Come on read it!! Time to gain weight but so worth it! Pretrip report 06/23-07/06!!!

[snookie5605]

Ok so I know my trip isn’t for another 54 days but I figured I would start a pre-trip report. So a little about me….i’m Courtney. I’m 25 and have been going to Disney if not every year since I was born, it’s been every other year. My family has time sharing down in Lake Buena Vista, so even if we weren’t staying on Disney property, we still went to the parks. My biggest obsession came when I went back to Disney back in 2005.Me and my boyfriend at the time, Mike, were only dating for about 2 months, and he decided to come along on vacation with me and the family. Of course we were at the time share place but we still went to the parks and had a ball. Well the next year in July 2006, we all went back again, again staying at the timeshare. Then on July 30, 2006, Mike proposed to me at Cinderella’s Castle. That began the craziness! this made me a princess according to my husband! After that day, our wedding was Cinderella based, we then proceeded to go on our honeymoon at Caribbean Beach in September of 2007, and then went back at All Star Movies for our one year anniversary just last year in September 2008.

On that trip, I decided that instead of giving my niece money or a gift for her high school graduation gift in june 2009, I was going to take her to Disney on a vacation as her gift. So that leads us to now. My husband and I are taking my niece, Chynna, to Disney on june 23rd-july 6th for her high school graduation gift. We are staying at Pop Century. We have the deluxe dining plan (which equals to 39 meals per person and 2 snacks per person) and we have 8 tickets to the parks along with the water park and fun option added on.

So needless to say I am a Disney freak! I was a nut planning my wedding and I have been a nut ever since planning our trips. This year is no exception. My DH and DN have even been making fun of me askng me if I scheduled time to go to the bathroom because I have every mnute planned for us for this trip.

My husband is a bit sick of the Disney stuff but he puts up with it because I love it so much. But I will say I can see where hes coming from since hes been there every year since 2005 and hes a man and could care less about characters and stuff.

My niece is also THRILLED! Shes started a countdown a couple days ago! Shes mainly excited because she has never been on a trip without her two little brothers and hasn’t been to Disney since she was probably 10. so she is very excited to be going.

Since this is her graduation gift, I have tons of stuff planned for her. I have already bought her a basket from memoriesbybetsy.com which has the graduation ears engraved with her name, a 2009 mickey graduation plush, and a 2009 graduation pin. This will be delivered to our room the day we get there. I have alreadty orderd the mini cake princess surprise for her at one of the restaurants and the pop up surprise centerpiece for another meal. I am planning on getting the room decorated through the disneyflorist and I am also ordering her a custom cake. Plus of course she will have the rgaradution pin to wear everywhere! So I guess I will get down to the itinerary now. On and one other thing, can someone please let me know how to post pics on here. Every time I try, it doesn’t work so that would be a lot of help if someone could let me know.

On june 23rd we leave from the Philadelphia airport. Now our flight leaves at 7:05 in the morning so of course we have to be there by 5am. The DH and the DN are not too thrilled with that and neither is the DF who has to take us to the airport. But hey I figured if I am paing for that day I might as well get my money’s worth and spend the whole day there. So I figured we should be arriving to the hotel by around 10:30 or 11am, so here we go:

2:15pm-initially I had reservation for Cap’n Jacks but after reading someone else’s reposrt trip and seeing pics of the food from the Cookes of Dublin, I am canceling and going there instead, so Cookes of Dublin for lunch (DDP)

7:45pm- Tutto Italia (DDP)

june 24th:
8:30am- Boma (DDP)
pool time!
2pm- Whispering Canyon (DDP)
7:30pm- Chef Mickey’s (DDP)

June 25th:
Animal Kingdom Day!
8:10am- Donald’s Safari Character Breakfast (DDP)
lunch-Rainforest (OOP)
7:05pm- 1900 Park Fare(DDP)-added on the mini cake surprise!

June 26th:
Epcot Day!
8:15am- Princess Storybook Breakfast (DDP)-added on the pop up centerpiece
lunch- eating at the different stands using snacks on DDP
8:40pm- Le Cellier (DDP)-so excited about this one because I have heard so many good things about it but have never been there!

June 27th:
7:20am- Chef Mickey(DDP)
9AM- Typhoon Lagoon
lunch- Leaning Palms at Typhoon Lagoon(DDP)
9pm- Narcoosee’s (DDP)- this is mine and my husbands favorite restaurant!

June 28th:
Magic Kingdom Day!
8:05am- Cinderella’s Royal Table (DDP)
12:50pm- Liberty Tree Tavern (DDP)-really disappointed that they got rid of the pound cake with the walnuts in the sweet caramel and the ice cream, that was the most heavenly dessert ive ever eaten!
6pm- Crystal Palace (DDP)-adding on a custom cake!

June 29th:
Hollywood Studios Day!
8am- Starring Rolls Café (DDP)
1:15pm- 50s Prime Time Café (DDP)
5pm- Brown Derby-Fantasmic Package (DDP)

June 30th:
7:30am- Grand Floridian Café (DDP)
9am- Blizzard Beach
lunch- The Warming Hut (DDP)
8pm- Spirit of Aloha (DDP)

July 1st:
7:30am- Pop Century (DDP)
9am- Universal Studios
lunch- Bubba Gump’s at Universal (OOP)
8:15pm- 50s Prime Time Café (DDP)

July 2nd:
7:35am-Ohana (DDP)
9am- one of the water parks
lunch- Earl of Sandwich (DDP)-another favorite
6:30pm- Miceky’s Backyard BBQ (DDP)

July 3rd:
8am- Cape May Café (DDP)
pool time!
2pm: Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian-just me and Chynna (OOP)
7:15pm- Hoop De Doo (DDP)

July 4th:
8am- 1900 Park Fare (DDP)
heading over to MK because im too afraid they will shut down due to crowds for the 4th
lunch- Cosmic Rays (DDP)
5:30pm- Cinderellas Royal Table (DDP)

July 5th:
8:05am- Crystal Palace (DDP)
lunch- Fulton’s at Downtown Disney (OOP)
mini golfing!
Dinner- TREX (OOP)

July 6th-
DEPARTURE DAY!
Am-breakfast at Pop Century using snacks!

So that’s it! Hope you all enjoyed and will enjoy the info when I get back. Also don’t forget if someone could tell me how to post pics that would be great! For anyone who is leaving soon or before me, hope you all enjoy your trips, im jealous, but enjoy! Talk to everyone soon!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

On your arrival day - have you considered Raglan Road instead of Cooke's of Dublin? It's in the same area, it's the table service eqivilant and has gotten great reviews.

Your plans look amazing!

 

[skellingtonfreak]

Looks like a great line-up, although I am with the pp...you should definitely try Raglan Road if you are doing the DDP.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Sounds like a fantastic trip! Have a great time and take tons of pictures

 

[snookie5605]

by the way just want to say sorry for the spelling mistakes! i was writing at work and rushing and completely forgot to spell check!

 

[natalielongstaff]

i hope you have a great trip

 

[snookie5605]

so can i just say with 47 days and counting i am absolutely jumping out of my skin! im so excited to go, even though i know the crowds will be insane and its going to be soooooo hot! but i just cant wait, especially because im taking a break from disney for a couple years, mainly because my husband wants to, but also because i know soon we will be trying to have our first child. so this may be our last trip for a while!

but what i was wondering is, does anyone have any ideas on what i can ask the cake hotline to do for her graduation cake? or has anyone gotten a grad cake for someone? how did you get it decorated, etc? i know she loves the fairies from sleeping beauty, so i wanted to incorporate them but i also wanted to have something on it to do with her graduating. so any ideas would be a huge help!

also has anyone ever gotten the room decorating package aka the grand welcome from the disneyflorist? i am doing this and was just wondering how it was, so let me know that too!

 

[skellingtonfreak]

Just whenever you talk to the cake person, let them know what you want. All I told them when I ordered a birthday cake was it had to have the Fantasia brooms on it...I don't care how many, and I don't care what other characters are on it. They were so accomodating, and it looked so great! We ended up cutting it into 30 pieces and shared with every single person in the restaurant. We spread the magic that day! The topper was all white chocolate and so delicious.

I am sure they can do something cool for you. They are so good at this sort of thing.

And we are down to 29 days and I am getting so excited!!! I know how it feels to cut back. We are cutting down to 2 trips a year (not the same I know), but it is a far cry from the 4 a year we have been taking.

 

[snookie5605]

so i am now 41 days out! i cant wait. its like the excitement is just building and building and looking on here and reading peoples dining and trip reports just makes me want to be there so much more!

i was reading about some cake information the other day and someone posted info and pictures on ordering cakes. they took a picture of individual cakes that they sell in the food court area of POP that you can buy. they come in either chocolate or vanilla and just have some celebration mickey sprinkles on them. i was wondering if when i fax my room request over, if i asked them if they could have one of those cakes in our room for when we arrive, since i am having the disney florists decorate it, if they would do this?! anyone know if they will or have had any experience with them doing this?

im also wondering how much longer i should wait to call the disney florist to order the room decorating. it says no more than 48 hours but that kinda worries me to wait that long. what do you all think?

well i guess i will leave this little update for now! will update as it gets closer!

 

[snookie5605]

so i figured i would post some pics of the cast for the upcoming trip:

chynna (17), me (25), my DH mike (23)

here is a pic of me, the princess of course!

and here is mike, with nothing other than a pirate!

 

[natalielongstaff]

Lovely pics

 

[snookie5605]

so just a little update. i am now at my 32 day mark!!! which is totally exciting. im thinking pretty soon i should be getting my disney mail which i just cant wait for.

on monday i went ahead and called the disney florist to order the mickeys welcome to have in the room. im a bit disappointed that it wont be done the day we get there but whatever, ill deal. it is going to be done the day after between 4-6pm, which totally messes up my schedule and im going to have to stay away from the resort between our lunch reservations at 2 and our dinner ones at 7:30! this should thrill the DN and DH. that final cost was $222 for anyone that is interested in getting it!

yesterday i went on amazon and ordered my passporters guide and hidden mickeys book so i cant wait to get them and start planning some stuff!

i am getting a bit nervous about the crowds though. i keep on hearing about how crazy and hot and packed it is during that time, especially for the 4th of july! i just know that wont go over well with the DH cuz he has no patience whatsoever! but i guess he'll just have to suck it up!

other than just waiting for the day to get here and reading trip and dining reports and getting more and more excited, im not doing anything. this is finally the holiday weekend so i have monday off from work which is awesome! then next weekend is DN grad party which i have to make the cake for, and then she graduates on june 5th which is so surreal!

so i guess ill sign off for now! anybody that's reading and going soon, enjoy yourselves! hope the weather stays nice!

 

[snookie5605]

i hope you have a great trip

thanks!!!! cant wait, im finally 25 days out and getting more and more anxious waiting for my mickey mail to get here!

 

[snookie5605]

Just whenever you talk to the cake person, let them know what you want. All I told them when I ordered a birthday cake was it had to have the Fantasia brooms on it...I don't care how many, and I don't care what other characters are on it. They were so accomodating, and it looked so great! We ended up cutting it into 30 pieces and shared with every single person in the restaurant. We spread the magic that day! The topper was all white chocolate and so delicious.

I am sure they can do something cool for you. They are so good at this sort of thing.

And we are down to 29 days and I am getting so excited!!! I know how it feels to cut back. We are cutting down to 2 trips a year (not the same I know), but it is a far cry from the 4 a year we have been taking.

thanks for the pics of the cake!!! that is so cool. i still havent called to order it yet. i forget from when i did it last year. do they charge your credit card right on the phone or do you pay at the restaurant? and doesnt it suck to cutback? i think thats why im so excited for this trip! but i am trying to convince the husband, mom, and dad to go down in 2011 for christmas so we'll see!

 

[snookie5605]

Sounds like a fantastic trip! Have a great time and take tons of pictures

thank you!!! i see you're going in june! hope you have a great trip!! and trust me ill have tons of pics!

 

[snookie5605]

ok so we are now at our 25 day mark! so totally excited. still waiting for the mickey mail to get here but my AAA travel agent said it should be here soon. usually at the 3 week mark and right now im at 3 weeks and 5 days! so just a little update, i got my hidden mickeys and passporters on friday and they are both really cool. i cant wait to do the hidden mickeys, and surprisingly my DH is really excited too!



the passporters is ok. there isnt enough room to put all of my plans so im going to have to get a book and do it that way. right now i have all of my stuff in a folder but thats just falling apart!



other than that, i started to make my list of things we need to get and then my packing list. next week i have to go out and get some new clothes which im looking forward to, not so much the bathing suit shopping though. but thats it for now. ill check back in probably next week!



thanks for reading!

 

[snookie5605]

here are just two pictures of my dogs at halloween. they didnt come out very good cuz they are on my cell but oh well.

this is chase. my little loverboy! he just turned one on march 21st! he's mickey mouse!

and here is mocha. she just turned 2 on march 31st. she is a typical woman and can be kind of moody! but i still love her. she was the puppy i got when my 1 1/2 year old puppy died in 07 from kidney cancer. so she holds a special place in my heart. she helped me get through that. she is minnie mouse.

 

[Dancegrl624]

I just found your PTR. My family and I will be at Pop from June 24th-June 28th. Maybe we'll bump into each other! I was looking over your ADR's and I must admit, I'm a bit jealous!! I didn't book this trip until 60 days prior and I cannot get into LeCellier, CM or the Tusker House bfast. I'm not giving up though!

By the way, I have two kitties and my female cat is named Mocha!

 

[snookie5605]

I just found your PTR. My family and I will be at Pop from June 24th-June 28th. Maybe we'll bump into each other! I was looking over your ADR's and I must admit, I'm a bit jealous!! I didn't book this trip until 60 days prior and I cannot get into LeCellier, CM or the Tusker House bfast. I'm not giving up though!

By the way, I have two kitties and my female cat is named Mocha!

maybe we will bump into one another!!! yeah thats the only thing that sucks if you do a last minute trip, you cant get all the ADRS you want but i would def keep on trying. they always open up. ive never been to Le Cellier or Tusker so hopefully it is worth it! and i want a kitten so bad, but my husband doesnt think its a good idea. Chase is a bit of a hunter (we think he has hounddog in him or beagle) so we arent too sure how he would react with a tiny kitten! if we dont see each other or we dont talk before, enjoy your trip! hope its not too hot or crowded!

 

[Dancegrl624]

maybe we will bump into one another!!! yeah thats the only thing that sucks if you do a last minute trip, you cant get all the ADRS you want but i would def keep on trying. they always open up. ive never been to Le Cellier or Tusker so hopefully it is worth it! and i want a kitten so bad, but my husband doesnt think its a good idea. Chase is a bit of a hunter (we think he has hounddog in him or beagle) so we arent too sure how he would react with a tiny kitten! if we dont see each other or we dont talk before, enjoy your trip! hope its not too hot or crowded!

I love bumping into other DISers! On our trip this past January, we met a few ladies from the Jan thread I belong to. I felt like I had known them forever! I have a PTR going on right now too. Come check it out if you have the time!