1st time Empty Nester, so why not go to WDW for a distraction? Plus it's our 5th anniversary!

[ChristyJE117]

So the day is quickly approaching-my baby will be heading off to UNH to begin college (baby #1 will start her junior year at SUCO). Unless you've experienced having your children leave for college, it's hard to really explain/understand the emotions behind it all. There's a ton of pride, of course. Excitement for them. But the emptiness and quiet-it's so hard, harder than I could have imagined. And now with both going away (and DH who works completely opposite hours/days off that I work), it's going to be a lot of quiet.

So our 9/7-9/14/17 trip will be a nice distraction. Plus DH & I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary (8/12) (he's my second husband and forever guy).

We're staying at the Boardwalk Villas in a studio after buying points from a friend with a split stay of garden view to start, then boardwalk view to end. I've never stayed there before, so I'm pretty excited. I'd love any tips/recommendations/etc. for the resort!

Onto our daily planning!

 

[ChristyJE117]

Our plans are:
9/7 Hollywood Studios ADR Trattoria al Furno
9/8 EPCOT tequila lunch (surprise for DH) House of Blues dinner
9/9 MK am/EPCOTpm 5pm beverage seminar, LeCellier dinner
9/10 AK Disney springs for dinner (no plans)
9/11 HS Brown Derby Fantasmic
9/12 AK w/RoL dining pkg
9/13 EPCOT Paddlefish dinner
9/14 home

 

[ChristyJE117]

I feel like we've been pretty fortunate so far with this trip and am thankful.
We started with Coronado Springs (which we loved), but upgraded for a less expensive price when a friend offered to sell us her points for Boardwalk! We're excited-because we haven't been there before and because of the location and being able to walk to EPCOT or Disney Studios.
Our Southwest flights... I had enough points for a free ticket, and DH's ticket was under $200. Yippee!
My health insurance plan offers $ on gift cards for points earned from taking proactive measures, so over the past two years my husband and I have accumulated around $750 in "free" WDW gift cards!