"I can't believe we're staying here!" An Feb'16 DLR PTR (TR link Post #355)

[JoshAndEvsMom]

I love all your "Daylies"! And don't find them dull whatsoever. On the contrary, they're very helpful!

I hope you can talk your DD into trying Splash again! Maybe a poncho & some good ol' fashioned bribery will convince her? I saw this tshirt on Etsy that was the classic "I survived..." on the front but on the back it was customized with the rides the child was now tall/old enough to ride with check boxes next to them. The point being to check off the ones the child rides! Anyway, I thought it was cute and fun for a timid child to wear his or her bragging rights!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Day 8 looks fantastic. I love MK as well and I hope that DD gets on Splash again. She may surprise you this trip.

 

[skier_pete]

I love all your "Daylies"! And don't find them dull whatsoever. On the contrary, they're very helpful!

I hope you can talk your DD into trying Splash again! Maybe a poncho & some good ol' fashioned bribery will convince her? I saw this tshirt on Etsy that was the classic "I survived..." on the front but on the back it was customized with the rides the child was now tall/old enough to ride with check boxes next to them. The point being to check off the ones the child rides! Anyway, I thought it was cute and fun for a timid child to wear his or her bragging rights!

I'm glad you enjoy the daily plans. They help me kind of think though all the reasons why I picked what and where. Once we get to the 60 day mark I'll probably revisit them all when FP+ comes available.

DD never much cared about "bragging rights". Bribery has worked for her in the past. (She rode Haunted Mansion the first time to get stuffed fruit bat.) But she's always been stubborn, and now add "pre-teen girl" to the mix and she's achieved new levels of stubborn. With Splash Mountain, she's ridden it probably 3-4 times already, but getting all wet at DLR in 2012 she hasn't ridden it since (admittedly we've only been once since then).

Day 8 looks fantastic. I love MK as well and I hope that DD gets on Splash again. She may surprise you this trip.

Maybe she will...She is saying she will ride EE this trip...we'll see if that happens...she said that last trip too!

 

[kcpinwdw]

Good updates! Now I have to go recheck park hours.... hmmm....

never really liked the fact that we hardly spent any time at MK until the 8th day

We are doing the same. No MK until we move to the Poly. I think our first MK day is day 5 or 6. I'm excited about the monorail too!

 

[NJlauren]

I am gonna die. But at least I'm gonna die at Disney! Becca's all like "I don't care about the temp" and I'm all like "I do!"

 

[NJlauren]

I also love your daily plans!!! Hope that she tries splash again!

But I'm kinda with her on space.... It knocks your around an awful lot! But still love it and I won't tell her! Maybe mine train will help her get in the mood to try other things....

Can not wait to hear how you like the Poly!!! Monorail!!!

 

[skier_pete]

Good updates! Now I have to go recheck park hours.... hmmm....

We are doing the same. No MK until we move to the Poly. I think our first MK day is day 5 or 6. I'm excited about the monorail too!

Yeah, I don't know when you first planned things, but the hours have definitely changed since they first released them. Of course they usually do.

I also love your daily plans!!! Hope that she tries splash again!

But I'm kinda with her on space.... It knocks your around an awful lot! But still love it and I won't tell her! Maybe mine train will help her get in the mood to try other things....

Can not wait to hear how you like the Poly!!! Monorail!!!

Not sure if we'll convince her on Space Mountain again. I don't think she liked the dark so much.

 

[khertz]

Hopefully DD will surprise you and be interested in Splash or Space once you get on the trip. I feel like from reading this, it never really ends. I feel like we never know what DS will want to do or refuse to do whenever we go back to a Disney park! Right now he is pumped about trying Dinosaur for the first time, and refusing to do Pirates.

Fingers crossed your luck with MK on Fridays holds up! It looks like you have a pretty solid plan going in as far as FP+ and all that goes. How nice that you will have the option to watch Wishes from inside the park or from your resort.

 

[skier_pete]

Hopefully DD will surprise you and be interested in Splash or Space once you get on the trip. I feel like from reading this, it never really ends. I feel like we never know what DS will want to do or refuse to do whenever we go back to a Disney park! Right now he is pumped about trying Dinosaur for the first time, and refusing to do Pirates.

Fingers crossed your luck with MK on Fridays holds up! It looks like you have a pretty solid plan going in as far as FP+ and all that goes. How nice that you will have the option to watch Wishes from inside the park or from your resort.

Yeah, not sure what age it takes to get your kid to just go on rides without a fuss. I'm thinking for us it will be "adult".

 

[Tinker326]

I'm back and just want to say... our bus experience succcccckkkked this trip.

I thought you would like to know that. Hahahaha!!

Maybe it's a Pop Century thing but we'd go to the bus, anywhere.... and the ONLY que that had a line was Pop. And by line I mean, like 6 bus loads of people in line. And busses to the park.. UGH.. .those lines. Again, maybe only a pop thing as the other ques were not like that that we could see.....

Also, I'm assuming crowds over Labor Day may be similar to Memorial Day (maybe not QUITE as bad since Memorial Day leads into summer so that may bring summer vacationers) but they were pretty rough all weekend. Since it was just Rebecca, it worked OK for us. I let her sleep in late.. then we had FP for afternoon with a lunch & a sit down dinner killing time in there... did some attractions we don't normally do (like Hall of Presidents, Country Bears, Movies in Epcot) then hit the parks hard after the crowds thinned out (and the temps mercifully went down) after Wishes.

The mid day break back to hotel for pool was just not feasible based on the bus lines/waits. We only did it once.

 

[skier_pete]

I'm back and just want to say... our bus experience succcccckkkked this trip.

I thought you would like to know that. Hahahaha!!

Maybe it's a Pop Century thing but we'd go to the bus, anywhere.... and the ONLY que that had a line was Pop. And by line I mean, like 6 bus loads of people in line. And busses to the park.. UGH.. .those lines. Again, maybe only a pop thing as the other ques were not like that that we could see.....

Also, I'm assuming crowds over Labor Day may be similar to Memorial Day (maybe not QUITE as bad since Memorial Day leads into summer so that may bring summer vacationers) but they were pretty rough all weekend. Since it was just Rebecca, it worked OK for us. I let her sleep in late.. then we had FP for afternoon with a lunch & a sit down dinner killing time in there... did some attractions we don't normally do (like Hall of Presidents, Country Bears, Movies in Epcot) then hit the parks hard after the crowds thinned out (and the temps mercifully went down) after Wishes.

The mid day break back to hotel for pool was just not feasible based on the bus lines/waits. We only did it once.

The times we stayed at pop, we found that the buses weren't too bad leaving for the parks, but of course we were always going for rope drop. If you are going later in the morning, I would imagine having to wait for multiple buses is common. The return buses were typically pretty packed, often we had to wait for at least one bus. I think it's just a very massive resort.

We've really only ever dealt with POFQ/Pop/CBR buses. CBR was by far the worst, not because the buses were crowded (they were) but because it took them 15 minutes to get around CBR to pick up people. Pop Century, for the buses being crowded, were better because it was only one stop. Leaving the park at night was kind of sucky though when you are tired and have to wait for more than one bus. Of course we were there early Chirstmas one time, and late April the other time, so the crowds were pretty moderate as well.

Of course, you guys usually have a car...right? So your not really use to it. The only time the buses really bother me is when I get down there in the morning and I'm trying to get to the park for rope drop and every other bus comes by three times except mine. That drives me bonkers. Waiting for the bus on the way back, we've never really waited more than 10-15 minutes in all the years of travel. You just sort of learn to give yourself enough time.

Glad you guys had a good time.

I am looking forward to not having to use the bus ALL the time. (Or even MOST of the time.) We've stayed at FIVE different on property resorts (POFQ/Pop/CBR/AKL/SSR) and every one of them have been "bus-only". It'll be a nice treat to boat/monorail/walk to/from the parks. (I am a little worried we are going to get "spoiled rotten" on this trip.)

 

[skier_pete]

Before I get to the update, talked to our friends from Massachusetts. They decided to go with Beach Club based on my advice. Hopefully it will turn out to be a nice vacation for them. They still haven't looked at ADRs yet, with less than 3 months to go. It's not my job to pester them. Our trips overlap by what amounts to one night. Our first night at BCV will be their last night.

Seems like a pretty good chance we will end up canceling our Beaches and Cream ADR for that first night. I get the feeling that we won't be able to tie them down to any kind of specific plan for the night. We won't have a park pass, so would only be able to see them for a little while. I don't yet know when their flights are on Saturday, so again we might not see too much of them. It'll still be cool to hang with non-DIS friends. (Still looking to meet some of those DIS friends out there too that'll be at the BC at the same time...you know who you are.)

Also, I wanted to mention that tomorrow marks 3 moths until our trip. This means I completely blew by the 99 day
"DOUBLE DIGIT DANCE"

Anyways, 93 days seems like a good time to talk about DAY 9:

Our plan is to return to Animal Kingdom for a short time in the morning, probably until around noon.


We will have gotten a near full day at AK earlier in the week, with the YES program taking up much of the afternoon. However, I always find this to be a 2-day park, even though summertime makes that less than desirable. I'd like to get out to Rafiki's Planet Watch in the morning for the surgeries. And then also maybe catch whatever shows we didn't get to see the first day, as well as possibly another ride on EE. I don't yet really know what we are going to do as far as FP+ yet. but likely will get them for this park.



The hope is to wear our bathing suits under our clothes, hit Kali River Rapids right before we leave the park, and then make our way to Blizzard Beach for some refreshing cool-down time!






No hurry to get back from Blizzard Beach. This evening is without plan. We could if we so desire duck over to MK for a short time - the park is open until 12 AM with EMH after that. I seriously doubt that we will be over there long if that is the case. I could actually picture one of us adults heading over for a little while late. (probably me...DW tends to crash early.) We have an early start planned the next day and more opportunities for late night parks, so I don't see fighting the crowds here as our best option for the trip. But I could see heading over to an hour or two to get a few rides in. Or more likely shows. A good night for Tiki Birds, Carousel of Progress and Philharmagic. We'll see.

 

[NJlauren]

Hopefully you will able to see your friends even if just for a little while!

93 days party time! No better time to talk about day 9, AK I enjoyed this park, but didn't get to spend enough time there so can't wait to really get to spend more time there...My husband also wants to do Blizzard Beach so bad... maybe next time!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I hope you and your friends work it out for dinner. If nothing else, you'll be at the Boardwalk and have all those resort restaurants to choose from....so there should be options for dinner.

YAY for double digits.

 

[khertz]

Yeah, not sure what age it takes to get your kid to just go on rides without a fuss. I'm thinking for us it will be "adult".

Going from the heat of AK to Blizzard Beach to cool off sounds like a fantastic plan! (Sorry for the random dancing banana, Paxton saw me updating and insisted I add it in. Consider it his contribution to the PTR! lol)

Hopefully you get to cross paths with your friends. It's hard when it's only one day to overlap.

 

[skier_pete]

Hopefully you will able to see your friends even if just for a little while!

93 days party time! No better time to talk about day 9, AK I enjoyed this park, but didn't get to spend enough time there so can't wait to really get to spend more time there...My husband also wants to do Blizzard Beach so bad... maybe next time!

Blizzard Beach is a lot of fun. Now that I'm older, I think I like Typhoon Lagoon a little better but I've also been there more. This is a rarity for us to have a WP&M pass. It's August, we have 4 days at the water parks, plus lots of time at the pools. Maybe we'll even spend MORE time at the water parks, since in theory we have 8 passes.

I hope you and your friends work it out for dinner. If nothing else, you'll be at the Boardwalk and have all those resort restaurants to choose from....so there should be options for dinner.

YAY for double digits.

Yeah, we are seeing them for 4th of July weekend also here in NY State, so hopefully the fact we will have limited time with them won't be a big deal. They will be at the end of what will likely be a pretty exhausting trip. (Being first-timers I'm guessing they will be "pack-it-all-in" mode.)

Going from the heat of AK to Blizzard Beach to cool off sounds like a fantastic plan! (Sorry for the random dancing banana, Paxton saw me updating and insisted I add it in. Consider it his contribution to the PTR! lol)

Hopefully you get to cross paths with your friends. It's hard when it's only one day to overlap.

Tell Paxton his dancing banana was awesome! I'm sure we'll at least see them for a little while, its too bad we don't have a park ticket for that day so we could hang with them in the park, but I don't think I could swing one of our park days to a non-park day to accomodate - and they won't let us add park days to our YES ticket.

In Trip related news, our DDs school just posted their calendar for next year. We were assuming that she wouldn't start until after labor day because that is how they always do it in our district, and fortunately that is the case. I was a tiny bit surprised that instead of starting on Wednesday like we usually do, school is going to start a day early on Tuesday. I suppose this is because of labor day being so late. In a way it is good because now we don't have to figure out what to do with DD on Tuesday after we get back. Its bad though in that we fly home Monday night and get in around 10:30 PM, and then she's got to get up and go to school the next morning. Good thing they probably don't do much the first day.

 

[Teetah]

Joining in...HOW did I miss this PTR until now??? Terrible. I am up to your Day 1 plans! We will be there the last weekend in September and staying at Yacht Club (PTR forthcoming...maybe). Can't wait to catch all the way up!!!!

 

[skier_pete]

Joining in...HOW did I miss this PTR until now??? Terrible. I am up to your Day 1 plans! We will be there the last weekend in September and staying at Yacht Club (PTR forthcoming...maybe). Can't wait to catch all the way up!!!!

Thanks for joining in...I notice the new format for the DIS seems to make it easier to miss updates. Glad to have you along. Sorry that we will be missing you and Tim by half a month. Jellyrolls won't be the same without you. Have a beer flight in Germany for us!

 

[franandaj]

Just checking in. I am so swamped and wanted to just let you know I am still reading along. Hopefully crazy life will calm down soon!

 

[Tinker326]

You have some great 'water-based' plans in place for the August heat!

I will say, the temps were SO hot for us in May that I was SO grateful it was just a me & Becca trip during a weekend with long park hours.. it allowed us (her, I don't sleep in regardless of when I go to bed) to sleep in.. hit the parks later with FP.. take longer 'air conditioned' lunch/dinners.. and then hit the park hard when the crowds died down and the sun went bye-bye. This trip would have been BAD had it been a family trip and we were not able to do that........ so I think your water-breaks will be perfect timing!!

Also, may I mentioned, I can't believe your DW put that hat on her head! LICE! Ahhh!!! ( I know she shares my fears! She told me!)