I am never riding Space Mountain again! A Marathon Weekend TR Complete

[rteetz]

Man, I am so sad the lights are going. I hope they find a way to bring them back. I think I said it in your PTR - but the lights are one of those things that pictures don't remotely do it justice.

I laughed when you said that your family thinks you are nuts for taking pictures of stuff. I can just imagine. "Oh wait - I have to get a picture of this wall!!!"

Try going with non-DIS friends and asking if you can take pictures of their food before they eat it!

Hope you were able to get to ToT at some point...

I completely agree the pictures and video I have seen of the lights didn't do it justice.

Yep, my sister who takes 20 selfies a day at least thinks I'm crazy for taking pictures of walls.

Unfortunately no ToT this trip. That was disappointing but that just means I have to do it next time.

 

[rteetz]

Here is my vacation video. It's a little long at 33 minutes but it is what it is. If you don't want trip report spoilers don't watch yet.

 

[MommaBerd]

Finally jumping in and catching up! I'm having fun reading along. I loved your spreadsheet; I'm a spreadsheet planner myself. One positive about FP+ is that it gives us one more thing to put on our spreadsheets...to analyze and rearrange and to help us feel accomplished and organized!

How was your room with 5 people? Have you stayed in other resorts with 5, and if so, how did it compare?

As for being ready to plan another trip, maybe we should have a volunteer-only service through the DIS where we get to plan other people's trips for them!

Just kidding.

Not really.

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[rteetz]

Finally jumping in and catching up! I'm having fun reading along. I loved your spreadsheet; I'm a spreadsheet planner myself. One positive about FP+ is that it gives us one more thing to put on our spreadsheets...to analyze and rearrange and to help us feel accomplished and organized!

How was your room with 5 people? Have you stayed in other resorts with 5, and if so, how did it compare?

As for being ready to plan another trip, maybe we should have a volunteer-only service through the DIS where we get to plan other people's trips for them!

Just kidding.

Not really.

Looking forward to reading more!

Yes I do like that about FP+ but it doesn't always offer a lot of flexibility. There is always upsides and downsides to everything.

The last two trips were rooms with 5 at POR. We made it work but it was much tighter. BC had more room for us which was very nice.

I don't think that would work for the DIS as they have their own travel agency.

 

[MommaBerd]

The last two trips were rooms with 5 at POR. We made it work but it was much tighter. BC had more room for us which was very nice.

We're planning on POR for our November trip - but wow! Your pictures are making me dream even bigger! Maybe they'll have a big discount offer for our dates!

I don't think that would work for the DIS as they have their own travel agency.

Yeah - I know. Not only does the DIS have a travel agency for a sponsor, but I can only imagine the logistical nightmare and potential complaints/"horror stories." I really was kidding, but it's a fun idea.

 

[ZellyB]

Great updates!

We were really happy to finally see the lights when we were there for our Wine&Dine trip. They were so cool to see and I'm glad we got the opportunity to see the before they are gone for good. Running through them during our "quarter-marathon" for Wine & Dine was definitely the highlight of the trip.

I love all your pictures. I totally missed seeing Kermit.

 

[rteetz]

Great updates!

We were really happy to finally see the lights when we were there for our Wine&Dine trip. They were so cool to see and I'm glad we got the opportunity to see the before they are gone for good. Running through them during our "quarter-marathon" for Wine & Dine was definitely the highlight of the trip.

I love all your pictures. I totally missed seeing Kermit.

I would have loved to run through the lights but will now never get that chance. Oh well I do hope to do wine and dine some day.

He's easy to miss. I'm sure there are things I missed and don't even know it.

 

[Ursula's Apprentice]

I would have loved to run through the lights but will now never get that chance. Oh well I do hope to do wine and dine some day.

He's easy to miss. I'm sure there are things I missed and don't even know it.

Did you see the Tinkerbell with the 20? I took pictures, but it was so bright, my camera didn't like it. She was right over the entrance/exit by Studio Catering. I'll have to see if I kept any of the photos...

Edited to add: Here we go!

 

[rteetz]

Did you see the Tinkerbell with the 20? I took pictures, but it was so bright, my camera didn't like it. She was right over the entrance/exit by Studio Catering. I'll have to see if I kept any of the photos...

I did not!

 

[Ursula's Apprentice]

I did not!

Just found the pic. Added to my last post.

Also, I don't know if you're a fan of Doctor Who, but someone who sets up the lights obviously is, as this was definitely made to look like the Tardis (The Doctor's spaceship, for lack of a better term) and one of the Doctors was famous for his bowtie, so here's a Mickey with a bowtie. I squeed when I saw it! Here's the Tardis for reference:

And here's the one at SOA:

 

[rteetz]

I guess it was a longer walk than I thought...

Before I get into this update I am going to repost my vacation video.

A couple problems occurred I guess and I had to remove Shut up and dance by Walk the Moon due to copyrights issues, and if you live in Germany I am sorry none of the music will work. So when you are listening to the three minutes of dead air just imagine that song there.

Ok, now back to the update!

We headed for the park exit.

Bye Gertie, We will see you later!











Ok we looked at the boat and saw a line, we didn't know if we would make it on this boat or not. I suggested walking since I knew there was a path and it shouldn't take that long. We hadn't done a lot of walking that day so the rest of the group agreed. After we started the walk, we had then realized we probably could've made it on that boat. Anyways we were already walking and my sisters decided to play tag and run all over the place. My Grandma, Judy and I did not.









So anyways we made it to Epcot just after that boat had arrived. Once inside my Grandma was like ok where is this place and I pointed and she looked at me like we have to walk that much more... Yeah probably should've taken the boat.

We got to Via Napoli no problem. and check in about 5 minutes before our ADR but had to wait about 10 before we were seated.



Sydnee got the spaghetti and everyone else got some variation of Pizza. Below is my Pepperoni Pizza.



And we were all very boring and got the same dessert.



Sydnee did not like it that much. Everyone else ate it. This was also my Grandma's first realization that the dining plan is a lot of food. I believe I was the only one who finished everything I ordered.

We were about 20 minutes from the start of Illuminations and I knew a prime spot would be difficult to find and that my group wouldn't want to go towards my favorite spot in Mexico. I just found a okay spot right outside of Italy.



Of course a foreign family decided to barge there way into the area 5 minutes before the show started. Thankfully they at least respected my space.



Despite it not being the best viewing spot I did like having Spaceship Earth in the background.













Continued in next post...

 

[SarahDisney]

I finally got a chance to sit down and watch the video - it's magical! Definitely brightened my day a little.

Did Sydnee run her race in a giant tutu? That's awesome!!

I love that you included some clips of Celebrate the Magic with the music. As much as its nice to just see pictures projected on the castle, I think the music makes it extra special, and it's just not the same without it. And having the Wishes music for the fireworks pictures was perfect! (Although the transition from Wishes to Kelly Clarkson was a little unexpected).

Also ... there are extra people in some of your pictures. Will there be surprise guests popping up at some point in the TR?

 

[rteetz]

This is another one of those picture overload moments. Illuminations is my favorite show.














































Continued in next post...

 

[rteetz]

Yes there are more but not too many more.



















































And so Illuminations was over... And then I was like I need to get to bed! I have to get up at 3:30AM I have a 5K to run.

Here is my steps I racked up for this day. As well as my outfit for the 5K, who can guess what movie my shirt is from?





Up Next: The Happiest 5K ever!

 

[rteetz]

I finally got a chance to sit down and watch the video - it's magical! Definitely brightened my day a little.

Did Sydnee run her race in a giant tutu? That's awesome!!

I love that you included some clips of Celebrate the Magic with the music. As much as its nice to just see pictures projected on the castle, I think the music makes it extra special, and it's just not the same without it. And having the Wishes music for the fireworks pictures was perfect! (Although the transition from Wishes to Kelly Clarkson was a little unexpected).

Also ... there are extra people in some of your pictures. Will there be surprise guests popping up at some point in the TR?

Thanks for watching!

Yes she did! My grandma and her made it before the trip.

I wanted to have actual park music along with the music I chose. Sorry if that transition was a little awkward.

I guess you will have to wait and see...

 

[phillipsjp2003]

I've been following, great report so far.

Funny enough, my whole family -ages 6 to 75 - walked from Osbourne lights to Via Napoli a few years ago...... It was my suggestion and they still haven't forgiven me for it.

 

[rteetz]

I've been following, great report so far.

Funny enough, my whole family -ages 6 to 75 - walked from Osbourne lights to Via Napoli a few years ago...... It was my suggestion and they still haven't forgiven me for it.

Thanks for following!

Luckily I think they have forgiven me but they weren't necessarily happy with me at the time.

 

[skier_pete]

I haven't had time to watch the video....but I'll comment on the post.

Brave of your Grandma to agree to do the walk to Epcot. I would not have done that.

We had Via Napoli last trip and quite enjoyed it. The biggest failing to me of the dining plan is including dessert with every meal. They effectively manage to make me sick of dessert by the end of the trip.

I don't have a fitbit, but I now have an APP on my phone that keeps track of steps. I expect a lot of 20,000 step days at WDW!

 

[rteetz]

I haven't had time to watch the video....but I'll comment on the post.

Brave of your Grandma to agree to do the walk to Epcot. I would not have done that.

We had Via Napoli last trip and quite enjoyed it. The biggest failing to me of the dining plan is including dessert with every meal. They effectively manage to make me sick of dessert by the end of the trip.

I don't have a fitbit, but I now have an APP on my phone that keeps track of steps. I expect a lot of 20,000 step days at WDW!

Yeah I don't think she would agree to do that again.

I usually don't have a problem and eat everything but people like my sister who is 10 and considered an adult on the plan can't finish a meal.

Just wait that was a lower day being only 20,000 steps.

 

[skier_pete]

Just wait that was a lower day being only 20,000 steps.

That's you not me - I avoid walking whenever I can at WDW - but that's cause I am old (well old compared to you) and have a bum foot. Still not on a scooter though!