Our 'one last time' trip - October 2018

[minnie52]

Hi!
This is my first trip report but since I have become slightly obsessed with reading others I wanted to give one a go myself! We go October 2018, but since I have exams coming up in 2 weeks all I can think about is Disney and all I want to do is plan!

Our trip will be myself (30) disney obsessed, holiday planner and organiser of everything, my husband (31) who just turns up and funds these plans of mine and our DD1 (age 7) who loves to read, write and plan like me and DD2 (age 5) who is the real boss most of the time, belle obsessed and loves dressing up. DD2 and DH are thrill seekers – last time we travelled she was too small for a lot of the bigger rides but she is excited to this time be tall enough for Splash Mountain and 7DMT. While me and DD1 are the complete opposite – we love Peter Pan’s Flight & It’s a Small World! Although this time we are both determined to try 7DMT. This is us on our last trip (apologies I'm not sure how to insert photos yet - must test this before the rest of the report)

This will be our 4th family trip to Disney, DLP in 2013, WDW in 2014 and our Disneymoon in 2016. Our last trip was our first onsite and we LOVED it! We stayed for 2 weeks at AKL and the kids have talked about going back ever since. We finally managed to convince DH just before free dining came out in April 2017 (perfect timing) to go back. As the title suggest this trip is (was) our just one last time trip (as it gets closer I just don’t know how I’m going to keep that promise) and we thought we would mix it up a bit so we are doing a combination of onsite/offsite and a cruise!

Originally, we booked back in to AKL as the kids loved it so much however after we found out the main pool was to be closed we switched resorts (quite a few times as it goes). It’s a deal-breaker for us, if the parks get too much the kids want to be in the pool – even in mid-november my kids were in the pool at 8/9pm! So, we fly out on the Sunday 21st October and check-in to Boardwalk Inn for 5 nights. We have requested a view overlooking Epcot (DD2’s favourite park) and excited to be able to walk to both Epcot and HS. Although we loved staying onsite, I do like to have my own kitchen and space and we do like to have days outside the Disney bubble. So, after that we check in to an apartment at Storey Lake for 10 nights (we have booked through homeaway.co.uk and I’m super nervous about this – but fingers crossed it runs smoothly) the pool area looks fab and its not too far out from Disney. Then we are off on a Royal Caribbean Bahamas Cruise for 4 nights – some chill and beach days for us before heading to the Space Centre when we dock back, followed by a final night stay in the Beach Club before heading home. We just have Disney tickets – after doing Universal on our first trip we decided it would be better to save for when the kids are older and can do more. However, DD1 is Harry Potter mad and I have checked and rechecked so many times to how much it would cost to add a couple of days on but I’m trying to be sensible. Not sure if there is a Harry Potter shop in Citywalk or somewhere that could be a good compromise? The kids love Typhoon Lagoon – so we are hoping to get weather good enough to go, plus Blizzard Beach is open for a few days before it closes which we haven’t done before so we are hoping we can make that as well. We will also visit Wild Florida, Orlando Premium Outlets (hopefully Vineland and I-Drive) and the Mall at Millenia, also planning on both mini golf courses and dinner at Celebration Town Tavern followed by trick or treating. Woah am I crazy trying to fit all this in!

I am nervous about how the kids are gonna handle this busy schedule for 3 weeks, so I have factored in a few early nights! This is our first time at Halloween, originally the MNSSHP was on our schedule but I have reluctantly put it on hold – I just don’t know if we can get enough out of it to make it worth the money for 4 of us. We did MVMCP in 2016 as DD1 LOVES Jack Skellington, we qued for 3 hours and she was so good as she was just so desperate to see him but by that time we watched the parade, then the fireworks then headed home. I know if we book MNSSHP meeting Jack and Sally is gonna be top of the list and it doesn’t feel like we have much time for anything else. As a compromise I have booked a Pirate and Pals cruise on a party night – hopefully meeting Hook, Smee and Pan will soften the blow for her and we still get to watch Hallowishes.

This trip I really want to see the kiss goodnight, get a Rapunzel magic shot (if they are still doing them) and get some pandora charms from Disney. I’m easily pleased – the kids have a super long list of rides and characters they want to meet and DH wants Water Parks and to try not to come home with us badgering him to book again!
Our ADR day has been and gone and I’m reasonably happy with what we have got (after having to amend a few following our move from AKL to BWI) and we have selected our magic bands online Grey for DH, Purple for me and yellow for the girls (although I am sure they are going to change their minds a few times prior to the trip). ADR’s we have booked are

22nd October – 8.15 BOG (aiming to get this to 8.05 and hoping park opening times don’t change)

23rd October – 9.05 – Trattoria Al Forno (so excited for this one!)

24th October – 8.45 Rainforest Café Breakfast (AKL)
6pm – Trattoria Al Forno

25th October – Hollywood & Vine – 4pm (Fantasmic Package – ashamed to say we have never seen this)

26th October – Crystal Palace – 10.25

28th October – Pirates & Pals

9th November – Kona Café – 7.30pm (have a reservation finder for O’hana for this night but unsure whether we want to change or not – I’m not sure whether the kids would eat the food and have read some reviews saying the service is rushed but we want to watch fireworks from the poly beach so thought this would be a good way to end the holiday)

10th November – Cape May Café – DD2 has such a lovely memory from here on our last visit she was 3 and this was one of the first reservations we did. She was a bit grumpy from struggling with the heat and busy days but when Minnie came to our table she was in awe. After she left we ate a bit then took her for a quick toilet stop before leaving as she was walking back to the table Minnie tapped her on the shoulder and asked for another hug – it literally made her holiday. We had to walk back and forth to that toilet 3 more times before she would let us leave lol but she talks about when Minnie followed her for a hug all the time even now. It made her feel so special and really snapped her out of that bad mood. Anyway – I have completely gone off subject but as DD2 has such fond memories of this place we had to have it as our last morning breakfast. I hope this time lives up to her expectations.

We are aiming to using our QS and Snack credits for trying some of the Food & Wine Festivals treats especially as we are so close to Epcot while we are at the BWI so most of our first few evenings will probably be spent there.

Now we are just waiting for our 60/30 day mark and hope we get the fastpasses we want to fit in with our dining reservations  I don’t know how I am going to wait that long! Thank you for reading along if you got this far! It turned into a bit of a ramble who knew I had that much to say!