An Anniversary Trip Full of Favorites-May 2012 PTR!*TR Link 5/14 & Question 5/15 p32*

[Mrs T 2009]

Sounds like great first day plans

Hopefully your rooms will be ready with the full balcony!

Yes, start taking about CBC to Brandon, or he may start to think you changed your mind about resorts.....

 

[teekathepony]

54 days! It's coming up fast! I love the Royal Rooms too, they're beautiful!
Love the first day plans, particularly that you get there so early! Lucky. Can't wait to hear how the resort surprise goes!

 

[MEK]

Checked out your plans before I entered the no picture zone. That fountain picture and Illumination picture are so awesome!!!!!!!

I also think those Royal Rooms are great, but I have noticed when I went on the passholder site that there are so many different levels of mod rooms right now. It is starting to get confusing.

Sounds like a great day in Epcot!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

The Royal Rooms look so cool! I love the fireworks headboards!

Your first day plans sound great!!! Hopefully you guys get a full balcony, that would be so nice!

Even though you won't be entering past the fountain, I still think it's worth a visit!

 

[amazingact21]

Nice first day plans. Beaches and Cream is so good...we're eating there, but only because the desserts are amazing!

I can't wait to see how the Beach Club secret goes!

And being so close to Epcot and DHS, I'd say try and take the ME, just because you'll probably not use the rental car as much as you normally would. But, I can see how by trying to convince Brandon not to get the car, he might get suspicious of the resort. A catch-22!

 

[pinkxray]

I love the new royal rooms. I am thinking of staying there for whatever year I make it down in Feb. I love the headboards. Although I do think the AB rooms are pretty cute too. I don't really like the other mansion rooms though.


When are you finally just going to book the deluxe dining plan? I think you guys would LOVE it.

 

[ditsypixie]

The first day plans look great!

I can't wait to hear his reaction when you finally surprise him with the BC!!

 

[407-W-DISNEY]

54 days! WOW....that will be here so quickly!
Day one sounds great so far!

 

[natebenma]

Great ideas for your first day. I love that you have a little flexibility.

If there is any chance you can pass on the rental car, I would suggest it...

The Magical Express is pretty cool. Disney Movie to get you excited on the way in. Driving under the arch (which you do in the car, too). Not schlepping your luggage!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And as for park transportation... you walk to EPCOT and walk/boat to HS. For MK, it is actually better to take the bus than a car. A car brings you right to the MK main entrance, but if you drive you have to park at TTC and take the monorail or ferry. You can hop from MK to EP on the monorail, and not have to worry about getting back to pick up your car. Just head right back to the BC.

The only places the car is an advantage is for AK (slight, not great advantage) and DTD (admittedly, much better having the car for this. Or cab. $20 each way cheaper than $200 rental car)

BUT as you said, you probably would have to spill the beans early about the resort. If you do the ME, the resort is listed on the luggage tags (I think) and you wold need to get into the right line at the airport.

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Your first day sounds great!

I totally agree about the POR royal rooms...I'm staying in one during my solo trip in April!

I love the fountain photo, so beautiful!

 

[Simba22]

Yay for adding in breakfast at Cape May! We were supposed to go in 2010 but stayed at MK until 3am and obviously couldn't make it to breakfast!

When we go back in 2013, I'm making almost ALL of our ADRs for places we've never been. There may be one or two repeats just for the sake of convenience (or no where "new" that we want to try) but in 10 days, I think we can get in a lot of new experiences! I am SOOO looking forward to that trip! I'm excited about our upcoming July trip, but October 2013 is the one I'm most anxious for!

Your first day looks great! You should tell Brandon that you'll drive to the resort too so he can sleep a little more...and then you can save the surprise until you're actually AT the resort! Or, if you guys use a GPS...you can program in BC under CBR so that when he sets it, he thinks he's going to CBR but you'll end up at BC instead!

 

[Joyciemc]

great first day plans!

Looking forward to seeing the other plans to see if we'll run into each other at all!

 

[PirateKate]

We had to pick just four restaurants for our May trip, too. It's a hard thing to do. I think you made great choices, although oddly, we settled on four completely different ones. Are you considering the Deluxe Dining Plan?

Tricky situation with the rental car...it'd would be too bad to get one you don't really need, but on the other hand, the surprise wouldn't work well otherwise. I suppose whenever you tell Brandon about the BC, it will be a surprise.

I love those POR Royal rooms, too. They look amazing!

 

[jenneth79]

How keen is he on what the different ME luggage tags are? I don't know if maybe he wouldn't pay attention....or you could say "what? ugh, they made a mistake..." or something? Hmm, it really would be a shame to have to pay for the car if you didn't need it. That's just coming from me, though....and I can't keep a secret to save my life!

I think you have wonderful first day plans! We've found that heading to AK on a half day is perfect to get some time in there without feeling like you're missing out on anything.

You're going to LOVE CG. I've tried both the chocolate torte and the banana *thing*...which I can't remember the name of, but if it has bananas, and you like bananas, order it. It's heaven.

I can't believe your trip is so close!

 

[klacey1]

Great plans! Is there any way maybe you could surprise Brandon with BC at the airport so you don't have to rent a car? It does seem a little unecessary to have a car when you're staying at BC. You could lead him toward the rental desks and then say--- surprise, we're getting on ME to go to the BC!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

I agree with a PP about skipping a rental car, if possible. You'll be staying at an Epcot resort, so transportation to 2 parks definitely doesn't require a car.

The experience on the Magical Express gets me so excited for Disney World. It's just a video but knowing that you are stepping onto something Disney right at the airport is awesome.

Honestly, the biggest pain in the neck with the buses is getting to DTD and for the few times you'll be visiting this trip, I'd suggest spending only a portion of what you would spend on a rental car and take a cab.

As far as leaving your plans open, I love that idea! Greg and I did a lot of that on our last trip and it worked out great b/c we didn't feel like we HAD to get something accomplished everyday and just could do what we felt like. I actually cancelled our ADRs for this upcoming trip and we are just going to go with the flow.

 

[KatMark]

Thankfully, one report I'm not too far behind on.

Day one plans sound great. We always rent a car (but then we always drive to the beach for a week after Disney). They are crazy in price right now and I don't understand why. With gas so high, you would think they'd be trying to get rid of the cars because they won't be renting them like they normally do if gas were cheaper. I got lucky and used an AARP rate (see, there are advantages to being over 50) and was able to get a small SUV for $385 for our two weeks in September.

Love Cape May Cafe...need to get back there one of these years.

 

[Nermel9]

Great first day plans! Checking into Beach Club and going to Cape May sounds like our first day plans!

Hopefully you can squeeze in AK for a couple of hours so you don't have to skip it entirely!

That sounds like a perfect way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! I don't know why I chose a jester smiley... I was looking for something that looked like he was going to a party!

Ahh I am so excited about going to Beaches and Cream! John and are already planning to go there an get the kitchen sink! We're so excited!

Can't wait to hear more plans! I can't believe how close your trip is! We're still 118 days away!

I think going to Cape May our first night will be awesome, it's nice that it's right in the Beach Club! I hope we can get to AK at some point on this trip!

The two of you are going to try the kitchen sink??? I was thinking of trying that with Brandon, but I thought that might be a little ridiculous...I really doubt 2 people could put a dent in that thing, but I really want to try it!

Don't worry, you're trip will be here before you know it, and mine will be OVER!

Great first day plans. Just reading about your check-in at Beach Club makes me second guess my resort choice. I do love being at the Beach/Yacht Club.

Thanks! Haha, I always read about people checking into their resorts and 2nd guess my choice too! The Poly will be awesome! I'd stay there if I could! Someday!

oooohhh! your first day plans sound SOOO good I hate that our travel days are sooo long that we can't enjoy any disney magic until the next day but we are used to it. I guess what makes upf or that is that we are staying 19 days this time!! so i can't complain too much but your first day just sounds so magical!!! and yes those rooms are POR are SO gorgeous!!! wow!

Thanks! Wow, 19 days, I'm SO jealous! The longest trip I've taken was 10 days this past October and my DH said never again, it was too long! Aren't the POR rooms beautiful?

FIRST DAY! Aren't the first days just the BEST? Ugh, I'm still so jealous you're staying at Beach Club! What a beaut.

I hope your rental car prices go down! I also hope you get to experience Magical Express some day, though. It's fun stuff.

Um yes you need to go to Beaches and Cream. It's a DELIGHT!

The first day is always awesome, when you have your whole trip in front of you! I still can't believe I'm staying at the Beach Club! I always assumed it would be a one time thing on our Disneymoon!

I hope the prices go down too, but I'd like to try ME someday!

I am definitely going to Beaches and Cream at some point, just not sure when! I can't stay at BC and NOT go to Beaches and Cream!

Yeah, it was SO NICE when we got our $150+ bill for Kouzzina and we didn't have to pay anything. I love booking the packages because you don't have to see the daily room rate if you don't want to, so you can stay blissfully in the dark about your room costs! Or food, with the dining plan. I wish there was a build your own dining plan, because I'd totally load up on snacks. Once we remembered that they were available, we went through ours so fast because I like having small meals through out the day. It would probably be really complicated in regards to pricing, though...

I showed him how we saved ~20% with the dining plan, so TiW should be a good fit for us, especially since we didn't do any alcohol with the dining plan, but it still hasn't sunk in. I just really really like the name 'Tables in Wonderland' so one day I will get the card!

Too many choices! I'd probably just sit down and ballpark the costs of all the restaurants (even though I HATE doing that, because then I feel like I have to spend that much or more/less (depending if it's DDP or OOP) when ordering) and then just find the most/least expensive. Or keep waffling over the decision until we actually sit down and eat the meal! (edit: heh, obvious solution! Put buffets last and see if the costs of the other restaurants are more/less than the fixed costs of the buffets!)

I love the Royal Guest Rooms - I like how they took the design of the other Riverside rooms and then upgraded them to be all fancy-schmancy. It ties in nicely with the rest of the resort! And fiber optic headboards are always nice! Though I can't help wondering what will happen when the bulbs start to go dead. Maybe they won't? Maybe housekeeping will have to start checking headboards as part of the daily cleaning routine?

Ooooh, maybe you can say that cheaper car rentals start the second day? And then never talk about it ever again after getting to Beach Club? Honestly, with Epcot and MGM so close (and most of the ADRs! And maybe MK if you worked it into half days with Epcot and used the monorail? Okay, that's a bit of a stretch!) it really doesn't seem worth it to get the car. How much would it realistically get used?

But I have heard the buses from Beach Club are bad, so it might be a good idea to have a car anyway. Especially for last minute Earl of Sandwich visits!

A Build your own Dining Plan would be great! Have you ever emailed Disney with that idea? That sounds awesome! I would definitely get like, 10 TS credits and 10 snack credits and like, 3 CS credits! I'd much rather eat a real restaurant than a counter service!

I try to get a general idea of what we will be ordering at each restaurant and what to use the credits for and what to pay OOP for, but it's hard, because you have to add in appetizers and alcohol sometimes...I should have just gotten a TIW card anyway, even though Brandon didn't want to! I'm almost thinking we will just pay for Cali Grill OOP and use the 2 TS credits at our other ADR's, because I absolutely know we will be drinking there and probably getting appetizers, so why add that on to 2 TS credits? It probably makes more sense to just pay for all of it instead of paying for like half of it, using 2 credits, and then having to pay OOP for 2 other restaurants! But I don't know. That might be really stupid!

I am so in love with those new POR rooms! I really, really want to stay in one! I'd just stare at that headboard all night and listen to Disney music on my Ipod and probably get no sleep!

I don't know what to do about the ME/rental car dilemma! It makes sense to do ME and just use Disney transportation, but I'm nervous! I have heard the buses at BC are awful!

Your trip will be here before you know it!

Keeping my fingers crossed you can hold off telling Brandon about BC... it'll be a nice surprise!

Yay, I can't wait, I hope it gets here soon, I'm ready to go!

I agree about the new POR Royal rooms...was just looking at them...so nice!

You get there so early on your travel day. Very cool that you should be able to get a good amount of park and resort time in that day. And Beaches and Cream is a must-do at some point! I could use a nice cheeseburger and a No Way Jose...

Aren't the rooms beautiful?? I really need to stay in one!

I hope we can get in a decent amount of park time on the first day, but I was also hoping to rest a little! I hope our room is ready early! I can't wait to go to Beaches and Cream again, the No Way Jose sounds amazing!!

Sounds like great first day plans

Hopefully your rooms will be ready with the full balcony!

Yes, start taking about CBC to Brandon, or he may start to think you changed your mind about resorts.....

Thanks! I hope our room is ready! I have to call and request a balcony, I forgot to do it when I made the reservation!

Haha, I really have to start talking about CBR! He probably already forgot where we're staying!

 

[Nermel9]

54 days! It's coming up fast! I love the Royal Rooms too, they're beautiful!
Love the first day plans, particularly that you get there so early! Lucky. Can't wait to hear how the resort surprise goes!

I know, I can't wait! The POR rooms look amazing! So pretty!

It's nice getting there early, but it's tiring! I keep saying we're going to stop doing that and get there in the afternoon, but you waste so much time on shorter trips! Our next long trip we will probably get there a little later!

Checked out your plans before I entered the no picture zone. That fountain picture and Illumination picture are so awesome!!!!!!!

I also think those Royal Rooms are great, but I have noticed when I went on the passholder site that there are so many different levels of mod rooms right now. It is starting to get confusing.

Sounds like a great day in Epcot!

Thanks! Haha, aren't those pics pretty? They're not mine, of course, I just did a search on google and found them, but I love them!

There are lots of different levels of mod rooms now! It's so strange! If I stay in a Royal Room on our next trip, I don't care about the view, just give me the room!!

The Royal Rooms look so cool! I love the fireworks headboards!

Your first day plans sound great!!! Hopefully you guys get a full balcony, that would be so nice!

Even though you won't be entering past the fountain, I still think it's worth a visit!

I love those fireworks on the headboards! I really want to see them in person, they are so pretty!

Thanks! I really hope we get a full balcony! I'm going to put that it's our anniversary on the reservation when I call to request it, so hopefully they will see that and give us one!

Haha, oh, I will definitely go see the Fountain, I have to go to SE at some point! And I'll have to take the monorail over to MK at some point also!

Nice first day plans. Beaches and Cream is so good...we're eating there, but only because the desserts are amazing!

I can't wait to see how the Beach Club secret goes!

And being so close to Epcot and DHS, I'd say try and take the ME, just because you'll probably not use the rental car as much as you normally would. But, I can see how by trying to convince Brandon not to get the car, he might get suspicious of the resort. A catch-22!

Thanks! I love Beaches and Cream, we ate there on our Disneymoon, and I really want to go again!

I want to try ME but I feel weird not asking Brandon about it...if I decide it's really the best option, I might have to crack and tell him we're staying at the BC!

I love the new royal rooms. I am thinking of staying there for whatever year I make it down in Feb. I love the headboards. Although I do think the AB rooms are pretty cute too. I don't really like the other mansion rooms though.

When are you finally just going to book the deluxe dining plan? I think you guys would LOVE it.

I want to stay in the Royal rooms too, they're so nice, and at least I already know I like POR! The AB rooms are cute too, and I even like the new mansion rooms, they're a lot better than they used to be!

I want to do the deluxe dining plan, but not on this trip, there's just not enough time to be eating that much! Maybe on our next trip!

The first day plans look great!

I can't wait to hear his reaction when you finally surprise him with the BC!!

Thanks! Haha, don't expect a huge reaction...it will probably be something like "wow...great." See, this is the kind of surprise I'd LOVE! Too bad he doesn't plan our trips!

54 days! WOW....that will be here so quickly!
Day one sounds great so far!

I know, I can't wait! Thank you!!

Great ideas for your first day. I love that you have a little flexibility.

If there is any chance you can pass on the rental car, I would suggest it...

The Magical Express is pretty cool. Disney Movie to get you excited on the way in. Driving under the arch (which you do in the car, too). Not schlepping your luggage!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And as for park transportation... you walk to EPCOT and walk/boat to HS. For MK, it is actually better to take the bus than a car. A car brings you right to the MK main entrance, but if you drive you have to park at TTC and take the monorail or ferry. You can hop from MK to EP on the monorail, and not have to worry about getting back to pick up your car. Just head right back to the BC.

The only places the car is an advantage is for AK (slight, not great advantage) and DTD (admittedly, much better having the car for this. Or cab. $20 each way cheaper than $200 rental car)

BUT as you said, you probably would have to spill the beans early about the resort. If you do the ME, the resort is listed on the luggage tags (I think) and you wold need to get into the right line at the airport.

Thanks! I'm trying to be flexible, yet plan out what we will actually have time for! I want to have some free time to do whatever, but there are also certain parks I want to be on certain days, you know?

Taking a cab to and from DTD is a good idea! Huh. Something to consider! If I want to do ME though, there's no way around it, I'd have to make sure it was ok with Brandon, he might really freak out without a car! I do hate driving to MK, the parking/tram/monorail-ferry situation is so annoying!

 

[Nermel9]

Your first day sounds great!

I totally agree about the POR royal rooms...I'm staying in one during my solo trip in April!

I love the fountain photo, so beautiful!

Thanks!

OMG you're staying in a royal room??? Take lots of pictures!

Isn't that fountain picture amazing?? I wish I had a real camera!

Yay for adding in breakfast at Cape May! We were supposed to go in 2010 but stayed at MK until 3am and obviously couldn't make it to breakfast!

When we go back in 2013, I'm making almost ALL of our ADRs for places we've never been. There may be one or two repeats just for the sake of convenience (or no where "new" that we want to try) but in 10 days, I think we can get in a lot of new experiences! I am SOOO looking forward to that trip! I'm excited about our upcoming July trip, but October 2013 is the one I'm most anxious for!

Your first day looks great! You should tell Brandon that you'll drive to the resort too so he can sleep a little more...and then you can save the surprise until you're actually AT the resort! Or, if you guys use a GPS...you can program in BC under CBR so that when he sets it, he thinks he's going to CBR but you'll end up at BC instead!

I can't wait to try Cape May for breakfast, I think it will be good!

That's a good idea, trying all new ADR's! I've thought about doing that, but there are so many places that I love, I just can't leave them out!

Thanks! Haha, yeah right, Brandon would never believe that I'd want to drive from the airport to our resort, I hate driving in unfamiliar places! I have to seriously think about whether or not we really need a car this trip. It's so short, it seems like a waste to pay so much for a car we will barely use!

great first day plans!

Looking forward to seeing the other plans to see if we'll run into each other at all!

Thanks! I know, I hope we will be in the parks at the same time at some point!

We had to pick just four restaurants for our May trip, too. It's a hard thing to do. I think you made great choices, although oddly, we settled on four completely different ones. Are you considering the Deluxe Dining Plan?

Tricky situation with the rental car...it'd would be too bad to get one you don't really need, but on the other hand, the surprise wouldn't work well otherwise. I suppose whenever you tell Brandon about the BC, it will be a surprise.

I love those POR Royal rooms, too. They look amazing!

Just doing 4 ADR's is tough! Although, now that we added Cape May, it's really 5! Where are you guys eating? I've thought about doing the Deluxe DDP but it just doesn't seem like a good idea on this trip! It's too short, and I don't want to spend all of our time eating! Although, if we go in October, I might do it then!

Haha, good point, I suppose it doesn't matter when I surprise Brandon about the Beach Club! I really don't know what to do about the ME/car situtation...I'll have to keep checking prices and see if they drop or not!

How keen is he on what the different ME luggage tags are? I don't know if maybe he wouldn't pay attention....or you could say "what? ugh, they made a mistake..." or something? Hmm, it really would be a shame to have to pay for the car if you didn't need it. That's just coming from me, though....and I can't keep a secret to save my life!

I think you have wonderful first day plans! We've found that heading to AK on a half day is perfect to get some time in there without feeling like you're missing out on anything.

You're going to LOVE CG. I've tried both the chocolate torte and the banana *thing*...which I can't remember the name of, but if it has bananas, and you like bananas, order it. It's heaven.

I can't believe your trip is so close!

Well, we've never used ME, so he doesn't know what the tags are! I barely know! I know they are yellow, right? That's about it! I don't even know how ME works! I would rather just get my own luggage and bring it on the bus with me, is that even allowed?

Thanks! I think AK is definitely a half day park, we never spend more than a few hours there! We love it, but we don't have to keep going back to it, you know? Not like Epcot!

I can't wait for Cali Grill!!! Everything on the menu sounds SOOO good!

Great plans! Is there any way maybe you could surprise Brandon with BC at the airport so you don't have to rent a car? It does seem a little unecessary to have a car when you're staying at BC. You could lead him toward the rental desks and then say--- surprise, we're getting on ME to go to the BC!

Thanks! Telling Brandon at the airport is a good idea, but I'm afraid he might be annoyed that we're not getting a car if I wait that long! Although, I feel like we might not even need one...and once he finds out we will be at BC, he will realize it too and not care! I don't know! I don't know what to do!!!

I agree with a PP about skipping a rental car, if possible. You'll be staying at an Epcot resort, so transportation to 2 parks definitely doesn't require a car.

The experience on the Magical Express gets me so excited for Disney World. It's just a video but knowing that you are stepping onto something Disney right at the airport is awesome.

Honestly, the biggest pain in the neck with the buses is getting to DTD and for the few times you'll be visiting this trip, I'd suggest spending only a portion of what you would spend on a rental car and take a cab.

As far as leaving your plans open, I love that idea! Greg and I did a lot of that on our last trip and it worked out great b/c we didn't feel like we HAD to get something accomplished everyday and just could do what we felt like. I actually cancelled our ADRs for this upcoming trip and we are just going to go with the flow.

I'd have no problem skipping the rental! I might have to just ruin the surprise, tell Brandon we're staying at BC (AFTER I pay off the package in a few days, of course! ) and ask what he thinks about having no car. I really want to try ME! I want to see the little movie!

Taking a cab to DTD is a great idea! But how do you find one at DTD when you want to go back? I know nothing about cabs!

I'm trying to leave as much of our schedule open as possible, so we can relax a lot on this trip, I don't want to go crazy! I just want to enjoy being in Disney World!

Thankfully, one report I'm not too far behind on.

Day one plans sound great. We always rent a car (but then we always drive to the beach for a week after Disney). They are crazy in price right now and I don't understand why. With gas so high, you would think they'd be trying to get rid of the cars because they won't be renting them like they normally do if gas were cheaper. I got lucky and used an AARP rate (see, there are advantages to being over 50) and was able to get a small SUV for $385 for our two weeks in September.

Love Cape May Cafe...need to get back there one of these years.

Thanks! I like renting a car, but I just don't know if it's a good idea for this trip! I'm trying to think about when we stayed at BC 2 years ago, when we did have a car, and how much we used it! I can't remember! I do know we walked to Epcot a lot!

I love Cape May too! We will probably go there on every trip, until one of us gets sick of it!