experiment_627
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2006
- Messages
- 552
I have been contemplating doing a trip report after all of the wonderful ones I have read recently, so here goes my attempt at our pre-trip report.
The Cast:
Me
(27): Planner and researcher extraordinaire. I love researching and planning just about anything (I tend to have OCD tendencies when it comes to such things), so what could be better than planning a return trip to WDW! I had visited MK with my family when I was 7 & 16, but truly fell in love with all things Disney when DH and I spent our honeymoon at WDW in 2005.
DH
(32): Always a Disney fan. Lived in Vegas until he was 18 and made many trips to Disneyland before venturing to WDW with his father in 1995. It was his idea to honeymoon at Disney, and at first I didnt think it sounded very romantic, but he soon convinced me otherwise. Thanks hunny! 
Here's a picture of us at our Disney themed reception (the confetti on the table is mickey heads too).
I often refer to both of us as giant children, and I honestly hope we both remain young at heart forever.
DH and I started talking about a return trip on our way back to TN from our honeymoon, but we didnt actually start planning until sometime later that year. Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2005, I decided that if we wanted to get back before the end of the following year, we probably better start saving, so I came home from work one day and approached DH about the possibility of a vacation sometime in late 2006. He was all for it, so that set me in motion!
The first step was to set the dates for our trip. We really loved the weather when we were there in February, but decided we needed more time to prepare. Summer was out because we both loathe the heat. A CM told us last year that the week after Thanksgiving was fun because all the Christmas decorations would be out and that the crowds are relatively low compared to other holiday times (well see how true this is), so we chose 11/24-12/3.
Looking back, I wish we had booked a package through WDW, but it is too late for that now. It certainly would have made things much easier on me, but I am not sure I would have had as much fun researching everything. I know what Ill be doing next time though.
Neither of us have ever stayed on Disney property, but both agreed that we would rather save our $$ for meals, souvenirs, etc. and decided that we would again stay offsite. At the time, we both thought that we only need a place to sleep and shower, so I made reservations at Knights Inn Maingate for 9 nights, and I was very happy with the price. I also ordered 7 day MYW tickets w/park hopping as I knew we would want to eat at Epcot most nights since our favorite meals came from there. This would leave us with one day where we have nothing specific planned and are free to do whatever.
I later learned about MVMCP and knew it was a must! I ordered those tickets for 11/30.
The only ADR we made for our honeymoon was for CRT, and at that time, reservations were only taken 90 days in advance, so I got up at 7 am on the 90th day before this trip and called only to discover it had changed to 180 days.
I was worried that we wouldnt get the dates/times we wanted, but we again have ADRs for CRT for breakfast and LTT for dinner and evening of MVMCP. We both decided that we would not make any other ADRs and just wing it so that we werent stuck on a schedule. Riiiiiiiight. 
In September, DH also got a new (and better) job which made me begin to think that we might be able to swing a better hotel. Granted, we probably could have anyway, but that would have meant not being quite as gluttonous this time around. DH and I are total foodies, so we would both rather sacrifice accommodations than our Disney food!! I also started reading reviews of our motel choice and while I realized you are always going to read bad reviews of every hotel, the bad ones for ours were really starting to stack up. I am far from being a hotel snob, but the thought of possibly not having a clean enough bathroom (recall the OCD comment in my intro) sent me back into search mode.
DH kept mentioning here and there that he wished that we could stay onsite, so I thought I would take a look one more time. I also discovered that we would be entering Value season while we were there, and I knew that the prices I had checked out were regular season rates since that is when we arrived. I had read about others making split reservations to take advantage of the rate changes, so I called to get some quotes. I know there are some that do not like the loud and obnoxious décor of the Value resorts, but I LOVE the look of Pop Century (I mean there is a giant Playdoh can and Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head what more could a girl want?), so that was my first choice. We were booked there 11/26-12/3 at the Value season rate, so then all I needed to do was book 11/24-11/26. There was no availability at the Value Resorts that weekend, so I let DH choose between the moderates. He chose Coronado Springs, so thats where we will be for the weekend. I am a little worried that we will be disappointed in Pop once we have spent two days at CSR, but I think we will enjoy being in the Disneyfied atmosphere even at our hotel. Plus, I gotta have a piece of that tie-dyed cheesecake.
All of this happened BEFORE I found DIS. This really let out the OCD planning beast in me.
Since then, I have lurked the boards every day. I have read many trip reports, dining reports, made a spreadsheet w/park hours and our tentative itinerary along with many lists, ordered us both new pairs of crocs, gotten my LGMHs at Home Depot, and done countless other things that have made DH raise his eyebrows and shake his head. Luckily, he just chuckles and indulges me.
I also started getting paranoid about not having ADRs. Even though we didnt want to be stuck to a schedule, I would rather do that than miss out on our favorite WDW goodies! There are a couple things we didnt take into account when making the original decision of winging it without ADRs. First of all is the popularity and expansiveness of the dining plan now. The second is that we were on our honeymoon and were sporting the hats (his top hat with ears and my white ears with a veil) to prove it. We had a Disney themed reception and wore these hats to it, but I originally balked at the idea of wearing them around the parks the entire time we were there. Our first meal was at CRT and thanks to the hats, we got in early, had a window seat, a certificate, and champagne flutes. We hadnt been there thirty minutes before I looked at DH and said, Dont you take off that hat!
At any rate, we both made a list of the places we want to eat and I set out to make ADRs for our stay. I was able to pick times for all but one (Le Cellier) and still got the night we wanted. There are still a few open days/times, so we will have a bit of flexibility without missing out on the musts. Here is our eating schedule so far:
11/23: Planet Hollywood (D)
11/24: 1900 Park Faire (B)
11/25: CRT (B), WCC (D)
11/26: Boma (B), Garden Grill (L), Restaurant Marrakesh (D)
11/27: Donalds Breakfastosaurus, Le Cellier (D)
11/28: Sci Fi (L), Brown Derby (D)
11/29: Teppanyani (L), Biergarten (D)
11/30: Ohana (B), LTT (D) MVMCP
12/1: Nada
12/2: Chefs de France (L)
We also have a carriage ride scheduled for 7 pm on 11/24. And we weren't going to schedule anything.
Also notice we have dinner reservations Thanksgiving evening .we decided we would skip turkey dinner with the fam (actually I am having one at our house on Sunday in addition to theirs on Thursday) and leave a day early. The only bad part of this plan is that there is no availability on Disney property that night. We have reservations at the Radisson Resort Parkway for that night which is where we spent our honeymoon, so that could be kinda neat. My alarm has gone off every morning at 7 am for the last two weeks to make my daily Disney call to check availability and will continue to until we either luck out and get a room or it becomes too late to cancel our other reservation.
I have also convinced DH that is not weird to take pictures of our food, but he will not promise to wait to dig in until I have gotten a shot of his (yet).
I am waiting the arrival of our UG, new crocs and memory cards for our camera, and I am counting down the days. 38 sleeps to go!!
The Cast:
Me
(27): Planner and researcher extraordinaire. I love researching and planning just about anything (I tend to have OCD tendencies when it comes to such things), so what could be better than planning a return trip to WDW! I had visited MK with my family when I was 7 & 16, but truly fell in love with all things Disney when DH and I spent our honeymoon at WDW in 2005. DH
(32): Always a Disney fan. Lived in Vegas until he was 18 and made many trips to Disneyland before venturing to WDW with his father in 1995. It was his idea to honeymoon at Disney, and at first I didnt think it sounded very romantic, but he soon convinced me otherwise. Thanks hunny! Here's a picture of us at our Disney themed reception (the confetti on the table is mickey heads too).
I often refer to both of us as giant children, and I honestly hope we both remain young at heart forever.
DH and I started talking about a return trip on our way back to TN from our honeymoon, but we didnt actually start planning until sometime later that year. Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas 2005, I decided that if we wanted to get back before the end of the following year, we probably better start saving, so I came home from work one day and approached DH about the possibility of a vacation sometime in late 2006. He was all for it, so that set me in motion!
The first step was to set the dates for our trip. We really loved the weather when we were there in February, but decided we needed more time to prepare. Summer was out because we both loathe the heat. A CM told us last year that the week after Thanksgiving was fun because all the Christmas decorations would be out and that the crowds are relatively low compared to other holiday times (well see how true this is), so we chose 11/24-12/3.
Looking back, I wish we had booked a package through WDW, but it is too late for that now. It certainly would have made things much easier on me, but I am not sure I would have had as much fun researching everything. I know what Ill be doing next time though.
Neither of us have ever stayed on Disney property, but both agreed that we would rather save our $$ for meals, souvenirs, etc. and decided that we would again stay offsite. At the time, we both thought that we only need a place to sleep and shower, so I made reservations at Knights Inn Maingate for 9 nights, and I was very happy with the price. I also ordered 7 day MYW tickets w/park hopping as I knew we would want to eat at Epcot most nights since our favorite meals came from there. This would leave us with one day where we have nothing specific planned and are free to do whatever.
I later learned about MVMCP and knew it was a must! I ordered those tickets for 11/30.
The only ADR we made for our honeymoon was for CRT, and at that time, reservations were only taken 90 days in advance, so I got up at 7 am on the 90th day before this trip and called only to discover it had changed to 180 days.
I was worried that we wouldnt get the dates/times we wanted, but we again have ADRs for CRT for breakfast and LTT for dinner and evening of MVMCP. We both decided that we would not make any other ADRs and just wing it so that we werent stuck on a schedule. Riiiiiiiight. In September, DH also got a new (and better) job which made me begin to think that we might be able to swing a better hotel. Granted, we probably could have anyway, but that would have meant not being quite as gluttonous this time around. DH and I are total foodies, so we would both rather sacrifice accommodations than our Disney food!! I also started reading reviews of our motel choice and while I realized you are always going to read bad reviews of every hotel, the bad ones for ours were really starting to stack up. I am far from being a hotel snob, but the thought of possibly not having a clean enough bathroom (recall the OCD comment in my intro) sent me back into search mode.
DH kept mentioning here and there that he wished that we could stay onsite, so I thought I would take a look one more time. I also discovered that we would be entering Value season while we were there, and I knew that the prices I had checked out were regular season rates since that is when we arrived. I had read about others making split reservations to take advantage of the rate changes, so I called to get some quotes. I know there are some that do not like the loud and obnoxious décor of the Value resorts, but I LOVE the look of Pop Century (I mean there is a giant Playdoh can and Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head what more could a girl want?), so that was my first choice. We were booked there 11/26-12/3 at the Value season rate, so then all I needed to do was book 11/24-11/26. There was no availability at the Value Resorts that weekend, so I let DH choose between the moderates. He chose Coronado Springs, so thats where we will be for the weekend. I am a little worried that we will be disappointed in Pop once we have spent two days at CSR, but I think we will enjoy being in the Disneyfied atmosphere even at our hotel. Plus, I gotta have a piece of that tie-dyed cheesecake.
All of this happened BEFORE I found DIS. This really let out the OCD planning beast in me.
Since then, I have lurked the boards every day. I have read many trip reports, dining reports, made a spreadsheet w/park hours and our tentative itinerary along with many lists, ordered us both new pairs of crocs, gotten my LGMHs at Home Depot, and done countless other things that have made DH raise his eyebrows and shake his head. Luckily, he just chuckles and indulges me.
I also started getting paranoid about not having ADRs. Even though we didnt want to be stuck to a schedule, I would rather do that than miss out on our favorite WDW goodies! There are a couple things we didnt take into account when making the original decision of winging it without ADRs. First of all is the popularity and expansiveness of the dining plan now. The second is that we were on our honeymoon and were sporting the hats (his top hat with ears and my white ears with a veil) to prove it. We had a Disney themed reception and wore these hats to it, but I originally balked at the idea of wearing them around the parks the entire time we were there. Our first meal was at CRT and thanks to the hats, we got in early, had a window seat, a certificate, and champagne flutes. We hadnt been there thirty minutes before I looked at DH and said, Dont you take off that hat!
At any rate, we both made a list of the places we want to eat and I set out to make ADRs for our stay. I was able to pick times for all but one (Le Cellier) and still got the night we wanted. There are still a few open days/times, so we will have a bit of flexibility without missing out on the musts. Here is our eating schedule so far:
11/23: Planet Hollywood (D)
11/24: 1900 Park Faire (B)
11/25: CRT (B), WCC (D)
11/26: Boma (B), Garden Grill (L), Restaurant Marrakesh (D)
11/27: Donalds Breakfastosaurus, Le Cellier (D)
11/28: Sci Fi (L), Brown Derby (D)
11/29: Teppanyani (L), Biergarten (D)
11/30: Ohana (B), LTT (D) MVMCP
12/1: Nada
12/2: Chefs de France (L)
We also have a carriage ride scheduled for 7 pm on 11/24. And we weren't going to schedule anything.
Also notice we have dinner reservations Thanksgiving evening .we decided we would skip turkey dinner with the fam (actually I am having one at our house on Sunday in addition to theirs on Thursday) and leave a day early. The only bad part of this plan is that there is no availability on Disney property that night. We have reservations at the Radisson Resort Parkway for that night which is where we spent our honeymoon, so that could be kinda neat. My alarm has gone off every morning at 7 am for the last two weeks to make my daily Disney call to check availability and will continue to until we either luck out and get a room or it becomes too late to cancel our other reservation.
I have also convinced DH that is not weird to take pictures of our food, but he will not promise to wait to dig in until I have gotten a shot of his (yet).
I am waiting the arrival of our UG, new crocs and memory cards for our camera, and I am counting down the days. 38 sleeps to go!!
