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14 Jan 19, 01:43 PM |
#11
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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Updates...
The Florida Open 2019 For those that have read our earlier trip report from 2014, you will know that the Florida Open was a big deal to the boys in our group. It was hilarious, insanely competitive, and one of the major highlights of the holiday for the men. The boys had always said that they wanted to do this again and so naturally, the stakes have been raised. Neil and I got a trophy made which we presented to the family on Christmas Day. OB will likely win. Again. Martin, Neil and Sam have been taking golf lessons Uncle Mark... who knows Anyway, needless to say, the Florida Open 2019 is very much ON. The Disney night that changed everything... Before Christmas, we held another Disney planning night at our house. Basically, as our ADR booking date drew near and then Christmas craziness was on the horizon, I wanted to check that everyone was okay with the restaurants I was thinking of booking. I also wanted to ask people what they wanted out of the holiday (more late nights, more early mornings, a chance to go somewhere or do something they either enjoyed last time/really wanted to do). So, I did a presentation on the main restaurants that were of interest to us, including some new ones, some old ones, some ones that we haven't tried for a while etc. There were a few things that came out of the evening. 1) People wanted more late nights and less early mornings. 2) No-one wanted to eat at Sanaa 3) People wanted a night on the Boardwalk 4) Everyone wanted a late night at AK to see Pandora all lit up. 5) Everyone still wanted to eat at Narcooossee's, California Grill and Le Cellier. 6) No-one was bothered about Volcano Bay This resulted in a fairly drastic reshuffle of our itinerary. As no-one wanted to do Sanaa, I had to ditch the idea of a full day at AK. We didn't have enough credits for Tiffins and everyone's interests (restaurants wise) were nowhere near AK. Our itinerary is now very different to what it was six months ago. I am actually pretty happy with the changes, given what it will mean for our Fastpass+ potential. The New Itinerary Tuesday 2nd July - Arrive and chill at Sapphire Falls Wednesday 3rd July - IOA Thursday 4th July - USF Friday 5th July - USF/IOA Saturday 6th July - Magic Kingdom Sunday 7th July - Pool day Monday 8th July - Epcot Tuesday 9th July - Typhoon Lagoon Wednesday 10th July - Girls/Boys Day Thursday 11th July - Pool am/Hollywood Studios afternoon and evening Friday 12th July - Animal Kingdom am/Disney Springs evening Saturday 13th July - Pool am/Hollywood Studios afternoon/Boardwalk evening Sunday 14th July - Pool am/Animal Kingdom afternoon and evening Monday 15th July - Magic Kingdom (possibly Animal Kingdom morning) Tuesday 16th July - Go home EMH... Given that mine and Neil's honeymoon trip was the busiest I have ever seen WDW, I wanted to try and make as much use out of EMH as we could this time. Especially given the fact that everyone said they wanted to spend more evenings in the parks. Unfortunately, when park hours were released on the Dibb (thanks so much to whoever it was that pointed that out for me ) it seemed that Evening EMH wasn't really on the cards for us. Over the 11 nights we are staying on Disney property, there were only two instances of Evening EMH, Epcot and MK. Epcot, while it's one of our favourite parks, it's not really a park where you can benefit from EMH. However, one night when we have been blessed is for the 10th July, when it is Evening EMH at MK and we had planned to go to the California Grill, so we can easily tie that in with Evening EMH at MK. The ADR Itinerary of Joy ADR day this time around was, as it always is, fairly frantic I had my spreadsheet up with all of its gorgeous tabs. I had Mum and Auntie Debsy on the other end of the phone in case any quick decisions had to be made. I was literally watching the clock like some sort of deranged lunatic. 10.58... 10.59... Why, why do I need the toilet NOW? World's quickest wee... 11.01, and we're OFF... Does anyone else have a strategy for ADRs? I always prioritise mine in the order of 'hard to get' ness (new word ) Anyway, aside from a few issues with our party of 9 (most ressies had to be booked 5 and a 4) and a minor issue with times for California Grill, I managed to get all of the reservations we wanted. So... I give you... Saturday 6th July Magic Kingdom (9-3.30ish) Ohana - 6.40pm Happily Ever After - 9.15pm Sunday 7th July Pool day Disney Springs (CAN.NOT.WAIT. to return here ) The Boathouse - 7pm/Raglan Road - 7pm Me, Neil, Mum, Martin and OB are doing The Boathouse, Dufflers are doing Raglan Road Evening at Disney Springs Monday 8th July Epcot Tutto Italia - 6pm One irritating thing here is that I couldn't get a reservation until 6.30 for the Dufflers. So we will be 30 minutes ahead of them. There's always Tutto Gusto next door while they/we wait. Illuminations: Reflections of Earth - 9pm Tuesday 9th July Typhoon Lagoon Blaze Evening at Disney Springs Wednesday 10th July Boys playing golf in the Florida Open 2019 Girls Bon Voyage Breakfast with Rapunzel, Flynn, Ariel and Eric - Trattoria Al Forno - 10.30am If I can just get ONE picture with Flynn Rider, I know I can convince him to marry me. California Grill - 5.35pm - This was a little annoying as I wanted a later reservation but it was the only time I could get for a party of 9. I could have got earlier times for a 5 and 4 but this was the highlight of our holiday last time and it was really important we sit together. Evening EMH at Magic Kingdom. Thursday 11th July Pool morning Le Cellier - 1.10pm This was done so we could still fit in a meal at Le Cellier Disney Hollywood Studios afternoon and evening Fantasmic - 9pm Friday 12th July Animal Kingdom morning (this is the one early morning that people may be opposed to but 1/11 ain't bad ) Pool afternoon Polite Pig Evening at Disney Springs Saturday 13th July Pool morning Disney Hollywood Studios afternoon Flying Fish - 7pm, ESPN - 7pm Me, Neil, Mum, Martin and OB are doing Flying Fish, Dufflers are doing ESPN Evening on the Boardwalk Sunday 14th July Pool morning California Grill - Brunch at the Top - 12.45pm for me and DH Grand Floridian Cafe - Lunch - 12.35pm for rest The California Grill brunch is the one thing I've reserved for me and Neil this year. Our amazing experience at Narcoossee's was a honeymoon highlight and I have been dying to try the CG equivalent. Afternoon and Evening at Animal Kingdom Monday 15th July Magic Kingdom Be Our Guest - Lunch - 12.30pm Narcoossee's - 7.10pm Happily Ever After - 9.15pm Phew! That's it. Our holiday sounds pretty awesome now that I've laid it all out like that. Our next step is to book FP+ and we'll be having another Disney night over Easter for that in which I confirm the itinerary for everyone and gather thoughts on FP. But basically, I know what I'm booking Over and out! Thanks for reading!
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CBR with DDP- May 2011 CBR with DDP - July 2014 NYC, SF & POR with DxDDP - May/June 2017 CSR & SF with DxDDP - July 2019 CSR & Dockside - May 2023 Edited at 01:47 PM. |
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12 Feb 19, 01:26 PM |
#12
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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A couple more updates from our awesome holiday...
1) The Dufflers have now booked their flights... God, this took a while. I was checking literally every day for six months and the prices were cringeably bad. They varied from £1037 return, to £836 return to £736 return. I believe the Dufflers have finally booked at £26...something but they had airmiles which they've used to upgrade to PE! All right for some! We won't be too far away from them, however, as we've booked the extra leg room seats at the front of the economy section 2) Neil and I have booked a night at Manchester Airport... For those that read our honeymoon trip report, we booked a night at the Radisson Blu the night before we flew to NYC and we were upgraded to an Executive room. We loved this so much last time and it did my travel anxiety the world of good. We've both booked the Monday 1st July off work so we're going to get the train over to Manchester Airport from Huddersfield so we can leave the car in the drive at home. Also better for security for our house. Win win. After weeks on weeks of price checking online, today, I finally booked our executive room at the Radisson. I used our £150 cashback switch bonus from our switch to First Direct (free money) with 3% Hotels.com cashback and a 10% genius bonus. We're paying £96 for this room once all this has been taken off, which is less than we paid for a standard room in 2017. My kind of saving. Very much looking forward to returning to this awesome place... And a quick dip in here... And sleeping in this lovely big bed... And being able to simply walk to the Terminal... Although that said, I'm not even sure we will have to go on this bit as we're flying to Terminal 2, so unless my airport geography is out, we're even closer than this! We have a Disney night planned for the 6th April where I'll be checking my Fastpass plans with the group. I still haven't booked the Universal hotel as I'm not overly happy with the prices but I'll be booking prior to Brexit (just in case!), same with the Universal passes. Number one contender at the moment for these is My America Holidays for the hotels and the wonderful Orlando Attractions for our Universal passes. |
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4 Mar 19, 05:12 PM |
#13
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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Universal hotel booked!
Snatched a cashback deal today. 13% cashback with Ebookers, Bonus + discount and I'm using a bank switching bonus to take some further money off. £150 switch bonus (I know it doesn't really count but I'm counting it haha) £279.73 cashback £44 Bonus + discount Booked at £561/room. Thrilled. Can't wait to return to the amazing Sapphire Falls |
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15 Apr 19, 02:30 PM |
#14
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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It's been an exciting month of holiday preparations for our upcoming trip and we have a few exciting updates.
We have all paid off our balances... Our Disney balance with Orlando Attractions wasn't due until the 26th of this month, however, the Dufflers paid off theirs, then following pay day in March, Neil and I paid off our balance, and then Mum, Martin and OB paid off theirs last week. Orlando Attractions have been an absolute dream to book with and I cannot recommend them enough. Every time I have called with a query, they have answered it straight away. I've paid our balance off in a few installments and each time, I've had an updated invoice and receipt through the post the very next day. Everything is showing as it should in MDE and we cannot wait to book many more holidays with them. Not to mention, they were my cheapest quote by quite a substantial amount. And I shopped around! We have our Universal tickets left to book and then we are done. Our last Disney planning night before we go... On the 6th April, after having paid our final balances, we had our last Disney planning night. Mark and Debsy have recently moved house, so the night was at their house. For anyone that has read our TRs before, you will know that we tend to go all out on the pre-trip excitement. This night was no different. We were greeted by these chaps... And Debsy had ordered these which tasted soooooooo good! For Mother's Day, I bought Mum this Mary Poppins T-shirt which she absolutely adores so we had a little picture... When we had all had some scrummy takeaway from a local gourmet burger place, I was ready to give my presentation () Following our last Disney night, which had pretty much changed my entire planned itinerary, I told everyone what restaurants I had booked, and what FPs I planned to book, asking a few questions along the way. Our itinerary currently looks like this... Day One - Tuesday 2nd July Arrive at Sapphire Falls Tea on Citywalk - possibly Cowfish Day Two - Wednesday 3rd July Early entry to IoA/USF Islands of Adventure Tea on Citywalk - possibly Jimmy Buffett's Day Three - Thursday 4th July Early entry to IoA/USF Universal Studios Florida Tea at Bahama Breeze, International Drive Day Four - Friday 5th July Early entry to IoA/USF Favourite rides from either park Uber transfer to Coronado Springs Resort for check in QS tea at Pepper Market and/or Siestas Cantina Day Five - Saturday 6th July Magic Kingdom Fastpasses - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain Leave before the parade Tea at 'Ohana, Polynesian Resort at 6.40pm Happily Ever After fireworks Day Six - Sunday 7th July Pool day Evening at Disney Springs Tea at Boathouse/Raglan Road at 7pm Day Seven - Monday 8th July Epcot Fastpasses - Soarin', Spaceship Earth, Mission:Space Tea at Tutto Italia at 6/6.30pm Illuminations: Reflections of Earth Day Eight - Tuesday 9th July Typhoon Lagoon Tea at Blaze, Disney Springs on the way back Day Nine - Wednesday 10th July Girls - Breakfast at Trattoria del Forno on the Boardwalk at 10.30am, FP for Frozen ride. Meet princesses around the World Showcase. Boys - Golf at Oak Trails golf course. Tea at California Grill at 5.25pm Happily Ever After fireworks EMH @ Magic Kingdom Day Ten - Thursday 11th July Pool morning Lunch at Le Cellier @ 1.10pm Afternoon at Hollywood Studios Fastpasses - TSM, SW and ToT/RnR Fantasmic Day Eleven - Friday 12th July Animal Kingdom Fastpasses - FoP, Kilimanjaro, Kali River Pool afternoon Tea at Polite Pig, Disney Springs Day Twelve - Saturday 13th July Pool morning Afternoon at Hollywood Studios Fastpasses - Slinky Dog Dash, ToT, RnR Tea at Flying Fish/ESPN @ 7pm Day Thirteen - Sunday 14th July Pool morning Lunch at Grand Floridian Cafe/Brunch at California Grill at 12.45pm Afternoon and evening at Animal Kingdom Festival of the Lion King, then... Fastpasses - Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, FoP Rivers of Light Day Fourteen - Monday 15th July Magic Kingdom Lunch at BoG at 12.30pm Fastpasses - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain Parade at 3pm Quick change then Tea at Narcoossee's, 7.05pm Happily Ever After fireworks The gang couldn't believe how different our itinerary was (lots of pool mornings for people to have a lie in as requested, and late nights on the Boardwalk and Disney Springs) and everyone's restaurant priorities catered for. After a few alcoholic beverages, we were starting to get very, very excited about our upcoming trip. We had a group picture to celebrate... not quite ready Ready now... Me and hubby... Megan, Mutti and Marty... And the character of our holiday, my Uncle Mark. We have now nicknamed Uncle Mark, Russell, as we are convinced that he looks exactly like Russell from Up. Our Magic Bands are now customised Being an uber Disney and just generally crazy family, we have nicknamed each other for this upcoming holiday. Many of these nicknames have held from our 2014 holiday. Some are simply family nicknames... some are just funny. Me and Hubby: Tinks and Scar My sister, Katie had her first child this year, so Neil is now literally Uncle Scar Dufflers: Kevin, Russell, Megatron and Andy On our last holiday, Debsy kept getting left behind so we've named her Kevin (from Home Alone ). Uncle Mark is Russell. I can't remember when we decided Megan was Megatron. Somewhere between the Transformers ride in 2014 and the present day. Sam grew up with Toy Story, he was literally born in 1994. I can't remember when we nicknamed him Andy. Somewhere between 2010 and the present day. M, M and OB: Poppins, Bagheera and Brooklyn Since the new MP movie, Mum has gone full Mary Poppins. She always had a bit of MP in her anyway but she's loving it. Given the 9 character limit, we decided on Poppins. Marty gets called Bagheera by his football team. OB is Brooklyn (Beckham) - the pampered golden child I'll be in touch again once our FP+ are booked. Over and out. |
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15 Apr 19, 08:48 PM |
#15
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Imagineer
Join Date: Sep 08
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So funny - love the itinerary and your presentation- did you do a PowerPoint?
We go as a family of 11 and all have nicknames too! Not long to wait now ...
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The most magical place on earth |
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16 Apr 19, 01:44 PM |
#16
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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20 May 19, 06:14 PM |
#17
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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Fastpasses booked!
So on the 6th of this month it was our Fastpass day
As was the case on ADR day, I was assembled with my spreadsheet at 12pm on the dot... ready to rock. I was slightly frustrated by the interface of the app when booking as I couldn't see the time of what I'd already booked when I went to book my next FP... but on the whole, I got everything I wanted... Saturday 6th July 10.05am-11.05am - Space Mountain 11.05am-12.05pm - Splash Mountain Can anyone recommend a QS lunch place nearby other than BOG? We used to go to Pecos Bills but we're not fans of Tacos 1.20pm-2.30pm - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train We're leaving after this FP to enjoy the rest of our afternoon by the pool at CSR. Monday 8th July Plan on an early-ish Test Track 10am-11am - Soarin' Around the World 11.10am-12.10pm - Spaceship Earth 12.10pm-1.10pm - Mission Space Wednesday 10th July The girls are enjoying a breakfast/brunch at Bon Voyage on the Boardwalk at 10.30am while the boys enjoy a round of golf 12.10pm-1.10pm - Frozen Ever After 1.15pm-2.15pm - The Seas with Nemo and Friends We also want to meet Princesses Thursday 11th July We have a lunch reservation at Le Cellier at 1pm 3.05pm-4.05pm - Toy Story Mania 4.15pm-5.15pm - Star Tours 5.30pm-6.30pm - Rock N Roller Coaster We will also be watching Fantasmic on this night. Friday 12th July Planning on a rope drop Navi River Adventure. 10.25am-11.25am - Avatar Flight of Passage 11.25am-12.25pm - Kilimanjaro Safaris 12.25pm-1.25pm - Kali River Rapids We are going back to CSR after this to enjoy an afternoon by the pool and an evening at Disney Springs. Saturday 13th July We are enjoying a pool morning at CSR. 1.10pm-2.10pm - Slinky Dog Dash 2.25pm-3.25pm - Rock N Roller Coaster 3.35pm-4.35pm - Tower of Terror This evening, we have a 5.55pm reservation at Flying Fish on the Boardwalk but we are planning on returning to DHS to watch the new night-time show Sunday 14th July This morning, hubby and I have a brunch booked at the California Grill at 12.45pm and the rest of the party have a brunch/lunch booked at Grand Floridian Cafe at 12.35pm. Following this, we are spending the afternoon and evening at Animal Kingdom 4pm-5pm - Dinosaur 5.05pm-6.05pm - Expedition Everest 6.05pm-7.05pm - Avatar Flight of Passage Monday 15th July Last day 9.45am-10.45am - Splash Mountain 10.50am-11.50am - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train We have an ADR at BOG on our last full day at 12.30pm 2.05pm-3.05pm - Space Mountain We are planning to leave right after the afternoon parade and head back to the hotel for our final ADR at Narcoossee's at 6.55/7.10pm. We literally can't wait, it's getting so close now! |
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20 May 19, 06:52 PM |
#18
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VIP Dibber
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Your plans look fab and are really coming together.
For your Pecos Bill replacement lunch I'd go for the golden oak outpost. Really tasty waffle fries with chilli and/or cheese, or just on their own. This is a snack credit and should leave room for a sneaky sundae or ice cream cookie sandwich from the plaza on the way out! We've used the outdoor seating of Pecos Bill to eat the fries in. It's under cover so in the shade.
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Abby New pre trip report - Summer 2024 Link to all my completed trip reports 2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston. 2018: Orlando. Berlin. 2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC. 2020: DLP. 2021: Jamaica. Rome. 2022: Orlando. 2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto. |
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17 Jun 19, 03:43 PM |
#19
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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14 DAYS TO GO... !
I cannot believe that we are now at 14 days. Well, I say 14 days. 14 days until Neil and I check in to the Radisson which is basically when our holiday begins! 14 days until we can check in, anyway! I don't have that many updates for the pre-trip report, only that we received our packs from Disney about two weeks ago... We booked with Orlando Attractions, so I wasn't sure if we would still get these as I thought they were a 'direct with Disney' thing, but we did I have also started packing... And today we received our Universal tickets from Orlando Attractions by recorded delivery. Thanks Tony, Tom and the team and @MrsOrlando. Highly recommended. I won't ever book with anyone else. We are absolutely crazy busy these next few weeks so I tragically won't have time to update again before we go, but rest assured, you will be having full updated trip report when we get back. I can't believe it's really finally here! |
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18 Jun 19, 10:17 AM |
#20
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Imagineer
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Looks good! So exciting when the Disney pack comes isn't it.
We've got the same parks booked as you on a couple of your days (MK & AK) so might bump in to you. Enjoy the countdown 😊 |
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