A lurker's 1st trip report! Partial Day #4 & another tea party!

[chilis]

Let me start off by saying that I love this board!

Over the past few years, I have learned more useful tips and tricks than I can count. That being said, I am definitely more of a reader than a poster. But, I figured if I can help some other readers with my observations, then I need to take the time and fill ya'll in with all the details of my recent trip! We just returned from our Easter trip last night and I am eager to share everything!

So, in the next few days I will be (hopefully) posting my family's daily experiences--the good and the bad--luckily there is more GOOD! I want to let everybody reading know something ahead of time, though...I am so NOT a comedienne! If you are looking for laughs you will be much better off staying up late to watch Dave or Jay. But, I will give you every painstaking detail of our wonderful trip. By the time I am through, you will probably know more about us then you want!

For starters, I'll be elaborating on things such as:

Our stay at the BC (love it!)
DDP positives and negatives
Character Meals--CP,1900 Park Fare, Alice's Tea Party and Akershus lunch
TS-Le Cellier
CS-Casey's, Cosmic Ray's, BC Marketplace, Seasons, and whatever the CS
place in America is
Snacks-Pretty much a waste for us!
CM's and the attitudes we encountered
Attractions we liked and disliked
How my reservation disappeared?!?!
Crowds during the Easter holiday
Pin Trading
Disney's Wide World of Sports
And anything else I can possibly think of!

In addition, it may take me a few days to get all of my receipts together in order to give an accurate and thorough dining report, but I promise I will eventually get it done!

I need to go do some laundry now, as I gave up any sort of domestic inclinations I may have had while on vacation! I'll try and post my day 1 installment this evening after dinner (that is if I can convince DH that today is still considered a vacation day and we need to go out. I'm not ready to jump back into real life! Neither is DD7.....she even managed to get out of going to school today!)

Hope everyone will read my report!

Lisa

I forgot to tell you who we are:
Me-Lisa 36...I do all the planning and everybody pretty much relies on me to make the decisions. I grew up around Disneyland so I know all about it, but I 've only been to the world twice. I would go every vacation if I could.
DH-Chip 46...Only going to Disney because he wants to watch his DS play baseball. Couldn't care less about being at the happiest place on earth, but puts a smile on his face and at least ACTS like he is enjoying himself!
DD-Casey 7...My pride and joy! Loves Disney and has been talking about going for months. She is just as crazy about it as I am.

 

[roberrl187]

I'm in.

 

[chilis]

Well, I changed my mind about doing the laundry and have decided instead to try and upload my pictures to Photobucket so that I will be able to include them in my report. I haven't done this before, so wish me luck! I'll let ya'll know how it goes!

 

[princessjv]

I can't wait to hear about your trip! I too was mostly a LURKER (don't you jsut love that word), until I started my trip report. They are addictive...watch out!

I am soo interested int eh BC. That is where we want to stay next time we go as a family!

 

[chilis]

Thanks! I am working on day 1 right now and hope to have it up later this evening!

 

[sharkB8HooHaHa]

I'm in, too. I love to get in at the beginning.

 

[chilis]

Day 1, well actually a prelude and a little background before I get started….

We had been planning this trip since late November when we found out my DSS would be playing at WWOS with his varsity baseball team during Easter break. DH had initially balked at the idea of going to Disney again so soon--since when is a 2 year break between trips too soon?! But, after careful consideration and some intense begging on both my and DD7’s part, he relented! I had to promise DH that I would try and keep the cost of this trip on the low side though, since we just went to Kiawah for my BIL’s wedding in November. Oh well, at least I got him to agree to a moderate instead of a value. (Our last experience was at PolyGVC, so that is all we have to compare to.) This will be important as you read on, so remember….I am supposed to be planning a BUDGET vacation! Let the planning begin!

A quick aside---Let me tell you, nothing, I mean NOTHING, ever seems to work out the way I plan it. Luckily I realize this and accept the fact that even though I will spend hours agonizing over every detail, there will always be something that happens to throw a wrench in my plans. That being said, I still try and plan all the details of our vacations just knowing that it will be a happy surprise if said plans actually materialize.

On to the planning……..
After over a month of researching all the different resorts available and reading tons and tons of reviews on the DIS, we finally decided on Port Orleans. Now, would it be French Quarter or Riverside? Riverside, at least the mansions, reminded us of Charleston, SC, where we spend a week every year and where we hope to someday retire. That held quite a bit of appeal to us. But, we have also always wanted to visit New Orleans. Unfortunately, we skipped it in lieu of a vacation to Vegas back in 2005 and then Katrina hit a couple of weeks after our trip. So, we decided on FQ, figuring it would be awhile before NOLA would be back to its original glory and we would get to experience the magic that is Disney. On December 23rd, I booked a MYW package with DDP at POFQ. Christmas day, we got a wonderful phone call from Mickey Mouse saying that he couldn’t wait to see us! I filmed DD as she received the call and it was priceless! It was a wonderful surprise for her and mom and dad were really excited also!

During the month of February, I made the ADR’s for the restaurants where I knew we would want to dine. This included Le Cellier dinner, Akershus lunch, Crystal Palace dinner, 1900 Park Fare dinner and also Alice‘s Tea Party. I also made ressies for Biergarten, 1900 Park Fare breakfast, Raglan Road, Ohana, Cap’n Jacks, Hollywood and Vine and Chef Mickey’s just in case. I made these knowing I could cancel them as soon as I decided which I wanted and which I didn’t.

During the beginning of March I spent every night reading the Disboards taking notes and trying to fine tune my plans. After reading how crazy and crowded the weeks before and after Easter would most likely be, we decided to try and switch resorts. On our last trip, we took exactly one bus and the wait for it was absolutely horrendous. We usually drive to our vacation destinations, so transportation isn’t an issue. But, since DH would be attending DS’s baseball games, I wouldn’t have access to our vehicle and thus be forced to rely on Disney transportation. I did some checking and found that AKL was available for all days of our stay and decided to book there. We figured that having a bus dedicated solely to one resort would help with our transportation issues. We were really happy with this for about a week when DH decided that AKL was too far from everything. He thought that being within walking/monorail/boat distance to either MK or EPCOT would be more convenient. DUH!! Of course it’s more convenient….and way more expensive. But, if he wants to change I am not going to argue! I’m all for being closer to the parks!! For the next week I checked every morning and every night for an opening at one of the monorail or EPCOT resorts (we really wanted BC.) The only openings were for 4 nights of our stay, nothing was available which included the first night except for BC concierge which I wasn‘t going to shell out the bucks for. I called and called and called and came up with nothing. I was really bummed! I was given the option of switching resorts but that would have messed up the DDP…..What a major pain.

Around the middle of the month I was checking online and BC showed availability for a standard view room. I immediately called and tried to book it. It was 9:57 when I called and spoke with an extremely helpful CM named Ferrell. He was fantastic! I told him how I had been continuously checking for an opening there and I was ecstatic that it finally had availability. He asked me about who was going, had we been before, was DD excited, etc… We talked about our past trip and what we had planned for our upcoming trip. He was so friendly and nice! He spent quite a few minutes changing my ressie, it seemed like a lot longer than the other CM’s had taken to do the same thing. Hmmmm, could he be doing something special for me, I wondered? I can wish, right?! I don’t know exactly how somebody lucks into getting an upgrade, but when I got off the phone with Ferrell, I told DH that I thought maybe he might have been doing something extra for me. I don’t know why I got that feeling, but when I was done speaking to him I was really excited! We are going to BC!! Yippee!!!


Next up, the real day 1 of our vacation! Sorry for taking up so much time with pre-trip stuff---I will get to the real report soon!

 

[winkers]

Budget?? What's that ??? That word and disney just don't seem to go together!

 

[betsywdw]

Loving your TR so far! Can't wait for more

 

[eagles]

subscribing

 

[chilis]

Thanks, DH just said I need to get my booty in gear and get to postin' before I lose any audience I may have!!!

 

[c8k6k]

Great start! Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[Disneytwinz]

Reading along...enjoying your trip report!!

 

[dvc at last !]

I love this report already ! More, More, More... !

 

[GoingtoSeeRella]

Lovin' your report. Can't wait to hear how Easter was this year. We've been 2 Easter weeks in a row (2005, 2006) but didn't go this year so I can't wait to hear about your trip

 

[BamaGirl]

Great report! I can't wait to hear more!

 

[chilis]

The Real Day 1​

Our plan was to leave Abingdon at 8:00am Wednesday morning. Knowing that we are NEVER able to leave on time, that seemed like a good time to shoot for, figuring we would be on the road by 9:00. I (yes, I) had the car packed Tuesday evening with just a few things left to throw in the back Wednesday. We managed to get up and moving at our regular school time and were pretty much ready to go at 8, but then had to do all those last-minute-before-we-leave-for-the-week things like checking locks, windows, lights, etc. and making sure all of the animals (we have tons--dogs, cats, chickens, horses….you name it and it has probably lived on our property) were taken care of. At 9 we left the house but had to make our ritual stop at WalMart for those supplies we can’t possibly travel away from our home without. After a quick but expensive pre-Easter shopping spree for candy, treats and such, we were on our way by 10. Only 11 hours before we are in Orlando!!! Our ride was relatively uneventful except for the horrible traffic snarl we ran into in Asheville, NC. We still haven’t figured out why it took us almost 45 minutes to get through there when there was only a small (maybe ¼ mile area) blocked off.

A quick side rant/question for frequent travelers out there--why do semi truck drivers ride together and block both lanes when there is an upcoming merge? We encountered “left lane closed ahead” and “merge right ahead” signs a good 5 miles prior to the lane actually being closed. Somehow this encourages the tractor trailer drivers in left hand lane to ride side by side with the semis in the right hand side virtually blocking both lanes. I don’t get it! I know those big trucks have a hard time merging but the majority of cars are able to merge without any problem so I don’t understand why they try and play traffic police and back up the interstate for miles on end. Can someone explain their reasoning to me?!?!

Ok, enough of that!! It is just one of those things that seriously perturbs the heck out of me!!!!

From there it was smooth sailing. After few potty breaks and lunch and dinner stops and we made it to Orlando! At about 10:30 we arrived at the Radisson, our pit stop for our first evening. It was a nice enough place although I don’t know that we were there long enough to actually give an informed opinion on it. It was a lot bigger than I expected and when we got there it was packed! I checked in about 10:45 and there were people everywhere, from the lobby to the pool to the parking lot and everywhere in between. The front desk gave me a list of activities for the week (there was a lot going on--guess that explains the extra $10 service fee) and a map. We had to drive all the way around the property to find our building and when we finally did it was a hike to our room. The Radisson is kind of strangely laid out and we had to walk down several hallways to get to and from our room and car. Overall we had a decent first night at the Radisson even though DD wouldn't let us watch Lost! I am about lost myself trying to keep up with that show! Anyway, we got a good rate, it was clean and best of all it’s only 5 minutes from Disney. We will be checking into the Beach Club bright and early tomorrow morning!!!

Day 2: Good things are comin our way

 

[jcc0621]

I'm in...More please. Can;t wait to hear what you thought about WWOS.

 

[KathyRN137]

Around the middle of the month I was checking online and BC showed availability for a standard view room. I immediately called and tried to book it. It was 9:57 when I called and spoke with an extremely helpful CM named Ferrell. He was fantastic! I told him how I had been continuously checking for an opening there and I was ecstatic that it finally had availability. He asked me about who was going, had we been before, was DD excited, etc… We talked about our past trip and what we had planned for our upcoming trip. He was so friendly and nice!

Every now and then, a really great CM just blows you away with extra kindness and attention...it's the greatest feeling!

I enjoyed reading about your case of "Resort Creep"!! Bye-bye, budget!

Kathy

 

[chilis]

Ha ha! "Resort Creep"....didn't know it actually had a name!!!