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

[abbybeth]

The excitement of knowing that you're going to bed in Disney and waking up in Disney for the first time of the trip *sigh* love it! You can just feel that anything is possible and magical and it's practically tangible!

Raglan is one of my faves - you guys have to try the bread pudding - it's definitely shareable and completely amazing!

 

[jenny105]

You'll have to tell me how many people show up as Robin Sparkles. Cause that's totally who I'd go as.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Yikes! Sounds like a crazy work week! Sounds like a fun idea for a party! Please share some pictures afterwards!

Sounds like great plans! I like your idea of getting Splash out of the way early. DBF doesn't like it that much either so maybe I'll have to take that strategy!

 

[blabbermouth]

Sounds like good plans for your first day and MK! Yay for Biergarten, I hope you both like it. Raglan Road sounds good too. It makes sense to get Splash out of the way if Zach doesn't like it. I prefer to do it as the last thing before an afternoon break in case we get really wet, but it's at the back of the park, so sometimes that's a pain too.

 

[klacey1]

Ah under 30 days?!

I love seeing what others are going to wear to the parks so share away!

How nice of your brother to agree to drive you. I'm totally the same way. I'd rather be way early and sit and wait then have to rush.

Yeah I always think I'll nap while we're waiting or on the plane and it doesn't work out! Too much excitement!

There's a few different options for food after security. In January, I ate a chocolate croissant from Au Bon Pain. We were there so early though that most things were just opening while we were walking around!

Good idea on loading up on Friends episodes! I've seen all of them so many times and I still crack up every time! Make sure you bring your own headphones so you don't have to buy them on the plane in case you want to watch the TV/listen to the radio.

Depending on how full the plane is/the stewardess you get, they're usually pretty generous with the snacks.

AH getting to MCO is the BEST feeling ever.

Can't wait to hear how you like Cooke's of Dublin. Sounds interesting but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone eating there!

I find it so irritating how Touring Plans and easywdw always say the exact opposite! I don't think I plan on renewing my Touring plans subscription when it expires.

Mmm, I do love Au Bon Pain, but that was the evil place that burned Zach's hand with coffee in 2011! Cant repeat that out of pure superstition!
Our flight is pretty crowded, but we will be at the front of the plane, so I'm hoping I can snag at least two bags of blue chips
I think Cooke's of Dublin doesn't get the love on these boards b/c WPE and Earl of Sandwich are so popular. That's fine with me if it means we get a table easier!

Yay!!!! Under 30 days!!!!!

Arrival day plans sound awesome!!!

YAYYY! And thanks!

eeek! under 30! You must be just bursting with excitement

I am SO not a morning person, but when you have to get up early to go do something fun it's so much easier and then when you add in Disney adrenaline, anything seems possible.

Day 1 looks great - I haven't tried Biergarten myself, so I'll look forward to the review in your TR!

I actually am a morning person-- I grew up going to bed early and rising early and it's always stuck with me. I think that's part of the reason Disney is so appealing. Getting up early is no problem at all!

I love Biergarten! You've never been? It's so much fun! The food is delicious and the entertainment is great too. I hope you get a table right by the stage. That's always where we end up. We'll be going there for the third time when we visit Epcot during our cruise. We have a lunch ressie though and we've only been there for dinner so I wonder if there are any differences. Hope you like it as much as we do!

I'm really excited for Biergarten!! The atmosphere/food seem right up our alley!

I absolutely love waking up in Disney that first morning! It's that moment where it gets real for me even if we've been there for almost an entire day.

I also enjoy the morning show and getting to MK super early. My goal this year is to try to get a picture with the castle with no one behind us. We will see.

I really can't stand touring plans haha. I mean I have a plan in my head of where we should go and what we should do but I kind of just go with it. As long as I hit my favorite rides at least once I'm good!!

September is coming slowly but surely!!! It feels like August is creeping by.

Ohhh, that's a good goal! There's 10,000 people in all of my castle pics!

The excitement of knowing that you're going to bed in Disney and waking up in Disney for the first time of the trip *sigh* love it! You can just feel that anything is possible and magical and it's practically tangible!

Raglan is one of my faves - you guys have to try the bread pudding - it's definitely shareable and completely amazing!

I loved Ohana's bread pudding, and I've heard Raglan's is similarly amazing, so I'm sooo excited!!

You'll have to tell me how many people show up as Robin Sparkles. Cause that's totally who I'd go as.

Haha, one of my friends is already planning a trip to Goodwill for an acid wash denim jacket

Yikes! Sounds like a crazy work week! Sounds like a fun idea for a party! Please share some pictures afterwards!

Sounds like great plans! I like your idea of getting Splash out of the way early. DBF doesn't like it that much either so maybe I'll have to take that strategy!

I definitely will share pics! Zach is a worrier and hates the drop on Splash, so the less time he has to worry, the better!

Sounds like good plans for your first day and MK! Yay for Biergarten, I hope you both like it. Raglan Road sounds good too. It makes sense to get Splash out of the way if Zach doesn't like it. I prefer to do it as the last thing before an afternoon break in case we get really wet, but it's at the back of the park, so sometimes that's a pain too.

I am counting on the weather being so hot that we dry off quickly! And I'm planning on wearing my hooded rain jacket to protect the hair so PP pics are pretty later in the day

 

[Mrs T 2009]

I thought I posted a comment yesterday, guess not LoL

Anyways, Pecos bills is delicious! Very good food!!

Mk plans sound great!

Raglan road sounds like a good place I should try sometime!!

 

[princess_momma]

Your theme party sounds so fun! No one really gets into themes here. I 2nd what Jen said - Robin Sparkles all the way!!!!

Your daily plans are looking so good! I love all the traditions! Gosh, I am anticipating your trip SO MUCH! You are going to have the best time! WL will be so amazing. I really hope you enjoy Biergarten! It's such a fun atmosphere - great way to kick off the trip!

Is the Dalkey Duo something you get on every trip? I am really, really, really tempted to get that OOP.

 

[klacey1]

I thought I posted a comment yesterday, guess not LoL

Anyways, Pecos bills is delicious! Very good food!!

Mk plans sound great!

Raglan road sounds like a good place I should try sometime!!

I've heard such good things about Pecos Bill!

Your theme party sounds so fun! No one really gets into themes here. I 2nd what Jen said - Robin Sparkles all the way!!!!

Your daily plans are looking so good! I love all the traditions! Gosh, I am anticipating your trip SO MUCH! You are going to have the best time! WL will be so amazing. I really hope you enjoy Biergarten! It's such a fun atmosphere - great way to kick off the trip!

Is the Dalkey Duo something you get on every trip? I am really, really, really tempted to get that OOP.

Haha, I'm always surprised when people go along with my plans for crazy theme parties! I guess everyone has a bit of little kid in theme!
I can't wait for Biergarten!! I am thinking that exactly-- perfect way to start the trip, on a festive note!
I've never tried the Dalkey Duo at Raglan Road, but before my dad moved back to Ireland, he lived in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx, which is basically Ireland! Anyway, there they have a ton of Irish butchers who make sausage rolls and mini sausage rolls that I just adore. So I'm thinking I'll love the Dalkey Duo!!

 

[klacey1]

Day Three: DHS/MK OR Epcot?!

I am not exactly great with geography, but I think WL is farther away from DHS than POR was. That coupled with DHS’ tendency to open early, we will plan to be at the bus stop at 8 a.m. for the 9 a.m. opening this day.

I can’t imagine that this is any sort of surprise, but obviously our first stop will be TSMM! This is one of Zach’s absolute favorite rides! I hope low crowds make it possible for us to grab a FP after we ride.



Next, we’ll head over to another favorite, Star Tours. Apparently last time we had the “perfect” combo and Zach is worried about us getting a less than perfect story line. #geekproblems.



Our absolute favorite bakery in WDW is Writer’s Stop. I think it’s so cozy and I absolutely love the carrot cake cookie! Normally we don’t do breakfast in Disney, but we’ll definitely use snack credits here for a little pastry midmorning snack after Star Tours!



My other must-do at DHS is Beauty and the Beast. I’d like to catch the first show of the day, which will hopefully be after we’re done at Writer’s Stop.



Once we use our TSMM FP, our plans are really open. We’ll probably do the GMR. Depending on lines, maybe the Jack Sparrow show, despite not hearing great things about it. Zach loves the Muppets, so I’m sure we’ll see that. Last trip, a kid passed the time in the preshow room by rolling down the slight incline. He ended up kicking Zach multiple times, so I’d like to avoid being in the preshow room for too long, just in case!!

We think this sign as you’re walking out is too funny-- Zach is a small guy and has trouble finding clothes that fit!



Lunch at DHS has always been Pizza Planet. Despite being total New Yorker pizza snobs, I love PP! However, I learned Fairfax Fare has the ribs that Zach totally loved at Cosmic Ray’s, so we might end up there instead. Either way, it’ll be one of those two places. The only other CS I’ve had at DHS was the Backlot Express and I hated it! The CS at DHS on the whole is really not good!

After lunch, if there’s a Indiana Jones show coming up, we may hit that. Otherwise, I really just want to check out if there’s any Monster’s University merchandise! We loved that movie. If lines are nonexistent, I may get in a solo ride on RNRC, but that’s not a priority. Zach won’t do that or TOT, and I did ride them a lot last fall when I went to Orlando with my mom.

We’ll definitely head down that way for a PP pic, though! Have put that card to good use (we ordered the CD)!



We usually leave DHS pretty early-- I am thinking around 2:00 p.m. probably. We’ll repeat the break time song-and-dance that we did the previous day. Leaving DHS earlier than leaving MK will come in handy, as tonight’s reservation is a bit earlier.

We’ll have dinner at 6 at the Yachtsman Steakhouse! The last time we were here, I totally ordered the wrong thing and was totally bummed about our trip ending and some personal stuff, so I did not end up enjoying the meal as much as I should have. This time, however, I will definitely be ordering a filet! I hope they’re agreeable to the changes I want to make-- essentially, I want it to have the sides/herb butter of the hanger steak, but with the filet. And I’ll definitely need to pay for the side of truffle mac and cheese OOP! Not to mention a few of those glorious onion rolls with garlic...Yes, they’ll need to roll me out of the restaurant! I’ll probably be skipping dessert, as nothing really jumps out at me. Zach will be having pretty much the same meal he had in 2009-- the porterhouse with fries and the chocolate/peanut butter dessert. I hope he’s not disappointed with the new dessert, as he counts the trio from 2009 as the best dessert he’s ever had, ever!

After dinner, our plans are shockingly flexible! I am thinking we’ll either stroll through Epcot, hit some WS countries and check out the line for TT OR take the bus from YC to MK and watch Wishes. The planner in me is having a hard time with this, but the other part of me is just saying...let it go! I think Zach will love being able to decide what we feel like doing in the moment. (And I need to promise myself not to nag him a million times during dinner about which park he’d rather do!)



Either way, this will be a relatively relaxing night! I always feel like we never hit rides at night, but that’s really because we get so much done during the day! Nighttime is for shows and shopping and general wandering and soaking up the atmosphere!

 

[Mrs T 2009]

Your DHS plans sound great!!!
I agree that back lot express isn't very good!

Yay to finding where the ribs are now living! Haha

You shouldn't have a problem with substitutions at yachtsman! I LOVE eating there!!!

For our Disneyland trip, I haven't played out ANYTHING yet! Haha!
I do know they say that everyone focuses on Carsland, so TSM has no waiting! So sending the hubs to get fp for cars ride, and ride tsm as much as possible!

 

[abbybeth]

Sounds like another great day planned! The Writer's Stop is on my list for this trip as I've never managed to get a snack from there - I think two stops are in order because I want to try both the red velvet cupcake and the carrot cake cookie!

Sounds like we all might need to get our BatB fix by the end of the year. Yet another round of rumors has it being axed "after the holiday season" .... granted, rumors are about as reliable as quicksand, but still....

 

[Dancegrl624]

Sounds like a fun day! However, I would totally grab FP's for Toy Story BEFORE you go through the Standby line. Last Sept, they had CM's stationed at each FP machine and they made the lines move super fast (nothing is worse than getting behind a guest who has NO idea how to use a FP machine). With they way they have been letting guests in before the official opening time has made the dash to TSMM go away. Everyone still pretty much heads in that direction, but it doesn't feel like a stampede anymore.

 

[klacey1]

Your DHS plans sound great!!!
I agree that back lot express isn't very good!

Yay to finding where the ribs are now living! Haha

You shouldn't have a problem with substitutions at yachtsman! I LOVE eating there!!!

For our Disneyland trip, I haven't played out ANYTHING yet! Haha!
I do know they say that everyone focuses on Carsland, so TSM has no waiting! So sending the hubs to get fp for cars ride, and ride tsm as much as possible!

That sounds like a great plan for DL!! I'm dying to head out there-- Carsland looks amazing! However, I can't wrap my head around a TSMM without a FP line!!

Sounds like another great day planned! The Writer's Stop is on my list for this trip as I've never managed to get a snack from there - I think two stops are in order because I want to try both the red velvet cupcake and the carrot cake cookie!

Sounds like we all might need to get our BatB fix by the end of the year. Yet another round of rumors has it being axed "after the holiday season" .... granted, rumors are about as reliable as quicksand, but still....

Writer's Stop is amazing. It's just so cozy! The treats are fab-- I've never had their red velvet cupcake, but the carrot cake cookie is TDF!
Wow, that's a rumor I hadn't heard that! Like you said, who knows if that holds any weight, but I'd be incredibly sad if that were true! It's by far my favorite live show in WDW! I wonder what it'd be replaced with?!

Sounds like a fun day! However, I would totally grab FP's for Toy Story BEFORE you go through the Standby line. Last Sept, they had CM's stationed at each FP machine and they made the lines move super fast (nothing is worse than getting behind a guest who has NO idea how to use a FP machine). With they way they have been letting guests in before the official opening time has made the dash to TSMM go away. Everyone still pretty much heads in that direction, but it doesn't feel like a stampede anymore.

Thanks for the tip!! Last October, I went the week of Halloween and rode, THEN got a FP, but our return time was for around noon-1. I would love to get a FP first if it meant getting an earlier return time!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Thanks for the tip!! Last October, I went the week of Halloween and rode, THEN got a FP, but our return time was for around noon-1. I would love to get a FP first if it meant getting an earlier return time!

No problem! I would have to look back at my notes or TR, but I'm fairly certain our FP return time was around 10am last year.

Just looked at my TR...we did DHS on an EMH day and our FP return time was 8:50-9:50am!

 

[blabbermouth]

Sounds like a good DHS day. I'm defnitely going to try a carrot cake cookie if we need a snack while we're there. I think I'll play it by ear for TSMM with getting a FP first or riding first. If the FP line seems long I'll probably just ride first and not worry too much about my FP return time.

Yachtsman sounds sooooo good. And a flexible night is always a good idea. As long as your BF doesn't panic when he gets to make a decision. On our trip to Seattle I didn't have any plans on what to do after the game, and so it became my fault, instead of it being me being nice and letting the others decide. Oops!

 

[Mrs T 2009]

That sounds like a great plan for DL!! I'm dying to head out there-- Carsland looks amazing! However, I can't wrap my head around a TSMM without a FP line!

I KNOW!!! It seems odd, but I'm excited at the same time!!
TSMM and no go? Crazy!!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I'm excited to see Star Tours again. We rode it on our first trip but skipped it last trip so it's been a while. We also know nothing about Star Wars though I hope you guys get another perfect story line though!

Yay! I love BatB! Jack Sparrow is definitely one of those things to see once but chances are you guys won't feel the need to see it twice!

Glad to hear you guys enjoy Pizza Planet! I'm always wary of eating pizza anywhere other than NY but maybe it is ok to try!

Sounds like another great day!

 

[abbybeth]

Writer's Stop is amazing. It's just so cozy! The treats are fab-- I've never had their red velvet cupcake, but the carrot cake cookie is TDF!
Wow, that's a rumor I hadn't heard that! Like you said, who knows if that holds any weight, but I'd be incredibly sad if that were true! It's by far my favorite live show in WDW! I wonder what it'd be replaced with?!

well, according to the multiple rumors:

Tangled, the Musical
Princess & the Frog, the musical
part of a larger DHS renovation to lead to Star Wars Land
some type of dark ride

lots of chatter, but as always, nothing is confirmed until Disney cuts the ribbon and presents the finished product! (*cough* Contemporary Resort and Grand Floridian DVC builds *cough*)
So we'll see. If it is gone soon, I'm glad that I'll have one more chance to see it this trip!

 

[klacey1]

No problem! I would have to look back at my notes or TR, but I'm fairly certain our FP return time was around 10am last year.

Just looked at my TR...we did DHS on an EMH day and our FP return time was 8:50-9:50am!

Wow! Thanks again for the tip-- this'll definitely be our plan!

Sounds like a good DHS day. I'm defnitely going to try a carrot cake cookie if we need a snack while we're there. I think I'll play it by ear for TSMM with getting a FP first or riding first. If the FP line seems long I'll probably just ride first and not worry too much about my FP return time.

Yachtsman sounds sooooo good. And a flexible night is always a good idea. As long as your BF doesn't panic when he gets to make a decision. On our trip to Seattle I didn't have any plans on what to do after the game, and so it became my fault, instead of it being me being nice and letting the others decide. Oops!

Definitely make room for the carrot cake cookie!!
Haha, if I was being realistic, I know how our dinner at Yachtsman will go-- I'll ask Zach what he wants to do and he'll say he doesn't care, whatever I want. So really, I should just decide now.

I KNOW!!! It seems odd, but I'm excited at the same time!!
TSMM and no go? Crazy!!

Have a wonderful trip!!

I'm excited to see Star Tours again. We rode it on our first trip but skipped it last trip so it's been a while. We also know nothing about Star Wars though I hope you guys get another perfect story line though!

Yay! I love BatB! Jack Sparrow is definitely one of those things to see once but chances are you guys won't feel the need to see it twice!

Glad to hear you guys enjoy Pizza Planet! I'm always wary of eating pizza anywhere other than NY but maybe it is ok to try!

Sounds like another great day!

I love Star Tours!! Those simulator-type rides are my favorite (probably why I love Universal so much!)-- and I really don't know much about Star Wars. That's all Zach!!
Haha, trust me, I am the biggest NY pizza snob there is! It must be the Disney magic that makes me love Pizza Planet haha.

well, according to the multiple rumors:

Tangled, the Musical
Princess & the Frog, the musical
part of a larger DHS renovation to lead to Star Wars Land
some type of dark ride

lots of chatter, but as always, nothing is confirmed until Disney cuts the ribbon and presents the finished product! (*cough* Contemporary Resort and Grand Floridian DVC builds *cough*)
So we'll see. If it is gone soon, I'm glad that I'll have one more chance to see it this trip!

I guess we'll have to see! I'd really be okay with any of the above options. I understand that Disney needs to keep up with current popular movies!

 

[jenny105]

I'm like you. Total pizza snob but for some reason I absolutely love Pizza Planet. I can deal with Disney pizza!