We did it once, I'm sure we can do it AGAIN! - my FIRST pre-trip report -UPDATED 1/20

[LadiiAstroid]

Hello All! And Welcome to my FIRST EVER PRE-TRIP REPORT!

This is the second trip that I'm planning and let's say the first trip must have been pretty good if my boyfriend said he would go again!!
Now, this is not an easy trip to plan, seeing as we have little saved up and we are college students! But I did it once, I'm sure we can do it AGAIN!
This report will talk about how much we have saved, how excited I am, how we get our money, our plans, our changes, our "should we really be going back?", and everything in between. But if you don't mind, then come on and join us! I would love to have some help on planning our magical vacation!

INTRODUCING..

This right here, well this is Me posing with my girl Minnie! My name is Dej or on here LadiiAstroid, I'm 18 years old, turning 19 in April and I'm a freshman in college. I'm part of honors and I made Dean's List my first semester. I'm also the planner of this trip (and well all the trips to come!) Oh, and you see that little book in my hand? Well during my June 2013 trip, I decided as a gift for my sister I would have characters sign it and I would take pictures with characters, put the pictures in the book and give it to her. Well to my luck, when I returned from the trip, that little book was no where to be seen! And to this day, I still don't know what happened to it! But at least, I still have pictures with the characters.



And this right here, well is my handsome boyfriend David. He LOVES to acknowledge older then me, but only by 16 days. We've been together for about 5 years (Jan 18) and it has not been easy to say the least. But we've stuck together and our families have been become really great friends! His parents are like parents to me! He puts up with my antics and my Disney love and I would say...I'm trying to convert him to a Disney Lover just like me! (I still have a lot of work to do! Oh! And yes, he's in college too!

WHAT DAYS?
Well...to the tell the truth, we don't know! First, we planned for June 2014, but my family might go on their annual vacation during that month and I don't want Disney and that vacation in the same month. So then we thought of Aug 2014. So for now, we picked the month of August. But we still don't know the days since we have to figure out when we go back to school (college), if we want to use our pin code, and what other discounts could be available.

WHERE Y'ALL (you all) STAYING?
Well..once again, we don't know! Last trip we stayed at the wonderful Coronado Springs Resort! And boy was that beautiful! But for us, it was a little too spread out, we didn't go to the pool nor did we experience Peppers Market. So right now, every resort is up the air for us!

Well that's about all the information that I have right now...but I will be on these boards to research some more information about resorts, restaurants, and more!

​

 

[LadiiAstroid]

Planning (ADR - Resort - FP+ - More):
[post=50521815]Dates and Resorts..(why did I wait so long to start planning??) (01/20) [/post]
[post=50522202]Restaurants (01/20) [/post]


Savings/How we get Money:

Misc:
[post=50474299]Back to college! (01/14) [/post]




**will be added as I post.

 

[LadiiAstroid]

Back to College!
Oh gosh! Yesterday was the start of the second semester of freshman year and my first time going with a schedule that I actually planned. Can I say my schedule sounded so much better when I was planning it?? This semester I have classes from 8-5:15, with little breaks in between, but luckily no classes on Tuesday! So today I'm doing some homework, eBay, visit the Meal Plan place (they messed up my meal plan, every time I use my card it takes off ~$200 instead of the ~$20) , and rest! For tomorrow I have the same schedule as Monday.

But on the upside, I'm done with this semester at the end of April-early May. Seems early to me! Basically all the Professors talked about the final exam day, which did not happen last semester. Shoot, winter break was such a good break I can't wait till Summer! My favorite season, I live in PA and this winter that we've been having, I can't wait till its over! One day it will be below zero, two days later its in the 50s! Then on top of that, the one winter I don't get the flu shot, I get the regular flu. I'm still slightly fighting it, but it's not as bad as it once was.

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[LadiiAstroid]

Following along!

Welcome! I was sure no one was going to stop by my little pre-trip report, but I'm glad you did!

 

[anniebabymu]

Jumping in! Can't wait to hear about your plans

 

[twinsouvenirs]

following!

 

[LadiiAstroid]

Jumping in! Can't wait to hear about your plans

Thanks for joining!

following!

Welcome!

 

[LadiiAstroid]

Dates and Resorts..(why did I wait so long to start planning??)

Dates:
Boy oh Boy, do we (or should I say..I) have a lot to decide on! At least we have the month right? Well for the days, we have to factor in a lot. So let me break down how we are trying to pick our days.

1. We go back to school 25th, so that means I move back in on either 23 or 24th. Knowing myself, I know it will take me a while to pack, so I don't want to be in Disney (or coming back from Disney) from Aug 19-22. So that leaves the dates to be earlier then Aug 18th.

2. I want to leave out on a Tuesday or a Thursday and hopefully come back home on a Tuesday or a Thursday. Why? Well, when I was planning our June 2013 trip, Southwest had sales but the sales were mostly exclusive to travels on a Tuesday or Thursday. So, if we plan our date to a Tuesday or Thursday then hopefully we can find some good prices!


What did I come up with?

If we stay at a value resort (Pop Century) then we can do a 10 day trip and our dates would be Aug 5-15th.

• Does not interfere with schooling (point 1 met!)
• Aug 5th is the first Tuesday in August, but August 15th is a Friday (point 2 met..halfway.)

Or if we stay at a moderate then we can do a 7 day trip and our dates would be Aug 5-12th.

• Does not interfere with schooling! (point 1 met)
• Aug 5th is a Tuesday and Aug 12th is a Tuesday! (point 2 met.)

Either way, our trip will be longer than the first and well WE WILL BE IN THE WORLD!

Now we just have to decide what we want to do. I'm leaning toward staying August 5th through the 15th, but David is just going with the flow. I'll probably plan us to stay from August 5th to the 15th and make our reservation at Pop!

Dates: AUGUST 5TH-15TH! ​

 

[LadiiAstroid]

Restaurants:

Last trip, I only had one ADR and we made one while we were on the trip. My first (and at first only ADR) was for Sci-Fi Drive In. After trying that, we said we were going to go there every time we went to Disney! I read a lot that people thought the food was mediocre but atmosphere is good! Well I thought, it was good for me! And trust me, I am not the easiest person to cook for! So after doing a little research and forgetting to try some things on our last trip, I have a list of restaurants that we might try this time around.
In no particular order, our list of restaurants:

Garden Grill

• read some good reviews on here and saw some wonderful pictures

Sci-Fi

• our must after the first trip! David has to try the milkshake, last time we went he forgot Lactaid (after I reminded him about 5 times before we left) so he couldn't have any ice cream or milkshakes on that trip!

Be Our Guest

• heard a lot of good reviews and didn't get to try lunch here last trip.

Planet Hollywood

• David liked this last trip after a good day of shopping (for me) and heading back to the room.

Coral Reef Restaurant

• we're not too sure about this one yet, I'm not a seafood eater, but if David wants to try this, then I will deal.

Rain Forest Café / T-Rex

• I will have a Landry's gift card from Mypoints, and I never tried T-Rex before. We did go to Rain Forest Café on our last trip, I had good memories as a kid going here with my family.

San Angel Inn

• Not too sure if this will stay, I don't really like Mexican food, but once again if David wants to try, then I will deal.

Liberty Tree Tavern

• Seems interesting and it's at Magic Kingdom, so it might be one of our Table Service meals if we are at Magic Kingdom during the night.

The Plaza Restaurant

• Another table service meal at Magic Kingdom that looks good, and their menu looks good to me!

Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party

• Tried to try this at our last visit, but I was unable to get a spot. If they have a spot open for us, then we might try it.

Yak & Yeti

• A restaurant for a day at Animal Kingdom that can replace our visit to Rain Forest Café.

AMC Dine-In

• Although this isn't a Disney restaurant, we went here on our last trip and really enjoyed it. We don't have something like this where we're from, so it's something we like to experience again. (Oh and of course, I have a gift card to AMC, so its an already paid for meal.)

50's Prime-Time Diner

• I did not really care for the food here last trip, I did enjoy the dessert though! But this is another, if David wants to go, then I will deal restaurant.

Well that's our list of restaurants for now, but I'm sure it will probably change in the future.

​

 

[LadiiAstroid]

If anyone has any suggestions, please do not hesitate to say them!

Nothing in this pre-trip report is final, I'll probably be changing things even while were at Disney World!

I can never make a final decision on something!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Is San Angel Inn the one in the pyramid? I always loooove the feeling in there and would love to sit at the Tequila bar someday

 

[LadiiAstroid]

Is San Angel Inn the one in the pyramid? I always loooove the feeling in there and would love to sit at the Tequila bar someday

Sorry for the late reply, life has been hectic! Between Boyfriend's Grandfather passing to me catching the flu bug again! I'm soooo ready for this Disney vaca!

But yes! San Angel Inn is the one with the pyramid! We have not been there yet, but I have booked our ADR to eat there. Heard nothing but good things about the atmosphere and have heard good things about to food too. Boyfriend is excited to try it, we rarely eat Mexican food here. (Well besides homemade tacos and Taco Bell.)

 

[LadiiAstroid]

5 MONTHS, 2 WEEKS, AND 5 DAYS!

5 MONTHS, 2 WEEKS, AND 5 DAYS! What does that mean? We are less than 6 months until we are in the WORLD! And as of today, I am done booking our ADR's! So our dining itinerary:

Aug 5:
Dinner-- Sci-Fi Drive In

Aug 6:
Lunch--Liberty Tree Tavern
Dinner--??

Aug 7:
Lunch--Yak & Yeti
Dinner--Chefs de France

Aug 8:
Lunch--Be our Guest
Dinner--San Angel Inn

Aug 9:
Lunch--50's Prime Time
Dinner--Be Our Guest

Aug 10:
Lunch--Counter Service
Dinner--'Ohana

Aug 11:
Lunch--Counter Service
Dinner--Garden Grill

Aug 12:
Lunch--Counter Service
Dinner--Mama Melrose

Aug 13:
Lunch--Counter Service
Dinner--Planet Hollywood

Aug 14:
Lunch--Counter Service
Dinner--The Plaza Restaurant