cinderelly828
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2014
- Messages
- 129
I'm pretty new to all this DIS stuff, but was reading some other posters PTRs and it got me super excited for our upcoming trip to Florida! We'll be flying out of Seattle on Wednesday, November 16th (on a redeye...our first...
) and spending 16 days (!!!) in Florida! We scored 7 Day Parkhoppers from ParkSavers for a great deal, plan on getting tickets to MVMCP for December 1st, are spending 2 days at Universal to see Harry Potter, and have a few relax/beach/pool days scattered in between. We fly home on December 3rd. Holy moley!!!
I am a lifelong Disney obsessive in her early 30s who's convinced she's a long lost princess (
) and my husband (nearing 40) is a converted Disney freak as well. I've dragged him to Disneyland for the past several years and he now loves going to the park with me! He's especially excited about all the Star Wars stuff lately!
He's never been to WDW and it's been many many moons (I was 15-16 last time) since I was there, so we're both super excited to be able to go! My MIL and sFIL live about 10 miles from the park, so we'll be staying with them for most of the trip (we do have two nights at POR for some alone time
) and spending some much needed time together. We haven't had a chance to see them since they moved to Orlando from Seattle about 2 years ago!! My MIL's health is not the best, so any chance we can spend together is great for all of us. We're taking her to MK for one day and Universal for one day. 
Here's our tentative itinerary so far. I'm working on my spreadsheets (which includes all my outfits, as I'm planning on DisneyBounding at least part of the time!), but they aren't totally done yet. I think I'd still like to make or two more ADRs (maybe?) and still need to book our MVMCP tickets and our FPs - we're not at the date yet. This may be a lot of random rambling, but I'm thinking it may help me get my head wrapped around our plans! It still doesn't seem real.
Day 1 (and 1/2) - Wed, Nov 16 - Thu, Nov 17:
Work most of the day...well, "work" meaning obsess about how I'll be leaving in a few hours! Leave work a little bit early to catch a train and get to the airport by no later than 5 pm - I'm a freak about being to the airport at least 2 hours early!! The flight leaves at 7 pm with an hour layover in Denver. Then we'll hopefully sleep all the way to Orlando and land at around 5 am on the 17th...eek. The whole day will be spent napping by my MIL's pool and catching up. Then maybe a bite to eat somewhere before heading to bed early for our first day in the parks!
Day 2 - Fri, Nov 18:
Park: Hollywood Studios
Park Hours: 9 am - 7 pm (EMH: 7 pm - 9 pm - sidenote: I read somewhere that for evening EMH you can technically stay in the park for these as a non-resort guest, you just can't ride any attractions or anything...is this true? I love just photographing the parks and enjoying the ambiance - especially at night. Thoughts appreciated!)
ADR: Lunch @ Brown Derby - 1:35 pm, no dinner plans - we kind of like to just snack everywhere
FastPass Plan: Toy Story Mania (DH was OBSESSED when we rode this in Disneyland), Star Tours, Tower of Terror (one of our favs!)
Other attraction plans: Rock N Roller Coaster (maybe as Single Rider?), Star Tours (again), anything Star Wars related..., Great Movie Ride, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Fantasmic!, Beauty and the Beast, maybe the Frozen Sing Along?, other shows and rides here and there...it doesn't look like there will be a ton to get done at this park which is why we put it at the start of the trip. Ease ourselves into it.
We're hoping the Star Wars fireworks are still happening when we go, but I haven't been able to figure out if they are or not. 
Days 3-4 - Sat, Nov 19 - Sun, Nov 20:
Beach days! I think the plan is to avoid some of the crowds and head to Cocoa Beach with MIL & sFIL as they have access to a condo out there so we can stay the night. Hopefully the weather is decent for being at the beach! Although, being from Seattle, a "beach day" is anything over like 60 degrees.
Days 5-6 - Mon, Nov 21 - Tue, Nov 22:
Universal! Haven't done much planning for this yet, other than we know we want to go see all the Harry Potter stuff. DH also wants to ride some of the more "thrilling" rides here. Any tips or bits of advice are much appreciated! We'll have one day with my MIL and one with just the two of us.
Day 7 - Wed, Nov 23:
Parks: Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom after dinner
Park Hours: AK - 9 am - 6 pm, MK - 9 am - 10 pm (EMH: 10 pm - 12 am - same thoughts as above on Hollywood Studios day...)
ADR: Dinner at Sanaa at 6:45 pm; no lunch plans (grazing)
FastPass Plan: Kilamanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids OR Dinosaur...can't decide
Other attraction plans: Neither of us has been to AK before, so we're just going to try to do as much as we can! I'm excited for dinner at Sanaa and have heard good things about it. After dinner the plan is to head to MK for a few hours. I'm sure at this point in the trip I'll be dying to see the Castle up close and have the more "classic" Disney experience (for us at least...it just feels like Disney when you walk down Main Street!). We're not doing the parks on actual Thanksgiving, so I think we'll be ok staying up super late and sleeping in the next day.
Day 8 - Thu, Nov 24 - Thanksgiving!:
We're having a family day for Thanksgiving.
We'll be cooking, eating too much, playing Catchphrase (our favorite game with my in-laws since DH and I first started dating!), and decorating the Christmas tree. I'm excited to spend the holiday with MIL & sFIL. MIL asked what I wanted for Thanksgiving so I said, "Turkey!". Apparently this was very funny, so I asked, "what do you usually do for Thanksgiving now that you're in Florida...gator?" It should be a fun and relaxing day and the DH and sFIL should be able to get in plenty of football.
Day 9 - Fri, Nov 25:
Pool/Chill/Recovery day. I'm guessing that Black Friday is a pretty busy day in the parks, so thought we'd take a rest day and let our stomachs return to their previous sizes. Thinking about maybe visiting an orange grove or something.
Day 10 - Sat, Nov 26:
Park: Epcot
Park Hours: 9 am - 9:30 pm
ADR: Lunch at Restaurant Marrakesh at 1:35 pm, grazing/drinking around the World for dinner
FastPass Plan: Frozen Ever After (if it's possible...) or Soarin', Spaceship Earth, Mission: Space
Other attraction plans: Test Track single rider...we haven't really gotten very far in our Epcot plans yet. Tips appreciated! We definitely want to see Illuminations. We'll have 2+ days in Epcot, so I'm trying to figure out the best plan of attack.
Day 11 - Sun, Nov 27:
Football day. MIL is working on getting us tickets to see the Seahawks play in Tampa Bay. DH is VERY excited by this. I...get to spend 8 days in WDW! So I'm happy.
Day 12 - Mon, Nov 28:
Check into Port Orleans - Riverside!
Park: Magic Kingdom! (there are morning EMH for AK, but I don't think we want to make the trek out there for them.)
Park Hours: 9 am - 10 pm
ADR: grazing for lunch; CINDERELLA'S CASTLE FOR DINNER!!!
at 9:40 pm (hoping to be able to get a window table and see Wishes! from inside the castle!! I'm very very excited about this...)
FastPass Plan: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan's Flight, Space Mountain
Other attractions: Everything! Magic Kingdom is my favorite. I'm excited to see New Fantasyland! Well, excited to see everything in general as it's been so long since I've been to MK. I've never been to any Disney parks during Christmas time so I'm super excited to see all the decorations! I'm waiting to see when the parade taping is so that I can find out what decorations we'll get to see when we're there.
We'll have 2+ days in this park as well, so again, like Epcot, we're still trying to figure out the best plans for MK as well. I'm excited to leave the park after dinner in the Castle and take Disney transportation to our Disney hotel and crawl into a Disney bed and not have to leave the Disney bubble for a few days!
Day 13 - Tue, Nov 29:
Park: Epcot
Park Hours: 9 am - 9:30 pm; EMH - 9:30 pm - 11:30 pm (legit EMH since we're at the resort now!)
ADR: None so far. Anything we HAVE to try? I know I want fish and chips and a beer at Rose and Crown...
FastPass Plan: Frozen Ever After (if we didn't get it already) or Soarin' (again, if we haven't done it) or Test Track, Spaceship Earth and Mission: Space again probably, unless there are others anyone would recommend?
Other attraction plans: Still figuring this out...basically doing whatever we didn't get to on our other Epcot day. Maybe heading to the hotel for nap/pool time mid day. Probably some Meet & Greets. May try to check out somewhere for a night cap after the park closes if there's somewhere fun and then back to the hotel.
Day 14 - Wed, Nov 30:
Check out of the hotel. Have to figure out what to do with our bags while we're in the park all day...maybe a locker?
Park: Magic Kingdom
Park Hours: 9 am - 10 pm; EMH: 10 pm - 12 am
ADR: None so far. My MIL will be with us so I'm trying to decide the best place to take her. Somewhere in MK or maybe at one of the resorts?
FastPass Plan: whatever we didn't get to the other day
Other attraction plans: Still planning this. I want to give my MIL the classic Disney experience.
Day 15 - Thu, Dec 1:
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!
Daytime plan: I think we're going to try to sleep in a bit and then head on a little self-guided tour of the resorts to see all their Christmas decorations. Then we'll plan to be at the gate to MK by about 3:45 or so to get in at 4 pm for the Christmas party!
FastPass Plan: I've been doing a little reading on here about FP with your MVMCP ticket and it seems like it may not be an option, so this is up in the air.
ADR: Nothing yet. We do plan to eat something before 7 so we can get the most out of the party! I want to do a lot of M&Gs and enjoy the parades, fireworks, etc. Super excited for this! Anyone been to the parties before and have any fun tips?
Day 16 - Fri, Dec 2:
Last Disney Day...
Parks: Park Hopping!
Park Hours: MK - 9 am - 7 pm, EP - 9 am - 9:30 pm, HS - 9 am - 7 pm, AK - 9 am - 6 pm
FastPass Plan: Not sure yet! I guess it will depend on what I'm able to get when I start booking. I can't decide which park to do when and the best strategies for Park Hopping at WDW in general...it's quite different seeming from Disneyland where you just walk across the promenade!
Other plans: Crying, getting souvenirs, crying...lol. Basically we will just try to do anything we feel like we missed! Our flight out the next day is at 5:15 am (eww...
) so I'm trying to decide how late we want to stay out. We'll see!!!
Day 17 - Sat, Dec 3:
Flying home. We'll get to MCO at about 3:15 am...
Then we fly to Denver where we have a 7 hour layover! (That's what I get for getting super cheap plane tickets!) We're trying to decide if we'll try to take the train from the airport to downtown Denver (it's about 30-40 minutes I guess) and have lunch or something and then head back to catch our flight. Or we may be completely wipe and just hang out for 7 hours in the airport napping. Then we're off to Seattle and back to reality.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading and for offering any tips or advice! I am planning to update as I make more plans, as I get my FP reservations, and as I get my DisneyBounding outfits together! Bye for now!
) and spending 16 days (!!!) in Florida! We scored 7 Day Parkhoppers from ParkSavers for a great deal, plan on getting tickets to MVMCP for December 1st, are spending 2 days at Universal to see Harry Potter, and have a few relax/beach/pool days scattered in between. We fly home on December 3rd. Holy moley!!!I am a lifelong Disney obsessive in her early 30s who's convinced she's a long lost princess (
) and my husband (nearing 40) is a converted Disney freak as well. I've dragged him to Disneyland for the past several years and he now loves going to the park with me! He's especially excited about all the Star Wars stuff lately! He's never been to WDW and it's been many many moons (I was 15-16 last time) since I was there, so we're both super excited to be able to go! My MIL and sFIL live about 10 miles from the park, so we'll be staying with them for most of the trip (we do have two nights at POR for some alone time
) and spending some much needed time together. We haven't had a chance to see them since they moved to Orlando from Seattle about 2 years ago!! My MIL's health is not the best, so any chance we can spend together is great for all of us. We're taking her to MK for one day and Universal for one day. Here's our tentative itinerary so far. I'm working on my spreadsheets (which includes all my outfits, as I'm planning on DisneyBounding at least part of the time!), but they aren't totally done yet. I think I'd still like to make or two more ADRs (maybe?) and still need to book our MVMCP tickets and our FPs - we're not at the date yet. This may be a lot of random rambling, but I'm thinking it may help me get my head wrapped around our plans! It still doesn't seem real.
Day 1 (and 1/2) - Wed, Nov 16 - Thu, Nov 17:
Work most of the day...well, "work" meaning obsess about how I'll be leaving in a few hours! Leave work a little bit early to catch a train and get to the airport by no later than 5 pm - I'm a freak about being to the airport at least 2 hours early!! The flight leaves at 7 pm with an hour layover in Denver. Then we'll hopefully sleep all the way to Orlando and land at around 5 am on the 17th...eek. The whole day will be spent napping by my MIL's pool and catching up. Then maybe a bite to eat somewhere before heading to bed early for our first day in the parks!
Day 2 - Fri, Nov 18:
Park: Hollywood Studios
Park Hours: 9 am - 7 pm (EMH: 7 pm - 9 pm - sidenote: I read somewhere that for evening EMH you can technically stay in the park for these as a non-resort guest, you just can't ride any attractions or anything...is this true? I love just photographing the parks and enjoying the ambiance - especially at night. Thoughts appreciated!)
ADR: Lunch @ Brown Derby - 1:35 pm, no dinner plans - we kind of like to just snack everywhere
FastPass Plan: Toy Story Mania (DH was OBSESSED when we rode this in Disneyland), Star Tours, Tower of Terror (one of our favs!)
Other attraction plans: Rock N Roller Coaster (maybe as Single Rider?), Star Tours (again), anything Star Wars related..., Great Movie Ride, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Fantasmic!, Beauty and the Beast, maybe the Frozen Sing Along?, other shows and rides here and there...it doesn't look like there will be a ton to get done at this park which is why we put it at the start of the trip. Ease ourselves into it.
We're hoping the Star Wars fireworks are still happening when we go, but I haven't been able to figure out if they are or not. Days 3-4 - Sat, Nov 19 - Sun, Nov 20:
Beach days! I think the plan is to avoid some of the crowds and head to Cocoa Beach with MIL & sFIL as they have access to a condo out there so we can stay the night. Hopefully the weather is decent for being at the beach! Although, being from Seattle, a "beach day" is anything over like 60 degrees.
Days 5-6 - Mon, Nov 21 - Tue, Nov 22:
Universal! Haven't done much planning for this yet, other than we know we want to go see all the Harry Potter stuff. DH also wants to ride some of the more "thrilling" rides here. Any tips or bits of advice are much appreciated! We'll have one day with my MIL and one with just the two of us.
Day 7 - Wed, Nov 23:
Parks: Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom after dinner
Park Hours: AK - 9 am - 6 pm, MK - 9 am - 10 pm (EMH: 10 pm - 12 am - same thoughts as above on Hollywood Studios day...)
ADR: Dinner at Sanaa at 6:45 pm; no lunch plans (grazing)
FastPass Plan: Kilamanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids OR Dinosaur...can't decide
Other attraction plans: Neither of us has been to AK before, so we're just going to try to do as much as we can! I'm excited for dinner at Sanaa and have heard good things about it. After dinner the plan is to head to MK for a few hours. I'm sure at this point in the trip I'll be dying to see the Castle up close and have the more "classic" Disney experience (for us at least...it just feels like Disney when you walk down Main Street!). We're not doing the parks on actual Thanksgiving, so I think we'll be ok staying up super late and sleeping in the next day.
Day 8 - Thu, Nov 24 - Thanksgiving!:
We're having a family day for Thanksgiving.
We'll be cooking, eating too much, playing Catchphrase (our favorite game with my in-laws since DH and I first started dating!), and decorating the Christmas tree. I'm excited to spend the holiday with MIL & sFIL. MIL asked what I wanted for Thanksgiving so I said, "Turkey!". Apparently this was very funny, so I asked, "what do you usually do for Thanksgiving now that you're in Florida...gator?" It should be a fun and relaxing day and the DH and sFIL should be able to get in plenty of football.Day 9 - Fri, Nov 25:
Pool/Chill/Recovery day. I'm guessing that Black Friday is a pretty busy day in the parks, so thought we'd take a rest day and let our stomachs return to their previous sizes. Thinking about maybe visiting an orange grove or something.
Day 10 - Sat, Nov 26:
Park: Epcot
Park Hours: 9 am - 9:30 pm
ADR: Lunch at Restaurant Marrakesh at 1:35 pm, grazing/drinking around the World for dinner
FastPass Plan: Frozen Ever After (if it's possible...) or Soarin', Spaceship Earth, Mission: Space
Other attraction plans: Test Track single rider...we haven't really gotten very far in our Epcot plans yet. Tips appreciated! We definitely want to see Illuminations. We'll have 2+ days in Epcot, so I'm trying to figure out the best plan of attack.
Day 11 - Sun, Nov 27:
Football day. MIL is working on getting us tickets to see the Seahawks play in Tampa Bay. DH is VERY excited by this. I...get to spend 8 days in WDW! So I'm happy.
Day 12 - Mon, Nov 28:
Check into Port Orleans - Riverside!
Park: Magic Kingdom! (there are morning EMH for AK, but I don't think we want to make the trek out there for them.)
Park Hours: 9 am - 10 pm
ADR: grazing for lunch; CINDERELLA'S CASTLE FOR DINNER!!!
at 9:40 pm (hoping to be able to get a window table and see Wishes! from inside the castle!! I'm very very excited about this...)FastPass Plan: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Peter Pan's Flight, Space Mountain
Other attractions: Everything! Magic Kingdom is my favorite. I'm excited to see New Fantasyland! Well, excited to see everything in general as it's been so long since I've been to MK. I've never been to any Disney parks during Christmas time so I'm super excited to see all the decorations! I'm waiting to see when the parade taping is so that I can find out what decorations we'll get to see when we're there.
We'll have 2+ days in this park as well, so again, like Epcot, we're still trying to figure out the best plans for MK as well. I'm excited to leave the park after dinner in the Castle and take Disney transportation to our Disney hotel and crawl into a Disney bed and not have to leave the Disney bubble for a few days! Day 13 - Tue, Nov 29:
Park: Epcot
Park Hours: 9 am - 9:30 pm; EMH - 9:30 pm - 11:30 pm (legit EMH since we're at the resort now!)
ADR: None so far. Anything we HAVE to try? I know I want fish and chips and a beer at Rose and Crown...
FastPass Plan: Frozen Ever After (if we didn't get it already) or Soarin' (again, if we haven't done it) or Test Track, Spaceship Earth and Mission: Space again probably, unless there are others anyone would recommend?
Other attraction plans: Still figuring this out...basically doing whatever we didn't get to on our other Epcot day. Maybe heading to the hotel for nap/pool time mid day. Probably some Meet & Greets. May try to check out somewhere for a night cap after the park closes if there's somewhere fun and then back to the hotel.
Day 14 - Wed, Nov 30:
Check out of the hotel. Have to figure out what to do with our bags while we're in the park all day...maybe a locker?
Park: Magic Kingdom
Park Hours: 9 am - 10 pm; EMH: 10 pm - 12 am
ADR: None so far. My MIL will be with us so I'm trying to decide the best place to take her. Somewhere in MK or maybe at one of the resorts?
FastPass Plan: whatever we didn't get to the other day
Other attraction plans: Still planning this. I want to give my MIL the classic Disney experience.
Day 15 - Thu, Dec 1:
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!
Daytime plan: I think we're going to try to sleep in a bit and then head on a little self-guided tour of the resorts to see all their Christmas decorations. Then we'll plan to be at the gate to MK by about 3:45 or so to get in at 4 pm for the Christmas party!
FastPass Plan: I've been doing a little reading on here about FP with your MVMCP ticket and it seems like it may not be an option, so this is up in the air.
ADR: Nothing yet. We do plan to eat something before 7 so we can get the most out of the party! I want to do a lot of M&Gs and enjoy the parades, fireworks, etc. Super excited for this! Anyone been to the parties before and have any fun tips?
Day 16 - Fri, Dec 2:
Last Disney Day...
Parks: Park Hopping!
Park Hours: MK - 9 am - 7 pm, EP - 9 am - 9:30 pm, HS - 9 am - 7 pm, AK - 9 am - 6 pm
FastPass Plan: Not sure yet! I guess it will depend on what I'm able to get when I start booking. I can't decide which park to do when and the best strategies for Park Hopping at WDW in general...it's quite different seeming from Disneyland where you just walk across the promenade!
Other plans: Crying, getting souvenirs, crying...lol. Basically we will just try to do anything we feel like we missed! Our flight out the next day is at 5:15 am (eww...
) so I'm trying to decide how late we want to stay out. We'll see!!!Day 17 - Sat, Dec 3:
Flying home. We'll get to MCO at about 3:15 am...
Then we fly to Denver where we have a 7 hour layover! (That's what I get for getting super cheap plane tickets!) We're trying to decide if we'll try to take the train from the airport to downtown Denver (it's about 30-40 minutes I guess) and have lunch or something and then head back to catch our flight. Or we may be completely wipe and just hang out for 7 hours in the airport napping. Then we're off to Seattle and back to reality. If you made it this far, thanks for reading and for offering any tips or advice! I am planning to update as I make more plans, as I get my FP reservations, and as I get my DisneyBounding outfits together!
Bye for now!
(There are a few minor changes on the ones that I'd posted before.)
) tomorrow so that I can figure out what is what!! 
!
Wow, I love all your Disneybounding outfits! Marie, Cinderella, Alice, Flower, can't wait to see pics of you in them! And I'm jealous of such a long trip, our longest was one 10-day stay in 2014 but it's hard between Steve's work schedule and the kids school/sports.
And as for your FP's for 12/1 & 2 yes, I think you have to wait until 30 days out since you're off site then.
Glad to have you along. 
Any ideas on how this works? I am getting VERY excited for the party though! Christopher and I have our matching sweaters all ready to go! 
I actually have it on my desk at work. It just feels so magical to me. They were looking for a tea party! 
