Two Trips ~ Two States ~ DL and WDW in Two Months ~ Halloween & Christmas

[Belle2007]

Welcome to my pre-trip report for the Two-trips, Two states ~DL & WDW in two months (almost) pre-trip report for the celebrations of Halloween and Christmas!

~ Cast ~ Me (37) and DH (38) & another couple for DL

~Background~ We have been married for seven years in August. We are both Disney crazy and love spending our vacations in WDW. Although, there was ten years between our first and second trips (which won’t happen again!) Last year, we went on two Disney cruises. DH loves Halloween. I mean, LOVES, Halloween! Our second cruise (it was one awesome bounceback offer) ended with the Wonder decorating for Halloween, which I thought was really weird. It turns out that WDW begins decorating at the beginning of September. DH was so excited... thinking that I was surprising him with tickets to the MNSSHP... umm “No, honey. I didn’t surprise you...” Well, this year, we are going to be joining in on Mickey’s celebration in Disneyland!!!

We had planned to go on another cruise in December, but we have decided to move that and celebrate Christmas in WDW.

Thus, the title of Two Trips, Two States in Two Months.

~ Where we are staying~
DL: Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel
WDW: Probably Port Orleans French Quarter (this is my fav resort, but I may want to venture out)

~Dining Reservations~
DL: Blue Bayou

WDW: Definitely Cindy’s castle (DH Loves having dinner there). There will probably be a fight when the Beast’s castle is there.

We are just in the planning stages right now and nothing has been booked. I’m hoping that by writing out our plans helps me keep on track for both of the trips.

Up next... Rides we are and are not looking forward too!

 

[Belle2007]

Let me just start out by saying that I hate roller coasters. I mean reallly, REALLY, hate roller coasters.

I know there are those who enjoy the thrill of a coaster, the feel of the wind through their hair... but not me...

So, being the good wife that I am, when DH asked me to go on his favorite ride, Thunder Mountain, what could I do but agree. I do admit that I liked the scenery, but not the sign that said it was an actual roller coaster. I mean I knew, but then DH said it was an easy ride.

It's not an easy ride. It needs seat belts. No, really, it needs seat belts.

So, the one ride that I will not be going will be Thunder Mountain... adding to that will be Splash Mountain and Space Mountain... I guess ANY and ALL mountains!

Rides I am looking forward to in DL are:

Dumbo
Haunted Mansion Holiday
Fireworks Spooktacular
It's a Small World
Buzz Lightyear astro
King Arthur Carrousel
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
Mark Twain Riverboat
Tiki Room
Tarzan Treehouse

Not sure yet of:
Finding Nemo

And of course, Sleeping Beauty's Castle!!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Hiii!

This will be our first Halloween trip, so I'm looking forward to reading your ideas, too!

We stayed at POFQ on our honeymoon; fantastic resort! Our list trip was at a Value (we paid for two rooms - ours and my parent's.) So, this will only be DH's second time for a mod!

I can't wait to hear about your DLR plans, too. I want to go there summer 2011 (for the first time.)

 

[Belle2007]

Hiii!

This will be our first Halloween trip, so I'm looking forward to reading your ideas, too!

We stayed at POFQ on our honeymoon; fantastic resort! Our list trip was at a Value (we paid for two rooms - ours and my parent's.) So, this will only be DH's second time for a mod!

I can't wait to hear about your DLR plans, too. I want to go there summer 2011 (for the first time.)

Hi Heather!! Welcome~ I so should have went to WDW for our honeymoon, but alas, I didn't want to fly so we opted to stay close to home.

I think the photopass folks will be doing 'special' pictures by the Haunted Mansion during the MNSSP. At least they were doing them last year.

So excited!!

 

[Belle2007]

We have our hotels pretty set along with the timeframes. Just need to decide whether we should or should not purchase ultimate annual passes.

I've been doing different rounds of math and I'm leaning towards buying them. We are looking to going to DL for 6 nights and then to WDW for at least 3 nights in December. I could probably talk DH into doing two more vacations next year too, I'm thinking. One probably in mid-September for another MNSSHP.

It would be nice to have (most likely) the hotel discounts. Perhaps we could even venture out and stay at a deluxe hotel, if I dare add??!?!

I mean $1400 is not an easy amount to go ahead and spend on something that we 'don't have to have'.

Ahhh, decisions, decisions.... let me go look at the math again!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Hi Peggy! I was so intrigued by the thought of DL and WDW in two months that I had to check out your PTR!

I love Port Orleans (both of them) - definitely my favorite. I really had to push myself to stay at CBR this time .Have you looked into Wilderness Lodge? It's so beautiful at Christmas time - the most Christmassy of all, IMHO.

Those Ultimate Annual Passes might just be the best deal for you guys - especially if you think you can work in a trip or two after the new year.

 

[HeatherBelle614]

I say go for the passes if it is in your budget! What a better way to ensure more Disney related trips than that!

 

[Belle2007]

Hi Peggy! I was so intrigued by the thought of DL and WDW in two months that I had to check out your PTR!

I love Port Orleans (both of them) - definitely my favorite. I really had to push myself to stay at CBR this time .Have you looked into Wilderness Lodge? It's so beautiful at Christmas time - the most Christmassy of all, IMHO.

Those Ultimate Annual Passes might just be the best deal for you guys - especially if you think you can work in a trip or two after the new year.

Hi Rebecca! Thanks for mentioning the Wilderness Lodge. I've been peeking at it and it does look beautiful...

 

[Belle2007]

I'm bummed...

Dave agreed with me to buy the Ultimate Passes for both DL and WDW... I had these dreams about returning next year. But apparently, you cannot downgrade the passes for only WDW, which is what I was planning on doing.

So my first change of plans... no to the annual passes.

 

[Belle2007]

I don't know about you, but when I'm bummed I like to remember more fun times....

Here is a look at our 2009 trip, two days before Halloween officially started.

Last year, I had the BRILLIANT idea of celebrating our 6th year anniversary with the Mouse on the Atlantic Ocean...CRUISING!!! We ended our wonderful cruise with three days in WDW.

Three facts about Florida in August....

1. It's hot!
2. When they call for rain, it is a monsoon
3. You can have fun in the rain!

Our last two days at WDW the skies opened up and covered us in grayness and big fat, wet drops of rain. Of course, I opted for my own WDW umbrella which I proudly used...

The first peek that it's pumpkin season!



This is in Japan at Epcot. We just at at Teppen Edo, which was awesome! It rained so hard here, we could not see across the lake.




Here are some of our cruise pictures:








Last but not least... the Mice!

 

[Belle2007]

UPDATE ON HALLOWEEN DL STYLE

We are patiently waiting for DL to post their dates for MNSSHP. When I called them today, they said that the dates aren't posted until August/September! Don't they know that I need to plan?

So I googled and found this website: family vacation getaway at Los Angeles Theme Parks

This website goes into detail on DL's Halloween celebrations. First up, Halloween Screams fireworks show. In 2007, Dave and I were in a store on Main Street when all of a sudden the lights on Main Street shut down. I ran back in the store to get Dave and I screamed, "You have to come, there is something magical going on out there." Yep, it was the fireworks. Well, one thing will be different, this fireworks will be hosted by Jack Skellington.

DL Halloween will probably have Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy. I'm actually finished with roller coasters, so this one is not on my list of things to do. But apparently, it will be decked out with screams and scary music.

Items of interest:

2009 Dates October 2rd (opening night,) Thursday, October 8th; Friday, Oct 9th; Thursday, Oct 15th; Friday, October 16th; Wednesday, Oct 21st; Thursday, Oct 22nd; Friday, Oct 23rd; Wednesday, October 28; Thursday, Oct 29; Friday, October 30; and Saturday, October 31st--Halloween Night.
Here are the times that Mickey's Halloween Party was held: For Wednesday or Thursday dates, the party started at 6:30 pm and ended at 10:30 pm. Mickey's Trick or Treat Party events held on Friday or on Halloween Night, the hours were 7:30 pm until 11:30 pm.

I'm a little disappointed with these dates, but I'll have to figure something out. I really don't want to wait until August or September to find out the dates!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Loved seeing your Halloween pics - made me excited for this year!!

That seems so crazy that DLR doesn't release their MNSSHP dates until later; I guess use WDW planners are just obsessive? Haha.

Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Peggy, your pics of your 2009 trip look just like ours! Except we were there in May - but it rained EVERY day!

I know what you mean about DLR being a bit frustrating, I've always wished they would release their dates earlier! I'm a big planner myself.

 

[iheartpluto]

SO excited for you that you get to do DL and WDW!! I've never been to DL, and who knows when I'll get there. And MNSSHP sounds like SO much fun! Maybe I'll be able to convince DH to get to that next year... Keep the plans coming!

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

Hey I followed you over from my PTR! : You guys are going to have such a good time this year! Two trips in such a short period of time--I'm so jealous. We also got to see the Halloween decorations going up at the very end of our August trip last year too...it was great seeing them, but I wanted to stay a week longer for the MNSSHP ...guess that wasn't going to happen! How did you enjoy your Disney cruises? We are definitely going on an Alaskan cruise for our honeymoon but haven't decided yet if we want to do Disney or something cheaper.

 

[Belle2007]

Peggy, your pics of your 2009 trip look just like ours! Except we were there in May - but it rained EVERY day!

It surely can rain in Florida, can't it!!

SO excited for you that you get to do DL and WDW!! I've never been to DL, and who knows when I'll get there. And MNSSHP sounds like SO much fun! Maybe I'll be able to convince DH to get to that next year... Keep the plans coming!

Thank you! Our plans are slowly coming together, so I'll have more updates!

We also got to see the Halloween decorations going up at the very end of our August trip last year too...it was great seeing them, but I wanted to stay a week longer for the MNSSHP ...guess that wasn't going to happen! How did you enjoy your Disney cruises? We are definitely going on an Alaskan cruise for our honeymoon but haven't decided yet if we want to do Disney or something cheaper.

The cruises were wonderful!!! I'll have to post some more pictures. We went to St Crox and St Thomas. We really enjoyed St. Crox. There is a beach right where the ship docks and the people of St. Crox really welcomed you. We took a van/bus tour of St. Crox. We went to a Rum brewery (which I thought that DH would enjoy)... let's just say that I won't be drinking the Rum anymore! If I find the pics, I'll share them. The building where they make the rum was missing walls! On St. Thomas, I chose a Sky tour thing. I was never so scared in my life!.... It was a cable car going up a very steep hill. It was great once we were at the top, but going up and down, was not fun!

Disney really goes above and beyond to give you the time of your life. We spent most of our time in the adult pool and whirlpool area. My favorite restaurant was breakfast at Lumiere's.

We also want to do an Alaska cruise one day too!!!

 

[Belle2007]

Our plans are definitely moving in the right direction for DL! After months of painful waiting, we finally have our MNSSHP tickets!!!!

I was getting jealous with everyone getting their tickets for WDW and there seemed to be no release of DL tickets in sight. Well that is all changed. We are the proud owners of two tickets for a Tuesday night!!!

Now all we need are the airflight and hotel ressies!!!!

 

[Belle2007]

PIN code has been received!!!

After reading everyone's posts on how they were receiving pin codes, I tried a couple things and I received a 20/30/40 Pin code!!!!

I've been checking out Southwest's airfare, but they haven't released their prices yet!

Now, the question is where should we stay? I was really thing about WL, but I heard stories about their transportation....

Any suggestions?!?! What is your favorite hotel?

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

PIN code has been received!!!

After reading everyone's posts on how they were receiving pin codes, I tried a couple things and I received a 20/30/40 Pin code!!!!

I've been checking out Southwest's airfare, but they haven't released their prices yet!

Now, the question is where should we stay? I was really thing about WL, but I heard stories about their transportation....

Any suggestions?!?! What is your favorite hotel?

Your cruise sounds like it was great! Congrats on the Halloween party tickets! Wilderness Lodge sounds like a good choice. We were going to stay there on our upcoming trip, but used our pin code to upgrade to the Poly. I also really like the Beach Club, even though I have never stayed there...something about it just appeals to me. Let us know what you choose.

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Congrats on the tickets AND the pin code! What resort level are you leaning towards??