Delicious and Not So Scary - a September 2019 PreTR

[AllyReggie]

Hello.

*ahem* I mean....

HELLO!!!

My name is AllyReggie (You can call me Ally if its easier) and after posting a ton of junk on this trip, I finally decided I need a centralized place to discuss the planning and prep of this trip... so here it is! Drum roll please....

The Delicious and Not So Scary Disney Quest
September 14-21st, 2019
~Coronado Springs Resort~ ​

I. Our Adventurers

As I said, I am AllyReggie, a 31 year old mama of one beautiful Disney Princess and wife to the perfect Disney Prince. I love Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Comic Books, Video Games and Anime. I am in Escrow by trade although I have dreams of getting into the business to which I graduated from Portland State University: Marketing & Communication. Wouldn't it be nice to find a job doing that for Disney? A girl can dream! I spend most of my time working and playing with my little girl, and any extra time is filled moderating a baby forum on the internet and scoping out new threads in the DIS!

Here is me (31) (I never get to use these professional photos for anything):

Next up is my husband (31). We call him "Thazal" (Tha-Zall) on the internet. He got the Disney bug from me when we went to WDW for our Honeymoon in September of 2016. He plays Overwatch, and pretty much anything on the switch. He and I work in the same industry. He doesn't have a favorite Disney Princess, although if Godzilla ever becomes Disney IP then it would probably be Godzilla

Rounding out this barbershop quartet are my parents! We will call them Grammy and Grampy because that's what they want to be called these days! Their Disney adventures have been going on for ages (my dad used to go to Disney all the time when he lived in California as a kid!) and while they may not be as big into it as me... they are definitely ready for the ride!

Here is a picture of all four of us, doing one of our favorite family pastimes... Disc Golf!

Guest Starring.... Freddie (1)! I don't normally post pictures of her online, but we might end up breaking that rule a lot for this trip report. We will see how my husband and I feel about the amount of photos of her on the internet as we go. As I said I am a marketing/communication professional and I know how much your brand/social media presence can become more of who you are than your accomplishments. I want to teach my daughter to be thoughtful about how she markets herself, even in situations where it doesn't seem like she is marketing herself. Everything affects your brand. Everything. Anyway, this is one we did for her with Krampus!

(She loved Krampus, it was the wacky photographer she wasn't sure about)

II. Location, Location, Location!

As of right now, we will be staying at the BEAUTIFUL and "recently" renovated Coronado Springs (I think it was two years ago? Maybe a little less?). I don't have any personal pictures of the property, so I am using one from Dis' database (thanks DIS!):

And here are the rooms:

Here is a link to the DIS review/info page on CSR!

We will have TWO (2) rooms, hopefully connected or at least close together, with Thazal, Freddie and I in one room and Grammy and Grampy in the other! Two bathrooms was a big requirement.

III. Why are we putting ourselves through this?

Back in February of 2005, my family (Me, Brother, Mom & Dad with Grandma in tow) hopped a plan and landed in Disney World. We stayed at ASMo and did SO MUCH. I instantly got the WDW bug and have been "mock planning" return WDW trips ever since.
I got married in September 2016 to my Prince Charming, Thazal and we rode of into the sunset to WDW where we stayed at SSR in a 1BR suite and just enjoyed ourselves, MNSSHP and a ton of dessert and firework events. DH got the Disney bug and ever since we have been wishing on a star to go back.

Fast forward to this year and a planned small trip to DL. I decided to do a little price comparison and lo and behold, WDW was well with in the margin of error for our budget, so we convinced Grammy and Grampy to switch gears and we are HEADING BACK BABY.

This trip is largely about getting back into WDW for my parents, who will be married 35 years this year and have been wanting to go back ever since 2005. Its also about taking our small when she is still teeny tiny and getting those amazing photos and memories with her early, so we can build that history with Disney and Vacations and fun with her.

Also, this trip is about me, wanting to do it all, eat it all and keep getting my Disney fix!

You'll notice I will mention things like budget, because everyone else on the trip will be pinching pennies. I am of the idea that when I get to Disney, the budget is gone... I am there to have fun!

So my Champagne tastes on a grape juice budget may cause whiplash, you have been warned.

I hope you are as excited as I am to take this delicious quest!

 

[AllyReggie]

Table of CONTENTS! (to be filled in later)

Our Story So Far
Itinerary
Flights
ADRS
Fast Passes
Special Events
Day One (Arrival)
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight (Departure)

 

[AllyReggie]

OUR STORY SO FAR
​

Rather than separate out the previous month and a-half of planning into sections, I am just going to Provide 1 "crash course" to get you caught up to today (Feb, 14th 2019). Buckle up!

November 2018 - December 2018
My husband and I have been trying to get out of our apartment for some time now. We didn't want to raise our daughter in the often on fire, continuously filled with cigarette and marijuana smoke apartment complex we'd lived in since we got married, but between emergencies, medical expenses and job switches, we were losing more money than we were saving to bills and debt. There didn't seem to be a way for us to climb out of the rut, and get into a safer place for our daughter without asking for a little help.
So we approached my parents with a plan to stay with them in my childhood bedroom, pay a small rent and utilities and save up everything we could to get out of debt and store away emergency money and a down payment for a home. My parents were overwhelmingly excited at the idea of having their only grandchild under their roof, and so we moved in and begun saving.

Previously we had been approached by my parents about needing a vacation, a Disney Vacation. I'll fully admit that, even in the midst of all our debt and problems, a vacation was a top priority for all of us. I has been a not so great few years, stressful and turbulent so my parents really wanted to do Disney in September. We talked about it over Christmas and agreed that we should look into Disneyland for 5 days 4 nights (With a Universal day in there).

I built a package for each of us, staying at the Best Western Mini Suites across the street, tickets, transportation to and from the airport and mathed out food and fun. The package by itself was:

• 4 Nights @ BW
• 5 Day Park Hopper w/ Max Pass
• Motorcoach to and from LAX
  For $2130

January 4th
I was stumbling around the internet, making plans for Disneyland (as I do). When... a thought dawned on me. For my Disney World trip for my honeymoon, which was 8 nights 9 days... we spend just a little more than double what the Disneyland trip was looking to be... I thought "If we stayed in a cheaper hotel, how much more than Disneyland would Disney World be? So... I pretended to book a trip through disneyworld.disney.go.com (you know the site)...

To my surprise, Free Dining had been announced! And so I could get:

• 7 Nights @ All Star Sports
• 6 Day Parkhopper+
• Transportation to and from MCO
• FD w/ Upgraded DxDDP
  For $3082

I presented the numbers to my parents. For around $1000 more, we'd get:

1. three extra nights
2. food (2-3 meals a day plus snacks)
3. access to four parks, water park and the DisneyWorld Campus
4. the ability to NOT have to fight the Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opening crowds.

The choice was unanimous, if we could vacation for longer, include food and go to Disney WORLD for just over $1000 more... we should do it. The decision was made and we booked with a TA (because I wanted someone to earn commission on my trip, and because I like the idea of having someone in my corner).

January 5th-29th
I began to plan a trip to Walt Disney World. I had my previously timelines and estimates and travel allowances from my Disneymoon, so I wasn't completely behind the 8-ball on this one, but it was definitely different. We'd have a 1yr9mo little girl in tow and that would change how we Disney... a LOT. The focus immediately became on meals and sit down shows and baby friendly rides. Other stuff for the grandparents and Thazal and I sure, but a great deal of the fun would need to be had in AC and at a slower pace.
I dove deep into videos, reviews, tutorials and walk-throughs of every piece of WDW. So much so that when my parents would come home from work, settle into the downstairs living room, they'd be greeted by my playlist of videos about our trip. And during this time, I was watching walk-throughs of All Star Sports. My mom ended up watching a few with me, and I could tell her opinions of the hotel were starting to turn. Eventually she began saying "how hard would it be to get a better hotel?" I was frantic, the pickings for Free Dining were beginning to get slim and I had not really done much research on the remaining hotels. I puzzled over the results and presented her with the Coronado Springs Resort, which she liked and after convincing my father that the extra ~$700 was worth the nicer hotel we agree to re-book with the TA and secured our nicer hotel.

January 30th-31st
I emailed our TA and requested the room-change, and heard back almost immediately that everything was changed and looking great. We were now at $1700 over the cost of 4 nights at DL. The way our family eats, I figured we'd spend about $100pp per day on food at DL (not including tax) so that would have been about $800 per couple (going off of nights, not days for the food to compare to the Free Dining), adding in the 7.75% tax would have been $862. That meant for 3 extra days at WDW we were paying $838 or $279 per day (food, tickets and hotel). I decided that this is still within a margin of value, and carried on.

Now, with a room people are happy about, and a location and length of stay that we will get the most value out of it... it was time to start planning the nitty gritty of the trip.

February 1st - February 14th
Because hours are not out yet, nor are EMHs or anything like that, it is a little difficult to solidify a plan, so instead I have multiple "option" plans. Basically, how I break it down is this:

Half Day Items:
MNSSHP 4PM-12AM
IFWF
Water Park 10AM-5PM
EPCOT Future World

Full Day Items:
Magic Kingdom
Universal Studios
Animal Kingdom
Disney Hollywood Studios
Shopping

And then I figure out how many days all that could fit into. I always try to add in time for shopping/relaxing too!

Note: We don't have flights booked yet but we are hoping to get a red-eye/overnight flight so we can arrive to WDW early in the morning on our First Day so we get as much in as possible!

Saturday Day 1
07AM - 03PM MCO to Hotel
03PM - 10PM EPCOT Future World
Sunday Day 2
07AM - 10PM Animal Kingdom
Monday Day 3
07AM - 10PM Disney Hollywood Studios
Tuesday Day 4
07AM - 04PM SHOPPING
04PM - 12AM MNSSHP
Wednesday Day 5
10AM - 04PM Water Park
04PM - 10PM IFWF
Thursday Day 6
07AM - 10PM Magic Kingdom
Friday Day 7
07AM - 09PM Universal Studios
Saturday Day 8
07AM - 03PM SHOPPING
03PM - 12AM MCO to PDX


There is TONS of wiggle room here, and this is really just to make sure we can do most of what we want to do in the allotted time, but from preliminary looks, we have plenty of time to do everything we want to do... and then some!

Now comes the hard part... ADRs!

 

[AllyReggie]

ITINERARY v0.1​

One of the few things that will change often and always on this pre-trip report is going to be the itinerary. I already talked about the things that we want to get done in big chunks... but I thought I'd break it down into most important (1) versus least important (9).

1. Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
2. International Food and Wine Festival
3. Universal Studios Orlando & IoA
4. EPCOT
5. Magic Kingdom
6. Typhoon Lagoon
7. Disney Hollywood Studios
8. Animal Kingdom
9. Shopping

As you can see that is 9 things to fit into 8 days (Technically 7 days because two of them are half days!) so let me break it down into each important section!

MNSSHP

Grampy is HUGE into Halloween. Every year he decks out the house with amazing home made decorations and gets so excited about all the potential mechanics he can put into his show. He loves the Haunted Mansion so much, and cannot wait to see it again... so when I told him,

"hey, you know they have a Halloween party at Disney World"

It was decided, we were going. We'd do the whole dress up and trick or treat thing with Freddie, but the night would really be for my Dad, who loves everything Halloween.

The goals will be to have a nice sit down meal at the start of the party (I know people say it is a waste of party time, but to us it is perfect) followed by a few rides and the Parade and trick or treating and then enjoying what the party has to offer until the wee hours. We aren't super interested in standing in line for Characters so that will most likely be skipped unless something has NO LINE but we will mostly enjoy as many rides, treats, shopping opportunities and fireworks/parades/stage shows as we want!

International Food & Wine Festival

I loved doing this during my Disneymoon and can't wait to do it better knowing more now and having learned the ins and outs. I will be reviewing the menus, DDP snack credit options, alcohols and shows and making sure our time through the World Showcase is expertly planned to not wait too long for stuff we don't really want!

The plan here is to horde a bunch of our snack credits and use them (along with some cash) to make the most out of the Dining Plan through snack credits at IFWF. Some things can be $6-$10 and still utilize a snack credit so you can imagine the value we are getting!

One thing we ran into during our Disneymoon at IFWF was that a lightning/rainstorm took out most of the booths ability to TAKE DDP credits, so I will be bringing cash as a back up and have alternatives for snack credit usage in-case the systems go down again (they seem to go down a lot from what I hear).

But either way, we will enjoy a lot of delicious goodies from all around the world!

Universal Studios Orlando/Islands of Adventure

I think what we are most excited about here... is the little kiddie area (if it is still open) and Wizarding World of Harry Potter! I mean... OF COURSE!

I'd like to plan to make us all cloaks with pockets to put our essentials in so we can wear'em around the park, and have our HP themeing without having to pay a TON (and also have pockets!) but we will see.

Universal is more of a, do what we want no big plan sort of adventure so it will be fun to just go and explore and figure out what fun elements we can all do. We plan to finish the day with dinner at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville restaurant!

EPCOT

EPCOT (mostly talking about Future World here) has pretty much FIVE main things we want to do:

• Test Track
• Turtle Talk w/ Crush
• Living with The Land
• Journey Into Imagination w/ Figment
• The Seas Nemo & Friends

And then the other things will sort of come as we go:

• Mission Space (no one but me wants to go on this again I guess)
• Spaceship Earth (Shouldn't be too hard to walk on at some point)
• SOARIN (I wasn't super excited by this, made my eyes hurt so everyone else is more excited by this)
• FEA - I plan to do the Frozen Ever After Dessert Party, so we will get a chance to ride this then
• Gran Fiesta Tour (we can do this when we need a break during our World tour for IFWF)
• Any other stuff that might be happening in Future world

Since all of that can be done in a few hours our "EPCOT" Day is pretty solid, depending on when we go to EPCOT it looks something like this:

Arrive @ EPCOT (Security) - 15Min
Mission Space - 20Min (Single Rider)
FP for Test Track - 30Min
Rider Switch Test Track - 30Min
FP SOARIN - 30Min (For everyone but Me & Freddie)
FP Living w/ The Land - 30Min (For Freddie & I)
FP Journey Into Imagination w/ Figment - 30Min
The Seas w/ Nemo & Friends - 30Min
Spaceship Earth - 30Min

Total Time: 245min or 4 Hours

Even if we add some extra hours for toddling around... that is still only a half day. I want to try and do Typhoon Lagoon and EPCOT Future World in the same day... I don't know we will see.

------ And... my computer decided to delete all the rest of this update... so I'll have to re make it and post it again as a part II !