10 years since last visit and 3 months to plan...CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

[DisneyCrzy]

No joke Dis'rs but it's been 10 forkin' years since we've been to the motherland. We've taken many a trip in between, some that even include DL....but this time, we're comin' home!

So let's get this pre-trippie report crack-a-lackin.

It's been awhile since I've been reading the hot sheets over here at DIS, so let me take a moment to introduce our crazy cast of characters.

Me: I'm Hallie. My last name rhymes with my first name. Yeah. It does. Also it's not Hay-lee. It's pronounced like Halle as in Halle Berry. So there's that.

Also I just turned 40 and had a totally awesome 80's party for my b-day because who doesn't love singing "I've blessed the rains down in Aaaaaaafrica."? I'll wait.

**This is me waiting for you to finally admit that everyone loves singing that song.** That's right, no one doesn't like a totally awesome 80's themed party with super awesome 80's songs blaring.

Also here's us dressed up as Run DMC for my party.



DH: Jason aka the dude. Born and raised CA dude. Spent most of his life at the beach. He abides, regularly.

There's just the two of us in our happy family. Buuuuuuuttttttt, we're not the only ones going on this trip. Possibly. Most Likely. Slightly unsure though.

We're for sure going but my SIL and her fam might be joining us. She's the one who put this whole plan in motion about 3 weeks ago. She's not a planner though, so she's decided to let me plan.

muahhhhhh-hahahahahahahahaha.

Let me give you a brief intro to other peeps. My SIL (49), her hubby (51) and their awesome (2) kids. Our niece will be 9 when we go and we will refer to her as Belle. Our nephew is 7 and we will refer to him as Buzz.

DH and I live in Nebraska now. DH and his family all grew up in Southern California going to DL alllllll the time. It wasn't until we got married and spent a portion of our honeymoon at WDW that he became interested in WDW. He was a diehard DL'r 4 life. We made my SIL go with us once and we had a blast, that was almost 13 years ago.

Whew....now that you know who's going, let's talk about the when.

SIL is finishing up a master's program while working full time as an executive this month so she decided she wants to go on a trip as a reward. Of course the niece is super into princesses right now and reallllllly wants to go to WDW because her BFF went. And what the niece wants she gets. I mean, who am I to tell my SIL that they shouldn't go to WDW? It seems like a very reasonable reward for a Master's to spend time in WDW right?

Back in July when we were in CA visiting the fam, my SIL floated the idea of going to WDW. I was all about that, so I asked when. She said October. I thought Oh, perfect. Over a year to plan and save. And then the other shoe dropped.....

She said no. This October. whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Uhm, ok. Let's go in 4 months. I mean why not? Que Excitement!!

AND SHEER PANIC! Only 3 months to plan a Disney trip? Are you crazy?

Eh Maybe.

Our dates are 10/24 through 11/02. SIL and her fam may cut it down to 10/25 to 11/01 but I'm guessing that she'll stick to the original dates.

Because we booked late, we were pretty limited to where we could stay. Normally we stay in Pop Century because when we had been going more frequently before our 10 year hiatus, we were young, broke and starting a business. Now we're middle aged, less broke and run a business so we can upgrade! wooooooooooooooooooo.

As long as the room is clean and it's somewhat centrally located or has multiple modes of transportation, that works for us. However, the dear SIL, admittedly, is more high maintenance than we are. She wanted to stay at the Contemporary. And then I told her how much it would cost.

So we decided to meet in the middle.....At the Gran Testino Tower at Coronado Springs

We've never stayed at Coronado Springs before so I'm kinda looking forward to it. My excited ratcheted up even more after I watched a YouTube video walk through of the new rooms in the tower.

Well that was a lot. I've got more to share and I'm hoping you all can share some touring hints with me. It's been a looooong time since I've been to WDW with a lot of changes to the parks. All the hints you can lend would be, well, just magical!

Up next: All the ADR's.

 

[DisneyCrzy]

Alllllll the ADR's

Clearly having only 90 days to book ADRs was uhm, shall we say challenging. But totally exciting. There's some sort of weird Disney adrenaline that you get when you make your reservations.

Since our dates overlap with Food & Wine festival, we wanted to use a night or two to eat all the foods.

We all decided to do the Deluxe Disney Plan. I know a lot of people say that's waaaaay too much food. Well let me introduce you to our quirky personality traits.

1. My BIL absolutely LOVES appetizers. He'll order appetizers, fill up on them AND then order dinner. And he'll eat part of that too.
2. My SIL and DH both want to try all the foods. Also they want to try your food too. Well maybe not your food, but whoever is at our table, they want to try their food.
3. The kids both love dessert. I mean, duh. Who doesn't?
4. Thankfully the kids aren't really picky, they'll pretty much eat almost anything that you put in front of them.
5. Also, my family traditionally eats dinner late. Not sure why, but we all do.

We'll just make ourselves miserable by eating all the foods. And then spend 3/4 of a day walking mile after mile in the hopes that we can "walk it off".

I had a breakfast ADR for Be Our Guest. Then I read the hotsheets on the Restaurant board and quickly changed my mind. Seems like it's a lot of effort for not a whole lot of reward, other than seeing the inside of the restaurant.

Well without further ado here's our happy little list of ADR's.

10/24 No ADR. Food & Wine Festival
10/25 6:55p @ Skipper Canteen
10/26 8:00p @ Yak & Yeti
10/27 7:30p @ La Hacienda
10/28 5:20p @ Mama Melrose's
10/29 7:30p @ Restaurant Marrakesh
10/30 7:35p @ Liberty Tree Tavern
10/31 8:45p @ Le Cellier
11/01 No ADR. Food & Wine Festival
11/02 8:50a @ Crystal Palace

I've been to most of them except for Skipper Canteen, Yak & Yeti and La Hacienda.

Thought about doing another breakfast or lunch ADR since we have Deluxe Dining.

However my brain struggles with part of the "Disney planning". I love Disney because of the whimsy. There's not much whimsy in the life of an adult and going to a place that magically turns back time to make you feel like a kid again is awesome. Going to DL without a plan can at times be frustrating but it can also be so much fun. You just show up, ride a few rides, fill up on foods like giant pickles, churros, turkey legs and mickey bars, watch the shows, and stay for the fireworks. (Been to DL a few times while we lived in CA. )

WDW is a whole different ball of wax, which is why I'm contemplating lunch ADR's. Maybe just a couple?? Appreciate anyone's feedback who has done both a breakfast or lunch ADR combined with a dinner ADR.

Next up: Planes. Trains. And Automobiles.