I can't believe we are finally down to just over a week before our trip!!! I am so excited that I feel the need to write a pre-trip report so that I can obsess over ever little detail of our trip! I hope you will enjoy my insanity!
First off, a little background…..My name is Jenn. I am an ex-WDW Cast Member of almost ten years and I now live in New Hampshire. My hubby, Jay, and I moved up from Orlando about a year and a half ago and we have not had a chance to go down and visit our favorite place since then. With the Dining Plan being free in September, LOVING the lack of crowds that time of year, it being our three year wedding anniversary and NEVER wanting to miss Not So Scary, we figured, what better opportunity will there be to go down? So, back when the free dining plan was first released for 2008, we booked. Our trip was set for September 11th-17th.
Then, the inevitable happened. We were telling our good friend and tenant, Heather, that we had booked and she said, “Oh my god, I would LOVE to go! I haven’t been to Disney in AGES and I SO need a vacation!” So, she picked a mutual friend of ours, Nicole, as a travel companion, and they booked as well. A few weeks later, we were talking to our dear friends, married couple, Michelle and Sean, about our pending trip. It just so happens that they are DVC Members and had to cancel a trip that they had planned for January of 2008, when Michelle broke her ankle. They were looking to make up their trip now that Michelle’s ankle had healed and we’ve always wanted to vacation together, so THEY booked. Then, finally, we were talking to our friends, Christine and Christina, who we met through the DIS Boards, prior to our wedding cruise in ’05. They were from our home state of Massachusetts and just recently moved down to Tampa, FL. We haven’t really gotten to see them much since they moved so we wanted to know if they wanted to come over and visit us while we were in Orlando. Our trip sounded so fun, that they decided to come over for almost the whole week, as well!!! So, we went from two to eight quite quickly, and we couldn’t be more excited about it!! And NOW, there will eb an even more friends meeting up with us here and there along the way! We still have lots of friends in Orlando, so our group has become quite HUGE at times!!!!
So, now we have the cast of characters, the dates and the hotels (Jay and I, Christine and Christina, and Heather and Nicole will be at Pop Century, with Michelle and Sean on their points at The Boardwalk). We just needed a plan. Now, I am not the itinerary making type when it comes to Disney vacations. Jay and I are super familiar with the parks, so we like to just go with the flow and do what we feel like, whenever we wanna do it. BUT, with the Free Dining Plan being in effect and having a party of eight, I knew that making our ADRs was a mandatory duty. And, in order to book our ADRs, we were going to have to have some kind of idea as to where we were going to be and when. I came up with a basic itinerary and we picked out our restaurants. The next step was to make my calls to Disney Dining and set up all of our ressies.
Here is what our trip looks like…..
Thursday, September 11th- On the morning of September 11th (which is our three year wedding anniversary), the two of us, plus Nicole and Heather, will get a ride from our house to the Manchester Airport, to catch our Southwest Airlines flight to Orlando. We land around 9:30 am and pick up our rental car from Thrifty. Then we will drive to Disney, through those character gates and back to my home of so many years!
) We will check into Pop Century and leave our bags, while we go to Wal-Mart to buy some necessary room items (like Diet Pepsi and gum) and then have lunch at one of our favorite non-Disney restaurants, Bahama Breeze. (The coconut onion rings are to DIE for!) Around this time, Michelle and Sean should be arriving by Magical Express to The BoardWalk, so we’ll probably head over there to say hello, before going back to Pop to hang out and swim before dinner. That night we have ressies for California Grill (2 Table Service Points) to celebrate our anniversary with our friends! AND our ressies are right before Wishes, so we should have a great view of the fireworks. Following dinner, I am sure we will head back to the hotel and hit the hay, since we want to be at Animal Kingdom when they open the next morning.
Friday, September 12th- We plan on being at DAK for the park opening and spending the day playing amongst the animals. I would like to check out Yak and Yeti counter service for our Dining Plan CS point and see my friend perform in Finding Nemo: The Musical. We need to leave DAK after Jammin’ in the Jungle, and head back to Pop to change for dinner. That night, we will be trying out Tutto Italia in Epcot (1 Table Service Point), for the first time. (I have heard good things, so I am very excited!) After dinner, we’ll catch Illuminations and then take advantage of Extra Magic Hours. That night there could be some late night visiting to Jellyrolls and/or Kimonos at The Swan for sushi and karaoke.
Saturday, September 13th- No set in stone plans for Saturday. Christine and Christina will be coming over from Tampa at some point, so we’ll be meeting up with them. I think the day will be spent catching the entertainment in Epcot that we missed during EMH the night before, and heading over to the Magic Kingdom for later in the night. We will use a Counter Service point for lunch where ever we are when we get hungry, I am sure. We have reservations for the special Diamond Horseshoe dinner (1 Table Service Point) that night and I’m sure we’ll hang out for Wishes and Spectro. After the parks, I believe we plan on visiting Pleasure Island and saying our goodbyes to it( I have a lot of great memories there and it will be sadly missed.
Sunday, September 14th- Provided the weather cooperates, we are planning on hitting Typhoon Lagoon this day. We will use one Counter Service credit for lunch and head out of the park by 4:30 or 5pm. We have ressies for our favorite, ‘Ohana, (1 Table Service Point) for this night, again, scheduled right during Wishes, so we should have a great view! No plans for after dinner yet, but we do a get a free round of mini-golf on our package, so maybe we’ll hit Winter Summerland or Fantasia Gardens.
Monday, September 15th- This will be a morning that we can sleep in and just hang out. Our plans for the day are to go to The Studios to see the new Block Party Bash Parade, but since The Studios is never a full day for us, we’ll plan on getting there right around noontime, and getting lunch on a Counter Service point. We’ll catch any entertainment that doesn’t take place during EMH, before heading out of the park for dinner at 1900 Park Fare (1 Table Service Point). Then, it will be back to the Studios for Fantasmic and EMH.
Tuesday, September 16th- This day is a non-Disney day. We’ll be exploring the new Aquatica water park at Sea World, but we’ll be back for dinner at Whispering Canyon, before heading into Not So Scary at The Magic Kingdom. Wait until everyone sees our costumes! We’re going as Disney attractions! I won’t give away details of what we’re wearing (I’ll post pictures when we come back) but we’re going as: Country Bear Jamboree, Splash Mountain, Blizzard Beach, Rockin’ RollerCoaster, Jungle Cruise, Pirates in the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and The Tiki Room.
Wednesday, September 17th- Our last morning! We’ll be going to Boma for breakfast and then spending the day outlet shopping and visiting Downtown Disney. Since our flight is not until 8ppm, we are planning on going to lunch at Celebration Town Tavern, where my husband used to work. We have to return the rental car and be at MCO by 7pm.
So, those are our plans! Of course, they may change once they are being put into action, but those are our intentions!) Can’t wait to go and I promise you lots of pictures and full reports! In the meantime, I have to figure out what I am packing and get myself organized! )
First off, a little background…..My name is Jenn. I am an ex-WDW Cast Member of almost ten years and I now live in New Hampshire. My hubby, Jay, and I moved up from Orlando about a year and a half ago and we have not had a chance to go down and visit our favorite place since then. With the Dining Plan being free in September, LOVING the lack of crowds that time of year, it being our three year wedding anniversary and NEVER wanting to miss Not So Scary, we figured, what better opportunity will there be to go down? So, back when the free dining plan was first released for 2008, we booked. Our trip was set for September 11th-17th.
Then, the inevitable happened. We were telling our good friend and tenant, Heather, that we had booked and she said, “Oh my god, I would LOVE to go! I haven’t been to Disney in AGES and I SO need a vacation!” So, she picked a mutual friend of ours, Nicole, as a travel companion, and they booked as well. A few weeks later, we were talking to our dear friends, married couple, Michelle and Sean, about our pending trip. It just so happens that they are DVC Members and had to cancel a trip that they had planned for January of 2008, when Michelle broke her ankle. They were looking to make up their trip now that Michelle’s ankle had healed and we’ve always wanted to vacation together, so THEY booked. Then, finally, we were talking to our friends, Christine and Christina, who we met through the DIS Boards, prior to our wedding cruise in ’05. They were from our home state of Massachusetts and just recently moved down to Tampa, FL. We haven’t really gotten to see them much since they moved so we wanted to know if they wanted to come over and visit us while we were in Orlando. Our trip sounded so fun, that they decided to come over for almost the whole week, as well!!! So, we went from two to eight quite quickly, and we couldn’t be more excited about it!! And NOW, there will eb an even more friends meeting up with us here and there along the way! We still have lots of friends in Orlando, so our group has become quite HUGE at times!!!!
So, now we have the cast of characters, the dates and the hotels (Jay and I, Christine and Christina, and Heather and Nicole will be at Pop Century, with Michelle and Sean on their points at The Boardwalk). We just needed a plan. Now, I am not the itinerary making type when it comes to Disney vacations. Jay and I are super familiar with the parks, so we like to just go with the flow and do what we feel like, whenever we wanna do it. BUT, with the Free Dining Plan being in effect and having a party of eight, I knew that making our ADRs was a mandatory duty. And, in order to book our ADRs, we were going to have to have some kind of idea as to where we were going to be and when. I came up with a basic itinerary and we picked out our restaurants. The next step was to make my calls to Disney Dining and set up all of our ressies.
Here is what our trip looks like…..
Thursday, September 11th- On the morning of September 11th (which is our three year wedding anniversary), the two of us, plus Nicole and Heather, will get a ride from our house to the Manchester Airport, to catch our Southwest Airlines flight to Orlando. We land around 9:30 am and pick up our rental car from Thrifty. Then we will drive to Disney, through those character gates and back to my home of so many years!
) We will check into Pop Century and leave our bags, while we go to Wal-Mart to buy some necessary room items (like Diet Pepsi and gum) and then have lunch at one of our favorite non-Disney restaurants, Bahama Breeze. (The coconut onion rings are to DIE for!) Around this time, Michelle and Sean should be arriving by Magical Express to The BoardWalk, so we’ll probably head over there to say hello, before going back to Pop to hang out and swim before dinner. That night we have ressies for California Grill (2 Table Service Points) to celebrate our anniversary with our friends! AND our ressies are right before Wishes, so we should have a great view of the fireworks. Following dinner, I am sure we will head back to the hotel and hit the hay, since we want to be at Animal Kingdom when they open the next morning.Friday, September 12th- We plan on being at DAK for the park opening and spending the day playing amongst the animals. I would like to check out Yak and Yeti counter service for our Dining Plan CS point and see my friend perform in Finding Nemo: The Musical. We need to leave DAK after Jammin’ in the Jungle, and head back to Pop to change for dinner. That night, we will be trying out Tutto Italia in Epcot (1 Table Service Point), for the first time. (I have heard good things, so I am very excited!) After dinner, we’ll catch Illuminations and then take advantage of Extra Magic Hours. That night there could be some late night visiting to Jellyrolls and/or Kimonos at The Swan for sushi and karaoke.
Saturday, September 13th- No set in stone plans for Saturday. Christine and Christina will be coming over from Tampa at some point, so we’ll be meeting up with them. I think the day will be spent catching the entertainment in Epcot that we missed during EMH the night before, and heading over to the Magic Kingdom for later in the night. We will use a Counter Service point for lunch where ever we are when we get hungry, I am sure. We have reservations for the special Diamond Horseshoe dinner (1 Table Service Point) that night and I’m sure we’ll hang out for Wishes and Spectro. After the parks, I believe we plan on visiting Pleasure Island and saying our goodbyes to it
( I have a lot of great memories there and it will be sadly missed. Sunday, September 14th- Provided the weather cooperates, we are planning on hitting Typhoon Lagoon this day. We will use one Counter Service credit for lunch and head out of the park by 4:30 or 5pm. We have ressies for our favorite, ‘Ohana, (1 Table Service Point) for this night, again, scheduled right during Wishes, so we should have a great view! No plans for after dinner yet, but we do a get a free round of mini-golf on our package, so maybe we’ll hit Winter Summerland or Fantasia Gardens.
Monday, September 15th- This will be a morning that we can sleep in and just hang out. Our plans for the day are to go to The Studios to see the new Block Party Bash Parade, but since The Studios is never a full day for us, we’ll plan on getting there right around noontime, and getting lunch on a Counter Service point. We’ll catch any entertainment that doesn’t take place during EMH, before heading out of the park for dinner at 1900 Park Fare (1 Table Service Point). Then, it will be back to the Studios for Fantasmic and EMH.
Tuesday, September 16th- This day is a non-Disney day. We’ll be exploring the new Aquatica water park at Sea World, but we’ll be back for dinner at Whispering Canyon, before heading into Not So Scary at The Magic Kingdom. Wait until everyone sees our costumes! We’re going as Disney attractions! I won’t give away details of what we’re wearing (I’ll post pictures when we come back) but we’re going as: Country Bear Jamboree, Splash Mountain, Blizzard Beach, Rockin’ RollerCoaster, Jungle Cruise, Pirates in the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and The Tiki Room.
Wednesday, September 17th- Our last morning! We’ll be going to Boma for breakfast and then spending the day outlet shopping and visiting Downtown Disney. Since our flight is not until 8ppm, we are planning on going to lunch at Celebration Town Tavern, where my husband used to work. We have to return the rental car and be at MCO by 7pm.
So, those are our plans! Of course, they may change once they are being put into action, but those are our intentions!
) Can’t wait to go and I promise you lots of pictures and full reports! In the meantime, I have to figure out what I am packing and get myself organized! )
