PTR Graduation x2

Tink0812

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 3, 2011
Messages
437
Hello everyone! My name is Amber. I am a 21 year old college student and will be leaving for my 12th visit to Disney World on June 4th, 2011.

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Favorite Ride: Soarin'
Favorite Hotel: Wilderness Lodge
Favorite Restaurant: Whispering Canyon Cafe
Favorite Park: Magic Kindgon

As you might have guessed from the title, this trip is a celebration of a graduation. But why the X2 you ask? Well, this is our second time visiting Disney to celebrate a graduation. We went in Late May/Early June of 2008 to celebrate my graduation. This time we are going to celebrate the graduation of my brothers. My DB's are twins (yes X2 again)! They are graduating from high school this year and are three years younger than me. This will be around their 9th or 10th visit to Disney. Here is the picture of the three of us:

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I know what you are thinking. I look like a midget. I am 5'2 and have been since fifth grade while Ryne (on your left) is 6'5 and Kyle (on your right) is 6'3


Ryne: Ryne was born a whole 2 or 3 minutes before Kyle. He is the quiet one of the two but don't let him fool you. He has always been the mastermind behind all trickery. He won't approach a stranger but once you get to know him he really is the exact opposite of quiet. He is very athletic and good at baseball and basketball. He is continuing to play baseball in college next year. If I had to guess about Ryne's favorite ride at WDW I would guess one of the three mountains in MK. He, like me, loves thrill rides!

Kyle: Kyle is loud, obnoxious, outgoing, and outspoken. He is definitely the opposite of Ryne in just about every way. He makes friends with everyone he meets, even the umpires and referees of his ballgames. He tries to make everything fun. He too plays baseball and basketball and will be playing baseball in college. If I were to guess, his favorite ride at Walt Disney World is the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. He and my mom ride it every year while my dad, Ryne, and I ride Space Mountain. Kyle has never been the one for rollar coasters.

Dad: My dad is also a disboards member (Tiggers Ally). He is the mastermind behind every Disney trip. He plans every day of our vacation and insures every hotel reservation is made, every ADR is booked, tickets are ready, and travel is arranged. Without him there is no way our vacations would be as smooth as they are! He does his research on disboards and other websites and ensures he gets the best deals! He enjoys Disney just as much as us kids do and of course he is counting down as well!

Mom: My mom is probably the biggest Disney freak out of all of us. She enjoys Disney so much that my dad even surprised her with a trip to Disney for their second honeymoon. She is the one that got us all hooked on Disney and is the first to suggest Disney when it's time to go on vacation! She counted up the other day and thinks that she has been around 13-15 times. Her favorite ride is Thunder Mountain Railroad I believe.

Grandma: My grandma will be referred to on here as Meme M. We have always called our grandmas Meme since we were young and I can't even imagine calling her grandma. Her husband, my grandpa, passed away last summer and this will be a great chance for her to have some fun and take a break. She has been with us to Disney before but we were quite young at the time. She is very fun to be with and I am excited she is going with us! I know she will have a great time!

Here are some family pictures:

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Here is my grandma and I (she's not the biggest fan of pictures):

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So what are the plans....

My brothers graduate on the evening of June 3rd. My grandma will be staying the night with us after the graduation party so that she doesn't have to get up as early in the morning. Then, my dad, mom, grandma, and I will load up in the van (early in the morning I assume) to start our 15-16hr drive. I think it has been decided that we will drive the whole length in one day. My dad will be doing most, if not all, of the driving. He usually does it all but he has offers from the rest of us if he needs help. We don't have reservations for that night as we usually don't make reservations for the first night just in case we have travel issues. My brothers will be flying down Sunday night (June 5th). They have baseball games that weekend and don't want to miss too many. On the 5th, we will probably hit up downtown disney since we are staying on hotel blvd. at the Best Western and maybe a park. My dad will probably rest up from the drive and prepare to pick my brothers up at the airport around midnight. Then, the fun begins! I don't know the exact plans for the rest of the trip but I will do a trip report when we return! We are staying at POFQ for our second time. We stayed there last year and fell in love with it so back we go:love:! The countdown is at 19 days till takeoff!
 
As you can guess by the title, I have just received the agenda for the trip from my dad (Tigger's Ally). So here it goes:

Saturday June 4th: My brothers (who would have just graduated high school the night before) have a double header at 1:00 in the afternoon. After watching that, driver (dad) will rest for a couple of hours before he, my mom, Meme M, and I hop in the van to make our overnight journey. As I said previously, the trip takes about 15-16 hours, maybe more if there's a lot of traffic, construction, etc. That is one of the main reasons why my dad prefers to travel at night. He also likes to travel at night because everyone is sleeping. That means less "are we there yet's", "I have to use the bathroom", "I'm hungry", "I'm thirsty", etc.

Sunday June 5th: : My brothers have another baseball double header at 2:00pm. They will most likely only get to play one of the games though as they need to be leaving for the St. Louis airport around 5:00pm. My Meme and Papa F. (my dad's parents) will be driving them to the airport. On the other hand, the rest of us will be arriving at our first hotel reservation: Best Western Lake Buena Vista. My dad will enjoy some quiet time in the room to catch up on his sleep from the night's driving while my mom, Meme M., and I head to DTD for some shopping fun. My brothers are scheduled to arrive at the airport around 11pm. My dad will be picking them up. Then it's time to get some sleep in before our first official Disney day!!

Monday June 6th: : Today is the day we check in to POFQ where we have two rooms. One room will be for the boys (a.k.a my dad and brothers) while us girls (my mom, Meme M. and I) will have the other room. Then we are off to Epcot in the morning to enjoy some rides, the world showcase, and an early lunch. After lunch we will head back to POFQ for some swimming and relaxation before heading to the boardwalk for an early lunch at ESPN Club. Then back to Epcot we go to see Illuminations at 9pm. Illuminations are by far the best fireworks that I have ever seen. My entire family enjoys them and we always make it to at least two showings during our trip. After Illuminations, whoever is not tired will head to MK for extra magic hours lasting until midnight (We love park hoppers and def. use them to our advantage).

Tuesday June 7th: We are heading to DHS for the 9am rope drop. Of course Tower of Terror, Rock N' Roller Coaster, and Lights Motors Action are on the to do list for the day. We will eat an early and light lunch. The afternoon will be more relaxation, swimming, shopping, etc. We have dinner reservations at Whispering Canyon (my all-time favorite Disney Restaurant)at 6:45. We will take the bus to MK then boat over to WL for dinner. After dinner we will hop back on the boat to MK and stay at MK for extra magic hours until 1am.

Wednesday June 8th: The boys can't make a trip to Disney without hitting up a water park. While the girls sleep in, the boys will drive over to Typhoon Lagoon at 8am for a few hours. Their goal is to be back by 11 so we can head offsite for lunch. The afternoon is when we will all part ways and do whatever we want. Mom and dad will probably head back to Epcot before heading to their dinner reservation at 7:40 at Kona Cafe. It's very rare for them to get a dinner date alone and what better place to do than Disney? My brothers will be allowed to roam on their own while I will stick with Meme M. Then my mom and dad will meet up with Meme M. and I at Raglan Road to listen to the Irish folk band around 9:30. MK is open till 1am again so I assume that is where my brothers will be!

Thursday June 9th: We are heading for rope drop at AK at 9am. The to do list: Kilamanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids, and It's Tough to be a bug. My mom, Meme M, and I have a 2:05 reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table for a late lunch so we plan on leaving the park around noon. This will allow us enough time to run back to the hotel to change out of our soaking wet Kali river rapids clothes and freshen up. We will hop on the bus to MK around 1:15 to allow plenty of time. The boys will again be on their own. That night the majority of us will head back to Epcot to spend our last night at Disney enjoying Illuminations again (it never gets old)!

Friday June 10th: this is our last day and we are planning on leaving WDW in the early afternoon so the morning is for whatever we decide we want to do! Then, we are off on our long journey back to Illinois where we will arrive at the wee hours of the night/morning! My brothers will be riding back with us. The trip back usually involves lots of sleeping as we are exhausted from the week! It's a good kind of exhaustion though as more great memories have been made!

Well those are our plans! As every Disney fan knows, plans almost never go as you want them to which is why we have a flexible agenda. 15 more days till departure! My trip report should be up mid to late June so stay tuned!
 
6 days till we leave! Packing lists have been made, bags are being packed, and excitement is building!!
 

After many attempts and failures I have finally gotten my pictures to work!!
 














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