Is Mickey a Captain or a Jedi? Both! - May '15 Land & Sea ~ Updated 6/14: Trip Report Started!

[Dugette]

One Month from Today – Tuesday, May 26th

Well, this should be a pretty easy day to write about. Departure day.

We get up, pack up the last-minute things, then head downstairs to breakfast at Cape May Café. Looking forward to this – Lauren & I went here in June and had a great time. Good food and great characters – including Minnie! Not to mention that it’s right in our resort!

We have a 1pm flight, so I’m expecting a Magical Express pick-up around 10am. So, we might have a bit of time to kill, but not expecting much. Maybe we will hang out in the Solarium while we wait, as we did back in Nov. 2010 when we stayed at BCV.

Unfortunately, we are flying on an airline that doesn’t participate in the Resort Airline Check-in, so we will have to bring all our luggage on board, then do the regular check-in at MCO.

I think we will eat lunch at the airport. Maybe some Chick-Fil-A? Mmmmmm.

We’ll hopefully have a nice flight during Izzy’s naptime. I really am crossing my fingers that she sleeps through the flight – just so much easier on Mommy! Maybe I can sleep or read…ahhhh, sounds heavenly!

We land about quarter after 3 Central time and Dug’s sister will pick us up from the airport and bring us back to our car. We’ll drive home and get back to real life. Normal day of work and daycare for us all the next day. Luckily, it will be a short week, since it will be Wednesday.

Whew, I guess that’s it! If only all the daily plans were so simple.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Your plans for your last few days look great! I will cross my fingers that you will get the best possible scenario for your H&V dinner.

You mentioned this a few days ago (but I don't think I commented?) - I hope you find a way to keep a Liberty Tree Tavern lunch ADR. We LOVE LTT - it's one of the best restaurants in MK. The Ooey Gooey Toffee Cakes is delicious, of course, but the rest of their food is pretty awesome, too!

I'm so excited that you're going to Akershus - the cold bar, the eggs, and the coffee are all really good here! I was a super fan of the fresh bagels and the lingonberry cream cheese. Princess-wise, we had Snow White, Mulan, Ariel, and Aurora (as well as Belle at the front) back in 2012. A recent question on the on the restaurant boards gave a similar line-up (although Cinderella is sometimes swapped out for one of the other wandering princesses). I'm sure you guys will love it!

Breakfast in the castle?! Yay! Back-to-back princess breakfasts sound awesome!

Regarding your plans on the 24th...
Based on several of your scenarios, it sounds like you may be walking past the Beach Club sometime between 12-1:30. My sister and I will be having lunch at Beaches and Cream at 12:10 (we're two of the pesky people that have one of their few lunch ADRs! ). If your plans end up taking you past us, it would be wonderful to meet you guys! Hopefully a Beaches and Cream lunch ADR opens up - that would be the best scenario ever!

 

[StephanieE]

The last day is always so hard! It's great that you have a short week and you can just take a little break and start planning for the next one!

Looks like you guys have great plans and you will have another amazing trip!

 

[hokieinpa]

I'm a little behind, so catching up!

While I was at it, I saw custom embroidered pillowcases with a Disney cruise theme. And you can have those signed on the ship (drop with Guest Services and they come back with character signatures). And easier to transport than a photo mat. And Izzy loves pillows, so I thought that was a reasonable souvenir.

This sounds like a great idea! A fun souvenir and I think Izzy will like using it!

Izzy is a Disney princess expert these days – she can rattle off their names like they’re old friends. So, I’m hoping she’ll get a kick out of chatting with them.

Oh I know she will love it! I'm not sure we'll ever make it to a Princess meal (maybe I'll have to make an ADR at Akershus or CRT on a solo trip!) so I live vicariously through other TRs!

I mean, we’ve got to check out the creepy clown sometime, right?

I just think there are so many other options that were open to Disney instead of that creepy clown slide!

We’ve got to be up and at ‘em early this day so we can enter the Magic Kingdom before rope drop. Park has a 9am opening and we have an 8:20am ADR. That should give us maybe 20 minutes to take empty-ish Main Street/castle pictures, if we play our cards right. I love to have that opportunity!

Pre-park opening at MK!!!

However, when I saw a Cinderella’s Royal Table pop up on MDE for that time, I had to grab it. I mean, we’ve never been in the castle and Izzy loves princesses these days and she’s still free and breakfast is the “cheapest” way to eat in there. So, why not?

Perfect! I think it's a great idea to eat here while Izzy is still free. And having breakfast with the Princesses inside the castle? Magical!

Oh, I'd also like to have Izzy meet Jessie & Woody at some point during our MK days. She loves them!

I would love to meet them next trip! We tried a couple of times but they were never out when we were in that area!

For lunch, we go to another castle – we’ve got Be Our Guest at 12:25pm. Again, saw that ADR pop up and couldn’t resist snatching it up.

2 castles in one day! Disney perfection!!

Then we can go check in at BCV and have Izzy nap – either in the room or in the stroller while Dug and I trade off pool time. When she wakes up, she can join us. She might have about the same amount of pool time with either scenario, but Dug and I get more this way.

Sounds like a great way for everyone to enjoy some pool time! Stormalong Bay looks amazing!

Again, dinner plans are currently to trek back to DHS and say hi to Jedi Mickey at Hollywood and Vine at 7:50pm. If I can get that meal on the previous day, I will do my best to change this dinner back to Beaches & Cream.

Hoping everything works out with your ADR juggling act! I'm impressed that you can keep all the details straight!

We get up, pack up the last-minute things, then head downstairs to breakfast at Cape May Café.

Sad day but a great way to end the trip!

We’ll drive home and get back to real life. Normal day of work and daycare for us all the next day. Luckily, it will be a short week, since it will be Wednesday.

It's so hard to get back into your routine those first few days! What do you mean there isn't a parade and a Mickey bar waiting for me this afternoon???

Whew, I guess that’s it! If only all the daily plans were so simple.

But isn't half the fun working out all these plans?

 

[Imagineer5]

And this is why I do these posts and get feedback! I can't believe I didn't notice that! Yes, you're right, we'll have to forego the Rider Swap (unless we find some "friends" with a baby nearby ). I guess it just stuck in my mind that we got one for you and Aria, but didn't occur to me that it was due to Izzy. I think maybe Dug and I will both get 4th FP+ for this and either we can all ride together (I was concerned he might not fit comfortably, but with me and Izzy together he'd have his own seat, so might be fine) or else Izzy and I can use his FP+ to ride again if he doesn't.

hahahaha glad I could help! I think Dug would be fine, prob even sitting with izzy but definitely on his own in a seat.

See post above for cuteness.

That pic was adorable!

was free up my Tier 1 FP+ for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (9:25am)! I am so happy, as we couldn’t work it into our FP+ before and were looking at doing Standby/Single Rider. And we once had a VERY bad Single Rider experience there (significantly longer wait than Standby),

Yay!! Yeah single rider is really hit or miss (usually miss!) ugh! Glad you were able to grab that FP. Not sure when Lynda & Aron will get that in, but it isn't on my list anymore lol.

One more random: Dug was talking to one of his co-workers that lives near WDW today and she told him about a super-secret viewing spot she has for Illuminations. But he also swore to her that I wouldn’t post about it on the DIS. We will probably try it out on our trip, however.

Ummm you might need to PM me We are planning on Illuminations on the 15th.

We start this day with a pre-park-opening Akershus ADR at 8:15am (Epcot opens at 9am). I’m assuming we can get in around 8am through the International Gateway? Can anyone confirm? Assuming that is the case, we’ll stroll over from the Boardwalk Villas and enjoy a quiet World Showcase on our way to Akershus.

Yeah they'll let you in around then, probably even 7:50 or so. Its a bit of a walk around and people can have ADR's as early as 8.

So, I’m hoping she’ll get a kick out of chatting with them. When I looked up the info on which princesses appear, it seemed to indicate it may vary. Which princesses would you experienced Akershusians expect we would meet?

Belle, Snow White, Aurora, Ariel and Cinderella were the ones we had.

At 10:30am, our Figment FP+ opens up. I guess this is actually helpful these days. So strange, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a line for this.

Where did you hear that a FP is necessary for Figment? lOL hopefully that is not the case.

You know, I just remembered that Dug said something about a Tomorrowland movie exhibit/preview in the Captain EO space. I just looked it up now and it’s making me want to see the movie (watched the trailer). I’m pretty sure we shouldn’t drag Izzy to a midnight movie on the Dream, though, right? Anyway, Dug might want to see this exhibit – not sure if this day or on our first weekend, before potentially seeing the movie.

I am also planning to check out the preview thing!

Our last FP+ is for the Character Spot at 11:50am. This isn’t necessarily a must-do, as I believe Izzy will have met a lot of characters over the course of the trip, but it’s still nice to have. After that, we’ll head to lunch. Wherever that may be.

You know you'll go! lol

Can you see why planning this trip has been such a headache for me? I feel like it’s an impossible puzzle and the pieces keep changing on me. Ugh.

I am not any help because you have so many what-if's but I really hope your plans fall into place and you get that FoF parade in earlier, get a better H&V time for this night, then have tons of Stormalong bay time the next day.

Originally, we had a Crystal Palace ADR at 8:15am. And we were very happy with that, as we love CP breakfast, especially pre-park-opening. However, when I saw a Cinderella’s Royal Table pop up on MDE for that time, I had to grab it. I mean, we’ve never been in the castle and Izzy loves princesses these days and she’s still free and breakfast is the “cheapest” way to eat in there. So, why not?

That will be so much fun!

Hoping they have a morning one this day and we can see it. Oh, I'd also like to have Izzy meet Jessie & Woody at some point during our MK days. She loves them!

If we have any spare MK time I'd like to do this too, never lined up for them at MK but Aria would love it.

For lunch, we go to another castle – we’ve got Be Our Guest at 12:25pm. Again, saw that ADR pop up and couldn’t resist snatching it up. We had lunch there on our first trip with Izzy and really enjoyed it, so happy to go back again.

Very fun!

Then we can go check in at BCV and have Izzy nap – either in the room or in the stroller while Dug and I trade off pool time. When she wakes up, she can join us. She might have about the same amount of pool time with either scenario, but Dug and I get more this way.

Trading off pool time would be good - you can get in a couple runs down the slide! Be sure to head over there with Izzy though as there is that little toddler slide she'll hopefully love!

Again, dinner plans are currently to trek back to DHS and say hi to Jedi Mickey at Hollywood and Vine at 7:50pm. If I can get that meal on the previous day, I will do my best to change this dinner back to Beaches & Cream. Otherwise, we can pick something else in the Boardwalk area.

Captain's Grill is right there too and a good option for no-ADR's. Or you could just grab some food at the bar and eat at the pool, esp if you got back later after the FoF parade.

We get up, pack up the last-minute things, then head downstairs to breakfast at Cape May Café. Looking forward to this – Lauren & I went here in June and had a great time. Good food and great characters – including Minnie! Not to mention that it’s right in our resort!

That is the perfect end! That will be so much fun.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I suppose the one downside to doing your "1 month from today" posts is that you have to go through the last day twice. Sounds like a good plan though to have the character meal that morning for one last bit of fun (one last experience with Minnie) and then head out. Nice to not get home too late as well. I hope everything goes smoothly!

Saw this picture today - seemed appropriate for your trip:

 

[afwdwfan]

Ok... I had multi-quotes and lost them. And now I'm being lazy.

Anyway, I'm glad you could re-arrange some SWW FP+ to get some more flexibility. And the fact that part of that flexibility was getting RnRC is a huge bonus!
Sorry that plans keep changing for you, but you seem to be doing a great job of making the best of all the changes and rolling with it. I still hope you can get the H&V Fantasmic ADR that you want!

Your private Illuminations viewing spot sounds awesome. However, if you aren't going to share with us, the kind thing to do would have been to not even mention it...
Now I'm sitting here trying to think of what it could be.

I like your change to CRT. I'm sure Izzy will love it and it seems to work well for you. I hope that you can get Festival of Fantasy out of the way on the 24 hour day, because I know you'll definitely want to get plenty of pool time after your check in at Beach Club. That is one place I really want to stay sometime just to hang out at the pool!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Apparently I missed a few updates! Sorry I'm not up to responding as much as usual. The pain meds for my tooth are making me sleepy.

Sunday, May 24th

Plans and contingencies look good.

First off, we started this morning with a small tribute to Sleepy Hollow’s waffle sandwiches. I had seen someone talking about the nutella/fruit waffle sandwiches in a PTR (sorry, I forget which one ) and it made me think – why don’t I just make one of these at home?

yum!

We also got more Mickey mail. I guess we all got a set of red Magic Bands too:

I honestly don’t remember what the third set will be, so I guess we’ll be surprised when that one shows up. I guess that’s what I get for picking them out so long ago.

surprises are always fun!

Guess what he was doing? Stalking H&V ADRs too! We haven’t got anything yet, but double the manpower now!

However, when I saw a Cinderella’s Royal Table pop up on MDE for that time, I had to grab it. I mean, we’ve never been in the castle and Izzy loves princesses these days and she’s still free and breakfast is the “cheapest” way to eat in there. So, why not?

Sounds like good logic to me

Departure day.

Always sad!

 

[Tracy161]

Reading about your Sunday, May 24th plans are a little bittersweet At about the time you'll be heading into Akershus, I'll be close to JFK en route home after a 6am flight out of MCO! I'm doing my very best to just ignore that part of my trip

Oh my goodness! Your waffles look amazing!!! Especially the nutella one! That snack is absolutely on my must-eat in a couple weeks!!!

Yay yay yay on your CRT ADR!!! That will be amazing! And how fun to hit up both castles that day for meals!

It's always nice to start back into the "real world" partly through the work week. Nothing is worse than coming back and dealing with Monday on top of your trip being over.

 

[Dugette]

Your plans for your last few days look great! I will cross my fingers that you will get the best possible scenario for your H&V dinner.

Thank you! I haven't gotten the ideal one yet, but I did find some improvements (coming up... ).

You mentioned this a few days ago (but I don't think I commented?) - I hope you find a way to keep a Liberty Tree Tavern lunch ADR. We LOVE LTT - it's one of the best restaurants in MK. The Ooey Gooey Toffee Cakes is delicious, of course, but the rest of their food is pretty awesome, too!

I can't wait to try it! It always seems to get good reviews and we should be set with it now (again, updates coming).

I'm so excited that you're going to Akershus - the cold bar, the eggs, and the coffee are all really good here! I was a super fan of the fresh bagels and the lingonberry cream cheese. Princess-wise, we had Snow White, Mulan, Ariel, and Aurora (as well as Belle at the front) back in 2012. A recent question on the on the restaurant boards gave a similar line-up (although Cinderella is sometimes swapped out for one of the other wandering princesses). I'm sure you guys will love it!

Sounds great! Can't wait to try it! We've never done a princess meal before, but I think Izzy is at a perfect age to get a kick out of it!

Breakfast in the castle?! Yay! Back-to-back princess breakfasts sound awesome!

Super excited to finally do this! We've always wanted to eat in the castle - seems like something you have to do at least once.

Regarding your plans on the 24th...
Based on several of your scenarios, it sounds like you may be walking past the Beach Club sometime between 12-1:30. My sister and I will be having lunch at Beaches and Cream at 12:10 (we're two of the pesky people that have one of their few lunch ADRs! ). If your plans end up taking you past us, it would be wonderful to meet you guys! Hopefully a Beaches and Cream lunch ADR opens up - that would be the best scenario ever!

That would be great! Maybe just have them change your ADR to 5 people? (kidding, kidding) I hope it works out to meet up!

The last day is always so hard! It's great that you have a short week and you can just take a little break and start planning for the next one!

I'm glad to have a short week on both ends of the trip. I guess that's a nice thing about having your trip expand more than you intended.

Looks like you guys have great plans and you will have another amazing trip!

Thanks, I hope so!

I'm a little behind, so catching up!

No worries - I don't know how anyone could keep up with the daily updates!

This sounds like a great idea! A fun souvenir and I think Izzy will like using it!

I think she'll get a kick out of it. It was just too cute to pass up!

Oh I know she will love it! I'm not sure we'll ever make it to a Princess meal (maybe I'll have to make an ADR at Akershus or CRT on a solo trip!) so I live vicariously through other TRs!

That would be fun on a solo trip, I bet! Or drag the boys along.

I just think there are so many other options that were open to Disney instead of that creepy clown slide!

I agree. I have heard that it's a really fun slide, though, so hopefully that will help to distract us from the creepiness (Dug really does not like clowns!)

Pre-park opening at MK!!!

Yay!

Perfect! I think it's a great idea to eat here while Izzy is still free. And having breakfast with the Princesses inside the castle? Magical!

That's my justification! Looking forward to having this experience!

I would love to meet them next trip! We tried a couple of times but they were never out when we were in that area!

I hope we can meet them. Izzy loves them these days.

2 castles in one day! Disney perfection!!

Woo hoo!

Sounds like a great way for everyone to enjoy some pool time! Stormalong Bay looks amazing!

I can't wait to go there again and share it with Izzy!

Hoping everything works out with your ADR juggling act! I'm impressed that you can keep all the details straight!

I have to refer to MDE a lot! So hard to keep things straight!

Sad day but a great way to end the trip!

Never fun to leave, but sounds like a really nice last day/travel day to me. We're used to spending part of the day in the parks, then scrambling back to barely make the Magical Express, then having a late flight back and not much rest before going back to work. This should be pretty relaxed!

It's so hard to get back into your routine those first few days! What do you mean there isn't a parade and a Mickey bar waiting for me this afternoon???

Haha, I wish!

But isn't half the fun working out all these plans?

I think I wore out on the fun a couple months ago. Too much stalking MDE can make a person crazy.

hahahaha glad I could help! I think Dug would be fine, prob even sitting with izzy but definitely on his own in a seat.

That's good to know, thanks! Just seemed like it might be pretty tight seating, compared to other rides. I'm thinking, if he were next to Izzy, the bar wouldn't hold her in at all.

That pic was adorable!

Aw, thanks!

Yay!! Yeah single rider is really hit or miss (usually miss!) ugh! Glad you were able to grab that FP. Not sure when Lynda & Aron will get that in, but it isn't on my list anymore lol.

Hope they can have a good single rider experience! I'm really glad to have a FP+ for it. I just have such bad memories of the other SR experience there.

Ummm you might need to PM me We are planning on Illuminations on the 15th.

Haha, I might need to. The 15th is our back-up night for Illuminations if we don't end up getting out of Garden Grill in time on the 14th - would be fun to see it together, if that happens.

Yeah they'll let you in around then, probably even 7:50 or so. Its a bit of a walk around and people can have ADR's as early as 8.

Great!

Belle, Snow White, Aurora, Ariel and Cinderella were the ones we had.

Sounds perfect!

Where did you hear that a FP is necessary for Figment? lOL hopefully that is not the case.

Can't remember who, but someone said that the FP+ was actually causing a line there on their trip.

I am also planning to check out the preview thing!

You know you'll go! lol

Probably hard to resist.

I am not any help because you have so many what-if's but I really hope your plans fall into place and you get that FoF parade in earlier, get a better H&V time for this night, then have tons of Stormalong bay time the next day.

Thank you! That's all I ask - it shouldn't be so hard!

That will be so much fun!

Can't wait to dine in the castle!

If we have any spare MK time I'd like to do this too, never lined up for them at MK but Aria would love it.

Izzy is literally sleeping with her Jessie and Woody dolls tonight (and last night). Makes for some fun sounds on the monitor when they start talking. Also, she makes them kiss all the time.

Very fun!

I'd been thinking it would be fun to try dinner, but that just didn't work out this time. Super happy to do lunch there again, though. Maybe I can finally try a cupcake this time!

Trading off pool time would be good - you can get in a couple runs down the slide! Be sure to head over there with Izzy though as there is that little toddler slide she'll hopefully love!

I didn't even know there was a toddler slide! Izzy will love that, I'm sure!

Captain's Grill is right there too and a good option for no-ADR's. Or you could just grab some food at the bar and eat at the pool, esp if you got back later after the FoF parade.

Good ideas! Thanks!

That is the perfect end! That will be so much fun.

I hope so. I love that it's right at our resort, makes it easy!

I suppose the one downside to doing your "1 month from today" posts is that you have to go through the last day twice. Sounds like a good plan though to have the character meal that morning for one last bit of fun (one last experience with Minnie) and then head out. Nice to not get home too late as well. I hope everything goes smoothly!

Thanks! True, it's like the trip is ending before it's begun. I like this last day, though. Seems a lot more relaxed than our crazy last days of the past.

Saw this picture today - seemed appropriate for your trip:

Love it!

Ok... I had multi-quotes and lost them. And now I'm being lazy.

I've been there, no worries. And I don't think you can possibly be lazy with all that late-night farming you'll soon be doing.

Anyway, I'm glad you could re-arrange some SWW FP+ to get some more flexibility. And the fact that part of that flexibility was getting RnRC is a huge bonus!
Sorry that plans keep changing for you, but you seem to be doing a great job of making the best of all the changes and rolling with it. I still hope you can get the H&V Fantasmic ADR that you want!

Thanks! So glad to get RnRC and I'm making progress on H&V, at least.

Your private Illuminations viewing spot sounds awesome. However, if you aren't going to share with us, the kind thing to do would have been to not even mention it...

Now I'm sitting here trying to think of what it could be.

Sorry! Dug promised his co-worker I wouldn't post it online. However, I can tell you that I googled it and it's definitely out there and not top-secret. And, for those with good DIS-knowledge, it's in an area that Rob would approve of. I think that's vague enough that the whole internet won't know.

I like your change to CRT. I'm sure Izzy will love it and it seems to work well for you. I hope that you can get Festival of Fantasy out of the way on the 24 hour day, because I know you'll definitely want to get plenty of pool time after your check in at Beach Club. That is one place I really want to stay sometime just to hang out at the pool!

Yay on this! Coming in the next update, I did manage to make that FoF change, so we'll have more Stormalong Bay time! Super excited to enjoy it there. Just hoping for a nice day. The only other time we stayed there was Nov. 2010 and it was so cold that I couldn't fully enjoy it. May should be better!

Apparently I missed a few updates! Sorry I'm not up to responding as much as usual. The pain meds for my tooth are making me sleepy.

No problem - I hope your tooth is doing much better!

Plans and contingencies look good.

Thanks!

yum!

The waffles were really tasty! And easy to make!

Still waiting for set #3 of Magic Bands. Pretty ridiculous.

surprises are always fun!

I'm thinking they might be blue. We'll see...

Glad he is trying to help make this work too!

Sounds like good logic to me

Yep!

Always sad!

Wish WDW trips didn't always have to end!

Reading about your Sunday, May 24th plans are a little bittersweet At about the time you'll be heading into Akershus, I'll be close to JFK en route home after a 6am flight out of MCO! I'm doing my very best to just ignore that part of my trip

Aw, that makes me sad for you! Hoping you'll have had a full and wonderful trip, though. You must have a recovery day with Memorial Day before going back to work? That sounds nice!

Oh my goodness! Your waffles look amazing!!! Especially the nutella one! That snack is absolutely on my must-eat in a couple weeks!!!

Since we have a waffle maker, it was really easy (and delicious!) In fact, the waffle mix (Krusteaz) actually came with a sample of Nutella (but we got a bigger tub too). Funny, it's like they knew what we were doing.

Yay yay yay on your CRT ADR!!! That will be amazing! And how fun to hit up both castles that day for meals!

It's going to be wild morning!

It's always nice to start back into the "real world" partly through the work week. Nothing is worse than coming back and dealing with Monday on top of your trip being over.

Very true! And we've been there, having done a lot of weekend trips a few years ago. Glad for the holiday week and extra Disney time!

 

[Dugette]

Updates & Changes

Hi, all! Only two weeks and two days until our crazy vacation extravaganza begins!

We’ve all been sick, but hoping that means we’ll be healthy for the trip. I was thinking that was a good thing about May – not in the midst of cold season vs. winter when everyone around here is sick. Dug and Izzy had colds and I managed to avoid them until today – woke up with a nasty sore throat, stayed home, basically slept all day long, and finally feeling a bit more normal now. Ugh.

I’ve got a hodge-podge of trip-related updates tonight. Let’s start with the ADR and FP+ adjustments, I guess. I’ll try to put these in context, as I don’t expect anyone here to remember the various scenarious – heck, I have to look in MDE to know what we have booked at this point.

First, the FP+ changes. I finally managed to get both of us FP+ for the Festival of Fantasy parade on the 24-hour day (5/22). Yay! Originally, I could only get one and it was for the Noon parade, which conflicted with our 11:55am Liberty Tree Tavern lunch. Luckily, I was able to snag a 1:00 LTT ADR too, so it would have worked okay. However, I never found a second FoF for noon – instead, I found two for the 3pm parade. I snatched those up and we will stick with our original 11:55am lunch now (guess I still need to cancel the 1pm). I’m happy with this scenario, as it’s what I was hoping for on this day. We did have to drop our Mine Train FP+ to do this, though (only available time was during parade). But we both have Mine Train FP+ on 5/25, so I’m not too heartbroken. I also shifted our FP+ for the mountains slightly, to make sure we had time to walk across the park. Big Thunder is now 1:05-2:05pm and Space Mountain is 1:30-2:30pm. We plan to do these with Rider Swap while Izzy is stroller-napping between lunch and the parade (about 1-3pm). We still have Peter Pan’s Flight from 3:50-4:50pm, after the parade.

Making those adjustments achieved my main goal of NOT having to stick around MK on 5/25 for the FoF parade. This is our one day to enjoy the pool at the Beach Club and the parade time was really cutting into it. That day is now freed up a bit and we can leave the MK earlier in the afternoon. I changed the FoF FP+ we had for 5/25 to Under the Sea from 11:25am-12:25pm, which we’ll do right before our 12:25pm Be Our Guest Lunch. Right after lunch, we’ll meet Anna and Elsa (12:50-1:50pm window), then head out for the Beach Club. Hoping we’ll be back by 2-2:30pm. I realized that we may not have a room yet, so we’ll have to plan for Izzy napping in the stroller while we switch off using the pool/waterslide, I think. Then, when she wakes up, she can join us.

Okay, so on to ADR changes. If you recall, I have some Jedi Mickey H&V, Mama Melrose, and Beaches & Cream juggling going on. Everything is kind-of intertwined and I still don’t have exactly what I want. In an ideal world, we’d have a Jedi Mickey H&V around 7pm on the 24th WITH Fantasmic. Then, on the 25th, we’d have a Beaches & Cream dinner. We’d cancel Mama Melrose entirely and not go back to DHS on the 25th (after swimming). That hasn’t happened yet. I’ll keep stalking ADRs.

But I did make some adjustments on the back-up options. I had a Jedi Mickey H&V at 7:50pm on 5/25. This was within my acceptable window, as it would allow us to relax and swim at Stormalong Bay without rushing to a meal. However, it is pretty late for us to have dinner. Well, last night, I was able to snag the same thing, but for 7:35pm. So, that is a bit more reasonable now – a 15 minute improvement, at least. Just tonight, I was playing with the extremely glitchy ADR system and managed to find another option, between glitches and error searches. I got a 6:25pm Jedi Mickey H&V WITH Fantasmic this same night, 5/25 (and it let me keep both, as they’re more than an hour apart). This is a bit earlier than I’d like, but it still gives us a few hours at the pool, which is probably sufficient. We’d have to head for DHS by about 6pm, I think. We’d have dinner, maybe get in a couple attractions or character meets, then attend the 9pm Fantasmic. If we go with this, we’d try to do Beaches & Cream on the previous day (5/24) and cancel Mama Melrose. I think this is a pretty good option, though I’d prefer H&V be around 7pm.

However, another option I snagged earlier today is a 5/24 Jedi Mickey’s (NO Fantasmic) at 5:05pm. Though this is a bit early, we could do it, as we have the second half of this day free (Epcot in the morning). I don’t love it, though, as we’d have to do our Mama Melrose lunch at 1:10pm to get the Fantasmic Package for later. Plus, there would be a big gap between dinner and Fantasmic, but not a big gap between lunch and dinner. I was hoping to try the Boardwalk pool that afternoon, but our time will be really limited if we have 1:10pm MM lunch and 5:05pm H&V dinner. As a side note, I’d also had a 6pm Mama Melrose WITH Fantasmic this night, but had to drop it to get the 5:05pm H&V. So, that’s not an option anymore.

One final ADR note is that I have a Beaches & Cream on 5/24 at 3:50pm. I don’t think this is ideal in any way (odd time), but if we do the 5/25 Jedi Mickey with Fantasmic, that frees up our lunch and dinner on 5/24, so I guess this could be one of them? We won’t be staying at Beach Club just yet, but it’s a short walk over from Boardwalk.

Have I thoroughly confused anyone yet? I’m pretty confused myself.

On to other thoughts. It occurred to me the other day that we could do a family photo shoot over at the Beach Club. We did this at the Polynesian on Izzy’s first trip and it turned out great (through Disney Event Photography – mini shoot is $150 with all digital images included). This wasn’t really on my radar, but I was feeling guilty that we haven’t had professional pics of Izzy since her 2-year shoot, so this could be her 2.5? It is a really good deal. I think it’s a matter of finding the time. If we do wipe out the need for DHS meals on 5/24, that could be a good option – maybe right after that awkwardly-timed Beaches & Cream meal? We don’t have anything booked, but something to keep in mind, if it’s even available.

A different trip prep thing I’ve been thinking about is our Fish Extender gifts. Here’s the breakdown and plan (in case anyone in Group Mickey is lurking from our cruise thread, you may want to skip the rest of this update!):

27 adults, of which I’d consider 15 separate couples/individuals (so, 15 gifts)

8 5+ year olds, 4 boys, 4 girls, age range 5-13

5 toddlers, 3 boys, 2 girls, age range 1-4

None of those include us, by the way. Here’s what I had been thinking for gifts:

Two of those High-Five highlighters for the organizer of the Fish Extender and the organizer of the Mixology Class:



I already have 20 of these planners (the Mickey/Minnie on the left), so probably one to each adult/couple and maybe a few bonus ones to older kids or something?:



Also already have 15 of the notebooks with post-its on the right, so one of those to each adult/couple.

I have eight of these water tumblers for the eight 5-13 year old kids:



I was also planning to get five Mickey straws while at WDW (they’re like 59 cents each at Columbia Harbour House and other places. These would be for the toddlers.

I also ordered a dozen Pirate Rubber Duckies, also for the toddlers, a couple to each. I read that these are fun for playing in the bathtub or at the beach.

The last thing I’d been thinking of doing, for all 13 kids (ages 1-13) was making “Eye Scream” kits - an idea off of Pinterest. Basically, including a spoon and sprinkles and a note with Mike Wazowski saying to “just add eye scream.” Seemed like a cute idea. But I don’t have any of the things for it. I stopped at Party City after work yesterday and saw some things I could maybe use:



Monsters U stickers to put on the notes.

Maybe the cups down on the bottom? (I was thinking bowls, but didn’t see any):



Green spoons:



However, I totally forgot to see if they have what I’d really like to find: Mickey Sprinkles! I thought that would be so cute, but finding small individually packaged Mickey Sprinkles seems to be an impossible task. And I’m starting to think maybe I should scrap this idea. Plus, at least one of the kids has a dairy allergy.

While at Party City, I did see some other ideas. Let me know if you think any of these could take the place of the all-kid ice cream gift:



These were teeny tiny little Viewmasters. They actually worked too – with Mickey and friends in them. Not sure if they work long-term, but cute, fun, and cheap.

There were some Mickey stickers and some crayons:



Also, some small bottles of bubbles:



Lots of other sticker sheets:







Ring pops:



And I had been thinking about filling those older-kid tumblers with candy and these seem like appropriate options:





I’m sure I’m overthinking all of this, but if anyone has advice, fire away!

So, to summarize, I have currently (or planned):

Bonus gift of highlighters to each organizer (2)

Notebooks/post-its and Mickey/Minnie planners to each adult/couple (15)

Water tumblers filled with candy to each older kid (eight 5-13 year olds), plus maybe Mickey/Minnie planners to the oldest ones (I think one 12 & one 13-year-old).

Mickey Straws and Pirate Rubber Duckies (2/each) to the 5 youngest kids, ages 1-4 years old. Maybe some of that candy for them too?

What else would you add/change?

I think that’s where everything is at for now. Anxiously awaiting the delivery of our Fish Extender and Custom Pillow Case. The fabric markers arrived today, so the characters on the cruise can sign it for Izzy. I also got the travel potty seat today. Izzy didn’t want to use it tonight – she said it was too small and used the big potty instead. We’ll see if she changes her mind on that. I mean, if she doesn’t need a potty seat, it’s that much easier, but also less sanitary. I’ll keep offering it to her to try.

I also went through Izzy’s wardrobe the other day and took pictures of everything. Once I get that together, I may let you all help choose outfits for her. I am thinking that Dug and I may need to do laundry on the trip, though. We don’t have quite as extensive of a wardrobe as she does.

 

[Leshaface]

But, wait, don't men like a bouncy Minnie too?

I love that you can never predict what a toddler will say. Like tonight, before bed, she grabbed her picnic basket and a Swiffer duster and walked past Dug saying, "Excuse me, Daddy. I'm going to work."

Oh my goodness, where in the world did she get that from?!

Awesome! They're twins! If we meet up in DL and they still fit in their shirts, they should wear them on the same day!

Totally! Okay, not sure where my quote went, but definitely keep me updated on your DLR dates in November! That would be great to meet you and Dug and have our kids meet!

I'm a total lame-o, as I was like, "Aw, but I don't want to get really wet on a waterside!" when I read this. I apparently am just in it for the "slide".

That's something I'd totally say! But it is a lot of fun.

So, you liked it there? MEK didn't care for it. I think most people enjoy it, though.

She didn't like it?! I love how relaxing it is! No kids, no screaming. Just peace and quiet with the waves hitting the shore and the occasional server walking around asking if you want a tropical drink I sold you on the bolded right?!

Well, technically you just schedule nursery time and they have cribs, so they can do nap time. I got that idea from another TR!

Very smart, got to remember this.

Wow, isn't there a time limit on those? It's going to be tempting to book something...

I believe there was a time limit at one point. In fact, the second to last time rotfl:- cause we do this all the time!) we were told that they were enforcing that dummies must be taken within a certain period and could no longer be pushed back. But then they got rid of that so we were able to push it again! I know we're bad.

Or, better yet, re-do Stitch’s Great Escape into a new Miles From Tomorrowland attraction?! That would be so much better!

Yes!!!

I covered the beginning of today as part of yesterday. Late night and/or early morning. Dug and I just talked about things and we’re thinking it’s unlikely that he will go over to the 24-hour-day wee hours. The next day, MK hours were extended to 1am and then 1-3am EMH. So, he could get his fill of the MK then and hopefully avoid the crowds of the 24 hour day. We’ll see what we think in a month, but that seems more reasonable. Then he will get plenty of sleep before the big Deluxe Premium Feel the Force Package day.

Wow, not that it's a bad thing for guests, but i'm shocked they extended the hours after a 24 hour party. Cool!

We’ll grab some free drinks and snacks while we wait. Our package allows us to follow the parade up to the stage. Dug was considering dressing up and/or putting Izzy in her Ewok costume, but not sure if we’ll do that.

That would be awesome! Wonder how hot it would be though?

Oh, I just remembered that shopping at Darth’s Mall (with no line) is part of our package. Maybe this is the time to do that?

Haven't been, but have seen pics and this place looks amazing.

So, in case you are wondering (as I was), when you go into MDE and choose to replace your existing FP+ (vs. just making changes), you will NOT lose your existing ones unless you go all the way through and finalize/complete your selections. I only mention this because I was terrified that I’d lose them by doing it this way, but I couldn’t make the adjustments I needed by just going in and making changes. I actually did a test run with my departure day FP+ selections (that I don’t intend to use unless our flight is delayed) – figured it wouldn’t be a big loss if those went away. Well, they didn’t – so feel okay about making new selections, despite the scary warnings that you will be replacing/losing your old ones. Hope that makes sense. I only mention it, as it scared me and I couldn’t find info on how it would work.

I do think this scenario happened to me in January. I can't remember which park, but I was just looking at other available times for an attraction and I when I went back to my homepage, it had cancelled my FP

In other news, I did some online shopping today. Man, these trips make me buy things!

This always happens to me too. More especially with a kid

But he also swore to her that I wouldn’t post about it on the DIS.

Oh WHAT?!?! But we're you're DIS brothers and sisters, you can't do that to us!

You know, I just remembered that Dug said something about a Tomorrowland movie exhibit/preview in the Captain EO space. I just looked it up now and it’s making me want to see the movie (watched the trailer)

I saw the trailer too and it's something I'd definitely want to see!

Can you see why planning this trip has been such a headache for me? I feel like it’s an impossible puzzle and the pieces keep changing on me. Ugh.

Totally understand. It would be very frustrating.

Ooh these look delicious! The ham one especially.

You can find more info on the Budget Boards or the DVA website, but the quick version is that you can get $20 as a bonus for each $1000 you spend from your account. I spent somewhere between $2k-$3k (couldn’t use it for renting DVC, since that’s not directly through Disney, but can use it for cruise fare and tickets), so I got $40. I’ll take it! Another nice thing is that you can get your remaining balance sent to you on Disney Gift Cards (max of $1k at a time, I think) before your trip. So, I put $990 in $50 and $100 Disney Gift Cards in there recently (all bought at Target for 5% off with my Red Card) and they are going to send me a $500 and a $490 Disney Gift Card back. I like this, as I don’t have to lug a ton of cards along and have the CM run dozens of cards to pay off my balance. Should save some time. We’ll use these (plus some more $100s that I’ll get – Target just started offering the $100s! ) to pay off our room charge balance, which will be mostly our dining expenses.

Cool got to look into this!

We get up, pack up the last-minute things, then head downstairs to breakfast at Cape May Café. Looking forward to this – Lauren & I went here in June and had a great time. Good food and great characters – including Minnie! Not to mention that it’s right in our resort!

This will be the best way to end a vacation for sure!

On to other thoughts. It occurred to me the other day that we could do a family photo shoot over at the Beach Club. We did this at the Polynesian on Izzy’s first trip and it turned out great (through Disney Event Photography – mini shoot is $150 with all digital images included). This wasn’t really on my radar, but I was feeling guilty that we haven’t had professional pics of Izzy since her 2-year shoot, so this could be her 2.5? It is a really good deal. I think it’s a matter of finding the time. If we do wipe out the need for DHS meals on 5/24, that could be a good option – maybe right after that awkwardly-timed Beaches & Cream meal? We don’t have anything booked, but something to keep in mind, if it’s even available.

I remember seriously considering doing this for our last trip because of your experience. I think it would be a great idea!

I already have 20 of these planners (the Mickey/Minnie on the left), so probably one to each adult/couple and maybe a few bonus ones to older kids or something?:



Also already have 15 of the notebooks with post-its on the right, so one of those to each adult/couple.

I have eight of these water tumblers for the eight 5-13 year old kids:



I was also planning to get five Mickey straws while at WDW (they’re like 59 cents each at Columbia Harbour House and other places. These would be for the toddlers.

I also ordered a dozen Pirate Rubber Duckies, also for the toddlers, a couple to each. I read that these are fun for playing in the bathtub or at the beach.

The last thing I’d been thinking of doing, for all 13 kids (ages 1-13) was making “Eye Scream” kits - an idea off of Pinterest. Basically, including a spoon and sprinkles and a note with Mike Wazowski saying to “just add eye scream.” Seemed like a cute idea. But I don’t have any of the things for it. I stopped at Party City after work yesterday and saw some things I could maybe use:

Love all your ideas and never even thought about going to Party City to look for items! I forgot about all the small items and stuffers they have, but I especially love the little camera!

 

[Tracy161]

I am thinking that Dug and I may need to do laundry on the trip, though. We don’t have quite as extensive of a wardrobe as she does.

All your changes - proposed or otherwise - look great! I think I was able to keep up with them all

I think the ideas for the gifts are awesome! I think the bubbles and stickers would be very entertaining for kids in that age group

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Sucks you all are sick but I do think this is good sign for a healthy trip - which I think is a goo trade-off

Hope your first choice for H&V works out - though I think your back up sounds good. I tend to be paranoid about leaving plenty of time so a 6:25 ADR gives you extra time if there are delays, etc to get to Fantasmic! with time to get good seats, etc.

Man I feel like we slack with getting professional picture as we have only done Olivia twice, Peter once, and never with Emma yet . Your photo shoot at the Poly was great though so doing another sounds like a good idea

You fish extender stuff looks great . I like the idea of the "eye scream" but if one kid is dairy intolerant might not be best. I am sure the younger ones would love bubbles and stickers, and those little viewfinders are cute and different.

Man, I am just thinking that if everyone else put as much thought and effort into this you are going to come back with a ton of stuff!

 

[Imagineer5]

First, the FP+ changes. I finally managed to get both of us FP+ for the Festival of Fantasy parade on the 24-hour day (5/22). Yay! Originally, I could only get one and it was for the Noon parade, which conflicted with our 11:55am Liberty Tree Tavern lunch. Luckily, I was able to snag a 1:00 LTT ADR too, so it would have worked okay. However, I never found a second FoF for noon – instead, I found two for the 3pm parade. I snatched those up and we will stick with our original 11:55am lunch now (guess I still need to cancel the 1pm). I’m happy with this scenario, as it’s what I was hoping for on this day. We did have to drop our Mine Train FP+ to do this, though (only available time was during parade). But we both have Mine Train FP+ on 5/25, so I’m not too heartbroken. I also shifted our FP+ for the mountains slightly, to make sure we had time to walk across the park. Big Thunder is now 1:05-2:05pm and Space Mountain is 1:30-2:30pm. We plan to do these with Rider Swap while Izzy is stroller-napping between lunch and the parade (about 1-3pm). We still have Peter Pan’s Flight from 3:50-4:50pm, after the parade.

That works out great to see FoF that day! Perfect. And great use of nap time with the FP's

We’ve all been sick

I hope it passes quickly for you!

I got a 6:25pm Jedi Mickey H&V WITH Fantasmic this same night

You could plan to show up like 15 minutes late? I know on our Cali Grill night we are planning to show up early because I can't find an earlier ADR.

1:10pm MM lunch and 5:05pm H&V dinner

Honestly if you'll be in DHS already, I would do this route personally. Show up early to MM and a little late to H&V. It shouldn't be too bad. That will free up your next afternoon. Just what I would do

On to other thoughts. It occurred to me the other day that we could do a family photo shoot over at the Beach Club

I haven't gotten to this day yet, but we did this and really loved the photos we received. I think for the price it is totally worth it, though our Poly shoot was better IMO (just a better photographer) but I think that was luck of the draw. But what I REALLY wanted to comment on was that these were VERY limited time slots. I called months in advance and I think they were only doing 1 day or 2 days per week at the BC and only certain times. That's how we ended up nixing Beaches & Cream and doing the photoshoot before ANdrew headed off on his flight home.

These were teeny tiny little Viewmasters. They actually worked too – with Mickey and friends in them. Not sure if they work long-term, but cute, fun, and cheap.

I didn't do the fish extender on our cruise (boring, I know, just didn't have the time or energy) but all of your ideas sound wonderful. Considering the dairy allergy I might nix the monster ice cream if you can't find bowls (though green bowls could work and they can decorate w/ stickers?) but the other cute things you found would be fun too. Aria has a Jake sword that shows different scenes from jake and the neverland pirates and she loves it, so I think the mickey viewfinder would be cute esp for the 2/3 year olds.

I think that’s where everything is at for now. Anxiously awaiting the delivery of our Fish Extender and Custom Pillow Case. The fabric markers arrived today, so the characters on the cruise can sign it for Izzy. I also got the travel potty seat today. Izzy didn’t want to use it tonight – she said it was too small and used the big potty instead. We’ll see if she changes her mind on that. I mean, if she doesn’t need a potty seat, it’s that much easier, but also less sanitary. I’ll keep offering it to her to try.

Did you try it out at home or out and about? Aria was SO tiny when we was newly potty trained that she just couldn't use the big seat, which is why we did the travel one (seriously she has the smallest bum ever hahahaha), but I know we didn't use it much at home, but we always used it while out. Hopefully she will want to use it when out, just tell her the seat is yucky or something.

 

[afwdwfan]

We’ve all been sick, but hoping that means we’ll be healthy for the trip.

Yuck. Hope you're all feeling better soon. I've been fighting a cold for a few days too. Just something about this time of year, going back and forth from 70 degrees one day to 50 the next always does that to me.

However, I never found a second FoF for noon – instead, I found two for the 3pm parade. I snatched those up and we will stick with our original 11:55am lunch now (guess I still need to cancel the 1pm).

Great! I'm glad it all worked out!

That hasn’t happened yet. I’ll keep stalking ADRs.

Good luck!

One final ADR note is that I have a Beaches & Cream on 5/24 at 3:50pm. I don’t think this is ideal in any way (odd time),

Looks fine to me. I mean, 3:50 is a perfect time for an ice cream break. Maybe not a full meal, but it would be a good time for a snack.

Have I thoroughly confused anyone yet?

I’m pretty confused myself.

I can only imagine...

These were teeny tiny little Viewmasters. They actually worked too – with Mickey and friends in them. Not sure if they work long-term, but cute, fun, and cheap.

Great idea! I'm sure they'd love them. But then you're also mentioning bubbles and stickers. I think any of them would be a hit with the smaller kids. Stickers, maybe not so much of a hit with the parents and DCL people though. Let's face it, kids want to put their stickers on EVERYTHING.

And I had been thinking about filling those older-kid tumblers with candy and these seem like appropriate options:

Great idea!

I’m sure I’m overthinking all of this, but if anyone has advice, fire away!

You are overthinking it. You've definitely got some good ideas and are more creative than I am.

 

[jeni16]

Hope you feel better soon!

A few more ideas for you. The puzzle/colors, stickers/markers & dry erase board are all from the Dollar Tree. The word find book is from the Target Dollar Spot.

Bubbles are always a good choice for toddlers. DS can't seem to get enough. Same with the colors. I thought the word find books might be good for the older kids. They had a few different themes.







Not sure why the upside down photos but you get the point. Darn photobucket.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

I finally managed to get both of us FP+ for the Festival of Fantasy parade on the 24-hour day (5/22). Yay!

I got a 6:25pm Jedi Mickey H&V WITH Fantasmic this same night, 5/25 (and it let me keep both, as they’re more than an hour apart)

 

[ashw100]

Finally caught up. It looks like the changes you made will be good but I do admit its a little confusing. I'm glad you were able to benefit from the changes to the tiers for SWW shows. I know that really helped me out. I like the fish extender gifts . Also, love the waffles you made, yum. Your trip is getting really close, its so exciting . Can't wait to see the things you ordered.

 

[hokieinpa]

We’ve all been sick, but hoping that means we’ll be healthy for the trip.

Hoping everyone gets their sickness out of the way now! Fingers crossed!

First, the FP+ changes. I finally managed to get both of us FP+ for the Festival of Fantasy parade on the 24-hour day (5/22). Yay!

Glad this worked out for you and made lunch plans move along nicely!

Have I thoroughly confused anyone yet? I’m pretty confused myself.

Certainly confused but it seems like you have lots of options and back ups! I hope you find those last few ADRs that will make everything fall into place!

On to other thoughts. It occurred to me the other day that we could do a family photo shoot over at the Beach Club.

Great idea! I bet there are some beautiful back drops at Beach Club!


As far as the Fish Extender gifts, everything looks great! I think putting some candy in the water bottles is a good idea! And the viewfinder is cute for the young kids. Bubbles are fun too! If you need something else to fill it in, what about those play packs (coloring book, crayons, stickers) that are $1 at Target/Walmart/Party City. We love those when we are heading out to dinner!