying to Houston International Airport which we mostly go to LAX, Denver, Chicago, or Dallas airports midway to Orlando since there are no direct flights from Sacramento to Orlando. When we get to Houston we will change planes and take our next flight to Orlando International Airport. We should get in Orlando around 6 pm eastern time. While we are at the airport we will get our rental cars and head on over to our hotel during our stay. We should be at our hotel around 7-8pm and then get settled in. We will be renting two cars which my DB, V and me will be driving while Uncle S, R, M and Aunt H will have their own car so if we want to do something different we will have another car.
We will be staying at Sheraton Vistana Resort just right across from the Highway 4 of the WDW property. I have stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort last year with my family during our WDW trip and from 2010. It was a nice timeshare with a master bedroom, two double beds, a living room, kitchen, washer & dryer, plus a patio. We barely spend some time in the room during our trip, but we didn’t do any of the activities at the resort. But there was just way too much to do at Florida and had no time to do any of those things at the resort. We will be getting two rooms while my DB, V and I will be in one of them while Uncle S, R, M and Aunt H will be in the other. Here are some pics of the room from 2010.
Here is the problem that I am having is that my Uncle’s, Aunt, my DB and V are still thinking of what they want to do during our trip. I have come up with different plans based on my history of WDW. But as of now there is nothing planned. But I know for a fact is that they want to visit all four Disney parks at WDW and go to Cape Canaveral. I will be upgrading my DL Premium AP to the Premier AP. Right now I don’t have the Premier AP until I upgrade it at DL next week during my DL trip. Here is the main problem of upgrading from the DL Premium AP to the Premier. I renewed my AP before the price hike in May. I had to pay $479 for the Premium AP. Now the Premier is $849 and with tax it is around $920. The question is it worth paying another $450+ to upgrade to the Premier. I never thought I would be going back to WDW this year or I would have renewed my Premier AP in May. I love the Premier AP after getting it 2010 during the Holiday season at WDW. I used it for both the DLR and WDW for two years and it did pay for the whole thing. It did save me a lot of money on the parking and merchandise, so I am planning again on taking advantage of the Premier AP when I am at WDW. I plan on going to WDW all the days during our vacation from Saturday October 27th to Thursday November 1st. I am hoping that I will be able to get one day on Friday the day we show up, but we will wait and see.
The whole goal for most of my group during our trip is for my uncles and aunt where this may be the only time for them to see Florida and WDW while they can travel. They were not planning on going to Florida if they weren’t feeling healthy. But they want to enjoy Florida while they are healthy and be able to walk. I do have my concerns with them since they are old and might not be able to walk at the parks for a whole day so where we will have to take breaks in the afternoon. They told me that they don’t want to ride in wheelchairs or ECV. I also got to learn not to walk so fast where I am used to walking fast at the parks. The one thing they are looking forward to the most is the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. We are all looking forward to trying all the different food from each of these different countries. They will be looking forward to the food and the wine and beer. They are considering trying one of the special events during the F&WF. But they will get back to me of what they want to try. I told them that they need to make a decision around the 14th which I read is the date where they start letting guests to book for the special events.
My DB and his GF goal are to enjoy the vacation together. They will be with our group to enjoy the parks and they might go by themselves to enjoy other activities in Florida. They want to go to Islands of Adventure to see the Wizardy World of Harry Potter since V is very interested in seeing it ever since my DB went last year with me during the Holiday season. My uncle’s, aunt and I might not go to IoA since they are not big fans of HP and might want to use their time wisely at other places. I don’t know what they want to do since we are not talking about it until after our trip next week to DL. Matt, V and I will be heading to DL in a week to enjoy Cars Land.
My goal for this trip is to be the tour guide for my uncle’s and aunt during the trip. I was really surprise to hear that they want to go to Florida in such a short time. Mostly I plan at least a year of a half a year to plan a WDW PTR in advance. But with less than 3 months until our trip, I have to scramble of planning what to do and what days. Whatever my uncle’s and aunt want to do I will be with them during the trip. Maybe once or twice during the trip I might go to the parks early in the morning or do something by myself.
One of my other goals is to take a lot of pictures of any Halloween decoration at WDW. On the HalloweenTime at DLR Superthread #3- 9/14-10/31; Mickey's Halloween Party starts 9/28 Sherry E one of the moderators on the DL threads had started which has a lot of information about the Halloween season at the DLR. For this trip I plan getting a lot of the Halloween decorations pictures I can. This will be tough but it won’t be as harder than the Holiday season at WDW where almost park, hotel, restaurants, etc. are decorated while I don’t know how much Halloween decorations will be up at WDW. This time, I will do my waiting game like I do at DL for any of the nighttime shows or parades and get a good spot for the videotaping. Do all the nighttime shows at WDW (Wishes fireworks, DEP, Illuminations, & F!). It will depend on how my uncle’s and aunt if they can stay in the park that long at night. We will wait and see when I report about it. I am also looking forward to the F&WF which is something that I want to do since I have went to WDW during all the major seasons (Spring Break, Summertime and Christmas season).
I’m also thinking of attending MNSSHP at the MK. The only problem I am having with MNSSHP is that most of the adults won’t want to go to the party like my group last year during MVMCP. My DB and V are leaning towards of not going to the party while I am the only one that wants to go to the party. If I did go to MNSSHP it is to see Happy HalloWishes fireworks, Disney Villains Mix & Mingle and Mickey’s Boo-to-You Halloween Parade. I will go around the MK to get candy like any person would do even though I don’t eat candy. This is a very hard decision since I will be the only person in my group at MNSSHP. But after attending MVMCP and MHP at DL, I want to attend MNSSHP. The date that I am leaning towards if I attend MNSSHP is October 30th. I am also thinking is it worth $63 to see the fireworks, show and parade since I won’t be going on any rides and staking out a spot for those shows. It was easy last year since I have multiple people with me so that one of us staked out a spot while the others went to go get food or need to use the restroom.
I will also bringing my Sony HD HDR-XR520V Video camera for the nighttime shows as well as rides. Plus I will bring my Nikon D5100 Digital SLR camera with me for taking as many pictures of the Halloween decorations as well as pictures of our group during this trip. Plus I am looking forward to use the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens that I bought last month for the dark rides and nighttime pictures.
Here is my plan for our trip in two months. This is not official since I need to meet up with my DB, V, my uncle’s and aunt. I will update it later on. But if they let me do all the planning here is what my schedule looks like for now.
Plan
Friday 26th: We will be in Orlando around 6pm eastern time and we will head on over to the Sheraton Vistana Resort to check-in the rooms. That night we will possibly go to grocery stores, Costco, Wal Mart, etc. to get supplies. The rooms are condo type rooms where they have a full kitchen where we could put food and drinks, living room, washer and dryer. We also need to get amenities (shampoo, soap, etc.) since the rooms don’t provide them. The rooms do provide towels where we won’t to buy them. We will decide on where to eat that night, but we are leaning towards fast food since we are shopping that day for the room. I am looking forward to eat at Steak N Shake where it is only available on the east coast and is not available on the west coast.
Saturday 27th: Saturday will be the busiest day during our trip. Right now, the best day to go on Saturday is Animal Kingdom. But I don’t want take my group to AK as the first park of the trip. DHS is not an option since there is an EMH in the morning and the other two possibilities is MK or EPCOT. Right now on touringplans.com, EPCOT is the park to avoid. But I knew that both parks would be busy. So I am leaning towards MK that day so they can enjoy the original park at WDW and see the nighttime shows Wishes and MSEP. Right now this is my best option and I will change it when we get closer to the dates. I am leaning towards AK that day in the morning and MK at night.
Sunday 28th:We are planning on going to EPCOT 2 times during the trip with the group and I might go more than 2 times since I will have the Premier AP. This day is the best day to go to the MK during MNSSHP, but my group already told me that they aren’t planning on going to the party. I thought about going to the party that day, but we will go with EPCOT since they want to be at the Food & Wine Festival. We will go on some of the easy rides and no intense rides except for my DB and his GF. We will go any try as many different kiosks during the F&W Festival. We also plan on watching Illuminations that night.
Monday 29th: Thinking of planning on going to the MK that day. EPCOT is supposed to be the best day on touringplans.com, but we don’t want to go back to back days at EPCOT since we will be going on that day. My DB hasn’t decided what day he wants to go to Islands of Adventure to see WWoHP and he might consider going that day. I will keep going on back to that day or go to other places around Orlando like shopping at DTD or the outlet malls.
Tuesday 30th: The adults want to go to Cape Canaveral to see the NASA museum. So we will not go to the parks that day. It is also a good idea of not using any of our tickets because it’s for only half a day at the parks and it will be a waste. I also thought about going to MNSSHP since it is half a day and see how this party is compared to MVMCP and MHP at DL during the Halloween season. The only problem I have with it is that none of my uncle’s or aunt will want to go to MNSSHP. My DB and V are still undecided if they want to attend MNSSHP after attending MHP at DL back in 2010. Going to MNSSHP is up in the air and will be decided about one month until we get closer to our trip since I don’t want to pay extra on the party day.
Wednesday 31st: Thinking of going to DHS that day. This might be just part of a day at DHS where we would enjoy someplace for Halloween dinner. The park to go that day is the MK during MNSSHP but we don’t plan on going to the party that day. The prices for MNSSHP are way more than the other days so I don’t plan on going that day. It would be nice to go during MNSSHP on Halloween day, but with price and the crowds to be high so it wouldn’t make any sense to go that day.
Thursday 1st: This will be our last full day at Florida and it would be a great ending by going to EPCOT for the last day of the trip and enjoy the rest of the Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT. Just like Sunday, we will enjoy the F&W Festival at EPCOT and try most of the stands around World Showcase. Just be in EPCOT the whole day and come back to take a break in the afternoon. Watch Illuminations where they will like the show the first time and will enjoy watching it again during the 2nd time.
Friday 2nd: The saddest part of the trip where the vacation is over and have to go back home to Sacramento. In the past, I always leave first thing in the morning from Orlando back to Sacramento. I mostly get home at 1pm pacific time. This time we will be leaving at 3pm eastern time where we will have some free time until we head on out of Orlando. This will give us a few hours to go shopping at DTD or the outlets until it is time to head on over to Orlando International Airport and head on home to Sacramento. I might go in the park if I have some time, but it is highly unlikely.
Right now these plans are not 100% done until I talk to my DB, V, my uncle’s and aunt about what they want to do and what days they want to do them. It is very hard to go through a schedule and make a master plan for everyone which they are comfortable with. But with the experience I have at WDW which I am not a vet like I am at the DLR, I can always get ideas from you DISers who are experienced during the Halloween & F&W Festival year.
Dining at WDW Property
Right now, I don’t have any planned sit down restaurants at WDW. I was going to ask my group of where they want to eat at WDW since I still have my Tables in Wonderland card from my last trip which will expire in January 2013. The one restaurant that I want to eat at WDW is Le Cellier (of course just like I said on my last trip which we got lucky due to the CP package). I knew that it is impossible to get a reservation online or by phone so that was out of the question unless we walk up to the restaurant and they can accommodate 7 people in our group. We might do a walk up at a specific restaurant at WDW during the trip and I will report back which sit down restaurant that we will do during our trip. Last year, we did had dinner at the Grand Floridian Café and Bistro de Paris. Hopefully we will be able to have a sit down reservation at WDW when the dates get closer.
We will be eating at a lot of quick counter stands & restaurants during this trip. Mostly it will be at EPCOT during the Food & Wine Festival which we are really looking forward too. Right now, I have a few stands during the F&W Festival that I want to try. The stands that I am interested in eating are Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hops & Barley, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, & Terra booths. Right now, we are not planning on doing any of the special events during the F&WF. I wanted to do the Kitchen Memories with Robert Irvine. But his day is on the 26th which is the date we are arriving in Orlando. I will keep on planning what we will be doing at the F&WF at EPCOT.
I will keep planning on my WDW trip while I am about to leave to the DLR in 7 days. I am so excited to go back to the DLR to do something that I didn't get to see during the preview of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street. I am really looking forward to the Halloween season and Food & Wine Festival at WDW.
Just 81 days until my trip back to WDW during the Halloween season.
Bret, looking forward to reading more and seeing tons (hint hint) of photos!
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