Pre-Trip Round Five! Twelve months of shenanigans ends with a family Surf n’ Turf Spring Break.

So here we are again! Seems like only yesterday I was finishing up my last TR… The title kind of says it all, this will be round five for us in less than twelve months. This has been, by far, an atypical year for our Disney Family. For those with a lot of time and maybe a grain of boredom you may find the following chronology of interest, it sure was fun making it!

Round one, May: Not even first world problems can hold us back
Round two, July: Anything can happen on Castaway Creek
Round three, September: The “who told him about the panoramic setting on his phone?” Surf n’ Turf Anniversary trip
Round four, December: The “Let’s see if this dumb thing works” Treat Yo Self Christmas trip report!

So really the genesis of this story began literally one year ago today when we came to a contract agreement on our first DVC purchase which subsequently led to another purchase a few months later! We quickly found ourselves with a fair amount of banked points that had to be used and use them we did! This trip will host a few firsts for our family; most notably will be our DDs first cruise! The DW and I may be more excited for her than she is but I also think she may not be letting on how excited she may be to save face, crazy teen logic. Additionally, this will be our family’s first time at the Poly. We are all still armed with valid APs and a TiW card, really maximized both this year will continue that this trip! So there ya have some back story. Here is the happy crew:
May:
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July:
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September:
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December:
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The plan:
Wed/Thur:
It is our intent to head down from gold city to Macon after class on Wednesday night and catch some sleep part way down before an early rise and shine departure for The World. We’ve got our room reserved in Macon already at La Quinta so that’s set. We are aiming to be at the Poly by noon on Thursday for some R&R by the pool before our ADR at the Grand Floridian Cafe then some evening FPs at MK. This will be our first time at the Poly and we are both excited about trying it out and a little worried we may love it and want to buy more points there. I do think the lack of a 1-bdrm option may ultimately prevent us from buying there but stranger things have happened.

Fri-Mon:
As has become our cruise departure day tradition, all two of them, we have our Kona breakfast planned bright and early before we head for port. One nice thing about being at the Poly is we don’t have to get up as early to drive for breakfast! After a press and a Big Kahuna we’ll be off for port and The Dream for a few days. I’ll let @imahistorygeek expand on the funtivities that will ensue at sea. Castaway 5k is still up in the air for the family but I think I may like to have another go at it solo to see what I can clock. The island is so flat it felt like running downhill the whole time in September I’m accustom to things like this:
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The flip side of me running is what are the ladies going to do? So, that’s still in the air. I do know the DW and I have a Palo night planned but as for the rest I’ll let my better half outline the details.

Mon:
So we disembark and plan for some more R&R poolside at AKL while our 1-bdrm at Jambo house gets ready. We hope to take it mostly easy this day and have a dinner Yak & Yeti ADR before a few FPs at HS.

Tue:
We have some early morning FPs planned at AK on this day and NOTHING ELSE outside of an ADR at Jiko. This will probably end up being a big R&R Maji pool day with the possibility of us catching Wishes or the Star Wars fireworks that night. After learning about pitchers of Golden Monkey at Maji in December I would say the odds of a repeat are strong!

Wed:
Nothing planned in the AM so far but do have evening FPs planned for MK. We are still up in the air on what our final dinner will be. We’ve gotta get cracking on planning the final dinner. Since we have yet to designate a Sanaa meal, I wouldn’t be surprised if we did lunch there on this day, or maybe on Monday, or both…. TBD. Still lots of planning needed for this day, or not…

Thur:
As is our tradition, the final day is always rope drop at AK for a journey through time, a whirl or two, and a few dances with at Club Disco Yeti.

So there you have it! Some TBDs include dinner on the last night and just what is going to happen on The Dream for three days with an ornery teen and two Disney dorks! We got our first round of MBs yesterday and I’ll post some comments about them soon along with, hopefully, more details about that finals dinner!
 
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WDWDarling

Well-Known Member
Woooo Pre-Trip! Following along of course. I live not too far out from the path down towards Florida so i'm just gonna hop in the trunk as you guys pass k? ;)

DH & I are about to pull the trigger on a 4 night Bahamian cruise on the Dream for next May so I am loving any and all cruise reports/details. :D
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Woooo Pre-Trip! Following along of course. I live not too far out from the path down towards Florida so i'm just gonna hop in the trunk as you guys pass k? ;)
Pack lite!

DH & I are about to pull the trigger on a 4 night Bahamian cruise on the Dream for next May so I am loving any and all cruise reports/details. :D
Pull it!! You wont regret it!
 

imahistorygeek

Well-Known Member
I sometimes wonder if we'll ever get bored going to Disney. Then I just realize I'm being crazy. There's always something new to experience at Disney!

I don't have much to add here, so I'll just make some comments based on Sean's original post.

DVC - I'm amazed how far we have come with this. I mentioned DVC to Sean when points were in the $90ish ( I think) range. His response was absolutely no way. However, the seed had been planted. I think we really became serious about it when we realized we were renting a lot of points. Being the frugal folks (well Sean) we are, we looked into resale. Now, we almost have to restrain ourselves from buying more. I REALLY HOPE we don't like the Poly enough to buy. Then again, can you ever have too many points? This is also the trip I'm trying to put together a DVC box for the stuff we normally bring, so I don't have to repack it every trip.

DD and first cruise - Well, this has been something of an eye-opener. When we first approached her about this, it was with the understanding that she was not to cling to us like glue. That was her normal MO. In the past months she's been itching to become more independent. She's wanting a new swimsuit, wants to hang out in the teen areas, and pretty much only wants to see us when we eat. I'm good with that. She's 14. It's to be expected. I also believe she's more excited than she's letting on. She's really hoping to find someone she can hang out with.

I really don't have anything to add to the WDW portion of our trip. My area of specialty is the cruise.

Embarkation Day
It's going to be an early day, but that's our norm. We will have our carry-on bags ready and bellies full of Kona goodness. We normally pack our documents, sunscreen, alcohol, and wear our swimsuits. We usually arrive, park on the deck three, and wait in a smallish line. Once in the terminal we check in and hang out while we wait for boarding to begin. This is the time to check out the navigator. Once boarding begins we are quickly on the boat. We will head to guest services and sign up for a mixology, the 5k (maybe - running is the devil's invention), and whatever else. Then it's on to Cabanas!

Later on we head to the pool or do whatever since kid is in tow. We'll hit up the DVC presentation and then it will probably be time for the rooms to open up. We just fill up the rest of the day with stuff.

Nassau Day
We'll hang out on the ship and hit up the Rainforest Room. We'll also have a dinner at Palo that evening. The tuscan white bean soup better watch out. DD will fend for herself.

Castaway Cay
Sean will probably do the 5k. I'm torn between wanting the medal and not wanting to run. As I mentioned before...the devil's invention. Signed DD up for some teen adventure that will keep her busy for a while. They take the teens on a bike ride, boat ride, and then back for snorkeling. Seems like fun. We will hang out at the adult beach. Honestly, I was a bit nervous about this one because I was afraid Sophie would want to tag along. I really don't want to go to the family beach, so it all works out. Back on board for dinner and whatever else. I will probably be the color of a lobster as I have been the last two times. Sunscreen does nothing for me.

Debarkation Day
Boo.

So that's it for my part. I'm excited. Sean's excited. I think Sophie's excited. Who knows with teenagers.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Well here we are, just under 2 weeks to go and almost no progress has been made in determining our dinner on the last night…ugh. We did get some mail recently and it has contributed nicely to our Disney Christmas garland project:
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One thing we noticed immediately is the magic bands are lighter and thinner! I had to pull out and older band to compare and sure enough thee new ones are not only thinner but have a slightly different design, band on the outside is the new style:
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At first I thought this was a cost saving measure by Disney, which it still may be, until I put them both on to compare. The new style, on top, is much more comfortable than the old style! The additional length of the “mickey head” area allows for it to sit against your wrist much nicer. Still, the bands do feel cheaper and more disposable than the originals so I wonder if they will last as long as the originals, we have a couple we’ve been using for 3 years.
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And, yeah…, the cat wasn’t upset with his rewards either.
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So with 15 days to go we still need dinner on the last night! I wish Tratorria al Forno hadn’t burned us so bad last time. Thoughts?

Things to do still:
Last night dinner
Packing list
Purchase snacks
Purchase Spirits for boat
 
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RyPat

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure this qualifies as a suggestion since I've never actually dined there, but have you done Artist's Point before? I've heard good things - so much so that we booked it for the first night of our Disneymoon.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm not sure this qualifies as a suggestion since I've never actually dined there, but have you done Artist's Point before? I've heard good things - so much so that we booked it for the first night of our Disneymoon.
We've never eaten there before. The menu looks really good.
I'm just not sure what Id get there though. I've been kicking around the idea with the DW of doing Il Mulino again. We've had two good experiences there. AP does have an interesting beer list though.
 

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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We can do this! Honestly work has been so nuts lately I haven't really noticed how the time has flown by as we approach our Surf n Turf journey. We FINALLY came to a decision on dinner for the last night, Il Mulino it is. IM has been a great to us on previous visits and I hope the trend holds true. Side not: A sign of how far it has fallen from grace, LeCel still has dinner ADRs available just 7 days out! Just a few years ago this would have been unheard of but I think the effects of DDP are finally taking their toll.

We still have all our packing to do, supplies to purchase, and whatever else I'm sure I'm forgetting but we are soooo close now!
 

coachwnh

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
5 days!!! Started pulling together a few things for this trip, still have a bit of packing to do.

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@coachwnh ever have this brew? I know you're a fan of Victory. I've never seen it before and someone gifted it to me this week, it's pretty awesome, 13%ABV!
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Just checked. Never had it, but Victory is only a 45 minute drive from me. Im sure Ill come across it soon!!!!!
 

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