The 180 Day Disney Planning Withdrawal

Hotel Reservations…Check, Dining Reservations…Check, Waiting patiently for September…NOT!!

Now comes the hard part…with very little left to do after months of planning…my husband Henry and I don’t know what to do with ourselves!!  After hours upon hours of deciding where to stay, where to eat, which parks have extra magic hours on what days, what times
the parades and shows start, making daily schedules to ensure we get as much in each day as we can…it almost becomes a full time job!!  We basically eat, sleep and breath Disney for months….and then 180 days out…we make our dining reservations and BOOM….we’re
finished until trip time!

BUT on the plus side…we made dining reservations for the entire family and were able to get the restaurants and times we wanted!!  Another great reason for going in September!  The only dining reservation we couldn’t make through the Disney website was with T-Rex, those reservations have to be made directly with the restaurant.  Also, at the last minute we decided to go to Mickey’s Backyard BBQ, and we had to wait a few weeks to make those, as they hadn’t posted the times available for September. So we checked online every few days until the date we wanted came open, and now we have completely finished our dining reservations!       

We are revisiting some restaurants we have been to before, that we KNOW the kids will love as much as we do…but we’ve added several new restaurants based on reviews and information received from other Disney dining fanatics that we hope will make for a very fun dining experience for everyone!   We will be going to Crystal Palace, Tusker House, Askershus Royal Banquet Hall, and of course, Mickey’s Backyard BBQ to get our fix of character dining.  The Disney Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show, one of our favorites which we can’t wait to enjoy with our kids, is a must do every trip.  We are also very excited to try the
new Be Our Guest Restaurant in Fantasyland! We have decided to eat lunch there on our arrival day, instead of dinner,  so we can have our choice of which room we want to dine in…we have picked the West Wing so we can experience the special effects we’ve been reading about…but they ALL sound awesome!

We were kind of sweating it to see if they were going to offer Free Dining during the time that we are going to be there in September….we had heard that it could go either way….but “YAY”….they offered it last week to Disney Visa Card holders first and then to the general public a few days later.  Unfortunately, our son will miss the free dining for his time period at WDW, but hotel discounts were also offered, so he will now use the discount to upgrade from Pop Century to Port Orleans Riverside and will actually save money switching from the Value Resort to the Moderate Resort. Just a friendly reminder, that with the Epcot Food and Wine Festival going on from September 27^th through November 11^th, there will be limited space at the restaurants, so make your reservations early.  Now with everything falling into place just as we had hoped….our vacation should be TRULY MAGICAL!!  

123 days and counting……

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As Julie says: “I am addicted to all things Disney! 🙂 I grew up in Vernon, TX and now reside in Waller, TX (outside of Houston) on a small ranch with my hubby and all of our animals who we affectionately call “The Zoo Crew”! We have been married almost a year now (together for 7) and have 5 children and 9 grandchildren between the 2 of us. We knew we were meant for each other when we discovered we were both Disney fanatics! 🙂 I went to Disneyland for the first time when I was 6 and fell in love with the magic of Disney. Now, my husband and I go to Disney World every 2 years either with friends or with whichever kid and grandkid are available to go at the time. We spend a lot of time planning our trips to ensure that everyone has the most memorable time while there, so that is what I will be writing about and hopefully give you some ideas to try for YOUR next Disney vacation. I am very excited to be a part of The Affordable Mouse team!”

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