Confessions of an Over-Planner - A Sept 2017 PTR*Update 9/24-TR link up

[Lesley Wake]

Oh, and I found the Harry Potter shirt:

 

[Lesley Wake]

Fastpasses Booked, "Final" Itinerary set

I can now start to relax-yesterday all my FPs were booked. If you are keeping track, that means I have everything done 65 days before check-in! Yup, I used the 74-day trick (book a separate reservation for the 2 weeks before mine, then that FP booking will open at 60 days + 14, including the actual stay. So for 9 days straight (minus one day for Universal) I was up at 4am PST to book FPs for 1 day, then went back to sleep...rinse and repeat. I was able to get everything I wanted at pretty much the exact time I wanted (some were +- 5 minutes, but that's fine for me). I also have up to 3 "bonus" FPs I have scheduled for each day, which were obtained using a method that is no longer allowed to be talked about on the Dis.

I also just found out about the DVC phone tour which gives another 3 anytime FPs. Not sure yet when we will want to use those!

Anyways, here is our itinerary:

Saturday, Sep 9 - Arrival
flight arrival ~ 6:30pm; DME to POFQ
ADR Chef Art Smith's Homecoming, 9:25pm
Additional plans: explore DS, shopping!

Sunday, Sep 10
MK - plan for Rope Drop
FP 7DMT 10-11
ADR, BOG lunch 11am
FP BTMR 11:15-12:15
FP POTC 12:15-1:15
Additional plans: Festival of Fantasy Parade, 2pm

Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire, Time TBD​

Epcot - head here around 3/4
Bonus FP Test Track 4-5
Bonus FP Living with the Land 5-6 (will probably try to change this to Mission Space once the refurb schedule is finalized)
Bonus FP Journey into Imagination 6-7
ADR Le Cellier, 7pm
Additional plans: Illuminations, 9pm

Monday, Sep 11
AK - am EMH, plan to be there for the start and pre-RD FoP and NRJ
FP FoP 9-10
(Maybe stop for breakfast at Satuli Canteen? We'll see how hungry we are)
FP Kilimanjaro Safari 10-11
FP Expedition Everest 11-12
Bonus FP Dinosaur 12-1
(Maybe stop for lunch at Satuli Canteen?)
Bonus FP NRJ 1:05-2:05
Bonus FP FotLK 2:30-2:45 (for 3pm show)

MK - hop to MK after Lion King, maybe we'll stop to grab an early light dinner?
ADR Fireworks Dessert Party 7:45pm
(I'd like to switch this an the CRT on Wednesday night, but don't know if a reservation for CRT will open up for Monday; I have a touringplans alert set though)
Additional Plans: Happily Ever After, 9pm

Tuesday, Sep 12
morning-relax at resort, maybe do DS again, maybe do some resort hopping, TBD
MK - MNSSHP
FP Space Mountain 3:30-4:30
FP Peter Pan's Flight 4:30-5:30
FP 7DMT 5:30-6:30

Wednesday, Sep 13
Epcot - not rope drop, but do plan to arrive before 10.
FP Spaceship Earty 9:15-10:15
FP Living with the Land 10:15-11:15 (may be changed depending on Mission Space)
FP Frozen Ever After 11:15-12:15
Rest of afternoon in WS
Additional Plans: Food & Wine festival!

MK - Leave epcot around 5ish
Bonus FP Space Mountain 6-7
Bonus FP 7DMT 7-8
ADR CRT, 8:15pm (again, would prefer to switch this to Monday)
Additional plans: pm EMH

Thursday, Sep 14
DHS - Plan to arrive by 9:30ish
FP RnRC 9-10
FP ToT 10-11
FP Star Tours 11-12
QS lunch at Backlot Express?

AK - Plan to hop around 3:30ish
Bonus FP Safari 3:30-4:30
ADR Tusker House w/ROL viewing, 4:25pm
Bonus FP Expedition Everest 5-6
Bonus FP FoP 6:30-7:30
Additional plans: Pandora at night, Tree of Life Awakenings, Rivers of Light

Friday, Sep 15
morning-relax at resort
DHS - Plan to arrive around 1:15ish
ADR 50s Prime Time 1:35pm
FP Indiana Jones 2:45-3:05 (for 3:15 show)
FP RnRC 4-5
FP ToT 5-6
Bonus FP ToT 4:50-5:50
Bonus FP RnRC 5:50-6:50
ADR: Star Wars Dessert party 7:45pm

Saturday, Sep 16
4-park day
AK - arrive for EMH, but don't need to arrive too early as we'll skip FoP during EMH, so focus on NRJ
FP FoP 9:05-10:05
FP Expedition Everest 10:05-11:05

HS
nothing scheduled, but will try for FPs after scanning in at first one at AK

Epcot
Bonus FP FEA 2-3
Bonus FP Spaceship Earth 3-4

MK
ADR, BOG 7:05pm
Additional plans: HEA, 9pm

Sunday, Sep 17
Universal all day

Monday, Sep 18 - Departure
ADR, Boma 8:55am
FP Everest 9:30-10:30
FP Safari 10:30-11:30
FP FoP 11:30-12:30
Bonus FP FoP 11:35-12:35
Bonus FP Everest 12:40-1:40
*probably lunch at Flame Tree
Head back to POFQ for DME departure around 3ish.

So excited! And so much less stressed now everything is planned!

​

 

[Lesley Wake]

Real Life Update

Friday was Star Wars Night at Dodger Stadium, so my family got tickets. I arrived earlier and got a photo with this little dude:


Pretty cool, because he is the "official" Lucasfilm one, that moves around and everything. I also didn't even realize he was there; I was standing in line for the elevator and suddenly heard beeping next to me (thought it was my text message ringtone)!

The whole stadium was full of different official Star Wars characters, from the movies, as well as the TV shows (the main guys as well as supporting characters). Like, I'd say at least 50 different people walking around (everyone around me had photos from different people and were like-ooh, where was he?, what about her?, etc etc). Before the game a bunch of them, including R2-D2 went down to the field to take photos/videos. Then when the game was about to start, the characters all walked down the stairs into the underground Dugout Club to get back to the rest of the stadium. But R2 had to go down the handicap wheelchair lift! It was so cute. One guy (his controller) had to go down with him, but he was trying to make it seem he was just going to operate the lift, not control R2. I wish I could have gotten video of that (we were behind home plate, but all the way on the upper deck)!

Anyways, a fun evening, and the Dodgers won so that's good too!

 

[Raeven]

I was up at 4am PST to book FPs for 1 day, then went back to sleep...rinse and repeat.

Yikes!

I also have up to 3 "bonus" FPs I have scheduled for each day, which were obtained using a method that is no longer allowed to be talked about on the Dis.

I thought Disney locks your MDE if you try to use those now?

​

 

[Lesley Wake]

Yikes!

I thought Disney locks your MDE if you try to use those now?

Only if you use them directly, so if you have a MagicBand attached to that account and don't use that MagicBand to enter the park, but use it for the FP, then Disney starts to track the account. Continue to do that for too many days and they will lock the account. But there is a way around that where you make the FPs "legitimate" by switching them over to the actual, ticketed account before using. Then Disney doesn't care. Based on people's reports, Disney is doing the whole crackdown to discourage unofficial tour guides from making money; they don't care about the average guest getting a couple extra passes!

And the 4am wake up for 9 days sucked at first, but eventually I got used to it, and would crash back to sleep after a few minutes. It was actually super cute because my boy cat would hear my alarm go off and would come to cuddle, rubbing up against my phone! I had to gently push him away so I could finish!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Misc Updates

Some updates on the trip:

• Finally got the AP discount for POFQ! The ones on the website only showed a package, with dining plan, and didn't even have a discount. I emailed guest services a couple weeks ago and on Monday got a call from them. The representative was able to book a new room with 25% discount, which was slightly better than my 20% discount. So I saved around $100, which isn't too bad (and already makes the AP cost worth it, without even considering free photos and food/merch discounts). Of course, I had already given up on the AP discount so decided to just stick with the existing reservation and went ahead and paid it off in full on Sunday! I had paid the balance (~$1580) with Disney gift cards I had gotten from Target, using the 5% red card savings. I had purchased over $2000 in gift cards over the previous month (Target also just upped my credit limit to $4,000 once they saw me spending a lot and paying off the balance each month):

(This photo doesn't even show the previous $1500 I had already used to buy my AP!)

Because I wasn't interested in keeping track of over 20 GCs I used the Disney gift card website to combine them onto a few, but the maximum amount you are allowed is $1,000. So that Sunday I had loaded up GC1 with $1000 and applied that to the balance, and set that card aside just in case even though it had a $0 balance. Then I loaded some additional money onto GC2 (which already had around $200 leftover from the AP and various DLR trips) until it had around $700 to pay off the remaining $580. Then I loaded the rest of the cards onto GC2 with it ending up with around $750.

So, once the package was cancelled, all of that had to be refunded. The $1000 went just fine. But the $580 had issues because it would have resulted in GC2 having over $1000 balance. Yesterday morning I had to transfer the existing $750 onto GC3, call Disney, again, who were able to release the hold on the remaining $580 and refund the money. Then, while I was on the phone, I went ahead and used GC1 and GC3 to pay off the new balance. And finally transferred the remaining money on GC3 back onto GC2. So now, everything is on GC2 and I have it locked in the safe ! Phew! Just glad that was all taken care of!
​

• Outfits: We are going with Disneybounding for 3 days - Inside Out, Winnie the Pooh, and Droids! Originally considered the Ugly Stepsisters, but that got cancelled because I was already having a hard enough time finding clothes that fit. Right now all the shirts are ordered. So far most have come in, and while they officially fit, they are definitely on the tighter side. I'm going to soak them in a conditioner bath to help them stretch out.

I also convinced my sister to not do Fantastic Beasts for our Halloween outfits. We threw around a lot of ideas (Alice/Queen of Hearts, Ariel/Ursula, etc), but the problem was finding something that fit me and I would be comfortable in. I finally checked the hot topic website and found the Belle dress available in plus size:

So the plan was for me to be Ball Gown Belle and my sister would be Provincial Belle. And of course we would need to take a photo with Belle and Gaston! The dress arrived yesterday and I was a bit disheartened because it didn't fit right. Well, actually it fit just fine in most areas, including waist and bust, but the mid-chest just wouldn't zip (the bottom of the zipper connects, the top of the zipper with the eyelet connects and isn't tight, its just the part between waist and breasts that doesn't work)! It's like they cut it so it curves in at that point, not exactly the best for a plus size girl! And if you look at the above photo, you can see there's some funny business in the triangle between her straight arm and the dress, so it was either photoshopped or not actually zipped and they clipped it up behind her. And of course they no longer have it in a larger size, but to be honest, that probably wouldn't have worked well either as everywhere else would have been too large.

But at least my mom is a pretty capable seamstress so she said we'll go to the fabric store this weekend, find a matching one, and she can add panels to the side. We just have to be careful to not interfere with the skirt, sleeves or chest fit! ARGH!
​

Everything else is pretty much done! I'd like to switch the CRT ADR and HEA dessert party so we do dinner Monday and fireworks Wednesday before the PM EMH, but don't know if a reservation will open up. And if not, it's not the end of the world!

 

[Raeven]

Finally got the AP discount for POFQ! The ones on the website only showed a package, with dining plan, and didn't even have a discount.

I'm glad you finally got it!

Because I wasn't interested in keeping track of over 20 GCs I used the Disney gift card website to combine them onto a few, but the maximum amount you are allowed is $1,000. So that Sunday I had loaded up GC1 with $1000 and applied that to the balance, and set that card aside just in case even though it had a $0 balance. Then I loaded some additional money onto GC2 (which already had around $200 leftover from the AP and various DLR trips) until it had around $700 to pay off the remaining $580. Then I loaded the rest of the cards onto GC2 with it ending up with around $750.

So smart of you to keep your gift cards I had a huge gift card mishap last year where I threw out the card and it took forever to find a way to get a refund.

So the plan was for me to be Ball Gown Belle and my sister would be Provincial Belle. And of course we would need to take a photo with Belle and Gaston! The dress arrived yesterday and I was a bit disheartened because it didn't fit right.

Is it from Hot Topic? Some of their dresses fit sooo weird. I've had to return a few. The last one I got looked cute online but when I put it on it fit weird, and the fabric basically looked/felt like a burlap sack which is not at all what it seemed like in the pictures so I returned it.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I'm glad you finally got it!



So smart of you to keep your gift cards I had a huge gift card mishap last year where I threw out the card and it took forever to find a way to get a refund.



Is it from Hot Topic? Some of their dresses fit sooo weird. I've had to return a few. The last one I got looked cute online but when I put it on it fit weird, and the fabric basically looked/felt like a burlap sack which is not at all what it seemed like in the pictures so I returned it.

Yes it is from Hot Topic. But my mom was able to go to the fabric store today and found some matching fabric, ribbon and tuile. She thinks she can cut it open in the back where it laces up and then the laces would hide the slightly different fabric; it seems like it will work really well! And the sleeves are super cute because the lace has silhouettes of Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs Potts and Chip!

 

[Tom Cottone]

Leslie I've been following your post. Not sure if you are aware but Sam's Club sells DGC $500 cards for $475. This means $2000 in DGCs would cost you only $1800. Something to consider for future trips

 

[Lesley Wake]

Leslie I've been following your post. Not sure if you are aware but Sam's Club sells DGC $500 cards for $475. This means $2000 in DGCs would cost you only $1800. Something to consider for future trips

Thanks! It seems like that discount would be similar to the one using the Target redcard (5% off everything), but would be much more convenient than having to combine all the $100 and $50 ones! I'll have to keep it in mind.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Update 7/17-D23 Thoughts

This past week was the epic D23 parks announcements. Here are my thoughts on the major ones:

Star-Wars Themed Land updates: So looking forward to this! It's going to be insane and one of the reasons why I will continue to get an AP for DLR-really hoping they do AP previews like for Pandora. The whole immersion thing will be intense and I will love it, but I hope it will be able to happen in Anaheim. I worry it may be controlled with Magic Bands and if we don't get them soon enough, it won't be as good as an experience as in Florida.

Disneyworld:

Great Movie Ride & Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway - This new ride looks pretty cool! But unfortunately it means GMR will be closed before I get a chance to see it. I know it wasn't the most amazing ride ever, but it still would have been nice. On Friday I considered booking a FP for it, but then didn't. Well of course, everyone who did have a FP booked got an anytime FP, as well as could book a different Tier 1! Oh well, can't change it now. But it did lead to me thinking more and switching up my DHS plans, which I'll discuss later.

Toy Story Land - looks cool, but not worth a special trip in 2018 to see it. I'll probably plan my next WDW trip for 5 yrs later, after the 50th anniversary has calmed down and all the changes have been made.

Guardians of the Galaxy Ride - curious to see what they do with this, as it will be very very different than Mission Breakout here. I'm not upset Ellen's Energy Adventure will be closed by the time we get there, because we didn't plan on seeing it anyways (45 minutes just seems like a waste).

Ratatouille - Looks so cool!

China pavilion film - also should be really neat with the best cameras. And China just seems to be changing at a breakneck pace, with crazy technology cities but also simple farmlands. But at least I'll get to see the current film this fall (unless they already switch it over).

Mission: Space - Hoping this reopens in time for our trip. I'd like to see both Orange and Green missions.

Space restaurant - seems cool, but I feel with all the world showcase restaurants I'd like to experience and limited visits, I don't know if I would ever make it here.

Tron cycle - Also soooo cool! Rumors are we will have the same ride, just Captain America themed for Marvel land.

New theatre- interesting to see what they actually put in it.

Riviera Resort- yet another resort I'll never experience

Star Wars themed hotel - OMG! I will cash out my 401k to do this! But will probably end up waiting a long time!

Transport- Skyliner seems cool, but don't know if I'll use it. Minnie-vans look cute too, but may stick to Uber.

Disneyland

Pixar Fest - Interesting and fireworks will be cool for the summer, but I don't expect them to stick around into Fall. Weird though that they will move Pixar Play Parade over to DL. It just doesn't fit. There must be storage issues so they don't have room for 2 parades backstage.

Paint the Night - YES! I love that parade! So looking forward to its return!

Pixar Pier - Umm, maybe? It'll be interesting to see.

Marvel land - no details yet, but I assume this weekend at Comic-Con will give them the opportunity after everything else starts to die down. ​

 

[Lesley Wake]

Update 7/17 - Hollywood Studios Plans blown up!

So, as mentioned above, Great Movie Ride will be down when we are there. That, along with the construction, means there are only 4 rides, plus 6 shows. Of those rides, we are only really interested in 2. We'll probably go on Star Tours just to do it, as well as see the queue. Likely will skip Toy Story Mania as it's the exact same as our version (I think the queue sounds cool but not worth the wait). For shows, we don't plan on seeing Fantasmic this trip, as well as Frozen Sing Along. So of all those things, this is what we want to do at DHS:

-Rock n Roller Coaster
-Tower of Terror
-Beauty and the Beast
-Voyage of the Little Mermaid
-Indiana Jones show
-Muppet Vision
-Star Tours
-Star wars shows: March of the First Order and Galaxy Far Far Away
-Meet BB-8
-Star Wars Dessert Party & Fireworks

Not exactly a lot for 1.5 days planned. So, I made some adjustments and basically changed all of our FPs! Yup, all of the ones I had gotten up at 4am to book on 2 different days. And doing so will give us an extra 1 hr of sleep on Thursday (we will be doing evening EMH at MK the night before):

Thursday, Sep 14
DHS - Plan to arrive by 10:30ish
FP Star Tours - 10:10-11:10 (may not use, but I wanted an extra Tier 2)
FP ToT 12:05-1:05
FP RnRC 1:20-2:20
QS lunch at Backlot Express
Additional plans: see Muppet Vision, Indy, and Beauty and the Beast this day
Still plan to leave for AK around 3ish

Friday, Sep 15
morning-relax at resort
DHS - Plan to arrive around 1:15ish
ADR 50s Prime Time 1:35pm
FP Tier 2 ride (need to figure out if we will actually get something to use or if we will just book a throwaway Tier 2 so we can transfer bonus FPs properly)
FP RnRC 3:10-4:10
FP ToT 4:10-5:10
Bonus FP ToT 4:50-5:50
Bonus FP RnRC 5:50-6:50
ADR: Star Wars Dessert party 7:45pm
Additional plans: Little mermaid and all Star Wars things-March of 1st Order, Galaxy Far Far Away, Meet BB-8, maybe Star Tours this day instead.

 

[Raeven]

I know it wasn't the most amazing ride ever, but it still would have been nice

You take that back (Just kidding it wasn't the most amazing ride ever, it was just one of my favorites at HS).

45 minutes just seems like a waste).

It does! That's why we've never been on it. I actually thought it closed before May

 

[Lesley Wake]

Update - Universal HHN Freakout!​

As you can see, I have really planned my trip, with ADRs booked at 180 days, FPs booked at the earliest possible, and nearly everything figured out. However, I made a critical error-not planning Universal. I figured, it doesn't need all the advance planning and we were only doing one day, with a focus on Harry Potter. So I bought our tickets and thought we'd figure it out on the way with the plan to make it our last full day, Sunday Sept 17th.

Then, this morning, I was perusing the Disboards for Universal (don't check those as often as TPAS, but do check every other week or so). And I saw a reference to Halloween Horror Nights. And someone going on Sept 16th to HHN, asking for crowd advice. FULL STOP-HHN opening weekend was when we were visiting! And there was a party on our day! We are definitely not planning on doing it, because I jump when someone walks up behind me at the office-I would probably have a heart attack in a haunted house! I'm just not a big fan of horror and gore. But that meant, USO was closing early on our day. We could do those rides early, then go over to IoA, but I really wanted to see Diagon Alley at night. And I am worried that the IoA crowds were be larger at night since they can't be at USO. But switching dates would be so complicated now that ADRs and FPs are all booked. So I spent several hours this morning trying to get it all worked out. And I did. It was annoying and not pretty and I'm glad my boss was at a meeting so he didn't see me doing Disney stuff all morning (who am I kidding, he knows and doesn't care as long as I meet my deadlines).

So, revised schedule:

Thursday, Sep 14
Universal all day. Focus on Harry Potter

Friday, Sept 15
-Moved our original Thursday plans to this day.
DHS - Plan to arrive by 11ish
FP RnRC 12:20
FP ToT 1:25
QS lunch at Backlot Express?

AK - Plan to hop around 3:30ish
ADR Tusker House w/ROL viewing, 4:25pm - I was lucky to get another reservation at approximately the same time. ROL just was scheduled for every day in September, and dining packages opened this morning, so there was still availability!
No Bonus FPs, because it's getting too complicated and I'm worried they would be lost anyways. So, we'll just rely on the "old-fashioned" same-day app check for fast passes.
Additional plans: Pandora at night, Tree of Life Awakenings, Rivers of Light

Sunday, Sep 17
-Moved our original Friday plans to this day.
morning-relax at resort, or since it's our last full day, maybe go to our favorite park one last time? Don't know yet.
ADR 50s Prime Time 12:55pm * May try to slightly move it later, if something opens up.
FP Star Tours 1:45
FP RnRC 3:05
FP ToT 4:15
No bonus FPs again.
ADR: Star Wars Dessert party 7:15pm

Also, there have been issues with some of my bonus FPs disappearing (but not all, so it's being weird); I've gotten most of them back, but I'll see if they stick around. And people are having reports of FPs booking before MNSSHP disappearing too. Mine are still secure, but it's something I'll be looking out for!

I just had a bit of a freak out this morning, and my sister even tried to see if she could help, but there was no way besides sitting and waiting. I'm sure we will have an awesome trip, I just need to relax some!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Mini Disneyland Trip Report - 7/22/17

Since I live so close I try to go to Disneyland as often as possible. I headed over there on Saturday and thought I'd go ahead and do a mini-Trip Report! Whenever I go I tend to have a couple of goals in mind-sometimes that is a particular attraction, food item, merchandise item, etc. and I base the rest of my visit around that. Here were my goals for Sunday:

• Eat at Blue Bayou with Fantasmic! Dining Package
• Watch Fantasmic!
• Try out Max Pass. It comes automatically with my Premier AP, so I wanted to give it a try!

I didn't end up at the parks until about 3pm. The start of my day sort of sucked, with a lunch with my uncles and aunts who are pretty vexing. Just very selfish people and my uncle decided to say some really offensive things to me (he didn't realize how offensive it was and I was too flabbergasted to correct him). Then I had a bad reaction to some of the food I ate, so wasn't feeling the best (luckily I was ok in time for Disney). Needless to say, I really needed a good day at the parks!

When I arrived I parked at the Toy Story lot. For people unfamiliar with DLR parking, there are 2 main areas: Mickey and Friends structure on the northwest side of the park and Toy Story lot on the southeast side (near all the offsite hotels along Harbor blvd). Most of the time I end up at Mickey and Friends as it's just more convenient to get on/off freeway in the direction I travel, even though wait times to get on/off tram can be pretty brutal. But today I ended up with Toy Story. Honestly, the total time probably evened out, as it took much longer to drive up Harbor Blvd to get to the freeway, with many stop lights and plenty of park crowds, vs Mickey which has a dedicated flyover ramp so I'd skip any lights. Although it was pretty nice to have such an empty bus:

I arrived at the parks and luckily had no wait at security! It can be very nice showing up later in the afternoon! I was worried it would be more crowded due to the first Saturday with Fantasmic! but was very fortunate it wasn't.

I entered the park and tried out MaxPass for the first time. OMG-booking FPs from my phone was awesome! I didn't have to rush up Main Street to pull a paper FP, but could stroll up with my first FP (BTMR) having only a 20 minute return time.

I made my way up and stopped in plenty of shops, ending up with the Rose Sipper (with "Beauty on the Beast" written on it). I've been eyeing these when they were sold at Red Rose Tavern but was never there at the right time. Now they have plenty of stock, and it's pretty cool (sorry, didn't get any photos). I did also do some successful pin trading. I wandered over to Tomorrowland to see if they had any new Star Wars shirts I "needed" to get. I did like some things and even found something that would have worked for my sister if I hadn't already gotten her an R2-D2 shirt (more details to come in another PTR update)

I finally headed over to BTMR to use my FP. By that time I could have gotten a new FP with MaxPass, but wasn't sure what I felt like doing and my BB reservation was coming up soon. One of the girls in front of me was wearing a white sweater which caught the wind and looked like I was riding with Baymax!

While in line for BTMR I grabbed a FP for Haunted Mansion that had an instant return time. Rode that one and also got a FP for Indiana Jones, but it wouldn't be good until after dinner. Because I was finished with rides for the moment, I ended up going to Blue Bayou a bit early to see if I could get a waterside table. They were pretty great about it and I only had to wait about 15 minutes, all sitting on the padded bench in the lobby!

(please excuse poor picture quality, I didn't want to use my flash and disturb people around me)

Views from my table:

Here's the Fantasmic! Dining Package menu:

I started with the bread basket, which was soooo yummy. I normally don't like herby bread, but that stuff was so good! I ended up getting a box for half of it (they gave me a full basket even though I was one person), which I snacked on before Fantasmic! (my dinner was a 4:40 but the show wasn't until 9).

I skipped the starter (will explain below), and got the Surf and Turf for my entree. Also delicious!

Then for dessert, my server let me get 2 options instead of a starter! I was in heaven with the Sorcerer Mickey (basically chocolate mousse)

My plate at the end looked like I had murdered someone...

I also got the Creme Brulee. It was so cute (and that white dollop wasn't whipped cream, but a mini Madelline, which was yummy). But I was so full I could only eat half and that broke my heart!

After I was done I got my FP and a cool seat cushion (which wasn't advertised in the online package but I knew was coming from the Disboards):

I was so full I just couldn't move, so I found a spot along a bench and relaxed for a bit. I could tell Indiana Jones was not going to work out right then, so instead rode Pirates, which was only a 10 minute wait. I considered going on Splash Mountain as a single rider but the line was longer than I would have liked, so instead decided to relax before the show.

I got in line 2 hours early (!) but sat on my seat cushion and read a book! They let us in early and there were only a handful of Blue Bayou people (they separated the three different dining venues into separate areas), so I had my pick of seats. I ended up front row center, which was pretty cool! I could also sit back against the railing while waiting for the show.

While I was sitting there I checked MDE and found out Indiana Jones must have been down during my FP time, so it was switched to an anytime FP which I could use on anything in Disneyland except for Space Mountain! I eventually never ended up using it because I was too tired at the end of the day, but it was cool nonetheless!

Finally around 9pm the show started and I got my first experience with Fantasmic! 2.0. I always loved the original Fantasmic and this definitely continued its excellence. However, two of my favorite parts were removed - Peter Pan was replaced with Pirates of the Carribean which didn't seem to fit, even though the Pirate stunts were excellent. And the opening wasn't as drastic-the original one had all the lights around the Rivers of America go out at once when the lights came on in the island, which always gave me a chill; this version has them fade slowly while projections start up on the island. But definitely an amazing show and a family sitting behind me who were having their first DLR visit had tears in their eyes at the end. I stuck around for the fireworks which we had a great view of, along with projections on the water screens. (I didn't take photos of either show, as I wanted to just be in the moment.)

I had originally considered trying to go Standby for the second showing of Fantasmic, but those sections are standing only and I was pretty tired at the end of the day, so instead I headed home.

I'll probably be back next weekend when I try another Dining package!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Update-Misc and Etsy deliveries

Misc updates:

• Mission Space will be open for our visit, so we will get a chance to experience it! I changed one of our FPs to it. Hopefully we'll be able to get a 4th FP for it to experience both sides (or the Earth mission will have a short line).
• Changed our FPs for the MNSSHP day; instead of Space Mountain, now we will do Enchanted Tales with Belle. Makes more sense for our Belle costumes!
• Baby Tigers! (Maybe). http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/07/baby-tiger-cubs-coming-august-disneys-animal-kingdom/ I hope the babies are out for viewing by the time we get there! And if so my sister wants a picture in her Tigger outfit!

Speaking of outfits, my Etsy deliveries have arrived! Some special outfit notes:

Halloween costume-I mentioned the Belle dress didn't fit that well. This is the original back of it:

My mom cut it open underneath the laces and added some fabric. Then she needed to cover the extra panel in the skirt, so created a bow with matching fabric. I think it looks pretty good!

And I got a purse from etsy, as well as a "chipped cup" necklace my sister gave me years ago.

Now just need to decide what to do with my hair and shoes!

Yellow bottoms-I also mentioned I needed something yellow for the Winnie the Pooh Disneybound outfit. None of the options I found fit well or were comfortable. So I ended up finding a white pair of denim shorts and dyed them yellow! I think it turned out well enough that I could imagine wearing them after Disney!

Magic Bands-Received 2/3 of my magic bands. First a Rey MB1 that I loved the design (actually got this back in May for May 4 discounts). Then I got the Orange one as my AP band. My purple resort stay band will be arriving soon!

Now clothes-here is what I have:

Day 1 (MK/Epcot)-Disney bound as Joy/Sadness.
I have this shirt, which I'll wear with blue shorts. Also got fake glasses and need to decide if I want a hair bow or headband or something. My sister got a light green dress and Joy ears

Day 2 (AK/MK)-Disney bound as Winnie Pooh/Tigger.
I got this shirt, plus the yellow shorts. Need to figure out what I'll do about Pooh ears as hair clips/headband. My sister got a Tigger shirt and Tigger mickey ears.

Someone tried to catch the bee:

Day 3 (Halloween party)
As mentioned, the Belle costume. Will probably go with a random SW shirt for the morning (relaxing at resort)

Day 4 (Epcot/MK)
We ended up with these Anna/Elsa shirts; I actually really like them!

Day 5 (Universal)
Griffinclaw shirt! Sister has plenty of HP shirts.

Day 6 (HS/AK)
Random shirts, thought this worked best for AK:

Day 7 (4-parks)
Another random shirt. I ended up liking this design and have identified all the characters:

Day 8 (HS w/SW dessert party)
Disney bound as Droids. I'm C3PO and my sister is R2-D2. She was originally going to just wear general white shirt, but I liked my tank top I ordered, so I got her a matching one!

Day 9 (Ak and departure)
Random shirt!

Again-SOOO EXCITED!

 

[Raeven]

Baby Tigers! (Maybe). http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/07/baby-tiger-cubs-coming-august-disneys-animal-kingdom/ I hope the babies are out for viewing by the time we get there!

I saw that! I can't wait to see the baby tigers!

Random shirts, thought this worked best for AK:

I almost bought that shirt last year, it's so cute.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Update 8/11: Touring Plans - Day 0

Wow-it's less than one month from our trip! I'm soo excited.

I've been making good use of Touring Plans over the past few months, so I thought I'd share my more detailed itinerary, as it's "locked down" now. Basically, I don't have any major changes left, as all desired ADRs are booked and I can't come up with any other changes. But of course, if I've learned anything from reading other people's PTRs, who knows what may change between now and then!

Also, if you noticed in my previous basic itinerary and FPs, I had a lot of Bonus FPs. There was a snafu with some of those, so I don’t have as many anymore. But I think the ones I “lost” I didn’t need anyways (i.e. they are for rides I could maybe get a same-day pass via the app).

Day 0 - Arrival

My flight arrives at 6:32pm and my sister's arrives at 6:20pm. I think we will be in the same terminal (Southwest and Virgin America), so we will meet up before heading down to DME. Hopefully we won't have a long wait, but I know it's unpredictable!

After arriving at POFQ, it's onto Disney Springs! I think we will take the boat down, which will be a nice Disney start to the trip!



We have a 9:25pm reservation at Homecomin’, so we will see what time we arrive for how much wandering we do. Here are the shops I want to check out during out stay (either this night or some other time):

-Alex and Ani – For my sister
-Disney’s Days of Christmas
-Disney’s Pin Traders
-D-Living
-Marketplace Co-Op
-Mickey’s Pantry
-Once Upon a Toy
-Star Wars Galactic Outpost
-Tren-D
-Word of Disney
-Basin

I've been scopign out some merchandise items on the Disney parks app, but I'll see what's still in stock! I'm also making sure to check what they have here at DLR, so I don't buy things and have to bring them home with suitcase when I could just pick up here!

Peter Pan housewares (although my favorite pillow and bowls are no longer in stock):


I always get a charm when I travel (my charm bracelet is pretty intense and too heavy to wear), so these look good:


And I also get a christmas ornament from every place I visit. I'm really liking this one, but I'll see what else is there. Maybe I'll end up with one per park!


Snack places:
-The Ganachery – S’mores look yummy! The caprese crepe also looks delicious, but may need to wait for another trip entirely
-Amorette’s Patisserie – Will probably stop by here after Homecomin’ to get dessert and something for the next day’s breakfast. Does anyone know if they do mini character dome cakes? I think a big one is too much $$ and cake!
-Aristocrepes - May need to wait for another day; I don't think I can handle the dinner at Homecomin', Ganacery s'mores, and s'mores crepe!
-Daily Poutine - I went to school in Montreal so have plenty of experience with poutine and am curious about their version. I know we will be getting the fancy one at Le Cellier, but this seems like basic street food! Also will probably wait for another day

 

[Lesley Wake]

Day 1 – Magic Kingdom / Epcot

This will be an early morning, with the plan to get to the park for Rope Drop. We will probably get it in our heads to leave around 7:30 (for a 9am opening), as POFQ and POR sometimes share buses in the morning, but that seems to depend on how busy it is. Breakfast will either be a pastry in our room, or maybe something grabbed to eat on bus/main street while we wait for Rope Drop.

*Also, I want to post a disclaimer about all of my touring plans (this day and going forward): Remember, I am a Disneyland local (like I don't repeat that enough ), so I go often and have ridden these rides a lot. So our focus is mostly going to be on more WDW exclusive rides. We definitely will go on most that are repeats, but really only if the ride or queue is different, to compare with DLR. But they aren't a priority. For example, we aren't even going to bother with Soarin'. We aren't the biggest fans of the new film (too much CGI), and we'd rather use that time to do something else. That's not to say I wouldn't recommend seeing that ride if you are just visiting WDW, on the contrary-its not to be missed. Just not part of our plan!

*And another thing, if anyone who is more familiar with WDW reads this and sees a glaring mistake, please let me know! We are very limited on practical WDW knowledge; my sister did go, but that was at a heavier crowd time and with her boyfriend, who doesn't understand optimizing Disney time.

Morning Attractions:

1. Peter Pan Flight – Go on first; we’ll probably just do the line up through the castle. I know some people can get faster by going thru Liberty Square or a walkway around the moat, but most guides say just walk straight through.

*At this point it gets a bit fuzzier. We have a FP for 7DMT from 10-11; with the BOG lunch, we will probably do 7DMT at 10:30ish. Between PPF and 7DMT, there will be at least an hour, with no specific rides we NEED to do. So this is approximate and will depend on wait times:
2. The Haunted Mansion
3. It’s a small world
4. Mad Tea Party
5. Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid

6. 7DMT – use FP from 10-11.

*at this point see what time it is and if we want to do anything else, or just head to BOG; maybe we’ll stop for a photopass before eating?

Lunch: Be Our Guest, 11am.

Afternoon attractions:
7. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – FP from 11:15-12:15
Unfortunately Splash is closed, or else we would have FPed it!

8. Pirates of the Caribbean – FP from 12:15-1:15
*Try to get a 4th FP. I’m thinking maybe Test Track for when we hop to Epcot that evening, but it will depend on availability. Wait times are supposed to be really low for MK, so we may be able to just do standby
9. Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Tutorial – 12:30 show; we’ll at least watch the beginning. Once they start doing stuff with kids, we’ll head out.
10. Jungle Cruise – Maybe, depending on what time it is.

11. The Muppets Present…Great Moments in American History – 1:25 show; the idea is to arrive here and get a spot for both Muppets and Festival of Fantasy Parade.

12. Festival of Fantasy Parade – 2pm

*Another fuzzy moment. It will depend on wait times and what we feel like doing.
13. Mickey’s PhilarMagic – Try to walk around the backside of Fantasyland to avoid parade crowds?
14. Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
15. Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress
16. Monsters Inc Laugh Floor

*Plan to try and get the express bus from MK-Epcot around the time partygoers are arriving (4pm).

Full map:

Evening: Epcot

17. Test Track? – Depends on whether we can get a FP, and if not, what the single rider line is like

18. Meet Joy & Sadness – We will be Disney bounding as them this day, so this is the only must do.

*what we accomplish next will depend on actual time of day, wait times, whether FPs are available, etc
19. The Seas with Nemo & Friends
20. Living with the Land
21. Journey into Imagination with Figment

*in the unlikely event that we can accomplish all of the above, we may try to see O' Canada this night. Otherwise, we'll wait until a different Epcot day.

Dinner: Le Cellier, 7pm

Post Dinner: Illuminations. Probably will try to get a spot outside Canada pavilion.

Full map:

 

[Lesley Wake]

Day 2 – AK and MK

Another early morning, with plans to pre-RD FoP during am EMH. So we will need to arrive around 7am (eep!) for the 8am EMH. T

Morning attractions:

1. Flight of Passage – Definitely want to do the Standby queue. There have been recent reports that people doing RD have been sent to FP queue to make it a quicker loading time. I contact Guest Services and they said we can check with the CMs to just go through the whole regular queue.
2. Na’vi River Journey – Assuming this will take us all the way through EMH. If there is a low enough wait time, maybe NRJ 2x?

3. Flight of Passage – FP from 9-10am.

Breakfast: Satu’li Canteen.The french toast looks yummy and I know my sister will love the steak and eggs (she's a frittata fiend)

Maybe check out Banshee situation at Windtraders (we may also end up doing these before using our FP for FoP). I sort of want a banshee, mainly to freak out my cats and dog! But I don't know if it's a good idea to spend $$$ on something I could do with a paper bag (literally)!

Then, do AK in a clockwise fashion: Pandora-Africa-Asia-Dinoland-Discovery Island
4. Kilimanjaro Safaris – FP from 10-11am – I really hope I get a good view of the hippos-I’m sort of obsessed with Fiona the Hippo right now!

(But how can anyone not be obsessed with her adorableness! My mom and sister saw a cookie jar that looked like her at Target...I am going to pick it up, even though I have nowhere to place it!)

5. Kali River Rapids – Not sure if we will actually do this. It will depend on how long and if we feel like getting wet! Definitely will wear ponchos though!
6. Expedition Everest – FP from 11-12. Maybe ride a second time using single rider.
7. Finding Nemo – The Musical – 12pm show
8. Dinosaur – (bonus)FP from 12-1

Lunch: TBD. Maybe Satu’li Canteen, maybe Flame Tree BBQ, maybe Yak and Yeti QS. We’ll see how we feel. The idea is to have a later lunch because we are having a (relatively) later breakfast and a late dinner. We have another lunch at AK (on departure day), so we can always hit one of these then.

Afternoon Attractions:
*Another fuzzier point. Maybe try to see what FPs are available. Or maybe do an animal trail.
9. Festival of Lion King – 3pm show
10. Na’vi River Journey – (bonus)FP for 3:55-4:55pm. Originally this was for before FotLK, but there was a FP snafu that made me change it to later. I’ll check if I can get it earlier day-of!

Full Map:

Evening: Hop to MK

No specific plans or pre-booked FPs for this evening. It’ll depend on crowds, wait times, and what is available. Raeven and Josh will be at the park this evening, but I don’t know if we will overlap plans or just wait to meet until we’re both at Universal on Thursday? So, it’s a play by ear sort of night!

Two things we should do are, take a photo with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, and ride Winnie the Pooh, since we will be Disney Bounding as those guys!

Dinner: CRT, 8:25pm. Hope to see some fireworks from within the castle. We’ll also be done after park closing, so maybe also the Kiss Goodnight!