WHY A TRIP REPORT?
I followed WDWMagic before our last trip and had full intentions to post a post-trip report but never managed to post it. I have spent a lot more time on the discussion boards over the past couple months and have learned so much from everyone's reports and posts. As I'm sure it is the case with many of you- I want to repay the favor. And what better way to prepare for the trip report than to do a pre-trip one too!
HISTORY:
I went to WDW a few times as a child, at the age of 3, 6 and 11. Then I did not return until 2006, when I was 23- when I attended a conference nearby. (I spent 2 days at WDW with a friend who was also attending the conference and absolutely had a blast.) So when I got married a couple years later, I knew I wanted to share in the Disney magic with my hubby- who had never been before. Long story short, we ended up going as a late-honeymoon, celebrating our 1st anniversary with a Land and Sea Cruise with DCL in 2009. Hubby loved it, but we sort of thought it would be many, many years before we could return for financial reasons.
But when the Travel Channel aired a special on the holidays at WDW last year, I was extremely intrigued. I knew I wanted to see that in person some day. Again, I thought we were talking at least 5 years down the road.
Fast forward to August 2010- I had just completed a couple grueling semesters of grad school while working full time and I was exhausted. We decided we deserved a vacation. I turned to DH and said “What do you think about going to Disney for Christmas?” The response surprised me “That could be a good idea...”
Two weeks later, we had booked flights and made reservations. It was probably the most spontaneous decision we've ever made. But I'm awful glad that we did!!
CAST OF CHARACTERS
This is fairly simple- me and hubby.
My handle is the1nonlysinger, but you can call me Belle. (On the conference trip, new friends decided to call me that since when they asked me to sing- they got a sample from B&TB. That became my name for the entire conference...)
(This photo is actually from 2006 but I realized that I don’t have a more recent photo of me with Belle!)
And then there's Hubby. When I asked him what nickname he wanted- he came up with Mr. Incredible. lol I swear he's modest! But I do think he's pretty incredible anyway
TRIP DETAILS
December 11-18, 2010
7 days in the parks
Accommodations at All-Star Movies
Trying out DDP for the first time (YAY for free dining promotion!)
SPECIFIC PLANS
*NOTE: Although this may seem like a lot of detail, we haven’t really planned out a touring plan of rides per say- and although we’ll have somewhat of a plan, we’ll also go where the wind takes us too. We also opted to do a regular MYW ticket rather than a park-hopper, since we planned to stay in one park each day anyway. We used the saved money to purchase our MVMCP tickets instead!**
December 11-
Arrival/DTD
fly into Orlando, check into hotel, then heading to DTD. Shopping, food and tickets to La Nouba! Also looking forward to an amazing sundae at Ghiradelli's.
December 12-
EPCOT-
lunch res at Via Napoli
plans to see Candlelight Processional (with Steven Curtis Chapman) and Illuminations
December 13-
Magic Kingdom
Dinner res at Liberty Tree Tavern
Plans to see the regular afternoon parade, Electrical Parade, regular Wishes, and EMH at MK til 11
December 14-
Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom (MVMCP)
no ressies today...
planning to catch the Jingle Jungle Parade, and then head over to MVMCP at MK!
(Might check out AKL decorations)
December 15-
Hollywood Studios
Res for breakfast at Chef Mickey's and a late lunch at 50s Prime Time.
Planning to see Block Party Bash, Fantasmic and check out the Osbourne Lights
December 16-
EPCOT
Lunch res at Le Cellier and dinner res at Garden Grill.
Second time around for Illuminations, and plan to check out the EPCOT resort decorations & Christmas Around the World (in the countries).
December 17-
Hollywood Studios
Breakfast res at 1900 Park Fare
(Set up as backup day for Fantasmic- so that will determine plans for sure)
Plan to audition for American Idol Experience; possibly catch the Osbourne light switch or Fantasmic for the 2nd time, if I don't make finale show.
Head over to the Poly to watch the fireworks from MK (9 pm)
December 18-
Magic Kingdom
Lunch res at Crystal Palace
Then flight home
Things I'm looking forward to the most (not necessarily in any order):
1) Christmas at WDW in general! Decorations, special shows (Candlelight Processional in particular), fireworks, and Osbourne Lights!
2) Fantasmic. As I've mentioned in a previous post- our last trip, we sat in the pouring rain for an hour and a half just to have it cancelled on the one day that it was playing while we were there. So this time, we planned it so that we would have 2 chances to see it. Here's hoping it plays at least one of those times. I have still never seen it!
Here’s us being rained out in 2009.
3) The food. :slurp: Previous trips have been on a really tight budget. With the help of the DDP, we're actually going to have a chance to eat at a lot of TS restaurants we wouldn't otherwise be able to. By spending time with menus, I've estimated that we will be saving $500 if we had gotten the same food out of pocket. I love saving money...
Specifics I can't wait to try:
Cinnamon Roll at Main Street Bakery- have been craving this for months now.
The cheddar soup at Le Cellier!
Via Napoli in general
Thanksgiving meal at LTT (mmmm)
4) La Nouba. Who wouldn't love to see Cirque De Soleil?! It will be the first night we arrive in Florida, so I'm just hoping we'll be able to stay awake after our long journey that day. But overall, I can't wait to start our trip on this note.
5) Okay this is going to sound odd but Space Mountain. I am not a fan of thrill rides- we don't do ToT, RnRC or EE. I have major motion sickness issues. Our last trip we got in line to board Space Mountain and I chickened out at the last second. I've done Splash Mountain and BTMRR- so if I can overcome my trepidation, this will be the first time I conquer the trio of MK mountains. Wish me luck!
6)American Idol Experience (maybe). I know- *groan*. But I was at HS during the soft opening and got to participate in one of the 1st round of shows. They told me I was going to be singing one song in particular and then I found out a half hour before the performance that they had me singing “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas instead. It's a nice song and all but I wouldn't have actually chose it for AIE... So I'm hoping to redeem myself. (But this does depend on Fantasmic, as mentioned in #2)
(From our 2009 trip)
7) Having time to explore for once. Since last trip was Mr. Incredible's first time- we had to see EVERYTHING and in only 5 days. Now we know what we can skip (SGE!!!) and what we want to spend more time doing (i.e. Countries in EPCOT). We've scheduled some meals at resorts and have plans to take in some others- a first for both of us.
8) This one seems obvious but I'll say it anyway. Having a break from life. Not having to work- having time away from responsibilities and just getting to relax. Pretty much a duh statement but it still needed to be said anyway.
9) Photographing WDW. As is the case with many of WDWMagic members I have a very close relationship with my camera.
Can't wait to capture every part of the trip! (Also planning to preorder a photopass CD—last time we didn’t bother hitting up all the photo-ops because of our time crunch. This time, I’m planning to take full advantage of them- and hopefully have some good photos of myself for a change- since I’m usually the one behind the camera!)
10) And last but certainly not least- Soarin'. It's our favorite ride and I just can't wait to go ride it again. We put the soundtrack on and listen to the music and it makes me long to be there!
OTHER STUFF
You may have seen one of my other posts regarding my issues with our flights. We finally got that resolved- although we have to drive an hour to get a flight out of the next town over. Praying that they don't change our flights again!!
One thing I will miss while we’re gone:
My puppy. But I know she will be in good hands- my parents are watching her for the week. Doesn’t mean I won’t still miss her…
That's pretty much it for now! If you made it this far- I'm glad you stuck with me. Countdown is down to 40 days- it's so close!
I followed WDWMagic before our last trip and had full intentions to post a post-trip report but never managed to post it. I have spent a lot more time on the discussion boards over the past couple months and have learned so much from everyone's reports and posts. As I'm sure it is the case with many of you- I want to repay the favor. And what better way to prepare for the trip report than to do a pre-trip one too!
HISTORY:
I went to WDW a few times as a child, at the age of 3, 6 and 11. Then I did not return until 2006, when I was 23- when I attended a conference nearby. (I spent 2 days at WDW with a friend who was also attending the conference and absolutely had a blast.) So when I got married a couple years later, I knew I wanted to share in the Disney magic with my hubby- who had never been before. Long story short, we ended up going as a late-honeymoon, celebrating our 1st anniversary with a Land and Sea Cruise with DCL in 2009. Hubby loved it, but we sort of thought it would be many, many years before we could return for financial reasons.
But when the Travel Channel aired a special on the holidays at WDW last year, I was extremely intrigued. I knew I wanted to see that in person some day. Again, I thought we were talking at least 5 years down the road.
Fast forward to August 2010- I had just completed a couple grueling semesters of grad school while working full time and I was exhausted. We decided we deserved a vacation. I turned to DH and said “What do you think about going to Disney for Christmas?” The response surprised me “That could be a good idea...”
Two weeks later, we had booked flights and made reservations. It was probably the most spontaneous decision we've ever made. But I'm awful glad that we did!!
CAST OF CHARACTERS
This is fairly simple- me and hubby.
My handle is the1nonlysinger, but you can call me Belle. (On the conference trip, new friends decided to call me that since when they asked me to sing- they got a sample from B&TB. That became my name for the entire conference...)
(This photo is actually from 2006 but I realized that I don’t have a more recent photo of me with Belle!)
And then there's Hubby. When I asked him what nickname he wanted- he came up with Mr. Incredible. lol I swear he's modest! But I do think he's pretty incredible anyway
TRIP DETAILS
December 11-18, 2010
7 days in the parks
Accommodations at All-Star Movies
Trying out DDP for the first time (YAY for free dining promotion!)
SPECIFIC PLANS
*NOTE: Although this may seem like a lot of detail, we haven’t really planned out a touring plan of rides per say- and although we’ll have somewhat of a plan, we’ll also go where the wind takes us too. We also opted to do a regular MYW ticket rather than a park-hopper, since we planned to stay in one park each day anyway. We used the saved money to purchase our MVMCP tickets instead!**
December 11-
Arrival/DTD
fly into Orlando, check into hotel, then heading to DTD. Shopping, food and tickets to La Nouba! Also looking forward to an amazing sundae at Ghiradelli's.
December 12-
EPCOT-
lunch res at Via Napoli
plans to see Candlelight Processional (with Steven Curtis Chapman) and Illuminations
December 13-
Magic Kingdom
Dinner res at Liberty Tree Tavern
Plans to see the regular afternoon parade, Electrical Parade, regular Wishes, and EMH at MK til 11
December 14-
Animal Kingdom/Magic Kingdom (MVMCP)
no ressies today...
planning to catch the Jingle Jungle Parade, and then head over to MVMCP at MK!
(Might check out AKL decorations)
December 15-
Hollywood Studios
Res for breakfast at Chef Mickey's and a late lunch at 50s Prime Time.
Planning to see Block Party Bash, Fantasmic and check out the Osbourne Lights
December 16-
EPCOT
Lunch res at Le Cellier and dinner res at Garden Grill.
Second time around for Illuminations, and plan to check out the EPCOT resort decorations & Christmas Around the World (in the countries).
December 17-
Hollywood Studios
Breakfast res at 1900 Park Fare
(Set up as backup day for Fantasmic- so that will determine plans for sure)
Plan to audition for American Idol Experience; possibly catch the Osbourne light switch or Fantasmic for the 2nd time, if I don't make finale show.
Head over to the Poly to watch the fireworks from MK (9 pm)
December 18-
Magic Kingdom
Lunch res at Crystal Palace
Then flight home
Things I'm looking forward to the most (not necessarily in any order):
1) Christmas at WDW in general! Decorations, special shows (Candlelight Processional in particular), fireworks, and Osbourne Lights!
2) Fantasmic. As I've mentioned in a previous post- our last trip, we sat in the pouring rain for an hour and a half just to have it cancelled on the one day that it was playing while we were there. So this time, we planned it so that we would have 2 chances to see it. Here's hoping it plays at least one of those times. I have still never seen it!
Here’s us being rained out in 2009.
3) The food. :slurp: Previous trips have been on a really tight budget. With the help of the DDP, we're actually going to have a chance to eat at a lot of TS restaurants we wouldn't otherwise be able to. By spending time with menus, I've estimated that we will be saving $500 if we had gotten the same food out of pocket. I love saving money...
Specifics I can't wait to try:
Cinnamon Roll at Main Street Bakery- have been craving this for months now.
The cheddar soup at Le Cellier!
Via Napoli in general
Thanksgiving meal at LTT (mmmm)
4) La Nouba. Who wouldn't love to see Cirque De Soleil?! It will be the first night we arrive in Florida, so I'm just hoping we'll be able to stay awake after our long journey that day. But overall, I can't wait to start our trip on this note.
5) Okay this is going to sound odd but Space Mountain. I am not a fan of thrill rides- we don't do ToT, RnRC or EE. I have major motion sickness issues. Our last trip we got in line to board Space Mountain and I chickened out at the last second. I've done Splash Mountain and BTMRR- so if I can overcome my trepidation, this will be the first time I conquer the trio of MK mountains. Wish me luck!
6)American Idol Experience (maybe). I know- *groan*. But I was at HS during the soft opening and got to participate in one of the 1st round of shows. They told me I was going to be singing one song in particular and then I found out a half hour before the performance that they had me singing “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas instead. It's a nice song and all but I wouldn't have actually chose it for AIE... So I'm hoping to redeem myself. (But this does depend on Fantasmic, as mentioned in #2)
(From our 2009 trip)
7) Having time to explore for once. Since last trip was Mr. Incredible's first time- we had to see EVERYTHING and in only 5 days. Now we know what we can skip (SGE!!!) and what we want to spend more time doing (i.e. Countries in EPCOT). We've scheduled some meals at resorts and have plans to take in some others- a first for both of us.
8) This one seems obvious but I'll say it anyway. Having a break from life. Not having to work- having time away from responsibilities and just getting to relax. Pretty much a duh statement but it still needed to be said anyway.
9) Photographing WDW. As is the case with many of WDWMagic members I have a very close relationship with my camera.
Can't wait to capture every part of the trip! (Also planning to preorder a photopass CD—last time we didn’t bother hitting up all the photo-ops because of our time crunch. This time, I’m planning to take full advantage of them- and hopefully have some good photos of myself for a change- since I’m usually the one behind the camera!)10) And last but certainly not least- Soarin'. It's our favorite ride and I just can't wait to go ride it again. We put the soundtrack on and listen to the music and it makes me long to be there!
OTHER STUFF
You may have seen one of my other posts regarding my issues with our flights. We finally got that resolved- although we have to drive an hour to get a flight out of the next town over. Praying that they don't change our flights again!!
One thing I will miss while we’re gone:
My puppy. But I know she will be in good hands- my parents are watching her for the week. Doesn’t mean I won’t still miss her…
That's pretty much it for now! If you made it this far- I'm glad you stuck with me. Countdown is down to 40 days- it's so close!
