This Time I Promise It Will Be More... (A NYE PTR) Updated 11/28

[soniam]

I am being completely bad right now. I have a trip report from March that's not even remotely close to being done. I also haven't done my trip report for the Podcast Anniversary trip in late July. I should be cooking dinner, washing clothes, and getting my lunch ready for tomorrow too Oh well. It's been killing me to not write a pre-trip report for our New Years Eve trip (December 27th to January 2nd), so this won't be fancy or full of pics.

This trip will be just DH and I. DS will be visiting the grandparents. We have never been to WDW during the holiday period, much less on New Years Eve. I know it will be really busy, and the crowds will be historical. But I promise it will be more relaxing this time. It will have to be more low key and not as commando if we want to survive the crowds.


Table of Contents

• Firsts (spoilers)
• Pre and Post Trip
• Plans Part 1
• Plans Part 2
• Plans Part 3

 

[soniam]

Plans Part 1 -
Arrival Day, December 27:
We land about 11am. After taking Magical Express to Port Orleans Riverside, we will hit Disney Springs and/or the Magic Kingdom hotels for the Christmas decorations. We will hit up Goofy's for custom rice krispy treats and World of Disney. I think we will probably eat a light lunch at Disney Springs. I still haven't decided where, maybe the bar at Homecoming or Morimoto's. I won't be getting an ADR though.
Dinner - California Grill and look around the Contemporary and Wilderness Lodge before dinner
Magic Kingdom - I wasn't originally going to book and FP+ for this day or plan anytime at the parks. However, I couldn't resist. We have APs so no need to buy extra tickets. I got Jungle Cruise 7:25pm, so that we can see the holiday overlay at night, Big Thunder Mountain 8:25pm, and Seven Dwarves Mine Train 9:25pm. We probably won't see the fireworks on this night, since we have 2 other MK nights. We might do some other rides to fill in the time or have more dessert If we don't feel like going to MK after dinner, it's no biggie. I thought it might be nice to walk off dinner though.

December 28:
Magic Kingdom - We will hit AM EMH. Lunch is at Skipper Canteen, which will be a first for us. FP+ start at 12:15pm with Pooh, then Seven Dwarves again, and finally Jungle Cruise to see the holiday overlay during the day. We will hit Space Mountain and Peter Pan first thing to avoid the horrible waits. We are not usually daytime parade people, but I really want to see the xmas parade. After that, we will head over to Trader Sam's for some drinks and nosh and checkout the Poly's and Grand Floridian's decorations. We will head back to MK to catch the holiday fireworks and hopefully do some rides without too much waiting. We have to hit all of the special xmas foods too; however, we have another MK day to help ensure this happens.

December 29:
Hollywood Studios - We will be there for rope drop and hit Rock N Roller Coaster first. Our FP+ start early with Toy Story at 9:45am, then Star Tours for the first of many rides, and finally Indiana Jones. I am always at a loss for what to pick at DHS, because I won't ride Tower of Terror and DH won't ride it unless DS makes him We scheduled FP+ early, because I want to make it over to Epcot in the afternoon to get the xmas food before its gone. Our first Epcot day isn't until NYE, and the special food leaves by the 30th. I am so looking forward to some good German xmas food. We went to Germany last year for xmas, and I am really missing it. Lunch is at 50s Prime Time. We at there for the first time last March and really liked it. We haven't eaten at Sci Fi either, but I want to save that for next summer when DS comes with us. Before we leave the park for Epcot and possibly a stop for ice cream on the Boardwalk, we will do Launch Bay and probably the meet & greets and definitely One Man's Dream, even though the movie is gone

I am still undecided about our evening show. We have seen Fantasmic so could miss that. We haven't seen Jingle Bell Jingle Bam, but I'm not feeling it so much, probably because the Star Wars show won't be there. I have heard that the holiday version of Illuminations is good; this would be our only time to do it. So, we may head back to DHS for Jingle Bam and then head over Epcot for the holiday show. This day is sounding kind of busy, but there's really not that much we want to do at DHS. We have seen all of the Star Wars stuff multiple times now. We aren't big into the shows, except Indy.

 

[soniam]

Plans Part 2 -
December 30:
Today we switch to Beach Club. I thought it would be nice to be able to walk to the hotel after our NYE night at Epcot. This will be our first split stay at WDW.

Magic Kingdom - Since we will be switching hotels, we won't be making rope drop. Plus, we will be staying late to see the NYE firework; I didn't want to push it by staying the entire day. Hopefully, we will get to the park about 10:30am. We have plenty of time until our first FP+, Space Mountain at 12:35pm, so we will probably eat lunch and do some of the less crowded attractions, like Tom Sawyer Island, the Riverboat, and Hall of Presidents. I really want to see it one last time with Obama. I am hoping to catch some of the Muppets shows in Liberty Square too. We will just snack or do quick service for lunch.

Our next FP+ are Big Thunder Mountain and Seven Dwarves Mine Train again. I am torn if I should switch them up, since we have FP+ for these on our arrival day. However, if we don't make it over to MK after dinner on that day, then this will be our only chance to ride BTMRR without a horrific wait. Plus, I wouldn't mind riding it twice. On our first MK day, 12/28, I switched BTMRR for Pooh but kept Seven Dwarves. If I do switch anything, it would be Seven Dwarves for maybe something like Haunted Mansion or Pirates. Later in the evening, the waits don't look too bad for these though.

This is the day where our patience will really have to kick in. We just won't be able to do everything we are used to doing. The lines are going to be long, and the park is going to be crowded. We might kill some time playing Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, since we didn't get to play in July. We won't be leaving the park today, because I don't want to risk not getting back in. We will spend most of the day doing puttering around stuff, including snacks, like Le Fou's brew, that we have never had. I am not expecting to be able to get much in the way of 4th or more FP+. I am also planning on using this "opportunity" to slow down, smell the roses, and take a lot of pictures.

Dinner is around 6pm at Be Our Guest. We have eaten dinner and lunch here before. It's not my favorite place, but I think it's pretty good. Plus, having a glass of champagne will be nice. Maybe we will even get a picture with Beast, which we usually skip. We will try and find stuff with low waits until the NYE fireworks. I don't think we will try to stake out a spot too early, maybe 30 minutes before. I am disappointed that there won't be the Main Street Electrical Parade. It's my favorite parade. Not having a nighttime parade at MK is such a travesty

New Years Eve:
Epcot - We will have the luxury for the first time of walking to a park from our hotel, the Beach Club. We have never stayed at the Epcot hotels or the Contemporary. We have stayed at Poly, but the monorail seems to be shut down so much it's not the benefit it used to be. Since this will be another long day, we won't hit rope drop. We will probably arrive around 10am. Since we will be right by it, I want to hit Les Halles in France for breakfast. Our FP+ start a little early with Mission Space Orange at 10:15am. Next is Spaceship Earth and then Soarin' after lunch. We will need to fill in some gaps between these FP+, so we will probably look around or head to some nearby countries. Norway has an excellent spiced coffee, and we love the school bread. We might have to hit La Cava early to avoid the lines. It wouldn't be a trip to Epcot without getting one of the best margaritas ever, which is saying a lot since we are from Texas.

Lunch will probably be something light. I want to save room for dinner but will need enough food to absorb the alcohol that I plan to consume I am super excited, because we will be doing our first tour ever, Behind the Seeds, in the afternoon. We thought a tour would be a great thing to do on a crowded park day. I don't know how much of Living with the Land you see on this tour, so we might do it after the tour. We will spend the rest of the day mainly in World Showcase until dinner. We might try to see Turtle Talk again. I think we saw it in March with the new Dory characters. It was really cute. We will probably do Gran Fiesta boat ride. Maybe with it being so crowded, I can work up the nerve to try to sneak a margarita onto the ride I don't know why I want to do this, but it just seems right to be able to drink on this.

Dinner will be a first for us, Monsieur Paul, for the early dinner seating at 5:45pm. I think we will try to dress a little nice, maybe a not fancy dress, skirt, or slacks for me and slacks for DH. It just doesn't seem right to wear jeans to such a nice restaurant, especially on NYE. However, I don't want to feel uncomfortable spending all day in the park and walking the distances we do at Epcot. We will miss the early Illuminations showing, but we have seen the regular one before. I didn't want to do dinner too late, because I really want to hang out at New Years celebrations at each the country. After dinner, we will just enjoy the party and atmosphere until the NYE version of Illuminations. I am hoping that we can meet up with @yulilin3, who runs the Star Wars and Jingle Bam threads. We always have a great time seeing her in the parks. It will be nice to be able to just walk back to the hotel too.

This day is the entire reason for this trip. We wanted to do something special on NYE, because we usually just stay home. The added bonus is that we are going to get to experience the holiday stuff at the parks, hotels, and Disney Springs. I am really looking forward to this. I wish the xmas food at Epcot would continue on this day, because I think I could drink a lot of egg nog and gluhwein on a day like this

 

[soniam]

Pre and Post Trip -
Pre-arrival:
We will be meeting my dad or mom halfway in Dallas on the the 26th. DH and I will spend the night at the Grand Hyatt in the airport I love this hotel. We did this once before and had a view of the planes taking off DH and I both love planes, so it was very cool. They have a stay and park deal, so that we can leave the car for a reasonable price in the garage.

Post Trip:
We will arrive last, so we will stay at the Grand Hyatt again. We will meet one of my parents again to pick up DS and drive back to Austin.

 

[soniam]

Plans Part 3 -
New Years Day:
We will be arriving midmorning to Animal Kingdom. I have a lunch and dinner reservation for Tiffins. We will probably do dinner, but I am leaving flexibility in case Rivers of Light opens For the other meal, we will do drinks and apps at Nomad Lounge. I am so addicted to their beautiful deck. I can't wait to be there during not summer weather. We will do Dinosaur, Safari, and Everest in the early afternoon with FP+. I might talk DH into doing Primevil Whirl too We will have to do Flights of Wonder too. We have to get dole whip with dark rum from Tamu Tamu, frozen chai at Royal Anandpur Tea, and possibly a cupcake from Kusafiri.

Since AK closes early, we might head to Disney Springs to see the drone show. We might skip the Trail of Trees; it looks pretty week.

January 2:
This is our last day, but it starts off awesomely with the Undiscovered Future World Tour at Epcot. I actually rearranged our plans for this, since the tour is not running during most of our trip. We love Epcot and especially Future World, so we are very excited. We will have a late lunch at Via Napoli, our first visit. I had to work hard to cram in FP+ for Soarin', Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth between lunch and leaving about 4pm via Magical Express. Luckily, we only have to walk back to Beach Club.

 

[rteetz]

I sure hope RoL is up by January, I want to see it! Lol

That sounds like a fun tour! I have never done any tours at WDW.

I love staying so close to Epcot.

 

[soniam]

Firsts:
We have a lot of firsts on this trip.

• Beach Club
• WDW Xmas decorations, including the resort
• Holidays around the World at Epcot, especially the food
• NYE at WDW and Epcot
• Jingle Cruise
• Holiday MK parade
• Holiday Wishes
• Holiday & NYE Illuminations
• Jingle Bell Jingle Bam (possibly)
• Rivers of Light (I am not holding my breath)
• Behind the Seeds Tour
• Undiscovered Future World Tour
• California Grill
• Skipper Canteen
• Monsieur Paul
• Via Napoli

 

[soniam]

I sure hope RoL is up by January, I want to see it! Lol

That sounds like a fun tour! I have never done any tours at WDW.

I love staying so close to Epcot.

We have never stayed at an Epcot resort. I am looking forward to it. We will probably stay at Beach Club in November 2017 for the Wine & Dine Runs too. I hope ROL is up, but I have mixed feelings after seeing the reviews However, I tried to limit what I read; I don't want to be tainted before even seeing it. We have never done a tour either, but it's a lot easier without our son. I thought with the parks being so busy, that tours would be the perfect way to get out of the crowds.