I said we wouldn't do Disney again. I lied. April Vacation - 4 Days Left! 4/17

[leshunlenese]

Followed you from my PTR! Looks like your plans are coming together. I htink I am going to do like your family and skip the dining plan this year!
I am going to start and do soe of those movie nights too! While my child still wants to spend time with me!

 

[leshunlenese]

Sorry Duplicate post!

 

[ursalita]

I've been holding off on making a new post until this day came:



We're finally in double digits! This is so exciting!!

In other Disney related news I decided to add another day of park tickets. Originally we were going to just explore the resort the first day but after reading trip reports like TheLittleKatie's I didn't want to be so close to Epcot and not go. When I called Disney to check the price of adding the extra day (I don't know why you can't do this online ) I thought it was well worth it considering the discount I got a couple weeks ago. As it was we only had about 1.5 days there since we planned to go on the day we traveled home so this will get us about 2 full days at Epcot.

I had also considered spending that extra half day at HS but I think for our family one day is enough there. I did cancel the ADR for Captain's Grill for that day so we would have more time at the park. We still have an early dinner at Mama Melrose's with the Fantasmic! package. Now we can be flexible for lunch and breakfast, maybe walk over to Boardwalk Bakery at some point. We want to do Jedi Training and I'm not sure what times we'll get so flexibility is good.

In real life news, we celebrated both boys' birthdays over the past week. Sammy is now 6:



I haven't been able to spend as much time on the DIS lately because I've been frantically working on this for Sam:



I'm really pleased with how it came out.

They each wanted cakes with obscure Pokemon characters. I made the cakes and DH drew the characters. Not very professional but they liked them:





No pic to share because he wasn't very cooperative this morning but Aidan turned 9 today! With their birthdays so close to Christmas I'm not feeling very festive anymore. We're not done yet because their party is Saturday. We're doing it at a local gym where Sammy does gymnastics. They do everything, I just need to bring cupcakes, favors and paper goods. Then we're done. I bought them each Disney GCs with some of the money they received for Christmas and b-days so they will have lots to spend at Disney.

I hope the next few months go by fast. I'm running the Spring book fair at their school which will keep me busy. I'm going to sit down soon and come up with a list of FP priorities so I'm ready when my window opens up next month. The extra day at Epcot will give us a chance to get an extra Soarin' FP so that's cool.

Movie nights have been epic FAILs lately. I can't seem to get them interested in watching Disney movies. It's probably just the excitement around Christmas and their interest in Pokemon, Minecraft and video games. I hope to get back into it after all this craziness has passed.

Have you guys seen these Gaston Youtube videos that have been going around? This one is my favorite:

Gaston Push-Up Contest

I can't wait to meet him at MK. Definitely a top priority.

I think that's it for now. Stay warm everyone.

 

[ursalita]

Congrats on your discount! I don't know if they can break down the percentages on packages. The best you can probably do is take your original price and your new price and calculate your own total package discount.

Thank you, I'm very grateful we got it.

Happy Friday everyone! Its another cold and somewhat snowy day in RI. Ursalita did your kids get a day off this week due to the cold??
My mom is having her ankle surgery as I type this. Her dr is saying at least 2 months until she can drive and probably a full year of recovery!
I wish I could be day dreaming of being in warm sunny DW in a few months time so I will live through you all

Does your puppy like the snow?

Hi Colleen! No, our city didn't cancel school this week. Everyone seems to have strong feelings one way or the other but I was very happy they went to school. I'd much rather they go in the winter than make them up during the summer. So sorry about your mom. One year! Bummer. When do you think you'll be able to reschedule your trip? Yes, puppy loves the snow. Watching her run around and play in it makes the cold a bit easier to handle.

Just saw that you had a PTR going on from your post on mine and I just had to join in on the fun! Haven't read anything yet, just wanted to say hi! Gotta go catch up now!

Thanks for saying hi!

Your plans all look wonderful! We went mid-April one year and it was a great time to go! Love your ADR's and your plans for Fast Passes! You guys will have a blast!

Thank you! I'm really looking forward to the weather in FL in April. We've got a few long months ahead of us.

Oh my gosh! You will LOVE Philharmagic! I think it's one of the most underrated attractions! Can't wait to hear how you love it! I also think that your boys will love Test Track! And we ALWAYS do Rope Drop... I feel like if I didn't make it there bright and early I missed out on Disney fun!

We're really looking forward to Rope Drop at least once for each park. I can't believe all the stuff we've never done. I do think they will love Test Track and designing the cars. We just added another day at Epcot so we can do it more than once hopefully.

Your kiddos will love Pin Trading! I always knew about it, but we had never done it and I didn't think my 6 year old would have any interest in it because she is pretty shy. I didn't think she'd be willing to approach CM's. While we were down there she kept seeing people with lanyards and pins so I explained it to her. She was dying to do it! So grandma and grandpa bought her a pin trading starter kit with a lanyard and two of the same pins and then they also bought her two princess pins to keep for herself. Then on the bus there was a gentleman and his teenage son, who saw Addie so excited about her pins and they approached her and said, "We found this on the floor in our room, would you want it? You just need to buy a back for it." They gave her the pin and she was ecstatic! Then she had a little bit of her money left to spend so so bought a mystery 2-pack. She had about 4 pins to trade for the last few days of our trip and she LOVED it! So for Christmas she got a lot of 75 pins I got off of eBay. I too was hesitant to buy the whole lot of of eBay, but they look legit to me and she's not really going to be "collecting" them. She just loves the trading!

Oh, that's great to hear. I really think at least Aidan will love trading. He gets excited about collecting - he's really into Pokemon cards now. I know he'll see some pins he just has to have.

Hi Coleen!!! . Thought I'd join in!!!!

Thanks for joining in!

Followed you from my PTR! Looks like your plans are coming together. I htink I am going to do like your family and skip the dining plan this year!
I am going to start and do soe of those movie nights too! While my child still wants to spend time with me!

Thanks for stopping by! I don't know if we'll save money skipping the DP but I just like having more flexibility in dining choices. I'll try to save receipts and add up what we spent to see if we saved money. Movie nights have been tough lately but I'm hoping to start back up now that holidays and bdays have passed.

 

[crostorfer]

I'm in.

I'm with you, I said we'd never be back again, but due to an odd set of circumstances we will find ourselves back in Orlando in March. Good luck planning your trip!

 

[Steppesister]

Yikes, a lot of birthdays! You went all out on cupcakes though! Those are fabulous.

YAYAYAYAYAY! for double digits! How exciting!

 

[SarahDisney]

Yay for double digits! So exciting!

Happy birthday to the boys. Both cakes came out nice!

Gaston is a hysterical character interaction - definitely a must meet!

 

[ksl5f123]

Hooray for double digits! It always makes the trip feel that much closer.

Birthdays so close to Christmas are exhausting. It looks like you had some fun with them though!

Another day in Epcot is always a good thing. I could spend a week just at Epcot (maybe without the kids, though).

 

[-Hope-]

double digits!!

All of your plans look great. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who looks at my plans and think they're great only to make changes a few days later.

 

[ursalita]

double digits!!

All of your plans look great. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who looks at my plans and think they're great only to make changes a few days later.

Thanks for joining in! I really thought I was finished making changes then I go and add a park day.

Hooray for double digits! It always makes the trip feel that much closer.

Birthdays so close to Christmas are exhausting. It looks like you had some fun with them though!

Another day in Epcot is always a good thing. I could spend a week just at Epcot (maybe without the kids, though).

The birthdays are crazy. I usually save some of the stuff I buy xmas for their birthdays but I always find myself back at the store for last minute things. Then a week later I do it all over again. It's worth it for them to feel special though.

Yeah, I couldn't be so close to Epcot and not go on the first day. We should arrive early afternoon so we'll have plenty of time.

Yay for double digits! So exciting!

Happy birthday to the boys. Both cakes came out nice!

Gaston is a hysterical character interaction - definitely a must meet!

Thank you. Yeah, after those viral Youtube videos I have to see him. I hope we get the same one.

Yikes, a lot of birthdays! You went all out on cupcakes though! Those are fabulous.

YAYAYAYAYAY! for double digits! How exciting!

Thank you! Now I just have to do cupcakes for their birthday party on Saturday. I'm seriously considering buying them.

I'm in.

I'm with you, I said we'd never be back again, but due to an odd set of circumstances we will find ourselves back in Orlando in March. Good luck planning your trip!

Thanks for joining in.

 

[ashw100]

so exciting, double digits . Awesome that you added another day and get more Epcot time. Happy birthday to your boys!

 

[Sisa]

HOORAY FOR DOUBLE DIGITS!!!! That is worth celebrating!!!

Another park day is always a good thing!

That bunny is incredible and adorable! Amazing job!

Love the cakes, way to go, they look great!

Awe, I love all these videos of Gaston. I've read many TRs and they rave about him, but actually seeing the interaction is so cool!

 

[ursalita]

so exciting, double digits . Awesome that you added another day and get more Epcot time. Happy birthday to your boys!

I'm so excited about the extra EPCOT day. It's really like 2 full days in the park because two of them are half days (if that) but we get to make 3 days worth of fast passes. Thank you for the birthday wishes. Have a great time on your trip!!

HOORAY FOR DOUBLE DIGITS!!!! That is worth celebrating!!!

Another park day is always a good thing!

That bunny is incredible and adorable! Amazing job!

Love the cakes, way to go, they look great!

Awe, I love all these videos of Gaston. I've read many TRs and they rave about him, but actually seeing the interaction is so cool!

Thank you for the kind words about the bunny, I'm really proud of it.

Thanks. The cakes were actually much less effort than I usually put into them. I used boxed cake mix but I made the buttercream myself. They won't accept substitutes I made my husband draw the figures and done!

I keep seeing more and more Gaston videos pop up on the non-Disney related sites I visit. The guy that plays him is really talented and I hope we get to meet him. I'll probably freeze up with nervousness.

 

[Steppesister]

Sometimes you just do what you gotta do... They will all have fun no matter.

 

[ursalita]

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. I'm spending a lazy Sunday at home with the family and our nephews who slept over last night after the boys' birthday party. We'll be watching the Pats game tonight. GO Patriots!

Since I had some time I wanted to take a look at our parks for each day and put together a loose plan of what we want to do that day so I can plan our FP+ selections. Here I listed FP+ priorities followed by some thoughts about how we plan to spend the day.

4/21 - Epcot
1) Illuminations

World Showcase shops and attractions

4/22 - Animal Kingdom
1) Safari
2) Kali River Rapids
3) Dinosaur

We will need to leave by 4 to get ready for date night at Flying Fish. In addition to the above and lunch at Flame Tree BBQ we'll try to do as many of these as possible:

Wilderness Explorers
Festival of the Lion King
Flights of Wonder
Finding Nemo
Maharajah and Pangani Trails
EE Single Rider

4/23 - Magic Kingdom
1) 7DMT
2) Main Street Electrical Parade
3) Peter Pan's Flight
4) Haunted Mansion

This first day at MK we plan to stay for MSEP and Wishes. I haven't seen MSEP since I was a kid and I don't want to worry about getting a good spot so I will try a FP. I thought Peter Pan and 7DMT were probably the best ride FP to get. We usually just wander around the park and hit rides as we come across them if the waits aren't too bad. These are attractions we've never done so we'll hit these today or on our next MK day:

Hall of Presidents
Mickey's Philarmagic
Space Mountain (I'll have to do this solo)

4/24 - Epcot
1) Soarin'
2) Turtle Talk
3) Character Spot
4) Spaceship Earth

Living with the Land

If I'm lucky we can get everything done in Future World in the morning and have time to head back to the pool and back to the World Showcase for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

4/25 - Hollywood Studios
1) Toy Story Mania
2) Star Tours
3) Frozen Sing-Along

We plan to sign the boys up first thing for the Jedi Training and I really want to do Animation Station and Muppets 3D. I'm sure we'll make time for One Man's Dream and the Great Movie Ride. Depending on time and what we're in the mood for we might try a stunt show or one of the musicals like Beauty and the Beast or Little Mermaid since we haven't done any of them before. We have early dinner Fantasmic! package.

4/26 - Magic Kingdom
1) Meet Anna & Elsa
2) Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
3) Buzz Lightyear
4) Pirates of the Caribbean

We have a pre-opening breakfast planned today. We probably won't stay for Wishes so we'll just get everything done that we missed last time and head out early(ish). I do want to try to catch Festival of Fantasy parade. Also, I'm still considering doing Pirate's League for the boys, will depend on their willingness and our budget.

4/27 - Epcot
1) Test Track
2) Spaceship Earth
3) The Seas with Nemo

Similar strategy today. We'll just finish up early in Future world, head to World Showcase for lunch and then home.

Unless I missed something I'm all set to make my FP+ selections on Feb. 20. I will keep my fingers crossed that I'm able to get everything. I think Anna & Elsa is the only one I might have problems getting.

 

[-Hope-]

Your plans look great! Makes me wish our trip was longer because more park days = more FP+ choices!!

The only issue I see is that you probably won't be able to get a 4th FP on your MK day. You can't try for the 4th until your first 3 are used or expired and I don't think much will be left after MSEP. Unless you were planning to try to pull that as your 4th? I can't remember off the top of my head but I think that's tough to do as well.

 

[ursalita]

Your plans look great! Makes me wish our trip was longer because more park days = more FP+ choices!!

The only issue I see is that you probably won't be able to get a 4th FP on your MK day. You can't try for the 4th until your first 3 are used or expired and I don't think much will be left after MSEP. Unless you were planning to try to pull that as your 4th? I can't remember off the top of my head but I think that's tough to do as well.

Thank you! I hadn't thought about the 4th FP with MSEP. I added the 4th for MK as back-up in case I didn't get my first choices. I definitely want the MSEP FP so I'm not going to chance not being able to get one that day. I figured if timing worked out we could get a 4th in the park but it's not necessary. I think we'll have more of a chance of getting a 4th in Epcot if all our FP are early enough. What do you think?

 

[JoTheBookish]

Joining in! Looks like you have some great plans

We had considered Flying Fish for dinner one night too, but we would not have the childcare available to us & that would be a meal that we would really like to enjoy as a date. I can't wait to hear about it from you!

 

[-Hope-]

Thank you! I hadn't thought about the 4th FP with MSEP. I added the 4th for MK as back-up in case I didn't get my first choices. I definitely want the MSEP FP so I'm not going to chance not being able to get one that day. I figured if timing worked out we could get a 4th in the park but it's not necessary. I think we'll have more of a chance of getting a 4th in Epcot if all our FP are early enough. What do you think?

Yes, I think so. It seems like people are having luck with the 4th FP as long as it's early and it's not a tough to get attraction. And for MK maybe you can try to ride whatever you don't FP early before the line gets too long.

There are things I like about FP+ but the limitations are frustrating!!

 

[SarahDisney]

You're a Patriots fan? I may have to stop reading this PTR ... (kidding - mostly)

FP+ selections look good. I think Anna & Elsa is easier to get than it was a few months ago - I couldn't get it for my November trip, but I was easily able to get it for February.
MSEP can also be a hard one to get from what I've heard (I've never tried to get it).