The NeverEnding Trip Report: 39 Parts and Counting (7/9 MK Day 2 & TL! LOTSA PICS!!)

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Hello! I'm relatively new-ish to the DIS and often frequent the dining and weddings boards! This is the very first ever trip report that I've written so I hope you'll like it!

CONTENTS: PRE-TRIP REPORT - The One Before We Went

1. The One With The Cast (This Post)
2. The One With The Loooong Itinerary (Part I)
3. The One With The Totally Excessive Planning (ADRs included)
4. The One With The Uber-Short Update
5. The One With 3 Months To Go
6. The One Where I Was Really Naughty
7. The One With All The Tickets
8. The One With The Revised Itinerary
9. The One With A Bit Of Everything
10. The One With 2 Months To Go
11. The One With The Top Things To Do
12. The One With All The DIY (Part I)
13. The One With All The DIY (Part II)
14. The One Where Els Got Excited
15. The One With All The Good News!
16. The One With All The Packing!
17. The One With Yet More DIY!
18. The One With All The Surprises

CONTENTS: TRIP REPORT! The One Where We First Went To Florida!

19. The One Where It All Began - The Day Before We Went!
20. The One Where We Finally Got To The Airport - Day 1
21. The One Where We Flew! - Day 1.2
22. The One Where We Got To Florida - Day 1.3
23. The One Where We Actually Did Something! - Day 2
24. The One Where We Did Universal, FOTL Style! - Day 3
25. The One With The Posh Hotel Room - Day 3.2
26. The One With All The Whinging (AKA Islands of Adventure) - Day 4
27. The One Where We Did I Drive - Part I - Day 5.1
28. The One Where We Did I Drive - Part II - Day 5.2
29. The One Where We Shopped! - Day 6
30. The One Where We Did Busch Gardens - Day 7
31. The One Where We Went to SeaWorld - Day 8
32. The One With All The Sharks and Hawaiians - Day 8.2
33. The One Where We Did Wet'n'Wild - Day 9
34. The One With All The Dolphins (Discovery Cove Part I) - Day 10
35. The One With All The Dolphins (Discovery Cove Part II) - Day 10.2
36. The One With More Shopping and More SeaWorld! - Day 11

37. The One Where We Went "Home" - Part I (AKA We Move To Disney!) - Day 12
38. The One Where We Went "Home" - Part II (AKA Magic Kingdom!) - Day 12.2
39. The One With All The Characters - Day 13
39.The One With The Waves (AKA Typhoon Lagoon) - Day 14

I hope you don't mind me indulging in a pre-trip report when I'm still 98 days out, but it's now double digits and I'm soooo excited , I just can't help myself Anyway, I hope you join in on our excitement - I can't believe I'm starting to write my very own, VERY FIRST trip report!

The Cast:
Me - I'm Hayley and I just turned 21 in January This will be my first trip to Florida and the USA - That's right, I have NEVER been before! I'm a law student, graduating this July. I absolutely love Eeyore, Luigi and the colour pink I'm also the planner out of the pair of us!

My DBF - Elfyn (Els) and he'll be 24 by the time we go to Florida This will be his 4th trip to Florida although the last time he went he was only about 9 and doesn't really remember much. He works as a computer technician for my university. He loves Stitch and Donald. He just turns up when he's meant to

Two things you might have noticed about me by now - I go into detail about everything and take absolutely loads of photos on holiday - so expect a lot of both in my TR

Let's get going!

This is us:

This is us on New Year's Eve

Us at my 21st birthday meal in January

We have been together 3 years now and hope to get married in Disney World someday He is the best boyfriend ever - he has let me plan this whole trip by myself and include everything I want to When we first got together I told him how much I loved Disney and how much I had wanted to go when I was younger, so we made a plan to go when I after I turned 21 (so I could have a drink in the World ) - we would celebrate my graduating and our 3 year anniversary the same way. So, I have been planning this holiday in my mind all this time! I can't believe we are finally getting there after so many years of waiting!

The Planning:

We started to discuss options for the holiday about a year ago and at first we were going to stay offsite as we weren't going to drive and we also wanted to visit Universal, SeaWorld and the other parks. But, in every brochure I looked at, I fell in love with the Disney hotels (I had originally wanted to stay in Animal Kingdom Lodge) and DBF agreed to it!

Next step, we made a list of all the things we wanted to do in Orlando - no way would we be able to do all this in 2 weeks Shall we cut a few parks out? - naaaahhh, let's just extend the trip to 3 weeks And that's what we did. We made this into a trip of a lifetime, we decided to go all out as we probably would not repeat a holiday like this one for a few years!

We decided to split the stay between International Drive and Disney to get the best of both worlds. I believe I looked at every single hotel I had found a really great deal on the Swan and Dolphin on Expedia, but if we booked it we'd have to plump for a not so great off-property hotel (something we weren't willing to compromise) and I felt like it wasn't 'Disney' enough for our first stay. Once we saw the All Star Movies we just looked at each other and nodded It was perfect for us! We weren't planning on spending an awful lot of time in the hotel and I LOVED the theming, so that was sorted!

On 21st May 2006 we booked the holiday with Virgin Holidays - that's nearly a year ago now We would be flying from Manchester in the UK on August 6th 2007 and staying in Sheraton Studio City on International Drive for 11 nights, before moving to ASMo for 10 nights and flying home on 27th August 2007.

The Waiting:

Now, I am not very patient - so when my 21st birthday rolled around in January this year, there was no doubt in my mind what I wanted to do - DISNEYLAND PARIS! I tease Els that we'll have to spend my 22nd birthday there too as it's becoming a trend (we also spent my 20th birthday in DLP and Paris). Luckily my best friends thought it was a great idea and they agreed to come

This is me on my 20th birthday (Jan 2006) in DLRP:

With 1 of my friends on my 21st (Jan 2007) in DLRP:

We really enjoyed ourselves and it really geared me and Els up for our Florida Holiday

The waiting is the hard bit - I've tried my best to make up for it by planning! I more or less have all grounds covered now, as you'll see as my pre-trippie unfolds I've tried to get all the WDW books I can and my Passporter arrived last week I've used this site and another board for sooo much planning! I basically made my ADRs on the great dining pics you guys posted up (something I hope to contribute to!) and I'm so so excited!

I hope I haven't bored you all and that you'll stick around for more!

NEXT UP: The Itinerary and our ADRs

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Hmmm it must have not been that interesting

 

[MTstitch]

Hi, I am enjoying your pre-trip report so far. Can't wait to see what you have planned! I am off to the world in 3 more days! I seemed like it took forever to get here. So if you don't see me respond to any of your report in awhile you know why

Nice to meet you by the way!

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Hello! Thank you for being my first subscriber I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I can't believe you'll be there in just 3 days! I'll be looking forward to reading your report when you get back! Nice you meet you too!

 

[MTstitch]

If you have any questions for me when I return, May 9th) I will be glad to help you out! If there is anything you would like me to check out for you while I am there please feel free to let me know and I will do my best to help.

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

If you have any questions for me when I return, May 9th) I will be glad to help you out! If there is anything you would like me to check out for you while I am there please feel free to let me know and I will do my best to help.

Thank you very much, that's very kind of you

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Right, here is our proposed itinerary We are staying from 6th August til the 27th August, 11 nights at the Sheraton Studio City on International Drive, and 10 nights at Disney's All Star Movies Resort.

Sun 5th Aug
Woohoo! Our holiday and the excitement begins! We leave North Wales packed up and ready to go sometime after lunch - either with Els' parents or my parents, and set off for Manchester Airport. We're planning on getting dinner either in a nearby pub with the Parents as we're staying in Manchester Airport Travelodge tonight - not that we'll be sleeping as you know with the title of our trip report Wave goodbye to parents and try and get some kip. We'll also try and check-in online either at the hotel or at home before we leave, and make sure we have transportation to the terminal in the morning.

Mon 6th Aug
We travel from the Travelodge to Manchester Airport and check our luggage in, making sure we get the seats I pre-booked on the VA website MONTHS ago! I remind myself not to eat the sausages at Manchester Airport as I hate them but always seem to order them. Our flight leaves Manchester at 10.25am - my first long distance flight, and first time with Virgin! We are looking forward to flying with them very much.

We arrive MCO at 2.35pm and transfer to the Sheraton. We're going to get a few snacks for the room from the 7/11 and have dinner somewhere close like IHOP.

Tues 7th Aug
Sheraton Pool & Congo River Mini Golf next door (I have never played mini golf in my life - I'm looking forward!) They also have Gators in the mini golf, so I'm looking forward to seeing them!
Hopefully in the afternoon go to Prime Outlets.
Dinner: Ponderosa (I found out a lad in my class will be at Ponderosa this date too, so I thought it would be fun to go the same time )

Wed 8th Aug
Our first taste of theme parks - Universal Studios!
We are planning on having lunch at Monster's Cafe (love the theming!) and dinner at Richter Burger. Remember to take obligatory photo in front of globe! Jaws is my DBF's favourite EVER movie, so we are both looking forward to going on that (me for the first time, him for the second)

Thurs 9th Aug
Wet'n'Wild
This is right across the road to our hotel, so we plan to take another 'easy' day today. Breakfast at Ponderosa (cannot believe the price of that breakfast buffet!)

Fri 10th Aug
Busch Gardens
I have booked us on the shuttle for 8.30am to be picked up at Universal Studios, since it's very near our hotel. We'll book a taxi from reception to get to US. I am VERY excited about this park, and cannot wait to ride SheiKra and Rhino Rally - if I do them I am happy! Els really wants to do Kumba again as that's the first rollercoaster he rode in his life. This will probably be a very tiring day and we won't have much time in the park due to the drop-off/pick-up times of the shuttle.

Sat 11th Aug
This is our International Drive day! It was meant to be 'easy' after yesterday's Busch Garden but it just sort of escalated! Another breakfast at Ponderosa and then off to Air Florida Helicopters for Tour No. 3 which goes over SW, DC, WW, IOA, US and I Drive. I'm excited as it goes over our hotel and hopefully I'll get some great pics here! We then plan on going to the Titanic Experience, something I really want to do (especially since I just finished my undergraduate thesis on Titanic & Salvage Law, which touched me a lot). We're also debating on doing Ripley's here, just for the reason we've been to the Blackpool one (in the UK). After lunch we're going to do Wonderworks which I think DBF will love, and I'd like to try and squeeze the 5pm Peabody duck march in here too if we have time. Dinner will be at CiCi's Pizza Buffet.

Sun 12th Aug
A park we're both very excited about - Islands of Adventure!
We're planning on doing Enchanted Oak for lunch and Pastamore for dinner as I just love pasta/Italian food. I cannot WAIT to ride Hulk! Els loves Marvel stuff so I think we'll love it here (I've told him everyone raves about Spiderman). We're big rollercoaster freaks.

Mon 13th Aug
Seaworld – Shamu !!
We're doing Mango Joes for lunch here - the menu sounds yum! Els is also doing his shark dive today at 2pm, he's really looking forward and a bit nervous! He loves sharks and has always wanted to dive with them - this was his birthday present from me. I have no idea what I'll do while he's doing that - shopping maybe?! I'll also take some photos of him, and get him to write up his experience for the TR after we're home. Tonight, we are also doing the Makahiki Luau at 7.15 - can't wait! This is the only dinner show we're doing. I wanted to do Dixie Stampede, but since we're not driving it wasn't an option.

Tues 14th Aug
Depending on which park we liked best out of US/IOA, this is what we're doing again today. If US, we plan on getting lunch at Mel's Drive In and then dinner at somewhere I am really excited about - Bubba Gump!! I just can't wait to go here, I love Forrest Gump!

Wed 15th Aug
REALLY looking forward to this, we are doing Discovery Cove.
This is just going to be a nice relaxing day after the week we've had! We're going to be the first ones in and the last ones out!! We've just bought an underwater digital camera to take loads of pics here - which I'll post on my TR, of course!! Dinner will be somewhere really inexpensive on I Drive as I've heard the DVD and Photos cost big $$$ here.

Thurs 16th Aug
Whatever park we didn't do out of US/IOA this is what we're doing this afternoon. If it's IOA, then we're doing Thunder Terrace Falls for lunch just for the view In the evening we're planning on doing the night shows at SeaWorld we missed due to the Makahiki Luau.

Fri 17th Aug
We might have a last farewell early breakfast at the Ponderosa today as we're leaving I Drive BUT, we're moving to DISNEY! I have booked a towncar with *********** for 10am to get to the All Stars bright and early. We probably won't get our room this early, but we're going to take a little bag so we can at least go swimming in the morning. For lunch, we are going to take our first trip to the Magic Kingdom! I am planning on Pinocchio's Village Haus - I have seen the pics of the Figaro Fries which looks GREAT, and I am one of those people who loves the IASW ride DBF hates it After a late lunch, we are going to do some of the MK rides and maybe character spotting For dinner, we have our first ADR at Cinderella's Royal Table - we get to meet Cindy! It's also EMH at MK tonight til 12am/1am so we are going to stay for that.

Sat 18th Aug
Magic Kingdom - are we mad doing it on a Saturday??! Well, hopefully we will have done a fair few rides the night before at EMH and we are planning to be there for park opening. We are going to have lunch at Pecos Bill, and have a 7.30 ADR for Whispering Canyon Cafe for dinner! I have told DBF they do GREAT tomato ketchup

Sun 19th Aug
A 'down' day today at Typhoon Lagoon. We are planning to do the slides, but also take a very easy day swimming - as we haven't many swim days planned. We'll probably have lunch at Leaning Palms and have a 6.30 ADR at Boma. We might head to the EMH park after dinner.

Mon 20th Aug
Epcot - I have to admit, DBF is dreading this! When he last went to WDW he hated Epcot as he thought it was boring and big (he was 9)! I think he'll feel differently now he's older. We're also hoping to do Leave a Legacy at some point in the day. I'm not sure where lunch will be, but I'd like it in World Showcase, somewhere like Mexico - and I am definately going to have a School Bread in Norway! We have a dinner ADR at Biergarten at 6.55pm.

Tues 21st Aug
Another 'down' day today at Blizzard Beach. This park contains the only ride I have ever seen that I am scared of - Summit Plummet We'll have lunch at Lottawatta Lodge, and go to Epcot in the evening for our Le Cellier ADR at 7pm.

Wed 22nd Aug
Disney MGM Studios today! It's also EMH PM here. I'm soooo looking forward to Tower of Terror! We have 2 ADRs today which we can't wait to do - Sci-Fi Dine In at 12.10pm and 50s PT at 6.05pm - also looking forward to seeing Fantasmic.

Thurs 23rd Aug
Today we are doing Animal Kingdom. It'll be a toss up whether we'll be running for EE or KS at rope drop! Probably Tusker House for lunch, and we have a dinner ADR at 6.30pm at 'Ohana. Hoping to catch Epcot EMH tonight too.

Fri 24th Aug
We are doing Epcot again this morning before moving to the Beach Club for lunch at Beaches and Cream for that No Way Jose! Pop back to the ASMo for a short swim and change *** we're off to the Pirate and Princess Party! Arr Matey. We have a 5.30 ADR at Tony's for dinner.

Sat 25th Aug
This is our non-park day - well, kind of. We start off with a very early ADR at Crystal Palace at 8.25am in order to get pics of an empty Main Street. I get to meet Eeyore We (reluctantly) leave MK and catch the Monorail - asking to be up front - to the Grand Floridian to explore the resort and its grounds. From there we go to DTD - it's time for Disney Quest! I think DBF will like this! Lunch will be at WP Express probably, then it's time to hit the shops! I want some Disney bits for my Mr Potato Head! We'll head back to ASMo for a nice swim and change for our 8pm ADR at Raglan Road. I want to visit the AC after dinner!

Sun 26th Aug
Back at Animal Kingdom this morning to finish off anything we missed. Lunch is likely to be at Pizzafari today before we head off to MGM in the afternoon. Kona Cafe tonight for 7.40 and hopefully catch the EMH at MK if we're not too tired!! Very Busy day, but it's our last full one.

Mon 27th Aug
Very sad today - we're going home! We'll check our luggage in at DTD, before heading to Chef Mickey's for our 9.30 breakfast - end with a bang! Off to MK after breakfast and ride our favourites, and finish with lunch at Columbia Harbour House. We get picked up at the airport and our plane leaves at 6.25pm

Tues 28th Aug
We arrive back in Manchester at 7.25am and get picked up by my parents - I already want to go back to Orlando!!

 

[happyindisney]

I am enjoying your pre trippie very much. I look forward to reading the whole thing!

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Thank you for reading and I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I am writing it!

 

[MTstitch]

Mon 20th Aug
Epcot - I have to admit, DBF is dreading this! When he last went to WDW he hated Epcot as he thought it was boring and big (he was 9)! I think he'll feel differently now he's older. We're also hoping to do Leave a Legacy at some point in the day. I'm not sure where lunch will be, but I'd like it in World Showcase, somewhere like Mexico - and I am definately going to have a School Bread in Norway! We have a dinner ADR at Biergarten at 6.55pm.

[
Wed 22nd Aug
Disney MGM Studios today! It's also EMH PM here. I'm soooo looking forward to Tower of Terror! We have 2 ADRs today which we can't wait to do - Sci-Fi Dine In at 12.10pm and 50s PT at 6.05pm - also looking forward to seeing Fantasmic.


I love Biergarten, 50's and SciFi. Hope you enjoy them!

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Thank you! I think they're the restaurants we're looking forward the most to!!

 

[pat9283]

I am tired just reading your pre-trip! You will sleep for a week after you get home, thats between doing your trip report anyway!

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

I am tired just reading your pre-trip! You will sleep for a week after you get home, thats between doing your trip report anyway!

I know! I think I will need another holiday just to recover

DCL maybe?

 

[suzimar57]

just found your pre-trip report - i'm so jealous!

3 weeks! (both universal and disney - wow!)

enjoyed reading your itinerary - looking forward to the finished report when you get back!

 

[Heluvsme]

OH MY GOSH!! 3 weeks sounds Heavenly! You certainly do have a lot planned, and it all sounds like a true dream vacation!!


Your pictures are great, and you and your BF are so cute I just want to put you two on top of a wedding cake! LOL!!

Look forward to more....can't wait to read after you get back!!

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

just found your pre-trip report - i'm so jealous!

3 weeks! (both universal and disney - wow!)

enjoyed reading your itinerary - looking forward to the finished report when you get back!

Thank you It's my first TR and my first trip to the USA so I'm very excited

OH MY GOSH!! 3 weeks sounds Heavenly! You certainly do have a lot planned, and it all sounds like a true dream vacation!!


Your pictures are great, and you and your BF are so cute I just want to put you two on top of a wedding cake! LOL!!

Look forward to more....can't wait to read after you get back!!

Thank you for subscribing!! That's such a sweet comment I'm looking forward to writing more! There's a lot more photos to come, I just get snap happy on holiday

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be more planning…

I think I am just in that planning ‘mode’ at the moment. I should explain – I’m a student in the final year of my Law degree at university. The last 3 years have been a hard slog, so planning and working on something completely different – with something to look forward to after graduation – has been a welcome change. I should also explain that I’m a stickler for details and I love to ‘go against the masses’ and find things out that wouldn’t otherwise be possible if I just booked and went. I was chatting with my DBF the other day and I told him, if it wasn’t for my excessive planning, we wouldn’t have had 10% off our holiday, we wouldn’t be getting free dining for 10 days, we wouldn’t be going to Discovery Cove, we wouldn’t have made ADRs, and so on!

On with the planning! The planning really began after we booked our vacation in May last year. At this point I was so naïve and had no idea exactly how much planning was involved in a Disney vacation – but, I was determined that this would be the best holiday ever (You’ll recognise me on Main Street dragging my poor DBF and shouting ‘you WILL have fun!’ – I’m just kidding!) so I began looking into it. At first I was incredulous as to why people wanted to book their dining reservations 180 days in advance, but I soon began to realise it was a necessity. I began to search out menus and dining photos (I just love food and a dining review will be a big part of my TR!) and thus my search brought me to the DIS. I have been soooo addicted to the Food Porn thread and even though I have now made my ADRs I still visit the board regularly. I often find myself wanting to give people advice, before I realise - I haven't actually been there

At Christmas, my DBF got me way cute Disney related gifts because I was so excited! At the moment my favourite Disney movie is Cars, so he got me a Cars DVD, a Luigi toy (Luigi is my fave character) and a framed Cars film cell.

He also got me a Mr Potato Head, so 'you don't have to put a Potato Head in your box at DTD, you can just cram it with bits' He does listen to what I say!

January this year I went absolutely mad I ordered a whole load of tickets for our holiday and that really got me in the mood - it made it seem more real somehow! I ordered 3 Park/5 Day Universal Tickets - perfect for us as you can see, we're only planning on doing 5 days (2 US, 2 IOA, 1 WW); Discovery Cove Swim Plus with SeaWorld and Busch Gardens; Makahiki Luau; and I also booked the Sharks Deep Dive as a present for my DBF's birthday (his b'day is June 26) as he absolutely LOVES sharks and this has been one of those 'things to do before you die' for him. I was planning to keep it a suprise, but I just couldn't because I wanted to see his face so badly - I told him and he loved it, he can't wait to do it! I also booked our airport hotel and got a great deal on it as it was booked so early! We haven't done this before, but live 2.5 hours from the airport and have an early 10.25am flight (we'd need to be up 4.30) so thought it would be best.

February was an even more exciting month I got to make my ADRs - I got everything I wanted, for the time I wanted it:
17/08 - CRT Dinner 7.40pm
18/08 - Whispering Canyon Cafe Dinner 7.30pm
19/08 - Boma Dinner 6.30pm
20/08 - Biergarten Dinner 6.55pm
21/08 - Le Cellier Dinner 7.00pm
22/08 - Sci Fi Dine In Lunch 12.10am; 50s Prime Time Dinner 6.05pm
23/08 - 'Ohana Dinner 6.30pm
24/08 - Beaches and Cream (around 12pm); Tony's Town Square Dinner 5.30pm
25/08 - Crystal Palace Breakfast 8.25am; Raglan Road Dinner 8pm
26/08 - Kona Cafe Dinner 7.40pm
27/08 - Chef Mickey Breakfast 9.30am

If you are there those same dates, let me know or say hi if you see us!

March was a quiet planning month, just revised a few ADRs (I had originally booked Liberty Tree Tavern instead of Whispering Canyon. But, April has been fairly busy too! Firstly, I paid off my share of the holiday and changed £350 into $700 (love that exchange rate), I then booked our Busch Gardens shuttle online and booked our Towncar from International Drive to Disney

The only things I have left to do now really is book PPP tickets for 24/08, get holiday insurance, and for DBF to pay off his share of the holiday (due by June 11) - I'm getting planning withdrawls with nothing left to do

 

[MTstitch]

Wow, you are correct, you sure have been busy!!

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

UPDATED! UPDATED!

I just ordered my PPP Tickets online for the 24th August party! I can't wait Hopefully I will have them in my hot little hands in a week or so!

 

[pierresgirl]

Hi Haley- I'll be following your report! Your plans sound so great! I always fly Virgin to the UK and used to live (well, in between boarding school) in St. David's, Wales.