first trip do-over

[STLMickeyMom]

happy Halloween.....I hope everybody had a fun Halloween! we went out only for a little bit because it was pouring down rain. here are a couple pictures....

in our Halloween finery....





in their costumes and ready to go....



how they really had to go out cuz of the rain....



and I just had to post this picture of my poor jack skellington because it makes me laugh. he looks like an old guy who hasn't put in his dentures yet!



on a Disney note....we have 5 more days until we can make FP+ selections! can't wait!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Looks like you guys had a good Halloween! Boy, the weather was crummy! And of course today it is nice out! Your DD's looked so cute in the Halloween outfits and their costumes! I love Halloween!

Lucky for us in South County it stopped raining about 6:30ish. We went to my parents neighborhood because our neighbors don't really do Halloween. Only one person on our street gives out candy. Most of our neighbors leave their home by 4 in order to avoid giving out candy. They told us when we moved in, before we had DD they just don't want to buy the candy! Scrooges! Anyway, my dad has one of those big bubble umbrellas he held over Charlotte when we first went out, but after a few houses it stopped but it was so wet and Charlotte did not miss a single puddle!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Looks like you guys had a good Halloween! Boy, the weather was crummy! And of course today it is nice out! Your DD's looked so cute in the Halloween outfits and their costumes! I love Halloween!

Lucky for us in South County it stopped raining about 6:30ish. We went to my parents neighborhood because our neighbors don't really do Halloween. Only one person on our street gives out candy. Most of our neighbors leave their home by 4 in order to avoid giving out candy. They told us when we moved in, before we had DD they just don't want to buy the candy! Scrooges! Anyway, my dad has one of those big bubble umbrellas he held over Charlotte when we first went out, but after a few houses it stopped but it was so wet and Charlotte did not miss a single puddle!

thanks! Even with the rain we had fun. Luckily it wasn't really that cold, we were all just wet. I guess we must have taken the rain for you out west because it went from light rain to heavy to sprinkles with wind to heavy again all night but never stopped! Oh well, they got candy and that's all they cared about.
we always trick or treat in the neighborhood where I nanny. Since we're already over there we can get out earlier and still be done at a reasonable time. It's more fun over there too because there are a ton of kids and parents sit outside and chit chat. On our street, our house and our neighbors are the only ones with kids so it's sort of boring. I can't believe your neighbors don't want to buy candy! Geez, grumpies! What did Charlotte go as? I can't wait to see a picture!

P.S. I am so excited about the dismeet next week! That day is going to be awesome--it's the dismeet and our FP+ selection day! I may go into some sort of Disney shock!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Charlotte went as Areil, I put some pics up in my TR. It was so much fun!

That's exciting our Dismeet and your FP+ falls on the same day! I am excited too!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

All of your pumpkins look great and I love the Jack one!

Your girls look adorable for Halloween! It was raining here too but I'm glad they still enjoyed it.

Can't wait to hear how the FP+ selection goes!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

fastpass+.....first, a REAL LIFE UPDATE!.....I just wanted to say that I had a great time yesterday meeting some other STL DISmoms in real life! we (and the kiddos) met at the mall and hung out for a bit while the kids played. I felt like i was meeting rock stars and had so much fun. maddie was worn out when we left, so that must mean success! i hope everyone else had as much fun as we did! we can't wait to do it again! you find the best people on the DIS!!

anyway....so today is our 60 days out and fastpass selection day. since i was up anyway last night, i went ahead and checked at about 11:15 pm and sure enough i could start making selections. yea, eastern standard time! so, i will say that, despite what i had heard about glitches and all sorts of confusion and problems, the process was pretty simple and i did not have a single issue with assigning fastpasses or family members not having enough days, etc. i got all of the items i choose and even went back in and changed selections and times with out any problems. everything looks great on our MDE page and i feel confident that our fastpasses should work when we get there.

now.....that being said, in all honesty, i have to say that i wasn't thrilled with all our times or choices. my first issue was at epcot. from what I've heard they are testing a tier system. the tier 1 choices include test track, mission space, maelstrom (??? really???) and the character met and everything else is a tier 2. of course, the things in tier 2 don't seem to really need a FP (turtle talk, the seas, living with the land, etc). i chose our 3 things, but am seriously wondering if we'll use them, except the one for test track. the other issue i had was making the FP work with our other ADRs for meals and pirates league and the desert party. i think if they are going to let you make FP choices in advance, then you should be able to do it when you make ADRs so that you can plan a reasonable day, not one that makes you run around the parks. just my opinion....

here is our schedule now. i still want to study the park maps and try to make a loose plan for the days so we don't feel like we're running around like crazy people (which isn't something I've ever worried about doing before and not sure i really like having to do.....)

Monday--animal kingdom day
*7:20am chef mickey's breakfast
*10-11 FP for Kilimanjaro safari (actually hoping we'll get there earlier, but if not, we have the fast pass)
*1:40-2:40 FP for EE
*3-4 FP for dinosaur
*3:45 parade (not a must do, no biggie if we miss it)
*6:20pm 1900 park fare for dinner

there are other things we want to do during the day, so i'm hoping this plan will give us time to do things on our way to our next fastpass (actually i tried to do that for all our days)


Tuesday--magic kingdom day 1
*8:10am crystal palace breakfast then sprint over to see tinkerbell (hopefully not everyone else has the same idea)
*11 FP to meet Rapunzel
*1:40-2:40 FP for buzz lightyear
*4-5 FPfor space mountain
*7:05 dessert and fireworks party
obviously, we are going to try to stay on the fantasyland, tomorrowland side of the park today, but if we're doing good, we'll do whatever

Wednesday--epcot
*8am ohana breakfast
*10-11 FP for the seas
*11:10-12:10 FP for turtle talk
*1:10 lunch at Biergarten
*6-7 FP for test track
*9 illuminations

Thursday--magic kingdom day 2
(get breakfast at hotel)
*9am pirates league apt
*12:10-1:10 FP for jungle cruise
*1:35-2:35 FP for BTMR
*5:10 BOG for dinner
*7 MSEP
*7:10-8:10 FP for meeting Mickey (my plan is to get a parade watching spot near town square so when the parade is over, or almost over, depending on how the girls are doing, we can book it in to meet mickey on our way out of the park. however, if there is a short wait earlier in the day, i have no problem canceling this FP or changing it for something else, if anything is available)

Friday--Hollywood studio
(get breakfast in the park)
*11:15-12:15 FP for Star Tours
*12:50-1:50 FP for toy story mania
*3-4 FP for Rock n Rollercoaster
*5:45 50's primetime for dinner
*there are evening EMH this day and, hopefully, there is supposed to be a Disney jr dance party during them. i'm hoping that's still a thing cuz our little dancing queens would love that!


so that's the plan, unless i change it around after studing park maps some more.....thoughts? some things i didn't FP (like Winnie the pooh's ride) because i want to go through the line to play and check it out, some things i'm just hoping we'll be able to get onto like always (fingers crossed!) we've never gone in January, so i'm not really sure what to expect wait time wise. we are ok with waiting for things for 15ish minutes and not feel like the girls are going stircrazy or we're wasting our time. please let me know if you see anything you think is a bad idea, or if you know of something that i should FP instead. thanks!!

 

[gracer9977]

Congrats on the 60 day mark and finally being able to make the Fast Pass Selections!!!!

I am not really that excited about this new FP+. As you said we make all these ADR's reservations and reservations for BBB and Pirates League and the Wishes Dessert Party at our 180 day mark and now here we are 120 days later trying to pick Fast Passes around everything that is already planned out. Then they top it off by doing this new Tier System so that you can't get FP for all the rides that you want to go but you have to FP things that maybe you don't really want to do. I don't know. I just wish they had left the FP alone and let us get them at the parks like we have always done before.

Anyway it looks like you planned things out really well and hopefully you won't have to run around like crazy people.

Love the Halloween pictures, like the picture of the 3 of you in your Halloween shirts and cute picture of the kids in their costumes. It rained here too so the kids were in rain jackets and I had a big golf umbrella to try and keep us a dry as possible. Oh well, they had fun and hauled in a lot of candy.

We are at the 72 day mark so I will be getting to pick out things soon too.

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Charlotte and I had a wonderful time too! We stayed a 1/2 hour after you guys left but Charlotte was exhausted when we got home! I felt like I have known you guys forever! It was lots of fun and I hope we can do it again soon! Maddie is such a cutie!

Your plans look good but I agree with you about FP+. The concept makes my head spin a little! Good thing is that you are going during a very low time so you probably won't have much wait time anyway. I am very curious to hear about your experience with it.

But the best part is you are 60 days away from your do-over! Yay!

 

[MeeskaMomma]

It looks awesome! I can't wait to hear how r all works out!

 

[dismom9761]

Getting caught up...loved the Halloween pics.
Loos like you did a good job picking FP+. Glad you had no problems.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

I am not really that excited about this new FP+. As you said we make all these ADR's reservations and reservations for BBB and Pirates League and the Wishes Dessert Party at our 180 day mark and now here we are 120 days later trying to pick Fast Passes around everything that is already planned out. Then they top it off by doing this new Tier System so that you can't get FP for all the rides that you want to go but you have to FP things that maybe you don't really want to do. I don't know. I just wish they had left the FP alone and let us get them at the parks like we have always done before.

We are at the 72 day mark so I will be getting to pick out things soon too.

my feelings exactly on the FP+. I didn't really think about that part of it until I was making selections. It's just sort of a pain when you've already planned stuff and there's no way I'm changing ADRs and pirate league appointments. I'm sure I couldn't at this point anyway. And the tier system at Epcot is crazy. The only things I wanted to FP were test track and mission space, but they are both tier 1 so I had to just pick one. I didn't really feel like we even needed the other ones.

Your plans look good but I agree with you about FP+. The concept makes my head spin a little! Good thing is that you are going during a very low time so you probably won't have much wait time anyway. I am very curious to hear about your experience with it.

But the best part is you are 60 days away from your do-over! Yay!

that IS the best part!

I'm glad at least the selection process for FP+ was easy and really simple to follow. It'll be interesting to see how it all goes. I'll make sure to take good notes to share!

It looks awesome! I can't wait to hear how r all works out!

thanks! I'll feel a little better after some map studying I think, but I'm going to try to keep a positive attitude.

Getting caught up...loved the Halloween pics.
Loos like you did a good job picking FP+. Glad you had no problems.

thanks--I feel like the process was easy and all or info showed up with no problems on our MDE page so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed everything works out. We're not big planners for the parks usually so this is a lot different for me.

 

[missangelalexis]

Finally catching up! Love all your Halloween pics!

I think your plans looks really good!

 

[Imbri]

***resort update***
I've decided to go ahead and change our plans from staying at CBR to staying in a royal guest room at Port Orleans Riverside. I just can't resist those princess-y rooms and I think the girls will LOVE it! that's it, final decision. i'm sticking with this decision because I can't spend 6 months debating over the two. i'll drive myself crazy!

and I think that's the end of our epcot day. anything i'm missing?

Oooo, i want to stay in those too! I wish they'd had them when we went on our honeymoon. Someday in the future! =D

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Finally catching up! Love all your Halloween pics!

I think your plans looks really good!

thanks and thanks!

Oooo, i want to stay in those too! I wish they'd had them when we went on our honeymoon. Someday in the future! =D

i think the rooms look so cute and I'm all excited to find the fun little accents! I hope Hannah still likes it even though she says she doesn't like princesses now. She was into them when I made our reservation. How do they change their minds so fast?!?

 

[MeeskaMomma]

thanks! I'll feel a little better after some map studying I think, but I'm going to try to keep a positive attitude.

.

I found that memorizing the maps was possibly the best tip I received! I am sure you have seen the cheat sheets on Easywdw but in case you haven't, those are easy maps to study.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

I found that memorizing the maps was possibly the best tip I received! I am sure you have seen the cheat sheets on Easywdw but in case you haven't, those are easy maps to study.

i haven't seen the maps on easywdw, but I'm going to check them out now! I've been using the app I have on my phone, Disney world magic guide. They're pretty good. Thanks for the info!

 

[MeeskaMomma]

Here is the link to make it easier. Possibly the best tip I have gotten from DIS

http://www.easywdw.com/category/cheat-sheets/

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Here is the link to make it easier. Possibly the best tip I have gotten from DIS

http://www.easywdw.com/category/cheat-sheets/

thanks for the link! I can't believe i've never checked out this site. For some reason I think I was under the impression it was a pay site. I've been reading some awesome stuff on there. Thanks again!

 

[MeeskaMomma]

I found it at the very last minute. The cheats sheets were very accurate! I hope they still work with all the fast pass changes.

 

[AprilRenee]

Haha! Found you again! I read this earlier and then lost it. So now I'm caught up I think.

Good to see you this morning! LOL So funny that we've probably passed each other all semester!

Disney in Jan is awesome and you won't have long waits for Pooh or anything like that (as long as you're smart about going during the lower crowd times...like there might be a wait in the afternoon, but it shouldn't be long) We barely used FPs the times we've gone in Jan. Only for the long line rides like Soarin and Peter Pan etc. Otherwise, we've waited in 5-15 min lines for everything else. If the line was longer than that we'd just skip it and come back later and it would be short again! You're gonna have so much fun!!!