104 days ‘til Christmas vacation (Apologies to Phineas and Ferb)

[snuggly duckling]

PLEAKLEY
Jumba? Jumba, help me out here.

GRAND COUNCILWOMAN
I would have expected you back by now with 626 in hand.

PLEAKLEY
Just a few things left to pack, and we'll be...

JUMBA
Hang up. We are going swimming.

PLEAKLEY
Yeah!

 

[snuggly duckling]

With all the schedule changes, new FP+ openings, and further thought, we've been busy making a few changes to our plans. Nothing too major, but still changes. I expect we'll see some more still to follow. But I think we're sitting pretty good, as it stands now. Breathe.

Here's what our basic plan looks like now:

Thursday, 12/18

Logic: Book FP early enough in the day to maximize 4th FP opportunities, but save Tier 1 for last in case of travel delays

Update: No changes

• Fly to Orlando from Philly
• Magical Express
• Check in to Caribbean Beach
• Head to EPCOT
• FP+ for Spaceship Earth 10:10 – 11:10 pm
• FP+ for Character Spot 11:10 – 12:10 pm
• FP+ for Soarin’ 12:10 – 1:10 pm
• Lunch at San Angel Inn at 2:30 pm
• Dinner at Akershus at 8:00 pm

Friday, 12/19

Logic: Book FP early enough in the day to maximize 4th FP opportunities; book “harder” ones first leaving room to move #2 and #3 earlier upon completion. Tried, but couldn’t get 7DMT or Anna and Elsa here as desired, but got them later in the week. Hakuna Matata!

Update: Was able to grab both 7DMT and A&E when the hours changed and additional FPs were released! Woo hoo! Also grabbed a BOG FP, because it is looking like DH will forgo the CRT meal at 4:25 in favor of staking out a spot in the Sandy Claws line.

• Rope drop Magic Kingdom
  [*]FP+ for 7 Dwarfs Mine Train 8:10 – 9:10 pm[*]FP+ for Peter Pan 9:20 – 10:20 pm
• Lunch at Crystal Palace at 11:30 am
  [*]FP+ for Anna & Elsa 12:30 – 1:30 pm
  [*]FP for BOG Lunch 1:15 – 1:30 pm
• Dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table at 4:25 pm
• Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Saturday, 12/20

Logic: No real strategy here; opted for Mickey/Minnie and DINOSUR since all 4 of us can use those; DH and DS7 can ride Everest at rope drop, or in single rider line

Update: Ditched the 8:00 am Tusker since it is no longer pre-park opening. Scooted Yak & Yeti to 3 pm to better space the 3 meals this day. We will just eat lightly at Y&Y so we don’t spoil Sanaa later in the evening. Also grabbed modified times on all FPs. I’m especially happy about the later safari!

• Rope drop Animal Kingdom
  [*]Breakfast at Tusker House at 10:10 am
  [*]FP+ for DINOSAUR 11:05 – 12:05 pm
  [*]FP+ for Mickey & Minnie 12:10 – 1:10 pm
  [*]Lunch at Yak & Yeti at 3:00 pm
  [*]FP+ for Kilimanjaro Safaris 3:40 – 4:40 pm
• Dinner at Sanaa at 7:05 pm

Sunday, 12/21

Logic: Book FP early enough in the day to maximize 4th FP opportunities; book “impossible” one first leaving room to move #2 and #3 earlier upon completion

Update: No changes

• Rope drop Hollywood Studios
• FP+ for Toy Story Midway Mania 9:10 – 10:10 pm
• FP+ for Tower of Terror 10:10 – 11:10 am
• FP+ for Star Tours 11:10 – 12:10 pm
• Fantasmic! package lunch at Mama Melrose at 12:00 pm
• Fantasmic 6:30 pm
• Dinner at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater at 8:00 pm

Monday, 12/22

Logic: Book FP early enough in the day to maximize 4th FP opportunities; book “impossible” one first leaving room to move #2 and #3 earlier upon completion

Update: No changes

• Can be flexible, if desired
• Rope drop EPCOT
• FP+ for Test Track 9:00 – 10:00 am
• FP+ for Mission Space 10:05 – 11:05 am
• FP+ for Spaceship Earth 11:05 – 12:05 pm
• Candlelight Processional package lunch at Tutto Italia at 12:30 pm
• Candlelight Processional with Marlee Matlin at 5:00 pm
• Dinner at Garden Grill at 7:00 pm

Tuesday, 12/23

Logic: Book FP for Princess meet and greets as close to BBB appointment as possible; will keep an eye out for park hour changes as I would like to move the princesses to 8:00 am and 9:00 am; boys will try to move up BTM as soon as they ride Space to ensure they get to CRT on time

Update: No changes, though I continue to stalk an earlier A&E, but still believe they are withholding all morning slots

• Rope drop Magic Kingdom
• Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at 8:00 am
• FP+ for Space Mountain 9:05 – 10:05 am (boys only)
• FP+ for Cinderella and Rapunzel 9:20 – 10:20 am (girls only)
• FP+ for Big Thunder Mountain 10:05 - 11:05 am (boys only)
• Late breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table at 10:20 am
• FP+ for Anna and Elsa 11:10 – 12:10 pm (girls only)
• FP+ for 7 Dwarfs Mine Train 12:15 – 1:15 pm (all)
• 4th FP+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle
• Dinner at Be Our Guest at 5:00 pm
• Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party at 9:00 pm (likely)

Wednesday, 12/24

Logic: Book FP early enough in the day to maximize 4th FP opportunities; book “impossible” one first leaving room to move #2 and #3 earlier upon completion

Update: Scooted each of our FP+ slots back to match the new 8:00 am opening; still trying to find an earlier Biergarten; may end up flip-flopping Biergarten and San Angel Inn on day #1 to have an earlier Christmas Eve dinner

• Can be flexible, if desired
• Rope drop Hollywood Studios
  [*]FP+ for Toy Story Midway Mania 8:00 – 9:00 pm
  [*]FP+ for Tower of Terror 9:20 – 10:20 am
  [*]FP+ for Star Tours 10:20 – 11:20 pm
• Lunch at Hollywood & Vine at 11:30 am
• Hop to EPCOT
• Dinner at Biergarten at 5:50 pm
• Illuminations Dessert Party at 8:15 pm

Thursday, 12/25

Logic: Only strategy here was to schedule Soarin’ right before the Behind the Seeds tour, since we will need to be in the Land Pavilion anyway, other two FPs are scheduled but may or may not be used

Update: No changes

• Christmas in the room
• Head to Animal Kingdom
• Hop to EPCOT
• Candlelight Processional package lunch at Via Napoli at 12:45 pm
• FP+ for Soarin’ 1:30 – 2:30 pm
• Behind the Seeds tour at 3:00 pm
• FP+ for Figment 3:30 – 4:30 pm
• Candlelight Processional with Isabella Rossellini at 5:00 pm
• FP+ for Spaceship Earth 5:30 – 6:30 pm
• Dinner at Le Cellier at 7:00 pm

Friday, 12/26

Logic: Schedule FP+ at MK between two MK-area ADRs, leaving morning and evening open for hopping

Update: No changes, but might change the plan and rope drop HS here and then hop to MK area in time for ‘Ohana at 11:00 am

• Can be flexible, if desired
• Rope drop Magic Kingdom
• Breakfast at 'Ohana at 11:05 am
• FP+ for Anna and Elsa 12:30 – 1:30 pm
• FP+ for 7 Dwarfs Mine Train for 1:30 – 2:30 pm
• FP+ for Peter Pan 2:30 – 3:30 pm
• Dinner at 1900 Park Fare at 5:00 pm

Saturday, 12/27

Logic: Schedule FP+ at MK between two MK-area ADRs, leaving morning open for hopping

Update: No changes, but might change the plan and rope drop AK here and then hop to MK area in time for 1900 Park Fare at 11:00 am

• Can be flexible, if desired
• Rope drop Magic Kingdom
• Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare at 11:00 am
• FP+ for 7 Dwarfs Mine Train 12:30 – 1:30 pm
• FP+ for Splash Mountain for 1:30 – 2:30 pm
• FP+ for Jungle Cruise for 2:30 – 3:30 pm
• Dinner at 'Ohana at 5:00 pm
• Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party at 9:00 pm (likely)

Sunday, 12/28

Logic: Leave morning open for resort check-out; hit favorites again

Update: No changes

• Check out of Caribbean Beach Resort
• Head to Magic Kingdom
• FP+ for 7 Dwarfs Mine Train for 10:00 – 11:00 am
• FP+ for Peter Pan for 11:00 – 12:00 pm
• Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern at 11:30 am
• FP+ for Splash Mountain for 12:30 – 1:30 pm
• Magical Express at 4:40 pm
• Fly back to Philly

Disney planning is not for the weak of heart!

 

[snuggly duckling]

SKINNER
Is Linguini’s dish done yet?

HORST
Ya. It’s as bad as we remember. Just went out.

SKINNER
(serene) Did you taste it?

HORST
Of course... before he changed it.

SKINNER
Good- WHAT? How could he change it?

HORST
He changed it as it was going out the door!

 

[disney is my life]

I just stumbled upon your PTR while looking for info on Golden Book autograph books and I have to say I'm loving it. I will definitely continue to read along
I have a couple questions about the autograph books I was hoping you could answer. I am also going to try and make my own Golden Book autograph books for our trip in march but we also meet a lot more characters than most of the ones on etsy have. So I was wondering if you could tell me where you purchased the golden books and approx. how much they cost. (Did you buy new or used). I've checked my local thrift stores but am having a hard time finding any.

Thanks for any help/advice you can give me and I can't wait to read more of your PTR.

 

[snuggly duckling]

I just stumbled upon your PTR while looking for info on Golden Book autograph books and I have to say I'm loving it. I will definitely continue to read along I have a couple questions about the autograph books I was hoping you could answer. I am also going to try and make my own Golden Book autograph books for our trip in march but we also meet a lot more characters than most of the ones on etsy have. So I was wondering if you could tell me where you purchased the golden books and approx. how much they cost. (Did you buy new or used). I've checked my local thrift stores but am having a hard time finding any. Thanks for any help/advice you can give me and I can't wait to read more of your PTR.

Hello and welcome!!

I literally just finished making our two autograph books for this trip so my next PTR update will be about them!

My mother collects Golden Books, so I raided her "extras and duplicates" stash first, but she really only had a couple. I bought a few Golden Books and Wonderful World of Reading books at thrift stores, but I had the same experience as you. They were very hard to find. Basically we could only find them at this one store near where my parents live. None of the thrift stores near us had any. I bought the rest on Amazon, some brand new and some used. It seems like a lot of regional Goodwill stores sell their Golden Books online rather than in store. It did cost a pretty penny, but I figure I will be able to use the same stash to make another set of autograph books for our spring break trip too, so the cost will balance out eventually.

I will take some photos and post them later today!!

 

[snuggly duckling]

I did it!

I actually made our autograph books. And they came out exactly how I hoped. It's amazing!

As mentioned earlier in my PTR, I had purchased autograph books made from Golden Books from Etsy for our last two trips. The store I got them from is closed, so I decided to give it a shot myself.

It was super hard to find some of the books, so I had to get creative in places. But every character with a regular meet & greet is in my books, plus the MVMCP characters we hope/plan to meet.

We've got:

• Mickey
• Minnie
• Pluto
• Donald
• Daisy
• Goofy
• Chip & Dale
• Aladdin - Abu
• Aladdin - Aladdin
• Aladdin - Genie
• Aladdin - Jasmine
• Alice in Wonderland - Alice
• Alice in Wonderland - White Rabbit
• Alice in Wonderland - Mad Hatter
• Aristocats - Marie
• Beauty and the Beast - Belle
• Beauty and the Beast - Beast
• Beauty and the Beast - Gaston
• Big Hero 6 - Hiro and Baymax
• Brave - Merida
• Cars - Lightning McQueen and Mater
• Cinderella
• Cinderella - Prince Charming
• Cinderella - Fairy Godmother
• Cinderella - Stepsisters and Lady Tremaine
• Doc McStuffins
• Frozen - Anna
• Frozen - Elsa
• Handy Manny - Manny
• Incredibles - Mr. Incredible and Frozone
• Jake and the Neverland Pirates
• Jungle Book - King Louie and Baloo
• Lady & the Tramp
• Lilo and Stitch - Lilo
• Lilo and Stitch - Stitch
• Lion King - Rafiki
• Little Mermaid - Ariel
• Mary Poppins, Bert, and Penguins
• Mulan
• Nightmare Before Christmas - Jack Skellington
• Peter Pan and Wendy
• Phineas & Ferb
• Pocahontas
• Princess & the Frog - Tiana and Naveen
• Sofia the First
• Sleeping Beauty - Aurora
• Sleeping Beauty - Prince Philip
• Snow White
• Snow White - 7 Dwarfs
• Tangled - Rapunzel
• Tangled - Flynn Ryder
• Tinkerbell
• Toy Story - Buzz Lightyear
• Toy Story - Jessie
• Toy Story - Woody
• Up - Russell and Dug
• Winnie the Pooh - Pooh
• Winnie the Pooh - Tigger
• Winnie the Pooh - Eeyore
• Winnie the Pooh - Piglet

I know they don't all sign, but I will add photos in to our books after the trip. I added a bunch of blank pages at the back too, in case we meet any cool, rare characters at Palooza or something.

Amazingly, the work really wasn't that hard. Cutting the pages to size was tedious, as was gluing each one to a piece of solid card stock. But I didn't run into any troubles until...

They announced the Tarzan meet & greet yesterday!I already ordered a Tarzan Golden Book from a used book seller on Amazon so I can try to add new pages in to each book.

Here are some photos.

DD5 is getting Frozen on her cover, and DS7 wanted Big Hero 6.

 

[snuggly duckling]

MATER
That was cool! Hey, can I get your autograph?

Mater approaches when a MASS OF RACE FANS burst out a door, momentarily blocking Mater's view of Finn. Once the fans have past, Finn has disappeared.

MATER
Hey, where'd he go?

HOLLEY (OVER RADIO)
Our rendezvous has been jeopardized. Keep the device safe. We'll be in touch.

MATER
Dadgum, did I miss our date?

 

[snuggly duckling]

We are 10 days away from our trip and I am freaking out a little bit. I ordered an Elsa coronation dress, cape, and gloves as well as an Ariel dress from a shop on Etsy weeks ago. The Elsa dress is for DD5 at the BBB and the Ariel dress is a gift from Santa. I paid the rush fee and she assured me she’d have it done on time. I haven’t heard anything from her and realistically, it needs to get in the mail ASAP if it’s going to get here on time. I’m going to email her to check in, but really at this point, if it falls through I am screwed. I could easily replace the Ariel dress with something else and just give her the Ariel one for her birthday in June, but there’s no way I’d be able to get another Elsa dress made in less than a week. Hopefully everything remains on track.

After stalking it for a while, I did break down and just bought the limited edition Aurora dress from the Disney Store, just in case. It sucks that they don’t allow the Disney Visa or other promo codes to work on limited edition items now, so I had to pay full price. And they only had size 4 and 5 left so it probably wasn’t going to be in stock much longer. But at least this way, I have something to either use for BBB or as a Santa gift should Etsy not come through.

 

[snuggly duckling]

BUZZ
I couldn't call myself his friend if l weren't willing to do the same. So who's with me?

MRS. POTATO HEAD
I'm packing you an extra pair of shoes and your angry eyes just in case.

BO PEEP
This is for Woody when you find him.

BUZZ
[Clears Throat] All right, but I don't think it'll mean the same coming from me.

 

[snuggly duckling]

My kids LOVE the pressed penny machines at WDW. And I am happy to indulge them with it. It seems to satisfy their “gimmes” and 51 cents is waaaaaay cheaper than anything else there!

For our previous trips, I have made penny kits out of Mini M&M tubes, alternating 2 quarters and a penny, so we’d be ready.

I’m taking it up a level this year and actually sifted through a ton of pennies looking for those from 1981 or earlier. (According to the all-knowing internet, they added zinc to the mix in 1982, so the newer ones can be streaky. Don’t know if it’s true, but I’m going with it! I am far from an expert, but even just in sorting, I could tell that the pre-1981 ones were better, because the details of many of the pennies from the 1990s and 2000s are already rubbed off and the <1981 ones are much sturdier and crisper.)

So after sorting them, I soaked them in a bowl of vinegar for a day or so. (I soaked all the pennies, even the newer ones. OCD in action!) It’s funny to watch the crud just bubbling up from the pile of pennies. But gross too.



Then I wiped each one with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I can’t believe how shiny they get. 30-50 years of grime is gone just like that!! (Though I do feel a little bad about herding up these “experienced” pennies for slaughter!)



Then I rinsed them in plain water and dried them off.



Shiny pennies, ready for action!!

 

[snuggly duckling]

DAYS TO GO!!!​

 

[snuggly duckling]

Days to go!!!​

 

[snuggly duckling]

Days to go!!!​

 

[snuggly duckling]

NEW CAT
So the dog thinks this is all real?

VETERAN CAT
Oh, yeah, you're new. Guy never leaves the set. It's unbelievable. Whenever I get the chance, this is the perfect way to unwind. I like to start with an evil laugh.

BOLT
Hello, hairballs.

VETERAN CAT
You may have won today, Bolt, but in the end, we will get your little Penny.

BOLT
Not likely, cat, for you've chosen to follow the path of evil. Ultimately, it will destroy you, along with your fiendish puppet master!

NEW CAT
Wow!

VETERAN CAT
I know, right? Okay, watch this.

VETERAN CAT
She's a goner, dog. The Green-Eyed Man has a plan, and soon, he will execute it.

NEW CAT
Yeah, and then he will execute her.

VETERAN CAT
Nice.

BOLT
I would superbark you both back into the hole you crawled out of, but I need you alive because I've got a little message for you to take back to your Green-Eyed Man. You tell him his old friend Bolt said he better...

VETERAN CAT
Is it long?

BOLT
Is what long?

VETERAN CAT
The message. Is it a long message? Because I have a horrible memory.

BOLT
Yeah, I'll make it brief, all right? You tell him I said I'm gonna...

VETERAN CAT
You know what? Why don't we do this? You remember the first half of the message, and then I'll remember the second, and then we can pass it on to the Green-Eyed Man together.

BOLT
Now, I don't care how the message is translated, all right? Just do it, okay. Tell the Green-Eyed Man that I will not sleep, I will not rest until my Penny is safe from his evil clutches. You tell the Green-Eyed Man that reckoning...

VETERAN CAT
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Way too many words. I was, like, "What?" And then I was, like, "Huh?" And then, well, I got a little bored and... Something about clutches? Anyway, I'll do my best. Ciao.

NEW CAT
By the way, huge fan. Love it, love you. Gotta go. Thank you.

 

[snuggly duckling]

One week until our trip! Yay!

One week until our trip. OMG I have a lot to do.

I haven't started packing yet, though I have started piles of accumulation.



Basically our guest room is a staging area for anything and everything that will be coming to Orlando. At this point, it is mostly Christmas decor and standard trip supplies, but not clothes. When I do laundry this weekend, I will pick out all the clothes to bring.

On the plus side, I am basically done Christmas shopping. Maybe a few more stocking stuffers. I used all the Target gift cards I bought on Black Friday to buy Disney gift cards, and ending up getting $1000 in Disney cards for $810 out of pocket. Between those and our Rewards cards from our Disney Visa cards, we will be able to pay for all snacks, beverages, tips, souvenirs, and our AP renewals without spending a dime of real money.

The weather is looking decent, temperature-wise, in the upper 60s and lower 70s, though there is more rain forecasted than I would like to see. But the weather people are rarely right this far out anyway!

My goals for this coming weekend:

• Wrap all Christmas gifts
• Box up any gifts that need to be shipped elsewhere
• 90% of the packing complete

It's going to be tough, because this weekend we have 3 soccer games, 2 swim classes, 1 LEGO engineering class, 2 birthday parties, and a breakfast with Santa.

But Hakuna Matata. In one week, I'll be happy!

 

[snuggly duckling]

​

DAYS TO GO!!!​

 

[snuggly duckling]

DAYS TO GO!!!​

 

[snuggly duckling]

IAGO
We gotta get outta here! We gotta get out! I gotta start packing, Your Highness! Only essentials, we gotta travel light. I'll bring the guns, the weapons, the knives.

[suddenly comes across a photo of himself and Jafar as he is rummaging through his posessions]

IAGO
And uh, how about this picture? I don't know, I think I'm making a weird face in it.

 

[snuggly duckling]

DAYS TO GO!!!​

 

[snuggly duckling]

We will be doing the Behind the Seeds tour on Christmas day. Santa is surprising the kids, but needed something to put in their stockings. So with PowerPoint and my laminator, I made these:



And we will also be going to see the Frozen Disney on Ice show in Philly on New Year's Day, so I made some tickets for that too:



This laminator I snagged on Amazon for $17 a few years ago is certainly earning its keep!