First time Floribobs - September 2017 - Pre-trip report

[Cazzius]

Hello,

I’ve been binge reading everyone’s trip reports in preparation/excitement for our trip in September.
As I’ve taken full advantage of everyone else’s trips, stories and reports, I felt it was only fair I give back.
I can’t promise to be as entertaining as Hemanclofty, Gopherlass, DixonsOnTour or any of the other fabulous trip reports i've been reading though!

The cast

Caz (Me!)

34 year old Disney and Harry Potter fan. Went to WDW aged 11 in 1993, and have been to DLP twice, most recently 2007, when I met the main mouse himself on his skidoo. Love hot, sunny weather and holidays are one of my favourite things.
Really excited to be immersed in the magic again and have been researching, planning and booking.

Christophe

31 year old sports fan. Never been to Disney and seems to think we’re going on a holiday to somewhere similar to a large Thorpe Park. Did come up with the gem “isn’t it better if I know nothing as then I will be really surprised and overwhelmed, and want to go back?!” – can’t argue with that logic! Loves a city break and is looking forward to our days in Tampa, hoping to visit sports bars, see live baseball and NFL games. Struggles in hot weather due to Celtic blood and gets hongry (Hot + angry!)

The background

I’ve been keen to go on holiday to WDW for a number of years, but haven’t managed it. We’ve had some great trips like to Cape Town and a surprise trip to Washington DC for Chris’ 30th as he’d never been out of Europe… but never made it to the House of Mouse.
I was made redundant from a job I really liked back in November 2016. Feeling pretty rotten and hating jobhunting I decided I needed something to look forward to, and scraping under the wire before the free DDP ended, booked 2 weeks in Orlando.

The trip

I booked through Virgin Holidays as we had a great trip with them to Cape Town and I get 7% off – which doesn’t sound like a lot but was a few hundred pounds!
I hadn’t discovered The Dibb yet, so made what many old hands would consider mistakes, but live and learn and not much can be done now!

Itinerary
08-09 September – overnight at Gatwick
09-14 September – Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
14-19 September – Tampa. Watching sports, drinking craft beers.
19-23 September – Radisson at Celebration
20-21 September – 1 night at Royal Pacific Resort for Express Passes (first timer error #1)
22-23 September – 1 night at Disney’s All Star Sports (first timer error #2)
23-24 September – Fly home 

First timer error #1
We have the Radisson and RPR booked this night, as it worked out cheaper to do a hotel room then 2 days of Express Passes each. Seems wasteful to have 2 hotel rooms, but think we’ll do an overnight bag as then can change after water rides, freshen up for dinner/ drinks at CityWalk and stay over to be ready to hit the park early the next day.

First timer error #2
Booked the All Stars as wanted the on-site perks of 180 days ADR and 60 days FP, free parking etc. Did NOT know that the 180 days ADR and 60 days FP would just count on from our initial stay at AKL. Got it at a good price and thankfully there are extra magic hours so we will still benefit from parking and extra park time. Feel I was trying to be smart and failed a bit here though, haha.

Anything else?]
We have tickets for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party on 19 September.
Still trying to figure out what to dress as.
First idea - Vanellope and Wreck-It Ralph, but thought it might be a bit hot as she’s in a hoodie and he’s in dungarees,
Second idea – big & small backwards - he’s tall and I’m short so we’ll swap it round and be funny (maybe just funny peculiar rather than funny haha) – like him Jiminy Cricket and me Pinnochio.
Third idea - Disney but not exactly characters – both of us as scouts like Russell from Up or Junior Woodchucks like Huey, Louey and Dewey.
Fourth idea – generic - too much room for inaccuracy in Disney themed costumes so thought maybe explorers in khaki with pith helmets – but would have to pack pith helmets…
Current idea - England Rugby players – white tops which we have anyway, white shorts, long socks, trainers and sweat bands. Nice and easy, not too hot and representing our home country!

This may change again though as I’ve scored a BOG dinner at the start of the night and am not sure I want my photo with The Beast to be in England rugby kit.

Plus, I may end up on the wrong side of a mickey bar or some gravy and end up looking like this!

Any good Halloween party fancy dress ideas, please let me know!

I’ll share more info as it happens, and my planning spreadsheet (thanks to Pamamouse’s fab template) once I figure out how to share files.

Now, to think of a catchy trip report title…

[Cazzius]

ADR Day!

As we’re on the free DDP from booking AKL, it was time to choose where we wanted to eat in 180 days time.
When I told Chris that we were going to have to choose where we wanted to eat in 6 months he looked at me like I was bats.

Having never stayed on site at WDW, never eaten at a Disney Table Service restaurant and never been to a character meal – we had a lot of researching to do!

Finally selected the below (photos from Google – I haven’t been yet)

Let me know what you think? Anything we’re missing? Any big mistakes?

09 September (Arrival Day)

Narcoossee’s (paying OOP) – 19.55pm

I wanted to see fireworks on our first day (I LOVE fireworks) but didn’t want to ‘use’ a park day as then we wouldn’t be able to go to a park on our last day.
Did a bit of research and narrowed the choice down to ‘Ohana or Narcoossee’s.

Narc’s (as I am now calling it as I have to keep checking the spelling) won as if we are starting to feel tired we can just do a starter and a pudding, which isn’t possible at ‘Ohana.

Going to watch the MK fireworks from the deck.

10 September

BoG – 09:35am
So excited to have our first breakfast be BoG! Not sure what to go for yet but think we will order in advance? I hear good things about the cronut!

Chris wants to go to a sports bar, so after our Magic Kingdom fastpasses we’re going to head through Epcot, go to the ESPN bar on the Boardwalk and spend some time there, then snack around the world for dinner courtesy of Snack Credits and the Food & Wine Festival.

11 September

Mama Melrose Ristorante Italiano – 15:05

Booked for the Fantasmic Dining Package, but I figure it’s hard to go wrong with Italian, right?
Plus it looks quite cute with the red booths and the fairy lights.

12 September

Tusker House Character Breakfast – 09:10

Breakfast with Donald and the crew in their safari gear. We both love a breakfast buffet and I heard there were some interesting choices here, plus, RoL package.

Dinner to be at Flame Tree BBQ as I have heard so many good things about it.

13 September

The Crystal Palace – 08:10

Breakfast with Pooh and the gang. Contemplating a Disneybound for this day! Very excited to try the famous breakfast lasagne here.

San Angel Inn Restaurante – 17:30 OR 19:00 – Help!

I really wanted to eat here when I came as a child over 20 years ago. Eating in the ride is something I think Chris will get a kick out of. I’ve eaten at Blue Lagoon at DLP and although the food will be different hopefully this will be just as much of an experience.

Help! Which time should I choose? Bit of a mess of this day and we’re going to head over to MK after dinner for the night time shows there (Happily Ever After and Once Upon A Time). I’m guessing 17:30 would be better to allow plenty of time?

Tuesday 14 September

Our last day at Disney on property and on DDP before heading to Tampa for the weekend.
We have one TS remaining. I have BoG booked, but feel I should use the TS and cancel BoG (anyone want a BoG lunch – 13:05 for 2 people? ).
Where shall we go for a late lunch? Thinking Skipper Canteen or maybe Homecomin’ in Disney Springs?

Back from Tampa!

Tuesday 19 September

BoG – 18:45
Back at MK for MNSSHP, booked BoG as I thought eating in the west wing would be a good start to the Halloween festivities and I REALLY want to meet the Beast.
Think we might do appetizers and desserts, or share the charcuterie board to get the atmosphere but leave room for candy!

Friday 22 September (last full day - *sob*)

‘Ohana – 17:10

Dinner at ‘Ohana followed by a drink at Trader Sam’s then off on the Monorail for Illuminations. Originally wanted to watch the MK fireworks from the beach, but it’s the Halloween party that night so changed the plans.

And that’s it!

Thinking I might add in a meal at Disney Springs for the 23rd September as will be checking in there and will be nice to eat something before the flight… though if we go to a park maybe best to eat there. Really undecided on this and may see how we feel with no plan (ARGH! Dibb Error siren sounds!)

[Cazzius]

Planning, planning, planning!

I don’t think I have ever planned for anything as much as I have planned for this trip – and I’m in Marketing and tasked with organising big events on a regular basis.


I organised this!

Thanks to the brilliance of The Dibb, I knew 180 days out was the magic number for restaurant bookings and was all set for that (see post above).

Next on the list was FastPasses, and another kettle of Nemo, Dory and Marlon entirely!

I’d got some input from Chris regarding restaurants as, well, who wouldn’t be interested in reading menus and deciding what delicious food to eat on holiday.

Rides are another matter entirely.

When I went to WDW waaaaaay back in 1994, we went in November, I don’t even remember queuing and there were no FastPasses.
Plus, there are a LOT of new rides, and even a new park since then.

Add to that the fact that following D23 a number of rides would be closed, plus Splash Mountain which I loved back in ’94 would be down for refurb and I had some serious thinking to do.

Disappointment at not being able to do the Disney mountain range passed as I had to deal with tiering.

Does everyone else find the tiering in Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom a pain? Particularly Hollywood Studios as there’s only, like, 4 rides and 2 are Tier 1!

Oddly enough, Magic Kingdom was easiest, not just due to lack of tiers but it is also the one I am least concerned about ride wise as we’re going to MNSSHP and I expect we could get a number of rides done then.

Avatar: Flight of Passage was my top concern as I have heard nothing but good things on The Dibb, on the web and from colleagues.

This is what I went for…

Day 1 (Magic Kingdom with BoG breakfast)
09:35 - Be Our Guest Breakfast
10:15-11:15 - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
11:20-12:20 - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
12:25-13:25 - Space Mountain

Day 2 (Hollywood Studios)
14:10-15:10 - Star Tours – The Adventures Continues
15:05 - Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano (Fantasmic Package)
16:45-17:45 - Toy Story Mania!
5:55-6:55 - The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Day 3 (Animal Kingdom)
*hoping to rope drop Navi River Journey*
09:10 - Tusker House Restaurant (ROL package)
11:55-12:55 - Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
13:10-14:10 - Avatar Flight of Passage
18:50-19:50 - Kilimanjaro Safaris (I heard sunset-ish was a good time to do this?)

Day 4 (Epcot with breakfast at MK)
8:10 - A Buffet with Character Breakfast at The Crystal Palace
Monorail to Epcot
13:50-14:50 - Spaceship Earth
15:05-16:05 - Test Track
16:10-17:10 - Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot
17:30 - San Angel Inn Dinner (could switch this to 19:00 but not sure we’d get to MK in time for fireworks?
Monorail to MK for fireworks

Day 5 (Animal Kingdom)
9:10-10:10 - Kilimanjaro Safaris
10:45-11:45 - Avatar Flight of Passage
11:55-12:55 – DINOSAUR
Drive to Disney Springs
13:45 - House of Blues Restaurant & Bar Lunch


Off to Tampa for the weekend, and then back to Orlando…

Day 10 – (Magic Kingdom - MNSSHP)
15:25-16:25 - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
16:25-17:25 - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
17:30-18:30 - Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
18:45 - Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party Dining - Be Our Guest Restaurant

Then ALL the rides, parades and fireworks
Think we have our fancy dress sorted too – keep an eye out for photos in the full trip report!

Off to Universal for 2 days, with the stealthy Hotel ExpressPasses, but on the 2nd day the park closes for Halloween Horror Nights (which we aren’t doing as I’m a scaredy cat) so hoping to pop back to Disney for the Star Wars fireworks at Hollywood Studios, as wouldn’t have seen them yet (we’re seeing Fantasmic! On our DHS day)

Day 12 (DHS but only late for the Galactic Spectacular)
20:00-20:30 – Rock N’ Rollercoaster

Day 13 (Epcot)
12:35-13:35 - Spaceship Earth
13:45-14:45 - RELAUNCHED! Mission: SPACE
15:35-16:35 - Frozen Ever After
17:10 - Disney's Polynesian Village Resort – ‘Ohana

Day 14 (Magic Kingdom last day!)
10:35-11:35 - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
11:35-12:35 - Peter Pan's Flight
12:40-13:40 - Space Mountain

Head to the airport

So there we go, what would you change or do differently? Am I missing anything awesome. Is Kilimanjaro Safari twice (morning and evening) overkill?

I feel like I kind of ran out of steam towards the end of the bookings, so please feel free to help me out!

P.s. Posts with no photos are kind of dull, but as I haven’t been yet I pillaged all the park pictures here from the internets. All credit goes to the incredibly talented Tom Bricker on the Disney Tourist Blog who has stunning Disney photos. He has mentioned his photos may be used for free for non commercial purposes, so Thanks Tom!

[sheluk]

Your plans sounds great!

I wouldn't bother booking somewhere for your last disney springs day as there's so much choice, especially at lunch and you may be fooded out by then - we usually are!

[Cazzius]

Originally Posted by sheluk

Your plans sounds great!

I wouldn't bother booking somewhere for your last disney springs day as there's so much choice, especially at lunch and you may be fooded out by then - we usually are!

See more...

Thanks for reading and for the tip
I wanted to book as we'd have one TS credit left to use, but following your advice I think I'll cancel and we can see what we fancy on the day.

[HelenJNT]

I think your plans look great - aside from the hotel double booking, but hey, live and learn! Certainly sounds like the research has paid off, you're better organised than me and this will be my 6th trip. Looking forward to reading along.

Excited to see what you think of AKL, it's one of the only resorts I've never visited so I can't wait to see it.

Thank you for all your comments on my 2016 TR, by the way. I'm in a quagmire of work right now, so precious little time for Dibbing (grump, don't you just hate that) but I shall respond asap!

[Cazzius]

Originally Posted by HelenJNT

I think your plans look great - aside from the hotel double booking, but hey, live and learn! Certainly sounds like the research has paid off, you're better organised than me and this will be my 6th trip. Looking forward to reading along.

Excited to see what you think of AKL, it's one of the only resorts I've never visited so I can't wait to see it.

Thank you for all your comments on my 2016 TR, by the way. I'm in a quagmire of work right now, so precious little time for Dibbing (grump, don't you just hate that) but I shall respond asap!

See more...

Thanks Helen.
I'm really enjoying reading your trip report, properly getting me into the holiday mood!

Such a pain about the double hotel booking, but I got a great deal and it's costing less than a night out in London so i'm marking it down to experience!

Thanks for reading my rambling pre-trip

[DisneyDreamer81]

Sounds like you've got a fab trip planned! We're going to the same MNSSHP as you so will give you a wave if I see you

[Cazzius]

Originally Posted by DisneyDreamer81

Sounds like you've got a fab trip planned! We're going to the same MNSSHP as you so will give you a wave if I see you

See more...

Awesome! I'll keep and eye/ear out!
Our current plant is to dress as Indiana Jones & Short Round as I'm 5 foot and the boyfriend is over 6 foot.

However, if it's too hot we'll just be in spooky t-shirts

[JanetteP]

Great planning - I would absolutely book all those ADR's. Definitely worth doing Kilimanjaro Safari in the evening, we loved it. Also, go to Pandora at night, it's totally beautiful and so different from the daytime.