KCK's 2nd Annual Trip of Awesomeness PTR <UPDTD 11/13-We're Here!Follow Us On Twitter

[muppetkaties]

Welcome! Bienvenue! Willkommen! Benvenuto!

So this is my second attempt at a trip report...both "pre" and "post". My first try was back on a family vacation in August 2008. Well, family health issues, life in general and laziness got in the way of the trip itself and writing a report. I am taking another trip to Disney in November and decided after reading so many wonderful TRs on here, I HAD to write one. I have been on two trips since August '08 and each time I say, "This time I am gonna write one" and of course I never do. Now is the time, "Carpe Diem!"

Enough of my excuses and blah, blah, blah....on to the Pre-Trip Report.....

Any good story has the 5 "W"s: Who, What, Where, Why & When

The Who:
Me, Katie (25)

And my cousins, Chrissy (23) & Kelly (21) (they're sisters)

What: A vacation to Disney World!

Where: We will be staying at Pop Century Resort

Why: Chrissy, Kelly & I visited Walt Disney World last year in November for Super Soap Weekend and we LOVED it. They were just starting to decorate for the holidays and the place had such a wonderful, magical feel. We decided that we should make it an annual trip.

This is from November 2008


and finally,
When: We will be there from November 13 through November 18. 5 nights, 6 days!!

Right now we have 37 days until we leave for our trip. We only just booked everything at about the 50 day mark. I always check out all the different websites for good deals and promotions. For this trip I came across the free dining plan. That was perfect! I mean, we LOVE FOOD and we especially love FREE FOOD! The quick service dining plan will be just right for us. We don't usually do table service so we really wouldn't need it. Plus I must admit, any table service I have eaten at, I was never really that impressed. I know, I'm sounding a little snobby, maybe I just haven't tried the right places. I am always open to suggestions!

In the upcoming days before our trip we still have to purchase our Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party tickets and finalize our exact schedule for what we will be doing each day. Other than that, everything else is taken care of. We will be flying down on Jet Blue, we have a reserveration for 5 nights at Pop and we have 3 Day Basic Park Pass (we might extend this to a 4 day, depending on what we decide to do each day).


Well that's the start of this exciting journey. Hope you come along for the ride!

 

[DisneysRedhead]

Yay! You'll be going to Disney right around the time we will be leaving. We'll be going home on the 15th. Can't wait for more report

 

[muppetkaties]

I came home from work today to find a WONDERFUL surprise in the mail!

It was this lovely envelope:

Isn't this so much better than getting bills or junk mail?

Looking inside I found the usual Magical Express info, including these:

I just love getting this stuff in the mail, it makes the trip seem so real! And SO CLOSE!

It makes me want to get my suitcase out right now, put the tag on and start packing.......Okay, so that probably won't actually happen until the night before.

How early does everyone start packing? I'm sure if you are going longer and/or have to pack for kids too you might need some more time. Is it ever too early to pack?

 

[muppetkaties]

Yay! You'll be going to Disney right around the time we will be leaving. We'll be going home on the 15th. Can't wait for more report

Thanks for joining in! Happy to have you. I just followed your link over to your PTR and I am hooked. Looking forward to discussing our trips!

 

[muppetkaties]

35 DAYS UNTIL I AM IN DISNEY!!

I know 35 days is nothing to really celebrate, but it's getting closer and I am excited!

Don't you just get so anxious in the days leading up to it?

To get my Disney fix, I decided to look through some of the pics I have on my computer. As I was looking, I realized I don't take many pictures with characters. Well, at least not since I have been older. When I am with friends and family I act uninterested in meeting Mickey, Belle or Frozone....I will get pics of them from afar

Like these (from an August '08 trip):

But the truth is, I really get this embarassed, nervous feeling whenever I get up close to them. They don't scare me, but it truly starts to make my heart race. I know, I'm a weirdo. They are just characters.....why do they stress me out so much? Maybe this time I can get over it and take some fun pictures with the characters.

Now I have taken some pictures with Characters in recent years. But make note of the distance I keep from them.

I have a few that I found from past trips:
Myself, Chrissy, Kelly & some friends back at Epcot in August '06

Uh oh, I got awfully close to Dale in that last one, can you see me sweating? (Or is that just my sunburn?)

So, one of the goals on this trip will be to interact with more characters and get some funny photos.
Anyone have any good character interaction stories and/or pics? Would love some inspiration!

 

[muppetkaties]

Oh my, it's been over a week since I last updated. Sorry folks...if there actually is anyone out there to be sorry to.

Since it has been a little while since I have updated, there are a lot of things I want to cover.

First, I wanted to go into a little more detail about...well, the details.
I gave you guys the who, what, where, why & when. But I know you were dying for more information, backstories, thought process, social security numbers. Whoa, whoa, don't get out of control! I just thought a little more info would be fun to write and hopefully entertaining too!

Let's start with the title of this PTR. "KCK's 2nd Annual Trip of Awesomeness", anything with the word "awesomeness" in the title probably will be the best thing you ever read, but if you need more convincing, here's the story. Last year Kelly (a lover of all TV Soaps) wanted to attend the Annual Super Soap Weekend at WDW. We had just been to WDW in August of that year, but it actually wasn't one of our favorite trips. So we crunched some numbers, cleared space on the credit cards and booked ourselves a long weekend at AS Sports in November 2008. We had so much fun on that trip! I had been to WDW in November back in '93 but Chrissy & Kelly had only vacationed to WDW in the Summer. Yea, you know...the crowds, the heat, the humidity, the long lines, the.....okay, you get the picture. So they both fell in love with a much less crowded and a much less humid Disney! Not only did we have fun at all the "Super Soap" Events, we also got to experience MVMCP for the first time. And despite the rain, we really enjoyed it and knew it wouldn't be our last time.

As we got further and further into 2009, the 3 of us kept casually discussing another November trip. Well once again, numbers were crunched, space was cleared on credit cards and a magical trip was happening again!!! We booked ourselves 5 nights, 6 days at Pop Century Resort. I have stayed there once before and liked it. We tried to stay there last November, but couldn't get a room. When I saw availability this year, we decided to stay! So, since Katie, Chrissy & Kelly's 1st Trip to Disney was awesome, it is only fair to assume that the 2nd Trip will be just as awesome.

(Side Note: Kelly is very disappointed that there will not be Super Soap Weekend at Hollywood Studios anymore. We had a blast seeing all the stars last year.)

So who are Katie, Chrissy & Kelly? What do we REALLY know about them? Well you probably don't know anything about us yet, being that I haven't told you.

I'm Katie, cousin to Chrissy & Kelly (our mom's are sisters). We have lived 10 minutes away from each other pretty much our whole lives. We come from a very close family and we talk or text each other at least once a day.

L to R: Kelly, Katie & Chrissy (circa '88/'89)

L to R: Chrissy, Katie & Kelly (last year at a family party)

We have been traveling together since 2002 and we only seem to rarely get on each others nerves. And even at that, it usually doesn't last too long. We always have a lot of laughs and fun together and typically like to do and eat the same things. Makes for a pretty easygoing and relaxing trip!


~~CONTINUED IN NEXT POST~~

 

[muppetkaties]

We'll keep with the whole details theme and I'll give you our itinerary below.

These are our plans so far:

Friday 11/13 - Happy Travel Day /MVMCP
Saturday 11/14 - Epcot
Sunday 11/15 - Hollywood Studios (Late EMH & Osborne Family Lights)
Monday 11/16 - Magic Kingdom (Late EMH)
Tuesday 11/17 - Open Day (Possible DTD & Mini-Golf)
Wednesday 11/18 - Sad Travel Day

As you might be able to tell from our schedule, we do most of our partying at night. We are not earlier risers. Thank goodness for those EMH that accomodate night owls like us! We will probably get started anywhere between 10am to Noon each day. I wouldn't mind getting started earlier, but hey, it's vacation, we should be able to sleep in.

As I mentioned in another post we will be sticking to counter service dining......except.......Chrissy and I were discussing meals we have had on past trips. Teppan Edo came up and we thought of it as maybe a possibility this trip. We really enjoyed eating there and the last time we were there was back in 2004. Since we have the CS dining plan, we either have to pay for Teppan Edo OOP or upgrade to the TS dining plan. Only problem with that is that we don't want to do a TS everyday. We may do another one, but we really weren't planning on it. WHAT ARE WE TO DO? Should we pay OOP? Skip TS all together? Upgrade to the TS dining plan? Opinions and advice welcome!

Okay, I don't want to bore you with too many details and I want everyone to think long and hard about my dining question.

 

[muppetkaties]

Happy Monday All!

I have a little time this morning before I head off to work. I work at a hotel, I stayed over last night after work so that I wouldn't have to drive the 50 miles back home last night and then back again today. Yay to saving gas! More money to spend in Disney!

I never got a chance last week to post pics of more Disney Mail!!! Two weeks ago I recieved our Magical Express info and last week I got all of our vacation package info!

Here are some extremely poor quality pictures: (I don't know why I don't take the pictures in better lighting)

Here is the envelope you recieve with all the details of your park tickets, hotel stay, dining plan and the coupons for the sea raycers, mini-golf & planet hollywood. It also has includes the luggage tags that I love. I know they are pretty cheap plastic, but they are still fun!

I don't think I should be recieving anything else. Now I just have to remember to pack all of our documents and conformation numbers in my carryon.

 

[glennbo123]

It's always exciting to get Mickey Mail. Thanks for posting your PTR.

I've never done the dining plan, so can't really give you any advice there. But I do have a few favorite restaurants....Boma, Kona Cafe, and Biergarten come to mind.

 

[muppetkaties]

It's always exciting to get Mickey Mail. Thanks for posting your PTR.

I've never done the dining plan, so can't really give you any advice there. But I do have a few favorite restaurants....Boma, Kona Cafe, and Biergarten come to mind.

Thanks for stopping by! I think the menu's at Boma & Kona look so interesting, but my traveling companions do not have a very adventurous palate. Maybe I will have to do some convincing!

 

[Chelley00]

Popping in. DD and I will be there the same time and we'll be at Epcot the same day as you. We're not early risers either, but I can't do party late nights with a 7 year old

 

[muppetkaties]

Popping in. DD and I will be there the same time and we'll be at Epcot the same day as you. We're not early risers either, but I can't do party late nights with a 7 year old

Thanks for stopping by!! Hey that's what trips should be about right? Working on your own schedule, getting up and going to sleep whenever you want! Maybe we'll see you in Epcot! Hope you have a wonderful trip. A mother/daughter trip is going to be so magical!

 

[muppetkaties]

Oh my, it has been way too long without any updates from me! Got a little sidetracked from all my Disney planning and excitement. But now, with LESS THAN A WEEK LEFT...I am back on track! How can I not be, it is SO CLOSE!

We kept forgetting that we still needed to purchase MVMCP tickets for the 13th....so we finally did that on Friday. I know it was last minute, but we knew it wouldn't be sold out.

So much to do within the next 6 days. I will be working for 5 of those days, with today being my only day off. So I have to make it super productive!

For the past 3 days I have been wanting to get my suitcase out to pack and I never seem to be able to have enough time to do it. Then comes the laundry and organizing your clothes to figure out what you need to bring. I LOVE going in November, the crowds and weather are so much better than the summer. But November is also a little tough because I never know what to pack! I don't wanna pack too many long sleeve shirts or pants (they take up more room) because I may only end up needing those at night. I think the best bet is to go with some layering pieces.

I have been checking the weather everyday.....hoping to see Sunny 80 degree weather with no chance of rain. But no such luck, Instead I have been seeing temperatures of low 80s and some rain. Hopefully that will change. But if not I'm sure we can handle a little rain...it's Florida...it's pretty much expected.

Well I am going to get started on some laundry and continue with my list of places I definitely want to get food at. Hopefully I can get back on here later to post that list!

 

[muppetkaties]

Happy Friday the 13th All!!!!!!

This is an especially happy one because we are here! In Disney!!!!!! I will be excited to start the trip report once I get back home. But while I am here I will try and update my Twitter as much as possible.
You can find that here http://www.twitter.com/dreamspoiler

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll talk to ya next week!