DisSplash
Well-Known Member
Okay, this is my first post on this forum and I have to say I am soooooo excited! We are 24 days away from the World, and while I am fully prepared for the likely hot, humid, and rainy weather, I say 'Bring it On' as any one of those days in Disney is better than a regular 'ole day at home!!
This is not our first trip to the place where happiness lives. Nope. In 2008, we planned the "family trip of a lifetime" and took our then 4-year-old son and almost 2-year-old daughter to WDW for the very first time. It was A-MAZING! We bought into the AAA travel plan (even went to one of their "Disney parties" 10 months prior to our trip where we booked a package at the Wilderness Lodge). It was an eye-popping price-tag,
but I will say that we never once regretted it. We loved the Wilderness Lodge, and especially loved the boat transportation to the MK where we spent most of our time with our then "wee little babes." Plus, we told ourselves that it was an expense that we would not incur for another 7 years or so, given that it was, after all, a "trip of a lifetime." So much for that! We were bit by the Disney bug and have yet to find the cure. I think the magic of arriving at MK on that very first day for the very first time and taking in the nostalgic beauty that is Main Street while the afternoon parade in all its color, joy, and artistry danced down the street toward us would make a believer out of anyone. At the risk of sounding like a loon, I will admit that I shed inexplicable tears at the welling happiness and excitement that I was unable to control. I was automatically transported to a "happy place" that I am now forever trying to get back to.
And get back to, we have! While our kids repeatedly asked about WDW in the months following that first glorious trip that September, we repeatedly told them "we'll go back in 7 years, etc." But it just so happened that my husband was selected to attend a conference in Orlando the following March. So, back to the World we went! That was a trip at Port Orleans, which I thought was also a beautiful resort, although we sorely missed the WL in light of transportation issues with the PO buses. But even with that issue, we found were still able to recapture the magic of our "happy place!"
It just so happened after that trip that I had two back-to-back conferences in Orlando in 2010 and 2011, and so there we went again! (really, it would have been fiscally foolish not to bring the fam along, right?). But this time we opted for the Shades of Green, given our DoD status, and were very pleasantly surprised by that resort and its attendant amenities. Plus I could not believe the size of the hotel rooms there!! After the PO resort, the SoG rooms seemed like a palace!
And so now we are going back again, this time with no work attachments, and are so excited to again be staying at the SoG! It is so conveniently located next to the Poly, and so we often feel at times as if we are staying at two resorts as we spend quite a lot of time at the Poly in their restaurants, in their shops, at their monorail station, and just hanging out at their lobby as my son has grown an affinity for the Hawaiian fragrance that permeates that space.
I have been planning this current trip for over a year, as I bought out park tix from Undercover Tourist back in 2012 right after the prices went up that year, but before UT ran out of their stock. It was nice to know, as my husband says, that with those tix in a drawer, we could literally just pick up and go to Disney at any time! (Knowing this was good therapy for our work stress if you can believe that!)
But we mulled it over all last summer as to when we should try to get back down to WDW, and the answer came in the form of an email from the SoG last August, literally a week after Hurricane Isaac, advertising their sale of 40% off room rates for August 2013! Can you say, SOLD?! I did! Fully cognizant of the potential weather risks, we snatched that deal up fast. All year we have thus been anticipating this trip next month, and I will say there were many trials at work leading up to this trip which will make it that much sweeter when we are finally there. In fact, in the last 5 months or so, the background picture on my computer -- which was our last arrival under the Disneyworld entry archway, has been a source of comfort for me. And now it is finally almost a reality! Pardon me as I giggle in glee!
Here are our plans so far:
Day 1 - Drive to Aunt Dawn's in Jacksonville
Day 2 - Arrive at SoG; drop the luggage and GO! Off to MK, our traditional 1st park
Day 3 - EPCOT!! (probably my personal favorite!)
Day 4 - AK
Day 5 - MK again!
Day 6 - HS
Day 7 - MK
Day 8 - EPCOT!!
Day 9 - HS
Day 10 - "chill day" (DTD, and checking out hotels)
Day 11 - MK (we begin and end where it all started ... fitting, no?)
My son has since discovered that there is a Nickolodeon Hotel there in Orlando and has begged us to go check it out, so we may take a little trip over there for him. As we drive to Orlando, transportation will not be an issue.
Unlike past years, I have kept the reservations to a minimum, mostly because we finally booked Cinderella's Royal Breakfast (better options than dinner for my family). In addition to that, we have Sci-Fi Theater and Ohana lined up. I am intent on getting to DTD for a visit to the Earl of Sandwich (I saw a segment on CBS Sunday Morning about them and was dying to try them out - I am a bit of an Anglophile!) and trying out Wolfgang Puck's Express -- I heard great things about that place! We also intend to wait in line to get into Be Our Guest for lunch one day. Then of course, there are the couple of meals we will do at the hotel -- seeing as we drive down, we make it worth our while and pack some easy to heat stuff. I think we have it pretty much covered as far as our dining experiences go!
As far as rides go, we want to do it ALL, and intend to! I can only hope we will not be hampered by any large tour groups this time ...
So, all in all, we are an excited bunch and are counting down -- literally, as my son has been monitoring a hand-written count-down on his marker board -- the days until the "happiest drive on earth!"
This is not our first trip to the place where happiness lives. Nope. In 2008, we planned the "family trip of a lifetime" and took our then 4-year-old son and almost 2-year-old daughter to WDW for the very first time. It was A-MAZING! We bought into the AAA travel plan (even went to one of their "Disney parties" 10 months prior to our trip where we booked a package at the Wilderness Lodge). It was an eye-popping price-tag,
but I will say that we never once regretted it. We loved the Wilderness Lodge, and especially loved the boat transportation to the MK where we spent most of our time with our then "wee little babes." Plus, we told ourselves that it was an expense that we would not incur for another 7 years or so, given that it was, after all, a "trip of a lifetime." So much for that! We were bit by the Disney bug and have yet to find the cure. I think the magic of arriving at MK on that very first day for the very first time and taking in the nostalgic beauty that is Main Street while the afternoon parade in all its color, joy, and artistry danced down the street toward us would make a believer out of anyone. At the risk of sounding like a loon, I will admit that I shed inexplicable tears at the welling happiness and excitement that I was unable to control. I was automatically transported to a "happy place" that I am now forever trying to get back to.And get back to, we have! While our kids repeatedly asked about WDW in the months following that first glorious trip that September, we repeatedly told them "we'll go back in 7 years, etc." But it just so happened that my husband was selected to attend a conference in Orlando the following March. So, back to the World we went!
That was a trip at Port Orleans, which I thought was also a beautiful resort, although we sorely missed the WL in light of transportation issues with the PO buses. But even with that issue, we found were still able to recapture the magic of our "happy place!" It just so happened after that trip that I had two back-to-back conferences in Orlando in 2010 and 2011, and so there we went again! (really, it would have been fiscally foolish not to bring the fam along, right?). But this time we opted for the Shades of Green, given our DoD status, and were very pleasantly surprised by that resort and its attendant amenities. Plus I could not believe the size of the hotel rooms there!! After the PO resort, the SoG rooms seemed like a palace!
And so now we are going back again, this time with no work attachments, and are so excited to again be staying at the SoG! It is so conveniently located next to the Poly, and so we often feel at times as if we are staying at two resorts as we spend quite a lot of time at the Poly in their restaurants, in their shops, at their monorail station, and just hanging out at their lobby as my son has grown an affinity for the Hawaiian fragrance that permeates that space.
I have been planning this current trip for over a year, as I bought out park tix from Undercover Tourist back in 2012 right after the prices went up that year, but before UT ran out of their stock. It was nice to know, as my husband says, that with those tix in a drawer, we could literally just pick up and go to Disney at any time! (Knowing this was good therapy for our work stress if you can believe that!)
But we mulled it over all last summer as to when we should try to get back down to WDW, and the answer came in the form of an email from the SoG last August, literally a week after Hurricane Isaac, advertising their sale of 40% off room rates for August 2013! Can you say, SOLD?! I did! Fully cognizant of the potential weather risks, we snatched that deal up fast. All year we have thus been anticipating this trip next month, and I will say there were many trials at work leading up to this trip which will make it that much sweeter when we are finally there. In fact, in the last 5 months or so, the background picture on my computer -- which was our last arrival under the Disneyworld entry archway, has been a source of comfort for me. And now it is finally almost a reality! Pardon me as I giggle in glee!
Here are our plans so far:
Day 1 - Drive to Aunt Dawn's in Jacksonville
Day 2 - Arrive at SoG; drop the luggage and GO! Off to MK, our traditional 1st park
Day 3 - EPCOT!! (probably my personal favorite!)
Day 4 - AK
Day 5 - MK again!
Day 6 - HS
Day 7 - MK
Day 8 - EPCOT!!
Day 9 - HS
Day 10 - "chill day" (DTD, and checking out hotels)
Day 11 - MK (we begin and end where it all started ... fitting, no?)
My son has since discovered that there is a Nickolodeon Hotel there in Orlando and has begged us to go check it out, so we may take a little trip over there for him. As we drive to Orlando, transportation will not be an issue.
Unlike past years, I have kept the reservations to a minimum, mostly because we finally booked Cinderella's Royal Breakfast (better options than dinner for my family). In addition to that, we have Sci-Fi Theater and Ohana lined up. I am intent on getting to DTD for a visit to the Earl of Sandwich (I saw a segment on CBS Sunday Morning about them and was dying to try them out - I am a bit of an Anglophile!
) and trying out Wolfgang Puck's Express -- I heard great things about that place! We also intend to wait in line to get into Be Our Guest for lunch one day. Then of course, there are the couple of meals we will do at the hotel -- seeing as we drive down, we make it worth our while and pack some easy to heat stuff. I think we have it pretty much covered as far as our dining experiences go!As far as rides go, we want to do it ALL, and intend to! I can only hope we will not be hampered by any large tour groups this time ...
So, all in all, we are an excited bunch and are counting down -- literally, as my son has been monitoring a hand-written count-down on his marker board -- the days until the "happiest drive on earth!"
