mkmomto2
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2013
Introduction
Hello and welcome to my very first pre-trip report! I actually started this many months ago, but then life happened and so many variables changed for this trip, so I decided to start again. By the way, I had pictures in here, but they didn't show up in the preview and I know people had issues with hosting or something (I don't really understand all that). If I post a trip report, I will educate myself, I promise!
When this trip was first booked, it was supposed to be my sister and me, for what has become our every other year trip. Unfortunately, my brother-in-law went through some major medical issues this winter/spring that he is still recovering from, so my sister didn’t feel like she would be able to go this year with not knowing how much help he is still going to need at that time. He is doing much better, thankfully, but still has a long road ahead of him.
So, I was contemplating canceling my trip altogether when my friend and teaching colleague, Cathy, said that she wanted to go with me! I was so excited, but a little nervous too as I know that she is not “into” Disney and I wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting into. I created a PowerPoint presentation for her to watch before she made up her mind. LOL I know, a little much, but in my defense, the last trip I took was with my husband and I toned it WAYYYYY down for him and didn’t really want to do that this trip. She took about a day to decide and said that she was in!
On with the planning!
My name is Stacy and I am a special education teacher for an autism program in our district’s high school. I have been teaching for three years, but I also worked as a paraeducator for ten years prior, so I have been with the program for 13 years. I love my job, but this year was a particularly stressful one, so I was glad that I didn’t have to cancel this trip!
Cathy is also a special education teacher for the same program and has been working with me for the past three years as well. Prior to moving to Delaware, where we live, she taught science in New Jersey for many years.
We both have adult children and I have a 2-year-old grandson who is my heart and soul. Hopefully, he will be featured in a future trip report!
The Trip (finally!)
When:August 16-26
Where: Coronado Springs, although the first night we will be at the Hyatt Regency MCO
Tickets:7 day park hoppers bought through Ticketsatwork, although I may upgrade mine to an annual pass due to a possible February trip
Dining Plan: No. Free Dining was offered during our stay, but I went with the room discount due to us liking to share meals, etc.
Special Events: MNSSHP August 24th, Jiko Wine Tasting August 22nd
Transportation: Jetblue August 16 landing at MCO at 8:10 p.m. Southwest August 26 at 8:50am—that will be an early one!
Day 1 (August 16, 2018)
We live about 2 hours from the nearest airport, so we will have to plan on leaving by about 1:00 p.m. to be at the airport by 3:45 for our 5:45 flight. My husband has taken the day off to drive us there. We actually may leave a little earlier so that we can stop for crab cakes at G&M! If you’ve never had a crabcake from G&M and live near Baltimore, you should! Check out their website, you can even order them to be delivered. They are huge though, so bring your appetite!
Our flight is scheduled to arrive in MCO at 8:10 p.m. We decided to stay at the airport the first night so that we could just have a good night sleep before heading into the bubble. For this reason, I will not be using the yellow Magical Express luggage tags for this part of our trip. We will gather our own luggage. The Hyatt Regency is right at the airport and is a little pricy, but I was able to get a decent rate several months ago. Now, it is much higher! This way, we can hop on the Magical Express the next morning. Magical Express gave us an open time since we don’t have a flight that morning. We are just to head down there when we are ready to go!
Depending how tired we are, we will either head right to bed or hit the lounge for a drink before turning in.
Day 2 (August 17, 2018)
My plan is to sleep until we wake up naturally, which for me will be early just because that is how I am. We will then head down to magical express to start our vacation!
We will arrive at Coronado Springs and check in. I assume that our room will not be ready, so we will stow our bags and head to Epcot! We bought our tickets through Ticketsatwork, which is through our teacher’s union, so we will have to activate our tickets at guest services at Epcot when we arrive. I may at this point upgrade my ticket to an annual pass if my February trip looks like a go.
On this day, I have ADRs at:
11:30 am- Via Napoli
7:30 pm- La Hacienda de San Angel (we will request a window table to see Illuminations, so we may have to wait a bit)
And I have Fastpasses for:
Frozen -10:35
Spaceship Earth - 12:45
Nemo - 1:50
Although most days I have planned for a rest in the middle of the day, this one has us getting to the park right before our lunch ADR, so my plan is to remain in the park this day. I envision exploring World Showcase mostly this day since both of our ADRs are in World Showcase. I did however pick up a couple of Future World Fastpasses that we may or may not do. I do have a Garden Grocer order that will be coming and we may need to track that down when we get back to the resort after Illuminations.
Day 3 (August 18, 2018)
My plan for this day is to get to MK before opening 9am so that Cathy can see the opening show. Although I don’t love this show as much as the one they used to have at the train station, I think we should see it once.
I have a lunch ADR:
The Plaza at 11:05 am.
Our Fastpasses are:
Peter Pan 9:10
Big Thunder 10:50
Mine Train 1:25 (I’m trying to get his one a little earlier)
My plan is to leave the park around 1-2 for a rest at the resort and to get to HS around 5 or 6.
I have a dinner ADR:
Hollywood Brown Derby at 7
My plan is to see Fantasmic on this night and the Star Wars Spectacular as well. We will see how this turns out.
Day 4 (August 19, 2018)
Hopefully we will get to Animal Kingdom before opening at 9am. I was unable to get a FOP fastpass, but I did get one for a different day, so we will head to Navi at 9 instead.
We have a lunch ADR:
Yak n Yeti 11:00 am
Our Fastpasses are:
Navi 9:00
Expedition Everest 10:20
Kali 11:55
The plan is to go on Kali and then leave AK by 1pm to go back to Coronado for a rest. We should be going to MK by 5-6 to tour for the evening.
We have a dinner ADR:
Be Our Guest 7:00 pm
My hope is that we will be able to find a spot to watch Happily Ever After where we can see the projections. I know that people set up early and we might not make it, but if possible, that is my intention.
Day 5 (August 20, 2018)
I plan to arrive at EPCOT close to opening at 9am. If my fastpasses work out correctly, then I plan to stay in Future World this time.
We have a lunch ADR:
Coral Reef 11:30 am
We will probably head back to Coronado after lunch to rest.
Our Fastpasses are:
Soarin’ 9:25
Mission Space 10:50
Living with the Land 11:55 (I'll probably go on this earlier when we are in the Land pavilion, but grabbed it just in case)
(I always find it hard to figure out fastpasses for EPCOT as most attractions don’t seem to need them and the ones that do are all on Tier 1!)
I would like to head to Disney Springs by around 4-5. We have three ADRs here and we will walk around, shop and take it all in. We are planning on just getting drinks and appetizers, so I booked three, spread out. Not sure how this is going to go.
Our ADRs are:
Boathouse 5:15 pm
Wine Bar George 8:00 pm
Raglan Road 10:00 pm
Day 6 (August 21, 2018)
The plan for the day is to hang out at the pool and relax. I’ve never scheduled a rest day, so this should be interesting! I’m not the best at relaxing lol.
We have an ADR:
Hoop de Doo 6:15pm
I am thinking about heading over to Jellyrolls after the show as I think Cathy would really get a kick out of it. I would have to remember to bring my wallet if we do this. This backfired on us when we went in 2014 and I didn’t realize we couldn’t use our magic bands! If we opt to go to Jellyrolls, I think we would probably Uber back to the resort afterward.
Day 7 (August 22, 2018)
This day is a little tricky. Originally, I was planning on getting to HS at 8am, but we have the wine tasting at 3pm, so getting back to the hotel prior to that was going to be a little tight. So, I scheduled the fastpasses to start around 10-11 and we will have a light lunch at the Taphouse around 11am. 1:30ish we will have to head out to go to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for the wine tasting.
ADRS:
Jiko Wine Tasting at 3:00pm
Kona Café at 6:15 pm
Our Fastpasses are:
TSMM 10:10 am
Star Tours 11:35 am
Rockin RC 12:55
Day 8 (August 23, 2018)
The plan is to get to MK around opening. I don’t have fastpasses this morning as the only Flight of Passage one I could get for our trip was for this afternoon. So, we will go to Tomorrowland most likely and then if we have time before lunch, hit up the Haunted Mansion.
Our lunch ADR:
Liberty Tree Tavern 11:05 am
I would like to leave Mk around 1pm for a rest at Coronado and then head to AK by around 5. We have a dinner ADR and our fast passes are there too.
Dinner ADR:
Tiffins 7pm
Our Fastpasses:
Safari 4:35
FOP 5:55
Rivers of Light 8:05
Day 8 (August 24, 2018)
This is the second half rest day for us as we have the Halloween Party in the evening. I plan to hang out by the pool in the morning. We have a late lunch ADR and plan to be at MK around 4pm for the party. I’m really hoping to ride all of the attractions during the party that we didn’t get to because of not having fastpasses the day before.
ADR:
Sanaa 2pm
Day 9 (August 25, 2018)
This is our last day and we are going to HS hopefully around 8 as we have our Slinky FP at 8:35. We will have to leave HS to walk or boat (if it is running) to the Beach Club for our ADR at 11.
Fastpasses:
Slinky 8:35
Voyage of LM 9:40
Our lunch ADR:
Beaches and Cream 11am.
After our lunch, we will probably walk through EPCOT to get on a bus for Coronado Springs for a rest. We will head over to MK around 5 and walk over to the Contemporary for dinner. My hope is that we will be able to watch Happily Ever After from our table. I did this on a previous trip and loved it!
Our dinner ADR:
California Grill 7:30 pm
We booked our flight and it is leaving at 8:55 am! So, we will be at the tragical express at 5:55 am. I tried my hardest to find a later flight, but they were so much more expensive!
This is my first attempt at a pre-trip report. Please give me any advice for future endeavors! Thanks for reading along!
Hello and welcome to my very first pre-trip report! I actually started this many months ago, but then life happened and so many variables changed for this trip, so I decided to start again. By the way, I had pictures in here, but they didn't show up in the preview and I know people had issues with hosting or something (I don't really understand all that). If I post a trip report, I will educate myself, I promise!
When this trip was first booked, it was supposed to be my sister and me, for what has become our every other year trip. Unfortunately, my brother-in-law went through some major medical issues this winter/spring that he is still recovering from, so my sister didn’t feel like she would be able to go this year with not knowing how much help he is still going to need at that time. He is doing much better, thankfully, but still has a long road ahead of him.
So, I was contemplating canceling my trip altogether when my friend and teaching colleague, Cathy, said that she wanted to go with me! I was so excited, but a little nervous too as I know that she is not “into” Disney and I wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting into. I created a PowerPoint presentation for her to watch before she made up her mind. LOL I know, a little much, but in my defense, the last trip I took was with my husband and I toned it WAYYYYY down for him and didn’t really want to do that this trip. She took about a day to decide and said that she was in!
On with the planning!
My name is Stacy and I am a special education teacher for an autism program in our district’s high school. I have been teaching for three years, but I also worked as a paraeducator for ten years prior, so I have been with the program for 13 years. I love my job, but this year was a particularly stressful one, so I was glad that I didn’t have to cancel this trip!
Cathy is also a special education teacher for the same program and has been working with me for the past three years as well. Prior to moving to Delaware, where we live, she taught science in New Jersey for many years.
We both have adult children and I have a 2-year-old grandson who is my heart and soul. Hopefully, he will be featured in a future trip report!
The Trip (finally!)
When:August 16-26
Where: Coronado Springs, although the first night we will be at the Hyatt Regency MCO
Tickets:7 day park hoppers bought through Ticketsatwork, although I may upgrade mine to an annual pass due to a possible February trip
Dining Plan: No. Free Dining was offered during our stay, but I went with the room discount due to us liking to share meals, etc.
Special Events: MNSSHP August 24th, Jiko Wine Tasting August 22nd
Transportation: Jetblue August 16 landing at MCO at 8:10 p.m. Southwest August 26 at 8:50am—that will be an early one!
Day 1 (August 16, 2018)
We live about 2 hours from the nearest airport, so we will have to plan on leaving by about 1:00 p.m. to be at the airport by 3:45 for our 5:45 flight. My husband has taken the day off to drive us there. We actually may leave a little earlier so that we can stop for crab cakes at G&M! If you’ve never had a crabcake from G&M and live near Baltimore, you should! Check out their website, you can even order them to be delivered. They are huge though, so bring your appetite!
Our flight is scheduled to arrive in MCO at 8:10 p.m. We decided to stay at the airport the first night so that we could just have a good night sleep before heading into the bubble. For this reason, I will not be using the yellow Magical Express luggage tags for this part of our trip. We will gather our own luggage. The Hyatt Regency is right at the airport and is a little pricy, but I was able to get a decent rate several months ago. Now, it is much higher! This way, we can hop on the Magical Express the next morning. Magical Express gave us an open time since we don’t have a flight that morning. We are just to head down there when we are ready to go!
Depending how tired we are, we will either head right to bed or hit the lounge for a drink before turning in.
Day 2 (August 17, 2018)
My plan is to sleep until we wake up naturally, which for me will be early just because that is how I am. We will then head down to magical express to start our vacation!
We will arrive at Coronado Springs and check in. I assume that our room will not be ready, so we will stow our bags and head to Epcot! We bought our tickets through Ticketsatwork, which is through our teacher’s union, so we will have to activate our tickets at guest services at Epcot when we arrive. I may at this point upgrade my ticket to an annual pass if my February trip looks like a go.
On this day, I have ADRs at:
11:30 am- Via Napoli
7:30 pm- La Hacienda de San Angel (we will request a window table to see Illuminations, so we may have to wait a bit)
And I have Fastpasses for:
Frozen -10:35
Spaceship Earth - 12:45
Nemo - 1:50
Although most days I have planned for a rest in the middle of the day, this one has us getting to the park right before our lunch ADR, so my plan is to remain in the park this day. I envision exploring World Showcase mostly this day since both of our ADRs are in World Showcase. I did however pick up a couple of Future World Fastpasses that we may or may not do. I do have a Garden Grocer order that will be coming and we may need to track that down when we get back to the resort after Illuminations.
Day 3 (August 18, 2018)
My plan for this day is to get to MK before opening 9am so that Cathy can see the opening show. Although I don’t love this show as much as the one they used to have at the train station, I think we should see it once.
I have a lunch ADR:
The Plaza at 11:05 am.
Our Fastpasses are:
Peter Pan 9:10
Big Thunder 10:50
Mine Train 1:25 (I’m trying to get his one a little earlier)
My plan is to leave the park around 1-2 for a rest at the resort and to get to HS around 5 or 6.
I have a dinner ADR:
Hollywood Brown Derby at 7
My plan is to see Fantasmic on this night and the Star Wars Spectacular as well. We will see how this turns out.
Day 4 (August 19, 2018)
Hopefully we will get to Animal Kingdom before opening at 9am. I was unable to get a FOP fastpass, but I did get one for a different day, so we will head to Navi at 9 instead.
We have a lunch ADR:
Yak n Yeti 11:00 am
Our Fastpasses are:
Navi 9:00
Expedition Everest 10:20
Kali 11:55
The plan is to go on Kali and then leave AK by 1pm to go back to Coronado for a rest. We should be going to MK by 5-6 to tour for the evening.
We have a dinner ADR:
Be Our Guest 7:00 pm
My hope is that we will be able to find a spot to watch Happily Ever After where we can see the projections. I know that people set up early and we might not make it, but if possible, that is my intention.
Day 5 (August 20, 2018)
I plan to arrive at EPCOT close to opening at 9am. If my fastpasses work out correctly, then I plan to stay in Future World this time.
We have a lunch ADR:
Coral Reef 11:30 am
We will probably head back to Coronado after lunch to rest.
Our Fastpasses are:
Soarin’ 9:25
Mission Space 10:50
Living with the Land 11:55 (I'll probably go on this earlier when we are in the Land pavilion, but grabbed it just in case)
(I always find it hard to figure out fastpasses for EPCOT as most attractions don’t seem to need them and the ones that do are all on Tier 1!)
I would like to head to Disney Springs by around 4-5. We have three ADRs here and we will walk around, shop and take it all in. We are planning on just getting drinks and appetizers, so I booked three, spread out. Not sure how this is going to go.
Our ADRs are:
Boathouse 5:15 pm
Wine Bar George 8:00 pm
Raglan Road 10:00 pm
Day 6 (August 21, 2018)
The plan for the day is to hang out at the pool and relax. I’ve never scheduled a rest day, so this should be interesting! I’m not the best at relaxing lol.
We have an ADR:
Hoop de Doo 6:15pm
I am thinking about heading over to Jellyrolls after the show as I think Cathy would really get a kick out of it. I would have to remember to bring my wallet if we do this. This backfired on us when we went in 2014 and I didn’t realize we couldn’t use our magic bands! If we opt to go to Jellyrolls, I think we would probably Uber back to the resort afterward.
Day 7 (August 22, 2018)
This day is a little tricky. Originally, I was planning on getting to HS at 8am, but we have the wine tasting at 3pm, so getting back to the hotel prior to that was going to be a little tight. So, I scheduled the fastpasses to start around 10-11 and we will have a light lunch at the Taphouse around 11am. 1:30ish we will have to head out to go to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for the wine tasting.
ADRS:
Jiko Wine Tasting at 3:00pm
Kona Café at 6:15 pm
Our Fastpasses are:
TSMM 10:10 am
Star Tours 11:35 am
Rockin RC 12:55
Day 8 (August 23, 2018)
The plan is to get to MK around opening. I don’t have fastpasses this morning as the only Flight of Passage one I could get for our trip was for this afternoon. So, we will go to Tomorrowland most likely and then if we have time before lunch, hit up the Haunted Mansion.
Our lunch ADR:
Liberty Tree Tavern 11:05 am
I would like to leave Mk around 1pm for a rest at Coronado and then head to AK by around 5. We have a dinner ADR and our fast passes are there too.
Dinner ADR:
Tiffins 7pm
Our Fastpasses:
Safari 4:35
FOP 5:55
Rivers of Light 8:05
Day 8 (August 24, 2018)
This is the second half rest day for us as we have the Halloween Party in the evening. I plan to hang out by the pool in the morning. We have a late lunch ADR and plan to be at MK around 4pm for the party. I’m really hoping to ride all of the attractions during the party that we didn’t get to because of not having fastpasses the day before.
ADR:
Sanaa 2pm
Day 9 (August 25, 2018)
This is our last day and we are going to HS hopefully around 8 as we have our Slinky FP at 8:35. We will have to leave HS to walk or boat (if it is running) to the Beach Club for our ADR at 11.
Fastpasses:
Slinky 8:35
Voyage of LM 9:40
Our lunch ADR:
Beaches and Cream 11am.
After our lunch, we will probably walk through EPCOT to get on a bus for Coronado Springs for a rest. We will head over to MK around 5 and walk over to the Contemporary for dinner. My hope is that we will be able to watch Happily Ever After from our table. I did this on a previous trip and loved it!
Our dinner ADR:
California Grill 7:30 pm
We booked our flight and it is leaving at 8:55 am! So, we will be at the tragical express at 5:55 am. I tried my hardest to find a later flight, but they were so much more expensive!
This is my first attempt at a pre-trip report. Please give me any advice for future endeavors! Thanks for reading along!
