Road Trip! A Trip Even Cheapo DH Couldn't Refuse! (3/20 to 27)

[Flounder75]

Hi All! I am a relatively new poster to the DISboards, but I have been reading everyone's posts for years now. Long story short, one evening while watching TV with DH, the special 4/3 deal came on. I glanced at DH, hoping he had seen it. Anything that seems like a fabulous bargain usually will catch his attention. It did!
"You know, that seems pretty reasonable..." he started.
And that was all I needed! I was off and running. I immediately grabbed my laptop, just in case he was going to start second guessing himself, which usually happens within minutes of a decision. I went online and starting checking hotel availability, etc. Usually, we stay at Fort Wilderness in our pop up camper, but this time...DH wanted to try a hotel. I would have loved to stay at the Poly or Contemporary but budget-minded DH wanted me to check out Pop. Which I was completely fine with, of course.
At the time, All Star Sports was the only value resort offering the 4/3 on the dates we wanted to travel. DH was slightly disappointed, but we booked it anyway! WHOOHOO!!! I didn't care if I had to sleep in the backseat of the car! We were going!

Let me stop here and introduce you to my family...
Here are me and DH this past summer
Me (K): Huge Disney fan since birth! Spent MANY family trips there in the eighties and early nineties. I was hooked from the beginning. I am known to say "It's okay, but it's not Disney" several hundred times while vacationing in other places. I am a children's book author, yet to be published. I take my writing very seriously, and consider it my real job. I am also a nanny to two beautiful little boys during the week...because being an unpublished author does not pay the bills
DH (S): Never visited Disney until our Disneymoon in March 1999. Became hooked on Disney's customer service and attention to detail, but certainly not as Disney-manic as I am. Works incredibly hard at his job and is a fabulous father to our two kiddos. Somewhat nerdy and enjoys the little details in life.

DS8 (R8): A fellow Disney lover. Star Wars and POTC crazy. As soon as we told him about the trip, we immediately had to take a trip to the bookstore for a Birnbaum for Kids guide. He has been scoping out his favorite rides and making sure I am including them in our touring plans. Gives me a running countdown every single morning at the bus stop as to how many days we have before Disney. Love this guy.
DD4 (L4): L is a princess in every sense of the word. She loves Ariel the most, followed by Belle and Sleeping Beauty. Her first trip to Disney was about 2 years ago, and she doesn't remember any of it, of course, but has been "reading" her brother's guide book and picking out all of her favorites. If she does not visit Ariel's grotto, I am afraid she will spontaneously combust.

Our trip is scheduled for March 20th thru the 27th. March 20, 2009 just happens to be our 10th anniversary. This trip is going to be quite special because we were in Disney for our honeymoon, and now will be back exactly ten years later with two kids!

Next Up....Our FLEXIBLE schedule (I promise pics of the family in the next post!)

 

[Flounder75]

When we first made the ressie online, ASSp was the only value resort offering the 4/3 deal...so we snatched it up. I checked online every day, mostly for DH, to see if POP would open up. Lo and behold, it did! We were so excited. DH had seen pictures of POP somewhere and REALLY wanted to stay there. I'm glad he got his wish

A few weeks after making the ressie, I began to look into the DDP. Since most of our trips together have been to Ft. Wilderness in the pop up, we really didn't take advantage of the restaurants in WDW. We usually just had counter service lunches, while I cooked breakfast and dinner for all of us. Kind of a pain, but made a huge difference in the old budget...which you know DH is a fan of. We ran the numbers up, down, and sideways before realizing that HEY! This actually WILL save us money! Actually, I kind of knew that already, I just had to convince DH to add another $500 or so to our vacation.

I called and added the quick service plan because with two little ones, eating at table service places almost seems like more of a hassle to us than a calming, happy time! Plus, we knew we could pay OOP for one or two table service meals if we wanted to. SO...the QSDP was born!

The DIS says I have to have more posts before I'm allowed to post pics of the family...so I need to go up my post count! Be back soon with our flexible plan and pics of the fam!

 

[Flounder75]

PHEW! I have reached ten posts...time for pics of the family!

DH and I last summer...

DS8 on the first day of second grade...

DD4 on Halloween...

And there you have it. That's us! Here are a few random pics from our last trip to WDW in September 07...
Random lunch...Cosmic Ray's? Don't remember

Epcot...DD's favorite part of the trip!

The Pooh Playground...

One of our favorites...mine mine mine mine...

Okay, I promise to get on with the plans now...in the next post!

 

[Flounder75]

THE PLANS! At long last, here is our flexible plan for our trip...keep in mind we are on QSDP and DH is a bargain hunter...The following is mostly just our food plans.

Friday March 20th: leave home around noon, plan for a 9ish hour drive straight thru to Pop Century. Hoping to arrive at Pop by 10PM the latest.

Saturday March 21st: Sleep in, explore Pop/go swimming until early afternoon. Head to DTD after showers. ADRs at T-Rex for 6:15. Hopefully DD4 will not be too

Sunday March 22nd: Animal Kingdom Day! Breakfast in the room (cereal bars, etc...we are not big breakfast eaters). Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ which we, surprisingly, have never tried! The plan is to be back at Pop for dinner, but if not, we'll eat at another QS at AK.

Monday March 23rd: Magic Kingdom! Breakfast in the room, Pecos Bill for lunch (YAY! one of my faves...), Columbia Harbor House for dinner based on DISers reviews! I've never tried this one, either!

Tuesday March 24th: Hollywood Studios! Breakfast in the room, Starring Rolls for lunch, Toluca Legs for dinner.

Wednesday March 25th: Epcot! Breakfast in the room, Sunshine Seasons for lunch, Cantina de San Angel for dinner, watching Illuminations from our favorite spot in Morocco. DH LOVES Epcot!

Thursday March 26th: Blizzard Beach! We usually go to Typhoon Lagoon, but I saw on touringplans.com that it will still be in refurb while we are there According to Disney, the refurb was supposed to be finished by March 22 Dinner ADRs at O'Hana for 9:40 PM. Not sure if the kids will last that long without dinner, so we may have to supplement with a hot dog at Pop or something! Never been to O'hana before and we are REALLY looking forward to it! So happy I got these ADR's, even if they are really late! This will serve as our Anniversary dinner.

Friday March 27th: Check out day Hopefully we will not be too burned out to spend the morning and early afternoon at MK, eat at the Pop food court for breakfast and Pinnochio Village Haus for lunch. We hope to be on the road by 4PM, driving through the night and arriving home around 1AM.

Next up: Our Not To Be Missed List!

 

[Flounder75]

Even though no one is reading...I'm going to post anyway!

We are leaving in FOUR DAYS! Wheee!!! The kids are beyond excited. I purchased a blank calendar at a teaching tools type store a few weeks ago, and we began our countdown. We started counting down from 33 days before, only because that's how many squares there were before our departure date! I filled it myself with black and blue sharpies and bought some smiley face stickers. Each kid put one smiley face on each date. I'll post some pics here so you can see what I'm talking about...

This weekend, I attempted to pack as much as I could. Since we are driving, we don't have as much concern as far as suitcases and other assorted bags goes. I have one large suitcase for the kids, one large suitcase for DH and I, and a few assorted backpacks and what not. I have one bag with a few beach towels in it, DD's swimmies, some googgles, and other beach/water toys. The other backpacks are DD's and DS's "bring in the car toys". After some advice from the DISers, I packed an entire small Thomas The Tank Engine soft lunchbox with assorted medicines! This never really occured to me before, but there have been several trips where we have had to spend an upwards of ten bucks for Tylenol at hotel gift shops. Smart folks, you DISers

Last night I was reviewing our daily plan, and I wasn't real happy with it. Mostly because we weren't going to MK until MONDAY, and I didn't know if I could wait that long! MK is my absolute favorite spot ON EARTH, and knowing it was just a bus ride (or a minivan ride ) and having to wait until Monday? NO. WAY. When I first made the plans using TGM and UG, I thought I'd be okay. But after further review...I should have known better! SO...here are the new plans.

Friday 3/20: Leaving home around 9AM, stopping at Publix for on the road groceries and in the room quick breakfast snacks (nutrigrain bars, cereal bars, fruit that doesn't have to be refrigerated, etc...). Pick DH up at work and be on the road pointed due south by noon. According to Mapquest, we are 488 miles from Pop. According to Mapquest, it will take 7 hours and 49 minutes from our front door to Pop's front door. Adding in stops for bathroom and gas, and adding in the fact that DH is NEVER on time, subtracting a bit because DH's work is at least an hour closer to Disney than our house is , and subtracting a few minutes here and there because...well....I'm not exactly a slow driver when it comes to getting to my happy place :, I am hoping to be at Pop by 9 or 10 PM. By the time we check in (Oh please oh please oh please let me get my room request...), it will be time to collapse in bed and that will be the end of Friday!

Saturday 3/21: Originally, we were going to hang out around Pop and then head to DTD for ressies at T-Rex and hang out and shop and call it an early night. And then I realized there was no way in HECK that I could be that close to MK and not go. So....we are still spending the morning at Pop, swimming, taking the obligatory "birthday year" pics on the bridge, checking out the resort, etc. We'll then head to DTD for lunch and maybe some shopping. Around 4 or maybe later, we will head over to MK and see a few things before settling in for Spectro and Wishes. Not sure if I'll completely cancel T-Rex for the day or attempt to eat lunch there instead.

Gottarun duty calls! BBL for the rest of the week plans! Hope someone out there is reading!!

 

[Flounder75]

I'm just going to continue to talk to myself here...

Sunday 3/22 Didn't change anything here, we are still planning on Animal Kingdom. One of our super dooper favorites is EE. DD4 is still not quite tall enough for it, so we may have to FP and go back later. Or, DH and DS8 can get FPs and I will go in the single rider line. She is tall enough for Kali this time around, though. Any suggestions where to sit where she won't end up being the one that gets stuck under the waterfall? I can foresee this ruining the rest of her entire day! She's a bit...um...melodramatic! DH wants to see the Flights Of Wonder show, and I told him I would see it just for him, but I'm having second thoughts. I am DEATHLY afraid of birds. I know, ridiculous, right? But I AM!!! DS wants to see Dinosaur and The Festival of the Lion King, and I'd like to see KS. Can't go to AK without seeing KS, can you??? AK day rarely takes all day for us, and even though it's a large park and spread out, we still consider it one of the "easy" parks for us!

Monday 3/23: This was originally MK day, but after reading TGM and thinking seriously about his plan of action, we have decided to go with Epcot for this day. Some "not to be missed" attractions on this day are Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Honey I Shrunk The Audience, Journey Into Imagination, Test Track, Mission:Space (for DH only), and of course, Soarin'. Now, I have never been or Soarin'. None of us have yet. Last time we were there, the wait was over 90 minutes and that was in early May! Plus, DD was too small to ride and it was close to the end of our trip. We just couldn't do another line or a rider switch. All FP's were gone by the time we got there (around noon if I remember correctly). Now we are determined! I've even told DH that if we have to reserve Friday morning (the day we depart for home ) to only go to Epcot and ride Soarin', I'll do it! I'm not missing it again! I'm not not not!!! We have a favorite spot in WS to watch Illuminations, so we'll grab some Mexican food from Cantina de San Angel and drag our butts over to Morocco to watch the show. There isn't too much in WS we love and can't miss. DS wants to try the KimPossible thingy, which I guess we'll do. DH travels internationally a lot for his job and sees these countries up close and personal at least once a month. While it's pretty and nice to stroll around, it's not our favorite place in the world. I think the Kim Possible thing will give us a "purpose" for WS, making it slightly more interesting for the kids.

Up next...Tuesday and Wednesday plans! I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats!

 

[3princesses+aprince]

HI, I'm joining in our your pre trip report. Your kids are adorable, I bet they're excited. ONLY 3 MORE DAYS FOR YOU. I cannot even imagine the excitement(mainly coming from me) when we are 3 days out from our trip. Heck once we hit the 30 day mark, i'm going to be useless. Besides my Disney planning that is.
I started a pre trip report , I think in February, and I had to talk to myself for alittle while too, then it got going.
Your plans look great too by the way!
I had to redo my plans when I first started thinking about it, because I also did not put MK first. Oh , no way, I said. Now it's the first park we'll go to, we'll go again mid week, and it's also the last park we'll go to. That makes me happy.

 

[Flounder75]

HI, I'm joining in our your pre trip report. Your kids are adorable, I bet they're excited. ONLY 3 MORE DAYS FOR YOU. I cannot even imagine the excitement(mainly coming from me) when we are 3 days out from our trip. Heck once we hit the 30 day mark, i'm going to be useless. Besides my Disney planning that is.
I started a pre trip report , I think in February, and I had to talk to myself for alittle while too, then it got going.
Your plans look great too by the way!
I had to redo my plans when I first started thinking about it, because I also did not put MK first. Oh , no way, I said. Now it's the first park we'll go to, we'll go again mid week, and it's also the last park we'll go to. That makes me happy.

Yay! I have a reader! Welcome! We are crazy excited. DH is out of town this week, and that is actually making the waiting a little easier, believe it or not. By the time he gets home, it'll only be one day until we leave! Hopefully, I will be adding the rest of our plans this evening. Thanks for checking it out! Next time, bring a friend!

 

[Flounder75]

We left off with our Sunday and Monday plans, right? So on to Tuesday and Wednesday! I am actually very anxious to see if we actually stick to the plan....hmmm

Tuesday 3/24....Hollywood Studios! I will forever call it MGM. I said HS to DH the other night and he was all..."what the heck are you talking about?" DH has a conference call in the early morning, and we will head out ASAP (probably close to 9 ) I will be making a mad dash to get FP's for Toy Story Mania...I am dying to check this ride out! Especially since I've been reading so many stellar reports on the DIS. A few must-sees here are Rock and Roller Coaster (DH and maybe me....seperately of course) DS8 is tall enough, but he is not a fan, Tower of Terror, Star Tours (not for me, those motion simulator ride thingies make me SICK ), Voyage of the Little Mermaid (because DD will spontaneously combust if we do not include some type of Ariel SOMETHING every day ), Muppets , and probably the Great Movie Ride. We seem to spend a lot of time aimlessly wandering around HS. We like it okay, but it's not one of my favorites. Oh yeah, DS wants to see the Indiana Jones show, and I am dying to volunteer DH to be one of the extras!

Wednesday 3/25 WE ARE FINALLY GOING TO MK! This is finally the day we get to spend the ENTIRE day in MK! WHOO! In the million and a half times I have visited Disney in my lifetime, I have actually NEVER experienced rope drop! Do you believe it? So I told DH that this was the ONE THING I was not going to be flexible about. I was definitely not going to miss it this time. I'm actually the most excited about seeing the characters get off the train, etc. I will be a happy girl on Wednesday morning! Our wish list for MK is very very long, of course. This is probably the only park we will do without a break in the afternoon. Mostly because Mommy (that would be me) cannot seem to tear herself away once she has walked through the turnstiles. POTC, HM, SP, BTMRR, Mickey's Philharmagic, Peter Pan, Dumbo, it's a small world, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Monster's Inc Laugh Floor, Space Mountain, and of course....Ariel's Grotto are ALL on the list. We may get some of these done on Saturday night, but maybe we'll have a chance to get them all done this day! It's a big challenge, but I think we can pull it off! We may have to commando this day, which means I may be a single mother by the end of the trip . Hopefully DH will let me take the reigns on this one and won't argue!

That's it for this installment! I'll be back later with Thursday and Friday's plans!