A surprise from my DH! 1/4/08-1/9/08

[pikaboo27]

I was so excited yesterday because me DH asked me a question. Instead of buying each other Christmas gifts this year, did we want to go for 6 days to Disneyworld instead? Hmm, let me think about this...YES!!!! The funny thing is that we had originally planned to take this trip, but cancelled it for financial reasons. So now, the trip is back on. YAY!

So this will be my pre-trip report so you can be with me as we make our last minute ADRs.

Let's start with the cast of characters:

Me-A twenty-something Disney fanatic. I've been going to DL with my parents since I was little.

DH-Another twenty-something Disney fanatic who has also been to DL with his parents since he was little.

Our first discussion was about hotel. We've stayed at CR for our honeymoon so we wanted to stay somewhere else. But where? Boardwalk? Poly? In the end, after looking at prices, we thought, wait, what about Wilderness Lodge? We never stayed there, so why not give it a shot? So this morning, my beloved DH called Disney and and we are booked! Yay! For now we have a room-only ressie, since we don't get DH's holiday bonus until just before Christmas which is after the 45 day out requirement of the package. We will change to a MYW package w/ basic dining once we get the bonus.

That's all I have for now, but I will update as I work on our itinerary and plan our ADRs.

Thanks for reading!

 

[quiltymom]

What a fantastic gift idea! And you will just love the Wilderness Lodge. We stayed there our last trip and absolutely adored it. Make sure to spend time just wandering the lodge and the grounds. They are spectacular.

Yup - your DH is a keeper!

 

[TheDISneyFamily]

Congratulations! Yes, I agree! Your DH is a keeper!

Have fun planning!
-Michelle

 

[pikaboo27]

Wow, a lot has changed with our trip today. First, the dates. We have changed from 1/4-1/9 to 1/17-1/23. It turns out that DH's conference was changed! So we've moved our dates and added a day to make traveling easier.

Then we looked at our finances and decided that rather than stay at WL, we are going to stay at one of the all-stars and save $900. But we are still so excited! We were already planning to rent a car, so it's not such a big deal.

So those are our two big changes. We are still planning to do DDP, which we did last time. It has changed a bit, but last time I felt that there was waaaaay too much food anyway, so we are fine with it.

Here is our planned itinerary so far, including ADRs.

Day 1: Arrive at our hotel around 6:00 pm. Head to DTD and do some shopping and eat at Earl of Sandwich. (Thanks Jay for that great tip!)

Day 2: Get up early and head to AK. Enjoy AK highlights(especially EE) and enjoy lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. Finish up at AK, then head back to the hotel for a bit of a break. Then off to MK for the evening.

Day 3: Get up early and head to Disney Studios. Hit the highlights. Light lunch at Mama Melrose's. Then back to the hotel for a rest, then off to Epcot World Showcase for the evening.

Day 4: This is our full day in Epcot. We will start in future world, and do dinner at Le Cellier (an ADR we missed last time). We will also be making a late ADR at Rose and Crown for dessert to enjoy Illuminations.

Day 5: This is our rest day. We will be taking it easy and heading to the GF spa for a foot treatment. (YAY!) We'll probably head to the Boardwalk. Dinner will be late and at CG so we can enjoy Wishes.

Day 6: Finally, our full day in MK! This is by far our favorite park. We are going to leave food open for the day and won't be doing table service this day.

Day 7: Sadly this is our day to leave.. We will be enjoying breakfast at CP and then spending our remaining time in the park because heading to the airport for me to fly home, and DH to head on to his conference.

I know I will still be making plenty of changes so bear with me. Also, anyone who has a preference on a value resorts, let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading.

 

[pikaboo27]

It seems the changes never stop with our WDW trip.

First, our hotel. If you read my previous posts, you know we were originally were going to stay WL, but were changing to an All-Star. Well, that didn't work out because all the All-Stars were booked! The only available value was Pop, so we booked a room only ressie there. But then we started doing more research about the values, including our Unofficial Guide (definately one of the best guide books out there) and saw two words that made us very concerned about the values: Double beds. Now, DH and I are both Pooh-sized. We are both losing weight, but it will be a while before we both fit comfortably on a double bed. And there are so few king rooms that the chances of getting a king room are very very small. So we started looking at other options, but with our budget, we just couldn't afford a moderate. Then, DH had the wonderful idea to try and rent DVC points! Great idea! So he posted with info on our trip, but there was a problem. All the studios were booked! How could this be? So I resigned myself to the double beds and just decided nothing was going to bother me, I was going to be in the world, and that's enough for me. But then so pixy dust came along and we got word from a wonderful DISer that she had found us a ressie at SSR! So we are all set and ready to stay at with a quaranteed queen bed. So much better. Plus the craziest thing is, this magical DISer, is local! Only 5 minutes from us! Definately some Disney magic, right here, because it is definately a small world.

We are still planning to be on the dining plan, and I have made all our ADRs. I'm still looking for an inexpensive car rental. I've checked with Costco, and the Enterainment book and so far our best rate was found on Orbitz. Weird. If anyone has any other ideas, I'm happy to hear them. Or read them anyway. he he he

We've booked our flights the other day too, and our canine kids are booked at their hotel. And it's an actual hotel. Their room has a TV and everything. It's called Wag Hotel, and if you have one near you, you should definately check them out.

Well, I guess that's all the updates I have for now. Everyone have a Disney day! We are off to buy new sneakers to break in before our trip. Yay new shoes!

Oh, and I just discovered www.live365.com and Sorceror radio, it's so cool! It's totally getting us in the mood.