Operation Transformation: From Disney hater to Disney lover

[Tink0812]

Hello all and thank you for joining me on what is promising to be a wild ride! This is my second trip report on the Dis and I am excited to get it started. So here it goes....

Who: Amber (me) and Warren (my husband)
What: A Disney trip dedicated to turning my Disney hating husband into a Disney lover
When: October 13th-19th 2013
Where: Coronado Springs


Introductions:

DH and I were married on August 11th, 2012 after being together for almost six years. He is 23 and will be 24 at the end of this month and I am 22 and will be 23 by the time we go on the trip. This will be my fourteenth trip to the World and will only be his third or fourth (he can't remember). He is convinced that he hates Disney. Now, before everyone gets all offended, the last time he went he was like 12 years old. His family is not one for planning thus they always went during the busy time of year and stayed off site. Plus Disney has changed A LOT since then. I have finally talked him into going and giving it a try again so I am putting a lot of thought, love, and care into planning this trip to turn him into a Disney fanatic.

My Favs:
- Resort: Wilderness Lodge
- Park: Magic Kingdom (although Epcot is growing on me)
- Character: Tinkerbell
- Restaurant: Whispering Canyon Cafe
- Ride: Soarin'

His Favs:
- Resort: He has never stayed in one
- Park: Epcot from what he remembers in his childhood
- Character: Peter Pan
- Restaurant: He does not remember eating at any Disney restaurants
- Ride: He doesn't have one

DH has a very sad list! It will be interesting to see how this changes after the trip!


Why October you ask? Well, my husband is in training for the Army reserve and will not return until late August. We originally discussed going in April/May of 2014 but I just couldn't wait that long Also, I wanted to give the food and wine festival a try since I have never been during that time.

Mode of transportation: My family has always drove the 16-18 hours to the World and I have come to enjoy the ride. It adds to the thrill of vacation! My dad made a good point though, right now there are only two of us and it would cost just as much if not less to fly as compared to the gas money, extra food money, and extra hotels that we would have to pay for to drive down there. And he was right! It only cost about $600 round trip to fly from STL to MCO (I guess I should let you know that we live in Central Illinois). We will then board the Magical Express to Coronado Springs!

Why Coronado Springs? My bucket list includes staying at each and every Disney resort prior to me parting this world (which won't be for many many years I hope). Thus far I have stayed at Port Orleans, Caribbean Beach, All Star Movies, Music, and Sports, Pop Century, Wilderness Lodge, and Animal Kingdom Lodge. I really wanted to stay at AoA; however, I think that would be better saved for when we have children some day. I wanted my husband to get the experience of staying in a Disney resort without being overwhelmed by all things Disney. Thus after advice from the disers on here, Coronado Springs it is!

We currently have six day park hopper tickets (I wouldn't have it any other way) with the deluxe dining plan. We could have gotten away with five day tickets but there was practically no cost difference and just means that we have to spend another day at Disney I have never used a dining plan before but decided to because it would be hard for us to decide how much money to allot for food (my husband can eat....a lot). My parents recently went on an extended weekend trip to the World which included the deluxe dining plan. After getting the run down from them, it sounds like it would be a perfect fit and I'm willing to try something new.

Plans thus far:

Sunday October 13th: Fly out of St. Louis airport at 6:10am and arrive in Orlando around noon. Check in to Coronado Springs and spend the afternoon at DTD and the Boardwalk with dinner/drinks at Raglan Road that night.

I have yet to plan the week as I am waiting until I can make dinner reservations and see the EMH which is sometime in May.

Saturday October 19th: Character breakfast of some sort. Check out of Coronado Springs and fly out of MCO at 2:22pm arriving back in STL around 06:30pm.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I'm bumping this because I approve of this message.

Hope you have a great time Tink!

Don't worry about your DH. I have been on many trips with you and I am sure he will see the light about the greatest place on earth and be thrilled to be there with you. My over under is at 60% that you might just end up back there next May anyways. If your mother and I wouldn't have two college sons sucking the money out of us, we would be there in the fall too!

 

[Tink0812]

Well, I am back again! 116 days until we leave on our magical vacation and one would know that with my extreme obsession over organizing (half inherited from my dad I think ), my itinerary is complete. DH is not excited to have a "schedule" but once he gets there I am sure that attitude will change. My family has NEVER gone without one and we have NEVER wished we had gone without one. So here it goes:

Saturday October 12th, 2013
DH works until 1pm. While he is working I will finish packing, preparing the house, and getting the dog ready. After he gets home he will take a shower, finish his packing, and load up the car. We will then make the 2.5 hour drive to St. Louis dropping the dog of at his parents house along the way. We will check in to our hotel near the airport, eat dinner, and get to bed early because we have to be leaving the hotel by 4am the next morning (Who am I kidding? I will be too excited to sleep).

Sunday October 13th, 2013[/U]
Check out of hotel and take shuttle to the airport around 4am for 6am flight
Eat breakfast during our layover in Chicago
Arrive at MCO shortly after noon and board the ME to CS
We would have already completed online check-in, so hopefully the process will be a little easier. If we happen to get lucky and our room is ready we will head there to change and unpack a little. If not, we will just leave our bags with bell services and use the hotel lobby bathroom to change out of our travel clothes. From there we will head to the boardwalk to browse around (my husband has never been there before). I plan on using snack credits at the bakery here to hold us over until dinner. After the boardwalk, we will head to DTD for some shopping. DH has never been here either. At 6:30pm we have dinner reservations at Raglan Road. I have been there many times for drinks and entertainment but never for a meal. After dinner, we have a couple of choices: 1. Stay at DTD for shopping and/or drinks 2. Go to EMH at Magic Kingdom from 9-11pm 3. Go back to CSR to unpack/wind down after a long day of traveling.

Monday October 14th, 2013
Grab an early breakfast at the hotel using one meal credit. Be in line for the bus by 7:30am to hit the 9am rope drop at HS. After we hit up the few things we want to do at HS, head over to Epcot to enjoy the Food and Wine festival, using snack credits there for lunch. Later that afternoon, head back to the hotel to shower and change. Take the bus back to Epcot for our 6pm ADR at Chefs de France. Again, after dinner we have a couple of different choices 1. stay at Epcot enjoying the Food and Wine festival a little longer 2. EMH at Hollywood Studios from 7:30-9:30pm 3. Back to the hotel

Tuesday October 15th, 2013
Early and light breakfast at the hotel using one meal credit. Be in line for the bus by 7:30am in order to hit rope drop at MK at 9am. Lunch at Be Our Guest using one meal credit. By 1:30pm head back to the hotel to shower/freshen up and change. Take the bus around 3:30pm to MK then take the monorail over to Poly for our 5:15pm ADR at Spirit of Aloha. After SoA head back to MK for Wishes at 9pm followed by Celebrate the Magic. Then catch the electrical water pageant before heading back to CSR for the night.

Wednesday October 16th, 2013
Taxi to the Boardwalk at 7am for our 8:05am breakfast ADR at Cape May Cafe. Walk to Epcot via the International Gateway. Use snack credits for lunch around Epcot. By 2:30pm head back to the hotel to shower/freshen up and change. Bus back to Epcot for 6:20pm ADR at Le Cellier. Illuminations at 9pm followed by EMH from 9-11p at Epcot.

Thursday October 17th, 2013
Be in line for the bus by 6:45-7am depending on bus open times. Take bus to AK for 8:05am Tusker House reservation. 11:30am Festival of the Lion King showing (I haven't been since I was really young) then since we had a large breakfast, just use snack credits around AK for lunch. 2:00pm Flights of Wonder (I have never been to this show) then head back to CSR to shower and change. Take bus to AK then from AK to AKL for 6:25pm ADR at Boma. The time after dinner on this night has been left open so we can fit in one of the following: 1. Drinks at each resort around the monorail loop 2. Going to bed early if we are super tired 3. Spending time around our resort 4. More time at DTD

Friday October 18th, 2013
Breakfast at the hotel. If we feel as though we need more shopping time, head to DTD at 8am when it opens. If not we would just head straight over to Epcot. We are going back to hit up the things we may have missed throughout the week or things we want to do again. At noon we have an ADR at the Rose and Crown. After that we will head over to MK via the monorail. Again, we are hitting up things that we missed or that we want to do again. In the late afternoon/early evening (by 4 or 5pm) we will head back to the hotel to shower and change. We will then take the bus back to MK then boat or monorail over to GF for our 8pm ADR at Citricos. Back to CSR after that and to bed.

Saturday October 19th, 2013
Wake up early and pack. If the buses are running early, take the bus to MK then boat/monorail over to Poly, if not, just take a taxi to our 7:30am ADR at Ohana. Then go back to CSR, check out, and board the ME back to MCO (very reluctantly). Fly out of MCO around 2pm and arrive in STL around 6:30pm. Drive home and be very sad about the end of our vacation

 

[Tink0812]

Yay for a little pre-trip Pixie Dust! After calling all day, I was able to pull off a 20% room only discount which saved me almost $200.00. More spending money for food and wine festival! The CM also asked me if we were celebrating anything. I told her that the trip will kind of be a late 1 year anniversary celebration because life (and work) will be too busy in August when our true wedding anniversary is. She said that it still counts as an anniversary celebration in her book so we will have a special surprise at the resort!

 

[Tink0812]

Since my last update I have made a couple of ADR changes. Friday night will now be 7:45pm at California Grill! Saturday morning (our last day) will now be 8:05am at Olivia's. I am super excited about these changes and can't wait to try some new places!

 

[Teamubr]

Hi Tink0812,

Great pre-trip. Looks like you are only 2 weeks out. I live in Edwardsville. I'll throw some pixie dust at you when you drive past on the way to StL.

I hope your DH is getting a little excited about the trip. Hopefully your planning has got him a interested. If he is anything like my DW, he knows to let you plan your heart away. My DW just asks what we have planned for today. She loves WDW, but just can't get into the planning.

Make sure you put up a TR. Or better yet, have your DH do one.

j