Aurora's Going to See Me for My Birthday - LEAVING SUNDAY!!!

[scoot241]

Day 5

Another day that's not overly planned out.

Planning to spend the day at:

The Studios is kinda like Prince: "The theme park formerly known as Disney-MGM Studios".

We're eating dinner at:

And plan on attending the 8:30 performance of:

This is our only chance for Fantasmic, so this is a can't miss and pray it doesn't rain event.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

I can't wait to hear what you think of Mama Melrose. I am really on the fence on that one.

I will think happy rain free thoughts for your DHS day so you can see Fantasmic.

 

[scoot241]

Day 6

Last full day in the World.

Today is one of the first days of:

We're not going.

However, in the morning we'll still be at the

Another ride on the:

To spend the evening at:

With our last dinner at:

We'll also be watching:

And it will be evening EMH at EPCOT; open until midnight!

 

[scoot241]

Since we're 44 days out, I decided to check the dining system online to see if any Le Cellier reservations opened up. They didn't.

I find it a little odd that out of all the restaurants in World Showcase, a steakhouse is the most popular. Then again, I suppose many Americans don't like to branch out of their comfort zone. I'm sure the steak is quite good; my wife and I went on our honeymoon to Disneyland/Universal/San Diego Zoo/Sea World and ate at Steakhouse 55 our first night. The steak there might have been the best I've eaten. As an aside, if you're planning a trip to Disneyland, look into the Southern California CityPass; it includes 3 day park hoppers plus a ticket to Universal, Sea World, and either the San Diego Zoo or the San Diego Wild Animal Park. It was quite a deal when we went.

I'm fine with what we have; getting Ohana, Chef Mickey's and CRT on the same trip was making me nervous when I was about to make reservations. Le Cellier wasn't really a huge concern comparatively.

 

[scoot241]

Oh by the way, you might have noticed a change in the title. This is what DD has started saying lately, that Aurora is going to see her for her birthday. So if she's not at CRT, we're going to have to make that happen.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

We saw Aurora several times in France at Epcot. She is in the garden right past where you come across the bridge from England. Hopefully she'll be at CRT, but if not, there's always Epcot.

 

[scoot241]

We're under the 40 day mark. I'm having an idea of making a 30 day countdown calendar. I'll probably do it all on the computer with a picture of an attraction or restaurant, maybe a little blurb about it, and the number of days on each sheet. Staple the whole thing together and hang it on the refrigerator. Should be a fun way to get DD even more excited.

We're probably going to wing it for our last day. Get up, get dressed, pack up, check out of Pop and leave the bags, and go somewhere to ride and/or shop and/or eat until we need to be back for our bus to the airport.

I had originally planned to get a Pal Mickey on this trip when I was first planning for it way back when, but since he's out of production I've been looking at eBay. As I expected, those selling them are quite expensive. Anyone have any other ideas on finding one?

 

[scoot241]

Alright, I made the 30 day countdown calendar tonight. Here's a screenshot of the final product.

One attraction, restaurant, or show each day for the last 30 days of the trip with a blurb about it underneath. I borrowed the blurbs from Wikipedia or the WDW website.

DD should have fun turning the calendar each day and seeing what's on the page.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

The countdown calendar looks great! I've never done one, I still think DD might be a little too young to get the whole concept.

I think it's a good idea to leave the last day flexible, then you can go back and see anything you missed or go repeat some favorites.

 

[scoot241]

The countdown calendar might make it a little more concrete; I don't think my daughter completely understands when I tell her we still have 38 days until we leave. If she wakes up in the morning and turns the calendar, she can see the number counting down and when it gets to 1 she knows the next day we're leaving.

Back when we finally booked the trip in February, it was over 180 days until the trip and I know she didn't really understand that.

My wife is going to take the printed calendar that I punched holes into and tie some ribbon or yarn around it I was thinking it could go on the refrigerator but it might be too thick to hold up with magnets.

Oh, one more thing. Disney needs to get an editor to look at those attraction pages. I found a couple of typos on them. Can't remember what it was now, though.

 

[scoot241]

The Cast:

First, the star of the show and the birthday girl:


She loves the princesses and just about anything fun.

This is also DD's first trip to WDW.

One more:


Second, DW (and company, not visible in this picture):


DW is excited about the trip, although I don't think she's quite as excited as DD and I. She's also pregnant with our son and due in November. DW thinks she'll be fine with walking and such during the trip. Obviously she'll be missing out on some rides, but the only one I think she's bummed out about is KS.

DW's only been to WDW once for a full trip and spent a day there when her and I were both in the LSU Tiger Marching Band (more on this trip later perhaps).

Third, myself:

I think I started getting a Disney obsession in high school, when the high school band took a trip to Disney World every other year. I've been on 5 full trips to WDW and the one-day trip mentioned above at LSU. One day I want to stay in the Contemporary Tower with an MK view, but we'll see.

I bought a new camera a few months ago, and since then I've been learning how to use it. Hopefully I've been behind it enough now to be able to get some pretty good pictures at WDW. Going to try my luck on the dark rides, and hopefully I can get the fireworks figured out when I'm there. If you'd like, you can take a look through my Flickr account (in signature) to see some of the pictures I've been taking.

Next, DM (DD calls her Grammy):

DF (DD calls him Pops):

Finally, DS (DD sometimes calls her Ya-Yas)

When the three of them heard we were going to WDW, they jumped on board. When DS and I were little, we went to WDW with our parents and grandparents, so it makes sense (to me at least) that they're coming too. Besides, we have 5 adults to attempt to corral one little girl. That should be enough, right?

 

[scoot241]

You are traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a divergent path of thought. Next stop, the Offtopic Zone!

So I just have to get this off my chest. Don't bother going to see the new Harry Potter movie in 3D. Only the first 15 minutes are in 3D. The rest of the movie I was wondering when we'd put the glasses back on, but it never happened. I was quite annoyed that I paid extra to go see the 3D version (it's IMAX 3D, so all was not lost on the extra cost).

While I'm talking about the movie, if you've read the book prepare for some disappointment. I know we're trying to squeeze a large book into a 2-2.5 hour timeframe, but the ending compared to the book left a LOT to be desired.

Whenever Universal finally opens the HP attraction, I can see us at some point heading down there for a day to see it. A day is probably all we'll really need though; on the same band trip we spent a day in MK, we spent about the same amount of time the next day at IoA, and we hit just about every ride while we were there. More on that MK day later perhaps.

I'm yawning a lot, so it's time for me to get to bed.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

I'm in for this report! Sounds like a great itinerary and or DD is adorable! Love the photo of her at the baseball game.

 

[scoot241]

Two things...

1. Hopefully by the end of the week we'll have our very own Pal Mickey. Paid a little more on eBay than I would have preferred, but I had planned to buy one in the parks when I was first working on this trip. I think DD will enjoy it.

2. I've been reading through a thread about a program called RideMax. Thinking of giving it a shot for this trip. Any thoughts? If I do use it, I probably won't use it for all day every day.

 

[scoot241]

I'm in for this report! Sounds like a great itinerary and or DD is adorable! Love the photo of her at the baseball game.

Thanks for stopping by! The baseball game photo is one of my favorite pictures. Pictures like that one are the reason I like my Sigma 30mm so much.

 

[scoot241]

I decided to give RideMax a shot last night. I was impressed with its schedules; my wife saw what I was doing and said "So now you're planning every minute of the trip?" So I explained to her what it was doing, and I think she's more on-board with it now.

Overall, I like it. There was one issue with putting Kilimanjaro Safaris at the end of our day at AK, but over in the RideMax thread they gave me a couple of workarounds. I do wonder how much we're going to stick to these schedules, though.

In unrelated news, I found out how to stream DISRadio to my iPhone, so I'm listening to it right now. Tapestry of Dreams is playing at the moment.

The countdown is down to 33 days! On Friday, I'm going to unveil the 30-day countdown calendar. Hopefully Pal Mickey will be here by then too. I also have a Gorillapod (flexible tripod for the camera) on the way. I got the "SLR-Zoom" version because it supported more weight.

 

[scoot241]

Today the mailperson (I honestly don't know if it's a man or a woman) delivered a special surprise for DD. Of course, everyone on here already knew what it was...



That's right, it's Pal Mickey! He's a HCOE version, but didn't come with his tuxedo jacket. Liking him so far; DD has babies on the brain, and our new changing table came today that needs to be put together, so she was asking to put the changing table together because "baby brother" (Mickey) has a stinky diaper. The things this girl comes up with!

She wasn't very cooperative for these pictures, but I did manage to get a good one.



That's all for tonight; our 30 day countdown calendar starts Friday. I'll hopefully get a picture or two from her looking at the calendar.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

Love the pre trip report. Sounds like you are a super planner. I adore the count down calendar. Even though I'm under 30 days I might have to steal that one from you. I could hang it on my desk as motivation for just a few more weeks to make it thru the rough days.

 

[scoot241]

Love the pre trip report. Sounds like you are a super planner. I adore the count down calendar. Even though I'm under 30 days I might have to steal that one from you. I could hang it on my desk as motivation for just a few more weeks to make it thru the rough days.

Welcome! The countdown calendar was unveiled tonight. DD liked it, but not exactly in the way you'd think. More on this later after I get the pictures on my computer.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

awww yay for Pal Mickey arriving!