Peter Pan's last chance to whisk me away before I take the plunge! A Nov 2012 PTR

[InNeverlandWithPan]

Hello all!

While driving home on this past Monday from a long weekend in Las Vegas, my BFF and I were texting about planning a mini Disneyland getaway for this November. You see, her and I have been to Disney World the past 2 Novembers in a row together, and we have had such AMAZING and MAGICAL vacations. The first year we stayed 7 nights and last year 8 nights, so you can imagine how wonderful that was. This year it wasn't supposed to happen.

You see, I am getting married next February, and my future husband and I are going on a two week Disneymoon. (You can see that PTR here) With that, and all the wedding planning, BFF and I had decided to skip our annual trip this year. I would be lying if I said I wasn't completely bummed about that. Yes, I'll be spending two weeks in all the magic at the beginning of next year, but it won't be the same as when her and I go.

Anyway, back to Monday's texting. We had decided we would just go down to Disneyland/California Adventure (we both have annual passes) and stay in the Grand Californian for two nights. I nonchalantly joked that we should just bite the bullet and take a long weekend trip to FL instead, and without hesitation she agreed! After discussing it a bit more, we decided we would like to invite our other friend (who works at Disney here in CA but has never been to the World) to go along as well, and as of last night we have our room booked for 4 nights, November 2nd-6th!

Phew. Sorry for so much text. I majored in Public Relations with a minor in Creative Writing so I could go on and on forever.

Let's get this rolling now... let me introduce you to the cast, and give you a bit more details on our trip plans!


Cast of Characters

Me: I'm Lindsay, 27 years old, and I am a total Disney junkie! I work full time as a web designer/developer and content manager for a large communications company.

BFF: Patty and I met at our college orientation 9 years ago and became instant friends. We share the same love for Disney, boybands and just plain having a good time. She is also 27 and works as an Entertainment Editor for a large online news/gossip publication.

Newbie: TeArra is the one who has never been to the World! GASP! Her and I met about 10 years ago through an Nsync message board and have been great friends ever since! We have run a few different websites together and gone to a lot of fun stuff. Last year she did the Disney College Program in Anaheim and got picked up after to be a regular employee. We are taking advantage of her discounts for this trip which is making it super cheap!

Trip Details

Who: Well, us of course!

When: Friday, November 2nd through Tuesday, November 6th.

Where: Pop Century. TeArra gets 50% off rooms during those days so it is super cheap!

Why: Who doesn't want to go to Disney World? It will be my last hurrah as a single gal!

TeArra can get us free park admission for all days, and we will be using the Magical Express and free resort busses as transportation. She also gets a big discount on dining so we'll probably make a couple ADRs. Patty and I are so excited to get to show TeArra around. We know she will be completely blown away.

Well that's it for now. I'm planning to write a TR for Patty and my November trip last year, so I want to get started on that. Better late than never right?

Thanks for reading!

 

[InNeverlandWithPan]

Hey everyone!

Have some updates for our trip to share. I am quickly realizing (though as Patty says, how could I have never knwon before??) that I am totally OCD about planning stuff. I've always believe I was the "go with the flow" type, but apparantly when it comes to a Disney trip that is not the case!

Anyway, we have been looking at flights a bit, and are thinking we will take a red eye flight on Thursday, November 1st. It leaves LAX at 11:40pm and gets us in to MCO at 7:30am. That would give us an entire extra day in the World. Though none of us like th idea of flying overnight, we are all willing to do it if it means more time to play in the parks!

If we go that route, we are planning to get tickets for that night (it's the last night) of the Halloween Party at MK. I have never even been to the one here in CA so I'm really excited about the idea! We have been joking around that we could dress up as the "Plus Size Princesses"... Patty would be Mulan, TeArra would be Tiana and I would be Belle. Pretty fantastic idea to me! If that doesn't happen, I may revert to my costume from last year. My fiance and I dressed up as Miss Piggy and The Swedish Chef:

Shhh, don't tell Kermie!

We have also made a couple dining reservations. These could very well change, but we decided to go ahead and make them so we have something. So far we have:

Patty and I are excited since all three places so far we have never been to. We want to try all new restaurants this trip, but it might be a little tough since TeArra isn't quite as adventurous with food like we are. Oh well.

The night that we eat at 'Ohana, we are planning to go over to the Poly early and watch the Electric Water Parade and Wishes from the beach... again, something we have never done!

Well, that's it for now. Gonna try to not go too crazy with all this planning stuff... I especially cannot forget that I ahve a wedding and honeymoon to plan too! Hopefully it will all come together smoothly...

 

[InNeverlandWithPan]

Happy Monday everyone!

Monday's stink... we all know it, but I figure staying positive about it will make it a little easier to bear.

Have an update on our November trip: Patty and I were talking and we think that since this is TeArra's first trip and she can get a great discount on rooms, we should stay somewhere a little more "exciting" than the Pop Century. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Pop and everything about it, but it's also a lot of fun to stay somewhere new.

So where is it we have switched to then? I know that is the question burning on everyone's mind...
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(Photo Credit: PortOrleans.org)

Yes, we have decided to become royals on this trip! I was actually looking at these rooms for my honeymoon next Feb, but I think it is more fitting for us girls to stay here. I am SO excited about it, we all are, and now the countdown for the trip has really begun. It's 164 days in case anyone is wondering...

So, just to keep everything organized, here are the updated trip details:

Dates: November 2nd - 6th
Hotel: Port Orleans Riverside - Royal Guest Room Garden View (with TeArra's discount)
Tickets: 5-Day Park Hopper (with TeArra's free entrance)
Dining Reservations:

Still waiting to see if TeArra will get some kind of cast member discount on the dining plan. They only have it for up to August right now so we'll see in a few months if it's offered or not. We don't mind paying OOP if we have to though.

Things are really shaping up! I can't wait for it all!

 

[InNeverlandWithPan]

Hello Everyone!

It's been a while since I did an update, so I thought I would stop by and check out all the swarms of people flooding my PTR.

I'm hoping we are able to book our flights within the next month or two. Round trip tickets have been staying right around $500 lately, but we usually pay $400 or less so I am waiting it out a bit more to see if it goes down. We decided that we for sure want to take a red eye flight on November 1st, that way we will have the full day Friday to enjoy everything! Also decided to make a reservation for a rental car at the Car Care Center by Magic Kingdom. Since we are so limited on time and want to do a lot of stuff, we figured having a car to avoid waiting around for busses woudln't be a bad idea.

With that all set, here is our current itenerary for the trip:

Friday, November 2nd
Arrive in Orlando at 7:30am. Take the Magical Express to POR and check in (fingers crossed the room is ready). If the room is ready, go settle in a bit and then head over the Car Care Center to pick up our car. We will set up to pick it up around 10am. If the room isn't ready, we will wander around the resort a bit until we are picked up to go get our car. Once we have our car we'll go to MK for the day. We are still deciding if we want to go to the Halloween party that night or not. If not, we will probably drive into Orlando and eat at the Alehouse.

Patty and I ate there last year and it was so good! We wanted to go because Nsync use to always rave about it, and us being the dorks we are we had to go! Hopefully after dinner or whatever we decide to do that night we can go swim for a bit then get a good night's sleep.

Saturday, November 3rd
Plan is to let ourselves sleep in a bit and then head over to MK. We have an 11am resevation at 1900 Park Faire so we will hang around the park until then. After our late breakfast, we'll decide if we want to go back to MK or hit up a different park. That night, we have a 9:55pm reservation at 'Ohana. We are going to head over there early enough to get a spot on the beach and watch the Electric Water show and Wishes. We have never done that before and I have always wanted to!

Sunday, November 4th
We'll get up bring and early to make it to Animal Kingdom for the morning EMH. Depending on how much we can get done, we will head out of the park around 1 and go over to Epcot. That night we have a 7pm dinner reservation at Nine Dragons Restaurant. Hoping we will finish dinner with enough time to grab a spot for Illuminations. After that, head back to the hotel and do some swimming.

Monday, November 5th
This day we might get up and go to Animal Kingdom again in the morning, or we'll go to Magic Kingdom. At around 1 we'll head over to Hollywood Studios and stay for the EMH that night. We have a 3:20 reservation at 50's Prime Time Cafe, so that will cmes up our eating schedule for the day, but that's fine. We will definitely want to watch Fantasmic that night, it is one of our favorite things to do at Disneyland here in CA. After the park closes we'll go back to the hotel and pack up everything. We'll want to be up fairly early the next day since it is the day we go home.

Tuesday, November 6th
This is the day we go home. Our flight isn't until 7pm, so we have a good chunk of the day to go to a park. We will get all our stuff together and check out of the room as early as we can. Then we will take the rental car back to the Car care Center, and most likely will spend out last Disney hours at the Magic Kingdom. It just feels right to always start and end the trip there.

Again, this being TeArra's first time, Patty and I are really excited to get to show TeArra around everywhere. Even though I didn't include it anywhere above, we will for sure go to DTD at some point just so she can see the massive size of it. We are now down to 129 days... but who's counting? hehe

 

[InNeverlandWithPan]

We are down to 58 days until this trip! The girls and I are getting so excited and cannot wait for our mini-vacation.

Work has been stressful lately, plus it's getting down to the nitty gritty of wedding planning stuff, so this trip will definitely be the perfect way to get my mind off of things for a few days. Nothing beats going to my happy place!

 

[InNeverlandWithPan]

Hello everybody!

Our trip is getting sooooooo close now. We are definitely coming down to the home stretch! I believe the count is 23 days... our flight is 3 weeks from Thursday! To say we are excited would be a huge understatement.

Last week my BFF, the Newbie and I all went and saw Justin Bieber at the Staples Center in LA. Yes, we are all 27.... going on 12. It seems once a year there is a tour we all go to together. This year Bieber, last year NKOTBSB, the year before just BSB... can't wait to see what fun show next year brings!

Anyway, just wanted to check in and thought I'd share a couple pics of us from the concert.

Having some drinks before the show.

After the show.

 

[reyasmommy]

I wish my girlfriends were as into Disney as I am. It would be a blast to have a girls only vacation, but I don't see that happening, unless it's Vegas. BUMMER! Anyway....... Your trip is just around the corner. We'll be leaving for ours a couple days after you get back and will be staying at POR royal rooms as well. I'm so excited!!!

Congratualtions on your upcoming wedding.... Disneymoons are the BEST!

 

[InNeverlandWithPan]

I wish my girlfriends were as into Disney as I am. It would be a blast to have a girls only vacation, but I don't see that happening, unless it's Vegas. BUMMER! Anyway....... Your trip is just around the corner. We'll be leaving for ours a couple days after you get back and will be staying at POR royal rooms as well. I'm so excited!!!

Congratualtions on your upcoming wedding.... Disneymoons are the BEST!

I definitely understand the appeal of Vegas (another favorite place of mine to visit), but I bet if any of your friends would give WDW a chance they would love it! Who doesn't love the chance to just be a big kid and not have to worry about anything? That's why I have made it a goal to visit the parks once a year (at least) just because it really does feel like the ultimate escape.

 

[InNeverlandWithPan]

So we are now officially 3 weeks away from our trip to the world! Yesterday, BFF and I decided we really would love to check out the Halloween party since we will be there for the last night of it, so we bought three tickets for us all to go. I went to the Disneyland Halloween party last Friday and thought it was a lot of fun, but the one at MK looks even better so I am super excited!

Having tickets to the event also gives us an extra amount of time to spend in MK that night, which is really nice since it will be Newbie's first time. So our plans for that day have changed slightly... we will still go pick up the rental car but we may choose a different park to go in for the first part of the day. Then around 1 we will drive into Orlando and eat at the Alehouse for lunch and check out the city a little bit. After that we'll head back to the hotel to change into our costumes for the night and then go over to MK.

Again, this is all happening in 3 WEEKS from today! I cannot believe it... we have been counting down since the beginning of May so for it to almost be here now just seems unreal. I cannot wait!

 

[foxyroxy40]

just wanted to say hiand let you know i"m a lurkerbut I'm enjoying reading along myself dh and ds and dd are gonna be visting the world at christmas time this will be our third trip

 

[InNeverlandWithPan]

just wanted to say hiand let you know i"m a lurkerbut I'm enjoying reading along myself dh and ds and dd are gonna be visting the world at christmas time this will be our third trip

Hello! Thanks for stopping by! Christmas time at WDW is the best! I'm sad we will be there a bit too early for it this year, but plan to return for the holiday festivities sometime in the future.

 

[InNeverlandWithPan]

I can't believe I get to say this, but we leave for the World TOMORROW NIGHT!

I just have to suffer through 2 more days of work and then I will be on the plane to FL! I have been slowly packing for thelast few days and am realizing I am bringing WAY too much stuff for such a short trip. I guess I just like to have a lot of options.

Our flight leaves LAX tomorrow night at 10:05pm. I am hoping to sleep for most of the flight to arrive at MCO feeling refreshed and ready to go... yeah wishful thinking I know, but a girl can dream right? The estimated arrival time is 5:45am and I figure we should be to POR by about 6:45. We'll check in and store our stuff (assuming the room isn't ready) and then go over to the Car Care Center to pick up our rental car.

BFF and I decided to take the Newbie to Animal Kingdom first. We both LOVE that park and it is also the best place to get pretty much everything done in just a couple hours. We should be able to make it pretty close to the extra magic hours opening at 8am, so that will give us a good ~5 hours to roam around and do as much there as we can. Then after lunch and a quick nap, we will be off to the Halloween party at MK that night!

I'm sure everyone goes through this, but I just cannot believe that the trip is already here! We booked it way back in May and it seemed like it was an eternity away... now it is here and will be over before we know it. At least I get to go back in February for my Disneymoon, so that will make the end of this trip a bit more bearable.

I'm hoping to keep good enough notes to be able to write and complete my first ever trip report once I am back, so I hope you'll check that out!