I’m sitting here drinking coffee out of my 2010 WDW refillable mug, listening to “One Little Spark” and daydreaming about trips to come.  What trips, you might ask?  Well, they are a study in opposites:

Our next trip is just over three weeks away. This one’s going to be a don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it banzai run through WDW.  Being faithful believers in the “go big or go home” principle, we figured a three-day trip is a great excuse to spend an unholy amount of money (even with an annual pass discount, sigh) to stay club level at the BoardWalk.  In addition to enjoying as many club level snacks/drinks/lounge privileges as we can, our other stated goals for this trip are a) see the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot for the third time in four years, and b) to continue our pin trading obsession that began on our December trip.  Goal B.5 is to get a few rides in on Toy Story Mania!, since for some reason our December trip didn’t find us in the Studios as much as we had expected.

After booking this little getaway I also discovered that my aunt and cousin will be at WDW for the weekend to see the cheerleading nationals, so we’re going to meet up with them for dinner and dessert. Since they will not be visiting any parks at WDW (I know, right?), our dining options were limited to the resorts, Downtown Disney, or offsite. We decided to try Raglan Road, and based on the beer list alone I’m looking forward to trying it. I’ve also heard the food is good, so I’m feeling pretty good about our choice.

CP and I will also be dining at the California Grill, a favorite we haven’t visited since our October 2010 trip.  We’ll eat our customary first-day lunch at the Plaza, and we’ll also be trying high tea at the Grand Floridian. A lot for three days, no?

Obsession.

So, pin trading….yeah. We’re obsessed, but trying to do this intelligently. Since returning from our December trip I’ve been keeping an eye on disneystore.com for pin set sales, and have been lucky enough to apply some random 25% off codes on top of sale prices to get us some affordable pins to trade.  As much as I want to buy pins off of EBay, I don’t want to support the “scrapper” industry of fake pins from places like China. According to my conscience, $1 a pin is too high a price to pay for scrappers. Right now we have close to 25 pins to trade, and are on a mission to find Cast Member Hidden Mickey pins, Pluto pins, and, sadly…Stitch pins. I can’t help it; I love Stitch!

So that brings us to…our SEPTEMBER EXTRAVAGANZA TRIP!@#%%#! Again with the hyperbole! As mentioned previously, this will be our now-annual long trip to WDW, spanning eleven nights and just about ten full days.  It also will allow me to celebrate my birthday in Disney, and allow us to take advantage of low crowds and nice weather.

Although we knew we wanted to take a fall trip to WDW this year, the plans for this one came together quickly and somewhat surprisingly.  On a rainy Sunday afternoon in March, I was browsing for airfares and discovered that we could get nonstop round trip tickets on JetBlue in September for $250 apiece. Given rising gas prices and the fact that we’ve rarely ever paid that little for tickets to Orlando, we pounced.  We’re renewing annual passes on our trip this month so tickets aren’t a consideration, so that just leaves hotel.

Exit my room to see a lovely Mary Blair mural? Yes, please!

Our hotel plan for this trip is a first for us, well maybe a second, technically – we’re doing a split stay!  In December we tacked on two nights at the Polynesian after eight nights at Old Key West with my grandparents, but on this trip, we’re going to stay at three resorts for a minimum of three nights each.  The only one we have booked right now is the Contemporary, because I’ve had a ridiculous dream for quite some time to celebrate my birthday with a theme-park view room at the Contemporary. This is the year! So that’s where we’ll be spending our first three nights.  We’re fairly certain we want to spend our last few nights staying club level at Animal Kingdom Lodge; the exact number of nights will depend upon where we decide to stay for the middle of our trip.

I feel pretty confident in saying we’ll be staying at an Epcot resort; it’s really just a question of which one.  My initial inclination was to stay at the Beach Club. I love the airiness of the public spaces, the abundance of light, and the proximity to Epcot. But sadly, I don’t love the interior soft goods, even with the recent refurbishment. The Yacht Club rooms I find much more appealing, although the public spaces at YC are reminiscent of grandpa’s library in a mansion in in Greenwich.  The

Maybe?

Beach Club is purportedly a busier hotel, where the Yacht Club can feel more serene, which I would like. And then there’s the wild card known as the BoardWalk. While we both like the idea of staying at a new Deluxe resort (new to us, at least), I wouldn’t be surprised if we enjoy the BoardWalk so much on our April trip that we want to go back.

Time will tell.  Fall annual passholder discounts – once they’re released this summer- will also play a role in where we stay and for how long.  I for one enjoy the not knowing; it’s part of what makes planning every WDW trip so much fun.