The Quest For 15K & 18 FP+ ~ A Marathon Weekend 2016 PTR - TR Link, Page 18

[huggybuff]

And that's why I will be on the computer at 5:50 Thursday morning and start refreshing every few minutes. I want those ADRs!!

Good luck! I'm six weeks out from going for those same ADRs for my February trip. Plus quite a few more. I'm definitely prioritizing pre-park open CRT and Akershus ahead of everything else on the list. My fingers are crossed for you!

 

[SarahDisney]

Miscellaneous Update​

Since I’ve still got a few days until ADR date, I figured I’d throw in a miscellaneous update.

“Crazy” Arrival Day Idea:
Our plan for day 1 (I know, I haven’t posted daily plans yet, how can I just mention one day, blah blah blah) is to see the Electrical Water Pageant (and Wishes if we get to WDW early enough) from a monorail resort. But if we get there too close to MK closing time (or even after closing time), I’m guessing buses won’t be running to MK. So I had a bit of a crazy idea for how to get to the monorail resorts.

Here’s my plan:
Bus from Pop Century to Epcot, then monorail from Epcot to TTC, then resort monorail to wherever we decide to go (assuming its running … if not we’ll just walk to Poly).
Seems like a long detour … so why am I so excited about it?
Epcot Monorail = BEING “INSIDE” A PARK ON ARRIVAL NIGHT, EVEN WITHOUT A PARK TICKET!
Brilliant idea, right? We’ve never done the Epcot monorail, so I thought it would be a nice arrival day activity. Anyone want to burst my bubble and tell me that this won’t work? Or is this actually a really good idea?
(Getting back to the hotel we’ll likely detour via DTD … and maybe stop in for some pre-bed Ghirardelli hot chocolate)

Something New:
On each WDW trip, we’ve done something new that we hadn’t managed to hit on previous trips. This trip … I’m not sure what new thing we’ll be doing. Races won’t be new (although the 10K distance will be). Splash Mountain is a possibility, but I don’t remember when it goes down for its January refurbishment, and even if I did … past history would seem to indicate that we won’t make it on Splash Mountain for some reason (line is too longer, weather is too cold, someone doesn’t want to get wet, etc).

The only thing I can think of that has a high probability of happening is Mini-Golf. It’ll be weird not to go on any new rides. But I guess that’s what happens when you’re at WDW for the 4th year in a row (I think … 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 is 4 years, right?).

(Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of stuff we’ve never done, it’s just not really stuff that interests us … we are, to a great degree, creatures of habit)

Outfit Update
Those of you who have read my previous PTRs may know … this wouldn’t be a SarahDisney PTR without lots of shopping and discussions of outfits for the trip. So, for those of you not interested in shopping/clothing … you may want to skip this section.
Unlike the last few trips, I’m not planning to DisneyBound every day … I’ll just be adding a Disney touch in some way to each day’s outfit. But more on that closer to the trip.

We’ve got one outfit picked out so far – most likely for Epcot day.
I will be wearing …

And Beth will be wearing …

Most likely both with long sleeve white shirts underneath, since neither one of us wears sleeveless. These are from the LC by Lauren Conrad Minnie Mouse Collection at Kohl’s … there’s some really nice stuff in that collection, and it was on sale a few weeks ago, so we decided to buy!

Speaking of purchases (or, as I prefer to think of them, fun ways to get more credit card points)…

(Image taken from the Disney Store online … mine hasn’t arrived yet)

It’s my second favorite Vera Bradley pattern, not my favorite, but it was 30% off, I need a new blue bag, and it’ll make a good park bag (I think). It was a bit of an impulse buy (if you can consider a few hours of thinking about it an impulse), but one I’m glad I made. I’m actually a little too excited about it … I can’t wait for it to get here!

Life Updates
Beth started school last week. She’s not wild about Physics. And apparently I don’t remember anything I learned in Physics. Oh well, hopefully it will get better from here.
I’m the same as always. I’ve actually had a few days in a row where I was getting my entire to-do list done, but that probably won’t last very long because everyone seems to want 5 minutes (or an hour) of my attention this week. As long as I can get up at 5:45 to do my ADRs on Thursday, I’m good.

So ... that's what's going on. ADR day is Thursday, so hopefully I'll be back either later this week or early next week with an ADR update!

 

[KatMark]

I can't answer about the monorail as I try to avoid it as much as possible.

LOVE both shirts that you and your sister got, but I have a favorite -- yours. And why may you ask? Becasue I too bought it was on sale at Kohl's a few weeks ago.

I also have that Very Bradley pattern...I love it.

 

[KathyM2]

Epcot Monorail = BEING “INSIDE” A PARK ON ARRIVAL NIGHT, EVEN WITHOUT A PARK TICKET!

I love this idea...in fact I may steal it lol. I mean...for one of the nights when we may not feel like being in a park but still want to catch the fireworks.

Lauren Conrad Minnie Mouse Collection at Kohl’s …

I'm going to Buffalo in a few weeks and hope to see what Kohl's has in terms of Disney wear...since we can't get Kohl's in Canada...sigh...I love those t-shirts!

 

[SarahDisney]

I can't answer about the monorail as I try to avoid it as much as possible.

I totally get that ... Disney transportation is certainly not for everyone!

LOVE both shirts that you and your sister got, but I have a favorite -- yours. And why may you ask? Becasue I too bought it was on sale at Kohl's a few weeks ago.

Thanks! I knew you had good taste in Disney shirts!

I also have that Very Bradley pattern...I love it.

Yay! My bag is supposed to come today ... I'm very excited (and going a little crazy waiting for it...)

I love this idea...in fact I may steal it lol. I mean...for one of the nights when we may not feel like being in a park but still want to catch the fireworks.

Steal away! I think you guys will enjoy!

I'm going to Buffalo in a few weeks and hope to see what Kohl's has in terms of Disney wear...since we can't get Kohl's in Canada...sigh...I love those t-shirts!

I hope you can find good stuff! I love Kohl's, and they have some really good Disney stuff. But there must be stores in Canada that have good Disney stuff too, right?

 

[KathyM2]

But there must be stores in Canada that have good Disney stuff too, right?

Well we have the Disney store and sometimes places like Walmart carry some stuff...but we just don't have the selection (or the cheap prices) like in the US....sigh. So every once in a while we go to Buffalo for a little cross border shopping

 

[huggybuff]

I love that Vera Bradley bag. I hope the mail comes soon!

 

[SarahDisney]

I love that Vera Bradley bag. I hope the mail comes soon!

Thanks! It came a few minutes ago ... I love it already!

 

[huggybuff]

Thanks! It came a few minutes ago ... I love it already!

Excellent!!! I don't have any Vera Bradleys...I'm too hooked on Dooneys but I think the VBs would be good park bags so maybe I'll end up getting one. Hmmmm.

 

[SarahDisney]

Excellent!!! I don't have any Vera Bradleys...I'm too hooked on Dooneys but I think the VBs would be good park bags so maybe I'll end up getting one. Hmmmm.

I love the Dooneys ... my budget doesn't. The Vera Bradley is a more affordable alternative and I think it will be a great park bag!

 

[SarahDisney]

Rough Day-By-Day Plans​

As I’ve been slightly alluding to in the past few posts, it’s time for me to post the day-by-day plans. This is all just a rough outline and everything written here is subject to change, but this is what we’re thinking right now.

There are two places in this list where I use a word that some of you may never have heard/read before – “Shabbos.” All you need to know for right now is that it’s my Sabbath and I can’t be at the parks then, and I’ll fill in the rest of the relevant details (and there are more details) at a later point.

Also, this post is all words because I don’t have the patience to hunt for pictures. And I like words, so its about 4x longer than it needs to be.

Day 1 – Tuesday 1/5
Arrive @ MCO between 6:30 and 7 (depending on what flight we end up taking), take DME to Pop Century
Watch Wishes (possibly) & Electrical Water Pageant from a Monorail Resort

Day 2 – Wednesday 1/6
Magic Kingdom – Welcome Show to 3:30 or 5 PM (see details below for an explanation of the range)
runDisney Expo – 4 or 5:30 PM to 6:30 or 8 PM (for my non-runners, this is where go to get our race bibs/t-shirts and buy race merchandise … there are buses from all of the resorts, so we’ll monorail or walk over to the Contemporary to catch a bus to the Expo)
ADR: Be Our Guest, 7:15 PM (leave MK right after)
Bedtime around 9:30-10:00ish
I thought of the idea of BOG dinner the night before our first race because we love it there. However, since our plan is to be at MK for the Welcome Show, this means doing MK, leaving around 3:30ish to go to the expo, then coming back to MK. Since we want lots of time to browse at the expo, we think it’s easier to just leave MK around 4:30-5ish and spend the rest of the day at the Expo, so we’ll very likely end up cancelling this ADR. But yeah, I’m guessing my repeat readers are not surprised by the unexpected appearance of a BOG ADR.

Day 3 – Thursday 1/7
5K – Race Starts @ 6 AM (3:30-4ish wakeup; be at bus stop around 4:15-4:30ish?)
Hollywood Studios – 11:00ish to 7:30ish (stay for Fantasmic)
ADR: 50’s Prime Time Café, 2:15 PM
Dinner before Fantasmic (while waiting), Bedtime when we get back to hotel
Ideally I would like a full day at HS (I’d actually like more than a full day), but this was really what worked best with our schedule – I think that with 8 hours we should be able to get a lot done, and if we have to skip some characters and I don’t get to see all the shows I want to see, I’m okay with that. We’ll be taking a break between the race and the park just to get some of our energy back, and with the ADR (which we may end up cancelling just because ADRs ain’t cheap), that would be even more time off our feet.

Day 4 – Friday 1/8
10K!! – Race Starts @ 5:30 AM (3-3:15 AM wakeup?)
Animal Kingdom – 10:00? AM to 3:00 PM (5 hours)
Shabbos Starts @ 5:27 PM
No break between the race and the park this time – we’ll be running on fumes and coffee, but I want to try to get some stuff in, and we’ll rest on Shabbos.

Day 5 – Saturday 1/9
R&R in the room
Shabbos Ends at 6:29 PM
Downtown Disney Marketplace Shopping – 7:30 PM to Close (including dinner at Ghirardelli)

Day 6 – Sunday 1/10
Mini-Golf at Fantasia Gardens – 10:30ish AM to 12:00ish PM
Epcot - 12:30ish PM to 9:15 PM (including Illuminations)
ADR: Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, 7:00 PM
Epcot is a half-day park for us, so mini golf in the morning means we can get to Epcot later and be able to stay for Illuminations (last trip we got there at 9:30ish and were ready to get out of there by 6 … and that’s with waiting in line for every single princess). Plus, being at Epcot after the marathon means we’ll see all the runners post-race while they’re waiting in line for beer in Germany!

Day 7 – Monday 1/11
Magic Kingdom – 8 AM to Closing
ADR: Cinderella’s Royal Table, 8:15 AM
This is the day we close out MK … so whatever time it closes, we’re there. It’ll be a 12-hour day (at least), but I think we can make it (we’ve done longer, and we will be relatively well rested). Hopefully we will have taken care of most (or all) of the essentials on our partial MK day, so this will be the day we go where the FP+ takes us … aka THE QUEST FOR 18 FP+ … but more on that later.
Also … yes, we got both Akershus and CRT. Yes, this morning Beth proposed keeping those two (and nothing else). Can you tell that we love princesses?

Day 8 – Tuesday 1/12
Downtown Disney - ???
This day will be breakfast at DTD, as well as last minute shopping. What time we get there depends on what time we get up and how long resort airline check-in takes us, and what time we leave will depend on what flight we take home. But I’m excited for my Ghirardelli Caramel Iced Coffee!

 

[rteetz]

Looks good! I'll be putting my days together now that I have my ADRs set. You're at Disney one more day than we are. I'm also planning on hitting the expo right at opening on the 6th because I want to get in before the crowds do. I wasn't fortunate enough to snag a BoG ADR for dinner took one for lunch right now but that will probably change to breakfast when those become available.

 

[SarahDisney]

Looks good! I'll be putting my days together now that I have my ADRs set. You're at Disney one more day than we are. I'm also planning on hitting the expo right at opening on the 6th because I want to get in before the crowds do. I wasn't fortunate enough to snag a BoG ADR for dinner took one for lunch right now but that will probably change to breakfast when those become available.

Thanks!
I definitely think that hitting the expo at opening is a really good plan ... but we really want to do the Welcome Show at MK, and it makes no sense to do that and then leave MK without doing much to go to the expo. When we did the Princess 5K last year, we got to the expo at the very end of the first day and it was a little crowded but not too bad, so I'm hoping that most people are there early afternoon and if we arrive a few hours before closing, it won't be too bad.
I'm definitely impressed that we were able to get a BOG dinner - that's always a hard one to get. At least you got something, and hopefully you'll get the breakfast!

 

[stacy~**]

I love your arrival evening Epcot monorail plan. Sneaky way to get an inside glimpse of a park. I think I've only ridden that monorail once before.

I love the Lauren Conrad Disney shirts. Those collections are sooo cute and very nicely made. I've been tempted to purchase many things from it but usually the price holds me back. I'm glad you found a deal on them.

Yay for the Vera bag!! Those always look like the best park bags! I think I am holding out and then splurging if they release a Dooney for the race. Although my absolute favorite Disney bags are the LeSportSac ones but I haven't loved any of the patterns recently. If they release something great this fall I might cave.

Your plans (and ADRs) look great! Love that you just went for it and got all of them. I was wondering if switching your BOG to breakfast or lunch (so it won't conflict with the Expo) is possible? It might be more affordable too.

OMG those morning race day wake up times. Yikes!!!

 

[SarahDisney]

I love your arrival evening Epcot monorail plan. Sneaky way to get an inside glimpse of a park. I think I've only ridden that monorail once before.

We've never ridden the Epcot monorail, so I thought it would be a fun way to do it! We only rode the monorail for the first time in November, so the monorail is still new and exciting to us.

I love the Lauren Conrad Disney shirts. Those collections are sooo cute and very nicely made. I've been tempted to purchase many things from it but usually the price holds me back. I'm glad you found a deal on them.

I love the collection, but I hate the prices. But we tend to get discount coupons for Kohl's (its what happens when we spend a lot of money there), so the collection being on sale for 30% off plus our 30% off coupon adds up to about 50% off, which is great!

Yay for the Vera bag!! Those always look like the best park bags! I think I am holding out and then splurging if they release a Dooney for the race. Although my absolute favorite Disney bags are the LeSportSac ones but I haven't loved any of the patterns recently. If they release something great this fall I might cave.

I think they've been making Dooney bags for every race weekend ... but they sell out quick, so you'll have to try to get to the expo early.
I actually haven't really seen any of the LeSportSac bags ... I know they make them, but I keep forgetting to look out for them. I also have a mental block against LeSportSac because I tend to associate them with old ladies ... which is weird because a lot of my friends love LeSportSac and I don't know that I know any old ladies who use LeSportSac bags. So that's definitely a little weird.

Your plans (and ADRs) look great! Love that you just went for it and got all of them. I was wondering if switching your BOG to breakfast or lunch (so it won't conflict with the Expo) is possible? It might be more affordable too.

Thanks!
The problem is ... Disney won't provide food for us for breakfast or lunch. Which doesn't make much sense to me (I mean, if we can preorder the food, let us preorder kosher and then they'll have it there to heat up for us...), but it's not a point I'm going to argue with Disney. It's easier to just take what I can get.

OMG those morning race day wake up times. Yikes!!!

Yeah, those are tons of fun. I love the Disney races, but I don't love the associated early mornings.

 

[KathyM2]

Wow, great plans!! I'm excited for you doing some Disney races...ONE DAY I will too!

0K!! – Race Starts @ 5:30 AM (3-3:15 AM wakeup?)

Gah...that's early!!!

ADR: Cinderella’s Royal Table, 8:15 AM

Very jealous of this one...must have taken some prime planning lol

 

[SarahDisney]

Wow, great plans!! I'm excited for you doing some Disney races...ONE DAY I will too!

Thanks. I really hope you can do a Disney race some day ... its definitely hard to find a way to fit it into your schedule, but its so much fun!

Gah...that's early!!!

Yeah, that's the downside of the Disney races. I don't love that early wakeup call.

Very jealous of this one...must have taken some prime planning lol

It was a three step process:
1 - Book a long trip more than 180 days in advance
2 - Plan CRT for very late in your trip
3 - Be up and on the computer as soon as reservations become available at 6 AM
I don't think we would have gotten it much earlier in the trip or if we hadn't been up as soon as reservations opened!

 

[KathyM2]

It was a three step process:
1 - Book a long trip more than 180 days in advance
2 - Plan CRT for very late in your trip
3 - Be up and on the computer as soon as reservations become available at 6 AM
I don't think we would have gotten it much earlier in the trip or if we hadn't been up as soon as reservations opened!

It is a bit sad that this is what it takes to get those coveted ADR's. I will probably have to live vicariously through peoples' TR's for those...since I rarely, if ever book either a long trip or more than 180 days out lol. Oh well...sigh...I will take what I can get lol

 

[SarahDisney]

It is a bit sad that this is what it takes to get those coveted ADR's. I will probably have to live vicariously through peoples' TR's for those...since I rarely, if ever book either a long trip or more than 180 days out lol. Oh well...sigh...I will take what I can get lol

This is the first time I've ever booked this far in advance or this long of a trip ... and will therefore probably be the only time I get to eat at CRT. Occasionally you can find a reservation when someone cancels, but it's very hard. It's definitely a little annoying, especially because I almost never know my schedule 6 months in advance (I don't now either ... I just have to hope I can work my schedule around this trip). The system definitely could use some improvement.

 

[KathyM2]

especially because I almost never know my schedule 6 months in advance (I don't now either ... I just have to hope I can work my schedule around this trip). The system definitely could use some improvement.

Agreed...I have a really hard time planning so far out. I know you can cancel/change...but I would rather just wait until I know dates and stuff for sure....ugh. I don't know what's a better solution but...there has to be one lol