Taking on A Whole New World and Getting Back to Hogwarts. May 2011

[katt789]

Hey everyone!!
I've been wanting to do a PTR/TR for ages now, and finally, our trip is booked and becoming a reality, so I figured it's time!!

3 friends and I are going down:

(I can't take credit for this one!)
Disney World May 3-9th, 2011. We're staying onsite, and will be taking 1 day off to Universal to check out:

(Again, can't take credit!)

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the main reason behind even beginning to plan the trip.

Last February, a friend, Sarah and I discovered a youtube sensation
"A Very Potter Musical":

(seriously, if you're a Potter fan, you MUST watch it! Darren Criss, from Glee is Harry in them, and they're excellent, and will probably be referenced a lot on the trip).

Sarah and I then looked up everything HP, and discovered that the park would be opening soon, and we began to plan...

Since then, the trip has changed, A LOT, days, parks, onsite vs offsite, who's coming, everything has been a gong show.

Another friend from work, VB, decided that she would come with us, and shortly after that I took off to Van for school.

Halfway through schooling I met Dionne, and we became instant Disney & HP friends, we waited 5 hours, standing, for the Deathly Hallows at midnight opcorn:, we cried, we laughed, we laughed at really innappropriate moments(thanks to the musical), and we spent an entire weekend watching Disney movies.

Just to prove how cool we are:

Around the same time, I got a messageng from Sarah, saying that she could no longer come on the trip. Reason being: she was at Zombie Survival laser tag...and got her TOOTH knocked out! and thus doesn't have the money to spare.
VB, decided that an even number would be the best, so we could split up and not be alone at the parks, so her friend Emily, who I had met at Stampede last year, decided to come as well.

Thus, the 4 of us, Me, Dionne, Emily and VB are going on a magical trip


Intro's & More to come!!:

 

[katt789]

So, onto 1 of the 5 W's, WHO. I figure I'll just put a little bit more background info about everyone and how we all met.

ME: (AKA Katt)

21 years old, Disney fanatic for life!
Growing up I was always a big fan of the animal movies (Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Winnie the Pooh), I love the princesses, but don't really like their movies haha.
My favorite characters are Stitch, Tigger, and Ariel!
I'm currently working at a dinner theatre in Calgary, and plan on getting a career in the arts/dance, and finished Film School in Vancouver in November.
I've only ever been to Disneyland, so this is my first trip to the world, and it's going to be Totally awesome!
(Also, in all of these PT pictures, you'll probably notice that my hair color changes quite a bit, but it is blonde now, and is staying that way for a while!

VB:

She'll be 20 at the time of our trip, which at first all our friends were all "Why would you go anywhere in the states if you can't drink??" (People say that resturant staff is big on drinking, and that actors are big on drinking...combine them into Dinner Theatre, and I guess they've always got booze on the brain? )
ANYWAY. We stated that we were going to Disney World, and there wouldn't be an overwhelming desire to drink well there, as we'd be getting up early and going all day.
VB's been to WDW before, when she was younger, and is excited to go. I know Stitch is one of her favorites,(thanks to her is why we've got the breakfast at Ohana!) She's gung ho about the trip, and is excited!
It's kind of funny, as when we met, we didn't like each other...at alll... Our friend Sarah (the tooth injury) was the middle ground for us, until Disney & HP brought us together I'm super glad it did, as we now hang out all the time when she's in town. She's in University right now, but luckily, will be done exams by May, over Christmas we did have time to hang out though!:

Dionne!:

She'll be 22 when we go, as stated earlier, we met at Film School over in Van. Honestly, I'm pretty sure we bonded over the fact that we were both over the age of 20. It was insane the amount of people who had just turned 18, and maturity, WOW, it was a big topic of many of our conversations.
(Obviously, we're talking about the bad kind of immaturity, not the "I'm a kid at heart and love Disney" kinda haha)

We started just hanging out in breaks and weekends, but that soon became up to attatched at the hip, we were both from the same province, and shared a Monday/Tuesday night "date" every week, because of:

Yup..that's right, DWTS, oh that Derek, so dreamy heehee

Her prince, and I believe movie, of choice is Aladdin. We spent a lot of time in Van watching all the Disney movies we could, also, all 6 HP movie marathon before going to DH at midnight. Fact: she's in love with Ron Weasley, and let's not forget both "A Very Potter Musical & Sequel" D's never been to any Disney park, so I'm super glad she ended up coming!

Next & last up: Emily!:

She'll also be 21 at the time of the trip, I totally stole this pic from her facebook, I thought it fitting because of the Minnie ears.
I don't know much about her, as she's a friend of VB's mainly (as Dionne is my friend mainly)
We met at the Stampede last summer, where we bonded over(probably too much) tequila and cowboys. Haha:

That's about it for people. I'll continue more on later, so that I'll have enough posts to fill the time between now & may!

 

[katt789]

Moving on to the other W's!

WHEN: May 3-9th 2010.
I'd been messing around with dates for a while before deciding on May, where it seemed crowds wouldn't be too bad, and the weather would be warm, but hopefully not too crazy (although, for us all being Albertan's it's probably going to be too warm all year )
Thankfully!! Em & VB will both be done with the Uni exams by the time the trip rolls around.

WHERE: Well, Walt Disney World! Obviously! Heehee
We've changed out minds on resorts SO many times. At first, it would be one of the All Stars, but when we found out VB's dad had time share points that could get us in at the Marriott World Center, we thought our minds were made up.
However, after doing some math, and talking to Marriott staff members, I realized that with shuttles, it would be too pricey and hectic to stay offsite, and as it turned out, VB's dad used the points for something else.(Which in the end, I appreciated, because I would MUCh rather stay on site) THUS (wow, longest explanation ever!) we are staying at:

POP! I knew we'd be staying at a value resort, thanks to price! And because of grad nights, and Pop having it's own bus stop, it won the choice war!

"Parks Where":
We are planning to spend 1 full day at each park (MK, AK, EP, DHS), along with 1 day at Universal's IOA, WWOHP. No one in our group is really interested in anything but HP, so we'll probably be done that park a bit early, and hit up Epcot for a head start afterwards.
As for arrival & departure days, or if we tire of a park early, we'll check out DTD/BW.

WHY: Well, mainly for the heck of it!! My birtday is late May, so maybe I'll use that excuse to buy myself a little something extra But we're really just going for a vacation, and to have some fun!!​

 

[katt789]

Well...I can see that at least some people are reading, so, whether or not it's enjoyable, I'm going to keep updating because I'm excited!!

I'll start with just some basic budgetting that we LUCKED out getting some of it.

Flights: $340.00 per person! I was seriously shocked on this one. I've been looking for flights for nearly a year now, and couldn't find anything cheaper than 550.00, so when I disovered this right after Christmas, I told everyone to get their money in, because we were booking!! We fly w/American Airlines, able to take a purse/bookbag, and a piece of luggage as carryone, 1st checked luggage is $25.00, second is $35.

Dis Tix & Hotel: 473.00 per person! This is for 5 days of park admission, and a 6 night, 7 day stay at Pop in a standard room!

WWOHP: 91.00 per person. This being the standard, 1 day, 1 park ticket at Universal

I budgetting (very iffy) some money for food (as we're not doing the dining plan, it just wouldn't be worth it in the end of us. We're all used to running on low amounts of food, and with the breakfast adr's we have planned, we'll really only need 2 meals a day!) and other expenses

Food: Approx $270 per person. Which I don't really know if it's accurate, but I got the most recent released costs of the ADR's, and added on approx's for other meals.

Shopping: Approx $300.00 per personThis one's iffy, as I planned on buying like, 3 wands at HP, and that alone would run me $90.00. I do have a limit on stuffed animals though! Only 2, Stich, and Tigger! I've got far too many already. I don't think any of us will be buying too too much stuff, but we'll see haha

Everything together works out to arond $1500.00 per person.
Which, when you look at it as a Disney trip, it's pretty awesome. It was the day that Dionne and I were looking up a trip to Vegas, for a week, with 3 of us going, and it cost $1500.00....total....
But hey! Disney's totally worth it!

Any opinions on shopping or food budgets?​

 

[katt789]

Alright, so I'm a bit of an overplanner, but with a Disney trip, that's mildly important! I know that it's very possible that once we get to the World, the plan will go from extremely detailed to: "We're going to Epcot. Future World, then World Showcase." Which is the outline step of the planning I've done!

Day 1! May 3rd!: Rise and shine! It's 4:00 am! We have to be at the airport by 5 to get on a 7:30 flight!
We'll be leaving behind Calgary:

Although...at the moment, it looks a lot more like this:

Brrr! Thank goodness for day's off and not having to leave the house!

With a brief stop in Chicago (although we'll have enough time for a decent lunch), we'll be arriving at the Orlando Airport!

Checking in at:

As we'll be getting into OL at 7pm, we don't plan on visiting the parks, just settling into the hotel, and checking out

and probably the BoardWalk if we have time.

Thanks to jet leg, and having a full, and early day ahead of us, we'll be turning in early.

(I don't know about you, but I think pictures make everything so much more exciting, so I'm going to continue to put them in!)​

 

[katt789]

Today we'll be starting off bright and early for a 8am reservation at

for a breakfast full of fun with these guys:

(Minus Rabbit of course)
I think this is going to be one of my most exciting events. Our first full day at Disney, we'll be in the Magic Kingdom (which really is the heart of Disney...at least to me) AND we'll be having breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and friends?!
Tigger's been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. I told him that in DL in '97, and this was the result:

Clearly he's kissing my head...but in my mind, it's always looked like he was eating me

Anyway. After a delicious breakfast (hopefully!) We'll be heading out around the parks mildly following the Unofficial Guides touring plans. Thus, taking us in this order:

(This one standing for Fantasyland. I'm not totally sure if we'll be riding Dumbo or not, but we'll see!)

We'll then jump back to Fantasy & Tomorrowland to finish up a couple of things, and hit up some counterservices for other meals, and obviously a Dole Whip
Any recommendations on where we can/should eat throughout the day?​

 

[katt789]

Just thought I'd take a quick break from the actual plan to say a little bit of what's going on around here!

Went to see Tangled a couple of days ago, and I must say!! It was AMAZING!! I recommend it to absolutely everyone, kids or no kids. I thought it was absolutely adorable! I definitely cried a little near the ending though what can I say? I'm a sap!

Also, a friend of mine found Disney's Apples to Apples, I have Disney Trivial Pursuit, and Harry Potter Clue, HP Scene It, along with an HP game that goes through all the 7 challenges from the first book (to get to the Philosopher's stone..and yes...it's the Philosopher's stone!). So, we're definitely planning a game night here in a couple of weeks when we have some time off from work.

As for the people actually going on the trip, I'm currently the only one in my city right now VB's in school a couple of hours away, and Dionne & Emily are both 3 hours away in the opposite direction Makes me sad that I don't really have anyone in the city to *squee* with but that is a-okay!

We plan to have a big movie night where we watch a ton of Disney movies, and (most likely) HP 6, as it's the chosen favorite for movies. Also, Dionne & I will most likely end up watching AVPM/S again, as they are brilliant

I've compiled this list of movies. Anyone think of anything else we should watch?
Aladdin
Alice &Wonderland
Beauty & the Beast
Cars
Cinderella
101 Dalmations
Dumbo
Nemo
Indiana Jones
Lilo &Stitch
Lion King
Little Mermaid
Monsters Inc
Mulan
Peter Pan
Pinocchio
Pirates 1,2, 3
Pocahontas
Robin Hood
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White
Tarzan
Toy Story 1,2, 3
Up
Winnie the Pooh

Cars is a high one on there as I actually haven't seen it!
Also...who else is excited that Lion King AND Bambi are both coming out on dvd this year!! Makes my day!!
Anyhow, that's it for now as I'm off to work. I'll probably update again on the break!

 

[duckylady]

ahaha THAT TITLE TOTALLY BROUGHT ME IN. J'adore AVPM/AVPS.

Also, what up! I'll be going with a friend to Disney/WWOHP this May too!

You're all super cute and I'm enjoying this so far. ♥

 

[katt789]

AH! That's totally awesome!! I was hoping that somewhere out there, there'd be someone who'd be all "hmm...seems like an AVPM/S reference!"
When in May are you going?

 

[katt789]

May 5th!

We start this day off (again) by getting up early for another character breakfast! This time in:

We'll head in early for an 8:30 ressie at:

for a fun time with this guy:

Seemings as we'll already be in this part of the park, we'll hang out in

before heading over to:

and then

and then finishing off the day at:

​

 

[c3h3a3r]

Hi

Please can you let me know whether you enjoyed Tusker House or Crystal house more?
Thanks.

 

[jelloarms]

Sooo lucky! Going to Disney with my friends has always been a dream of mine. I hope one day it works out that I get to do so.

I'm going to be staying at Pop too.

 

[duckylady]

AH! That's totally awesome!! I was hoping that somewhere out there, there'd be someone who'd be all "hmm...seems like an AVPM/S reference!"
When in May are you going?

We'll be going May 7th-14th. Going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter isn't a definite yet, but we're such big Harry Potter nerds that it would be criminal if we didn't go.

And omg, Tusker House! I always forget about that place. I need to add it to my ~list.

 

[katt789]

Hi

Please can you let me know whether you enjoyed Tusker House or Crystal house more?
Thanks.

Hi, sorry! I can't actually answer your question, as I haven't been yet, it's just in the plans.

From what I've heard on the boards, Crystal Palace is better for interaction, and seeing all the characters. (Donald doesn't even come inside the resturant at Tusker, and the picture costs extra), but I think I've heard that the food is better at Tusker, as they've got some other options aside from just regular, American breakfast food.

 

[katt789]

Friday May 6th!

Today, we get to get up nice and early, grab some food court breakfast, and then head out of the magical world of Disney, to head over to:

To now completely bypass that park, to head into the magical world of:

HARRY POTTER!!!
SO EXCITED!
Just to throw in some little info here, HP is such an adventure. My mom read me the Philosophers Stone when I was 9 or 10, and boy did I wait for that letter on my 11th....sadly it never came. Although my friends and I have said that it's because JK Rowlilng has now exposed the world to the magical world, and thus, they're no longer telling anyone who doesn't already know about it....yup...that cool.

Now, I'm going to throw in some pics from AVPM/S to give you guys a little preview of what it's like:

This one's a play on Mean Girls, one of my faves as well!

Anyway, back to the plan!
We're going to hit up the rides first, starting with Forbidden Journey, hopefully to bypass the long waits!

Then do some shopping!

This is where I think I'll end up spedning SO much money, I don't even know how I'm going to be able to handle it!

After we're finally done, We'll head back to Disney property, and depending on what time we get back, we'll head over to:

or if it's a little bit too late...MORE SHOPPING!! at:

Then back to the hotel for some relaxing before sleep!​

 

[katt789]

Just wanted to jump in with a quick update on life & all!!
VB & I decided in the past couple of days that we (and Sarah, who was supposed to come on the trip originally) are going to drive out to Winnipeg in 2 weeks to surprise my best friend & the rest of her cast (she's in the show in the dinner theatre out there right now) for a weekend! SO EXCITED So, we'll be interrupting this TR in a few weeks with a little Winnipeg fun!

Also, Dionne and I had a phone date last night finally got a little caught up while being in diff. cities, AND, she got a job! It's lots of exciting news up here!

I'll hopefully update on the break at work!

 

[katt789]

For our most wonderous 5th day in WDW, (Sat May 7th), we will be starting off with, yet another breakfast ADR, so bright and early, we'll be heading out to:

to trot across Future World over to Norway for a breakfast at:

I'm excited for this one, and hoping that we get some good interaction, as we're all young adult females, I know that *other* young adult females tend to roll eyes, and not get along too well, so hopefully, that won't happen, and I'm thinking it won't, thanks to pixie dust
Now, I'm most excited for my favorite princesses:

With Ariel coming in first, hands down! My only other disney vacay was to DL in 97, and they certainly didn't have any Ariel's then, so I'm praying that she'll be out and about in Norway that morning!

After breakfast we'll head out into Future World, and get a start on things! These including:

and!

Either after that, or as we trek through:

World Showcase, we'll be eating here & there, or maybe actually sit down and agree on something, but I doubt it. After a big Norway breakfast, I think we'll be snacking for the rest of the time.

Now, Epcot has Le Cellier, which I VERY much so want to try, also, specifically because one of the friends who I work with, used to work there! However, I just don't think it will fit in on this trip, One of these days!

After touring around the park, eating our way around the world, we'll stick around for:

Before heading out of the parks. Tonight is our stay up late night! As we actually get to sleep in a bit tmr thanks to no breakfast ADRS

 

[katt789]

Sunday May 8th!

Thank God for this day! FINALLY! We get to sleep in past 7am!!
However, I do have planned that we will be arriving at the park by 10:00am
So after a quick hotel room breakfast, which park will we be at you ask?
Why, it will be Disney Hollywood Studios!

Obviously, as soon as we get there we'll be slowly racing towards:

and hoping that not all the fast passes are gone for it.
After venturing through the rest of the land, and doing such things as:

Somewhere in there we'll squeeze in some lunch & dinner, pop into the Animation building to get a last bit of character mania over and then end the day off with some Fantasmic!

After which we will return to our hotel room to PACK, as we just completed our last day at WDW
(However, it appears that DHS MAY have EMH in the evening, so we may end up staying WAY later and end up riding more rides and having a really late night)

I highly predict that this is actually what our room will look like, only with 4 times the amount of stuff!

 

[katt789]

Just HAD to come on here quickly and say:
I have started to plan another trip
My mother & I are planning a "mom & me" trip in late Aug/early Sept 2012 to celebrate our awesome-ness & her bday.
I'm super excited as it will be more of a relaxing, park hoping, moderate resort party time!

 

[disbugsmomma]

It sounds like you have a great trip planned. I'll be there for the first two weeks of May and will hopefully be going to WWOHP one day as well. Woo Hoo! Only a few months to go!