PTR: Congratulations!! Start Planning your Vacation!! Surprise we are going to WDW

[Twoboysnmygirl]

$500 travel voucher! That's fantastic!

 

[WDWaddictt]

$500 travel voucher! That's fantastic!

Yes it was a great honor and surprise. They also treated my DH and I out for a nice luncheon.

 

[WDWaddictt]

Where did I leave off… oh ya, we are going to Walt Disney World… yahoo!!!

Now when should we go?

Last four trips have been in the fall Sept, Dec, Nov, and then Oct. I know we could not save up in time to go back in the fall this year, but I love WDW in the fall. Oh well, time to try something new.
How about the spring, April or May? That would be great, but I was worried about the crowds and taking the kids out of school to close to the end of school. So I thought about during our March Break, but then I knew for sure the crowds would have been crazy. So then I looked at February. We have gone for everyone’s birthdays except my DH so February would be great since his birthday is Feb 8th. I looked at our school schedule and noticed that Feb 1st is a PD Day (Professional Development Day that teachers use to plan the next session of classes and the students have a day off school). Therefore I thought January 31st would be a great day to start our vacation. I was hoping for a late flight so the kids could go to school, which we would then pick them up from school and go right to the airport. So January 31st to February 9th so we were there for my DH’s birthday. When looking at the calendar the 9th is a Saturday so I decided lets stay one more night.

There we go….decision made. Jan 31st to Feb 10th 2013. 11 days… yahoo!!!



Up next… where to stay?

 

[WDWaddictt]

Now where to stay???

I would like to try to go to a different resort each time we go. We have been to Pop Century, POFQ, ASMovies and FWCabins. So lets go to AoA since it is new and a value resort.
Then… I got thinking… I know, I think too much . As you can see I am “Pooh” sized and my feet get really tired and sore after a long day at the parks, so I was worried that the LM section would be too long of a walk after a long day. So now where??
I started reading a lot of post here on the DisBoards to get some ideas. I started reading the DVC blogs and came across people who rent DVC points. I thought that would be a fun why to go to Disney. Therefore I looked into it. I went on the David’s Vacation Club website and noticed that the price of renting points wasn’t much difference then staying at the moderate resorts with a discount or staying at a value resort at full price. So I filled out the application to start the process and my first choice was sold out, but my second choice was available. Yahoo… all booked and paid for. We are staying at:

(Thank you to the Disboards for the pictures)

Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village in a deluxe studio standard view. Yahoo… a deluxe villa resort. How cool! I never thought we would ever be able to stay in a deluxe resort. Thank you to those of you that rent out your vacation club points! It makes people like me so excited!

Next up: ADRs, where to go?, pay out of pocket or pay for the DDP?

 

[Kathymford]

We really love AKL!! We are DVC members and stayed there in April and it is truly amazing! I wish it was closer to some of the other parks, but man there is so much to do there! And that is even for two adults with no kids! You will love it...and become permanently spoiled. lol

 

[WDWaddictt]

We really love AKL!! We are DVC members and stayed there in April and it is truly amazing! I wish it was closer to some of the other parks, but man there is so much to do there! And that is even for two adults with no kids! You will love it...and become permanently spoiled. lol

I have heard so many good reviews about AKL. It makes me so excited! It does scare me how far away it is but we will just have to go with the flow and maybe plan better if we have to be somewhere in the morning.

I can't wait to be spoiled!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

My husband and I just got back from a 3 night stay renting points at AKL and we LOVED IT!!!!! There are TONS of pics in my TR link below, if you want to see. I am going to have a hard time going back to a value now b/c I adore AKL and Kidani looked amazing as well, we were over there eating at Sanaa our first night! Renting points was awesome and simple. I will definitely do it again, we paid what we would have at a mod!

 

[Kathymford]

I have heard so many good reviews about AKL. It makes me so excited! It does scare me how far away it is but we will just have to go with the flow and maybe plan better if we have to be somewhere in the morning.

I can't wait to be spoiled!!!

We were in Jambo, but we had no problem with the buses going there in the morning, although we are not rope drop people, so other experiences may be different. The thing that was most difficult was the trip's home. I think we were standing most of the time. But for me, it's worth the trade off if you know what to expect!

 

[WDWaddictt]

My husband and I just got back from a 3 night stay renting points at AKL and we LOVED IT!!!!! There are TONS of pics in my TR link below, if you want to see. I am going to have a hard time going back to a value now b/c I adore AKL and Kidani looked amazing as well, we were over there eating at Sanaa our first night! Renting points was awesome and simple. I will definitely do it again, we paid what we would have at a mod!

I am so glad to hear you loved it!! We can't wait.

I am following your trip report and your pictures are amazing!

How did you like Sanaa? I am excited to eat there. There is a lot of positive feed back on the Disboards of Sanaa.

I know, I love that we can stay at a Deluxe because of awesome people that rent points to Disney lovers like us. So excited!!! I hope it all turns out good like yours did.

We were in Jambo, but we had no problem with the buses going there in the morning, although we are not rope drop people, so other experiences may be different. The thing that was most difficult was the trip's home. I think we were standing most of the time. But for me, it's worth the trade off if you know what to expect!

Thank you for your advise, I greatly appreciate it.

We are early morning (rope drop) family, so we will have to see how it is. But it doesn't matter to us, my son loves the bus rides anyway (fav thing in Disney...lol) It will be hard after a long day at the parks though and my son crashes very easily to have to stand all the way back. Oh well we have done it before and won't change it for the memories later.

 

[WDWaddictt]

ADR’s – where to go, what day, too many choices….

We are only going to the parks for 5 days of our stay so we have to choose what days we want to go to the parks and which park before we can choose wear to eat. We are an early riser family, therefore we like to take advantage of the EMH, especially for MK, DHS and AK. So our plan:

Jan 31- arrival, we usually go to DTD on arrival days especially since we won’t be there until 6pm or so
Feb 1- tour around the resort
Feb 2- EMH at DHS, be there by 7:40am or so
Feb 3- DTD
Feb 4- Epcot
Feb 5- tour around other resorts
Feb 6- EMH at AK, be there by 7:45am or so
Feb 7- EMH at MK, be there by 7:30am or so then maybe go to Epcot in the afternoon
Feb 8- DH’s birthday, MK
Feb 9- DTD, relax at resort
Feb 10- early departure

So now we know what days we are going to the parks, lets figure out where to eat.

Jan 31- not sure when we will get to WDW so no TS
Feb 1- breakfast 10:00am at Boma’s, heard a lot of good reviews but have never been
- supper at Whispering Canyon Café 6:30pm, we have been there before and really enjoyed it. I know that the menu has changed, so I am a little nervous but hopefully it will still be good.
Feb 2- at Hollywood studios, not sure where – last time we were at 50’s PT the food we received was so gross I don’t know if they were so busy that it wasn’t fully cooked or just a bad day, but it made me not want to go back. I also wanted to try somewhere new. We have been to Sci-Fi, H&V so I decided Mama Melrose lunch 12:05pm for the Fantasmic package. I have read mixed reviews so I am a bit nervous. What do you guys think?
Feb 3- T-Rex 6:00pm, somewhere where I wanted to try but haven’t yet. I think my DS will love it
Feb 4- Epcot, since this isn’t an EMH I booked an early breakfast 8:15am at Akershus, my DD will love this
-supper 7:45pm at Rose and Crown, never been here before but thought it would be great to watch the fireworks from here.
Feb 5- Sanaa 5:40pm, I have never been but looking forward to this restaurant the most.
Feb 6- AK, Tusker House 9:40am, we have been here for breakfast every trip, we love it!
Feb 7- Le Chef’s 1:20, never been but it would be cool to see Remi (I love his movie).
Feb 8- MK, BOG 4:45, looking forward to this and hoping to get Dessert Firework party for DH for his bday.
Feb 9- Kona Café 6:30pm, not sure about this one, we have never been. What do you think?
Feb 10- we will be leaving early so no TS

So now we have 11 TS booked. My DD just turned 10 so we are paying adult prices for her and she is a picky eater, so this will be interesting.

DH and I went through the menus on Allears.net to get approx pricing and compared the pricing with the DDP and realized that it would be a little bit cheaper by maybe $100 total if we went with the basic DDP and we would get more food QS and TS. So now that is booked. But now I have to pay for one meal OOP.

Could you guys help me decide which one to pay out of pocket? Or how to play around with the credits for our one extra TS meal. Thanks!

Sorry for the long post… ADR are a big decision Next up day by day plans including the surprise…

 

[Spunky946]

We are staying at AKV right before you get there from Jan 19-27th and I'm so excited. I hope you have a great time.

Your plans look great.

 

[WDWaddictt]

We are staying at AKV right before you get there from Jan 19-27th and I'm so excited. I hope you have a great time.

Your plans look great.

Awesome... have a great time! Let me know how you like AKV. I will be waiting to hear.

 

[WDWaddictt]

So sorry I have not been on the Disboards for awhile. My whole family was sick before and during Christmas and then very busy with all the Christmas celebrations. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year!

Day #1 – Jan 31st Surprise and Arrival Day!

We are going to wake up like any other day and try to get the kids ready for “school”. I will have their backpacks ready for the plane with activity books, some snacks and I am going to have t-shirts ready that says “Disney Family Vacation Jan 31 – Feb 10, 2013”. I will ask the kids to go into their bags and ask for their school agenda to sign and watch them open up their t-shirts. I think they will ask “What is this” and I will say “We are going to Disney today instead of school….is that okay?” Hopefully they will have a good reaction; the only thing is my MIL asked my daughter already if she is excited to go to Disney. I could have shot her; she knows it is a secret so I don’t know why she said anything. Oh well, my daughter has a clue that we are going, but doesn’t know when so it still will be a surprise for them. I just think I won’t get as big of a reaction now. My DD will be “I knew it”. At least my DS will be surprised because he has no clue.

We will leave our house by 9-9:30am and head to the Detroit Airport which is a two-two and a half hour drive. By the time we park, check in our luggage and head through security it will be noon ish. We will have lunch

Then we will have probably an hour wait until we board the airplane

The flight from Detroit to Orlando is 2.5 hours so we should arrive at MCO by 5pm, which we will then catch the Magical Express.

We received our yellow luggage tags and booklet already… yahoo!!

Once we get to AKL Kidani Village and get checked in we will go to our room (which should be ready) and check it out. Very exciting!! We will then either go to AKL Jambo to the Mara or go to DTD to Earl of Sandwich for supper. We will tour around a bit after supper then head back to the resort for an early night.

Next up… Day 2, what to do?

 

[WDWaddictt]

Day #2 Resort Day - Feb 1/13

I don't know but I maybe a little crazy... second day at WDW and not going to a park yet.

Today we are going to get into vacation mode and just relax today. We will wake up whenever, but before 9:30am. We have breakfast ADR at 10am at:

Boma! Never been here before, but reading a lot of good things about Boma on the Disboards.

Then we will tour around the resort, maybe join in the activities they have planned for kids at AKL. Maybe let the kids choose what they would like to do. If it's nice weather they might want to swim or check out the kids splash park area. Just an all around relaxing "no plans" (except the ADRs) day. I know my DD wants to see AoA, so we may take the bus and go check it out.

Then we have supper planned here:

Whispering Canyon Cafe. I made the ADR before the menu changed because we were here before a few years ago and enjoyed it. Hopefully it will still be good.

After dinner maybe we will go to DTD and check out the street entertainment. We like the guy that plays the didgeridoo. We have seen him for the past two years that we have gone. If he isn't there then we may just head back to the resort and check out the night vision goggles to watch the animals at night.

Then an early bedtime for the next day at the park finally...

 

[WDWaddictt]

Day #3 - Feb 2/13 - 1st Park Day!! DHS

We are going to wake up early and make the EMH rope drop at:

We plan on going to

We would like to ride Toy Story Mania, then get fastpasses for later. If the wait time isn't too big then we may go back on again. That way we can ride TSM 3 times.

After that we will probably go:

My DD hates this ride, so I am going to try and talk her into going by saying we will buy her a souvenir at the gift shop after the ride or if that doesn't work then DH will go and take DS and then I will go and take DS after. Tower of Terror is my favourite WDW ride. So much fun!!

Then we will go over to my DH & DS's favourite ride:

Again I don't know if DD will go on this ride but if not I don't have to go so we will just walk around and take pictures of DHS and wait for DH and DS to go on once or twice if there isn't much of a line up.

We will probably go on Star Tours after. Then maybe meet some characters like:

We have lunch ADR here for the Fantasmic package:

I have heard mixed reviews, but I wanted to try somewhere new. Last time I did not like 50's Cafe. Hopefully Mama Melrose is good?!

After lunch I would like to go to:

We have never done this before so I think it will be fun!

After this we will do a few shows and maybe a few more rides until it is time for:

We may have supper at Pizza Planet if we are hungry.

That will be a busy but fun day at Disney's Hollywood Studios!

Next up... Another relaxing day or day at the park????

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

The surprise sounds fun!

We LOVE LOVE LOVE Boma, I have never tried it for breakfast though. I'm sure you will like it! A relaxing day at AKL sounds PERFECT to me! I wouldn't have said that in the past, but after dh and I spent a few of our afternoons there, I could spend a whole TRIP there and never go to the parks!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

You should definitely get to ride TSM at least twice if you are headed to EMH! That first hour will be pretty slow, you can jump on and ride and then grab a FB right afterwards. I'm guessing you could probably jump right back on at that point with a pretty short wait!

Ahhh....you are making me jealous with all this resort/relaxing day talk!

 

[reelmom]

Your plans sound great. We love BOMA for breakfast.

 

[WDWaddictt]

The surprise sounds fun!

We LOVE LOVE LOVE Boma, I have never tried it for breakfast though. I'm sure you will like it! A relaxing day at AKL sounds PERFECT to me! I wouldn't have said that in the past, but after dh and I spent a few of our afternoons there, I could spend a whole TRIP there and never go to the parks!

That is great to hear because we have a few free days that we will be relaxing at the resort. I was worried that we may get bored. I am glad that we choose an awesome resort to hang out at.

You should definitely get to ride TSM at least twice if you are headed to EMH! That first hour will be pretty slow, you can jump on and ride and then grab a FB right afterwards. I'm guessing you could probably jump right back on at that point with a pretty short wait!

Ahhh....you are making me jealous with all this resort/relaxing day talk!

Awesome because we love this ride. One year we went we couldn't even go on the ride because the fastpasses were out and it was a two hour stand by line, which we were not going to do. Crazy.

about the resort relaxing days. We are in WDW for 11 days but only purchased a 5 day pass so we had the rest of the days to just relax and do whatever we want. I am glad you say that AKL is a great place to relax.

Your plans sound great. We love BOMA for breakfast.

Awesome!! Can't wait

 

[WDWaddictt]

Day #4 – Feb 3/13

Today is another relaxing, “winging it” resort day.

We can get up whenever we feel like it today. Maybe join in on the activities that are going on around the resort. If the weather is nice do some more swimming. We love swimming so crossing fingers and toes for good weather.

Not sure where we will have lunch today, maybe at another resort, maybe at our resort or maybe at DTD. Any suggestions you have for a QS lunch would be great???

Today is kind of a boring day to report about. We don’t have any plans except an ADR at TRex.

I am a little nervous going here because I heard the noise level is huge. We have been to Rainforest Café and the kids loved it, so I am hoping that this will be like RC.


continued in next post...