so exactly two weeks from today i will be arriving in orlando and beginning my vacation in walt disney world! :sohappy:
this trip is more exciting than usual for me because i am going with my best friend from college and former roommate, maggie. we both graduated in 2008 from elon university (woo!). after graduation, i stayed in nc and maggie moved back to her home state of georgia. since graduating we have only seen each other once
and that was actually just this past may when she returned to nc to see her brother graduate from elon.
maggie and ashley (that's me) from the glory days of college. ahh...it's only been two years since graduating and i already miss it. good times.
so back in march maggie had mentioned that some of her friends had just returned from a vacation in wdw and they loved it. she has never been and she knows how much i love it so she asked if i would want to go with her and show her the world! ummm...did she really have to ask the question?! :lol: so immediately i kicked it into planning mode and we decided to go in september for value season and low crowds.
first we had to decide where we wanted to stay. maggie and i are both pretty frugal (i hate that word. let's say financially responsible instead) so i thought that maybe the values would be a definite for us. i had also suggested maybe doing a moderate or staying at the wilderness lodge since it is on the lower end price wise out of the deluxes. i was very pleased when maggie said she wanted to do her first trip right and we would splurge and stay at the wilderness lodge! i have never stayed here before so i am very excited to see what it's like. i also suggested that doing the dining plan might be a good idea and maggie was on board! (i love planning for someone who is so open to suggestion!) i figured that there would either be a room discount or free dining coming out after we booked the trip and sure enough, free dining came out for disney visa card holders (that would be me
) and we got free dining. a financially responsible person's dream come true!
since this is maggie's first trip to the world, i decided to make her a "first timers guide to walt disney world" i put together a binder with information including the wdw planning dvd, free park maps, menus for the restaurants we would be eating at/considering eating at, disney trivia, park hours and a pair of minnie mouse ears! on her visit in may, we went over her binder and i showed her some shows i had on the dvr that were in wdw.
so now you know the planning process of how our trip came to be. now, on to the scheduled itinerary!
wednesday september 8th - arrival day
9:10am - i arrive at mco
9:20am - maggie arrives at mco (very nice planning!)
then we board the dme and head to the wl!
once we arrive we will have lunch at roaring fork, check out the room, hang out by the pool (weather permitting), check out the resort, etc.
3:00pm - head over to mk for our first park of the trip
TBD - dinner at a QS location TBD
9:00pm - watch wishes
head back to the resort after wishes
thursday september 9th - epcot and dhs
7:45am - head to epcot
11:30am - lunch at tutto italia for our first table service meal
1:00pm - head back to the wl for time by the pool, to relax, nap, etc.
4:00pm - head to dhs
5:50pm - dinner at sci fi dine in theater for the must see, amazing atmosphere this place has
8:30pm - see fantasmic!
head back to the wl after fantasmic!
friday september 10th - ak and epcot
7:30am - head to ak
TBD - grab breakfast at a QS TBD
1:10pm - head back to wl to get ready for dinner tonight
3:15pm - head to epcot
4:15pm - dinner at le cellier! (i have never been so i am interested to see if it lives up to the hype)
9:00pm - illuminations and then emh begin
12:00am - park closes, head back to the wl
saturday september 11th - dhs and mk
6:50am - head to dhs for morning emh
12:30pm - lunch at a QS TBD
1:30pm - head over to mk
3:00pm - watch the parade
7:00pm - head over to the contemporary for dinner
7:35pm - dinner at the wave
then show maggie the monorail resorts after dinner
sunday september 12th - dtd and departure day
8:30am - head to dtd
TBD - lunch at earl of sandwich
12:00pm - head back to wl then wait for dme to take us back to the airport
5:00pm - ashley departs from mco
5:30pm - maggie departs from mco
i am so excited for this trip and to experience seeing wdw with someone who has never been! i know i need to slow down from my normal pace and let maggie enjoy all the small things that make wdw so wonderful. its crazy, but i actually hope we have some wait times for attractions so she can see all the cool details that go into the queue.
i will be taking a ton of pictures while there and will try to post my trip report shortly after returning. thanks for reading!
this trip is more exciting than usual for me because i am going with my best friend from college and former roommate, maggie. we both graduated in 2008 from elon university (woo!). after graduation, i stayed in nc and maggie moved back to her home state of georgia. since graduating we have only seen each other once
and that was actually just this past may when she returned to nc to see her brother graduate from elon.
maggie and ashley (that's me) from the glory days of college. ahh...it's only been two years since graduating and i already miss it. good times.
so back in march maggie had mentioned that some of her friends had just returned from a vacation in wdw and they loved it. she has never been and she knows how much i love it so she asked if i would want to go with her and show her the world! ummm...did she really have to ask the question?! :lol: so immediately i kicked it into planning mode and we decided to go in september for value season and low crowds.
first we had to decide where we wanted to stay. maggie and i are both pretty frugal (i hate that word. let's say financially responsible instead) so i thought that maybe the values would be a definite for us. i had also suggested maybe doing a moderate or staying at the wilderness lodge since it is on the lower end price wise out of the deluxes. i was very pleased when maggie said she wanted to do her first trip right and we would splurge and stay at the wilderness lodge! i have never stayed here before so i am very excited to see what it's like. i also suggested that doing the dining plan might be a good idea and maggie was on board! (i love planning for someone who is so open to suggestion!) i figured that there would either be a room discount or free dining coming out after we booked the trip and sure enough, free dining came out for disney visa card holders (that would be me
) and we got free dining. a financially responsible person's dream come true! since this is maggie's first trip to the world, i decided to make her a "first timers guide to walt disney world" i put together a binder with information including the wdw planning dvd, free park maps, menus for the restaurants we would be eating at/considering eating at, disney trivia, park hours and a pair of minnie mouse ears! on her visit in may, we went over her binder and i showed her some shows i had on the dvr that were in wdw.
so now you know the planning process of how our trip came to be. now, on to the scheduled itinerary!
wednesday september 8th - arrival day
9:10am - i arrive at mco
9:20am - maggie arrives at mco (very nice planning!)
then we board the dme and head to the wl!
once we arrive we will have lunch at roaring fork, check out the room, hang out by the pool (weather permitting), check out the resort, etc.
3:00pm - head over to mk for our first park of the trip
TBD - dinner at a QS location TBD
9:00pm - watch wishes
head back to the resort after wishes
thursday september 9th - epcot and dhs
7:45am - head to epcot
11:30am - lunch at tutto italia for our first table service meal
1:00pm - head back to the wl for time by the pool, to relax, nap, etc.
4:00pm - head to dhs
5:50pm - dinner at sci fi dine in theater for the must see, amazing atmosphere this place has
8:30pm - see fantasmic!
head back to the wl after fantasmic!
friday september 10th - ak and epcot
7:30am - head to ak
TBD - grab breakfast at a QS TBD
1:10pm - head back to wl to get ready for dinner tonight
3:15pm - head to epcot
4:15pm - dinner at le cellier! (i have never been so i am interested to see if it lives up to the hype)
9:00pm - illuminations and then emh begin
12:00am - park closes, head back to the wl
saturday september 11th - dhs and mk
6:50am - head to dhs for morning emh
12:30pm - lunch at a QS TBD
1:30pm - head over to mk
3:00pm - watch the parade
7:00pm - head over to the contemporary for dinner
7:35pm - dinner at the wave
then show maggie the monorail resorts after dinner
sunday september 12th - dtd and departure day
8:30am - head to dtd
TBD - lunch at earl of sandwich
12:00pm - head back to wl then wait for dme to take us back to the airport
5:00pm - ashley departs from mco
5:30pm - maggie departs from mco
i am so excited for this trip and to experience seeing wdw with someone who has never been! i know i need to slow down from my normal pace and let maggie enjoy all the small things that make wdw so wonderful. its crazy, but i actually hope we have some wait times for attractions so she can see all the cool details that go into the queue.
i will be taking a ton of pictures while there and will try to post my trip report shortly after returning. thanks for reading!
