Rapunzel or BUST!! Princess Gianna's First Full Trip to the World

[IndyDisney]

Hello. My name is Dave and I'm a Disney-holic.

Welcome to my first ever (pre)trip report! I'm probably going to stumble through this for a bit, so please bear with me. I guess we'll start with the Five W's and go from there!

Who: Myself - Dave, my lovely DW - Brandy, and our DD4 - Gianna (AKA Gigi)
What: Our 2011 Family Vacation to WDW, duh!
Where: Coronado Springs Resort
When: July 2011
Why: It's Princess Gigi's first full trip to WDW!!
How long: 8 day/7 night

So how about some details, right? I'll start with the IndyDisney Family. We're from Indiana, PA (hence the name). I'm in sales, DW's a teacher, and DD runs daycare. As stated before, I'm Dave. Husband to a wonderful wife, Father to a doll of a daughter, and Disney Nerd through and through (DisNerd, anyone?). I have been going to Disney since 1990 when I was 10 (you do the math). This upcoming trip will be my 12th. I'm the planner of the crew, having spreadsheets, touring plans, and ADRs coming out of my ears.

Brandy, my lovely DW, has been to WDW several times, including our impromptu trip to MK last summer (more to come on that later) and has become quite the Disney Enthusiast herself. She's not quite on my level yet, but she's coming around.

Gianna is my little princess. Now 4, this will be her first "full" trip to the world. She's in love with all things Princess, Disney Jr., and the classic characters all the same. She makes me watch the same Youtube videos of BBB, Splash, BTMRR, IaSW, and CRT pretty much daily. I'm pretty sure she's officially indoctrinated, er, hooked.

DW Brandy, DD4 Gianna, and Myself with Mickey and Minnie last summer at Magic Kingdom.

So here's the deal - I'm calling this Gigi's first "full" trip. Last summer we added a day at MK onto the end of our trip to Hilton Head Island, SC. We stayed two nights at POP and went to MK for a day. So *technically* Gigi's been to WDW, but hasn't experienced all of WDW!! So, deal with it. I'm calling it her first trip.

So what are the details of this first trip? Well we're driving down from good ol' PA starting the afternoon of Thursday July 14th. I have a reservation at the Royal Plaza at DTD for Friday night before we check in for seven nights at Coronado Springs on Saturday the 16th. I've never stayed at this resort before, but have heard good things, so we thought we'd give it a try.

This is also our first time using a Dining Plan. After I'd booked our reservation with the DxDP, I received a PIN code for free QS dining and had it applied to our reservation. I had gone back and forth considering the DxDP and decided on it so that we could do as many character dinners as possible, and by possible, I mean tolerable to DW and I!! We settled on seven.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned. I'll post our ADRs and touring plans soon.

Cheers,
Indy

 

[t_daniels]

I'm in!
For what its worth... looks more organized so far than mine!

 

[carrie6466]

I made it! Good start, your daughter is adorable!

 

[tinkerbell60]

Subscribing - your daughter IS adorable!!!

 

[dvczerfs]

IM IN!!!! great start. had to laugh at the dd running daycare/ my dd is 18 and just grad. from high school and is off to college on aug.22nd. ( i can only tell you, it dont get any better!) but, you will love every second of it. just remember 3 words,"ask your mother". lookin forward to reading more. i may add, FIRST DISDAD CHECKIN IN!!!

 

[BigTex71]

Another DISDad here and ready. We will be in WDW about a week after you leave. I would start my PTR, but I need to finish the last chapter of my TR before I do.

I will concur with the adorable daughter opinions. As far as the planning and Disney fanatic stuff goes - we have a lot in common. I guess that is what makes us DISDads.

Bring on the Magic!

 

[TXdisney]

Signing on.. Luv your intro! You have a beautiful family!

 

[GoHerd1028]

Another DisDad checkin in!!

 

[IndyDisney]

So our ADRs are below. As I've said, we're on the DxDP. Yes, I know it's a lot of food. Like, "I'll be mainlining Tums and Zantac all week" a lot of food. It's all good, though. It's for the children! Yes, DW and I committed to 7 character dining experiences. Pooh and Friends at CP, Donald and Friends at Tusker House, Princesses at Akershus and CRT, Disney Jr. at H&V, The Fab 5 at Chef Mickey's and Cinderella and her Step Sisters at 1900 Park Fare.

We filled out our Dine-tinerary with old favorites and new experiences. I've been pining to get into Le Cellier and 'Ohana for years. I have always loved the atmosphere at Whispering Canyon, Sci Fi, and Coral Reef and each were a perennial favorite from my childhood. Yak and Yeti always seemed interesting. The Brown Derby is a classic I've never dined at. It's a rather eclectic mix of traditional, kitschy, and tasty.

I'm going to admit that DW and I are amateur foodies. We're not the Yuppy Michelin-star type, but we both like and know a good meal. I know that we're missing a lot of great food this trip. I'd love to make ADRs for Sanaa, California Grill, Narcoosee's, Yachtsman, et. al., but this trip is for DD. It wouldn't be fair to her, and it wouldn't be fair to the other diners that are spending serious money to be pestered by a miniature version of me. Even though it's Disney, there's still needs to be "adult" things to do. I'm not judging, I just know my DD and that on some days she can be a handful.

So enjoy perusing. If you have any last minute suggestions, be sure to leave them. Who knows, I got the CP and LTT reservations over the weekend.

Cheers for now,
Indy (Dave)

B - Crystal Palace 8:05A
L - Le Cellier 12:50P
D - Ohana 6:30P

B - Tusker House 8:15A
L - Yak n Yeti 12:30P
D - Akershus 6:30P

L - CRT 12:20P (2)
D - Whispering Canyon 6:15P

L - Via Napoli 12:45P
D - C&D Garden Grill 7:00P

B - Disney Jr. HnV 8:15A
L - Sci Fi 12:30P
D - Coral Reef 7:00P

B - Chef Mickey's 9:45A
L/D - Hollywood Brown Derby 3:45 (2) Fantasmic! special
(I'm sure we'll have to eat again around 7 or so. Booked this before they were having F! every night)

L - Liberty Tree Tavern 12:30P
D - 1900 Park Fare 6:10P

 

[tinkerbell60]

You have a lot of good ADRs, we are trying a few new ones this time too. I look forward to your dining reviews! I love Le Cellier - the cheddar cheese soup and chocolate "moose" are to die for!!

 

[IndyDisney]

Oh, and thanks, everyone for the compliments on the Geeg-ster. She gets her looks from her mother. She's a handful at times, but she's a sweetheart.

I plan on posting my touring plans this evening. Stay tuned.

Cheers,
Indy

 

[afwdwfan]

Good start! ADR's look great! A lot of the same places we're going to try this fall as well as many more I'd like to try sometime! Looks like you've been making some good plans and I look forward to checking out your touring plans.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Oh man, that's a lot of food! Pack a few extra pairs of shorts, one or two sizes bigger than you wear now. You'll thank me later.

 

[miprender]

Finally following you over from the July thread.

Great intro. We do the characters meals for the kids too


Your daughter is so adorable.

I do hope you make it over for the July 20th meet.

 

[t_daniels]

D - Ohana 6:30P
Doing this one for breakfast!


L - CRT 12:20P (2)
SO EXCITED FOR THIS ONE. We're going for dinner though.

Bit jealous of your WC ADR. Saw a picture of HUGE cherry cokes from there. They are DH's fave

L - Via Napoli 12:45P
Eating there for dinner our first night... Do you know if you're doing pasta or pizza. Was dead set on pasta... but now the pizza looks so good!

 

[IndyDisney]

Originally Posted by IndyDisney View Post

D - Ohana 6:30P
Doing this one for breakfast!


L - CRT 12:20P (2)
SO EXCITED FOR THIS ONE. We're going for dinner though.

Bit jealous of your WC ADR. Saw a picture of HUGE cherry cokes from there. They are DH's fave

L - Via Napoli 12:45P
Eating there for dinner our first night... Do you know if you're doing pasta or pizza. Was dead set on pasta... but now the pizza looks so good!

1) Stitch scares me.
2) I love WCC. DD loves WCC. I'll have to post the ketchup pic from last year.
3) Pizza. I need to see what all the hub bub is about.

Cheers,
Indy

 

[afwdwfan]

1)
3) Pizza. I need to see what all the hub bub is about.

We're going to try Via Napoli for that same reason. I can't wait to try it, and on top of that, we're doing our TS meals out of pocket, so sharing a pizza for lunch makes a lot of sense.

 

[IndyDisney]

Hello again, folks!

So, it's the night before we leave at 11:00PM and I have way too much stuff to do still, but as the DisDad's decree, you can't go on a trip until a PTR is finished, or something like that. So here's the skinny on our touring plans.

We opted for the 7-day MYW + Hopper tickets so that we can be in one park all day and eat in another. We're planning for 3 full days at MK, 1 full-ish day at AK, 1 full day at EPCOT, and 2 days at DHS, with 4 evenings spent at EPCOT eating. Basically, we're going to be all over the place. So without further adieu, here we go....

Day 1 - Saturday - We have to get out of our DTD hotel and over to CSR by 7AM to get our tickets and check in, then hustle to MK for an 8:05AM ADR at Crystal Palace. The only reason we're doing something this crazy is to get in line for Rapunzel, if possible, before 9:00. I really, really, really don't want meeting Rapunzel to be the albatross around my neck all week, so we're getting it out of the way first. After that, it's a leisurely stroll to Splash for a FP, then PotC, HM, IaSM and the like before heading to EPCOT for 12:50 reservations at Le Cellier. After that a nap and dinner at 'Ohana, with Wishes at MK if we're up to it.

Day 2 - Sunday - We're headin' to AK to eat with Donald and see the animals, ride EE for the first time, then Yak n Yeti for Lunch with Akershus for Dinner and potentially Illuminations.

Day 3 - It's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique day with CRT ADRs for Lunch and the anti-princess meal of Whispering Canyon BBQ. KETCHUP!!!!!

Day 4 - EPCOT all Day. Rope drop for Soarin' and Test Track, Nemo and Crush, 5+ cups of Beverly, pizza at Via Napoli, a drink or two in the World Showcase, and Chip n Dale for dinner, er, at dinner.

Day 5 - DHS - Hollywood and Vine for Disney Jr. Breakfast, TSMM at rope drop, 72 rides on Star Tours 2.0, Mermaid, ToT and maybe RnR if there's enough time. All that space travel may cut into our day. We have lunch at my favorite nostalgic spot that is Sci Fi, then Coral Reef for dinner.

Day 6 - Rest....Kind of - Chef Mickey's at 9:45 then Brown Derby at 3:45 for the Fantasmic Dinner package. Probably more ST and such early evening.

Day 7 - MK Day 3 - Rope Drop for Dumbo, Pan, Splash and BTMRR. Lunch at LTT and Dinner at 1900 Park Fare to close out the week the right way with a Princess dinner and Wishes so I can cry like a baby.

I know it's down and dirty, but it gives you the gist. I'll be online while I'm there, so I might do some live updates from my room/parks on my phone.

Stay Tuned.

Cheers for now,
Indy