Don't Stop Us Now pre-trip - Aug 09

[Alison]

Well, we have about a week to go and, as we are all getting into the Disney mood, a pre-trip report seemed a good addition to the general air of excitement!

Here we are – a rare photo of myself and DH, Nigel



and this is DS, Stephen, 9 – he seems to be the focus of most of our photos!



We had our first trip to the World in 2007, where we had the most fantastic time. We had been to DLRP four or five times before and absolutely loved it, but we knew that WDW was something pretty special and it was always going to be ‘when’, not ‘if’, we returned. Last visit’s trip report somehow seems to be missing the last couple of days … oops! Hope to rectify that once this pre-trippie is done.

We managed to squeeze in another trip to DLRP in May 2008 and then began saving for 2009. Being teachers, we could only go in school holidays and, having weighed up the pros and cons of crowds at Easter and Christmas against the heat of August, we decided to take our second trip in the summer holidays again.

We (well, me, really!) are addicted to Disney planning boards and have lived, eaten and breathed Disney for the last few months. We are staying in a villa – in fact, it is the same one we stayed in last time, as it is so close to Disney and was really lovely. You don’t get many two-bedroomed villas, so we have been lucky to find it.

We have gone DIY with the planning and are flying with BA. We have tickets for Disney and also for Universal – this is new for us this year, as DS is a real coaster addict. I used to love coasters and dragged my dad on them throughout my childhood but, since having had Stephen, I have gone right off them so I am now official bag holder while the boys go on each and every one!

Nigel has got quite heavily into photography in the last year so he will be dragging his big camera around, so expect lots of photos of tiny details. I’ll be in charge of the video camera, so need to get to grips with it a bit better than I have so far! Last trip, Stephen loved meeting all the characters but has said he’s not so worried about it this time, so that will be less queuing!

We have planned which days we are going to which parks, looking at EMHs and avoiding them as we are staying off-site and thinking about evening shows. We have got a few ADRs booked for the parks, including a character breakfast at Crystal Palace, which we loved last time. Stephen has been saving his pocket money for the last few months and plans to blow the lot on as much Club Penguin merchandise as he can find!

Anyway, this has gone on quite long enough and we have packing to do, DVDs to watch, Disney music to listen to and message boards to read! To finish, just a few Disney favourites of ours.

Favourite film
A Alice in Wonderland
N Emperor's New Groove
S Nightmare Before Christmas

Favourite ride in WDW
A Splash Mountain
N Mission Space
S Rock 'n' Roller Coaster

Favourite show in WDW
A Finding Nemo
N Turtle Talk with Crush
S Philharmagic

Favourite snack
A Frozen lemonade
N Shwarma platter in Morocco
S Itzakadoozie

Favourite character to meet
A Mickey
N Ariel
S Push

Favourite country in Epcot
A Mexico
N UK (chips and cider!)
S Norway

Favourite Disney park
A Epcot (World Showcase)
N Epcot
S Magic Kingdom

Favourite Disney 'secret'
A End of Tiki rooms
N Hidden Mickey on mural of Viking ship in Norway
S Kermit in Star Tours queue

Favourite attraction song
A There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow
N Grim Grinning Ghosts
S How Do You Do?

Favourite queuing area
A Expedition Everest
N Tower of Terror
S Rock 'n' Roller Coaster

Favourite restaurant from last trip
A Boma
N Boma
S Crystal Palace

Favourite mountain
A Splash
N Everest
S Splash

Favourite Disney transport
A Monorail
N Train
S Pirate cruise

Favourite Disney memory
A Stephen enjoying CP breakfast so much, he asked to go back for lunch
N Getting a special anniversary dessert platter at Boma breakfast
S The Fire Chief on Main Street singing him a song

Looking forward to most
A Smelling the Disney 'smell'
N Eating and drinking round Epcot
S Simpsons Ride at Universal

So that's us! Let's go!

See day 1 here!

[Sue Turner]

I hope you have a great time and i will be looking forward to reading your trip reportxxxxxx

[Gem67]

Sounds like you are really ready for the off... hope that the trip is everything you hope for...

looking forward to the trippie - especially Universal as it is your first time

[Guest]

Hope you have a great time, we are heading off next week too.

[Lesley_Perschky]

Have a great time!

[voddygirl]

Love your favourites list...hope the 3 of you have a fab time

[BevS97]

Have a great time Alison. I shall keep my eye out for you in the parks!

[Lydiakate]

Have a wonderful holiday.

[TINK62]

Have a great holiday,look forward to you trip report

[VickieMH]

Have a great time, your photos are lovely ...