DisneyJoo2008
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2007
- Messages
- 722
Hi all
I thought I'd get started on my pre-trip report today, even though our trip isn't for another 198 days!!!
Our Disney trip next year evolved when a friend of mine got back from 'the world' last summer. She talked about it non-stop and got me so excited I got the 'bug' in a big way and began to get obsessed about going back again... (our last trip was in June / July 2004).
I wanted to try and make it a big family trip - like it was the last time. I didn’t think it would be hard getting my parents and Sister on board... but I was pleasantly surprised at how easily my hubby agreed to it. We started talking about it in July / August this year and I made some initial enquiries as to which accommodation we fancied staying in, when to travel, who to travel with etc. Unfortunately, my Sister and her hubby told us they won’t be able to do the trip as they’re going on a 3 week Cruise in August and they have 2 young children now (my niece is 2yrs and my nephew was only born on 26 Nov!). My Brother and his wife also declined the trip - not Disney fans if you can believe it. If only we could get them out here one time!!! So it was agreed that it would just be myself, hubby and my Mum & Dad.
Anyway, the planning for Florida got put aside for a few months, something called a wedding got in the way...!!! My hubby and I got married on 20 October 2007! I’m so happy to be married to him and we had a brilliant wedding day!!!
(Sneak pics of our wedding pictures can be found here: http://www.suzanneblackphotography.co.uk/Blog/?p=102)!!!
When we got back from the wedding / honeymoon we had a look at our finances for next year and realised that we might not be able to afford our dream trip to Disney next summer... until my first day back at work after the honeymoon revealed a fantastic surprise... I would be getting a loyalty bonus at the end of May 2008 - perfect for our trip in June / July 2008!!! We did some calculations and my bonus would just about cover mine and hubbies trip costs (except spending money) so that was it, we were all set to go again! I love winding hubby up too, I’m paying for the trip, he’s my ‘kept man’!!!
A bit of background for you...
My name is Julie, but generally people call me Joo. I live in Hampshire in the UK with my hubby Rich. We’re both 28yrs. We have a lovely home and 2 Birman Cats; Hugo & Sassy - our little babies!!! We’re taking the trip with my Mum & step-Dad, but he’s really my Dad so that’s what I’ll refer to him as. You will also hear my parents get called ‘worms’ or ‘M&V’... I have no idea why we call them worms, but it kind of just stuck!
I can’t remember how old I was when we first travelled to Florida / Disney. I think I was quite young, probably about 12 or 13 years old? M&V had saved for years to take my Sister and I and whilst I don’t remember too many details, I know we had a fantastic time that saw us return again and again... M&V even got married in Orlando!!!
Fond memories from our early trips...
- Continually getting lost on exiting Orlando International Airport. I don’t know why, but for 3 years in a row, we took the same wrong turn!!! Actually we spent quite a lot of time in our hire car getting lost... my Sister, Mum and I were so glad when we finally had boyfriends / husbands old enough to drive to save dear old Dad from doing it!!!
- M&V rarely allowed us to eat in the parks; it was ‘expensive’ and ‘not good for us’!!!
- Mum never went on any ‘thrill’ rides (still doesn’t!) so she was known as ‘bag lady’.
- Trips to Publix supermarket; we all LOVE supermarket shopping in the USA!!!
- Breakfast at Rainforest Cafe... my Dad struggles to drink anything ‘sharp’ like freshly squeezed orange juice. So what do we always give him to drink for breakfast at Rainforest Cafe? Yes you guessed it, freshly squeezed orange juice! Its total comedy value watching his face contort!!! Its kind of become a fun family tradition now too!
In 2004 I travelled with my boyfriend (now hubby), my Sister and her hubby (it was their 'Disneymoon') and our parents (my Mum and step-Dad). It was my hubbies first trip to Disney and he spent the entire 6 months before we went moaning and whinging about it. He wasn’t looking forward to it and made no secret of this. He thought it was just for kids and was preparing to be bored and miserable for 2 weeks. Of course you know what happened... he got there and he LOVED it. He totally got into the spirit of it, did every ride / show / activity he possibly could (3 times!) and had a fantastic trip. He is now well and truly ‘disney-fied’!!!
So that brings me back to November 2007... we had 100% agreed to go now that we knew money wouldn’t be an issue and so next we started discussing where to stay.
I am a big fan of hotels in general and REALLY wanted to stay onsite, but my Dad and hubby seem to think there is actually a place outside Disney called Orlando & Florida (are they right???) so they insisted on renting a Villa. It all came down to compromising really. We’re not that great on it! Once Mum and I make a decision, we can be very inflexible and don’t like changing plans!!! We wanted to stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and no other hotel would do for this trip, but we couldn’t afford 2 weeks at the AKL (we chose to upgrade our flights which is what increased our trip cost so much) so this is where the compromise came in... All along my Dad had said why not stay for 1 week in a Villa and then 1 week in a Disney hotel... none of us really wanted the hassle of having to unpack for a week and re-pack to move accommodation, so I came up with a sort of similar plan of staying 10-nights in a Villa and 4-nights in the AKL. Moving after 10-nights didn’t feel so annoying as we’ll have had plenty of time to settle in. Hubby and the worms were all up for it so that was it, we had decided!
We didn’t see any point in wasting time so about 3 weeks ago we confirmed the holiday and paid our deposit - we’re off to Disney!!!
Our initial plans...
We depart London on 30 June and are staying for 14-nights. We’ve hired a luxury sized car which my hubby will be in charge of driving! (although Mum has asked me to drive to the supermarket so we can do the shopping together - she hates shopping with the men in tow!). We’ve booked a 10-night stay in a 3-bedroom Villa with pool at the Ginn Reunion Resort and then 4-nights in 2 Savannah Rooms at the AKL.
Whilst we plan on spending the majority of our trip ‘doing Disney’, we will also be visiting Universal Orlando, taking a trip to the Beach, doing plenty of retail therapy and hubby also fancies a trip to the Kennedy Space Center this year.
So that’s it so far...
We do have a basic plan of what we want to do and when and so at the moment I’m currently looking at different restaurants to make ADR’s to fit in with those plans. Our 180 days is nearly upon us so it makes sense to try and do that next. I really want to do a character breakfast and I think it would be nice to make a couple of evening ADR’s to make our trip extra special.
Tune in for more soon and thanks for reading if you got this far!
Joo
-----------------
INDEX ADDED:
Pre-Trip Report...
Introduction - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=22169581&postcount=1
Initial Itinerary - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=22359904&postcount=6
Memories from our 2004 Trip - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=22806624&postcount=22
Food from 2004 Trip!!! - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=22806998&postcount=23
Updated Itinerary - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=23582332&postcount=30
Detailed Itinerary, Days 1 to 4 - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24638627&postcount=33
Fun things added to our Plans! - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24638653&postcount=34
Detailed Itinerary, Days 5 to 8 - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24662313&postcount=35
Detailed Itinerary, Days 9 to 12 - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24686514&postcount=36
New Title of PTR - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24686542&postcount=37
Detailed Itinerary, Days 13 to 16 - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24711180&postcount=38
Trip Report...
Day 1 - Sunday 29 June 2008: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26818044&postcount=46
Day 2 - Monday 30 June 2008: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26859264&postcount=50
Day 3 - Tuesday 1 July 2008 (Part 1): http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27191866&postcount=68
Day 3 - Tuesday 1 July 2008 (Part 2): http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27191930&postcount=69
Day 4 - Wednesday 2 July 2008 (Part 1) - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27456365&postcount=75
Day 4 - Wednesday 2 July 2008 (Part 2) - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27456374&postcount=76
Day 4 - Wednesday 2 July 2008 (Part 3) - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27456381&postcount=77
Day 4 - Wednesday 2 July 2008 (Part 4) - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27456390&postcount=78
Day 4 - Wednesday 2 July 2008 (Part 5) - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27456392&postcount=79
I thought I'd get started on my pre-trip report today, even though our trip isn't for another 198 days!!!
Our Disney trip next year evolved when a friend of mine got back from 'the world' last summer. She talked about it non-stop and got me so excited I got the 'bug' in a big way and began to get obsessed about going back again... (our last trip was in June / July 2004).
I wanted to try and make it a big family trip - like it was the last time. I didn’t think it would be hard getting my parents and Sister on board... but I was pleasantly surprised at how easily my hubby agreed to it. We started talking about it in July / August this year and I made some initial enquiries as to which accommodation we fancied staying in, when to travel, who to travel with etc. Unfortunately, my Sister and her hubby told us they won’t be able to do the trip as they’re going on a 3 week Cruise in August and they have 2 young children now (my niece is 2yrs and my nephew was only born on 26 Nov!). My Brother and his wife also declined the trip - not Disney fans if you can believe it. If only we could get them out here one time!!! So it was agreed that it would just be myself, hubby and my Mum & Dad.
Anyway, the planning for Florida got put aside for a few months, something called a wedding got in the way...!!! My hubby and I got married on 20 October 2007! I’m so happy to be married to him and we had a brilliant wedding day!!!
(Sneak pics of our wedding pictures can be found here: http://www.suzanneblackphotography.co.uk/Blog/?p=102)!!!
When we got back from the wedding / honeymoon we had a look at our finances for next year and realised that we might not be able to afford our dream trip to Disney next summer... until my first day back at work after the honeymoon revealed a fantastic surprise... I would be getting a loyalty bonus at the end of May 2008 - perfect for our trip in June / July 2008!!! We did some calculations and my bonus would just about cover mine and hubbies trip costs (except spending money) so that was it, we were all set to go again! I love winding hubby up too, I’m paying for the trip, he’s my ‘kept man’!!!
A bit of background for you...
My name is Julie, but generally people call me Joo. I live in Hampshire in the UK with my hubby Rich. We’re both 28yrs. We have a lovely home and 2 Birman Cats; Hugo & Sassy - our little babies!!! We’re taking the trip with my Mum & step-Dad, but he’s really my Dad so that’s what I’ll refer to him as. You will also hear my parents get called ‘worms’ or ‘M&V’... I have no idea why we call them worms, but it kind of just stuck!
I can’t remember how old I was when we first travelled to Florida / Disney. I think I was quite young, probably about 12 or 13 years old? M&V had saved for years to take my Sister and I and whilst I don’t remember too many details, I know we had a fantastic time that saw us return again and again... M&V even got married in Orlando!!!
Fond memories from our early trips...
- Continually getting lost on exiting Orlando International Airport. I don’t know why, but for 3 years in a row, we took the same wrong turn!!! Actually we spent quite a lot of time in our hire car getting lost... my Sister, Mum and I were so glad when we finally had boyfriends / husbands old enough to drive to save dear old Dad from doing it!!!
- M&V rarely allowed us to eat in the parks; it was ‘expensive’ and ‘not good for us’!!!
- Mum never went on any ‘thrill’ rides (still doesn’t!) so she was known as ‘bag lady’.
- Trips to Publix supermarket; we all LOVE supermarket shopping in the USA!!!
- Breakfast at Rainforest Cafe... my Dad struggles to drink anything ‘sharp’ like freshly squeezed orange juice. So what do we always give him to drink for breakfast at Rainforest Cafe? Yes you guessed it, freshly squeezed orange juice! Its total comedy value watching his face contort!!! Its kind of become a fun family tradition now too!
In 2004 I travelled with my boyfriend (now hubby), my Sister and her hubby (it was their 'Disneymoon') and our parents (my Mum and step-Dad). It was my hubbies first trip to Disney and he spent the entire 6 months before we went moaning and whinging about it. He wasn’t looking forward to it and made no secret of this. He thought it was just for kids and was preparing to be bored and miserable for 2 weeks. Of course you know what happened... he got there and he LOVED it. He totally got into the spirit of it, did every ride / show / activity he possibly could (3 times!) and had a fantastic trip. He is now well and truly ‘disney-fied’!!!
So that brings me back to November 2007... we had 100% agreed to go now that we knew money wouldn’t be an issue and so next we started discussing where to stay.
I am a big fan of hotels in general and REALLY wanted to stay onsite, but my Dad and hubby seem to think there is actually a place outside Disney called Orlando & Florida (are they right???) so they insisted on renting a Villa. It all came down to compromising really. We’re not that great on it! Once Mum and I make a decision, we can be very inflexible and don’t like changing plans!!! We wanted to stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and no other hotel would do for this trip, but we couldn’t afford 2 weeks at the AKL (we chose to upgrade our flights which is what increased our trip cost so much) so this is where the compromise came in... All along my Dad had said why not stay for 1 week in a Villa and then 1 week in a Disney hotel... none of us really wanted the hassle of having to unpack for a week and re-pack to move accommodation, so I came up with a sort of similar plan of staying 10-nights in a Villa and 4-nights in the AKL. Moving after 10-nights didn’t feel so annoying as we’ll have had plenty of time to settle in. Hubby and the worms were all up for it so that was it, we had decided!
We didn’t see any point in wasting time so about 3 weeks ago we confirmed the holiday and paid our deposit - we’re off to Disney!!!
Our initial plans...
We depart London on 30 June and are staying for 14-nights. We’ve hired a luxury sized car which my hubby will be in charge of driving! (although Mum has asked me to drive to the supermarket so we can do the shopping together - she hates shopping with the men in tow!). We’ve booked a 10-night stay in a 3-bedroom Villa with pool at the Ginn Reunion Resort and then 4-nights in 2 Savannah Rooms at the AKL.
Whilst we plan on spending the majority of our trip ‘doing Disney’, we will also be visiting Universal Orlando, taking a trip to the Beach, doing plenty of retail therapy and hubby also fancies a trip to the Kennedy Space Center this year.
So that’s it so far...
We do have a basic plan of what we want to do and when and so at the moment I’m currently looking at different restaurants to make ADR’s to fit in with those plans. Our 180 days is nearly upon us so it makes sense to try and do that next. I really want to do a character breakfast and I think it would be nice to make a couple of evening ADR’s to make our trip extra special.
Tune in for more soon and thanks for reading if you got this far!
Joo
-----------------
INDEX ADDED:
Pre-Trip Report...
Introduction - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=22169581&postcount=1
Initial Itinerary - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=22359904&postcount=6
Memories from our 2004 Trip - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=22806624&postcount=22
Food from 2004 Trip!!! - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=22806998&postcount=23
Updated Itinerary - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=23582332&postcount=30
Detailed Itinerary, Days 1 to 4 - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24638627&postcount=33
Fun things added to our Plans! - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24638653&postcount=34
Detailed Itinerary, Days 5 to 8 - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24662313&postcount=35
Detailed Itinerary, Days 9 to 12 - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24686514&postcount=36
New Title of PTR - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24686542&postcount=37
Detailed Itinerary, Days 13 to 16 - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24711180&postcount=38
Trip Report...
Day 1 - Sunday 29 June 2008: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26818044&postcount=46
Day 2 - Monday 30 June 2008: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26859264&postcount=50
Day 3 - Tuesday 1 July 2008 (Part 1): http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27191866&postcount=68
Day 3 - Tuesday 1 July 2008 (Part 2): http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27191930&postcount=69
Day 4 - Wednesday 2 July 2008 (Part 1) - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27456365&postcount=75
Day 4 - Wednesday 2 July 2008 (Part 2) - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27456374&postcount=76
Day 4 - Wednesday 2 July 2008 (Part 3) - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27456381&postcount=77
Day 4 - Wednesday 2 July 2008 (Part 4) - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27456390&postcount=78
Day 4 - Wednesday 2 July 2008 (Part 5) - http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27456392&postcount=79
... finish off Animal Kingdom in the morning for a couple of hours... fly back to England at approx. 5pm.
One day I will visit London and all around!!! Not to mention your staying at my DREAM hotel!! AKL with savannah rooms!!!!! 
Only in my dreams...or if I win the lottery!!
WTG!
)!
