Hey, lets make this our relaxing trip, ok?

[abfallas]

….and those words were never spoken again. We really thought of making this an "easy" trip but then we snapped back into reality and laughed at ourselves for even thinking that was a possibility.

Disclaimer:

I know my trip is still 16 days away but I couldn’t resist starting my trip report any longer so thought today would be the day! I’m also not a great writer so if you are expecting some amazing trip report, I’m sure to say you will probably be disappointed but I’ll do my best

And we begin….

Cast: Me (Disney Fanatic) and BFF (Disney Fanatic #2)
Dates: Sept 2-7^th

Who are we?

We are two friends who love Disney. This is our 5^th time going to Disney World together (add 3 more if you include family trips) and to be honest, we already have our next two trips planned (2013 and 2014). Yes, we are a bit obsessed as some may say but we are ok with that. Of course this is a girls-only trip so no husbands, no kids … just two crazy girls who love the Mouse!

This is us last year....I'm the one in white and BFF in gray

296856_2391006975677_1172647225_n.jpg

The plan!

Most of our trips have been during Labor Day week so we are used to this time of year. We are also from Texas so heat is part of our everyday life. Here is our plan:

Sept 2 – Travel Day
Sept 3 – DHS*
Sept 4 – Magic Kingdom
Sept 5 – Epcot
Sept 6 - Universal Studios/Magic Kingdom*
Sept 7 – Animal Kingdom/Departure Day

Does that look like a relaxing itinerary to you? It doesn’t to me….makes me kinda tired looking at it actually but we are all for it! We are ready for our 6am wake up calls to go to the gym before a full day at the park……BRING.IT.ON! We will be at rope drop every day and we will close the parks down!!! Ok I’m done Wish us luck!

So now that you guys know where we will be, feel free to stalk us. I’m just kidding…please don’t….unless you’re Josh. HAHA…jk! Maybe!? We are actually super friendly, so if you somehow remember our pretty faces, feel free to say hi.

Anywho…..we are aware that two of our days are not recommended by Josh (*) and I do feel kinda guilty about that but BFF and I are confident in our touring abilities so we are ok with it.

DHS on Labor Day is now our tradition – this is the only park where we will do evening EMH. Why you ask? Because I’m a dork and I like to go to the dance party – don’t judge me if you see me jumping up and down with a whole bunch of 6 year olds at the party…remember, we are all kids at heart. And we are obsessed with ToT – last year we rode it 11 ½ times in one day ( ½ because it broke down) so we are hoping to break our record again this year.

This is also our first time visiting Universal Studios. Well, that’s a lie, I went once when I was like 11. We are mainly going for Harry Potter; I just want to see what the fuss is all about. We don’t plan on being there all day – obviously, we are hoping to get back early enough for MK and our Kona reservation.

As always we leave Animal Kingdom for last. It breaks our heart because we really love the park but there’s no way we could add an extra day. We promised ourselves that we would make it a “must-do” park next year. We are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, does that count for anything? We think so.

And in conclusion….

Needless to say we are super excited. We are counting down the days…..all of our dining reservations are done, our itinerary has been checked and double checked and triple checked and all we have left is to pack.


Next up: Travel Day/Dinner @ Jiko

[josh]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, are you dropping the $95 whatever dollars on one day at Universal?

[abfallas]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, are you dropping the $95 whatever dollars on one day at Universal?

yes , $91 to be exact, from Undercover Tourist. It was definitely a difficult purchase to make but we just want to say we did it.

Now......excuse me while I go jump from excitement because you, Josh, read my trip report....or at least part of it

[Micklessor]

This is my kind of trip! I'm in!

[fizboBunny]

You and your BFF sound like my kind of people. I love to act like a kid at Disney. I go on a yearly trip with my BFF too, but not to Disney. Although I'm going with her to Disney this year.

And I'm a Disney fanatic too. I've already started planning my 2013 and 2014 trips as well.

Just to make sure you are aware, Potter Land is in Islands of Adventure.

[EricBlitz]

I thought Potter was at the Studio not IOA.

Oh and subbing as well. :) Love to read trip reports. Especially with pictures!! Hint! Hint!

[cdmurphy727]

Potter is at IOA. We went in Feb and if you are fans of the movie you will love it despite the $91. It was one of those things we were really glad we did but probably won't ever go back. Unless our daughter (only 4 now) becomes a Potter fan and wants to go some day. Universal doesn't compare to Disney in my opinion but visiting Potter world is something anyone who's a fan of the books/movies should do.

Sounds like a fun trip and now I want to convince my BFFs that we need a girl trip to Disney.

[2princesses3pirates]

this already sounds like a fun trip report- I can't wait to hear what happens-especially your thoughts on Potter World, we are doing that next year. My boys are major Potter fans! Have fun!

[josh]

I'd probably look more into what Universal has to offer and plan to have dinner somewhere inside the Park or along City Walk. Assuming you like roller coasters and "exciting rides," Hulk, Spiderman, Jurassic Park, Dr. Doom are all very good. And you'll be looking at pretty low crowds come September. Adding Universal is probably even more expensive, but Mummy, Men in Black, Simpsons, Rip Rockit, and Despicable Me are all very good too.

I really should initiate Universal coverage. But so much more to do on Disney

[abfallas]

OMG, I have readers!!!!! Thanks everyone! BFF and I are super excited (as we always are) and I can't wait to share our trip with you guys. And I promise to include pictures in my reports!!!! We always leave Disney with at least a few great stories (or at least we think they are great....like the time we got to "open" DHS....we were in heaven!). I would quote each of you individually and respond but I'm not sure how to do it. Any experts want to teach me?

As for Potter World...or is it Land?.......yes, it is at IOA....sorry for any confusion. I have seen all the movies, BFF has seen 1 (the first one...I made her watch it about a month ago) so we'll see how it goes. Honestly, we feel kinda bad even going....like we are cheating on Disney...I know, crazy talk! Maybe if we love it, we'll go back for a longer stay in the future.

Btw, Josh, Universal/IOA coverage would be awesome but I know it's a lot of work. I do wish I had a better idea of where I'm supposed to go, where I'm supposed to eat, etc....if anyone has suggestions, let me know! We plan to be there for opening!

[HenWen]

Hey Ana! I'm planning my trip in January and wanted to do a Harry potter day mixed in there too... Please lemme know how it goes!
Last time I went to IOA (several years ago), we ate at Mythos which is a table service restaurant I believe in the Lost Continent section. We really enjoyed it back then... Would love to hear your feedback on Harry potter world :)

[Erika]

Ha! Love that title! I'll read! We just got back and taking our toddler I thought that we would go for a slow relaxing trip too! YEA not so much..our baby was such a good Disney baby that we went non stop for 8 days! A few breaks but several open to close days too! relax at home on a Sun afternoon....have a blast at WDW! All of us are having disney withdrawals...even baby keeps asking for the hoho-hoho boat...POC hos fave ride...:)
Can't wait to read your report!

[cdmurphy727]

Ride forbidden journey first. You may be able to ride a couple times with little wait. Pay attention as you walk through the castle as the detail is awesome. Then ride the other coasters - hippogriph (sp?) and dueling dragons. Hippogriph is about a 8 second kiddie ride but it loads really slow so the wait builds. I'd almost say skip it but that's the only way to see hagrids house. Olivanders will have a 45-60 min wait pretty much all day but if you're a fan you should do it. Just save it for later since you prob won't benefit from doing it in the morning. We ate lunch at the three broomsticks and it was delicious. Make sure you go to the ladies room at some point - watch out for myrtle. Def try the butterbeer but get it from inside boars head pub instead of the drink carts. For some reason people line up for EVER at those carts and there's usually little or no wait at the pub. The shops are worth checking out. A lot of the merchandise just repeats but it's still neat to see stuff from the movies.

Talking about it makes me want to watch the movies again.

[cdmurphy727]

I should mention that I'm in no way an expert and someone else may have different/better ideas. If it were me that's what I'd do. And I'd plan to eat lunch early and get the heck out of HP world by noon cause it gets crazy.

[wgwtgb]

You seem like my kind of gal as well, I can't wait to read along!

[abfallas]

@HenWen - I will def let you know how it goes....we are excited and a little nervous (hehe)

@Erika - so glad you guys had such a great trip! how old is your toddler? I have taken my son 3 times (at 1 yr old, 18 months and 27 months)....I'll be taking him and my mom in November! He'll be 3 in two weeks!

@cdmurphy - thanks so much for the advice! I have added your suggestions to our itinerary!

@wgwtgb - yay! thanks for reading!

[knoe_bodi]

Looking forward to your report, especially where Hogsmeade is concerned. Is it September 2nd yet?

[josh]

OrlandoInformer.com is the best for Universal coverage, I think.

[abfallas]

OrlandoInformer.com is the best for Universal coverage, I think.

Thanks! I'll check it out!

[abfallas]

So since I'm bored and tired of processing benefit stuff (I work in HR), thought I'd share the list of places where we will be eating this trip. We are trying two new places:

Sun - Dinner @ Jiko
Mon - Dinner @ Kouzzina * new place for us
Tues - Breakfast @ Crystal Palace * it's tradition :-)
Wed - Dinner @ Akershus * new place for us (sorta, I went here a few times way back in the day before they had Princesses - BFF has never been)
Thurs - Dinner @ Kona

Has anyone eaten at Kouzzina before? Anything we MUST have?

[aclassofherown]

I can't wait for your trip report! Looks like you will have a fabulous time.

[raraavis]

i am so jealous!! we have to skip universal on our upcoming trip (late october) because we are trying to do all disney (we've never been to all of the parks before). i was at universal last year in march. i am a huge harry potter fan (read all the books multiple times and have seen all of the movies millions of times), so going to wizarding world of harry potter was the highlight of my trip. our first day was at universal studios though because it was a downpour all day. we just wore our ponchos and rode everything a bazillion times (since the park was so empty because of the rain). the 2nd day, we went to IoA for harry potter (and all the other stuff too of course!). we were at the front of the crowd as the employees led us to the entrance of wizarding world. the park was extremely busy that day. in my opinion, both parks are full day parks. i actually wanted to spend more time in wizarding world, but my cousin isn't a huge fan and had enough of mr. potter. if you're not a huge harry potter fan, then you won't feel compelled to spend all day just in that section of the park. the other rides at IoA are really fun too.

Ride forbidden journey first. You may be able to ride a couple times with little wait. Pay attention as you walk through the castle as the detail is awesome. Then ride the other coasters - hippogriph (sp?) and dueling dragons. Hippogriph is about a 8 second kiddie ride but it loads really slow so the wait builds. I'd almost say skip it but that's the only way to see hagrids house. Olivanders will have a 45-60 min wait pretty much all day but if you're a fan you should do it. Just save it for later since you prob won't benefit from doing it in the morning. We ate lunch at the three broomsticks and it was delicious. Make sure you go to the ladies room at some point - watch out for myrtle. Def try the butterbeer but get it from inside boars head pub instead of the drink carts. For some reason people line up for EVER at those carts and there's usually little or no wait at the pub. The shops are worth checking out. A lot of the merchandise just repeats but it's still neat to see stuff from the movies.

Talking about it makes me want to watch the movies again.

i agree that forbidden journey should be first. if you can ride it more than once, do it! it was my favorite ride in the whole park...yes, i am a biased harry potter fan. i saw hagrid's house without being in line for hippogryphs....i think. i believe it was in the line for the dueling dragons.

drink a butterbeer for me!!!

[Roxie]

I'd probably look more into what Universal has to offer and plan to have dinner somewhere inside the Park or along City Walk. Assuming you like roller coasters and "exciting rides," Hulk, Spiderman, Jurassic Park, Dr. Doom are all very good. And you'll be looking at pretty low crowds come September. Adding Universal is probably even more expensive, but Mummy, Men in Black, Simpsons, Rip Rockit, and Despicable Me are all very good too.

I really should initiate Universal coverage. But so much more to do on Disney

Agreed - there is so much to do at Universal - think about spending the full day there as you will have another day at MK

And yes Josh - Universal coverage would be fab - having to do all the work myself for this trip

[gorsh]

Sounds like a really fun trip! I have no interest in doing parks from open to close with no breaks for several days in a row, but I sure do love reading about it!!! I did do three parks in one day a couple years ago, and I admit that was A LOT of fun.

[abfallas]

Sounds like a really fun trip! I have no interest in doing parks from open to close with no breaks for several days in a row, but I sure do love reading about it!!! I did do three parks in one day a couple years ago, and I admit that was A LOT of fun.

HAHA! Yes, we are nuts. At least this time we are coming back on a Friday and have the weekend to rest. We usually come back on Thursday and are at work the following day...now that is horrible!

I've always wanted to do all four parks in one day just to say I did it...it's on my Disney Bucket List!