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Pre-Trip 40th Birthday Celebration

I tried doing a report to include pictures but I cannot figure it out, so it will be just words :(.

I have been planning this trip for over two years and have done my countdown on this site starting at over 1,000 days. I am happy to say I have less than 6 weeks to go!:happy: The trip started with just my Mom and I staying at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort and it has ended up being 6 of us staying in a two-bedroom Villa at Wilderness Lodge. None of us have ever stayed in a Villa nor Wilderness Lodge so we are all looking forward to it. Here is the cast of characters for this trip.

Me, Paul (my partner), Mom, Renee' (Sista #1), Alex (Sista #1 Son) and Monique (Sista #2). My sisters are both older than me, I am the youngest:). Everyone in my party is entrusting me with the planning of the entire trip so I am excited to see how everything goes since Paul has not been to Disney in YEARS!

We are arriving on a Friday and Departing on the following Saturday and will be using the Touring Plans from touringplans.com. I love them! I have used them for years at the parks and we have always got to the parks at rope drop and finished what we wanted to see by around 1PM. We will also be on the Deluxe Dining Plan, first time on this plan. Here is our itinerary:

Friday - ARRIVAL DAY
Arrive at Wilderness Lodge a little after 1PM. Paul and Monique will be riding Magical Express for the first time. We have FP+ Reservations for Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and 7DMT. Dinner is at Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge.

Saturday - Animal Kingdom
I decided on doing Animal Kingdom on the first day since it is the biggest park and we will be full of excitement and energy to get through it. We will also be using the Animal Kingdom Touring Plan on this day. We have FP+ for Primeval Whirl, Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris. We plan on riding Expedition Everest twice so we will be there at rope drop.
Dinner is at Narcoosee's at the Grand Floridian.

Sunday - EPCOT
I break EPCOT into two days to make it easier and less stressful on everyone for the trip. We will be using the EPCOT Starlight Touring Plan for today and for this reason, we do not need to be at the park until 10am! FP+ for Test Track, Spaceship Earth and The Seas with Nemo. We will be having lunch at Coral Reef and finishing the day at Rose & Crown to watch Illuminations.

Monday - Magic Kingdom
I also break up Magic Kingdom into two days for the same reasons as above. We will be using the Magic Kingdom two day Touring Plan for the two days. FP+ for 7DMT, Peter Pan and Thunder Mountain. Dinner will be at Cinderella's Royal Table (have not eaten here since it was called King Stefan's Banquet Hall). Have not heard great reviews about it, a little worried.

Tuesday - Magic Kingdom
Day two at the Magic Kingdom. FP+ for Splash Mountain, Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion. The park closes early today for MNSSHP and we will be going to Chefs de France in EPCOT for dinner.

Wednesday - Hollywood Studios
We will be here at rope drop so we are able to ride Toy Story twice. FP+ for Toy Story, Tower of Terror and MuppetVision 3D. We will be having dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby and then watching Fantasmic.

Thursday - EPCOT
Day two at EPCOT. FP+ for Soarin', Journey into Imagination and Maelstrom. Dinner will be at the California Grill in the Contemporary and I cannot wait to see the MK fireworks from there!

Friday - FREE DAY (MY BIRTHDAY)
I have issued a Birthday Challenge to my family and they are up for it. I was reading another site and someone was there for their 50th birthday and did a birthday challenge so I decided to do my own challenge and here it is:
* Arrive at Animal Kingdom at 8AM and ride Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris or Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur.
* Arrive at Hollywood Studios and ride Toy Story (FP+), Tower of Terror (FP+) and Rock n Roller Coaster. Grab lunch.
* Arrive at the Magic Kingdom and ride Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain or three other attractions if these are too busy.
* Arrive at EPCOT and ride Test Track and Spaceship Earth.
We will then have dinner at Le Cellier.
What do you think?? Too much. I'll let you know how far we make it.

Saturday - DEPARTURE DAY:arghh::arghh::arghh::arghh:
Pack our bags and cry:arghh::arghh::arghh:. Well, some of us will be crying and I am sure others will be ready to go home. Magical Express should come get us around 12:45 so that leaves time to do some things!!

Well, there you have it. I am so looking forward to this trip and experiencing it with the people I love. I was a little disappointed in FP+ selections at both Hollywood Studios and EPCOT but I think it will all be okay.

41 more days to go and counting....
 
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awheartsdw

awheartsdw

Well-Known Member
Sounds like you have a great trip planned. We just returned late last night and there were definitely tears shed. There always are. Although personally I could get used to "living" at the Contemporary! I have to say, being able to celebrate my birthday with my family at Disney was great. Even received a birthday phone call from Mickey and friends. Have a great time and Happy (early) Birthday!
 
stefan74

stefan74

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
awheartsdw said:
Sounds like you have a great trip planned. We just returned late last night and there were definitely tears shed. There always are. Although personally I could get used to "living" at the Contemporary! I have to say, being able to celebrate my birthday with my family at Disney was great. Even received a birthday phone call from Mickey and friends. Have a great time and Happy (early) Birthday!
Click to expand...

Thanks and I am glad you had a good birthday celebration in Disney! I've always wanted to go to Disney for my birthday and I am glad I am able to do it. I really want to stay at the Contemporary one day but I think I want to try the new DVC rooms over the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Poly first.
 
HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Yay- so happy to see your PTR. I know how long you've been counting down. Awesome to see that your trip is quickly approaching. Sounds like it's going to be a great trip.

I may also be able to help you post pictures. You can upload directly from your computer or if you have pics on Flickr- I might be able to help there too. Let me know :)
 
stefan74

stefan74

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
HouCuseChickie said:
Yay- so happy to see your PTR. I know how long you've been counting down. Awesome to see that your trip is quickly approaching. Sounds like it's going to be a great trip.

I may also be able to help you post pictures. You can upload directly from your computer or if you have pics on Flickr- I might be able to help there too. Let me know :)
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I tried using pictures saved to my computer. I right-clicked on them and selected copy and tried to post them to my report but it did not work. I must be doing something wrong.
 
awheartsdw

awheartsdw

Well-Known Member
stefan74 said:
Thanks and I am glad you had a good birthday celebration in Disney! I've always wanted to go to Disney for my birthday and I am glad I am able to do it. I really want to stay at the Contemporary one day but I think I want to try the new DVC rooms over the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Poly first.
Click to expand...
My husband surprised us with the Contemporary. Our original reservation was at the Boardwalk. He upgraded us to a theme park view room and tried to keep it a secret until we arrived, but he couldn't contain his excitement! Have a great time and be sure to post pictures. Oh. And my daughter was thrilled with the amount of free birthday cupcakes that I received for wearing my birthday button around the parks. The look on her face when we received a second Olaf cupcake at HS was so worth indulging in "junk" food.
 
stefan74

stefan74

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
awheartsdw said:
My husband surprised us with the Contemporary. Our original reservation was at the Boardwalk. He upgraded us to a theme park view room and tried to keep it a secret until we arrived, but he couldn't contain his excitement! Have a great time and be sure to post pictures. Oh. And my daughter was thrilled with the amount of free birthday cupcakes that I received for wearing my birthday button around the parks. The look on her face when we received a second Olaf cupcake at HS was so worth indulging in "junk" food.
Click to expand...

I can't wait to wear my birthday hat and button! I love having a theme park view room, I had one when I last stayed at GF. I love GF too!
 
HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
stefan74 said:
Thanks!

I tried using pictures saved to my computer. I right-clicked on them and selected copy and tried to post them to my report but it did not work. I must be doing something wrong.
Click to expand...

OK- you won't be able to right click and copy (although, this does work for some pics from the web and Facebook). What you'll need to do is click on the "Upload a File" button next to the "Post Reply" button that is right below the message you're working on to post. That should launch the "select files" window from your computer, and then you'll just select the desired picture from your computer's files. After you select the picture, you'll see a JPG area below that shows the loading % for the pic. Once it's at 100%, the picture will appear below as a thumbnail. To the right of the pic, you'll have the option of thumbnail or full image. You then pick full image if uploading in this manner. Make sure to position your cursor in the spot where you want your pic to post and then press the "full image" button. The image should then appear in your post. It's really pretty easy, but you just have to do it a few times to get used to it.
 
stefan74

stefan74

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
HouCuseChickie said:
OK- you won't be able to right click and copy (although, this does work for some pics from the web and Facebook). What you'll need to do is click on the "Upload a File" button next to the "Post Reply" button that is right below the message you're working on to post. That should launch the "select files" window from your computer, and then you'll just select the desired picture from your computer's files. After you select the picture, you'll see a JPG area below that shows the loading % for the pic. Once it's at 100%, the picture will appear below as a thumbnail. To the right of the pic, you'll have the option of thumbnail or full image. You then pick full image if uploading in this manner. Make sure to position your cursor in the spot where you want your pic to post and then press the "full image" button. The image should then appear in your post. It's really pretty easy, but you just have to do it a few times to get used to it.
Click to expand...

Here is a picture of the four of us being silly a few Christmases ago...I tried to upload more than this one but the pictures are too big. That is me in the back, Sista #1 on left, mom in middle and Sista #2 on right. Missing Paul and Alex. I will get the hang of this picture thing. Thank you so much!

021.JPG
 
HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
stefan74 said:
Here is a picture of the four of us being silly a few Christmases ago...I tried to upload more than this one but the pictures are too big. That is me in the back, Sista #1 on left, mom in middle and Sista #2 on right. Missing Paul and Alex. I will get the hang of this picture thing. Thank you so much!

View attachment 60720
Click to expand...

I'm glad it worked. I've had file size issues as well when I upload directly from my computer. Usually when I do a full TR, I upload everything to Flickr. The upload takes a while, but I have fewer issues putting the pics on here. Either way, I'm glad it worked for you. Very cute pic :)
 

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