WDW Obsessed and I've Never Even Been....Yet!

[trickiwoo]

Ok. My WDW obsession has gotten to the point where my family has started placing bets on how long I can go in a conversation before mentioning Disney. So I figure a PTR is a good outlet for all of my WDW excitement and maybe, just maybe, I'll get it all out online so I can stop driving my family crazy!

So not only is this my very first PTR ever, it's also my very first trip to WDW! In fact, I've never even been to Florida!

I've been to Disneyland, but only once in the past decade. And even then I've never been to California Adventure.

Getting ready for my September trip to the World with The Boyfriend has been a magical adventure full of excitement and wonder! I plan to share this adventure with all of you wonderful DISers in the form of PTR! So be sure to come back often for many more exciting updates along with plenty of photos!

Index:

Who Is Going... And Who Is Staying Home!
The Events That Led To Trip Planning...
The Potential Trip Planning Begins!
And Then Actual Trip Planning Begins!
Disneyland Photos!
Flight Change!
The Plan
Cash Monies
Conquering Splash Mountain
Packing My Suitcase + DME
What Camera To Bring?
One Month To Go!
Reading Material
You Learn Something New Every Day
Movie Marathon
Mickey Mail!
Pancakes & Shopping
Car Tunes!
Mini-Vacation
September!
Shoes?
More Mickey Mail!
Single Digits!
My iPod Is Ready To Go!
One Week!
One Week Till HS
One Week Till Epcot
One Week Till AK
One Week till MK
Can It Be Disney Time Now PLZ?
Conclusion

 

[trickiwoo]

Time to introduce the cast! Starting with yours truly...

My name is Lindsay and I'm 23 years old. I was born in San Diego, but moved to North Carolina when I was 7, which is where I currently reside (in the Triangle for those who were wondering.) I'm a freelance photographer, professional dog-walker and pet sitter, and I run my own nonprofit. In my spare time I volunteer with local animal rescues and shelters, decorate cakes, read my Kindle, collect cameras and make gel candles.


I will be traveling to WDW with...

The Boyfriend. AKA Chris. He is 24 years old. He works for a software company and is an independent video game developer. In his spare time, he enjoys playing video games.

We've been together for 3 years. This is our first vacation together as a couple... alone. We went to the beach a few years ago, but we stayed with his parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

He used to live in Florida, so he's been to WDW many times. But he hasn't been since 1999. So this will be his first trip as an adult! And since he has 4 younger siblings, our trip will be an entirely different WDW experience for him. He's looking forward to it, but not nearly as much as I am! (Well, if he is, he certainly isn't showing it the way I am!)

The two of us as a team have never lost a game of Disney Scene-It. We've never tried playing against each other, but if we did he'd probably win... but only because he's faster at shouting out answers than I am!

And we're the only ones going! We'll be leaving behind our furbabies...

Our dog Rosie. We adopted her a year ago. She's a lovable mutt! She's not the brightest crayon in the box, but she sure is full of personality! She's 2 (we think... she was a stray) and she loves eating peanut butter and chasing squirrels. She's very friendly and loves everybody! She'll be staying with The Boyfriend's mom while we're in WDW.

Our Happy Family!

My mouse Ianto. I adopted him last year from a rodent rescue group that saved him from an animal shelter where he was dumped. He enjoys running in his wheel, sitting on my shoulder, and nibbling on carrots. He'll be staying with my parents while we're in WDW.


My family also won't be traveling with us, but they are fun people who will definitely be mentioned throughout the PTR and TR. So they are...

The Parents. They'd probably be mad if I posted their ages, so I'll leave it at "Old Enough To Have A 23 Year Old Daughter". My mom has never been to WDW either. My dad went once or twice as a young child. They've been to Disneyland many times. They even went once as friends before they started dating, and that's when my dad says he first started to fall in love with her! They've been happily married for 27 years! My dad is an accountant. My mom used to be a professional photographer for many years, but now works as a photo editor and graphic artist. They are big fans of the tv shows Lost and Doctor Who.

My brother Justin. He's 21. He is currently in film school. He just finished up a summer film internship at Troma Entertainment. When he's not making films, he's usually working at a bakery or spending time with his girlfriend. He also has never been to WDW.

The family dog Jack. He's a 2 year old German Shepherd. His favorite thing in the world is a laser pointer. When he's not chasing the red dot around, he's usually sitting on the floor staring at the laser pointer waiting for someone to come play with him.

Now that you've gotten to know the WHO of the trip, my next installments will be all about the WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY and HOW of the trip.

 

[Nuwanda9]

Great start! Can't wait to read more!

 

[kiranic]

Great start! Looking forward to hearing more from you!

 

[trickiwoo]

Woo hoo! I have responders! Thanks so much you guys! I'm glad you're enjoying my PTR! It's my first time doing this, so I had no idea what to expect!

 

[trickiwoo]

So ages ago I was talking with The Boyfriend's mom and I mentioned that I'd never been to WDW. She demanded that her son take me right then and there! She also mentioned that early September was her favorite time to go, and that sort of stuck in my head.

The Boyfriend and I discussed going to WDW several times in the past, but no actual plans to go ever resulted from these discussions.

Then at the end of June of this year, we got in a conversation about theme parks. He told me about all of his favorite rides, and we both got very excited about the idea of going to a theme park. He mentioned that he had a bunch of vacation days at work, so that if I could do some research and find out how much it cost, we could work something out. I ran over to my laptop and started researching that very minute!

The first thing I wanted to research was what park. I know he loves big, scary roller coasters and thrill rides, and his favorite parks are the Universal Studios parks so that was the first place I looked. I am a major wuss and most rides terrify me. So I wanted to make sure there would be something there I'd actually be willing to ride! I started researching the Universal attractions, and found quite a few rides that looked like a lot of fun that I'd really enjoy. So then I started researching prices for theme park tickets and hotel rates.

Not too long later, we went out to dinner. In the car, I started telling him about what I'd learned in my research about Universal. As I was going on and on and on, he interrupted and said, "No, you'd be happier at Disney. Let's go to Disney." And I argued that he'd be happier at Universal and I wanted him to enjoy the trip. And he said he'd enjoy the trip no matter where we went, and I said I'd enjoy the trip no matter where we went. So we agreed that I'd do some comparison research.

After dinner, I jumped on my laptop and started looking at WDW! There was a point when I was thinking maybe we could do both WDW and Universal, but after looking at ticket prices that was completely out of the question!

Pretty soon I discovered that WDW had free transportation if we stayed at a Disney resort hotel. The prices of the Value Resorts weren't that much more expensive than the hotels I was looking at when we were considering Universal. And we agreed that the extra cost was definitely worth it considering we'd have transportation to and from the airport, between our hotel and the theme parks, and there was plenty of dining options at WDW.

We're both under 25, so any car rental company that would even allow us to rent a car would charge an "under 25" fee. Plus renting a car was just a hassle that neither of us wanted to deal with. And driving to Orlando wasn't an option since neither of us wanted to be in a car for 10 hours.

So it was settled! If we'd be taking a trip this year, we'd be going to WDW! Now we just had to figure out if we could afford it...

Coming Up Next... The Potential Trip Planning Begins!

 

[trickiwoo]

Once we had an idea for our trip, we still had to figure out if it was doable or not. And to figure out if it was doable, we had to have a potential plan.

Pretty much our conversation went like:

Me: Your mom suggested we go in September, does that sound good to you?
The Boyfriend: Ok
Me: How long do you want to stay?
The Boyfriend: I dunno
Me: Does a week sound good?
The Boyfriend: Ok

Gee, thanks for being so helpful! Men, I swear! Clearly all of the planning was going to be left up to me!

So a week long trip it was! I looked at the September calendar and thought leaving on Thursday September 10th and returning on September 16th looked good. That would give us 5 full days plus 2 travel days. I figured we could do 1 day at each park, then 1 day at a water park. Also, The Boyfriend mentioned that he's never been to DisneyQuest and he really wanted to go. So if we got the Water Park Fun & More option, then we could do DQ as well!

Where would we be staying? That's easy... Pop Century for sure!!! I am a huge pop culture freak and I absolutely freaked out the first time I saw photos of POP online!! I never even bothered looking at the All Stars.

While looking at hotel photos online, we briefly considered doing a shorter vacation and staying at a moderate resort. But then we realized if we'd be staying less days, we'd want to be spending more time at the parks and end up spending less time at the hotel... so why pay more for a hotel you'll be spending less time at? So a value resort it was! (Which I was so in love with POP I think I'd rather stay there than a moderate resort anyway! Of course, if I had my choice and money wasn't an issue, I'd be staying at the Contemporary!)

Now that I had a plan, time to research prices! I presented The Boyfriend with a ballpark figure of exactly how much it was going to cost us. He looked at the figures and told me that he couldn't afford it.

I quickly accepted the fact that I was not going to Disney. In my mind I started coming up with places much closer to us that we could stay at for shorter periods of time that would be much less expensive. I watched as that Disney dream started floating further and further away.

Then The Boyfriend suggests we forget about the Water Park Fun & More option, don't do DQ, and cut the trip a day short. We recalculate the costs and he says, "This is much more doable."

What?? I'm going to WDW?? For real??

I'm completely fine with the new trip plan! We'll just do the water parks and DQ on some future trip!

Now that our trip consisted of 4 park days and 2 travel days, I decided to rethink our travel dates. I thought about doing the parks Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to avoid weekend crowds. That would mean we'd fly down there Sunday and fly back on Friday. Since The Boyfriend works Mon-Fri, that would give us all day Saturday to pack and prepare. Then we'd have that Saturday and Sunday when we get back to rest and recuperate before he had to return to work on Monday.

We had a plan! And dates! September 13th-18th!

The Boyfriend said he'd ask for those dates off work and if he got them, we'd be going. If not, then well, back to square 1.

 

[Gabes_mommy]

We're going to be there at the same time. We are going 9/15 - 9/18.

How sweet of your boyfriend to choose Disney over Universal since he knew it would make you happier - it sounds like you've got a great guy.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[trickiwoo]

We're going to be there at the same time. We are going 9/15 - 9/18.

How sweet of your boyfriend to choose Disney over Universal since he knew it would make you happier - it sounds like you've got a great guy.

Can't wait to read more!

Neat! You picked a good time to go! Maybe we'll be in the same line for the same ride sometime!

He is a very sweet guy! I'm lucky to have him!

 

[kiranic]

Here's to hoping your BF gets his vacation days!!!

 

[deslynnpatterson]

i just found your PTR!!! all of your plans looks great so far! you will love going in sept!! we will be there the same time you will from sept 10-20th-- we are staying at all star music-- we are going for our 5 year anniversary! I cant wait to read more of your plans!!! your trip will be here before you know it

 

[trickiwoo]

Bright and early the next morning The Boyfriend sends me an IM saying his vacation request was approved!!!!! We're going to Disney!!!!!!

The very first thing we decided to do was book a hotel. I did very thorough research on hotels, vacation packages, etc. We decided that for our situation, it would be best if we booked everything separately instead of getting a vacation package.

I'm a AAA member, and I found the best price on our hotel room would be booking through AAA. I chose to book online for convenience. I got all ready to book our room at POP, went to submit, and got a notice that there were no available rooms at POP for our dates!

Nooooo! I'd had my heart set on POP! Oh well, I was still going to WDW and nothing could bring me down! So I booked at ASMu instead.

I'd never even looked at the All Stars, since I was so set on POP. So after booking the hotel room, I went online to look at pictures. That definitely cheered me up, and I started to get very excited about staying at ASMu!

We had a hotel room! It was official! This trip was really happening! Time to go into full planning mode!

First matter of business, which park which day. Since we were staying on-site, I really wanted to take advantage of EMHs. I looked at the calendar and ta-da! It all fell into place.

Mon Sept 14 Hollywood Studios
Tues Sept 15 Epcot
Wed Sept 16 Animal Kingdom
Thurs Sept 17 Magic Kingdom

Second matter of business, where to eat. And that's when I learned about ADRs. Oh boy. If we wanted to eat at a sit down restaurant, we'd need to decide now! I explained this to The Boyfriend and he said, "It's up to you. You decide where to eat, you make the reservations, and I'll eat wherever." I asked him, "Really? There's no where you really want to eat?" There wasn't. Well that made things significantly easier!

The only restaurant I absolutely had my heart set on was Sci-Fi. So I went online to make my reservation and.... it was all booked up!!!!!! More crushing disappointment! But I couldn't be that sad since I was still going to WDW! It didn't matter where I stayed or where I ate, I just wanted to go! Plus, now I had two good reasons to go back to WDW in the future- to stay at POP and eat at Sci Fi!

I wanted to make just one reservation somewhere during our trip, so I went with Tony's Town Square for lunch.... since I love Lady and the Tramp.

I still continued to check Sci Fi every day to see if there were any openings. And sure enough... 5 days later... there was a lunch opening at Sci Fi!!! I didn't believe it! I thought I was dreaming!

So yes, now I have reservations at Sci Fi on Monday and Tony's on Thursday! And the rest of our meals will be counter service! (Even though we're staying during free dining, we still didn't want to do any dining plans for this trip.)


The rest of the planning just sort of flew by! It all happened so quick! We booked our flight! We got our DME reservation! Then we finally got our theme park tickets! (Before the prices went up!) And now we are all set!

From here on out it's all just minor stuff. What to pack, what to do over the next month and a half so I don't go crazy with excitement, etc.

 

[trickiwoo]

i just found your PTR!!! all of your plans looks great so far! you will love going in sept!! we will be there the same time you will from sept 10-20th-- we are staying at all star music-- we are going for our 5 year anniversary! I cant wait to read more of your plans!!! your trip will be here before you know it

I'm staying at All Star Music too! I wonder if we'll be in the same section! Did you put in any section preferences? I didn't because honestly... I don't really have a preference!

I hope you have a magical anniversary!!!!

 

[trickiwoo]

Here's to hoping your BF gets his vacation days!!!

He got them!!!! We're going!!!

After I made all my reservations, I thought, "Oh yah... I should put the dates in at my job too...." My job doesn't offer paid vacation, but we still need to put in when we'll be out of town. But at my job any vacation time you put in is pretty much automatically approved. His job was the one we were concerned about since they may or may not let employees get days off. But he got his days, and I got my days and we are all good to go!

 

[trickiwoo]

To get in the Disney spirit, I've been looking at photos from my last trip to Disneyland in 2007! Here are some photos my mom took of me and my family on that trip:

And here's one of my and my brother at Disneyland in the early 90's:

 

[Nuwanda9]

So ages ago I was talking with The Boyfriend's mom and I mentioned that I'd never been to WDW. She demanded that her son take me right then and there! She also mentioned that early September was her favorite time to go, and that sort of stuck in my head.

The Boyfriend and I discussed going to WDW several times in the past, but no actual plans to go ever resulted from these discussions.

Then at the end of June of this year, we got in a conversation about theme parks. He told me about all of his favorite rides, and we both got very excited about the idea of going to a theme park. He mentioned that he had a bunch of vacation days at work, so that if I could do some research and find out how much it cost, we could work something out. I ran over to my laptop and started researching that very minute!

The first thing I wanted to research was what park. I know he loves big, scary roller coasters and thrill rides, and his favorite parks are the Universal Studios parks so that was the first place I looked. I am a major wuss and most rides terrify me. So I wanted to make sure there would be something there I'd actually be willing to ride! I started researching the Universal attractions, and found quite a few rides that looked like a lot of fun that I'd really enjoy. So then I started researching prices for theme park tickets and hotel rates.

Not too long later, we went out to dinner. In the car, I started telling him about what I'd learned in my research about Universal. As I was going on and on and on, he interrupted and said, "No, you'd be happier at Disney. Let's go to Disney." And I argued that he'd be happier at Universal and I wanted him to enjoy the trip. And he said he'd enjoy the trip no matter where we went, and I said I'd enjoy the trip no matter where we went. So we agreed that I'd do some comparison research.

After dinner, I jumped on my laptop and started looking at WDW! There was a point when I was thinking maybe we could do both WDW and Universal, but after looking at ticket prices that was completely out of the question!

Pretty soon I discovered that WDW had free transportation if we stayed at a Disney resort hotel. The prices of the Value Resorts weren't that much more expensive than the hotels I was looking at when we were considering Universal. And we agreed that the extra cost was definitely worth it considering we'd have transportation to and from the airport, between our hotel and the theme parks, and there was plenty of dining options at WDW.

We're both under 25, so any car rental company that would even allow us to rent a car would charge an "under 25" fee. Plus renting a car was just a hassle that neither of us wanted to deal with. And driving to Orlando wasn't an option since neither of us wanted to be in a car for 10 hours.

So it was settled! If we'd be taking a trip this year, we'd be going to WDW! Now we just had to figure out if we could afford it...

Coming Up Next... The Potential Trip Planning Begins!

That is really sweet that he suggested Disney for you!! I have been to Universal a few times. It is nice but not Disney. I didn't go on any real thrill rides because I just don't do those! But the ones I did go on were fun. Universal always seems to have a deal. The first time I went I was on a solo trip to Disney. I was at a convention and was staying at a hotel on Disney property but not a Disney resort (near DTD). They offered buses to the parks and also Universal. The next trip I took with my brother's family and we drove so we could drive to Universal. As we were standing at the ticket counter figuring out how much it was going to cost for the 6 of us to get in a family came up to us and said they had three tickets to give away. Score! That was a stroke of luck!!

You'll have plenty to do at Disney!! I am enjoying reading about your plans!!

 

[Nuwanda9]

Where would we be staying? That's easy... Pop Century for sure!!! I am a huge pop culture freak and I absolutely freaked out the first time I saw photos of POP online!! I never even bothered looking at the All Stars.

While looking at hotel photos online, we briefly considered doing a shorter vacation and staying at a moderate resort. But then we realized if we'd be staying less days, we'd want to be spending more time at the parks and end up spending less time at the hotel... so why pay more for a hotel you'll be spending less time at? So a value resort it was! (Which I was so in love with POP I think I'd rather stay there than a moderate resort anyway! Of course, if I had my choice and money wasn't an issue, I'd be staying at the Contemporary!)

That is smart thinking! On a shorter trip you wouldn't be spending a whole lot of time in your room. I took a quick, short trip one time so I wanted a value hotel. ASMu was booked so we ended up at ASSp. We hardly spent any time at all in the room except to crash at night. It was not bad at all!

 

[trickiwoo]

That is really sweet that he suggested Disney for you!! I have been to Universal a few times. It is nice but not Disney. I didn't go on any real thrill rides because I just don't do those! But the ones I did go on were fun. Universal always seems to have a deal. The first time I went I was on a solo trip to Disney. I was at a convention and was staying at a hotel on Disney property but not a Disney resort (near DTD). They offered buses to the parks and also Universal. The next trip I took with my brother's family and we drove so we could drive to Universal. As we were standing at the ticket counter figuring out how much it was going to cost for the 6 of us to get in a family came up to us and said they had three tickets to give away. Score! That was a stroke of luck!!

You'll have plenty to do at Disney!! I am enjoying reading about your plans!!

I'd still like to go to Universal one day. Preferably after the Harry Potter attraction opens!!! My brother LOVES scary thrill rides, and his girlfriend is terrified of them and won't go on them! So maybe we could do a joint trip sometime. The boys can go on the big scary rides while the girls do something less scary... like shop!

 

[trickiwoo]

I just got an e-mail saying our flight information has changed! Luckily it's just the flight number of the connecting flight back home. None of the times are any different. And it doesn't affect the flights to and from Orlando, so I don't have to make any changes for DME.

Man, I can't wait to be on that airplane.

Most people hate to fly, but I love it!

 

[deslynnpatterson]

I'm staying at All Star Music too! I wonder if we'll be in the same section! Did you put in any section preferences? I didn't because honestly... I don't really have a preference!

I hope you have a magical anniversary!!!!

thats awesome we are getting a preferred room so that will be in the calyspo building they are the buildings right new the pool!! that is awesome that we will be at the same resort how cool