Summer and Serendipity ~ July PTR ~ LINK TO TRIP REPORT!!!

[tinacaplan]

Serendipity.

A truly incredible number of events have conspired in the last six weeks to even make this trip possible. I had known that there was a dim possibility of a return trip in July. By mid-March, it appeared that a number of factors were falling into place and that a trip might be more than a dim possibility. In fact, it looked as though the trip might actually...dare I say it?...

HAPPEN?

And then on April Fool’s Day, of all days, I got my offer letter for the upcoming school year. From a financial perspective, things had come through much better than I expected, and all of a sudden.... there it was!


This trip could actually happen!

Wow....I’ve actually become one of YOU! And I truly mean that with the utmost respect and admiration.

Three trips in a year and a half. And I truly don’t think that’s too many! I am hoping that we’ll be able to again next February, but who knows? So many things can happen... We were walking through World Showcase on our February trip this past year and my husband said, “You know I like to go to the same places over and over...and now I’m comfortable here.” Well, we all know where that’s going!

Just a quick intro...the crew for our voyage...

Max, my son, who will have just turned four when we go. He Cars and is over-the-moon- excited about Cars 2, as is pretty much every boy in America between the ages of three and whatever age it is that boys stop obsessing over Pixar movies. If you asked him, he’d say his favorite thing about our last trip was this:

And, yes, I do realize that is a picture of the pool at Coronado Springs.

He also loved the Carousel of Progress (that’s how I know he really is my son), IASW, Nemo, the playgrounds at DHS and AK, FOLK, and meeting mommy’s Disfriends.

Max at the beach last summer, in what maybe my all-time favorite picture of him...so far!

Max and his mommy:

Mark, my husband, who, it was pointed out my TR, owns a number of “Charlie Sheen” shirts and many Haiwaiin shirts that are particulary perfect for Disney. In addition to teaching fourth grade at a traditional public school, he is also an amazing dad and gives me the time to go off and work twelve hours a day as a teacher and grade level chair at my school. Mark’s favorite park is EPCOT and he is a huge Star Wars fan, so he’s really excited to see the rehabbed Star Tours.

Mark and Max in a picture just so cute, I had to share it:

And there’s me! I’m thirty-five and work as a team leader at a charter school in New Haven, Connecticut which just means that I work...a LOT. But I absolutely love my job and wouldn’t trade it for anything...other than winning the lottery, mind you. In that case, I’d chuck it all and move to Florida.

I went to Disney twice when I was a kid in the Eighties. I loved it and sort of let my Disney love lapse while I was in highschool and college and into my twenties. I thought about going to Disneyworld for my honeymoon six years ago, but we had just bought a house, so we took a three day road trip to the Cape (of Cod, for you non-locals) instead. But..the seed had been planted, let’s say. When we (OK, really just me) decided that we had to take a trip for our fifth anniversary (see also: lack of week-long Honeymoon in exotic locale), we chose Disneyworld.

We had a nice time, but we had a TON of personal stress hanging over our heads the whole time we were there. That and unusually chilly temps the entire time we were there, combined to make our trip less than magical. We stayed at CSR, which we loved. However, if I had written a TR for that trip, I might have called it: “I cried in every country at World Showcase.”

Our one really big take away from the trip: I love California Grill! No...in all seriousness...it was that we had to come back with Max; the sooner, the better! Thus, our amazingly awesome February 2011 trip came to be.

You can check our my (abbreviated) TR here:

February 2011 TR

So, please join me on this exciting voyage into uncharted waters. I'm so excited for this trip! Which is in under sixty days!

Up next...more exciting details of our itinerary!

 

[dizneeat]

I am IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tinacaplan]

Thanks, Karin! You're number one...in every way!

How has your weekend been? I've been writing progress reports for all ninety of my students all weekend. Yuck. And sneaking onto the Dis every once in awhile!

 

[Kat in GA]

can't wait to read about another family as crazy as us to go in July!

 

[dizneeat]

Thanks, Karin! You're number one...in every way!

How has your weekend been? I've been writing progress reports for all ninety of my students all weekend. Yuck. And sneaking onto the Dis every once in awhile!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Love what I have been reading so far!
So, when are you going to post the juicy details ....... resort, ADR, parks?

When are you starting your summer vacation? We still have 8 weeks to go.
But there hasn't been a regular week since we returned from our February vacation - it makes me sick, NOT to be able to hold regular lessons!
Since you are progress reports it looks like you are MUCH closer to your summer vacation ......... good for you!

And since you are asked about my/our weekend, we have had a lovely time. We decided to join our catsitters for a trip to Germany (the real one! ) and visited Passau, which is only about an hour's drive from here. It has been a fun and relaxing weekend so far. Now I am doing work for school - and peeking in to the DIS now and then.
I have a LOAD of pics to post from Germany, but at the moment I need to finish school work first ...... and it is already nearly 10pm here!

 

[Disneyfreak616]

I'm in! And third!!! Not too bad! I can't wait to hear about all of your plans!

 

[All7OfUs]

Thanks for the PM!!! YAY, we're ready to go, go, go!!!! Well, that planning anyway.

 

[eandesmom]

I'm here!

 

[that's nice]

 

[gray2402]

Howdy I am in! We are heading to WDW in July too, so it's always fun to see what the other July-ers have planned!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

you started, can't wait to read all about it

 

[chunkymonkey]

I'm so excited to read about your upcoming trip! You are sooo lucky! Max must be totally off the wall excited. Haha I will be too!

 

[KatMark]

We got home late last night and I'm just now catching up on all of my subscribed threads. But I'm here now and back to read the beginning.

 

[tinacaplan]

can't wait to read about another family as crazy as us to go in July!

Crazy? July? No way!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Love what I have been reading so far!
So, when are you going to post the juicy details ....... resort, ADR, parks?

When are you starting your summer vacation? We still have 8 weeks to go.
But there hasn't been a regular week since we returned from our February vacation - it makes me sick, NOT to be able to hold regular lessons!
Since you are progress reports it looks like you are MUCH closer to your summer vacation ......... good for you!

And since you are asked about my/our weekend, we have had a lovely time. We decided to join our catsitters for a trip to Germany (the real one! ) and visited Passau, which is only about an hour's drive from here. It has been a fun and relaxing weekend so far. Now I am doing work for school - and peeking in to the DIS now and then.
I have a LOAD of pics to post from Germany, but at the moment I need to finish school work first ...... and it is already nearly 10pm here!

That has to be one of the coolest things about living in Europe; your weekend trips can go to foreign countries! I often think this is the hardest time of the year: the end is in sight, but the path just feels like its very long and up a steep hill. We're out June 24, which is what...six weeks, maybe?

The Dis is a great distraction when I'm working, especially since I'm usually using my computer if I'm working.

I'm in! And third!!! Not too bad! I can't wait to hear about all of your plans!

No, its not. I don't know that I"ve ever got in that early on anyone's thread.

Thanks for the PM!!! YAY, we're ready to go, go, go!!!! Well, that planning anyway.

You're welcome! I'm so excited and definitely want feedback from my much more experienced Dis friends.

Hi, Tim! Thanks for stopping in.

Howdy I am in! We are heading to WDW in July too, so it's always fun to see what the other July-ers have planned!

I agree! Hopefully we can share some ideas.

you started, can't wait to read all about it

Thanks!

I'm so excited to read about your upcoming trip! You are sooo lucky! Max must be totally off the wall excited. Haha I will be too!

I think I'm the MOST excited. Not suprising.

We got home late last night and I'm just now catching up on all of my subscribed threads. But I'm here now and back to read the beginning.

Hi! And congratulations...you had a very big weekend!

 

[tinacaplan]

One big difference between travelling over my February vacation and over the summer was that I had total flexibility when it came to when we’d fly. I could actually look at those fun little calendars and chase down the best deal, so that’s what largely drove my decision about when to go. It would have been fantastic to go over the fourth of July, as Max’s actual birthday is on the sixth, but that would have been a bit too expensive on the Disney-side of things. Plus, I’ve read that things calm down just a bit around the middle of July.

I also HATE flying (it makes me feel yucky...I’m not afraid of it), so direct flights are pretty important to me. I also wanted to try and fly out of our little local Connecticut airport. An early morning flight on the way there and a later flight on the way home was ideal, too.

Around mid-March, just as gas prices were starting to creep ever upward, I began to look at flights and it appeared that I’d get my best deal on Southwest . Right after April 1, when I decided we could really go for sure, I found what, I think, might be the greatest deal of all time:

6:30 a.m. direct flight from Hartford, arriving at MCO at 9:30 a.m.

8:15 p.m. direct flight from MCO to Hartford, arriving at 11:30 p.m.

All for under just under $650!

Crazy...right?

 

[tinacaplan]

Considering how quickly this trip came together, I had quite hard time deciding which resort to go with. This is why:

Then Disney released discounts on deluxe resorts. Not mods or values; just deluxes. And since the second half of July is value season at the deluxes, it seemed like staying deluxe might be a real possibility. Hmmm... I checked Disney’s website just to see what was available and what we might be able to afford. I was dumbfounded by the results. I could get AKL for the least amount of money, but Beachclub VIllas and BWI were both still in contention. Unfortunately, everything available at the Contemporary was MK view in the Tower, and just a lot more than I’m willing to pay. Ditto GF, Poly, and the Yacht Club.



I forced my husband to sit down with me and look over each of our options. We were initially drawn in by Storm-a-long Bay. I mean, who wouldn’t be? A mini water park at the resort? Yes, please. But the regular rooms weren’t available, only studio villas and I didn’t like the furnishings I was seeing for those rooms, so any resolve I had to make a strong argument in favor of BC went by the wayside.


Then we looked at BWI, but the pool just seems lacking, especially after looking at pics of SAB. Although I do think that BWI is beautiful and I’d love to stay there someday, my husband just wasn’t feeling it, especially not the pool, which was of tantamount importance since we’re going in mid-July.

Then I clicked on some pics of AKL and that was that. He said, “That’s it. That’s where we’re staying. The foot’s down,” his joke when he’s seriously made up his mind about something. This happens so rarely that when he does make a clear decision, particularly about something related to a Disney vacay, I stop and listen and willl usually go along with him.

I agreed. There is just something about staying at AKL this time that feels very right. If we could stay wherever we wanted, for the same price, I think I would pick AKL for this trip, no matter what. My first resort love was the CR. Love that monorail. Thought you must have to be wealthy and glamorous to stay at CR when we drove through it when I was a kid. I thought, I will stay there someday!

We discovered a few interesting things about Max’s current touring preferences on the last trip. One important point is that he loves the resort. I swear, all he talks about from our last trip is Coronado Springs. Its cute. But he was almost more interested in the resort than he was in the parks or the myriad character meals we dragged him to.

What does that leave me with? Well, wanting to stay in a resort that we’d want to spend a lot of time in. AKL seems like the best possible resort for that purpose, as far as I can tell. I think AKL is a truly wondrous, transformative, magical place. I made a Jiko ADR for our February trip, largely to get out there and spend some time walking around AKL before dinner.

But, as many of you know, I had quite a dilemma going for awhile there... While I absolutely, desperately wanted to stay at AKL, I was a bit nervous about two things: proximity to the parks and Max freaking out about the live animals (or just not caring). And then there was the small matter of the bedspreads. Weird, I know, but I like fluffy white bedding, not acrylic bedspreads.

See, also...the bedspreads at CSR, which more than anything else, I think made me stay there on my first adult Disney trip, back in 2010.


Mostly, I was motivated by the issue of proximity to the parks.

Thus, I kept checking out Disney’s website to see what we could get, as inventory seemed to change ever so slightly and a rooms were available with our discount code at the Beach Club. So I did some research, as any good Dis-er would, and consulted anyone who read my TR. There were a few ardent supporters of AKL, and with good reason. But I must say that the BC supporters were greater in number. I also talked it over with the other person in my life whose opinion matters mightily to me (even on Disney-related issues, which makes little to no sense, as you may recall from reading my TR)...my mom, and she cast her vote for the BC,

What do, what do???

Before I answer that...let me explain a few things:

1. EPCOT is my ABSOLUTE, without a doubt, favorite park. World Showcase might be one of my favorite places anywhere in the world and if I could, I’d build a small, yet somehow futuristic looking strucutre (a pod of some kind, perhaps?) right under the monorail in Future World and live there happily all the rest of my days. It also helps that it was probably my parents’ favorite park when we went to Disney way back in the eighties!

2. EPCOT is Mark’s favorite park. although I don’t think he feels as passionately about it as I do.

3. Max seemed like to just fine and he rode SE and Nemo more than other ride in the parks.

4. No matter what I must do...I will see Illuminations on this trip...even if I have to go alone.

However, some negatives about the BC:

1. OK, so there’s really only one...the theming! Yeah, it doesn’t do it for me. I’ve vacationed at the real New England seashore all my life, so the Disney version is just all right. I’m also not a big fan of all the turn of the last century fussiness, although BC seems a bit more casual in that regard. And keep in mind that CR is my idea of heaven.

But then again...have you either seen the pictures of Storm Along Bay or experienced it first hand??? And did I mention we’re going in July and that the pool is of particular importance.

Plus, we were lucky enough to have an epic Dismeet at Cape May this past February, and I remember looking around and thinking, hey...I like this more than I thought I would.

And then there’s that three second walk to EPCOT!! I had no idea, until we walked there in February, exactly how close it was to International Gateway. Simply amazing. Magical, you might even say.

Just to make it even more fun, I briefly considered either the Swan or Dolphin, as they offer pretty spectacular deals, but I just don’t want to give up Magical Express, which works our really well for us. Then again, if Disney really does downplay their discounts in the future, we might be staying there eventually.

So...again, that left AKL and the Beach Club.

.AKL is amazing. Special. Out of this world (or the the country, anwyay) special.

What to do??? Well, since I’ve made so many of you wait so long...

WE WENT WITH THE BEACH CLUB!!!

I don’t think many of you are surprised. The thought of staying that close to EPCOT is just too much for me to give up. Plus, SAB sounds like it will be great for Max.

Max is super excited about this:

A really big THANK YOU to everyone who helped me mull over my decision. It really does help to have a sounding board for these decisions when everyone you know in “the real world,” just thinks your crazy to even be contemplating yet another trip to Disney!

 

[KatMark]

One big difference between travelling over my February vacation and over the summer was that I had total flexibility when it came to when we’d fly. I could actually look at those fun little calendars and chase down the best deal, so that’s what largely drove my decision about when to go. It would have been fantastic to go over the fourth of July, as Max’s actual birthday is on the sixth, but that would have been a bit too expensive on the Disney-side of things. Plus, I’ve read that things calm down just a bit around the middle of July.

I also HATE flying (it makes me feel yucky...I’m not afraid of it), so direct flights are pretty important to me. I also wanted to try and fly out of our little local Connecticut airport. An early morning flight on the way there and a later flight on the way home was ideal, too.

Around mid-March, just as gas prices were starting to creep ever upward, I began to look at flights and it appeared that I’d get my best deal on Southwest . Right after April 1, when I decided we could really go for sure, I found what, I think, might be the greatest deal of all time:

6:30 a.m. direct flight from Hartford, arriving at MCO at 9:30 a.m.

8:15 p.m. direct flight from MCO to Hartford, arriving at 11:30 p.m.

All for under just under $650!

Crazy...right?

Great job on the flights, Tina.

 

[KatMark]

Tina, you'll have to let me know what you think of BC as that is the one we want to try after AKL. I think Max is going to love that pool.

 

[tinacaplan]

Great job on the flights, Tina.

Thanks, Kathy! I should check out what they'd cost now.

Tina, you'll have to let me know what you think of BC as that is the one we want to try after AKL. I think Max is going to love that pool.

I'm really excited about it. I think Max is going to love the pool! And I think I'm going to love being able to walk to EPCOT. I really want to stay at AKL, but there's always another trip. Max is finally beginning to accept that we're not going back to Coronado Springs. He refused to believe it for awhile. He cracks me up sometimes!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Hooray for Beach Club, really can not wait to see pictures from all over the resort and rooms. I'm so excited for you.