Pre-Trip The wait, who is coming and where are we staying PTR Part 2

Hi! Its me again! I am indeed going on a trip in a few weeks but I also have another trip coming up and I wanted to do a PTR to help organize my thoughts :joyfull:
So here we go!
Is it ever an entire family trip without confusion?
Some of you may remember our last big family trip in November of 2016. It was filled with last minute additions to the trip, at least 3 different resort changes, split stays because of resort changes etc etc.
THIS time I was prepared though. This trip has been in the works for at least 3.5 years (I will explain more on that later). We picked out the dates months and months ago....made sure it worked for everyone who wanted to come...booked rooms way back in July...and I gave EVERYONE involved a deadline for changes to who was coming. This deadline was the day before the 180 day booking window so that dining reservations would be all set..............................but were we all set?

On a random side note I was just looking back at my old TRs and my pictures are gone :cry::cry::cry:
Anyway...

Lets start with why?:
Many moons ago when we were on our Princess Half Marathon trip we dreamed up this vacation. This was before we would fall into the Disney trap and go all the time so we thought we would plan a trip 3 years from then so that we wouldn't be sad :joyfull::joyfull: Funny that we went on 12 trips (and one Disneyland one) between then and now!
Anyway, the plan was we would go back to Disney to celebrate my Mom's 5 Year Cancer Free Anniversary. Technically we can't officially say she is 5 years yet so for now we will be saying 4 years until its true...but 5 years is a huge reason to celebrate cancer free because the risk of relapse drastically falls! So, my Mom always said when/if she makes it to 5 years we HAVE to celebrate in Disney :)
IMG_5190.JPG

IMG_5177.JPG


Well, I think I will stop here for now to organize the pictures I want to use. I will leave you in suspense of the drama :p

Next up: who...and another reason why
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yep we are doing the Star Wars half. I’m not a huge Star Wars fan (don’t hate me!) but after doing two 10Ks last year with runDisney I think I’m ready to step it up.

Eh I like Star Wars but I am not a huge fan either! Thats my next planned race only because its different for us :) Woohoo! Moving up to a half will be awesome!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ok...now that I have finished my TR lets come back to this PTR. As of right now I am 99% sure we are all set with who is coming because my sisters friend can not come with her due to a surgery she is having. I say 99% sure because I have been surprised in the past :joyfull:

Dining reservations:
April 27, 2018 Day 1
'Ohana 5:35 pm
IMG_2194.jpg

IMG_2195.jpg

IMG_2519.jpg

I'm so excited to go to dinner here again! My Mom and I are the only ones who have ever eaten dinner here and we always said we couldn't wait to go back with more people. We are hoping to pop in to Trader Sams before for a drink then go back to the room after dinner for an early bed time since our flight leaves at 5:10 am this day :jawdrop:

April 28, 2018 - Day 2
Tiffins with ROL dining package 5:10 pm
DSC_3080.jpg

DSC_3065.jpg

Again another restaurant only my Mom and I have been to. I am super excited for Nick to eat here because I think he will love the unique menu (he is a chef) and I think my Dad and Jill will enjoy it as well. I am also super excited for them to see Rivers of Light!

April 29, 2018
No reservations, this is the day Betta and Max arrive!

April 30, 2018 Day 4
My Mom and Dad are going to California Grill for dinner. This (along with a GC to pay for it) was my Christmas gift to them!
Last time my Dad was at CG was back in 2016 (hence the blurry old camera picture)
IMG_4248.JPG

I'm super jealous I won't be eating there but I will be spending the evening with my sister Betta and Max at the MK so can not go wrong with the MK!

Jill and Nick will be at Victoria and Alberts at 7:15 pm
Jill was there many moons ago but this will be Nick's first time!
I am currently having Touring Plans search for an earlier time for them so hopefully something pops up!
IMG_2971.jpg

DSC_0997.jpg


May 1, 2018 Day 5
Mickey's Backyard BBQ 5:30 pm
This is a first for us! Any tips would be appreciated! We chose this dinner with Max since we thought he would have a hard time sitting through any character meal so this would be good because he can get up and move around. I know its not a character M and G/dinner but there are characters there! Plus, we aren't actually sure how he will react to characters so a non-formal thing may work out better.

May 2, 2018
No reservations

May 3, 2018 Day 7
We are splitting up again!
My Mom and I are taking Max to T-rex at 6:00 pm
This will give my sister a break and we dont mind eating there!
DSC_0926.jpg

Jill, Nick, Betta and Dad will be eating at Morimoto Asia at 6:00 pm as well!

No other reservations planned for the rest of the days...tried not to overload us!

And thats it! Next up: drink challenge!
 

ksr99

Active Member
When?
So Jill, Nick, my parents and I will be there from April 27 - May 5, 2018. Betta and Max will be there from April 29-May 5 (slightly shorter trip so its not too much for Max)

Where?
Ok so here's the drama.
We booked our rooms forever ago. Like I think back in the very beginning of July. At the time Jill didn't think Nick was coming but we booked 2 rooms anyway because Jill and I figured we would just get our own room (like adults....:joyfull:). Betta booked her room as well and everything was all set. We planned on staying at POFQ - our usual big trip home :)
We last stayed there in November 2016
View attachment 255306
View attachment 255307
We were really excited! Its definitely our favorite moderate resort and I think its probably my Dad's favorite resort in general. We love Mardi Groggs (the pool bar), the pool, the boat to Disney Springs (my Dad's ABSOLUTE favorite thing), the small atmosphere and we were looking forward to enjoying the new food court since last time we stayed there it was under construction.
Fast forward several months and we find out Nick is coming. No big deal I will call and switch the rooms around/add Nick on. Only, I accidentally booked both my parent's room and my own room under my name. So, I called Disney and asked to switch the people on the reservation - after explaining what happened. Then, I experienced something I thought I never would at Disney.........
The CM I spoke with said it was impossible to take me off the reservation since I booked it and literally said that I was "stupid for even asking" and its a "ridiculous question." :jawdrop::jawdrop::jawdrop::jawdrop: She then told me to just make a new reservation. However, because POFQ is under refurb I could not cancel the reservation and make a new one because it was all booked up. I told said CM this and she told me it "wasn't her problem." I then hung up completely defeated and honesty very upset with that CM for being so rude. So, I thought maybe I would try to cancel the current reservation then book it right away to get the room I just canceled. Only, it didnt work so then we scrambled.
Where should we stay? We briefly considered booking the Caribbean. It was cheap and it had a lot of availability. We last stayed there in 2010 but we continuously have a huge mental block with it because it was freezing that trip. Not that its the Caribbean's fault but we always associate it with being cold.
View attachment 255309
View attachment 255310
View attachment 255311
Anyway, we did book Caribbean but very quickly decided to change it to Riverside so we would still have the boat to Disney Springs. I was still super bummed because I was worried about the size of Riverside and the fact that we could be hugely spread out. Oh well, we would just have to deal. We did consider booking the Royal rooms just so we would know we would all be in the same general area but my sister Betta wasn't super keen on the cost.
So, the next day I was still pretty down about the whole phone exchange and my sister Jill told me to just write an email and tell someone what happened. I really do not like complaining about anything and I am not an aggressive person in the least so I really struggled with the idea of saying anything negative. However, I did eventually channel my inner @Tuvalu and wrote a strongly worded email about how we have always experienced excellent customer service and how disappointed I was with my last phone call. I read online that it could take months for them to get back to you about these things/if they do at all so I sent it and let it go.
The VERY next day I got a phone call from a CM who said she got my email and asked me about the details of my conversation. I told her about it and said that the true reason I wrote the email was because had I been a first time customer I probably would have canceled my trip right then and there. I told her I was not looking to get anyone in trouble and she assured me they were only asking so that they could inform said CM about their policies. She said that even though that particular CM could not change the head name on a reservation had she asked a higher level CM they could certainly have done it for me. I thanked her for calling me back and I figured that was the end of the conversation. Only, it wasn't. She said....well I looked around and I think we can get you back into POFQ! I was thrilled. I was on the phone for like 45 minutes while she did some adjusting and eventually we got all 3 rooms back at POFQ (for like 10 more dollars...I was willing to pay anything!). Oh man, I was SO excited - and so was everyone else in my family!!!! So, thank you to Darby from Disney!!!! She made my day and even said Disney really does try to do everything they can to make stays more magical :)

Next up: no more drama and dining plans :)
Awesome!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So many awesome places planned already!!!

I'm curious if you guys are doing anything special on May 4. Didn't Disney do some special Star Wars stuff last year? I can't decide if I care enough to participate in something like that... :cautious:

I'm not sure there is anything going on. I will prob try to get to HS in the evening for Star Wars fireworks. I was there before and nothing exciting was happening !
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Drink challenge!!!!!
Ok some of you may remember that way back for our March 2017 trip my sister and I planned a drink challenge based on the Touring Plans list (or maybe Disney Food blog?) of top 5 (or 6? jeez my memory is fuzzy....) drinks in Disney Word and we managed to find all those drinks!
DSC_1308-2.jpg

DSC_1557-2.jpg

Well we had an absolute blast doing it and it allowed us to go to places we have never been before. So, my sister Jill decided to make us a list for this trip but instead of all specific drinks its bars/restaurants with bars that none of us (or only some of us) have been to! I actually stopped drinking (except a rare cocktail) a few months ago because of migraines so my Mom and I already decided we may just split drinks (she's not a huge drinker either) or have a nonalcoholic one :) Either way the challenge will be fun. There is actually one specific drink on the list that was announced recently.

Jill entitled it: The 2018 Drink-A-Rama checklist
1. Abracadabar
This was something my Mom and I really wanted to check out when we stayed at Boardwalk but it only has evening hours which never jived with our schedule.
IMG_3148.jpg


2. Wine Bar George - not 100% sure this will actually be open yet in DS so The Edison is our back up if Wine Bar George is not open. If the Wine Bar is open The Edison will be a bonus!
IMG_5977.jpg


3. Trader Sam's
Because...of course
IMG_2950.JPG

DSC_4678.jpg


4. Yak and Yeti
I think theres a little bar in there?
DSC_6517.jpg


5. A drink at Flower and Garden Festival (not yet specified if its a particular drink)
PhotoPass_Visiting_EPCOT_7978567465-2.jpg


6. Rum blossom! Aka the acoholic version of the Night blossom in Pandora. Ive been drying to try the Night Blossom for forever and when we noticed they came out with an alcoholic version my sister said "put it on the list!"

Thats it (for now!)

Next up: Fast Passes
 

DryerLintFan

Premium Member
Thanks Max...no Fps for you then :joyfull:



Thank you! My sister and I were like a little panicky about it. Clearly I dont travel with kids often :inlove:


REALLLLLLLLLLLLLY keep this in mind when you're booking your fast passes.... because the kid will still be listed as a member of your party. Which means you can either hit the "everyone in your party" button and unclick the kid, or you can click everyone separately except the kid. IF YOU FORGET and you click on the kid, it takes you to an error message that someone in your selected party doesn't have a ticket and you'll have to scroll and deselect.

Which is not a YUGE deal, but it does waste time when you're trying to book the harder to get fastpasses
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom