A Celebration Of All Things Star Wars, But Mostly Disney: An August 2012 PTR!

It’s pre-trip report time…again!

No, seriously! I know I had a previous PTR that featured me being all excited for a visit this May, but those plans totally fell through. But not to worry! It looks like we’re on the right track to an awesome trip. And this time around it’s a pretty big deal. It’ll be my first time going for my birthday, my 30th birthday to be exact. *gasp* :eek:

Let me take things back just a bit…

Last month, Brandon (The Husband) and I took a weekend trip for his birthday. Sadly, that weekend trip should have been a trip to WDW but c’est la vie.

Here's a shot of us from our anniversary trip in October 2010
HappyAnniversary.jpg


As we were driving back home we began to talk of Disney. This always seems to happen when we travel. I think it’s because we listen to park music in the car and by doing so it sends subliminal messages that we need to plan a trip. :lol: We realized that if we wanted to do any traveling we’d have to make it happen over the summer because we might be moving in October. This got my planning wheels turning because October is always our fall-back month for a Disney trip, what with our anniversary and all. I haven’t planned a summer trip since I was in high school and that was with my mom and brother, completely different ballgame there.

Somewhat randomly Brandon asked me what the dates were for Star Wars Celebration. He remembered I had mentioned it at the beginning of the year as something I’d like to do for my birthday. Conveniently enough Celebration was happening the weekend before my birthday and it was being held in Orlando.

Can you see where this is going?

It was soon decided that we would be heading to the greatest Star Wars party in town to get our geek on then book it on over to the Magic Kingdom to kick off the Disney leg of our trip. Needless to say, I was filled with glee the rest of the drive home. Once we pulled the car in I practically flew upstairs and turned on my laptop to start planning this epic trip!

The first thing I did was secure our Celebration tickets. I knew that way if something went screwy with the Disney plans at least we’d still be going to Orlando to have Star Wars related fun. While I was surfing the Celebration website I came across the list of hotels they were using for the convention. As I neared the bottom of the list I saw in smallish print that they were using Coronado Springs as one of the hotels. Oh. Em. Gee. Now I knew this was fate. For the heck of it I went through the mock reservation and found out they were having discounted rooms at $129 a night. That sealed it for me. I was planning on either the French Quarter or Riverside and was going to wait and see if a PIN code or promo was released. So this deal at Coronado worked out beautifully. Funny enough right before I officially booked the room the Free Dining promo was released. After running some numbers it turned out the discount at Coronado was still better for us. We like to eat when we go to Disney but not enough to use the dining plan this time around.

So…Brandon and I decided on 4 days, 3 nights at Coronado Springs. This will be our first time staying there and from what I’ve seen I think we’ll like it just fine. I also can’t wait to celebrate my birthday at one of my favorite places in the world!
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After I booked the room I immediately began thinking about where I'd want to eat. And the top choice on my list was lunch at Le Cellier. I secured an ADR on each of the trips that have been subsequently canceled. Needless to say I was surprised when I tried for the fourth time and nailed it!

That cheddar cheese soup will soon be mine! :slurp:
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
UPDATE

I booked my first character breakfast! We're headed to 'Ohana on 8/27. It was a toss up between that and Crystal Palace, but I just can't say no to the Polynesian. :D
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Every time we take a trip to WDW Brandon and I always try to do something new or different from our last visit. This time around I have a pretty lofty goal for myself...

I have never ridden Tower of Terror. :lookaroun

Back on our honeymoon I went through the queue with Brandon but proudly chickened out when that elevator showed up in the boiler room. I just couldn't do it. The thought of free-falling made my stomach turn. When he met up with me in the gift shop he said that he had a drop sequence I would have absolutely hated. :lol: Gee, thanks honey. But I think the time has come for me to experience what is obviously a great attraction. Also it's the only thrill ride I haven't done at the Studios. :lookaroun I can tell you this, when I ride I am definitely buying the picture.

153 days to go!
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Every time we take a trip to WDW Brandon and I always try to do something new or different from our last visit. This time around I have a pretty lofty goal for myself...

I have never ridden Tower of Terror. :lookaroun

Back on our honeymoon I went through the queue with Brandon but proudly chickened out when that elevator showed up in the boiler room. I just couldn't do it. The thought of free-falling made my stomach turn. When he met up with me in the gift shop he said that he had a drop sequence I would have absolutely hated. :lol: Gee, thanks honey. But I think the time has come for me to experience what is obviously a great attraction. Also it's the only thrill ride I haven't done at the Studios. :lookaroun I can tell you this, when I ride I am definitely buying the picture.

153 days to go!

I bet you ride it twice!
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I bet you ride it twice!

Heh heh, we'll see about that!


Feeling in the Disney mood the other night I pulled out my photo albums and started getting ideas for pictures I'd like to take. As I flipped through I started noticing I take pictures of a lot of the same things from the exact same angle. :lol: Hoping to change that on this trip. I gotta say I've been getting some great inspiration courtesy of other trip reports. It's always fun to see a different perspective on something familiar and easy to shoot (i.e. the castle)

142 days to go!
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I ended up cancelling my ADR at Ohana instead I opted for an earlier breakfast at Kona Cafe on the same day. We've only been to Kona for dinner and I loved just about everything I saw on the breakfast menu. Tonga Toast, anyone? :D

Only 129 days til we land in Orlando!
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
WOO HOO!! I've hit the 100 day mark!!

I'm really getting excited about this trip now and I'm thinking about all of the mundane things I want to do. Usually it's me telling Brandon "Hey! Wouldn't it be great to..." or "Ohmygosh I can't wait to go to..." The other fun thing is I'm reading more and more updates for Star Wars Celebration. The big one so far? Carrie Fisher is going to be there!!! (^___^) Since I won't actually meet her I'll be happy just to be in the same building. :D

Luckily I have a bunch of resort TV and other WDW-DVD-goodness to get me through til August.
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My how time has flown...I've broken the 60 day mark! 58 days and counting!

Oddly enough I'm downplaying the excitement because I don't want to jinx the trip. With all the changes we had to make leading to this final booking I'm hesitant to be all like: "ZOMG! DISNEY!!11!! 24/7" But I gotta say one thing I'm really looking forward to is a meet-up at Star Wars Celebration. :D That event is going to be amazing!

Man, that first day is going to be a doozy! Arriving in Orlando, checking in at Coronado Springs, high-tailing it over to Celebration, then spending some quality time at the Magic Kingdom in the evening. It's going to be a great time.
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I am very happy to report that everything is paid in full!

homer_woohoo.jpg


Now all I need to do is stalk airfares and see if a deal comes up. I'm hoping to book that in the next week or so then call and tack on Magical Express. All in all I'm really happy and plan to spend these next few weeks in Disney-mode. :D
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
45 days left to go!

Heh, the other night Brandon mentioned about driving down as a backup plan. I laughed at first but realized if we had to it would be doable. He could drive 6 hours and I'd drive the other 6. After about 5min of talking we decided on sticking to our plan of flying down. :rolleyes: I looked at a late night flight that would put us into MCO just after midnight on 8/25 but I discovered a problem with checking into the hotel. We'd have to add 8/24 as an extra night, which we can't afford to do. So I'll be on the lookout for the earliest flight out of DCA on 8/25. :D
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Update!

Airfare has been booked!!! :D We fly out at 10pm on 8/24 so that puts us in MCO just after midnight. I couldn't be happier! And bonus -- my aunt and uncle, who live close to the airport, are picking us up and letting myself and Brandon crash at their place until we can check in to Coronado Springs. This means we can get an earlier start on getting to the convention center for Celebration.

35 days left to go!! Omg...time is moving so fast!
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
26 days!!!

Return airfare has been booked along with Magical Express. Now I'll be stalking the mailbox hoping to find some travel documents in the next few days. Can't wait to see that blue envelope!

In Star Wars-related news I managed to get a ticket to meet Carrie Fisher. This will be my first autograph-signing-celebrity encounter and I'm so stoked! I swear, this convention is going to be a great way to start the trip.
 

GOT2SAMMIES

Member
Have you been to the convention before? I noticed it started the last full day we are in florida and I think my 12 year old would love it!...Seriously thinking about it.....
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Have you been to the convention before? I noticed it started the last full day we are in florida and I think my 12 year old would love it!...Seriously thinking about it.....

No, I've never been to that scale of a convention before. Closest I've come to one was the Baltimore Comic-Con a couple of years ago. I've seen pictures from past Celebrations and they looked like fantastic events. I can't wait to see all the costumes that people have made.
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm in the home stretch now! :D

This morning I checked my calender on my phone and sure enough I saw the message "Online check-in today!" So I logged in, double checked my info, and clicked submit. Needless to say it was a great way to spend some downtime at work. Now I just have to finish packing and I'm ready to go!

9 days til we fly to Orlando!
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
I'm in the home stretch now! :D

This morning I checked my calender on my phone and sure enough I saw the message "Online check-in today!" So I logged in, double checked my info, and clicked submit. Needless to say it was a great way to spend some downtime at work. Now I just have to finish packing and I'm ready to go!

9 days til we fly to Orlando!


Single digits is always a reason to celebrate!
 

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