Here's to a DRAMA-FREE vacation! A Sept. 2013 PTR, FINAL UPDATE, 9/1!!

[lsenquiz]

Commenting on - Day Two: MK/DTD

I can not image getting to the bus stop any later than 8am for a MK day no matter how close I was to the resort so if it was me I would keep with the 8am bus stop time just to allow for any glitches.

Your morning plans sound great. We are also early eaters at Disney. I would rather eat at 11am then wait in really long lines to eat during traditional lunch times. Pecos Bills is my Dhs favorite. You get alot for your money with the toppings bar!

I can't wait to hear your review on Raglan Road. It is something I would like to try but honestly I am not a big fan of DTD so we do not always make it over there for every trip.

 

[klacey1]

Your plans sound sooooo amazing!! AHHHHHH!! And that's so amazing that your friends are going to be there the same time! Funny how that works!

Your Universal day will be great. I AM SO EXCITED FOR HOGSMEADE! Love, love, love! I'm re-reading all the books now.

Do you have a lot left to get ready?

I am sooo happy about our friends being there! You will LOVE the WWoHP-- it's just incredible! I can't wait for the expansion!

Commenting on - Day Two: MK/DTD

I can not image getting to the bus stop any later than 8am for a MK day no matter how close I was to the resort so if it was me I would keep with the 8am bus stop time just to allow for any glitches.

Your morning plans sound great. We are also early eaters at Disney. I would rather eat at 11am then wait in really long lines to eat during traditional lunch times. Pecos Bills is my Dhs favorite. You get alot for your money with the toppings bar!

I can't wait to hear your review on Raglan Road. It is something I would like to try but honestly I am not a big fan of DTD so we do not always make it over there for every trip.

Hmm, so you think 8 a.m. is a good idea? I hate waiting in the sun waiting for the park to open, but it would also kill me to miss rope drop!
I totally agree-- we do so much walking at Disney (and don't eat a big breakfast) that I'm starving by 11!
I've been to RR once and really enjoyed it-- I hope I love it again!

 

[klacey1]

Wow, time is really getting away from me!! It seems like I started this PTR awhile ago, but now I’m running out of time to post my daily plans! I need to get these finished! I also want to post the outfits I have planned, and some other things.

IRL, I just got way ahead on two projects at work that I was really worried about finishing before our trip, so I feel great about that! I’m hoping no little things pop up between now and the 30th. Otherwise, I’m on track to have a stressless week and a half!

** Apologies in advance for the lack of photos in this post!! I’ll make up for it, I promise!

Day 6: ??/Epcot
Today, we will hopefully wake up nice and rested after taking it easy the first night. We’ll head to the bus stop at X time and head to Z park...WHAT?!

I don’t know! In an effort to be less of a crazy-obessive planner, I told Zach that we can decide the night before where we’d like to go the next day. At this point, we will have been to all of the parks and I’m just not sure what we’ll feel like doing! As of now, I think either of the two plans below are the most likely:

A) Take the bus to DHS. Zach LOVES TSMM and has only ever ridden it once a trip because we only do one RD at DHS. This day is AM EMH for DHS and we’d get at least one, hopefully two rides on TSMM. Doing Star Tours again would be great, too. Then, we’d walk/take the boat over to Epcot around 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. and ride our beloved Test Track. We’d spend the morning enjoying FW, head into the WS when it opened, get lunch, mosey around. As of now, I only have one day trip to Epcot scheduled and we really love the park during the day. Around our usual time of 2:00 or 3:00 p.m., we’ll head out and back to our room to rest and change for dinner.

B) Take the bus to MK. We currently only have one MK rope drop scheduled this trip-- as this is one of my favorite things in the World, it would be nice to see it twice. (ALTHOUGH, I do have to admit that the one trip I saw RD twice, it was definitely less special the second time.) We can hit our favorites that tend to have long lines later in the day-- Splash, BTMRR, Buzz, Peter Pan, etc. Other shows that aren’t priorities early in the trip can also be enjoyed-- HoP, Enchanted Tiki Room, Monster’s Inc., Country Bears. Obviously, we can easily fill up time until 2:00 p.m. in the MK OR we could take the monorail to Epcot for a few hours if we decide to only do a couple of things. I just don’t know!

At this point, I’m really leaning toward Option A. We love the MK, but I think we’ll be able to accomplish everything we want to do there in our other visits. Suggestions?!

Our night plans are determined by our ADRs, so we’re obviously set there! We’ll want to leave the WL by 4:30 p.m. for our 7:30 p.m. ADR at La Hacienda de San Angel! (I am giving us a ton of travel time as I’d love to get in a ride on Maelstrom before dinner.)
I am SO excited for this restaurant. The photos of the meat paradilla look absolutely delicious. The CS of this restaurant is fantastic, and if that’s any indication of the quality here, I’ll be thrilled. I do plan on asking for a table with a view of IllumiNations and don’t mind waiting a bit for it. (Of course, if we’re starving and it means waiting an extra hour or something, no thank you!)
The park will be closed by the time we’re done with dinner, so we’ll just mosey on over to the bus stop and head home.

It is very, very weird for me to be so uncertain of our plans! I really just want us to do whatever we feel like doing this day, however, and not worry about following a schedule.
Up next, I’ll share our final full day & travel day plans. Travel day will be full of nothing but sadness, so I don’t want to devote an entire post to it!

 

[blabbermouth]

I know what you mean, once you've done every park once it's hard to know what you'll want to do more of or want to do again! We'll only have 5 Disney park days so our 5th day will be extra hard to decide what to do! I think I like Option A more, but we really like DHS, including TOT and RNRC.

 

[Mrs T 2009]

I think option A sounds the best Plus, you could always take the monorail from Epcot to MK before 2/3pm if you decide to. I need to try to "plan" some stuff for DL, but I don't want to plan out too much. Basically gives out rides and which are ok for Rylan to ride, etc and look into some places to eat. We don't have a dining plan add some people say it's not really worth it.

And yay for getting ahead in your project!!!! Fingers crossed things keep less stressful for you

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Your Universal plans sound fun! I definitely think you can be done with both parks early, especially since you said you guys have been there a lot.

So weird that Zach's friend is gonna be there at the same time but good for him that you found out ahead of time and can try to help his plans a little!

I like the idea of having a day where you decide what you want to do. Your plan A sounds good but whatever you decide to do, it'll be in Disney so it'll be fun!

 

[klacey1]

I know what you mean, once you've done every park once it's hard to know what you'll want to do more of or want to do again! We'll only have 5 Disney park days so our 5th day will be extra hard to decide what to do! I think I like Option A more, but we really like DHS, including TOT and RNRC.

The uncertainty is killing, but Zach is all for deciding the night before. At this point, he likes Option A more, too.

I think option A sounds the best Plus, you could always take the monorail from Epcot to MK before 2/3pm if you decide to. I need to try to "plan" some stuff for DL, but I don't want to plan out too much. Basically gives out rides and which are ok for Rylan to ride, etc and look into some places to eat. We don't have a dining plan add some people say it's not really worth it.

And yay for getting ahead in your project!!!! Fingers crossed things keep less stressful for you

I did think about how we could fit three parks in, especially since we won't be spending a ton of time at DHS no matter what.
I haven't heard anything good about DL's dining plan. I've also heard it's not really a "planning" park. Those Californians are so laid back.

Your Universal plans sound fun! I definitely think you can be done with both parks early, especially since you said you guys have been there a lot.

So weird that Zach's friend is gonna be there at the same time but good for him that you found out ahead of time and can try to help his plans a little!

I like the idea of having a day where you decide what you want to do. Your plan A sounds good but whatever you decide to do, it'll be in Disney so it'll be fun!

I reallllly want to help them plan, but Zach is being such a BOY and not calling his friend like I ordered (*ahem, asked ) him to.
Exactly, no matter what, it'll be a fun day!

 

[klacey1]

Here’s another update! (Again, sorry for the limited number of pics! Only a little bit of food porn in this post!)


Day 7: Epcot/MK

As I’ve said before, we are huge tradition people, especially Zach. There is one tradition that I absolutely will not stray from. Our final full park day begins at Epcot and ends at MK. These are our favorite parks and I really can’t imagine going anywhere else! While overall Epcot is our favorite park in terms of things to do, the MK just has that special magic. It HAS to be the last park we visit.

We’ll head straight to TT first to get in a ride on our favorite Epcot attraction. I hope to grab a FP for later, too. By this point, we will have visited Epcot multiple times and I’m not sure what we’ll feel like re-riding?! I’m sure we’ll hit Spaceship Earth. Nemo is a must, and we do enjoy wandering through the Innoventions pavilions. I’d like to do Captain EO, but Zach has zero interest.

Two hours is usually the perfect amount of time for us to enjoy Future World on a non-busy day, so as soon as the WS opens at 11, we’ll head over. I am almost 100% certain what our lunch will be. I’ll go to La Cantina while Zach continues to the China pavilion to the Lotus Blossom Cafe. I love the beef tacos at La Cantina, but Zach really prefers Chinese food.





He rarely gets it at home since I hate it :-X, so it’ll be a treat for him! I know that CS doesn’t get great reviews, but he really enjoys it. Plus, now that there’s some sort of fried apple dessert instead of the green tea ice cream he hated last time, he’s really excited for dessert! I’ll meet Zach over in China with my food. I love that the WS allows us to get exactly what we want!

After eating lunch in China, we’ll backtrack one country to Norway to ride our beloved Maelstrom. I can’t explain how much we love this ride! It’s just so ridiculous and wonderful haha. I’m hoping to purchase a new bottle of Laila, my all-time favorite perfume, earlier in the trip so I can send it back to our resort and not worry about carrying around a glass bottle. However, if I forget for whatever reason, I’ll purchase it now.

We never have much of a plan for the WS, just wandering through the shops and pavilions. Norway, Germany, & the UK are definitely our favorites and we usually spend lots of time/funds in those countries. The Agent P missions seem fun, but I’m not sure we’d like our WS time to be so structured. One thing that is a must in going to the ice cream shop in France. I tried it in June on my business trip-- that hazelnut ice cream was like Nutella in ice cream form. YUM!

We have a pretty early dinner reservation this night, so we’ll need to leave Epcot by 3:00 p.m. at the absolute latest. I HATE leaving this park for the last time…

After changing/freshening up for dinner, we’ll head to the boat dock around 5:15 p.m. for a 6:05 p.m. at Tony’s Town Square! Since Tony’s is right at the front of the park, I really don’t want to leave too early and just be hanging outside the restaurant.

I know Tony’s doesn’t get the best reviews, but we really wanted our final meal to be in the MK. We tried LTT last trip and it was fine, but we wanted something different. I’m sure Zach will get the steak or pasta with Italian sausage, and a few things sound good to me. I like chicken parm (as long as it’s not too soggy) and the cannelloni looks good too.

I have zero plans for our final night. It’s PM EMH, so the park will be open until midnight, which is awesome! It would be great to stay until close. I think I’ve mentioned that I feel like we never ride much at night because we get so much done during the day, but I’d really like to do all of our favorites after dinner. Wishes is at 10, and no matter where we are in the park, I’ll need to stop and listen to it. The fireworks aren’t the biggest part of the show to me-- it’s really about the words/music. If we happen to be near Main Street near 10, we’ll try to get a spot facing the castle, but it’s not a top priority. I also am not a fan of the MSEP, so we definitely won’t be claiming a spot at 9 to watch that.

I don’t even want to THINK about leaving the MK this night-- it makes me sad to even type about it!

As I said, I’m not going to do a separate post on our travel day. Our flight is at 2:35 p.m., so our ME will be around 11:30 a.m.. We’ll try to sleep in until 9:00 a.m.-ish, which is possible for Zach and not so possible for me, haha. I’ll go down to the resort airline check in desk and...see what happens?! I love Magical Express, but the checking of our bags on the way back to the airport has never worked out. Since Delta, which we’re flying back, requires that you pay for your bags, I plan on checking in for the flight at the resort but paying for and checking bags at MCO. It was a mess the last time I tried paying over the phone, and I’d really like to avoid that.

If we have any snack credits, we can use them up at this time and take one last look in the giftshop for any final souvenirs.

I absolutely HATE the ME video on the way back to the airport-- TOO SAD! Since ME always gets us to MCO so ridiculous early, we’ll probably eat lunch there & then go through security. Then it’s back to the real world. Sigh…

ANYWAY, no point getting sad about the end of our trip when the beginning hasn’t happened yet!! 10 DAYS LEFT!!!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

We ate at the Chinese QS in January! I think we shared the orange chicken. The food was good! My only complaint about it was that it was nothing special--like it reminded me of Chinese food I can get at home. But it sounds like the perfect opportunity for Zach to enjoy Chinese food in the WS!

I need to make sure I smell this Laila perfume!

Hazelnut ice cream?! Ah something else I must have! My list of must-dos for the WS is growing rapidly as I read your PTR.

I can't wait to hear how you guys like Tony's!

AH I really don't even want to think about our trips ending at all!

 

[Mrs T 2009]

Yeah, my plans will mostly be looking over the different rides and looking up some places to eat.

Your last day plans sound awesome!!! Traditions are great to have

Sad for it to be the last day, leaving a park for the last time on a trip is never fun

Yay 10 days!!!!!!!

 

[blabbermouth]

Sounds like a fun last day! If you can manage to stop thinking about it being your last full day. Always a challenge, like Sundays

I think we might try La Cantina this trip again. We LOVE Mexican food.

I better write down to go and sniff Laila because I've heard tons of people talk about it lately!

Stop talking about the end!!! Haha

 

[librarygeek]

Okay, so the crowds the rest of that week after Labor Day were insanely low. It was such a great time to be there! The only time it started to get remotely crowded was the Saturday after labor day, and I heard from someone that it was because one of the Florida annual passes that has blackout dates for most of the summer was finally good to use again, so it was the first time in awhile the locals could come.

Be Our Guest is so incredible! I had the shrimp and scallop pastry and it was absolutely amazing. And those fries that come with the steak are freakin' incredible - I've stolen a few from my mom I'm contemplating ordering the steak next time we're there just so I can get those fries too!

I love Harry Potter world And too bad Zach doesn't like intense coasters - I don't know if you've been on the Hulk but it's one of my absolute favorite roller coasters anywhere!

For Day 6, I would probably do option A. It sounds like you have a lot of other time in MK and knowing how empty the parks were when I went, we got done with everything we wanted pretty quickly. Can't wait to hear about La Hacienda!

Also, I friended you on facebook

 

[klacey1]

We ate at the Chinese QS in January! I think we shared the orange chicken. The food was good! My only complaint about it was that it was nothing special--like it reminded me of Chinese food I can get at home. But it sounds like the perfect opportunity for Zach to enjoy Chinese food in the WS!

I need to make sure I smell this Laila perfume!

Hazelnut ice cream?! Ah something else I must have! My list of must-dos for the WS is growing rapidly as I read your PTR.

I can't wait to hear how you guys like Tony's!

AH I really don't even want to think about our trips ending at all!

Yeah, I remember Zach didn't think Lotus Blossom was amazing, but it did the job!
Laila smells SO good-- nice and light.
I cannot explain how delicious this ice cream is-- definitely stop for it! I wish it was on the DDP, but it's still a must-do!!

Yeah, my plans will mostly be looking over the different rides and looking up some places to eat.

Your last day plans sound awesome!!! Traditions are great to have

Sad for it to be the last day, leaving a park for the last time on a trip is never fun

Yay 10 days!!!!!!!

There are some great rides that are only in DL! The Indiana Jones ride is a must-do!

Sounds like a fun last day! If you can manage to stop thinking about it being your last full day. Always a challenge, like Sundays

I think we might try La Cantina this trip again. We LOVE Mexican food.

I better write down to go and sniff Laila because I've heard tons of people talk about it lately!

Stop talking about the end!!! Haha

Yuuuup, just like Sundays lol. How much can you realllly enjoy a last day in Disney?! I try, but it's usually hard.
La Cantina is fantastic. All of the tacos look delicious, but the beef ones were so good I can't imagine switching it up.

Okay, so the crowds the rest of that week after Labor Day were insanely low. It was such a great time to be there! The only time it started to get remotely crowded was the Saturday after labor day, and I heard from someone that it was because one of the Florida annual passes that has blackout dates for most of the summer was finally good to use again, so it was the first time in awhile the locals could come.

Be Our Guest is so incredible! I had the shrimp and scallop pastry and it was absolutely amazing. And those fries that come with the steak are freakin' incredible - I've stolen a few from my mom I'm contemplating ordering the steak next time we're there just so I can get those fries too!

I love Harry Potter world And too bad Zach doesn't like intense coasters - I don't know if you've been on the Hulk but it's one of my absolute favorite roller coasters anywhere!

For Day 6, I would probably do option A. It sounds like you have a lot of other time in MK and knowing how empty the parks were when I went, we got done with everything we wanted pretty quickly. Can't wait to hear about La Hacienda!

Also, I friended you on facebook

That makes me sooo happy to hear that the crowds after Labor Day are so low.
I am definitely going to have to steal some of Zach's fries-- I'm glad he's going to order the steak!
I have done the Hulk! I love it but I HATE those quick starts!
I obviously accepted your friend request!

 

[klacey1]

I hope everyone had a great weekend! My best friend from high school was here and we visited a vineyard during the day. I'm not a wine person normally, but this place made most of their wines from berries! Most were yummy and I ended up buying a bottle of sparkling raspberry wine that kind of reminded me of Rosa Regale! (Which I will definitely be getting in a little over a week!!)

Below are the outfits I have planned for the trip. I apologize for the photo quality! The light is awful and some of the tops look huge! A photographer I am not...

I can’t remember if I shared this, but this is the new bathing suit I got for the trip. It’s kind of vintage-y and I love it!


Here’s my travel outfit. I know it seems like a lot of layers for going to Florida in early September, but I’m always freezing on planes! I usually bring a lap blanket, but that won’t be necessary because of the maxi skirt. In the picture, it kind of looks like the maxi skirt has some volume, but it doesn’t poof out at all, just goes straight down. (Just realized you can’t tell the skirt is floor length-- it is, I promise!)


Once we check-in at the WL, I’ll change into this outfit for touring DTD & dinner. There’s nothing particularly DTD/Epcot/Biergarten-ish about it, it’s just lightweight and bright. I love the hearts!


For our first full day, which will be at the MK, I had to go with something classic Disney!


Dinner that night is at Raglan Road. I wanted something casual for the pub feel. Also, if I indulge in too much pub grub/beer, the shirt is nice and flowy


For our DHS day, I’m going with a top that’s slightly Minnie inspired!


My dress for Yachtsman is probably the most “on theme.” Look at the anchors-- I love this dress! It was a steal from Target:


Sorry the shirt is so wrinkled! I thought it had a slightly safari-esque feel to it for AK:


This dress is just comfy and a touch classy for dinner at Be Our Guest:


I had to show my house pride for our day at Universal:


No dinner ADRs that night, so I’ll probably just slip on yoga pants and a tee for eating CS at our resort or a neighboring resort. No pics, sorry! However, for our next, open day, I went with something light and summer. And yes, I’m defying the no white after Labor Day rule!


Keeping with the bright theme, a hot pink, comfy dress for dinner at La Hacienda. I love this dress and will need to make sure we take lots of PhotoPass pics this night!


Final full day:


And final full night. No inspiration for these last two, just things I like that are lightweight and loose for the hot Florida weather!


I’ve been putting most of these items aside and am waiting for others to be laundered. I can’t wait to get everything all packed up next weekend! 8 days left!!!!

 

[Mrs T 2009]

I love all your outfit choices

The anchor dress is totally adorable!!!!!

 

[Disneyluvr81]

Your outfits are too cute! I love the bathing suit. I did like you did and picked out my outfits based on the park during the day and where we would be eating that night. I love being able to be a little dressy some of the evenings for the table service meals!

 

[SuperNEMOfan]

Oooo I love your outfit choices. I want to find something nice for Be our guest as well but we will be in the park before hand.

 

[abbybeth]

yay! Clothes! Your outfits are all so cute - I really love your anchor dress! I remember seeing it at Target over the summer, but by the time I found it, they were out of my size. I'm a sucker for anything nautical!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Such cute outfit choices! The bathing suit is adorable.

I love that you have separate outfits for the park/dinner. Can't wait to see all the pictures!

 

[blabbermouth]

I love all your clothes! You have some great dresses.

I sort of try to match a bit to the park too, but it doesn't always work out! I have star wars for DHS, and Nemo for... either Epcot or AK, I can't decide!

I will probably post a outfit post soon too.