Disney Insanity Trip! 19 days at Disney - A Nov/Dec 15 PTR - update 11/25

[dawnmichele]

I have no business writing a trip report. I have a non Disney blog I don’t update enough. I have two trip reports I should make form 2014. And I have my entire Disney College Program from earlier this year that I should tell a lot more stories about.

But!! I’m about to go on my next trip and I am deep in the midst of planning it. I’m writing about it anyway as I make notes and charts and reservations and decisions, so I keep wanting to make a pre trip report!

So. Here I am.


Ready for the introductions? - 10/28
How this crazy trip came about. - 10/28
The Details and How They Got That Way. - 10/28
Disney is an eating vacation. - 10/28
Let's talk about food some more. - 12/5
Packing - 12/25

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

I want to go to Disney for 19 days! We will be there over Thanksgiving so I imagine our trips will overlap. Would love to hear about your plans!

 

[dawnmichele]

I want to go to Disney for 19 days! We will be there over Thanksgiving so I imagine our trips will overlap. Would love to hear about your plans!

Yeah, it's kind of crazy! I still just shake my head when I think of it - I can't believe it's going to happen. We're arriving the day after Thanksgiving, so we probably will overlap!

Planning when we're going to be there so long is harder than it seems. After the first 10 days (or maybe fewer) who knows what we're going to want to do? It's a different kind of trip to plan for, that's for sure.

So yeah, stick around and I'll fill you in!

 

[dawnmichele]

Before we get in to the insanity, let’s meet the players.

This is my kid. She does not look anything like this anymore, but she absolutely hates 1. having her picture taken and 2. me posting pictures of her on the internet. I know she approves of this picture so I'm using it.

First up, there’s my kid Hannah. I call her H. She’s 22 and been to Disney World so many times and is ready to go back at any minute. She is a very good kid and I like her a lot. She loves the Magic Kingdom, Haunted Mansion, and Jack Skellington.

Some popular Disney blog used this picture in a Tusker House review. They don't want to give me credit so I'm posting it again here. Hello Danny!

And there’s Danny. He’s Hannah’s dad. We’re not together anymore but we like to take family vacations together. He has been to Disney World even more than Hannah. Danny has very limited mobility and at Disney he can get around easily on a rented scooter which is a big bonus for him. He loves Epcot. I asked him his favorite movie and he narrowed it down to these: Wall-E, Tron, Flight of the Navigator and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

This is a pretty old picture of Brian and Adriane. You'll end up seeing plenty of pictures of them later, so don't worry .

Brian is my brother. He moved far away from our home a few years ago so this is not only a trip to Disney with my brother, it’s also a bit of a reunion. I haven’t seen him or my sister-in-law since last summer. My brother might be a bigger Disney fan than I am.

Adriane is my sister-in-law. Adriane is so awesome that before she was my brother’s girlfriend she was friends with both of my sisters. I don’t know how many times she’s been to Disney, but her family went there when she was growing up so I think it’s been a lot.

Megan is our sister. She went to Disney once as a teenager but I don’t think she got to do a lot of stuff. She wasn’t really interested in going to Disney World until she had a kid. Megan is a reading specialist teacher. I’ve known her a really long time, and I know we can travel pretty well together. I really hope she’s going to have a good time.

Megan’s daughter and my sweet baby niece will be called Kid. She’ll be turning 5 on this trip. She’s really into My Little Ponies and Shopkins right now, but in the past she’s loved many Disney Princesses. Who knows what she’ll think about the parks and this trip, but discovering that is part of what will make this trip really magical!

I need to check with them to have a Megan approved picture of her and see how she feels about me putting Kid's pictures on the internet. Just imagine them as adorable.

And there’s me. I’m Shelly. I don’t even know how to say how many times I’ve been to Disney World because I spent the first few months of this year living in Disney housing and working at Epcot as an intern doing Disney’s College Program. So I’ve kind of been there a lot. That doesn’t change my enthusiasm about going back though - in fact I think it intensifies it. It’s not like I’m just going on vacation, I’m also going back to visit “home”. I’m also super excited to see some of the friends I made again! And



My Cast Member friends will also make appearances in this report from time to time. They are all lovely people I hold very dear to my heart. I’ll introduce you as we go.

We won’t all be there all the time, but now you're met the major players.
Let's talk about the details, and how this crazy trip came together.

 

[dawnmichele]

So how did this crazy trip even get started? That’s a good question! There is a lot going on in this trip. Let me see if I can explain it…

My brother has been talking about taking a big family trip to Disney World for a long time. Danny, H and I have been to the World with him a couple of times, but he really wanted everyone to go. When Kid was a baby, he knew we had to take her. At some point it was decided that 2015, when she was about to turn 5 would be the year. The time of year was about Christmas, and Kid’s birthday.

So we had that in mind. Brian figured we’d all arrive the first Saturday December of December so even though there were no reservations, we had a pretty good idea of our dates. Not too long after that, there was a rumor at Danny’s work that their annual Christmas Party/convention (which is held In a different city every year and has previous been at Disney) might be at Disney World again.

All these things were in our mind last October as we looked at the bounceback offer in our room at Port Orleans Riverside. We decided to go ahead a book a week knowing we could cancel if we chose to. We already knew we’d be staying a week with everyone, but thought it would be fun to first have a week by ourselves before they got there. So we scheduled for just after Thanksgiving until the 5th when we’d be “moving in” with the rest of the family.

So there’s that. Leave after Thanksgiving, stay on our own at POR (we fell in love with that resort during that stay), move in with the family for a week at Bay Lake Tower.
Perhaps a little crazy, but simple enough, right?
Well it doesn’t stay that way.

 

[dawnmichele]

The story of the extra nights.

My brother had made our reservations for 6 nights at BLT for the time we were all together. I think I was probably the person who thought that wasn’t enough for Kid’s first Disney trip and offered to pay for one more night if he’d add it. So there’s one extra night.

When I went to book our airline tickets, I instantly realized I had made a huge mistake. Flights on the day we had picked to fly were more than twice the price of any other day of the month. We had to pick another date. After a convo with Danny I chose the cheapest flight which was the day after Thanksgiving. This meant 2 extra nights. I made reservations at Pop Century. All good.

Now this next part - I don’t even know what happened. It was one night Danny, H and I were all having dinner together, and talking about this trip. Maybe it was because we want to go to Universal Studios this time (I still have a valid annual pass from when I was living there). Maybe there were hallucinogens in our dinner. All I know is it wasn’t my idea, but we came away with plans to add 3 extra nights at the end of the trip. What? I don’t even know, but I got busy booking another room at Pop Century.

Our really long trip added 6 extra days.


For a while I tried to convince Danny this was way too long and we should cancel those days at the end, at least. And then one time he said something that went like “Look, a lot of people could only dream about a trip for this long, and we can actually do it. So we should go while we still can, ddand we should enjoy it and be grateful.”

Well, ok then.
19 days.

The Details

Where and When:

Nov 27 - 29 : Danny, Hannah and I stay at Pop Century
Nov 29 - Dec 5 : Danny, Hannah and I stay at Port Orleans Riverside
Dec 5 - 12 : 2 bedroom suite at Bay Lake Tower for 7
Dec 12 - 15 : D, H and I back at Pop Century

Tickets : While I was still a Cast Member, I bought park hopper tickets for the others, and Annual passes for the 3 of us. We'll use ours on this trip and then next year in October for a Halloween visit.

Food : While we're all there, we'll be on the dining plan (lots of character meals for the Kid), the rest of the time we're out of pocket. Our ADRs for the togehter bit are good and solid. The rest? needs help.

We've made a big Garden Grocer order for the BLT part of the trip, but I have goofed around and missed any kind of discount on ordering stuff for the first part of the trip. Bad Disney planner. I need to get on that.

Memory Maker : Absolutely! It's possible we might have an insane number of photos by the time we're done.

Outside Rentals : Danny's still trying to decide between Apple and Best Price Mobility, so that still needs to be done. Megan will be renting a stroller from somewhere, but that's a detail I don't really know anything about.

MVMCP : Nope, we're going to skip it this time.

Fast Pass + : I think we're pretty solid on these. We don't have any made for our last few days, but we might be at Universal and after being there so long none of us are really that worried about missing anything. We've got at least one of everything we want, and while Kid is there, we have 2 FP+ for the amazing Arendel sisters. Hopefully Kid will like meeting characters.

Are those all the details? I think so. Let me know if I missed anything.

 

[dawnmichele]

Disney is an eating vacation.

Like I said, our ADRs for the part when we’re all together are sorted and firm. There are a lot of character breakfasts. They’re not my favorite, but this part of the trip is really about the Kid, and she will (hopefully) love the character breakfast experience.

The ADRs while we’re there just the 3 of us, on the other hand. are scarce and lame. There are several reasons for this. One is that we don’t really like to have a table service meal every single night. For us, it starts to feel really too scheduled, and as much as we all love to eat lots of food, every night starts to seem like way too much. Also, as you might guess, this trip is costing something like 18 million dollars. Every time we don’t have a sit down dinner, we save a bunch of money. And then there’s a part where we just can’t imagine, right now, where we want to eat. That leads me to thinking we should just have a few ADRs at our favorite places, but for the rest of the time just play it by ear and make whatever last minute ADRs we can. Is this a crazy strategy? I do not know. But I think I’ll find out.

A couple other things - for the first part of the trip, I had made a few ADRs at places the whole family later decided we’d all eat. Do I want to keep ours and eat at those places twice? There’s also a day we eat BOG for lunch at 230, and San Angel for dinner at 7. That’s kind of impossible, so I’m going to have to decide something about that as well.

But! as it stands, here’s what we’re planning:

ADRs

November 27 (our arrival day) : Dinner at Whispering Canyon
November 29 : Lunch at Via Napoli
December 1 : Be Our Guest lunch, San Angel Inn dinner
December 3 : Be Our Guest breakfast
December 5 (the other’s arrival day) : Whispering Canyon
December 6 : Crystal Palace Breakfast
December 7 : Akershus Breakfast
December 8 : Tusker House Breakfast
December 9 : Mama Melrose dinner
December 10 : Danny, Hannah and I eat dinner at Teppan Edo
December 11 : 1900 Park Fare Breakfast for some, 'Ohana for others

Quick Service goals:

The new Pecos Bill’s!
Pinocchio’s Village Haus
Casey’s
Restaurantosaurus
Yak & Yeti
Backlot Express
La Cantina de San Angel
Chicken Nuggets from anywhere

Must Do Snacks!

(the best part, right?)
5 thousand Mickey bars
Peanutbutter /chocolate cupcake from Starring Rolls
Cronut with softserve from Refreshment Port in Epcot
All American Sundae from the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor
Ice Cream Cone from France
(noticing a theme here?)
Caramel popcorn with chocolate drizzle from Karamell Kuche
Caramel roll with pecan edges dipped in chocolate from the Confectionary

If any of you have tried the wing it thing with the ADRs, I'd love to know how it turned out! Also shout out if there's a moderate priced table service restaurant you think we really need to visit (keeping in mind seafood is sadly out).

I'm hungry now...

 

[dawnmichele]

Let's talk some more about FOOD!

I have been obsessing over the dining board and I'm getting so excited about some of the places we're planning to eat.

I CAN'T WAIT!

I've also been slowing filling in the empty spots in our meal plans. I've tried to think of where we really have a good time eating before, and where we always think we'd like to try but haven't. I still have 4 possible spots to fill, but here's how it's looking so far...

Grand Floridian Cafe for lunch. We've never tried any meal here before. I've just kind of overlooked it, but it seems like a great thing to do on a sleep in morning before we head to the Magic Kingdom.

Via Napoli lunch. I've eaten here twice but neither D or H have ever tried it. I know they'll love it. I'm looking forward to trying the Arancini for a starter! Without anyone to share with in the past, I've always known I couldn't eat those AND an entree, but split 3 ways I think we'll be good. I'm also hoping H might share a pitcher of Sangria with me. Or if she won't, trying some on my own. Yum!

(While I'm talking about Via Napoli let me say this - while I was doing my DCP there were a few weeks that they had a walk up window open. There weren't many options but there I had just a slice of Pepperoni pizza. It was so, so good and the perfect quick lunch or snack. I was so sad when they closed it down and wish it could be open all the time!)

Tusker House Lunch. We've had breakfast at Tusker House many times, and will be having it again later in the trip once the kid is there. I can't find reviews of it, or a good list of what's on the lunch buffet, but I feel like I read there are some different types of hummus and samosas, and that is enough to make me want to try it! If you've been, I'd love it if you could take a second and tell me how you liked it!

Be Our Guest lunch. I'm the only one of our family who has tried this. I lucked out on a day during my program and was able to get in as a walk up (it was a pretty magical day). I had the potato leek soup, the carved turkey sandwich and the master's cupcake. All were super delicious and I was stuffed all day long. I've been reading a lot of scary stories that are making me second guess this plan, but I think we'll stick with it.

Raglan Road dinner. Hooray for this one! I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. My DCP roommate and I ate at Raglan road on the first day we met back in January, and we both loved it. It'll give us a good excuse to spend some time at Disney Springs and I'm hoping H, who I took to Ireland several years ago, will enjoy the music and dancing. The risotto I had there was amazing, and I'm hoping H will split the bread pudding with me for dessert. Who am I kidding? That girl loves bread pudding. So I'm excited about this addition.

Be Our Guest breakfast. None of us have tried this, and I'm a little nervous for the same reasons I'm nervous about lunch there. There's nothing that sounds amazing to me on the menu, but I'm not as in love with breakfast as D & H are, so we'll see how that goes.

Then we're on to the meals with the others. This includes character breakfasts at Crystal Palace, Akershus, 1900 Park Fare and Tusker House. They're all fine, but not super exciting. I'm actually not at all looking forward to Tusker House breakfast again, but that's what you do for your family, right?

We're having family dinner for 7 at Mama Melrose and Whispering Canyon Cafe. Love both of those.

Back on our own, we're eating dinner at Teppan Edo. H & I super love that place, and Danny thinks it's fine. I'm definitely looking forward to a fun evening of food and silliness.

San Angel Inn dinner. This is another place we've eaten at often. The service is always slow and not always friendly, but there are margaritas and I love the Pollo a las Rajas. Yum! If we can sit with a nice view of the pyramid and the river, it'll be even better.

Beaches and Cream lunch. I am so super excited about this!! I'm the only one who has been to this place too, and that was only once to split the Kitchen Sink with some of my DCP friends. I'm really looking forward to sitting down with my family for lunch and a sundae of my own. It's on our last full day and I think it'll be a great way to start winding up our very long vacation.

Like I said I have 4 more empty spaces. I'd love to add Trail's End and 1900 Park Fare dinner. I'll keep you updated.

3 weeks from tomorrow people. It's getting serious.

 

[Vernie822]

I gotta join in for this one! 19 days sounds awesome. You'll have plenty of time to see, do, and EAT everything! Disney really is an eating vacation.. my scale would agree.

 

[kayemgi]

Joining in! 19 days, WOW! It boggles the mind. I would love to spend 19 days at Disney/Universal. I can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[dawnmichele]

I gotta join in for this one! 19 days sounds awesome. You'll have plenty of time to see, do, and EAT everything! Disney really is an eating vacation.. my scale would agree.

For a long time I've let myself feel kinda guilty about going for so long and haven't really been as excited about it as I should be, I think. But man it has started to hit me! It's going to be fantastic, exactly for the reasons you said! I'm so looking forward to be able to go slow and enjoy things and not feel like I have to rush or worry.

Joining in! 19 days, WOW! It boggles the mind. I would love to spend 19 days at Disney/Universal. I can't wait to hear all about it!

I know! It still kind of feels unreal. And thanks, I am sure I'll want to share all the details and photos!

 

[dawnmichele]

Ok, I’m packing. Of course I’m packing because we leave the day after tomorrow (super early in the morning).

This trip we’re trying to pack lighter. We have a different car and it’s a really tight fit getting us, all our luggage, and our friend who is driving us into it. We usually take one bag each, and one “family bag” with junk we need like toothpaste and ponchos and bandaids. I’m trying to not take the family bag.

So I’m putting all the things into my suitcase and it seems like there is plenty of room. Hmmm. What am I forgetting? My suitcase has never been that empty before, even on longer trips.

Maybe bcause I’m planning to do laundry in the middle of the trip. We’ll be at Bay Lake with our own washer/dryer for a while and we’re all planning to do laundry then. So maybe that’s it. But it feels like I’m forgetting a million things.

I’m going to go look at old packing lists. I think I have them in electronic form somewhere.

But first -- Deep breath. It’s stressful now, but the day after tomorrow I’ll be at my happy place. With some people I love and miss.

 

[murmkc]

Great start. See you soon!

 

[DisneyKates]

This trip sounds amazing! I spent the last two days binge reading your previous trip reports so I know that you are having an amazing time in Disney with a great cast of characters RIGHTNOW!!! Looking forward to all the photos when you return!

 

[murmkc]

This started off well enough. Now what!?

 

[murmkc]

Still no update!?