Double Trouble - Heading the the House of Mouse (Both Coasts)

[*tinker*bell*]

Hello!

I am getting so super excited for my trips and they are coming up quickly (can make my FP+ ressies in a day or two ) I thought I would start a pre-trip report for it!

This is a two-for-one Pre Trip Report as I am taking two trips in the near future, one to Disneyland in September and one to Disney World in October. Hence the Double Trouble title.

I live on the west coast and grew up going to Disneyland on family vacations. For my high school graduation my friends family took me along on their trip to Disney World and I fell in love with the east coast.

I shall start off with a little back story about the Disney World trip as that was planned first:

My in-laws took a Panama Canal cruise about two years ago this November, after the cruise they spent two days in the World. When they returned I would asking them if they had seen this or done that, and they commented that they hadn't and felt like they didn't even go after talking to me about it. So my husband and I decided to invite them along on our trip this year. His brother also decided to join in, and just a couple months ago my friend decided to tag along as well. So there are SIX of us going! for me that A LOT of people!!!!

Let me introduce the Characters on this trip:

Firstly, and mostly importantly of course theres me




I am 25, a Leo and I ramble a lot. While I am a HUGE Disney nut... ask anyone they will tell you, I also love to travel to new places, see the world and explore new cultures. I am a travel agent for a local company and I hate to stay in one place too long. I love Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Ariel, Rapunzel and Maleficent. If I could live in Florida I would... except it gets really hot there... instead of snow birding I would summer-bird... This will be my fifth Disney World trip

Next up is my wonderful Husband of just over a year

He is a computer geek, does IT for a software company, he likes disney although not as much as me... but not many people do... he also does not like to travel as much as I do, he is good with once a year or every two years... thats beyond crazy to me!!! I usually do a trip a year with him and then take off for other trips with various friends and family. This will be his second time to Disney World. His loves Perry and Donald Duck.

His Mom and Step-Dad are joining us along with his younger brother.

not an amazing photo but I don't have many of them yet...
In order there is his mom Karren in the purple dress, his step dad Ross beside her and then his brother Joel. This will be Joel's first time to Disney World and Karren and Ross' second. My in laws are not big Disney people.

And finally the late comer. I had been looking to have a friend come along to keep me sane with all these people! Too many in-laws!!!! So in June when I suggested to Leeza that she tag along I was flabbergasted when she said yes and two days later had booked her flights.

Leeza has a very bright personality and you either like her or don't. We get along really well and I am so glad to be her personal tour guide on her first Disney World trip! She loves Winnie the Pooh and Ariel.

So thats everyone for Disney World... I will update more about when, where, ect soon!

 

[*tinker*bell*]

For the Second... but really first trip, I am going with my lovely Grandmother and it is my 25 birthday present

My Grandma is in the blue:


She loves Disney as well, I don't even know how many times she has been to Disneyland... too many for me to count.

She had a knee replacement surgery last November and is still getting back to normal with her walking... she heals very slowly........... My grandpa is getting up there in age and isn't able to travel anymore. She really needed a break so we started looking at little vacations, Alaskan cruises are a favourite of both of ours, but we waited too long for those and then I was looking at a short Seattle Cruise and Stay option, and finally we settled for an Anaheim Cruise and Stay that I built with my agent rates. Ironically we leave on my grandfathers birthday, when my grandma asked if that was okay with him he said it was the best birthday gift ever

So we are cruising from Vancouver to Los Angeles which is 3 nights and then we are staying for three nights in the Grand Californian Hotel with four day park hoppers, and flying home in the evening of the last day. We are going to be away from Sept 21 - 27.

I really love that Disneyland is only a 2 1/2 hour flight away, so easy to get to. This will be my seventh visit to Disneyland.

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Walt Disney World 2014 Plans

So as it's not just Dh and I going this year, the plans were a little different. Usually we would wait until closer to when we wanted to go and get cheap flights from Seattle and fly over night into Orlando... however DF-inlaw did not like this idea and want to fly from Vancouver and during the day... so I started looking for flights last fall. Originally we wanted to go in November for Food and Wine Festival as my DM-inlaw loves to cook and I really think she will enjoy it, and so I could finally go to MVMCP. I was supposed to go a few years back when DH and I were going to take our first big trip, this was before we were married. However about two weeks before the trip I was diagnosed with Cancer and that trip was cancelled. Alas I'm still going to be waiting a while, as DH could not get time off in November so we settled on October. I found really great flights from Vancouver that weren't super outrageously priced and we booked those in December.

We had all settled on Oct 13-24. This is less time than I would have liked but will do for this trip. We are doing 7 days in the Disney Parks, two days at Universal and DM and DF -inlaw along with DH are going to Kennedy for a day... bleeeeh lol not my thing I will be upgrading my ticket to an AP when I get there in any event as I've another trip planned with my mom in April so I will hit the parks.

Much to my DH's chagrin October means MNSSHP. We did this on our past WDW trip and my DH is a been there-done that kinda guy, doesn't really do things over and over again like me. However as no one else was interested he agreed that we would go.

Originally we were booked into three Little Mermaid room at AoA.

Fast forward to June, I was talking to Leeza (now DBF (Best Friend)) one night and she was saying that her friends who were supposed to go to Cancun with her bailed and now she had no fall vacation. I suggested she tag along with us and to my surprise she loved the idea. Two days later she had booked her flights from Seattle to Orlando on points. I added her into our room and we starting planning all the crazy, silly, fun things we would do. This will work out awesome as I know DH will want to take off with his brother sometimes and now I will have someone to keep me company as well.

So DBF decides she wants to go to MNSSHP and DH is relived and backs out.... sooooo as I am going with another slightly crazy and wacky girl we HAVE to have costumes!!!! Halloween is DBF's favourite time of the year. It took us a while to figure out exactly what to do... Peter Pan and his Shadow? Anatasia and Drizella? Ariel and Flounder? hmmmmm nope none of those. We finally decided to be Lumiere and Clocksworth! I'm super excited for the party, I've compiled most of my costume need to make the head piece and DBF's mom is making me some arm and leg cuffs. Her mom is also making most of her costume. I will have a post on everything coming up.

Finally at the end of July they released rooms discounts for the fall so we switched to POP and saved a bunch of money wahoo!!!!

Anyways there you have it my long winded explanation of our trip.


Summary:
Oct 13-24 - 7 Days WDW, 2 Days Universal, and 1 Day Kennedy (for DH, and DM & DF -inlaws)
3 Rooms at Pop Century, I've requested 4th floor 50's section <3

 

[Overexcited]

Sounds like a whirlwind so far!! Good luck with all those people going! I love going in groups, my DH not so much.

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Sounds like a whirlwind so far!! Good luck with all those people going! I love going in groups, my DH not so much.

haha it will be interesting for sure!

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Hello Again,

I decided to go through a bunch of the stuff I had put aside so I know what I need and know what I have... I'm going to start filling out a packing list soon.... I need to get into our storage unit for our appartment... except it has a combination lock on it and I don't know the combintion anymore... we lost it when we switched apartments a couple months ago... *sigh* my DH thinks he can get into it and has Monday off so he will try then...otherwise I'm buying a lock cutter

Anyways I thought I would make a post with some of the things I've collected over the last couple of months.


First this is what it all looked like before hand:


So much stuff!!! I managed to go through the clothes I had put aside and wrangle the amount down to a more manageable amount.

Next my custom made park bag I absolutely LOVE this!


Random Accessories




bows... bows... and more bows!!! (the last ones are magic band bows for myself DBF and DM-inlaw)






Pins - Ariel is for DBF, Flynn is for DH and the other two are mine I couldn't decide


I have an obsession with sunglasses... and I have another pair coming


Lots and lots os sunscreen


Crowns teehee

and on my kitten


water bottle <3


Ball for my feet, insoles, runners and flip flops with support



okay I'm done with the picture randomness overload... also I need to go make my fastpass + ressies... will update again soon

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Time for an update!

I thought I would post our day by day plans. I've made a schedule for which parks we will be in for each day, sometimes park hoping at night or doing DTD or just chilling at the resort. I've given this to everyone else and they can follow it if they wish.


So

Day 1: Travelling... as we live so far away and there are no direct flights it takes pretty much all day to get to Orlando. We leave Vancouver at 8:00am and fly through Dallas where we will meet up with DBF (she is flying out of Seattle) and we all land in Orlando at 7:00pm.

Day 2: Hollywood Studios

Day 3: Magic Kingdom

Day 4: EPCOT with Leeza and I doing MNSSHP in the evening

Day 5: DH and his parents are going to Kennedy, DBF and I are having a girly day in MK and I have noooo idea what DB-inlaw is doing

Day 6: Animal Kingdom

Day 7: Magic Kingdom

Day 8 & 9: Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

Day 10: Hollywood Studios

Day 11: EPCOT

Day 12: DBF leaves fairly early in the morning, the rest of us will be able to sleep in a bit pack up, check out at by at the airport for our 2:00pm flight.

So there's the day by day plans. I will post dining plans and fast passes soon.

*sigh* back to work tomorrow... Wednesdays are my Mondays as I work Wed-Sat... got my hair done today, it's in the middle ground between the dark colour I had and the light one I want. Really I'm very close to my natural colour just warmer.

33 days and 55 days!

Oh and my mom got her date for her hip replacement. She goes in on the 29th two days after my grandma and I get back and two weeks before I leave again for WDW. It actually works out well I'm glad I will be around for it.

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Thought I would post our ADR's... This will be a short update as we arn't doing a massive amount of ADR's but there are some. I've started with our first full day as we arrive in the evening and will probably just grab food at the pop food court before bed.


Oct 14 - Mixology at 6pm for myself, DH, DBF, and DM-inlaw
Then Dinner at Coral Reef by request of DM-inlaw... (I dont like seafood so I've never eaten here... hope the steak is good)

Oct 15 - 50's Prime Time - DBF wanted me to make a ressie for just her me and DH as she wanted to take us out to eat to say thanks for letting her tag along she's so sweet. I let her pick the restaurant and I'm glad she picked this one, I've never eaten here but I think it will be fun!

Oct 16 - DBF and I have a ressie at 1900 Park Fare before MNSSHP. I'm soooo excited to meet Anastasia and Drizella

Oct 17 - Crystal Palace - This is a surprise lunch ressie for Leeza and I as she LOVES Winnie the Pooh and I thought it would be fun to see lots of characters this day.

We also have a family dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe. DH and I ate here on our last trip to the World and we both loved it... can't wait to get DB-inlaw to ask for ketchup!

Oct 18 - Mixology at 6pm DH, me, DM-inlaw and DBF

Oct 19 - No ADR's however DH is in LOVE with Earl of Sandwich so we plan to hit DTD for shopping and dinner at EOS and desert at Ghirardelli (gold rush sundae!!!) yummm

Oct 20&21 - We are at Universal no reservations we will probably be spending the whole days here, maybe eat breakfast before we go then lunch and dinner there.

Oct 22 - by request of DB-inlaw (he wanted a good steak dinner) we have a family dinner at Yatchsman (another first)

Oct 23 - Beaches and Cream Lunch for the family and then DBF and I have mixology at 6pm.

We plan to spend a fair bit of time eating and drinking at EPCOT with all the yummy food at the countries plus F&WF we will get the most of our hoppers. Thought I would also mention... that DBF is included in all the family meals... I went back and re-did all the reservations when she decided to tag along. We have friends from our Honeymoon on the Wonder who will be there at the same time DH and I are excited to see them again. I'm also excited for all the firsts that we have planned.

Anyways that about sums up our ADR's, I can't believe I only have four weeks until I leave for Disneyland! That's 16 more working days (I only work 4 days per week) and then I'm off for over a month! (I'm taking the two weeks between trips off to help my mom out after her hip replacement)

Fast Pass + details coming up soon!

 

[*tinker*bell*]

It's been a while since I've posted again... keep getting busy. Work has been super crazy lately. I can't believe I leave for Disneyland in barely over a week! I am taking my mom to her pre-op appointment tomorrow, she is getting nervous for her hip replacement. I'm gad I've been able to be here for her seminars and pre0op appointments and I'll be here for the surgery and first park of recovery. Anyways to the planning! I've been making awesome cue cards that I've laminated and will fit into my purse. They have all the reservation details for flights and dining and fast passes. I also booked the hotel at the airport for DH and I for the night before so we don't have to get up quite so early. That'll be a nice way to start the holiday.

Also for Disneyland I've made a reservation for my grandma and I to eat at Goofy's Kitchen one night. She really wanted to do a character meal and I really enjoyed Goofy's Kitchen last time.


Fast Passes!

Oct 14
Tower of Terror 10-11am; Star Tours 11am-12pm; TSM 12:30-1:30pm

Oct 15
Space Mountain 9:20-10:20am; 7DMT 10:55-11:55am; POTC 1-2pm

Oct 16
Soarin 9:55-10:55am; Character Spot 11:10am-12:10pm; SE 12:10-1:10pm

Oct 17
Ariel M&G 9:40-10:40am; BTMRR 10:50-11:50am; Tinker Bell M&G 11:50-12:50pm

Oct 18
KS 9:05-10:05am; EE10:20-11:20am; Kali 11:35am-12:35pm

Oct 19
Splash 11:00am-12:00pm; Anna and Elsa M&G fastpasses 12:20-1:20pm; FOF Parade Viewing 2:45-3:05pm

Oct 20&21 - Universal Days

Oct 22
RnR 9-10am; TOT 10-11am; ST 11am-12pm;

Oct 23
SE 9-10am; TT 10-11am; M:S 11am-12pm


Side note, we had a rep come in to work on Wednesday, she was going over My Magic+ with everyone... she had so much wrong information I corrected her a couple of times, and then just told everyone in the office all the correct information and showed them my My Disney Experience account so they could get a proper understanding of it. I also have my old Magic Band at work so they could all see them. *sigh* even agents arn't getting the proper training. It's quite funny, we don't do a massive amount of WDW trips so most of the agents don't know much about it, they all come ask me for help. It's good though I love talking Disney.

Anywho that's all for now, so excited! just over a month to wdw and just over a week to DL!!!! It can't come soon enough!

 

[*tinker*bell*]

One more quick update before I retire for the night, I totally forgot, I got Mickey Mail today!!!!

My co-workers think I'm nuts cause I get so excited over the vouchers and tags but oh well.

I thought I would quickly post a photo of the mickey mail and my cue cards.





That's it. I've got an early morning tomorrow and two days of work to get through so I'm going to do some last minute things and hit the hay. Night all!

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Oh my goodness I can't believe there is less than a week until I leave!!!! I have to work tomorrow (Tuesday) as a girl at work needed it off so she is taking my Saturday shift. Told my husband I didn't have to work Saturday and he said "Oh No" lol, he knows I will be over the moon excited, Saturday will likely grag by. I'm hoping this week goes by quickly at work, I have a few quotes to wrap up and hopefully get booked and just try to keep on top of everything. I have partial day tomorrow and Thursday as well so hopefully that will help. I'm excited for the five weeks off work.

Had a really awesome day today, went to Stanley Park and the aquarium, walked around the park and then went to my favourite taco shop for lunch and then to a more local park. Shall post some photos tomorrow.

 

[*tinker*bell*]

ahhhhhhhh in 24 hours I will be on the Golden Princess sailing down to LA!!!!!