Crazy US Disney trip in Nov!

[Gyoza Dog]

My wife and I just booked a 18-day holiday to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

This was completely unexpected and out of the blue. We just came back from a family trip to the US (including Orlando) in January and we didn't intend to go overseas again for years. My wife really hates long distance flights.

I'd been reading up on the upcoming D23 event at WDW, Destination D: Attraction Rewind. It sounded really cool (and I could use a distraction from work stress) so I started doing the sums to see how much it would cost to go. And confirmed there was no way I could justify it.

However when I was telling my wife about it we found out the first Avengers 1/2 Marathon was the weekend before at Disneyland. She's both a runner and a big Marvel fan and has always wanted to do a Disney run. So suddenly there were 2 events we wanted to do within a week of each other.

And it all came together perfectly!

- 4 nights at the Disneyland Hotel (both of us running the 1/2 Marathon)
- overnight flight to Orlando
- 2 nights at Loews Royal Pacific, Universal
- 6 nights at the Contemporary (including Destination D)
- 2 nights at the Beach Club villas (including Thanksgiving)

A pure theme park holiday with no pretence of cultural or educational content. It feels ridiculously indulgent. But we don't care!

So now I get to plan and micromanage the reservations and fastpasses over the next 6 months. Lots of fun!

 

[PrincessInOz]

What a great way to post your first post!


Welcome to the Dis and happy planning. Sounds like a great trip.

 

[LisaAJ]

Wow, sounds like fun!! I love the sounds of these unplanned trips! I'm a serial planner so that would freak me out!!

 

[Meemoo]

That sounds wonderful and something I have considered doing minus the running part Does it work out good value with the flights to stop over in LA then head over to Orlando?

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Welcome to the DIS and congrats on having such a fun trip planned

 

[zanzibar138]

Welcome

Just putting it out there... there is also the Wine and Dine Half Marathon at WDW the week prior to the Avengers That's a combo I'm hoping to do sometime in the future.

Seriously though, sounds like a great trip! And not every holiday needs to be about culture and education... sometimes you can just go for the fun of it

 

[Gyoza Dog]

Thanks all! To answer some questions:

Unfortunately the Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon was already sold out by the time we realised. Just means we'll have to take another trip to get our coast to coast medal!

The flying to Orlando via LA didn't make much difference in price at all. But there are some very good sale prices for LA right now so that may not hold true in the future.

The first thing I want to figure out now is where to eat on Thanksgiving day. Definitely want to do something special as we're unlikely to experience an American Thanksgiving again. We've currently got the Cape May buffet pencilled in. Any thoughts?

 

[ssour]

I always thought Whispering Canyon Cafe would be a good Thanksgiving option. I always get a very Americana vibe from there.

 

[PrincessInOz]

The other alternative could be Liberty Tree Tavern at MK.

 

[Tashinwdw]

What a great holiday you have coming up, it sure doesnt have to be about culture and education - which is just as well cause my holidays usually have none of that

I have heard liberty Tree Tavern is a good choice for thanksgiving or if you want to watch the game then ESPN Zone

Check out the different restaurants and see which ones actually change their menu to go with the traditional thanksgiving food.

 

[SnowMonkey]

Welcome

Just putting it out there... there is also the Wine and Dine Half Marathon at WDW the week prior to the Avengers That's a combo I'm hoping to do sometime in the future.

Seriously though, sounds like a great trip! And not every holiday needs to be about culture and education... sometimes you can just go for the fun of it

Yeah, the following conversation may have taken place shortly after I realised we were doing the flight home from hell again(Orlando to Dallas to Sydney via Brisbane):

ME: "I can't believe you talked me into a US flight again so soon. You'd better not think it's happening again in a hurry."
GD: "What about when we go back for the Wine and Dine/Avengers double so you can get your Coast 2 Coast medal?"
ME: "..."
ME: "Dammit!"

As for thanksgiving eats I was the one pushing for Cape May because from what I can tell it's a buffet style buffet, where Whispering Canyon and Liberty Tree are the "family style" buffets, which just seem more wasteful with just the two of us. (We actually ate at Liberty tree last trip too, so it's not like I've never eaten there). And I've read that Cape May put on a thanksgiving spread, but I don't know the details.

So excited for the half! The rest of the trip for me is more a 'well, since we're there anyway'. But I know Gyoza Dog is looking forward to Destination D, he's such a Disney geek

 

[SnowMonkey]

Ooops. Did I break my Husbands's thread? Bad me

Six months to go, that means it's dining reservations time! So after one very long phone call to the states we have reservations for:

- Garden Afternoon Tea at Grand Floridian. DH is a big big fan of High Teas, so this looks good.

- Breakfast at Chef Mickey. Since I'm not going to Destination D this gives us a chance to spend some time together before it starts on the weekend.

- The Luau at Polynesian Resort. We did the Hoop-De-Doo Revue last time, and that was awesome fun, so we thought we'd try out the other dinner/show/event thingy.

- Biergarten Restaurant in Epcot. We do love us some Bier Cafe foods, and last time we were at Epcot we had the currywurst from Germany and it was AWESOME!

-Finally Cape May Cafe Buffet on Thanksgiving Day. Apparently they put on a special thanksgiving spread, and because it's a buffet we can sample a little of everything which should be fun.

 

[zanzibar138]

Sounds great! I love all your choices

 

[Brisbanemum]

You are going to have an amazing time!!

We did the exact same thing........after our first trip to the US in 2011/2012 we weren't going to go back for another few years..... yet come Dec 2012 we were there again lol It's so addictive!!!!!

 

[SnowMonkey]

The runDisney page tells me 67 days to go.

eeeeek.

Time to start thinking about food for Disneyland, currently we are thinking of...

Thursday:
Lunch - Blue Bayou
Dinner - Big Thunder Ranch Family Buffet
Friday:
Lunch - not decided yet
Dinner - Fantasmic Dessert Party - Carb loading! Sugar is a carb right?!
Sat:
Lunch - Possibly Flo's V8 cafe
Dinner - either a rice bowl at Lucky Fortune or grab some Earl of Sandwich to take back to the hotel for an early night
Sun:
Lunch - Carthay Circle World of Colour package
Mon:
Breakfast - Goofy's kitchen character meal (with medals!)
Afternoon snack at Trader Sam's while waiting for the bus to the airport.

Aiming for a few breakfasts at Flo's, Steakhouse 55 or Tangaroa, and I am still desperately after a Ghiradelli at some point, but I'm very very scared of how busy that will be post race.

That is.... a whoooole lotta food. At this rate I won't be running the half so much as waddling it.

 

[PrincessInOz]

You're making me hungry. Enjoy!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Sounds wonderful.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Sounds good! Umm yeh - definitely get that run in before all that pigging out I get a stitch thinking about it. Cape May for thanksgiving sounds just right.

 

[SnowMonkey]

I'm expecting to finish the half 15-20 minutes ahead of Gyoza Dog. I've threatened to abandon him while he's having his post race shower so I can run off to Ghiradelli.

That way even if there's a queue, I'm waiting for him anyway. I has a plan for post race chocolate, that makes me happy

 

[SnowMonkey]

4 weeks to go!!!!!

So exciting!