13 Days of Disney – Shh-it’s a Surprise! - June 2016 PTR - Update 6/4

[disny_luvr]

We like DHS, too. I am a little nervous to see what it looks like this summer with all the construction walls, but we'll make the best of it.

I just booked our Soarin FPs today and I'm so excited!

 

[ArielSRL]

Oh yes...I forgot your exact dates. Will you get to see the new Soarin @Jfsag123 ?

 

[ariane37]

OMG am I behind First, your toe. It's freaking me out lol! When I read what's up I said "AAAAAHHHHH!" out loud! I assume you accidentally stepped on it w/o knowing, felt pain and then found out when they did the x-ray? I don't think I could walk around like that until I had the surgery I can't handle stuff like that well!
Now back to your DS bus/drive question: we didn't go there in Jan. but we did take the bus in Nov. 2 or 3x and we drove 3x back in August. Never a problem driving in and there was TONS of construction going on back then. There was definitely more traffic on Friday than on Tues/Thurs. but it was still fairly easy. And while the DS bus is most definitely my least favorite regardless of what resort we're staying at, it wasn't that bad in Nov. However, I think my preference would be to drive. I do have a question though:

Still we’ve never ridden on a Disney bus before

Do you mean you've never ridden a Disney bus to DS, or never ridden a Disney bus AT ALL?? Are you a DBV?? (That's something I just made up - Disney Bus Virgin I really didn't expect that of you!

I completely understand doing the parks according to which resort you're at and also spending a lot of time at HS. I've always adored HS and even with the changes, which aren't all to my taste, I can still spend the good part of a day there and we always go more than once. I will say that if you get the chance to do Club Villian DO IT! Steve and I did the very first one in January and it's the very best-est thing Disney has ever done. I'm actually hoping they continue it into Nov. b/c I would do it again. We were lucky enough to do it at the $99/pp price but it's still way worth it for $129. We also saw Symphony in the Sky and, not being SW fans at all (sorry!), they're beautiful.

Alright I think that's all I had to say Oh! If it fits in your schedule and you've never eaten there, keep Beaches and Cream. Delicious, and not just the ice cream.

 

[Jfsag123]

We like DHS, too. I am a little nervous to see what it looks like this summer with all the construction walls, but we'll make the best of it.

I just booked our Soarin FPs today and I'm so excited!

I'm really excited about Soarin' too! And I have similar thoughts about the current state of DHS. The only thing that I know I'll really miss that they closed is the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. I remember playing on that when I went to Disney in the early 90's, so it was a trip getting to see my own kiddos crawling around in there. I'm glad I got the chance to do that, but would have liked to have seen it again.

Oh yes...I forgot your exact dates. Will you get to see the new Soarin @Jfsag123 ?

Yes, we will just make it! We head home on 6/18. I'm so happy because it's DS's favorite ride in all of WDW. He asks to listen to the soundtrack at home sometimes and literally cried when I told him they were changing it. He has warmed up to the idea of the new version existing, but I was afraid we'd miss it entirely. It would be wonderful if they would open up early with the new film so we could catch it both ways!

OMG am I behind First, your toe. It's freaking me out lol! When I read what's up I said "AAAAAHHHHH!" out loud! I assume you accidentally stepped on it w/o knowing, felt pain and then found out when they did the x-ray? I don't think I could walk around like that until I had the surgery I can't handle stuff like that well!

Yes, I stepped on it and I knew it had gone in pretty deep, as it hurt badly, but I just thought it was a deep puncture wound, nothing more. I treated it, disinfected it, and went on with my life. I had promised to take my kids to the zoo the day it happened, as they had the day off school, and my dad had taken off work to be able to join us. I didn't want to screw up everybody's plans, as it happened less than an hour before we were supposed to leave the house, so I went ahead and went to the zoo - walked around ALL DAY on it. Then had promised to join a friend at the Bill Clinton rally that took place here that night, so went and stood for another two hours on it that evening. I say all this to explain why it didn't strike me as odd that it continued to hurt for a long time. I just figured I had treated it very badly and made things worse, so it was taking a while to heal.

Finally went to the doctor and at first they didn't think anything was in there. Said there was potentially nerve damage. Then a couple of weeks ago DH accidentally stepped on my toe and the pain was unreal. I went for x-rays at that point and they finally realized that I'd been having so much trouble because the needle had gone all the way to the bone and the tip had broken off in my toe. Hooray! So now it's finally getting fixed, but not until May 12, so I have to continue walking around on it for a few more weeks.

Sorry that was so long-winded! It's been quite a saga...

Now back to your DS bus/drive question: we didn't go there in Jan. but we did take the bus in Nov. 2 or 3x and we drove 3x back in August. Never a problem driving in and there was TONS of construction going on back then. There was definitely more traffic on Friday than on Tues/Thurs. but it was still fairly easy. And while the DS bus is most definitely my least favorite regardless of what resort we're staying at, it wasn't that bad in Nov. However, I think my preference would be to drive. I do have a question though:

Do you mean you've never ridden a Disney bus to DS, or never ridden a Disney bus AT ALL?? Are you a DBV?? (That's something I just made up - Disney Bus Virgin I really didn't expect that of you!

Never ridden one AT ALL. Total DBV here. Crazy, right? We've done monorail, boat, and ferry, but no bus. I kind of feel like we should bus even though driving would be easier just to say we've done it!

I completely understand doing the parks according to which resort you're at and also spending a lot of time at HS. I've always adored HS and even with the changes, which aren't all to my taste, I can still spend the good part of a day there and we always go more than once. I will say that if you get the chance to do Club Villian DO IT! Steve and I did the very first one in January and it's the very best-est thing Disney has ever done. I'm actually hoping they continue it into Nov. b/c I would do it again. We were lucky enough to do it at the $99/pp price but it's still way worth it for $129. We also saw Symphony in the Sky and, not being SW fans at all (sorry!), they're beautiful.

Alright I think that's all I had to say Oh! If it fits in your schedule and you've never eaten there, keep Beaches and Cream. Delicious, and not just the ice cream.

Thanks for both recs! I get really excited about CV every time I think about it, but it is a pretty big expense - $260 for the party, plus childcare. But if we couch it as an anniversary/Father's Day/my birthday event I can excuse that, right?

 

[Jfsag123]

The Costumes

My mother-in-law is a seamstress. Because of this, my kids are blessed with custom-made costumes for our trips. They love meeting characters dressed as the characters and it makes for some really fun interactions. However, it also complicates planning, as I have to work out what they will wear when and coordinate it with what we’re doing and who we’re meeting in a given day. Here are some past costume pics.

The kids have outgrown some of their older costumes, but my MIL is currently working on altering some of them so they can wear them again on our upcoming trip. She has also made new ones for them since the last trip. Here are a few not pictured above.

I swear I did not pose them like this.

So it looks like this is what we’ll have available for this trip:
Cora: Cinderella, Belle (yellow dress), Belle (blue dress), Mary Poppins, Alice, Rapunzel, Wendy, Anna, Elsa, Aurora, Merida
Alex: Prince Charming, Beast, Gaston, Bert, Mad Hatter, Flynn Rider, Peter Pan, Kristoff, Prince Phillip, Luke Skywalker

I don’t expect that they will wear them all. Some of them will be too hot (Merida & Kristoff for sure). Some I just plain won’t be able to fit in time-wise (or suitcase-wise!). It’s a great problem to have, but it is a whole other layer of planning. Once I finish getting plans up for my individual days, I will probably try to do a costume/outfit schedule, if only to help myself mentally organize it. I like to have things completely organized and ready to go beforehand so I don’t have to think about any of it once we get there. And with me being scheduled for the toe surgery just 3 weeks out from the trip I’m starting to feel the pressure to get things together now, as I don’t know how up for it I’ll be right before we leave.

 

[ArielSRL]

Those are adorable! I absolutely love them! But I do see how it adds to the planning/packing conundrum. Good luck! But I'm sure it's worth it!

 

[soniam]

Those costumes are wonderful. My mother used to sew very well. She would make suits, made my wedding dress and the brides maids dresses, sewed most of my clothes as a kids, and made awesome Halloween costumes. I loved the Halloween costumes, but I didn't really like having my clothes made. Now that I am older and appreciate it more, I wish I had learned how to sew better. It looks like your kids appreciate the outfits. Take advantage of it while you can. My mother can't really sew anymore, between her eyesight getting worse and rheumatoid arthritis.

 

[Jfsag123]

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes! - Day 5: Thursday, June 9 – MAGIC Kingdom

With the recent release of Anna & Elsa fastpasses at Magic Kingdom through June 11, I decided to re-evaluate our plan to not hit MK until 6/13. We ultimately decided to swap out one of our MK days with our AK day in order to catch A&E at MK. Hooray for no longer having to worry about when/how/if we can catch them at Epcot! Amazingly, I was able to move around our ADRs, right down to snagging an 8:00am Tusker House for our new AK day. I was also able to book fastpasses in times that we wanted in both parks. Thrilled to have something work out that well. I am really happy with this change. I mentioned before that I wasn’t sure how I would cope with not seeing MK for the entire first week of our trip and now I don’t have to find out! We will still go to MK 3 days during the time we’re at BLT, so it doesn’t feel like we’re squandering the walk privilege. So here are the new and improved plans for 6/9.

Fortunately, we won’t have a really late night the night before since we’re doing Epcot and are staying right outside the gates. We will be getting up bright and early this morning to :drumroll:…..use the Disney bus system for the very first time! You may recall from earlier in the thread that I mentioned we were considering taking the bus to DTD on 6/10. While we may or may not do that, we will definitely be busing this day. So now a couple of questions, as we are DBVs:

1. Does 7:45 seem like a decent time to be at the bus stop if we’re wanting to get to the gate by 8:20 or so?

2. I’ve read that the bus picks up at YC first, then BC. Does the bus tend to fill at MK RD time and, if so, would it make sense for us to walk over to the YC stop instead of waiting at BC? I’m fine with a short walk if it guarantees us a spot on the bus.

We don’t need to be at the front of the RD crowd, but I want to make sure we’re there in time to see the welcome show, which I adore. One of my favorite moments of a WDW trip is waiting outside before MK opens, when the ground is still wet and the Disney music is playing.

When the rope drops, we will make our way to Fantasyland where we will go for Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh, the Ariel meet and greet, then the Little Mermaid ride. I got this outfit for DD and think I’ll probably put her in it on this day.

The rest of the morning/early afternoon looks like this:

Tomorrowland Speedway FP+ - I hate this ride, but the kids love it, so I decided to get it over with as our first MK FP
Cinderella & Rapunzel FP+
Lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus
Anna & Elsa FP+

RESORT BREAK! Not sure how much time to budget, as this will be the first time that we try a break using bus transportation back and forth, but I’m thinking we will probably head out by 12:30 or so and try to be back in the park by 5:30ish. Does that seem reasonable?

From 5:30-8:15 we will do whatever we want. I am trying to build more open time like this into our schedule and I think it should be pretty easy to do at MK with 4 days scheduled in that park. Knowing us, we will likely end up hitting a couple of favorites at some point during the evening:

and

At 8:15 we will make our way over to Adventureland from wherever we happen to be in the park in order to grab some of these

before finding spots in Liberty Square to watch this

After the parade, we will try to make a quick exit before Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. We’ll be seeing both of those later in the trip and I don’t want to have to deal with exiting with the massive crowds.

So that’s our new Day 5!

 

[ArielSRL]

Yay for an earlier MK day! I was worried for your original plan, I admit!

As far as the bus for MK rope drop, I asked around the Dis and was told we should be fine to get on the bus at SSR by 8. So I think you should be fine at 7:45.

I have also heard that YC is picked up first so I would probably walk over. We are hoping for the Springs section at SSR, which is the last (5th) bus stop, so we plan to walk over to the Paddock Section which is the 3rd stop.

I am budgeting an hour each way for transportation during our break times. Some of those are bus rides, some car rides. If it takes less time, that'll just be a bonus. We have most break times planned for 4 hours, though some are a little longer. I'm not sure if we will have much pool time if the boys nap and bathe during the breaks so I may have to adjust but I was afraid to give up too much park time (which is a decision that will probably come back to bite me in the tushy...lol).

Love the outfit for your daughter and all the plans. I asked my mom and AJ yesterday if they wanted to meet A&E since the FP's became available. Uh...no. Haha.

TTA! Dole whips! MSEP! Fun!! Love it!

 

[disny_luvr]

OMG! I adore all the costumes. Your mother is very talented. The characters must love them!

Yay for the early MK day! YC does get picked up first, and yes, the bus can be packed. From my experience, however, we've always squeezed on or another bus has been right behind. I probably would not walk to YC. Have you asked on the YC/BC thread? I'm pretty sure they usually suggest to just wait at BC.

 

[ariane37]

I've seen many of those costumes on your FB and I adore them Bert and Mary Poppins are my faves.

I'm going to go against the grain and say if you can, get to the bus stop a little bit earlier than 7:45 if you want to be at MK by 8:20. If you happen to just miss a MK bus, it's possible it can be 20 minutes or so until the next one. Not likely that early in the morning, they usually run more often at that time, but you never know. I'd try for 7:30ish if possible but if not, 7:45 is a good time to aim for
Since we haven't stayed at BC yet I really don't know about the bus coming full from YC but I did just read on the YC/BC thread that occasionally is does fill up at YC and doesn't stop at Beach. I think that's most likely during super busy times but you can always read back through that thread and try to get a feel.

 

[Jfsag123]

Yay for an earlier MK day! I was worried for your original plan, I admit!

As far as the bus for MK rope drop, I asked around the Dis and was told we should be fine to get on the bus at SSR by 8. So I think you should be fine at 7:45.

I have also heard that YC is picked up first so I would probably walk over. We are hoping for the Springs section at SSR, which is the last (5th) bus stop, so we plan to walk over to the Paddock Section which is the 3rd stop.

I am budgeting an hour each way for transportation during our break times. Some of those are bus rides, some car rides. If it takes less time, that'll just be a bonus. We have most break times planned for 4 hours, though some are a little longer. I'm not sure if we will have much pool time if the boys nap and bathe during the breaks so I may have to adjust but I was afraid to give up too much park time (which is a decision that will probably come back to bite me in the tushy...lol).

Love the outfit for your daughter and all the plans. I asked my mom and AJ yesterday if they wanted to meet A&E since the FP's became available. Uh...no. Haha.

TTA! Dole whips! MSEP! Fun!! Love it!

I worried for my original plan too lol! This does feel much better. An hour each way for transportation sounds good. I'm not sure if we'll have time for swimming either, but I've got it specifically budgeted in on a few days to make sure, as DH and the kids love their pool time.

I am jealous of you not having to meet A&E. It's a lot of hassle for minimal pay-off, but we'll do it.

OMG! I adore all the costumes. Your mother is very talented. The characters must love them!

Yay for the early MK day! YC does get picked up first, and yes, the bus can be packed. From my experience, however, we've always squeezed on or another bus has been right behind. I probably would not walk to YC. Have you asked on the YC/BC thread? I'm pretty sure they usually suggest to just wait at BC.

Thank you!

I haven't asked about the bus situation on the YC/BC thread, but may as we get closer. I'm just unfamiliar with how many people actually use the buses at that time of morning. I'm hopeful that the estimated arrival time screens can help us make our decision.

I've seen many of those costumes on your FB and I adore them Bert and Mary Poppins are my faves.

I'm going to go against the grain and say if you can, get to the bus stop a little bit earlier than 7:45 if you want to be at MK by 8:20. If you happen to just miss a MK bus, it's possible it can be 20 minutes or so until the next one. Not likely that early in the morning, they usually run more often at that time, but you never know. I'd try for 7:30ish if possible but if not, 7:45 is a good time to aim for
Since we haven't stayed at BC yet I really don't know about the bus coming full from YC but I did just read on the YC/BC thread that occasionally is does fill up at YC and doesn't stop at Beach. I think that's most likely during super busy times but you can always read back through that thread and try to get a feel.

Thank you! Yes, Bert and Mary are special to us. I think this will likely be the last time they get to wear them, as they're just getting too big. However, DMIL is currently working her magic to make them fit one last time.

Also thanks for the bus advice. It would be frustrating to get there just as one was leaving. I'll have to see if I can make myself crawl out of bed a little earlier. I may not make it...

 

[ariane37]

I'll have to see if I can make myself crawl out of bed a little earlier. I may not make it...

This is my biggest problem in Disney We should practice before we go........um, nope!

 

[ArielSRL]

This is my biggest problem in Disney We should practice before we go........um, nope!

I get up between 5:30 and 6 for work but that goes completely against the grain for me...I'm a total night owl. So last Disney trip was hard to get up. I think with the presence of small children this time, though, that problem may be solved.

 

[Jfsag123]

I get up between 5:30 and 6 for work but that goes completely against the grain for me...I'm a total night owl. So last Disney trip was hard to get up. I think with the presence of small children this time, though, that problem may be solved.

I surround myself with white noise machines and thick pillows over my head to try to make the problem of being trapped in a hotel room with small children disappear.

 

[ArielSRL]

I surround myself with white noise machines and thick pillows over my head to try to make the problem of being trapped in a hotel room with small children disappear.

With a 2 yr old, I'm sort of obligated to get up.....

 

[soniam]

With a 2 yr old, I'm sort of obligated to get up.....

Since DS got to be older than 1, I reverted to my ability to sleep through armageddon. So I don't hear him, even in the same room. DH is nice enough not to just wake me up; he usually handles him at night. He usually has to tell me in the morning if there was a problem. I guess it makes up for the fact that I basically didn't sleep for more than an hour at a time for the first year of DS life, since I was just too amped up. Darn maternal instincts

 

[Jfsag123]

With a 2 yr old, I'm sort of obligated to get up.....

Since DS got to be older than 1, I reverted to my ability to sleep through armageddon. So I don't hear him, even in the same room. DH is nice enough not to just wake me up; he usually handles him at night. He usually has to tell me in the morning if there was a problem. I guess it makes up for the fact that I basically didn't sleep for more than an hour at a time for the first year of DS life, since I was just too amped up. Darn maternal instincts

This has been me too! I have always done the late nights, since I'm such a night owl, so DH does the early mornings and lets me sleep.

 

[ArielSRL]

Since DS got to be older than 1, I reverted to my ability to sleep through armageddon. So I don't hear him, even in the same room. DH is nice enough not to just wake me up; he usually handles him at night. He usually has to tell me in the morning if there was a problem. I guess it makes up for the fact that I basically didn't sleep for more than an hour at a time for the first year of DS life, since I was just too amped up. Darn maternal instincts

This has been me too! I have always done the late nights, since I'm such a night owl, so DH does the early mornings and let's me sleep.

Since I've had kids, I rarely deep sleep. It's like I'm half awake all night long. My 2 yr old still semi-wakes up once, sometimes twice, most nights. My 4.5 yr old wakes up once in a blue moon. My DH rarely hears any of it and he has such a weird work schedule...on the weekends he is gone before I get up, during the week I'm up first. I'm also off in the summer and several holidays. My boys are up between 7 and 8 usually. I do make DH get up with the dogs. And the puppy wakes up at like 6:30 every day!

 

[ariane37]

I get up between 5:30 and 6 for work but that goes completely against the grain for me...I'm a total night owl. So last Disney trip was hard to get up. I think with the presence of small children this time, though, that problem may be solved.

I surround myself with white noise machines and thick pillows over my head to try to make the problem of being trapped in a hotel room with small children disappear.

Speaking of white noise machines, I finally brought ours on our last 2 trips to Disney. What a difference! Not only did it drown out all noise from the hallways/outside, it lets me sleep through the stupid clicks and weird noises from the A/C and my youngest's murmuring he does all night

I don't work (don't hate me) well, not outside the house but we ALL work IN our houses, but I have to get my oldest up at 6:30 for school. It's painful for me lol. I've never been a good sleeper and also much prefer to be up at night and can sleep better after say, 2am. It would be ideal if I could sleep until 10 every morning but with kids it just doesn't really work! Next year my oldest has to be outside to get the bus AT 6:30 I'm exhausted just thinking about that!