Trip Planning Day 7 and Recap

It's finally here...our last FULL Day.  It makes me sad and we haven't even left yet!!  I hope that by reading my blog you aren't just getting a little insight into what I like to do at Disney but how I plan a Disney vacation. Of course every Disney vacation is different but many of the same rules apply.

Any guesses as to where we are spending our last day? It shouldn't be a surprise....

I want to stop here to tell you a little story about my husband.  When we met 4 years ago, he had only been to Disney once when he was a kid. They drove down and only went to the Magic Kingdom and he remembered very little of the trip.  Still he told me he loved Disney and that is one of the things that attracted him to me.    We soon began planning our very first trip with one of my best friends...you know her as Photographer Lauren (and her husband Pat).  We planned 10 nights together at Walt Disney World and had the most amazing time!

The day we were going to leave we had a bit of time before the flight.  My husband was seriously upset about leaving and decided we need to go say Good-Bye to the Castle and Magic Kingdom.  I knew right then and there we were perfect for each other!!

Every trip we take, the last place we go is the Magic Kingdom. Preferably the day of our flight but sometimes we just cant squeeze it in. This trip will end in true Mann Family fashion with a day at Magic Kingdom. If I know my hubby he'll want to upgrade us to 8 day tickets and head over there in the morning as well....we'll see!!

Another one of our traditions is to have our last meal at Ohana.  There are a few restaurants I rave about to my clients. Ohana is not usually one of them and that is simply because it needs to be booked 180 days in advance! Either that or you have to be willing to a) Wait in a long "standby" line or b) eat at 9:30 at night!

I'll admit that while I've never been a fan of the rooms at the Polynesian, I do love this resort!! IF they are in fact opening a DVC here in the future...we might become owners!
 

We love coming here for the ambiance...the drinks....

...and the food!! Ohana is one of our favorite meals. From beginning to end we love everything! Ohana is served family style.

First they start you off with some Bread and a salad with a honey-lime dressing. Then come the
Honey Coriander Chicken Wings and  Pork fried dumplings.

A large plate of noodles and stir fried veggies will accompany the meat that has been cooked over an open fire and served to you on large skewers!

Marinated Sirloin Steak

• Spicy Grilled Peel - n - Eat Shrimp
• Oak Grilled Chicken
• Asian Barbecued Pork Loin 

And last but NEVER least, one of my all time favorite desserts... 'Ohana bread pudding served a la mode with Bananas and Caramel Sauce!!! OH how I love bread pudding!


Oh and don't forget the entertainment!!

Be forewarned...there is singing, dancing, kids games and more! If you are looking for quiet place to eat...this isn't it!

After dinner we'll head back to the Magic Kingdom for fireworks and the park is open until 11 p.m. Since are flight isn't until the following afternoon we'll probably stay out pretty late. Luckily Kennedy sleeps really well in her stroller!!

With just 9 days and counting we still have a lot to do.  They'll be more planning posts coming!

Trip Planning Day 6

While we are nearing the end of our trip, I'm really looking forward to this day!  Today we have some more time scheduled at EPCOT!! I have two plans of attack depending on what everyone wants to do!

1)  Spend some time in the morning at Future World. This will depend on what we got to see earlier in the week and how everyone like it. We have lunch reservations at Coral Reef which I think the kids will really enjoy!

If no one really wants to go to Future World I figure they can sleep in (GASP!!) and then hit lunch and maybe check out the EPCOT resorts.

2) If no one wants to head to the park today, Eric and I have our own plans...today is the first day of Food and Wine Festival! YAY!!  We plan on hitting the park at lunch and exploring on our own. If everyone wants to they can meet up with us for dinner at Via Napoli (Hubby says this is the best pizza he's ever had!) and exploring a bit of World Showcase in the evening.

We did Food and Wine Festival 3 years ago and really had a great time so we are very excited to go back and try it again! Here are some items on my must EAT list:

-Beef Empanadas (Argentina)
-Belgium Waffle (Belgium)
-Beer Cheese Soup and Mushroom Fillet (Canada)
-Trio of Artisan Cheeses
-Mongolian Beef, Pork Pot Stickers and Mango Tapioca Pudding (China)
-Créme Brûlée au Chocolat au Lait (France)
-Kalua Pork Slider (Hawaii)
-Warm Chocolate Lava Cake with Baileys (Ireland)
-Everything in Italy
-and so much more!!

I know I picked a lot of desserts but we'll be walking a lot, lol!! I think no matter which route we go we've got a great plan for today!

Trip Planning Day 5

By now I'm sure everyone will be sufficiently wiped out!  It's Day 5 or our 4th full day if you are keeping track. That's partly why we chose Hollywood Studios!

We figure if anyone decided to skip it, it's our least favorite park. We probably won't spend the entire day here but we are looking forward to seeing some shows and riding Toy Story Midway Mania!

I think even though this isn't our favorite park, there is something to be said about how you attack it.  Our plan is to hit Toy Story first, as everyone SHOULD do...and hopefully we can bring the kiddo's along and take turns by doing a little baby swapping!  After that we'll head over to Tower of Terror (I'll sit that out, thank you very much)

and Rock N' Roller Coaster (another baby swap).

After that we can spend the rest of the day pretty leisurely. We'll see some of our favorite shows, have some lunch and head back to the resort for some pool time. It will be the perfect mid-week day!

Tonight we'll head to the Wave for a yummy dinner and spend some time exploring the Contemporary!  I love this restaurant and I think everyone else will too...especially my nephew who is vegetarian!

Trip Planning Day 4

On a daily basis I defend EPCOT. I understand why people have their hesitations so I don't mind.  I think that to really appreciate EPCOT you need to spend some time and really explore the park. Recently I blogged over on Mousechicks about all their is for the little ones to do!

Day 4 will finally include a stop at EPCOT! I'm so excited to take DH and my in-laws. While EPCOT is not hubby's favorite place, he is excited about spending some time in World Showcase. We have plans to visit EPCOT twice this trip. Once on Day 4 and once again later in the trip for Food and Wine Festival. YUM!

The plan is always the same, get up at the crack of dawn and be to EPCOT by park open.  We'll stay until about noonish and then return later for dinner.  EPCOT is really set up great for splitting into 2 halves.  For the morning we'll start with Soarin, and then spend some time exploring both Innoventions Buildings (we can't wait to check out the Vision House and Storm Struck while I know the kids will love Sum of All Thrills). We'll also spend a bit of time over at the Seas

We'll of course go shopping in one of our favorite stores!

Hopefully I can get someone to ride Mission Space with me!!!

If we are lucky we'll head back to Soarin for one last ride and lunch at Sunshine Seasons before heading back to the resort.

Tonight, we'll head back for some eating and drinking around World Showcase.  This is one of our favorite places and we could easily spend almost every night here!

We are having dinner at our favorite location, La Hacienda De San Angel for fireworks. It's going to be a great day

Trip Planning Day 3

Since my arm got twisted and Day 2 was at the Magic Kingdom, today we are heading to Animal Kingdom. When you read sites or discussion boards that talk about trip planning there are so many different ways to look at it.  For us, we love heading to EMH, or early extra magic hours at Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. I think they are 100% worth it while you'll read many sites that disagree. Since Day 2 was was at Magic Kingdom while Animal Kingdom was having their EMH, it looks like we'll miss out on that too!

The great thing about all these "rules" and trying to figure them out is a) We will be at Disney during a relatively slow time of year. A busy park isn't BUSY like at Christmas. B) We are at Disney!!  What beats that?

We are testing out a theory this year that if we go to a park the day AFTER they have EMH it will presumably be a bit slower. To be honest, my thought is if enough people follow this theory it's probably just as busy as an EMH morning but we'll see!!

For days when we arrive early at the parks, we'll grab a quick breakfast in the room (Cereal, breakfast bars, etc). Today we'll plan to be at Animal by 8:30 since the park opens at 9 a.m.  Our first stop will most likely be at Everest before heading to the Safari.

While it's hard to pick favorites, Animal Kingdom is by far among the top choices. We could spend more than one day here. We love the hustle and bustle in the morning when the park opens and then we spend our afternoons exploring the park, the trails, the shows and having some amazing food.

 Disney really outdid themselves with the themeing at the this park and I think that's what makes it so amazing for us!

Since Animal Kingdom is only open until 5 p.m., we'll be done rather early. After we head back to the room to freshen up, we'll be going to Wilderness Lodge for dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe.

We just know the kids are going to have a BLAST here!  Not to mention my hubby who is the biggest fan of Bottomless Milkshakes...yes BOTTOMLESS!!! YUM!!!

Day 2 Trip Planning

Good Morning!!  So this morning I'm dealing with a common trip planning dilemma! Often when I'm planning  client's vacations they arrive over the weekend and the first place they want to go is Magic Kingdom. That's why historically, Monday's are a busy day at the Magic Kingdom. I understand the thought. Most people relate Walt Disney World with the Castle. Heck I've even met people who refer to the Magic Kingdom as Walt Disney World, even though Walt Disney World encompasses EVERYTHING.

I've gone over and over this day in my head about a million times. I've really struggled to figure out our best option.  If it were up to me we'd spend our first full day at EPCOT.  Magic Kingdom is slated to be busy and no one wants to start off their vacation like that!  If you've been a reader of this blog or if you follow me over at Mousechicks you'll know I'm a HUGE fan of EPCOT! I think we'd have an amazing time there and more than enough to do!  To me it would be the perfect start to our vacation.

Ultimately I think the Magic Kingdom will win out. It's hard to start our Disney vacation anywhere else. Despite Josh's warnings over at easywdw.com, I think we are going to brave it!  The crowd calendar only lists today a 3 out 10 so we will be ok!!

Here is the plan...I'm DYING to see more of Fantasyland so we'll head through Tomorrowland to get Space Mountain Fast Passes before heading to Fantasyland.

I'd like to ride Dumbo, Small World, Peter Pan and Mickey's Philharmagic first thing, depending on when our fast passes are for. Then we'll head back to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain, Carousel of Progress, Buzz and Laugh Floor.  Then it will be lunch time if we are lucky!!

After we take an afternoon break, we'll head back for Dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe and more Magic Kingdom time. The park is open until 9 so we should be back plenty early for some rest before an early morning!

Arrival Day Trip Planning

Hello everyone! With just 19 days left until my trip I thought we'd get into the nitty gritty details of our trip!  Now a few caveats before we get started...

1) I'm a planner...and I have OCD.  That's why I LOVE my job.  I get excited when a new client books and I get to start a new spreadsheet for them.

2) While I like to think in my head that my plans will be carried out by the letter, I know in reality that won't happen. A girl can dream right?

In saying that, my party has give me 99% control of planning of the trip! WHOOHOOO!!!  Obviously I'm still dreaming as I totally anticipate the "Let's go back to the hotel and swim" or "Can't we sleep in just a bit longer!!?".  And that's ok with me because....

I have this beautiful little girl who will get up and go anywhere with me!! Of course I would love if everyone stuck to the plan but this is vacation and not everyone likes to vacation like we do!! I'm going to let everyone just go with the flow if they want to. I've recommended at the very least we all meet up for dinner and I've also let them know that if they skip our plans, they could end up waiting in much longer lines or not seeing everything we've planned.

Let's talk about arrival day!!  Right now we are scheduled to arrive before 2 p.m. Our plan is to get to the Resort ASAP...

 check in and then head to Disney's Hollywood Studios!!

Why did we pick Hollywood Studios for our arrival night you ask?  A few reasons:

1) If you read easywdw.com it's the most recommended park due to other park EMH and the fact that it's a Sunday and most people arriving on a Sunday don't his this park first. Most will head to Magic Kingdom.

2)Because of the show schedules we often find ourselves needing a bit more than a day, but not necessarily 2 whole days.

The plan will be to see Beauty and The Beast and have dinner. Anything else we manage to ride or see will be bonus as we'll head back later in the week!  Dinner tonight is at Mama Melroses which is one of my personal favorite restaurants!  I'm excited for our first night! The park is open until 8 p.m. and we won't be seeing Fantasmic so it will be an early  night....we have lots of rest to get for our first official FULL Day!!