A Grand Adventure – WDW & DCL May 2019
 

Hello!

We have been back from WDW for a while (three months today – where does the time go?) and I thought it was about time to start my third trip report here on the Dibb.

As is becoming a trend, I was writing my 2018 TR right up to the wire, so didn’t manage to start my PTR. Instead, I shared a little summary for this trip here in my last TR. Some elements happened, others were jettisoned along the way – the usual! Overplan and adapt as you go – my Disney planning style.

For those who find themselves reading my Disney babble for the first time, let me introduce our cast:

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Kirsty W – that’s me (on the right).

Trip photographer and obsessive planner, I’m the keeper of the spread sheet and the one who whines when the hours at MK have got shorter. Again.

I’m a late starter – my first trip to WDW was in November 2008. This was my 12th trip and planned to celebrate my 40th birthday. The horror. I’m vegetarian – have been for nigh on forever – so if you have one of those non-carnivores in your party hopefully my babble will help you find the good food.

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Kirsty R – my best friend, travel companion and the person who got me hooked on my drug of choice (Disney, that is). She’s the ultimate carnivore and our culinary director; constantly refining to make sure we eat well, and we do eat well.

R has been visiting Disney parks since she was wee – the family R moved from the UK to LA when R was 6 & sensibly started to go to Disneyland shortly thereafter. She had only managed to go to WDW the once before our first trip out together, so this would be her 13th visit.

The when
We would be flying out to Orlando on 15 May, and out of MCO on 31 May – our longest trip in a little while so we were looking forward to slowing down and soaking it all in.

We were flying Virgin this time, on the late flight out and the early flight back – a first for us, but it was significantly cheaper to do so.

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The where
We would be staying at the Villas at the Grand Floridian, broken into a 2-night stay and a 11 night stay by a 3 night cruise on the Disney Dream

We were both so excited to be back for Flower and Garden festival and all the prettiness and deliciousness that goes along with that. We had such a long list of snacks that we wanted to try. We were also super excited to be going back on Disney Cruise Line for the first time in 5 years. There was a lot of excitement.

We had a couple of lows, which we will get to in due course, but one when we came back…. We have been annual passholders on every trip for years, but this time we had 21 day tickets as we knew that we wouldn’t be going back for a while. Unfortunately I forgot that it meant that instead of having a year to download our photos we had, what, 6 weeks? When I went into the site to add a few photos from the beginning of the trip so many were gone. Thankfully we saved a few when we were out there, but essentially all of our photopass images are missing for the first week of the trip. Sob.

So, shall we get on with this? We have a heck of a lot of days to cover, and a new (accidental, really) countdown that is getting closer and closer. By the way, anyone interested in a Disneyland TR?

Trip index

Day 0 & 1 - pre travel day and day 1
Tuesday 14 & Wednesday 15 May

Day 2 - Epcot ventures
Thursday 16 May

Day 3 - We're on a boat
Friday 17 May

Day 4 - On a boat (reprise)
Saturday 18 May

Day 5 - Visiting paradise on Castaway Cay
Sunday 19 May

This looks like an amazing trip! Following along:) Had no idea about the photos - I would have been so upset too and had no idea the timescales were so short:(

Thank you - it was a fantastic trip. Thank you so much for coming along for the ride!

I was utterly gutted, still get that swoop in my tummy when I think about it :cry: if my mistake can help someone else then it won't have been a total loss. The last photos I have of us in front of fountain of nations before its destruction, that one is going to sting for a good long while. :(

Completely understand - last year we were there at the end of October and the Christmas Tree was up in MK for our last day. Begged the family to pose for a picture under it as we were leaving and spent the rest of the day waiting for it to come through on MDE. It didn't:( Spent weeks emailing Disney with time of photo, descriptions etc etc and no luck:cry:

Oh no - that must have been heartbreaking. I am so sorry :( Its always those shots you really wanted. Sending photo heartbreak empathy

Thank you so much - was very upsetting but now means I have to go back to re create the photo ;)

I’m so glad you are doing a trip report for this one - I really enjoyed your last one and followed along this trip on your Instagram.

And yes please definitely a TR for Disneyland :) we are hoping to go next October so would love to read one.

ha ha! exactly :d:

Oh thank you so much for following along! I'm hoping I'll be a bit better at posting more whilst we're in california... I always start with good intentions!

I'm so excited for Halloweentime at Disneyland - fingers crossed for your trip in the Halloween period next year. We've been stalking all the photos coming out this weekend of all the decorations... it just looks fantastic! I doubt I'll be able to stop myself for wittering on about it here, even if I'm having to get two reports going at once :zzz:

Haha I know what you mean - it’s not a bad thing though, just means too much fun is had to be worrying about social media updates - can always be done later :)

I don’t blame you I would be too! Haunted Mansion holiday looks amazing! Haha - perfect for us - hard work for you 😫

Hope you have an amazing trip! Not long at all now!