Eeyore79's Pre-Trip Countdown/Report

[eeyore79]

I am going to start a pre-trip report tonight...stay tuned!!

[NC_WDW_Daddy]

Standing by

[NavyMouse]

me too!

[missbounce]

Poised with excitement (I LOVE reading trippies)...

[Yensid23]

Looking forward to reading it. I love trip reports and trip planning.

[eeyore79]

So...have you ever spent an hour....writing a pre trip report

adding pictures

and smilies...

only to click something wrong and it all disappear?

Ya...that just happened to me!!!

[eeyore79]

(I'm not gonna tell you how I started to write a 2nd report, and somehow trying to delete a picture, that got deleted too! Thankfully, I only had a few paragraphs into it! Would of ****ed if it would of been 99% done like my first attempt!)

and now DD4 is up from her nap so I have to put this off until later tonight. I promise. ttfn
(sigh)

[NavyMouse]

Oh the anticipation! You are cruel!

[eeyore79]

Ok...what's the saying? Third times a charm? Ok, let's see if this time it will work.


Hello!! My name is Jamie, I am 31 years old, from the southeastern suburbs of Chicago. I live about 5 minutes from the Indiana border. I have a daughter, Kayla, who is 4 years old. We currently live with my parents.



I have been a Disney fan for as long as I can remember. My mom tells me that my first visit to Walt Disney World was when I was about 2 or 3 years old. I don't remember that first visit unfortunately. We continued to visit every year (sometimes twice) until I was about 15. Then we visited again in 1999 (large family trip), 2001 (with my mom), 2004 (with my ex-boyfriend), and 2006 (with my mom and DD's father). I have probably been to WDW betwen 20-25 times, and have always dreamed of sharing it with my children!

I remember being younger and telling my mom that I wanted to work at Disney as a CM driving the tram from the parking lot to the TTC because I liked how they were able to give out information and fun facts!! I still have dreams of becoming a CM, possibly as a character attendant or ride attendant. If I can get my life in order in the next few years, I hope to be able to move to Orlando to pursue this dream. I have been lucky to have some great people in my life who have been connected with Disney or are currently connected! So I have some great references.

So, you probably are wondering how my plans for my upcoming trip came to be. Well, last summer, July 2010, myself, Kayla, and my mom went out to San Diego for my nephew's wedding. We had planned on visiting Disneyland for a day afterwards, so on July 5th we drove up and got there about 12:30pm. A little on the late side for me, since we only had a day and wanted to see and do as much as possible. We ended up having a (mostly) great day and were able to get on some rides and meet some characters. We met Chip & Dale, Pluto, and Tinkerbell.













I know you are probably asking....no Mickey or Minnie?? Sadly...no. We did see them though when we saw C & D, but their line was too long, then again when we were going to try in Toontown.












Plus it was a hot day and we were all getting crabby and tired. We were trying to do too much in too short of a half day We did have fun though, and I loved being able to share a touch of the Disney magic and experience with my daughter. I vowed that I would take her to Walt Disney World and we would meet all the characters and do all the rides and enjoy ourselves. I wasn't sure when we would go, but I had an idea that I wanted to take her for her 5th birthday, which wouldn't be until August 2011. (Interesting fact...Kayla shares MY birthday! August 18th)

I love this picture because I know she is dreaming of her magical day!!





So, I didn't really do any planning the rest of the summer, because I was still debating when I would want to take her, and how I could be able to afford it. But I kept it in the back of my mind, and every so often I would check the Disney website for prices. Just to get ideas...

A few months later, I was watching a WDWLive from the Disney Dream and I got to thinking, maybe I could do a land and sea trip...since I have never cruised and I was just loving the Dream!! So, I emailed Mei/Mousefan Travel for a quote for a 5-6 day trip. I got a wonderful email back the next day from Jan and we spent a few weeks emailing back and forth and deciding what I really wanted to do and could afford. The land and sea would be a little too expensive for me at this time, so I asked her to quote me for just a WDW trip. I had my heart set on staying at the Poly, but the price was too much for me. I had planned on only wanting to spend about $1,500 on the trip total (trying to include airfare too).

I had started to plan for this trip back in January, and towards the end of February I was told that my department at my job was going to be "restructed" and we had to decide if we wanted to part ways or try to go through the interview process. It was a very hard decision for me to make. I had been at my job 7 years and I loved it. It was dependable and stable, even when a lot of other things in my life were going through drastic changes and happenings. Now, here I was trying to plan a trip...and to be told this. I had already planned how to save so much money from each check to be able to afford the trip. I didn't want to give up on the vacation (and God knows, I deserve it!) I began to check out reviews of all the value resorts and figured I would still find a way to make it happen. I did end up parting ways from my job, but hopefully I will move on to bigger and better!

So I ended up deciding to stay at a Value resort and asked Jan for a quote. She is the BEST agent ever!! She responded the next day and told me it would be about $1,300 total or a 5 nights/6 day stay at the All Star Movies resort...including park tickets and the basic dining plan. There was a promo of "Kids Stay and Play FREE" so she applied that, which was awesome! I had received a PIN code for free dining, but you had to stay at a moderate resort. Maybe next time. I was soo happy. I asked if we could place a hold on the package so I could get my last check from work. A few days later, I was able to put the deposit down on the trip!! I was so excited!!

Now...with the package booked and deposit down...time to move on and start planning the next part of the trip. ADR's!! You thought I was gonna say airfare didn't you? Ha...there are more important things!! I had an idea of what I wanted to do for the trip, so I emailed that to Jan, hoping that it would work out. I had told her I was torn between Cinderella's Royal Table and the Poly Luau. I had heard CRT was really hard to get if you didn't book it at exactly 180 days out! We were already a month past that, so I didn't know what our chance would be. The next day she emailed me that she was able to reserve all of my choices online, the only issue was an early dining time for CRT! I was thrilled!! These are our ADR's:

Tues- Ohana breakfast at Poly with Lilo and Stitch


Wed- nothing planned, counter service and snacks


Thurs- BIRTHDAY!! Crystal Palace breakfast at MK with Pooh and friends

Cinderella Royal Table early dinner with Princess


Fri- Akashuras late lunch (sp) at Epcot with Princess


Sat- Hollywood and Vine lunch at DHS with Disney Junior & Little Einsteins


I just have to say, I love AllEars.net Being able to look and menus and prices and info on all the character meals really was a great tool to use. I checked the prices on all the meals and chose the ones that I thought would be the best value for us. I think we actually made out better than the cost of the Dining Plan per day!!

I hope you have enjoyed this start of my pre-trip report! I will continue to update over the next couple months!!



I can't wait to see this sign in WDW in August!!









Coming up next...our trip to the Disney Store to pick up our pre-ordered Tangled DVD and special coupon purchase!!

[eeyore79]

So, a while back on a trip to the Disney Store...we pre-ordered Tangled. The CM told us that when we picked up the copy, we could use our receipt to get 50% off a $40 purchase!! I immediatly knew what we would buy using that discount!!

Since I was planning on taking Kay to Cindy's table...I knew she would be in heaven if she had a princess dress when we entered the castle!! I couldn't wait for the few weeks to pass until we could go back to the store.

Finally...the day came. We got our copy of the DVD, and started to look around at the dresses!! (which, conviently, were in the middle of the store that day!) I asked Kay which one she liked...thinking she would say Princess Aurora's, since it is pink and that is her favorite color right now. NOPE...she choose Belle's beautiful yellow gown!! Belle is one of her favorite princess...along with Princess Aurora and Cinderella. (Belle is MY favorite too, so I was really happy at this choice!)




I can't wait to see Kay dressed up in this...walking down Main Street headed towards the Castle!! My little princess on her 5th birthday...dining with royalty!! Can't wait!! I think I may let her wear it to the Epcot Princess lunch too!!

We had never seen Tangled in the theater (I always wanted to go but we never made it) so I was curious to see how the movie would be and if we would like it. I was sure it would be great with all the positive reviews I had heard about it. We put it in when we got home that night, and then had to re-watch it 2 more times!! Needless to say, it was a hit! I was very impressed by the story and animation!!

Not too much else developing with the trip at this moment...just pricing airfare and deciding on a plan of attack for visiting the parks. My mom is thinking of joining us around the last day or so, and getting a few days at the timeshare we own right outside Disney property, and maybe renting a car to go out to the Atlantic coast to the beaches for a few days. I think that's a great idea, I just wish she would make up her mind what she wants to do, so in case I have to change airfare dates or even add an extra day at ASMov! I told her she has to decide like within the next week or two, because I have to finish paying on the trip by mid June, and I need to get things shaking. 113 days will go by real quick from now until then!!

I am just still excited to be able to go on this trip with my princess!! I have been through a lot over the past year and I truly deserve a week away to relax in my favorite place!!!!

[NavyMouse]

That is awesome! I am excited for you and her! What a memory that will be! I was just thinking how I would have loved to do some sort of pirate experience when I was a kid. Oh, well. There is still plenty of magic to be had!

[Chrissy&Tayen]

awesome report so far.. cant wait to hear more..

[eeyore79]

Went yesterday to downtown Chicago for a few hours with my parents to City Hall...on the way we passed the new location of the Chicago Disney Store!! I wanted to stop up and visit so bad, but my stepfather only wanted to do what they had to do then leave. So I told dd4 we would go back within the next few weeks and visit!! I have not been to the new location...so I am excited!! Gonna try to do a "Disney in Chicago" picture search when we go...stay tuned!!

[Chrissy&Tayen]

sounds like alot of fun... we only have a tiny lil disney store over in huntington wv.. i doubt it will ever be remodeled.. i'm just glad it wasnt one of them that closed when all of them were closing

[eeyore79]

Used to have one in the mall 10 minutes from me. They closed, has to be like 10 years ago now. loved that store. The closest ones to me are all 30-45 minutes away...so I only really make it a few times a year. However, I may start to frequent the downtown one more now since I found out I can take the train and walk about 10 minutes and be right there! train ride is about 30 min. so still a ways away but on the train is not as bad as driving!! lol