Anyone Up For a Little MAYcation?!! A May 2012 WDW PTR with a side of.....

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Shelly--- the tickets from UT will be in your mailbox I bet by next Thursday. They are usually super fast.

And don't forget to get concierge in the BC lobby to add them onto your KTTW ticket. They'll then issue you new KTTW cards and destroy the old ones. When you do--- make sure that they also scan your CC onto the new ones so you can have room charging privileges. Other than that-- Easy Peasy!

And YAY for saving some $$!

I hope so!!

Yes, I need to remember to get them put on our KTTW cards so we don't have to carry 2 cards each.

At least I saved a bit there after getting ripped off on the airfare!!

Shelly~ I've gotten my tix from maple Leaf tickets before and my sister has used UT. This year my DH checked AAA and they were cheaper than both with no shipping charges- I just picked them up yesterday.
So next year if you're AAA member check them too
They also gave me a AAA Diamond parking pass
So excited about that!!!!!

I forgot to check Maple Leaf. We don't have AAA. Maybe we should get it!

Crossing my fingers that i will be done next year. It will be sort of a graduation present to myself. I can't wait to read all about your trip.... i live vicariously through your trips.....

That will be an awesome graduation present!! Where will you stay? I say go deluxe all the way -- you deserve it!!!!!!!!!

I've never bought tickets from anyone but Disney so I'll be curious to see what you think. If I ever book a room only discount, that would be nice to save a little extra cash. We've always gotten free dining, so that wasn't an option for us. I'm crossing my fingers for free dining again this fall but if they only offer a room discount, then that might be a really good excuse to stay at a deluxe, don't you think?

By the way, have you done anymore reasearch into what you want to do for your 'big' trip next year? I'm really curious to know if you've found a cheaper way to get to Aulani.

I've never bought tix from anyone but WDW either. I hope it goes okay.

Yes absolutely, if there's a room only discount for next fall you should totally do a deluxe!! Which one would you pick???

I haven't had much tome to think about the big 2013 trip much these days. I really need to get back on that. I go from Hawaii to DL to WDW & DCL and back again. It would be Hawaii/Aulani all the way if it weren't for one thing......Can anyone guess what one thing has been irritating me this week to begin with??? AIRFARE!!!!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Has anyone ever ordered from Garden Grocer? If so, how did it go? And do you have to be in your room when they deliver?

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Plans......



I've had my plans set for months and months now. I made my ADR's before we were even sure if we were going in May or August, just in-case. So I had to have some sort of plan in mind when doing that. But then when we lost our whole first day and last day I needed to switch a few things around.

So after losing Saturday completely and losing the following Sunday morning before heading home we are down to having 7 full days.

On a normal trip we will go to AK one morning, DHS 2 days, and Epcot & MK will be one of them 2 days and the other 3 days. Now, with the "surprise day" thrown in there we have planned to throw the AK day out completely. So for anyone who was hoping to see lots of AK in this TR when we get back you are going to be out of luck. Sorry! It's very likely we will not get to AK at all. Unless our "surprise day" ends sooner than expected and we swing by AK on the way back, or we choose to give up another park for AK while we were there. No plans of doing that as of now though.

So, with 7 full days the plan is to do the other 3 parks 2 days each and 1 day for the surprise. I'm not loving this plan. We had planned on doing Epcot 3X this trip since we are staying at the BC and can walk there, but it's just not going to work out that way. We will likely hit each park once in the morning at RD and stay until about 2-3:00 and then hit each one again on another day around 2-3:00 and stay until closing.

So it looks like we will get to:


Magic Kingdom ~

Epcot ~

Disney's Hollywood Studios ~

And just what is the big surprise??? I bet lots of you already know!!


We are going to the new Legoland Florida!!!!!!!!!!!!

Legoland is in Winter Haven, FL. Just over 30 miles from WDW. So, we are doing several things that are new to us – not going to AK, venturing off WDW property, and renting a car!

The more research I have done the more I have come to find out that LL is really geared for families with young children. They say they are geared for 12 and under, but I'm not really sure how impressed DS12 will be with the rides. I have read several reports and some people aren't in love with the place. Saying that the lines are long, the employees don't know what they are doing, and it is only for little kids.

I think that people are going in expecting it to be like WDW, and when it's not they are upset. Honestly, I'm not expecting too much from the place. I just think it looks super neat and my hope is that the boys have a decent time and enjoy a new experience. If we get to ride lots of rides, that is great! And if not, that is fine too. I know DS10 is going to love just being there, he is a HUGE Lego fan!


Up Next: Let's Explore the Parks!

 

[Moodyzblu]

I'm here ... finally !

I so loved your last TR and am excited you guys are going again so soon !

I gave my boys the option to go to Legoland, but they agreed they didn't want to lose any WDW days. Spoken like true Disney kids ! But I think they would have a great time if I did bring them. I'm looking forward to hearing your review of it.

I'm excited to be trying out our first moderate experience !!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Has anyone ever ordered from Garden Grocer? If so, how did it go? And do you have to be in your room when they deliver?

We've used Garden Grocer two or three times and were always pleased with the service. You simply place your order, pay for the order and the delivery fee and then give them a contact number and an estimated time of arrival. They called us while we were on the road and said that they would be delivering the items and if we weren't there, they would leave the order with Bell Services. I checked with Bell Services when we arrived and they delivered everything to our room within 15 minutes. Oh and Bell Services kept our refrigerated items in the fridge until we asked that they be delivered.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I like the sounds of your plans....with the exception of losing part of your travel dates but we've already talked about that. I'll keep my fingers crossed that Legoland will be more than you are expecting. I've looked at quite a few pictures of the place and it does seem to be geared more toward younger kids but, like you said, your youngest is a Lego freak so I'm sure he'll enjoy it.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Shelly~ we have more similarities in our trips. The last 2 years that we've gone to Disney we've stayed almost 2 weeks, with a few days at Universal before transferring over to Disney. Well this year we couldn't go that long so we were skipping Uni/IOA altogether. The boys have really enjoyed doing that and were disappointed we weren't going this yr.
We are going with my parents this yr. staying at their timeshare. My mom really wanted to see WWoHP so she offered to buy the kids Uni/IOA park tickets for a b-day surprise.
The problem is- we are going over there for only 1 day!! Tickets are so expensive for just the 1 day but we're doing it anyway. Doing that "side" trip didn't really take away our park days b/c we usually only get 5 park days and have 2 "off" days on our trips. I'm gonna miss my other off day I enjoy going shopping and just hanging out at the pool.
Sorry this ended up being so long.

I'm sure DS12 will enjoy LL even if he doesn't admit it. How many rides do they have? You're right, you may be done there early and able to swing by AK or another park too. Like you said it's not WDW. Even WWoHP is small we were done by noon.

Deb

 

[wakica]

If we HAD to choose a park to skip it would probably be AK too. We LOOOOVE EE and all and DD loves animals but we are more in it for lots of rides so AK would be the first on the chopping block.

I hope LL turns out to be a good time for all. It'll be interesting to read about it in your report. I've often wondered about the other things in the area like the gator places and other things but there are so many big parks with WDW, US, BUSCH, SW that we just havn't been tempted enough to go anywhere else. Sure with they would have spread out that wonderful theme park fortune to something a bit closer but that's just a silly thing to say - you need to be able to stay open year round to have a significantly good theme park i would think and with possibly 6 months of snow around here it isn't something that would make a go of it

WHY do I live here??? lol

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Well, it sure stinks about the airline cutting into your WDW days! I have a similar issue - we end up driving which adds days that I could be in WDW if we flew, but airfare is going up by the minute. I can barely find anything for less than $400 RT - that's with a stop in DENVER! Not exactly on the way from MN!!

We have alternated skipping DHS and AK in the past. But you guys LOVE DHS, so I wouldn't expect you to skip that at all. We would like to do a day for WWoHP sometime, but it's so expensive for one day. I'd also like to get back to SeaWorld or something too. I need a two week trip!!

I've heard very good things about Garden Grocer, and if we fly in October, will use them. If we drive, we'll just stop at a grocery store. It's looking like we'll have a 1BR villa so we'll do some cooking - mostly breakfasts. I've got a couple weeks before ADR time, but we're only going to do about 4 I think. It will be during Food and Wine, so I hope to spend a fair amount of time in Epcot.

Okay - sorry - this is about YOUR trip!!!
I hope you like Legoland! The DIS Unplugged had some info on the podcast and it sounded fun and cute - but maybe not as exciting for older kids. At the worst, you spend half a day and some $$. At least you know there will be cool lego displays!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I'm here ... finally !

I so loved your last TR and am excited you guys are going again so soon !

I gave my boys the option to go to Legoland, but they agreed they didn't want to lose any WDW days. Spoken like true Disney kids ! But I think they would have a great time if I did bring them. I'm looking forward to hearing your review of it.

I'm excited to be trying out our first moderate experience !!

So glad you are here!! Glad you enjoyed the last TR and hope you will enjoy this one too!

DS10 doesn't know about Legoland yet, but I know he is going to be thrilled!! DS12 knows and is having fun keeping a secret from his little brother.

Where are you staying???

We've used Garden Grocer two or three times and were always pleased with the service. You simply place your order, pay for the order and the delivery fee and then give them a contact number and an estimated time of arrival. They called us while we were on the road and said that they would be delivering the items and if we weren't there, they would leave the order with Bell Services. I checked with Bell Services when we arrived and they delivered everything to our room within 15 minutes. Oh and Bell Services kept our refrigerated items in the fridge until we asked that they be delivered.

Well that doesn't sound too bad then! Obviously I don't want a delivery at 9-10:00pm the day we arrive, so I am hoping they can deliver the next morning before we head out for the day.

We might give it a try! Thanks for the info.

I like the sounds of your plans....with the exception of losing part of your travel dates but we've already talked about that. I'll keep my fingers crossed that Legoland will be more than you are expecting. I've looked at quite a few pictures of the place and it does seem to be geared more toward younger kids but, like you said, your youngest is a Lego freak so I'm sure he'll enjoy it.

Thanks! Yes, it stinks that we lost an entire day at the beginning. I hope Legoland isn't a total bust! I'm sure it will be fine. I'm keeping my expectations low, so maybe I will be surprised!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Shelly~ we have more similarities in our trips. The last 2 years that we've gone to Disney we've stayed almost 2 weeks, with a few days at Universal before transferring over to Disney. Well this year we couldn't go that long so we were skipping Uni/IOA altogether. The boys have really enjoyed doing that and were disappointed we weren't going this yr.
We are going with my parents this yr. staying at their timeshare. My mom really wanted to see WWoHP so she offered to buy the kids Uni/IOA park tickets for a b-day surprise.
The problem is- we are going over there for only 1 day!! Tickets are so expensive for just the 1 day but we're doing it anyway. Doing that "side" trip didn't really take away our park days b/c we usually only get 5 park days and have 2 "off" days on our trips. I'm gonna miss my other off day I enjoy going shopping and just hanging out at the pool.
Sorry this ended up being so long.

I'm sure DS12 will enjoy LL even if he doesn't admit it. How many rides do they have? You're right, you may be done there early and able to swing by AK or another park too. Like you said it's not WDW. Even WWoHP is small we were done by noon.

Deb

I was actually thinking about adding in Universal this year or next, but then LL opened up and I knew we had to get there as soon as possible before the kids got any older. I think they will enjoy Universal more when they are a little older anyway.

I will miss not having any "off days" on this trip. But we will likely only spend about a half day each day in the parks, so that will leave each morning or evening free to swim, relax, shop, etc.

I think DS12 will enjoy LL. But you are right, he is not going to admit it!

If we HAD to choose a park to skip it would probably be AK too. We LOOOOVE EE and all and DD loves animals but we are more in it for lots of rides so AK would be the first on the chopping block.

I hope LL turns out to be a good time for all. It'll be interesting to read about it in your report. I've often wondered about the other things in the area like the gator places and other things but there are so many big parks with WDW, US, BUSCH, SW that we just havn't been tempted enough to go anywhere else. Sure with they would have spread out that wonderful theme park fortune to something a bit closer but that's just a silly thing to say - you need to be able to stay open year round to have a significantly good theme park i would think and with possibly 6 months of snow around here it isn't something that would make a go of it

WHY do I live here??? lol

Yeah, it was an easy decision to give AK the axe!! The other 3 parks are nearly tied at the top our our list and AK is WAY behind them. In-fact last year only DS12 & I went there to ride EE and Dinosaur. DS10 and DH didn't even come along! DS12 will miss EE, but other than that we will be fine without going.

It would be nice if some of the fun was closer to home, huh?!! But not here when it is winter over half the year. I'm hoping renting a car and going to LL will be a good experience and maybe we can start branching out a little on each trip.

Well, it sure stinks about the airline cutting into your WDW days! I have a similar issue - we end up driving which adds days that I could be in WDW if we flew, but airfare is going up by the minute. I can barely find anything for less than $400 RT - that's with a stop in DENVER! Not exactly on the way from MN!!

We have alternated skipping DHS and AK in the past. But you guys LOVE DHS, so I wouldn't expect you to skip that at all. We would like to do a day for WWoHP sometime, but it's so expensive for one day. I'd also like to get back to SeaWorld or something too. I need a two week trip!!

I've heard very good things about Garden Grocer, and if we fly in October, will use them. If we drive, we'll just stop at a grocery store. It's looking like we'll have a 1BR villa so we'll do some cooking - mostly breakfasts. I've got a couple weeks before ADR time, but we're only going to do about 4 I think. It will be during Food and Wine, so I hope to spend a fair amount of time in Epcot.

Okay - sorry - this is about YOUR trip!!!
I hope you like Legoland! The DIS Unplugged had some info on the podcast and it sounded fun and cute - but maybe not as exciting for older kids. At the worst, you spend half a day and some $$. At least you know there will be cool lego displays!

IDK how you drive from MN!! I couldn't do it from here.

You are right -- 2 full weeks would be a good amount of time to be down there and do everything that you want to do!

Where are you staying in October?

We ended up getting the kids LL tix FREE!! So all in all the day isn't going to cost us all that much. And I am thinking we are going to take advantage of having the rental car and do a little more exploring....

 

[Dancegrl624]

Update:

I just bought WDW park tickets!! Since we have a room only ressie at the BC I bought my park tix from Undercover Tourist. I've never used them before, but have heard that they are trustworthy. I saved about $95 buying through them instead of WDW. And since I only needed 7 day tix instead of 8 days, I saved about $100 there.

We used UT for our January 2009 trip since we were offsite. They were great! Tickets come in a very plain brown envelope so no one knows they are WDW tickets.

Has anyone ever ordered from Garden Grocer? If so, how did it go? And do you have to be in your room when they deliver?

I haven't personally used them, but I know lots of people who have. They are wonderful and we plan on using them for our Sept trip. Like others have said, Bell Services will hold your groceries until you arrive.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Great deal on kids free for LL!

Yeah, driving from MN rather stinks. But, so far, it's still cheaper than flying, and we will be in control of when/where we go. It would be nice to venture off property too. The girls might want to go to Clearwater (I think) to see Winter, the dolphin from Dolphin Tale.

We are booked right now for a studio at AKV - Jambo for 5 nights and a 1BR at OKW for two nights. BUT, we're looking to switch to a 1BR for 4 of the 5 nights at AKV (not the first night cuz it's a Saturday and we'll arrive in the evening - too many points to use). We may also end up at OKW for the whole time. Who knows? We're supposed to discuss and decide this week. We had hoped to be at an Epcot resort, but (1) too many points for a 1BR there and (2) everything is booked and we'd have to waitlist and DH doesn't want to do that. We love AKV though, so that's okay. We might try Kidani, since the 1BR there has 2 bathrooms!!! How cool would that be?

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We used UT for our January 2009 trip since we were offsite. They were great! Tickets come in a very plain brown envelope so no one knows they are WDW tickets.


Good to know, I'll keep an eye out for them!!


I haven't personally used them, but I know lots of people who have. They are wonderful and we plan on using them for our Sept trip. Like others have said, Bell Services will hold your groceries until you arrive.

I was thinking about ordering some water, Mtn. Dew, and snacks. That way maybe we can get by on only one checked bag instead of two...

Great deal on kids free for LL!

Yeah, driving from MN rather stinks. But, so far, it's still cheaper than flying, and we will be in control of when/where we go. It would be nice to venture off property too. The girls might want to go to Clearwater (I think) to see Winter, the dolphin from Dolphin Tale.

We are booked right now for a studio at AKV - Jambo for 5 nights and a 1BR at OKW for two nights. BUT, we're looking to switch to a 1BR for 4 of the 5 nights at AKV (not the first night cuz it's a Saturday and we'll arrive in the evening - too many points to use). We may also end up at OKW for the whole time. Who knows? We're supposed to discuss and decide this week. We had hoped to be at an Epcot resort, but (1) too many points for a 1BR there and (2) everything is booked and we'd have to waitlist and DH doesn't want to do that. We love AKV though, so that's okay. We might try Kidani, since the 1BR there has 2 bathrooms!!! How cool would that be?

Yes, anyone who is thinking about doing LL within the next year - if you purchase them under the McDonald's promotion you get one free child's ticket for each adult ticket you purchase. And they are good for a year!

That would be fun to see the Dolphin from the movie!

Sounds like you have lots of options! I'm sure you'll get it figured out soon enough. Two bathrooms would be awesome!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Mountain Dew!! I remember you having MD withdrawals- No MD in WDW!!!
My DS14 would love some MD in Disney too
This year he had hockey practice before school at 6am- yes you saw that right 6AM. (thankfully it was only 1 day a wk) MD is his coffee. Every morning after practice he'd get a b-fast sandwich and MD at Dunkin.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Where are you staying???

We are staying at CBR ! I had booked POP ay first but then switched to CBR. The boys still think we are staying at POP and I'm going to surprise them when we get there.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Mountain Dew!! I remember you having MD withdrawals- No MD in WDW!!!
My DS14 would love some MD in Disney too
This year he had hockey practice before school at 6am- yes you saw that right 6AM. (thankfully it was only 1 day a wk) MD is his coffee. Every morning after practice he'd get a b-fast sandwich and MD at Dunkin.

Guess what the best thing about Legoland is???


They serve Pepsi products!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY MTN DEW!!!!




That is too funny about your DS!! I would need it too if I had to be at school at 6am.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We are staying at CBR ! I had booked POP ay first but then switched to CBR. The boys still think we are staying at POP and I'm going to surprise them when we get there.

Oh that's right, I think I knew that. The boys are going to be so surprised!!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I tell ya, I go to the grocery store and I'm 2 pages behind!

I looked into garden grocer on our 2nd trip (when we flew) and decided that I could ship myself a package much cheaper than using them. Plus they didn't have certain items that I wanted (or the brand I wanted). The main thing I 'needed' were my two cases of Mountain Dews. You don't know anything about that addiction do you? So anyway, I just packed them in a box with a few other things and mailed them to Pop Century. I picked up the box when I checked in and it all went very smoothly. This option won't work though if you want fresh or refrigerated stuff so... And it seems that postal rates have really increased since then too so I guess you'd have to do the math.

As for your trips plans... we are probably going to have to do some things differently this time too. It looks like we might be cruising again and that is cutting into my park time. We might have to give up DHS or AK too and we have never done that before. Not sure I like it either. It just doesn't feel right without going to all four parks. Is that dumb? And I don't blame you for wanting that extra Epcot time since you are staying so close. That is exactly how I'd feel. Man it really stinks how your airfare has worked out! But driving is going to do the same thing to us. We always lose 2 days b/c of that. We need a Jetson mobile!

I hope your boys LOVE LL! That is so neat that you have that big secret for them. I can never do that. I'm horrible at keeping something a surprise. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that DS12 likes it too. Don't you hate it when they start outgrowing things. It makes me so sad. We had an episode of that on our last trip.

We've never had a Lego lover in the house, but I'm still interested to see what you guys do there. And you are smart to go in not expacting Disney magic. I didn't do that on our first trip when we went to Seaworld (on the last day of the trip) and I had that same let down. NO park can give you that same warm fuzzy feeling that WDW can, so you are very right to prepare yourself so that it doesn't ruin your fun.

We are considering an off property stop next time too. I'm trying to talk DH into going to Discovery Cove. It's a hard sell though when we could add a day to our tickets and go to a WDW park SOOOO much cheaper. Disney marketing is very sneaky like that!

And by the way, I feel like such a ding dong! I knew that your surprise was LL (I have no idea how I knew that ) but for some reason when you said he was dissapointed about TT being closed, all I could think of was the Richard Petty racing thing. I just kept thinking though that surely they don't let kids do that even with a parent. I don't know if it's the pollen or what, but I think I am losing my mind these days!

Good grief, I've written a book!

 

[T*Bird]

I guessed the surprise!! Do I win anything? I'm sure most of your regular readers guessed it, too.

First question: how do you know one of your boys won't read your PTR and find out? Do they only have access to your home computer, which you can monitor?

I am surprised to learn that Legoland has rides! I thought it was just a mega-super-sized store full of Legos. My DS played with Legos a good bit, but I wouldn't say he was a big fan. And I quit being a fan after stepping on a few.

It's a great time for y'all to try it out though, while your DS10 is young. I know what you mean about expectations and comparing it to Disney. We did Universal/Islands of Adventure one year, and just from parking in the garage and our first encounter with a CM in the ticket booth, DH and I looked at each other and said, "This isn't Disney World!" It was like you had heard about Legoland - the CM's weren't the friendly, informed kind you get (mostly) at WDW. We had a really good time and were glad we went, but I don't know if we would go back. But heck, the place is probably full of new attractions since we went. It would be like going somewhere new!

I don't think I could go to Disney and leave out a park entirely. But again, we go so seldom, and I'd probably feel differently if we went every year or so. You can just tell your DS to pretend that EE is down for renovations this trip.

It's a shame you had to lose your whole first day because of the flight times. Maybe you'll get lucky and be able to switch to a better flight as the time gets nearer. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

P.S. I hope you're not flying JetBlue!