Bippity Boppity Brr! My Very Meticulously Crafted Plans don't quite pan out.

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Well, we are back from vacation. It’s been almost a week and I am still exhausted. Of course waking up at 5 am every day for work isn’t helping. 8 days of pushing a double stroller with an 8 and 4 year old is enough to wear you out. It didn’t help that I had to constantly steer around people. It’s so much easier for me to maneuver the stroller than it is for people walking to step to the side; I guess I shouldn’t be so inconsiderate of others.

If you want to learn about the planning that went into the trip, here is a link to my PTR.

Some details on the trip

Who:ME (Mike) planner extraordinaire, DW Diane, DD Ally 8, DD Olivia 4

When: Dec. 11-18

Where: AKL 11-14, Poly 14-18

Entries
Day before the Trip

Day 1 - Part 1 Flight down

Day 1 - Part 2 Hollywood Studios

Day 2 - Part 1 Breakfast at Tusker House

Day 2 Part 2 - Touring Animal Kingdom

Day 2 Part 3 - AKL and DTD

Day 3 - Part 1 Back to Animal Kingdom

Day 3 - Part 2 Back to Hollywood Studios

Day 4 - EPCOT and moving into the Poly

Day 5 - Part 1 - Magic Kingdom breakfast, and Toon Town.

Day 5 - Part 2 Finishing Toon Town, FantasyLand and catching a Parade.

Day 5 - Part 3 - Peter Pans magic flight, Dinner, MSEP, and Wishes

Day 6 - Part 1 - Touring Magic Kingdom, and a DISMeet

Day 6 - Part 2 - MVMCP

Day 7 - Part 1 - EPCOT World Showcase

Day 7 - part 2 - World Showcase, 1900 Park Fare, and back to the World Showcase

Day 8 - Part 1 - Breakfast, Checking Out, and the Magic Kingdom

Day 8 Part 2 - Leaving Magic Kingdom, around the Poly, and Magical Express Adventure

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

So this trip was thought of four years ago when we took our then 4 year old to Disney for her first trip, and wanted to do the same for our now 4 year old.

The day before the trip everything is ready, bags are packed, boarding passes are printed, already did the checkin for my 3 resort ressies, park tickets are packed and ready to go, MVMCP tickets are packed and ready, daily plan book is printed and ready to go.

Everything is planned, not down to the minute, but some pretty good high level plans. I know things pop up that mess up plans, so I didn't get too detailed, thus making the chances of things going crazy and not working out virtually null.

Well, that was the plan, as you will see the vacation Gods conspired against me quite often, but everything pretty much works out in the end so I can't really complain about anything.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Merry Christmas to everyone. 3 1/2 ours until the Christmas parade. Did it always start at noon? Could have sworn it started earlier.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Onto day 1. Planned vs. Actual events.
Plan
Wake up 3:30 AM
Leave for Airport 4:00 AM
Take Off 7:00 AM
Arrival 9:22 AM
ME to AKL arrive 10:00 AM
Check in
Take bus Hollywood Studios
Go to Sunset Blvd, get FP for Rock n Roller Coaster. No line, ride the coaster
Send Olivia and Mom to see Playhouse Disney onstage
See The Magic of Disney Animation
Watch Voyage of Little Mermaid(Unless it is close to 2:55, then go eat)
Dinner at Mama Melrose 2:55
Get FP for Toy Story Mania
See Muppets 3D
Go to Honey I shrunk the kids playground
If time, see Toy Story Mania
Otherwise see Little Mermaid
Getting dark, go see Osbourne Lights
See Fantasmic
If needed we can come back the evening of Day 2 or 3 to finish park.

Saturday, December 11th
Resort – Animal Kingdom Lodge
Park(s) – Hollywood Studios
Weather: high of 66 degrees, low of 50 degrees



So we got up on-time
Added final item to countdown calendar. Bought a plane sticker. Can’t get the stupid paper to come off the back, so got the super glue and glued the darn thing. Day isn’t starting off on the right foot.

Got on the road on time, got to park and ride place. The van comes around with the windows still frosty. Driver says he will be back and heads off. New van comes around about 5 minutes later with clear windows. So off to the airport. We get through security with no problems, and are just waiting for the opportunity to board. Ally is doing some math homework.

While Olivia plays with her MobiGo game.

We get on the plane no problem, looks like we will be taking off ontime. Time for the Vacation Gods to start playing their little jokes. The plane needs to be de-iced since it is so cold. No problem, this just delays our departure by 20 minutes.
De-icing done, and we take off. The kids love looking out the window, and later we get some good shots of the clouds.

Arrive in Orlando around 10 am, so I am a bit behind schedule, but not too bad.
Get to ME, and wait for about 10 minutes, but then they send us to our bus. We are on our way to AKL. Once again the Vacation Gods have to mess with me, or maybe I should have done some more research, this bus handles 3 resorts. First stop Coronado Springs, then onto POP, and finally arriving at AKL.

OK, so we are finally at AKL, need to check in real quick. I’m already behind schedule so it’s a good thing I did the online check in. There is only two people ahead of me, the regular check-in has five people. Glad I checked in ahead of time, but once again I didn’t plan on the Vacation Gods having fun with me. The regular check in line empties out and I still have two people in front of me. four more people get in line for regular check in and are done and I now have one person in front of me. So glad I did the online check in to speed things up. Finally gets to me, and I ask the CM Michael if I will be able to stay in the same room for the whole trip, he gets on the phone, and after about a minute let’s me know that yes, I can stay in the same room, so I won’t need to pack up, check out, and check in again tomorrow. That will save me some time. At this time the Vacation Gods decide to be nice, and I find out my room is ready. Sweet! I won’t have to store my carryon at bell services and can take them to the room. OK, this will delay me getting to the park a bit, but that’s ok.

Get into the room, and already get to see some of the special Disney Magic. A Mickey Head made out of towels is on our bed.

Out onto the balcony to see what the view looks like. Lovin the view.

On the way I told Ally to keep an eye out for Hidden Mickey’s, and she has quite the knack for spotting Mickey Heads. Right off the bat she spot one on the shower curtain and what may or may not technically be a Mickey Head on the wall.

Next up, off to Hollywood Studios.

 

[luckylady]

Looks like you had a great location on the room. Love that calender, did you make it?Waiting for mor and a late Merry Christmas to you.

 

[oOJulieOo]

Joining in!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Looks like you had a great location on the room. Love that calender, did you make it?Waiting for mor and a late Merry Christmas to you.

The calendar was homemade in Excel. I downloaded a Disney Font. The weeks in October and November are 8 days long, and don't have the days of the week listed. I bought the Mickey Head button stickers and Bottle Cap stickers from Michael's craft store. The kids had fun putting the stickers on.

Joining in!

Hope everyone enjoys the report. I am waiting to get my cd from Disney, so I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but should be able to finish up day 1.

 

[jenseib]

Woohoo! I'm here!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Woohoo! I'm here!

Glad you could make it over. I need to finish out day 1, but may hold off on the other days until I get my cd from Disney with their pics. Of course, I could create bootleg pics.

 

[Tinkermom76]

Merry Christmas to everyone. 3 1/2 ours until the Christmas parade. Did it always start at noon? Could have sworn it started earlier.

it was 10am last year... messed me up when I was looking for it

 

[Tinkermom76]

LMAO if the vacation gods mess with you like that the whole trip this will be one very funny TR!!!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

it was 10am last year... messed me up when I was looking for it

I thought it was at 9, but it may have been 10. Not sure why it is on so late this year.

LMAO if the vacation gods mess with you like that the whole trip this will be one very funny TR!!!

Hopefully I can keep everyone amused. My plans didn't work out as well as expected, but we still got to do all the must-do's missed out on some want to do's but had a great time anyway.

 

[Tinkermom76]

I thought it was at 9, but it may have been 10. Not sure why it is on so late this year.

Hopefully I can keep everyone amused. My plans didn't work out as well as expected, but we still got to do all the must-do's missed out on some want to do's but had a great time anyway.

we didn't do everything we wanted to either so I'm starting the must do list for next year

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

I forgot to mention in the first installment, Olivia spent most of the plane ride chatting with the lady behind her. Once we got off the plane, she was having fun talking to the lady, and gave her a big hug before she left. I felt bad for all of the people waiting to board their plane. Their trips were over, how sad for them.

Pick up the stroller from Bell Services and head out to the bus area. Here comes a bus, but not ours, this one is for Animal Kingdom. The next bus is for EPCOT. Then a DTD bus, a Magic Kingdom bus, another DTD bus, another Magic Kingdom bus, an EPCOT bus. Are they running busses for Hollywood Studios today? After waiting for 20 minutes the bus finally arrives. Of course this one also serves Blizzard Beach and that is the first stop. Figures. So much for the plan

So we finally get to Hollywood Studios, it’s after 12:00 so I am already behind schedule. Stop for a quick picture of the tree outside.

Get inside and run right into the Disney Channel Rocks show.

OK, so let’s see if we can get back to the plan. No Chance the kids are hungry, and won’t wait 2 hours until Lunch/Dinner, so let’s get something to snack, some fries, and a couple bottles of water.

Look at my watch, man this day has been messed up. Great planning by me undone by the Vacation Gods.

OK, snack is over, I head towards Rock N Roller Coaster to ride with Ally, while Mom takes Olivia over to Playhouse Disney on stage. The wait for RnR is 60 minutes. OK, let’s get FP’s to come back between 5:30 AND 6:30 then rush off to catch up to Mom. It doesn’t take long as she is stuck in traffic because of a show in the street which totally messes up traffic. I take over pushing the stroller, but need to stop and get picks of Mickey and the brooms.

Ok, so we are going to skip the Playhouse Disney onstage show due to time, and see Voyage of the little Mermaid. Olivia spots Handy Manny, and wants to go meet him. Wasn't in the plan but Ok. My only issue is we don’t have autograph books yet, but the line is short. Get pic with Handy Manny.

Now we get in line for Little Mermaid. Vacation Gods are finally on our side, a guy asks how many are in my party. I say four, and he gives me four FP’s for Little Mermaid. Sweet, we get into the next show with a couple minute wait. At this point I don’t know exactly where Mama Melrose’s is, so let’s head down that way to find the restaurant. Quick stroll down the streets of America.

Olivia is getting pretty tired at this point, she was up early, and the excitement over being at Disney has finally caught up with her.

While she naps, Mom and Ally go into the Muppets store to do some browsing. Dad goes around and gets some pictures.

Time to eat. Into Mama Melrose’s. The tomato and mozzarella appetizer is great; I highly recommend it to others. I get a flat bread pizza, not as good as it sounded. Ally has some Pasta.

and Olivia gets a pizza.

Get some more pics with the kids.

Hey, there is a Photographer up by Star Wars. Get on the Speeder Bike with Ally, and then have to stop and have a fight with Darth Vader.

Onto do some shopping to kill time before Fantasmic. For those following along at home I’m sure you noticed that the only thing on the plan that we have done is Mermaid and eating, and it is now after 4:30. Get a pic of the family in front of the big sorcerer’s hat.

OK, too much time spent looking in the stores, don’t have time to do RnR. Head into Fantasmic and get good seats.


After Fantasmic we decide to hit the Osbourne lights, they are calling for some rain tomorrow, and don’t want to see them in the rain. Get shepparded down towards Muppet land. Wall to wall people, it takes a good 20 minutes until we can see Streets of America, but it is blocked off, we have to continue going around. Finally get to walk down the street. Still wall to wall people which makes this much less fun than it could be. Especially since I have to keep steering this double stroller around people who think this is a good spot to stop and look around. They make an announcement that the Osbourne lights have 20 (that isn't right, but I don't remember the exact amount) of hidden Mickeys. Two seconds later, Ally is pointing at one saying "There's One!" She is very good at spotting these things. Thought I had a picture, but maybe it's on the video.

Here are some pics from the Osbourne lights though.

Check it out, a Menorrah!

After seeing the lights, I am pretty dang tired, let’s head back to the resort to hit the sack. Had to wait about 20 minutes for the bus, man I hope my luck with the busses change. OK, so out of everything on the plan we got to see Little Mermaid, ate, watched Fantasmic, and saw the Osbourne lights. Luckily I planned to return to the park and we should be able to finish everything in half a day.

Back at the room, and need to get ready for the next day. Tomorrow morning we will be going to Animal Kingdom to get pics with Mickey to use for our Christmas Cards we are getting. Gotta get the Mickey head t-shirts I made earlier this year.

OK, got mine, there is Diane’s, here is Ally’s...

Honey, where is Olivia’s shirt?

She informs me that it was my job to pack Olivia’s stuff, so what did I do with it? @#$*% I forgot to pack her shirt. Can I blame this one on the Vacation God’s? Yea, you’re right, this one is all on me. Guess we will need to buy shirts for everyone to wear. Gotta hide the Mickey Head shirts or Olivia is going to want hers. That is one less shirt for the trip for everyone. Not a big deal postponing the pictures a day, gives us a chance to find shirts for the family. Tomorrows plans will need to be adjusted, but not too drastically.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

we didn't do everything we wanted to either so I'm starting the must do list for next year

Not sure when we get back. The wife wants to do Italy. That won't be for a while though since that is more expensive than Disney. Well, airfare is. Next Disney excursion might be a cruise, although the wife doesn't like them much.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Yay I'm here! Going waaaaaay back to read now.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Yay I'm here! Going waaaaaay back to read now.

Should be a quick read, you aren't too far behind yet.

 

[PRmamiDEdos]

I'm here I'm here! Good so far!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

I'm here I'm here! Good so far!

Glad you could make it.

 

[jenseib]

You have to tell me how to do the bootleg photopass (you can PM me). I have heard of people doing it so they can add them in TR's before getting the CD's but I myself haven't gotten it figured out ever.

It sounds like a crazy first day. I have learned that planning alot of rides/attractions just doesn't work for Skip or Claire...or Michael and Paige, way back when either. Somebody always gets hungry at an inconvenient time, or something catches our attention and we stray. So now I just plan the park and TS and let everything else just kind of fall into place. With maybe a few must dos. My family would drive me crazy if I didn't. LOL!