LIVE from Thanksgiving at DW

Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving!

Before you ask...yes, it's 6:30am on Thanksgiving and I'm starting our During-Trip Report as I wait for my girls to get ready to head to Magic Kingdom! If you want to see the background for this, here's the Pre-Trip report:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/nov-21-24-3-nights-3-resorts-40th-birthday.853258/

So, Tuesday into Wednesday we made the drive. Of course the first leg of the drive had some difficulty with the area south of DC. We averaged just over 70mph for the whole drive EXCEPT about 3 miles of 95 near Stafford, VA which took 1 hour. Yikes! But we managed to make up the time and arrive happily at the resort right around 6:30am. We headed to Boardwalk and got checked in. Since we were here so early and Animal Kingdom had 7am EMH, off we went!

Sunrise with my ladies at Animal Kingdom:


And sunrise over the mighty Everest:


And, finally sunrise from Everest over the rest of the park:


But, that was about all for Animal Kingdom on this very early morning, and we were actually out of the park prior to regular opening at 8am! We headed back to the Boardwalk and got changed for our 'real' park visit at Epcot! But, now we are heading to the Magic Kingdom, so that will have to wait until this afternoon.

 

[brifraz]

Well, the adventure is over...the title should be adjusted to UN-LIVE, as we have completed the 15 hours in the car and are now back at our home, happy and warm (what's up with 29 degrees in South Carolina as I pumped gas at 1:30am??). DW is napping, DD is catching up on much missed video game time, and yours truly is drinking some tea and wondering how I'm not asleep given that I only slept about 3 hours last night. BUT, enough of my sad saga and back to the excellent-ness of the trip report.

We left off on Friday as we prepared to head to Epcot for the evenings (after having our Wolfgang Puck leftovers for a light dinner). We hit the park around 6pm and wandered our way through Future World, picked up an Agent P mission (UK), and then visited Club Cool for a few drinks - watermelon and ginger mainly - no Beverly for us! As we entered World Showcase, Duffy had a short line, so we made a quick visit. Hope the Photopass shots were lucky enough to get everyone looking at the camera!


Then off to UK to stop Dr. Doofenshmirtz from doing basically the same thing that Duff Killigan did just a year ago with flooding the world and golf and something... Then it was time for our visit to the Rose and Crown. Despite being there when Carl is not working we had a great time with Carol and DW got sung to twice for her 40th birthday!


Once the two rounds of songs (and Guiness and Bass) were done, we completed another Agent P Mission in France and then found a good spot for Illuminations. We were just off to the Moroccan side of the America pavilion and right on the fence. Got there at 8:40pm, for 9:30pm Illuminations, so we sat and talked and met our neighbors along the fence. Here's our view of the show (sorry photo friends, but this is unedited and the contrast is a mess, but at least I got it posted. Wait for the improved version in the Photo of the Day thread in a week or so).


After the show, it was time to take advantage of the PM extra magic hours, so DD did a Gran Fiesta Tour alone (big leap for all of us) and then we stopped by the temporary Character Spot to meet up with some old friends. Last, and perhaps least?? was a visit to the Imagination Pavilion. I share the feelings of so many in terms of the quality of the current incarnation of this pavilion (or lack thereof), but DD loves it and brought along her friend for the ride - and for those wondering, yup, the friend is much older than the daughter!


So it was once again close to midnight when we got back to the room and into our beds. Sadly, next post will be the last day, although it was a great one...wherein our stars will utilize the Fastpass system to great extent at Studios and to a slightly lesser extent at Magic Kingdom.

 

[brifraz]

You guys are nuts!!! (I say that with all due respect and great admiration)

Fantastic live trip report, thanks for sharing. How exciting and challenging, switching resorts every day/night!! Both of your ladies are beautiful, and it looks like you're having a great time, with some great meals, too!

Yes, we are nuts and love every minute of it.

Glad to share.

Switching resorts was much easier than you would think and fit in nicely with our plans.

And, you are right, they are beautiful, we had a great time, and ate very well!

Thanks for the comments.

 

[brifraz]

It is finally time. Got a bit of sleep this afternoon and I'm ready to give you the last half day of our 3 nights, 3 resorts adventure.

Saturday morning and, of course, we are up at 6am. After some light breakfast and packing up, we were driving to Hollywood Studios around 7:15am. Upon entry we were quite sad to see that we were only the 3rd guest car to arrive. We have a history of being one of the first cars on EMH mornings as we prefer to drive over than take the bus. In fact, on one trip, we were the 2nd car to arrive only to find that the first car were close friends of ours from home!

After some great chatting with the CM at our turnstile (we were first in line), 8am arrived and in we went. Definitely like it MUCH better when they simply open the gates at 8am without a rope drop. It prevents the mad pack running toward Toy Story and I think is the much safer option. So, we were quickly at TSMM and getting Fastpasses (for 8:45am!) and riding immediately as well. Always a fun ride for us. Then over to the Rockin' Roller Coaster for a ride there. We ended up getting to enjoy the back car experience (first time for DD at the back) and enjoyed it. Then DW and DD went right back in line for a second ride while I got Fastpasses for Tower of Terror. They were off right around 9am, so back to Toy Story for a second ride and then back to Tower of Terror to enjoy that once again. So, for those keeping score, by 9:30am, we had ridden Toy Story 2x, RRC 2x, and Tower 1x. Time to get in line to meet some characters in the animation studio.

Sorcerer Mickey was first right at 10am, then Ralph and Vanellope at 10:30am. DD was quite happy (and once again, hoping that the Photopass pics are better than this sad attempt).


It was just before 11am and we were now on our way to Magic Kingdom to wrap up our visit. Upon arrival, we grabbed some Peter Pan FPs and by chance I looked at the fine print and there was no delay for getting the next FP - the Pan FPs were for 1:15, but the next FP was available at 11:35am. Score! So, we grabbed FPs for another ride with Ariel. Then into line for the Be Our Guest lunch experience. It was about a 30 minute wait, which is a bit rough for a counter service, but given the new system and some issues that the computers seemed to be having with DDP customers was fine. And the line did move well across the bridge and through the foyer area. The CM who took our order (we were sent to the manned station as DDP customers on check-out day needed to be hand processed for some reason - yes, actually on paper!). He made a mistake on the order, but all was fine in the end. And still the most beautiful restaurant to sit in anywhere on site!

After lunch, we enjoyed our Little Mermaid Fastpasses and then we went over to Haunted Mansion for a ride. While waiting for that one, we were discussing the rapidly impending changes of the next generation FPs and what it might mean for rides like that. Having no idea of the answer to that question, we just enjoyed talking about it (and now taking notice of the RFID towers in each queue). Then it was time to cash in the Peter Pan fastpasses and head out. Just a quick shopping visit before we left for DD to spend her hard saved Disney money - the final choice was a Jim Shore Minnie Mouse figurine, which is DDs first 'adult' style keepsake and she is very excited about this. One last monorail ride (and a few tears) and we were headed home.


OK, actually we headed back to OKW and used our refillable mugs one last time for the ride home!

Left property about 3:45pm and we pulled into our Manchester, MD driveway at 7:45am this morning. Summary thoughts to come later this week and my obligatory Dining Plan report.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Sounds like you all had an awesome time!! Thanksgiving is a nice time to go. I've been twice during that week and didn't think the crowds were really all that terrible.

 

[brifraz]

So, first some summary thoughts about the trip...

First of all, the crowds. As you can see by the signature, we always travel at peak seasons. Mid-summer, Easter, Christmas. In our experience Christmas was insane, Easter is very busy and at times insane, mid-summer is just hot and can get difficult but rarely the insanity of the holidays. This past Thanksgiving weekend was really never even as bad as summer tends to be. As you have read, we avoid the craziness by getting in early and doing everything we can with Fastpasses then getting out in the afternoon and returning in the evening for more relaxed touring. Don't get me wrong, there were crowds, but nothing we couldn't cope with pretty comfortably.

Then, we have the changing hotels issue. Not a problem at all. In fact, quite enjoyable. Was it frustrating to basically open the suitcase each night to get everything we needed out and then load it back up (either before sleep or the next morning)? Yes, a little - but quite easily dealt with. We have stayed in the Boardwalk before and Old Key West is our home resort, so those were as expected. Beach Club was new to us and we really liked it. So much so, that we are hoping to do a few nights there on our next trip.

For all the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic drivers out there, this has to be (excepting one 2 mile stretch on the drive down) the easiest I95 drive in our experience. I have made the drive more times than I care to think about (18 round trips I think) and this one was quite easy. We averaged 70mph both ways for 940 miles and only really needed a couple hours to rest each way. Overnight driving can get quite tedious and difficult and luckily this time it didn't!

 

[brifraz]

DDP report.

So, there is a lot of debate about the Disney Dining Plan. As DVC members, we pay for it every time we go. It fits our dining habits, so it usually works out. The first night, we added the Deluxe Dining Plan and then the third night we got the Quick Service Dining Plan. The second night we went without the DDP, but as you are about to see it really worked out well.

Total DDP Cost for us (two adults, 1 child) was $195 for the Deluxe night and $82 for the Quick Service night. That adds up to $277.

Total DDP Value for us was $389 for the Deluxe night and $176 for the Quick Service night. Total of $565.

Here's the breakdown...

Day 1 - Late breakfast (3 tables) at Akershus $121, Hot cocoa (1 snack) for $2.50, Be Our Guest dinner (3 tables) was $98.
Day 2 (still on the Deluxe DDP) - Breakfast at the Main St. Bakery (3 snacks) was $12, LeFou's Brew at Gaston's was $4.50 (1 snack), Thanksgiving dinner at Captain's Grille (3 tables) was $96, and a pretzel at DHS was $4.50.
Add that all up and you get $338.50, then add in the $51 for the mugs for our total.

Day 3 (now on the QSP) - Lunch (and dinner leftovers) from Wolfgang Puck Express (3 counters) totaled $66, a cinnamon pretzel (1 snack) was $5, frozen raspberry lemonade was $4.25.
Day 4 - Lunch at Be Our Guest (3 counters) was $46, and some Chip and Dale crackers on the way out for $4.
That adds up to $125.25, again add mugs for $51 to get the total.

That's quite a whopper of a savings for us - $287 saved. I don't like to count the refillable mugs at full cost ($51 for three mugs TWICE - I consider the value really the amount we used them which would be more in the vicinity $50 total) so I really think it was more like $235.

Regardless - in our case, this was possibly the best the DDP has ever worked for us.

 

[Zipadeelady]

You guys are my hero's!! I'm tired just reading your report. Thanks for sharing!

 

[brifraz]

Well, I think that about wraps up the Trip Report. Hope you have all enjoyed it at least half as much as we enjoyed making it. I look forward to our next report which is likely to be a longer trip (hopefully close to 2 weeks) either this summer or next summer. We'll see you then!