Imaginationsetfree
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2009
- Messages
- 129
Hello! I'm Susie, lover of all things Disney, and I am anxiously awaiting my upcoming solo trip to the World November 29-December 8.
You might be asking yourself why, if I'm headed solo to WDW, is the title of my trip "Reunited and it Feels So Good?" Great question! The title of my trip refers to the fact that, beginning in 2007, I started a grand tradition of taking a yearly trip to WDW. However, things got a little crazy in 2012, and alas, I never made it to my beloved Disney World. Not only that, but my 2011 trip was rather short - a friend and I only had a couple of days, which meant that we hit all the parks EXCEPT the Magic Kingdom! I know, it's crazy. But what that all means for me is that I was gloriously used to only waiting about a year in between Disney trips. It was pretty wonderful. But now, I haven't been to WDW at all since September 2011, and haven't been to the Magic Kingdom since February 2010!
But, like an old friend, Disney World is still there where I left it - just waiting for me.
So this year, I made sure I would get a trip in to the World. After much thought and deliberation, I decided to go in December. I absolutely adore Christmas, but I have never been to Disney World during the holidays. I'm so excited to see the parks all decked out for the holidays, and even more excited for all the festivities. I checked my calendar, and discovered the only week I could feasibly take off of work would be December 1-8, not realizing that it was the week after Thanksgiving. I got my time off approved, and booked a resort. I use timeshares when I travel, so staying off site is usually my way of going. Then I started looking at flights - and almost fell over. They were soooooo expensive! THAT was when I realized - not only was I flying over Thanksgiving weekend, but I was looking to fly on Sunday - along with everyone and their mom. I grumbled for a few weeks over the high prices, and just when I was about to bite the bullet and fork over huge amounts of money, I discovered the GREAT part of booking the week after Thanksgiving! Instead of having one week off like I had planned, I actually had the Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving week, PLUS the following vacation week off!
I took a peek at flights for Black Friday, and to my delight, they were about $250 cheaper. I booked the flight on the spot, booked another resort for those couple of days, and got REALLY excited about my unexpected extended vacation.
Then the planning started. Even though the beauty of a solo trip is that I can do what I want, where I want, when I want, I always try to have a plan in place. Over my past trips, I discovered a great system for a week long trip - one full day in each park, an additional half day spent in each park, and an "off day" scheduled somewhere in the middle that I can use to relax. I also plan things out because I try to also make sure that, with 6 days in the parks, I see Wishes, Fantasmic, and Illuminations two times each. It's not always easy, but I can usually pull it off.
So without further ado - my plans for my trip!!
Friday, November 29 - Travel Day I have an early flight booked to MCO, but I'm coming from the West Coast, so between the flight time and time difference, I don't get into Orlando until about 6:00pm. So no plans really, just grabbing some dinner somewhere and checking into my first resort.
Saturday, November 30 - Resort Exploring Day I thought a lot about what I wanted to do this day. Since I'm buying a 7 day ticket, and I know the parks will be absolutely nuts the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I opted not to start my park going until Sunday. So I decided to use my Saturday to sleep in after my full day of travel on Friday, and then spend a leisurely day exploring the Disney resorts all decked out for Christmas. As I mentioned above - I LOVE Christmas, so I can't wait to see what the resorts do to decorate. I also snagged a dinner ADR at Raglan Road. I've never eaten there before, but booked a time when the Irish dancers are supposed to be performing - so pretty pumped for that. I'm also planning on spending the end of my day on the beach of the Polynesian for Wishes and the Electric Water Pageant. I've started two previous trips by doing this, and it really just feels like perfection - so I'm looking forward to it once again!
Sunday, December 1 - Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Day! This will be my first day hitting the parks, and my first 1/2 and 1/2 day. I am planning on getting to the Magic Kingdom bright and early to see the rope drop show - something else I love. My other MK day falls on an early EMH day, so this is the only day I was able to swing seeing the rope drop show. Besides, knowing me, I will be so excited that getting there early will be no problem whatsoever.
After some time hitting up my favorites, I will hop over to Animal Kingdom for the rest of the day. This works out perfectly, because Animal Kingdom closes relatively early, and I am switching resorts this day - so I will have time to check in and get settled after my first full parks day.
Monday, December 2 - Epcot Day This day. Oh, this day. I am more excited for this day than any other day in my trip. One of the things I wanted to make sure I did this trip was the Candlelight Processional. I had seen Disneyland's version of it before (and it was excellent), but since I've never been to WDW during Christmas, I've never seen Epcot's version. One difference I love about Epcot is that there are so many narrators (Disneyland does it over one weekend with one narrator). So I picked my day, booked a Teppan Edo dinner package (yum!), and (im)patiently waited for them to announce my narrator. I grew more and more anxious as it seemed like every narrator in December was announced - except for December 2-3. THEN, it was finally announced - the narrator for December 2-3 would be none other than Neil Patrick Harris! Squeal! I am a huge fan of his, so I was secretly hoping it would be him - but also trying not to get my hopes up too much so I wouldn't be disappointed if it wasn't. But YAY!
My plan for that day is to spend the full day at Epcot, and I'm really looking forward to hearing the "Holidays Around the World" stories. I think that's an awesome and fun touch to the holidays and fits so perfectly with everything I love about Epcot. Then, of course, I will have my delicious dinner at Teppan Edo and finish off the day with the Candlelight Processional and Illuminations.
Tuesday, December 3 - Hollywood Studios Day This will be my full day at Disney Hollywood Studios. I don't have anything planned except for enjoying the day at the park and finishing with Fantasmic. I may venture off to one of the resort hotels or DTD for lunch, since I'm not a huge fan of most of DHS's food options (with the exception of Brown Derby, and I have an ADR there later in the week). I'm also SUPER excited to see the Osborne Lights!!
Wednesday, December 4 - Day "off" My plan for most of this day is to relax and recharge my batteries. I did book a late morning ADR at Kona Café for breakfast. Depending on the weather, I may chill out at my resort and enjoy their amenities, or if it's warm enough, I may spend a little time at Blizzard Beach (mainly in the lazy river ;-)). I also won't have a complete "off" day from the parks - I will be heading to Magic Kingdom at night to see The Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes. This was one of the few non-MVMCP nights, so I wanted to make sure I squeezed those in. I've actually never seen the Electrical Parade, so I'm really excited for that!
Thursday, December 5 - Magic Kingdom Day! Today will be my full day at Magic Kingdom. I can't wait to really experience the new Fantasyland. I am planning on having lunch at BOG no matter how long the wait is for it. I also bought a ticket to MVMCP that night - another first for me that I can't WAIT for. I've never been to any of the special parties, so that's also really exciting. It's also very possible that I will take a midday break in there so I don't go commando from dawn till midnight.
Friday, December 6 - Animal Kingdom Day This is my full day at Animal Kingdom. I will once again be taking full advantage of the fact that Animal Kingdom closes pretty early, and will hop over to DHS afterwards for my second Fantasmic viewing and to enjoy the Osborne Lights one more time.
Saturday, December 7 - Hollywood Studios and Epcot Day This will be my second 1/2 and 1/2 day. I will start at DHS and have lunch planned at the Brown Derby. After my morning there, I will hop over to Epcot to finish out my day (and vacation) with more Holidays around the World and Illuminations.
So there you have it! Knowing me and my ADD planning, it's very likely this could change. But I think I have a pretty good plan here. Now to find out how to make the next 40 days go by faster..............
You might be asking yourself why, if I'm headed solo to WDW, is the title of my trip "Reunited and it Feels So Good?" Great question! The title of my trip refers to the fact that, beginning in 2007, I started a grand tradition of taking a yearly trip to WDW. However, things got a little crazy in 2012, and alas, I never made it to my beloved Disney World. Not only that, but my 2011 trip was rather short - a friend and I only had a couple of days, which meant that we hit all the parks EXCEPT the Magic Kingdom! I know, it's crazy. But what that all means for me is that I was gloriously used to only waiting about a year in between Disney trips. It was pretty wonderful. But now, I haven't been to WDW at all since September 2011, and haven't been to the Magic Kingdom since February 2010!
But, like an old friend, Disney World is still there where I left it - just waiting for me. So this year, I made sure I would get a trip in to the World. After much thought and deliberation, I decided to go in December. I absolutely adore Christmas, but I have never been to Disney World during the holidays. I'm so excited to see the parks all decked out for the holidays, and even more excited for all the festivities. I checked my calendar, and discovered the only week I could feasibly take off of work would be December 1-8, not realizing that it was the week after Thanksgiving. I got my time off approved, and booked a resort. I use timeshares when I travel, so staying off site is usually my way of going. Then I started looking at flights - and almost fell over. They were soooooo expensive! THAT was when I realized - not only was I flying over Thanksgiving weekend, but I was looking to fly on Sunday - along with everyone and their mom. I grumbled for a few weeks over the high prices, and just when I was about to bite the bullet and fork over huge amounts of money, I discovered the GREAT part of booking the week after Thanksgiving! Instead of having one week off like I had planned, I actually had the Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving week, PLUS the following vacation week off!
I took a peek at flights for Black Friday, and to my delight, they were about $250 cheaper. I booked the flight on the spot, booked another resort for those couple of days, and got REALLY excited about my unexpected extended vacation. Then the planning started. Even though the beauty of a solo trip is that I can do what I want, where I want, when I want, I always try to have a plan in place. Over my past trips, I discovered a great system for a week long trip - one full day in each park, an additional half day spent in each park, and an "off day" scheduled somewhere in the middle that I can use to relax. I also plan things out because I try to also make sure that, with 6 days in the parks, I see Wishes, Fantasmic, and Illuminations two times each. It's not always easy, but I can usually pull it off.
So without further ado - my plans for my trip!!
Friday, November 29 - Travel Day I have an early flight booked to MCO, but I'm coming from the West Coast, so between the flight time and time difference, I don't get into Orlando until about 6:00pm. So no plans really, just grabbing some dinner somewhere and checking into my first resort.
Saturday, November 30 - Resort Exploring Day I thought a lot about what I wanted to do this day. Since I'm buying a 7 day ticket, and I know the parks will be absolutely nuts the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I opted not to start my park going until Sunday. So I decided to use my Saturday to sleep in after my full day of travel on Friday, and then spend a leisurely day exploring the Disney resorts all decked out for Christmas. As I mentioned above - I LOVE Christmas, so I can't wait to see what the resorts do to decorate. I also snagged a dinner ADR at Raglan Road. I've never eaten there before, but booked a time when the Irish dancers are supposed to be performing - so pretty pumped for that. I'm also planning on spending the end of my day on the beach of the Polynesian for Wishes and the Electric Water Pageant. I've started two previous trips by doing this, and it really just feels like perfection - so I'm looking forward to it once again!
Sunday, December 1 - Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Day! This will be my first day hitting the parks, and my first 1/2 and 1/2 day. I am planning on getting to the Magic Kingdom bright and early to see the rope drop show - something else I love. My other MK day falls on an early EMH day, so this is the only day I was able to swing seeing the rope drop show. Besides, knowing me, I will be so excited that getting there early will be no problem whatsoever.
After some time hitting up my favorites, I will hop over to Animal Kingdom for the rest of the day. This works out perfectly, because Animal Kingdom closes relatively early, and I am switching resorts this day - so I will have time to check in and get settled after my first full parks day.Monday, December 2 - Epcot Day This day. Oh, this day. I am more excited for this day than any other day in my trip. One of the things I wanted to make sure I did this trip was the Candlelight Processional. I had seen Disneyland's version of it before (and it was excellent), but since I've never been to WDW during Christmas, I've never seen Epcot's version. One difference I love about Epcot is that there are so many narrators (Disneyland does it over one weekend with one narrator). So I picked my day, booked a Teppan Edo dinner package (yum!), and (im)patiently waited for them to announce my narrator. I grew more and more anxious as it seemed like every narrator in December was announced - except for December 2-3. THEN, it was finally announced - the narrator for December 2-3 would be none other than Neil Patrick Harris! Squeal! I am a huge fan of his, so I was secretly hoping it would be him - but also trying not to get my hopes up too much so I wouldn't be disappointed if it wasn't. But YAY!
My plan for that day is to spend the full day at Epcot, and I'm really looking forward to hearing the "Holidays Around the World" stories. I think that's an awesome and fun touch to the holidays and fits so perfectly with everything I love about Epcot. Then, of course, I will have my delicious dinner at Teppan Edo and finish off the day with the Candlelight Processional and Illuminations.
Tuesday, December 3 - Hollywood Studios Day This will be my full day at Disney Hollywood Studios. I don't have anything planned except for enjoying the day at the park and finishing with Fantasmic. I may venture off to one of the resort hotels or DTD for lunch, since I'm not a huge fan of most of DHS's food options (with the exception of Brown Derby, and I have an ADR there later in the week). I'm also SUPER excited to see the Osborne Lights!!
Wednesday, December 4 - Day "off" My plan for most of this day is to relax and recharge my batteries. I did book a late morning ADR at Kona Café for breakfast. Depending on the weather, I may chill out at my resort and enjoy their amenities, or if it's warm enough, I may spend a little time at Blizzard Beach (mainly in the lazy river ;-)). I also won't have a complete "off" day from the parks - I will be heading to Magic Kingdom at night to see The Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes. This was one of the few non-MVMCP nights, so I wanted to make sure I squeezed those in. I've actually never seen the Electrical Parade, so I'm really excited for that!
Thursday, December 5 - Magic Kingdom Day! Today will be my full day at Magic Kingdom. I can't wait to really experience the new Fantasyland. I am planning on having lunch at BOG no matter how long the wait is for it. I also bought a ticket to MVMCP that night - another first for me that I can't WAIT for. I've never been to any of the special parties, so that's also really exciting. It's also very possible that I will take a midday break in there so I don't go commando from dawn till midnight.
Friday, December 6 - Animal Kingdom Day This is my full day at Animal Kingdom. I will once again be taking full advantage of the fact that Animal Kingdom closes pretty early, and will hop over to DHS afterwards for my second Fantasmic viewing and to enjoy the Osborne Lights one more time.
Saturday, December 7 - Hollywood Studios and Epcot Day This will be my second 1/2 and 1/2 day. I will start at DHS and have lunch planned at the Brown Derby. After my morning there, I will hop over to Epcot to finish out my day (and vacation) with more Holidays around the World and Illuminations.
So there you have it! Knowing me and my ADD planning, it's very likely this could change. But I think I have a pretty good plan here. Now to find out how to make the next 40 days go by faster..............
