Confessions of an Over-Planner - A Sept 2017 PTR*Update 9/24-TR link up

[Lesley Wake]

Introduction​

So, hi everyone (or no one, or whoever wandered over here). I'm Lesley and I'm an Over-planner. This PTR will be regarding my trip for September 2017.

[Note: A lot of these will be posted all at once, but I actually wrote them in a word document over the past few weeks; I just decided to actually create a PTR! I tend to add a lot of color commentary as I just jumble out everything that is in my brain. So if there is relevant info, it is underlined; the rest is just filler!

So, who is going:

[Disneyland Dapper Day 2016]​

Me: Lesley (L1), in the BB-8 dress
Age: 31 [will be 32 at trip time]
Number of times I've gone to Disneyland: too many to count
Number of times I've gone to Disneyworld: NONE! This will be my first!
Favorite Disney Movie: Peter Pan
Favorite Princess: Belle, although I also like Tiana and Moana

Sister: Lauren (L2), in the Han Solo dress
Age: 27 [will have just turned 28 before trip]
Number of times she's gone to Disneyland: too many to count
Number of times she's gone to Disneyworld: Once, in June 2016

Chewbacca: he'll already be there! ​

Trip Basics:
Dates: Sept 9 - Sept 18
Location: Port Orleans French Quarter [this has changed from POR, but could change again, see a later post~will be linked when I write it!]
Tickets: Me - Annual Pass! I am 95% certain I will upgrade my Disneyland annual pass to the premier pass; L2 - 8-day park hopper. ​

So, I'm so looking forward to this trip and hope this PTR will give me a planning outlet so I stop bugging my family!

Table of Contents
1) Introduction
2) How did this trip get started?
3) It's time to plan: ADRs!
4) An Evolution of a Trip, or How a 5-day Base Ticket turned into an 8-day Park Hopper!
5) Free Dining was a bust, and a change in plans
​

 

[SgtTibbs]

Claiming to be an "over planner" in this group, you have set the bar pretty high for yourself there. Love the fascinator in your photo.

 

[Lesley Wake]

How did this trip get started?​

​

[Buzz Lightyear; please excuse my pitiful score]​

While I have always been a huge Disney fan, I have never been to Walt Disney World! It is rather shocking, especially to my friends who know my love for all things Disney.

The impetus for this trip came in June 2016 when my sister and her boyfriend had a WDW trip. They both also share a love of Disney; the three of us all had APs to DL for 2 yrs and would often go together; you can just call me the third wheel indefinitely… But a trip to Florida was just not on our radar; I think we had all just figured, it’s best to go with a family, and none of us have kids yet, so… But then my sister was invited to Orlando to represent her alumni sorority chapter at the national conference. They would pay for airfare and hotel at the conference. So, she and BF decided to use airline miles and send him out there too, to go to WDW after the conference. I definitely was jealous from the start, but didn’t invite myself along (although I regretted that often, especially when she convinced me to download Snapchat and follow along with her snaps).

So, they ended up doing a very budget and rushed trip, staying at All Star Music, with 5 days straight at the parks. Despite only starting about a month prior, they got most FP’s they wanted and even got BOG dinner! But they were super exhausted and even got theme park rash from doing 6 straight park days (Universal, 2xMK, and 1 each for AK, EP, and HS).

Once they got back I knew I NEEDED to plan a trip myself! I considering doing a solo trip, but didn’t feel like that would be too fun. So I convinced my sister to go back in Sept 2017. It wasn’t hard to convince her, because I offered to pay for hotel myself, and she would just need to pay tickets, food, and airfare.

I started my research and, considering how OCD I am, it was exhaustive! I decided we could go after Labor Day to avoid crowds. Probably should have waited until the end of September because of weather, but I was desperate to go! I looked into all hotels, and knew Value would not be my cup of tea; Deluxe looked awesome, but also $$$, so settled onto Moderate. Originally I considered Caribbean, but then I realized just how spread out that resort was; if you need a golf cart to get around it, after considering we’d be at parks most days and exhausted when we reached the resort, I changed my mind. Colorado Springs wasn’t my fav, so Port Orleans it was! I considered French Quarter, but realized we would be going at the Free Dining or Room Discount season, and FQ often wasn’t included, so decided on Port Orleans Riverside, which I think looked awesome. Just my style, with great food; while it was large, it felt more compact than CBR, as it is grouped together, rather than spread out. I ended up getting a Garden View, as Standards sold out the day before I reserved the room. So here it was, August 2016 and I had booked the hotel for 13 months away!

My trip was full steam ahead

​

 

[Lesley Wake]

It's Time to Plan: ADRs!​

[please excuse wonky formatting for this post, I'm still trying to figure it all out]

Now I had the resort and dates figured out, it was time to figure out what we were doing at the parks. My sister pretty much gave me full control over the trip. At first I tried to get detailed feedback from her, but after a while I realized she was just happy to go. After all, she had done this same planning for her trip less than a year earlier, so she just gave me basic requests, some meals, some rides, and let me loose!

​

Dining is important to me. I like to eat well, but I also am extremely picky! So I looked at every menu, multiple times, to make sure I knew I would like the food. Here were the ADR's I went for [spoiler-so far I've got them all, yippee]:

• Be Our Guest. This was priority #1! I absolutely wanted dinner. Then after looking at breakfast, I also wanted that. I probably would have added lunch too if there had been availibility once I made that decision. But the way it currently stands, we will do a late breakfast at BOG on our rope drop day, and then our last dinner in the park will be BOG! I really am looking forward to trying the Grey Stuff!

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• Cinderella's Royal Table. This I originally didn't care much about. I figured we had one castle with BOG and my sister and I don't care much about characters. But it is something my sister didn't do last time and she thought it'd be cool, so I got it for her. We decided to do a late dinner, so hopefully we'll be able to get a window seat during fireworks. I just think that could be a cool experience!

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• Le Cellier. We are both dual Canadian/American citizens and I lived in Montreal for college, so this was important to us both. That fillet looks delicious!
  ​

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• 50's Prime Time. When it came down to Hollywood Studios, I focused more on 50s prime time or Sci Fi Drive In. In retrospect I wish I had considered Mamma Melrose for fantasmic package, but in the end it probably wouldn't have fit into our schedule. My sister did Sci Fi last time and liked it, but I thought it could be cool to try something new.

​

• Tusker House, ROL dining package. Because I am so picky, I didn't consider this originally. I honestly thought we'd be sticking to Quick-Service at AK. I was hoping to try the new Pandora place, but after the menu came out I wasn't all that interested in any of it. I'm sure it will be delicious, just not my taste. Tiffins also wasn't my taste. Yak & Yeti looked yummy, but I also figured it was a lot for chinese food that we get all the time. BUT, then I thought more about Rivers of Light. I really wanted to see it but didn't want to limit my FP options, but also didn't want to be stuck waiting for hours without guaranteed seating. I read some reviews of the Tusker House dining package and everyone seemed to like it. So I'll give it a try, and actually as I've been looking at it I'm really looking forward to stepping out of my comfort level!

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• Chef Art Smith Homecoming. I scheduled two rest days into the trip, one of which actually turned into a party day [MNSSHP]. So I figured, lets go to Disney Springs for dinner on the other day. Based on the restaurants, this looked the most my taste-love some fried chicken!

• Star Wars Dessert Party. This isn't available to book yet, but is a huge priority of mine!

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We also ended up getting a BOMA breakfast for our departure day. That is consistently reviewed as amazing, so I thought we'd try it.

As for paying for all this, we had to decide out of pocket (OOP) or disney dining plan (DDP). Over and over again I did estimates of prices for the food I would order OOP. I also considered possible AP discounts or Tables in Wonderland (if I was to buy one). It basically came out to even with DDP. Once I considered the additional snacks, dessert at Table Service meals, etc, I realized DDP was the best way for me. Now I just have to convince my sister, but I think I'll be successful!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Claiming to be an "over planner" in this group, you have set the bar pretty high for yourself there. Love the fascinator in your photo.

Oh, I know I am among like minded individuals! You can't see it in the photo, but there was a BB-8 figurine in the center of the fascinator! My mom originally tried to make a whole bow headband with the same mesh fabric at the bottom of the dress, but it wouldn't work; so we went to the mall the night before Dapper Day and luckily found a store that sold a bunch!

 

[Lesley Wake]

An Evolution of A Trip, or How a 5-day Base Ticket Turned into an 8-day Park Hopper!​

So, this trip has undergone some changes since I originally started planning. All of which has been a result of my overplanning But, because I am an over-thinker I like to plan out my vacations completely. So this has been a bit of a fun, as well as stressful! But I'm looking forward for it all to be taken care of, so I can show up in Florida and have everything taken care of.
Original plan: 5-day Base Ticket, Aug 2016
The original plan was to do a 5-day base ticket (so one park per day). It was going to be:
Day 1 (Sat): arrive
Day 2 & 3 (Sun & Mon): park days
Day 4 (Tues): rest day
Day 5 & 6 (Wed & Thurs): park days
Day 7 (Fri): rest day
Day 8 & 9 (Sat & Sun): park days
Day 10 (Mon): leave.

We would do 2 days at Magic Kingdom, one day each at AK, Epcot, and HS, and one day at Universal, mainly for Harry Potter.

​

[change of plans in pink]
Change of plans 1: 5-day Base ticket + MNSSHP, Nov 2016
Once I looked at schedules I realized we would probably be there during MNSSHP. We went to the Disneyland version last year and had a lot of fun. Luckily it worked out that both our rest days were party days, so we decided to add that to one day. When it came time to do ADRs I also figured out which parks we'd go to, which days:

Day 1: arrive
Day 2: Hollywood Studios (am EMH, but not sure if we would take advantage of it)
Day 3: Animal Kingdom (am EMH, we would take advantage to see Pandora)
Day 4: Rest & disney springs
Day 5: Magic Kingdom (pm EMH, we would take advantage)
Day 6: Epcot
Day 7: rest & MNSSHP
Day 8: Magic Kingdom
Day 9: Universal
Day 10: depart

Change of plans 2: 5-day park hopper, Jan/February 2016
I knew we would be visiting during Free Dining season and hoped to take advantage of that; as I did my research I realized it would probably require a park hopper. We originally didn't want to bother with that, as we knew there was a time suck in the travel between parks, but then the Express Bus became a option, which reduced that worry. I also realized with a base ticket and MNSSHP we would end up spending 2.5 days in Magic Kingdom. I know there is a lot to do, but what if we wanted to see more at another park on Day 8? Then...the ROL dining packages came out and, as of now, it's not showing on Mondays. That is the day we planned on doing AK because of the AM EMH's. So, I realized we could switch between AK and EP for evening entertainment. Also, leave some flexibility for Saturday morning to go to whichever park we want [we have BOG dinner reservations that night so will end up there in the evening].

y 1: Arrive
Day 2: Hollywood Studios
Day 3: AK morning, EP afternoon/evening
Day 4: Rest & disney springs
Day 5: Magic Kingdom
Day 6: Epcot morning, AK afternoon/evening
Day 7: rest & MNSSHP
Day 8: Another park (maybe Epcot?) morning, Magic Kingdom afternoon/evening
Day 9: Universal
Day 10: depart

​

Change of plans 3: 6-day park hopper, March 2017
My sister and I booked our airfare in March. We realized the best flights both had us leaving Orlando around 6-7 [we're taking different airlines, as we both using miles from work trips]. That would mean we wouldn't have to be ready for DME until 3pm. We were already going to spend time at Disney Springs on Day 4, and maybe Day 7, so didn't think that would be so fun. Adding a day would only cost $20 more for the last day, so we took it! We also decided to do BOMA breakfast that morning.

Day 1: Arrive
Day 2: Hollywood Studios
Day 3: AK morning, EP afternoon/evening
Day 4: Rest & disney springs
Day 5: Magic Kingdom
Day 6: Epcot morning, AK afternoon/evening
Day 7: rest & MNSSHP
Day 8: Another park (maybe Epcot?) morning, Magic Kingdom afternoon/evening
Day 9: Universal
Day 10: AK morning, depart


It was around this time I started getting the Disneyland withdrawal. I missed going there whenever I wanted, especially because my company had an office that was only 1 mile away! You can actually see it from the office windows, so anytime I needed to be there for a meeting I would take advantage and head to DL for dinner. So, I was seriously considering getting a new AP. I also did the math and realized it wouldn't be much more to get a Premier AP vs getting a DL AP plus WDW tickets. And then I would have access to the merchandise discount, dining discount (for things not on DDP, limited to certain restaurants), and free photopass downloads. So, I decided to go for it and get the golden ticket!

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Change of plans 4: 8-day park hopper, April 2017
Now, this is just me being crazy. So, we were only going to do one evening at Hollywood Studios. That would mean choosing between Fantasmic and Star Wars fireworks. For me, that was an easy choice, as I'm a huge Star Wars nerd and love fireworks. For my sister, however, she had gotten a chance to see both at her previous visit (they had 2 shows of Fantasmic that day), and she preferred Fantasmic. We were considering splitting up, but I also realized I did want to see it too. So I started thinking, hm, what if we add another evening. It would *only* cost $20, because I was getting the AP.

​

Then, I started thinking even more (the hazards of having a 1-hr commute each way). I love fireworks and desserts; we are planning on the Star Wars dessert party, but what about the Happily Ever After party. And we were only going to have one opportunity to see it-on our 3 MK evenings, one will be Hallowishes, and one we will be in the castle during the fireworks. Our last night, we have BOG dinner at 7pm. Theoretically we would be able to eat, and make it back to the hub in time for fireworks at 9pm. But what if we weren't seated right away; what if there was a delay in food; what if there was a long line to meet the Beast; what if we got stuck behind a big group while trying to rush to Main Street. And Once Upon A Time-what if it was shown before the fireworks; I also wanted to see that! So started thinking, if we added ANOTHER night, it would only be $10; the dessert party is costly, but the experience would be worth it in my book.

​

So, I changed it to an 8-day PH and modified evening entertainment. I also told my sister I would cover her increase, since I was the one pushing for it.

And...Day 8, what if we hit most everything we wanted to see? With the Express Bus, we could consider doing a 4 park-1 day challenge!
Park 1-AK, during AM EMH. Do at least one ride.
Park 2-HS, Again do at least one ride.
Park 3-EP, have lunch at Food & Wine, do a ride
Park 4-MK, dinner at BOG and Happily Ever After

Day 1: Arrive; head to HS for quick service dinner and Fantasmic FP+
Day 2: MK morning w/rope drop [it will be a party day so should be relatively uncrowded]; Epcot afternoon/evening w/Illuminations
Day 3: AK morning, MK evening for fireworks dessert party
Day 4: Pool and rest in the morning; early dinner at Disney Springs; HS for late afternoon/evening with Star Wars dessert party
Day 5: HS morning, MK afternoon/evening with CRT dinner during fireworks
Day 6: Epcot morning, AK afternoon/evening with ROL dining package
Day 7: rest & MNSSHP
Day 8: 4-park day, AK, HS, EP, Magic Kingdom afternoon/evening
Day 9: Universal
Day 10: AK morning, depart

​

So, that's my plan for now (end of April). We'll see how things get changed as fall schedules are finalized!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Free Dining was a Bust, and a change in plans. ​

Like so many people on these boards, I was really hoping for Free Dining at POR. I know my sister was too! Our reservation was within the dates for POR, and while I was disappointed that moderates would only be eligible for the Quick Service Dining Plan, I was still willing to go for it. So, I stayed up all night and was continuously clicking refresh...only to find, no availability at POR except for Royal Rooms! I was so disappointed. I knew those were way too expensive, and my sister has an irrational hatred of Tiana (I don't understand why, because I just watched Princess and the Frog and really liked it), so that wouldn't be the best. I did book it, but planned on probably cancelling if no availability opened up in regular rooms (eventually I was able to switch to a River room room, but that still costs me significantly more money).

But then I checked on the Room-Only discounts. I was expecting something pretty minimal, because the Fall room only discounts gave POR a 15%. But then I saw POR was offered 20%, as well as POFQ! There was no availability at POR (I stupidly changed my reservation from Garden view to the Royal Room instead of book a whole new one, but I blame deliriousness at that time of night/morning). So I booked another reservation at POFQ; only Garden was available but the Standard would have been only $50 less overall, so it didn't really matter. The two bookings are pretty much the same price: POR River View with free QSDP upgraded to DDP and POFQ Garden discounted with full price DDP. But if I get an AP like I plan, that has the possibility of adding an even higher discount eventually.

At first I was pretty bummed out. I had spent months getting myself psyched up for Riverside. I had picked out rooms to request via Touring Plans. I had scoped out the dining situation. So, now I wasn't going there.

​

But then... I realized, when I first looked at places, POFQ was my first choice. The only reason I hadn't gotten it was because it wouldn't have as good of a discount. And now it did have the discount! And POFQ would have a much more compact footprint, so when we were exhausted at the end of the day, it would be an easy walk from the bus to room. We would also have an easy time getting to/from the food court and pool. And at night, if we were exhausted, there was the hot tub, which wasn't gated in, so closing hours weren't enforced. The bus system is also more efficient, with only one stop and lower lines coming back from the parks. So, I'm actually super pumped now! I'm still looking for a free dining at a POR standard or garden, but I'm likely just going to stay at POFQ! So it all worked out in the end, and I didn't need to stress for months or stay up all night

 

[Lesley Wake]

Disney causes another change, and it works out again!​

The Halloween party tickets came out today, along with the pricing. As I mentioned earlier we originally planned on doing the party on Friday. That was a holdover from the original schedule, which wouldn't have had us going to MK until Wed & Thurs, and I didn't want the party day to be my first time at MK! We also were going to do Rope Drop on Wednesday, which I didn't think would be good to be out late on Tuesday and get up super early on Wednesday. I also changed up the park schedules, and now our first time in MK would be on Sunday, including RD. But for some reason I had never reassessed the party day.

So this morning I went to look at ticket prices (I won't be buying them at this exact moment, because I am waiting to make the final decision about the Premier AP and I know that can shave a few bucks off). The ticket pricing was $88 on Friday-ouch, but I knew it would be high. I decided to also check Tuesday-$74, a $14 saving per ticket! So I re-looked at my schedule and realized we could totally do Tuesday and it would work out so much better!

• Save $14 per person
• Postpone Star Wars Dessert Party to Friday evening. I had started to get nervous about doing 2 dessert parties back-to-back (MK on Monday and SW on Tuesday), especially because L2 isn't the biggest dessert fan (we say all my savory tastebuds went to her and all her sweet tastebuds came to me).
• A Tuesday party is less crowded than a Friday, especially in mid-September. And seeing how Disney has priced the Friday, they expect many more crowds on Friday as opposed to Tuesday.
• Makes it more likely we could accomplish the 4-parks-1-day on Saturday. With a party on Friday, we would be out late, so may not want to wake up super early on Saturday, making it more difficult to hit every park. But if we are doing a chill Friday, with just a few hours of HS in the evening, we could totally get up early enough to make all 4

So, new schedule:

Day 1: Arrive; head to HS for quick service dinner and Fantasmic FP+
Day 2: MK morning w/rope drop [it will be a party day so should be relatively uncrowded]; Epcot afternoon/evening w/Illuminations
Day 3: AK morning, MK evening for fireworks dessert party
Day 4: rest & MNSSHP
Day 5: HS morning, MK afternoon/evening with CRT dinner during fireworks
Day 6: Epcot morning, AK afternoon/evening with ROL dining package
Day 7: Pool and rest in the morning; early dinner at Disney Springs; HS for late afternoon/evening with Star Wars dessert party
Day 8: 4-park day, AK, HS, EP, Magic Kingdom afternoon/evening
Day 9: Universal
Day 10: AK morning, depart

I'm also tracking BOG early dinner reservations for Day 5. I am crossing my fingers I could switch CRT and BOG, so we do BOG with normal fireworks on Day 5, and CRT in the castle during fireworks on Day 8. I am kicking myself because I did have a 5:30 Wednesday BOG reservation at one point, but I decided we would just do it on Saturday at 7 instead and let that one go. The main reason why, is because I don't want to be tied up in the castle waiting for dinner to be over when EMH is going on in MK!

 

[Lesley Wake]

So I really need to stop overthinking this! Disney released Star Wars dessert party tickets, and thankfully, it will be every night in September, so I booked that for Friday. So the schedule should be finalized. However, in my case, should is a relative term! I keep obsessing over it in my head:What if ROL opens up for every night and is no longer dark on MWF? It would make more sense to make Monday a full AK day, rather than doing Monday morning and Thursday evening/afternoon. And then if that does happen, do we just swap HEA dessert party and ROL? Or do I mess around with the schedule even more so we don't end up at Epcot on a weekend night (I know Sunday is less busy than Saturday for locals, but still, it seems like it'd be busier than a Thursday)? And then do I swap the HEA dessert party with a CRT reservation (if I can get another one)? So we do HEA dessert party and then EMH?

I've also done my research into SDFP and realized we can have 2 phantom sets of MBs to get them-one set leftover from my sister's first trip (I had never linked her name to her MDE because I was lazy), and I added two 2-yr olds to our room reservation, so we won't have to pay for tickets or dining, but get two more bands. We probably will get caribeaner magic keepers to hook to our bags for those ones. At least for SDFP, there is limited planning I can do.

But I seriously need to take a break from this trip planning! I only have two things I'm waiting on: AP room discounts, and Fastpasses. AP room discounts probably won't come out until June and those also don't seem to have an issue with availability, so I shouldn't be worried. FPs, I won't be able to book until early July, but at least I know those deadlines!

So, breathe Lesley, just breathe!

 

[wenpop]

We are going in Sept also, we are doing Star Wars dessert party on Sept 13, wed night, and 2 halloween parties 11th and 15th.....

 

[Lesley Wake]

We are going in Sept also, we are doing Star Wars dessert party on Sept 13, wed night, and 2 halloween parties 11th and 15th.....

Cool! Did you mean the 12th for the Halloween party? We will be there that night-my sister wants us to dress as the sisters from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them-although I need to figure out a good way to do that in Florida heat because both sisters wear coats! We'll be doing the SW dessert party on the 15th-I've been looking forward to it for months!

 

[wenpop]

sorry, i meant 10th... I can't wait, I have always wanted to go for Halloween, We have done the Christmas Party before and that was really fun.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Dining​

My sister and I talked more about the trip yesterday. Originally I had considered getting the Disney Dining Plan because the amount of credits would actually work out perfectly with where we planned on eating. But then we crunched the numbers, based on where we would probably eat and what we would probably get. I also considered the AP discounts and a possible TIW discount. So here is what I found:

Dining Plan - My cost $638; L2's cost: $652 (she is more interested in app+entree, while I'm good with entree + dessert)
OOP (w/AP discount) - My cost $620; L2's cost: $572
OOP (w/TIW) - My cost $657; L2's cost $613.

I think the big cost difference is coming down to the QS meals. We really don't have expensive tastes. Times like for breakfast, we may be good sharing a $8 plate of waffles, which wouldn't exactly be a good QS credit usage.

So, looks like no dining plan for us! And it really makes more sense. It will give us more flexibility to not stress about using credits or not going over credits. And if we are at a place and decide to just share an app + entree, we would be able to do so, rather than each being stuck with entree + dessert. And we don't need to get soda at every place; both of us often just get water when we go to restaurants. Also, like 50's Prime Time, we are doing lunch-I am sure the desserts are awesome there, but we may not be feeling it. Maybe one day it will make financial sense, but seeing how Disney has recently raised the price of the DDP, I don't know if it ever will, at least for us.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Yet another change​

So, of course I had finally finalized the trip plans. To remind you it looked like this:
Day 1: Arrive; head to HS for quick service dinner and Fantasmic FP+
Day 2: MK morning w/rope drop [it will be a party day so should be relatively uncrowded]; Epcot afternoon/evening w/Illuminations
Day 3: AK morning, MK evening for fireworks dessert party
Day 4: rest & MNSSHP
Day 5: HS morning, MK afternoon/evening with CRT dinner during fireworks
Day 6: Epcot morning, AK afternoon/evening with ROL dining package
Day 7: Pool and rest in the morning; early dinner at Disney Springs; HS for late afternoon/evening with Star Wars dessert party
Day 8: 4-park day, AK, HS, EP, Magic Kingdom afternoon/evening
Day 9: Universal
Day 10: AK morning, depart

But then on Friday I got an email from Alaska Airlines with a flight alert-my flight heading to Orlando was moved to 1.5 hrs later, and even after I called, there were no other nonstop alternatives. In the grand scheme of things, 1.5 hrs isn't much, but that blew up my Day 1 plans. As it was, I would be cutting it close to get to Fantasmic after my original arrival time. But now I would not be arriving until 6:30, which would give me 2 hrs to deplane, take fake-o-rail into main terminal, get DME to POFQ, drop off backpack, get bus to DHS, and get to Fantasmic. Yeah, not going to happen! Unfortunately that was the the only night I could have seen Fantasmic, so no Fantasmic this trip

Overall, it actually made the rest of the schedule work out better. I moved Homecomin' to a late Day 1 dinner, so we will probably arrive, drop off backpacks, and head into DS for shopping/wandering/dinner. That enabled me to remove Homecomin' from Day 7, and replace it with 50's Prime Time. So rather than needing to get to DS and then get from DS to DHS, we can just go direct to DHS. Scheduled a 2pm lunch/dinner, as we will be doing the dessert party afterwards; if we're too hungry we can always grab a snack and maybe even a second dinner at POFQ after leaving the park. Then that opened up the schedule, with moving Epcot morning to Day 5 and DHS morning to Day 6. At DHS we could then do a QS meal, which works better for our schedule as we have a 4:25 TH reservation. So in summary:

Day 1: Arrive; Disney Springs evening -

ADR: Homecomin' dinner​

Day 2: MK morning w/rope drop; Epcot afternoon/evening w/Illuminations

ADR: BOG early lunch; Le Cellier dinner​

Day 3: AK morning, MK evening

ADR: Happily Ever After Dessert Party​

Day 4: rest & MNSSHP

ADR: None​

Day 5: Epcot morning, MK afternoon/evening

ADR: CRT, dinner​

Day 6: DHS morning, AK afternoon/evening

ADR: TH dinner w/ROL dining package​

Day 7: Pool and rest in the morning; HS for late afternoon/evening

ADR: 50's Prime Time, late lunch; Star Wars Dessert Party​

Day 8: 4-park day, AK, HS, EP, Magic Kingdom afternoon/evening

ADR: BOG, dinner​

Day 9: Universal
Day 10: AK morning, depart

ADR: Boma, Breakfast​

 

[Lesley Wake]

Update and Itinerary

AP rates came out for rooms today. I'm hoping they add availability because right now, it is pretty limited. As in, there is nothing cheaper than the room discount I already have. I'll keep checking, but I'm pretty much set on POFQ with or without the AP discount (it probably would have saved about $100, which isn't chump change, but also not a dealbreaker).

I also bought my sister's ticket from UT last week and loaded it into the MDE account (she is paying me back). But of course, less than a week later, UT has a flash sale with the 4-day park hopper plus 3 extra days (I got the 7-day park hopper). But I didn't get the refundable UT ticket, so couldn't take advantage of that. So, that's another $50 I could have saved.

Oh well


Anyways, here is my most recent itinerary:

Day 1-Arrival

ADR: Homecomin'
FP: N/A

We should be landing around 6:30pm; even though we are on different flights (and airlines), the flight rescheduling worked out that we will arrive within 15 minutes of each other! Of course, my sister is taking Southwest with a stop and I'm direct with Virgin America. That means her flight actually departs 2.5 hrs before mine...so I get to spend the beginning of my vacation at the hellhole that is LAX! Well, maybe I'll just watch a Disney movie or two!

We'll take DME to POFQ then head down to Disney Springs, hopefully via boat. Dinner at Homecoming, explore Disney Springs a bit, and back to resort.

Day 2- MK and Epcot

ADR: BOG lunch; Le Cellier dinner
FP: 7DMT, BTMR, Pirates

Rope drop at MK and head right to Peter Pan Flight. Do some things in Fantasyland before heading to BOG for lunch. Then west to Frontierland, Adventureland, etc. I want to do the Festival of Fantasy parade that day, because I don't think we will be back in MK by 2pm any of the other days. And I would like to give myself more opportunities in case it gets rained out. I'd also like to do the Royal Fantasy Faire that day, but schedules haven't come out yet. The overall plan is to stick around MK until around 4pm; that is when Halloween party people will start to arrive. We plan to get a week pass on the Express Bus

Head to Epcot for late afternoon/evening. Focus more on the west side of Future World, but maybe make a stop at Test Track since that is near where the Express Bus lets off. Depending on lines, try to hit up Living with the Land, Seas with Nemo, Figment. Then head our way towards Canada. Again, depending on time we may try to do O'Canada. Dinner at Le Cellier. Then find a good spot for Illuminations.

Day 3- AK and MK

ADR: HEA Dessert Party
FP: FoP, Safari or Kali (haven't decided yet), Everest

Early EMH at Animal Kingdom, so arrive for that, with the goal to hit up the Standby queue for Flight of Passage. Then also try to get Navi River Journey done in that early hour. I assume that will take the entire time, so hopefully I'll get an early FoP FP. After that make our way clockwise around the park, with Africa, Asia, Dino and Discovery Island. Lunch maybe at Satuli or Flame Tree; it will depend where we are when we get hungry. Eventually back to Africa for Lion King and bus to Magic Kingdom.

Head to MK for the evening, including the HEA dessert party. We'll figure out rides later based on the time and what we feel like doing. Maybe try to meet with @Raeven!

Day 4-MNSSHP

ADR: none
FP: Space, 7DMT, Peter Pan

Plan to sleep in and relax at the resort. Maybe stop in Disney Springs for lunch. I'd like to do some resort hopping (particularly the Poly and Grand Floridian), but we'll see what our timeline looks like. Only goal is to get to MK as close to 4 as possible to enter for the party.

At the party, there are 2 character meets I'd like to do, but would not be upset if we can't do them-7 Dwarves and Winnie the Pooh and friends. Basically it will depend on crowds and wait times. Definitely need to see the parade, fireworks, and Hocus Pocus show. I'm really crossing my fingers there won't be big crowds because it seems historically a Tuesday in early September does not have high demand! But we'll have to see.

Day 5-Epcot and MK

ADR: CRT
FP: FEA, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth (?)

We don't need to get to Epcot by rope drop, but I'd like to be there in the first hour the park is open. Hopefully we'll have done most of Future World on Sunday, but we'll see. Most of the day should be spent at the World Showcase with Food and Wine and exploring all of the exhibits/shops/attractions.

Head to Magic Kingdom in late afternoon/early evening. Our CRT is for 8:15, so we will get to see fireworks from inside the castle-I know HEA is much more projection based, but we still thought it could be cool! There is evening EMH at MK that night, so we will see what we still want to do based on what we couldn't fit in early in the trip.

Day 6-HS and AK

ADR: Tusker House dinner w/ROL package
FP: ToT, RnR, Star Tours (?)

Again, another day that we don't need to be at the park super early, but first hour is preferable. No detailed plans besides see what we want and do the attractions. Maybe lunch at Backlot Express?

Head to AK by 3pm because our TH reservation is at 4:30. Another, no set plans besides that so we'll see what we have already accomplished. I'd like to see Pandora at night, the Tree of Life Awakenings, and Rivers of Light. I'd love it if they gave some evening EMHs but am not planning on it just yet.

Day 7-HS

ADR: 50s Prime Time (late lunch/early dinner), Star Wars Dessert Party
FP: ToT, Indiana Jones, RnR

Plan to sleep in again and relax in the morning. Head to HS by 2pm for 50s ADR. Then hit up things in DHS we haven't had a chance to do yet. All in prep for the Star Wars Fireworks Dessert Party-one of the things I'm most looking forward to! I love Star Wars, I love desserts, and I love fireworks! Put them all together, and I'm in heaven!

Not 100% sure though my sister will be doing the dessert party. She said she would maybe prefer Fantasmic over the SW fireworks. I told her to give me a week heads up if she decides to do that instead.

Day 8-4 park day

ADR: BOG dinner!
FP: FoP, EE

Start at AK. That happens to be an am EMH day. Maybe we'll try to get there for it and hit up Navi instead of FoP. Go on a couple rides. Head to HS (either via express bus if it's running at that time or just regular park bus), and go on at least 1 ride. Head to Epcot, lunch around Food & Wine, hit up a couple rides (maybe). Finally end at MK with dinner at Be Our Guest. I hope we will be able to get back to the Hub in time to see the fireworks after dinner.

Day 9-Universal

Focus on Harry Potter lands (1-day park hopper). Everything else is just extra.

Day 10-Departure

ADR: Boma
FP: FoP? Safari? EE

Breakfast at Boma and hopefully check out AKL a bit. Then head to AK for a bit. Make sure to leave no later than 1:30, as our DME pickup will be around 3pm. (if we decide to take Uber we can leave it a bit later, but we'll see how we feel.) Cry as we leave on the bus/plane! Again, our flight schedules are different, with mine leaving an hour after hers, but I arrive at LAX about 2 hrs earlier. So again, get to hang out in LAX for a couple hours!


I can't wait to go!​

 

[cheerupem0kidx0x]

Just finished reading your report and you are so much like me lol. I change my plans about a million times and am always adding stuff cause it's "only x amount more and totally worth that" hahaha. Sounds like you guys are gonna have an amazing trip! Also love your outfits!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Just finished reading your report and you are so much like me lol. I change my plans about a million times and am always adding stuff cause it's "only x amount more and totally worth that" hahaha. Sounds like you guys are gonna have an amazing trip! Also love your outfits!

It's good to hear from these boards there are like-minded people!

We had fun with those outfits! You can't see in the photo, but I had a mini-BB-8 on my hat and my sister had a millennium Falcon on her hair bow! I am already trying to figure out what I will wear during the trip-expect a bunch of Star Wars shirts, as well as plenty from Etsy! My sister wants to Disneybound, so we're doing Joy/Sadness and Winnie the Pooh/Tigger!

 

[Lesley Wake]

So, I think I need to change our dates to Oct 30-Nov 1! Eat to the Beat concert lineup came out and that is when Hanson is performing at Epcot! I know people make fun of me, but I love those guys!

[To be serious, I'm not thinking of changing; it would have been awesome though if the dates had coincided. But I'm seeing them in LA in October, after our trip, so I'm not exactly upset!]

 

[Raeven]

So, I think I need to change our dates to Oct 30-Nov 1! Eat to the Beat concert lineup came out and that is when Hanson is performing at Epcot! I know people make fun of me, but I love those guys!

[To be serious, I'm not thinking of changing; it would have been awesome though if the dates had coincided. But I'm seeing them in LA in October, after our trip, so I'm not exactly upset!]

I wish I was going to be there when the Baha Men are I like some of the performers during our week though (but of course those are playing while we're in Uso so we may have to stop back over).

 

[Lesley Wake]

Outfits! ​

I'm the opposite of a fashionista, but when it comes to Disney, I'm all in! I've favorited more etsy shirts than I care to admit! I already have a bunch of Star Wars shirts but think I should find some other Disney options; besides some of those SW shirts are not the most breathable and I'm worried it wouldn't be very comfortable in Florida humidity. I'm thinking tank tops are going to be my lifeline there!

But I need some help on some of these, so comments are very very welcome!

Disneybounding: My sister also wants to Disneybound a couple days. I said sure, but she gets to come up with the ideas-she's the crafty and creative person, I'm the organized one! Here is what she came up with:

Joy/Sadness
She will be Joy and I'll be Sadness. Definitely fits... And we'll try to take a photo with them at Epcot.

Pants will obviously be jeans, but the shirt I'm trying to decide. The turtleneck-tank top fits the most with Sadness, but I'm worried the turtleneck (even though its cotton) will be too uncomfortable. Also I don't know if they have my size. The plain blue shirt is a moisture wicking option, so could be good, but will it look enough like the character? I like the printed blue shirt, but it doesn't feel enough like Disneybounding...

I'll also pair it with costume glasses and a ribbon (haven't decided which one yet). I'm also considering Sadness ear headband, but not sure if I like wearing headbands all day. I'm going to test that out on my next trip to Disneyland!

My sister may get this shirt, but she probably has already come up with some idea-maybe get a cheaper option and paint it herself.

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger
She also came up with these guys and immediately wanted to be Tigger. So I said, I guess I'll be Winnie the Pooh, but she was like, oh you could always be Eeyore-I pointed out, um I'm already being Sadness, is that going to be the theme of the trip? So, Winnie the Pooh it is!

Going to go with yellow bottoms. I am trying to decide between skirt and loose pants. I really never wear skirts/dresses. I think the only times in the past few years I have worn them was in Hawaii or special events. I'm a jeans or trousers type of person. The Florida humidity has me thinking about that, but I think because it's a theme park, I'll probably still go with pants most of the time. For Pooh-bear though I found the following options (the main issue is I don't know if I'll actually wear any of these after the trip, so maybe I should just go with the cheapest option)

For shirts, a red tank top would be the best for Disneybounding, but I found this option on etsy and I think it works? What do you guys think:

Obviously I'll need Pooh ears. Found these hair clip versions. But my hair is very fine and really doesn't hold any clips easily, so I'm trying to decide between Pooh mickey ear headband or finding another headband and glue these clips to it.

My sister will probably do another shirt and add tigger stripes to it.

Halloween
So, this is still up for debate. Long story ahead: My family gets into the spirit of Halloween and we sort of have to! We live in a neighborhood that is known in LA for trick or treaters. We literally get over 1,000 each year; and I'm not exaggerating, we get about 1,200 pieces of candy, give out one to each kid, and still run out. We often see vanloads of kids get let out and the parents go to starbucks for a couple hours... That is annoying, but whatever, we'll give out cheap candy (still brand name) and put some smiles on kids faces. Two years ago we did a Minion theme, painted fake pumpkins like Minions, put out some stuffed ones my sister's boyfriend won for her at the county fair, and we all dressed up like the characters from Despicable Me. Families loved it and we were known as the Minion house. Last year we didn't do a theme, just set out those pumpkins again, but we made it almost a "photostop" by setting them together in the grass so kids could take a photo with them. We also got new neighbors last year and they loved Halloween and all the kids!

This year, we decided to do a group theme between the two houses. There is a walkway that connects them, so we're going to hang up floating candles, turn the garden into the Forbidden Forest, and all dress in Harry Potter style! Our neighbors also love HP so they were completely down for it. My mom wanted to go to Harry Potter World at Universal Hollywood for her 60th birthday, so my family already has costumes (mine was just a generic student/quidditch player). My sister bought the Queen Goldstein coat (Fantastic Beasts) from Hot Topic because it was 50% off. So she wants me to be Tina and we can be the sisters:

I am ok with that idea for actual Halloween, but just want to show you a better photo of Tina:

Yeah, doesn't look like the most comfortable Florida outfit! Don't know yet if she'll wear me down or change her mind, so that is a work in progress.

Other shirts:
Anna/Elsa
Since it's a sister trip, we are totally getting these shirts and taking a photo with the sisters. Haven't picked the etsy design yet; I love the first one but I think my sister prefers the silhouette of the second one...

I'm Mary Poppins Y'All
I loved this movie and I loved the line from the movie. Especially when Michael Rooker went to Disneyland and took a photo with Mary Poppins! Trying to pick a design. I like the first one best (red shirt), but it doesn't seem that shop has many options for tank tops. Maybe I'll go with the gray version...

Hocus Pocus
Love this movie and my sister, mom and I keep talking about dressing as the three sisters. May go with the second version (spell on you) because I feel like I am one of the sisters, not the fourth one!

Food
This was the shirt that started it all:

Squad
I think I should only pick one "squad goals" shirt, so trying to decide:

Star Wars
I like this design, but think I have enough SW options, it may get saved for another day.

Harry Potter
I had seen a "Griffinclaw" shirt, so a mash up between Griffindor and Ravenclaw, which I really wanted. But now it's disappeared from etsy So I'll keep searching for it, or the right HP shirt for our Universal day.