Updated with Trip Report Link! - A Trip of Firsts! - A September 2018 Pre Trip Report

[Araminta18]

I did EMM during our August trip, and it was a highlight of the trip. Seriously. To be able to ride SDMT about 6 Times, stay on the ship at Peter Pan, and go ahead and do Small World and the Carousel was fab. Then we ran over and did Thunder Mountain and Haunted Mansion before getting our breakfast. Are our MK day so easy.

Oh, that does sound amazing...

 

[Araminta18]

So now, I'm anxiously awaiting Southwest to release flights for September...It was Feb 8th but now Feb 15th (thanks to the Sept 2018 thread for the heads up!).

But I've got my preliminary plan of action down- (no, I'm not a crazy overplanner, whaaaaat?!)

• Day One 9/14 (Arrival Day)
  • Lunch - Food and Wine Booths (Epcot) and/or The Edison (Disney Springs)
  • Dinner - Flying Fish (Boardwalk) (Late, like 9 pm)
    • Star Wars: The Void VR experience and riding the Amphicar (Disney Springs)
• Day Two 9/15 (Animal Kingdom)
  • Lunch - Yak n Yeti (AK)
  • Dinner - Satuli Canteen (AK, no ADR needed)
    • Pandora at night!
• Day Three 9/16 (Epcot/Hollywood Studios)
  • Breakfast - Bon Voyage Character Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno (Boardwalk)
  • Lunch - Food and Wine Booths! (Epcot)
  • Dinner - Hollywood Brown Derby (Hollywood Studios)
    • Star Wars Fireworks!
• Day Four 9/17 (Magic Kingdom)
  • Lunch - The Plaza (MK)
  • Dinner - Be Our Guest (MK)
    • Marceline to the Magic Kingdom Tour in the morning; Happily Ever After Dessert Party with Plaza Garden viewing
• Day Five 9/18 (Magic Kingdom) (MY BIRTHDAY!!)
  • Lunch - Be Our Guest (MK)
  • Dinner - Victoria and Albert's (!!!!!!!!!) (Grand Floridian)
    • Hoping that Toy Story land is open, cause we'll go there for the morning
• Day Six 9/19 (Magic Kingdom/Epcot)
  • Breakfast - Crystal Palace (MK)
  • Lunch - Food and Wine Booths (Epcot)
  • Dinner - Coral Reef
• Day Seven 9/20 (Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom)
  • Lunch - Sanaa (Animal Kingdom Lodge/Kidani Village) (early-11:30 am ish)
  • Dinner - Ohana (Poly) (late-8 or 8:30pm)
• Day Eight 9/21 (????/Magic Kingdom)
  • Breakfast - Early Morning Magic (MK) (maybe)
  • Dinner - Skipper Canteen (MK) (early, like 4:30)
    • MNSSHP!! The only characters I really want to meet are Tarzan and Jane, so hopefully this should be stress free and not filled with long lines
• Day Nine 9/22 (Departure Day)
  • Lunch - Food and Wine Booths (Epcot) and dessert at Beaches and Cream (Beach Club)

Still haven't worked out all the details (kind of waiting to see about Toy Story Land, etc) but so excited!

 

[kclark9830]

First of all, that Mary Poppins bag is BEAUTIFUL! Second, I like your dining choices. Third, darn about Southwest! I didn't know that...I thought they would release the schedules on 2/4. Rats!

 

[Araminta18]

First of all, that Mary Poppins bag is BEAUTIFUL! Second, I like your dining choices. Third, darn about Southwest! I didn't know that...I thought they would release the schedules on 2/4. Rats!

Isn't it gorgeous? I want it sooooo baaad. And we sooooo don't have that kind of money to spend on bags right now. So I'm just hoping that it's not a big seller and that it either goes on sale or is still around in September so I can buy it then after having time to save up.

Yea, I just left a comment on your PTR about Southwest! I've been checking their site every day or so just to make sure it stays the same. I'll let you know if it changes again!

 

[bluejasmine]

Hi we are also going in Sept but 9-16th! That Mary Poppins bag is the same one Im planning on getting lol

We are also doing Ohana, Yak and Yeti and hoping to get BOG for breakfast we did it in May and it was wonderful!

Coral Reef was my husbands favorite on our honeymoon, it was in 2008 and back then you could schedule a diver to hold up a message that you directed them to write. My Hubby loved it so its special to us, but we are wanting to try new things this trip and an old favorite Le Cellier...

 

[Araminta18]

Hi we are also going in Sept but 9-16th! That Mary Poppins bag is the same one Im planning on getting lol

We are also doing Ohana, Yak and Yeti and hoping to get BOG for breakfast we did it in May and it was wonderful!

Coral Reef was my husbands favorite on our honeymoon, it was in 2008 and back then you could schedule a diver to hold up a message that you directed them to write. My Hubby loved it so its special to us, but we are wanting to try new things this trip and an old favorite Le Cellier...

Yay September trips! Isn't the Mary Poppins bag so pretty? Just love it--glad I'm not the only one who loves it!

Good taste in restaurants! We did BoG for breakfast on our trip in 2016 and I liked it, but I liked dinner even better. But basically any meal at BoG is great

That's so neat about Coral Reef! That'd be really fun to schedule, bummer they still don't do it. We're excited to try eating there though!

 

[Araminta18]

Blergh, I want to keep planning, but the lack of info about Toy Story Land keeps throwing me off. Boooooooooooooo. Here's hoping they open it for fastpasses at least 60 days before the trip!

Also, decided to switch the party day to Sunday 9/16, so that if it gets rained out, we can try again on Friday 9/21 before we leave.

Only one more month until ADRs! Gonna try and get in at the Edison...I've been stalking all the blogs and things for info about it. Such excitement!

Edit: The Edison is on OpenTable!! One down, like 20 to go...

 

[bluejasmine]

ARGGG I cant wait to start my ADRS next month!

 

[Araminta18]

ARGGG I cant wait to start my ADRS next month!

Right there with you!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Araminta18]

FLIGHTS ARE BOOKED!

I've been tracking flights for a while, but was holding off on booking them until Southwest released flights for September. That was (finally!!) today. While there was a great non-stop flight down to Orlando at a time I wanted, the flight back to DC from Orlando was either not at a time I wanted or it wasn't non-stop. And since the flight between DC and Orlando is like 2 hours, I refuse to have a connection. So, after looking around, I ended up booking two one-way flights.

• Arrive in Orlando at 8:30ish am on Friday the 14th on Southwest (only $100 for the two flights, since I booked mine with points--huzzah!)
• Leave Orlando at 6:30ish on Saturday the 22nd, and arrive in DC around 8:30ish pm on Jet Blue. ($220 for the two flights, and it includes 1 checked bag apiece)

Puts us in Orlando a bit earlier than I planned, which is both good and bad (we're gonna need a nap or something... ), and leave slightly earlier than I was hoping (since the Magical Express will pick us about at 3:30ish), but overall, I'm really happy with the flights. Since we're renting DVC points, it's unlikely our room will be ready that early, but I will always take more time at Disney.

 

[kclark9830]

FLIGHTS ARE BOOKED!

I've been tracking flights for a while, but was holding off on booking them until Southwest released flights for September. That was (finally!!) today. While there was a great non-stop flight down to Orlando at a time I wanted, the flight back to DC from Orlando was either not at a time I wanted or it wasn't non-stop. And since the flight between DC and Orlando is like 2 hours, I refuse to have a connection. So, after looking around, I ended up booking two one-way flights.

• Arrive in Orlando at 8:30ish am on Friday the 14th on Southwest (only $100 for the two flights, since I booked mine with points--huzzah!)
• Leave Orlando at 6:30ish on Saturday the 22nd, and arrive in DC around 8:30ish pm on Jet Blue. ($220 for the two flights, and it includes 1 checked bag apiece)

Puts us in Orlando a bit earlier than I planned, which is both good and bad (we're gonna need a nap or something... ), and leave slightly earlier than I was hoping (since the Magical Express will pick us about at 3:30ish), but overall, I'm really happy with the flights. Since we're renting DVC points, it's unlikely our room will be ready that early, but I will always take more time at Disney.

I'm glad you got good flights! I haven't found anything I'm happy with . Southwest has always had nonstop flights to MCO from nearby airports, and it seems they've cut almost all of those out. So now, instead of an hour and fifteen minutes, I'm looking at 5+ hours because there are no nonstop flights. The two nonstop flights that there are (only one each way) are terrible times and prices. I'm really disappointed.

We've had a new airline come to a local airport--Silver Airways--and they've announced a cheap nonstop flight, but their online reviews are terrible. Lots of people complaining about cancelled flights with no compesation, or delayed flights with the delay lasting 24+ hours.

Sigh. So, I'm waiting and watching.

 

[Araminta18]

I'm glad you got good flights! I haven't found anything I'm happy with . Southwest has always had nonstop flights to MCO from nearby airports, and it seems they've cut almost all of those out. So now, instead of an hour and fifteen minutes, I'm looking at 5+ hours because there are no nonstop flights. The two nonstop flights that there are (only one each way) are terrible times and prices. I'm really disappointed.

We've had a new airline come to a local airport--Silver Airways--and they've announced a cheap nonstop flight, but their online reviews are terrible. Lots of people complaining about cancelled flights with no compesation, or delayed flights with the delay lasting 24+ hours.

Sigh. So, I'm waiting and watching.

Aw, that sucks! I'm sorry. It's horrible when you think you've got something planned and ready and then everything gets changed on you. I haven't heard anything about Silver Airways, but I used to fly Allegiant/Sun Country Air a lot, and they're another one of the budget carriers. I usually flew out in the early mornings and didn't have a problem. I think as delays have the chance to build up later in the day you'll have a worse experience, but if the flights they're offering are cheap and in the mornings, might be worth it? Just one perspective. Course the flip side is that now I don't fly them (or the other budget carriers like frontier or spirit) if I can help it, just 'cause I feel more comfortable with the main carriers. So watching and waiting is probably a good strategy. I hope the prices come down for you and you're able to get flights you like! Do you use google's flight tracker tool? It emails you when the prices change, which I found helpful.

 

[Araminta18]

So.....this happened:


There was some unexpected overtime at work, and that plus some of our tax refund meant we had enough that I could get it. It's so pretty! I love it.

And I totally revised our park days schedule, after the confirmation that Toy Story land will be open and Kenny the Pirate releasing his guess of hours and party days. This has us doing less running around and just makes sense. Now here's hoping all the assumptions made about park hours and party days work out!

New schedule:

• Day One 9/14 (Arrival Day/Epcot)
  • Breakfast - Probably a crepe from France in Epcot, if I know my husband. And I like to think that I do.
    • Outlets!
  • Lunch - The Edison (Disney Springs)
    • Star Wars: The Void VR experience, riding the Amphicar, etc
    • then Epcot rides and a Food & Wine booth snacks as we walk through Epcot back to the Boardwalk
  • Dinner - Flying Fish (Boardwalk) (7 pm ish)
• Day Two 9/15 (Animal Kingdom)
  • Sleep in
  • Breakfast - Boardwalk Bakery?
  • Lunch - Yak n Yeti (AK)
  • Dinner - Satuli Canteen (AK, no ADR needed)
    • Pandora at night!
• Day Three 9/16 (Magic Kingdom)
  • Breakfast - Crystal Palace (MK)
  • Dinner - Skipper Canteen (early, like 4:30 pm)
    • MNSSHP!
• Day Four 9/17 (Hollywood Studios/Epcot)
  • Breakfast - Boardwalk Bakery?
    • Toy Story Land!
  • Lunch - Food and Wine Booths (Epcot)
  • Dinner - Coral Reef (Epcot)
    • Illuminations
• Day Five 9/18 (Magic Kingdom) (MY BIRTHDAY!!)
  • Breakfast - Early Morning Magic (Magic Kingdom)
  • Lunch - Be Our Guest (MK)
  • Dinner - Victoria and Albert's (!!!!!!!!!) (Grand Floridian)
    • Early Morning Magic
• Day Six 9/19 (Animal Kingdom/Hollywood Studios)
  • Lunch - Sanaa (Animal Kingdom Lodge/Kidani Village) (early-11:30 am ish)
  • Dinner - Ohana (Polynesian) (late-8 or 8:30 pm)
• Day Seven 9/20 (Magic Kingdom)
  • Lunch - The Plaza (MK) (early-11:30 am ish)
  • Dinner - Be Our Guest (MK) (early - 5 or 5:30pmish)
    • Marceline to the Magic Kingdom tour in the morning; Happily Ever After Fireworks Dessert Party!
• Day Eight 9/21 (Epcot/Hollywood Studios)
  • Breakfast - Bon Voyage Character Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno (Boardwalk)
  • Lunch - Food and Wine booths (Epcot)
  • Dinner - Hollywood Brown Derby (HS) (about 7 pm...early enough to get out in time for the Star Wars fireworks!)
    • Star Wars fireworks!!
• Day Nine 9/22 (Departure Day)
  • Toy Story Land in the morning
  • Lunch - Food and Wine Booths (Epcot) and dessert at Beaches and Cream (Beach Club)

 

[Araminta18]

ADRs!​

Despite the website troubles, I was able to call and get everything booked that I wanted, at the times I wanted. The only thing I couldn't get was an early dinner reservation on the night of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, as they haven't opened up dinner for that night yet. But we're eating at the Skipper Canteen, so I don't foresee any problems with getting that ADR!

But anyways, with no further ado, my ADRs (feel free to skip, this is really long...sorry!) :

• Sept 14th: Arrival Day/Disney Springs/Epcot
  • The Edison: 12:15 pm
    • Some of the early reviews haven't been great, but I'm hoping that's just opening kinks that will get worked out. Some of the things look good but even my bacon-loving husband balked at paying $15 for 3 strips of bacon, no matter how artisanal. But the deviled eggs look amazing, and that grilled cheese...I am hopeful. And the industrial/vaguely steampunk decor looks great. I'm a litte bummed we aren't going to be there at night for the whole adults-only vibe, but I'm old.
  • Flying Fish: 7:15 pm
    • Originally this was going to be a bit later, but we booked an earlier flight than planned, so an early dinner and then crashing in the hotel room (which will be only steps away, YAY for staying at the Boardwalk) and maybe catching fireworks from our balcony sounds amazing. As for the restaurant itself, all the reviews I've read have been super complimentary. I'm not really (ok, not at all) a seafood eater, but my husband is, so I booked this for him. And Disney always has steak of some sort on the menu ('MURICA. ). I am excited for that "Evolution of Cheese" appetizer, despite the $22 price tag
• Sept 15th: Animal Kingdom
  • Yak & Yeti: 12:15 pm
    • This was one of my favorite meals last trip--I got the Sweet and Sour Chicken (over the Honey Chicken at the recommendation of the waiter) and it was SO good. My friend loved her Malaysian seafood curry too. So I made sure to put this on the list this time. And there's seafood for Trevor in case he wants more, and I'm getting the chicken again. And the fried dessert wontons...yum. We're not Landry's club members, though I'm thinking about it, since my birthday will be Sept 18th, so I'll get the $25 off coupon?
• September 16th: Magic Kingdom (and MNSSHP!)
  • Crystal Palace: 9:10 am
    • We're not normally big breakfast people, but this one of Trevor's few requests the first time we went that we didn't get to, so we have to do it this time. He requested it 'cause he thinks the building itself looks gorgeous, not because we have any great attachment to Winnie the Pooh and friends (cute though they are). We are excited to have Mickey waffles though!
  • Skipper Canteen (currently) 2:50 pm; hopefully moved to 4:30 pm
    • Another place I ate last trip and enjoyed, and want Trevor to try. Honestly, I'm really excited for the rice pudding--I lived in Brazil for a while and since ice cream was a. expensive and b. just different enough from American ice cream to be disconcerting (more ice than cream), I would refrigerate rice pudding and it made a pretty good alternative. I haven't had it since (like 7 years), so excited to try professionally made rice pudding!
• September 17th: Epcot
  • Coral Reef: 7 pm
    • Another request of my husband's that we didn't get to last trip. Seafood for him, steak for me. Honestly, this is mostly about the ambiance I need to figure out how to get us a seat by the aquarium...I guess maybe just ask nicely?
    • picture of aquarium
• September 18th: Magic Kingdom (my birthday!)
  • Early Morning Magic/Pinocchio Village Haus Breakfast Buffet
    • all the reviews of this buffet have been good--I'm almost looking forward to it just as much as riding 7 Dwarves Mine Train 6 times.
  • Be Our Guest Lunch: 12:15 pm
    • I just love Be Our Guest. I know it's big and loud and a cafeteria, but I love it. I had the roast beef sandwich last time which is sadly no longer on the menu, but there is a French Dip, or maybe I'll get the Croque Monsieur...decisions decisions. And yes, definitely pre-ordering!
  • Victoria & Albert's, Main Dining Room: 7:30 pm
    • AAAH I'M SERIOUSLY SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS. Can you tell? We're only doing the 7 course menu, but I still fully expect to roll out of there. Bread and chocolates and just amazing food. AAH!
• September 19th: apparently the "we're eating at resorts" day
  • Sanaa: 12:30 pm
    • Bread Service. Need I say more?
      • ha just kidding, I don't need to but I will. This is another restaurant where I want to get a window seat to see the animals.
  • 'Ohana: 8:30 pm
    • I feel like this is something we really ought to do, since you know, we haven't yet. And I'm always up for meat on swords, even though my husband doesn't like pineapple in things, which means I'll also have to eat the bread all by myself. Darn.
• September 20th: Magic Kingdom
  • The Plaza: 11:20 am
    • We'll be eating right after doing the Marceline to the Magic Kingdom tour, and this just seems like a fun place. The Chicken Strawberry Salad sounds really good for some reason, and who can turn down bottomless milkshakes?
  • Be our Guest dinner: 5 pm
    • a bit of an early dinner, since we're doing the Fireworks Dessert party tonight, but I really wanted to have dinner at BoG, despite the new menu. Of which I am eagerly awaiting any details!
• September 21st: Epcot/Hollywood Studios
  • Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast at Trattoria Al Forno: 9 am
    • a breakfast with Rapunzel and Flynn and Ariel and Eric, only steps away from our hotel? Yes please! If we get Elena of Avalor instead, I'll be bummed. But I will console myself in my steak and eggs.
  • Hollywood Brown Derby: 6:30 pm
    • The bread with Pink Himalayan Sea Salt butter is AMAZING. Seriously. it is. We are mostly eating here for that. The food was good, but that butter. Mmmmmm.
    • pic of bread service
• September 22st: Departure Day
  • Beaches and Cream: 1:50 pm
    • Another Disney staple we have to try. We'll eat lunch at the Food and Wine Booths, so this will be dessert. Fudge Mud Slide, here I come. And then roll back to the Boardwalk to catch the Magical Express

I fully expect to gain weight on this trip. But I'm ok with that--I'm currently down about 67 pounds from where I started last September, and my goal is to lose 100 by the trip. If I gain back 5 (or 10...) I'm ok with that. Because I will be eating ALL THE THINGS.

 

[Araminta18]

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party​

In other news, Disney (somewhat unexpectedly) not only released Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party dates, but put tickets on sale! I tried calling on a break from work only to hear the automated voice say it would be at least 30 min on hold and people here were reporting 2 hour+ waits. So I hung up and called again at lunch, and got through in 15 minutes! Phew! I know there's plenty of time to buy tickets, but I like having everything locked down and paid for. We're going to the September 16th party--Our first MNSSHP! And I was super pleased that the dates I thought were party dates actually were party dates, so I didn't have to do any rejiggering of my plans. Boom.

​

Now I get to fully focus on costumes! I've got two possibilities in mind at the moment--one easy, one much harder:

• "I Love You"/"I Know" Matching Star Wars t-shirts
  • Pros: easy (we already own the shirts), light and comfortable/not hot
  • Cons: not really a costume...

​

• Mary Poppins and Bert
  • My husband actually brought this up--I was looking at the gorgeous (PHOTO) Mary Poppins dress at the Marketplace/Cherry Tree Lane in Disney Springs, and he said he'd be the Bert to my Mary
  • Pros: an actual costume! super cute/fun
  • cons: probably hot. I wouldn't buy the dress (if I bought the dress) til we get down there, and it'd probably be a bit uncomfortable for the party? And then white pants/red jacket for Trevor? oosh, definitely hot. Hmm...
    • http://talkofthetrains.com/bert-jolly-holiday-diy-costume-tutorial/ Maybe I can do something like this to just a white vest? That wouldn't be too hot...
  • And what if I don't end up buying the dress? I guess I could get a white skirt/white ***** bow top and a wide red belt...Anyways, ideas!

​

 

[Araminta18]

And Other Sundry Bookings....
​

I was also able to book the tour that we want to do: Marceline to the Magic Kingdom. We picked this one 'cause it's shorter (3 hrs, vs 5) and because this one takes you behind the scenes at the Haunted Mansion. I'm really (*really*) excited for that part. I love the Haunted Mansion and can't wait to see behind the scenes. And doing a tour will be fun too. And just as FYI, tours can be booked 180+10, not just 180. That was a pleasant surprise when I was on the phone with the CM.

Also got the Magical Express booked! I found the website and booked it myself, as opposed to bugging the DVC member we rented points from. He's been nothing but great to work with, but I like to do as much as possible myself. I do have to contact him for our room request--high floor is the only request I have--but there's time yet.

So what's left? Fastpasses, obvs. Also, booking the Happily Ever After Dessert Party. Currently you can only book until 5/27, nothing after. So I'm keeping an eye on that. Also, change the ADR time on Skipper Canteen. Other than that, it's pretty much all done. Now, just to wait.....

 

[maryr1oz]

Looks like we'll be at WDW the same time - and at the same Halloween party

Happy planning!

 

[Araminta18]

Looks like we'll be at WDW the same time - and at the same Halloween party

Happy planning!

Hey, MNSSHP party buddy! Happy planning to you too Is this your first MNSSHP too?

 

[maryr1oz]

Yes - our first trip to WDW all together!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Following along!

First, congrats on the weight loss! What an achievement! I keep telling myself I need to start an exercise/better eating routine but I have no willpower/ exhausted from 12 hour hospital shifts. Excuses, excuses.

Your plans look great. Sounds like you will have a great time and how fun to be at WDW for your birthday!