Planning the Disneymoon I've Always Dreamed About--UPDATED!!!

[tinacaplan]

I'm o'kay with that, I guess. Although I do invite you to comment if you've checked this thread out before.

I'm under two months now and about to make my final payment! After Christmas is all said and done, I can start to get serious about packing. In the meantime, I've spent a lot of time on here looking at pictures of what the parks used to look like.

Well, I haven't been to Disneyworld in a little over twenty years and my DH is closer to twenty-five and its beginning to really dawn on me that I am NOT going to recognize the place! I can't believe how completely some sections have changed. I think the only parts I'm going to recognize are the castle and perhaps World Showcase.

I started to plan this trip about a year ago, thinking that maybe we could swing a few days and I thought we could do it for New Year's Eve. What was I thinking?

My mom quickly talked me out of that and after months of research on the Dis, I can say that I am truly thankful that she did.

And if it weren't for the Dis, I might not have known about the 4/3 deal which turned what was originally a four night stay into a full seven day blow out. Have I mentioned that I have NEVER taken a vacation like this before?

My family goes to Cape Cod almost every summer and we rent a house and its wonderful, memories I wouldn't trade for anything, but... when you rent a house its a lot of extra work, packing, and cooking etc... I have never gone away for a week where I won't have to worry about those things. I am truly excited.

And I am truly grateful for all the wonderful advice I've picked up here on the Dis! Thanks, everyone!

 

[michellem1118]

You've got some great meals planned! We ate at Jiko & Citrico's on our honeymoon trip, and loved the food at both (but we were disappointed in the service @ Jiko). We've also eaten at PrimeTime several times, and have enjoyed it every time.

We're going over NYE this year (we're also both teachers, as are both of our moms who are going with us)... in fact, I think our dates are very similar to what you originally wanted (12/27-1/1). I'm sure it will be crowded, but given our profession, it's ALWAYS crowded when we go to Disney... so unless we change our career, we're destined to have to fight the Disney crowds, LOL.

I hope you have a great trip!

 

[tinacaplan]

You've got some great meals planned! We ate at Jiko & Citrico's on our honeymoon trip, and loved the food at both (but we were disappointed in the service @ Jiko). We've also eaten at PrimeTime several times, and have enjoyed it every time.

We're going over NYE this year (we're also both teachers, as are both of our moms who are going with us)... in fact, I think our dates are very similar to what you originally wanted (12/27-1/1). I'm sure it will be crowded, but given our profession, it's ALWAYS crowded when we go to Disney... so unless we change our career, we're destined to have to fight the Disney crowds, LOL.

I hope you have a great trip!

Hello, fellow teacher! Its nice to hear from another teacher who understands how limited we are when it comes to scheduling vacations to busy places like Disney. Now, I'm not knocking the amount of time we have off, but we are locked into some pretty busy times of the year, that's for sure!

Hope you have a wonderful trip. I'm sure you will...crowds or not!

 

[tinacaplan]

So, I've been thinking of changing the Biergarten ADR to San Angel Inn. Hearing lots of conflicting stories about SAI on here, but I think my husband might like it a little better. Who knows?

Seems like there's always some tinkering to be done, at least after I read more dining reviews!

Life is very stresful and has been made more so lately by some nasty neighbors and I just can't say enough: I am SO happy to be taking a week's vacation somewhere far away, where I can pretend to be a little kid again...or whatever I want!

I know this will be a magical trip, for beginning to end!

 

[paintnolish]

Hey! I updated with those pics of SAI! Unfortunately, it is too dark to see the decor. I see that it is just you and dh and think SAI would be a great choice for you...very romantic atomosphere for sure!
Sci-Fi pics are coming up, too. We did go at dinner but got burgers and shakes. They were good. We've been to Sci-Fi several times, too. The theming is super cool!
I also see you are going to CSR. I love it there! Since this was our secong trip in a year, we tried to save a little money by staying at Pop. I've been to CSR maybe 5 times now- my fave!

 

[tinacaplan]

Just made my final payment yesterday!!!!!!!!!

Its really going to happen!

 

[tinacaplan]

So...after much deliberation...I made a few changes. I realized that having an 8:00 ADR for dinner on arrival day was a crazy idea. Also realized that I scheduled everything to never seem Illuminations. Silly!

So, here's my final (hopefully) ADR's:

Saturday, February 13:
Maybe lunch at Pepper Market, well probably definitely, as we'll be checking in around lunch time and our flight leaves at 7 a.m., so I'm sure we'll be hungry.

Dinner was changed to 5:30 at Biergarten. We were originally going to do lunch here, but that seemed like it would be SUPER heavy, so I switched it around. I also know that Biergarten will be high on the entertainment level and really make us feel like we've been transported someplace quite special...DISNEYWORLD!

Sunday, Feburary 14...Valentine's Day...

We have an 11:30 lunch at Tutto Italia. Being Italian American I can't resist it... I also actually liked their lunch menu better than their dinner menu. There are a fair number of lighter choices, actually.
Then it's off to our 7:30 ADR at Cali Grille...we'll see Wishes while we're there!

Monday, February 15
Early lunch at the Plaza...can't resist the look of that place!
Dinner at 50's Primetime during evening EMH there.

Tuesday, February 16
This is our take it easy, resort day. We have an ADR for a very late breakfast to Kona Cafe (like 11 a.m. late) and then we'll figure it out from there for the afternoon. Maybe we'll check out Wilderness Lodge...maybe not. Maybe I'll get really lucky and it will be a beautiful pool day...all that's gonna require is about 75 and sunny!
Dinner ADR at 7:10 at Flying Fish
MK is open till 11 that night, so we might hop on over there afterwards, depending on what time we get out. Or we'll just explore the Boardwalk.

Wednesday, February 17
1900 Park Fare for breakfast...can't wait to meet Mary Poppins!!!!
We have dinner ADR at 8:35 at Jiko, which will allow us to take advantage of their evening EMH beforehand.

Thursday, February 18
Breakfast at Boma
Lunch w/ Nemo seating at Tusker House
Late dinner at Citrico's
(Have no idea how we'll manage all of this food...we'll have to find a way)

Friday, February 19
Sci-Fi for lunch
Chef's de France for dinner...I know that Chefs has had some pretty lousy reviews lately, but again, I had a truly magical experience there when I was a little girl, so I'm hoping to recapture even a little of that magic.

Can't wait to go...looking forward to the Dining Reviews I'll be able to do when I get back.

Can't believe how soon we'll be there...

 

[Giselle22]

I'm so excited for your trip! DH and I just got back from ours and while we admittedly ARE Disney nuts, we had a fabulous time and I know you will too! Plus all the food....mmmmmm.... DH is a teacher, too, which is why we did end up there at the busiest time of year, since that's when his winter break was! I'm already wondering when we'll be able to go again and I can start planning our next trip (and our next ADRs! )

 

[tinacaplan]

So for numerous reasons...I haven't posted much on here lately. First of all, hi Giselle!
Second...I made some more "minor" adjustments. I have to say that reading other people's reports really got me thinking about so many things. I've gotten a ton of help from so many people and I'm very grateful. I know that if I hadn't found the Dis I'd have gotten down there and wandered around and probably missed out on a lot of things!
That said... I realized that it was unrealistic, and probably downright suicidal, to think we'd make rope drop the morning after evening EMH at the MK!! My DH and I aren't great morning people to begin with! So I decided that maybe Monday could be a "free" day. I mean, aside from a breakfast ADR at Kona and our evening at DHS with an ADR at Primetime.
I had originally planned Tuesday as our "free" day and was going to make it a MK day instead. Then I had a rather interesting coversation with DH in which he told me he just wasn't going to go on any roller coasters!
You see, he had mentioned that before, but I had simply brushed it off. No, my friends, he is quite serious, apparently. And then it dawned on my that we probably don't need to spend an eveing EMH at the Magic Kingdom and an additional two days there, so... I am leaving Tuesday open as well. I figure that by then we will have spent time in every park except Animal Kingdom. Since we're there for seven days, aren't commandos, have plenty of rides we will be skipping (I guess)... if its a nice day, we'll sit by the pool, if its not we could go to DTD...or we might decide that we want to spend more time at one of the parks. Who knows? We're on vacation and isn't the point to get out and explore and see where the day takes us? At least for one day!

 

[jordanyosh]

I may be at DHS on that monday. I currently have an ADR at Flying Fish the same night, but I may not keep it.

 

[tinacaplan]

I may be at DHS on that monday. I currently have an ADR at Flying Fish the same night, but I may not keep it.

If you are at DHS that day it would be neat to say hi!

 

[jordanyosh]

If you are at DHS that day it would be neat to say hi!

I have dinner on that monday at jiko, but I'm free after that and was going to either go to MK or DHS.....