Jessica's September WDW trip

WDW Prep To Go

Jessica shares a detailed trip report from her recent family vacation to Disney World in September. The episode covers the logistics of driv

Key takeaways

• The total trip cost for the family of five was roughly $11,000, including $1,214 specifically for Lightning Lanes.
• Jessica utilizes a 'sninner' strategy (snacks for dinner) at Epcot to make dining fun and manageable for her children.

Main topics

• Disney World Trip Report
• Family Vacation Budgeting

Notable quotes

We have high standards on loneliness in the parks.

Conclusion

A highly practical guide for families looking to balance luxury, budge

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Today, we'll have Jessica's September Disney World trip with her family. That's coming up on this episode 533 of WDW Prep To Go. Hello and welcome to WDW Prep To Go, where we talk strategy and ideas for people planning their Disney trips. I'm your host, Shannon Albert from WDWPrepSchool.com. Thank you for being here for episode 533. Today is another trip report. This time, it is with Jessica, who just got back from her September week-long trip where she traveled with her husband and three children. I'll have our conversations in just a moment. As always, a reminder to follow on social media if you aren't already. And if you want to be a Trip Report guest like Jessica, the only way to do that is SpeakPipe. Speakpipe.com slash WWPrepToGo. If you are listening on an app that has show notes, it should be linked in the show notes. Otherwise, you can go directly there. You can do it on a browser or you can do it on a desktop. You can do it on mobile. Whichever. Leave a voicemail with the details of your trip. And if it works out with our schedule, somebody on my team will reach out to get you scheduled for your pre-trip and your post-trip. Also a reminder that there are ads in the main feed podcast version of this. And if you don't want the ads, becoming a patron is a great way to do that because I post the full episodes there ad-free every Tuesday. I think that's it for the intro. Today is my conversations with Jessica. She has some interesting ways to go about travel planning. I had a couple of takeaways after our chat about... different ways to do things. I always like hearing about different ways to do things. So if you want to keep track of costs as you go in your head and guess at the end, she does share the total. So let's jump into my chats with Jessica. Speaker 2 (1:57) Welcome to the podcast, Jessica. Thanks for having me. Speaker 1 (2:01) Well, you and I are speaking on Wednesday, September 9th, and you told me you're going to Disney World. I am, and we leave on Saturday the 12th. Okay. September 12th through what? Speaker 2 (2:13) We will be there in the resort until the 19th, but we're driving. So we're driving from Dallas, Texas. And so the drive there will be done in one day, but the drive home will be over Saturday and Sunday. So we'll get home on the 20th. Speaker 1 (2:29) Okay. Got it. All the time I lived in that area, I never once drove to Florida. So I'm curious what route you're going to take. Okay. Second time driving. So yeah, we like long drives. Okay, that's good because it will take you a little bit of time. Who's going on this trip? Speaker 2 (2:46) So Speaker 1 (2:46) this Speaker 2 (2:46) will be me, my three children, and my husband. And this will be the first time that we have included my husband in a Disney World trip. So each of my three children got like a milestone birthday trip. So when my eldest turned four, just my mother and I took her to Disney World as like a princess extravaganza. And then as each child, I've decided four was too young for us. So as each child then turned five, the next kid got to have their special trip and anyone who was over five got to come. So my eldest has been three times. My middle Hamilton has been twice. And this will be Victoria's second time. But each of those trips, we deemed daddy to be non-magical. And so he was not invited. But this time he has pledged to be highly magical and is coming with us. Speaker 1 (3:34) Okay. So he's had a turn to become more magical. Got it. And Speaker 2 (3:42) so it's the five of you. How old are your kids now? So I have a 13-year-old daughter, a 10-year-old son, and a 7-year-old daughter who just hit 48 inches like two weeks ago. Speaker 1 (3:55) Okay. That's key. Speaker 2 (3:57) Were you feeding her extra? We've been measuring her like every... I don't know, three days since we started talking about this trip. So yes, we've been encouraging a lot of like, you better eat your chicken at dinner so that you can get things for gone. And what made you guys decide to take this Speaker 1 (4:17) trip right now? Speaker 2 (4:18) Well, we had kind of as a family said, okay, each kid gets a trip and that's it. And then I'm coming up on a milestone birthday. I actually just turned 39 this week. Speaker 2 (4:29) My husband was like, well, for your 40th, we could do Disney World or we could go this year. And I said, well, let's go this year. We'll just kick off my 40th year on the planet. So I'm getting my own birthday trip, which I'm excited about. Speaker 1 (4:41) All right. Then you said you're driving. So Saturday, September 12th, is that when your drive begins? Or is that when you arrived at Disney World? Both. So Speaker 2 (4:50) we every summer drive to Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is about a 21 hour drive. And we now do it in one straight shot. So we leave at one in the morning and we get there at like 10 or 11 at night. So we're going to follow the same type of principle and leave at one in the morning from Dallas, Texas. And that should put us to Disney World, even with stops and meals and all the things driving with three children. That should put us there around 7, 8 p.m. Hopefully. All Speaker 1 (5:18) right. Speaker 1 (5:20) And do you have any strategies for handling the road trip? Like activities, snacks, how do you do it? Yeah. I am a firm believer in iPad rotting on Speaker 2 (5:29) a long drive for my children. So we don't really do iPads during the school year or when they're home. I mean, occasionally, but otherwise they kind of live in a drawer in my closet, but they do come out for these long drives. And so they just tell me all the movies they want to download and they just kind of watch a bunch of things. And then my husband and I have a really strict policy of every two to three hours, we switch drivers. And if it's not your turn to drive, you're really meant to be. like trying to sleep or scrolling on your phone or being totally mindless so that you're ready for your next block of driving. So we've done this now every year for six years, a couple of times a year, and we've got a good little rhythm with it. Okay. Speaker 1 (6:06) All right. So September 12th is all about driving. And when you get there, where are you staying? Speaker 2 (6:12) So we're staying for one night at the Grand Floridian. So this is kind of a new addition to the trip. We booked the big long trip and then I was going to stage out that driving. over the two days, but we really just wanted to get there and we feel good about the drive. So we are staying for one night at Grand Floridian so that our Sunday pool day can be at the Grand Floridian pool. And we can just kind of enjoy that deluxe stay before we then Sunday night check into Port Orleans Riverside, which is our favorite Speaker 1 (6:39) resort. Okay. But Speaker 2 (6:42) we've never stayed deluxe, so who knows? Grand Floridian may become our favorite resort. Speaker 1 (6:47) Yeah, be careful. I know. Speaker 2 (6:49) You Speaker 1 (6:49) might have a hard time. Okay, so Sunday is a pool day at the Grand Floridian, and then you move over to Portland's Riverside. Yes, and we'll be Speaker 2 (6:59) in adjoining princess rooms for, well, hopefully adjoining, but princess rooms, two of them, for Portland's Riverside for the week. Speaker 1 (7:08) Okay. So when you originally said Portland's Riverside, I was like, family of five, you're going to get the fifth sleeper. But the Royal Rooms, as you know, only fit four. Yes. So that's why you have two. So everyone's going to have more beds this way. Speaker 2 (7:21) More beds this way. That way no one is having any kind of, you know, fight over it. When I've gone with just my kids, we've all kind of jammed into the two queen beds and that's been easy. But with my husband coming, you know, I thought it might be a little bit nicer for us to have our own space and be able to close that door between us and the kids, let them watch a movie on a park, you know, rest. time and let us actually take a nap, my kids will talk to you if you are anywhere near them, even if your eyes are closed. So it'll be nice to have a little separation. Separate, Speaker 1 (7:55) yes. Okay. So you're checking in to the two rooms adjoining. Hopefully they'll be joining. I think they will. But usually when the kids outnumber the parents, they will do the adjoining as a guarantee. Speaker 2 (8:08) Okay. Hopefully, yes. Speaker 1 (8:10) Yeah. What else do you plan on this day? Speaker 2 (8:13) So on Sunday, all we have booked right now is dinner at Narcoozie's. We're going to hang at the pool for the whole day. We may take the monorail over to the Polly and get a Dole Whip because that's kind of the favorite snack amongst four of us in the group. I think we might try the Mickey tie-dye at the pool. That's at like 3.30. And then my big question is like, do we want to drive over to Riverside and get checked in and unpacked and get dressed for dinner there? Or because Narcoozie's is... at Grand Floridian? Do we want to just maximize pool day and like get changed in the little locker rooms there? So I'm going to pack a separate bag that's just pool day fancy dinner. And that'll be like the Sunday bag that comes out of the car with us when we go into Grand Floridian. And that way we have the optionality of like, okay, we can shower and change here. Or we can, you know, if everyone's kind of done with the pool and ready for like, okay, let's just get settled into our new space, then we'll do that. And we can always come back for Narcoozies. Speaker 1 (9:09) Okay. I did think when you said Narcooses, you were going to just do that and then go over into Portland Riverside. But I guess it just depends on the timing. Speaker 2 (9:17) I'm trying to be, I am very type A, but I'm trying to be more flexible in this, especially because, you know, my kids are older now and this is my husband's first trip. So I want to just be like, here's the plan. But like, I'm super, so it's Speaker 1 (9:31) a Speaker 2 (9:31) breeze. Speaker 1 (9:34) That's funny. Let's see how well that goes. Speaker 1 (9:38) Other than the pool day, dinner at Narcoossee's, checking into Portland's Riverside, anything else on Speaker 2 (9:45) this Sunday? That's the whole day. I'm hoping that we can kind of go to bed relatively early on that Sunday night because historically, my kids and I have really enjoyed rope dropping. And I did, as we were beginning the planning of this trip, have everybody vote. on like what was important to them for the trip. So I made this whole little voting questionnaire. I made them go to separate rooms and fill it out. And each of the children came back saying like they really enjoyed being first on the turnstiles. That happened twice on Victoria's trip and once on Hamilton's trip. So they've experienced it a handful of times and they really like that. Like, oh, we're first. We like kind of that jog run that you do. They enjoyed that. So we want to prioritize that. At least that's what's prioritized in the plan now. They're older now and they're sleeping more. So it may be that we try it once or twice on the trip and then we kind of fall back on those lightning lanes. But the plan is to wake up quite early. And that Monday morning or that Monday all day will be a Hollywood Studios day. Speaker 1 (10:44) Okay. So you're broke dropping Hollywood Studios. And it sounds like you're also using lightning lanes. We're using lightning lanes. And then this is also Speaker 2 (10:52) the first time that I'm using Weight Magic as well. So we are... I think, self-proclaimed kind of trip optimizers, not to where the point that like we're rope drop to close, like nonstop, like powering through everything. We definitely take a daily break, but my kids love rides. They want to ride every ride multiple times. So having that Lightning Lane plus Weight Magic, I'm hoping that will allow us to kind of get. a bunch of lightning lanes and then filter into shows and other rides that have short standby lines when we can and then utilize the rope drop period to kind of get those double rides in is the goals. So Speaker 1 (11:31) with Weight Magic, have you been using it now for modification of the lightning lanes that you booked? Speaker 2 (11:37) Yes. So there hasn't been a lot of movement. I would say on the day that my booking window opened, I saw a handful of things that I had booked get moved up. And then I've seen nothing move since then. But I'm still several days out and that three-day window hasn't opened for non-onsite guests yet. So I think maybe there'll be some movement there from what I'm reading online. But I don't know. I've never used it, but it seemed like it was worth the amount of money compared to the amount of money you're spending on the vacation. I have a little bit of, you know, optimization going on in the background that I don't have to be doing on my phone. So I'm hopeful that it will help. I think the dates that were there are looking like they're going to be relatively low crowd, especially Speaker 1 (12:17) we're kind of choosing to be Magic Kingdom on party days in the hopes that it'll be Speaker 2 (12:22) in a lower crowd during that as well. Speaker 1 (12:25) Yeah. And like, I just got back and I did all the rides without lighting lights. So if you have lighting lights and it feels like your kids' desire to repeat rides is super doable. Speaker 2 (12:37) Okay. I'm hopeful. Yeah. We'll see. It sounded like your trip, it was doable, especially with rope dropping. So yeah, Speaker 1 (12:43) I was right at the front of the tapstab just like you guys want to be. And I did everything once. So maybe you'll get to do it multiple times. Yeah. Speaker 2 (12:51) So then talk through Hollywood Studios. Like, what are you rope dropping? So we are... probably going to rope drop Slinky Dog. I know it's been down a lot recently, but hopefully it's kind of running as normal. That one is my kid's favorite. So we like the kind of hustle and that feeling of like being in the crowd that's racing that way. So that's our plan for this day. And then we do have multi-pass lightning lanes. We have a 9.55 for Toy Story Mania, 10.35 for Tower of Terror, and a 12.15 for Slinky Dog. Hopefully those get kind of moved forward by weight magic. And then we have a planned lunch at Roundup Rodeo at 125, after which we're going to beat it out of there, go back to the hotel, hopefully nap. The rule that I've had for the kids in the past has been like, you don't have to nap, you don't have to do anything, but you do have to lay quietly in your bed for 30 minutes. And if after 30 minutes, you want to quietly go to the pool or you want to turn on an iPad and watch a movie, whatever, or you guys are all up and you want to play a game, cool, but we're going to have 30 minutes. And historically, they've all fallen asleep. So we'll take a little hotel break until about six, usually. I mean, we'll play it by ear. We have a 7.05 Ogas Cantina where we'll just get drinks because I have ordered that charcuterie board now every time we've gone there and no one eats it. And then we'll probably just get like quick service at Docking Bay 7 and then kind of plan to spend the evening in that Galaxy's Edge area. So we have an 8 p.m. for Rise of the Resistance and then we'll just kind of bop around in there. And then we've never gone to Phantasmic and I've never seen it ever in my life. So it's on the plan, but we'll see if we're like, you know, going, doing re-rides on things and the kids are having a good time. I'm not going to push it, but the plan is kind of, you know, leave the park around 930 or so. Speaker 1 (14:38) And your husband's never been. So is there any part of this planning that's like, oh, he's a Star Wars fan or he likes thrill rides or like what part of this is going to appeal to him the most, you think? Speaker 2 (14:49) I think he really is just wanting to be part of it and wanting to see what we like about it. It's never he didn't grow up in a Disney family. And he has said in the past that he doesn't like roller coasters. Now, I'm not sure that he's been on a roller coaster in the last 30 years of his life. So we'll see. I mean, we're planning for him to do everything with us and try the thrill rides. I'm hopeful that he'll enjoy them. If he doesn't, it's not going to hurt my feelings if he sits out. I don't know. He says he's excited for Animal Kingdom. He really likes animals a lot. So excited about that for him. And then he really just wants to see what the fuss is for the rest of us and why we love it so much. So I think it'll be fun to just kind of pull him along with us. And he does have a big job. it's probably going to happen where he has to do some work. So I've just kind of told him like, hey, we're flexible and we have a great time even if you're not here with us. So if you need to go back to the hotel, and I've also kind of like mapped out a spot in each park of like, here's a good spot for a phone call. Here's a good spot to work on your laptop. So if he needs to break away, there's some options there. Okay. Got it. Are you ready to talk about Tuesday, September 15th? Yes. So that is our first day at Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is our favorite park as a family. On our little voting sheet, everyone put it like miles ahead of every other park. So we're excited to be there a lot this trip. Goal is to rope drop again. We bring breakfast with us. So we'll have breakfast in the room while we get ready and then head to Magic Kingdom. Planning to rope drop Seven Dwarves. Obviously open to pivoting if we need to. And then we do have lightning lanes that are kind of earlier in the day there as well. We have a 9-10 on Pirates, a 10-10 on Jungle Cruise, an 11-10 on Haunted Mansion. So we'll probably, if Rope Drop goes to plan, we'll do Seven Dwarves, something else kind of on that side of things, and then head over to do kind of second Rope Drop for Big Thunder Mountain, Tiana's, and then kind of like be over on that side until our lightning lanes start since they're kind of all over on that side. in the morning. And then we have lunch at Skipper's Canteen, which was a favorite from the last trip amongst the kids. And then I love the tiki room and I love a dole whip. So my plan is like last thing in the park, you know, around two o'clock, we'll get a dole whip and hit the tiki room. And then we'll head out of the park, go back to the hotel, take a little rest. And then we're trying Park Hopper for the first time on this trip. I've never done it before, but now that the kids are a little bit bigger and we kind of have a plan of what we like and what we don't like, we will hop to Hollywood Studios in the afternoon. So in that Wait Magic setup, I did put Slinky Dog as like my first priority to book following that first kind of tap in. So we'll see if Wait Magic can get us that Slinky Dog because I know that they go early. And then we'll just kind of see what else is open over there. And then my eldest is... super into musical theater. And so I do want to do more shows this trip than we've done in the past. So, you know, wherever we don't have lightning lanes and where there's not short standbys, we're going to kind of try to flow into some shows, whether it's at Hollywood Studios or at Magic Kingdom. Speaker 1 (17:59) And when you leave Magic Kingdom, is that a break at the hotel and then go to Hollywood Studios? That's the plan. I mean, if we're feeling Speaker 2 (18:05) real good and the kids can convince me, then we'll maybe go straight to. I think it's probably going to turn out that like we do our dole whip, we take the bus back to the hotel, we either get in the pool or take a little rest. Like I really like the like, okay, God, close your eyes or lay quietly for 30 minutes and then see what happens and then hop from there probably back to Hollywood Studios. Speaker 1 (18:26) People have different opinions on the afternoon break thing. I'm a big fan of it, especially with the heat and the often there's afternoon showers and everything. Have you done this before? And you like this rhythm? I do, especially because historically Speaker 2 (18:42) we've rope dropped every day and my kids are very anti like rest day in general, like a non-park day is like off the table for them. So I'm like, cool. I'm happy to go to the park until it gets like real busy, real hot, real rainy. And it's looking like it's probably going to be at least some mixture of those, probably real hot, real rainy if I'm looking at the weather. But I know it's unpredictable this time of year. So, yeah, I do like the afternoon breaks. I know, you know, that tends to be recommended for kids that are younger than mine. But when we were there two years ago, it was still real nice to have. you know, a couple hours in the hotel. And if no one's sleepy, go in the pool or just like get off your feet for a little bit and get out of the heat and get out of the parks and do something that's a little bit slowed down. Speaker 1 (19:31) Yeah. Listen, I never outgrew this space. I like that. And often like I would bring, I've brought like two outfits per day because I'm like, when I go back in the afternoon, if I'm hot, I want to take a shower, put on something else. And it's just a nice little break. Speaker 2 (19:47) I have two outfits for myself. I'm encouraging that in my children. I have two children who are highly compliant on packing and one who is a little bit more specific and wants to wear just this one outfit that day. And so we'll see. We may be doing some laundry. Speaker 1 (20:03) Yeah. And that's always an option too. Okay. So anything else you want to talk about on this day? Speaker 2 (20:10) We do have a 625 dinner at 50s prime time. I've never been there. The kids have never been there. My husband was kind of excited about the concept of it and the food looks pretty good. So we'll try that. And then no plans to stay late that night. We're going to kind of eat dinner or maybe do one or two more rides if the lines are short and then get out of there because that will be our kind of second park day. That's a pretty packed park day. So hopefully kind of in bed early-ish. Okay. Speaker 1 (20:37) Then what is Wednesday, September 16th? Speaker 2 (20:40) Wednesday is a Animal Kingdom morning and then park hopping to Epcot in the afternoon slash evening. So my husband's very excited about Animal Kingdom. So I'm excited to do that with him. Our plan is to rope drop Flight of Passage, which we've done in the past. This will be the first time that Victoria is tall enough to ride that. So we skipped it last trip when we went for her birthday. It didn't seem... fair to use her rope drop time on a ride that she wasn't able to ride when it was her birthday trip. So she's excited to try that out. And then we do have an 805 Lightning Lane for Safari. We also have an 850 for Everest and a 945 for Navi River. But I'm doing, I have a weird strategy I'm testing. I don't know if it's going to work, but with the Weight Magic, I have it where... I'm hopeful that because we're going to Animal Kingdom first and it opens before Epcot, that when we scan into the 805 Safari, we'll be able to then book test track at Epcot. And then I have it set up in Waitmagic that the Everest Lightning Lane and the Navi River would hopefully be modified to switch rides to either Remy's or Frozen. So we'll see if that works. I don't know. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But if it does work, it's kind of cool to get all three headliners over there, all three tier ones kind of before that park even opens. It looks like in the last month, those Lightning Lands are kind of selling out around 9 a.m., 9.30. So if we can do it at 8 before their park opens and the other tier ones unlock for the guests who are starting their day at Epcot, maybe we'll get lucky. Speaker 1 (22:20) So I guess then the question is, because people always, when they're hopping, debate how do you do the lightning lanes, then why not book the Epcot lightning lanes? Speaker 2 (22:28) Well, because we're not going to Epcot until later in the afternoon, and that was my initial plan was like, I'm not going to buy it at Animal Kingdom. We don't need it at Animal Kingdom, especially during this kind of low crowd period of the year. But if we aren't going to Epcot until at least three o'clock, maybe later, depending on if we take a long rest. By the time I get over there, we only have whatever single tier one we've booked. And there's likelihood that we're not going to get the other two. I see. Like my kids. And it's my fault. I did not enjoy Epcot as a child. And then I took my eldest when we went for her trip when she turned four. And we did like the Akershus Hall and we did the Frozen stuff. And she enjoyed that. And then we kind of wandered the park and I was like, I don't think Epcot's for me. And so we've not been back. So this will be the first time that the other two kids have ever experienced Epcot. But I think I've maybe trash talked it too much of like, this is why we're not going to that park. That they're not that excited about it, but they are intrigued by the idea of Guardians. My son especially is very excited about Guardians. So I bought us an individual lightning link for that. And then I have one daughter who's very excited about Remy's and one daughter who's very excited about Frozen. So I'm hopeful that we can do that. And then if it doesn't work, it's whatever. Speaker 1 (23:44) Yeah, but I mean, this is good, good thoughts. I like this because if you, as you said, if you booked it ahead of time, you would have been locked in the tier system. But because you booked Animal Kingdom, you're going to hopefully try to modify before Epcot's even open. Speaker 2 (23:57) I'm hopeful. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see when we talk again in a week or so, like to tell you whether it worked or not. Because I think it could be a good strategy for folks who want to get those tier ones, but don't want to go to Epcot until the afternoon or evening. Speaker 1 (24:11) I love it. Okay. So then in Walking Them, you're going to do, you know, as many rides as you can and then leave for afternoon break? Speaker 2 (24:22) Leave for afternoon break. I do. I am gluten free and dairy free. So that's one of the things that I really love about Disney World is that it's easy for me and my. stupid dietary requirements. So I do want to try the gluten-free churros at Nomad Lounge. So that's high on the list. And then a bunch of animal things. And then we do want to do some shows over there and then rides, of course. So we'll probably leave around lunchtime and head back to the hotel, take a little rest, maybe till four, and then head over to Epcot. We have a Guardians at 510. And then we'll see if we're able to get Speaker 1 (24:57) those lightning lanes for the other headliners over there. And then Speaker 2 (25:02) that evening we'll also be doing something that our family calls sninner. So this was invented on a trip with on Victoria's trip. So my husband teases me. I work, I run a Mahjong company now, but my background, my work background is in marketing. And my husband has been teasing me ever since we had children of like, you can't not brand stuff. Like why does everything have to have some kind of branding associated with it? But on Victoria's trip. at Magic Kingdom one night, instead of getting a dinner, we, I said, you guys can pick, everybody can pick two snacks and we'll share them all and it'll be sninner. So snacks for dinner. So we did that one night on her trip. And that was like the number one thing on their little voting sheet of like, I asked like, what's one thing that we've done on a trip before that you want to make sure that we do again? Everyone wrote sninner. So we built that in several days this week. Speaker 1 (25:55) So that will be our sninner around the world. Speaker 2 (25:57) So this time I told them, okay, you each get to pick two countries that you're excited about and we'll try something from each of those countries. Okay. That's a way to make Epcot fun. I think. So we'll try it out. I have a feeling that all of a sudden everyone's going to love Epcot and then they're going to be mad that we didn't go for two trips. Speaker 1 (26:19) I mean, it is the favorite of a lot of people. I know. There might be something to Speaker 2 (26:25) favorite. And I mean, I don't know. I mean, I'm also not a big drinker. So I think that's one of the reasons that I've been like. But we'll see. Yeah. I wanted to ask you about the gluten Speaker 1 (26:37) -free, dairy-free thing because obviously, you know, Disney's kind of known for working with specific diets and things like that. But one of the questions that we get asked a lot is about when you have multiple food considerations, like it's not just gluten-free, it's not just dairy-free. Does that make it harder when it comes time to do like mobile ordering? Speaker 2 (26:57) I think it does if it's new. So I have lupus. And so it's not like an anaphylactic allergy or like a life-threatening allergy, but it's just I feel crappy and I have flares if I consume those things. So I have avoided those foods since 2018. So for me, you know, when I go to a restaurant locally, it is a challenge of like, okay, most things that are gluten-free, they've subbed out all the wheat for cheese and vice versa. I've found on our Disney trips that I haven't. had really any issue with that. A lot of times it's like, okay, I'm going to get this gluten-free option and I'm going to ask for no sauce or I'm Speaker 1 (27:33) going Speaker 2 (27:33) to ask for no cheese or I'm going to ask for it to be modified in that way. I'm lucky in that I am not, it's the casein protein in dairy, not to get like too technical, but that's what flares me up. And so I can have things like butter, but I haven't had a huge challenge with that. That said, like when we're mobile ordering, a lot of times It's such a treat for me to have like a chicken finger because I get those here. So like I'm not necessarily like I am a little nervous about Epcot. Just looking at the Food and Wine Festival food, Speaker 1 (28:04) it Speaker 2 (28:05) is it does look more challenging in that park. In the parks that we've spent a lot of time in in the past, I feel really comfy and confident about what I can have and what I can't have. I'm also the type that like I'll carry some gluten-free snacks and treats that I can have just in case like we get over to Epcot and the kids are having a great time of picking the things that they love and I can't find something easy. That's fine with me. You know, I think it would be harder if it was one of the kids who had all these dietary restrictions, but I haven't had a hard time. I've actually, Disney World feels like the easiest, safest place where I can be a little bit. less plan ahead on what I'm going to eat. You know, when I go to a restaurant locally, I'm always like pouring over the menu before we go and making sure like, okay, I can get this if they can modify it. But if they're weird about the modification, then this is my backup, like safety order of like really boring food. So in Disney, I don't feel that way. And you know, places like Liberty Tree Tavern, where I can order a whole Thanksgiving and enjoy it. It's like, that's such a special treat for someone like me who doesn't normally get to indulge that way. Speaker 1 (29:09) Yeah. I think people would be surprised how nice it is. And I used to think that the family-style restaurants would be difficult, you know, with food, but really they make you your own plate. So it's kind of- Well, they make Speaker 2 (29:20) you your own everything. And then what we've found is like, they'll bring it out for the kids, but then they bring out mine and it's so much food, so much more than I can eat that it's like, then they're trying my thing too. And it's been really, I mean, I will say like, it is one of the things that keeps me just loving Disney World. And it's one of the things I've tried to explain to my husband of like, I don't have to think about it. And he understands that because he does this with me and he's so strict in like, you know, we'll order at a restaurant. He's like, okay, but she can't have cheese. And I'm like, you can like, we can all back off a little bit because as soon as you say that, they take it so seriously at Disney World that it is like, it's just a joy to be there. It's like one of those things that like makes me emotional thinking about like how excited I am to like eat there. Speaker 1 (30:03) Yeah, I do love that. Okay. Are you ready to talk about Thursday, September 17th? Yes. This is our big Magic Speaker 2 (30:12) Kingdom day. So this is the only day that we'll be in Magic Kingdom that isn't a Halloween party day. We kind of picked Magic Kingdom on party days in the hopes, you know, based on the crowd calendars that we're seeing, it's like those look like the lowest crowds days before the party. And for us, you know, I get sleepy early. My kids get sleepy early. And we're not like, it just didn't seem like it was worth the money as a family if I was going to add like $1,000. Well, not quite like I think $900 or something for the five of us to go to the party. And I was like, I don't think we're that excited about trick-or-treating in the park. I think we'd rather do other park things that are unusual to the park. Now, I know people love the parties. So I'm sure that people will say like, that's a huge mistake. But I Speaker 1 (30:59) mean, that's a huge investment, though. We have to remember that. And Speaker 2 (31:03) it was, you know. With the like lightning lanes for a family of five was already quite expensive and adding a second room that we normally wouldn't have when, you know, because we're bringing my husband, it does add up. And I know we'll talk numbers after like on the next call, but it adds up and adding that $900 or whatever that was going to be didn't seem like it was going to meet all of like their top goals of what the kids said on their voting sheet they wanted to do. And so I just didn't think that it made sense for us. But I did think that it made sense for us to add the park hopper option so that we could spend those low crowd mornings in Magic Kingdom and then hop elsewhere. But this is our big Thursday. The 17th is our big Magic Kingdom day. Kind of like rope drop it and shut it down. We'll take a little break in the middle like we like, but that'll be kind of our only opportunity for fireworks. And we really want to see that starlight parade that evening too. Kind of crossing my fingers that Thursday ends up not being a washout with the rain that's on the forecast, but we'll have to see. I mean, it's not the end of the world if we don't see fireworks and the parade, but it would be nice