All My Bags Are(n't) Packed(But I'm Ready to Go)~My 1st PTR (11/2014) - TR Link (p.8)

[SarahDisney]

Because I'm a little stressed, I figured I'd post a project that's in progress (and really has been in progress for a long time ... I'm having trouble getting Buzz right and I rarely both have the time and am in the mood to work on it)

(yes, I know Buzz has no arms. I haven't gotten to that part yet. I also know that his head and wings are pretty bad - those are the parts I'm having trouble with)
Oh, and I didn't draw Lightning or Nemo - those I found online and just colored in (and in Lightning's case, applied some special effects). Mike I did from scratch (/tracing), though, and Buzz I'm doing the same thing (again, mostly tracing ... but he's a hard one!)

I'm at that point in my planning where I've done pretty much everything I can (in terms of formal planning, at least), and now I just have to wait (for my FP+ window to open, to see if I can get a BOG reservation, and a few other things). Waiting can be very stressful for me. Add in some stuff I have going on IRL ... it's gonna be a rough couple of weeks. I wish I could just fly down to Disney for a day to take my mind off things (but alas, that's not possible for me right now).

Anyway ... back to your regularly scheduled updating in a few days.

(Also, just as a side note, I've been going back and editing old posts to have them conform to the new format I developed, so if you found them unreadable before, feel free to go back and see if they're readable now)

 

[MonsterWDWmom]

Hi I am joining in.. late but I'm here!

Your plans sound great and by the way I think Buzz looks awesome!

I love your game board that is a great idea.

 

[SarahDisney]

Hi I am joining in.. late but I'm here!

Your plans sound great and by the way I think Buzz looks awesome!

I love your game board that is a great idea.

Welcome!

Thanks! I think Buzz needs a little work, but I'm glad to hear you think he looks good.
And I really like the game board - but I think for my next trip I'm going to actually try to make a playable game! (that might be a little too ambitious, though)

Glad you're following along!

 

[Britbrie]

I'm joining in!! I'm glad you commented on my PTR so that I could find this! I love your computer graphics!!!! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm joining in!! I'm glad you commented on my PTR so that I could find this! I love your computer graphics!!!! Can't wait to read more!!

Welcome!

Thanks for the compliment ... I really enjoy making these graphics, so I'm always happy when someone else likes them.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

 

[ZehnJahren]

You have so many updates!

The graphics are pretty cool! What do you do those with?

Seeing your customized maps came in makes me excited for ours. I just got maps, I didn't put any favorites on them because pretty much everything is our favorite.

That's so funny that you thought GMR was relatively short! That ride moves slower than anything else at all of WDW. I don't know of anything that moves slower than GMR; I think babies crawl faster.

 

[SarahDisney]

You have so many updates!

The graphics are pretty cool! What do you do those with?

Seeing your customized maps came in makes me excited for ours. I just got maps, I didn't put any favorites on them because pretty much everything is our favorite.

That's so funny that you thought GMR was relatively short! That ride moves slower than anything else at all of WDW. I don't know of anything that moves slower than GMR; I think babies crawl faster.

Yeah, last week was a busy week. This week not much has happened, so my next update may not be as busy.

Thanks for the compliment on my graphics! I do most of the graphics in Adobe Illustrator, but some things I do in Photoshop (mostly picture editing/borders) or InDesign (mostly big projects - I'm working on Character Bingo cards in InDesign right now). My countdown calendar that I didn't post on here was done in all 3 - picture editing in Photoshop, individual calendar pages in Illustrator, and it was all put together in InDesign.

I had never been on GMR before and assumed that, like most rides, it was only a few minutes long. I figured it would be 5 minutes or so ... 20 minutes later, I felt a little stupid. Oh well, it was a lesson I had to learn eventually.

 

[SarahDisney]

1/3 PLANNED!​

I was going to save this and post it with a regular update, but since I spent a few hours on it (I have this tendency to start something that I think will take me 15 minutes and not stop even when it takes me hours), I figured it deserved its own post.

Since I’m officially 1/3 of the way through my 15 weeks of planning, I figured I’d do a quick recap of what we’ve got planned so far. Some of this is a recap of old information, but some of it is new. Just a few notes before I begin:
1 – I may have gone a little graphics crazy. It seems to be a theme with me these days.
2 – For each day, I only listed the “must do” attractions & characters. There are many other attractions/characters that we want to do, but can live with ourselves if we don’t … those will be included in the more detailed plans, which I will probably start posting 5-6 weeks before the trip (which is when I expect things to be really finalized).
3 – Some of the pictures are small and hard to see. Die-hard fans may still be able to identify some, but if you can’t identify it … feel free to ask what’s on my list.
4 – Any and all comments are welcomed (and appreciated)
5 – All Ride Picture/Logo Credit to wikipedia.org unless otherwise specified. Character Images credit goes to The Disney Wiki unless otherwise specified. All images used for personal informational purposes only, no copyright infringement intended. Disney is awesome.

Epcot Character Spot image taken from: http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2010/06/3-millionth-guest-welcomed-at-epcot.html
Food & Wine Festival Logo taken from: http://eatingwdw.com/2014/07/31/new-events-added-to-the-2014-epcot-international-food-wine-festival/
Gran Fiesta Tour Image taken from: http://disneyparks.wikia.com/wiki/Gran_Fiesta_Tour_Starring_The_Three_Caballeros
Eat to the Beat Logo taken from: http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2014/02/28/news-2014-epcot-food-and-wine-festival-eat-to-the-beat-concert-schedule/

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Logo taken from: http://www.wesh.com/orlandomyway/orlando-theme-parks/logo-for-seven-dwarfs-mine-train-revealed/25032316#!bIbHnB
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad logo, It’s a Small World Image, Mad Tea Party image, Be Our Guest image, Enchanted Tales with Belle image, Dumbo image, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin image, and Space Mountain image taken from personal photos (2013).
Pirates of the Caribbean image taken from: http://www.yelp.com/biz/pirates-of-the-caribbean-lake-buena-vista
Magic Carpets of Aladdin image taken from: http://www.ticketstodisney.com/Theme%20Parks/Magic%20kingdom/Adventurland/The%20Magic%20Carpets%20of%20Aladdin.html
Mickey’s PhilharMagic image , Prince Charming Regal Carrousel logo, and Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid logo taken from The Disney Wiki (see above for link)

Muppet*Vision 3D logo and World of Disney sign taken from personal photos (2013).
Studio Backlot Tour image and Fantasmic image taken from The Disney Wiki (see link above).
Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano image taken from http://www.wdwmagic.com/dining/mama-melroses-ristorante-italiano.htm

(clearly Animal Kingdom is the park where we have the least planned … but I’m sure we’ll find what to do)
Adventurer’s Outpost image from: http://themommaven.com/2013/08/mouse-house-memories-adventurers-outpost/
Festival of the Lion King image taken from personal photos (2013).

Art of Animation image taken from personal pictures (2013) modified in Photoshop (2014).

So … we’ve got a lot planned out. Now I just have to wait for our FP+ window to open up and then I should be able to make more detailed plans!

 

[ach222]

Hi! I'm reading along - I'm new around here too! Enjoying your PTR so far! Love your graphics for each day!

 

[SarahDisney]

Hi! I'm reading along - I'm new around here too! Enjoying your PTR so far! Love your graphics for each day!

Welcome!

Thanks for the compliments!

 

[SarahDisney]

Week 5:​

This is a little late ... oops. I was busy yesterday. Also not so many pictures in this one.

MOVIE NIGHT: Fantasia (well, part of it – it was too bizarre for us) and Peter Pan (now that’s a perfect Disney movie)
Just a note on movie night – we tried to watch Fantasia, but had to stop because it was just too weird for us. I may end up watching it in bits and pieces at some point in time. We substituted Peter Pan, which was supposed to be our movie for Week 13. Peter Pan has now been replaced in week 13 by The Aristocats, which we’ve never seen, but wasn’t on our original list because of time constraints and the lack of significant park presence (we created a list of 10 “essential” movies, 5 movies that we wanted to see if time allowed, and I also had a backup list of movies we didn’t include on the original list – The Aristocats was on that third list)
CHARACTERS: The Incredibles
Our character activities:
- SW: Changed her computer background, got her Incredibles superhero name online (http://www.disney.co.uk/the-incredibles/name_game.html)
- Me: Got my Incredibles superhero name (Incredible Laughing Girl … a fairly accurate description of me), colored in some coloring pages (it’s like kindergarten, except that Photoshop pretty much makes sure I stay inside the lines)

Here’s what got taken care of this week:

Dining/ADRs:
*I’m thinking about giving up on getting a BOG ADR and just going for the FP+. I know, I know, if I keep trying I may be able to get it, but … the constantly searching and not finding anything … it isn’t easy for me. FP+ will be awkward, because we’ll be just drinking and not eating anything, but at least that’s something that I go on at a certain time, check if I can get it, get it or not, and then it’s over with. I may start trying again in a few weeks as the trip gets closer … but for now I think I’m taking a break from searching.


Disney “Spirit”:
*We did a lot of work on the “Disney Playlist” last weekend. It’s a mix of Disney soundtracks, “park music” (mostly music they play either in the parks or on rides), and songs that remind us of Disney. We’re up to 40 songs now, and I’m sure we’ll add more. Rather than worrying about tracking down all of the songs and then giving them to my sister, I just set it up as Spotify playlist that I shared with her (brilliant idea on my part). So far I’ve been listening to it when I can’t decide what to listen to – it puts me in the Disney mood.

*I finished collecting pictures of characters for our “Character Bingo” cards, and I made the templates last week, so now it’s just a matter of putting the character pictures into the bingo squares (which, granted, is the hardest part). No hurry, but I may end up starting on it this week if I don’t have anything else going on. I will try to remember to post one here when I finish.

*SW has decided that she wants to do pin trading. Now, SW has been collecting pins since we went to Toronto in 1995(? – it may have been 1997, the timing of my childhood trips gets kinda blurred in my head), so usually she just buys pins for her collection. But since pin trading is such a big thing at Disney, she’s interested in trying things out. I may enjoy it later in the trip once I’m used to it, but I’m guessing that for the first few pin trades I’ll be standing a few feet away trying not to have an anxiety attack (new things can sometimes make my anxiety not so happy).

Parks & Plans:
*SW and I went through the ride priority lists I made and straightened everything out. Basically, we divided things into 4 categories – “#1 Must Do” (things we refuse to miss), “#2 Want to Do” (things we want to do, but won’t be horrified if we miss), “#3 If We Have Time” (things to add to the agenda if we discover that we have extra time), and “NO!” (things we absolutely won’t do). Based on this I should be able to start working on agendas for each park next week.
As an example, here’s the Hollywood Studios one: (easiest one to get a screenshot of) – there’s nothing Frozen on it because I don’t know if that stuff will be around in November

*We want to see as many “rare” characters as we can. I’ve been looking into ways to see rare characters, and here’s what I got:

• Character Palooza at HS – probably will not be going on while we’re there (apparently it doesn't happen post-time change) – although I do wish we had known about this on previous trips
• MNSSHP/MVMCP – If, theoretically, one of these is going on while we’re there, we wouldn’t go because it’s extra money for something we’re not that interested in (not our holidays)
• EPCOT Character Training – So unpredictable and we don’t have an excessive amount of time at EPCOT (it’s arrival day) – but this is probably our best bet

So we may have a chance to see some rare characters at EPCOT, but I’m not counting on it. I’m a little disappointed, because there are some random characters that we’ve seen before and would like to see again (GENIE!!! and Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket), but I don’t know if we will.

Meeting Pinocchio in 2008 – haven’t seen him since

*I’ve been so worried about having a possible plan for Night 4, especially because I don’t know that we’ll stay at AK until closing (and we don’t have park hoppers this trip, so we can’t just go somewhere else for a few hours). Truth is, I know shouldn’t worry. We need time to pack. And if we want to do something, there are some obvious options (and I’m sure my sis will have suggestions I didn’t even think of):

• Hotel Arcade (air hockey!!)
• Mini-Golf
• Go back to DTD and get more ice cream/do more shopping
• Leave SW to her own devices and go to the Drop-Off Pool Bar at AoA to grab a beer and watch some sports (SW doesn’t really like November sports – she’s mostly a baseball-only gal) – I almost did this last year, but even though the TNF game was one I wanted to see, I was too tired after a long 2-park day. This would be a good plan for if SW is ready to rest and I’m not.
• Watch TV in the room
• Explore the resort by night (we’ll be exploring it one morning most likely – although I don’t know which one because we’re talking about rope drop every morning)

I think the Electrical Water Pageant looks super cool, but I’m not sure our last night is the right time for it. Maybe next trip.

*This came in the mail on Saturday:

FP+ selection date is less than 2 weeks away! I already know what we want, and have some alternative options in case what we want is not available (I’m thinking Anna and Elsa may not be available). I’m planning to stay up and do everything at midnight, mostly because I know that if I don’t, I won’t be able to sleep well that night, I’ll be too worried about making my selections.

Other:
*Call me crazy, but I really want to read Marty Sklar’s book (see description on amazon.com – Marty worked for Disney for over 50 years (and worked with Walt personally) and is widely considered an expert on Disney). None of the libraries I go to have it (and I searched system-wide - none of the libraries in the system have it), so I'd have to buy it ... but I'm thinking about it because I do really want to read it.

*I wish you could add your flight information to the MDE app. I use an app called TripIt for some of my vacations, but it’s not great for Disney because there’s no easy way to put in all of my daily plans. The MDE app serves the same purpose to some degree … but I wish I could have my flight info all there in the same place as the rest of my plans (and let’s face it, it’s not like Disney doesn’t have my flight info anyway)

And that was all that happened in Week 5 of my planning (well, that and the graphics I already posted). FP+ selection date is coming up soon, so hopefully next week I'll include some details on what I want to select, and the week after I'll have my actual selections.

 

[MonsterWDWmom]

Great plans!

I read Marty's book and it was awesome I definitely recommend!

 

[LoJoDisney]

Hi Sarah!

I SWORE I subscribed to your PTR but apparently I did not as I just had to read through a few of your last posts!

Your plans are looking great!

I also love the Disney graphics you made!

Glad I am finally subscribed and can follow along!

 

[SarahDisney]

Great plans!

I read Marty's book and it was awesome I definitely recommend!

Thanks!
It's good to know someone out there has read it and recommends it! I wanted to get it from the library, but I may end up stealing (with permission) a barnes & noble gift card from my dad and buying it since my library doesn't have it. I love the behind-the-scenes stuff, and I'm hoping the book has some of that!

Hi Sarah!

I SWORE I subscribed to your PTR but apparently I did not as I just had to read through a few of your last posts!

Your plans are looking great!

I also love the Disney graphics you made!

Glad I am finally subscribed and can follow along!

Hi Lauren!

Thanks for the compliments! I'm glad you're along for the ride and I hope you enjoy reading!

 

[ChanFO]

You made a spreadsheet. I officially heart you. You should see my Disney spreadsheets... spreadsheets for budgeting, spreadsheets for scheduling... And then I have custom touring plans on top of it... My DH thinks I'm nuts.

Don't give up on your BOG reservation - it could still happen! You don't get to book the FP+ lunch until 27 days out or so anyway, so you might as well keep trying right up until then. That's what I'm doing, anyway. I think the chances of it opening up on a MNSSHP night is pretty slim though, so I bet I'll be FPing my visit too.

 

[SarahDisney]

You made a spreadsheet. I officially heart you. You should see my Disney spreadsheets... spreadsheets for budgeting, spreadsheets for scheduling... And then I have custom touring plans on top of it... My DH thinks I'm nuts.

Don't give up on your BOG reservation - it could still happen! You don't get to book the FP+ lunch until 27 days out or so anyway, so you might as well keep trying right up until then. That's what I'm doing, anyway. I think the chances of it opening up on a MNSSHP night is pretty slim though, so I bet I'll be FPing my visit too.

Hi!

I've got about 15 sheets (although some of them are hidden at the moment), which includes a countdown calendar, a list of movies to watch, a list of characters we want to see, park lists, and budgets. And I'm sure I'll be adding more as the trip gets closer. I'm kind of an Excel fanatic. Once I get my FP+ selections, I'll be making more detailed plans ... which will probably start in Excel being scheduled almost by the hour (although Fantasyland will get several hours).

I'll probably keep trying for BOG every few days just because I'm terrible at not doing things that I say I'm not going to do. I'm just trying not to spend hours searching every day. I do want an ADR, but I have an ADR for lunch for the next day, so I'm okay with it if I do BOG lunch instead.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[RooRach0906]

Joining In!

Your plans sound great so far. I want to say in case anyone else didn't you can't do the BoG lunch fastpass until 27 days before and it has its own special webpage.

Those Pez dispenser were awesome! I may be a little bias because Roo was there and he is my favorite!

I love your game board. I think Bingo in line sounds like fun!

I guess you decided against the Electrical parade, you are totally allowed to sit on the beach of the resort and watch it no matter if you are staying there or not.

I have been Disney planning obsessed myself and I don't have any real planning left lol.

Well can't wait to read more.

 

[SarahDisney]

Joining In!

Your plans sound great so far. I want to say in case anyone else didn't you can't do the BoG lunch fastpass until 27 days before and it has its own special webpage.

I knew about the BOG lunch, but thanks for the reminder. We actually got an email about it while we were on the trip last year, but decided not to do it.

Those Pez dispenser were awesome! I may be a little bias because Roo was there and he is my favorite!

I love Roo (I love all of the Winnie the Pooh characters - they've always been my favorites)! I was so amazed by all the dispensers they had (not so impressed by the factory, though, which you could barely see).

I love your game board. I think Bingo in line sounds like fun!

Thanks!

I guess you decided against the Electrical parade, you are totally allowed to sit on the beach of the resort and watch it no matter if you are staying there or not.

Thanks for the information. We really do want to do it, so we'll probably do it on a future trip. We may even end up doing it on this trip if we feel like it - I'm just hesitant to stay out late and not get back to the hotel until 10 when we have a 7AM flight the next morning

I have been Disney planning obsessed myself and I don't have any real planning left lol.

Well can't wait to read more.

I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out of planning to do ... I've been spending very large chunks of my days recently planning.

Thanks for stopping by to say hi!

 

[SarahDisney]

Just a little Friday fun while I'm "locked" in my room (I washed the floor in the hallway, so I'm giving it a few minutes to dry before I go back out there).

Yesterday I found our 2008 marked maps.
Proof that we didn't like Maelstrom:

The handwriting is my sister's ... my handwriting is much less legible.

I should have another update either Monday or Tuesday ... not such a big one, but there have been a few things happening that I'll mention.

 

[ChanFO]

Proof that we didn't like Maelstrom:

The handwriting is my sister's ... my handwriting is much less legible.

I guess you won't miss it if it's closed when your trip takes place.