"This is the Best Trip Ever!" An August PTR with lots of Pics! NEW 8/14

[Nicole786]

Chapter List
Introductions - Page 1
iPhone in the Parks! - Page 1
Our Top 7, Part 1 - Page 2
Our Top 7, Part 2 - Page 2
Itinerary! - Page 2
David's Graduation Decorations!
Our Top 7, Part 3 - Page 4
David's Graduation! - Page 4
90 Day Dance! - Page 5
Shirt Progress - Page 5
Shirt Progress - Page 5
Wizarding World Updates - Page 5
Our Top 7, Part 4 - Page 5
Shirt UP!date! - Page 7
Our Top 7, Part 5 - Page 7
Countdown Calendar - Page 7
Our Top 7, Part 6 - Page 8
Shirts Made!! - Page 8
Our Top 7, Finale! - Page 9
Mousekeeping Envelopes, and What a Day! - Page 10
2 Week Dance, and CRO! - Page 10
8 Days and Disney Mail! - Page 11
6 Days and Packing! Plus "A Week From Now.." - Page 12



Thanks for joining us on this pre-trip adventure!! The title of this report is "This is the best trip ever!!" Because we find ourselves saying that each time we think of it!! (Which is almost always!) We have been saving since our last family Disney trip which was a year ago, May 2009! For that trip we surprised our parents with a cruise on the Disney Wonder!! While they were cruising, we were park hopping and we met up with them for an extra 3 nights once they returned…that was a great trip!! We wanted another chance to experience our August 2008 brother/sister trip which was truly AMAZING also so we started saving. In 2008 We stayed at the AKL and the HRH in Universal (more on universal later). We really enjoy the brother/sister time that we have and we know as the years fly by we will cherish these trips forever. It never fails that one of us has to mention that we will try and return in August, and one day we will be with our families. This year though it's just the 2 of us, and we're ready to create some amazing memories!! So who are we?

Nicole: The leader of the trip report and Disney loving gal. I'm lucky that I surround myself with Disney loving friends so my healthy? obsession can live on day to day. I work in the computer industry so look out for our custom made t-shirts (i've already started!) and iPhone enabled itinerary!

David: Lil' bro (not so little anymore) he's gonna make some girl very happy one day especially if that girl loves Disney! At first, while I was busy discovering the Dis boards years ago, he liked Disney but didn't love it. Now i'd have to say he's almost obsessed as I am!! He's a thrill ride maniac (wasn't always like that so its funny to look back over the years) and he loves to just BE in disney which a lot of us can say is a favorite as well. Give the boy a dole whip and stick him on Main Street--he's occupied for hours.

I hope everyone likes photos because I take a lot of them (and video too!) I used to travel around the parks with my Canon Rebel XSI, and I loved it, it produced some great pics! But I decided I wanted an upgrade, so I sold it and started saving for my next SLR..in the meantime I bought myself a point and shoot (Canon S90--which is supposedly the best on the market right now) It won't take the same quality of photos but I love the convenience of it and i'm excited that its so portable and not as big as the XSI!

So lets start with photos of our disney resort. We've hammocked here, eaten here, shopped here, laid on the beach here, played in the sand here, seen Wishes here, but have never actually stayed here! It is our dream resort and we knew since last year we wanted to stay here! The Polynesian!

We're staying here 8 nights August 22nd-30th with the regular DDP. We just love the DDP and can't imagine going to Disney without it!

Before we embark on a Disney adventure we are starting our trip at Universal Studios, staying in one of their on-site hotels (and our favorite) Loews Hard Rock Hotel! David loves music (he plays guitar in his band) and I just love the theming!! And the beds are so comfy, here's David demonstrating in 2008!

We are also so excited for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and I just can't wait to experience it first hand!! Staying at a Universal resort gives us front of the line access (like Disney's fast pass but automatically for every ride) so we aren't too concerned that we will be here on the weekend. We're staying August 20th-22nd! Supposedly we will also be able to enter the Wizarding World one hour before regular park guests, as we get closer i'll try and get confirmation on this.

So I hope you guys will stick around and join us through all the planning!! We are about 100 days away and almost in the double digit dance already!!

 

[MeMom]

The beautiful Polynesian Resort and two wild and crazy Disney-lovin' young people! Sounds like the perfect formula for a great trip report.

We're having breakfast at Kona Mother's Day morning. Jill is going to put pictures on Facebook pictures, if you want to peek in.

 

[Nicole786]

The beautiful Polynesian Resort and two wild and crazy Disney-lovin' young people! Sounds like the perfect formula for a great trip report.

We're having breakfast at Kona Mother's Day morning. Jill is going to put pictures on Facebook pictures, if you want to peek in.

So glad you're here MeMom!! I'll be over to your new TR (that I didn't realize was there until just a few minutes ago ) and I can't wait to hear about your Mother's day trip!! Last year they were handing out flowers at the MK!

 

[Native NYer]

I the Polynesian!
You're going to have such an amazing time there.

 

[SparKeLLy]

Can't wait to see your custom tees!

 

[Nicole786]

I the Polynesian!
You're going to have such an amazing time there.

We are beyond excited about the Poly and being on the monorail!!

Can't wait to see your custom tees!

I'll try and post one thats in progress soon! In the meantime, here is a link to my Creative Disigns thread to give you an idea of some of the stuff i've done!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2267443

 

[Nicole786]

Good news! Called up this morning to check on AP rates for the Hard Rock Hotel and while they aren't up yet, for the same price I was paying now I was able to upgrade to Pool View! Not sure if i'll be changing it back once AP rates are released, but I was pretty excited!

 

[SparKeLLy]

I'll try and post one thats in progress soon! In the meantime, here is a link to my Creative Disigns thread to give you an idea of some of the stuff i've done!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2267443

Nice! Very creative. I especially liked the wine glass with Mickey heads. And Yay for the pool view room! I've never stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel but it looks really nice.

 

[Nicole786]

Nice! Very creative. I especially liked the wine glass with Mickey heads. And Yay for the pool view room! I've never stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel but it looks really nice.

Thanks!! The hard rock hotel is really awesome we can't wait to stay there again! If you are ever going to be in Universal definitely consider one of their hotels.

 

[Nicole786]

I use my iPhone in Disney like it was water! It's great for when you are in line because there are plenty of games for it!! It's also great for checking wait times and crowded park charts! Look at all the apps I have for Disney!

The hidden mickey app is so awesome, its made by the same company that does the book and its so convenient we love it! WDW Dining is another great one, being able to look up menus for CS locations (or TS if we need to) is great!! We could be in Tomorrowland and decide to eat at Pecos Bills without having to walk over there to just check out the menu! I plan to add more before we go there are just so many!

But another really useful tool we use it for is our Itinerary! I use Keynote for Mac to assemble the itinerary and than put it on my phone for easy access!! Here is what it looks like!

I always do one card for each day and than an overall chart on the first page to a quick look at whats coming up! (i'll share that with you when I post the itinerary!) here is the Hard Rock card template:

And the polynesian:

As you can see i stuffed some extra information into our Polynesian arrival card!! I have been doing a lot of research on the Poly, and the one thing I'm requesting is "balcony" (some second floor rooms don't have a balcony) but i'm nervous about the location, I looked up all the longhouses and picked which ones would work best for us! Now of course if we get one of the longhouses I didn't want we won't be devastated or anything but it doesn't hurt to ask, right?

We are 105 days away today! I hope everyone has a Happy Mother's Day!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

I'm joining along on this pre-trippie! Our trips will overlap by a day or two! We'll be arriving down at Disney on Aug 29th Maybe we'll see you & David there before yall leave!

 

[DrMomof3]

Hi Nicole!
Thanks for finding me. We're in the Scarsdale area so just a bit south of you. The Poly is awesome! And I'm incredibly jealous of your Harry Potter trip!

Amanda

 

[__disneygirl]

Hey!! Loving this report SO much. We're the same with the Poly. We always visit and spend time there but have never stayed there. I would absolutely love to do that one day though. I can't wait to read more!

 

[Nicole786]

I'm joining along on this pre-trippie! Our trips will overlap by a day or two! We'll be arriving down at Disney on Aug 29th Maybe we'll see you & David there before yall leave!

Oh awesome!! Are you doing a PTR? Where will you be those days?

Hi Nicole!
Thanks for finding me. We're in the Scarsdale area so just a bit south of you. The Poly is awesome! And I'm incredibly jealous of your Harry Potter trip!

Amanda

Small world! I can't wait to check out Harry Potter! I heard they are doing a special in a few weeks on NBC, i'm so excited, i'm glued to the WWoHP thread on the boards!

Hey!! Loving this report SO much. We're the same with the Poly. We always visit and spend time there but have never stayed there. I would absolutely love to do that one day though. I can't wait to read more!

Yay! So glad you made it over! We'll make Stacey the exclusive wake up call at the Poly and than you'll make it over!!

 

[Native NYer]

I went back and reread and just realized we'll be in Disney at the same time. We're at BLT from 8/21-8/28 and BWV from 8/28-8/30. So for part of the trip, we'll be monorail neighbors!

I can't wait to hear about your experience at Universal and Harry Potter.
I'd love to go, but have decided to wait until next year when my younger nephew is a little older.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Oh awesome!! Are you doing a PTR? Where will you be those days?

I'm not doing a PTR for this trip, but we have an ADR at Whispering Canyon (5:10pm) on August 29th and then we're heading over to Magic Kingdom's EMH that night. On the 30th we have an ADR at Kona Cafe (5:35pm). I'm not sure what parks we'll be doing that day yet!

 

[Nicole786]

I went back and reread and just realized we'll be in Disney at the same time. We're at BLT from 8/21-8/28 and BWV from 8/28-8/30. So for part of the trip, we'll be monorail neighbors!

I can't wait to hear about your experience at Universal and Harry Potter.
I'd love to go, but have decided to wait until next year when my younger nephew is a little older.

Awesome!! We'll have to plan a meetup or something because we definitely want to go over to the Contemporary while we are on a break for the arcade!!

 

[Nicole786]

I'm not doing a PTR for this trip, but we have an ADR at Whispering Canyon (5:10pm) on August 29th and then we're heading over to Magic Kingdom's EMH that night. On the 30th we have an ADR at Kona Cafe (5:35pm). I'm not sure what parks we'll be doing that day yet!

Unfortunately we are at DHS on the 29th and i think we're doing MK on the 30th but im not sure just yet....We may end up at MK EMH because Fantasmic ends fairly early and we need a place to eat dinner!

 

[Nicole786]

Nicole & David's Top 7

We've discussed Stacey's Top 7 on Lia's TR thread, and some people find her annoying, and some think her perkiness is contagious, but we can all agree one thing: When she's on TV, you know you're in Disney!! I personally love to put her on TV, David jokingly can't stand her, but we always have to watch her Top 7 countdown at least once all the way through!! So David and I decided we were going to do our own Top 7 in our pre-trip report, counting down our favorite moments, memories, or just favorite things to do while we have been in WDW.

7. Our Day's Off

When we go on long trips we always schedule at least one day off and we absolutely love it! We always sleep in and enjoy a late breakfast. This year we are going to 1900 PF for the first time! But we've celebrated this tradition at Boma, Crystal Palace, and most often Cape May Cafe!

We just enjoy our day relaxing and wherever it takes us. In the past, its usually taken us here:

Staceyism: "its what they call a city of choices in a metropolis of fun!"

I love arriving and walking under this sign! The music is always so lively and festive!

Of course a big "must do" at DD is World of Disney!! Actually any and all shopping is mandatory, David jokes that he needs my leash to pull me away from the doors!

We rarely ever walk to the West Side, but now we will make sure we do because of the new store "D Street" I don't collect Vinylmation but I have bought a couple in the past, some of them are just really cool! Can't wait to check this place out.

So by now we're well rested, shopped out (well he's shopped out, I don't think that applies to me) and we still have a whole day ahead of us! Sometimes we spontaneously go to a park and walk around leisurely, and sometimes we continue our day off by going back to the resort and swimming!

This year, we hope to rent a couple of boats from the Polynesian Marina!

In previous trips, whenever I've scheduled a full day off, we end up getting bored of it. We lay down in the room and we say to ourselves "Why are we laying down when Disney World is outside our door!" and we've usually gone to Epcot or another park just to walk around. I've learned my lesson!! This trip, we have a few Morning Days Off and 1 or 2 Night's Off, but not the two combined! I think this is going to work out great for us!! Our nights off are amazing also!! We've talked about Downtown Disney already, but lets head back, we all know how different it is at night! And who can resist Goofy's Candy Co?

Now of course all of our days off, nights off are different. We find different things to do depending on our day, one of our recent discoveries is a night trip to Mini Golf! Who knew it could be so fun??

As you can see, our days off fill up quick with great Disney memories and thats why it's Number 7 in our countdown!! From sleeping in to late night mini-golf its one of our favorite things to do in Disney!!

 

[Nicole786]

Almost forgot to post a video of the beloved Stacy!

Click here for the real Top 7!