Disney – The October 2008 Pre-Trip Report

[enya1973]

Our trip includes DH (been to WDW a couple of times as a child), DS (6), DD (4), and myself. I have the most Disney experience of the group…growing up we camped out at FW once and took countless day trips, spent one spring break in college at the YC, spent a day a DL at the age of 3 and again during my college years. The reason for the countless day trips…growing up my grandmother owned a condo about 1 hour away from the Orlando area and she gave each family a week each summer. My parents would let us kids (4 of us) pick somewhere to go for one day during our trip. Of course we usually picked something to do with Disney.

This will be the first trip for our kids, so here are some of my goals:

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•Stay on the property for convenience and to take advantage of extended park hours only offered to those guest staying onsite - CHECK (Thanks to my generous dad who gave us the trip for the kid’s birthday/Christmas presents! He booked it 144 days out…so I was a little behind on my ADRs)

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•Catch the earliest flight possible down there and a late afternoon flight back to maximize our Disney experience - CHECK

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•Get Park Hopper Tickets so we are not tied to a one park each day – CHECK

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•Have 1 TS meal planned each day (some Character Meals because that seems to be the best way to see them) to force us to sit down in the AC for a “break” and give us a “non-fast food” meal option - CHECK (still debating about adding the DP but I am leaning towards the Deluxe…any opinions with the changes???)

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•Plan age-appropriate things

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•Get DD an appointment at the BBB for a princess makeover with the bonus being that she can wear it for her Halloween costume…she is a after all - CHECK

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•Watch every parade and firework show possible…because my kids LOVE a parade

I have built a spreadsheet to house the itinerary, confirmation numbers, directions and park maps, hours and parade times.

Here is the itinerary so far (let me preface it by saying that my kids are commandos/energizer bunnies):

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•Day 1 (Thursday) – We fly direct to Orlando (should land around 8:50 am), pick up our rental car, pick up our swapped stroller (saved me $120 – thanks to the disboards!) and then head over to the BWI to try to check in. We probably won’t be able to check in that early…so a quick early lunch at one of the resort restaurants before we head out to our first park of the trip. I guess most people don’t do a park on their first day but we should be on the property by 10:00 am, so it just made sense to me to jump right in! I picked HS because I think we can knock most of it out that day. I searched and debated about where to make our ADR at that park but none of the TS restaurants really appealed to us. DH’s one request of the trip was a good steak dinner. I decided that Le Cellier in Epcot’s Canada might just meet his requirement and the beer cheese soup and pretzel bread sounded delightful to me! The only ADR time we could get that night was 8:50 pm, so I booked it since it was a “highly sought after reservation” (the CM said someone must have just cancelled it) and it would really only be 7:50 to our bodies (we are from the CST zone). We will probably head back to the BWI after the 3:00 Block Party Bash Parade, so we can rest and get settled in our room before our dinner in Epcot! After dinner, hit the sack to get as much rest as possible for our first full day!

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•Day 2 (Friday) – We start out a little earlier than we probably should this morning but I think the adrenaline will still be flowing and I plan to take a rest break mid day, so hopefully we will be ok! Today is a MK day! I got DD an 8:55 am appointment at the BBB (MK location). During my research, I found the BBB offered a “Cool Dude” hair-do for the boys. I showed DS some pictures and he decided he wanted one. So of course I called back to snag him an appointment during the time DD was having hers. His appointment will be at 9:10 am, so we can get DD settled before he starts his transformation! My plan is to head back to the hotel for some R&R around lunch and try to make it back to the MK for the 3:00 Dreams Parade. We are also attending MNSSHP that night! (Looking back I probably should have booked the party and the BBB appointment for the day we arrived since they start letting you in the park at 4:00 and I could have saved a day on our park pass. Pros and Cons to both ways!) Our ADR that day is for LTT at 6:35 pm! Can’t wait to see the characters in their costumes! Definitely excited about the parade and fireworks show that night.

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•Day 3 (Saturday) – I didn’t make any plans for early that day because I knew we would be out late with the MNSSHP. Today we are going back to the MK because of the late evening hours and that is the only day I could get an ADR at CRT. I did originally try for breakfast but they were all booked every day during our trip. My next choice was dinner but that quickly changed into lunch after talking to a CM since the only characters that appear at dinner are the Fairy Godmother and the mice. The Princesses are who I knew DD wanted to see…so I changed to lunch and that was the only time we could get any day. Every Princess must eat in the castle at least once, right? The only other goal of the day is watching the Spectromagic Parade and the Wishes fireworks show. I am really excited about Spectromagic because I have such fond memories of the Electric Light Parade as a child!

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•Day 4 (Sunday) – We have an 8:35 am reservation for Donald’s Breakfast Safari at Tuskar House in AK. Hopefully after breakfast (or during if I can talk DH into sneaking out for a sec), we can snag FP for Kilimanjaro Safari. The only other must see of the day is the Jammin’ Jungle parade at 4:00 pm. After the parade, we will probably head back to BWI for a little R&R. MK should be open until 1:00 am, so if we feel like it, we might pop over there for a while. This will also give us a back up night to catch Spectromagic and Wishes just in case we can’t make it the night before.

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•Day 5 (Monday) – Today is an Epcot day with a 5:45 pm ADR at Teppan Edo in Japan. I would like to get there for the rope drop ceremony which shouldn’t be too bad since we are staying in an Epcot resort. I am sure we will head back for a little R&R mid-day and be back in time for our ADR. After dinner, we might pop over to HS for the 7:00 Fantasmic show then back to EP for the Illuminations show at 9:00 pm. We are going to miss the Fantasmic and Illuminations on the first night because of our Le Cellier reservations. Fantasmic is optional to me but Illuminations is a MUST.

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•Day 6 (Tuesday) – Today is our departure day At some point, I will have to meet up with the next family in the stroller swap for the exchange. No parks today…just exploring in DTD after our 9:30 am breakfast buffet at Boma (sold after I saw food pictures on disboards). There are several things I am dying to show DS and DD in DTD – 1. the lego store (remember going as a child), 2. make your own crown and light saber at World of Disney and 3. Goofy’s Candy Company. We will probably grab a late lunch at either WPE or Earl of Sandwich before we have to catch our 4:25 pm flight.

Couple of Questions for all you veterans our there:

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1. Anything special about checking-in/flying with SouthWest? It has been years since I have flown them.

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2. Our package included a rental car and ME tickets…do we have to claim our luggage or will it just be transported to the hotel for us?

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3. Anything I am missing? Any strategies I should know about?

I know this will not be our last family vacation to WDW but I want them to experience all the “Disney Magic” they can when they still believe Cinderella is Cinderella not just some girl dressed up like her!

 

[Alysa]

To answer your questions,
1. Southwest is great - your daughter is 4 so you can still pre-board with her.
2. Your luggage will be transported if you put the tags on them in advance. I saw a family pick up their bags and drag them to the bus. Don't do it! It will probably arrive a couple of hours after you do so take what you need for the first day at Epcot in your carry on.
BWI is beautiful. You'll love it. Have a great time!

 

[enya1973]

Will the transport our bags for us eventhough we are not riding the bus? Our package came with a rental car. I will definitely prefer them to claim and transport our luggage!