OOPS We Did It Again. WDW/Orlando August 2019 PTR (Updated 8/6)

My favorite snack is the carrot cake cookie. We'll usually buy a few as we're walking out of Hollywood studios and stash them in the room fridge so we can nibble on them throughout the trip. I'm really bummed that they don't sell them anywhere else on property.

We also love the dole whip pineapple upside down cake and any of the candy apples sold on main street. Both of my kids have braces right now, so that's off of our list for awhile. :(

Everything looks great !
 
Haha your plans sound a lot like mine, I'm always adding days on!! Sounds like a great trip so far!

Also keep an eye on your SW fares, if they go down at all you'll get the difference in your points back!
 
My favorite snack is the carrot cake cookie. We'll usually buy a few as we're walking out of Hollywood studios and stash them in the room fridge so we can nibble on them throughout the trip. I'm really bummed that they don't sell them anywhere else on property.

We also love the dole whip pineapple upside down cake and any of the candy apples sold on main street. Both of my kids have braces right now, so that's off of our list for awhile. :(

Everything looks great !

Thanks!! I am looking forward to figuring out what is and isn't covered under the snack credits, my husband will LOVE a carrot cake cookie!! I think anything dole whip wins in my book too LOL.

Haha your plans sound a lot like mine, I'm always adding days on!! Sounds like a great trip so far!

Also keep an eye on your SW fares, if they go down at all you'll get the difference in your points back!

YES! I got a pretty amazing rate on the flights, but I keep checking JUST IN CASE it drops again. Do you know if that would work if we also change the flight time to a lower rate flight, or is it just the same flight with a price change? We can actually be REALLY flexible on the flight home as long as we get back in time to put them to bed for school the next day LOL
 
Can be any change to the flight! Seriously why I LOVE SW! Airhint can be helpful at times for flight price change, but I still check on my own too!!
 


MAKING PLANS - TAKE 2

ONE WEEK UNTIL ADR DAY OMG OMG OMG

I've been scouring crowd calendars, rearranging spreadsheets, and working on coming up with a game plan for park visits. I think I have the (very nearly) final schedule made up, barring any issues snagging the ADRs we want. For your viewing pleasure (and critique! Let me know if this touring plan sounds OK!)....THE GRAND MASTER PLAN :banana:

Sunday:
Arrive on late flight and stay overnight at Hilton Garden Inn near the airport. Free shuttle to hotel. Crash and Zzzzzzzzzz.

Monday:
Free Continental breakfast at Hilton Garden Inn. Free shuttle back to MCO. Hop on the DME to All Star Music (aiming for 8-9am arrival to ASMu)
Stow luggage with Bell Services, hop a bus to....
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
Attraction goals: Beauty and the Beast show, Fantasmic
Food: Quick Service dining, probably Woody's lunchbox or ABC Commissary

Tuesday:
Midmorning brunch - either Bon Voyage or Sanaa. I like the idea of a meal at AKL, but I REALLY want to get more character meets in this trip.
Back to the resort for swimming and naps
MICKEYS NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY
(I am ridiculously happy about this, we have been debating what family costume theme to do!)
Attraction goals: Mostly character meets, Cadaver Dans, Hocus Pocus show and the parade. We have additional time at MK for rides on other days.
Food: Quick Service dining during the party and SPECIAL HALLOWEEN SNACKS LOL

Wednesday:
EPCOT (quick AM trip)
PPO breakfast reservation at Garden Grill (fingers crossed!)
One ride each on Soarin and Spaceship Earth, then off to
ANIMAL KINGDOM
Attraction goals: Nemo, FOP, Rivers of Light
Food: Tusker House late lunch (possibly a ROL package)

Thursday:
EPCOT
I hadn't planned on dedicating a full day to Epcot, but hubby REALLY wants to see Illuminations one more time before it's over.
We can RD Epcot, get must-do items in, then Uber to WL for dinner and head back to Epcot to finish out the night. I just have to calculate out travel time to make sure I don't make my reservation too late to get back for Illuminations. We would probably Uber back to Boardwalk, and then walk up IG and watch the show from France.
Attractions goals: The Seas, FEA, Agent P's world showcase adventure
Food: Snacks from the F&W booths, Storybook dining @ AP dinner

Friday:
MAGIC KINGDOM
This is a party day, so we would use the morning EMH to get a little extra time in the park, then leave around 6 to go to dinner. Kids can decide if they want to hop over to another park after we eat. May just go for a later dinner reservation and let the kids explore FW a little.
Attraction goals: SotMK, 7DMT, Astro Orbiter...maybe one or two of the street shows we missed on the last trip.
Food: BOG breakfast (if we do EMH we can snag a later breakfast), HDDR dinner

Saturday:
ANIMAL KINGDOM
We'll spend the day here, maybe bop out to AKL to try the bread service
Attraction goals: Whatever the kids want to do, Pandora at night, Tree of Life.
Food: QS and packed food.

Sunday:
MAGIC KINGDOM
We'll spend the whole day here and just soak up as much as we can. If the kids want to park hop a little that's an option too. Definitely want to be in the park for HEA.
Food: QS

Monday:
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
It's the kids' favorite park, so we will bookend the trip with HS.
Attraction goals: Frozen sing along, Star Wars evening show. Many many trips on Star Tours LOL
Food: QS

Tuesday:
Check out day (sad face!).
We are staying overnight near the airport, so we may take the opportunity to get in an animation class at AoA, or go to DS and wander around for some final souvenir shopping. When it's time we'll head back to ASMu and hop the DME back to MCO, then free airport shuttle to the Hilton Garden. Swim a little and prepare for the sad ride home

Wednesday:
Free continental breakfast at the hotel, then free shuttle back to MCO for a 7am departure. Boo.
 
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Following along from the September thread :) Plans look great. I have to say instead of paying oop for TH and GG you might want to use your credits there and pay for HDDR, especially if you can snag a RoL lunch https://www.disboards.com/threads/buffet-character-shows-aycte-pricing.3108466/ this thread is especially helpful for me to weigh out options when I am going back and forth on something.

SNACK ATTACK

So one of the things plaguing me as a new Dining Plan user is how to make the most of snacks. I found THIS great post on another thread and thought it would help me to start a basic list of snacks we'd most likely enjoy in each park. We will have a total of 32 snack credits to burn on the first leg of our trip (8/26-8/20). Here's my beginning snack attack!

If you have favorite uses of a snack credit that aren't on here, PLEASE share them! I plan to keep a list on my phone when we're there :)

MK
Gaston's Cinnamon Bun
Sleepy Hollow waffle with strawberries
Plaza Ice Cream All american sundae
Aloha Aisle dole whip
Big top treats (circus area) or Main St Confectionary for fudge, cookies, caramel apples, etc

AK
Kusafari Elephant ear pastry
Eight Spoon Cafe Mac & Cheese with pulled pork - (OK I'm WAAAY too excited about this one)
Flame Tree cheese fries with pulled pork, onion ring basket

EP
Refreshment Port: Poutine
France: Les Halles- Roule Lard & Fromage, Napoleon, Crepes de Chefs de France, L'Artisan des Glaces macaron sandwich
Japan: Kabuki Cafe Kakigori, sushi if want savory
Germany Sommerfest noodles gratin, Karamel Kuche anything
Norway: Kringla troll horn, berry puff, school bread

HS
Trolley Car- Carrot cake cookie
Oasis canteen- funnel cake sundaes
Woody's Lunch Box tarts

Don't forget about Food and Wine for snacks - so many awesome options (as long as it is open by then - just assuming it wlll be at least for part of your trip?)

AK - that mac and cheese is awesome, love the shrimp one too. The big Mickey head cinnamon roll at Starbucks there is so good I crave it often.

DHS - that funnel cake is great and very very shareable. Carrot cake cookie good too.

I will also add, we did DDP on first half of trip once and were able to stock up on snacks for the second half. Krispy treats, popcorn from Karamel Kuche, cupcakes from food court.. definitely quite a few things that can last the rest of the trip. Then we did cheaper meals like breakfasts and cheaper dinners like the Plaza, SciFi...

Oh and since you are a fellow bargain hunter you might want to consider joining Landry's if anyone in your travel party has a birthday that month just sign up the account in their name.
 
Following along from the September thread :) Plans look great. I have to say instead of paying oop for TH and GG you might want to use your credits there and pay for HDDR, especially if you can snag a RoL lunch https://www.disboards.com/threads/buffet-character-shows-aycte-pricing.3108466/ this thread is especially helpful for me to weigh out options when I am going back and forth on something.



Don't forget about Food and Wine for snacks - so many awesome options (as long as it is open by then - just assuming it wlll be at least for part of your trip?)

AK - that mac and cheese is awesome, love the shrimp one too. The big Mickey head cinnamon roll at Starbucks there is so good I crave it often.

DHS - that funnel cake is great and very very shareable. Carrot cake cookie good too.

I will also add, we did DDP on first half of trip once and were able to stock up on snacks for the second half. Krispy treats, popcorn from Karamel Kuche, cupcakes from food court.. definitely quite a few things that can last the rest of the trip. Then we did cheaper meals like breakfasts and cheaper dinners like the Plaza, SciFi...

Oh and since you are a fellow bargain hunter you might want to consider joining Landry's if anyone in your travel party has a birthday that month just sign up the account in their name.

Thank you and :welcome:

I have been waffling about paying OOP for TH and GG versus HDDR - I know the "value" isn't there with HDDR, but it will depend greatly on whether we want to use the cash we have NOW to prepay HDDR, or if we want to save for TH and GG and use the cash on hand now for other things. So many decisions to make! LOL

I'll have to look into Landry's, I remembered that some of the WDW restaurants fell under their umbrella but wasn't sure if it was any that we planned to hit this time around. We're also considering upgrading to at least one AP, between Memory Maker and the merch/food discounts we could make it worth our while. I want to go back for a girls weekend to Flower & Garden next year, and hubby and I will probably do another Food & Wine Fest weekend without the kids.
 
Thank you and :welcome:

I have been waffling about paying OOP for TH and GG versus HDDR - I know the "value" isn't there with HDDR, but it will depend greatly on whether we want to use the cash we have NOW to prepay HDDR, or if we want to save for TH and GG and use the cash on hand now for other things. So many decisions to make! LOL

I'll have to look into Landry's, I remembered that some of the WDW restaurants fell under their umbrella but wasn't sure if it was any that we planned to hit this time around. We're also considering upgrading to at least one AP, between Memory Maker and the merch/food discounts we could make it worth our while. I want to go back for a girls weekend to Flower & Garden next year, and hubby and I will probably do another Food & Wine Fest weekend without the kids.
3 trips? Definitely worth it imo. When I paid for HDDR my AP discount did not come off so they reimbursed at customer service.

I love Disney math, when buying an AP makes good financial sense lol I live in CT and had one last year - will upgrade again when we go in August. Loved the photopass pics, merch discounts, dining discounts and room discounts too.
 
TOMORROW IS ADR DAY #1!!!!!

I'm well aware I'm going to be hunting for a few unicorns but I've got two laptops and the mobile app ready to go at 6am :)

Send lots of Pixie Dust my way, we're aiming for a Storybook ressie at 180+3 and I know that's been a tough one to snag. I'll be setting up a couple of reservation finders for anything I can't get on the first try.

Since it's a split stay we'll have ANOTHER ADR day in a couple of days for the 2nd half of the trip, but I really hadn't planned much in the way of sit-down dining. I figure we'll still be digesting a good amount of the food we ate from the first part of the week LOL.
 
TOMORROW IS ADR DAY #1!!!!!

I'm well aware I'm going to be hunting for a few unicorns but I've got two laptops and the mobile app ready to go at 6am :)

Send lots of Pixie Dust my way, we're aiming for a Storybook ressie at 180+3 and I know that's been a tough one to snag. I'll be setting up a couple of reservation finders for anything I can't get on the first try.

Since it's a split stay we'll have ANOTHER ADR day in a couple of days for the 2nd half of the trip, but I really hadn't planned much in the way of sit-down dining. I figure we'll still be digesting a good amount of the food we ate from the first part of the week LOL.
Hope you can snag Storybook! I think it is the only ADR I am actually nervous about this time.
 
MUCH EATING. MANY FOODS

My coffeemaker started brewing at 5:30AM. The dog was interested in MOAR SNUGGLES but I had a mission....ADR DAY!!!

29249552_10156351123154916_4636117682192646144_o.jpg
smol dog, big snugs

MDE was logged in and ready to go at 5:55, and as soon as the clock ticked over to 6:00 we were off to the races!!

Overall I'm happy with the ADR's I got! I have backup plans reserved that I'll tweak or cancel if any reservation finders come through, and once our fastpasses are locked down. Here's where things stand today:

8/26
50's Prime Time - early dinner
We will probably do QS this day but I wanted to have a sit-down reservation just in case. Waiting to see if a Sci Fi reservation finder comes through since I'd rather do that and save 50's for our last day at HS.

8/27
Bon Voyage @ Trattoria Al Forno - late brunch. I have a reservation finder out for an earlier time on this, but we'll make it work if we have to
Backup: Whispering Canyon - breakfast (in case we can't get what we want at Trattoria but decide an earlier meal works better for our plans)

8/28
This is one of our "up in the air" days. Possible plans are a half day EP/AK, full day at EP, or a full-ish day at EP with a break for dinner at a resort.

Garden Grill - PPO breakfast! Kinda excited about this as I've never done a PPO meal before
Tusker House - late lunch with ROL (we might make this a half day at EP, half day at AK)
*possible Storybook, depending on what reservations open up

Backup: Coral Reef - dinner. Just in case we decide to do a full day at EP this day or can't get Storybook

8/29
Another "up in the air" day. This is the most likely day for a morning EP (with EMH) and afternoon AK, but it all kinda depends on what happens with Storybook

Garden Grille - midmorning breakfast (after EMH rush) if we decide not to do PPO the day before.

Tusker House - early dinner with ROL

*possible Storybook, depending on what comes available.

8/30
BOG Breakfast - I booked both an early and midmorning reservation. There are morning EMH at MK, so we'll cancel one of them depending on what we decide the day will look like

HDDR - late dinner. It's a party day, so we'll have time to chill at FW, go to the show, and then catch the Electric Water parade before we leave the MK area.

We're on a split stay so reservations for 8/31- 9/2 have to wait until Sunday morning!
 
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Storybook Dining is still eluding me! I had a TP alert pop up for a reservation that opened on 8/28, but I wasn't fast enough seeing the text and logging in :( It was FOUR MINUTES and already snatched up by the time I logged on! Just means I have to be faster next time LOL.

We decided that on 9/3 (check-out day, and we have a room at the Hilton Garden near the hotel that night) we are going to stick around Disney and do some non-park stuff. Maybe Disney Springs, maybe an activity at one of the resorts, not totally sure yet. BUUUUT.....

They just released a new Pirate excursion out of Beach club (it's a Captain Hook adventure that includes an escape room, treasure hunt and dinner!) - it sounded like something my kids would LOVE, so I signed them up! The adventure runs from 5p-8pm, so hubby and I are going to have a nice kid-free dinner at one of the Boardwalk restaurants while they are swashbuckling :)

With Storybook being such a pain in the butt, I'm just preparing for the likelihood that we will have to rearrange our plans if I REALLY want to do this dinner. We have a backup dinner reservation at Coral Reef if things don't work out, but I'm working on alternative ideas if we are able to land a reservation later in the trip. No big deal, will just require some F-L-E-X-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y :)

that's why I overplan on the front end though, because when I get there we have options and can just enjoy ourselves!
 
Hopefully you'll get an Artist Point reservation!! I know how frustrating that is to get the text and still miss it. I had that happen to me multiple times before snagging one! The worst was when it would hit my phone when I was sleeping so I'd wake up to disappointment! Hopefully you'll get one soon!

That Pirate adventure sounds awesome. I wish they had something similar for adults lol DH and I love escape rooms so that plus Disney sounds so fun!
 
I'm in, your trip sounds like so much fun! We'll be there in August too, but more towards the middle since our girls start school August 21st.
 
I'm in, your trip sounds like so much fun! We'll be there in August too, but more towards the middle since our girls start school August 21st.

:welcome:
I wish our kids went back to school earlier, I would MUCH rather have them out of school before the end of June - but in New England June can still be SWINTER lol. Someday I'll convince my husband to move south!
 
Joining in!! Really enjoying the read so far. Can't wait to read to more. We are also going at the beginning of the month.
 
TAKING SHAPE: Day 1

Now that most of our ADR's are in place, I'm starting to (obsessively) map out our days with a little more specifics. I'm sure things will change once we know what FPs are available, but to be honest we don't sweat the FP's too much. My kids are RD early birds, for one (ok they're really commandos like their parents, and energizer bunnies from RD to park close!). For another, DS1 is eligible for DAS due to his disability - we are SUPER careful not to abuse this privilege but it does make things a little easier and allows us to focus on keeping him on an even keel. He has incredible stamina when he's bouncing all over the parks...not so much when we have to stand still lol.

Here's the basic roadmap for our first day in the parks! The plan is to catch an early shuttle from the airport hotel to grab MDE, check in at ASMu and stow our luggage at GS, then hop a bus to HS. I've tentatively scheduled TSL for the morning half of the day, but depending on the crowds we may swap it to the afternoon. We'll grab whatever FP we can and use the in-between time to meet characters :)

I'm still hunting for a Sci Fi Diner lunch reservation - as much as I've heard that 50's Prime time is fun, the menu isn't really exciting me and I'm not sure DS1 will find anything he likes there but it was available at the time I wanted. We'd be paying OOP for a TS meal that day so I need to decide if it's worth it. We ate at Sci Fi on our last trip and it was one of the kids' favorites, if that reservation becomes available it's worth the $$.

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