HELLO EVERYONE ! My name is Megan (aka QueenBeeMB) and I am beyond excited to start this Pre-Trip Report. I can only hope you folks will find my life and planning to be as fun and entertaining as I do.
Let us start with introductions, then I will explain that silly thread title.
As I said, my name is Megan, I am 25 and have been a Disney fan since day one, or shortly after, here is the pic to prove it.
But then I felt real joy with my first trip to Disneyland
Then the joy continued as we traveled there often for family vacations, and as I grew older I traveled there with friends and significant others into my adult life. Until I finally gave in to my childhood dreams, and MOVED TO DISNEYLAND ! Ok not exactly Disneyland but I moved to area and agonized over my application for Disney Parks. After submitting it time flew! First an online interview, then a phone interview, interview at TDA, interview with the department managers and finally the best day of my life so far.
Allow me to set the scene, I was walking down Hollywood Blvd in California Adventure on my way to the Aladdin show. In the show my phone kept vibrating like crazy and I couldn't imagine who needed to speak to me that bad. So as I was walking back towards Buena Vista Street I checked my voicemail. It was DISNEY . A few fumbling minutes later and I was able to get the recruiter on the phone. She quickly got to the point and offered me a position in the Specialty stores department in Downtown Disney. I was beyond ecstatic and my Disney Cast Member life began.
As the story goes I loved Disney, I worked there I played there I lived there.
As my time came I had to leave the fun and magic and pursue other ventures to keep me afloat and moving forward. I keep up my Premium Annual Pass and still visit the parks VERY regularly as I only work a few miles away now.
Mickey and I just shortly before my departure from the parks.
But alas how can I be so thoughtless . My partner if life and Disney love!
This is the every so patient and supportive Kaytlin! She is really the reason why we are going on this magical trip. She has been there every step of the way through the move to Southern California, the pain staking interview process, working at the Parks, visiting the parks, collecting, special events the whole bit. I was able to convert her to a Disney Addict in no time
She listened to me dream and watched me plan fake vacations on line long enough. On Valentines Day 2014 she gave me the best surprise ever, she said we could plan a trip to WDW this year ! YAHOOOOO
I suppose I have rambled on long enough for the first post, but stay tuned, next I will fill you in on the agony of planning a first timers trip to the World on little to no budget!
Hello! and welcome back to my PTR!
I suppose I better get down to the details here.
Come Valentines Day 2014 Kaytlin broke the news to me that she thought we would be able to swing a trip to WDW. I was boarder line hysterical.
Going to WDW is something I have dreamed about and talked about forever and a day and she was finally on board and the first person to jump on my crazy Disney addict train and really get involved and love it too!
She knows how thrifty I am in our everyday life and she was certain I could make a trip work within our budget. So now I had a rough budget to work with, we both had a week of vacation to use in 2014 and I was off
We are DLR AP holders and I knew they expired on 10-5-14
This would normally not effect a trip to WDW but I was considering upgrading the passes to the Premiers so that we could have dual access.
I spent days, days and days looking at the calender, running numbers, checking crowd calenders, looking at resorts, reading TRs, checking entertainment schedules from past years, heck I even checked weather history!
Finally I decided that I wanted to be in WDW for Food and Wine Festival. And I wanted to make a combo trip, 1 week in WDW and a weekend getaway at DLR before our passes expire. (now this is a huge excuse to spend money and be on vacation because we know very well we WILL be renewing our passes, so its not like they are going any where )
So now we have the following Where: WDW
When: Sept 26-Oct 3
Now I needed to select a resort and after reading about the possibility of free dining I decided a Value was the way to go. Fits our budget and gives good promise of offering FD during our stay. Once I saw the options I was sure we had to stay at ASMu and in the Jazz building. You see Kaytlin has a degree in music and a minor is Jazz studies, she is a jazz musician here in CA and it only made sense. Resort: All Stars Music - Jazz Building 1st floor HA room
I have an array of spinal conditions, so I use a scooter, hence the HA room, I can't do stairs very well, and stepping up and over things in hard, so the walk in shower is a must for me. I am worried about being on the first floor a little bit, just because I am a light sleeper and the noise of foot traffic might be something to get used to. But it will have to do because this finicky back of mine isn't going to let me walk all week that's for sure!
So now I had to make some decisions on what we wanted to do while there so that I could run the numbers on tickets and passes. It took be about 2 weeks to run all the different scenarios but I decided we would do 8 day base tickets. The Premier Annual Passes just didn't make sense for us this year, but I hope to work our way up to them in the near future. ( this was at the time of only 3 FP+ per day and since I have upgraded them to 8 day park hoppers )
We booked our package in March, and began the tiring efforts of selecting ADRs because our 180 mark was approaching and quickly.
This is what I felt like trying to read menus, reviews, and plan around the possibility that we might get free dining for our trip. HOLY MOLY ADRs are a hairy animal if you have never been to WDW before. We aren't used to them here at DLR. I had excel sheets galore. Adding up mock receipts, reading meus and reviews to see what I MIGHT want to eat in 6 months, then making sure we didn't eat any of the same thing twice, or eat what things we don't like. It was exhausting. So at my 180 mark I was ready I got everything I wanted even BOG dinner! All my planning and painstaking efforts paid off.
Here are the original ADRs I made at my 180 mark
Friday Sept 26 - Yak and Yeti Dinner 4:45
Saturday Sept 27 - Momma Melrose F! package Dinner 4:45
Sunday Sept 28 - Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner 7:45
Monday Sept 29 - Coral Reef Dinner 6:20
Tuesday Sept 30 - Be Our Guest Dinner 5:45
Wednesday Oct 1 - Chefs De France Dinner 7:10
Thursday Oct 2 - Tutto Italia Dinner 7:30
Friday Oct 3 - NONE
Of course they have been modified since then because I just can't help myself.
So here are the up to date ADRs: Friday Sept 26 - Yak and Yeti Dinner 4:45
Saturday Sept 27 - Hollywood and Vine F! package Dinner 4:45
Sunday Sept 28 - Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner 5:35 (this switched to lunch, then back to and earlier dinner)
Monday Sept 29 - Coral Reef Dinner 6:20
Tuesday Sept 30 - Be Our Guest Dinner 5:45
Wednesday Oct 1 - Chefs De France Dinner 7:10
Thursday Oct 2 - Teppan Edo Dinner 7:10
Friday Oct 3 - NONE
I was able to lock in Free Dining for our trip the day it opened to the General Public by calling at about 6am on the West Coast and I only waited about 20 mins before getting to a CM. It was really nice and easy to make the change to the reservation. This is when I upgraded the tickets to the park hoppers because of all the changes that have been happen to the FP+ system.
I still have 1 ellusive ADR that I missed the boat on . The Wishes Dessert Party at Tomorrowland Terrace. I wanted to get us booked for this so badly. But they didn't have it available at 180 days, and I lost track of the threads that were trying to nail down when it would open up for Sept 2014. So alas I have nothing secured for it and I check everyday for the possibility of a cancellation.
We do not have our airfare booked yet, but we are flying Spirit airlines, and yes we are aware of all their little 'extras'. I plan on shipping items to the resort ahead of time, and only bringing 1 personal bag each on the plane. We will also have some items from the local grocery store delivered to help off set the possible ASMu food court renovation during our stay. We will most likely do laundry at least once while we are there. We travel pretty light and we are very easy travelers.
Well now that I have rambled on yet again, stay tuned next for the every changing ADRs, FP+ reservations and air line bookings that are sure to be entertaining.
I know it has been a long time since my last post and there have been many changes to our reservations in the past months. But I think I have finally stopped the never ending affliction of ADR and FP+ Changes
First of all we paid off the trip today
As it is our 45 day mark, and we are thrilled to have that behind us.
I was also able to find out there are still some slots available for the Mixology seminars we are interested in on our Epcot days during F&WF yipeee
So lets start off with our agenda to date (heheeh because I might have the urge to change it later ... just because ... )
Arrival Day:
8:40 AM flight lands at MCO
DME to ASMu (online check in complete) Drop bags and see if room is ready (doubtful but one can hope)
Off to AK !
Kaytlin is very excited to try one of the new Bloody Marys at Dawa Bar, she loves her some Bloody Marys, and I like all the fun tid bits they put in/on them yummy
We have discussed grabbing a bite to eat at this point, or maybe even before we enter the park because we will have just gotten off an all night flight but the excitement will have me full steam ahead I am sure to my very first WDW experience ! I do assume food will be a grab and go kind of experience because we want to save room for lunch at Flame Tree
11:15-12:15 Kilimanjaro Safaris (First FP+ of the trip )
12:20-1:20 Expedition Everest
1:25-2:25 Dinosaur
Now I realize we will be literally zig zagging across the park, but this is our ONLY day in AK for the trip, and we are going to hit it with all our might.
We hope to see the Nemo show at 3pm
I hope to also see FOTLK at around 5pm
and we have an ADR at Yak and Yeti at 5:30 I am a little worried about this being to close to the ending of FOTLK so I might move what show time we see that at.
**We want to see the animals, and try to make it out to Rafiki's but I am not sure how it will all jive. We are pretty quick and determined but the flight and jet lag might have us moving slower than normal. So we picked what was important to us as our must dos and anything else that we hit will be a bonus**
AK closes during our meal so we hope to head back to the hotel, get into the room and settled, probably shower and change then take an adventure to Jelly Rolls or Scat Cats for some drinks and entertainment. It is Friday night after all
Anyone have any better ideas? I am open to any and all suggestions
Tomorrow I will post about our plans for Dapper Day at DHS saturday 9-27-14, including our matching outfits hehehehe
Flights are finally booked ! only 693.36 total for both our round trip tickets !!!
Everything is 100% confirmed and now we just wait and by wait I mean plan obsessively because I still haven't mapped out individual touring plans per park yikes
We leave LAX Thurs Sept 25 at 9pm and arrive in Orlando on Fri Sept 26 at 8:42
We depart Orlando on Fri Oct 3 at 5pm and arrive back at LAX at 10:42 then off to Disneyland for the weekend !
I am so excited it has all finally paid off. The second job, working endlessly, saving, and budgeting. It is all totally worth it now.
Kaytlin and I have picked out some matching fabrics and we are sewing some outfits. I have a green and blue printed fabric that I am making a classic dress with. And she has a blue fabric she is making a vest out of. Now this vest matches her Mickey conductor ears, and she plans on wearing it just about every day of the trip. She will be adorning it with her Jessica Rabbit Pin collection and loves the idea of looking like a DLRR conductor all the time ! hahaha she even is on the hunt for a matching pocket watch ! She is just hilarious.
So with our matching Dapper Day outfits we plan on having fun in DHS, it is a Saturday, and I expect high crowds but I think we can handle it. These are the FP+ we have booked, and one ADR for Fantasmic! viewing.
Here at DLR there are some meets, photo ops, meals, and activities during Dapper Day so I expect a little of the same for this event. We are mostly excited to use our Memory Maker package to get some great shots of us through out the day, and maybe get a really good one to send out with the Christmas Card this year. Yay
So we have the following FP+ and ADRs for Saturday:
EMH 8-9am
Toy Story for sure and Rock N Rollercoaster hopefully
FP+
Star Tours 9:10-10:10
Tower of Terror 10:10-11:10
The Great Movie Ride 11:25-12:25
Momma Melrose at 2:40 for Fantasmic! Package
Beauty and the Beast and Voyage of the Little Mermaid after lunch
Fantasmic! In the evening
And Hopefully some Dapper Day events throughout the day
Ending with a fun night at Scat Cats or Jelly Rolls or somewhere for dancing fun and drinks before hitting the room for some sleep.
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. A few fumbling minutes later and I was able to get the recruiter on the phone. She quickly got to the point and offered me a position in the Specialty stores department in Downtown Disney. I was beyond ecstatic and my Disney Cast Member life began.
. My partner if life and Disney love!
boarder line hysterical.
And I wanted to make a combo trip, 1 week in WDW and a weekend getaway at DLR before our passes expire. (now this is a huge excuse to spend money and be on vacation because we know very well we WILL be renewing our passes, so its not like they are going any where 
)
, hence the HA room, I can't do stairs very well, and stepping up and over things in hard, so the walk in shower is a must for me. I am worried about being on the first floor a little bit, just because I am a light sleeper and the noise of foot traffic might be something to get used to. But it will have to do because this finicky back of mine isn't going to let me walk all week that's for sure!
This is what I felt like trying to read menus, reviews, and plan around the possibility that we might get free dining for our trip. HOLY MOLY ADRs are a hairy animal if you have never been to WDW before. We aren't used to them here at DLR. I had excel sheets galore. Adding up mock receipts, reading meus and reviews to see what I MIGHT want to eat in 6 months, then making sure we didn't eat any of the same thing twice, or eat what things we don't like. It was exhausting. So at my 180 mark I was ready I got everything I wanted even BOG dinner! All my planning and painstaking efforts paid off. 
. The Wishes Dessert Party at Tomorrowland Terrace. I wanted to get us booked for this so badly. But they didn't have it available at 180 days, and I lost track of the threads that were trying to nail down when it would open up for Sept 2014. So alas I have nothing secured for it and I check everyday for the possibility of a cancellation. 
but the excitement will have me full steam ahead I am sure to my very first WDW experience ! I do assume food will be a grab and go kind of experience because we want to save room for lunch at Flame Tree 
) 
and by wait I mean plan obsessively because I still haven't mapped out individual touring plans per park yikes 
