locashaina
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2012
Hello all! 
I've been on the Disboards for a couple years but haven't spent too much time on it until recently. So, I have read quite a few trip reports but not too many pre-trip reports so I don't know exactly what information to put in...
Anyhow, a little about me.. I'm in my mid-20s and have been to DisneyWorld twice... I did not grow up going to Disneyland (CA girl here
!!) but have recently been going more since I can afford to take myself. I do not have kids so I enjoy as much Disney as I can because I know once that times comes for me, I won't be able to afford to go as much, or at least for a while. Most of my Disney adventures have been with my boyfriend, who I will call Beast (We relate a lot to Belle and Beast! 
) Beast is also in his mid-20s and although he got me into Disney more, I think I am a little more Disney obsessed than him! He grew up going to Disney countless times and has gone to DisneyWorld two more times than I have.
Our first DW trip was in 2011 and we went for 9 days... it was amazing! Honestly, before he took me I never even dreamed of going to DW... now I want to live there of course! That trip was amazing and it was just sooo much to take in! Of course we had to go back! It took three years for us to go back and unfortunately our trip was cut short as my grandma passed away two days into our trip so we had to head back early.... BUT we were convinced to go on a DVC tour and met Al, an awesome guide who got us hooked! First buying into it, we went back and forth on whether it was worth all the money (We didn't know about resale at this point and I'm still learning about it) but now that we have our first DVC trip booked I'm SO GLAD we bought into DVC!
(Side-note: We JUST booked a weekend trip to the Grand Californian in February! 
I am SO EXCITED!!!) Our home resort is the Grand Floridian! Currently, we are AP holders for DL but will be upgrading to the Premier Passport before we go to DW in December! I'm excited for the Premier Passport even if it is the only time in my life I own it!
Soooooooooo, now onto the good stuff! We are booked December 28-January 7 in a deluxe studio at the Grand Floridian. We strongly considered going for the AK villas but after much discussion decided for the season we are going we will probably end up ringing in the new year at our resort and I have seen many MANY articles and pictures of the Grand Floridian during that time... hooked!
Booking this trip was obviously our first experience and a HUGE pain.... so much so that it turned into one of those moments of regret of buying into DVC... I woke up at 5 on January 28th just to find December 28th booked! It took some hard learning but then I realized I could not wait list the first day and book the rest of the trip.... 
I was SO FRUSTRATED!!! The next two days... same thing! (Feeling huge regret now) Fourth day... I could book the remaining part of the trip AND I could book the first two nights... I was super excited but super frustrated all at the same time! So now I had most of the trip booked with some odd waitlisting in between but within a week BAM, booked! Beast had to book the second part of the trip (January 4-7) on his points and of course, he had no problems! 
So January is over and we just booked our first DVC trip! Here comes months of research since our first two trips had both been in late August....
From February-July I researched into dining, crowd craziness, NYE at the parks... Our rough idea (besides dining reservations since we booked those July 1st) is to ENJOY our time at the parks since we are now DVC and now know we will be back many times and not rush from ride to ride...
Break time for me... I need to watch Celebrity Family Feud with Beast and I can't pay attention writing this
I plan to edit and update this first post as I go along... I am currently writing this on Beast's tablet so I do not have access to my pictures... I'll be back!
I've been on the Disboards for a couple years but haven't spent too much time on it until recently. So, I have read quite a few trip reports but not too many pre-trip reports so I don't know exactly what information to put in...
Anyhow, a little about me.. I'm in my mid-20s and have been to DisneyWorld twice... I did not grow up going to Disneyland (CA girl here
!!) but have recently been going more since I can afford to take myself. I do not have kids so I enjoy as much Disney as I can because I know once that times comes for me, I won't be able to afford to go as much, or at least for a while. Most of my Disney adventures have been with my boyfriend, who I will call Beast (We relate a lot to Belle and Beast! ) Beast is also in his mid-20s and although he got me into Disney more, I think I am a little more Disney obsessed than him! He grew up going to Disney countless times and has gone to DisneyWorld two more times than I have.Our first DW trip was in 2011 and we went for 9 days... it was amazing! Honestly, before he took me I never even dreamed of going to DW... now I want to live there of course! That trip was amazing and it was just sooo much to take in! Of course we had to go back! It took three years for us to go back and unfortunately our trip was cut short as my grandma passed away two days into our trip so we had to head back early.... BUT we were convinced to go on a DVC tour and met Al, an awesome guide who got us hooked! First buying into it, we went back and forth on whether it was worth all the money (We didn't know about resale at this point and I'm still learning about it) but now that we have our first DVC trip booked I'm SO GLAD we bought into DVC!
(Side-note: We JUST booked a weekend trip to the Grand Californian in February! I am SO EXCITED!!!) Our home resort is the Grand Floridian! Currently, we are AP holders for DL but will be upgrading to the Premier Passport before we go to DW in December! I'm excited for the Premier Passport even if it is the only time in my life I own it! Soooooooooo, now onto the good stuff! We are booked December 28-January 7 in a deluxe studio at the Grand Floridian. We strongly considered going for the AK villas but after much discussion decided for the season we are going we will probably end up ringing in the new year at our resort and I have seen many MANY articles and pictures of the Grand Floridian during that time... hooked!
Booking this trip was obviously our first experience and a HUGE pain.... so much so that it turned into one of those moments of regret of buying into DVC... I woke up at 5 on January 28th just to find December 28th booked! It took some hard learning but then I realized I could not wait list the first day and book the rest of the trip.... I was SO FRUSTRATED!!! The next two days... same thing! (Feeling huge regret now) Fourth day... I could book the remaining part of the trip AND I could book the first two nights... I was super excited but super frustrated all at the same time! So now I had most of the trip booked with some odd waitlisting in between but within a week BAM, booked! Beast had to book the second part of the trip (January 4-7) on his points and of course, he had no problems! So January is over and we just booked our first DVC trip! Here comes months of research since our first two trips had both been in late August....From February-July I researched into dining, crowd craziness, NYE at the parks... Our rough idea (besides dining reservations since we booked those July 1st) is to ENJOY our time at the parks since we are now DVC and now know we will be back many times and not rush from ride to ride...
Break time for me... I need to watch Celebrity Family Feud with Beast and I can't pay attention writing this
I plan to edit and update this first post as I go along... I am currently writing this on Beast's tablet so I do not have access to my pictures... I'll be back!
)
We will be taking a red eye Sunday night and should be getting in that morning (**fingers crossed no delays!**) and departure day we do not leave until about 4in the afternoon so we're hoping to have some last minute fun in the parks!
I JUST started grad school last week so now I am working full-time and going to school full-time... kinda scary. This trip was planned before I even considered grad school and luckily the dates fell right in line with my school's winter break! I start a new semester the Monday after we get back! Ahhhh! 
I was really looking ford to being a Premier Passport holder too. bleh. Now my tickets aren't going to come in in time for the 60 day FP+ window. BUT one step closer to WDW anyways! 
