A Very Disney Family...May 12-28

[annieb727]

Who? Me, Dh, Ds9, and Ds8
What/Where? 16 night adventure at Pop Century at WDW Resort
When? May 12-28, 2012
Why? Why not?? Disney is the best vacation spot ever!
How? Driving from SC to Orlando ~7.5-8 hour drive.

I have never done a trip report before...let alone a PRE-Trip Report. So I don't really know what I am doing, but here goes...

Back in February, we were thinking about ds8's birthday - March 28 (then he was 7)...he wanted to go to the beach for the weekend. We live in South Carolina, so the beach of choice is Myrtle Beach (only about a 2 1/2 hour drive from our house).

Then I started thinking about ds9's birthday (July 1st). I knew he would want a weekend at Carowinds. Between the two hotel stays, tickets, food, recreation, etc...we would be spending close to $1000. So we decided to make a "cheap" trip down to WDW instead. In between both birthdays. Giving them each a day to celebrate their birthday while we are there.

So....the cast includes

Me (33)...I am the planner. I love to plan. I love Disney. I am currently in school and working part time. I am working on my Master's in Professional Counseling. And I work part-time at Subway.

Dh (39)...he loves Disney as much as I do thankfully. I don't think I could have married him if he didn't. He just separated from the military, and is going to start school again. He's currently enjoying some time off from working...though looking for a job and enjoying some of those unemployment benefits for now.

Ds9...He's in 3rd grade this year. He is involved in Cub Scouts...and he LOVES Disney. Though he would never admit it to anyone (other than us) he loves Pooh Bear and is most excited about going to Crystal Palace to see him there. He also requested a meal at T-Rex.

Ds8...He's in 2nd grade this year. He is also involved in Cub Scouts. Last summer he discovered upside down roller coasters as he was finally tall enough for them (We only live about 2 hours away from Carowinds...so we spent a lot of time there last summer). He is finally tall enough for all the rides at WDW -- except the upside down portions of Sum of All Thrills (he's right about 51 inches with shoes on).

We also have 3 cats, a puppy, and a hamster. One of our cats' name is Minnie. our puppy is Daisy. Though they originally wanted to name her Tinkerbell.

I have been to Disneyland Resort in California 12 times since 1996 having been from the west coast (Oregon) originally. In 2003 (we lived in Alabama then) and 2009 (right after moving to SC) we went to WDW.

Our original plan for this trip was to stay offsite. However, I talked dh into having us stay at Pop Century and doing the DDP. We bought our annual passes and have the vouchers for those. Plus we have GC for tips and spending money.

Alright...this is it for now...I have to finish up some classwork before midnight tonight...

...to be continued...

 

[annieb727]

Alright...so in the planning stages of this trip.
We will have AP's so hopping is included. No waterparks/disneyquest.

Here's what I have planned so far:

Saturday, May 12 - Arrival day - Check in at POP Century Resort and relax. Pool. Early to bed.

Sunday, May 13 - Hollywood Studios RD (open 9am-9pm) – Stay until early evening. Back to resort and bed early.

Monday, May 14 - Epcot (open 9am-9pm) RD. Akershus 4:55pm. Illuminations Cruise

Tuesday, May 15 - Animal Kingdom (open 9am-7pm) RD – Boma 5:15pm then back to Resort.

Wednesday, May 16 - Magic Kingdom (open 9am-10pm) – RD - 1900 Park Faire (Grand Floridian) 4:30pm. Go to Resort for an early evening.

Thursday, May 17 - DTD/Break day – T-Rex 3pm

Friday, May 18 - Magic Kingdom (open 9am-10pm) – RD - Crystal Palace 5:05pm (stay for MSEP)

Saturday, May 19 - Epcot (open 9am-9pm) – Sleep in. Restaurant Marrakesh 5pm – Illuminations 9pm.

Sunday, May 20 - Animal Kingdom (open 9am-7pm) Sleep in – Tusker House 2:10pm; stay til park close.

Monday, May 21 – Epcot (open 9am-9pm) – RD - Le Cellier 1:25pm – stay as late as we feel up to it.

Tuesday, May 22 - DTD/Break day/Wilderness Lodge exploration? – Hoop Dee Doo Revue 5pm

Wednesday, May 23 - Animal Kingdom (open 9am-7pm) RD - Tuskerhouse 12:05pm

Thursday, May 24 - Hollywood Studios (open 9am-9pm) Sleep in if needed – Mama Melrose F! Dinner Package 1:20pm; Fantasmic 9pm

Friday, May 25 - Magic Kingdom (open 9am-10pm) – RD - Crystal Palace 4:25pm, Fireworks dessert 9pm (long day)

Saturday, May 26 - Epcot (open 9am-9pm) – Sleep in - Garden Grill 4:40pm Illuminations 9pm.

Sunday, May 27 - Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekend (open 9am-9pm) – RD

Monday, May 28 - Leave very early in the morning (driving so we can adjust this if needed) IF BTMRR is open, we will go to MK this morning to ride it a few times before leaving WDW.

 

[annieb727]

I posted this to get feedback in the "Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies"...but since it regards my planning decisions and what-not I thought I would post it here too...

Currently we have planned for our WDW trip -- 16 nights...regular APs (have the vouchers, but not the actual passes yet -- 25 days to go!!). SO no waterparks or disneyquest.

I'm not sure if we can really afford it, but I would LOVE to do something...like the water parks and disney quest.
That would cost us $532.30 to upgrade our passes.
IF we chose just to do one water park day and one disney quest day -- it would cost us $362.14 (so $170.16 less). However, I will be making a solo trip to WDW in June, and I would LOVE to visit the water parks and disney quest on that trip. I hear DQ is quite good. So for me, a definite upgrade.

We are also going to TRY to make a trip out to WDW in August. I am about 85-90% sure this will happen. HOT August...water park sounds FABULOUS! IF we did that, then it would definitely be worth doing.

We ARE making a trip in December...though I can't see us doing the water parks then. Possibly DQ, but not sure. We would like to take another trip next may (2013) before the passes expire. So if we did waterparks then it would definitely be worth the upgrade.

Ok...so here's where it gets a bit more complicated.

I would kind of like to do something other than MK, AK, EP, and DHS.
So I was thinking about our other options...that would cost about the same (or less) than the upgraded APs...

2 days at Universal (one park each day) $443.96 (APs are too expensive here)
2 days at Legoland $340 (or get APs for $486)
2 days at Seaworld $271.96 (or get APs for $479.96)

I know the boys (they are 8 and 9) would LOVE legoland...but it seems pretty expensive.
I know we'd all enjoy Sea World.
And I have NO DOUBT we'd all love Universal (though ds8 won't get to do all the rides).
Both of the boys would love to do the water parks. Dh is not so sure about it.

What would you do?? Or should I just keep it to the WDW Parks??

 

[annieb727]

I think I will finally be able to get somewhere with the planning aspect of the trip now. I sat down with each of my boys (that includes dh ). I had them tell me for each attaction if they wanted to do it a lot, 2-3 times, at least once, or not at all. So I have every attraction listed by everyone. Since I am going on my own in June, I don't have to really worry about not getting to do something that I want since I'll be able to do it in June.

From what the boys had said before, I didn't think they would want to do character meetings, but apparently they are super excited about it, and want to do autographs and all that, so we made a list of all the characters they want to see. So I will be working that into our plans as well.

They are such boys!! I mentioned princesses when we were talking about characters and they both said, "YUCK!" Whether they like it or no, they will be meeting princesses when we go...we are having dinner one night at Akershus -- though it's because of the cuisine, not the princesses. My family is from Norway. On our last trip in 2009, we actually ate there for two or three meals. Of course, the boys were 4 and 6 at the time, so they enjoyed the princesses. We have a great picture of little one, with a princess on each side kissing him on the cheek. LOVE IT.

Anyway. I feel like now that I have talked with each one of them, I can better figure out what we need to do in each park. Looks like a DHS day will be a character filled day!

 

[LifeOnCloud8]

Hi there! It's great to see another DISer from South Carolina! From my experiences, we're a bit few and far between...
Anyhow, thanks for posting about your pre-trip planning! It's neat to hear about how everyone gets ready for their trips and I'm sure y'all will have a blast!
We're driving down to celebrate my high school graduation on the May 30th so I can't wait to read up on your trip and get excited for our own!