Pre-Trip How to avoid single riders in your Test Track Car - Max, the girls (AND THE BOYS!!) do Disney!

To all who come to this happy place , welcome, (and leave a few bucks in the bucket if you can spare it - this one's not going to cheap)

For those who do not know me - shame on you!

I am Max or AMJT660 or Andrew or Drew or to a few people I am Clarence

This is the Max Family (my DW Tricia (T) and my DD Stephanie (S) and Cassie (C))

And these are the new comers- Jordan(J) - who will officially join the family on Oct 5, 2019 ( yes - zoom in on Steph’s left hand)

And Shane (SH) who has been in our lives a long time (more on that later) and has been dating Cassie since Feb2017)

We are heading to the World on Dec 22 and flying back home on Dec 27. (yes - we are crazy - thanks for noticing)

More details to follow - thanks for following!!

Max

Editors note: my laptop and iPhone are not cooperating so I have to two step each post - so do not be surprised to see only text or only pictures for a few minutes until I can edit the post to complete it.

 

[Swissmiss]

Max - you’re missing the bigger picture here: you aren’t losing your daughters, you’ll be gaining trips with just your wife

(Edited to correct grammar).

 

[fractal]

HOW and WHY :

How are we going on this trip?
Tricia and I are paying for almost all of the trip (plane, hotel, tickets, most meals)

You might be wondering (as our family does at times) how we could possibly afford to go at Christimas with 6 adults when we all have a wedding and schooling to pay for ?

Well it comes down to this:

1) Life is short - can't take it with you - smell the roses - etc ,etc
2) In the spring I will be supporting the launch of the new RAV4 at my plant - I estimate a 15 week span with no time off, crazy stress and stupid hours - so this is the window to take a break before the storm hits - (and I lucky to get paid overtime so I should be able to pay off the trip)
3) This is the only time all 6 of us can go based on the 4 younger ones being enrolled in 4 different post secondary schools
4) We wanted Shane and Jordan to experience this crazy hobby of ours.

We have been going as a family of 4 to Disney parks since Feb 2002. The girls have been 20 times already - almost 1 per year
(Steph will be 23 and 7 months and Cassie will be 21 and 11 months when we depart for their 21 trip)

And for each of the last few trips we have been wondering:

Is this it? Is this the last family trip?

There is a certain melancholy about this being the end.

Last summer in Cali was the last trip for the just the 4 of us and this one seems like the only one for the 6 of us.

Both girls - ahem ladies - have grown up- and I am a proud papa of all of their accomplishments and who they have become.

With Steph getting married next October and Cassie moving out next spring to finish up her school the family trips to Disney will probably go on hiatus for awhile

I can only hope an look forward to someday having grandchildren to spoil.

Did not mean to take the air out of this TR

I guess the best way to put it is

"I am excited for the trip to start.. and dreading that it will end."

Max

Solid Justifications. I can certainly relate.

 

[DisneyGigi]

HOW and WHY :

How are we going on this trip?
Tricia and I are paying for almost all of the trip (plane, hotel, tickets, most meals)

You might be wondering (as our family does at times) how we could possibly afford to go at Christimas with 6 adults when we all have a wedding and schooling to pay for ?

Well it comes down to this:

1) Life is short - can't take it with you - smell the roses - etc ,etc
2) In the spring I will be supporting the launch of the new RAV4 at my plant - I estimate a 15 week span with no time off, crazy stress and stupid hours - so this is the window to take a break before the storm hits - (and I lucky to get paid overtime so I should be able to pay off the trip)
3) This is the only time all 6 of us can go based on the 4 younger ones being enrolled in 4 different post secondary schools
4) We wanted Shane and Jordan to experience this crazy hobby of ours.

We have been going as a family of 4 to Disney parks since Feb 2002. The girls have been 20 times already - almost 1 per year
(Steph will be 23 and 7 months and Cassie will be 21 and 11 months when we depart for their 21 trip)

And for each of the last few trips we have been wondering:

Is this it? Is this the last family trip?

There is a certain melancholy about this being the end.

Last summer in Cali was the last trip for the just the 4 of us and this one seems like the only one for the 6 of us.

Both girls - ahem ladies - have grown up- and I am a proud papa of all of their accomplishments and who they have become.

With Steph getting married next October and Cassie moving out next spring to finish up her school the family trips to Disney will probably go on hiatus for awhile

I can only hope an look forward to someday having grandchildren to spoil.

Did not mean to take the air out of this TR

I guess the best way to put it is

"I am excited for the trip to start.. and dreading that it will end."

Max

I 100 percent know exactly how you feel. It is hard to adjust when our families, make their own families- especially when it comes to vacations. It gets so much more expensive when you start adding to the family too. If I could take my son’s family every time we went, I would but I can’t. Crossing my fingers he can go again with me soon but also am very blessed to have been able to take his family twice since he got married. I learned how to have fun without them with us and around every corner, there is a memory, to make me smile.

If I can give any piece of advice, it would be enjoy it don’t think about it being over- Have a ball! And- remember Don’t be sad that it is over, be happy that it happened. It won’t be the last I am sure and grandkids are the best- when you become a grandparent, You will love it!!

 

[amjt660]

Max - you’re missing the bigger picture here: you aren’t losing your daughters, you’ll be gaining trips with just your wife

Excellent point!!

Solid Justifications. I can certainly relate.

I knew you would!!

If I can give any piece of advice, it would be enjoy it don’t think about it being over- Have a ball! And- remember Don’t be sad that it is over, be happy that it happened. It won’t be the last I am sure and grandkids are the best- when you become a grandparent, You will love it!!

Good advice - will do my best - and bide my time till I can spoil little ones again with a trip to a Disney park

Max

 

[blreinsel]

I’m so excited for another Max report! Celebration is right in my neck of the woods. Looking forward to reading all about it!

 

[LisaBelle]

I’ve been away from the boards forever! I’m back and I’m so excited to have a new Max TR to read!

 

[becca_]

WHEN:
Just to keep the party going I will review the When aspect of the trip
For those that do not know most of us live in Waterloo Ontario Canada (Steph and Jordan are in Montreal)

How many are using Google maps right now?

About a 1 hour drive West from Toronto, about 2 hours to Buffalo airport and about 3.5 hours to Detroit airport
(know where I am going with this?)

So we checked all 3 nearby airports that fly enough airlines to make it worth it to check and decided on Buffalo.
Cheaper cost, better inboard and outboard times and not toooo far of a drive in potential bad weather.
(Canada eh!)

Saturday Dec 22 - Leave home around 5am (earlier if weather is questionable) and with time for the border crossing arrive around 7:30 for a domestic direct flight to Orlando (10:35am depart) - Tricia likes to arrive early and we do not know how well everyone will wake up
(I know - hard to believe)
We are flying :
View attachment 324428
(so the free bags help with 6 people.)

Arrive at MCO at 1:15pm and pick up
View attachment 324429
Yes - we are renting a minivan for the 6 adults - I own a Sienna so if it all fits in the van on the way to Buffalo...…..

With baggage claim, rental pickup and probable delays we hope to be on our way out of MCO by 2:30

We will do a grocery stop (Publix in Celebration is my usual choice) and then head to the Dolphin.
We have a wide variety of preferences and food allergies to deal with so buying some food for breakfasts and snacks is a must.

We then have 5 nights here:
View attachment 324430

We fly back on Thursday Dec 27 out of MCO at 1:00pm
Land in Baltimore at 3:05
Take off at 4:25 and land in Buffalo at 5:35

I am hoping to be in my van (with most of my luggage and most of my fellow travellers) by 6:30 .

We will have to stop somewhere for dinner soon after leaving the airport

(Any suggestions from the Buffalo members @Doc Disney & @becca_ or anyone else who lives there?)

Depending on dinner duration I hope to be home around 10 pm

I have to go to work the next day so I will try to skip out on laundry duty and hit the sack quickly

That is it for now - next up will be either What (day by day compete with ADR and FP+), How (am I going to pay for this!!!) and then of course Why

Thanks for tagging along so far

Max

You must get Duffs if you are in Buffalo!!

 

[amjt660]

I’m so excited for another Max report! Celebration is right in my neck of the woods. Looking forward to reading all about it!

And I am looking forward to writing it !! Will be posting my day by day next - let me know if we can meet up!

I’ve been away from the boards forever! I’m back and I’m so excited to have a new Max TR to read!

Glad that you are back and following along!

You must get Duffs if you are in Buffalo!!

Looked it up - has potential - will see how people are feeling

Max

 

[amjt660]

WHAT (day 1) :
It has been over a week so I better add some more content to this thing before everyone loses interest!!

As mentioned earlier we fly in on Dec 22 and should get to the hotel and settled around 3:30-4:00 pm

First up is an ADR at Grand Floridan @5:20pm and then 3 FP at Epcot ( Journey 6pm, Test Track 7:25 and Spaceship Earth 8:25)

And here is where I could use some advice

We are at the Dolphin and coming in from Canada with special CDN resident tickets and only 4 of the 6 have Magic Bands.

So we will not get tickets or Magic bands at the hotel and will need to go to ticket booth with Passports in hand to get our tickets.

Base plan (for now) for our first evening's logistics:

Lyft to GF (or as close as I can get)
Dinner
Walk to TTC - to walk through the Poly grounds
Monorail to Epcot
Go to ticket window - pick up tickets - activate 4 bands
Go to Mousegear - buy 2 more bands and activate.
Ride FP rides only (JTI might get missed based on timing)

The reason for monorail and Epcot is this the only opportunity to walk into the front of Epcot (something the boys should see at least once)

Suggestions on where to get tickets, where to get bands, the order of doing things are welcome (and expected - looking at you @Tuvalu )

Max

 

[Jae99]

WHAT:
It has been over a week so I better add some more content to this thing before everyone loses interest!!

As mentioned earlier we fly in on Dec 22 and should get to the hotel and settled around 3:30-4:00 pm

First up is an ADR at Grand Floridan @5:20pm and then 3 FP at Epcot ( Journey 6pm, Test Track 7:25 and Spaceship Earth 8:25)

And here is where I could use some advice

We are at the Dolphin and coming in from Canada with special CDN resident tickets and only 4 of the 6 have Magic Bands.

So we will not get tickets or Magic bands at the hotel and will need to go to ticket booth with Passports in hand to get our tickets.

Base plan (for now) for our first evening's logistics:

Lyft to GF (or as close as I can get)
Dinner
Walk to TTC - to walk through the Poly grounds
Monorail to Epcot
Go to ticket window - pick up tickets - activate 4 bands
Go to Mousegear - buy 2 more bands and activate.
Ride FP rides only (JTI might get missed based on timing)

The reason for monorail and Epcot is this the only opportunity to walk into the front of Epcot (something the boys should see at least once)

Suggestions on where to get tickets, where to get bands, the order of doing things are welcome (and expected - looking at you @Tuvalu )

Max

We got our CDN resident tickets activated at guest services at Epcot.

Could you get Magic Bands anywhere at GF and have them activated when you do your tickets?

I have also used a personal Disney shopper on Facebook that is very reasonably priced that could buy and ship bands to you before the trip.

 

[Swissmiss]

There are also many designs of magic bands available on the Disneystore website - but whether the convenience of ordering them ahead of time would be worth it depends on what shipping costs are like to Canada.

 

[Tuvalu]

Max ~

You can take Lyft directly to the GF from the Dolphin.

MagicBands should be for sale in the gift store at the Dolphin (a friend purchased hers there.) Buy them and link them to the guys immediately. You should be able to do this yourself. Will it be necessary to stop at Guest Relations if all of you have bands with linked tickets? There is no need for a physical “hard” ticket if you have bands. With U.S. tickets there is no need to visit Guest Relations as long as everything is linked, but Canadian tickets may be different (paging @Matt and Kelly or @Jae99.)

You will miss your 6-7 pm FP. Figure an hour for your 5:20 pm dinner. While I adore the walk from GF through the Poly grounds to the TTC, it is a good 15-20 minutes.* Then you must go through security at the TTC before boarding the Epcot monorail and likely have a wait for the train. Upon disembarking, you will need to walk to Guest Relations (assuming you need to stop there) and wait in another line. Then you will have to go through security again at the Epcot entrance.

You may save some time by boarding the monorail at the GF after dinner and riding it to the TTC (three stops away.) You will go through a quick security screening at the GF and once at the TTC you merely switch monorails, as that part of the TTC is a “secured” area. Upon arrival at Epcot, proceed as above. However I still think you will miss that first FP.

*Remember it will be dark when you finish dinner. Should you choose to walk to the TTC, navigating the Poly grounds at night can be a challenge if you don’t know where you are going.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Max ~

You can take Lyft directly to the GF from the Dolphin.

MagicBands should be for sale in the gift store at the Dolphin (a friend purchased hers there.) Buy them and link them to the guys immediately. You should be able to do this yourself. Will it be necessary to stop at Guest Relations if all of you have bands with linked tickets? There is no need for a physical “hard” ticket if you have bands. With U.S. tickets there is no need to visit Guest Relations as long as everything is linked, but Canadian tickets may be different (paging @Matt and Kelly or @Jae99.)

You will miss your 6-7 pm FP. Figure an hour for your 5:20 pm dinner. While I adore the walk from GF through the Poly grounds to the TTC, it is a good 15-20 minutes.* Then you must go through security at the TTC before boarding the Epcot monorail and likely have a wait for the train. Upon disembarking, you will need to walk to Guest Relations (assuming you need to stop there) and wait in another line. Then you will have to go through security again at the Epcot entrance.

You may save some time by boarding the monorail at the GF after dinner and riding it to the TTC (three stops away.) You will go through a quick security screening at the GF and once at the TTC you merely switch monorails, as that part of the TTC is a “secured” area. Upon arrival at Epcot, proceed as above. However I still think you will miss that first FP.

*Remember it will be dark when you finish dinner. Should you choose to walk to the TTC, navigating the Poly grounds at night can be a challenge if you don’t know where you are going.

After buying the Canadian tickets we had to provide proof of Canadian residency/citizenship when we arrived. Made our way to the TTC to do so.

 

[PrincessJasmyn]

I'm in!!
I cant wait to hear all about your upcoming Christmas trip!
I'm trying to convince my husband we should go next Christmas/New Year, I'm hoping your TR will help sway the odds in my favour.

I'll be following along in anticipation.

Jas

 

[krause]

Yep the “Canadian Resident” tickets need to be activated there and yes you need your passport. If you are a Canadian just buying a normal ticket you don’t need to do this, but if you buy the 25% discount ticket (ie the exchange rate ) it needs to be activated. If you get to your hotel early enough could you go to MK first to guest relations and activate your tickets and then monorail to GF for supper, possibly saving you a few minutes when you get to Epcot? (Although I agree with @Tuvalu that there’s no way you’re making that first FP - challenge accepted?).

How close are you guys to the US border? One year my sister ordered magic bands from Disney website but they don’t ship to Canada but we’re only about an hour and a half from the border so she had them shipped there and went to pick them up. Might be a bit of a time crunch with just over a month until your trip but just a thought.

 

[PacNWTigger]

Ditto what @Tuvalu said about the magic bands being available at the Dolphin. We bought ours there a while back, and they automatically link them to your account. They don't have as many choices if you're looking for a special band though.

 

[CaliKris]

If you have time after checking into the Dolphin, there is a Guest Relations at the International Gateway entrance to Epcot that you could walk to. We are staying at the Beach Club in December and will need to go to Guest Relations right away as well and that is what we are planning on doing.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Now that people mention it, I do remember Magic Bands being for sale at the Swan. They were in the gift shop and there was also ticket/concierge type desk that had them on display as well.

 

[DisneyGigi]

Not sure at all about the Canadian passes but we turned our regular 10 day passes into APs at the Gateway Guest relations leaving Cape May Cafe going into to Epcot, in 2015. No line and quick and easy.
-edit I was quoting @CaliKris but it did not show up.

 

[amjt660]

We got our CDN resident tickets activated at guest services at Epcot.

Could you get Magic Bands anywhere at GF and have them activated when you do your tickets?

Okay so Epcot main gate for Cdn Res tickets and GF for magic bands
Definitely option 1

There are also many designs of magic bands available on the Disneystore website

Difficult / next to impossible to ship to Canada unless you have a US address or a shopper
Thanks for the advice and it will not work for me!

You can take Lyft directly to the GF from the Dolphin.

OK

MagicBands should be for sale in the gift store at the Dolphin

GF bands at Dolphin - check

With U.S. tickets there is no need to visit Guest Relations as long as everything is linked, but Canadian tickets may be different

Yes - need to show passport - all 6 members must be present

You will miss your 6-7 pm FP.

Cassie told me it was just a filler FP in case we skip the dinner (delayed flight, etc) - got it!

You may save some time by boarding the monorail at the GF after dinner and riding it to the TTC (

Like this idea - will skip the Poly walk and focus on a view more minutes at GF checking out the ginger bread house!

After buying the Canadian tickets we had to provide proof of Canadian residency/citizenship when we arrived.

Check - got it - thanks

'm in!!
I cant wait to hear all about your upcoming Christmas trip!
I'm trying to convince my husband we should go next Christmas/New Year, I'm hoping your TR will help sway the odds in my favour.

I will do my best to help you with selling your case!!
Thanks for following

Yep the “Canadian Resident” tickets need to be activated there and yes you need your passport.

Check -thanks

If you get to your hotel early enough could you go to MK first to guest relations and activate your tickets and then monorail to GF for supper,

Another option if we have time - thanks

Although I agree with @Tuvalu that there’s no way you’re making that first FP - challenge accepted?).

As per above it is a "throwaway - just in case "

Ditto what @Tuvalu said about the magic bands being available at the Dolphin.

Thank you for the confirmation - you know how unreliable she can be !!!

If you have time after checking into the Dolphin, there is a Guest Relations at the International Gateway entrance to Epcot that you could walk to.

Another good option depending on time - if we are early we could go to IG first, get tickets , walk through Epcot and monorail to TTC

Now that people mention it, I do remember Magic Bands being for sale at the Swan. They were in the gift shop and there was also ticket/concierge type desk that had them on display as well.

If the Dolphin is sold out the Swan is an option - check - got it!

Not sure at all about the Canadian passes but we turned our regular 10 day passes into APs at the Gateway Guest relations

IG is an option - thanks

So to sum up all this wonderful advice
Magic Bands at Dolphin , Swan or Grand
Ticket pickup (with Cdn Passports) at Epcot IG, Epcot Front Gate or MK

Thank you so much to all of the WDW Magic Trip Report community!!

Max