Is it STILL too early to start a Pre-Trip Report? Updated 2/26

[ddstratton]

It's been a little while, but I'm back! We are still planning a trip to Disney, just not in 2012. I just don't think we can swing it, money-wise. However, most of my plans are still in place -- just for May 2013! We'll go and celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary at Disney World! We're tentatively thinking of taking a trip that will cover most of May 2013! May 8 thru May 25. We would be at Disney May 15 - 23.

More to follow shortly... For now -- here's a picture from our first trip.

Mom, looking absolutely thrilled because she got to see DeVine

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm happy to hear that there is still a Disney trip in the future. May, 2013 will be here before you know it.

 

[ddstratton]

I'm happy to hear that there is still a Disney trip in the future. May, 2013 will be here before you know it.

Yup. It'll get here soon enough. Until then, I'm just enjoying everyone else's trip reports!

I am kinda-sorta planning a little vacation before then. I'm thinking of visiting Washington DC in May 2012. This trip would only be about a week total. We would get to visit the Smithsonian museums (DD is dying to) and other landmarks in the area. We'd also stop at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia on the way home. Another one of DD's wanna-do's. More info on that little trip may just pop up here as I firm up plans...

 

[glennbo123]

Hi Darla! Sorry it's taken me a while to find your PTR.

I'm not completely caught up yet, but that Coco Plum resort looks awesome! I may have to check that out on the web.

 

[Terkina]

I found your Pre trip report in Corrine's Pre trip report. I'm planning a trip to WDW in February 2013. It's fun to read others Pre trip report who are planning a trip for 2013. It is never too early to start planning a trip and to start a Pre trip report

By the way you can find my Pre trip report in my signature

 

[Corrine 1973]

So I just came over from my PTR to check out yours. At first I was a little confused when you were talking about an october 2012 trip and thought I miss read something.

I am glad you decided to make a trip even though it is a little later than you anticipated. It looks like if we both go at the times we are talking about that we will just miss each other by a couple of days.

I have stayed off site during our first trip. Staying on site was definatly more convieniant, but than staying off site gave us cheaper options for food. We stayed in Kissimee which was about 20 min. away from the park. I couldn't tell you about the parking fees because they were waived due to the fact it was a Wish trip. We didn't find parking to difficult, there was usually a tram if you parked farther away and how nice is it to go to your car and drive home when everyone is tring to leave on the buses. Though on that trip we never stayed till closing so I don't know if there is a bottleneck of people trying to leave.

And just to let you know, the walk from the parking lot to US is Forever long. Though they do have moving sidewalks there if your feet get tierd.

 

[sl_underwood]

Popped on over from Corrines TR. Figured you had to be awesome if you were planning this far out. Cant wait to read about all your plans!

 

[ddstratton]

Hi Darla! Sorry it's taken me a while to find your PTR.

I'm not completely caught up yet, but that Coco Plum resort looks awesome! I may have to check that out on the web.

Welcome! I found the CocoPlum resort from reading DizneyDawn's reports. Her family stayed there and loved it. It looks perfect for what we want -- beach, pool, privacy. Sounds good. And the prices aren't bad, either.

I found your Pre trip report in Corrine's Pre trip report. I'm planning a trip to WDW in February 2013. It's fun to read others Pre trip report who are planning a trip for 2013. It is never too early to start planning a trip and to start a Pre trip report

By the way you can find my Pre trip report in my signature

Welcome! I love planning a trip, even if it is a little far away. The planning is half the fun to me.

So I just came over from my PTR to check out yours. At first I was a little confused when you were talking about an october 2012 trip and thought I miss read something.

I am glad you decided to make a trip even though it is a little later than you anticipated. It looks like if we both go at the times we are talking about that we will just miss each other by a couple of days.

Yup - this trip started out as an October 2012 trip, and has evolved into a May 2013 trip instead. Lots of changes all around.

I have stayed off site during our first trip. Staying on site was definatly more convieniant, but than staying off site gave us cheaper options for food. We stayed in Kissimee which was about 20 min. away from the park. I couldn't tell you about the parking fees because they were waived due to the fact it was a Wish trip. We didn't find parking to difficult, there was usually a tram if you parked farther away and how nice is it to go to your car and drive home when everyone is tring to leave on the buses. Though on that trip we never stayed till closing so I don't know if there is a bottleneck of people trying to leave.

And just to let you know, the walk from the parking lot to US is Forever long. Though they do have moving sidewalks there if your feet get tierd.

We are still playing around with the stay offsite or onsite thing... It would be cheaper most likely, to stay offsite. I'm just wondering if we will miss being on property. It's part of the whole "Disney Magic" experience...

Popped on over from Corrines TR. Figured you had to be awesome if you were planning this far out. Cant wait to read about all your plans!

Welcome! And thank you! I love planning. Unfortunately, I've been neglecting this poor little PTR a bit. However, I should be having an update later today!

 

[ddstratton]

Well, we are currently 477 days from our May 2013 trip. Quite a ways away, but I'm looking forward to it.

I'm trying to decide on accommodations still. Staying offsite in a condo/rental would be cheaper. But it is nowhere near as flexible as staying onsite. With the rental homes, you are pretty much locked in to your time/dates. That just doesn't work for us. We change things too often.

I'm torn between Coronado Springs and Caribbean Beach. Coronado Springs because we haven't stayed there before. The pool area looks really cool, too. Caribbean Beach because we loved it on our first Disney trip. By the time we go, Caribbean Beach should be done with bedding upgrades (I've heard they are getting queen beds as well, except for the pirate rooms). If we do stay at Caribbean Beach, I'm trying to decide if a Pirate Room is for us or not. Sure, they look cool, but are they worth the extra money and distance from the main area? Anyone stayed in the pirate rooms and have an opinion?

Well, for a little bit of fun, I think I'll post copies of the scrapbook pages from our last trip.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Very cute scrapbook pages! I have all sorts of scrapbooking supplies and never seem to get the chance to actually do my scrapbooking.

Did you hear about the changes to the dining at Coronado Springs? I was always a bit leery about the way the dining worked there in the first place and now that they've added the buffet style, I don't know if I would like that either.

 

[Lesprivate]

Great scrap book pages, I would love to do that but don't have any time to.

My daughter just got back from Disney and stayed in the Coronado and loved it but did find it very big and the counter service options awful.

 

[ddstratton]

Very cute scrapbook pages! I have all sorts of scrapbooking supplies and never seem to get the chance to actually do my scrapbooking.

Did you hear about the changes to the dining at Coronado Springs? I was always a bit leery about the way the dining worked there in the first place and now that they've added the buffet style, I don't know if I would like that either.

Thank you! I, too, have tons of scrapbook supplies. However, this Disney scrapbook was my first attempt at digital scrapbooking. The whole thing was done (page by page) in Photoshop Elements. I then uploaded the pages to a website and had the book printed. In this case, I used Walgreens. I have since had recommendations on other sties.

I have heard about the changes at Coronado Springs for dining. That's a minus in that column. We find that we do use the resort quick service at least a few times during a trip. We liked the choices at Caribbean Beach...

Great scrap book pages, I would love to do that but don't have any time to.

My daughter just got back from Disney and stayed in the Coronado and loved it but did find it very big and the counter service options awful.

Thank you. I find that I go in spurts doing scrapbooking. Doing the digital is easier, though. I don't have tons of supplies to get out and put away. If I find that I have just a little time, I can open up a page and work on it. No clean-up when I'm done!

Coronado Springs' quick service sounds confusing -- even more so now that it's buffet part of the time...

 

[ddstratton]

475 days to go!

Let's continue the trip down memory lane...

Driving through the northern portion of Pennsylvania

Stopped at the Welcome Center in Pennsylvania

Stopped for lunch...

 

[glennbo123]

Isn't Pennsylvania beautiful?

I might be a little biased.

 

[ddstratton]

Pennsylvania is gorgeous. We don't live too far from the PA border, about 30-ish miles, going on Route 15.

 

[ddstratton]

457 days to go!

If you're counting or keeping track, you'll notice that the countdown is off by a couple of days. I'm making changes to our plans. I know. BIG surprise!! I've changed the day we're leaving by a couple of days. More info on that to come.

As much as I hate to, I think we're going to be dropping the Keys portion of the trip this time around. It was a hard decision, but the total cost of the Keys portion was a good chunk of money. We'll still get there, just not on this trip.

We will get some beach time in though! I'm thinking of stopping for a night or two near the same beach we visited on our last trip - in the Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Continuing with the scrapbook pages from our last trip...

We stopped for the night at a Holiday Inn in Chambersburg, PA. If you couldn't find this hotel, you don't belong driving! It was RIGHT off the exit ramp.

Then we walked across parking lots to supper -- at Red Lobster.

That's it for the first day of our 2010 trip.

 

[newtexan]

joining in to read

 

[Lesprivate]

I love your scrap book, I have a tons of photos but none of them every made it into a photo album.

My daughter loves when we find a hotel with an indoor pool, I usually skip the indoor swimming, with my allergies it makes it hard to breathe with the chlorine in the room.

 

[GeminiAngel]

I've neglected you.

So sorry to read about your Oct 2011 news.
I can't believe I missed that.

---------------------------------

As for May 2013, have you thought about the new Art of Animation Resort?
I saw it in Oct. Looks really nice.

 

[ddstratton]

joining in to read

Welcome!!

I love your scrap book, I have a tons of photos but none of them every made it into a photo album.

My daughter loves when we find a hotel with an indoor pool, I usually skip the indoor swimming, with my allergies it makes it hard to breathe with the chlorine in the room.

Thanks! I love going through the scrapbook over and over. This time, it was digital scrapbooking, rather than conventional paper. I did it all on the computer, then had the "pages" uploaded to a site and printed as a book. I loved how it came out.

One requirement for a hotel for us usually is an indoor pool, so DD can swim even if it's cold or rainy outside. She loves to swim.

I've neglected you.

So sorry to read about your Oct 2011 news.
I can't believe I missed that.

---------------------------------

As for May 2013, have you thought about the new Art of Animation Resort?
I saw it in Oct. Looks really nice.

Thank you. It was a difficult time for us, but we figure it just wasn't meant to be.

I have actually thought about the Art of Animation resort. But I have something else in mind. It's a surprise that I'll go into shortly...