Becanya's Great Year of Celebrations Pre-Trip Report

Though I have obsessively followed these boards for two years, this is the first pre-trip report for me. But I so enjoy reading everyone else's (especially HollyBelle!) that I decided to take the plunge and go for it. Just to give you a little background about the crew for our trip:

I am Becca...mother of Keegan (6) and McKenna (3)...and my husband is Adam. My mom, Lola, is going with us this year for the second time. We are also taking my dad along this year...though he has played professionally several times at WDW (he's a country music musician), this will be his first time as a tourist.

This trip will be several firsts for us. It will be our first trip with dad. But it will also be the first trip for us as DVC members. After we returned last year from WL, the only way we could get over our depression was to take the plunge and buy DVC at VWL. Boy are we excited about getting to go home this year! This will also be the first trip that we take to Disney's HHI resort, were we are going to use our extra points this year. So this is a pre-trip report for two trips! This will also be our first trip as AP holders.

So...the details of the trips...
HHI: June 20-26
VWL: Nov 11-20

May is a super exciting planning month for several reasons. First, we bought our tickets to MVMCP this week...we will be attending on Nov 18th. Though we have gone to MNSSHP, this will be our first MVMCP experience. Second, we get to book our ADR's in one week! Third, we get to buy our airplane tickets when Southwest releases the fall schedule on May 24th. So I thought this was an appropriate time to do a pre-trip report.

Like I said in the title, this is the Great Year of Celebrations for our family. We are celebrating many milestones:
- 10 year wedding anniversary!:kiss:
- Finished with classes for my PhD program in political science...now I just have to write that dissertation!:lol:
- Paying off debt (everything except the mortgage).
- Passing my comprehensive exams so I can be ABD (well...hasn't happened yet but Lord willing it will in Sept!)
- Getting my dissertation prospectus approved in Oct...just in time to celebrate at WDW!:sohappy:
- Finally getting down to pre-baby weight. It only took 3 years...but whatever. :ROFLOL:

There are several things we do during the year to get ready for Disney and distract ourselves from getting too homesick for Disney:

Becca:
I'm working on my PhD at Vanderbilt, so most of my time is taken up with work. I'm doing my dissertation on policy diffusion...specifically why countries decide to allow intercountry adoption as an international solution to their domestic orphan problems. Not that you wanted to hear about all that...
I also obsessively plan several vacations. We are going to St. John USVI (kidless trip) in two weeks. We are also going to HHI in June, as I said. Then we take a yearly trip to St. Louis to do all the amazingly fun things that city has to offer! Finally, I am going to Seattle for the Annual Political Science Association conference in Sept. to present some research on international adoption. Hopefully all those things will get us through until WDW.

Adam:
Watches as much sports as possible. Works his rear off (financial analyst). Play at least 2 soccer games every week (he plays in both an indoor and outdoor league), and coach soccer.

Keegan:
Collects Disney stuffed animals and tries to play off all that incredibly energy.

McKenna:
General destruction of everything in her path.

Lola:
Working and playing with the grandkids. Oh, and a side trip to Hawaii with her sister!

Hoot (grandpa):
Opry fiddle player...so every weekend is occupied playing country music. Also playing with Aunt Rachael (my sister) while she works on her music career.

In the next post I'll give you guys some insight into our grand plan for our WDW trip in November...until we meet again, have a magical day.

 

[becanya]

9 days of pure joy...

So here's our plan for Nov 11-20. We always do Deluxe Dining because there is nothing I love better than to eat (thus the three year journey to losing the baby weight)! I love planning our trip around food.

Nov 11: We are going to fly in on the first available flight to WDW, likely arriving at MCO at 9:30AM. We will hop on the magical express to VWL, then hopefully be checked in and at the park by noon. We are planning on grabbing a quick lunch at Cosmic Ray's (it will be our first try for that one) before riding at least space mountain (son's favorite at MK) and POTC (DD has been dying to ride it!). Dinner that night is at Kona Cafe...a restaurant I dream about quite often.

Nov 12: Breakfast with facebook friends at Chef Mickey's (a first breakfast tradition for us) then hopefully get to MK in time for opening show. Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern and dinner at Crystal Palace (DD calls it "Piggie's House"). EMH that night at MK...we will stay until we are too tired and must go home! This will be the first year we can hang in there late now that DD is finally 3.

Nov 13: Arrive at AK in time for opening and grab breakfast at Pizzafari (thanks for all the recommendations!). Lunch at Restaurantosaurus...and dinner at Boma. It will be our first try for Boma...but so many rave about it we couldn't resist. Possibly visit DHS for EMH that night.

Nov 14: Get to DHS in time for opening and grab breakfast at Starring Rolls. Lunch at Sci-Fi dine in...one of our favorites. DD dove off our car table last year and they had to call the paramedics to make sure she didn't have a concussion. Craziness. Just check out the bruise in the picture below. Dinner that night at Narcoossee's....since everyone has suggested it so highly. Wishes fireworks at 8. EMH at MK that night if we aren't too tired.

Nov 15: EMH at Epcot that morning, so we will just grab breakfast in the Land Pavilion. Lunch at Tutto Italia (which we love despite all the bad comments on it) and dinner back at Whispering Canyon Cafe at WL. Early night to rest up.

Nov 16: Grandma and Grandpa get here this evening! We are trying breakfast at 1900 Park Fare for the first time. Morning at MK, then travel to Epcot for lunch at Chefs de France. Meeting up w/ the grandparents at Kona Cafe for our second yummy dinner there. Then we'll watch the wishes fireworks from the Poly beach.

Nov 17: Time to do everything again with the grandparents! We are trying out Donald's Safari breakfast that morning, then eating lunch at Yak and Yeti after a full morning of fun at AK. Then we'll take the bus to HWS and eat dinner at 50's Prime Time...finishing in time to see the Osborne Spectacle of lights.

Nov 18: Breakfast number two at Chef Mickey's, then the shuttle to Epcot. We're trying out the princess lunch in Norway, then heading over the MK to get in place for MVMCP. Dinner that night is at Tony's Town Square, where I will have a little piece of heaven with those zucchini fries. Oh how I have missed them. :slurp: Then we are planning on riding rides until the second parade, then staying as late as we can stand it.

Nov 19: We always spend our final full day at MK, because it's our favorite park. We will get there in time for the opening show and catch breakfast at Main St. bakery. Then Crystal Palace for lunch and dinner at Mickey's Backyard BBQ where grandma will shake her booty with Chip and Dale.

We'll head back to MK if we have any energy left.

Nov 20: The sad sad day we return home. We will have our traditional final breakfast at Kona Cafe, then come back to WL to swim and hang out for the last few hours. Then we are having a late lunch at Whispering Canyon before loading up with tears on the Magical Express.

 

[duran385]

Great plan, sounds like a fun week

 

[HollyBelle]

Oh wow, you're definitely my kinda planner, planning around all those delicious table service meals! Mmmm.... my mouth is watering just looking at that food itinerary. I love that your daughter calls the Crystal Palace "Piggie's House." That's downright adorable.

I'm excited to hear about your experience at the Hilton Head DVC resort. It might be a nice getaway for us, seeing as we live so close to that area, but I have a feeling the rack rate for non DVC owners is probably pretty steep. Your trip to St. John sounds dreamy! Now that you have a pre-trip report going, I'd love to see some pictures from that trip when you return. We went to St. Thomas and St. Martin for the first time last May... talk about wanting to stay somewhere forever! Congrats on 10 years!!!

LOVE the family shot in front of the castle. So great! :sohappy: And thanks for the shout out.

 

[becanya]

Thanks, HollyBelle. I'll definitely post some pics from St. John. We always said we wanted to retire there, but now that we have our crazy love for Disney we might just have to retire to the World and sell popcorn on the streets. Or work at Chef Mickey's or something like that.

 

[skeletor1990]

All of your plans look awesome...and how exciting that you have so many very fun trips planned for this year! Sounds like you have a lot to celebrate so you definitely deserve some vacation time. Congrats on 10 years and being so close to receiving your PhD! Love all the pictures from past trips, your kids are adorable

 

[Tiggerish]

Hi! Your dining plan looks great--who doesn't like Tutto Italia for lunch? I just had lunch there last week, and it was perfect!

I applaud your DVC purchase at VWL--we stayed there two years ago and totally fell in love (in fact, I think I commented in your thread asking about purchasing at VWL), although we own at OKW. We'll be down at WDW just a few weeks ahead of you in November, we enjoy the Food & Wine Festival.

Congratulations on all your milestones!!

 

[becanya]

The most important celebration...

While we are waiting for our WDW celebration trip that is still like 185 days away....we have a few other celebrations planned. The first happens in just 10 days...our anniversary trip to St. John USVI. So I wanted to give you guys a little more info about our wedding 10 years ago...inspired again by my reminiscing through Hollybelle's most fantastic, romantic wedding ever.

This is Adam and I now...10 years into this whole wedding journey and two kids later. We met in college at Belmont University when I was a freshman and he was a junior. By the summer after my junior year, we were ready to tie the knot. Though we were super young (I was only 21), we knew we were ready, and we took the plunge.

Best decision I ever made.

We got married in small town TN at the church were I went to high school (one of only 6 graduates!). The wedding was truly amazing...and I can't believe it's been 10 years! Thought I'd give you a few of my favorite pictures...

Gosh, we are looking super young there. Funny story about the dress...3 weeks before our wedding, one of our groomsmen got married. I was "backstage" before the wedding, waiting to catch the first glimpse of the bride. She emerges wearing...MY DRESS! No joke, we had somehow bought the exact same wedding dress. As much as I tried to not let it bother me, seeing someone with super long princess hair who weighs about 20 pounds less than you in YOUR DRESS was enough to throw me for a tailspin. Somehow I managed to worry about it in silence instead of blowing the surprise to Adam.

This one is by far my favorite picture of me and dad just before we walked down the aisle:

Every bride needs to feel like a princess in prep time, right?

I still dream about this cake...it was strawberry cake layers with cream cheese icing:

And finally...the removing of the garter (is that how you spell it?):

Definitely a magical day and one that will live down in history. Before we go on our trip in 10 days, I'm going to post some of our pictures from the first time that we went. When we get home I'll post pics from this time. USVI...here we come!

 

[becanya]

Back from St. John

So, we are back from our first kidless vacation in 7 years. Our last one was Ireland in 2004. We always wanted to go back to st. John, USVI, because we loved it for our honeymoon. The island is 75% national park, so it is quite underdeveloped and secluded. You might hike for 2 miles through the forest then emerge on the most gorgeous beach ever (honeymoon and solomon beaches) and be one of 2 couples on the whole beach! Even though I LOVE the planning involved in a Disney trip...in fact I thrive on it...St. John is the opposite. Every day you wake up and decide on the spot which beach you want to visit, and which restaurants you want to visit. Before I go through some of the things that made this trip totally unique, I have to give my shout-out to all the things that made me think of Disney while I was there.

First: Southwest opened up their schedule during our trip, so I packed our computer just for the purpose of booking our trip! We got the earliest flight out on Nov 11 (7:20AM) out of Nashville, and the last flight back home on Nov 20. Paid a fortune, but did so willingly. )

Second: We snorkeled every single day. We saw several Nemo's swimming down there and several Dory's as well. No joke, the whole time I was swimming under the water, Disney songs kept running through my head. If I was totally relaxed and having fun, it was either "Under the Sea" or "Part of that world" from Little Mermaid. If I was totally freaked out, like when we saw the SHARK, it was "Just Keep Swimming" with Dory's precious little voice.

Third: The food was good good good on this trip, but it cost a fortune. Seriously made me miss my Deluxe Dining Plan where all I have to do is flash my KTTW card and sign the check. I kept missing that card.

Fourth: Speaking of my KTTW card, I use it as my bookmark, and I actually got some reading done on this trip!

Fifth: I always wear a Mickey shirt when I fly...which you can see in the picture below. To me, Mickey just screams vacation. :sohappy:

 

[becanya]

We decided on this trip that we would rent a scooter to get around the island, because it is way cheaper than renting a jeep. Seriously, it's like $75 a day to rent a jeep. If you've ever been to St. John, you know that the roads are seriously winding and seriously steep. And of course the day we got there it was pouring down rain.
The scooter was quite important on this trip...so stay tuned for the upcoming disaster...

So we still got out on the scooter and rode very slowly into town. We hiked in the finally just drizzling rain to our first beach, honeymoon beach and snorkeled around there and around Solomon Beach. Saw our first sting ray under water.

We met this cute little guy on the way:

After a full 40 min or so of hiking, we were finally rewarded with a heavenly secluded beach:

 

[becanya]

On our second full morning on the island, we got up and got ready to head into town. To fully appreciate how crazy it was to drive a scooter on this island, you need some pictures of our driveway, the site of the fateful scooter crash.

You can see Adam on the scooter on the road, and to the left our driveway. If you look to the right of the scooter, you will see the ditch that we crashed into trying to get out of our driveway. Although we were only going like 5 miles an hour, I flew over Adam's shoulder and landed on my nose...which got cut by my sunglasses and was bleeding like crazy. It is actually still quite bruised a week later, along with my legs that are black and blue. I told Adam that in all our anniversary trip pictures I was going to look like a battered wife!

Now, in Adam's defense, he is an excellent driver, and even has his motorcycle license. The island just got us! He drove all over the island with no problems, but that crazy driveway was just too much. We ended up having to pay over $200 for the damage to the bike...

But on the tail end of our experience, we actually met some friends at Jumbie Bay...one of our favorite beaches. We ended up snorkeling with them and their friends the whole rest of the trip, which made the trip so much more fun than even doing it ourselves!

One final note before I head off to bed...there are tons of iguanas everywhere in St. John. We counted like 12 each morning in the trees outside our deck, and they were constantly crossing the road in front of us. My kids would have loved that. But they had to settle with pictures.

 

[Teachr4Disney]

I'm just loving reading your report(s)! I've never been to the USVI, but looking at your pictures really makes me want to go! So sorry to hear about your crash. What a bummer in such a beautiful place. Can't wait to read more.

 

[becanya]

Fun with Friends

Though Adam can be a little introverted, I am quite the social butterfly. Much to his dismay, I love to talk to everyone I run into. For once, this actually paid off for us! We met some friends at the beach on the afternoon of our crazy wreck, and it made the last half of our trip so much fun.

Though we dabbled in snorkeling around with our new cheapo snorkel gear, Adam was determined that we would take the plunge and snorkel to waterlemon cay. Let me just say, I am the most unadventurous person on earth, and Adam loves a thrill (which has caused some tension on previous vacations, let me tell you!). I am the type that will just break down and have a little girl crying panic if I feel uncomfortable. So I kept putting him off. Let me tell you a little about Waterlemon Cay, so you can understand why this would stress me out. First, you hike about a mile to Leinster Point (the point is the little peninsula on the right).

Then you hop in the water and snorkel out to Waterlemon Cay, the island that is on the left. It is about a half mile swim to the Cay, and the water is seriously deep. Last time we tried, 10 years ago, I freaked out as soon as I couldn't see the bottom anymore and a few jellyfish decided to join us. I hightailed it back to the point and refused to go any farther. But Adam was determined that if we just had friends it would be less intimidating. So we set off with our new friends, Jim and Sarah, and some other friends they had met the night before, Steven and Allison.

Turns out, Adam was right. Not only did we swim out to the Cay, but we swam around the island! I still can't believe I did it. While swimming we saw an Eagle Ray, jellyfish, and a 4-ft barracuda! That thing was seriously as big as my son. The whole trip was so much fun! Here's a view of the swim from a distance.

After we left Waterlemon Cay, we went and grabbed an excellent BBQ lunch, then went to my favorite new beach, Gibney Beach. Oppenheimer, the guy who created the atomic bomb, actually lived in a house on this beach, but when his daughter committed suicide she left the beach to the "children of St. John." It is beautiful and completely secluded.

We again donned our snorkeling gear and went around the rocks on the side of the beach to find the coolest surprise EVER! After about a mile swim, there is a secret beach called Castaway Beach. It is seriously tiny, but you can only get there by snorkeling. So cool. Here's a pic of the rocks that you snorkel around to get there.

After watching the sunset on Gibney, we all went back to clean up and reconvened for drinks at Morgan's Mango...our favorite restaurant/bar on the island.

 

[becanya]

Alas, it was the last full day of our vacation and we decided to try to get in some amazing last minute snorkeling and of course more drinks at Morgan's Mango. We again spent the day with Jim and Sarah...Steven and Allison had to go home that morning.

We decided to meet up at Maho Bay, which is known for their sea turtles that feed on the sea grass. Now we had gone earlier in the week but somehow managed to miss seeing one single sea turtle. This time we met up early and snorkeled straight out over the sea grass. For 30 minutes we saw NOTHING! Then all the sudden, we started seeing them! We saw 9 sea turtles during the swim! I am quite a freak about sea turtles, so it was the highlight of my trip.

Then we decided to go snorkel out to Peter Bay, which is where Kenny Chesney has a house. Unless you have a house on the Bay, you can only get there by swimming. It's quite the swim! First, you park at Cinnamon Bay and snorkel about a half mile around some rocks to get to Little Cinnamon Bay. You rest for a while, then do another half mile swim around more rocks to get to Peter Bay. Though the beach itself is nothing spectacular, the houses are amazing.

The craziest part of the swim though was when Adam points in the water and says, "HEY! Isn't that a shark?! You already know I have not one adventurous bone in my body. I completely freaked! The problem was, we had snorkeled a mile to get there and had to snorkel back! In the water with the SHARK!!!!!! Now...all you experienced snorkelers are rolling your eyes right now, because you know that a baby reef shark isn't going to hurt you, but I am not experienced, and I was freaking out. So we hopped back in the water and I started swimming like a bat out of hell to get back to Cinnamon. I was seriously hyperventilating under water. :lol: They said I swam olympic speeds just to get back. In fact, when I got to beach and looked back, they were still just barely passing little cinnamon!

We finished out the afternoon with some swimming at Hawksnest Beach, then went back for drinks at Morgan's Mango.

Now we are back home and I'm studying for my comprehensive exams so I can finally be ABD in my Phd program. Only 18 days until we leave for Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort!!!

 

[becanya]

Gearing up for Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort!

Only 6 days until we leave for Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort! We are so excited and have been coming up with our dining list...any suggestions would be much appreciated from all you Hilton Head experts:
- Steamer's Seafood (with a stop at Frosty Frog!)
- Kenny B's French Quarter
- Marley's Island Grille (DH has mandated this one to be a stop we have to visit twice).
- Wild Wings Cafe (yes...we know this is a chain, but we really like it!).

Now, we have visited Hilton Head twice in our marriage. The first time was a surprise trip the first year we were married. We just hadn't been together long enough to understand each other's vacation styles, you know what I mean? Adam wanted to spend money on lots of crazy activities, but stay at Red Roof Inn. I instead value a really nice place to stay, but am content to hang out by the pool and read. It was a bit disastrous.

The second trip to HHI was when McKenna, our 3 year old, was only 2 weeks old! We essentially planned a trip with my whole family, and then I got pregnant. I had McKenna and two weeks later packed up to drive 12 hours to hilton head. I figured I could either be post partum at home, or at the beach! It was actually a great trip, but because I had a c-section 2 weeks earlier, I definitely wasn't in the best vacationing shape. Here are a few pictures from that trip. Keegan was only 3 years old...now he's 6!

Little visit to Salty Dog:

The little princess slept through most of the trip:

And Adam did too...

But at least we had Grandma and Grandpa there to help us out:

 

[becanya]

There are several reasons why I have better expectations for this trip. First...we are staying at a Disney property! Can't get any better than that, right? Second, we have been married long enough to finally figure out how we vacation together. Third, our kids have finally hit ages (DS 6, DD 3) where things are a bit easier for vacations. Like troopers we have never slowed down vacations...even when it's been tough w/ babies...but I am so thankful that easier times are here. I'll post pics through the trip for those of you interested about the resort!

 

[HollyBelle]

Okay, so first off... I somehow totally missed your wedding pictures. I love that first picture of what I'm guessing was the two of you walking down the aisle just after getting hitched. You're both radiating! And the garter shot is awesome. You can just see it all in your eyes. Ummm... the story about showing up at a wedding and seeing someone else in your dress just before your own big day... and then to not be able to talk to Adam about it? That's a nightmare. I KNOW I wouldn't have handled that as well as you did. Your dress is beautiful by the way... very classic!

Next... LOVE this picture. You seriously each have your very own "mini-me." Cutest family shot ever. I adore how well your outfits coordinate without being matchy-matchy.

As for St. John... your pictures are amazing. I would've never lasted snorkeling with you folks. That's intense. And I'm sure you'll be telling that scooter story for years to come. Morgan's Mango sounds like my kinda place.

Looking forward to hearing about HHI! Have fun. :sohappy:

 

[becanya]

Thanks Hollybelle! And believe me, the only reason I stuck it out on the snorkeling was because there was peer pressure. After the shark thing I was totally hyperventilating. Craziness!

 

[becanya]

So...it's been a while since I have updated our ongoing pre-trip report/trip report. Of course, everything is building up to the big trip report for our 10 day Nov 11 trip this year. But on the way to that trip, we have taken multiple trips! Here is the link to the separate trip report I did about our recent trip to Disney's HHI resort. It was AWESOME, and we loved it so much that we added on to our DVC membership with HHI points.http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=761191&highlight=becanya%27s

 

[becanya]

Our next mini-trip commences next week when we go for our annual trip to St. Louis with our friends. What makes this year's trip even more fun is that we are reuniting with our vacation friends from HHI! The great thing about vacationing at a Disney resort, even away from WDW, is that most people are just as crazy about Disney as you are. We met this awesome couple from St. Louis with twin girls a year older than our daughter. We are eating dinner with them one of the nights we are there, and we are hoping to vacation with them in HHI next year as well.

The other new thing to add to our trip report is that we have added two more Disney related trips to our year of celebrations. First, we decided that we loved HHI so much that we are surprising the kids and going back in October over their fall break. It's only a short trip (Friday through Tues), but we are going to surprise them. Here's the plan. We are going to pick up the kids at noon from school, unbeknownst to them, and drive toward Atlanta. Keegan has a crazy sense of direction, so he will know that is where we are headed. But the fact that Adam's mom lives in Atlanta is the perfect cover! We are going to tell him that we are going to see his Nanna, and maybe stop to eat dinner with her. When we are at dinner, I am going to sneak out to the car. I'm going to put a new Minnie Mouse in Keegan's seat (she is missing from his collection) and Kanga and Roo in McKenna's seat. Both of them will be holding a map of the HHI resort and a HHI resort pin. The kids are going to be so surprised!

The second trip we added is a mom and dad only trip to stay at BWV, which is a first for us. I have had soooooo much fun planning this trip! We are only going Mon-thurs...but it's going to be such a fun-filled week!

I'll post pictures of our St. Louis trip with our Disney friends when we get back.