July 4th 2012 PTR

Hey all. This is my first pre-trip report and hopefully it will turn into my first trip report.

Let's start with a little background. We went last July for two weeks where we visited US and IOA for two days to see Harry Potter along with WDW for 12 days and upgraded our MYW tickets to annual passes for WDW. This trip is only a week since we didn’t really budget for another trip but wanted to go again. The last trip was my fiancé’s and my first Disney trip together. And I'm hoping we can go many more times together.

When-July 1-July 7

Where-POP Century-We stayed here last time and loved it as a value.

Who-Our Lovely Cast
Me: I’m Rita, 23 and love all things Disney and this will be my 7th trip but hoping to get many more! I am the one in our group that can walk around the park to get us where we need to go without a map. I ate around the “world” in one day on one trip and might try to drink around the “world” sometime. I will be participating in the Fall College Program this year. It’s going to be difficult being away from my fiancé for that time but I am going to love living in Florida and being able to go to the parks whenever I want. Maybe we can move to Florida and then I can work for Disney. I want a Disney wedding. We actually visited the wedding chapel when we were down there last year and I could see us getting married in Disney.

Chris: My fiancé is 24 and I think I can get him to love Disney as much as I do. Chris has only been to Disney 2 times. The first time was when he was 5 and the second was with my family and it was lovely to watch him remember what he could from his first trip. We wanted to go to Disney for SWW this year but decided against it to go with my family again. On the last trip Chris was the main photographer and took over 4000 pictures, no editing. This trip we now have our new fancy camera so we will probably have about that many or more.

Amber: My younger sister, 18. This will be her 6th trip to the World. She loves Disney and has a fascination with Paris so we spent a lot of time in EPCOT taking pictures for her in France last year. This trip hopefully is better for her than the last one. We went for her high school graduation present and we all wore the celebrating pins except for me and Chris who wore just engaged pins. Amber was upset because everyone was commenting on Chris and me getting engaged instead of her graduation.

Mom and Dad: I am pretty sure they love Disney as much as I do. I know my Dad does. I was trying to get him to do the college program with me-he lost his job a couple years ago and has been going to school to get all the computer certifications that he didn’t need for his old job. This would be their 9th trip to Disney. They are the mediators of all the fights between Amber, Chris and I.

 

[radev104]

Our itinerary:
Thursday June 28-Chris and I pack the car. I go to work with Chris and finish my final papers for this trimester that are due on July 1. After work we drive to my parents’ house in PA.

Friday June 29-Chris will be working "remotely" while I run some errands and help my parents get ready to leave.

Saturday June 30-Hopefully we can leave PA early and drive to GA without any problems. Last year we were stuck at a Firestone for like 5 hours while they fixed the car. Then we drove straight through to Disney instead of stopping. I know that we will probably get breakfast either at Chick-Fil-A like last year or if we leave early we will stop at the Maryland House rest stop for breakfast. We stop and eat lunch-sandwiches at a rest stop along 95. Dinner will definitely be CiCi’s Pizza! This is a must since we do it every time we drive to Disney. Our stop for sleep is in GA about 5 hours from Disney. I am hoping we leave early enough to get here around 10pm.

Sunday July 1-I am again hoping to leave the hotel early after breakfast so we can get to Disney early. Last year we got to POP around 9am and I know that won’t happen this time. Whenever we get there we will do the whole check in process and eat lunch. While we wait I want to go to a water park with Chris and Amber. My parents will wait for the rooms and go to Wal-Mart for our water, snacks and whatever else we need. After we all make it back to the rooms it will be time for dinner-I told my parents that they should pick up a pizza on their way back so we can have that for dinner in the room while getting ready to go out to a park. We probably will go to Magic Kingdom but EPCOT has EMH. As of now MK is open till 9 but I remember the hours being later when we were down there last year.

Monday-Saturday-We have no idea of what days we are doing what parks but I want to at least get to MK for the opening. We have already done EPCOT and DHS on the 4th of July two different years so I don't know which park we will do this year but I am sure it won't be MK.

Some things from our last trip-
-We definitely need to go on Splash Mountain- we wanted to get on that the first night there and it was closed and just never got around to it.
-We need to see the Nemo show in AK-it was either the Lion King or Nemo and we chose Lion King.
-We definitely are checking out park of the new Fantasyland-we saw it under construction.
-We need to do Sum of all Thrills-missed it last time since there was a long line and didn’t want to wait for that.
-We went to Typhoon Lagoon last time and might try Blizzard Beach this time or go back to Typhoon Lagoon to use my new waterproof camera to swim with the sharks. We decided to not spend a day at the water park but if we make it to Disney early enough I might stray over to one for a little before we have to check in.
-We went to Disney Quest last time because my fiancé is a video game lover and we all thought he would love it-he didn’t like it that much so we are passing on it this time.
-We checked out some other resorts so we might do that again (or wait until I am down there for the College Program in September to check them out myself or with my dad and fiancé).
-Maybe check out a table service meal-didn’t do any last time. We just really do dinner in the parks-eat breakfast in the room then make some sandwiches to take to the parks. It definitely saves us money but I would love to do another table service this time if we can fit it in.
-See more World Showcase shows-walked through all the countries but didn’t stop for a lot of shows.
-We are taking our new Cannon Rebel T3. Last time Chris broke my little camera-I was so mad since it was the 3nd day of a two week trip but we did manage to take over 4000 pictures (I will post some of them here). We decided to splurge and get a new better one and I cannot wait to see how these pictures turn out.

 

[enchanted_belle]

YAYYYY RITA!!!!! lol, I'm so excited you and Chris are going soon (39 days!).

So excited that I logged on to here for the first time in like a month... oops... :lookaroun

I can't wait to see your pictures, read your stories, and live vicariously through you. :animwink:

AND to see you again in September... just because I can throw that in there! <3

 

[radev104]

YAYYYY RITA!!!!! lol, I'm so excited you and Chris are going soon (39 days!).

So excited that I logged on to here for the first time in like a month... oops... :lookaroun

I can't wait to see your pictures, read your stories, and live vicariously through you. :animwink:

AND to see you again in September... just because I can throw that in there! <3

I know now 38 days!!!

We will pretend that you have been logged in the whole time

I am hoping there will be some great pictures and crazy stories.

September should be so fun!! I hope I can get tickets to the party.

I still haven't finished that homework I told you about but I will be putting some pictures up before Chris gets home :lookaroun

 

[radev104]

Pictures from our 2011 trip

On the bus (a Cruise Line Bus!!) to MK the first night there!!

Chris and I got "Just Engaged" buttons. :sohappy:

Waiting for the bus on our first day to a park.

Me and Chris in line for TSM.

Lightning and Mater. I am a huge Cars fan.

The Tree of Life.

My mom, sister and me with Tink!!! I was so excited for this picture.

This Photopass guy had a lot of fun taking pictures of me and Chris these are only two of the bunch. But they are my two favorites.

 

[radev104]

Pictures from a rainy Magic Kingdom day

Chris really wanted to see Goofy. So we waited for Pirate Goofy. While waiting it started to rain and he couldn't come out. We waited about an hour-it was raining pretty hard so we just waited by the POC entrance. There were a couple photopass guys that really made the wait worthwhile. They posed us so many different ways. And I was happy that we pre-ordered our CD. One helper even went to get Goofy for us since we were waiting so long. I was pretty excited when we saw him come out that I forgot to write down the names of the photopass guys but I did go to guest services to tell them about the experience and hope that they were able to figure out who was there.

 

[radev104]

We had to try out Kim Possible Missions in WS. They were fun but Chris and I are more excited for Perry.

The parents relaxing in Mexico while the kids played around.

I wonder where I get my craziness from. I think it's from my dad who joined in the fun with us kids.

Pretending to throw me over the railing into World Showcase Lagoon.

We decided to brave the weather in Animal Kingdom as everyone else left we made our way to the Safari and saw all the animals out.

After the Goodnight Kiss that I made everyone stay for we got our own bus back to the POP.

A friend from college was doing the College Program while we were there so I had to stop and meet her. Unfortunately her handler wouldn't let us leave together. But I did get a super big hug!

And one last photo for Courtney. :sohappy:

 

[radev104]

Video of GuitarDan in AK

I hope this works. It's a video my sister took while we were in Conservation Station while it rained. Guitar Dan (he said he is usually in Camp Minnie and Mickey) was walking around and noticed Chris and my "Just Engaged" buttons and sang us a lovely song.

 

[johndoh]

You guys look like you're having SOOO much fun in all your pictures!
I wish I would have taken advantage of the college program when I was in college. We were talking with one of the "character handlers" for Duffy at EPCOT and she was telling us about how cool the college program was and how they matched her up to be a character handler because her major was in child psychology. So, she gets to be around kids all day at WDW, get paid, and earn college credits... Sounds like a win!

 

[radev104]

You guys look like you're having SOOO much fun in all your pictures!
I wish I would have taken advantage of the college program when I was in college. We were talking with one of the "character handlers" for Duffy at EPCOT and she was telling us about how cool the college program was and how they matched her up to be a character handler because her major was in child psychology. So, she gets to be around kids all day at WDW, get paid, and earn college credits... Sounds like a win!

Oh definitely. And that was only last years trip. This one's coming up pretty soon.
I don't get any credits for the college program since my grad school won't take them but I still get all the experience working down there. Plus got to the parks all the time!!

 

[radev104]

One month!!!!

One month from today we will be arriving in Disney!!! I guess I better get started on those two papers I need to write for class before I leave. And hope my final is posted before I got too.

Some updates on the trip:
My sister wants to eat in the castle-I'm not even going to try to get reservations there so she suggested we eat somewhere else besides DHS since we always get TS there.
We got some matching shirts for this trip which we haven't had in awhile. My sister, mom and I have matching boy shirts from the Disney Outlet near our house. My dad and Chris have matching shirts from the same place. And we just picked up Perry shirts from Wal-Mart today for my sister and me. She is so into this trip this year.
We will be getting some decorations for the windows at the POP. We decorated last year with those Mickey head paint samples from Home Depot. Might have to make a stop there again and get some red, white and blue ones for the 4th.
I will be making out mousekeeping tip envelopes sometime between now and the trip when I get free time with all my homework. (This trimester (only my second one) is worse than my first one and I have less classes.)
I have to start making my packing list and to do list. Especially since I pack for me and Chris.

I think that's all for the update for now. When I have pictures of anything I get done I can try to post them.

 

[fractal]

love the pics - you guys make a great couple!

no doubt you're going to have a wonderful trip.

 

[Uncle Lupe]

Looking forward to your TR. Hope you get there with no problems.

 

[flipadeeflop]

I'm very excited to read your TR! Just go already!!!

 

[foreverbelle]

Wahoo!! So excited to hear all about this. You guys dif are a cute couple!! Looks like you guys had a blast last year, thinking you should dif celebrate again this year..

Sometimes not having anything planned specifically is the way to go. And regarding the hours, yea I always think they are open way later than they originally say.

And I know you will be going right before me so it means mine is coming up just as quickly!!!! How exciting..

Can't wait to hear all about it...

 

[Dizdutch]

Beautiful pics

Can't wait to read your TR, the prior trip pics are awesome.

 

[radev104]

love the pics - you guys make a great couple!

no doubt you're going to have a wonderful trip.

Thank you!

Looking forward to your TR. Hope you get there with no problems.

Thanks. I told my dad he is going to check and double check the van before we leave.

I'm very excited to read your TR! Just go already!!!

Haha. I wish we could. I really don't want these weeks to go by so fast because of the papers and final I have due for school but at least I know one paper will be done before I go. But I want to be walking down Main Street and seeing the castle.

Wahoo!! So excited to hear all about this. You guys dif are a cute couple!! Looks like you guys had a blast last year, thinking you should dif celebrate again this year..

Sometimes not having anything planned specifically is the way to go. And regarding the hours, yea I always think they are open way later than they originally say.

And I know you will be going right before me so it means mine is coming up just as quickly!!!! How exciting..

Can't wait to hear all about it...

Thank you!!! It was such a blast last year. We had two weeks so we took our time and got a lot of pictures of us doing crazy things. I found out (I think from reading other TRs) that we can celebrate our birthdays if they are within 6 months but I like being "Just Engaged" haha.

Not planning is great. Right before bed we usually decide what park we are going to the next day. I checked again for hours and I'm still hoping for updates since last year we had 3AM EMH at MK and its still says 1AM.

That's exciting. It's getting closer to mine so its getting closer to yours!!!:sohappy:

Can't wait to read your TR, the prior trip pics are awesome.

Thanks! I hope I take some good notes and all that stuff.

 

[radev104]

Quick update

A quick update while Chris is playing on his Xbox with our roommate while I want to go to bed :snore:

My parents and sister came up to visit us this weekend so today the boys went out and my mom and sister went shopping. At Target we bought 4th of July gel window clings for a $1. I also found little notebooks/journals with blank pages that we are using as autograph books for $1. They are not Disney related but for a dollar I couldn't resist. I know I could make cuter ones with all the character names but these are fine with me.

My mom and I decided that we wanted to leave by 7 since we usually drive for about 14 hours before we stop. That would get us to the hotel in GA around 10 or 11 with the stops for bathroom, gas and dinner. Then we realized that the way we go down we will hit a lot of traffic going to the beach before we get on I95 so I said we need to leave at 6. My dad didn't like that idea. We also decided to get a box of uncrustables to eat in the car on the way down for our lunch.

We stopped by Home Depot to get some of the Mickey Head paint samples to make some Mickey garland but they didn't have any. My parents are checking when they go back home to see if they can get some.

I have a lot of paper writing (2 papers 15-20pages each) and a final to do before I leave but I also need to make a countdown chain and all my check lists for the trip. This is going to be the most stressful month leading up to Disney but once I get there its all going to be worth it.

 

[foreverbelle]

Thank you!!! It was such a blast last year. We had two weeks so we took our time and got a lot of pictures of us doing crazy things. I found out (I think from reading other TRs) that we can celebrate our birthdays if they are within 6 months but I like being "Just Engaged" haha.

Not planning is great. Right before bed we usually decide what park we are going to the next day. I checked again for hours and I'm still hoping for updates since last year we had 3AM EMH at MK and its still says 1AM.

That's exciting. It's getting closer to mine so its getting closer to yours!!!:sohappy:

We usually do this, our anniversary always falls on Memorial Day weekend, and my birthday is the week before mem day....we usually end up celebrating both while we are down there. Actually get a babysitter down there so we can have a fancier dinner. It is always a great time and fabulous.....

A quick update while Chris is playing on his Xbox with our roommate while I want to go to bed :snore:

My parents and sister came up to visit us this weekend so today the boys went out and my mom and sister went shopping. At Target we bought 4th of July gel window clings for a $1. I also found little notebooks/journals with blank pages that we are using as autograph books for $1. They are not Disney related but for a dollar I couldn't resist. I know I could make cuter ones with all the character names but these are fine with me.

My mom and I decided that we wanted to leave by 7 since we usually drive for about 14 hours before we stop. That would get us to the hotel in GA around 10 or 11 with the stops for bathroom, gas and dinner. Then we realized that the way we go down we will hit a lot of traffic going to the beach before we get on I95 so I said we need to leave at 6. My dad didn't like that idea. We also decided to get a box of uncrustables to eat in the car on the way down for our lunch.

We stopped by Home Depot to get some of the Mickey Head paint samples to make some Mickey garland but they didn't have any. My parents are checking when they go back home to see if they can get some.

I have a lot of paper writing (2 papers 15-20pages each) and a final to do before I leave but I also need to make a countdown chain and all my check lists for the trip. This is going to be the most stressful month leading up to Disney but once I get there its all going to be worth it.

Good luck with the paper. I agree its always stressful but once you are done, and down there just imagine its smooth enjoyable sailing from there on out.....almost there

I like your countdown chain idea. I am trying to find something for my son to get him excited. Or rather even more excited than he already is...and believe me you would think it was Christmas time...but still I want to do this.

 

[enchanted_belle]

I just realized... your going for Dan and my anniversary. My jealousy has increased ten-fold.