First attempt at a pre trip report. Sep 9 to 17

This I my first attempt at a pre trip report, so please be gentle.

As you can see by my signature below, this trip is taking place a full two years sooner that we thought we would be able to go again. :sohappy::sohappy:

I guess Introductions are in order. First there is Me(Kevin), a 50 yr old widowed Dad.

The other person on this trip is my Daughter(Tabitha).

I totally blame my daughter for getting me hooked on everything Disney world. This will be our third trip to the World. The last two trips were for 10 days each, this time we are only staying for 7 days. Previous stays were at All Star Movies (Toy Story) and Pop Century (80's) This time we will be at All Star Sports (Hopefully Surfs Up)

We are on the DDP and have the following ADR's

Sat 10 Sep. Sci-Fi Lunch
Sun 11 Sep. O'Hana Breakfast
Mon 12 Sep. Donalds Safari Beakfast
Tue 13 Sep. Crystal Palace Supper
Wed 14 Sep. Yak & Yeti Supper
Thu 15 Sep. Cinderellas Royal Table Breakfast
Fri 16 Sep. Akershus Breakfast


I know, most of these are character breakfasts, but I figure what better way to fuel up for a day at the Parks?

One thing that will be diferent about this trip is that we will NOT be using DME. We will in fact be using PME. What is PME you ask? I just happen to have a picture (or 6) of it.

As seen in the above photo the first three characters of our licence plate are PME (Personal Magical Express). And Yes, it has been Disneyfied.

Pasenger side window

Drivers side window

Front Licence plate

We also have this little guy as our co-driver.

For those of you wondering what type of vehicle this Personal Magical Express is.

The trip down should take 3 day and two sleeps in a hotel. We are comming from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I enjoy driving and it is actually saving us about $1000 over flying.

I think that covers just about everythig, if I thik of more I will post later.

Thanks in advance for reading.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Great trip report...have fun! As you mentioned in my PTR, hopefully we will run into each other at the Halloween Party on the 13th!

 

[Adventure]

Curious as to how you split up the driving on your trip. Do you drive for a few hours and switch or take long 6 hour turns and then pass off to the other driver. I think I would be switching more frequently. Hope all goes well!

 

[BuzzGoofy]

Curious as to how you split up the driving on your trip. Do you drive for a few hours and switch or take long 6 hour turns and then pass off to the other driver. I think I would be switching more frequently. Hope all goes well!

Normally I do most of the driving. My daughter takes over when I get tired. We are thinking of doing 4 to 6 hour shifts on this trip.

 

[BuzzGoofy]

Parks Day 2. Magic Kingdom

Up early today for breakfast at O'Hana. Really looking forward to the great food they have here for breakfast, especially the juice. The characters just add to the overall good time. My daughter is totally in love with Stitch.

After breakfast it's off to Magic Kingdom.:sohappy::sohappy:

This is Tabitha's favorite park. So much to do here. Pirates, It's a Small World, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, Peter Pan's Flight, Mickey's Philharmagic, Snow White's Scary Adventure, Pooh, Teacups, Dumbo, Speedway, Space Mountain, People Mover, Astro Orbiter, Stitches Great Escape, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, COP, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Space Mountain. Maybe I just should have said all the rides, it would have been easier.:hammer: We will also take in the Castle show and all The Parades. We do not have to do all these in one day, we will be in this park three days this trip.

Most likely a Snack Credit for lunch and QS Supper will probably be either Cosmic Ray's or Pecos Bill's.

I will be Quite busy with my camera this day. So much to take pictures of. Approx 40 on the must do pictures list, plus all the other stuff. Gotta love digital photography, take as many pics as you can and not worry about the developing cost.

Depending on the pace and the weather we may end up going back to the hotel for a swim and a rest, the park is open till midnight. If we are not feeling to bad we may just take some time over at Tom Sawyer Island to relax and recharge.

There will also be a lot of character greeting and of course, pics of all of them.

Shopping on Main Street USA is also in the plan.

At the end of the day, back to the hotel and get things ready for the next day and maybe a quick swim before bed.

Next Up. Animal Kingdom.

 

[Turcicus]

My wife and I will be down there at the same time. I'll be sure to say hi if I see you! Safe travels.

Sounds like you have a great trip planned and I give you 2 all the credit in the world. We are only 14 hours away and I will never drive again if I can help it. Never really minded the drive down its the return home that I hated. Good luck!!!

Agreed. We live in Virginia as well and have only made the drive down once. That was enough! :lol:

 

[BuzzGoofy]

Parks Day 3. Animal Kingdom

This will be the first of two days at the Animal Kingdom. My favorite park.

Donald's Safari Breakfast at 8am.

No real plan after this but will probably take our first Safari, since we will already be in the area.

Lots of pictures in this park, there is just so much to take pictures of. The theming of this park is amazing, I could just wander around and take pictures all day. That being said I will still take time to enjoy the rides and shows.

Some of the must do's. Kilimanjaro Safari, Kali River Rafts, Expedition Everest, both trails, Finding Nemo, Festival of the Lion King, Rafiki's Planet Watch. We have two days in this park, so we shouldn't be too rushed, even with the early closing times.

Next day - Magic Kingdom and MNSSHP

Parks Day 4. Magic Kingdom and MNSSHP

This will be our sleep in day.

Our table service today is Crystal Palace at 4:30

We will be in costume for the party but will carry them with us and put them in a locker until party time.

The morning will probably be spent around the hotel, taking pics of the theming and hanging around the pool.

Tabitha is especially looking forward to all the Character greeting opportunities. The Villains Mix and Mingle is a must do. We will probably also take advantage of the short wait times and do a few rides. In 2009 at MNSSHP we were able to walk on to Pirates with no wait.


As I write this we only have 29 days until we start on our road trip. 32 days until we are at WDW.

More to come.

 

[<3caseyscorner]

MAN!!! Im really enjoyed your pretrip report!!!! Im excited for the Trip Report! I love your care and that it is 'Disneyfied'!! I also love the PME!!! You guys are going to have a blast!!! We are going at the end of September and are also going to MNSSHP!!! You should check out my pre trip report. its my first report as well! Its under 2 year anniversary pre trip report!! HAVE FUN AT THE WORLD!!!!:sohappy:

 

[BuzzGoofy]

Parks Day5. Animal Kingdom

This will be our second day at the Animal Kingdom.

ADR for the day is Yak & Yeti 4:30. Really looking forward to this. We ate there in 2009 and I was very impressed with both the food and the service. I will definitely be getting the Duck with Anandapur glaze again.

Breakfast will probably be something Quick at the resort and lunch will probably be Flame Tree BBQ.

I'm sure that even on our second day in this park, I will still find lots to take pictures of. We will also be doing the rides and trails again this day.

With the early park closing we will probably head back to the resort to relax and get ready for our 8:30 reservation the next day.

More to come later.

 

[BuzzGoofy]

Parks Day 6 Magic Kingdom

This will be a special day for my daughter. Since our first visit in 2007 she has wanted to eat at Cinderellas Royal Table.

We managed to get reservations for 8:30 this morning. We are both looking forward to this, yes, even me. As opposed to meeting the Princesses, I am looking forward to all the amazing details of the location itself. My trusty Rebel will get a full workout this morning.

The rest of the day will be spent on non specific touring around the Magic Kingdom, catching up on whatever we may have missed.


Parks Day 7 Epcot

Our last day at the parks. We start off this day with breakfast at Akershus at 8:30.

Although this is our only scheduled visit to Epcot, we will probably take advantage of our park hoppers and visit here on one, or both, AK days. I am very much looking forward to Mission Space, Test Track, Soarin, and Under the Sea with Nemo and Friends.

Not too sure about Imagination, but will probably go on it anyway. Although it is terribly out of date and has gotten some (many) bad reviews on this site we will be doing Captain Eo.

The park is open till midnight, but who knows if we will make it to the end.

Another must do is, of course, Illuminations.


The next day, Saturday the 17 will be our sad day. This day we will start our homeward trip. It will take us 5 days to travel down to the World so It should take us about the same to get back home.

As you can see in my signature at the bottom of the page, our WDW vacation starts in 11 days. That is the WDW part of the vacation. Our actual trip actually begins in only 7 days. We will be heading out on the holiday Monday.

I will probably only update this PTR once more before we leave. Although I will be on line occasionally while on this trip, I will not be posting a trip report until we get home and I have a chance to go through and organize/edit the many pictures I plan on taking.

To all that may be at WDW when we are there, maybe well see each other. Please feel free to say hello if you recognize me. I Promise not to be weirded out or anything. :ROFLOL:

 

[<3caseyscorner]

you are less than 2 weeks away!! :sohappy::sohappy::sohappy::sohappy: