Disney World 2018: Lessons Learned

It's been about 2 1/2 weeks since our return from the most recent trip to Walt Disney World, and I think I'm finally ready to talk about it. No, that's not a sigh of exasperation you heard; it was a moment of hesitation so I can reflect on what I'm planning to write in this post. Patrick and I are both still very tired from the trip - not necessarily from the physical exertion but moreso the sensory overload we endured while in Florida. We had a lot of new experiences on this trip and with that came a lot of new lessons and I would be remiss if I didn't pass those along to my friends and family.

I'm planning to share some reviews, as well, but this post will serve as my general overview of the trip. I'll also provide a heads up on our plans for the next few trips so we can benchmark how close we hit the mark when we actually book those trips.

Things We Learned

• Early December is a pretty good time to visit.
• The weather is cooler, the holiday decor is breathtaking, and the crowds are somewhat lighter, but the cast members seemed to be crankier. Maybe they are dreading the upcoming holiday season?

Gingerbread display at Contemporary Resort

• Wait times posted for attractions are almost always 2x longer than the actual wait time.
• We waited in more lines this trip than any other trip we've taken. We couldn't get fastpasses for the new Slinky Dog Dash so we waited til 15 minutes before park closing and hopped in line. The first thing I noticed was that the posted wait time was 95 minutes, but I saw that same wait time posted earlier in the day when the line was much, much longer. I noted the time on my watch and checked again before we boarded the ride - we had only waited for 40 minutes.
• Other examples: Posted wait time for Na'vi River Journey was 65 minutes and we waited 35 minutes; posted wait time for Tower of Terror was 60 minutes and we waited 25 minutes.

Slinky Dog Dash in Toy Story Land

• Sometimes the hype for new lands/attractions/experiences is overblown.
• Everything I read about Toy Story Land hyped up the space (14 acres...later downgraded to 11 acres?) but it felt like a teeny, tiny dead end in the park. 
• The "UP! A Great Bird Adventure Show" is "Flights of Wonder" with Up characters. I'm not trying to be a buzzkill on this one but it's really no different to me.

Statues of Russell and Dug in front of the UP! A Great Bird Adventure Show

• The fastest table-service meal is at park closing.
• We had a 9:25 reservation at Via Napoli - we were the last guests to be seated! - and I've never been so promptly watched after in all of my meals at Disney. Our food was still very good, it just happened to arrive at our table in a fraction of the time that it normally would. Also, the late reservation permitted us an intimate walk through World Showcase without all of the crowds.

The deserted Germany pavilion after park closing

• First class can be worth the price.
• As Patrick said many times throughout the trip, he really was hoping first class would be terrible so we wouldn't want to pay the money to book it every time. Unfortunately (fortunately?) he was wrong. We enjoyed every leg of the flight and will definitely be looking for more first class deals. We paid $650/person roundtrip on American Airlines; I don't think we'd pay over $1000/person but it's definitely worth the extra cost if we can catch it on sale.

First class breakfast on American Airlines

• Some things are better purchased off-property.
• This isn't a new lesson but we found something new to add to the list: branded ponchos from an Orlando Walgreens will cost you $5.99 for adult sizes but they are very sturdy and will last for several trips to come. Plus, they are big enough to cover me (a solidly plus-sized gal) and our backpack without any leaks or discomfort!

Staying dry while waiting for the Candlelight Processional to start

• New underwear, socks, and metatarsal pads are a MUST before any trip.
• Thought socks and underwear were a Christmas tradition? Think again! We picked up some new undies and Hanes FreshIQ cooling socks for Patrick, and he ended each day feeling much more refreshed (and less sweaty!) than on other trips. He says the new elasticity on the underwear and the cooling technology on the socks were lifesavers. Also, we both ordered metatarsal pads from Amazon and they were worth their weight in gold. I usually get blisters on the backs of my feet and Patrick gets blisters on the balls of his feet; I am happy to report that we both returned home with zero blisters this trip!

• Split stays aren't so bad.
• We were slightly dreading the split-stay because we thought it might disrupt our trip too much to move between properties, but it was actually quite nice to have a change of scenery and experience something new. We will probably continue to book split-stays for the foreseeable future as we think about our next DVC points purchase.

• DVC discounts are AMAZING.
• We saved about $300 on dining and souvenirs using our DVC discounts at restaurants and gift shops. That 20% discount really added up!

So what's next, you might ask? Well 2019 is a very exciting year with the opening of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge and we have a lot of unknowns to uncover. It's customary for Disney to offer DVC previews of the new expansion lands before they open to the public, so we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for those options. If we get a DVC preview (at either Disneyland or Disney World, or both) then we'll be making quick 2-3 day trips to see them. 

The future entrance to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge in Hollywood Studios

Aside from Star Wars Galaxy's Edge previews, we're planning our next Disney World vacation in mid-January 2020 for even cooler weather and a chance to visit the Epcot International Festival of the Arts. We'll likely plan this trip with a split-stay at Polynesian and Beach Club resorts so that we can be closer to the action at Hollywood Studios. More details to come!

WDW Trip Update 2018

Howdy, folks! I'm finding it more difficult to carve out time for the blog these days, but I'm hoping that will change with our upcoming trip. Our last Disney trip was May 2017 - which feels like AGES ago! But life has pitched us some pretty crazy curve balls the past 18 months so I can't complain about the lack of vacations. I'll give a trip update in this post and I think you'll agree that it's totally worth the wait!

As with most Disney trips, our original plans have changed about a hundred times. If you didn't see the last blog post then don't bother going back to read it (unless you really want, of course!) Our dining plans have changed quite a bit, our park days have changed, and even our resort plans are different. As of today, actually, Disney Vacation Club notified us that we had been granted our waitlist request for the Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL) savanna-view room so we gave up our Deluxe Studio Preferred room at Saratoga Springs (SSR). I can't say I'm too upset about this change - after all, AKL was our first choice for the split stay - but I will be looking forward to a SSR visit in future trips.

Savanna View at Animal Kingdom Lodge (photo courtesy of Disney Parks)

After all that's been upended, here's where we stand with our next trip...

Dates: November 28 - December 4

Where: Polynesian Village Resort (November 28 - December 1) and Animal Kingdom Lodge (December 1 - December 4)

Quick Itineraries:

• Nov 28 arrive in Orlando at 4:30pm, dinner at Ohana
• Nov 29 brunch at The Wave, gingerbread house monorail tour, resort day at Polynesian, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom 4pm to midnight
• Nov 30 (Hollywood Studios) Hollywood Brown Derby lunch 
• Dec 1 brunch at Kona Cafe, checkout at Polynesian, head offsite to Disney's Character Warehouse, spend the afternoon at Disney Springs (snack at the Daily Poutine, Star Wars 4D experience at The Void, annual Christmas ornament shopping, and Christmas tree trail), dinner at Sanaa
• Dec 2 (Animal Kingdom) 
• Dec 3 (Epcot) Nine Dragons lunch for candelight processional package, International Festival of the Holidays, Candelight Processional, Via Napoli dinner
• Dec 4 brunch at Boma, depart Orlando at 3:45pm

A quick note about the reservation process; we spent several months tracking airfare and had our hearts set on nonstop flights on Alaska Airlines. Unfortunately, the prices never dropped below $650/each so we started looking outside of our original search parameters. On a whim, we checked American Airlines and found first class tickets with one stop both ways for about $600/each! I'll keep tracking these trends for future trips but we're pretty excited to experience first class and to have meals provided on those long trips across the country. As a quick reminder, this is our first trip during the holiday season so that may be the reason for the expensive airfare. If the parks are decently slow then I'll probably consider paying these prices year after year as the tradeoff for empty park days would be totally worth the cost! TBD

A Little of This and a Little of That

So much has happened in the last two months that I feel it's time for an update! With the trip to Disneyland Paris packed up in my memories, I'm now looking ahead to future vacations and can't believe that it's only SIX MONTHS away from our annual Disney World celebration! And anyone that is Disney World-savvy knows that six months means dining reservations! I'll be doing the early morning dance tomorrow to snag our dining plans but this year is light for requests so I think it should be pretty easy.

Before we get into those details, I'm excited to share with everyone that we are closing soon on a beautiful new construction home south of Seattle and will be moving in less than a month. Having moved from Missouri to Washington, our yearly Disney plans may change slightly and I'm interested to see how this will affect past posts that I've made about budgeting for Disney and snagging travel deals. For example, we're finally near a major airport and don't have access to the economy airlines like Allegiant. Also, we're starting to value non-stop flights over connecting flights and looking for deals to satisfy that requirement is incredibly difficult. I'll pass along any tips and tricks I find as we navigate this new experience and hopefully my pain will be your gain. We would like to make Disneyland an annual trip now that we're on the west coast, too, so you may see more posts about those parks - especially when Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opens!

Looking ahead, here's what we've got lined up for our next Disney World trip...

When: November 28 - December 4
Where: DVC deluxe studios at Polynesian (11/28 to 12/1) and Saratoga Springs (12/1 to 12/4)
Special Events: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and Epcot's Festival of the Holidays/Candlelight Processional

Disney's Polynesian Resort (photo courtesy of Disney)

Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort (photo courtesy of Disney)

This will be a trip of many 'firsts' at Disney World - first holiday experience, first DVC stay, first time visiting in early winter, and first vacation totaling less than 7 days. I hope we will have enough time to enjoy everything!

Here's what we're thinking for ADRs (advance dining reservations):

11/28 - Ohana dinner at Polynesian Resort
11/29 - Wave of American Flavors brunch at Contemporary Resort
11/30 - Tutto Italia lunch at Epcot
12/1 - Kona Cafe brunch at Polynesian Resort and Homecomin' dinner at Disney Springs
12/4 - The Edison lunch at Disney Springs

All other dates/meals not listed will be quick service, which is yet another 'first' for us because we usually try to schedule a table service meal each day. It's not an effort to be frugal - we're just excited for some of the new quick service options in the parks! Satu'li Canteen in Animal Kingdom's Pandora expansion and Woody's Lunch Box in Hollywood Studios' new Toy Story Land are just two of the additions we can't wait to try!

Have you been to the parks recently? Do you have any suggestions for quick service meals? I would love to hear them! Leave a comment below! And wish me luck with getting these dining reservations tomorrow :)

Disneyland Paris Day Trip Review

I had the opportunity to visit Disneyland Paris as a personal side excursion while on a business trip last month and it was nothing short of magical! Full disclosure, I did NOT plan my day at the park (due to lack of notice and too many things to prepare in a short period of time) and it definitely impacted my experience. This post will provide an overview of the visit, general lodging/transportation info for the surrounding area, and what I will do differently next time.

First, Paris is E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E!! You're probably thinking I'm a dummy for stating the obvious, but I really had no idea how much $$$ it would be until I was shelling out 35 Euros to catch a 15-minute train ride to the airport. If you're thinking of visiting Paris - and more specifically, Disneyland - do yourself a favor and get as much of the financial planning figured out as you can! Don't let the sticker shock be your lingering memory.

I only had 24 hours in Paris so I had to make it count. I was traveling from London and would have loved to take the Eurostar train but it was far more expensive than flying - at least $100 more. Definitely check both options if you have more than four weeks of notice for your trip because I think the train would be a lovely experience. My airfare was purchased with Air France and their service was fantastic; they provided ample snacks for the short flights (both ways) and didn't skimp on the pleasantries. Transportation from Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport is a bit of an issue; we took a cab from the airport to our hotel about 20 miles away and the total cost was over 60 Euros. There are a couple of train options, one of which I mentioned above - the TGV; you can also take the RER train, which I've heard is cheaper but may not go to the exact destination that is required. I don't have experience with the RER train from the airport but you can check the Disney Tourist Blog for his input.

We stayed offsite in an aptly titled "aparthotel", which is a lot like a studio apartment. There is a bathroom, sitting area, separate bedroom, dining, and small kitchen. The cost was about $98USD for one weekend night and the room could sleep four people comfortably. It wasn't fancy, but it was practical and clean. The front desk is only staffed for about 10-12 hours a day and the after-hours check-in is super easy to use. I felt very safe in this location and wouldn't hesitate to stay here again. If interested, check out the Sejours et Affaires Serris Rive Gauche. It's very close to the Val d'Europe RER A line, which is just one stop away from Disneyland. If you search for any location within 1/2 mile of this train station then you'll probably be fine.

My traveling companion is a military spouse and Disneyland had no issue with providing a fantastic military discount - it's normally 99EUR per day for a ticket for one park but we secured 2-day 2-parks for 75EUR each. Snag this discount if you can get it! One military ID will work to get tickets for up to four people.

The Disneyland resort is divided into two parks: Parc Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios park. The first thing I noticed about Parc Disneyland is that it felt HUGE. It took quite a while to walk between lands, which meant that the crowds weren't noticeable until I needed 1) a bathroom, 2) food, or 3) to wait in line for a ride. Food was especially difficult to obtain because most kiosks and quick-service restaurants in the park appeared to be closed before 11am. I finally found a kiosk near Adventureland that sold donuts but at 10:30am he told me that I was his first customer of the day. If I could go back, I would have carried a granola bar into the park with me or taken advantage of the breakfast provided at the hotel.

Lunch was an equally unruly beast because it seemed like most park attendees flocked to the restaurants at 11:30am - and this was different than the US parks because Paris is not well-suited for food lines. There were only a couple of cashiers at each location and the wait in line was just as long as the wait for some attractions! We hadn't made dining reservations before the trip but I really wish I had. We tried securing last-minute reservations at table-service restaurants and were told it would be a couple of hours before they could get us in (totally understand, didn't expect them to have same-day openings at all.) We actually turned to Disney Village (Paris' version of Downtown Disney) and waited about 20 minutes for a table at Planet Hollywood. In a word - gross. Definitely don't wait for a meal here, in fact, you can probably avoid this option completely. The service is terrible and the food is only sub-par. The most disgusting part of the restaurant is the bathroom, which looked and smelled like it hadn't been cleaned for weeks. If I had to make a recommendation, I would probably point someone in the direction Earl of Sandwich or Rainforest Cafe in Disney Village.

The attractions are pretty great although we were only able to experience Pirates of the Caribbean, Ratatouille, and Tower of Terror because most other options were either down for refurbishment or were intermittently available that day due to maintenance issues. However, there were a lot of other fun side experiences in the parks that I really hope the US parks will adopt. Most notably, the Alice in Wonderland hedge maze is so cute! It's a lot of fun for both kids and adults and there are several opportunities for photos.

Ratatouille is hands-down my favorite unique attraction at Disneyland Paris and I would return if only to experience this ride again. The exit from the ride also featured glimpses into the Bistrot Chez Remy restaurant and it's definitely now on my bucket list! Speaking of food, there weren't many interesting snacks in the parks but we snagged a 25th anniversary candy apple and it was probably the best candy apple I've ever had!

Souvenirs were also somewhat difficult to find, especially unique items branded with the Disneyland Paris logo. They seem to have a shortage of t-shirt prints compared to the US parks and they don't have much Star Wars gear at all despite the store being completely packed with shoppers. I settled for an R2-D2 Disneyland Paris mug for my husband and a Christmas ornament and magnet for myself.

Lastly, I'll end on the language barrier. I didn't meet any person, cast member or otherwise, that could not speak English. Some of the spoken directions on the trains and other locations were in French but most people were happy to accommodate English. If you're learning or familiar with French, like myself, then you may find it a fun learning experience to test your knowledge and find your way around the parks.

In summary, I had a blast at Disneyland Paris! It's a beautiful park with a lot of interesting nuances and I will definitely return. I wish I had planned my meals and transportation in advance but I don't have a single regret about the experience.

Special Diets at Disney

Falafel from Mr. Kamal's (Animal Kingdom)

This post is returning to my favorite topic: FOOD! We all need it to survive, but that doesn't mean it's an easy conversation to start. Preferences make it difficult to discern if what I have recommended is something that you will like and vice versa. Today I will seek to provide information about different dietary options at Disney for anyone that may be vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, or otherwise intolerant of certain foods. Here we go!

From the beginning, I want to make it clear that Disney is probably the most allergy-friendly place I've ever been. They keep service animals in designated hotel rooms/floors so as not to disturb guests with pet allergies, they label consumable goods meticulously, and they even have separate menus for guests with special needs. Their holiday events are allergy-friendly too; the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party at Disney World had allergy-friendly options for individuals that needed them. If you're unsure of the ingredients in an item, just ask for a chef consultation and the Cast Member will be more than happy to accommodate. 

For parties with very restrictive diets (4+ allergies in one individual or multiple allergies in a group of individuals), consider making your dining plans at least 14 days in advance and connect with Disney directly at special.diets@disneyworld.com or special.diets@disneyland.com. I'm aware of many cases where the executive chef contacted the families to ensure s/he could create a delicious and enjoyable meal for the family on their reservation date.

Vegetarians and carnivores rejoice! Half quattro formaggi / half pepperoni pizza from Via Napoli (Epcot)

Here are some restaurants with allergy-friendly menus in case you're stumped on where to start:

Magic Kingdom

Cinderella's Royal Table

Columbia Harbour House

Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe

Crystal Palace

Liberty Tree Tavern

Peco Bill's Tall Tale Inn & Cafe

Pinocchio's Village Haus

Plaza Restaurant

Skipper Canteen

Tony's Town Square

Epcot

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

Biergarten

Coral Reef

Electric Umbrella

Garden Grill

La Hacienda de San Angel

Le Cellier

Liberty Inn

Rose & Crown

Sunshine Seasons

Hollywood Studios

ABC Commissary

Backlot Express

Catalina Eddie's

50s Prime Time Cafe

Hollywood Brown Derby

PizzeRizzo

Rosie's All-American Cafe

Sci-Fi Dine In

Animal Kingdom

Flame Tree Barbecue

Harambe Market

Pizzafari

Restaurantosaurus

Satu'li Canteen

Tiffins

Tusker House

Yak & Yeti

Disneyland

Blue Bayou

Cafe Orleans

Hungry Bear Restaurant

Holly Holiday Bakery Cafe

Rancho del Zocalo

Red Rockett's Pizza Port

Village Haus

California Adventure

Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill

Flo's V8 Cafe

Lucky Fortune Cookery

Smokejumpers Grill

Wine Country Trattoria

Dole Whip Float (various locations)

There are also some fantastic snacks to be enjoyed by all! The famous Dole Whip is dairy-free (although it is susceptible to cross-contamination with the vanilla soft-serve machine); the beignets at Port Orleans French Quarter are gluten/dairy/egg-free and vegan, Mickey pretzels are tree nut/peanut/dairy-free, and popcorn is vegan and gluten/dairy/egg-free. Erin McKenna's Bakery NYC in Disney Springs also serves a wide variety of allergy-friendly treats and is definitely worth the hype! There are plenty of other options out there to enjoy, and I am happy to help you find them. Comment below if you need assistance with finding an allergy-friendly restaurant or snack stop and we'll look for solutions together!