A World of Disney - 2019-2020 Pre Trip Reports! - Basic NYE plans

Lesley Wake

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 16, 2017
A World of Disney - Pre Trip Reports for 2019-2020!

Hello, and welcome!

upload_2018-3-5_14-39-21-png.306997


My name is Lesley and I'm a 33 yr old engineer, living in Los Angeles. I've been a huge Disney fan all my life and have been a Disneyland AP for the past four years (with a few month break). Prior to my first WDW trip 2 Septembers ago, I upgraded that Annual Pass to a Premier, which made financial sense, since we got the discounts, memory maker, and overall benefits. Of course, that one trip has led to me getting 3 years of Premier APs, 4 WDW trips, a Disneyland Paris trip, a cruise, and plenty of upcoming trips! You can read up on my various trip reports below, though I haven't gotten started on the February TRs yet:

Trip Report 1: "We've gone too far" - A sister trip with surprise guest Irma! - September 2017
Trip Report 2: Hippos and Tigers and Flowers, Oh My-A Solo March 2018 TR
Trip Report 3: "Don't Anger the Dolls" - A France and Disneyland Paris TR - June 2018 (in progress)
Trip Report 4: And now for a change of plans - Solo December 2018 TR (in progress, but on hold until I finish up the DLP TR)
Trip Report 5a: WDW in February 2019 (to come)
Trip Report 5b: DCL in February 2019 (to come)

So, as for this Pre-Trip Report
S, it will cover a bunch of upcoming trips. I wasn't sure if I was going to make up a PTR, but I think it helps me stay organized!

Upcoming Trip 1: May 1-7, EPIC Girls Trip, WDW - you can read some of the plans on the joint PTR (The Most EPIC Pre-Trip Report), as this will be a massive group of Dissers, and I can't wait to meet (and reunite) with everyone! The theme of this trip is: Friendship and Food!

future_world_flower_garden_2017-10.jpg


Upcoming Trip 2: May 30-June 1, Disneyland - yes, I live 45 minutes away from Disneyland and visit every other week or so, so why am I doing a special trip? Well, it's Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opening weekend! Another friend (who've I met thru the Dis) and I are staying at the Paradise Pier Hotel so we guarantee access to the land, and it should be crazy fun! And crazy crowded! But crazy, crazy!

iofjyghklb54896rfd-624x351.png


Upcoming Trip 3: October 18-November 10, Asia - I'm doing an awesome 3-week adventure to Asia to hit up all the Disney parks over there! It will be 2 days for Shanghai Disney, 2 days for Hong Kong Disney, then 2 weeks in Japan, which includes about 6-7 days at Tokyo Disney, and some time in Kyoto and Tokyo itself. I'll explain more about this trip in the PTR.

48404571_10103893137717737_1047708966362021888_n.jpg


Upcoming Trip 4: December 28-January 5, WDW - I'm bracing for even more crowds and headed to WDW for New Years Eve! It should be fun, and a handful of some Dis friends are going at the same time, so we will have to do some things together. So far, the planning for this trip has gone on the back burner, besides securing a hotel and researching airfare, but I'll start figuring that out soon enough.

1217fantasy-in-sky.jpg


Upcoming Trip 5: February-March, WDW + DCL - I have now become a DCL fan, so of course I booked another cruise on board! I will be doing Star Wars Day at Sea on the Fantasy, departing February 29. I will do a couple nights pre-cruise and a couple nights post-cruise to see the Flower and Garden festival. No real planning yet for that one, though I will be booking the DVC rooms in the next couple weeks.

1012ZW0413MS.jpg


Upcoming Trip 6: May 2020, DCL to Alaska - My mom also loved the Disney cruise and an Alaskan is one the whole family is interested in. So we looked at schedules and picked the first sailing in May 2020, as that worked out best for everyone. We have 2 rooms booked and 6 adults in those rooms (though my brother may drop out).

disneycruisealaska2017.jpg


Upcoming Trip 7: Fall 2020 - This one is still TBD. I am trying to decide between Aulani or another Bahamas cruise, which my friend is already signed up for. Cost-wise they are pretty similar, but I'm still figuring what will be best for me. It will either be late September or early October.

overview-aulani-01.jpg


And that's it, phew! Well, for now! I'll get into more planning soon - what I've already done, what I need to do, etc!

Any questions?
 
Joining in, wow that is quite a few trips! Is the cruise in Sept 2020 the one Su-Lynn is going on? That one sounds fun!

It will be fun to follow along on your planning!
 
Joining in, wow that is quite a few trips! Is the cruise in Sept 2020 the one Su-Lynn is going on? That one sounds fun!

It will be fun to follow along on your planning!
Yeah, that would be the one. So it's relax in Hawaii or relax in the Bahamas... I'm still conflicted!
 
Okay these trips all look so exciting. You have such a fun year or two coming up!!

yes, I live 45 minutes away from Disneyland and visit every other week or so, so why am I doing a special trip? Well, it's Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opening weekend! Another friend (who've I met thru the Dis) and I are staying at the Paradise Pier Hotel so we guarantee access to the land, and it should be crazy fun! And crazy crowded! But crazy, crazy!
AWESOME! I'm going on the ABD in July so if you have any tips you'd like to post about the land sometime before July 12 I would be eternally grateful!

I'm doing an awesome 3-week adventure to Asia to hit up all the Disney parks over there! It will be 2 days for Shanghai Disney, 2 days for Hong Kong Disney, then 2 weeks in Japan, which includes about 6-7 days at Tokyo Disney, and some time in Kyoto and Tokyo itself. I'll explain more about this trip in the PTR.
SO EXCITING!!! We are doing the China ABD next year so we'll get to see Hong Kong & Shanghai and I'll definitely look forward to your experiences and tips from that.

I am trying to decide between Aulani or another Bahamas cruise, which my friend is already signed up for.
For what it's worth, Aulani is amazing and Hawaii is beautiful. But either trip would be great!
 


I'm here and excited to follow along!!

I'm doing an awesome 3-week adventure to Asia to hit up all the Disney parks over there! It will be 2 days for Shanghai Disney, 2 days for Hong Kong Disney, then 2 weeks in Japan, which includes about 6-7 days at Tokyo Disney, and some time in Kyoto and Tokyo itself. I'll explain more about this trip in the PTR.

Now I'm really jealous!! I realllyyyyyy want to go to Tokyo Disney and DisneySea...looks so cool....also just Japan in general!! WOW!

Upcoming Trip 6: May 2020, DCL to Alaska -

We did this about 7 years ago and it was amazing!! I'm sure you know that lol

Too bad my July trip to DLR won't coincide!
 
Joining in so I can live vicariously through all the AWESOME stuff you have planned! Wow, so jealous and so excited for you!!
 
WowowowowowoWOW This amount of trips planned ahead... insanity. But omg I am HERE for this 3 week adventure at the Asia parks. I'm SO looking forward to following along with that. I mean, you know that it is my dream and I'm hoping to go within the next year as well. Also, happy hunger games to you going to visit Galaxy's Edge on opening weekend! lol
 


Okay these trips all look so exciting. You have such a fun year or two coming up!!


AWESOME! I'm going on the ABD in July so if you have any tips you'd like to post about the land sometime before July 12 I would be eternally grateful!


SO EXCITING!!! We are doing the China ABD next year so we'll get to see Hong Kong & Shanghai and I'll definitely look forward to your experiences and tips from that.


For what it's worth, Aulani is amazing and Hawaii is beautiful. But either trip would be great!
Definitely I'll try to give whatever tips I can!

Too bad my July trip to DLR won't coincide!
Well I do live close by, so if you want to meet up at all, let me know! I'm always game for a dismeet!

Joining in so I can live vicariously through all the AWESOME stuff you have planned! Wow, so jealous and so excited for you!!
I know! I'm crazy but also super excited!

Also, happy hunger games to you going to visit Galaxy's Edge on opening weekend! lol
Haha, seriously! I just wish I knew what was going on with the whole reservation system! And there's a very very very remote chance I could get in early during a family and friends event, but I don't know, and probably am not allowed to even talk about if I was to get in!
 
Uhm WOW ! Reading along. What a great line up of adventures. Looking forward to reading more
 
I'm here and following along.
So, I know about most of your trips, but I guess I never really put them together and realized just how many there were. You've got lots of adventures headed your way!
 
Following! THis sounds like a lot of fun! A 3 week trip is only something I could swing in retirement! What an amazing opportunity!
 
Thanks everyone for following along! And definitely critique my plans whenever necessary!

Uhm WOW ! Reading along. What a great line up of adventures. Looking forward to reading more

I am here....

Hello Lesley! Happy to be joining in to what sounds like some amazing trips!

I'm here and following along.
So, I know about most of your trips, but I guess I never really put them together and realized just how many there were. You've got lots of adventures headed your way!

Hi Leslie_:wave: following your adventures at all the places. :sail:

Following! THis sounds like a lot of fun! A 3 week trip is only something I could swing in retirement! What an amazing opportunity!
I have been taking full advantage of my company’s flexible vacation policy (though if you call it unlimited, they flip out). Basically we don’t get any set number of days, we just work with our bosses to choose when we take vacation. My boss is pretty chill and he knows we work hard and can budget our vacation time along with our work schedules/billing hours. 3 weeks is a bit crazy, so can’t happen all the time, but he understood why I was taking that amount.
 
Update - 3/18

First, I almost considered booking another WDW trip this fall. I heard about this report from WDWNT this morning (https://wdwnt.com/2019/03/breaking-...in-2019-along-with-3-different-ride-overlays/). I mean, new fireworks show, ride overlays for BTMR, Peoplemover, and Monsters Inc Laugh Floor! Holy cow, that is like awesome! But I can't really afford to take any other vacation time. But, there is a morning American Airlines flight that leaves MCO at 7:45am, arrives at LAX 10am, which would give me basically a full work day (don't know how productive it would be), which would allow me a short weekend for Food & Wine and MNSSHP... I've decided to make no decisions until this summer. Let me get thru May first!

Speaking about May, most plans are already done. @chunkymonkey has done a good job of summarizing on our group PTR, but here are mine in more detail:

6 weeks to go!

Dates: May 1 -7
Hotel: Yacht Club, May 1-5 & Beach Club, May 5-7. I got a really good rate at YC but it wasn't available for the 5th, so that's why we are moving to BC for the last 2 nights
Roommates: Caroline (@disneyAndi14) and Molly (@Mollydolly334). It's crazy to think I'll be staying in a room with these ladies I haven't even met yet, but we already feel like great friends via text/email, etc! We have a bunch of FPs together, though we are also all willing to go our own way, which I think is the best way to tour!

May 1 - Arrival & MK
An early flight, leaves LAX 7:20 and arrives at MCO 3:10pm. Icky early morning wakeup, but it will give me an afternoon/evening at WDW. And I will FINALLY go to a park on arrival day! So far, my flights have always been pushed back so I don't arrive in time to go to the parks that day.

FPs:
5:30-6:30: Meet Mickey and Minnie (I'm not convinced I'll make this, as it will depend on flight being on-time, DME, etc, but I won't be too upset if I miss it)
6:30-7:30: Peter Pan's Flight
7:30-8:30: 7DMT

In the evening, I'm doing the Happily Ever After dessert party (after fireworks), along with a bunch of others on the trip, so we should have a fun group!

result-1.png


Alternate plan: I realized last week there is the potential for me to visit all 6 US Disney Parks in 24 hours. I would need to visit DL and DCA the day before (which isn't too hard to do - I'll just work in Anaheim for the day and stop by for a ride in each park in the evening). It's the WDW part which makes it trickier, and would probably involve Ubers. I'm still undecided, and may just wait until I get there to decide.

May 2 - AK, swim time, SWAGS

FPs:
9:30-10:30: Kilimanjaro Safaris
10:35-11:35: Flight of Passage
1:00-2:00: Expedition Everest

Lunch: Tiffins, 11:45 am with a lot of the group! My favorite restaurant at WDW and for me, a trip isn't complete with a stop here!

Afternoon: swim time. I do not know yet where this will be. If I get up early enough to get to AK early and ride EE without a FP, then I would probably have enough time to stop at one of the water parks in the afternoon. My AP includes Water Park access but I've never had the chance to use it. If that doesn't work out, then at least I will have Stormalong Bay to enjoy!

Evening: 8pm - Star Wars A Galactic Spectacular dessert party. I have only seen this show the once in September 2017, and I know they've switched up the dessert party a bit (with chairs - game changer), so I've been wanting to give it a try. I will be joining a handful of other gals.

FNO849673.jpg
castaway-creek-at-typhoon.jpg


May 3 - AK, Ohana

Originally I was going to do the Magic Kingdom VIP Food Tour this morning, but in the end I decided to cancel. The reviews were just fine, and I don't feel I really NEED to do it. So, it let me get in more Animal Kingdom time, which is always a plus in my book!

FPs:
9:55-10:55: Flight of Passage
10:55-11:55: Kilimanjaro Safari
11:55-12:55: Expedition Everest

Afternoon: more swim time! And another where I could end up at Stormalong Bay or a water park (though I'm thinking most likely it will be SAB this day)

Evening: 5:25pm, Welcome dinner at Ohana! Between myself and Su-Lynn, we have space for 48 people! It's rather insane - though we haven't quite decided if we will banish the husbands to another table entirely or just to one corner of the main tables. Post dinner, we will probably do a monorail bar crawl, watching fireworks either from Top of the World Lounge or Polynesian Beach.

stormalong-bay--v18631986-720.jpg
OHANA_BreadPudding.jpg


May 4 - DHS, Epcot

May the 4th be with you!

FPs:
9:00-10:00 Star Tours
10:25-11:25 Slinky Dog Dash

Lunch: 11:15 - Sci-Fi Dine-In, with another group on the trip! I have't eaten here before (I've actually never eaten at a Table Service at DHS) so it should be fun!

Afternoon/remainder of the day: Eat and Drink around the world for Flower and Garden! I think most everyone plans on doing this, so we will have a very large group!

Evening: 7:30pm Illuminations cruise. We have 3 boats, so another party atmosphere! Well, not frat party. Think fun girls trip party...

epcot.jpg


May 5 - CG Brunch, Epcot, HDDR

We will have to move our suitcases this morning. In an ideal world our room at BC will be available so we can just roll right over to it, but if not, we will need to check our bags/my owner's locker for a couple hours.

Brunch, 10:15am, California Grill

I'm thinking I will take the Monorail to TTC, then Epcot, and walk through it to get to the IG exit, stopping for FPs along the way!

FPs:
1:00-2:00: Living with the Land
2:00-3:00: Frozen Ever After

Afternoon: rest off the mimosas, ie Stormalong Bay pool time!

Evening: 8:30pm Hoop Dee Doo Revue. We have a dozen people for this, so I can't wait to see how much fun we will have! It is my goal to get @missjackiemcg onstage, as it is her birthday! Maybe we'll invade the Wilderness Lodge afterwards?

charcuterie_california_grill_brunch.jpg
hoop-dee-doo-group-with-instruments-16x9.jpg


May 6 - Tea, MK, LTT

Lunchish: 12:10 - Afternoon Tea at Grand Floridian. I have the perfect outfit for this, so I can't wait! Depending on timing, I may just head over to MK for the rest of the day, but could also end up going back to the room to change (I will bring my change of clothes with me though).

FPs
4:00-5:00 Splash Mountain
5:15-6:15 7DMT
6:20-7:20 Peter Pan (a backup in case I don't make the one on May 1)

Dinner: 7:30pm, Liberty Tree Tavern with my roomies! It's one of those places I've wanted to try but didn't really feel like doing alone, so I'm glad Caroline and Molly were also interested.

afternoon-tea-gallery00.jpg
liberty-tree-tavern-00.jpg


May 7 - Epcot and Departure

FPs:
10:00-11:00: Journey into Imagination with Figment
11:00-12:00: Spaceship Earth
12:00-1:00: Frozen Ever After

Spend the day enjoying the Flower and Garden festival

My flight did get moved 3 hrs earlier (boo!) so it leaves at 5pm, rather than 8pm. I would be eligible for no-fee change or cancellation, but there is nothing available that is better, so I'm stuck with it. Oh well... It does get me in at 7:30pm in LA, so that is better timing than previously.

minnie-mickey-topiary-flower-garden-epcot-disney-world-744.jpg


And that is it for my EPIC trip! I really can't wait!
 
First, I almost considered booking another WDW trip this fall. I heard about this report from WDWNT this morning (https://wdwnt.com/2019/03/breaking-...in-2019-along-with-3-different-ride-overlays/). I mean, new fireworks show, ride overlays for BTMR, Peoplemover, and Monsters Inc Laugh Floor! Holy cow, that is like awesome! But I can't really afford to take any other vacation time. But, there is a morning American Airlines flight that leaves MCO at 7:45am, arrives at LAX 10am, which would give me basically a full work day (don't know how productive it would be), which would allow me a short weekend for Food & Wine and MNSSHP... I've decided to make no decisions until this summer. Let me get thru May first!

Haha you and me both! I'm calculating in my head when I can do a long weekend with a party on a Sunday night that would work out best for me...I love the Halloween parties and the talk of new overlays, especially on the Peoplemover...plus a new fireworks show...it sounds like so much fun!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top