Sit back and relax, because I am a tragic over-planner.

In attendance:
Guinness – Me, thirty-five year old father, and Intercot lurker.
Wife – My wife
MoMA – My mother
Baby – My (then) nine month old baby
Commander Plaza – One of my oldest friends
Babs – Also an old friend, and the Commander’s girlfriend.

Dates:
November 30th – December 15th

Lodging:
On the night of November thirtieth, I, Wife, MoMA, and Freddie will stay in a studio in the Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas. On the first of December we transfer to a two-bedroom at Saratoga Springs Resort, where we will be joined by Babs and the Commander. They will stay with us until Sunday the ninth of December when they must return to the real world.

General Trip Notes:
This is our first Disney Vacation Club trip, so we decided to do it up big, and even invited another couple to join in the fun. Even though the whole trip is planned out in a general way, the specifics of how people will spend their time is left up to them. I am only asking that they hit my advanced dining reservation times. The actual insanity starts several days before this trip when we hit the road on an epic road trip from Sacramento California. I won’t bore you with all of the details of that though. It mostly has to do with me not wanting to fly. Those in my family have annual passes, while the Commander and Babs (hereafter known as CoBabs) have nine day Magic Your Way tickets with the park hopper. We are on the Dining Plan, and have the Disney Dining Experience card as well. The savings is probably minimal this way, but we have many table service meals planned. I don’t know what I’ll do with all of the counter service credits. Anyone hungry?

November 30th
We arrive at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I have no clear idea of what our arrival time will be, so there are no real activities planned for this day.

December 1st
This is the actual first day of the vacation, and we transfer to Saratoga Springs and settle in. We don’t have a real plan for what park to attend on this first day, and will probably just see what people feel like on the day of. CoBabs arrive late in the evening on this day, and won’t get to do anything but sleep.
Dining:
We are going to have breakfast at Boma before we leave the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Dinner is planned for the Turf Club at Saratoga Springs.

December 2nd
We’ll be heading over to the Magic Kingdom on this day.
Dining:
We are having lunch at the Plaza Restaurant on Main Street.
Dinner will be at the California Grill with MoMA staying behind with the baby.

December 3rd
We plan to be at Epcot for the day.
Dining:
Lunch will be at Restaurant Marrakech in the Morocco pavilion.
For dinner we will try and see the fireworks from the Rose and Crown in the Great Britain pavilion.

December 4th
Today we head to Disney MGM Studios in the day, and then to the Magic Kingdom in the evening for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
Dining:
We are having breakfast at Spoodles in the Boardwalk resort.
Dinner will be at the Hollywood Brown Derby in Disney MGM Studios.

December 5th
Most of the day today will be at the Animal Kingdom.
Dining:
For breakfast we will be doing Boma yet again.
Dinner will be the whole group at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue

December 6th
We head back to Epcot for the day.
Dining:
We are at Nine Dragons in the Japan pavilion for lunch.
Dinner will be in the German pavilion at Biergarten.

December 7th
This day is totally open, park wise, and would be a perfect time to try out an alternate activity.
Dining:
We will be doing the tea service in the Garden View Lounge in the Grand Floridian in the afternoon.
We head over to Jiko in the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a late dinner.

December 8th
We go back to the Disney MGM Studios in the morning, but have an open afternoon.
Dining:
At lunch we are going to the 50’s Prime Time Diner.
In the evening we head over to the Wilderness Lodge to Artist Point.

December 9th
Sadly, today is the day CoBabs must depart. We will have most of the day together though, and the park choice is open.
Dining:
Those remaining go to the Cape May Café in the Beach Club resort for the clam bake buffet.

December 10th
Today is a day of relaxation with spa services planned for Wife and me.
Dining:
MoMA and the baby fend for themselves while Wife and I get to go to Victoria and Albert’s at the Grand Floridian.

December 11th
Another open day.
Dining:
Dinner for two at Flying Fish at the Boardwalk.

December 12th
Open yet again.
Dining:
Dinner at Narcoossee’s in the Grand Floridian.

December 13th
Up in the air.
Dining:
Dinner at the California Grill in the Contemporary. This time MoMA gets to come along.

December 14th
We are slotted to head to Epcot on this day.
Dining:
We are going to try out the new Teppan Edo for lunch, assuming my old reservation for Teppanyaki is still good.
For dinner the plan is to try out Bistro de Paris, though this is one meal we have no advance dining reservation for, as they must be made thirty days out. We will know soon the status of this though.

December 15th
This is checkout day.
Dining:
We are going to head over to the Kona Café at the Polynesian for breakfast before hitting the road.

Summary:
I know the dining seems a little out of hand, but it is one of the primary reasons I have such a good time vacationing at Walt Disney World. Getting the Dining Plan was probably a mistake, but I wanted the people I am travelling with to feel relaxed and get whatever they felt like getting without worrying about the cost. This way they each give me a little money and I cover all of their food in the parks. I am worried about having a whole gaggle of counter service credits left at the end, but oh well. I am also registered for MouseFest, but I don’t know which events I’ll actually be able to attend. I only found out it was going on at that time after I made my plans for the trip, so it was kind of an afterthought. I do hope to make the Mega-Mouse-Meet at the very least, jut to check out what goes on there. I am not a gung-ho type of traveler, so though I may plan the days and dining, the specifics I leave out. I like to go at a slow pace and spend time looking at the little things, and if I miss some of the big attractions, it isn’t going to kill me. There is always next time. I have note taking devices ready to go, so I actually plan on preparing a trip report at the conclusion of this trip, unlike trips gone by.

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This is the work in progress that is my google map. I wanted to see how it looks and works posted here.

View Larger Map

The Page for Casey’s Corner has been added to the Directory.

For some reason Casey’s Corner holds a special place in my heart. So much so that I try and make it my first and last dining on each trip, with mixed success. Generally I don’t care too much about counter service dining, but where hot dogs are concerned I make an exception, and these are good dogs. It is true that the service could be better, and that the fixins bar could be a little more complete, but I am willing to look past all of that. The hot dogs themselves are of very good quality, and since I pretty much only require mustard and onions (or just mustard if pressed), I am happy enough. The dogs are of the quarter pound variety, and are very filling. Most people probably only would want one at any sitting, though I would probably have two. The fries are fine, as are the mini corn dogs, but they are nothing to get excited about. To get the best out of Casey’s just get a dog and a Coke and sit outside and watch the people stagger by. The low price makes this a budget friendly lunch when you are feeling the pangs of hunger.

ABC leads all broadcast networks with seventy Emmy nominations, while the whole of the Disney-ABC Television Group pulled in an astonishing eighty-five nominations. Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy led the way with eleven and ten nominations respectively. For the full story, check out DIS.

The greening of the Disney hotels has begun in earnest, with plans for all of them to be certified by the Florida Green Lodging Association by Earth Day 2008. Some changes would include low flow toilets and devices that better control air-conditioning. Read more at Mickey News.

There are a number of planned attraction closings for refurbishment in the later half of this year, with Big Thunder Mountain being the latest addition. For up to date details on the refurb schedule, check the page at Intercot.

The Orlando Sentinel reports on the many changes taking place in the dining scene at Epcot. These changes range from tweaks to menus to reflect more healthful eating habits to plans for a tequila bar in the Mexico pavilion and expansion that will allow the patrons to view Illuminations along the shore. Related.

Also from the Sentinel, discussions are underway between Disney and the Canaveral Port Authority about the future of Disney’s Cruise Line’s home base. It seems that there will have to be some upgrades to the existing terminal building if it is going to be able to accommodate the two larger ships that are on the way. There is some talk of other locations in Florida as being a good fit for the expanding line, though clearly none of them have the proximity advantage to Walt Disney World that Port Canaveral enjoys. It looks like talks are in the very early stages and that no changes will be quick in coming.

PassPorter has an article on some items you may not think of, but might need when you get to WDW.

Over at Magical Mountain, Nathan Rose writes on how to regain lost magic at WDW. “The solution is not easy; but like others, I was in this situation, and I invite you to join me on a journey to bring Disney magic back into my life…”

If you are among those that have purchased the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, you can also get their Trip Planner for free online. It is basically their version of the PassPorter in a more budget way.

WDW News Today is a relatively new site in the Disney World online universe. It has aims to be a comprehensive resource. I’ll race them, and see how it goes. Their site looks like it is rolling along, though they do have some music that plays automatically, and that is a little odd, but they are new, so we’ll see what happens. Good luck to them.

Mickey News has a series of columns written for, and by, kids. These provide an interesting, and frequently important slant to views of Disney.

I’m personally torn about whether I should go to Mouse Fest or not. I’ll be in WDW at that time anyway, but I’m not sure if I feel like attending, and I’m certain that the people that will be with me will not want to got to any of the events. Maybe I’ll wait till registration starts later this month to decide.

Welcome to the new home for my Disney stuff.

As I go along I hope to make this into a useful site for those looking for news, information, and opinion about the Disney company and Walt Disney World more specifically. I am making three main sections on this site. The first is this section which will house the blog where I will write news updates and posts related to my opinion of certain things, as well as reviews of stuff I have done myself. The second section is the Directory section which will contain information about Walt Disney World to start, and may branch out over time. This is going to be a very large section and will take a while to flesh out, but you can watch it grow over time. I will have information on updates as they progress on the main page. The third section will be the forum. There you will be able to ask questions and discuss a variety of topics if you wish. I’m sure this will start very small, but may grow over time.

I am using Wordpress to host the first two sections and miniBB for the forum.

I am also working on a google map project to make a map with details for the entire Walt Disney World property.

I just want to welcome anyone who stops in, and would like to invite you to feel free and let me know if you would like to see something different here. I will incorperate as many suggestions as I think make sense.