Double the Anniversaries, Double the Fun! Jan 2013 PTR | TR HAS STARTED! 2/13

[danimaroo]

I found your TR somewhere, I forget where exactly... but I love following along on this PTR!

I followed you on twitter, same name as my disname. Glad to "meet" you!

Haha, well what matters is you found it and you found your way over here! I'm following you on twitter, of course! Glad to meet you, too! Hope to continue to see you around here.

Hello, I'm @quirkyinwi from Twitter, if you didn't know....

Anyway, unfortunately I was in the needed to get up at 4am crew. But we got BOG. Makes me worried the opening is during our stay, but what can you do.

That's an awesome care package! I always wanted park brochures that aren't the holiday ones.

Glad we're on same countdown schedule. We'll have to tweet from the parks at each other.

Hey girl! Glad you're here! AND glad you got your BOG reservation! You guys are going to have so much fun; you MUST let me know how it is!!

It was an awesome care package! I'm planning on using the park brochures for a fun project, I think!

And yes, we will definitely have to tweet each other from the parks; so funny we have the same countdown!

I just wanted to stop in and say that stuff is AMAZING!!! What an awesome friend you have.

And now I have my mission, I need to find that mug- I love it!

Sidenote: We ALSO cancelled our Teppan Edo ressie... for the same reason you mentioned. I just couldn't get excited about it. We have been there, and it was wonderful, but for some reason I'm just not feeling it this time...

Aww, thanks! She really is an amazing friend!

The mug is AMAZING! You must must find it! I believe she got it at World of Disney for me!

Poor Teppan Edo, I feel kind of bad but ugh, I'm just not feelin' it. Maybe one day we'll eat there... probably not.

We really liked SAI too, I think that's a great ADR switch!! Ugh, of COURSE there were ADR's available for BOG! At least you got one though!!

Thanks, glad to know it was a wise choice! We loveloveloved SAI though during our last trip. I love the atmosphere and the food! I'm thankful we got the ADR for BOG but I can't deny that I was a little annoyed when I saw that, hahaha.

I LOVE that coffee mug!!!!

Yeah, it basically rules and is the best mug ever!

I think canceling Teppan Edo was a good choice. As much as I enjoy a good hibachi grill, it's just something you can get so easily at home!

So, does this mean that I now have an extra point in the ADR game? Oh, that's over? Okay...



Rachel is the sweetest! I love that she sent you all that (even though I already saw it haha). I hope to see her back on the DIS soon! And yeah, still super jealous about that mug. I swear... one day I'll get it.

Yes, EXACTLY! And we just recently went to a hibachi grill, and while it was good, I mean, I can get it anytime across the street from my office, haha.

I guess you do, yes! But Karen still won with the BOG guess, hahaha.

Rachel really is the best! I hope she comes back to the DIS soon, though I've been texting/chatting on the phone with her every week. You'll just have to get that mug during your next trip!!

I was thinking the same thing about having another point in the guess the ADR game! See! We knew before you did you wanted to go there!!

I love the care package!! That is AWESOME!!!

Hahaha, yes, you guys know me TOO well! And thanks, the package made my day!

I"m not sure yet if I'll do a TR on the DIS, but I'll definitely be posting updates on my blog (and I'll update my signature when I do!) I'll probably get started in a day or two!

We were planning on going to PAX East this year, but it was the same weekend we were moving to Florida...so we unfortunately didn't go. My husband had put PAX on my Google calendar though. I didn't know he did it until I was checking it this week and saw it We're hoping we'll be able to make next year's PAX East. My husband is way more into it than I am, but I think it'll be fun!

Well I will definitely be on the lookout for an update in your blog then! Very much looking forward to it!

AHH, you know what PAX is! Haha, that's awesome! But a bummer you couldn't make it to PAX East. I hope you guys make it next year! We've gone to PAX Prime the past 3 years and love it! I mean, the crowds can be overwhelming but if you figure out how to navigate things it's not so bad... I'm updating here tomorrow morning with a little recap from our weekend at PAX!

 

[danimaroo]

Well hellloooooooo! (Totally just said that in a Jerry Seinfeld voice, hahaha)... I have a long update for you guys (both trip and non-trip related), so hold on tight! (And I actually meant to post this earlier today but Photobucket crapped the bed, so I had to use Flickr to upload my photos, wompwomp.)

So, this long weekend was quite eventful! Like I mentioned last update, Matt and I went to PAX, ya know, the huge nerdfest video game/board game convention that is held here in Seattle every year.

We had a total blast, though Saturday was probably our least favorite day due to how busy it was that day.

It was so bad, that at one point, we were walking over to an open area with our friends Bruce and AJ, when I turned around and Matt was missing.

Bruce asks me, "Where is Matt?" and I scan for his orange shirt, not being able to find him. I wonder outloud if maybe he went down the escalator by mistake and thought we were going down with him.

Suddenly I see Matt finally coming up the escalator, and he does NOT look happy. He walks over to us, angrily explaining that he literally got pushed down the escalator with the crowd and couldn't get through to us.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'd have been upset, too, if a bunch of people just took me down the escalator with them.

However, I couldn't help but start to laugh because all I could picture was a scene out of a movie or TV show, where Matt is trying to make his way over to us, suddenly goes down with the crowd, yelling "NOOOOOOOO!" as he tries to fight up the escalator, hahahaha.

I am pretty sure I laughed throughout the weekend at this, and I'm not sure Matt was too happy about it (though he finally agreed it was kind of funny on Sunday).

ANYWAY, we came away with a TON of free stuff, and played lots of games that haven't been released yet, and also picked up some great board games to play, too!

Of course, my favorite free items were my Oswald ears and pin I got for playing Epic Mickey 2.

But yeah, I'll leave you with other dorky photos from our weekend:

(Yes, that was a dancing Sonic.)

We had a LOT of fun! It was our third year in a row and we always have a great time.

Outside of thaaaat, we've just been working and counting down the days until our vacations!

Well actually, September is a pretty nice month for us. Next weekend we're going to the big fair they have here, the weekend after we're off for our trip to Mount Rainier, then later in the month I'll be visiting my family in Boston, then New York City for work. PHEW.

It's going to be a very busy month, but there's fun stuff to look forward to at least!

Plus, that means the month will probably FLY by, so before we know it, it'll be October and we'll be that much closer to our trips!

In terms of Disneyland trip updates, I thought I'd talk about our plans for Friday of our trip. Friday is a BIG day for us, mainly because it'll probably end up being our most productive days in the parks, so I thought we could talk about our plans for the day!

Friday, November 30th, 2012

The plan is to get up bright and early to make it to rope drop over at Disneyland!

Because we'll have Premier APs, we won't be able to do the Magic Morning hours, so we'll get there when the park opens at 8am.

My thought is we grab FPs for something, maybe Space Mountain or Haunted Mansion Holiday.

We would probably grab them for Indiana Jones, but that will be down for refurb, so yeah, not happenin'.

After that, I'm not sure what we'll go on! I obviously want to wing it when we can, since that's how we like to do things when in the parks.

We'll be trying to fit in as much as we can attraction-wise though, as I'm certain the park will get busier during the day.

We'll probably grab lunch at one of the counter service places, theeeen we have our Holiday Time Tour!

I'm beyond thrilled about doing the tour, as I've heard great things about it! I think the tour lasts a few hours, so we'll be doing that during the afternoon.

The only thing we need to figure out is when the parade actually is, because we're planning on getting dinner at Blue Bayou this night!

I'm really excited as I've heard the atmosphere is awesome! Hopefully we can make it work with dinner and then making sure we see the parade...

We'll be watching the parade in our reserved seats from doing the tour, and I am SO excited about it! The parade looks beautiful and I'm really looking forward to seeing it!

After that, we'll either continue to hang out in Disneyland, or possibly head over to California Adventure, depending on how busy things are... I actually wouldn't be surprised if we're back and forth between the two parks earlier in the day!

We plan on pretty much staying in the parks until they close, because we want to enjoy every second possible!

I know, our plans aren't ridiculously detailed outside of the Holiday Time tour, dinner at Blue Bayou and the parade, but we don't like being on a super strict schedule.

I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if things changed, but I do know we want to fit in those things on our schedule for Friday.

Anyway, that's it on that front. I'll chat about our plans for Saturday soon, promise!

Disney World update!

We made some changes again to our ADRs.. again. SURPRISE! Hahaha. Bruce and Amy are going to be eating at Teppan Edo while Matt and I eat at San Angel Inn, as Amy was really excited about eating at Teppan Edo.

We also decided that because Kona is so inexpensive, we're going to pay for that OOP and instead eat somewhere else for a TS credit.

Sooo, that being said, we've made an ADR at a brand new place that we've never tried...

Grand Floridian Cafe!

The Grand Floridian Burger is what made us add it in... that and we adore the Grand Floridian, so it's pretty much perfect. I am SUPER excited, as I love burgers and I love lobster, so basically, I can't wait.

I've also been working on making some luggage tags, and they're finished, but I need to print them and get them laminated.

Might think about going to Kinko's to get that all done this week. I promise once they're done I'll post photos of them! I'm pretty proud of them, not gonna lie!

Guess that's about it from me. I know, this is a super long update, but I wanted to make sure I got one in before things get crazy again.

Hopefully I'll have another update next weekend after the fair with some fun photos. I hope you guys don't mind my non-Disney updates; I know they're not as interesting as Disney but I like keeping you guys up to date on my life, haha.

 

[wuzzy6]

I'm not sure how I got here, but I'm coming out of lurkdom to say HERE I AM!!! I read your other TR, and I got hooked by your sense of humor. I'm really enjoying reading your PTR, and I am really excited for your upcoming trip!

 

[sunnysideup3]

Yay! I'm glad you're fully proud of your geek-dom. I embrace mine wholeheartedly. PAX looks like a lot of fun!

What is the Haunted Mansion Holiday? Sounds awesome!!

We liked Grand Floridian Cafe when we ate there in 2009! And liked Santa Angel Inn last year, too

Just reading about Disney food makes me hungry.

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Nerd alert...it's like my siren song or something! I see those words and BAM! I can't help but be here!

The Oswald ears and pin are awesome. And, yes, I laughed at Matt, but I didn't mean to, I swear! The mental image of him being swallowed with the crowd down the escalator was too much, and I laughed out loud before I could help myself. Matt, I apologize.

Not gonna lie, I'm confused by the Disneyland layout and rules and you are my tour guide.

Ooohh, is the Grand Floridian burger the one with lobster? Or is that a different burger from there? Either way, you know I'm all about making some new ADRs!

 

[Terkina]

Sounds like you had a great time at PAX.

 

[marDgreen88]

Yayyy for Oswald ears. I won't lie, picturing Matt getting carried off in a crowd of happy video game nerds is the funniest thing ever. (I'm sorry, Matt!!!) I'm just picturing flailing arms and everyone else being completely oblivious and I can't stop laughing.

Grand Floridian Cafe! You don't hear much about that one, so I'll be curious to hear about it!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Sorry Matt - I laughed too! (I think it was the "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" that did it for me!!) Glad he was able to escape those pesky escalator crowds!

Your Oswald ears and pin are amazing!

I have always wanted to see the Haunted Mansion makeover for the holidays! PLEASE take lots of pictures!!!!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

LOVE non-Disney updates! If it weren't for those, I wouldn't have barely anything to post on my PTR!

EPCIMICKEY!!!! PAX looks like fun! My guys would LOVE it, alas, we live in the middle of rural-nowhere and so there are never cool gaming conventions near us! Boo.

Cannot wait to see your pics of HM Holiday and hear about your tour! I think it's a great idea to not have too structured plans! Cannot wait to see those luggage tags!!!

 

[wuzzy6]

I totally LOL'd at the visual of Matt getting sucked into the crowd!

Also, I love love love the Oswald ears!

 

[DanniDeer]

September sounds like such an exciting month for you guys!

The comic book shop around here does game nights every week where you can demo a ton of different games. Right now, we're obsessed with Arkham Horror.

I followed you on twitter! My name is DanniDear. [obviously...hah]

 

[danimaroo]

I'm not sure how I got here, but I'm coming out of lurkdom to say HERE I AM!!! I read your other TR, and I got hooked by your sense of humor. I'm really enjoying reading your PTR, and I am really excited for your upcoming trip!

Well I'm sure happy you ARE here! And additionally, came our of lurkdom to say hi! I feel special.

I'm glad you read my TR and enjoyed it so much! I'm a total dork/have a ridiculous sense of humor, so I'm glad that came through in my TR.

I'm very excited for our trip, too! I just want it to get here already!

Yay! I'm glad you're fully proud of your geek-dom. I embrace mine wholeheartedly. PAX looks like a lot of fun!

What is the Haunted Mansion Holiday? Sounds awesome!!

We liked Grand Floridian Cafe when we ate there in 2009! And liked Santa Angel Inn last year, too

Just reading about Disney food makes me hungry.

Hahaha, we are mega nerds and don't even sweat it. PAX is really fun! Definitely has become a fantastic way to spend our Labor Day weekend the past 3 years!

OOOH Haunted Mansion Holiday is in Disneyland only, where they have Nightmare Before Christmas take over the Haunted Mansion! It's unbelievable! This is something we are BEYOND excited about seeing, as Matt has been a Night Before Christmas fan since it first came out in theaters. Seriously, I'm guessing it'll be one of the highlights from our trip!

I'm glad you liked Grand Floridian Cafe! That Lobster burger just sounds UNREAL. I am so so excited to try it! Plus, we love GF anyway so it's a great reason to get over there and visit!

And yeah, I could go for a Lobster burger right about now, haha.

Nerd alert...it's like my siren song or something! I see those words and BAM! I can't help but be here!

The Oswald ears and pin are awesome. And, yes, I laughed at Matt, but I didn't mean to, I swear! The mental image of him being swallowed with the crowd down the escalator was too much, and I laughed out loud before I could help myself. Matt, I apologize.

Not gonna lie, I'm confused by the Disneyland layout and rules and you are my tour guide.

Ooohh, is the Grand Floridian burger the one with lobster? Or is that a different burger from there? Either way, you know I'm all about making some new ADRs!

Psh, you know how I roll! Nerdin' it up, love that feelin'!

The ears are seriously fantastic. I'll probably bring them with us on one of our trips to wear! Bahaha, don't even worry about it, I laughed SO hard that whole weekend every time I thought about him being swallowed down the escalator, hahahaha. It was so unfortunate but so funny.

Disneyland is going to be VERY interesting just because of how things work there. Like, you can get fast passes in both parks, so basically we could just run back and forth between the parks picking up FPs, which is VERY easy to do there since the parks are so close to one another. It's kind of weird!

And yes, that is the burger with lobster! That is seriously the sole reason we are eating there. I hope it's everything I imagine it is; I've heard great reviews about that burger!

Sounds like you had a great time at PAX.

We had a fantastic time at PAX!

Yayyy for Oswald ears. I won't lie, picturing Matt getting carried off in a crowd of happy video game nerds is the funniest thing ever. (I'm sorry, Matt!!!) I'm just picturing flailing arms and everyone else being completely oblivious and I can't stop laughing.

Grand Floridian Cafe! You don't hear much about that one, so I'll be curious to hear about it!

YAY indeed! And yes, that story really is THAT funny. I was worried no one else would laugh at it and think it was as funny as I did, but OMG, I was dying. Poor Matt.

I know! I only heard about it after a friend had the GF Burger (the one with lobster on it), and I knew I had to eat there. I just forgot about it until we were looking for another ADR to add! I am SO excited about it!

 

[danimaroo]

Sorry Matt - I laughed too! (I think it was the "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" that did it for me!!) Glad he was able to escape those pesky escalator crowds!

Your Oswald ears and pin are amazing!

I have always wanted to see the Haunted Mansion makeover for the holidays! PLEASE take lots of pictures!!!!!!

Hahaha, I'm glad you thought it just as funny. I mean, I don't think he shouted nooo but I like to imagine he did. OMG so funny.

Thanks, I love the ears! I think I will have to wear them during one of our trips!

I will take lots of photos!! I am SO excited about the HM Holiday makeover, I can't even begin to tell you. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the first thing we try to go on, or at least get a Fast Pass for! I can't wait to see it and then report back on it!!

LOVE non-Disney updates! If it weren't for those, I wouldn't have barely anything to post on my PTR!

EPCIMICKEY!!!! PAX looks like fun! My guys would LOVE it, alas, we live in the middle of rural-nowhere and so there are never cool gaming conventions near us! Boo.

Cannot wait to see your pics of HM Holiday and hear about your tour! I think it's a great idea to not have too structured plans! Cannot wait to see those luggage tags!!!

HAHA YAY! I'm glad you enjoy my non-DIS updates! I love them too! It's fun getting to know the people behind the PTR/TR, ya know? And yeah, my PTR would be crazy slow sometimes if I didn't update on non-DIS stuff!

Epic Mickey looked AMAZING! I got to play it for 10 minutes and talked to a designer and it was just great. We're VERY excited for its release! It is a bummer for the people far away to have no PAX! Maybe they'll eventually have another one closer to you guys!

Yeah, I'm excited for the HM Holiday and also our tour! It looks super interesting and it'll be great to see the parade from awesome seats, too!

We're not too huge into planning out every movement while in the parks, but since we're there for only a few days we kind of need to be a little more strategic in getting things done. I'm excited to show off my tags, too! I just need to get my butt over to Kinko's and get them taken care of!

I totally LOL'd at the visual of Matt getting sucked into the crowd!

Also, I love love love the Oswald ears!

Hahaha it was SO funny! I kept giggling all weekend and Matt just kept looking at me like, "Are you seriously STILL laughing about that?!:

I love them, too! They're awesome and are actually really high quality!

September sounds like such an exciting month for you guys!

The comic book shop around here does game nights every week where you can demo a ton of different games. Right now, we're obsessed with Arkham Horror.

I followed you on twitter! My name is DanniDear. [obviously...hah]

September is a pretty exciting month for us! I have to admit, that much time for me being away from home/Matt/my doggies is a little overwhelming and kind of bums me out, but I'm going to do my best to keep myself busy/occupied while I'm on the east coast. I think the only time it'll be hard is when I'm in NYC and in my room alone at night. BUT we both have video chat on our iPhones, so that helps!

That's awesome about the game demos! We actually own Arkham Horror but my only issue with it is how long it takes to play it. We have another game that is very similar to it, but takes less time and I LOVE it. Problem is, I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head right now, hahaha. I know it's a Flying Frog game though.

I followed you back!

 

[danimaroo]

Welp, I come bearing not the most amazing news for us ever, but it's not the end of the world.. so no, we're not canceling our trip or anything like that, so don't get too panicked, haha.

So, the past 2 Januarys that we've gone to Disney World, we have always flown with with Alaska Airlines. Biggest reason? They are the only airline that flies nonstop from Seattle to Orlando.

This is a huge deal for us, since that flight directly to Orlando is around 5 hours, so saving ourselves time to get on our vacation is great.

They've always run this red-eye flight every night in January, and we've never had a problem booking. They usually add this red-eye flight in September, as this is typically when they make their winter schedule changes.

However, I noticed that they made some schedule changes a few weeks ago... but they only have the red-eye flying on Fridays and Saturdays.

Um, this is a problem because we were banking on this flight being available every night, and planned on taking the Thursday night flight.

So I waited a few more weeks, holding onto hope that they would decide to add this flight again. No dice.

I finally ask the Alaska Airlines twitter person, figuring it can't hurt, but I probably wouldn't get a response. But I did actually get one! But not what I was hoping for...

"Hi Danielle, We just released our winter schedule two weeks ago, so the chances probably aren't that high. That said though... we did end up adding flights back to the schedule in November last year for the early part of this year. ^DS"

Okay, "DS", you don't understand, I am not waiting until November to gamble on the possibility of a red-eye being added only 2 months out from our vacation. Heck to the no!

I might also add that we are sticking with Alaska Airlines because I get an amazing $99 companion fare code for use once per year (basically we pay full price for one of our seats, and only $99 for the other seat)... That and their nonstop flights to Orlando were obviously appealing for us.

Just to recap, our original plan was to leave THURSDAY night (January 17th), and get into Orlando on Friday January 18th very early in the morning...

SO, that being said, we have two flight options at this point:

Option A: We would leave on Thursday January 17th at 9am, and arrive in Orlando at 5pm.

PROS:

• We would basically get another evening/kind of a day in Disney World.
• We would be very well-rested to enjoy things Thursday evening and Friday we would not need a nap since we'd already be in Disney World.
• We also have the benefit of taking a DIRECT flight to Orlando, which is very huge for us as we like to get there ASAP.

CONS:

• We'd both have to take off an additional day of work, basically so we can fly all day, and we wouldn't get to the resort until 6:30pm. Taking an extra day off of work is the biggest con here.
• We'd also have to book an extra night, which Matt would have to talk to his parents about, and if that doesn't work, we'd have to look into booking one night at a Value resort.
• If we are able to book an extra night at Beach Club Villas, this would ALSO mean we may have to pay for an additional day of DDP (unless we can do a split stay and not get moved from our room).

Option B: We would leave on Thursday January 17th at 6:20pm, fly to San Diego, have an hour layover, then fly from San Diego to Orlando and arrive on Friday January 18th at 6am.

PROS:

• We are still taking a red-eye and wouldn't have to take an entire day off from work for this flight.
• We'd get in at 6am, which is earlier than the original red-eye we were hoping to take.

CONS:

• We'd have to leave work early on Thursday in order to catch a 6:20pm flight.
• The flight has a layover in San Diego, meaning we're flying for around 8 hours and 40 minutes total because of the 2 hour and 40 minute flight to San Diego.
• We'd be getting in at 6am on Friday and would probably be pretty exhausted, but also have a good chance that our room wouldn't be ready and then what would we do? Parks wouldn't be open that early...

So, we obviously have a lot to think about. Additionally, we need to see what Bruce and Amy are thinking, because they have more options for flights to Orlando since they're not stuck looking at Alaska Airlines only.

I guess this is where I need your help! Help me decide on what we should do here!

We're leaning towards one option more than the other, but I feel like it always helps to have other people's opinion on these things, too.

Help me DISboards, you're my only hope! (Yeah, I'm throwin' down nerd references around here.)

 

[DanniDeer]

ah, see, we love how long Arkham Horror takes to play. We've never played any of the flying fish games, but I always wanted to demo them!

I totally think you should take the earlier flight in. Connecting flights make me anxious, since there are more things that can go wrong. That, and you can't really argue with more time in the 'World. It sucks that you'd have to take an extra day off work, but with the other one you said you'd have to leave early anyways... just my $0.02! and maybe if you book a flight now, and the red eye becomes available, you can just switch?

 

[onelilspark]

If you can take an extra day off work, I would go with Option A. If you want to hang onto the extra day, I'd go with Option B. I think that's what it would come down to if it were my decision. I much prefer to take non-stops, but I also like hanging onto my vacation days if possible (actually, I did it so much this year that it's where my DLR trip was born...I had to use them or lose them!)

When I flew from Rochester, NY (where we used to live) to Orlando, Jet Blue used to have direct flights and then they moved to all their flights going through JFK...I love Jet Blue, but we started flying AirTran instead. There's something to be said for a direct flight!!

Oh, and I started my DLR TR on my blog!

 

[onelilspark]

September sounds like such an exciting month for you guys!

The comic book shop around here does game nights every week where you can demo a ton of different games. Right now, we're obsessed with Arkham Horror.

I followed you on twitter! My name is DanniDear. [obviously...hah]

I don't want to be a creeper, but I saw you're also on the SpaceCoast, so I followed you on Twitter I'm Kat228 on Twitter.

 

[GrimGrinningStitch]

ah, see, we love how long Arkham Horror takes to play. We've never played any of the flying fish games, but I always wanted to demo them!

I totally think you should take the earlier flight in. Connecting flights make me anxious, since there are more things that can go wrong. That, and you can't really argue with more time in the 'World. It sucks that you'd have to take an extra day off work, but with the other one you said you'd have to leave early anyways... just my $0.02! and maybe if you book a flight now, and the red eye becomes available, you can just switch?

The name of the game Dani was talking about is Touch of Evil. It's a lot of fun! Definitely a simplified Arkham Horror. Though I also love Arkham Horror (my preference for long term games is much higher than Dani's, haha).

Also, I 100% agree with your line of thinking. More time in WDW is always better.

 

[marDgreen88]

My opinion is you should do the first one! You'd have to take the day off work, but yall were able to pull it off last minute last year, right?

Value resorts aren't that bad, I promise! Plus, one night wouldn't hurt. AND hello, extra time at Disney!

 

[MrsBearcat]

I would so go for the extra day (as long as your able to get it off work?)