Natalie & Matt’s Fantasmic Disneymoon – September 2012

[dozy]

the cruise is making me so jealous - maybe when kids are older

[lady emz]

Loving your pre trippy so far Nat, your engagement photos are so magical, can't wait to see your wedding photos! I would love a Mickey ring too so will pop into Mousegear in May and make a few hints Hehe. Fantastic planning so far I will have my fingers crossed that you get lots of pixie dust and Disney upgrade you to Savannah view to finish off your perfect Disneymoon

[NatsyNoo]

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments
I'm really enjoying writing the report and when I've summarised all of our plans I will be maintaining it in the style of a blog/diary, can't wait to count down the days with you all!

[NatsyNoo]

When we go to Florida on holiday, we don't like to waste a single moment!

We don't have 'rest days', we wake up at the crack of dawn, and we don't go to bed until midnight most days. Adrenalin gets us through the first week, the second week we take things a bit slower, sleep in a little and tend to use the hotel pool a bit more! We also like to go to all of the Disney parks for at least 2 days each, not just for the rides and shows, but character greetings and the general ambience! This is why we love staying onsite so much, it's so flexible for us!

Hence when you see our plans (below), you will hopefully understand how we fit so much into our trip!

Theme Parks
Magic Kingdom (including nighttime parade, praying it goes back to Spectromagic as I really don't like the Main Street Electrical Parade; and Wishes)



Hollywood Studios (including Fantasmic, twice I hope!)



Animal Kingdom



Epcot (including Illuminations)



Typhoon Lagoon



Blizzard Beach? - we don't really like this park so much so this is a maybe



Disney Quest



Universal Studios



Islands of Adventure



1 night stay at Hard Rock Hotel to get FOTL passes



Seaworld



Aquatica



Busch Gardens



Keys to the Kingdom Tour (Magic Kingdom)



Serengeti Safari (Busch Gardens)



Cirque du Soleil - La Nouba



Blue Man Group



Since we are hoping to take advantage of free DDP, we will be purchasing Disney 14 day Ultimate tickets with our accommodation. For Universal and Worlds of Discovery parks, we are planning to buy the 2 and 3 park tickets with the cheapest suppliers who supply real tickets. We have been looking around and the cheapest appear to be Travel Republic or Attraction Tickets Direct (if we go for a combo). We used Travel Republic for our Worlds of Discovery tickets in 2009 and were very impressed with the service.

We toyed with the idea of Discovery Cove but just can't justify the cost this time as Matt isn't all that bothered and also, we just can't fit it in!
We have also considered Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party but we did it (and loved it!) in 2009, and don't think we will be ready to do it again by 2012 as things won't have changed very much. I can't wait to go back some time and try the Christmas party!
We looked at a Seaworld Behind the Scenes tour too, but think we might give that one a miss til next time.
Finally, we are going back and forth regarding the Wishes Dessert Party but with DDP, it's too much food, and also, very difficult to fit it into our ADR plans as we prefer to eat later! This may well change later on though!

[disney chic]

great pre trip-report

[NatsyNoo]

As I've said before, we are keeping our fingers crossed for free DDP for our trip, and have already considered our desired ADRs at great length!

As much as Deluxe DDP sounds fantastic, given how bursting I've felt with DDP the last 2 trips, I just don't think it's necessary! It would be great to experience everything but it'll just give us an excuse to go back!

Character Breakfasts
We are not big breakfast eaters in Orlando as our evening meal is usually heavy, but I just love the experience of character breakfasts. We did Cape May Cafe in 2009 and really enjoyed the experience and being able to try some of that delicious food. So next time, I'd like to try:
Crystal Palace, Magic Kingdom (day 1 since we'll be up and about so early)
Tusker House, Animal Kingdom (based on recommendation)
Chef Mickey, Contemporary (we really enjoy dinner here!)
We will probably use all of our TS credits on dinner so these will be paid for OOP

Lunch
As I said in my previous post, we are go go go when we are in Orlando, so we don't like to stop long for lunch. We therefore tend to use our quick service credits at lunchtime, and plan to visit the following places next time:
Magic Kingdom - Pecos Bill, Columbia Harbour House (including in KTTK price), Cosmic Rays
Hollywood Studios - Pizza Planet, Toluca Turkey Legs (never tried one before! )
Animal Kingdom - Flame Tree BBQ, Pizzafari
Epcot - Electric Umbrella, Liberty Inn
Downtown Disney - Earl of Sandwich (probably a late lunch, we'll go to Typhoon Lagoon in the morning, then head to Disney Quest after lunch), Wolfgang Puck Express (this will be in the evening, on our first night and possibly one other time)
Resort - Pepper Market, Coronado Springs - the day we get back from Busch Gardens, since we were late for our ADR last time due to traffic, we are planning to head by here
Seaworld - Voyager's Smokehouse
Aquatica - Mango Market (though we are not such a fan of food here)
Busch Gardens - Zambia Smokehouse
Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure - Three Broomsticks or Cafe 4 (mmmm...pizza)

Snacks
Since dessert is included when using a table service credit, we like to use our credits for either drinks (though we usually pay OOP for drinks to get better value for money out of our credits) or something sweet in the afternoon, such as an ice cream or popcorn.
We are usually not very hungry when eating all the food included with DDP though so every time we say to ourselves, 'we must try X/Y/Z' on our trip so never get round to it. However, next time, I will not board that plane until I have tried:
Dole Whip
Funnel Cake
Turkey Leg...yes, a shared snack!
Apple Turnover - we had one last time and it was absolutely immense!
Cherry Turnover - due to the above!
I'm sure there are more but I just can't think of any more right now!

Dinner
Yes, here's the biggie! Where will we eat?
Here are the places that we cannot leave WDW without eating at again:
Chef Mickey
Whispering Canyon Cafe - last time was literally the funniest evening of our lives and I can't even remember why, just laughed a lot!
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Trail's End
Cinderella's Royal Table
Here are the places that we really really want to try:
Via Napoli
Wolfgang Puck Cafe (before or after Cirque du Soleil, depending on which showing we see)
Le Cellier...the elusive! Not lucky enough to get an ADR here yet, maybe next time...hopefully dinner will be a bit easier
Ohana
Hoop de Doo Musical Revue (dinner show)
Tutto Italia

Additionally, we have food during our 1 night stay at HRH to consider. Not decided yet but we'll either have a QS meal in the park before seeing Blue Man Group, or we'll eat in Citywalk (e.g. Hard Rock Cafe, Margharitaville, Pastamore, Nascar Grill) before or after the show.

I'd really love to do another signature, (either Citrico or California Grill) but just don't know where I'd fit it in! Also we don't have any spare credits, but I may have a cunning plan!
Since it's looking like we'll be staying at AKL (if the price isn't crazy!), we might want to do the Wanayama Safari which includes dinner at Jiko in the price ($150 pp), so I'd be tempted to do that, take out Wolfgang Puck Cafe, pay OOP for Trail's End and then we'd be able to squeeze one in!

Many tweaks to come I think! And another excuse to revisit another time!

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by disney chic

great pre trip-report

See more...

Thank you!

[taran_j]

WOW you are super organised - you're both going to have such a fab honeymoon!

[chaffey]

A girl after my own heart, you can rest when you get home

The list of restuarants is making me hungry:pop: and maybe I need to relook at the list we have as I've only five weeks left before I need to book

Look forward to all the tweaks that you will do over the next few months

[pennycrayon]

Oooh ddint realise you had started this! Loving all your plans your so organised!

Can't wait to read more - do you think you will book through disney uk or complete orlando? I cant wait for 2012 prices to come out!