Becca1005's Pre-Trip Report

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Becca1005's Pre-Trip Report

Ok, as a newbie here....I get to extend the fun by writing a "PRE" trip report? eek

It's official, I'm in Disney heaven! angelwings

Bear with me here, I've never written one of these things so forgive me if I ramble. But I am super proud of the planning I've done and I'm hoping it will translate into an amazing trip! mickey

For some background, I consider myself a Disney veteran. My first WDW trip was when I was 6 months old. The first trip I really remember was when I was 4 and that was when I fell in love with Epcot. In between trips I would pour over the latest WDW travel books. To this day I can still quote most of the descriptions in a particular publication. Yes, I was a weird kid (what 4 year-old loves Epcot and Living with the Land, in particular?) and am now an even weirder adult (we don't have enough time to delve into this one! Nerd ). Wink My DH, Sean, had been to Disneyland and WDW once each as a teen. I will spare you the details of his WDW trip, the sheer chaos of the trip makes me shudder. And I refuse to speak of Disneyland because I'm jealous that he has a "one up" on me when it comes to Disney as, sadly, I have yet to make it to the original park.

We honeymooned in WDW in October of 2005. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge for 12 days and had an incredible time! All things considered, it was essentially my DH's first WDW vacation that counted. The only drawback being...the poor guy had a hernia! Despite being in constant pain, he absolutely loved the experience and couldn't wait to go back. Now that is what I call Disney magic! Smile

We didn't do a meal plan on our honeymoon so when we booked our next trip in late September/early October of 2010, we went all out. We stayed for 8 days at the WL again. I hadn't gone too crazy with the ADRs so we weren't too booked for meals. We did a lot of "eh, why not? let's try it" meals and ate at a few places more than once (most notably Biergarten and La Hacienda which was in it's 'soft opening' at the time). Immediately after returning home, we were already talking about going back....mostly, to eat! lol! The original idea was to go in December of 2011 so Sean could celebrate his 40th birthday in WDW.....during WDW's 40th birthday celebration! (I think it's kismet that my DH was born the same year as WDW!) But, alas! It wasn't meant to be.

Which brings us to the upcoming trip! yay

All of the stars aligned so we decided this was the time to go. It looks like future WDW trips will be more spaced out so I wanted to go BIG this time!

We booked the WL for 8 days in December along with the Deluxe Dining Plan. To really get our money's worth out of the dining plan, we challenged ourselves to not eat ANY counter-service meals, but eat only at sit-down restaurants. There were a lot of restaurants we wanted to go back to and many more we wanted to try and using all of our meal credits for sit-down meals was the only way we were going to achieve that. We know it's going to be a ridiculous amount of food, but we figure, if we leave a little on the plate, well, we're on vacation! Vacation isn't the most frugal of times now, is it?

Here's the breakdown....

12/2
Early flight out of Syracuse, NY ( crossfingers pleasepleaseplease do not snow in the snow capital of the country pleasepleaseplease crossfingers )

Barring any weather delays, we're hoping to check in at WL, hop on a boat and be in the MK by noon. Once there, we will not pass go, we will not collect $200 (although that would be nice!), we will go straight to Aloha Isle and get a Dole Whip Float! A lovely woman (no idea who she was, I think she may have been an angel!) introduced us to these delights in 2010 and I'm a total fanatic now. I still can't believe that, despite all of my previous trips, I had never heard of them! I plan on making up for that and pledge to get a Dole Whip Float every time I am in the MK! Because of the questionable weather, I didn't book a lunch for the first day. Because Be Our Guest will be open, and it's counter-service for lunch, we're tossing around the idea of paying out of pocket and having a light lunch there. We'll see. Stay tuned for the actual trip report (I think I'm going to title it FOOD! FOOD! And more FOOD!) to find out. Dinner will be at The Wave....of American Flavors at the Contemporary. Then DHWS has EMHs that night so we'll hop on over there where this pair of Star Wars junkies will proceed to ride Star Tours until we have experienced every. single. one. of the over 50 scenarios! It was closed for the re-furb on our last trip so we're really going through withdrawals.

12/3
Epcot
As much as I love Epcot, to me, the MK *IS* WDW so I must go there first. But, the first full day is always in Epcot. Smile
We'll start out with breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe. We had dinner there on our honeymoon (flashback to Sean riding one of the stick-ponies around singing "You are My Sunshine" after losing a horribly rigged coloring contest...BAAHAHAHAHAHA!) and breakfast there a couple of times in 2010 so we know what to expect. Lunch will be at the Biergarten. One of the repeats from last time. Despite my red hair and burst-into-flames-in-direct-sunlight-pale skin, I'm of German descent and grew up on tons of German food. Sean is not an adventurous eater so I wasn't sure what he'd think. Well, he loved it! So much that we went back for a second time in 2010 and it's one of the few restaurants he requested that I book this time. We know we'll have a great time there. Ticky-tocky ticky-tocky! Oy! Oy! Oy! Dinner will be at Les Chefs de France. Neither of us have eaten here, but we (well, I) have high hopes. After 4 years of French class in high school, you'd think I'd have retained more of the language. Really the only words I can remember are food. I can read a French menu like nobody's business so I'm hoping to fit right in! Wink Also hoping that Remy might make an appearance (does anyone know if this can be requested or if he has a schedule?). MK has EMHs so we may stop on by for another Dole Whip Float? We'll see.

12/4
Animal Kingdom - Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
No breakfast scheduled. We may use some snack credits for a muffin/danish/breakfasty-thing from Roaring Forks. Lunch AND Dinner will be at Yak & Yeti. We've heard so many great things about Y&Y (Cream Cheese Wontons? Oh. Em. Gee!) that we figured, what the heck!....DH had an inspired idea. While I do most of the planning for our trips (dear hubby does the overtime to pay for them and then he gets to just kick back and enjoy the ride) I give full credit to him for this particular element. We had booked MVMCP, figuring it might be slightly less crowded on a Tuesday night crossfingers I was thinking out loud about where we could go during the day and Sean said "Hey, doesn't AK close early?" I tell you, the man is a genius! This will be the first "Party", but how can you go wrong with Disney, cookies and hot chocolate? Ya just can't.

12/5
Disney's Hollywood Studios
No breakfast scheduled again. After 3 late nights in the parks, we just might be in the mood to sleep in a bit, don't you think? Lunch will be at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. This is another repeat. We loved it last time. But, we are much wiser this time. Do not, I repeat, DO. NOT. order both a milkshake and a sundae in addition to your app and entree. Owww. Just Owww. Dinner will be at the Hollywood Brown Derby. Another repeat and where the true hurtin set in after the double-dairy-whammy at the SFDIT so we're looking forward to a less painful experience this time. I had the Duck Three Ways last time. I see that's off the menu so I may go for the Duck Two Ways (darn economy! everything is down-sized!). We have early rezzies for HBD so we'll catch Fantasmic! that evening. We missed it last trip and Sean really loved it on our HM so we've got to see it this time if we can.

12/6
Epcot
Again. Smile Breakfast will be at The Wave. I've heard good things about the Sweet Potato Pancakes. We're fans of a good breakfast buffet. Sean was wild for the breakfast buffet at the Crystal Palace and we were thinking of booking Chef Mickey's but as two adults....we may act like children, but we don't actually have any...we sometimes feel guilty at the character breakfasts for taking the characters' time away from the kids. I stumbled upon The Wave and figured. Buffet, breakfast, no characters? Sold! And since it's in the Contemporary, we can hop on the Monorail and avoid the buses! Whoowhoo! Lunch will be at Restaurant Marrakesh. This is another new one, reviews used to be less than stellar, but recently I've seen a lot of glowing reviews. I'm really looking forward to this one! Dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. Yet another new one. Booked when I could not seem to find *any* opening for Le Cellier despite logging onto the online reservations promptly at 6am 180 days out. <- If my boss asks, I was late to work that day because I had an "appointment" Wink No worries about this one at all. Come on, it's STEAK. As long as it doesn't moo at me, I'm pretty much good with any slab o' beef you throw in front of me.

12/7
Epcot
I told you it's my favorite park! It also happens to have the biggest abundance of restaurants we wanted to try. No scheduled breakfast. Lunch will be at Le Cellier. Remember how I said I couldn't get a reservation 180 days out? Well, persistence does indeed pay off. I checked back every day for two months and voila! a lunch opening. We've never eaten here and considering the hot and cold reviews, I'm happy it's going to be lunch. If it doesn't live up to the hype, at least we only used one credit. But, I'm optimistic. It's another steakhouse. Wink And don't worry, pretzel bread and cheddar cheese soup will be tasted! Dinner at La Hacienda. This was THE standout from our 2010 trip! It was still in its soft opening and not taking ADRs so we just walked up and had an a-ma-zing meal. Because it was soooo good, we went back the next day. And whoa! We felt like old friends! All of the managers and most of the servers stopped by our table to welcome us back! Of course, we're not expecting anything even remotely close to that on this trip, but the food was out of this world too and we're hoping to repeat that part. The only thing that stopped us from going back a third time in 2010 was ADRs at Artist Point on our final day. Sadly, that was our only disappointing meal (strange, most people love AP). C'est la vie. Oh hey! I remembered some more French! Wink

12/8
Downtown Disney and Resort Tours
Breakfast at Trails End in Fort Wilderness. Not expecting a whole lot here. Another buffet and after, we can take a spin around Fort Wilderness. I've heard some of the campers decorate for Christmas. We may check out the Tri-Circle D ranch and maybe take a carriage ride. Lunch at Raglan Road. We ate here last time and I still have dreams about the Bread Pudding...We plan on checking out the Christmas decorations at the AKL and GF and maybe stop by some of the other resorts to take a closer look at the decorations we may have overlooked. Then, to put a 'topper' on our last full day, we're having dinner at California Grill. This will be a new one, but wow! what reviews! We know this is going to be a doozy. And we have it timed so we'll be dining during (say that 5 times fast) Holiday Wishes! I think one of the things that kind of ruined Artist Point last time was the lack of enforcement of the dress code. While we can definitely see why it's difficult to enforce in the parks (who walks around the parks in heels or a suit?), it seems like the resort restaurants could be a bit more selective. But, I am forewarned, so I will ignore the people in ratty jeans and focus on my DH, who cleans up quite nicely if I do say so myself.

12/9
Magic Kingdom
Last day. WHAAAAAAA! sad
We always end up in MK. It's where the magic seems the strongest. Smile Breakfast will be at The Wave again, just because. And we have to eat at Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch, Sean's only other request. The last time, our server at LTT told us the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake recipe was one of Paula Deen's. I don't know if that is true, but if it is....Thank. You. Paula!

And this is where I break down in tears because we have to leave our happy place Sad :( Sad :(

So that's it! Tune in for the actual trip report to see if everything went according to plan or not! That is, if I didn't scare you away with this novel of a Pre-Trip Report.

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My oh my oh my! You certainly have a lot packed in but it should be fun.

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Sounds awesome! Yes Remy has set times...he has a special handler or two that must be there with him..another website had his times... i will try to locate it...we saw him on a friday...he started at 510pm and it took about 45 minutes for him to work his way around the room.

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WOW Becca your pre-trip report has me drooling all over the place! The whole thing sounds awesome!

I just wish you would show some enthusiasm. Especially about food. Maybe work on that?

laugh laugh laugh laugh

Yak & Yeti is one of my all-time favorites. Ever! We've not had a bad or mediocre meal there yet! If you are interested, try the Mango Pie!

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Your trip report has made me even more excited for MY trip. It sounds like such delicious fun. And I just love your over the top enthusiasm too. I do not feel alone now...I get really lit up when I start talking Disney. Coworkers, friends, and family know this already...and just smile when I get going.

Looking forward to hearing about your trip, and if all this worked out, and if your stomachs held up... mickey

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Becca1005

PirateGirl wrote:
My oh my oh my! You certainly have a lot packed in but it should be fun.

awesome crossfingers banana stars Big smile

Magic Mirror wrote:
Sounds awesome! Yes Remy has set times...he has a special handler or two that must be there with him..another website had his times... i will try to locate it...we saw him on a friday...he started at 510pm and it took about 45 minutes for him to work his way around the room.

I checked it out on the MOMs forum. Looks like the 5:10 round is the last one of the day. Our ADR isn't until 6:50. Oh well, can't win em all. But you never know if something magical will happen. Smile Thanks!

JeffC wrote:
WOW Becca your pre-trip report has me drooling all over the place! The whole thing sounds awesome!

I just wish you would show some enthusiasm. Especially about food. Maybe work on that?

laugh laugh laugh laugh

Yak & Yeti is one of my all-time favorites. Ever! We've not had a bad or mediocre meal there yet! If you are interested, try the Mango Pie!

lol! Thanks! Yeah, I'm such a downer, you'd think that Disney, of all things, would bring out at least a teeny-tiny bit of excitement. Wink Awesome! We've gotten so many recommendations for Y&Y. The Mango Pie was penciled in on the 'short list' for DH, it's now in pen! awesome

disneydoc wrote:
Your trip report has made me even more excited for MY trip. It sounds like such delicious fun. And I just love your over the top enthusiasm too. I do not feel alone now...I get really lit up when I start talking Disney. Coworkers, friends, and family know this already...and just smile when I get going.

Looking forward to hearing about your trip, and if all this worked out, and if your stomachs held up... mickey

Yay! You are certainly not alone! I'm usually a really laid-back person (DH says if I were any more laid-back I'd be in a coma! lol!) but there is just something about Disney that energizes me. Ah yes, that internal 1,000,000,000 watt Disney bulb! I've been told by coworkers that I have one too! Wishing you the happiest holiday trip ever!

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Sounds like you have a great trip planned Becca! Just watch that "Wall" as we call it on the Deluxe Dinning Plan. It comes up fast and hard! We always got the Deluxe Plan up until last year when we started using "Tables in Wonderland" . Somebody would always "Hit the wall" at some point in our trips, and that is not pleasant, especially if it's at some place you really, really like. Even on the Deluxe plan, you don't "have" to get the app, main course & desert, but your server usually looks at you like you have 3 eyes if you say "I don't want that". Good luck and have fun! We will be down the week before you.

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Looks like you have an amazing trip planned. Enjoy!

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Wow, what a trip! I'm uber jealous and am excited to live vicareously through you when you return! Loving the trip report already!

Becca1005

mrhub wrote:
Sounds like you have a great trip planned Becca! Just watch that "Wall" as we call it on the Deluxe Dinning Plan. It comes up fast and hard! We always got the Deluxe Plan up until last year when we started using "Tables in Wonderland" . Somebody would always "Hit the wall" at some point in our trips, and that is not pleasant, especially if it's at some place you really, really like. Even on the Deluxe plan, you don't "have" to get the app, main course & desert, but your server usually looks at you like you have 3 eyes if you say "I don't want that". Good luck and have fun! We will be down the week before you.

Thanks! Oh yeah, been there, done that. We try to eat light on the buffets. I know that seems weird, but we find it's easier to do with a buffet than with table service because you can take small portions. We also try to order smaller/lighter appz, meals and desserts. If all else fails, we ignore that voice in our heads telling us to clean our plates (this is why you probably won't see us at the 50's Prime Time Cafe). Wink awesome

Kris1971 wrote:
Looks like you have an amazing trip planned. Enjoy!

Thank you! mickey

Allie wrote:
Wow, what a trip! I'm uber jealous and am excited to live vicareously through you when you return! Loving the trip report already!

Hope I can live up to yours! I'm enjoying your trip report so much! muchlove

Becca1005

yay Our online orders came in! Am I the only one who seems to need a new wardrobe for vacation? Of course, this may be because I work from home so my usual wardrobe runs toward sweats/stretchy/drawstrings. And, even better....our Magical Express packet came in! yeah It's really really real now!

The messenger bag I ordered also came in. And Sean is going to haul that thing around if it kills me! Because we're going at a cooler time of year, I'm packing some heavier stuff so I know that space is going to be limited in the suitcases. I don't bring the kitchen sink, but lets just say, I'm prepared. awesome Soooo, I realized that we both get a carry on bag and one "personal item". I've always carried a huge purse (see the "I'm prepared") I swear that when I'm trying to find something in the bottom of the purse all you can see of me is my feet kicking! But, I figured Hey! DH can carry a backpack/bag as his personal item and it'll give me more room to pack. I informed him of this....Now, after 14 years of me hauling my huge purse around and hearing "Honey, can you put my sunglasses/wallet/cell/etc in your purse?" his response was "What am I? A pack-mule?" Say wha!!! eek After I stopped gaping like a landed fish I determined that revenge is going to be so so sweet! lol!

I've been having so much fun reading the forums! And learning so much! It's making me even more excited about our trip (didn't think that was possible!).

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Nice plans. Have a wonderful trip biggrin

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Becca1005

Officially doing the "In the Teens" countdown dance!!! Yahoooooooooo!!!!!

yeah

banana banana banana banana banana banana banana banana banana banana

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We want to see a pic of Sean holding his new (man bag) biggrin

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Super excited for your trip!
It sounds like a blast.
I too had trouble booking Le Cellier, but with a little pixie dust from this forum, we got a lunch ressie. And lunch is spectacular there! biggrin

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Becca1005

Magic Mirror wrote:
We want to see a pic of Sean holding his new (man bag) biggrin

Oh you will! (rubs hands together and laughs maniacally! mwahahahaha!). laugh laugh

Becca1005

MsVersaci wrote:
Super excited for your trip!
It sounds like a blast.
I too had trouble booking Le Cellier, but with a little pixie dust from this forum, we got a lunch ressie. And lunch is spectacular there! biggrin

Thank you! I'm so glad I found this forum. I didn't think I could be more excited for this trip, but reading the posts here have proved me wrong! It's also going to help with the WDW withdrawal! Wink

Yay for lunch at Le Cellier!! I've heard good things about the burger, have you tried it? While I'm going to be all over the Filet with truffle butter and mushroom risotto (drool), DH doesn't like mushrooms so we were thinking about the burger as an option for him.

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My husband dreams about that filet all year long. Ok maybe not dream about it but he does talk about it all year long.

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Becca1005

angels444 wrote:
My husband dreams about that filet all year long. Ok maybe not dream about it but he does talk about it all year long.

yay I can't wait to try it! It's that good, huh? I'm super glad I kept trying for those rezzies!

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There is nothing wrong with a man bag at WDW! Here's mine and it's great to carry things.

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awesome I love your Animal Kingdom man bag Mrhub awesome

Becca1005

That is a cool bag! awesome I love the .jpg title too awesome I've been referring to the new messenger bag as Sean's "murse". It is very manly looking, and he's confident enough in his 'manliness' that it really doesn't have an effect. But, it's just the whole 'What am I, a pack-mule?' comment after I've been lugging a bag around for almost a decade and a half where the revenge part comes in. Oh? I'll show you pack-mule! laugh laugh laugh

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Huh!

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Becca1005

mrhub wrote:
Huh!

That picture cracks me up every time I see it! laugh

Becca1005

Single digit dance!
banana banana banana banana banana banana banana banana banana banana banana
And I got to do our online check-in yesterday. Checking in on Thanksgiving morning = I love technology! awesome

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Becca1005 wrote:
Single digit dance!
banana banana banana banana banana banana banana banana banana banana banana
And I got to do our online check-in yesterday. Checking in on Thanksgiving morning = I love technology! awesome

I know... its even more fun when your on a ride and checking in for your flight!

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Sounds like an awesome trip. Epcot is my favorite as well. I think I just gained a pound reading your report though and my mouth is watering Laughing out loud. Since I have celiac I find myself eating vicariously through others.

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Becca1005

Thanks Pixie! I'm sure it's going to be like a cruise situation, gain 10-20 pounds. But, I'm willing to take one for the team! lol! I'll make sure to take lots of food pictures Smile

Becca1005

Exactly one week out. So all day I've been thinking "Exactly one week from right now I'll be: On the plane/on Magic Express/in MK/drinking my Dole Whip Float/etc." wink

On a side note, all of my friends on facebook are posting pictures of their Christmas decorations and it's killing me! lol! I just can't decorate until we get back because my cats would just destroy everything! I'm hoping the decoration overload at WDW will make up for this week. I'm sure it will awesome

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You are gonna have a blast! awesome

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WooHoo!!!

Happy dancing for you. . . . banana banana banana banana banana

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