32 + 24 + 20 + 4 = 5 Fantasmic Days in the World --4/2 update

[Moira222]

Did everyone see the new 30% discount for spring 2012? I did and was so excited I nearly peed my self! really!

Guess who made her reservations today for






are you ready?





there was lots up in the air



ok there still is a lot up in the air

but know what's NOT up in the air?

where we're staying


still want to know?

I ran the numbers with great excitement, and immediately requested a quote from my favorite Dreams Unlimited TA - Jen Kvidera (yeah I have to shout out).

She has a day job & ran everything through tonight and VOILA.

we're going to Disney
we're going to Disney

i know, I know, i KNEW I was going to Disney but I just love that moment of absolute certainty, when you make the deposit.

[Moira222]

We're spending our 20th wedding anniversary in the

[Moira222]

Yeah, I didn't even put this on my range of options because I just didn't think it would be feasible for us. But the more I thought about it, the more I just wanted to have that luxurious and pampered feeling for our 20th anniversary. And in talking about "dream trips" with Joe, we both said that this would be very cool.

So today, I spent much of the morning stressed out about a $ issue related to refinancing our mortgage. Managed to get that resolved, and got home in time to sign all the paperwork to close the refinance. Very great thing for us which will take 7 years off of our total mortgage AND free up a nice chunk of money every month to pay other bills with and maybe get ahead again. After I went back to work, what did I see on my twitter sidebar? New Spring Discounts. could it be? I have to look. so I do. YES! it extends into early June!

[Moira222]

sorry, i didn't want to delete ALL my happy faces so I had to split my post into three.

I called my BFF on the way home and nearly squealed, yeah, I am pretty sure I DID squeal and giggle a lot when I told her about the spring discount. So we are still looking at either plan a, c, e or f.

I agree with you completely, Kathy, that we should go adults only. I am all for it. I can see the guilt working on Joe so we will have to see how that all turns out.


Having reservations set will make it easier to just add more people to our room if we want to, or Lesley & Colin can take advantage of the military programs to score a great room for themselves if they want. I just hope they can come. keeping my fingers crossed for the next 7 months!!

I started going over restaurants and writing an update about picking foods, but I am pretty sure that I fell asleep with my hands on the keyboard (as I did already once this evening!), so I still have to finish that.

but I had to post my excitement with you all. Now I am awake again with excitement so think I will catch up on some more TR's. See ya 'round the boards!

[KatMark]

MaryEllen, I am so excited for you. That is just too darn exciting. The Beach Club is the last deluxe we want to try (we've done Contemporary, Poly and then AKV and OKW for DVC). Lucky, lucky you.

[Moira222]

Originally Posted by KatMark

MaryEllen, I am so excited for you. That is just too darn exciting. The Beach Club is the last deluxe we want to try (we've done Contemporary, Poly and then AKV and OKW for DVC). Lucky, lucky you.

I am really excited, and Joe is too. Maybe we can follow your path backwards - for some reason the Contemporary does not appeal to us much but we've not walked around a lot, just to Chef Mickey's and the lobby.

[pinkxray]

Congrats on CL at the Beach Club. That will be an amazing way to celebrate!

[Moira222]

Originally Posted by pinkxray

Congrats on CL at the Beach Club. That will be an amazing way to celebrate!

Thanks Diane!
You will all laugh when I tell you that this morning I awoke to Joe surfing the Disney resort photos, and asking if we could stay at the Yacht Club instead......he loves the white bedding and nautical theme.

Even before I had coffee I emailed my TA Jen to change us to YC - Club level. And THAT will be our only resort change!!

[pinkxray]

YC looks sooooo pretty! I like that you will definitely have a balcony too. Good choice

[Moira222]

Let’s Talk Food!

Okay, five days in the world – and we want to try new places and NOT buffets (except Ohana, I really want to go to Ohana for breakfast with surf clad Mickey & Lilo & Stitch—okay I read through the menu description, and recall more than a few mixed reviews, and think that Kona would be a better dinner at Poly if we go that route.) We’ll be doing the Disney Dining Plan – with a table service a day. So now I have to come up with restaurants. the hard part is not coming up with them – its picking! How can I narrow it down to 4 ?

TS Places I think everyone would enjoy:
Raglan Road, DTD (we had an ADR here in May but had to cancel it)

Le Cellier, Epcot (ate here in 2009 before it became a Signature Restaurant)

Liberty Tree, MK (ate here in 2007 when it was still a character/table service restaurant but it was so good then)

Crystal Palace (a buffet, I know but the food is good!)
La Hacienda, Epcot

Rose & Crown, Epcot
Tutto Italia, Epcot
Coral Reef, Epcot
50’s Prime Time Café DHS
…wow I did not know there was a bar next to 50’s Prime Time Café. gotta check that out!
Sci Fi Dine In … was not wild about it in 2007 but the menu looks different now. and the movie part was sort of fun but I remember wishing they’d play more than just commercials..
Yak and Yeti, Animal Kingdom
Sanaa AKL
Captain’s Grille, Yacht Club
Kouzzina Boardwalk (we ate here in May 2011 and really really enjoyed it)

Kona - Polynesian

ok so I marked my current picks. but there are six and we will only be there for five days. Joe just totally loved the food at Crystal Palace so I highlighted it for him, but I’m not sure. I really also like to try new places … we’ll have to see. I just realized this morning that my 180 day mark is Sunday. WOW! I totally want to get my ADRs set up. Not sure what the crowds are like in early June, and I don’t want to be wandering aimlessly hungry. It gets ugly fast.

I’ll have to work on counter service picks later once I know what park I’ll be in. I haven’t even looked at crowd levels yet, although happily my DU reservation lists AM and PM EMH parks, although I am not sure if these are sure dates or not.

I seriously toyed with the deluxe plan – actually I toyed with the “Premium” plan --because in one of my dream trips, we can do upscale signature restaurants whenever we want and can do all of the tours that Disney offers. silly, right? Not silly but just overly extravagant at this point. Tomorrow is another day!


Have restaurants comments, feedback? Please share them!!

[Moira222]

Whew…so much to do! Seems like I had a lot more time to sort through everything in January when we were planning for our May trip. Now between life, basketball, Girl Scouts, and oh, yeah, that whole job thing, plus getting ready for Christmas I feel rather behind schedule. My 180 day mark is TOMORROW!!! can you believe it? and I am trying to think my way through our travel plans. My rough draft:

I already know that I will have to work on Friday & Saturday, June 1 and 2. The plan of the moment is for Katie to head over to my sister’s on Saturday afternoon – Joe will have to take her. I will work until about 9 pm and then will head home. We will have to load up my car after I get home – its more comfortable to drive than Joe’s car, and has more room for stuff.

We will get on the road about 11 pm – midnight. Joe likes to drive at night, traffic is minimal, and we could get through the congestion of Philly and DC pretty easily. Lesley & Colin will be in NC by then, so that is our destination. I’ll snooze in the car (If I am not too excited!) and we’ll get there around 8 am or so. Joe will for sure crash for a few hours, I may as well depending on if I slept in the car. We’ll hang out and have an easy evening catching up with our BFF;s and very likely checking out their new home for the first time. We’ve been watching the pictures as it goes up online….Hopefully June won’t be the first time we get to NC, but, well, the way our lives have been going it probably will!

We will all maybe TRY to get some sleep but right now I am thinking that again we head out around midnight again. According to Google its about 11 hours drive from Lesley’s to the Yacht Club. I know that check in is not till 3 ish, but we will take a shot at seeing if our room is ready (or rooms? that part is out in the air).

Day 1


Depending on whether or not our room is ready, we could either grab a snack at the concierge lounge and crash for an hour or two, or we could to have something to eat at Hurricane Hannahs’ and relax around or in the pool. Sleeping or hanging by the pool either one is a good reward for the drive!

Obviously this will be a low key day. I am inclined to indulge in that awesome walk into Epcot and have dinner. If Lesley & Colin are going, then we will have dinner at La Hacienda. Actually even if they are not with us, this is a restaurant I have been wanting to try for a while. We can walk over leisurely and tour some of the World Show case as we head to Mexico.

(this is the benefit of writing a PTR – I am totally working my way through the day and figuring out our ADRs)

After dinner, we can continue enjoying the world showcase, maybe grab some yummy adult beverages and find a place to watch Illuminations. Its Joe’s favorite fireworks display so it will be a great way to end our first day.

oh, did I say “end our first day”? but wait! its EMH at DHS till midnight! we will have to play it by ear to see how much energy we have left. but really, TSM at night is fun! and I really do think that DHS shops are fun at night, the lights are pretty and it has a real Hollywood feel to it. It could well be just Lesley and I by this time, as the boys are much more likely to crash early.

[KatMark]

Here I was expecting LOTS of pictures from you of the Beach Club for me and you go and change your resort. I still look forward to your pictures even though we don't want to stay there.

Love Raglan Road and Yak & Yeti! I don't eat Mexican food so I can't comment on that restaurant. We also LOVE Crystal Palace but will only do it for breakfast (I don't like Disney's lunch/dinner buffets).

[Moira222]

Originally Posted by KatMark

Here I was expecting LOTS of pictures from you of the Beach Club for me and you go and change your resort. I still look forward to your pictures even though we don't want to stay there.

Love Raglan Road and Yak & Yeti! I don't eat Mexican food so I can't comment on that restaurant. We also LOVE Crystal Palace but will only do it for breakfast (I don't like Disney's lunch/dinner buffets).

I know we are awful!!! I was laughing at Joe--I made the deposit at like 10:45 pm, and told him after his run. at 6 am the next morning I find him at the kitchen island, surfing the disney resorts pages, comparing room decor between the Beach Club and the Yacht Club. You just can't imagine how funny that is to me.

we will still walk around the beach club and I may consider dragging him along to a DVC tour so we can take a peak at the villas.

I like Mexican but HATE HATE HATE starchy beans ( I like fresh beans and jelly beans. that's it for the bean family) so we don't do Mexican a lot because most places drown everything in those nasty things.

I still really want to try Raglan Rd and Yak & Yeti but I don't think I will get to this time. Unless I can't get into Sanaa at AKL (You have me totally wanting to tour that resort) then I will try for Yak & Yeti. Its just SO HARD to pick just one a day!

[Moira222]

Just a few life updates. This is a slow paced PTR – I am taking my time doing updates to stretch out my planning process. The longer I stay in my happy place in my head, the better!

This weekend my BFF Lesley came down for the weekend. Friday night I headed to girl scouts, Joe took Katie to basketball practice, then dropped her off at girl scouts, and Katie and I got home about 5 minutes before Lesley arrived bearing PIZZA. Yay!

Lesley’s house in NC is pretty much done, and they are just waiting for the US Army and the VA to determine the date and the financials of C’s retirement. I am thrilled and a sad at the same time that they will be headed south soon. Their house is beautiful, and it’s on the EAST COAST. YAY 11 hours is much better than California, where they spent the past few years. Sad because these spur of the moment weekends of just hanging out and catching up will be much much further spread apart. 11 hours is much longer than 1 ½.

SO psyched to hear that C is really getting into coming to WDW with us. We learned this weekend that we have (can I hear the applause people?) A FIRST TIMER to Disney World!!!! Now let’s just cross our fingers and pray that all goes well and they can commit. Actually I nearly called my TA this weekend to have her just add 2 adults to our room package, but held off to see if L & C wanted to reserve their own room with a military discount. They could potentially save $ by doing this and getting the military 4 day tickets, and doing meals on their own if they wanted, so I will have to try very very hard to keep my patience.

Friday I had a few bites on improving my income and hopefully something will come to fruition for me.




I also made all of my ADR’s for June. WAHOOOO but I did not, at the last minute, make them for 4. I am not sure which is the best way to go, so I will keep them as is for the moment and change them to 4 as soon as I know for sure.

My ADR’s:

Monday June 4: 6:30 pm La Hacienda, Epcot
Tuesday, June 5: 7:40 pm Sanaa, Animal Kingdom Lodge
Wednesday, June 6 Our 20th wedding anniversary 7:00 pm Captains’ Grille, Yacht Club (Food reports anyone?? better pick than Kouzzina?)

Thursday, June 7: 8:30 am Kona for breakfast (I SO want to try that Tonga Toast!), Polynesian; 9pm Wishes dessert party (you can't reserve yet but I asked the cast member at the Yacht club and he made a note to make the ADR as soon as it becomes open )

Friday, June 8: 1:55 p.m. Liberty tree Tavern lunch



So we are not planning any character meals, nor are we planning any signature service meals. DH does really enjoy the Crystal Palace and I considered it, but was hoping to try something very new (Sanaa) and indulge in that dessert party I keep reading about on everyone’s TR’s and food reports. I know that Lesley is not a big buffet eater, nor does she care for seafood (but is happy if there is chicken or steak on the menu) so buffets are not the best choice. I realized that we have only two park restaurants and the rest are resort restaurants, which messes a bit with travel times etc, but hey, we’ll be on vacation, right?

[KatMark]

for a visit for a friend.

And even more for ADR's made. You are going to LOVE Kona...it was so good.