Starting the New Year off right..at WDW! January 2015 TR Link 1/14!

[Leshaface]

New Year’s Trip!

I think the perfect way to ring in the New Year is with a trip to Walt Disney World, don’t you?

Welcome to my Pre-TR! This is where I’ll be sharing my crazy planning information as the trip comes closer. Any suggestions to my plan are welcome please! I’ve found with the implementation of the new FP+ system, you really have no choice but to plan in detail what you’re doing day by day. It seems neurotic to have to plan every hour, but during the planning process, it’s fun to see what we could be doing.

Introductions!

I’m Leshaface! Or you can call me Lesha, Leesh, or by my actual name, Alicia. In the picture with me is my DH



(yes we’re SF Giants fans. If you’re not fans, I feel bad for you. Come! Join the Orange and Black side. We have garlic fries!)

Just like all of you, a major Disney fanatic. My love for all things Disney came naturally. Well, my parents had a major impact on that, taking me to Disneyland when I was 2 (1986!) Found the boards in 2008 and have felt right at home discussing trips, restaurants, plans, with other DISer’s and have made good friends here. My favorite Disney things:

Collecting Disney Villages by Dept 56
Nightmare Before Christmas
Hoarding tons of Disney shirts
Reading books about Disney – parks and Walt himself
Listening to MouseWorldRadio all day on Live365
Cooking/baking Disney recipes throughout the year to get my fix

And DH



He became a Disney fan through me. Definitely a ‘love’ he has had to learn. I use ‘love’ loosely, as I know he enjoys it a lot, but he’d probably never say that he loves it. But he does love Goofy, that’s for sure. With that said, he ‘loves’ Walt Disney World and hates Disneyland. Although, the last two trips to Disneyland (anniversary trip in July and DS’s 2nd birthday in October) he really enjoyed. In fact, I would say he ‘loved’ it! His strong dislike was mainly my fault. You see, we lived in Long Beach, only 20 minutes away from Disneyland, and I had no friends at this point (wish I had known about the boards back in 2006/2007) so he would accompany me once a week. Yes. Once a week. I think he got over that quick. Here are some pictures in our early years at DLR and WDW









(yes, I had blonde hair. Peer pressure from friends and family saying it looked good. Cleary...it’s awful.)



But now that trips to Disneyland aren’t as often, he’s learning to love it again. Now even moreso since DS has been born. Which leads me to..

DS!



This is our happy, funny, crazy 2 year old boy. He loves Mickey Mouse and absolutely adores Sulley from Monsters Inc. I’d say he’s a pro at hitting the parks. Since he’s been born, he’s been to Disneyland 3 times and Disney World twice. Here are some pictures from a few of those vacations:

Disneyland at 6 weeks -









Loved IASW



Walt Disney World at 2 months:















Disney World at 1 year:





And here’s a recent photo of our little family



Also joining along, is my DM




She’s one of the reasons I love Disney so much. She feeds my Disney addiction and I’m fine with it! DM went to WDW for the first time in 2012 (somewhat overcoming her fear of flying!) and this will be her 3rd trip to the World. She’s still dreading the flight, but will have fun once she lands in Orlando.

Now that we all know each other here, let's get on to the Plans!

 

[Leshaface]

Saving for Links!




Plans
To-Do Lists
To-Do List Completed!

 

[franandaj]

Ooooh! Am I first?

 

[Dream426]

Yay!! Looking forward to it. Just to comment from previous thread glad CT came back normal. I am sure that is a huge relief for you.

 

[desheag]

Joining in!! You have a precious family!! Can't wait to read about your plans and your trip!

 

[Leshaface]

This happened this morning!

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And then I realized, I should probably post my PTR



How this trip came about: Well, WDW has to happen once a year. One, because we want to. Duh. And two, because we have to We became DVC members in March 2012 and have stayed on points twice at WDW and once at DLR and absolutely love it!

When we got back from our last trip in October 2013, I pretty much immediately started planning and researching for our next trip. I couldn’t narrow down official dates until we received DH’s work schedule. DH is a teacher and although his Summer vacations are short, he gets a week off in October and a full month off for Christmas break. Usually his Christmas break starts early, around the end of the first week in December and they go back early in January. However, in 2013 they changed up the schedule and now vacation starts mid to late December and don’t go back until mid January.

Since the Peak Season at WDW begins December 15 (and his vacation begins December 15), we knew there was no way we were doing that. January was looking good. So our official dates are

Monday, January 1 – Friday, January 9, 2015

In the original planning of this trip, our party consisted of: Me, DH, DS, DM, DH’s Mom and Dad and his sister.

His parents and sister were only going to be able to make it for a portion of the trip, so we played around with the dates that they would be able to go and right at 11 months out, I booked a 2 bedroom at the AKV Kidani. The rest of the trip, I was going to book at either BLT or VGF depending on availability. Well, one month after I booked this, his parents decided it wouldn’t be wise to go, so I immediately cancelled that booking and replaced it with a 1 bedroom at Kidani, no problem. It was a bummer, we really did want them to go so they could understand the hype but it just wasn’t the best timing for them

Right at the 7 month mark, I booked the rest of our trip. Now we are not like most people that like to stay in one hotel during vacation. We are big resort hoppers! Discovering new resorts is all part of the vacation for us. So our resort plan looked like this:

Check in to BLT for 2 nights, VGF 3 nights, AKV-K 2 nights, all 1 bedroom villas.

Lots of hopping, BUT one of the reasons we did this was because there was 3 nights together at VGF and we knew we had to snatch those dates immediately and would work around that. DH absolutely loved BLT and they had the first few nights of our trip available (which is crazy BTW! New Year and both BLT and VGF had availability?! How does that even happen?) And the last few nights just had to be at AKV. I just love that place and it definitely feels like home to me.

A few days go by, letting the schedule really sink in and I asked DH about the perhaps putting in a waitlist for VGF for the entire trip. Side Note: We’ve NEVER had a waitlist go through for us. Ever. So we knew there was a 0% chance of getting our waitlist but I did anyway.

Months later, August 23rd to be exact, I got this email:

We can’t wait to welcome you home at WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort!

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WOAH! We got one waitlist! Now we’d be staying 5 nights at VGF in a one bedroom with 2 nights at AKV!

I told DH who was amazed (and sad that BLT wasn’t happening this trip) that one of the waitlists came through. After a while though, he was actually really excited about the thought of staying at VGF and knowing how new and nice it was. DM was over the moon excited! She loved the look and feel of the GF when we went to visit one day so to be staying here was just awesome!


One month later on September 25th, I got another email:

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ALL 7 NIGHTS AT VGF!!!! No unpacking and packing a few times, no checking in and getting new KTTW cards, NOTHING! We get to unpack and stay there for the entire trip!!! Even to this day, I still don’t know how this happened. And to get a One bedroom! Oh my goodness. PUMPED!

Okay that was a lot of talk. Let’s just get right into our daily plans:


Thursday, January 1, 2015 - Changing things up this year with our flights. We usually stay the night at an LAX hotel and take an early flight out the next morning. This time we’ll be having a later afternoon flight on January 1st (yep, New Years Day! No heavy drinking the night before Dangit! That means no more welcoming the New Year with my face in the toilet Anyone ever fly out on New Years day? Is it crazy at the airports?)and when we arrive in Orlando around 10:45pm, we’ll be staying the night at the Hyatt Regency located inside the airport, so we’ll be grabbing our luggage and walking right over to the lobby to stay for one night.

Friday, January 2, 2015 – I’ll be arranging transportation via the DME to take us over to the VGF to check in that morning, and the rest of the day will be spent at DTD, since we only ever spend a few hours there during our past trips. Now we’ll have an entire day, having dinner at Raglan Road that night at 6pm. At some point, not sure when, i'll have the groceries delivered. Alison, you recommended WeGoShop? How will this work if we're checking into the VGF and taking off to DTD after checking in? I'm almost positive our room will not be ready early in the morning, so can it be delivered without us being there? Help!

Saturday, January 3, 2015 - (I’m using EasyWDW for park planning since I’ve had great success in the past with his plans) Animal Kingdom Park! Since DS and DM has been going with us, this is the 3rd trip starting our vacation off at AK. Guess it’s a tradition now!

Tusker House Breakfast ADR @ 8:45 am
FP + - K.S. @ 9:50am – 10:50am
FP+ - E.E. @ 11:55 am – 12:55pm
FP+ - Dinosaur @ 1:35pm – 2:35pm

Sunday, January 4, 2015 – DHS
FP+ - Star Tours @ 10:55am – 11:55am
FP+ - RnR @ 12:45pm – 1:45pm
FP+ - ToT @ 1:55pm – 2:55pm
Sci-Fi Dinner @ 6:00pm

Monday, January 5, 2015 – Epcot
FP+ - Character Spot – 10:30am – 11:30am
Marrakesh Lunch @ 11:30am
FP+ - Seas w/Nemo @ 11:55am – 12:55pm
FP+ - TT @ 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Yachtsman Steakhouse @ 6:15pm

Tuesday, January 6, 2015 – MK
FP+ - BTMRR @ 10:40am – 11:40am
FP+ - Peter Pan @ 12:25pm – 1:25pm
FP+ - 7DMT @ 1:40pm – 2:40pm
BOG Dinner @ 5:15pm

Wednesday, January 7, 2015 – Epcot
FP+ - S.E. @ 10:40 – 11:40am
FP+ - Character Spot @ 12pm – 1pm
FP+ - T.T. @ 1:20pm – 2:20pm
Via Napoli Dinner@ 6:20 pm

Thursday, January 8, 2015 – MK

FP+ - 7DMT @ 9:25am – 10:25am
FP+ - Speedway @ 10:40am – 11:40am
FP+ - Space Mtn @ 11:55am – 12:55pm
Citricos Dinner @ 6:20pm

Friday, January 9, 2015

Flight out of MCO at 1:15pm


I know some people like using actual spreadsheets for planning, but for me, I like physically writing it down so that I'm able to show DM and DH quickly without having to take out my computer. It's easy to access this way. Also, if DH has any suggestions or changes, he can write it down.

Here was my first draft months and months ago when I still had BLT and AKV down and I had us flying into MCO on the 2nd. The numbers circled in the corners is the 'Crowd' number Josh uses from 1-10 of how busy it's been historically. Then you'll see the order of parks he recommends visiting with the park you should avoid behind the bold line. (Photobucket won't let me save the rotated photo for some reason, sorry.)

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This is the new schedule that I made 2 weeks ago. Then DH got a hold of my schedule (on his own, mind you!) and went through adding suggestions in Pencil

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You can't really see what he suggests, but he's wanting me to try and make a Kona Cafe dinner for Saturday since we'll be at AK that day and usually bounce early from that park. He also wants to cancel Marrakesh so that we can do lunch at Tutto Gusto. And he wants me to add Nine Dragons for lunch on Wednesday, since we get a 20% discount at lunch with our DVC membership.


Up Next: Two To-Do Lists

 

[dizneeat]

I do NOT want to miss this!

And now, after saving my space I am going back to read.

 

[afwdwfan]

Wow. I think I've read 3 or 4 of your TR's now and I've never seen your blonde phase... I'm glad you cleared that up, because I wondered who that was with your DH in those pictures.

And then I realized, I should probably post my PTR

... and charge your phone.

Since the Peak Season at WDW begins December 15 (and his vacation begins December 15), we knew there was no way we were doing that.

I'll be sure to let you know how not crowded it is that week.

I know some people like using actual spreadsheets for planning, but for me, I like physically writing it down so that I'm able to show DM and DH quickly without having to take out my computer.

My favorite thing about spreadsheets is that there's this little button that says "print"

Plans look good so far. Should be a fun trip! Congratulations on getting your waitlist!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

joining! Sounds like a fund trip and congrats on getting the VGF fro the entire week!

Love seeing your older pictures ... you look the exact same! Well, except for that stretch with the blond hair. I'll just say that I like the dark hair

Your plans sound good! Looks like you got some good ADRs/FP+! I like that you have a tradition starting of going to AK first day

 

[Dream426]

The Grand Floridian!!! My favorite and home away from home. I can't wait to see your pictures of the villas. My sister in law stayed in them and loved them.

Just to add when we went a couple months ago I ordered groceries from Garden Grocers and Strollers and grocers. You just put in where you are staying and what time you want delivery. They left it at the front desk for us and I asked to bring it up to our room. Not sure if it is the same with the villas.

 

[Dugette]

I'm here and glad to see this started! I was actually thinking of you today and wondering if everything was okay, since I hadn't seen you around here. Glad the test results were okay and hope you keep feeling better.

Yay for getting the Grand Floridian one-bedroom the whole stay! Also gives me hope to see that your wait lists came through - we are planning to rent DVC points for our May trip (from same person we did for Aulani) and due to late decision-making on our part we have two wait lists going. We'll see what happens.

I'm excited to see your trip come together here - it's so close already!

 

[eandesmom]

Marking my spot and will be back to comment!!!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Marking my place in this line too. Will be back to read!

 

[MEK]

Oh wow - seriously - 7 nights at VGF in a one bedroom!!!!!! OMG! pixie dustixiedustixiedust:

You are going to LOVE it! It is seriously SO beautiful there. We absolutely loved it and we only stayed in a studio. Denny LOVED it and he is usually very neutral about stuff. I can only imagine how great it would be to stay in a 1BR.

Your plans look lovely.

Cynthia has done a grocery order for us on our girls trips. I don't know who she uses, but I know you can just have it delivered on your arrival day. They will refrigerate whatever needs to be and deliver it to you once you get in your room. No worries.

I really enjoyed all your pictures. Calvin is just too cute - now and when he was a baby.

I had no idea you decided to be a blonde for awhile. Glad you decided to stick with your gorgeous dark hair.

I have never flown on NYD. I did go to Disney on January 2 or 3rd one year. I enjoyed it as the crowds cleared out and the weather turned out to be lovely.

 

[dvc4life]

Love your reports Alicia. Can't wait for this trip!!!! And staying at the VGF. Woo Hoo!!

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm here! Can't wait to read all about this trip



ETA: went back to read, how awesome is it that you got VGF for all 7 nights!!!!!


I flew on New Years and can't remember it being busy but that was years ago.

We'll have to coordinate Wednesday, unless you just want me to text when I get there. I'm excited to be seeing you guys again

 

[ursalita]

Joining! Can't wait to hear about the VGF!

 

[franandaj]

How great that you got the VGF without having to switch! I don't mind resort hopping, kind of like it, but our last trip we had a full week at the VGF and it was great.

With WeGoShop you only have to be there if they are bringing you alcohol. I like them because you can tell them brands and sizes, with Garden Grocer they make you pick from what is on their website. Plus when they forgot my head of lettuce they didnt fix it. WGS made a mistake and bought reg Dr. Pepper instead of diet, they fixed it the next day.

Looks like your FP+ and ADRs are all in order, you'll have a great trip! I love staying at the VGF! We plan to try for staying there in 2016 for SWW.

 

[desheag]

I am soooo jealous that you're staying at VGF!!!! Love all your plans so far!!

 

[disneybarbie]

joining in! Loved seeing the pictures of past trips... and a whole week at Grand Floridian.. wow!

Emma x