Disney Fav's Trip Report Collection

[disneyfav4ever]

Wow, I haven't posted anything for a week. I blame my distraction on the All of WDW on DVD's coming, and me having to watch them all. Also, I had a long, full, and very interesting week at work, though the only thing that made it interesting was the people, not the actual job.

1999 Trip - Arrival Day Continued

So the airport was an adventure in itself, and now reminds me of scenes from the Amazing Race, though not as chaotic as that. My mom and I were the first ones at the airport, and quickly met up with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle B, Tim, and Kyle.

We went to the baggage claim, and somehow managed to get all our bags, from two different flights, without too much trouble. Then it was just a matter of waiting for the rest of the family to get to Orlando. Uncle B went with us kids, me, Tim, and Kyle, on the, what I'm going to refer to as the mini-monorail, to go to their gate, so we'd be there to greet them.

When their plane did arrive, they were the last ones off. I remember this, since Kyle was joking, that maybe they missed their flight. But when they finally did get off, there was a lot of hugging and yelling. Then we joined Grandma, Grandpa, and my mom back at baggage claim to get Aunt A and Uncle A's bags, as well as their kid's, Sarah, Jess, and Anthony's, bags. But of course, meeting up with Grandma, meant more hugging, though less yelling. Always leave it to the kids to be the loud ones, which still holds true, even though Sarah is now a teenager.

After we had gotten all the bags, we headed out to wait for our taxi, which was a longer wait, but with all of us being together for the first time in months, wasn't that bad of a wait.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

1999 Trip - Arrival Day

It took about an hour to get to Shades of Green. Shades of Green, is a Disney-owned resort, but it's not very themed.When we did get there we checked in, and us kids, (anytime I refer to "us kids," it means, me, Kyle, Tim, Anthony, Jess, and Sarah,) headed straight for the pool.

It wasn't very crowded at all, and we had the pool mainly to ourselves. We spent all afternoon swimming, playing in the arcade, and eating ice cream.

By the time dinner came around we were somewhat hungry. Apparently ice cream is only so filling. Uncle B, Kyle, Tim, Anthony, Jess, and Sarah, headed to Evergreens, for a quick, casual meal of burgers and fries. Even back then I had been a more adventorous eater then the others in my family, so I went, with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt A, Uncle A, and my mom, to Garden Gallery.

Now, I don't remember a whole lot about the dinner. I know Grandma and Aunt A ordered a la carte off the menu, while the rest of us headed for the buffet, which was prime rib that night. I liked the food, though if it had been anything special, I would've remembered more about it. What's wierd is that I can remember practically everything else I ate that week, except for that night. I'm certain I did have prime rib though.

After dinner we took a bus to the TTC, and at this point I was smartening up, and learning about all the different aspects of WDW, so I knew what the TTC was.

We took the monorail around, and stopped at the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian, which immediatly became my favorite resort. (Until I saw AK Lodge and Wildernes Lodge last Oct.) We didn't do much at either of those places, but I remember going through both of the gift shops. This will be a common trend in my family. When in doubt head to the gift shop, convientlently locatated at every attraction exit.

We were also able to watch Fantasy in the Sky, or at least pieces of it from the bus stop at Shades of Green. It was kind of chilly that night though, and very windy, so we didn't stay out for long.

Coming up, Magic Kingdom, and Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Okay, I've been working more hours then usual, and have not had any extra time to work on my trip report. But, I have a few extra hours today, and wanted to add some more planing parts for my Dec trip, (my 1999 is going to have to wait for a little while.)

I've rehased out my ADR plans, and while keeping a lot of the same restaurants on my list, have moved days around to fit in the tenative Mouse Fest schedule. My current plan is located here. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=12535511#post12535511

Also, I've ordered, and recieved my AP voucher, so I've been admiring that the past few days.

I've also been trying to find a decent priced pin lot on E-Bay, but they keep on selling for too high, and I just end up buying a bunch of pins that I want, that I know I won't trade. So much for a budget.

But extra hours at work means more money, and I got a good sized tax refund, so the extra pins aren't hurting my wallet that badly.

So my room is booked, my flight is booked, I have my AP, and I'm going to get my tickets for MVMCP in the next few days, so it's just a matter of waiting for June 10th, which I'll be requesting off work, so I can make my ADR's, which, luckily, is a Saturday, so I don't have to worry about using up my cell phone minutes, since I have free weekends.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Okay, so I finally have a little time to work on this.

1999 Trip - Day 1 - Magic Kingdom

My grandparents had decided before the trip to have one sit-down meal a day. And they thought eating in the castle would be a perfect start to our vacation. Luckily, they booked through a travel agent, so I don't think it was that difficult booking, or maybe it just wasn't as difficult to get an ADR, or was it PS, back then.

Now, like I mentioned before, this was everyones first time in Disney, except for me and my mothers, and no one was really "into" the characters, except for me, Jess, and Sarah. And even though I was the oldest, and the only one who had met any characters before, guess who was the most excited?

 

[disneyfav4ever]

1999 Trip - Magic Kingdom - Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast

Our breakfast, though I don't remember the exact time, was early. Though it seemed, when we entered the Magic Kingdom, that the park was already filling with plenty of people. I believe it may have been an extra magic hour morning.

After we checked in, we waited in the lobby. I know there were no characters down there for two reasons. 1) I know where I've met each and every character, and 2) We have pictures of my little cousins on the throne by themselves.

When we walked up to the dining room, I remember thinking that it was a lot of steps.

We were seated at a table for twelve, and I was inbetween Tim and Jess. Tim, who was 13, and a princess-hater, but a good sport, and Jess, who was 8, and while a princess-hater now, at the time, was a princess-lover, and had an autograph book and everything.

We were served fruit and pastries first. I don't remember thinking that anything was too fantastic, but nothing was two bad, though I was too excited to eat much.

It was after we were served our plates, full with decent, filling, but not-to-special food, like eggs, potatoes, and bacon, that the princesses started coming out.

The princesses that day were Snow White, Belle, Alice, who is not a princess in my book, but, whatever, and of course, Cinderella. Well, about ten seconds after them coming out, Jess, Sarah, and I lost what ever little appetite we had to start out with, and just started pulling out our autograph books.

I was using the same book as my last trip, and Tim being the joker he always is, suggested that I get Alice's autograph, which I already had from the year before, again, to see if they were the "same."

When Alice signed my book, for some reason I always go along with Tim's plans, we flipped back to the older Alice autograph, and they were close enough to the "same" to pass. This whole time Grandma is shooting us looks, becuase she doesn't want Sarah to see Tim's genius plan of proving the characters fake, which apparently everyone assumed I'd grow out of. They weren't thinking that while the rest of them had a been there - done that attitude towards WDW, that I'd be making obsessive plans for annual solo trips, and then tracking down the characters just as obsessivly.

So I was able to see the princesses, and have my picture taken with Cinderella and Snow White. Though I'm still trying to figure out why my mom took my picture with Snow White instead of Belle, since she knew that back then I really much preferred Belle. And we always have a lovely, immortilized-in-my-scrapbook photo of Tim and Cinderella, that Tim is constantly a joke of.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

1999 Trip - Magic Kingdom

After our breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table, most of the family, with the exception of Grandma and Grandpa, wanted to ride Space Mountain. So everyone headed over to Tomorrowland. Well, Grandma and Grandpa, while not fans of thrill rides, wanted to do some rides "as a family," since there was no way the twelve of us would be sticking together all day. And since they were the only ones on the edge about riding Space Mountain, decided to go for it anyway so we could all be together.

Usually togetherness in my family is filled with random quips from Tim. For that matter, almost everything turns into jokes with Tim.

After riding Space Mountain, complete with girlish shrieks from Tim, everyone wanted to do different things. So much for togetherness. It was decided that Tim, Kyle, and I were old and mature enough to go around by ourselves, as long as at least we were with each other.

So the three of us, with Uncle B, went on Alien Encounter. Even though I didn't really care for it, I knew I could handle it. So we got in line, and after a short wait, were able to see it again. And for the second time that day I also had Tim and his girlish squels in my ear. Why is it that I always end up next to him on these rides?

After Alien Encounter, Uncle B and Kyle went off to do other things. Tim was hungry, (this will be common throughout the trip,) and me, not eating much breakfast, decided to get ice cream. That will be common as well. When hungry - get ice cream.

So we went to, what I believe is Auntie Gravity's, and bought ourselves sundaes. Grandma and Grandpa had been giving us Disney dollars for our birthdays and the past Christmas, and my mom had doubled everything I had saved for the trip, so between the two of us we had plenty of money for whatever we wanted.

After our ice cream break we walked over to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and rode that. Which of course, Tim got a better score at. Then, since there was no line, we rode again.

By then it was our pre-designated meeting time to meet up with the rest of our family, so we were all together again.

That lasted about five minutes. I guess Grandma and Grandpa thought we were all going to want to do the same thing, but we all have different likes, or more importantly dislikes. We made plans to meet up again for the 3:00 parade, which back then, was still Remember the Magic.

I joined up with Sarah and Aunt A, since Sarah was the only one who wanted to ride anything in Fantasyland besides me. First, we rode Dumbo. This is the only time I've ever been on Dumbo, and while I think it's a nice ride and all, it definatly isn't a "must-do" for me. Though Sarah, was thrilled by it.

Then we rode Peter Pan's Flight, which is also the only time I've ridden that. Actually, most rides in Fantasyland I've only gone on once, with the exception being the Many Adventures of Pooh. I'm really going to make a point of spending more time there this trip, since it is a beautiful area.

Sarah was hungry then, and since it was lunch time, we stopped for a snack. Which was Mickey bars. So, as far as what I had eaten that day, it was about two bites of eggs and potatoes at breakfast, a sundae, and a Mickey bar. Healthy. At least it was Disney, so that means no calories.

My Self-Obsessive Birthday Trip

Part 1 - My Trips to WDW Are (Not) Excessive

August

Once upon a time I was talking to a friend of mine, and somehow the coversation turned to Disney, (Huh, I wonder how that happened? ) Anyway, she mentioned that she had once spent her birthday there when she was little, and that she had eaten in the castle, and all the princesses were there, etc.

I got a little jealous. That lasted for a few hours until I made a few impromptu decisions, and booked a trip for my next birthday.

My trips, to date, have been one when I was 13, then again when I was 15, fourteen months after the first trip, then again when I was 21, and my trip when I was 22, (see trip report here - link to be posted,) also fourteen months apart.

My birthday trip, is only 55 days away from the day I get home from my Dec trip. So it should make leaving Disney in Dec easier, knowing I'll be back in less then two months. But when is leaving Disney ever easy?

The first thing I had to do was decide on dates for my trip. Obviously, I wanted to spend my birthday there, so I decided to fly down the day before, so I'd be able to spend my whole birthday in Disney, and then fly back, not the next day, but the day after that. So I'd have my arrival day, two full days, and then my departure day.

Since my birthday is in Feb, I decided I also wanted to go to a Pirate and Princess Party while I was there. The only night available for that was my arrival night, which isn't the most optimal, but it's still what I decided to do. I'm young, I only need about six hours of sleep a night - I'll sleep on the plane, I'll take a nap that afternoon. (That's my "plan," I'll probably get to Disney and rush right to MK.)

I'll already have an AP from my Dec trip, so I won't need to purchase any tickets, except for the Pirate and Princess party one, (which is already bought, and is now safely in my wallet, along with my AP voucher, and my MVMCP tickets.)

I also had to choose a hotel room. I'd already stayed at All Star Music, and had Pop Century booked for Dec, so I decided to book All Star Movies for this trip, since I have no interest in sports, so booking a room at All Star Sports would have made little sense.

I booked my flight through Travelocity again, for an ear

I had booked my room days before my 180-day mark. (On a Friday, and my 180-day mark was on a Wednesday,) so I had less then a week to plan my ADR's.

I decided to not do any resort restaurants in order to maximize my park time, and to cut down on choices. If I hadn't done that, I'd still be trying to figure out where to eat.

Since I was going to the Pirate and Princess party the first night, an MK restaurant was an obvious choice, though I did think about Ohana for awhile, since that's where I've eaten before MNSSHP before, and that's worked out fine. But I decided to book Liberty Tree Tavern, since that's the one Disney really tries to push for the parties, and I could eat earlier that way, and have more time in the MK.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

It seems as though that every time I think I'm going to be able to devote some time to writing something comes up that makes me postpone this longer.

Weather it be family matters, or work, it seems that I'm going to be having to put this on a hiatus until who-know-when. Though I should be mostly free the next two days to write some. I really want to try and finish off the 1999 trip, at least the WDW part in the near future.

I find that this one is more complicated to write then my Oct one, which is probably due to two factors, 1) Oct was seven months ago, 1999 was seven years ago, and 2) I'm trying to remember what twelve other people did instead of just myself.

And I want this report to be as good as it can, so I'm going to take all the time it needs.

Note to self - be sure to try a blueberry martini and the Moscato wine at Blue Zoo this year.

Dec 2006 Trip

Forewarning - I wouldn't bother to read these first few posts unless, like myself, you are obsessive about details, at least that's the way I get when I plan a trip to Disney.

Case in point.

I booked a room in Feb for a Dec trip - almost one year in advance. I started counting down the days 210 days in advance. I had my ADR's planned out in March, even though I couldn't make them until June, and then got off work the morning of my 180-day mark so I could have uninterrupted time to make my ADR's. Everything I could book or buy in advance - my plane ticket, the room, my AP and MVMCP tickets, were bought months and months before.

For this trip report, my second, "written at the time of my trip," (I had written a 98 and started a 99 trip report out of boredom. For whatever reason, I never finished 99's. Oh well, that will just continue to be a work in progress. Anyway, I'm going to divide this report into parts - with one post for each part. (Leave it to me to make a trip report overly organized, with a table on contents.)

Part 1 - Post 1 - Introduction & Table of Contents a.k.a. This Post
Part 2 - Here I Go Again a.k.a Pre-Planing (Feb - Nov)
Part 3 - Almost There. . . Won't I Just Shut Up Already a.k.a. Pre-Planing & Packing (Week before Trip)
Part 4 - Day 1
Part 5 - Day 2
Part 6 - Day 3
Part 7 - Day 4
Part 8 - Day 5
Part 9 - Day 6
Part 10 - Day 7
Part 11 - Day 8
Part 12 - Day 9
Part 13 - Day 10
Part 14 - Day 11
Part 15 - Day 12
Part 16 - Post-Trip

Part 2 - Here I Go Again

Oct 05 - Jan 06

After ariving back home last Oct I know I wanted to go again. But there were several complications that I thought would wreck my chances of going again anytime soon, at least for a few more years. But, those, somehow, were taking care of by the end of 05, so I started playing around with the idea of going in 06 for the 11th annual Food and Wine Festival. But then I got an even better idea, (better for me, ridiculous to most other people,) I'd go in between Thanksgiving and Christmas for the low crowds and Christmas decorations, events, etc, that are only available in Dec.

This way, I could take my 07 trip in Oct, and save some money by getting an AP, and then save even some more money by getting the DDE.

My budget for the trip $2,500 or $5,000 between this and next Oct's trip.

Febuary

My first major decision was on where to stay. I knew that due to my budget, and the fact that I wanted to be able to afford two trips in less then a twelve month span, that the value resorts were my best option. And I was aiming for around $1,000 a trip for the hotel.

I had stayed at All Star Music last Oct, which I was perfectly fine with. So I could of booked an All Star resort again, but I decided, (joys of being solo - I get to decide everything myself,) that I wanted to try something new. So, I booked a room at Pop Century.

Cost - $968.99

So, I was already $31.01 under my budget. Yay for me.

April

I didn't book a flight for more then a month after that. I knew I wanted an early flight in. From my local airport it takes 2 1/2 hours to get to MCO, so it's not that bad a flight. But, I've never been big on flying, especially since 9/11, and now there's that whole no-liquids thing. Not that I'm complaining, I just am not a big flyer.

So I booked an 8:00 AM flight, and hopefully with no delays, I'll be at MCO by 11:00 AM. I had the same flight time last year, and I was completely checked in, and in and out of my room, at AK by 1:00 PM.

Anyway, I booked the 8:00 AM flight for my arrival, and a 2:30 PM flight for my departure, which is slightly earlier then my flight last year was by about an hour.

My budget for my flight, was $250, and my flight was $230, but for some reason I decided I needed trip insurance, which I hadn't felt the need for last year, but I got it this year. So that raised the price up to $254.05 - so $4.05 more then I had wanted to spend. Big deal, I was still under budget between the room and my flight.

Costs so far

Room at Pop Century for 12 days / 11 nights - $968.99
Round Trip Flight to / from MCO - $254.05

Total so far - $1223.04

I also bought my AP in April, and got the voucher. The cost for that was $444.98 - but this is was originally bought for two trips, and now will cover three. So, (assuming I go for twelve days next Oct,) it'll be used for twenty-eight park days. So just over $15 a day, or $190.70 for the whole trip.

My budget for my park tickets was $300. So I saved, (in my twisted logic,) $109.30.

Total so far $1413.74.

June

June was a busy month for me.

I had been highly awaiting the 10th, since that was my 180-day mark, and I was then able to make my ADR's. And that was a big deal to me. I mean, the food is one of the most important factors to me.

So on that morning, I woke up at 6:00 AM, and at ten till 7:00, I started calling CRO, getting the "Our offices our closed," message, haging up, and redailing. I repeated this process at least a dozen times, until, (according to my clock,) exactly at 7:00 I got through.

I knew to hit 1 and 1 again to get right through to a person, and bypass the recordings, and lucky for me, didn't get stuck on hold.

Fourty-five minutes later, I had all my reservations. I won't bother listing them all here, since they'll come up later anyway.

A few days later, I called CRO again to make reservations at Blue Zoo and Wolfgang Puck Cafe, since they aren't Disney owned, and I had to call 180 days out excatly, since the 180+10 day rule isn't applied to them.

And a few days after that, I bought my MVMCP tickets. After ordering the tickets, panicked thinking I had mistakenly ordered ones for the wrong date, but after re-checking my schedule, (for the thoundsath time,) reassured myself I had purchased tickets for the correct dates. The tickets, which I had budgeted $100, for two parties, had cost $88.10, (including the $3 I had paid to have them shipped to me.)

Total so Far - $1501.84

That's the total amount that I've spent so far, and with the exception of pre-purchasing the DDE, won't go up again until I'm in WDW.

August

It was getting closer and closer to the time I could book the CP dinner packages. I already had dinner reservations for every night of my trip, but I wanted to book CP dinners twice, once at Le Cellier on day seven, and at Rose and Crown on day nine.

A few days before that, and this really has squat to do with my Dec trip, someone mentioned to me that they had spent their birthday once in Disney. Now, my birthday's not in Dec, it's in Feb. But, I decided I wanted to do that. And I realized, since I already had an AP, it would only cost $500, to go to Disney for a few days for my birthday, so, my new budget, for the three trips, (Dec 05, Feb 06, and Oct 06,) is $6,000, instead of the $5,000 I had orginally budgeted. Besides, now I get to go to the Pirate and Princess Party. (For full Feb report, see "Feb Trip Report," (link will be posted - not yet written.)

I called CRO the first day the CP packages were available for booking, which, conciedently, was the same day as my 180-day mark for my Feb trip. So I was able to make a whole bunch of ADR's at once.

I had figured that it would of been harder to book a CP package at Le Cellier than at Rose and Crown, given its popularity, (which according to the unofficial guide's ratings is the highet rated WDW restaurant besides Victoria and Alberts,) but, and this was a shock to me, I was able to quickly book Le Cellier the night I wanted, (and I do still have a dinner ADR to cancel there - if anyone wants it,) but couldn't book Rose and Crown, so then tried to get Garden Grill for a CP lunch, (since I already had a lunch reservation there I could've canceled,) but that was all full to.

So I ended up only booking Le Cellier for CP, but that's okay. Le Cellier's the one I wanted the most anyway, and I can hardly ever eat a full meal anyway.