No Day But Today- FINAL post on page 40!

[WDW Poly Princess]

Due to popular demand (Okay, two whole people asked! That counts as popular, right? Right?) I am going to go ahead and start my pre-trip report! I was trying to hold out on starting it until just before I left, but I just couldn’t resist, so pull up a chair (if for some reason you aren’t already sitting down, although I’m not quite sure why that would be… but we’ll deal with your issues later!), get comfy, and let’s get started!

In the not too distant future
Next Sunday A.D.
There was a girl named Crystal
Not too different from you or me
She worked at Gizmonic Institute,
Just another face in a red jumpsuit,
She did a good job cleaning up the place, but her bosses didn’t like her so they shot her into space….

Wait. That’s not the right story at all! Let’s try again! (With apologies to MST3k fans.)

In the not too distant future
1/8/07 A.D.
There was a girl named Crystal
And hey, that girl is me!
She worked long hours saving up some cash
To fly to WDW and have a blast
It’s been almost a year since the last trip, you know,
It’s time to go back, so on with the show!

We’ll send her to the magic,
And the best resorts we can find,
She’ll explore the parks
And eat all the chocolate she can find

Now keep in mind Crystal can’t control where the magic begins or ends,
She’s just there to drink it in with the help of a few friends!

Trip Report Roll Call!

Crystal!

Katie!

Crocky!

And Stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!


If you’re wondering if she’ll eat and sleep
Or other science facts
Just repeat to yourself “It’s just a trip report,”
“I should really just relax!”

Crystal’s New Trip Report 3000!

(If you weren’t singing that along in your head to the MST3k theme song tune, I am not sure if we can be friends, but on YouTube you can see the actual theme song, so that you can be all edumacated!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQsiqm167rM

Now, where was I? My trip report has never had its own theme song before! I guess that after the theme song come the credits, so I present you with:

Our Daring, Adventurous, Glamorous Cast:

(Caution! Trip reporter may be older than image in photo!)

WDW Poly Princess- Hey, that’s me! Also known as Crystal, since WDW Poly Princess wouldn’t fit on my passport. 8th trip to the World, 5th Solo Trip. One quarter of a century old (well, turning 25 in December, so I will be on the trip!). Hotel front desk chick extraordinaire, Bellydancer, pirate, and mom to two cats. Favorite Park: Epcot, followed closely by AK. Favorite Resort: Um, see the user name. Likes long walks on the beach, as long as the Electrical Water Pageant is going on in the background. Takes too many photos. Makes you look at most of them. Drinks a lot of coffee. Tall. Travel-obsessed. Full of useless information. (Not to be confused with being full of something else…)

One of these years I’m going to wake up with kids, and my Disney trips are going to change a lot. (You do just wake up with kids one day, right? I want to make sure I have my facts of life all straight!) In the mean time, I’m enjoying getting to be totally self-centered on my solo trips! Of course, few trips are truly 100% solo, so we also have….

Katie- Long time friend that lives near the World, and thus pops up in my trip reports here and there. If you have read my previous trip reports, you may recall that she is not a botanist, enjoys Japanese soap operas, and is sometimes frightened by music. Hathaway Brown from the AC loves her dearly.

Stitch- You are probably familiar with the little blue alien who has taken to traveling with me by now! In fact, I made him his own photo gallery: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=13juofud.3uiuymd5&x=0&y=7h1xyo

So far the gallery only has pictures from 2005, but I’ll be adding more at the end of this trip! However, Stitch is also being joined on this trip by:

(This is the default Amazon croc- I’ll replace this with a picture of my very own Crocky when I get home- I don’t have his pic on my laptop yet!)

Crocky!

Crocky requires a little bit of backstory. No, I'm not just one of those odd people who randomly travels with a large number of stuffed animals (although that does bring back the memory of a hilarious thread on the community board about an episode of Jerry Springer that got locked!). The origin of Crocky is this: I have been a big Steve Irwin fan for a looooooooooong time. Before he really became well known in America, I had discovered him on TV here and there, and I was hooked. Then, back in September, I was at home late one night when my mom called down and asked if the crocodile hunter had died. "Um, nooooo. At least, I don't think so!" I immediately pulled up Cnn.com, and there it was under breaking news. They still didn't have any info, but it was true. I was heartbroken. Yup, I was one of those people who cried over the death of the croc hunter, and spent the next few weeks glued to the thread about it on the community board. If you caught Steve's memorial service on animal planet, you may remember how touching it was. I was so inspired by the service- wouldn't it be great to have your life end knowing that you had made a huge impact on the world, and that so many people were going to miss you that just getting a seat at your memorial service was hard? I was in tears through the service (which I watched at work, against my better judgment!) and I kept writing down words in my notebook that people kept using to describe Steve- Inspiring. A man of action. Driven by curiosity. It occurred to me that THAT was the kind of person that I wanted to be. It also occurred to me that Steve was doing a LOT for the world- saving lives, inspiring people, and that now that he is gone, we all need to take a little bit of his responsibility for ourselves.

Eventually, I got the idea that it would be nice to get a stuffed croc to take on my next trip, since at the time I was planning on mostly staying at DAK Lodge, and it was an AK heavy trip. Do you know how hard it is to find a stuffed crocodile? After a few weeks of searching eBay and toy stores and everywhere else, I finally found Crocky on Amazon. I loved that he was only 3" tall, which would make him perfectly travel sized, but I figured out that with shipping, he would be like $8. So, I kept shopping around, found nothing, and finally gave in and coughed up the eight dollars for the tiny croc. I am so glad that I did! He is even cuter than he was in his picture on Amazon. I am totally in love with this little guy! Long story short, Crocky (which sounds a little like "crikey!") is on this trip in memory of Steve Irwin, and all that he did.

Given that I just rambled on for an entire page about a tiny stuffed crocodile, I’m going to end this part of the Pre-Trip here, and continue on soon with such exciting information as where I’m staying and what the plans are!

 

[jodistar]

Off to a great start so far! I also like your tribute to Steve Irwin

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Pretrip Part 2- The Where and When of it All!

So, when is your favorite time to visit WDW? Some people love going during the holidays for all of the decorations, some people can’t miss the Food & Wine Festival. My first two trips to WDW were in early May, and back then I thought it was the perfect time of year! The crowds were moderate, the weather was hot but not unbearable. Then, however, I tried going in December. Oh, sweet December! Super low crowds, great temperatures, Mousefest, pretty decorations! Value season rates! I had discovered the BEST time of year to go!

Except soon, about 200,000 other people figured out that it was the perfect time of year, too! Goodbye, low crowds!

So, this year I’m trying something different- January! My Annual Pass is good until February, so I won’t even need to buy a new pass- bonus! My trip dates are January 8-17th, and from what I’ve read, this should be a good time to go. (My original plan, since this is my 8th trip to WDW, was to go from the 8th-18th, but that ended up being one day too many for my budget!) The WDW Marathon is on the 6th and 7th, so I’ll just be missing that. The crowds from New Years are reportedly gone by the 3rd or 4th, so they shouldn’t be a problem at all. The only crowd issue will be MLK Day, which does fall smack in the middle of my trip. Hopefully it won’t be too bad!

I work in a tourism based town, and *everything* closes down during January & February. My last day of work is Dec 31, and we go back on March 15, so this trip also conveniently fits into a time where I don’t have to take any extra time off from work- hooray! Plus, I’ll get my last paycheck for the year on the 7th- the day before I leave!

That’s the when, but what about the where?

Here’s the thing- I am incapable of picking just one resort. Can’t do it! On my February trip with my sister and nephew, we stayed in Pop Century for the whole trip, and I nearly went crazy! (I did visit the WL, Polynesian, and AKL, to feed my resort hopping needs.) I knew I wanted some time at the WL this trip, since it is in my Top 2 Favorite Resorts (three guesses what the other favorite is!), but I haven’t stayed there since 2004.

I stayed at AKL when it first opened in 2001, and I liked it well enough, but I didn’t love it, which was a huge surprise. However, I’ve been visiting it on my last couple of trips (ever since I figured out that you can get Zebra Domes from the Mara- you don’t have to go to Boma!!!). AKL has really been growing on me these past few years, so I decided to try it again. Sounds like a great plan, right?

Um, remember when I said that I last stayed there in 2001? December 2001, to be exact. Remember what a lot of people were NOT doing in 12/01? Yup, traveling. Remember how everything got really cheap for a while, to try to entice people to travel again? Yeah, me too.

In 2001, I stayed at AKL with a Savannah View room, with an AP rate of…. $124 per night.

When I started planning this trip, it occurred to me that it AKL probably wasn’t $124 anymore. I did the nerdy thing and looked up the rack rate for January, took that times 60% (If you get lucky, AP discounts can get you 40% off rack!) and came up with $192. Ouch, way more than $124, but I can do $192 for a few nights. (At the same time, I figured up that WL should now be around $160/nt for Woods View.)

Do you have weird little trip planning things that you always do? During my planning months, I fill up about a million pieces of scrap paper with lists/notes/whatever that look like this:

I try out all sorts of combinations- how many nights can I do without blowing the budget? Do I want to stay at WL first or last? Etcetera, blah blah blah. Not very exciting, but I thought I’d share this little bit of how I plan with you anyway.

4 nights at WL plus 2 at AKL (With a night at ASMu for night 1, since I sometimes get in really late and hate to waste a deluxe night on just sleeping there!) seemed like a great combo, I really wanted a few more days on the trip. I couldn’t afford to spend much, though!

Remember my trip in December when I discovered renting DVC points? So did I! I posted on the DVC Rent/Trade board, looking for a studio for 2 nights, and the fabulous Holly came to my rescue! A phone call and a check later, I was the proud holder of a reservation for 2 nights in a studio at Beach Club Villas!! When I stayed at the Swan last year, I LOVED being within walking distance of Epcot, and BCV is even closer! I couldn’t be more excited!

If you check out the Rates & Codes board on the resort board, you can see the agony that those of us going in January went through while waiting for AP rates to be released! It took FOREVER, y’all! After a few false alarms, we finally got the news that January AP rates would come out on Nov 1.

I stayed up until 7am to call. I knew there was no way I could wake up at 7am, but staying up I can do!

Before calling, my plan (including my price estimates) looked like this:

1 night at ASMu (approx. $60)
4 nights WL, Woods View ($640)
2 nights AKL, Savannah ($380)
2 nights BCV (I had already paid for these- whee!)

When I called 407-W-Disney, the AP rates had only been out for an hour, but the CM that I talked to sounded like she had already had more than enough of us AP holders. Where’s your Disney Spirit, lady??? I found out that a woods view room at WL *would* in fact be $160 per night… but that was before tax, not after. Crap! I forgot about tax! Oh well. With tax, it comes to $180/nt. I can do that, it’s just $80 more than I planned. Working one of my days off between now and then will totally cover it!

Next I asked about AKL. This news was not so good! With AP rates, during value season, a savannah view (including tax) will now cost ya $230! Double crap! I went ahead and booked my 4 nights at WL, but needed some time to think about this AKL stuff.

As any good Disney nerd would do, I obsessed about it all day. I *really* wanted to stay at AKL on this trip! But I *really* didn’t have another extra $80! (I work front desk at a hotel, y’all, I be poor!) $460 for two nights was just way too much. But I still needed something to fill in those 2 nights between WL and BCV! What’s a girl to do?

Find out soon!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Pre-Trip Part 3

Hello again, Trip Report Board Family!

Oops, I think I was channeling Ty Pennington for a second there!

When we last left off, I was trying to figure out where to stay on the 13th and 14th, since my Disney Math Skills had just kicked me squarely in the bootie!

The 13th is a Saturday, so I didn’t want to do DVC points again, since weekends cost a lot more. The 13th/14th is also MLK weekend- were there even going to be rooms available if I didn’t book soon? I finally decided on POR- I love this resort, so two days there would be nice, even if it wasn’t AKL. I called Disney up yet again, and got it for $111 (including tax) per night with my AP rate. Two nights for less $ than one night at AKL! I can live with this! I won’t miss staying at AKL that much, right?

I have been seriously freaking out about money for this trip- I’ve been working a ton of overtime (this pre-trip report is being typed on my “day off’, which I am of course spending at work!), but I’ve still been worried that it wouldn’t be enough. I really didn’t want to cut any days off the trip, so I started making budget cuts. I called up CRO to change my WL reservation from Woods to Standard- that would save $30/nt! Unfortunately, they only had the first two nights available in a standard, so I split my reservation to be half standard view, half woods view. Not what I’d planned, but at least I saved $60! I knew I’d have to cut out souveniers for the most part, other than a few cheap ones, and I sent Katie an e-mail saying that our big “adventure” for this trip could be digging through the dumpsters at Epcot for food! 

The most frustrating thing about my financial crisis is that I’ll be getting my tax return a few weeks after I get back from WDW, and it would pay for at least half the trip. If only it were coming sooner!

Then came the mail on November 24th.

I think it can best be summed up, rather poetically, if I do say so, in this e-mail to Katie:

“WOOT! WHO got a shiny new Disney credit card today? CRYSTAL DID! I can now officially afford to eat on vacation!!!”

Yep, I am now the proud holder of a little sparkly piece of plastic printed with the image of Tinkerbell! And yes, due to my absolute HATE of using credit, I will pay it off right after the trip with Mr. Tax Return, but until then, the crazy stress is gone!!!

I spent all day on the 24th literally breathing huge sighs of relief! No longer having to worry about just how many weeks in a row I could go working my days off was a HUGE weight off my shoulders!

I had been checking the Passholder website for the past week, just poking around, and noticed that DAK Lodge was now sold out for the dates I wanted. (I just noticed that I use both “AKL” and “DAK Lodge”. I should really pick one!) I’d been thinking about canceling one of my WL nights (the 4th one), and staying at AKL that night instead. It would only be a $50 difference… Of course, by the time I decided on this, AKL was apparently sold out for the 12th, and the website kept suggesting GF instead. Only if you put zebras outside of my room at the GF, Disney!

I decided to check one more time, on the same day that my new card came. The day was magical so far, maybe I’d get lucky! And low and behold, there it was! A savannah view room available on the 12th! Hooray!

I can’t imagine what the credit card company must think of me- an hour after activating my card, I had already charged hundreds of dollars to it. But there are zebras at stake here, man!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Off to a great start so far! I also like your tribute to Steve Irwin

Much love for being my one and only reader!

 

[mossy1]

Just wanted to chime in and be #2 reading your pre-trip report. Also I was trying to figure out what mst3k was and I looked at it on youtube and remember it --lol. Great show haven't seen it in awhile. Good luck on your trip and have a magical time. Be careful with that shiny new cc thou----

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Just wanted to chime in and be #2 reading your pre-trip report. Also I was trying to figure out what mst3k was and I looked at it on youtube and remember it --lol. Great show haven't seen it in awhile. Good luck on your trip and have a magical time. Be careful with that shiny new cc thou----

Hi, Mossy! Wow, my readers have doubled overnight!

It is awfully hard when you get a new card not to just say "Hmmm, maybe I'll just add on ten nights at the Polynesian, just to complete the trip...." Luckily I've developed a healthy hate of debt over the years, so I think my cheap side will win out.

Poor MST3k, I miss it so. Apparently I had been watching a few too many reruns when I wrote the first part of this!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Wow, I think this is the first trip that my resort reservations have ever changed around *this* much!

I was on the resort board last night and noticed a post about the POR food court closing for refurb. I checked it out, and yep- it will be closed during the days I have scheduled there! Apparently they’re going to do some kind of buffet option, or you can walk the half mile or so to French Quarter to eat there, but neither of those appeal to me.

My first thought was to switch my reservation over to CBR. I’ve always wanted to stay there, so why not? And then I thought that maybe I could switch the first night to AKL, so I’d have two AKL nights in a row, and keep the 2nd night as POR, and just stick out the whole “No food for you!” situation. I pulled up AKL on the Passholder site, and there was nothing available for the 13th. Darn! Then, out of curiosity, I tried it for the 13th & 14th. Savannah view room available! WOOT!

You can probably see where this is going.

I booked it.

So, I now have a decision to make!

I called CRO this morning and canceled my POR reservation (after confirming the new AKL one- didn’t want to end up homeless!). However, I still have both WL and AKL booked for the 12th. I need to decide within the next day or two what to do, because I feel guilty about tying up a reservation that I’m not going to use, and that someone else is probably hoping for.

Right now I’m leaning towards keeping the WL room. It would be $50 cheaper, for one, and I think that 2 nights at AKL would be enough. Plus I’d really enjoy having 4 nights at WL instead of just three, so I am pretty sure my mind is made up.

I think.

Maybe?

Crap!

Also, I bought a telephoto lens on ebay today, and I am just stupidly excited about using it at AKL. I bet you guys just about anything that I’ll come back with more photos from this trip than ever before- my money’s on at least 5000. (I normally average around 300 a day.)

And remember earlier where I was stupid enough to jinx myself by saying I'd barely use this credit card at all?

I got to work today, and my front tire was hissing at me. Three guesses what I had to buy today!

That pretty much brings us up to date on the planning! I do have a few more pre-trip things to post about, though, so stay tuned!

 

[Prinny27]

Crystal - I love your trip reports! You always have me cracking up. I say go with AKL. You can't beat waking up and having coffee on your balcony with the giraffes and zebras hanging out with you first thing in the morning!

 

[qanita92]

i had to read this trip report because u were willing to send me a postcard which is really kind and also beause I REALLY like reading it cant wait for more

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I’m snowed in today- my first time having to call in to work in the two years I’ve worked there! Darn you weather, for breaking my perfect attendance streak!

I’ve been working so much lately that I don’t know what to do with myself being home, so I thought I’d update the pre-trip a little!

Just in case all of the resort changes got confusing, here’s the current plan:

All Star Music -1 night
Wilderness Lodge- Standard View-2 nights
Wilderness Lodge- Woods View-2 nights- (I wish now that I’d kept it all Woods, but at least this means I’ll get to see two different views, and compare! Plus, I still have that glimmer of hope that they’ll upgrade me!)
Animal Kingdom Lodge- Savannah View- 2 Nights
Beach Club Villas- 2 Nights

At least since I cut out POR, I’m only doing 4 resorts in 10 days instead of 5! That’s a little better, right?

I haven’t exactly started “packing” yet – mostly because the cats would be really mad if they couldn’t sleep in my suitcase anymore. But I have started gathering a few things together…

This is the small library of books I’m packing (plus my Passporter).

The book on the left I got for free on the Backstage Safari tour a few years ago. It has great info about all of the plants and animals at DAK. I was just flipping through it- I didn’t know they had three toed sloths at Conservation Station! I’ve got to check them out! (I also can’t wait to go play with the llamas at the Affection Section of Conservation Station- I never knew they had llamas there! Who doesn’t love llamas??)

If I’m feeling ambitious, I may use the book as a checklist of animals to take photos of. Has anyone ever photographed every single animal and bird there? (Um, other than the people who wrote the book, obviously!)

Do you have the Imagineer guides? (In the center?) I flippin love these books! I don’t plan to carry them in the park, but they would make some good reading for down time at the resorts! I’ve read them before, but my memory sucks! They’re small and light enough that they add almost nothing to the luggage.

Down at the bottom is my travel journal. I’m not sure if I’ll actually use it, since I’ll be typing up trip report notes at the end of the day, too. I’d rather have it along just in case, though!

Thanks to the wonder and beauty of ebay, I now have this snazzy telephoto lens as well as a wide angle one! I hope they get here soon so I’ll have some time to practice with them before the trip!

EmergenC- This stuff is awesome! I first found out about it at a dance workshop my group went to back in the fall. One woman in the group brought packets of it for everyone, since it was an all day workshop with a performance that night. I stuck mine in my dance bag and forgot about it! The next day at work I was totally exhausted, found it in my bag, and decided to try it. Big difference! I still didn’t feel great, but I felt much less like I was going to fall over and die at any moment! Now I take it a few times a week, and it really does give you a lot more energy, and just makes me generally feel better.

They make it in raspberry or tangerine flavors. Neither one is exactly what I’d call “tasty”, but the tangerine has the unfortunate quality of looking a lot like urine, and being just a little sour, so I very much prefer the raspberry!

I’m going to make myself drink one a day (you mix the packet with about half a bottle of water) at WDW- hopefully this will help with my energy level in the parks!

Croc Athens- I gave in and paid $30 for a pair of flip flops. But they are SO comfy! I’ve found that if I wear regular flip flops in the parks, they just don’t provide enough support for your feet. These have plenty of arch support, plus that Croc squishyness we know and love! I also bought a new pair of the Beach style in black, because my old ones are starting to lose the traction on the bottom. I wore them for a mile on the treadmill this week- they were great the first ¾ of a mile, but then the top of my toe started rubbing against one of the holes on top, and I ended up rubbing the skin off! I also got a blister on the pinky toe of the same foot, so apparently these need to be broken in a little more before the trip! (I would much rather have blisters at home than at WDW!)

And as promised, a photo of the actual Crocky! (pictured actual size!)

 

[Velsignet]

Huh. My first reply disappeared before I sent it. A conspiracy, I tell you! Anyway, it went something like this:

THANK YOU, my dear, for posting the absolute worst picture of me in your blog for all to see. Hehe. In my defense, people, the music was terrifying. Truly.

And now... bring on the fun!

 

[mlill]

I'm here! January is a great time to go to WDW! Just make sure you dress warm!!! 4 resorts in 10 days??? WoW! I'm impressed! We've only done 3 resorts in one trip...

-Michelle

 

[alabamagirl]

Enjoying your pre-trippy report very much. I am thinking about going to WDW solo for a few days myself (I'm chicken though so I am very interested in your plans.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Huh. My first reply disappeared before I sent it. A conspiracy, I tell you! Anyway, it went something like this:

THANK YOU, my dear, for posting the absolute worst picture of me in your blog for all to see. Hehe. In my defense, people, the music was terrifying. Truly.

And now... bring on the fun!

Fine, fine... to be totally fair...

That is *totally* worse than the picture of you!

(This, DIS friends, is what happens when you're minding your own business at the Osbourne Lights and Katie whips out a camera and says "HEY!" and you turn around and say "HUH?")

 

[jodistar]

Crocky is very cute! Loving the report!

Crystal I have pretty much the same collection of books as you -- with the exception of the Animal Kingdom book, sounds very interesting!

 

[tinkerbell87512]

I'm loving your report!!! WOW 4 resorts, thats gonna be a lot of moving! Cant wait to read more!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I'm here! January is a great time to go to WDW! Just make sure you dress warm!!! 4 resorts in 10 days??? WoW! I'm impressed! We've only done 3 resorts in one trip...

I'm hoping that I get lucky and have a warm January! I'm at work right now trying to decide if the icy roads on the way home make it worth staying here tonight! I guess that as long as Florida doesn't get snow, it will be better than here, but 70s would make me much happier!

Enjoying your pre-trippy report very much. I am thinking about going to WDW solo for a few days myself (I'm chicken though so I am very interested in your plans.

I highly recommend solo if you get a chance! I'll probably talk more about that soon in the report!

Crystal I have pretty much the same collection of books as you -- with the exception of the Animal Kingdom book, sounds very interesting!

The Animal Kingdom one is pretty nifty- I think they only sell it in the park? It shows each animal with some info about them (categorized by where in the park you find them), and they have little boxes you can check off as you see them- I wonder how many animals there I've never seen? It's particularly useful when you come home to write a trip report, so you don't have to say "And this is a photo of...well, some sort of thing."

I'm loving your report!!! WOW 4 resorts, thats gonna be a lot of moving! Cant wait to read more!

Thanks! I'm so glad that it is only 4 instead of 5 now! Since they take care of the bags for you, it really isn't so bad. I like getting to experience a lot of different resorts, but you do pay the price of not really getting to settle in anywhere.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Top 10 Things I’m Looking Forward To On This Trip:

1) Waking up at sunrise to watch the animals at AKL from my balcony, and getting some amazing sunrise photos of the Lodge.
2) I’m so excited to break out my Passporter Treasure Hunt book this trip! It has been sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be used for months and months now!
3) Two words: Wilderness Lodge! I haven’t stayed there since 2004, and despite visiting it, I miss it a LOT! I can’t wait to see the new room design!
4) I can’t wait to take photos. I’ve learned a lot about photography in the past year. Until recently, I’ve been of the “If I take 300 photos, at least 10 will be really great!” school of thought, but this year, I discovered things like shutter speed! Really simple stuff to those of you who have SLR cameras, and know what you’re doing, but a whole new world to me! Plus I’m hoping to get some new lenses for my camera (wide angle, telephoto, and if I can find it cheap enough, fisheye! OH, FUN!) I’m going to be like a kid in a candy shop. With a camera. Squee!
5) Zebra domes, big fudge brownies from Roaring Forks, the cheese plate from the Boulangerie Patisserie, a dole whip, some chocolate mousse, and a few Kaki Goris. My palate may not be refined, but it knows what it likes!
6) NEW things in the parks! New Nemo show, new Living Seas (Well, “Seas” now, but I haven’t adjusted to that name yet!), new Laugh Floor, new new new!
7) Hanging out with Katie again! Good times are always had!
8) Katie owes me a Kungaloosh for helping her with a paper. Is there anything better than a FREE Kungaloosh? I think not!
9) I have never even visited the Beach Club, but I’m so excited to be staying at BCV! You mean I can *walk* to Epcot, just like when I stayed at the Swan, but it’s even closer? Can’t go wrong with THAT!
10) Okay, I give in- I’m a girl. I’m excited to see Jack in Pirates. There, I said it!
Bonus #11) Nice weather! The snow and ice and 7 degrees here sucks!

Top 7 Things I’m Worried About on This Trip:

1) Number one was, until very recently, “money, money, money”! Thankfully that’s taken care of now, so I will change it to being worried that I’ll either a) get carried away spending, or much more likely b) Be way too much of a cheapskate. I am so freaking cheap, you have no idea. I skip buying things at WDW a LOT, not wanting to spend too much money, and then regret not buying it when I get home. I really just want to find a balance between buying the things I really want, and spending so much money that I won’t be able to pay off the credit card when I get back.

2) I’m a little nervous about my AKL room. I want a great view so, so much! Okay, I want a 2nd floor, Arusha Savannah, Zebra trail room. I know that if I end up with a room overlooking Fecal Flats, or some other undesirable location, I can ask to change, but I’m worried anyway!

3) Not a worry, but I’m bummed that Splash Mtn and El Rio del Tiempo will be closed when I’m there! Splash is one of my favorite rides, and El Rio cracks me up! They will be missed!

4) I am a little worried about the MLK crowds. Luckily, I scheduled my AKL days right during the busy part, so while the crowds are hitting the MK, I will be hanging out at the Lodge!

5) This one is silly, but I’m worried about losing/dropping/doing something stupid to my camera. Two trips ago I accidentally left it on a table at Animal Kingdom, and if it weren’t for the awesome person who turned it in, I would have been totally heartbroken! Taking pictures is such a huge part of my fun at WDW, and I love my camera so much, I would be so sad if I had to replace it! (By the way- a tip! I put address labels on all of my memory cards, so if my camera is lost, there is ID inside, and if I lose a card, maybe it will get back to me!)

6) Weather. I literally had to battle a blizzard to make it to my last trip- I woke up on the day I was leaving to find my road covered in inches of ice. What happens if I get snowed in again? Or if some freak cold streak hits Florida, and it is 40 degrees my whole trip? Yuck!

7) Again, not a worry, but I’ll miss my cats while I’m gone. I’m so used to falling asleep with Tallulah cuddled up at my side, it will be weird not to see her for over a week. She waits up for me to get home every night- I’m afraid she will think I’ve abandoned her! (Don’t worry, my mom will be taking care of her while I’m gone, so she will still have company, but it isn’t the same!) Lily is happy with being petted for a few minutes a day, but Tallulah has made it very clear that she needs a minimum of eighty hours of love per day!

 

[jodistar]

The Animal Kingdom one is pretty nifty- I think they only sell it in the park? It shows each animal with some info about them (categorized by where in the park you find them), and they have little boxes you can check off as you see them- I wonder how many animals there I've never seen? It's particularly useful when you come home to write a trip report, so you don't have to say "And this is a photo of...well, some sort of thing."

Oh - I will have to check for the guide while I'm there --- looking forward to going