A (Very Early) Graduation Trip - January 2022 PTR

[madeline07]

Hi! I'm Syd, I'm a senior in high school, and this January I'll be taking a trip to Walt Disney World with my parents and two of my friends. My mom and I began planning this trip last year, and I finally convinced her and my dad to rent DVC points. Previously we've only stayed at value and moderate resorts, and I've always enjoyed these stays. Plus, we never spend a lot of time in our hotel room. It serves no greater purpose than being a bed and a shower. However, I've always wanted to stay in a deluxe resort, and my mom has had her eye on some deluxe resorts since we've started taking annual trips to Disney. As soon as we decided the dates for the stay, my mom and I got onto David's Vacation Club Rentals and booked two deluxe studios at Beach Club Resort! One for my parents, and one for me and my friends. I am so grateful that I'm able to bring friends this time, as I never have before. While I love going to Disney with my parents, it's always been a tiny bit lonely as an only child (it's very fussy thing to complain about I'm aware), so it'll be fun going with my friends!

Another thing unique about this trip is that I'll be flying without my parents for the first time. Last time we went to Disney we drove down, and all the times before that we've flown. While my mom and I enjoy flying, my dad dreads it, and prefers driving. My friends and I can't afford to spend the extra time it requires to drive (an extra day there and an extra day back), but my parents can, so they'll be departing a day before me to start their drive down. My friends and I will be flying down the 20th, which'll be strange because I've never flown with friends nor flown without my parents. However, I've flown plenty of times, so hopefully travel goes smoothly.

As soon as we purchased our tickets, we made our park reservations. Our trip is January 20-26, so our general itinerary is as follows:

• January 20 - Fly down to MCO, Disney Springs
• January 21 - Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure
• January 22 - Animal Kingdom
• January 23 - Magic Kingdom
• January 24 - Hollywood Studios
• January 25 - Epcot
• January 26 - Disney Springs, flight home

As for ADRs, I unfortunately miscalculated the 60-day booking time, and wasn't able to get a reservation to Space 220, which was the only tough reservation I wanted. I'll keep checking, but it's not the end of the world if I can't get one. I made a dinner reservation for The Boathouse at Disney Springs the night we arrive, a dinner reservation for The Hollywood Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios, and a lunch reservation for Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' on our last day at Disney Springs. While I love trying new table service restaurants, I figured it would be easier to do mostly quick service since my friends and I will often be walking around the parks separate from my parents. I always make sure to eat at Satu'li Canteen at AK, and because we typically end up leaving that park earliest, my parents will drive to an offsite pub that they like, and my friends and I will either eat in Disney Springs or at one of the Epcot resorts. At MK I prefer doing quick service, as there's so many attractions to hit that I never feel like sacrificing the time that a table service meal requires. At HS I always get a Ronto Wrap, and I try to eat at Woody's Lunchbox, one of my favorite quick service spots. I'll just have to figure out how to fit that much food into one day. And at Epcot, the Festival of the Arts will be underway by the time our trip rolls around, so we'll eat at the food booths.

In addition to our ADRs, I made sure to get a reservation at Savi's Workshop to build a lightsaber! I love Star Wars, and built one last time, but I loved it so much I decided I want to build another one this time.

I'm super excited for this trip, and I'm pretty sure I've done most everything I needed to in terms of planning and reserving things. Hope to be back with an update soon!

 

[lfcfan]

I hope you have a wonderful trip! As the mom to a 19 yo only son, I completely get your comments on this topic. Disney has always been an amazing place for our family of 3 but I have often thought it would be great to bring one of his friends, especially as he gets older. I love your plans! Congrats on your graduation. I am sorry it has been such a rough couple of years (I especially feel for kids your age) so I really hope you enjoy yourselves. Safe travels. I look forward to updates.

 

[starry_solo]

Have a great time!

 

[madeline07]

Have a great time!

Thank you so much!!

 

[madeline07]

I hope you have a wonderful trip! As the mom to a 19 yo only son, I completely get your comments on this topic. Disney has always been an amazing place for our family of 3 but I have often thought it would be great to bring one of his friends, especially as he gets older. I love your plans! Congrats on your graduation. I am sorry it has been such a rough couple of years (I especially feel for kids your age) so I really hope you enjoy yourselves. Safe travels. I look forward to updates.

I'm so sorry I somehow just saw this, but thank you so much! I got back a couple of days ago, and it was a great trip. I appreciate your message very, very much.