"Love is Putting Someone Else’s Needs Before Yours" a May 2017/Beach Club PTR COMPLETE 5/21

[iheartbelle87]

Love is Putting Someone Else’s Needs Before Yours- a May 2017 PTR
​

... and for DH, that means allowing me to book a six night stay at the Beach Club Resort! ​

If you're following me over here from my January '17 trip report, "That's Olaf...Not ET!", welcome back!



This is going to be a totally different type of trip compared to my January trip. DH and I will be spending a lot of time relaxing, enjoying the pool and visiting the parks at night more than rope dropping.

And if you're new here....​

Stay tuned for lot pre trip planning obsessions, ADRS, and possibly some matching shirt shenanigans!
​

 

[iheartbelle87]

CHAPTERS

Introductions

How This Trip Came About

Resort Change

Pre Travel Day/Travel Day Plans

Resort Arrival/First Night

Real Life Update

5/26 Plans: Resort, pool, nap, Boma, AK, Rivers of Light

5/25 and 5/26 Updates

More changes... good changes!

May 27th Plans

Planning for 2019

... And her name was Cinderella!

May 28th plans, changes in arrival day plans

May 29th plans

May 30th Plans (last day... boo)

Misc real life updates, final FP selections, outfit planning

Final updates before FP day

Fast Pass Day is HERE!!!

I switched up 5/26 and 5/27 plans

MAJOR REPLANNING

Lots of Mini Updates

33 Days!

Dining Dilemmas, Confessions of a Shopping Addict

17 Days til #GoulettesdoDisney

Single Digit Day!

Final Update​

 

[iheartbelle87]

INTRODUCTIONS

Since our countdown is officially at 109 days, today seems like the perfect day for a proper introduction....

DH and I are heading to The Happiest Place on Earth from May 25th- May 31st and we're staying at the Beach Club (more on that later...)​

I'm Ashlee and I'll be the narrator of this PTR. I take full and complete credit (and joy!) in creating DH's Disney love. I went to Disney World as a child many times and eventually my family started visiting annually from 2000-2012. Then my mom and I took some time 'off' from Disney and did a few other girls trip (Charleston, NYC, USVI) . DH and I went on a cruise with his old college room mates and even went to Jamaica a few years ago for a friend's destination wedding. And through all of these trips... we kept saying, 'it just isn't Disney'. Especially DH and I. I'm so happy to have found someone that shares my love of Disney, I'm such a lucky girl!



DH went to Disney once when he was about 10 for the 'obligatory American child right of passage' trip but that was it. His family prefers... waiting for it...



While I also enjoy a good tent and a campfire... I'll take a Disney vacation ANY day of the week over an out house Together, we've been to the world for our honeymoon June 2011 and stayed at CSR, in 2012 for one night at AKL after the cruise we took, and for three nights in 2014 at CSR because it was one of the worse winters EVER in New England. Needless to say... we're LONG over due a real, week long vacation. Also, we're both graduating mid May with our Masters Degrees - DH is getting his MBA and I'm getting my MSN/Family Nurse Practitioner. AND we'll be celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary a little early (which is June 11th).



This is DH and I in 2014

ME
Like I said, I'm Ashlee. I'm 29 years old and work as a nurse full time and go to graduate school full time.
Favorite Park: Epcot
Favorite Ride: Soarin' Around the World (Kali River Rapids is a close second!)
Favorite TS: Boma
Favorite Character: Belle

DH
AKA: Jon. He's 31 years old and works full time a scientist and also goes to graduate school full time.
Favorite Park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Kilimanjaro Safari
Favorite TS: Liberty Tree Tavern
Favorite Character: Grumpy​

And a guest appearance of our fur baby (who, unfortunately, won't be joining us on this trip but we'd love to take him! haha!)

​

 

[iheartbelle87]

How This Trip Came About

Hi everyone.... 105 days out! It's been snowing ALL day here ad we're expected to get up to 18 inches by the time the storm is over. Both my work and DH's are closed today so we got to hang around the house and... work on homework. yay! Luckily I finished my work by 9am (with the help of a few cups of coffee) so I had plenty of time to work on our trip details.

First I want to start with a brief background of this trip. Last September DH and I had a week long trip planned for the week of labor day. We were going to be staying six nights at POR ... I had this trip PLANNED. With all CAPS. And then, 32 days out, DH's work informed him he needed to give a 'company talk' the week he was supposed to be off. You might be thinking... ok why didn't he just say HELL TO THE NO! YOU HAD A DISNEY TRIP PLANNED! Welll.. we've been working REALLY hard to pay off our mortgage (our only debt) before we have babies. And his work dangled a HUGE raise in front of him if the talk went well. At 32 days out... we had to cancel our trip. Plus, I want babies ASAP.

I was crushed. Adulting is hard.

Of course this didn't stop me from harassing ... er, encouraging, DH to let me book a 're do' trip. The rest of fall 2016 was out due to our school/work schedules... we did have a few week break in January but DH couldn't get the time off from work (but.. I went to Disney 1/11-1/15 with my mom... see my signature for that TR!).

We finally got our graduation date of May 18th! Technically my last day of class is April 28th and Das will be somewhere around there too. BUT I'm attending a Family Nurse Practitioner review course to help me prepare for the state test May 4th, 5th and 6th so those dates were out. And I need to build up some earn time at work...FINNNALLLY we set 5/25-5/31! Plus, we had $498 in Southwest credits since we had to cancel our flights in September as well and those expire on 6/1/2017 so those dates just made sense.

Our next challenge was convincing my in laws to take our fur baby while we're away. Fur baby is SPOILED. So SPOILED. He's never been to a kennel in his life. He eats salmon, rice and peas twice a day. The dog has it MADE . DH called his mom and asked her to take fur baby... she went on some rants about how she isn't sure she could take the time off from work (yes... she takes vacation time form her job to watch our dog. SPOILED). Fortunately she came through (she always does... its just always a process...) and we were able to finally book the trip!

DH requested that we stay at POR as that is where he stayed during his 'once in a childhood' family trip and he felt it would be nostalgic. Plus, that is where we were planning on staying for the trip we had to cancel. CSR is my favorite moderate resort, and DH has stayed there twice and loves it too. I agreed to POR and did some research on prices. I checked the Disney website and reached out to a few TA's to get an idea on how much this trip would cost us... fortunately we got a good deal..

$2585 6 nights at POR standard view, 4 days base tickets + one complimentary visit to one of the
following: Disney's Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, Disney's 9 hole Oak Trail Golf CourseDisney's Fantasia or Winter Summerland Mini Golf or ESPN Wide World of Sport Complex.

So I booked the trip and started bookings ADRS!

Next up... Resort Change​

 

[Raeven]

Following along! We'll be there earlier in the month. I'm glad you finally get to go on a long vacation!

 

[iheartbelle87]

Following along! We'll be there earlier in the month. I'm glad you finally get to go on a long vacation!

Hey, so nice to see you here!! I've been following along your PTR and you're going to have SO.MUCH.FUN. Plus, I can't wait to hear back any snack recommendation from F&G Festival you have for me

 

[iheartbelle87]

Resort Change!

After booking our trip, I spent the next week or so scouring over Disney-themed websites trying to get lots of information about POR. I haven’t stay there since 2002 so it’s definitely been a while! And DH… it was called Pixie Landings when he last stayed there.

I had done research back in September so I was somewhat familiar with the resort. For some reason I just couldn't get excited about staying here. I know this is a lot of people’s favorite moderate resort so I tried to convince myself it would be okay. I looked at the pictures over and over and over again… I just wanted a beach theme. And maybe I still had some bad memories on having to cancel our last trip?


Now, DH is all about saving money. And I am financially conservative too… BUT the way I see it, we deserve to splurge a little on this trip. We haven’t been on a formal, week long vacation together since 2011, our honeymoon! I e-mailed our TA for a quote at the Beach Club and she gave me a GREAT deal… just $1000 more!


I immediately got work how on to bring this up to DH. He knows I would love to stay at GF every time (someday!) and humors me but never takes me seriously. So I came up with a list of reasons to convince him to let us make the switch:

#1 DH’s job made us cancel last time. I’m still harboring a little resentment and will use it to my advantage until the trip is over

#2 My employer is reimbursing us $1800 for my last grad school class so can use this money for the extra charge and still have leftovers

#3 We deserve to celebrate BOTH of us obtaining Masters Degrees!

#4 Our 6th wedding anniversary is June 11th, so an early celebration is needed

#5 This will likely be our last trip before pregnancy/have kids... so lets stay somewhere nice

#6 Stormalong bay! DH LOVES lazy rivers

#7 Being able to walk to/from DHS, Epcot, Boardwalk

#8 Balcony to enjoy coffee/wine/beer on it
(I even enlisted my mom to help with think of reasons to convince DH to let me change resorts! haha! The balcony mention was ALL her idea )


Over the next few days I talked about the Beach Club A LOT. DH and I g-chat each other throughout our work days and one day I asked him how his lunch was (that I woke up early to pack) and he said he decided to go out to lunch- now, this isn’t a big deal, but you better believe I used this to my advantage! In fact… later on I texted DH and asked him what he wanted for dinner.. and this was my in!



So it was settled. Now, I wasn’t really sure if he was saying ‘whatever you want’ an annoyed way or if he meant it. That night I decided to not say anything about our text convo- but DH brought it up. He said, ‘you are so persistent… do whatever you want’ with a smile! I’ll take it! And PS- I think DH was actually REALLY excited about this too


So I IMMEDIATELY emailed our TA and made the switch. She asked me to call her in the morning to discuss… I was a little nervous but what else could I do? I’m a total millennial and hate talking on the phone… I wish I could just live my life via text or email.

The next day I called our TA and she said she just wanted to tae to me in person to be sure I really wanted to make the change because of the price difference…


and it just like that it was DONE! BEACH CLUB HERE WE CCOOOOMMMMEEE!



Up next... Pre Travel Day/Travel Day Plans​

 

[Raeven]

Yay we're staying at the Beach Club in September (so far)! And we changed back to WL in May. I always come up with reasons too, but Josh has been pretty easy to convince so far. Right now I'm trying to sell him on another Christmastime trip (just a weekend this time), and I'm pretty sure "we can go to shulas again" won him over

 

[iheartbelle87]

Pre Travel Day/Travel Day Plans

Hi everyone… todays a big day… do you know why?

…. because its double digit disco day… 99 days away until we’re at the Happiest Place on Earth!


First, a real life update: 72 days until I’m done with grad school. April 28th sounds so far away, but 72 days seems do able. I still have to get 239 more clinical hours in… but I GOT this!!


I had a terrible professor last semester for my adult seminar, and was really looking forward to having a new one this semester for my pediatric seminar. Well… the pediatric professor resigned two weeks before the semester started and now I’m stuck with the same one I had in the fall. Ugh. For example, in class she said our first paper was due 2/16 but online (where we submit our assignments) it says 2/9 so I emailed and asked for clarification… instead of just a answering me, I was told “I’ll update it”. That was 12 days ago. And still no update. I could go on, but I don’t want to feed anymore unnecessary bad energy (haha).


Here in Massachusetts we got 12 inches of snow last week and another 12 inches this week… it seems like winter has decided to show up… all in two weeks! hahaha!!


Ok… back on track.


Pre Travel Day


Both DH and I will be working a normal day on the May 24th, the day before we leave so really it’s not going to be very exciting. Since we’re flying Southwest and I’m not about to spend an extra $20 for ‘early birth check in’ I’ll need to check us into our flight at 3:35pm this day. I’m hoping I don’t have a patient at that time, otherwise I might enlist one of my best friends/co workers to check us in


I’ll probably end up just getting us a frozen pizza or something simple for dinner that night and then make sure we’ve packed as much as we can. This includes packing up fur baby too… his food, toys, multivitamin, blankets, etc.


Travel Day


Even though our flight isn’t until 3:45pm this day, we still need to wake up early and get stuff done. My goal for us is to be on the road by 11am as we are meeting my mother in law in central NH to drop off fur baby, and this drive will take us about 90 min. I’m guessing DH and I will want to grab lunch before we head to the airport so depending on our timing we’ll either do fast food or a sit down restaurant. After lunch we’ll back on road, it should take us about 35 minutes to get to MHT.


Unfortunately our dear friends that lived just 10 min from MHT have moved to Pennsylvania so no free parking/rides to the airport. This time we’ll be parking our car at the airport - I LOVE that MHT is so small and easy to navigate. Plus, its $10 a day or $70 a week to park- such a good deal, especially compared to BOS! I think BOS is like $30 a day or something.. although recently DH and I were in an Uber and we asked the drive how much it would be to Uber from our house to BOS and he said about $35… so next time Mom and I fly out of Boston I think we’ll do this. My goal for us is to be at MHT by 2pm… we really don’t need to be there a long time before its such a small airport, plus its not like we have an early flight and want to eat before we fly. I do, however, want to pack a few snacks since our flight lands at 6:45 and by the time we get our luggage and to ME it’ll be way past the time we usually eat dinner… and no one wants to start vacation off hangry.



Next up … FP+ selections! I'm hoping to get this update in within the next few days so if you're reading along, feel free to introduce yourself!

​

 

[ariane37]

I don't know why I'm only noticing this now! Have to get DS up and ready for school but I'll be back to catch up

 

[iheartbelle87]

I don't know why I'm only noticing this now! Have to get DS up and ready for school but I'll be back to catch up

Yay welcome back!!!

 

[ariane37]

I'm all caught up! I'm laughing at how pampered your puppy is I would live to see how that changes if you have a baby soon lol! I used to treat my cats that way until I had my oldest-you'll see
So happy you upgraded to BC because after cancelling last year you guys deserve it! Especially adding in all your hard work with school. Getting those degrees is a great accomplishment and you should both be proud of yourselves

 

[iheartbelle87]

I'm laughing at how pampered your puppy is I would live to see how that changes if you have a baby soon lol! I used to treat my cats that way until I had my oldest-you'll se

Haha right?! He's TOTALLY a pampered pup.... You're right, I think all three of us will be in for a rude awakening when a baby makes its appearance! haha!!

 

[iheartbelle87]

Update!

I have enlisted trusty google docs to help me organize my thoughts and plans for this trip and I’m finding it quite helpful in figuring out what parades/fireworks/night time shows we want to attend on what nights.

In other news...I upgrades our tickets from 4 day base tickets to 5 day park hoppers. A month or so ago I asked others Dis’ers (on the resort board) ways to convince DH to let me upgrade us from POR to BC and a lot of people responded that a 5 day park hopper would pretty much make the most sense for us. I was a little hesitant because DH is not hte type of person that wants to rope drop and park hop for multiple attractions. But... then I got to thinking.... popping over to Epcot for a snack or lunch, heading back to the resort pool, and making our way to a different park for the evening is TOTALLY something I could see us doing. Or taking the monorail from MK to Epcot and walking back to the resort? Heck yes.

So... I emailed our trusty TA and she made the change. I don’t usually book our trips with TAs but because we got such a good deal I couldn’t pass it up! Does anyone else feel ‘bad’ emailing their TAs with changes? I always end my emails with “thank you SOOO SOOO SOOO much” haha!

Now, did I tell DH about the extra $160 and upgrading our tickets? No. Did he ever know that we had 4 day base tickets? Also no. He won’t have any idea that this wasn’t the price went up... so yay! I swear this is the last of the upgrades!!


Resort Arrival/First Night

Our flight is scheduled to land at 6:45pm and we’ll be using Disney’s Magical Express to get from MCO to the Beach Club. I’m a teensy bit of a control freak... so we’ll be picking up our own luggage and bringing it with us on ME.

We reserved a standard view room, and really the only thing that is a ‘must’ for us is a king size bed. Our second request would be a full balcony but I plan on spending more time sleeping in the bed than on the balcony I was fully prepared to ‘pay for the room you want’ but I guess you can’t book at standard view king bed, its luck of the draw. Has anyone stayed here and had any issues with getting a king bed? If we can’t get one we’re not going to let it ruin our time by ANY means.

I’m planning on it taking up to 90 mins from the time we land til we get to the BC, which puts us there at 8:15pm. It’s been 11 years since I’ve eaten at Beaches and Cream and I know its VERY popular now, so initially when we planned this trip I tried to make a reservation for us but all that was available was 9:30 which is too late for us. I was able to use touring plan’s reservation finder and within a few weeks got a text that an 8:30 ADR was available so I snagged it... such perfect timing!

I was trying to explain Beaches & Cream to DH, telling him its very popular and is right in our resort, etc... I described it as ‘like a 50s diner with comfortable food and ice cream’. He replied, ‘didn’t we already eat at a 50s place?’... and yes, yes, we did honey.. see he DOES pay attention!! In 2011 on our honeymoon we ate at 50s Prime Time Cafe. He seemed happy and said it sounds like something we would enjoy and liked that we won’t have to leave the resort... SCORE!

That’s pretty much going to be the excitement of our arrival/first night because we’ll likely head to bed soon after dinner.
​

Up next... Real Life Update

Sorry this was so wordy... more pics next time, promise​

 

[mkate9]

I'm following along! I love how you talked your husband into Beach Club. I can definitely relate to those kinds of conversations

We'll be at Beach Club Villas a few weeks before you and I can't wait...Beach Club is one of my dream resorts!

 

[iheartbelle87]

I love how you talked your husband into Beach Club. I can definitely relate to those kinds of conversations

hahaha hey there is NOTHING wrong with being a girl who knows what she wants and how to get it!

We'll be at Beach Club Villas a few weeks before you and I can't wait...Beach Club is one of my dream resorts!

Ah it seems like EVERYONE is going before us! (cough @ariane37 and @Raeven) Have you stayed at the Beach Club before? any tips?

 

[kittylady1972]

Following along because:

1. We are also staying at Beach Club and our dates overlap yours a bit...so take note of the family photos in any of my TRs/PTRs so you can avoid my crazy family!!! We haven't been to Beach Club in years so I can't wait to go back!
2. Can't wait to hear what you have planned and what parks and ADRs you end up with for your trip.
3. In case I forget to make my own FP+ reservations, maybe when I read your report and hear you've made yours it will remind me!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Hey girl!! Love the PTR so far We stayed at the BC back in 2005 and YC in 2013! Stormalong Bay is amazing and you guys will love it! Plus the BC's location can't be beat... You could even walk over to Epcot just for dinner one night!

Beaches and Cream is one of my family's favorites! If you like peanut butter, make sure you try the No Way Jose Sundae. You won't regret it

 

[ariane37]

Ah it seems like EVERYONE is going before us! (cough @ariane37 and @Raeven) Have you stayed at the Beach Club before? any tips?

We just stayed there last November for the first time! My kids loved it, Chris loved Stormalong Bay. We ate breakfast a few times at the Marketplace and for a resort QS we thought it was really good! I don't really know of any tips, we rented points so we weren't in the main bldg because the DVC building is separate but not far away at all from the main bldg. Enjoy walking from Epcot, the scenery walking to and from at night is gorgeous Even walking to HS isn't bad at all if it isn't hot and it's very nice at night.

 

[iheartbelle87]

Following along because:

1. We are also staying at Beach Club and our dates overlap yours a bit...so take note of the family photos in any of my TRs/PTRs so you can avoid my crazy family!!! We haven't been to Beach Club in years so I can't wait to go back!
2. Can't wait to hear what you have planned and what parks and ADRs you end up with for your trip.
3. In case I forget to make my own FP+ reservations, maybe when I read your report and hear you've made yours it will remind me!

AAHH yay, hello and welcome! Hey if there's ever a day DH wants to sleep in/nap I may message you to join in on your crazy family fun! haha! JK!! Oh girl I WILL remind you about FP+... multiple alarms are set for the day!!

Hey girl!! Love the PTR so far We stayed at the BC back in 2005 and YC in 2013! Stormalong Bay is amazing and you guys will love it! Plus the BC's location can't be beat... You could even walk over to Epcot just for dinner one night!

Beaches and Cream is one of my family's favorites! If you like peanut butter, make sure you try the No Way Jose Sundae. You won't regret it

HII!!! So glad to have you! I was looking for a funny gif to insert here... something like 'hey girl hey' but my computer isn't cooperating and I haven't had any coffee yet... so just i imagined something funny here Do you have any trips planned? That peanut situation sounds amazing...

We just stayed there last November for the first time! My kids loved it, Chris loved Stormalong Bay. We ate breakfast a few times at the Marketplace and for a resort QS we thought it was really good! I don't really know of any tips, we rented points so we weren't in the main bldg because the DVC building is separate but not far away at all from the main bldg. Enjoy walking from Epcot, the scenery walking to and from at night is gorgeous Even walking to HS isn't bad at all if it isn't hot and it's very nice at night.

OO thanks for the info!! I can DEF see DH and I walking to DHS if its not too hot out!! When Mom and I were there last month we took a bus from DS to DHS and walked to Epcot... it was longer than I thought it would be, but definitely very nice!!