I suppose it’s time for an actual comprehensive update about our upcoming spring getaway. 11 days from right now, I will have arrived (knock wood) at the Magic Kingdom for our first night. There will be fireworks. There will be ice cream. There will be…shorts! (Shield your eyes from my poor, pasty legs.) Right now, the plan is this:

Depart Thursday, May 5th. I’m going to work half a day; CP is going to take a full day off to finish packing, console the cat, and get us ready to depart. We arrive in Orlando late evening, will proceed directly to the National Emerald Aisle (with thanks to MouseSavers for providing this incredible link which gets you Emerald Aisle membership for FREE), get our rental car, and then head directly to the Magic Kingdom, do not pass go, do not check in, head straight to Space Mountain.With the MK open until 12am, we can get in a few hours of fun on our first night, and since the sixth day of our tickets were free (oh yes! another fantastic discount, this time on Disney tickets, can be found here), and we only have five full days on this trip, we wanted to get our (free) money’s worth.

Thanks to a lovely spring discount of 35% on Deluxe Villa hotels, we are staying at the Boardwalk Villas from May 5th-May 10th on a cash reservation.  (DVC membership is definitely in my plans, but not in the immediate future.) Truth be told we could have stayed at the adjacent Boardwalk Inn for nearly the same price (maybe twenty dollars more?), but we were persuaded by the kitchenette that would come with the Villas studio. On the downside, I can’t say I’m blown away by the color scheme or soft goods in the BWV studio (even Hampton and Holiday Inns use duvets these days, hello!), but we’re big fans of not having to rely on Disney “pastries” or “coffee” for breakfasts in the morning. (You’ll notice both of those words are in quotations. That was very, very intentional. Bleccch.)  Sure, we could have made do with just a refrigerator in a regular room, but there is something to be said for flatware and a microwave and a toaster. So, BWV it is. Technically I could check in on-line tomorrow to try and maximize my chances of getting us the best “standard” view available, but I kind of like the idea of playing check-in roulette to see what we get – with our late arrival, I can always cross my fingers and toes for a pool view or some other unexpected upgrade.

With a longer trip planned for December, and with both of us having busy spring work seasons, this trip was designed to be short. Our main goal is to spend time at Epcot (another perk of BWV is the short walk to Epcot and DHS, swoon) and take in the Flower and Garden Festival. We’re spending a scant few hours at the Animal Kingdom on our first day, and after that we are mostly rising early to ride Toy Story Mania!, spend long days at the MK and Epcot, and eat some good meals at night.  No dining plan for us; it’s way too much food, way too much commitment to eat three scheduled meals a day, and probably not a good value for only five days. We’re thinking breakfast in the room with goods procured from Whole Foods Market and Target, counter service lunches/snacks during the day, and so-called signature meals at night.

Speaking of signature meals, I’ve been obsessively tweaking dining reservations since we booked this trip a few months ago. On our must-do list this and every trip is California Grill;  especially now that we’re both recovering vegetarians there isn’t another place on property we’d rather have a meal.  We’re also trying Jiko for the first time. We have a second California Grill reservation scheduled (we’ll see if we end up keeping it; curiosity about Artist Point lurks in the back of my mind), a lunch at the Plaza in the Magic Kingdom (CP’s request), and right now a last-morning breakfast at Kona Cafe at the Polynesian.  Beyond that, we are perfectly contented to stick with the Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Earl of Sandwich, the Tangeriene Cafe in Epcot, or other things we can eat quickly (and cheaply).

So that’s the basic plan. Expect a full report. In the meantime, a full report of our October trip is about to begin….