Be surrounded by the magic 24/7? Yes Please!!(Updated 9/9: 9 Days Left!)

[JoShan1719]

::Steps on soap box::

Ahem. My name is Shannon, and I LOVE Disney.

::Steps off soap box::

I'm addicted. I spend months planning my vacation, knowing I won't actually follow any of my plans. I love the movies. I love the parks. I love the cruises, even though I've never been on one. I'm a proud member of this Disney forum and usually check it for updates several times a day.

So after telling everyone I know personally how much I love Disney, and reading all the trip reports and pre-trip reports on here, I decided to do my own PTR.

I hope you enjoy my planning, ranting, venting, gushing and all other forms of expression by, about, or in relation to Disney. I'm sure most of you will "get it" more than anyone I know in real life. Because you love Disney the same way I do. You use the line at the bank to practice your skills of patience for the park. You YouTube Wishes, Fantasmic!, or IllumiNations when you're bored, lonely, done with your chores, or need a good cry.

You plan multiple trips at the same time. You start planning your next trip the day you get home from vacation; as you board your plan; when you check out of your hotel; the moment you exit your last park; as soon as you enter on your first day. You see hidden Mickeys in your everyday life. You listen to Disney music while folding laundry. You dream of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Tokyo Disney, Disneyland in Paris, Disney Cruises.

You are my truest friends. You understand, probably better than I do, why I love Disney so much. Whether you're a Newbie, a Veteran, or a Cast Member, you get it. Thank you for being here, for getting it, for sharing it, for living it.

The Plans
Who's going?
Change of Plans
'Nother Change and Some Clothes
Sunday, September 18th
Sunday, Part 2
Monday, September 19th
Tuesday, September 20th
Wednesday, September 21st
Thursday, September 22nd
Friday, September 23rd

Some extra stuff
Supplies
My Bible
New Stuff!!
New Restaurant and New Goal
It's Official!!
You've Got Mail!
I Need a 12 Step Program!
Sad Face
New Stuff and my Video Countdown
10 Days Left!
9 Days Left!

​

​

​

​

 

[JoShan1719]

So who's going? Well, me, Shannon, and my boyfriend, John. We'll be staying 8 days and 7 nights at Pop Century Resort (my first time staying on Property!!!). I booked in December and got free quick service dining, which I've upgraded to regular dining.

I've worked and reworked our schedule so many times. I read EasyWDW daily, have my deluxe Passporter ready, subscribe to Touring Plans and RideMax, and have finally nailed down our itinerary...I think

Here's what I have:
Sunday, 9/18: Check in, dinner and Fantasmic! at DHS, then MK for EMH
Monday, 919: Epcot
Tuesday, 9/20: DHS
Wednesday, 9/21: AK
Thursday, 9/22: MK
Friday, 9/23: Downtown Disney, Boardwalk, Mini Golf
Saturday, 9/24: Epcot
Sunday, 9/25: Go home

I think this will be my best Disney vacation so far and I can barely contain my excitement for it. Stay tuned for my day-by-day itineraries!

 

[Mommy2BnB]

Hi! We are leaving for Pop in a week for our first trip! I am very excited, too. I wish we were getting free dining, but oh well. Looking forward to reading your itinerary. I think I am just going to print out a Touring Plan for each park and follow it as best as we can, leaving off what doesn't interest us.

We are also going to Cocoa Beach for an afternoon and morning before we hit Orlando. Do you have any experience with this area? TIA

 

[JoShan1719]

Hi! We are leaving for Pop in a week for our first trip! I am very excited, too. I wish we were getting free dining, but oh well. Looking forward to reading your itinerary. I think I am just going to print out a Touring Plan for each park and follow it as best as we can, leaving off what doesn't interest us.

We are also going to Cocoa Beach for an afternoon and morning before we hit Orlando. Do you have any experience with this area? TIA

Hi there! I unfortunately don't have much experience with Cocoa Beach. I have family in that area, but we've never gone to the beach. I hear it's beautiful though!

 

[JoShan1719]

Well we've changed our plans slightly. In effort to prepare for our impending move in March (to Orlando!) we decided to leave two days early cutting our package down by almost $300, which we'll apply towards moving expenses.

Our new schedule follows:
Sunday, 9/18: Check in, Epcot
Monday, 9/19: Epcot, day 2
Tuesday, 9/20: Magic Kingdom, Downtown Disney
Wednesday, 9/21: Hollywood Studios
Thursday, 9/22: Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic!
Friday, 9/23: Check out

I feel more comfortable with this new schedule than I have with any of the other schedules I've made so far because I couldn't seem to get our park days right. Now I'm really excited for our trip!

 

[JoShan1719]

So the only new change to our plans is that on Thursday the 22nd we won't be going to DHS after AK. Now that Fantasmic! has been added every night of September, we're just going to see it on Wednesday. I'm so excited about this. Fantasmic! is my favorite end-of-night show, so I'm glad I won't miss itl.

On an even more exciting note, I bought two Disney shirts on Ebay that I'll be wearing while I'm there.

This is the first one. I haven't decided which day I'm going to wear it yet.

This is the second one. Give you one guess which day I plan to wear this one:

I'd like to buy two or three more, and maybe a dress, but it's been challenging. Since I'm going in September I'm really only looking for sleeveless tops because it's just too hot for tshirts. I'm also determined to avoid one particular graphic: Tink. I know, it's probably against some sort of Dis Law, but I can't stand that silly pixie and refuse to wear anything with her on it. I'm watching a few tops now, so hopefully I'll be able to get a couple soon. I'm lucky in that I'm small enough to wear kids clothes, but it's difficult to find Disney shirts for little girls that don't have Tink, Princesses or Hannah Montana on them. I'll keep up the search, though.

 

[JoShan1719]

3:00AM: Our vacation officially begins! Since we live so close (3 hours south of the Mouse) we want to take full advantage of our dining plan. We'll be waking up at 3 to shower, load the car and eat a small breakfast. By 4 we'll be on the road!

7:00AM: I know the room most likely won't be ready, which is fine with me, but we'll still go through the check in process so we can get our KTTW cards with our dining credits on them. Then it's off to Everything Pop for breakfast. I'm not huge on breakfast so I'll probably just get some fruit and/or yogurt. Though if I'm really hungry I may just get one of these guys:

After breakfast we're going to duck into the gift shop for a bit, then it's off to my favorite park: Epcot.

9:00AM: Park opening. We're going straight to Soarin to beat the crowds. Depending on how much John likes it we may grab Fast Passes for later. From there we're going to ride Living with the Land. Last year I rode this for the first time since I was a kid and I really enjoyed it. John has a sort of scientific mind, so I think he'll enjoy it too.

After LWTL we're going to visit Nemo and Crush at the Living Seas pavilion. While I don't like the Nemo ride all that much, I love the queue, so the ride is worth it. We'll do Nemo, then explore the aquariums for a while before seeing Turtle Talk with Crush. By the time we're done we should be hungry again (I eat like a bird: small meals every few hours. John has pretty much adapted to my schedule. Even if he's not hungry he's always thirsty so he'll get a drink while I eat) so we'll go back to the Land pavilion for my favorite Counter Service eatery at the World: Sunshine Seasons.

When we've finished eating we're going to let our food settle and catch a ride on Spaceship Earth. It's my favorite ride in all of WDW, I could probably ride it ten times per vacation. After SE we're going to get FP's for Test Track. We'll then head over to Mission: Space. I don't think John has ever done this ride. We're going to do the Green side first, then the Orange side. We won't be able to do it more than twice. I get motion sickness and even with Dramamine I'll be a little woozy after the second run.

By this point I'm sure we'll both be pretty tired. Hopefully our room will be ready by now so we'll head back to take a nap. If it's not ready scared1 then we'll just have to change into our bathing suits and "relax" by the pool... with our eyes closed... for several hours...

 

[TanzUnited99]

Hi Shannon! I'm joining in!

Love the intro and you guys will be at Pop the same time we will be there. Our parks days don't match but we may see you around the resort.

Great new clothes - love the first vest top

Can't wait to read more of your plans

 

[JoShan1719]

Hi Shannon! I'm joining in!

Love the intro and you guys will be at Pop the same time we will be there. Our parks days don't match but we may see you around the resort.

Great new clothes - love the first vest top

Can't wait to read more of your plans

Thanks Tanz!

I'm actually subscribed to your PTR so I've been following your plans. Hope to see you around the resort, I'll be decorating my door or window, hopefully I'll run into some other DISsers as well.

 

[JoShan1719]

After our nap we're going to head back to Epcot. It'll be about 5:00 at this point, so most people will be at dinner (hopefully). First thing we're going to do is Spaceship Earth again. After that we'll head to Test Track to use the FP's we got earlier. From there we're going to spend some time exploring Innoventions. In all my trips to the World I've never explored Innoventions, so this will be a first for both of us.

Once we've done all we want to in here (hopefully we'll be able to kill an hour) we'll go do Soarin' one more time. By this time we'll need to head to Japan to check in for our 8:00 dinner reservations at Tokyo Dining. It's a long walk, but it should be cooler by then. John and I are both looking forward to eating here. I love sushi more than anything, and John loves Japanese culture, so we're both going to enjoy the atmosphere here.

I'm really excited to be on the DDP this year so I don't have to worry about the costs of food. Personally, I ended up paying more than I would if I was paying OOP, but I was willing to pay for the convenience of not having to do numbers in my head and pick certain meals because they were cheaper. I may or may not do this next year.

IllumiNations should either be starting or about to start as we're finishing our food. Hopefully we'll have a seat near the window so that we can watch from inside. Or we may go outside onto the balcony.

For those who aren't familiar with this area, you take these steps up to the restaurant.

Hopefully we'll get one of these tables.

This is the view from the balcony.​

After IllumiNations we'll wait a bit for the crowds to disperse by exploring Japan as much as we can (I believe the countries close at 9, but we should be able to look around the architecture and whatnot). Then we'll start making our way towards the front of the park to look around Mouse Gear. I really like this store, even though it's not as big as some other gift shops.

Finally we'll head back to the hotel. We get to sleep in a bit tomorrow because we're hitting Epcot again to see the World Showcase. The World Showcase doesn't open until 11, so we'll take the morning slowly. Of course, I can never sleep in when I'm at Disney World (I can barely sleep at all!) so I'll still probably be up early. We'll just take our time getting up and going, maybe go to the pool for a bit, or just walk around the resort and take pictures. There's so much to take pictures of!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Don't you just love free dining and not having to worry about the costs of food?

Hope you enjoy your meal at Tokyo dining - look forward to seeing what you make of it. Have you eaten here before?

Watching Illuminations from the restaurant sounds like a great idea! I can't wait to explore WS.

 

[Mommy2BnB]

I love the first tank, so cute!! Your plans sound great. I wish we had been able to spend two days at Epcot, I feel like we missed so much! Oh well, there is always the next trip!

 

[JoShan1719]

Don't you just love free dining and not having to worry about the costs of food?

Hope you enjoy your meal at Tokyo dining - look forward to seeing what you make of it. Have you eaten here before?

Watching Illuminations from the restaurant sounds like a great idea! I can't wait to explore WS.

I'm very excited. This is my first time on the DDP. I went back and forth about whether to do it because it does cost me more, but then decided I just don't want to stare at the menu for ten minutes looking for something "a little cheaper" than what I may want. I just want to point at the menu and say, "I'll have that one!"

I've never eaten at Tokyo Dining before. Being on a tight budget previous years we did very few TS restaurants and stuck mostly with CS. I think it will be nice to have at least one restaurant a day where we can sit and relax for an hour. We're only on the regular DDP but I believe you're on the DxDP, right?

I love the first tank, so cute!! Your plans sound great. I wish we had been able to spend two days at Epcot, I feel like we missed so much! Oh well, there is always the next trip!

This is the first trip I'll be spending two days there so I'm very excited! I agree with you, I always leave thinking, "Oh! We forgot to do X,Y,Z!" Not this year though, lol!

 

[shelbys mommy]

I'm in! I love the MGM Tank! I have never seen one like that! I can't wait to read more!

 

[JoShan1719]

Hopefully we will have slept in a little bit, since we aren't heading to Epcot until about 10:45, but if not I have a back up plan. Once we're up and haven't eaten breakfast (either from the food court or some Pop Tarts in the room) we'll just walk around the resort a bit, taking pictures of some of the POP landmarks:

Then, it's off to Epcot! This is the first time we'll be spending two days on one park, but I think Epcot is worth it if you can swing it. I've gotten almost everything I want done in one day before, but it will be nice to slow down a little and try some things I haven't done before. Something in particular I'm dying to see is(are?) the Voices of Liberty at the American Pavilion. I've been watching YouTube videos of this group for a couple months now and it's become one of those things I'm not willing to miss.

So once we get to Epcot we're going to head straight to Canada. The deciding factor for whether to start at the Canada side or Mexico side was determined by the lunch reservations I was able to get: The Rose and Crown Pup at 12 on the dot. When I eat at Epcot I try to eat foods I wouldn't normally eat at home, which cut out Mexican, Chinese, Japanese (though we couldn't pass up Tokyo Dining) or Italian food. I spent hours looking at menus for all the countries and finally decided on R&C in the UK Pavilion.

From Canada we'll head to the UK, then France. Though I scheduled about an hour at each country, some of them got exceptions. The UK got an hour and a half (30 for lunch, an hour to explore), France got 30 just because it's not one of my favorite countries, though I did eat at Chefs de France last year and it was very yummy. We even got to see this guy:

Norway only got 30 minutes because it's got to be the most boring country in WS (I hear rumors that they may be updating this country. Good, it needs it) and 30 mins for Mexico, just because. Again, my schedules are never set in stone and I am more than willing to change them once we get there. If we spend two hours in France and ten minutes in Japan, well ok.

We plan to get out of here between 8 and 9 since we saw IllumiNations last night. I'll go ahead and say it: IllumiNations is my least favorite closing show. I can only do it about once a trip. Of course I'll stay if John wants to see it again, but hopefully he won't want to.

If we haven't eaten dinner yet, or if we did but we're hungry again, then we'll stop into the food court and grab something. Then it's back to the room for the night. We have an early day tomorrow, gotta be at the next park for rope drop!

 

[shelbys mommy]

Love the details of your plans! We have only eaten in America & did Pick a Pearl in Japan, so I am really anxious to check out the countries when we go back! I never got to see IllumiNations, so I am anxious to check that one out. What don't you like about it?

 

[JoShan1719]

In order to provide more pictures in a post (because we all love pictures!) I've decided to show off some of the things I want to bring with us. I haven't gotten all these things yet, they're just ideas.

First, we'll need some sort of bag to carry our things in. I'd like a Disney-related child-size backpack, similar to this:

I like the detachable lunchbox because we can carry snacks and drinks in it without them getting squashed in the main bag. But I'm worried about the bulkiness of it. Maybe something more like this:

But since I'll be carrying my PassPorter I'm worried the weight will start to hurt my shoulders, which is why I had decided on a backpack. I'll probably stick with a smaller backpack without the lunch box, something like this:

The website lists the dimensions at 12x10 inches, which is the perfect size.

John will be carrying something like this:

He's a big Toy Story fan.

When I bought my PassPorter, I also purchased the passholder pouch as well. So I have something to keep my cash, ID, keys, etc. in without worrying about losing my bag. I also would like to get a strap to keep my camera on so I don't have to keep pulling it in and out of my bag. Something like this maybe:

In March I bought a pair of sneakers at the World of Mickey store in Downtown Disney that look very similar to these, minus the writing on the side. I'd like to get a couple more different pairs. I hate crocs and won't wear sandals to theme parks so sneakers are the way to go.

Since I'm very heat sensitive, I'm always utilizing ways to stay cool so I don't get sick. Once I get nauseous it can take a long time to get that to pass, so I like to be proactive and prevent it.

This year I plan on getting these for my wrists (in a different color, maybe a Disney blue?). If I get hot I'll get them wet with cold water and slip them on. They're small enough to keep in a pocket if I don't use them.​

I bought these to use last year, but once I got them wet they were so bulky I didn't bother bringing them, though they would have been very useful I'm sure. Then, silly me, I forgot them in a ziplock bag for about two weeks so they got all nasty and I had to throw them away. I'm debating whether to buy them again for this trip.

So there's your pic fix. I'll add things as I think of/purchase them.

 

[JoShan1719]

I'm in! I love the MGM Tank! I have never seen one like that! I can't wait to read more!

Thanks! I couldn't resist when I saw it because, like you said, I'd never seen one like that. Plus, I love that it's "MGM" merchandise.

Love the details of your plans! We have only eaten in America & did Pick a Pearl in Japan, so I am really anxious to check out the countries when we go back! I never got to see IllumiNations, so I am anxious to check that one out. What don't you like about it?

Hi there! I think it's because I just don't get that "Magic" feeling when I watch it. I do have a new appreciation for it after reading a blog post that really broke it down and explained it, but it still doesn't feel like Disney to me. I enjoy watching it, I don't get bored or anything, it's just not the show I'd want to watch more than once a trip. Fantasmic! Is my favorite followed by Wishes.

 

[JoShan1719]

We'll be up nice and early to make rope drop at: Magic Kingdom! John has only ever been here for MVMCP, and once during the day with me in March, so he's never seen the opening show. We didn't get here until about 9:20 in March so we missed it. And since we were just here in March we probably won't do a full day at MK. Here is the game plan:

Once we've gotten up and eaten (again, either the food court or something small in our room), we'll head out to the TTC. You may have notice we're driving everywhere. Even though we could utilize the buses, monorail and boats, it's really more convenient for us to just use the car. I don't like waiting for the buses, especially if I'm not feeling well or I'm very tired. We'll park at the TTC and grab either the monorail or the boat over to MK. I'll let John pick, I don't care either way.When we went in March we took the monorail there and the boat back, because he said when he was a kid his family always took the monorail there and the boat back.

Once we get there and through the baggage check point we'll move up to the entrance and wait for the show to start. Once the open the ropes we're going to head straight for Mickey's PhilharMagic and grab FP's, then jump over to Peter Pan's flight. These are the only two rides we're going to do in Fantasyland, and since it gets so busy back there I want to do them first thing. By the time we get off PPF our FP's should be ready. If not we'll just get in the standby line and give our FP's away when we get out of the show. Spread a little pixie dust for another family

From Fantasyland we're going to take the path to Haunted Mansion. When we were there in March they were doing soft openings of the new interactive queue, but we chose to do the regular line because it was faster. When we went back later it was closed so I want to do it this time. When we're done with HM we'll go grab FP's for Splash Mountain, then jump on line for Big Thunder Mountain. After that we'll go look around Tom Sawyer Island. John has never been here and was disappointed that we didn't get to see it last time we were here, so I made sure to include it in our plans this time. After Tom Sawyer Island we'll go see the New(Original?) Enchanted Tiki Room, then head to Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch. I read a lot of good reviews about LTT and decided to do the plated lunch instead of the buffet dinner. Mostly because we're eating dinner offsite, but I also tend to get too much food when I do buffets, and would rather just have one plate of food. I haven't decided whether I want to do the pot roast or the pilgrim's feast:

I'm a huge pot roast fan, but I do love me some turkey too. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I would like to point out that just looking at those pictures is making me drool.

After lunch we're going to head to Space Mountain. If the window has opened up by the time we get off, we'll get FP's to do it again. Then we'll go to the Carousel of Progress. I haven't been on this in a couple years, and I don't think John has ever been on it. After that we'll jump on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (at this point I'd like to point out that I kicked John's butt in March, and I plan to do so again) then, if we got FP's, go do Space Mountain again. If we don't have FP's then we're going to go back to Splash Mountain and use the FP's we got for it earlier.

Hopefully we don't get too wet, but it's ok if we do, that's why I planned it last. From there we'll head to Main Street to do some shopping, then it's back to the hotel to rest and change for dinner.

John has been very easy going with the planning, letting me take pretty much full control of everything. He had only a few requests, so I made sure to do everything he asked. One was Tom Sawyer Island, and another was to go to Kobe Steakhouse while we were up here. So that's what we're doing for dinner tonight. After dinner it's back to the hotel to go to bed. We have another early day tomorrow, making rope drop for Hollywood Studios.

 

[JoShan1719]

Today we're hitting Hollywood Studios and we'll be up early to make rope drop.

This is where the rope is that they stop everyone at. We'll basically be standing in the road, a bit to the right. This is so we can partake in the dash to Toy Story Mania. Again, this will be a first for John, he has no idea what he's in for. This is another ride I plan to kick his butt at. I know all the secrets and I'm not sharing

When we get off TSMM we're definitely going to grab some FPs. We're going to want to do this again. Then we're going to head to the Streets of America for some cool pictures as we make our way to Muppet Vision 3D. Then it's off to Star Tours! I haven't been on the new version yet, and I'm so excited. After Star Tours we're going to go on the Great Movie ride. It's slow and kind of boring, but I haven't done it in 3 years and I don't know that John's ever done it, so we'll give it a go. By this point we should be hungry and places should be opening up so we'll head back to ABC Commissary for lunch. When we've finished eating we're going to go see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid then step into the Magic of Disney Animation.

Next we'll do some shopping on Hollywood Blvd. I never get enough time to go through these stores so this year I'm going to make sure I do. After we've looked around a bit we'll head down Sunset Blvd. If the time is right, we'll catch the Beauty and the Beast show. If not, then we'll go on Tower of Terror then Rock 'N' Roller Coaster. If we didn't see Beauty and the Beast before then we'll do it now.

Next we'll head over to One Man's Dream, then do TSM and Star Tours again before heading 50's Prime Time Cafe for dinner. I love the malts and the atmosphere here, and I hope John will too. Originally I was going to get the pot roast, but we might just split the sampler, which comes with the pot roast, as well as fried chicken and meat loaf. I've read that it's a ton of food, so it should feed us both just fine.

After dinner it will be time to get in line for my favorite show: Fantasmic!