*I will preface this report by saying that I actually wrote most of it a few months ago when we were in the early stages of planning. My DW suggested that I contain my enthusiasm and not post it until April; I agreed and here we are! I have added details over time but most of this has been sitting in a Word doc for awhile.*
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I currently have a ton of work to do (music to memorize! contracts to sign! schedules to organize! emails to send! tax documents to sort! dishes to wash!) so naturally I am procrastinating by writing a pre trip report!
You've probably read plenty about us in my previous TRs so instead of introducing my wife M and myself I will get on to the details:
Dates
May 28-June 1 May 28-June 2! We'll be celebrating M's birthday! Usually her birthday falls during Memorial Day weekend but this year MD is a week later. We considered going for her actual birthday; while it would have been a bit cheaper and less crowded, she only has to use two three vacation days this way and the timing with the flights worked out. Speaking of...
Flights
Southwest recently added direct flights from EWR to MCO! ALSO, we recently received four drink coupons in the mail...EACH! That means we can each have two drinks on both flights!!! Our arrival flight lands around 10am and our return flight leaves MCO around 1pm. We usually stay much later on our departure day but then we are super exhausted and getting home is a hassle. This way we won't have to get up super early but we also won't have to worry about leaving bags with luggage services at the hotel. Speaking of...
Hotel
4 nights at Pop Century
4 nights at Port Orleans Riverside
4 nights at WDW Dolphin
1 night at Pop Century and 4 nights at WDW Dolphin
@lostpro9het has posted about the vacation creep as in finding ways to add more days to the beginning and end of a trip. We have experienced the vacation creep as in finding ways to gradually upgrade the hotel from a value resort to...well, you'll see! Back in November we booked Pop Century at a pretty good rate before any discounts were released. When the discounts came out in January I did the math and realized that we could upgrade to a garden room at Port Orleans Riverside for about $10 a night more than the original Pop reservation. DW has never stayed at POR and I stayed once with my family in 2003 but barely remember the resort so we went with it.
BUT THEN...
I found an amazing rate for Starwood Preferred Guests (of which I am a member) at the WDW Dolphin. It was only a little more per night than Riverside, which was a little more than Pop...all to be within walking distance of Epcot. THEN we found out that the Flower and Garden Festival, which was previously scheduled to end over a week before our arrival, would last through May 30 and we would get to enjoy the last three days! We took all of this as a sign that we should definitely book at the Dolphin!
BUT THEN...
M's parents decided to join us for part of the first three days of our trip (staying offsite) so we decided to extend our trip an extra day! The resort stays worked out so that we will be staying the first night at Pop and the remaining four at the Dolphin.
Airport transportation
Still figuring this out. We might just do UberBlack to the Dolphin to save time even though it's more expensive than a shuttle. Definitely UberX from Dolphin to MCO. If anyone has advice or recommendations on shuttles vs. Uber vs. private cars vs. ??? feel free to chime in here. We want the best combination of quick speed and low price.
DME from MCO to Pop, then UberX from Dolphin to MCO
Tickets
The last chance for our 2015-2016 Annual Passes to shine
ADRs (boy is our TIW card going to come in handy!)
The plans
Saturday, May 28
Sunday, May 29
Monday, May 30
Tuesday, May 31
Wednesday, June 1
We are hoping to do some more Disneybounding this time. Okay, I am planning to do some Disneybounding and hoping to convince the DW to join me. We are exploring some couples' (or at least coordinating) costume pairs and are considering things like Princess Aurora and "Princess Phillipa." If it takes me being the "Prince" to convince M to coordinate with me I'll do it! We don't want to be Anna and Elsa or anything other related characters because that would be weird. I tried to get her to be R2D2 to my C3P0 but she wasn't too enthusiastic about that.MAYBE I can get her to be Minnie and Daisy with me. So if anyone has any ideas for us let me know!We are going as Minnie and Daisy one day!
That's it for now. I'll post updates as we make changes and reserve things like FPs.
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I currently have a ton of work to do (music to memorize! contracts to sign! schedules to organize! emails to send! tax documents to sort! dishes to wash!) so naturally I am procrastinating by writing a pre trip report!
You've probably read plenty about us in my previous TRs so instead of introducing my wife M and myself I will get on to the details:
Dates
Flights
Southwest recently added direct flights from EWR to MCO! ALSO, we recently received four drink coupons in the mail...EACH! That means we can each have two drinks on both flights!!! Our arrival flight lands around 10am and our return flight leaves MCO around 1pm. We usually stay much later on our departure day but then we are super exhausted and getting home is a hassle. This way we won't have to get up super early but we also won't have to worry about leaving bags with luggage services at the hotel. Speaking of...
Hotel
4 nights at Port Orleans Riverside
4 nights at WDW Dolphin
1 night at Pop Century and 4 nights at WDW Dolphin
@lostpro9het has posted about the vacation creep as in finding ways to add more days to the beginning and end of a trip. We have experienced the vacation creep as in finding ways to gradually upgrade the hotel from a value resort to...well, you'll see! Back in November we booked Pop Century at a pretty good rate before any discounts were released. When the discounts came out in January I did the math and realized that we could upgrade to a garden room at Port Orleans Riverside for about $10 a night more than the original Pop reservation. DW has never stayed at POR and I stayed once with my family in 2003 but barely remember the resort so we went with it.
BUT THEN...
I found an amazing rate for Starwood Preferred Guests (of which I am a member) at the WDW Dolphin. It was only a little more per night than Riverside, which was a little more than Pop...all to be within walking distance of Epcot. THEN we found out that the Flower and Garden Festival, which was previously scheduled to end over a week before our arrival, would last through May 30 and we would get to enjoy the last three days! We took all of this as a sign that we should definitely book at the Dolphin!
BUT THEN...
M's parents decided to join us for part of the first three days of our trip (staying offsite) so we decided to extend our trip an extra day! The resort stays worked out so that we will be staying the first night at Pop and the remaining four at the Dolphin.
Airport transportation
DME from MCO to Pop, then UberX from Dolphin to MCO
Tickets
The last chance for our 2015-2016 Annual Passes to shine
ADRs (boy is our TIW card going to come in handy!)
- California Grill (dinner)
- Jiko (dinner)
- Kona Cafe (breakfast)
- Trattoria al Forno (breakfast)
- Morimoto Asia (lunch)
- Via Napoli (late lunch with family)
- Tiffin's
- Skipper Canteen
- Kimonos Lounge
- Bluezoo Lounge
- Big River Brewing Company
- Crossroads at House of Blues-if happy hour timing works out
The plans
Saturday, May 28
- Take Uber from home to Newark airport
- Depart around 7:00am, land around 10:00
Take UberBlack or shuttle (???) to WDW DolphinCheck into Dolphin and hope room is ready; either way, walk over to Epcot (of course!)- Take DME to Pop, check in, and hope room is ready! Then, take bus to Epcot
- Enjoy kiosk items from Flower and Garden. It looks like there are plenty of veg options this year!
Head to AK for Rivers of Light and possibly Finding Nemo as well- Probably stay at Epcot the rest of the night until we're ready to head back, and hang out with M's parents
- Journey back to
the DolphinPop for sleeeeeeep!
Sunday, May 29
Wake up early for a walk to DHS EMH- Sleep in and check out from Pop, then Uber to Dolphin (or maybe M's parents will give us a ride!)
- Check in at Dolphin and hope room is ready; either way, walk to DHS
Spend a few hours at DHS, Literally just ride Star Tours with a FP because that's all we care about in this park right now,then head to Disney Springs for lunch at Morimoto Asia (second time at MA, first time for lunch)- Spend some time at DS, probably visit Basin and Ghirardelli as always
- Head back to the Dolphin for a bit of rest
- Walk to Epcot and spend the evening there. No ADRs as we plan to enjoy kiosk food
Monday, May 30
- Sleep in a bit and walk to Epcot for breakfast at Les Halles in France
- Walk through Epcot to the monorail, and take monorail to Magic Kingdom for a few rides
- Take the monorail back to Epcot and
enjoy some kiosk snacks for "lunch"Eat a late lunch with the in-laws at Via Napoli before they depart - Walk back to the Dolphin and change into something nicer so we can...
- Head to the Contemporary (via MK) for dinner at California Grill
- Watch Wishes and enjoy our dinner, then go back to the Dolphin for the night
Tuesday, May 31
- Sleep in a bit
Walk to and through Epcot to catch the monorailFrom TTC, either walk or take the monorail to the Poly for a late breakfast at Kona Cafe (debating just going to Capt. Cook's for Tonga Toast that's half the price. Blasphemy? PerhapsTake the boat or monorail to MK- Take the bus to AK. Hopefully see Nemo and eat at Tiffin's. Other stuff too?
- Take the bus to AKL for an early dinner at Jiko
- Take the bus to Epcot to enjoy Illuminations and EMH from 9:00-11:00
- Walk back to the Dolphin
for our last night on vacation
Wednesday, June 1
Pack and get dressed, then...Walk to the Boardwalk for a farewell breakfast at Trattoria al fornoWalk to Epcot for a last farewell (if there's time) or simply return to the Dolphin, check out, and take an Uber back to MCOFace the dreaded TSA lines at MCO and fly back to Newark, landing around 4:00pm- Sleep in, then walk to the Boardwalk for a late breakfast at Trattoria al forno
- This day is pretty much open for catching up. We have some early afternoon FPs for MK and I'm sure we'll eventually end up in Epcot but other than that who knows?
- Pack and get dressed, then...
- Walk to
the BoardwalkEpcot for a farewell breakfast atTrattoria al fornoLes Halles Walk to Epcot for a last farewell (if there's time) or simplyreturn to the Dolphin, check out, and take an Uber back to MCO- Face the dreaded TSA lines at MCO and fly back to Newark, landing around 4:00pm
We are hoping to do some more Disneybounding this time. Okay, I am planning to do some Disneybounding and hoping to convince the DW to join me. We are exploring some couples' (or at least coordinating) costume pairs and are considering things like Princess Aurora and "Princess Phillipa." If it takes me being the "Prince" to convince M to coordinate with me I'll do it! We don't want to be Anna and Elsa or anything other related characters because that would be weird. I tried to get her to be R2D2 to my C3P0 but she wasn't too enthusiastic about that.
That's it for now. I'll post updates as we make changes and reserve things like FPs.
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Way to go!! 
), but I wish I could also wear the one in the picture. Will you visit any of the water parks, or do you prefer to just use the hotel pool instead?