ADR's Made!!

Well it's done!! ADR's (advance dining reservations) are made, the majority of them anyway. Friday was 180 days from check in day, just 6 months until our Disney World Vacation!!! Bright and early I was online at disneyworld.com making dining reservations. Somehow getting those dining confirmations makes our vacation seem more REAL. I know that sounds a little crazy, sending the money should have made it seem real, right??? I guess ADR's forced me to plan where we would spend each day. So check in day will be Epcot, ending with Illimuniations. Thursday will be Magic Kingdom, but I left dinner reservations open but I am thinking we may just do room service. Friday, breakfast at Cape May and dinner at RainForest Cafe in Downtown Disney-possibly a water park and shopping day. Saturday, Tusker House for breakfast so obviously an Animal Kingdom day, planning to get to Hollywood Studios later in the day. I know you are probably wondering why a day at waterparks and shopping and only a half day at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Down time at the water parks and just relaxing is going to be very important to us, we are on vacation and relaxing is a part of that. During vacation is one of the few times I can get Mike to truly relax and enjoy himself. Now, Dakota and I have to work on our "Must See" list...

I Blog For Me, If You Are Reading That's Icing On The Cake..

I am a realist, I know that only on a rare occasion does someone other than myself actually read my blog. You see, truth is I write everything here for myself. Don't get me wrong I would love to have a million followers and have Disney ask me to blog for them. But, I am enjoying planning my vacation and as I write my posts it will be here for me to remember long after our vacation is over. And by writing it all down here I am not bugging my friends and family with Disney info and boring them to death. As Disney fanatics well know, not everyone is as crazy about the "World" as we are. You see, I could look at Disney Guide Books and Disboards, Zannaland, Allears, ect. for hours on end, much like my daughter can shop for a Coach purse or MAC makeup. I guess what I am saying is by having this blog I get to "talk" about Disney to my hearts delight, but I am not bugging the people I love.


Now in the same breath I have to tell you I am very much aware of the Disboards, Passporter and Allears Disney fans who post their "Pre Trip Reports" on their websites. I haven't had much luck with forums. You see I was never the popular kid in school, but you popular kids needed kids like me who were happy being followers and wall flowers-we were the kids who made you popular. Just sayin. Things haven't changed much since high school, I'm not the popular kid on the forums, I'm more the lurker type, and Pre Trip Reports are just popularity reports. Talk about pressure, you have this fear of "What if no one reads my post?", "What if no one follows my Pre Trip Report?", "Is the name of my report catchy enough to draw in readers?" Way too stressful, know what I mean?


Great things is, unless I choose to click the "Stats" tab at the top of my Blogger page I will never know how many people read about my "Adventures in Disney World Vacation Planning", and sometimes ignorance is bliss. Today I may want a million readers, tomorrow I may not want any. So for today thanks to all million of you for taking a few minutes to humor me and read my rambling thoughts.

Yacht Club Concierge Itinerary Planning Worksheet!!

Today is 184 days and counting! Dakota and I were talking Disney all weekend. I have been pouring over books trying to decide where we should eat for weeks. You know it is really hard to decide 6 months out what you might want to eat. We are not gourmet dining people, we enjoy a good meal (Mike is especially looking forward to eating some Mahi Mahi and Dakota some calamari). We are pretty laid back while we are on vacation, having something planned for every minute is just not us. So I am going to worry about ADR's (advance dining reservations) for the restaurants that I know are always hard to get into, and some of our meals we are going to play by ear. Mike wants to have "in room dining"one night and watch Illimunations from our balcony and just relax, I have seen the menu and that works for me. Coral Reef is the one request from Dakota, he mainly wants to watch the sealife in the aquariums while we eat. We have a family photo session included with our Premium Package, and this time I am planning on actually attending the LaNouba, we also want to do the dinner package for Fantasmic. Ok, I need to go and write all this down so someone can make sense out of it. I love that I just have to fill out the worksheet and send it over to the Yacht Club concierge itinerary planning staff and they will handle everything for me. Now to finish up my "must do" list so that I can finish the worksheet and send it over.

WAR EAGLE!!!

OK, so this post is not Disney related, but... WAR EAGLE!!! Congrats to the Auburn Tiger Nation!!! No one thought we would be here just a few short months ago. In the state of Alabama football is like religion, and you choose one side or the other Auburn (the right side ;-) or Alabama. Bama fans know this feeling all too well, they were right here just last year. It is with much Tiger Pride that I am celebrating a National Championship, only the second in our history (the last one was in 1957). It was a really late night and I am really tired this morning but it was so worth it staying up to watch every minute of the game and the awarding of the Coach's Trophy. So as a tribute to my team, let's sing the Auburn Fight Song together:

"War Eagle!"

War...Eagle, fly down the field.

Ever to conquer, never to yield.

War...Eagle, fearless and true.

Fight on, you orange and blue.

Go!Go!Go!

On to vict'ry, strike up the band.

Give 'em hell, give 'em hell;

Stand up and yell, Hey!

War...Eagle win for Auburn,

Power of Dixie Land!

My Reservation is "Confirmed"...

We all know a Walt Disney World Vacation far from cheap, especially when you are a sucker who wants the works. When I originally made my reservations with "Whisper" we were required to put down a deposit of $200. I thought this would confirm my reservation, I was never told otherwise. Fast forward a week or so and my wonderful hubby pays about $450 shy of half of our Magic Your Way Premium Package. Now, we are staying at The Yacht Club-Conceirge Level, Lagoon View this is not a cheap vacation. We have already paid Disney more for this vacation than I have paid for my last two vacations combined and I'm not even half way paid yet. So I am waiting for my pretty red package I see people talking about getting on the DISBoards and others with their luggage tags and resort info. Well, needless to say I am still waiting. So this past Saturday the hubby decides to pay Disney more of his hard earned money for our much anticipated summer vacation, $1000 later I get an email from Disney that says that my reservations have been "Confirmed"??? What do you mean my reservations are just now confirmed... The other small fortune you got from my family was not enough to assure you that my family was going to show up this July? This blew my mind. I assume that Disney does not consider your reservation "confirmed" until it is at least half way paid for. WOW!! So does this now make me worthy of the little red package in the mail to say "You're Coming to Disney World!" I haven't found anywhere on the website that says that you have to pay 1/2 before you are confirmed, just that you have to have your full amount paid by 45 days prior to your arrival. Anyway, now I can do the happy dance I am official according to Disney!!!

Disney Acronyms

If you are anything like me when you visit the websites to plan your Disney World Vacation you scratch your head when you see MVMMCP or POFQ or DDP. I have put together a list of the acronyms I have found on the DisBoards and Zannaland and Mom's Panel on the Disney website that I hope are helpful to you when trying to decifer what all those letters mean. If you have any to add send them to me and I will update the list.

By the way I have 195 days until my magical Disney vacation begins! I can start making dining reservations in 15 days! I've got to do some serious restaurant research...

• ADR - Advance Dining Reservation
• AK - Animal Kingdom
• AKL - Animal Kingdom Lodge
• AKV - Animal Kingdom Villas
• AP - Annual Pass
• AS Mo - All Star Movies Resort
• AS Sp - All Star Sports Resort
• ASM - All Star Music Resort
• B&C - Beaches & Cream
• BB - Blizzard Beach
• BBB - Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
• BC - Beach Club Resort
• BCV - Beach Club Villas
• BTMRR - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• BW - Boardwalk
• BWI - Boardwalk Inn
• BWV - Boardwalk Villas
• CBV - Caribbean Beach Villas
• CBJ - Country Bear Jamboree
• CG - California Grill
• CL - Conceirge Level
• CM - Cast Member
• CM's - Chef Mickey's
• CoP - Carousel of Progress
• CP - Crystal Palace
• CR - Contemporary Resort
• CRO - Central Reservations Office
• CRT - Cinderella's Royal Table
• CS - Counter Service
• CSR - Coronodo Springs Resort
• CW - City Walk
• DC - Disney Club
• DCA - Disney's California Adventure
• DCL - Disney's Cruise Line
• DDE - Disney Dining Experience
• DDM - Downtown Disney Marketplace
• DDP - Disney Dining Plan
• DHS - Disney Hollywood Studios
• DQ - Disney Quest
• DTD - Downtown Disney
• DVC - Disney Vacation Club
• DXDDP - Deluxe Disney Dining Plan
• EE - Expedition Everest
• EMH - Extra Magic Hours
• EWP - Electric Water Pageant
• FDP - Fantasmic Dinner Package
• FFC - Flying Fish Cafe
• FP - Fast Pass
• FTLK - Festival of the Lion King
• FW - Fort Wilderness
• GF - Grand Floridian
• GG - Garden Grill
• GMR - Great Movie Ride
• H&V - Hollywood & Vine
• HDDR - Hoop Dee Doo Review
• HM - Haunted Mansion
• HoB - House of Blues
• HoND - Hunchback of Notre Dame
• HoP - Hall of Presidents
• IASW - It's a Small World
• IG - International Gateway
• ITTBAB - It's Tough to be a Bug
• JC - Jungle Cruise
• JIYA - Journey Into Your Imagination
• KRR - Kali River Rapids
• KTTW - Key to the World Card
• LC - Le Cellier
• LTT - Liberty Tree Tavern
• MK - Magic Kingdom
• MNNSHP - Mickey's Not So Scarry Halloween Party
• MSEP - Main Street Electrical Parade
• MVMCP - Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
• MYW - Magic Your Way
• OKW - Old Key West
• PC - Pop Century
• PH - Park Hopper
• PO - Port Orleans
• PoC - Pirates of the Caribbean
• POFQ - Port Orleans French Quarter
• Poly - Polynesian Resort
• POR - Port Orleans Riverside
• PS - Priority Seating
• PTC - Prime Time Cafe
• QSDP - Quick Service Dining Plan
• R&C - Rose & Crown Pub
• RFC - Rain Forest Cafe
• RnR - Rockin' Roller Coaster
• SAB - Storm Along Bay
• SE - Spaceship Earth
• SM - Space Mountain
• SM - Splash Mountain
• TIW - Tables In Wonderland
• TL - Typhoon Lagoon
• ToT - Tower of Terror
• TT - Test Track
• TTA - Tomorrowland Transit Authority
• TTC - Transportation & Ticket Center
• V&A - Victoria & Albert's
• VWL - Villas @ Wilderness Lodge
• WC - Whispering Canyon
• WDW - Walt Disney World
• WL - Wilderness Lodge
• WS - World Showcase
• YC - Yacht Club Resort