WDW Tips

Our next upcoming trip is what I lovingly refer to as the “Grizwald” Family Vacation. This is the 1st family vacation my family and I have taken as adults. The attendees are as follows:

Me(33)- Disney Veteran of 30+ trips. I am the master planner for this vacation

Jim (35) (DH)- Disney Veteran of 20+ trips.

Dad(54)-15+ trips to world but last was in 2002; Sometimes referred to as Jed Clampitt

Mom(54)-same as dad; we will be celebrating her 55th birthday while there

Chris(Brother)(27)-10+trips to WDW, Only one of us who has been to any overseas parks (Tokoyo Disneyland) Currently stationed in Hawaii; will be deployed to Iraq again this fall for the 4th time

Crystal (Sister in Law)(28)-2nd trip ever to the world

Patsy(Grandma)(75)-3rd trip

Possible Attendee: Cousin Melissa(26)-never been to Disney;currently live in NC. Undecided if she will be joining us

Background:
My immediate family has not all been together since 2004. My brother is currently in the Marine Corps and has been stationed in NC and HI. In 2005, both my parents and my husband and I lost our homes in Katrina, 3 days after my brother was deployed to Iraq. While both me and my brother have been home since then, neither of us have been back to MS at the same time. Late last year my parents sold their property to a casino developer and were able to purchase a new home and basically be financially secure into their retirement years. My parents are taking both their kids and spouses as well as my dad’s mom on an all expense paid trip. We will be celebrating my mother’s 55th birthday while at Disney and well as enjoying being together before my brother is once again deployed. Also last August we lost my grandfather while my brother was in Iraq and was unable to come home for the funeral. This is the first time he will be seeing my grandmother since then. This is also my grandmother’s 1st trip without my grandpa.

Accommodations:
We are currently booked at Old Key West in a 2-bedroom villa. This is the same place we stayed in 2002 when we took my grandparents on their first Disney vacation. I would have liked to be at a different DVC resort but this was the only thing available when we made the reservation and also when AP rates were released. We will be there for 7 nights. I also tried to get a bounce back rate while at the Poly in Feb, but again nothing else was available. I have also inquired into a Grand Villa but have had any success with price and/or availability

Travel:
Obviously since my Brother and SIL live in Hawaii they will be flying. They are actually flying in 2 days before everyone else and will be staying at All Star Sports for their first night on property.
My husband and I will be flying in but not arriving until 11:30pm the first night
My mom, dad, and grandmother will be driving from MS and arriving approx 3:30pm the first day

All flying travelers will be using Magical Express.

Advanced Dining Reservations:
April 4th
Whispering Canyon-Lunch
Chef Mickeys-Dinner

April 5th
Yak and Yeti-lunch

April 6th (Mom’s Birthday)
Hoop Dee Doo 9pm Show

Apirl 7th
LeCellier Dinner

April 8th
No ADR’s

April 9th
Ohauna Dinner

April 10th
check out day No ADRs

Other info
Our park plans will basically follow the ADR’s. We are not planning any water parks. There will probably be a few night for us to go to Pleasure Island and the marketplace. I have an EPCOT fireworks cruise booked on the Breathless on the 5th. At the time it was booked we did not think that my grandma was going to want to go to the parks with us so the 6 person limit on the Breathless was not an issue. We are still not sure how we are going to handle this but I am not wanting to cancel it. Maybe we will draw straws..who knows. I am hoping maybe there will be a cancellation with a pontoon boat and then the problem will be solved. We are also wanting to have a photo session at the Grand Floridian seeing as all of us have not been together in such a long time. I will book that over the next 2 days.

Well that’s the plan so far. I’ll keep you updated on any changes.

My husband and I spent the past several days at the Polynesian Resort in the Club Level (Concierge). Although we had booked a standard garden view, we were pleasantly surprised to find we were upgraded to Club Level. Up until this trip we had little desire to stay at this resort. We enjoy the convenience and proximity of the EPCOT resorts and felt that the Boardwalk was “our” resort of choice. Well, this has all changed. I had been told in the past that there are people who ONLY stay at the Poly and only in the club level. They would even chose a shorter vacation just to stay there rather than staying at a lower level resort. I can completely understand this thinking now. I honestly don’t want to stay anywhere else now when I travel to Disney. You just feel like you are on vacation at the Poly

When we arrived we were greeted with leis and a very friendly “aloha” We headed to the front desk to check in and were quickly told that we had been upgraded. The tears quickly welled up in my eyes and I could not tell them Thank you enough. They gave us our gold room keys and we headed to the Hawaii building. I had requested that we be on the 3rd floor and that is just what we got, 3rd floor garden view. One downside is we were the very last room on the 3rd floor, basically as far away from the concierge lounge as you could possibly get. After finding our room we headed to the lounge to check things out. It is stunning and breathtaking. There is a 3 story picture window which overlooks the 7 seas lagoon: to the right is the Contemporary Hotel, straight head is Cinderella Castle and to the left is the Grand Floridian.

We enjoyed and made great use of the lounge the next several days. We had breakfast every morning. It was your standard continental breakfast fare, cinnamon rolls, bagels, crossaints, danishes, cereals, etc. Afternoon snacks were usually cookies, goldfish crackers, chips/salsa and mixed nuts. The evening service was amazing. We basically made this our dinner on several nights and the menu changed nightly. Then for the after dinner service we had some great desserts which also changed nightly.

For Super Bowl sunday, the staff threw a party complete with decorations. The Giants fans watched from the 3rd floor tv, while most of the Patriots fans were on the 2nd floor. The food, drinks, and beer were readily available all evening. In fact the chef had to remind my husband to save room for dessert.

We had a great view on the beach (if not better than Main Street) of Wishes and the music is piped in so you feel like you are part of the fireworks. We also watched the Electrical Water Parade on several occasions from the lounge.

One of the concerns with staying at the Poly was the ease to get to the parks. Let me say that is was very easy to get where ever we were going. We primarily go to MK and EPCOT and we used the monorail and/or boat to very quickly get there. The walk to the TTC was quick and beautiful. We only rode buses to get to Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Downtown Disney.

We have stayed at Club level before at the Boardwalk. While our room at the Boardwalk had a much better view and more room, the club level there seemed like an afterthought. At the Poly everything is so laid back and like I said you just feel like you are on vacation. There was no stuffiness to the club level or anywhere else for that matter. Everyone at the resort was friendly and greeted you with an aloha anytime they saw you. Like I said we will be staying here again, and again, and again, and again. A+++++++++

Here is what I have come up with for my upcoming trip

Wednesday September 26
My friends fly into Sanford Airport and arrive in Orlando at approx 8pm.
Staying offsite with a friend for the night

Thursday Sept 27
I fly into MCO and arrive approx 11am
Meet at All Star Sports around 1pm
Tour Boardwalk, Contemepary, Poly, and Grand Floridian
Dinner at Downtown Disney
Pleasure Island after dinner

Friday September 28
Start at Animal Kingdom
Early Evening Magic Kingdom-Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

Saturday September 29
Epcot morning
Dinner LeCellier 7pm

Sunday September 30
Morning Magic Kingdom
Evening Disney Studios-Extra Magic Hours

Monday October 1
Check out of hotel
Me-head to Epcot for Rededication Ceremony
Everyone else-sleep in check out of hotel
Meet at Beaches and Cream for lunch
Everyone else-shuttle/taxi to airport
Me leave at 5pm for airport

Trip over! BOO!

So that’s the plan. Pretty quick trip just to get my “fix” Hopefully next year there will be several trips now that we are living close to a major airport.

I have stayed at just about every level of Disney accomodations. When I was younger we always brought my grandparents camper trailer down to Orlando and stayed at Ft. Wilderness. I don’t specifically remember much from those trips, but I do have a fond memory type of thing. Those trips are the reason I love the “world” now.
My return trips to Disney started in 1992 when my high school band participated in the Magic Music Days. We stayed at Carribean Beach Resort. At that time Disney had just begun to go into the more “value” market of hotels. I enjoyed my trip but hey… what do you really know about hotels at 17?

For my first trip as an adult, Jim and I stayed at the All Star Sports. To tell you the truth we loved the hotel at the time. However our first trip consisted of non-stop park hopping. We were barely at the room for anything. Also at that time there was no way we could afford anything other than counter service meals, so the All Stars fit us perfectly. I can remember that somehow we ended up at the Beach Club (I was trying to get us from EPCOT to the Studios without having to go back to the front entrance of EPCOT) and we made a comment about how #1 we would probably never be able to afford to stay there and #2 why would ANYONE spend that much money on a hotel when you were never there?

For our trip in 1999 we again stayed at the All Stars. Jim was attending classes and we only spent 2 days onsite.

In 2000 we moved up a level and stayed at Dixie Landings (now Port Orleans-Riverside). We were amazed at what a difference 1 level made. We no longer had to wait in HUGE lines at the end of the night to get on the bus. They actually had bell services that were at the front entrance to assist you. There were not as many children as well. We stayed on the Mansion side and realized that for just a few more $$$ each night we got a much more enjoyable time.

In 2001, we began our venture in bringing people with us to Disney. This year we took Jim’s paternal grandmother (the one who lives with us) and his mom. We had 1 room booked at Carribean Beach. We arrived later in the evening and were surprised to see a wait to check in. When I finally got to the counter they explained that they were overbooked and we were being upgraded to a Deluxe hotel. Ironically I choose the Beach Club. I can tell you it was love at first sight when we arrived there. They have fresh flowers in the lobby, the entrance to the rooms are indoors, and we discovered the ease of walking to Epcot. The pool at the Beach Club is amazing and it just felt so nice to be staying there. In retrospect I don’t think we would have done very well with 4 adults in 1 room at Carribean Beach; it was crowded in the room at the Beach Club.

We took a spur of the moment trip in July 2002 and stayed at the All Stars. We were only there for 2 nights and for the quickness of the planning (We deceided 1 week before the go) and the time (4th of July weekend) we were lucky to get at room at all. This has turned out to be the last time we have stayed at a value.

In 2002 we made our largest group trip to date. We traveled with my parents, my paternal grandparents, and my great aunt. Jim and I arrived a day before everyone else and I surprised him with a room at the Contemperary. We had a Tower room with a Magic Kingdom view. It was increadible. Although we only were there for 1 night we really enjoyed the convenience of catching the monorail to get either to the MK or the TTC. Since we had connecting reservations, Disney moved our luggage to our next accomodations. We had a 2 bedroom villa at Old Key West. The accomodations were perfect for the size of our party. Jim and I had the Master bedroom which had a king bed, my grandparents and aunt shared the other bedroom which had 2 double beds, and my parents slept on the fold out bed. We had a washer and dryer, full size stove, fridge, and microwave. My grandfather had difficulty climbing stairs so we had requested a bottom level room. We had a patio which was on the lake and had ducks which visited us every morning. Since we were at Disney on the 1 year anniversary of 9/11 and tourism was still struggling we got an incredible deal on the rate. It was perfect room for the size of our group.

In 2003 Jim and I made several trips with our annual passes. We stayed at Carribean Beach and Port Orleans-Riverside (former Dixie Landings). I don’t know if it was because our previous two trips we had stayed at Deluxe accomodations, but we were underwhelmed by both hotels. Although we were not ready to commit to paying for a Deluxe every trip, I just don’t know if the moderates were holding the same luster as they once had.

In 2004 Jim and I celebrated out 10th anniversary a little late. We bit the bullet and reserved a room at the Boardwalk Inn. Ever since staying at the Beach Club we had wanted to stay at an EPCOT resort again. At check in we were once again surprised with an upgrade. We were given our gold room keys which gave us the most incredible concierge room. We were right on the Boardwalk above the Bakery overlooking the water. The room, the view and the amminties were unforgetable. It doesn’t matter how many times I have been back to Disney or what hotel I have stayed in, we consider that our hotel and our room. It almost made me think that concierge is worth the extra money (well, I am convinced, but I don’t think Jim is)

The only trip I was supposed to have taken in 2005 was an October trip with my sister in law. The agreement was for us to stay at a value hotel. I ended up making the reservations after Katrina and just could not bring myself to book a value. We ended up staying at Carribean Beach. I also make a trip by myself in which I stayed at Coronado Springs. It is a very nice hotel, but due to the large convention center it had more of a business feel that any other Disney resort I have stayed at.

In 2006 both trips I have stayed at Carribean Beach. My biggest complaint with CBR is the fact that the Custom House (check in/out) is located in a different location that the food/shopping. It is a very nice resort however. As far as moderates go it is about the only one I want to stay at. Since I pretty much refuse to stay at a value hotel now and can’t afford a deluxe every trip then, CBR will pretty much be my home when I am at the world.

Jim and I also agree that we really enjoy the Epcot hotels more than any other location. It is just so nice not having to wait for a bus to get to Epcot or the Studios. We spend probably 5 out of 8 nights at Epcot for dinner so being so close to Epcot is really convient for us.

A few places which are still on our list to try:
The Grand Floridian-the luxury of this hotel just seems so appealing. If and when I do stay here, it will probably be a split trip (half moderate/half deluxe) due to the cost

The Animal Kingdom Lodge-again don’t know if I will stay here for the entire time, but I have heard wonderful things about this hotel from other Disney fans

The Polynisian- I know this is also one of the original hotels, but I have heard great things about this one as well.