You. Me. Girls Trip 2.0 : Pre-Trip Report (Updated 7/4)

[skysmom99]

You don’t know me but I’ve been stalking these boards for years, living vicariously through dozens of trip reports. I’m just now delving into the realm of pre-trip reports and I’m intrigued.

Let’s begin with a little background. Disney trips used to be a whole family affair. Our first family trip in 2010 included my family of five and my parents. On the next trip in 2012, my sister and her husband joined in. We were back to the original seven in 2014, and down to just the five of us in 2016. Our last trip in 2019 was the girls’ trip I’d been promising my daughter.



While Skye and I have been talking about returning to Disney World since our last trip in 2019, so many things have stood in the way. Obviously COVID put a damper on anything for awhile but we also had both of my younger kids in school with jobs, sports, college schedules, etc… to work with. You all know how this is. We thought about a family trip in 2022 or 2023, but that was a no-go, too. Eventually, it came down to another mom/daughter trip, and it got serious on a Thursday in March when Skye texted me at 6:04 am.

Skye: You. Me. Girls Trip 2.0. Pop Century. November. 6 Nights. Let’s do it.

Me: When? I want to go again but it has to work out with my work schedule.

Skye: 14th - 19th? And I know, I know. I’m just REALLY itching to go and you don’t even have to pay for me now!!

And a trip was born.

I guess it’s a good time to talk about the co-conspirators in this little endeavor.

Me, Tracy, a 55 year old high school English and biology teacher from northeast Michigan. This will be my 8th trip to Walt Disney World. The first time was in 1997 when chaperoning a school trip, and the castle was decorated like a cake. I didn’t truly fall in love with WDW until 2009 on another school trip. The family trips started after that.


Skye, a 25 year old labor and delivery nurse who lives a couple hours from me and my Disney partner-in-crime. This is her 6th trip to WDW. She fell in love from the start.



Let the planning begin!​

 

[skysmom99]

So now we’ve established the who.

I will say that the boys are a little jealous but their schedules don’t mesh. My husband doesn’t really mind because he doesn’t love WDW like I do. He will go if I want him to because he subscribes to the theory of “happy wife, happy life” but he’s good staying home with the dogs and DS #2. DS #2 just graduated from high school and will be commuting to college in the fall, and his program won’t allow for a random week off. DS #1 is 22 and lives a few hours away. His job will be busy when we plan to go, so he’s missing out.




Of course this all is due to the fact that Skye and I don’t want to go in the summer. The last trip was in August, and I felt like a greasy spot on the concrete the entire time.



(You have to love the Florida in August glow.)

We also don’t want to go during spring break or major holidays. We’ve done November many times and loved it, so that’s our choice.

After some consulting with my school schedule for next year, we came down to November 13-18. I have a three day weekend which I can add in with my two personal days and one unpaid day.

Skye had originally floated the idea of staying at Pop Century. She was looking at the Skyliner aspect, but I have a teeny tiny fear of heights so I didn’t want to book a resort based on maybe using the Skyliner. Plus, (and don’t hate me) we’ve stayed at Pop, and I didn’t see that it was any better than the All Stars. Higher cost and same size room. We’re value resort people for the most part, which works since we’re only in the room for sleeping and maybe a midday break, so how about Music? It’s the one All Stars Resort we haven’t stayed at in the past. Fabulous.

Of course, I priced both and a few other options, but we kept coming back to a preferred room at Music.



(Courtesy of Google)



To make the most of these vacation days during the school year, we always fly to Orlando, so finding flights is the next order of business for me. As I mentioned before, I live in a rural area of northeast Michigan. This means to find a direct flight from anywhere close is next to impossible. I could get a direct flight from Detroit Metro to Orlando on Delta which is good except for the fact that it’s almost a three hour drive to Metro from my house. This doesn’t sound terrible, I know. However, I know I’ll be exhausted coming home from our trip because there’s no tired like WDW tired. I really won’t want to drive three hours in November in Michigan. Plus, the last trip it was late when we landed and I struggled to keep my eyes open.



What to do? What to do?

Hmmm… the smaller airport that is only 1.25 hours away has a flight to Detroit and then on to Orlando. This could work. I prefer an airport I’m familiar with for our layover. What do you think, Skye?


Sounds like a plan.

Now it was time to do the daily stalking of the prices for the flights.

By early April, I was ready to book my flights. Yes, I know that is really early for many, and I know it’s possible that the costs could go down if I wait. However, I want THIS flight, and I just don’t want to chance missing out.

So, here it is April 11th and my November flights are booked. ​

 

[SEAGULL59]

Following! I love mother/daughter trips! My DD and I love Disney but my husband and DS aren’t huge fans. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[skysmom99]

Following! I love mother/daughter trips! My DD and I love Disney but my husband and DS aren’t huge fans. Hope you have a great trip!

Thanks! Mom/daughter trips can be great when you both love Disney.

 

[MrsK53113]

Following! I'm doing a mother daughter trip in August. It's just me and my 7 year old (it's her very first trip ever!). I hope you guys have a blast!

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more

 

[skysmom99]

Following! I'm doing a mother daughter trip in August. It's just me and my 7 year old (it's her very first trip ever!). I hope you guys have a blast!

Thanks for following! I hope you and your daughter have a great trip. My daughter is my favorite Disney partner.

 

[skysmom99]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more

Thanks for joining me.

 

[skysmom99]

I realized today that I forgot to mention that we changed our trip dates a bit. When searching for flights, I found a cheaper flight leaving at 2:15 pm on Tuesday, November 12. I’d have to take another ½ day off, but it would put us at MCO around 8:30 that night and give us the opportunity to rope drop whichever park we choose for Wednesday. So now we’re at 6 nights at a resort and 5 full park days. It’s crazy that it was cheaper to spend another night and take the earlier flight but it’s a crazy world, right?



Now we’re up-to-date.

I don’t know about the rest of you but once I’ve decided to take a trip to Disney I begin to obsess on all things Disney. I reread Disney travel books, and I scour posts on DisBoards, especially trip reports.




Do you know that food seems to play a huge role in Disney trips? We’ve always done one or two table service meals and then just eaten counter service. Now I’m obsessing over whether I should be obsessing over ADRs. I’ve considered maybe a breakfast at CRT. Skye and I love the princesses, and I’d like the experience of eating in the castle, but is having breakfast there really worth $69 per person? Then I looked at the menu and saw French toast stuffed with caramel and apples. Yum!

Of course the updated menu on one of the sites I frequent now shows that the French toast is some banana concoction. Guess who hates bananas?! Yes, both of us. That means paying $69 per person for bacon and eggs. Hmmmmm…. I’m going to have to think about it some more. Luckily, I have a ton of time before I can make ADRs.

Before anyone offers Akershus as an alternative, we did that one in 2016. The food was good and the princess interaction was great. Definitely worth doing.



However, I totally admit that this trip it’s all about the castle.

Yes, now I’m stuck on food and menus. I want cheeseburger spring rolls in Adventure Land and cheeseburger steam pods at Satu'li Canteen.



(Borrowed from Google)

Skye wants to check out the booths at Food and Wine, but I’m not sure those are foods for me. Some of the pictures I’ve seen are not appealing at all. What do you think? I guess we should make perusing the choices at the food booths next on my list.​

 

[mkmomto2]

Following along! Love girl trips- am traveling with my sister this August and have done so many times I am also a teacher, which is why we are going in August lol. We do have a couple of days during election week off, so I sometimes can make that work as well.

We also are food-centric, but not so princess-centric. I have been to CRT and it was fun, but definitely a one and done for me.

I love the spring rolls! Also, if you haven't tried the pretzel bread pudding at Sommerfest in Germany, it is to die for!

I also am a value girl. Pop is my jam because of the skyliner, but completely understand not wanting to take the chance in case you are adverse. My daughter hated the skyliner, so I was really happy we didn't stay there when she was with me lol.

On June 27th, Disney is coming out for room promos. I believe your trip falls within the dates, might be worth checking out to see if you can save some money.

 

[skysmom99]

Following along! Love girl trips- am traveling with my sister this August and have done so many times I am also a teacher, which is why we are going in August lol. We do have a couple of days during election week off, so I sometimes can make that work as well.

We also are food-centric, but not so princess-centric. I have been to CRT and it was fun, but definitely a one and done for me.

I love the spring rolls! Also, if you haven't tried the pretzel bread pudding at Sommerfest in Germany, it is to die for!

I also am a value girl. Pop is my jam because of the skyliner, but completely understand not wanting to take the chance in case you are adverse. My daughter hated the skyliner, so I was really happy we didn't stay there when she was with me lol.

On June 27th, Disney is coming out for room promos. I believe your trip falls within the dates, might be worth checking out to see if you can save some money.

Hey, fellow teacher! Cost and crowd-wise August makes sense, so I can understand why you choose that. If I could take the heat, that's when I'd go.

I saw the pretzel bread pudding on one of the YouTube channels I watch. It's on my list of things to try. I love pretzel bread and I love bread pudding. Looks yummy.

Thanks for the heads up on the coming discounts. I've been watching but many of the sites keep saying that November discounts had gone away.

I hope you and your sister have an amazing trip!

 

[skysmom99]

Mother’s Day is a holiday in my house. Yes, I’ve trained my husband and children that this is a big thing. The kids all come home, they bring gifts or do things for me, there is a nice dinner of my choosing, and we take pictures. I have photos of me with each of my kids individually and as a group (and one of me and my mom) on every Mother’s Day since the middle kid was a baby.



Why is that important? Well, Skye was here at my house. We got to talk in person about our trip. Mind you, we talk on the phone or text about it all the time, but it’s different when we can sit down together and go crazy. I LOVE those times! If you have that one person with whom you can really talk all things Disney, you know what I mean. Skye is my person.

So we rehashed all of the possible resort choices: Pop Century for the Skyliner, Caribbean Beach for the same reason, and the All Stars which we narrowed down to the one All Star we haven’t stayed at yet, Music.

In case you don’t remember, I’m fairly terrified of the idea of riding the Skyliner, so we chose a preferred room at Music. While Skye was here, we went ahead and booked our trip. It will be six nights/seven days of mom/daughter Disney magic with a five day park ticket, no hopper. We are skipping a dining plan even though we’ve used it almost every trip so far. We are going to do some taste testing of various snacks.

We’re also discussing our park plans, Genie + strategies, and whether or not to use ILLs. We love pretty much every park and most attractions. So far, the plan is looking like 2 full days at MK, and 1 full day at each HS, AK, and EPCOT.

A few favorite things:

Skye:

Favorite park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite ride: Flight of Passage
Favorite counter-service restaurant: Columbia Harbour House
Favorite snack: Mickey Pretzel
Most looking forward to this trip: Either Tiana’s Bayou Adventure or seeing all the changes at Epcot

​

(borrowed from all ears)

Me:

Favorite park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite ride: Today it’s Expedition Everest. Ask me tomorrow and it could be something else.
Favorite counter-service restaurant: Columbia Harbour House
Favorite snack: I don’t usually get many snacks but I'm looking to branch out this trip and try things like the cheeseburger spring rolls.
Most looking forward to this trip: I’d like to spend a little more time exploring the World Showcase​

 

[skysmom99]

As I continued with my trip planning obsession, I started to spend a great deal of time learning about Genie + and Virtual Queues. They didn’t have this on my last trip. Back then it was Fastpass + which I’d had to learn after the switch from regular old fastpass machines. I know many people hated when Disney made the change from the old paper fastpass system, but as the designated ‘runner’ for my family, I didn’t hate this.



I don’t know if it’s okay to name the YouTube channels I have been watching so I won’t. I’ll just say that one woman uses a trash can as a table, one guy seems to have quite the selection of matching ears & shirts, and another has a food focus. I’ve learned when to buy my Genie +, how to do rope drop and early entry rope drop, and which rides each of these channels deems the one to ride first. I’ve started a draft document to share with Skye which will outline the day, if we need to try to get into a virtual queue, which ride to book as the first LL, and costs for Genie + and the ILL(s) for that day.



It’s now summer break for me. I’ve survived my baby graduating from high school and putting on his graduation party.



Now I’m hanging with my furry family members with loads of time to give in to this fixation I have with my WDW vacation.



I should mention that I received an email from Delta saying that they changed the time of my first flight that hops from my ‘local’ airport to Detroit Metro. The flight is now 2 hours 15 minutes earlier. This is going to mess with my plans. Now where my plan was to work until lunch on my departure day, I’ll have to take a full day off. Skye was already taking the full day off so it won’t affect her. The next problem is that the connecting flight did not change so I’ve gone from a layover of approximately 2.5 hours to a layover of almost 5 hours. UGH!!! In my search to fix this, I saw information that says (I think) that I can change the connecting flight if there’s an earlier flight. What do you all know about this? I just need to see about changing it. I would like to arrive at my resort a little earlier and avoid that outrageously long layover. Add that to the to-do list. I’ve got this.

Then @mkmomto2 gave me a heads up about an upcoming discount to be released. Hmmm… will there be something that works for our already planned dates?

And that brings us to this week and its one-two punch.



What can a Disney nerd do? Time to hit the books! (or YouTube, Facebook groups, websites, and of course, the Disney website)​

 

[skysmom99]

While I’ve already started going over the new ‘skip the line’ system (Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass) and had numerous FastPass + flashbacks, I’m more concerned with the discount offer. As you know, I’ve already booked a preferred room at Music, but those aren’t included in the offer. Now I’m making spreadsheets and pricing out various rooms at various resorts. I’m in it for the discounted room. I’m frugal, and less money spent on the room leaves more for something else like snacks, a cold beer or two, or a single pass lightning lane.

For the sake of research, I’ve looked at all the values except AoA, which isn’t offering a discount on standard rooms, and even if it was, I don’t want to walk all the way to the Little Mermaid rooms. Pop would actually still cost more with the discount than my current booking at Music, so I’m probably crossing that one off, also. I say probably because it’s only a few dollars more, and it does have the Skyliner (even if I’m terrified to get on it). Of course, I’ve ridden ski lifts and been okay, so maybe I won’t cross it off just yet.



(Pic is from our 2019 trip before it was operational)

That leaves us with the All Star Resorts. Now I’m fine with any of these as you can see in my signature, so lots of possibilities. I’d save the most going with a standard room at Sports, but if I’m going to go with a standard room, I might as well stay at Music, right? We originally chose Music because we haven’t stayed there, and we’ve been at Sports multiple times. I could also save a little with a preferred room at Movies or even Sports. Decisions, decisions.

Since I’ve read on a different Disney message board that some resorts’ discounted rooms are already filling up, I decided that it was time to get serious. I shared my spreadsheet with Skye along with my top two picks. Then I texted her to check stuff out as soon as she could.

I mentioned that she’s a nurse, but she works the night shift so we were operating on opposite schedules. We finally connected via text yesterday at 7 in the morning. We both ranked the same first choice from among our six value options. What did we pick?



We decided to move to a standard room in order to stay at All Star Music. We both really wanted to stay here because my family tends to love all sorts of music, and this choice gave us the second best savings. I got on the phone to Disney, talked to a super helpful CM, and got it switched. By the time I took the little survey and hung up, my Disney Experience app had already updated. I think between switching to the standard and the 10% discount we saved a little over $300 which doesn’t sound like a lot to some, but it’s all good. I’m frugal, remember. Now I am super happy with myself.



Time to get serious about the long layover issue that was created by Delta changing their flights. Now I don’t travel often and when I do it’s to WDW. (Can you see that meme?)



What I mean is that I’m not used to dealing with changing flights once they are booked. I pulled up the email from the flight change and clicked the link for “My Trip” and went from there. Am I the only one whose stomach clenches when I click the change button? I was freaking out that I would somehow mess everything up. Anyhow, I found the flight I wanted. It said, “Only 5 seats left at this price.” Of course, it did. I chose it, same price, and clicked submit. Yay! I feel so accomplished.

Now, as Jed Barlet would say, “What’s next?”

​

 

[skysmom99]

Those park hoppers that came with the room discount may actually come in handy.

It seems like there’s either a MVMCP or a Jollywood Nights every night we’re at WDW. I mean, not really, but close. I don’t know how accurate Touring Plans calendar is, but it’s also showing HS closing early on the one day I was planning to go. It’s not even a party night. Skye really wants to see Fantasmic this trip, so we might have to hop from another park so we can catch this show. We’ve actually only gone once, and that was back in 2016. It might work out for our Friday night after spending the day at AK.

Skye and I spent over 2 hours on Facetime today trying to rough out our plan. Yes, she’s definitely my daughter and is totally into planning right along with me. Here’s what we have so far:

Tuesday 11/13:
Travel Day
Arrive at resort around 6 PM
Eat, browse resort

Wednesday 11/13


MK early entry
Multi Pass
Tier 1: Tiana or (Big Thunder)
Tier 2: Haunted Mansion & Pirates
VQ Tron @ 7 am if possible
Rope Drop: 7 Dwarfs (or Peter Pan)



Thursday 11/14
EP early entry


Multi Pass:
Tier 1: Remy (or Soarin’)
Tier 2: Mission Space & ??
VQ Guardians @ 7 am if possible
Rope Drop: Soarin’ (or Remy)

Friday 11/15
AK early entry


Multi Pass:
Safari
Expedition Everest
Dinosaur
Rope Drop: FoP, followed by N’avi River
Hop to HS for Fantasmic



Saturday 11/16
MK early entry
Multi Pass:
Tier 1: Big Thunder (or Tiana)
Tier 2: Buzz & Mansion/Pirates
Rope Drop: Peter Pan (or 7 Dwarfs)

Sunday 11/17
HS early entry


Multi Pass:
Tier 1: Slinky Dog
Tier 2: Tower of Terror & Toy Story Mania
Rope Drop: Rise, followed by Millenium Falcon

Monday 11/18
Heading to Michigan
Travel Day

**All photos are from Girls Trip 1.0 in 2019.​

 

[mkmomto2]

Am I the only one whose stomach clenches when I click the change button? I was freaking out that I would somehow mess everything up.

It happens to me every time and I check my flights often to see if I can save some money or jockey for a better flight!

I'm really excited for the Multi-pass, Single-pass option! I loved being able to plan my first three rides with fastpass and missed it with Genie+, so I'm happy about it being back; albeit a paid system. But honestly, I always have FOMO, so I ended up buying Genie+ most days anyway, so this will just happen a bit earlier lol.

I think your plan looks great and that the park hopper is really going to help you with all those parties.