Trip Information
Travel dates: August 18-27, 2017
Travel method: Airplane, WDW Resort Buses, Uber
Resort: All Star Music
Accommodations:
Ages Represented in Group: 30’s, Youth
Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group/Cast of Characters:
Heather (37) - moi, the planner
DLR = Literally hundreds, I don't remember a time of not going to the park. Additionally, I've worked for the Mouse off and on over the years as well as a former AP holder for 8 years
WDW = 1986 (on site - don't recall where), April 2013 (Yacht Club with my BFF), November 2013 (offsite via airbnb), April 2014 (Pop Century), November 2015 (offsite near convention center), November 2016 (All Star Music)
Bobby (37) - DH, the darling spouse
DLR = Slightly less hundreds as he didn't go much in his youth. He also has worked for the Mouse and was an AP holder for 8 years
WDW = April 2014 (Pop Century), November 2014 (offsite near the convention center), November 2016 (All Star Music)
Bunny (11) - the eldest daughter
DLR = Mickey's Halloween Party 2014/2015/2016, March 2015, January 2016, February 2016, February 2017
WDW = FIRST TRIP!!!
Bear (11) - son and middle child (10 months younger than his sister)
DLR = Mickey's Halloween Party 2014/2015/2016, March 2015, January 2016, February 2016, February 2017
WDW = FIRST TRIP!!!
Monkey (9) - the youngest daughter
DLR = Mickey's Halloween Party 2014/2015/2016, March 2015, January 2016, February 2016, February 2017
WDW = FIRST TRIP!!!
TL;DR
Y'all, I'm wordy. I'm going to give you more information than you could possibly want in the following trip report. If that's not your jam, here is a quick summary of the things I learned and loved and liked/disliked.
Also, the forum formats my copy/paste oddly and TBH once I got to the end of this I didn’t want to proofread it so it’s going up weird formatting (removes punctuation) and spelling/grammar errors.
1. I will probably never do another all in package like this again. We were in the farthest building, the buses took forever, and the dining plan was a huge waste of money. I’d much rather stay in a condo or house offsite and drive to the parks daily. It’s more conductive to the way my family travels.
2. Pandora was nice but it isn’t nice enough for me to ever stress about riding the two attractions again. I think the Africa and Asia areas of the park are still more interesting and beautiful - and Everest will always be king at that park.
3. Memory Maker is worth the price for a lengthy trip. We managed to get amazing ride photos/videos, character videos, and even funny photo booth photos all added. We ended up with over 400 photos of us (not including the bonus photos). Most of our family photos were taken by the PhotoPass cast members so it’s great to have so many of all of us together.
4. The Plethora actually learned quite a bit on this trip at EPCOT and Animal Kingdom. It makes me sad that it appears EPCOT is going to go the way of IPs. It’s my favorite of all the WDW parks and I hate the idea of it losing what makes it so unique and special for the latest character overlay.
5. The water park was definitely worth a visit and next time we come back we will plan for a full day there. Next time we will get a chair first then a locker and towels.
6. Plan ahead! Having a route and planning dining and FastPasses on the route ended up making life a lot easier in the park.
7. Don’t forget to use up the remaining snack credits! I picked up a lot of souvenirs of the Chip N Dale dried fruit and nuts and seeds.
8. I need to figure out the rain situation. I carried rain jackets everyday but the day the sky opened and poured down. I now own more WDW ponchos than people in my house.
9. Uber or Lyft is super easy to use at the hotels. They are waived through at the gates and most drivers know to pick you up at the hotel. There was a driver sitting and waiting at Universal so we managed to get a ride immediately.
10. This was still a magical vacation through its ups and downs and everyone already wants to go back. Alas, I think that will be in 2020 once everything has settled down a bit. For the kids at least... DH and I may sneak in a Food & Wine once in awhile.
Who’s still with me? Bueller? Bueller? Sit back and grab a cup of your favorite drink to perk you up, because we’re going to be here awhile.
Itinerary
August 18: Red eye out of LAX
August 19: Arrival, Magic Kingdom, Spirit of Aloha
August 20: Hollywood Studios
August 21: Animal Kingdom
August 22: Typhoon Lagoon, Epcot
August 23: Blizzard Beach, Magic Kingdom
August 24: Epcot
August 25: Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios Orlando
August 26: Magic Kingdom
August 27: Disney Springs, flight home
Planning
November 2016: While in Florida, my husband and I decided it was finally time to bring our kids to Walt Disney World. Knowing I wanted to be somewhat stress free, I decided to do a Disney Destination trip booking through Small World Vacations. Reviewing the crowd calendars, the later we go in August the better it would be for maximizing our day. This would mean missing the second week of school. Poor parenting, maybe, but I decided it was the more ideal time to go.
We adopted the Plethora in 2012 and had spoiled them on their first birthdays and Christmas with us due to “new baby” syndrome. Their rooms quickly filled up with stuff and by the next year I started exchanging stuff for experiences. For last year’s birthday, they received only practical gifts (clothes and books) as well as tickets for the family to go to events such as a Dolly Parton concert, a Dodger game, and Cavalia. They are great kids and actually really love looking forward to going places versus the thrill of getting an item they will hardly use. We managed to scale down their Santa Claus request (they get to ask for a single item) and their parent request (another single item) to make this trip more feasible. We’ve also explained that their birthday and Christmas this year will also probably reduce in scale again. Considering they tend to earn money and save fairly well, if there is something they really want they will just end up buying it for themselves eventually.
Initial amount (including the regular Dining Plan and a Memory Maker) totaled out to $6,695.11 for two rooms at Disney’s All Star Movies. Riley at Small World Vacations let me know that the rooms were guaranteed adjoining due to more children than adults (it’s the policy) so I felt more comfortable with this decision (versus a suite). I opted for a value resort as well because we don’t typically stay at themed hotels. The best we typically look for is a pool.
My kids have become fairly hardy travelers. Because I am cheap, we almost always travel on red eyes to destinations. This will be no different and the Plethora will need to hit the ground running though we are taking it a bit easier on the first day. Part of me feels like I’ve been training them for this trip. We often wake them up at 5am for days at Disneyland and run them from 8am to 1am. We’ve traveled a number of times to various states and we always go from airport, to car pick up, to a Walmart, and then to our first destination.
This will be a little different as I don’t want to deal with a rental car. We will need to get an Uber or shuttle to/from Universal but I’m willing to shell out for a single day.
Background
We filmed a video in November in front of the castle letting them know their birthday trip would be going to Walt Disney World. Every Christmas they receive what we call their “Last Gift” which is something to help them look forward to their summer Birthday Trip. We always give them this gift right before bed as a way to end the day with a final surprise. In recent years we’ve traveled up and down the state or gone to Ohio for a friend’s wedding making sure to stop at a theme park and zoo. While at the parks in November I purchased some 45th Anniversary shirts (technically it would still be the 45th) and when I came home ordered guide books and Disney book flags.
Pre-Trip
240 days
In December, Delta had tickets available for under $250, round trip. My mother purchased them as 2017 birthday presents for my whole family. It was an exceptionally generous gift and we went back and forth on this for days before I finally acquiesced. With plane tickets purchased it was beginning to feel more real.
12/24: All the last gift items were ready; three shirts, three guide books, three sets of Mickey page flags and I was so excited for Christmas evening. Not only that, but my parents had purchased new carry on luggage and packing cube sets for the kids. I've a few more surprises for the trip planned but that will happen in the summer.
12/25: The Monkey literally leaped from her seat into the air when she realized what was happening. The kids wanted to rewatch the reveal over and over again (we stopped after the fifth time). The next day on the way to Nevada ,for our holiday visit with my in-laws, they were already pouring over the guide books and flagging all the things they wanted to do.
180 Days - 02/20: I set my alarm for 2am and was up without a problem. For the next hour I poked around at the menus again and reconfirmed my list of ADRs. 3am hit and I started clicking without stopping. I finally managed to get everything booked and I looked to see it was not yet 3:15! It's a lot more buffets with characters than I ever would of thought to select but the kids really want character experiences. For me, Liberty Tree Tavern just might have to become a tradition. I really missed eating there the last couple of times. There is something about that Thanksgiving dinner with a cup of coffee that puts me in such a happy place. Spirit of Aloha is new for me, as well as the EPCOT locations, the Crystal Palace, and BE OUR GUEST!!!! I booked that immediately because I've been dying to go there and my girls are in love with the idea of eating in the ballroom. I'm still working out our counter service locations by this point, but once I have begun to layout our trip overview I'll know better where to look at stopping for those meals. Back to bed with happy, yummy dreams.
August 19: Arrival Day - Spirit of Aloha Luau
August 20: 50's Prime Time Cafe, dinner
August 21: Tusker House, lunch
August 22: San Angel Inn, dinner
August 23: The Crystal Palace, dinner
August 24: Akerchus Royal Banquet, dinner
August 25: NO ADR - UNI/IOA day
August 26: Be Our Guest, breakfast; Liberty Tree Tavern, dinner
August 27: Departure Day - NO ADR
02/22: After thinking it over for a couple days I went ahead and officially added the 7th day. Based on Dave1313’s great advice, the additional day was less than $80 for the entire family! If we manage to spend 4 hours in the park, that’s worth the price to me!
04/28: Tusker House finally opened up its dining package for Rivers of Light FastPass viewing. I tried to convert my current reservation but they wouldn’t allow it so I ended up snagging a late lunch/early dinner time instead. I believe the characters are supposed to be there so I’m excited to get the additional perk.
60 Days - 06/20: Up at 3am again waiting for my FastPass selections. I managed to get most everything I wanted but Flights of Passage and Mission: Space were full. We will just have to wait in line for those attractions, but I heard FoP is a great queue and M:S never has a very long wait.
August 19: Magic Kingdom - Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
August 20: Hollywood Studios - Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along, Fantasmic!
August 21: Animal Kingdom - Finding Nemo - The Musical, Expedition Everest, Na’vi River Journey
August 22: EPCOT - Spaceship Earth, Meet Disney Pals, Frozen Ever After
August 23: Magic Kingdom - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Jungle Cruise
August 24: EPCOT - Soarin’, Meet Disney Pals, Spaceship Earth
August 25: UNI/IOA - Front of the Line Passes
August 26: Magic Kingdom - Enchanted Tales with Belle, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, The Barnstormer
August 27: Departure Day - NO FP+
2 Days - 08/17: Finally we managed to get the Plethora all packed. Once again DH drove me nuts with his packing but I think I managed to get everything squared away. Of course, now is when I realized he had given away his Hawaiian shirts. I wasn't about to try and scramble and find one so he will not be “theme” dressed for the luau. He's always missing something. We had selected the cheap Delta seats so I had to wait till check in to get the selections. I managed to get two together, seats right in front and behind those on the window, and then one aisle. We are hoping we can trade the aisle seat with the one that is next to the two so the kids can all be in one row and we will also see if a middle person would like to switch for a window and my husband and I can sit together. I went on a late night run to Vons for tupperware for their lunch boxes and ended up dropping $70 on most likely unnecessary medicines. The kids have sensitive stomachs and I'm becoming prone to heartburn (and lactose intolerant) but I'm hoping everything I purchased will be unnecessary.
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Heather aka LoveCats - The Plethoras First WDW Trip Extravaganza August 19-27, 2017
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