PTR turned TR for the most magical and expensive vacation I've ever been on!

[zulemara]

This is going to be a work in progress over the next couple days, so without further delay, here we go!

People on the trip:
Me - Thommy - 22yo

my bf of 2 years - Ryan - 21yo ( I see everyone say DBF or DH -I assume you just put D infront of stuff to mean Disney?)

Here's the two of us on the DCL in March of 2006. It was our 6 month anniversary

This is an updated picture of the two of us and currently my favorite.

I chaperoned a trip to Disney with my high school. When I worked at WDW I was at 8-trax ALL the time both working and dancing. So when I went back, I had to get a pic with the DJs

Let me preface by saying this trip is the culmination of a lot of things for me and my bf. We've been through some hard times and this trip is a way for us to get away and focus on each other. I'm a CM as a campus rep for the college program. I've had this trip planned for the last year and worked 2-3 jobs for the past year to save up the money for it. My bf went on a 7 day DCL vacation with me and we got a chance to visit Epcot for a day afterwards, but he has not truly experienced the magic of Disney. I plan to change that

We're from WI, so we're leaving at about 6am on December 21st
staying overnight in Nashville, TN
Arriving at WDW after 9pm on December 22nd
Staying at Pop Century the entire trip

December 23rd - the first day of magic and I'm pulling out ALL the tricks! My bf knows I've bought rings for us. They're not engagement, but are more of a renewed promise. He is expecting them on December 24th(you'll see activities for the day below). What he doesn't know is that I plan on starting this trip out on the right foot. He hasn't experienced what it's like to be complete care free about being gay in public and I intend on showing him what a wonderful place WDW can be for this. SSOO here is the plan:
The park has EMH and opens at either 7 or 8am. I will drive to the TTT and ride the monorail to the park. After entering the gates, I'm going to blind fold him. I'm going to lead him under the train station to the middle of Main Street USA. He has never seen the castle, so when I take off the blindfold, I'll say Merry Christmas and give him a BIG kiss. Then, out comes the ring. I still haven't figured out exactly what I'm going to say. I'm a mobile DJ so crowds and public speaking do not scare me at all. Now the FUN part is that I've arranged for a Disney photographer to capture pictures of the whole thing! We always seem to be lacking pictures of the two of us, so this will fix that. After he gets the ring and is completely shocked and probably a little angry at me(he hates public attention) we're gonna go with the photographer around the park and take pictures. We have the photographer for an hour, so we'll be sure to make the best of it!

Then we'll spend the rest of our magical day at MK

Monday, Dec 24th Christmas Eve
Taking it easy all day. Dinner reservations at 5:30 and Vic and A's. After dinner we're taking the wishes fireworks cruise with the sound system. A boat built for 12 with just the two of us.

Tuesday, Dec 25th
MK MK MK MK! Have to go to MK on Christmas! No special plans other than to enjoy the day, the sights and sounds, and of course, the Christmas parade

Wednesday Dec 26th
MGM has EMH so we're taking advantage of that
We have the Fantasmic package reserved at the Hollywood and Vine at 3:30pm with a 6:30 Fantasmic showing! Yay for not having to stand in line!

Thursday Dec 27th
EPCOT has EMH at night, so we're again taking advantage of that. We have reservations at Le Cellier Steakhouse(which is gonna close!) at 3:40 with the Candlelight Processional showing at 6:45. Again, yay for not standing in line very much

Friday December 28th
Chef Mickey's breakfast at 9:30am. I'm extra excited because it's our only character meal and I get to meet up with a friend I haven't seen since I left WDW in May 05 after the College Program. I can't wait!
Going to Animal Kingdom after that. Here we come Expedition Everest!!
After Animal Kingdom, it's time to hit the clubs Bring on Mannequins and 8-trax baby!

Saturday December 29th
No specific plans during the day. We're probably going to rest and maybe find some relaxing and romantic things to do.
Reservations for the Hoop de Doo Musical Revuew at 5

Sunday December 30th
again no specific plans. We just plan on doing whatever we feel like
Reservations at the California Grill at 8pm

Monday December 31st
It's time for the BEST fireworks show in the world baby!
EPCOT all day long in anticipation for the fireworks at midnight. I was there 12/31/04 and vowed I would come back for another New years showing.
Reservations at the Carnation dinner buffet. I don't remember what time, but I don't care, I'll be drunk by then. Yay for drinking around the world!

Tuesday Jan 1st
Recover and do some final shopping maybe. No specific park plans, but most of my comp tickets will be expired by then so we probably won't be able to get into any parks at all.

Wednesday Jan 2nd
Depart WDW for WI

Thursday Jan 3rd
arrive home in WI to what I'm sure will be freezing cold and a ridiculous amount of snow

There you have it!

 

[zulemara]

/cry no one likes my trip report. What am I missing?

 

[jkCT]

I'm in! I'm in!!
Usually a lurker but you drew me out.
Can't wait to read more!

 

[zulemara]

hehe that's all I've got. It looks so simple written out like that, yet it's hours of planning and being up at 6am to get reservations. Go figure

 

[jkCT]

I know what you mean...I am the head planner and Disney-obsessor. I did a ton of researching (haven't been to WDW since 1994) and gathering opinions from family members as to where they wanted to go/eat. Put it all together in a basic itinerary before making dining reservations. After hours of work to put it all together, my wonderful husband says, "Oh yeah...whatever you think is good..." Aargh! So I've resigned myself to the fact that I am the obsessed one, and he will get excited once we get closer to leaving. My girls are almost as excited as mommy is... Makes Christmas easier this year too...Disney dollars for everyone!

 

[zulemara]

yeah it is an extensive process. I got the park hours and show times in June before I could make ADRs so I could plan on which days we go where and then picked my top fav restaurants and went off of that within my budget. I get 50% off the hotel and I have enough free tickets to get us both in the entire trip, so that opened up some of the more expensive dining options. Only 14 days left!

 

[enyaj40]

i read it! i read it!

i'm on my lunch break, so i need to subscribe and read it more thoroughly

i did get through your details of the ring ceremony you've planned

hope you show pictures of his reaction

hope he forgives you quickly too!

 

[zulemara]

oh don't worry, I'll have LOTS of frickin pictures. He bought a new digital camera that holds over 600 pics at 7MP. I think I'm gonna look through some of my old pictures and post them. I saw that in another trip planning thread and although I can't go back to the early 90s(would have LOVED ninja turtles) I can go back to my CP days

 

[jkCT]

ooh! ooh! Pictures!!

My husband has a newish digital camera that he is absolutely crazy about...he's the new family photographer. It's always been me in the past, which is kind of handy because then I get to take photos of hubby and kiddies without having to be in any photos myself!

 

[Hedy]

How sweet!

 

[Pryncesa]

Looks like you have a really great trip planned! How exciting!!

 

[zulemara]

So I was riding in the car with Ryan and my phone rings. I look at it says 407-824-xxxx and I'm like OMG OMG it's Disney!!! It was a lady from Vic and A's calling to confirm our reservation. I also forgot to add in my report that we're having an anniversary cake made and I had requested for the harpist to learn Come What May(our song - from moulin rouge). She was calling to confirm that the cake order is still good to go and the harpist is gonna perform come what may for us during dinner! hurray!

Soon I should be getting a call from the Photographer so I can make arrangements for the big ring presentation in the park

 

[Hedy]

So I was riding in the car with Ryan and my phone rings. I look at it says 407-824-xxxx and I'm like OMG OMG it's Disney!!! It was a lady from Vic and A's calling to confirm our reservation. I also forgot to add in my report that we're having an anniversary cake made and I had requested for the harpist to learn Come What May(our song - from moulin rouge). She was calling to confirm that the cake order is still good to go and the harpist is gonna perform come what may for us during dinner! hurray!

Soon I should be getting a call from the Photographer so I can make arrangements for the big ring presentation in the park

Aww!

 

[enyaj40]

wonderful touches on your special dinner

 

[punkin413]

i'm here! i've read everything so far and..........i'm so excited for you!!!!!!! HOW ROMANTICAL!!!! i can't wait to see how everything turns out on that first day at MK!

and what's this about le cellier closing? did i totally just miss that somewhere??????? if this is true and it's PERMANENTLY closing, i may have to redo my ADRs (again) for our april trip!

by the way, do you know where you're staying in nashville yet? i grew up there and i just wanted to warn you.....don't stay at any hotels with the name "dickerson road" in them! that's a really bad part of town. there's a lot of cheap hotels there so you may be tempted to save money, but they're scary!

 

[cornjob]

December 23rd - the first day of magic and I'm pulling out ALL the tricks! My bf knows I've bought rings for us. They're not engagement, but are more of a renewed promise. He is expecting them on December 24th(you'll see activities for the day below). What he doesn't know is that I plan on starting this trip out on the right foot. He has never experienced true acceptance of his or our sexuality and I intend on showing him what a wonderful place WDW can be for this.

wow - that all sounds pretty magical. AND romantic. you'll have some great memories. i know my significant other would NEVER do the public thing like that.

 

[zulemara]

i'm here! i've read everything so far and..........i'm so excited for you!!!!!!! HOW ROMANTICAL!!!! i can't wait to see how everything turns out on that first day at MK!

and what's this about le cellier closing? did i totally just miss that somewhere??????? if this is true and it's PERMANENTLY closing, i may have to redo my ADRs (again) for our april trip!

by the way, do you know where you're staying in nashville yet? i grew up there and i just wanted to warn you.....don't stay at any hotels with the name "dickerson road" in them! that's a really bad part of town. there's a lot of cheap hotels there so you may be tempted to save money, but they're scary!

Thanks for looking! I'm going to try and get some pictures added into the thread. Lord knows after working there for 9 months, I have LOTS!

I read that le cellier is closing permanently. I think I might have read it on the Cast portal, I'm not exactly sure. I'll try to find it and see if I can give you a date on the closing. I'm 99% sure it is closing at some point though, so it might be a good idea to add it for your next trip!

We're staying at a Best Western off the interstate in Nashville. I used to work for a phone company that gave you rewards for selling stuff(I hated it) and I manged to get enough points for 150 dollars in Best Western gift cards, which will pay for our room down and coming back.

Thankfully I drive a Prius so even with gas over 3.00/gal(in WI) It will still be cheaper to drive than to fly.

 

[zulemara]

wow - that all sounds pretty magical. AND romantic. you'll have some great memories. i know my significant other would NEVER do the public thing like that.

Well thank you! You have to be a little off your rocker to be a DJ and that probably explains why I'm willing to do such a thing in public.

 

[KatGarcia]

I am in! Sounds like a really fabulous trip!!!! U are quite the romantic! I don't think ur bf will know what hit him- what an awesome way to start the trip!!! I def can't wait to see how it all turns out!

Any some info on LeCellier closing i need to hear about! I too would have to change my ressies for jan!

 

[punkin413]

Thanks for looking! I'm going to try and get some pictures added into the thread. Lord knows after working there for 9 months, I have LOTS!

I read that le cellier is closing permanently. I think I might have read it on the Cast portal, I'm not exactly sure. I'll try to find it and see if I can give you a date on the closing. I'm 99% sure it is closing at some point though, so it might be a good idea to add it for your next trip!

We're staying at a Best Western off the interstate in Nashville. I used to work for a phone company that gave you rewards for selling stuff(I hated it) and I manged to get enough points for 150 dollars in Best Western gift cards, which will pay for our room down and coming back.

Thankfully I drive a Prius so even with gas over 3.00/gal(in WI) It will still be cheaper to drive than to fly.

please let me know about le cellier. we ate there last time and loved it. it's not our favorite, but if it's closing i wanna go there again before it's gone!

if you guys wanna go out while in nashvegas there's lots of places on 2nd avenue and broadway to have a good time! there's also a good little area of clubs on demonbreun street.