BOO TO YOU, SANTA!! A November 2012 PTR!-Upd 10/24,pg.14-#205 Costumes and T-Shirts!

[ryels]

Loving the PTR and all the comments. Keep it up!

I thought I would put in my two cents on your birthday question:

This brings me to my first questions of the post: Do you let your kid(s) wear the birthday button(s) the whole trip? If the actual birthday falls during the trip do you give presents, spending money, or is the trip itself the present? [/COLOR]

I happen to know a mother/daughter team who share a birthday in late May(I believe you know them well. It is rumored that they wore their birthday pins every day of a 12-day trip. I've never seen so many free desserts.

I believe the official policy on wearing birthday celebration pins is +/- 6 months: as long as your previous birthday occurred less than 6 months ago OR your next birthday is within the next 6 months Disney will let you celebrate your birthday.

 

[DisneyDad79]

I happen to know a mother/daughter team who share a birthday in late May(I believe you know them well. It is rumored that they wore their birthday pins every day of a 12-day trip. I've never seen so many free desserts.

Thanks for following along! Yeah, I think I know the pair you are talking about. The mother mentioned that to me, I just thought I should see if other members of the community are as unscrupulous as her. Since that appears to be the case, I guess I will be buying a cupcake holder to take with me to the parks!

 

[DisneyDad79]

Since my last official post word of this PTR has spread like wildfire and I am now up to four confirmed followers!! I’m assuming that for every confirmed follower at least 1000 people are following that have not declared. That means at least 4004 people are now following my PTR!! Please accept my assumptions as facts as they have been have been confirmed by many world renowned scientitions.

With a veritable legion of followers now hanging on my every word I thought I should take a break from sharpening the wheel spikes on my stroller to post our Magic Kingdom priority list!

I told you 5 minutes would be enough time to find a good spot for the parade…


This list was basically formulated by the adults individually rating each ride/attraction on a scale of 1-10. I have broken this in to four categories: High-Priority, Medium-Priority, Low-Priority, Planning to Skip. We are planning to have one full day (with RD and a break) at MK as well as both party nights starting at four. Our hope would be to hit everything in the first three categories and maybe ride the high-priority rides a couple times.

High-Priority:
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, Mad Tea Party, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Wishes, Journey of the Little Mermaid-**

We’ve definitely got room for you guys!


Medium-Priority:
Dumbo, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Mickey’s Philharmagic, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Main Street Electrical Parade, The Magic, The Memories, and You, Enchanted Tales With Belle-**

You should be higher but one turdface, who shall remain nameless, dragged down your score!


Low-Priority:
Astro Orbiter, Enchanted Tiki Room, Great Goofini, Hall of Presidents, Jungle Cruise, Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor, Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, People mover, Carrousel of Progress, Walt Disney World Railroad, Tomorrowland Speedway

I’m sure once given a chance you will beat expectations.


Plan-To-Skip:
Country Bear Jamboree, Stitch’s Great Escape, Pirate Tutorial, Swiss Family Tree House, Liberty Bell Riverboat, Tom Sawyer Island, Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade, Dream Along With Mickey, Move It! Shake It! Street Party (The last three here are really just victims of the midday break.)

Sorry guys, maybe next year!

Now I know what you are thinking: Where the heck is Dapper Dan’s?!?!?

Well, we decided not to include street performances in our plans. As scintillating as I’m sure the flag retreat is, we will only see it if it happens to be going on as we walk by. I’ve also excluded Snow White’s Scary Adventure, but if it is still open it would be a high-priority since its days are numbered.

So what do you think? Are we bad parents for skipping a few kid attractions? Will our vacation be incomplete without a ride on the Liberty Bell? In general, do you prefer to ride something you highly anticipate twice or to ride it once so you have time to experience more attractions?

Last question for today: I have read that the Enchanted Tales with Belle might be similar to a previous attraction that used to involve Belle. If you experienced this interactive story telling in the past, how long did it take? Was there a meet & greet after words?

I know all of you are itching to respond, but please be patient and try not to crash the website in the process.


Next Up…Animal Kingdom Attractions

 

[ryels]

That's a solid plan for MK. Though, personally, I would put Pirates, Peter Pan and People Mover in high-priority, but that's just personal preference. The great thing about the People Mover is that it doesn't even need to be prioritized. It's nearly always a walk-on and makes for a great fill-in ride when waiting for a FP return time at one of the other Tomorrowland attractions.

My only major disagreement is your very generous placement of Stitch's Great Escape in the "Plan to Skip" category. It isn't worthy of such a high honor. Personally, I would create a new category called "Plan to Openly Mock" and place Stitch's Great Escape in that category by itself. Be sure to set aside a few minutes to stand outside the attraction and mock it incessantly, focusing your sarcasm at anybody waiting in the Standby line. Just a suggestion.

 

[DisneyDad79]

That's a solid plan for MK. Though, personally, I would put Pirates, Peter Pan and People Mover in high-priority, but that's just personal preference.

I actually agree with you on all three accounts. Even though I did not ride Pirates or People Mover last time, both are high on my list. Unfortunately the average score we gave those rides was lower than my personal score, so they got bumped down. I have to respect the system. Without the system there would be chaos! (And if a dancing bananna doesn't say chaos, I don't know what does.)

Be sure to set aside a few minutes to stand outside the attraction and mock it incessantly, focusing your sarcasm at anybody waiting in the Standby line. Just a suggestion.

I will be sure to schedule in this time. Shouldn't I also make time to mock the people coming out, or have they already suffered enough?

 

[ryels]

I will be sure to schedule in this time. Shouldn't I also make time to mock the people coming out, or have they already suffered enough?

Oh no, please don't mock those poor folks. That would just be cruel. They have just lost 20 minutes of their lives that they will never get back. And for those who remember the glory of Alien Encounter that used to be in that building (a.k.a. the most awesome scary attraction ever) the pain will be even worse. Just shake your head in pity at those poor souls.

 

[DisneyDad79]

Oh no, please don't mock those poor folks. That would just be cruel. They have just lost 20 minutes of their lives that they will never get back. And for those who remember the glory of Alien Encounter that used to be in that building (a.k.a. the most awesome scary attraction ever) the pain will be even worse. Just shake your head in pity at those poor souls.

Fair enough, I will start practicing my sad face now.

 

[Corjack]

Laugh FLoor and POTC are 2 of our FIRST things to do! It is so interesting to see other peoples take on things!! For the record, Country Bears should be skipped indefiantely. LOL

Only one I would definately reconsider is the People MOver, it is a GREAT ride to just chill and my kids LOVE IT!

 

[DisneyDad79]

Only one I would definately reconsider is the People MOver, it is a GREAT ride to just chill and my kids LOVE IT!

It looks like we have two votes for moving People Mover up the list! Thanks for the advise!

 

[WDWMommyof3]

Congrats on bringing me out of several years of lurking!! Let me introduce myself, I am the mother of "the mother/daughter team who share a birthday in late May". I am so excited you started this pre trip report and am anxiously awaiting your next post. I would also like to vote to move the People Mover to the high priority category, along with Pirates and Peter Pan

 

[DisneyDad79]

Congrats on bringing me out of several years of lurking!! Let me introduce myself, I am the mother of "the mother/daughter team who share a birthday in late May". I am so excited you started this pre trip report and am anxiously awaiting your next post. I would also like to vote to move the People Mover to the high priority category, along with Pirates and Peter Pan

I'm glad you finally came out of the shadows! It's only fitting that the person who helped turn me into a Disney planner should be subjected to reading my PTR! You gave me too many resourses and now look at me:

As for People Mover, I think the family is convinced that this should move up the list. I would say it has at least been upgraded to Medium and I think we will definately be able to do everything in the High and Medium groups.

I should have time to post our AK priorities tomorrow, so stay tuned!

 

[DisneyDad79]

Another day another post! As you can see, the number of followers has exploded to five!! With every post I feel more pressure to deliver the goods as I am sure the quality of your day rests solely on the content of my ramblings.

I’m going to go over our Animal Kingdom priorities in a moment, but I’m not sure there is any point. As I’m sure you have read, as of March 7th the fast pass return times will start being strictly enforced, with only a fifteen minute grace after the stated return window.

Now as I understand it from reading the reactions on the board, this will basically turn Disney World into a smoking pile of broken hearts and shattered dreams.



The Magic Kingdom will devolve into a Mad Max-esque dystopia where families are forced to fight to the death for any-time fast passes. Now this might deter some, but I am a planner, so I have started pumping Joey full of steroids and protein shakes in hopes that he and Gwen can form an unstoppable Master Blaster like combo.

I have also sent out an urgent invitation to Tina Turner to see if she would be willing to join our crew. Times like these call for men of cruelty. Men of cruelty!



But I digress…

So with that bit of business out of the way, on with the Animal Kingdom!



As with MK I have broken this in to four categories: High-Priority, Medium-Priority, Low-Priority, Planning to Skip. We are planning to have one full day (with RD) at AK as well as one day from RD until about one. As before, the plans would be made with the hope that we would experience everything except those in the last group(and possibly a couple of high-priorities twice ).

High-Priority:
Expedition Everest, It’s Tough to Be a Bug, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safari, Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo -The Musical

So what if you are broken, I still can’t wait to see you!


Medium-Priority:
Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, Triceratops Spin, Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade

Don’t eat me! I have a wife and kids! Eat them!


Low-Priority:
Wildlife Express Train, Flights of Wonder, Affection Section, Boneyard, Maharaja Jungle Trek, Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, Tree of Life Exhibits

All aboard for the express train to boring town!!


Plan-To-Skip:
Conservation Station, Discovery Island Trails, Habitat Habit, the Oasis Exhibits

Please teach others to conserve so that I may continue to indulge!


Of the four parks Animal Kingdom is the one I am most conflicted on. On any given day I will go back and forth three or four times on whether or not to spend park time touring their glorified zoo exhibits.

What is your opinion of Animal Kingdom? Are our priorities is order? Are the animal trails worth the time and energy? Will an adventurous five year old be terrified on Dinosaur? How long are the waits at the character trails?

As always I appreciate your input!

If this site survives the fast pass apocalypse I will next be posting our priorities for…Hollywood Studios!

 

[khertz]

Well, I am terrified of Dinosaur at the age of 26, so I don't think I'm qualified to answer whether or not a 5 year old can handle it!

I mostly agree with your assessment of the AK attractions, however we personally REALLY enjoy the animal trails! Normally we plan at least 2 days at AK to get everything done...it is one of those parks that has SO many things happening along the way from one attraction to another that you want to stop and see, so we usually take it in at a slower pace to try and absorb as much as we can. Do I think you can have a fun and fulfilling day without seeing the animal trails? Absolutely! But they are really enjoyable, as are the CM's available to educate guests on the animals. I have learned SO much from those CM's!

As for the waits at the character trails, I have found AK to be the park with the smallest waits for characters, especially if you hit Camp Minnie-Mickey shortly after a FOTLK show has started. You don't get them in their classic outfits, but it is still nice to be able to see most of the Fab 5 pretty quickly without having to stand in line forever.

 

[Corjack]

I think that your high priority list is great. We have been the last 4 years in a row but never seen Nemo. Lion King is a great I jus thtink sitting through 2 LONG shows is more than my herd can deal with! LOL The affections section and the train ride back is VERY cool for little ones! My son has a love of BIrds and the FLights of WOnder show is very exciting! Something to think about!

 

[Corjack]

DEFIANTELY plan on doig Characters at AK, the lines are SUPER minimal especailly if you go right after a Lion King show starts. We always have really CUTE photopass pics and GREAT personal interaction there because there is not presure to keep the HUGE line moving!!! Often you will just walk right up to a charater just standing there!

 

[Corjack]

ANOTHER post from me!!!!

My husband LOVES the tree of life. We always walk around under it and scope all the animals on it. It is a really great way to SLOW down and enjoy. I think Animal Kingdom is a really nice place to chill for a day. We always do it slow. My Hubby and Daughter always try to hit Everest right before closing and last time rode 6 times one right after the other! We also like to hit Kali right before Closing and sometimes you don;t even have to get off, just can just keep riding. We learned after the first time to take extra clothes though, the bus is COLD when your wet!

Your going for 10 days, that is a good amount of time to do MOSt things. What you don't do you can do NEXT year!!!

 

[wdwpatriot]

As the Husband of the Mother Daughter same day birthday duo I agree with most things on your list except for a couple. One I believe the Maharaja Jungle trek is the best walk through of the two. You get the best view of tigers that you will ever see in a zoo and the bats are really creepy and cool at the same time. My wife doesn't think so but she lived with one during a semester of college. Kinda kills the mystery I guess. Also if you liked kung fu movies back in the day -- it kinda takes you back. HI YAH!!! Anyway I would do that trail. They don't take that long and you do see some pretty cool stuff.

Now as far as the Boneyard. If you want your children to experience what it was like to be put in the hole in a POW camp in Hanoi in 1000 degree heat and no ventilation then this is the experience you are looking for. This place is walled off so your little ones won't leave (or be able to breath) without you knowing and they have that nice heat absorbing foam to keep them from hurting themselves (unless any exposed skin touches it). What this causes is complete heat exhaustion in about 3 min of entering the boneyard. Once you enter just head for the dig site so the little ones can bury you once you pass out. It is about 10 to 15 degrees hotter in there then it is in the rest of the park.
Oh and another nice thing about this is the the entrances to the slides are way away from where they come out. So you either got to go down behind them or in front of them or run down and try to find the exit of the slide before they leave your site. I opted for going down a head of them and got stuck -- they are not real fast. So by the time I was able to wiggle myself out, one went down another slide and the other was just wondering around up top. Let me sum it up this way. Its a playground located at the outer rim of hell, that once you go in you will wonder why you did.

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!

 

[Corjack]

Now as far as the Boneyard. If you want your children to experience what it was like to be put in the hole in a POW camp in Hanoi in 1000 degree heat and no ventilation then this is the experience you are looking for. This place is walled off so your little ones won't leave (or be able to breath) without you knowing and they have that nice heat absorbing foam to keep them from hurting themselves (unless any exposed skin touches it). What this causes is complete heat exhaustion in about 3 min of entering the boneyard. Once you enter just head for the dig site so the little ones can bury you once you pass out. It is about 10 to 15 degrees hotter in there then it is in the rest of the park.
Oh and another nice thing about this is the the entrances to the slides are way away from where they come out. So you either got to go down behind them or in front of them or run down and try to find the exit of the slide before they leave your site. I opted for going down a head of them and got stuck -- they are not real fast. So by the time I was able to wiggle myself out, one went down another slide and the other was just wondering around up top. Let me sum it up this way. Its a playground located at the outer rim of hell, that once you go in you will wonder why you did.

Love it, so true. The slides get so darn hot!!! It is BAD.

 

[DisneyDad79]

I mostly agree with your assessment of the AK attractions, however we personally REALLY enjoy the animal trails! Normally we plan at least 2 days at AK to get everything done...it is one of those parks that has SO many things happening along the way from one attraction to another that you want to stop and see, so we usually take it in at a slower pace to try and absorb as much as we can.

As for the waits at the character trails, I have found AK to be the park with the smallest waits for characters, especially if you hit Camp Minnie-Mickey shortly after a FOTLK show has started. You don't get them in their classic outfits, but it is still nice to be able to see most of the Fab 5 pretty quickly without having to stand in line forever.

Thanks for the advise on the character trails and the park in general. We originally had planned this a s a one day park, but after trying to make some early touring plans I figured out that we would have to be pretty commando all day to see both shows and we would have to cut all the animal attractions. This helps reassure me that adding an extra half day is a good idea!

LOL The affections section and the train ride back is VERY cool for little ones! My son has a love of BIrds and the FLights of WOnder show is very exciting! Something to think about!

DEFIANTELY plan on doig Characters at AK, the lines are SUPER minimal especailly if you go right after a Lion King show starts. We always have really CUTE photopass pics and GREAT personal interaction there because there is not presure to keep the HUGE line moving!!! Often you will just walk right up to a charater just standing there!

We also like to hit Kali right before Closing and sometimes you don;t even have to get off, just can just keep riding. We learned after the first time to take extra clothes though, the bus is COLD when your wet!

Thanks for all the tips! Even though none of the adults are excited about the Train/Affection Section I figure we will do it just because the kids will probably love it.

It would be great to get some low wait times with the characters, hopefully with a few that are unique to Animal Kingdom!

I'm a bit nervous about Kali! Not the ride itself, just being soaked. Our plan is to fastpass it and ride in the middle of the day, hopefully when it is warmest!