UPDATE 3/4: The OG Three Go Back to Dis-nay - a May 2022 Pre-Trip Report

[Goof's Girl]

Hello hello!

Today is a wonderful day - not only because it's going to be 60 degrees here in Ohio but because I just hit the 60 day window for my upcoming trip! That means it was time for dining reservations and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to start writing a pre-trip report.

I'm pretty new to the trip report writing community but I'm definitely not new to the DIS! I've been a lurker since high school and trip reports have always been my favorite part. Last October I wrote my very first trip report live from the parks - it was like keeping a trip diary and I had SO much fun with it! So I figured - why not do it again?

If you'd like to read those reports you can find the pre-trip report here and the full trip report here.

One of my favorite parts of reading these reports is the creative titles everyone comes up with! So I really tried to think hard about mine when starting this pre-trip report and make it at least a little eye-catching So what's the hidden meaning you might ask yourself?

Well, normally the Disney vacation crew has consisted of myself, my Disney Mom, and my Disney Dad for most of my life, but last year the crew went through SEVERAL changes. In March, my Disney Boyfriend and I took a quick weekend trip, in May my Disney Cousin joined for his graduation present, then in October my Disney Cousin's mom and her husband came for about 60% of that trip. It was a pretty busy year!

It also significantly altered my family's vacation style. Since we're DVC, and are lucky enough to go a few times a year, we take a super relaxed approach to the parks and rarely plan anything out in advance. We might make a dining reservation here and there but usually we wake up in the morning and kind of go where our mood takes us. The most standard schedule for my early rising family is to hit the parks in the early morning, head back in the afternoon for lunch and a nap then back to the parks early evening. Throw a couple pool days in there and that's the extent of our planning.

Having additional guests last year meant a lot more planning and time in the parks so they had the best trips possible! While we loved every minute of that experience, we're super excited for this trip because it's back to just the three of us (aka the OG crew) and our relaxed approach to Disney vacations.

Your next question might be...well if you're not planning then what are you going to cover in the pre-trip report? Great question! This report will cover intros, some of the planning I actually am doing, and then various posts about all the things I'd love to do on this trip. I'm not considering it so much a plan as it is a trip wish list I'll keep track of it here then see how much of it I actually get to on the trip itself.

Plus I'm hoping to connect with more of you and make some new friends! So, without further adieu, let's get started!


The OG crew: Disney Mom, me, Disney Dad!

 

[suse66]

Welcome to this part of the Dis and happy planning!

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[Goof's Girl]

Welcome to this part of the Dis and happy planning!

Thank you! Excited to be taking part more

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

I'm so glad you're here! thank you for following

 

[Goof's Girl]

Introductions

And we're back! I was totally planning on posting this yesterday but work got a little too hectic. Before I dive into the dining reservations I was able to snag yesterday, I want to introduce you to the crew.

Sarah - That's Me!


Much like everyone here, I live and breathe Disney. I've been going with my family at least a couple times a year for the past 20 years thanks to our DVC memberships and annual passes. There is always a trip countdown on my laptop and I will gladly talk anyone's ear off who wants to chat the parks, the cruise or really anything that has to do with Disney!

A little about my life outside of Disney - I work in technology public relations and truly I LOVE my job. Since PR is one of those things people are never quite sure what it is, here is the VERY simple explanation: I send A LOT of emails, talk on the phone, beg journalists to write about my clients and write press releases. And, depending on the time of the month/year, the hours can get pretty long. I'm incredibly lucky I found the company I did though, because just a couple weeks ago they announced an unlimited PTO policy and a bi-weekly four day work week.

The best part was that, during the company announcement, the head of the company joked that this meant more Disney trips for Sarah than every before - I love that they all know that's exactly where my head went! haha

I also love sharing my travel group's likes and dislikes so here are mine:

• Likes:
  • Goofy! I think my username gives that away
  • Ordering Starbucks for my parents when we’re together (at home or at Disney, doesn’t matter, love getting that little treat for them) - my go to is iced coffee with sweet vanilla cream and brown sugar syrup
  • Drinking around the world - especially the Baijiu punch in the China pavilion (when it’s available - which is becoming rarer)
  • California Grill
  • Pretty much any type of loaded french fry (but especially poutine at Disney Springs)
  • Carousel of Progress
  • Taking photos - a LOT of photos
  • Mickey ice cream sandwich
  • Gideon’s cookies
  • Homecoming moonshine
  • Trader Sam's Grog Grotto
• Dislikes:
  • Slow walking -> more on this in DD's dislikes
  • Spending all day in the park
  • Toy Story Land - I said what I said
  • The new Enchantment fireworks
  • Hot dogs
  • Any temp above 90
  • Swimming -> laying on a lounge chair is the exception

Disney Mom - DM!


DM is a main character if there ever was one. Not only is she the most generous person I’ve ever met but also the most organized. Her attention to detail means we never have to worry about DVC point distribution or not getting the exact resort we want. Seriously, she’s incredibly good at this. I like to think I somewhat inherited her talents as I now take care of all other reservations like dining - and everyone is typically pretty pleased. Either way DM is the woman I aspire to be.

In her spare time she does A LOT of volunteer work and spends time with our cousins (her godchildren). My parents live about 2 hours from me so we sadly don’t see each other as often as I like but they do a great job of making day trips and, because I work from home, I’ll head up for long weekends and extra days around holidays. I'm hoping my new flexible vacation and 4-day work weeks will mean more time with my family!

DM’s Disney Likes and Dislikes:

• Likes:
  • Morning power walks at Saratoga Springs
  • The Peoplemover
  • EPCOT
  • Stitch!!
  • Starbucks Iced coffee with mocha and sweet cream
  • Food and Wine Festival
  • Watching golfer’s from the balcony of Old Key West and telling them where they lost their ball
  • Boma breakfast OR dinner buffet
  • Homecoming moonshine
  • The Great Movie Ride - RIP
• Dislikes:
  • The lines at Disney Starbucks
  • Dessert - EXCEPT for buttercream, the woman loves buttercream
  • Castle projections <- this is a hot take but she misses when fireworks were just fireworks
  • Getting out of the Space Mountain ride vehicle
  • Closing down the parks

Disney Dad - DD!

If DM is a main character then DD would win an Oscar for his role as supporting actor. He’s a classic dad - cargo shorts and New Balances included. He didn’t grow up with Disney but got on the bandwagon pretty fast and is now a true fan!

However, as much as Disney has grown on him - it doesn’t hold a candle to his first two loves: hockey and golf. One he loves to watch (and I mean LOVES - he tracks it on his phone) and one he loves to play. Golf actually has a long history in our family with my dad and I volunteering at golf tournaments and my years of competition around the country. We’ve played a few rounds in Disney and enjoy it every time!

DD’s Disney Likes and Dislikes:

• Likes:
  • Morning power walks at Saratoga Springs (do you see a pattern)
  • Classic Mickey ice cream bars
  • Pretty much any buffet but preferably Germany and Boma
  • Caramel Frappuccinos from Starbucks
  • Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
  • Grumpy the dwarf
• Dislikes:
  • Slow walking -> doesn’t matter if it’s family or strangers, we don’t tolerate dawdlers
  • Lines -> patience is not a trait I inherited from my father
  • It’s a Small World
  • Pretty much all the coasters
  • Frozen Ever After -> honestly we all miss Maelstrom

That's the crew for this 7 day trip to the Wonderful World of Disney! In the next post I'll go over park and dining reservations!

 

[Goof's Girl]

Park and Dining Reservations

Ok turns out I don't want to answer emails this morning so I'm back with my park and dining reservations update! I'm going to bullet all this out so I don't overwhelm anyone with a huge wall of txt. Like I said, we're there 7 full days and 1 travel day so there is a lot to unpack here

Day 1: Travel + Epcot

• Flight: My parents are big proponents of driving down to Disney which, from Ohio is about 16-18 hours. But it's now a drive they split into 2 days. This time however, they're meeting me in my city and we're all flying down together.
• Arrival: After what will hopefully be an uneventful two hour flight, we should land at MCO around 6pm. This is a lot later flight than we normally take but more on this later. At this point, we split ways, with my mom and I going to get the luggage and my dad going to get the rental car. Will I get my usual airport Starbucks even at 6pm?? We'll see
• Resort: Disney Beach Club Villas (!!) this is one of our home DVC resorts and our favorite place to stay BY FAR so we're all super excited to be back staying here. This resort also inspired our decision to take a later flight as rooms at BCV are almost never ready until 4pm or later. This way, our room should be ready when we arrive and my parents can take their time getting down to pick me up to go to the airport.
• Park Reservation: Epcot! I mean, that one had to be obvious - a late arrival and staying at BCV, this was the obvious choice. We're all going to be super hungry by the time we arrive so I'm going to assume the evening will look like us dropping our bags at the resort and heading right to the Flower and Garden Festival for snackies. I'm hoping we have enough energy to watch Harmonious as well!

Day 2: Time to Settle In

• Park Reservation: We picked Epcot again! It's our favorite park as a family and has the added bonus of opening later than all the other parks so we won't be rushed in the morning. This is good because...
• Grocery Shopping: Since we're DVC, we stay in a villa with a kitchen and eat most of our meals in our room. I'm assuming we won't have time to grocery shop on our travel day so that errand will be reserved for the morning of day 2. The three stores in the Disney area we frequent the most are Winn Dixie, Publix, and Trader Joe's. Both my mom and I are on a health kick at the moment so the likely pick will be Trader Joe's for some of their mixed salads and frozen dinners.
• Other Plans: Here is where our go with the flow nature kicks in! Our plans for the rest of the day are going to be very weather-dependent. Will we go to the pool and save Epcot for the evening? Or will we go straight to Epcot for more food and drinks? I guess we'll find out in the trip report!

Day 3: Finally! A different park!

• Dining Reservation: We're headed back to Boma! If you read my last trip report, you know we snagged a dinner reservation shortly after they reopened. This time, my parents requested a breakfast reservation and, yesterday, I was able to deliver. So at 8:30am we'll roll up to one of the best buffets on property. I will likely wear a dress...ya know for room to expand haha
• Park Reservation: Well if we're going to Boma then the only logical choice is...Animal Kingdom!!! I can tell you right now that the first stop will be Creature Comforts to get an iced Starbucks coffee. Truly, I don't know what it is, but my favorite coffee is one I get in the morning from Creature Comforts and drink while looking at all the animals. It's tradition.
• Priorities for the Day: Besides Creature Comforts, our usual AK priorities are Kilimanjaro and Dinosaur and then just walking around the trails. I will say, ever since we discovered the Macaw show, that has been added to our list of park favorites as well.
• Park Hopping?: AK is usually a prime day for park hopping as we go in the morning and are back by early afternoon. If I had to guess, we'd go to Epcot or Hollywood Studios since we can walk but I know the pool is a big priority for DM this trip so the afternoon could be spent there as well.

Day 4: Half-ish way through the trip

• Park Reservation: Even though today is May the 4th, we're going to Magic Kingdom for a variety of reasons. 1) I'm a huge Star Wars fan but even I don't want to brave those crowds. 2) I'm a dark side nerd so I'd rather save my celebrations for Revenge of the 5th!
• Priorities for the Day: I haven't been in Disney for May the 4th in 3 years so I will definitely be on the hunt for merch - which can typically be found at both Hollywood Studios and Disney Springs. I'm going to guess that will take up a chunk of my morning - good thing there are multiple Starbucks at Disney Springs! Remaining priorities are centered around MK and include: Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, Hall of Presidents, Peoplemover, and Pirates! And if I can squeeze in a hand dipped corn dog, I won't say no!
• Park Hopping?: As I type this, it's shaping up to be a hectic day so if anything, I'm thinking another trip to Disney Springs may be in order but again, we'll play it by ear.

Alright there are now too emails in my inbox to ignore so I'll pause planning at the halfway point and say....to be continued...

 

[snikki]

I don’t think I ever posted on your October trip report but I remember reading it. The BaiJui drink is on my list to try after reading your report!

 

[Goof's Girl]

I don’t think I ever posted on your October trip report but I remember reading it. The BaiJui drink is on my list to try after reading your report!

Ah welcome and thank you for reading both! I can't wait to hear what you think of the punch - it truly is m favorite drink.

 

[Goof's Girl]

Park and Dining Reservations Continued

It's Friday - yay! I mentioned my work just introduced bi-weekly 4-day work weeks. So essentially half the company works one Friday and the other half works the other Friday. Today I'm in the working group but it's been remarkably quiet so I think a little Disney break makes perfect sense.

I left off with my suggested plans for Day 4 so let's jump into Day 5!

Day Five: Revenge of The Fifth

• Park Reservations: Today is our Hollywood Studio reservation! I chose the 5th instead of the 4th so I could still try all the themed Star Wars food but hopefully won't be battling the crowds. I do want to dress in theme but am still planning out my outfit so more on that soon!
• Priorities for the Day: Not to sound too much like a millennial here BUT my main priorities this day are food and photos. Last year there were some really cool Star Wars treats that were only available on the 4th and 5th so I'm hoping this year is no different. Then, for photos, I want to bring my actual camera and really spend some time getting cool photos in Galaxy's Edge as I've never really done that. They've always been quick phone snaps. For rides, we always like to try and get on Toy Story Midway Mania and Star Tours. I'd love to be able to ride Rise as well, but I've ridden it so many times over the last couple years that I'm not willing to wait in a massive line. So if we have to skip, it's not the end of the world. I also snagged an Oga's reservation for today for later in the evening. Truth be told, we may end up cancelling this one as we've been to Oga's several times over the past couple years and I think my parents are a little over it haha
• Park Hopping?: If I had to guess, I'd say probably not haha this is the point in the trip where park hopping will likely only be Epcot if we want a snack or want to see Harmonious.

Day Six: I'm the only one in my family who likes Magic Kingdom

• Park Reservation: Back to the kingdom we go! MK has turned into one of my parent's least favorite parks. I get it, it's crowded, it's a pain to drive there, you spend most of the day in lines. But I LOVE MK. It's my second favorite park next to Epcot! Plus I like to make my MK reservations during the week to avoid the extra crowds you see on weekends. So...here we are again.
• Priorities for the Day: I have a feeling this will be an early morning so we can get in so rides then go back to our resort for the afternoon. Ride priorities are pretty much exactly the same as the last MK day because those are our favorite rides. I could easily see us riding the Peoplemover a few times and just taking in the atmosphere. It's such a great feeling. As always for MK, Starbucks and hand-dipped corndogs are always on my priority list.
• Park Hopping?: Our post-MK evening will be a prime contender for a Disney Springs or Epcot evening. We will see!

Day Seven: One last look at the animals

• Park Reservation: Animal Kingdom!
• Priorities for the Day: This is my favorite park to show up early to and just grab a coffee and walk around. Showing up early is also beneficial to get in as many rides as possible with short lines. I think the main theme of the morning will be to get in then get out so we can catch some afternoon pool time.

Day Eight: See Ya Real Soon!

• Park Reservation: Had to make our last day our favorite park - Epcot! Although I am already sad even typing about the last da and we're not even in the parks yet! Does that make me crazy? haha
• Dining Reservation: I'm SO excited for today's reservation because I can't believe I got it. We'll be going to Space 220's lounge!! Mostly I'm just excited to take in the atmosphere and have a couple drinks - nothing crazy. But I timed this reservation with a very specific purpose. It's at 5:30 which is around when my family starts to run out of steam at the parks. I'm hoping this will perk us up enough to stay long enough for the fireworks.
• Priorities for the Day: Since it's the last day our main goals will be to get our final favorite snacks at the festival and see Harmonious one last time! Nothing crazy

And there it is! Our current high level plans for the trip, I'm so excited already!