A Magical Place at a Magical Time of Year

Sorry I haven't been updating. We've been enjoying a wonderful beach vacation in Port Aransas, TX with the family. We'll be back on Friday and I'll try to update then, or this weekend.

WE love Port A. We'll be slipping off to Galveston for 3 nights in August though for a little change this year.

Can't wait to hear about what surprises you have in store for your family on the trip:cool1:
 
I'm here - a better reader than poster!! :goodvibes

I think I might know the trivia... is it B? If not B, then C? Aw heck... I don't know the answer! :lmao:

Great ADR's!!!
Yay! Good thing someone is reading. I need to go back to typing :) I will try to catch you up on the trivia answers in a post coming soon. Yep. Super excited about all of our ADRs!

I'm in!!
I'll be following along and love what you've written so far:thumbsup2
Thanks for joining Aimee!

Susan! How are you? How are your plans coming along?
Good, Jen. Plans are fine - not much happening right now. I should post an update at least so people know I'm ok and not sick or dead. Aren't you going to WDW soon?

WE love Port A. We'll be slipping off to Galveston for 3 nights in August though for a little change this year.

Can't wait to hear about what surprises you have in store for your family on the trip:cool1:
We really enjoyed our first trip to Port A. Might become a tradition! Let me know how Galveston goes. There is so much to do there!

The surprises are tough to talk about, since my niece reads (and contributes to?) this report. But I'll drop some hints.
 

It looks like my last trivia was at 193 days! I will have to go back and find that answer for you in my next update.

Today, we are at 150 days! So exciting, less than 5 months.

150 days until Disney.
What is located at the top of the campanile (bell tower) in the Italy pavilion at Epcot?
A An angel
B A statue of Jesus
C A cross
D A statue of St. Mark

wdw-epcot-italy.jpg
 
I took a moment to do a planning update post.

Let's see, I've been watching the airfare and it is doing nothing but going up, up, up! I am glad we have our flights booked. About 2 weeks ago Southwest ran a special and we were able to change some of our upcoming flights to lower rates, so now we have a few credits. That special didn't go through our December dates, so I'm crossing my fingers that they will maybe run another special this Fall and I can snag some cheaper flights.

About 2 weeks ago, I learned that they had released the restaurants for the Candlelight Processional packages at Epcot, and our chosen restaurant, Biergarten, was not included. This was on a Friday, so I spent the weekend scuffling around and stressing out, trying to pick another restaurant. I finally decided on Via Napoli. But on Monday morning, I got an email that several restaurants had been added, and now Biergarten IS included. So I didn't have to do all that worrying after all. We already have an ADR for Biergarten on our chosen night, but the packages can't be reserved until July 26th, so we will have to wait and see if our reservation gets changed that night.

Finally, on the planning front, I noticed yesterday that the park hours for December have been released (not sure when this happened, but I wasn't looking). That means the crowd calendars have been updated.

The bad news: Many of the parks are closing much earlier than I anticipated, based on the 2010 hours during the same week, and there are no nights with 2 MSEPs at MK.

The good news: ALL of the projected crowd levels went down. So for our dates, we're looking at overall crowd levels of 2-6 (except for our last day, a partial day, when they are at 9, but MK is just a 6.5 that day, so that's probably where we'll end up).

So now I have gone back and updated my vacation calendar and switched some of our park days around. As it now stands, we will see every park by the 4th day of our trip and have the 5th day and half of the 6th to pick and choose where to go. On our 5th day, THREE parks are parks to visit (not avoid). LOTS of flexibility, and that's what my family likes!

Oh and one other thing. We originally had a 7:40 reservation for California Grill and I was able to get it switched to 9:20. I'm much happier with this, since Wishes won't be until 10pm. Plus that gives us all day that day to be wherever we want to and not have to rush over to the Contemporary by 7:30pm.

Ok, so here's the answer to the last trivia question I posted before today. I'll post today's answer tomorrow.

What Magic Kingdom attraction was first built at WDW, then later copied at Disneyland in California?
A Space Mountain
B Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
C Country Bear Jamboree
D The Haunted Mansion
Answer: C. Originally planned for a different Disney theme park that never materialized, the Country Bear Jamboree opened as one of the original attractions in Walt Disney World in 1971, to an enthusiastic response. Following the success of the Bears in WDW, the Country Bear Jamboree opened in Disneyland in 1972, in the park's newest land, Bear Country.
 
I hope the airfare comes down for your trip.
I hope your ADR gets converted over to the Candlelight Processional package easily.
And YAY for low crowd levels! :yay:
 
I took a moment to do a planning update post.

Let's see, I've been watching the airfare and it is doing nothing but going up, up, up! I am glad we have our flights booked. About 2 weeks ago Southwest ran a special and we were able to change some of our upcoming flights to lower rates, so now we have a few credits. That special didn't go through our December dates, so I'm crossing my fingers that they will maybe run another special this Fall and I can snag some cheaper flights.



I hope you get some cheaper flights too! I swear booking for December is a far different thing that booking in the spring. The costs are way highter. (or maybe it is just that all prices year round have gone up. :confused:)


About 2 weeks ago, I learned that they had released the restaurants for the Candlelight Processional packages at Epcot, and our chosen restaurant, Biergarten, was not included. This was on a Friday, so I spent the weekend scuffling around and stressing out, trying to pick another restaurant. I finally decided on Via Napoli. But on Monday morning, I got an email that several restaurants had been added, and now Biergarten IS included. So I didn't have to do all that worrying after all. We already have an ADR for Biergarten on our chosen night, but the packages can't be reserved until July 26th, so we will have to wait and see if our reservation gets changed that night.


I went through this too. I was all stressed and then found out the rest of the restaurants were released.

Finally, on the planning front, I noticed yesterday that the park hours for December have been released (not sure when this happened, but I wasn't looking). That means the crowd calendars have been updated.

The bad news: Many of the parks are closing much earlier than I anticipated, based on the 2010 hours during the same week, and there are no nights with 2 MSEPs at MK.

The good news: ALL of the projected crowd levels went down. So for our dates, we're looking at overall crowd levels of 2-6 (except for our last day, a partial day, when they are at 9, but MK is just a 6.5 that day, so that's probably where we'll end up).


I had to tinker a bit too when I saw the hours. Wonder why the parks closes so much earlier. :confused:


Oh and one other thing. We originally had a 7:40 reservation for California Grill and I was able to get it switched to 9:20. I'm much happier with this, since Wishes won't be until 10pm. Plus that gives us all day that day to be wherever we want to and not have to rush over to the Contemporary by 7:30pm


That is an awesome time. I know watching wishes while eating is a sort of thing people really try and book the restuarants for... so :woohoo: for getting that ADR.
 
I hope the airfare comes down for your trip.
I hope your ADR gets converted over to the Candlelight Processional package easily.
And YAY for low crowd levels! :yay:
Yeah, I'll keep watching the air. I don't think we'll have any issues with the CP package. And we're excited about the low crowds. It's shaping up to be a nice trip!

I hope you get some cheaper flights too! I swear booking for December is a far different thing that booking in the spring. The costs are way highter. (or maybe it is just that all prices year round have gone up. :confused:)

I went through this too. I was all stressed and then found out the rest of the restaurants were released.

I had to tinker a bit too when I saw the hours. Wonder why the parks closes so much earlier. :confused:

That is an awesome time. I know watching wishes while eating is a sort of thing people really try and book the restuarants for... so :woohoo: for getting that ADR.
I will keep watching the air. I think it's in general and due to the oil prices. Maybe they will come down.
So glad they released those additional restaurants for the CP package. A lot of people would have been very mad.
I wonder if they will expand the hours again as we get closer to the time. Maybe they base it on how high the occupancy levels are at the resorts (based on current reservations), so if more people book maybe they'll expand the hours.
We are pretty excited about that Cali Grill ressie!
 
Here's yesterday's question and answer:
What is located at the top of the campanile (bell tower) in the Italy pavilion at Epcot?
A An angel
B A statue of Jesus
C A cross
D A statue of St. Mark
Answer: A.
The 83-foot bell tower in World Showcase's Italy is a replica of the "campanile" in St. Mark's Square in Venice. The angel atop Epcot's bell tower was created using a model of the original and, like the original, is covered with real gold leaf. Unlike the Venetian angel, however, the Epcot replica is also topped with a lightning rod.

And today's:

149 days until Disney.
Goofy wrote what on his cement block near Mann's Chinese Theater?
A "I'm Stuck"
B "Thanks!"
C "Gawrsh"
D Nothing - he just left his hand (paw?) prints

Planning:
Last night I excitedly showed our new vacation calendar to Chris, explaining how the crowd levels will be much lower than I had expected and how I am now able to leave the last 1.5 days of our trip open to do whichever parks we please. He was somewhat excited about all of it, but he is throwing a wrench in my system. He thinks we should pick one park a day to focus on.

For example, he wants to make our Sunday a MK day. Crowd levels at the MK are projected the lowest of the four parks that day (with Epcot 2nd lowest). We have MVMCP that night. So Chris says it makes sense to stay at MK all day that day, or maybe to go in the morning, then skip over to Epcot sometime, then back to MK.

Well, I'm just afraid we'll "have enough" of the MK in that full day if we don't do Epcot. My plan was to go to Epcot in the morning, then at some point shift over to MK before the party starts (maybe 3-4pm?). But I guess his plan isn't so bad if we throw Epcot in the middle of the day. It's just a lot of park-hopping in one day.

I'm just throwing a little bit of a temper tantrum because we have park hoppers and I want to feel like we're using them. Already, we have a 6th day on our package and with the later hours at US/IOA on Saturday, and dinner at WCC that night, and the shorter hours at the WDW parks, I don't think we'll be visiting a park that first night. :(

Oh whatever, we may be thinking along the same lines anyway (I have a "main" park selected for each day, with a secondary park on the list, in case we have time to visit it). So maybe the debate is over nothing, and he just doesn't understand my pretty spreadsheet. I'm sure it will be a fun vacation anyway, and the one thing about having a plan is: it never goes exactly as planned! I will need to be flexible.
 

Last night I excitedly showed our new vacation calendar to Chris, explaining how the crowd levels will be much lower than I had expected and how I am now able to leave the last 1.5 days of our trip open to do whichever parks we please. He was somewhat excited about all of it, but he is throwing a wrench in my system. He thinks we should pick one park a day to focus on.

For example, he wants to make our Sunday a MK day. Crowd levels at the MK are projected the lowest of the four parks that day (with Epcot 2nd lowest). We have MVMCP that night. So Chris says it makes sense to stay at MK all day that day, or maybe to go in the morning, then skip over to Epcot sometime, then back to MK.

Well, I'm just afraid we'll "have enough" of the MK in that full day if we don't do Epcot. My plan was to go to Epcot in the morning, then at some point shift over to MK before the party starts (maybe 3-4pm?). But I guess his plan isn't so bad if we throw Epcot in the middle of the day. It's just a lot of park-hopping in one day.

I'm just throwing a little bit of a temper tantrum because we have park hoppers and I want to feel like we're using them. Already, we have a 6th day on our package and with the later hours at US/IOA on Saturday, and dinner at WCC that night, and the shorter hours at the WDW parks, I don't think we'll be visiting a park that first night. :(

Oh whatever, we may be thinking along the same lines anyway (I have a "main" park selected for each day, with a secondary park on the list, in case we have time to visit it). So maybe the debate is over nothing, and he just doesn't understand my pretty spreadsheet. I'm sure it will be a fun vacation anyway, and the one thing about having a plan is: it never goes exactly as planned! I will need to be flexible.


Oh man, don't you hate it when someone throws a monkey wrench into our perfect plans!! David tried to ask me yesterday if we could adjust our entire week to another week! I thought he lost his ever lovin' mind. He has a work project to do the exact week I planned for our vacation but they are going to try to adjust around us. There is just no way since I've already got plane tix and party tix and all that.
Anyhoo...It sounds like you are going to work it all out. I do agree though that being at one park like MK all day and also for the party might be a little much so I hope you guys iron it all out. I'm sure you will!
p.s. I know we are going to love the Poly! Did you say if you requested a certain building or not?
 
Oh man, don't you hate it when someone throws a monkey wrench into our perfect plans!! David tried to ask me yesterday if we could adjust our entire week to another week! I thought he lost his ever lovin' mind. He has a work project to do the exact week I planned for our vacation but they are going to try to adjust around us. There is just no way since I've already got plane tix and party tix and all that.
Anyhoo...It sounds like you are going to work it all out. I do agree though that being at one park like MK all day and also for the party might be a little much so I hope you guys iron it all out. I'm sure you will!
p.s. I know we are going to love the Poly! Did you say if you requested a certain building or not?
Oh we will work it all out, I'm sure. I am now debating about maybe assigning one park to each day (to play along) and then when we get there making some subtle suggestions to hop. Haha I'm a mess.

And, no, I didn't say we requested a certain building. But I know what building we will be in anyway. (Shhh - that's a clue to one of our surprises!) ;)
 
And today's:

149 days until Disney.
Goofy wrote what on his cement block near Mann's Chinese Theater?
A "I'm Stuck"
B "Thanks!"
C "Gawrsh"
D Nothing - he just left his hand (paw?) prints

Hmmm... C?

he just doesn't understand my pretty spreadsheet. I'm sure it will be a fun vacation anyway, and the one thing about having a plan is: it never goes exactly as planned! I will need to be flexible.

:rotfl: I know that feeling. You should see all my spreadsheets. And... here I thought I was the only one to have people who don't appreciate them. And you are right... things never go exactly as planned... but planning is part of the fun. AND if we didnt' plan can you imagine the chaos? :rotfl:
 
148 days until Disney. What was the original name of Disney's Animal Kingdom?
A Disney's Animal Adventure
B Wild Animal Kingdom
C Discovery Island
D AnimaLand

Here's yesterday's question and answer:
Goofy wrote what on his cement block near Mann's Chinese Theater?
A "I'm Stuck"
B "Thanks!"
C "Gawrsh"
D Nothing - he just left his hand (paw?) prints
Answer: A. "I'm Stuck"
Goofy also wrote "Hsrawg." That's "Gawrsh" spelled backwards.

Now, I think my trivia book might be wrong. I don't see "Hsrawg". Do you think they changed it?
hand063.jpg


 
And, no, I didn't say we requested a certain building. But I know what building we will be in anyway. (Shhh - that's a clue to one of our surprises!) ;)


oh man! how exciting!! I love surprises. Even though the entire trip will sort of be a surprise for my family (since they have no clue what to expect), I also sort of want to do something extra special and surprise them with something. Just not sure what though. Probably something small like room service breakfast w/ a pot of Kona coffee or maybe a cake or gift basket or something?? still plotting but not sure.
I can't wait to hear all about your surprises up your sleeve!
 
oh man! how exciting!! I love surprises. Even though the entire trip will sort of be a surprise for my family (since they have no clue what to expect), I also sort of want to do something extra special and surprise them with something. Just not sure what though. Probably something small like room service breakfast w/ a pot of Kona coffee or maybe a cake or gift basket or something?? still plotting but not sure.
I can't wait to hear all about your surprises up your sleeve!
I'll include the surprises in my next update. But I'm going to have to just give clues. I can't spill the beans completely! The room service breakfast (especially if you can have it on the balcony) sounds like a great surprise!
 
Ok let's talk about the surprises I have planned. But first, a little background. If you remember from the first page, we are taking my niece, Haley, for the first time she's been to Disney World in 9 years. She is super excited. Haley is 16. We are also taking my daughter Katie (19) back, and she is also super excited. It's been 3 years since she's been. Also joining me are my husband Chris (aka Dude) and sister Joann (Haley's mom).

I hesitate to talk about the surprises here, since the PTR was intended to be updated by both Haley and me, but she seems to have dropped off. But who knows if she might end up rejoining us as we get closer to the trip and the excitement builds. So I'd hate for her to read here and spoil the surprise(s).

So, the first surprise I'll go ahead and share, especially since it affects packing and Haley may need to know before we go. We were originally scheduled for 5 nights (Friday through Wednesday). Later, we decided as a group to add 1 night at HRH and a day at IOA/US (mainly for WWOHP). Well, what Haley didn't know (until now) was that when I made that change, I also added a night to our vacation so we wouldn't have to shorten the Disney portion of our trip. So now we will be on vacation for 6 nights and we have 6-day park-hoppers. Super exciting!

Now the second surprise I had to discuss with Chris because it affected our budget, and I ultimately told my sister because she saw an email I received. I can't share the details here, but I bet my DIS friends would be smart enough to figure it out if I just say it has something to do with an IPO. I am super excited about this decision because it means I don't have to request a long house. I don't have to plan any breakfasts, and I just can't wait for the "special" arrival experience. I don't know if the girls will really understand the difference, but I am betting they will really enjoy the benefits! Incrementally, it wasn't a lot of money, and we actually saved a couple of hundred dollars with the decision to stay at HRH instead of Poly for our first night.

And now, some trivia:

147 days until Disney. What was the third hotel to open in Walt Disney World after Disney's Contemporary and Polynesian Resorts?
A Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground
B Disney's Golf Resort Hotel
C Disney's Grand Floridian Beach Resort
D Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort

Here's yesterday's question and answer:
148 days until Disney. What was the original name of Disney's Animal Kingdom?
A Disney's Animal Adventure
B Wild Animal Kingdom
C Discovery Island
D AnimaLand
Answer: B.
Originally called the Wild Animal Kingdom, the park was to be separated into three separate lands themed around live animals, extinct animals, and mythical animals. Disney removed the "Wild" from the name in part to avoid a potential conflict with Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" TV show.
AKLOGOASWILDANIMALKINGDOM3.jpg

 
Ok let's talk about the surprises I have planned. But first, a little background. If you remember from the first page, we are taking my niece, Haley, for the first time she's been to Disney World in 9 years. She is super excited. Haley is 16. We are also taking my daughter Katie (19) back, and she is also super excited. It's been 3 years since she's been. Also joining me are my husband Chris (aka Dude) and sister Joann (Haley's mom).

I hesitate to talk about the surprises here, since the PTR was intended to be updated by both Haley and me, but she seems to have dropped off. But who knows if she might end up rejoining us as we get closer to the trip and the excitement builds. So I'd hate for her to read here and spoil the surprise(s).

So, the first surprise I'll go ahead and share, especially since it affects packing and Haley may need to know before we go. We were originally scheduled for 5 nights (Friday through Wednesday). Later, we decided as a group to add 1 night at HRH and a day at IOA/US (mainly for WWOHP). Well, what Haley didn't know (until now) was that when I made that change, I also added a night to our vacation so we wouldn't have to shorten the Disney portion of our trip. So now we will be on vacation for 6 nights and we have 6-day park-hoppers. Super exciting!

Now the second surprise I had to discuss with Chris because it affected our budget, and I ultimately told my sister because she saw an email I received. I can't share the details here, but I bet my DIS friends would be smart enough to figure it out if I just say it has something to do with an IPO. I am super excited about this decision because it means I don't have to request a long house. I don't have to plan any breakfasts, and I just can't wait for the "special" arrival experience. I don't know if the girls will really understand the difference, but I am betting they will really enjoy the benefits! Incrementally, it wasn't a lot of money, and we actually saved a couple of hundred dollars with the decision to stay at HRH instead of Poly for our first night.

And now, some trivia:

147 days until Disney. What was the third hotel to open in Walt Disney World after Disney's Contemporary and Polynesian Resorts?
A Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground
B Disney's Golf Resort Hotel
C Disney's Grand Floridian Beach Resort
D Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort

Here's yesterday's question and answer:Answer: B.
Originally called the Wild Animal Kingdom, the park was to be separated into three separate lands themed around live animals, extinct animals, and mythical animals. Disney removed the "Wild" from the name in part to avoid a potential conflict with Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" TV show.
AKLOGOASWILDANIMALKINGDOM3.jpg


Don't ruin any surprises by posting on here in case your niece sees it, but I have to confess, I really don't know what HRH or IPO is. duh? remember, I'm a newbie so it's probably very obvious and I'll figure it out as soon as I submit this.
regardless, You are super nice for planning all this for your family!
 
Don't ruin any surprises by posting on here in case your niece sees it, but I have to confess, I really don't know what HRH or IPO is. duh? remember, I'm a newbie so it's probably very obvious and I'll figure it out as soon as I submit this.
regardless, You are super nice for planning all this for your family!
HRH is Hard Rock Hotel on Universal property. The girls know about that. I'll PM you the rest.
 
Congrats on the new part of your surprise. That should make your trip soooo much nicer. Personally, I have never experienced it. Maybe someday. :rolleyes1

Not sure how I missed yesterdays trivia. I knew about the different lands. In fact, look at the AK logo and you can see the dragon. I would have like to have the dragon land... my youngest ds has always been into them.

As for today.. my guess would be c. I guess that only because I would think it easier to build around the lake than to expand elsewhere. I am probably wrong though.
 





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