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

[tinacaplan]

I wish I could figure out what it is about TSM that makes it so much fun, but it really, really is! We bought the Wii version, too, but have never been able to figure it out. We're video game impaired, apparently.

 

[teekathepony]

I love TSM but I'm terrible at it! Maybe I should get the Wii game and practise!

 

[Missyrose]

I wish I could figure out what it is about TSM that makes it so much fun, but it really, really is! We bought the Wii version, too, but have never been able to figure it out. We're video game impaired, apparently.

I totally agree, I can never quite put my finger on why I love the game so much...but I do!

I love TSM but I'm terrible at it! Maybe I should get the Wii game and practise!

I have the Wii game and I'm STILL terrible!

 

[Missyrose]

Top-30 Attractions

3. Star Tours
Well first, let me apologize because there will be no photos in the entry. It turns out, I used our only Star Tours photo (from either trip!) in my last countdown entry.

When this ride first opened, I remember how real that simulator felt. You felt like you were hurtling through space with a crazy first-time pilot droid. Now, it didn’t show its age very well, becoming a much more jerky ride in the past few years (and simulator rides at those “other” parks made you realize how primitive Star Tours actually was.) But none of this ever really mattered to me, I loved riding Star Tours and it was something I’d regularly ride 3, 4, 5 times on my MGM/DHS days.

I absolutely cannot wait to try the refurbed ride. I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews on the boards, especially about the varying story lines (there’s now countless variations in the ride and characters you experience, making it more interesting for the people like me who like to ride this ride over and over and over and over again).

And now, Franklin’s No. 3 entry in his top-10 list...

3. Mission Space

He says: “This ride is awesome because it’s fun to see Missy almost throw up.” A really sensitive soul, that one. But really, he found it pretty funny how green I turned after my first ride on MS, but I proved him wrong when he said he assumed I’d never ride it again!

 

[Missyrose]

Top-30 Attractions

2. Space Mountain

Like I said before, I began going to Disney World in 1986 and it took me until 2010 to ride Space Mountain. I’m not a roller-coaster person (I’m mainly terrified of big drops) and the thought of riding one in the dark did not bring to mind the word “fun.”

On our trip in 2009 Franklin said I should try SM, that it wasn’t as scary a coaster as I had made it out to be. I stood my ground.

Last year, during a run of three or four rides in a row on Big Thunder Mountain, Franklin said I should try SM because it really wasn’t any more intense than BTM. I said no, but secretly started not hating the idea of giving it a shot.

So when we stopped for lunch that day at Columbia Harbor House, we found a video on YouTube on one of our phones that was of SM with the lights on. Once I saw there were no big drops, I finally relented and said I’d give it a shot. But I believe my parting words of the conversation were “Just because I’m going to try Space Mountain, it doesn’t mean I’m going to like it.”

And yet, here we are, the penultimate entry in the Top-30 Attractions countdown and what do we find? Yep, Space Mountain. I readily admit I was totally an idiot to skip this ride on my first five trips to the World. It’s fun, it’s a cool adrenaline rush and being in the dark and in the air conditioning is sooooooo welcome on a hot day. Many people say the ride is too jerky, I only find it mildly jerky when you ride in the backseat. Otherwise, it feels smooth enough.

And getting up the courage to ride SM (and loving it!) has helped me find the urge to try Rock-n-Roller Coaster on this upcoming trip!

Franklin's top 10:
2. Toy Story Mania

He says: "It’s interactive. It’s a ride, but it’s also a game and I always beat Missy."

Ugh, he always does...maybe my luck will change this trip?

 

[Missyrose]

Top-30 Attractions

1. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Here we are friends, the end of this countdown -- which means I leave for Disney World tomorrow!!!!!! Yipee! I'm kinda sorta packed (most of my clothes are in the suitcase, stuff for the carry-on is laid out. But now I'm at work, so the rest of the packing will get done sometime between when I get home at 1 and when Franklin's mom picks us up at 6. Sleep? Who needs sleep, right?

I promise, I’ll get to my top attraction in just a minute. But first, I have to tell you how excited I am about my trip. I can’t believe it’s finally here! I can’t wait to see the Contemporary. I can’t wait to taste all the yummy food and drinks at the Food and Wine Festival (and all of my delicious ADRs). I can’t wait to spend five days with Franklin (whom, even though we live under the same roof, I hardly see because of our opposite work schedules). I can’t wait to see the looks on Kelley’s sons' faces as they experience Disney World for the first time. And I can’t wait to be immersed in the magic 24/7 with my first onsite stay. Okay, with all that dancing out of my system, on with the countdown!

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is hands-down my all-time favorite attraction at Disney. I’m fairly certain my dad lied to me at a very early age and told me it was just a train ride so I’d give it a shot. Hey, my ride-chickenness started young. But one ride and I was hooked! It’s such a fun coaster. It’s especially amazing at night and hopefully I’ll get two nights to get in a few rides (MNSSHP and the 15th when MK is open until midnight!).

I think I already used this photo of us on BTM once, but I’ll post it again because it really shows how much I looooooove this ride!

And now, Franklin’s fav Disney attraction is....
1. Expedition Everest

He says: “It’s the best thrill ride Disney offers.”

I’ll take his word for it...don’t think I’ll get the urge to try that Yeti-filled monster anytime soon!

So that’s it, that’s the list folks! What do you think? Just because we’re at the end of the countdown, it doesn’t mean we’re at the end of this PTR. Not only will I (hopefully) file some live reports during my trip, we still have ANOTHER trip to plan in March (you thought I’d completely forgotten about that trip, didn’t you?).

Wish me luck on Rock-n-Roller Coaster!

 

[natebenma]

I may be too late with these wishes, but I hope you have very safe travels and a FANTASTIC trip!

I enjoyed your countdown immensely (can't believe it is over) and can't wait to read about all the amazing adventures you are having!

Good luck on RNR!

 

[dismagiclover]

I missed your send off, but I hope you are having a fabulous time and can't wait for the full report!!

 

[tinacaplan]

Oh....I totally missed your send-off. Hope you're having a magical time and taking lots of pictures of CR for me! I'm kidding...OK...no I'm not. I'm quite serious actually.

Loved the top 30 list. I might have to do that if I ever get around to finishing my current TR in time to start a PTR for February. Can't wait to hear all about it when you get back!

 

[teekathepony]

Have a great trp guys!!

 

[Missyrose]

Thanks for all the well wishes guys! Sorry I went MIA. I had every intention of doing some live trip reports, but you know how things go at Disney... Early breakfasts, late nights at the parks and your downtime is spent either swimming or passed out cold in your room.

We're at the airport to fly home now. The trip was amazing. The best way I can sum it up is to say it was a perfectly imperfect trip. I'll write a mini trip review tomorrow. But for now, I'm going to go catch up on my Disney journal, so I can start my real TR and dining review soon!

Until tomorrow....

P.S. Wait until you see Franklin's photos, he really brought his A-game on this trip.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

I'm here!

Tanner and my daughter, Mallory, are exactly the same age... she was born on February 28 this year as well!

AND.. I see that you live in Reston! You're close by!

 

[Missyrose]

I'm here!

Tanner and my daughter, Mallory, are exactly the same age... she was born on February 28 this year as well!

AND.. I see that you live in Reston! You're close by!

neighbor! Mallory looks adorable! Let me give you the lowdown on the PTR, it started off as a March 2012 PTR, then I added an October 2011 trip (which I just got back from). I'll be putting up a mini trip review for that trip and starting my trip report soon. Then the PTR will go back to focusing on the March trip, still lots of planning fun to be had!

Thanks for joining in.

 

[Missyrose]

Hi everyone,
I'm back and while the second load of laundry is being washed, I figured I could give you guys the lowdown on our absolutely amazing trip. This will probably be long, so bear with me...

Travel:
All quiet on the travel front. Flights were on time, JetBlue was incredible -- as always. And our first experience using Disney's Magical Express was surprisingly smooth. After reading so many "DME nightmare" threads on here over the past few months I was a little leery about what we may encounter. But we easily found the DME counter in the airport, there was no line to check in and our bus was on its way just 15 minutes later!

Our luggage beat us to the hotel (Contemporary was the last stop on our Magic Kingdom resorts DME bus), and when we checked in, they said our bags had been there for almost an hour!

Airline check-in at the resort was an amazing service, it was soooo nice to bypass the check-in lines at the airport and head straight for security. Our checked bags made it on our flight with no problems. My only quibble with DME is the super-early pickup time. We were picked up at 4:25 and through security and sitting at our gate at 5:30 a full two hours before our flight. I understand they'd rather us be early rather than late, but I'd rather spend that extra hour at a park instead of sitting in an uncomfortable airport chair, updating my Disney journal!

Hotel:
The Contemporary was an amazing hotel and truly lived up to my every expectation as my dream Disney resort. The location was to die for! We loved the walkway to the Magic Kingdom. And we made really good use of the monorail, for both getting to Epcot as well as eating at the other monorail resorts. The rooms were gorgeous and the hotel was equally elegant. I can understand the people who say it's not themed enough for their Disney vacation. But it was so pretty and felt like a nice break from the crazy color and characters in the parks. And also, how much theming do you really need when you can look out the window and see the castle?!?!?

Just for a refresher, our hotel reservation was actually two reservations (necessitated by which rooms were available for AP discounts when we booked). Our first night, we were booked for a Theme Park View room on the Atrium Club Level. The last three nights were booked in a Bay Lake View room with the deluxe dining plan.

When we arrived at CR, we were whisked upstairs to do our check-in in the club. But when we got on the elevator, our guide punched floor 14 instead of No. 12. Huh, that's strange, but I thought maybe they just needed to check us in up there.

But when we arrived in the Tower Club, we were told we'd be staying there on the 14th floor. We were shown around the lounge and offered snacks and drinks as we checked in. We were then shown to our room, which was huge! As the CL CM explained the different features of the room and lounge, I asked if we would be checking in for our new room up there in the lounge, or would we have to go downstairs to check in. He replied that we were booked to stay in this room all four nights, so there would be no need to pack up the next morning to move rooms.

I was speechless and on the verge of tears. Not only had we been bumped up to CL for the week, but had gotten an upgraded view as well! I kept my composure and thanked the CM for showing us around. After he left, I threw the curtains open and headed out to the balcony to check out our view. And while I was able to hold back the tears in front of the CM, I couldn't hold them in anymore once I saw how close we were to MK. You could see practically everything about the park (the castle, all three mountains, etc.) and you could even hear the train whistle from the MK railroad. It was simply more pixie dust than anything I could have ever imagined.

Unfortunately some of that pixie dust was undone by a bit of Disney resort red tape. We found out the next morning that yes, we'd been booked in that room for our whole trip on a new reservation created by the CL CM, but he didn't properly register it in the system and so our room had been reassigned to someone else starting on the second day of our trip. The hotel was wildly overbooked (they were even sending some CL and TPV guests to the Poly and GF because the hotel was so overbooked). So they were moving us to a Bay Lake View room on a regular floor. But they were granting us access to the Tower Club for the duration of our stay (and when I voiced my disappointment to the front desk supervisor on our way out to DHS that morning), he offered to get us into a TPV room for our last night (which was the next available TPV room).

I know many of you would say that I should have held my ground and demanded we keep the room since we had been told that was where we were staying for the week, but I didn't feel like I had very much leverage given what a massive upgrade it was. So I look at it like this, we had CL access (which we used full advantage of) for all four nights instead of just one and we got to stay in a TPV room for two nights instead of one. Still enough upgrade pixie dust for me!

Food:
Here's the list of TS restaurants we ate at:
Breakfast -- the Wave, Kona and Crystal Palace
Lunch -- Le Cellier, Sci-Fi and ESPN
Dinner -- 'Ohana, Citricos and California Grill

QS:
Pecos Bill's, Columbia Harbor House and Casey's

Also lots and lots of snacks at the Food and Wine Festival. (I think we hit about 80 percent of the booths).

We pretty much loved everywhere we ate. The DxDP is a lot of food, but once you realize you don't have to clean your plate, it gets a bit easier. We used nine of our 12 snack credits at F&W. And we got refillable mugs with the DxDP, but having CL access made them all but useless. If we had to rank our dinners it would probably go something like this: Cali Grill 'Ohana, Citricos. I'll go into waaaaaay more detail in my TR and I'm even toying with the idea of writing a dining review!

CL:
I cannot say enough about the CR CL CMs (wow, so many acronyms!). Despite the upgrade snafu, the CMs went out of their way to make us feel welcome, important and at home. Sarah especially was our favorite, she went out of her way to stock our fridge and made sure we knew that she could get us any food or drinks (including wine and beer) any time during the day.

The snacks were great (though I don't know if the food alone would make me feel like spending the extra $100 or so a night it is to book CL). We watched fireworks from the CL balcony twice (regular Wishes once and Hallowishes with Kelley and her family).

The CMs were also really helpful in tweaking some of our ADRs. They were able to push back my Cali Grill ADR from 9:15 to 9:30, which allowed us to check in well within the grace period after Hallowishes ended. And they especially went above and beyond to help us push back our Citricos ADR. We were scheduled to be there at 5:35, but our trip to DTD took longer than anticipated. We had really hoped to get a little time at the pool to cool off and relax before dinner, but the DTD delay wouldn't have allowed for that. But the CL CM worked her magic on the phone with Citircos' manager and she squeezed us in to the booked-solid restaurant at 6:40 instead.

Parks and touring:
This was our third trip in three years and it showed in our touring. The commando juices never seemed to get flowing (shameful, I know Dee!). We made it at or just after rope drop every day and made the most of those first few hours in the relatively empty park. But once the crowds descended, we slowed down considerably. We spent time at the resort, we spent time wandering the parks (just taking in the sights and sounds), we spent lots of time strolling the WS at F&W and we spent time at DTD. It was wonderful. And while we didn't ride rides nearly as many times as we had in the past, it was still a wholly fulfilling trip. And one we hope to replicate next October! We also did character meet and greets this trip, which we hadn't done much of on past trips. They were fun and a different side to the Disney magic than the rides and attractions.

MNSSHP:
The Halloween party was another thing that had worried me in the weeks leading up to my trip. I'd read so many horrendous accounts from people about the parties leading up to my week that I was more than apprehensive about what we'd encounter.

But my worries were completely unfounded. I don't know if it was because my party was not discounted in price or if it was because it was on a Thursday night, but there were not the huge crowds I'd anticipated.

We got to the park just after 5 and rented a locker for Franklin's tripod (he was very serious about his firework pictures this year ). We got in line for the dwarfs at 5:45 and were done with our pictures with them at 6:58, so we didn't waste a second of actual party time in that line. We did a bunch of meet and greets: Gaston, Maleficent, Judge Claude Frollo, Aladdin and Abu and Rafiki.

We rode Big Thunder Mountain (twice without having to get off the ride!), Haunted Mansion and the Peoplemover.

We had an awesome spot for Hallowishes and the parade (at the corner where the hub and Main Street meet). Hallowishes was truly specatcular, way bigger and more grand than Hallowishes and the music is awesome (I need to find out where I can get the Hallowishes music and the Boo to You Parade). The parade was so much fun and had so many characters! It was a great night, made all the more better by being able to bypass the crowds queuing for the monorail and ferry and leisurely stroll back to our hotel!

Shopping:
There was too much shopping, I got all kinds of stuff...T-shirts, housewares, stuffed animals and I even gave into the pin craze and started a pin collection on this trip. Again, many more details to come in the TR!

Okay, I think I hit most of the main points. As soon as Franklin uploads all 2,000 or so pictures he took to his Smugmug account, I'll be able to start the TR. But in the meantime, anyone have any questions?

 

[tinacaplan]

WOW! You had me so excited for a minute there! I'm still really excited. Sounds like your trip was truly magical. I can't wait to hear more and see your pictures, especially of the CR.

 

[natebenma]

Great review!!! I am really excited for the full report with pictures!

Kind of a rollercoaster of a ride with the room upgrade, but on the whole it sounds really nice. Too bad you had to change rooms, though. A couple of times! I bet Franklin took one or two really nice photos of the views

I love your dining lineup and can't wait to hear all about your meals!

Commando touring has a special place in my heart, but I can also appreciate the benefits of taking it slow and enjoying the parks at a slower pace. Especially when you are accompanied by friends and young ones. It is important to know your audience!

The party sounds amazing!

 

[teekathepony]

Oh wow! Even from your mini TR it sounds like an awesome time! I can't wait to read the full thing!

 

[Missyrose]

WOW! You had me so excited for a minute there! I'm still really excited. Sounds like your trip was truly magical. I can't wait to hear more and see your pictures, especially of the CR.

Sorry for being so sneaky about the hotel roller coaster. But I really wanted to convey how excited I was when we were given the upgrade, so I didn't want to couch it from the get-go.

The trip really way magical, I'm totally sold on staying onsite! Here's a preview of the pictures, Franklin really outdid himself on this trip.

Great review!!! I am really excited for the full report with pictures!

Kind of a rollercoaster of a ride with the room upgrade, but on the whole it sounds really nice. Too bad you had to change rooms, though. A couple of times! I bet Franklin took one or two really nice photos of the views

I love your dining lineup and can't wait to hear all about your meals!

Commando touring has a special place in my heart, but I can also appreciate the benefits of taking it slow and enjoying the parks at a slower pace. Especially when you are accompanied by friends and young ones. It is important to know your audience!

The party sounds amazing!

Thanks! The upside to changing rooms that many times was we just stopped unpacking... which made packing to go home a breeze! OMG, Franklin's photos of the views will knock your socks off, especially the ones of the fireworks we watched from the hotel.

Touring with Kelley's little ones was fun. On our MK rope drop day, we wanted to do most of Fantasyland in the morning (the usual suspects that end up with looooong lines later in the day: Dumbo, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White) and we did all those. But Jack (one of the twins) just wanted to ride It's a Small World and the carousel. We tried to tell him we'd ride them later in the day, but he was not having it. So we hopped on both rides, and you know what? It was totally worth it to see the big ol' grin on his face during both rides.

Oh wow! Even from your mini TR it sounds like an awesome time! I can't wait to read the full thing!

Thanks! We had so much fun...and writing my TR will keep my occupied until we get to go back in March!

 

[Missyrose]

I know, I know, I'm a terrible PTR host. It's been DAYS since I last checked in ...

But the good news is I'm having lunch with Kelley on Tuesday to hammer out the details of our joint TR AND Franklin put the first batch of pitcures up on SmugMug, so I'm targeting Tuesday afternoon for getting the TR party started! I'll be sure to post the link here when I do.

In the meantime, how is everyone? Did you have a good weekend?

 

[Missyrose]

It's time for the start of the new TR...

Boo to Two, Kelley and Missy's Joint TR!

You can find it here, I hope you'll all join me on the adventure.