Dates: January 1st to January 5th, 2001
Location: Wilderness Lodge
Cast: Trisha (Me-42-Mom & avid planner)
Clyde(47-Dad)
Christina (Daughter-5 1/2)
The Planning of our Trip
This trip was VERY different from our last trip (March, 99) in many ways. We plotted and planned for months for that trip, which was our daughterâÂÂs fourth birthday present. This trip was put together at what is for me the last minute. My husbandâÂÂs college team is Auburn, and we found out in late November that Auburn would most likely be playing in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on January 1st. Clyde is a major football fan, and really wanted to see AuburnâÂÂs first New YearâÂÂs Day bowl appearance in many years. So, I started doing our planning. We had to be careful not to make any plans that couldnâÂÂt be cancelled before December 3rd, which is when we would know for sure about the bowl game.
I hit the DIS in real earnest from mid-November until we left for the World. We originally thought weâÂÂd go down on December 31st and see New YearâÂÂs Eve in the world. Since this wasnâÂÂt something we were really planning to undertake at this time, we wanted to be as economical as we could on this trip. So I searched for rooms at the budget (no luck) and moderate hotels. The moderates were looking possible. Then, Clyde reminded me of a mailer weâÂÂd received a month or so ago about special discounts at the deluxe resorts. We dug it out of our âÂÂmay be usefulâ mail pile, and I made a call. We landed the Wilderness Lodge from January 1st to January 5th at the wonderful rate of $189.50ish per night (including all taxes and fees). As this rate was the same as the moderates and we really love the WL, I put a 14 day courtesy hold on this. My plan was to add the 31st at another hotel later.
On to the dining reservations! I planned out the parks we would see on each day and made my PSâÂÂs at our preferred dining establishments. With the exception of breakfast at the Castle and going down the list to our 4th choice for New YearâÂÂs Eve, we booked every meal we wanted for the trip.
Meanwhile, Expedia was saying that Port Orleans had an available room for the night of the 31st. As soon as we got definite word on the bowl game, I tried booking the Port Orleans room for the 31st. But it wouldnâÂÂt book online. So I called CRO to get them to book it. It turned out that there were no rooms available that CRO could find at any moderate on the 31st. She did find a few deluxe rooms, but nothing we were willing to pay. So, we went to plan B, which was to arrive in the morning of the 1st instead of the 31st.
All along, IâÂÂd been checking airline schedules and prices for the trip. We basically had two viable choices, SWA for the 31st arrival, or Delta is we were arriving on the 1st. Now that we had our definite dates, I booked the Delta flight online. It was flight 5002, direct on a Comair flight from Birmingham, AL to Orlando, arriving at 10:16 am. Since the game didnâÂÂt start until 1:00 pm we should have plenty of time! Our return flight was 5007, also Comair, leaving at 8:30 and arriving at 9:54pm. This would give us a full park day on the 5th! Next was to arrange land transportation. Since we had to also get Clyde to the Citrus Bowl and back to WDW, this involved a lot of investigation. We really donâÂÂt like to drive while in the World, and after checking every rental car agency I could find, we ended up reserving Tiffany Town Car. They would pick us up at the airport, drop Clyde at the Citrus Bowl, carry Christina and I on to Wilderness Lodge, return to pick up Clyde and bring him to Epcot, then carry us all from WL to MCO on the 5th. Total cost for all this was $155.00 plus tip.
Next on the planning trail was to rearrange all the PS IâÂÂd made earlier. Since we were now there 1 less day I had to change around the parks we were visiting, necessitating changing a bunch of reservations. Thankfully this went smoothly, and I even picked up a 2:00pm reservation for High Tea at the GF for Christina and I! We had been dying to do this for years, and were very exciting about it! But there was still no availability at the castle breakfast on any day of our stay
HereâÂÂs our final planned itinerary. You will see later how it all turned out!
Monday, January 1st
Leave Bham at 7:30, arrive Orlando at 10:16
TTC takes Clyde to Citrus Bowl, Trisha and Christina to WL
Check in WL, bus to MGM
See 1-3 of these â Bear in the Big Blue House
Voyage of Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Bus to GF â High Tea at 2:00
Monorail to Epcot
Trade in old passes (from 1993!) on 5 day hoppers
Buy Passport for Christina
Work our way around WS from Mexico doing passport as far as can
6:30 dinner at Chefs de France (Clyde to join us there)
8:10 TON, 9:00 Illuminations
Bus to WL
Tuesday, January 2
Snack type breakfast in room
Bus to Early Entry at Epcot
Future World in AM (Test Track, Body Wars, Living Seas, Imagination Ride, Spaceship Earth were priorities)
11:00 PS at Garden Grill character meal
World Showcase (any country not done yesterday)
5:00 PS at Le Cellier
immediate monorail to MK
trade in tickets for wristbands for E-night
MSEP at 7:00, fireworks at 8:00
Country Bears, BTMRR, Splash Mtn, Space Mtn, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, and Timekeeper during E-night
Wednesday, January 3
7:30 PS at Artist Point character meal
Bus to MGM
RnRC, Star Tours, Hunchback, Animation Tour, Indiana Jones, and Muppets, plus TOT for Clyde were the priorities
Mulan Parade at 3:00
5:00 PS at Brown Derby
Fantasmic at 7:00
Bus to Hotel for early night
Thursday, January 4
Snack type breakfast in room
Boat to EE at MK
Priorities were all of FantasyLand, Toontown Fair, Speedway and Carousel of Progress, and Adventureland
10:00 PS at TonyâÂÂs Town Square
Magical Moments Parade at 3
5:25 PS at Liberty Tree Tavern character meal
7:00 MSEP and 8:00 fireworks if we want to see them again
Friday, January 5
Snack type breakfast in room
Check out of hotel
Bus to AK
Priorities were Safari, Lion King show, Tarzan show, and Conservation Station
Lunch at Tusker House
5:00 PS at Whispering Canyon at WL
TTC picks up at 6:20 for airport
Leave Orlando at 8:30, arrive Bham at 9:54pm
Next installment, New YearâÂÂs Day at WDW!
Location: Wilderness Lodge
Cast: Trisha (Me-42-Mom & avid planner)
Clyde(47-Dad)
Christina (Daughter-5 1/2)
The Planning of our Trip
This trip was VERY different from our last trip (March, 99) in many ways. We plotted and planned for months for that trip, which was our daughterâÂÂs fourth birthday present. This trip was put together at what is for me the last minute. My husbandâÂÂs college team is Auburn, and we found out in late November that Auburn would most likely be playing in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando on January 1st. Clyde is a major football fan, and really wanted to see AuburnâÂÂs first New YearâÂÂs Day bowl appearance in many years. So, I started doing our planning. We had to be careful not to make any plans that couldnâÂÂt be cancelled before December 3rd, which is when we would know for sure about the bowl game.
I hit the DIS in real earnest from mid-November until we left for the World. We originally thought weâÂÂd go down on December 31st and see New YearâÂÂs Eve in the world. Since this wasnâÂÂt something we were really planning to undertake at this time, we wanted to be as economical as we could on this trip. So I searched for rooms at the budget (no luck) and moderate hotels. The moderates were looking possible. Then, Clyde reminded me of a mailer weâÂÂd received a month or so ago about special discounts at the deluxe resorts. We dug it out of our âÂÂmay be usefulâ mail pile, and I made a call. We landed the Wilderness Lodge from January 1st to January 5th at the wonderful rate of $189.50ish per night (including all taxes and fees). As this rate was the same as the moderates and we really love the WL, I put a 14 day courtesy hold on this. My plan was to add the 31st at another hotel later.
On to the dining reservations! I planned out the parks we would see on each day and made my PSâÂÂs at our preferred dining establishments. With the exception of breakfast at the Castle and going down the list to our 4th choice for New YearâÂÂs Eve, we booked every meal we wanted for the trip.
Meanwhile, Expedia was saying that Port Orleans had an available room for the night of the 31st. As soon as we got definite word on the bowl game, I tried booking the Port Orleans room for the 31st. But it wouldnâÂÂt book online. So I called CRO to get them to book it. It turned out that there were no rooms available that CRO could find at any moderate on the 31st. She did find a few deluxe rooms, but nothing we were willing to pay. So, we went to plan B, which was to arrive in the morning of the 1st instead of the 31st.
All along, IâÂÂd been checking airline schedules and prices for the trip. We basically had two viable choices, SWA for the 31st arrival, or Delta is we were arriving on the 1st. Now that we had our definite dates, I booked the Delta flight online. It was flight 5002, direct on a Comair flight from Birmingham, AL to Orlando, arriving at 10:16 am. Since the game didnâÂÂt start until 1:00 pm we should have plenty of time! Our return flight was 5007, also Comair, leaving at 8:30 and arriving at 9:54pm. This would give us a full park day on the 5th! Next was to arrange land transportation. Since we had to also get Clyde to the Citrus Bowl and back to WDW, this involved a lot of investigation. We really donâÂÂt like to drive while in the World, and after checking every rental car agency I could find, we ended up reserving Tiffany Town Car. They would pick us up at the airport, drop Clyde at the Citrus Bowl, carry Christina and I on to Wilderness Lodge, return to pick up Clyde and bring him to Epcot, then carry us all from WL to MCO on the 5th. Total cost for all this was $155.00 plus tip.
Next on the planning trail was to rearrange all the PS IâÂÂd made earlier. Since we were now there 1 less day I had to change around the parks we were visiting, necessitating changing a bunch of reservations. Thankfully this went smoothly, and I even picked up a 2:00pm reservation for High Tea at the GF for Christina and I! We had been dying to do this for years, and were very exciting about it! But there was still no availability at the castle breakfast on any day of our stay
HereâÂÂs our final planned itinerary. You will see later how it all turned out!
Monday, January 1st
Leave Bham at 7:30, arrive Orlando at 10:16
TTC takes Clyde to Citrus Bowl, Trisha and Christina to WL
Check in WL, bus to MGM
See 1-3 of these â Bear in the Big Blue House
Voyage of Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Bus to GF â High Tea at 2:00
Monorail to Epcot
Trade in old passes (from 1993!) on 5 day hoppers
Buy Passport for Christina
Work our way around WS from Mexico doing passport as far as can
6:30 dinner at Chefs de France (Clyde to join us there)
8:10 TON, 9:00 Illuminations
Bus to WL
Tuesday, January 2
Snack type breakfast in room
Bus to Early Entry at Epcot
Future World in AM (Test Track, Body Wars, Living Seas, Imagination Ride, Spaceship Earth were priorities)
11:00 PS at Garden Grill character meal
World Showcase (any country not done yesterday)
5:00 PS at Le Cellier
immediate monorail to MK
trade in tickets for wristbands for E-night
MSEP at 7:00, fireworks at 8:00
Country Bears, BTMRR, Splash Mtn, Space Mtn, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, and Timekeeper during E-night
Wednesday, January 3
7:30 PS at Artist Point character meal
Bus to MGM
RnRC, Star Tours, Hunchback, Animation Tour, Indiana Jones, and Muppets, plus TOT for Clyde were the priorities
Mulan Parade at 3:00
5:00 PS at Brown Derby
Fantasmic at 7:00
Bus to Hotel for early night
Thursday, January 4
Snack type breakfast in room
Boat to EE at MK
Priorities were all of FantasyLand, Toontown Fair, Speedway and Carousel of Progress, and Adventureland
10:00 PS at TonyâÂÂs Town Square
Magical Moments Parade at 3
5:25 PS at Liberty Tree Tavern character meal
7:00 MSEP and 8:00 fireworks if we want to see them again
Friday, January 5
Snack type breakfast in room
Check out of hotel
Bus to AK
Priorities were Safari, Lion King show, Tarzan show, and Conservation Station
Lunch at Tusker House
5:00 PS at Whispering Canyon at WL
TTC picks up at 6:20 for airport
Leave Orlando at 8:30, arrive Bham at 9:54pm
Next installment, New YearâÂÂs Day at WDW!
Sounds like you had a busy time ahead of you! Cant wait to read more!
