our disney anniversary take 2: NO RUSHING ALLOWED! new TR link - page 71

[punkin413]

hello, everyone! yes, i'm back with another pre-TR! and yes, i realize i haven't even finished day 1 of my current TR. and yes, i realize that this trip is over 6 months away. but do i care? NOPE! let the disney OCD-induced planning begin!!!

first off, the cast......

there's me (known on the DIS as punkin/known to most everyone as dawn/known to anna, chris and luke as crowdah):

i realize you can see my tonsils in this picture, but i just thought it was a funny one and had to post it! i'm a 31-year-old court reporter and i love my job.....it usually gives me lots of time to DIS! although you will learn that when i'm swamped, i have no time for anything but work. so please bear with me during those times. i'm the mommy to two floppy-eared, precious beagles (sherman & eli). no kiddies yet...the doggies are good practice! i love disney, everything disney. i love the smells at the parks, i love the attitudes you find there (for the most part) and most of all i love the MAGIC!

there's DH:

oh, i mean, my real DH (known to everyone as ray/known to me as ray-ray/known to luke as gray):

ray and i have been together since i was 17....this december will be 14 years.... that's just scary. our 6-year wedding anniversary is april 13th. even though we won't be in WDW on the actual day, we're still treating this as an anniversary trip. we don't do spring break crowds so the trip is a couple of weeks after the actual anniversary. ray is a 35-year-old (soon to be 36!) desktop administrator at a stock market firm. he is a nerd in the cutest sense of the word, star wars fanatic and recent disney convert. that last little thing kinda makes me melt.....i love him even more than i did before he became a disney dork!!!

there's anna (known to me as anna-banana and wonderwoman):

anna is one of my best friends. she's a 26-year-old fitness trainer and mom extraordinare. this picture was taken at her bachelorette party last weekend. she and her soon-to-be DH are getting married in two weeks in destin, florida, pictures of which i'm sure i will post! she is one of the funniest, most genuine people i've ever known and i'm so glad our friendship has grown so close over the last 3 years. she's in the process of opening her own gym. i'm going to try to get her to join the DIS but i doubt she'll have much time on her hands because of the gym thing.

there's chris (known to anna as honeybunches):

chris is anna's fiance and luke's daddy. he's 31 years old and owns his own plumbing business. he and ray get along great and have some funny stories to tell, namely eating crickets together after having a few beverages on chris's 30th birthday. boys..... chris is a lot of fun and he's a great dad! he works too much but does so to provide for his family....what a great guy!

and then, last but not least, there's luke (known to almost everyone as luke-man):

luke-man is da bomb. he's 3 years old (will be 4 in june) and is one of the cutest, smartest, funniest kids i've ever been around. he's always saying something that makes me laugh. and he's got a great spirit! i can't wait to see him experience WDW!!!

okay, so the trip details......

ray and i went to WDW for the first time together last may. we loved it so much we're going again in april. i was soooooooo excited that ray fell in love with it like he did and i'm so thrilled he wanted to go back! since then i've been slowly introducing all things disney into his life and he seems to be "getting" it......slowly! the one stipulation he had for another disney trip was that we relax and take thing slowly. we only had 4 days last time so you can imagine our pace! oh, and he also doesn't want to do a whole day at what he calls "hellcot." see my may TR for details on that!

we originally had this trip planned for check-in on april 20th. well, after hearing that most school districts were ignoring when easter was next year (late march) and taking their spring breaks in april, we decided to postpone it a week just to be safe. so now we're checking in on april 27th and checking out on may 2nd - 5 nights! we're staying at SSR after having rented points from my very dear DISer and now real-life friend, tara (eventer98). thanks, tara!!!

i am seriously thinking about adding a night at WL to surprise DH at the end of the trip. i'm still thinking about that, though. so we shall see. thoughts?

about anna's trip......it's still not set in stone that they're even going or not. they went the week before we did in may last year and they loved it. she said luke was just thrilled with everything about WDW and she wants to take him back. they only went for 2 days (AK & MK) because it was sort of an unexpected trip and they want to take a full week next time. chris recently said something to her about "have you booked the WDW trip yet?" and when she said no he told her to go ahead and do it. that would be the only thing i'd need to get online and start booking!!!!! but since her wedding is coming up in two weeks, she's kinda preoccupied. so as soon as they get back from florida, she and i are going to sit down and start planning.

we've already agreed that they'll probably be staying somewhere besides SSR. they can't afford to pay the regular rates and what are the chances they could rent DVC points now? so i'm thinking they'll probably stay at POP or POFQ. but that's just a guess. we're going to make coordinating plans, but not identical ones. we'll have some meals together and some not. they have a 3-year-old and we don't, so we're gonna want to do differnet things and we both agree on that.

anyway, i'll have more details about my potential itinerary and whatnot later. for now, welcome to my pre-TR! i hope to see some old faces and meet some new ones!

oh, and just so you know, i'm not doing a pre-TR index like i normally do. i'll just be sure to post any updates in big, colored text like this!

201 days and counting!!!!!!

NEXT UPDATE: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21203761&postcount=8

 

[Avivasmom]

It definitely is a great place to celebrate your anniversary...we are going back for the 4th year in a row to celebrate our anniversary again...it will be our 11th. But we bring DD along.

But she will be at the babysitting club at BC while we are eating dinner at California Grill timed to watch wishes like we did 3 years ago.

Loved the photos of everyone...Luke is just adorable.

 

[princessjv]

Not first...but tried hard. Promise!

ADD a NIGHT! GO FOR IT! And whilst you are at it try to get Anna a rental at SSR. I bet you could find a point renter!

Just back and already starting another one. TWO at once. Ohhh boy...You are going to be one busier lady!

 

[Eventer98]

Hey Dawn! Glad to see you started another TR already! I bet you could find points for her to rent...when the time comes I can lend you a hand if you want. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[LISAMWDW]

I'm in again! Again, cuz I'm in for the other one too!

 

[DisneyJo]

Hi Dawn You lucky thing going again, can't wait to hear all about your planning, when is the 180 ADR time?

 

[dismom9761]

I'm here!!

 

[punkin413]

It definitely is a great place to celebrate your anniversary...we are going back for the 4th year in a row to celebrate our anniversary again...it will be our 11th. But we bring DD along.

But she will be at the babysitting club at BC while we are eating dinner at California Grill timed to watch wishes like we did 3 years ago.

Loved the photos of everyone...Luke is just adorable.

we went there last year for our anniversary and it was great! it's crazy all the special attention you get just by wearing that little button!

Not first...but tried hard. Promise!

ADD a NIGHT! GO FOR IT! And whilst you are at it try to get Anna a rental at SSR. I bet you could find a point renter!

Just back and already starting another one. TWO at once. Ohhh boy...You are going to be one busier lady!

i told anna this morning about everyone encouraging me to get rental points for her. i don't know if they could afford it, though. it would be like $900 for 6 nights if they got points for $10 each (because one of the nights is a friday). add tickets and food to that and it may be a little high for them. we'll see though!

Hey Dawn! Glad to see you started another TR already! I bet you could find points for her to rent...when the time comes I can lend you a hand if you want. Can't wait to hear more!

thanks, tara! i'm sure i will have some questions for you about it! i know it's crazy...6 months out for a pre-TR? i don't care though! it's a sickness.

I'm in again! Again, cuz I'm in for the other one too!

welcome! and thanks for reading!!!

Hi Dawn You lucky thing going again, can't wait to hear all about your planning, when is the 180 ADR time?

it's actually october 30th, but i may have to wait a couple of days because the may park hours won't come out until november 1st and i can't be positive about my itinerary until i see the may hours! so frustrating!!! but we're not going anywhere like CRT or le cellier where it's hard to get a ressie, so i'm not really worried about it.

I'm here!!

yay!!!! glad you're here!

thanks everyone for reading! i'll be posting my very rough draft of an itinerary soon! it's only been 8 days since they released the park hours for april and i've already changed it a zillion times!

also, i have a question for you guys. i'm thinking instead of adding a night at WL that i should just add another one to SSR. it's not the money at WL that worries me.....it's that it will be a pain to switch resorts for just one day. i'm thinking DH will look past the beauty of the resort and instead see the annoyance of having to change rooms. anyway, i have an AP. so instead of renting points (which for friday night would be like 26 points which equals about $260), i'm thinking i should just wait until the AP rates come out and add that night because i've heard AP rates are usually somewhere between $160-200 for DVC resorts.

which brings me to my question. i could go ahead and just book another night at SSR through disney and pay the $355 it costs for one night there just so i could be sure and have that room, but is there any advantage to that? i mean, for example, if i call in february when (and if) they release AP rates for may and cancel my ressie and rebook with the AP rate, will there be an advantage to already having a room booked, as in they can just change the rate? i thought about just renting points for that one night but if AP rates come out and i have to rebook i don't want to cancel on the person that i rented points from. please help me if you know anything about AP rates and how all that works!

about anna's reservation, i'm thinking what i'll do is go ahead and get them to make a reservation at a moderate and then if the AP rates come out in january/february and there's a room available at SSR, then they can cancel the moderate and use my AP rate. it says it's fine if you share the discount with friends as long as i'm there when they check in or something like that. but of course all this is up to them!



NEXT UPDATE: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21210247&postcount=13

 

[dismom9761]

I agree,I think it would be better to try and stay at SSR that extra night. I don't know anything about AP discounts so I don't know if it would help to have a room booked.

Sorry no help just thought I would let ya know I am reading.

 

[punkin413]

i just e-mailed DH a group of menus to choose from: hollywood brown derby lunch, mama melrose dinner or san angel dinner (yes, from 2 different parks but my mind is working in vacation planning overdrive where all this stuff only makes sense to me right now!). he replied with "none." thanks for the help, hun.

 

[dismom9761]

I have to say I did NOT like San Angel...its the only TS I refuse to return to.

 

[punkin413]

I have to say I did NOT like San Angel...its the only TS I refuse to return to.

i think i've decided on mama melrose for lunch. their lunch menu actually looks better than their dinner one to me! i was hoping for HBD, but ray looked at the menu and nixed that!

 

[punkin413]

i just wanted to take the opportunity to explain the title of this pre-TR for those of you who don't know. when ray and i went to disney last may, it was the first time in 15 years for me and the first time in over 17 years for him. we only had 4 days there and, while we had an absolutely awesome time, we did feel rushed. there was no time for relaxation. we didn't even THINK about having pool time or time to just do nothing. EVERY MINUTE was planned.

when we got home and both decided we wanted to go back in about a year (thank goodness he agreed!!!), we both agreed that we didn't want to rush things this time. we wanted to take our time and ENJOY ourselves.....actually be on vacation! if we didn't get something done....we could save it for next time!

so the whole goal of this trip is to take our time and enjoy ourselves. also, ray is thinking about buying some sort of geocaching GPS thing (don't ask me....he's the nerd who knows all about it) where you can look for and find these little button-looking things called caches at MK. so we're doing MK in a BIG way this time. which is fine by me...it's my favorite park.

we aren't doing epcot at all except to see illuminations since we didn't get to see it last time. ray HATED epcot and the only stipulation he had for our next trip was that he not be made to go there for parking touring purposes. i don't mind.....i'm not a huge fan myself. one day i'll make it back there and be able to take my time.....it just gives me an excuse to go back.

so, without further ado, here is a very rough draft of my itinerary.....ta da! let me know your thoughts!

4/26 Saturday –
-Drive down/stay at cheap hotel in Orlando

4/27 Sunday –
-up early and check in at SSR
-AK – lunch somewhere at AK/catch parade at 4:00
-afternoon break/nap/pool time
-Dinner at Kona Café around 6:45
-MK – Evening EMH (Wishes – 10:00; Spectro – 11:00; open til 2:00 a.m.)

4/28 Monday –
-sleep in!
-MGM (parade is at _____ - not listed yet)
-lunch at Mama Melrose around 1:00
-maybe afternoon break/nap
-dinner either at MGM or SSR
-back to MGM (Fantasmic – 10:00; open til 1:00 a.m.)

4/29 Tuesday –
-free morning! either AK or MGM (depending on what we didn’t get done) OR sleeping in for Ray/pool time for Dawn
-lunch at either AK or MGM, DTD or SSR
-afternoon break/nap/pool time
-MK for Pirate & Princess Party (open til midnight? - this event isn't confirmed yet...just a rumor! park closes at 7:00 though....can't imagine what else it would be!)
-dinner at LTT around 6:00

4/30 Wednesday –
-sleep in
-MK
-lunch somewhere at MK
-late afternoon break/nap/pool time
-putt putt at Fantasia Gardens
-dinner at Spoodles around 6:30 (take boat to Epcot – 15 minutes)
-Epcot – Illuminations @ 9:00
-maybe to Beaches & Cream for treat afterwards! (6-minute walk)
-maybe PI to check out Adventurer’s Club (if we feel like it!)

5/1 Thursday –
-breakfast at Kona w/ Anna/Chris around 8:30 (let Ray sleep in)
-MK (meet Ray there)
-lunch somewhere at MK
-afternoon break/nap/pool time
-Cirque de Soleil at 6:00
-dinner at Narcoosee’s around 8:00
-MK for Wishes & hopefully Spectro (park hours not listed yet) hopefully Anna and Chris will be there already and save us a viewing spot at the train station!

5/2 Friday –
-Free morning/shopping at DTD
-lunch at HOB around 1:00
-afternoon break/nap
-last night at MK - dinner somewhere at MK (park hours not listed yet)
-maybe go to Epcot for EMH if we feel like it (if they have them - usually do on friday nights)

5/3 Saturday –
-check out and drive home


NEXT UPDATE: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21225634&postcount=24

 

[IluvXU]

Joining in on the fun! Great title and I am married to someone who feels the same way about WDW- slow down and relax!

 

[princessjv]

Dawn- First off, I must ask...ARE YOU GOING TO DO TGM? I would sign up, if you haven't...it is worth the few bucks. Less busy touring, may bring your hubby-wubby back...more often. Just a thought.

Does SSR have lock off 2 bedrooms? If they do...maybe you could look into renting one( you and Ray can take the 1 bed part). That way you each would have your own space...plus a kitchen. Just something to look into. It may be another money saver.

 

[dismom9761]

Looks like a good start with your intinerary.

I agree-TGM is well worth the price.

 

[LMO429]

Love your trip reports and pre trip reports!

I think its great you started a pre-trip report so soon. We are leaving for my bachelorette party about a week after you get home (may 14 2008) from your trip so we can look forward to our trips together.

My fiance and I also plan on going to disneyland for part of our honeymoon and back to disneyworld for our one year wedding anniversary! We got engaged on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom May 5, 2007. The disney photopass guy on main street got the whole thing on FILM!!! i have yet to post them on the dis...Im trying to work up the courage about posting my pictures for everyone to see.


Looking forward to reading more about your pre-trips they are great!

 

[punkin413]

am i the only one who didn't know that if you're an AP holder you can't purchase the dining plan???? i'm not a happy girl right now!

 

[dismom9761]

am i the only one who didn't know that if you're an AP holder you can't purchase the dining plan???? i'm not a happy girl right now!

Yes I did know that.Not sure why I know since I will never get to have an AP.....

 

[punkin413]

Joining in on the fun! Great title and I am married to someone who feels the same way about WDW- slow down and relax!

that's our goal this time. it takes longer and is more expensive, but i think it'll be worth it! thanks for reading!!!

Dawn- First off, I must ask...ARE YOU GOING TO DO TGM? I would sign up, if you haven't...it is worth the few bucks. Less busy touring, may bring your hubby-wubby back...more often. Just a thought.

Does SSR have lock off 2 bedrooms? If they do...maybe you could look into renting one( you and Ray can take the 1 bed part). That way you each would have your own space...plus a kitchen. Just something to look into. It may be another money saver.

i subbed to TGM a couple months ago. HOWEVER i must say that i'm kinda disappointed that his april 2008 details aren't up yet. the park hours came out over a week ago so i don't know what the holdup is. i know if my 180-day ADR mark was here (for those going in early april) i would be kinda ticked that i paid for his service and he hasn't posted his tips for that time yet. your dining kind of hinges on what your touring plans are! i'm gonna be in the same boat though if he takes his time doing the may tips because we're going to be there may 1-3. my itinerary may need some "tweaking" after he comes out with his touring tips!

i think SSR does have lock-offs. i looked at that, but i don't think it's for us. i would rather spend a little more and have more privacy AND peace and quiet. i love luke but he can be loud and we like sleeping in! anna and chris are early risers and i'm sure they'd be quiet, but luke doesn't understand that and i have no doubt we'd get woken up earlier than we'd like.

Looks like a good start with your intinerary.

I agree-TGM is well worth the price.

i think so too.....he helped with my september trip!

Love your trip reports and pre trip reports!

I think its great you started a pre-trip report so soon. We are leaving for my bachelorette party about a week after you get home (may 14 2008) from your trip so we can look forward to our trips together.

My fiance and I also plan on going to disneyland for part of our honeymoon and back to disneyworld for our one year wedding anniversary! We got engaged on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom May 5, 2007. The disney photopass guy on main street got the whole thing on FILM!!! i have yet to post them on the dis...Im trying to work up the courage about posting my pictures for everyone to see.


Looking forward to reading more about your pre-trips they are great!

congrats on the proposal and upcoming wedding!!! we were on our way to disney on may 5th....we checked in the next day! what a coincidence! if you post that video let me know....i wanna see!

am i the only one who didn't know that if you're an AP holder you can't purchase the dining plan???? i'm not a happy girl right now!

yes, i'm quoting myself. i'm not so unhappy anymore. i found out that if you're renting DVC points (or a DVC member), you can still purchase the DDP, even if you're a passholder or don't buy any park tickets. so we're good. we can get the DDP for 5 days and just pay OOP the last day since i'll be booking that last day with my AP instead of by renting points.

i thought about buying the DDE card, but after LOTS of the famous "disney math" i decided the DDP was a better option for us.