DrGaellon
Disney Fan - Westgate Owner
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2011
- Messages
- 342
This is my first pre-trip report, so please, be gentle.
This will be my sixth consecutive GayDays, my seventh total, and the first time I'm going with a significant other. (My first GD was with my ex; we'd just broken up a month before and were "trying to stay friends." That didn't last long...) This will not only be my boyfriend's first GD, it will be his first visit to WDW since sometime in the 70's.
I've been a Westgate owner for several years; last year, they'd talked me into an upgrade to a 4 bedroom lock-off. So, since we had the room, I invited two couples who are friends of mine, and David invited a couple and a single who are friends of his, and we were planning to fill all four rooms. Well, inevitably, ALL of our friends canceled, so we're traveling just the two of us. At least I put the other three rooms back into my bank. By the way, the booking was made back in March.
I had reserved a largish vehicle, assuming we were going to have lots of people. When every one canceled, I downgraded to a normal, full-size car (Taurus/Impala or the like). David begged me to get a "fun" car, and I can't help but indulge him, so I went to Priceline, dropped a bid on a Mustang convertible for $35/night and got it - we're getting the 'stang for about $100 more than the full-size would've cost.
Also because of the crowd we were expecting to be with, all our ADRs were made for parties of 6... I still haven't called to scale them down because I'm hoping to make friends to join us. We are also not following the promoters' recommended schedule, in an attempt to minimize the impact of crowds.
Westgate has park tickets at discount (usually about 7% off gate), so I'm not planning to buy tickets til we get there. I learned long ago that, if I had the extra cash, it's a good idea to buy BIG tickets, then add the "never expire" option before I leave Orlando - you save a lot on the per-day price, and you don't have to pay for the never expire on the days you used. If I buy a 10-day ticket, use 4 days, then get the no-expire on the remaining six, I pay $368 at full gate price (with the Westgate discount, it's about $350). Buying two 4-day tickets (for 2 different trips) is $464 at gate prices.
Because we are using the timeshare, we're sort of locked in to a Friday arrival. I like to arrive Thursday, since we usually try to get to the Typhoon Lagoon party Friday night (the old Beach Ball, now Riptide), and I hate going out late after traveling. So, I paid for the room for one extra night and we are arriving Thursday; we land at MCO from LGA at about 330pm. We have reservations at Raglan Road at Downtown Disney (these are only for the 2 of us, since I made them through OpenTable, not Disney Dining).
Friday June 3, we are going to DAK. I consider this a half-day park, as there isn't a whole lot there I find very interesting; all of the theatricals bore me, and Camp Minnie-Mickey and the Dino section are way too kiddie for us. We have 550pm ADRs at Fulton's Crab House, then it's off to Typhoon Lagoon for Riptide. (I have to discuss with David whether to do Victoria Falls at 9, then head over to TL around 11, or if he wants to head right over to TL; the party officially starts at 8.)
Saturday is Wear Red Day at Magic Kingdom, of course. David prefers to be more spontaneous than I, so I have indulged him by not planning lunches; we'll go catch-as-catch-can. Dinner is at Narcoosee's at 530pm, then back into the park for the Electrical Parade and fireworks.
Sunday June 5 was originally supposed to be a void day... but then Let's Go Play announced the Drink Around The World and T-Dance event at Epcot. I'm not a big partier, but David is, so I surprised him with tickets to that. The LGP ticket includes park entry starting at 2pm, so we will probably save our real Disney tickets and just not head into Epcot until 2.
Monday June 6 was the planned Epcot day. We both had places we wanted to eat, so this is the only day I scheduled a lunch: 1230 at Tokyo Dining (we're both sushi lovers). We have 830pm at Bistro de Paris; I was hoping to get window seats to watch Illuminations, but as we'll be able to see it from the Odyssey Sunday night, I'm not fussed if we can't do that.
Tuesday June 7 will be Hollywood Studios. I have an ADR at the Brown Derby, but I've been meaning to call and change it to 50's Prime Time - I really must remember to do that tomorrow.
I had set aside 2 days for Universal, but I'm told both can be done in one day, especially if you're selective. I don't like thrill rides, and David has told me he's not enthused about riding without me, so I'm sure we can breeze through both parks in one day, which gives us back a void day. We will probably take Wednesday off, maybe drive out to the beach with the top down, then do Universal on Thursday. No dinner plans have been made for either day. Friday June 10, we fly home.
David's been in San Diego since May 10th visiting his best girlfriend; he gets home Tuesday May 24th. I expect Wednesday will be all about laundry.
We have a barbecue on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, so I imagine Saturday May 28th will be laundry, and Monday May 30th will be packing.
By the way, this is us. I'm the bear in black, David is the hottie in red.
This will be my sixth consecutive GayDays, my seventh total, and the first time I'm going with a significant other. (My first GD was with my ex; we'd just broken up a month before and were "trying to stay friends." That didn't last long...) This will not only be my boyfriend's first GD, it will be his first visit to WDW since sometime in the 70's.
I've been a Westgate owner for several years; last year, they'd talked me into an upgrade to a 4 bedroom lock-off. So, since we had the room, I invited two couples who are friends of mine, and David invited a couple and a single who are friends of his, and we were planning to fill all four rooms. Well, inevitably, ALL of our friends canceled, so we're traveling just the two of us. At least I put the other three rooms back into my bank. By the way, the booking was made back in March.
I had reserved a largish vehicle, assuming we were going to have lots of people. When every one canceled, I downgraded to a normal, full-size car (Taurus/Impala or the like). David begged me to get a "fun" car, and I can't help but indulge him, so I went to Priceline, dropped a bid on a Mustang convertible for $35/night and got it - we're getting the 'stang for about $100 more than the full-size would've cost.
Also because of the crowd we were expecting to be with, all our ADRs were made for parties of 6... I still haven't called to scale them down because I'm hoping to make friends to join us. We are also not following the promoters' recommended schedule, in an attempt to minimize the impact of crowds.
Westgate has park tickets at discount (usually about 7% off gate), so I'm not planning to buy tickets til we get there. I learned long ago that, if I had the extra cash, it's a good idea to buy BIG tickets, then add the "never expire" option before I leave Orlando - you save a lot on the per-day price, and you don't have to pay for the never expire on the days you used. If I buy a 10-day ticket, use 4 days, then get the no-expire on the remaining six, I pay $368 at full gate price (with the Westgate discount, it's about $350). Buying two 4-day tickets (for 2 different trips) is $464 at gate prices.
Because we are using the timeshare, we're sort of locked in to a Friday arrival. I like to arrive Thursday, since we usually try to get to the Typhoon Lagoon party Friday night (the old Beach Ball, now Riptide), and I hate going out late after traveling. So, I paid for the room for one extra night and we are arriving Thursday; we land at MCO from LGA at about 330pm. We have reservations at Raglan Road at Downtown Disney (these are only for the 2 of us, since I made them through OpenTable, not Disney Dining).
Friday June 3, we are going to DAK. I consider this a half-day park, as there isn't a whole lot there I find very interesting; all of the theatricals bore me, and Camp Minnie-Mickey and the Dino section are way too kiddie for us. We have 550pm ADRs at Fulton's Crab House, then it's off to Typhoon Lagoon for Riptide. (I have to discuss with David whether to do Victoria Falls at 9, then head over to TL around 11, or if he wants to head right over to TL; the party officially starts at 8.)
Saturday is Wear Red Day at Magic Kingdom, of course. David prefers to be more spontaneous than I, so I have indulged him by not planning lunches; we'll go catch-as-catch-can. Dinner is at Narcoosee's at 530pm, then back into the park for the Electrical Parade and fireworks.
Sunday June 5 was originally supposed to be a void day... but then Let's Go Play announced the Drink Around The World and T-Dance event at Epcot. I'm not a big partier, but David is, so I surprised him with tickets to that. The LGP ticket includes park entry starting at 2pm, so we will probably save our real Disney tickets and just not head into Epcot until 2.
Monday June 6 was the planned Epcot day. We both had places we wanted to eat, so this is the only day I scheduled a lunch: 1230 at Tokyo Dining (we're both sushi lovers). We have 830pm at Bistro de Paris; I was hoping to get window seats to watch Illuminations, but as we'll be able to see it from the Odyssey Sunday night, I'm not fussed if we can't do that.
Tuesday June 7 will be Hollywood Studios. I have an ADR at the Brown Derby, but I've been meaning to call and change it to 50's Prime Time - I really must remember to do that tomorrow.
I had set aside 2 days for Universal, but I'm told both can be done in one day, especially if you're selective. I don't like thrill rides, and David has told me he's not enthused about riding without me, so I'm sure we can breeze through both parks in one day, which gives us back a void day. We will probably take Wednesday off, maybe drive out to the beach with the top down, then do Universal on Thursday. No dinner plans have been made for either day. Friday June 10, we fly home.
David's been in San Diego since May 10th visiting his best girlfriend; he gets home Tuesday May 24th. I expect Wednesday will be all about laundry.
We have a barbecue on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, so I imagine Saturday May 28th will be laundry, and Monday May 30th will be packing.By the way, this is us. I'm the bear in black, David is the hottie in red.
, we still haven't bought toiletries, I'm all 
and not only do I have to work today, we're having a disaster drill in the ER, so I have to go in early, and then I have to 
in the last hour of my day. I'm going to be 
tonight... but I will be 
and 
in the morning!
