Super Bowl? What Super Bowl? We are going to Disney 1/31-2/7/09 - Updated 2/11

[SmithFamily2003]

Hello everyone!

Pre-Story:
This will be my third trip as a Disboard member, but my first pre-trip report. I am a major lurker! I love reading everyone else's trip reports, so I thought I would finally give it a try.

The last time we went to Disney was Sept. 07. The trip was great, but I thought it was a little hot for me! We have also gone in Dec., but I don't want to see Christmas decorations everytime we go, so we needed to decide on a new time. My DSis and her boyfriend went in Jan. 08 and really enjoyed it, so I thought that was a great idea. While researching the dates on Disboards, I learned to stay away from the time around the marathon and around President's Day. So I checked my work schedule and decided we would leave for Florida on Friday 1/30/09 and return home on the following Saturday 2/7/09. So I got my Magic Your Way Package booked through Jessica at The Magic For Less Travel and we were all set! Or so I thought!

I had already told my husband that I wanted to stop at a beach for a night or two on the way to Disney, so my girls could see the ocean. So I then spent a hour and a half on the internet trying to find a hotel on the beach in the Clearwater area! I couldn't figure out why everything was booked!

Well, apparently there is a Super Bowl going on the last weekend in January in Tampa! Geesh, I sure missed that one. After fretting over it, and reading everyone's opinions about the crowd levels, I decided we would just stick with our dates and hope for the best!

 

[SmithFamily2003]

Cast of Characters:

Me - My name is Holly and I am obsessed with Disney (or so my hubby says). This will be my 7th Disney World trip. I went twice when I was a kid and four times since I was married. My DH let me choose our honeymoon in 2003, and I chose Hawaii. He said that was too expensive, so I chose Disney instead and have been addicted ever since!

DH - Buddy. This will be his fifth trip. Disney World is not his first choice for a vacation, or his second, third, fourth...you get my drift. But since he loves me, he puts up with it. He would rather be hunting. I have to choose our vacations around his hunting times, which I swear is half of the year!

DD#1 - Haley (3 1/2). This will be her third trip. She has gone when she was 20 months old and then when she was a little over 2 years old. She loves everything Disney and is counting down the days until she gets to go to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

DD#2 - Abby (1 1/2). This will be her first trip. I was pregnant with her during the last trip, so I guess that doesn't count. If she sees anyone put a jacket on at our house, she immediately goes and gets her shoes. She likes to go anywhere, so I am sure she will have fun on this trip.

Here are some of our Christmas pics from Target:

Haley

Abby

 

[SmithFamily2003]

After starting to plan this trip, my DSis decided she and her DBF wanted to go again around the same time. Well, their kid free touring plan is definetly different than my two little kids touring plan! So after discussing all the details, we decided we are going at the same time but are going to have two different schedules! We will try and meet up each day, but if we don't no big deal!

We love the dining plan! DSis and DBF think it is a waste of time.

We are staying at Port Orelans Riverside. DSis and DBF are staying at Pop Century.

We are driving. DSis and DBF are flying.

We are going to the beach one day. DSis and DBF are going to Universal Studios.

I think the only thing we could agree on is that we both love to pin trade. So we will definetly be competing to see who can trade for the better pins!

DSis - Jenny - She is my twin sister and my best friend. We literally talk on the phone everyday and I don't know what I would do without her. My DH thinks we are too close, but he just doesn't understand the twin relationship.

DBF - Bob - Jenny's boyfriend. I am predicting they will become engaged in the beginning of 2009 and married by the end of the year! We will see. DBF actually pin trades whereas my DH wouldn't be caught dead with a pin.

Jenny and Bob with my girls at Christmas

 

[missj1975]

After starting to plan this trip, my DSis decided she and her DBF wanted to go again around the same time. Well, their kid free touring plan is definetly different than my two little kids touring plan! So after discussing all the details, we decided we are going at the same time but are going to have two different Schedules! We will try and meet up each day, but if we don't no big deal!

Actually Donald and I wanted to go the last week of January but my DSis pretty much threatened to not talk to me again if we didn't go the same week as her.

We love the dining plan! DSis and DBF think it is a waste of time.

Yep, what can I say, we do...unless it is free. Then of course the dining plan is perfect. We did enjoy the FREE dining plan in September but we do think it takes up way too much time which would be better spent on pin trading and riding the Haunted Mansion over and over again. So no dining plan this trip but we do have four dinner reservations. Holly thinks I'm crazy and would save tons of money on the dining plan but I disgree (on the saving money part).

We are staying at Port Orelans Riverside. DSis and DBF are staying at Pop Century.

Are you making fun of Pop Century? Because I'm pretty sure you have stayed there before. Holly forgot to mention how much she is paying for her room. I am only paying $50 a night for Pop Century (with my wonderful AP discount). This is our third time staying at Pop Century and we love it. We did consider other hotels but Pop Century keeps drawing us back. We love the over the top theming.

We are driving. DSis and DBF are flying.

Yep and I know your husband is jealous. Donald and I drove down in September and hated it. Well at least my boyfriend hated it because he did most of the driving. I actually don't mind driving but Donald vetoed that idea...especially after our gas shortage scare in Atlanta. Long story short...we waited three hours in the middle of the night for gas in an unfamiliar town...scared...upset...confused...never again.

We are going to the beach one day. DSis and DBF are going to Universal Studios.

Yeah so what...you are going to the beach but the question is...will you actually get in the water?...the freezing cold water. I will save my beach days for September...nice warm September. Plus Donald really wants to go to Universal and since he is being so sweet in letting me drag him back to Disney, I will suffer silently at Universal for one day...just one day.

I think the only thing we could agree on is that we both love to pin trade. So we will definitely be competing to see who can trade for the better pins!

Please, there is no competition. You are going to be too busy looking after two hyper girls while I fervently scan cast member's lanyards. I am sure you will con me out of some of my pins after the trip is over, like you always do. Seriously, she is pro at getting me to give her pins. And so is her three year old daughter. Everytime she looks at my pins she says something like "Aunt Jenny, I love this princess pin, can I have it?" in her cute little girl voice and I just can't say no. But really who could say no to Haley; the cutest, smartest little girl ever.

DSis - Jenny - She is my twin sister and my best friend. We literally talk on the phone everyday and I don't know what I would do without her. My DH thinks we are too close, but he just doesn't understand the twin relationship.

Yeah, Donald doesn't understand either. Holly doesn't really help when she calls three times in a row, not understanding there might be a reason why I didn't answer the phone the first time...She can be very persistent. Donald has pretty much ordered me to turn my phone off on vacation unless it is near meet up times. (Don't worry Holly, I will leave the phone on with the ringer off...text me )

DBF - Bob - Jenny's boyfriend. I am predicting they will become engaged in the beginning of 2009 and married by the end of the year! We will see. DBF actually pin trades whereas my DH wouldn't be caught dead with a pin.

Holly is confused. My DBF's name is Donald, not Bob...DONALD. (Holly...your killing me here...code names...remember code names for Donald at least. He has his quirks.) And by the way, do you have my permission to post photos of me? I don't recall signing a release form.

Jenny and Bob aka Donald with my girls at Christmas.

 

[SmithFamily2003]

Wow, my first poster! Does it count if it is my sister?

 

[missj1975]

Wow, my first poster! Does it count if it is my sister?

Of course it counts. How dare you even think I don't count?

Seriously though, are you done with my laminator yet? If not, hurry up, the clock is ticking...so much to do...so little time. I need to laminate my daily schedule...any my squished penny list...and maybe my hidden mickey list.

Are you going to post your schedule? I fine-tuned mine and we can meet up with your family Monday thru Thursday. Donald has taken over Friday so I doubt we can meet up that day. Oh and I think we leave before you do on Saturday.

It is too bad you don't have park hoppers because you could have met us at MK Sunday night. Or am I crazy going to MK the day of Super Bowl?

 

[SmithFamily2003]

Now that we had confirmed our Disney dates, we needed to decide which beach to go to. Since I decided Clearwater was not going to happen because of the Super Bowl, we needed some more options. I then decided on New Smyrna Beach, because we used to go there when I was a kid. However, DH wanted the gulf side. I then picked Panama City, but when I checked it out on the internet, it kept referring to Spring Break in Feb. I decided maybe going to an area where they were gearing up for Spring Break wasn't the best idea. Seriously, I only wanted a beach hotel for the Friday night of our drive down there, but this was giving me the biggest headache! I finally settled on St. George Island. We are staying at the Buccaneer Inn, which is right on the beach. So if anyone has been to St. George Island in Florida please feel free to share your thoughts on it!

 

[SmithFamily2003]

Hmmm...I am getting overwhelmed by all my posters! I see I have some lurkers, but no biters yet. Well, I am not going to give up yet. Maybe someone besides my sister will read this!


Now that our dates were set, we had to make up our minds about our dining. The first time we did the dining plan was in Sept. 06 when it was free. I thought it was the best think ever created! We definetly ate in resturants that we never would have had without the dining plan. I love the dining plan. I don't even mind paying for it. And I am even resigned to actually having to leave tips this time. The last time we did the dining plan in Dec. 07, the tips were still included. Oh well! I still think the dining plan is worth it for us. I love agonizing over where we are going to use our table service credits for weeks. Seriously. That is part of the fun planning a Disney World trip!

However, this time I had to deal with the headache of Disney deciding to revamp there dining reservation system. I don't remember the exact details anymore, because I try to block out bad memories. All I know is that I couldn't make my reservations at the beginning of August like normal. I had to wait until the end of Oct., then they pushed it back until Nov. However, I know I somehow got to make all my reservations in the middle of October.

If I remember correctly, I did get to make my Cinderellas Castle and BBB at the normal 180 day mark, but the rest had to wait.

So we scored a lunch reservation at the Castle on Monday after our BBB appointment for Haley. We left plenty of time after her princess makeover to run to the front of the park and get her photopass pics done and then run back to the castle for lunch. You think they could have picked a better location for the photopass pics for BBB?

The other dining reservations we have are

1900 Park Fare on Sunday night
Akershus Royal Banquet Tuesday morning
Teppan Edo Tuesday evening
Yak & Yeti Wednesday evening
Tony's Town Square Thursday evening
Ohana Friday evening
Chef Mickey's Saturday morning

We love Ohanas, so we have to eat there everytime. We play our counter service credits by ear. We don't really make plans for those, except we have to eat at Flame Tree Barbecue. That place is definetly my favorite counter service at Disney.

 

[missj1975]

Hmmm...I am getting overwhelmed by all my posters! I see I have some lurkers, but no biters yet. Well, I am not going to give up yet. Maybe someone besides my sister will read this!

Just teasing, just teasing!!! Your writing style is much better than mine. Even though I talk to you everyday, I don't know all your planning details so I am loving your report. Don't give up. I didn't have tons of posters on my September trip report but it was still fun to write. Remember we are both lurkers on the disboards so you can't cry too much.

The other dining reservations we have are

1900 Park Fare on Sunday night
Akershus Royal Banquet Tuesday morning
Teppan Edo Tuesday evening
Yak & Yeti Wednesday evening
Tony's Town Square Thursday evening
Ohana Friday evening
Chef Mickey's Saturday morning

We love Ohanas, so we have to eat there everytime. We play our counter service credits by ear. We don't really make plans for those, except we have to eat at Flame Tree Barbecue. That place is definetly my favorite counter service at Disney.[/FONT]

I have never had dinner at 1900 Park Fare, just breakfast twice. Breakfast was good but I mainly went for the character interaction.

I love, love, love Akershus Royal Banquet. I remember loving it on the trip I tagged along with you in December of 2006 so I took Donald there on our September trip. We loved it but we were a little rushed because we won special seating for Illuminations earlier that day. Unfortunately the time we had to arrive for the Illuminations seating cut into our dinner reservation time. We tried to be seated at Akershus earlier but had no luck so we ate quickly and headed to our great seats with no time to spare. The spots were awesome but in hindsight we should have just gave the passes to someone else and enjoyed our nice dinner. Donald felt bad that I missed the princesses so he is taking me to Akerhus the last Friday of our trip.

We briefly thought about joining you at Teppan Ando but the cost was just too much. We are saving all our food money to go to Victoria and Albert's Tuesday night. What can I say...this is definitely not a budget trip.

Yak & Yeti holds no interest for us. We are obsessed with Flame Tree Barbecue so we will just eat there a couple times.

We have ate at Tony's Town Square twice and loved it both times but we aren't returning this trip. We only sceduled four sit-down dinners; Ohana's, Akershus, Victoria & Albert's, and Sci-Fi. We wanted to at least try one new restaurant so Donald choose Sci-Fi. Have you ate at Sci-Fi before?

We also play our counter service by ear and only know that we are for sure eating at Flame Tree. Maybe we can eat together there on our Animal Kingdom EMH day.

 

[SmithFamily2003]

Oops! I have not posted in awhile. My pre-trip report kind of slipped my mind these last couple of weeks!

The good news is that we leave TOMORROW at 4:00 am for Florida!!!!

We are driving to St. George Island, FL tomorrow and spending Saturday at the beach. Well, it is not exactly going to be sunbathing weather, but we will at least get to see the ocean and pick up tons of shells.

And then we check into Port Orelans Riverside Saturday evening or whenever we get there!!!

I can't believe it is finally time to go to Disney!!! I am so excited. And to make it even better, I will be leaving this behind:

 

[missj1975]

Yeah. Almost time to go. At least you get to leave bright and early. I still have one more day of work to try to get through before I get to leave.

Tell Buddy to drive safetly. Have fun at the beach and I will see ya either Sunday night or Monday. Wishing you safe travels

 

[SmithFamily2003]

Good morning! We left bright and early yesterday at 5:00 am from the St. Louis area. I couldn't believe we actually left on time. We kept the girls in their pjs and moved them to the car still sleeping!

For the most part, the car trip was uneventful. I just greatly under-estimated how long it would take to get to St. George Island. I thought we would be there around 6:00 pm. I guess I didn't take into account food and bathroom breaks! We didn't arrive at our hotel until 10:00 pm, so we have not seen the ocean yet. It was dark once we reached the gulf coast. I think it would have been a pretty drive during the day.

Did you know there were bears in Florida? I didn't! We passed a bear crossing sign after Panama City when we were driving past the Air Force base.

I am up way early, because I have a major problem on vacations. I just can't seem to sleep! I have been up since 4:00 am. I gave up on sleeping and I am just trying to be quiet while waiting for the sun to rise. Hopefully, I will have some great beach pictures to add tonight. We also check into Port Orleans Riverside today. We have not decided when we are going to get there yet. We are just playing it by ear and seeing how the beach day goes!

 

[OhMari]

Hey,
I'm here.
At first I thought you lived in Atlanta GA and I thought "how did you get all that snow", then I saw you were from Missouri.

Have a great trip, and I hope it is warm today by the Gulf.

 

[momof2sons]

Hope you are having a great time. Can't wait to read more.

 

[SRICE100]

Such sweet girls! Can't wait to read more.

 

[missj1975]

Ahhh, the girls look so sweet sleeping. Can't wait to see them on Monday. We had a great time at Gatorland today. Hope the girls enjoyed the beach. Talk to you later.

 

[Disneylvr]

I'm from St. Louis and still here in the snow and it is starting to melt today.... But it will won't be as warm as Florida! Have a wonderful time and I am going to follow your report.

 

[SmithFamily2003]

I am so happy! I have some posters besides my sister!!!

Thank you Disneylvr, SRICE100, momof2sons, and OhMari. I hope you keep on reading.

I woke up way early Saturday morning, and was at the beach before it was light out. Here are a couple of pics of the sun starting to rise.

I really enjoyed the beach at St. George Island. There wasn't that many people at the beach. We didn't swim, because it was definetly to cold for that. We could have been wearing shorts, but it was a little windy. There were shells everywhere. We did get our feet wet in the ocean, and it was freezing!! The girls really enjoyed picking up the shells. DD Haley could have picked up shells all day. She wants to know when we are going to the beach again!

We left the St. George Island in the afternoon. It took us almost five hours to get to Orlando from there. I walked into Port Orleans Riverside at 8:00 pm to check-in and couldn't believe the line! I think we waited thirty minutes. I have never waited that long before to check-in at Disney. Of course, I didn't get anything I requested. They wouldn't put us in Alligator Bayou because we are not a party of five. She said they were too booked to give it to us. We were put in Parterre Place in Magnolia Bend. I wanted the first floor but no rooms were available. We were put on the second floor. She said I could probably switch to the first floor tomorrow after people check-out. I said no thank-you. There is no way I am switching rooms with all of our luggage if I don't have to. On the plus side, I did get my $200 giftcard!

After we unloaded the car, we had a late dinner at the Riverside Mill. I thought the place was packed. Our meal was OK, nothing special. When we got back to the room, there was a portable crib assembled in the room. I thought that was kind of weird, because we didn't request one. I will have to leave a note for mousekeeping to take it back tomorrow. We also have our first towel animal!

Time for me to go to bed. Tomorrow, we have a photo shoot at the Polynesian in the morning at 10:00 am and then it is our free day. We will probably go to Downtown Disney and Epcot. It just depends if there are any crowds or not because of the Super Bowl. I will try to update tomorrow night again.

 

[happymommy]

Have a great time!

You have a beautiful family, and this brings back my memories of our one drive to Disneyworld from Maryland. It was long, but so much fun (my kids were almost 5 and almost 3 at the time).

I grew up in St. Louis but live in Maryland now, so just wanted to say hi!

Have so much fun Sunday!

~ Amy

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Wow! Beautiful sunrise pics! Your daughters are adorable! I hope you have a wonderful vacation. -Kelly