We are at the 30 day mark today, so why not post a pre-trip report to help start the countdown!
Last January Patti and I did something we never thought we would do. We bought annual passes to Walt Disney World and the Tables in Wonderland Discount Dining Card using our DVC discount. We enjoyed our trip in January and knew we were going again in October so we thought, “what the heck…. Why not”!
What we didn’t know was that we would use the passes one more time and get a total of 28 days at Walt Disney World before they expired on January 19th.
We tried to book a trip for early December after Natazu contacted me and let me know about the trip they had booked. We wanted to spend some time with Jym, Rachel and Alex, but we had to wait until mid September to secure our reservations for Aulani. We needed to save all of our points for every room option until we knew we could get a room for sure. We thought we might even have to use the extra points for a one bedroom villa if a studio wasn’t available.
Once we were booked at Aulani, we tried to get a studio for their dates in early December and it was impossible to do. It is a very popular time for DVC travel and all the studios were booked for our dates. We were very disappointed but we saved the points.
Chris called his mother in late September and gave her the dates of his trips to Central Florida for the conferences he would be attending and there was one at Sea World starting on January 18, 2012. We discussed the possibility of meeting him, Shanda and Miss Bailey a week earlier at Walt Disney World and decided that we would do it even if it were just Patti and I. We had the points available to use, an annual pass until January 19, 2012 and a companion air ticket for Delta, so why not? The only thing we have to pay out of pocket for is food and we are going to eat at home or at Walt Disney World so why not eat there.
I checked with DVC member service and secured a standard view studio at Kidani Village for a mere 81 points and started making our plans. We put our name on the wait list for BWV Standard Studio for 79 points but it hasn’t been available so we will have to enjoy AKV instead.
Cast of Characters:
Just Patti and I and I this time.
Day 1, Wednesday, January 11th, Travel and more.
Patti and I have to be up @ 4:00 AM to be at the airport at by 5:00 AM for our 6:30 AM departure for Orlando on Delta airlines. We have to change planes in Atlanta and have a short layover.
We arrive in Orlando at 11:30 AM and will board the Magical Express to AKV, Kidani Village and hopefully we will be there by 1:00 PM.
We will have our groceries delivered to Bell Service by the Garden Grocer and we’ll have to have them brought to our room and we will take care of them. Then we will take the bus to Epcot, get my first Mickey Bar and walk through to the BWV and attend the Welcome Home Wednesday presentation at the Atlantic Dance Club. We want to see what’s new with DVC and also get some new hats.
When the meeting is done we plan on taking a bus to MK to spend the rest of the day. I think we can do it as MK closes at 8:00 PM on this day.
Day 2, Thursday, January 12th
Today we are headed to DHS by bus and plan to spend some time there. We love the Star Tours attraction there and we are planning to do that several times. We will also do Toy Story Mania, Muppets, American Idol, Beauty and the Beast Show and we really love the animation class we took in October so I’m sure we will do that to.
We have a late lunch ADR at Mama Melrose’s for 1:55 PM and we can’t wait to get back there.
When we are done at DHS we will walk to Epcot by way of the BWV and stay at Epcot until closing before we bus it back to AKV.
Day 3, Friday, January 13th
We expect today to be a full day at MK. It’s open from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM and we’ll take our time there and enjoy everything we can. We do not have any ADR’s for today so we can just relax and enjoy Mickey and the gang in a most relaxed day. Of course there will be a Mickey Bar planned for today.
Day 4, Saturday, January 14th
Today is our Animal Kingdom Day and we start it off with Breakfast in our villa before we head out.
We do not have any ADR’s for today either but I am sure will eat at Flame Tree BBQ and use our TIW discount card there again. Yummy food at a discount…..it doesn’t get any better than that.
Of course, we will do everything at this park that we enjoy doing and we’ll stay until we’ve had enough and then get a bus to MK and hang out there for a while. MK is open tonight until 11:00 PM but I doubt we will stay out that long.
Day 5, Sunday, January 15th
Today is another Disney Hollywood Studios day. We are in no hurry to get there so we will once again enjoy breakfast in our villa before we head over to DHS. They are open from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
We will probably do some of our “Must do’s” today that are American Idol, Toy Story Mania, Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars, Playhouse Disney, Indy show, Back lot tour, Stunt Show, Rockin’Roller Coaster, Hollywood Tower of Terror and possibly another animation class.
MK has evening EMH tonight until 2:00 AM so we will probably head over there to enjoy some of it again.
Day 6, Monday, January 16th
We don’t have any plans for today and it is Martin Luther King Day so the parks should be crowded so I’m not sure what direction we will head today. If the weather is warm and sunny we might just stick around the resort and swim, we’ll see.
Day 7, Tuesday, January 17th
This is our last day at the parks until our planned, April, 2013, Flower and Garden Festival Trip so we will just pick the park we want to visit today and go with the flow. I bet it will be MK to start and then we might park hop.
Animal Kingdom , 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM
MK, 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM
DHS, 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Epcot, 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Day 8, Wednesday, January 18th., Departure Day
Today is our departure day. We fly out earlier than we’ve ever done before. Our Delta flight departs at 11:30 AM so our Magical Express pick up time should be at 8:30 AM so we will get up and have breakfast in our villa before we head down to catch the bus to the airport.
We hope our Delta Flight will be uneventful as we return to the cold snowy north.
Other thoughts
The reason for this trip is to be at WDW at the same time as Chris, Shanda and Miss Bailey, but we don’t know if they are meeting us or not. If so I’ll update this pre-trip report. If not, all is not lost. Patti and I love our time together with Mickey and the gang.