Trip Report June 19-24 (pre, during, and post) with In-Laws

OK folks, it is finally time for the much awaited (yes, I know that none of you were awaiting, but I was awaiting writing it) pre-trip report for our summer visit. If you have not travelled with us before, please check out the two trip reports linked in my signature.

We are a family of 3 (myself, DW, and DD - now 7). We are quite experienced Disney vets. This will be my 23rd, DWs 15th, and DDs 8th. HOWEVER, this visit is with DWs family - parents, sister, and nephew. DWs parents have visited the World with us once before (our DDs first trip at age 2). The sister and nephew have never been, but have one trip to DL in their past. When DWs parents came with us, they were expecting DL - and were shocked and amazed by what all the World has to offer. Sister is in about the same boat now - she can't figure out how we will fill 5 days. We haven't had the heart to tell her that she will only see a very limited portion of the World (no H2O parks, no DTD, only drive bys of resorts, no golf, etc).

The planning for this one started almost two years ago in terms of getting all the family on board. As DVC, we booked our two bedroom at Old Key West as soon as we had good dates from everybody (and were in our booking window). And at 6mos out we booked all our ADRs. This past Christmas everyone got together and watched the planning DVD and then the kids got a copy of Birnbaum's for Kids and went through it together to highlight what they wanted to do most. From there, DW and I started to plan.

To those not familiar with our reports, we are planners to the nth degree. Obsessive? Disturbed? Way too organized? Regardless of what you call it, we plan everything we can. That being said, we have no problem altering the plans. Generally by the time we arrive, we have made three different plans over the course of the past year - so when the unexpected comes along, we are more than ready to tackle it. Regardless, we ALWAYS make sure to have fun. (check out last November's report for altering plans - we all got sick!)

So, later tonight...or maybe tomorrow, I'll post an overview of that big plan. No, you won't get the full 4 pages of notes, charts, and calculations (unless you really want that - then PM me!!).

 

[stratman50th]

Sounds like you all are really moving along! It's Monday morning and I've just now recovered from the last 2 days. Great report! We didn't hit any bad traffic till Orlando. (should have taken 301 ).

 

[bandjfrazier]

Love hearing all this-hugs to all!

 

[brifraz]

Sounds like you all are really moving along! It's Monday morning and I've just now recovered from the last 2 days. Great report! We didn't hit any bad traffic till Orlando. (should have taken 301 ).

Yeah...we spent a good hour discussing how much we wished we had taken 301! Monday evening now and headed to the pool for R & R.

 

[brifraz]

Day 2 - Live and Improvised

OK, maybe not so much improvised, but...

As you already know, I was up early and at around 7:25, I had everybody else ready to roll. Caught the Animal Kingdom bus and made it to the park close enough to opening to call it that (unless someone is counting and doesn't consider 8:02am close enough to opening to call it that). We walked the extended family folks to Dinosaur and then made our way (as a trio, DW and DD7 and I) to Everest. As always, DD loved it. For the crazy E:E folks out there - no bird on a stick or mist and Yeti in full disco. DD has always closed her eyes at the end out of fear of the Yeti. This morning, I felt some strange urge to do a little disco dance as we passed the Yeti and DD asked about it. Respecting her ability to process information, we gave her all the details - explained the different modes and why it was that way (and why Joe Rohde cryes himself to sleep). She promised to open her eyes the next time to try to see the Disco dancing Yeti!

We then headed to Dinoland to meet up and let the kids ride Triceratops Spin. DD rode once all by herself (very proud to be 7 and allowed to ride alone). Then was joined by her cousin (and an adult - 5 year olds need an adult) for 3 more rides! Now, we have come to find out that the Dinosaur experience was a bit of a disaster as our young cousin evidently totally lost it about 5 seconds out of the station, causing the CMs to actually do an emergency stop to get him off. Grandpa and Sister-in-law did ride while cousing and grandmother waited at the end! Then we headed to the Safari!

Safari this morning = WINNER! Our guide, Michael, was great. Just enough sarcasm to keep the adults happy along with the necessary information. But, the real bonus was the male lion. As our truck pulled up, Mr. Lion stood up and decided to get his roar on. 5 solid quality roars as we sat and waited (and one more roar as we passed on the other side). Very cool. Michael's comment was "and, that, folks, is why you ride the Safari in the morning before the lions are alseep for the day." Then a walk through Pagani where the Gorillas missed the memo the lions had gotten and were either asleep or hiding out. Train to Conservation Station, visits with the animals there and Jiminy Cricket. And (for the first time ever) everything was according to plan and a bit ahead! Lunch at Pizzafari (off-peak is the best, at 11am we had no lines and enough time for 7 people to have a full out discussion of what to get without blocking the world).

After lunch, over to Camp Minnie Mickey and meets with Pluto, Goofy, and Donald before Festival of the Lion King. As always, a great show. We briskly walked over to Nemo (with an ice cream stop off) and enjoyed that show as well. This time was a great cast (there's one of the guys who does Crush that has an amazing voice and he was on tonight). At this point, the Grandparents headed back to the room to prepare for their Anniversary dinner at California Grill (which by all reports was most excellent - "and they were all so, so nice!"). Our group at AK was down to 5 (myself, DW, DD, DWs sister, and young cousin) and we headed back to Dinoland and walked the Cretaceous Trail and got some good pictures. Then back to Everest (which we had gotten some FPs for at some point in there) and two rides for DD - one with DW and one with DWs sister. At this point it was close to 5pm and we decided that heading back to the room and relaxing was the way to go.

We were back in the room eating some easy yummies from Goods to Go at 6pm. After dinner (and a bit of chaos as the car keys had found a way to disappear for a bit) we headed to the pool. Both kids had a great time (and the grown ups enjoyed the slightly more relaxed time to have an adult beverage or two). By 8:30pm we were all back to the room and the kids were getting ready for bed. Today was tough on them - with a 6:30am wakeup, no nap break in the room, and temps in the upper 90s with heat index well over 100. Now we are getting close to 11pm and it is about time for the grown ups to head to sleep!

 

[brifraz]

Dining Plan Update

Just a quick mention of the Dining Plan. At a minimum, there are 3 threads currently running at any given time about the DDP. My thoughts on the topic are very basic. It works, sometimes, and is worth it, sometimes, if you would eat that way normally, sometimes, and don't waste credits, sometimes.

For those that care about such arguments, I will bring you some dining updates. I am a very meticulous record keeper (helps out quite a bit as a teacher) so I have the full rundown of our costs and how they compare to the DDP. As DVC members, we have to buy the Dining Plan - no free dining for us, ever.

A day of DDP costs us $254. That gives us 7 tables, 7 counters, and 7 snacks for the group each day. So, here are our tallies from Day 1 and 2.

Day 1 - Used 7 table credits, 2 counter credits, and 2 snack credits. No breakfast in the parks. 2 counters at Goods to Go for lunch, 7 tables at Mama Melrose for dinner, and 2 snacks at Fantasmic! Total reciepts were $257.50. A decent day (saved $3) but nothing special.

Day 2 - Used 4 table credits (grandparents at Cali Grill), 7 counters, and 7 snacks. Again, no breakfast expense. 5 counters at Pizzafari for lunch, 2 counters at Goods to Go for dinner, and 6 snacks at AK for ice cream and drinks. Total reciepts were $219. No money saved today. In fact, DDP profited by $37 off of us.

So, after two days, our bottom line is $34 more for DDP than what we would have paid to eat the same food. On the flip side, we are 3 table, 5 counter, and 5 snacks ahead of the game.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Sounds like you guys are having a blast!! :sohappy:

I feel the same way as you about the DDP. When I go to dinner there, I usually get a drink and a meal. Im always too full to get dessert so for me, it's usually cheaper to pay out of pocket for each meal. Of course it depends where we're going to be eating and stuff like that... If we're eating at moer expensive places multiple times, it could be worth it.

Cant wait to read more!!

 

[brifraz]

Day 3 - The Best Laid Plans...

Day 3 was the day of revising plans and then still not having things follow as we would've hoped. But, no worries, still a great day!

Since everyone was a little more familiar with making the early wake-up call, we were on the ball and out of the room before 7am. Got to the Magic Kingdom and were first in line at the turnstiles. With a plan to get right up to the rope and 'wake up Tinkerbell' at the shop just past the castle. Now, we know that it isn't what it used to be, but DWs sister had heard the tales of the old days and wanted to try it out! So, the team headed that way while I went to get Buzz FPs. What we didn't realize was that with Tink now meeting and greeting in Epcot, they didn't even have the 'Tink in a box' that has been there the past couple years. But, no worries, everyone got a head full of Pixie dust and was off to Pan. Sadly, as soon as he got in line, young cousin decided the Pan was not for him, so the grandparents took him to Dumbo while the 2 moms and DD did Pan. Of course, this meant that he was not at Dumbo first thing and if you are a Disney warrior like us, you know that the Dumbo line goes from 0-60 faster than any other....

I met the girls coming off Pan and then we waited for little cousin to get through the Dumbo line. Then a quick ride on Winnie the Pooh and over to Tomorrowland. Cousin and grandparents rode Indy Speedway, while the rest of us did Space Mountain. DD loves SM - it was the first ride she really anticipated riding, and she still plans a career as a cast member checking heights for it. At this point it was about 9am and we were heading to the Bakery for some breakfast (while I made a brisk walk to Jungle Cruise for FPs). I'm sure it has been reported elsewhere, but the Dining Plan breakfast has been changed there. No more ham/egg/cheese croissant plus a pastry and drink. Now it is just croissant OR pastry with fruit and a drink. So, with two pastries some fruit and drinks, we all (not a lot of big breakfast eaters in this crew) went over to the bleachers behind Casey's to enjoy our breakfast.

About 9:30, we were in Adventureland. Again, little cousin decided to forego the Pirates (we have now traced his dislike of certain things to a strong negative emotional response to human AAs) and do the Treehouse with his grandfather while we all did Pirates. Then a Jungle Cruise with FPs for everybody - and both kids got a chance to be the skipper for a bit (DD got to pilot through the temple, big plus!). Now, time to hoof it back over to Tomorrowland for some quality Pixar experiences. Monsters, Inc and then Buzz with FPs. For some reason, Buzz was not in a happy place and had quite a few stops while we were in the FP line. Ran fine while we were on, though!

Now, throughout this morning, we had been noticing that both kids were already 'in the weeds' so to speak. So, DW and I had been discussing plan revision during the walks between attractions. A quick committee meeting and we decided it was time to go back to the room at 12pm - a calm lunch from Goods to Go and then BIG NAPS. I was dispatched to score some FPs while they all headed to the bus. Yes, there is a common theme to today - I am Mr. Fastpass. I got 4 for Big Thunder, 3 for Splash, then wandered around for about 40 minutes so I could get 4 more for Buzz. So, about 1pm, I was back in the room, the kids were off to sleep (and the grown-ups soon after) and DW and I had created what we thought was a quality Plan B for the evening!

At 4pm we were back on the bus to MK and our first stop was a round trip route on the monorail (or so we thought). Right after passing through the Contemporary, we stopped. And we remained stopped. Still stopped. Almost 5pm and still stopped. Turns out, communication went down, so everyone was stopped on all the monorails. Eventually, a train left TTC and we pulled in to disembark and take the ferryboat back to MK. Revisionist history will call this our time to experience all the different modes of Disney transportation in an hour.

At about 5:20 we split up. Grandparents took young cousin to ride Buzz twice (once with each GP). The three girls and I went to Frontierland - girls did Splash, then DD did Big Thunder twice (once with DW and once with me). We then circled the wagons back in Fantasyland to see Philharmagic all together. Always a good show! After a fairly prolonged discussion of where to eat, we headed to Cosmic Rays for dinner. All fed and happy, we rode Pooh again (with FPs obtained at Philharmagic) and then DD, DW, grandmother, and young cousin rode Tea Cups while the rest of us got seats for the 9pm parade and fireworks. Both shows were great - and we were particularly impressed with the new pictures on the castle show (sorry, the name escapes me). After the fireworks, we went against traffic to do It's a Small World and then we headed out. Just got out of the park by 11pm and everyone was asleep by midnight.

It is now, 7:30am on Day 4 - the core (DW, DD, and I) are up and ready to go. The rest of the group has decided to sleep in. So, we are off to Epcot with just the three of us and continuing to revise plans as we go.......

 

[bandjfrazier]

Yowzer

I must say, you guys don't waste much time!!!!:sohappy:

 

[brifraz]

Day 4 - Something Completely Different

Hopefully nobody is going back to page 1 and revisiting our plans, because they are more of a guideline than a rule, per se.

So, the core trio was at Epcot, front of line for park opening. We have a very different approach to park opening at Epcot when it is just the 3 of us. DW and DD actual swim against the crowd to be the first people at the character spot (which scores them a picture with ALL the characters at once) while I get FPs. Since we knew that nobody in the extended group was interested in Soarin', I got 3 FPs for Test Track. Then we met up for Nemo (DD loves being able to take a solo clamobile) and walked through Living Seas for a bit. We then went to Imagination (yes, we still always do it - even though its current incarnation is....weak). Right at 11am we were at Sunshine Seasons getting an early lunch. So nice to be able to get 'real' meals at a counter service restaurant (roast pork, grilled fish, etc).

DD has a particular love of the Great Piggy Bank Adventure, so we stopped at Innovations for that little game, then over to the other side for Mission:Space (green side for our tender constitutions). We also grabbed 3 more Test Track FPs. Almost noon now, and the latest update from the inlaws is an expected arrival at the park around 2pm. So, we pick up a Kim Possible Adventure and take a slow boat to Italy and walk to Japan to stop the Bebe Baby robot. For those who haven't done the KP adventures, we highly recommend. Walked through Germany and China to visit the Kidcot stations and shop a bit. In Norway, of course we rode Maelstrom and watched the Norway movie (yes, we are of the few who like the Norway movie, despite the very 80s look of it). Then to Mexico for another KP Adventure and Dr. Drakken was stopped in the nick of time. At this point it was about 2:45 and the rest of the crew had arrived. So, we met them at front of park and went on Universe of Energy (young cousin loves him the dinosaurs) and then used the FPs to ride Test Track (not so much love for the fast ride).

A little after 4pm and we are headed back to World Showcase for a full family saving of the world in France - Senor Senior Senior never knew what hit him. We then wandered a bit around World Showcase just seeing the sights for an hour or so. Around 5:40pm we are back to UK for a bit of shopping and some adult beverages before dinner. Rose and Crown for dinner at about 7pm, then relaxing until it was time for Illuminations at 9pm.

I feel a bit bad that the Inlaws really only did a little under half of Epcot, but alas, the need to sleep won out for them!

 

[CrescentLake]

Its a pity that your In-laws were unable to see half of Epcot, (but I'm biased, as its my favorite park), but it sounds like you're doing a good job showing them the World. I seriously hope that I can be as efficient as you are in the parks on my next trip.

Keep it up, and enjoy your last few days!

 

[brifraz]

Day 5 - Insert Witty Title Here

Well, first off, now I'm back home. Not quite so much fun writing the trip report from here. Plus after the 17 hour trip home Friday night into Saturday, I had another 7 hours of driving Saturday night for a performance in Williamsport, PA. Seriously tired of that car right now!

Anyway, Day 5 - after the relatively less intense Day 4 for the In-Laws, everybody was up and at 'em at 7:30am to head to Hollywood Studios! We arrived quite close to the front of the 9am rope drop and formulated our approach. In-Laws were going to head to Star Tours (young cousin's favorite thing so far) while DD and DW were going to Rockin' Roller Coaster. What about me you ask? Dodging and weaving through the masses to get Toy Story Midway Mania Fastpasses (and a quick walk through One Man's Dream while they all finished their rides). We gathered back together at the Writer's Stop for coffee and pastries for all, then reported to the front of the Phineas and Ferb meet and greet line for their 10:30am arrival.

DD got chosen to help with the pre-M&G activity (she was a Hula dancer) and then we met the charming Flynn-Fletcher brothers. After that, right around the corner to grab seats for the 11am Lights, Motors, Action! Stunt show. It was a pleasant surprise that there was an 11am show and fit in perfectly with our plans. After the show, we used our Toy Story Fastpasses for a fun ride and then back to the room for pool time and R&R before the BBQ. Now, here's where I have to apologize to Stratman because I had hoped to meet up with him at this point. Sadly it didn't work out because in the half hour that I wasn't in the pool with the two kids, I was at concierge trying to get our BBQ tickets (computer system was angry for some reason) and get it charged to the DDP and credited back to our Visa. Somewhere in there, we grabbed some lunch from Goods to Go as well...

About 4:15pm, we start the long journey to the BBQ. For those not familiar, it is at Fort Wilderness, which is a bus ride to MK and then a boat ride away. Last time we did it, it took a full hour and a half to make the trip. Naturally, planning for that, it only took 40 minutes! So, the kids got some good play time at the playground right outside the BBQ pavilion. As always, the event was great. I'm not a big country music/lasso trick/line dancing fan, but it sure is a good time, the band is quite tight, and DD has a blast. A bit before the end of the show, the In-Laws headed back to the room to pack. We stayed to the bitter end, then caught the boat back to Magic Kingdom. Some hefty thunderstorms were around, but we managed to dodge the worst of it. As we headed to our bus, we heard that the 9pm parade was cancelled (it was 9pm) and the masses were exiting the park. Naturally, this meant we would dash in and ride Haunted Manison since we didn't get to it the other day. A quick, fun ride and more prolonged walk through the new queue and we were back to the room to get to sleep!

 

[brifraz]

Day 6 - And Then There Were 3

So, the Inlaws had to catch their Magical Express Bus at 3:50am, so by the time we were up at 6:30am, the room was much quiter and calmer. Got quickly packed and loaded up the car for the long day. By 7:15am we were packed up and heading to Epcot for the morning.

At 8am EMH opening, we bee-lined to Soarin' for a ride and to get FPs for later. Much to our surprise the 8am crowd was pretty light. But by the time we got off the ride at 8:15am, the line was already growing by leaps and bounds. We then rode Living with the Land (still a favorite despite the sadness when the started using canned narration a few years back) and Spaceship:Earth. Despite all the compaints and concerns about the S:E descent, DD absolutely loves it and has a blast choosing her future each time. By now it was 9am, so we stopped in to Innoventions for Where's the Fire? (another DD favorite) and to register for a Kim Possible mission later. At 9:45am, we were at Akershus for breakfast with the Princesses.

After breakfast, it was 11am, so we grabbed some Maelstrom FPs and went to China for our first Kim Possible mission - once again, the world was successfully saved from Monkey Fist. After a ride with the 3 Caballeros on Gran Fiesta Tour and a viewing of O Canada!, we were in UK to save the world from Duff Killigan's evil plans. A quick jaunt through France, USA, and Italy (picking up Cars stickers at each stop - what a bonus doing the 'Race Around the World' was - collected 2 sticker books, one to send to young cousin since he missed it) and we found ourselves back in China saving the world from Monkey Fist for a second time in one day (you just can't keep a good genetically altered man/monkey down).

We then had a very late lunch at the Biergarten and enjoyed the show as always. The weather was looking very threatening, so we made haste over to Norway to ride Maelstrom and then to Soarin' to use up all the FPs. By now it was after 4pm and we were out of the park. BUT, before we left the World we stopped back at Old Key West to use our last DDP credits to get some dinner for the road and snacks for later.

So, there it is folks! I hope that by the end of the day tomorrow we will get the pictures up on Picasa and provide the link for you to enjoy them!

 

[brifraz]

Dining Plan Wrap-Up

Day 3 - Used 0 tables, 10 counters, and 4 snacks. Breakfast at Main Street Bakery was 2 counters and a snack, Lunch at Goods to Go was 4 counters, Dinner at Cosmic Rays was 4 counters, and a couple Ice Creams at MK was 2 more snacks. Tally for the day was just $136! Not a good day for profit, but I still have faith we will make it up.

Day 4 - Used 7 tables, 3 counters, and just 1 snack. No breakfast expense again! (this is crazy for us as we are usually big breakfast people). 3 counters at Sunshine Seasons for the core trio, 1 snack in Epcot for ice cream for DD, and 7 tables at Rose and Crown for dinner. Total cost was $247, so close to a break even day.

Day 5 - Used 14 tables, 6 counters, and 11 snacks. Writer's Stop for breakfast was 8 snacks, 3 ice creams in Studios, lunch at Goods to Go used 6 counters, and the Backyard BBQ is a double so it cost 14 tables. Cost for today will help our bottom line as it was $479!

Day 6 - Used 6 tables, 4 counters, and 6 sancks. Akershus was 3 tables, Biergarten was 3 tables, dinner on the road from GtG was 4 counters plus 6 snacks for the drive. Cost was $225.

SO, here's the big tally - $257 + $219 + $136 + $247 + $479 + $225 = $1563. We left with 2 counters unused (a real travesty, but we couldn't fit any more in the car!!!). The total cost was $1270. So, we saved a little under $300. Certainly not our best trip for the DDP saving us money. As always, the convenience is the big reason to do it for us.

 

[Dwelty]

Great report. not surprised the in laws pooped out. Being from California, I know how long it takes to adjust to loosing 3 hours going east. Boy you guys like to go
commando. Sounds like you had a great time.

 

[olinecoach61]

Sounds like you had a great time, I admire your ability to go commando, I'm exhausted just reading your report!

 

[brifraz]

Commando Approach

What's funny about this trip (and its report, obviously) is that it was not nearly as commando as we usually are. Even before the adjustments for our travelling family, our plans were much more laid back than we tend to be. We even slowed down our walking pace substantially to keep things mellower. Our DD commented a number of times that we were walking 'really slow' on this visit and when it was just the 3 of us, she requested that we go 'at Disney speed.'

Of course, we are already working on the plans for next April. This trip promises to be a bit different from our past. We are looking into being Extra Magic Hour Soldiers - only in the parks during them and a little before or after. Since it will be during the Easter week of huge crowds and extended hours, we expect to be sleeping each night for only a few hours and sleeping each afternoon for a few hours. It will definitely be more commando, but in a far different way!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Great TR!!! We're a very "Disney speed" type family... We love doing any and everything possible every day... It's go, go, go for us!!! Cant wait to see the pics!! :wave:

 

[brifraz]

Great TR!!! We're a very "Disney speed" type family... We love doing any and everything possible every day... It's go, go, go for us!!! Cant wait to see the pics!! :wave:

Thanks. Sorry the pictures aren't up yet - it has been a crazy week and a half since we got back and I haven't even gotten them off the camera, yet. Soon, I promise!