Christmas Trip to see an old Friend

[Woth2982]

Hello Everyone!

I am Katie and this is my attempt at a PTR.

Cast of Characters with a little background......

Once upon a time there was a girl named Katie (pssst that's me) who went to college and joined a sorority....

Katie became best friends with Brianne, who decided after graduating that she wanted to join the Disney College Program....

So Brianne finished the program and moved back to Boston, but decided she wanted to start a life in Florida, much to Katie's dissaproval.

During College Katie took on a little Sister. Her name is Jenna.....

Katie, Jenna and Brianne became best friends and their little clique was dubbed the Love Triangle.

So Katie made plans to go and visit Brianne on November 30th, with her friends Kayte and Kerri, however they had to back out because Kayte couldn't get time off of work . SOOOO Katie still really wanted to go to disney to see Brianne because she misses her a lot. Having your BFF move far away is like having a part of you missing. So Katie, after contemplating a solo trip to Disney, decided that she would ask Jenna if she wanted to go with her to Florida. So she called Jenna up and asked her to join her, and Jenna said yes and was VERY excited!

So long story short, the dates have changed, the supporting roles have changed slightly, but the trip is still on!

Up Next.....where do we stay???

 

[Woth2982]

OK, a little more background on the trip.

Brianne and I have been to Disney World three times in the four years we have known each other. We are Disney nuts.

Jenna has only been to Disney twice in her life.

I am a fanatic planner. I am an accountant by day, so I like to have all my ducks in a row. If I make a mistake in my job, my company could be off hundreds if not thousands of dollars, all because I put a 3 instead of a 6.

So like my job, my vacations have to be planned to a T.

Jenna, is like a puppy dog, she gets so excited over the littlest things. We have talked about doing a trip like this for a while, so I told her that if she can buy a plane ticket, I will pay for the hotel (Brianne gets us into the parks for free with her CM passes).

Seeing as Jenna is very green, and not a big thrill ride kinda girl (Brianne and I LOVE TOT and RNRC), I thought Christmas would be great for her. I have so many ideas running through my head that I cannot wait to put them into action! But first thing is first. Gotta figure out where we are gonna stay!

 

[Woth2982]

So, I spent last night crunching numbers (I'm an accountant it's what I do hehe). I was on the WDW site, and on South West Vacations website. I love staying at Deluxe hotels. When I do Disney, I like to get up go to a park, come back during the peak time of the day for a swim, then go back out nice and rested. I have some knee and feet issues so I end up in a lot of pain when it is go, go, go.

I really would love to stay at BWI, but I think this time I am going to stay at AKL. I have never had a strong desire to stay there, but I do have a desire to stay at every DW hotel on property at some point (except the values and the vacation club specific hotels SSR and OKW). I am getting close, still need GF, BWI, POFQ and AKL. So not bad.

So like I said I was looking up deals and found a REALLY good one on Southwest Vacations. I would be able to get the Free dining in a standard room, and a pay for 4 get 7 day park hopper! This comes out to slightly less than the deal on WDW and on WDW I would only get a base ticket!

So now I am waiting on my friend Brianne to call me to discuss this. She gets a 50% off deal on hotels if she stays in the room with us (and she is planning on it I think), 40% off if she doesn't stay with us. She is checking to see if she can add the dining plan onto the room if she stays with us. I told her I would foot the bill for her portion of it if she can add it. I am not adding her to my SW package because she gets into the parks for free, and I don't think she would be willing to pay for her PH ticket, and I am not willing to pay for it if she already gets in for free.

I am also contemplating getting an AP. She said she can get me a discount on that but she has to buy it AT Disney.

So it looks like we are gonna stay at AKL. I just need to talk to Brianne and get the ball moving on her end so I know if I should book this deal or not.

Phew that was a lot!

UP next....where do we eat?

 

[disneydreamer1970]

This sounds fun so far! I can't wait to hear more about the planning and exactly what deal you end up getting!

Trish

 

[Woth2982]

So after doing LOTS of math outside of work and hurting my brain we have FINALLY booked our hotel and park tickets.

Did the numbers with my friends discounts, and ended up going with the deal on Southwest Vacations. We got four nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Standard view, free dining, 7 day park hopper for the price of 3 (could have been 4 but I forget). I plan to upgrade my park hopper when I get to Disney to include the non-expiration feature as I will not be able to use all the days on my ticket.

So once I got the hotel booked I hopped on Disney World dot com to start booking my ADRs. Not sure if I mentioned it before but I booked a CRT breakfast for me and Jenna on December 14th, then I booked the CLP for the three of us. At this point I realized that I would have to pay OOP for at least one of these, and started number crunching AGAIN. After a little debate I decided to upgrade my free dining to the Deluxe Dining Plan. I figured it out to be $30 a day. The way I rationalized this is that if I was paying OOP for the whole trip I would be spending more than that, so we splurged, I think my last trip to Disney we spent about $60 a day on dining (plus I always buy the refillable mug, and now my DP comes with one).

So as of right now my ADRs are as Follows:

Dec 11: Crystal Palace 3:50
Dec 12: Boma 9:10 am
Dec 13: O'Hana 10:25
Dec 13: Tutto Italia 5:20 <----Probably changing this. Have a CP 8:15 reserved seating but MK is open late this day so I may try and change to 6:45
Dec 14: CRT 10:45 am <---- Doing MVMCP this night. Thinking about Hoop De Doo at 5.

This is all going to change of course. I have the whole trip mapped out. It is month end at work, so the sales team is wrapping things up so there isn't much for me to do until they are done (then I get swamped). So for the next few days I will be working with my little piece of paper mapping out our days. I have to get my friend as much detail as possible so she can arrange her schedule around ours!

More tbd....

 

[Cherry Limeade]

I'm here and reading! We're going in December too!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

JennaWe have talked about doing a trip like this for a while, so I told her that if she can buy a plane ticket, I will pay for the hotel (Brianne gets us into the parks for free with her CM passes).

OK, I need to a) become your friend so you pay for my hotel, and b) become friends with Brianne so I can get into the parks for free.

 

[Woth2982]

OK, I need to a) become your friend so you pay for my hotel, and b) become friends with Brianne so I can get into the parks for free.

Welcome aboard!

Haha I am very generous to my friends. I can afford things they can't and I never want to go anywhere alone so I tend to make deals with them. We are actually paying for our park tickets as of right now. But Brianne is working on getting us additional free tickets lol. Too much to think of! This trip is becoming VERY complicated. I re-did my ADRs last night when I got home from work lol.

 

[Woth2982]

I'm here and reading! We're going in December too!

Welcome to my insanity! When in December are you going?

 

[that's nice]

Hey!


Love your plans! Have you ever done Hoop? What a great time. I loved it and so did my DD who was 3 at the time. We left there signing all the corny songs. It was great! We took the bus back to the resort after(POP), which was a nightmare.

 

[Woth2982]

Hey!


Love your plans! Have you ever done Hoop? What a great time. I loved it and so did my DD who was 3 at the time. We left there signing all the corny songs. It was great! We took the bus back to the resort after(POP), which was a nightmare.

I LOVE hoop de doo! I have done it several times! It bugs me that it is not historically accurate (minored in History in college and I am anally detail oriented lol). But it is a very fun show!

Yeah not looking forward to the ride back. Hoping Brianne will have her car that day and she can drive us back.

 

[Woth2982]

So as promised my ADRs have changed. And will probably change again! I had wrist surgery on Tuesday so I have been doing nothing but stalking the Disney Reservation site.

So our original plan was to go to DHS then MK for Wishes. Now we are going to DHS for fantasmic then Hoop De Doo! I couldnt get a reservation for three for 5 on the 14th

So now we are doing the following:

12/11
3:40 Prime Time Cafe
6:30 Fantasmic
9:30 Hoop De Doo

12/12
10:20 1900 Park Fare
5:15 Planet Hollywood
Then off to DHS for Extra Magic Hours!

12/13
9:15 Captains Grille - Hoping this isnt a mistake as I am NOT a morning person
11:00 Head over to Epcot for Holidays around the world
3:50 Tutto Italia
6:45 Candlelight Processional
After CP head over to MK and hope to make wishes and stat for EMH!

12/14
10:25 Cinderellas Royal Table - Jenna does not know about this and will FLIP OUT when I take her there!
5:00 Grand Floridia Cafe - THis is one of my favorite restaurants in Disney. It is small but the food is FANTASTIC!

12/15
9:15 Boma
Then head over to AK for the day. Flight home is at 9:50 that night so we will probably stay til close then hop the ME to the air port.

So this is the plan for now. But I still have two months to play around with them! I am never done planning!

 

[PRmamiDEdos]

So as promised my ADRs have changed. And will probably change again! I had wrist surgery on Tuesday so I have been doing nothing but stalking the Disney Reservation site.

So our original plan was to go to DHS then MK for Wishes. Now we are going to DHS for fantasmic then Hoop De Doo! I couldnt get a reservation for three for 5 on the 14th

So now we are doing the following:

12/11
3:40 Prime Time Cafe
6:30 Fantasmic
9:30 Hoop De Doo

12/12
10:20 1900 Park Fare
5:15 Planet Hollywood
Then off to DHS for Extra Magic Hours!

12/13
9:15 Captains Grille - Hoping this isnt a mistake as I am NOT a morning person
11:00 Head over to Epcot for Holidays around the world
3:50 Tutto Italia
6:45 Candlelight Processional
After CP head over to MK and hope to make wishes and stat for EMH!

12/14
10:25 Cinderellas Royal Table - Jenna does not know about this and will FLIP OUT when I take her there!
5:00 Grand Floridia Cafe - THis is one of my favorite restaurants in Disney. It is small but the food is FANTASTIC!

12/15
9:15 Boma
Then head over to AK for the day. Flight home is at 9:50 that night so we will probably stay til close then hop the ME to the air port.

So this is the plan for now. But I still have two months to play around with them! I am never done planning!

Subscribing!!! Sounds like fun!! I wish I had taken trips with my girlfriends when I was younger!!!

You and I will be doing the same EMH nights on the 12 & 13th!! So are you set for AKL? We're staying in POFQ. We haven't quite gotten to the Deluxe Resorts yet. DH says maybe for our 25th (can I walk the parks at that point?), we'll stay at GF and we'll do the platinum plan for a few days during the Food & Wine Festival, just the 2 of us. That means I have 18 more years to wait!!!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

So as promised my ADRs have changed. And will probably change again! I had wrist surgery on Tuesday so I have been doing nothing but stalking the Disney Reservation site.

So our original plan was to go to DHS then MK for Wishes. Now we are going to DHS for fantasmic then Hoop De Doo! I couldnt get a reservation for three for 5 on the 14th

So now we are doing the following:

12/11
3:40 Prime Time Cafe
6:30 Fantasmic
9:30 Hoop De Doo

12/12
10:20 1900 Park Fare
5:15 Planet Hollywood
Then off to DHS for Extra Magic Hours!

12/13
9:15 Captains Grille - Hoping this isnt a mistake as I am NOT a morning person
11:00 Head over to Epcot for Holidays around the world
3:50 Tutto Italia
6:45 Candlelight Processional
After CP head over to MK and hope to make wishes and stat for EMH!

12/14
10:25 Cinderellas Royal Table - Jenna does not know about this and will FLIP OUT when I take her there!
5:00 Grand Floridia Cafe - THis is one of my favorite restaurants in Disney. It is small but the food is FANTASTIC!

12/15
9:15 Boma
Then head over to AK for the day. Flight home is at 9:50 that night so we will probably stay til close then hop the ME to the air port.

So this is the plan for now. But I still have two months to play around with them! I am never done planning!

We will be at Fantasmic that night, and will probably be in HS for the EMH's the next night. Day 3 will be finishing up AK and heading to DTD

 

[that's nice]

I LOVE hoop de doo! I have done it several times! It bugs me that it is not historically accurate (minored in History in college and I am anally detail oriented lol). But it is a very fun show!

LOL I'm sure there are many inaccuracies!

Yeah not looking forward to the ride back. Hoping Brianne will have her car that day and she can drive us back.

Good move!


I'm interested to hear about all your eating experiences, I haven't eaten at many of your choices.

 

[jenseib]

I'm joining in too! Looks like a great trip. I wish I could afford to do all the fun stuff. Someday...it's in my plans...I'm gonna win the lottery and then I can do all the deluxes I want!

OK, I need to a) become your friend so you pay for my hotel, and b) become friends with Brianne so I can get into the parks for free.

I agree. We definitely need to become best friends with her...starting NOW! LOL!

 

[Woth2982]

I'm joining in too! Looks like a great trip. I wish I could afford to do all the fun stuff. Someday...it's in my plans...I'm gonna win the lottery and then I can do all the deluxes I want!



I agree. We definitely need to become best friends with her...starting NOW! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by! Haha so many people want to be my best friend. I was involved in an accident 4 years ago when I was 24, and would have died if I didn't have my seat belt on. It is a miracle I have only had 4 wrist surgeries (the fourth was a week ago, typing with a split is not easy), so after that I decided that while I am single and have the money I am going to do what I can to make myself happy and take my friends along for the ride! Life is too short to not do what you want. Always have to find a silver lining. I am now an advocate for not drinking and driving (guy who hit me was wasted).

Plus the free dining helps. It was only $120 to upgrade to deluxe so we could do more!

 

[SlippinFalls]

Thanks for stopping by! Haha so many people want to be my best friend. I was involved in an accident 4 years ago when I was 24, and would have died if I didn't have my seat belt on. It is a miracle I have only had 4 wrist surgeries (the fourth was a week ago, typing with a split is not easy), so after that I decided that while I am single and have the money I am going to do what I can to make myself happy and take my friends along for the ride! Life is too short to not do what you want. Always have to find a silver lining. I am now an advocate for not drinking and driving (guy who hit me was wasted).

Plus the free dining helps. It was only $120 to upgrade to deluxe so we could do more!

I love your positive attitude! I agree drunk drivers suck.

I would love to stay at AK someday.
Oh and your friend has a great name! I'm a Brianne too!

 

[Woth2982]

Made a couple more changes to my trip. Shocker. Anyway I found a car rental for less than $100 for the trip so I booked it. I figure given all our ADR's it may be easiest to just have a car. I AM going to miss the trip on the ME though. I also changed our ADR for Hoop De Doo from the 11th at 9:30 to the 12th at 5:00 and made a 9:30 ADR at Planet Hollywood. I figured this way we can head from Hoop De Doo over to DHS for EMH. We will be at the MK that morning, and if we want we can either head to the MK for wishes from DHS on the 11th after Fantasmic or go to DTD for shopping. Knowing Jenna, she will want to go shopping. But it is nice to have the option.

 

[Woth2982]

I love your positive attitude! I agree drunk drivers suck.

I would love to stay at AK someday.
Oh and your friend has a great name! I'm a Brianne too!

Hi Brianne!

Thanks! I figure the only person my anger hurts is me, so I can choose to be happy and positive or angry. So I became a happy positive advocate! I want to be a politician someday and that and reforming FAFSA are my platform!

I am very excited about AKL. I have heard so many people like it better than WL and I LOVED WL, but it was too expensive for me to pay for this time.