We're Disney Bound

Good evening! WE HAVE TWO DAYS LEFT in the countdown! Insanity! If you go back to when this journal was opened the countdown was triple digits and almost a year back... wow.

January 21st not only marks our last full day at Disney, it's also my 24th birthday. Erin was going to surprise me with a bday cake, but needed the confirm number to order it, so ha ha I got to find out early.

Day Ten: Magic Kingdom Day 3
07:30a - Wake Up
08:15a - Catch Bus for the Magic Kingdom
09:00a - Watch Park Opening
09:30a - Breakfast @ Sleepy Hollow
10:00a - tour park, BTMRR & SPLASH!
11:30a - Lunch @ The Crystal Palace w/ Pooh & Friends and BDAY CAKE!
12:30p - Tour some more...
05:30p - Dinner @ Cosmic Ray's ?
08:00p - Wishes from the Train Station on Main Street
08:20p - Catch the Bus to the Boardwalk
09:00p - Illuminations from the International Gateway
10:00p - Final packing, bed. cry ourselves to sleep.

Good morning people who have nothing better to do than read our journal! You must be as bored - if not more so - than I am! For that I am sorry!

Today marks THREE DAYS till we're on a plane headed for Orlando. As of this moment our plane in Seattle would be ready to taxi out to the runway... we'd still have six plus hours before landing and getting that first bit of Disney Magic by meeting up with the Magical Express. lol.

Day Nine: EPCOT Day 3
07:00a - Wake Up
08:15a - Head to EPCOT
09:00a - Watch Opening of Park
09:15a - Breakfast @ Sunshine Seasons
09:30a - Tour Future World
12:30p - Head for Germany
01:00a - Lunch @ The Biergarten
02:00p - Tour World Showcase
08:00p - Dinner @ Yakitori Counter Service
09:00p - Illuminations
10:00p - Pack. :'(

Saturday night cannot get here fast enough!

In order to have all the plans out by the time I have to have this laptop packed up and ready to go I have to double up on a day. No problem there, right? I may pull out my laptop if I get bored waiting to board my plane at Ted Stevens International (and I pray that it always stays Ted Stevens' International... I'm sure Begich has his eye on changing it and with Uncle Ted's conviction...) Sorry lost my head there for a minute.

Anywho, the 19th is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day and as such the parks will probably be packed all weekend, but I've decided that monday would be a good day to see stuff outside the parks. So it's our downtown disney mini golf do whatever else we want day. DHS has Extra Magic Evening Hours so we might pop over there for a bit, who knows. This is also the day we go from Disney's Coronado Springs Resort over to the value of The Pop Century Resort. It's only for the last three nights of our trip so I am not going to complain.

Day Eight: Take A Break Day!
08:00a - Check Out have luggage sent to Pop, say good bye to CSR *sniff*
08:30a - Catch bus for The Magic Kingdom
09:00a - Take Ferry to The Wilderness Lodge
10:00a - Breakfast @ The Whispering Canyon Cafe
11:15a - Head to Downtown Disney
11:45a - SHOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
02:30p - Catch Bus to the Beach Club
03:30p - Lunch @ Beaches N Cream
04:30p - Head over to Pop Century to Check In
05:30p - Hit Up Mini Golf @ either Fantasia Gardens or Winter/Summerland
07:30p - Debate going to other mini golf course, going to a park, or back to Pop.
09:00p - Lights out.

This is a very rough idea of what we'll do. Who knows what we'll end up really doing...

Now, onto the Resort Info...

Home Sweet Home: Pop Century
Resort: Disney's Pop Century
Phone #: 1-407-939-4000
Check In: January 19, 2009 around 4:30p
Departing: January 22, 2009 around 5:00a
Room Type: Standard
Location: We have requested the 1950s Buildings

Four days! Four days! Four days! Four days!

Wow, almost a week of plans gone already. Whatever little thing helps to move the hours along. The 18th marks the second Sunday I will be gone from my duties at ABT, and I have a feeling I'll be missing my girls something terrible, but I plan on sending several postcards to Mary to share with the girls... and hopefully I can find a little something for all of them...

Sunday also means our second EPCOT day... Considering the Magic Kingdom has the Extra Magic Evening Hours I figure we'll head over to that park for a bit - especially if Splash Mt. is open... Because riding Splash Mt. at night is a frigid experience in and of itself ;)


Day Seven: EPCOT Day 2
08:00a - Wake Up
09:00a - Breakfast @ Pepper Market
09:30a - Catch Bus
10:00a - Fastpass Soarin / Tour Future World / Character stalk
01:00p - Lunch @ The Electric Umbrella
01:30p - Continue touring.
06:30p - Head to Fort Wilderness (take ferry?)
08:00p - Dinner @ Trail's End
09:30p - Electrical Water Pagent
10:00p - Extra Magic Hours @ The Magic Kingdom
12:00p - Head for Coronado Springs

This will be the final night at the Coronado... and I will be sad.

Good morning, we are at day six in the countdown, and thankfully the day is not going by painfully slow... it's just slow. I have a job interview later this morning and then I'm going to be a cooking machine...

Anyway to continue our travel plans day five puts us back at Disney's Animal Kingdom. This is a clean up day of sorts and there are no ADRs to keep so it's a wide open day. We can always park hop if we desire considering the park closes early and depending on how the crowds are the first day as well as this day we might get it all done and be bored. Who knows! Anything is possible!

Day Five: Animal Kingdom Day 2
07:45a - Wake Up
08:30a - catch bus to DAK
09:00a - Park Opens / Watch the Opening Show
09:30a - Breakfast @ Kusafari Coffee Shop
10:00a - Character Stalking / Head for Camp Minnie-Mickey
01:00p - Yak & Yeti Counter Service
01:30p - Continue touring / hitting favorite rides / Character stalking
03:00p - Parade (if we want to watch again)
05:00p - Park Closes (Head to EPCOT? MK? DHS?... Mini Golf?)

Dinner will most likely be the Pepper Market, and I have no problems with that! :) I also like that this day is flexible... gives us more options, eh!

Good evening! We have ONE WEEK till Disney! And I almost missed posting about it! *GASP* I know! How awful! How could you stand it?!

Anyway our fourth day will be spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios. This is my least favorite park because I find it horribly disorganized, which makes it feel VERY CROWDED... It just doesn't seem to move people through things the same way. This could possibly be because most of DHS is shows... so you're waiting for shows to start or end or whatever. But anyways. This is where FANTASMIC lives, which is all that really matters. Well, that, and the fact that we're having our "Birthday Lunch" at the Brown Derby. Yum! I can't wait.

Day Four: Disney's Hollywood Studios
08:30a - Wake Up
09:00a - Breakfast @ The Pepper Market
09:20a - Catch Bus for DHS
10:00a - Grab fastpass for Toy Story Mania / Tour Park based on show times (ie - plan this day the night before)
01:00p - Lunch @ The Hollywood Brown Derby
02:00p - Continue touring.
03:00p - Pixar Block Party Bash (Parade)
03:30p - Continue touring
05:00p - Passporter MeetUp @ Animation Courtyard
05:45p - Dinner to Go from Pizza Planet!
06:00p - Make way over to Fantasmic!
07:00p - FANTASMIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
08:20p - Back at resort for POOL/Hot Tub time!


WAGON! We're so excited it isn't even funny!

Good Morning, we're at day 8 on our countdown. We've decided that the hours go by too slowly and if they don't speed up soon we're going to go insane. And not our regular kind of insane. So you've been warned. Hopefully when we get out and about and do things this coming week it won't go as slow. We'll see.

Jan. 14 marks our first day at EPCOT. To me this park is incredibly spread out and feels to be the largest of the parks even though Disney's Animal Kingdom has the most square footage. Disney must agree with me some what because the park is broken up into two sections "Future World" which surrounds Spaceship Earth (aka The Giant Golf Ball) and "World Showcase" which hosts 10 countries around the man made lagoon. World Showcase opens an hour to two hours after Future World. I enjoy the World Showcase far more than Future World. For one, it's more spread out so it doesn't feel as crowded, and two World Showcase is so much fun to photograph.

There are many character meets in both sections and so we'll get in some quality character stalking. Erin wants to meet Mushu so we'll be hanging around China quite a bit, I'm sure.

Alright, here's the plan for Wednesday.

Day Three: EPCOT Day 1
08:00a - Wake up & Shower
09:00a - Breakfast @ the Pepper Market
10:00a - Catch Bus for EPCOT
11:00a - World Showcase Opens, tour right to left.
01:05p - Lunch @ Le Cellier
02:00p - continue touring World Showcase
Since there aren't as many rides/attractions we'll just take it easy.
07:45p - Dinner @ Cantina De San Angel stake out spot by lake for pyro
09:00p - Illuminations!
09:20p - Take long way around the lake let crowds thin out at buses.
10:00p - Bed, make sure to plan out DHS showtimes.

Alright, I gotta get off this bad boy and continue packing... I have a check list now so I can be better prepared... and I still have to figure out how to organize my carryon. *sigh*

On my way to where the AIR IS SWEET!

Man, I miss the old Sesame Street!

Anyway - for reference later this week I'm sharing the link to weather.com to see what we'll be expecting for our trip. I pray that it's all sun and warmth while we're there. No rain!

http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/USFL0372?month=1

so far nothing for when we get there, but I like the looks of those temps!

Just a revision of our first day's agenda!

Day One -- Magic Kingdom

08:00a - Wake Up
08:45a - Catch Bus for Park
09:00a - Watch Park opening show (if we get there in time - which I doubt)
09:05a - Check out Main Street and Adventureland
10:30a - Grab fast pass for Big Thunder Mt. Railroad
10:45a - Head over to Contemporary (aka walk over there)
11:10a - Brunch @ Chef Mickey's
11:45a - Catch Monorail back to the Magic Kingdom
12:10p - Ride Big Thunder Mt Railroad if Fast Pass window has arrived / continue touring Adventureland & Frontierland
02:00p - explore Liberty Square
03:00p - Dreams Come True Parade (what time is the 3 o'clock parade?)
03:30p - Fast pass Mickey's Philharmagic / Haunted Mansion / ride the Liberty Belle / visit Tom Sawyer's Island
05:30p - Dinner @ Columbia Harbour House
06:00p - Head back towards main street
06:30p - stake out spot in hub/mainstreet for parade and fireworks!
07:00p - Spectromagic
08:00p - Wishes Nighttime Spectacular
09:30p - In room set wake up call for 7:00am

now I gotta revise the plan in our passporter so I don't forget AND look and see what needs revising for the other two days we have for the MK!

something, who knows what. But I am extremely bored and in want of our trip to Disney World today (like everyday) so I figured I better start revising our trip plans for probably the last time.

As was stated previously - we are now doing a split stay while we're in Disney. January 11-19 will be at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort it is a moderate resort with a deluxe feel. It is currently undergoing some refurbishments - all rooms now have queen beds - so it will have a decidedly *newer* feel to it than other resorts of its caliber.

I will probably do a write up similar to what I did for the Pop Century later this week[end]. But for now I'll just give a run down of plans.

From January 19-22 we will be staying at Disney's Pop Century Resort this is a value level resort, and is the newest of the values as it opened in 2004.

Interestingly enough, while Erin has been to neither resort, I've visited/stayed at both. Of the two I prefer The Coronado, and not because it's a "better quality" but I enjoy the fact that it's more spread out, it has a great theme, the service is above and beyond what I expected, and the busses don't just go to one central location. I like the Pop for its theming, and I hope that when we have to switch to Pop we won't be too homesick for Coronado.

Because we are staying at the Coronado from the first night we get down there, we have cancelled our Boma reservation we had set up for 8:30pm on the 11th. There was just no point to eating out when the Coronado has wonderful food service in both the Pepper Market and Maya Grill (Which is expensive but super yummy). At this point the plan is to get into the Coronado, check in, and - depending on where our room is - we will either grab something to go from the Pepper Market and take it to our room OR we'll settle into our room and then go grab something to eat. Either way will work and the first night we'll do exactly how my family did in 2007 - we'll get acquainted (or in my case reacquainted) with our vacation home... and we can SLEEP. *IF* we can sleep. Chances are we're going to rival that little kid in the ad ("WE'RE TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP!")

I'm hoping to have enough energy that first night to head over to the dig site and visit the hot tub, and take some photos of the pool while there.

Have a ~*~Magical~*~ day. :)

Next post on here should be a write up on the Coronado.

We have 50 days until we touch down in Orlando, and head over to our most beautiful resort: Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in the Animal Kingdom district.



And I'm off!

So the Coronado Springs didn't pan out *quite* like we wanted, but that is alright because we are BOOKED for CSR anyway! We have a room there from the 11th to the 19th. From the 19th to the 22nd we're staying at the Pop Century resort.

So it's a little bit more than what we were originally paying, but we both believe it will be worth it. It's about 200 bucks more than what it would have been before the special came out, so I guess that's pretty good... had this special not come out we would have been way over budget trying to get the Coronado.

I don't have time to do a full write up on what the Coronado Springs resort looks like or how it works, but there is a fan site out for it and can be found HERE.

My family stayed there in 2007 and I fell in love with it. I've requested the Casitas building not so much because I've stayed there before, but because that's the first bus stop and I love being first (and it's all about me!).

I'm so stinking excited that it isnt even funny!

If the lyrics to A Dream Is A Wish are true then Erin and I have some very odd wishes.

First - this past week Erin informed me that she had a dream about our trip where we were riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad when we suddenly started fighting. She got mad and pushed me out of the car and I died. If that's her wish I'm really thinking I should not go with her on this trip.

Then again before our Disneyland trip in 06 she dreamt she pushed me out of the car in Mr. Toad's wildride and ran me over. Obviously I'm still here. But I may still request to not sit with her on BTMRR!


Second - I just woke up from one of the oddest Disney dreams I have ever had. I think it was a mix of Erin and My trip to WDW and the planned birthday in Disneyland for Haille Rae when she turns 5 because Judy and Haille's family were with Erin and me... and we were in WDW. Anyway started out fine, we were all headed to Epcot, we get to the turnstiles (which were in Spaceship Earth for some reason) and I realize I don't have my ticket to get in OR my passporter with the touring plan and our confirm number for lunch at Le Cellier which we were supposed to be at in 45 minutes. So I hustle back to our hotel (which apparently is the Haunted Mansion judging by all the dead things and cobwebs that were suddenly all around me) I couldn't find my ticket in our room and that's about the time I woke up because it was freaking me out.


I'm really worried that if I'm already having these types of dreams that the week leading up to the trip I won't have any restful nights because I'll be tossing and turning with nightmares! ACK!


In other news, MouseSavers.com is advertising a new special offer/discount that will be for the first half of 2009, but they won't tell us! First it was "will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 6" now it says that but at "5pm EST"... UGH! Talk about FRUSTRATING!

Day Ten -- Magic Kingdom
Our final day! *sob* // Toni's 24th Birthday // SPLASH MT!!!

07:00a - Wake up
07:40a - Catch bus to Magic Kingdom
08:30a - Watch opening of Magic Kingdom
11:30a - Brunch @ Crystal Palace (Character Meal)
08:00p - Wishes from the Train Depot
08:20p - catch bus to Boardwalk*
09:00p - Illuminations @ EPCOT


* So the final night we're going to do a Disney Marathon of sorts, watch two night time shows back to back. the following is the proposed plans that are possible thanks to a member on Passporter's Message Boards.

First idea - RobDVC
Wishes - 15 minutes
Walk to CR - 10 minutes
Cab from CR to BCV - 10 minutes
Walk from BCV to IG - 10 minutes
That gives you about 15 minutes to find a spot to watch IllumiNations.
The key is to watch Wishes from the front of the park and boogie out of there as soon as it's over.
it'll be tight, but it is doable.

Second idea - Lucyinthesky
Okay, I've done this before, once. I wasn't even planning on it, I was watching Wishes from around the train station, so I was right near the exit of the park. I left as soon as Wishes ended, and jumped on the monorail. When we got over to the TTC, I glanced just across the platform at the Epcot monorail station, and I looked at my watch and thought, huh, I *could* try to make to over to see Illuminations, which is my favorite fireworks show... I thought, what the heck, and went over and waited for a few minutes for the Epcot monorail. When I got into the park, I hustled through Future World, and made it to the entrance of WS just as it was starting. I just stayed there, didn't try to get a great spot or anything, but I saw the show just fine, and it was really cool to see the two shows back to back like that.

Third idea - Ginabutterfly
What about a bus to Yacht and Beach? And then a quick run into the International Gateway? Would that work?

Fourth idea - Laughaholic
Well, what you could do is one night when you are heading out, take the bus back to your resort from the MK right after Wishes ends, and see how often the Y&BC bus comes. If you kind of work out that schedule, you could do what everyone else has said and take the bus there, then walk to the International Gateway. This could also be an alternative if the line is REALLY backed up for the monorail.

You could also probably take a bus to the Boardwalk as well, and take the boat over to Epcot, so you could just hop on that bus if it came first.

Fifth idea - jenifermg0
I just had a vision of the typical hyperactive Alaskan Husky dog team running through Epcot, past SSE, the fountains, heading for WS, past the pyramid in Mexico and China, rounding the corner headed through Germany to Italy, speeding through the American Adventure to Japan, past Morocco into France and then on to UK and finally into Canada - where they wouldn't be COMPLETELY out of place!!! MAN - talk about the Last Great Race!!!!

The last two days are basically just hitting the two biggest parks again to get to whatever we didn't get to earlier, and see our favorites again as much as possible. So there isn't as much planning involved. Mainly just food has been planned.

Day Nine -- EPCOT
Extra Magic Morning Hours @ EPCOT // Times are approximate
07:00a - Wake Up
07:30a - Head to EPCOT
08:15a - Sunshine Seasons (if open that early)
01:00p - Biergarten for Lunch (BUFFET!)
08:00p - Yakitori for Dinner (if we don't decide to park hop or something)
09:00p - Illuminations from Japan

Day Eight -- No Park Day
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day // Mini-Golf & Shopping // Hollywood Studios has Extra Magic Evening Hours.

08:45a - Catch Bus for Magic Kingdom
09:15a - Transfer to Bus or Ferry for the Wilderness Lodge
10:00a - Breakfast @ the Whispering Canyon Cafe
11:30a - Head to Downtown Disney
12:00p - Shop!
03:00p - Catch bus to the Beach Club Resort
04:00p - Early dinner @ Beaches & Cream
05:30p - Fantasia Gardens (Mini-Golf)
07:00p - Winter Wonderland (Mini-Golf)

The evening is free, no idea what we will do.. but I'm sure we can figure something out!

So the more I looked at our second day at Epcot the more I realized I was pushing for too much as far as food was concerned, so I've switched our lunch plans around a bit. This also effects our "no park day" which is the next day that I will share.

Day Seven -- EPCOT
Future World is the goal. // Future world open till 7pm, World showcase till 9pm // Magic Kingdom has Evening Magic Hours

09:00a - Wake Up (hooray for sleeping in a bit)
10:00a - Breakfast @ Pop Century Food Court
11:00a - Future World @ EPCOT
01:00p - Lunch @ the Electric Umbrella
02:00p - Continue touring Future World
06:30p - Head to Fort Wilderness for Dinner (Ferry or Bus?)
08:00p - Dinner @ Trail's End (Buffet)
09:30p - Electrical Water Pagent from the docks of Ft. Wilderness
10:00p - Head to Magic Kingdom, and either spend some time there with EMH or grab bus to Pop Century

I think this works a whole lot better than the one before. Yes, I'm crazy.

Day Seven -- EPCOT
Future World is the goal. // Park open till 9pm // Magic Kingdom has Evening Magic Hours

09:00a - Wake Up (yes, that's right, we get to sleep in a bit)
10:00a - Breakfast @ Pop Century Food Court
11:00a - Hit Future World (World Showcase will be opening then, so we should hit it about right)
01:30p - Head over to the International Gateway on route to Boardwalk
02:15p - Beaches & Cream for Lunch
04:00p - Head back to Future World and hit whatever is left.
06:30p - Leave park take Bus (Ferry?) to Fort Wilderness
08:00p - Dinner @ Trail's End
09:00p - Electrical Water Pagent
09:30p - Head back to resort? MK?

So I put a tens countdown on my ABT calendar which hangs in my bathroom. it's my 'planning' one as it's a way to keep me up to date with what the heck is going on and it gets my rear in gear when needed. Anyway I got really excited because the days fly when you only count every ten ha ha! Also noticed that January 1st marks the 10 day mark... single digits begin on Jan. 2!!!! Excitement.


I would just like to take this time to apologize, in advance, to our behavior come January. We are going to be unbearable. You've been warned. Please don't banish us!

Day Six -- Magic Kingdom
Times are approximate. // Park open till 11pm!

08:30a - Get Dressed.
09:00a - Catch bus for park.
09:30a - Breakfast at the Main Street Bakery
10:15a - Mickey's Toontown Fair
01:00p - Cosmic Ray's Cafe
01:45p - Fantasy Land & "The Hub"
03:45p - Main Street Shopping
04:50p - Dinner @ The Plaza
05:45p - Adventureland (Jungle cruise in teh dark?)
07:45p - Frontierland
09:00p - SpectroMagic Parade
11:00p - Wishes! from Big Thunder Mt. Railroad!

I honestly don't know what we'll do with the big hour gaps we've got. We'll play it by ear!

Day Five -- Disney's Animal Kingdom
This is a 'pick up what we missed, and do stuff we loved again' day, and since the park closes to early we can head to another park or back to our resort if we want.

08:00a - Wake Up
08:20a - Catch Bus
09:00a - Watch Park Opening
09:15a - Breakfast @ Kustafari Coffee Shop
09:30a - Kilamanjaro Safari
10:00a - Camp Minnie Mickey
10:30a - character stalking while shopping and enjoying rides
12:30p - Lunch at Yak & Yeti's Counter Service
03:00p - Mickey's Jungle Jammin' Parade
05:00p - Park Closes
05:30p - Catch bus to either resort or another park (EPCOT has Extra Evening Hours)

So yeah, not sure what we'll do that evening, but I am all about hanging by the pool that day if it's warm enough hee hee! Or mini golf!