May 2010 Pre-Trip Report - Hooray! Leaving in Less than a Day!

[PolynesianLily]

Ok, I know that the real saying is "time flies when you are having fun", but preparing in my mind for a Disney trip is fun!

Cast of Characters:
DM (Mother)
DD (Father)
Me (PolynesianLily)

Trip Dates:
May 2nd 2010 to May 11th 2010
Disney's Polynesian Resort

So this will be our 10th trip to Walt Disney World. I have been so lucky to have been able to go this many times to WDW. Each trip we take, I fall more and more in love with Disney World. Walt Disney World to me is like a 2nd home. I'd prefer to refer to it as my first home, but of course I am very thankful for where I live.

I thought that I should give a little bit of some information about myself. Just so you are not reading this wondering who exactly I am. I am 18 years old, and am currently in my first year of university. Although, in approximately 6 days I will be done my first year! I am going to university to be an elementary school teacher, because it has been my dream since kindergarten.

I've tried to write a pre-trip report before, but nobody really read it, or if they did than they just didn't post. I love writing, it just so happens that I feel nothing is really ever good enough, or well written enough to capture the moment.

For this trip I hope to take a large number of photographs. Actually, it is my mission to not stop taking pictures, with some time to spare for screaming.

 

[Nichellebelle]

Hello! Can't wait to read more about your plans!

 

[PolynesianLily]

So it has been a while since I last posted, a long while. I have been busy with school and have not had any time to update my pre-trip report. So let's see I'm pretty sure the last time that I posted I had 128 days left until my trip, but now there is only . . . *drumroll* 70 days left! It's not that many considering it seems like everyday is flying by, especially when I am away at school.

We've made our plane reservations because we found an excellent deal, so here are the flight details:

To Florida
Departing Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Departing Time: 10:30 am
Arriving Location: Orlando, Florida, United States
Arriving Time: 1:07 pm

From Florida
Departing Location: Orlando, Florida, United States
Departing Time: 1:55 pm
Arriving Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Arriving Time: 4:38 pm

We decided to book a little earlier than we had planned because there was a seat sale, and the prices were amazing. I have yet to see a price as good as we got the seats for since, and now they are only selling them for the regular price which is close to $300.00 per person.

Today, we book our rental car. Since we used West Jet, I found a great ID Code that saved us approximately $181.81, and considering all that we are eating in WDW, that will pay for a few buffets. So, I first found a coupon code that allowed us to get a free upgrade for the car. At first, we were going to book a mid-size car because it was close to $100.00 cheaper or more than the standard car. I decided to look online to see if I could find another code, and I found the West Jet guest I.D. code. I tried it in the I.D. Code section on the Alamo website, and BAM! The price for the standard car went down to $179.16 and the mid-size car was $149.00. Of course, with the free upgrade included we decided to take the second deal I found.

Car: Full-Size
Price: Approximately $258.00
Regular Price: $480.00

This trip has been all about getting discounts. First, we got the 40% off our room at the Polynesian, then we got a discount on the airplane seats, then the car rental discount. Amazing. If there is one thing I can say is do some research, it is amazing what you will find discount wise, if you do some homework.

Onto the plans for our trip:

Monday, May 3 2010
7:45 am – Kona Café
9:30 am – Magic Kingdom
6:05 pm – Cape May Café
7:30 pm – Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Tuesday, May 4 2010
7:50 am – Cape May Café
9:00 am – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
5:00 pm – Downtown Disney Dinner

Wednesday, May 5 2010
7:45 am – Kona Café
9:30 am – Epcot
1:05 pm – Biergarten
5:00 pm – Lotus Blossom Café

Thursday, May 6 2010
7:45 am – Grand Floridian Café
9:30 am – Animal Kingdom
5:00 pm – T-Rex

Friday, May 7 2010
7:55 am – Captain Cook's
9:00 am – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
1:00 pm – Boat to Epcot
8:00 pm – Epcot

Saturday, May 8 2010
7:45 am – Kona Café
10:00 am – Downtown Disney
11:00 am – Boat to Port Orleans Riverside
12:30 pm – Earl of Sandwich
1:30 pm – Boat to Saratoga Springs
3:00 pm – Shopping
4:00 pm – Ghiradelli’s
5:55 pm – Cape May Café

Sunday, May 9 2010
7:45 am – Kona Café
9:30 am – Animal Kingdom
5:00 pm – Earl of Sandwich
7:00 pm – Magic Kingdom

Monday, May 10 2010
7:45 am – Grand Floridian Café
9:30 am – Magic Kingdom
1:30 pm – Les Chef de France
6:00 pm – Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Tuesday, May 11 2010
7:35 am – Kona Cafe

Consider these plans to be tentative. Although I have some EMH evening parks put down for some nights, this may change. We have a tentative plan to stay at MK on Sunday May 9th until 12am when it becomes Monday May 10th and it is my birthday. This may change, but it is a possibility.

I have to work on my photography skills. They are better when I'm not running to catch up with someone else. This trip it's all about relaxing and taking in the theming. So expect lots of pictures of flowers and everything. For this trip my goal is to get close to 4000 pictures.

This has been a long enough update. I will be back with another one later!

 

[reyasmommy]

Your plans look great, can't wait to see all your wonderful pictures.

 

[PolynesianLily]

Thank you for joining me!
I get quite frustrated when my pictures turn out blurry or weirdly colored.

I see that you are going to WDW soon! I hope that you have an amazing time!!

 

[reyasmommy]

Thank you for joining me!
I get quite frustrated when my pictures turn out blurry or weirdly colored.

I see that you are going to WDW soon! I hope that you have an amazing time!!

I like taking a ton of pictures too, but not sure how well I'll be able to do that this year while carrying a baby everywhere. Guess we'll see.

Thanks, I'm excited.... I've been planning this trip since before I was pregnant, so it can't come soon enough.

 

[PolynesianLily]

I like taking a ton of pictures too, but not sure how well I'll be able to do that this year while carrying a baby everywhere. Guess we'll see.

Thanks, I'm excited.... I've been planning this trip since before I was pregnant, so it can't come soon enough.

Waiting for the WDW trips feels like forever, but now when I look at how many days are left, compared to how many days were left when we booked, it's crazy how time flies.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Hello from a fellow Canadian Enjoying everything so far...subbing so I don't miss a thing!!

 

[PolynesianLily]

Hello from a fellow Canadian Enjoying everything so far...subbing so I don't miss a thing!!

Thank you!
I am going to work on the nighttime plans so I can add them to the schedule.

I hope you had a nice trip to WDW!

 

[PolynesianLily]

After looking at some online menus at Downtown Disney:

We think that we might be changing the Paradiso 37 to something else because when we looked at the Paradiso 37 menu online, it did not look that appealing.

Could we possibly replace it with T-Rex? Maybe. The food on the menu there looks delicious!

We also really like the Earl of Sandwich food, but it would also be nice to change up where we eat at Downtown Disney because we are going there so many times.

In a way I wish that DHS had a few more places to eat. Don't get me wrong, they do have some places to eat, but the menu lacks some variety. We use to eat at ABC Commissary, then they took away the items that we liked on their menu.

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

I'm signing on for the fun! Your user name was enough to make me want to read. We are staying at the Poly for part of our summer trip in July. This will be a first and I super excited! I hope that part of your 4000 pictures will be of the resort!

Erika

 

[PolynesianLily]

I'm signing on for the fun! Your user name was enough to make me want to read. We are staying at the Poly for part of our summer trip in July. This will be a first and I super excited! I hope that part of your 4000 pictures will be of the resort!

Erika

Thank you for hopping aboard my trip report!
Guaranteed I will have tons of pictures of the Polynesian.
Personally, I am in love with the Polynesian, it feels like home to me.

 

[PolynesianLily]

Thank you all for joining me on my pre-trip report. It is much appreciated to have you all on board, and reading this.

I would like to apologize in advance if I do not update this daily, I have been known to forget about things, haha.

If any one has any questions, I will be more than happy to answer your questions. I will be posting some pictures from previous trips soon as well.

 

[MisplacedTraveler]

Looks great so far. Can't wait to read more.

 

[PolynesianLily]

Looks great so far. Can't wait to read more.

Thank you for joining me!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Looks like FUN!
Subbing in.

 

[PolynesianLily]

Looks like FUN!
Subbing in.

Thank you!
I see that you are also going in may!

 

[PolynesianLily]

Good Morning all!
I should have an update later on today

 

[Queenofallthings]

Good Morning all!
I should have an update later on today

All I can say to this picture is WOW

 

[PolynesianLily]

All I can say to this picture is WOW

Good Morning!!!!
Thank you!
I took it on one of my morning walks with my mom to the Grand Floridian. I'm hoping this trip to get an even better picture this trip.