Pre-Trip I Ordered a Tomboy but Got a Disney Princess Instead...

wwmmd

Well-Known Member
Great pictures!! My work building even made it into one of them. :) I'm so glad you explained what the giant lonely X was. That was the first thing they put up and it's just been sitting over there all by itself. :joyfull: You may have already explained this but why did you get to tour the building?
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
Late to the party but I am following along.
Your plans look good for a very busy time.
I sense that you have very reasonable objectives for what can be done with a toddler at this time of year.

My normal advice for Christmas is to arrive early, ride standby, exit for a break/nap , come back for dinner, and book late afternoon or evening FP.
But your plans only have one day(the last) that would use this strategy.
So I suggest booking FP around 10/11/12 and trying to catch a few shorter lines first thing and in between the FPs

Max
 

21stamps

Well-Known Member
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Hard hat tour of the Ohio Veterans Memorial Museum.... although they did say they're changing the scope to represent veterans nationwide, so I'm not sure if the name will change as well or not. They did say it would open to the public by the end of the summer, but it wouldn't be complete with exhibits until the end of the year.
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Below is the X they made as a test to see if they could even build the structure the way they designed it. They had to fly in architects from Canada because that particular firm are the only ones who have the technology to do the curvy crossing concrete walls. They created the X in two different finishes to test what they wanted the exterior to look like too, so you can see each half looks different. But they didn't go with either finish, LOL
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There is going to be a wall of glass on the inside of those crosses you see in the walls. So although it was open air today, it won't be when it's finished. It will still be stunning though!!
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The view from the parade field on the top of the building...
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Although I REALLY REALLY like the exposed steel look of the ceiling, the architects didn't, LOL. They have specialty wood planks that will be put into place
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Since some were curious, I thought I'd share!!

Wow nice!!! Thank you for sharing!

Looks like the same orange cones from January are still there.lol. How long is the roadwork planned for? Hopefully it would be finished before this opens. As well as COSI's new parking lot That could potentially be a mess of traffic.
 

TiggerDad

Well-Known Member
Sounds like a great plan and a great trip. We flew down Christmas Eve this past year with three princesses for about the same length of a trip. Crowds were packed, and lines were long, even for bathrooms, so plan ahead. We had heard stories of parks closing due to capacity, so we planned to stay in, and took breaks early afternoon by lingering over a QS lunch. But I don't think they closed any parks, so may not be an issue for you, especially if you only have one day you're planning to return to the park after the nap. It sounds like you are not trying to rush and do too much, which is a good plan. Have fun!
 

21stamps

Well-Known Member
They are planning on demolishing the X when they're done with construction which I think is a shame. It weighs more than a crane can lift though so there is not an other option.

I was able to go on the hard hat tour because I have been involved with the museum since it was at the concept level. We were in a focus group for the museum and its design, and I've contributed my oral history and some artifacts to the exhibit space as well. There were some guys from COSI there though and a couple ladies from the YMCA, so I'm sure you'd be able to go on the tour next month if you wanted to!

How neat!
 

wwmmd

Well-Known Member
I think your plans sound great especially with having a little one. It’s nice to plan a couple things and then just let the day take you where you want it to. WDW can be extremely overwhelming if you let it. We’ve stayed during Christmas week and the crowds were pretty crazy. If you don’t have a FP then you could be standing in line for a long time especially after lunch. This last December we were in Florida for vacation and my girls and I spent Christmas Eve at WDW. It worked out pretty perfectly for us. The crowds were actually quite reasonable and we got to ride everything we wanted to (and we visited 3 parks), but we’ve been multiple times so we knew exactly what we wanted to do and how to get there.

We’ve been in Columbus for 11 years and it is pretty astounding how it and all the surrounding cities have transformed in that amount of time. All for the better! Heck, Columbus is now the second most populated city in the Midwest behind Chicago! Next week IKEA opens and although I’m excited to check it out (never been to one) you will not find me anywhere near Polaris for a while. It’s going to be a madhouse.
 

TiggerDad

Well-Known Member
I'm sure this sounds insane to some, but the only rides we're really planning on for the second and third park days are the ones we plan to get fast passes for. So for example, our last park day we're hoping to be in Magic Kingdom, ride the train to Frontierland, hop on Pirates, and Jungle Cruise with fast passes, watch the muppet show, fast pass It's a Small World, and then get waffles and explore Tom Sawyer Island.

Because my husband and I haven't ridden any rides and don't know what we're missing, and because we're catering to an almost three year old, aside from our rope drop day in MK, there's not much we are dead set on doing, ride wise. I want to snack my way into my fat girl pants though :hilarious::hilarious::hilarious:
If you have a Princess who wants to meet Princesses, you can fastpass that too, and those can be some of the longest standby lines. Not sure which princesses are currently meeting at Fairytale Hall, but those lines are far longer than Small World for example. Take the costumes too - you get a whole different reaction from the princess when they see a smaller version of themselves. If she is a big Sophia fan, you may have to go to Hollywood Studios for that.
 

TiggerDad

Well-Known Member
We're hoping to grab reservations for CRT on our last night so she can get some princess time. If the wait isn't awful when we hit the area at rope drop we'll also see Ariel and Belle in Fantasyland. Then in Epcot we'll suck it up and wait in line for Elsa and Anna.

She is obsessed with Sofia but I don't want to visit HS just for Sofia. She also loves Moana but I don't know if she'll be out meeting people.

We're also hoping to fast pass the Mickey and pals meet and greet in Epcot, but I expect that to be a complete hysterical freak out :rolleyes:
There are a number of other princesses that meet in the countries at Epcot. Grab a times guide on your way in to find out who is when and where and stake out the spot for a shorter wait. Same deal with Merida in MK
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
I'm sure future me is going to hate myself so much for doing this :hilarious::hilarious: but I picked one of these up NIB off Craigslist last night. I thought we could set it up the night before we leave and she'll come home from Cinderella's Castle to one of her own. Because who doesn't need 3-4 hours of additional stress and curse words while getting ready for a magical vacation :hilarious::hilarious:View attachment 207888
Very cool

I would like to say I miss the "some assembly required" Christmas Eve events... but I don't!;)

Max
 

21stamps

Well-Known Member
I think your plans sound great especially with having a little one. It’s nice to plan a couple things and then just let the day take you where you want it to. WDW can be extremely overwhelming if you let it. We’ve stayed during Christmas week and the crowds were pretty crazy. If you don’t have a FP then you could be standing in line for a long time especially after lunch. This last December we were in Florida for vacation and my girls and I spent Christmas Eve at WDW. It worked out pretty perfectly for us. The crowds were actually quite reasonable and we got to ride everything we wanted to (and we visited 3 parks), but we’ve been multiple times so we knew exactly what we wanted to do and how to get there.

We’ve been in Columbus for 11 years and it is pretty astounding how it and all the surrounding cities have transformed in that amount of time. All for the better! Heck, Columbus is now the second most populated city in the Midwest behind Chicago! Next week IKEA opens and although I’m excited to check it out (never been to one) you will not find me anywhere near Polaris for a while. It’s going to be a madhouse.

I had no idea about that! I live in the Greater Cincinnati area and always thought we were much bigger than Columbus.

We finally gave in and bought Moana so instead of watching Frozen until my eyes bleed, I get to watch Moana until my eyes bleed. It's a refreshing change of pace :hilarious::hilarious:

Here's the kid singing "when I look to the future, there we are" complete with dance moves:inlove::inlove:
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Hoping the Moana meet and greet comes back before our trip!!

I loved Moana the first time we watched it.. after about the 6th time I became sick of it. And that song plays on a horrible loop at work.
Ugh. :(

Adorable photo though!
 

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