Surprising the Kids with a NYE Trip! Jan '16 PTR (Update 12/29 We're off! See ya in 10 days!)

JoshAndEvsMom said:
Day 4. 1/2/16
This day is still kind of up in the air. Leaning toward another Magic Kingdom day but possibly an Animal Kingdom day. I may even just leave it open an let the kids decide where they want to go THAT DAY! Spontanaity! Yay! :scared: What do you think? Would you do 3 MK days with only 1 day at AK? Or 2 at MK and 2 at AK?

Magic Kingdom Crowd Level 9
*If the new Jungle Cruise restaurant is open by this time and its as cool as it potentially could be we may just have to do MK this day anyway. :thumbsup2
Animal Kingdom Crowd Level 7

Dinner ADR at Whispering Canyon Caffè

Day 5. 1/3/16
Bus to Animal Kingdom! Crowd Level 7/ EMH 8:00 am
I had originally scheduled this day for Hollywood Studios but since Morning EMH is predicted for this day at AK, I switched it. We really, really like Morning EMH and always get a ton done. Hopefully the actual Disney park schedules will come out before I have to make ADRs!!
Dinner ADR at Tusker House (Donald, Daisy, Mickey, Goofy in safari gear)

Day 6. 1/4/16
Bus to Hollywood Studios! Crowd Level 9
We will be trying for Jedi Training Academy this day. Josh loves it and Ev says she wants to try it! I'm actually secretly hoping for additional Star Wars stuff to be in the park because Episode VII will have just come out. What do you think? I read an article about a ball-shaped droid they were working on to "greet" in the parks but maybe it will only be for SWW. I don't know but i'm crossing my fingers!
Dinner (Lunch?) ADR at Mama Melrose Fantasmic! Package
I'm booking this restaurant for the Fantasmic! Package. I know Mama's gets very mixed reviews but that's true for a lot of Disney restaurants too. A lot of recent stuff is pretty positive so I thought we'd give it a try. I know the F! Package can be kind of tricky to book so I'm hoping with it being a little later in the trip I'll have a better chance at booking a later time. (If they ever make H&V permanently a Star Wars dinner, I'd switch in a heartbeat!)

Day 7. 1/5/16
Bus to Epcot! Crowd Level 6/ EMH 8:00 am
Dinner ADR at Tepan Edo
Illuminations

Day 8. 1/6/16
The dreaded Last Full Disney Day! :sad:
Bus to Magic Kingdom! Crowd Level 4
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique - this is a must-do. Ev has been dreaming of this for two years ever since her cousin came back talking about it! Just have to think of something special for Josh too. He's already done Pirates League and ate up every second of it... but he was 5... not sure he'll like it as much at 9 :confused3 but he might! He's kind of a young soul, still loves stuffed animals and Disney Jr... I just know I don't want to do them on the same day if we do both PL & BBB. Suggestions?
Lunch ADR at BOG!
Dinner ADR at Cinderella's Royal Table! (Princesses - Cinderella, Jasmine, Snow White, Ariel, Aurora)

Day 9. 1/7/16
Departure day! Nooooooo! :sad2:
Breakfast ADR at Boma
Probably an 11:00 am ME back to MCO
Flight departs at 2:00 pm - Goodbye Mickey!!

Well, that's the plan for now... until it changes. Only a little over a month until I can book those ADRs!! :cool1:
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Has your son done the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game? Or the pirate adventure (can't recall what it's called now). DD7 loves the card game. He's really looking forward to doing that at MK and trying the pirate one, which we haven't done yet.

I love Sanaa, so absolutely recommend it. But I'd probably hedge on the side of getting something quick and hanging at the pool rather than having two TS meals that first day.

JoshAndEvsMom said:
I KNOW!! :hyper: I've been a huge JJ Abrams fan since Alias. I was a hopeless Lostie. So Star Wars + Mr. Abrams has got me *almost* as excited as our Disney trip! It's gonna be epic!! :rainbow: :yoda::ewok::darth::chewy:
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I'm excited, too. I love what he did with the reboot of the Star Trek franchise.
 
Hooray - day-by-day plans! :yay:

I almost always have an ADR on my arrival day, but usually it's 6-7+ hours after my expected arrival time. Delays are always possible (especially in the winter) and a breakfast ADR would make me nervous. As quite a few people tend to cancel the night before, perhaps you could pick up an ADR when you land? If you're stuck on breakfast and are willing to take a chance on the $40 no show fee, go for it! :thumbsup2

SANAA!!! I think you should definitely take advantage of the proximity and eat there at least once. Definitely get the bread service with all nine dipping sauces - it was DELICIOUS!!! :worship:

Based on what you described, I would do Sci-Fi over the 50's. I wasn't as impressed by our food at the 50's this time and I thought the interior of the Sci-Fi restaurant was super cool. If you family would prefer the Sci-Fi food I think it's a no-brainer.

I would lean toward a third MK day, but I actually really enjoyed having two days at AK this time. If you decide to choose day-of, just jump on MDE and get your Fastpasses booked as you're traveling - I usually found great availability in the morning for nearly everything. Availability dwindled as the day went on.

Having now done the Fastasmic package, I would highly, highly recommend it! I was awesome to waltz into the amphitheater just 20 minutes to show time and get a great seat (the Dining Package section is pretty much front and center - GREAT seats). :goodvibes

For Josh, perhaps you could book Pirates League and then cancel it if he's not interested? I'm not up on my Pirates League cancellation policies, but I'm pretty sure you can cancel a few days in advance with no penalty.

Your initial plans look great! I can't wait to see how they shake out! :-)
 
Wow, you got tremendous deals on your flights! That's fantastic! :worship:

And I LOVE the old-school Epcot photos. RIP Horizons! Those strollers look super uncomfortable; they remind me of a Golden Book that we have that has a car seat from the '50s in it. Did parents really put their kids in those things?!

Yay for plans! Which will probably change! Just like mine! ;) Here are my thoughts:

Day 1

Your first day looks exhausting, I have to say. I'm one of those people who absolutely cannot sleep on a plane, and the mere idea of a red-eye tires me out. But you know your family best, so I know you've got it figured out.

Sanaa is on my bucket list, so I say DO IT! Maybe skip the nap (if you can) and have an early dinner, then go to bed early?

Day 2

This looks like a great day. :thumbsup2 (I love that you have lots of resort time built into your schedule. AKL is amazing!) I was torn between those two restaurants, too, and pretty much went with '50s because Sci-Fi wasn't available for the time I wanted. And now I'm glad that's what we ended up with because helloooooo, red velvet milkshake (thanks, @skier_pete!).

Day 4

For my family, I'd do 2 1/2 at MK and 1 1/2 at AK -- we love AK, but two days there seems like too much time -- but I forget whether you're getting park hoppers. Either way, you can play this day by ear!

Day 6

Hooray for JTA! I love that your daughter wants to join in the fun. Do you know whether there's a mad scramble to sign up? I think it's something my 4-year-old would enjoy...

Day 8

Not going to lie -- the thought of doing Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique makes me wish I had a daughter. What is Pirates League like? Is that different from the Pirates & Pals Cruise? Hooray for lunch at BOG!

^^^ Apparently I only like even numbers, lol. Your planning is coming along nicely! You have some fun days planned. I can't wait to read about them!
 
T - minus 15 days until ADRs!!

Tiny little update & an apology!! I've totally been neglecting everyone's PTRs & TRs and sorta MIA here on my own. There was a TON of stuff going on late May - June so there wasn't much time for me to hop on here. Now that my son is out of school, I have to be super sneaky... I guess that's the downside to teaching him how to read! :rotfl2:

SO here's where I get to brag about my hubby for a sec. ;) As I've mentioned before, he's a HS Band teacher and pretty darn good at his job. At the end of the year one of the parents gifted us with a night in a suite at one of the local hotels so we dropped the kids off at the in-laws, picked up takeout burritos and spent Tues night in the suite! It's so funny, when you think about having a night "off" from the kids and all the possibilities... from romance to rated R action flicks... what do we end up doing? Eating Dinner in bed, watching Cops, and falling asleep before 10:00 pm! Lol!

Anyhow, one of the things I DID get to check off my list while taking advantage of a kid-free morning was adding the DDP to our DVC Rental reservation!

When I first contacted David's they were a little confused because our reservation is in both 2015 and 2016. At first they said we wouldn't be able to add it until the 2016 packages came out but when I questioned further they confirmed that we could get the 2015 DDP since we were checking in in 2015. Once we had that figured out I gave them a call and they took all my payment information to pass on to the member. They told me it usually takes about a week and sometimes up to 30 days BUT look what I had in my inbox this morning!

Screenshot_2015-06-18-16-16-41.png

Awesome, right?! I guess the booking member is super on top of it! So thank you, whoever you are!

So I just wanted to end by saying that I am slowly but surely catching up with all your TRs & PTRs so please forgive me for being absent and not commenting for a while! I will be responding to all of your comments here and doing an IRL post soon too.

Thank you all so much for sticking with me and following along! All your comments and conversation mean so much and always bring a smile to my face! :cutie:

Off to Josh's baseball game! :)
 


ADRs are so soon!! Omg to go to bed at 10 and sleep past 6 that would be my dream right now haha! :rotfl2: Exciting life I live!

Congrats on getting ddp.

Summer is here already how crazy!!!
 
Yay for the dining plan! Because I'm taking two trips within a year, I'm getting an AP and the Tables in Wonderland card. If not, I'd be likely booking that dining plan in a few months. Even when the numbers don't quite work in our favor, I like having things pre-paid. We bought gift cards one trip and used those for food, but we still ended up spending more than I'd planned. At least with the dining plan, I know I'm spending X amount, other than tips and alcohol.
 


Yay for getting the dining plan added so quickly! Lots of pixie dust coming your way this trip -- I can feel it. :tinker:
 
tarak said:
Has your son done the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game? Or the pirate adventure (can't recall what it's called now). DD7 loves the card game. He's really looking forward to doing that at MK and trying the pirate one, which we haven't done yet.

I love Sanaa, so absolutely recommend it. But I'd probably hedge on the side of getting something quick and hanging at the pool rather than having two TS meals that first day.

I'm excited, too. I love what he did with the reboot of the Star Trek franchise.
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We HAVEN'T done the Sorcers of the MK game yet! I'm kind of excited to try this one! I've resolved that we probably won't get to do a lot of rides our first day there so this might be perfect! I love that we can all get cards to build our deck. Cool little souvenir!
 
SimplyGoofy said:
Hooray - day-by-day plans! :yay:

I almost always have an ADR on my arrival day, but usually it's 6-7+ hours after my expected arrival time. Delays are always possible (especially in the winter) and a breakfast ADR would make me nervous. As quite a few people tend to cancel the night before, perhaps you could pick up an ADR when you land? If you're stuck on breakfast and are willing to take a chance on the $40 no show fee, go for it! :thumbsup2

SANAA!!! I think you should definitely take advantage of the proximity and eat there at least once. Definitely get the bread service with all nine dipping sauces - it was DELICIOUS!!! :worship:

Based on what you described, I would do Sci-Fi over the 50's. I wasn't as impressed by our food at the 50's this time and I thought the interior of the Sci-Fi restaurant was super cool. If you family would prefer the Sci-Fi food I think it's a no-brainer.

I would lean toward a third MK day, but I actually really enjoyed having two days at AK this time. If you decide to choose day-of, just jump on MDE and get your Fastpasses booked as you're traveling - I usually found great availability in the morning for nearly everything. Availability dwindled as the day went on.

Having now done the Fastasmic package, I would highly, highly recommend it! I was awesome to waltz into the amphitheater just 20 minutes to show time and get a great seat (the Dining Package section is pretty much front and center - GREAT seats). :goodvibes

For Josh, perhaps you could book Pirates League and then cancel it if he's not interested? I'm not up on my Pirates League cancellation policies, but I'm pretty sure you can cancel a few days in advance with no penalty.

Your initial plans look great! I can't wait to see how they shake out! :-)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendation on the Fantasmic package! Looks like the reserved seating is pretty great and being able to walk right up has got to be a wonderful feeling.

I'm actually leaning toward doing Pirates League with him again! I think he'll still have a lot of fun and it's probably the last time he'll get to do it. Gotta keep him young for as long as I can! Lol!
 
Elleshoodat said:
And I LOVE the old-school Epcot photos. RIP Horizons! Those strollers look super uncomfortable; they remind me of a Golden Book that we have that has a car seat from the '50s in it. Did parents really put their kids in those things?!
Click to expand...

Thanks! Lol! My mother in law always talks about those 1950's "car seats" which were really more about convenience so the moms could put their babies down while driving than for safety. Those strollers look horrendous! Can you imagine how hot & sticky that blue vinyl got? Those poor early 90's babies! Haha!

Elleshoodat said:
This looks like a great day. :thumbsup2 (I love that you have lots of resort time built into your schedule. AKL is amazing!) I was torn between those two restaurants, too, and pretty much went with '50s because Sci-Fi wasn't available for the time I wanted. And now I'm glad that's what we ended up with because helloooooo, red velvet milkshake (thanks, @skier_pete!).
Click to expand...

When I asked my husband he said he wanted Sci Fi hands down. BUT I read somewhere that you can get those fabulous 50's PTC milkshakes to go from the bar! I might have to try that because l really really love milkshakes!

Elleshoodat said:
For my family, I'd do 2 1/2 at MK and 1 1/2 at AK -- we love AK, but two days there seems like too much time -- but I forget whether you're getting park hoppers. Either way, you can play this day by ear!
Click to expand...

No park hoppers this time so I think we'll do 3 days at MK since our first day might be a wash.

Elleshoodat said:
Hooray for JTA! I love that your daughter wants to join in the fun. Do you know whether there's a mad scramble to sign up? I think it's something my 4-year-old would enjoy...
Click to expand...

Oh your 4 y/o would LOVE it!! Josh did it for the first time when he was 4 and talked about it all the time. They give the kids a diploma at the end and you get tons of really cool Photopass pictures. The one thing I would suggest is watching the show before his so he knows what's going to happen. We made the mistake of not seeing it and Josh was terrified when Dart Vader came out and didn't want to fight him when it was his turn. He still loved it though and wanted to do it again when we went back a year and a half later. He did awesome the second time and some of our favorite memories are of JTA! Check out my 2012 TR, there's a pretty detailed post about it!

Elleshoodat said:
Not going to lie -- the thought of doing Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique makes me wish I had a daughter. What is Pirates League like? Is that different from the Pirates & Pals Cruise? Hooray for lunch at BOG!
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The Pirates League was AWESOME!!! Yes, it's different from the Pirates & Pals cruise and more like BBB for boys. Again, check out my 2012 TR for a detailed post. It was so much fun and i'd highly recommend it!
 
NJlauren said:
ADRs are so soon!! Omg to go to bed at 10 and sleep past 6 that would be my dream right now haha! :rotfl2: Exciting life I live!

Congrats on getting ddp.

Summer is here already how crazy!!!
Click to expand...

100% truth sister! I don't know why kids think going to bed late is so awesome because i'd love to have a 9:00 bedtime!

Summer is turing out to be INSANE! We'very never been so busy together ever! It's all been really fun though so no complaints! Lol!
 
ronnie2hotty said:
We check in Wednesday, December 30th, and check out on Saturday, January 9th.
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Oh awesome! Almost the same exact dates as us! For all the masses of people who go to WDW for NYE i'm having trouble finding any trip reports or anything like that. Have you seen anything?
 
**ADRs TOMORROW @ 3:00 AM!!**

Oh lordy! This day really snuck up on me. Can it really be 180 days before our trip?! Yes. Yes it can. Woah.

So I guess I better get my crap together so I can be ready at 3:00 am to DO THIS!

The big question now is what order shold I try and book everything?? I know the Fantasmic Dinner Package books up pretty quickly and i'm nervous about securing an ADR for NYE too. Plus there's CRT and BOG lunch too... here's what i'm kind of thinking, feel free to jump in with your expertise:

1. Fantasmic Dinner Package - Mama Melrose
2. Sci Fi Dine In Dinner (50's as second choice)
3. CRT dinner
4. BOG Lunch
5. Ohanna Breakfast
6. Tusker House dinner
7. Crystal Palace Breakfast (might switch days or cancel this one)
8. Tepan Edo
9. Whispering Canyon Cafe dinner
10. Boma breakfast

Will call to book:
BBB in the MK
Pirates League

Whew! I'm crossing all my fingers & toes that we get everything we want! What do you think about my chances? What should I expect at 3:00 am? I've never done ADRs at 180 days before. Last time we booked our trip only 8 weeks ahead and got pretty lucky but there were definitely a couple places that were booked solid. *eeep*! So excited & so nervous!
 
Sooooo.... anybody up yet?? :rolleyes1 Guess what time it is? 2:53 am on July 3! What-what?!?:cheer2:

If I posted on Facebook that I am up at 3:00 am the day before the 4th of July making dinner reservations for next Christmas, most people would think i've gone crazy...:crazy: but not you guys!! And that's why I love you.

Group hug! :grouphug:
 
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