401 days 'till Disney!!! But who's counting?!?! 07/18

[Enchanted88]

I hope I still have readers!!! I'm sooo sorry for being lame lately and not updating! My work schedule/life in general has been a whirlwind!!

My life the past couple of weeks:
--work work work
--preparing for training in houston
--training in houston
--flying to houston
---my boss booking my flights wrong
---my luggage not arriving until the next day (at 5pm, ugh)
---rebooking my flights correctly (1 day later)
---getting back home
---unpacking
---errands
-----Now, I'm catching up on the DIS!

I'll be back this weekend to update, It's a 3-day weekend, so I'll have time!!

I miss catching up with you guys, so hopefully I still have my friends reading along!

 

[marDgreen88]

Hope you have a nice relaxing weekend.

 

[smile4stamps]

I'm still here!! Hope you have a relaxing weekend! You deserve it!

 

[jenny105]

I'm still here! Sounds like you've been crazy busy. I hope you get to relax during the holiday weekend

 

[Enchanted88]

Hope you have a nice relaxing weekend.

Thanks, girl! I hope you have a great weekend too! I'm going to try to catch up on everyone's TRs this weekend, so i'll be checking yours out soon!! Thanks for hanging in there with me!!

I'm still here!! Hope you have a relaxing weekend! You deserve it!

I'm so glad you are stil here!! I haven't talked to you in a while! I hope all is well with you!
I'm going to try to head over to your PTR soon and catch up! I hope you have a great weekend!

I'm still here! Sounds like you've been crazy busy. I hope you get to relax during the holiday weekend

Yay, glad you are still here! I have had a crazy couple of weeks, but hopefully things will slow down now! I hope you are doing well!

 

[Enchanted88]

Catching up on pretrips and saw your news about going in November. DD and I went in November (the week before Thanksgiving) for our mother/daughter trip and we loved being there for the Christmas decorations, Osbourn lights and MVMCP. Sometimes I wish we could go then instead of October since we always do the Halloween stuff, but we're locked into our dates because of fall break. I'm slightly jealous of you!

Thanks for reading along! I am kind of sad that I won't get to experience the October festivities, but that just means I need to go back! haha I'm getting pretty excited about going in November! I feel a little overwhelmed because there are completely different things to do, and I hope I can get it all done! I haven't had the time I would like to just sit down and plan out the trip, but hopefully soon I'll be able to do that!! It's driving me nuts not having my plans down yet! I had everything planned for October already, and then I had to change it, so it really threw me for a loop! haha
I hope you have a great weekend!

 

[Enchanted88]

Hey there! I’m finally updating!! Yes, I know it’s been waaay too long! But, PLEASE be patient with me! I didn’t think it would take me so long to adjust to my new job and everything, but it has! But, I’m still committed to continue with this PTR, and I hope you all are still committed to read it!


I’m getting a little worried about planning this trip, now! I had the October trip almost completely planned out, and then I had to change it! I have a rough plan for November, but I’m not sure if I’m that confident in it. Then I thought, that’s what my Dis friends are for! Hahaha


So, I have a few questions about my planning. Okay, the time we are going in November will be busier than I am familiar with (February), so I’m a little nervous about getting everything done that I would like to get done. Here is a little background on our trip, since it’s been a little while since I’ve talked about it. We are going Nov. 22-29th, with park hoppers.

We won’t be going to a park on the 22nd because we will be getting in too late that night. So the 23rd-29th will be park days. So that’s 7 days; right now I’m not utilizing a whole lot of EMHs and it’s kind of driving me crazy. I have a crowd calendar for the time we are going to be there, and of course it says to avoid the parks that are having EMH because they’ll be busier. BUT EMHs are AWESOME!! So, I need advice! Should I try to go to all the EMH’s to capitalize park time, or just go to some of them?


Right now, we are for sure going to EMH’s on
Tuesday, 11/27th, Epcot (AM)
Wednesday, 11/28th, AK (AM), MK (PM)
Thursday, 11/29th, MK (AM)
That’s 3 out of the 4 parks, but I just feel like I’m not taking advantage of the EMH’s like I should. Hahaha Just typing that question made me realize how OCD I am about planning this trip!


Anyway, there are a few more EMH’s I’m thinking about going to, and this is where I need your input:
On 11/23 we are going to be at MK until close (10pm) EPCOT has EMH’s ‘till 12:30 am that night. Is it worth it to hop over there for about 2 hours?
On 11/25 We are at Epcot from 9a-9:30p, DHS has EMH ‘till 11:00. Is it worth it to hop over there for an hour? The only reason I would for just an hour would be to check out the Osbourne lights. Is this a good idea?
I hope that didn’t confuse you! Haha


Okay in other news for our trip... I haven’t bought the MVMCP tickets yet, but I’m going to soon! Also, I received a $350 travel voucher from American Airlines, so that will help with our plane tickets!! I’m super excited! All that is left is adding the dining plan to our reservations, and we should be good!
Yesterday marked 180 days from our trip, so I got up and made ADRs!!! I was sad, though, because Le Cellier was already booked! Sad day! I’ll keep checking back to see if maybe we can get it!


As for now here’s what we’ve got for ADR’s:
11/23- Tony’s @ MK 6:15p
11/24- Yak & Yeti @ AK 12:30p
11/25- Via Napoli @EPCOT 6:20p
11/26- Sci Fi Drive-in @ DHS 12:30p
11/27- Biergarten @ EPCOT 12:15p
11/28- ‘Ohana @ The Poly 6:50p
I still have one more ADR to make, and Ben wants it to be a breakfast ADR! He really wants to try the Tonga Toast, so I’ll have to fit that in one of our days, I’m just not sure which one yet!


Okay, so I think that’s all I’ve got for the upcoming trip! Now I’ll finally talk about our Disneymoon that started talking about years ago! Haha

DHS Some more!!!​

When I last left off, we were having a great time walking the streets of DHS! We continued to do that, and we ended up on the streets of the USA! We enjoyed just looking around and taking in the sights!

Mulch sweat and shears were playing, but we only stayed and listened for a little while, we had other plans in store!! We were headed to LMA! I didn’t know if I would like this or not, but I knew Ben would think it was cool, so I made sure to make time for it!

Well, turns out, we both liked it! It was really neat to see how the stunts are done, and it was very entertaining!
I’m not sure if we would have to see it every time, but I wouldn’t say no to it either! It was a fun time!


After LMA, we headed over to a show that I was SUPER excited to watch!! Beauty and the Beast! Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite movies of all time, so I was really excited to watch this show! It did not disappoint! I was so impressed with the quality of this show! Disney sure does know how to do things, and it just seems to me that they spare no expense to make sure the visitors get their money’s worth and feel the magic! Ben even liked it!!! I can’t wait to watch this again in November!
Here are a few pictures, since we all know what this show looks like! Lol

After Beauty and the Beast, we headed over to check out the finale of AIE! I don’t really watch this show anymore, but I thought it would be cool to check out! We had a blast watching it! It was really neat to hear regular guests at WDW singing! I don’t remember who won, or what they song, but we really enjoyed the show! You can tell by this picture, we are getting very tired!

We weren’t going to stop though! We had one more thing to do! Well, two things if you count the snack we got! I got some fruit (didn’t take a picture of that though) and Ben got a pretzel! Here he is modeling it!

After our quick snack ( we didn’t supper until we got back to ASMu—again no pics, sorry!) we headed to get in line for Fantasmic!

Here we are waiting, we look even more tired in this pic! Haha Would the wait be worth it?

YES!!!! We absolutely loved it! I know some people don’t have a strong feeling for Fantasmic, but I loved it a lot!! I really can’t pick which show I like better; each one is great in its own way! I loved the story that Fantasmic told, and I loved the fountain pictures (?—I don’t know what to call them) I also loved all the characters that were in it, and the float at the end is so cute!! Love the Steamboat! Such a great show!

After that enjoyable experience, we headed back to the room! We were so worn out, but we had accomplished so much, and it was such a great day! I can only hope our upcoming trip can be as great as this one was turning out to be!​

 

[marDgreen88]

I've never been to Disney in February or November, so I can't really tell you how different the crowds are, but if late November is anything like early December, then you should be fine!

Since you have park hoppers, you could maybe go to the park with EMH and switch to another park if you notice it's getting too crowded (for morning EMH). And for evening EMH, maybe you could go to another park during the day and then just go to the park with EMH in the evening? (Was that confusing?? Sorry!!! hahah) I've never really had a chance to do a lot of EMH, but from what I've heard, you get SO much done when you go! I think it'd be worth it!

As far as going from MK to Epcot for the evening EMH, it might take a long time to get there considering it's closing time and you'd have to go by monorail. (And for Epcot to DHS, it's the same, although there are more modes of transportation!) I'm no expert (obviously!!!) but I feel like those would be some that are okay to skip, unless you really want to go to them!

Le Cellier was already booked for NOVEMBER??? What??? That's crazy! I was changing around some of our summer ADRs the other day because I just CAN'T leave it alone, and there were still Le Cellier openings on a lot of the days! And that trip is only like 2 months away, versus 6! That's so weird!

Yay for your Disneymoon! Hahah sounds like such a great day! I love Fantasmic too!

 

[jenny105]

I completely ignore the stay away from parks on EMH day rule and I've never really had a problem. I don't utilize the AM EMH much because I'm so not a morning person LOL. But I love PM EMH and in my experience rides are almost always walk on. The later the PM EMH, the thinner the crowds get.

You'll get everything planned out, don't worry! You already have your ADRs down and that's half the battle.

 

[smile4stamps]

I agree... if you are at MK till close getting to Epcot for EMH will not be very worthwhile... now you could head out from MK early and then go to EMH.

I am also surprised you can't find anything for Le Cellier. I've been changing my ADR's around for October and have had no problem finding openings! I guess keep checking! Also instead of "Lunch" put an actual time and it will still search a couple hour block.

 

[momabaarjo]

Via Napoli is awesome! You will love it...

Have you checked out the crowd calendars and suggestions at easyWDW.com? They offer insight why each day is rated as it is. I found it really useful to look at each day in depth rather than just look at a number. I merged both their information and touring plans to decide where to go!

 

[Enchanted88]

I've never been to Disney in February or November, so I can't really tell you how different the crowds are, but if late November is anything like early December, then you should be fine!

Since you have park hoppers, you could maybe go to the park with EMH and switch to another park if you notice it's getting too crowded (for morning EMH). And for evening EMH, maybe you could go to another park during the day and then just go to the park with EMH in the evening? (Was that confusing?? Sorry!!! hahah) I've never really had a chance to do a lot of EMH, but from what I've heard, you get SO much done when you go! I think it'd be worth it!

As far as going from MK to Epcot for the evening EMH, it might take a long time to get there considering it's closing time and you'd have to go by monorail. (And for Epcot to DHS, it's the same, although there are more modes of transportation!) I'm no expert (obviously!!!) but I feel like those would be some that are okay to skip, unless you really want to go to them!

Le Cellier was already booked for NOVEMBER??? What??? That's crazy! I was changing around some of our summer ADRs the other day because I just CAN'T leave it alone, and there were still Le Cellier openings on a lot of the days! And that trip is only like 2 months away, versus 6! That's so weird!

Yay for your Disneymoon! Hahah sounds like such a great day! I love Fantasmic too!

Thanks for your advice! I thought it might be pushing it trying to go to the EMH's on those days, but I just wanted as much park time as possible! haha

I think I'm going to take your suggestion though!

Yes, I coulndn't believe Le Cellier is booked already! It made me sad! I even woke up early on the day my ADRs were available for booking! (I hope that doesn't indicate how busy it's going to be when we go! haha

Thanks for reading along-- I enjoy hearing from you!

Also, I'm SUPER excited for your trip! It's getting close!!!

I completely ignore the stay away from parks on EMH day rule and I've never really had a problem. I don't utilize the AM EMH much because I'm so not a morning person LOL. But I love PM EMH and in my experience rides are almost always walk on. The later the PM EMH, the thinner the crowds get.

You'll get everything planned out, don't worry! You already have your ADRs down and that's half the battle.

Thanks, girl! I think the the only AM EMH we went to last year was EPCOT and AK, but PM one are really great!
I was thinking the same thing about ignoring the parks to avoid--because it didn't seem like that big of a difference when we went---granted we went in Feb! haha

I'm stressing a little bit now with all the planning since it's getting closer! But, I know it will work out like it's supposed to! Have a great day!

I agree... if you are at MK till close getting to Epcot for EMH will not be very worthwhile... now you could head out from MK early and then go to EMH.

I am also surprised you can't find anything for Le Cellier. I've been changing my ADR's around for October and have had no problem finding openings! I guess keep checking! Also instead of "Lunch" put an actual time and it will still search a couple hour block.

Thanks for your input! I couldn't believe I wasn't able to get Le Cellier either, but I guess that just gives me a reason to go back again! hahaha

I just hope that the time we go isn't too busy! I think February spoiled us!

Via Napoli is awesome! You will love it...

Have you checked out the crowd calendars and suggestions at easyWDW.com? They offer insight why each day is rated as it is. I found it really useful to look at each day in depth rather than just look at a number. I merged both their information and touring plans to decide where to go!

I'm super excited for Via Napoli!! I can't wait to try it!! Ben and I ate at Napoli's here in town the other day, have you eaten there? It's super good, and I bet VN is even better!

I have checked out that website, and they were showing which parks to avoid--the parks that have EMH's are the ones they are telling me to avoid, so I don't know what to do--because EMH's rule! haha

I hope you are having a great day and enjoying the rainy weather!

 

[Enchanted88]

Hey everyone! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! It’s been a busy one for me, and it’s not going to slow down ‘till Friday at 5:00! LOL But, that’s okay—it makes the work days go faster!
My little cousin (well he’s not so little anymore; he’s 15 and like a foot taller than me), who is like my brother, went to Disneyland last week, and I was SO JEALOUS/EXCITED for him! He kept texting me and sending me pictures from his time there, and I was just LOVING living vicariously through him! Haha I mean, I would have loved for it to have been ME there, but I’m sooooo glad he got to experience Disney! He has never been before, and his first text to me, just brought a huge smile to my face! “I think I’ve fallen in love with Disney and I’ve only been here for an hour!” He gets it!! (It must run in the family! Lol) I’m so excited to get to spend time with him talking about his trip! He and I are literally like brother and sister, and since he’s been growing up, we have drifted farther and farther apart—so I’m glad we have something to talk about now! And I’m super excited to see him, because I gave him some money to buy me a shirt, and an antenna topper!! Woohoo! Haha
I’ve also let him know that since he loves it now, when we go on our next trip (probably in 2014-ugh too far away!—He HAS to go with us!)
Anyway, in upcoming trip news---nothing much has changed as of now! I still can’t get into Le Cellier! (boooo) The only thing that is worrying me right now is that Ben just informed me that he might not be able to get those days off now! (WHAT?!) I’m kind of at a loss of what to do if he can’t-because we have already moved the dates back once, and it’s so stressful trying to get everything planned again after you already had the whole trip planned out the first time! I mean, I love to plan, and I love my lists, but I just hope that everything works out so that we won’t have to postpone our trip again! Maybe he can fly down a day or two later, and I can live it up solo style a day our two! Hahaha jk –kind of!
So, that’s all I’ve got right now on the November trip—so I’ll start with a fresh new day of our Disneymoon!

MK TIME!!!​

So, we woke up the next morning, pretty early (like 6:30) and ate some breakfast at the food court—oatmeal for me (again) and I’m pretty sure Ben had an omelet (again!) I don’t have any pics of our food, so you’ll just have to imagine it!
After we ate, we headed to the bus stop so that we could be on our way to the Magic Kingdom again!! YAY! It was raining—a lot--- but, we didn’t let that stop us! We had paid to be here, and we were going to have FUN!! The bus was there within minutes, and we arrived at MK shortly after!
On the way in, we saw the citizens of Main Street USA!!

We didn’t stop for long though—Ben wanted to ride on the Speedway! (I was okay with skipping this, but at the same time, I did want to try everything once!) So, we got on line, and got rained on a little bit, but it was okay, because being the tourists we were, we had WDW ponchos! Haha

So, this ride was fun—nothing out of the ordinary, but fun! I was happy to ride it with Ben, so I’m so that’s what made it so fun! Here we are chilling in our car—getting pegged by rain drops!
After this ride, we decided to take a ride on Buzz’s ranger spin!! SO MUCH FUN!! Ben, of course, beat the you-know-what out of me! It was still fun, though! I had a lot of fun just spinning the car around! Lol It’s the small things!

I’m not sure if you can see our scores in this picture, but I’m posting it anyway!

After that, we headed to Toontown! I had NO IDEA that this was such a special thing that we got to do, since it’s no longer there anymore! (Sad!) At least we got to see it once! Now it’s such a special memory!

We stopped by Minnie’s house first, and it was completely adorable! I thought the details were so amazing throughout her house, and Mickey’s house!! Way to go, Disney!

I loved the kitchen! Too cute!

It was then, I decided I needed another hat! Yes, this is a child’s hat—but I loved it—and I still love it! I wore that proudly all day! Hahaha

We glanced at Donald’s boat, then headed to Mickey’s house!

Here’s Ben in the front of his house!

And here we are in Mickey’s mirror!

Again, love the details!

We loved looking at the garden! The Mickey shaped vegetables were so cute!

After we finished looking around-we decided to go meet Mickey and Minnie!!!!

And here is where you can tell I wasn’t a Diser yet! I DON’T HAVE A PICTURE OF THIS!! Well, I ordered a photobook from the Photopass site-so I have this picture in there, but I don’t have one that can be loaded to the computer-sad! It’s a really cute picture, though! You’ll just have to believe me! Haha
Quick shot of the outside of Minnie’s house!

We were hungry after that, so we decided to head over to Cosmic Ray’s! YUMMMMMMY!
I had the vegetable wrap!! It was delicious! I think Ben either had a burger or chicken—I can’t remember! BUT I did take a picture of my food this time! Yum!

And this is where I’ll leave you today! I’m really going to try to do replies and catch up on everyone’s TR’s this afternoon!
Have a great Wednsday!​

 

[jenny105]

I love that hat! Too cute! I never spent a lot of time in Toontown and since it's no longer there, I enjoyed looking at your pictues

I hope Ben can get those days off. It would stink to have to move your trip again!

 

[marDgreen88]

Oh my gosh... I hope everything works out and that Ben can get his days off! Wow.

I can't believe I'm saying this because I went to Disney twice in 2010 before Toon Town closed and I NEVER even set foot in that land! I guess it's a good thing though, I'll never have any real reason to miss it! I'm glad yall got to see it!

 

[Enchanted88]

I love that hat! Too cute! I never spent a lot of time in Toontown and since it's no longer there, I enjoyed looking at your pictues

I hope Ben can get those days off. It would stink to have to move your trip again!

Thanks!!! I love that hat! I seriously would wear it in public, but I think Ben might not want to be seen with me!
I'm glad you liked my Toontown pics! I have like fifty more, but I decided to spare everyone from my obsessive compulsive picture disorder! hahaha
I'm super glad I have them, though, since it's no longer there!

I hope Ben can get off, too! I'm seriously thinking about going up there by myself on the 22nd and have him meet me there on the 23rd or 24th--He won't miss WHOLE bunch, and he'll still be able to get in 5-6 days of Disney!
I've talked to him a little bit about this, and he seems okay with it--but we'll see what happens!

Oh my gosh... I hope everything works out and that Ben can get his days off! Wow.

I can't believe I'm saying this because I went to Disney twice in 2010 before Toon Town closed and I NEVER even set foot in that land! I guess it's a good thing though, I'll never have any real reason to miss it! I'm glad yall got to see it!

I hope everything works out, too! Hopefully he'll get to have all of those days off! I'm kind of thinking about going up there by myself for the first couple of days if he can't! Does that make me a bad person?! lol

That's crazy you never went to Toontown! It's understandable, though, since it's completely directed to little bitty kids! haha I am glad that we got to see it though, since it's not longer there!
I'm not sure Ben had such a grand time there, but he's a trooper! haha

 

[momabaarjo]

I sure hope everything works out for Ben and the dates...what a stress!

Yes, we have eaten at Via Napolis...should be there in a week or so on my TR!

 

[oboedm]

looks like you had a great DHS day! I have only been in late Feb and early Sept, so crowds were low then as well. We have only done EMH-- early morning at AK. It actually worked out well, but we like to have breakfast ADRs so that was the only time we had it. I read this blog post on Touring PLans about EMH. The guy seemed to indicate that EMH aren't as advantageous when the evening EMH's end at a reasonable hour. However, when they go into the wee hours, you can get a lot done. You should check it out! It was retty informative!

I think if you have a good touring strategy in place you will be able to avoid lines with no problems!

 

[Enchanted88]

I sure hope everything works out for Ben and the dates...what a stress!

Yes, we have eaten at Via Napolis...should be there in a week or so on my TR!

Thanks! I hope everything works out too!! I'm just lettting whatever happens happen! I know I could lose a lot of sleep over it if I thought about it alot, so I try not to! haha

I just read your Via Napoli post on your TR!! It made me even more excited to go in November! YUMMY!
Have a super weekend! I hope it doesn't storm today!!

 

[Enchanted88]

looks like you had a great DHS day! I have only been in late Feb and early Sept, so crowds were low then as well. We have only done EMH-- early morning at AK. It actually worked out well, but we like to have breakfast ADRs so that was the only time we had it. I read this blog post on Touring PLans about EMH. The guy seemed to indicate that EMH aren't as advantageous when the evening EMH's end at a reasonable hour. However, when they go into the wee hours, you can get a lot done. You should check it out! It was retty informative!

I think if you have a good touring strategy in place you will be able to avoid lines with no problems!

Thanks for your information! I LOVE EMH'S! That's why it's driving me crazy not using all of them during our trip! I'm just not sure if we'll be able to do all of the EMH's--I'm just not sure if it makes sense in our schedule! I guess I'll have to crunch some times again! haha Got to love Disney planning! haha

Thanks for reading along!