The Trip That Almost Wasn't! A July 2010 AKV PTR -Update 7-17 link to Trip Report

[trinaweena]

Hello everyone and welcome to my trip report! This will be my 13th or so trip to the world and I thought I would start my PTR since I will actually be able to do my TR this year! (I got a new camera). Up first: meet our cast!

Me: I'm a 24 year old full time dog trainer. You can call me Trina. This will be, like i said, my 13th or so time to the world, second trip with the boyfriend and his family and only third time staying on property. I'm a big fan of the classic disney movies and Belle is my favorite princess.

This is me during our March trip last year

Boyfriend: He is my pooh bear and we've been together 2 years. This will be our second Disney trip together. He loves Disney and loves the rides at the parks.

This is us last year

Boyfriend's Mom and Dad: We will just call them MIL and FIL to make it easy. They love Disney they are DVC members which is nice. This is our second trip with them.

Jameson and Jess: Boyfriend's brother and his girlfriend. They are interesting, fun to hang out with, and you never really know what's going to happen! This is the four of us on last years trip

The Sage's: I have never met them they are family friend from England. So we will see how that goes haha!

So that's our cast. We are leaving July 8 and staying at the AKL kidani villas. I've never been im excited! More to come, please come along on the adventure...up next ADR's!

Table of Contents
Part 1: The Trip That Almost Wasn't - Introductions
Part 2: WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE 'WINGIN IT'? - Backround Info
Part 3: My Boyfriend Thinks I'm Nuts
Part 4: Mini Update And Some Questions
Part 5: ADRs Done! Finally!
Part 6: Only One Week Left and Pictures From Previous Trips!
Part 7: Tshirt Design
Part 8: Our trip is over, time for the trip report!

 

[trinaweena]

Some Backround

Hello to anyone reading this, (anyone? Bueller? Bueller?), I thought I would continue this PTR Right along. I think I really should give you some backround information on this trip. 2 years ago I was lucky enough to meet my boyfriend. Besiddes bieng a complete nerd and totally awesome he was a Disney freak like me! Not only that but his parents were DVC members and his aunt worked for Disney! we were meant to be!

After we had been dating a couple of months his family invited me to go with them to Disney last July for his grandfathers 80th birthday! 18 of us, one trip, and it was the trip of a lifetime. It was amazing and I wanted to go back as soon as the plane took off. Fast foward a few months and im starting to hear talks of going back to Disney. Like whisperings in the wind and I start to hope and pray that yes we might be going back!

Then finally one night at work, I get the call from Boyfriend 'YOUR GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!" In that moment..happiness.

Fast foward now to a couple of months later and this is truning into one stressful trip. Basically (and from this moment on his parents are just going to be refered to as DMIL and DFIL because let's face it i'm already apart of the family.) DMIL told us that we will basically just be winging this trip.



WHAT?

I'm havign a hard time with this. I'm hoping things will be different once we get down there and ive made accomidations for every possible scenario but they don't even have what parks they want to go to picked out. Another thing that's causing problems? We are on the dining plan. Everyone else in our party is not. DFIL recently lost his job and they could not afford it, but in the end we dedided it would save us more money to go on the dining plan. I have reservations for every night and i don't know what's gonna end up happening.

It's giving my stress, no lie. Our last trip with them was planned down to a T, MY trips are always planned down to a T...so uh, WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR NOT PLANNING ANYTHING???

Have any of you ever encountered this, how did you cope with it? Please share!!

So yes that's basically a backround on our trip, but even though I've been told we're just winging it i've got some secret planning up my sleeves!

Before I leave you tonight, let me share our dates and what not with you! We are staying at Animal Kingdom Villas Kidani Village and we will be there from the 8 of July to the 15 of July. I've never before stayed at AKV so it should be fun!

So introduce yourself if your reading, and if not, well I guess its fun talking to yourself

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Hi, Trina! I'm following you over from my PTR and I'm excited to join in! I've been to Disney about the same number of times as you! Sometimes it's hard to believe that after that many times, there are still so many things I haven't done!

How exciting that you're staying at Kidani! We loved AKL for our engagement trip!

 

[trinaweena]

Hi, Trina! I'm following you over from my PTR and I'm excited to join in! I've been to Disney about the same number of times as you! Sometimes it's hard to believe that after that many times, there are still so many things I haven't done!

How exciting that you're staying at Kidani! We loved AKL for our engagement trip!

Welcome! i'm so excited to have at least one reader haha! I know every year I keep finding new things that wehaven't done yet and it just keeps giving us a reason to go back! I hope we'll never had to run out of reasons!!

I'm SOOOO excited for kidani, we've never stayed but it looks amazing and I cannot wait! Thanks for joining in!!

 

[trinaweena]

Well it had occured to me that after this trip I was unaware of where we would be going down to the world again! I don't like that! Maybe I am Disney spoilded but gosh darn I want a trip every year.

I've been sort of talking about this with boyfriend a little bit. We know his parents will not be going back next year and im really itching to take a solo trip just the two of us. I crunched some numbers and I can put aside about 40 bucks a week out of my checks for vacation fund. I sat down with boyfriend and started showing him resorts, priced and etc.

After a while he asked me about specific resorts. He wanted to see the rooms, the prices, and what not. We priced some packages out. I said to him, 'Babe, I think this is doable" His response? 'Yeah, it possibly is'

I got him to agree to set aside 10 dollars a week (he makes less than me) We are looking to go at the end of August next year staying at either Caribean Beach or CSR. I know nothing about either but i have plenty of time to find out.

Then he says, well, why dont we wait till March and we would have even more money saved and could stay at wilderness Lodge (this is his families 'home' through dvc) but march is a long long time away can i really wait that long?

Granted this is all a pipe dream right now but i got him aggreed to it. he wants to go. Thats the first step. the next step is convinving both our parents this is a good idea.

So that's my exciting update haha, tomorrow I will jump on after work and post about our ADRs and such for this trip! Thanks to anyone whose reading and to anyone who is and hasnt said hi...say hi! I feel like im the only one here! I cant be that boring!!

 

[disneydee6]

looks like u guys have a fun fun trip ahead!

 

[trinaweena]

looks like u guys have a fun fun trip ahead!

I sure hope so! It could really go either way at this point!

 

[trinaweena]

First off Boyfriend and I have apparently decided on March for the next trip. That's March 2012 which feels SO FAR AWAY! But...when is it too early to start a trip report for that haha? He mentioned it to his dad and his dad was cool with it and i told my mom and she was cool with it and that all but seals the deal. Now we just gotta start saving up that money and I gotta start planning! Like i said, when's too early to start a PTR??

Just some questions for you guys, what shoes do you wear to the parks and what bags do you carry.

Also, I was thinking about how we have to go get beef jerky from cabellas for the plane, do you guys have any pre-disney rituals that you do? Our other one is I always watch a Disney movie on the way down. This year it will be finding Nemo!

Ok Sorry for the mini update but i have work in the AM just wanted to post quick and for anyone who is reading please say hello! I dont think i'm THAT boring? Or Am I?

 

[disneydee6]

I wear reef flip flops. Even though they are like 20 bucks, they are really soft and comfortable, and last trip, I didn't get a single blister from them (although my first day I wore different shoes and started my trip off with a blister)
My bag: Lesportsac. Get it at macys on clearance. The material makes the bag weatherproof, and they offer a variety of sizes and compartments. Just make sure that it fits a waterbottle! Years before I used a sports backpack (the ones that cinch), but it got annoying to take off the bag anytime I wanted my camera or a drink of water.
My pre-traveling ritual is to buy an US Weekly for the plane ride. Celeb gossip is my bad habit, so I feed it before my trip lol. I also listen to disney songs on my ipod while traveling.

 

[trinaweena]

I wear reef flip flops. Even though they are like 20 bucks, they are really soft and comfortable, and last trip, I didn't get a single blister from them (although my first day I wore different shoes and started my trip off with a blister)
My bag: Lesportsac. Get it at macys on clearance. The material makes the bag weatherproof, and they offer a variety of sizes and compartments. Just make sure that it fits a waterbottle! Years before I used a sports backpack (the ones that cinch), but it got annoying to take off the bag anytime I wanted my camera or a drink of water.
My pre-traveling ritual is to buy an US Weekly for the plane ride. Celeb gossip is my bad habit, so I feed it before my trip lol. I also listen to disney songs on my ipod while traveling.

Isn't Celeb gossip everyone's bad habit? There's a website I frequent that I'm sure you would love if you love celeb gossip!

I've never even heard of reef flip flops, I will have to look into that! I just want something that won't hurt my feet and it seems i can never remember what i've worn in trips past!

 

[trinaweena]

Went on over to Boyfriend's tonight (he lives about half an hour away, and we both have opposit school/work schedules so I don't get over there as much as I like. But we went out to dinner with his parents (to a very yummy BBQ joint, best pulled pork i've ever had! It's so hard to get good BBQ in CT!) and we ended up talking Disney.

Up until this point things have been pretty up in the air with this trip. Getting any information has been quite difficult. For awhile we didn't even know if Jess would be going (Boyfriend's Brother's GF) because she didn't know if she could get the time off work. We only found out about 2 weeks ago for sure she would be coming. Also, when you are traveling with a family from across the pond, it's quite hard to organize a time to discuss trip plans. So any information has been quite hard to get.

Also, since his parent's don't want to really plan anything, that's been another obstacle to overcome. We have the dining plan, they don't. They've made some reservations, but didn't tell us what they were! Well, I'm not stupid, i went ahead months ago and made reservations for each night. I'm not wasting my dining plan. Also, I made reservations for 4 people instead of 2, just in case Jameson and Jess wanted to tag along. (Not that they have the money to be honest, but I'm not going to hear it from his parents).

Long story short (well not really), I finally feel confident enough to post our ADR's because I think these are the final ones! (Side note: last year my boyfriend and I had a special meal in canada for just the two of us. I was the reason we did this since I had enough foresight to ask his dad if we could do a meal just the two of us. Jess was EXTREMELY jealous that her and Jameson did not get a meal together. She today asked FIL if he could make them some reservations for this trip, one at France and one at BlueZoo...12 days out. Sorry Jess, not going to happen. I feel bad, but nothing can be done I guess.)

So ADR's!

Thursday July 8 - This is our arrival day. Originally I had planned for dinner at Boma but I really want to try Sanaa and we had to change our reservation for that in the middle of the week so we will be eating at Sanaa the first night at 8:30pm

Friday July 9- This one is kind of up in the air. We wanted to do another dinner at canada just the two of us but couldn't get reservations so we scheduled a lunch at Le Cellier for 4:00pm (yes this is lunch for us). Then we find out his dad made a reservation for Canada later that week so I made another reservation at Coral Reef for 3:20pm. I will cancel one or the other as soon as I find out what we are doing

Saturday July 10 - This one is a definate for Hopp De Doo at i think 7:00pm

Sunday July 11- This one is also a definate for Narcosse's at 9:00pm. I'm super excited about this one beacause we scheduled it late enough to see the fireworks and I really want to eat here

Monday July 12 - This was originally our day for Sanaa but now we have a breakfast reservation for Boma at 8:30am. I've heard only awesome things about breakfast at Boma and if i'm doing a breakfast that early in the morning, it better be in my hotel!

Tuesday July 13 - We have a 6:00pm reservation at Hollywood and Vine. I know the place gets a bad rap but we ate her last year and I actually enjoyed it! Also, I think HS is seriously lacking in TS restraunts. My boyfriend HATES mama melrose (and i'm not a huge fan of italian) and i wasn't wasnting two credits on the brown derby. I'm planning on seeing Fantasmic this night if it kills me. (No one else wants to see it. It's my hands down favorite thing in disney)

Wednesday July 14 - Again we have two this day. We had originally planned to meet up with my best friend who will be down there the same time and who is moving to TN and i may not see again for a very long time at Coral Reef. But FIL made reservations for our group at Japan and since it's our last night...I'm torn about what to do. We will see when the time comes I guess. I'd rather eat at Coral Reef for many reasons.

And Thursday is our depature day so we won't be eating anywhere. I tried to pick some places I havent been before. I always want to try new foods and I'm a pretty adventurous eater (was a culinary student) and I love the food in Disney.

Well that's our ADRs. This is getting long, I'm going to end it here. Tomorrow I'll try to hope on and post some pictures of previous trips!

 

[trinaweena]

Well we leave in just one week! Actually this time next week I will be on a plane on my way to Disney! Apparently my body was confused though and woke me up nice and early this morning! So I put on Up and decided to poke around the DIS. I should be packing!!! Oh well, it will get done (I hope). I've started throwing things into my suitcase, mostly meds and toiletries and so far just two dresses. I hate packing!

Plannning on calling my doctor today and possibly talking to him about having him prescribe some sort of pain medicine for the week we are down there. I suffer from fibromyalgia pretty bad and i'm worried about my pain level while in Disney. The walking part I think i'll be ok with, its the standing still and waiting in lines that will kill me. My boyfriend doesn't want me to get a GAC card so I'll have to contact the doctor.

I had a dream last night that we forgot the movie for the plane! I have pretty bad anxiety and usually the plane ride can make me really nervous, so we always watch a movie on the plane and i dreamed i didn't bring it! So i packed it first thing this morning!

Also bought some new pins last night off ebay. I'm hoping they get here in time. We started pin trading last year and I was hooked but i really like trading not so much the buying. I got 25 traders a coupld months ago for me and last night I ordered a few more because i'm planning on sharing with Jess. I want her to do trading with me, cause we had so much fun doing it last year but she spent way too much money buying pins last year. I guess its like an early birthday present!

And as promised, I upload some pictures from some previous trips that I thought I would share with you folks! Since there's not much planning going on its the best i have to offer!

This is from our March 2009 trip, this is me and my family and my best friend Bridget. This was also the day I spent in a wheelchair because i got so sick on this vacation.

Proof

We did dinner at Crystal Palace which was great, but would have been better if I wasn't feeling awful

We did Discovery Cove this trip which was AMAZING

And Seaworld cause Shamu is my favorite (sorry Mickey)

Love me some Orange Slushie!

This was the best Alice EVER! She was so funny and totally stayed in character even though we were 'big kids'

This was our Christmas Card last year!

And these are from our July 2009 trip, there were like 16 of us in all and I have like no pictures because Boyfriend's dad still hasn't given me pictures. i'm bringing my own camera this time!

My first ride on Rock and Roller Coaster!

Belle is my favorite but this one wasn't the best not gonna lie

This is some of our group at HS

And all of us at Epcot. We were celebrating Grandpa's 80th birthday and first trip to disney!

Well that's what I have, hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

Hi Trina! JUST started reading your PTR, still more reading to do! Just wanted to let you know that we stayed at Kidani in March (we are also DVC members) and you WILL LOVE IT!!!! We had a 2 BR savannah view and it was AWESOME!! We will in WDW 2 nights that you're there! We're doing a quick trip, just me and DH, July 7-10. First night at SSR and then 2 nights at BWV. Can't wait!! Now on to finish reading your PTR!!

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

First off Boyfriend and I have apparently decided on March for the next trip. That's March 2012 which feels SO FAR AWAY! But...when is it too early to start a trip report for that haha? He mentioned it to his dad and his dad was cool with it and i told my mom and she was cool with it and that all but seals the deal. Now we just gotta start saving up that money and I gotta start planning! Like i said, when's too early to start a PTR??

Just some questions for you guys, what shoes do you wear to the parks and what bags do you carry.

Also, I was thinking about how we have to go get beef jerky from cabellas for the plane, do you guys have any pre-disney rituals that you do? Our other one is I always watch a Disney movie on the way down. This year it will be finding Nemo!

Ok Sorry for the mini update but i have work in the AM just wanted to post quick and for anyone who is reading please say hello! I dont think i'm THAT boring? Or Am I?

March, though, the weather is MUCH better than the summer! Well, to me anyway... DH didn't like the cooler weather (we were actually wearing jeans and even a jacket most of the time this past March, but that's PERFECT for me! But it isn't ALWAYS quite THAT cool in March. It actually heated up on our LAST day to where I was really uncomfortable in jeans.) I can't stand the heat of the summer. We went last year in August and also September and it was HOT. We're going next week, but that's only because all 4 kids happen to be gone at various places (camp, grandparents, etc) so we're sneaking away without them. Don't plan on spending any time in the parks during the day - mornings and evenings only. I wear either my tennies or Teva flip flops. We have a backpack that just has several compartments that we carry around. DH is designated backpack carrier.

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

Went on over to Boyfriend's tonight (he lives about half an hour away, and we both have opposit school/work schedules so I don't get over there as much as I like. But we went out to dinner with his parents (to a very yummy BBQ joint, best pulled pork i've ever had! It's so hard to get good BBQ in CT!) and we ended up talking Disney.

Up until this point things have been pretty up in the air with this trip. Getting any information has been quite difficult. For awhile we didn't even know if Jess would be going (Boyfriend's Brother's GF) because she didn't know if she could get the time off work. We only found out about 2 weeks ago for sure she would be coming. Also, when you are traveling with a family from across the pond, it's quite hard to organize a time to discuss trip plans. So any information has been quite hard to get.

Also, since his parent's don't want to really plan anything, that's been another obstacle to overcome. We have the dining plan, they don't. They've made some reservations, but didn't tell us what they were! Well, I'm not stupid, i went ahead months ago and made reservations for each night. I'm not wasting my dining plan. Also, I made reservations for 4 people instead of 2, just in case Jameson and Jess wanted to tag along. (Not that they have the money to be honest, but I'm not going to hear it from his parents).

Long story short (well not really), I finally feel confident enough to post our ADR's because I think these are the final ones! (Side note: last year my boyfriend and I had a special meal in canada for just the two of us. I was the reason we did this since I had enough foresight to ask his dad if we could do a meal just the two of us. Jess was EXTREMELY jealous that her and Jameson did not get a meal together. She today asked FIL if he could make them some reservations for this trip, one at France and one at BlueZoo...12 days out. Sorry Jess, not going to happen. I feel bad, but nothing can be done I guess.)

So ADR's!

Thursday July 8 - This is our arrival day. Originally I had planned for dinner at Boma but I really want to try Sanaa and we had to change our reservation for that in the middle of the week so we will be eating at Sanaa the first night at 8:30pm

Friday July 9- This one is kind of up in the air. We wanted to do another dinner at canada just the two of us but couldn't get reservations so we scheduled a lunch at Le Cellier for 4:00pm (yes this is lunch for us). Then we find out his dad made a reservation for Canada later that week so I made another reservation at Coral Reef for 3:20pm. I will cancel one or the other as soon as I find out what we are doing

Saturday July 10 - This one is a definate for Hopp De Doo at i think 7:00pm

Sunday July 11- This one is also a definate for Narcosse's at 9:00pm. I'm super excited about this one beacause we scheduled it late enough to see the fireworks and I really want to eat here

Monday July 12 - This was originally our day for Sanaa but now we have a breakfast reservation for Boma at 8:30am. I've heard only awesome things about breakfast at Boma and if i'm doing a breakfast that early in the morning, it better be in my hotel!

Tuesday July 13 - We have a 6:00pm reservation at Hollywood and Vine. I know the place gets a bad rap but we ate her last year and I actually enjoyed it! Also, I think HS is seriously lacking in TS restraunts. My boyfriend HATES mama melrose (and i'm not a huge fan of italian) and i wasn't wasnting two credits on the brown derby. I'm planning on seeing Fantasmic this night if it kills me. (No one else wants to see it. It's my hands down favorite thing in disney)

Wednesday July 14 - Again we have two this day. We had originally planned to meet up with my best friend who will be down there the same time and who is moving to TN and i may not see again for a very long time at Coral Reef. But FIL made reservations for our group at Japan and since it's our last night...I'm torn about what to do. We will see when the time comes I guess. I'd rather eat at Coral Reef for many reasons.

And Thursday is our depature day so we won't be eating anywhere. I tried to pick some places I havent been before. I always want to try new foods and I'm a pretty adventurous eater (was a culinary student) and I love the food in Disney.

Well that's our ADRs. This is getting long, I'm going to end it here. Tomorrow I'll try to hope on and post some pictures of previous trips!

I'd say we'd take your Le Cellier ADR but since we'll be at HDD at 7:15, probably don't want to eat at 4:00. Bummer. We have never been able to snag an ADR at Le Cellier. We did, however, have some of the cheese soup at F&W in September. YUMMY!!

We're gonna miss you at HDD by a day!! We're doing the 7:15 show on Friday.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I'm here! Your trip looks like a lot of fun I agree, though, March is definitely a better time to go than August. It's nowhere near as hot, and the crowds should still be relatively manageable as long as you avoid spring break

Yay, you're leaving in less than a week!

 

[trinaweena]

Hello! I've been so busy lately! We leave in just 3 days and I still have so much to do! Today at work
I will have to make a to do list for myself because I have to have EVERYtHING ready to go by wednesday. I will head to work at 3:30pm and work till 9:00, then my friend will be coming to pick up the dogs and then I will drive half an hour to boyfriend to stay the night there because our flight is at 7:35am on thursday morning! I'm so excited but I just wish I had more accoimplished.

One thing we did accomplish though is making tshirts! Ok, well we made one so far haha. I just need to make 3 more so shouldn't be too bad. Last year I just used a design off the boards but for this trip my friend and I decided to design our own tshirts, since we are graphic design students haha! Anyway this is what we came up with...thoughts?

This is the front

And this is the back

Allright I gotta run again, hope everyone is doing well!

 

[trinaweena]

Hi Trina! JUST started reading your PTR, still more reading to do! Just wanted to let you know that we stayed at Kidani in March (we are also DVC members) and you WILL LOVE IT!!!! We had a 2 BR savannah view and it was AWESOME!! We will in WDW 2 nights that you're there! We're doing a quick trip, just me and DH, July 7-10. First night at SSR and then 2 nights at BWV. Can't wait!! Now on to finish reading your PTR!!

Welcome!! Thanks for reading, I was beginning to feel all alone over here! Im so excited for Kidani, I've only heard good things, and while i love Wilderness Lodge and I just want to try everywhere!

March, though, the weather is MUCH better than the summer! Well, to me anyway... DH didn't like the cooler weather (we were actually wearing jeans and even a jacket most of the time this past March, but that's PERFECT for me! But it isn't ALWAYS quite THAT cool in March. It actually heated up on our LAST day to where I was really uncomfortable in jeans.) I can't stand the heat of the summer. We went last year in August and also September and it was HOT. We're going next week, but that's only because all 4 kids happen to be gone at various places (camp, grandparents, etc) so we're sneaking away without them. Don't plan on spending any time in the parks during the day - mornings and evenings only. I wear either my tennies or Teva flip flops. We have a backpack that just has several compartments that we carry around. DH is designated backpack carrier.

I've done Disney in March twice and it was very nice, so I think that willl be a perfect tiem for us to go, especially money wise

I'd say we'd take your Le Cellier ADR but since we'll be at HDD at 7:15, probably don't want to eat at 4:00. Bummer. We have never been able to snag an ADR at Le Cellier. We did, however, have some of the cheese soup at F&W in September. YUMMY!!

We're gonna miss you at HDD by a day!! We're doing the 7:15 show on Friday.

Le Cellier is one of my favorite restraunts at Disney. I've never had a better steak in my life, our dinner last year was one of my favorites! And I love the food at hoop de doo! Just what i need on vacation!

I'm here! Your trip looks like a lot of fun I agree, though, March is definitely a better time to go than August. It's nowhere near as hot, and the crowds should still be relatively manageable as long as you avoid spring break

Yay, you're leaving in less than a week!

Welcome! I know I can't believe we leave in just a few days!

 

[taymacsmom]

Hey Trina! Not sure if you are comimg back to this report since your trip is over but... I am here. Hope you had a great time! Would love to hear all about how your trip went with no planning! BTW, we are in Wethersfield. Not too far from you.

Kelly

 

[trinaweena]

Hey Trina! Not sure if you are comimg back to this report since your trip is over but... I am here. Hope you had a great time! Would love to hear all about how your trip went with no planning! BTW, we are in Wethersfield. Not too far from you.

Kelly

I'm actually going to start my trip report very soon (if i wait any longer i'll start forgetting stuff!) so i will be linking to that! Thanks for reading! And wetherfield! That's very close to me! My boyfriend works near there!