You're Leaving Me...And I Have to Live with Boys! --Summer 2017 PTR

[phlppians413]

You're Leaving Me . . . And I Have to Live with Boys!​

Hey there, people of the DIS! It’s hard to believe (probably more so for me than anyone) that it’s already time to get this PTR started. And this trip is a special one. But, we’ll get to that a little bit later.


As I’m sure is the case for most of you, planning a trip to the World is part of the fun for me. Not going to lie, my mom and I started talking about this trip before we went on our last one in October 2015 (link to the TR in my sig). We might just be a tad excited.


Why are we so excited? Well, you’ll just have to keep coming back and reading to find out.


Alright, everyone! Put on your opera glasses. It’s time to present Maestro Mickey Mouse and the Philharmagic Orchestra!


Er . . . well . . . close enough, anyway.

Table of Contents
The W's
The Rough Sketch + Dining
Details
Plans, Details, and Dining! Oh My!​

 

[phlppians413]

The W’s​

Now, of course, we must start with the 5 “W Questions”. Please, bear with me if some of the answers are still a bit vague as we continue to iron out the details.


WHO

Like I mentioned earlier, this trip is a special one. And that starts with who is coming along for the magical ride. But first, let’s start with the obvious.

Me

I’m a dancer by day and a Disney fanatic by . . . well, always.

Favorite Character: Tinker Bell

Favorite Animated Classic: The Lion King/ Beauty and the Beast/ The Rescuers

Favorite Song: “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?”/ “Kiss the Girl”

Favorite WDW Park: Magic Kingdom

Favorite Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad OR Space Mountain​

​

My mom (“Mom”)

My mom is my best friend and long-not-so-lost twin. I inherited my love of Disney from her.

Favorite Character: Mickey Mouse

Favorited Animated Classic: Beauty and the Beast

Favorite Song: "Be Our Guest"

Favorite WDW Park: Magic Kingdom

Favorite Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad​

​

My cousin (“KW”)

We’re six months apart and have been best friends since Day One. She has an obsession with all things Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.

Favorite Character: Simba or Belle

Favorite Animated Classic: The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast

Favorite Song: anything from The Lion King/The Lion King II/Beauty and the Beast

Favorite WDW Park: Magic Kingdom

Favorite Ride: Splash Mountain/Big Thunder Mountain Railroad/Space Mountain/Tower of Terror​

​

My aunt (“EE”)

She and my mom often get mistaken for twins (or for each other). She was lovingly dubbed “EE” by my younger brother when he was a baby.

Favorite Character: Minnie Mouse

Favorite Animated Classic: The Little Mermaid

Favorite Song: “Part of Your World”

Favorite WDW Park: Magic Kingdom

Favorite Ride: It’s a Small World​

That brings our headcount to a total of four. It’s a little different group than usual, but I couldn’t be more excited to have KW and EE along for the ride. The four of us have always been close, and I wouldn’t want to do this trip with anyone else. <3


WHAT/WHERE

Terribly sorry to you OCD people for doing these questions out of order, but these two kind of go together in my mind. This trip we will not only be travelling to all four parks on WDW property (plus BB and DS of course), but we will also be heading over to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. KW and EE have never been, and Mom and I haven’t been since 2012 (before the WWoHP expansion), so we are very excited to include this in our trip.


As of right now, our plan is to stay on Universal property for a couple nights, then move over to CSR for a couple nights. From there we will move to Bonnet Creek, where we will stay for the bulk of our trip. Mom and I are excited to stay somewhere new as we’ve never stayed at either CSR or Bonnet Creek.


WHEN

The specific dates unfortunately are still a little iffy. We know we will leave home sometime toward the end of May. The trip will crossover into June, though we’re not exactly sure how much. We’ll be in the Orlando/Lake Buena Vista area for roughly two weeks, though it’s probably closer to twelve days than fourteen.


WHY

Okay, this is the big one. In the past, I’ve made jokes about not ever needing a reason to go to Disney (come one; you all know what I’m talking about). But this time there actually IS a reason.


As hard as it is to believe, for both us and you, KW and I are celebrating . . .


GRADUATION!!!


Yes, yes, the time has finally come for us to leave high school and move on with the next chapter of our lives. What better way to celebrate than with a trip to WDW and Universal??


Now, small disclosure. KW and I have been talking about/planning our graduation trip since we were close to 13. Originally, we wanted to go to London and Paris. Being the amazing mothers they are, Mom and EE let us figure out on our own (rather quickly I might add) that that idea was, while fantastic, unrealistic. So, sometime in the years since then, we decided that we’d really like to spend two weeks in Orlando, and more specifically WDW and Universal.


Now because of this momentous occasion called high school graduation, Mom is realizing that soon she will be alone in a house of boys (i.e. my brother and my dad). While I try to reassure her that she still has 2 other girls in the house (i.e. the dogs), she’s not buying it. This is where the (not-so-much-a-joke) joke that is this PTR title began.


The title, those of you who do not live under a rock will have noticed, is a modified quote from Friends. I will not describe the exact circumstances of the quote, on the off-chance that some of you have no idea what I’m talking about and take it upon yourselves to go watch all 10 seasons on Netflix to educate yourselves. But yes, Monica Geller’s tearful sentence lives on in my mother’s life after I leave for college.

That's all I have for now. I'll be back as soon as I have more plans to share!

 

[phlppians413]

The Rough Sketch + Dining​

Hi friends! Believe it or not, Mom and I actually already have a rough sketch of what this graduation extravaganza is going to look like.

Yes, this means I've already started a spreadsheet . . .and two word documents . . .and a section in my TR notebook. No, this does not mean I'm crazy . . . at least not completely

Anywho . . .

Disney planning and researching has pretty much consumed my life over the last week (when I wasn't about to lose my mind writing my senior thesis; but I digress). Last weekend, Mom and I were on a road trip. On said road trip, we began planning. At first everything was hypothetical, but once we started talking about real, actual dates, I quickly pulled out my laptop and began taking notes and creating the aforementioned spreadsheet.

KW's graduation is on a Sunday, and mine is the Friday after. At first, Mom and I talked about leaving the day after my graduation, but we quickly realized that meant we'd be leaving on my grandfather's birthday, and practically my entire family would be at my house . . .so, maybe that wasn't the best idea. But we COULD leave early the next morning. So, using our knowledge that flight schedules don't really change all that much from year to year, we started looking at flight times for the proposed departure day, hoping to find one at like 6am or 6:30am.

No dice. The earliest flight is something like 9:45am CT.

My reaction might not have been that dramatic, but close enough right?

So, now, we're just holding out hope that an earlier flight will become available for May 2017 than there is for May 2016. But for now this is what our plan looks like.

Drumroll please . . .

May 28th-June 9th!!

This means that trip #10 will be the longest EVER, and I am beyond excited!!

We'll fly to MCO on May 28th and spend the 28th-30th (3 days, 2 nights) at Universal.

Yes, yes, I know. Blasphemy. But, I'm sure you fellow Harry Potter fans can understand and forgive me

Anyways, on the 30th we'll check into CSR and spend the 30th-2nd (4 days, 3 nights) taking advantage of on-site perks like the buses and EXTRA MAGIC HOURS! Then, on the 2nd, we'll go check into Bonnet Creek and spend the remaining 7 nights there, also doing Disney.

To say I'm excited doesn't even begin to cover it.

So, that's our rough sketch (it's a good thing I'm better at these sorts of "sketches" than I am at actually drawing ) Sorry, sometimes I think I'm funnier than I actually am.

In addition to this outline of our trip, we've also been doing some talking about what dining we want to try and achieve. KW and I have a couple that we definitely want to get in. For right now, this is our list.

CRT--breakfast
Via Napoli--lunch/dinner
Be Our Guest--lunch & dinner
House of Blues Gospel Breakfast
Beaches and Cream

Now, we don't want to overload our trip with ADRs, but we also want to make this trip special. What are your favorite places to eat on property, especially for special occasions, without spending an outrageous amount of money?? I'm curious to see what my fellow DISers have to say about this one.

Well, that's all I have for now!! Thanks for reading along with my rambling. Have a magical day!!

 

[phlppians413]

DETAILS​

Hey, y’all! Sorry it’s been a hot minute since I’ve updated this PTR. Honestly, until recently, there hasn’t been anything concrete to add. There’s been a lot of hypotheticals until, really, just last night, but now I’m excited to share the details with you!



So, if you’ll recall WAY back to when I wrote about the rough sketch of our plan (or you could just scroll back up and reread to refresh your memory ), we’ll get started there. The biggest change there is that we have decided to drive instead of fly. Because of the length of our trip, it just makes more sense as far as packing goes, as well as expenses.

Originally, we had also planned to stay on WDW property for a few nights, and then move to Bonnet Creek for the remainder of the trip. But now, we are staying on-site for the entire time!



Yes, it took much convincing (and math) on my part, but it’s official! During our Disney-planning video chat conference last night, KW and EE voted with me (and therefore outvoted Mom), so we will be staying at Pop Century from May 30-June 8!!

Now, yes, that does mean we’ve cut our trip by one day. But really, it’s only half a day, as you’ll see below.

So, now, I give you . . . the detailed plan!

Just one disclaimer before we get started: this is still subject to change, so bear with me!

Day 1: ROAD TRIP: drive halfway
Day 2: ROAD TRIP: drive the rest of the way; check into Universal hotel; Islands of Adventure

Day 3: Universal Studios

Day 4: check out of Universal hotel; Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure; check into Pop

Day 5: MK-rope drop to close

Day 6: relax; Disney Springs

Day 7: MK-probably rope drop to close

Day 8: AK in the am; spend the afternoon at the pool; maybe go over to the Boardwalk

Day 9: House of Blues Gospel Brunch; DHS

Day 10: Blizzard Beach

Day 11: Epcot

Day 12: late arrival to MK, stay until closing

Day 13: check out of Pop; half-day in MK; drive halfway home

Day 14: drive the rest of the way home

Wow, I know that was a lot of words and a lot of information (probably way more than you wanted to know). If you’ve stuck with me this long, I really appreciate it. That’s all I have for now; the next update will probably be ADRs in late November. Thanks for reading, and have a magical day!

 

[phlppians413]

PLANS, DETAILS, AND DINING, OH MY!​

Hey there! I can’t believe it’s already time for dining reservations. This trip will be here before I know it! I don’t know about y’all, but there is something about making ADRs that makes the trip feel real. I have Disney on the brain almost 24/7 (not that that’s unusual), and I’m fairly certain the rest of my family is tired of hearing about it. But enough about that—on with the show!

During the week or two leading up to our ADR date, Mom and I talked and analyzed our plan over and over. We also changed it over and over. We finally got it nailed down (we think) and made our ADRs last week.

Day One: drive to Orlando; stay at Double Tree in Disney Springs

Day Two: sleep in (ish); House of Blues Gospel Brunch 10:30am; check into Royal Pacific; Islands of Adventure

Day Three: Universal Studios

Day Four: check out of Royal Pacific; Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure; check into Pop; Chef Mickey’s 7:30pm

Day Five: MK; Be Our Guest 5:00pm

Day Six: rest day; pool/Disney Springs; Boardwalk; Beaches and Cream 7:00pm

Day Seven: Epcot; Via Napoli 1:30pm

Day Eight: AK; Tusker House 10:10am; pool in the late afternoon

Day Nine: MK; CRT 8:05am

Day Ten: DHS

Day Eleven: Blizzard Beach

Day Twelve: MK; Kona 2:00pm

Day Thirteen: check out of Pop; Disney Springs for shopping and lunch; drive to Tallahassee

Day Fourteen: drive home

So there you have it, folks—our two-week extravaganza in a nutshell. I am so beyond excited for this trip if you can’t tell, and the planning is all part of the fun for me. Hopefully I’ll have pictures of our backpacks and some of the shirts I’ve gotten before too long (in other words I actually have to take those pictures ) Our next big step is FP+ in late March. Thanks for reading along with me as we plan this adventure! See ya real soon!