collegejunkie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2010
- Messages
- 1,295
So this is my first pretrip report and first trip report ever. Let's just hope I follow through all the way, because my winter "break" is packed!
The people going on this trip are as follows:
Me - We'll call me E because my real name is obscure and I think a quick search on Google would actually find me
. 20, college student, Disney fanatic. I've been a good amount of times and the day I leave just marks the first day of my countdown to the next one
Boy Friend - We'll call him A or BF. 20, turning 21 on the drive down, been to Disney twice now with me.
Best Friend - We'll say he's J, 20, my best guy friend from school. Has never been to Florida or Disney! He's an International student from England, so that means I get the honor of showing him all around my favorite place
Mom - She'll just be Mom, haha. She's coming for the first 6 days of our trip. Hasn't been to Florida in a while because of her job, but she just wants to hang out in the sun, so she's thrilled. She and Bro weren't going to come at first, but then I found incredible deals on plane tickets and didn't let her say no.
Brother #1 - Bro1 or Bro will be his name here, 17. Coming with Mom for the first 6 days. I believe his plan is to be a bum and lounge at the pool for most of his trip. He has a twin, but he did not want to come for whatever ridiculous reason. Bro2 was in Florida in May so I guess he's sick of it or something? Crazy boy.
Dates:
12/17 - 12/19 - travel. A and I have finals on 12/17 so we're going to pack sometime before that, take our dreaded finals, and then start heading down! We're coming from school in NY, so that's about a 20ish hour drive. We plan on stopping somewhere for the night in either Georgia or at the top of Florida because we have tickets to MVMCP the night we check in, but still want to get a good night's sleep before spending the night running around in the park.
12/19 - check in at our off-property timeshare villa. Possibly meeting Mom and Bro at the airport, but depending on when we get there, we may send them to check in for us and just head over to the MK for the Christmas Party! We have ADRs at Rainforest Cafe, but I've actually never bothered with ADRs before so I may just cancel all the ones I have and just walk-in to restaurants I think we should go to. I REALLY want to go to Crystal Palace for dinner this night. We'll be celebrating my birthday late, BF's birthday a day late (and since he'll be spending his actual birthday on the road, I think we owe it to him to give him a nice, Disney dinner!), and J's first trip! Mom and Bro are sitting this one out and will just be at the hotel. Bro loves to cook, so I'm guessing they'll make something and eat on the balcony and enjoy the warm weather.
12/20 - EPCOT, most likely. I'm trying to avoid EMH days. I think this will also be slightly slower-paced and will be a nice introduction to daytime Disney things for J. BF has decided that he's going to skip out on regular Disney tickets this year, but I'm trying to see if he will change his mind and get just a 2-day pass or something. My main point will be that he can now "drink around the world", as he is a big wine and beer fan.
12/21 - MK. My favorite park. I kind of feel bad for J because I will squeal every time I see a princess or character. He will probably be embarrassed by my autograph book and I fully intend on wearing my pins. He's one of those posh British people who only wears really nice clothes. I warned him that he'll need sneakers ("trainers"), tee-shirts, and shorts, but he's having none of it. I suppose he'll have to learn the hard way
12/22 - HS. My second favorite park, but really, I love all of them. J has confirmed that he enjoys rides so at least I don't have to worry about him being afraid of TOT or Rock'n Roller Coaster. I absolutely LOVE Toy Story Mania, so we're going to rush to this first and then get FastPasses so we can come back later. I hope that J is okay with holding my camera - I don't wear anything with pockets and A usually keeps it in his when we go together. It makes me sad that he doesn't want to join us, as I told him we're getting married in Disney
and it's our "happy place" together.
12/23 - AK. I have to admit that AK is the most boring park in my book. Because I'll have J with me, I'll have to take him on all the animal trails that I normally avoid. It's not that I don't like them, I kind of just want to be doing other things. I'll ask him how he feels and maybe we'll do a few and then if he gets sick of it, we can go on Everest or something. My experience has been that as night falls, most people leave AK and I go to WDW during the holidays every year, so I think that's nice. As soon as it's dark, there's usually a line of 10 minutes maximum at Everest, so maybe we'll wait for that.
12/24 - We don't go to parks on days of actual holidays. Since Mom and Bro are leaving on Christmas, I want to spend 12/24 and 12/25 with them. For Christmas Eve, I was thinking we'd grab lunch in DTD and then go over to the hotels at Disney to look at the decorations and walk around the boardwalk.
12/25 - More DTD, but this time spend the day there, window shopping and hanging out. Mom and Bro's flight leaves at 7 pmish, so probably dinner there before they head out
12/26 - Universal Studios. I love the rides here; I definitely think US is more geared towards older kids. A is going to join us for this!
12/27 - Islands of Adventure. I can't wait to see Harry Potter World! J has already expressed disinterest because apparently being British means HP is ruined for you. I think he's just being a sourpuss and I think he's half-joking. I personally am very excited and I think he will be, too, once we get there. Even if he ends up not being thrilled with HP, the rest of the park is great. I loooooove Seuss Landing, so I hope he's ready to spend lots of time there. The Grinch (Jim Carrey version) is my all-time favorite movie, any time, so of course we're going to go meet him. A will also be here for this so he can entertain J while I'm busy freaking out over all the cute Dr. Seuss things.
12/28 - Seaworld. I love all marine life, so I actually really love this park. Because J knows me so well, I think he pretty much knows that this is going to be me staring at the tanks for hours on end. He likes underwater life, also, so he won't mind and I know he'll have a good time.
12/29 - Another Disney park, but not sure which yet. It depends on how much we get done the first time around, but my 2 favorite parks are MK and HS, so it'll probably be one of those
12/30 - Disney again
12/31 - Unless we decide to spend New Year's Eve in one of the parks, we'll be staying in the hotel and hanging out at the pool
1/1 - Current check-out date. Boo! My only problem with Orlando is that it's very much a get-up-and-go place because the parks have so much to do! I don't mind, but it certainly makes me tired. Especially since we're older, we love staying really late until closing so all the lines are shorter and we get the parks almost entirely to ourselves. This doesn't help when we wake up at 7 the next morning to get to the next park early, though
As for dining, as I said, I technically have ADRs for Disney. I have never made ADRs before, so I actually don't really know how that's going to play out. I can't really anticipate when we'll be hungry during the day, and I haven't had much difficulty getting served just walking in, so I may just cancel. On the other hand, we never ate at TS restaurants really, because BF and I were usually on a budget since BF pays for all of his things on his own and TS makes things considerably pricier. Since it will be J and I, I think we are planning on having one TS meal per day and then one CS later on. Right now, I have a list of places I'd really like to try and I asked him for his input. He's very relaxed and easy-going, so he pretty much told me it was up to me and he trusts my judgment.
Here's where I'd like to try, though:
EPCOT - Chefs de France, the new Mexican place (Cave de Tequila? Sorry if that's wrong), Le Cellier
MK - Crystal Palace, Tony's Town Square, or Liberty Tree Tavern
HS - Sci-fi Dine In, Prime Time Cafe
AK - nowhere really, haha. I know how that sounds but I don't really want to pay for overpriced Asian food when NY has the best Chinese food around I do love Rainforest Cafe, though, so that will definitely have to happen, be it in DTD or in AK
DTD - Wolfgang Puck Express seems like it would be the perfect choice for us on those days that we're going to be exploring the hotels and DTD decorations. Otherwise, I'd love to try T-Rex
And then as soon as we get back from our trip, I have a winter class that starts on 1/4 and ends 2 days before I go back to school for the regular semester
. Who said being a college kid was easy?
Anyway, I hope that's how these sorts of things are written! I hope some people were looking for a college-kid's take on going and maybe it'll give a different perspective from the usual family version! I love going with my family, of course, but I think that there are some other students who might be trying to plan a trip or something and aren't sure. Either way, I hope everyone likes it!
The people going on this trip are as follows:
Me - We'll call me E because my real name is obscure and I think a quick search on Google would actually find me
. 20, college student, Disney fanatic. I've been a good amount of times and the day I leave just marks the first day of my countdown to the next oneBoy Friend - We'll call him A or BF. 20, turning 21 on the drive down, been to Disney twice now with me.
Best Friend - We'll say he's J, 20, my best guy friend from school. Has never been to Florida or Disney! He's an International student from England, so that means I get the honor of showing him all around my favorite place
Mom - She'll just be Mom, haha. She's coming for the first 6 days of our trip. Hasn't been to Florida in a while because of her job, but she just wants to hang out in the sun, so she's thrilled. She and Bro weren't going to come at first, but then I found incredible deals on plane tickets and didn't let her say no.
Brother #1 - Bro1 or Bro will be his name here, 17. Coming with Mom for the first 6 days. I believe his plan is to be a bum and lounge at the pool for most of his trip. He has a twin, but he did not want to come for whatever ridiculous reason. Bro2 was in Florida in May so I guess he's sick of it or something? Crazy boy.
Dates:
12/17 - 12/19 - travel. A and I have finals on 12/17 so we're going to pack sometime before that, take our dreaded finals, and then start heading down! We're coming from school in NY, so that's about a 20ish hour drive. We plan on stopping somewhere for the night in either Georgia or at the top of Florida because we have tickets to MVMCP the night we check in, but still want to get a good night's sleep before spending the night running around in the park.
12/19 - check in at our off-property timeshare villa. Possibly meeting Mom and Bro at the airport, but depending on when we get there, we may send them to check in for us and just head over to the MK for the Christmas Party! We have ADRs at Rainforest Cafe, but I've actually never bothered with ADRs before so I may just cancel all the ones I have and just walk-in to restaurants I think we should go to. I REALLY want to go to Crystal Palace for dinner this night. We'll be celebrating my birthday late, BF's birthday a day late (and since he'll be spending his actual birthday on the road, I think we owe it to him to give him a nice, Disney dinner!), and J's first trip! Mom and Bro are sitting this one out and will just be at the hotel. Bro loves to cook, so I'm guessing they'll make something and eat on the balcony and enjoy the warm weather.
12/20 - EPCOT, most likely. I'm trying to avoid EMH days. I think this will also be slightly slower-paced and will be a nice introduction to daytime Disney things for J. BF has decided that he's going to skip out on regular Disney tickets this year, but I'm trying to see if he will change his mind and get just a 2-day pass or something. My main point will be that he can now "drink around the world", as he is a big wine and beer fan.
12/21 - MK. My favorite park. I kind of feel bad for J because I will squeal every time I see a princess or character. He will probably be embarrassed by my autograph book and I fully intend on wearing my pins. He's one of those posh British people who only wears really nice clothes. I warned him that he'll need sneakers ("trainers"), tee-shirts, and shorts, but he's having none of it. I suppose he'll have to learn the hard way
12/22 - HS. My second favorite park, but really, I love all of them. J has confirmed that he enjoys rides so at least I don't have to worry about him being afraid of TOT or Rock'n Roller Coaster. I absolutely LOVE Toy Story Mania, so we're going to rush to this first and then get FastPasses so we can come back later. I hope that J is okay with holding my camera - I don't wear anything with pockets and A usually keeps it in his when we go together. It makes me sad that he doesn't want to join us, as I told him we're getting married in Disney
and it's our "happy place" together. 12/23 - AK. I have to admit that AK is the most boring park in my book. Because I'll have J with me, I'll have to take him on all the animal trails that I normally avoid. It's not that I don't like them, I kind of just want to be doing other things. I'll ask him how he feels and maybe we'll do a few and then if he gets sick of it, we can go on Everest or something. My experience has been that as night falls, most people leave AK and I go to WDW during the holidays every year, so I think that's nice. As soon as it's dark, there's usually a line of 10 minutes maximum at Everest, so maybe we'll wait for that.
12/24 - We don't go to parks on days of actual holidays. Since Mom and Bro are leaving on Christmas, I want to spend 12/24 and 12/25 with them. For Christmas Eve, I was thinking we'd grab lunch in DTD and then go over to the hotels at Disney to look at the decorations and walk around the boardwalk.
12/25 - More DTD, but this time spend the day there, window shopping and hanging out. Mom and Bro's flight leaves at 7 pmish, so probably dinner there before they head out
12/26 - Universal Studios. I love the rides here; I definitely think US is more geared towards older kids. A is going to join us for this!
12/27 - Islands of Adventure. I can't wait to see Harry Potter World! J has already expressed disinterest because apparently being British means HP is ruined for you. I think he's just being a sourpuss and I think he's half-joking
. I personally am very excited and I think he will be, too, once we get there. Even if he ends up not being thrilled with HP, the rest of the park is great. I loooooove Seuss Landing, so I hope he's ready to spend lots of time there. The Grinch (Jim Carrey version) is my all-time favorite movie, any time, so of course we're going to go meet him. A will also be here for this so he can entertain J while I'm busy freaking out over all the cute Dr. Seuss things.12/28 - Seaworld. I love all marine life, so I actually really love this park. Because J knows me so well, I think he pretty much knows that this is going to be me staring at the tanks for hours on end. He likes underwater life, also, so he won't mind and I know he'll have a good time.
12/29 - Another Disney park, but not sure which yet. It depends on how much we get done the first time around, but my 2 favorite parks are MK and HS, so it'll probably be one of those
12/30 - Disney again
12/31 - Unless we decide to spend New Year's Eve in one of the parks, we'll be staying in the hotel and hanging out at the pool
1/1 - Current check-out date. Boo! My only problem with Orlando is that it's very much a get-up-and-go place because the parks have so much to do! I don't mind, but it certainly makes me tired. Especially since we're older, we love staying really late until closing so all the lines are shorter and we get the parks almost entirely to ourselves. This doesn't help when we wake up at 7 the next morning to get to the next park early, though
As for dining, as I said, I technically have ADRs for Disney. I have never made ADRs before, so I actually don't really know how that's going to play out. I can't really anticipate when we'll be hungry during the day, and I haven't had much difficulty getting served just walking in, so I may just cancel. On the other hand, we never ate at TS restaurants really, because BF and I were usually on a budget since BF pays for all of his things on his own and TS makes things considerably pricier. Since it will be J and I, I think we are planning on having one TS meal per day and then one CS later on. Right now, I have a list of places I'd really like to try and I asked him for his input. He's very relaxed and easy-going, so he pretty much told me it was up to me and he trusts my judgment.
Here's where I'd like to try, though:
EPCOT - Chefs de France, the new Mexican place (Cave de Tequila? Sorry if that's wrong), Le Cellier
MK - Crystal Palace, Tony's Town Square, or Liberty Tree Tavern
HS - Sci-fi Dine In, Prime Time Cafe
AK - nowhere really, haha. I know how that sounds but I don't really want to pay for overpriced Asian food when NY has the best Chinese food around
I do love Rainforest Cafe, though, so that will definitely have to happen, be it in DTD or in AKDTD - Wolfgang Puck Express seems like it would be the perfect choice for us on those days that we're going to be exploring the hotels and DTD decorations. Otherwise, I'd love to try T-Rex
And then as soon as we get back from our trip, I have a winter class that starts on 1/4 and ends 2 days before I go back to school for the regular semester
. Who said being a college kid was easy? Anyway, I hope that's how these sorts of things are written! I hope some people were looking for a college-kid's take on going and maybe it'll give a different perspective from the usual family version! I love going with my family, of course, but I think that there are some other students who might be trying to plan a trip or something and aren't sure. Either way, I hope everyone likes it!
i guess no one wants to hear about it.
