Grand Villas, Victoria & Albert's, Star Wars, & More! Anniversary PTR! NOW the TR!!!

[AAshleySEG]

It has certainly been a long time since I have had the opportunity to come back to DisBoards! Far too long in my opinion! For the short explanation...believe me the long one is really really really really long. So, DH aka Jeremy...

...received a promotion at work with a relocation. We had to get our house ready for sale, move quickly into a temporary home, find a new home to purchase, he had to get transitioned into said job. Finally have time to for TRs again! Yay!
With that in mind, it has been almost two years since we went on our 5th Anniversary cruise to Alaska, that was my very first trip report and it had such positive feedback that I wanted to let everyone know of our next trip which will be in June! This trip is for our 7th Anniversary, It isn't as long as the Alaska/Seattle trip...but it is no less Grand! Sorry for the pun. I'll get into it later

But first for those who don't know me, my name is Andrea!

I am at the current moment 29 years old, married to Jeremy for 7 years on the 16th of June. We are Disney Vacation Club members since 2009, avid Disney fanatics, Baseball Fans (Go Dodgers!), all around pretty fun people, well in my opinion anyway!! I started writing TRs so I could remember everything we do on our vacations. I love little details when writing them, I never realized how much they could possibly help everyone else until I finished my first one! It meant so much to me how positively everyone responded to it that I just have to get back into it! So with that in mind I wanted to detail a little of the planning and preparations that are going into our trip for June!

To start things off I wanted to tell everyone that it now takes us longer to drive to Disney World...which is a bummer, I-95 is seriously a really long road. We moved from Stanley, NC which is near the largest city of Charlotte to a little town where lots of movies are made...no, not Hollywood...but Southport, NC. Currently in town the TV series "Under The Dome" is shooting! If you are familiar with Nicholas Sparks, the film Safe Haven was filmed here. That is the town we were fortunate enough to be relocated to. Most people around here move here as a retirement sort of thing, it is really close to the beach, it has a lovely little downtown area, a 4th of July festival...much more exciting than the town we moved from. We actually have multiple restaurants to choose from now!

Back in February, we were trying to decide what we wanted to do for our Anniversary this year. Last year was the FIRST year we did NOTHING Disney related...we just had too much going on at the time. So this year we wanted to make sure that Disney was back in! We are bringing it back in with a vengeance too! Most people avoid the parks in the summer, too many crowds, too hot, too this, too that. Well...I am here to tell you that June is usually a pretty good month for us. The biggest thing you have to do though is PLAN PLAN PLAN!! It cannot be easier now with My Disney Experience.

I will leave you for the moment, but the next post will be all about our plans! Hope to see you there! Have A Magical Day!

The Trip Report is Here!!!

The Plan Link
Budgeting - Time & Money, Part One
Budgeting - Time & Money, Part Two
Budgeting - Time & Money, Part Three
Budgeting - Time & Money, Part Four
Budgeting - Time & Money, Part Five
Budgeting - Time & Money, Park Six
Packing List

Puppy Post #1
Puppy Post #2
Puppy Post #3
Puppy Post #4
Birdie Post #1

Recent Queen Victoria Room Menu
Mini March TR
Pre-Trip Weekday Visit!
Pixie Dust Magic Band Customization!
Vanellope Von Schweetz Magic Band Customization!

Movie Countdown 18 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 17 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 16 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 15 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 14 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 13 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 12 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 11 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 10 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 9 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 8 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 7 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 6 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 5 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 4 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 3 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 2 Days To Go!
Movie Countdown 1 Day To Go!

Disney Stylin' - Attire Selections
Got my Anniversary Dress!! Now Which Shoes to Wear?
Victoria & Albert's Main Dining Room Attire!
Sunscreen Schedule??


Countdown: Over!

Next Vacation Dates & Upcoming PTR Links:
Harambe Nights Trip - July 24-27, 2014

Victoria & Albert's Chef's Table/F&W/MNSSHP Trip - September 18-21, 2014

My 30th Birthday Trip! - October 10-13, 2014 It's a surprise so from here on out I am not allowed to look! But you guys can!!

MVMCP Trip - November 13-16, 2014

Road Trip to Disneyland for Jeremy's Birthday! - January 1-11, 2015*

*Disney's Grand Californian is our home DVC resort, however, we have never stayed there. We already made the reservation considering it is within our 11 month window and we wanted to have it in case we decided to go. This is a tentative trip, not confirmed as of yet. Still need to budget etc, to see if it is feasible!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Sounds like a fun trip! Congratulations on 7 years and your DH's job promotion!

 

[AAshleySEG]

I am a plan changer...I am always looking at the WDW website for things to do, or dinner res times that I like better than the ones I have. So this could potentially and more than likely will change as it gets closer to the trip...but stay with me! So without further ado...here is the tentative plan for our anniversary trip...drum roll please!

Updated: 6/1/14

The drive is about 9 1/2 hours from Southport, give or take with traffic/stops/etc. Usually we get up really early and leave, however on our trip in December we decided to leave the night before and just stop over at a hotel when we got tired of driving. We ended up at a Holiday Inn in Georgia which, we really enjoyed surprisingly, so this time we are going to do the same. Our trip will officially kick off on Thursday, June 12, 2014.

Jeremy will be leaving work early on the day of our vacation so our scheduled time to leave our house is now at 2:30pm sharp!

Hopefully we will already have the car packed and ready to go. We have 4 dogs...luckily...when we moved to Southport, my dad moved down here as well...so he will be taking care of the house and dogs for us while we are gone. I am very lucky that he is here to help us out. So basically, Jeremy will come home from work, we will jump in King Candy...let me explain. King Candy is the name of my car. It is a "Candy" White Turbo 2012 VW Beetle. We also have a tag on the front which says Turbotastic...in case you were interested...LOL...I know, I am a Disney dork, I can't help myself. So home from work, jump in car, go! We are going to drive for a bit until we get to the hotel for the night.

Friday, June 13, 2014
We are going to try and leave the hotel sometime between 7:00am to get on the road. Of course we will stop at what Jeremy calls a Quick Service to get some breakfast. Most non-Disney people would call it a Fast Food restaurant...not us. Since we are fortunate enough to be DVC members, Disney was having a special on Premium Annual Passes until April 30th. So we were ecstatic that we could get such a good deal on them. They are already attached to our MyDisneyExperience page so we have already chosen our Fastpass+ options as well. So our first stop when we officially go under that wonderful Walt Disney World sign will be Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village to check-in and get our parking pass so we can have free parking at the parks, I do not have my Passholder Discount Card as of yet. Then we are gonna drive over to Animal Kingdom Park, or depending on what time it is ride the bus.

From 12:05-1:05 We have a fastpass for Expedition Everest, After we finish that we are gonna head over to Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafe to get a little quick service lunch, not too big though. Our next Fastpass is for Kilimanjaro Safari from 1:15-2:15, then Disney Pals at Adventure Outpost from 2:20-3:20. After we are done we going to head back over to the resort.

Animal Kingdom is just an extra for us since technically we were not supposed to be there until later in the day, but with our Thursday night departure we were able to add it in, even if it is just for a little while. We will be staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village for the first 3 nights. This used to be our absolute favorite resort on Disney property...that is until we stayed at the Villas at the Grand Floridian...but we will get into that later. Once we get back to the resort we need to start getting ready, because for dinner that evening we are going to be in the Main Dining Room of the one and only Victoria & Albert's! If you have never been to V&A, I would HIGHLY recommend going. I know it is expensive, and Disney is expensive in general, but if you plan way ahead and save up the extra, I don't think you would be disappointed. Well I would hope you wouldn't be anyway. We have been fortunate enough to go to V&A a few times already, and each and every time we go, it amazes us even more. Once done with dinner we are going to go back to the resort, we need to get to bed a little early because we have so much to do the next day!

Saturday, June 14, 2014:
We may get up extra early to go get in line to get autograph fastpasses for someone, try to get there around 6:00-6:30 at the latest. This morning we have breakfast reservations at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater for the Star Wars Galactic Breakfast, hopefully we will still be able to watch the Stormtrooper pre-show before we actually get into the park!

After breakfast we are going to make our way over to our first FP which is from 9:25-10:25 at Star Tours to get us in the Star Wars mood! After that we reserved the Feel The Force Package which gives us access to the premium viewing area for the parade and fireworks shows, so we don't have to waste time getting a parade spot. Which is great for me, you also get beverages and snacks during the parade and a star wars themed dessert party during the fireworks! Really excited about it. So after we ride Star Tours we are gonna head over and get checked in for that. Next up after the parade we have a bunch of time open because we enjoy the different talks and shows that go on at the Premiere Theater. We are going to stand in line for the 1:45 and 7:00 shows, and we have a FP for the 3:30 show.

After the last of the shows at the theater we are gonna check out the Lobot Dance Party to see what's going on there! At 8:25-9:25 we have a FP for Tower of Terror. When we have finished riding it will be time to head over to the Star Wars Fireworks Dessert Party. Then back to the resort for bed!

Hopefully in there will be time to check out some shopping at Darth's Mall, and get some Star Wars character photos as well!

Sunday, June 15, 2014:

This morning we have breakfast reservations for Boma, what we enjoy about Boma is that we can usually get in and out pretty quickly with it being a buffet, and of course you get some awesome Jungle Juice! I did want to mention that we have a Tables in Wonderland Card which is great because it gives us a 20% discount at all of the restaurants on property...well "most" of them anyway. We can even use it for V&A until August. So we are gonna squeeze one more use out of it in the main dining room

Another new thing that Disney started recently was the Car Masters Weekend at Downtown Disney. We missed it last year, Jeremy really loves Cars, so when you mix Disney with a car show...he is there! So that morning/early afternoon we are planning on going to that at DTD. When we have finished looking at all those cars, we are gong to try and go bowling with some friends at Splitsville! Next we are going to head over to MK for a little while, we are going to find a parade spot for the Festival of Fantasy Parade, which neither of us have seen yet! After the parade we have a FP for Buzz from 3:10-4:10. When we leave there I was able to secure a reservation for Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Tea Room. This is another one of those things we really enjoy but don't get to do often because it is so hard to book, and we usually do last minute type trips. So I was super excited when we got it! After tea we are gonna monorail back over to the Magic Kingdom! 6:55-7:55 FP for Space Mountain, 7:55-8:55 FP for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, afterwards we are done at MK, back to the hotel for bed!

Monday, June 16, 2014 Our 7th Anniversary!

First thing this morning we have to load up the car with all of our belongings because tonight we are staying at a very special resort! This morning we are heading over to Magic Kingdom, will probably grab something small for breakfast maybe a pastry or something somewhere. At 9:00 we are doing the Keys to The Kingdom Tour! This will be our 3rd tour experience at WDW. Previously we have done the Wild Africa Trek and the Behind the Seeds Tours. This will be our first MK tour! Lunch is included which is awesome and we got a 15% discount for being DVC members Score! Once the tour is over we have a fastpass for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train from 2:30-3:30. When we are done riding we need to hurry over to Grand Floridian and get checked into the Villas! We have stayed one night there before and let me tell you...that resort is beyond beautiful! It is so hard to get in there because I book things last minute, so I was only able to get one night...but luckily it was the actual night of our anniversary! Jeremy has a haircut appointment at Ivy Trellis and I will be getting ready after we check in because we are going to The Queen Victoria Room at Victoria & Albert's!! If that doesn't say Happy Anniversary to us, I don't know what does! I can't wait to see Israel and chef Scott, it is always such a wonderful experience, like I said before, I would hope everyone could go at least once. Not sure what plans we are going to have after dinner, I guess it depends if I need a wheelbarrow to roll me around after eating that much food. Luckily, we are staying within walking distance

UPDATE:After dinner at Victoria & Albert's (weather depending), we want to go to the pool, we have never swam at the pool at GFV and in June it should definitely be warm enough as long as there are no thunder storms lurking about. After that it will be time for bed!

Tuesday, June 17, 2014:
Sadly we are going home today, but not without one last Disney something before we leave! Backstory: In June of 2006 we went on a 10 day trip to Disney World. Jeremy proposed to me on the last night which was June 16th. On June 17th for breakfast we went to 1900 Park Fare before we left, I was so giddy the whole time with that new ring I had on my finger and a Fiance!! I just could not stop smiling! We had a great breakfast there, so I thought to myself...why not have another breakfast there the same day 8 years later! So I booked it! Since we are going to be staying at the Grand Floridian Villas, it is going to be just a short walk to get there, and we won't even have to move the car! Before we leave I made one more Fastpass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 9:20-10:20am, once done we are going to buy TONS of popcorn for the trip home! Sadly then we have a really long drive home...I just hope I have enough popcorn buckets to last the whole way

 

[MidnightParade]

Sounds like fantastic plans! I think staying at the GF would be pretty amazing! Although I seem to just be adding to the lists of must try resorts lately. lol.
Your little town sounds charming! Haven't seen Safe Haven yet but I do watch Under the Dome(having read the book).

I totally think you should also make a puppy post as well! We don't have a puppy yet, but I like to like vicariously through others!!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Another SWWender!!

We need to start a sweet club.

Sooo many things in your report so far I want to comment on, but I'll restrain myself.

I now have 'turbotastic' in my head. Which is considerably worse than having a song stuck in my head...since its just one phrase. Ah, there we go, turbotastic was just taken over by the Sugar Rush song.

I booked the Feel the Force event too!! It is going to be sooo worth it.

 

[AAshleySEG]

Sounds like a fun trip! Congratulations on 7 years and your DH's job promotion!

Thank you! He really loves his new position and we both love our new town! I hope it will be a fun trip but if you are at Disney it should always be fun right! Thanks for reading!

Sounds like fantastic plans! I think staying at the GF would be pretty amazing! Although I seem to just be adding to the lists of must try resorts lately. lol.
Your little town sounds charming! Haven't seen Safe Haven yet but I do watch Under the Dome(having read the book).

I totally think you should also make a puppy post as well! We don't have a puppy yet, but I like to like vicariously through others!!

Aww Puppy Post, I may put one dog peach time that way I can expand the amount of time so my trip will get here faster! Great idea, I think I shall!! Thanks for reading!!

Another SWWender!!

We need to start a sweet club.

Sooo many things in your report so far I want to comment on, but I'll restrain myself.

I now have 'turbotastic' in my head. Which is considerably worse than having a song stuck in my head...since its just one phrase. Ah, there we go, turbotastic was just taken over by the Sugar Rush song.

I booked the Feel the Force event too!! It is going to be sooo worth it.

Is restraining yourself a good thing? I am nervous now..lol I hope none of the comments are bad I am really excited to try the new FtF Event, sorry about the Turbotastic thing...at least it isn't Sugar Rush anymore?? Thanks for reading!!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Suggested by MidnightParade, I decided that I would do a puppy post to share with you all of my dog family! I am going to start with the youngest and work my way up and do one maybe each week, so if you are interested good, if not hey just skip over it A warning, they are pretty cute though!! So here we go. For this week's puppy post I am sharing a picture of my youngest (3 yo) dog Quorra, she is a white miniature schnauzer. Let me tell you, she is a mommy's girl! She has a tad bit of separation anxiety every time we leave to go on a vacation. Luckily she has lots of friends to keep her company while we are gone. She loves to play with everyone, is as sweet as can be, she has the lowest rank in the pack, so sometimes she is so afraid to eat that I have to bring her a bowl of food and sit with her so she will eat it. I know it is pretty sad, but she is my little baby after all! So she always gets more than enough affection from me..I would consider her a little on the spoiled side! Tip: If you meet her, don't say the c-o-o-k-i-e word...she 100% knows what that means!

 

[AAshleySEG]

To me it is very important to budget for a trip. You don't want to run out of funds while you are there, and you don't want to waste your money because you don't have a plan. I am not going to lie, Disney World is a pretty expensive place to go, even if you are on a strict budget. I mean it costs almost $100 for a day ticket. I will give you an example of "someone" I know (my sister), who went to Disney very recently. They did not stay on property, made NO Advanced Dining Reservations, went the week of Easter during lots of school spring breaks, knew they were going to Disney but did not want to make a plan. If you are familiar with Disney at all...it is only possible to wing it on very few occasions and be able to do what you would like. Needless to say, they got there (didn't feel like they needed my help)straight away went to DtD, Now...they know we go all the time and had they called a LOT of their headache would have been spared. So my mother went with her and her two daughters. My mom calls me while they are in HORRIBLE DtD traffic, and asks, where is the bus to the park from DtD...ummm there isn't one, you have to go to a resort from there, then to the park. My sister then yells why is there so much traffic around here!!!! Had she called me, I would have informed her not to drive there or that way because of all of the construction going on. Next problem, once they got into DtD after parking it was dinner time so they decided on Rainforest Cafe on a Saturday night without reservations. They were so mad that they had to wait 3 hours for a table...could have easily been solved. The hotel they were staying at did have a Disney World shuttle however, my sister said it was too small so they then had to drive and pay for parking. This was only the first two days, they had an awful time and she said we are just not Disney people, it just isn't fun for us. That really makes me angry, because if people would understand how to do Disney, I highly doubt they would say that. So with that little example over, here is how I budget for my trip!

The first thing for me is a Gas budget, we rarely fly, only because it takes about 45 minutes to get to an airport, well there are usually no non-stop flights from ILM (Wilmington, NC) which means it would make us go from either there to Charlotte or Atlanta, then to Orlando. You have to get to the airport early, then wait for the flight, then take two flights with a connection in the middle, then take the Magical Express (Which I Do Love By The Way), then finally get to the resort, maybe or maybe not have a room ready, and if the buses are really busy since we can park for free we really enjoy having the luxury of a vehicle. So Disney World is about 570 Miles from our house, my car can go about 350-400 miles per tank, and with gas about $4 a gallon, it would still be much cheaper to drive than to fly even with the added expense of a hotel for the night. If we fill up before we leave, we fill up one time on the way, one time at Disney, then one time on our way home. So 4 tanks of gas, at about $50 each puts us at $200 or so dollars for gas during the trip.

Next I would budget for the meals to and from Walt Disney World, we are leaving at dinner time so we will pick up something quick on our way to the first hotel. For time, I am going to plan the best time to leave to miss the most traffic, but arrive so we can go straight to bed at a reasonable hour, between 9:00 and 10:00, which will make it easier for us to get up on time to drive the remainder of the way the next morning. Average price of a combo at a Quick Service (Fast Food) restaurant is between $12-17 for the two of us. I like to budget on the higher end because I would rather save enough money, and potentially have extra to bring home, than not save enough and wonder where the rest is going to come from. So for the dinner I would budget $20.

So from our hotel night in Georgia, it should take about 3 1/2 hours to get to Disney's Animal Kingdom Park, We know that our first FP+ time starts at 11:40, subtracting the 3 1/2 hours from that time we come up with 8:10, We need to leave the hotel by 8:00am. It will give us an extra 10 minutes for getting breakfast or gas if we need it, but will also give us the full hour to make it to the fastpass on time, I chose It's tough to be a bug because it is very accessible to get to as soon as you arrive at the park. Breakfast is usually less expensive than dinner, between $8-12 for us together, so I would budget $20 for breakfast that morning.

So as of now, that brings us to everything before we get to Disney World:
Gas $200 (For Entire Trip)
Food $40 (Before Disney Arrival)
The Hotel for the Night $119.88 (Pre-paid through hotels.com)

 

[AAshleySEG]

With Part Two of Budgeting We are going to start out as we roll through the gates of Walt Disney World! As far as admission to the parks as I previously mentioned we got an amazing DVC deal on Premium Annual Passes through Disney until April 30th for $484 pp + tax. That is like a $270 Savings. Now, we go to Disney World probably 4 times a year I would say, give or take. Most of the time we do long weekend trips because it is easier for us with Jeremy's work schedule. With that in mind, for us to get a 4 Day Park Hopper Ticket for THIS trip only it would cost us $754.02! I don't know about you but for us, it is a MUCH MUCH MUCH better deal to go ahead and get the PAPs! Plus we can get into the water parks, DisneyQuest, and in the fall we like to play golf, so we could play at Oak Trail for free! You get PAP discounts on merchandise as well and a whole host of other things! So for US, not saying it would be feasible for everyone else, but for us PAPs are the way to go.

Next I wanted to talk about Tables In Wonderland. This is a nifty little thing to have, and the more you use it, the more it pays off for you! 20% off at restaurants is a pretty big deal around Disney, they are very proud of their food and the prices show! As I get into each dining establishment, you will see how the 20% off adds up in savings. So that card we already have as well. Tips are another thing I have to factor into the cost of each meal. I was a restaurant server at Outback Steakhouse here in NC for 3 years when I was younger. I don't know about Florida, but here in NC, servers get paid less than $2.50 an hour! Their livelihood pretty much relies on the tips that they make. With my background in serving my tip practices are as follows, I hardly ever give below 20%, unless the service is just the most horrible service I have ever had in my life. That would be a completely different story, but most all of the time 20% is our norm. I know not everyone agrees with that, but to each their own. With that said, I have NEVER had a bad restaurant experience at Disney World, and we have been going for quite a while now, and have been to a huge number of different restaurants on property. Which means, that I add about 22-25% to each meal for tip just in case the server is outstanding for budgetary reasons. I know I probably sound like I crazy person but I was a math major in college, and I have a very analytic brain. I am very detail-oriented so even the smallest things kind of matter to me when I am planning or budgeting for a trip. Also, lots of people forget these types of numbers, then they get home and realize they spent way more than they thought they were going to spend. This will all make much more sense when I do the restaurant breakdown. If you can't handle my craziness I am sorry about that What is helpful for some people is not for others. This is how I do it, so I want to let everyone know in case they like it, but it is ok if you don't I am sure your plan works perfectly well for you!!

Arrival at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park should be sometime around 11:30-12:00 tentatively. Parking will be free because we are both passholders and staying on Disney property which is good to note. I can seriously go without giving them another $17 per day...LOL

Since it will be around lunch time when we get there, we will more than likely get something pretty small/snack size. Or get one entree at a Quick Service and share it only because we have Victoria & Albert's that night and when you have to eat a 7-course dinner, with optional upgrades, and 3 bread courses, you need some room if you know what I mean! If we get snacks we have to take into account the $2.50 per bottle of water/soda. I RARELY drink anything other than water with the exception of wine/hot tea/coffee at V&A, etc. so the soda thing would be for Jeremy. Snacks range in price from a pickle at $1.50 to a souvenir bucket of popcorn for $5.25. Don't even ask how many popcorn buckets I have...it is embarrassing...straight up EM-BARR-A-SSING. For a small meal to split we could get something like Honey Chicken at Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafe at $9.99, or a Vegetable Pizza with Caesar Salad at Pizzafari for $9.69, so with all of that circling around in your heads now, I would say a good budget for food would be $20 for lunch/snack. Animal Kingdom has more than enough food options so as long as I have the budget planned we can pick up something when we see it or are hungry. Normally when I go into a park I would pick up a Time Guide, but considering we have no real time for the shows on this day I will skip it, and I don't need No Map Ya'll! I could draw one myself...sadly. We should make it in to all of our FP times, get a small lunch, and be out of Animal Kingdom by 3:00 to go and check in at Kidani Village! We will have time to get checked in, get up to the room, unpack, rest, and then start getting ready for dinner tonight.

It takes about 15 minutes to get from Animal Kingdom Lodge to Grand Floridian, now with that said if you are eating at V&A, you get complimentary valet parking at the Grand. Which gives us another small expense, a tip for the valet. We usually do one on the way in and one on the way out. I know another thing most people don't do, it is an individual thing how you choose to tip or not to tip, so please don't think I am telling you to do it the way I am. I also need cash for tips of that nature, we usually use our debit card and/or MagicBand to pay for our expenses while on property so it is important for me to remember how much cash and in what denominations we need to have so we are prepared for them. So I will add $10 (2, $5 bills) to the Cash budget for valet tips. Victoria and Albert's is a place that you want to arrive maybe 5 minutes early. they do not seat people before their scheduled time (usually), but you shouldn't be late either. It's nice to get there 5 minutes early check in with them, so they know you are there and then you will be seated on time. We like to get to the resort maybe 10-15 minutes early and then walk around the shops or listen to the band play before we go in for dinner. With that in mind, the time schedule will be as follows. Leave KV at 30 minutes before our res with an arrival at the Grand about 15 minutes later. Slowly make our way up to V&A, have Jeremy check in about 5 minutes before, then be seated for dinner. It is a pretty long dining experience and takes maybe about 2 1/2 hours if you eat super quick to about 4 hours if you don't For budgetary reasons this will be the first restaurant where my math will come into play with the Tables in Wonderland Card and Tip Situations. Disclaimer: please don't be scared off from this moment. V&A is the most expensive restaurant on Disney property, we always know we are going ahead of time and save up for a while accordingly. If you are not into fine dining, then by all means don't feel like you have to do something this extravagant. I just want to put it out there so people can be prepared for the experience if they choose to do it. I don't want anyone to go in there and get sticker shock. I am sure it happens quite a bit, but I want to save people from it...LOL So...with that in mind...here we go.

The Main Dining Room at V&A is $135.00 per person that does not include tax or gratuity. You can get the wine pairing for an additional $65 per guest. Jeremy and I usually do not get the wine pairing, we usually opt for a bottle of wine instead, that way we can choose what we like because I don't like very many wines and I want to make sure I am going to like a wine before I pay for it and it goes to waste. There are also option upgrades you can get, ranging in price from $30 for Wild Turbot, to $210 for 1 ounce of caviar with garnishes. For us, if we are going to get any upgrades we get them in the Main Dining Room. Until August you can use the Tables in Wonderland card at V&A, but only in the main Dining Room. If you go to the Queen Victoria Room or Chef's Table you cannot use it. After July 31st, the restaurant will no longer be accepting it at all. So if we get any upgrades we will be sure to do so on this night so we can get the extra 20% off of them. As I mentioned before I drink water only the majority of the time. My absolute favorite water happens to be an option there. Hildon Still Water is one of the things we do choose to get, between 2-3 bottles usually lasts the meal. One bottle of wine will usually last the entire meal for us also. As far as upgrades, I usually get one upgrade and Jeremy does as well depending on what the choices are on that specific night. They are different every single time you go, so if you don't get something one night, the next time or if you go again, they may or probably will not have it. Which is why I like to budget us getting upgrades, even if we end up not getting them. For the V&A budget in the main dining room it will come out like this:

$135pp x 2 = $270
Wine = $75
Hildon Water = $36
Upgrades = $200
Total $581

20% Discount with Tables in Wonderland would be $116.20
which will then be added back as the gratuity after the tax.After you add in the tax and round up we will be at about $620. I am going to budget an additional $30 for potential outstanding service so my total will be $650 for dinner. Keep in mind that we may choose not to get wine or upgrades which would significantly reduce the amount of the dinner. And if you chose to go you may get more wine or upgrades than we would, or none at all. So plan accordingly for yourself if you choose to go.

Added to the budget will be:
$670 for food
$10 for Valet Tips
*Premium Annual Passes Already Acquired
Kidani Village Stay on DVC Points

Next time I will budget the day at Hollywood Studios and Star Wars Weekends!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Well I told you there would be updates, and there are!!

Canceled Boma Saturday morning
Added Star Wars Breakfast at Sci-Fi Dine-In on Saturday morning! Yay!!
Added Boma Breakfast Sunday morning! Can't not go to Boma, gotta get that Jungle Juice!

 

[MidnightParade]

Quorra is so cute yay!! I'm not a huge schnauzer person but I may have to take a second look at the miniatures! Adorable! Where did the name Quorra come from?

Holy budgeting batman! You are awesome! I only did a food budget when I was running the numbers to see if the DP would be worth it for us, it wasn't. We did estimate a food budget but I think I''m gonna have to increase it to accommodate tips now.

You're poor sister and mom! They won't turn down your help again I bet!!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Quorra is so cute yay!! I'm not a huge schnauzer person but I may have to take a second look at the miniatures! Adorable! Where did the name Quorra come from?

Holy budgeting batman! You are awesome! I only did a food budget when I was running the numbers to see if the DP would be worth it for us, it wasn't. We did estimate a food budget but I think I''m gonna have to increase it to accommodate tips now.

You're poor sister and mom! They won't turn down your help again I bet!!

Aww thanks, she is my little baby, I had never considered getting schnauzers either until we saw Arya the day we got her and fell in love. The name Quorra came from Tron: Legacy, disney references abound in our house...LOL even if they are random and semi-obscure

Yeah, I am a budget nut, I know... I just want to be prepared and make sure that we still have money when we come home...haha!

 

[MidnightParade]

Ahhh, okay initially I was thinking it was Avatar(The Last Air Bender) but I just realized it's 'Korra' (In its sequel....i think). Tron is cool though! We have a Rizzo and a Mouse ourselves so I completely get it!

Budgeting is good! Look forward to more tips!

 

[AAshleySEG]

So for the next part of budgeting time and money, I am going to conquer our day at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Star Wars Weekends!

Animal Kingdom Lodge is about a 10 minutes drive to Hollywood Studios, that morning we have a dining reservation for the Galactic Star Wars breakfast at Sci-Fi Dine-In. We need to be at the res about 10-15 minutes early. With that in mind we will need to leave about 30-40 minutes before our reservation to make sure we have adequate time to park, get inside the park and make our way to that location.

The price of the breakfast is $47.99 pp. With tax & tip, I will need to add $130 to the budget for dining. From 8:55-9:55am we have a FP+ for Tower of Terror and at 9:55-10:55 Star Tours. As soon as we finish our Star Tours ride we need to head over to Min & Bill's Dockside Diner to check-in for our Feel The Force Package. Snacks and beverages will be provided at the parade area so we will not need to factor in any additional expenses at that time.

Motorcade viewing is from 11:00-12:00. From 12:00-1:00 we have a FP+ for Toy Story Midway Mania! The rest of the afternoon will be devoted to going to the shows at the Premiere Theater is they are of interest to us, if not then we may stand in some character photo lines.

We may stop and get a quick service lunch/dinner somewhere, maybe Pizza Planet or something of that nature so add in $30, then additional snack potential at around $20

The last thing of the night is to head over to the reserved viewing location for the fireworks shows. The dessert party is from 9:00-10:00 and the fireworks start at 9:45. After that we will make our way back to the hotel after a long and fun-filled day at Star Wars Weekends!

Added to the budget:
$180 for Food
$50 Merchandise Budget, we usually do not get any souvenirs, sometimes we see something at the SWW Event that we may get, I am going to budget for it just in case.
Feel The Force Event $108 Prepaid

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Look at you go with all of the planning and budgeting! Busy lady!

Your pup is so cute! I consider my dog to be family so I understand you wanting to include them in your TR.

I love reading good things about Boma, we are going there for the first time in November.

 

[AAshleySEG]

Look at you go with all of the planning and budgeting! Busy lady!

Your pup is so cute! I consider my dog to be family so I understand you wanting to include them in your TR.

I love reading good things about Boma, we are going there for the first time in November.

Boma is wonderful! I think I have been there maybe 10-15 times in the past 9 years. They have such a great buffet and like I said, that Jungle Juice for breakfast is to die for! I have not been there for dinner yet though, so I cannot comment on that. I hope you enjoy it!!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Alright, in this next section I am going to budget for Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!! Sorry...I got a little carried away.

Sunday morning we have a breakfast scheduled at Boma which is in Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House. Breakfast for person in high season is $24.49 per person I believe, at least when I looked it up on All Ears Menus it was. So for two people, subtract 20% for TiW, add 20% for tip and round up, we come to $65 to add to the food budget.

We are going to try and have a nice leisurely breakfast this morning. Car Master Weekend festivities according to the schedule from last year, which is all that I have to go on at the moment, start at around 10:00am. So we are probably going to try and take a bus to DTD about 9:15 or so, just so we can get there and see where everything is being held etc.

Around Noon or so we are probably going to get a little snacky which means I need to budget in some funds for snacks. Our options are if it is hot we may grab something at Ghirardelli. So around $9.95 +tax. Possibly a Large Popcorn and 2 drinks so $5.25 + $2.50 + $3.00. With those things in mind I am going to budget $20 for a snack at DTD.

We are also planning on going bowling with some friends at Splitsville. The cost of that I believe is $20pp for an hour and fifteen minutes. So I am going to add $50 to the budget for that.

Once we have finished everything we want to do at Car Masters weekend and DTD we are gonna hop on a bus to the Grand Floridian Resort where we have Afternoon Tea Reservations to Garden View Tea Room. We always get the same thing here, the Princess Kate Tea Service, for my tea I choose the Princess Breakfast Tea, and Jeremy always gets the Russian Earl Grey. The Princess Kate Tea Service is $38pp + tax -20% +Tip and rounding up would come to $100 to add to the food budget. Tables in Wonderland is accepted at this location as well!

With afternoon tea over we are going to slowly make our way over to the Magic Kingdom via the Monorail. Once inside we have a few fastpasses before dinner, hopefully the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will be open by then and I will have secured a FP+ time for it. At the moment they are unavailable so I have a FP for Buzz from 5:15-6:15, Space Mountain from 6:15-7:15 and Haunted Mansion as a placeholder from 7:25 to 8:25.

We are probably just going to snack a little at Magic Kingdom considering we are having afternoon tea so late, which is really a meal unto itself. So we are setting aside $30 for snacking potential!

If I recall MK has EMH tonight until 1:00am...we are not usually ones to stay up that late anymore which means we may just take the bus back to the resort after dinner. That has yet to be decided.

So added to the Budget we have:
$265 to the food budget.
We usually go to the LEGO store because we get a discount with our AP which is a really good deal so for the sake of our LEGO collection I am going to add an optional $20 LEGO merchandise budget.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Is restraining yourself a good thing? I am nervous now..lol I hope none of the comments are bad I am really excited to try the new FtF Event, sorry about the Turbotastic thing...at least it isn't Sugar Rush anymore?? Thanks for reading!!

haha sorry, I just meant I could have commented a ton but I didn't want to be overwhelming. I was up late that night with very little sleep, sorry.

We are thinking about Tables in Wonderland too, but I just can't decide if it will be a good deal for us.

 

[AAshleySEG]

haha sorry, I just meant I could have commented a ton but I didn't want to be overwhelming. I was up late that night with very little sleep, sorry.

We are thinking about Tables in Wonderland too, but I just can't decide if it will be a good deal for us.

You wouldn't overwhelm me! I love comments!! Don't be sorry either

The only real way to tell if it would be a good deal or not is to write it all out I guess. the first thing I would consider would be whether you get a discount on the Card to begin with whether it be DVC/Annual Passholder etc. If not, then you would have to factor in the full price. Secondly you would have to see how many restaurants you would use it at on your trip to see if it would pay for itself. The last thing to consider is how many trips you make to Disney within the year it would be valid. My husband and I take about 4 a year, but the one dinner at Victoria & Albert's pays for our card, we get a DVC discount on it. So everything else we use it for is bonus savings. It pretty much breaks down to that whatever you save with the card you end up saving the money you would have used on tips. But it is also good for up to 6 people, so that could potentially be a huge savings if you are having multiple people dining with you guys. Sorry for the long winded explanation...my brain works too hard sometimes.

 

[AAshleySEG]

I am very excited about Monday! It is our 7th Anniversary and we have a busy day planned, I know all of my days seem pretty busy. Well this one is probably on the tightest time schedule and therefore we may or may not get to everything I wanted to do today. So let's get started!

This morning we need to leave Animal Kingdom Lodge at a reasonable time with all of our luggage in tow and drive over to Grand Floridian Villas, we are going to park there , we may or may not go ahead and check-in, next we are gonna head on the monorail over to MK to grab a little breakfast. Even though it makes me sad that Main Street Bakery was taken over by a Starbucks theme, it is still a place we like to grab a quick breakfast if we are in Magic Kingdom with no breakfast res. Sandwiches are like $4.99 each, plus drinks, I am going to budget $20 for breakfast.

This morning we are doing the Keys To The Kingdom Tour which is already prepaid so no need to budget for it. We are supposed to meet 15 minutes beforehand at the Chamber of Commerce Building. The tour is 5 hours long and includes lunch at Columbia Harbor House. So no need to have a budget for lunch either. We should get out of the tour with "Possibly" enough time to get to Frontierland to try and catch the beginning of the Festival of Fantasy Parade. We have not seen it yet, so we would like to if it is possible. After the parade we need to hop on the monorail and high tail it back to Grand Floridian Villas to get ready for dinner. Jeremy has to go to Ivy Trellis for his haircut appointment. It will be nice not to have to drive over this time, we can just walk to get to dinner.

Tonight we are in the Queen Victoria Room at Victoria & Albert's, now I don't know if I mentioned this before but the only place I may take photos is of the outside of V&A. I go there for a nice relaxing dinner, so as a courtesy to others, I do not take photos there, it is pretty dark so unless you really know your way around a camera, you are going to be using a flash. I really do not like flashes going off all the time when I am trying to have a nice anniversary dinner with my husband, which is why I don't bother other people's dinner with my camera flashing. With that said, if you happen to have reserved the Chef's Table...take ALL the photos you want! You won't be bothering anyone because you will have that room all to yourself. So to save all of you guys from disappointment, I wanted to let you know ahead of time that there "may" not be any photos of the inside or food at Victoria & Albert's, someones comments may be able to change my mind, but as of now, that is my stance on the photo situation. I will have photos of the menus for you guys maybe the doorway, us getting ready or things like that.

SO...moving on. QVR is $210pp, we will get 2-3 bottles of Hildon water $36, we more than likely will not get any upgrades tonight if we got them the other day. But if Japanese Kobe is on the menu...Jeremy will get it no matter what. We will probably get a bottle of wine for our anniversary $75. The only reason I know the price of the wine is because we get the same one every time we go there. Queen Victoria Room is a 10 course dinner as opposed to the 7 in the Main Dining Room along with those 3 Bread courses, etc. So that is tons of food for us to be eating. I am going to go ahead and factor in $90 for upgrades, even though we more than likely will not get any. So with tax and tip, no discount this time, I am going to budget $800 for QVR. Usually after dinner in the QVR we are so tired and full that we go straight back to the room and crash, so I am not planning any other activities for our anniversary night.

Added to the budget will be:
$820 to the Food budget
$143.04 Prepaid for Keys to the Kingdom/Lunch Included