Childless Millennials 6th Anniversary Trip – Split Stay, F&W, MNSSHP, SWGE, and more!

[MalamuteMom]

Hi all, I haven’t posted much on DIS Boards, but I love reading trip reports. Hopefully, I can manage to document our trip, but I’ll start with the pre-trip report. For me, planning Disney vacations is almost as much fun as being there .

About us: DH (30) and I (31) have been married 6 years in October. We have been to Disney World together twice previously – once for our honeymoon and once last year for our 5th anniversary. We have also done several Disney Cruises. DH grew up going to Disney World; I never went until my senior year of high school, but I have been slightly obsessed ever since. I am the planner and DH enjoys me telling him what we should do .

https://flic.kr/p/2haweae

The trip: DH has a work conference at the Swan and Dolphin Oct 28-30, so we wanted to take advantage of free flights for him and add on a vacation for both of us. We will be arriving early Oct 22 and leaving early Oct 31. I will be mostly solo during the conference, with the exception of a few dinners.

Hotels: Historically, we have always staying in Pop Century. I love it and we don’t spend much time in the room so I’ve never really seen the value to upgrading to a moderate for us. Of course, it would be great to stay at a deluxe for convenience, great restaurants, etc. but the cost is so much greater. This trip we are starting at Pop; however, we will be staying at the Swan & Dolphin while DH is attending his conference and our final night will be at POR. I’m a little nervous about how we will move our stuff around, but I’m excited to stay at some new properties. Also looking forward to trying the Skyliner!

Dining: In the past, we have done the Deluxe Dining Plan and we have always ‘come out ahead’ on costs. However, it is just so much food (and alcohol). So, this time, we are going with no dining plan. From my estimates, it looks like our costs will be similar. We will see if we enjoy the flexibility of no dining plan more than the perks of pre-paid dining.

Next up: the daily plans

 

[MalamuteMom]

We are past the 30 day window, so our plans are more or less final besides me continuing to tinker.

Day 1: Arrival & Epcot

FastPass:
11:25a SE, 1:15p FEA, 2:45p Figment

ADRs:
6p Tokoyo Dining

Our flight gets in around 9:30 am (it's going to be an early morning!). Can't wait to be on the ME - fingers crossed for our room to be ready when we land . After dropping off our bags, we will be headed straight to Epcot, hopefully with enough time to make our first FP. We'll focus on World Showcase and the Food & Wine Festival. We are trying Tokoyo dining just for something new. For anyone that's been, how is it? We plan to cap the evening watching Epcot Forever, although I'm wondering if I should try to move this later in the week, as I'm sure we will be exhausted from waking up around 3 in the morning...


Day 2: Animal Kingdom

FastPass:
8:15a EE, 10:40a Safari, 5:35p FoP

ADRs:
9:10a Tusker House
4:25p Tiffin's ROL package

We are planning to rope drop the EMH and go for FoP. We have FP, but I'd like to ride more than once if possible. Last year, we were able to pick up day of FPs and ride 3x . I'm hoping we can do most of the major attractions in the early morning and then do the shows and work on our Wilderness Explorer badges in the afternoon. We haven't seen ROL yet, so we are planning to stay for that. Does anyone know if the ROL package is an additional fee on the Tusker House breakfast price? I couldn't find out for certain the price of the breakfast alone. I am considering dropping our Tiffin's reservation.

Next time: daily plans continued

 

[MalamuteMom]

Day 3: Star Wars and MNSSHP

FastPass:
9:25a RnRC, 10:55a ST

10:05a Savi's Workshop (for DH)
12:45p Build-a-Droid (for me)

I hope we make it through this day - our early morning and late night ended up being on the same day.

We will be going to Extra Extra Magic hours, hopefully getting there for rope drop and going straight to Smuggler's Run, although the lines haven't looked to bad. We might take a Lyft unless the Skyliner is up and running that early. I'm hoping we are able to ride most of the major rides during EEM. As far as eating, we are planning to stick fully to QS today and I'm looking forward to trying out the SWGE options. Our Oga's reservation is later in the week. Since we are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary, which has a traditional gift of iron, we are stretching that definition a bit and we are exchanging light saber and droid builds for our anniversary presents (they're both sort of metallic at least, right?). It's not great timing on the droid build, as I am most excited to see my little guy beep and boop at everything, yet, we will have to head back to the hotel right away to attempt to nap and get changed for our MNSSHP. I'm hoping to get the backpack so I can bring him back the next time we are in HS.

We don't have a specific plans for the party. Last year we were able to ride rides, do some trick or treating, and watch the parade and fireworks. I am pretty bummed that HalloWishes is gone, it was my favorite show, but I guess it will be interesting to see the new one. We will be wearing our same costumes from last year: Robin Hood and Maid Marian:

https://flic.kr/p/2hcnEpm

Day 4: Magic Kingdom

FastPass:
9:55a BTMRR, 12:35p PP, 1:35p 7DMT

ADR:
10:20a Crystal Palace
6:30p Sebastian's Bistro

I did allow some time for sleeping in if needed with the previous day being so long. As long as we get to MK in time for our Crystal Palace ADR, I will be happy. I'm hoping we will have hit many of the rides during the party and can focus more on shows and more minor attractions. If nothing else, we always like to play Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom and collect the cards. We are also planning an early night taking advantage of Caribbean Beach being connected to Pop via Skyliner to try out Sebastian's Bistro.

 

[MalamuteMom]

Day 5: Future World and Character Dining

FastPass:
9:35a Test Track, 11:15a Space, 12:20p Nemo

ADRs:
8:00a Garden Grill
5:30p Storybook Dining

Last year, we found out how great pre-park opening dining is at Garden Grill. Great food, great characters, and we were on Soarin' before the park even opened. We'll hit all the Future World rides, depending on how we're feeling, we should be either able to head back to the hotel for a rest or go to MK before dinner. In the evening, we plan to watch Happily Ever After.

Day 6: Return to Batuu

FastPass:
10:10a Muppets, 11:45p Slinky Dog, 12:45p Star Tours

ADR:
12:05p Brown Derby Fantasmic package
3:30p Oga's

Another flexible day. I'm not sure if we will sleep in or try for more EEMH. Possibly we could spend a few hours in MK before coming to HS, where the plan is mainly do shows, maybe take my droid around and play on our datapads. We will be transferring to the Dolphin this day so it's possible we will need to deal with that in the morning. I've read that Disney will transfer your bags, but even if they do I might feel more comfortable just taking them over ourselves. At night, planning to see Fantasmic.