Getting started... a slightly nervous pre-trip report

Scoobymoons

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
156
In one week and 4 days (according to my brand spanking new ticker) myself, my husband and our 4 year old daughter will be heading off to Wilderness Lodge for a much needed 3 week (oh my goodness) holiday.

We booked the trip last October (the 10th to be exact...ahem...) and it is now so close we can almost taste it...wahey! In preparation for the trip we have been scouring the boards reading reports, looking at food pics (drooling) and generally obsessing about all things Disney. :woohoo:
So, I decided that seeing as though everyone on the boards seem to be like minded souls, I would take my first itty bitty baby steps into the world of report writing. Let's hope it works out ok....

The trip is seriously planned out - soooo exciting - and we really, really can't wait. Is it wrong to admit that by the time we return (and I'm trying not to think about that moment too often) Eloise (DD4) will have spent over a month of her life in Disney of some sort - that's quite a large proportion of mouse-oriented life.... Hopefully that gives an indication of our level of obsession.... It's been good to get onto the DIS and realise we are not alone...:blush:

So, it might take a little while for me to get the hang of this report thing, however I'll try to persevere and get a bit better as time goes on. I'm going to leave this post for the moment and try to work out how to add in photos etc. but will try to get going with some proper info and introductions soon.
 
Sounds good so far. You won't regret doing a trip report, they are a great way of remembering all the small details that you might forget otherwise. :goodvibes Look forward to reading all about your plans.
 

Wow! I can't believe people are actually reading my waffle. Thanks so much! It has encouraged me to carry on...so I thought perhaps some background to my family would be a good next step. Here we go...my first attempt to insert a photo...fingers crossed....
<a href="http://s1140.photobucket.com/albums/n577/Scoobymoons/?action=view&current=goofy.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n577/Scoobymoons/goofy.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Hooray!!! This is us. Me, my DH Jeremy and our DD Eloise. I don't think the dog needs any introduction... Guess where we were?!
Eloise is 4 now but was only 2 at the time of the photo (a very sweaty 2).
So, DH is 29 and I am an elderly 35 (he is sitting next to me whispering 36 to irritate me - I am of course rising above it...! ;))
Our trip which is due to start in NINE DAYS TIME... yes, you read correctly... NINE!! :banana: is our second family trip to WDW. Our first was in 2009 under rather different circumstances. In February of 2009, I was diagnosed with cancer and went through rather rigorous operations and radiotherapy. It totally turned our lives upside down (as you might expect) and made us very grateful for all of the time we have (suddenly 33 seemed very young - despite what my DH might say :rotfl2:) Anyway, the upshot of all this was that we decided we needed a holiday and the conversation went a bit like this:

"What about Bude, Cornwall is beautiful"

"We love Paris, we could go there"

"If we're in Paris then maybe we could go to Disneyland for a weekend. Eloise would cope with the travelling."

And then there was this phonecall to the Virgin Holidays rep....

"Hi, how much would a 10 day stay at Wilderness Lodge cost. Yeah, let's go with the dining plan. Sure...the card number is....."

And the rest, as they say is Disney history!

Will aim to put the plans up later....my oh my are they plans and a half!!!
 
Great to see you are braving writing a trip report.

Hope this trip will be fantastic as you won't have the cloud hanging over you that you did in 2009.

Love how you progressed from taking a holiday to Cornwall to a full blown Disney holiday - good for you.

Looking forward to reading more

Tammy
 
looking forward to hearing your plans. I recenty wrote my first TR (a pre-trip) and it was nice to see our itinerary actually written down. I'm now looking forward to writing my first post trip report when we get back, it will help to prolong that lovely holiday feeling.

Congrats also on reaching single digits.
 
Lovely start and I can't wait to hear all about your plans. :)
 
You're off to a great start! Can't wait to hear about the plans ... oh the plans ... :cool1:
 
Great to see you are braving writing a trip report.

Hope this trip will be fantastic as you won't have the cloud hanging over you that you did in 2009.

Love how you progressed from taking a holiday to Cornwall to a full blown Disney holiday - good for you.

Looking forward to reading more

Tammy

looking forward to hearing your plans. I recenty wrote my first TR (a pre-trip) and it was nice to see our itinerary actually written down. I'm now looking forward to writing my first post trip report when we get back, it will help to prolong that lovely holiday feeling.

Congrats also on reaching single digits.

Lovely start and I can't wait to hear all about your plans. :)

You're off to a great start! Can't wait to hear about the plans ... oh the plans ... :cool1:

Thanks everyone - I keep getting very excited about people responding :dance3: Hopefully my next post will keep you interested.
 
So, we were last in WDW in August 2009 when we stayed at Wilderness Lodge for 10 days. Not to put too fine a point on it, it was AMAAAAZINGGG!!! Exactly what we needed after a horrific 6 months. The Lodge was incredible, our room was perfect, the food was delicious and the parks were fantastic. :worship:

I don't know about anyone else's experience but I had found the whole 'trying to explain the sheer amazingness of Disney' to my DH a somewhat frustrating and even a little confusing at times. We had many a conversation when I would try to explain more about WDW but then faltered as I realised yet again that it was in fact impossible to describe - he would just have to go!!! It is now a huge consolation that he now has exactly the same conversations with other people...oh yes! :lmao:

Now, fast forward to this year. We are heading out very very soon...woohoo for three weeks (we need enough time to get over the jet lag....ahem) and will be celebrating doubly. While we are there it will be our 5th wedding anniversary :bride: and also my 2 years of being cancer-free (they don't have a smiley for that....disgraceful ;)). So although we didn't delude ourselves that we'd be heading anywhere other than WDW there was still extensive conversation about the resort. We talked and talked until we decided on....going back to Wilderness Lodge again :rolleyes: And why not....????
<a href="http://s1140.photobucket.com/albums/n577/Scoobymoons/?action=view&current=WLroof.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n577/Scoobymoons/WLroof.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Surely we'd be mad not too.... :goodvibes

The Plans, The Plans
All dates are August...just incase you weren't sure...

Tues 2nd: Drive to Gatwick, twilight check in followed by dinner (probably Frankie and Benny's) and then sleep at the Travelodge (there's definitely a lodge theme going on here)

Wed 3rd: Head to the V Room (cheeky request when we booked the hol :rolleyes1) for breakfast, flight to arrive at Orlando International at around 5pm local time. Check in at Wilderness Lodge then dinner at Roaring Forks perhaps.

Thu 4th: Anniversary :hug: :woohoo: MK to pick up tickets then either stay there or move on to Typhoon Lagoon for a swimming session. Dinner ADR at Artist Point (insert smiley here that doesn't exist that licks its lips and drools occasionally)

Fri 5th: MK day - no ADRs - just going down the Quick service route

Sat 6th: Day Off (we learnt quickly last time that unplanned days were a must). Lunch ADR at Le Cellier

Sun 7th: Animal Kingdom (hoping DD doesn't lick the Gorilla enclosure like she did at Chessington World of Adventures...fingers crossed) with lunch ADR at Tusker House (unless DD has eaten already...see previous note :eek:)

Mon 8th: Epcot day (probably our favourite park - DD slept all the way round the World Showcase last time so it'll be a new experience for her ;)) Breakfast ADR at Akershus and then Dinner ADR at Tokyo Dining


So that's week one done - crikey. I'll post another week at a later date but please feel free to ask any questions or let me know feelings about ADRs for example.

TTFN
 
Really enjoyed reading your plans sofar:surfweb:

Can't wait to read more:thumbsup2
 
Sun 7th: Animal Kingdom (hoping DD doesn't lick the Gorilla enclosure like she did at Chessington World of Adventures...fingers crossed) with lunch ADR at Tusker House (unless DD has eaten already...see previous note :eek:)

[

This is so funny I can just picture it.

You seem to have it all mapped out perfectly. How exciting

Tammy
 
So, it's now only a week until we head out to Gatwick - is it really sad that we're getting excited about staying in a Travelodge...???? Ah well, so be it.

So far I've updated you on week one of our stay so I'll move on to week 2 now. Did I mention we're going reeeeaaallly soon? :yay:

Tue 9th: Heading over to Seaworld - DH wants to see polar bears and DD want to feed dolphins. Hopefully she'll see Shamu this time too - she slept through most of it last time despite being in the splash zone...hey ho. No reservations made but hoping to eat at Shark's Underwater Grill - if only for the puddings!

Wed 10th: Day off (ish) - vague plans to head to DTD and perhaps Disney Quest - although this may well involve going in and then deserting DH to go and shop with DD...it's a tough life ;) Lunch ADR at TRex - loved this last time.

Thu 11th: Hollywood Studios with Breakfast ADR at Hollywood and Vine (DD just loves Handy Manny and OSO - I think I could possibly recite some of the episodes by heart). Hoping to spend more than 5 minutes here as last time it was so busy and we headed back early. Determined to see Lights, Camera, Action? Motors, Camera, Action? Lights, Camera, Motors? Cameras, Motors, Actions? WHATEVER the title is....the stunt show with cars.... missed it at WDW and missed it at DLRP. 2011 will be the year....watch this space! Dinner ADR at Kona Cafe - bring on the massive pineapple cocktail thing.... :thumbsup2

Fri 12th: This is down in purple as 'other' on our spreadsheet :lmao: - we scare ourselves at times. It means we're going to do..dun dun duuuuun...something non-Disney :scared1: Thinking about Gatorland or Boggy Creek Airboats - something swampy basically it would appear... Possibly a pony trek (clearly not in a swamp as I suspect that might be illegal and not so good for the ponies...) as we reckon DD will love it. Anyway the day will end with ADR at Whispering Canyon - yee ha!

Sat 13th: MK day 2. Definitely taking in DH's favourite ride....you guessed it....Winnie the Pooh :lmao: Dinner ADR Ohana's.

Sun 14th: Another day off. Take these with a pinch of salt - it basically means we can do what we want :) DD is very fond of swimming so no doubt it will feature heavily and soggily on these days. She will hopefully be big enough to go on a few water slides this time. Not that she didn't go on a couple last time but more that she'll be big enough that she doesn't exit the slide head first...ahem...she was fine. Afternoon tea ADR at Grand Floridian - very hopeful that DD will really enjoy this - she is starting school in September (bear with me on this, it is relevant) and had to fill in a booklet about herself. In answer to the question 'What makes you happy?' she answered 'flowers and sandwiches' - afternoon tea will be heaven :goodvibes

Mon 15th: Blizzard Beach. Haven't been here with DH and DD - came with a friend last time and can't remember it all that well apart from burning my feet on very hot ground (school girl error). Dinner ADR at Sanaa - possibly the dining my DH is looking forward to most.

So that's the end of week 2. Hopefully post about week 3 tomorrow. Thanks so much for reading :love:
 
Your plans sound wonderful Claire ::yes:: with a good mixture of parks and days off. You've got some of my fave places to eat too, have a great time :thumbsup2
 
Joining in! Your plans sound great :) I'll be at WL too from the 6th of Aug so I'll maybe see you around :thumbsup2
 
Your plans sound wonderful Claire ::yes:: with a good mixture of parks and days off. You've got some of my fave places to eat too, have a great time :thumbsup2


Thanks Mandymouse. We are very excited about the eating & drinking (I too love a good cocktail ;))

Joining in! Your plans sound great :) I'll be at WL too from the 6th of Aug so I'll maybe see you around :thumbsup2

How bizarre that you're going at the same time. See you there :thumbsup2
 
I will be posting week 3's plans shortly but I felt it necessary to express my sadness over the death of Ranger Stan from Wilderness Lodge. Anyone who has read anything about the Lodge knows that Stan was legendary for his tours and general wonderfulness. He had been at the Lodge since its opening and it was only in 2009 that he retired.

We were lucky enough to meet Stan for a morning on our last visit as he took us up to the WL roof for our duty as Flag Family - in fact it was him who took the last photo I posted (us with Cinderella's castle in the background). It was a particularly memorable day for raising the flags as it coincided with the death of Edward Kennedy and they were only raised half mast.

Ranger Stan was so delightful and such an inspiration to be loving his job and giving it his all despite his age. I know this doesn't strictly count as a trip report but it felt wrong to leave it unmentioned.

<a href="http://s1140.photobucket.com/albums/n577/Scoobymoons/?action=view&current=MeandRangerStan.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n577/Scoobymoons/MeandRangerStan.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

RIP Ranger Stan
 














Save Up to 30% on Rooms at Walt Disney World!

Save up to 30% on rooms at select Disney Resorts Collection hotels when you stay 5 consecutive nights or longer in late summer and early fall. Plus, enjoy other savings for shorter stays.This offer is valid for stays most nights from August 1 to October 11, 2025.
CLICK HERE













DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest

Back
Top