Pre-Trip The ever changing Sept. B-day trip

BDL · Jul 20, 2017

PTR#7:
Ok, so right now I can’t do anything but wait until the 4th so I can renew and upgrade my AP. The problem……I am soooo not good at waiting, LOL. :bawling:

So instead of wallowing in the injustice of it all – I figure I will re-look at my day-by-day plans and share them with all of you.

As I am planning to write this I notice a flight notice email indicating a change in our schedule. I’m feeling a little twinge of stress as I open the email – fearing the worst of course. Maybe a “hey, guess what, you can’t fly with us” or something. :jawdrop:

But no, just a change in departure time for both legs of our flight. The problem is we are leaving LAX earlier than originally planned which means we get in earlier. Normally I might be ecstatic about this but we are taking the red eye. And on the other end we are leaving Disney earlier than originally planned…

Arrival Day – 9/20/2017

We will have taken the red eye from LAX into MCO thus getting us in at 5:45AM (ouch!). But that’s ok because I have a great day planned. At that time I figure we will be one of few on the Magical Express thus getting us to our destination rather speedily. I am guessing we will arrive at the Yacht Club by 7:30 AM at the very latest.

This will give us time to freshen up in the pool bathrooms, check our carry-ons with bell services and still have plenty of time to get to Poly for our 9:20 ADR at Kona. I am looking forward to Tonga toast and DD is looking forward to the fresh pressed coffee.

After a leisurely breakfast and stroll around the Poly grounds and shops (haven’t’ been there since reno of lobby and addition of over water villas) we can head back to the YC for our 12:00 PM massages followed by our pedicures at 1:30 PM. If our room is still not ready I figure we can nap by the pool. At some point we will be hungry again so that means a stroll over to Epcot for F&W. We are currently scouring the menus to decide where to start. I need to have a plan of attack since this will be our first Epcot F&W experience. I am beyond excited…..it’s just food I know….but for some reason it’s one of the things I am most excited about.

At this point I am still debating how the night will end. I think we will be pretty tired so my guess is an early night back in the room. But, if we manage to nap and feel refreshed we might either try a few rides at Epcot (expanding our FP opportunities) or since it will be EMH at MK we might head in that direction.

Perhaps we will just fly by the seat of our pants…..either way I think this will really get us into the vacation mode!

bee · Jul 20, 2017

BDL said:
We will have taken the red eye from LAX into MCO thus getting us in at 5:45AM (ouch!). But that’s ok because I have a great day planned. At that time I figure we will be one of few on the Magical Express thus getting us to our destination rather speedily. I am guessing we will arrive at the Yacht Club by 7:30 AM at the very latest.

Your first day plans sound lovely!

I wish I could take flights from New York that would land at MCO at 5:45am!! (Yeah, yeah, redeye, I shouldn't really be jealous...)

I have taken DME shortly after 6am due to a flight cancellation (got all the way back to the airport only to realize all flights back home had been cancelled due to weather so I booked a Disney value room for the next two nights) and it was only my wife and me and one other couple. I'm not sure how typically that is at that hour.

BDL · Jul 21, 2017

bee said:
Your first day plans sound lovely!
I wish I could take flights from New York that would land at MCO at 5:45am!! (Yeah, yeah, redeye, I shouldn't really be jealous...)

Thanks! In the past we have always tried to cram so much in I really wanted this trip to be a combination of fun, frivolity, and relaxation. Plus now that I decided on the AP it means we can come back sooner to do whatever we missed this time around.

And yes, getting in early sounds lovely except for the fact we will not have slept much in the hours leading up to arrival. I frequently catch the red eye when traveling to the east coast because it allows me to work the day we leave and also maximizes my time on the other end. However, I don't sleep well on the plane and then end up being ridiculously tired. Hence the plan for the spa day to start. We can sleep during our treatments, LOL.

BDL · Jul 21, 2017

PTR#8:

I am having a grand time perusing the F&W menus but I am not sure how I am going to squeeze in all the things I want to try, LOL. Right now I have about 34-50 food items of interest as well as about 12 drink items. :facepalm:

Because there will be two of us and we can share the food items which will help, but I still think we are going to need to work on shrinking the list a bit. Either that or I am going to need to do A LOT of laps around the running trail.

DAY 2 – 09/21/2017

The plan for today is the Magic Kingdom! Both DD and I like our sleep so I am trying hard not to push for early morning stuff – even though I know it can be great for those hard to get rides. It all depends on where we end up with FP’s. With that being said this is what I am thinking at the moment:

Since our prior night likely ended early I am shooting for 8:00 AM departure from our hotel thus getting us to MK before 9:00 AM opening time. The goal is to head to Fantasyland and jump in line for PP before heading to Liberty Square. We are hitting up Sleepy Hollow for breakfast – with our eyes on the Fresh Fruit Waffle Sandwich. Warm waffle, Nutella, strawberries, bananas, blueberries…..YUM-YUM-YUM!

I am thinking for FP+ we might try for 7DMT, HM, and Pirates. I think other than 7DMT we will likely be able to get FP on the day of but this ensures we do some of the things we know we like. Debating maybe doing Enchanted Tales w/Belle? We have not seen this at DL either but not sure if we will like it as 2 adults. Anyway, hoping to do all the FP in the morning so we have the rest of the day to see how many more rides we can squeeze in! There’s a total of about 10 we’d like to do.

At the moment I have an ADR for BOG at 2:20; however, I am 90% certain I will cancel that. Not hearing great things about lunch and since we have a dinner ADR later in the week for this restaurant we can grab a QS on the go to hold us over until dinner.

OR…. if we have great success with the rides in the morning we can head over to Epcot in the afternoon and hit up F&W again. This way we would be close to our hotel if we decide we need a mid-day nap or dip in the pool. At 6:00 we would head back to MK for our 6:55 ADR at Tony’s and then roll on out the door (because we will be stuffed) for the Fireworks at 9:00.

Then it will be back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation.

BDL · Jul 29, 2017

*****CHANGES COMING*****

PTR#8.5:

Last week I posted my day 2 plan; however, it has already changed. LOL. This really is the ever changing trip. Beside the changes to my own travel party and the reasons for them, Disney also makes regular changes. AND…after fully reviewing the F&W menus with my DD we have decided to cancel several of our ADR’s and adjust our schedules to maximize our time at Epcot. CH-CH-CH-Changes….. Ultimately, DD loves the World Showcase and we plan on really exploring each of the countries this time around – so this will be great!

Our morning plan on 21st is still pretty much the same. We will arrive early to MK and hopefully do stand-by for some of the rides in between our FP’s or try to get additional ones after ours are used. We did cancel our lunch ADR at BoG as well as our dinner ADR at Tony’s. We figure we will head out of MK around 2:30 PM – basically right after the parade. Depending on our hunger and heat levels we will either head back to our hotel for an afternoon swim & a bite to eat (maybe Beaches & Cream or Hurricane Hannas) or we will head straight into Epcot for F&W. I kind of like the idea of having some flexible time in each of our days.

And as I am mapping out our plans for this trip, in the back of my mind I am trying to figure out when our next trip will be. My DD who just had the baby is sad that they can't make it this time around. Since I and my younger DD will have AP's good for 13 months - that means I can return on our renewed passes until October 11, 2018. That is plenty of time to squeeze in one more trip (or maybe 2...).

Am I crazy? I have been looking at room prices for the week before the Christmas week (around 12/17-12/21 ish). I love the Holiday decorations and even though we can go to Disneyland - honestly WDW does it better. But don't tell Minnie I said that! And also trying to figure out our best options for rooms in late August that will comfortably fit 5 adults and a 1 year old. I was thinking DVC but that price tag ratchets up pretty quickly on the 2 bedroom units. Several times in the last few years I have kicked myself for not buying into DVC when the kids were little. We totally would have gotten our money's worth at this point.

Anyway, back burner for those trips because the current one is coming up quickly. We get on our red eye in 51 days!!!!

BDL · Jul 29, 2017

PTR#9:

Day 3 – 09/22/2017

Today is our Animal Kingdom day. I am so excited – love this park!

We are likely starting our day with breakfast at our hotel with an 8:00 AM ADR for Captain’s Grille (which will actually be in Ariel’s Grotto during our visit). Then on to AK for the day. Originally, there was no Rivers of Light planned for this evening; however, now there is. I am very excited about this as it minimizes our park hopping on another day.

I am thinking for FP+ we will start in Africa and then work our way counter clockwise around the park. Thus hoping for morning FP+ for both KS, followed by Navi a little later. Our 3rd FP will now be for RoL. I keep reading that getting FP for the shows is not necessary as long as you show up in advance to hop in line. So while we are in Africa we will also squeeze in the Lion King before heading off to Pandora. After that I am hoping we can do Dinosaur (only if stand-by isn't too long) & Nemo. Eventually circling our way around to Asia where we have a dinner ADR at 5:30 for Yak & Yeti.

I really love to explore all the trails, corners, and wild life at AK so I think the 4 or 5 rides/shows we want mixed in with all the animal exploration should keep us pretty busy during the daylight hours. After dinner we can head back over to see Pandora in the evening before finding a seat for RoL. It’s a long day in the park but as long as we move leisurely and try to avoid crossing the park multiple times we should be good. Then back to our amazing hotel by 9pm I am guessing. Another early evening for us…..so boring we are!

BDL · Aug 5, 2017

#10:

We are 46 days out and today we made a quick trip to Disneyland to upgrade our AP renewals. Boy did we luck out too. Not only did we get 13 months for the price of 12 when we renewed, but because of some misinformation I was previously given, they activated our renewal (and upgrade) 30 days early! So, not only was I able to make my FP+ reservations for our September trip but we also got to try out the new Disneyland MaxPass option - which is included in our Premier passport. For those who do not know, Disneyland still has the old paper version of fastpass, but now added a pay-for option to use in the phone app similar to FP+ @ WDW. The difference is you have to be in the park, as they are still day-of passes, and the FP is on your phone. But the scanning machines at the rides look similar to the MB scanners at WDW. FYI - it's $10 per day per person and includes photopass. AP holders can add it their accounts for $75/person for the year. Signature plus & premier AP holders get it included in the price of the AP. I did not take pictures as DL today but should have. As usual we saw some interesting outfits for a family park where you walk everywhere, and a LOT of service animals. We also got the "red card" when we hopped into the FP line for TSM!

That was a little off topic, but the good news is that even though we were late on the 60 day window, we managed to get all the FP we wanted. Luckily I had purchased our MNSSHP tickets a while ago and I was able to make FP+ picks at 60 days with those, otherwise we might not have gotten 7DMT which I thought was odd. I mean I know it's popular but was surprised the FP were already gone for our MK day. So, I think I left off on day 3 plans above, so here is what we have in mind for....

Day 4 - 9/23/2017

Today is our Hollywood Studios day! I am hoping my dad will drive up from south Florida for the weekend – but we will have to see about that. With dad in tow we can have a slow start to the morning and maybe explore the boardwalk for breakfast at the bakery. (We need to keep it light to save room for our lunch and dinner ADR’s.) After our morning stroll we might take a quick morning trip to the pool before it gets too busy.

Then later in the morning we are off to HS. Our “A” group FP pick is Toy Story. Love that ride and want to compare the HS version to our version here in DCA. I also really want to see the B&B stage show so hopefully we can get that via standby for the 11:00 show or maybe later in the afternoon after our FP's. Our lunch ADR is at 1:45 at Sci-Fi. After lunch we will be doing VLM and then Indiana. After that we will explore some of the changes to HS since our last visit and maybe squeeze in a show if I can convince my dad to go along with that. I wish I could do some of the big girl rides but alas they make me sick so ToT, RnR, and ST our out for us. I guess we could try to get some character time in, though I always feel a little weird since we have no little ones with us.

Then our evening ADR is for the GALACTIC SPECTACULAR DESSERT PARTY. My DD and I get way too excited about dessert, LOL. After that we will be calling it a night. I am guessing we will be stuffed (and potentially hyped up on sugar) so we will probably want to walk back to the YC from HS.

BDL · Aug 7, 2017

A little over half-way through my "plans" now......and currently 43 days until we head out! It's hard to contain the excitement. Thank goodness for all the summer trip reports on here. It's helping me to get my Disney Fix!

Day 5 – 09/24/2017

Today will be a pretty chill day. My dad will probably want to head out early to get back home, so we can see him off before heading to our Brunch at CG. Looking forward to bottomless mimosas and some yummy food with a great view.

After brunch the plan is to head back to our hotel and spend some time enjoying SAB. If we are not feeling the whole swimsuit thing (after eating all that food, LOL) we can walk it off at DS or maybe grab a round of mini golf. Honestly, we are just going to do whatever feels good - this is a vacation after all!

I originally had dinner plans at the Poly but I cancelled those so that we can hop on over to WS and grab some more F&W grub from our wish list. We likely won’t be that hungry so some small snack sized options will be perfect before we don our costumes for MNSSHP at the MK. We need to save room for all the fun spooky treats! We can head over to MK at any time but will likely go around 4:00-ish. This way we can use our FP options to do a few rides we might have missed on our first visit to MK. Once the crowds start to thin out for the 7:00 start time we can make our way through the trick or treat trails and eventually find prime viewing for the evening shows. I am hoping since it’s a Sunday night and kids have school the next morning it will be one of the lighter attended parties. I am sure that is just wishful thinking but I can dare to dream…..as this strategy did not work out so well for us when we did the Disneyland party last year.

Here we are in our costumes (me=Mickey; DD=Jasmine) with Aladdin & Genie.

Anyway, originally when both of my DD’s were on the itinerary we had decided to go as the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus. We all love that movie and since they are part of the stage show, we thought that would be so fun. But since it is now only myself and my younger DD we have decided on simple and are going as Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum. Simple, and since our plan is red shorts in place of the pants we will also be nice and cool! We were a bit hot in our costumes at DL last year, so I think this year’s plan is brilliant!

This party goes until midnight so hopefully we can actually stay awake that long. Both DD and I tend to go to bed pretty early, if you couldn’t already tell that by my daily plans…..even when we don’t have to. We are definitely not night owls.

BDL · Aug 10, 2017

PTR#12:

The countdown continues……40 days to go. :joyfull:

It really can’t come soon enough. I am so in need of a break. My DD is so busy with her schooling right now that she is showing no signs of excitement. This is a huge letdown because I have no one else to discuss my plans with, LOL. Thus this PTR is a nice outlet for my excitement.

Our magical express information came last month so we are clearly all set there. It took three tries to get hooked up with ME. The first two were through Disney with the CM putting in the information; however, when I did not see it MDE account I finally make a phone call directly to ME and they had no record of our information. So I took care of that and a week later we had our envelope.

And since we upgraded our DL passes to Premier, we are also receiving AP magicbands. Now we will have 2 sets for this trip? It’s all good, I figure one is a backup. BUT, I realized yesterday that when I input my DD name my phone auto-corrected said name to something that is NOT her name. :banghead:

Oh Well!

So…..

Day 6 – 09/25/2017

Today is our planned Epcot day. However, we left our evening open as I am hoping to get over to HS for Fantasmic! Because we partied hard the night prior (Mickey style), it is unlikely we will want to be up early today. So I made a 9:40 AM breakfast ADR for Captain’s Grille again. Depending on how the food was on our first visit will determine if I keep this ADR or if we opt for a QS breakfast somewhere.

After breakfast we will stroll on over to Epcot. We did some FP for Land (which somehow we have never done??? Did I mention I have been to WDW about 10 times….) and SE. We also managed to get a Frozen FP for later in the day so we will head to WS after we finish exploring FW. I don’t think there is too much that is new in FW at this time so I am guessing we will be ready to head back towards WS by early afternoon which will work perfectly in terms of finding some lunch. This will give us another chance to work through our wish list of foods and drinks to try at F&W.

As I was doing some research and reading other TR’s I realized there are a few experiences in WS that we have never done. Shocking right, given my obvious missing of other rides in Epcot.

So, as we eat and drink our way around the festival we will also more thoroughly experience each of the countries. HOWEVER, we cannot be piggies because we have a 6:10 PM ADR at Yachtsman and I am really looking forward to a nice steak dinner. Worst case we can share an entrée (instead of ordering 2) but I am definitely looking forward to eating here.

After dinner the goal is to hustle on over to HS so we can see Fantasmic! It has been closed here in DL because of the Star Wars construction and recently re-opened with some changes. We haven’t seen said changes yet but hoping to before we get to WDW – again wanting to compare the differences.

Next up: Day 7 plans .....

BDL · Aug 22, 2017

PTR #13:
Our passholder magicbands have arrived!

This is very exciting!

As of today we are down to TWENTY-EIGHT DAYS.....work is getting crazy and I keep getting distracted by my Disney plans. I would rather be thinking about Disney! Onward with the PTR -

Day 7 – 09/26/2017

By this point in our trip we have experienced all the major parks at least once and have likely been to F&W multiple times. But I tried to plan extra room for revisits and the like given that it will likely be very hot, and possibly very rainy. It is also possible that a major storm could come through during our trip. And as I saw with the pre-planning, things can change quickly.

Additionally, we now have some family from FL who are making time to visit us at Disney while we are on the east coast. So, trying to coordinate with other groups might mess with our plans and/or stress me out a bit (if fractal’s TR is any indication). So the extra flexibility might come in handy. (i.e., more changes to the ever changing trip.....)

Look out - another change ahead!: I was able to add my dad into our plans for Day 4 (now that he has confirmed to driving up), finally snagging an extra spot for the Star Wars dessert party; however, I have had issues adding him to my other ADR's that weekend. Both Yak & Yeti and Sci-Fi are showing full. Seems like I should be able to add a single person but that puts us at an odd number and probably messes with seating. Not so concerned with Yak & Yeti only because he wouldn't eat anything from there anyway so I will probably just cancel that one. I will keep checking back for Sci-Fi in hopes something opens up so we can add him. Suggestions welcome!!!!

Now back to our regularly scheduled program......Where was I, oh right, today is lazy morning kind of day – should we choose to accept the challenge, LOL. We have a breakfast ADR for Whispering Canyon at 10:00 AM but after that the sky is the limit. We could choose to start our day early at MK (but I am guessing we will choose the lazy option)....or.....we could head over after breakfast. Or...... we can hang in the MK area and resort hop....or.....visit DS......or go back to hang by the pool. It really depends on what we feel we have missed.

I feel like I have never left this much flexibility in our schedules, at least not since the kids were little tots and I had to plan in breaks. Let's see how many actual breaks we really take. I am thinking of trying a semi-live trip report, so we shall see. But I digress.

Our evening plans are to head back to Epcot. We have FP for test track, the seas, and the short film festival. This is in case we weren’t able to get onto these rides on our planned Epcot day. Dinner will be at F&W, of course! I think it’s Sugar Ray for the ETB series – though I haven’t heard any of his music in forever!!! Who is he again? I also believe today is EMH for Epcot so we can stay later too.

Once we have had enough of walking and eating and drinking, we are off to bed!

BDL · Sep 4, 2017

PTR #14:

I have been so busy at work that I have not had a lot of time to focus on our upcoming trip. Suddenly we are only 15 Days AWAY!!!!! I still have so much to do so I am a little panicky but the big stuff is done so I should be fine. More than anything I am happy to report no major changes and as long as the weather holds we should be good.

So our resort stay magicbands arrived, and as I said previously we now have 2 sets since we also received AP magicbands. So I decided to decorate my red one but probably will end up using the lanyard accessory instead. This way I can wear my fitbit and track my steps.

Day 8 – 09/27/2017

This is it. Our last day at the world…… We will likely spend the morning packing up and generally getting organized. While we don’t actually depart until the 28th, being ready will allow us to enjoy the rest of the day without worry about these last minute details.

Breakfast plans are totally up in the air and depend on whether we are heading straight to a park, or taking our time in the morning. Either way today is a planned MK day. We have FP for later in the afternoon and early evening which are all centered around our farewell dinner at BoG @ 5:10 PM. We booked BTMR, Tales w/Belle, and JC. Plus we love MK at night! We figured meeting the beast, enjoying MK at night, and finishing it off with HEA would be a great way to end our vacation! MK also has EMH this night until 10:00 PM so if we are up for it we can extend our fun just a little bit longer before heading back to our room for the night.

Sadly, I am guessing the Tragical Express will be whisking us off to the airport around 7:00 AM….

The good thing about leaving so early is that we will be back home in California by noon, LOL – thanks to the 3 hour time difference.

Luckily I do not go back to work until Monday so that gives me a 3 day weekend to get out of vacation mode, and maybe finish that trip report as a form of closure! Then I will likely start planning for the next trip!!!!!!!

BDL · Sep 12, 2017

Hoping all you Floridians out there were able to remain safe throughout the storm! All of my family in Florida hunkered down and made it through, with homes intact, and only minor damage. I know there were many not so lucky.

In spite of hurricane Irma, we are still preparing for our trip. Work is an absolute nightmare right now due to unexpected changes that are pushing deadlines up and making for some VERY loooooong days. :depressed:

However, on a more positive note, we are down to 8 days until we are on a plane heading for the sunshine state. I can't wait!

BDL · Sep 15, 2017

Work is about to kill me! BUT......FOUR more sleeps and then I am on a plane home to Walt Disney World.

Yacht Club here we come! :joyfull:

I am so excited for our first stay at this resort, and to be so close to the Food & Wine Festival :hungry:

. Honestly I haven't eaten in a week - I'm starved. JK - but we have been trying to clean out the fridge and the pickings are gettin' pretty slim.

All right Mickey - See Ya Real Soon!

Pre-Trip The ever changing Sept. B-day trip

BDL

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bee

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