Who - Me (32, the veteran) and Jeff (36, the newbie). I've been to WDW 8 times with the vast majority being as an adult. Jeff has only been to MK twice, never to the other parks, and never stayed on site. His sister conned him into going to MK years ago by promising him that's where TOT was. I'm looking forward to showing him why I love the place so much and that you can have a great vacation at the World, even without any kids. And riding TOT 13 times. At least.
When - January 22-29 (plus a few days on the end in Orlando with family
Where - Pop Century with free dining, but we upgraded to the regular dining plan. It seemed well worth $11 each per night to get the full plan rather than the quick service. I like taking a break during the day to enjoy a meal.
What - I am currently torn between 1) my initial itinerary that I drew up based on past knowledge and the touringplans formula( although I am not a member, so I do not know specifically what their site says about Jan 2011) and 2) a plan based on the recommendations of easywdw. The only reason switching would be tough is because of ADRs, but I like to eat at resorts, so I could always work something out if I decide to go the other route.
Here's what I have right now:
Saturday - fly in, ME to Pop, head to POR for dinner at Boatwrights and Bob Jackson's sing-a-long. POR is my favorite resort when you consider theming and cost, but it would cost us about $400 to upgrade, which we agreed was too much to justify.
Sunday - sleep in and enjoy the resort or hit up DTD, head over to HS for dinner at Sci-Fi, Fantasmic, and EMH
Monday - Epcot and dinner at Chefs de France
Tuesday - MK and dinner at 'Ohana
Wednesday - back to HS to hit up TOT and TSM some more, dinner at Wolfgang Puck, either to DTD or back to the resort
Thursday - AK and dinner at Boma, possibly heading over to the Boardwalk area afterwards
Friday - Epcot to Drink Around the World. It is the only day I will expect matching shirts - I am going to make them using some fabulous graphics a diser shared on the boards. The back will be a checklist of the countries and I plan to get either a CM or fellow guest that we share a drink with to check off the boxes and possibly write a note. Since this day is EMH and the park will be open until midnight, we plan to take our time in WS, enjoying the entertainment and attractions and so as to not drink too much too quickly.
Saturday - check out, meet up with Jeff's mom and grandma, and have lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe before heading to Kissimmee to spend a few days with them.
We've talked about possibly adding the Water Park option to Jeff's ticket - I have a left over non-expiring pass with the pluses on it to use. But we're going to wait and see what the weather is like. If there's at least one day warm enough for Typhoon Lagoon, it would be worth it, especially since we can keep using those admissions while staying in Kissimmee if we wanted to.
Why not stay for free with family?
We could have, but this way we don't have to rent a car, pay for gas and parking, and we get privacy. The hotel is only $82/nt ($10 more for Fri and Sat) and the value of the QSDP was ~$70/nt, so even with the upgrade to the full plan, the "cost" of the hotel is down to $34 or 44/nt. With parking at $14/day and a car at least $20/day. You could argue that it would have cost more to stay with family if we had eaten the same meals in the parks.
The one thing I haven't booked yet is airfare. It's the one thing that's non-refundable so I want to make sure everything is 100% green lit. We're both waiting to find out if we're going to be moved to different departments at our jobs, so we want to be absolutely the time off request will be approved before booking our flights.
Oh! The alternative itinerary I was kicking around would be:
Sat - same
Sun - MK, dinner at O'Hana
Mon - HS, dinner at Wolfgang Puck
Tues - AK, dinner at Boma
Wed - Epcot, dinner at Chefs de France (but would be happy with several other places)
Thurs - HS for Fantasmic, dinner at Sci-Fi (Sun and Thurs are the only fantasmic days that week and Sun might be crazy because of EMH)
Fri - same (even though this is likely to be a busy night, we'll have hit the future world attractions earlier in the week and I would rather have the extra 3 hrs to drink around the world so as to not be the inappropriately obnoxious drunk couple at 8pm)
Sat - same
Thoughts on the intineraries? I like the slow start and end to the one I have now and the time between parks I'm repeating. But the alternate starts busy (when we have the most energy) and then slows. It may also come down to weather and ADR availability. Since 5 of the ADRs we're planning are outside the parks, it shouldn't be as tough, though I don't want to wait until the day of. I might be a bad girl and book Sci-Fi for both Sun and Thurs and cancel the one I don't need as soon as we decide.
When - January 22-29 (plus a few days on the end in Orlando with family
Where - Pop Century with free dining, but we upgraded to the regular dining plan. It seemed well worth $11 each per night to get the full plan rather than the quick service. I like taking a break during the day to enjoy a meal.
What - I am currently torn between 1) my initial itinerary that I drew up based on past knowledge and the touringplans formula( although I am not a member, so I do not know specifically what their site says about Jan 2011) and 2) a plan based on the recommendations of easywdw. The only reason switching would be tough is because of ADRs, but I like to eat at resorts, so I could always work something out if I decide to go the other route.
Here's what I have right now:
Saturday - fly in, ME to Pop, head to POR for dinner at Boatwrights and Bob Jackson's sing-a-long. POR is my favorite resort when you consider theming and cost, but it would cost us about $400 to upgrade, which we agreed was too much to justify.
Sunday - sleep in and enjoy the resort or hit up DTD, head over to HS for dinner at Sci-Fi, Fantasmic, and EMH
Monday - Epcot and dinner at Chefs de France
Tuesday - MK and dinner at 'Ohana
Wednesday - back to HS to hit up TOT and TSM some more, dinner at Wolfgang Puck, either to DTD or back to the resort
Thursday - AK and dinner at Boma, possibly heading over to the Boardwalk area afterwards
Friday - Epcot to Drink Around the World. It is the only day I will expect matching shirts - I am going to make them using some fabulous graphics a diser shared on the boards. The back will be a checklist of the countries and I plan to get either a CM or fellow guest that we share a drink with to check off the boxes and possibly write a note. Since this day is EMH and the park will be open until midnight, we plan to take our time in WS, enjoying the entertainment and attractions and so as to not drink too much too quickly.
Saturday - check out, meet up with Jeff's mom and grandma, and have lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe before heading to Kissimmee to spend a few days with them.
We've talked about possibly adding the Water Park option to Jeff's ticket - I have a left over non-expiring pass with the pluses on it to use. But we're going to wait and see what the weather is like. If there's at least one day warm enough for Typhoon Lagoon, it would be worth it, especially since we can keep using those admissions while staying in Kissimmee if we wanted to.
Why not stay for free with family?
We could have, but this way we don't have to rent a car, pay for gas and parking, and we get privacy. The hotel is only $82/nt ($10 more for Fri and Sat) and the value of the QSDP was ~$70/nt, so even with the upgrade to the full plan, the "cost" of the hotel is down to $34 or 44/nt. With parking at $14/day and a car at least $20/day. You could argue that it would have cost more to stay with family if we had eaten the same meals in the parks.
The one thing I haven't booked yet is airfare. It's the one thing that's non-refundable so I want to make sure everything is 100% green lit. We're both waiting to find out if we're going to be moved to different departments at our jobs, so we want to be absolutely the time off request will be approved before booking our flights.
Oh! The alternative itinerary I was kicking around would be:
Sat - same
Sun - MK, dinner at O'Hana
Mon - HS, dinner at Wolfgang Puck
Tues - AK, dinner at Boma
Wed - Epcot, dinner at Chefs de France (but would be happy with several other places)
Thurs - HS for Fantasmic, dinner at Sci-Fi (Sun and Thurs are the only fantasmic days that week and Sun might be crazy because of EMH)
Fri - same (even though this is likely to be a busy night, we'll have hit the future world attractions earlier in the week and I would rather have the extra 3 hrs to drink around the world so as to not be the inappropriately obnoxious drunk couple at 8pm)
Sat - same
Thoughts on the intineraries? I like the slow start and end to the one I have now and the time between parks I'm repeating. But the alternate starts busy (when we have the most energy) and then slows. It may also come down to weather and ADR availability. Since 5 of the ADRs we're planning are outside the parks, it shouldn't be as tough, though I don't want to wait until the day of. I might be a bad girl and book Sci-Fi for both Sun and Thurs and cancel the one I don't need as soon as we decide.
