She's Having Deja Vu and Going Back to WDW, a June 2024 WL PTR

[GrandCalifornian]

So we are at 53 days to go and about all that's left to deal with are park tickets. I have been waiting to see if any particular deal pops up, but am pretty much resigned to ordering the 4 day park hoppers from Undercover Tourist.

Sounds good to me.

But... They came out with the 4 Park Magic Ticket. You get one park per day for four days at a fairly substantial discount. For our trip it would be $1781 for the four of us.

Do you really think you can do one park a day?

No, I can't.

I was just gonna say, you drug me to 3 on our last day.

I really like having the park hopping option, and our ADRs rely on it. That being said, we could technically save just a little bit if we bought single day Epcot passes in addition to our 4 Park Magic tickets. The total would be $2463.95, even with purchasing two "admissions" on our HS / Epcot day. It is mind boggling that that could actually save any money.

I'm still saying no though because it would keep us from park hopping any other day, which would mean only one possible visit to MK.

Yeah no , we cut down the length of the trip compared to what we used to do, so the extra cost of the tickets is made up for by the shorter trip. There I justified it!

Yep. I completely agree. I did however check out one more insane option, which is purchasing 2 day park hoppers and the 3 day 3 Park non-MK ticket for the other days. The cost would wind up being more than the 4 day park hoppers, but what's even worse we would have to deal with two sets of concurrent multi-day tickets. Yuck, I don't even know how they'd deal with that.

We would be at Guest Services every day. No, absolutely not.

Nope, not gonna happen. I finally consoled myself by seeing that even with our planned two days of park hopping we will save money versus buying additional park tickets.

So straight up non-discounted park hoppers aren't that bad compared to trying to take advantage of the single park discounted tickets.

Yep, just buy them. Don't overcomplicate it. Or I'm gonna make you go to the FLorida DMV for a residence pass

Ugh, we had a close friend who actually spent half a day of a Disney vacation doing that. He does not do that any more... So, there it is, if one wants to plan on one park per day they could save quite a bit of money right now, but in order to pack more in to a shorter trip we are sticking with the park hoppers.

Good Boy...

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Ticket prices are nuts, aren’t they?! I wasn’t thrilled to drop almost $2500 on three tickets for our family (at least my youngest is free!).

I think you made the right decision, though - it would be a pain in the butt to deal with (and correctly use) multiple tickets for a single trip.

 

[rdkeim]

You certainly explored every option! Ticket prices are crazy especially for a family. For a shorter trip I think hoppers are almost necessary. Good choice!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We did a short trip with Dana's sister last Sept and she had the four day $99 ticket. It was tough for us not to park hop because AK is not a full day park for us.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Ticket prices are nuts, aren’t they?! I wasn’t thrilled to drop almost $2500 on three tickets for our family (at least my youngest is free!).

I think you made the right decision, though - it would be a pain in the butt to deal with (and correctly use) multiple tickets for a single trip.

The ticket prices are crazy. It has always been a significant cost, but it used to be less than that for a lot more days. Oh well, we don’t have much choice about it.
I’m glad people don’t think we are crazy for still wanting to park hop, or at least have the option of doing it.

You certainly explored every option! Ticket prices are crazy especially for a family. For a shorter trip I think hoppers are almost necessary. Good choice!

I still haven’t bought anything, but we are convinced it is the best option. I just can’t picture one visit to MK.

We did a short trip with Dana's sister last Sept and she had the four day $99 ticket. It was tough for us not to park hop because AK is not a full day park for us.

Yeah, we would have a problem with each park being “one and done”. We love knowing that we could go back to any park on a whim if we want to.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Hi Everybody! We're still here patiently waiting and watching the countdown dip below 40 days. We've been super busy at work, but that does make the time fly by and the overtime helps pay for Disney.

The last week has been insane for us but we survived! We can finally share the things we got the kids for Easter for the trip. Sorry it took so long, Paul just pointed out that it’s been as long since Easter than it is to the trip.

It's not quite that long, but it is close. The kids Easter baskets had (and were) some fun things for the trip.

We got both kids new backpacks. Marshalls is super cute and shaped like a lego brick. He’s really excited about it. Allie needed a more multipurpose bag so we got her a luggage type backpack that she can use for sleepovers and school trips coming up. It’s a really cute bag too and seems super practical.

They got some fun things for the trip too. New earbuds, stuff for the plane, and Melissa even found some cool little personal fans on Amazon.

Yeah, we bought spray bottle fans last year and then we had to carry them around the whole time. This year I thought it’d be better to get smaller fans, they’re rechargeable and also work to charge a phone too. They should be super handy. Each of the kids got them and I got one for myself too.

They look pretty neat. Allie also has a cool little strap thing to hold her ear headbands. She is actually at Disneyland today with her friend living her best Disney life.

Oh yeah the Ear strap clippy things.

Oh! And her new socks, she got new socks with four of the fab 5 on them. They’re so cute.

Marshall got a Mickey hat off of Amazon, and it is cute for the price too. We have noticed that as he gets older it is harder to find Disney clothes for him.

Yes! I have been trying to pick up some new shirts for the trip for him and normally Kohl’s or Target have reasonably priced cute shirts but now they’re all too small. Everything in his size is Pokémon, or Minecraft, or Super Mario. It’s challenging to find Disney. We did pick up two shirts with Mickey on them today at Kohl’s though but they were the only two in his size. In smaller sizes they have lots of cute options.

I guess we will have to resort to shopping for specialty Disney shirts online for him too. There are cute things out there. Fortunately we pretty much have everything for the trip now, and before long we'll be packing. Wow, it is getting close.

It is! It’s almost time to dig out the packing cubes and bring the suitcases in.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Wow, in your kitchen picture, the kids' outerwear colors match their backpack colors! Did you all plan it that way?

 

[Wood Nymph]

This year I thought it’d be better to get smaller fans, they’re rechargeable and also work to charge a phone too. They should be super handy. Each of the kids got them and I got one for myself too.

The fans look like they would be perfect for a Disney trip. I'll be interested in how well they work during your trip.

Allie also has a cool little strap thing to hold her ear headbands.

That strap is a great idea.

 

[alohamom]

Melissa even found some cool little personal fans on Amazon.

Oh wow-these fans are great. I like that it is also a power bank and flashlight.
Thanks for posting about them, I just bought one!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Wow, in your kitchen picture, the kids' outerwear colors match their backpack colors! Did you all plan it that way?

Marshall just really likes blue. Allie tends to be pretty consistent with her color preferences too.

The fans look like they would be perfect for a Disney trip. I'll be interested in how well they work during your trip.

We will give them a try, but are excited that they are fairly small and have some use besides just as a fan.

That strap is a great idea.

It is pretty neat, that way she doesn't have to wear the ears to show them off.

Oh wow-these fans are great. I like that it is also a power bank and flashlight.
Thanks for posting about them, I just bought one!

We hope it works for you. We are excited to try them, and they are way more compact than a big water bottle fan (not to mention cheaper too...)

 

[KPeterso]

I have the ear strap that you got Allie. They work really well! It actually is always hanging off my purse since we go to Disneyland so often.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

The Disney treats in the Easter baskets are fun! I bought some personal fans for the first time and think we’ll enjoy having them. I’m also considering one of the ear straps like you got for Allie - my daughter is very excited to wear ears and I need someplace to put them!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I have the ear strap that you got Allie. They work really well! It actually is always hanging off my purse since we go to Disneyland so often.

That's awesome. They seemed to be really handy.

The Disney treats in the Easter baskets are fun! I bought some personal fans for the first time and think we’ll enjoy having them. I’m also considering one of the ear straps like you got for Allie - my daughter is very excited to wear ears and I need someplace to put them!

It was fun to add Disney to our Easter fun. The straps seem really neat.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We’re getting closer to the trip, and tonight we did something new in preparation for the trip that we have never had the opportunity to do before.

With our first class tickets we are able to pre-select meals for our flights! I remember flying when you got a hot meal on longer flights no matter what seat you were in but we haven’t had an actual meal on a domestic flight in a very very long time.

Melissa has gotten really into researching the flights, and knows the different meal options out of each hub. She’s read reviews of them and was really hoping for the opportunity to try the short rib.

I got a little excited and intense with the research. I wanted to know what the go to’s would be to order.

It started with researching the plane types, and in particular the 777-200ER that has the big lie flat pod seats, which should be quite an experience. Our fingers are crossed that we get to keep that awesome plane, but now back to the food.

Since our first flight is so early in the morning we get to choose breakfast. We have two options, a mushroom and leek fritatta, or a smoked salmon platter.

Neither sounded very good to me, but we gotta remember that it’s all more than we have ever had for any of our flights. Since I’m not a sweet potato fan I chose to go with the salmon, not because it sounds good itself but rather because everything else that comes with it sounds pretty good.

We’re not huge salmon fans in general but it does come with some fruit and a hard boiled egg and a bagel. It should be something good to pick at for a long flight. I also plan on bringing our normal plane snacks. What’s your favorite plane snack?

You are the best airplane snack packer. My go-to favorite is the little packets of snack mix from Target.

Ooo I love peanut butter M&Ms, I just have to be careful to not eat too many and get a tummy ache. Allie is reading over my shoulder and says her favorite is beef jerky.

Mmm, all good things, and I’m sure we will pack plenty this time. I’m looking forward to having plenty of Diet Coke to go with whatever we choose to eat.

Yeah I have a hard time with carbonated drinks on a plane, they make my tummy weird. I will probably pick up a Starbies coffee before we get on.

I on the other hand will have a Diet Coke on any occasion. Starbucks does look like a nice pre-flight snack for us, since we will still be at the airport a couple of hours before our 6am flight.

So thats our outbound flight. Then, we have the flight home. This one is a non-stop back to LAX and we get to pick a DINNER!

We had lots of options to choose from including two chicken dishes and a pasta dish, but finally there it was the short rib with Mac and Cheese.

According to my research, spending too much time on flyer talk, it seems that either the pasta, or the short rib is the way to go.

We all four made the same decision and went with the Short Rib for our last meal of the trip. Hopefully it lives up to the hype.

We figure everything is extra over what we normally get. Did I tell you that sometimes for dessert they have icecream sundaes.

Wow, if they serve me ice cream with my Diet Coke on one of those flights I may be a first class convert. That might not be a good thing though if I have to wait longer between trips to afford first class.

Ha, we’re all gonna want to be first class converts I’m afraid. We are well aware though that this can’t be an every time thing. I am super excited though.

It is going to be something to make this one special.

So we don’t have anything left to do I don’t think. Do we? OH the new magic bands got here this week.

Oh yes, the ones we ordered for the trip came in. I was convinced to get the DVC one.

You got it because it was green.

And because they don’t have WL ones available. That quest continues. Allie went with Big Thunder Mtn, while Marshall went with Jungle Cruise (partly because it was blue).

I decided to skip it because I had already ordered my Clarabell one.

That made sense, at least we each have one new one for this time.

I ordered a little usb hub on amazon to charge them because it’s crazy to have 4 more devices to charge.

Ugh yes, especially when the upside is random light and vibrations that we rarely understand. We talked about how it is confusing as someone who wears an Apple Watch because we expect it to mean something more.

Yeah, I’m hoping that gets better as they dial in what the experience is supposed to be. We weren’t sold on Magic Bands when they first rolled them out either.

That’s true, so we are in for now, but I don’t expect to be ordering more every time, unless of course they bring back a WL band.

I think that’s it for now. All that’s left is to pack I think.

Yep, and we’ll break out the bags in a couple of weeks.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I agree with you that neither one of those breakfast options looks good.

 

[Wood Nymph]

With our first class tickets we are able to pre-select meals for our flights! I remember flying when you got a hot meal on longer flights no matter what seat you were in but we haven’t had an actual meal on a domestic flight in a very very long time.

I remember when we would get two or three meals on our flights to/from Hawaii. They had stopped serving those meals by the time we took a flight in 2008.

The breakfast options don't like very practical, especially for children. They must have some other choices for them.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I agree with you that neither one of those breakfast options looks good.

Yeah, I was hoping for something more normal but oh well, we will eat at the airport and it be relying on it. If it is tasty, it will be a pleasant surprise.

I remember when we would get two or three meals on our flights to/from Hawaii. They had stopped serving those meals by the time we took a flight in 2008.

The breakfast options don't like very practical, especially for children. They must have some other choices for them.

Our Hawaiian Airlines flights two years ago had some food. Not a full meal but it was at least a warm entree. Other than that we’ve never had “real” food on a plane with the exception of when I flew to India for work in 2019 on a much older and well worn 777 with a whole lot more people on it. That was a 14 plus hour flight and did serve two meals, although I wasn’t sure what they were.

I bet they just don’t have a whole lot of kids in first class, but hopefully they have something more exciting for all four of us. We will see.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Love the Magic Band+ choices!

How fun to be able to choose your meals! It’s been years since I’ve eaten a meal on a plane (that I haven’t carried on) and that would be a fun experience. Those are rather odd breakfast choices, but I’m sure they keep better than pancakes or scrambled eggs. I do like both mushrooms/leeks and smoked salmon, though, so I’d have a tough time choosing between the two!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Love the Magic Band+ choices!

How fun to be able to choose your meals! It’s been years since I’ve eaten a meal on a plane (that I haven’t carried on) and that would be a fun experience. Those are rather odd breakfast choices, but I’m sure they keep better than pancakes or scrambled eggs. I do like both mushrooms/leeks and smoked salmon, though, so I’d have a tough time choosing between the two!

Yeah, we are suckers for new bands, even though we have a ton of old ones in bags at home, dating back to the original ones.

We are looking forward to being served a nice meal, but are still skeptical about the choices. You're probably right about the pancakes not keeping well, but I'd take them if they were an option. We'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Hi everybody, today is our single digit day!

We have started packing, and can’t believe the trip is so close.

We’re in the home stretch! Paul drug the suitcases in last night and Allie started packing her carryon backpack.

She got the chance to show it off to Grandma Nancy since they are visiting us this weekend.

Our schedule is jam packed for the next week and a half I’m really glad we get an extra day this weekend to try and get stuff done.

Even Allie was talking about how much stuff there is between now and the trip. She graduates from eighth grade on Friday.

Then on Saturday she has a Freshman ASB mixer, and then Next Monday she has an all day ASB retreat. So she needs to be completely packed by next Sunday night for sure.

She even has a new special bag for snacks.

The house sitters are coming next Monday night to go over taking care of the critters so in reality we all should be fully packed by next Sunday night.

And there’s only four work days this week to wrap things up at work before we are gone for a week. I am really looking forward to the break though.

Oh man we both need it.

In other acquisitions news, we picked up a new camera for Allie’s blog posts this time. After watching a ton of All Ears and DFB videos we figured she could use a handheld gimbal camera, and picked up a DJI pocket 2, which has stabilizing motors in all three directions.

She is super excited about learning how to use it and stepping up her vlogging.

For all of you it should result in higher quality blog videos this year. Be sure to check back for them in the trip report.

As we’re packing she started pulling out which ears are coming on the trip. She’s got quite the collection and too many to bring all of them for a 6 day trip so she narrowed down to just the ones that match her outfits

Here are the final four, the prized items in her collection.

I’m also sure there’ll be new acquisitions while we’re there.

I think that’s about it for now. All that’s left is packing the bags, and we’re working on that today.

Wish us luck with the final countdown of packing and laundry and cleaning