::I'm So Happy They Have Goats!:: - A PTR for March 2018

[rosysubmarine]

I'm So Happy They Have Goats!
A PTR for March 2018​

A million years ago, I went to college.

(Pictured: me, a million years ago, at college)
​

There, I met a girl named Suzu who let me hide under her loft and play Persona 3 all day. I have fond memories of us driving places and when she’d accelerate she’d make Star Trek noises. It was fantastic.

Once she graduated, she went a few states over to get a PhD, while I went back home to get a job. We’ve seen each other maybe once or twice in the million years since I graduated, which is a fact that sucks.

I took my niece to WDW in September 2016, and not even a year later I posted this meme on Facebook:

A few minutes later, I get a message from Suzu telling me that she’s going to a conference in March down in Orlando.

We put our heads (and funds) together, and decided to go to WDW before she goes to her conference!

Suzu has been very gracious, and was very happy to let me do all the planning… even if it means that she might or might not have gotten a call at like 9PM with me shrieking about eating at Cinderella’s Royal Table.

(Pictured: Suzu, probably)
​

Planning was also assisted by our amazing (and patient) travel agent. It was my first time using one, and since I’ve been watching the DIS Unplugged for over a year now, I knew exactly which agency to go to.

So, here are the details!
Suzu and I meet up and stay the night in my hometown. We hit the road towards Orlando via I-95 on March 6th.
We arrive at WDW on March 7th and stay until March 14th.
On the 14th, Suzu drops me off at the train station and I take a train ride all the way up to D.C. I spend the day there and then take a shorter train ride on home.​

We initially were going to stay in the Art of Animation Little Mermaid room, but nostalgia and a low price difference had us changing to Port Orleans French Quarter (have I mentioned that my travel agent has the patience of an angel?).

She also suggested that I get the Disney Dining Plan, since for the same amount of money I was already spending I could get character dining and dining in the castle, etc. Plus, I won’t have the anxiety of setting aside money for meals. It’ll all be paid in advance.

I love things that are paid in advance.

You know what else I love?
Tables of Contents!

Table of Contents:
Introduction (you are here)
Introducing the Characters
ADRs
FP+s and Special Events
Road Trips, Hotels, and Choo-Choos! ​

 

[rosysubmarine]

Introducing the Characters

That’s me! Rosy!
How Many Disney Trips: 7 + College Program
Favorite Disney Park: Magic Kingdom and EPCOT Center
Favorite Disney Attraction: The Haunted Mansion
Favorite Disney Character: The Three Caballeros, Dreamfinder + Figment, Beast, and more!
Favorite Disney Snack: Dole Whip and Mickey Premium Bars (I’m basic, okay?)
Favorite Disney Restaurant: Be Our Guest
Favorite Disney Souvenirs: Pins, Plush, and Tsum Tsums​

I was four years old on my first trip to Walt Disney World. We stayed at the Polynesian… in fact, I didn’t stay anywhere else until college. Since then, I’ve stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and Port Orleans Riverside. Why is French Quarter nostalgic for me, then? Because I had a VHS Disney Vacation Planning Video that I watched over and over again that featured Scales, the pool’s sea serpent. I asked my mom if we could stay there, but she was in love with the Poly (as an adult, I really can’t blame her). I finally get to meet Scales this time!

Suzu appointed me Planner, which I’m super-grateful for. She’s very chill about everything, which is great because I’m very Enthusiastic™ when it comes to Disney Planning. Planning is like… 3/4ths of the fun, to be honest.

Suzu!
How Many Disney Trips: 2
Favorite Disney Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Attraction: Uhhh
Favorite Disney Character: Robin Hood, Gramma Tala, Mulan
Favorite Disney Snack: Uhhh
Favorite Disney Restaurant: Uhhh
Favorite Disney Souvenirs: T-Shirts
By the end of this trip, we might have answers to some of these questions!​

To quote Suzu’s Disney Experiences:

“In 2001 I stayed for a week at the Contemporary on a family trip. I remember getting bored by the end of the week and I have no idea how we ate cause I only remember getting breakfast in the little kiosk cafeteria thing in the hotel (and maybe we went to the Rainforest Cafe???). I bought lots of useless things that I don’t have most of anymore.

The second trip, I went with [a friend] and we stayed in Port Orleans Riverside for one daaaaaay. Spent our arrival day in Magic Kingdom. I had TERRIBLE HORRIBLE BLISTERS that started very early in the day so I was pretty miserable and only remember the highlights as a result. We spent our second day in Disney Springs because we were there for a Kpop concert. We got there obscenely early and spent some time shopping but mostly sat in the sun and talked to people.”

---

One of my goals this trip is to help Suzu have a memorable and hopefully-not-as-painful Disney trip. Heck yeah Moleskin! (Also, she’s never been to Animal Kingdom!)

What’s nice about this trip is that I’ve been before, so I can take it slow and we won’t have to rush from place to place. I mean, we’re two Pooh Sized girls, we’re going to chafe.

 

[Denamac]

I'm in! We are going to be there at the same time, staying at the same resort! We are going March 8-13. Initially we were staying at Pop but changed over to FQ. We are going to a couple of Braves spring training games, as that is an annual tradition for us. Looking forward to F&G too! Maybe we will cross paths while we are there!

 

[rosysubmarine]

I'm in! We are going to be there at the same time, staying at the same resort! We are going March 8-13. Initially we were staying at Pop but changed over to FQ. We are going to a couple of Braves spring training games, as that is an annual tradition for us. Looking forward to F&G too! Maybe we will cross paths while we are there!

That would be awesome! That's too funny that both of us switched over to FQ. I guess great minds think alike! I'm so excited about F&G, I haven't been to it since .... wow, I was back in high school. What topiary are you looking forward to seeing?

 

[rosysubmarine]

ADRs
aka
Rosy Cackling a la Yzma While Dragging Poor Suzu to a Million Character Meals

Wednesday, March 7
Dinner: T-REX, 6:30 PM
TS Credit Used: 1 out of 8
Suzu had fond memories of Rainforest Cafe and I love dinosaurs so I suggested T-REX.

Thursday, March 8
Lunch?: Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian, 2:30 PM (pay OOP)
TS Credit Used: 1 out of 8
I asked Suzu what her #1 Dining Dream was, and she said afternoon tea at the GF.

Dinner?: Fireworks Dessert Party with Garden Plaza Viewing
TS Credit Used: 1 out of 8
Neither one of us have seen HEA, and on our other MK night we'll be at BOG. So, let's party!

Friday, March 9
Dinner: Victoria and Albert's, 6:45 PM (pay OOP)
TS Credit Used: 1 out of 8
SCREAMING. I can't believe I got this reservation!!

Saturday, March 10
Lunner? Dunch? Afternoon Food: Mama Melrose, 3:10 PM
TS Credit Used: 2 out of 8
FANTASMIC! DINNER PACKAGE because I love that show so much.

Sunday, March 11
Breakfast: Tusker House, 10:10 AM
TS Credit Used: 3 out of 8
Pandora Rope Drop madness? No, no. Relaxing morning with Donald Duck and cute animals, please!

Monday, March 12
Breakfast: Garden Grill, 8:30 AM
TS Credit Used: 4 out of 8
She's the Chip to my Dale, and I love 'The Land', so... we gotta go.

Dinner: Tokyo Dining, 6:50 PM
TS Credit Used: 5 out of 8
Two ADRs in one day? What is this madness? Sushi. This madness is sushi.

Tuesday, March 13
Dinner: Be Our Guest, 7:05 PM
TS Credit Used: 6 out of 8
Had lunch here last time, and was ecstatic to get a dinner reservation. I've gotta meet the Beast again after... 26 years...

(Pictured: Tiny, tiny Rosy)

Wednesday, March 14
Breakfast: Cinderella's Royal Table, 8:20 AM
TS Credit Used: 8 out of 8
The day of our departure. I've never had an ADR for the day we leave, but I figured that this would be a magical send-off!​

 

[rosysubmarine]

FP+ and Special Events​

Wednesday, March 7
Arrival Day/Disney Springs/Resort

Thursday, March 8
Meet Mickey Mouse @ 5:50PM
Meet Tiana (and Rapunzel) @ 7:00PM
Under the Sea @ 7:45PM
Disney After Hours @ 9PM


Friday, March 9
Spaceship Earth @ 9:50AM
Journey into Imagination with Figment @ 11:25PM
Frozen Ever After @ 12:25PM
Leave for Victoria and Albert's @4PM

Saturday, March 10
Toy Story Midway Mania @ 11:25AM
Indiana Jones @ 12:45PM
Star Tours @ 2:10PM
Fantasmic! @7PM (Dining Package)

Sunday, March 11
Kilimanjaro Safari @ 9:00AM
Na'vi River Journey @ 1:10PM
DINOSAUR @ 3:05PM

Monday, March 12
Living with the Land @ 10:00AM
Test Track @ 11:10AM
Mission Space (Green) @ 12:25PM

Tuesday, March 13
"it's a small world" @ 11:00AM
Peter Pan @ 4:30PM
Enchanted Tales with Belle @6:00PM

Wednesday, March 14
Peter Pan @9:25AM
Haunted Mansion @10:25AM
Then we're heading home!​

 

[Denamac]

That would be awesome! That's too funny that both of us switched over to FQ. I guess great minds think alike! I'm so excited about F&G, I haven't been to it since .... wow, I was back in high school. What topiary are you looking forward to seeing?

We go every year to F&G so I'm just looking forward to seeing anything NEW! I always love Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs! It doesn't seem like our park days line up but who knows? FQ is so small, we may just run into each other!

 

[rosysubmarine]

It's FP+ day, and I'm very happy to say that I had no problem getting all the FPs I wanted! There were even options for Flight of Passage, which I'm sure made other people very happy as I made a beeline to reserve Na'vi.
I love boat rides so much.

Also excited to say that I've been making progress on our trip journals!

 

[rosysubmarine]

Road Trips, Hotels, and Choo-Choos​

I've been putting off writing this section for some reason, so I'm going to go in with gusto!

The last time I went to Disney, I took a tiny tiny little plane. I hate flying even on a nice big plane where you don't feel anything, but in that tiny tiny little plane I could feel every single movement- including one time where our plane freakin' DROPPED. So, not to be dramatic, but I am never flying again. Ever. ... Okay, maybe if it were cross-continental or I was going to Disneyland or something, but I would need tranquilizers.

(Pictured: The only way I'm getting on a plane ever again)​

So, when Suzu said she was taking her car, I was very happy. She's driving from Ohio to Virginia, where she will meet me. We're staying in a hotel (because I want to start my vacation as early as possible) before heading out the next morning. I plan on taking her to a local pizza place that has a lot of vegan stuff, since she's vegan. (They also have a mean BBQ pizza for people who can't get enough meat and cheese, like me.)

The hotel is completely 100% indulgent, because it's a hotel I wanted to stay at all the time when I was a kid, because it had a lot of windows. Yeah, that's the entire reason. There were lots of windows. I was four, okay?

Anyway, the next morning we're going to start driving and get on the glorious stretch of road known as I-95. I'm very lucky in that Suzu will be doing the driving, because not only am I terrified of planes, I'm terrified of driving. I'm prepared to take the mantle if we need to, of course.

I don't really have any real destinations in mind en route. I'd love to go to a Cracker Barrel, but they have almost NO options for vegans except for like a potato and some carrots, so it's a no go. (Why, Cracker Barrel, why???)

What we ARE planning, though, is to listen to the Redwall audiobook. It was very popular in elementary school, but I never got around to reading it, and it was recently recommended to me again. Suzu loves that series, so when I suggested it she got very excited.

We're planning on stopping for the night somewhere in Savannah. I'd like to try to make it down to Daytona Beach the night before, but Suzu mentioned that one of our other friends from college lives right off of I-95, so we're going to see if we can say hi and crash at their place. Plus, I mean, driving for 11 hours vs. driving for 8 hours? Yeah. Savannah sounds like a good goal.

Then, you know, we make it to Disney bla bla bla happy happy fun times.

Then, sadly, Suzu and I must part ways. She has a conference to go to, and I have... work to get back to. Yeah.
So, I'm taking the train up! I've ridden the train from Virginia to Rhode Island before, so I'm pretty experienced. The only difference is that this time I'm getting one of those fancy little sleeping cars! Checked luggage, food provided, and we're on the Disney Dining Plan so I'll try to get some snacks for the train ride.

The train goes up to DC, where I'll be spending a day hopefully visiting the Museum of Natural History! Gotta see my dinosaurs and diamonds. Then, that evening, I take the trip back down to Virginia, where I go back home.

So, that's about it! I can't wait!

 

[Denamac]

It's getting so close! We drive too, but we are in Florence SC so it's just a little more than 6 hours for us. I'm ordering our wire ears and hats, etc. from Etsy now. All the while, my daughter has moved up her wedding date to the Friday after we get back from Disney. So wedding planning too! My sister lives in California and was already going to Disney with us so she and my daughter discussed it and we'll have the wedding while my sister is here so she doesn't have to come across country again later this summer. Fun times!

I'm one of those who are happy you passed on FOP FPP. We were able to get them for 3 different days on our trip. We love that ride! We also got everything else we wanted. The one weird thing is we couldn't get a nighttime FPP for EE. The latest I could get was like 3:50. I keep trying to modify it, but no luck yet.

 

[rosysubmarine]

Congrats on all the FOP FPs!! I'm going to try the test seat for research, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Suzu and I decided that it would be better to focus on the ride that we know we can both enjoy.

Say hi to the Disco Yeti for me!

Oh wow, wedding planning + Disney planning!! I don't know how you're still functioning right now, I'd probably short circuit.

I've been making heart eyes at various etsy ears, but I need to invest in good walking shoes first. In fact, I'm going to pick them out this afternoon, yee!

 

[rosysubmarine]

Updated because

I got a reservation at Victoria and Albert's!!

Did some Fast Pass adjusting to maximize EPCOT time beforehand, and also fiddled with ADRs so we can still use all our dining credits. Suzu seemed to be excited about eating in the Japan pavilion, so I got us reservations at Tokyo Dining on our second EPCOT night. Yee-haw, sushi!

I got my dress all picked out for Victoria and Albert's, though, I'm so excited. I feel like I've been walking on air since yesterday!

 

[rosysubmarine]

A week to go, and I was able to start the countdown with something really fun: Disney Live!

(Aladdin, what happened to your face?)

It was playing nearby on Friday, so I decided to go after work.

Well, after stuffing my face.

I got the Chik-Fil-A Deluxe sandwich and a frosted lemonade. Frosted lemonades are AMAZING, they taste like key lime pie in a cup.
I brought my plush Mickey with me in the hopes of dissuading me from buying too many souvenirs.
(Spoiler alert: it didn't work.)

After that, I took a bus over to the arena. Well, when I say "took a bus" I mean run after the bus to no avail, wait for another bus, watch three buses going to the same place pass by, etc... good practice for Disney, I guess!

Eventually, I made it.

and I thought, "Rosy, isn't it a little silly to show up over an hour early for this event?"
No, no I wasn't.

This was also good practice for Disney, waiting in line! I felt bad for the kids standing outside, though, they were really cold. One of the little guys even had a meltdown because he couldn't understand why they couldn't go inside. At least the kids won't be cold in Florida. Hopefully.
I was wearing my LulaRoe Minnie shirt, and the little girls standing in front of me kept on telling their parents about how I had Minnie in my shirt. It made me feel warm and fuzzy. One of them was sad that they didn't dress up as a princess, but she had Darth Vader on her shirt so she still looked really rad. Plus, she was probably warmer than the little girls in their Elsa dresses.

So, we were finally let inside. I bought a program and a coloring book (for the road trip to Florida, of course) plus some popcorn. Some really bad popcorn. I regret that popcorn.

Finally sat down in my seat and uh

You know, I thought that I had gotten a good seat. On the online chart, it looked good. But oh my gosh, it was so steep that I was afraid to even lean over!

So I was kind of moping, but then my friend Beth showed up! We had planned on coming to this all the way back in November, when we both participated in National Novel Writing Month. It was great to see her again.​

The show announcer asked us not to take photos or video, so I didn't. So, the photos of the show come from the official Disney Live! website.

It was such a fun show! Mickey, Minnie, Donald (my fave), and Goofy come upon a bunch of magical doors that lead to magical scenes from different movies.​

It's basically a very fancy magic show with fun music and plot thrown in. Cinderella magically transforms from rags to her ballgown

and the Wicked Queen caused a mass exodus of scared kids.

Buzz Lightyear has a really cool laser show that I honestly could have watched all night.

But the most magical part for me was hearing all of the kids gasp in joy and awe when Rapunzel came on stage.

She was definitely the crowd favorite, and her scene was amped up to match the hype: it had multiple songs, the 'cut in half in a box' trick, and the 'I See the Light' scene had Rapunzel actually levitate through the lanterns. This show made me pretty fond of Rapunzel (she's not my favorite princess, I'm still bitter about 2D animation), and I had 'I See the Light' stuck in my head all weekend. Okay, I still have it stuck in my head. Right now. As I type. And it's like the sky is new.

After the show, I said goodbye to Beth and took an Uber home. It cost $10 to park and only a little more than that for an Uber, so I figured I'd rather relax and not worry about the traffic.

Beth also convinced me, as we were leaving, to get the little Donald Duck plush that I had been looking at all night. Such an enabler! It's okay, she got a cool Buzz Lightyear action figure. Anyway, here's my final haul:

Going to be honest, it was a little awkward going to this without a toddler. I don't think I could have even used my nine year-old niece as an excuse. Still, once Beth arrived at the show it got a lot better, and I was able to get over my awkward feelings and enjoy it. It's a perfect way to start my trip countdown!​