She's Having Deja Vu and Going Back to WDW, a June 2024 WL PTR

Wow, first class? Have you flown that way before? It looks nice that the seating configuration has extra room. I'm guessing one of you will sit with Marshall in the middle, so he won't have to worry after all about sitting alone. Looks like it is a major relief that you have your flights booked.
We have never really even seriously considered First Class. It is something Melissa has dreamed of and really wanted to do if the opportunity came up, and this just seemed to be a chance to do it for not too much extra.
Marshall will probably start in the middle with one of us, but I bet he switches with one of us to get the window when he sees how it really works. It is a huge relief to know the flights are booked and the pricing isn't going to get any worse.

Yes, I'm curious about your dining plans too. Does Marshall get his wish to go to Skipper Canteen? Do I get my wish that you finally check out Space 220, LOL? Any other new-to-you restaurants on the list for this time?
Our MK TS is our biggest source of debate for ADRs. We have lots of good options, but probably won't wind up trying anything new, just picking which old favorite. Skipper Canteen has a close race going with Liberty Tree.
We will definitely once again try for Space 220. Hopefully the hype has died down a little bit, and we have two chances for it, so we have a good shot at fulfilling your (and our) wish to get to eat there. That will probably be the only totally new one, but we are talking about going back to some other ones we have been to once and enjoyed, we just have to fill in the schedule.

Wow, that wasn’t the update I was expecting after your initial airfare post! First class will be amazing - and you got a great price!

Both airfare and rental car prices are nuts - I miss the days of $250 flights! I’m glad you found something that works for you (and can’t wait to read about the experience in your trip report!).
Yeah, we didn't really see that coming either, but we did have the thought that for those prices we should get first class. Well we found a way to make it happen. It will be a lot of fun to share with everybody.

Looks like this First Class thing was meant to be!
I guess it is our time. It may never happen again, or it could become a thing, we will see.

Your first class flight with the pod seats sound like it will be an adventure. :) Marshall will probably love it once he's there. :)
It should be really cool. We do have to deal with a layover on the way there, but that means we get an extra flight in first class and get the cool 777 on the way to Charlotte. I am sure Marshall will be impressed, but other families have noted that it is a little odd to be so separated.

Wow first class - that's awesome! CA to FL is a long haul so you will enjoy traveling in comfort!
It's funny, I think we are more excited about the perks of it outside the flights (like the priority check in, bag check, and boarding) but the actual time on the planes will be really nice too. Having lots of space and a meal should make it a very different traveling experience, which should be fun to share.
 
We've still got some time before we make ADRs, but I figure it is time to talk about one of the biggest parts of the trip for us, the food.

We’re planning on revisiting some favorites but then also trying something new.

Now I've gotta start by saying that I really feel last trip was one of our very best trips meal-wise, so it is really hard to decide what not to repeat. Therefore we will again have some of our every-trip favorites making a return appearance this year.

So first off we’ve got our arrival day. We land earlier this year than we did last and our current plan is to repeat Portillos for dinner before we hit Target for necessities.
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It worked so well, and now that we know where everything is it should be a quick and efficient stop. We don't need to rush into the bubble to eat at WL. On our first park day we are thinking MK, and that is where the majority of our debate centers around.

Plaza worked great last year and our meal was perfect… but, we’re thinking switch it up for variety sake.

Allie made a strong argument for Be Our Guest, but recent reviews don't look that great and we will be having a lunch, so paying full TS price for a lunch there probably won't happen for us. Therefore we resort to Marshall's pick, which is Skipper Canteen. With the changing menu and variety there it is a bit of a wild card, but it will be something fun and exciting.
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Liberty Tree was also thrown on the table but again, it’s a lunch, on a hot day. The food is great there but I think Skipper Canteen will be a better choice.

Yeah, we have done Liberty Tree so many times, and it is always excellent, but it is also often one of the more expensive meals and didn't quite make the cut. For that evening we want to head to Disney Springs again, and therefore I want to go to Boathouse.

Yeah, I don’t think we could have a trip without Boathouse. I’m looking forward to that dinner.

Mmm those filet sliders were one of the best things I ate last trip.

For our Hollywood Studios day we had another decision to make. There are some great choices there, Brown Derby, 50’s Prime Time, Sci Fi, and Woodys Round Up BBQ were all on the list.

So many good choices, but I make the point that last year Sci Fi absolutely blew us away with food quality far beyond what we expected, so I'd say it earns a shot at a repeat.

It was great, I wonder if Allie is gonna order the special burger again without knowing what it is. That was pretty funny.

She enjoyed it though

That day our plan is to head to Epcot for dinner so it’s a perfect time to try Space 220. This will be totally new for us and we’re all excited to check it out. Jon and Brandy said it was pretty cool, they were able to eat there a couple trips ago.

Yes! By popular demand we will try our best to get this one. It is a little early in the trip so we won't have a huge advantage in getting the ADR, but maybe the hype has died down a bit and we'll be able to get it.

We’re going to be very predictable for lunch on our Animal Kingdom day. I mean what would a trip be without a meal at Yak and Yeti. I need me some Mango Pie.
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I just can't not go there. I don't know what I will pick, but I will have great things to choose from before my cream cheese wontons.

Then we are thinking of doing something a little different for dinner and drive over to AKL to eat at Sanaa. We loved it before, and it should be a quick drive over there and we won't have to worry about connecting buses to get home from there.

It will be fun and different to drive over there. I think it’ll be a perfect opportunity. The food at Sanaa was great last time and we’ve been enjoying more Indian food at home lately so I think the kids will enjoy it too.

On our Epcot starting day we will once again follow in our rut and have lunch at Teppan Edo. It will be time for more filet, and a perfect place to celebrate our anniversary.
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It’s really hard to skip this, it’s definitely a crowd pleaser. I’m planning on ordering scallops again as they’re always perfect and probably a volcano roll as well.

We also will have an extra day this trip without park plans, and we've gotta try for brunch at Homecomin. It will set us up for more Disney Springs shopping before we pop out of the bubble for some additional shopping before popping back in to the bubble for a fireworks cruise.
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That is gonna be a really fun day, I hope we can get that brunch. It’s my favorite breakfast on property.

It is an exceptional meal, and should be a fun day. I hope the plans come together. I have an alarm set to get up at 3AM on our ADR day, which is a Thursday, but I will happily give it a shot and see how I do.

 
Great restaurant list, yay! I've dined at all of those WDW restaurants except Homecomin'. I was especially happy to see Skipper Canteen and Space 220 made the list! Woody's Roundup BBQ would have also been interesting to try, if you could have fit in a second restaurant at DHS, oh well.
 


We land earlier this year than we did last and our current plan is to repeat Portillos for dinner before we hit Target for necessities.
Portillos was first opened in our neck of the woods. It's one of our favorites. :)
Yeah, I don’t think we could have a trip without Boathouse. I’m looking forward to that dinner.
We finally discovered how good Boathouse was. It has become a must do for us now. :)
That day our plan is to head to Epcot for dinner so it’s a perfect time to try Space 220.
We were finally able to go back to Space 220 now that the stupid park hopping restriction is over.
On our Epcot starting day we will once again follow in our rut and have lunch at Teppan Edo. It will be time for more filet, and a perfect place to celebrate our anniversary.
It would not be a WDW trip without Teppan Edo. You love this place. :)

I need a little help with our Disneyland trip. We need to buy tickets, one-day park hoppers. I assume that we make an account on the Disneyland website. And I assume that we download the Disneyland app. Will the two accounts, WDW and DL, share our information? Will our MagicBands work for DL tickets? We just have the regular bands, not MB+
 
I need a little help with our Disneyland trip. We need to buy tickets, one-day park hoppers. I assume that we make an account on the Disneyland website. And I assume that we download the Disneyland app. Will the two accounts, WDW and DL, share our information? Will our MagicBands work for DL tickets? We just have the regular bands, not MB+

The Disneyland app will use the same login/password as the WDW one. I believe the information will mostly pull over to the Disneyland app, but you will want to check. For Magicbands, Disneyland only uses the MB+ versions. Regular will not work at Disneyland.
 
Great restaurant list, yay! I've dined at all of those WDW restaurants except Homecomin'. I was especially happy to see Skipper Canteen and Space 220 made the list! Woody's Roundup BBQ would have also been interesting to try, if you could have fit in a second restaurant at DHS, oh well.
Yeah, we will see what we can get. We had a number of years with no SciFi availability, so Woody's could slide right in to a spot.

Portillos was first opened in our neck of the woods. It's one of our favorites. :)
Yes, they are definitely a Chicago thing. It was funny driving the rental Jeep with Illinois plates to Portillos last trip and meeting folks who wondered what part of the state we were from. It's kind of like Californians going to In-n-Out Burger.

We finally discovered how good Boathouse was. It has become a must do for us now. :)
I had almost no desire to go there at first, and immediately fell in love and have been every time since. There really is something for everybody there, and I do love the decor.

We were finally able to go back to Space 220 now that the stupid park hopping restriction is over.
That's neat. Not having restrictions is going to be so nice.

It would not be a WDW trip without Teppan Edo. You love this place. :)
We do love Teppan Edo, and it has become an anniversary tradition now.

I need a little help with our Disneyland trip. We need to buy tickets, one-day park hoppers. I assume that we make an account on the Disneyland website. And I assume that we download the Disneyland app. Will the two accounts, WDW and DL, share our information? Will our MagicBands work for DL tickets? We just have the regular bands, not MB+
Very good question, and we will answer what we can but we don't know for sure since we have not had DL passes in the new era of app access. I did download the DL app and log in to it with my regular Disney username and password that I use for everything, and it brought in all of my info but does not list any of My Magic Bands despite the fact that I have some MB+ bands in my WDW account. I suspect I would need to link them to the DL app separately, but I have yet to confirm if a band can be registered for both. I will get back to you and let you know.

The Disneyland app will use the same login/password as the WDW one. I believe the information will mostly pull over to the Disneyland app, but you will want to check. For Magicbands, Disneyland only uses the MB+ versions. Regular will not work at Disneyland.
That was our experience, our info and DVC membership came right over into the DL app, but no Magic Bands showed up. I will play with it and see what I can find. It is fun being on both coasts. Now I just wish those Premier Passes were available again.
 


The Disneyland app will use the same login/password as the WDW one. I believe the information will mostly pull over to the Disneyland app, but you will want to check. For Magicbands, Disneyland only uses the MB+ versions. Regular will not work at Disneyland.

I did download the DL app and log in to it with my regular Disney username and password that I use for everything, and it brought in all of my info but does not list any of My Magic Bands despite the fact that I have some MB+ bands in my WDW account. I suspect I would need to link them to the DL app separately, but I have yet to confirm if a band can be registered for both. I will get back to you and let you know.
That's interesting about the MagicBands. Thanks for the help. :)
 
That was our experience, our info and DVC membership came right over into the DL app, but no Magic Bands showed up. I will play with it and see what I can find. It is fun being on both coasts. Now I just wish those Premier Passes were available again.

Oh I forgot that part, you will need to link your MB+ to the Disneyland app. It does not automatically pull them over. And unless you have tickets, I am not sure it will link for you. I was there with my BFF and her kids last summer and had trouble getting them all set up in the app because they did not have tickets on the account yet (were getting in on a relative's CM tickets).

And yes, I would give anything to have the Premier passes available again! They worked so well for us instead of having the passes for both coasts.
 
Your ADR plans sound great! I’m pretty excited to try Skipper Canteen myself during our trip - I’ve heard nothing but raves about it. I’ll cross my fingers that you’re able to book both Space 220 and the Homcomin’ brunch. :goodvibes
 
Alright Paul, I blame you for the fact that I just booked a jeep for our summer WDW trip. 🤣 We normally don't fly but we are, so I needed to rent a car. I have never driven one before so here we go!
 
Oh I forgot that part, you will need to link your MB+ to the Disneyland app. It does not automatically pull them over. And unless you have tickets, I am not sure it will link for you. I was there with my BFF and her kids last summer and had trouble getting them all set up in the app because they did not have tickets on the account yet (were getting in on a relative's CM tickets).

And yes, I would give anything to have the Premier passes available again! They worked so well for us instead of having the passes for both coasts.
I have tried adding MB+ bands with no luck. It likely is the not having tickets issues. It looks like it should work, but no luck yet. We will try again once we have tickets.

Your ADR plans sound great! I’m pretty excited to try Skipper Canteen myself during our trip - I’ve heard nothing but raves about it. I’ll cross my fingers that you’re able to book both Space 220 and the Homcomin’ brunch. :goodvibes
We do feel like we have borrowed it doe. To a great set. We’ll see how Space 220 does and if it can hold a spot in the elite group.

Alright Paul, I blame you for the fact that I just booked a jeep for our summer WDW trip. 🤣 We normally don't fly but we are, so I needed to rent a car. I have never driven one before so here we go!
Lol, be careful! We rented one on Hawaii after wanting one but never really driving one before and it took me a couple of years but I got one. They are actually a very neat “fun” car and perfect for vacation. While they are way nicer than older ones, they still are a little unsophisticated for daily driving, but that’s part of their charm.
 
We're at 75 days to go, and we're all looking forward to the trip. Naturally we have been collecting items for the trip, so we'll share some of our favorite recent aquisitions.

After last trip we decided to retire one of our tried and true suitcases. I think it’s been on every Disney trip (except the girls only trip) and to Hawaii. That’s a lot of flying for a clearance TJ Maxx suitcase. It’s probably the ugliest suitcase I’ve ever seen but it’s been great for us and with its obnoxious zebra stripes it’s easy to tell that it’s ours. Unfortunately she is now cracked and so it’s time for a replacement.

During a recent TJ Maxx trip we found a perfect replacement though. Yep, we got a piece of Mickey Luggage.
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I love TJ Maxx for luggage, we’ve had great luck there. Our new case is really cute and should be a decent replacement for the giant zebra one. It is a little smaller than the old one though so on another TJ Maxx trip we picked up another new Samsonite case so we should have plenty of luggage space.
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We tend to look for ones that are unique colors so they will be easy to spot. The bright white should be cool, and since we get two free checked bags for each of us this time we grabbed another bag.

We ordered Marshall a new pair of Mickey crocs from Disneystore.com.
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I cannot believe how big his feet are getting! These aren’t even kids crocs anymore, they’re the adult size.


He still wears his Crocs most days though, some things never change. Allie has been collecting the clothes she wants for the trip, and her favorite piece is a new shirt from Main Street Tourist.
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It is just the right color to coordinate with her MK outfit.


It’s really cute! When I ordered the Crocs they had a Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar Magic band on sale so I ordered that for me.
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I still am not sure about the whole Magic Band + stuff but I really liked this band so I have a new one for this trip.


I can't find my Magic Band + from last trip. I really don't know where it is at, and I have been looking for it to test with the Disneyland App. Therefore I may wind up with another one, but what I really want is a Wilderness Lodge one, whatever generation it happens to be.

We can’t see what’s available to order for our trip yet with our tickets because we don’t have them yet. Also I’m almost certain your Magic Band is in the suitcase in the garage.

I couldn't see it there, but that doesn't mean much. It does mean it is about time to get our park tickets so we can have that fun too.

It’s the last thing we need to purchase for the trip. I’ve ordered lots of fun stuff for the kids Easter Baskets they can use on the trip but that’s still a surprise. We do need to remember extra phone cables and 12v usb chargers for the rental car, we were super short on those last trip. I didn’t think about needing to charge devices in the car.

Having the car as our own quiet spot that transports us between park locations really did work pretty slick, and being able to charge our phones while we hang out in our quiet bubble is popular with all of us. This year we'll all need chargers and cables.

That’s about all for now, we’re getting more excited as the trip gets closer. We still have a lot of stuff going on between now and then with Easter, Mothers Day, 8th Grade Promotion, and other random shenanigans. We do make ADR’s in two weeks though so we’ll for sure update when we have those all nailed down. I suppose we could also update after the kids get their Easter baskets too, those should be fun to share.

It is all fun, and the trip will be here before we know it. Thanks for following along as we get ready.
 
I love TJ Maxx for luggage, we’ve had great luck there.
I bought some really good suitcases from Marshalls, which is basically the same as TJ Maxx. I love your new Mickey suitcase. :)
We can’t see what’s available to order for our trip yet with our tickets because we don’t have them yet.
I was looking at MagicBands a few days ago because our bands are getting old. There were only four bands for sale that were not MagicBand+. And those four bands were the same price, $24.99, as the solid color MB+ bands. Crazy! I guess Disney really wants everyone to get MB+ bands.

I didn't see any WL themed bands.
 
This morning I got up at 2:45 to make our ADRs, and after a brief delay to add our confirmation number to our MDE account I had pretty darn good success.
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So? You didn’t tell me if you got everything?

You were asleep.

You always wake me up.

We did pretty well, Homecommin at 10am, and everything we wanted but SciFi, and instead of that we got Woody's Roundup BBQ.

Nice! That’ll be fun. Something new.

We got space 220 in the spot we wanted?

Yes! There was plenty of Space 220 availability, so we have it for dinner after we park hop to Epcot from HS on our second full day. In general stuff was available, but one that was a little tight was Yak and Yeti.
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Initially 2:30 was the earliest we could do, but I was able to reschedule it for 10:45, which will actually be really nice, since then we have Sanaa later that day.

That’ll actually work out really nice.

Teppan Edo was no problem, and Skipper Canteen was just a little later like 12:40. Then we have Boathouse that night at 7:00.
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Perfect

Yeah, it always seems like we are waiting to go eat there. So yeah I’m happy. There was no Sci Fi availability at all that day, but oh well.

We can keep checking for SciFi.

We could, but Woody's will be neat too. Overall it was a very good score and 10AM Homecoming will be so neat.

Yes, we can sleep in a bit and still get breakfast there.

It will be a fun non-park day for us. Later this morning I was able to call in and book a fireworks cruise for that night as well, so we will give that a try again. They had a little trouble finding the MK cruise instead of Epcot, but she found it and we get to leave from WL this year.

Oh that will be so fun, especially after not getting to do it last year.

Yeah, I'm excited. It should be great and we got it booked!

 
That's so awesome! It will be really interesting to read about your Space 220 meal. I enjoyed my visit there. The theming was kind of hokey but still fun, and the food was better than I expected.

I'm a major fan of Sci Fi, but not having been to Woody's Roundup, I will also be very interested to read about your meal there. I think the best outcome would have been if you could do both Woody's and Sci Fi, but I understand that doesn't fit your plans. Anyway, overall I'm thrilled with how your dining reservations turned out! Yay!!!
 
everything we wanted but SciFi,

SciFi was the hardest one to get for our February trip. We had managed to get SciFi for 10:45am but kept searching for days and even weeks to get a better time. I was going to cancel the reservation if I couldn't get what I wanted. Then it was like two or three days before the reservation date that I was able to get the perfect time. But it did take a lot of work. :)

That is really nice to finally get a Space 220 reservation. We are going to the lounge on Wednesday. I'll be curious to see if they made any changes to it since we were there after they first opened, whenever that was. :)
 
You did really well on your ADRs! I’m sorry you weren’t able to nab Sci-Fi, especially since you loved your meal there so much last year, but it will be fun to try Roundup Rodeo BBQ. I’m excited to try that one myself on our trip!

Also, HOORAY on the Homecomin’ brunch and Space 220! I’m glad both of those worked out for you!
 
That's so awesome! It will be really interesting to read about your Space 220 meal. I enjoyed my visit there. The theming was kind of hokey but still fun, and the food was better than I expected.

I'm a major fan of Sci Fi, but not having been to Woody's Roundup, I will also be very interested to read about your meal there. I think the best outcome would have been if you could do both Woody's and Sci Fi, but I understand that doesn't fit your plans. Anyway, overall I'm thrilled with how your dining reservations turned out! Yay!!!
Yes we are very excited. While I expected SciFi might be hard (since it has been in the past) I was really hoping for Homecomin brunch and was more worried about not getting that. That will be a great day, and getting to top it off with a Fireworks cruise will be really nice. It will be funny if our non-park day is one of our favorites.

Woody's is something we wanted to try, so it will be fun to try something new. It happens to be the same day that we will have dinner at Space 220, so it will be our new "new things" day.


2:45 ugh! But, sounds like you had a lot of success! Will be watching for your TR!
It's part of the annual fun of dealing with ADRs. I don't really mind though, and this time I was back in bed by 3:25, which was record time.

SciFi was the hardest one to get for our February trip. We had managed to get SciFi for 10:45am but kept searching for days and even weeks to get a better time. I was going to cancel the reservation if I couldn't get what I wanted. Then it was like two or three days before the reservation date that I was able to get the perfect time. But it did take a lot of work. :)
It is interesting that a perennial favorite like SciFi remains one of the hardest to get. Others like Space 220 are hard to get in the beginning but the hype eventually dies down.

That is really nice to finally get a Space 220 reservation. We are going to the lounge on Wednesday. I'll be curious to see if they made any changes to it since we were there after they first opened, whenever that was. :)
It's crazy that it has been a few years now, but we are glad to finally get to see it. Hearing positive things about the food quality is always a good thing.

You did really well on your ADRs! I’m sorry you weren’t able to nab Sci-Fi, especially since you loved your meal there so much last year, but it will be fun to try Roundup Rodeo BBQ. I’m excited to try that one myself on our trip!

Also, HOORAY on the Homecomin’ brunch and Space 220! I’m glad both of those worked out for you!
Thanks, we feel that we did really well. SciFi was one to try for since we loved it so much, but that's ok we are fine with trying something new.
 

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