"Membership Magic"-Our First DVC Stay-UPDATED 7/17

[UDFlyer12]

"Membership Magic"-Our First DVC Stay-PTR June/July 2016​

After my last attempt at a trip report (May 2015), I felt like a complete failure. Halfway through writing it, I sorta got busy with life and gave up and it died.

Alas, I am back and feeling confident in my ability to complete it! I will first get into the groove of writing with this PTR. So I will give you the rundown of who is going and how we got here!
First, there's me. "Hello I'm Krista. It's been 5 years since my last fish."

I'm 25 and currently I work as a full-time librarian and part-time Disney aficionado. My first trip to the World was at the ripe age of 1. I have been going back pretty much every year since. I attended the CP in the Spring of 2011 working Attractions at PPF and IASW. While I enjoyed working for the mouse, I much prefer being a guest of the mouse. My favorites below are as follows:
Park: Magic Kingdom
Ride: The Great Movie Ride
Movie: Sleeping Beauty/Lilo & Stitch
Resort: Port Orleans Riverside (This is subject to change after this trip)
Character: Stitch (we Stitch enthusiasts are a rare breed)

Then, there are my lovely parents, Jenny and Tim.

Jenny is a part-time nurse and full-time Cincinnati sports fan. She has been many many times as well, beginning when she was a child. Her and my dad even stayed at the Poly on their honeymoon!
Her favorites below are as follows:
Park: Magic Kingdom
Ride: Splash Mountain
Movie: Beauty and the Beast/Snow White
Resort: Polynesian
Character: Donald Duck
Tim is a full-time project manager at an engineering company and a part-time Fantasy Football Champion. He didn't start going to Disney until he met my mom, but they have been going ever since.
His favorites below are as follows:
Park: Magic Kingdom
Ride: Mission Space
Movie: Steamboat Willie
Resort: Animal Kingdom
Character: Mickey Mouse
Last but not least is my "little" brother, TJ.
​

TJ is a 20 year old (soon to be 21 as of 2/22) full-time college student studying business and part-time video gamer. I never really know how he feels about Disney to be honest, because he's pretty indifferent about everything. I will tell you though, he prefers to do things alone a of the time, and hates when we plan too much. This last trip we decided to forego the parks on our last day and he was NOT happy...so we dropped him off at MK and he spent a few hours there by himself and had a blast.
His favorites below are as follows:
Park: Epcot
Ride: Mission Space
Movie: Wreck It Ralph
Resort: Port Orleans Riverside
Character: Darth Vader
Sadly, my partner-in-crime older sister, Lauren, would not be joining us since she is finishing up her Psy D. in New Hampshire. She is usually the master planner that overrules all opinions and ideas. She doesn't necessarily understand my obsession with Stitch, but she allows me to embrace it by encouraging me to buy more things I don't need.
Now that we have intros, let's get to the good stuff!

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For the past couple of year, Jenny and Tim have gone back and forth on joining DVC. They went on the tour and Tim was ready to throw down right then and there. Jenny wanted to join, but wanted to look at resale. So they did. For like a year. They had a deal ready at OKW that they had their hearts set on and it fell through. They were devastated, but all good things come in time. So finally!...August 2015 the deal went through and we were officially DVC Members at Saratoga Springs Resort.

Not only this, but we all bought APs. Double celebration! So...when will we go? We already had a trip booked and paid for for December...so we wouldn't use it then. We usually go in June/July because we have a family condo we borrow the first two weeks of July. So the summer it is! June 25-July 2, 2016 to be exact. The hotel was the next debate. After viewing multiple DVC resorts, Tim was settled on AKL and me and Jenny were set on Poly. Split stay it is! ​

So here is the lowdown:
June 25-29 AKL-Jambo House-Savanna View
June 29-July 2-Poly Standard View
Itinerary:
6/25 Arrive at MCO and head to AKL; Evening at Animal Kingdom
6/26 Magic Kingdom in the AM, lunch at Be Our Guest (12:25), Epcot in PM
6/27 Animal Kingdom in AM, Hollywood Studios in PM
6/28 Sleep in and swim! Dinner at Kona, PM at Epcot
6/29 Hollywood Studios in AM, Special Lunch*(12:00),Magic Kingdom in PM
6/30 Sleep in, Breakfast at 'Ohana (10:30A), MK in late PM
7/1 Epcot all day, Dinner at Cape May Cafe
7/2 Check out of Poly, All Day at MK, Dinner at The Plaza (5:10), Drive to Clearwater​

Now I know what you're dying to ask...what is this Special Lunch* you speak of? Well, Jenny and Tim's 30th wedding anniversary is on June 14th!

As a present to them, their 3 wonderful children have made reservations for lunch for them at Hollywood Brown Derby for the 4-course Dine with an Imagineer Event! This is something I have done extensive research on and I am sure they will love, as they always love gathering new Disney information. While they attend this, my brother and I will be enjoying lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater.
Now this is all subject to change of course, because as long as there is time allowing, I will most certainly change something somewhere because I have a problem.

Now let's get this party started! If you have any suggestions and input, feel free to put it out there, as we love going off script or trying new things we haven't done in our 20+ trips. Also, for those of who have written trip reports, any and all support in pushing through is greatly appreciated.

Thanks and enjoy!

Link to Pages:
Day 1 Part 1
Day 1 Part 2
Day 1 Part 3​

 

[KatherineDisney]

Sounds like a fun trip! Have fun planning!!

 

[winnie_516]

Already sounds like a great trip! I'm starting to price DVC myself...and I have yet to even graduate college/get a job! It's a huge investment but from what I've seen, it's so worth it!

 

[UDFlyer12]

Sounds like a fun trip! Have fun planning!!

Thank you!

Already sounds like a great trip! I'm starting to price DVC myself...and I have yet to even graduate college/get a job! It's a huge investment but from what I've seen, it's so worth it!

I can't say much since technically I did not buy it, nor have we gone on a trip yet. But I will say that we tend to visit AT LEAST once a year, so I'm sure it'll pay off. However, I have looked into buying 50 pts or so for myself to start and am waiting til I can pay cash for it, rather than take out ANOTHER loan.

 

[UDFlyer12]

UPDATE​

As always, my mother and I have been reading reviews for various restaurants and have seen some mixed ones for Chefs de France. While I always tend to take these with a grain of salt, it does have us thinking. Do any of you have any opinions of this place or have any suggestions for Epcot restaurants? We want to try something new and have been to Garden Grill, Via Napoli, Biergarten, and Akershus. Thanks in advance!

 

[UDFlyer12]

Second Update​

Little update as I near the trip. As always, as the trip gets closer, I slowly decide to make more changes. Since we last gathered here, we have added a tour! We are officially all going on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour on 6/28. It was supposed to be a sleep-in kinda day, but we couldn't pass it up since we got to use one of our many discount options. I myself have been in the Utilidors as a CM in Fantasyland, but my mom was very interested in seeing them as well. After we decided to go, the rest of the gang jumped on board. I feel like I have a substantial amount of Disney information, but I am looking forward to seeing what else I can learn. Also, this being our first time having annual passes, we wouldn't feel as though we were "wasting" a park day and money since admission is required. I can't wait!

Regarding my previous update on restaurants, we have chosen to eat dinner at Cape May Cafe rather than Chefs de France. It will get us out of the park for a bit...and I LOVE crab legs. 114 days to go!...but I actually don't have to wait long. I have a last minute trip I planned and I leave bright and early TOMORROW! 4 nights at Pop here I come!

 

[unwritten01]

Have a great trip!!

 

[Luvscrappin]

WELL>>>> Give us the report!

 

[UDFlyer12]

I finally have all of my photos and writing in order so let's get this thing started!

Day1: Part1


It’s vacation time! I barely got any sleep last night, and before you know it, it’s 6:15 and my alarm is going off. We all took showers, did our hair, and were out the door at 7:00AM on the dot. If we were late…DF would not have enjoyed that one bit.

We made it to the airport around 7:30AM. It was insanely crowded! DF flies every single week and said he had never seen anything like that before. So since he is Delta Priority, he checked everyone’s luggage while we went through security. By the time he checked luggage and made it to TSA Pre-Check, we were meeting up on the opposite side at the same exact time.

We spent the time before the flight in the Delta Crown Room, enjoying some light breakfast and beverages. Meanwhile, I was having a massive anxiety attack. I hate flying. I feel extremely claustrophobic; the anticipation is almost as bad as being on the plane itself.

I tried with all my might to get out of going, but failed. I ended up taking a double dose of my anxiety medication and hopping on the plane…and let me tell you, that worked wonders. (Do not try this at home.

The flight went off without any issues, I slept the entire flight and was totally fine, yet slightly loopy. We made it to Tampa around 11:30 and went straight to get our luggage. It came up fairly quick and we headed to Hertz to pick up our rental car. After that, we were en route to Orlando. With one pit stop for snacks and necessities at Target, we were headed to our hotel for the evening.

Unfortunately I have no real photos until later on tonight due to my issues with the plane

Up Next...Day 1 Part 2​

 

[UDFlyer12]

Day 1: Part 2


We made it to the Hampton in South and Lake Buena Vista around 2PM. Our room was ready and we were in 305. Picture of the room will be below. The hotel is quite nice, and I always enjoy staying in Hampton Inns; they have the comfiest hotel beds I have ever experienced. After we brought up our luggage and sort of settled in (since we were only staying for one night). We were headed to Disney Springs! Below are a few pictures of our lovely hotel room.








We arrived at Disney Springs around 3:30PM and parked in the Lime garage. I really enjoy that they tell you how many spots are available in each row. We parked and headed in via the left side of World of Disney.

Next Up: Part 3

​

 

[UDFlyer12]

Day 1: Part 3​

We walked through the brand new shopping area of Disney Springs, browsing through stores such as Lilly Pulitzer, Vera Bradley, Zara, and Pandora. Everything looked so new and beautiful. I’m not yet sure how I feel about this new shopping area, as it reminds me of an outlet mall. The overhead covered area is really beautiful, however.


Lastly, we made a stop at Sprinkles cupcakes. DM got the off the menu choice, which was a Banana and Dark Chocolate, which she rated a 3/5. She thought that the icing was excellent, but the cake part itself was not very flavorful and pretty dry. DB go the Dark Chocolate Marshmallow, which he rated a 2/5. He said that he couldn’t taste the cream inside, and the dark chocolate was much too rich for him, and he usually enjoys it. All in all, kind of a fail for our Sprinkles visit.

View attachment 182444
We then headed to the new Guest Services area in order to purchase our TiW card for this trip and the next. The only thing that was odd was when they looked up our information, it gave the name of the people we had purchased it from. They said it wasn’t as issue for the purchase but told us to call membership services later…WEIRD.

Our dinner for the evening is something of a family tradition, as it must happen once every trip. Where did we go?

Earl of Sandwich!

DM and DB ordered the Earl’s Club, which they rated a 4/5. They said it was not very warm and definitely not the best sandwich they had had from Earl…but still good.


A little disclaimer for our meals: Before our trip DF had terrible kidney stones that required surgery. According to the doctor, he needs to rid of things high in sodium and foods containing oxalates. I did a little research and it sounds like he basically has to starve.

He had the Full Montagu sandwich. He gave it a 4/5 only because he wasn’t allowed to have the sauce that comes with it, due to his dietary restrictions.

Lastly, I had the Chicken Caesar Wrap. I gave it a 4.5/5. It really was excellent, did not come with unnecessary vegetables, but had slightly too much Caesar dressing, which docked it .5 points.

We spent the rest of our evening walking around Disney Springs, where a few purchases were inevitably made. For my upcoming birthday DF and DM bought me an original sketch of Lilo and Stitch hugging, which was then put in a dark wood Mickey frame from the Art of Disney.



We then got lost for awhile in World of Disney, where I attempted to buy a new watch. A note I made to myself in my phone notes says “Jewelry counter customer service is horrendous”. There is no sense of organization, and not enough people working. After 30 minutes someone offered to finally help me with my watch selection, which I didn’t even end up purchasing due to the design of the watch (it was unable to be adjusted).

We then ended our evening having a snack and drinks at Jock Lindsay’s Hangar Bar. We ordered “Air Pirates Pretzels” to snack on. For drinks, I ordered Reggie’s Revenge, which is “Florida Cane Orange Vodka, Midori Melon Liqueur, White Cranberry Juice, and Lime Juice”. It was pretty tasty, but also very strong. I gave it a 4/5. DM ordered “Anything Goes”, which is “ByeJoe Dragon Fire Spirit, fresh lime juice, Passion Fruit, and Pineapple Juice”. She gave it a 3/5, mostly due to the Dragon Fire Spirit, which gave it much too tasty of an aftertaste. DF had a Bud Light bottle (since he can no longer have draft), while DB had the “Antidote”, which was essentially a Shirley Temple. Our bill came to around $75, including the Monkey Head specialty cup I bought.

(This cool looking propeller is what our pretzels came on!)

We all agreed that while the décor was fun, and the drinks were okay, it was somewhere we wouldn’t go out of our way to return to. We are much more looking forward to going to Trader Sam’s during our stay at the Poly.

After that we did a bit more looking around in the shops before deciding to call it a night. We made it back to the hotel around 10PM and went to bed.

Coming Up…Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and AKL-Jambo Check-In​