What if... we went to Disney?! A May 2012 PTR

[elsa2304]

I'm gonna take a stab at this whole PTR/TR thing that I have so often read. I've lurked the boards for years... reading PTR/TR and very seldom actually commenting. Not because I don't want to, but because it always seemed so foreign to me... talking to people I feel like I know but don't actually know.

So... Let me start off by introducing "the cast" (of two)
Me: I'm a (almost) 26 year old Disney fanatic! I've gone to WDW more times than I can remember and absolutely love the parks. I'm a nurse in a busy Detroit area ER so I work hard and like to have fun when I'm not at work. My absolute dream job: reindeer in the Christmas parade/Disney wedding planner. I'm kind of a goof.
DBF: Ben, a (almost) 30 year old sociological research student/Detroit Tigers baseball superfan. He's been to WDW once (when he was 20 for a few days) and to DL once (when he was a kiddo). He's basically a Disney newbie since the one time he's been to WDW they didn't see much due to lack of knowledge/research.

How this trip came to be:
My college roommate (also a nurse) and I recently met up in Chicago (where she lives) and we jokingly said we should plan a trip to Disney. And then the joke quickly turned into "OH MY GOSH LETS GO TO DISNEY FOR REAL!". Since we both are RNs, we have very flexible schedules and after looking at the deals for free dining, we decided that we should totally take advantage of the free dining at the end of January and booked a trip to CBR for the week of Jan 30-Feb 3. The whole time this trip came into fruition, I started dating my DBF. He and I had talked about taking a road trip to Chicago in May but didn't actually plan anything... just kinda talked. Well, about a week ago we were at dinner and kind of talking about my trip with my friend and our trip to Chicago when I suddenly exclaimed: What if... we went to Disney?! He thought the trip might be out of budget but once I looked at the deals for the spring (all while eating dinner) we realized it would be just about the same amount of money for a hotel, I'd have an AP at that point so the cost was actually about the same. It was at that point that the "Disney Trip" was born...

The tenative plan at this point is to fly down to FL on May 6th and fly back May 12th... staying at Pop Century (my DBF is a pop culture freak.. it kinda goes along with the whole sociology thing). I'm really hoping to show him the parks that I love and get him excited for future trips (hehe). He is super open to planning and wants to get involved and pick places and come up with ideas (which makes me super excited).

Alright... guess that is as far as I have for right now... we'll see how this thing goes!

 

[elsa2304]

So many changes in one week! Okay, so it wasn't so much as a change as a elaboration on the initial plan. At dinner DBF were chatting about Disney (he's already so excited and wants to do planning.. love it! )And he casually suggested that we drive to WDW instead of fly. I am a flier... I love flying, love airports, love anything to do with flying. DBF hates flying or rather, is scared of flying despite having flown multiple times to Australia and back when he lived there. The idea of a road trip sounded exciting so I took him up on it!
The new trip date: May 5th to May 13th, giving us extra days for travel and not interrupting our ressies at Pop.
DBF wants to plan meal reservations together, and since this is like his first time there, I will let him plan BUT! I did secretly book a breakfast at Ohana since DBF likes Stitch! So, May 12th, before hitting the road, his last experience at Disney will be Poly and Ohana (hehe, secretly hoping he falls in love with Poly or Wilderness Lodge so I can convince him to go back and stay Deluxe!)

 

[Sizzle]

woohoo! I'll be on my honeymoon there at the same time so I'm following along with your plans! =)

 

[JessicaKnits]

Awesome! Sounds like you have a fun trip planned for yourselves, can't wait to read more about it!

 

[elsa2304]

DBF is busy in school, so his time is calculated by days of class, papers, readings, etc... whereas my time is calculated by countdowns to Disney World. I leave for my next trip to WDW in just 12 days (without DBF) but in my head I will be using it as a way to get little surprises to keep him excited for the trip.

I sent him a text today with a screen shot of the WDW reservation page which shows "97 days till your vacation!" that really got him excited! I think the fact that it is less than 100 days away really pumped him up.

He totally got excited last night for the trip and was eager to start reading about places to make ADRs. He might be a keeper lol.

The thoughts of my upcoming WDW trip are keeping me sane as I work 4 12 hours shifts in a row starting tomorrow

 

[elsa2304]

I'm sitting at MCO right now.. the giant water fountain to my left and the rush of 300 dance teams from the US buzzing around as they head to WDW just as I am saying goodbye to my trip.
Back story: my college roommate and I decided to go to WDW a few months ago and we booked free dining during our stay at Caribbean Beach.. We stayed Monday through Friday (today) and loved, loved, LOVED the short lines!

Just as I always get sad at the end of one trip, because, well.. its ending, I can be really excited because I know that I'll be back in 4 short months. It will go by fast.

So now I really need to amp up my game... less than 100 days till DBF and I go to Disney World and with his hectic work schedule, I gotta get on top of the ADRs. I've booked Whispering Canyon (personal favorite) and Ohana (DBF loves the Stitch)... but I want two more ADRs. I know he'd LOVE Sci-Fi even though I don't really care for the food - I will probably go with that. But that leaves one more that I need to figure out.

But now, its time for me to start sorting through the 1000+ photos I took from the trip I'm leaving behind.

 

[elsa2304]

Our original plan for WDW changed... seems to be the theme of this trip.
As my DBF and I are planning for this trip a strange thing started to occur... gas prices went up. And I mean UP. Okay, it isn't SUCH a strange thing, but suddenly our "gas allowance" seemed ridiculous on top of hotel cost, etc. So we crunched some numbers and my afraid of flying DBF decided he wanted to fly lol.

Delta Airlines here we come! I'm actually excited we're flying down again... I love love love flying. Of course, DBF decided he didn't want window seats so he has an aisle seat while I have middle of the row seat. Boo. The things I do for the one I love lol.

Anyway, as a compromise, we added a day to our Disney stay and we're now staying 5/6/12 till 5/13/12. YAY!!! SUPER EXCITED.

 

[FairestOfThemAll]

Gas prices were a shock for me and my group, too. How did you find a flight that was cheaper than driving?? You must have amazing bargain-hunting skills.