We must return to the magic!! But where? And when?!

[Surfinpiratee]

Hello everyone

My name is Mary, I'm 22 years old and....guess what? I love Disney!
DBF (Disney boyfriend) and I returned from our first Disney World vacation Jan 10! And the day we returned we were ready to go back!!! Oh the PDD...
(FYI: I am going to do a TR for that trip! )

So, here's Billy and I:


Pooh and Tigger was our favorite meet and greet! I wish I could take them home..and live with them.. They were just too adorable!!



Anyway...the PTR:
I actually have NO plans for this trip..I'm not even 100% sure what the dates will be. I'm more like 65% sure..

What I do know is that I will be surprising DBF! Unfortunately, it can't be a 'the day we're leaving' surprise, or even a week before.. I would want to give him time to save a little spending money, and take it off work, etc.

So that's all for this post!
I think having a PTR on here helps me keep my thoughts together, and I like that others can give their opinions and whatnot.

Until next time.. ​

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Hi everyone!

No, nothing set in stone yet

BUT here's what I'm thinking for where to stay:

I really want to stay at POP


I don't LOVE the values..because of the big statues..they just seem really loud. But everyone seems to love POP! So I figured I'd try it! It would also save a lot of money! And since I'll be paying for this trip all myself (since it's a surprise for Billy) I could use all the money saving tricks I can get!

So anyway, I'm thinking POP is pretty much for sure. I just hope Billy likes it

When we were in Disney, we visited the Poly. Billy LOVED it. Unfortunately I couldn't spend the amount it would be for a week. So just last night I thought, why not do a split stay and stay at the Poly for 2-3 nights?! Excellent idea, I know!

It will be great! I won't tell him where we are staying until we pull into POP. Then he'll just think we're staying there. But since I'd wanna give him a heads up that we'll be switching resorts, I'll tell him we're also staying at the Poly!!



So pretty!! Can I just go now?!

(FYI, most of the picture's I'll be using in this PTR are from google images!)

So that's pretty much the resort plan! I don't want to stay at a moderate, because we stayed at POR and CSR. So I want to try new resorts. I don't really want to stay at CBR, and I'd love to stay at POFQ except they're usually excluded from discounts, or the discount is like 5%, right? So yeah. That's a problem.

POP is the only value I'd stay at. Well, also AoA, but I don't think Billy would appreciate the Little Mermaid rooms.. He actually loves that movie, but I don't think he'd want to be surrounded by it haha!

That's it for now! Just wanted to get some thoughts down ​

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[Tiramisu]

Following! I'm staying at AoA Little Mermaid for my December trip, but I'm traveling with a BFF and not a DBF so I can get away with it. If FD or good discounts come out and exclude AoA, though, we'll switch.

(The Poly is my favorite, too, and it's where my family usually stays!)

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Alohaaa

This update will have no pictures. I just want to get some thoughts down on here, as oppose to random pieces of paper (we've all been there, don't deny!)

Awesome thing that happened: The other day, DBF was telling me how much he wanted to go to Disney. Then he was like, "well it's never too early to start saving." I'VE OBVIOUSLY BEEN DATING THE RIGHT PERSON THE PAST 3 YEARS.

So our next vacation may or may not be a surprise? I guess I'll just have to play it by ear. It's a long time away and a lot of saving to go, so I think I have time

It occurred to me last week that we could totally get another couple to go with us! Or just 2 friends who wouldn't mind sharing a bed. hahaha BECAUSE then we would be splitting everything by 4! Except park tickets, but that's alright!

If we do have another couple come with us, I'm going to look into a villa Yay!!!!


Just an FYI: There may be some large gaps in between updates, since the trip is pretty far away and nothing is really planned what so ever. So i'm basically rambling..

That's all for now! ​

 

[MidnightParade]

Following along! Poly is my dream resort as well!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Hello friends!

I know I haven't updated in quite some time, but you know, between work, life, family, friends, I don't have a ton of time to update! Especially since there isn't really a lot to be updating since I don't know much about this trip yet.

But I actually have something to update today!

So we definitely won't be able to go this year. But that's okay since we just went in January (but it feels like decades ago!). DBF said he'd like to go in February, and a friend of mine who lives near Orlando says the end of February can be pretty nice (weather wise)!

So the current plan is to go either end of February/beginning of March, or maybe sometime in April (depending on when Easter falls next year and I'd have to look at crowd calendars), or sometime in May before Memorial day.

But I gotta say, I do agree with Billy with the February thing! (it's the closest! Duh!)

I'm also thinking we would stay 8 nights. YAYY, that's 2 more nights than we spend last time!

Our days would look something like this (not in this order):
Day 1: MK
Day 2: Epcot
Day 3: HS
Day 4: AK
Day 5: Rest day/pool day/DTD
Day 6: Water park
Day 7: A second MK or Epcot day.

One thing Billy and I really want to do on our next trip is eat out at restaurants more! So tonight I think I'm going to look into some different ones and I'll do another update on my thoughts ​

 

[MidnightParade]

Yay for narrowing it down! And just think, its still less then a year away! I also think they had a discount going this past feb/march so that would be nice as well. Plans look good, actually pretty similar to ours except for the order. A water park was a must do for us.

Look forward to seeing your restaurant ideas!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Yay for narrowing it down! And just think, its still less then a year away! I also think they had a discount going this past feb/march so that would be nice as well. Plans look good, actually pretty similar to ours except for the order. A water park was a must do for us.

Look forward to seeing your restaurant ideas!

Thanks! Yeah that's definitely not the order for our days haha. I won't know an order until I look at crowd calendars/figure out where I'm staying!

 

[disneyaddicted]

I followed you over from my sisters PTR. My last 6 trips I stayed at Pop, I love it, It's so Disney in your face, I'm all about the big statues, but to be honest my favorite thing about this resort is they have there own busses, meaning they don't share transportation with any other resort. I would love to stay at the Poly some day, for now I'll just have to settle for the value resorts.

Anyway, I'll be following your PTR.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Hello everyone!

I've been in a super Disney mood all day, so I felt I should update!

It's pretty solid that we will be staying either 7 or 8 nights. Not too big of a difference either way (time/money) The difference would be if we stayed 8 nights, we would be getting home Sunday afternoon/early morning and I would have to work Monday morning (however, that's how it was last trip!). If we stayed 7 nights, I would get home Saturday, have Sunday to re coop and then work Monday.

I am also pretty positive we will be staying at POP or AoA. If money permits, we can spend the last 2 or 3 nights at a deluxe! But until we know more for sure...I'm just going to stay we will just be staying at POP or AoA.

As far as 'when' goes, sometime between Feb and May of 2015 (wahhh, so far away! )

MOVING ON!

As I've mentioned, we want to eat at Disney more!! So here are some places I'm thinking:

Be Our Guest - MK
- QS lunch or TS dinner

Biergarten - Epcot
- TS (does this place serve lunch and dinner???)

Boma - AKL
- TS breakfast and dinner

Coral Reef - Epcot
- TS lunch and dinner

Earl of Sandwich - DTD
- QS

Kona Cafe - Poly
- TS breakfast, lunch, dinner

Ohana - Poly
- TS breakfast, dinner

Sunshine Seasons - Epcot
- QS

T-Rex - DTD
- TS lunch and dinner

Tusker House - AK
- TS breakfast, lunch, dinner


Thoughts on these? I really have no idea when we'll be eating where...SO BARE WITH ME! I'm going to be playing around with a bunch of different itineraries! ​

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Now we may or may not be going over Memorial Day next year I just wanted to make a plan for it...just in case I'm also going off of May 2014 crowd calendar...I'm assuming it will at least be similar


May 22-30 2015!! (Memorial Day)

Thurs, May 21: Depart sometime between 4pm-5pm. We drive, so it takes approximately 19 hours (give or take ) which brings us to.....

Fri, May 22: Arrive in the World around 1pm-2pm. We probably won't do anything this day..just explore our resort, maybe go swimming, maybe DTD. IF MK does their 24 hour party thing...MAYBE we'll have to visit...we'll cross that bridge as it gets closer!

Sat, May 23(Memorial Day weekend): Try to get to Animal Kingdom by RD. This is not a recommended park this year...so I don't know what would make the difference for next year! Maybe we will try to get an ADR at Tusker House for breakfast! Once we get into the park we will probably do Safari right away, and Dinosaur after. IF we decide we're brave enough for EE then we'll do that. I'll get FP for Kali River sometime later in the day so we can ride that before we leave!

Sun, May 24: If next year is similar to this year, we will do Epcot this day! Obviously RD. Do TT right away!!! (mistake we made last trip! ) Get FP for Soarin and Maelstrom! I want to eat at Coral Reef..but if they really only serve fish, DBF won't find any food to eat there...so maybe dinner at Biergarten?

Mon, May 25(Memorial Day): We probably won't do a park this day, IF we end up going these dates. We will either do a water park or a rest day (pool, maybe DTD, resort hopping). Let's just say this will be our water park day! I still can't decide between Typhoon or Blizzard. Maybe have breakfast or dinner at Kona Cafe?

Tuesday, May 26: I'm assuming Magic Kingdom would be okay for today! I'll figure out my whole ride game plan later. But I'm thinking breakfast at Ohana OR dinner at BOG. Whichever we can get

Wednesday, May 27: Hollywood Studios is not recommended for this day this year...but..oh well . Definitely FP for TSMM and Star Tours! There's not reallly any restaurants I NEED to eat at here. Any thoughts?? Maybe we'll just end up using some QS credits

Thursday, May 28: Total rest day! Definitely another mistake from last year. We were SO tired! All we'll do this day is explore resorts, pool time, and maybe DTD. Maybe we'll do breakfast or dinner at Boma! Or go to Earl of Sandwich if we do go to DTD.

Friday, May 29: Last full day! This will probably be a second Magic Kingdom day....unless we feel we'd rather spend it at Epcot...it all really depends. If we do Epcot, we'll eat at Sunshine Seasons. If we do MK, breakfast or dinner at Ohana, or lunch or dinner at BOG..kinda depends what we did the first MK day.

Saturday, May 30: Leaving day! We'll probably leave relatively early, so we can get home sometime Sunday morning!


So there ya go! The very very very very rough draft if we end up going those dates! I'm sure stuff will change, but getting my thoughts down helps! There will be a lot of these fake itineraries, so look forward to them!​

 

[MidnightParade]

Woohoo for Disney mood!

We always like a day to recoop when we get home but then again its just one day and when will you get back to Disney? Its a hard choice for sure!!

Have you thought about looking into renting DVC? We were going to stay at POR and then looked into renting and now we're staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge(Jambo House), its so crazy I keep having to pinch myself, and it was less then staying at POR. I know you are staying at a value but if your going to stay a few nights in a deluxe it might work out for you. We rented through David's and have only heard good things, fingers crossed all goes well when we go in october. Of course it may work out better for you if Disney has any discounts when you go as well(and Davids you have to pay ahead of time)

Love Biergarten! Its just so much fun with the band. They do do lunch as well(99% sure)

Hopefully Be Our Guest will be easier to get into when you go!

Kona and Ohana are awesome picks! LOVE the tonga toast at Kona. Haven't actually eaten at Ohana yet but unlimited meat? My DBF will love that when we go and I hear amazing things about the bread pudding!

You have all really good picks! I vote breakfast at Tusker house for the character breakfast!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Hello!

So, as promised, there would be quite a few different itineraries! So this will be numero dos, in case we can't go over Memorial Day in 2015. The next dates I'd like to go would be in August. June and July seem crowded and hot...not that August isn't, however the last couple weeks in August I've heard the crowds are pretty low since school goes back around that time! So plan #2 will be Fri, August 21 - Sat, August 29!!


So let's talk park agenda and ADRs....


Fri, August 21: It really depends on what time we arrive. Which all depends on exactly when we leave, weather, if I decide to drive the speed limit (I thought 70mph seemed fast for quite some time...lol), if we arrive early enough in the afternoon (really anytime before 4pm ish) we could maybe see a park, and go out to eat somewhere, but if we arrive later than 4, we'll probably just chill at our resort.

Saturday, Aug 22: Magic Kingdom! (I've also come to the conclusion that I have way to many places in MK or near MK that I want to eat at!) I'm thinking we will try to do BOG for lunch! However, if it's how it is now with a line going out the door and you need a FP for it, we will probably do dinner there. But for now, let's pretend to do lunch!

Sun, Aug 23: I'm thinking Hollywood Studios. We don't have a ton we like to do here, but I wouldn't skip it because STAR TOURS! It's a favorite of Billys I'm hoping for Chef Mickey's for breakfast! Then grab something at our resort when we get back, or just snack on snacks in the room.

Monday, Aug 24: This will probably be our water park day. I'm not sure what to do as far as eating goes! Decisions decisions... Let's go with breakfast or dinner at Boma! Haven't decided yet which I'd rather do..

Tuesday, Aug 25: Animal Kingdom!! Definitely breakfast at Tusker House! Then if, IF we're hungry, we could get Pizzafari for a late lunch before we head out..knowing us, all we'll really need is more of a snack..

Wednesday, Aug 26: Epcot day!!!! Hmm, I have quite a few places I want to eat in Epcot! I'm definitely thinking Akershus for breakfast! Then Sommerfest for a late lunch/early dinner!

Thursday, Aug 27: Break day! We will just kinda lounge around, resort hop, and DTD! I am thinking 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. Probably on the later side so we can sleep in! Then when we end up going to DTD we could just get something from Earl of Sandwich!

Friday, Aug 28: Last full day! better spend it at Magic Kingdom! Probably Ohana for breakfast! Then Gaston's Tavern later in the day!

Saturday, Aug 29: Departure day! I'm thinking we should get breakfast some place before we go! It could very possibly be Kona Cafe if the week goes as planned, as far as ADRs and such.


I decided it's probably a good idea to maybe put the places I want to eat in order from most important to least important...it will be hard, but it will make things easier down the road ​

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Hahah, okay. Lesson learned: do your restaurant research!!!


Okay, after looking at menus and everything, here's more what I've decided. I may have to go back and edit my previous itineraries.

'Ohana - breakfast
1900 Park Fare - breakfast
Akershus - breakfast
BOG - dinner
Biergarten - lunch or dinner
Boma - breakfast
Chef Mickey's - breakfast or dinner
Crystal Palace - breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Kona - breakfast, MAYBE lunch
Pinocchio Village Haus sounds delish
Tusker House - breakfast

PROBLEM: I only have 8 TS credits! There's 10 up there. Rats. Which two would you take out?!?!​

 

[MidnightParade]

Yay daydreaming itineraries! I hear its gets pretty low crowded around labor day weekend so that while farther away could be nicer crowd wise.

Yay restaurants! Hmmm...well 6 of those you have are character dining(and buffets). So I would maybe drop two of them? And base it on the characters you want to see and ability to see them in the park, like Chef Mickeys just because I find the fab five can be a little easier to find in the parks sometimes . I like Tusker House breakfast to keep too just cause you get safari dressed characters. Plus if you time it just right you can walk onto Kilimanjaro safari just when the park opens and your ahead of the crowd.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Yay daydreaming itineraries! I hear its gets pretty low crowded around labor day weekend so that while farther away could be nicer crowd wise.

Yay restaurants! Hmmm...well 6 of those you have are character dining(and buffets). So I would maybe drop two of them? And base it on the characters you want to see and ability to see them in the park, like Chef Mickeys just because I find the fab five can be a little easier to find in the parks sometimes . I like Tusker House breakfast to keep too just cause you get safari dressed characters. Plus if you time it just right you can walk onto Kilimanjaro safari just when the park opens and your ahead of the crowd.

Thanks!! I really didn't even pick them because they're character dining...I just picked them because I heard they're good hahah! Also, DBF can be a picky eater...and with those menus, everything looked pretty good!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Hello friends


Few things to update!

-It's a really good thing that this trip is semi far away, because I can't make up my mind with anything, and I am super wishy washy with everything!

-SUPER AWESOME THING THAT HAPPENED THE OTHER DAY: Firstly, my family and I are from California, my parents grew up there and I lived there until I was 5, So my parents have been to Disneyland many many many times. And they obviously loved it. But neither have been to WDW. So when I got back from WDW in January, my mom was like, "Ohhhh, I should get down there sometime!" And obviously I was like, YESSSSSS.

So fast forward to a few days ago. My mom is getting ready to visit her brother and sister in California. So we're both out shopping and she says, "I kinda miss getting ready for trips with you" then I say, "Well you could come to Disney World with Billy and I next time we go! " then she goes, "Oh I will! I can only do one thing at a time"

SO MY MOM MIGHT GO TO DISNEY WITH US. She was like, serious too!

-Okay, moving on...the I've decided I'm going to try to watch as many Disney movies as I can! Just to keep me in the mood So last week I watched Snow White. I seriously forgot how adorable that movie is! I love it. Currently, I am watching Sleeping Beauty. I never liked this movie as a kid. It scared me a lot. Hahaha. And I can't get into it like other Disney movies. Buuuut, it's still Disney and I love it!

-Lastly, I was thinking we would try the dining plan...but then I was thinking..I wouldn't want to risk Billy's stomach getting messed up, so I figured we should still eat some food we bring from home for some meals, and maybe go out to eat like, 5 times or so, depending on prices. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO CHOOSE JUST 5 RESTAURANTS!!!​

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Soo, I made a ticker It's not set in stone..dates might change, I might decide I want a new background, etc But I like having one, because I like being able to see how much longer. AND 10 MONTHS DOESN'T EVEN SEEM THAT FAR AWAY!!!

So moving on to dining...

Restaurants I really want to go to:
Biergarten - lunch or dinner
Ohana - breakfast
Be Our Guest - dinner...unless we can't get an ADR. Then lunch
Tusker House - breakfast
Chef Mickey's - breakfast or dinner
Crystal Palace - breakfast lunch or dinner
Boma - breakfast

Those are the places I really want!
Other restaurants I'd like to go to are:
Akershus - breakfast
Pinocchio Village Haus
Liberty Tree Tavern - lunch
1900 Park Fare - breakfast
Kona - breakfast
Tony's Town Square
Whispering Canyon Cafe
50's Prime Time
Olivia's Cafe
Blacklot Express
Sci Fi
Columbia Harbour House

Soooo yeah. Too many choices! But since I'll probably pay OOP, I'll be looking at prices as well. My next item on my agenda is planning park days. so I can plan my dining! ​

 

[Surfinpiratee]

I'm on a roll today!

Park Agenda


We'll obviously be spending the most time at Magic Kingdom and Epcot..
When you guys have park hoppers, do you do 2 parks a day?? Or do you ever just have a full day at one park?

Here's the must do's at each park...

Magic Kingdom:
Maybe Thunder Mountain
Buzz
Maybe Dumbo
Haunted Mansion
Small World
Jungle Cruise
Maybe Winnie the Pooh
Philhar Magic
Laugh Floor
Peter Pan
Pirates
MINE TRAIN!! SO PUMPED.
Splash

Obviously since we'll be there a lot, we could do more. I also loved playing Sorcerers of MK. I'd probably get FP for Splash, Mine Train, and Peter Pan initially.

Definitely want to see Wishes and MSEP.

As far as dining goes around the Magic Kingdom:
Ohana
BOG
Chef Mickey's
Crystal Palace
Pinocchio Village
Liberty Tree
1900 Park Fare
Kona
Tony's
I guess Whispering Canyon..?
Columbia Harbour.


Epcot:
Obviously the countries.
We didn't do the Three Caballeros last time, so maybe that?
Maelstrom (unless it's turned into something else...) -_-
The Sea's with Nemo
Soarin
Maybe Spaceship Earth (didn't do this last time either)
Test Track
Maybe Turtle Talk?

And we'll obviously see Illuminations once..or twice...ya know

Well since Epcot decides to be cool and I can't choose TT and Soarin.. Last trip we chose Soarin, because it was more important to us. So we'll probably chose one of them for the FP, then at RD we'll do the other one. And I know once you use up your original 3 you can get others, but what if they're all gone?!?

Dining by Epcot:
Biergarten
Olivia's Cafe
Akershus
And I guess Ohana, Chef Mickey's, Kona, 1900 if you take the monorail.

Hollywood Studios:
I want to see Fantasmic this trip. It just got chilly last trip (like...under 45 degrees chilly...) So we skipped it! lol, not this year!!!
Maybe we can try the Great Movie Ride...is it really that great?
Star Tours!
Toy Story
Annnnd that's it! We really only need a half day at HS...

Dining by HS:
Sci Fi
Blacklot Express
Olivia's Cafe
50's Prime Time

Animal Kingdom:
Dinosaur
Tough to be a bug
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safari

Now I might not even get FP for AK..we didn't use them last time, the longest we waited was like 10-20 mins for Dinosaur and Safari. So we shall see..''

Dining by AK:
Tusker House
Is AKL close to AK? If so then Boma! ​