Our first Disney World trip is just 'a whim away, a whim away' (8/31)

[Surfinpiratee]

So I decided to do a PTR to help gather my thoughts and to get your opinions!!! So let's begin.
Hello! I'm Mary! And I'm Finally starting an "official" pre trip report!
For a long time I've fake planned trips on the Disney website, but never could go WELL now we have it all planned out!!!! Well, almost...

So, without too much rambling, let's start with the basics, shall we?!

The Who:
Just DBF, Billy and I! (I should refer to him as William though, he likes it better ) haha!

What we're doing:
Well, obviously we're going to Disneyworld! I'll get into what we're doing each day later.. but basically we'll hit all of the Disney parks! DTD and, as DBF insists Universal one day! Maybe going to Typhoon Lagoon, is it's warm enough. And go to the ocean one day!

Where are we staying you may ask?
Well. After many many many hours of researching resorts. Starting with value, then thinking I could afford a deluxe (ha), THEN thinking about a Villa?! (another ha). So finally we settled on a mod. I'm really okay with any of them. I think my favorites are Coronado and POR. We haven't made reservations yet, *sigh* But very soon we will be! And it will probably be.... Coronado!
UNLESS. Discount codes come out, and if the pricing is similar I want to stay at the Poly or AKL!!!!!!

When:
We will be arriving in Disney January 3, 2014 and leaving January 9.

But, HOW will we be getting there?
Flying wasn't really ever an option for us. I don't mind flying...not the BIGGEST fan in the world.. DBF on the other hand hates flying. So no flying for us! (darn... ) So we will be driving! Yay! But even if we both loved flying. I think we would drive. We've been wanting to go on a road trip for the LONGEST time. So we're super excited! We live north of Chicago, and from talking with friends who have made the drive before, the drive is roughly 17-18 hours (yay..?)

Well that's all for now! I'll update more tomorrow!​

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Sounds like a great trip planned. Subbing

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Yay!!!!

I'll post an update tomorrow, hopefully BUT I WILL! I'll make a point to.
I worked 9:30 to 6 today Then I had to go to my parents house and help put some of my stuff in boxes for them since they're getting new carpet.

BUTTTTT, Billy and I are about to watch Tangled. I HAVE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE I AM SO EXCITED.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Can't wait for the update

Yay!!!!

I'll post an update tomorrow, hopefully BUT I WILL! I'll make a point to.
I worked 9:30 to 6 today Then I had to go to my parents house and help put some of my stuff in boxes for them since they're getting new carpet.

BUTTTTT, Billy and I are about to watch Tangled. I HAVE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE I AM SO EXCITED.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

I just want to go already!!!! We watched Tangled for the first time last night; OH MY GOODNESS. So much awesomeness in one movie. Pascal is my favorite. And Rapunzel. And Flynn/Eugene. I'm going to have to buy some sort of Rapunzel thing when I get to WDW!
So I'll tell you about myself and my boyfriend!
This is me. My name is Mary. I'm 21, I'll be 22 in September! I'm so old. And 2 is my favorite number...so this shall be an excited birthday! (I hate photoucket. So if there's an easier site to use, please share. Or my TR will be very painful...)

That's our dog Kuma. We can get to them later.
Hmm, Disney facts about myself? I basically love all the animal Disney movies. Ever since I was a kid! 101 Dalmations, Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Aristocats, Finding Nemo! I also love Rapunzel (now), Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, and Pirates of the Caribbean! I LOVEEEE Mickey and Minne mouse.
Random fact: I love giraffes. I pet 2 and kissed 1 in Wisconsin Dells!

We kissed. It's official! I actually fed him a carrot from my mouth ha! Anyway moving on..
This is William We've been dating 2 years (3 years Dec. 2nd!) I love him muchooo.

He's on the right
Disney facts about Billy...He loves A Bugs Life, Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, Rapunzel (yay! haha), Lilo and Stitch. And he loves Winnie the Pooh and characters! Isn't that cute?
So that's us!
DBF has been to Disney World twice when he was like..under 10 years old. He doesn't remember much haha. I've never been to WDW, or Florida. But I've been to DL when I was 9? I remember it pretty well. Non of the details but some of the rides and stuff.​

 

[xxpeachykeenxx]

Following Along

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[Lei]

Yay, another January PTR!

If you like Tangled, make sure to check out the Tangled-themed restroom in MK. I heard it's really nice

We're also planning to visit Universal for a day. Are you going to both parks or just one?

On photo sharing, I hate photobucket with a passion. Flickr, on another hand, is godsend. But I'm a member, so I don't know what is the data limit for non-members. From memory, I think it's enough for TR purposes, unless you're a professional photog and plan to dump 8723681 photos a day.

Can't wait to read more

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Yay, another January PTR!

If you like Tangled, make sure to check out the Tangled-themed restroom in MK. I heard it's really nice

We're also planning to visit Universal for a day. Are you going to both parks or just one?

Can't wait to read more

I'm so excited for that!! It should be very cool

And we'll be going to both parks hope we have time! Haha, I mean, we'll make a list of the things we REALLY NEED to do, and make sure we do those first.

 

[MataHari22]

Your first time to WDW and Florida! Yay! You will have a great time.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Sorry I've been a little MIA. I've been busy doing ALOT of planning and DBF and I are moving back in with our parents for a few months to save up a down payment for a house! ( ) AND my cat or dog (I have no idea which one) chewed through my laptop charging cord!!!! Grrrr So I had to order a new one which just came yesterday, wooo! So now I can get movin!


The when was a pretty easy one. Well...kinda. First we thought we'd go over DBF's birthday (end of January). Then that plan was out, then we starting thinking maybe like, 2nd or 3rd week of Jan. Nope! That plan wasn't going to work. Then I started thinking, maybe we should wait until like, April-ish. Then we'd have our tax returns and whatnot. But then...we couldn't wait that long! So we decided on being in Disney from Jan 3 to Jan 9.

Then one day, DBF got the wild idea..."what if we went before Christmas for our anniversary?!" THEN like, within the same day he decided he thinks it would be better to go after Christmas..

So back to Jan 3rd it is!

Our vacation will technically go from Jan 2 to Jan 10 because we're driving. But that's another update



Originally I wanted to stay at AoA, I just LOVED ALL THE DISNEYNESS OF IT.

Showed it to DBF, he thought it was TOO Disney.. So I was thinking POP! DBF liked it a lot more but then informed me he doesn't like to do the most inexpensive thing while on vacation.

So I got into looking at the mods. It really isn't THAT much more a night if you think about it. And I'm actually okay with any of the mods, they all seem nice! Haha

We haven't actually reserved a room yet but we will be soon. I just don't know where to stay?!?!? POR?! POFQ?! CBR?! CSR?! Or do we save money and stay at POP?! What should I do!??!

Any opinions are appreciated ​

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Although it wasn't quite a question of 'how' to get there. Flying was NEVERRR a thought in our minds lol. DBF can't remember his one and only flying experience (so therefore the thought kind of scares him) And I'm not dealing with an anxious boyfriend! Haha

Reason #2 we wouldn't fly: you can't bring what you want AND we wouldn't have a car! I definitely want a car there. And since DBF can't really eat "restaurant" food (he doesn't feel very well afterwards) we'll be bringing a lot of our meals.

To make this PTR a little less 'wordy' I'll add some pictures from google! Yay!

We've also been wanting to go on a road trip basically since we've started dating (almost 3 years ago!) We'll be coming from Illinois, a good 17-18 hour drive! (yay?) It will be long, but fun! Haha. We'll be driving through Kentucky:



Ooo...look at pretty KY!

And Tennessee



AND Georgia!



I've never been to any of those states! I'm pumped. We may be driving through Alabama too, in case we have to avoid some mountains... (another story for another time ) And let's not forget Florida! We're obviously going to Florida which i've never been either! I'm very excited

The plan (at the moment at least) is to leave home around 2pm-ish in the afternoon. Getting us there around 8am or 9am!

123 more days!! ​

 

[Surfinpiratee]

I'm so stuck between value resorts and moderates. I'd obviously like to do a moderate, but I'd love to save money and just stay at POP. But I don't want to be disappointed with POP

WHAT SHOULD I DO!?

If there's any sort of discounts (like a room only, 20% off mods or something) I'll definitely stay at a mod.

Somebody help!!! ​

 

[Skycat]

Your trip report is so fun and energetic. I love your title. Thanks for the invite - I will definitely be following along. I have never been to Florida either - or any of the states that you will be driving through. I will be flying though - I like road trips too but it would be 30+ hours for us.

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

Joining in!
I hope you have a great time once your vacation commences!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Thanks guys!!

I'd totally post more of an 'update' but I'm on my phone at the moment.. :/

It looks like we will most likely be staying off site! Which I am actually pretty happy about. Here was my dilemma:

First: I originally wanted to stay at AoA. DBF wasn't too fond of the decor lolllll, who can blame a 21 year old boy who isn't in love with EVERYTHING Disney haha.

So then it was either POP or POR, or really any other of the mods.

Then we were thinking...it'd really be nice to have more of a way to cook (since we can't go out a lot, money and DBFs stomach doesn't agree with restaurant food. So I started looking at the villas. There was no way we would afford it lol.

A few days ago I was searching on pintrest. I was on someone's Disney board when I saw a picture of a beautiful resort pool! It was some Marriott in Orlando. But then it got me thinking, I wonder what other resorts there are!

So I started looking at a ton, and theyre all like, $100-$150 a night! And most have kitchens! Yayyyy!

So I'm looking at Lake Buena Vista Resort...it looks so pretty!!

 

[Skycat]

It looks like we will most likely be staying off site! Which I am actually pretty happy about.

We are staying off-site too. The money I am saving can be spent on other things like the Halloween Party.

 

[MeeskaMomma]

Popping in to say hi your trip is getting closer!

 

[francis6306]

Sounds like a fun trip! We're south of Chicago, and likely we'll be driving (but more because of craziness on WHEN we can actually leave…).

If you are driving, staying offsite isn't a terrible idea. Personally, we just park our car and forget about it until we go home… but I know that's not how everyone works. There are some great places in the DTD area, but also some condos fairly close as well! Good luck!

I will say, that Disney has some really good places to eat and they are VERY accommodating for food allergies/sensitivities, if he has a specific issue with food. I can't eat pork and they always go out of their way to bring me "safe" food (I'm not jewish or anything- it just makes me sick… probably a lot like your DBF. )

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Hi guys!

Oh my goodness, so I'm laying in bed on my phone now, so I can't type much, but Friday was my birthday (woooo!) And so its been a little crazy. I'll be doing a real life update for you guys tomorrow! It's quite exciting so stay tuned!