PrinceJosh & PrincessGF - March 14-17 - Port Orleans Riverside
Travel dates: March 14-17, 2016
Travel method: JetBlue
Resort: Port Orleans Riverside
Accommodations: Alligator Bayou, Bldg 37
Ages Represented in Group: 2 Young-ish Adults
Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group: PrinceJosh is a DL & WDW veteran. This trip represents PrincessGF’s first Disney Parks experience.
Comments: Let me level with you –- I grew up with Disney and have been to both DL and WDW more times than I can count. I’ve already drunk the “Disney Kool-aid” and it’s pretty important to me that this place, and these experiences, mean as much to PrincessGF as they do to me. Now watch me mess it up… :p
Cast of characters: PrinceJosh (me) & my better half, “PrincessGF” (gf, in this context, stands for “girlfriend”…she’s not like the heir to the Grand Floridian family fortune or anything…)
PLANNING: (Started in Oct 2015)
I don’t remember what caused the conversation (probably a WDW ad on TV or a discussion stemming from a Disney movie) but I’ll never forget the content. PrincessGF informed me that, when she was 8, her much older brother promised to take her to WDW. When she brought the promise back up a short time later, he backed out and informed her that “Disney is just for babies” and nobody else in the family would be able to have fun if they went to WDW. That’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard and I was determined to do something about it.
PrincessGF is in grad school and therefore far more limited in her breaks than I am – my office job lets me take leave whenever I’d like (within reason). I looked up her school’s calendar, found out her spring break was scheduled for March 14-18 and set about planning in secret. I would have liked to have planned something longer, at least filling her entire spring break, but I was somewhat concerned that congress might shut down my job in Dec 2015 and my contract was coming up for renewal in January. Looking down the barrel of multiple possibilities each ending in joblessness lead me to pick a short trip that I could afford to do even if the worst happened…
With the help of my loving Disney Mom, I set about planning a Disney xmas for PrincessGF. I gathered some WDW-oriented gifts, planned a xmas breakfast of Mickey-shaped pancakes and plotted a computer trick to put the parade on tv as soon as we got up xmas morning. The final gift under the tree was a box containing the Birnbaum 2016 guide, a brief itinerary noting flights and reservation confirmation numbers, and a note requesting that PrincessGF download and install the MDE app on her new smart phone (the one I’d put in her stocking).
Then the (second) worst happened: A couple of weeks before xmas, PrincessGF was accepted to transfer into a different grad school. New school means new spring break, new spring break means I’ve planned an un-takeable trip! At this point, the jig was up and I had to admit that I was planning a trip for us while also explaining that I’m 100% supportive of her transfer into the better school and that no trip is worth sacrificing her education. We had to wait and see what her scheduling options were and then wait for syllabuses (syllabi?) but I’ll save you the gut-churning anticipation we went through: the only classes that overlapped with the trip were online assignment postings she could do in advance. Her new school and schedule had almost no impact on the trip and we didn’t even have to bring a single laptop to Disney World! Plus she had a whole week off to recover right when we got back! I still gave her a Disney xmas, and it was wonderful, even if it wasn’t as surprising as I had initially hoped. (Though they definitely need to get NPH back for the xmas parade hosting duties. Nobody can host a special like NPH!)
Extra planning tidbits:
Didn’t bother paying for checked bags as it was a short trip and we’re adults – we can live out of a carry-on and backpack each for 3 nights. Only problem is liquids, so…
Mailed ahead a giant bottle of sunscreen, some mosquito repellent, and filled the rest of the flat-rate box with a few bottles of water. Priority mailed it from the post office in my office building 3 business days prior to my arrival date. While I’ve since heard that others have had issues with postal service at Disney resorts, I had no such issues and my supplies were waiting for me on arrival. (Ultimately, this was cheaper than buying those same things at WDW but more expensive than visiting a grocery store or Hess. Your mileage may vary. This was worth the price for me b/c I wasn’t going to waste a moment of this trip on a side-excursion into the real world!)
Initial planning had me thinking we’d just do 2 days in parks. Later I changed my mind and tacked on the Waterparks & More option. As always, Disney reservationists were the best.
No Disney Dining Plan for us because we’re both vegan and veggies are cheap (even at Disney!) and so it would be nearly impossible for DDP to be a good deal for us.
NEXT TIME: Travel & Arrival Day!
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PrinceJosh & PrincessGF - March 14-17 - Port Orleans Riverside
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