Although I started my adventure by posting in Chat I have too much information to post the full wrap up there.
I put the following notes together while waiting for my plane home. All my notes are based on the fact that I am a justone in most of my travels so your milage may vary.
5 things that made trip easier or more comfortable.
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- Brita Water Pitcher…game changer and will never not bring. It was great to have water easily accessible in the room and helped me reuse the few water bottles I had.
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- Pump soap for the bathroom…hate bar soap at sinks.
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- Small blanket from home…nice if sitting on couch/chair.
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- @Totsy recommended water kettle
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- Old refillable plastic mug for water in the room and old porcelain coffee mug (left behind) …coffee tastes better in coffee mug from home (IMO). Kept both clean by keeping the dish soap and small scrubby from first DVC stay.
Adding a 6th one here. Originally, I had planned to rent a condo off site but canceled and decided to stay on site. Since I am a justone looking at the parking lots (from Disney transportation) solidified in my mind that I made the right choice. I would have hated the drive back and forth. Disney transport isn’t perfect but when I don’t have to do the driving and worrying about car then I am truly on vacation…and it is free (well sort of but you know what I mean). Also, staying on site allowed me to follow the changing winds easily meaning I could decide to start in one place and end in another then hop the appropriate transportation to get back home easily.
Food Costs
Averaged $65.50 per day with a range of $122 to $25.50. Note that I ate breakfast in the room nearly every day except for 2-character b’fasts and 1 day when I order the stuffed waffles from RIX (mickey waffles stuffed with chicken and on a stick so couldn’t resist). The costs also include the Sangria University. I did bring some food from home including oatmeal, peanut butter, some bagels, Nutella and Entenmanns prepackaged coffee cake and purchased some clementines and bananas included in costs. Food costs also includes some treats I purchased to bring home (may or may not have a tub of popcorn in my bag).
Note on food and cash room costs…used rewards card (Disney Visa) and prepurchased discounted gift cards from Costco and BJs.
Table Service/Lounge I would redo?
· Ohana’s – Yum
· Tiffans – Yum Yum
· Nomads – Best churros and relaxing. I could spend a whole afternoon relaxing on the porch!
· Three Bridges – love the atmosphere and food was really good…no room for Churros so must go back! Note that Three Bridges offers a discount which isn’t always available in lounge like places.
· Geyser Point – love the bison burger which is my favorite burger at WDW.
What resorts are redos?
· Love CSR so much that I could live there (Disney Storybook Living please be like this). Yes, some of the rooms are further out (I was in Ranchos) but it really is just a few minutes’ walk to the center lake which makes you feel connected. I never took the bus from the Rancho stop and instead walked to the main building. I loved walking through the GDT each morning.
· AKL Kidani loved this resort, and it was great to be there at the end of the trip. Loved sitting out on the balcony communing with the animals. For those that are worried that there are only busses I never had a problem. The only other issue I can see is that Kadani doesn’t have a lot of food options which for me was no issue but might be for others.
· GFV…it’s my home resort what more can I say!
· BRV…in general I love the WL and I feel the draw to purchase points here, but I will not buy more points, I will not buy more points, I will not buy more points.
What were the most special moments?
There were tons of moments with kids and characters…just too cute. One special thing in Epcot were some characters I haven’t seen suddenly came out of a side ally (Rabbit, penguin from Mary Poppins, and oddly but nice a Country Bear). Also, I prepaid for a balloon in MK and asked the CMs to give it to someone. The CMs were so surprised someone would do this and it made me happy to know that some little (and family) would have a nice surprise at some point over the day.
I also had the opportunity to see 2 Earning Their Ears CMs Earn their Ears. It was sweet and special, and the CMS were very excited.
Other moments included noticing a special detail or just taking the time to enjoy something fully like a sunset etc. I also really enjoyed the shows this time which on shorter trips I sometimes skip.
What I would do again?
All of it…but kidding aside I am already planning for a Mid-May to Mid-June for 2025. I’m a firm believe that it is hard to recreate an experience again exactly so I would do some things differently (see below).
In terms of restaurants, WDW has so many that I never went to one twice. I would absolutely go to Tiffans, Ohana, Nomads, Three Bridges again but I’ll try others as well!
Get the Willy Wonka like popcorn tubs from Main Street Confectionary as many times as possible. This is actually a great deal $12.77 with AP discount and it lasts 3-4 days.
Always order a side of peanut butter sauce (it is just melted JIF peanut butter I saw them put it in the microwave) with an Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich.
Stagger DVC stay and Cash Stays
What do I wish I could have done?
I really did almost everything I wanted. I ended up canceling my WAT because the weather on the day I was scheduled was predicted to be severe (it wasn’t). I will plan WAT for my next long trip. I also never stayed in the parks for fireworks and next time I will at least once maybe with a desert package.
What I would do differently?
Not waste time on booking ADRs ahead of time (I had one booked for most days). I cancelled nearly all of them because it was too much to be in a certain park or place at a certain time. There is something to be said of going with the flow.
Plan for more resort time. I didn’t really partake of the pools (weather wasn’t ideal for pool time) or water parks. Genie FOMO is real and I got caught up in this sometimes (I used Genie on roughly ½ of days). Some of my best days were just walking around where the wind blew so I would do more of these types of days.
Have a picture taken with Photopass each day as a sort of diary. I didn’t think about this until the end. Next time I’ll include a small paper with Day 1, etc.
I might look to increase the amount of time I stayed in at each place to 10 days. I stayed in 6 places ranging from 2 to 7 nights. I like settling in and getting use to everything plus for me the move days were sometimes hard particularly if I was tired and wanted to rest, I like to have a room I know I can go back to.
Maybe have my family come at the end vs. the beginning. I had a bunch of kittens with me when the adventure started and as you may remember from my chat posts it was hard to corral the kittens which made me a bit anxious about my time in the World. It was nice that my DSis came towards the end for a few days I felt like a pro with the ins and outs of navigating everything.
Pack less!!! I had 3 pieces of luggage, and I seriously wore the same 3-4 things the whole trip (partly because of the cooler weather). I wasn’t sure if the weather was going to be hot or cold (it was a mix of both) so I packed for everything. I did laundry at every resort except Pop. Doing laundry made it easier to have fewer cloths. I brought my own pods but never needed them since I kept the laundry detergent from my DVC stays. I did use my dryer sheets that I packed. Laundry was done in an hour (34 minutes for wash and 20 minutes for dryer). The dryers seemed to be turbo charged and by 20 minutes the cloths were super-hot (the cloths would have fit a nuiMO if I let them go a full 60 minutes).
Figure out how to use the forum before I start my adventure…I will for next time!
Did I ever feel lonely?
I will preference this by saying I often travel as a justone and I am by nature an introvert who craves alone time to recharge.
So, did I ever feel lonely? No never! For me Disney is a place to go where I can be alone but together with others. If I want to talk to someone there is always someone to strike up a conversation (e.g., I laughed through my Ohana meal with another justone seated at the table next to me after each course came…so much good food). Also as a justone it is often very easy to get a walk up table and don’t forget lounges or counters (B&C I’m talking about you) as great places to eat. There are also many great QS spots (I somehow always digress to food) that serve things other than just chicken tenders and burgers (I’m looking at you Satu’li, ABC Commissary, even Columbia House, etc.).
Parting Notes
So, there it is the final wrap of a glorious 30-day trip to WDW…now I prepare for a 16-day transatlantic cruise not on DCL (sadly) although I’m feeling like there may need to be a DCL trip soon. I’m also planning a month-long return in May-June of 2025.
Thank you all you truly helped me plan an amazing trip. Wishing you all the best in your Disney travels and I’ll see you all online!
