I didn't know the baby's powers so I covered the basics: An Oct. '11/March ‘12 PTR

[Missyrose]

Just hit "purchase" on Franklin's AP and my Undercover Tourist ticket (which I will upgrade to an AP when we get there!). That's one more thing checked off the to-do list.

It's hard to believe that three weeks from right now we'll be at Epcot, heading toward Le Cellier for lunch. I guess this is the upside to planning a last-minute trip, there's far less waiting than the ones planned much farther out.

Three weeks, can't wait!!!!!

 

[Missyrose]

Top-30 Attractions
21. Finding Nemo the Musical
As I mentioned before, I’m a sucker for anything and everything Nemo.

And so, when we visited Animal Kingdom in 2009 and we only had time for one show, we chose Nemo. Which brings me to a sad confession: I’ve never seen Festival of the Lion King.

We liked AK well enough in 2009, but we weren’t clamoring to go back in 2010. The plan now is to find time on the March trip to hop over to AK (we’ll have a rental car, which should make that easier) to see FotLK and for Franklin to ride Expedition Everest.

Anyway, back to Nemo...
I loved the music in this show. I also loved the way they did the puppetry.

At some point in the show, you hardly notice the puppeteers anymore and it looks like the fish are really swimming around on their own.

The sets and characters are so colorful and they make for truly stunning visuals.

Two thumbs up on this show, whether you have kids or not.

 

[natebenma]

Once again, to Franklin on some amazing photos!!! Love 'em!

Congratulations on your veteran status! My 10 year old loves to scroll through everyones profiles to see what their status is.

Comments on your Top 30 rides-

Not only are you into the "dark" rides, you can't seem to get away from Fantasyland (Peter Pan, Pooh, Snow White, Tea Cups). Guess that's what happens when you don't like coasters.

I have confessions, too- never been on Snow White! Love the two pictures you posted.

Peter Pan- you nailed it! This is one of my family's faves.

We also have another reason to love PP- my boys were in a production of the stage play in April 2010. Nate was Curley, the lead lost boy who shoots Tinkerbell and Ben was the crocodile.

Aren't these costumes amazing!?! All hand-made by the two costumers in our community theatre group.

My downside to this ride is I have never been able to get a decent photo! Between turning off my flash and the motion of the flying boats, it just doesn't work!


I love Finding Nemo, the Musical, too- It is visually stunning! But the boys, they just aren't excited about shows, especially musicals. For the 2009 trip, I bribed the boys... We can go back to Disney if you agree to see The Lion King and Nemo. They agreed and we went (of course, the trip was already booked when I made this demand)

Looking forward to seeing what is next!

 

[CandleontheWater]

You are gettting close!

I just love Nemo too! It is so wonderfully done and the music is awesome.

I'm not sure I'm going to take Everett in it in Dec, because I still don't know it he would make it through the whole show. I know he would love it, but I'm not sure if he would love 20 minutes of it. Maybe we could just sit near the exit and bolt if things go wrong. hmmm....

 

[Missyrose]

Once again, to Franklin on some amazing photos!!! Love 'em!

Congratulations on your veteran status! My 10 year old loves to scroll through everyones profiles to see what their status is.

Comments on your Top 30 rides-

Not only are you into the "dark" rides, you can't seem to get away from Fantasyland (Peter Pan, Pooh, Snow White, Tea Cups). Guess that's what happens when you don't like coasters.

I have confessions, too- never been on Snow White! Love the two pictures you posted.

Peter Pan- you nailed it! This is one of my family's faves.

We also have another reason to love PP- my boys were in a production of the stage play in April 2010. Nate was Curley, the lead lost boy who shoots Tinkerbell and Ben was the crocodile.

Aren't these costumes amazing!?! All hand-made by the two costumers in our community theatre group.

My downside to this ride is I have never been able to get a decent photo! Between turning off my flash and the motion of the flying boats, it just doesn't work!


I love Finding Nemo, the Musical, too- It is visually stunning! But the boys, they just aren't excited about shows, especially musicals. For the 2009 trip, I bribed the boys... We can go back to Disney if you agree to see The Lion King and Nemo. They agreed and we went (of course, the trip was already booked when I made this demand)

Looking forward to seeing what is next!

Yes, you've got me. The countdown has been pretty Fantasyland-heavy thus far. But I promise I branch out as the countdown rolls along. You'll just have to stay tuned.

I love, LOVE those Peter Pan costumes! Wow! Handmade? I can't even sew a button.

Franklin said the same thing about taking pictures on Peter Pan. He didn't like how any of them turned out, so he didn't put them up on his Smugmug site.

Sounds like the "bribe" with your boys turned out EXACTLY how you planned! Moms are so smart!

You are gettting close!

I just love Nemo too! It is so wonderfully done and the music is awesome.

I'm not sure I'm going to take Everett in it in Dec, because I still don't know it he would make it through the whole show. I know he would love it, but I'm not sure if he would love 20 minutes of it. Maybe we could just sit near the exit and bolt if things go wrong. hmmm....

I think you should take him, he may just surprise you! Like you said, you can always scoot out once he's had his fill.

 

[Missyrose]

Top-30 Attractions

20. Muppet Vision 3-D

This is one of the cheesiest 3-D movies I’ve ever seen, with some of the hokiest 3-D gimmicks out there, but it’s the Muppets! And I love me some Muppets.

This ride is a must-do at DHS.

And seeing MuppetVision will be the perfect way to get ready for the new Muppets movie that opens in November. Have you seen the trailers? Jason Siegel wrote it and stars in it and it looks hilarious.

 

[natebenma]

Muppets rock!!!

Animal is my favorite.

Fortunately, the boys love this attraction, too, which is great considering they don't really have a nostalgic connection to the tv show or any of the movies.

You know about the key under the doormat at the ticket booth, right? If not, I'll post a couple of pictures and explain.

ETA: I just found out that today would have been Jim Henson's 75th Birthday. Good day to put this attraction on your countdown.

 

[Missyrose]

Muppets rock!!!

Animal is my favorite.

Fortunately, the boys love this attraction, too, which is great considering they don't really have a nostalgic connection to the tv show or any of the movies.

You know about the key under the doormat at the ticket booth, right? If not, I'll post a couple of pictures and explain.

ETA: I just found out that today would have been Jim Henson's 75th Birthday. Good day to put this attraction on your countdown.

LOVE Animal! There are days when my very curly hair reminds me of Animal's 'do.

I've heard people talk about the key, but I don't think I've ever heard the full story. Do spill!

I promise I am close to putting up today's countdown entry, the first edition of the paper tonight at work was a little nutso. But I should be able to finish No. 19 shortly!

 

[Missyrose]

Top-30 Attractions

Okay, I was a bad PTR writer. I missed getting No. 19 on the countdown up before the clock struck 12, but to make it up to you, I’m putting both No. 19 AND No. 18 up! Work was crazy tonight (I know, how dare I let WORK get in the way of the Dis while I’m at work ) so I started No. 19 but didn’t get to finish it until I got home.

Before I went to work, we ran a bunch of errands. I popped into Barnes and Noble and they had the Hidden Mickey book! Needless to say, I bought it and can't wait to start reading it on our way out to Annapolis tomorrow to see Tanner! Have any of you used the book before?

Anyway, on with your regularly scheduled countdown programming!

19. Voyage of the Little Mermaid
First, a disclaimer. These next two on the countdown are basically neck and neck. Yes, by numbers (spoiler alert!) Beauty and the Beast and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid are ranked Nos. 18 and 19, respectively. But in my eyes, there’s no real separation between them, they’re both awesome! With that countdown angst off my chest, lets discuss Ariel, shall we?

The Little Mermaid holds a special place in my heart because it was the first of the 90s golden run of Disney animated films. I was 7 when it came out, still young enough to unabashedly love Disney movies without any sort of tween or teen cynicism.

The show at DHS captures many of my favorite songs from the film and is visually a fun show to witness. I especially like the black-light trick they use during under the sea.

Warning, the next two photos are ones I took and Franklin had nothing to do with them. They’re a little blurry and will serve as pretty good explanations as to why I let him take all the photos.

My other favorite trick is when Ariel transforms from mermaid to human on stage. It’s just one of those magical things Disney does so well.

The only thing I dislike about the show is the way they stuff you into the waiting room before the doors to the theater open.

18. Beauty and the Beast
Now, why did I give Beauty and the Beast the slight numerical edge over VotLM? Because how cool is it that Disney created a princess that is a total bookworm?!?!

As someone who makes her living reading and who never leaves home without her Kindle, I totally appreciate a princess who’s in love with the written word . (As a quick aside, I also appreciated “The Princess and the Frog” for the way they portrayed Tiana as having a career dream vs. just dreaming of Prince Charming. Okay, feminist rant over).

Franklin took lots of pictures at BatB last year, but I’ll pick the best few to share.

I’m so excited Gaston is doing a meet and greet at MNSSHP!

The show is just exquisite. Great songs, beautiful costumes and feels very much like a shortened version of the Broadway musical.

I don’t think we’ll have time to see it again on this upcoming trip, but maybe it’ll go on the to-do list for March. I am totally loving having two trips to spread everything out into!

 

[natebenma]

I've heard people talk about the key, but I don't think I've ever heard the full story. Do spill!

When you first enter the Muppets building, before you get to the actual preshow area, there is a ticketbooth on the right.

Here is the sign on the booth:

If you look down below, at the base of the ticket booth, there is a mat. Lift the mat and you will find the key.

These pix are from 2008. I don't think we checked in 2009 or 2010, but as far as I know, the key is still there (glued down, of course)

A Hidden micKEY


.

 

[natebenma]

I love that you have Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast neck and neck because these two attractions are linked for me:

The boys refuse to see either show, so in the last two years I have had to choose one or the other while the boys got to Indiana Jones.

I loved all the pictures you posted- yes, yours too!!!

For me VotLM wins by a flipper. I just love the songs and as you said, it is visually stunning! But you make an exellent point about appreciating that Disney has glorified a "brainy chick". Oh, that's not very feminist, is it?

 

[Missyrose]

When you first enter the Muppets building, before you get to the actual preshow area, there is a ticketbooth on the right.

Here is the sign on the booth:

If you look down below, at the base of the ticket booth, there is a mat. Lift the mat and you will find the key.

These pix are from 2008. I don't think we checked in 2009 or 2010, but as far as I know, the key is still there (glued down, of course)

A Hidden micKEY


.

Love it! I'm totally looking for this in just 16 days!

I love that you have Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast neck and neck because these two attractions are linked for me:

The boys refuse to see either show, so in the last two years I have had to choose one or the other while the boys got to Indiana Jones.

I loved all the pictures you posted- yes, yours too!!!

For me VotLM wins by a flipper. I just love the songs and as you said, it is visually stunning! But you make an exellent point about appreciating that Disney has glorified a "brainy chick". Oh, that's not very feminist, is it?

The music from LM is totally better than the music from BatB, hands down! You're totally right.

On the last trip, I saw LM by myself while Franklin bounced back and forth between Rock-n-Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. So it's not just the little boys who sometimes opt out.

 

[Missyrose]

My apologies once again. I had a big tonight. I'm co-chair of the junior committee for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance. Tonight was our third event of the year, a shopping event in Alexandria Va.

We rented a hotel ballroom and had vendors come in for people to shop and a portion of the proceeds go to OCNA. The event was called Rock, Paper, Cocktails, so all the vendors were geared around jewelry (rock) and stationary (paper). We ended up raising more than $3,000, so it was an awesome night!

My mom passed away from ovarian cancer seven years ago, so it's really important to me to be in the fight to eradicate this awful disease. So, that's my long-winded way of explaining why I'm late with No. 17!

Top-30 Attractions
17. Soarin’
I know many, many people will be horrified that Soarin’ is this far down my list. But I’ve found myself falling more out of love with this ride recently.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the ride is extremely unique and unlike anything else at Disney. It’s a fun ride that’s not a thrill ride, so it’s right up my ride-chicken alley.

But the ridiculous lines both standby and FastPass (which can take 45 minutes on its own!) makes it just a little less fun to plan for.

But there’s a reason Soarin’ made this list.

It’s a fun ride. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous. And it’s the little Disney touches like the wind and the orange smell really set the scene.

Franklin totally loves the segment on Soarin’ in the Disney World episode of “Modern Marvels.” He loves how the concept for the seats was created on an erector set.

16. Spaceship Earth
This one is an oldie but a goodie. There’s nothing earth-shattering about this ride, but there’s something comforting in its familiarity. And I like the cheesy, choose-you-own-adventure at the end.

On our last trip, Spaceship Earth was the last ride we rode in the World and that felt right. It’s a classic and it felt like the perfect cherry on the top of a wonderful trip.

 

[Missyrose]

Top-30 Attractions

15. Mission Space
So, true story. On mine and Franklin’s first trip to the World together, we planned to go to Epcot on arrival day. We had tons of fun running around the park, riding Soarin’ and Test Track, visiting the World Showcase.

I intentionally left Mission Space for last on our list. I was nervous about riding it. The carnival rides that spin around were never something I wanted to ride, but I knew I wanted to give Mission Space a chance. I just didn’t want to have anything to do afterward other than fireworks.

So we went on and I thought it was a very cool ride, very intense, but very cool. We get off the ride and Franklin looks at me and says “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

I respond that I was okay, I just needed to walk it off. We get outside and I feel myself go green and I feel lightheaded. Luckily there was a bench nearby and needless to say, we skipped Illuminations that night.

So if my first experience on that ride was that bad, why would it make my list?

Well, it’s because I didn’t give up on Mission Space. I was pretty convinced I had set myself up to fail on that first ride. I hadn’t gotten much sleep, I hadn’t eaten very much that day, so the intense ride wreaked havoc on my body.

When we went back last year, I was determined to try Mission Space again, and you know what? I loved it.

It was fun, it was adventurous, and the sensations in the ride were unlike anything I’d ever experienced. It’s now clearly on my must-do list.

Plus, I love any ride that gives me reason to post this picture:

 

[PrincessAmongPrinces]

Plus, I love any ride that gives me reason to post this picture:

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This is my new favorite picture

Also, I must say, I am loving the countdown list! It is really getting me even MORE hyped for the trip!! Thanks

 

[natebenma]

First off, congratulations on your successful fundraiser! Sounds like it was a great event.

Love your EPCOT additions to your top 30.

Soarin is awesome and Spaceship Earth is one of my family's favorites too. It was great before the interactive ending, but even better with it! You have some great pictures of your future.

Mission Space- so I'm guessing you ride the orange side? Did you first ride when there was no choice?

I have only been on green and the ride is kind of "meh" for me. The boys and especially Ben really like it. In 2010, Mark and Ben tried orange. Nate and I passed- Nate has some occasional stomach issues and spinny rides do me in.

Ben came into the waiting area after the ride with a big smile on his face. "I puked! 3 times!" He did utilize the barf bags on the vehicle. Mark said if the ride had gone on a few seconds more, he would have lost it too.

When Ben saw me looking at your post, he said- tell them I threw up!

So, despite your endorsement, I'll pass, thank you!

 

[rafikifan2911]

Hey! just thought I would come in and get caught back up. You have some amazing plans!! I hope you guys have a wonderful trip!

 

[Missyrose]

This is my new favorite picture

Also, I must say, I am loving the countdown list! It is really getting me even MORE hyped for the trip!! Thanks

Isn't it, like, the best picture? I don't think it's physically possible for you to be anymore hyped about our trip than you already are! Hahaha. Love you!

First off, congratulations on your successful fundraiser! Sounds like it was a great event.

Love your EPCOT additions to your top 30.

Soarin is awesome and Spaceship Earth is one of my family's favorites too. It was great before the interactive ending, but even better with it! You have some great pictures of your future.

Mission Space- so I'm guessing you ride the orange side? Did you first ride when there was no choice?

I have only been on green and the ride is kind of "meh" for me. The boys and especially Ben really like it. In 2010, Mark and Ben tried orange. Nate and I passed- Nate has some occasional stomach issues and spinny rides do me in.

Ben came into the waiting area after the ride with a big smile on his face. "I puked! 3 times!" He did utilize the barf bags on the vehicle. Mark said if the ride had gone on a few seconds more, he would have lost it too.

When Ben saw me looking at your post, he said- tell them I threw up!

So, despite your endorsement, I'll pass, thank you!

There was a choice when I rode the first time, but I never really felt the need to ride the green side. It's always been "orange or nothing" for me.

They key to riding this ride without losing your lunch is keeping your eyes fixed on the screen in front of you. If you close your eyes or look to either side, there's a good chance you're gonna need the barf bags.

It's cool though, everyone doesn't have to ride EVERY ride at the World -- you'll never catch me on Splash Mountain.

Hey! just thought I would come in and get caught back up. You have some amazing plans!! I hope you guys have a wonderful trip!

Thanks!

You're doing the single-digit dance, are you totally excited about your trip?!?!?!?

 

[rafikifan2911]

Yesss!! we only have 8 days!!! After my terible week im so ready to go!!! I cant wait to officaly start packing!!!! October 8th cant come fast enough!

 

[Missyrose]

Yesss!! we only have 8 days!!! After my terible week im so ready to go!!! I cant wait to officaly start packing!!!! October 8th cant come fast enough!

A terrible, week...oh no! Hopefully Disney will make it all better.