Disney Trip Report 101 - First Trip Report

[Raider82]

Hello everyone. I have been following everyone's trip reports and finally decided to give back and work on my own. Also it seems that I am going to be the minority here as I am a guy, or Disney Husband to use the boards lingo.

We are going to be staying at the Coronado Springs Resort. (Our first time there) Where we will be taking advantage of free dining and will be there from the end of Sept. to the beginning of October for Disney Wife's birthday.

Cast:

Me & Mr. Wheezy!

Me - I am 26 years old almost 27 this October. I have been a Disney fanatic every since my parents first took be to Disneyland when I was in elementary school. Don't remember the exact age. Since then I have loved everything Disney and theme parks.

Disney Wife - Is 23 and will be 24 on our trip! She is a fan of Disney, but not as much as I am. She's into the movies, shows, and parks - but not to the extent that I am!

Here are some of the Dining Reservations I have made so far:

I tired to make reservations to places we haven't been before.

Liberty Tree Tavern @ Magic Kingdom @ 8:45 PM - This is our first day at Disney. The only reservation I could get was really late. Not sure if I am going to keep this one. How is Liberty Tree?

Captain's Grille at Disney's Yacht Club Resort @ 7:20 PM - The Disney Wife loves steak so I thought we would try this place out. Couldn't get Le Cellier (still trying though) it's her favorite place ever!

Boma Flavors of Africa at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge @ 5:35 PM - Been to Boma twice before. Love it! The soups are amazing! Not sure if I should try to change this out for Yak & Yettie though to try something new.

Hollywood Brown Derby @ 5:15 - Heard good things about this place. I think we are going to pay for this meal ourselves though, as I doesn't seem worth the two dinning credits to eat here.

Jiko - The Cooking Place at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge @ 7:00 PM - Heard amazing things about this place so hope the wife will love it. It will be her b-day dinner!

I am just getting this trip report started so there will be plenty of more to come!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

I'm in can't wait to read all about it.
Is it a surprise b-day trip, or does she know?

 

[DWGal210]

Sounds like it will be a fun trip!

I really love Boma - we at there last June and I would love to go there again this trip!

 

[Raider82]

I'm in can't wait to read all about it.
Is it a surprise b-day trip, or does she know?

Two readers already? Wow thanks for checking out my little trip report! What does everyone want to know about next?

It is not a surprise trip. Although I did think of that, the only thing that stopped it from happening is that she had to let her work know about being gone, and it was more money that I would spend without getting the wife's permission.

So what does everyone do to get into the Disney "mood"? I have found myself watching the Disney channel a lot recently. Even though I don't think I am anywhere near Disney's target audience for any of the shows I find most of them entertaining and very funny. Anyone else watch the Disney channel?

We went to Disney last year around this time and did Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We stayed at All Star Music last year. It was a great resort for the time that we spend in the room - which isn't much. But I do have to say that there are advantages to staying in a Moderate or even a Deluxe resort mainly the Disney transportation is better the more money you spend. Just a thought.

So speaking of our trip I am super stoked! I get real excited and do a bunch of planning and research before the trip. The wife doesn't really get too excited until we are closer to the date of the trip. Does everyone else get excited months before the trip or when it is closer?

Tonight the wife and I are celebrating our 3 year wedding anniversary. It really is this Thursday, but I work late and will not be able to do anything so tonight is the night. We aren't doing anything extravagant, just a nice dinner at Outback. (yummy!) Then after that when it is dark outside I am going to surprise her with a little Disney magic. In our backyard I have setup a virtual dance floor (picture the grass as the dance floor and I have outlined the "dance floor" with white lights.) In the middle of the floor is a nice tikki torch for extra light and to keep the bugs away, at the top of the dance floor I have made a heart using the white lights! I think it is going to be a really nice suprise! I am then going to hook up a little portable iPod stereo and play "Can I Have This Dance?" from High School Musical 3, along with some other songs. Hope it works out! Maybe some pixie dust for good luck.

 

[polyforme]

Wow! Sounds like quite the trip and anniversary dinner too. I am sure you will get major hubby points!!
All of your adr's sound great. Boma is definetly one of our favorite rest. and Jiko used to be but we had a really, really bad experience there last year. One of our new favorites is Narcoossee's at the GF. It overlooks the water and the service there is fantastic!! We went for our anniversary and they had a keepsake menu printed up with our names and ann. date to take home. Maybe they do that as well for b-day's. Just a thought. It would be a lot easy to get to as well if you were at MK or Epcot that day. After dinner you could watch the fireworks on the beach from either the GF or the Poly.
I am sure your trip will be great and can't wait to hear more about it. We are going at the end of Aug and staying at the Poly.

 

[Raider82]

Wow! Sounds like quite the trip and anniversary dinner too. I am sure you will get major hubby points!!
All of your adr's sound great. Boma is definetly one of our favorite rest. and Jiko used to be but we had a really, really bad experience there last year. One of our new favorites is Narcoossee's at the GF. It overlooks the water and the service there is fantastic!! We went for our anniversary and they had a keepsake menu printed up with our names and ann. date to take home. Maybe they do that as well for b-day's. Just a thought. It would be a lot easy to get to as well if you were at MK or Epcot that day. After dinner you could watch the fireworks on the beach from either the GF or the Poly.
I am sure your trip will be great and can't wait to hear more about it. We are going at the end of Aug and staying at the Poly.

Thanks for the heads up on Jiko. That's terrible that you had a bad experience there. I have yet to have a really really bad experience anywhere at Disney, but I guess like all things it is bound to happen.

I did look at Narcoossee's (that's a weird name to type) It looks fabulous, the Grand Floridian is such a beautiful resort, though I don't think I have been there before. The views from inside look very nice. I think if I were to go I would try to steak and lobster. That's the good thing about dining at Disney as you try things that you wouldn't normally try. I have never had lobster before. You are correct in that it would be closer to MK or Epcot, MK we could walk or take the monorail. I am still tweaking my plans so I might change over if something better comes available.

Last anniversary we were at Disney we ate at the Califorina Grill. While the view of MK and getting to watch the "Wishes" fireworks from the balcony were amazing, the food was so-so as was the service.

Do you have a trip pre-report? The Poly is such a nice resort and having the monorail go by the resort is super cool!

 

[polyforme]

I have not done a trip report but maybe after our trip this August I will try to do one. I definetly love reading everyone else's though!! How did your plans go for your anniversary? What a nice idea! Good luck with all your plans and adr's for Sept.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Happy Anniversary

Your wife is so lucky, you have a lot of great things planned, let us know how it goes/went.

and to answer your questions, yes we watch Disney Channel, if the TV is on it's about an 80% chance we are watching Disney channel or a Disney movie. DS(4) just watched Wall-E like ten times this week, it was our first time watching it (netflix).

To get in the Disney spirit we are making a countdown calendar and planning a lot of fun countdown activities (like mickey shaped pancakes and small gifts we can use on the trip).

Can't wait to hear about your anniversary and more plans

 

[Raider82]

So here are some updates and some of my random thoughts of the day.

I am still on a quest to get reservations for Le Cellier, no luck today. I have heard though that the best time to check is 3 days before you plan to make reservations because there is a lot of cancellations during that time. Anyone heard any different or have any secret insider tips?

During our last trip we started collecting Disney Pins. At first I thought it was kind of silly, but the more we did it the more fun it became. It was fun to look at Cast Members lanyards in search of some cool or unique pins. I started off with all Stitch, but slowly it has become a mixture of everything. Does everyone else just collect what they like or do you have a pin theme?

Another thing I am thinking about adding on to our trip is a one day trip to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure during the day and trying Halloween Horror Nights at night. I am currently looking for a decently priced hotel near Universal. I've been so used to staying on site either at Disney or Universal so having to look off site is well.... We went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party last year. It was great! It's nice seeing the park in a different light with all the decorations and different parades and fireworks. It's like experiencing everything for the first time again. I would love to do Disney during Christmas but I have heard that it is the most crowed time to go.

Everything for our anniversary went excellent! The wife really loved my lighted dance floor. I will have to post pictures soon.

 

[polyforme]

In regards to le cellier, have you gone to the dining thread? A lot of people post if they are going to cancel and if they want a trade. Last year we had reservations there and were going to cancel so we gave it to someone who posted that they had been trying to get le cellier for awhile. Good luck!!