It's Been How Long Since Your Last Disney Trip?!? 06/22 This Isn't Goodbye

[Stefy]

Hey there

Hello and Thanks for dropping by, we're glad to have you along for this "sleigh" ride in planning what has to be the most eagerly anticipated Disney trip ever!

Why the most eagerly anticipated trip ever you say? Well lets just say we have had to take an 3 year involuntary leave of absence from our second home

However, fear not, that leave of absence ends in 365 days on Sunday November 30th 2014, where we shall be flying to the most magical place on earth

So sit back, relax, grab a cup of tea and I'll get started on the Who, Where and When

 

[snoopygirl79]

Yay, a new PTR!!

I'm so excited for you that you've got a trip planned!!

We're planning on going to WDW in August 2015 so I can't wait to read all about your plans!!

 

[Soopafly]

I'm in too!

 

[monica23535]

Count me in!

 

[Stefy]

Who

Well I guess we'll start with me...

My name is Stephanie (Stef or Stefy) and I am a Disney Addict. I love all things Disney and can't get enough of the most Magical Place on Earth!

Favourite Character: Stitch
Favourite Princess: Belle
Favourite Movie: Beauty and the Beast is my favourite classic, recent I would have to say Tangled, obsessed with that movie and my fav scene is the Lantern scene.
Favourite Pixar: Monsters Inc
Favourite Park: A toss up between MK and Epcot, but I would have to say MK is strongly in the lead

Next up is my wonderful, amazing, gorgeous husband David (or Dave or Davo)...

He is also a Disney fanatic and if he had his way we would never go anywhere else but Disney World.

Favourite Character: Stitch
Favourite Movie: Lion King
Favourite Pixar: Toy Story 3
Favourite Park: Magic Kingdom

 

[disneybarbie]

Subscribing! So great to 'see' you back here



Emma x

 

[dismagiclover]

Yay! I'm happy you are headed back. A 3 year hiatus would be tough! Can't wait to follow along though I am not as diligent a DISer as I once was.

 

[Stefy]

Where & When

Before I get into Where and When, let me give you some background on how this trip came about.

Our last trip to Disney was in 2011 for our honeymoon. We haven't been back since for various reasons, the biggest one being that things became quite difficult for us at the beginning of 2012. I won't go into too much detail, but basically we have found these past two years rather difficult for various reasons and I also went through a little bad spell myself during the first part of this year. This made it rather difficult to plan our next trip to Disney and we have waited and bided our time and finally I am happy to say we are now in a place where we can start planning again

So, back to Where. We were uhm-ing and ah-ing about where to stay and were factoring in costs (thanks Disney for raising costs even more this year) and settled upon the lovely...

Animal Kingdom Lodge

We picked AKL for a couple of reasons, the first being that budget wise it worked out better to stay Deluxe (for the UK offer we were getting) over a Moderate as we get free dining when staying at a Deluxe and only QS dining at a Moderate. The second was that The Poly just was too expensive and quite frankly we are in a different stage of our lives where spending $8,000 for a 10 night vacation is just not sensible anymore. However, we are trying to put money aside in case we are able to upgrade, as come on, its the Poly! Its home!

When

When indeed was the question we both debated over. September is pretty much our go to date, as the weather is amazing, its (supposedly) a quieter time of year to go both here in the UK and the US and its Halloween But then, we (well mostly me) have always wanted to go back during the Christmas period, as the last time that happened was in 2008 and we were still pretty much Disney rookies and were learning the ropes.

Dave mentioned a good point in that we have done Halloween 3 times and Christmas once. That decided it right there and then, we would go for Christmas Now the dates, we would never dream of going during the actual Christmas period, as its just way too busy for us and would be more for a time when we decide to do a random trip, not a "reunion" trip as such.

So, we've decided on November 30th for 10 nights, leaving December 10th. which means we get to experience MVMCP again (so excited I can't tell you ).

 

[Stefy]

Yay, a new PTR!!

I'm so excited for you that you've got a trip planned!!

We're planning on going to WDW in August 2015 so I can't wait to read all about your plans!!

Yay you made it Wow 2015! Hopefully time will fly by for you, we know exactly what it feels like to wait for a Disney trip

I'm in too!

Hello you

Count me in!

Thanks for joining in, good to see you again

Subscribing! So great to 'see' you back here



Emma x

Thanks hun, glad you could make it

Yay! I'm happy you are headed back. A 3 year hiatus would be tough! Can't wait to follow along though I am not as diligent a DISer as I once was.

Uh 3 years is defo tough and I'm not a very patient person I was off the grid for a while, so I know what you mean about not being as diligent, but I'm glad you made it over. Hope the family is well

 

[TanzUnited99]

Hi Stefy! Thanks for the heads up on the new PTR!

Hope you are both well. I'm not on the boards much as makes me want to plan another trip and can't atm due to budgets and the costs of a trip Hopefully I'll get to go back one day but in the meantime I'll enjoy reading about your plans.

Happy planning!

 

[dvc4life]

Aw, Stefy, thanks so much for the link to your next trip! I have so loved reading your reports. And I loved seeing your wedding.

Can't wait to read all about this trip!

And, Welcome Back!

 

[MEK]

Welcome back Stefy. I'm in. I really enjoyed your other TRs. And you even got Tanz to post on the boards. I am thoroughly impressed.

I just stayed at the AKL in the DVC villas and it was fabulous. I think its an excellent choice for your vacation.

 

[dizneeat]

I am SOOOOOOOOOOO glad to see you back on the boards, Stefy! And I would not miss this PTR for the world. Thanks for the link.

Okay, now going back to read!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Hey Stefy! So excited to read your PTR. I've been MIA from the DIS a lot too. I'm like 3 trips behind on TRs.

Sorry to hear you guys have had a rough couple of years but hopefully things are starting to turn around for you. You deserve nothing but great things! You are Dave are the best!

I have never been during Christmas so I'm excited to hear about your plans and your trip. We are planning on going in August. I would love for our trips to overlap one of these times! We need to share a beer in Epcot!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Stefy! Thanks for the heads up! So nice to see you here again and I'm glad things are going better for you. I'm looking forward to your plans and your trip. Christmas is the "Most wonderful time of the year!"

 

[Tracy161]

Wouldn't miss this!!!!!!!! So happy to see you back!!!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm here! Thanks for the heads up. I'm so glad you're back.

 

[Stefy]

Hi Stefy! Thanks for the heads up on the new PTR!

Hope you are both well. I'm not on the boards much as makes me want to plan another trip and can't atm due to budgets and the costs of a trip Hopefully I'll get to go back one day but in the meantime I'll enjoy reading about your plans.

Happy planning!

Hey you, thanks for popping by I totally get what you mean about planning trips etc, I always get sad/jealous when I see others photos from WDW or ads etc.

Aw, Stefy, thanks so much for the link to your next trip! I have so loved reading your reports. And I loved seeing your wedding.

Can't wait to read all about this trip!

And, Welcome Back!

You are most welcome and thanks for joining in

Welcome back Stefy. I'm in. I really enjoyed your other TRs. And you even got Tanz to post on the boards. I am thoroughly impressed.

I just stayed at the AKL in the DVC villas and it was fabulous. I think its an excellent choice for your vacation.

Lol, good to see you here

We are excited about staying at AKL again, Dave loved the resort the last time we stayed and was saying how he wanted to stay there longer again.

I am SOOOOOOOOOOO glad to see you back on the boards, Stefy! And I would not miss this PTR for the world. Thanks for the link.

Okay, now going back to read!

Hey you Thanks for stopping by, its good to be back

Hey Stefy! So excited to read your PTR. I've been MIA from the DIS a lot too. I'm like 3 trips behind on TRs.

Sorry to hear you guys have had a rough couple of years but hopefully things are starting to turn around for you. You deserve nothing but great things! You are Dave are the best!

I have never been during Christmas so I'm excited to hear about your plans and your trip. We are planning on going in August. I would love for our trips to overlap one of these times! We need to share a beer in Epcot!

Hey Mrs good to see you here and thank you for the lovely welcome back

I am defo going to try and join in on everyone's TR's PTR's, esp yours as I can't wait to see what Penny's first trip was like

Hi Stefy! Thanks for the heads up! So nice to see you here again and I'm glad things are going better for you. I'm looking forward to your plans and your trip. Christmas is the "Most wonderful time of the year!"

Its good to be back and thanks for joining in We defo can't wait to go back for Christmas, seeing all the pics and decorations now, its gonna be so cool

Wouldn't miss this!!!!!!!! So happy to see you back!!!

Yay you made it

I'm here! Thanks for the heads up. I'm so glad you're back.

No probs, glad you could make it over

 

[Stefy]

Where to Begin?

Hi all

How are we all doing? Good weekends?

Ours has been good, I took Friday off as my week was pretty craptastic and I am so behind on personal stuff at home that I needed a day to try and catch up with myself. Which was pretty handy as I managed to mostly do just that. Can you believe as of Friday I was nowhere near prepared for Christmas?!? I mean I have an idea of what we're doing, but presents, food, decorations etc was nothing planned out. But, I've managed to get a good start on present buying, can't wait to see Dave's face for some of the presents I have got for him. We are getting our tree next weekend and I'm also hoping to do some work baking, am going to bake some Christmas cookies to give as Christmas presents.

How do you guys prepare for Christmas?

I just did a quick check on Disney's website to see how far out they are with park hours and at present they are up to mid June, which means that park hours for November will likely be released around May, meaning that we can't really start planning planning until June Gosh that's a long way away, starting to think I started this PTR a little too early?

Ah well, am sure we can while away the time somehow How about this? I came across this on Facebook the other day, I won't post it as not sure if I am allowed to or not so I'll copy and paste the main bits. Basically its about having that little bit of extra fun with the characters and questions to ask them.

Princesses

Ask Ariel if you can be a mermaid
Ask Aurora if she likes to take naps
Ask Belle for a book recommendation
Tell Belle that Beast is very big and scary
Give Snow White an apple
Complement any of the Princesses on their dresses

For the Toy Story characters:

Ask Green Army to march with you then pose with a great salute
Tell Buzz he is a toy…a T. O. Y. toy!
Ask Buzz if you can push his reset button
Ask Buzz to go into Latin mode
Ask Woody if Andy’s name is on the bottom of his boot

Mickey’s gang:

Propose marriage to Daisy or ask for a kiss
Ask Donald why he doesn’t have as much stuff in the parks as Mickey
Ask Donald why he doesn’t wear pants
Tell Donald you like his performance in the Aflac commercials
Ask Goofy if he’s ever taken Pluto for a walk
Ask Minnie if Mickey has given her a ring yet
Tell Pluto he should get a never-ending supply of dog bones

Pooh & friends:

Ask Eeyore where his tail is
Tell Eeyore “I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you there”
Ask him if he would like a sausage biscuit or BLT
Ask Pooh why he doesn’t wear pants
Ask Pooh where you can locate some honey because you have a rumbly in your tummy

Other favorites:

Stand behind Captain Hook and go tick tock, tick tock or call him a codfish
Ask Chip and Dale which one is Alvin and which one is Simon. Ask where Theodore is at
Ask Lady Tremaine (Cinderella’s Step Mother) which daughter is her favorite
Tell Mary Poppins that you heard only Mary Poppins can say “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” backwards
Greet Peter Pan with a loud “**** a doodle doo”
Bring Rafiki a Simba plush. He’ll lift it up like in the movie
Ask one of Cinderella’s Step Sisters to sing
Ask the Step Sisters which is the pretty one
Offer your son to marry one of the step sisters
Ask Stitch what his badness level is
Tell Thumper to stay out of your flower beds

Has anyone ever done any of these? Or anything else that's not listed? What was your encounter like? Defo want to try a couple out

 

[MaryAz]

Hi Stefy!!!
So great to see you back here!! The girls and I just got back from a trip where we went during almost your exact dates and stayed at AKL!!No place like it for the Holidays!! Excited to hear your plans.