Note: Min's trip report is in Coral and Bill's comments are in Blue.

Prelude

I wanted to take Min to Walt Disney World for her 30th birthday. Since she had enjoyed Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party last year, we bought tickets for the October 24th event as soon as they went on sale. We had planned on spending four days and three nights, starting on a Thursday and staying through Sunday. Then the Fairytale package was announced. I said what the heck, Min's 30th birthday is a once it a lifetime event. What could be better that celebrating it with a week at Min's favorite place, Walt Disney World? After thinking a little  while (and I do mean "a little while," maybe all of fifteen seconds), nothing else came to mind so we booked the Fairytale package.

We booked the Fairy Tale Package because it is the best package deal that WDTC has ever offered. Then we took a couple of short trips to WDW for our third anniversary. After those trips, we decided we needed a break and took another trip to WDW. We did the math and decided it worked out best to upgrade our Play-4 passes to Florida Resident's Premium Annual Passes. Taking the advice of some of the RADP vets, we found it cost us less to book the pieces of the trip rather than a package. Now we are waiting for Florida Resident or AP rates for October to come out so that we can change our Fairytale package to just a room-only booking.

When we booked the Fairytale Package, we chose the Wilderness Lodge to be our base of operations for Min's 30th Birthday Celebration. However, when the Florida Resident and AP rates became available Wilderness Lodge did not have any availability with the discounted rates. After checking our various options with Brian at CRO, who by the way was extremely helpful, we decided upon the Animal Kingdom Lodge and a pool view. We stopped by the resort when we were in WDW on Labor Day Weekend and decided that we had made a good choice.

Read Our Pre-Trip Plan for Min's 30th Birthday Celebration

Trip Report

This was a eight day trip too many words and pictures for just one web page, so our trip report has been broken up into six parts.

Click to Read:    -  Part 1  -  Part 2  -  Part 3  -  Part 4  -  Part 5  -  Part 6

Part One covers October 18th and 19th. It includes our final preparations, the trip down to WDW and our first full day at the parks. It also includes a visit to Epcot where we got to meet Deb Wills, Debra Martin Koma and Dottie from All Ears as well as some other All Ears and RADP community members.

Part Two covers October 20th and 21st, our second and third day at WDW. It includes breakfast at Donald's Breakfastosaurus, a visit to Animal Kingdom and dinner at Boma. It also includes breakfast at Cape May Cafe, a visit to Disney Studios and the Magic Kingdom as well as dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern.

Part Three covers October 22nd and 23rd, Min's Birthday and our fifth day at WDW. It includes breakfast at Crystal Palace, a visit to the Magic Kingdom and Disney Studios as well as dinner at Mama Melrose's and a viewing of Fantasmic. It also includes breakfast at Boma, a visit to Animal Kingdom as well as dinner at Fulton's Crab House and a visit to the Adventurers' Club.

Part Four covers October 24th, our sixth day at WDW. It includes breakfast at Chef Mickey's, a visit to Epcot as well as dinner at California Grill and our night at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

Part Five covers October 25th and 26th, our last two days at WDW on this trip. It includes breakfast at 1900 Park Faire, a visit to Epcot as well as dinner at Chef Mickey's and a viewing of SpectroMagic and Wishes. It also includes a visit to Downtown Disney and lunch at House of Blues.

Part Six is a summary of our trip. It contains our final thoughts about Min's 30th Birthday Celebration including our likes and dislikes as well as the things that made this trip special.

Click to Read:    -  Part 1  -  Part 2  -  Part 3  -  Part 4  -  Part 5  -  Part 6