J & K Hit the States - Nov 17 - Pre Trip **Updated**

Shroom · 1 Jun 17, 11:37 AM

Hi Everyone,

So I've been reading some of the brilliant pre-trip planning posts on here, so thought I would have a go at doing my own to get me even more excited than I already am for our Disney Trip!

The Cast

Me - Kat - 27 when we travel. Harry Potter and Disney obsessed. This will be my second trip to Orlando, but first time at WDW.
OH - John - 25. Loves The Lion King, His Xbox, our Cats, and Me - in that order!

We have been together about six months but been friends for years, and it will be our first anniversary together whilst we’re out there, on thanksgiving of all days!

The Background
I went to Orlando in February ’16 with two friends, we stayed on iDrive at the Ramada Plaza. We didn’t do Disney at all during that week as one of our friends was on a tight budget so we just did Universal and then pottered around Florida Mall for a day before moving on to NYC for 3 days.

OH went in June ‘16 for a week and went to Disney world and Universal, but has been to WDW previously with his parents. He has said he doesn’t want to try and squash both sets of parks into a week again this year as it was hard work and he only did Magic Kingdom and Epcot really along with Universal so is looking forward to not rushing around this year. (He also doesn’t do huge rollercoasters so he’s glad I won’t be pushing him onto the Hulk!)

I had booked to go to WDW for 2 weeks in February 2017 with one of my friends from the previous trip but unfortunately circumstances changed so this trip was cancelled

We were going to be staying at Caribbean Beach for 2 weeks with QSDP, had booked to go to Discovery Cove any everything as well as 1 night at the Polynesian.

The Trip
We are flying from Manchester on Saturday 18th November 2017 at 11:30am.

We arrive at MCO at 15:55 and will be picking up the Magical Express to Disney’s All Star Movies Resort for 7 nights.

We haven’t paid for a preferred room as we’re not too bothered about being right on top of the Bus and Restaurant so we’ll just take pot luck when we get there!

We’ve got the 14 for 7 day tickets to Disney, and we’ve booked everything through WDTC. Originally we had booked the QS Dining Plan but we have upgraded to the DDP as we had booked to eat at Be Our Guest for Dinner on our Anniversary and worked out we would be spending way more in one meal than it would cost to just upgrade for the week.

We have chosen our MagicBands, (MagicBand 2.0!) OH has chosen green, he’s already got a Toy Story one from last year but he’s having a new one as his is only a 1.0; and I’ve chosen purple, because we can’t both have green!

Due to OH’s experience last year, the fact I’ve never done it and because he hates big rollercoasters, we’ve decided to stick with just going to Disney World this year instead of Universal too; which I’m totally heartbroken by as I’m a massive Harry Potter fan, but with the amount of stuff to do at Disney World it’s probably a good idea.

The Plan So Far…
We are now at 170 day to go, so I’ve already booked a few ADRs.
Sunday Day 1 – We’re off to Magic Kingdom for Breakfast at Be Our Guest. I’m a huge Beauty and the Beast fan so this seemed the obvious choice.

Monday Day 2 – We have 7:30pm reservations at 50’s Prime Time Café, so will spend the afternoon at HS.

Tuesday Day 3 – No reservations today, we might hit Florida Mall or the Premium Outlets instead.

Wednesday Day 4 – 6:25pm reservations at Sci-Fi Dine in Theatre in HS, we’re then planning to hot foot it over to Epcot for Illuminations.

Thursday Day 5 – This is our anniversary day. We have Breakfast booked at The Wave for 9:15am and Dinner reservations at Be Our Guest at 8:05pm.

Friday Day 6 – Epcot’s Holidays around the world begins today so we’re hoping to save some snack credits and hit World Showcase for the day.

Saturday Day 7 – Our last day. No plans at the moment but I’m going to say we’ll be off to MK for one last long look at the castle.

That’s it so far. All plans subject to change depending on recommendations and the more I read trip reports!

LaurenYorkshir · 1 Jun 17, 04:10 PM

Great start !
Looking forward to reading along x

Shroom · 5 Jun 17, 12:30 PM

Sunday Day 1 – We’re off to Magic Kingdom for Breakfast at Be Our Guest. I’m a huge Beauty and the Beast fan so this seemed the obvious choice.

Monday Day 2 – We have 7:30pm reservations at 50’s Prime Time Café, so will spend the afternoon at HS.

Tuesday Day 3 – No reservations today, we might hit Florida Mall or the Premium Outlets instead.

Wednesday Day 4 – 6:25pm reservations at Sci-Fi Dine in Theatre in HS, we’re then planning to hot foot it over to Epcot for Illuminations.

Thursday Day 5 – This is our anniversary day. We have Breakfast booked at The Wave for 9:15am and Dinner reservations at Be Our Guest at 8:05pm.

Friday Day 6 – Epcot’s Holidays around the world begins today so we’re hoping to save some snack credits and hit World Showcase for the day.

Saturday Day 7 – Our last day. No plans at the moment but I’m going to say we’ll be off to MK for one last long look at the castle.

Couple of slight changes to the above. We've cancelled HS 50's prime time café as HS shuts at 8pm and our reservations were for 7:30. We've decided to just do the Wednesday instead at 6:25 (still on the look out for an earlier time!) and then finish Dinner at Sci-Fi Dine in and then head over for the Star Wars Fire Works.

We've now booked to eat at the Yachtsman on Tuesday, Day 3 at 7:30pm, which will cost 2 TS credits.

Shroom · 29 Jun 17, 04:20 PM

Managed to get our Esta sorted. OH already has one that doesn't expire until May 2018 so he's fine, albeit his emergency contact is his ex... hmmm.

So, still to do:

Travel Insurance
***Pay Disney***
Travel Money Card
PACK

Shroom · 31 Oct 17, 02:15 PM

**UPDATE**

So we've done a bit more planning since my last update.

Itinerary so far...

Friday 17th Nov
Booked in to the Radisson Blu at Manchester Airport. Starting our holiday a tad earlier as my Dad now has to work on the Saturday so asked if we could go any earlier. Alternative was to be at the airport 6 hours pre-flight...

Saturday 18th Nov
Flight from MAN>MCO at 11:30am
Pre-booked seats on Virgin flight and we're on bottom deck at the back in the 2 seat aisles.
Check in to All star Movies
Dinner at Disney Springs after collecting magic bands and likely Magic Kingdom for fireworks if jet lag allows.

Sunday 19th Nov
8:55Am - Reservation at Be Our Guest - We've already pre ordered our meals.
10-11am - Seven Dwarfs Mine Traing FP+
11-12 - Big Thunder mountain Railroad FP+
12:15-1:15pm - Jungle Cruise FP+

Probably catch some QS in Magic Kingdom then a chilled out afternoon and probably disney springs for dinner.

Monday 20th Nov
Nothing booked for Monday – we’re planning on having a trip to the premium outlets, then hitting city walk afterwards for some lunch, back to Disney in the afternoon and whatever takes our fancy.

Tuesday 21st Nov
Animal Kingdom day!
10:45am – 11:45am – Na’vi River Journey FP+
12pm – 1pm – Kilimanjaro Safaris FP+
1:30pm – Rainforest Café for Lunch
Home for the afternoon probably
7:45pm – Dinner at The Yachtsman Steakhouse

Wednesday 22nd Nov
Lazy morning at the hotel/magic kingdom I think.
3:30pm – 4:30pm – Star Tours FP+
5:15pm – 50s Prime Time Diner
7:50 – 8:05 Fantasmic FP+

Thursday 23rd Nov
Today is our anniversary.
10:30am – Breakfast at the Wave.
Think we’re going to go to Typhoon Lagoon today for a spash around
8:05pm – Dinner at Be Our Guest.
Stay for Fireworks

Friday 24th Nov
Epcot – Holidays around the world for the day.
3-4 – Spashship Earth FP+
5:25 – 6:25 – Relaunched Mission: Space FP+
9pm – Illuminations FP+

Saturday 25th Nov
One last trip to MK then home *sadface*

**Goldia** · 31 Oct 17, 08:28 PM

Ooh not long for you now. Only a couple more weeks to wait. I hope you have fun.

We had a great dinner at the wave and it gets some good reviews for breakfast. Yachtsman is on my list for next time as every time I see it on you tube it looks awesome and everyone raves about it. Sounds like it will be an awesome trip.

1 Jun 17, 11:37 AM	#1
	1 Jun 17, 11:37 AM Shroom Having Dinner with Goofy
Shroom Having Dinner with Goofy Join Date: Jun 16	J & K Hit the States - Nov 17 - Pre Trip Updated Hi Everyone, So I've been reading some of the brilliant pre-trip planning posts on here, so thought I would have a go at doing my own to get me even more excited than I already am for our Disney Trip! The Cast Me - Kat - 27 when we travel. Harry Potter and Disney obsessed. This will be my second trip to Orlando, but first time at WDW. OH - John - 25. Loves The Lion King, His Xbox, our Cats, and Me - in that order! We have been together about six months but been friends for years, and it will be our first anniversary together whilst we’re out there, on thanksgiving of all days! The Background I went to Orlando in February ’16 with two friends, we stayed on iDrive at the Ramada Plaza. We didn’t do Disney at all during that week as one of our friends was on a tight budget so we just did Universal and then pottered around Florida Mall for a day before moving on to NYC for 3 days. OH went in June ‘16 for a week and went to Disney world and Universal, but has been to WDW previously with his parents. He has said he doesn’t want to try and squash both sets of parks into a week again this year as it was hard work and he only did Magic Kingdom and Epcot really along with Universal so is looking forward to not rushing around this year. (He also doesn’t do huge rollercoasters so he’s glad I won’t be pushing him onto the Hulk!) I had booked to go to WDW for 2 weeks in February 2017 with one of my friends from the previous trip but unfortunately circumstances changed so this trip was cancelled We were going to be staying at Caribbean Beach for 2 weeks with QSDP, had booked to go to Discovery Cove any everything as well as 1 night at the Polynesian. The Trip We are flying from Manchester on Saturday 18th November 2017 at 11:30am. We arrive at MCO at 15:55 and will be picking up the Magical Express to Disney’s All Star Movies Resort for 7 nights. We haven’t paid for a preferred room as we’re not too bothered about being right on top of the Bus and Restaurant so we’ll just take pot luck when we get there! We’ve got the 14 for 7 day tickets to Disney, and we’ve booked everything through WDTC. Originally we had booked the QS Dining Plan but we have upgraded to the DDP as we had booked to eat at Be Our Guest for Dinner on our Anniversary and worked out we would be spending way more in one meal than it would cost to just upgrade for the week. We have chosen our MagicBands, (MagicBand 2.0!) OH has chosen green, he’s already got a Toy Story one from last year but he’s having a new one as his is only a 1.0; and I’ve chosen purple, because we can’t both have green! Due to OH’s experience last year, the fact I’ve never done it and because he hates big rollercoasters, we’ve decided to stick with just going to Disney World this year instead of Universal too; which I’m totally heartbroken by as I’m a massive Harry Potter fan, but with the amount of stuff to do at Disney World it’s probably a good idea. The Plan So Far… We are now at 170 day to go, so I’ve already booked a few ADRs. Sunday Day 1 – We’re off to Magic Kingdom for Breakfast at Be Our Guest. I’m a huge Beauty and the Beast fan so this seemed the obvious choice. Monday Day 2 – We have 7:30pm reservations at 50’s Prime Time Café, so will spend the afternoon at HS. Tuesday Day 3 – No reservations today, we might hit Florida Mall or the Premium Outlets instead. Wednesday Day 4 – 6:25pm reservations at Sci-Fi Dine in Theatre in HS, we’re then planning to hot foot it over to Epcot for Illuminations. Thursday Day 5 – This is our anniversary day. We have Breakfast booked at The Wave for 9:15am and Dinner reservations at Be Our Guest at 8:05pm. Friday Day 6 – Epcot’s Holidays around the world begins today so we’re hoping to save some snack credits and hit World Showcase for the day. Saturday Day 7 – Our last day. No plans at the moment but I’m going to say we’ll be off to MK for one last long look at the castle. That’s it so far. All plans subject to change depending on recommendations and the more I read trip reports! Edited at 11:41 AM.

29 Jun 17, 04:20 PM	#4
	29 Jun 17, 04:20 PM Shroom Having Dinner with Goofy Thread Starter
Shroom Thread Starter Having Dinner with Goofy Join Date: Jun 16	Managed to get our Esta sorted. OH already has one that doesn't expire until May 2018 so he's fine, albeit his emergency contact is his ex... hmmm. So, still to do: Travel Insurance *Pay Disney* Travel Money Card PACK