lffam
Disney/Marvel Nutty Dad
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2010
Well it has been a few weeks since we got back and I thought I should start a trip report.
Executive Summary
Disneyland - Cars Land & Star Wars Launch Bay are awesome. Ice skating in DTD was a fun thing.
USO - Wizarding World of HP & Diagon Alley - wow just wow
WDW - Can't beat it! a truly immersive experience
Disney Fantasy Cruise - Like the t-shirt says, Eat, Cruise, Eat More..
DC - Such a fantastic city for US History and all things Presidential
NYC - 3 Months and I think you might give it a good crack.
A quick recap…
The Pre-Trip, including some posts towards the end during the trip, can be found here :
The Who
DH, DW, DS(12) from Australia.
We have had two prior Disney experiences, one in 2010 at Disneyland and in 2013 at Walt Disney World (trip report for WDW in signature). Both experiences for us as a family were magical, and we definitely enjoyed the Disney bubble . Our Disneyland experience in 2010 was onsite at the Grand Californian Villas which we rented DVC points. WDW in 2013 we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge hotel part, not in the villas.
We really did not know what to expect at WDW, as only had Disneyland to compare. We read as much as we could but we had trouble fathoming the size of WDW and traveling 20 mins from resort to park. Dining was something else quite different, or at least the emphasis on ADR's and the amount of dining locations.
We got “free dining” for our dates so really got into the dining and ADRs which is obviously as big part of WDW.
I (DH) am the most avid of the fan’s in the family. I do most of the planning and research and yes I do love it, a feeling which I know many of you here completely understand. That's not to say DW & DS are not fans they are, they just let me do my planning thing chip in where they like and leave the rest to me. We are the type of travellers who finds balance between a schedule and just "winging it”. We have some parts really planned and usually make it to most of those, but if we don’t we don’t stress to much about it, we are on holidays after all !! If something new or different catches our eye or we want to take some chill out time then we do so.
The Where
Well this holiday is most definitely Disney Centric. I titled my thread “Disney December” and when you see the itinerary you will see why. In 2013 we experienced the beginning of Christmas in the WDW. We started there at Halloween and had MNSSHP on Halloween itself, and then through to early Christmas in the park. That was a great experience, especially Halloween for us. This time we will be there early December so Christmas should be in full swing.
We did start out with the idea of a White Christmas somewhere. Various twists, turns and reasons then morphed that idea into this itinerary :
- Brisbane to Los Angeles 30 Nov
- 6 Nights Disney Grand Californian Villas
- 4 nights at Universal Studios Orlando
- 8 nights at WDW Boardwalk Villas
- 1 night Cape Canaveral
- 7 night Cruise on Disney Fantasy - Christmas Cruising - Disembark Boxing day
- 3 nights Washington DC
- 7 nights in New York including NYE
- 2 Nights LA
- Los Angeles to Brisbane arrive 9th Jan (lose a day)
It’s quite a long trip as you can see and we will be in Disneyland, Disneyworld or on Disney Cruise for most of December, hence my Disney December comment earlier.
The Why
Well do I really need a why??
This trip was borne out of my no travel blues which hit me hard at the 12 month mark after our 2013 trip. I was going back over photos, reposting pictures to Facebook, much to the chagrin of my Facebook friends. DS chipped in to help with my blues by doing a mock “plane boarding” with meal service and the inflight entertainment was watching some of the videos. This really got me reminiscing. I hadn’t written a proper trip report so this was the catalyst to do so. I went over my notes I had, the pictures and videos and some of the blog that my son had kept and made a start at writing a Trip report, some 12 months on.
If was to try to pin point what action it was that lead to me eventually booking another trip, it was this, writing the report for WDW 2013. It allowed me to remember, to share again to get feedback and questions from other Disboarders which all fed my travel itch. Within a few weeks of starting to write the report my writing was distracted and planning for a new trip begun! Within a few weeks we went from a spark of an idea to some plans which then firmed up over a few weeks.
Executive Summary
Disneyland - Cars Land & Star Wars Launch Bay are awesome. Ice skating in DTD was a fun thing.
USO - Wizarding World of HP & Diagon Alley - wow just wow
WDW - Can't beat it! a truly immersive experience
Disney Fantasy Cruise - Like the t-shirt says, Eat, Cruise, Eat More..
DC - Such a fantastic city for US History and all things Presidential
NYC - 3 Months and I think you might give it a good crack.
A quick recap…
The Pre-Trip, including some posts towards the end during the trip, can be found here :
The Who
DH, DW, DS(12) from Australia.
We have had two prior Disney experiences, one in 2010 at Disneyland and in 2013 at Walt Disney World (trip report for WDW in signature). Both experiences for us as a family were magical, and we definitely enjoyed the Disney bubble . Our Disneyland experience in 2010 was onsite at the Grand Californian Villas which we rented DVC points. WDW in 2013 we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge hotel part, not in the villas.
We really did not know what to expect at WDW, as only had Disneyland to compare. We read as much as we could but we had trouble fathoming the size of WDW and traveling 20 mins from resort to park. Dining was something else quite different, or at least the emphasis on ADR's and the amount of dining locations.
We got “free dining” for our dates so really got into the dining and ADRs which is obviously as big part of WDW.
I (DH) am the most avid of the fan’s in the family. I do most of the planning and research and yes I do love it, a feeling which I know many of you here completely understand. That's not to say DW & DS are not fans they are, they just let me do my planning thing chip in where they like and leave the rest to me. We are the type of travellers who finds balance between a schedule and just "winging it”. We have some parts really planned and usually make it to most of those, but if we don’t we don’t stress to much about it, we are on holidays after all !! If something new or different catches our eye or we want to take some chill out time then we do so.
The Where
Well this holiday is most definitely Disney Centric. I titled my thread “Disney December” and when you see the itinerary you will see why. In 2013 we experienced the beginning of Christmas in the WDW. We started there at Halloween and had MNSSHP on Halloween itself, and then through to early Christmas in the park. That was a great experience, especially Halloween for us. This time we will be there early December so Christmas should be in full swing.
We did start out with the idea of a White Christmas somewhere. Various twists, turns and reasons then morphed that idea into this itinerary :
- Brisbane to Los Angeles 30 Nov
- 6 Nights Disney Grand Californian Villas
- 4 nights at Universal Studios Orlando
- 8 nights at WDW Boardwalk Villas
- 1 night Cape Canaveral
- 7 night Cruise on Disney Fantasy - Christmas Cruising - Disembark Boxing day
- 3 nights Washington DC
- 7 nights in New York including NYE
- 2 Nights LA
- Los Angeles to Brisbane arrive 9th Jan (lose a day)
It’s quite a long trip as you can see and we will be in Disneyland, Disneyworld or on Disney Cruise for most of December, hence my Disney December comment earlier.
The Why
Well do I really need a why??
This trip was borne out of my no travel blues which hit me hard at the 12 month mark after our 2013 trip. I was going back over photos, reposting pictures to Facebook, much to the chagrin of my Facebook friends. DS chipped in to help with my blues by doing a mock “plane boarding” with meal service and the inflight entertainment was watching some of the videos. This really got me reminiscing. I hadn’t written a proper trip report so this was the catalyst to do so. I went over my notes I had, the pictures and videos and some of the blog that my son had kept and made a start at writing a Trip report, some 12 months on.
If was to try to pin point what action it was that lead to me eventually booking another trip, it was this, writing the report for WDW 2013. It allowed me to remember, to share again to get feedback and questions from other Disboarders which all fed my travel itch. Within a few weeks of starting to write the report my writing was distracted and planning for a new trip begun! Within a few weeks we went from a spark of an idea to some plans which then firmed up over a few weeks.
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