Halloween/Christmas/Baby's 1st Visit Trip Report

[Jenna319]

Welcome!

We are at the 80-day mark and like any Disney fanatic, I am getting antsy so what better way to cope than to start a pre-trip report!
So, without further ado, here are the details:

When: October 31 - November 7, 2015
Where: Standard-View Studio at the Grand Floridian Villas
Who: Myself, my husband, our daughter (who will have just turned 1), my mother, and my 7-year-old niece

A little about us:

Me (Jenna): A 33-year-old Disney-obsessed gal, who basically works to pay off my Disney vacations. I have stayed at the majority of WDW and DL resorts, with the only ones I haven't stayed at being: Wilderness Lodge, Fort Wilderness, All Star Sports, Pop Century, and Paradise Pier (in DL). This trip, we are staying at the Grand Floridian for the 1st time, so I was able to take that off my list. On our last trip in September 2013, we actually were lucky enough to spend 4 nights at the Boardwalk, and then fly to Anaheim and spend 3 nights at the Disneyland Hotel. It was an epic trip to say the least!!


My husband (John): A 38-year-Disney fan who is not as crazy about Disney as I am but never argues when I suggest another trip there. We are from Chicago but he was raised a Los Angeles Dodgers fan so there is always a reason to visit Disneyland too.


Our Daughter (Norah): Currently 9 months old and breaks into a huge smile every time the theme song from Sofia the First comes on. Norah will have just turned 1 on October 27. I have been planning this trip since before she was born and I am beyond excited to take this little girl to our happy place. If I can ever figure out how to upload pics into this thread, I will be uploading MANY of this little beauty. I don't know how many times I have heard, why are you doing Disney so early? She won't remember it that young! Guess what? I don't care!!! I will have tons of pictures to show her one day.

My Mother (Carol): Mom is NOT a Disney fan, but is coming along to help us out with our daughter but also to take my niece, who she has pretty much raised. She knows if she doesn't take my niece, then she most likely won't get there. She will be 74 years old and I am trying to convince her to rent an ECV as she is no longer a spry chicken but her stubbornness is overruling and she wants to try walking herself. ​

My Niece (Katelynn): An over-excited 7 year old that was last to Disney when she was 2 and doesn't remember so I am excited to take her at this very fun age.

I have not decided if we are going to do the Dining Plan yet, but I am leaning toward yes.

Here is our planned itinerary:
Saturday, October 31- Halloween: Arrive at MCO around 1pm, Mom and niece will take the ME, myself, husband and daughter will pick up the rental car. Plan to arrive at VGF around 2pm. Enjoy the Halloween activities around the resort. Dinner at Ohana. Maybe boat over to Fort Wilderness after dinner to see Halloween decorations. All depends on how baby *excuse me, TODDLER* is doing!!!

Sunday, November 1-
Most likely Magic Kingdom during the AM, BBB appointment for my niece at 1:30p at Downtown Disney, then MNSSHP for myself, my niece and my daughter (who's free!). When my daughter gets tired, to Daddy she will go and my niece and I will continue the party.

Monday, November 2 -
Epcot, Dinner at Garden Grill

Tuesday, November 3 -
Magic Kingdom, Pre-Park opening at Crystal Palace, Back to hotel to rest around noon, Dinner at Chef Mickey's

Wednesday, November 4-
Breakfast at Kona Cafe, Monorail to Epcot, Back to hotel to rest, Dinner at Yachtsmans Steakhouse, and back to Epcot

Thursday, November 5-
Magic Kingdom, Dinner at Be Our Guest, Main Street Electrical Parade

Friday, November 6-
Hollywood Studios, 1st Night of Osborne Lights & Fantasmic​

I am very excited to be able to see both the Halloween and Christmas decorations. I have already reserved a grocery order through Garden Grocer for diapers, wipes, & groceries.

I will update often as I am sure my plans will change 10 more times in the next 80 days!
Thanks for reading along!​

 

[Rmurphy005]

I am in!! I have a DD(4mo) also named Norah haha. I am just starting to plan our first trip which hopefully will be in Sept/Oct. of 2016. I am excited to see how your planning and your trip goes.

 

[lizbaby007]

Im in as well. I have a 6month old son and we are talking about a Nov/Dec trip with him.

 

[Jenna319]

I am in!! I have a DD(4mo) also named Norah haha. I am just starting to plan our first trip which hopefully will be in Sept/Oct. of 2016. I am excited to see how your planning and your trip goes.

Great choice for a name!! Time flies, it will be time for your trip before you know it!!

 

[Jenna319]

Im in as well. I have a 6month old son and we are talking about a Nov/Dec trip with him.

Thanks for reading along! As for the trip, DO IT!! Don't let anyone sway you because he will be too young. This trip would be for the parents, get plenty of pictures, take your time, and cherish the memories!!

 

[Jenna319]

So we have a 6-day ticket booked (no park hopper), and my current plan was to do 3 days at Magic Kingdom, 2 days at Epcot, and 1 day at HS. Now I'm debating if we should throw Animal Kingdom into the mix.

The only day we could work Animal Kingdom into our schedule would be Sunday (really only have the AM hours before sending my husband back to the hotel to nap with DD while I take my niece for her BBB appt. at DDD for MNSSHP) OR do Magic Kingdom in the AM, on the same day we have MNSSHP.... I know, nuts, right?! My mother and husband are not doing MNSSHP though, and since we are at VGF, it would be much easier to stick to the monorail line and go to MK for a few hours in the AM before we get ready for BBB and MNSSHP at night.

I don't want to overdue it for my DD, since the day before will have been our travel day and she will already be off with a different time zone. Again, when taking my niece to DD for BBB, I plan on letting my husband take DD back to the hotel to nap. I know it's not the best idea to do a park on the day of MNSSHP but we have 6 days to use. Otherwise only do 1 day at Epcot and do Animal Kingdom instead, however we are big fans of Epcot and the idea of only going their once hurts my heart. I guess I can always add park hopper but with a 1-year old, I just don't think it will be worth it, especially when you add naps and ADRs into the equation....

Would love some feedback on if I should try to get to Animal Kingdom!!!

 

[Jenna319]

So we are back from our trip and here are just some random thoughts:

I ended up extending our trip to say solo with my daughter 3 nights and my best friend flew out and spent the weekend with us. We spent 1 night visiting family off-site, 1 night at Coronado Springs, and 1 night at Bay Lake Tower in a Theme Park view studio. So overall, I stayed at 4 hotels in 11 days. I would NOT suggest this to anyone with a 1-year old and travelling with a whole lot of luggage!!!! Not fun. By the time I got home, I was absolutely exhausted.

Our 1-year old did AMAZING!!!! No fear of anything, took naps in the strollers, basically just went along with the flow even though she was completely off her normal schedule. I would not hesitate to take a baby to Disney again. The baby care centers were fantastic and we got some amazing pictures!

We were in Disney from 10/31 - 11/10..... the weather was unbearably hot, 93 but felt like 105! And the crowds, whoa, nothing could have prepared me for the crowds!!!! I saw waits on rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and Spaceship Earth, which other than New Years week, I never waited in line for those rides. Not sure if Fastpass+ has something to do with it but the crowds to me were insane, especially weekends at the Food & Wine Festival.

We were lucky enough to have grandma along for the ride and she was more than happy to head back to the hotel early with the kids, so my husband and I had most of our nights free to enjoy the parks solo. We saw Everclear and Boys II Men at Eat to the Beat, which was so fun. We went to Trader Sam's (way overpriced but nice atmosphere - I much preferred watching the fireworks from the patio and listening to the chill music outside than the inside), Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar (loved this place!!!) & Misner's at the Grand Floridian, which was a nice quiet lounge.

I was EXTREMELY disappointed in the monorail maintenance - there were many days that the monorail was not running until 8:30am. I missed out on 2 dining reservations due to transportation. The first was my PPO Crystal Palace reservation that I had booked 6 months out. I left my room at the Grand Floridian and headed for the Magic Kingdom a whole hour prior to my reservation. The monorail was down so it was either boat or bus. Well I had already waited 45 minutes for a bus to Disney Springs the day before so we thought we'd give the boat a try. Well it took almost an hour for a boat to come. Therefore my 830am PPO reservation was not meant to be; I did not make it into the park until 9am with the millions of other tourists. So sad, and I had my daughter dressed up in her cutest outfit ready to get those PPO pictures. The other reservation was our last morning when we were at Bay Lake Tower and couldn't make it on time to get to Ohana at the Polynesian for breakfast. What a disappointment to spend so much money to stay on the monorail for convenience and not be able to get to your destination easily.

I think I crammed too much into our days, I felt like everyday was rushing. Even though we did take a break everyday to go back to enjoy the pool, it was just non-stop from waking until bedtime. We did end up doing the dining plan and although I love it for the convenience, I ended up having 10 snack credits and 5 quick service credits left over. How? I have no idea, it is a lot harder when you have 4 people in your group to account for rather than just 2 like I was used to on the dining plan. We ended up buying lunch for my family that we were visiting in florida on our last day and brought home an insane amount of candy. We ate at Ohana (dinner), Kona Café (breakfast), Grand Floridian Café (dinner), Be Our Guest (dinner), 50s Prime Time Café (dinner), Crystal Palace (breakfast), Crystal Palace (dinner), Garden Grill (dinner) and Cinderella's Royal Table (dinner).

Ohana is always and continues to be a must for my family.
Kona Café - amazing as usual, slow service this time though.
Grand Floridian Café - one of the best dinners of the trip! Great steak
Be Our Guest - good food, better atmosphere
50s Prime Time Café - loved it! We had Uncle Dale and he was great, I hadn't eaten here in awhile and it was very enjoyable.
Crystal Palace - I ended up eating here for breakfast and dinner; although it is a beautiful restaurant and it was great meeting the Winnie the Pooh characters, it was a waste for my family who are not huge eaters. I enjoyed breakfast a TON better than dinner. I could eat that puffed French toast for days!!!
Garden Grill - probably my least favorite meal; the food was decent but the characters came around way too fast and I felt very rushed by the waitress.
Cinderella's Royal Table - 1st time dining here and I was impressed with the food, thought it was very good! Wouldn't come every trip but definitely glad I finally tried it and would do it again when my daughter is older to appreciate it.

It was also really fun to be able to go to the last Halloween Party and the 1st Christmas party. Loved being able to see the transition from both holidays.

 

[Jenna319]

Another observation - we spent 7 nights at a studio at VGF, 1 night at CSR, and 1 night at BLT in a theme park view studio. I love the location and convenience of the Grand Floridian, loved being on the monorail and the pool was very nice. However, I do not think we will stay there again. The room had no storage whatsoever and my large family (3 adults, 1 child and 1 infant) all shared one studio and lived out of our suitcases for the week. I know we would have been better off in a 1 bedroom but just could not afford it this time around. It was very nice having the separate bath & separate shower. I also wish they had a more convenient quick service to the villas. The pool bar served food but opened late and closed early so the mug refill and quick service at Gasparilla was a very far walk from our villa.

I did however fall in love with Bay Lake Tower!!! After the transportation issues with the monorail being down, it was just so nice to be able to walk to Magic Kingdom. The room layout was much more practical, and had so much more storage space. Loved the separate kitchenette area! I would definitely stay at Bay Lake Tower again. (one negative of BLT - the slow service at the pool bar and the huge amount of bees around the mug refill station!!!).

 

[lizbaby007]

Sounds like you had an amazing trip! Glad to hear your baby was go with the flow. That is my biggest concern. SKipping naps and having major meltdowns, lol! Did your daughter ride many of the rides?