PTR/TR: He Can Call Me Flower If He Wants To... May 2016 (TR - Completed 7/1)

[mindylee847]

PTR/TR: He Can Call Me Flower If He Wants To... May 2016

Hello and welcome to my report!!



I've done two trip reports before - one for a VERY short "escape" trip at the end of November 2015 and one for Disneyland in February/March 2016. You can find those links in my signature if you are interested.

I'll start first with introductions.

My name is Mindy. I'm 28 and come from the cold land of Wisconsin. It's May, and it still feels like we're just getting over winter. I keep thinking it's going to start snowing again. I'm a Disney addict and I love cats. I work in tax and I recently graduated with my MBA. I'm waiting to hear back on some results for a tax school I attended in Ohio last week - so hopefully I can celebrate passing that!

I'm going on this trip with my husband, Mike. He's also 28 but will be 29 on the day we get back home from this trip so we are celebrating his birthday in Disney!! That is one lucky guy - almost as lucky as Oswald! We've been together since we were 15 and are more than ever in love now after going through some of the most difficult things in our lives. I'm so very grateful to have him as my husband.

Favorite Characters: Stitch, Ahsoka Tano, Oswald, Marie, and Minnie Mouse
Favorite Rides: Tower of Terror and Space Ranger Spin
Favorite Park in WDW: Hollywood Studios
Favorite Snack: Dole Whip

Mike's List
Favorite Characters: Goofy, Tinkerbell, Mike Wazowski, and Jack Skellington
Favorite Rides: Haunted Mansion
Favorite Park in WDW: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Snack: Orange Swirl

We both agree that the best park is Disneyland - but I asked that we specify in WDW.

Let's get to some of the details!

Our trip is from May 25th to May 30th - with the 25th and 30th being almost full driving days since I don't like flying. We are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We have a standard room booked. I wasn't sure we'd really need a great view from the room. It's all about being close to the good restaurants there and I want to sit by that gorgeous pool and walk the trails on one of our nights. I've requested an "upper floor" and a "view of the Kudu Trail" so we'll see what we get!

Before we head into the first park, we are going to stop at customer service and upgrade our passes to Annual Passes!! I never believed I'd get to be an AP being all the way up in Wisconsin but it is SO happening for us this year. We have a trip already planned for the end of October too. I'm currently trying to convince Mike that it'd be FUN to go over New Years Eve. He's not buying it.

Our plan of attack for the parks is:
Thursday - Animal Kingdom
Friday - EPCOT and Animal Kingdom
Saturday - Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios
Sunday - Magic Kingdom

I feel like that's an awful lot of park hopping. It makes me a bit nervous. I don't like "wasting" time in Disney and travel time on buses can be a waste in my experience. Here's to hoping for short wait times!

I will get more into dining/fastpass details in another post before we head out.

But look what we got the other day in the mail!!

I finally got the purple band! And Mike had me pick a color we didn't have yet so he was stuck with orange. We still need pink and gray and then we will have all of the colors.

Well, that's it for now. Thank you so much for reading and hopefully you follow along!​

 

[mindylee847]

Links!


PTR
Introductions
About Me and Some Disney Prep
One Little Spark
Dining Reservations and Fastpasses
Change of Plans
Kink in the Plans

TR
Travel - On the Open Road

Day 1 - Part 1: Animal Kingdom Lodge
Day 1 - Part 2: Becoming Annual Passholders
Day 1 - Part 3: Dinosaurs and Drinks and Lions - Oh My!
Day 1 - Part 4: Trekking through Asia
Day 1 - Part 5: Jiko Must Mean "Delicious" in Swahili

Day 2 - Part 1: A Super Hero Kinda Morning
Day 2 - Part 2: Future World Flower & Garden
Day 2 - Part 3: Future World Flower & Garden Continued
Day 2 - Part 4: World Showcase Flower & Garden
Day 2 - Part 5: World Showcase Flower & Garden Continued
Day 2 - Part 6: World Showcase Flower & Garden Take 3
Day 2 - Part 7: Meeting Our Emotions Face to Face

Life Update

Day 3 - Part 1: Early Morning Magic in Fantasyland Part 1
Day 3 - Part 2: Early Morning Magic in Fantasyland Part 2
Day 3 - Part 3: A Magic Kingdom Afternoon
Day 3 - Part 4: A Late Afternoon in Hollywood
Day 3 - Part 5: Star Wars Night!

Day 4: Breakfast Goodbyes

Final Thoughts and Souvenirs

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay glad you've started a PTR!

Don't stress about the park hopping too much, I'm sure the travel between parks won't be too bad.

Can't wait to hear more about your plans!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

following!!!

 

[mindylee847]

Yay glad you've started a PTR!

Don't stress about the park hopping too much, I'm sure the travel between parks won't be too bad.

Can't wait to hear more about your plans!

So glad you found me!! Thanks for following along. The only park hopping I've done is really from Animal Kingdom to something else at night... one time during my July 2013 trip which really wasn't too bad... so I shouldn't be too worried. lol

following!!!

Thanks for joining in!!

 

[mindylee847]

About Me and Some Disney Prep​

Good Morning and Happy Friday!! I'm so excited for the weekend and SO excited that I'll be in Disney World in less than two weeks! It's so hard to believe that it's already here - and I don't think I've ever expected to need another vacation so quickly. I apologize for the text heavy update. I'll make sure to take lots of pics for the actual trip!

As those who have followed me before, know that I've been through a lot in the last few months. I want you to know that I'm a very open and honest person when it comes to my trip reports. You'll know the details and why I feel ways about certain things. It may get too deep in parts. I've opened up to this community though and have felt so welcomed and loved so I'm not going to stop. So here we go!

Right after graduating with my MBA last October, I lost my dad to suicide. So needless to say, it's been a roller coaster of emotions since then. HOWEVER - last weekend I saw my brother the entire weekend and it was actually really good. It's the first time in a long time that we were able to see each other for a long period of time and actually enjoy the full thing. We hit the cemetery together with our mom, my mother-in-law, father-in-law, and of course Mike. It was... hard. But it was a beautiful day. I've been having ups and downs ALL week. This mostly stemmed from seeing the latest Game of Thrones episode at the end of Sunday. It's one of the first shows I've been watching that can get really intense since I lost my dad. You never know what can set you off, hey?

So I've been having some really great days, but other days I've been spiraling and wondering if I've wasted all the time I had with my dad. Did I learn anything from him? Did I listen? Of course I learned things. I tried to listen best as I could at the time. Today is one of the good days though. But anyways, onto the Disney things! Sort of.

Here's a picture of me and my dad in Disney World. This was the coldest I've ever been in Disney. It was January in 2010 when it was like 35 degrees there. Being from WI, I still needed my winter coat! It was so weird walking down Main Street in winter gear seeing the castle.

Alright, enough of that (for now) - Mike and I started some at home additional Disney prep!

Mike and I have had discussions about how bad our legs were killing us last February in Disney World. We didn't really have this issue in Disneyland, but we took that at a much more relaxing pace than we do the World. Yesterday was our first official, let's walk a lot to get into shape day. We walked for 2.5 miles after I did zumba here at work for 45 minutes. I'm feelin' it!

We're going to aim to walk at least that much over the weekend and maybe amp it up as the days go by. So tonight, hopefully another 2.5 miles after dinner. I will keep you guys posted in my next update or so about how that's going! I'll also be posting my Fastpass and ADRs soon. I just don't want to do it too soon in case I change my mind again!

Well that's it for now, thank you for reading! ​

 

[missangelalexis]

That's a beautiful picture of you and your dad <3

It's good that you are building your walking stamina! Disney is such a killer on the legs and feet!

 

[mindylee847]

That's a beautiful picture of you and your dad <3

It's good that you are building your walking stamina! Disney is such a killer on the legs and feet!

Thank you! It's definitely one of my favorite pictures of us together. He was so excited to be back in Disney World.

And for reals, I'm going to write about it next - but yesterday we were in a line for over three hours so that definitely helped us get ready for our trip! Haha.

 

[mindylee847]

One Little Spark

Yesterday was one of the best Disney days of my life! And while... it doesn't really have anything to do with my upcoming trip, I thought it was important to share with you guys. Yesterday we had the opportunity to drive down to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL to see a lecture presented by Marty Sklar and some "Imagineers". They hadn't listed who was going to be there with him when I bought the tickets, but I didn't really need to know!

We headed down at about 7:45 which was a little later than I wanted to since it's a two hour drive. We got there at about 9:45, which was 15 minutes after the museum had opened. The lecture wasn't going to begin until 1 so we had some time and we decided to check out the LEGO Brick by Brick exhibit at 10 AM. I took a lot of pictures, but I'll show you the two most important ones!

We guesstimate that this was about 3.5 feet tall - but we're not exactly sure.

230 hours to build and 36,000 LEGO pieces!! This was amazing! But my husband did find a flaw. Other than the obvious "Should it be Cinderella or Cinderella's castle argument", I wonder if you can find it!

...

I'll give you a moment...

My husband pointed out that the construction picture used is actually a picture of Sleeping Beauty Castle instead of Cinderella! I reread it a few times trying to see if it was supposed to be that way, but I think it was just a "goof" on someone's part. Ah well... not everyone can be Disney crazed like us here!

After the LEGO exhibit, we headed down for lunch at about 10:30. We wanted to make sure we hit that before the crowds so that we could get over to the lecture in a timely manner. I had to tell myself to not take pictures of my meal! Habit! But I did take a picture of my dessert. I couldn't resist!

After eating, we walked through maybe two other exhibits before decided to make sure we knew where we were going for the lecture. At this time, it was about 11:30 and our tickets said not to show up until 5 minutes before the lecture.

Well, we got over to the doors, and low and behold - Disney fans were already lined up! There were probably about 75 people already in line. After reading the signs though, it said that doors would be opening up at noon so we figured we should just hop in line. Silly Disney World people - had this had been in Disneyland, everyone would have been told to go somewhere else for a while and come back later. People that read my Disneyland trip report would totally get that joke.

While we waited, I looked up information on the other two Imagineers that would be presenting with Marty Sklar. I found that Alfredo Ayala worked on both Mission Space and the Finding Nemo submarines. He was also named in the top 20 most influential Latinos working in technology by CNET en esapanol. Dex Tanksley helped create Carsland and does exactly what I wanted to do had I followed through with my engineering schooling that I had a few years ago. He's in charge of creating the "buildings" that you see on rides (like Indiana Jones in Disneyland) and for restaurants. I was fascinated and couldn't wait to hear them talk.

When the doors opened, I went left to get the books and Mike went right to grab seats.

We were given this print out of Mickey's Ten Commandments.

We made friends with people around us as we waited for the lecture to begin. There's always someone to talk to while you wait for anything Disney related!

The lecture started promptly at 1 PM. Apparently the "head of events guy" at MSI (I clearly forgot his real title) was also an Imagineer at an earlier stage of his life! Who knew? He introduced Marty Sklar to the stage.

Marty was wonderful and inspirational. He talked about why he wrote this book and a little bit about knowing Walt. He then brought up Alfredo and Dex to share their stories as well.

They both talked about their path into Imagineering. Both of them were incredibly different experiences and life journeys. Alfredo's was all about science while Dex's was all about creativity. They both entered into Imagineering through the ImagiNations program that Marty Sklar started. They were incredible and I can't wait to read their parts of the book that they contributed!

After they each presented, there was a Q&A session. This was probably the best part. Even some kids as young as 8 went up to the microphone to talk about how they want to be in Imagineering and what they should start focusing on.

These guys were amazing and brilliant. Someone had asked if there was anything they had worked very hard on that never made it to the parks. Alfredo talked about how he was asked to create Tinkerbell so that she could fly around the castle. Well, they were able to! With plasma!!! So based on pure safety measures, this wasn't allowed in the parks. It was really an amazing experience.

At this point, people actually started to get up and leave to go wait in the book signing line even though they weren't done with the Q&A. I thought that was pretty disrespectful and CRAZY! These guys were up there talking about their lives working for Disney. The reason you came here! And you are just hopping in line to get a booked signed quickly and ditch? Pssh, I didn't care how long the line was going to get. I wasn't going to miss the rest of this presentation.

Someone asked what their favorite rides were, of course. Marty Sklar didn't miss a beat and said "it's a small world" which is obviously such a classic. Dex and Alfredo said "the next one". The real emphasis of the lecture was progress and looking forward.

One thing that really stuck with my husband and I after this lecture was what Marty said about the changes in the park. He said that there are people.. kids, parents, grandparents that always get mad that things are changing in the parks. But Walt would have wanted things to move forward. Everything gets "old" after a while. Disney isn't removing and refurbishing your memories, they're trying to create new ones for the next generation. That blew me away. So many people have been complaining about the changes, but I've always said that it's for the better. And here was a Disney legend, saying the exact same thing.

They also mentioned Shanghai and how incredible this park was going to be. They were all so extremely excited when they were talking about it. It's all about the future guys! Seriously, inspiring.

After the presentation was over, we headed out into the book signing line. We were going to be in for a long one since at least half of the audience had already gotten in the line. We were in line at about 2... made friends with people around us... and finally got up to the Imagineers at about 6. I'm not kidding. Good prep for Disney World next week, amiright?

Here's Marty signing our books.

When we got up to the table, we were able to take a picture with the main man himself!

He was talking about how great these two Imagineers were and I said to him "Ya know Marty, they're only so great because you are so great." That had him blushing! I made him blush! It was so great to meet him. I can't wait to read these books and learn even more about the man that worked with Walt so closely and helped to uphold his vision and dreams!

Next we met Alfredo. He was in the middle of the table though so there was no easy way to snag a picture with him. But I did tell him that his rides make me severely claustrophobic and I can never go on them - but the one time I did, I loved it! That made him laugh for sure. He also let us know that the original name for Mission Space was going to be "The Right Stuff". While I didn't get it initially, my husband explained the joke. I still think the decision to switch the name was the right choice.

Next we got to meet Dex. This guy. Seriously. His presentation was on point and he's literally living my dream!! He's currently working on Star Wars Land!! He complimented my Disneyland Resort shirt and I explained to him that we just got back a few months ago. I started gushing on and on about Carsland. I was like "I'm sure you hear this all the time but WOWWWWW!!" and Mike chimed in to let him know that we literally sat around on a bench for about an hour/hour and a half waiting for the neon to come on. How he thought I was nuts for just sitting there but then the chills that ran over him as the music played. The amazing details with the third blink being slightly longer than the other two on the traffic lamp. All of it. We were just gushing all over this guy. He loved it! We were able to snag a pic with him.

While we were going through this process, the museum had closed at 4:30 and it was already about 6:30... guess we weren't going to make it home in time for people to come over for Game of Thrones and cooking out. But it was TOTALLY WORTH IT IN EVERY WAY OHMYGOD!!

This experience was amazing. If you find out that Marty Sklar is going to be near you for a presentation or anything at all, I 100% recommend getting your butt over there to see him. It is just so amazing to meet the brains behind our favorite place to visit. Mike was just in awe. Afterwards he talked about how great it was and how all he wanted to do was tell them thank you for bringing us so much joy and happiness in this world - especially at this point in our lives when we need it most. I'm seriously tearing up right now writing this. I don't think they'll know just how much this all really meant to us but we did try to tell them in the short amount of time we had.

This experience really makes me want to try to sign up for the Dine with an Imagineer and I think I'm going to make that a priority for our NYE or March trip next year. These people are what make the parks that we get to love and experience. I don't think I could ever thank them enough. They've all got pieces of Walt Disney in their hearts and it SHINES through them. It was as if we got to talk to different aspects of Walt through them.

Okay, I'm going to end it there before I start crying at my desk. Thanks much for reading!

Ten more days til we leave for Disney World!

​

 

[mindylee847]

Dining Reservations and Fastpasses

Alright - I'm finally going to post about my dining reservations and fastpasses that are planned for the trip!

Thursday, May 26th
Dinosaur 1:05 PM - 2:05 PM
Festival of Lion King 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM
Kilimajaro Safaris 4:10 PM - 5:10 PM
Dinner: Sanaa at 6:45 PM

Friday, May 27th
ADR: Boma at 7:30 AM
The Seas with Nemo and Friends 9:10 AM - 10:10 AM
Test Track 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
Journey Into Imagination with Figment 11:25 AM - 12:25 PM

Notes: This day is really dedicated to meeting Sadness, Joy, and Baymax in the morning and then all to the Flower and Garden Festival when it opens. I picked fastpasses just in case we need them or decide to utilize them. After we've had our fill at F&G, we plan to head to Animal Kingdom for the new nighttime festivities.

Saturday, May 28th
ADR: Disney Early Morning Magic - Fantasyland at 7:45 AM
Jungle Cruise 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
Splash Mountain 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
ADR: Symphony in the Stars: A Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party at 8:45 PM

Notes: Mike wants to eat at the Skipper Canteen this day, but as you know those are same day only reservations. I hope to snag one for around 2:30 or 3:00 PM so that we have time to digest all of it before the dessert party at Hollywood Studios!

Sunday, May 29th
ADR: Kona Cafe at 7:30 AM
Meet Tinker Bell 9:10 AM - 10:10 AM
Pirates of the Caribbean 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
Haunted Mansion 11:20 AM - 12:20 PM

Notes: I probably won't be riding Haunted Mansion, but instead I may be going to Columbia Harbour House to order our lunch so that we can hit the road faster. After my experience in Disneyland with everything that's happened, I'm not sure I'm ready to go back on or make it the last ride of my short trip. With the fastpass, I may ask a CM if it is possible for me to bypass the stretching room since that is much more possible in Disney World than it is in Disneyland. Hard to say what I'm going to do at this point.

So those are the plans with set times. The other thing I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze in is a trip to Ample Hills Creamery.... I really want to go check it out. I suppose if we want to leave our resort on Thursday night we could maybe go then after Sanaa. I really wanted to utilize that night though to take full advantage of the pool/lounge/walking trails. The other option is to leave Flower and Garden for a bit to check it out... but Mike's worried that we'll be eating so much already, do we really want to leave somewhere to eat some more? And the other option is to go on Sunday before we leave. I just don't know how much we should really try and cram in that morning before driving back up north. Decisions.... ​

 

[mindylee847]

Oh, I also want everyone to know that it snowed here over the weekend. I told you I was feeling like it wasn't over. I'm looking even more forward to getting out of this icky weather!

 

[missangelalexis]

Wow what an awesome experience for you two! Sounds like an amazing day!

You have so many fun things planned for your trip! I can't wait to hear about the Early Morning Magic and the Star Wars dessert party!

I definitely think you should spend time enjoying your resort, as well as everything at Flower and Garden. If you are set on visiting the creamery, my vote would be to do it on Sunday!

 

[mindylee847]

Wow what an awesome experience for you two! Sounds like an amazing day!

You have so many fun things planned for your trip! I can't wait to hear about the Early Morning Magic and the Star Wars dessert party!

I definitely think you should spend time enjoying your resort, as well as everything at Flower and Garden. If you are set on visiting the creamery, my vote would be to do it on Sunday!

Yes, I'm soooooooo glad I found out about it and it was close enough that we could get to it in a simple day trip. Did I say that it was amazing??

I'm really looking forward to the morning and dessert party too! I'll make sure to take pictures of the buffet tables and stuff this time. I usually get scared and chicken out, but I'm going to make sure I do it this time! FOR THE DIS!

I agree that Sunday is probably the best option! I guess, worst case scenario I'll have to try to squeeze it in when we go in October.... but that's so far away!

 

[mindylee847]

Change of Plans​

Guess who made a change to their dining plans? Me! I thought for sure I was set and done playing around with what I had since we are only there for a few days this time...

But Mike has been asking if I'm sure I don't want to eat at Jiko instead of Sanaa. Every time I'm like "No, I didn't really care for the vegetarian entree." We had gone for Thanksgiving and had the "feast" then. It was really all super delicious - except for my main course. Mike was in love with it, though.

You can find my review of the meal here.

When a main course is not something I enjoy, I tend to just steer clear of the place entirely. Like - in Disneyland I went to Blue Bayou and really did not enjoy the main veggie entree at all. So much that I swapped out for my husband's fish. I usually don't eat fish, but I make an exception when I can't eat my meal. Luckily I was so stuffed last time at Jiko from everything else, that I wasn't even that hungry for my entree anyways. And I want to note that the entree at Blue Bayou was awful - but the Jiko entree is just not something I particularly enjoy. The sweetness is not something I expect nor do I want from my entree course. It all came down to the type of spices and things used here. So really, it's just personal preference.

Because it's personal preference and I really loved everything else about the food there, I'm going to go back. Now that it's not a set "feast" like it was at Thanksgiving, I'm free to try the soup/salad as my entree rather than a small amount of options. Or maybe the flatbread! Plus, it's Mike's birthday!! And he clearly wants this more.

Plus, I reallllllllllllllllllly want the Inguday Tibs in Brik again.

Inguday Tibs in Brik - mushrooms, spinach, cheese in crispy Tunisian filo with apples and curry vinaigrette

This came with two but I actually snatched one up before taking a picture. Don't worry - my husband scolded me immediately upon doing so. These were magic!! And I'm really excited to have them again now NEXT WEEK!!

Alright - that's it for now... no other changes happening... maybe...
​

 

[missangelalexis]

I'm sure Mike appreciates the change! Yum!

 

[mindylee847]

I'm sure Mike appreciates the change! Yum!

He's excited! He's really hoping that the Winter Squash Soup will still be on the menu... I told him it probably isn't. I did just check on Disney World's website though and it is still listed! I thought it was seasonal. I'm not going to tell him either way - then he can't be disappointed... only surprised! Gosh, that soup was marvelous though. There's also apparently an Artisinal Cheese Selection according to this menu too!! I really don't know how we're going to fit in all of this food...

 

[mindylee847]

Kink in the Plans

I'm sure you've seen all of the announcements flying out of Disney today through their blog. While I'm excited for all the news... I'm disappointed to find out that everything will be started at Animal Kingdom the night of the 27th - which is what we have planned - EXCEPT FOR JUNGLE BOOK. That starts the 28th.

Well I can't exactly change my plans and shift Animal Kingdom to the night of the 28th to catch Jungle Book because we have the Star Wars Dessert Party that night. I looked online and of course, nothing was available for the night of the 27th. I'm considering having my TA call Disney to see if there's any openings that aren't showing up online but are in their system... I don't feel like my chances are good at all to make that switch.

So it's either one or the other... and while I really want to see Jungle Book, I guess I'm going to have to just hope that they still do it anyways the night of the 27th as a test run. This is Mike's birthday weekend and I definitely am not removing Star Wars stuff!

I also switched our Safari fastpass on Thursday to a fastpass for Everest. Mike likes that ride and he can go twice if my back is acting up. Win-win.



Oh and I passed Sales and Use Tax School 2!!! Horrrraaaaayyyyyy!!



​

 

[missangelalexis]

Ah that's such a bummer I know I would be disappointed too, especially when it's so tough to change plans this late!

I hope you are still able to catch a preview of the Jungle Book Show!

 

[missangelalexis]

I'm a day late but have an amazing trip and safe travels!! Can't wait to hear about it when you get back

 

[mindylee847]

I'm a day late but have an amazing trip and safe travels!! Can't wait to hear about it when you get back

Thank you!! It's only been one day so far and everything is so amazing! I can't wait to tell you guys all about it when we are back.

I will tell you that I am majorly obsessing over this hotel! Flower and Garden today!