BF & I's first trip together to Disney World~ Pre Trip Report
Well I thought it might be finally time to start my pre trip report. But first I’ll give you the background information. Bare with me as this is the first trip report I ever have written.
I went on my first trip to Disney in 2002. Of course I have loved all things Disney since I was a kid. That trip we had been planning for better than a year when it happened. This trip consisted of Alan’s parents, Amy (Alan’s sister), Jimmy (Amy’s son), Alan, and myself. We stayed at his grandparents place in Leesburg, Fl. This is about 45 minutes from Orlando. We were there from June 29 to July 7th. This trip was sort of my high school graduation present.
Our Itinerary for the trip:
June 29~ Leave Indiana for Florida. We left at like 4 or 5 am. Drove straight through. We arrived in Leesburg around 7 pm.
June 30~ Went to Animal Kingdom/ Downtown Disney. All I can say it is was a downpour all day in Animal Kingdom. We didn’t get to see half the park because of the rain. All you saw was ponchos everywhere. We went to Downtown to get some shirts because we all were soaked!
July 1~ Alan’s mom, Amy, and I went shopping in Orlando while the guys stayed back at the park. We all went out to dinner at Captain Bell’s.
July 2~ Sea World.
July 3~ Cape Canaveral Beach/Fisherman’s Wharf. Alan’s nanny sent us to this beach not knowing part of it was a nude beach lol! We had dinner at the fisherman’s wharf where you could watch dolphins jumping and stuff. It was so cool!
July 4~ Magic Kingdom~ I’ll never do this again! It was too dang crowded. However, the firework show for the 4th is awesome!
July 5~ We just hung out at the park and had dinner at Choctaw Willie’s
July 6~ Left Florida around 3pm. Stayed night in Georgia
July 7~ Stopped at Lookout Mountain on the way home in Chattanooga, TN, got home around 7 pm.
Alan and I went down with his parents to visit his grandparents Jan/Feb 2006. We had planned to go to Epcot but didn’t make it because of severe thunderstorms. We did go to some races, Tampa Zoo, and Apollo Beach. And that is when we really started talking about doing this trip. We talked about maybe doing it where we would stay a few nights in the park/resort and then also spend a couple nights with his grandparents before we had to come home.
So about a month or so after we got home Alan’s mom went down to AAA office and she picked up a Disney book for me. Well I got to looking at it and figured we would need about $2000 to do the trip we were talking about. So I sat down and figured out that if we put $100 a month towards this trip we would be able to do it in about 2 years. So we started saving for this current trip in March 2006. So for his birthday this year Alan’s parents got him a membership to AAA. Well about Nov/Dec he got one of their magazine’s in the mail that said our local AAA was having a Disney open house Jan.24th. So about 2 weeks before the open house I started emailing travel agencies to get quotes for a Disney Vacation. I also had AAA give us one. Well AAA was the cheapest quote I had got. At that time we were staying 5 nights/ 4 day park hopper at Pop Century with the dining plan. It was going to cost us $1284 with the AAA savings. So on Jan. 24th we met with our AAA travel agent Sheila and she got our package figured up and put a hold on a room for us for September 22-27. On the Jan. 29th we decided this is what we were going to do and we put the deposit down on the room. This trip is just going to be me and Alan. It will be our first “real vacation” alone since we’ve started dating over 6 years ago.
Me: Brandie~ 24, college student, works part time in accounting. I’m a huge Disney person and animal lover. Been to Disney once.
BF: Alan~ 26, maintenance for plastic factory, loves anything with a motor. Been going to Disney since he was little.
Part 2~ Feburary Planning
So continuing on with the report. We put the $200 down on the room on the 29th of January. Alan's cousin Vannah & her husband are huge disney lovers and they told me about some books that she uses to help with planning of her trip to disney. So I got the following books:
The PassPorter 2007, Hidden Mickey's, Walt Disney World Expert Advice 2007 Birnbaum's, Birnbaum's Disney Dining Guide 2007,and of course the big unofficial guide to Dinsey World
I also had to email my travel agent Alan's AAA membership number so she has it on record.
Okay now for the pricing with AAA:
4 day/ 5 night: $1445.16
Pop Century: $82/night~ $410
4 day park hopper: $490
Dining Plan: $389.90
AAA Savings: $160.40
Total= $1284.76
I had gotten prices from AAA, Haynie Travel (local TA), Dreams Unlimited, Disney website, Mouse For Less, and Magical Journeys.
At first we weren't sure if we were going to do 4 or 5 days and nights. So I priced out both.
AAA:
4 nights/ 4days: $1132.64
4 nights/5 days: $1134.76
5 nights/5 days: $1341.08
4 days/5 nights: $1284.76 (this is the one we went with)
Haynie Travel:
3 nights/4 day: $1208.36
4 nights/ 5 day: $1378.00
5 nights/ 6 days: 1554.00
Travel agent fee: $50
Dreams Unlimited:
4 days/5 nights: $1377.36
Disney.com:
4 nights/5 days:$1206.72
4 nights/ 5 days: $1208.84
4 days/ 5 nights: $1445.16
5 nights/ 5 days: $1341.08
Mouse For Less:
4 days/ 5 nights: $1377.36
Magical Journeys:
4 days/ 5 nights: $1285.76
All prices include hotel at Pop Century, park hopper, and dining plan.
I also had emailed my TA about the photo pass and here is the information she provided me:
The Photo Pass is a free service, all you need to do is find a Disney Photo Pass Photographer, in either of the 4 parks and have them take your photo. There really is no set price for the photos, they range from around $12.95 on up. It is up to the photographer if he wants to take a photo of your with your camera, I would suggest getting another guests to take your photos with your camera. You can purchase the CD's at the resorts or on line. I have heard that the CD's were around $124.95
On Feburary 7th I had my TA put in our room request at Pop Century for a non smoking and king bed. Alan & I both neither one can be around smoke.
I got our planning brochure from AAA Feburary 17. This has helped with the planning.
I am so bummed about Alfredo's closing. I was wanting to eat there in September. But we both love italian food!
Up Next will be all the planning done in March look for that after the weekend.
