Hogwarts & HalloWishes - An October Birthday Surprise (Extra Day in the MK)

[AJRitz]

I'll probably get into background info a bit more as this Trip Report develops, from PTR to TR. But the quick introduction is that we're heading to Walt Disney World October 2-9, 2010. It will be DD's 8th birthday during our trip. Here's our cast of characters:
Me & DW:

DD7:

DS3:

None of us have ever been to DisneyWorld before. In addition, DD7 is a HUGE Harry Potter fan (we're working our way through the series for a second time right now). So we're starting our vacation with a day at Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which should be fully operational by the beginning of October. After playing with the numbers and putting together various packages on the WDW site, I got an Email PIN for 40% off on a Deluxe, and decided that we'd take advantage of that and splurge a bit. We're booked for October 2 through 8 in Concierge Level at the Poly.

We'll arrive in Orlando on the 1st, and stay that night on hotel points near Universal. If we can get an early flight, we'll hit WWoHP that afternoon and then again on the morning of the 2nd. At this point, we're staying flexible with the 2nd - depending on how much we get to experience at WWoHP on the 1st, we'll either go back there or head on to Disney. We're not planning on flying out until October 9, so we can enjoy a full final day at Disney. We'll stay that last night (on points again) at the Swan (our PIN wasn't good for that last night, since that's when the Columbus Day holiday weekend starts).

That's probably enough for one post. Next post - ADRs and Special Events

 

[AJRitz]

The original content of this post has been replaced with a table of contents
The Surprise Reveal - Pg. 4
Day 1 - Travel, Hard Rock, and The Kitchen - Pg. 4
Dude, Where's My Stuff? (A Hard Rock Hotel Aside) - Pg. 4
Day 2 - Missed It By THAT Much - Pg. 4
Day 2 - ALOHA! Welcome to Disney World! - Pg. 5
Day 3 - Animal Kingdom - Pg. 5
Day 3 - Ma'am, You're at Disney World - Pg. 5
Day 4 - First Day at Magic Kingdom - Pg. 6
Day 4 - MSEP, Wishes, and EMH - Pg. 6
Day 5 - No big! So not the drama. - Pg. 6
Day 6 - An Extra Day in the Magic Kingdom - Pg. 6

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Sounds like a great trip! I'm sure we'll all be interested to hear about the new Harry Potter park.

Cute kids!

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Make sure you take plenty of pictures of WWoHP. I'd love to see what they do with that, and I can't imagine us getting over there for at least a few years.

And check out this site: http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp You give it a city and a date range, and it will give you the historical weather averages, usually going back several years. It can help with packing, but you're going to want to pack for just about anything. When we were there last Oct (blue link in my siggy for the TR) we had record highs in the 90s one day, then record lows (upper 40) just a few days later!

 

[trennr]

 

[AJRitz]

Southwest Airlines opened up booking through the end of October today, and the fares look a bit better even than I expected (though not quite as good as I'd hoped). Of course, rather than pull the trigger on the plane tickets, it made me reconsider maybe making it into a road trip.

Driving saves us a lot of money, even figuring on the lower side on gas mileage and the higher side on gas prices, because not only is the transportation itself cheaper, but it saves us on transportation to and from the airport and the rental car in Orlando. Cheaper enough that we could stay on-property at Universal, and take advantage of early admission and front of the line privileges at WWoHP.

The obvious trade-off is time - the trip is just over 1200 miles from our house. We would have to break it into two legs. A good split looks like Atlanta, which is 14 hours according to Google Maps, but probably more like 17 hours with kid stops. Then another 7 hours (plus stops) to Universal. Getting home is no problem time-wise, because we've got the Columbus Day Holiday weekend to work with. But we'd have to add to extra days of vacation/missing school for the trip down. And 17 hours is nearly twice as long as the longest car trip the kids have ever taken.

The trip is a surprise, and I like the idea of heading off in the car and the kids not knowing the destinations until we pull up to the gates of the parks. We did about an 8 hour roadtrip this past summer, and the kids did great - they had fun watching movies and listening to music in the car. DD7 is old enough now to both read to herself and to her brother (hopefully without getting car sick). And they'll both sleep in the car when they're tired.

I'll go over all of this with DW tomorrow (and I'll probably have booked the plane tickets by tomorrow night ) - but I'm surprised by how intrigued I am with the possibility of a 21 hour car trip (each way) after having spent this evening looking into it.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

It can be done! Just be careful with the Cheese Balls.

 

[cmp1111]

Sounds like a wonderful trip, especially for the first one!

I drive fairly regularly (well, less now that my kids are in real school) from NH to central IL, which is 18 driving hours (not including the stops.) Movies are a must. We've found, as they get older, especially, that driving overnight is our best option, but my DH and I are both night owls, so we can do it. It works for us because then they sleep during the bulk (at least 50%, anyway) of the drive. However, I don't know if I'd do it going to WDW, because when we do it, our parents can watch the kids while we sleep part of the day away...

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I'd argue more for flying if you were just going to Disney, because then you wouldn't need to rent a car. But kids seem pretty resilient on long road trips. Sometimes they handle it better than the adults!

 

[DisneyDaddy-O]

sounds like a great trip, I cant wait to hear what you think of HP, this is something we are planning on doing with our boys. We have watched the movies 2-3 times each and are really looking forward to this.

For us the flight is about 3-1/2 hrs and the drive is a non-stop 22-24hrs. The only issue I have is how long it takes to get through all the "airport stuff". But with the cost of fuel and a room for a stop over and food vs the flight costs...not sure I would have to hammer out the numbers. To me it just seems easier to fly.

LeCellier is really nice if you can get an ADR, and if you have been reading my TR, I just added an update about our dinner at Kouzzina.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

For us the flight is about 3-1/2 hrs and the drive is a non-stop 22-24hrs. The only issue I have is how long it takes to get through all the "airport stuff". But with the cost of fuel and a room for a stop over and food vs the flight costs...not sure I would have to hammer out the numbers. To me it just seems easier to fly.

I did a summary of our driving costs (1200 miles) in the second update of my current TR. Our van gets about 22 MPG on the highway. Total fuel cost was around $160.

 

[AJRitz]

The travel decision has been made. We're going to fly it. What it came down to was that the kids probably would have been fine, but DW and I would have been exhausted when we arrived. And as DW put it, "if mama ain't happy, nobody's happy."

 

[AJRitz]

AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

Park hours for October just came out.

I planned our entire trip around a Tuesday Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

But according to the new park hours, the Tuesday MNSSHP won't start until the week after our trip. And, of course, now the TGM historical crowds information for our entire trip is off. So now I'm less than two weeks away from my ADR date, and almost all of the planning that I've done so far needs to be redone. Blargh.

This has NOT been my week.

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

We're going to be there at the same time and hoping there is a MNSSHP on Tuesday as well!

I'm watching the flights and hoping that Southwest drops a special soon.

Your schedule looks really good. I wish we were going to be able to make it to HP but I just don't think its in the cards for us this trip.

 

[AJRitz]

Park hours are out, and the scrambling begins.

As I mentioned, this is our first WDW trip, and the wealth of information available about WDW has made my usual role as obsessive planner even easier than usual - right up until it hit me that we'll be at our 180-day ADR date in just a couple of weeks, and the dates for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party won't be out yet. Pretty much the entire trip is planned around MNSSHP, making sure the kids have enough rest before the party and recovery time afterward. I've decided to just plow ahead, basing my planning decisions on last year's schedule for early October MNSSHPs. If they change the day of or get rid of the Tuesday mid-week party, I'll be scrambling.

So, assuming the schedule for MNSSHP stays the same, here's our (rough) plan:Of course it didn't. Changes in red.

Friday, Oct. 1 - Arrive in Orlando, hopefully early enough to spend the afternoon/evening at WWoHP. Stay at the Sheraton Four Points on reward points.
We're going to take an early flight that should get us in to Orlando before noon, giving us a decent afternoon at WWoHP. I'm about 90% certain now that I'm going to cancel the Sheraton, bite the bullet, and pay for a night at one of the Universal resorts. The morning "extra magic hour" and front of the line privileges are too enticing to pass up with only one full day for the park.

Saturday, Oct. 2 - More WWoHP in the morning (unless we've had our fill on Friday night). When we take our afternoon break, head over to WDW and check in at the Poly. Since we're flexible time-wise, trek over to AKL for dinner at Boma.
This is our full day at Islands of Adventure, so I think we'll stay a bit longer than initially anticipated - I need to remember that DS should get to pick some things (probably in Seussland) to do, since he's not yet into HP. For our transition to Disney, we'll do dinner at O'hana and then watch the water parade and Wishes from the beach before bedtime at the Poly.

Sunday, Oct. 3 - Animal Kingdom day. Dinner at Ohana.
Make that Magic Kingdom Day. Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern

Monday, Oct. 4 - Epcot Future World. Dinner at Teppen Edo. Stay for Illuminations if the kids got a long enough afternoon rest.
Still Epcot FW. Still leaning toward dinner at Teppen Edo. But we're going to save Illuminations for later in the week.

Tuesday, Oct. 5 - Late breakfast at Crystal Palace (or maybe CRT). Light touring at MK. No rushing for anything. Long afternoon break. Return to MK for MNSSHP. Stay late.
No MNSSHP So we're going to head to Hollywood Studios instead. Probably do Downtown Disney in the late afternoon/early evening and then do dinner there - I'm leaning toward Paradiso 37 (both DD and DS love live music).

Wednesday, Oct. 6 - Late breakfast at 1900 Park Faire. Casual touring at Hollywood Studios (DD will probably want to ride the R-n-R Coaster, but not ToT).
Animal Kingdom day instead. Since I've also decided that the car rental is going to be worth it, we'll keep the Africa theme going for the day, and head over to AKL for dinner at Boma after our post-park break.

Thursday, Oct. 7 - Back on a normal schedule. Epcot, focusing on World Showcase. Lunch around the world (hopefully with Food & Wine booths in the mix). Return after a break for DD's birthday dinner at Akershaus.
Mostly unchanged, though we'll push DD's birthday dinner later and stay at the park for Illuminations.

Friday, Oct. 8 - Last day. Full day (as much as the kids are up for) at Magic Kingdom. Still trying to decide on a dinner destination, as I want to conclude the trip with one last surprise - an Illuminations cruise (if we do this, I'll be looking for some folks to share the cruise). We'll spend the night at The Swan and head to the airport in the morning.
The Illuminations cruise will have to wait for another trip (and that's probably a good thing for the budget, with the switch to being on-property at Universal). We'll still head back to the Magic Kingdom, taking it easy and taking a long afternoon break. Because we'll head back to the park for MNSSHP. As our last day of touring, we'll let the kids stay as late as they can stand it. Tomorrow is just getaway day anyway. We can all sleep in and maybe hang out at the Swan pool a bit before heading to the airport to return to the mundane.

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

Hi,

Where did you find the hours posted? I've just checked the WDW website and the DIS site and neither of them are listed for October (or am I just blind?).

Jane

 

[AJRitz]

Hi,

Where did you find the hours posted? I've just checked the WDW website and the DIS site and neither of them are listed for October (or am I just blind?).

Jane

I got them here. The calendar only lets you click on dates through the end of September. But then it shows hours for the next ten days after the date you click. So clicking on September 30 gave me the times for the full length of our trip.

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

Clever!!!

Maybe they are planning to do the MNSSHP on Sunday, Thursday and Friday because the parks are closing at 7:00pm on those days and the rest of the week they are open till at least 9:00pm.

I'm going to cross my fingers for that. Of course that means that you'll have to rearrange your schedule again if that does happen, but heck isn't the planning half the fun?

 

[AJRitz]

Clever!!!

Maybe they are planning to do the MNSSHP on Sunday, Thursday and Friday because the parks are closing at 7:00pm on those days and the rest of the week they are open till at least 9:00pm.

I'm going to cross my fingers for that. Of course that means that you'll have to rearrange your schedule again if that does happen, but heck isn't the planning half the fun?

My new schedule assumes a MNSSHP on Friday. That seems to be a pretty safe bet, but if it doesn't work out that way then, yes, I would be back to the drawing board again.

 

[AJRitz]

One last round of (relatively minor) changes (below in green), and these ADRs have been sent off to the Poly IPO folks. Wish me luck!

As I mentioned, this is our first WDW trip, and the wealth of information available about WDW has made my usual role as obsessive planner even easier than usual - right up until it hit me that we'll be at our 180-day ADR date in just a couple of weeks, and the dates for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party won't be out yet. Pretty much the entire trip is planned around MNSSHP, making sure the kids have enough rest before the party and recovery time afterward. I've decided to just plow ahead, basing my planning decisions on last year's schedule for early October MNSSHPs. If they change the day of or get rid of the Tuesday mid-week party, I'll be scrambling.

So, assuming the schedule for MNSSHP stays the same, here's our (rough) plan:Of course it didn't. Changes in red.

Friday, Oct. 1 - Arrive in Orlando, hopefully early enough to spend the afternoon/evening at WWoHP. Stay at the Sheraton Four Points on reward points.
We're going to take an early flight that should get us in to Orlando before noon, giving us a decent afternoon at WWoHP. I'm about 90% certain now that I'm going to cancel the Sheraton, bite the bullet, and pay for a night at one of the Universal resorts. The morning "extra magic hour" and front of the line privileges are too enticing to pass up with only one full day for the park.

Saturday, Oct. 2 - More WWoHP in the morning (unless we've had our fill on Friday night). When we take our afternoon break, head over to WDW and check in at the Poly. Since we're flexible time-wise, trek over to AKL for dinner at Boma.
This is our full day at Islands of Adventure, so I think we'll stay a bit longer than initially anticipated - I need to remember that DS should get to pick some things (probably in Seussland) to do, since he's not yet into HP. For our transition to Disney, we'll do dinner at O'hana and then watch the water parade and Wishes from the beach before bedtime at the Poly.
Woo hoo! No changes here.

Sunday, Oct. 3 - Animal Kingdom day. Dinner at Ohana.
Make that Magic Kingdom Day. Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern
Changes here. Decided to try for an early CRT breakfast, to encourage us to be at MK, ready to roll, first thing in the morning. In the evening, we'll head to DTD and have dinner from CS there - probably either Earl of Sandwich or out-of-pocket with Wolfgang Puck Express.

Monday, Oct. 4 - Epcot Future World. Dinner at Teppen Edo. Stay for Illuminations if the kids got a long enough afternoon rest.
Still Epcot FW. Still leaning toward dinner at Teppen Edo. But we're going to save Illuminations for later in the week.
No changes here

Tuesday, Oct. 5 - Late breakfast at Crystal Palace (or maybe CRT). Light touring at MK. No rushing for anything. Long afternoon break. Return to MK for MNSSHP. Stay late.
No MNSSHP So we're going to head to Hollywood Studios instead. Probably do Downtown Disney in the late afternoon/early evening and then do dinner there - I'm leaning toward Paradiso 37 (both DD and DS love live music).
Since we did the evening at DTD on Sunday night, and DHS is an early close, I decided we could check out Wilderness Lodge and have dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe.

Wednesday, Oct. 6 - Late breakfast at 1900 Park Faire. Casual touring at Hollywood Studios (DD will probably want to ride the R-n-R Coaster, but not ToT).
Animal Kingdom day instead. Since I've also decided that the car rental is going to be worth it, we'll keep the Africa theme going for the day, and head over to AKL for dinner at Boma after our post-park break.
No changes.

Thursday, Oct. 7 - Back on a normal schedule. Epcot, focusing on World Showcase. Lunch around the world (hopefully with Food & Wine booths in the mix). Return after a break for DD's birthday dinner at Akershaus.
Mostly unchanged, though we'll push DD's birthday dinner later and stay at the park for Illuminations.
No changes.

Friday, Oct. 8 - Last day. Full day (as much as the kids are up for) at Magic Kingdom. Still trying to decide on a dinner destination, as I want to conclude the trip with one last surprise - an Illuminations cruise (if we do this, I'll be looking for some folks to share the cruise). We'll spend the night at The Swan and head to the airport in the morning.
The Illuminations cruise will have to wait for another trip (and that's probably a good thing for the budget, with the switch to being on-property at Universal). We'll still head back to the Magic Kingdom, taking it easy and taking a long afternoon break. Because we'll head back to the park for MNSSHP. As our last day of touring, we'll let the kids stay as late as they can stand it. Tomorrow is just getaway day anyway. We can all sleep in and maybe hang out at the Swan pool a bit before heading to the airport to return to the mundane.
No real "changes", but since we used 2 TS for CRT last time we were at the MK, we'll just do CS when we get back to the MK for MNSSHP.