Wait, weren't you just at Disney World? An August '14 Pre-Trip Report *updated 8/24*

[poison ivy]

Thank you and hope your family had a nice day as well.

I fully agree that parents add to the hype and can feel like it is "the thing to do" and that they have to get involved to fully appreciate things or they would be missing out. I mean, I think it happened with the running of the bulls for Toy Story Mania as well ... word spread that that was what you had to do, so more people did it which meant it became more important that you did it so more people did it, etc.

Hopefully things calm down a bit by the time we go ... actually, as long as we can get a FP+ for it we shall be good! At least they added that as an option versus the only way to meet them being getting a pre-park opening ADR for Akershus or waiting for 4 hours

Well I am here to tell you that getting a FP+ should work out no problem. We're heading down for a last minute 3 day Star Wars whirlwind trip June 5-7. Booked two days ago.

Our MK day is thurs, June 5 and there is a long list of FP+ times to choose from for Elsa and Anna that day. So I am confident you will be able to secure something once the window opens up.

what's gone are all parades and fireworks.

I was even able to score dinner at BOG for 5:30pm that night if we wanted it - but my son is choosing to do lunch instead which has a crazy roundabout FP+ reservation system.

He booked the 3 of us using an online direct link he found thru Disney for it, that sends you NO Confirmation and has NO Listing anywhere once you complete the reservation.

It does not show up on My Disney Experience and if you call Tech Support they will tell you they can't view it in any system they have access to since it's strictly thru the MK's database. Disney Dining can't confirm it either.

All we can do is show up that morning and check once we're inside the park.
Should be fun.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Well I am here to tell you that getting a FP+ should work out no problem. We're heading down for a last minute 3 day Star Wars whirlwind trip June 5-7. Booked two days ago.

Our MK day is thurs, June 5 and there is a long list of FP+ times to choose from for Elsa and Anna that day. So I am confident you will be able to secure something once the window opens up.

what's gone are all parades and fireworks.

I was even able to score dinner at BOG for 5:30pm that night if we wanted it - but my son is choosing to do lunch instead which has a crazy roundabout FP+ reservation system.

He booked the 3 of us using an online direct link he found thru Disney for it, that sends you NO Confirmation and has NO Listing anywhere once you complete the reservation.

It does not show up on My Disney Experience and if you call Tech Support they will tell you they can't view it in any system they have access to since it's strictly thru the MK's database. Disney Dining can't confirm it either.

All we can do is show up that morning and check once we're inside the park.
Should be fun.

Ah, that is excellent that getting FP+ for Anna/Elsa isn't too bad .... that was my nightmare scenario to go online at midnight 60 days out and everything be gone so glad to hear not so crazy.

That's cool that you got BOG! I have still been checking periodically but I think if we don't get it that will be ok and I will try to do that FP for the lunch (I think they only make the timeslots available like around 45 days our or so

Enjoy your trip! Once my kids are a bit older and actually into Star Wars (Olivia is not into any movies that have any scary parts - and actually asked me if the Ewoks are good guys or bad guys) I am hoping to make it down for a Star Wars weekend. They look like fun! (though hard on your wallet with all the cool merchandise)

 

[khaleesi]

Great Easter pictures!!! And I vote for "good" parenting on the Cadbury egg front... I love those things!

 

[emmysmommy]

Great family photo at Easter Phil. Peter was adorable in his little tie. Ahhh the Cadbury egg breakfast, done that.

That 2 lb chocolate bunny that Olivia found.... was she sharing that??

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Great Easter pictures!!! And I vote for "good" parenting on the Cadbury egg front... I love those things!

Thank you! we figured if we kept it to just one candy item we were doing pretty well! The only issue with the creme eggs is sometimes Peter only eats like 1/2 of his and then we find it "somewhere" in the house

Great family photo at Easter Phil. Peter was adorable in his little tie. Ahhh the Cadbury egg breakfast, done that.

That 2 lb chocolate bunny that Olivia found.... was she sharing that??

Thank you! We love the little ties and formal wear for little boys, looks very cute.

So as far as the 2 lb bunny goes, Judi took it to the park yesterday for a "play date" with about 8 other kids, and they still only go through 1/2 of it

 

[Dugette]

Hi! I have been meaning to make it over here forever and finally managed to carve out some time to read over lunch today and tonight, so here I am. I want to read your previous TR too, so that is next on my lunchtime reading agenda.

Assorted comments:

First off, congratulations on your soon-to-be little princess! Very exciting! And, a great excuse to go to WDW. Wow, that is an awesome benefit to get a bonus 4 weeks off and how perfect that it lines up with a new baby. We were very fortunate that Dug had accumulated a ton of sick time and was able to stay home for about 2.5 months with Izzy after I went back to work. That was such a valuable thing for all of us - for me transitioning back, but for him and Izzy bonding and him really getting to know her and understand how to care for her. Of course, you've done this a couple times before... Still great that you get all that time.

Yay, a fellow Disney spreadsheet geek! Sounds like a good schedule of ADRs.

Woo hoo for catching discounted tickets!

Nice job finding the Frozen stuff and dress. We actually just watched our Blu-ray of it yesterday (saw it in the theater, sans Izzy). We don't normally let Izzy watch TV, but we had it on while she was up (rainy, lazy day) and she LOVED it. Just tonight, she was pointing out all the characters to me on the disc package. Such a good movie!

Cool review of Aladdin on Broadway!

Itinerary thoughts:

The best part of FP+ is being able to use it when you show up late to the park - like your first day plan. TSM without an early-morning stampede or long line is awesome.

We love Brown Derby. Hope you have a good meal there.

Yay for pre-park-opening breakfast ADRs!

Hmmmm...on the parade/break conflict, that's a tough one. Will you have a double stroller? Will Peter nap in it? Maybe one of you could go to the parade with Olivia and the other could take the nappers to somewhere quiet (maybe the baby care center?).

We did Garden Grill a few years ago and enjoyed it. It's not the most amazing food ever, but it's good and the views are awesome. Also, the characters were great and came around multiple times. Very relaxed character meal compared to a lot of the others.

Sounds like a fun Disney Jr. show! Great memories.

Easter: Eh, eggs for breakfast, totally cool!

Not sure how set on your resort you are at this point, but since you were talking about it early on and I just read it: I wouldn't stay at the Poly this summer. We were okay there in December, but all of the posts I'm seeing from Tikiman on Facebook appear to be showing much more magic-lessening construction than we experienced. Contemporary not only has the monorail, but has the benefit of being able to walk to the MK (nice when the monorail is down, which happened to us!) Keep an eye out for further discounts or you could look into renting DVC points at BLT like Imagineer5 is (very cool that you might meet up, by the way! - she and I missed each other in December). If you need an alternative to the Poly beach or BLT lounge for watching Wishes, we watched them from the dock at Fort Wilderness last trip and that was nice (piped in sound too, if I remember right). I think you'll be totally happy in a Royal Room at POR too, but it is nice to have a monorail/walking option at the deluxes with a stroller, especially if you're taking a break at the resort each day.

Looking forward to following along now!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Hi! I have been meaning to make it over here forever and finally managed to carve out some time to read over lunch today and tonight, so here I am. I want to read your previous TR too, so that is next on my lunchtime reading agenda.

Assorted comments:

First off, congratulations on your soon-to-be little princess! Very exciting! And, a great excuse to go to WDW. Wow, that is an awesome benefit to get a bonus 4 weeks off and how perfect that it lines up with a new baby. We were very fortunate that Dug had accumulated a ton of sick time and was able to stay home for about 2.5 months with Izzy after I went back to work. That was such a valuable thing for all of us - for me transitioning back, but for him and Izzy bonding and him really getting to know her and understand how to care for her. Of course, you've done this a couple times before... Still great that you get all that time.

Yay, a fellow Disney spreadsheet geek! Sounds like a good schedule of ADRs.

Woo hoo for catching discounted tickets!

Nice job finding the Frozen stuff and dress. We actually just watched our Blu-ray of it yesterday (saw it in the theater, sans Izzy). We don't normally let Izzy watch TV, but we had it on while she was up (rainy, lazy day) and she LOVED it. Just tonight, she was pointing out all the characters to me on the disc package. Such a good movie!

Cool review of Aladdin on Broadway!

Itinerary thoughts:

The best part of FP+ is being able to use it when you show up late to the park - like your first day plan. TSM without an early-morning stampede or long line is awesome.

We love Brown Derby. Hope you have a good meal there.

Yay for pre-park-opening breakfast ADRs!

Hmmmm...on the parade/break conflict, that's a tough one. Will you have a double stroller? Will Peter nap in it? Maybe one of you could go to the parade with Olivia and the other could take the nappers to somewhere quiet (maybe the baby care center?).

We did Garden Grill a few years ago and enjoyed it. It's not the most amazing food ever, but it's good and the views are awesome. Also, the characters were great and came around multiple times. Very relaxed character meal compared to a lot of the others.

Sounds like a fun Disney Jr. show! Great memories.

Easter: Eh, eggs for breakfast, totally cool!

Not sure how set on your resort you are at this point, but since you were talking about it early on and I just read it: I wouldn't stay at the Poly this summer. We were okay there in December, but all of the posts I'm seeing from Tikiman on Facebook appear to be showing much more magic-lessening construction than we experienced. Contemporary not only has the monorail, but has the benefit of being able to walk to the MK (nice when the monorail is down, which happened to us!) Keep an eye out for further discounts or you could look into renting DVC points at BLT like Imagineer5 is (very cool that you might meet up, by the way! - she and I missed each other in December). If you need an alternative to the Poly beach or BLT lounge for watching Wishes, we watched them from the dock at Fort Wilderness last trip and that was nice (piped in sound too, if I remember right). I think you'll be totally happy in a Royal Room at POR too, but it is nice to have a monorail/walking option at the deluxes with a stroller, especially if you're taking a break at the resort each day.

Looking forward to following along now!

hi Dugette! Thanks for joining! Obviously, based on all my comments, I've been enjoying your TR!

That's great that Dug was able to accumulate sick days. We don't get sick days and are only able to roll over 5 vacation days, so that wouldn't work for me. Funny thing is that I work for a Swiss company and if I was in our Zurich office I would get, I think, 2 months paternity leave (the women get 6-months maternity) but being in the U.S. we don't even get 1 day. I asked when Olivia was born and was told I could take un-paid leave. But given we were already going from 2 paychecks to 1, I didn't think going down to 0 paychecks would work ... so, this "extra" 4 weeks definitely came at a good time.

Definitely a spreadsheet geek! Recently I started adding hyperlinks to each ADR listing that takes you directly to the menu that corresponds to that meal.

Glad Izzy loved Frozen. It really is a good movie - though the whole craziness for actually meeting A&E is getting a little scary Definitely will be up at midnight the start of day 60 out to get some FP+ for that. (though I am reading that later in the morning/early afternoon the wait times shown are inflated)

As far as the parade goes I think we will play it by ear and I think we might do what you outline - leave the nappers back in the room, wheter that includes Peter or not. But we shall see. Kids loved watching it online so I think they would like to see it.

Thanks for your thoughts on where to stay. I definitely think we will skip the Poly - just don't want to have to deal with the construction.

I think we will either stay with POR or switch to the Contemporary. One thing we have been thinking is that if we did the Contemporary it would be easier to get away with not having a rental car so if we apply the savings from not having a car it brings the cost closer together.

Thanks again for joining in!

 

[Imagineer5]

It looks like you had a wonderful easter!! Yay to winning a giant chocolate bunny!!

So what is the latest on Anna/Elsa? I've been totally devoting my attentions to DL right now so I don't get stuff mixed up (and from the sound of it, I think we will be skipping Anna & Elsa, just too long of a wait still).

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It looks like you had a wonderful easter!! Yay to winning a giant chocolate bunny!!

So what is the latest on Anna/Elsa? I've been totally devoting my attentions to DL right now so I don't get stuff mixed up (and from the sound of it, I think we will be skipping Anna & Elsa, just too long of a wait still).

It was a nice day - just our immediate family, but very enjoyable.

The latest as far as A&E in the Magic Kingdom is that it is absolute chaos at rope drop with people spinting to get in line .... a line that is already long from people that skip out of pre-park opening ADRs. The line quickly approaches 4 hours long and stays there for much of the day (however reports indicate that later in the morning afternoon the actual wait time is shorter - like 90 mins - they just don't lower the wait sign).

FP+ is up and running and supposedly running smoothly after some first day hiccups where peoples P+ vanished. Waits for the FP+ lines are generally no more than 5-10 mins.

Probably the one FP+ you need to make at midnight of the 60 day (or 60+10) day out, especially if you want a specific time. Also, supposedly you cannot make an FP+ for them for more than 2 people so if more than 2 people in your group you either have to make it for 1 or 2 people and then copy to the rest of your party or do it separately for people by twos and try to get times that overlap

yeah, starting to sound like too much work, but as long as we can get FP+ for our trip it will be fine - I don't mind waiting up til midnight once or twice if needed

 

[Leshaface]

Happy Easter Phil! (late)

The kids look so cute all dressed up. Peter's little tie! And you guys look great too

Score on the 2 lb chocolate bunny! That's very nice that the Easter bunny helped out.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

Don't know how I missed this until now! I followed along on your trip report, although I'm not sure I commented. Congratulations on adding another princess to the mix! Happy to have this to follow along with!

 

[poison ivy]

Just wanted to update on the A&E situation. When I first booked it weeks ago for 6/5 there were tons of times available. Problem was: it was a FP for 1 since only our son had an AP.

Well on Sun JQ and I finally purchased ours thru DVC but when I went in to copy all of my son's FP+ over, everyday transferred perfectly except 6/5 because of A&E.

It is completely booked. Couldn't get it as a separate booking on its' own either. Not even as 1 guest.

So I agree with you. Grab it at the 60 day window if you can and make sure everyone has a ticket linked up.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Happy Easter Phil! (late)

The kids look so cute all dressed up. Peter's little tie! And you guys look great too

Score on the 2 lb chocolate bunny! That's very nice that the Easter bunny helped out.

Thanks! We find, for the most part, little girl clothes are way more fun than little boys ... the exception being when you get little formal wear type stuff - ties, sweater vests, etc.

Don't know how I missed this until now! I followed along on your trip report, although I'm not sure I commented. Congratulations on adding another princess to the mix! Happy to have this to follow along with!

Welcome, and glad you are commenting here! Thank you - we are very excited for the new princess. Judi just entered her third trimester - so getting close!

Just wanted to update on the A&E situation. When I first booked it weeks ago for 6/5 there were tons of times available. Problem was: it was a FP for 1 since only our son had an AP.

Well on Sun JQ and I finally purchased ours thru DVC but when I went in to copy all of my son's FP+ over, everyday transferred perfectly except 6/5 because of A&E.

It is completely booked. Couldn't get it as a separate booking on its' own either. Not even as 1 guest.

So I agree with you. Grab it at the 60 day window if you can and make sure everyone has a ticket linked up.

Oh gosh, that is so frustrating! I am thinking of trying to get in for 2 people and worst case scenario, if I can't copy to a third then either Judi or myself will take Olivia. Both days we are planning for MK (Wed and Fri) are indicated to be "Green" on the crowd calendar, so I am hopeful!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Pre Trip Report: Part 12 - Happy Mother's Day!

​

Happy Mother's Day to everyone that applies to in the broadest sense possible!

So, not much of an update, but our gift to Judi today did include some pictures from Disney, so I figure I can justify it

Oh, and we have a change to our travel plans that are almost finalized - so hopefully the next update to this pre-trip report will actually be relevant to our trip

TTFN

 

[khaleesi]

Super cute!!!!!

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Aw, happy mother's day to Judi! That was a really cute idea!

 

[missangelalexis]

Happy Mother's Day to Judi! What a great gift idea, love it!!

 

[MarbleBob]

This PTR is awesome!!! I'm a bit late, but better late than never

Your plans sound terrific. POR Riverside should be awesome. I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this, and you probably already know it, but make sure you set aside some time to ride boat to Downtown Disney. We've stayed at POR three times before, and my kids love the boat ride

I love the traced hand collages. What a great idea

 

[Imagineer5]

Aww I bet Judi loved the picture! Such a cute idea!! hope she had a wonderful mothers day, looking forward to hearing your change in plans

 

[poison ivy]

Oh gosh, that is so frustrating! I am thinking of trying to get in for 2 people and worst case scenario, if I can't copy to a third then either Judi or myself will take Olivia. Both days we are planning for MK (Wed and Fri) are indicated to be "Green" on the crowd calendar, so I am hopeful!

I think if you have the advantage of the 60 day window you should be fine. Most of this rush seems to be within a closer proximity.

I would probably grab the first two as soon as the window opens, and just take any other two FP+ picks/times that come up. Then go right back in to grab your next two.

Is it required to have one for the baby?