Celebrate Good Times Come On! An Oct 2013 PTR - Link to TR 10/29!!

[Disney9.9.10]

Wow you really had to jump through some hoops, but I'm glad that you got dates and a resort that you are happy with. I think it is a great idea for you to test FP+ and MB before your family so that you can explain it all to them later. Your little Pluto you bought is adorable!!

 

[wiigirl]

Just caught up.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I agree, no pattern I can see there with the yes versus no restaurants.

 

[Luvchefmic]

not a clue with the Yes vs No Never had a picky eater in my life kids or DHs God knows I eat practically anything well not fish/fish , due to an allergic reaction a long time ago but LOVE shellfish...yes not normal usually people have a problem with shellfish

YES can't wait until you straighten our your days & then we can figure it out

Okay left messages re-Pluto & something else over on mine so go...take a look see...

 

[Pluto0809]

Wow you really had to jump through some hoops, but I'm glad that you got dates and a resort that you are happy with. I think it is a great idea for you to test FP+ and MB before your family so that you can explain it all to them later. Your little Pluto you bought is adorable!!

Yeah, planning for this trip was a lot more stressful than other ones. I guess that's what I get for trying to go during a busy time at work. But I so wanted to see the Halloween stuff.

Definitely looking forward to trying out the FP+ and MB. I really want to see what they are all about.

Just caught up.

Glad you are here!

I agree, no pattern I can see there with the yes versus no restaurants.

I know, I've tried for years to figure him out! I was hoping someone with fresh eyes would see something I didn't.

not a clue with the Yes vs No Never had a picky eater in my life kids or DHs God knows I eat practically anything well not fish/fish , due to an allergic reaction a long time ago but LOVE shellfish...yes not normal usually people have a problem with shellfish

YES can't wait until you straighten our your days & then we can figure it out

Okay left messages re-Pluto & something else over on mine so go...take a look see...

I have no clue either! No idea where my pickiness came from, I'm the only one in our family who is. The rest of my family will eat almost anything.

Sent you an e-mail about the Pluto and schedule so check when you get a chance!

 

[KatMark]

I see no pattern to your husband's yes and no's. Truthfully, we were very disappointed in Biergarten in 2011 and won't be going back for a long time.

You'll have to do Kona or Boma on your next solo trip...we love both of them for breakfast.

 

[Pluto0809]

I see no pattern to your husband's yes and no's. Truthfully, we were very disappointed in Biergarten in 2011 and won't be going back for a long time.

You'll have to do Kona or Boma on your next solo trip...we love both of them for breakfast.

Yeah, I've heard pretty mixed reviews of Biergarten. But Jim didn't ask for much on this trip so (spoiler alert) I did go ahead and book it. I'm just going to go in with low expectations.

Kona and Boma are definitely on the top of my list for next trip. I have eaten dinner at Kona but have never been to Boma before.

 

[Pluto0809]

Saturday, October 19, 2013

For those who have followed me on previous TRs you will know that my usual wakeup time on travel morning is:



Well, that will not be happening this trip! When Jim and I travel together, we hate sleeping overnight in our house without the doggies. So taking them to the boarders the night before is not an option. Instead I will probably get to sleep in a bit and not get up till 6:00 am. We will get ready, finish any last minute packing and head out the door about 10 minutes till 8.

We board our babies at our vet’s office which is about 5 minutes from our house and opens on Saturdays at 8 am. Being the spoiled brats that they are, the doggies stay in an extra large luxury suite with a TV. We also pay for extra outdoor play time for them. Yep, spoiled rotten! Dropping them off should take about ½ hour and then we will be on the way to the airport!

The drive will take about an hour and then we park at an offsite lot where Jim gets a great discount through work. If everything goes smoothly, we should arrive at baggage check by 10, 10:30 at the latest. There is a flight at 11:55 am but I thought that might be cutting it too close so we are on a 12:58 pm flight. Hopefully we will get through security quickly and be able to relax a little and grab something to eat before our flight.

We land in Orlando at 2:23 pm and will head straight to the Magical Express. I hope after going twice in the last year, I won’t have any problems finding it.



This will be the point that I will be bouncing off the walls and Jim will just be shaking his head at me. After what will seem like forever, I will get my first glimpse of this beautiful sight.



CSR is the first stop so it won’t be long before we arrive at our resort and proceed to check in. Would you believe I don’t have one picture from the resort or our room from my 2011 girl’s trip to use on this report? I’ll have to fix that on this trip! I’ve already done on-line check in so hopefully it will go smoothly. I’ve requested Cabanas and close to transportation but I’m really not too worried about where we end up. I’m just trying to avoid Ranchos if possible only because that’s where we stayed in 2011 and I want to try something different. Neither one of us are big breakfast eaters so I’m just planning on bringing some stuff with us and eating in the room. I always leave extra room in my suitcase for souvenirs so a box of cereal for me and a box of breakfast bars for Jim will fit with no problem. If we have a fridge, I’ll pick up a ½ gallon of milk but if not I’ll just pretend to be 2 years old again and eat my Cheerios with my fingers. I bought a really cute Mickey bowl just for the occasion. If I remember to take a picture, I’ll share it with you in a future post.

If our room is ready, we’ll head there to drop our carry-ons but if not, bell services can hold them and we will head straight to the buses. So where are we headed for our first park?



Why, Magic Kingdom of course! I vowed on my last trip that if I could help it, MK would be my first park of every trip. I hope to be through the gates and seeing this sight by 4:30-5:00 pm.



I have two goals in mind for this night, dinner and Wishes. Anything else we do will be a bonus. That being said, I did go ahead and make the following FP+ selections for us:

4:20 – 5:20 PM – Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
5:20 – 6:20 PM – Journey of the Little Mermaid
9:00 – 10:00 PM – Space Mountain

Before we head to any rides though, I will need to make a pit stop at the photo store to trade my voucher for a Photo Pass + card. I’m sure as soon as that’s in my hands we will find a PP Photographer for our first pictures of the trip. I plan to get my money’s worth out of that card so I’m sure Jim will be thrilled when I drag him to every possible PP opportunity.

Then we will head into Tomorrowland where I hope we will make the Buzz Lightyear FP+. It’s going to be cutting it a little close time wise with that one but I think we will be ok.



After I beat Jim on Buzz (I’ve been studying the high scoring targets just for this), we will see what time it is and maybe ride this:



Or go visit these guys:



At about 5:45, we will make our way back to Fantasyland and use our FP+ for Little Mermaid.



After that it will probably be time to check in for our dinner ADR. By now most of you have probably guessed that BOG is the destination for this night.



When I first set up our schedule I wanted to eat at The Plaza on this night and then BOG on our full MK day later in the week. But of course since I moved weeks after the 180 day mark, I was not able to get BOG for any night. I was determined though so I spent hours of my life looking for a reservation. I am pretty sure I was searching the WDW site at least 50 times a day. Well it paid off and I finally got one for our arrival night so I cancelled The Plaza reservation.

I’m not sure how Jim will do with the menu here. This was the one restaurant that I told him we were eating at no matter what he thought and he would just have to find something. I’m not too sure exactly what I’m going to order myself since they took the Cornish Hen off the menu. The new chicken dish looks interesting but a little scary cause of the sauce (thanks Stephanie for posting that picture on Facebook for me) so maybe I’ll try the steak. I’m sure it will be a last minute decision for me! I will be having one of these no matter what:



After dinner, we will head back to the front of the park for Wishes at 9 pm. I’m not going to subject Jim to the MSEP because he hates parades and will have to watch Boo to You with me later in the week. But we will catch the Castle Show before Wishes if we get there in time. I’m excited to see the new villains section they added.





After Wishes, we will fight against the crowds heading out and go back to Tomorrowland for our Space Mountain FP+. I figured it would be better to be on a ride than waiting at the bus stop with the huge after Wishes crowd.

MK is open till 1 am on this night but I don’t think we will stay much after Space Mountain. If I was by myself you couldn’t force me out but with Jim, I’ll have to judge his mood at the time. Probably, we will just slowly make our way out of the park, maybe via the Emporium or other stores, and catch a bus back to CSR. I know I will be tired because I never sleep the night before a Disney trip so we will probably head straight to bed after unpacking a little bit.

Up Next: Day 2 Plans – AK & Food & Wine

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a great first day! I do the same exact thing as you regarding bringing breakfast snacks- I'm not a huge breakfast eater myself and its also a nice placeholder for the souvenirs

And it's awesome that you'll be dining at BOG on your first night, a great way to start the trip!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Well, I think your doggies deserve every bit of pampering you can lavish on them while you are away....after all, you aren't taking them with you~ bad parents!

Love your day one plans!! Ending your first day with Wishes... I that show SO MUCH, and am beyond excited that we will get to see it this time! It is just about as close to heaven for me as I can get here on earth!

I so wish I could make some concrete plans, but unfortunately, that is just not the way this trip will go for us. This uber-planner has to kick out of gear and RELAX and just go with the flow this time.

YUM! Eat an extra cupcake for me at BOG, okay?

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Sounds like a great first day!!

The sauce on the chicken at BOG is very much a tomato-y sauce, so I don't think you will mind it.

The villians part of the castle show is short, but good!

 

[KatMark]

Love your first day plans.

Our puppies deserve to be spoiled.

Here's a little something for you:







I need to find out more about the Photopass+...I know absolutely nothing about it.

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

I am so excited to hear all about it, this is where we r staying next year!

First day looks great, but busy.....maybe you will rest on the plane.........

 

[DMGeurts]

I love your first day plans! And I love that your goals are just a few! How perfect! That's how I like to do our first day too!

And YAY to Kathy for saving the day with CSR photos! Whoot!

D~

 

[Luvchefmic]

Fanatastic first day plans for you & Jim Ariana...and why does it NOT surprise me that we wake to the exact same clock wished it barked or talked when I first got it then I realized what a chaotic kennel/madhouse this would turn into so now glad it doesn't

Did you note the annniversary celebration for BOG ? You must have the Grey Stuff from what I understand...I won't know personally until Christmas
So happy you landed that ADR and anxious to read the rest of the plans

As always hugs to the doggies

 

[ronnmel]

I know I'm a couple weeks late, but I wanted to say that I feel so so sad about your friend losing her BF (and future DH!), especially a week before she would finally get to go to Disney.

On a happier note, your plans sound great so far. I'm glad you were able to get free dining!

 

[Pluto0809]

Sounds like a great first day! I do the same exact thing as you regarding bringing breakfast snacks- I'm not a huge breakfast eater myself and its also a nice placeholder for the souvenirs

And it's awesome that you'll be dining at BOG on your first night, a great way to start the trip!!

Eating breakfast in the room saves so much time! No point walking over to the food court when I'm only going to get a bagel or cereal any way.

I am so excited for BOG!

Well, I think your doggies deserve every bit of pampering you can lavish on them while you are away....after all, you aren't taking them with you~ bad parents!

Love your day one plans!! Ending your first day with Wishes... I that show SO MUCH, and am beyond excited that we will get to see it this time! It is just about as close to heaven for me as I can get here on earth!

I so wish I could make some concrete plans, but unfortunately, that is just not the way this trip will go for us. This uber-planner has to kick out of gear and RELAX and just go with the flow this time.

YUM! Eat an extra cupcake for me at BOG, okay?

Believe me, if Jim could take the puppies along he would! He whines and complains about leaving them behind. Of course, Alex would love to go but Sierra can't make it more than 10 minutes in the car without throwing up and Eddie would just be lost poor guy.

I can't wait to see Wishes again! I loved it so much on the last trip. It will be interesting to see Jim's reaction since he's not a Disney fan.

Sounds like a great first day!!

The sauce on the chicken at BOG is very much a tomato-y sauce, so I don't think you will mind it.

The villians part of the castle show is short, but good!

I'm pretty sure I'll go with the chicken, I can always scrape the sauce off if I don't like it.

I'm really looking forward to that Villians part.

Love your first day plans.

Our puppies deserve to be spoiled.

Here's a little something for you:

I need to find out more about the Photopass+...I know absolutely nothing about it.

Puppies definitely deserve to be spoiled!

Thanks so much for posting those pictures. I'm looking forward to staying at CSR again.

I did a lot of reading about PP+ before I decided to try it. I'll let you know what I think. I don't think you will like it because you can't do a photo share with it.

I am so excited to hear all about it, this is where we r staying next year!

First day looks great, but busy.....maybe you will rest on the plane.........

I will definitely take lots of pictures this time! It's funny because this first day is pretty tame for me!

I love your first day plans! And I love that your goals are just a few! How perfect! That's how I like to do our first day too!

And YAY to Kathy for saving the day with CSR photos! Whoot!

D~

Well, if it was just me, I'd probably have more goals but I need to take it a little slower this trip for Jim!

Fanatastic first day plans for you & Jim Ariana...and why does it NOT surprise me that we wake to the exact same clock wished it barked or talked when I first got it then I realized what a chaotic kennel/madhouse this would turn into so now glad it doesn't

Did you note the annniversary celebration for BOG ? You must have the Grey Stuff from what I understand...I won't know personally until Christmas
So happy you landed that ADR and anxious to read the rest of the plans

As always hugs to the doggies

Nope, doesn't surprise me one bit that you have the same clock! I've had that one for years.

You know, I never got asked one time this trip if we were celebrating anything. Past trips I've been asked at every step but this time nothing. And I kept forgetting to mention it. I'm just going to get some buttons when we get to CSR.

I know I'm a couple weeks late, but I wanted to say that I feel so so sad about your friend losing her BF (and future DH!), especially a week before she would finally get to go to Disney.

On a happier note, your plans sound great so far. I'm glad you were able to get free dining!

Thanks, I still haven't seen her. She decided to go ahead and take the time off but didn't go to Disney. They I was out of town for a few days. I'll see her again this coming Saturday.

I was so happy to get the free dining and upgrade to a moderate!

 

[Luvchefmic]

just driving by to say Hi !

 

[Pluto0809]

I'm back from my weekend away for my Cousin's Wedding. I have some pictures to share but it took me too long to get caught up today at work so I will try to get those up tomorrow. For now, I'll go ahead and post day two plans since I've already got that written up.

On Sunday, October 20th, we will be heading to AK for the day.



Jim does not sleep in, he’s up by 5 am most mornings so he’ll probably answer work e-mails while I sleep till about 6 am. We’ll have breakfast in the room then catch a bus so we can make rope drop.

FP+ I made for the day are the following:
10:00 – 11:00 AM - Kilimanjaro Safaris
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Expedition Everest
1:00 – 2:00 PM Dinosaur

We’ll probably head straight to EE because I like to ride it more than one time a trip.



I’ll have to let Jim watch it for a few minutes and make sure to tell him it goes backwards. I’m pretty sure he’s going to take one look and run the other way! If he does that, I’ll sit him on a bench somewhere and hop in the Single Rider line. If he actually decides to ride, we’ll get in the regular line before it gets too long.

After EE, we’ll slowly make our way back towards the Safari getting some PP pictures along the way. If there’s time, I may suggest the Maharajah trail. Jim is not much of an animal person (we are definitely the whole opposites attract kind of couple) so we won’t spend huge amounts of time on the trails. But I do want to see his reaction to the Fruit Bats since I think they will freak him out.

Once it hits 10 am, we’ll use our FP+ for the Safari.



Pangani trail may be next,



then back around to EE to use our FP+ for my (and maybe Jim’s) second trip. I’m wondering if he really doesn’t want to ride if we can swap MBs and I can get a third ride in. Guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.

By the time we finish with the second round of EE, it will be pretty close to lunch time. For me, Flame Tree is a must do so we will be headed there. I think Jim should be fine with the menu. I of course will be ordering this:



With one of these for dessert:



After lunch it will be time to head to Dinoland



to use our FP+ for Dinosaur. I love this ride but I have a feeling it’s going to scare Jim (yes I am evil). I can’t wait to see the ride photo as he has a tendency to make awesome (unintentional) faces on rides. While in Dinoland, I will also have to make a stop to visit my favorite guy.



There is only one more thing at AK that is a must do for me and that is Festival of the Lion King.



While we are back in that area, I have a feeling Jim may want to do a few more Character meet and greets. As a matter of fact, he may derail my carefully laid plans throughout the day to drag me into character lines. We also may go and see It’s Tough to Be a Bug. Jim remembers that from our Honeymoon so he’ll probably want to see it. And of course I will want to hit up all the stores in my constant quest for everything and anything Pluto.

Sometime around 4:30 or 5:00 we will head out of AK and catch a bus to Epcot.



Once we enter the gates, I have a top secret mission I want to accomplish and then we will head back to World Showcase for Food and Wine! I’ve spent some time studying the menus and think there are a few things that I will like. For sure I want to get a Mushroom Filet and Cheese Soup in Canada and the Grilled Lamb Chop at the Australia booth. Others I might try are, Mongolian Beef (China), Braised Short Ribs (France), Lobster and Seafood Fisherman’s Pie (Ireland), Baked Cheese Ravioli (Italy), Kefta (Ground Beef) Pocket (Morocco), Lamb Meatball (New Zealand), Seared Mahi Mahi (Singapore). I’m positive I won’t like all of the dishes and I will be asking for all with the sauce on the side. But since we will be using mostly snack credits for this, I won’t feel bad if I end up not liking something.

There were not too many desserts that sounded good to me but if by some miracle I’m still hungry, I might get something from the France Bakery. We also plan to catch Night Ranger at the Eat to the Beat concert.

I'm not much of a fan of Illuminations so we may head out while the show is going in order to miss the crowds.

Up Next: Day 3 - Hollywood Studios

 

[Pluto0809]

just driving by to say Hi !

Hi! Just posted an update above so don't miss it!