A Different Kind of Introduction... IT IS TIME [Oct 2014 PTR]

[ChanFO]

Today's pre-trip thread is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction...

Disney World, 1995. It is my first, and only, childhood Disney vacation.

My father - bless his magicless heart - doesn't like Disney himself, but somehow he became convinced that all good middle-class parents must take their children to Disney once during their childhood, lest they be seen as heartless and poor. I don't know why he felt that way, but he did, and as such he treated the vacation like some sort of obligatory Real American pilgrimage that must be done.

So he plucked my sister and I out of school for a week, loaded us and my mother into the van, coordinated with my grandparents, and off we all went on a thousand-mile road trip. My sister and I were excited. I was ten, she was seven. (The perfect age, my father told me later - old enough to remember and tall enough to ride things, so that we wouldn't have to go back a second time.)

I'm sure where you can see this attitude is taking us, but all I knew then, though, was that we were going to Disney! I'd seen Disney World commercials before; I was an absolute devotee of The Disney Afternoon after school and had been subject to much of the promise and hype that those commercials promised. It was going to be magical!

Unfortunately...

We've all seen that family in the parks, the one that seems immune to the Disney Magic and is miserable and tired, complaining and frowny-faced, having come here with an expectation but without taking the time, money, or effort to take any of that magic in. We were that family.

I hesitate to say that he did Disney "wrong", because most of his behavior stemmed from a desire to be cheap as possible, and being an adult now, I know how expensive these trips are! The reality of it was, though, there was no corner he wouldn't cut. Each day of the whole vacation was treated like a day to our local amusement park back home - every expense was a "tourist trap" to be avoided, every long line and crowd "not worth the time". Mickey Mouse might as well been a sewer rat where my dad was concerned, and he wasn't going to let him have a dime that he could avoid giving him.

We stayed off-site many, many miles away (not that usual in 1995, but it was a cheap generic motel very far from the parks). We left the park at noon every day to go out to our van for lunchmeat sandwiches eaten out of the ice-filled cooler. Absolutely no Disney-branded souvenirs or snacks were purchased (though I got an off-brand whale plushie that looked like Shamu from our hotel gift shop after days of begging). Our park days always ended too early, as my grandparents in their sixties were always worn out and ready to eat dinner and bed down by 5pm, and it wouldn't make sense to drive two vehicles and pay twice the parking fees so they could leave on their own. So each day was a regimented march to try and visit as many attractions as possible without slowing down for much of anything, since we'd always need to be gone before dinner, and my dad wasn't going to bother waiting in line for any ride that was too similar to what we could get back home...

My kid-self begrudged everyone for this quite terribly (and somewhat unfairly) for not at all lining up with the Disney World commercials. I don't really remember too much that was fun about that trip. My sister, being younger, remembers even less. It turns out that ten and seven were actually just old enough to remember how we didn't want to treat our vacations when we became adults someday!

Needless to say, we never went back as a family...

The time is now, in the months before another visit to Florida. In the years since that first fateful trip, I've been to Disney World a number of times as an adult and have long since made up for the previous experience (and forgiven my dad for just being a strange, magic-less spendthrift that, despite my previous depiction, is actually a good guy deep down).

But the rest of my family has never gotten to have that Magical Disney Vacation that didn't quite make it back in 1995. This October, I have the opportunity to fix the magic for the rest of them. My sister, mom, mom's husband, and my husband are all coming along with me to give the family vacation another go!

I'm the "expert" on this trip and the DVC owner, so it's been all on my shoulders to make the plans and hope to set things up so this time, everyone has a great time. No pressure, Chan...

Next time, introductions of the travel party!​

 

[ChanFO]

Table of Contents

Prologue 1995: The Failed Vacation (Addendum)

Planning Part 1: The Travel Party
Planning Part 2: Resort Planning - Why 22-Year-Olds Should Never Be Allowed To Sign Anything
Planning Part 3: What Do You Do With A Problem Like My Kitty? (Addendum)
Planning Part 4: Day 0, For When You Have Pretty Much Zero Plans
Planning Part 5: Day 1, The One With the Animals
Planning Part 6: Day 2, Where Two Sisters Take On the Party
Planning Part 7: Day 3, As the Three Heretics Fly Off to Universal
Planning Part 8: Day 4, DHS for the Highly Compressed and Difficult to Impress
Planning Part 9: Day 5, Unofficially "Why Did Bob Pick This?" Day
Planning Part 10: Day 6, The Hopefully Inebriated Finale
Planning Part 11: Smashing the Rose Colored Glasses - What Could Go Wrong?
Planning Part 12: One Week To Go!
Planning Finale: IT IT TIME​

 

[Goofy442]

Wow, no pressure there. So sad to start off your first WDW trip that way. Funny my DH would say we are on vacation let the kids get ice cream or whatever they want. I would be the one to say no, they don't need all that junk.

 

[ashleyfallis]

subbing. i can already tell this is gonna be good!

 

[IamJBo]

Subbed. I actually think we'll be down there the same time!

 

[ChanFO]

Thanks for following along, folks! Welcome aboard to what will undoubtedly be one of the more... snark-filled and off-beat trip reports on the board. Also one of the wordiest - I'm more of a typer than a photo-taker. I figure most of y'all have seen what the parks look like anyway to not need my blurry iPhone shots of the castle.

As an addendum to the opening post, I talked to my dad this past weekend and as luck would have it, the topic of the Disney trips came up, as my sister was visiting him and apparently talked about it a lot. He surprised me by saying that he would go to Disney again, but only if he had grandkids to take.

I thought that was pretty funny - DH and I are quite decidedly and happily childfree (not child-haters, just don't feel like the parenthood lifestyle is for us) and, while I wouldn't close the book entirely on my sister, she's repeatedly professed a lack of interest in having kids as well. So my dad might not get the opportunity to march any more kids through Disney World, so sad.

He and I agreed that it was probably just as well since he isn't really a Disney World person in the first place and would rather take his bi-yearly trips to Europe to take a billion photos of castles or whatever. (Seriously, he visited my house a few weeks ago and we sat through a slideshow of literally two hours of photos, mostly of the outside of castles in Germany from his latest trip. There was not enough beer in the world to make that interesting.)

 

[ChanFO]

Part 1: The Travel Party​

So, I don't really have pictures of everyone in the party. I thought I did, but I don't. SO you'll just kind of have to bear with me.

Party Member 1: Me

This is me, rocking my DVC lanyard. I'm nearly 30 and am... kind of the strange one of the family. I'm a gamer and creative writer, and I work hard every day (federal contractor in IT ) just so I can have the freedom and money to play around in fantasy worlds every night. It's pretty clear that I will never, ever "grow up" in the classical sense and I am okay with that! My philosophy on life is that so long as I am responsible for myself, pay my bills and taxes on-time, and generally try not to be a jerk, then all other criticisms about me can just float on by unnoticed.

As was mentioned in the introduction, I've been to Disney a number of times as an adult, own at Animal Kingdom Villas, and generally know what I'm doing. Except for this MagicBand/Fastpass+ stuff, I am a total dolt about that since it's been a few years since I was last down there. It's kind of fun and intimidating to be a total noob again! Except that I really had a whole FastPass system worked out before and could ride Space Mountain about fifteen times a day, so I will miss that. I might have to start going in January or something, but I'll adapt.

Party Member 2: DH

This is DH. He's actually stranger and goofier than me, but in more of a wicked, sarcastic way. You could probably tell that by the fact that there is not a single picture that he won't photobomb with a goofy face! He's a big tall guy whose natural expression is a scowl, despite being a sweetheart that would do anything for the people he loves, so most of the time he keeps his hair shaved short so he looks like my bodyguard. He gets a kick out of watching people get intimidated for no reason other than appearances. You'd never guess by looking at him that's he really a gentle giant that, back when he worked as an EMT, was perpetually beloved by his elderly patients for his kind bedside manner.

I love him to pieces (not literally; keeping him in one piece is a goal of mine). He's also a gamer and creative writer. We believe strongly that the family that plays together, stays together, so we play a LOT! He's the best partner a girl could ask for, both in life and in games.

As for Disney things, he went down with his family as a kid before, though his trip wasn't exactly the most fun and awesome thing ever either for totally different reasons than my own childhood trip. (Totally not getting into that though, DH and I agree there aren't enough words in the universe to accurately describe the dysfunction that is my in-laws!) He does like Disney movies, though, so I'm hoping that plus a well-organized trip will convert some of that into a love for a parks as well! He went with me to Epcot a few years ago since we happened to be in the area for a day and thought it was "pretty neat", so I hold out hope.

He will undoubtedly be the party's Super Manly Purse Holder, though, as he will be the one safely on the ground while the rest of us get on roller coasters and such. DH believes that if he was meant to fly, he'd have been given wings. He'll ride anything that feels securely attached to the ground, but heights are not his bag.

Party Member 3: Sister

This is my Sister (with bonus picture of a grandmother in the background, haha.) She's an energetic, fashion-conscious socialite that can't put down her phone even for Thanksgiving dinner, despite being far over the age where that sort of behavior is appropriate.

Sister and I have always been opposites - she was the preppy cheerleader with the looks and friends, I was the bookish fat girl whose best friend was a computer. Suffice it to say, we didn't get along at all as kids! Even though we are adults now and have made strides toward building a better relationship and actually agree on a lot of topics, we still don't always speak the same language. I talk about max DPS and slaying dragons, she talks about crossfitting and paleo diets. That relationship is, obviously, a work in progress, though we are at least at the point where I think we like each other.

Sister has only been to Disney World the one time, on the failed march of doom when she was a kid. She remembers very little, and as such, is very excited. And by excited, I mean all the enthusiasm of a kindergartener that's been mainlining sugar and caffeine. She's tried to change our plans no less than four times so far, because she's found out about something new at Disney World she didn't know about before and feels like she needs to do everything ever just in case she never gets to go back.

I've told her a couple of times that it just isn't possible to do everything at Disney World in only six full days, especially when she and Mom and Mom's Husband are going to take a day off for Universal, much less economically reasonable, but I don't think she "gets it" quite yet. But she will. My vacation goal for Sister is to make sure she has a great time and gets to ride as many rides as possible, but also to make sure she doesn't run everyone else in the party ragged with her go-go-go approach to vacations or drive my DH nuts, as he's got about zero patience for conversation about crossfitting and paleo diets.

Party Member 4: Mom

This is my Mom. Mom might look like a homebody all in her sweatshirt and kitty-cuddles, and that's because she is. She would rather stay home and cuddle with her cats than do just about anything else in the world. She is sort of a crazy cat lady, and she passed that love of cats onto both my sister and I, who also each own a cat too. All of our babies are furbabies.

Anyway, pretty much the only thing she leaves the house for, other than work, is to go golfing, as that's what she and her husband like to do together. Even then, she's usually safely back in the house by noon. Whenever DH and I drive up to visit, we already know that the day's plans can safely be assumed to be "1. Pour snacks into bowl; 2. Get board games from the closet; 3. Snack and play games for the rest of the day; 4. Refill snacks as needed." She's a low-key lady.

Except for those times where she totally surprises you, like a couple of years ago when I told her she needed to do something REALLY CRAZY for her fiftieth birthday. She said she'd think about it. A week later she called me back and told me that she'd jumped out of an airplane.

She was serious. There was video proof and everything. I was impressed.

Mom went to Disney World two years ago, when I sent her and her husband to Saratoga Springs for a week on some DVC points I wasn't going to use. She mostly went for the relaxation and the golfing and didn't go to any park but Epcot, but she loved it - and that trip was the impetus for why this family vacation is actually happening. It was actually Mom's idea for us all five to go down to Disney World together. She started talking about it pretty much as soon as she got home from the Saratoga Springs trip. So really this is Mom's Big Family Vacation, even though I am the de facto travel agent. She's actually paying for DH and I's airfare in exchange for us supplying the villa.

I think Mom is pretty much going to have a good time no matter what happens on the trip; she's pretty easygoing. Though... I admit I'm slightly annoyed, though, as she admitted to me on the phone the other day that the thing she's looking forward to the most on her trip is seeing the Harry Potter stuff at Universal. That day, she and Sister and Mom's Husband are on their own with those lines.

(I don't really hate Universal; I've been there before and will probably go again to see the new stuff... but not until it's a little less crazy busy!)

Party Member 5: "Bob"

And then there's Mom's Husband, the final member of the party, who I do not have a picture of, oh darn, so the above will have to suffice. I call him "Mom's Husband" because calling him step-father would be pretty disingenuous. He's really more Mom's Husband than anything resembling a parental relationship between him and me and my sister; he showed up at a point where I wasn't even living at home anymore. Still, this is the internets, and I need to call him something since Mom's Husband is too long, so... I'll give him a fake name like we're writing into Dear Abby or something. Let's go with Bob. Yeah. Bob it is.

Bob is... an interesting character. Interesting is the polite word for what he is. Sometimes you get Good Bob, where his intelligence comes off as being clever and amusing, and he's in a generous and helpful mood and everyone has a good time around him. And sometimes you get Bad Bob, who is a jerk that cheats at games, makes tactless jokes at the expense of others, offers uncharitable opinions about people of other sexual orientations or political persuasions, and is begrudging about his participation in group activities. Good Bob is pretty likeable. Bad Bob makes you want to tear your hair out. And you never know which one you're going to get. I don't know if it's just his personality, or if he's got some sort of chemical imbalance, or what. In ten years I've never discovered a rhyme or reason to it.

Bob is the wildcard of the party, and for that reason he's the person that I'm most worried about taking the trip from Happy Magic Fun Times to "Some Family Members Just Want To Watch The Trip Burn." He should be fairly mollified by lots of golf, which is his favorite thing in the universe, and he loves movies, so I'm hoping Hollywood Studios will speak to him. If he slides into Bad Bob mode, though, through a few long days... I hope he will have the presence of mind to just go back to the hotel to grump on his own. If he doesn't, we may have to suggest it. Strongly. Forcibly. Whatever it takes.

So that's the travel party! Next time, I begin detailing some actual plans...​

 

[ChanFO]

Part 2: Resort Planning - Why 22-Year-Olds Should Not Be Allowed To Sign Anything​

Resort: Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village, 2 Bedroom, Standard View.

The story of how I came to own points at AKV is a story about both food and dumb financial decisions.

On my first trip as an adult years back, I had a free dining plan, and as such picked out as many table-service restaurants in the World as possible. There wasn't a whole lot of the best options still available at 60 days out, but I did my best to cobble something together that would work with the touring plan I'd picked out, and thought that would be pretty okay.

I ended up with a smattering of selections that, on the whole, turned out to be total busts: Kona Cafe had cold food and seated my travel companion and I next to the most obnoxious screaming child and oblivious parent in the world; Momma Melrose was an over-salted mess of obviously microwaved Italian, and we ended up walking out of Raglan Road after twenty minutes of being seated having never even being asked for our drink orders. (Needless to say I did not turn out to be much of a Dining Plan fan and never used it again.)

Near the end of the trip, though, we took the bus to AKL for dinner at Boma. My expectations were pretty tepid by this point; the parks had definitely been wonderful and fun, but neither the food nor my resort (All Star Sports) had really been anything all that fantastic for the price. That wasn't a bad thing, really, I'd just resolved myself that not everything about Disney was magic, and some things were just a little too loud, obnoxious, and overpriced for my taste. (I suppose I am my father's daughter somewhere deep down, haha!)

But then I walked in the front door of the lodge and my jaw about hit the floor.

(Image gratefully lifted from All Ears Net for the purposes of replicating my awe-struck view.)​

Before me was the most beautiful lobby I think I'd ever seen.

(Now, to be fair, my idea of luxury at this point in my life was on par with your local La Quinta, but work with me here.)

I explored the resort - we were early for the reservation, anyway. There were animals. ANIMALS outside the rooms. Real, live animals. I LOVE ANIMALS. And then dinner was everything I'd hoped for in Disney magic - delicious, with wonderful ambiance and service. I turned to my travel companion and said these fateful words: "I have to stay here."

Before I knew it, on a subsequent trip I found myself signing the dotted line on a small, 100-point AKV contract. They were pushing AKV pretty hard at the time, given that it was their brand-spanking-new DVC conversion, but they didn't need to. I was probably the easiest sell they'd ever had. It didn't really matter that I had other debts coming out of college collectively the size of Expedition Everest, I threw that loan on my back and carried it around with a dumb grin on my face like I'd found the golden ticket.

Ah, to be young and stupid and completely financially un-savvy. I don't recommend that anyone do what 22-year-old me did, but there are many dumb things that one can do at 22, and at least this one didn't end up doing much damage beyond forcing me to turn off the AC in the summertime and eat ramen to save money so I could keep paying my debts when times got tough. That said, I wouldn't trade that piece of property for just about anything in the world, especially now that I can take my whole family to the best place on earth.

(Man, that sounded like an incredibly cheesy infomercial. The illogical Disneyphile responsible for the previous paragraph has been sacked.)

Anyway, back to this trip: no-one in my party for this trip has ever stayed at AKV before except me, and even I have never been in the Kidani complex. My previous visits have all been over at Jambo, so this will a new experience for me. I made a room request to be near the lobby and on the Sunset Savannah side of things, but... well, we all know all requests are like a box of chocolate. Sometimes you get the delicious vanilla cream, and sometimes you end up with the crappy strawberry chew that's too sweet and sticks in your teeth and makes you go "Oh gods, why did I buy that box of Russell Stover's in the first place?"

(Wow, that metaphor really got away from me there. The management would like you to know that the people responsible for the previous sacking, have been sacked.)

The point is, we'll probably end up on the last pod of Pembe no matter what I put on the online check-in. I'd complain, but I need the exercise. I'll be nothing but blisters by the end of the week, but that probably would have happened no matter where the room is. Epcot is huge, after all, and it's on my itinerary twice.

The room itself, no matter its location and flavor in the proverbial chocolate box, will be a two-bedroom villa, which frankly, might be overkill for five people. The villa itself has a square footage that rivals that of my house. (That gives me an idea, maybe I could decorate my home like AKV and pretend I'm on vacation. Maybe put a fake mane on my cat and pretend the living room is a savannah. Things to ponder. ) Anyway, I'm hoping that having that much room to share will keep everyone happy with enough feeling of privacy to counterbalance all the mandated togetherness.

I did tell Mom that DH and I are taking the master bedroom, though. My points, my room. She agreed with that after some playful fake-arguing ("But what about respecting your elders!?") but couldn't stop herself from quipping, "Okay, but we better not hear any strange noises through the wall!"

I told her not to worry. "DH and I will have the room to ourselves while you gallivant off to Universal," I said.

"Ah-ha, so that IS why you want the king sized bed!"

"Obviously."

In reality, it's because we're the Pooh-sized couple and need the sleeping space more than my more average-sized family members, buuuuut I'll let her think whatever she wants so long as I get the big bed and bathroom.

Tune in next time as the day-by-day plan details begin to emerge...


​

 

[MidnightParade]

Howdy howdy!! Thought I would drop by and say hi! Happy I did!

Okay I can't talk about the math of max DPS. I just like to point my mage at things and pew pew!!! Although I do know a bit about paleo as well! lol!!!

You and your hubby sound awesome. DBF and I feel the same way about children, LOVE my nephews and nieces, but don't feel the need to swell their ranks. And we also enjoy our games, although I really only play WoW and its been awhile. We're trying to get into board games now. lol

Oh man, I wish I could go back in time and kick my 22 year old *** about how to spend or more importantly not spend money! But you can't learn until you do something you regret right?!

I think a 2 bedroom is a great idea. Just nice to have the space, especially if Bad Bob shows. Good to know you have no problem sending him on his way if he shows and nice that they will have golf plans so you don't spend ALL your time together.

Also, you will be required to post a kitty picture. It's Dis-law or something

 

[ChanFO]

Part 3: What Do You Do With A Problem Like My Kitty?
​

Also, you will be required to post a kitty picture. It's Dis-law or something

Oh no, you did not just invite me to show off cat pics! I'm like one of those overexcited grandmas that wants to whip out her purse and fish out like fifteen albums of her grandkids to show total strangers on the bus. Only mine is a cat. "AND HERE HE IS BEING ADORABLE. AND HERE HE IS BEING ADORABLE IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT POSE. AND HERE HE IS SLEEPING AND ALSO BEING ADORABLE AND FLUFFY."

But since you asked... Here is a day in the life of Pumpkin, aka "Pumpkinhead", "Punkadoodle", "Punkin", "Fluff", "Fluffster", "Fluffy", "Fluffmeister", "Fluffykins", "Fluffington", "Silly Fluff", "Chairman Meow", "Mister", "Blue Eyes", "Purr Machine", "Mommy's Boy", and occasionally when he's being bad, "Satan's Agent On This Plane of Existence".

Making sure his human staff (that's me) is on-time to feed him in the morning by parking himself on my chest.

After food, it's playtime. He has toys, but like a toddler, he's always more interested in the paper and boxes that they came in.

With a busy morning accomplished, it's time for a nap on his second-favorite perch. (His first favorite is anywhere on me.)

After waking, he chooses a change of scenery for his afternoon lounging.
The top of my gaming rig is a popular choice, since it has the dual effect of being warm AND annoying me into paying attention to him when I have to chase him off.
Cat hair is the mortal enemy of processor cooling fans.

Time for a selfie. He knows he's pretty.

All tuckered out from a long day of doing absolutely nothing, he climbs up onto my lap, kneads on his favorite microfiber blanket, and he's asleep.​

So after viewing the pictures of this magnificent and beautiful creature, you might ask, "Chan, what are you going to do with him while you are off at Disney?" The answer is: I don't know just yet.

He HATES being boarded at the vet's. He is a scared cat around strangers and other animals, so going to the vet brings out the worst in terrified behavior. Any time I leave him there for a trip, he acts skittish and affected for weeks after I pick him up. He is traumatized by it. So I've pretty much given up on that as a solution, given that it is both expensive and upsetting to the fluff.

Honesty time... I have left him home for a week before, when he was much younger. He's older now, though, and the likelihood of something randomly going wrong with his health while I'm gone is a bit greater than it was five years ago! Not to mention that it's still not GREAT to leave a cat alone for that long. He was fine, but it's still not good. I know that Pumpkin will feed/water himself (he drinks out of dripping faucets when we let him) and he's always done fine in the past when we've left him alone for a few days, but I don't know. A week is a bit long for my comfort. He's a 100% indoor kitty and October isn't likely to mean any extreme temperatures or weather or any other threats, but it's just so long.

We don't have any family/friends here locally to check on him during the week, and, like I said before, he's shy and would probably run and hide from them even if we did. We just moved into this house a year ago and don't even know our neighbors' names, much less trust them to go into our house. I've thought about calling a pet-sitting service to come in and check on him a few times while we're gone, but that again involves trusting a stranger to come into my home, and yet again also would just cause the fluff to run and hide anyway, so if something was wrong I'm not sure anyone would be able to tell me. I have concerns that I'd just be paying someone $75 to come in for essentially 15 minutes of work (refilling the food bowl and scooping the litter box) without even being able to give me any information about Pumpkin's condition.

Sooooo I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do for him. There's a very high chance that he would be fine if left alone for the week (though I'm sure I would be smothered with cat attention the minute I got back), but it's debatable how good it would be for him to be alone, and it certainly wouldn't give me peace of mind since I couldn't be sure he was okay. The other options would frighten the cat and just make me worry about someone stealing stuff from my house instead.

If you're reading this... what would you do?

EDIT: By the time I finished writing this, I already felt so bad at even considering leaving him alone that I started looking up pet sitters on Angie's List. I guess I don't own that much worth stealing anyway. Here's hoping their rates aren't crazy.

 

[SarahDisney]

Hi!
I just discovered this, and I'm so glad that you're going to "fix" your family's Disney experience!
You and your DH seem very much like the kind of people I would get along with (not that I'm a gamer, I just never got into it, but I understand why people love it so much and tend to get along well with fantasy gamers), so I'm excited to find this and follow along with your trip planning!

I can't wait to hear what else you have planned!

 

[MidnightParade]

Aww what a cute kitty! And I love the name pumpkin! Its on my pet name list! (Yes I have a pet name list! Its for the time when we FINALLY get a dog!)

He's hilarious with his sleeping locations, I think he would get along with my Mouse. So cute and sweet some moments, playing in boxes the next and then driving you absolutely NUTS the next! lol.

So hard leaving animals behind! We are luckier as we have a few options. None that really I am 100% okay with though. like you I wonder about letting people into my home when I'm not here. But atleast I heave the options. We have never boarded them so I'm not sure how they would do. But at the same time thats allot of money as well!

I wish you the best of luck in your search and hope you feel mostly okay with it. lol

 

[ChanFO]

Part 4: Day 0, For When You Have Pretty Much Zero Plans​

Arrival day is more like arrival MORNING because 4:30AM is before the butt-crack of dawn. If you're a night owl that works a sorta-kinda-swing shift like me, 4:30AM is kind of in that ambiguous hour where you're not sure if you should even bother going to bed the previous night. Besides, I fully imagine the scene in our bedroom will look like this good 'ol Disney commercial:

But anyway, yes, 4:30AM, because DH and I are leaving from out here in flyover country on a flight that goes wheels-up at 6:00AM! That's not really uncommon for flights heading east out of here. We've got a 90+ minute layover in ATL, where we'll get some breakfast and try to knock the sleep out of our eyes before getting on the second plane for the hop into MCO. If all goes as scheduled, we should be on the MDE bus headed for the World by 1PM local Disney time.

Then again, we're flying Delta, so "scheduled arrival time" is a phrase right on up there with flying pigs and unicorn poop. That said, I've heard Delta's reputation has actually improved in recent years, so fingers crossed we won't have any trouble with them.

So we'll be checking into Kidani sometime in the afternoon, probably before official check-in time, and almost definitely before the rest of the travel party arrives. Yes, Mom & Bob & Sister are flying in together from a different airport, different airline, different layover. They'll be getting in a few hours after we do. Fortunately Mom and Bob have done MDE before, so they'll know what to do on their own to get from the airport to Kidani.

While we're waiting on them, we have exactly zero plans. If our room is ready, maybe we'll sleep! Or maybe we'll go watch the animals, or... something. I don't know. At one point we contemplated upgrading to a six-day ticket just so we could go to a park for a few hours, but that seems like a waste, since we wouldn't be able to stay that long and I'd rather be there to greet the rest of the family when they get there. Maybe I'll schedule the Garden Grocer delivery for around then, though if I don't have a room yet, it'll be hard to accept a delivery!

After getting them settled in, we have a dinner reservation at Boma next door at Jambo. I maaaaaaaay have talked it up a wee bit, so I hope that it delivers. Sister is a bit of a picky eater and "doesn't like ethnic food", in her own words, but I think she'll be able to find something that she likes. I tried to get them to go for a Boma breakfast reservation instead, but Sister "doesn't like breakfast food", either.

(Sister is a master of excuses, by the way. She "doesn't like ethnic food", despite her picking Sanaa for another reservation later on in the trip! Truth be told, Sister doesn't even really try to make sense. It's mostly about how cool she thinks saying she ate that style of food will make her sound, I think. Boma is too ethnic, despite that it's got Americanized food on the buffet, but Sanaa isn't. Yep.)

Afterward, I'm going to recommend that get back to the room and rest up, because Day 1 is going to be one of the longer ones...

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[Goofy442]

Great start!!! We worry about our kitty being left alone to, he is afraid of people too. So we just fill the bowl up with food and leave the water dripping in the tub into a bowl. Drag out the other litter box so he has two. We have lots of family who could come and check on him. But call me a control freak, just not knowing if they locked my door or the worst let him out.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

I cringed so many times reading your first post. Fellow 80's-90's kid here, and oh, do I remember the soggy lunchmeat cooler sandwiches (shudder). And we only went to MK for one day and spent the rest of the trip at cheap, off-the-highway "attractions" that largely featured taxidermied crocodiles. The funny thing is that when I was a kid, I didn't realize we were poor, and I still had a blast. But I may be making up for it a wee bit now (staying CL, ADRs up the wazoo, and it's DS's bday trip so he'll be allowed some souvenirs for sure).

 

[ChanFO]

We worry about our kitty being left alone to, he is afraid of people too. So we just fill the bowl up with food and leave the water dripping in the tub into a bowl. Drag out the other litter box so he has two. We have lots of family who could come and check on him. But call me a control freak, just not knowing if they locked my door or the worst let him out.

Yeah, I honestly used to do that a lot when Pumpkin was younger, especially when I had other cats to keep him company. He and I have been through a lot since then, though, and I would never forgive myself if I left him alone for a week and something went wrong, because he's been there for me through so many rough times. If he was a younger cat I'm not sure if I'd hesitate to leave him, though. Cats are pretty resilient. We're meeting with the pet sitter tomorrow and I pity her for having to deal with this overprotective cat mom, because my instructions will be quite... specific. BE GOOD TO MY BABY OR ELSE FACE MY WRATH.

I cringed so many times reading your first post. Fellow 80's-90's kid here, and oh, do I remember the soggy lunchmeat cooler sandwiches (shudder). And we only went to MK for one day and spent the rest of the trip at cheap, off-the-highway "attractions" that largely featured taxidermied crocodiles. The funny thing is that when I was a kid, I didn't realize we were poor, and I still had a blast. But I may be making up for it a wee bit now (staying CL, ADRs up the wazoo, and it's DS's bday trip so he'll be allowed some souvenirs for sure).

Haha, yes! You are definitely picking up what I'm putting down here. I hope your DS has a fantastic birthday, and does not have to eat any cooler sandwiches. He will never know how great of a gift that is.

 

[ChanFO]

Part 5: Day 1, The One With the Animals​

One of my "unpopular Disney opinions" is that I like Animal Kingdom. Like, a lot. I realize that it's effectively an overblown zoo, but I am an animal nut that had a season pass to my local zoo for several years running and have been debating getting another one just so I can go watch the elephants. I love elephants. Not as much as I love cats, but close. If someone in the future ever manages to shrink an elephant to pet-size, well, sorry Pumpkin, but you might have to share your throne as king of the house.

So given my love of animals, Animal Kingdom is the first park on the itinerary. Expedition Everest in in my top-five favorite rides, too, and the Lion King was my favorite movie growing up...

Right, right, sorry, rambling.

Normally I would just spend all day wandering the park, but this trip will be different. One of the few things that Mom insisted on during the planning is that we do a tour of something. She did a tour on her last trip (I forget which one, I think it was Behind the Seeds given that she only did Epcot) and thought it was pretty fantastic, so she wanted to do another tour this time. She decided on the Backstage Safari tour, which I was all like HECK YES. Naturally, Sister was less enthusiastic since all she wants to do is ride things, but she finally agreed upon realizing that it was one of the few requests that Mom was going to make.

So we'll be doing the Backstage Safari morning tour, which means an early start since we need to be checked in by 8:15 AM. Which also might mean that we'll need a taxi, if the busses aren't running early enough. Fortunately we are coming from Kidani so if there is a bus going, it won't be a long ride. Fingers crossed. I kind of hate the idea of running around the World in a taxi. Breaks my immersion.

Anyway, after that, we'll need to find some quick service food. My vote is for Flame Tree Barbecue but don't know if that'll sit okay with Paleo-Sister so if she objects, no big deal. I don't exactly know where else there is to eat in Animal Kingdom since Flame Tree is my go-to location, better than most table service in my opinion, but I'm sure we'll find something. I definitely have my favorites but DH and I both are pretty tolerant where food is concerned.

The afternoon is a set of FP+ for Expedition Everest, DINOSAUR, and Kali River Rapids. We'll also be planning to hit up the Finding Nemo and Festival of the Lion King shows through the day, and I also want to go along the walking trails with the animals.

Between the morning tour and the afternoon attractions, it'll pretty much be a full day. At this point I'll be ready to head back to the room either at park close or shortly before it. Sister, however, has informed me that she has other plans for that night, and that she wants to try to find her way to the nearest CrossFit facility which she says is supposedly somewhere near to Downtown Disney. My Google-Fu tells me, though, that it's not THAT close, so...

I have no idea how this is going to work; I assume she'll need to find a cab. I guess we'll be playing this section of time by ear to see if she's given up on trying to shoehorn this stuff into her vacation or not. If not, we might find ourselves hanging out in Downtown Disney waiting for her to finish before finally heading back to the room to make some dinner in the villa. I might suggest to DH that he head on back to the room after AK himself, knowing his patience for Sister is usually that of your usual WoW dungeon boss, complete with a rage timer.

If it turns out to be a long day, that's okay. Tomorrow, Day 2, comes complete with sleeping in, lounging about, and pool time before a late night at MK...

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[Goofy442]

That sounds like fun, can't wait to hear all about it. We are staying there soon and are going to do the Wanyama Safari.

 

[ChanFO]

Part 6: Day 2, Where Two Sisters Take On the Party​

Day 2 will be a sorta-kinda-half day, no matter how you slice it, though the slice will look different depending what part of the party you're part of. (How's that for a tongue twister?)

Mom and Bob will be heading out in the morning for the first of their golfing appointments. They're doing three different courses over the course of their stay; this first one is for Magnolia. I fully admit to not knowing much about real golf, so my commentary about this will probably be pretty limited. Though I did play the heck out of Mario Golf for the old Game Boy color back in the day...

While they're gone for the morning hours, the three of us under-40s will be hanging out back at Kidani for some relaxation. I fully expect Sister will spend her free time out at the pool. The possibility exists that I might join her if she gets up early enough, but only for a little while, given that I am one of those genetically disadvantaged folks that turns into a lobster if I stay out in the sun for even a few minutes after it hits a certain height in the sky. From about 10am until 4pm or so, each individual sunbeam turns into a little toaster designed specifically to sear my flesh. There is no sunscreen strong enough to counter its effect for more than a few minutes. DH will probably stay inside and watch some TV or play on his 3DS, since he is even more prone to sunburn than I am.

The party reunites for a little while at around 1:30 for an ADR at Sanaa. I've never eaten there before, but most of the reviews are in the decent-to-awesome range, so I have high hopes. Plus, it'll still be lunchtime, so maybe we'll see some animals! As was mentioned in Part 4, this was Sister's ADR pick due to some inadequately explained logic about what food is "ethnic" or not, but I'm not actually complaining about the result. I might have picked Sanaa myself if the trip was just DH and I.

Afterward, Mom, Bob, and DH are pretty much done with plans for the day and are free to... lounge around some more and enjoy the resort. (Actually, come to think of it, DH doesn't have much planned this day at all, but he is a pretty big introvert so I have doubts this will matter to him.) Sister and I, though, we'll be prepping to head out to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.

MNSSHP was, incidentally, also one of Sister's picks. When we originally sat everyone down and planned this trip this past spring, the party was not on the itinerary, since Sister had professed to me a desire to save money. As such, I never bothered mentioning the party, and we had planned to hit up MK in the morning with DH in semi-reluctant tow. Fast forward a few months to June, and I get an email from Sister: "So, I was reading about Disney today, and there's this thing called the Halloween Party, and I was thinking, maybe we should do that?" Needless to say, DH was more than happy to have an excuse not to run from thrill ride to thrill ride with Sister, and I was more than happy to attend the party I hadn't yet seen. I've done MVMCP in the past and know how fun it can be.

So we intend to be ready to take the park by storm at 4PM and see as much as we can before we turn into pumpkins at midnight. This will probably be the most "commando-style" stretch in the entire trip, because Sister is a GO-GO-GO type, and I can easily be turned into one if let loose on a Disney vacation. I have a very ambitious touring plan for our time during the party, though I have built in a few breaks to see the special shows. As much crap as I give Sister, she is probably the only other one in the party who I believe will be willing to close down a park with me.

We don't have costumes yet, and I'm not sure if we will, either. Sister wanted to do the party for the novelty of it and the short lines, and hadn't even thought about the potential of dressing up. I am personally considering doing some low-budget Disneybounding as peasant Belle, but we'll see. Comfort and ease of park-touring are definitely the priorities here over looking fabulous.

That's all for Day 2! On Day 3, the party plans to split into heretics and true believers...



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[thumper*]

Followed you over here from my pre trip report.

I love your humor and am looking forward to reading more.

I had to laugh when you described why you call Bob your moms husband. Very similiar to why I call my dads wife his wife instead of step mom.

I love AKL and looking forward to hearing about Kidani.

Do you have to put down a large sum of $ upfront for DVC ownership & then a monthly fee on top of that?