aggiegirl1234
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2008
- Messages
- 255
Hello everybody! This May I'm finally graduating from college and, of course, I have to get in one last Disney trip before I start work in July. This definitely isn't my first trip to Disney, but it is my first trip report 
I absolutely love the DIS, and it has been invaluable to me being the obsessive planner that I am!
Background Info: So this will be my 6th trip to Disney World. My first trip was back in 1996 when I was 9 (do y'all remember the pink birthday cake decorated castle?). My dad had been to DW for the first time on a business trip a few years before and decided he had to take my sister and me. After that first trip I was hooked! When I was 14, I went again with my tennis team because the Junior Olympics were being held in Orlando that year. I thought, like most things seem to as we get older, that DW would feel smaller than I remembered it and not as fun, but I was wrong! When I was graduating high school, my mom said I could go anywhere in the world for a graduation present and it took me all of half a second to say "Disney World!" I went again after my freshman year of college, and then for Christmas with my family in 2008, which began our new tradition of vacationing for Christmas instead of giving presents (totally my idea). So, once again, I picked Disney for my graduation present!
When: May 21st to 26th
We'll be there for 6 days and 5 nights. I liked this block of time because the crowd calendar has half of the days at 4s and the other half at 6s. Of course anything would be better than the crowd levels (all 10s) we had on our last trip. I took this picture then just because I'd never seen Fronteirland that packed
:
Where: We'll be FLYING in from Dallas and staying at the Contemporary (Tower Bay Lake view). I emphasize the flying for two reasons. One, I rarely fly, and I'm a bit terrified of flying honestly. Two, my family never flies to Disney. We always drive the 1,157 miles from San Antonio and it always takes away from time in the parks!
Now, onto the hotel choice. Ever since my first Disney trip, I have always been in awe of the Contemporary as we rode through it on the monorail. We've always stayed at Downtown Disney area hotels, but on our most recent trip we decided to try a Disney resort (POFQ). I don't think I'll ever stay offsite again! Now, I almost booked at the GF for this trip, but I realized that I really only love its public areas and really prefer the CR overall, so I booked CR and made ADRs for Narcoosee's to get my GF fix!
Who's Going: Just us!
This will be my first trip with just myself and one other person going. That's John, my DBF (I'm sort of new to the acronyms so I'm assuming this one means "dear boyfriend"?). We lived on the same floor of our college dorms and have been dating for about two and a half years now
He's only been to DW once, actually the same time I was there in 1996. I know this because he says he really only remembers two things from DW, one of which being the pink castle. The other was all of the stuff hanging from the ceiling in the POFQ food court 
You'd think it'd be a ride... Anyway, he's from Texarkana, a nuclear engineering major, really good snowboarder, and not a crazy Disney fanatic like me. He does like all the Pixar films though! I'm really looking forward to showing him around DW and seeing his reaction to it. He even says it'll practically be like his first time since he doesn't remember his first trip.
Then there's me. I'm Shelley and I'm just finishing graduate school, I'm majoring in accounting, and I get ridiculously excited about four things in life: chocolate, snow, puppies, and Disney!
Who's not Going:
My puppy Sydney...I don't think she's too terribly upset though. She weighs 3 and a half pounds, doesn't care to be outside, and is scared of the wind.
Up next: dining reservations!
I absolutely love the DIS, and it has been invaluable to me being the obsessive planner that I am! Background Info: So this will be my 6th trip to Disney World. My first trip was back in 1996 when I was 9 (do y'all remember the pink birthday cake decorated castle?). My dad had been to DW for the first time on a business trip a few years before and decided he had to take my sister and me. After that first trip I was hooked! When I was 14, I went again with my tennis team because the Junior Olympics were being held in Orlando that year. I thought, like most things seem to as we get older, that DW would feel smaller than I remembered it and not as fun, but I was wrong! When I was graduating high school, my mom said I could go anywhere in the world for a graduation present and it took me all of half a second to say "Disney World!" I went again after my freshman year of college, and then for Christmas with my family in 2008, which began our new tradition of vacationing for Christmas instead of giving presents (totally my idea). So, once again, I picked Disney for my graduation present!
When: May 21st to 26th
We'll be there for 6 days and 5 nights. I liked this block of time because the crowd calendar has half of the days at 4s and the other half at 6s. Of course anything would be better than the crowd levels (all 10s) we had on our last trip. I took this picture then just because I'd never seen Fronteirland that packed
:
Where: We'll be FLYING in from Dallas and staying at the Contemporary (Tower Bay Lake view). I emphasize the flying for two reasons. One, I rarely fly, and I'm a bit terrified of flying honestly. Two, my family never flies to Disney. We always drive the 1,157 miles from San Antonio and it always takes away from time in the parks!
Now, onto the hotel choice. Ever since my first Disney trip, I have always been in awe of the Contemporary as we rode through it on the monorail. We've always stayed at Downtown Disney area hotels, but on our most recent trip we decided to try a Disney resort (POFQ). I don't think I'll ever stay offsite again! Now, I almost booked at the GF for this trip, but I realized that I really only love its public areas and really prefer the CR overall, so I booked CR and made ADRs for Narcoosee's to get my GF fix!
Who's Going: Just us!
This will be my first trip with just myself and one other person going. That's John, my DBF (I'm sort of new to the acronyms so I'm assuming this one means "dear boyfriend"?). We lived on the same floor of our college dorms and have been dating for about two and a half years now
He's only been to DW once, actually the same time I was there in 1996. I know this because he says he really only remembers two things from DW, one of which being the pink castle. The other was all of the stuff hanging from the ceiling in the POFQ food court You'd think it'd be a ride... Anyway, he's from Texarkana, a nuclear engineering major, really good snowboarder, and not a crazy Disney fanatic like me. He does like all the Pixar films though! I'm really looking forward to showing him around DW and seeing his reaction to it. He even says it'll practically be like his first time since he doesn't remember his first trip. Then there's me. I'm Shelley and I'm just finishing graduate school, I'm majoring in accounting, and I get ridiculously excited about four things in life: chocolate, snow, puppies, and Disney!
Who's not Going:
My puppy Sydney...I don't think she's too terribly upset though. She weighs 3 and a half pounds, doesn't care to be outside, and is scared of the wind.
Up next: dining reservations!
I know it would be a great deal if you normally eat three full meals a day. However, my boyfriend and I are the type that usually skip breakfast and appetizers. I'm normally pretty thrifty, but like I said, who knows when I'll get to DW again once I start working. AND, I'm already spending six days in the park (the most days I've ever spent in one trip) and I've booked a tower room at the CR. Why not just continue the splurging?! If I were thinking normally, I would probably just get the regular dining plan, a garden wing standard CR room (if at all...normally I'd stay at a moderate. Probably CSR because their new rooms are gorgeous), and four, maaaaybe five days in the parks. 
Another restaurant that I wanted to try but couldn't seem to fit in anywhere was Ohana. Oh well! I'm more than happy with what I've got, especially since I only booked about 75 days in advance. So here's the list! 
Something I had not factored into my trip. How will I take pictures of everything like I always do if it's raining? Even if I did take pictures they would be of thunderclouds at Disney World! My hair will be ruined for said pictures. They'll close down the rides. My DBF won't like Disney and he'll never want us to come back EVER AGAIN! 
disrocks: by the way), someone had asked 
!
Oh well! I'll just have to keep trying...every ten minutes or so 
People reporting back to the DIS are saying it's been great, terrible, unbearable, bearable....ahhhhh! So I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 
I was supposed to have three 4's and three 6's. Now I've got three 4's, one 6, and two 7's. 7's! 
Oh well, we're still going to the "best parks" each day. And to be safe, I finally decided to make up some touring plans. I used the ones offered on touringplans.com and modified them a bit. I actually felt way better as I was making them. I have no idea if they'll actually work, but I'll report on that, the weather, the crowds, the food, and and much more once I'm back! 
