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

[ddstratton]

452 Days To Go!!

Yup, I guess I've decided to change our trip plans and drop the Florida Keys section of our previous trip plans. We'll just have to plan another trip someday to visit that part of the country, right??

So instead, I'm working on the beginnings of a surprise. DD and Mom both want to stay at Pop Century. Surprised me, actually. I figured DD would want at least a moderate resort, as they have water-slides at the pools. DD said she really didn't care where we stayed -- we'd be at Disney! Kewl! So our current tentative plans are to stay at Pop Century for 10 days.

Well, this is what the family thinks. Oh, we will be staying at Pop Century. But not for ten days. We'll be there for five. Half-way through the trip, we'll be switching to five days at the Polynesian!! We'll be staying in a Garden View room - the "cheapest" category at the Poly. Not that anything at the Poly is cheap. We have wanted to stay at the Poly for AGES, and I think I can pull this off. I'm not entirely sure I can keep my mouth shut though. I get so excited about my Disney trip planning. If I can keep my mouth shut, I'll have to decide HOW to get the family moved from Pop to Poly without them guessing. I do have a few ideas, but they need some work.

Now Mother Dear, if you are reading along -- don't tell anyone!!! Not sure if Mom is reading along on this pre-trip report or not, so I had to add that in there.

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To continue our trip down memory lane.... Day 2 of our May 2010 trip

 

[GeminiAngel]

Awesome suprise for the family!

 

[newtexan]

How are you going to pull off that surprise?

 

[Lesprivate]

I love your surprise I have always wanted to stay at the poly but since we own DVC it doesn't look good for me staying there.

 

[jpmom97]

I've always wanted to stay at the Poly! Great choice! Love the auto train pictures! I am planning a Girl Scout trip to Disney in 6 years and was thinking of doing this with the girls.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh my gosh Darla! What a fantastic surprise! I don't know how you're going to pull off keeping it a secret for so long.

I've always wanted to stay at the Poly! Great choice! Love the auto train pictures! I am planning a Girl Scout trip to Disney in 6 years and was thinking of doing this with the girls.

I helped my niece plan a Boy Scouts trip to WDW. Disney does offer a slight discount for groups such at the Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts. (At least they did 6 months ago.) Be sure to look around on the Disney site for contact information. They were super helpful.

 

[ddstratton]

Awesome suprise for the family!

I hope it is! It is just so hard for me to keep my mouth shut!

How are you going to pull off that surprise?

I have a couple of ideas, IF I can keep my mouth shut. See a theme going here? I have a hard time not discussing my trip plans with them....

I love your surprise I have always wanted to stay at the poly but since we own DVC it doesn't look good for me staying there.

We've wanted to stay at Poly for ages. If I can pull this off, it will be SO COOL!!!

I've always wanted to stay at the Poly! Great choice! Love the auto train pictures! I am planning a Girl Scout trip to Disney in 6 years and was thinking of doing this with the girls.

Thanks! We loved the AutoTrain. It can be pricey - especially if you get the roomettes or bedrooms -- but we thought it was so worth it.

Oh my gosh Darla! What a fantastic surprise! I don't know how you're going to pull off keeping it a secret for so long.

I guess I'm just gonna have to ramble on about it here, rather than to my family. That's the only way I have a chance to keep it a secret.

I was really surprised that Mom and DD both said they would be happy staying at POP instead of Caribbean Beach. I kind of wanted to stay there again. We loved it on our first trip. I figured DD would want to have the water slide. But both of them said since we had never stayed at POP, they'd like to try it. And DD's comment was "Who cares where we stay? We'll be at Disney!" I'm sure they won't mind if we switch over to the Poly half-way through. I know they both want to stay there, they just think it is out because of the cost. But if we're not staying there for the whole trip, it is much more financially feasible.

 

[ddstratton]

Let's continue with our May 2010 trip replay...

I loved the fact that this can of Sierra Mist said New York -- we're from New York!

This marks the end of the second day of our trip.

 

[ddstratton]

On to Wednesday, May 12, 2010. Day Three of our trip

 

[ddstratton]

More of Day Three, May 2010.

 

[ddstratton]

450 days to go. A nice round number

So. How do I intend to pull of the surprise of switching resorts half-way through the trip? Easy. Well, it'll be easy if I manage to keep the surprise that long. And if I do -- here's how it will go down:

I will inform the family that we have to switch rooms part-way through our stay. I will say it has to do with a PIN code or offer I got. I can get away with this, because I handle EVERYTHING to do with booking the trips. I will have us pack up the vehicle and drive to our character breakfast that day. At Ohana!

Sneaky, right? I get them to the Polynesian Resort and they don't even realize why!!! After our breakfast, we'll just go down and check in. I'm so bad.

 

[GeminiAngel]

Yes! Great way to tell them. I love the recap of your older TR's

 

[newtexan]

they will be amazed! very sneaky on your part!

 

[Lesprivate]

What a great way to surprise everyone, I love the Ohana breakfast.

 

[ddstratton]

Yes! Great way to tell them. I love the recap of your older TR's

Thanks! I think that this will probably be the best way to surprise everyone. I'm hoping I can keep it a surprise!!!

they will be amazed! very sneaky on your part!

I'm hoping they will be amazed. I can see Mom crying about it... In a good way.

What a great way to surprise everyone, I love the Ohana breakfast.

Ohana breakfast is one of our favorites. The food is good, but the character interaction was great.

 

[ddstratton]

439 days to go!

So, as of now, our current plans are outlined below:

Day 1: Drive from home to Rock Hill, SC. This will be a long driving day, but we've done long days before.

Day 2: Drive from Rock Hill, SC to St. Augustine, FL. This day won't be nearly as long, and we've stayed at the same hotel in the past. Depending on how we feel and the weather, we may hit the beach for a little while.

Day 3: Today is a day dedicated to visiting the beach. Most likely at St Augustine, FL - at Anastasia State Park. We stopped there on our last trip and loved it.

Day 4: We head to Disney World today!! We'll be staying at Pop Century. I am not sure if we'll hit a park today, or just enjoy exploring the resort. We'll probably do Chef Mickey's for dinner, as we've wanted to do this before and haven't managed to fit it in.

Days 5 - 13: These days are filled with visiting the parks and taking a couple of days to visit Universal Studios. DD REALLY wants to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. In the middle here, I am going to try to surprise the family with a resort switch -- to the Polynesian!!

Day 14: Will likely have a character breakfast -- I'm thinking at Cape May, then we'll drive to Sanford, FL and get on the AutoTrain for the trip home. We LOVE taking the AutoTrain. If it weren't so expensive, we'd do it both ways. Being able to take the AutoTrain home makes the end of the vacation special, though.

Day 15: We have about a five- to six-hour drive after getting off the AutoTrain, depending on traffic. We'll probably stop and grab pizza to go or something for supper. I'm sure we'll be happy to be home again.

In future installments, we'll get into details for each day's plans. This is the basic overview, though.

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Continuing with our 2010 recap

 

[newtexan]

some really nice photos of the resort
looks like you've got your plan laid out pretty well, anxious to see your park day schedules!

 

[GeminiAngel]

Darla, I don't remember that pic of Duane's butt.

 

[Lesprivate]

You are taking your time heading down to Disney. We will be driving down in August but we are driving straight thru - 18 hours . My DH cannot take 2 weeks at a time for vacation .

 

[ddstratton]

some really nice photos of the resort
looks like you've got your plan laid out pretty well, anxious to see your park day schedules!

Thanks! We really did like POFQ. It was a gorgeous resort. Park days -- I've got a few tentative plans, based on this year's park hours. That'll be coming up.

Darla, I don't remember that pic of Duane's butt.

Thank my mother for that shot! He was joking around, saying I didn't pack the jeans that made his butt look good. So while we were waiting for the boat to Downtown Disney, Mom took that shot.

You are taking your time heading down to Disney. We will be driving down in August but we are driving straight thru - 18 hours . My DH cannot take 2 weeks at a time for vacation .

Yeah, we could do it in one day, but we don't push it too hard. For us, it would be about a 24 hour straight drive, allowing a little time for gas/food/bathroom stops. We've been doing a vacation only every two years or so (not counting a long weekend to visit family), so two weeks at a time works for us. But, by the time we head home -- we're ready to be home.