Disney: It's For Adults, Too! (finally booked!!!)

[Sam33]

Oh. My. Goodness.

Okay, so you know how when you find a really great flight for a great price? WELL YOU BOOK IT RIGHT AWAY, right?!
Not in my wonderful mothers' book. She waited 3 days and calls me to say "it's booked!" well duh.
And that other cheap flight that had the one hour layover? Doubled in price.


We found one flight for $250 (insanely low compared to the others!) but it doesn't leave until 4:30! Straight through, though, so we booked it ASAP this time. Unfortunately we don't land in Orlando until 9:30. So no Yee Haw Bob arrival night The other flight had us arriving at 6:30, with plenty of time to settle in.

Now I'm anxious about the baggage. If the flight is delayed it will be after 10! But if it isn't then they will be there to get our bags. Do I just assume that if we land before ten, even if just a couple minutes, that the bags will get taken care of? And if we DON'T land before ten then we should take care of it ourselves? I'm just nervous that if we land at 9:50 and assume they'll take the bags that they won't be there and we'll be screwed!

 

[glennbo123]

Oh nuts. I was all set to write "congrats" on getting some good flights booked, and then I read today's post. Whoops. Oh well.

Regarding baggage, I think I'd be inclined to just pick it up myself and heft it over to ME. I mean, even if it worked out and they got it and transported it, wouldn't it still arrive at the resort much later possibly?

 

[Sam33]

Oh nuts. I was all set to write "congrats" on getting some good flights booked, and then I read today's post. Whoops. Oh well.

Regarding baggage, I think I'd be inclined to just pick it up myself and heft it over to ME. I mean, even if it worked out and they got it and transported it, wouldn't it still arrive at the resort much later possibly?

That's what I was thinking. But I just love that convenience of not having to carry around luggage. And since we're coming from Denver it will be like arriving at 7:30 instead of 9:30. I can't possible think of what to do to get us tired out enough to go to sleep when we get there! That's what Bob and beers were for.

But the stress of not knowing if our luggage got picked up or not (especially because it takes a while to get to the resort) probably isn't worth the convenience.

Do the Bob shows usually fill up? If we can't catch him this night, our only chance is on Sunday, our DHS day. It closes at 8. In your experience, are there places to sit right at showtime?

 

[glennbo123]

Do the Bob shows usually fill up? If we can't catch him this night, our only chance is on Sunday, our DHS day. It closes at 8. In your experience, are there places to sit right at showtime?

It does fill up, but with just 2 of you, you may be able to find a spot. Also, he takes an intermission at, I dunno maybe around 10pm, and a lot of people clear out (like us lightweights). If you're a night owl, I'm sure you could easily snag a seat or maybe a better seat, for the later portion of his show.

 

[Sam33]

It does fill up, but with just 2 of you, you may be able to find a spot. Also, he takes an intermission at, I dunno maybe around 10pm, and a lot of people clear out (like us lightweights). If you're a night owl, I'm sure you could easily snag a seat or maybe a better seat, for the later portion of his show.

Amazing! I didn't realize it was that long of a show! We're usually not night owls but I'm fairly sure I won't be tired when we get to the hotel. So maybe we'll catch the end of it Thursday night and try to see some Sunday

 

[Queenofallthings]

Hey girl...just wanted to pop in and say hi....I have missed chatting with you

 

[Sam33]

Hey girl...just wanted to pop in and say hi....I have missed chatting with you

Hello! I suppose I'm due for an update here. I just commented on your TR! And it explains why I've been MIA lately.
SO much going on! Since we went to Iowa for a week, I've been backed up on work. My self-employed job has to get done every month even if I go on vacation so basically it means if I leave for a week then the rest of the month I have no time! The month is almost over and I can go back to having a more leisurely scheduled life. Which means more internet time! YAY

Anyways, free dining is rumored to be released for our dates. I'd probably add it on but we're not going to plan around it. There are a couple restaurants we're only getting appetizers at and cocktails everywhere pretty much. But it would help with snacks and entrees and such!

I'm paying my half off as we speak so that will be nice. Then there's 4 months to save for food (if no dining) and cocktails! I budgeted about $550 each for food and cocktails including tips. It's a lot but I like to shoot high and then spend less when I'm there. I don't like worrying about not having money when I'm on vacation. Paid so much to get there that I'm not passing up on a cocktail I want because I don't have $10!

And after that, we're saving for Vegas! Our friends want to go and we're down. We have a year to save for that. Should be doable we hope!




And with that, I ask for everyone's prayers for my state. It's basically completely on fire. 14 fires currently going, including one VERY close to my University. And one that is the worst in Colorado history with over 250 homes burned down.
Every time we get a break on one fire, a new one starts. We DESPERATELY need some rain without lightning and wind.

We may have the best state but it comes with a catch. That it's on fire!

We're safe, though. Just worried about everything else

 

[Sam33]

Fires are getting worse. "dry thunderstorms" in the forecast (lightning and wind without rain) so it's just going to get worse.
So far my favorite place to hike is gone along with the hills we took our engagement pictures on.

Luckily, the winds shifted so the flames are headed further into the mountains instead of straight into Boulder which would have been disastrous. Lots of important things in Boulder.

I just want to cry

 

[BDLSGAL]

Fires are getting worse. "dry thunderstorms" in the forecast (lightning and wind without rain) so it's just going to get worse.
So far my favorite place to hike is gone along with the hills we took our engagement pictures on.

Luckily, the winds shifted so the flames are headed further into the mountains instead of straight into Boulder which would have been disastrous. Lots of important things in Boulder.

I just want to cry

I am sorry for the situation there. I just saw a headline on a local news channel calling it "epic". I hope that the weather will start to help and allow the fires to get under control. Your in our prayers!!

 

[tofubeast]

Hoping for some rain for you guys so those awful fires get extinguished. Wish I could have sent over the bucket loads of rain we got on Sunday here in FL.

 

[BDL]

I'm hoping you get a down pour soon and I really hope that everyone can stay safe.

 

[Sam33]

Thanks for the prayers and keeping Colorado in your thoughts. My friends so far are all safe, their homes less so. As the fire keeps moving, evacuation points have to keep moving as they become in the evactuation zones themselves.

My friend posted a picture on Facebook this morning that she got from this article http://blogs.denverpost.com/capture...ires-waldo-canyon-fire-colorado-springs/5732/

(lots of good pictures in there if you want to get the gist of just how awful this fire is)
She was able to point out her house in the picture, engulfed in smoke. Heart breaking


Unfortunately, it will literally take a miracle to get some rain right now. As of today we have no rain in the forecast for the next week at least. Some thunderstorms, but that's what's been causing the problems. We've been getting SO much lightning and basically sprinkles or no rain with the storms.

And this is Pike's Peak and Garden of the Gods and those vacation destinations that put Colorado on the map. Aside from all the people being displaced, this is going to be affecting our state for a long, long time.



And what has been pissing me of fis that it seems the national news cares more for an old screenwriter dying than what I would call a national disaster.




Florida, I so wish we could trade you some of our dryness for some of that rain. I would even take a minor flood right now.

Keep praying for us

 

[OrangeJuice]

wow what a devastating force! I hadn't heard much about the fires in Colorado until I read your update yesterday. I'm glad to know that you and your friends are ok but I'm sorry to hear about their homes. I can't even imagine what that would feel like. How far are you from the fires? I hope you guy get that miracle and rain comes soon. Take care!

 

[Sam33]

I'm an hour away from the Springs so I'm not in any danger at all. And that's the real bad one. We're used to fires, but they NEVER get to the cities and towns. They usually only get to the mountain homes which aren't condensed. Watching them tear through suburbia and neighborhoods is really hard to process.

We're pretty close to the Flagstaff fires but it would be practically impossible to get close to us. The smoke is bad and since we lived in Boulder for four years, there's a ton of memories to be destroyed if that one keeps getting worse.

The Fort Collins fires are also about an hour away but we get their smoke too. Over 250 houses/structures have been destroyed and it's only 65% contained (Colorado Springs is only 5%)

Springs fire is currently getting worse. Thunderstorms were headed up that way and everyone was praying for rain. Well, rain dumped before the storm got there and it's currently gusting up to 50 mph and there's lightning with little to no rain. I have some more friends on the brink of evacuation.

I'm too emotional for this. Lol. I hate it.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Hi hon! Just wanted to check in and see how everything is going! Have missed you

 

[glennbo123]

Hi hon! Just wanted to check in and see how everything is going! Have missed you

Thanks Queen for bumping this thread. I missed Sam's earlier post and hadn't realized how devastating the fires have been. Hope you are doing okay Sam!

 

[BDLSGAL]

I have been meaning to check in too. BDL and I both hope you are doing ok!!

 

[Sam33]

Hi everyone! I always forget to check back here because so often I see it's on the fourth page and then I forget about it until I want to do an update

The fires are all under control and we've actually been getting a lot of rain. We're having a bit of flooding in Boulder because the trees usually stop the mud and overflow and when they burn down flash floods are really common. But it's better than fire!
Hopefully the rain will continue. We depend on snow melt for water here and we had the worst winter in 30 years as far as snow goes so we've been in a drought. Rain doesn't help too much but it keeps us moist for deterring wild fires!

All in all we lost over 500 homes and there was 1 death. Very happy to see everything working out.


Thanks for checking in guys! I decided I'm going to start posting day to day plans soon (probably today). We're still about four months away but I'm bored today. And I haven't been bored in a while! Summer has been going by SO fast. Working 40 hours a week AND trying to have a social life makes time go by so fast! But I've never been so happy to watch summer go by so fast since Disney gets here so much faster this way. (I said fast so many times in that paragraph).
I changed a couple of ADRs. Not restaurants or days but I was able to change a couple to better times. I've gone through a lot of options and I think I might actually stick with all these ADRs! Which is insane. All the restaurants I want to try are out of the way of our plans or too expensive to add at this point. I'll save them for next trip with my sister in law since we've been several times and can miss some classic Disney stuff to go out of our way to an ADR.
So with those being set in stone other than maybe changing times, I don't really see our plans changing much. I'll get to day 1 later today!

 

[Sam33]

Gonna post plans for our travel day and day 1 today! We have under four months to go! YAY! We also went to the scrapbooking store to get stuff for my wedding scrapbook and for our DISNEY SCRAP BOOK. It was so fun. They had so many awesome Disney things. But then I remembered that I was totally going to get that stuff as a surprise gift for my mom So now I need to think of something else

We also figured out our extra budget. We calculated for all the meals and tips and overestimated cocktails and snacks and I want to try and save $500 each for food and extras (souvenirs and such). We're putting it all on gift cards. But separate ones so in case we lose one we're not screwed out of all our money!

Onto the travel day!
TRAVEL DAY
We leave at 4:00 ish Thursday the 8th. My dad will probably be taking us which is awesome because he has a CD player (my mom's car is THAT old..but she's getting a new one in October, so we'll see) and we'll be jammin' to the Disney pump up mix that I've had made for far too long!

This has us arriving in Orlando at 9:30. We'll pick up our own bags and hopefully there will be little to no line at the ME since it's so late. We'll probably head to the bar when we get checked in. It will be around 8-9ish our time and we'll need some winding down! It's also a Yee Haw Bob night so we should be able to catch the end of his show. Then it's straight to bed since we have an early morning!







DAY 1

MY MOM'S BDAY! I'm hoping this gets us an aquarium table at Coral Reef but if not, no big deal. She doesn't want to wear a pin but I'm thinking about forcing her
Today will be by far our busiest and least relaxing day. It will also be the most crowded. And it will definitely be the most expensive. I have thoroughly warned my mom about all of this so I'm hoping it doesn't ruin it for her!

F&W ends the Sunday we're there so it was either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday to enjoy the F&W stuff. I figured Friday around lunch time would be the best time to enjoy it given our other options.

In order to take the sting off the day, we'll be starting at the Magic Kingdom! I felt like the best way to introduce a newbie to Disney was with the rope drop ceremony there and then a good 2-3 hours of low crowds.
Magic Kingdom opens at 9AM and the crowd level is only a 1.8 out of 10.
Our main goals for this day will be to just enjoy the morning and tackle Frontier Land and Adventure Land.

SPLASH MOUNTAIN! If my favorite MK ride. That's our first ride of the trip for sure. I decided to get Touring Plans and made a little plan in my phone. I don't like the order they came up with but I LOVE the ability to check "done" off the ride and keep track of what we've accomplished and what we forgot!
After Splash we want to do BTMRR, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Jungle Cruise all before we get hungry!

If we don't get everything done it's no big deal. We have three more half days planned for MK including an evening EMH until 1AM and another morning to head straight to Space Mountain and Fantasy Land!
I'm expecting hunger to occur between 11 and noon at which time we'll hop on the monorail and head over to Epcot! Epcot is a 9.3 out of 10! AHH So hopefully we can enjoy ourselves! Ugh!
First thing to do at Epcot is to grab a fast pass for Soarin. Hopefully there will be some left!

FOOD & WINE!

I'm SO excited about F&W. We plan on snacking around the world all day this day and soaking in as much of the World Showcase as we can. I think that will be my mom's favorite part of WDW. We'll see! She wants to eat crazy food, I'll probably stick to Italy and Mexico! I'm not very adventurous. I'm hoping to find some menus of what we'll find at every booth or maybe even just a list of countries that will have a booth (if anyone knows where we can find this, let me know. Otherwise I'm sure I'll be able to find it a couple weeks before we leave). I want to be able to plan that better so we don't get to a booth that looks good but we're full and out of money! We only have one other Epcot day so I'm hoping to soak in a lot of World Showcase this day.

We have a reservation at Coral Reef at 7:30 this night. At first it was 6:30ish and I want to give us time to get hungry. We talked about it and looked at the menu and such and we decided we can just split an entree or an appetizer and get drinks and enjoy the fish if we're not hungry. We're not on the dining plan and if we get free dining we're doing 7 meals for 5 days so we'll need to pay out of pocket for some meals anyways!

I'm hoping we have some time to explore The Living Seas pavilion before dinner and maybe check out Club Cool. I'm assuming our Soarin FP will be pretty late so it'll either have to happen before or after dinner. I'm hoping Living with the Land is a short wait around this time, as well so we can hop on that. It's one of my favorites along with Soarin!

Illuminations is at 10PM and we'll for sure be staying for that. Since the crowd levels are so high I'm assuming we'll have to go get some cocktails and a snack and stake out a spot pretty ahead of time. That's basically our only relax time this day but there's so much to get done before F&W ends that we have no choice!


Our goals to be happy this day (setting the bar low because of crowd levels):
-Make rope drop at MK
-Ride Splash Mountain
-Buy our Mickey ears (I was going to get my mom the gift of plain Mickey ears before we left but then she said she wanted fancy ones and I thought it would be better to just let her pick and give her a homemade coupon for Mickey ears!)
-At least 10 F&W booths (we'll probably share that tiny portion and just taste a bunch of stuff)
-Get an Avocado Margarita

MY BABY
-Enjoy the Aquariums
-Be hungry for Coral Reef

If we can't do Soarin because FPs are out or because the return time doesn't work, we have a morning at Epcot later and we can have a mad dash there!

I've also found that I underestimate how much you can get done at Disney World. I always plan crazy and then have plenty of time to do extra. But I've also never tackled crowds at Disney! I'm hoping I don't get overwhelmed and I'm also hoping that by doing the F&W booths around lunch will be less busy than night time.

 

[BDLSGAL]

Sounds like a good plan so far. As long as you get through your most important to-do's the rest can be worked out. It's like I have said before...you can go to Disney World many times and never have the same trip twice!

I am glad to hear that it has been raining (although flooding is no fun either) and glad your back on here posting your updates!