Ashley and the Beastly's 1st Anniversary PTR~ May 29, 2012

[MrsDrewsky]

Hello all you wonderful DISers! I am excited to write my first Planning Trip Report, and even more excited to meet those that will be reading along. The planning trip report section of the boards has fast become my favorite section of the boards. I have learned so much from reading the reports of others, so I wanted to jump in and start one of my own.

Ashley and the Beastly's 1st Anniversary Planning Trip Report

Chapters:

Cast (read below)
Resort
ADRs and other dining plans
Purchases & DIY for our tripPark gear
Day 1 Plans

The Cast:

Ashley(myself), 27

Favorite Park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Kilimanjaro Safari
Favorite Character: Mary Poppins
Favorite Table Service: Le Cellier
Favorite Counter Service: Cookes of Dublin
Favorite Snack: Frozen Lemonade

Drew(Beastly), 26

Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Ride: Mission: Space
Favorite Character: Donald Duck
Favorite Table Service: 'Ohana (we think)
Favorite Counter Service: Tangierine Cafe
Favorite Snack: Pretzels from Germany Pavilion

Drew and I are returning to Disney for our second trip together to celebrate our first anniversary. We eloped in Nashville last July, but due to the crowds and extreme heat in July, we decided to celebrate our anniversary a bit early this year. Our travel agent assures us this is okay

Our first trip together was last September, and we stayed at the lovely Old Key West Resort for five nights. It was a wonderful trip, and helped me start turning Drew into a fan of all things Disney. During this trip we were able to hit all the major attractions, and went to Downtown Disney every night via the boat from OKW.

One of our favorite memories from our previous trip was our interaction with Belle, while we were visiting the France pavilion in Epcot. She asked if Drew was my beast, and noted he was very hairy like her beast Yes, Drew is my beast, and like Belle I am always having to clean up hair around the castle

Thank you for reading along, please say hello, and let me know if you also have a PTR for me to read!

 

[Moodyzblu]

I'll join you !!

Looking forward to reading about your plans !

 

[MrsDrewsky]

I'll join you !!

Looking forward to reading about your plans !

Thank you for joining in!

For our trip we will be staying in a King Room at Caribbean Beach Resort for 5 nights.

We decided to extend our trip by one night and will stay at All Star Music. I am really excited as I have never stayed at a value resort, the theme here just seems so fun.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

When we originally booked our package through Dreams Unlimited we added the Disney Dining Plan. I had booked an ADR for every evening. However, Drew wasn't too thrilled having to plan our evening around our dinner plans. During our trip in September we added the quick service dining plan, and absolutely loved it, but wanted this trip to be different with a few table service options so that wasn't going to work either. A dining plan just didn't seem to work for us this time, but we will still have 4 ADRs at some of our favorite places.

Wednesday and Thursday~ no ADRs. We plan to try the following CS places
While in MK Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe

Our must do snack at MK is a Dole Whip

While in Epcot we will definitely visit Drew's favorite Tangierine Cafe, as well as lots of snacks from all the different pavilions. We can't wait to try all the snacks I have learned about through the boards

Friday~ Drew has been wanting to try 'Ohana, so we have an ADR for 7:30.

Our plan is to eat dinner, and then wander around the Poly and watch Wishes from the beach Our park that day will be AK, so we will definitely be eating lunch at Flame Tree.

Saturday~ Saturday we have an ADR at San Angel Inn. I know the reviews here are a bit mixed, but we wanted a romantic atmosphere to really celebrate our first year of marriage.

CS must do this day is Sunshine Seasons, I haven't been here in a couple of years, and Drew hasn't had the opportunity to try it.

Sunday~ Breakfast ADR at Crystal Palace at 8:30! I am so excited as of right now the park is scheduled to open at 9. Drew and I really want pictures in MK before the crowds enter. We will probably show up at the gates a little before 8.

Monday~ Lunch ADR at Sci-Fi Drive In. My mom and I ate here in 2010, and it was probably our worst dining experience during our trip. However, the menu seems to be a bit different, and Drew's favorite food is a Reuben sandwich, so I will try it again.

Dinner this evening will most likely be at Cookes of Dublin, Drew and I love the scallops.

Tuesday~ We're leaving this day, and plan to go to Blizzard Beach a few hours before departing. We'll probably try the infamous mini donuts and grab a late lunch at the All Star food court before jumping on the Magic Express.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Your plans sound great ! We have ADRs for Sci fi .. So exited to eat there !

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Your plans sound great ! We have ADRs for Sci fi .. So exited to eat there !

I think your boys will have so much fun at Sci Fi. The atmosphere after being outside in the parks is just so unique.

 

[DMGeurts]

I am in! I love your plans so far! I can't wait to hear about the rest!

D~

 

[OrangeJuice]

Joining in. I love your Dining plans. Walking down an empty Main St. is great. Make sure your camera has time to de-fog before you get there. Mine was all fogged up so I have no pictures!

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Joining in. I love your Dining plans. Walking down an empty Main St. is great. Make sure your camera has time to de-fog before you get there. Mine was all fogged up so I have no pictures!

Sorry for the ridiculous delay in replying.... thank you so much for the camera tip. I will pass that along to DH.

Ah, so I am going to attempt to dust this PTR off, and post a few updates.

Our first update is, we decided to cave and go with the DDP. I think this might have been due to me dieting before I see Mickey again, but I kind of want my own entree now, DH and I were planning on sharing. We added a couple of ADRs due to adding the plan. So I will spare the pictures, here are the two meals we added:

Wednesday: Biergarten (Drew's favorite food is German food)
Thursday: Tokyo Dining (Our very first date was eating sushi, so it seems fitting)

I think we will just pay for lunch at Sci-Fi OOP, and use our credits at our other meals.

Trip Purchases and DIY:
In our picture with Donald (signature) you can see my black and white toms. I will say these shoes were pretty much my favorite during our trip, but the white part became terribly stained while walking about outdoors. So Drew painted them red, and added some polka dots. I can't wait to show minnie

We decided to also have shirts made on zazzle for our trip. One of our favorite movies is WALL*E.

I was so surprised that Drew agreed to the shirts. I was barely able to get him to wear the 1st visit button last year. We'll see if he follows through. I have a code for 10% off zazzle if anyone would like it. I think it's only good for one order, so PM me if you would like it.

We also made a trip journal, I just wrapped one of my composition notebooks with some scrapbook paper, and cut up an old disney calendar.

Nothing too fancy, but I can use it to take notes on our meals and our day at the parks. We can both have a pretty hard time recalling events, so I think it will be a nice thing to reminisce over after our trip.

Since it's our first Anniversary, and the traditional gift is paper, I thought I would surprise Drew with a paper banner and paper flowers in our room. These things sound terribly girly to me though Does anyone have an idea of something that might work along those lines?

 

[Moodyzblu]

Love the journal ! I need to keep one this next trip .. I can never remember details and stuff.
The shirts are a very cute idea too !

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Love the journal ! I need to keep one this next trip .. I can never remember details and stuff.
The shirts are a very cute idea too !

Thanks Michelle! You're getting so close

 

[DMGeurts]

I totally love the journal and I love how Drew updated your Toms!!! Super duper cute - Minnie will love them.

I am really bad at anniversary gifts - partly because our anniversary is right before Christmas (who knew, when you are young and planning your wedding - that you never have any $$ right before Christmas?)... So, DH and I are lucky to exchange cards every year. LOL It's OK though - we are used to it.

D~

 

[DMGeurts]

Double post: Ack!! I knew it... Darn Dis did it to me again - it's being weird this morning...

D~

 

[MrsDrewsky]

I totally love the journal and I love how Drew updated your Toms!!! Super duper cute - Minnie will love them.

I am really bad at anniversary gifts - partly because our anniversary is right before Christmas (who knew, when you are young and planning your wedding - that you never have any $$ right before Christmas?)... So, DH and I are lucky to exchange cards every year. LOL It's OK though - we are used to it.

D~

Thanks D~, are you about to leave for WDW any minute now? I am thinking keeping a journal might be my gift to him, as well as a card. They are both made out of paper, so that should work He decided to read my PTR to admire his craftiness, so I won't be surprising him with a banner, but it might be fun to decorate the room anyhow.

We're 85 days out, and both ready for this vacation. I have been listening to Disney park music on a loop while working, and when the music from Soarin' starts to play I usually take a wiff of my Clorox orange scented disinfecting wipes, and it's like I'm already there. Well not quite.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Any Modern Family Fans out there? We love that show, one of my favorite episodes last season was entitled "The One That Got Away" and featured a bit about Phil recreating a childhood photo for his parents.

Well the other day I was talking to DH and we thought we would recreate a photo for my Mom while at WDW. So here is the picture we're going to recreate...

Sans the pair of legs with the awesome shoes, hat, and sunglasses. I figure if we head over to the playground right after RD and grabbing TSMM FPs there shouldn't be anyone over there. My mom was only able to take me to WDW once when I was growing up, and I came down with bronchitis during the trip, this picture was from one of our few days at the park. My mom and I made it back to WDW 18 years later, and it was by far our best vacation together. Anyhow, we're going to try to find a teal shirt, and probably will paint pink polka dots on it. I even went as far as to have my hair cut, and now have the same awesome bangs.

Other trip news...
We made some final (hopefully) purchases. We purchased a gorillapod to help with photos, and with the timer option we might actually have more then two pictures together this trip, lol. We are probably going to finally get a photopass cd during our 2013 trip, but we thought we would see how attempting our own pictures together would go. The bottom of ours has really strong magnetic feet.

I also bought the hidden mickeys guide. DH's only trip to WDW was in September, so the May/June crowds will be kind of new to him, I am hoping this might keep us occupied if the attraction lines are too long for our liking.

Oh, and last of all, we added another night. Well sort of, instead of stay at All-Star Music at the end of our trip, we are now staying at CBR for 6 nights, and we are now arriving May 29th and leaving June 4th.

I just need to purchase airfare and we're all set.

 

[OrangeJuice]

Love the idea of recreating the childhood photo! and I also like the Minnie Toms. I'm sure Minnie will like them too. Your trip is coming up fast! you must be getting excited?

 

[Moodyzblu]

Plans sound great ! Cool idea for your camera.
I'm excited to be staying at CBR .. This will be a first for us !

 

[DMGeurts]

Thanks D~, are you about to leave for WDW any minute now? I am thinking keeping a journal might be my gift to him, as well as a card. They are both made out of paper, so that should work He decided to read my PTR to admire his craftiness, so I won't be surprising him with a banner, but it might be fun to decorate the room anyhow.

We're 85 days out, and both ready for this vacation. I have been listening to Disney park music on a loop while working, and when the music from Soarin' starts to play I usually take a wiff of my Clorox orange scented disinfecting wipes, and it's like I'm already there. Well not quite.

I missed your post - sorry about that! I must have been ready to walk out the door - LOL

Keeping a journal was one of the best things I did on our trip... There are so many details that I've already forgotten, and I've had to go back and reference my journal. I will admit that it was somewhat of a pita to keep updated though - especially at the end when I had so much I still wanted to do, and writing in my journal wasn't one of them.

Any Modern Family Fans out there? We love that show, one of my favorite episodes last season was entitled "The One That Got Away" and featured a bit about Phil recreating a childhood photo for his parents.

Well the other day I was talking to DH and we thought we would recreate a photo for my Mom while at WDW. So here is the picture we're going to recreate...

Sans the pair of legs with the awesome shoes, hat, and sunglasses. I figure if we head over to the playground right after RD and grabbing TSMM FPs there shouldn't be anyone over there. My mom was only able to take me to WDW once when I was growing up, and I came down with bronchitis during the trip, this picture was from one of our few days at the park. My mom and I made it back to WDW 18 years later, and it was by far our best vacation together. Anyhow, we're going to try to find a teal shirt, and probably will paint pink polka dots on it. I even went as far as to have my hair cut, and now have the same awesome bangs.

Other trip news...
We made some final (hopefully) purchases. We purchased a gorillapod to help with photos, and with the timer option we might actually have more then two pictures together this trip, lol. We are probably going to finally get a photopass cd during our 2013 trip, but we thought we would see how attempting our own pictures together would go. The bottom of ours has really strong magnetic feet.

I also bought the hidden mickeys guide. DH's only trip to WDW was in September, so the May/June crowds will be kind of new to him, I am hoping this might keep us occupied if the attraction lines are too long for our liking.

Oh, and last of all, we added another night. Well sort of, instead of stay at All-Star Music at the end of our trip, we are now staying at CBR for 6 nights, and we are now arriving May 29th and leaving June 4th.

I just need to purchase airfare and we're all set.

Love the recreating picture idea... As you know - I plan to have a whole TR filled with our pics. They are so much fun to do. Although, I didn't go as far as planning the same outfit for mine - LOL. I can't wait to see how yours turns out!

LOL about your DH stalking your thread. I've never said it in mine - or anywhere else - but I found out shortly before we left for our trip that my DH has been stalking mine, as well - A LOT! Ack!!! Now I really watch what I say on there. As far as I know, he only stalks my thread and not the others I post in... So I'm a little more loose lipped elsewhere. ROFL. Anyways, I think it's kind of cute that he stalked my PTR - it shows that he really was interested in my trip planning - even though he insisted that he wasn't.

D~

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Love the idea of recreating the childhood photo! and I also like the Minnie Toms. I'm sure Minnie will like them too. Your trip is coming up fast! you must be getting excited?

Thanks! I am getting really excited. Hopefully the time will continue to fly by.

Plans sound great ! Cool idea for your camera.
I'm excited to be staying at CBR .. This will be a first for us !

I need to get caught back up with your PTR Michelle. You're leaving any day now!

I missed your post - sorry about that! I must have been ready to walk out the door - LOL

Keeping a journal was one of the best things I did on our trip... There are so many details that I've already forgotten, and I've had to go back and reference my journal. I will admit that it was somewhat of a pita to keep updated though - especially at the end when I had so much I still wanted to do, and writing in my journal wasn't one of them.



Love the recreating picture idea... As you know - I plan to have a whole TR filled with our pics. They are so much fun to do. Although, I didn't go as far as planning the same outfit for mine - LOL. I can't wait to see how yours turns out!

LOL about your DH stalking your thread. I've never said it in mine - or anywhere else - but I found out shortly before we left for our trip that my DH has been stalking mine, as well - A LOT! Ack!!! Now I really watch what I say on there. As far as I know, he only stalks my thread and not the others I post in... So I'm a little more loose lipped elsewhere. ROFL. Anyways, I think it's kind of cute that he stalked my PTR - it shows that he really was interested in my trip planning - even though he insisted that he wasn't.

D~

I agree that the journal is a good idea in theory, but might get to be tedious to keep up with.

I hope my mom gets a kick out of the photo, she can be almost impossible to shop for, and even though I'm 28 still wants me to always make her something as a gift. I just love the older photos of your girls.

LOL, about DHs stalking planning reports. Yeah, I still catch mine lurking about the DIS. I have a new surprise for him, but now am too paranoid to post it here. Let's just say it has something to do with Tomorrowland Terrace.

 

[MHTeacher]

Saw your trip dates in your title, and wanted to drop by and say Hi! We'll be at Disney May 27-June 2. Looking forward to reading more!

I kept a trip journal last time and it came in so handy when I went to write my trip report here on the DIS. I used a small 4x6 size that I could keep in my purse. Whenever we were standing in a slow moving line, or sitting down to wait for a show, I'd pull it out and jot down some notes.