I'm Tired of Being a Grown-Up... I Wanna Go to DisneyWorld!!

[dustyraye]

OK, after a couple of years of talking about it, I have finally gotten my SO to agree that it is time for a trip to WDW, and we are booked! After reading other people's trip reports, I've decided to post my own, since I have become completely obsessed with planning this trip.

First, I'll catch you all up on what's happened so far, and then we'll take the rest of the journey together!

Come on along for the ride....

 

[dustyraye]

Here's our cast of characters for this trip:

Me: A 40-something executive who is really just a kid at heart. I've had a rough couple of years, both personally (death in the family & a resulting bout with depression & insomnia) and professionally (company has nearly gone under twice), and I need to escape. Oh, and I had gastric bypass surgery about 4 years ago, which complicates Disney dining options.

My DSO: A 50-something (but you'd never know it) technology professional, who has been extremely patient and supportive during my crises. She was raised in central FL, sang at MK on Opening Day, and had a less than no interest in ever visiting Disney again until I came along. A couple of days at WDW back in 2006 got her over the negative feelings, but she's still only going this time because I want it so badly. (See "The How" for more info.) I am hoping that this trip will convert her to a full-fledged Disney-lover.

 

[dustyraye]

Just to clarify, this is not the "How" of how are a going to get to WDW. It's how I convinced my DSO that we should take this trip... and then some.

OK, I've been talking about a WDW trip for the past year & a half or so. As I've mentioned, my DSO is not exactly a Disney fan. I've talked about going my best friend, or even going alone. But things at work have been so unpredictable and chaotic that I haven't been able to plan a trip far enough ahead to get any decent rates, without risking that it would be cancelled when the time came. A few months ago, things happened at work that made it clear that I'd be able to take a well-deserved and badly-needed break in October.

We started talking about non-Disney vacation possibilities, and I said that I would probably take a WDW trip on my own too. Then, at some point, I had an idea that some might call a stroke of brilliance. You see, my DSO was raised in central FL, and her 80-something Mom still lives there. DSO visits once a year at Christmas. I suggested that we both fly down to MCO, and I will be just fine entertaining myself at WDW for a few days while she goes to visit her Mom, and then she can join me later in the week.

Then, I took it a step further. I've been saying for a while that DSO should visit her Mom more often. (Heck, we see my folks nearly every week!) I suggested that I get an Annual Pass, so that we can fly down every few months, and I can entertain myself at WDW while she visits Mom for the weekend. The potential AP discounts on resort stays & at restaurants easily made up for the difference between the cost of an 8-day pass & an AP, and it meant that future weekends would mostly have the cost of resort & food. We can usually find airfare to MCO pretty cheap if we plan in advance, or use airmiles.

DSO surprised me by not only agreeing that an AP for me was a good idea, but by suggesting that she get one too, so that she could join me for partial days in the parks during the trips, or even just for dinner, without feeling that she was wasting a full day ticket.

We made the decision to go ahead just a few days before ticket prices were going up, so we went ahead and ordered the APs.

Next came the great resort debate!

 

[dustyraye]

The obsessive research and planning really took off with the great resort debate for the October trip. DSO was somewhere between amazed and amused at the amount of time and energy that I put into the process of deciding on a resort.

I carried the UG with me everywhere I went, along with a small hardcover spiral notebook that I used to write down all kinds of notes and lists. I spent nearly all of my free time online doing research and reading the DISboards.

My only definitive criterion was that I wanted an indoor corridor, since I will be travelling alone for part of the trip. I know that for the most part, staying on property is very safe. But I can't help it - I'm a north Jersey girl, and we are paranoid by nature.

I was leaning pretty heavily toward one of the monorail resorts, just for convenience. And, I'll admit, on my first trip to WDW, I thought the Contemporary Resort, with a monorail running through it, was the height of coolness and luxury. (We were a Days Inn kind of family - staying on property was not even a remote possiblity.)

After all of my hours of research, I had it narrowed down to the Contemporary or the Poly. I loved the theming of AKL & WL, but having read such horrible things about the transportation system, and I didn't relish the thought of sitting waiting for a bus by myself late at night (which happened with my friend the last time I stayed on property - we sat by ourselves for almost an hour outside one of the parks waiting for a bus).

I asked DSO to look at both resorts and let me know which one she would prefer. After an hour or so online, her response was "why can't we stay at the Wilderness Lodge?" We talked about the pros and cons of all of the choices, and she agreed that for this trip, when I would be alone for several days, we should stick with a monorail resort. But I knew that she really, really liked the Wilderness Lodge.

In the end, I decided to just book the WL. It was worth whatever inconvenience that I might have with transportation to give her the resort that she was really excited about, since it will be her first time staying on property. We got on the Disney website and the airline website at the same time on our laptops, made sure we could coordinate cheap flights and resort availability, and booked it at rack rate. I was keeping my fingers crossed for a discount code later.

So on August 2nd, we were booked at the WL in a woods view room from 10/25 - 11/2, and had our airline tickets booked. We were on our way!

 

[mrsmouse]

Awesome!

That was some goooood convincing you did!

 

[dustyraye]

Once we had the resort and flights booked, I became obsessed with getting a discount for the room. Thanks to the wonderful folks here on the DIS , I knew how the various types of discount codes worked and when to expect them to come out. Every morning, as soon as my alarm went off, my first stop was my laptop to see whether codes had come out that morning. And throughout the day, I'd be scouring the boards for hints that indicated that codes were coming out on a particular day.

At the suggestion of some other posters, I called one evening just to see if by some miracle there was a PIN associated with my name. No such luck, but the CM spoke with dropped a hint that I should call back around the middle of the week when I asked about the AP discounts.

By 8am on the morning that the AP discount codes came out, I had spoken with a lovely CM and saved over $850 on my reservation. The only catch was that I had to switch to a "standard view" from "woods view." For the amount of time that we will actually spend in the room, it was a no-brainer. And the $850 savings more than made up for the added cost of buying the Annual Passes.

All-in-all, a highly successful day, and I hadn't even gotten into the shower yet!

 

[dustyraye]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I bought a hardcover spiral notebook to keep track of my notes, plans and ideas. It wasn't long before I realized that it was going to be impossible to keep everything organized, as I kept finding new information and new ideas. My first thought was to buy another notebook and copy everything worthwhile over into the new notebook as the trip got closer, so I could bring it all with me.

It didn't take long for me to decide that I would never actaully copy everything over, and I would end up wasting all of my hard work. So I decided to make it into a Word document, which would allow me to keep all of my information well-organized. Then I had the idea that I could take my document, once it is all done, and take it to Kinkos to have it printed and spiral-bound, making it my own personal guidebook for the trip. Thus the Notebook was born!

It started out simply enough. Version #1 had a handful of pages, and included basic information, such as flight info, resort reservation info, and park hours for each day. Now, nearly a month later, version 15 is 95 pages and includes photos, menus, and maps, along with all kinds of tips and tricks that I have found in my research and reading.

Am I crazy? Obsessed?

 

[dustyraye]

If I'm running off to WDW so I can be a kid again for a while, and we're going to be there over Halloween, it only makes sense that I should go to MNSSHP, right? Of course!

Well, imagine my surprise when DSO not only thought it was a great idea and wanted to come with me, but even agreed to consider being in costume for the night!!!

I wasted no time in ordering our tickets for the MNSSHP on Halloween night. Now I just have to come up with costume ideas that will work in the unpredictible FL late-October evening weather (hot? cool? rain?), and that will be comfortable for walking around the park and on the rides.

Any ideas?

 

[dustyraye]

We will be arriving on Saturday morning and staying 8 nights. DSO will be heading right out to visit her Mom on Saturday, and won't be back until Monday night. That means that I have 2 1/2 days by myself, and 5 days together. In order to plan my itinerary, not to mention making ADRs, I really need to know what she wants to do once she is back, and where she wants to eat.

I asked her to look through websites or guidebooks (or both), and give me an idea what she wants to do/see/ride, so I can plan to do things that she has no real interest in on the days that she is gone. Her response? "Don't plan around me." OK, that doesn't help AT ALL.

I can't imagine that she's going to want to sit around waiting for me to get through the line for RnRC a half dozen times (since she doesn't do coasters that loop), which is highly likely, given that the last time I went to MGM, I rode it 10 times in one day with my best friend. I'm trying not to waste her time, and trying not to have to waste my own time on attractions (and their lines!) that I've already seen/ridden earlier in the week, that I really don't feel a need to do twice.

The other thing I asked her to tell me is where she wants to eat, so I can make ADRs. I pointed her in the direction of the menus online, as well as reviews on the DISboards and the UG. Given that I would prefer CS meals for the most part, since I can eat only small amounts at atime, and need to eat 5 - 6 small meals each day, I wasn't especially concerned abut not being able to get ADRs for me for the most part, but I didn't want her to be disappointed during the trip, since I'm hoping this trip will make her a Disney convert. Weeks later, I still had no feedback.

Does anyone else have this problem getting input from your travelling companion? How do you handle it?

 

[dustyraye]

Reading the DISboards, I came across info about the afternoon tea at the Garden View Tea Room, and I was totally hooked! I've never done a formal afternoon tea and I've always wanted to.

And to add another sentimental touch, the china pattern that they use at the Tea Room, Old Country Roses by Royal Albert, is the same pattern that my mother and my aunt have collected for as long as I can remember. When they first started, you couldn't buy it in the USA, and they literally brought it over one piece at a time from Ireland & the UK, whenever relatives visted back and forth. I actually bought my first couple of pieces of Old Country Roses at the UK pavillion in Epcot the last time I was there.

I was prepared to go to the Tea by myself on one of my solo days, but surprisingly, DSO decided that she wants to come too. I was pleased that she wanted to join in on this, but it complicated the decision about when to schedule the TEA, since I still had no input from DSO about what she wants to do in the World.

Not being willing to miss out on this, I took matters into my own hands on this one. Since we are going to MNSSHP on 10/31, and I can't imagine that DSO will want to be in MK from rope drop until midnight, I decided to try for the 2pm seating for the Tea, so we could change into our costumes right afterwards and head over to the park just after 4pm. I was lucky enough to get a 2:20 ADR, so we're all set!

 

[dustyraye]

One thing that DSO is sure she wants to do (once I told her about it) is the Around the World at Epcot Segway tour. After looking at the park hours for the week, including EMH, I decided that our 2 days at Epcot would be Tuesday and Thursday. (I've heard that Epcot gets really busy on the weekends during F&W, so those were out.)

I wasn't planning to do the segway tour. I am fairly uncoordinated, and I have a fear of falling. But after reading reviews on the DIS, I decided to give it a shot, much to DSO's surprise - and mine!

I called to book the tour a few days ago, and had the choice of the earliest time slot, or the latest. (The ones in between were already full.) Well, I'm not exactly a morning person (which DSO will tell you is the understatement of the year), but I'd rather get up at the crack of dawn then spend all day waiting on lines, when I could have gotten fast passes in the morning. So we booked the 7:45am tour. And thanks to the AP discount, the tour only cost us $80.75 each.


I had been planning to take one of the other tours - probably the Backstage Magic tour, but I decided to hold off until our next trip (tentatively feb. or Mar. 2009), since we already had the cost of the Annual Passes in this trip.

 

[dustyraye]

Awesome!

That was some goooood convincing you did!

Thanks Sue! I still can't believe that I made it happen!!!

 

[dustyraye]

As of today, version 17 is now 126 pages. Keep in mind, those are full size pages (8.5" x 11"). The plan is to format this so that the book will be small enough to fit into my bag to take to the parks with me (like 4" x 6"), which will mean a lot more pages. I'm thinking about splitting this into 5 books - one 'general' book, and one for each park. We'll see how it goes...

 

[dustyraye]

OK, here's the current itinerary plan:

Sat. 10/25
Arrive MCO approx. 10am, pick up rental car, drive to WL to check in
After check-in, DSO will leave to visit Mom & I'll head to MK

Sun. 10/26 - DHS
Ride RnRC as many times as possible

Mon. 10/27 - AK
DSO returns Monday evening

Tues. 10/28 - Epcot (F&W)

Wed. 10/29 - AK

Thurs. 10/30
Around the World at Epcot segway tour
Then Epcot (F&W)

Fri. 10/31
Not sure in the morning - maybe sleep late and have a resort morning
Afternoon tea at Garden View Tea Room
Then head over to MK for MNSSHP
(Still deciding about costumes)

Sat. 11/1 - DHS
DSO has never been to DHS, so I want to plan this one well.

Sun. 11/2
Flight leaves MCO at approx. 7pm, so we have most of the day open.
We will probably either go back to visit our favorite ride/attraction/F&W booth, or take a trip to DTD to shop.

What do you think?

 

[KigerKat]

Hey Dustyraye! You took some time to check out my PTR, so I thought I would do the same!

You and I seem to be a lot alike! I also spent hours online, doing research and reading reviews. I bought UG, Birnbaum's, and another book that had a lot of really great pictures and fun stories.

DH would have wanted to stay at WLR, but we couldn't afford both the deluxe resort and the deluxe dining plan. But I do know we will be staying there for sure next time! I can't wait to see what you think of it!!

And I love your story about the afternoon tea! I hope you really enjoy it.

It looks like we'll be in some of the parks at the same time - we have AK planned on the 29th and HS on the 1st - let me know if you need a buddy on RnRC!!

And I'm so jealous about the Segway tour! I really wanted to do something like that. We actually debated about doing the premium dining plan, just so we can have the tours included. But DH thought we would spend too much time eating and touring to actually enjoy the parks. I can see his point, now!

I can't wait to hear about your trip when you get back, and I'd love to hear about some of the things you put in your Notebook. It sounds like you could almost write your own travel book by now!

 

[dustyraye]

One of the good things about reading the DIS is that it gets you thinknig about things that you might not think about until it is too late to do anything about it. That's why I found all of the discussions here about footwear in WDW to be really interesting. I would not have even given footwear a thought until I was packing, and then I would have thrown in my trusty old pair of New Balance into my suitcase and hoped for the best.

I have never spent this amount of time in the parks all in one trip (9 days/8 nights). I have a history of back pain when standing/walking for long periods of time, but I have lost a lot of weight in the past few years (150 lbs.), so I don't have a lot of experience at my new weight to know how my feet (and the rest of my body) are going to react. And just to add to the fun, I have developed arthritis in most of my major joints since losing the weight, and have no way to predict whether or not I'm going to have a flare up while I'm away.

Even with all of that, it never would have occurred to me to give much thought to what kind of shoes to wear in the World, until I started reading the DIS. After seeing all of the pro-Crocs posts, I decided to give them a try. I have always thought they were really ugly, but I'll take comfort over fashion any day. After test driving them for a couple of weeks, I have to say I'm fairly sure I have not found my new WDW footwear. Yes, they are relatively comfortable for the most part, but I'm afraid they are going to rub in a really bad way iwth all of that walking, especially in the heat and humidity. And given the blocky, whole-size-only sizing, I don't feel like I'm getting enough support to be walking around the World.

Right now, I am thinking about just buying a new pair of New Balance this week, so I have time to break them in before we leave, and just bringing both pairs to switch off while we are there, with some other shoes (sandals, flip flops, or clogs) to wear around the resort. But I'm tempted to try some of these other sandal brands that I've read about on the DIS, because I'm a girl who would prefer to be barefoot 24/7/375 if I could.

I'm open to any ideas or suggestions...

 

[dustyraye]

One of the early questions for me has been whether to bring my camera to WDW. I've got a Nikon D80 DSLR with a couple of decent lenses. Since I am not travelling with kids, there's no pressing need to have a camera with me, but I enjoy taking pictures, and after spending time perusing other people's pictures to help make my trip decisions, I'd like to be able to return the favor by posting pics of my trip to help someone else plan theirs. But the problem is that the camera bag can get heavy to carry around after a while, especially with a decent size purse to boot. And if I'm going to bring the camera and hope to take shots of the fireworks and evening lights, I'm going to want to bring a tripod too. That makes 3 things to carry. And what do I do with all of this stuff on RnRC??

Now, before you suggest that I can just throw my KTTW and spending money into my camera bag and eliminate a 2nd bag, you need to keep a few things in mind. First, I have been obsessive about planning this trip, and plan to have turned the Notebook (see earlier post) into a spiral-bound book to carry along on the trip (or more likely, a series of books, one of each park), so I will have all of my research with me. Second, I will be spending part of the trip by myself, so I will be carrying reading materials with me for meal- and break-time (probably my Kindle), along with my iPod and cell phone. Add to those the basic essentials of park travel (tissues, aspirin, bandaids, antibacterial gel, sunscreen, sunglasses, etc.), and it is clear that I couldn't possibly fit all that in my camera bag.

After much hemming and hawing, I broke down and bought a pocket digital camera. Being one of those people who griped for years that I would never give up my film camera for digital, making the leap to DSLR a couple of years ago was a huge one for me. But a digital point-and-shoot? Never! But having seen some really stunning shots that my Dad took earlier this year with a camera not much bigger than a deck of cards, and not wanting to lug around the camera bag (and tripod), I gave in and ordered a Sony Cybershot DSC-W170. It is the cutest little thing, bright red, and easily fits in a pocket (or a ziploc baggie, to protect it on Splash Mountain). I haven't had a chance to give it a good workout yet, but so far I've been happy with a few test shots that I have taken.

So that's one more planning dilemma solved!

 

[Twilightlover]

Crocs are not the best footwear ESPECIALLY when it's raining. I'm a general walker being from NYC so I'm sure I could walk around WDW in heel if I had to (I actually did for dinner a couple of nights). I wear flip flops usually. My husband wear Nike shoxs. HE has problems with his achillies tendon an lot and he wore them all during our week vacation except for one day when he had to let them dry out ( we were there during Fay). I too wore mine a couple of days and they were very good.

 

[dustyraye]

Ok, here's the the issue with dining: I had gastric bypass surgery a few years ago, so I can only eat a small amount at any given time, and have a hard time with carbs and sweets in anything but small amounts, and deep fried foods are usually a recipe for disaster. I also need to eat small meals/snacks every 4 hours or so, preferably high in protein.

DSO strongly prefers a sit-down meal (TS) for any meal, rather than counter service. She also prefers organic ingredients whenever possible, and avoids fast food unless there is absolutely no choice.

Initially, after looking over the menus online, I figured that the best bet for me would be to stick with counter service meals. Since I have never finished a full meal (and depending on the size, not even a full appetizer) since my surgery, and I can't really take leftovers back to the resort to eat later, like I do at home, it seemed like I would be wasting a HUGE amount of money by eating TS meals every 4 hours and leaving most of that food on my plate. It seems that there are enough counter service choices that are not the usualy burgers-fries-pizza type items, so I should be able to find something that my system will tolerate, that will still give me decent nutrition.

DSO reluctantly agreed to my CS logic, given that she has been trying to lose some weight by reducing her portion sizes, so she has also been taking half of her meal home as leftovers when we dine out at home. We did agree to plan one really nice TS meal on our last night, and I was able to book Artist Point for that night.

We will be at F&W for 2 days during the trip, so we figured we'd eat around the world (as much as I can, anyway) for those days, and stick with CS for the other days in other parks.

About a week or so ago, after seeing some great recent reviews for Le Cellier on the DIS, I checked out the menu online and saw that they have added watermelon soup to the menu. Watermelon soup?? That's one of my favorite things ever!! So I consulted with DSO, and she agreed that if I could get an ADR, we could plan a meal at Le Cellier and would split an entree along with the soup. (That's not as easy as it might seem, because we have very different tastes.) Alas, so far I have had no luck with getting an ADR, but I am calling every day and hoping for a cancellation.

So a few days later, I was perusing the "food porn" threads. Have you seen them? People post pictures of their meals. Not only is it addictive, but it is great for someone like me who is so limited in what I can eat, and what I should eat. I was able to see what the portion sizes are, and what is actually included on the plate.

Last night, I decided that I would probably get better quality meals by having at least one TS meal each day, if I chose restaurants carefully based on either on a good protein appetizer or a restaurant that has an entree that DSO & I can agree to share. After presenting my case to DSO, she agreed (and we both agreed to be flexible in our menu choices), and I went ahead and booked ADRs for the rest of the trip, including the days when I will be in the parks alone, while she's visiting her Mom. (I figure that I will want a break from Commando-style touring, and at least one good protein meal and break from the action is probably a good idea.) I'll post the full list of ADRs in another post.

The only day that I didn't have any TS booked was Monday, because I am planning to be in AK for the day, which closes at 5pm, and DSO is expected to return some time that evening from visiting her Mom. I brought up the idea that if she returned around dinner time, perhaps we could get a late-dinner ADR for the only other non-park restaurant we were both interested in: Jiko. After showing her the menu again, she was in, and I called and had no trouble getting an ADR for 8:45pm. We're all set!

I'm still not sure how it happened, but we went from no TS meals (except our last night and the Garden View Tea) to a week packed with ADRs! My next plan is to put together a 2nd document (in addition to the Notebook) with copies of pictures from the food porn threads, so DSO & I can start negotiations on what we are going to order.

 

[dustyraye]

OK, here's the list as it stands now:

Sat. 10/25 - MK
Dinner: Tony's

Sun. 10/26 - DHS
Dinner: Brown Derby

Mon. 10/27 - AK
Late Dinner: Jiko

Tues. 10/28 - Epcot (F&W)
Early Dinner: Teppan Edo

Wed. 10/29 - AK
Late Lunch: Yak & Yeti

Thurs. 10/30 - Epcot (F&W)
Lunch: Coral Reef
Dinner: Rose & Crown

Fri. 10/31 - Resort AM, MNSSHP after 4pm
Breakfast - Whispering Canyon
Afternoon tea - Garden View Tea Room

Sat. 11/1 - DHS
Lunch - 50's Prime Time Cafe
Late Dinner: Artist Point

Sun. 11/2
Breakfast/Lunch TBD

We are still hoping to get a reservation at Le Cellier for one of the Epcot days, and will give up whichever ADR we need to in order to make room for it.