One little spark..Team Burroughs Return to WDW - Pre-trip report

tonyspurs81 · 3 Aug 19, 04:06 PM

Having spent the past year reading many trip reports and watching Vlogs of YouTube I’ve decided it was time to get back into writing and document the amazing holiday we have planned (I started but never finished our honeymoon trip report back in 2011 and I’ve done a couple of Disneyland Paris reports in the past). I am determined to finish this report and am using it as a way of making that holiday feeling last a bit longer.

As a family we absolutely love Disney holidays. Don’t get me wrong I love lounging around a pool or on a beach as much as anyone, but nothing beats the combination of great entertainment, fun experiences and wonderful food you get on a Disney trip. Selfishly since being a parent I have also found it easier to entertain our daughter at Disney, than at a European beach resorts (plus I’ve never seen a Dole Whip or Mickey Waffles in Spain!).

So who are we…

Tony (Age 37) - Disney fan with a big interest in the history and design of the park and attractions. This will be my 4th trip to WDW, once as a kid in 1998, my honeymoon in 2011 and as a family in 2018. We have also been to DLP 4 times since 2016 as it’s just a hope, skip and a jump for us. I am a planner who has spent the past year studying crowd calendars, touring plans and restaurant menus. I like to switch off my phone and almost go off grid when at Disney. No distractions from the real world.

Kirstie (Age 36) - Disney fan, specifically Pixar. This will be her 6th trip to WDW after going as a kid several times, then our honeymoon and last year. She also enjoys planning, as well as drawing and painting in her bullet journal. Loves the food at WDW and can’t wait to try new dishes!

Ivy (Age 6) - A big fan of the Princesses and may other Disney characters. A bedroom already full of plushes (No more this year!). A brave girl on most rides except roller coasters but she has done 7DMT and wants to do BTMR this year. Loves meeting characters and watching parades.

Last year we stayed in a Villa off site as my Mum came with us. We had an amazing two weeks doing just Disney World and relaxing at the amazing Dibb Villa we had, but we grew tired on the car journeys and car parking fees. So we knew that we wanted to come back and try 2 weeks on site. We will probably do a Villa again in the future, or at least a split stay between on site and a villa but for this year we wanted to enjoy the perks of being on site. I should also add that I don’t drive, so it’ll be perfect Kirstie not having to drive whilst on holiday.

With Ivy still growing in confidence in terms of what thrill rides we will go on we decided not to bother with any other parks in the Orlando area bar Disney until she is a year older. Essentially we want her to appreciate the Harry Potter stuff at Universal when she knows the characters and some of the early films.

Kirsite managed to persuade me to book 18 nights so we could really take our time in the parks. Last year we found the parks hot but manageable. What was apparent, was that whole day morning through to evening in the heat was too much for all of us, so we have planned to only ever spend half a day in a park at a time, either a morning, afternoon/ evening. We will spend the other time relaxing around the pool or with trips to Disney Springs / Outlets etc..

So what are our plans?

We are staying at the Bloc Hotel at Gatwick the night before our flights. We’ve stayed twice before and it’s perfect. Only a couple minutes walk to departures which really takes the stress out of getting to the airport on the M25.

We are flying with Norweigan, although on a Hifly plane thanks to the Dreamliner being recalled due to engine alterations. We aren’t thrilled about this but we couldn’t get a refund. From what I’ve heard from other Dibbers, it’s not too bad and will get us there.

We will be getting the Magical express from the airport to the resort. We plan to use Disney transportation and Ubers to get around for the 2 weeks.

We are staying at All Star Music which not only fitted in our budget, but we thought the less refined theming would be more fun for Ivy. We booked a preferred room so we don’t have far to walk to catch a bus or go down to the pool.

In regards to the parks we will, of course, be going to all 4 parks. I won’t bore you with the details on which day we are attending each park and how often we are going, bar to say that we are looking forward to experiencing old favourites and Ivy trying some new attractions she was too young to do last year.

We have managed to get fastpasses for all the major attractions and those with long queues, so we don’t foresee us missing out on anything due to crowds. I became a bit of fastpass demon last year, I was bringing our Fastpasses forward when possible and booking the 4th, 5th, 6th etc.. just after touching in at an attraction. Lets just say we really enjoy fastpass hopping!

Galaxy’s Edge opens two days before we go home, and as tempting as it is as a big Star Wars fan, I would rather wait for the crowds to die down before experiencing this amazing new land.

Last year we did not do any Water Parks as our daughter was not swimming. She is now much more confident in the water so we’ve decided to go to Blizzard Beach for a morning as there seems to be more attractions for young children there compared to Typhoon Lagoon.

Over the past year Kirstie and I have been on a health kick and have both lost around 3 stone each. One of our motivations for this (besides our improved health etc..) was being able to pig out at Disney without feeling too guilty. I am not lying when I say I’ve been doing workouts in front of Disney Food Blog Videos! We are on the Dining Plan and have booked a mix of restaurants that Kirstie and I want to eat at and character meals. We have booked the following:

Garden Grill Breakfast
Skipper Canteen
Hollywood and Vine Breakfast
Ohana
Biergarten
Yak and Yeti
1900 Park Fare Breakfast
Homecomin’
Akershus Breakfast
Artist Point Storybook dining
Spice Road Table
Coral Reef
Saana
Hoop De Doo Musical Revue Dinner Show
Morrimoto Asia
Crystal Palace Dinner
Mamma Melrose Fantasmic Dining Package
Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show

In addition to these ADRs we hope to eat at Polite Pig, Satulli Canteen, DLUXE Burger to name a few counter service options. We also have our eyes on some tasty snacks.

To add a cherry to the top of our plans we booked a couple special events. We are going to the Happily Ever After Dessert Paty (Plaza Gardens Viewing), Mickey Not So Scary Halloween Party and plan to do a day at the Food and Wine Festival which starts a couple days before we go home. We have booked Candy Sushi Lessons which should be fun!

With have 10 days to go, and we are beyond excited! I can’t wait to share our adventures with you on our return!

GezzasGem · 3 Aug 19, 04:10 PM

We fly on the 12th and going with our DD who is 7, trying Universal for first time with her! Have a few of the same places booked as yourselves too - great minds 😂👍

tonyspurs81 · 3 Aug 19, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by GezzasGem

We fly on the 12th and going with our DD who is 7, trying Universal for first time with her! Have a few of the same places booked as yourselves too - great minds 😂👍

We are probably mad, but we are already thinking ahead to next year and are thinking we might skip Disney and do Universal and a few other local attraction as our DD will be 7 then!

We are always thinking ahead to our holidays!

What ADR's do you have that are the same as ours?

katnav · 3 Aug 19, 09:19 PM

Sounds great. We have about 7 of the same adrs as you. That countdown will fly by now. We have also chosen to do only half days at the park except for the 1 day we are going to attempt the 4 parks 1 day challenge... will see what happens there!

GezzasGem · 3 Aug 19, 09:49 PM

Originally Posted by tonyspurs81

We are probably mad, but we are already thinking ahead to next year and are thinking we might skip Disney and do Universal and a few other local attraction as our DD will be 7 then!

We are always thinking ahead to our holidays!

What ADR's do you have that are the same as ours?

Gone for yak and yeti (New to us) and Crystal palace (tradition!) We have 1900 park fare but for dinner this time, although have done the breakfast and it was fab! A couple on there we did last time, Ohana and Mama Melrose Fantasmic package and enjoyed both 👍
We just did Disney and Seaworld last trip so excited to introduce universal. Next time thinking maybe Discovery Cove and Kennedy space centre, although will most likely be 3 years til next trip I think

3 Aug 19, 04:06 PM	#1
	3 Aug 19, 04:06 PM tonyspurs81 Getting Excited
tonyspurs81 Getting Excited Join Date: Jul 10 Location: Kent	One little spark..Team Burroughs Return to WDW - Pre-trip report Having spent the past year reading many trip reports and watching Vlogs of YouTube I’ve decided it was time to get back into writing and document the amazing holiday we have planned (I started but never finished our honeymoon trip report back in 2011 and I’ve done a couple of Disneyland Paris reports in the past). I am determined to finish this report and am using it as a way of making that holiday feeling last a bit longer. As a family we absolutely love Disney holidays. Don’t get me wrong I love lounging around a pool or on a beach as much as anyone, but nothing beats the combination of great entertainment, fun experiences and wonderful food you get on a Disney trip. Selfishly since being a parent I have also found it easier to entertain our daughter at Disney, than at a European beach resorts (plus I’ve never seen a Dole Whip or Mickey Waffles in Spain!). So who are we… Tony (Age 37) - Disney fan with a big interest in the history and design of the park and attractions. This will be my 4th trip to WDW, once as a kid in 1998, my honeymoon in 2011 and as a family in 2018. We have also been to DLP 4 times since 2016 as it’s just a hope, skip and a jump for us. I am a planner who has spent the past year studying crowd calendars, touring plans and restaurant menus. I like to switch off my phone and almost go off grid when at Disney. No distractions from the real world. Kirstie (Age 36) - Disney fan, specifically Pixar. This will be her 6th trip to WDW after going as a kid several times, then our honeymoon and last year. She also enjoys planning, as well as drawing and painting in her bullet journal. Loves the food at WDW and can’t wait to try new dishes! Ivy (Age 6) - A big fan of the Princesses and may other Disney characters. A bedroom already full of plushes (No more this year!). A brave girl on most rides except roller coasters but she has done 7DMT and wants to do BTMR this year. Loves meeting characters and watching parades. Last year we stayed in a Villa off site as my Mum came with us. We had an amazing two weeks doing just Disney World and relaxing at the amazing Dibb Villa we had, but we grew tired on the car journeys and car parking fees. So we knew that we wanted to come back and try 2 weeks on site. We will probably do a Villa again in the future, or at least a split stay between on site and a villa but for this year we wanted to enjoy the perks of being on site. I should also add that I don’t drive, so it’ll be perfect Kirstie not having to drive whilst on holiday. With Ivy still growing in confidence in terms of what thrill rides we will go on we decided not to bother with any other parks in the Orlando area bar Disney until she is a year older. Essentially we want her to appreciate the Harry Potter stuff at Universal when she knows the characters and some of the early films. Kirsite managed to persuade me to book 18 nights so we could really take our time in the parks. Last year we found the parks hot but manageable. What was apparent, was that whole day morning through to evening in the heat was too much for all of us, so we have planned to only ever spend half a day in a park at a time, either a morning, afternoon/ evening. We will spend the other time relaxing around the pool or with trips to Disney Springs / Outlets etc.. So what are our plans? We are staying at the Bloc Hotel at Gatwick the night before our flights. We’ve stayed twice before and it’s perfect. Only a couple minutes walk to departures which really takes the stress out of getting to the airport on the M25. We are flying with Norweigan, although on a Hifly plane thanks to the Dreamliner being recalled due to engine alterations. We aren’t thrilled about this but we couldn’t get a refund. From what I’ve heard from other Dibbers, it’s not too bad and will get us there. We will be getting the Magical express from the airport to the resort. We plan to use Disney transportation and Ubers to get around for the 2 weeks. We are staying at All Star Music which not only fitted in our budget, but we thought the less refined theming would be more fun for Ivy. We booked a preferred room so we don’t have far to walk to catch a bus or go down to the pool. In regards to the parks we will, of course, be going to all 4 parks. I won’t bore you with the details on which day we are attending each park and how often we are going, bar to say that we are looking forward to experiencing old favourites and Ivy trying some new attractions she was too young to do last year. We have managed to get fastpasses for all the major attractions and those with long queues, so we don’t foresee us missing out on anything due to crowds. I became a bit of fastpass demon last year, I was bringing our Fastpasses forward when possible and booking the 4th, 5th, 6th etc.. just after touching in at an attraction. Lets just say we really enjoy fastpass hopping! Galaxy’s Edge opens two days before we go home, and as tempting as it is as a big Star Wars fan, I would rather wait for the crowds to die down before experiencing this amazing new land. Last year we did not do any Water Parks as our daughter was not swimming. She is now much more confident in the water so we’ve decided to go to Blizzard Beach for a morning as there seems to be more attractions for young children there compared to Typhoon Lagoon. Over the past year Kirstie and I have been on a health kick and have both lost around 3 stone each. One of our motivations for this (besides our improved health etc..) was being able to pig out at Disney without feeling too guilty. I am not lying when I say I’ve been doing workouts in front of Disney Food Blog Videos! We are on the Dining Plan and have booked a mix of restaurants that Kirstie and I want to eat at and character meals. We have booked the following: Garden Grill Breakfast Skipper Canteen Hollywood and Vine Breakfast Ohana Biergarten Yak and Yeti 1900 Park Fare Breakfast Homecomin’ Akershus Breakfast Artist Point Storybook dining Spice Road Table Coral Reef Saana Hoop De Doo Musical Revue Dinner Show Morrimoto Asia Crystal Palace Dinner Mamma Melrose Fantasmic Dining Package Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show In addition to these ADRs we hope to eat at Polite Pig, Satulli Canteen, DLUXE Burger to name a few counter service options. We also have our eyes on some tasty snacks. To add a cherry to the top of our plans we booked a couple special events. We are going to the Happily Ever After Dessert Paty (Plaza Gardens Viewing), Mickey Not So Scary Halloween Party and plan to do a day at the Food and Wine Festival which starts a couple days before we go home. We have booked Candy Sushi Lessons which should be fun! With have 10 days to go, and we are beyond excited! I can’t wait to share our adventures with you on our return! __________________ WDW 1998 - All Star Sport, 2011 - Port Orleans Riverside, 2018 - Dibb Villa, 2019 - All Star Music DLP 2016 - Hotel Cheyenne, 2017 - Hotel Cheyenne & Santa Fe, 2018 - Newport Bay, 2019 - Sequoia lodge Universal Orlando 2022 - Endless Summer Dockside