Come what May- We are going to Disney World! (May22,nd- May,29th, 2010).

[Queila]

Bonjour!

So after following a couple of journals around here I decided it was time to start my own pre- trip report.

First off, let me introduce you to our family:

My name is Queila and I am 32 years old. I was born and raised in Brazil but in 2000 I met my husband and moved to Canada to be with him. His name is Joey and he was born and raised in Canada from Italian parents. He is the best husband (and daddy) in the world. Seriously.

In 2007 we had a baby girl named Beatriz. She is our pride and joy and the reason why we are going back to Disney next May. That is what we tell people anyways. She will be 2 and 1/2 by then.

We live in the suburbs of Montreal where I work part time as a dental hygienist.

When I am not planning our next trip to Disney I love to read and spend time with my baby girl.

I have always considered myself a Disney geek/ expert but that was until I signed up at the Disboards. You guys are insane and I love it!! I have been learning A LOT by reading the boards.

First time I went to Disney was in 1993 with my parents and younger sister. Going to Disney when you turn 15 is kind of a tradition in Brazil so we did it as a great family trip. Looking back now I realize how NOT prepared we were for that trip. Virtually no research was done and we basically just followed the crowds. I have great memories from those days anyways. We stayed off site at a Hamptons Inn.

In 1994 my sister and I visited Disneyland in California. It was a one day trip on our way back to Brazil from a month spent learning English in San Francisco. To be sincere, I remember very little from Disneyland.

In 1998 we took another trip with friends to Orlando and stayed off site again. A family friend in Brazil owned a travel agency and used to take groups of Brazilians (yes, those noisy groups of teenagers everybody tries to avoid) every July and she invited me to go with her to help. It was a free trip and I learned a lot with her about planning your days at the parks. From that trip what stood out the most was breakfast at Chef Mickey´s. I remember looking around at the Contemporary resort and hoping to be able to stay in a Disney hotel one day.

In 2001 I moved to Canada and my husband never showed any interest in visiting Disney World. He was one of those people who believes Disney is a destination for children only and I had almost lost hope of ever going back.

But, it all changed in 2009!

To be continued....


*Our itinerary*
*Change of plans of accommodations... I can almost see that giraffe!*
*Plans for Day 1*
*Planning for Day 2- Epcot Center- Future World.*
*Remembering Epcot- 2009*
*Planning for Day 3- Animal Kingdom*
*Remembering Animal Kingdom- 2009*
*Planning for Day 4- Disney Hollywood Studios*
*Remembering Disney Hollywood Studios- 2009*
​

 

[Queila]

Continuation...

So in the Winter 2008/2009 the brother of a friend from Brazil was working at Disney World. He was in the International College Program and he was working with merchandising at the Winnie the Pooh store at Downtown Disney.

My friend said she was going to visit her brother and invited us to go with her and her family. She explained we would have free admission to every park and possibly a discount to stay at a Disney hotel.

Since we took way too long to give her an answer (we had another trip scheduled to visit my family in Brazil), we lost the opportunity of staying inside the property BUT after much nagging on my part my husband agreed on acompanying them on their trip.

He emphasized that he was doing it for me since he didn´t care about Disney and our baby was only 14 months old and wouldn´t care for it either. I assured him I would be forever thankful and that he was not going to regret it.

So off we went from Jan. 30th 2009 to Feb. 4th, 2009 and it took my husband less than a nano second to fall in love with Disney World!

The trip was perfect. I could hardly believe I was there with my husband and daughter. It was an old dream coming true.

That trip was everything I needed to make Joey a Disney fan. As soon as we came home we started planning our next one.

This time we will stay inside the property so we can enjoy the Dinning Plan and I can barely contain my excitement about it. I have been having a blast planning our days and our meals. If he liked Disney last time wait until I make him experience the full on Disney magic.

I am convinced we will become regulars! ​

 

[Queila]

We are currently on vacation in Brazil. Heading out to the beach- no Internet connection- for the next ten days.
Apparently Montreal is freezing. It feels good to be out here.

 

[Queila]

So.... it turns out we do have wi-fi at the beach!

So now onto our next trip to WDW...

The date of our trip:
We knew we wanted to go in the Spring and our first choice was to go during Easter time but we gave up on that when we heard about the crowds.
Then we thought about the month of May. Since we have a holiday in Canada on May 24th, Joey would only need to take 4 days off from work and we would be able to stay an entire week. It is perrrrfect!

Some people have already warned us that it might be just too hot in Florida at the end of May but hey we live in Canada. It is actually nice to feel some heat once in a while. And besides, we reserved a full day to stay at the hotel and enjoy the swimming pool. Hopefully it wont rain.


Magic our way:
Even though we are staying eight days in Orlando we decided to purchase a five day ticket only. No hopper pass. We want to take a break from the parks in the middle of the week and I think doing one park per day is our best bet of enjoying our day with a two year old. The goal will be just to enjoy ourselves as much as possible instead of doing as many rides as possible.

During my last trip last year I realized that what I really like about Disney is taking my time to appreciate the details and imersing myself in the atmosphere. I guess I dont care as much about the rides as I care about taking in all the information around me so one park per day suits me just fine.

Our schedule:
Saturday- May 22nd- Arriving in Orlando;
Sunday- May 23rd- Epcot- Future World;
Monday- May 24th- Animal Kingdom;
Tuesday- May 25th- Hollywood Studios (Fantasmic);
Wednesday- May 26th- Day off from the parks - chill out at the hotel;
Thursday- May 27th- Magic Kingdom;
Friday- May, 28th- Epcot- World Showcase;
Saturday- May, 29th- Trip back home.

Pretty exciting, isn't it?​

 

[leamom2princesses]

Hi there! You're going the same week as us! What a great start to your report. Your daughter is a doll. Can't wait to see what you have in store.

We've gone in May 5 times. I don't think it is too hot. Unfortunately last year it did rain every day of our trip but the 4 times previous it only rained for a few minutes all week. There are a lot of us praying that there is no rain this year. :

Which hotel are you staying at during your trip?

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

Subbing to your report! You have a beautiful family! Isn't it funny how quickly the hubbies get converted once they are there? I'm glad your DH agreed to another trip! I think your plans look really good! I totally agree with you about taking the time to just soak everything in and enjoy yourself. I think taking a break from parks in the middle of the week is a good idea, too, especially with a toddler. Great start! Looking forward to your next update!

 

[caegan]

It is so fun to read your report! My family will be at WDW during the same week. Along with my DH and DD (who will also be 2 1/2 in May) my mom and dad will be coming as well. Happy planning!

 

[MaryAz]

Great start! We will be there the same time! Also at DHS on tues. Looking forward to reading the rest of your plans!

 

[racefanof88]

Joining in too. We are gonna be there too . Your daughter is a cutie .

I can't wait to hear more about your ADRs and hotel plans .

 

[momof2TNboys]

I'm on board! We will be there the week before!! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[Queila]

We've gone in May 5 times. I don't think it is too hot. Unfortunately last year it did rain every day of our trip but the 4 times previous it only rained for a few minutes all week. There are a lot of us praying that there is no rain this year. :

I really do not mind the heat. Last time we went in Jan. 2009 it was actually the coldest week Florida had seen in a long time. We had to leave Epcot a couple of hours earlier on our last day because it was too windy to wait for Illuminations outside with the kids.
As for the rain I will join you in your prayers.

Q

 

[Queila]

Subbing to your report! You have a beautiful family! Isn't it funny how quickly the hubbies get converted once they are there? I'm glad your DH agreed to another trip! I think your plans look really good! I totally agree with you about taking the time to just soak everything in and enjoy yourself. I think taking a break from parks in the middle of the week is a good idea, too, especially with a toddler. Great start! Looking forward to your next update!

Thanks Julia!
Welcome to my journal.


Q

 

[Queila]

It is so fun to read your report! My family will be at WDW during the same week. Along with my DH and DD (who will also be 2 1/2 in May) my mom and dad will be coming as well. Happy planning!

Hey there!
So... our daughters are same age. When exatcly was she born? My girl was born Nov. 21st. How nice that we will be there at the same time. Which hotel are you guys staying at? Welcome to my journal.

Great start! We will be there the same time! Also at DHS on tues. Looking forward to reading the rest of your plans!

That is so cool we are visiting the same park at the same time. Maybe we will bump at each other over there. Are you guys on the ddp? Where do you plan to eat that day?

Joining in too. We are gonna be there too . Your daughter is a cutie .

I can't wait to hear more about your ADRs and hotel plans .

HellO and welcome to my journal!
Little by little I am getting to know a lot of people that will be there at the same time as us. The information about the AdRs andhotel are coming soon.

I'm on board! We will be there the week before!! Can't wait to hear more.

Welcome to my journal. So I guess you guys can join us on the May with no rain wishes!

Q

 

[MaryAz]

That is so cool we are visiting the same park at the same time? Maybe we will bump at each other over there. Ae you guys on the ddp? Where do you plan to eat that day?

We are on the dining plan. Probably Pizza Planet. We have a big dinner planned for that evening at O'Hana. Can't wait to read about your hotel and dining choices.

 

[caegan]

Ha! My due date was Nov. 22, but Layla didn't make her appearance until Dec. 5. So she'll be ALMOST 2 1/2 when we're at WDW. We'll be staying offsite - my dad's work has a place available for super cheap, so we'll be staying there. When my DH and I went in 2005 we staed at AS Movies, which we enjoyed. The price was right, and we didn't spend much time there anyway. I will miss not staying on property this time, though. Maybe I missed it, but where will you be staying?

 

[Queila]

So this time around we decided we absolutely wanted to be on the Dining Plan.

The idea of having our meals pre paid giving us the oportunity of eating at restaurants we probably wouldn't otherwise had us at 'hello'.

Now we just had to decide which hotel to stay. As first timers on a budget a value resort seemed just perfect.

We are not fancy people and we are very content with a shower and a clean bed at the end of the day so... a value resort was an easy choice.

In an attempt of involving my husband on the planning process I let him choose which All Stars he would like to stay. Not surprisingly he picked All Star Sports. I was VERY happy with our decision, had already planned everything based on our choice and had even asked our travel agent to do our reservation.

But then...... I started reading some trip reports around here and found out about the possibility of rentind DVC points.

I did some research and couldn't believe what I found out. I could actually stay at a Deluxe Villa for the price of a Value???? How come I had never heard about that before???

So a couple of more hours researching on line, e-mails, phone calls here and there and we actually got our reservations done for .... are you ready?.... THE ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE!

Now, never in my wildest dreams I imagined we would ever be able of staying there. We usually prefer to invest our money on other type of 'little luxuries' but hey I will take it for that price!!

So there you have it... we will be staying at a Studio with Savanna view and now you know where to find us from May 22nd to May, 29th 2010!

Q ​

 

[caegan]

Nice! How exciting! We LOVED the dining plan when we used it a few years ago. It's a lot of food, but it's so nice to be able to try any restaurant you want and not have to pay!

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

So this time around we decided we absolutely wanted to be on the Dining Plan.

The idea of having our meals pre paid giving us the oportunity of eating at restaurants we probably wouldn't otherwise had us at 'hello'.

Now we just had to decide which hotel to stay. As first timers on a budget a value resort seemed just perfect.

We are not fancy people and we are very content with a shower and a clean bed at the end of the day so... a value resort was an easy choice.

In an attempt of involving my husband on the planning process I let him choose which All Stars he would like to stay. Not surprisingly he picked All Star Sports. I was VERY happy with our decision, had already planned everything based on our choice and had even asked our travel agent to do our reservation.

But then...... I started reading some trip reports around here and found out about the possibility of rentind DVC points.

I did some research and couldn't believe what I found out. I could actually stay at a Deluxe Villa for the price of a Value???? How come I had never heard about that before???

So a couple of more hours researching on line, e-mails, phone calls here and there and we actually got our reservations done for .... are you ready?.... THE ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE!

Now, never in my wildest dreams I imagined we would ever be able of staying there. We usually prefer to invest our money on other type of 'little luxuries' but hey I will take it for that price!!

So there you have it... we will be staying at a Studio with Savanna view and now you know where to find us from May 22nd to May, 29th 2010!

Q ​

How exciting is that?!!!! That is just awesome!! I have never considered renting points. Would you mind PMing me with some of the details you found?

 

[MaryAz]

Yay for AKL!! We are trying to buy DVC there! Megan (Brave Teacher) who is also going at the same time is staying there as well!

 

[Queila]

Planning for May, 22nd 2010

The plan is to leave Montreal as early in the morning as possible but... we still haven't booked our flight. We are hoping for a straight flight to minimize the travel time but it will depend on weather or not we can find a great deal.

Beatriz is over 2 years old now and that means she needs to take a seat for herself even though she spends most of the flight on my lap anyways. We've been shopping for the best possible deal but we know we cannot wait that much longer. We should book it soon. It is the only major thing left to be decided.

Once in Orlando, the plan is to spend the afternoon exploring our hotel and maybe using the swimming pool. Still haven't figured out where we'll have lunch that day. I guess it will all depend on our flight. We might eat in the plane or at the airport if we do not leave Montreal as early as we hope or we might be able to eat at Mara.

We have reservations for supper at OHANA's that night. Something tells me we are going to LOVE it. Everything I have read or seen about it gives me a warm feeling. I know it is a very kid- friendly restaurant and I know it will put Beatriz on the right mood for the days to come.

Now... the extra special event of that day will be meeting up with my sister at super time. She will be driving down from Tennessee to spend three days with us at WDW. I haven't seen her in over two years and I cannot wait for our little reunion. She has only seen her niece once when she was 6 weeks old.

What better place for that than in a restaurant with a name that means "family"?

I get a teary eye just thinking about it.

Q​