(sorry couldn't think of a better title).
My English isn't the greatest (despite being from England lol), but I thought I'd give a pre trip report a go now that we are at our 60 days.
The last time we went to the World was in 2012 just before the announcement of the magic bands and my Disney experience. Up until now we decided on the day where we were going and it always seemed to work out ok. In fact I kind of liked the spontaneity of it all. So when Disney announced the Magic Bands I was a little worried.
As a result of these Magic Bands and coupled with the fact that it is now nearly impossible to book an ADR on the day of your choice meant that this trip will be a little more structured.
We booked our trip nearly two years ago and booked it direct with Disney. As a result we got the dining plan and also a $200 gift card.
We have only ever tried the Quick Service Dining Plan and we enjoyed it so we have no worries about using the normal Dining Plan.
We selected Old Key West as it seemed to fit with our group. This time I am traveling with Jess (fiance), my Brother Pete and his Partner Vicky. This will be Vicky's first time to Disney World and she will be celebrating her Birthday while we're there. This shall be my sixth trip to the World.
We are traveling down to London Gatwick the night before our flight and will be stopping at the Hilton (which is right next to the terminal).
We arrive around 5pm local time and have decided that we are hiring a car. This is because we have decided that it will be easier to get out of the Disney Bubble for Universal and a bit of shopping. On the subject of none Disney stuff, we have decided that we won't be doing Sea World again. When I last went in 2006 I was not happy with the way their animals were kept and with the Black Fish film and surrounding press coverage don't feel comfortable giving my money to them at this stage.
Our first full day will be the Sunday and we have an early ADR at Crystal Palace for breakfast. I thought it would be a nice way to start our holiday off.
We have this morning selected our fastpasses to sit around our reservations. What I have tried to do is leave a few hours in the afternoon to go back to the hotel. We found that on our last trip this was a good way to relax and beat the heat and also the pool is very quiet at this time as well.
I must admit that I have really struggled with the amount of planning involved and do feel that while on one hand it is part of the fun to plan a holiday on the other it does really restrict what we will be doing and when we will be doing it.
We have tried to book the fastpasses we really need so we have got one for 7 dwarfs mine train along with the Anna and Elsa meet. We have booked a lot of others as well but I get the feeling we will be cancelling a lot of them on the day.
We have a few ADR's booked during our holiday:
Be our guest
Le Cellier
Sanaa
Si Fi Dine-in
San Angel
Tusker House (breakfast)
Chef Mickey's (breakfast)
California Grill
Bongo's
We have also booked to do Mickey's Not So Scary as well as we had such a lovely time when we did it last. However this time we have booked it earlier in our holiday so that we have time to eat all the goodies before we leave.
My brother and his girlfriend have also booked Halloween Horror nights over at Universal. Both Jess and I are not big fans so we are planning something else for the two of us. I am thinking about a surprise couple's massage for us at one of the Spa's (any suggestions?).
We are also doing Universal a few days along with the two Disney Water Parks and on the last half day we plan to visit Disney Quest.
It feels so jam packed that I almost feel it's over kill and I hope that losing the flexibility the old system had doesn't spoil the holiday.
Were at 60 days (59 until we drive to London) so it seems real close and really looking forward to having a break but also getting my Disney fix!
