Driving my husband crazy(er) - pre-trip planning for first WDW trip!! UPDATED 1/30/2017

[Shayana]

EDIT: This post is boring blah blah trip details yadda yadda. Skip to the second post for pictures and cats.

First, I'm going to preface this by saying that before this year, I never really had a desire to go to WDW. Part of it was that we couldn't ever afford it growing up, so I kinda put it out of my mind, and also I had this idea in my head that Disney was for families with kids. Right now I'm making decent money both at my day job and through an editing business that I started in 2015, so we can actually afford to go and even splurge a little. But what originally prompted my desire to plan this trip was seeing that my parents took my other brothers and sister and their families to WDW...and didn't invite me & my husband. We were bummed, but then decided that it was an opportunity to plan a trip for ourselves, where we could do what WE wanted and not have to worry about other people's plans or itineraries. Reading about Disney over the past six or so months and researching all of our options, I have completely fallen in love and can't wait to go!

So this is going to be a trip for me & my husband as we celebrate our fourth anniversary. We're both in our 30s but we're going to be kids for a week!

Our trip is for eight nights starting Feb 1, 2017: the first night at CSR and the rest at POFQ. The night at CSR ended up being a recent addition, since when I was looking at plane tickets I discovered that it was actually cheaper to fly first class on Feb 1st instead of regular on Feb 2nd, which was the date we originally planned to fly down. We wanted to fly direct on our way down, which limited us to Delta. We prefer Southwest, though, so are taking that back since we don't care if we have a layover on the way back.

Here is our itinerary so far:

Wednesday Feb 1st: Fly Delta first class from Michigan to Orlando - we're flying during lunch time and the flight is just long enough that they're going to feed us, so that's great. We'll arrive at MCO just after 1pm. Take ME to CSR. We have ADRs at Whispering Canyon Cafe at 6:30pm, so we'll take park transportation around and peek at some of the resorts on the way.

Thursday Feb 2nd: Check out of CSR and drop off our luggage at bell services so they can transport it to POFQ for us, and then go over to DAK for the day. ADR at Boma at 5pm and then back to DAK for Rivers of Light if it's open. If not, we'll probably just head to POFQ.

Friday Feb 3rd: Planning to go to Epcot this day... no ADRs. We'll just do QS. Want to go on Soarin' and Test Track for sure, and walk around the Pavilions for the different countries. Cronut is on my list of things I shouldn't eat but will anyway.

Saturday Feb 4th: Magic Kingdom! ADRs at BOG for lunch. Lots of wandering around. Haunted Mansion is on my must-see list as well as the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse since that was one of my favorite movies growing up.

Sunday Feb 5th: Taking an uber to Universal Studios. Drag husband around Diagon Alley, buy an interactive wand, and look like a dork using it everywhere. Oh, yeah, look at other stuff around the park. Ride the Hogwarts Express at least twice.

Monday Feb 6th: Taking an uber to Universal Studios. Drag husband around Hogsmeade and drink lots of butterbeer. Oh yeah, look at other stuff around the park.

Tuesday Feb 7th: sleep in, go to Epcot in the afternoon and stay for evening extra magic hours.

Wednesday Feb 8th: sleep in, go to MK in the afternoon and stay for evening extra magic hours.

Thursday, Feb 9th: fly back (via Southwest)

We're skipping DHS this time because it gives us a reason to come back in a few years when Star Wars Land is complete.

It's almost time for us to make FastPass+ selections, so I'm going to start having the husband watch YouTube videos of the rides to see what ones he's interested in the most that we might need FP+ for.

Update links!

Okay, so let me introduce myself a little bit.
Short Mumblings: Fast Pass+
Short Mumblings: Changes to ADRs
MagicBand Purchase!
Short Mumblings: Fast Pass+ Part 2
Lanyard Surgery
Finally putting in my vacation request!
Online trip countdown froze and I got scared
ME tags, MagicBand customization, and I thnk I'm talking to myself...
UglyBands arrived... I mean, MagicBands 2.0 (And: comparing the new & old band sizes)
Flight Number Change!
Are We There Yet? Single Digit Countdown!
Updated Countdown - aka, my head exploded and stuff didn't get done.
Almost There!

Pre-Trip Planning done - check out The Zombie Guide to Disney for the actual trip report!

 

[Shayana]

Okay, so let me introduce myself a little bit.

This is me. I do tech support and I also have an editing & proofreading business. My hair is slightly less red at the moment since I need to re-dye it:

This is my DH. I imported him from CA. He doesn't own pants. Well, I think he owns two pairs, but he lives in shorts year 'round:

This is one of my children. His name is Doom, and while he will try to pack himself, he will not be coming to WDW with us:

My other "child" is my avatar. Her name is Hana.

This is where we normally go to celebrate our anniversary - Mackinac Island, MI. We usually celebrate in the summer when it's warm, but Florida in February will be plenty warm for us!

But this year, this is where we'll be going!

&

I can't wait! Is it February yet?

 

[Shayana]

Getting antsy now, trying to figure how what to pick for our FastPass+ selections? It is really required to pick FastPass+ options for a February trip? LOL... yeah, I know, it probably still is a good idea, but I only have a week to sit down and plan!

 

[clayfolks]

Following! Sounds good, so far.

 

[Shayana]

Moving ADR for Whispering Canyon Cafe on Wednesday 2/1 from 6:30pm to 5:25pm, because we want to try to see Wishes afterward. Since Wishes is scheduled for 8pm that day, the plan is to make our way over to the Polynesian after dinner and sit on the beach with Dole Whip to watch the fireworks.

 

[Shayana]

My husband "made" me buy a MagicBand when they were 35% off through the Shop Parks app last week, and it arrived today!

 

[perditax]

You guys kind of remind me of my and my BF (we're both also in IT--he's a coder and I'm a sysadmin. But it gets weirder--I write novels on the side. I guess you maybe do work for indie authors?). Naturally we also have cats.

Anyway, when I saw your thread title I had to laugh. I read somewhere that women get much greater enjoyment (endorphins) from long-term planning than men do. I finally gave up trying to get the BF involved in planning, and our next trip (also in Feb, to UO/Hard Rock Hotel--he's never been to universal) will come as a complete surprise to him.

 

[Shayana]

You guys kind of remind me of my and my BF (we're both also in IT--he's a coder and I'm a sysadmin. But it gets weirder--I write novels on the side. I guess you maybe do work for indie authors?). Naturally we also have cats.

Anyway, when I saw your thread title I had to laugh. I read somewhere that women get much greater enjoyment (endorphins) from long-term planning than men do. I finally gave up trying to get the BF involved in planning, and our next trip (also in Feb, to UO/Hard Rock Hotel--he's never been to universal) will come as a complete surprise to him.

That's awesome! Yes, I mainly work with indie authors, but I also work with a small publishing company that takes foreign-language bestsellers and translates them to English. I then edit them, so they sound like actual English. I do Tech/Phone Support for my main job, and DH is a gamer and my house-husband. I basically told him that I wanted to go to Disney... whenever I ask his opinion, he tells me just to pick what I want!

 

[thumper*]

Hi Shayana Your going to love Disney as single adults. My dh and I do. We stayed at POR for a few nt's on our last trip. It was very pretty and dh loved it. Can't wait to hear about your POFQ details as we will spend our first 2 nt's there. Looking forward to beingents. where in MI are ya from. Both parents are from Lansing and many family members live up there Houton Lake, Beuhla, Gaylord, Grayling. I'd love to go to Mackinac Island sometime I'd love to see more pics if you have them.

 

[Shayana]

Hi Shayana Your going to love Disney as single adults. My dh and I do. We stayed at POR for a few nt's on our last trip. It was very pretty and dh loved it. Can't wait to hear about your POFQ details as we will spend our first 2 nt's there. Looking forward to beingents. where in MI are ya from. Both parents are from Lansing and many family members live up there Houton Lake, Beuhla, Gaylord, Grayling. I'd love to go to Mackinac Island sometime I'd love to see more pics if you have them.

I actually grew up in Lansing, but I moved in Farmington Hills in 2007 for work. When are you going to POFQ? I'll make sure to write up a trip report with the details.

I've been going to Mackinac for so many years, it's like a second home to me! Here are the pictures from my trip from June 2016: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10157040901580301.1073741837.710375300&type=1&l=d34248d4b7

 

[Shayana]

59 days to go!

Because I have a split stay, I wasn't sure if it would let me do all of my fast passes yesterday, but it did! I have my fast passes set up for DAK, Epcot, and MK... or at least for the first day of each of the Epcot and MK days. We decided to leave the second day open for exploring. Since it's in early February, I'm not worried about crowds too much, but I'll have my phone on me so we can always grab FP+ if we decided we need to for the second day of Epcot & MK, if there are any openings. Or use the single rider line if there is one.

Edit: typos

 

[thumper*]

I actually grew up in Lansing, but I moved in Farmington Hills in 2007 for work. When are you going to POFQ? I'll make sure to write up a trip report with the details.

I've been going to Mackinac for so many years, it's like a second home to me! Here are the pictures from my trip from June 2016: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10157040901580301.1073741837.710375300&type=1&l=d34248d4b7

Your sunset photos are breath taking. LOVE
I'll have to read your trip report we won't be there until next December.

 

[Shayana]

Your sunset photos are breath taking. LOVE
I'll have to read your trip report we won't be there until next December.

I'm glad you liked the photos! The sunset when we were there was so beautiful from the boardwalk. The weather was great the entire week we were there!

I'll make sure to do a full trip report once we're back from Disney. Being our first trip, I get more and more excited every day! Right now, I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to get Memory Maker since it's only me & my husband... I'm hoping that there will be enough chances for us to get photos to make it worth while. We decided NOT to go the Disney After Hours event when we're there since we'll already be cramming so much into each day that we don't want to exhaust ourselves.

 

[Shayana]

I just did surgery on a lanyard I picked up from Amazon. The lanyard is great, except that it was way too long for me (I'm short!) and it also had one of those quick release things at the back of the neck and it was rubbing against the back of my neck and bothering me. So I cut the QR clasp out of the back and sewed the lanyard back together. It's a perfect length now.

The lanyard I got is wide enough for pins & buttons without being too wide, and the material is strong enough. I actually broke a needle sewing it back together... oops! I really didn't want to get a lanyard, but figured that it would be convenient to store my ID, backup payment methods, and my Universal tickets when I go there, since Universal is behind in technology and uses paper tickets.

 

[thebyrdwoman]

Following along! Your trip ends just as ours is beginning. You are going to have a blast!

 

[Shayana]

So, due to the way my department handles vacation requests, I can't actually put in for time off in 2017 until 2017. Even though I already found people to cover my shifts (I work evening and weekend hours, so I have to find coverage before I can get the time approved, but that's a gripe for another day) and my team lead took me off the schedule during my vacation, I don't officially have it approved.

Guess what I'll be doing shortly after midnight? Hopefully my manager will quickly approve the time off once she's back in the office on Monday. She already knows that I'm going on this vacation, no matter what!

 

[Shayana]

On a somewhat frightening note, my trip countdown seems to have stopped when we rolled over to the new year. Hmmmmm... I could start a new one, but then it wouldn't look like I had progressed in time at all, unless there is one out there that will let you put in an actual start date rather than just starting the tracker from when you actually create it.

I'm assuming that the world isn't on pause. It should be 29 days until my trip, not 1 month and 3 days...

 

[Shayana]

Talked with my TA today (actually yesterday at this point... Why am I still awake?!) and she let me know that our ME tags arrived at their main office so they'd be mailing them to me.

Also, both sets of magic bands show as "in personalization" or whatever... It's exciting!

I may or may not have updated the names on one set to read as "Mine" and "Not Food" shortly before midnight on NYE. Lol

 

[Shayana]

Getting closer! I received our ME luggage tags. They were sent to our TA and then forwarded to us.

We also received our MagicBands today. This is a "Yay" moment because it means that we're getting closer, but a "Boo" moment because of two things.

1. These bands are HUGE! I have narrow wrists, so they look kinda ridiculous on me. They look better on my husband.

2. It's official... they screws on the back of the MagicBand 2.0 style touch my skin. I tested them and my wrist broke out in hives. I contacted Disney and they said that the resorts "may" still have the older style of bands when we arrive so swap out and they "may" have colors other than gray, but no guarantee. They do not have accessories available for purchase yet and don't have a date yet. So it's a good thing that I ended up buying a different MagicBand through the shop parks app at the end of November so I actually have a band to wear. My skin wears through nail polish too quickly so I'm testing to see if gorilla glue will work as a coating, but this is a little bit of an annoyance.

Anyway, here are the obligatory pictures! LOL

 

[thumper*]

Dang those our huge and.....UGLY. good thing you bought a band in November.