Trip Report Who needs sleep? We're going to Disney World!! PTR/TR

Hello! And welcome to my 3rd trip report for my 7th trip the fabulous Walt Disney World!!

Here is my Dad, Mom and me on a cruise in January 2012, they are coming too!

Well, this is actually the pre-trip portion, I am now 29 days away and can't wait any longer! This trip will be different than any other trip I have ever taken.
1. I will be there for a whole week! The other trips have been 4 or 5 days, which I enjoyed but I have never had so much time and it excites me!
2. I am going to run my first EVER 5k! My Dad and I will be running in Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5k while there. I am NERVOUS since I was not a runner till about... 6 months ago .
3. LOTS of new restaurants!
4. The real big one is I will be traveling with 9, yes, NINE family members. That's a lot of people. And 7 of them are people I really don't know very well.

Those are the big things, I will explain more as we go on. I am hoping this PTR will help ease my nerves... more on that too.

Thanks for reading! (Well I hope you are )

Katie

 

[KappleB2]

One set of aunt and uncle are DVC members! So that means we get to stay on their points! I am very interested to see what that is like. And our first experience in a Deluxe resort! We will be staying at Saratoga Springs Resort in a Deluxe studio. Everyone else in a 2 bedroom suite. Woohoo! I am so excited about this! My Dad has never stayed on property so hopefully he will get a least a little of the "disney bubble" feel. We are driving so will have our car, and not use the bus (much) but will be closer than an off property spot. AND we can take advantage of EMH, which he hasn't experienced.

To clarify, my Dad likes Disney a lot more than he cares to admit, and I am hoping he likes it much more after this trip! I gotta squeeze what I can out of him while I'm still single! AND he likes to eat, so all the new restaurants should help his liking too (hopefully).

 

[KappleB2]

And now...... FOOD!

This trip we will be trying all kinds of new things! I have a list! So I'm going to tell you in order of excitement!

1.O'hana dinner- I couldn't talk my parents into this but I'm sure they will be sorry, and my tummy will be full! I will enjoy this with one set of aunt and uncle and a cousin on our last night! BREAD PUDDING here I come! And noodles, and wings and....
2. 50's Prime Time lunch- Yay! I can't wait to try this food and the whole experience! I think this is going to be a laugh filled meal cause my Mom is a hoot, so is my aunt R, so together? Its going to be fun!
3.Yak & Yeti TS lunch- I've had the counter service, and it was yummy. I hear the dessert wontons here are fab.
4. Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast- To be honest, before my aunt R suggested this, I never even heard of it! And now that I have, it keeps popping up all over the place and I hear mostly good things! All 10 of us will be enjoying this meal.
5. Biergarten lunch- I didn't really pick this meal, but my Dad has really wanted to try it and I wanted to be sure he didn't "sign up" alone. As I read more about this, it sounds fun! The communal seating sounds like it could be very interesting.

We will also eat breakfast at Kona ( I LOVE Tonga Toast!), lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern (I hear the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake is amazing...) and our first day (just me and the 'rents) we will have lunch at Be Our Guest!

We will be there final weekend of Food and Wine so of course will do some of that. I also want to try the Holiday sandwich at Earl of Sandwich and have one afternoon where everyone else has lunch ressies at Epcot and I don't where I hope to go to Beaches and Cream.

In conclusion, I have think I have more plans for food then I could POSSIBLY eat ! But I'm going to give it my best!

Oh yeah, and I love chocolate covered (with M&Ms) rice crispies. A LOT. So I will enjoy as many as I can.



Anybody notice a dessert trend?

 

[Zipadeelady]

Sounds like an awesome trip! Good luck with the 5K!!

 

[imagination30]

good luck Katie on your jingle jungle 5k , once you do your first one you will be hooked on running races.. - Im doing my first run Disney race in jan.. even though ive done almost 9races so far

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

Sounds fabulous!!! Ohana is one of my fav retaurants on Disney property. Kona is our first meal, every trip. Im with you, on the Tonga Toast! Best of luck to you and your Dad!!! Have fun!

 

[KappleB2]

Happy Friday! 4 Fridays from now, I will be in EPCOT!! Woohoo!

I wanted to share another *new* thing for me this trip, my DSLR camera! I've always enjoyed photography, but this year I was blessed with an additional job and was able to save for a Canon T3 DSLR! That was by far THE MOST money I have ever spent on one thing, and I am so glad I did! Now, I can't wait to use it in my favorite place! Some of you guys take such beautiful pictures! I can only hope I get a few that are that good.

I'm not sure how much I will carry it, since it is heavy, but I will carry it. I will also take my point and shoot (which is great!) just not as fast. I am really enjoying getting to know my camera. I have been taking pictures of EVERYTHING. Playing with settings and angles...that's the only way to learn right? I think I drive my dogs crazy, but they are great moving targets!

 

[KappleB2]

Oooh! I almost forgot! We got invited to do MyMagic+. So far, my Dad, who doesn't spend half the time I do reading all things Disney , isn't so sure about it. I'm not so sure I want to either, I just don't really want to schedule my days so much. I feel like we already have so much planned.

We'll see. We have until October 27th to decide.

 

[KappleB2]

I am so happy to say I got my Disney Vera Bradley bag yesterday!!! I realllllly wanted it so I found a personal shopper in Orlando to get it, just in case there weren't any when I got there

YAY!! AND I already packed it to make sure what I would take to the park would fit and it does! I am so excited!

ONLY 14 DAYS AWAY!!!!

 

[KappleB2]

6 DAYS TILL WE LEAVE!

We will begin our drive from Knoxville on Wednesday!

But here is where I am crazy nervous...we got an email that our RunDisney tickets could not be linked to our account until we check in...which means NO opportunity to schedule fastpass+ before we get there. I tried to get this figured out, we only had a couple weeks to do so after we were notified BUT I HAVE A LIFE outside being on the phone with Disney.

To be honest, I am so stressed out, I would almost rather stay home . I can't believe I just typed that! Between my family (all nine of them) and this overwhelming fear that we are going to have to deal with these stinkin magic bands all trip,oh, and running my first 5k, I am over it.

I'll probably gain a bunch of weight on this trip stress eating those fantastic chocolate covered rice crispy treats!

Am I over-reacting?! And tomorrow begins my marathon 5 twelve hour days before the trip which means most everything should be done...now! But who needs to sleep, right!?

 

[imagination30]

6 DAYS TILL WE LEAVE!

We will begin our drive from Knoxville on Wednesday!

But here is where I am crazy nervous...we got an email that our RunDisney tickets could not be linked to our account until we check in...which means NO opportunity to schedule fastpass+ before we get there. I tried to get this figured out, we only had a couple weeks to do so after we were notified BUT I HAVE A LIFE outside being on the phone with Disney.

To be honest, I am so stressed out, I would almost rather stay home . I can't believe I just typed that! Between my family (all nine of them) and this overwhelming fear that we are going to have to deal with these stinkin magic bands all trip,oh, and running my first 5k, I am over it.

I'll probably gain a bunch of weight on this trip stress eating those fantastic chocolate covered rice crispy treats!

Am I over-reacting?! And tomorrow begins my marathon 5 twelve hour days before the trip which means most everything should be done...now! But who needs to sleep, right!?

no , youll run it off then be so sore and ice bath and eat the calories you've burned off it will be great! , don't sweat it!

 

[KappleB2]

Mini update: my moms magic band doesnt work, and quite frankly I don't care, but she can't even get into the park!! No regular fast passes either! We have spent several hours working on this already and we haven't even been here 24 hours! Hopefully it works today. Dad and I enjoyed emh at animal kkingdom this morn...and the weather is beautiful!

 

[KappleB2]

We're back
But we had a great time! Weather about 80 degrees everyday...kind of cool at night but nice. Crowds weren't too bad and the whole Fastpass+ thing was only kind of a pain. It didn't always work, and its hard to choose what 10 people want to do ahead of time. More on that later. I learned a lot about my camera, ate way too much, and stayed at MK till 2am!

Lets get on with the show!

Day 1
Today my Dad had to go to work for a few hours so my Mom and I finished packing, went to Costco for some essentials (there are 10 of us on this trip!) and loaded up the car. On the road by 1pm! This really was an uneventful trip, we stopped in Ocala and stayed the night, ready to get up and get to Disney World!

Day 2
We all woke up BEFORE the alarm! None of us slept well at all, I think we were just ready to be there! Our hotel had breakfast so we had a nice hot breakfast and hit the road! We made it to our resort, Saratoga Springs, at about 10:15am. We got checked in, linked our tickets to our magic bands and headed to MK. On the ferry(which I LOVE) we discovered that my Mom's ticket didn't link to the band right, showed she was not eligible for fastpass+, and I had my first feeling that this experience would not go well.

We decided we would make our fastpasses for something she doesn't do anyway and deal with it later. First up, Space Mountain, just 10 min after we were in the gates!

We found some lovely ladies on our way down main street!

This was my first time seeing the Christmas decorations! They are just beautiful! I know that they aren't done, but with the castle as the exception, I like the fall decor better. All the pumpkins are so cool. Castle dream lights are the bomb though!

 

[KappleB2]

We left my Mom to ride the peoplemover while Dad and I walked right on to Space Mountain, the right side! We later discovered we like that side a whole bunch more!
Ready for lunch, I went over to get in line at Be Our Guest while my Dad got some paper fastpasses for Buzz, something my Mom likes to do.
Luckily, the line wasn't to the bridge yet! We waited about 30 min from line to food, not bad at all. I had the braised pork and my parents had the turkey and roast beef sandwiches. Everything was wonderful!

We also split a Grey Stuff cupcake. And yes, it was delicious! But I still like the Triple chocolate best.

By the time we were done with lunch, it was time for our Buzz fastpasses! I was happy to see queue line Buzz up and running

Somehow, my mother ALWAYS dominates this game. Even if you know secrets and she doesn't she will win. So,needless to say, she won.
Next up, we headed to Guest Services to try and fix my Mom's magic band. I'll start by saying this wasn't our last time here.
Part of the problem was that me, my Dad, AND my aunt (who made the reservations) had my Mom on the account. But the poor CMs just couldn't figure it out! They did everything they could think of. We spent about an hour in there, not the way I wanted to start vacation-and it wasn't fixed. So I took pictures.

 

[KappleB2]

The CMs Tyson and Allison did EVERYTHING they could think of to try and fix this problem, they just couldn't. They were very, very nice and gave us 2 anything fastpasses for our trouble. As we were exiting City Hall, the 3 o'clock parade was about to begin right there next to us, so we stayed to watch.

After that passed, we headed on down to the Jungle Cruise. We had to see it today, because tomorrow it would be the JINGLE cruise! We used one of our anything fastpasses because it was a 45 minute wait.

 

[KappleB2]

There were already a few touches of Christmas

We then made our way over to Pirates. Unfortunately, all trip the fog with in the beginning was not working. It was strange not going through it.

Made a stop at Splash, where my Dad happily allowed my Mom and I to have the front row! We got a little wet , luckily I had ONE poncho for my camera, cause that is the most expensive thing i ever bought and I would get soaked if that meant it didn't get wet. It was fine.
The ride looked really good! I noticed things moving I'd never seen before and heard things I never heard before, but to be honest, I haven't been on this ride too much. I don't like to get wet!
We made our way over the Haunted Mansion...

Stopped by the Tangled toilets (for the first time!) they are so beautiful!

And headed out, our room was ready and the rest of the family was arriving!

 

[KappleB2]

I was excited to get in the room and see what it was like! My first deluxe resort! We were in Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa. Congress Park building, room 1712. We had a great view of Fulton's in Downtown Disney from the balcony. The only problem with that was we (I ) could hear them partying late into the night .

You can kind of see Fulton's out the window in the back.
We met up with our family(all 7 of them) and headed out to the Boardwalk to get some grub.

Let me just introduce you to the fam: All from California we have: My Dad's brother Pat and his wife Ruth (DVC members and Disney lovers, Ruth and I went crazy together!) and their son Eric. My Dad's sister and her husband (Alicia and Earl) and their kids Tori and Alex. All us "kids" are about the same age and I loved seeing them. Moving across the country to TN when I was 10 meant I didn't really get to know my cousins well, so I really enjoyed their company.

OK. We headed to the Beach Club and ate at Beaches and Cream. That was on my list! Check that off!
I had a hot dog, it was delicious and I was starving.

Pat and Ruth and our table's food.
My birthday is in a couple of weeks so I sported my birthday button while there! This night they turned off the lights, turned on the disco ball and the whole restaurant sang to me! My Dad (in the booth behind me) was mortified while Ruth LOVED it! They brought out a cute mickey sundae! That I didn't ask for!
Then charged me for it.
I was not real happy about that, but the ice cream was really good!

We explored the Boardwalk some more then hit the sack. We were beat!

 

[KappleB2]

Day 3: New Food!

Today, I talked my Dad into EMH at Animal Kingdom! Dad and I got up about 7am and headed out! We were the 5th car in the parking lot! AND I was so excited to see the tree was up!

So cool! I love the masks on it!
We got in line and they opened the gates about 10 minutes early so we headed straight for the safari. We were the first truck out and it was a great! The animals were out and about!

It was so exciting to see the cheetahs out!

I like the bumper sticker on here...I Love pot holes

Quiet morning at Animal Kingdom

On to Expedition Everest!
It was a walk on, so we did it twice! My Dad loves this ride and he doesn't get into too much so I oblige and ride as much as he wants!

Why do people put their hairbands up here?

I am happy to report these were gone later in the week. I liked that I could see that change!

We got lost on the way home so we visited this sign again

Finally got back to the resort to get my Mom and try to fix her magic band. My Dad really liked that were done and leaving at the same time so many others were just starting their day. Woohoo! He ended up really loving this perk!

 

[KappleB2]

Some pics around the resort...
Our building, Congress Park

A room with a view

The balcony was fantastic! This is one thing I would not like to be without again! But I am sure I will suffer through if that means Disney or not
While my parents tried to figure out the darn magic band, I wandered and took pictures!

We were told it was fixed, so off we went to Epcot and my first Food and Wine Festival!

I got in, Mom's band now said she no longer had valid park admission Even the card wouldn't work now. My Dad was pretty furious. They went over to Guest Services where my Dad firmly told this woman if her card didn't work he'd really go off. I didn't like this stress, I was on vacation! So I went and found some food

First stop, Hawaii and the pork slider.

One delicious sandwich! About the time I finished my sandwich, I got a call from my Dad saying they got in, and he was heading over to Soarin' to see if they worked for fastpasses. They did! I got my Canadian cheddar cheese soup and waited for them there.
The soup was ok. I'm glad I tried it but will probably not be seeking it out again.

We moved on to France and split the beef bourginon or whatever it is. That was delicious too!

We made our way around to Italy where we tried the ravioli and a canoli. Both were very good.

We moved on to Germany and explored a little. I LOVED this little ornament (I collect nativities) but just couldn't justify the price.

And the cuckoo clocks there are AMAZING! I know someday my parents would love one of those! Maybe I'll win the lottery and can get one one day!
Moving on around the world

We rode Maelstrom and stopped in Mexico. This is my favorite pavilion. The inside looking like an outside market is so cool! Of course we rode the Gran Fiesta Tour!

We stopped and shared a grilled beef skewer in Brazil (yummy!) and moved on to Spaceship Earth!

 

[KappleB2]

One of my favorite things about Epcot is your future at the end of this ride!

We headed back to the resort and rested for bit, we had a big dinner at Biergarten tonight and the 5k in the morning!
Back to Epcot!

We hopped on Soarin' (my Mom's favorite, especially since she grew up in the Napa Valley, they fly over my Aunt and Uncle's house in the movie!) and then went on Living with the Land. I had never done it when it was dark, it was neat.
We headed on over to Mexico to meet the rest of the fam.

I was pretty excited about eating at Biergarten. The more I read about it, the cooler it sounded. The food was pretty good, but the atmosphere is what I liked best. This meal included: me, my Dad, Aunt Ruth, Uncle Pat, and cousins Eric and Alex. The poor 2 other people we had at our table! They never had a chance with the six of us!

The pretzel bread and pot roast type stuff was AWESOME! The chicken was really good too!

I really enjoyed the entertainment. The best part of this meal was when they announced that my Aunt and...other Aunt were celebrating their 35th anniversary! Boy were we surprised! And my Uncle Pat the most surprised of all! His wife and sister! Haahaaahaaa!!!! We still haven't figured out how they got that information! It was a running joke the rest of the trip.

This guy and the bells were awesome!

My cousin Alex and I are the two single people in the fam, so the rest kind of made it their mission to find us someone. Tonight was Alex's night. They found a beautiful young server named Janica and certainly embarrassed BOTH by making my cousin and her take a picture together. We talked about Janica the whole trip too! Alex did have a great big smile in that picture though!
Here is Alex and Ruth with his picture on her phone.

And the happy? couple- my aunts

On the way out, my Mom,Dad and I stopped and used our TestTrack fastpasses. It was fun! Dad said he liked it just as much as the old one, I'm still in the middle.
Our purple car

We headed home to bed because we had to be up at 5am for the 5k. My first ever!