Rosie's first trip 08/04/05 - 22/04/05

[Rosie]

PLANNING AND PREPARATION

I booked two weeks in Orlando without much thought. It was on my mental list of places to visit while the kids will still come on Holiday with DH and I. We enjoyed Disneyland Paris and I had a vague idea that Walt Disney World was a bit bigger and that there were a couple of other Theme Parks around Orlando. I really had NO idea of what I had booked for, and the rest of the family know how excited I get about Holidays so when I started planning they let me get on with it.

We visited Disneyland Paris in April 2003. An acquaintance lent me the Unofficial Guide to DLP and I was pleasantly surprised that we managed to see and do everything we wanted to by following the touring plans. After I had booked up for Orlando, I found the Brits Guide and the Unofficial Guide and started some serious reading. I very quickly realised that our entire two weeks would be spent in or very close to Orlando. With so much to do in one place it seemed foolish to waste time travelling. I knew Discovery Cove was for us and so I began by deciding that it was a must do. Realisation number two was that I wanted to visit ALL the Theme Parks. Each Park sounded unmissable so that was nine days taken care of immediately. Disneyquest really appealed to me as well – and I knew my DS 10 would love it there.

Kennedy Space Center was another must do. I knew my DH would love to see it and hoped the kids would. So we were up to eleven days of activities without even trying. Then there were Dinner Shows, Cirque du Soleil, Beaches nearby… I needed to get a proper plan together. I thought I’d check out the internet and that was where I really got the planning bug!

It’s a very step learning curve when you find the DIS boards. By reading the boards over a period of about three months, following links to other sites and cross referencing with my dog eared guide books I got a plan.


DATE AM PM EVENING
Friday 8th Travel Travel Shop
Saturday 9th EPCOT MK
Sunday 10th Animal Kingdom
Monday 11th Busch Gardens
Tuesday 12th Magic Kingdom
Wednesday 13th Rest Disneyquest
Thursday 14th Kennedy Space Center
Friday 15th Universal Studios Citywalk
Saturday 16th Discovery Cove Cirque du Soleil
Sunday 17th Rest EPCOT EPCOT
Monday 18th MGM
Tuesday 19th Seaworld
Wednesday 20th Rest Medieval Times
Thursday 21st Islands of Adventure
Friday 22nd Home

As I continued to read DIS boards, I realised that the weekends were not the best days to visit the parks. The influx of locals combined with those on really short trips who had no choice but to visit MK on Saturdays could only mean crowds. I also gathered that although the first week of our trip should be fairly uncrowded, many New Yorkers were heading South during our second week At this point I called in some professional help in the form of a personalised Itinerary from Simon Veness and the Brit’s Guide. I had booked Discovery Cove and had bought a 14 day ultimate WDW ticket and a four park flexticket – mainly because the prices were so low. We had a car for the fortnight but we needed to know which Parks on which days.

The personalized Itinerary was so helpful. I would recommend it even if you know the parks well because it gives you a structure to work with. It worked very well indeed and we got to see and do everything we wanted to. Here it is, with where we ate included.


DATE AM PM EVENING
Friday 8th Travel Shop - Publix
Saturday 9th Seaworld (Sharks Grill) Disneyquest
Sunday 10th Animal Kingdom BBQ at Villa
Monday 11th MGM lunch ABC Commissary, Dinner Fantasmic package H&V
Tuesday 12th Epcot lunch Boulangerie France
Dinner Rose and Crown terrace
Wednesday 13th Universal Studios BBQ at Villa
Thursday 14th Magic Kingdom Lunch at Cosmic Ray’s
Dinner at Concourse Steakhouse
Friday 15th Kennedy Space Center Disneyquest
Saturday 16th Discovery Cove Cirque du Soleil
Sunday 17th Rest Perkins breakfast BBQ at Villa
Monday 18th Busch Gardens Shoneys
Tuesday 19th Islands of Adventure lunch at Mythos Medieval Times
Wednesday 20th AK, MGM and Typhoon Lagoon Disneyquest
Thursday 21st Perkins Breakfast, Blizzard Beach Outback Steakhouse
Friday 22nd Seaworld Home

I have included this with my trip reports because part of the reason I enjoyed this Holiday so much was all the options and the research and planning. I am sure I'm not alone in that!

As they say on the DIS "one holiday in Orlando is never enough" Next time will be even better.
Rosie

 

[fizz13]

Ooh a really good start! You are right in that planning is half the fun. Isn't it addictive though? Anyway, off to read the next bit, thanks for posting,
Claire

 

[MazdaUK]

Planning is so addictive here I am more than a month after we got back still spending huge lumps of time on these boards

Still, having got so much out of them in advance its only fair (I think) to give something back in terms of what worked (or didn't work) for us.

I'll be interested to see if you have the energy for Disneyquest after Kennedy - we were exhausted!

 

[carolfoy]

Its really good that you appreciated the planning you did, it just reinforces all us plan mad people that it IS worth while

 

[KayleeUK]

I like to plan too!

 

[MazdaUK]

I don't think I could do Disney without a plan! I suppose its different if you're local and can pop down for a couple of days but when you're there for 2 weeks (and its costing a lot ) you really don't want to get home and say "Oh, I wish I'd knonw I could have...."

A friend is going this weekend and has a copy of my plan whcih she has based hers on - lets hope she has a great time! How did she keep it from her kids till last weekend?

 

[wicket2005]

Lovely introduction, I like to plan too.