From Australia to WDW - our first trip September 2018! UPDATE 6/17

[maryr1oz]

Hi Dis'ers,

I feel like this is shaping up to be my 'dream trip' to the World. DH and I will be hitting up WDW for 10 days in mid-September 2018. If it was completely up to me we would be there a lot longer than 10 days, but I guess a successful marriage is full of compromise

Although we are currently at the 250 day countdown mark, it's time to begin a PTR...

THE WHO
DH and I are teenage sweethearts, married for coming up to 9 years. We are destined to be a family of two forever, and the upside to that is that we have the budget to travel regularly. DH is not nearly as Disney keen as I am. He has smiled and agreed to each Disney adventure in the past but even I can't blame him for being dubious after some of the experiences we've had. DH has also recently been diagnosed with Coeliac disease, and this will be our first international trip since diagnosis. I would LOVE to hear from anyone else with tips and suggestions for travelling with someone who has coeliac. I work in tourism in Melbourne, Australia and as a result spend my days dreaming of travels of my own. I will never say no to a new adventure, no matter how long or short.

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WHY
Why NOT? Because I haven't been to WDW before and I consider it a necessity of life We've visited Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland numerous times and I still consider my Disney needs incomplete without a visit to Orlando. We also haven't been to the USA since our honeymoon which was nearly 9 years ago... a trip is well overdue!

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WHEN
I'm an uber-planner, I think planning and researching is half the fun of travelling. All our international trips are planned WELL in advance - mostly due to it being hard for us both to secure big chunks of leave at similar times of year. We often travel in September as it seems to work best for us. A pre-Christmas Qantas sale allowed us to lock in our flights, and from there the dates were set...

We will fly into New York City for a couple of nights, go down to DC for 5 nights, then fly to MCO. We will stay on property for 10 nights before flying to Atlanta for 5 nights, then back to LA for a couple of nights before heading home. Like I said earlier, while I would have been happy plonking down in Orlando for the whole time, I... must... compromise.

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WHERE
Having the luxury of stalking these boards for over a decade gave me a pretty good idea of how I wanted this trip to unfold. Booking flights so far in advance also allowed me plenty of time to put in some early requests for renting DVC points. Gratefully our requests were successful and our Disney stay looks like this:

Saturday September 15th - Saturday September 22nd - Standard Studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo
Saturday September 22nd - Tuesday September 25th - Standard Studio at Saratoga Springs Resort

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I'm also a an addict of kitschy Disney food items, Disney christmas ornaments and a semi-collector of pins.

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[jpmom97]

Your plans sound great!! Can't wait to hear the rest

 

[becalubob]

I’m in!

 

[Nami]

Hi! We are going to be at WDW at the same time! I look forward to seeing how you enjoy it!

 

[maryr1oz]

I’m in!

Great - welcome Any tips or comments you have on our plans will be greatly appreciated!

Hi! We are going to be at WDW at the same time! I look forward to seeing how you enjoy it!

Ah how exciting - the countdown to September is ON!

 

[maryr1oz]

Your plans sound great!! Can't wait to hear the rest

Thank you and welcome!

 

[pigletgirl]

Wow! What an amazing trip! DC has some great and *free* museums. Are you staying in the loop? Lots to plan!

 

[maryr1oz]

Wow - we are finally nearly at the 180 day mark! 181 days today, to be precise.

Tomorrow night (Australian time) I will be able to make our ADR's - I think then the real countdown can begin. As we are doing a split stay at Disney World, we have decided to add the Regular Dining Plan to our 7 night stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We’ll just pay out of pocket for our meals during our stay at Saratoga Springs Resort.

It’s been so hard narrowing down the choices, but as everything will be new to us i’m sure we will enjoy whatever choices we make. My husband has Celiac disease, so a lot of our dining locations have been chosen with that in mind. I’ll update on these in the next few days after i’ve (hopefully) gotten our reservations sorted out!

In the meantime, I have been slowly getting some other things in order for the Disney portion of our trip.

Before the Disney ticket price rise in February, we ended up ordering our passes through Undercover Tourist - we have 5 Day Park Hopper Plus tickets. Not so much for the hopper option, but 5 day tickets + 1 day waterpark was so close to the same price, we just decided to get the hopper plus tickets.




I’ve also been sorting through my pins, and I have now chosen a bunch to bring with me to trade



We now know that Food and Wine Festival will definitely be on at EPCOT while we are there, and i’m just waiting for the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party dates to be made official. We are really hoping for a party on Sunday 16 September. That will be our very first entry to the Magic Kingdom (and any other WDW park) - after 4pm when the party entry is allowed.

 

[maryr1oz]

Wow! What an amazing trip! DC has some great and *free* museums. Are you staying in the loop? Lots to plan!

Hi! We are staying at the new Wharf area... What is the loop?

 

[maryr1oz]

In other non-Disney trip planning news, i’ve also been slowly piecing plans together.

I bought some of these Nut Tiles - with the plan to have them in our suitcases during our flights. I think it’s much more of a novelty than super practical, but anyway

I have an app on my phone that shows the location of wherever the tile is. If our bags aren’t where they’re supposed to be, it’s not like I could do anything about it



I’ve also started collecting some of my favourite travel toiletries. I have a beauty box subscription which often leaves me with handy sample sized bits and pieces. The Revlon dab foundation is very handy for on the go - so small and easy to carry around, even in a small purse. I’m hoping that, along with the mini sized deodorant will help in the brutal, sweat inducing Florida heat.



Another thing i’ve been getting together is our collection of Pop-Out maps. We have travelled with these maps for more than 10 years now. Every time we visit a new city, we check to see whether there is a Pop-Out map for it, and if there is - we definitely buy it.




These maps have great details...





As well as transport system maps



Now if I could just remember who I lent my Los Angeles version to...

 

[maryr1oz]

Ugh... dining reservations, what an anti-climax. We booked this trip just about 6 months ago, and since that day i've been counting down to our 180 day mark to make the dining reservations. Fortunately with the time difference, the window opens at the very civilised time of 9pm. I sat for an hour beforehand playing with the website and app, even making some practice reservations and cancelling them.

9pm rolls around, and there are all my dates in the calendar, highlighted as blue and showing reservation times available... but then...






Switch to app - same thing. Switch to iPad - same thing. Switch to different web browser - same thing. Try to call Disney Dining - 60min + wait.

I went to bed sulking, telling myself that I was now going to forgo the Dining Plan and be stuck eating at QS locations the whole trip.

Woke up 7 hours later feeling much more like a grown up, got on the phone and this time only had a projected wait of 20 mins.

I'd managed to consume caffeine before the phone was answered, and I had the most wonderful cast member help me. She was extremely helpful, friendly and I managed to get nearly all my reservation requests within about 10 mins of my desired times. She had a great chatter to me and completely reassured me that I had made good choices for dining.

They are showing up in My Disney Experience, but I still can't make any other reservations myself after the exact 180 days (we are staying on property).

Gripe over - now off to work!

 

[jchurch0409]

Joining in! You will be arriving the day we leave! My hubby and I just visited DC for our 10th anniversary last month. It was wonderful. Can't wait to read more of your plans!

 

[maryr1oz]

Joining in! You will be arriving the day we leave! My hubby and I just visited DC for our 10th anniversary last month. It was wonderful. Can't wait to read more of your plans!

Ah fantastic! If you have any DC tips i'd love to hear them

 

[kclark9830]

Your trip sounds wonderful! We'll also be there in September, but at the very beginning.

 

[OziJo]

Fellow Aussie here! I'll follow your PTR as part of my interest in seeing how things work these days since it's been a while since our last trip.

We spend 11 nights in WDW back in 2012 but as a family 5 with 3 girls who were all teenagers at the time. I'm currently planning a trip for just DH, DD3 and me to DLR but only 4 nights over New year as part of a larger trip to Canada for a white Christmas, LA and Honolulu. In 2012 we stayed at Fort wilderness and if you can you really should got to the Hoop Dee Doo review. It's such a blast. I'm not sure how you would go with the food for a coeliac sufferer though.

Are you factoring in Universal and Harry Potter world? All your destinations sound wonderful. While we loved traveling with our kids, DH and I traveled a bit before kids and are looking forward to more travels as a couple. So much easier and cheaper to get around.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Following along! You will have a great trip with NYC, DC and WDW!

 

[maryr1oz]

Hey, MNSSHP party buddy! Happy planning to you too Is this your first MNSSHP too?

Fellow Aussie here! I'll follow your PTR as part of my interest in seeing how things work these days since it's been a while since our last trip.

We spend 11 nights in WDW back in 2012 but as a family 5 with 3 girls who were all teenagers at the time. I'm currently planning a trip for just DH, DD3 and me to DLR but only 4 nights over New year as part of a larger trip to Canada for a white Christmas, LA and Honolulu. In 2012 we stayed at Fort wilderness and if you can you really should got to the Hoop Dee Doo review. It's such a blast. I'm not sure how you would go with the food for a coeliac sufferer though.

Are you factoring in Universal and Harry Potter world? All your destinations sound wonderful. While we loved traveling with our kids, DH and I traveled a bit before kids and are looking forward to more travels as a couple. So much easier and cheaper to get around.

Hi fellow Ozi! We won't be visiting Universal on this trip... I am crossing everything that DH will enjoy Orlando so much that he'll want to go back - and that could be a future trip. He works super hard and long hours, so his idea of vacation is a slower pace than mine. I'm hoping that the stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge with lot's of pool time and a reasonable relaxed schedule will lure him into future Orlando trips

Following along! You will have a great trip with NYC, DC and WDW!

Thanks so much! We can't wait to visit the East Coast again

 

[Araminta18]

How fun! You're going to have a busy trip, but it sounds amazing--all along the East Coast! We live in DC, and September is always hot and muggy, so it'll get you ready for Orlando

Glad you were able to get all your ADRs--the Disney IT glitches are irritating as all get out, especially when everyone is spending as much as they do on these trips. One day, Disney's tech will work! (she said, skeptically)

 

[maryr1oz]

How fun! You're going to have a busy trip, but it sounds amazing--all along the East Coast! We live in DC, and September is always hot and muggy, so it'll get you ready for Orlando

Glad you were able to get all your ADRs--the Disney IT glitches are irritating as all get out, especially when everyone is spending as much as they do on these trips. One day, Disney's tech will work! (she said, skeptically)

Thanks so much!

I didn't expect DC to be muggy, so that's a good reminder!

 

[maryr1oz]

So I thought i'd list the 'extras' we are planning to do while at WDW... hoping that some of you might have some tips or suggestions based around them.


Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

We are so excited about this one. We're planning on attending Sunday 16th September, which will actually be our first entry to the Magic Kingdom - ever. I was a bit on the fence as whether our first time should be during a party, but i've decided it just works too well with our other plans not to be. DH has coeliac disease, so we'll be utilising the allergy treat options for him. We don't have a great interest in meeting characters, so our main intentions will be enjoying the park, seeing the parade and the fireworks. We will probably dress semi-costume.


Renting Umbrellas at Typhoon Lagoon

We'll spend a day at Typhoon Lagoon, and i'd rather just rent the umbrella chairs so I don't have to worry about rushing in and knowing where to stake out a spot for our first visit. We will no doubt spend a chunk of the day reading/relaxing out of the water, so i figure this is a good option.


Fantasmic Dessert Experience

I'd like to not worry about staking out a spot in line for Fantasmic either. I imagine with the new Toy Story Land opening this summer, DHS will be a busy park in general. With DH's coeliac requirements, i see the other more full on dessert parties as a bit of a waste of money. He won't get anything near as fun to eat as me from them. This party is must more reasonably priced. However, there is no availability for this experience past June 30 at this stage, so I am hoping it will come up as available in September!


Renting a boat from Grand Floridian

DH and I used to spend a lot of time boating on a river when we were younger, so I love the idea of getting back out on the water together. We would rent one of the larger Pontoon boats from Grand Floridian for an hour. We plan to do a lap of Seven Seas Lagoon, and then a lap of Bay Lake. Of special interest to me is viewing Discovery Island and River Country from the water.


If anyone has any comments, tips or suggestions on any of these I would love to hear them