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

[skier_pete]

WDW Trip #2: 53 days to go! I haven't really done much of planning. Mostly just trying to get a Be Our Guest ADR at random times and failing.


DCL Trip #3: Well, we booked our flights back from Fort Lauderdale, and I'm not real thrilled. Our cruise ends on Friday, February 21st, and I really wanted to stay at least until Saturday to enjoy the nice weather for longer. Well, Saturday flights have been running $350 (one-way) and Sunday return flights around $450. UGH. Well, they reduced rates on some Friday flights, and also the first flight Saturday morning. The Saturday morning flight is 6 AM, and why spend a nights hotel to just fly back home that early?

Instead we went for the Friday evening flight. Because there are eight of us, we could only get 5 flights at the lowest price ($166), when they ran out, we got the next 3 at the slightly higher price of $198. That brought us to an average price of $178. With the $135 flight down, that gets us RT right about $300, which is not terrible for the holiday week.

Just watching the prices, I am really concerned that we won't be able to get anything better. I am still watching for a move to Saturday. What really disappoints me is that it would make for a really short trip going Saturday to Friday. The only good thing is that with SWA, we can move our flights if the Saturday prices drop. I'm not holding my breath, though.

On the bright side, I ALSO planned a solo trip for myself with two of my college buddies. We've done it a few times, but it's been four years - one of them owns a place up in Whistler BC, which is the largest ski resort in North America. The other two of us are flying out to Seattle to ski for three days in March. What's nice is the lodging is free, and my buddy drives us up, so it's only flight, lift tickets and food/drink. I am probably more excited about this than either of the Disney trips (don't tell DW) - my user name is not disney_pete after all!!

 

[skier_pete]

SO, it is 44 days until our trip, but 46 days until our package starts. I made the final payment (YOUCH!) so we are pretty much committed at this point.

I STILL haven't been able to get a Be Our Guest ADR, either for Lunch (via the Disney link) or for Dinner (Regular ADR). Darn it!

However, I discovered that they are allowing me to sign up for FastPass+. Now, I must remind everyone, I specifically didn't want to sign up for Magic Bands. I need to pick up my tickets TWO days before my package starts, and the old ticket system allows for this. I do not know what happens if I pre-link my tickets to a Magic Band - so I have planned on refusing this if it is offered.

However, I went on the website, and noticed that they are now allowing FP+ reservations for the package portion of my stay. I have booked a few...I must admit, it's a pretty cool feature. There's definitely some advantages to this!

For example, on Thursday we are spending the day at Blizzard Beach, but are meeting fellow DISer Tinker326 at Epcot (Garden Grill) for dinner at 7:15 PM.

So, I booked the character spot for 5:15 PM to 6:15 PM.
I booked Soarin for 6:15 PM to 7:15 PM.
And finally booked SSE for 8 PM to 9 PM (in case we decide NOT to watch Illuminations).
So, I figure we stay at BB until about 4 PM, head over to Epcot for 5:30 PM. Go through the character connection (if we want) hit Soarin' (if we want) and then meet for dinner. Not sure if this makes sense, because we would see Mickey and Pluto twice in a very short window, but for the moment that's what we got.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Ok, I've read all your plans for your next trip!
Did I see a cruise on there too? What about the boat on the water thing?

 

[skier_pete]

Ok, I've read all your plans for your next trip!
Did I see a cruise on there too? What about the boat on the water thing?

Don't like boats - I don't think it'll bother me much on a big boat, mostly things like gangplanks and docks would be harder than the boat. We'll see. If I hate it, this'll be the one and only one we do...

 

[skier_pete]

So how many days left until our trip?? That would be





With a month to go, I thought I would give a quick overview of each days plans. Now, I have moved away from being a uberplanner to where I would plan our days out to the minute. However, I still come up with what I consider a broad outline of what I intend to do each day, and we usually stick with it about 80 % of the time.

We may be even more likely to stick with it with the availability of FP+. I spent a long time on the phone this weekend with a Disney MyMagic+ cast member after noticing that even though I hadn't signed up for them, we were being sent Magic Bands. Since we are coming in on two days of room only before our package starts and need to pick up the tickets early, I was concerned about MBs. However, after doing some research here on the DIS and then talking to the CM, the MBs should not change whether we can get the tickets for the package early, which even the CM I talked to said we should be able to do.

So, our first day is both a short one and a long one. A long one because our flight leave Buffalo at 7 AM, meaning we probably need to be in the car on the way to the airport about 5:30 AM. YAWN!

Our flights lands at MCO at 10:15 AM, and we will be hopping on the nearest ME bus that'll take us to Carribean Beach.

I usually don't trust ADRs on our first day, but we really wanted to squeeze in a meal at Tusker House, so we have a 1:35 PM ADR. This gives us 3 hours and 20 minutes to transfer to the hotel, check-in, possibly drop our bags in the room, get to the park, and then go to guest services to get early pick-up on our park tickets. There SHOULD be enough time for this - but it still makes me a little bit nervous.

So, we head to Animal Kingdom today. For years this was DDs favorite park -but just yesterday she told me MK is her favorite, because AK doesn't have enough rides. She's right of course.



The plan for the day is that hopefully we can go right in and get to our ADR. If we wrap lunch around 2:30 PM, that gives us 2 1/2 hours until the park closes.

I am not sure what we'll try to do, but they will probably included in the following list:
Kilomanjaro Safaris
Pangori Forest Trail
Jingle Jangle Jungle Parade (@ 3:45 PM)
Flights of Wonder (3 PM showing?)




Personally, I would wait on Flights of Wonder until our full AK day, but DD really loves this show and usually insists we see it twice. If that's the case, we will probably head for that after lunch, then get a spot for the parade. If I can convince her not to do it (or that we can't make it to a showing) we will probably stick with KS and the Forest Trail and then watch the parade from the start of it.

The only thing I definitely plan on doing is hitting the 5 PM Finding Nemo show. Since the park closes at 5 PM, this allows us to stretch the day out to its max. We'll be heading out of the park then about 5:40 PM, and hopefully back at our resort by 6:30 PM. Time to unpack, get some dinner, maybe a swim if its not too cold.

I told Tinker326 that I would head out to watch her and her friends run in the Wine and Dine marathon @ 10 PM, cause I thought the route went right by CBR, but I was recently trying to confirm this and now I'm not so sure. We'll see if I can get out there for it or not.

 

[skier_pete]

Epcot for final day of FOOD and WINE festival.

We did the final day two years ago as well. We were pleasantly surprised that the crowds were not really too bad.

We'll get to the park for opening or close to it. Intend to check out the "new" test track. DD likes the idea of designing the car, so we want to do this without a FP! Then we'll probably do Mission Space and maybe Ellen depending on the timing.

But basically by 11 AM we want to be heading for World Showcase and munching around the world. No other plans for the day but this!

Kind of bummed that we couldn't get the free dining to cover today. We would've had a big pile of snack credits to pay for our food. Instead, we'll be using cash to pay - I expect at least $200 in expenses today!

We will probably not stay REALLY late, maybe 7 or 8 PM. Certainly not stick around for Illuminations!

 

[Tinker326]

Pete- I can't tell if the race runs by CBR either on the map. They put the detailed map right over the resorts. Also, I'm a far back corral (2nd to last) so I probably won't even be out the gates till 11pm. So go to bed and enjoy your sleep and don't worry about holding out that mai tai for me! I appreciate the thought though.....

I will also be in EPCOT Saturday before the race.. so I'll keep my eyes open for you guys to see if I might run into you.

Oh, and before I forget.. here are our FP selections for Friday at MK & Saturday at AK:

Under the Sea FP 9:40am
StoryTime w/Belle FP 10:50am
Peter Pan FP 12:05pm
BoG Counter Service 1:30pm


Safari FP 9am
Everest FP 10:10am
Festival of LK FP 2:05pm

I worked those around so the girls could meet in boneyard play area before lunch... and then do lunch at Flame Tree together?

One month- I can't believe it!!! So excited...

 

[skier_pete]

Pete- I can't tell if the race runs by CBR either on the map. They put the detailed map right over the resorts. Also, I'm a far back corral (2nd to last) so I probably won't even be out the gates till 11pm. So go to bed and enjoy your sleep and don't worry about holding out that mai tai for me! I appreciate the thought though.....

I will also be in EPCOT Saturday before the race.. so I'll keep my eyes open for you guys to see if I might run into you.

Oh, and before I forget.. here are our FP selections for Friday at MK & Saturday at AK:

Under the Sea FP 9:40am
StoryTime w/Belle FP 10:50am
Peter Pan FP 12:05pm
BoG Counter Service 1:30pm


Safari FP 9am
Everest FP 10:10am
Festival of LK FP 2:05pm

I worked those around so the girls could meet in boneyard play area before lunch... and then do lunch at Flame Tree together?

One month- I can't believe it!!! So excited...

You are getting ahead of me! I have Story Time w/Belle @ 1:40 PM, and Peter Pan @ 3:55 PM. The third is Rapunzel at 2:50 PM. The idea being we go after the BBB appointment, which we might not do as DD is now saying she doesn't want to do it. Would you mind if we matched up the StoryTime with Belle FP+ times? I think DD would love to do that with other kids she knows.

I can't get the BOG FP+ no matter what I do. When I log on using my ressie, I get "Guest is already registered". There's no help phone # I can call.

We actually must've been thinking alike at AK. I already have the 2:05 PM FotLK FP+! I also have a Everest FP+, but for 11:35 AM. Would you mind if I moved to match you? I am thinking that the only way I might get DD on that ride is if she rode with someone else that wanted to. Perhaps we could meet you over there, and then do the boneyard after...

Our other FP is for Kali late in the day. (I prefer riding Kali just before leaving the park.) We will probably be at the 9 AM Safari, but we are usually on the 2nd or 3rd car without ever having a FP.

 

[Tinker326]

You are getting ahead of me! I have Story Time w/Belle @ 1:40 PM, and Peter Pan @ 3:55 PM. The third is Rapunzel at 2:50 PM. The idea being we go after the BBB appointment, which we might not do as DD is now saying she doesn't want to do it. Would you mind if we matched up the StoryTime with Belle FP+ times? I think DD would love to do that with other kids she knows.

I booked Rapunzel our other day at MK. Sure - match up StoryTime with Belle with us- that'd be great!!

I can't get the BOG FP+ no matter what I do. When I log on using my ressie, I get "Guest is already registered". There's no help phone # I can call.

Bummer- I was so excited to get this...

We actually must've been thinking alike at AK. I already have the 2:05 PM FotLK FP+! I also have a Everest FP+, but for 11:35 AM. Would you mind if I moved to match you? I am thinking that the only way I might get DD on that ride is if she rode with someone else that wanted to. Perhaps we could meet you over there, and then do the boneyard after...

My two are still iffy riding Everest as well. B rode it before (we bribed her with a pin) and SAYS she's going to do it again but she's a bit of a chicken.... so who knows. S was too short last time but she is my daredevil...she says she's NOT going to ride it but she's also the one that rides all the big coasters at Great America...so I think she will.... maybe. Either way... Grandma is NOT riding it along with itty bitty...so she's the chicken exit (i.e- babysitter) for all those not brave enough to conquer the mountain!! Hahahaha!!! we can move ours to 11:35 as well- I have no preference... I was just trying to arrange it early to make sure we built in time for the Boneyard.

Our other FP is for Kali late in the day. (I prefer riding Kali just before leaving the park.) We will probably be at the 9 AM Safari, but we are usually on the 2nd or 3rd car without ever having a FP.

Yhea, we usually head to Safari first too and have no problem getting on easy- I should probably change this to something else..... however it won't be Kali. I hate getting soaked!

 

[skier_pete]

I booked Rapunzel our other day at MK. Sure - match up StoryTime with Belle with us- that'd be great!!

I'll check later on this. Maybe I'll try and match PP also. I don't want to seem like we are going to try and follow you around all day...but think it would be fun to spend a little time together. This might be a good opportunity as it is walkthrough and kid participation.

My two are still iffy riding Everest as well. B rode it before (we bribed her with a pin) and SAYS she's going to do it again but she's a bit of a chicken.... so who knows. S was too short last time but she is my daredevil...she says she's NOT going to ride it but she's also the one that rides all the big coasters at Great America...so I think she will.... maybe. Either way... Grandma is NOT riding it along with itty bitty...so she's the chicken exit (i.e- babysitter) for all those not brave enough to conquer the mountain!! Hahahaha!!! we can move ours to 11:35 as well- I have no preference... I was just trying to arrange it early to make sure we built in time for the Boneyard.

Already moved this one to match yours for now. Could always do it close to 11 AM. DD has been saying "no way" but a few weeks ago seemed to think she wanted to do it. I think it's quite likely she won't. Probably would be good to roll Everest -> Boneyard -> Flame Tree -> FotLK if we want to be together that long, so maybe 11 AM - Noon would be a better Everest Time slot. DW probably won't do Everest anyways...she's done it once but that's enough!

Something like:
11:30 AM Meet @ Everest (Those willing to try.)
Noon Boneyard
1 PM Flame Tree
2 PM FotLK

What do you think?

Yhea, we usually head to Safari first too and have no problem getting on easy- I should probably change this to something else..... however it won't be Kali. I hate getting soaked!

Not a fan of Kali here either - but DD says she wants to get us on it and get us all wet! If that's the case, I want it to be the last thing we do before heading back to the hotel to change for dinner. Not a lot of FP+ selection in that park.

 

[Tinker326]

Moved my Everest FP to the 11-12 timeframe. The plan sounds good!

 

[skier_pete]

Moved my Everest FP to the 11-12 timeframe. The plan sounds good!

OK - I moved our Everest FP+ to match that. 11 AM to 12 PM. That should be cool, that way we don't have to try and work up meeting up first thing in the morning, we can do our own things the first few hours and then meet for those others starting at Everest.

I also moved our Enchanted Tales with Belle. I couldn't match your 10:50 AM time frame. The best I could do was 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM, which would give us a 20 minute overlap on times. The other choice I was given was 10:05 AM to 11:05 AM, which would've been only a 15 minute overlap. I try again later, as I've noticed that the choices they give you change from time to time.

 

[skier_pete]

For those that missed it - I posted Day 2 plans on Wednesday. (I didn't update the report title.) On Wednesday I landed rather badly on my ankle at tennis. I don't think it's broken but it is extremely bruised and swollen and I can't really walk on it. Ugh. I missed two days of work now, and the doctor said that we should wait a few days to see if the pain continues to subside and the swelling goes down. If it continues to hurt after that, I should come in for an x-ray in case there is a hairline fracture.

In addition we've been getting Mickey Mail like crazy, and I am very nervous about this whole magic band thing. I get a letter in the mail that says I have until October 29th to customize my magic bands while at the same time I'm getting an e-mail saying they've already shipped. I can't imagine what people might be thinking that don't already know what's going on! Of course we are also getting two sets of everything, which is bloody stupid, but if that's how they want to handle packages, then go right ahead disney!

Anyways, on to Day 3 plans. Today is the day our "package" starts, so we start on the dining plan. I am hoping we won't have to change rooms. (We've never had to move before for a split stay.)

At night we have the MVMCP, but regardless of how I planned out the trip, I couldn't find a sensible way to do another park today. So, we are going to spend a little time in the morning by the pool. DD would be excited if they let her open the slides again. Last time they dressed her up like this:




I was hoping to get Be Our Guest reservations for dinner this day, but so far - no luck. So instead, I decided to book a late morning breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. We've done dinner there, but never breakfast, and I kind of like the idea of Mary Poppins and Alice as a little bit of a different character experience. This is around 11:30 AM.

After that, we will head over to Magic Kingdom. If we get there around 1 PM, we'll have close to 11 hours in the park, which is plenty of time.

Fastpass+ bookings:
12:30 - 1:30 PM Jungle Crusie
2:20 PM to 3:20 PM Buzz Lightyear
3:30 PM to 4:30 PM Space mountain

My rough plan is to enter the park and head to Adventureland and do Jungle Cruise and the Tiki Birds and maybe Pirates if the wait isn't too long. Then we'll cross over to Tomorrowland and do the rides there in the late afternoon. We'll get some dinner prior to the party starting.

We've never done a MVMCP before, but we did a MNSSHP and the experience was extremely dissappointing. Long lines for the character intereactions and big crowds for the parades and fireworks totally turned me off to pay all that extra money for the biggest crowds and longest lines we saw all that week. I honestly wouldn't have chosen to do the party, we actually saw the parade and show back in 2009 during regular christmas.





However, DD wanted to do it, and DW was willing to pay, so I said yes based on a few things:

1) We can go to a low crowd party - which this one should be.
2) We do not waste time waiting to meet characters (DD doesn't really like meeting characters as she has become too shy around them).
3) We take advantage of the ride lines and get on at least 5-10 rides (we did a grand total of 3 rides during the MNSSHP).

So, my plan is to see the parade, fireworks and castle show during the party, but NOT get there early for a "good seat". We will do other things, and then show up for the fireworks 10 minutes beforehand.

I intend for us to hit most of the Fantasyland rides during the party, as well as hopefully HM and BTMRR. This strategy should get us through almost all the rides in the park today, leaving our second MK day for a more leisurely time.

Will we stay all the way until midnight? Not sure, but probably pretty late. The next day is our "off" day anyways.

 

[khertz]

I hope your MVMCP experience is better than your MNSSHP! Skipping characters should help. I don't remember there being any super special character greetings I just HAD to do at the Christmas party. Love the parade though!

 

[skier_pete]

I hope your MVMCP experience is better than your MNSSHP! Skipping characters should help. I don't remember there being any super special character greetings I just HAD to do at the Christmas party. Love the parade though!

Oh, we'll definitely be catching the parade and fireworks.

It's true I can't think of any "special" character meets. They might have there winter/Christmas clothes on, but I don't think we consider that a "must do".

 

[skier_pete]

We are up to Tuesday,the day after the Christmas Party, so we need to mellow out a bit. We try to build in one "day off" in our trips, usually somewhere in the middle, though they are almost never truly completely off as we usually end up in a park for the evening. However, this year I actually resisted planning any park time, so we are planning on spending the day at the resort. DD is really excited to do the "Pirate Cruise" again. This is a 2-hour event for kids where they go on a boat and search for treasure.



My plan is to take that time to grab a hammock and a nap!



We'll probably hang by the pool for much of the afternoon.

This is the only evening I've set aside for DTD. Other than the Lego store, DD and I have no interest in shopping.





We do have dinner booked at Bongo's at 6:30 PM. I let DW and DD pick the restaurant, and this is what they picked. It's something new for us, which I am always up for, so willing to give it a try.

Hopefully we get there early enough to do the Lego store before dinner, because I noticed we get TWO free passes for Disney Quest in our package. This is why I thought AFTER dinner DD and I could check out Disney Quest for a couple of hours while DW did more shopping. Hopefully not too late a night tonight, as back to rope drop tomorrow!

 

[PrincessInOz]

OK - I moved our Everest FP+ to match that. 11 AM to 12 PM. That should be cool, that way we don't have to try and work up meeting up first thing in the morning, we can do our own things the first few hours and then meet for those others starting at Everest.

I also moved our Enchanted Tales with Belle. I couldn't match your 10:50 AM time frame. The best I could do was 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM, which would give us a 20 minute overlap on times. The other choice I was given was 10:05 AM to 11:05 AM, which would've been only a 15 minute overlap. I try again later, as I've noticed that the choices they give you change from time to time.

Depending on how the time goes, you could always try hitting the CM together and seeing if they are "friendly" or not. They can override the FP+ at the scanner. And if they see that you have a FP+ for a little later, they might let you in together.



I note that you're a little nervous about the Magic Bands. They worked great for me from the moment we stopped up for DME to the night of MNSSHP. The only issue was with the tix for MNSSHP. I had ordered them Will Call and Disney, in their wisdom, decided to add them onto my MB. So when I went to collect, I almost had a heart attack when the CM told me that the tickets had been picked up.

I had to go to the Guest Relations booth at MK to sort it out. And then when they looked at my FP+ booked for BEFORE 4 pm, there was all sort of systems issues on screen. But it all worked out when I got to the ride scanners and I got issued a card for my MNSSHP tickets at Guest Relations. So, it was all good in the end.
Anyway, I'm rambling.

I didn't link any Credit Card details to my MB. I bought a F&W gift card for that and kept topping it up with $$ for my purchases around the parks.

And for your Epcot morning and Test Track, I would recommend that if you have FP+ to spare and are planning on using it at Epcot that day, book it. The FP+ queue allows you to design your car. It's the single rider queue that doesn't.

And if it really matters to you, go to the back of TT where the cars are on display. There are a number of terminals there that allow you to design your car there, scan it on your MB and then the MB will store the design for the entire day.

 

[Tinker326]

I've done both the Halloween Party & the Christmas Party. With the experiences we've had (and all are subject to personal opinion, obviously) I actually liked the Halloween Party better than the Christmas Party.

That being said, I will probably never willingly pay to do either again. I think they are way overpriced for what you get & the crowds were worse than the park during the day. Forget about seeing characters- lines are like an hour long....

The only thing we really, truely loved was the parade for both (which, i think, they also do in the parks closer to the date?) and the free cookies/milk (let's face it- we can buy those much cheaper than paying for a ticket)..... I also loved the snow on Main Street which was probably my favorite part of the Christmas Party.

Hopefully you find the opposite to be true & that you enjoy the Christmas Party better than the Halloween Party.

That pirate cruise looks like fun- My middle girl would LOVE it.....

Great plans so far! We are so close- hard to believe!!!

 

[skier_pete]

I note that you're a little nervous about the Magic Bands. They worked great for me from the moment we stopped up for DME to the night of MNSSHP. The only issue was with the tix for MNSSHP.

And for your Epcot morning and Test Track, I would recommend that if you have FP+ to spare and are planning on using it at Epcot that day, book it. The FP+ queue allows you to design your car. It's the single rider queue that doesn't.

And if it really matters to you, go to the back of TT where the cars are on display. There are a number of terminals there that allow you to design your car there, scan it on your MB and then the MB will store the design for the entire day.

Well, what I am nervous about is getting my tickets before the start of the package. From my understanding this can be problematic at the best of times, and who knows what MB will throw into the mix.

Already seen these complications from MB:

1) Getting everything twice from Disney - because we have a 2-night room only and a 7-day package, they are doing everything twice. Even though I realized this before anyting was sent out, they won't allow me to change it. I HAVE to get sent two sets of MBs as well as two sets of letters telling me how to use them.

2) I'll point out the first set of reservations (Nov 9 -11th) have no tickets attached. The letters all tell me how I can go on and book our FP+, but of course when I try to do this, it tells me I don't have a valid ticket for these dates (which is of course correct). So, what exactly do they think I'm going to do with these MB that aren't connected to any tickets? Wear them just so I can get in and out of my room?

3) Both sets of mailers (Snail mail AND e-mail) I've gotten for the magic bands have indicated that I have until October 30th to customize my magic bands. However, on-line they gave me until October 10th. I have gotten mailers telling me to go on-line and customize my magic bands AFTER I have already received the MB in the mail.

4) When talking to the MDE CM they told me I only need to bring one set of the MBs, and that I should have no problem linking the package ticket early. You'll excuse me if I don't fully trust either of these things to be true.

For my sake, I am very lucky that I know and understand what exactly is going on. Someone else with no knowledge of DME/MB/FP+ would be totally befuddled by this mess. So far, none of this goofball stuff has really affected the trip. But, yes it is making me nervous.

We have the hard tickets already for MVMCP, and have already been told NOT to link it to our MB.

As far as TT goes...well, we can't book a FP+ for that date yet, and if we are lucky we might be able to the day before. I am not worried about it if we hit TT at rope drop. I have a second TT FP+ booked for a later date.

I've done both the Halloween Party & the Christmas Party. With the experiences we've had (and all are subject to personal opinion, obviously) I actually liked the Halloween Party better than the Christmas Party.

That being said, I will probably never willingly pay to do either again. I think they are way overpriced for what you get & the crowds were worse than the park during the day. Forget about seeing characters- lines are like an hour long....

The only thing we really, truely loved was the parade for both (which, i think, they also do in the parks closer to the date?) and the free cookies/milk (let's face it- we can buy those much cheaper than paying for a ticket)..... I also loved the snow on Main Street which was probably my favorite part of the Christmas Party.

Hopefully you find the opposite to be true & that you enjoy the Christmas Party better than the Halloween Party.

That pirate cruise looks like fun- My middle girl would LOVE it.....

Great plans so far! We are so close- hard to believe!!!

Too bad you can't join us for the pirate cruise. I don't think your girls will have arrived yet.

I think I agree with your assessment of the Halloween vs Christmas Party. We've done most of the Christmas stuff for free before (in 2009) so the idea of paying $60 for a repeat kind of chaps me. The Halloween parade was definitely the best part about THAT party - and we ended up waiting like 45 minutes so we could get a good spot for it. The crowds were crazy big, not only the biggest of THAT trip, but probably the biggest of any trip we've done in the last few years. However, I admit we didn't go for rides, we went for Characters and all the special stuff, and there was enough of it to occupy the full 5 hours (which went by very fast) but honestly MNSSHP was the only time I've ever felt extremely ripped off by Disney.

In this case, DW is paying for the tickets, so I just plan on enjoying it!

 

[Tinker326]

Oh, I forgot to say that I'm extremely nervous about the MB as well...

My problem is I have THREE reservations under my name (the race one with my cousin/sister-in-law, then two rooms at AKL for the family trip). So that means THREE set of MB. I have one set of tickets bought for 7 day passes. I was buying seperate pass for the day we go to a park pre-race (not in system). The 7 day pass was for the family vacation.

Well Disney linked 3 of my 7 days to my race trip. And 4 of my days to the family trip. Leaving me unable to book ANY FP+ for anyone except my mother on those other days of the family tirp. My mother's ticket is fully booked during her stay (correctly).

I was told that it shouldn't do that, but it's yet ot be fixed (i'm in the que apparently) but to just make FP+ for my mother and they can move it over at Disney.

I'm still very nervous wiht that happening.

ALso- likeyou- I've already RECIEVED my MB (all three sets) and yet just got mails yesterday telling me to customize before Nov 1st. What? Really DIsney? Get your act together.... this MB thing is a mess still!!!