Our Special Trip

[WDWFantasmicFan]

This August/September, myself and the family will be heading back out to WDW for 2.5 weeks to celebrate dad's 50th birthday. Got a few questions that you guys may be able to help me with. But firstly, our plan so far;

- We will be at a Universal hotel for 2 days of our trip.
- Discovery Cove on one day.
- iDrive 360 and other iDrive attractions another day.
- Staying offsite

There will be 8 of us for his birthday, so planning to do something special - thinking a Wishes cruise
We want to eat somewhere nice before the cruise - any suggestions for restaurants nearby which cater for vegetarians, and offer American and/or Italian dining? Some members of our party are quite fussy eaters!!! Have any of you done a Wishes cruise before? Was it worth it? Any tips?

Just seen that MNSSHP starts September 2nd. None of us have been to this event before. Would it be worth going to for this trip? Looks a good event, but is it worth the small fortune it'd cost for all 8 of us to go?

Any suggestions for other things we could do to make the birthday trip a bit more special?

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[princesserin1350]

Sounds like a great trip! My dad's 50th birthday is also this year in September, and I wish we could take this trip!!!

I can't speak to most of your questions unfortunately, but I would say that MNSSHP is a lot of fun, but being that early in September, I would only pay that much for eight of you if you all really enjoy Halloween! The fireworks are spectacular, but you can see those from outside the park. The special parade and shows are great, but again, for Halloween fans (in my opinion). Dressing up in costume definitely adds to the fun, so if you do decide to attend, I'd say go all out!

 

[glassslippergirl]

HDDR is great for big groups, and they make a big deal about birthdays. I know you can request a vegetarian dinner but can't speak to its quality compared to the regular dinner, which is American country food served family style. We took my grandma for her 40th wedding anniversary and her 75th birthday-- many years apart. She loved both, talked about it for years after.

Can't speak from experience, but I'd book the private Wishes cruise in a heartbeat. With a large group, it's a smaller cost per person. To me, the more intimate experience would better commemorate a milestone birthday and would probably cost less than MNSSHP.