The Goobs Go to Walt Disney World - A Sept/Oct PTR *UPDATED 9/15*

[chuff88]

I'm a little nervous to do this, but I decided to write a PTR for my first ever* trip to WDW. Our planning has been RIDICULOUS, and we never would have gotten through it without our awesome travel agent.

*Okay, not first EVER, but the last one with my family was 25 years ago, and the only other time I went was in high school and we didn't stay on property and we only spent a day in MK.

I am travelling with my mom, who is basically my best friend, for my 30th birthday. The real hero here is my dad, who will be driving us to and from the airport, and has already talked me down several times when I've freaked out about our budget.

Okay... so here we go...

Me: My name is Caroline and I'm turning 30 in August. I've been in denial about turning 30 for about 2 years, which is when I decided that the best way to celebrate would be by embracing my inner child and spending a week in WDW. I work full time wearing many hats at a non-profit arts organization in my town in Oregon. I work in our ticket office, but I am also the manager of all of our part-time staff, so I'm responsible for scheduling, hiring and training. My job can be pretty stressful at times, but its challenging, rewarding work that I'm happy to be doing. We have our annual two-week festival in August, and my birthday ALWAYS falls during it, so I decided to take the trip in Sept/Oct, because it 1) doesn't interfere with work, 2) won't be so hot, and 3) falls during my favorite season - HALLOWEEN SEASON! Before this job I got a Masters degree in English with an emphasis in film studies, so movies are a big part of my life. I've been to WDW twice (once when I was 4 and once very briefly in high school), and Disneyland 3 times (with family when I was 11-ish, in middle school and in college), and I have wanted to take a full WDW trip for years. I'm so excited it's finally happening.

FAVORITES:
Disney Movie: Hercules, Nightmare before Christmas
Character: Villains (Hades, Ursula and Scar top the list)
Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

My Mom: My mom, Pam, and I are incredibly close, think Rory and Lorelai on Gilmore Girls, but with a bigger age difference. She is super active and in way better shape despite being much older. We're both runners, but a year and a half after back surgery my mom is already leaving me in her dust. I definitely got my love of eating from my mom, who has described herself as not having the sensor in her brain that tells her when she's full. I also got my general weirdness from her. We have traveled together on several occasions, including 2 trips to NYC, a trip to Italy and France, and a recent trip to Washington DC that also included my dad.

DATES: September 29th-October 6th

HOTEL: Coronado Springs in a Water View Room

I'll go ahead and make separate posts for our ADRs, itinerary and special plans. We have A LOT planned... we're probably crazy. I'll also add pictures when I'm at a computer where I can access them.

 

[chuff88]

So here is our current ADR list... as it stands... after many changes. We are on the DxDP and are planning on a lot of signatures:

Sept. 29 - Arrival Night
Dinner at Flying Fish

Sept. 30 - HS Day
Brunch at Cali Grill
Dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby
TENTATIVE -SWGS Dessert Party (no Sept. availability yet, but we intend to book this)

Oct. 1 - DS and MK Day
Cake Decorating at Amorette's Patisserie
Homecomin' Lunch
Skipper Canteen for Dinner
HEA Dessert Party with Plaza Garden Viewing (before fireworks)

Oct. 2 - Universal Day
Jiko Dinner

Oct. 3 - AK and Epcot
Yak & Yeti Lunch (tentative, might change to Flametree BBQ, which obviously doesn't need an ADR)
Monsieur Paul Dinner
TENTATIVE - FEA Dessert Party (no Oct. availability yet, but we hope to book this for this date)

Oct. 4 - MK and MNSSHP
Kona Cafe Breakfast
Be Our Guest Dinner (pre-party)
TENTATIVE - Happy HalloWishes Dessert Party (until more details are released I am unsure if we want to do this)

Oct. 5 - Epcot Day
Olivia's Cafe Breakfast
Spice Road Table Dinner

Oct. 6 - AK Day
Sanaa Lunch
Tiffin's Dinner with ROL package

Oct. 7 - Departure Day
No meals because we leave pretty early

We are big food people. As my mom would say, "I can always eat," so we are definitely prioritizing meals and food for this trip. I think I'm probably most excited for the brunch at Cali Grill, Jiko, Tiffin's and Be Our Guest. Though, honestly, I'm excited for ALL of it. I love food, and I'm happily sacrificing some park time to do all TS meals (with the possible exception of Flametree). We will have 3 additional credits each that aren't accounted for here that we'll like use for QS breakfasts on 10/2, 10/3 and 10/6.

This has undergone a LOT of changes since we started our planning... and even since we made our initial ADRs at 180 days. I am considering changing some things on the first and second days, and doing HS when we arrive the first evening, with a meal at HBD and the SWGS dessert party. That would open up Sunday afternoon/evening for some other things, and we'd do Flying Fish that night. We'll see how that shakes out when the SWGS party dates get released.

 

[chuff88]

Remember when I said that our planning has been ridiculous? Well, just since I posted this yesterday I've mad some changes to our ADRs, which I'm going to chronicle in this post, before moving on to daily itineraries. I'm not sure if I should go ahead and edit the second post, or just write an entirely new ADR list. Maybe someone who's done this before can chime. For now, I'm making a new list in this post.

Sept. 29 - Arrival Night
7:00 - SWGS Dessert Party (no Sept. availability yet, but we plan to book this)
9:30 - The BOATHOUSE

Sept. 30 - HS Day
10:35 - California Grill Brunch (I'm currently trying to push this back to noon)
5:30 - Flying Fish
8:00 - Frozen Ever After Dessert Party (no Sept. availability yet, but we plan to book this)

Oct. 1 - DS and MK Day
9:00 - Cake Decorating at Amorette's Patisserie
11:35 - Homecomin'
5:00 - Skipper Canteen
7:30 - HEA Dessert Party with Plaza Garden Viewing

Oct. 2 - Universal Day
9:00 - Jiko

Oct. 3 - AK and Epcot
1:15 - Sanaa
7:30 - Monsieur Paul

Oct. 4 - MK and MNSSHP
9:00 - Kona Cafe
5:00 - Be Our Guest Dinner
TENTATIVE - Happy HalloWishes Dessert Party (until more details are released I am unsure if we want to do this)

Oct. 5 - Epcot Day
8:00 - Olivia's Cafe Breakfast
No Lunch ADR - Food and Wine Booths
6:40 - Spice Road Table Dinner

Oct. 6 - AK Day
4:45 - Tiffin's with ROL package

Oct. 7 - Departure Day
No meals because we leave pretty early

 

[chuff88]

SPECIAL PLANS:

Most of these are outlined in the ADRs post, but here are all of the special plans we're intending to do:

Sept. 29
Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party

Sept. 30
Frozen Ever After Dessert Party

Oct. 1
Amorette's Patisserie Cake Decorating Experience (booked)
Happily Ever After Dessert Party with Plaza Garden Viewing (booked)

Oct. 4
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (booked)
Happy Hallowishes Dessert Party (not for sure on this one)

Oct. 5
Return to Sleepy Hollow at 10pm

Oct. 6
Caring for Giants Tour at Animal Kingdom

 

[chuff88]

DAY ONE ITINERARY - September 29th, 2018

Our flight leaves bright and early at 5:15 am local time (8:15 am Orlando time, we're on the west coast). We have a brief stop in Denver, and are scheduled to land at 3:16 pm Orlando time. We got the luggage tags for Magical Express but are currently not planning to use them. My current plan is to take a Lyft from MCO to our resort, Coronado Springs, check in, and then head immediately to Hollywood Studios.

My hope is that we arrive at HS at approximately 5:30 pm. We might make a quick stop at the Hollywood Brown Derby lounge for a quick drink and snack, or we might go right onto some rides.

If we decide to just go right in to rides I am planning to make FP+ reservations for Midway Mania at 5:30 and Tower of Terror at 6:30. We probably won't get a whole lot of rides in before going to the SWGS Dessert Party at 7, but that's okay because we're planning to do EMH at HS the next morning.

I'm really excited for the SWGS dessert party because I love Star Wars and have for most of my life. I'm planning to be fully decked out in Star Wars gear. I have a porg tank top and a tank top with images from the first film, so I'm going to wear one of those, as well as a pair of R2-D2 socks that one of my friends got me for my birthday a few years ago. We also have a small porg that's serving as our trip mascot, so we'll be taking pictures of him in various locales.

After the dessert party we're going to head to Disney Springs for dinner at The BOATHOUSE, and then back to our resort what I'm sure will be some much needed sleep.

ETA: At this point, our Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge plan seems unlikely, and we intend to make the following FP+ reservations:

Toy Story Mania - 5:00pm
Tower of Terror - 6:00pm
Star Tours - 7:00pm

 

[reyasmommy]

I would do anything to be turning 30 again! I'm turning 40 in a couple of months and it's been hard to embrace. I'm celebrating in style though and that helps ease the pain a little. Enjoy!

 

[chuff88]

Holy wow I got behind on this. In the intervening weeks, my mom and I also booked our first Disney cruise ! We will be boarding the Wonder for an Alaskan cruise on 8/26/19 to celebrate a milestone birthday for my mom (out of respect I won't disclose WHICH milestone), and we are so excited! We're planning several shore excursions, with an emphasis on wildlife.

But now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

DAY TWO ITINERARY - September 30, 2018

We will be rope dropping Hollywood Studios for EMH on this morning. Our touring plan emphasizes Toy Story Land for the EMH, and then we will move on to the remaining attractions. My mom is hesitant about Tower of Terror and Rockin' Rollercoaster, but I think I'll be able to get her to come around. Our planned FP+ selections are:
Slinky Dog Dash - 9:00am
Rock 'n' Rollercoaster - 10:00am
Tower of Terror - 11:00am

At 11:45 we'll be leaving HS for brunch at the California Grill! Our ADR is at 12:15. We'd initially made a 10:35 ADR, but I figured out that a later ADR would work better for our touring. We're both super excited for this brunch! We are brunch lovers and have heard nothing but great things about this experience.

After brunch we're planning to play a round or two of mini golf at Fantasia Gardens, and then hop over to Epcot for some evening touring and our 6pm ADR at Monsieur Paul. We might try to catch Illuminations this night, but we're planning to do the Frozen Ever After dessert party later in our trip, so we might not both if it's not convenient. This night is our back up night for the dessert party, and if reservations get released for September before October, we'll likely make one for this night and then change it to 10/3 if/when that opens.

For our evening at Epcot we're hoping to make a couple of same day (4th+) FP+ reservations, one for Test Track and one for Soarin'. I realize this might be a crazy proposition, but I'm going to start refreshing and searching as soon as we step off ToT.

After Epcot I'm seriously considering trying to get us over to Trader Sam's Grog Grotto for an evening adult beverage.

 

[chuff88]

DAY THREE ITINERARY - October 1, 2018

The first day of October, my favorite month!!

We will be starting this day by doing the Cake Decorating Experience at Amorette's Patisserie. I specifically chose a Monday because that's one of the days that you decorate the seasonal cake. I'm hoping it's a pumpkin! Or a ghost! If anyone has done this experience I would love to hear impressions. We are incredibly excited, and this is one of the special events I'm choosing to do for my birthday.

After the cake decorating, we have an 11:35 ADR for lunch at Homecomin'. There are so many great choices at Disney Springs, but we thought a good, southern-style lunch would be really fun. After that we're planning to take some time in Disney Springs before heading over to Magic Kingdom.

We're hoping to arrive at Magic Kingdom around 3, and we plan to make the following FP+ reservations:
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - 2:30pm
Jungle Cruise - 3:30pm
Splash Mountain - 4:30pm

After enjoying some rides, we're having dinner at Skipper Canteen with a 5pm ADR. I'd like to get a 4th FP+ for Pirates of the Caribbean sometime after dinner if we can, and then we're heading to the HEA Dessert Party with Plaza Garden Viewing.

This night is one of our only opportunities to see HEA, so I booked the dessert party to remove a lot of the stress. I struggle in really packed crowds, and neither my mom or I are particularly comfortable "fighting" for our spot, so we thought this would be a fun option.

Hopefully the park hours for that night get extended (currently they close at 9 right after HEA) and we can get some more rides in. I expect this will happen, as it's a non-party night during MNSSHP season.

 

[chuff88]

DAY FOUR ITINERARY - October 2, 2018

On October 2nd we will be going to Universal. I have been dreaming of a Harry Potter theme park ever since I was 12 and reading the books with one of my best friends. When I heard that Universal was building it I felt like my dreams were really coming true, and this is the first opportunity I've had to visit.

We bought 1 day, 2 park tickets with the Universal Express pass, which also entitles us to getting in for the early opening. It's not super clear to me how that works, but we're planning to focus on the Wizarding World during the early opening time, and then do some of the other attractions not in the Wizarding World ( have very fond high school memories of the MIB ride and of Ripsaw Falls) before returning to the Wizarding World at the end of the day. I am so excited to experience the Wizarding World... it's unbelievable.

While Harry Potter is the biggest draw, one of my truest loves is Jaws, and I am torn between going all-out in Harry Potter garb, or paying homage to my beloved, fallen Jaws attraction. Time will tell...

After a long and exciting day at Universal we have a 9pm ADR at Jiko, and then we'll probably just turn in.

 

[dsnyrn]

I'm a little nervous to do this, but I decided to write a PTR for my first ever* trip to WDW. Our planning has been RIDICULOUS, and we never would have gotten through it without our awesome travel agent.

*Okay, not first EVER, but the last one with my family was 25 years ago, and the only other time I went was in high school and we didn't stay on property and we only spent a day in MK.

I am travelling with my mom, who is basically my best friend, for my 30th birthday. The real hero here is my dad, who will be driving us to and from the airport, and has already talked me down several times when I've freaked out about our budget.

Okay... so here we go...

Me: My name is Caroline and I'm turning 30 in August. I've been in denial about turning 30 for about 2 years, which is when I decided that the best way to celebrate would be by embracing my inner child and spending a week in WDW. I work full time wearing many hats at a non-profit arts organization in my town in Oregon. I work in our ticket office, but I am also the manager of all of our part-time staff, so I'm responsible for scheduling, hiring and training. My job can be pretty stressful at times, but its challenging, rewarding work that I'm happy to be doing. We have our annual two-week festival in August, and my birthday ALWAYS falls during it, so I decided to take the trip in Sept/Oct, because it 1) doesn't interfere with work, 2) won't be so hot, and 3) falls during my favorite season - HALLOWEEN SEASON! Before this job I got a Masters degree in English with an emphasis in film studies, so movies are a big part of my life. I've been to WDW twice (once when I was 4 and once very briefly in high school), and Disneyland 3 times (with family when I was 11-ish, in middle school and in college), and I have wanted to take a full WDW trip for years. I'm so excited it's finally happening.

FAVORITES:
Disney Movie: Hercules, Nightmare before Christmas
Character: Villains (Hades, Ursula and Scar top the list)
Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

My Mom: My mom, Pam, and I are incredibly close, think Rory and Lorelai on Gilmore Girls, but with a bigger age difference. She is super active and in way better shape despite being much older. We're both runners, but a year and a half after back surgery my mom is already leaving me in her dust. I definitely got my love of eating from my mom, who has described herself as not having the sensor in her brain that tells her when she's full. I also got my general weirdness from her. We have traveled together on several occasions, including 2 trips to NYC, a trip to Italy and France, and a recent trip to Washington DC that also included my dad.

DATES: September 29th-October 6th

HOTEL: Coronado Springs in a Water View Room

I'll go ahead and make separate posts for our ADRs, itinerary and special plans. We have A LOT planned... we're probably crazy. I'll also add pictures when I'm at a computer where I can access them.[/QUOTE

Hi, we are also a mom and daughter traveling team, 64 and 44. First time we are traveling with only the two of us!! So looking forward to this trip. Daughter is a Disney travel pro (LOL). I have been quite a few times also, last was five years ago, so to many Disney changes to experience!

We are also attending the MNSSHP Oct 4th!

 

[wisteria1019]

Wow! I also describe my daughter and myself as the Gilmore Girls (as do most people that I know). I look forward to following along - I have a solo trip coming up in October for my significant birthday - my daughters are early to mid thirties and in varying stages of pregnancy preventing them from coming to the World this autumn. Enjoy!

 

[ld4483]

DAY THREE ITINERARY - October 1, 2018

The first day of October, my favorite month!!

We will be starting this day by doing the Cake Decorating Experience at Amorette's Patisserie. I specifically chose a Monday because that's one of the days that you decorate the seasonal cake. I'm hoping it's a pumpkin! Or a ghost! If anyone has done this experience I would love to hear impressions. We are incredibly excited, and this is one of the special events I'm choosing to do for my birthday.

After the cake decorating, we have an 11:35 ADR for lunch at Homecomin'. There are so many great choices at Disney Springs, but we thought a good, southern-style lunch would be really fun. After that we're planning to take some time in Disney Springs before heading over to Magic Kingdom.

We're hoping to arrive at Magic Kingdom around 3, and we plan to make the following FP+ reservations:
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - 2:30pm
Jungle Cruise - 3:30pm
Splash Mountain - 4:30pm

After enjoying some rides, we're having dinner at Skipper Canteen with a 5pm ADR. I'd like to get a 4th FP+ for Pirates of the Caribbean sometime after dinner if we can, and then we're heading to the HEA Dessert Party with Plaza Garden Viewing.

This night is one of our only opportunities to see HEA, so I booked the dessert party to remove a lot of the stress. I struggle in really packed crowds, and neither my mom or I are particularly comfortable "fighting" for our spot, so we thought this would be a fun option.

Hopefully the park hours for that night get extended (currently they close at 9 right after HEA) and we can get some more rides in. I expect this will happen, as it's a non-party night during MNSSHP season.

The hubby and I did the cake decorating experience last year and LOVED it! So much fun! Even if you have never decorated a cake you will do great as the teachers are excellent! We thought the cake was delicious and (almost haha) too cute to eat! Unfortunately we did the class on a Thursday and had an early flight out on Saturday morning so could not eat that much cake in 1.5 days. We had also gone trick-or-treating during Mickey's Halloween Party and got sooooo much candy, so we shared the cake with others at the Polynesian where we were staying. I would love to do it again, but at the beginning of our stay instead of the end. PS. They will hold your cake in the cooler for pick up later in the day.

 

[chuff88]

The hubby and I did the cake decorating experience last year and LOVED it! So much fun! Even if you have never decorated a cake you will do great as the teachers are excellent! We thought the cake was delicious and (almost haha) too cute to eat! Unfortunately we did the class on a Thursday and had an early flight out on Saturday morning so could not eat that much cake in 1.5 days. We had also gone trick-or-treating during Mickey's Halloween Party and got sooooo much candy, so we shared the cake with others at the Polynesian where we were staying. I would love to do it again, but at the beginning of our stay instead of the end. PS. They will hold your cake in the cooler for pick up later in the day.

Glad to hear from someone who's done the cake decorating! We intentionally planned it super early in the trip so that we could eat the cake all week. I did know that they would hold it, which is awesome, but I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of getting it back to the room.

 

[chuff88]

DAY FIVE ITINERARY - 10/3/2018

This is the day that's probably the most up in the air at the moment, as we are planning to do Epcot's FEA Sparkling Dessert Party, but don't currently know if it'll be offered this night. If it's not, we'll do the party on 9/30 and adjust this day accordingly.

We're planning to start our day at Animal Kingdom, ropedropping Pandora and hitting the Safari, EE, and whatever else we can get in. I definitely want to make time for the bird show.

We're planning to leave AK around 1pm for our 1:35 ADR at Sanaa!! As a lover of all things bread I am particularly excited for this lunch. Also the opportunity to see zebras grazing is pretty cool.

After our lunch we're going to bebop over to Epcot, hopefully for some rides and then the FEA dessert party that night. If we end up doing the dessert party on 9/30, we might go to Epcot this night anyway, or we might go back to AK, or we might mini golf at Winter Summerland and then go to Disney Springs to just relax. We currently have a 10:30pm ADR at Raglan Road, but we would definitely make that earlier if our dessert party plans change.

 

[chuff88]

Since writing my last post I've basically decided that we will try to do the FEA dessert party on 9/30 as our first choice, because the more I thought about a leisurely afternoon/evening on 10/3 the more I liked it. Also, we have the Raglan Road ADR but if Jaleo is open we'll likely give that a try.

 

[shannie102]

For our evening at Epcot we're hoping to make a couple of same day (4th+) FP+ reservations, one for Test Track and one for Soarin'. I realize this might be a crazy proposition, but I'm going to start refreshing and searching as soon as we step off ToT.

Start checking as soon as you scan your magic band- i have had fantastic luck with getting awesome 4th FP like this. If you don't see something for the time you want at first book something and then modify- I swear they have "hidden" FP that they only give to modification not 4th. Enjoy HP!!!

 

[chuff88]

Alright friends, I would love some feedback about special events. I am interested in booking the Wild Africa Trek, but in order to do so would have to cut some planned special events. Here's how it looks currently:

9/29 - SW:AGS Dessert Party (planned)
9/30 - FEA Sparkling Dessert Party (planned)
10/1 - HEA Dessert Party (booked)
10/4 - MNSSHP & HalloWishes Plaza Garden Dessert Party (booked)
10/5 - Return to Sleepy Hollow (booked)
10/6 - Caring for Giants (planned)

I'm considering cutting Caring for Giants (because Wild Africa would make it redundant) and the FEA dessert party (for budget reasons) to make way for Wild Africa Trek, which we would do either on 10/3 or 10/6. What are people's thoughts on this? Is Wild Africa worth it? My mom and I both love animals and are in good health. Would we be making a big mistake by cutting out the FEA dessert party?

 

[wisteria1019]

Yikes! I am going for ten days not long after you and all that I have booked is three ADRs and MNSSHP with the intention of booking the Marceline to MK tour!

 

[chuff88]

Yikes! I am going for ten days not long after you and all that I have booked is three ADRs and MNSSHP with the intention of booking the Marceline to MK tour!

I am a chronic overplanner.

 

[chuff88]

Okay... I went for it and booked Wild Africa on 10/3 at 8am. It's PPO that day, which is pretty cool, and I think my mom will be really excited about it. I'm planning to keep it a secret from my mom (she thinks we're doing Caring for Giants, and this will be a surprise upgrade), and I think she'll be thrilled.

However, I'm now struggling with the fact that I need to take something out of our plans. We definitely want to keep our SW:AGS and HEA dessert party plans, but I'm torn between still doing the FEA dessert party on 9/29 and getting rid of the HalloWishes dessert party that we've already booked, or skipping the FEA dessert party and keeping Hallowishes. If anyone has any experience with these events and would like to chime in I'd greatly appreciate it!