A Grand way to Graduate! May 2016 PTR - Updated 5/14

[kadrachb]

Welcome Everyone!
​

So, this is my second PTR! And I’m starting it a lot earlier than I ever started my first!

Here’s some background on the trip:

For the past two years we have gone to Disney in May, first time was for Kenny’s graduation; second time was for my belated 21st birthday. Now it’s my turn to graduate! However, schooling won’t be over for me, since I’ll be apply to graduate schools soonish, and since most programs are fall/spring/summer for two years, this could be our last Disney trip for a couple years! It’s sad to think about, but it just makes it us want to go all out!

About us:

Me: I’ll graduate in May with a degree in Biology and a concentration in Molecular Biotechnology! Excited to be done, but applying to graduate school is becoming stressful, and my end goal is regulatory affairs or management positions within a biotech/pharma company. My first ever trip to Disney was with my parent’s when I was 5, and my parents had always wanted to go back, but my father’s health declined rapidly after we returned so we never went back together, but I always wish they could both join me!

Some of my Disney favorites are:

Park: Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom, it’s really hard to choose! I love seeing all the animals and the theming of AK, but MK does have a castle…
Characters: I love meeting Merida! She is probably one of my favorites to interact with. But I also love Goofy and Pluto.
Rides: 7DMT definitely! But Kilimanjaro Safari’s and Expedition Everest are tied for second, but a close first.
Movies: I love love love Beauty and the Beast, Lilo and Stitch, and The Little Mermaid.​

My boyfriend (Kenny): He’s a graduate of University of Maryland, with a degree in Criminology! However, he has been getting IT certifications to go into IT security positions. Recently, he’s had some health problems with medications in a case study, so he has not been able to get a job, and has been kind of out of it/not able to leave the house. Things are starting to look up though! His first time at Disney was in May 2014.

Some of his Disney favorites are:

Park: Magic Kingdom
Characters: Olaf
Rides: Expedition Everest
Movies: Inside Out, Frozen​

We’ve been together for two years now! He does live in MD, while I live in PA. And we normally see each other on a weekly basis, so it’s not too much of a long distance.

So where are you staying you ask?

Well…

What’s a grander way to celebrate a graduation then staying at the Grand Floridian?! Nothing I can think of. We've booked a garden view room.

We have had some back and forth between the GF and the Boardwalk. Well, I have. Kenny doesn’t really care . We also have the DDP, and have been back and forth on that.

When are we going?

Well, we decided to stick with May! So, May 17th – 25th, and we decided to add an extra day for a trip so we could take a break in the middle.

There is more to come soon! Hopefully, they keep SWW around and we can go this year (that’s our first plan), and we have a back up plan if SWW doesn’t happen.


I make ADR’s on the 19th!

Stay tuned!

 

[kadrachb]

Table of Contents
Halloween Update​

ADR Plans
ADR Day!
Changes!
Day 1 Tentative Plans
Day 2 Tentative Plans
Day 3 Tentative Plans
Day 4 Tentative Plans
Day 5 Tentative Plans
Day 6 Tentative Plans
Day 7 Tentative Plans
Day 8 Tentative Plans
Fastpass Day!
Day 2 Final Plans (Wednesday, May 18th)
Day 3 Final Plans (Thursday, May 19th)
Day 4 Final Plans (Friday, May 20th)
Changes!
Day 5 Final Plans (Saturday, May 21st)
Day 6 Final Plans (Sunday, May 22nd)
Day 7 Final Plans (Monday, May 23rd)
Day 8 Final Plans (Tuesday, May 24th)
Travel Changes ​

 

[kadrachb]

So a quick update on what I was for Halloween...

I was Minnie Mouse! I can't find any good pictures of my shoes (I have one on instagram but I can't seem to get it to come up correctly...), but I had a BRIGHT yellow pair of high heels from my senior prom that I wore, paired with my apron that I got at disney. I found the ears at walmart for $3!​

 

[accountingbabe08]

Cool looks like it will be a fun trip

 

[NJlauren]

I'm here!!

Congrats on graduating (a little early) and good luck on applying to schools!

 

[kadrachb]

Cool looks like it will be a fun trip

, and thanks for joining in! I hope it's fun, haha.

I'm here!!

Congrats on graduating (a little early) and good luck on applying to schools!

, thanks for joining in again

Thank you! Apply it grad schools isn't necessarily hard... just someone for me to easily put off to make it hard...

 

[kadrachb]

ADR Plans​

I thought I’d give everyone an idea of what places we are going to try to eat at / get ADRs for. Something’s are still up in the air though, and I’d appreciate any suggestions or reviews of places! We do have the DDP, but are currently going to pay OOP for two meals.

Some new places:

Raglan Road – My aunt really likes to go here when she visits, and since we’ve never done a table service meal in DTD, I’d really like to give it a try! And their menu looks so good!

Minnie’s Seasonal Dine – I know I’ve heard Hollywood and Vine isn’t that good, but I think we will try it anyways – especially now since it’s a character dinner. The theme for our ‘season’ will be springtime. Plus, we’ll get to see some classic characters, and we love character meals!

Biergarten – I personally like German food, and we want to try something new at Epcot. The past two years we’ve done Akershus, which we did love.

1900 Park Fare (Breakfast) – Mostly going because of the Mad Hatter, but also because we are staying at the GF, and what’s a better time to do it then when staying there? Plus, we’ll do it on our break day, so we won’t have to wake up terribly early. And I mean... who doesn't want strawberry soup for breakfast?

Picture from Disney website​

Cinderella’s Royal Table – Since we aren’t eating at Akershus – I have to drag Kenny at least to one princess meal! , plus, we've never eaten here before, and I do want to eat in the Castle...

Picture from Disney Website​

Kona (Breakfast) – We’re thinking of getting an ADR for the day we leave, but since we haven’t discussed the time we will fly out yet, it could end up being canceled. I’ll still schedule it, and see what happens when we buy our plane tickets! If we do go here, it'll be an OOP meal for us.



Places we’ve already done before:

Be Our Guest (lunch) - I like how you can get this experience and it's QS. We've done it the past two years on our first day in MK, so it's tradition now I think. I know we're missing out on meeting Beast at Dinner... but with so many other places we want to try, I don't see using credits here for dinner when we can still see it at lunch.

Picture from Disney Website​

1900 Park Fare (Dinner) - We have a blast here last year! Mostly the reason why we also wanted to do the breakfast.

Tusker House (Breakfast) - Originally I was planning a pre-park breakfast... but I'm starting to think of doing it around 9:40ish, which would give us time to get a ride on DINOSAUR before breakfast. Any thoughts? Plus, since we're staying so far away from AK this year, I'm not sure we're going to want to get up THAT early to get to AK, plus we may not want to go the whole way back to the GF for a mid-day break if Rivers of Light is up and running.

California Grill (Dinner) – We’re paying OOP for this year, and it's become a tradition now. Originally we were talking about trying a new signature place, but we love it here.

Picture from Disney Website​

Currently, we have to TBD quick service spots that need to be filled. One is on our HS day, and the second is on our AK day. Our AK day is tricky, because if Rivers of Light is out when we go, we really want to see it and then have to work around it. Our HS day is still (kind of) up in the air. If SWW is announced, and the character breakfast is back at Sci-fi, we definitely want to do it, and then keeping the Minnie’s Seasonal Dine (if it isn’t replaced by the other SW meal) is up in the air. And the Garden Grill looks interesting…


Any places you guys can’t miss while at Disney? It was hard for me to say no to Akershus, but I’m excited to try Biergarten! Also, any advice on QS at HS or AK?

 

[kadrachb]

No Star Wars Weekends
​

So, this is just a quick update to the ADR wishes.. since it's been announced that there will no longer be SWW, our HS plans have now become solely Minnie's Seasonal Dine! While I wish SWW was still happening, this makes it easier to plan, I guess...

Which means any good suggestions still for QS at HS?

 

[NJlauren]

YUM! So many of your ADRs look fab! A lot of which are on my wish list and I haven't done yet.

I am doing H&V in a few weeks, i have heard mixed things too, I will let you know how i feel about it, hoping we like it, but we will be dining with the Disney Jr Characters not Minnie....

The no SWW is a total bummer (At least i think so) To be honest i am surprised I haven't seen more back lash around here.... I thought it seemed like a cool event but i guess with Star Wars land opening they don't need it as much?

 

[kadrachb]

YUM! So many of your ADRs look fab! A lot of which are on my wish list and I haven't done yet.

I am doing H&V in a few weeks, i have heard mixed things too, I will let you know how i feel about it, hoping we like it, but we will be dining with the Disney Jr Characters not Minnie....

The no SWW is a total bummer (At least i think so) To be honest i am surprised I haven't seen more back lash around here.... I thought it seemed like a cool event but i guess with Star Wars land opening they don't need it as much?

I always have a big ADR list, and it so hard to narrow it down. Every place looks sooo good.

Please let me know about H&V! I mean I think we'll still give it a try and judge for ourselves. I mean, at 1900 PF our service wasn't great, but the food was.

Yeah, now that they'll have such a large part of the park centered around Star Wars, they probably don't need SWW. But it is a bummer, but I can see why they wouldn't want to do it was already doing Season of The Force and construction going any... still sad.

 

[kadrachb]

ADR Day! ​

This morning I made ADRs! After tripping over almost everything in my room trying to get to my laptop and probably walking up the person in the apartment below me – it was a very successful morning!

So what did we get? Here we go!

Raglan Road on 5/17 at 7:00pm

Be Our Guest on 5/18 at 12:15pm

1900 Park Fare on 5/18 at 6:30pm

Biergarten on 5/20 at 7:00pm

1900 Park Fare on 5/21 at 9:15am

Tusker House on 5/22 at 9:45am​

- Originally we were going to do pre-park, but we deiced we could get there at rope drop and do a ride on DINASAUR before breakfast without a FP+.

Garden Grill on 5/23 at 9:15am
​

- Again, no prepark even though it was available. With Soarin’ down for refurb our day will be slightly empty I think, and we will have a FP+ for Test Track our first Epcot Day.

California Grill on 5/23 at 8:45pm

Cinderella’s Royal Table on 5/24 at 7:15pm​

- This may be changed to Skipper's Canteen whenever the ADR becomes available.

Now, we are thinking about switching resorts – and I want your input!

Currently, as mentioned, we are booked at the Grand Floridian with the DDP. But, we are considering moving to AKL club level.

One reason is, is that we think the DDP would be too much food for us overall. We don’t need to share two snacks a day, or have a dessert/side with every QS option. I think we could save about $100 not doing the DDP.

The second is, I NEED to eat breakfast. And club level would give us a good enough breakfast options. But without club level offerings, we would end up buying our own breakfast foods for the room.

Thirdly, switching to AKL club level is less expensive, and we know we like AKL. Dropping the DDP wouldn’t change our ADRs – I might move Biergarten to lunch of the same day. And there are sometimes when we would have done a QS that are completely dropped, because I can survive on snacks.


Any comments or suggestions?

 

[NJlauren]

Great ADRs!

I have never stayed at AKL so won't have much to add.

However I will say we never do the DDP we like the option for appetizer no desert and sharing. So I get why you would skip that plan. Some people love it I just don't see it work for us.

Now I have stayed at the Grand Floridian and I love it, but mostly for location.

It's a tough choice.... What about either club level at the GF or regular room at the GF with the savings going towards some breakfast items?

 

[kadrachb]

It's a tough choice.... What about either club level at the GF or regular room at the GF with the savings going towards some breakfast items?

An even tougher choice now that they announced that Flower and Garden will be during our trip - they expanded it to 90 days! Those food booths are such a good use of snack credits.

I did some calculating, and even with buying refillable mugs and staying at our current room we'd come out ~$200 ahead. We'd definitely eat differently at QS locations. But even factoring in drinks and now Flower and Garden (which I assume we would drop our QS from our 1st Epcot day for snacking), I'm even leaning towards no DDP.

AKL club level with no DDP is even cheaper, and with no refillable mugs since we can get sodas to go back to our room, it would end up being ~$600 less. But I never factored in snacks for going without the DDP.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I didn't know you started a new PTR, yay!
I love all your ADRs! Although if you do switch to AKL I'd add in Sanaa or Boma too! Maybe Jiko for a signature experience? It's so hard to choose.
The club level will be really nice! Although I think having the monorail is tough to beat. Decisions, decisions...
I have also not been doing DDP for the past 2 years. Just felt that I didn't need all that dessert and then I can eat whatever I want to. If DDP allowed us to get an appetizer instead of dessert then I think it'll be more worth it for me.

 

[kadrachb]

I didn't know you started a new PTR, yay!

I kinda snuck in under the radar it seems!

AKL I'd add in Sanaa or Boma too! Maybe Jiko for a signature experience? It's so hard to choose.

I'm definitely considering going over to AKL. I don't think we can fit another signature into our schedule (because of how long they are), but Sanaa is such a good choice! Maybe for a late lunch on our AKL day before Rivers of Light (if it's debuted yet)? I'm thinking we'll change even before discounts come out... I know the current pin code for our dates has AKL club level at 20% off... which would be WONDERFUL. But I'll take 15% off too!

I have also not been doing DDP for the past 2 years. Just felt that I didn't need all that dessert and then I can eat whatever I want to. If DDP allowed us to get an appetizer instead of dessert then I think it'll be more worth it for me.

Definitely dropping the DDP. I am a big dessert fan, but I don't need a dessert with every TS and QS meal. I agree that if an appetizer could be switched instead of dessert it would be more of a pull. I actually ended up canceling our CTR reservation for a BOG dinner reservation the same night. I don't see CTR -really- worth $150 OOP, I can see it on the DDP. Plus, again, now that Flower & Garden has been added, thats 4 QS credits we wouldn't use because of snacking...

 

[kadrachb]

Some Disney Changes! ​

Originally I was going to post about our first day plans this week – but we’ve made some changes to our reservations so I thought I’d dedicate a whole post to that!

First up – our resort! I officially changed it to Animal Kingdom Lodge, club level. While I absolutely LOVE the Grand Floridian – affording club level at AKL just made more sense to us. I personally love animals, and being able to get breakfast in the morning with coffee just made sense – also did all the snacks we can get. We also stayed there last year, and while I would like to try somewhere new (like the boardwalk or yacht club) our second change is what really made us come to the decision of doing a club level room (see below), and while we could have gone with Wilderness Lodge… I much prefer the décor of AKL.

​

Second change – No more DDP! After crunching the numbers, we’d pay about 100 + 200 OOP more while on the dining plan, and without it, we’ll still be under. This decision is what led us to club level. We won’t have to buy refillable mugs because we can get soda and refill our water bottles up at club level lounge, we get breakfast and snacks, and appetizers. With Flower and Garden extended, we would just be too stuffed on our Epcot days too, from the quick service and snacks.


Third change – Just a couple of ADRs… I took out CTR table for dinner at BOG, I don’t know if I can justify CTR OOP. I also made Tusker House pre-park at 8:30am. The only change that hasn’t happened yet is lunch at Sanaa. I’m going to try and get the lunch with an Animal Specialist at Sanaa on our break day (I've contacted IPO about it), and move our 1900 PF breakfast to our last MK day. The only semi-problem is that MK has EMH of 8am that day, so we won’t be taking advantage of those.

A fourth change (that I didn’t make…) – Flower and Garden is EXTENDED!!!!

Both us loved Flower and Garden last year (Kenny got this really nice shirt of Mickey mowing – which is one of Kenny’s favorite past times), and I was slightly disappointed when I didn’t think we could go this year during it. And then I was even more disappointed when SWW was canceled I almost thought of moving our dates and just trying to do a super quick move out of my apartment… But, thankfully, F&G will still be going on!

Photo from www.wdwinfo.com​

I hope everyone has a GREAT Thanksgiving!

 

[NJlauren]

Overall those seem like good updates!

YEAH CLUB LEVEL! I want to try that one day for sure! Also yeah for F&G extended! I loved F&G this year as well!

Have a Great Thanksgiving!

 

[kadrachb]

YEAH CLUB LEVEL! I want to try that one day for sure! Also yeah for F&G extended! I loved F&G this year as well!

Have a Great Thanksgiving!

You should definitely try it at AKL! I mean, I've never been to club level anywhere else... but, yeah . Love AKL. All the animals are amazing! It doesn't even feel like you're in Florida, it's weird, haha.

I hope you aren't too stuffed tonight! I know I am...

 

[kadrachb]

Day 1 Tentative Plans (Arrival Day!)​

Right now we are considering a 6:15am flight out of BWI to land in MCO at 8:30am – Kenny says he’s fine with it, but is worried about me. I keep telling him I’ll be fine. I guess he’s the final decider though, since he’s booking the flights!

If we do the earliest flight, we’ll probably be at the resort (hopefully) by 10:30am, and our room probably won’t be ready, so our plan is to head to the Orlando Eye! We had decided we wanted to do something outside of Disney this year. Crazy, right?

We may also visit the wax museum since you can buy the tickets as a package.

We will probably be done with everything by 2pm, head back to the resort, go to our room (which will hopefully be ready), and take a NAP! Because I know by then I’ll be exhausted. We may also stop by the pool.

Now, we will be going to Disney Springs this night, however, we have a choice in where we eat. Our first choice is Raglan Road, which I have an ADR for at 7:00pm. Our second choice is Morimoto Asia, which I have an ADR for at 8:30pm. I’m leaning towards Morimoto, Kenny says he doesn’t care, and whatever I want is great.

I think I’ll probably try and get an earlier reservation at Morimoto Asia on Opentable whenever it lets me for our date.
After that, it’s back to the resort! Hopefully to get a goodnight’s rest.


Some updates:

Kenny got a discount pin code. But since him and I don’t live at the same address, I had some trouble applying it to our booking. The CM told me he had to be the one whose name was under the reservation. However, whenever I went to book something with the pin code I could log in as myself, add him as the second guest, and book our room again. The only thing that changed was that all the mailings would go to Kenny instead of me. I also realized I don’t actually know Kenny’s address or his phone number…


So, long story short, we got 20% off our room! Which is great. Also, all our ADRs stayed.

But, now we're having thoughts of trying a new resort - Club level at the Boardwalk Inn, since it's only $200 more... any suggestions if we should change or stay at AKL?

Boardwalk has some pros, but so does AKL...

 

[purplelover88]

I'm here! You definitely snuck in under the radar. Oh No, you got rid of the Grand Floridian. That is one of my new favorite resorts. However, I completely understand that money works out better elsewhere. Yay for pin codes! Given the choice I would pick Boardwalk especially for only $200 more. Walking to parks just can't be beat; it's also exciting to check out new places. I may be partial though because the boardwalk was my first deluxe resort and the first trip I planned myself. I've never stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge though (until next weekend though!) but if you know you love it. I will still go with Boardwalk though.