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[ariane37]

Did you eat at Turf Club when you stayed at SSR? We stayed there for 3 nights in 2011 and had dinner at Turf Club one night. We all really enjoyed it! For some reason you don't hear that much about it.....we enjoyed Artist's Palette, also

CSR is so close to the parks! I can't remember exact travel times but it was 6-8 minutes to EPCOT & HS, not much longer to MK and under 15 to AK I believe.

 

[BudgieMama]

We never made it to the Turf Club- we only had a week last year, so dined all our TS credits at the parks!

 

[BudgieMama]

Ooooh, the link went through on my reservation today. All into MDE now. Not sure everything is showing up yet... but it tells me I have 15 days admission on my 14 day tickets, which is lovely!

 

[LiquidSunshine]

Ooooh, the link went through on my reservation today. All into MDE now. Not sure everything is showing up yet... but it tells me I have 15 days admission on my 14 day tickets, which is lovely!

Eek! Exciting! It's one of the best feelings when MDE gets up and running. I stalked it nearly everyday (often for no real reason) last year!

We still haven't booked yet, so I am a tad jealous! We are now tossing around the idea of 2-3 nights at Universal first then onto Disney for the rest....but I can't let go of the DME to and from the airport! Decisions!

 

[BudgieMama]

Are you any closer to booking then, @LiquidSunshine? We were tempted to do a night at universal, but turns out DH wasn't all that bothered, so I think we'll leave it. To be honest, other than the Simpsons stuff, I don't know what I'd really love to see at US. Harry Potter belongs in my imagination!

 

[LiquidSunshine]

@BudgieMama

We had originally booked one night @ Universal last year, then decided to cancel as we were only squeezing Universal in towards the end of the holiday.

We went primarily for HP. One word. Amazing.

I am a huge HP fan and wondered how it would fit into my imagination (so I can understand were you are coming from!), but I thought it really was brilliant. The styling, theming, the rides...oh the rides! We both loved it, even though he has barely made it through one whole HP movie.

We ended up walking around the rest of Universal Studios (missing IoA) and did The Hulk ride, twice. It was extreme, especially compared to Disney! We only managed to walk through/past Simpsons, Jurassic Park, Transformers & Minions, and completely missed Jaws! But there is a new King Kong attraction opening next year, which he seems to be showing some interest towards!

I actually never got round to doing a trip report! I have a few photos of HP which would give you an idea of how they have done it!

Oh it will be booked! Before 9th July for sure! But there is a debate on the wedding location. I want home, he wants Orlando. I would like Orlando as a honeymoon, so I keep trying to fit it round my ideal date

But I will keep you updated....!

Are you considering any other excursions?

We did Kennedy Space Centre last year, which was really good. I booked it for him but enjoyed it myself. I would recommend it, seeing Space Shuttle Atlantis face to face is one of those holy moly moments in life!

I would also love to give Discovery Cove a visit, and definitely Busch Gardens. Not sure about Sea World though...!

 

[BudgieMama]

15 months to go!

That is all!

 

[LiquidSunshine]

 

[BudgieMama]

I was thinking last night about my bucket list for our first trip, and couldn't remember what was on it. I looked it up on my old PTR, and was pleasantly surprised I achieved almost everything on the list! Hooray!

My Disney Bucket List​

• Get my very own personalised Mickey ears- done and sitting on my bookcase as I type
• Meet Belle, and get a photo with her- done at Akershus
• Meet Mickey, and have a hug! - done several times!
• Grab at least one virtual geocache on the parks - found all four
• Get a nice photo of me and DH in front of Cinderella Castle - see avatar!
• Meet Jen from Cake Wrecks/Epbot (I have no control over this one, but I've already emailed her to ask if it's possible!) - totally did that and it was so much fun! I love Jen and John
• Do some pin trading (particularly, acquire pins of Belle, Cinderella, Mike Wazowski, Mater, Mickey, Minnie and any character from Emperor's New Groove) - managed everyone except Mater!
• Have one of those Mickey ice cream treats - thank you, Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package!
• Get some characters autographs - many, many of these!
• Swim in the resort pool - missed the big pool, but enjoyed out quiet pool! More of this next time!
• See the Fireworks at MK and Epcot - done!
• Have dinner at BOG - yummy! Done!
• Do a character meal (currently leaning towards the one in Norway at Epcot) - so, we did Crystal Palace, Akershus, CRT and Tusker House... definitely covered that!

I seriously need to write a new bucket list, and I'll update it in here... what I have so far is:

• Visit the Enchanted Tiki Room (how did I miss animatronic parrots?!)
• Do the Keys to the Kingdom Tour
• Brave Tower of Terror and RnRC
• Beat DH's score on TSMM or Buzz!
• Meet Tiana

That's all I have so far, but I'll add more as they come to mind!

 

[LiquidSunshine]

We missed Enchanted Tiki Room too!

Oh you have to do ToT! At first I was petrified, but loved it! I lost count how many times we did it! But then, my grandparents did it (twice!) when they were in their 60s, so there was no way I could return home to listen to them gloat!!!

Rock n Roller Coaster. Loved it. When you are queued waiting to get on, you see the coaster taking off with everyone on it. Again, it scared me, but once on and I got over the first butterflies, loved it. Another one we can't count how many times we ended up on it!

 

[BudgieMama]

I'm not sure how I ended up missing RnRC- I think DH didn't want to do it, and I couldn't FP+ it, so I felt mean leaving him to line up for it. He said he's willing to try it next time though, so hopefully that won't be an issue.

I totally chickened out of TOT before I got anywhere near it, to be honest. I'm not a fan of vertical drops, and I just didn't manage to pluck up the courage to give it a go! I think we'll get a FP+ for it, so I don't have too much time to chicken out!! I will try it this time, even if it terrifies me in both theme and actual ride!

 

[LiquidSunshine]

We FP+ it, but there was plenty of times the queue was under 20mins! Its really well done. The "intro" bit is good! it is a bit like Space Mountain (although we only did it once, and can barely remember it!) its quite fast, you are whizzing around in the dark but with neon signs everywhere, and there is one loop de loop (or whatever they are called! ) if my memory serves me well!

TOT - if it makes you feel better, it does feel like (to me anyway) a controlled drop. And you are not as open as some of those awful ones you see at fair grounds! Does that make sense? Plus it goes up and down a few times. There are big doors that open up so you can see out over the park - you can see if from the ground. The first time I did it, I clinged onto the DBF, but after that, I was both arms in the air! Woo!

The only ride I chickened out of was Mission: Space. We joined the Orange team, and while we were waiting for the doors to open, I couldn't do it. We had to leave with a CM through a side door. He was really apologetic too. I ended up watching a video on YouTube when I came home. I think it was the enclosed space that might have done it for me. But I am determined to give it another go. I think I would like it.

The other ride we didn't do was Test Track. For some reason it really didn't appeal to me. And I didn't like Dinosaur in AK.

 

[BudgieMama]

Did you try Mission Space Green? It was quite fun. I wasn't sure if the spinning would make me sick on the orange one, but we rode green a couple of times. I might give orange a try next time, but if not, I'll certainly do green again!

We really enjoyed Test Track- and with the single rider liner, rode it a few times back to back. We don't care if we're not in the same car, and you're actually in the best seats for your photos on Test Track if you do single rider!

I liked Dinosaur, but was a bit underwhelmed. DH didn't get it at all, but he didn't dislike it!

 

[LiquidSunshine]

No. Just got off it! I am usually ok with rides that are spinning and bouncing about, I think it was the small space.

Might give Test Track a go next time. We walked past it a few times but just wasn't interested. I think we thought Soarin' was the best thing Epcot had to offer, so that probably diverted our attention!

Maybe I was expecting something completely different with Dinosaur. I seemed to have been sitting in a funny shape, my head & back felt quite vulnerable, and I seemed to have been slipping & being thrown about.

But I am looking forward to getting back to Expedition Everest, TOT & Rock n Roller coaster. We also loved Primeval Whirl, but mainly because we had a good laugh at watching each other sliding about!

 

[BudgieMama]

There is a ride on Brighton Pier that is exactly the same track as the right hand side of Primaeval Whirl... and being on the pier, it has a better view! I do like to pretend I'm at Disney when I ride it.

 

[BudgieMama]

Look what arrived today... Depressingly high number though!

 

[LiquidSunshine]

Ooooh, the link went through on my reservation today. All into MDE now. Not sure everything is showing up yet... but it tells me I have 15 days admission on my 14 day tickets, which is lovely!

Did you get a confirmation email? I am (impatiently) waiting for mine to link, and it hasn't happened yet

Maybe I am too far out....

 

[BudgieMama]

You're not much further out than me. I got the regular invoice email, but nothing beyond that... and then one day when I was doing something else, I thought I'd put it in to see if it worked and bingo, it popped up! (I may have already customised our Magic Bands... )

 

[LiquidSunshine]

Oh did you put your booking ref in yourself?

It said up to 7 days but nothing has happened, so part of me wanted to put the booking ref in, and the other part thought I might wreck the whole thing! But now I might just put it in myself...

Ooh! What colours did you go for? Same as last time, or a change?

 

[LiquidSunshine]

OK, just tried to link myself....it didn't work.

I got an error message saying my reservation could not be located as entered. I entered all the details. Now I am sad.