Eating my way through the World - Sept/Oct PTR

[ThemeQueen]

Hello everyone and welcome to my very first trip report!
I am a long time forum poster, but very new to DISboards.. do not ask me why! Apparently I have been living under a rock! You join me on a near 2 year adventure of planning this show with just
***47*** days to go!

Without further ado, I introduce you to my loud Chicago family:

Meet Frank, you all know Tigger, Jenny (me) and our little dude (22 months in this pic)



Maks is now 1 week away from turning 4 & still has much love for Mickey!

Since our last visit, we have grown by 1 diva. This is Diva G. She is OBSESSED with Mickey!

That photo at Crystal Palace was taken in 2013. We enjoy vacationing in Maderia Beach, FL and thought we would drive to MK for the day. The little dude wasn't quite 2 yet and we figured we would be done sometime after lunch. HAH! We stayed until Wishes and the Electrical Parade was over! Then had a 2 hour drive back... I vowed right then never to do that again and our next trip would include use staying on property.


And so started the planning for what will become an Epic Family Adventure. You see, we are smack in the middle of a group of nearly 40 people! 16 people in my family group and 20 in a group of friends. Our trips all overlap and we have activities planned with everyone!!


I am the planner extraordinaire for the group of 16, and while they may think I am crazy with my planning.. I told them they will thank me later and can do so with payment in DOLE WHIP!


So join me on my crazy adventure! I look forward to sharing all of my details with you and learning a thing or two from all of your expertise!
​

 

[ThemeQueen]

Table of Contents

The Where & When
The Plan, Man
Hollywood Studios Touring Plans - input wanted!
Magic Kingdom Touring Plans - input wanted!
Disney Bounding!
Magic Band Delivery... uh-oh
Detailed/Final (?) DHS Plans
Decorated Magicbands!
Detailed/Final (?) MK Plans
The struggle is real... DAK Plans
Ariel and her clan visit the MNSSHP!
Final MNSSHP & Epcot Food & Wine Festival Touring Plans

 

[sara1215]

Sounds like potential for an epic trip with so many people involved! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[ThemeQueen]

So, as I mentioned, our last trip to WDW was just a day trip to MK. I had not been since I was 6 years old and it was my husband and son's first trip! We didn't do a whole lot of planning which ended up being a mistake, of course.


This time will be different! We were all hoping for that free dining promo and waiting and waiting....

Well, as I am sure you know, the whole free dining thing came with a lot of issues. We ended up missing the deal, despite our TA working for us and the 3 women of the group logging on and trying to rebook ALL day at work. We ended up having to switch to All Star Sports to make it affordable enough for everyone to come. I was truly disappointed and did not want to stay there, but was taking one for the team.

Well, I am glad we stuck it out because we kept trying and we were finally able to snag reservations at Pop Century with Free Dining! VICTORY WAS OURS!

Everyone is staying various lengths of time, with plans overlapping here and there. It has been so much fun to plan with everyone.

With 47 days to go, we will be arriving at POP! September 28 and staying until October 3.

 

[ThemeQueen]

With a 7 day, 6 night trip planned, we got to work. Well, I did. I was always the point of contact to research or relay to our TA, the 467 questions everyone had about the logistics of planning such a vacation.

In order to make sure our kids got to do the most together we set up our days as follows... (I will get into more detail with each day later):


Sunday - travel day.

Tuesday - Magic Kingdom.

Wednesday - Animal Kingdom.

Thursday - MNSSHP!

Friday - EPCOT FOOD & WINE FEST by day and Hollywood Horror Nights by night!

Saturday - Cape May Cafe & BYE BYE WDW!


I am still trying to work through some of our plans, but this is the basic plan. I will get into each day's itinerary next.

 

[ThemeQueen]

So since most of our major planning is done, panic is starting to set it that I have underplanned our time a bit. I keep reading trip reports that say how much people do in the first hour or two when they arrive at rope drop, like we plan to do.

So here is our Hollywood Studio plan.

Hours are 9-9, EMH 9-11 pm.
8:45 - arrive for rope drop
9:30 - Voyage of the Little Mermaid
11:00 - FP+ for Disney Jr. Live
11:45 - Beauty and the Beast
12:30 - FP+ for TSM
1:00 - Pixar Place for Buzz & Woody
2:35 - Hollywood & Vine Reservations
4:00 - FP+ for Indiana Jones
5-7:30 - Streets of America Character Hunting & Playground at Honey I shrunk the Kids
8:00 - Fantasmic

EMH - Use this to reride anything we want again or anything we missed.

I am worried the morning is too light. I would love any feedback!

 

[ThemeQueen]

Tuesday will be our first day in Magic Kingdom but we will also be returning at 4 pm on the day of the MNSSHP to hit a couple of things before the party starts.

Hours are 9-10

Park opens at 9 am - arrive at 8:30 for Welcome Show at 8:50

9:00-11:00 Fantasyland > Dumbo, Fantasyland Train Station, FP+ Enchanting Tales with Belle

11:20-12:20 Be Our Guest Reservations

12:30 -2:30 Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (FP+), Mickey's PhillarMagic, Peter Pan's Flight (FP+)

3:00-3:15 Festival of the Fantasy Parade in Town Square

4:00 - 5:15 Cinderella's Royal Table Reservations

5:30 - 6:30 Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin (FP+ - procure after PPF) & Tomorrowland People Mover

7:00 - 7:35 Move it! Shake it! Dance Party in Town Square

8:00 - 9:30 Electrical Parade & Wishes! Fireworks Show

How does it look?

 

[ThemeQueen]

I am having so much fun planning all of our outfits! I plan to "disney bound" a couple of days!

Hollywood Studios, I am going as Buzz!

Epcot day is Ariel!

And then Hollywood Horror Nights is Jack Skellington!.

I had so much fun putting these together. Anyone else like to Disney Bound?

 

[sara1215]

Those outfits are cute! I will have to be on the lookout for people doing this. I'm not sure I can put the outfits together like that. I have a bunch of character shirts I got off eBay that I plan to wear, though.

 

[ThemeQueen]

Those outfits are cute! I will have to be on the lookout for people doing this. I'm not sure I can put the outfits together like that. I have a bunch of character shirts I got off eBay that I plan to wear, though.

Thanks! If you google disneybound you will see a lot of image for inspiration.

I also have some character shirts I have been slowing buying... I am one of those who like to do the matching family shirts!

 

[ThemeQueen]

Yay! It's Magic band day! I have been pinning and googling inspiration for how to decorate ours.. I am so excited to receive them.

So then, I arrive home to not one, but 2 boxes!! What the heck?! I thought MDE was just being glitchy (like always) when I knew I had customized my bands but they reminded me to do it and my selections weren't there... then again when I received 2 emails to tell me it had shipped.

I asked my TA what to do and she is calling tech support for me this morning. I am definitely going to bring both just in case. I hope this doesn't mean my vacation will get off on the bad foot with MB issues! Has anyone ever had this happen?

My son was a little too excited about these and started ripping the box open.

 

[ThemeQueen]

Update on the magic band thing - I can deactivate the second set on MDE. Not sure why I got two and both are valid. I will see how badly I mess up the painting I do on them first, hah.

Anyway, back to my psychotic planning. I am having way too much fun looking at all the menus and figuring out what I want to eat... or yeah, and do I guess. I have been reading on the boards and picking up a lot of tips and tricks here and there. It seems like when we get to the parks for rope drop, we will get a LOT done in those first two hours. So I have adjusted my plans accordingly.

Looking for some feedback on my plans. Here is our first day, DHS:


Park Hours 9-11 pm
9:00 -9:10 Starring Rolls Café for Coffee & Cupcakes
9:30-9:47 Voyage of the Little Mermaid
9:55-10:20 Animation Courtyard for Characters**
10:30-11:00 FP+ for Disney Jr. Live
11:00-11:25 Fairfax Fare for a mac & cheese gourmet hot dog to split & snack for the kids
11:45 - 12:15 Beauty & The Beast
12:20-1:10 Take turns riding Tower of Terror** (hoping the kids sleep a bit during this time)
1:10 - 1:20 FP+ for TSM
1:20-2:20 Meet Woody & Buzz at Pixar Place
2:35-4:00 Hollywood & Vine Reservation
4:00-4:30 FP+ for Indiana Jones
4:45-7:30 Streets of America Character Hunting/Playground at Honey I shrunk the Kids/taking turns riding rides if kids sleep
8:00-8:35 Fantasmic

9-11 EMH to ride anything we may have missed or shop, just want to generally avoid the after Fantasmic crowd before we leave anyway.

Dinner/Snack Possibilities
Pizza Planet - split meatball sub & get kids some pizza
Min & Bill's Dockside Diner - Pulled pork mac & cheese, Seasonal Shake, spiked frozen lemonade
Funnel Cake with Ice Cream topping @ Oasis Canteen

**Muppet Vision 3D runs every 17 minutes - catch it if it gets too hot and there is time

** these items are if we have time.

No clue how much we will really want to eat in the evening after having a buffet "lunch" so late in the day. I would not mind just noshing and splitting things here and there. Our evening plans are very loose anyway.

 

[ThemeQueen]

Well, the kids were sick all of last week and I used to opportunity to check some items off my Disney to-do list. I started packing for the kids and I think now all of the shopping is done including toiletries, first aid stuff and everything we need for our outfits. All I have left to do is iron on some iron on patches for a few of our shirts. I did have time to finally decorate our magicbands! I am happy with how they turned out since I am not a very crafty person. G's needs another coat of the glitter paints and I just need to seal the guys' bands!

 

[ThemeQueen]

Magic Kingdom Touring Plans

Ok, moving on to more touring plans. I think this is the final plan for MK. I am not sure about what to do after dinner and before the move it! shake it! dance party.

9:00-10:50 Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin, Meet Alice near the Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, Pete's Silly Sideshow, Under the Sea (as much as we can squeeze in)
10:50-11:10 FP+ Enchanted Tales with Belle
11:20-12:30 Be Our Guest
12:50-1:10 FP+ Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
1:20-1:40 Mickey's PhillarMagic
1:50-2:10 FP+ Peter Pan's Flight
2:10-2:45 Carousel, It's a small world,
3:00-3:12 Festival of the Fantasy Parade
3:15-3:55 Tomorrowland People Mover & Shopping on Main Street
4:00-5:15 Cinderella's Royal Table Reservation
5:30-6:45 Pirates of the Caribbean, Enchanted Tiki Room, Railroad?
7:00-7:35 Move It! Shake it! Dance Party in Town Square

Snack time Dole Whip @ Ahola Isle
Casey's Corner - Pulled Pork & Coleslaw topped hot dog, corn dog nuggets
Tomorrowland Terrace - Lobster Roll

8:00-9:00 Electrical Parade & Wishes! Fireworks

 

[ThemeQueen]

Animal Kingdom Touring Plans

This is our most hectic day. I really struggled with this day because I couldn't get FP+ for the time I really wanted for Lion King, so there will be a lot of walking. I am also torn because I feel like my kids would love to go to Rafiki's Planet Watch but not sure where to squeeze it in.. definitely don't want to get stuck here during a possible nap time with no refreshments. Here is what I have so far, it may change:

LEAVE RESORT AT 7:30 AM
8:25-10:00 Chef Mickey's Reservations


Park Hours 9-5
10:30-11:30 FP+ Kilimanjaro Safaris

11:00-11:45 Adventurers Outpost, TriCera Top Spin

12:00-12:40 FP+ Finding Nemo The Musical

1:00-2:00 Lunch: Baked Lobster Mac & Cheese from Beastly Kiosk, Buffalo Chicken Waffle Slider at Trilo-Bites in Dinoland, and Flame Tree BBQ

2:00-3:00 Walk through Asia with drinks & hope the kids sleep

3:00-3:30 Take turns on Expedition Everest

Snack Dessert Waffles @ Tsum Tsum in Africa

4:00-4:30 FP+ Festival of the Lion King

5:00-7:00 Visit Friends @ AKL

8:05-9:45 Ohana

Cab back to Hotel and possibly die

 

[ThemeQueen]

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

After a whirlwind 3 days, this day will finally allow us to relax a bit. We plan to sleep in, wander around DTD and the pool before getting ready to head to MK for the Halloween Party! We are arriving at 4 and hoping to knock a few things out before the party begins. I made some loose plans based on the parades and events but really just leaving the time in-between open to anything.

3:15-4:00 Leave for Magic Kingdom
4:00-4:20 FP+ for Mickey in Times Square (this is actually for 3-4, but I heard there is a 10 min grace period, so I am hoping we can get in right away and use our FP+
4:30-4:45 FP+ for Haunted Mansion
5:00-5:15 FP+ for Peter Pan's Flight
5:30-6:15 Dinner with pork shanks from Gaston's and Fries from Golden Oak
6:15-6:30 Jungle Cruise
6:45-7:30 Ariel's Grotto
Snack
7:30-8:40 Trick or Treating, Dance Party in Frontierland, Meet Captain Jack Sparrow
8:55-9:10 Hocus Pocus Spelltacular
9:15-9:30 Celebrate the Magic
9:30-9:45 HalloWishes
10:00-10:45 Trick or Treating, Dance Party in Tomorrowland
10:30-11:00 Boo to you Parade

I don't really have plans to meet any characters here unless there are short lines for someone we pass. We do want to go to Ariel's Grotto though since we are all dressed as The Little Mermaid characters: I am going as Ursula, my husband as Prince Eric, son as Sebastian and my daughter as Ariel herself! My friend crocheted her entire costume, isn't it adorable!?! Not pictured is the hair hat she is still working on.

 

[JustCor]

Magic Kingdom Touring Plans

Ok, moving on to more touring plans. I think this is the final plan for MK. I am not sure about what to do after dinner and before the move it! shake it! dance party.

9:00-10:50 Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin, Meet Alice near the Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, Pete's Silly Sideshow, Under the Sea (as much as we can squeeze in)
10:50-11:10 FP+ Enchanted Tales with Belle
11:20-12:30 Be Our Guest
12:50-1:10 FP+ Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
1:20-1:40 Mickey's PhillarMagic
1:50-2:10 FP+ Peter Pan's Flight
2:10-2:45 Carousel, It's a small world,
3:00-3:12 Festival of the Fantasy Parade
3:15-3:55 Tomorrowland People Mover & Shopping on Main Street
4:00-5:15 Cinderella's Royal Table Reservation
5:30-6:45 Pirates of the Caribbean, Enchanted Tiki Room, Railroad?
7:00-7:35 Move It! Shake it! Dance Party in Town Square

Snack time Dole Whip @ Ahola Isle
Casey's Corner - Pulled Pork & Coleslaw topped hot dog, corn dog nuggets
Tomorrowland Terrace - Lobster Roll

8:00-9:00 Electrical Parade & Wishes! Fireworks

They have lobster rolls at Tomorrowland Terrace??? I really need to add that to my list! You have quite a packed day so far!

Animal Kingdom Touring Plans

This is our most hectic day. I really struggled with this day because I couldn't get FP+ for the time I really wanted for Lion King, so there will be a lot of walking. I am also torn because I feel like my kids would love to go to Rafiki's Planet Watch but not sure where to squeeze it in.. definitely don't want to get stuck here during a possible nap time with no refreshments. Here is what I have so far, it may change:

LEAVE RESORT AT 7:30 AM
8:25-10:00 Chef Mickey's Reservations


Park Hours 9-5
10:30-11:30 FP+ Kilimanjaro Safaris

11:00-11:45 Adventurers Outpost, TriCera Top Spin

12:00-12:40 FP+ Finding Nemo The Musical

1:00-2:00 Lunch: Baked Lobster Mac & Cheese from Beastly Kiosk, Buffalo Chicken Waffle Slider at Trilo-Bites in Dinoland, and Flame Tree BBQ

2:00-3:00 Walk through Asia with drinks & hope the kids sleep

3:00-3:30 Take turns on Expedition Everest

Snack Dessert Waffles @ Tsum Tsum in Africa

4:00-4:30 FP+ Festival of the Lion King

5:00-7:00 Visit Friends @ AKL

8:05-9:45 Ohana

Cab back to Hotel and possibly die

I'd try checking in on MDE to see if you can alter your Lion King FP+ from time to time. I've had pretty decent luck in shifting times around after setting them up for most attractions. Somebody else may be shifting their times around as well.

Looks good and very fun filled so far!

 

[ThemeQueen]

They have lobster rolls at Tomorrowland Terrace??? I really need to add that to my list! You have quite a packed day so far!

Yes! For both lunch and dinner. I found it when I noticed that Columbia Harbor House does not serve their lobster roll after lunch. I do wonder if they close for the dessert fireworks show tho.

I'd try checking in on MDE to see if you can alter your Lion King FP+ from time to time. I've had pretty decent luck in shifting times around after setting them up for most attractions. Somebody else may be shifting their times around as well.

Looks good and very fun filled so far!

I actually did just that, I played around a lot with it and here is what I came up with:

11:00-12:00 FP+ Kilimanjaro Safaris
12:00-12:30 FP+ Festival of the Lion King
12:45-1:15 Discovery Island Trails
1:15-2:15 Lunch: Baked Lobster Mac & Cheese from Beastly Kiosk and Flame Tree BBQ
2:30-3:00 Adventurer's Outpost
3:00-3:30 FP+ Kali River Rapids
4:00-4:40 FP+ Finding Nemo
4:45-5:00 Tricera Top Spin
Snack Buffalo Chicken Waffle Slider at Trilo-Bites in Dinoland

 

[ThemeQueen]

Ok, here are the last of our touring plans.

MNSSHP:
10:00-12:00 Downtown Disney
Lunch: Wolfgang Puck Pizza & Earl of Sandwich Holiday Sandwich
1:00-2:00 Swimming
3:15-4:00 Leave for Magic Kingdom
4:00-4:20 FP+ for Mickey in Times Square
4:30-5:00 FP+ for Haunted Mansion
5:00-5:35 Ariel's Grotto
5:35-5:55 Grab pork shank from Gaston's & head to Frontierland
5:55-6:10 FP+ for Flying Carpets of Aladdin
6:15-6:45 Dinner with pot roast mac and cheese from Friar's Nook, pork shanks, from Gaston's and fries from Golden Oak
6:45-7:00 Jungle Cruise
7:00-7:45 Trick or Treating, Dance Party in Frontierland, Meet Captain Jack Sparrow
7:45-8:00 Pumpkin spiced waffle sundae from Sleepy Hallow
8:15-8:45 Boo to you Parade
8:55-9:10 Hocus Pocus Spelltacular
9:15-9:30 Celebrate the Magic
9:30-9:45 HalloWishes
10:00-12:00 Whatever

Epcot

9:00-9:45 Disney Pals at Character Spot
9:45-10:15 FP+ Soarin' & Living the Land
10:15-11:00 Innoventions or Journey into the Imagination
11:00-11:30 FP+ The Seas with Nemo & Friends
11:30-12:00 FP+ Turtle Talk with Crush
12:00-3:00 Food & Wine Festival
Winnie the Pooh @ UK
Aladdin & Jasmine in Morocco
Mulan in China
3:30-8:00 Swimming @ Boadwalk Inn & Walking around the Boardwalk
8:00-10:00 Food & Wine Festival
10:00-10:12 IllumiNations

 

[ThemeQueen]

Ok, I am getting to the point of my planning where now I am just going crazy because there is nothing left to do! I feel great with all of our touring plans, I cannot look at another map or menu, I even allocated all of our snack credits and figured out what we will be paying out of pocket for.

Does anyone know when the Food & Wine Festival will release their maps? We need to figure that out.

My packing list is also complete and color coded. Packing this weekend.

11 MORE DAYS!!