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Old 13 Jun 19, 02:26 PM  
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Cinderella
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A galaxy far far away... with big queues! August 2019

Who

Me - (45) 8 previous visits. Past Disney Bride, DVC Member
DH- (47) 9 previous visits. Past Disney Groom, DVC Member
DS -(13) 5 previous visits. future Disney College Programmer







When - 20th August - 3rd September 2019

We try to return to Orlando every couple of years. This trip needed to be in the school holidays as now DS is at senior school. We have been in August before - it is not my favourite time of year...far too hot!. But this trip we are lucky enough to catch one of the first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party’s and the first weekend of the Epcot Food and Wine festivities. When we first booked Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge was not due to open until late fall, but DS and DH are so happy that it now opens in our last week.

We travel to the airport the night before, I managed to get a Premier Inn room at Heathrow Terminal four for only Ł31.50, which is perfect as out flight leaves early.

Flights

Now we have flown direct in to MCO and indirect via Washington, New York and Atlanta before. For us the cheaper option with reasonable times was going to win it for us.

Although our indirect trips have not all been plain sailing. We flew home through Atlanta and the pilot got sick so we were delayed. Our last trip in August had a delayed take off from MCO due to mid afternoon thunderstorms which meant we missed our connection in New York. We were waitlisted on the final flight of the night and luckily got to board although all in different seats (DS was only 8 but somebody kindly moved to accommodate us, Dh struck lucky and got a seat in PE and away from us!)

So I was on the hunt for cheap flights with decent times. Early in the morning to leave London and afternoon arrival in Florida and late departure from Florida missing those afternoon storms. Many an hour I was checking Net flights when eventually I found a 7:30 departure with a United Airlines from Heathrow via Washington arriving in MCO at 15:03 - gives us 1 hour 50 in Washington(I’m sure it will be fine) Homeward Bound we are trying a different tactic - depart MCO 20:01 flying via Frankfurt with Lufthansa (Missing the afternoon storms but still indirect to keep the price down) and arriving in LHR at 12:40. All for the bargain price of Ł1070.10 for 3 seats.

Car Hire

Last trip I left this later to book and the price only ever went up so I wanted to be on it straight away. So a Standard SUV with Alamo booked.

Resorts

Universal -We always do a couple of days at the beginning of our trip at Universal staying on site and always at the Hard Rock Hotel, love the front of line privileges. This year I fancied a change, It’s not that I don’t like the Hard Rock but once you have seen the memorabilia I think the novelty wears off. Could I persuade my family to another resort, well no. But a compromise was had - the plan was 2 days in universal park with 1 day at Volcano Bay so we will do 2 days at the Hard Rock Hotel and the 1 day at Cabana Bay. Cabana Bay gets rave reviews and the walk into Volcano Bay in the morning will be great. I booked a tower family suite (which you would think would be in the tower but apparently not) although just a one night stay here I am looking forward to it.

Booked Hard Rock Hotel through Hotels.com for Ł609.14 and Cabana Bay through Virgin Ł199.13





Walt Disney World - we are DVC members at the Boardwalk and have been luckily enough to stay at many Disney Resorts over the years. This trip was booked at 11 months to stay at the Boardwalk but I was hoping to change it up when we were 7 months out. Ideally I wanted to be in the Magic Kingdom area for the first week and Epcot area for the second.
We all love the Boardwalk - DS in particular but I wanted to try our luck and get a ressie at the Polynesian. This is where we got married many moons ago, so it has always been on my bucket list and now they have the DVC rooms I really wanted to stay there. Both DH and I also love the Beach Club, we stayed here when DS was little. I am sure DS will love the pool. Luckily at our 7 month window we were able to change to the Polynesian lake view and the Beach Club.





So the hotel plan is:-
Hard Rock Hotel 2 nights
Cabana Bay 1 night
Disney’s Polynesian Resort 5 nights
Disney’s Beach Club Resort 6 nights

Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party - We love this party and have in the past dressed up but I think this year we may just get some T-shirts, it’s going to be far too hot in August.





Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge - This was not due to open until later in the fall of 2019. We even considered delaying our trip until next year, but I didn’t want to. So when they announced it was due to open in August we were all so excited. DH and DS love Star Wars so want to be there on opening day, we will be staying at the Beach Club so are planning to queue early.



EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival - We love this, I was hoping it would open a week earlier but no it opens the same weekend as Galaxy’s Edge! Can't wait to try some of the food and drinks on offer.


So that's our trip, 68 days to go. We have a lot on between now and departure day. I still need to try to upgrade our magic bands and book the FP's.

Edited at 07:47 PM.
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Old 13 Jun 19, 09:05 PM  
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Goldia
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Great pre trip!

What a fab time you're going to have. I don't think you will have trouble with the connection in DC. We flew with United on our 2nd trip. They were great I worried about the connection but it was fine, we did end up sitting on the tarmac for a couple of hours though as there were storms in Orlando and they weren't letting flights take off until the weather passed. Still it wasn't the end of the world. Plus on the return trip we checked our bags at the resort as it the first flight was a domestic one.

I'm looking forward to reading all about your plans and hopefully a trip report!
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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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Old 14 Jun 19, 10:09 AM  
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DISNEYNIC
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Wow all sounds amazing! Looking forward to hearing how you get on at Galaxy's Edge before we go in October. I can't wait to see it but hope it's not too crazy although I'm sure it will be.
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Pre Trip Report:- https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1111233

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Old 14 Jun 19, 03:34 PM  
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Hmr89
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Sounds fab- love your hotel choices
good luck with FP day! x
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Old 14 Jun 19, 05:57 PM  
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Lisa_Lollipop
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What an amazing trip you have ahead, and so exciting to say you were there for the opening of GE!
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Old 15 Jun 19, 05:12 PM  
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Cinderella
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
Great pre trip!

What a fab time you're going to have. I don't think you will have trouble with the connection in DC. We flew with United on our 2nd trip. They were great I worried about the connection but it was fine, we did end up sitting on the tarmac for a couple of hours though as there were storms in Orlando and they weren't letting flights take off until the weather passed. Still it wasn't the end of the world. Plus on the return trip we checked our bags at the resort as it the first flight was a domestic one.

I'm looking forward to reading all about your plans and hopefully a trip report!
Thank you. I do plan to do a trip report👍

Originally Posted by DISNEYNIC View Post
Wow all sounds amazing! Looking forward to hearing how you get on at Galaxy's Edge before we go in October. I can't wait to see it but hope it's not too crazy although I'm sure it will be.
I will give you a full update on Galaxy’s Edge 😀

Originally Posted by Hmr89 View Post
Sounds fab- love your hotel choices
good luck with FP day! x
Thank you 🙏

Originally Posted by Lisa_Lollipop View Post
What an amazing trip you have ahead, and so exciting to say you were there for the opening of GE!
Can’t wait 😊
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