LeafsFanNL
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2010
Before I go into a description of what we are planning to do, I should mention a few things. If you remember my LeafsFan Artisinal Cheese and Crème Brulee trip report,(which you might want to look up) I was in the world last Easter as part of a group of nine. There were some setbacks which happened during the trip which left a bad taste in my mouth. DW felt the same as well.
Up to a few days ago, it was looking like Id not get a chance to go back for a couple of years. Over the last few months DW and I spent a lot of time discussing what we would do differently from the Easter 2010 trip when we had a chance to return.
We discussed;
going as a couple,
not telling the in-laws,
going during the off season, probably November,
staying in the Epcot area,
really concentrating on touring EPCOT unhurried, especially World Showcase,
not doing so much structured dining next time.
We reminisced about the time last Easter when we left the kids with their aunt and snuck back over to the Magic Kingdom and how that hour or so was the best part of the trip for us.
All this summer, our circle of about 12 couples who are close in our neighbour hood began planning a couple of trips. The ladies are going to NYC in November for four nights, and 11 of the 12 guys are going on a week long golf trip to Myrtle Beach for a golf trip today, Sept 23. Guess who the 12 guy is. I cant get away from work for that long this time of the year. I am pretty philosophical about such things and it hasnt bothered me much or often.
Little did I know that my DW started planning this trip a couple of weeks ago by arranging for my mom and dad to look after the boys. We then looked at travel costs, and got cheap flights by Newfoundland standards, at any rate. Then we hashed out the following details over the last week. Its all booked except the park tickets.
I must say that I am very excited about this trip, and we cant wait.
Accommodations
We have arranged four nights, December 8th through the 11th at the Beach Club Resort in a standard room on a room only discount. DW and I have wanted to stay in the Epcot Resort area since we first ate here on our Easter 2009 trip. I am so looking forward to the World Showcase and the Boardwalk being so close. I am hoping to spend some time in Stormalong Bay, even though it will be the middle of December.
Dining
Since we have booked a room only discount, we could not get the dining plan for this trip. As it turns out we arent interested in the dining plan for this trip. We have decided to take a more relaxed view on dining for this trip. We are making ADRs for every evening in case we wish to use them, but I can see us being very spontaneous even in the evening. Part of this is a desire to maximize our touring time, part of this is to try some of the world showcase counter service places, or maybe some Boardwalk dining. As of now all of our ADRs are at places we have never eaten, and are very much subject to change.
Touring
We are hoping to be flexible in our touring except for an item or two. We are planning to get three day park hopper tickets when we check into our hotel on Wednesday night. For the first time we are going to get park hoppers since we are planning a lot of hopping, boy are we ever.
These rough idea of touring plans outlined below might change if one day is forecast to be warmer than the others, as we might spend some pool time on that day.
We like the idea of December touring mainly for two reasons. First and foremost are the low crowds. Our three days are a 2, 3 and 6 on the Touringplans.com crowd calendar. Touring Easter week over the last four years we have seen mostly 10s. I cant wait to see what EPCOT or the MK will feel like on a 1, which the rating for both parks on Thursday Dec 9th.
Second is the cooler temperature. We have seen some warm days especially this Easter which wiped us out by lunchtime each day it seemed. We are hoping to see days where temperature is not a factor. I am not at all concerned about cool temperatures as I am a Canadian boy used to such things. It would be the first time I am the only guy in shorts and a T-shirt in FLA.
Thursday and Friday are Very Merry Christmas Parties at the MK. As of now we are not planning to go. As strange as this sounds, the whole Christmas aspect of the trip is entirely tangential to our planning. This could change of course.
I also am planning to try to do attractions we have not done.
Day 1 December 8th 2010
We are leaving St. Johns on a 5:30 pm flight that will get us into MCO at 11:30 pm. We are hoping to have carry-on baggage only, and will jump right on to the Magical Express bus, then hit the hay at the Beach Club.
Day 2 December 9th 2010
If I had to guess, Id say we will be up early. For now we have two ideas in mind. We will either go to EPCOT for rope drop, or go to the MK for morning EMH. 8 am is 9:30 for us, well be up. If I had to guess, Id say well be at the MK. Well do a lot of rides, mostly our favourites. I am hoping it is warm enough for Splash Mountain, my number one attraction in all of the WDW parks. I havent been on Space Mountain since 1979, and am not sure I will. I like Big Thunder, but Expedition Everest was too much for me last year. The only attractions I havent seen in the Magic Kingdom would be the Shooting Gallery, Tom Sawyers Island, and the Hall of Presidents. Ill try these. DW and I are looking forward to a Dole Whip. After we finish up we will probably take the monorail to EPCOT about Lunchtime.
We are planning to maybe do a ride or two, Soaring or Test Track or both before heading to World Showcase. Well grab a bite, probably at the new Mexican counter service place, then its World Showcase for the afternoon, without children to hurry us. along!! Well wander, see a few movies, we might buy a bottle of that special wine we had at Les Chef last spring, (see the trip report mentioned above). As of now we have a dinner ADR at Tutto Italia, but I think this will change.
We have been discussing taking a boat to the Hollywood Studios to see the Osborne lights and Phantasmic at 6:30 pm but that is not definite, as that would be a lot of going on one day. Then its back to EPCOT for Illuminations over an adult beverage, and then home to the Beach Club or maybe the boardwalk for a while.
Day 3 December 10th 2010
Our plan is to get to the Animal Kingdom for rope drop. Our main touring goals here are to see both of the shows as we had to skip them last April. DW just loves these shows especially Festival of the Lion King which we havent seen since 2007. We havent seen the Maharajah Jungle Trail, and will walk it. If it is not too cool, Kali will be ridden repeatedly.
Our afternoon is wide open. Maybe this is pool time. This might be the time to do a few rides at the Studios.
We have an ADR for Captains Grille on this day and might just use it.
In the evening, we have lots of options. We might go to Downtown Disney for a while, we might tour the Monorail resorts to take some Christmas pictures. We might go to the Boardwalk area.
As of now, we are planning to return to EPCOT for the Evening EMH, probably spending time in Future World. In Future World, the only ride we havent done is Mission Space. I might do the chicken version of this. I think DW might be petrified by the possibility of having the wrong version administered to us so I might be alone.
Day 4 December 11th 2010
The only thing set in stone on our last day is that we want to see the Evening Parade, and especially Wishes at the Magic Kingdom. I have never seen Wishes from inside the park, and I definitely wish to do so on our last evening (bad joke, I know).
We might hit Future World in the morning, if we have done this enough by now, which I suspect, we might do the Studios in the morning mainly for Toy Story Mania. I havent done either the Rock and Roll Roller Coaster or the Tower of Terror. I might do the latter. The first one is out.
We have an ADR for the Prime Time Café, but are thinking of changing it.
Day 5 December 12th 2010
We have a departure at 11:30 am on Sunday Morning, so that will not allow us to do much more than eat and then take the Magical Express.
Id like to invite comments or suggestions from anyone kind enough to read this.
Up to a few days ago, it was looking like Id not get a chance to go back for a couple of years. Over the last few months DW and I spent a lot of time discussing what we would do differently from the Easter 2010 trip when we had a chance to return.
We discussed;
going as a couple,
not telling the in-laws,
going during the off season, probably November,
staying in the Epcot area,
really concentrating on touring EPCOT unhurried, especially World Showcase,
not doing so much structured dining next time.
We reminisced about the time last Easter when we left the kids with their aunt and snuck back over to the Magic Kingdom and how that hour or so was the best part of the trip for us.
All this summer, our circle of about 12 couples who are close in our neighbour hood began planning a couple of trips. The ladies are going to NYC in November for four nights, and 11 of the 12 guys are going on a week long golf trip to Myrtle Beach for a golf trip today, Sept 23. Guess who the 12 guy is. I cant get away from work for that long this time of the year. I am pretty philosophical about such things and it hasnt bothered me much or often.
Little did I know that my DW started planning this trip a couple of weeks ago by arranging for my mom and dad to look after the boys. We then looked at travel costs, and got cheap flights by Newfoundland standards, at any rate. Then we hashed out the following details over the last week. Its all booked except the park tickets.
I must say that I am very excited about this trip, and we cant wait.
Accommodations
We have arranged four nights, December 8th through the 11th at the Beach Club Resort in a standard room on a room only discount. DW and I have wanted to stay in the Epcot Resort area since we first ate here on our Easter 2009 trip. I am so looking forward to the World Showcase and the Boardwalk being so close. I am hoping to spend some time in Stormalong Bay, even though it will be the middle of December.
Dining
Since we have booked a room only discount, we could not get the dining plan for this trip. As it turns out we arent interested in the dining plan for this trip. We have decided to take a more relaxed view on dining for this trip. We are making ADRs for every evening in case we wish to use them, but I can see us being very spontaneous even in the evening. Part of this is a desire to maximize our touring time, part of this is to try some of the world showcase counter service places, or maybe some Boardwalk dining. As of now all of our ADRs are at places we have never eaten, and are very much subject to change.
Touring
We are hoping to be flexible in our touring except for an item or two. We are planning to get three day park hopper tickets when we check into our hotel on Wednesday night. For the first time we are going to get park hoppers since we are planning a lot of hopping, boy are we ever.
These rough idea of touring plans outlined below might change if one day is forecast to be warmer than the others, as we might spend some pool time on that day.
We like the idea of December touring mainly for two reasons. First and foremost are the low crowds. Our three days are a 2, 3 and 6 on the Touringplans.com crowd calendar. Touring Easter week over the last four years we have seen mostly 10s. I cant wait to see what EPCOT or the MK will feel like on a 1, which the rating for both parks on Thursday Dec 9th.
Second is the cooler temperature. We have seen some warm days especially this Easter which wiped us out by lunchtime each day it seemed. We are hoping to see days where temperature is not a factor. I am not at all concerned about cool temperatures as I am a Canadian boy used to such things. It would be the first time I am the only guy in shorts and a T-shirt in FLA.
Thursday and Friday are Very Merry Christmas Parties at the MK. As of now we are not planning to go. As strange as this sounds, the whole Christmas aspect of the trip is entirely tangential to our planning. This could change of course.
I also am planning to try to do attractions we have not done.
Day 1 December 8th 2010
We are leaving St. Johns on a 5:30 pm flight that will get us into MCO at 11:30 pm. We are hoping to have carry-on baggage only, and will jump right on to the Magical Express bus, then hit the hay at the Beach Club.
Day 2 December 9th 2010
If I had to guess, Id say we will be up early. For now we have two ideas in mind. We will either go to EPCOT for rope drop, or go to the MK for morning EMH. 8 am is 9:30 for us, well be up. If I had to guess, Id say well be at the MK. Well do a lot of rides, mostly our favourites. I am hoping it is warm enough for Splash Mountain, my number one attraction in all of the WDW parks. I havent been on Space Mountain since 1979, and am not sure I will. I like Big Thunder, but Expedition Everest was too much for me last year. The only attractions I havent seen in the Magic Kingdom would be the Shooting Gallery, Tom Sawyers Island, and the Hall of Presidents. Ill try these. DW and I are looking forward to a Dole Whip. After we finish up we will probably take the monorail to EPCOT about Lunchtime.
We are planning to maybe do a ride or two, Soaring or Test Track or both before heading to World Showcase. Well grab a bite, probably at the new Mexican counter service place, then its World Showcase for the afternoon, without children to hurry us. along!! Well wander, see a few movies, we might buy a bottle of that special wine we had at Les Chef last spring, (see the trip report mentioned above). As of now we have a dinner ADR at Tutto Italia, but I think this will change.
We have been discussing taking a boat to the Hollywood Studios to see the Osborne lights and Phantasmic at 6:30 pm but that is not definite, as that would be a lot of going on one day. Then its back to EPCOT for Illuminations over an adult beverage, and then home to the Beach Club or maybe the boardwalk for a while.
Day 3 December 10th 2010
Our plan is to get to the Animal Kingdom for rope drop. Our main touring goals here are to see both of the shows as we had to skip them last April. DW just loves these shows especially Festival of the Lion King which we havent seen since 2007. We havent seen the Maharajah Jungle Trail, and will walk it. If it is not too cool, Kali will be ridden repeatedly.
Our afternoon is wide open. Maybe this is pool time. This might be the time to do a few rides at the Studios.
We have an ADR for Captains Grille on this day and might just use it.
In the evening, we have lots of options. We might go to Downtown Disney for a while, we might tour the Monorail resorts to take some Christmas pictures. We might go to the Boardwalk area.
As of now, we are planning to return to EPCOT for the Evening EMH, probably spending time in Future World. In Future World, the only ride we havent done is Mission Space. I might do the chicken version of this. I think DW might be petrified by the possibility of having the wrong version administered to us so I might be alone.
Day 4 December 11th 2010
The only thing set in stone on our last day is that we want to see the Evening Parade, and especially Wishes at the Magic Kingdom. I have never seen Wishes from inside the park, and I definitely wish to do so on our last evening (bad joke, I know).
We might hit Future World in the morning, if we have done this enough by now, which I suspect, we might do the Studios in the morning mainly for Toy Story Mania. I havent done either the Rock and Roll Roller Coaster or the Tower of Terror. I might do the latter. The first one is out.
We have an ADR for the Prime Time Café, but are thinking of changing it.
Day 5 December 12th 2010
We have a departure at 11:30 am on Sunday Morning, so that will not allow us to do much more than eat and then take the Magical Express.
Id like to invite comments or suggestions from anyone kind enough to read this.
