So They Want Us To Celebrate? WELL, OK!!! (We're Back)

[njdisneyfreak]

What a perfect theme for this upcoming trip! This will be my fifth trip with my DH to WDW, and we'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary, his birthday and my birthday. . .so if they want us to celebrate, here we go!

CAST OF CHARACTERS:
My DH and I are in our thirties and absolutely love WDW.

Our first two trips were in the summer, our last two in the winter and now, we're back for WDW in the summer again!

Here's a pic of us from December's trip:

TRIP DATES:July 24th-August 1st

PLANNING:
This is where I can get into more of the details. When we got married, it was December, so our last two trips celebrated the holidays, but also our anniversary. We've always wanted to celebrate our anniversary during the summer, by going somewhere, so with this year's Disney theme and it being our 10th anniversary, we knew it was the perfect time. Also, my DH's b-day is in May and mine is in September, so our trip will fall exactly in the middle. Perfect, since I am a teacher and we can't really go away during our b-days, as a result.

We knew before we left from our last trip that we were returning in the summer. We knew we wanted to stay at AKL, though we did get sidetracked momentarily and originally booked the GF, but AKL it is....we've wanted to stay there during our last two times at WDW. I even bought an AKL pin for my collection, before we left last time, in good faith that this would be the trip we'd make it to the AKL.

We have our trip paid for (as of this morning!!!), our flights paid for, our dog booked for the pet boarding place and our dining itinerary planned. We just need to wait till Wednesday to book our dining. So, we're in great shape!

We're super excited and with so much taken care of already, we don't know what we're going to do with ourselves as we wait out the remaining time. But, it will be so worth it.

They want us to celebrate?!? Oh, we're going to celebrate. . .Disney style!!!

Stay tuned for more fun. . .this is going to be our best trip yet!!!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Following along! We will celebrate our 10th anniversary at WDW in October.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Following along! We will celebrate our 10th anniversary at WDW in October.

Dawn! You're my first guest. Nice to have you. Doesn't 10 years fly? Our official anniversary month is December. I see you're planning a trip, too. What are your plans?

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Great start to your report. 2 birthdays and an anniversary - you guys are going to be celebrating out the wazoo! Congrats.

 

[joelp]

I'm here, too ...

My DW is giving me c**p cuz we're gong back in September (for my birthday!! ) after we just went in December ... but you're going in July!!

You'll love AKL - that's where we spent a week in December ... be sure to give yourselves "resort time" to just hang out at AKL ...

Later ...

 

[mickeystoontown]

Looking forward to reading more details! We are celebrating several things during our August, 2009 trip: 1) Our 25th wedding anniversary; 2) our son's 12th birthday; 3) our daughter is graduating her 2nd year at missionary college; and, 4) our daugther is getting to come along this year. (she's missed two years of WDW vacations).

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Great start to your report. 2 birthdays and an anniversary - you guys are going to be celebrating out the wazoo! Congrats.

Absolutely! We are so excited. We've made sure every time we've spoken with a cast member by phone that they have our celebrations listed, we picked a lot of great restaurants and we plan to really take advantage of resort time. Having never stayed at the AKL, we can't wait to explore it all.

I'm here, too ...

My DW is giving me c**p cuz we're gong back in September (for my birthday!! ) after we just went in December ... but you're going in July!!

You'll love AKL - that's where we spent a week in December ... be sure to give yourselves "resort time" to just hang out at AKL ...

Later ...

I'm sorry you're getting so much flack, but unless you're a die hard WDW fan, it's hard to understand the desire to go back so quick. Yeah, we're going in July!!! I have to work around my teaching schedule, so July it is.

We are definitely going to give ourselves plenty of resort time. Our plans are to be at the resort, minimally, most afternoons (the heat of the day). We will have some dinners there, too. Our first day, we haven't decided if we'll stay at the resort or go to MK for EMH. We'll see, but we picked the AKL to really enjoy resort time, so no worries.

Looking forward to reading more details! We are celebrating several things during our August, 2009 trip: 1) Our 25th wedding anniversary; 2) our son's 12th birthday; 3) our daughter is graduating her 2nd year at missionary college; and, 4) our daugther is getting to come along this year. (she's missed two years of WDW vacations).

Congrats on 25 years!!! That's exciting. You have more celebrations than us. That's awesome! (SIDE NOTE: Which missionary college is your daughter attending? Does she know where she'd like to go, afterwards?)

You must be having tons of fun planning for the trip with so many joining you and so much to celebrate. I can't wait to compare notes.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Congrats on 25 years!!! That's exciting. You have more celebrations than us. That's awesome! (SIDE NOTE: Which missionary college is your daughter attending? Does she know where she'd like to go, afterwards?)

You must be having tons of fun planning for the trip with so many joining you and so much to celebrate. I can't wait to compare notes.

Thanks for the congrats!

My daughter attends Mission Georgia Master's Commission. They are based in a small town, Cleveland, Georgia which is about 90 miles from Atlanta. Master's Commission limits the number of students they allow to attend. This year, it's just 15 students.

They do lots and lots of community service projects. Just some of the things they have done this year: 1) Work in a homeless shelter in Atlanta (once a month); 2) Are counselors at a camp for autistic children; 3) Lead praise and worship services in nursing homes; 4) Help run a baseball team for mentally and physically handicapped children and young adults; 5) and a whole lot more things in their town and surrounding towns. In addition to this, they travel to small and large Christian conferences where they do dramas, testify, paint and sing. And, they have online college courses.

The program is so intense that they go almost year round. They do get a one month Summer break. They don't have the traditional breaks like most colleges. We see her during their Spring Break which is just 10 days. We see her when they graduate which is a day in July and then when she comes home for her one month Summer break.

Right now, she also leads the Children's Church program at their church. The church is pretty large so it's quite a task. I don't see how she does it!

Oops, sorry to run on....can you tell I'm a proud mother?!?!

We are so excited to be planning such a great celebration at WDW!

I look forward to reading more of your report.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Thanks for the congrats!

My daughter attends Mission Georgia Master's Commission. They are based in a small town, Cleveland, Georgia which is about 90 miles from Atlanta. Master's Commission limits the number of students they allow to attend. This year, it's just 15 students.

They do lots and lots of community service projects. Just some of the things they have done this year: 1) Work in a homeless shelter in Atlanta (once a month); 2) Are counselors at a camp for autistic children; 3) Lead praise and worship services in nursing homes; 4) Help run a baseball team for mentally and physically handicapped children and young adults; 5) and a whole lot more things in their town and surrounding towns. In addition to this, they travel to small and large Christian conferences where they do dramas, testify, paint and sing. And, they have online college courses.

The program is so intense that they go almost year round. They do get a one month Summer break. They don't have the traditional breaks like most colleges. We see her during their Spring Break which is just 10 days. We see her when they graduate which is a day in July and then when she comes home for her one month Summer break.

Right now, she also leads the Children's Church program at their church. The church is pretty large so it's quite a task. I don't see how she does it!

Oops, sorry to run on....can you tell I'm a proud mother?!?!

We are so excited to be planning such a great celebration at WDW!

I look forward to reading more of your report.

I'm very familiar with Master's Commission. One of our former youth pastors was a part of that program. You have every right to be proud!

I can't wait to read more about your celebration, as well.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

I hadn't planned on getting anything new for this Disney trip, and if you've joined me on past trip reports, you know that's unusual. So, what did my sweet DH do? He ordered me this Disney tote bag:

Now, I can bring it on the trip! It just arrived this week, and I really love it. It's great, and it's large. The only thing I was surprised about was that the design is only on one side and the other side is a solid, but I guess it makes sense when the solid side is facing my body anyway.

My DH laughed when earlier this week I came across my WDW water bottle fan that I got on the last summer trip to WDW. I went and placed it with our luggage. When he asked me, "What are you doing that for?" I told him that I had forgotten I had it, and now that I found it, I didn't want to forget it on the trip. I mean it gets hot there in the summer!

The trip feels so close, yet way too far away. I can't wait for it to be time, already!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm very familiar with Master's Commission. One of our former youth pastors was a part of that program. You have every right to be proud!

I can't wait to read more about your celebration, as well.

It's always nice to hear from someone who knows what Master's Commission is all about. When I say she is in missionary college, they think she attends a regular college and that's definitely not the case. I am, indeed, a very proud Mama!

Now on to reading more of your report!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I hadn't planned on getting anything new for this Disney trip, and if you've joined me on past trip reports, you know that's unusual. So, what did my sweet DH do? He ordered me this Disney tote bag:

Now, I can bring it on the trip! It just arrived this week, and I really love it. It's great, and it's large. The only thing I was surprised about was that the design is only on one side and the other side is a solid, but I guess it makes sense when the solid side is facing my body anyway.

My DH laughed when earlier this week I came across my WDW water bottle fan that I got on the last summer trip to WDW. I went and placed it with our luggage. When he asked me, "What are you doing that for?" I told him that I had forgotten I had it, and now that I found it, I didn't want to forget it on the trip. I mean it gets hot there in the summer!

The trip feels so close, yet way too far away. I can't wait for it to be time, already!!!

LOVE THE TOTE!!!!! Where did you order it from? I would love to have one.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

From past trips, we know that itineraries have a way of changing, but this is what we have planned, so far:

Friday, July 24th
- Arrive very early to AKL
- Go to breakfast at Boma
- Relax at AKL much of the day (spend time in the pool, check out the resort, go to the gift shop, etc.)
- If we're up to it, go to Downtown
- Early dinner at Boma
- If we're up to it that night, we may go to the MK (EMH)

Saturday, July 25th
- Boma for breakfast
- HS for the morning
- If we didn't go to Downtown yet, we'd go mid-day
- Lunch will be at Wolfgang Puck Express or Mara (if we go back to the resort)
- AKL at some point in the afternoon
- Go to Epcot that night and have dinner at Le Cellier

Sunday, July 26th
- Epcot in the morning (EMH)
- Breakfast at Akershus
- Lunch at Chefs de France
- Return to AKL
- Go to MK (EMH)
- Dinner at Crystal Palace

Monday, July 27th
- HS in the morning (EMH)
- Counter Breakfast
- Epcot for lunch only: Teppan Edo
- Return to AKL
- Dinner at Jiko's

Tuesday, July 28th
- MK in the morning (EMH)
- 1900 Park Fare for breakfast
- Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table
- Return to AKL
- Dinner at Ohana
- Epcot in the evening (EMH)

Wednesday, July 29th
- AK in the morning (EMH)
- Breakfast at Tusker House
- Epcot for lunch only: Coral Reef
- Return to AKL
- Epcot in the evening
- Dinner at Chefs de France

Thursday, July 30th
- Breakfast at Boma
- MK in the morning
- Tony's Townsquare Restaurant for dinner
- Return to AKL
- 1900 Park Fare for dinner
- Epcot in the evening (EMH)

Friday, July 31st
- HS in the morning (EMH)
- Ohana for breakfast
- Epcot
- Eat lunch wherever we happen to be
- Return to AKL
- Narcoosee's for dinner
- MK for evening (EMH)

Saturday, August 1st
- Return Home

This is the tentative itinerary, as of now. We can't call in our dining ADRs till a week from tomorrow. Thankfully, that's a Saturday, so I can call them in. I don't know why, but I enjoy calling in our ADRs. My DH takes care of the package, and I always call in the dining.

If you have any suggestions for changes, please feel free to offer them. We have gone to all the above restaurants before, but we're open to ideas.

If everything goes well, we'll get the restaurants we want. But, we also want to plan to participate in some of the AKL activities. Of course, we want to enjoy the animals, especially seeing them with night vision goggles. We want to spend a lot of time at the pool. We've also read about tours of their art, a cooking, the fireside evening African storytelling and whatever else they have to offer, we'll consider.

You may have noticed that most days we'll spend the hottest portions at the resort and some evenings. This should allow us time to get the most of our resort stay, while avoiding the more miserable weather at the parks.

I can't wait!!! Did I say that yet?

Until our next update. . .

 

[njdisneyfreak]

It's always nice to hear from someone who knows what Master's Commission is all about. When I say she is in missionary college, they think she attends a regular college and that's definitely not the case. I am, indeed, a very proud Mama!

Now on to reading more of your report!

I understand completely.

LOVE THE TOTE!!!!! Where did you order it from? I would love to have one.

I ordered it from http://www.collectiblestoday.com. Just click on their Disney section. It's beautifully made. If you get it, you'll see what I mean.

 

[KathyRN137]

Hello! Fellow Jersey Girl and Disney Lover, here!

Also thrilled to say we will be at VAKL (DVC) for the first time!

I'm so looking forward to that resort, aren't you?!


Kathy

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Hello! Fellow Jersey Girl and Disney Lover, here!

Also thrilled to say we will be at VAKL (DVC) for the first time!

I'm so looking forward to that resort, aren't you?!


Kathy

Hi! Thanks for joining us. Where in NJ are you? I'm Central. That's great that you are new DVC owners and joined with VAKL!!! We really want to become DVC owners, too, but not just yet. You'll have to tell me all about it. We are hoping we can go over there, on our trip, to check it out. That's where we'd like to have our membership, too. Two trips ago, before there was much construction, we went through the DVC talk and we knew that's where we'd want to be members.

I'm absolutely looking forward to it! I love the whole feel of the place, I love the fact that there are animals right outside, I love the enthusiams of the cast members who work there, the theming is breathtaking and you really feel like you're in a separate place from the parks. Can't beat it!

 

[joelp]

From past trips, we know that itineraries have a way of changing, but this is what we have planned, so far:

New rule at WDW for 2009: no changing itineraries once they've been posted on DIS Boards ...

Friday, July 24th
- Arrive very early to AKL
- Go to breakfast at Boma
- Relax at AKL much of the day (spend time in the pool, check out the resort, go to the gift shop, etc.)
- If we're up to it, go to Downtown
- Early dinner at Boma
- If we're up to it that night, we may go to the MK (EMH)

We stayed at AKL last December - give yourselves LOTS of time to get to MK ... DTD may also be a hike ... other parks were a breeze to get to ...

Make sure to try the Palaver Stew if it's on the Boma menu at dinner ...

Saturday, July 25th
- Boma for breakfast
- HS for the morning
- If we didn't go to Downtown yet, we'd go mid-day
- Lunch will be at Wolfgang Puck Express or Mara (if we go back to the resort)
- AKL at some point in the afternoon
- Go to Epcot that night and have dinner at Le Cellier

Sunday, July 26th
- Epcot in the morning (EMH)
- Breakfast at Akershus
- Lunch at Chefs de France
- Return to AKL
- Go to MK (EMH)
- Dinner at Crystal Palace

Monday, July 27th
- HS in the morning (EMH)
- Counter Breakfast
- Epcot for lunch only: Teppan Edo
- Return to AKL
- Dinner at Jiko's

Tappan Edo is great!! (just try and keep track of how many "waiters" will take care of you ...

Tuesday, July 28th
- MK in the morning (EMH)
- 1900 Park Fare for breakfast
- Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table
- Return to AKL
- Dinner at Ohana
- Epcot in the evening (EMH)

Wednesday, July 29th
- AK in the morning (EMH)
- Breakfast at Tusker House
- Epcot for lunch only: Coral Reef
- Return to AKL
- Epcot in the evening
- Dinner at Chefs de France

Ate at Coral Reef in December, too - good (not great ...)

Thursday, July 30th
- Breakfast at Boma
- MK in the morning
- Tony's Townsquare Restaurant for dinner
- Return to AKL
- 1900 Park Fare for dinner
- Epcot in the evening (EMH)

Watch out for Anastasia and Drizilla at 1900 Park Fare!!

Friday, July 31st
- HS in the morning (EMH)
- Ohana for breakfast
- Epcot
- Eat lunch wherever we happen to be
- Return to AKL
- Narcoosee's for dinner
- MK for evening (EMH)

Saturday, August 1st
- Return Home



This is the tentative itinerary, as of now. We can't call in our dining ADRs till a week from tomorrow. Thankfully, that's a Saturday, so I can call them in. I don't know why, but I enjoy calling in our ADRs. My DH takes care of the package, and I always call in the dining.

If you have any suggestions for changes, please feel free to offer them. We have gone to all the above restaurants before, but we're open to ideas.

If everything goes well, we'll get the restaurants we want. But, we also want to plan to participate in some of the AKL activities. Of course, we want to enjoy the animals, especially seeing them with night vision goggles. We want to spend a lot of time at the pool. We've also read about tours of their art, a cooking, the fireside evening African storytelling and whatever else they have to offer, we'll consider.

You may have noticed that most days we'll spend the hottest portions at the resort and some evenings. This should allow us time to get the most of our resort stay, while avoiding the more miserable weather at the parks.

I can't wait!!! Did I say that yet?

Until our next update. . .

Looks good!! Are you doing the DxDDP?

My brother and his family just went to Blizzard Beach for the first time and LOVED it - so you may want to consider one of the water parks ...

Only one morning at AK? - I've always thought it would be cool to be there at night (considering the pictures I've seen ...)

Later ...

 

[njdisneyfreak]

New rule at WDW for 2009: no changing itineraries once they've been posted on DIS Boards ...

We stayed at AKL last December - give yourselves LOTS of time to get to MK ... DTD may also be a hike ... other parks were a breeze to get to ...

Make sure to try the Palaver Stew if it's on the Boma menu at dinner ...

Tappan Edo is great!! (just try and keep track of how many "waiters" will take care of you ...

Ate at Coral Reef in December, too - good (not great ...)

Watch out for Anastasia and Drizilla at 1900 Park Fare!!

Looks good!! Are you doing the DxDDP?

My brother and his family just went to Blizzard Beach for the first time and LOVED it - so you may want to consider one of the water parks ...

Only one morning at AK? - I've always thought it would be cool to be there at night (considering the pictures I've seen ...)

Later ...

No changing itineraries?!? It's like you've read my past TRs!!!

Thanks for the tips about travel time. We figured it would take a while to travel to the MK and DTD.

What is the Palaver Stew like? What is in it? My DH has heard it's really good, too. We're really looking forward to trying different foods, when we go.

We like Teppan Edo quite a bit. Last year was the only time we didn't go, so we're looking forward to returning.

You're right about Coral Reef. Could be better, but the food is decent and it's a great view. Every time we've gone, they have sat us near the aquarium. . .it pays to only have two of us.

I absolutely love Anastasia and Drizilla at 1900 Park Fare! They're a riot!!! I just love how all the characters interact and how they stay in character as they visit the tables. My favorite thing to do, when we've gone there for dinner, is to flatter the step-sisters. It's great! They eat it up and play right along.

We're absolutely doing the DxDDP! We loved it on our last trip. It allows us to eat at so many great places!

We're not big water park people. We're looking forward to the pool. We've done the water parks in the past, and we didn't use them much, but we might change our minds once we're there.

We think we'll end up going to the AK more often, since it's so close. We'll play that by ear.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

We've already created our packing list, and after doing our last two trips in December, it sure feels like we'll be traveling light! That's definitely a good thing. Flip flops, summer shirts and shorts take up so much less room than sweatshirts, jeans and bulky sneakers!

So, now that we've done the packing list, we so much wish we could begin packing already, but with just over three months left to go, it seems sort of silly. I mean, what would I wear during the warm days while I'm still here, right? I teach until late June, so I'm hoping to hold us off till at least early July before we begin the process of packing a little at a time.

This Saturday morning is when we get to make our ADRs!!! I can't wait. I absolutely love making the ADRs. It makes things more official. We thought our day to make them was sooner, because a CM told us the wrong date, but when my DH called and they explained when our actual 90 day mark is, it made sense. At least this way, I'll be able to make the call myself. I hope I get some pixie dust towards getting all of the ADRs we want.

We find ourselves constantly looking at pics of the AKL, going on Youtube and watching videos of different WDW rides and basically reading anything new related to Disney. We've even begun rewatching all our WDW travel channel recordings. Yup! We've got the WDW bug real bad.

What am I going to do for three months of waiting?!?

 

[joelp]

This may help:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=31353906#post31353906

What's in Palaver stew? As far as I could tell, just about everything!! Beef, pork, shrimp ... and who knows what else? (well - the chef!! ) I think I had three bowls ...

Good luck with your ADRs (I still have about 2 months to go ... )