Pre-Trip One If By Land, Two If By Sea

Hello! For those of you who don't know me -- which is probably most of you, considering that I don't post a lot on anything mainstream -- I go by Aurora here on the Forums. This is my first PTR, so please bear with me.

As you could probably guess from the title, this will be a land and sea vacation. So, without further ado, here's the summary:

Who: Me - Aurora, my mom - M, and my dad - D
Just a nice, calm, normal nuclear family trip.

What: 3-night Halloween on the High Seas Bahamian Cruise before Walt Disney World
We've done DCL before, but we've never done anything that wasn't a week-long cruise, so this will be new. We like celebrating holidays with Disney, though, so M thought it would be cool to do a Halloween cruise. And then since it was just 3 nights, we were blessed enough to sneak in a week at the Parks too. (Thank you DVC and APs!)

Where: The Disney Dream (our first time on this ship) and Disney's BLT
We've been on the Magic (that was our first cruise with Disney and then we didn't want to cruise with anyone else) and the Fantasy (pretty much every other cruise with DCL was on this ship). Even though it mirrors the Fantasy, I'm excited to be on a new ship with a new itinerary. Also, the 2/3 of the live performances in the Walt Disney Theatre are different, and one of them is BatB, which I can't wait to see live on stage. I know it probably won't be based on the Broadway version, but it's Disney and performing arts...what could possibly be wrong with that? (Side note: I'm a huge music geek, so live performances are definitely in my corner.) The other one is the Golden Mickeys, which sounds interesting based on the synopsis, and I've wanted to see that since I found out that it was a thing.
BLT is a first as well!! I’ve wanted to stay here since we became DVC, so now I get to. It’s close to MK and it’s on the monorail. Plus, it puts us closer to TotWC to see HEE without the huge crowds.

Why: It's for my birthday, we wanted to use our APs, GE is going to be open, and we love Disney!!
We're trying to get as much use as possible out of our APs before they expire (probably will not be renewing) that was a big reason why we tried to plan so many trips between the start and end dates of the passes. GE is another big reason, since we're all SW fans in my family (more D and me than M, but she puts up with it because we love it). I've been excited for it since I heard it was opening, and I can't wait to see Batuu in person. The crowds might be a little crazy, but I'm prepared to be there at 6 AM on our HS days to try and beat them a little bit. And...of course...the biggest reason of all...we're just a Disney family. Ever since we became DVC members, we've traveled to Disney quite frequently. We love their hospitality; everyone is always so friendly. Plus, the Parks themselves have so much to offer for a family like ours. All of these reasons combined explain why this is also for my birthday, so...need I say more here? :)

When: Sept 20-28
52 days and counting! I know, I know, this might be a little closer to the trip than most people post their PTRs, but I'm kind of a procrastinator. Also, I've been toying with this idea on and off for awhile. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a TR in general or not, and only after reading @Captain Barbossa's most recent TR in its entirety, I decided that this was something I wanted to do. So we'll see how it goes.


And there you have it, the who, what, where, why, and when of my land and sea vacation. I'm super excited for this trip, mostly because of GE. I feel so utterly blessed to be able to go and experience all of these things, and I can't wait to be able to share it with all of you!


(So...how'd I do? If there's anything you'd like me to do more of or less of [for instance, less words and more pictures] for the TR, please feel free to let me know!)


Next Up: FastPasses
 
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DisneyLover

DisneyLover

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Hey guys!

So initially, I wasn’t going to do this. I was going to just let the original post sit there and wait until the trip to touch on anything in the TR thread again.

But then I low-key realized that I couldn’t stay away from this. I had to share more pre-trip stuff.

FPs opened up last week for us, and M and I got up to do them. Here’s the basic rundown:

MK:
BTMRR — I’m not sure why, but this is always something we do a FP for. It might be because it’s one of the things that our family likes decently in MK...?
POTC — We had to grab this for D and me. We’ve been huge Pirates fans for a long time.
Tomorrowland Speedway — It’ll be reopened after having been closed for Tron construction, so kinda new track??
Splash — A classic must-do.
Space — “A high-speed roller coaster chase through the dark.” Sounds like my kind of ride!
SDMT — M loves it, and to be honest, I like the theming. It’s actually better than I thought it would be.

DHS:
ToT — M’s favorite ride and another family favorite.
BatB — We like musicals, and this is a pretty good stage show. Also, the new tiering for DHS is not nice for FPs...they put both ToT and RnRC on Tier One. So most of what’s left in Tier Two is all really...not thrill-level.
Fantasmic — While this is a good one, we’re not planning on seeing it. Hopefully, once we use the first two that day, we can change it and get something else.
TSM — D’s favorite. And a little friendly family competition...D and I almost always make some sort of wager here. The stakes are high!
ST — Pretty much the only thrill ride left on Tier Two. Also, D and I are big SW fans, so it’s worth it. (We have two FPs for this one.)
Frozen Sing-a-Long — Again, while it’s funny, we’re hoping to use it like we’re using Fantasmic!
SDD — Another of M’s favorites. Kind of like SDMT, it’s better than I expected and I actually like it decently.
VotLM — Show has devolved lately, but again with the FP new Tiering. 🤷🏻‍♀️

AK:
EE — My favorite away from RnRC! I like going backwards at high speeds.
FoP — Indescribably good. Need I say more?
RoL — Waiting with trepidation to see the changes...kinda nervous, because I liked the original.

And there you have it. Yes, there’s a disproportionate amount of DHS days, but the new tiering forced us to go back three days for the Tier Ones that we desperately wanted. No EPCOT exclusives, but the hope is to hop on over during two of our dining reservations and switch the Fantasmic and Frozen FPs to grab something in EPCOT. One day in AK, but I think we can handle it. (M and I did one park per day in April...it was a short trip.) And two in MK, which I think we’re all ok with.

Next Up: Dining Reservations
 
Darstarr

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
DisneyLover said:
Hello! For those of you who don't know me -- which is probably most of you, considering that I don't post a lot on anything mainstream -- I go by Aurora here on the Forums. This is my first PTR, so please bear with me.

As you could probably guess from the title, this will be a land and sea vacation. So, without further ado, here's the summary:

Who: Me - Aurora, my mom - M, and my dad - D
Just a nice, calm, normal nuclear family trip.

What: 3-night Halloween on the High Seas Bahamian Cruise before Walt Disney World
We've done DCL before, but we've never done anything that wasn't a week-long cruise, so this will be new. We like celebrating holidays with Disney, though, so M thought it would be cool to do a Halloween cruise. And then since it was just 3 nights, we were blessed enough to sneak in a week at the Parks too. (Thank you DVC and APs!)

Where: The Disney Dream (our first time on this ship) and Disney's BLT
We've been on the Magic (that was our first cruise with Disney and then we didn't want to cruise with anyone else) and the Fantasy (pretty much every other cruise with DCL was on this ship). Even though it mirrors the Fantasy, I'm excited to be on a new ship with a new itinerary. Also, the 2/3 of the live performances in the Walt Disney Theatre are different, and one of them is BatB, which I can't wait to see live on stage. I know it probably won't be based on the Broadway version, but it's Disney and performing arts...what could possibly be wrong with that? (Side note: I'm a huge music geek, so live performances are definitely in my corner.) The other one is the Golden Mickeys, which sounds interesting based on the synopsis, and I've wanted to see that since I found out that it was a thing.
BLT is a first as well!! I’ve wanted to stay here since we became DVC, so now I get to. It’s close to MK and it’s on the monorail. Plus, it puts us closer to TotWC to see HEE without the huge crowds.

Why: It's for my birthday, we wanted to use our APs, GE is going to be open, and we love Disney!!
We're trying to get as much use as possible out of our APs before they expire (probably will not be renewing) that was a big reason why we tried to plan so many trips between the start and end dates of the passes. GE is another big reason, since we're all SW fans in my family (more D and me than M, but she puts up with it because we love it). I've been excited for it since I heard it was opening, and I can't wait to see Batuu in person. The crowds might be a little crazy, but I'm prepared to be there at 6 AM on our HS days to try and beat them a little bit. And...of course...the biggest reason of all...we're just a Disney family. Ever since we became DVC members, we've traveled to Disney quite frequently. We love their hospitality; everyone is always so friendly. Plus, the Parks themselves have so much to offer for a family like ours. All of these reasons combined explain why this is also for my birthday, so...need I say more here? :)

When: Sept 20-28
52 days and counting! I know, I know, this might be a little closer to the trip than most people post their PTRs, but I'm kind of a procrastinator. Also, I've been toying with this idea on and off for awhile. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a TR in general or not, and only after reading @Captain Barbossa's most recent TR in its entirety, I decided that this was something I wanted to do. So we'll see how it goes.


And there you have it, the who, what, where, why, and when of my land and sea vacation. I'm super excited for this trip, mostly because of GE. I feel so utterly blessed to be able to go and experience all of these things, and I can't wait to be able to share it with all of you!


(So...how'd I do? If there's anything you'd like me to do more of or less of [for instance, less words and more pictures] for the TR, please feel free to let me know!)
Click to expand...
I will be at BLT that weekend as well. I will keep an eye out for you👀
 
Darstarr

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
The 20-22. BLT is my home resort. In 12 years I have only stayed there once🤣. This will be stay #2.
 
DisneyLover

DisneyLover

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Darstarr said:
The 20-22. BLT is my home resort. In 12 years I have only stayed there once🤣. This will be stay #2.
Click to expand...
Ah, we’ll just miss each other. 20-22 is the cruise, and then we’ll be in WDW the afternoon of the 22. Too bad. ☹️
And my family is kind of like that with OKW (our first home resort) as well! We’ve only stayed there a few times, opting instead for the Poly or GF (both are other homes). Do you like BLT? I’ve always wanted to stay there.
 
DisneyLover

DisneyLover

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Hi again!

I'm back with the ADRs for this trip. And as we all know, where you eat in WDW must be chosen with care because let's be honest, all that walking makes you hungry and you want to make sure you eat well if you're stopping for a bite. ;)


Contemporary:
California Grill ⁠— We've never eaten there before. I have to say, I'm pretty excited for this one. Not necessarily because of anything specific on the menu, but simply because its reputation precedes it. Also, we can see HEE from the top, apparently the view is pretty nice.

EPCOT:
Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria ⁠— We always make a reservation for this TS in Italy. The pizza is wood-fired and always a delicious eat.
Le Cellier Steakhouse ⁠— My dad's favorite (and according to my bio, my favorite as well) that has grown on me. You'd think it was because of the steak. However, I love it not for that but for its Canadian cheddar cheese soup (Le Cellier is in Canada, by the way). The same woman who made it when Le Cellier first opened still makes it, and it's a perfect pairing with the pretzel rolls that come with it.

MK:
Tony's Town Square Restaurant ⁠— We've eaten here once or twice, and I seem to recall the spaghetti was delicious. However, I will also admit that I picked it also because you can see the FoF parade if you get the reservation at the right time. And the parade is worth seeing, especially if you're eating while you watch it.


We've only made four ADRs, and we are planning on eating QS/snacks that we've packed for the rest of the time. I believe Flame Tree BBQ is on the QS list (the view of EE is a pretty one, plus the BBQ is wonderful), but I can't recall at the moment what the rest are. I'll definitely document them in the TR.

I suppose this is it for the PTR. If anything else occurs to me, I'll be back, but for now, I'm going to leave it here. See you at the end of September!
 
Darstarr

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
DisneyLover said:
Ah, we’ll just miss each other. 20-22 is the cruise, and then we’ll be in WDW the afternoon of the 22. Too bad. ☹
And my family is kind of like that with OKW (our first home resort) as well! We’ve only stayed there a few times, opting instead for the Poly or GF (both are other homes). Do you like BLT? I’ve always wanted to stay there.
Click to expand...
I did like BLT. The studios are tiny!
Like, Ikea tiny.
But I love the easy acsess to MK and all the comforts the Contemporary has to offer. Plus TotWL! Try the shrimp and grits, my husband still talks about them.
 
DisneyLover

DisneyLover

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Okay, so I keep saying that this is the last post, and I promise this is the last PTR post.

But I had to share this: I managed to snag a reservation for Savi’s Workshop in GE on the Tuesday morning of our trip!

That means I will be able to build my own lightsaber! I’ve decided it will be either green or violet, not sure which one yet. Does anyone have any votes to help me decide? I’m leaning towards green, since it signifies diplomacy (Jedi Consular), which numerous quizzes have said I am. However, I’m into Star Wars fanfiction, and I’ve written a fic where my original character has a violet lightsaber. So I’m unsure!

Please feel free to drop a comment with a suggestion (or a comment at all). Thanks!

Until my actual TR,
Aurora
 

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