"Well....why can't I spend my birthday with Mickey?" Complete

[TxMickeyLover]

Hello everyone! Welcome to my pre-trip report!

So I've been toying with the idea for some time to do a trip report. I love reading them, but have never written one, and I thought, "Why not?!" It seems like the perfect way to count down the time between now and our trip!

The Cast
My DH Jon and I. We are both 28, about to turn 29 (he Oct. 1, and me Nov 9.)

We love Disney more than just about anything. Jon is a die-hard Nightmare Before Christmas fan, and I just love Mickey and Minnie. And Wall-E. And the Princesses. And... See what I mean?

Thanks for coming along with me!

 

[TxMickeyLover]

Chapter One: How this trip came to be
Chapter Two: The Details
Chapter Three: The Schedule
Chapter Four:My Planning Craziness
Chapter Five:Planning Binder Pics
Segue:Wishes Dessert Party...To do or not to do?
Chapter Six:We're getting so close!
Chapter Seven:10 Days Left!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 1 - We're on our way!
Day 2 - Epcot, part one
Day 2 - Epcot, part two
Day 3 - Magic Kingdom for my birthday! Part one
Day 3 - Magic Kingdom for my birthday! Part two
Day 4 - DHS (Even though it will always be MGM to me!)
Day 5 - Animal Kingdom (let the illness begin!)
Day 6 - MK (It's NOT supposed to be this cold in Florida!)
Day 7 - Epcot (I know I was there, I have the pictures to prove it!)
Day 8 - It's time to go home

 

[TxMickeyLover]

My first trip to Disney World was in September, 2007. We went for 10 days and bought Annual Passes...so we just had to go back in 2008, right?! So back we were in April, 2008. When our AP's expired September 7, 2008, it seemed like one of the saddest days of our lives. But we didn't know when we would be back.

Fast forward to early 2009, and we were planning a trip to Disneyland. Frankly, I was overwhelmed. We sat and talked about it, and decided we would really rather go to WDW instead. And, since birthdays are the big celebration this year, why not go for one of our birthdays? And, since Jon's birthday falls a month before mine, why not go for my birthday this year, and then go for his birthday next year? An AP would work perfectly! Off to the Disney Store!

We decided to fly JetBlue this year, since it's direct from Austin to Orlando, so when the prices came out, we jumped on them and got a great deal! Total price was $378.40 for round trip!

Mickey, we're on our way!

Next up: The Details

 

[TxMickeyLover]

We will be at WDW from Saturday, November 7 to Saturday, November 14. My birthday is Monday, November 9. I will wear my button all week. I know that's a hotspot here on the DIS, but it will probably be the only time I'm at WDW for my birthday, and I'm celebrating!!!

Where are we staying???

The Poly! I'm so excited!!!!!

We're staying in Garden View, and we've requested Samoa on the Volcano pool side. I know requests are not guaranteed, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a little birthday magic!

Next up: The Schedule

 

[TxMickeyLover]

We are not big on sticking to schedules. We join the UG site to get the crowd calendar, but that's about it. No RideMax or Tour Guide Mike for us. That said, we do like to do ADR's, because we enjoy many of the restaurants at the World, but that's it. Having AP's, we can head to whatever park we feel like, and then hop over to our ADR's. We decided to purchase the dining plan, and then lucked out and got Free Dining! I tried to talk Jon into getting the deluxe plan, but no dice. We certainly have enough TS meals planned. Oh well...such is life!

Anyway....on to the schedule!

Saturday, 11/7
Our flight arrives at 6:45 pm, so we will probably just grab something at Captain Cook's, explore the Poly, and settle in.

Sunday, 11/8
We have a 7:30 breakfast ADR at Ohana, then off to Epcot for the last day of the food and wine festival. We'll probably spend most of the day in the World Showcase, and lunch will either be at the festival booths or Tangierene Cafe (YUM!). Dinner is Le Cellier at 8:25pm

Monday, 11/9 - My birthday
We have an 8:35 am breakfast ADR at Cinderella's Royal Table. Then we'll mess around MK until our 2pm tea at the Grand Floridian. For those who have never done this, we HIGHLY recommend it! Two thumbs up! Then, because you know we will still be hungry, we have a 5:30 ADR for Chef Mickey's. I really wanted to do both Chef Mickey's and Wishes that night, so I thought this time might be the safest to get back to the MK in time.

Tuesday, 11/10
We're hoping for rope drop at DHS to get to TSM in time. We've never done this, as it opened a month after our last visit. We are SUPER excited to try it! Then off to ToT and RRNC, then lunch at Sci-Fi at 11am. That may be a little overly ambitious, but if it doesn't work out that way, that's fine. We'll roll with whatever. We have a 6pm dinner at Prime Time Cafe. Then, hopefully Osborne Lights!

Wednesday, 11/11
Kona Cafe for a 7:35 breakfast, then off to Animal Kingdom. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite parks. We'll do lunch at Flame Tree BBQ, and we plan to stay for evening EMH, since we've never done them at AK. Then off to Boma at AKL for a 9pm dinner. WE LOVE BOMA!!

Thursday, 11/12
We have an 8:20 am breakfast at Whispering Canyon. We don't have any parks planned for this day, so we'll either hang out at the Poly and swim, or head over to the Boardwalk. We've never done the Boardwalk before. Then we have dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern at 5pm, and MVMCP that night.

Friday, 11/13
Back to Epcot today. We'll probably do Sunshine Seasons for breakfast, then hit some of our favorites until noon, when we have lunch at the Biergarten. We have a 3pm Behind the Seeds tour, which we are VERY excited for! Then a 5:20 dinner at Garden Grill. They have PM EMH, so we'll probably close the park down.

Saturday, 11/14
This is Go Home day. But we will have one last hurrah at the Crystal Palace at 9am, before we have to head to the airport for our 2:52 pm flight.

We're all paid off now. Hopefully we'll get our docs soon. I'm SOOOO excited!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Hi, I saw your link when you posted on my PTR and had to follow you over there.

Your plans look fantastic, we are in WDW Nov. 4th - 11th, but we have completely different schedules. I like you dining choices and Bill loves your resort choice. I can't wait to read about the Poly. We are going to try for there in Dec. 2010.

I hope you have a magical birthday celebration and Christian will be wearing his birthday button for as long as he want to as well .

 

[TxMickeyLover]

Hi, I saw your link when you posted on my PTR and had to follow you over there.

Your plans look fantastic, we are in WDW Nov. 4th - 11th, but we have completely different schedules. I like you dining choices and Bill loves your resort choice. I can't wait to read about the Poly. We are going to try for there in Dec. 2010.

I hope you have a magical birthday celebration and Christian will be wearing his birthday button for as long as he want to as well .

Hi MrsKSomeday, thanks for stopping by! We are super excited about the Poly. We explored the resort some on our last trip and fell in love. I'll be sure and report all the details when we get back!

 

[TxMickeyLover]

It seems like with each trip, I'm getting crazier with the planning, and making sure we have everything we need at our fingertips.

In 2007, we took a planning portfolio with just our boarding passes, resort and dining confirmations, our AP's, and a list of park hours. We were all set.

In 2008, I thought it might be fun to get a little creative, so I printed out index cards for each day with park hours, ADR confirmations for that day, etc., and had them laminated so they would be easy to carry with us.

This leads us to 2009. I have gone full-out binder crazy. I love office supplies, and I take every opportunity I can to shop for them. I bought a binder, durable plastic dividers with tabs, and sheet protectors. I grabbed some Mickey head paint samples from Home Depot. I downloaded font and clip art, and searched for planning spreadsheet ideas. Jon thinks I've lost it, but bi-golly, if we need it, we will have it.

Here are my sections:
Checklists, Spreadsheet, & Weather (I've included a packing checklist, and my birthday celebration registration in this section, as well as a pocket for our AP's.
Travel InformationThis section includes our flight confirmation, and will include our Magical Express info when it comes.
Package InformationResort Confirmation, Travel insurance info, and I'll include the vouchers and things that come with the package.
DiningADR Confirmations (which I have yet to add....I'm such a slacker), and info on the dining plan to refer to, since this is our first time using it.
Extra'sMVMCP tickets, tour info, etc.
MapsMy customized maps for the parks.

On top of all of this, I have put together a planning spreadsheet with the info for each day (ADR times, confirmation numbers, park hour for every park, EMH parks, Wishes/Spectro/Fantasmic schedules, etc.), as well as all of our confirmation numbers and important phone numbers.

I don't have any pictures to post right now, but I will try to take some and post them.

 

[mrsksomeday]

YAY another binder person!!

I embraced the binder craze this year and am happy I did it. I can't wait to see pictures!

 

[jkCT]

Hi there!

I followed mrsK over here from her pre-TR...looking forward to hearing about your trip!! The Poly...ah, I dream about staying there one day.

 

[TxMickeyLover]

YAY another binder person!!

I embraced the binder craze this year and am happy I did it. I can't wait to see pictures!

I have had SO much fun working on the binder. As soon as Jon pulls some old pictures off the camera, I'll take pictures and post them!

Hi there!

I followed mrsK over here from her pre-TR...looking forward to hearing about your trip!! The Poly...ah, I dream about staying there one day.

Hi Jen! Welcome! Yes, we are super excited about the Poly. It is our dream resort. We figured since we don't have kids yet, and we got a little boost from tax returns and Christmas/Birthday money, we might as well stay there while we have the chance!

 

[jgazda]

Sounds like a great trip! We'll be there the same week and even at the same parks on some days. Great minds think alike!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hey Tiffany,

Subbing on...

Your plans look great and the Poly is gorgeous...what a great place for a celebration...

All good Diser's have binders...I think its almost a requirement...

Tell me a little about your experience with D23-I'm thinking about asking for a membership as a holiday gift...

 

[TxMickeyLover]

As promised, here are some pics of my planning binder. I've had so much fun putting it together!

Here's the cover:

Everything else is pretty self-explanatory:

I also thought I would include a pic of my spreadsheet. If anyone would like a copy, just PM me your email address, and I'll send you one.

And on an excited note, we are down to 55 days today!

 

[TxMickeyLover]

Sounds like a great trip! We'll be there the same week and even at the same parks on some days. Great minds think alike!

I think that's going to be a great week to be there! I'm so excited! How funny that our schedules are so similar. If you see us, be sure and say hi!!

Hey Tiffany,

Subbing on...

Your plans look great and the Poly is gorgeous...what a great place for a celebration...

All good Diser's have binders...I think its almost a requirement...

Tell me a little about your experience with D23-I'm thinking about asking for a membership as a holiday gift...

Hi Patricia! We are VERY excited about the Poly. It is a very beautiful resort.

I really like D23. The quarterly magazine is very good quality, with interesting articles, and usually a little piece of history found in the archives. I know one of the magazines came with a really cool Disneyland souvenir fan that was passed out as a promotional item before the park opened. We, unfortunately, didn't get to go to the expo this year. I'm hoping for next year! The only thing I wish is that they had more events for everyone, and not just in California and Florida. As it picks up, though, maybe that's something they plan to strive for. For me, though, just the magazine alone is worth the membership fee.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Like I said-all good Diser's have binders-and yours is certainly impressive...

Thanks for the imput about D23-I saw a copy of the magazine in Writer's corner- in the Studios...just out to read-It was an absolutely lovely magazine.......

(I'd love to go to D23 too sometime-even for a day or two at the expo and a day or two at DL...hmm....that would make a great mommy/daddy getaway...

I agree with you-it would be great if they took D23 on the "road"-I think I read somewhere that for the next couple of years its going to be in Annaheim...

 

[TxMickeyLover]

Like I said-all good Diser's have binders-and yours is certainly impressive...

Thanks for the imput about D23-I saw a copy of the magazine in Writer's corner- in the Studios...just out to read-It was an absolutely lovely magazine.......

(I'd love to go to D23 too sometime-even for a day or two at the expo and a day or two at DL...hmm....that would make a great mommy/daddy getaway...

I agree with you-it would be great if they took D23 on the "road"-I think I read somewhere that for the next couple of years its going to be in Annaheim...

Thanks for the compliment on the binder! I have had so much fun putting it together.

D23 is a lovely magazine. I have lots of magazine subscriptions, but it's the only one I stop to read as soon as it comes in.

I agree that D23 would make a great mommy/daddy trip! I really want to go next year, but it will probably be about the same time we are heading to WDW for Jon's birthday, so I doubt we will going to make it. Especially if it's in Anaheim!

 

[TxMickeyLover]

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile....it's been a crazy week at work!

On a higher note we leave 50 days from today!!!

 

[TxMickeyLover]

I see they've extended the Wishes Dessert Party into December. Has anyone done this? We are trying to decide if we want to or not, and are leaning towards not doing it. I'm just wondering if anyone has done it, and if they have a good review that might change our minds.

 

[jgazda]

I have been debating this too since I saw they extended it. My biggest issue is the only days it is available are the Christmas party days. In my opinion, if I am going to pay extra for the party, I'm not going to pay even more for just dessert and fireworks and miss some expensive party time. Just my opinion. Good luck. We're down to 44 now!