Hitting the Disney trifecta! a Nov 2013 PTR-and then some!(2/21-Trip #3 return!)

[skier_pete]

Of COURSE I have plans. There is TYPE A imbedded in my name.

Can't you see it? Ni(TYPE A)cole

You have to be to go into my field (accounting).

I was just about to pull up the best days on easywdw and compare to my plan. But before doing it- here is my tentative list:

Sat 11/9- Resort (prepping for race!) & running race.
Sun 11/10- Epcot till 4am, drink..eat & be merry. Resort hang
Mon 11/11- Universal
Tues 11/12- by self till family arrives in evening- thinking Epcot Countries
Wed 11/13- MK- Gotta start there
Thur 11/14- Epcot
Friday 11/15- HS
Sat 11/16- MK
Sun 11/17- AK
Mon 11/18- Epcot

Probably do DD on AK day.

Hmmm - at the moment doesn't seem like we have any overlap at all. That would be too bad. Might have to take a closer look...I could possibly move HS to Friday - but I hate not having that Friday for MK. We've done MK on the Fridays when they have parties, and it is soooo empty all morning.

When you say Epcot until 4 AM - that's 4 AM Saturday into Sunday, right? It's not open until 4 AM Sunday night?

 

[Tinker326]

I just looked at the best days recommendation and switched two of my days.

Moving AK to Saturday 11/16 & MK (2nd round) to Sunday 11/17 (they were reversed)

I also, can possibly move. I have nothing set in stone really. I really wanted hit MK first because to me, that's the magic money start..... but otherwise.. eh- nothing has to be anywhere for me (just avoiding the magic hours usually).

Have to see your 'big reveal' of days.


Yes, late night Saturday night into Sunday morning. (the race party). I plan to be at Jellyrolls Sunday night!

 

[skier_pete]

I just looked at the best days recommendation and switched two of my days.

Moving AK to Saturday 11/16 & MK (2nd round) to Sunday 11/17 (they were reversed)

I also, can possibly move. I have nothing set in stone really. I really wanted hit MK first because to me, that's the magic money start..... but otherwise.. eh- nothing has to be anywhere for me (just avoiding the magic hours usually).

Have to see your 'big reveal' of days.


Yes, late night Saturday night into Sunday morning. (the race party). I plan to be at Jellyrolls Sunday night!

I'm gonna PM you...

 

[PrincessInOz]

Seems like there is only one plan now.


Good score on the plane tix.

 

[skier_pete]

Seems like there is only one plan now.


Good score on the plane tix.

One plan that is being re-written daily at the moment!

 

[PrincessInOz]

One plan that is being re-written daily at the moment!

That's the nature of plans. They are wrong the moment you write them down.

 

[skier_pete]

That's the nature of plans. They are wrong the moment you write them down.

I usually do get to a point where they are pretty solid. I THOUGHT I was there a week ago though.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

I'm with you on the not hopping-and every dollar saved is a dollar that can be spent on something else you will get better personal "value" out of. Glad to see the plans firming up nicely.

 

[Tinker326]

I usually do get to a point where they are pretty solid. I THOUGHT I was there a week ago though.

But it's a fun 'tweak'.

 

[skier_pete]

A couple assumptions about this plan:

This plan assumes we are staying at Carribean Beach Resort. DD really wants to go back there, and I admit though DW and I would probably prefer POFQ, but CBR is a lot of fun, so I am OK with this. This also assumes that Free Dining is not QSFD, and which point we might end up with a downgrade to a value.







This plan includes free dining (standard DDP) for all 9 hotel stay days. It truly could withstand NOT getting free dining, which would involve the cancelation of several of our TS entries. I will point out which ones would get the axe in that light.

This plan does NOT include hopping. We very rarely have hopped in the past, but at first I decided to give it a try this trip to try for one main reason – the pre-booking of Fast Passes using FP+. It seemed to me that you could easily hop to a park in the afternoon, and have your FP attractions booked for that park. But as the plan came together, the number of days we would actually hop started to dwindle, and now I am back at my usual no hopping spot. This also allows me to keep the same plan whether free dining is a go or not.
This plan assumes arrival on Saturday morning (November 9th) and departure late in the day on Monday, November 18th.

We will attend the MVMCP. I am starting to think we might do this even without free dining. The hoppers would be the first to go if free dining goes.

Day 1 - Arrival Day (Saturday) – early flight Buffalo -> Orlando. With luck we can get a direct flight and land by 11 AM. We’ll take ME to the hotel and check-in. Since our room probably won’t be ready, we will stow our bags whatever they let us, and then head over to Animal Kingdom for a few hours.





More than likely we will catch one of the shows (maybe Nemo). I am assuming Festival of the Lion King will still be running, but there’s a possibility that they could be switching to the new theater, in which case we wouldn’t be able to see that. Maybe catch the parade just prior to our Dinner at Tusker House at around 4:30 PM. We love the lunch/dinner food at Tusker House, but have never been since they added characters late in the day. Beyond that, we are thinking an early return to the hotel to relax and swim with a slight possibility we head over to DTD to check out Festival of the Masters.

Day 2 – Sunday Full day @ Epcot to enjoy Food and Wine.



Right now, with the amount of meal credits we have, we’ve scheduled an early Breakfast at Akershus. We’ve never eaten there before for breakfast, and it’s a good chance to get to see a bunch of princesses with no wait. We definitely would only do this with free dining, though.



After that, we’ll head back to future world and probably check out the new Test Track at rope drop, followed by a trip to the Living Seas.



We’ll head back to World Showcase by noon, and eat and drink our way around the world. Likely we will start by going right (to Canada) as in 2011 we started Left and 2010 we started Right.

Day 3 – Monday – Today is the day I decided should be the least crowded MVMCP. Because it will be a late night tonight, my thought here is that we start out with a lazy morning, maybe see if DD can get to open up the slides again. (She did in 2011.)



Probably leave the resort around lunch-time and to head over to Magic Kigdom. Assuming FP+ is a functioning process, we’ll be prepared for the late arrival at the park and also do some of the less popular attractions in combination with that. An early dinner (4:30-5 PM?) at Be Our Guest. This is the first meal that would stay if we took this same trip without Free Dining. Regardless, we will want to eat at Be Our Guest. The Evening is for MVMCP at MK. However, outside of the parade, fireworks and castle show, the plan is to hit some rides tonight and not worry about meeting characters. I want to enjoy the short lines.







Day 4 – The late night last night means today is gonna be our OFF day. It’s a little early in the trip for one, but I think it will work out well. Mostly, we’ll hang at resort. DD wants to do the Pirates adventure cruise again if we are staying at CBR.



Lunch at the resort and more time by the pool. Hopefully a day we rarely manage to do – a relaxing day at WDW. In the evening (around 5 PM?) we’ll head over to Downtown Disney. I gave DW the choice of restaurants and she picked Bongo’s Cuban Café. This meal would also probably drop out with no free dining. We don’t want this to be a late-night either, as we have an early start on Wednesday. DD and I just want to hit the lego store and that’s it. DW can stay all night if she wishes!



What I really like about the plan so far: it’s easy to burn out on a Disney trip, but I really like our pace here. First day not too hectic, one pretty long day on Sunday, but then the next day we “sleep in” before the party at night, and then the 4th day is a day off. To me, it gets us to the midpoint of the trip without being really tired out yet. Plus it gets DD some pool time early. (DD would probably rather spend the whole trip at the pool.)


Day 5 – Wednesday: Our only DHS day and definitely a rope drop day. We are not real big on this park, but there is definitely enough there to fill the day. In particular I look forward to lunch at the Sci-Fi, a favorite of mine. Because of the price, this will likely stay in place regardless of the free dining. We also enjoy TSMM of course, but in particular one of the main reasons to wait this late in the year to go is to see the Osborne lights. I really, really want to catch the lights coming on this year.





We don’t care about Fantasmic so much as a family, so we will probably skip this.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great plans, Pete. I've never stayed at CBR and it looks great for kids. I sure hope that FD comes through for you.

 

[Tinker326]

Oh, I love that you added pictures to your 'plan'. I have to remember to do that for mine as well. It really adds to it!

Great plans so far!!! A few of your resturants we have on our list as well. Akershus for breakfast, BOG (probably for lunch though), and possible Sci-Fi. For sure we are doing PrimeTime. Debating if I want to add both in the one day we are there. Might be too much............

Staying at the CBR will help you get in your 'cruise' mode as well.

 

[skier_pete]

Great plans, Pete. I've never stayed at CBR and it looks great for kids. I sure hope that FD comes through for you.

Thanks! I was only moderately (pun intended!) enthused for CBR when we tried it in 2011, I was concerned about the size of the resort. We lucked into a preferred room which helped a lot, but even so I really liked it a lot. All Disney resorts seem to me to have such top-notch service, but I especially liked all the kids oriented stuff at the resort.

The unfortunate thing for early planners like us is those discounts don't usually come out enough in advance, so you have to plan the trip with the hope that free dining comes. My estimate shows that we would pay $2,800 for the 9-night package @ CBR - tickets, hotel, dining - with FD. If there is no FD and we switch to a room only ADR, budgeting $125 a day for food (DDP would be $167 per day for the three of us) would be $3,100 at a value. Even if FD ended up being QSDP free, the upgrade at a mod would be about $3,300, which I think would just fit in our budget. What WON'T fit in our budget is the moderate (assume 20% off) without FD -even using the $125 a day budget we'd be talking $3,700 .

So it's really - Moderate with a free dining deal, Value without. Truthfully, either plan works fine with us, but more TS meals are better!

Oh, I love that you added pictures to your 'plan'. I have to remember to do that for mine as well. It really adds to it!

Well, I try and throw some pictures in there to keep it interesting - I think people have an easier time reading through your plans if you break it up that way.

Great plans so far!!! A few of your resturants we have on our list as well. Akershus for breakfast, BOG (probably for lunch though), and possible Sci-Fi. For sure we are doing PrimeTime. Debating if I want to add both in the one day we are there. Might be too much............

I am concerned about getting into BOG for lunch. I don't want to have to wait in long lines for a CS experience. We may still try to do both, though.

I wouldn't do both PrimeTime and Sci-Fi in the same day, in general I don't want to do TWO TS period in the same day. It's too much food. I personally prefer the Sci-Fi, but I love those old cheesy movies. We tried '50s Primetime for the first time last time and really had a good time. However, we had a great waitress. It's really an experience that depends a lot on the "show" provided by your server.

Staying at the CBR will help you get in your 'cruise' mode as well.

Ha, I didn't think of that. We haven't told DD about the cruise, we may wait until Christmas. That'll be a lot of "Carribean" in a short time!

 

[skier_pete]

Apparently ABD has bigger treats than a WDW trip right from the start. We had been told about "the box" but today I am home from work and this appears at the front door with a ding-dong-ditch from the UPS guy.



What's inside it? Wouldn't you like to know! Well, wouldn't I like to know, as I told DW that we would open it together when it arrives.

So for now I will leave you in suspense.

 

[PrincessInOz]

So it's really - Moderate with a free dining deal, Value without. Truthfully, either plan works fine with us, but more TS meals are better!

I sure hope you get the moderate with FD.

Apparently ABD has bigger treats than a WDW trip right from the start. We had been told about "the box" but today I am home from work and this appears at the front door with a ding-dong-ditch from the UPS guy.



What's inside it? Wouldn't you like to know! Well, wouldn't I like to know, as I told DW that we would open it together when it arrives.

So for now I will leave you in suspense.

 

[skier_pete]

I forgot to take a picture of the contents...I will get to it.

To be honest, It's less exciting than the box itself.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I forgot to take a picture of the contents...I will get to it.

To be honest, It's less exciting than the box itself.

At least you got a picture of the box.

 

[Tinker326]

Apparently ABD has bigger treats than a WDW trip right from the start. We had been told about "the box" but today I am home from work and this appears at the front door with a ding-dong-ditch from the UPS guy.



What's inside it? Wouldn't you like to know! Well, wouldn't I like to know, as I told DW that we would open it together when it arrives.

So for now I will leave you in suspense.

Oh my- that box looks awesome! I would kinda want to carry the box around just for fun. Even if the contents inside were not that great! (But I still and excited to hear what those contents were......come on spill........)

 

[skier_pete]

SPOILER ALERT - DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU DON"T WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS IN THE BOX!!!


























































Sorry for the delay in posting this - but I took photos that for some reason didn't upload on Wednesday. Tried again last night, and here you go. Drumroll please!



Yes, the box contained:
Two foldable knapsacks and a booklet with information about our trip! Woohoo!

And the booklet contained....


Tags for our bags and gatutity envelopes for the guides!!!!

There was also details about what to pack, weather notes, a detailed itinerary (though no more detailed than what we already knew) and that's about it.

So - to make up for that letdown - I'm gonna also post the second half of our WDW trip plan in the next post!

 

[skier_pete]

Day 6 – Thursday: This day has changed quite a bit with planning. Originally it was the water park day, then I tried to squeeze in DHS since it’s a short day there. But when the hopper was dropped, we went back to Blizzard Beach. That makes this another sort of “sleep in” day as the water parks don’t open until 10 AM. DD has never been to BB and DW and I have only been once – 16 years ago. November is usually refurb time for the water parks, and usually Typhoon Lagoon goes first, so BB would be the only choice. We still have one more “And More” option left from our non-expiring tickets back in 2008 – though DD has two! We will probably stay at the water park until around 4PM, then head back to the hotel to change. Another effect of dropping the hopper was to move dinner at The Garden Grille to tonight, meaning we are using a park day essentially to have dinner. However, I told DD she can pick ONE restaurant for dinner on the trip and she chose this one, so we will eat here whether we are on free dining or not!



We are meeting another on-line DIS family (Hey Tinker326!) for dinner as well. They have daughters very similar in age to our DD, and hopefully it will be chance for her to have some interaction with kids her own age. Depending on how we feel, and on how FP+ works, I think we will hit a couple of rides before we leave the park tonight – maybe we will continue to spend a little time with Tinker326 and her family. I could even foresee this as a good Illuminations night – so maybe we will use a FP+ for that!

Day 7 - I love Fridays @ Magic Kingdom when there is a party scheduled that night. Notice this is only our 2nd time at MK so far this trip – with the party night being the first – so it will be our first MK rope drop almost a week into the trip! A lot of what we do this day will depend on what have already done. I could foresee a return to some favorites (Peter Pan and Jungle Cruise first among them). With the party at night – the crowds seem to arrive around 4 PM on these days, so I thought this would be dinner at O’hana (MVMCP is tonight – so an early night likely). We’ve actually never eaten at O’Hana – it’s been on the list for years and years. Without free dining, we will likely have to wait another year to try this, and instead we might just return to our hotel for dinner.

Day 8 - Saturday – Most of the day will be spent at Animal Kingdom.



We have a pretty fixed pattern for DAK, safari first thing and then the Pangori animal trails, then to Rafiki’s planet watch for the animal procedures. Maybe DD will want to get her face painted again:



We again hope to meet up with Tinker326 and her family for the kids to play in the boneyard, and maybe even we could grab lunch together, but probably only if they are willing to give FlameTree BBQ a try, because that is our favorite QS in Animal Kingdom!

We probably won’t make too long a day of it, as we are hoping for an evening out for mom and dad – we would drop DD off at the Yacht Club’s kids club (assuming they allow this, I am not sure if you have to be a registered guest to use the kids’ clubs) if it’s not too late maybe an hour or two at Jellyrolls before picking up DD and heading back to the hotel.

Day 9 – Oddly enough, we end up with identical weekends, DAK on Saturday, and Epcot on Sunday. Actually, Epcot is a great Sunday park, as though you still have weekend crowds, the crowds at Epcot are never as bad. Again, more time at Future World.



I think it is possible we either come in a little late after a morning swim, or either that take a mid-day break. Either way, we are getting towards the end of the trip and expect a more laid-back pace. Dinner at Chefs De France, perhaps?

Day 10 – Time to go home. If we are able to book a later flight (6 PM or so) we will hopefully head out to an early ADR at Crystal Palace, the restaurant that is one of our rare “traditions”.



My plan would be to hit maybe 4-5 rides before heading back to the hotel. We get some additional pool time after checking out of the hotel, and then catch the ME for the long trip home again.