TayjaDanger
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2011
- Messages
- 108
Hi there, this is my first PTR! I've been reading through others' vacations like a madwoman and I am excited to eventually be writing up my actual TR in a couple months.
Pet peeve: "Completed" TR's that are actually just abandoned. I hope I don't accidentally fall into this category!
On with the show!
My mum (Ursula) and I (Merriweather) have been planning to take another Disney World trip for a little while, and now that I'm out of school for the summer and have time to dote on planning details, I am getting really excited for the trip.
At IHOP, where we breakfasted each day before Disneyland. I'm front left, Ursula front right, and Stitch is back right. The lady behind me is a dear friend but she isn't going to be in the following TR. Don't we all look festive? I had the same headband but it gave me a headache, which was sad.
Though we took a short trip to California to go to Disneyland and California Adventure a few years ago (see above pic), we haven't been to WDW since 1997, when my sister (Stitch) was a toddler. She was a mild mannered and easy going kidlet, and had so much fun while we were there. She is now sixteen and doesn't remember any of it, which is kind of a bummer for her, what with Mum and I getting so excited about the trip we'll take in October.
1996, Stitch as a baby and me as a teenager.
Don't let that smile fool you, I was in a terrible mood that day! This was before Animal Kingdom even opened, but we bought a bunch of merch anyway. We are also wearing 25th Anniversary Ears (and dress)! Yes, it is true, the castle was a cake both times we last visited-- fall of 96 and 97.
We will be celebrating full throttle: Mum turns 50 this year, and I turn 30 (my golden birthday!). We will also be celebrating Stitch's sweet sixteen unbirthday, and in a small way commemorating one step in securing higher education for me: I have two classes to finish up and I'll have my Associate's of Arts degree. I'll actually be taking these two classes online specifically so that I can enjoy Disney without missing on-campus classes. This also means that I have to spend a bit of time studying on this trip, which I don't find to be particularly appealing. I am imagining taking my laptop poolside and getting things done in a highly efficient manner. We'll see what actually happens.
Non-Disney aside: Last fall I went to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving break to celebrate the birthday of one of my best friends. I thought I would get some homework done while I was there and packed my computer, textbooks and calculator along for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I never touched the texts, didn't lay a finger on the calc. We used the computer quite a lot to divine the cheapest places to eat and where the best rated buffets were, however, so all was not lost. While we were in Vegas I was so overwhelmed with the Disney-like atmosphere. Forced perspective, impressive themes, cast-resin architectural details, the inflated prices, etc., it all smacked of Diz for me and I kept mentioning it. I wonder, when I am back at WDW will I be saying “This reminds me of Vegas!”?
Mum (Ursula) and Stitch still live in Alaska, but I have moved away to Oregon. I've managed a few trips here and there, but Mum really doesn't leave the state for anything but Disney. And when we do Disney, we do it right. No three day trips for us, nosireebob. We are going for three weeks! By the time we fly all the way from Alaska (or Oregon) to Florida, we really want to make the expense of plane tickets and the exhaustion of air travel worth our while. So we arranged our flights to arrive within an hour of each other at the Orlando airport. Since it is October hopefully there won't be any weather related delays and of course we are crossing our fingers that everything will go as planned with connecting flights and everything.
After re-reading the trip report Ursula wrote in 1997, we decided to get a rental car rather than relying solely on Disney transport and cabs, especially since we are also planning to spend a couple days at Universal Studios and Isle of Adventure, because we like roller coasters and Harry Potter, not necessarily in that order. We also plan to spend some time shopping and eating off-site. My poor family doesn't get much of a chance to eat fast food in their tiny town, which has exactly one McDonalds and one Subway, so they lust for Taco Bell and possibly KFC and Burger King. I don't share their cravings because a) I am surrounded by fast food all the time and b) I don't eat meat. I find that unless you eat beef or chicken, generally fast food doesn't have many options. When I say I don't eat meat I am kind of lying-- I eat seafood (grew up in a fishing village in Alaska, what can I say?) and occasionally turkey. But I do seek out the veg options as much as possible.
It will be interesting to say the least to see how we make this work. We have done extensive browsing of menus on allears.net and found a bunch of restaurants that should have foods we all can/will eat. We are adventurous eaters and have hearty appetites, but not being into flesh (me), being “allergic” to mushrooms (Ursula) and having a somewhat unsophisticated palate (Stitch), we have been putting quite a bit of time and energy into finding places with stuff we will all enjoy. Luckily I eat seafood which makes it much easier than trying to find true veg meals.
To add to the chaos that accompanies a Disney trip of any length is the fact that we will be staying there for so long, and resorts just aren't used to people being there for such an extended length of time. Originally we were planning on spending half at Caribbean Beach Resort (Ursula's fave) and half at Port Orleans Riverside (my choice). We have annual passes (Stitch mis-heard and thought we were getting “animal passes,” so thus we have been calling them that ever since) and we were expecting the animal pass discount to be applied to the rooms we reserved a year ago. Well it has come down to the wire and only POR has shown itself to be discounted. CBR is still full price. So Ursula did some fancy work and found us accommodations that reflect the AP discount, but it makes things really weird: we will check into not two but FOUR different hotels over the course of our stay! Only one of which we have previously stayed at.
We start off with the Swan (of the Swolphin fame), which is very thrilling—I hear they have feather beds, an absolute favorite feature of mine! A few days later we check into the value All-Star Music Resort—I've been calling it “the crappy one” because I think all the All-star resorts are hideous. But cheer up, it's still Disney, and that's the trade-off for getting to stay at the Swan! Plus I've been telling myself that we leave for the parks first thing in the morning and don't come back until as late as possible at night, so it's not like we'll be there among the giant statues for that long. And at least it's not *shudder* Sports. Maybe I'm just stuck up, but I really am not into the value resorts. That being said we've never actually stayed at one before, so maybe they're not as bad as I think. Mum reminded me that if we like it, we can go to WDW more often because we won't have to be shelling out big bucks for the moderate resorts (where we usually stay). That is a really good point, so I've been trying to adjust my attitude and stop being such a snob.
We then head to Coronado Spring Resort, which we stayed at for a night or two back in the late nineties when it had just opened. It was gorgeous then and we hope it is still as lovely, with more lush garden areas. The pics of the revamped rooms look absolutely stunning, with dark wood headboards and white and teal accented bedding. The last ten days of the trip will be at Port Orleans Riverside. I really want to get the Mansion room and not the ugly Gator room, I think I will probably throw a tantrum if we have to stay in the ugly room for the rest of our trip. Yes I'm a drama queen, I won't lie, and as much as I try to be relaxed and just take what I get, I get pretty bent out of shape doing things I don't really want to do. Or staying in rooms that are atrocious. We've given them our room preferences, and hopefully if we don't get one of the prettier rooms we can figure something out-- our experience has always been that Disney tries to accommodate guests as best they can, I am hoping that Disney does some magic for us with the rooms.
As much as we are not looking forward to packing and unpacking so many times during our stay, it is fun to get to check out all these resorts that we've never been before. We've previously stayed at Caribbean several times, Port Orleans French Quarter once (maybe twice?), Coronado once as I mentioned, and we spent one night at the Boardwalk. We are moderate to the core, but a splurge into posh Boardwalk (and now the Swan!) is lots of fun.
I am excited to see all the changes that have gone down since we've been there last. Some attractions and rides are gone (Toontown, a large part of Epcot, etc.) but new features have arrived and we can't wait to check them out. Of course there are some old faves: Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, etc. that we are amped to ride again and again.
It will be fun to see the changes and re-introduce Stitch to the World. She is kind of disinterested in all of our planning. I think she just doesn't have a context for the things we're talking about and she can't wrap her head around it all. She's been to DL twice and still remembers those trips but WDW is so much more than DL. It's DL to the nth degree, something you just have to experience yourself to appreciate.
I think it's going to be really fun to pal around with Stitch at the water parks. I really want to get in lots of bonding time with her-- I even had the notion of riding a tandem bicycle because that seemed like a sisterly bonding activity, until she reminded me that she doesn’t know how to ride a bike. Of course I want to bond with Mum, too, but we get along really well and can spend hours talking about Diz-related matters and gossiping about our dysfunctional family, so I think we'll get in all the bonding time we need without riding a bicycle built for two.
Oooh, also, as if this trip wasn't already fun enough, Stitch and I have tickets to see Cirque de Soleil, which I am really thrilled about. Mum wasn't interested in attending, but bought me and Stitch tickets. She is planning on shopping or reading because she isn't into “theater.” I tried to explain that Cirque is not your average theater troupe but she'd have none of it. Oh well, I am still excited about it.
We all are looking forward to spending time together as a family-- we just don't get to do it enough now that I live out of state. As I have no intention of ever moving back to Alaska I am trying to get my family to move to Oregon with me. Ursula would rather move to Florida and I think Stitch just wants to go anywhere where there is a comicbook shop and a Taco Bell.
At any rate, we can spend three weeks together and do all the fun stuff we want to do in Florida in about a month. I'm sure there will be a fair amount of crankiness, exhaustion and bickering as well, but we've taken that into account and given ourselves the freedom to separate and have alone time, or down time to relax by the pool if we need it. After all, we'll have lots of time to see fireworks, parades, ride the rides, watch the shows, and splash around. Oh, and take pictures, of course!
Pet peeve: "Completed" TR's that are actually just abandoned. I hope I don't accidentally fall into this category!
On with the show!
My mum (Ursula) and I (Merriweather) have been planning to take another Disney World trip for a little while, and now that I'm out of school for the summer and have time to dote on planning details, I am getting really excited for the trip.
At IHOP, where we breakfasted each day before Disneyland. I'm front left, Ursula front right, and Stitch is back right. The lady behind me is a dear friend but she isn't going to be in the following TR. Don't we all look festive? I had the same headband but it gave me a headache, which was sad.
Though we took a short trip to California to go to Disneyland and California Adventure a few years ago (see above pic), we haven't been to WDW since 1997, when my sister (Stitch) was a toddler. She was a mild mannered and easy going kidlet, and had so much fun while we were there. She is now sixteen and doesn't remember any of it, which is kind of a bummer for her, what with Mum and I getting so excited about the trip we'll take in October.
1996, Stitch as a baby and me as a teenager.
Don't let that smile fool you, I was in a terrible mood that day! This was before Animal Kingdom even opened, but we bought a bunch of merch anyway. We are also wearing 25th Anniversary Ears (and dress)! Yes, it is true, the castle was a cake both times we last visited-- fall of 96 and 97.
We will be celebrating full throttle: Mum turns 50 this year, and I turn 30 (my golden birthday!). We will also be celebrating Stitch's sweet sixteen unbirthday, and in a small way commemorating one step in securing higher education for me: I have two classes to finish up and I'll have my Associate's of Arts degree. I'll actually be taking these two classes online specifically so that I can enjoy Disney without missing on-campus classes. This also means that I have to spend a bit of time studying on this trip, which I don't find to be particularly appealing. I am imagining taking my laptop poolside and getting things done in a highly efficient manner. We'll see what actually happens.
Non-Disney aside: Last fall I went to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving break to celebrate the birthday of one of my best friends. I thought I would get some homework done while I was there and packed my computer, textbooks and calculator along for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I never touched the texts, didn't lay a finger on the calc. We used the computer quite a lot to divine the cheapest places to eat and where the best rated buffets were, however, so all was not lost. While we were in Vegas I was so overwhelmed with the Disney-like atmosphere. Forced perspective, impressive themes, cast-resin architectural details, the inflated prices, etc., it all smacked of Diz for me and I kept mentioning it. I wonder, when I am back at WDW will I be saying “This reminds me of Vegas!”?
Mum (Ursula) and Stitch still live in Alaska, but I have moved away to Oregon. I've managed a few trips here and there, but Mum really doesn't leave the state for anything but Disney. And when we do Disney, we do it right. No three day trips for us, nosireebob. We are going for three weeks! By the time we fly all the way from Alaska (or Oregon) to Florida, we really want to make the expense of plane tickets and the exhaustion of air travel worth our while. So we arranged our flights to arrive within an hour of each other at the Orlando airport. Since it is October hopefully there won't be any weather related delays and of course we are crossing our fingers that everything will go as planned with connecting flights and everything.
After re-reading the trip report Ursula wrote in 1997, we decided to get a rental car rather than relying solely on Disney transport and cabs, especially since we are also planning to spend a couple days at Universal Studios and Isle of Adventure, because we like roller coasters and Harry Potter, not necessarily in that order. We also plan to spend some time shopping and eating off-site. My poor family doesn't get much of a chance to eat fast food in their tiny town, which has exactly one McDonalds and one Subway, so they lust for Taco Bell and possibly KFC and Burger King. I don't share their cravings because a) I am surrounded by fast food all the time and b) I don't eat meat. I find that unless you eat beef or chicken, generally fast food doesn't have many options. When I say I don't eat meat I am kind of lying-- I eat seafood (grew up in a fishing village in Alaska, what can I say?) and occasionally turkey. But I do seek out the veg options as much as possible.
It will be interesting to say the least to see how we make this work. We have done extensive browsing of menus on allears.net and found a bunch of restaurants that should have foods we all can/will eat. We are adventurous eaters and have hearty appetites, but not being into flesh (me), being “allergic” to mushrooms (Ursula) and having a somewhat unsophisticated palate (Stitch), we have been putting quite a bit of time and energy into finding places with stuff we will all enjoy. Luckily I eat seafood which makes it much easier than trying to find true veg meals.
To add to the chaos that accompanies a Disney trip of any length is the fact that we will be staying there for so long, and resorts just aren't used to people being there for such an extended length of time. Originally we were planning on spending half at Caribbean Beach Resort (Ursula's fave) and half at Port Orleans Riverside (my choice). We have annual passes (Stitch mis-heard and thought we were getting “animal passes,” so thus we have been calling them that ever since) and we were expecting the animal pass discount to be applied to the rooms we reserved a year ago. Well it has come down to the wire and only POR has shown itself to be discounted. CBR is still full price. So Ursula did some fancy work and found us accommodations that reflect the AP discount, but it makes things really weird: we will check into not two but FOUR different hotels over the course of our stay! Only one of which we have previously stayed at.
We start off with the Swan (of the Swolphin fame), which is very thrilling—I hear they have feather beds, an absolute favorite feature of mine! A few days later we check into the value All-Star Music Resort—I've been calling it “the crappy one” because I think all the All-star resorts are hideous. But cheer up, it's still Disney, and that's the trade-off for getting to stay at the Swan! Plus I've been telling myself that we leave for the parks first thing in the morning and don't come back until as late as possible at night, so it's not like we'll be there among the giant statues for that long. And at least it's not *shudder* Sports. Maybe I'm just stuck up, but I really am not into the value resorts. That being said we've never actually stayed at one before, so maybe they're not as bad as I think. Mum reminded me that if we like it, we can go to WDW more often because we won't have to be shelling out big bucks for the moderate resorts (where we usually stay). That is a really good point, so I've been trying to adjust my attitude and stop being such a snob.
We then head to Coronado Spring Resort, which we stayed at for a night or two back in the late nineties when it had just opened. It was gorgeous then and we hope it is still as lovely, with more lush garden areas. The pics of the revamped rooms look absolutely stunning, with dark wood headboards and white and teal accented bedding. The last ten days of the trip will be at Port Orleans Riverside. I really want to get the Mansion room and not the ugly Gator room, I think I will probably throw a tantrum if we have to stay in the ugly room for the rest of our trip. Yes I'm a drama queen, I won't lie, and as much as I try to be relaxed and just take what I get, I get pretty bent out of shape doing things I don't really want to do. Or staying in rooms that are atrocious. We've given them our room preferences, and hopefully if we don't get one of the prettier rooms we can figure something out-- our experience has always been that Disney tries to accommodate guests as best they can, I am hoping that Disney does some magic for us with the rooms.
As much as we are not looking forward to packing and unpacking so many times during our stay, it is fun to get to check out all these resorts that we've never been before. We've previously stayed at Caribbean several times, Port Orleans French Quarter once (maybe twice?), Coronado once as I mentioned, and we spent one night at the Boardwalk. We are moderate to the core, but a splurge into posh Boardwalk (and now the Swan!) is lots of fun.
I am excited to see all the changes that have gone down since we've been there last. Some attractions and rides are gone (Toontown, a large part of Epcot, etc.) but new features have arrived and we can't wait to check them out. Of course there are some old faves: Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, etc. that we are amped to ride again and again.
It will be fun to see the changes and re-introduce Stitch to the World. She is kind of disinterested in all of our planning. I think she just doesn't have a context for the things we're talking about and she can't wrap her head around it all. She's been to DL twice and still remembers those trips but WDW is so much more than DL. It's DL to the nth degree, something you just have to experience yourself to appreciate.
I think it's going to be really fun to pal around with Stitch at the water parks. I really want to get in lots of bonding time with her-- I even had the notion of riding a tandem bicycle because that seemed like a sisterly bonding activity, until she reminded me that she doesn’t know how to ride a bike. Of course I want to bond with Mum, too, but we get along really well and can spend hours talking about Diz-related matters and gossiping about our dysfunctional family, so I think we'll get in all the bonding time we need without riding a bicycle built for two.
Oooh, also, as if this trip wasn't already fun enough, Stitch and I have tickets to see Cirque de Soleil, which I am really thrilled about. Mum wasn't interested in attending, but bought me and Stitch tickets. She is planning on shopping or reading because she isn't into “theater.” I tried to explain that Cirque is not your average theater troupe but she'd have none of it. Oh well, I am still excited about it.
We all are looking forward to spending time together as a family-- we just don't get to do it enough now that I live out of state. As I have no intention of ever moving back to Alaska I am trying to get my family to move to Oregon with me. Ursula would rather move to Florida and I think Stitch just wants to go anywhere where there is a comicbook shop and a Taco Bell.
At any rate, we can spend three weeks together and do all the fun stuff we want to do in Florida in about a month. I'm sure there will be a fair amount of crankiness, exhaustion and bickering as well, but we've taken that into account and given ourselves the freedom to separate and have alone time, or down time to relax by the pool if we need it. After all, we'll have lots of time to see fireworks, parades, ride the rides, watch the shows, and splash around. Oh, and take pictures, of course!
We got the Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic dinner package!! Hooray! Mum and I were thrilled when she finally was able to make that one happen. 
I can't wait for another Dole whip, I think I will probably make myself sick eating these as often as possible-- they have been a favorite Diz treat for as long as I can remember!
Also excited to try the Gran Marnier and Grey Goose slushies, fiesta margaritas, and any drink that comes with a light up ice cube! Oooh, also the Lapu lapu-- does Ohana serve that at breakfast? Probably not! I might need to venture over to the Poly at night to try one. Does anyone know if they have bar seating, in the case that I just want to have a lapu lapu and not dinner? 
