Hop Aboard the Trip Plannin' Tram!|JAN '13 PTR|UPDATED 1/16 "OUR PLANS - DAY 3!"

[KuyaJeff]

The Trip Plannin' Tram is Pullin' Back In For Another Update!
Welome Aboard!​

It's been quite a while since we've given you an update. We've been falling behind with the bucket list countdown and lots of stuff has been happening since our last post. We've been busy finishing up the Fall Semester at school. Technically, as this post is written...Jeff is done with his finals and Idahosa only has one more to go.​

You may recall us telling you to keep yourself busy by taking a semester of college academics to help the time pass...we still stand by it. The past month and a half have really gone buy quick. We stand before you today with only 43 days to go!​

For a more up-to-date calculation, we have this much more time:​

​

The time surely has flied and it's been one of our bests semesters yet!​

Now It's Time to Get to Business!
Like we've mentioned above, tons of time has passed and things have happened...can't say that enough. The bucket list items will be covered in seperate posts, and some things are big enough worthy of their own post. Trust us. ​

Our Flight is Booked!
Hmm, I wonder which airline we booked? If you couldn't tell by the color scheme, we booked our dream flight on Virgin America. We originally told you that we would be booking on Cyber Monday hoping for the ultimate in discountage... it wasn't good enough. The only deal they had was a measely 10% off and free wi-fi to the first 3,000 people who booked that day. We felt we could do better.​

...and we did.​

The fine people at Virgin America were working with Banana Republic on Facebook. BR had a "12 Days of Joy" promo going on online and in their stores. Each night, they would announce/reveal the deal you could take advantage of either in their stores or online. Sometimes they would have a special deal for one of their "partners"; luckily, Virgin America was one of them.​

Idahosa and I saw that the deal we were patiently waiting had popped up. We had to go to a Banana Republic store and pick up a coupon with a unique code that could score us 20% off. So we jumped on it...and I scored a pretty nifty beanie to wear with it. Don't believe me? Check out the post I put on VA's Facebook page:​

The actual savings were pretty significant too. Instead of paying the posted $348 per person/RT, we only paid ~$282 per person/RT.​

Here's some more evidence to check out:​

We really did consider booking other airlines, and at one point, AirTran seemed very attractive. But for the late takeoff from LAX to MCO, and with a stop in ATL. We wanted to get there as soon as we could. So it's great that we waited for "just the right deal".​

All these savings would make my mother proud .​

Booking Disney's Magical Express!
Of course when someone books a flight to Disney World, and doesn't want to drive there from MCO, one books Magical Express!​

That's right, we'll be riding aboard that guy right above!
But instead of him pulling into Pop Century, he'll be pulling up to Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House!​

So with the Trip Plannin' Tram's cousin, the Magical Express motorcoach, it must leave once again to fetch more updates. We'll be coming back with more posts later this week and into the weekend. So until then, hang on tight!​

 

[Wannabinnc]

Hi Jeff!! Thanx for the invite on dischat. Enjoying your PTR and looking forward to more....

 

[L-Harper]

This is such a fun PTR! I'm looking forward to your return trip report!

 

[L-Harper]

I wanted to stop by and tell you that you inspired me to start my very own PTR. Now, it may not be as cool or witty as your's... but it's mine and it's started.

Stop on by!

We're going back for more... and taking a newbie with us, too! {Oct. 2013}

 

[KuyaJeff]

Hi Jeff!! Thanx for the invite on dischat. Enjoying your PTR and looking forward to more....

Thanks for stopping by! Things have been a bit busy here, but I'll try to crank out as much more posts as I can. Obviously, I'm behind on the bucket load, but I think I'll get a few of them knocked out in one giant post sometime soon!

This is such a fun PTR! I'm looking forward to your return trip report!

That really means a lot Leesa! Thanks for the awesome compliment. We aim for fun...might as well have some of it while we're waiting for the trip of all trips! Who said the planning process couldn't be just as fun as actually going?

Let's just hope we don't have too much fun so we actually take enough pics while at WDW. I think we should be set though since we have Photopass purchased.

I wanted to stop by and tell you that you inspired me to start my very own PTR. Now, it may not be as cool or witty as your's... but it's mine and it's started.

Stop on by!

We're going back for more... and taking a newbie with us, too! {Oct. 2013}

Even greater news! knowing that this PTR has inspired another to be made is amazing! Looking forward to reading it. I'll jump on it as soon as I can.

 

[KuyaJeff]

To All Who Come To This Happy PTR:
Welcome Aboard!​

With the holidays wrapping up and the New Year just around the corner, we've sure been busy. So in this post, we're going to get some help to bring you a "Triple Bucket List Whammy". That's right... we've brought everyone's favorite in-room guide, Stacey, aboard the trip plannin' tram for some quote-worthy quotes that can only be called...
"Stacey-esque"! ​

So why the "Triple Bucket List Whammy"? Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with fried chicken. But we will be letting you know 3 more things of our Disney World Bucket List! We've been behind schedule on posting, and making a bucket list probably should be part of our pre-trip bucket list. So keep your arms, hands, feet and legs in the trip plannin' tram at all times.​

#6
"Take Our Time"
We're living in a world of fastpass and running of the toy story mania fans. (Did you see what I did there? I almost didn't.) Everyone's always rushing between places and feel that there's a need to get everything done all at once. I guess part of the reason is that people often spend a relatively short amount of time in Disney World.​

I suffered a similar madness this past January at DHS. Also, this is not my pic, but check out the awesome person who did take it here.​

We have a magial 7 night/8 days to work with. Even as large as Disney World is, we think there won't be that much of a rush. It'll be one of Disney World's slowest time of years...so that'll be working toward our advantage. ​

We may be on a mission to have fun, but that doesn't mean we have to rush through it all. We are, afterall, on vacation. ​

#5
"Stay Within Budget"
This secretly should be #1. But if we worried about this too much, this would be more of an math class field trip than a vacation. Figuring out the budget is kind of fun when you think about it in Disney Terms!​

Question: If Jeff bought two Dole Whips at the cost of X and Idahosa wanted to buy three Dole Whip floats at Y, how many Dole Whips would Jeff be sharing with Idahosa?​

Answer: None (Zero, Jeff doesn't share, nor does he mess around when it comes to Dole Whips)
​

Said Dole Whip Floats...what happened to the third one?
Jeff probably ate it. ​

See, it's that simple! Unfortunately, Disney likes to deal with real world money instead of my crazy logic. So we still have to crunch the numbers. But with the Dining Plan and a wicked great deal on our room, we should be fine!​

#4
"Spend Time at our Resort"
On the last trip, Jeff noticed that there was quite a bit of people walking around Pop Century...wondering why people would stay there when there's tons of parks to explore! Towards the end of the trip, he realized that even a value resort has tons of stuff for families to do and reasons to stick around.​

He also noticed that around days 5 and 6 of his trip, that he found himself sleeping in and napping for close to 50% of the day. With one more day than the last trip, naps will be needed....even if we're young 20 somethin' college guys. ​

Well that's it for now with the bucket list...looks like we're all caught up with the "Triple Bucket List Whammy!" ​

But there's still more news to be shared:​

"WE HAVE MICKEY MAIL"​

With the help of the Little Green Men, we present to you shtuff that's shown up in the past week. It's the second best kind of mail to get besides a tax refund!​

Good thing we snatched up these little guys before the Price Is Right people did...they would have given those models a run for their money.​

I've never seen a better-presented Magical express pamphlet...​

That looks like all the updates we ahve for now...stay tuned for a semi-big announcement that the Trip Plannin' Tram will bring n a few days. (Hint, check out my signature!)​

So until next time, the Trip Plannin' Tram will be back around the parking lot before you know it!
​

 

[L-Harper]

YAY for Mickey Mail! That is WAY better than Christmas! You are getting so close now! I'm so excited for you. So Pop Century, eh? I think it's a great choice. We really do love it there!

We are having a change to our October trip... it's just going to be me and the hubby!!!!! It's going to be a shorter trip, but we'll get more done with just two adults as opposed to with 3 kids. I am bursting at the seems for October to get here.

 

[KuyaJeff]

YAY for Mickey Mail! That is WAY better than Christmas! You are getting so close now! I'm so excited for you. So Pop Century, eh? I think it's a great choice. We really do love it there!

We are having a change to our October trip... it's just going to be me and the hubby!!!!! It's going to be a shorter trip, but we'll get more done with just two adults as opposed to with 3 kids. I am bursting at the seems for October to get here.

Mickey mail is probably one of the best Christmas gifts...ever. It is pretty darn close Leesa until we're at Pop Century. Should be just as awesome as before, if not better. We have a preferred pool view booked.

October is just around the corner! It'll be here before you know it!

 

[KuyaJeff]

As we look off into the distance of
yesterday's Trip Plannin Tram...​

...we notice it's coming back, making the sharpest U-turn.
It's forgotten to drop off some news:​

We've changed our hotel!
(This is the last time, we promise.)​

DISNEY'S POP CENTURY RESORT!
Our financial situation has changed, and considered changing to a Moderate resort. However, we couldn't convince ourselves any of them would give us as big a bang fo our buck as POP would!​

So 25 days from now, we'll be finding ourselves in a preferred-pool view room. Expect us to be hopping across hourglass lake and checking out the new Art of Animation resort...maybe even using their buses in a pinch.

Look's like today's news is a pretty quick drop off from the Trip Plannin' Tram...we're almost there! Less than a quarter of a century left(see what I did there?)!

See you next time the Trip Plannin Tram comes around!​

 

[ShesAPirate]

Subbing to read later!

 

[KuyaJeff]

Hi There!
Looks like the trip plannin' tram is pulling in,
with another installment of our bucket list!​

What else do we consider a must-do at Disney World? Well, here it is...​

#3
"Eat...Eat...EAT!"

Everyone needs a few mickey waffles in their life...maybe a few dozen.​

You can bet your Dole Whips we'll be eating a lot. Instead of boring you with a long description, I'll just share some of our ADR stats:​

-We have 13 total ADRs
- 4 of them are Character Meals
-We'll be doing one Dinner Show, "Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue"
-5 of our ADRs offer a buffet
-The ADR we're most looking forward to is Boma at Disney's Aminal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House
-Two of our ADRs will be 8:05 park openings​

​

As you can see, we have quite a bit planned. to top things off we have the many unplanned Quick Service Meals and snacks that will be part of our dining plan. ​

Well that's it, another short post...but we still have tons to post! We're less than 20 days out. Don't believe me? Check out our ticker:​

​

The trip plannin' tram will be back before you know it!
​

 

[ShesAPirate]

Seems we have a some same ADRs (Tusker House, Chef Mickey's, 50s Prime Time, Crystal Palace). Can't wait to read your reviews about them!

So now that you're back at Pop, will you keep the multiple Boma ADRs? We loved Boma last trip - but only went for breakfast and were staying at AKL, so it was easy.

How much did you save, downgrading to Pop from AKL?

 

[KuyaJeff]

Seems we have a some same ADRs (Tusker House, Chef Mickey's, 50s Prime Time, Crystal Palace). Can't wait to read your reviews about them!

So now that you're back at Pop, will you keep the multiple Boma ADRs? We loved Boma last trip - but only went for breakfast and were staying at AKL, so it was easy.

How much did you save, downgrading to Pop from AKL?

We're definitely keeping the Dinner at Boma and want to do the first Boma Breakfast(at least, try).

As far as saving from AKL to Pop, we're saving ~$750-800. When we had AKL booked, we were using a promo code(still am). When we had that we were already saving ~$1,000 off that rack rate.

Sent from my HTC One X using DISBoards

 

[KuyaJeff]

Hi There!
The trip plannin' tram is back and has a real short post for us!

It's time for another addition to the Bucket List!

#2
"Enjoy A Few Surprises!"
Hmm, if I told you what the surprises were...
it wouldn't be a surprise!

So really, there's not much to really say.
Told you it would be a short post!

Just know that there will be suprises!

See ya' real soon on the Trip Plannin' Tram!​

 

[KuyaJeff]

Welcome Aboard! ​

The Trip Plannin' Tram and is in full throttle! That's right...​

We're in the single
digits until the trip! ​

The last few months have gone relatively fast. We've been able to keep busy with classes, work, and holidays scattered here and there. But at this point, everything has come to a screeching halt in regards to being distracted from the trip.​

Between now and next Thursday, there's not much to do besides pack as well as tidy up and finalize plans. Most of this involves synchronizing/copying between my Excel Spreadsheet, Google Calendar and Smart Phone Calendar. ​

It may sound intense, but we're not planning everything down to the minute nor are we attempting a Touring Plan. We just need reminders of where ADRs are and give a fair chance to park hop and know where the crowds are at according to TouringPlans and EasyWDW.
​

Here's what the plans are looking like...it might actually be as intense as it sounds above. ​

Thursday, January 24, 2013
"Our Arrival Day"
We don't know how, but we'll find ourselves aboard a Virgin America flight leaving from LAX at around 8:00AMpst. After 4.5 magical hours in a mood-lit plane, pimped out with some awesome entertainment options...we'll arrive at MCO around 4:35PMest.​

Then we'll hop aboard the Trip Plannin' Tram's cousin, the Magical Express motorcoach! Which will take us to the place we'll be calling "home" for 7 nights/8 days:​

"Once you Pop...you can't stop."
So said the Prigles Commercial, and so it shall be done.​

We've opted to not do online check-in. Personally, Jeff kind of enjoys the check in process with the front desk cast members. There's no real rush since we have 8 days of fun to look forward to.​

We'll stop by to look at the room and drop off stuff(maybe pick up our refillable mugs) and then we'll head out on our way to Magic Kingdom! It'll be Idahosa's first trip so it only seems right that we start with the east coast counterpart to our little magic kingdom of the west, Disneyland. No specific attractions are planned, but Space Mountain is at the top of our list.​

I'm sure there will be plenty of food names I can't pronounce...that must be a sign that it's good.​

We'll spend a few hours there, maybe grabbing a light snack and then hop on another bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge for our "Arrival Dinner" as Boma! We had originally planned to stay at AKL, but as you've read in our posts...things changed. But regardless of the current situation, we wanted our first meal to be at Boma.​

We'll need to load up on food then since most of the day, food availability will be sparse if not expensive. I learned last trip that the time a Starbucks beverage from LAX and a sprite or two on the plane will not hold you up until check-in...to make it worse, I managed to stop by MK and then Epcot before I had the chance to eat something all the way in Japan. (I arrived at Epcot at night, mapless and took the longest way possible to Japan to eat...I was starving.) ​

Things have been learned since then, and I at least want to stay hydrated the first day. Another reason to load up on food at Boma is that it'll be an adventure getting back "home" for the night. Since the closest "hub" will be Animal Kingdom, and that will be closed, we have to transfer at either Epcot or Downtown Disney..most likely it will be Downtown Disney. ​

I highly doubt that we'll be adjusted to the East coast time zone once we get back to Pop, so we'll probably find other ways to keep busy until lights out....despite having an early morning ADR the next day. Knowing us, we'll probably be utilizing those refillable mugs before Everything Pop closes. A dip at the Hippy Dippy Pool is an option as well.(See what I did there?) Must resist the temptation to spend money at the arcade like last time. More money than I want to admit was wasted there last January. Besides, we have a stop at Disney Quest planned for later in the week.​

So ends the first day of our trip plans.​

Friday, January 25, 2013
"A Salute to All Things Animals...But
Mostly The Ones of the Character Type!...and Epcot Thrown In There -Day"
As you'll notice, coming up for themes for these days is not exactly the easiest thing to do. But I think the above accurately sums up our day. ​

"We're going to meet the Don[ald] of this culinary safari." A quote so majestic to describe the experience at Tusker House, Disney couldn't top it." ​

We'll be starting off our plans with a park-opening ADR at Tusker House, in Animal Kingdom. It'll be at 8:05AM, that's 5:05AMpst...so it's a do or die thing with the adjusting to the time change. We'll obviously have to wake up earlier than that to get ready and then take a bus to AK. The character interaction at Tusker House, as well as all of Animal Kingdom will be worth it. After that we hope to find ourselves on Kilimanjaro Safaris shortly after that. It may get a bit tricky, since the AKL will be open at 8:00AM with EMHs. But we'll play it by ear. ​

The restaurant Jeff is so looking forward to, he already knows what he's going to order.​

We plan to spend most of the day...possibly until closing, at AK. Then we'll be hopping on a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village for our Dinner ADR at Sanaa. This is one of the ADRs we're most looking for. We'll go to town and take advantage of the things alotted for the Dining Plan, but we'll splurge a bit on the legendary bread service we've heard about...maybe a few alcoholic libations too. ​

After already being at a resort, it'll serve as the perfect transition spot to a bus at Epcot! We have no clue what we'll be doing, but I can only guess we'll be doing Spaceship Earth and some of Future World. Hopefully, EMH will come in handy that night.​

Then we'll make the long trek to the Pop Century bus stop. I remember the walk from the front gates of Epcot to the bus stop being one of the longest for the theme parks. Luckily, the closeness of our room to the entrance of Pop Century will compensate. If it's an option and closer to Epcot's gates, we may hop on an Art of Animation bus...that'll be something we may be doing often throughout the week.​

That wraps up Day 2. We've already covered three of four parks...who knows what else is planned for the rest of the week! They're constantly changing as we speak! ​

So that's it for now, you all deserve a break from being such great readers. So we'll see you next time with more plans for our 8 day stay at Disney World!​

The Trip Plannin' Tram will be back before you know it!​

 

[KuyaJeff]

The Trip Plannin' Tram Has Arrived!

...that never gets old! We appreciate those of you who have been following our Pre-Trip Report the entire time. If this were any other place, people would think we would be crazy to do something tram-themed.



We're just 8 days away from the trip of a lifetime...so far. That's literally just a a little over a week away from us taking over the world!

So here's more of our plans:

Saturday, January 26, 2013
"Hooray for Hollywood Studios and an Epcot Evening Encore! ...and a Quest Chaser! -Day"
Talk about being efficient, we'll be hitting up all four Disney Parks in Florida by our second full day.

By process of elimination and the title above, that means that we'll be starting off the day at Hollywood Studios. Hopefully we'll arrive by the beginning of it's AM EMHs. Like we've said in the previous post, there's no real plans as far as attraction and no touring plans. I have a feeling that we'll stay clear of Toy Story Mania since we have a version of it back home...with a shorter wait...be jealous.

It has shenanigans, nostalgia and old furniture...
sounds like family reunion waiting to happen.

Nothing important until our first ADR of the day: 50s Prime-Time Cafe for an early lunch. It's really the only "lunch" ADR we have all week. The fried chicken is looking mighty appetizing right now. That, and the glowing concoctions that we've heard "dad" has been working on.

With the international gateway being just a boat ride away, we think we'll be heading back to Epcot to see the World Showcase part of Epcot. There we'll be having an ADR at Via Napoli in Italy! Idahosa seems to be most excited about the pizzas here.

If you ever doubted that there wasn't enough hipsters to go around at WDW...there's more than enough mustache to go around at Via Napoli.


After some exploration of more Epcotage, you'd think we'd have our fill on theme parks and Disney magic. But we still have 5 more days to go! So obviously there will be repeat visits for the rest of the week. And in the words of one of Jeff's favorite comedians, John Pinette: "Oh nay nay!"

With two parks done in one day, we're barely done with it! We'll be heading into Downtown Disney in the evening to use the DisneyQuest vouchers that will be part of our package. Plus, we should get the arcade fix we would have spent money out of pocket for at our hotel's arcade.

I see the Mickey in the logo, but I think there's a hidden mickey elsewhere in this pic.

Thhat should wrap up day 3. We'll have Day 4 coming up before you know it!

Until then, Adios from the Trip Plannin' Tram!​