As you can all tell from the dates, my trip isn't quite here yet! :lol:
However, I thought I'd put a little twist on my trip report by posting the day before we leave, and telling what I did today, and posting my itinerary. When I get back, I will do my trip report and we can compare it to the itinerary and see if we made any changes as we went, or if we pretty much stuck to the itinerary. Here is what we have planned:
Sunday April 13: arrive on WDW property somewhere between 9 AM and 11 AM. Hopefully arrive early enough to check in at POR, then do a horseback ride at Ft Wilderness at 11:30. If we arrived early enough to check in before the horseback ride, hopefully the room will be ready afterwards and we can unpack and freshen up. Then, go to Magic Kingdom around 3 or 4 PM and stay for the rest of the evening. Supper at Liberty Tree and hopefully stay for evening EMH. We're planning on meeting Fizzle75 and his wife Skeeder, both of whom post on this forum, while at the Magic Kingdom.
Monday April 14: Universal Studios all day, then back to resort afterwards. We're meeting up with Fizzle75 and Skeeder for supper at California Grill at 8 PM. Last time we did Universal, we were done by 3 PM or so, so I don't expect to be there much longer than that.
Tuesday April 15: Epcot for AM EMH, then stay until 12 or 1 PM, then back to resort for the afternoon. Then supper at Artist Point along with a carraige ride at FW, then over to Kissimmee for some mini-golf at Pirates Island, where we play on every trip. Possibly go to DTD in the afternoon or in the evening after mini-golf.
Wednesday April 16: Animal Kingdom all day until 4 or 5 PM, then back to resort for rest of the evening with supper at Boatwrights. Maybe Downtown Disney if we didn't do it already on Tuesday.
Thursday April 17: Sea World until 4 or 5 PM or so, then supper at Spoodles and meet up with Fizzle and Skeeder for the Boardwalk and some mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens.
Friday April 18: Beach all day, then over to Epcot for supper at Le Cellier and evening EMH. Probably meeting Fizzle and Skeeder for a final time before they leave the next morning.
Saturday April 19: Hollywood Studios all day, Supper at Mama Melrose
Sunday April 20: Breakfast at Crystal Palace, then MK until noon or 1PM, then back to resort for a nap for my wife and pooltime for me. Back to Epcot in the evening for supper at Le Chefs de France. My wife will want to go back to hotel and start packing for departure in the morning, then go to bed, but I may let her do that while I do some evening EMH at MK after Illuminations. But maybe not...we'll see. Maybe we'll both go back to the hotel and I'll get in the pool.
As the title says, this is the 2nd time I've done a trip report (not a report of my 2nd trip). One of my goals on this coming trip is to correct the mistakes I made on last year's trip. I was way too gung ho about blitzing the parks and using the park maps as a checklist to check off which attractions we still needed to do. I felt like we hadn't sufficiently "done" the park unless we did almost every single ride (with a few exceptions). Even though we were staying on property and had the advantage of transportation back and forth to the hotel for naps, I didn't avail myself of those opportunities until the very last day. As a result, I had my poor wife all worn out, feeling like she was just being dragged around the park. I finally learned that it's only fun if we're both having fun and that if my wife is a half dead zombie following along behind me at the park, then what fun am I having? On one day, we got to the Magic Kingdom pretty much at opening time and we didn't leave until after Wishes. She wasn't very happy with me and I felt like she wasn't having a good time on this vacation, and I realized that next time, I need to do things alot differently. So, with the itinerary I posted above, I feel like I did a pretty good job keeping us in the parks for shorter hours and giving her time to relax and enjoy things outside the parks. The longest day I have scheduled is MGM (DHS), which is a much slower paced park than the Magic Kingdom, so we have alot more time to sit and relax and take in shows instead of running from one ride to the next. Even so, nothing says that we can't decide at the last minute to sleep in that morning and go in later, or leave the park for a while, then come back later. We'll see what happens.
So, here is what we did today, Friday April 11:
We had to run into town and sign a letter before a notary, authorizing my in-laws to make any necessary medical decisions regarding our son, since they will be watching him in our absence. He is almost two years old and we both deem him too young to take just yet, so we're leaving him with the wife's parents. As a precautionary thing, we wanted them to be able to take him to the doctor if necessary and do what needs done.
We then went to the Post Office and got postcard stamps and then to Walmart to get some last minute toiletries for my wife, such as shaving cream, makeup, etc.
Then I had to take the dog down to meet my Dad and send the dog back with him while we are gone.
I also talked on the phone with Fizzle, who arrived last night. He was on his way to Animal Kingdom and then to Coronado Springs to look around. I asked him to check for me if they still have resort specific mugs at Coronado Springs, since I read on these boards that CS, for whatever reason, continues to have resort specific mugs, even though every other resort is now using those generic mugs. He texted me later and said that he got my mug (I'll pay him for it when we meet up Sunday) and he texted me a picture of it.
I had planned on bringing my mug from last year with me, thinking it would be okay since a couple of CMs told me last year that it's fine, as well as what I thought to be ambiguity on the wording on the mug itself. I thought it said good for refills for the length of you stay (which could mean any stay), but when I dug it out the other night and looked at it again, the writing on the mug says "the length of the stay on which the mug was purchased". So, I can't really argue with that...it's written pretty clearly. So, since I don't want to be dishonest, I figured I'd better leave it at home and get a new mug this year.
When we got home, I put a couple more things in the van, and now all that's left is to wait until 4:30 Saturday morning and finish packing and loading up, and then head south.
We'll go to bed early tonight and watch the new Samantha Brown special as probably the last thing we see on TV until we get up in the morning. I hope to leave Mattoon between 6 and 6:30 AM Central Time) and drive until 10 or 11 PM (Eastern Time). Last year, we drove as far as Jasper, FL before we stopped over for the night. This year, I'd really like to get an hour or so past Jasper before we stop, and then we'll only have a couple more hours to drive on Sunday.
Well, that's all for now. I may post something in the morning right before we leave, and then I'll dig this thread up when we get back and post my trip report with pictures!
However, I thought I'd put a little twist on my trip report by posting the day before we leave, and telling what I did today, and posting my itinerary. When I get back, I will do my trip report and we can compare it to the itinerary and see if we made any changes as we went, or if we pretty much stuck to the itinerary. Here is what we have planned:
Sunday April 13: arrive on WDW property somewhere between 9 AM and 11 AM. Hopefully arrive early enough to check in at POR, then do a horseback ride at Ft Wilderness at 11:30. If we arrived early enough to check in before the horseback ride, hopefully the room will be ready afterwards and we can unpack and freshen up. Then, go to Magic Kingdom around 3 or 4 PM and stay for the rest of the evening. Supper at Liberty Tree and hopefully stay for evening EMH. We're planning on meeting Fizzle75 and his wife Skeeder, both of whom post on this forum, while at the Magic Kingdom.
Monday April 14: Universal Studios all day, then back to resort afterwards. We're meeting up with Fizzle75 and Skeeder for supper at California Grill at 8 PM. Last time we did Universal, we were done by 3 PM or so, so I don't expect to be there much longer than that.
Tuesday April 15: Epcot for AM EMH, then stay until 12 or 1 PM, then back to resort for the afternoon. Then supper at Artist Point along with a carraige ride at FW, then over to Kissimmee for some mini-golf at Pirates Island, where we play on every trip. Possibly go to DTD in the afternoon or in the evening after mini-golf.
Wednesday April 16: Animal Kingdom all day until 4 or 5 PM, then back to resort for rest of the evening with supper at Boatwrights. Maybe Downtown Disney if we didn't do it already on Tuesday.
Thursday April 17: Sea World until 4 or 5 PM or so, then supper at Spoodles and meet up with Fizzle and Skeeder for the Boardwalk and some mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens.
Friday April 18: Beach all day, then over to Epcot for supper at Le Cellier and evening EMH. Probably meeting Fizzle and Skeeder for a final time before they leave the next morning.
Saturday April 19: Hollywood Studios all day, Supper at Mama Melrose
Sunday April 20: Breakfast at Crystal Palace, then MK until noon or 1PM, then back to resort for a nap for my wife and pooltime for me. Back to Epcot in the evening for supper at Le Chefs de France. My wife will want to go back to hotel and start packing for departure in the morning, then go to bed, but I may let her do that while I do some evening EMH at MK after Illuminations. But maybe not...we'll see. Maybe we'll both go back to the hotel and I'll get in the pool.
As the title says, this is the 2nd time I've done a trip report (not a report of my 2nd trip). One of my goals on this coming trip is to correct the mistakes I made on last year's trip. I was way too gung ho about blitzing the parks and using the park maps as a checklist to check off which attractions we still needed to do. I felt like we hadn't sufficiently "done" the park unless we did almost every single ride (with a few exceptions). Even though we were staying on property and had the advantage of transportation back and forth to the hotel for naps, I didn't avail myself of those opportunities until the very last day. As a result, I had my poor wife all worn out, feeling like she was just being dragged around the park. I finally learned that it's only fun if we're both having fun and that if my wife is a half dead zombie following along behind me at the park, then what fun am I having? On one day, we got to the Magic Kingdom pretty much at opening time and we didn't leave until after Wishes. She wasn't very happy with me and I felt like she wasn't having a good time on this vacation, and I realized that next time, I need to do things alot differently. So, with the itinerary I posted above, I feel like I did a pretty good job keeping us in the parks for shorter hours and giving her time to relax and enjoy things outside the parks. The longest day I have scheduled is MGM (DHS), which is a much slower paced park than the Magic Kingdom, so we have alot more time to sit and relax and take in shows instead of running from one ride to the next. Even so, nothing says that we can't decide at the last minute to sleep in that morning and go in later, or leave the park for a while, then come back later. We'll see what happens.
So, here is what we did today, Friday April 11:
We had to run into town and sign a letter before a notary, authorizing my in-laws to make any necessary medical decisions regarding our son, since they will be watching him in our absence. He is almost two years old and we both deem him too young to take just yet, so we're leaving him with the wife's parents. As a precautionary thing, we wanted them to be able to take him to the doctor if necessary and do what needs done.
We then went to the Post Office and got postcard stamps and then to Walmart to get some last minute toiletries for my wife, such as shaving cream, makeup, etc.
Then I had to take the dog down to meet my Dad and send the dog back with him while we are gone.
I also talked on the phone with Fizzle, who arrived last night. He was on his way to Animal Kingdom and then to Coronado Springs to look around. I asked him to check for me if they still have resort specific mugs at Coronado Springs, since I read on these boards that CS, for whatever reason, continues to have resort specific mugs, even though every other resort is now using those generic mugs. He texted me later and said that he got my mug (I'll pay him for it when we meet up Sunday) and he texted me a picture of it.
I had planned on bringing my mug from last year with me, thinking it would be okay since a couple of CMs told me last year that it's fine, as well as what I thought to be ambiguity on the wording on the mug itself. I thought it said good for refills for the length of you stay (which could mean any stay), but when I dug it out the other night and looked at it again, the writing on the mug says "the length of the stay on which the mug was purchased". So, I can't really argue with that...it's written pretty clearly. So, since I don't want to be dishonest, I figured I'd better leave it at home and get a new mug this year.
When we got home, I put a couple more things in the van, and now all that's left is to wait until 4:30 Saturday morning and finish packing and loading up, and then head south.
We'll go to bed early tonight and watch the new Samantha Brown special as probably the last thing we see on TV until we get up in the morning. I hope to leave Mattoon between 6 and 6:30 AM Central Time) and drive until 10 or 11 PM (Eastern Time). Last year, we drove as far as Jasper, FL before we stopped over for the night. This year, I'd really like to get an hour or so past Jasper before we stop, and then we'll only have a couple more hours to drive on Sunday.
Well, that's all for now. I may post something in the morning right before we leave, and then I'll dig this thread up when we get back and post my trip report with pictures!
Can't wait to read your report this time. :wave:
