1st Trip Home AKV Adding Pictures page 2

[joech]

We have enjoyed others trip reports so much that we decided to do one for our first trip home. Reading other TRs has us so excited to go that my husband has already packed. (He never packs until the night before, and somehow always manages to forget his tooth brush or something else) I made a calendar (with my scrapbook cricut machine) that has all of our days and our dining reservations on it.

Well we have gone to WDW twice since Easter of 2007 and have fallen in love. (Not with each other but with disney! We love each other too! ) My husband turned into a child and we wondered why it took us this long to find the place. We will be celebrating our 15th anniversary over the holidays. We had gone to Disneyland when we first started dating but haven't returned since. After going to WDW last Christmas with my father and mother in-law we decided it was crazy to keep paying cash if we were planning on returning. We flew down to Disneyland this past May for the Getaway days Travel Expo and bought 160 points to AKV.

Now to ask all of you experts for help. We are staying in a studio room and I have some questions. Do they provide dish detergent in the studio rooms too? Is it still true that we can do laundry for free on the fifth floor? I am planningg on packing laundry detergent. I remember reading so many things in the past eight months of planning that I have forgotten what I read.

By the way, just in case you are interested it is -28 degrees celsius with the windchill (-18.4F) outside here in Calgary. So looking forward to the nice weather. I wonder what the weather will be for us this year.

Can you walk over to Kidani yet to take a look?

The only problem right now is my daughter seems to have developed a runny nose and some congestion in her throat.
Anyways, any suggestions and help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Lorraine

 

[thesupersmartguy]

Hi Lorraine,

Congrats on your trip home! We will be trying AKV in 41 days!!

 

[ACDSNY]

Have a wonderfully warm trip, I figure any temp in Orlando will be warmer for you.

I believe the laundry facilities are free, you'll just need to buy or bring laundry detergent. I've only stayed in a studio once and if my memory is working there was dish soap. Luckily we travel with quite a few family members so we're usually in a 2 bdrm. Gotta have that washer/dryer!

We'll be taking our first trip to AKV in Nov. 2009

 

[joech]

It is so different for us this time because it will be the first as DVC members. We now know that we will be returning at least every other year. With the incentive points we are using for this trip we have already started to plan our next trip for the summmer.

Good to know that we don't have to bring dish soap. I actually tried to buy some of the little boxes of laundry detergent but my daughter has eczema and they don't have the non-perfumed kind that she needs. I plan on just bringing a small bottle of her own stuff that I use.

We just purchased tickets for our trip planned in July. We tentatively had booked July 12 to July 24 to celebrate my DD six birthday. The other day Westjet had a seat sale for $209 and we booked it. I'm always so jealous when I hear about others getting such cheap flights from other parts of the US.

I'm going to finish my calendar tonight and hopefully take a picture for others to see. My husband is a visual person and needs to see everything down on paper.

Still a cold -28 out here in the North Pole as I call it. Off to finish my calendar and check to make sure I haven't forgotten anything in my planning. Does anyone have a packing list for going to WDW in the winter? I always think that I am going to forget something.

 

[joech]

I took a couple of pictures of the calendar that my daughter and I made together. It has our reservations listed, EMM and EME park days, and proposed park days.

Can anyone please help me post pictures that are larger? I would love to post some pictures for our trip but they seem so small. I have seen others that have a full screen picture.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I didn't do laundry, but peaked into the 5th floor laundry room at AKV earlier this month, and it looked like a nice room. You'll need your room key to enter.
The washers may be the front end loaders, and the special liquid detergent works best in them. I hope someone here has used them and knows for sure.
The studios have the liquid dish soap.
Bobbi

 

[Laneychris]

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[joech]

Thanks for the info on the laundry room and the good trip wishes. Where is the laundry room that is on the fifth floor? I had read somewhere tha tis was close to the lobby. Is the door actually labeled laundry facilities?

So my husband seems to be so much more excited for this trip than I have ever seen him before. Here are some of the things that are must do's that we either missed the last two times that we went down or want to do again.

#1 Wake up Tinkerbell
#2 Be the first to ride with Goofy on the brainstormer rollercoaster
#3 Have a cool candy made in Japan by the candy lady
#4 Take a picture with Mulan and Mushu
#5 Take a picture with Lightning McQueen and Mater
#6 Ride Toy Story Mania (As long as the wait isn't too long) (Any tips would be appreciated)
#7 Make a marshmallow treat at Goofy's Candy Company
#8 Eat a Dole Whip
#9 Have a Mickey ice cream (DH and DD favorite) and a Mickey ice cream sandwich (Mine and DS favorite)
#10 Dance at Disney's Playhouse

I think that I could just keep going but I'll stop here. I guess we really just want to do everything together and have fun.

 

[bobbiwoz]

The laundry room is labeled as guest laundry...it's very easy to find. If you are on the fifth floor and in the lobby area, go to the back of the lobby (toward the savannah), go to the hallway that's on the right, and it's one of the first rooms on the right.

I was with my DGD in November and for the first time saw Mushu, but he had to leave, so she only had her picture taken with Mulan, but that was a first for her, too! We also had our first trip to Disney's Playhouse at DHS.

Enjoy your trip. I'm as excited about our upcoming NYE trip as I've ever been for any vacation. It's really magic!!!

Bobbi

 

[joech]

Hi Bobbi,
Thanks for the reply.
Did you enjoy the Disney Playhouse show?

We are going to the MK fireworks on Dec 30 and probably going to avoid it on Dec 31. I'm not sure what the crowds will be like and if the kids will even last.

Have a great trip! I see that you are also counting down with single digits.

We just packed another suitcase tonight and now it is all the little things and of course my own clothes. I always pack mine at the end because I like to check the weather. I always tend to take too much and this time I want to take just enough and do laundry.

Too tired to write today because it is almost one in the morning. The kids did eat their chocolates on their Princess and Lightning McQueen advent calendars. (We cheated and they also ate a few of the New Years count down ones since we will be in DW)

Lorraine

 

[marvali]

Looking forward to your TR. We head down for our first stay at AKV from 1/1-1/4.

 

[joech]

Hey Marvali,
Isn't it exciting to be going at this time of year. I noticed in your sig that you are going again in the summer. We have never gone in the summer but are also planning a trip in July.

Can't wait!

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

Have a great trip...we are staying AKV for two nights in Feb. just did an add on there!

 

[joech]

Hey Tinerkerbell Crafter,
I sure wish we could do an add-on but not in this economy. We feel so lucky already that we bought back in May when money was at par.

I think that once we arrive at AKV on Christmas day I will make a new thread on the Trip Report thread (that I didn't know even existed, my DH gave me trouble for starting one here)

We are basically totally packed for our trip with six pieces of luggage (three of them are empty though) We always seem to find good deals at the outlets and stock up on the kids clothes.

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

That is awesome!! LOL!! DH always tries to pack a suitcase in a suitcase for that purpose! Besides, this is DVC trip report...thats ok! LOL! BTW, be careful with the laundry soap....in 2005, we were there for two weeks at VWL and I had packed laundry soap because I have sensitive skin and was trying to save money....DH and his friend were picking on me.."doesn't Fl. have soap?" any way, when we got to Orlando, pulled our suitcases off the claim carousel, my DH husband smelled the soap and the bottle had built pressure up and exploded on the inside of the bag. I even had it in a ziploc...thank goodness it was near the end and only a few things caught all of the liquid!!! Can you say hand rinse? LOL!! Make sure it is really sealed and enclosed!! Airplane pressure....I never pack liquid soap...just wait until I am there and go to the store, if need be.

 

[marvali]

Hey Marvali,
Isn't it exciting to be going at this time of year. I noticed in your sig that you are going again in the summer. We have never gone in the summer but are also planning a trip in July.

Can't wait!

Yeah, we're real excited about this trip. We normally ONLY get to go during the summer since kids in school and DW is a teacher. This is a first during the holidays with all the Christmas decorations and special events.

It is going to be even more special than when we originally scheduled. DS11 mentioned about six weeks ago that he was getting ready to take his third trip and his best friend (school and sports teams) had never been to WDW. DW and I talked about it and decided to ask if he could come along, even though it was the holidays. It all worked out that he can come with us.

We just got both families together last night and revealed the big secret to DS11 and his friend at the same time. Excited doesn't describe the reaction when they finally figured it out from the hints we were giving them. They thought it was a joke at first (now that would be a really cruel one) but finally . I can't wait to see them experience it all together during such a special time of the year.

 

[joech]

Oh no! I already packed the soap and my DH put it in. I think I will dig it out and saran wrap it. DH gave me trouble for not starting this thread in the TR section so I started one there. hhmmm, maybe I will just update both. Who knows.

 

[Maliki2]

Our first trip will be booked on Jan 2nd. I'm going bonkers waiting. It will be our first Disney Xmas trip too!

 

[joech]

Wow!!! I'm impresed that you would take your three kids and one more I can just manage to take care of the two that I have. My DS who is 2 1/2 is so busy and all over the place.

So is it really that hot in the summers? Our current dates are July 12-24. We think it will be fun to enjoy the water parks that look so cool. I'm a teacher too so we are limited to my holidays off.

I think that I will continue to post here because I check this thread more myself. Here are my pictures from last year. Looking at them gets me excited about our trip.

Christmas 2007

MVMCP
We had a great time only because we arrived at about 4:30 and got tons of things done.

Castle Lights
We just stood there is pure joy looking at the castle. Without the lights is beautiful but with the lights was just magical!

DH waited at ToonTown rope drop to see if DD could be the first to ride with Goofy on the Brainstormer. She was chosen and also got to walk straight into the room after to get this picture. She thought she was so special after Goofy took her hand and walked her around.

 

[joech]

Here is what we have lined up on the DDP

Dec 26 Sci-fi 6:20
Dec 27 Coral Reef 6:20
Dec 28 Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic Package 4:00
Dec 29 Teppan Edo 5:45
Dec 30 Crystal Palace 6:30
Dec 31 Chef Mickey's 7:15
Jan 1 CRT 1:10
Jan 2 Ohana's 6:55
Jan 3 1900 Park Fare 6:10

Sci-fi, Ohana's and 1900 Park Fare will be the new restaurants that we have not tried yet. This time I will take pictures of the food because I love seeing all the pictures that others have taken.

We are so prepared to go that I think I have forgotten something very important to pack.

Now I just have to finish up the kids autograph books. We decided that they already have a few of the park autograph books and we don't need anymore in the house.

Here is a picture of the calendar that I'm working on.