Grand Villas, Victoria & Albert's, Star Wars, & More! Anniversary PTR! NOW the TR!!!

[martinmont]

Alright, so I have a few updates for things that have changed today!

1. We made our Main Dining Room Res at Victoria & Albert's a later time, we decided we wanted to have some more time at Animal Kingdom Park on our frist day there!

2. We changed our reservation from Mama Melrose's to Hollywood Brown Derby. HBD had a better dining time about 25 minutes earlier, I wanted to make sure we are finished with dinner and will be able to fully enjoy the Star Wars Fireworks Dessert Party. I felt we may have been rushed if I would have kept the res at MM. MM only had later dining time options so the most logical choice was to change restaurants. Luckily, we have never been to HBD before, so it will still be a brand new Disney experience for us! We still have two more trips this year so hopefully we can get a res at MM for one of those 2.

3. I made our 'Ohana reservation on our last day earlier, so we could potentially get on the road sooner. I know that sounds awful, why would I want to leave Disney World Sooner!! Basically it is just going to be a really long drive and we would rather get home with a little bit of daytime left.

I think those are all of the updates as of the moment, still waiting and checking everyday to see if we will be able to secure some FP+ reservations for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, keeping my fingers crossed for that!

I'm so jealous about your V&A reservation! I keep wanting to add it to our plans but my brain keeps saying I can add an extra night with that price lol. Maybe it's the newbie in me that wants to have the longest trip possible. Brown derby is on our list too, I keep reading about the Cobb salad! I'm sure u will enjoy it

 

[AAshleySEG]

I'm so jealous about your V&A reservation! I keep wanting to add it to our plans but my brain keeps saying I can add an extra night with that price lol. Maybe it's the newbie in me that wants to have the longest trip possible. Brown derby is on our list too, I keep reading about the Cobb salad! I'm sure u will enjoy it

You could totally add an extra night with the price it would cost to eat at V&A...lol I never have to factor in the nights part since we are DVC. You could always add it to your plans, there is a 48 hour cancellation on it. That way you could have the res if you changed your mind and then it was completely booked up. But if you decided to stay an extra night you could do that. No harm done

I completely understand wanting the longest trip possible. Back before we were DVC members we stayed at Pop for 10 days in 2005. That ended up being a very special trip because on the last day of it I got engaged. I think that was the longest trip I have ever done down there. Nowadays we don't do anymore than 4 nights or so. Maybe sometime I will plan a really long trip again, I just hate leaving my puppies for so long

I have read about the Cobb Salad and watched videos on it too! It looks pretty delicious, well everything I have seen from Brown Derby looks delicious. I will definitely let everyone know how it was when I get back, you can count on that!

 

[MidnightParade]

Leaving Disney is sad but I completely understand wanting to get home with some time left to decompress. We're giving ourselves a whole day when we get back, although somedays I kick myself cause that would be an extra Disney day! lol

And yay for more AK time! Its just such a gorgeous place!

 

[BellesLibrary]

Alright, so I have a few updates for things that have changed today!

I think those are all of the updates as of the moment, still waiting and checking everyday to see if we will be able to secure some FP+ reservations for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, keeping my fingers crossed for that!

I've always wanted to eat at 'Ohana and the Brown Derby! We ate at 'Ohana back in the '90s when the dinner would accompany a traditional Hawaiian celebration (with fire dancing and hula), but I haven't been back since.

I've heard awesome things about the Brown Derby, too, and it's on my Disney bucket list. I won't be crossing it off on my next trip, either, because I don't think it's super conductive to an 18-month-old dining partner. I'll have to live vicariously through you!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Leaving Disney is sad but I completely understand wanting to get home with some time left to decompress. We're giving ourselves a whole day when we get back, although somedays I kick myself cause that would be an extra Disney day! lol

And yay for more AK time! Its just such a gorgeous place!

Yeah I love Animal Kingdom Park, it is so much hotter there in the summer, well at least it feels like that to me....lol! One of my favorite shows is Flights of Wonder, which means maybe I will get to add that into my plans with this extra time, we also really like Finding Nemo The Musical! It is always nice to have extra park time!! I also absolutely LOVE doing the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and the Maharajah Jungle Trek. It never seems like many people do those, but it is a nice respite from the crowds, which I love!

I've always wanted to eat at 'Ohana and the Brown Derby! We ate at 'Ohana back in the '90s when the dinner would accompany a traditional Hawaiian celebration (with fire dancing and hula), but I haven't been back since.

I've heard awesome things about the Brown Derby, too, and it's on my Disney bucket list. I won't be crossing it off on my next trip, either, because I don't think it's super conductive to an 18-month-old dining partner. I'll have to live vicariously through you!

'Ohana dinner is definitely a little different now than it used to be, even since 2005. The menu has changed quite a bit, still good food though! Breakfast is pretty much standard fare at most of the character ones anyway. As far as the Poly, our favorite thing to do is go to the Spirit of Aloha show, you get the same great food, plus a really awesome show, Fire dancers are so cool!

Aww, you can totally live vicariously through me, I hope that I do a good enough job so you can see how the experience is for future Disney trips!

 

[AAshleySEG]

I was super excited today when Fedex stopped by the house and dropped off my first pieces of my Boba Fett inspired outfit for our Star Wars Weekends Day! So far I have the shorts, cami, and wristlet!

I am still waiting on a few more things and then I still need to make a thing or two! I am debating as to whether I would rather wait and show everyone the entire outfit on the actual day that I wear it to SWW or if I should give previews of it before...hmmm

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I would wait and do a big reveal of the outfit on your tr. But I like dramatic things.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Your changes sound like they will be really beneficial for you! 'Ohana for breakfast is one of my favourites, I think we've gone every trip since 2007. FX that you can get Fps for the Mine Train!

 

[AAshleySEG]

I would wait and do a big reveal of the outfit on your tr. But I like dramatic things.

I think I totally agree!

Your changes sound like they will be really beneficial for you! 'Ohana for breakfast is one of my favourites, I think we've gone every trip since 2007. FX that you can get Fps for the Mine Train!

I don't think I have met or spoken to anyone who doesn't like 'Ohana!! I mean it is just such a welcoming restaurant, no matter what time of day you go! I am diligently watching the twitter feed and disney parks blog, yesterday they posted something that said, "news will be released VERY soon", that seems good considering the VERY was in all caps...LOL!

 

[AAshleySEG]

I warned you guys

More updates as far as plan changes go. So...yeah...I talked to DH and we have now decided that our priority list has changed a little. We both really want to see the Festival of Fantasy Parade. The only day we have to do that at the moment is on Monday after our tour, but then we have a very early dinner and we are not sure that we would have the time to see that parade, plus go check in at the Grand and get ready in time for dinner, so things have shifted once again.

NOW...on Friday we are going straight to Magic Kingdom, as opposed to Animal Kingdom. We are going to "try" to have a quick service lunch at Be Our Guest, I know how crowded it can be, so we do have backup plans should that not happen. We aren't planning on any FP reservations for MK. We are really only going to eat lunch and see the 3:00 parade. After the parade is over we are going to make our way to Kidani Village and check-in.

After that head over to Animal Kingdom Park. I changed our FP for later times, and got rid of the FP time for It's Tough To Be A Bug. Kept the two for Kilimanjaro and Everest. When we are done with those we are going back to the room to get ready for dinner.

This plan is much more chaotic than the original. It involves parking at MK, tram and monorail ride, MK, another tram/monorail ride, drive to the resort, then more than likely drive to Animal Kingdom park. One of the things I don't necessarily like about AKL is that the buses share Jambo and Kidani, so we usually just drive when we stay there.

We will see how this all works out and whether it stays this way

 

[MidnightParade]

A little more hectic but I don't think its too bad, the monorail really is a ride after all! And big thumbs up if you can get into BOG too!

Unless you don't worry about lunch and check in first and then go to MK and then straight to AK??? I guess it also all depends on the timing with traffic and arrival time.

 

[AAshleySEG]

A little more hectic but I don't think its too bad, the monorail really is a ride after all! And big thumbs up if you can get into BOG too!

Unless you don't worry about lunch and check in first and then go to MK and then straight to AK??? I guess it also all depends on the timing with traffic and arrival time.

The monorail is definitely another ride! We have to make sure we get it in on every trip, it just isn't the same without it!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Woohoo!!

I was able to secure some FP for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train this morning!!! It will now be the first thing we do when we arrive at the Magic Kingdom!! Walk into that awesome park, hop on the Mine Train, then make our way over to Be Our Guest to see how long the Quick Service Wait Time is!

Like I said, if it is a really long time we will just go ahead and head over somewhere else, which is not a big deal to us, we have eaten at BOG before. I am pretty sure that we will be able to eat there in the future as well, so if that part doesn't work out we will still be perfectly fine.

I can hardly contain myself I am so excited about getting Fastpasses for the Mine Train. I may literally bounce off the walls

 

[martinmont]

Woohoo!!

I was able to secure some FP for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train this morning!!! It will now be the first thing we do when we arrive at the Magic Kingdom!! Walk into that awesome park, hop on the Mine Train, then make our way over to Be Our Guest to see how long the Quick Service Wait Time is!

Like I said, if it is a really long time we will just go ahead and head over somewhere else, which is not a big deal to us, we have eaten at BOG before. I am pretty sure that we will be able to eat there in the future as well, so if that part doesn't work out we will still be perfectly fine.

I can hardly contain myself I am so excited about getting Fastpasses for the Mine Train. I may literally bounce off the walls

Yay! So excited for you that you were able to get fP for mine train!! I'm super pumped to ride it lol

 

[AAshleySEG]

Yay! So excited for you that you were able to get fP for mine train!! I'm super pumped to ride it lol

Thanks!! I have been bouncing off the walls today ever since I watched the dedication this morning. 40 days can't come soon enough!

 

[MidnightParade]

Waaahooo!! Congrats!!

Changing to MK on first day was absolutely the way to go!!

 

[MarbleBob]

Subbing in. It looks like you have an amazing trip planned.

I especially enjoyed reading through your budget. I can relate as I tend to break things down to that level too, and tally everything up in Excel. Mostly because we have a set budget where we put "x" number of dollars towards our next vacation from each paycheck. (We never spend more than we will have saved at the time of the trip.) So, I like to get the most bang for the buck and make sure that we can get to some awesome meals and spoil the kids as much as possible without going over budget. Breaking it down like you did really helps a lot

We'll be at the GF the week before you (first time staying at GF). Not eating at V&A's, but excited none the less

Looking forward to reading more about your trip.

 

[AAshleySEG]

Waaahooo!! Congrats!!

Changing to MK on first day was absolutely the way to go!!

Thank you! I am very happy with that decision! Now I am even more excited to get there as quickly as possible...LOL

Subbing in. It looks like you have an amazing trip planned.

I especially enjoyed reading through your budget. I can relate as I tend to break things down to that level too, and tally everything up in Excel. Mostly because we have a set budget where we put "x" number of dollars towards our next vacation from each paycheck. (We never spend more than we will have saved at the time of the trip.) So, I like to get the most bang for the buck and make sure that we can get to some awesome meals and spoil the kids as much as possible without going over budget. Breaking it down like you did really helps a lot

We'll be at the GF the week before you (first time staying at GF). Not eating at V&A's, but excited none the less

Looking forward to reading more about your trip.

Awesome! Thanks for joining in! We are very excited for our upcoming trip! I am so glad that you enjoyed reading through the budget! I realize that not everyone will go to the same restaurants we do, but that it does help in seeing the different amounts laid out in front of you that people tend to spend on meals

I hope you absolutely love Grand Floridian. I have never stayed in the actual resort, only the DVC villas, but I have been there loads of times and everything there is so fantastic! You have tons to be excited about! I wish we could get more than one day there!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Yesterday was Star Wars Day, and that made me even more excited to go to Disney World! We spent the day grilling outside, playing basketball and tennis, and then for the Star Wars portion, we built 2 Star Wars LEGO sets...haha! We did have a bunch of fun though! I am still not to so patiently awaiting our trip! At least it is getting closer as the days go by

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Congrats on getting Mine Train FPs!! So exciting. It's too bad that your new plans are a little more hectic, but at least you will be able to get in everything that you want to.