The WDW Girly Tour -3 SLEEPS TO GO!!(update 8/20,#97)

[fizz13]

Hi there Claire -- I linked over from your message from my post... Nice to meet you over here! Your kids and pictures are wonderful!

Hi kim, thanks for your comments and for stopping by, glad you liked it

what do you do to prepare? I would love to go to England...there was a movie with Cameron Diaz about someone from CA and someone from England doing a house swap, really cute chick flick movie. I recommend. I can't remember the name though...enough!

hi to you too, i love that film, its called "The Holiday" and i bought it on DVD as soon as it came out. So romanticisised version of England but thats ok, wouldn't we all like to meet Jude Law
I don't really do anything to prepare, i think its easier to go to USA than when i come back. ther is a 5 hour difference so here in uk is is 12:54 lunchtime but in US its 7:54 am, all I do is stay up when i get there till about 10pm your time and then its not too bad. i might wake up every hour from 4am onwards, but at least I'm wide awake for my first disney day rope-drop

I personally would be looking at cheaper, but moderate hotel. Especially when BW etc are so much money.

Have you thought about San Angel?

Hi michelle, I do keep umming and arring about the hotel, but if AP discounts come out, then i could get $600 off the total rate, so then its not so bad after all......who am I trying to kid? I know that AKL has no savannah rooms left for our dates, but WL has some good views still available. Will keep you posted.
Food: I have thought about San Angel a lot because Mexican is my favourite food, Carly is not mad keen on spicy food though. Will maybe call disney dining to check on ADR availability later.

Thanks to anyone reading xx

 

[angel659]

Hi michelle, I do keep umming and arring about the hotel, but if AP discounts come out, then i could get $600 off the total rate, so then its not so bad after all......who am I trying to kid? I know that AKL has no savannah rooms left for our dates, but WL has some good views still available. Will keep you posted.
Food: I have thought about San Angel a lot because Mexican is my favourite food, Carly is not mad keen on spicy food though. Will maybe call disney dining to check on ADR availability later.

Thanks to anyone reading xx

Savannah room would of been great. Pity they dont have any left. I think Bruce would hate me LOL. He really wants to stay there, but there rooms are not big enough for my tribe. Fingers crossed they will release some AP rates. Did you go to Cornonado Springs? Bruce likes this one, but we cant fit in thier either.

Mexican is one of my fav food. I really dont mind where we go. I am not keen on sushi or any seafood though.

 

[angel659]

I know this hotel isnt the best out of the luxury hotels, but dont they release annual pass rates for the Contemporary Hotel? I remember there used to always be deals on them.

 

[fizz13]

Hi everybody, there a few developments that i want to share with you

Firstly accomodation. So i priced up several options and relooked at my budget, and while i could have pushed myself to Boardwalk, what is the point if I'm gonna worry about money for the rest of the trip? So i came out with 2 options: Animal kingdom Lodge or Port Orleans French Quarter. Why AKL over WL? I've been doing some reading over on the Resorts board and it would seem that WL is prone to sharing its busses with Ft Wilderness, that place is huge! My other problem was for a good view the prices get close to Boardwalk. AKL was a better choice, it only has direct bus routes, the pool view was a very reasonable rate, and the theming is wonderful. Of course I have booked this based on AP rates becoming available for this resort on my dates, if its no dice then POFQ here we come.
Right now I'm doing a little I think AKL will be a nice fit for our girly tour, cocktails by the pool can't be bad!

Next: park tickets. We ordered carly her 7 day premium pass today for £144, this works out to around $273.60 with the current exchange rate so i jumped on it. Sorry my US friends, hope that last bit wasn't too painful

Finally ADRs, So i played with them like you do, had a nice chat with disney dining and this is my new list. I had to play around with times as the other ones just weren't making me feel comfortable with my master plan....what master plan you ask?.....oh my little itinerary thingie that I've been working on for.....3 MONTHS!! Would you like me to share? No? Why not? You know I'm gonna write it out anyway.

Are we ready? Are we comfortable? here we go:

8/23: land 2:55pm MCO, so get to AKL around 4:30pm. Off to MK for the night. Spectro is at 9pm, Wishes at 10pm.
ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern 7pm.

8/24 : Breakfast at Boma 7:30am. head to Animal Kingdom, parade is at 4pm, then back to AKL, head out to Pleasure island for the night.
Raglan Road at 8pm

8/25: Epcot Future World morning.
MGM, Fantasmic dinner package at Mama Melrose 5:30pm, fantasmic at 8:30pm

8/26: Magic Kingdom day. crystal palace at 8am. Parade at 3pm, dinner at Artist Point 6:45pm, then back to MK
for EMH

8/27: relax all morning, maybe a water park, maybe slob out by the pool. head to World Showcase in the afternoon and enjoy. dinner at san Angel Inn 7;15pm, see Illuminations at 9pm.

8/28: MGM day, lunch at 50s Prime Time with some friends 11:40am, parade at 3pm.
Dinner at Kona cafe at 5:20pm, before Pirate and Princess Party tonight

8/29: check out day. Some last Epcot time.Have ADR at Akershaus Princess lunch at 11:55am, and pick up to the airport will be around 3pm.

So there you have it, i have tried to give us enough time in each park and to vary our ADRs so we have some grown up stuff as well as fun stuff. the problem is this is the itinerary from commando hell, its August, and i don't know if we're gonna manage it. I really hope we can get ther for rope drop before it gets too hot, do what we need to do and get out by lunch, but the best laid plans and all that. The other problem, although its not really a problem, is parades. they ar right in the middle of the afternoon when it is at its hottest, so we may have to pick instead of doing all 3. carly is a huge parade fan so I'll let her decide.
i think 6 nights 7 days was always going to be a squeeze to show a newbie the best bits, and we haven't even touched on shopping time, pool chillin time, maybe mini-golf, watersports, i think you would need 2 weeks to get the balance of go go go and relaxation.

Anyway, ther it is for you to peruse, feel free to comment, you may come up with something genius i hadn't thought of and we'll speak soon xxx

 

[angel659]

Wow its all changed again

Sounds great though. Loving San Angel. Mexican is one of my my fav foods. Sounds like we will be eating well. I have to say Mama Melrose sounds better than Prime Time. Last time we went to Prime Time we were dissapointed. Really looking forward to Ragland Road after hearing about the dis meet last year.

Fingers crossed x they will release some prices for ap holders for AKL. You have given Bruce some thought now for our Nov holiday as well. He wants me to buy an AP just in case he can upgrade to AKL. Apparently the club room can fit us in, due to Callum and Ethan being 3. He is jelous at the mo. Bless him.

Well an update from me.

After much talking with my dh Bruce persuaded me to downgrade from PE to economy both ways. But hey not all bad. I am flying from Gatwick with VA and will see Bruce and kids before I fly. Also it allows easier access for Bruce to pick me up from Gatwick. I also land 30 mins after Claire and Carly so we all can share the car to AKL. All I want to know is what am I going to do on the plane with no one to talk to, considering I never ever stop talking. Well I will just have to sit there relax, drink etc. Good luck Claire and immigration if I get off the plane drunk. Better hold myself back in case they dont let me in. I will have one or two vodkas. I promise

 

[fizz13]

I found my trippie on page 2 today which means I have been slacking, and as i have somehow managed to wipe the link out from my siggie no one has been able to randomly find it, so thought it was time to pull my finger out and give you that October report I promised.

The dates were 21st to 29th October, and it was booked about 13 months before, which meant I had lots of time to plan and re-plan It started out innocently enough, it was to be my first big girl solo trip to the "world", i was feeling confident and ready to go. Then I started to get cold feet about the whole thing. I had booked for half term holidays in England so that meant my children were out of school. My first brainwave was to bring my DD7 with me, she was quite a mature little girl (7 going on 16 actually) and i thought we would have a wonderful time together, she is all about fine dining and thrill rides, we are a good match. the booking was now for 2.

Fast forward to Xmas 2005, and we had a party at our house. i like to try and do open house the week between Xmas and new years. A lot of people take that week off and its good to catch up. DD's best friend from school came over with her mom, who is raising molly on her own. She was always fascinated by my WDW fascination and i mentioned that i was taking the trip with Cara. She hinted that it had always been an ambition of hers to take Molly to WDW but didn't feel confident to do it alone. we signed them up. cast count is now 4.

Fast forward to may 2006 and DS5, dean, is feeling a bit put out. he loves loves WDW and completely gets the magic. he adore all the characters, rides, and he did not want to miss out. I did my calculations and figured I would just about have enough money to make it work. cara was compensated with the fact the her best friend was coming so she really couldn't complain too much. cast count is now 5

Finallt, fast forward to late may 2006 and my grandfather is feeling put out. Apparently he would like to see his great grandchildren enjoying the mouse and as its not really a girls holiday with dean coming, he would like to come too. i was very apprehensive about including him, as he is a lot slower than he used to be, has no patience for anything and has a way of undermining me with the children. Of course i relented as if anybody desreves to come with me it is him. he is the one who took me to WDW first, he is the one that has always understood my addiction, he is the one who has been supportive my whole life without questioning and criticising, he is just too important to my life to turn him down. Of course he is coming. cast count 6

So there you have it, not exactly a solo trip huh? we had the dates, the hotel was set to Coronado springs, 3 seperate rooms so plenty of space for all, I bought all our park tickets and MNSSHP tickets and we were set.

 

[DisneyJo]

From 1 to 6 I'm glad you're doing this as you stayed where we're staying

 

[angel659]

Sounds great Claire. I think the same happened didnt it with Aug trip. A solo trip ended up with Carly and me Cant wait to hear about your plans for Dec 07 as well.

 

[fizz13]

I'm glad you're doing this as you stayed where we're staying

Hi Jo, I have a few piccies of CSR to post so hopefully these will help, I will try and give an honest opinion

Sounds great Claire. I think the same happened didnt it with Aug trip. A solo trip ended up with Carly and me Cant wait to hear about your plans for Dec 07 as well.
Today 03:41 PM

i think WDW is best when you have people to share those moments with, I'm sure I'd have a great time solo but I am so happy to be doing this with you and Carly. I do need to start making notes for a Dec trippie, i have plenty to post already

 

[angel659]

i think WDW is best when you have people to share those moments with, I'm sure I'd have a great time solo but I am so happy to be doing this with you and Carly. I do need to start making notes for a Dec trippie, i have plenty to post already

I think the ability to chat to someone about your experiences makes it. When I went with Casey on my own in 04. We experienced Fantasmic together. Although Casey is cute, she was only 4 so we couldnt really have the conversation I wanted. When we went in 05 I was over the moon about this show and was more excited than Bruce. It was great to chat to him about the show afterwards.

 

[tony64]

Hi Claire

Just found you and had a quick skim through

Are you meeting up with Joh, Kev, Matt, Etc. ?

Have a great trip,

 

[fizz13]

Hi Tony,
There are no plans to meet up as yet, although we are in Epcot World Showcase the same day so i wouldn't be suprised if we stumble across each other over drinks Thanks for stopping by,

 

[fizz13]

right i've put it off long enough, here is your mini-trip report of Oct 2006, we were a cast of 6, staying at Coronado Springs for 8 nights. The simplest way for me to do this is to break this down into mini headings as there is no way I will remember all the details of we did this, then we went there etc but I'll give you a simple overview to get the idea

TRANSPORT AND TRAVEL

So we flew direct with Virgin Atlantic, no delays thank goodness, really enjoyed catching up on my movies although I'm another person who tortures themselves with the little plane travelling at 0 miles per hour screen, the one where you track progress, aahhh why do i do it? Meanwhile grandad was enjoying his business class seat at the front It seemed like a long flight, although Dean didn't seem too bored

their first real ride of the trip:

We used Sunray transportation who were stars, no complaints there, very helpful, courteous, punctual etc.

CORONADO SPRINGS
Now i didn't love CSR as soon as i got here, and I'll tell you why: it wasn't the Polynesian i had a feeling I was gonna feel like this but as time went on it really grew on me. Everybody was very friendly despite what i had heard about the Pepper market staff, i didn't encounter any abrupt CMs, the only funny one was a very sweet little lady who was in charge of the bakery section, she took her job very seriously! however she was such a petite lady she couldn't actually reach all the baked goods, but no way was she going to let us help her, bless her heart. i loved the Pepper market food, and there was so much choice for everybody. I could eat as much mexican as i liked while the kids had their own section. It was a bit of a problem all sitting to eat together though as i had to queue here, then somewhere else. Btw, portions were huge, i don't think i finshed a whole meal all week here.
The rooms:

Our first night at CSR

the entertainment unit, good size draws, plenty of room for 3 of us

the bathroom obviously

Now I only had one adult and 2 kids in the room and we had just enough space. i thought the beds were a little small and i think with 2 adults in the bed you might be fighting for space a little bit so be warned. Of course it could be that I am too much of a stretcher

THE POOL:
Ok my kids thought this was awesome. The pool was plenty big enough and the water slide was fantastic for them, heck i even had a go. the hot tub was incredibly hot so please please do not get in too fast, I fear you may pass out! bar staff were a little slow but I guess when i want that cocktail i want it now. Oh yeah, one CM seemed to resent me coming to fill my mug too many times, I can't imagine how strenuous it must be to turn around and fill a mug! the play area was very cute, and plenty of equipment and sand, very well done.

Looking toward the bar.

Oh yeah, check in!! This took a little longer than i would have liked but it wasn't actually CSR's fault, it was Virgin Holidays. Firstly they didn't have enough nights on my booking, then they couldn't see the dining plan on my friends booking (which never got sorted actually and friend had to get a refund from Virgin when she got home ) so we stood there for a good 20 minutes trying to sort it all out, by which time my grandfather was having a little paddy at them, the man has no patience for anything. the redeeming point was that they honoured my room requests of cabanas 9B, which is closest to El Centro and main bus stop. I did this by getting my disney booking number from Virgin holidays and ringing about 10 days before we got there, it worked!!

 

[DisneyJo]

Sounds great, I can't wait for CSR and as I haven't stayed at the Poly (I did stay at GF when I was about 16 but I can't really remember that much about it!) I won't be comparing it !

I did this by getting my disney booking number from Virgin holidays and ringing about 10 days before we got there, it worked!!

How did you know I was going to ask you how you did that!

 

[fizz13]

So heres a little of what we got up to:

donalds Breakfastasaurus for 8am before park opening, it worked really well to get in the park before it opened, the kids had first dibs on the rides in Dinoland and cara tried Primeval Whirl for the first time, Dinosaur was not a hit, lets say, and for poor molly it put her off for the rest of the week, she was very cautious about what she rode from then on. Everest was totally awesome as usual, and the kids loved this, molly opted out.

Dean is a character fiend and made sure he met as many as possible, they were everywhere at AK.
Molly found something more to her liking:

Don't discount rafikis planet watch, the kids were fascinated by the things on display.
Some other shots;

THE DIS MEET
This was wonderful, it was a uk meet like never before, and it was bizarre how many of us were there at the same time. And of course i got to meet the legendary man that is Nathan Rose, from disney podcast fame.

 

[fizz13]

Some Epcot fun next, rope drop yet again, heres some highlights:

playing around at Imagination, i let the kids play for a long time here.

Mine! Mine! Mine!

Posing in japan! We saw the candy lady and both my kids got chosen to get candys made, Dean chose a shark and cara had a unicorn, sadly I didn't get piccies as my battery ran out, go and see her, its amazing what she can do!

having more fun in japan with Molly. Also had lunch at teppanyaki which i was very worried about but we loved it, and cara has requested it for our December trip, the food was simple, just rice, meat and veggies but the show was great and it was really yummy, full marks from us!

Of course we found time to taste other culinery delights, Dean is in norway here, Loved the rice cream, much better than uk rice pudding!

Doesn't Mickey look smart in his YOMD garb? Character Connection is well worth it if you don't want to do a character meal, there was hardly any wait and we saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Chip and dale, can't ask for more than that!

 

[fizz13]

Magic Kingdom next, look look its Cinderellas horse:

You can tell by the gold ribbon on the tail.

We had a really cold snap while we were there, hence the jumpers, I actually shook with cold while waiting for rope drop, which wa fab though as the kids got to throw pixedust to open the park!
We rode Space Mtn about 6 times this trip, dean loved finally being tall enough, and Pirates had the longest wait I have ever seen.I saw carrouesl of progress for the first time, but decided I don't need to go back in a hurry Sorry to any loyal fans. we got soaked on Splash but we did sit in the front on purpose, and we took our first trip over to Tom Sawyer island, i was pleasantly suprised and we had so much fun, we were there for an hour exploring the tunnels and caves, i can't wait to go back actually
Of course we went to:

MNSSHP
Oh my gosh, can you say candy overload? We got there at 6pm and didn't leave till midnight. We saw the parade and the headless horseman, met tons of characters (again!!) rode tons of rides with no wait, sadly missed the fireworks as we were on the indy speedway whoops! and had a blast. heres some of my fav pics from the night, oh yeah please don't laugh at my costume

 

[fizz13]

the girls had a visit to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique;

this is well worth the money, and it was so nice to see Cara with long hair again, she was starting to feel a bit too grown up for all this disney stuff and decided she was too big for princesses....until she did this! She was loving the nails, the make up, I got my little girl back again, I think a few tears may have been shed when i saw the finished product

MGM was my kids fav park that week because their fav characters are here, power rangers and Kim Possible.

Cara got here first ride on rock n Roller and i was so nervous that this thirll was going to tip her over the edge....nope she laughed it up big time! Dean went off Tower of terror which was no problem at age 3 for him, so it shows that fears can creep in any time. Four For A Dollar were incredible, definately make time to get to Beauty and The Beast early, you will not be dissapointed

Other highlights of the trip included Whispering canyon cafe, where Dean told our server straight away that he wanted to have lots of fun, he had seen the pics of ketchup on the food porn thread and wanted some of the actionwe got a table full of straws and napkins, ketchup coming out of our ears and giant milkshakes, so much fun. Ohana breakfast was totally yummy, Goofy's Candy Company treats made my kids eyes boggle as more and more toppings went on their treats....they never did manage to eat it all! My grandfather was blown away by fantasmic and i think he got a little of the magic that night.

Lowlights:
3 dyas into the trip my grandfather decided he would head home he never explained why but i think he was physically exhausted and he is not an ECV kind of guy, he is so proud he would never get in one of these. he also resented that i didn't want him to ride tower of terror or Dinosaur because he suffers with slipped disc and leg pain, and i thought these would aggravate him. he wanted to experience everything with the children and refused to accept his physical limitations. World Showcase day was a very low point, we got there around 3pm but we had slow going as Molly wanted to shop shop shop and naomi her mother indulged her, we sat around waiting for 45 minutes at China before naomi said to go on without her and grandad was fuming about this, he got cross with the kidcot stops, why did the children need to do it? and then waiting for Illuminations he looked like he was going to keel over. i finally managed to get him into a disabled area to sit on a bench while we stood the other side of the rope. i was so frustrated by this point, tired with trying to please everybody and i nearly snapped, my mimosa in france and the bellini in italy helped a little.
i think it was best he went home if thats how he was feeling and it allowed me and the kids to run around and be silly, but it was a shame that I couldn't have made it more magical for him.

We had a wonderful trip overall with the obvious exception above, and my kids can't wait to get back, this time with their youngest brother in tow. i'll leave this with the last few shots of our week:

 

[fizz13]

So there you have it, i have managed to summarise my whole disney history with 4 pages, i don't know why i thought trip report writing was such a chore

Its been such gorgeous weather here in England this weekend, long may it reign, I don't want to say it in case I jinx it ........but summer may have arrived which is perfect timing as Michelle and her family are coming for a visit next Sunday. I have a vision of our 6 little darlings (yes we have 6 between the two of us ) being wonderfully behaved, maybe watching a dvd, maybe bowls or twister on the back lawn while us adults lay around sunning ourselves with a Pimms or two



Never gonna happen!! I predict mass mayhem and noise on a scale beyond our wildest expectations and thats just my children, i would hate to tar michelle's with the same brush

Seriously though, it will be the first chance for Michelle and Carly to meet before the trip, and for us to discuss / rearrange our schedule. I may even have to phone disney dining ...who knows? What I do know is that i will throw together my best culinery creations and my kindest hospitality in the hope that Bruce (Michelle's DH) doesn't see the real me and bans her from coming on this trip....don't laugh...it could happen

IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK:

carly's 7 day premium ticket has arrived. I knew what was in the envelope but she had no clue, the girl actually gave a little whoop I think its the first time it has become real to carly, to hold that little ticket in her hand was proof indeed that she is off to see the mouse.

My DDE (Disney Dining Experience) card came in the mail That 20% off food and drink will be so handy, i can't wait to flash my new plastic!!

I lost 3lb of weight, only 11lb to go to perfection...well sort of....there's always the botox and nose job to consider

MAJOR NEWS!!

I'M GOING TO SEE ORLANDO BLOOM ON AUGUST 18TH!! he is appearing in the West End of London this summer in a play and I have scored row C seats, i am beyond excited.....yes I know its not really disney planning but he is sort of disney isn't he if you use the Pirates link? Actually i don't need an excuse, the man is hot and i don't care, you might as well call me Mrs Bloom from now on

So the kids go back to school tomorrow after their mid-term break which means my house will look like a home once more, and i can start concentrating on my December trip...you all knew I was going in December too right? Lucky lucky me!!!

See ya soon xxx

 

[DisneyJo]

Love the photos Claire and I wasn't laughing at your outfit promise Good score on the tickets I'll be dining with Cinderella that day, it must be very close to your departure day isn't it And congrats on the weight loss