Travel dates: Arriving May 7, 2009
Travel method: Air from Hawaii to Orlando
Resort:Pop Century-Standard Room
Accommodations:10 Day Magic your Way w/Dining, Park Hopper, Water Parks and More
Ages Represented in Group:37-57
Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group:Experienced at Disneyland/DCA - New to WDW
Comments: Since we are coming from Hawaii and can't get to WDW as often we want to make the most of this trip. Open for suggestions (Thank you in Advance for your opinions) Promise I will not hold anything against you for suggesting or not as I know it's my choice in the end.
Cast of characters: me and hubby (anniversary vacation)

Although I've been reading many books on WDW I have some questions, Here is my tentative plan with meals (we are on the dining plan). Please let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions. We are both young at heart and are also pin traders. We love rollercoasters and riding all types of rides (even the carousel). Although this is our Anniversary we are more character dining casual people then fine dining. I'm also wondering if the tours are good for first timers? Or are we better just exploring the parks on our own. Because we live so far away we probably won't get back to WDW for a few years. I'm interested in the tours but hubby is not (he says they are only for crazy Mickey people like me)

Here is the plan so far (open for suggestions or changes)
Arrive May 7 about 4pm into Orlando, plan to ride DME to the hotel and walk around the hotel or DTD or Pleasure Island and sleep early

Thurs, Day 1-Early Entry to MK opens @8am-11pm, Keys to the Kingdom Tour @ 915am

Fri, Day 2-Epcot opens at 9am, Undiscovered Future World Tour @845am, Dinner at Teppan Edo @ 615pm, Epcot closes late

Sat, Day 3-Early Entry to Hollywood Studios opens @ 8am, Lunch at Sci Fi @ 11am, Dinner at Chef Mickeys @ 520pm. Maybe Monorail to MK or whatever (Boardwalk, Pleasure Island, Disneyquest)

Sun, Day 4-Pick up Rental Car at Disney Car Center 8am, Water Park day, Dinner at Crystal Palace @ 6p, MK closes late

Mon, Day 5-Early Entry to Animal Kingdom opens @ 8am, Breakfast at Donalds Tusker House @ 1005am, Tour AK park / Head to Hollywood Studios for Dinner at Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Pkg @ 520pm, Fantasmic show @ 9pm, Hollywood Studios closes late

Tues, Day 6-Early Entry to Epcot @ 8am, Breakfast at Akesus Royal Banquest @ 950am / Dinner at Cape May Clambake @ 530pm

Wed, Day 7-Animal Kingdom open @ 9am, Backstage Safari Tour @ 815am, Dinner at Yak & Yetti @ 5pm, AK closes late

Thurs, Day 8-Free Day

Fri, Day 9 (Anniversary Day)-Breakfast at 1900's Park Fare at Grand Floridian @ 8am then ride boat to MK when opens at 9am, Hair/Makeup Appt @ 4pm @ Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in MK (for me), Anniversary Dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table @ 5:40pm

Sat, Day 10-Free Day, afternoon car trip to head up to North Carolina or where-ever we decide.

All reservations are made but can be cancelled or changed. Thanks again for your suggestions and opinions. It's all greatly appreciated. Mahalo

p.s. This is unrelated but Hubby likes Gambling are there any casino around? (probably for after WDW) He heard of some boat that goes out for a few hours but don't know if it's any good. Thanks again.

Have a great time on your trip!

In terms of casinos, there is one in Tampa at the Hard Rock Hotel. My DH and I went on the casino cruise a few years ago (Sterling I think) and didn't like it. We found that we spent a lot more money than we normally would have since you are trapped on the boat for a few hours. There is nothing else to do but gamble.

We liked the casino in Tampa. They had a variety of games and tables. Hope this helps!

Jennifer

Thank You for the Casino tip. I'll let hubby know.

As far as the WDW part does that look okay? How about the resturants? I want this to be special and perfect since we are coming from so far away and can't do WDW as often as we could Disneyland.

Thanks again

I like your selection of restaurants. On our honeymoon last summer we did a mixture of casual, ethnic, character dining, and a couple of real nice restaurants. It was a perfect mix. Be a big kid at the character dinings, be bold in selection in the ethnic ones and relax, take it slow and enjoy the finer ones.

bochnikm: Loved your honeymoon pictures. My son and I were in the parks just the week after you. Best wishes to you both. Donna

I will be going to Disney World with my girlfriend from May 5th through May 14th and staying at Pop Century, as well. I plan on posting up a pre-visit report sometime in the next few days, but I must say I'm bummed that I could not get dinner reservations at the Castle or Chef Mickey's. I also had to settle for lunch instead of dinner at The Coral Reef. I guess we planned our trip a bit too late, but I keep calling in hopes of someone cancelling so we can get into them.

Have a good trip!

Hi Island Girl, your itinerary sounds quite full. A suggestion when you check into your hotel room, I see that you booked a standard room, you can always ask about an upgrade, if it is slow at that time, you can get an upgrade (sometimes for free, sometimes for a few dollars), plus when you get home late at night you don't want to have a long walk to your room. Since you like character dinners and lunches, another you may want to try either for lunch or dinner is the Liberty Tavern. They have all the charaters in colonial costume and it is a lot of fun (lunch you get to choose from a menu, and dinner its family style, starting with a salad, then they bring out ham, yankee pot roast, turkey, stuffing, mac n cheese and all sorts of stuff). My son likes it a lot, and we make it a point when in the MK we make a lunch or dinner reservation. Plus its a good spot to watch a parade too. (I like the dining plan, this year I have upgraded to 3 meals a day including 2 snacks, by the time you add in your appetizer, entry, bevarage and dessert, some meals add up to over 100.00 for two, so to me its worth it, and you won't go hungry). Another suggestion, as one who goes to the park every year, make time for yourself and your hubby to relax by the pool, either early in the morning and head to a park later in the day, or head back to your room after lunch and relax poolside and then off to dinner. Resting your weary bones in the hot tub can unwind your tired muscles and get you refreshed for the evening. Please feel free to ask me anything, this year I will be going for my 101st visit and my son's 10th visit. (yes we are addicted and love every minute of it). Enjoy!!

Well, I'm back home after a great vacation and want to say Thank You to everybody for your help and suggestions... We had a great time. We pretty much stuck to our schedule and plans with a few exceptions. Now I know how important it is to make plans... I saw people there who were very dissappointed at not getting the dining they wanted.

We cancelled the car as somebody suggested and had no problems getting around. In fact Hubby was very happy with the transportation system and the money we saved by not getting a car. Thanks for the tip.

I'll go more into detail as time allows. But wanted to quickly share that the Keys to the Kingdom tour was great. Thanks for the suggestion to wait for the other tours until I saw the parks. Since I wanted to do the Keys tour and couldn't fit it in at other times I did it the first day at WDW. Although we had fun and it was very interesting, hubby thought it was too long (5hours) and wanted to explore the park. We did have plenty time after to explore but I think he would have been happier had I saved the tour for the end of the trip. Also, per the suggestions, I ended up cancelling the Epcot and Animal Kingdom tour until our next vacation at WDW.

Oh about the Casinos.. we went to Port Richey Casino (on the boat) and was very dissapppointed so ended up driving back to Tampa to the Hard Rock which was fun and nice. Sorry to say we didn't make any withdrawals from the Casino but had fun anyway..

Aloha and thanks again for all your help.

Welcome back, IslandDisneyGirl.:) Glad you enjoyed your trip & can't wait to read all about it.:cool:

Hi IslandDisneyGirl,

Too bad I didn't see your entry earlier -- also being from Hawaii, could have given you some insights on WDW -- from one wahine to another ;). Don't get to peruse this sight as often. However, glad to see you had a blast at WDW. I've been to WDW 5x now and am planning to go early next year for my big 5-0 birthday! (sigh) Aloha!

Hi Island girl, glad to see you enjoyed your trip. Looking forward to reading your report.