Stallion
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2005
We're back! After an 11 year absence, I decided it was time to write another trip report.
You might remember us from such trip reports as Disneymoon 10/8-10/18!
Now I know you're asking yourself, why decide to write one now after so long? No real reason really, just thought it'd be fun to start one up again. After all, the last one had 12K views! Big in my mind, really low in the grand scheme of the DIS You might remember us from such trip reports as Disneymoon 10/8-10/18!
Where to start? Where have we been the last decade?
At the end of the original trip report, I stated:
"There are currently no plans for a future trip, but hoping for later this year or next."
Well we did skip 2007 to go to Vegas, but realized where our true love was, Disney World! We have since been 13 times to the World, once to Disneyland in 2008 and our first Disney Cruise in 2016. And have gotten to take our little ones along the way. Here are a few photos over the years.
Cue Through the Years!
I hope you all had Kenny Rogers in your head the whole time
Sorry for the visual overload. Some made me happy while the others were a reminder of how much weight I've gained. Darn you peanut butter! And these were just the ones I picked, think of how many pictures I had to go through! You're looking at 11 years here people
Now onto the cast of characters!
Me(Steve) DH (39)
Tracy - DW (40)
Sydney - DD (7)
Nate - DS (3)
*I didn't post pictures of us since you all just saw and can probably figure it out*
As you can tell, we love Disney. It's pretty much the only thing we look forward to year in year out. The atmosphere, the food, the rides. It gets us every year and this year was no different. Our last trip was the week before Christmas of 2017 so naturally we had the itch go to back the instant we walked in the door. Well maybe not instantly, with Christmas, New Year and DD's birthday all within the next month. But AFTER that yes, had to start planning for 2018.
Only question was when. With DD in school now our options are limited. So instead of going over spring break with EVERYONE else, we decided to go back in August. You know, when it's ridiculously hot out NBD. We did it in 2017 and we managed so why not just do it again. But for how long? Since we bought the SUV I said I wanted to drive to avoid the airports. I just hate them now, especially with kids. It's just so stressful nowadays and everyone knows the lines at MCO can be ridiculous. Plus with ME picking you up 4 hours ahead of time I just couldn't deal with making sure the luggage was at airline check in time, just too much for me.
Yes a 14 hour car seems much more reasonable right? For me, absolutely. PLUS we get to pack the luggage heavy, bring extra bags for souvenirs and drive around the Disney Bubble without having to wait for a bus while holding a double stroller.
ANYWAY, we decided on 10 days, August 12-22. Since it's such a long car ride figured let's make the most of it and take our time and do what we wanted when we wanted.
We found a travel agent through the DISBOARDS and we got a great deal staying at the Poly. Since DW renewed her AP, she didn't need tickets, only myself and the kids. Went to a third party site and ordered 8 day PH. No dining plan either, we'll just load up gift cards with money and use those for all our dining needs.
Last year, we all had APs but since we were only going once this year it made sense to just have the one for discounts, which definitely helps with pins and food.
You always might remember I posted a pic in the last report of our new pin board. Well that board has grown into multiple boards and now the kids have them! We love our pins and while we don't have half of what others have, we are pretty proud of our collection. What's that? You want to see them? Of course! More visual evidence please!
We're going to need another board considering we bought MORE pins the last time. We can't help it, we love it
Honestly the only reason I took these pictures were when we got down there we can safely say we either do or don't have that pin. Which came in handy for sure! Take pictures of your pins!
Where was I? I'm rambling. Ah yes, after we got all booked now came the painstaking waiting game. 180 days seemed like an eternity but now comes the fun part of picking out which restaurants to go to. Where to eat? For me, the best meal is 'Ohana dinner. Hands down. The noodles, the pot stickers, the shrimp. The shrimp. The shrimp. Yes I keep asking for more shrimp. We made sure that would be priority when our 180 came.
We generally plan our meals first and then decide which parks we're going to hit that day/night. And like most plans, they change constantly so we like to plan for dinner almost every night. We know there will be some counter service nights included as well. DD's favorite restaurant is Cosmic Rays so that was in the plans as well.
Since we had 10 days (I know I say WE a lot) there were plenty of places to eat and knew wouldn't have trouble getting a reservation at the 180 mark. Here's the first draft we had:
8/12 - Chef Mickey's dinner
8/13 - HW&V Breakfast/Ohana dinner
8/14 - Hoop de Doo Revue
8/15 - Coral Reef Lunch/Cosmic Rays dinner/Happily Ever After Dessert Party
8/16 - Morimotos Dinner
8/17 - Plaza Lunch/1900 Park Faire Dinner
8/18 - Beaches and Cream dinner
8/19 - T-Rex Lunch
8/20 - Chef Mickey's Dinner
8/21 - 'Ohana
This changed a little bit after the initial 180 and even while we were down there. But we were prepared to EAT! At one point we had 3 Chef Mickey's on the lineup! (only wound up with one, more on that later)
So now that we have our dining set, we need to decide which parks to go on which days. For us the first park HAS to be MK, regardless of the day. I know you should read the crowd meter but it doesn't matter to us. We make our FPs and just do those and maybe a few extra. MK just has to be day one, walking into the park, looking down Mainstreet USA and seeing that castle. You know you're in the WORLD.
Our original lineup went like this:
8/12 - MK
8/13 - HS
8/14 - AK
8/15 - EP/MK evening
8/16 - Pool Day
8/17 - MK
8/18 - AK/HS
8/19 - DD/HS
8/20 - EP
8/21 - MK
And like dining, that plan changed over time and while we were down there. We had decided to buy an extra park day for the three of us to use, but wouldn't do that until we got down there.
NOW that we have our days lined up, just have to wait until that 60 day mark. Which as you all know takes forever. We did a countdown on the fridge for the kids that started at 100 days, so for us it was "How many more Saturdays until we leave?" That number was better than the actual number
We kept busy over time. For me it was planning DW's 40th birthday so that kept me consumed for a few months. Had a surprise party with all her college friends she hadn't seen in years, mixed in with family and friends and got an amazing princess cake (I'll show if there's enough interest).
Then came a week at Ocean City MD with my parents which was nice to get away and just sort of rest for awhile. However we're not really "rest" people, we like to move around a lot. Basically, we were itchy to be in Disney already (Am I using these things right? IDK ha)
During that time, we had found the live streams from ResortTV1 and Spokesmayne and we would watch those religiously. It kept getting us excited and amped up for our trip. If you haven't seen them, check them out. Oh and also Tim Tracker, which I'm sure you all probably already know. Anyway, watching the streams and videos of the different parks, food, and just the general atmosphere was a good way to pass the time and constantly say "We'll be there soon!"
Once August finally came, we knew we had to be ready. The weekend before we hit Target and spent more money than we wanted (who doesn't) and picked up any last minute items. Since we were driving, needed to make sure we had DVD's for the kids, snacks, drinks and any other clothes we might need. Also picked up a mister fan for the cheap!(Spoiler, it's now lost in AK)
I had ordered a new DVD for DD to hold while my son used the old one so they wouldn't wind up watching the same thing.
Also my Fitbit had died the week before so I ordered another one just so I could keep track of the steps, which came in handy last time.
Anyway, sorry for the long winded first post. I promise to post what ACTUALLY happened during the trip soon. I'm not sure if I left anything out but if I did I'm sure DW will tell me and I'll make amendments. Also if there's anything you'd like to hear about let me know!
If you don't want to read this at all don't let me know
Coming up, Day 1 and the 14 hour drive!
Steve
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