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

[PrincessAmongPrinces]

How's that for a good PTR surprise? I'd like to welcome Franklin to the fold! It'll be fun to have him pop in and give his side of the story.

Now I don't know how I managed to do this, but I messed up my countdown. I had put the numbers on my Google Calendar and last night I realized I missed a number and it threw my countdown off. D'oh! I'm editor, so I do much better with words rather than numbers (unless we're talking field goal percentage or ERA). So today we are actually 19 days away from the trip, so I'll do both No. 20 and No. 19 of the countdown to get us back on track. On with the show...

I'm happy that Franklin has joined in our Dis obsession... I mean FUN! And lucky for us, we always say nice things about him!! Haha

I'm super jealous that you'll be back in Disney World in 19 days!!!

 

[natebenma]

on 20 and 19. Admirable Attractions.

One of the cool things about TSM, that I have never thought about until reading this segment and looking at the pictures in this part of your PTR: As much as I love Disney stuff, it is really neat that a lot of things in the queue line of TSM are NOT Disney related but are a great bit of nostalgia. Like all of the candyland and chutes and ladders stuff. Or some of the things that aren't necessarily Disney like the Viewmaster, but the slide is Peter Pan.

Haunted Mansion is a classic that just gets better and better! Grim Grinning Ghosts is an awesome song and I'm always happy if I get that song when I'm on hold with Disney.

 

[Missyrose]

I'm happy that Franklin has joined in our Dis obsession... I mean FUN! And lucky for us, we always say nice things about him!! Haha

I'm super jealous that you'll be back in Disney World in 19 days!!!

I can't believe we're going to be back that soon either. I'm so excited! Though when Disney threw everyone the "no late fastpasses" curve ball last week, I flipped out a bit and subscribed to Ridemax again. I just panicked because in all my trips to Disney as an adult, we've always used fastpasses late. So I wasn't sure what our day should look like when using them on time. I doubt we'll follow the plans all that closely. but just the act of creating them made me feel that much better about everything. Hi. I'm Missy and I'm a Disney planning-aholic.

on 20 and 19. Admirable Attractions.

One of the cool things about TSM, that I have never thought about until reading this segment and looking at the pictures in this part of your PTR: As much as I love Disney stuff, it is really neat that a lot of things in the queue line of TSM are NOT Disney related but are a great bit of nostalgia. Like all of the candyland and chutes and ladders stuff. Or some of the things that aren't necessarily Disney like the Viewmaster, but the slide is Peter Pan.

Haunted Mansion is a classic that just gets better and better! Grim Grinning Ghosts is an awesome song and I'm always happy if I get that song when I'm on hold with Disney.

I love all the nostalgia games and toys in the Toy Story queue. Takes me right back to my own childhood. The sad thing is, I've heard kids in that line ask their parents what the gigantic Tinker Toys are. Sigh.

Grim Grinning Ghosts is one of my top three favorite songs off the "Four Parks, One World" CD. The Magic Kingdom Welcome Medley and The Epcot Entrance music are the other two. In fact, during a grueling session with my trainer this afternoon, instead of counting out reps in my head, I was singing "Grim Grinning Ghosts." it really helped to distract me.

 

[Pixel Dust]

Hi Franklin!

Nice to have you here in person. I'm sure Missy passes along all of our kudos on your amazing photos , but hopefully you will enjoy reading it first hand.

Do you have the nightmares before a trip that you forgot your cameras, or the chargers or the memory cards? I DO!!!

My DH always lurks on my TRs, but he hasn't joined the DIS yet so he hasn't had the opportunity to comment (or dispute) anything that I write about.

I do have nightmares but I have planned so much redundancy it's really ridiculous. Many, many memory cards stashed everywhere as well as the camera holding 2 of them. I can probably go 2 days on one full camera battery, but I have a battery grip that holds an extra battery in the camera. Theoretically I can do a trip without recharging... but I recharge every night anyways. Of course a few lenses. I did drop one lens during a past trip. Luckily there was a clear filter over it that took the brunt of the impact and shattered. I wouldn't say I'm paranoid, just overly cautious.

Hi Franklin! Love your screen name!

Thanks! I thought it was pretty fitting.

Yay!! Hi Frank-a-lin Glad you're on the Dis now! (Backstory: I've known Franklin even longer than I've known Missy! She and I go back to 8th grade, but I've been kickin' it with Franklin since 7th!)

You're a photo geek? Well... if that's what it takes to ALWAYS get such awesome pictures... then so be it!! You're amazing, and you pretty much made my TR! I *think* I credited you for all your pics on here (if you find any I missed, please claim them!) and I have a bunch more of your incredible pictures in my personal Disney scrapbook.

I can't wait to see all the adorable pics you're gonna take of Tanner on his birthday trip to Disney World!

Man, we were kickin' it old school... pre cell phone era! I'm glad I could help make your family's Disney vacation memorable for many years to come. There will be plenty of pictures of Tanner that the cuteness will be too much to handle.

 

[teekathepony]

Welcome aboard, Franklin! I hope you didn't already answer this, but what kind of camera are you using? Gorgeous pictures always by the way!

 

[Missyrose]

30 Things I LOVE About Disney World

No. 18 -- Mickey Waffles

I'm a breakfast person, especially on vacation. Maybe it's because my job forces me to be such a night owl, but I find big yummy breakfasts to be a real treat.

There’s lots of food that screams “You’re in Disney World!” But none quite as iconic as a Mickey waffle. I love how perfectly crispy the ears are and the waffles are so light and fluffy. I also can’t wait to try the new waffle sandwiches at Sleepy Hollow at Magic Kingdom.​

 

[Pixel Dust]

Welcome aboard, Franklin! I hope you didn't already answer this, but what kind of camera are you using? Gorgeous pictures always by the way!

Thanks for the compliments! I'm using a Nikon D7000. The lens I used in most of the pictures is the 16-85mm, the one on the right.

 

[Missyrose]

I found an awesome deal on the Transportation board yesterday for our rental car. Originally we had booked a minivan that was going to cost $295 for the week. Yesterday, I found a new promo code that gives us a seven-passenger SUV for $229 plus a $30 coupon off! Yes! I love saving money.
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30 Things I LOVE About Disney World

No. 17 -- Hallowishes

When we first decided to go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party, much of what I heard from other Disers was how amazing Hallowishes was. Honestly? I wasn’t all that convinced it was going to be any different from the other fireworks shows at Disney. And I couldn’t have been more wrong!

Hallowishes is grander than any nightly fireworks show. It’s also far more detailed and showy. The colors and characters are incredibly dynamic.

Seriously, that may be one of my favorite Disney photos Franklin has EVER taken.

And can we talk about the music? The Hallowishes soundtrack is on an almost constant loop in my car. The songs have a much more pop-influenced feel than regular Wishes, but it still retains all the true Disney-ness.

Sadly, there’s no Hallowishes in March. So I’ll just have to wait until next October for my Hallowishes fix!​

 

[natebenma]

Mickey Waffles ARE fantastic! (but they are not my favorite breakfast item in the World)

Mickey Waffles are cute props, too. This would have been a great picture, if Ben had just pulled his hand back an up a little bit.

Haven't seen Hallowishes. Heck, haven't even seen Wishes! The only time I have seen an entire MK fireworks show, it was a solo viewing of Nightastic from the Poly beach.

I love the fireworks pictures you shared from your October trip!!!

 

[Missyrose]

Mickey Waffles ARE fantastic! (but they are not my favorite breakfast item in the World)

Mickey Waffles are cute props, too. This would have been a great picture, if Ben had just pulled his hand back an up a little bit.

Haven't seen Hallowishes. Heck, haven't even seen Wishes! The only time I have seen an entire MK fireworks show, it was a solo viewing of Nightastic from the Poly beach.

I love the fireworks pictures you shared from your October trip!!!

Love, love, LOVE that photo!

You haven't seen Wishes???!?!?! I know fireworks shows are prime ride time, but you need to see it. The music, the castle, the fireworks...it's all just a magical 13 minutes.

I've never seen Nightastic, mainly because I haven't been to Disney during the summer since I was a little kid.

 

[Missyrose]

First some good news. JetBlue had sent out an email that they would be extending their schedule through the end of October on Sunday at noon. Now, if you remember (many moons ago) when we first planned the March trip, we attempted to book on JetBlue right when they extended the schedule and were stopped dead in our tracks by their prices ($335 per person!). So when perusing the Transportation board a few days ago, someone mentioned that the new JetBlue schedule gets loaded into Kayak the night before the schedule officially extends (allowing you to look at times and prices, but you can't book).

So at work last night I played around with Kayak and found the exact flights I wanted for our October 2012 trip for $195 per person. I wanted to keep my excitement in check because who knows what prices I would find when I went to book. But lo and behold, when I signed on at noon, I managed to snag the $195 flights for each of us, plus we each had $38 credits on JetBlue, so the flights only cost us $156.60 out of pocket! I love winning the airfare game! And now, onto today's countdown entry....

30 Things I LOVE About Disney World

No. 16 -- Disney's Magical Express video

Being new to the whole staying onsite experience. I loved having the Disney experience start at the airport with Disney’s Magical Express. And once you board the bus and the video starts, it really feels like you’re at Disney!

It goes over the basics for first-timers, but for those of us who have been to Disney many times? It’s a fun way to excited about all the fun that lay ahead of you on the trip.

I love the vintage Disney clips and clips of Walt.

And Franklin and I got a real kick out of some of the closed captioning. Especially this one that said Huey, Duey OR Louie said “Are we there yet?”

It’s just a fun way to kick off yet another Disney adventure!​

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[natebenma]

Love, love, LOVE that photo!

You haven't seen Wishes???!?!?! I know fireworks shows are prime ride time, but you need to see it. The music, the castle, the fireworks...it's all just a magical 13 minutes.

I've never seen Nightastic, mainly because I haven't been to Disney during the summer since I was a little kid.

Going back a couple of posts:

Nope, haven't seen Wishes. There are a couple of reasons for this. I enjoy watching fireworks shows, but the boys, including my husband, can take them or leave them. The other issue is that we are all up so early on vacation (I am usually awake by 4:30 or 5 and the boys are up and at 'em by 6, so we are usually wiped out by the evening. This past summer was the first time we had been to MK after dark with the boys!

BREAKING POPCORN NEWS!!! (back to Reason 21)

I just saw this on allears:

-- On your next visit to a Disney park, keep an eye out for interesting flavors of pre-packaged popcorn. Cookies & Cream as well as Chocolate Mint have recently been spotted on the shelves. If you see the Chocolate Cheddar Caramel version, try it out. It's currently being sold as a test flavor. The Consumables Team reports that sales are high for this new concoction.

I'm not sure if this is the same as the popcorn you are talking about, but it may need some investigation.

 

[natebenma]

That is awesome on your October airfare!!! Hoo-ray!

Love the magical express! The movie, the feeling, everything.

The magical depress bus back to MCO, not so much! They don't even show a video!!!

 

[PirateKate]

I love the countdowns! They make me excited about Disney and my next trip isn't even that close yet.

Franklin- thanks for the awesome pictures!

 

[Missyrose]

Going back a couple of posts:

Nope, haven't seen Wishes. There are a couple of reasons for this. I enjoy watching fireworks shows, but the boys, including my husband, can take them or leave them. The other issue is that we are all up so early on vacation (I am usually awake by 4:30 or 5 and the boys are up and at 'em by 6, so we are usually wiped out by the evening. This past summer was the first time we had been to MK after dark with the boys!

BREAKING POPCORN NEWS!!! (back to Reason 21)

I just saw this on allears:

-- On your next visit to a Disney park, keep an eye out for interesting flavors of pre-packaged popcorn. Cookies & Cream as well as Chocolate Mint have recently been spotted on the shelves. If you see the Chocolate Cheddar Caramel version, try it out. It's currently being sold as a test flavor. The Consumables Team reports that sales are high for this new concoction.

I'm not sure if this is the same as the popcorn you are talking about, but it may need some investigation.

I think on your next family trip (probably not feasible when you're in charge of a couple hundred teenagers), you need to take some "me" time and watch Wishes properly in front of the castle. Send the boys off the ride another mountain and plan to meet up with them afterward. Trust me, it will be well worth your time!

I had heard bits and pieces of the "new popcorn" news. I will definitely be trying some of that out. The cheddar/caramel combo I'd tasted before, thanks to a recommendation on "Oprah," but adding chocolate popcorn to the mix? I'm not so sure how that's going to go. Cookies and Cream sounds both intriguing and kinda nauseating all at the same time!

That is awesome on your October airfare!!! Hoo-ray!

Love the magical express! The movie, the feeling, everything.

The magical depress bus back to MCO, not so much! They don't even show a video!!!

The Magical Depress totally blows! I find it to be a good time to plan your next trip, though!

I love the countdowns! They make me excited about Disney and my next trip isn't even that close yet.

Franklin- thanks for the awesome pictures!

These countdowns really get me excited about the World too! It's also fun to flip through all the old Disney photos to find ones to add to the chapters.

 

[Missyrose]

Hello friends! Just wanted to quickly apologize for a lack of a countdown entry on Monday. I intended to do it during my down time at work. But I ended up never really having any down time because my boss was (very kindly) attempting to get me out of there at a reasonable time since I have to be at the hospital at 7 a.m. for my monthly treatment Tuesday.

Never fear, I'll get Nos. 15 and 14 up as soon as I get home Tuesday afternoon! Thanks for sticking with me!

 

[Missyrose]

Wuh-hoo , two weeks out from the trip and it's time to get the countdown back on track. Treatment today was long, but it went fine. It gave me plenty of time to catch up on my TV backlog (geez the Good Wife is amazing!). Now I'm camped out on the couch, catching up on my Dising. My next task is tackling the organization of all the goodie bags I made for everyone going on the March trip. Photos will follow tomorrow!

30 Things I LOVE About Disney World

No. 15 -- 50s Prime Time Cafe's fried chicken

On our last trip and our upcoming trip, our ADR of choice at DHS is/was Sci-Fi Dine-In. With kids in tow on both trips, the atmosphere at Sci-Fi just seemed like a more natural fit. But when it comes to food, 50s Primetime Cafe wins hands down. In fact, I can’t wait to go back in October.

Who needs menus? I already know what I’m going to order, because I order it every time … the fried chicken!

It’s delicious homestyle fried chicken, which I’ve had twice and neither time was it overly greasy (as fried chicken so often is). Mmmmm just looking at that picture makes my mouth water, why is October so far away?

No. 14 -- Star Tours

Star Tours has been one of my all-time favorite Disney attraction since the minute it opened. And I’m someone who thinks the refurb last year made the ride even better! The story lines are more interesting, the 3-D graphics are way better and the ride really throws you around now.

It also has one of the best-themed queues in the World.

Star Tours also has one of the best dump shops at Disney. Awesome, awesome Star Wars/Disney merchandise. And it gives me yet another excuse to take a picture of Franklin in a funny hat.

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[natebenma]

PTC Fried Chicken-

We haven't been to PTC since our 2008 trip. But we did order the fried chicken and it WAS excellent. About the only complaint is there was too much. I hate wasting food, so we asked to take a piece with us. The waitress discouraged us, saying we wouldn't want to carry it around and it would only be "safe" for a little while. Well, we insisted and took the piece to go. Our cousin (or whoever the waitress was) was right- about an hour later after we realized we were not going to be hungry again for a long time and we ditched it.

Can't wait to check out the new Star Tours in June. I agree with you about the dump shop- they have the coolest stuff there!

Size matters not!!!

 

[Missyrose]

PTC Fried Chicken-

We haven't been to PTC since our 2008 trip. But we did order the fried chicken and it WAS excellent. About the only complaint is there was too much. I hate wasting food, so we asked to take a piece with us. The waitress discouraged us, saying we wouldn't want to carry it around and it would only be "safe" for a little while. Well, we insisted and took the piece to go. Our cousin (or whoever the waitress was) was right- about an hour later after we realized we were not going to be hungry again for a long time and we ditched it.

Can't wait to check out the new Star Tours in June. I agree with you about the dump shop- they have the coolest stuff there!

Size matters not!!!

All of the entrees at 50s PTC are about three sizes too big! That will be one of the upsides to being in a DVC villa in the future -- plenty of room in the fridge and a microwave to reheat those leftovers!

My favorite item in the Star Tours dump shop is the backpack that is shaped like Yoda, so it looks like Yoda is riding around on your back. We may have to buy that for Tanner!

 

[Missyrose]

Now, I know I promised you pictures of the goodie bags today, but Franklin (the temperamental artist) refused to put them on SmugMug before he's had a chance to edit them, so hopefully I'll get to show them to you tomorrow!

30 Things I LOVE About Disney World

No. 13 -- Funnel Cake

My favorite time to eat one of these delicious beauties is while sitting on Main Street, waiting for Wishes to begin. That happens to be one of my favorite times to people-watch at Disney World and eating this delicious snack makes it that much better.

There’s just one problem with the funnel cake, Franklin and I have very different tastes when it comes to the amount of powdered sugar sprinkled on top. I’m a minimalist, just a nice sprinkle of sugar to sweeten things up a bit. Franklin, on the other hand, likes powdered sugar with a side of funnel cake (exhibit A would be the photo above). Our compromise? I shake the powdered sugar off the pieces I break off onto his, so he gets even more sugar.

P.S. I’m pretty excited that there’s a kiosk that sells funnel cakes at my new DVC “home” (Boardwalk)!​

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