I Could Have Had a Cruise. Instead, I'm Going to WDW! May 2010 PTR - ONE MORE DAY!!!

[leamom2princesses]

Love it Alicia! It looks great!

 

[cinderella crazy]

Whenever we first drive onto Disney property, I start searching. I have to find it. It is the best part of Disney World (well, at least for me). “It” is the Tower of Terror. And whenever I see it for the first time on a trip, I go nuts. I don’t mean a little nuts; I mean really, really nuts! I scream “I SEE TOWER OF TERROR!” Mike will usually say “Really? (in a very calm, non-excited way)” And then I’ll say “YES!” Sigh. It is my favorite thing to ride in WDW. It’s Awesome!!!

So on this day, Saturday, May 22, I will probably have no trouble waking up early to hit DHS. It will be my first opportunity to ride ToT! I’m getting all excited right now thinking about it! It’s early entry for DHS so we’ll be waking up a little early. Mike likes to make sure we’re at the park at least 15 minutes before a park opens so I’m guessing we’ll try to be at DHS by 7:45. I’m a little worried about this park on this date. This will be during the Star Wars weekends and we’ve read differing accounts as to how bad the crowds are. We’re just going to go, see how it is, and then decide how long we’re going to stay. If the crowds aren’t too bad, we’ll progress as follows (which if you read about our ride/attraction list, this will be a review):

First ride – ToT of course! I’m sorry but I have to be a little selfish here and ride my favorite ride first. While Mike and I ride, Mom will take the kids (unless we can convince Alex to go on it. Very unlikely though) and go to TSM to get fastpasses.

Second – Mike and Mom will ride RRC. I like RRC but Mike and Mom like it more than I do so I volunteer to sit it out and watch the kids. Maybe we’ll go look in some shops…

Third – Last year, by the time Mike and Mom finished riding RRC, it was time to use our TSM fastpasses. So I’m using that as my basis for our schedule. Alex really enjoyed this ride last time. I’m hoping that since Lauren is a little older and bigger that she’ll enjoy it more this time. When we went last year we saw this stroller outside of TSM:

“Boba Fett?! Boba Fett?! Where?!” (Sorry, I’m a Star Wars fanatic) I’m wondering if he’ll be back since we’re going during a Star Wars weekend.

Fourth – Mike and Alex both enjoy riding the Great Movie Ride. I think it’s okay. It is nice to sit down for a little bit and cool off. I was kind of surprised that Alex liked this ride. He didn’t act like he thought it was great when we rode it.

The last thing on our must do list for DHS is to see the Indiana Jones show. Alex and Lauren haven’t seen this so I’m really curious about what they’ll think of it. I’m pretty sure they’re going to love it.

For lunch we’re planning on eating at the ABC Commissary. Yum! I am drooling thinking about the curry chicken. When we were there last year it was called the McSteamy or McDreamy chicken curry (I can’t remember which one). I thought that was kind of cute. I can’t help it; here’s a picture:

Sometime after lunch we’ll head back to the resort to relax, maybe nap, play at the pool/beach, have a snack.

Our dinner ADR is at Teppan Edo at 5:10 so we’ll probably leave the resort between 3:30-4:00. I’m smiling while I type this because I’m visualizing us walking to the TTC to catch the monorail to Epcot. Yay! No driving! Once we arrive at Epcot, I’m sure we’ll have to go on Spaceship Earth. This is one of our favorites. We were really sad when it was closed in 2007. I think we rode it 7 times on our 2005 trip. We try to ride it on our way into the park and sometimes on our way out. I really enjoyed the video they added to the end of the ride. It was fun to see Alex’s little head on an adult body getting me some water from a kitchen sink.

After our ride we’ll start making our way to World Showcase. I’m feeling the need to hit Canada first. The Olympics have made me really want to check out the Canadian pavilion more. I actually have a theory. Want to hear it? Did you watch the closing ceremonies for the Olympics? Did you notice how many celebrities are Canadian? I started wondering if any celebrities are American. Better yet, how many Americans are really American? I’m starting to think we’re all Canadian and nobody bothered to tell us. I’ll let y’all contemplate that (I told you I was crazy).

So we’ll probably wonder around World Showcase until time for our ADR. We’ve never been to Teppan Edo so I’m really excited. We’ve been to Japanese restaurants before but I’m still super excited about trying somewhere new in Disney. I am really tempted to get the steak and shrimp combo. Yummy! I could just talk about the food and forget to talk about rides and shows…but I won’t.

After we eat we’ll probably have to go ride Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico. It’s one of Alex’s favorites and whenever we step into Epcot he starts asking to go ride the Mexico ride. We’ll wander around the World Showcase, maybe even start the kids’ masks and maybe go check out Nemo or Mission Space. Not sure. We’ve never stayed for Illumnations with the kids. Mike and I saw it on our honeymoon but Mom and the kids have never seen it. Since we’ve never stayed till 9:00 before, I don’t know what all we’ll do or have time for but I’m sure we’ll find something to do.

There's a group of DISers coming together to watch Illuminations. We'll be meeting around France between 8:15 and 8:30. Come join us if you're able to! Here's a link for the meeting: MAYhem with the Mouse-a GROUP PTR List of Meeting Places


After Illuminations we’ll head with a million other people to the monorail to head back to the TTC and then the Poly. I’m sure we’ll all be very tired and will go straight to bed so we’ll be ready for MK the next morning!

Up Next: Disney Night #3 - The Little Mermaid

 

[MaryAz]

I was behind, now I am all caught up.
Congrats on the weightloss. I am also in the process of a lifestyle change. I just refuse to diet anymore cause I can't live the rest of my life that way. I also added in more serious exercise this time around. I am within 4lb of the top portion of my "odeal weight" which is fine. I am almost 40 and have 2 kids-I am not getting back under 140lb. I agree with Leanne that you look great and so doe she.
Great lists. We do a similar format. I am hoping to get up the nerve to do more "thrill" rides this time around.
Great hair cut-looks amazing!!
Can't wait to see the Little Mermaid night. I am stealing that one for sure!!

 

[MHTeacher]

Your plans for Saturday, the 22nd look great! I'll be sure to be on the lookout for Boba Fett, while we're there....

We'll be at Teppan Edo for dinner on the same night---5:50 for us!

 

[cinderella crazy]

I love your plan! That is exactly what we do. We ask the boys what they want to do more than anything else in WDW. If we get more than that done, then that's gravy! Your must-do attraction list looks like our must-do list.

I love her hair. I think it will look nice on you as well. I can't wait to see it!

Megan, as I read more and more trip reports I'm learning that many people plan this way. It almost makes me feel like I'm doing something right.

Love your lists Alicia. I'm the same way, I usually have a plan for where I'm headed first but after that it's whatever-I guess I'm lazy too. We have rides we want to do and after that it's just icing on the cake. No one could ever do everything at WDW so hitting everyone's must do's is the best way to ensure that no one leaves disappointed. Excited to see the new 'do!

That's what I figure, Leanne. If everyone gets to do a couple of things that they like than no one can complain. I think it's going to be very beneficial this trip since Alex is already starting to complain about having to do girly stuff. I just tell him that Lauren puts up with his boyish stuff so he can put up with the girly stuff. (By the way, we really did think about changing from the Poly to CBR but I think we've decided to stay at the Poly. )

 

[cinderella crazy]

It looks AWESOME!!

That is a great cut for you Alicia!

Love it Alicia! It looks great!

Thank you all! I'm enjoying not having to wash and dry as much. I was so tired of it getting in my face.

I was behind, now I am all caught up.
Congrats on the weightloss. I am also in the process of a lifestyle change. I just refuse to diet anymore cause I can't live the rest of my life that way. I also added in more serious exercise this time around. I am within 4lb of the top portion of my "odeal weight" which is fine. I am almost 40 and have 2 kids-I am not getting back under 140lb. I agree with Leanne that you look great and so doe she.
Great lists. We do a similar format. I am hoping to get up the nerve to do more "thrill" rides this time around.
Great hair cut-looks amazing!!
Can't wait to see the Little Mermaid night. I am stealing that one for sure!!

As I type this we have "The Little Mermaid" on. We've had a really fun night. Thank you so much Mary for the nice words about my weight loss and hair! Congratulations on your exercise and weight loss!

Your plans for Saturday, the 22nd look great! I'll be sure to be on the lookout for Boba Fett, while we're there....

We'll be at Teppan Edo for dinner on the same night---5:50 for us!

Michelle, I tried to convince Mike that we needed to rent a stroller and put Luke Skywalker on it but he wouldn't do it.

Maybe we'll see you at Teppan Edo!

 

[SimmerBaggins]

First, I just have to say I totally understand about getting your hair cut and feeling good about it being shorter and not as much hassle...mine has almost always been short and I let it grow long after I got out of the military (shoulder-length) -- and just got it cut a week ago...whew!!

Second -- I see hidden Mickeys!!! No one else mentioned them in your before/after pics -- but I thought they were a nice touch!

Lastly, isn't it just cake to be able to ride something you love dearly, over & over?? It's like you're getting away with something -- more fun than they expected you to get out of your trip! When you said you rode Spaceship Earth that many times, it just amazed me -- and I know you had a great time!

 

[cinderella crazy]

First, I just have to say I totally understand about getting your hair cut and feeling good about it being shorter and not as much hassle...mine has almost always been short and I let it grow long after I got out of the military (shoulder-length) -- and just got it cut a week ago...whew!!

About a year ago my hair was about 7 inches longer than it is now. I will NEVER go back to that length again. All I did was pull it up in a ponytail because I didn't have time to deal with it. Plus, even though my hair is thick, it's also fine so it tangles easily. So when my hair is long it is usually one big tanggly mess.

Second -- I see hidden Mickeys!!! No one else mentioned them in your before/after pics -- but I thought they were a nice touch!

Man! I'm so good at making hidden Mickeys, I hid them from myself! That's funny. I love my Mickey earings and tea kettle.

Lastly, isn't it just cake to be able to ride something you love dearly, over & over?? It's like you're getting away with something -- more fun than they expected you to get out of your trip! When you said you rode Spaceship Earth that many times, it just amazed me -- and I know you had a great time!

Not only did we ride SSE 7 times that trip but I rode ToT 5 times. It was an AWESOME trip! There was a mother/daughter duo riding ToT that had ridden it 13 times in a row. I like ToT but that is just a little too much even for me.

 

[cinderella crazy]

It was Lauren’s turn to pick for our Disney night and of course she chose a princess. I figured she’d pick Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty so I was really surprised when she said she wanted to have an Ariel themed night. And then I started getting that song stuck in my head. That song sung by that cute Caribbean crab…”Under the Sea.” It’s been stuck in my head for over a week now. When I was a sophomore in high school our homecoming theme was Under the Sea. What’s even better is that the choir (which I sang in) sang the song for the homecoming assembly. Oh memories…

Sorry, you know how I can get off subject. So I knew from the beginning that our table would probably have a water/beach theme and that the food would have a seafood/fish theme. For our food we had:

Fish Sticks
Starfish Sandwiches
Goldfish Crackers
Shell Macaroni and Cheese
Fish Cookies

After we ate, the girls decorated foam crowns and the boys made underwater scenes on foam sheets (I kind of figured the guys would like that better than decorating princess crowns). We had a lot of fun!

Then we popped some popcorn and watched “The Little Mermaid.” I can’t remember the last time I watched it. It had been a long time. Mom had never seen it. I had forgotten how much I loved that movie when I was younger. Of course I have pictures:

Our Little Mermaid table:

The invitation:

Mickey dressed up too:

Starfish Sandwiches and Goldfish:

Fish Sticks:

Shell Macaroni and Cheese:

Fish Cookies:

Our crowns and Underwater Scenes:

Next week is Mike’s turn to pick which is kind of fitting since his birthday is next week (the big 35). We’ll be having our Disney Night on Thursday instead of Friday since Mike and I are going out to eat on Friday for Mike’s b-day. So I have one less day to plan our Disney Night! What will it be? Frontierland Night. Yeehaw!

Up Next: Taking A Little Detour...

 

[cinderella crazy]

We interrupt this PTR with breaking news. We are not, I repeat, not, staying at the Poly anymore. Nor are we staying at the WL, or the CBR, or the AKL…What!? No, we’re staying somewhere I haven’t even mentioned in this PTR. We’ve decided that we will be staying at
























The Yacht Club!

You’re probably asking “Where did this come from?” It’s Mike’s fault, really. Here’s the story:

Flashback to 2000 when Mike was planning our honeymoon, the very first resort he booked was the Beach Club. Not the Yacht Club; the Beach Club. Confused? It will be clear in a couple of minutes. After some time, Mike changed his mind and decided that we should stay at the WL instead. And we did, and we had a wonderful time.

Flash forward to this past Thursday. We started thinking about switching resorts (as Leanne called it, we got an itch to change something). We started naming other resorts we would like to stay at besides the Poly. Why? Mostly money. We thought that we could still have a good time even if we didn’t spend the money for the Poly. We talked about CBR, WL, and AKL. Mike contacted our travel agent Friday morning and asked her to price rooms at all three resorts. Now you’re thinking “What does this have to do with the YC?” Patience grasshopper. Before Melissa (our travel agent) could even email us the prices we got cold feet and decided to forget about switching and stay at the Poly (once again).

Flash forward again to early Friday evening when Mike gets home. He was a little bored at work in the afternoon so he got on the DISboards. Bad DISboards! Maybe I’ll blame this on the DISboards instead of Mike. Yeah! That’s it! It’s the DISboards fault! Anyway, I asked him what he was looking at. “The Yacht and Beach club thread” was his answer. Now it’s starting to become clear, isn’t it? I then asked, “Are you interested in staying there?” (Maybe it’s my fault since I opened the door for him to voice his opinion…) He said, “Maybe, are you?” This is it! This is the moment of truth! I could have said yes and then we’d start the process of switching resorts and staying somewhere completely new; or I could have said no and we’d still be staying at a beautiful, familiar resort. What did I say? “Could we really go there?! That would be great! I’ve always wanted to stay there! They have a great pool! We’d be right next to Epcot and the Boardwalk Bakery (like I really need to be that close to a place that sells cake!)! That would rock!” (I may have been a little excited)

But which one should we pick? The Yacht Club or the Beach Club? Both have newly renovated rooms and besides some little details, they look a lot alike now. But the Beach Club has rooms without balconies; so we chose the Yacht Club.

So Friday night, Mike emailed Melissa (again) , and asked her to price a standard view room at the Yacht Club with DDP and parkhoppers. On a side note, Friday night was also our third Disney Night and Mom happened to be over so we started showing her pics of the Yacht Club and telling her all about it. She’s pretty excited too! Anyway, tonight we heard back from Melissa and we are good to go with the Yacht Club!!! Woohoo! And I promise, we will not switch resorts again. Because if we do, Melissa just might hunt us down…

I have to post some pics:

Up Next: Let The Craziness Begin

 

[dtr_angel]

I just stumbled on your PTR today while looking for a tonga toast recipe, LOL. I’m procrastinating studying, so I caught up on the last 9 pages.

Food:
My DH and I ate at Coral Reef for lunch on our last trip in August ’09 and loved it. The food was really good, and we had a seat next to the aquarium which was awesome. The desserts are to die for. I still have dreams about the Jack Daniel’s/Bailey’s mousse that I had. We also tried Yak & Yeti CS for the first time and liked the food. Unfortunately it was raining and lunch time, so we had to hurry since the only table we eventually found wasn’t under an umbrella. I had the honey chicken and it was SO good, I wish I could find a local place that makes something similar. I also loved getting the giant frozen lemonade as a dessert (not sure if you are on the DDP or not?) either way, it was a good CS meal. We ate at Sunshine Seasons last March and loved it, there is a lot to choose from. I can’t remember exactly what we both ate, but they were big sandwiches and were really good. For dessert we split the strawberry shortcake, and a giant macadamia nut cookie (I couldn’t decide which one I wanted so I had both ) Columbia Harbor House was also good. I had the tuna. We aim for not having burgers/chicken nuggets for our CS meals.

 

[cinderella crazy]

I just stumbled on your PTR today while looking for a tonga toast recipe, LOL. I’m procrastinating studying, so I caught up on the last 9 pages.

Food:
My DH and I ate at Coral Reef for lunch on our last trip in August ’09 and loved it. The food was really good, and we had a seat next to the aquarium which was awesome. The desserts are to die for. I still have dreams about the Jack Daniel’s/Bailey’s mousse that I had. We also tried Yak & Yeti CS for the first time and liked the food. Unfortunately it was raining and lunch time, so we had to hurry since the only table we eventually found wasn’t under an umbrella. I had the honey chicken and it was SO good, I wish I could find a local place that makes something similar. I also loved getting the giant frozen lemonade as a dessert (not sure if you are on the DDP or not?) either way, it was a good CS meal. We ate at Sunshine Seasons last March and loved it, there is a lot to choose from. I can’t remember exactly what we both ate, but they were big sandwiches and were really good. For dessert we split the strawberry shortcake, and a giant macadamia nut cookie (I couldn’t decide which one I wanted so I had both ) Columbia Harbor House was also good. I had the tuna. We aim for not having burgers/chicken nuggets for our CS meals.

Boy! I'm honored that my PTR came up in a search for Tonga Toast! That's great! That is one thing I will miss now that we're not staying at the Poly anymore.

We are on the DDP and I love frozen lemonade so I may have to try that. One of our earlier trips I know I had three burgers during a seven day stay. Yuck. I like burgers, but that was just too many. We try to go to a variety of places so we aren't eating the same things over and over.

 

[dtr_angel]

Boy! I'm honored that my PTR came up in a search for Tonga Toast! That's great! That is one thing I will miss now that we're not staying at the Poly anymore.

We are on the DDP and I love frozen lemonade so I may have to try that. One of our earlier trips I know I had three burgers during a seven day stay. Yuck. I like burgers, but that was just too many. We try to go to a variety of places so we aren't eating the same things over and over.

We'll be staying at the Poly for the first time for my graduation trip which feels like eons away We ate at Cape May Cafe on our last trip and fell in love with the Yacht Club. Before we booked that trip, I was really torn about staying there but we ended up picking the WL (and was not dissapointed) It was also our first time at the Boardwalk... we fell in love with everything! We definitely want to stay at the Beach Club or Yacht Club on a future trip (we actually want to try all the deluxes, that's our goal ) We love burgers & fries too, but yeah - we like the variety and doing different things.

 

[MHTeacher]

Alicia- You will love Yacht Club. We stayed there during Elizabeth's birthday trip this past New Year's Eve. It is a beautiful resort. Now let me tell you, I love the Poly.....love it---it is probably my favorite resort. So I worried to death about being at YC over the holidays, wondering if I'd miss the monorail, etc..... Once I got there, I realized that I worry too much!

YC was great! We loved walking to Epcot, or riding the boat to DHS. The bus ride to MK didn't take very long , either. Oh, and by the way, the beds were sooooooo comfortable----probably the best sleeping bed I've ever slept on at Disney!

Tell Mike that he made a great choice!

 

[emmysmommy]

I've just read through all the posts for your PTR and I'm hooked! You have an ADORABLE family! Your Disney themed nights are priceless.

We are currently booked for the Beach Club Villas (as well as the BLT) but I'm starting to look at more options for non DVC properties. Hmmmmm.... I might have to check out the Yacht Club.

I can't wait to read more!

 

[cinderella crazy]

Alicia- You will love Yacht Club. We stayed there during Elizabeth's birthday trip this past New Year's Eve. It is a beautiful resort. Now let me tell you, I love the Poly.....love it---it is probably my favorite resort. So I worried to death about being at YC over the holidays, wondering if I'd miss the monorail, etc..... Once I got there, I realized that I worry too much!

YC was great! We loved walking to Epcot, or riding the boat to DHS. The bus ride to MK didn't take very long , either. Oh, and by the way, the beds were sooooooo comfortable----probably the best sleeping bed I've ever slept on at Disney!

Tell Mike that he made a great choice!

Michelle, Mike thanks you for your approval! He give you a big thumbs up!

I love the Poly too but when he mentioned staying at the YC I was thrilled! Mike had read somewhere that people have a difficult time waking up early to make the morning EMH. Wow! I can't wait to sleep in those beds! Maybe I'll actually have a good night's sleep even sleeping with Lauren (she wiggles a lot when she sleeps. Not to mention she talks in her sleep).

 

[cinderella crazy]

I've just read through all the posts for your PTR and I'm hooked! You have an ADORABLE family! Your Disney themed nights are priceless.

We are currently booked for the Beach Club Villas (as well as the BLT) but I'm starting to look at more options for non DVC properties. Hmmmmm.... I might have to check out the Yacht Club.

I can't wait to read more!

Brenda!

Thank you! I am really enjoying planning our Disney nights!

We're trying to find out as much info as we can on the YC now. We only have a little over two months to figure out where to eat there, get the mugs refilled, where the shops are, etc. It's added a whole new excitment level to our trip!

 

[Dugette]

Wow, big change! I'm sure that it will be awesome to be at the Yacht Club, though. We wandered around there on our trip and it seemed really nice. And you'll have Stormalong Bay! We're staying at the BCV on our next trip (early June), so I'm excited about that too!

And don't worry about the Tonga Toast--you can always take a quick monorail trip to the Poly from the MK and swing by Kona or Captain Cooke's to pick some up!

 

[MaryAz]

Love the Little Mermaid night. Totally stealing all your ideas-I will give you credit though
Congrats on the YC-looks amazing!! We are 98% sure we are going to switch-probably to a moderate. We will have DVC for our next trip(s) and really can't justify the price tag of the Poly.

 

[Brave teacher]

Little Mermaid night looked like fun! I have been talking to Alisa and my SIL Stacey, and they are on board for all of us to have our Disney theme nights together. We were brainstorming ideas on our way back from New Orleans this evening. We are thinking our first night is going to be a POTC night - french bread pizzas with masts to make them look like pirate ships. We could do a beach scene with crumbled graham crackers and blue jello...chocloate gold coins. We could do a treasure hunt as an activity for the night. We came up with some cool things for Bug's life.

Congrats on the change to the YC! I'm sure yall will love it! Am I the only one not changing my trip? Repeat after me...I don't want the cake everyday. I don't want the cake everyday. There is no Boardwalk Bakery. Just kidding...It's going to be hard to avoind that one.

We'll be in Epcot on Saturday night as well. We have ADRs at Coral Reef and plan to watch Illuminations that night as well. Maybe we'll end up bumping into each other.