Our Magical WDW Adventure -24 Days of Food and Fun-Updated 3/8 -Come Join Us

[ariel2007]

Pilot

So after what has seemed like literally forever, we are finally going back to the Magical Walt Disney World . In reality it has been about 17 months (not that I have been counting the days or anything), but that 17 months has been the most depressing and frustrating time ever. That was until August last year when eventually it was decided we were definitely going back...and nothing or no-one could stop us

So with 8 whole months to wait I began thinking of ways to pass the time, and thats when I decided to do a trippie, well a pre-trippie anyway. I have read so many brilliant trip reports and pre trip-reports that I thought I would give it a go. The idea for the titles may not be original (and they are far from it), however they are fun to think of and will give you a sneak peak of what is to come, and what will be in the reports is truly original .

Anyway, enough of the waffle, on with the show....



The One With The Cast

Me, Ariel, 22

A major lover of all things Disney / Florida / America.

A typical girly-girl who loves the usual girly related things – shopping, clothes, jewellery, anything pink, sparkly and pretty.

My favourite movie of all time is The Little Mermaid and my favourite Disney character is Ariel.

I have been watching and loving Disney movies since I was born thanks to my wonderful Mum, sparking what some may call a ‘mild’ (term used very loosely) Disney obsession. What started as watching the odd Disney movie and having the odd Disney teddy slowly grew into um, we’ll call it a Disney inspired lifestyle, complete with a whole Disney room and regular trips to the Disney Store (and no trip would be without a souvenir would it). And since my first visit to Disneyland Paris (then Euro Disney) aged 9, I have become not only a Disney obsessive, but a Disney theme park obsessive. Now life would not be complete without an annual trip to Disney, and all the fun that goes into planning and waiting for the trip to come.

Here's me:

Disney Boyfriend, Robin Hood, Nick, 23

Loves Disney of course, Robin Hood being his favourite film. Can sometimes be heard singing the Mickey Mouse March when he thinks no-one is listening.

Loves typical boy things – cars, Top Gear, anything gadgetty, computer games and most sport – both playing and watching, especially Cricket, Rugby and golf. Luckily went to a posh school so got to play a lot of sport at school which took him to some amazing places including Australia, South Africa and Barcelona.

Here's Nick:

We met on our first day at university and have been together ever since. We have now been together for over 4 years and during that time have done some amazing things together. We have so much in common, we love the same things, share a lot of the same passions and have the same dreams and aspirations in life. From the moment we met we were completely comfortable with each other and have great fun planning our future.
Despite having a lot in common we have quite opposite personalities, I am a bit of a worrier, very particular and organised (Nick swears I have OCD but I find nothing wrong with colour-coding my wardrobe and having specific places for my DVD’s) as opposed to Nick who is so laid-back and takes everything as it comes…if it ever does. We therefore balance each other out perfectly which means we live, work and play together without killing each other in the process. It is also great because it means I get to make most of the decisions…like where we go on holiday!!

One of our main passions is travelling and we’ve visited some amazing places together including Thailand and Cuba. We loving reading about the countries, planning the trips and experiencing the culture, the countryside and especially the food and drink.

We also love going to the theatre and have seen some brilliant shows including 4 different Cirque du Soliel’s, The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Chicago and our particular favourite, We Will Rock You.

Here is a few pictures of us:

Coming Up Next....The One With Our Disney History

 

[winkers]

When in may will you be there? I'l be there April 29-May 6th.

 

[ariel2007]

When in may will you be there? I'l be there April 29-May 6th.

Hey, my first ever subscriber, I'm so excited Hope some more can join us soon

We're there from 28th April - 21st May and cant wait

 

[ariel2007]

The One With Our Disney History

Now that you have met the cast, its only right we re-live with you our previous Disney trips, in classic fairytale style...

Once upon a time there was a beautiful Queen who had 2 little princesses. The Queen liked to treat the 2 little Princesses by showing them magical Disney films and buying them small Disney gifts, starting a little Disney obsession in the smallest princess. Therefore when the magical Euro Disney first opened in 1992 the 2 Princesses begged the wonderful Queen and the boring old King to take them to this magical land of fairies, pirates and wondrous creatures. The Queen and King promised that in 1993 there wish would be granted ~ much to the Princesses delight.

But like in every good fairytale disaster struck and the boring old King left the beautiful Queen and the 2 Princesses, and their dream of visiting the wonderful and magical Euro Disney was left in pieces.

However, True to fairytale tradition a handsome and wonderful Knight came riding in on his beautiful black stallion to save the day. In 1994 The beautiful Queen and wonderful Knight took the 2 Princesses and the Knights young son to the magical World of Dreams, the most magical and wondrous surprise the young children had ever encountered.

Fortunately this was just the beginning of the magical adventures the young Princesses and young Knight would enjoy to this magical place, full of dreams and wishes.

And, of course, They all lived Happily Ever After.

So like the story tells in 1994 my wonderful Mum and step-dad took my older sister, myself and my younger step-brother to Euro Disney as a surprise. They told us some story about going to visit my Step-dad’s brother who worked on a ferry as a chef, except when we got on the ferry began to move. My Mum told us to all bet where we thought were going and the person who came closest would win a pound (talk about big money). Not knowing many places abroad, or perhaps it was my Disney-intuition, I said Paris. The journey down to Paris took a while but as soon as we close and started seeing the signs for Euro Disney I twigged and nudged my sister. When we eventually arrived and drove under the large wooden Davy Crockett Ranch sign, surrounded by trees and empty fields we were most disappointed. What we didn’t know was The Davy Crockett Ranch was a Disney resort. When we finally arrived at the park we were all so excited and couldn’t believe we were finally there, the place we had dreamed about going since it was first announced. My Mum and Step-dad had done such a good job keeping this a secret and were so excited to see our reaction, which of course was sheer amazement. We all instantly fell in love with the place and were so sad when it was time to leave.

Luckily we got to visit a few times over the next few years, one of the most memorable trips was for my 16th birthday in 2001. This was my little sisters first trip to Disney (although I had made sure she had been brought up on Disney films) and it was just as amazing to see her reaction to everything as it was to actually be there.

1995

2001 - my baby sisters 1st visit to Disney

In 1998 I was lucky enough to have my first visit to WDW. My Dad (yes the boring King) decided to take my older sister and I along with his girlfriend and her 8 year old daughter to Florida to visit his sister who had just moved to Fort Lauderdale (her husbands in the Navy). We went for 2 weeks, spending 1 in Fort Lauderdale at my aunties house and the other on I-drive. Within a week we managed to visit Magic Kingdom, Epcot (on the 4th of July), Animal Kingdom (which had recently opened), Universal Studio’s, Seaworld, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon all in 7 days. I instantly fell in love with Disney World, Orlando and America in general, and I still have magical memories of that first sight of Cinderella’s castle as we floated across Seven Sea’s Lagoon, the beautiful grandeur of the Grand Floridian, imagining all the rich people inside, so lucky to stay there, and the Crystal Palace, sitting outside and seeing all those lucky children inside meeting some of my favourite characters. Unfortunately my Dad wasn’t the organised type which meant we were rarely at a park before 11am and due to lack of funds and lack of liking good-food all our meals were either in the form of a large ponderosa breakfast to keep us going till tea, then KFC, McDonalds or fries. Although the holiday was magical and was the kind of holiday I thought only rich people could only ever afford, I really missed my Mum and baby sister and wished they were there to enjoy it too.

Fast-forward to 2004 and Mum and my Step-dad mention the possibility of going to Colorado skiing in January 2005. After picking up a load of brochures and pricing up options I decide to price up Walt Disney World, never dreaming we would actually be able to go there. However thanks to some great prices from First Choice which included staying onsite and a bit of sweet talking my parents (who didn’t actually take much convincing) we booked up to go for 2 weeks in January 2005, staying at the All Star Movies (my Mum, Step-dad, little sister and I). The trip was amazing, and it was even more amazing to be sharing it all with my parents and little sister. The first glance at the Cinderella castle as we floated across the Seven Sea’s Lagoon was as magical as the first time, and instead of sitting outside the Crystal Palace watching all the lucky people inside, I was actually one of those lucky people ( and I will stay in the Grand Floridian one day soon). We hadn’t done much planning (apart from reading the Brit Guide from front to back many times) and had booked no ADR’s. Fortunately for us this was fine for this time of year. The holiday was everything we had dreamed it to be and so much more and we had so many magical moments and memories. Unfortunately though it had to end all too soon.

As soon as we got back we started planning on our next trip to WDW, however this time Nick was coming for his first ever trip to Disney (and America) and it was going to be a big one. Due to various school / university / work commitments we had to go in the summer holidays but this did mean that it would coincide with my 21st birthday, both my little sister and Step-dad’s birthdays and would be just after Nick and my graduation. Therefore we decided to go for a month, spending 2 weeks in Port Orleans, 1 week in Animal Kingdom Lodge and the final week in Miami. This time we planned, planned, planned, and planned some more, made lots of ADR’s, lots of plans and were much more prepared. Again we had the best holiday ever and added many more magical memories to the collection. Unfortunately this time when we got back we knew we wouldn’t be going back for some time.

Here are some of my favorite pics:

However for New Year 2006 we were able to visit Disneyland Paris again (this time with Nick as well who had now joined us in becoming a Disney park fanatic) and spent a few days there enjoying the Christmas atmosphere, the outdoor ice-skating and wonderful Tinkerbell dinner show.

For my birthday this year Nick took me to Disneyland Paris again (our first Disney trip just the two of us), staying 2 nights in Disney’s lovely Newport Bay hotel. I had a wonderful birthday and Nick spoilt me loads but the more time we spent there, the more I missed WDW.

In August 2008 it’s my Mum’s 50th birthday and she mentioned visiting New York. So we began looking at prices which is when I mentioned that maybe WDW could be an option, especially since it would be during the free DDP time. However after some careful considerations it was decided that New York would be a better option for my Mum’s birthday (my older sister didn’t want to come if we went to WDW and my Mum wanted her there too), which left me upset at the thought of another year away from WDW. Luckily, Nick came to the rescue and proposed that we went just the two of us, saying he too was desperate to go back (it only took one holiday to convert him). We began talking about it, planning it and double checking that Mum definitely couldn’t go for her birthday and that she wouldn’t mind us going. With that sorted we decided to go for it, just the two of us…and so this Magical WDW adventure began.

Coming Up...The One With The Forgotten Cast Member
and
The One Where we started Planning

 

[ariel2007]

Ok so I introduced Nick and myself but there is one more member of the cast you need to meet. He has a real sense of adventure, loves traveling the world and has come with us on all our trips...and of course will be joining us on this one.

Here he is, the one and only Piggles:

Relaxing in the Bahama's

Playing Poker in France

Eating at Annettes Diner, Disneyland Paris

His favorite place...Ohana

He cant wait to ride Sheikra, get his picture on Splash Mountain and drink more cocktails in Ohana. Keep an eye out for him, he could pop up at any time or any place....

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

Love it

Your very pretty too

 

[ariel2007]

Love it

Your very pretty too

Thank you hun, thats so sweet

 

[ariel2007]

So we had finally decided to take the plunge and go just the two of us. Ok that was Step 1 completed. Now for step 2, the planning, how hard can this be, all we have to do is choose a time of year, choose how long to go for, choose where to stay, who to book through, who to fly with, where to fly from and too, which parks to visit, which park passes to buy, any other activities, which restaurants we want to eat at……… ok maybe this will take some work, but where to start.

When would we go?
We were pretty much free to go any time so wanted to go when there would be low crowds but also nice weather. Therefore we narrowed it down to May or October. Although October would be a great option since we could have gone to the Food and Wine Festival and took part in the various Halloween parties / activities in the parks we felt it would be a bit too close to when we go to New York at the end of August and plus we couldn’t wait that long. So it was decided, we would go in early May, that way avoiding the May UK holidays and any other holidays.


Where would we stay?
A major consideration for us after we decided to go was deciding where to stay. We both knew we wanted to stay onsite due to the benefits, but which hotel to chose was a whole other story, and also whether we would stay there the whole time.

When we thought about going for Mum’s birthday we had decided to go for 3 weeks, looking at 2 weeks in a Disney hotel and then 1 week in a villa. Now I had never really wanted to stay in a villa as I loved staying onsite and the benefits it brought but lots of friends and people on here began to make it sound appealing, especially the thought of our own pool. The more I looked at the villas the more I wanted to stay in one. As for a Disney hotel, as we wanted to get the free DDP we would have to stay in a moderate resort, which was perfect for me. However I had initially said to Nick when we were first thinking about going back that I wouldn’t mind staying at the All Stars if it meant going back to Disney again, so of course he took me up on this.

Now it was just the two of us it looked like it would be the All Stars. However the more I looked at the Disney brochures the more I wanted to stay in a moderate resort again. I began researching them and came down to a choice of 2, Caribbean Beach or Coronado Springs (we had stayed at Port Orleans last time and wanted to try somewhere different). Initially I really liked the look of the Caribbean Beach but the more I read about Coronado Springs the more I wanted to stay there. I priced 14 nights there including park passes, comparing it to the All Stars and put the idea to Nick in my most convincing manner. After a bit more convincing he agreed, wahoo were staying at Coronado Springs

We thought about spending the third week offsite, therefore doing all the offsite parks during this week. However the All Stars seemed the most reasonable option. That was until we learnt that a friend owned a villa in Florida and we could get it for a discount, perfect. I know many people love the space and comfort of villas so we would get to try this and stay onsite too, the best of both worlds

Now that was decided I had two more things to fit in. When we thought about going back with Mum I looked into staying at one of the Universal hotels as so many people go on about the Universal Express benefits, and fell in love with the Royal Pacific. I decided if we went I would pay for us all to stay there for one night as their Christmas present, although ideally I would have liked to stay for 2 nights. Now that it was just the two of us to pay for we could afford to stay for 2 nights, brilliant this meant less rushing to and from hotels.
Secondly, as we were going to be there for Mum’s 50th I was trying to think of some special things to do on her birthday and came up with 2 ideas. One was to stay in the Polynesian hotel (which we all loved when we visited) as a surprise and go to Ohana for tea, and the second was to eat at the Yachtsman Steakhouse and stay at the Yacht or Beach Club. However with it being just the two of us, we (well I mean I) decided we would do both.


Who would we fly with?
Now we had looked at various packages with various companies but after pricing everything up and due to wanting to stay in a villa and on-site we decided to book it all separately. So we began looking at various flights and prices and we decided Virgin Atlantic would be our best option. They flew from Gatwick which is only 60-90 minutes away, the service and amenities are good and the prices weren’t too bad. We had originally looked at going from the 1st-22nd May but it was cheaper to fly on the 30th so that was decided.

Where would we eat?
Now dining is a big part of the holiday for us and we both love the Disney restaurants. As soon as we started thinking about going back I started thinking about the restaurants we would eat at. Here is my initial list

Definites:
Ohana
Le Cellier
California Grill
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Whispering Canyon
Beaches and Cream
Coral Reef
Kona Café (breakfast)
Hop-dee-doo Musical Revue
Maya Grill (breakfast)
Garden View Lounge – afternoon tea
1900 Park Fayre

Maybes:
House of Blues
Fultons Crabhouse
Chef Mickey’s
Rainforest Cafe
Crystal Palace
Cinderella’s Royal Table
Sci Fi diner
Hollywood Brown Derby
Boma (breakfast and tea)


So by now we had decided when we were going, who we were flying with, where we were staying and ideas of where we wanted to eat. With this sorted I began to formulate a basic itinerary to make sure we could fit in everything we wanted to do and so we knew when to book the hotels etc for.
Now with a basic plan done we were almost ready to book, right? Wrong!!
Every time I looked at the plan I was unhappy . Firstly there was only 2 free-ish days for all the following: rest time, resort time, shopping time, time for other activities i.e. mini-golf, DisneyQuest, boating, Ripleys etc. Secondly we would be paying for the villa for 2 days when we would not be there. So what do we do…Cut out some activities, No . Cut out the Royal Pacific, No . I know lets add 2 more days....

Queue Nick: “We’re not adding anymore days”
Me: “But why not”
Nick: “Cause it will cost more”

Brief interlude in conversation whilst I research some convincing prices

Me: “But see it wont cost anymore…well not much”
Nick: “But its already gone from 2 to 3 weeks”
Me: “But it will give us more free time”
Nick: “Yes…(begins to weaken)…but 3 weeks is fine”

Ok time to bring out the big guns

Me: “But it means we will have time for mini-golf and…the segway tour”

Fast-forward 5 seconds

Nick: “Oh why not, lets do it”

Horray, 23 nights it is .


So now we had pretty much planned everything we wanted to book/do etc… and it was erm…August. I was just so excited, we could finally get on with booking things and have the definite knowledge we were going again. We decided that at the beginning of each month we would have a Disney/America day when we would watch a Disney film, eat American food and book things for the holiday.

Coming Next... The One With What We've Booked

 

[ariel2007]

And so the initial planning had been done and it was now time to start booking. September came and we had our first Disney day, we popped Cars into the DVD player, had a lovely dinner of steak, fries and onion rings and started booking, it was so exciting....

(BTW this was our first time watching Cars, bad for a Disney fanatic I know , but we both loved it)

We did the same at the beginning of October, November and December and by the time Christmas came pretty much everything was booked

So in brief here is our holiday -

Dates: Monday April 28th - Wednesday 21st May 2008

Sunday April 27th - Stay overnight at Gatwick Hilton

Monday April 28th - Fly from London Gatwick - Orlando International with Virgin Atlantic

Monday April 28th - Monday May 5th - Star Villa, Glenbrook

We are really looking forward to trying a villa for the first time, especially since there are four bedrooms and two bathrooms for the two of us (meaning plenty of place to store all our souvenirs ). It will also be great to come home from a long day at the parks and jump into our own pool. I will post some more pic's later

Monday May 5th - Wednesday May 7th - Royal Pacific Resort, Water View Room

We have walked through this resort and loved the tropical atmosphere and theming. The main reason for booking however was those all important front-of-line passes, we're so looking froward to getting our hands on these

Wednesday 7th May - Wednesday 21st May (yes 2 whole weeks) - Disney's Coronado Springs

This is the day we finally arrive home and spend our first night at Disney . I have looked at so many pictures of Coronado Springs and love all the theming so cant wait to see it all in reality. And of course just being surrounded by all the Disney magic

Saturday May 10th - 1 night at the Polynesian Resort, Castle View

We both LOVE the Polynesian and have dream't of staying here forever. We cant wait to be able to drink cocktails in Ohana, walk along the beach and then watch Wishes from our own room...this is definately one of the things I am most excited about.

Saturday May 17th - 1 night at the Yacht Club, Water view

We have never been here so cant wait to see somewhere new and also be able to walk to Epcot and watch Illuminations

Oh and to get us from A - B we booked a little car..

Now this is what Nick is most excited about of the whole trip. He loves cars, loves driving, and loves Mustangs so we knew we just had to book one (we just have to keep our fingers crossed that they dont run out of Mustangs else it may be the end of the world )

 

[winkers]

Wow! It sounds like an amazing trip! You are going to have so much fun!

 

[ariel2007]

From previous visits we already knew which parks we wanted to visit (all of them) and which tickets would work out best for us. Then with the help of all you guys out there and your wonderful trippies and information we added some other special tours, excursions and dinner shows. Here is a peak at what we have booked -

Tickets
* Disney 14 day Ultimate Ticket
* Universal 2 day, 2 park Ticket
* Discovery Cove Plus with 14 days Seaworld, Busch Gardens and Aquatica

Excursions and Tours
* Seaworld Shark Dive

* Crystal River Manatee Swim

* Epcot Segway Tour - Around the World at Epcot

* Hot Air Balloon Trip

Shows and Dinner Shows

* Seaworld Makahiki Luau Dinner Show

* Disneys Hop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue

* La Nouba

We are also planning on visiting Kennedy Space Center for the first time, but have decided to buy the tickets there. We also hope to have some time to visit a few of the attractions along I-Drive like Ripleys.

Hopefully these should keep us busy for a few weeks....

Coming Next... The One With The Itinery A.K.A The One With All Those ADR's

 

[ariel2007]

Now this post could have many names - The One With The Itinerary is the most obvious and lets any readers I may have know exactly what they are getting. However, maybe a more appropriate title may be The One With All Those ADR's or maybe The One With All That Food, as as you will soon see we have made 19 ADR's in a period of 14 days and that is just Disney Dining. Add to that 9 days of Universal, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and various I-Drive/Orlando restaurants and that constitutes a whole lot of food .

So without further ado, here is my much researched, much changed and much polished itinerary, and just to make it slightly easier to spot all those many ADR's I have highlighted them in pink for you



Sunday 27th April
The day has finally arrived, the best day of the whole year
Say Good-bye to the kittens (I will introduce you soon), final checks then drive to Gatwick
Twilight Check-in then check in to Gatwick Hilton

Monday 28th April

Check-out of Hilton, through customs and to Virgin Gatwick Clublounge to chill-out and have a nice relaxed breakie avec a glass of bubbly before our flight (oh and of course time for some duty free shopping).
Gatwick – Orlando International with Virgin Atlantic
Pick up car (hopefully the Mustang) and drive to our Villa at Glenbrook.
Tea at Bahama Breeze then visit Walmart for a few essentials (and probably a lot of non-essentials too)
Chill in villa – unpack, swim, watch some classic American TV

Tuesday 29th April
Up early and drive to IHOP for our first holiday breakie and our first IHOP breakie.
Seaworld for day with lunch at Sharks Underwater Grill.
Leave Seaworld early afternoon and head to Mall at Millenia for some designer shopping (I know it’s a bit early for shopping but we both need to pick a few things up for Thursday and this will be our only chance)
Tea at The Cheesecake Factory -can’t wait for their delicious cheesecake

Wednesday 30th April
Busch Gardens for the whole day, lunch at Crown Colony - and despite Nick’s protests we will be riding Sheikra
Tea at Texas de Brazil - this restaurant sounds great, a huge buffet of salads and sides and skewers of meat cut tableside

Thursday 1st May
This is Nick and my 4 ½ year anniversary (not marriage, only dating) – I know its a bit strange but we wanted something to celebrate on this holiday and this seemed the perfect thing, especially since we quite often miss big occasions
Breakfast at Golden Corral
Seaworld for day – we have both the Shark Deep Dive and Makahiki Dinner Show booked for today to celebrate - Nick is a little apprehensive about swimming with Sharks but hopefully it will help him conquer his fear a little

Friday 2nd May
Aquatica for the day
Tea at Hooters - tacky – what more can I say?

Saturday 3rd May
Up early for our trip to the Crystal River for our Manatee Swim
Tea at Outback Steakhouse

Sunday 4th May
Free day – well our free days aren’t actually free or any less strenuous, but just don’t involve theme parks or excursions
Breakfast at Golden Corral
Shopping – Florida Mall / Prime Outlets / Premium Outlets
Congo River Golf and Ripley's - this will be our first chance in 3 holidays to spend some time on I-Drive
Takeaway in villa for tea and time to pack (crikey its been a week already )

Monday 5th May
Check out of villa and into Royal Pacific Resort
Breakfast at Island’s Dining Room
Day at Universal Studio’s
Tea at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville – I love Margarita’s
Shopping and chilling in CityWalk

Tuesday 6th May
Day at Islands of Adventure
Lunch at Mythos - heard so many good reviews about this
Afternoon in hotel, chilling in pool, CityWalk
Tea at Tchoup Chop - this was one of my favourite restaurants from last time and we cant wait to go back

Wednesday 7th May
Check out of Royal Pacific and into Coronado Springs – at last we are home
Day in Downtown Disney – for shopping, lunch and hiring a boat
Check in to room and unpack, check out resort and pool
Tea at Maya Grill

Thursday 8th May
Our first Disney park day
Up early and head to Epcot for Segway Tour
Morning in Future World
Lunch at Coral Reef
Back to CS for swim and to get ready for evening
Drive to Fort Wilderness for Hop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue dinner show (and a bit of resort snooping)


Friday 9th May
Discovery Cove – this is the day were both most looking forward too, I love Discovery Cove so much

Saturday 10th May
Magic Kingdom for morning
Afternoon tea at Garden View Lounge, Grand Floridian (and more resort snooping) – I wanted to try here last time but we didn’t get time so I made sure we had a reservation this time
Check in to Polynesian Resort for the night – Castle View Room
Tea and cocktails at Ohana – our other favourite restaurant
Wishes from room, pool or beach

Sunday 11th May
Breakfast at Kona Cafe
Free morning at the Polynesian – swimming, shopping, chilling
Possibly Parasailing and Personal Watercraft's at the Contemporary
Afternoon in Magic Kingdom
Tea at Crystal Palace and Wishes
Back to Coronado Springs – “bye Polynesian and castle view”

Monday 12th May
Breakfast at Maya Grill
Morning at resort
Afternoon/evening at MGM (emh)
Tea at Hollywood Brown Derby then Fantasmic

Tuesday 13th May
Blizzard Beach for day
Evening at Downtown Disney – shopping and tea at House of Blues
La Nouba – we love Cirque du Soliel, having seen 4 of their shows La Nouba still ranks top

Wednesday 14th May
Kennedy Space Centre


Thursday 15th May
Animal Kingdom for the day – our one and only day here so lots to do
Lunch at the Yak and Yeti - can’t wait to try this new restaurant
Tea at Jiko (and yes more resort snooping)

Friday 16th May
Up ridiculously early for our Hot Air Balloon Flight – I cant wait to see how everything looks from up above
Chilling day
Late lunch at Whispering Canyon
Evening at Magic Kingdom for the PRINCESS AND PIRATE PARTY – yes we got tickets and I cannot wait to get all dressed up and savage my way through the park

Are you running out of steam yet ... cause I am just by looking at it all, oh well you only live once, and its only 23 days, I can sleep the rest of the year (oh damn I have work and stuff)

Saturday 17th May
Lazy morning – no doubt we will need it by now
Lunch at Beaches and Cream – I am definitely starving myself ready for the legendary Kitchen Sink (just obviously not on the holiday cause that would just be silly )
Check in to the Yacht Club – waterview room
Tea at Yachtsman Steakhouse then watch Illuminations

Sunday 18th May
Breakfast at the Yacht Club Galley
Epcot World Showcase for the day – probably sampling several bevarages
Tea at Le Cellier then Illuminations – bring on the cheddar cheese soup

Monday 19th May
MGM for the day, probably lunch at the Sci Fi Diner although nothing is booked yet
Tea at California Grill (and resort snooping) – hopefully we will be able to get a window table for Wishes

Tuesday 20th May
Breakfast at 1900 Park Fayre
Magic Kingdom for the day, probably an afternoon break at Coronado Springs to pack
Tea at Ohana (again) – the perfect last night, a lovely dinner in a lovely setting, cocktails and Wishes from the beach

Wednesday 21st May
Departure day – but I don’t wanna go home
Check out of Coronado Springs and do Downtown Disney check in
Morning at DisneyQuest, lunch and final shopping at Downtown Disney
Drive to airport, Nick’s last drive in the Mustang
Evening Flight back to Gatwick – Premium Economy

Thursday 22nd May
Arrive back to sunny England with only distant memories of our amazing holiday


As you can see we are packing a lot in to a fairly short amount of time. Will we burn out? Probably, but not until we get back and then it doesn't matter. There is so much we want to do, we haven't even fitted half of it in now. And not knowing when we will be coming back again we want to fit as much in as is humanly possible.

The I-Drive/Orlando restaurants are not set in stone, we have so many new ones we want to try as well as some old favourites so I have just put in the ones we definitely want to do. We are also hoping to fit in:

Bahama Breeze
Cici's Pizza Buffet
Chili's
The Olive Garden
Longhorn Steakhouse
Fuddruckers

As for shopping we aren't really sure where to go as I have only been to Mall at Millenia before. We will definitely be visiting here but hope to try a few new, and maybe cheaper places, so any ideas would be welcome.

Coming Up Next... The One With The Oversized Villa and maybe meet the Cats

 

[ariel2007]

Finally after 3 trips to WDW we were going to try staying in a villa. Now I've got to admit this definitely wasn't my first choice of accommodation. Our last 2 trips (and Nick's only trip) had been spent staying onsite at Disney, first at the All Stars, then Port Orleans and Animal Kingdom Lodge. From this we had been totally spoilt by all the additional benefits like extra magic hours, the wonderful theming of the resorts and of course just being in the Disney magic 24-7. We also like the whole hotel experience whilst we are on holiday - having lots of amenities to hand, i.e restaurants, shops, bars etc, having daily maid service and not having to worry about cooking, cleaning, washing and other general boring everyday tasks (cause lets face it you don't get to be in Disney every day ). When we got back from our last trip however, I started reading lots of trip reports and started looking into accommodation for if we were lucky enough to go back. The more I read, the more the idea of a villa started to appeal to me. Lots of space, a nice lounge to relax in and watch American TV, if we ever have time, a fridge and freezer that we could fill with all sorts of American junk food, and the main appeal, our very own pool. We both love swimming, especially on holiday, and there is nothing better than relaxing in your own pool at the end of a tiring day at the parks.
When we decided to go back we knew we would be spending 2 weeks in a Disney resort but needed to find somewhere for the third week. I started looking into villas but the price was just not practical for the 2 of us, especially when we could stay at the All Stars, right in the heart of the Disney magic for half the price. It was then we found out that a friend owned a villa in Florida and could give us a good deal. We looked at the website for the villa and it was perfect... it wasn't anything particularly posh and it was slightly further away from some of the attractions but it filled all the criteria we wanted... pool - check , lots of space - check , nice lounge - check , 4 bedrooms - what was that, 4 bedrooms? 4 bedrooms for the 2 of us . Now it may seem like a lot of space but believe me it will get used. On the messy scale Nick ranks Slightly - Very, Very and on the souvenir and shopping scale I rank Lots - Extremely Lots. So we will have loads of space to store all our goodies and we can nearly sleep in a different bed every night
The villa is also in the Glenbrook Resort which has a community pool and clubhouse too, I feel we may really enjoy our first villa experience and can honestly decide which works out better for us for future visits (of which hopefully there will be many).

Here are some pictures of our villa:

Outside the villa

Master Bedroom - our main bedroom

Master Bath

Second Master Bedroom aka my closet

The Disney Bedroom

The 4th Bedroom - my souvenir room

The Lounge

Kitchen and Dining areas

The Pool

Our Own Gamesroom aka Nick's room

The Glenbrook Facilities

 

[ariel2007]

Planning and booking a holiday so far in advance definitely has its advantages. You are well equipped with the knowledge of where is good to stay, who to book with and the best deals in regards to prices. You can pre-plan all the good things you want to do, all the places you want to dine and then can book it as soon as you hit those 180 or 90 day marks. However there is one MAJOR disadvantage to booking and planning so far in advance... you have what seems like forever to wait . Fortunately it was only 8 months from when we booked till when we go, and in-between there was Christmas which helped really pass the time. Lets face it, with all the extra hours at work to earn extra money for pressies, all the Christmas shopping, present wrapping, tree decorating, food making, Christmas parties, and just the general excitement of Christmas the month or so surrounding then just flew by . We also passed the time by booking certain things for the holiday each month, and having a Disney–America day which made us more and more excited with each month (well me anyway, Nick doesn’t get excited till the last minute usually, although I am trying to change this). We also managed to fit in some good mini-trips, shows and outings, most of which had some relation to Disney or our holiday.

OCTOBER:
Cirque Du Soliel – Delirium at the NEC with Orlandobaby and AndyJ – Nick and I are major Cirque fans and having heard they were in Birmingham couldn’t miss the chance to see them. The show was very good like usual, although probably the least favourite of the 4 we have seen. The music and visuals took centre stage with acrobatics and dancing taking second place, although what there was were very good.

Disney On Ice – A Disneyland Adventure featuring the Incredible’s - I love Ice-skating and have been to see Holiday on Ice several times, so when I heard there was a Disney show we booked tickets for my Mum, step-dad, little sister and ourselves. The show was brilliant and being based around different rides in Disneyland, coupled with classic Disney music really got us excited about our upcoming trip.

NOVEMBER:
Mary Poppins - We celebrated our 4 year anniversary (dating) in November by going to see Mary Poppins in London. Being one of my favorite Disney films and a MAJOR fan of Dick Van **** I was a bit apprehensive of watching the show. However, it was totally brilliant, the set, music and choreography were first class and there were elements in the storyline that weren’t in the film which made it incomparable.

This is what Nick brought me for our anniversary


DECEMBER:
Christmas – what more can I say. I made sure we visited the Disney store on several occasions when Christmas shopping and brought lots of lovely Disney decorations for our tree and house. I was hoping to get some things for our holiday for Christmas and luckily I did. Father Christmas brought me some nice toiletries for me to take and Nick brought me toiletries, a Disney pen, Disney nightwear, underwear, a lovely Disney dressing gown (not for the holiday) and some Disney teddies.


JANUARY:
Cirque Du Soliel - Varekai - I brought tickets for my Mum, step-dad and little sister for Christmas so we all went to watch it for Nick’s birthday in January. We started the day in style with champagne and orange juice and smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, followed by some lovely presents – I got him a new suitcase inside which had a new Ratatouille towel, a few Disney pins to trade, some sun screen, a leather wash bag with toiletries, top trumps and a few books (for the plane or by the pool), an Orlando pop-up map and some Tigger socks and boxers. We then made our way to London and went to the London Dungeon’s in the day which was very good but very scary, had tea at Hard Rock Cafe (where a lanyard and several pins were purchased) and then watched the show. Varekai was amazing, probably ranking second with Alegria (behind La Nouba). The set and costumes were amazing, so bright and colourful, the acts were phenomenal, so extraordinary, and like always the show was perfect. The thing that let it down slightly was the music, which wasn’t as strong or consistent as the other shows.

Nick's Birthday pressies

His new Ratatouille towel

More pins

Works Christmas Party – Our works party was on the Dixie Queen boat in London. The party was brilliant with unlimited free booze, a lovely meal and good entertainment and an awards ceremony. The boat reminded me of the riverboats in Magic Kingdom, making me more excited.


FEBRUARY
Sound of Music – For valentines day Nick is taking me to see The Sound of Music, one of my all time favorite films and a show I have been wanting to see since it opened. We are planning on visiting the aquarium in the day and having tea in Hard Rock Cafe as it was so good on Nick’s birthday.

Mini-trip to Cornwall – Nick and I had a weeks holiday left to take so started looking into things we could do. I really fancied visiting a few theme parks as we both love them and it would be something to look forward to before our holiday. Unfortunately due to the time of year everything is still closed, we even looked into going to Universal’s Port Adventura in Spain but even that was closed. Just as we started residing ourselves to doing nothing my Mum asked us to join her, my step-dad, little sister, and grandparents for a week in Cornwall. My Mum’s best friend has a flat in a very small town in Cornwall which we used to visit regularly as children. The town is really small with 1 road which leads to a dead end, a small souvenir shop, surf shop, cafe, pub and roundhouse. However it is right on the beach with a lovely harbour (complete with lifeboat station), rock-pools and a lovely stretch of sand. The flat itself is quite small but is right on a cliff with lovely views across the bay. There are steps leading up a big hill just behind the flat which lead to a coastal path ending about 1 mile away in Lands End. There is not a lot to do in the area but it will be nice to have a relaxing family break, quiet walks along the cliffs and traditional pub dinners – quite different to our upcoming WDW trip.


MARCH:
Mothers Day – As yet we have nothing planned but it will probably involve giving my Mum breakfast in bed, a nice picnic lunch and walk on the moors with my grandparents, ending with a nice meal at one of our favourite restaurants. As we are going to New York in August I am planning on getting my Mum something for that, probably a ticket for a Broadway show, although any other ideas would be very welcome.

Easter – It will probably be the same as usual with a breakfast of boiled eggs followed by an Easter egg hunt. My Mum normally cooks a nice roast lunch and my grandparents join us, before all going for a nice walk on the moors. For Easter I wanted to get everyone something for New York and decided I would probably get them all a ticket for a evening boat cruise. I am going to put them each in a gift bag inside which will also be a New York keyring, pen, postcard, some American chocolate.


APRIL
This is it... in 26 days time we will be finishing our packing and having a nice takeaway together on our last night at home (well for 25 nights). In 27 days time we will leaving for the airport and checking into the Gatwick Hilton. In 28 days time we will be on a plane to Orlando and finally our holiday will begin :grin:

To be honest with all of the above going on as well as several family and friends birthdays and other social events the last 6 months has gone pretty quickly. Saying that every other day I find myself bouncing off the walls, counting down the days until we finally get on that plane to Orlando...Oh well only 75 days, 17 hours, 8 minutes and 29 seconds to go....

 

[ariel2007]

I thought I should introduce to the other two members of our household. They aren't coming with us (unfortunately ) but they do have some connection to Disney....

So here is our babies

This is Tigger

and Scamp

Being a Disney fanatic I had to give them Disney names. Now Tigger was a very obvious choice - hes orange and stripy and if you look closely hes got black in his fur. He is also really bouncy and playful, just like Tigger :tiggerbou. For the other kitten we wanted another Disney name and as soon as we got to know his personality Scamp was an obvious choice.

We hadnt planned to get kittens but one of the cats on Nicks Dad's farm had four kittens and we fell in love with them. I used to visit them everyday but unfortunately the Mum had them in the middle of an open field in the coldest part of April and two of the kittens died. Now some of you may remember that at this point I posted on the Dibb as I didn't know what to do, I didnt want to leave the other two to die but I didnt have a clue about cats and they were only 2 weeks old at the time. I phoned Nick devastated to tell him and he ordered me to wait with them till he got home. Whilst I waited with them they followed me constantly meowing and one of them literally ran up me for a cuddle, they were so adorable. As soon as Nick got home we made the decision to take them in and along with their Mum took them home. The Mum, although a wild Cat loved staying with us, she loved the company and always wanted cuddles. Eventually when they were old enough we took her back to the farm, at which time she was beginning to want to go outdoors again.
Unfortunately from being outside the kittens got cat flu, Scamp was quite ill with it, he had problems with his eye constantly weeping and as he couldnt smell he wouldnt eat. We hand fed him milk for a while till he began lapping but he never went on to solid foods, although we tried everything. Then the day we were due to leave for Disneyland Paris in July he got really ill, he was disorientated, weak, he wasnt reacting to loud noises and he had toilet troubles. We took him straight to the vet, I held him the whole way on the 30 minute journey, and then for another 40 minutes at the vets, praying him to be strong and pull through. The vet had a look at him and whisked him straight away. It was very upsetting as I didnt have chance to say goodbye. They told us that they would do tests and that we should go home, it was so hard leaving him there. When we got home we were already 3 hours late leaving for our holiday and it was so hard leaving him behind not knowing if he would be ok. Nick took me back to the vet on the way so I could try and see him and they let me look at him through the glass, he was in a little cage asleep with a big bandage on his paw and a drip in it...he looked so delicate and I just wanted to pick him up and cuddle him. The whole journey to Disneyland was a mix between excitement and worry, as was the 3 days there (including my birthday). My little sister lit candles and prayed, and Nick phoned the vets about 6 times a day. What he didnt tell me is the vet had told him he thought Scamp was to little and weak to pull through . However, my strong little boy refused to give in and began to get better. Within a week the vets let him home and by the time Nick and I got back from our holiday he was fully recovered and had a whole new appetite to go with it .
Now, 7 months later we have two perfect little cats, both are so loving and love cuddles and kisses and lots of attention which is fine by us.

Here are some more pictures:

Baby Scamp - just before he was ill

...And just after - doesnt he look better?

Sophie with Scamp just after he got better

A little Tigger - bouncing about like usual

Cuddle time

Their Disney blanket - a pressie from Disneyland Paris

...And Disney cat bowls

 

[ariel2007]

Yo ho, Yo ho, A Pirates life for Me... We came home from work today to find our Princess and Pirate Party Tickets waiting on the mat for us . They are so cute:

My Princess Ticket

Nick's Pirate Ticket

We just need to find something to wear to it now, were going to go and have a look at the Pirate costumes in a fancy dress shop when we have time, Nick wants to look like Jack Sparrow :d:

We also got a Orlando Vacation Planning Kit. I had forgotten that I had ordered it so it was a nice surprise.

I wish the postman would bring me nice post like this everyday :grin:

 

[stagemomx3]

You and your boyfriend are so cute! It looks like you are having a lot of funny planning your fabulous trip. I'm totally jealous that you got to go see Mary Poppins though!

You've inspired me to go take pictures of our Pirates and Princess Party tickets to put in my pre trip report.

 

[mickeysmyboy]

I love your report!! Your pictures and stories are wonderful! Sounds like you have a wonderful trip planned!

 

[ariel2007]

You and your boyfriend are so cute! It looks like you are having a lot of funny planning your fabulous trip. I'm totally jealous that you got to go see Mary Poppins though!

You've inspired me to go take pictures of our Pirates and Princess Party tickets to put in my pre trip report.

Thanks, thats so sweet. Mary Poppins was brilliant, definitely glad we went to watch it before it ended in London. I really wanted to take my little sister to watch it as she would absolutely love it and luckily they are touring nearby so looks like we'll be going to watch it again in the summer

Are your tickets the same or do they do different ones too??

 

[ariel2007]

I love your report!! Your pictures and stories are wonderful! Sounds like you have a wonderful trip planned!

Thank you so much, I'm just glad I've got some readers.
The trouble is I keep trying to pass the time by planning, but that ends up to me booking more and more stuff, which in turn means more and more planning. At least its helping to pass the time a bit quicker, and were going to Cornwall in 2 days so that should keep us occupied for the next week. Then back to more planning again