Anyone Game? It’s my Sep 2013 Blog! I'm home; with a TR link in #1189, 10/14

[DisneyFirefly]

I wish I was coming, too But maybe I'll be living down there in time for the next Dismeet

 

[Luvchefmic]

I wish I was coming, too But maybe I'll be living down there in time for the next Dismeet

I personally would LOVE that Dana since we still have not met AND if you need a place to stay abt 30 miles from WDW door is open ...must love animals of course

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I personally would LOVE that Dana since we still have not met AND if you need a place to stay abt 30 miles from WDW door is open ...must love animals of course

I do love animals We'll see what happens, though. Right now, the plan is to get through pastry school, get an internship on the DCP, kick butt at the internship and get offered a permanent position, and move the hell back to Orlando.

Of course, what we plan and what happens aren't always the same thing

 

[PrincessInOz]

A Little Disney Magic at Home – Mickey Pancakes



A number of years ago, I posted about making Mickey Pancakes at home to keep the Disney Magic going. If nothing else, making the pancakes always brings a smile to my face because of treasured memories of when and WHERE we would be eating these delights. I’ve always found them to be a great way for my family to talk about shared memories.


At a recent DisMeet, a fellow Melbourne Dis-ser asked for my recipe. I had figured it would be as simple as coming back to the Dis and doing a search on selected key words. Turns out that assumption was wrong!

Seeking that recipe and that post turned out to be like looking for a needle in about 68,500 posts! Okay….I probably could have looked a little harder; but it seemed like the perfect opportunity to whip up another batch!



My starting ingredients:

• Self-Raising Flour, 1 cup
• Egg, 1
• Milk, ¾ - 1 cup
• Pinch of salt
• Oil, 1 teaspoon

Mix the egg and milk with the flour. Add the salt and oil. I started out with 3/4 cup of milk and found I needed to add a little more to get it to the right consistency. The consistency of the mix should feel like thickened cream.






Heat a pan on medium/low heat, place the Mickey pancake mould and add some oil in the middle of the pan.







Add enough mix to fill the mould to at least half-way.






I let the batter cook on the medium/low heat until it bubbles quite a bit before removing the mould.







Flip over and cook on the other side.







Keep cooking until all the batter is finished. With the quantities in the recipe, I can get 6 pancakes.






DS loves his with just bananas.








I love them with banana and strawberries.







Breakfast sure brought a smile to all our faces this morning. We even spent a bit of time chatting about this holiday – something we’re all looking forward to!

 

[Luvchefmic]

Yum ! I had Mickey pancakes yesterday too ! But I'll admit it I did the " just add water" to the Pancake complete mix and I had applesauce on the side

 

[ACDSNY]

DH makes our nieces, nephew and grandson Mickey pancakes for breakfast whenever they stay the night. If he forgets they are sure to remind him.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Yum ! I had Mickey pancakes yesterday too ! But I'll admit it I did the " just add water" to the Pancake complete mix and I had applesauce on the side

We also like stewed apples with cinnamon on top of pancakes. Not quite applesauce...but close.

DH makes our nieces, nephew and grandson Mickey pancakes for breakfast whenever they stay the night. If he forgets they are sure to remind him.

Yum! I think next time I'm in your neck of the woods, I'm coming over for breakfast.

 

[ACDSNY]

Yum! I think next time I'm in your neck of the woods, I'm coming over for breakfast.

Your welcome to anytime!

 

[TMGosizk]

Made it through your PTR!! Wow! I had a lot of fun reading it!

Your trip plans look fantastic!! I'm so intrigued by all that you'll see during your road trip out west!! You've definitely put a lot of thought into all your stops and they all look amazing! What an adventure!!

It sounds like you're going to have a great time in Disney, too!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Made it through your PTR!! Wow! I had a lot of fun reading it!

Your trip plans look fantastic!! I'm so intrigued by all that you'll see during your road trip out west!! You've definitely put a lot of thought into all your stops and they all look amazing! What an adventure!!

It sounds like you're going to have a great time in Disney, too!!

Thanks for stopping by.


You.......READ......the entire PTR....er......blog????


I'm impressed!


I hope the road trip turns out well for us.

 

[abbybeth]

Your Mickey pancakes turned out perfectly! I've yet to manage the trick of pancakes in shapes, it seems like whenever I use a mold, the batter seeps out and ruins it. Maybe my pans are warped!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Your Mickey pancakes turned out perfectly! I've yet to manage the trick of pancakes in shapes, it seems like whenever I use a mold, the batter seeps out and ruins it. Maybe my pans are warped!

Thank you. That happened to me the first time. I figured I needed to make the batter a little thicker and it's worked well for me since.

 

[PrincessInOz]

It’s a Whole New Broadband World - Disney Uber-Planning on a completely different level




Like everyone else, I've been keeping tabs on those new fashion Broadband accessories that I suspect will become the new must-have on a WDW vacay (yes, even toppling the Vera Bagley bags and the Mickey Ear hats!).
I was also aware that Disney were running tests on the bands and inviting guests at selected resorts to participate in the trial. And I was also aware of the murmurings of discontent of the on-line black box known as My Disney Experience.


Last week, I mentioned that I was NOT going to bother with My Disney Experience and wait for all the IT dust to settle before wandering in through that Ethernet labyrinth again.
But as I was working through my day to day itineraries for the WDW days, I had a little change in heart.


So, over the last 10 days or so, I've been slowly heading into a Whole New World and updating information; bit at a time against my account.





My First attempt - Link Tickets, Resort and customise Magic Bands



I had purchased tickets from Undercover Tourist and in the initial forays into the black box a month ago, the ticket numbers were being rejected. I tried a number of times and in the end, gave it up as a bad joke Disney Experience.


Last week, with a little reluctance on my part to repeat rejection, I tried again.

It seems that the ticket numbers are now accepted by MDE and whilst I never expected there to be a problem, I was happy to see that the ticket numbers matched up with the type of ticket I purchased. Disney recognizes it; so it must be true!



I also updated my resort reservation in the system and it too seems to be valid.



Once I updated my resort reservation, I noticed that I had the option to customize my Magic Bands. We will all be sporting different coloured bands of our choosing and I entered my Australian address as the shipping address. It remains to be seen if the bands will be waiting for us at the resort. I sure hope they don’t send them out to Australia as I'm not sure I'll be here to pick up the box!!





My Second step - ADR re-entry



After being successful with the basic reservation and ticket stuff, I decided to bite the bullet and start populating some of my ADRs into the black box.

Needless to say, I approached this task with the enthusiasm one would have when walking into the lion’s den via the crocodile pit.



Would you believe that after I entered my first ADR number, EVERY other ADR I had self-populated?



Yup. I didn’t either. But it’s true!

With this kind of success rate, I was rapidly becoming a convert to being a fan of using My Disney Experience.





Third Time’s a Charm!




For the last week, I've been checking MDE to see if FP+ opened up for my October dates. Let’s face it....what’s the point of going through all this pain if there is no gain in it for me?



The gain is the promise of being able to step up the Disney vacay uber-planning to a whole new level.


Not only will we now be able to tantalize our taste buds a whole 180 days (plus10) out from our arrival on Disney soil with a locked in choice of where and when to eat, but now....



Now....



We can also have the pleasure of timing our walks around the parks to coincide with a promised fastpass plus entry into selected attractions.
And if my schedule in My Disney Experience is anything to go by, I have an hour by hour breakdown of my holiday that looks incredibly similar to a school schedule.





Learning Experiences



Some things I've learnt to consider and appreciate over the last 2 weeks.

1. FP+ assumes that you are only hitting one park per day. At time of writing, I have yet to have worked out how to split my 3 choices over multiple parks.

2. FP+ allows you to choose timed entries with an hour window between return and termination times. I have all my 3 FP+ attractions grouped over a 3 hour period. There is an immediate advantage over the existing FP system in that you don’t have to wait for a minimum of 2 hours or the FP return window to start before collecting another FP.

I also can collect my FP tickets from the comfort of my armchair rather than running around all over the park.


3. At times I suffered from (and still suffer from) FP+ analysis paralysis.

• Which attractions should I book and why?
• Do I book my FP+ based on my ADR times and picked attractions near my restaurant of choice so that I minimize the running around? OR
• Do I book my FP+ based on our favourite rides? OR
• Do I book my FP+ based on rides that don’t have a standard FP distribution? OR
• Do I book my FP+ based on closest to each other?
• When do I book my FP+ return times…..morning or afternoon? We prefer to hit the parks in the morning when the parks are more likely to have less people in them; and then head back to the resort in the afternoon for a rest. Do we change our touring style round?

AARGH!!!!!! Uber-Planning on a whole different level!




Current Status Quo

So, I now have a nice calendar of events that I can guarantee will change over the next 3 weeks.

And I sure hope that my custom fashion Broadbands are waiting for us at the resort. I would be sad to come home with the grey ones as souvenirs!

 

[franandaj]

Well first off, I missed the update on the Mickey pancakes! You don't add any sugar? Otherwise they look good, I have that same mold and haven't used it in a number of years. maybe in the new house.

FP+ OMG! All that uber planning, I don't think I could handle it! Fran gets upset that we need to make ADRs, but she has come to accept that fact. I'm not sure we COULD even schedule the rides with how she moves. We meant to leave for the park today at 2:30 and it was 4:00 before we were on the road!

I'll look into checking us in for the BCV part of the stay. I think since I'm the primary name on the reservation, I might have to do it.

You are very organized!

 

[ACDSNY]

We're usually a go-with-the-flow kind of group except for an ADR for dinner. I'm not sure I could do that much planning ahead of time. It will be interesting to hear how you like it.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Well first off, I missed the update on the Mickey pancakes! You don't add any sugar? Otherwise they look good, I have that same mold and haven't used it in a number of years. maybe in the new house.

FP+ OMG! All that uber planning, I don't think I could handle it! Fran gets upset that we need to make ADRs, but she has come to accept that fact. I'm not sure we COULD even schedule the rides with how she moves. We meant to leave for the park today at 2:30 and it was 4:00 before we were on the road!

I'll look into checking us in for the BCV part of the stay. I think since I'm the primary name on the reservation, I might have to do it.

You are very organized!

The system will provide you with 4 options for the 3 FP+ attractions first up. I picked the ones that had the earliest available times (because that's how my family rolls).

After I selected the one option, I then had the option to change the times of the FP+ window.

Here's where the strategy comes in......I picked rides that I knew we wanted to do and then looked for the nearest ones around so that we wouldn't need to run all over the park.

On some days and in some parks, it was impossible NOT to run all over the park. I would tweak the times so that if we were running, we would head in the one direction; rather than double back.

For HS and AK, MDE also allowed me to look at the show times and include it in my itinerary (not a reservation). I then looked at the attractions around the show times so that again, we were not doubling back and it would be a reasonable stroll between locations.

Between ADRs, shows and FP+ attractions, my days for HS and AK are full of back-to-back hour long time slots.






I do NOT like this kind of uber-planning (but the novelty is FUN!).

 

[PrincessInOz]

We're usually a go-with-the-flow kind of group except for an ADR for dinner. I'm not sure I could do that much planning ahead of time. It will be interesting to hear how you like it.

This kind of uber-planning is NOT how we flow. We might go commando; but not this kind of regimented planning.

But I'm conscious that the planning is only half the story. It'll be interesting to see how it works out when we get there.

 

[kmedina]

Love the Mickey pancakes. I almost bought one of those silicone shapers whilst shopping a while back until I remembered I cannot cook and removed it from my cart. Shopping I can do, so I was impressed with my restraint.

Your humorous recap of Mickey Band drama had me rolling. I was also shocked to see all but one dining reservation listed. I wish it could add other reservations, like recreation or Harmony barbershop. Maybe, they will add that later. Hopefully, we both get selected for the bands, because I too want to get my fastpasses while seated. We will not be hopping parks at all, so it will be easy for me. Disney will probably add a park hopping feature and more than 3 passes a day once they remove the ticketed machines. I am guessing that is far off though.

 

[skier_pete]

Wow, did you "get picked" or did you just try to sign up and they let you. I heard they weren't yet letting everyone do it. Has that changed?

We're not so sure we want to do FP+ this coming November. For one, we need to pick up our park tickets two days before our package starts, and I am worried if we link the tickets they won't let us do that.

That and I am not so sure I like the fact you only get 3-4 things. We typically don't hop, and as such (in MK and DHS at least) typically get 6-8 FP a day. Dropping down to 3-4 doesn't seem so great.

The only advantage I see is you can pre-book your lunch at Be Our Guest, but I am still hoping to get in there for dinner.

I don't know how detailed your park plan days are. You are going at a slow time of year, and I think indicated you are hopping, so I think the way I would book them is I would book my FP+ attractions for whatever park I am in in the afternoon/evening. I would only book popular attractions/ride and/or shows where you normally have to get there way in advance (like Fantasmic!).

I was reading I guess in the ad for MDE/MB/FP+ they were describing this system as "allowing for more sponteneity". Let me know how THAT goes. Good luck!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Wow, did you "get picked" or did you just try to sign up and they let you. I heard they weren't yet letting everyone do it. Has that changed?

We're not so sure we want to do FP+ this coming November. For one, we need to pick up our park tickets two days before our package starts, and I am worried if we link the tickets they won't let us do that.

That and I am not so sure I like the fact you only get 3-4 things. We typically don't hop, and as such (in MK and DHS at least) typically get 6-8 FP a day. Dropping down to 3-4 doesn't seem so great.

The only advantage I see is you can pre-book your lunch at Be Our Guest, but I am still hoping to get in there for dinner.

I don't know how detailed your park plan days are. You are going at a slow time of year, and I think indicated you are hopping, so I think the way I would book them is I would book my FP+ attractions for whatever park I am in in the afternoon/evening. I would only book popular attractions/ride and/or shows where you normally have to get there way in advance (like Fantasmic!).

I was reading I guess in the ad for MDE/MB/FP+ they were describing this system as "allowing for more sponteneity". Let me know how THAT goes. Good luck!

I didn't get picked. I just wandered into the site to see what would happen.

It started with the resort reservations and then I put in the ticket numbers for the tix from UT. And then it kinda snowballed from there.

One thing led to another and I noticed that I could customise my magicband colours. So I did that.

And then I kept checking the site; and today I noticed that I could book FP+ for my dates.

With the attractions I've picked in each park, I've pretty much covered the top 3 that we would want to do in each of the parks. For now, it means that if the standard FP are still opened to us, the FP+ will be a bonus.

I've also worked out that I've significantly cut down on my running around to collect FP around the parks with this system.

I suspect that when I'm there, I will have access to the FP+ AND FP system as I believe we will still get the KTTW? I understand people are getting both right now. We'll see what happens by the time I get there.

And I've also downloaded the MDE free app on my smart phone. Perhaps I'll be able to change attractions on the fly.

BoG hasn't opened up for my dates yet; so I'll keep checking to see.


It'll be interesting to see how it goes when the time comes and if I found it to be useful.