December 2013: We just booked!

[pigletto]

We are 34 hours away from pulling out of the driveway. I cannot believe it! It's been 300 days since the beginning of this countdown and the longest I will ever go between trips. Never again. This has been pure torture!!! Suitcases are packed, cameras are charging!!! Bring it on!!!

Congrats budafam!!!
I don't know how many days exactly that it's been but we got back from our last trip on the 3rd or 4th of March. So it will be a little over 10 months between trips. Twice yearly trips to Disney are a thing of the past for us. Our family bought a cottage for everyone to use, so that will be our summer trip (and many weekends). That leaves one vacation a year to somewhere we fly to. It may be Disney, but there are many places on our bucket list.
That being said.. it's 11 sleeps to go and we are SO EXCITED!

 

[CynBeth]

Wow so there are a few of us on this thread from Maryland

7 SLEEPS TO GO!!! Checking on my pixie dust tomorrow!

When we were in Disney a few years ago during Thanksgiving Week we saw a lot of Ravens fans and it was great.

 

[Aidan's Mommy]

Finally hit single digits!!!

9 more days!

 

[RocketEAR99]

5 SLEEPS TO GO!!! And I got some pixie dust in the form of my long awaited Disney Visa Rewards Redemption Card! Free money toward this vacation!

Trying not to read negative posts in other threads though...this vacation will be the best!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

23 more days!!! OMG Christmas is only 3 weeks away!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[ddluvsdisney]

My DS16 doesn't want to go to FL b/c he doesn't want to be away from friends on vacation and wants to play his new "toys" after Christmas ( video games).
Little does he know he's getting a laptop ( long awaited gift) for Christmas that he can bring with him to play games and skype friends. YAY!!! He won't make us all miserable now.

I feel like I'm the only person who has a kid who doesn't want to go anymore.
It's so sad. Usually once he's there he's better, but if we're in the parks too long or too early in the morning, he's not pleasant. And forget it if I take too many pictures!! Lol

Is anybody else having/had this problem?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[BOG Obsessed]

19 more days till Disney.
I haven't been back since I was 12, this will be my family's first trip to Disney. Super excited.

 

[lovegrumpy]

8 more days.

 

[pigletto]

Ok I've hit panic mode.

It took so much getting used to MDE and fastpass+ planning and all the I.T. issues that I had that at a certain point I got all planned out. I picked my park days and have ADR's but now I am worrying about having no real touring plan.
I've never been this time of year, or when it's as busy as this trip is going to be so I've never needed a touring plan.
There is so much I don't want to miss on this trip though. For example I have zero strategy for MVMCP other than showing up and the dessert party.
I don't even know how to make a touring plan because I don't know if we'll still be able to pull legacy fastpasses. I want to see all the Holiday Storytellers at Epcot, and have no plan for that.
My reservations aren't printed out, nor are my fastpass+ screenshots. I haven't packed a thing and don't know what the weather is going to be like.
I need to make a garden grocer order and haven't.

ACCCCKKKKK!!!! I need to get to work
I think we've just been so many times that I wasn't worried about it until I realized everything is different about this trip and I probably need to plan this one.

 

[ses1230]

Ok I've hit panic mode. It took so much getting used to MDE and fastpass+ planning and all the I.T. issues that I had that at a certain point I got all planned out. I picked my park days and have ADR's but now I am worrying about having no real touring plan. I've never been this time of year, or when it's as busy as this trip is going to be so I've never needed a touring plan. There is so much I don't want to miss on this trip though. For example I have zero strategy for MVMCP other than showing up and the dessert party. I don't even know how to make a touring plan because I don't know if we'll still be able to pull legacy fastpasses. I want to see all the Holiday Storytellers at Epcot, and have no plan for that. My reservations aren't printed out, nor are my fastpass+ screenshots. I haven't packed a thing and don't know what the weather is going to be like. I need to make a garden grocer order and haven't. ACCCCKKKKK!!!! I need to get to work I think we've just been so many times that I wasn't worried about it until I realized everything is different about this trip and I probably need to plan this one.

Kenny the Pirate has a plan for storytellers and the Touring Plans blog has a plan for MVMCP (both 4pm and 7pm arrival times). There are no FP at all at the party, so don't worry about that.

It will be fun no matter what!

 

[aml3679]

Going to bed now ... the town car driver picks us up in 9 hours to go to the airport...all this planning and now just a few more hours.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We have been here since Saturday. It has been crowded.

We tried to see if the KTTW cards would pull a traditional fastpass at MK, but it wouldn't. The machine shot out a ticket that said that the KTTW wasn't valid for fp's since it wasn't used for park entry. We had used our MB's to get into the park.

I found out that if you miss a fp+ you can reschedule it later. We were at HS tonight with some time to kill before the Osborne lights were turned on. I had booked a couple of fp+'s for earlier in the day that we never used. Even though the time period had expired I was still able to schedule a new fp+. I literally walked up to a ride, changed the time of the fp+ to the current time, and within a minute was able to get the green go light on the Mickey turnstile of the ride. It had to be for a ride with fp availability, though. It wouldn't let me book a TSMM fp+, but I was able to get on the Muppets, which was right next to New York Street and a nice place to wait for the lights. I just wish they would let us do more than one park a day.

You can use your fp+ five minutes early. We did it several times.

It has been great to have a fp+ reservation at night. We walked in the fp lane at TSMM and it just took a few minutes to get on the ride. The standby line was 75 minutes at the time. But it isn't very convenient to not be able to pull traditional fp's. I would have loved a fp for Peter Pan, but I had a HS fp+, instead. They really need to broaden the options a little bit.

 

[pigletto]

Kenny the Pirate has a plan for storytellers and the Touring Plans blog has a plan for MVMCP (both 4pm and 7pm arrival times). There are no FP at all at the party, so don't worry about that.

It will be fun no matter what!

Thank you!! I will check both of those out.I have a TP membership but forgot about it

 

[Wood Nymph]

Ok I've hit panic mode.

It took so much getting used to MDE and fastpass+ planning and all the I.T. issues that I had that at a certain point I got all planned out. I picked my park days and have ADR's but now I am worrying about having no real touring plan.

We made some changes to our touring plan. We cancelled a Monday dinner reservation on Saturday. Then Monday morning made a new reservation for that evening while riding the bus to Epcot - so easy with the MDE. I made fp+ reservations at HS for tomorrow but decided to hang around the WL tomorrow and reschedule the fp+ at MK instead. It is easy to change fp+ while you are in the parks.

I want to see all the Holiday Storytellers at Epcot, and have no plan for that.

We caught a couple of the storytellers and they were very good, well worth the effort. And you can see and hear the Candlelight Processional show while standing outside of the pavilion.

I haven't packed a thing and don't know what the weather is going to be like.

The weather was colder than predicted for us. The 77 degree forecast became the 66 degree light rain day. Today it warmed to 76 and we wore shorts and went swimming. It is cold at night. You will need a sweatshirt or jacket after the sun goes down.

We kept running into different shows that we hadn't expected. And I'm really glad we stopped to enjoy them. There was the wonderful show at the castle at MK this morning - something about your dreams coming true. Then on the way back through the hub we found the Move It, Shake It dance party thing. That was fun. We've seen the Trolley singers and the Barber Show Quartet. At Epcot we walked up to some storytellers just as they were beginning their stories. We stopped and listened to the British Invasion and some Gospel singers. None of it was planned, we just walked up and it was happening or about to happen.

The chocolate carousel at the Beach Club was amazing. We were there for dinner tonight and I'm glad we saw it.

 

[pigletto]

Thank you Wood Nymph. It sounds like you've had a very nice trip. I like to go with the flow and not over plan. I find we really enjoy ourselves much more that way. Since we won't be park hopping, I think if I just do a general list of what we wish to accomplish in each park for the day, that we'll likely have enough time to get it done. I am feeling much better about it all today (thanks to you guys!).
I just need to actually start preparing and getting ready and then I will feel a little more ready to go

 

[RocketEAR99]

When we were in Disney a few years ago during Thanksgiving Week we saw a lot of Ravens fans and it was great.

It wouldn't have been too great for me...I'm a Steelers fan Yeah one of THOSE people, but I can honestly say I have been one for longer than the Ravens franchise has existed and after the Indianapolis professional football team came to exist. And while I remain loyal to my Steelers always, I also will not hate on the Ravens. P.S. - still an Orioles fan. Always have been.

In other news 4 SLEEPS to go!

 

[disneyfireman]

It wouldn't have been too great for me...I'm a Steelers fan Yeah one of THOSE people, but I can honestly say I have been one for longer than the Ravens franchise has existed and after the Indianapolis professional football team came to exist. And while I remain loyal to my Steelers always, I also will not hate on the Ravens. P.S. - still an Orioles fan. Always have been. In other news 4 SLEEPS to go!

We arrive dec 8 also. Where are you staying? We will be at Bonnet Creek.

PS go steelers.

 

[CynBeth]

It wouldn't have been too great for me...I'm a Steelers fan Yeah one of THOSE people, but I can honestly say I have been one for longer than the Ravens franchise has existed and after the Indianapolis professional football team came to exist. And while I remain loyal to my Steelers always, I also will not hate on the Ravens. P.S. - still an Orioles fan. Always have been.

In other news 4 SLEEPS to go!

Last time we were in Disney the days we wore our Ravens gear we would be waiting in line or sitting on a bench relaxing a few minutes and Steelers fans would come up to us and tell us how much they hate us and other rude things which I thought was obnoxious and uncalled for. I was surprised people acted that way especially in front of kids in Disney. I know all teams have their obnoxious fans and hopefully that won't happen on this trip. I am an O's fan as well.

 

[CynBeth]

We arrive dec 8 also. Where are you staying? We will be at Bonnet Creek.

PS go steelers.

A few years ago we went to Pittsburgh for a weekend during the summer and saw a Pirates game. I am glad AM won the NL MVP this year. He is one of my favorite baseball players. Anyway. we saw the sights and really enjoyed visiting.

 

[disneyfireman]

A few years ago we went to Pittsburgh for a weekend during the summer and saw a Pirates game. I am glad AM won the NL MVP this year. He is one of my favorite baseball players. Anyway. we saw the sights and really enjoyed visiting.

Thanks