I'm Dreamin' of a Disney New Year.... New Years Eve Pre-Trip Report w/ Pics!

[Jenna319]

I am knee deep in planning our 1st New Years trip to WDW and I thought, why not channel some of my excitement into my very first Pre-Trip report!

My husband and I are celebrating 10 years together and we decided there is no place we'd rather be than at Disney!!!


We have been down to Disney World or Land practically once a year (sometimes twice) since we began dating on December 31, 2002.






This will be our longest trip yet.... we fly in to Jacksonville on Saturday, December 29th (flights into Orlando were much pricier) and will drive down to Orlando, checking in at Pop Century for 2 nights.... moving over to the Dolphin for New Years Eve, and then New Years Day checking in to Kidani Village with a savannah view studio for 6 nights, for a total of 9 glorious nights.

I am one of those crazy people that enjoy resort hopping so this itinerary is my dream! Starting out at a value and ending in a savannah view at AKV and adding 2 new resorts that we've never experienced before- Pop and Dolphin. I literally go to the WDW website daily just to refresh my countdown to how many days left (currently 62).

Of the two of us, I am the planner, to the point where I can get very neurotic. I also change my plans often, if only to keep the planning process going when I get bored!!!



For example, I was originally planning on leaving on 12/31, staying at POR for 1 night until we move over to AKV where we have a reservation renting DVC points. It killed me to leave on Monday 12/31 when we are both off the weekend and I could be getting in 2 days earlier. So I switched our flights to fly into Jacksonville instead of Orlando (the drive down is worth it to get to Disney 2 days earlier!!!) added on 2 nights at Pop, cancelled POR and switched to Dolphin for $40 more so that we can walk over to Epcot to ring in the New Year! I have such a passion for Disney, everyone thinks I'm sick in the head. If I vacation anywhere else, I'm thinking how much I'd rather be on Disney property. My fave park is magic kingdom and my fave resort is Poly.

My husband wasn't always a Disney fan before he met me. His family went once or twice but I really gave him the Disney bug.



He is NOT a planner and basically is one of those people that doesn't get excited for the trip until we step off the plane in Orlando. The next two months will be me saying to him "Aren't you so looking forward to riding Test Track? Can't you just not wait to have a Lapu Lapu?" And he will respond "Yup." He leaves the planning to me and just goes where I tell him to go. His fave park is Epcot and his fave rides are Pirates of the Caribbean and the Peoplemover (he's not a thrill seeker!).

Coming up next: our trip itinerary, which is always SUBJECT TO CHANGE....

Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas ... and welcome home!

 

[Jenna319]

Saturday, December 29th, 2012
Leave Chicago at 6:50am, arrive in Jacksonville at 11:20am.
Slowly make our way down to Orlando (may stop at St. Augustine, which is one of my favorite Florida cities) and check-in at Pop Century.
Head over to Downtown Disney which is a 1st night tradition for us.
Dinner at Earl of Sandwich.
Shop & then cruise off-property to Old Town for their Saturday night car show. If you've never been to this, the men in your group will love it, young and old. Old Town has several smaller carnival rides, plenty of fun kitschy gift shops, and more cars than you can ever imagine. DH just loves going to a car show in wintertime!!

Sunday, December 30th, 2012
Sleep in late! Walk over to check out Art of Animation (it is walking distance from Pop, right?).
Take plenty of pictures as we have been to neither hotel yet.
May head over to Universal City Walk to explore and maybe eat at Margaritaville?
Evening: it was definitely on my mind to be able to see the MK Fantasy in the Sky fireworks on 12/30. I figure we will head over to the Magic Kingdom resort areas early evening, exploring Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge, then Grand Floridian to see the gingerbread house and end at Poly. My drink of choice is the Lapu Lapu and my husband loves the Backscratcher. Relax on the beach and wait for fireworks. Head back to Pop late.



Monday, December 31st, 2012
Our 10-Year Anniversary <3 (married 5 years but together 10!)
Check-in to Dolphin as early as they will let us, and explore the Swan & Dolphin. We have never been to either of these resorts so I am looking forward to it. Hoping the weather is unseasonably warm to be able to check out the pool, or at least just lounge near it with a cocktail! In earlier plans, I had not even considered doing a park until after New Years but after reading the disboards, I thought..... I may not have another chance to come back at this time of year and would we rather spend the holiday sitting in our hotel room or partying in the World Showcase??? My husband is a little leary but again, he shows up where I tell him to show up!!! hehehehe So I have no interest in going on the rides this day, I simply want to see the sights, people-watch and walk through World Showcase with the millions of others! We will walk over to Epcot probably around 5:30pm and head straight to our 6:55pm ADR at Rose & Crown and cross fingers that we get called in early to be able to sit and watch the 1st showing of Illuminations. I know the likelihood is slim but hey, it's worth a try. I def plan on staying in the World Showcase until after midnight and not rushing out of the park. After dinner, we may just find a spot to crash, and take turns going to get drinks!

Tuesday, January 1st, 2012
Happy New Year! Wake up for a stroll over to the Beach Club for a 9:35am ADR at Cape May Cafe. The Beach Club will always hold a special place in my heart, as this is where we stayed on our honeymoon. I plan on walking the grounds after breakfast to take in the xmas decorations and head on over to the boardwalk also. We then will be on our way to Kidani village, where we will be staying for the remainder of our trip, 6 nights in a savannah view studio. I've stayed at Kidani once before and was very impressed. This will be the 1st time in a savannah view.


After our busy New Years Eve, I think we will just take it easy on this day, relax at the resort and explore....

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2012
Dinner at Ohana, one of our favorites! During the day I have nothing planned.... shocker I know! My husband always like to take a trip to the gun range which is near Universal so we will probably do that today.

Thursday, January 3rd, 2012
This will most likely be a park day, spending it at DHS. Right now, I only have 4-day base tickets bought from Undercover Tourist. I'm thinking I may add the park-hopper option, if only to be able to get to MK this day also before the Xmas decorations are all taken down. I have a 5:50 ADR at 50's Prime Time, which is a restaurant that I always book and always end up cancelling. I'm hoping to keep it this time!!

Friday, January 4th, 2012
Starting out with my fave breakfast in WDW, Kona Cafe and Macadamian Nut Pineapple pancakes!!!! Definitely an Epcot day. We usually go to Epcot on Fridays, as they almost always have their Extra Magic Hours at night. We have a dinner ADR at Biergarten, another that we have always meant to try and never got around to it.

Saturday, January 5th, 2012
No plans at all. Relax and maybe head down to Clearwater if the weather is decent. I'd love to go see Winter from a Dolphin Tale. We also have family that lives down in Orlando so we may spend the night hanging out with them.

Sunday, January 6th, 2012
Last full day at Disney
Spending it at Magic Kingdom, extra magic hours are usually Sunday nights.... Plan to do lunch at Be Our Guest.

Monday, January 7th, 2012
8:15am flight from Orlando Airport back to Chicago.... back to reality....

 

[juncker]

We're going to be down to WDW at the same time as you. We're staying in the SSR THV's. I checked our schedules and we'll be in the same parks on the 3rd (DHS), and 4th (Epcot). We also have a 7:00 reservation at Ohana on the 2nd. Maybe we'll see you.

My wonderful wife of 26+ years and 4 kids (13, 15, 18, and 20) are joining me. As my kids get older, I have concerns that this may be the last full family trip that we get to take together. I can't think of a better place than WDW though. We've made a lot of good memories there over the years.

I'm the Disney planner in my family. I wish that my wife would be more interested, but she enjoys leaving it all up to me. She does appreciate the planning as our trips usually are very smooth. I'm a bit worried about the crowd levels as we usually go during slow periods. I'm sure that it will be fine as we've already seen most of the big rides/shows so we won't be too disappointed if we can't see something.

Congratulations on 10 years (... or 5 as it may be)! Hopefully you plan to have kids in the future. Especially when they are young, they make a WDW trip completely worthwhile. My older ones are probably already thinking about how to ditch Mom and Dad, but I'm sure that they'll be willing to be around when it's time for our ADR's. I'm eagerly looking forward to the trip.

Best of luck to you and your husband. I hope you have an awesome trip. Remember with marriage, the first 50 years are the toughest. After that, it should be smooooth sailing....