Intro and Pre-trip Report
Hello all! I am so excited to write a trip report! I have never done this before, mostly because I have never gone on a trip that I found a boards for. With this post I wanted to accomplish a two things. 1. Let you know who we are. 2. Explain our plans.
As of writing this, there are 43 days, 12 hours, 30 minutes left till we leave! (I know this because I have a countdown app on my phone lol). We just paid off the whole trip (with the exception of MNSSHP and our Photo Pass +, which we will buy in a few weeks)!!! I was worried about it for a little while, but it all worked out ok.
Who We Are:
Me: I'm Francine. I just turned 30 (eek!). I have never been to WDW, or any Disney related vacation. I have been a life-long Disney fan, and have always wanted to go. My mom always said it was a waste of time though, so we never went. Not "educational" enough. I am sure some of you are in the same boat. I grew up in CT, USA. I love taking longer trips (2 weeks +). I feel like you really can't get much done in like, 4 days. I always want to do as much as possible on vacation. Why spend all that money to just sleep until noon? I am a huge geek, and like Star Trek, Doctor Who, LOTR, Sherlock, Star Wars, etc. You will be able to see this in some of my t-shirt choices for the trip. I am a receptionist in a Pediatric office, and Tony and I run a geek podcast and blog; queue the shameless plugging: blog: http://tribblesandtargsgeek.blogspot.com/ and Podbean: http://tribblesntargs.podbean.com/, you can also download the podcast on iTunes. As for Disney, my favorite movie is Sleeping Beauty. Philip is my favorite prince. Of the "classic" princes he def has the most personality. Tangled comes in as a close second. My least favorites are Dumbo and Bambi. they are just not interesting to me. The thing I am most excited for at WDW is the Food and Wine Festival. The ADR I am most excited for is probably Kouzzina. I am not really into Greek food in general, but the pictures look so yummy that I am excited.
Tony: Tony is my younger brother (by a whole 18 months). He also has never been to WDW. He is a shift manager at a local coffee shop. He is also a geek like me, and he loves anything space related. His favorite Disney movies are Tangled and Aristocats. His least favorites are Dumbo and Bambi. He is most looking forward to Mission Space and Kali River Rapids. He loves raft rides best. He is looking forward to Sanna most as an ADR.
Me and Tony at the Saint Louis Botanical Gardens
Danny: Danny is 24, and we have been friends for over 10 years. He is also a Shift manager at a coffee shop (a different one than Tony). Like Tony and I, he has never been to WDW. He is a huge fan of coasters, so he loves going to 6 Flags. I am not sure about his favorite Disney movie. He is most excited for Harry Potter World in Universal Studios.
Scott: Scott just turned 24, and is a copy expert at a local stationary store. Unlike the rest of us, he has been to WDW a few times. He hasnt been in a long time though, and is excited to see it again. He is pretty picky about food, so I hope he can find stuff he likes to eat. I am not sure about his favorites, but he is really excited about Universal, and all the rides.
Scott (Left) and Danny (right) at The Big E.
Here is our plan:
We booked through AAA. It was a great choice. The woman who helped me book (Tracy) has been many times and was able to answer all my questions. We went through a LOOOONG process in pre-viz. First it was supposed to be a road trip reunion with tony, danny, our friend Alex and I, then Scott wanted to come so we invited Diane (our good friend) too. Had this been the case, we would have gotten a Lion King room at AOA. However Alex decided to go to Turkey and Diane is saving up to get her own place. So, that's how it ended up being just us. We wanted to stay at a mod resort. We decided on POR. the reason for this was that we really loved New Orleans when Tony and I went on our first road trip. We thought about POFQ, but POR was a bit cheaper, and we can access both resorts if we stay at one, so yeah.
We are going from Oct. 1st - Oct. 12th. I don't know how weather will be, but according to weather.com it is in the 70s-80s so I am ok with that. I will probably bring a light hoodie or something for the evenings. We are planning on going to MNSSHP, but we haven't settled on a day yet. We will probably change one of our ADRs to a lunch on whatever day we go.
So. our day-by-day plan is kind of up in the air mostly. Whatever we feel like doing most days we will do. We have two "free" days where Danny and Scott will go off on thekir own and Tony and I will go off on our own. We also have a Universal Studios day, mostly because we want to see Harry Potter stuff. That is sort of in the middle of the trip. I have learned while planning trips over the years, that if somone is very much looking forward to one particular thing, to place that activity acordingly. If I said we will go to US on one of the first days, the rest of the trip would not be able to live up to that day, and the person would be mad because they might want to go back, or even not want to do anything else because their thing is done. this happened when we went to the zoo in Saint Louis. if I put it last, they will be way to excited for the thing, and may feel jipped because we were trying to get everything done very quickly. This happened when we went to Busch Gardens in VA. We made that our last day, and we needed to get up relitively early so we couldnt stay late. So, the moral of the story is to put things like that in the middle of the trip.
The only plan I really have is our ADRs, and our U.S day.
Day 1: Fly in- DTD- ADR at Raglan Road
Day 2: Probably MK, you gotta do that first right? ADR at The Garden Grill with Chip and Dale. This one is exciting because no one else knows about this one! Chip and Dale are Tony's favorite, so I can't wait to see his face when he finds out!
Day 3: Maybe AK ADR is the Maya Grill
Day 4: Free Day where Tony and I will probably go to Epcot where our ADR is at Marakesh. Danny and Scott will probably relax at the resort, their ADR is at Mama Melrose.
Day 5: Maybe Epcot ADR is Kouzzina
Day 6: Universal Studios! no ADR
Day 7: Whatever park we haven't gone to yet. ADR is Sanaa
Day 8: Free Day again. Tony and I will probably hit F&W again. Our ADR is Beirgarten, and Danny and Scott's is Grand Floridian Cafe
Day 9: Redo Day where we will redo all our favorite things. ADR is Liberty Tree
Day 10: Redo Day 2. Possibly MNSSHP ADR is 50s Prime Time
Day 11: Redo Day. Sci-fi Dine In is the ADR
Day 12: Fly out, DTD day. Lunch ADR at T-Rex
So that is our plan. What do you think? I will be updating periodically as it gets closer, and then fill you all in with lots of food porn and details. I hope you will all join us for the ride!!!
Hello all! I am so excited to write a trip report! I have never done this before, mostly because I have never gone on a trip that I found a boards for. With this post I wanted to accomplish a two things. 1. Let you know who we are. 2. Explain our plans.
As of writing this, there are 43 days, 12 hours, 30 minutes left till we leave! (I know this because I have a countdown app on my phone lol). We just paid off the whole trip (with the exception of MNSSHP and our Photo Pass +, which we will buy in a few weeks)!!! I was worried about it for a little while, but it all worked out ok.
Who We Are:
Me: I'm Francine. I just turned 30 (eek!). I have never been to WDW, or any Disney related vacation. I have been a life-long Disney fan, and have always wanted to go. My mom always said it was a waste of time though, so we never went. Not "educational" enough. I am sure some of you are in the same boat. I grew up in CT, USA. I love taking longer trips (2 weeks +). I feel like you really can't get much done in like, 4 days. I always want to do as much as possible on vacation. Why spend all that money to just sleep until noon? I am a huge geek, and like Star Trek, Doctor Who, LOTR, Sherlock, Star Wars, etc. You will be able to see this in some of my t-shirt choices for the trip. I am a receptionist in a Pediatric office, and Tony and I run a geek podcast and blog; queue the shameless plugging: blog: http://tribblesandtargsgeek.blogspot.com/ and Podbean: http://tribblesntargs.podbean.com/, you can also download the podcast on iTunes. As for Disney, my favorite movie is Sleeping Beauty. Philip is my favorite prince. Of the "classic" princes he def has the most personality. Tangled comes in as a close second. My least favorites are Dumbo and Bambi. they are just not interesting to me. The thing I am most excited for at WDW is the Food and Wine Festival. The ADR I am most excited for is probably Kouzzina. I am not really into Greek food in general, but the pictures look so yummy that I am excited.
Tony: Tony is my younger brother (by a whole 18 months). He also has never been to WDW. He is a shift manager at a local coffee shop. He is also a geek like me, and he loves anything space related. His favorite Disney movies are Tangled and Aristocats. His least favorites are Dumbo and Bambi. He is most looking forward to Mission Space and Kali River Rapids. He loves raft rides best. He is looking forward to Sanna most as an ADR.
Me and Tony at the Saint Louis Botanical Gardens
Danny: Danny is 24, and we have been friends for over 10 years. He is also a Shift manager at a coffee shop (a different one than Tony). Like Tony and I, he has never been to WDW. He is a huge fan of coasters, so he loves going to 6 Flags. I am not sure about his favorite Disney movie. He is most excited for Harry Potter World in Universal Studios.
Scott: Scott just turned 24, and is a copy expert at a local stationary store. Unlike the rest of us, he has been to WDW a few times. He hasnt been in a long time though, and is excited to see it again. He is pretty picky about food, so I hope he can find stuff he likes to eat. I am not sure about his favorites, but he is really excited about Universal, and all the rides.
Scott (Left) and Danny (right) at The Big E.
Here is our plan:
We booked through AAA. It was a great choice. The woman who helped me book (Tracy) has been many times and was able to answer all my questions. We went through a LOOOONG process in pre-viz. First it was supposed to be a road trip reunion with tony, danny, our friend Alex and I, then Scott wanted to come so we invited Diane (our good friend) too. Had this been the case, we would have gotten a Lion King room at AOA. However Alex decided to go to Turkey and Diane is saving up to get her own place. So, that's how it ended up being just us. We wanted to stay at a mod resort. We decided on POR. the reason for this was that we really loved New Orleans when Tony and I went on our first road trip. We thought about POFQ, but POR was a bit cheaper, and we can access both resorts if we stay at one, so yeah.
We are going from Oct. 1st - Oct. 12th. I don't know how weather will be, but according to weather.com it is in the 70s-80s so I am ok with that. I will probably bring a light hoodie or something for the evenings. We are planning on going to MNSSHP, but we haven't settled on a day yet. We will probably change one of our ADRs to a lunch on whatever day we go.
So. our day-by-day plan is kind of up in the air mostly. Whatever we feel like doing most days we will do. We have two "free" days where Danny and Scott will go off on thekir own and Tony and I will go off on our own. We also have a Universal Studios day, mostly because we want to see Harry Potter stuff. That is sort of in the middle of the trip. I have learned while planning trips over the years, that if somone is very much looking forward to one particular thing, to place that activity acordingly. If I said we will go to US on one of the first days, the rest of the trip would not be able to live up to that day, and the person would be mad because they might want to go back, or even not want to do anything else because their thing is done. this happened when we went to the zoo in Saint Louis. if I put it last, they will be way to excited for the thing, and may feel jipped because we were trying to get everything done very quickly. This happened when we went to Busch Gardens in VA. We made that our last day, and we needed to get up relitively early so we couldnt stay late. So, the moral of the story is to put things like that in the middle of the trip.
The only plan I really have is our ADRs, and our U.S day.
Day 1: Fly in- DTD- ADR at Raglan Road
Day 2: Probably MK, you gotta do that first right? ADR at The Garden Grill with Chip and Dale. This one is exciting because no one else knows about this one! Chip and Dale are Tony's favorite, so I can't wait to see his face when he finds out!
Day 3: Maybe AK ADR is the Maya Grill
Day 4: Free Day where Tony and I will probably go to Epcot where our ADR is at Marakesh. Danny and Scott will probably relax at the resort, their ADR is at Mama Melrose.
Day 5: Maybe Epcot ADR is Kouzzina
Day 6: Universal Studios! no ADR
Day 7: Whatever park we haven't gone to yet. ADR is Sanaa
Day 8: Free Day again. Tony and I will probably hit F&W again. Our ADR is Beirgarten, and Danny and Scott's is Grand Floridian Cafe
Day 9: Redo Day where we will redo all our favorite things. ADR is Liberty Tree
Day 10: Redo Day 2. Possibly MNSSHP ADR is 50s Prime Time
Day 11: Redo Day. Sci-fi Dine In is the ADR
Day 12: Fly out, DTD day. Lunch ADR at T-Rex
So that is our plan. What do you think? I will be updating periodically as it gets closer, and then fill you all in with lots of food porn and details. I hope you will all join us for the ride!!!
. These boards have been sooo helpful for planning our trip. We will be going Oct 26 - Nov 3, I haven't been to Disney since HS, so it's been awhile! 
My first thought is, that was a brilliant line of reasoning! My second thought is, not sure it'd work with one of my kids. 
But definitely something to consider. 
And secondly, I'm not sure if you've got a car, and getting out of the Disney bubble without a car can be a pain. 
will catch up later! Ps. You had me at "geek"
