The Birthday Princess turns 30: a pre-trip report

[CandleontheWater]

Alright, I've officially been seduced into the realm of trip reports. I've loved the voyeuristic thrill of reading other people's vacation adventures, so I figured I'd need to pony up one of my own eventually. I've seriously thought about it before, but the idea of capturing days and days of Disney adventures and simultaneously not putting my readers to sleep and managing to stick to something remotely resembling the truth was daunting. I've decided to start small, with a little (alright a REALLY BIG) long weekend trip. I figure if I can make it through this, I can eventually graduate to week long sagas. So consider this "trip report boot camp", if you will.

Since everyone seems to start out this way....

Here is the back story: This trip (Feb. 7-10) is planned to celebrate my 30th birthday. I figure if I'm going to be ruthlessly ushered into middle age, I'm going to do it in the place that makes me most feel like a kid. I have always wanted to spend a birthday at Disney, and since we are now living in Florida, it’s a whole lot more convenient. I've planned every detail of the birthday trip myself, which sounds lame, even to me, but in my defense planning is my favorite thing, and I know what I like better than anyone and... enough with the sad excuses, I'm sure some of you are crazy enough to understand

The cast of characters for this trip includes me, the birthday princess and Mark, my long suffering husband who has promised to attempt at least one surprise (as long as it doesn't interfere with my well laid plans )

We're staying at the 8-10th at Poly, which I am really excited for. I've never stayed there and I've always thought it was such a beautiful resort. I originally wanted to stay at the GF, but we were able to get a really good passholder rate at the Poly and I decided to make the change. I was initially a little disappointed, but the more I look Poly photos on the Dis, the more I think I made the right decision.

We're spending the first night of the trip at AS Movies, which we booked because we initially thought that we weren't going to be able to get down to Orlando until around midnight and we couldn't seem to justify the cost of the Poly for just a few sleeping hours. It now looks like DH is going to be able to get out of work WAYYYY early, and we probably make it to Orlando by mid afternoon. This is great because it will just give us more time to enjoy the parks.

I, like any good Disney freak, have been planning this trip for months and months. I made my dining reservations exactly six months out, and then changed them 2, 3, maybe even 4 times. We finally settled on Chef Mickey's for my birthday breakfast, Narcoossees for my birthday dinner, and 'Ohana for dinner on the 9th. I haven't eaten at Chef Mickey's since I was a kid, so I'm really excited and I've never eaten at Narcoossees. I'm hoping I'll have really good reviews for both. DH and I love Ohana, and since we're staying at the Poly, we couldn't resist having dinner there. I'm really excited for the re-introduction of the grilled shrimp and I'll dutifully report and any and all menu changes in my main trip report.

I've made a few special preparations for this trip, which include some ideas stolen (ahem borrowed) from other birthday disers! I got a "birthday princess" shirt made at Zazzle.com, with Cinderella's coach and "birthday princess" in big pink letters. I also plan on wearing the tiara I wore at my wedding (at least its getting some use) and I plan on scoring the ubiquitous birthday pin. I'm also an avid pin trader, so I've loaded up on traders from the Disney Store.

I, unlike many obsessive planners, hate to pack. I really wish that my clothes would just magically show up where ever I need them (and is that too much to ask for at a Disney resort ). I bought a new dress for my birthday dinner, and I have a host of Disney shirts that I'll wear at the parks, but other than that I probably will resist packing until Thurs morning.

Well that’s the beginning- I hope our trip goes off as planned!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Loved reading your trip report -- I totally identified with so many things that you said! Have a wonderful time! I wish I had spent my 30th birthday at Disney! You are going to have such a blast! When my best friend and her husband took their two girls down last year, I bought her a tiara to wear on her birthday there -- what other place can you get away with wearing a tiara and have it be perfectly normal? Gotta love it!

My husband and I loved the Poly, almost 13 years ago -- very romantic! Let us know what you think of Chef Mickey's -- I made our ADRs there for our first breakfast in June -- like you I made all my reservations at exactly 180 days!

Again, have a stunning time! Happy Birthday! Live it up!

 

[CandleontheWater]

Alright, I figured I'd give you all a small summation of the vauge plans I've formulated. Its very unusual for me to fly by the seat of my pants, I'm more of an OCD, laminated itinerary, complete control freak. Since we are staying at the Poly, I've decided to take a more laid back approach to this trip and just enjoy the resort and the monorail access. Believe me, this has taken a great deal of restraint, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Disney commando!

My plan is to go to DHS when we arrive at WDW. I'd love to go straight there, but DH gets all panicky if we don't check at the hotel first. Even though its MY birthday, I'll appease him, because he is no fun when he is worried they are going to give away our hotel room and we'll have to sleep in the car

At MGM, I'd like to get on TOT and RNRC (of course), and then the Beauty and the Beast show and maybe Muppets if we have time. then grab some chicken strips at Rosies to wolf down while waiting in line for Fantasmic. Since DHS closes so early (at 7:00 ), it will leave us with plenty of left over evening, to head to PI and shake our tailfeathers at 8trax, or prehaps head to the boardwalk for some Jellyrolls.

The next morning we'll have to get up early and head over to the Poly to check in, then we have a 9:30 ADR at Chef Mickeys, after which I want to head over to the MK to hit up some Fantasyland rides. For some reason there is nothing more appealing than riding Dumbo on my 30th birthday headache: take that middle age!). We'll then probably hit some favorites, Space Mountain, Pirates, CoP, Jungle Cruise... and then head back to the resort. I do want to spend some time just enjoying the ambiance, and maybe taking a dip in the pool if its not too cold. I know its Florida, but I'm a total wuss, and it would take alot to get me in the water if its below 80 degrees. Cross your fingers for warm weather

We have a 6:20 ADR at Narcoosees that we'll get all dressed up for, and hopefully we'll be able to be done with dinner with enough time to get back to the Poly to watch Wishes from the beach.

The next day we'll head over to Epcot for a while, hit up the usual suspects (Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, Malestrom) and I also want to see the China film, because in 38 trips to WDW, I still havent' managed to see it.

That evening we have a 6:00 ADR at Ohana, which will hopefully be followed by a drink and fireworks on the beach. Saturday night they will be having the pirate and princess party and I'm really excited to see the fireworks. We caught the MNSSHP fireworks from the Poly beach last fall, and I have to say that the hard tickets fireworks are even more impressive from a distance.

Sunday we'll check out and head over to AK, where we'll ride Everest, the Safari (don't make me spell it!), and our favorite Primeval Whirl. We'll probably catch a showing of Nemo the Musical and have lunch at Yak and Yeti. I figure DH will be itching to start the drive home around 3 or 4ish.

So far it all seems pretty good, but you know what they say about the best laid plans...