PirateLover
11-27-2007, 12:12 PM
Pre-Trip Report Dec 1-7
Cast
Maryanne-Me, 21, turning 22 on the trip
John-DBF, 24
Billy-cousin, 23
Lauren- Cousin's GF, 22
When my cousin first broached the idea of going to WDW again back in September, John and I weren’t sure. After all, we had just been there in May and at the time, John was having major issues with his back. With 2 herniated discs, he was bed ridden most of summer. Add to that the fact that I was uncertain about my job and my money situation, and it just didn’t seem like a viable option. Fast forward a bit. I now have a temporary job that will end before the trip and leave me with a decent amount of money. John is feeling better and is warming up to the idea of a trip. When we find a deal that can have us in WDW for 6 nights with park hoppers for approx. $500 per person (about $200 less than our original quoted price), we decide to do it. Shortly after we took the plunge, John got scheduled for a discectomy that went extremely well. Now he has the OK to ride almost everything. Unfortunately his doctor says he isn't quite down healing yet, so stay away from really wild roller coasters, ones where you aren’t strapped in tight, or your feet are dangling. This means no Island of Adventure like we had originally planned to squeeze in. We will also be skipping Everest, BTMRR and he will only ride Space Mountain and Rock N Roller Coaster once. Above all, she says to stay away from rides that shoot you up or drop you down. This is a major bummer as Tower of Terror is a huge favorite of ours and we often ride 5 times in a row when there are no lines. But safety comes first so he'll definitely be skipping it. Nevertheless, John is just happy to be headed back down to the place where dreams come true during the most wonderful time of the year.:mickey: :santa:
This will be Billy and Lauren’s third year in a row headed down during this time of year. We went with them back in 2005, but since we had our May trip planned, we did not join them last year. It will be fun to join them again. Because of astronomical airfare prices, we have decided to drive down together. None of us has ever driven this distance before, but three of us are experienced drivers and we are up for the challenge. :car:
We decided to drive after the trip was booked. Realizing that we now needed extra time, and trying to work around schedules and make the most of our time, we decide it would be best to leave really early Sat morning to arrive Sat night and awake to a full day at WDW. Unfortunately, when we try to add on a day to our stay at POP, it is now booked! Yikes. Instead we find a really great deal and plan to shack up together at the Sheraton Vistana resort our first night.
Here is mine and John’s tentative schedule for the week.
Sat, Dec 1st- Leave between 4-5am, drive umpteen hours down I-95 and arrive at Sheraton Vistana Resort sometime late in the evening. Go to bed!!
Sun, Dec 2nd- Wake up bright and early and check into POP! Billy and Lauren are on DDP but John and I aren’t this time around. We had some Disney Visa points and couldn’t justify the extra expense this time. However the other two have ADRs at Disney-MGM Studios, so we figure we’ll spend most of the day there with them. John and I will hang out long enough to catch a glimpse of the Osbourne lights (we’ll make more time for them later in the week) and then head out to MK where we have tickets for MVMCP and a 7:30 ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern, John’s favorite!
Mon, Dec 3rd- It’s my 22nd birthday! Yay! :party:And we are headed to Epcot. My plan is to hit up Future World (sadly Spaceship Earth will not be opened as I had hoped.. :( ) and then head over to World Showcase for Holidays (and drinking) around the world! We don’t want to get too "looped" as my parents say, because we are most likely headed over to MK for evening EMH that night, but we’ll have some fun. I have a feeling it’s going to be the most magical birthday ever! Every other year of my life I’ve been stuck in school for my birthday (unless it was a weekend) and especially with this last four years of college I haven’t been able to celebrate much because finals were usually coming up. But now I am burden-free! Yippee!
Tues, Dec 4th- This was originally going to be mine and John’s day at Islands of Adventure, but since we canceled that we decided to switch our days around. We had originally planned to visit resorts on Thursday but now we’ll do it today. You see, in May we had planned to do all sorts of things but then we got a challenge from John’s brother to best his all time ride count of 100. Not ones to back down from a challenge, we decided to forgo some other things we had planned and exhaust ourselves going on rides. One thing we really wanted to do was rent a Sea Raycer from the Polynesian. We plan on doing that, visiting Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge and then heading over to MGM for a bit. Afterwards we will hop over to Boardwalk and hit up Jellyrolls!
Weds, Dec 5th- MK ALL DAY!!!!!!! With a 7:30 Crystal Palace reservation we share with Billy and Lauren. I hope to catch the Castle Lighting Ceremony tonight and also some of SpectroMagic (it will be starting at 8)
Thurs, Dec 6th- Not exactly sure what we’re doing this day yet. Hooray for free days!
Fri, Dec 7th- Our last day. We will probably spend it in the MK. When everyone is ready to say goodbye we will start our long journey back home. We really have no set plan for today. We will leave when ready (probably mid afternoon) and drive until we are tired and find a place to stay over.
The only forseeable negative to this trip is that it’s Pop Warner week. :cheer: :fball:At first I panicked, seeing as how we are staying at POP. However the official resorts are 2 of the All Stars, with overflow staying at POR so hopefully we won't be affected there. As far as the parks go, hopefully they won’t be too much of an issue.
4 days until departure!
Cast
Maryanne-Me, 21, turning 22 on the trip
John-DBF, 24
Billy-cousin, 23
Lauren- Cousin's GF, 22
When my cousin first broached the idea of going to WDW again back in September, John and I weren’t sure. After all, we had just been there in May and at the time, John was having major issues with his back. With 2 herniated discs, he was bed ridden most of summer. Add to that the fact that I was uncertain about my job and my money situation, and it just didn’t seem like a viable option. Fast forward a bit. I now have a temporary job that will end before the trip and leave me with a decent amount of money. John is feeling better and is warming up to the idea of a trip. When we find a deal that can have us in WDW for 6 nights with park hoppers for approx. $500 per person (about $200 less than our original quoted price), we decide to do it. Shortly after we took the plunge, John got scheduled for a discectomy that went extremely well. Now he has the OK to ride almost everything. Unfortunately his doctor says he isn't quite down healing yet, so stay away from really wild roller coasters, ones where you aren’t strapped in tight, or your feet are dangling. This means no Island of Adventure like we had originally planned to squeeze in. We will also be skipping Everest, BTMRR and he will only ride Space Mountain and Rock N Roller Coaster once. Above all, she says to stay away from rides that shoot you up or drop you down. This is a major bummer as Tower of Terror is a huge favorite of ours and we often ride 5 times in a row when there are no lines. But safety comes first so he'll definitely be skipping it. Nevertheless, John is just happy to be headed back down to the place where dreams come true during the most wonderful time of the year.:mickey: :santa:
This will be Billy and Lauren’s third year in a row headed down during this time of year. We went with them back in 2005, but since we had our May trip planned, we did not join them last year. It will be fun to join them again. Because of astronomical airfare prices, we have decided to drive down together. None of us has ever driven this distance before, but three of us are experienced drivers and we are up for the challenge. :car:
We decided to drive after the trip was booked. Realizing that we now needed extra time, and trying to work around schedules and make the most of our time, we decide it would be best to leave really early Sat morning to arrive Sat night and awake to a full day at WDW. Unfortunately, when we try to add on a day to our stay at POP, it is now booked! Yikes. Instead we find a really great deal and plan to shack up together at the Sheraton Vistana resort our first night.
Here is mine and John’s tentative schedule for the week.
Sat, Dec 1st- Leave between 4-5am, drive umpteen hours down I-95 and arrive at Sheraton Vistana Resort sometime late in the evening. Go to bed!!
Sun, Dec 2nd- Wake up bright and early and check into POP! Billy and Lauren are on DDP but John and I aren’t this time around. We had some Disney Visa points and couldn’t justify the extra expense this time. However the other two have ADRs at Disney-MGM Studios, so we figure we’ll spend most of the day there with them. John and I will hang out long enough to catch a glimpse of the Osbourne lights (we’ll make more time for them later in the week) and then head out to MK where we have tickets for MVMCP and a 7:30 ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern, John’s favorite!
Mon, Dec 3rd- It’s my 22nd birthday! Yay! :party:And we are headed to Epcot. My plan is to hit up Future World (sadly Spaceship Earth will not be opened as I had hoped.. :( ) and then head over to World Showcase for Holidays (and drinking) around the world! We don’t want to get too "looped" as my parents say, because we are most likely headed over to MK for evening EMH that night, but we’ll have some fun. I have a feeling it’s going to be the most magical birthday ever! Every other year of my life I’ve been stuck in school for my birthday (unless it was a weekend) and especially with this last four years of college I haven’t been able to celebrate much because finals were usually coming up. But now I am burden-free! Yippee!
Tues, Dec 4th- This was originally going to be mine and John’s day at Islands of Adventure, but since we canceled that we decided to switch our days around. We had originally planned to visit resorts on Thursday but now we’ll do it today. You see, in May we had planned to do all sorts of things but then we got a challenge from John’s brother to best his all time ride count of 100. Not ones to back down from a challenge, we decided to forgo some other things we had planned and exhaust ourselves going on rides. One thing we really wanted to do was rent a Sea Raycer from the Polynesian. We plan on doing that, visiting Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge and then heading over to MGM for a bit. Afterwards we will hop over to Boardwalk and hit up Jellyrolls!
Weds, Dec 5th- MK ALL DAY!!!!!!! With a 7:30 Crystal Palace reservation we share with Billy and Lauren. I hope to catch the Castle Lighting Ceremony tonight and also some of SpectroMagic (it will be starting at 8)
Thurs, Dec 6th- Not exactly sure what we’re doing this day yet. Hooray for free days!
Fri, Dec 7th- Our last day. We will probably spend it in the MK. When everyone is ready to say goodbye we will start our long journey back home. We really have no set plan for today. We will leave when ready (probably mid afternoon) and drive until we are tired and find a place to stay over.
The only forseeable negative to this trip is that it’s Pop Warner week. :cheer: :fball:At first I panicked, seeing as how we are staying at POP. However the official resorts are 2 of the All Stars, with overflow staying at POR so hopefully we won't be affected there. As far as the parks go, hopefully they won’t be too much of an issue.
4 days until departure!