Happily Ever After! A September 2015 Honeymoon PTR - UPDATED 4/30: Must-Do: EPCOT

[LindseyJo22]

Hello all! and

This will be my first Pre-Trip Report (and hopefully I'll actually make a Trip Report once we're back as well)! I'm excited to have a place to put all of my Disney-obsessive planning in preparation for a magical 5 days at WDW!

So, it seems like these things usually start out with introductions:

Here's my fiance and I from May 2014!

We went with his family for a wonderful early Summer trip, and something wonderful happened while we were there!

This is actually a funny story: He didn't propose in front of the castle, because I would have hated it (too many people, etc.). So we went the day after to get these cute pictures made. First off, I think we scared the photopass guy because he didn't understand that we had already done the proposal! Second, I couldn't stop laughing, so this is the best picture we ended up with

When we started talking about our Honeymoon, we debated a little bit, but realized that what we both wanted to do most was go back to the Most Magical Place on Earth!

Some details about us:
Me: I'm 25, a graduate student in library science, and have fallen in love with everything Disney World! I went quite a few times with my parents, but this trip really got me into the Disney obsession. It was the first time I was able to go around and pick what I wanted to do, where I wanted to eat, and it was just magical! I've basically been trying to plan a trip back ever since we got home

My favorite character is Winnie the Pooh, and my favorite Park is the Magic Kingdom, closely followed by Epcot.
My fiance Will is a graduate student getting a PhD in Physics (!). It's kind of fun to tell people that
His parents and family are super into Disney, which I love! His parents have DVC, which is awesome, and he is definitely a Disney fan, though maybe not as much on the obsessive planning as I have started to be.
His favorite character is Goofy, and favorite park is probably tied between MK and Epcot.

Our Honeymoon Trip

We were aiming for a mid-October honeymoon with Food and Wine and MNSSHP, but when we called this past week (7 month mark) to book our room, our preferred resort of Boardwalk was totally booked up! Honestly, we were kind of expecting this, but figured we could get something at Beach Club or Yacht Club. Not even a chance! The only places we could get for the 5 day stay was Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, or Animal Kingdom Villas.

Honestly, we cared more about the location than the events, so we moved our honeymoon date up to September! We booked a 6 night stay at Boardwalk in a Studio, and got on a waiting list for a Boardwalk view (!). So we'll be doing the honeymoon September 6-September 12, 2015, a few months after our wedding in July!

One of the most exciting parts of this trip for me is the resort (and the food). Our wedding present from FH's parents was the hotel booking plus theme park tickets, which is insanely generous! So really, we are paying for our food and gas and souvenirs, not too bad! Honestly, this is really what makes a Disney honeymoon even possible for us, since we're graduating, getting married, and also looking for jobs and probably moving for said positions. That's a lot of stuff at once, and grad student salaries don't really let you afford WDW!

*edit* wow! Managed to totally screw up the thread title! Fixing now

So stay tuned for lots of planning, obsessing, and excitement for our trip!

Table of Contents
Introduction
To Dining Plan or not To Dining Plan?
ADR Plans!
Disney Snack Bucket List



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[sailored]

Following along! We will be attending in September as well! You are going in September, right? I can't wait to read more!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Following along! We will be attending in September as well! You are going in September, right? I can't wait to read more!

Yes! I should probably edit the intro with our actual dates We booked September 6-12 at Boardwalk, and I am so excited! Not so excited that it may be sweltering, but it's Disney, so I'll be ok!

 

[LindseyJo22]

To Dining Plan or Not to Dining Plan?

That had been my question ever since I started looking into the possibility. Honestly, the idea of something pre-paid and "all-inclusive" feeling appealed to me, but only if it would actually be either a savings or a relatively negligible price increase on what we would pay OOP.

So, we sat down to do some calculating tonight. We put in the places we really want to go for Table-Service meals:

Raglan Road
Chefs de France
Kona Cafe
Crystal Palace (can't miss out on Pooh and friends!)
Garden Grille
Tokyo Dining (saw it on another TR and were totally drooling!)


From the beginning this was looking iffy, since we had 2 breakfast TS meals on here.

We then did an average of $30 for both of us for a Counter-Service meal, decided what we would want to eat at each TS place, and added in $60 for 1 snack/person/day at $5.

Even picking expensive entrees at Chefs and Raglan Road and getting double desserts at some of the restaurants, it was not going to save us any money to do a Dining Plan. We even added extra money to the snack and CS sections to see what our budget might look like if we went really crazy with both of those. I was curious to check, because for this honeymoon trip we are probably going to eat fancy meals and dessert more often than we would on a "regular" trip. But even so, none of the counter-service desserts looked super appealing most of the time, and even some of the TS desserts (like the ones at Tokyo Dining) were things we felt we just couldn't live without.

In the more detailed analysis I did over the summer, it comes out a lot closer with all of the things the dining plan includes, but with the way we actually ate last time we were at Disney, we just probably wouldn't actually get all of the things the DDP includes. We love our food, but decided we would rather be able to eat what we want and not feel like we "have" to eat a dessert that we aren't excited about or order something expensive just because we paid an outrageous amount of money for the DDP and want to feel like it was "worth it".

Now, I can definitely see that on another trip this might be an option. If we wanted to do more fancy dinner meals, or really just wanted to go all out, it could break even eventually. But I think for now, we'll probably table the DDP unless we come back with kids in the future, when it could potentially be a better value. Plus, I looked on the 2015 dining brochure, and they have gone down to 1 snack/day (I thought it used to be 2?)!

So, I'm looking forward to winging it, eating lots of delicious snacks (Dole Whip! Waffles! Mickey Bars!), and still probably saving some $ on food. And I will definitely be getting my refillable mug, because I use the one I have all the time! Plus, it's a pretty simple souvenir

Once we get some ADR's set, I'll be back! But first, I'm thinking about posting my bucket list for Disney snacks . I certainly won't hit all of them this trip, but I'm going to try to branch out from my standard Mickey Ice Cream Bar and Dole Whip!

 

[sailored]

I had used dining plan calculators to debate if it was worth the cost for us, there was just a small difference between DDP vs no DDP. So, I decided to just do the dining plan more so for the convenience.

Pleeeease post a snack bucket list. That will probably be my favorite post. Have you already booked your ADRs?

 

[LindseyJo22]

I had used dining plan calculators to debate if it was worth the cost for us, there was just a small difference between DDP vs no DDP. So, I decided to just do the dining plan more so for the convenience.

Pleeeease post a snack bucket list. That will probably be my favorite post. Have you already booked your ADRs?

Yeah, I looked at the dining plan calculator and did some really detailed spreadsheets, but when I thought back to how we ate on our recent vacation, the DDP just didn't really fit that. And we were definitely well fed! I definitely see how it works for a lot of people, though, and I would probably consider it pretty heavily if we ever end up doing any kind of package where Free Dining is possible, and we probably will once we're the ones paying for the hotel room!

I will be super interested to read about your DDP experience though; dining reviews may be my favorite thing on the boards; I love looking for new food to try!

And we literally just booked the majority of our ADR's tonight, so I'm going to update with that ASAP. Plus my snack list! It's already long, and I doubt I'll get them all done this trip, but it's fun to dream!

 

[LindseyJo22]

ADR's....Booked! (Mostly)

We got most of our bookings done tonight! Yes!!! After bugging Will (FH, it's just weird not to call him by his name ) about menus and food OOP versus DDP on Monday, I didn't want to Disney him out, but I had been compulsively checking the Crystal Palace breakfast availability and times before park opening were going fast! So, after we played some games and hung out for a while, I asked if he would be OK looking at some Disney reservations. Thankfully, when I asked about Disney-ing him out, he assured me that was not possible There are lots of reasons I love him

We quickly set about doing some Dining Reservations, and this is what we came up with!

9/6 (Arrival Day)
Garden Grill @ 5:55pm

Will seemed a little hesitant to book Garden Grill since we already have quite a few other reservations we want, and we didn't want to be totally stuffed the entire trip. I was really wanting to do this one though, because it was the one big thing he had said he always wanted to do. Thankfully, we thought it went well with our arrival day and would give us plenty of time to relax at the resort if we want before heading to dinner, or we could walk around Epcot. Plus, it is our honeymoon, and if there is a time to spend more money than we otherwise would on fabulous food, then this is it!

9/7
Kona Cafe for Breakfast @ 9:15

This was my pick at the last minute. Will's mom always talks about how awesome the Tonga Toast is, and we didn't get to go last time. I'm praying the construction at the Poly will be all done (it should be by September, right?), and this gives us a good excuse to make MK our first park on the first full day, which is the way I like to start out my Disney trips!

9/10
Be Our Guest lunch @ 12:15

We are both thrilled with BOG. Every time I see it on TRs I just fall even more in love with the theming and detail that went into this place. even I may have to find something Beauty and the Beast related to wear. I saw someone with a skirt that looked like the stained glass windows from the movie on another TR, and am coveting it now! The food here looks great, and at least one of us will definitely be trying some of The Grey Stuff!

9/11
Crystal Palace Breakfast @ 8:45

Even more MK! We were both really wanting to be those people that get into the park before it opens for a breakfast reservation. I want an empty main street picture, and one with the castle in the background without a giant crowd We'll see if we can do it! Plus, this breakfast has my favorite characters of all time, Winnie the Pooh and friends! The longest thing we stood in line for on our trip in May was for me to meet Pooh and Tigger, so when we figured out we could do the same thing while eating delicious food, we were sold. When I found out that Piglet and Eeyore are also there, I just couldn't pass it up! This is our last day at the parks, so I'm glad we'll be ending with my favorite characters

We are planning to add a dinner at Chefs de France for one of the other days, but aren't sure what our park plans are yet. So we may wait a while to do that one.

I am so excited about our reservations!! For this trip, we're on the fence about even going to AK, so no ADR's there. HS just doesn't have very appealing table service to me, so we will probably just forage for snacks or QS food if we are there around dinner time for Fantasmic! (which we will see at least once). I'm really happy that I know we're going some places I am really excited about, and we still have some wiggle room for the rest of the time (always room for more snacks!) .

Next up, my Ever-Expanding Disney Snack Bucket List! (sounds like something out of Harry Potter, doesn't it?)

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Following, how fun! We had the same dates originally! Congratulations, first off! A bunch of my friends are Library Sciencer's A few work in law firms, a few for public libraries. I love Boardwalk. It's probably our favorite--although that's nearly impossible to isolate, like picking a favorite kid We're DVC and still haven't stayed at AK or WL!

I hope you guys will split some ice cream at Beaches & Cream. That is the height of romance

 

[LindseyJo22]

Following, how fun! We had the same dates originally! Congratulations, first off! A bunch of my friends are Library Sciencer's A few work in law firms, a few for public libraries. I love Boardwalk. It's probably our favorite--although that's nearly impossible to isolate, like picking a favorite kid We're DVC and still haven't stayed at AK or WL!

I hope you guys will split some ice cream at Beaches & Cream. That is the height of romance

I'm hoping to end up in an academic library! I work in one now and really enjoy it, but I could see myself doing a lot of different things.

I am so thrilled about Boardwalk! My family had always stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, and definitely weren't DVC. So when I went with Will's family this summer, it was like a whole new world! We stayed at Bay Lake and it was just magical. I am already planning on the best way to save up for DVC for ourselves in the distant future, since we are definitely Disney people.

AK is on my list for the experience, but we aren't huge fans of that park, so it's not as high up as some other places. Wilderness Lodge seems pretty amazing though!

And I'll definitely keep Beaches and Cream in mind! It's just so hard to decide when Epcot and World Showcase is also so close when you want a snack

 

[LindseyJo22]

My Ever-Increasing Disney Snack List!

So, we have done all our ADR's for the moment, and I still have 110 days until Fastpass reservations open! What the heck am I going to do with myself? I think i'm going to start by doing lots of lists, shamelessly stealing from PippiDancer's PTR (which you should go read here).

All the Dining Reports on the boards have quickly increased my must-have Disney snacks exponentially. I absolutely love the classic Premium Mickey Bar, and I developed a love for Dole Whip on our last trip, but hadn't really branched out into all of the variety of Disney snack options. Since we're staying so close to Epcot, I'm thrilled that the World Showcase will be so close! So a lot of my snacks come from there . There are some classics, and I don't think I'll get to all of these this trip, but here are all of the awesome things I'd like to try from reading about them here. I'm sure it will be added to as I continue to read Trip and Dining reports!


MK

Dole Whip
Mickey Ice Cream Bar
Sleepy Hollow Waffle or Funnel Cake
LeFou’s Brew
Giant Cinnamon Roll
Grey Stuff (or other cupcake) from BOG

HS

Cupcake from Starring Rolls!
Mickey Pretzel

Epcot

Frozen Banana!
Something from the French Pastry
Cream cheese pretzel
School Bread or Sweet Pretzel from Norway
Something from Karramel Kuche

Some of these aren't specific, mostly because all the stuff at the French Pastry and Karramel Kuche that I've seen looks delicious Lots of pretzels on here too, because they all sound so good!

Please let me know if there's something that you recommend, as I'll definitely be making an effort to eat a variety of snacks while I'm at Disney


Next up, I'm thinking about some pre-trip purchases, and contemplating a Disneybound outfit for at least one day. I'll have to do some thinking about it, but I'm hoping to get together a good Belle outfit for when we do lunch at BOG!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Hi, joining in!

How wonderful that your in-laws are covering your hotel and park tickets! That allows you for more of one of my favorite things at Disney World - restaurants!

To weigh in on your snacks... my two favorite snacks are the Cream Cheese Pretzel (also available at the Lunching Pad at MK) and the Carrot Cake Cookie from the Writer's Stop in DHS. If you're at all a fan of carrot cake I'd highly recommend it! It is pretty sweet so it's tough to eat it all in one sitting, but it's very tasty the next day!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Hi, joining in!

How wonderful that your in-laws are covering your hotel and park tickets! That allows you for more of one of my favorite things at Disney World - restaurants!

To weigh in on your snacks... my two favorite snacks are the Cream Cheese Pretzel (also available at the Lunching Pad at MK) and the Carrot Cake Cookie from the Writer's Stop in DHS. If you're at all a fan of carrot cake I'd highly recommend it! It is pretty sweet so it's tough to eat it all in one sitting, but it's very tasty the next day!

I know! Believe me, we are thrilled. And it definitely lets us splurge on the food budget a lot more than we normally would The carrot cake cookie sounds delicious, I'm just always a little worried about the ratio of raisins to cake Raisins aren't my favorite, but I do love carrot cake

 

[DisneyHoover]

I like your snack list! After reading a lot of trip reports I've definitely added a cupcake from Starring Rolls to my snack bucket list. Last trip I got a dole whip which was awesome And I also got a Mickey pretzel since, duh, it's shaped like Mickey's head... what could be cooler? -- the pretzel shape was definitely nice but the taste left something to be desired I'm more of a sweeter pretzel person (i.e. Auntie Anne's) so I wasn't the biggest fan but hopefully you'll enjoy it!

 

[sailored]

My husband absolutely LOVES Dole Whips, he gets one every time we visit Disneyland. I have personally never tried one, not a pineapple fan.

 

[LindseyJo22]

I like your snack list! After reading a lot of trip reports I've definitely added a cupcake from Starring Rolls to my snack bucket list. Last trip I got a dole whip which was awesome And I also got a Mickey pretzel since, duh, it's shaped like Mickey's head... what could be cooler? -- the pretzel shape was definitely nice but the taste left something to be desired I'm more of a sweeter pretzel person (i.e. Auntie Anne's) so I wasn't the biggest fan but hopefully you'll enjoy it!

I actually enjoyed my mickey pretzel from last trip, but I'm not too picky when it comes to them! The carrot cake cookie may get added to this now though

My husband absolutely LOVES Dole Whips, he gets one every time we visit Disneyland. I have personally never tried one, not a pineapple fan.

I really enjoyed the pineapple twist; it was the perfect balance between tart and sweet. I can't stand the idea of the pineapple float, too much acid for me!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Must-Ride: Magic Kingdom!

So I haven't managed to actually buy anything for our trip yet, though I certainly would like to. Dang graduate student salary Plus, Will is looking for jobs and we've both been busy trying to graduate, so trip planning has not been happening so much recently. I've been keeping my Disney fever at bay by reading all the trip reports

To get the excitement going a little more, I thought I'd discuss some of my must-ride/must-do attractions at each of the parks.

First up is my favorite, the Magic Kingdom

Fantasyland

Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid
It's a Small World
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Philharmagic
Seven Dwarves Mine Train*

Adventureland

Jungle Cruise!
Tiki Room

Frontierland

Big Thunder Mountain*?
Country Bear Jamboree
Splash Mountain*?

Liberty Square

Haunted Mansion

Tomorrowland

Space Mountain*
Buzz Lightyear
PeopleMover
Carousel of Progress!

Honestly, this was really hard to narrow down. There are a few things in MK that I don't care that much about (Stitch, Astro Orbiter, Hall of Presidents, etc.) but it is definitely my favorite park, so almost all of the classics made it on here! I'm also really excited to do the Tiki Room since I'm pretty sure I have never seen it. As my stars show, I'm pretty sure we'll try to do fastpasses for some of the "mountains," and for the Mine Train if we can manage it! I am so beyond excited for that ride; it was supposed to be open when we went last May, but ended up opening just a week or so after we left, so we are both super ready to ride it

Of course, I had to include Winnie the Pooh because he is my favorite and I discovered a love for the corny jokes on the Jungle Cruise on our last trip, so we're definitely doing it again. I think Pirates is going to be closed during our visit, otherwise it would definitely be on this list!

Since we are focusing on Epcot and Magic Kingdom this trip, I think this list is totally manageable, especially if we get late night extra magic hours again. I'm pretty sure we did most of our big things on our arrival day last trip because it happened to coincide with night EMH

So, what is your favorite MK ride? Is there anything we should do that I haven't thought about? We are only 99 days from our fastpass reservations, and I can't wait!

 

[LindseyJo22]

*waves sheepishly* Hi again! I kind of abandoned this PTR in the frenzy of Master's paper writing and some family drama that is happening, but I'm still planning the trip in my head and reading tons of reports! Since we are staying so close to EPCOT this time, I thought that would be my next choice for must-ride attractions. Once we get our park days down more, I'll do a trip run-down, but we still have 69 days until FastPasses, so it will be a bit And only 79 days until our wedding!! I am just so excited

Must-Ride/See: EPCOT!

Future World:

-Spaceship Earth

-Test Track

-Living With the Land

-Soarin'

-Cool Zone (gotta get my soda fix!)

World Showcase

-Gran Fiesta Tour

-Agent P Scavenger Hunt, hopefully

-People-watching! I just love walking around World Showcase and looking at all of the stuff, so that's a big part of the fun at EPCOT for me.


Honestly, I am really excited about hopefully being able to spend more time enjoying World Showcase this trip. There are a few things on the Future World side that we will probably do (The Seas, Mission Space, etc.) but they aren't super high on my priority list. This trip, I want to take a little more time to be leisurely and enjoy the experience of the Disney atmosphere. We had really good success with FastPass+ last trip, so we're hoping that with the traditionally lower crowds in September and the effective use of our FP+ options we can be efficient and get our must-do attractions in while still having plenty of time to do things like wander the World Showcase and enjoy the resort areas.

Still trying to make a Chefs de France reservation at some point, but the app was having all sorts of trouble yesterday. Hoping I can talk Will into doing it soon!