November 2012- F&W, MVMCP & Smelling the Roses

[disney_dreamingmom]

Joining in! I'm so excited to finally be truly participating in all the fun here on the DIS. I've been randomly checking things out here for years (since our first trip in 2009) but this time around, I want to dive in, join the fun, and hear all about your plans. Our next trip is booked for the same week you're going, so I'm especially interested to hear what you have up your sleeve. I may get brave enough to try my own rookie trip report!
Regarding the stroller, our daughter had just turned 4 during our first visit, and we used the umbrella stroller pretty consistently but more out of convenience to stash all our stuff, etc. than out of necessity. My DD enjoyed taking a break in it but I think she could have easily done it without.
She was 5 on our next trip, and this time, we had a 7 month old, so she got bumped from the stroller and did great.... never complained and walked her little legs off. Hope this helps!

 

[jpmom97]

Love your plans so far!

When we went with my parents in 04' my mom had her own motorized wheel chair, it was so big, it took up a lot of the trunk on my dad's Explorer. She needed it at home though, no use in renting when she owned hers. But I would rent for sure and have it delivered to your hotel. My son also sat on her lap when he got tired, even though I had double stroller. He really loved it! My mom was also a diabetic, she had some good food choices at the parks. I am on HRT, I know how your mom feels, it makes me tired too. Some days I am so exhausted that I have to nap. I know it's hard to get for some but it just comes over you. Hopefully with all the fun of vacation it won't happen for your mom or me )

I am debating on a stroller for our next trip too. Even though my son will be 7, he is tiny for his age. I would love the freedom without it, to not have to come out of a ride and one of us go back for the stoller. I think I will pack it and bring it when we do the parks at night like someone else suggested. I hope during the day he will want to keep up with his brother and sister.

Can't wait to hear more plans!

 

[exwdwcm]

UPDATE

Hi everyone! Well I've been slowly tweaking our plans a little. I met with mom on Saturday night to go through them and make sure we are doing what they want to see too. Dad wants to eat at Sci Fi, so I've added that in. I originally had La Hacienda on the list too for Epcot at night, so we can try and catch Illuminations from the window. But I don't think their menu appeals to us all (and I've eaten there once). So we might try Via Napoli (I've eaten there 2x, but would be a first for them) or Chefs. I love Chefs and haven't eaten there in ages. We've done VN the last 2 trips. So have to figure that one out.

So here is the plan as it stands for now. Anyone want to bet on how often it will change?

We plan to try and fly in on Thursday afternoon/evening. We will stay in one of the values or maybe even a mod if we can get a good deal for one night. We will see. I am thinking POP or Art of Animation. We haven't stayed at a value yet at all, so I'd like to experience one. If DH wants to work that morning, I might have to try and find a later flight, but we will see. We probably won't have time to do much at all, I just see us flying in late, getting the rental car, and getting some fast food dinner at the food court before crashing.

Friday, November 9th
breakfast in room
Epcot at RD, F&W booths for lunch (hit at 10:45am)
break
DHS in evening
Dinner at Sci Fi

Saturday, November 10
Crystal Palace breakfast before MK opens (8am)
MK in morning
Family Magic Tour at 10am-12pm
fast food lunch (Cosmic Ray's or Pecos Bill)
break in room and swim
Dinner at JIKO at AKL

Sunday, November 11
breakfast in room
Epcot for RD, hit F&W booths for lunch at 10:45am
break
MK evening (closes at 7pm for MVMCP)
Ohana dinner (8pm or so)

Monday, November 12
snack in room
AK for EMH/RD
late breakfast at 10:45 at Tusker House
leave AK around 3-4pm- break in room
dinner at Be Our Guest in MK
beaches and cream dinner if not open yet

Tuesday, November 13
sleep in, breakfast in room
DTD for shopping
lunch at Paradiso 37 or Earle
break in room- nap before MVMCP
dinner at Contempo Cafe in CR
MK in evening for MVMCP

Wednesday, November 14
breakfast in room, sleep in
Hit Blizzard Beach at opening (10am)- parents sit this out
IF too cold for BB, we will probably do DHS or MK instead- or do Welcome Home Wednesday at 2pm at Boardwalk for DVC (never done this)
break in room
Epcot in evening
dinner at Via Napoli or Chefs De France

Thursday, November 15
snack in room
MK for RD for EMH at 8am
breakfast at Main St. Bakery (10am)
Pirate League or Barbershop at 11:30am
fast food lunch
Break in room
Evening in MK or DHS
fast food dinner
Top of World Lounge for WISHES?

Friday, November 16
breakfast in room
DHS for RD at 9am
break in room
Epcot in evening
Garden Grill dinner late (8pm)

Saturday, November 17- Departure Day!
snack in room
check bags at RAC, check out
Head to MK for RD at 9am
boat to Poly for 10:45am breakfast at Ohana
back to MK for a few hours
evening flight back to DFW

So that's the plan so far. I know my parents might not join us every time, but at least for meals.

I am sure this will change, but I based it on historical hours and EMH, so hoping I got those mostly right!

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[WDWCPALUM03]

Last October we used Memories by Betsy to have a special basket made and delivered for my DD who was almost 3 at the time. I highly reccommend her. She can be found on Facebook, by googling the name, and there are a few posts here on theDis about her.

 

[khertz]

Looks like a good starter plan, but we all know how much those can change over the course of a PTR! I can't really help on the restaurant issue since I've never eaten at Chefs or Hacienda, but you know we just LOVED Via Napoli. From reviews I've read, sounds like you can't go wrong with Chefs or VN. I think Hacienda requires a certain taste that DH and I just don't have so I don't see us ever trying to eat there.

I too am hopeful that Be Our Guest will be open so we can possibly try there. I bet reservations will be a pain to try and get though, so we will see how that goes. I'm just so ready for all of the information to come out for our trip!! When will Be Our Guest be open? What will the park hours be? What nights are the parties? It's all making me so crazy! I'm ready to PLAN SOMETHING!!!

 

[mousescrapper]

The plans are coming along good

I love that you have the Family Magic Tour in your plans we loved that

 

[exwdwcm]

Joining in! I'm so excited to finally be truly participating in all the fun here on the DIS. I've been randomly checking things out here for years (since our first trip in 2009) but this time around, I want to dive in, join the fun, and hear all about your plans. Our next trip is booked for the same week you're going, so I'm especially interested to hear what you have up your sleeve. I may get brave enough to try my own rookie trip report!
Regarding the stroller, our daughter had just turned 4 during our first visit, and we used the umbrella stroller pretty consistently but more out of convenience to stash all our stuff, etc. than out of necessity. My DD enjoyed taking a break in it but I think she could have easily done it without.
She was 5 on our next trip, and this time, we had a 7 month old, so she got bumped from the stroller and did great.... never complained and walked her little legs off. Hope this helps!

Welcome and so glad you jumped in! I've been on the boards since 1999 and was just a lurker for many many years! I'll definitely read along with your PTR!! I think we are going to do the stroller. At least take it and use it at night. that way he can rest if we are staying late for a parade or something. i think he'll do okay in the am without it. Thanks for the tips.

Love your plans so far!

When we went with my parents in 04' my mom had her own motorized wheel chair, it was so big, it took up a lot of the trunk on my dad's Explorer. She needed it at home though, no use in renting when she owned hers. But I would rent for sure and have it delivered to your hotel. My son also sat on her lap when he got tired, even though I had double stroller. He really loved it! My mom was also a diabetic, she had some good food choices at the parks. I am on HRT, I know how your mom feels, it makes me tired too. Some days I am so exhausted that I have to nap. I know it's hard to get for some but it just comes over you. Hopefully with all the fun of vacation it won't happen for your mom or me )

I am debating on a stroller for our next trip too. Even though my son will be 7, he is tiny for his age. I would love the freedom without it, to not have to come out of a ride and one of us go back for the stoller. I think I will pack it and bring it when we do the parks at night like someone else suggested. I hope during the day he will want to keep up with his brother and sister.

Can't wait to hear more plans!

Thanks! Hopefully she won't be too tired, but we will take a break each day and we aren't afraid to split up or even just rest in the park on a bench either. I know, it is hard to decide- the freedom of not having it is great, but having it for storage is nice too. We just took Will to the zoo last weekend with no stroller. He did fine, but after 3 hours, he was asking to be carried and the kid is tall and heavy! We also made a mistake wearing his crocs, i think he has a hard time wearing them that long to walk. i think we will do the same, bring it in at night and try not using it during the day. We usually do park opening and break by 1 or 2pm.

Last October we used Memories by Betsy to have a special basket made and delivered for my DD who was almost 3 at the time. I highly reccommend her. She can be found on Facebook, by googling the name, and there are a few posts here on theDis about her.

I've heard all about her, so i might have to look into it. She is much cheaper than the Disney Florist! Thanks,

Looks like a good starter plan, but we all know how much those can change over the course of a PTR! I can't really help on the restaurant issue since I've never eaten at Chefs or Hacienda, but you know we just LOVED Via Napoli. From reviews I've read, sounds like you can't go wrong with Chefs or VN. I think Hacienda requires a certain taste that DH and I just don't have so I don't see us ever trying to eat there.

I too am hopeful that Be Our Guest will be open so we can possibly try there. I bet reservations will be a pain to try and get though, so we will see how that goes. I'm just so ready for all of the information to come out for our trip!! When will Be Our Guest be open? What will the park hours be? What nights are the parties? It's all making me so crazy! I'm ready to PLAN SOMETHING!!!

Yeah, we've scratched Hacienda for sure. I think like you, it just wasn't my parents taste. I know they will enjoy Via Napoli. So we are putting that on for sure! I know, the schedule is driving me crazy. I had hoped hours would be released today, but don't see them yet on the TA site.

The plans are coming along good

I love that you have the Family Magic Tour in your plans we loved that

Hey there- thanks for sticking around. We are excited to try the tour! I think it will be a lot of fun. Also excited to try the Sorcerers game too!

 

[exwdwcm]

So just a quick update. Life has been busy and crazy to say the least. My Uncle Charles passed away from pancreatic cancer and while in Houston for his funeral, my Grandpa fell at his nursing home. We missed my Uncle's funeral to drive back to Dallas (5 hours or so) to be with Grandpa. This was my mom's brother and dad. He never regained consciousness (he had Alzheimer's bad) and had a DNR, so he passed away just a week after his son, my Uncle. So it was a trying time.

Mix in being super busy at work- my coworker in Ohio that supports the same product as me being laid off and basically taking on her workload..........then becoming a travel agent with Love the Mouse travel and I am pooped. I finished my Disney College of Knowledge training and have several quotes out on packages and tickets. Waiting to book my first one, which might end up being our own tickets! lol! But I am having so much fun so far quoting Disney trips and helping them with their plans.

I was certain today would be the day, as last month it was March 16th that hours were released. That was a Friday. So maybe this Friday. Who knows. I will be checking every day though!!!! I am dying to confirm hours and EMH so I can finalize my plans. ADRs are only like 26 days away.

So here are a few more updates on the trip itself:

• Decided we will take stroller, but probably only use at night.
  
• We will for sure rent a wheelchair for mom.
• Debating if/when to rent a scooter for Dad- probably will do it on a case by case basis or they can take turns in the wheelchair.
• We compared the dining plan vs TIW. I think TIW is our choice. While the dining plan would be fun to add (at a cost), it would be too much food for us and we could actually save money with TIW. I ran all the numbers, what we would order etc. and it just isn't a savings for us if we added on the DP. So we will stick with TIW.
• As mentioned- we decided to switch Hacienda for Via Napoli instead.
  

Questions I still have:

• Schedule!!! I need it!
  
• EMH- i need it!
  
• Refillable mugs----so we had these last year and loved having them. I am a coke drinking fool. Well usually coke zero. I hate diet coke and diet drinks other than coke zero. I also hate bottled or canned coke- i like fountain drinks with ice. So there in lies my dilemma. Mom is the same way, love fountain with ice. So do we splurge on buying mugs? We will have a 2 bedroom with a full kitchen and plan to order some water and drinks for the room. We can always bring our own cups/mugs and use those in the room. But we loved going down to Contempo each day to get some soda or coffee for DH. So still trying to decide if we want to do the mugs or not. It was such a nice luxury last year. Since we have a rental car, we would usually fill up on our way out to the car, and then just leave the mugs in the car all day, grab them on our way back in and fill up again on the way to the room. It worked great.
  
• Rental car- need to find a mini van! I will be waiting until closer to the trip for this as my experience is prices go down a LOT the month and weeks leading up to the trip.
• Airfare- it's still crazy out there. We will just keep on waiting to book this. Hoping to get something under $330, which is what we paid last October. If I can find something under $300 today, I'll book it, but so far, nothing. We will pay more to fly direct- we already decided that. With mom and dad's health issues and a 4yo, it isn't worth trying to connect.
  
• Flying in on Thursday night, November 8th. So we are booked at BLT for Nov 9-17th- 8 nights. I would really love to come in on Thursday afternoon or evening. This way we get a full day on Friday to do Food and Wine in the am. My parents are retired. I could easily take off Thursday. But DH is the kicker. I have to convince him. He hates taking off too much time, even though they don't even have an official vacation policy and he hardly ever takes off (yeah he is one of those). His coworkers take off a ton. So i just need to convince him......even if he works that morning, to take off at noon so we could get an afternoon flight. If I could get him to take off the whole day, that would be awesome and we could do like a 10am or something flight and actually have time on Friday night to unpack, relax and maybe do a fun meal somewhere and enjoy the resort.
• Paradiso- so i have this on here still and just can't decide if we want to do that or not......we LOVE EoS. So we could just as easily do Earle!

 

[vikkii19]

So just a quick update. Life has been busy and crazy to say the least. My Uncle Charles passed away from pancreatic cancer and while in Houston for his funeral, my Grandpa fell at his nursing home. We missed my Uncle's funeral to drive back to Dallas (5 hours or so) to be with Grandpa. This was my mom's brother and dad. He never regained consciousness (he had Alzheimer's bad) and had a DNR, so he passed away just a week after his son, my Uncle. So it was a trying time.

Mix in being super busy at work- my coworker in Ohio that supports the same product as me being laid off and basically taking on her workload..........then becoming a travel agent with Love the Mouse travel and I am pooped. I finished my Disney College of Knowledge training and have several quotes out on packages and tickets. Waiting to book my first one, which might end up being our own tickets! lol! But I am having so much fun so far quoting Disney trips and helping them with their plans.
That was a Friday. So maybe this Friday. Who knows. I will be checking every day though!!!! I am dying to confirm hours and EMH so I can finalize my plans. ADRs are only like 26 days away.

So here are a few more updates on the trip itself:

• Decided we will take stroller, but probably only use at night.
  
• We will for sure rent a wheelchair for mom.
• Debating if/when to rent a scooter for Dad- probably will do it on a case by case basis or they can take turns in the wheelchair.
• We compared the dining plan vs TIW. I think TIW is our choice. While the dining plan would be fun to add (at a cost), it would be too much food for us and we could actually save money with TIW. I ran all the numbers, what we would order etc. and it just isn't a savings for us if we added on the DP. So we will stick with TIW.
• As mentioned- we decided to switch Hacienda for Via Napoli instead.
  

Questions I still have:

• Schedule!!! I need it!
  
• EMH- i need it!
  
• Refillable mugs----so we had these last year and loved having them. I am a coke drinking fool. Well usually coke zero. I hate diet coke and diet drinks other than coke zero. I also hate bottled or canned coke- i like fountain drinks with ice. So there in lies my dilemma. Mom is the same way, love fountain with ice. So do we splurge on buying mugs? We will have a 2 bedroom with a full kitchen and plan to order some water and drinks for the room. We can always bring our own cups/mugs and use those in the room. But we loved going down to Contempo each day to get some soda or coffee for DH. So still trying to decide if we want to do the mugs or not. It was such a nice luxury last year. Since we have a rental car, we would usually fill up on our way out to the car, and then just leave the mugs in the car all day, grab them on our way back in and fill up again on the way to the room. It worked great.
  
• Rental car- need to find a mini van! I will be waiting until closer to the trip for this as my experience is prices go down a LOT the month and weeks leading up to the trip.
• Airfare- it's still crazy out there. We will just keep on waiting to book this. Hoping to get something under $330, which is what we paid last October. If I can find something under $300 today, I'll book it, but so far, nothing. We will pay more to fly direct- we already decided that. With mom and dad's health issues and a 4yo, it isn't worth trying to connect.
  
• Flying in on Thursday night, November 8th. So we are booked at BLT for Nov 9-17th- 8 nights. I would really love to come in on Thursday afternoon or evening. This way we get a full day on Friday to do Food and Wine in the am. My parents are retired. I could easily take off Thursday. But DH is the kicker. I have to convince him. He hates taking off too much time, even though they don't even have an official vacation policy and he hardly ever takes off (yeah he is one of those). His coworkers take off a ton. So i just need to convince him......even if he works that morning, to take off at noon so we could get an afternoon flight. If I could get him to take off the whole day, that would be awesome and we could do like a 10am or something flight and actually have time on Friday night to unpack, relax and maybe do a fun meal somewhere and enjoy the resort.
• Paradiso- so i have this on here still and just can't decide if we want to do that or not......we LOVE EoS. So we could just as easily do Earle!

We were debating on TIW vs DDP and have decided on the DDP for this trip, but in the future we'll most likely be doing the TIW. I also debated flying out on Thursday, but decided against it since we have about a 7 hour drive to the airport, so we'll be driving on Thursday and hopefully getting a really early flight Friday morning.

On another note, I say splurge for the mugs. I don't think you'll regret it even if you have a full kitchen.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Hey you! You need to catch up on this PTR!

I'm sorry to hear about your Grandpa and Uncle. Did you find flights yet?? I was waiting for SW but then found a great deal with United one day, so SW loses my money by holding out so long on flights!

I'm subbing, I don't know why, but I wasn't subbed!

 

[exwdwcm]

We were debating on TIW vs DDP and have decided on the DDP for this trip, but in the future we'll most likely be doing the TIW. I also debated flying out on Thursday, but decided against it since we have about a 7 hour drive to the airport, so we'll be driving on Thursday and hopefully getting a really early flight Friday morning.

On another note, I say splurge for the mugs. I don't think you'll regret it even if you have a full kitchen.

I think you are right on the mugs, plus they are a fun souvie!

Hey you! You need to catch up on this PTR!

I'm sorry to hear about your Grandpa and Uncle. Did you find flights yet?? I was waiting for SW but then found a great deal with United one day, so SW loses my money by holding out so long on flights!

I'm subbing, I don't know why, but I wasn't subbed!

HI Karen!!! Nope, no flights yet, still pretty pricey. Most at $400 direct. I did finally see something with a connection at $300, but we really want direct and will pay the extra for it. So did you already book your flight then?

 

[exwdwcm]

UPDATE

Yesterday was ADR day. Yes, on mother's day, the one day I should sleep in, I was up at the crack of dawn to make my ADRs. I had zero problem doing them online. I've heard some DVC folks having issues doing them online lately. But no problem on any of mine. I was nervous about Ohana dinner, i hear it is getting harder to book and more popular.

I got every single time I wanted with the exception of Sci Fi. It was the first one I was booking- for Friday, 11/9, and couldn't get the late time i wanted of 7:30 (they close at 8pm), all they had was 5:20. So just took it. Got every other time i wanted:

• Sci Fi 11/9- 5:20pm
• Crystal Palace B 11/10- 8:05am (before park opening)
• JIKO 11/10- 6pm
• Ohana 11/11- 5:30pm
• Garden Grill 11/13- 7pm (gives us time to catch Illuminations after)
  
• Tusker House 11/14- 10:30am (added this last minute!)
• H&V- 11/16- 8am (before park opening)
• Via Napoli 11/16- 7:45pm
• Ohana 11/17- 10:45am (late so we can sleep in or MK in am- departure day)

I also want to try for Be Our Guest midweek before our MVMCP on 11/12. Haven't booked MVMCP yet, but will before long. I now need to call and book Pirates League and attempt to get WISHES dessert party too!



CHANGES:
So as mentioned above, I added Tusker House breakfast. I realized that on 11/14 and 11/15, we didn't have any sit down meals. We usually do one per day. So i added this in. I figured we can tackle safari and EE during EMH and a few other things before our late breakfast at 10:30am. That sit down will give us a break since we plan to stay at AK until 3pm or so. We usually break earlier than that, but trying to get all of the park done that day.



My parents mentioned how much they enjoyed the WISHES dessert party when we did it back in 2009. I did as well, but just wasn't sure they were interested. So I am going to attempt to book it if available for the day we want. There is really only one day we can try and do it. From last time:

HOTEL

I am also looking to book our first night at either Art of Animation or POP. We've never stayed at a value and I know both are great. We are leaning towards AoA, but waiting to see what rate we can get. I am close to getting my CLIA certification which then gives me a TA discount on the rooms which is pretty significant. So holding out on booking until I get my certification to qualify for a discount! We will just get two rooms at a value that first night (Thursday night). Our 8 nights in a 2 bedroom at BLT are booked solid.



AIRFARE
We haven't booked air yet and probably won't for a bit. It is crazy high. The direct flights I like on AA are $400 per person. I did see a connecting flight on United or someone this week down to $300. But we need to fly direct- between a toddler, my mom's vision and dad's feet, I don't want to mess with it. Besides, I want to get to my happy place FAST! We will keep monitoring though- i check at least once a week. Southwest does not fly direct from Dallas, so we won't even consider them. I wish they did!



I've continued to fill up our big green box of goodies with snacks, toiletries etc. We have a mickey bank as well and I would venture to guess we have at least $150-$200 in coins in there (and bills), plus over $200 in VISA rewards. I just upgraded to the new card, so I'll be earning even more rewards the next 3 months. Hoping we have about $300-$400 on that. We will use that for spending money/souvies. We do pay out of pocket for dining, but will put that on the Disney VISA too to earn more points for next trip!

 

[exwdwcm]

New SCHEDULE

Well we knew it would happen- the schedule has changed! Once hours were released, I was too swamped at work and home to even work on my schedule. But finally did it last week. I debated on switching to the Thursday 11/15 MVMCP, but decided to stick with the Monday 11/12. The whole not offering a Tuesday MVMCP really threw me for a loop and the two evening EMHs at MK on Sat/Sun! Quite different from past years.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8
I haven't planned this day yet since we aren't sure what time our flight will be. My goal- book a flight that leaves at 11am and arrives MCO at 2:35pm. DH is the key here. He may want to work a half day. If so, we will have to go with a 5pm that gets in at 8;30pm. We've done that one before. I'd prefer to get in and be able to have the afternoon/evening to explore our resort, swim and maybe even visit DTD or the Boardwalk. I'd like to try out the food court at the value we stay at. If we stay at AoA, it appears their pool areas are amazing. Of course it might be too cold. So ideally, we would arrive at 2:35, get luggage and rental car, arrive at resort about 4 or just before, check in, explore, swim and maybe hit DTD or BW after dinner for some dessert.[FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9
7:15am wake up, breakfast in room (check out, leave bags to be moved to BLT)
8:15am leave for Epcot
9:00am Epcot opens
10:45am hit F&W booths for lunch
2:00pm break in room
4:00pm head to DHS
5:20pm Sci Fi Dinner
8:00pm DHS closes

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10
6:30am wake up
7:20am walk to MK
8:05am Crystal Palace breakfast
10am Family Magic Tour
12pm Tour over, lunch QS
1pm break and swim
5pm head to AKL
6pm dinner at JIKO
Hit MK until 1am if wanted for PM EMH


SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11
7:15am wake up, breakfast in room
8:30am head to Epcot
9am Epcot opens
10:45am hit F&W booths for lunch (anticipate big crowds!)
2pm break
4:30pm to Poly
5:30pm dinner at Ohana
7pm to MK (open til 11pm)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12
8am wake up, breakfast in room
9:15am head to DTD
11am lunch at Earle
12pm head to Boardwalk
12:30pm Beaches and cream (hoping we could do this on arrival night maybe instead)
2pm break in room/nap
4:30pm head to MK
5:30pm dinner at Be Our Guest (yet to be booked)
7pm MVMCP starts
9pm fireworks
10:30pm second parade

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13
9am up/breakfast
9:30am head to Blizzard Beach or park (open- MK probably?)
2pm break/swim
4pm head to Epcot
7pm Garden Grill dinner
9pm Illuminations

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14
6:30am up, breakfast in room
7:30am head to AK for EMH
8am AK opens
10:30am Tusker House breakfast
2 or 3pm break
5pm head to MK
7pm WISHES dessert party if available
8pm WISHES/MK closes

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15
6:30 wake up! Snack in room
7:15am walk to MK
8am RD at MK for EMH
10am cinnamon roll on Main St!
11am Pirate League
2pm break
4pm head to DHS, QS dinner
6:30pm Fantasmic
8pm DHS closes- see lights

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16
6:30am up
7:15am to DHS
8am H&V breakfast
9am DHS opens
2pm break in room, pack
4pm to Epcot
8:15pm Via Napoli dinner
9pm Epcot closes

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17
7:30am RAC luggage
8:30am walk to MK or sleep in
9am MK opens
10:20am boat to Poly
10:45am O’hana breakfast
11:30am head to MK
[FONT=&quot]Last year, they changed the hours on our last day and had MK open at 8am instead of 9am. We were able to get in a TON of rides at MK before our 10:30 Ohana breakfast. Hoping for the same.
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[khertz]

Looks like you have a FUN trip planned! With the Wishes dessert party & Pirates League, Will is definitely going to have a great time. Hopefully you get some good luck on the airplane tickets and can snag a good fare. We are lucky to have Southwest that has a direct flight from New Orleans to Orlando for not too much money, but it would be really great to fly from home once instead of having to drive two hours to NOLA! The extra cost just doesn't outweigh the inconvenience though, so we make the drive every time, but it can be very frustrating!

 

[archdandy]

I'm joining in! It does look like you have a really fun trip planned. We are going down the end of September and I am thinking of doing the Wishes dessert party for the first time. Is it just as good as seeing it from other vantage points around the park?

 

[exwdwcm]

Looks like you have a FUN trip planned! With the Wishes dessert party & Pirates League, Will is definitely going to have a great time. Hopefully you get some good luck on the airplane tickets and can snag a good fare. We are lucky to have Southwest that has a direct flight from New Orleans to Orlando for not too much money, but it would be really great to fly from home once instead of having to drive two hours to NOLA! The extra cost just doesn't outweigh the inconvenience though, so we make the drive every time, but it can be very frustrating!

So far no luck on the airfare, AA is still showing $440 a person RT. OUCh!!!! but still looking and being patient. Will thinks he gets to go to Disney for his birthday every year now. I swear he is spoiled rotten. I told him not every kid gets to go, some kids never get to to and how lucky and blessed we are. I don't think he gets it though. I so wish we were close enough to drive, the drive from here is killer. Not sure how my parents made it with three young girls in a station wagon toting a pop up camper.

I'm joining in! It does look like you have a really fun trip planned. We are going down the end of September and I am thinking of doing the Wishes dessert party for the first time. Is it just as good as seeing it from other vantage points around the park?

WELCOME!!! Thanks for reading along. WISHES dessert party is awesome- i do recommend it. I can say I have had better views of WISHES though- the location for the party is just a little off to the right of the castle- towards Tomorrowland. So you are sitting off to the side a bit. You are pretty close, so have a great view, but just not a direct on center view. YOu won't be able to see the MSEP well either. But we didn't care, we wanted to see WISHES. We had a front table and perfect view. The desserts were awesome. Here is a shot of how the fireworks looked from our table at the party. We hate waiting in line or dealing with crowds and we refuse to line up hours before a parade or fireworks. So this was perfect for us- still got us a great view without having to stake a spot in the crowds.

 

[exwdwcm]

UPDATES

No major updates since booking ADRs. I did book our Family Magic Tour for Saturday, November 10th! A guy my husband works with is taking his family for like 5 days while we are there. I met his wife for lunch one day to help her plan. She was so thankful. I'll be booking their tickets for them at some point soon too (I am a Disney TA now!). They already have a room through a CM friend with a CM discount, so all they need is tickets. Anyhow- they are going to do the Family Magic Tour with us. They have twin boys my son's age and a daughter that is 7 or 8, so should be a good time to share that!

I do need to book Pirates League and also our MVMCP tickets. I might do that this week.

I've continued to check for decent airfare to no avail. Still not finding anything good with direct flights.

The only other news is that I upgraded to the new Disney VISA, so I am earning more rewards (3x) for the next 3months. I am up to $300 in rewards and hoping to hit $500 before the trip. It was a $50 annual fee, but I've already earned almost $100 from it since upgrading. We have the room through points, Mom bought our tickets, I paid for the tour, so all that is left is the MVMCP, Pirate League, my ticket (waiting to get my CLIA license to qualify for the TA discounted ticket) meals and airfare. We will put meals on the credit card, so really just a few more things to pay for and we are good!

I have started researching gift baskets through Disney Florist and a few other sites. I want to order Will something. I always make my own little goodie bags for him, but I want to do something professional this time- it will be fun for all of us. I might do something fun for my parents too. We will see!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Im here!!!! and all caught up!

 

[Happy Mom2]

I'm here!!

 

[exwdwcm]

Im here!!!! and all caught up!

yeah- welcome!!!

I'm here!!

welcome!!!