Yes we're going....again. A June 2015 Pre-Trip Report Update 5/17

[JMSTANLEY110]

Does anyone else get tired of explaining themselves for going to Disney? My husband posted this on my Facebook wall this morning:


Anywho....this is my first pre-trip report ever! I have visited the Disboards for years but never actually registered until this morning. I enjoy reading trip reports and dining reviews so, I finally decided to write my own.

The Whos...
Me! Julia! I am 32 years old and I teach 8th grade social studies. I love, love, love my job and although I love Disney because of my job I can only go during the busy times. I am super OCD and super organized. I cannot exist without a plan....and a backup plan. This comes in very useful at Disney but sometimes it can be a nightmare because it is Disney and people/weather/misc. items can mess that up.

Natey, my DH (31). Natey is my best friend and husband of almost 10 years. We first went to Disney together in 2005 and became hooked. He gets Disney, appreciates my planning, understands the word sheeple and is just overall amazing.

Best Friend or Kelly (32) I've known Kelly since 6th grade and we were refer to each other as Best Friend. As in "Best Friend, what time are you coming over?" Some people find it annoying but we don't. Best Friend has always appreciated Disney but didn't really love it until we all traveled together in 2012. She loves the magic of Disney and its food.

Jamie (43) Kelly's husband. Jamie is a sweet man but doesn't get Disney. He loves us so, he tolerates our Disney obsession. He enjoys being on vacation and is an excellent driver to Disney so we let him stick around.

Avery (8) Kelly and Jamie's son. Avery is the love of our lives! He is the sweetest, funniest and most amazing kid around. His first trip was back in 2012. We took him to Universal first and he was miserable. However, when he got to Disney he became a different child and loved every minute of it. He loves the roller coasters and the chocolate milk.

When:
June 13-June 20, 2015

Where:
Emerald Isle Resorts. Can I just say that I am super depressed about this? This is my first time staying offsite and I am worried that it will not be magical. There is just something about pulling up to the gates and hearing, "Welcome home!." I guess I need to explain why we are staying there. We typically go on vacation every year as a family. We usually stay at the Pop Century and everything has been working well but this year Kelly's sister and her girlfriend will be traveling with us. Jamie has decided that if we wanted to go back to Disney in 2015...instead of 2016, which was the original plan, than we needed to figure out a cheaper alternative. We did a lot of research and crunched a lot of numbers but then Natey found the condo. We are renting a 3 bedroom condo for the week for $550 total. Jamie and even, Natey was sold so, off property condo (as Best Friend calls it) has been booked and paid for.

 

[JMSTANLEY110]

The plan:

Saturday (6/13): Natey and I are driving down the night before and staying with my sister who lives in Sanford, Fl. We have a ADR for the Crystal Palace at 8:25 so we are going to that and then tour the MK for the morning. We are planning on leaving around 2pm and then drive to POFQ. I have always wanted to visit and try the beignets! We will then check into the off property condo and wait for Kelly, Jamie, Avery and the others to arrive. (They will be a wedding in Clearwater so, they will arrive later that night)

Sunday (6/14): Blizzard Beach and then ADR at T-Rex

Monday (6/15): ADR at Cape May Cafe at 8:05 and then EPCOT for the morning and possibly afternoon. We have decided to upgrade to park hoppers so, we will play the afternoon by ear.

Tuesday (6/16): Hollywood Studios! Everyone's favorite park so we will be there all day

Wednesday (6/17): Magic Kingdom. Lunch ADR at Be Our Guest

Thursday (6/18): Animal Kingdom

Friday (6/19): Magic Kingdom

Saturday (6/20): Check out and be depressed.

This is the tentative plan as of this afternoon. I am trying so hard not to be a control freak and come across bossy, but with 7 people nobody is really making decisions! So annoying! I have some concerns about not being able to leave and take breaks. I enjoy my naps and I tend to get stressed out with the crowds so, I usually need a time out by the mid-afternoon but with staying off-site, I know that time-wise it doesn't make the most sense. We also aren't big table service people. We love snacking so, there won't be a lot of ADRs although I just read a dining review about Trail's End and I am tempted to book an ADR for our arrival dinner.

Opinions are definitely welcomed!

 

[JMSTANLEY110]

I thought that I would include some pictures of us for visual purposes.



From left to right: Jamie, Me, Kelly, Avery and Natey!

BTW, is this on?

 

[cnetbuild]

I'm going to tell you the "secret" way to get into Disneyworld that will shave 20 minutes off your journey. When you come out of the resort, hang a right onto Funnie street. You'll come to an intersection at Formosa Gardens (want to know what is behind the wall? Read my blog). Go straight through the intersection onto the dirt road (trust me). The dirt road will turn back into a paved road and you'll come to an intersection. Take a right and you go into the West Gate resort. Instead, take a left. This brings you to Rt.192. Go straight through the intersection (don't turn onto 192). You'll pass Disney casting on the right, disney apartments on the left, go through a big curve, and reach an intersection. At this intersection, if you turn left you'll drive into the Animal Kingdom Resort. Instead, turn right and you'll head into The World. Enjoy!

 

[cogero]

Hey even staying off site you are still going to Disney

 

[JMSTANLEY110]

I'm going to tell you the "secret" way to get into Disneyworld that will shave 20 minutes off your journey. When you come out of the resort, hang a right onto Funnie street. You'll come to an intersection at Formosa Gardens (want to know what is behind the wall? Read my blog). Go straight through the intersection onto the dirt road (trust me). The dirt road will turn back into a paved road and you'll come to an intersection. Take a right and you go into the West Gate resort. Instead, take a left. This brings you to Rt.192. Go straight through the intersection (don't turn onto 192). You'll pass Disney casting on the right, disney apartments on the left, go through a big curve, and reach an intersection. At this intersection, if you turn left you'll drive into the Animal Kingdom Resort. Instead, turn right and you'll head into The World. Enjoy!

Hey even staying off site you are still going to Disney

Yay I have a readers! Thanks for the advice and y'all are absolutely right, I will be at Disney! Speaking of which I have 39 to go. Trying to decide between an early breakfast at Crystal Palace or Be Our Guest. We've done Crystal Palace and BOG for lunch but not breakfast. What does everyone think?

 

[JMSTANLEY110]

So Natey posed an interesting question to me the other day. He wanted to know how I felt about annual passes. Um, I love them but they are just a dream because we will never be able to afford them. Not true according to Natey. He showed me some figures that he had drawn up showing what we were paying for a 7 day park hopper now, pointed out that we had plans to go in October....and maybe December for our anniversary so it would make sense to just spend the extra money now and get them. I was skeptical until he showed me that we actually could afford them so now I am beyond excited! Annual passes! Woohoo!!! 38 days till Disney!

 

[JMSTANLEY110]

Is anyone reading these? Oh well....I'm excited especially since it's 37 days away. We are debating on a place to eat that Saturday night. I've read reviews of Trail End and have never been so I am wanting to try it. Or should we just go to Don Pablo's which is way cheaper, my favorite restaurant and can only eat it when I am in Orlando?

 

[cogero]

Is anyone reading these? Oh well....I'm excited especially since it's 37 days away. We are debating on a place to eat that Saturday night. I've read reviews of Trail End and have never been so I am wanting to try it. Or should we just go to Don Pablo's which is way cheaper, my favorite restaurant and can only eat it when I am in Orlando?

Excellent point!

So Natey posed an interesting question to me the other day. He wanted to know how I felt about annual passes. Um, I love them but they are just a dream because we will never be able to afford them. Not true according to Natey. He showed me some figures that he had drawn up showing what we were paying for a 7 day park hopper now, pointed out that we had plans to go in October....and maybe December for our anniversary so it would make sense to just spend the extra money now and get them. I was skeptical until he showed me that we actually could afford them so now I am beyond excited! Annual passes! Woohoo!!! 38 days till Disney!

OOH Annnual Passes how exciting. They do make planning more fun because you have to get your monies worth out of them.

We tend to go to Cracker Barrel while in Disney because we don't have one here so I see nothing wrong with mixing it up with Disney Dining.

 

[cstorm65]

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip! Annual Passes are great! We did a trip late June last year and are going earlier June this year. Overall we will use it for around 20 park days, but the annual pass is $350 cheaper per person than if we had gotten 10 day tickets each time. They are a hit initially, but your other trips after that initial purchase seem so much cheaper when you don't have to buy tickets! Where did you get your tickets from? If you bought them from somewhere other than Disney at a slightly discounted rate make sure you use them at a theme park on your first day before upgrading them that way you get credit for the current gate price of the ticket instead of having to pay the difference. We bought tickets before the February price increase that year, but got credit for the current gate price in June when we upgraded because we used the tickets to enter the park before going to guest service to upgrade. We did this last year and it worked well. Can't wait to hear more about your plans!

 

[cnetbuild]

So Natey posed an interesting question to me the other day. He wanted to know how I felt about annual passes. Um, I love them but they are just a dream because we will never be able to afford them. Not true according to Natey. He showed me some figures that he had drawn up showing what we were paying for a 7 day park hopper now, pointed out that we had plans to go in October....and maybe December for our anniversary so it would make sense to just spend the extra money now and get them. I was skeptical until he showed me that we actually could afford them so now I am beyond excited! Annual passes! Woohoo!!! 38 days till Disney!

We spend anywhere from 30-40 days per year near Disney, so, getting the year pass makes a lot of sense for us. We have the Disney visa card and charge everything we can to it. The points we earn all year go toward the renewal. And renewing a year pass is cheaper than buying a new one. It is great to have the flexibility of being able to go whenever we have the urge.

 

[cnetbuild]

Is anyone reading these? Oh well....I'm excited especially since it's 37 days away. We are debating on a place to eat that Saturday night. I've read reviews of Trail End and have never been so I am wanting to try it. Or should we just go to Don Pablo's which is way cheaper, my favorite restaurant and can only eat it when I am in Orlando?

If you want to try something that is a little local and a little different, try the Wildside BBQ on Rt. 192. Something very local, yet farther away, is Beef O'Brady's in Davenport on Rt. 22. If you are in for an adventure, go to Celebration (the town Disney built) and eat at the Market Street Cafe, a 50's style diner in the heart of Celebration.

 

[JMSTANLEY110]

28 days away! I am getting so excited! School is almost out, only 15 more school days. This school year went by so fast! I have a few updates and thought that I would share them.

1. We bought our annual passes on Thursday! I was entering grades during my planning period when my husband sent me a text with the annual pass order confirmation. I may or may not have squealed out loud in excitement. It feels so surreal to know that I can go a lot over the next year. If I had it my way I would go every weekend but the 6 hour away distance, the mileage that would be added to my still new brand new car, the cost of a dog sitter and other items most likely will keep that from happening. Still nice to dream though. We are planning on going back in October for Natey's birthday and the Food and Wine Festival and we are thinking of going back in December in for our 10 year anniversary. Ahhhh.....this is so exciting to talk about!

2. (I love lists! I especially like itemizing things I need to discuss, it helps me stay on track.) My sister just moved to Orlando this weekend. Although we won't always stay with her, we are definitely staying with her on Friday 6/12. This means we get to save some money and not get a hotel that night and spend time with my sister. She wants us to put our annual passes to good use (she already has one...super jealous of the Florida resident payment plan) and always stay with her when we come and while that it is an excellent option, I do like staying on-site...especially on longer trips.

3. We started booking our fastpasses the other day. It is super annoying that I have to do it on separate days because of the whole off site 30 days thing but I have still been able to get what I want. Speaking of fast passes, I don't think we will be able to find one for SDMT. I'm okay with that. I mean it is an okay ride, but not worth the wait and not worth the stress. However, my best friend really wants to go so, I feel pressured to get them. My back up plan is to go straight there after our breakfast at BOG. We have an 8:00 breakfast and we plan to be done eating and in close proximity to be able to jump on the ride with minimal wait. I'm still going to keep checking on the fastpasses but I like having a plan...and a backup plan.

4. Haven't started packing but I have been vacation clothes shopping so that has been fun.

Well that is it for now in terms of Disney planning. We are having a vacation planning meeting tomorrow so I will have more detailed plans afterwards.

 

[JMSTANLEY110]

OOH Annnual Passes how exciting. They do make planning more fun because you have to get your monies worth out of them.

We tend to go to Cracker Barrel while in Disney because we don't have one here so I see nothing wrong with mixing it up with Disney Dining.

I love Cracker Barrel! We usually eat that in Georgia on the way down. Great minds think alike! Thanks again for reading and commenting!

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip! Annual Passes are great! We did a trip late June last year and are going earlier June this year. Overall we will use it for around 20 park days, but the annual pass is $350 cheaper per person than if we had gotten 10 day tickets each time. They are a hit initially, but your other trips after that initial purchase seem so much cheaper when you don't have to buy tickets! Where did you get your tickets from? If you bought them from somewhere other than Disney at a slightly discounted rate make sure you use them at a theme park on your first day before upgrading them that way you get credit for the current gate price of the ticket instead of having to pay the difference. We bought tickets before the February price increase that year, but got credit for the current gate price in June when we upgraded because we used the tickets to enter the park before going to guest service to upgrade. We did this last year and it worked well. Can't wait to hear more about your plans!

Thanks for the tip. My best friend is planning on upgrading her ticket to an annual pass when she get there so your suggestion is a great idea. We used our Target Red Card to save 5%. It wasn't a ton of savings but it was enough to pay for a breakfast or two during the trip so every bit helps! I wish we would have done it before the price increase but we didn't think about it then. We do have the Disney Vacation Savings Account so, we have been depositing money weekly and will just that to renew next year. Thanks for the comment! I love hearing from readers!
+

We spend anywhere from 30-40 days per year near Disney, so, getting the year pass makes a lot of sense for us. We have the Disney visa card and charge everything we can to it. The points we earn all year go toward the renewal. And renewing a year pass is cheaper than buying a new one. It is great to have the flexibility of being able to go whenever we have the urge.

I am so jealous that you go that much! How did you keep it exciting and fresh? I checked out your blog and loved it! Thanks for reading and commenting!

 

[cogero]

I wasn't going to do annual passes this year because we were only planning to go once but I was so sad DH said to get them and we now have a november trip planned. I try to get 15-20 days out of them.

 

[xlsm]

I started reading along last night, but I went to bed before finishing. This tab has been open all night. How's that for commitment?

We're planning to figure out the cost effectiveness of an AP for next year, when we plan to hit a Star Wars Weekend and the week of Christmas...we have to factor in flight costs, so making more frequent trips is never a guarantee, but those two trips are on the table.

Will you be there before PotC goes down for refurb? If so, ride it and think of the random DisPerson who followed your report and has to miss out on it during July

 

[JMSTANLEY110]

I wasn't going to do annual passes this year because we were only planning to go once but I was so sad DH said to get them and we now have a november trip planned. I try to get 15-20 days out of them.

What a great husband! We went last November for a long weekend and loved it. We have also been at Thanksgiving and loved that too! You can't beat the weather. When are y'all going in November?

I started reading along last night, but I went to bed before finishing. This tab has been open all night. How's that for commitment?

We're planning to figure out the cost effectiveness of an AP for next year, when we plan to hit a Star Wars Weekend and the week of Christmas...we have to factor in flight costs, so making more frequent trips is never a guarantee, but those two trips are on the table.

Will you be there before PotC goes down for refurb? If so, ride it and think of the random DisPerson who followed your report and has to miss out on it during July

Thanks for the commitment! Have you been to a Star Wars Weekend before? Natey really wants to go to check off his Disney bucket list but I don't know if I can handle the crowds. I am not a huge Star Wars person so I have mixed feelings but I want to be a good wife! POTC will be down when we go but when we went in January we got stuck under the guy's foot for 30 min. You know the part where the guy is hanging off and his foot is dangling? Yeah, we got to view it for quite a bit. I know it wasn't a real foot but it was an awfully realistic foot so I am good on POTC until next year!

 

[JMSTANLEY110]

Although our family planning meeting isn't until later, I thought that I would share my plans with Natey since it will be just the two of us for a few days!

Friday 6/12: School would have been out for a week so I will enjoy a leisurely day waiting for Natey to get off work. Yeah right, I will wake up when he leaves and spend the day cleaning, running last minute errands and meeting with the dog sitter. I will probably call Natey every hour for an update on when exactly he plans to leave work. When he gets home the car would have already been packed, I will wait for him to change, kiss our dog babies goodbye and then get in the car. We should arrive to Florida in the evening time and we will be staying the night at my sister's house. I'm sure we will get dinner with her and just visit until I force myself to go to sleep. Both of us will probably experience the Disney can't sleeps and be up bright and early.

Saturday 6/13: Natey and I will wake up early (around 6ish) and head to the happiest place on earth! I will not believe that we are here until I pass under this wonderful sign:

Random comment/question: Does anyone else play theme music when going under that sign? Do y'all remember the music they used for the promos way back in 2005? It was from the movie, Rudy? Anyways, I always make sure that is playing when we go under the sign. It just adds to the excitement!

After squealing with happiness, we will then drive to our first park of the trip:

We have to go to guest services first to activate the annual passes but then we will be patiently waiting for the park to open. When the park opens we have plans to walk straight to Expedition Everest and walk on to the ride as many times as possible until our FP for Kilimanjaro Safaris at 9:50. After our safari ride we have big plans to find:

Frozen Jungle Juice!

We then plan on heading back to our favorite Yeti for our next fastpass. (We are a bit obsessed with this ride!) After EE, we will then head over to Dinoland to ride our 3rd FP, Dinosaur! (I absolutely love this ride) Then I will have to beg/plead/bribe Natey to go on Primeval Whirl with me. I also want to visit Rafiki's Planet Watch because I have never been and take a photo with him! Around lunch time we will probably head and head over to:

I've always wanted to visit this resort and figured this was a good time to see it. Plus I want to try the beignets. We plan on eating lunch and then just exploring the resort until it is time to check into our "off-property condo"


After checking in, there will most likely be a nap while we wait on the Kelly, Jamie, Avery and Hilary to come. The plans for that night will be dependent on what time they arrive. If they get there late, Natey and I will be heading to the MK to watch Wishes, eat dinner and just enjoy the nighttime atmosphere. If they get there early, we are planning on going to Don Pablos and then swimming in the pool.

 

[JMSTANLEY110]

Sunday 6/14: This day has a plan and a backup plan.

My sister just started a new job in Orlando but wants to see us when we come. Natey and I are seeing her Friday night, but she also wants to see Kelly and Jamie and especially Avery. So we have two sets of plans:

Kelly and her family will be going to:

Natey, Natalie and I will be going to:

We will all meet back at the condo to rest and relax until it is time to head to Downtown Disney. We have ADRs at:

We also want to take Avery to the new Marvel store since he is obsessed with the Avengers. I also want to visit the World of Disney to get a new Alex and Ani bracelet. I have given up hope of ever having the "A Dream is a Wish" bracelet so I am compromising with this one:

After shopping we will say goodbye to Natalie and head back to the condo. The DTD plan is 100% confirmed but if Natalie isn't off on Sunday then Natey and I will be joining everyone at Blizzard Beach. Fingers crossed that Natalie can get off because I am not a huge water park person!

 

[xlsm]

We have not been to SWW before. We travel in the summer right now because our kids are in school, and i've never been into the idea of taking them out, but we will literally only going for a weekend trip, so missing a Friday and a Monday probably won't be then end of the world. I am not excited about crowds, but then I see all the pictures from the instagram accounts I follow, and I figure I can put up with the crowds to meet Wicket and Chewy!!

Ugh, I'm sorry you were stuck on Pirates. The only ride we've been stuck on is Kali. That was last summer, and we were stuck right by the main drop, and they were saying something over the PA system, but we couldn't hear it because of where we were, and the rushing water was so loud. It was SUPER annoying because the drop lost any oomph when we finally got rolling again, and Kali is like, blink and you miss it, so that was no fun.

(And every time I read "off property condo" I think OPC, and then I get OPP by Naughty by Nature stuck in my head...You could re-write the lyrics for your trip. "You down with OPC? Eh, not real -ly". That's how my brain works. I'm a weirdo, I know this. LOL!)