4 Years Married - 10 Years Together: A September Anniversary PTR About This Page:

[Jessie092408]

Last night I had a nightmare that I got to Disney World and our room wasn't ready. Then, when we finally got our room several hours later (hours in which, for some reason, we hung around the lobby instead of going to a park or going swimming), they gave us a room that had three beds crammed into it instead of the one king we had booked, the phone was messed up and the electricity was out, and it was SNOWING outside!

When I described this horrible vision to David this afternoon when he got home from work, he said "Oh, so, other than the snow, our second trip to Disney?" I busted up laughing! I had forgotten, but on our second trip, we ended up in a regular room for one night instead of a room with a king bed, and they were doing some sort of work on the power lines or something, so the power was turned off for about twenty minutes in our room one evening. We also had to ask for a new phone, because ours wouldn't allow us to call the front desk. As for the snow, that's probably just because it's been snowing for the last few days here, which is very unusual for this area.

Anyway, on to the good stuff: the plans!

David and I have been talking, and we decided that instead of spending two whole days away from the Disney bubble, we will do Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure all on the same day, with a one day park pass with the equivalent of the Park Hopper pass. In 2010 when we went to Universal and IOA on two separate days, we were pretty much ready to go back to Disney by noon on both days, and we had to hang around until three for the first Mears Transportation pickup to get back to the Disney Bubble.

In a drastic change (or at least it seems that way to me), we will not be spending our first full day in Florida at the Magic Kingdom.

David and I have decided that we will go to IOA and US on the first day of our vacation, before we've really hit the Disney parks, so we won't be all tired and grumpy, and we can enjoy it a tad more than last time when we were exhausted after our two week vacation, and had already been pampered with Disney customer service for that long. It's never fun to be getting top notch service and then experience horrible service. It made the customer service at Universal seem three times worse than it (probably) actually was.

So, that being said...

Here are the plans for the first two days of our trip...(I'm sharing these like this because I don't have any Disney stuff planned, and won't have any reservation wishlists for these first two days.)

Day 1 - Travel Day

I am hoping to catch the early flight (6AM) again from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Most likely, this would have a quick layover at Salt Lake City. That would put us in Orlando by about 4:30. We'll take DME to the hotel, as per usual! We always eat at the hotel food court on the first night. The one trip that we made dining reservations for arrival day, it was so hectic and crazy, we decided to skip it for future trips. Usually we go to the arcade and waste some money, then head to bed early!

Day 2 - Universal Studios/IOA Day

We'll schedule a ride with Mears transportation before we go to bed on arrival day. I think I'll schedule the pickup for 7AM, depending on the park hours at the time of our visit. We'll visit IOA first, of course, because the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is there! I am hoping to eat lunch at the Three Broomsticks before heading over to Universal. Dinner is planned for Margaritaville this night, as we had to cancel our reservation in 2010 due to a mini-financial crisis. We'll probably schedule our pickup by Mears to head back to the hotel around 8 or 9, depending on what time we decide to have dinner.

It took quite a lot of back and forth discussion for David and I to decide to go to Universal instead of the Magic Kingdom the first day. Mostly the back and forth was me, and David kept saying "Whatever you want to do, I'm fine, as long as you don't ask me to stay at a Universal Studios hotel."

Our dining wishlist isn't in any particular order as of yet, because until I know which parks we're going to on which days, I can't arrange them in the proper order!

Our Dining Wishlist

Breakfast
Kouzzina (We've had dinner here before, but never breakfast.)

1900 Park Faire (David loved it last year, so we're headed back.)

Lunch
Le Cellier (A must have!)

Dinner
Cinderella's Royal Table (We have decided to try for it!)

Tony's (Is our back-up plan if we fail to get reservations at CRT.)

Teppan Edo (A first for us.)

La Hacienda de San Angel (Also a first.)

Raglan Road (Must...Have...Bread...Pudding!!!)

'Ohana (A first - very interested to try!)

Boma (A first - also very interested in trying!)

'50's Prime Time Cafe (Have eaten here once before and loved it!)

Kouzzina (We want those Greek donuts again!)

Yak & Yeti (A first)

Liberty Tree Tavern (A first)

Rose & Crown Pub (A first)

Coral Reef Restaurant (Mahi Mahi, please!)

So there you have our (LONG) dining wish list. (That's what happens when you go for two weeks!) I just read this list off to David and he got super excited. I've also got this huge list of Quick Service places that we'll be going to, but I didn't know if you guys would want that list or not. I'm taking votes!

In other, exciting news, I have finally convinced David that it is time to get our own place again. (We have two roommates at the moment.) So when our lease is up in August, we're going to get a two bedroom apartment...

Next up: Our tentative plans for the parks? Possibly...I don't want to hurt your heads. They're a little confusing at the moment.

[Jessie092408]

Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark

Of course Jess. I know your a busy girl! When you get a free moment and feel like it.

I will probably get to it tomorrow. Today I had a TON of homework. I am taking a Principles of Management class, and it's a tough one...and it's only day one!

Originally Posted by lexiemom

So glad to see you posting again! I am looking forward to following along as you make your plans for this trip!

Thanks! I'm glad to have you along on my planning journey!

[Colexis Mom]

Great plans and wishlist!

[JoJayMom]

I like the idea of going there first - get it out of the way - then you can concentrate on DISNEY!! All of your dining choices sounds great! I vote "YES" please share your QS choices. Because my DH and I have looked at the menus to pick where we wanted to eat, and I would like to see what you recommend!

[Tabitha34]

Another vote for the QS wish list!

I understand your back and forth with not doing MK the first day but instead doing Universal. We have always done MK our first and last day. There is just something about starting and ending in MK that we love. If we were adding Universal to a trip I think we would probably do it first so that the start of Disney and end of vaca can be just how we like it.

[OneLittleSpark]

Great list of ADR choices! So many on there that I like! LTT is so good. Le Cellier is a must for us too, in fact DH asked if I could try to get it for lunch 2 days. CRT is a must do at least once for any Disney lover, IMO. There is nothing, and I mean nothing better than eating IN the castle.

Another vote here for QS places, along with anything else you care to share...no matter how small it seems or confusing...IE..things that might change.

[lexiemom]

Bring on the lists!

[JKnott17]

Welcome back, Jessie! I'm glad that you've gotten back into planning this trip, everything looks great so far. Looking forward to more!

[Wolfy6688]

Great plans!

I love POP. We usually try for a King bed and always stay preferred, so you might get one of our old rooms!

I can't wait to read your plans. That's the same week that we always go in September and we won't be going this year I'll be tagging along vicariously.

I also would do Universal/IOA in one day. We went there on a recent trip and the second day wasn't really necessary. For us, anyway.

Also, kinda random, but I love that it's been 10 years that you've been together. I'm close to your age (25) and I hate that so many people seem to think that young people (mostly teens, but some people still think even 20-year olds) are incapable of feeling love and don't know what love is. I'm still sensitive about that, even though my boyfriend is not someone I met when I was younger. I'm so glad that you're one of the positive stories against the negativity!

[KMB733]

Oh, the Disney nightmares!! I can handle them, as long as they never come true!

Great plans and wishlist!!!

[abubbles77]

Just finding this and everything looks great.

[ChukkerB]

Going right around your scheduled time,Sept. 10-21. staying at Old Key West. Good luck on your pre-planning,half the fun is seeing what everyone else does,and it makes the time fly before the trip.

[Cam22]

Great plans and wonderful dining choices!

[MayraLR]

Great dining choices! And I definitely would like to see your CS list.

[ilovedisney247]

Those look like some great dining choices! I love Boma and LTT! I'm curious to see what your CS choices might be!