Confessions of a Disney Slack Bag

[TypeADisneyDude]

Howdy All!

Despite my user name I come to you in shame and a moment of confession. Last December my partner and I decided to do our first Disney trip together. We set our dates for September...and then that was the extend of any planning until this weekend (totally not his fault, he's never gone to Disney before so he does not understand the need for planning). Now, with a mere 121 days to go until the trip, I have kicked the planning into high gear. This involved lots of logistical work this weekend. First up was:

Turning my hotel-only reservations into a Disney Package. Luckily my aunt texted me three days ago and told me that the Disney Free Dining Deal ended on May 18th. Whoops! I called reservations and turned my hotel reservations into a Magic Your Way Package (complete with Free Dining!!!) The only bummer for this is that I had to repay a deposit since my initial one night deposit for the hotel room could not count towards a package reservation. The initial deposit will get refunded, but they said that could take one or two weeks. I am trying a new hotel this trip: The Port Orleans French Quarter!!!! I wanted more of a quiet (I know that's a relative term at Disney) environment for my partner than what one can get at the value resorts. I typically stay at the value resorts, but I have been advised that POFQ has a significantly reduced occurrence of yelling, screaming kids and parents.

Up next...Free Dining means Priority Seating "Reservations!"

 

[TypeADisneyDude]

I know that there is much debate regarding the impact of Free Dining on the parks, quality of food, and the level of truth in the word "free..."

But it was offered so I did it! First time ever using the Dining Plan! Since I was behind the ball in making reservations, I need to do some quick research on crowd levels in the parks in order to determine what restaurants we should reserve for which day. The end result was:

-Tuesday, September 18th - Blizzard Beach (not really a must-do for me, but my partner LOVES water parks). Dinner reservations for Coral Reef later in the evening.

-Wednesday, September 19th - Hollywood Studios - Dinner reservations for Portobello in Downtown Disney.

-Thursday, September 20th - Magic Kingdom - Dinner reservations for Paradiso 37 in Downtown Disney.

-Friday, September 21st - Epcot - Dinner at San Angel Inn.

-Saturday, September 22nd - Animal Kingdom - Dinner at Boma.

-Sunday, September 23rd - Leave for Home (I already feel sad about this).


I know it's a lot of trips away from the parks to Downtown Disney, but my partner is most likely going to want some down time in the afternoons or early evening. In the spirit of compromise and not totally destroying my relationship, I am making an exception to my strict policy of attacking the parks non stop from opening to closing.

 

[TypeADisneyDude]

Totally still needed plane tickets from Boston to Orlando...and boy did prices jump!!!! Ended up booking flights on Airtran. I usually prefer Jet Blue, but anything that gets me to Disney is more than ok!