First-Timers Take on Disney World - Pictures!!! Multiple Updates - 10/10

[retiredkid]

Disney Day 9 -- 8:30 breakfast at Akershus. 12:35 lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe. 5:55 supper at Le Cellier.

Disney Day 10 -- 8:00 breakfast at Hollywood & Vine. 12:15 lunch at Sci Fi Dine In. First seating for Hoop De Doo Revue.

bonus -- Day of Departure -- 7:50 breakfast at Kona Cafe.

always nice when you can squeeze something special in on departure day.

 

[mjaure]

Hi! Great PTR! My family will also be in WDW in October, from 10/26 to 11/1. We are doing MNSSHP on the 28th. If your trip dates runover into ours, maybe we'll see you there!

--Mary

 

[ddstratton]

always nice when you can squeeze something special in on departure day.

I know what you mean! I've actually been doing a bit of re-arranging with my planning, to make departure day a bit more special... More about that in an upcoming update.

Hi! Great PTR! My family will also be in WDW in October, from 10/26 to 11/1. We are doing MNSSHP on the 28th. If your trip dates runover into ours, maybe we'll see you there!

--Mary

We'll be there from 10/22 to 11/1. We just may see each other!

 

[ddstratton]

All righty. I've been playing again Both with travel plans and with ADR's.

For the travel plans. What was I thinking? We are going to be TIRED after ten days at Disney World. Are we really going to feel like driving two and a half days to get home? I think NOT. So now, we will be driving from New York to Florida.

The two and a half days of driving will now be at the beginning of our trip. When we're running on adrenaline, and looking forward to getting to Disney World.

We're still taking the Auto Train. Only difference -- now we are taking the Auto Train on the way home. This saves us the long drive home at the end of a long trip, and still gives us something to look forward to at the end of our Disney World time. All of us are looking forward to the train ride, as we've never done anything like that before.

An unexpected bonus -- the ride north was cheaper than the ride south! Yes, I finally called and actually made our train reservations. We are now officially passengers of Amtrak. We'll be traveling in three roomettes on the lower level. After disembarking from the train, we'll have about five more hours to drive to get home. A lot better than driving two and a half days at the end of a vacation.

As for ADR's, I've played a bit with them too. On Disney Day 1, I have changed my ADR time for Whispering Canyon Cafe from 6:30 to 5:20. This should allow us time to get to Magic Kingdom after dinner to see Spectro and Wishes. On Disney Day 2, we are now having supper at Coral Reef rather than Raglan Road. On Disney Day 8, we will be having supper at Raglan Road rather than Coral Reef.

I got a REALLY wonderful cast member when I called to make the latest dining change (the time for Whispering Canyon). He was VERY helpful, and made sure to ask if we were celebrating anything special. When I mentioned that we have two birthdays during our trip he put me through to Central Reservations after we were finished, to make sure that those birthdays were noted on our Reservation. Good thing, too. I found out that my request for connecting rooms WASN'T on my reservation, as I thought it already was. This cast member was also very pleasant and helpful. She is the one who asked if I wanted connecting rooms, as it showed a "traveling with" but not a request for the connecting. I also put in my request for first-floor rooms, as I think it would be easier on my 76-year-old MIL to NOT have to climb stairs after being in the parks...

All in all -- WOOO HOOO!!! Things are coming together nicely!!!

 

[noahdove]

Oh, how would I like to get the code I am so happy for youHey, where are you at?? Your descriptions sounds like we live near each other isn't it a small world?

 

[ddstratton]

Hey, where are you at?? Your descriptions sounds like we live near each other isn't it a small world?

We live in Bath. It's kinda between Corning and the southern tip of Keuka Lake.

 

[noahdove]

Yep, my intuition was right...I live in Penn Yan, just a few miles from you..this is tooooo funny...I can see the lake from my bedroom window...right near Keuka College

 

[Dizneydawn]

When we last left off, we were a party of four first-timers staying at the Pop Century in May 2008.

In November 2007, I started thinking about how much my Mom would love to go with us on this trip. See, we took her on vacation with us in May 2007, to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area in Tennessee. We all had a great time, and my mother just had a blast, as you can see below...

Love Tennessee..wanna go back...

However, it would be a bit of a squeeze financially to add another person to our trip that is only about 6 months away. Shortly before Christmas, DH and I decided to move our trip from our traditional May to October. We usually take a vacation in May, as that is our wedding anniversary month. October works for us just as well – DH and I both have birthdays at the end of October.
Love them B-day trips!
Since we are now going in October, it's not as much of a financial squeeze to add another person to our group. We'll have a few more months to save!! I go into last-minute planning mode. I had to make up a great way to surprise my mother with a Disney trip, and it was only a week before Christmas! When we took my mother on vacation with us last year, we surprised her with the trip at Christmas. I had made up a little brochure and gift certificate, placed it in an envelope, duct-taped that envelope to the inside bottom of a large computer box, then filled the box with wadded newspaper. This was wrapped up and given to my mother. She had so much fun trying to find her gift in that box!!!

Such great pics!!! Love that idea!!
This year, I made up a travel booklet and put it in a soft-cover binder. Below are a couple of pictures of my mother opening this gift. At first, you can tell that she doesn't quite get it. Then you see it dawning on her. I love this sequence of pictures.

So, at this point, we are now a party of FIVE Disney first-timers, staying at the POP Century Restort in October 2008. More changes coming…..

Okay...I have to get work done...but had to see these pics....so awesome! We are the same age by the way..I turn 37 in August so you are younger!!!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Thanks so much for posting the Gaitlinburg pictures. Bill's parents just built a vacation home near there. I want to go see that bear, but we aren't going to NC. That is such a cute little baby!!

 

[ddstratton]

Yep, my intuition was right...I live in Penn Yan, just a few miles from you..this is tooooo funny...I can see the lake from my bedroom window...right near Keuka College

Yuppers -- we're not too far from each other, at all.

Okay...I have to get work done...but had to see these pics....so awesome! We are the same age by the way..I turn 37 in August so you are younger!!!

heheheh Neener, neener, I'm younger than you!! (I can be childish when the moment calls for it ) j/k of course.

Thanks so much for posting the Gaitlinburg pictures. Bill's parents just built a vacation home near there. I want to go see that bear, but we aren't going to NC. That is such a cute little baby!!

I absolutely love the Gatlinburg area. If I had a choice, I'd move there in a minute. But slightly away from the touristy part of the region. It is just beautiful there.

New update coming right up

 

[ddstratton]

Shoulda' known I couldn't leave well enough alone... I have been reviewing and revising ADR's again. I called today, after tossing around ideas for a few days, and made a couple of changes. Now let's see if I can remember what I changed!!

I canceled our Rose & Crown ressie. It just didn't fit in with the touring plans. I changed the date and time of our Biergarten ressie to 10/29 at noon. Our Cape May Cafe Clam Bake ressie was just moved up an hour, from 6:55 to 5:50. Tutto Italia was changed to 10/30 at noon. 50's Prime Time Cafe was changed to 10/25 at 1:10. Finally, I added Yak & Yeti on 10/28 at 1:30.

I will start posting some of my tentative daily itineraries next.

I don't have any PTR-related photos for this update, so I suppose I will give you a picture of one of our dogs. Actually, this could be PTR-related, as we still have to figure out pet care while we're gone...

This is Molly. She's our Pug/Shih Tzu mix. She's about four months old in this picture, and is about five months old now. Ain't she a cutie?

 

[ddstratton]

Day 1 -- We'll be leaving on a Monday, so I will have the weekend beforehand to finish packing and getting the van packed up. This morning will require only last-minute things to be packed into the van. We'll be leaving home right about 8:00 am. We'll drive straight down through Pennsylvania and into Maryland. We'll be stopping in Hagerstown, MD, for brunch at IHOP. This is a bit of a traditition for us. We always stop here on our way to Tennessee or North Carolina. After brunch, we'll head south-east to pick up I-95 near Washington DC. We'll drive down through Virginia, stopping for the evening just north of the North Carolina border.

We'll be staying on the cheap, at an EconoLodge. We'll have two rooms though, so we'll have a bit of space.

Supper this evening will most likely be at a Cracker Barrel or Applebee's nearby.


Day 2 -- The EconoLodge offers a continental breakfast. Not expecting much, but it should be enough to get us going. Probably cereal, toast, juice, etc. Today, we'll be traveling through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and into Florida.

We plan on stopping for lunch at a Cici's pizza buffet near Florence, SC. Nothing grand, but it's something we don't have near us, so it's a novelty. We all like pizza, so it's a safe bet for lunch

This evening, we'll also be staying on the cheap, at a Rodeway Inn near Jacksonville, FL. Again, we'll have two rooms.

Supper will most likely be at one of the restaurants right near the motel -- Ruby Tuesdays, Dennys, Cracker Barrel, etc.

That does it for our first two days.

 

[ddstratton]

Help!!! I'm doing it again!! I'm thinking about changing ADR's again!!! I am thinking that I would like to add a dinner at Ohana. I have a dinner for Coral Reef and one for Raglan Road that I am not especially attached to. Would you trade one of them for Ohana? Any thoughts from anyone who's been to any/all of these??

 

[ddstratton]

Day 3 -- We need to be up fairly early. The Rodeway Inn we'll be staying at has a continental breakfast. I imagine this one will also be just your very basic continental fare, but it'll do for breakfast. We want to leave the Rodeway Inn by 9:00 am. We'll be driving from here (Jacksonville, FL) to the Caribbean Beach Resort this morning!

We hope to get to the Caribbean Beach by about noon. This will be easier to do if we can get out of Jacksonville before 9:00. Our plan is to check in at the Caribbean Beach and find our rooms if they are ready.

We don't have much time to look around the resort just yet though, as we have 1:25 pm ADR's for the Garden Grill at Epcot.

I am hoping we have time to get from checking in at the Caribbean Beach to this ADR... I just may have to hurry the group along in the morning, to get out of Jacksonville earlier.

We chose this particular ADR because my daughter's main goal in going to Disney World was to see Pluto. Pluto is supposed to be one of the characters at the Garden Grill lunch

However if Pluto isn't there for some reason, it will not "spoil" or "ruin" anything. DD knows that we will be having plenty more character meals, as well as opportunities to see characters in the parks and at the MNSSHP.

After our first "Disney" meal, we'll wander around Epcot for a bit, perhaps. I don't plan on any rides at this time, unless something catches our eye with a short wait. This will mostly be a time just to get used to the park. To get familiar with how it is laid out.

Since I honestly don't expect anyone to eat much at lunch -- due to general excitement at finally being in DISNEY WORLD and the chaos of seeing our first characters -- I've scheduled a fairly early supper. We'll be leaving Epcot in time to arrive at the Wilderness Lodge for a 5:20 pm ADR at the Whispering Canyon Cafe.

I've heard great things about some of the 'antics' at this restaurant. It sounds GREAT to us!! On a recent call to Disney Dining, the CM made sure to note on the ADR that we were celebrating two birthdays on the trip, one of them that day. I'll be sure to wear my Birthday Button, too.

If we feel up to it, we may head over to Animal Kingdom to hit the evening EMH. Not too sure about this one. This really depends on how adventurous we are feeling at the moment. If we decide not to check out AK, we'll just head back to the Caribbean Beach and settle into our rooms -- and check out the pools. Oh yes. We cannot get away without checking out not only the main pool but quiet pools as well. Our DD is a fish. She'd live in our pool, if we'd let her.

I do want to get to bed kind of early, as we have a slightly early start the next day. That'll be in the next update.

 

[ddstratton]

I'm ticked. Not horribly, mind. Just enough to annoy me slightly. Disney has decided to discontinue the lunch at the Garden Grill as of October 6th. Gee thanks. I had our very first meal at the World scheduled there for October 22! Love the Dis, though. Who knows when they would have decided to call me about this, if I hadn't read it here first!

So, we are no longer having our first meal at the Garden Grill, and Epcot is no longer our first park. Hmm.. This may actually work out better for us! We now have a ressie for lunch at the Crystal Palace at 2:10!

This gives us a little more wiggle room, as far as time goes. I had been a little worried about having time to get from Jacksonville to Disney, checking in, and getting to Epcot and the Garden Grill.

Also, if we do get there a bit early, we can try checking in at the Crystal Palace early. We may even get done eating in time to catch the Dreams Come True parade. OK. I'm done being ticked

 

[mrsksomeday]

You were just meant to see the castle first. That is why Disney got rid of the Garden Grill lunch, now I know!!

The Crystal Palace is fun, I did not like the water , but that is just me. You will have a great time!!

What is the date you arrive at Disney again?

 

[Hedy]

Woohoo!

 

[ddstratton]

You were just meant to see the castle first. That is why Disney got rid of the Garden Grill lunch, now I know!!

The Crystal Palace is fun, I did not like the water , but that is just me. You will have a great time!!

What is the date you arrive at Disney again?

Yup. Things just seem to work out one way or another. How funny is it that in my previous post I had mentioned that if for some reason Pluto wasn't there, we'd just deal with it???

We arrive at Disney on 10/22 (my 37th birthday!!) We leave on 11/1 (the day after DH's 39th birthday).

 

[ddstratton]

Our first full day at Disney World!! This morning, we have an 8:20 ADR for Donald's Safari Breakfast in the Animal Kingdom.

We plan on touring around Animal Kingdom for the morning.

Me and my mom really want to ride Expedition Everest. Not sure about DD. She says she does, but I don't know if she'll go through with it or not. We'll just have to wait and see! Guaranteed that DH and MIL will NOT ride. Besides EE, we don't really have any set plans. We'll be visiting Animal Kingdom a couple more times, at least, so we don't have the pressure to see it all and do it all in one day. We'll just see how the crowds are and adjust our touring accordingly. We will most likely have lunch at Pizzafari.

Two things that my mother REALLY wants to see at Animal Kingdom. One is pretty much guaranteed. The other, not so much.

We'll be going back to the Caribbean Beach Resort for a swim and a rest sometime after lunch. You will find that swimming will be a big part of our trip. I think my DD is either part fish or part mermaid. She'd be in the pool when it was 60 degrees out, if I'd let her. And our pool is not heated. Or indoors. And we live in Upstate NY, not Florida. Brrr...

(Had to use a picture of one of the quiet pools. The main themed pool is still being built at the moment...)

After our break, we'll be heading to Epcot. Again, we plan on visiting the park on several days, so we don't have a set touring plan. We will see how the crowd level is and adjust as needed.

We have 7:40 ADR's for Coral Reef for supper. I've heard good and bad about the Coral Reef. We're going to give it a try. Just having the aquarium to look at will make it an interesting meal.

After supper, we may stick around for Illuminations. If we're not up for it, we've got it scheduled another evening too. If we don't feel like sticking around for Illuminations, we'll head back to the resort for a little swimming and sleep.

 

[mrsksomeday]

Epcot on Thursday Oct. 23rd? That is funny that we both scheduled that day there . We have a 4:40pm ADR at LeCellier.