****Official May 2012 Thread**** ALMOST TIME TO LEAVE!!

[Elleshoodat]

Question of the Day:

What is your last travel day plan? What recommendations do you have for those who are leaving mid-afternoon? Or even late in the evening? – Asked by an anonymous May Diser ​

We live a couple of hours away, so we drive to and from WDW. Our last-day plans usually involve Downtown Disney. On this trip we will most likely do some shopping, hit up Bongos for lunch and then hit the road right around DS' nap time.

 

[Jonesloonybin]

We willbe at Disney April 27 - May 8, staying at Pop Century.

I have been over on the April board, never even thought about also looking for the May board - SO GLAD I found it. I guess I will be spending the rest of the rest of the day catching up on this thread.

Our details - Me, DH & DD(10) April 27-May 8, also joining us for 4 days is a dear friend of mine and her DD9, but it's a surprise for her DD until April 14(DD's birthday)Her DD has never been to Disney!!!!! and my friend has not been on about 18 years - I have made t-shirts for everyday, thanks to the Creative board and the AWESOME Diser's and their talents. We received a pin for FREE QSDP so we only have 1 ADR. And both of my parents work for starwoods hotels so it will be at The Swan hotel b\c we get 50% food. YAY!!!

Here are our daily plans:
April 27 - Arrive in the afternoon and hang out at the resort (w\friends)
April 28 - Animal Kingdom - Dinner at Garden Grove @ Swan (w\friends)
April 29 - Hollywood Studios (w\friends)
April 30 - Epcot
May 1 - Magic Kingdom
May 2 - Magic Kingdom, 11:30 Girls Hair, 9pm Wishes Dessert Party (w\friends)
May 3 - Epcot(w\friends)
May 4 - Magic Kingdom(friends head home)
May 5 - Animal Kingdom
May 6 - Hollywood Studios
May 7 - Epcot ????
So we are at 26 days till Disney, and 13 days to telling Jordan.

The red days are days that we are doing the same park. (May 3rd we are doing MK in the morning and Epcot in the evening!)

Question of the Day:

What is your last travel day plan? What recommendations do you have for those who are leaving mid-afternoon? Or even late in the evening? – Asked by an anonymous May Diser ​

We just added an extra room night on our reservation. We are planning on sleeping in, packing and getting ready to leave the next day. When that is done, we will hang out at the pool, DTD or maybe explore some resorts. Last year we ended up getting such a late start on our drive home that we didn't arrive at home until after MIDNIGHT!

 

[bigsis1970]

Question of the Day:

What is your last travel day plan? What recommendations do you have for those who are leaving mid-afternoon? Or even late in the evening? – Asked by an anonymous May Diser ​

well we were going to have a 6pm flight out but then it was less expensive to stay one more night so we are now leaving the next morning at 10am but my plan was to have a character breakfast in a hotel then go to DTD for shoppping then back to the resort to catch ME.

I surprised my kids on Easter 2006 - my DD was 12 and DS was 9 - I made plans with 2 friends of mine (and their families) on the sly and on Easter day when they came home from their dad's house I had hidden eggs with clues in them.. it went 5 hours of traveling, 4 worlds , 3 big suitcases, 2 every excited kids, 1 more sleep till our trip to Walt Disney World.. OMG it was soo fun!! they just couldn't believe I could leep a secret .. that was our last trip as a family of three since then I've met my hubby and we are going next month .. me and my DD are leaving on Saturday for her spring training softball trip and sadly my Ds doesn't get to go this year but at 15 he doesn't think it's all that cool right now anyhow.. Keep the secret it you can... it worked out much better for me to tell mine the day before!

 

[k3chantal]

Glad I found this thread! We are going to the Kidani Village Animal Kingdom lodge from May 26 to June 1st with a savannah view two bedroom villa. The wait is killing me! My best friend from college and her family will be staying with us. It will be her children's first time and I can't wait to see Disney World through my godchild's eyes.

 

[Tink0513]

Question of the Day:

What is your last travel day plan? What recommendations do you have for those who are leaving mid-afternoon? Or even late in the evening? – Asked by an anonymous May Diser ​

DTD, lunch at Earl of Sandwich! (YUM YUM) This trip we have a 9a flight out..so headed to the airport bright and early on our departure day

 

[pigletto]

Question of the Day:

What is your last travel day plan? What recommendations do you have for those who are leaving mid-afternoon? Or even late in the evening? – Asked by an anonymous May Diser

Our last full day we are moving over to ASMu for the last night. We'll stay packed, go to a park for the afternoon and we're having dinner at Raglan Road. Our flight leaves at 8am so we'll need to go to bed early.

We once had a flight that left really late in the afternoon. I thought I'd be pleased with almost another full day. It didn't turn out that way. We had to pack up and check out and store our luggage in the morning. Then we kind of just felt aimless for the rest of the day. It feels like we spent the rest of the day dreading having to leave.
I prefer the last day to be a full day and then to leave first thing in the morning. Once I check out my head is already switching back to "home mode" and the things I need to do. So we try now to get early morning flights.

If you are leaving late evening though, I recommend saving your souvenir shopping for the last day and going to DTD for lunch and picking up all those last minute items.

 

[msdroz]

Hi everyone... just chiming in here because I'm about to burst! We planned our trip back in November and we're finally spilling the beans to our son on Easter morning. We keep referring to the trip as "Amish Country" (our code word) but on Easter we're going to have an easter egg hunt and surprise him with the news. I can't wait to create an official countdown calendar and have him share in our excitement!!

Hopefully he'll be excited too because all he keeps saying is that he wants to go to St Louis this summer (where his aunt, uncle and cousin live) hehe

 

[budafam]

Question of the Day:

What is your last travel day plan? What recommendations do you have for those who are leaving mid-afternoon? Or even late in the evening? – Asked by an anonymous May Diser ​

We're spending our last day at Epcot and our last dinner will be at Flying Fish Cafe which I'm looking forward to. We fly out the next morning at 7:15 am so it will be a very early morning for us and we'll be back home before lunch

Anyone leaving mid-afternoon, go to MK for your final day... it's always nice to say goodbye to the castle

 

[MissLiz]

Question of the Day:

What is your last travel day plan? What recommendations do you have for those who are leaving mid-afternoon? Or even late in the evening? – Asked by an anonymous May Diser ​

When we first started going. We'd head to DTD for the morning because we wouldn't buy park tickets for that day.

Then, we started hitting either MK or Epcot our last morning, eat lunch, and head out.

Now, we usually head out early on the last day. We get up, have breakfast in the room, pack up and go. We drive, so we try to be on the road by 9am so we can get home and relax before having to go back to work

The one thing that hasn't changed on departure day is that I get all choked up and teary-eyed on the last morning.

 

[BMC423]

Hello all! I've been MIA due to school, work, life itself. I just spent the last hour catching up on here. I need help I'm in a serious funk. It may be because of all the stress I'm dealing with because of school but I find that while I'm looking forward to this trip... I'm not as excited as I normally am. I about 33 days to go and I have done nothing!! Even my pre-trip report has been left high and dry. So I jumped on here for some good old DIS fix and it worked!!!

Thanks for making all your excitement contagious! For those of you following my PTR look for an update soon!

 

[Colleen27]

Can I ask a question? Noticed some of you were going to the Rope Drop at MK. What time do we need to be there for that? And...I thought I read on another thread that the MK Rope Drop is the only one now. Is that correct? What time do we leave the resort and allow time for the RD?

MK is the only one that still does a show at rope drop. The rest just quietly open now. I like to get to the bus stop about an hour before the park opens, just in case I have a longer than expected wait.

Question of the Day:

What is something that you pack that is not on typical packing lists? ​

A power strip for all our chargers, a cable to connect the iPod to the TV so we can watch movies at bedtime, and post-it notes to stop the auto-flush toilet from flushing while my 3yo is on it.

Question of the Weekend:

What are some attractions that you recommend getting Fast Passes for? Have you seen any sold out? Have your utilized more then 2 fast passes a day?​

Soarin' and Test Track, Toy Story Mania and Rock & Roller Coaster, Kilimanjaro Safari and Expedition Everest, Peter Pan and all three MK mountains are FP musts even in slower seasons. The rest we usually ride standby but might grab the occasional FP for Jungle Cruise or Dinosaur if the standby line is running too long.

MICKEY MAIL!!!!!!

It's a week or so early this year, no?

OMG, they changed the tags! Those aren't the same as the ones we got in January!

Question of the Day:

What is your last travel day plan? What recommendations do you have for those who are leaving mid-afternoon? Or even late in the evening? – Asked by an anonymous May Diser ​

We don't do anything on our last day except pack and swim. We've done DTD on departure day but I hated having to find room in already-packed suitcases for my purchases and it never feels like we have time to relax when we're watching the clock to make it back for our ME bus. So now we spend that last day just enjoying our resort.

 

[pigletto]

Hello all! I've been MIA due to school, work, life itself. I just spent the last hour catching up on here. I need help I'm in a serious funk. It may be because of all the stress I'm dealing with because of school but I find that while I'm looking forward to this trip... I'm not as excited as I normally am. I about 33 days to go and I have done nothing!! Even my pre-trip report has been left high and dry. So I jumped on here for some good old DIS fix and it worked!!!

Thanks for making all your excitement contagious! For those of you following my PTR look for an update soon!

I understand this actually. Sometime soon (and it happens with every single trip) my excitement turns to anxiety. Usually it's about all the stuff left to be done, getting the packing finished, leaving our pets, flying.. etc. I am a routine oriented person, so I think it's just natural for me to get anxious. It melts away as soon as I get there. But I spend the last week running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to square everything away before we go.

Sounds like maybe you just have a lot on your mind right now. You'll still have a great time!

 

[salann]

OMG, I just emailed my travel agent to pay the balance off...HOLY CRAP this vacation just got very real!!

Last night we got the portable DVD players for the kids. DH was running through his mental "to-do" list, I was able to say "check, check and check" he looked at me with surprise and said "where have I been that you have gotten all of this done?" good question! he's been so clueless and I've taken over the reigns with this vacation. About time he got excited, with only 56 days to go!!

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

For this trip, we'll spend out last day at SAB and hanging around the resort. Last time (we were at the Poly), we did a monorail shopping spree and stopped at all the monorail resort gift shops. Other trips we've hit MK in the morning, then back to the resort to catch DME. And this question of the day is already making me sad for the end of our trip!!!!

 

[budafam]

Oooooo... check out my ticker! ONE MONTH!!! I freaked out a bit last night and DH just stared at me like I was a moron Tomorrow we'll be in the 20's!!!

 

[Jessica527]

Question of the Day:

Tell us about a magical moment you had at the world… it can be anything from free dessert to a night in the castle! ​

 

[jdf27]

We are going May 15-May 22. Staying at CSR. Myself, DH, DS-9, DS-11.

 

[Tinker Bell Fan]

DH & I will be staying at the BWV from May 18 - 23 and we cannot wait! Our dear friends will be joining us (May 17-21).

To answer the question of the day:

We've had 2 magical moments.

Our first was back in 2006. It was my DH's first trip to the World and he was hooked! So much so that we became DVCers on our last day at the World. And we haven't been sorry since! We didn't "get" anything but all the CMs were just so nice and made us feel really special.

Our second magical moment was last year. We spent our 20th anniversary at the World by renewing our vows at the Wedding Pavillion. It was so wonderful - even the weather was awesome! The few days before our anniversary it had been so hot & muggy we thought it was summer in DC! But the day of our anniversary & Vow Renewal the humidity was gone - just warm, sunny and blue skies. At dinner we got champagne and everyone at Whispering Canyon clicked their glasses (for us to kiss) and then yelled "congratulations". We also got cupcakes at just about every restaurant we ate at!

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

Question of the Day:

Tell us about a magical moment you had at the world… it can be anything from free dessert to a night in the castle! ​

Well it was actually called a Magical Moment! When we were on our way to Tutto Italia for dinner in November, a CM saw us walking by with our Just Married buttons, stopped us, and said to bring the 2 cards (that said "Magical Moment" on them) she handed us back to her before Illuminations. We were granted access to a special viewing area in the UK and it was AMAZING!!

 

[bigsis1970]

Question of the Day:

Tell us about a magical moment you had at the world… it can be anything from free dessert to a night in the castle! ​

Ours happend on our very first trip soo long ago Dec 2001 when we went to MVMCP and we meet 2 cast members who asked if we had rode Peter Pan yet which we had not so they took us to the front of the line where we all go on including the cast memebers (they sat with DD and DS while me and mom went in the the one behind) then when we got off they said boy that was fun anyone up for Winnie the Pooh and took us over there again front of the line and everything - It was sooo Awesome!!