Our "first" not-so-grown-up trip together... a September PTR >> Updated 3/23!

[lildamo]

Hiya! I’m lildamo (but you can call me Heather), and I’m almost at the 6-month mark until our September 2010 Disney/Universal vacation. DBF and I couldn’t be more excited (well, DBF isn’t excited *yet*, although he patiently pretends to listen to me ramble on about planning, but will be excited as we get closer to go time), as it’s his “first” trip to WDW, and my first “real” trip to WDW apart from the family. That means, for the first time, I’m doing all the planning!

I wasn’t going to do a PTR but figure I can use all the advice and tips I can get to make this a fun trip for the two of us and make sure we don’t miss anything that we’d really enjoy.

I hope you’ll follow along with me and get to know us a little bit over the next six months – I’d love to hear your words of wisdom!

Contents
Who We Are
Where & When
Preliminary Schedule & ADRs
T'was the Night before ADRs...
ADR SUCCESS!
Sitting, Waiting, Wishing...
Switching Everything Around

 

[lildamo]

I’m Heather, age 23 (will be 24 pre-September trip!). This will be my 12th (we think) trip to WDW and who knows what number trip to Universal Studios. As a kid, my family went to WDW frequently, and I fell in love with it, but as we got older we started going for shorter vacations and spending the whole time on site at Universal Studios (the fact that my younger brother is a roller coaster nut probably had something to do with that!). Over the past few years, these trips to Universal have included day trips back to a park at WDW, leading to my need to re-experience the magic fully for the first time in over ten years.

DBF, 25, is Iain. We started dating in my second year of University and he hasn’t been able to get rid of me since. We introduced him to the Florida fun for the first time a few years after we started dating, when he came along with my mom, aunt and I to a full week staying at the Portofino Bay at Universal, with a day trip to Downtown Disney and the Pirate & Princess Party at Magic Kingdom. He was very quickly spoiled by a lot of special attention that trip (room upgrades to a suite with four balconies, perfect weather at the end of February, etc.) so it’s needless to say that he loved it all immediately, and has been waiting for us to be able to go back ever since.

Now that we’ve both graduated University, and our post-grad programs, and have real-life jobs, we’re able to save up and go on our first “real” "grown-up" vacation together.

 

[lildamo]

Two of the most important details of any trip: when and where!

Where: In my pint-sized past (though, to be fair, I'm not *much* taller now ), my family stayed off-site for a number of years, and then began taking shorter trips at the Deluxes. Although I barely remember actually staying there, we stayed at the Poly, Wilderness Lodge, Grand Floridian and Yacht/Beach Club.

For this trip, our goal is to do as much as possible for as little money as possible, and so in comes POP CENTURY! I've never stayed at a value before, but looking through all the POP pics has me really excited. We're hoping for free dining but will make the trip work regardless.

We're also staying at Universal for the second half of our trip, at the Portofino Bay. We were planning on staying at the Royal Pacific, but do to an availability issue the Portofino was actually cheaper during our stay and so we snatched it up. We stayed at the Portofino when Iain came to Orlando with us before, so it's quickly becoming "our" hotel.

When: September 9-19, 2010. We're splitting the trip up into two halves, staying at WDW from September 9-14 and Universal from September 14-19.

 

[swwake]

Hi Heather! I am interested in your PTR. We will be going right after you. It looks like we'll do Universal the 14th and 15th, then AKL the 15th - 21st. I found you from the WWOHP thread. So excited for September!!

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

Hey, I'm a neighbor to the south, in Ohio. I have a daughter that just graduated college; it's great to see kids spreading their wings. (or sprouting mouse ears) I'm going with friends in mid-Oct. and also hoping for free DP. Looking forward to see how your plans progress.

 

[MinnieJay]

Awww! The bf and I just got back yesterday from our first "adult" trip (even though it was just for the weekend). We went down with two other friends and all everyone kept talking about was Universal! They could care less about the Disney Magic...they thought it was kiddy. I appreciated it and I had fun. Like you, my family did WDW and then started to do the Universal vacay before just doing cruises. Now, we are sick of cruises and just doing the land vacation thing.

So, as soon as we got back, the boyfriend wanted to look at doing Universal/IOA.

So I am going to DEF follow this because we came to the compromise of doing half and half also.

And since we are broke college students...we are looking to stay at the POP too. The Value resorts is where its at!!

 

[lildamo]

Thanks for the warm welcomes! Glad to have a few readers already!

I'll post all about our schedule and anticipated ADRs before our Saturday booking day sometime very soon. Can't wait for your opinions!

 

[lildamo]

I had made a tentative schedule of where we were going to go and what we were going to do a few weeks ago and then September hours were announced and I had to change everything around. All this change resulted in us adding a night to our trip and re-organizing meals and all that fun stuff. I can say I'm very happy with our plans as they stand now, and *hopefully* they won't be changing a whole ton in the next six months!!

Since we're only at WDW for a short amount of time, I wanted to make sure we got a chance to see Wishes, Fantasmic and Illuminations...which made planning more difficult. With Fantasmic only playing one night when we're there, and MK closing early on the Friday and Saturday for Night of Joy, our options were fairly limited as to where to go on what day. We have hoppers, so this is what we decided on:

Thursday, September 9th
Morning: Drive from Toronto to Buffalo.
Afternoon: Fly to Orlando! Arrive around 3:30. Magical Express to POP!
Evening: Get settled into POP, then head to Ohana for an 8pm ADR. Request a firework view and watch Wishes! Head back to POP and get a solid night's sleep after a long day.

Friday, September 10th
Morning: Magic Kingdom
Lunch: Counter service somewhere in MK
Afternoon: Magic Kingdom until late afternoon
Dinner: Whispering Canyon Cafe (5:00ish ADR)
Evening: Head over to Epcot for evening EMH and to see Illuminations

Saturday, September 11th
Morning: Morning EMH at Hollywood Studios
Lunch: Counter service somewhere in HS (Starring Rolls?)
Afternoon: More Hollywood Studios!
Dinner: Wolfgang Puck Cafe at Downtown Disney, potentially with some friends from home who happen to be in Orlando at the same time
Evening: Shop at Downtown Disney. Go to Goofy's Candy Co for some make-your-own treats that I keep reading about!

Sunday, September 12th
Morning: Animal Kingdom
Lunch: Late-ish counter service at AK
Afternoon: More Animal Kingdom then head over to Hollywood Studios
Evening: Fantasmic! (8pm show) then either back to DTD if we want to shop more or over to MK for evening EMH. Get counter service dinner somewhere along the way

Monday, September 13th
Morning: Epcot
Lunch: Early ADR at Chefs de France
Afternoon: Epcot
Dinner: Teppan Edo (ADR around 5pm)
Evening: Head over to MK to see Wishes

Tuesday, September 14th
Morning: Whatever park we want to re-visit on our last day
Lunch: Counter service somewhere in whatever park we're at, or at Downtown Disney
Afternoon: Grab our stuff from POP and head to Downtown Disney to catch a cab to Universal

...the rest of the week isn't planned any more than knowing we're at Universal, which is what I love about it over there.

As you can see, we're planning to get ADRs at:
- Ohana
- Whispering Canyon Cafe
- Wolfgang Puck Cafe
- Chefs de France (lunch)
- Teppan Edo

Out of this list, the only ones I haven't been to before are Chefs de France and WPC, however I have zero recollection of Ohana or WCC and only a *little* bit of memory of Teppan Edo. It will be neat to re-visit these places and see if any memories come back to me!

I get to book at 6am on Saturday...only a couple more days!

Any thoughts on our plans? I tried to keep them as streamlined as possible with as little hopping as possible so that we're not wasting time in transit. Any suggestions on how to make our schedule any better?

Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

 

[swwake]

We loved 'Ohana dinner. Food is great and the entertainment is so sweet with the kiddos.

Goofy's Candy Co is awesome too! But none of us could eat our treats because they were so rich. We ended up eating some, keeping them a few days and snacking on them, and then dumping them before going home. But definitely fun and worth the experience.

Looks like you have a great plan - and pretty flexible too, which makes it less stressful.

 

[lildamo]

We loved 'Ohana dinner. Food is great and the entertainment is so sweet with the kiddos.

Goofy's Candy Co is awesome too! But none of us could eat our treats because they were so rich. We ended up eating some, keeping them a few days and snacking on them, and then dumping them before going home. But definitely fun and worth the experience.

Looks like you have a great plan - and pretty flexible too, which makes it less stressful.

Thanks! The goal is anti-stress. I'm semi-worried about a couple transit times but I think we have enough time so that we don't have to rush anything.

We're quite excited about trying Ohana - the food looks amazing and it looks like a fun atmosphere. We're really hoping for a firework view, what a great way to start our trip!

 

[Raecheal]

I"m in...

 

[lildamo]

I"m in...

Welcome! Can't wait for the opinion of a fellow Canadian (and you sound like a girl after my own heart from reading through your TR and PTRs -- shopping and Disney? Yes, please! ).

 

[irishdancer86]

...the rest of the week isn't planned any more than knowing we're at Universal, which is what I love about it over there.

As you can see, we're planning to get ADRs at:
- Ohana
- Whispering Canyon Cafe
- Wolfgang Puck Cafe
- Chefs de France (lunch)
- Teppan Edo

Out of this list, the only ones I haven't been to before are Chefs de France and WPC, however I have zero recollection of Ohana or WCC and only a *little* bit of memory of Teppan Edo. It will be neat to re-visit these places and see if any memories come back to me!

I get to book at 6am on Saturday...only a couple more days!

Any thoughts on our plans? I tried to keep them as streamlined as possible with as little hopping as possible so that we're not wasting time in transit. Any suggestions on how to make our schedule any better?

Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Hey! i live in ireland but have visited canada 10 times to stay with relatives in scarborough and ajax...totally love Canada and we have le cellier for one of our ADR'S...the only thing that could make the canada pavillion better is tim hortons!!!

really enjoying reading your plans as is me and dbf's first sort of grown up trip together too!!! pop sounds great!!!

think your adr's sound great, definitely want to try whispering canyon, teppan edo and ohana but good excuse for planning our next trip!!!

are you looking forward to Harry Potter land?

good luck for ADR'S!!!

 

[lildamo]

Hey! i live in ireland but have visited canada 10 times to stay with relatives in scarborough and ajax...totally love Canada and we have le cellier for one of our ADR'S...the only thing that could make the canada pavillion better is tim hortons!!!

really enjoying reading your plans as is me and dbf's first sort of grown up trip together too!!! pop sounds great!!!

think your adr's sound great, definitely want to try whispering canyon, teppan edo and ohana but good excuse for planning our next trip!!!

are you looking forward to Harry Potter land?

good luck for ADR'S!!!

Thanks for reading! I do quite enjoy Canada, but would appreciate less cold most of the time! I totally agree that the Canada pavilion needs a Tim Hortons, I was talking to DBF about this the other day! I'm pretty sure Timmy's is more "culturally" Canadian than everything else around there

DBF loves BBQ stuff so I think that + unlimited food is enough to make us love Whispering Canyon, same with Ohana! Looks like we shouldn't have any problems making ADRs if the online system over the past few days has been any indication - there seems to be TONS of availability!

I can't wait for Harry Potter - I've been slightly (okay, more than slightly ) obsessed for years now and I'm anticipating tears when I see Hogwarts for "real" for the first time. Then I'll get laughed at, but hey.

I browsed through your PTR earlier but I'm going to go and read it in more detail - can't wait to hear your plans!

 

[lildamo]

Less than 48 hours until I can make our ADRs!! I'm starting to get nervous...not of not getting what we want, as I'm pretty confident we'll be okay, but that I'm missing somewhere major that I'll discover in a couple months and regret not putting on our list!

What's your fave TS meal at WDW? I really like where we've chosen and don't know which I'd remove to replace with another, but I want to make sure we get the full dining experience during our trip

 

[swwake]

What's your fave TS meal at WDW? I really like where we've chosen and don't know which I'd remove to replace with another, but I want to make sure we get the full dining experience during our trip

My favorite is California Grill, finishing the entree or finishing the dessert right when the fireworks start. Amazing food. Amazing atmosphere.

 

[lildamo]

My favorite is California Grill, finishing the entree or finishing the dessert right when the fireworks start. Amazing food. Amazing atmosphere.

We went to California Grill once many years ago -- my family was staying at Wilderness Lodge and took the boat over for dinner. We got caught in the middle of a thunderstorm while in the middle of the lake, and had to run across the entrance to the Contemporary (I was in jeans and a denim jacket at this point, not the greatest rain gear!). I'm surprised that Cali Grill let us in!

The menu does look delicious - I just don't think we can justify using 2 TS credits on it this trip (despite how much I'd love to upgrade to deluxe dining!).

 

[Raecheal]

Less than 48 hours until I can make our ADRs!! I'm starting to get nervous...not of not getting what we want, as I'm pretty confident we'll be okay, but that I'm missing somewhere major that I'll discover in a couple months and regret not putting on our list!

What's your fave TS meal at WDW? I really like where we've chosen and don't know which I'd remove to replace with another, but I want to make sure we get the full dining experience during our trip

How exciting... less than 48 hours before you get to book your ADR"s!! I def. can understand your nerves but try to keep in mind that a few months down the road if you change your mind it's just a quick phone call or click to switch.

At WDW our fave TS meal is Jiko. This time around I'm really excited to try O'hana's, 1900 Park Fare and Boma.

It's hard to cram in all the 'hot' spots when your only there for a short while.. there's so many good TS places to experience.

Good luck!

 

[lildamo]

DBF decided that he no longer wants to eat at Wolfgang Puck Cafe (we're going to try and do the Express at one point still thought) in favour of something more "fun" and "unique" to Disney, and I agree.

I don't think we can do a 2TS meal, though I'm still contemplating if we could pull off deluxe dining without it taking over our entire trip and budget (and therefore re-planning everything, which excites me!).

Time to re-explore menus!

 

[swwake]

At WDW our fave TS meal is Jiko. This time around I'm really excited to try O'hana's, 1900 Park Fare and Boma.

Oh we are gonna try to do Jiko this time. We had reservations for Jiko last time but switched to Boma at the last minute. We LOVED Boma - you will love it. And 'Ohana too!