Insert something witty PTR for May 2015 Update:New Shirts

[sock2you]

Epcot

This park will mostly be for DH and I but hoping to keep DD entertained with the Kidcot Funstops along the way. Now we're not big drinkers but we loved just strolling along the World Showcase and window shopping last time we were there. Last trip we did Camando style, we hadn't done our research and missed a ton of stuff. Thanks to the board and all the wonderful information on here we realized how much we missed so we'll be trying to hit all of these things while there this time.

Rides
Living with the land
Test track +
Gran Fiesta tour with Donald
Figmant +
Maelstrom +
Mission Space +
The seas with Nemo +
Spaceship earth +
Turtle talk with Crush +

People to meet
Anna & Elsa for sure, DD's favorite right now. -Norway
Donald, another favorite. -Mexico
Mary Poppins, DD is obsessed with this movie. -U.K.

If we have time
Belle -France
Aurora -France
Snow White -Germany

Now onto the best part, the food!
Via Napoli-I drool every time I see a Dining report involving this place.
Akershus-Breakfast $30-$60
Les Halles Boulangerie
Karamell Kuche
Sunshine Seasons-In case we can possibly stuff anything else into our bellies after snacks around the world.

Next up: Animal Kingdom

 

[angelabrezovsky]

Welcome! We're staying somewhere around mid-May after DH's finals. I really really really want to stay in The Little Mermaid room but not sure if we'll be able to swing it on a budget.

Little Mermaid is around the same price as All star Preferred rooms

 

[sock2you]

Animal Kingdom

I know a lot of people love this park but it will most likely just be a half day for us and DD is too small to ride a lot of the things, she won't enjoy the Tree of Life and they'll most likely still be doing construction in the park.

For DD we'll be hitting
Boneyard
Triceratop spin
Rafiki area
Safari ride +
Trails -this is a maybe depending on her mood
Finding Nemo musical +
Meeting Donald in Dinoland

The adult atractions include
Expedition Everest -for Me, DH doesn't think he'll ride so i'll go twice using Rider Swap
Dinosaur -for DH, not a fan so DH will get to ride twice.

Food Choices
Tusker House-Not sure how many Character meals I can swing out of this trip but this is a first choice as DD loves loves loves Daisy and Donald.
Yak&Yeti-We dined inside last time but may try the quick service option
Flame Tree BBQ
Pizzafari

Next up a day off from the parks and some Downtown Disney

 

[sock2you]

Little Mermaid is around the same price as All star Preferred rooms

I'll have to take a look at that, thanks.

 

[makochibi]

Animal Kingdom

I know a lot of people love this park but it will most likely just be a half day for us and DD is too small to ride a lot of the things, she won't enjoy the Tree of Life and they'll most likely still be doing construction in the park.

For DD we'll be hitting
Boneyard
Triceratop spin
Rafiki area
Safari ride +
Trails -this is a maybe depending on her mood
Finding Nemo musical +
Meeting Donald in Dinoland

The adult atractions include
Expedition Everest -for Me, DH doesn't think he'll ride so i'll go twice using Rider Swap
Dinosaur -for DH, not a fan so DH will get to ride twice.

Food Choices
Tusker House-Not sure how many Character meals I can swing out of this trip but this is a first choice as DD loves loves loves Daisy and Donald.
Yak&Yeti-We dined inside last time but may try the quick service option
Flame Tree BBQ
Pizzafari

Next up a day off from the parks and some Downtown Disney

Don't forget about the Lion King show. My DD loved that and even got picked to be in the parade at the end. And also, the meet and greets with other characters. I am not sure where some of them will be by next year with the construction starting, but I am hoping they relocate the ones that aren't any where else like Pocahontas.

Epcot

This park will mostly be for DH and I but hoping to keep DD entertained with the Kidcot Funstops along the way. Now we're not big drinkers but we loved just strolling along the World Showcase and window shopping last time we were there. Last trip we did Camando style, we hadn't done our research and missed a ton of stuff. Thanks to the board and all the wonderful information on here we realized how much we missed so we'll be trying to hit all of these things while there this time.

Rides
Living with the land
Test track +
Gran Fiesta tour with Donald
Figmant +
Maelstrom +
Mission Space +
The seas with Nemo +
Spaceship earth +
Turtle talk with Crush +

People to meet
Anna & Elsa for sure, DD's favorite right now. -Norway
Donald, another favorite. -Mexico
Mary Poppins, DD is obsessed with this movie. -U.K.

If we have time
Belle -France
Aurora -France
Snow White -Germany

Now onto the best part, the food!
Via Napoli-I drool every time I see a Dining report involving this place.
Akershus-Breakfast $30-$60
Les Halles Boulangerie
Karamell Kuche
Sunshine Seasons-In case we can possibly stuff anything else into our bellies after snacks around the world.

Next up: Animal Kingdom

If you have time and like the Living With the Land ride, try the Behind the Seeds Tour. You get to go on a walking tour to learn about the methods they use for growing. It was really fun and informative. It was $18 per adult, but not sure how much it was for kids since DD was considered free for our trip.

Get ready for a long list of things we want to tackle while in the parks. There are a lot of food options and realistically we won't get to even half but they're on the list as options.

Right now the plan is to go for 9 days and the we've finally nailed down a rough timeline.
Day 1-Travel
Day 2-Magic Kingdom
Day 3-Epcot
Day 4-Animal Kingdom
Day 5-Day of rest/Downtown Disney
Day 6-Magic Kingdom
Day 7- Hollywood Studios
Day 8- Magic Kingdom
Day 9-Travel
This should give us plenty of time in the parks as well as time to actually rest.

Since it will just be DH, DD and I going on this trip i'm hoping to be able to utizlize FastPass + and the Parent switch cards to help hit all the bigger rides for DH and I. While one is on the big ride the other will be taking DD to character meets or some of the smaller rides.

Anything with a + means it has the option for FastPass Plus.

Magic Kingdom obviously has the most items on our list of things we want to try/do so.

Top of the list
Big thunder mountain railroad +
Barnstorm +
Dumbo +
Enchanted tales with Belle +
Astro Orbiter
It's a small world + -this is not my choice as I do not like this ride but DD will enjoy it
Mad tea party +
Mickey's philharmagic +
Monsters laugh floor +
Peter Pan +
Peoplemover
Splash Mountain +
Carrousel
Mickey and the magical map

Now these next one's we've either done at Disneyland or they're ones we can easily skip over if we don't make it to them.
Buzz lightyear +
Haunted Monasion + -not sure if DD will be ready for this one yet
Winnie the Pooh +
Pirates +
Carousel of progress
Tom Sawyer island
Tomorrow land speedway +
Little Mermaid ride +

Food Choices include
Aloha Isle for Dole whips
Be our guest-Lunch
Cinerella's royal table $30-$60
Columbia harbour house
Gastons tavern-cinnamon roll
Pecos Bill
Sleepy Hollow
Cosmic Rays
Friars nook
Diamond Horshoe

People to see
Ariel-Grotto
Alladin and Jasmine-Adventureland
Cinderall and all the Princess'-Fairy tale hall
Gaston-Near his tavern
Fairies-Magical nook

Next up: Epcot (this one is for Mom and Dad )

Is your DD a fan of Brave? If so, don't forget to meet Merida.

 

[sock2you]

Don't forget about the Lion King show. My DD loved that and even got picked to be in the parade at the end. And also, the meet and greets with other characters. I am not sure where some of them will be by next year with the construction starting, but I am hoping they relocate the ones that aren't any where else like Pocahontas.

DH and I saw the Lion King show on our first trip it was awesome. I'd heard a rumor though that they were going to be shutting it down. I'm worried about the construction as it seems it's going to take up a large part of the park. Character meets will all depend on DD, she wasn't too keen on them in July but she'll be older for this trip so who knows.

If you have time and like the Living With the Land ride, try the Behind the Seeds Tour. You get to go on a walking tour to learn about the methods they use for growing. It was really fun and informative. It was $18 per adult, but not sure how much it was for kids since DD was considered free for our trip..

I'd love to do tours but i'm not sure if we'll have the time or the extra money to do one. I'll look into the Behind the Seeds though as that falls into our price range . Not sure how interested DD would be in it though, did you see a lot of kids?

Is your DD a fan of Brave? If so, don't forget to meet Merida.

I Love Brave! and have been trying (unsuccesfully) to get DD to watch the movie, I may go and meet her by myself.

 

[sock2you]

Downtown/Resorts

This is more of a collection of places I want to eat, you're all surprised admit it. There will of course be lot's of window and actuall shopping going on, swimming at our resort and maybe some mini golf.

Boardwalk bakery-For their baked goods, though since the refurb there seem to be mixed reviews.

Captain cooks-For a dole whip and maybe a sandwich.

Earl of sandwich-This is not a must do but we enjoyed the one in California.

Wolfgang puck express-I drool over the pizza and bacon wrapped meatloaf.

Ghiradelli Ice Cream/Beaches n cream

Landscape of flavors-Read this is a good one if you want some variety.

Kona Cafe-Already know what I want, the Samoan and will try to steer DH into either the Tonga toast or Macadamia nut pancakes.

O'hana-On one hand the character breakfast would be great as Stitch is DH's favorite. The dinner looks amazing but I dont' think I can get DH to agree to the price of this one.

Ragland Road-Mostly for the entertainment and some of the appetizers.

Last but not least Hollywood Studios

 

[sock2you]

Hollywood Studios

This is probably my favorite park, but that might have something to do with it having my favorite ride, Tower of Terror!

I realize that DD will be way too small to go on most of these rides but i'm hoping with the parent swap we'll get to do some of our favorites.

Rides
Tower of terror +
Rock n roller coaster +
Toy story mania + I've heard this is insanely popular in the World so if we dont' get to it no biggie as we've ridden it a bunch in Disneyland. It's mostly on here for DD as she loves this ride.
Muppet vision 3D+
Magic of Disney animation-we want to take one of the drawing classes too.
Star tours +
One mans dream

Shows
Beauty and the Beast live on stage
Disney junior/dance party
Voyage of the little mermaid +

Character Meets
Mike & Sully-streets of america
Minnie Mouse-animation courtyard
Ralph & Vanellope
Disney Junior Characters

Food
50's Prime time
Hollywood and Vine-Breakfast
Sci fi dine in-this one comes on and off the list a bunch so we'll see.

Food counters
Fairfax fair
Catalina Eddies

Ok so I think that's it for now. These lists are meant for more of a guidline of things we would like to see but are no where set in stone. If we dont' get to everything it's ok, there'll just be more to see next time.

 

[makochibi]

DH and I saw the Lion King show on our first trip it was awesome. I'd heard a rumor though that they were going to be shutting it down. I'm worried about the construction as it seems it's going to take up a large part of the park. Character meets will all depend on DD, she wasn't too keen on them in July but she'll be older for this trip so who knows.
The show is moving to the Africa section I believe and that should be up and running by the time we go.




I'd love to do tours but i'm not sure if we'll have the time or the extra money to do one. I'll look into the Behind the Seeds though as that falls into our price range . Not sure how interested DD would be in it though, did you see a lot of kids?

DD was the youngest but there were a couple about 8+yo. They do have strollers available for a portion of it if your DD needs it. DD loved looking at all the plants and seeing the boats from the ride going by.



I Love Brave! and have been trying (unsuccesfully) to get DD to watch the movie, I may go and meet her by myself.

Downtown/Resorts

This is more of a collection of places I want to eat, you're all surprised admit it. There will of course be lot's of window and actuall shopping going on, swimming at our resort and maybe some mini golf.

Boardwalk bakery-For their baked goods, though since the refurb there seem to be mixed reviews.

Captain cooks-For a dole whip and maybe a sandwich.

Earl of sandwich-This is not a must do but we enjoyed the one in California.

Wolfgang puck express-I drool over the pizza and bacon wrapped meatloaf.

Ghiradelli Ice Cream/Beaches n cream

Landscape of flavors-Read this is a good one if you want some variety.

Kona Cafe-Already know what I want, the Samoan and will try to steer DH into either the Tonga toast or Macadamia nut pancakes.

O'hana-On one hand the character breakfast would be great as Stitch is DH's favorite. The dinner looks amazing but I dont' think I can get DH to agree to the price of this one.

Ragland Road-Mostly for the entertainment and some of the appetizers.

Last but not least Hollywood Studios

At Wolfgang puck make sure to let your DD get the Mac and cheese...delicious!!!

Hollywood Studios

This is probably my favorite park, but that might have something to do with it having my favorite ride, Tower of Terror!

I realize that DD will be way too small to go on most of these rides but i'm hoping with the parent swap we'll get to do some of our favorites.

Rides
Tower of terror +
Rock n roller coaster +
Toy story mania + I've heard this is insanely popular in the World so if we dont' get to it no biggie as we've ridden it a bunch in Disneyland. It's mostly on here for DD as she loves this ride.
Muppet vision 3D+
Magic of Disney animation-we want to take one of the drawing classes too.
Star tours +
One mans dream

Shows
Beauty and the Beast live on stage
Disney junior/dance party
Voyage of the little mermaid +

Character Meets
Mike & Sully-streets of america
Minnie Mouse-animation courtyard
Ralph & Vanellope
Disney Junior Characters

Food
50's Prime time
Hollywood and Vine-Breakfast
Sci fi dine in-this one comes on and off the list a bunch so we'll see.

Food counters
Fairfax fair
Catalina Eddies

Ok so I think that's it for now. These lists are meant for more of a guidline of things we would like to see but are no where set in stone. If we dont' get to everything it's ok, there'll just be more to see next time.

We have the same favorite ride. I am hoping DD grows the 3 more inches she needs for most of the rides with height requirements. I think we are doing H&V and Sci-Fi for our sit down meals this day. Is your DD a fan of Toy Story? If so don't forget the buzz and woody M&G. And if you do H&V, you won't need to worry about the Disney jr M&G since it is jake and Sofia both of whom are at H&V along with Doc and one other (forget who stayed with the change).

 

[sock2you]

At Wolfgang puck make sure to let your DD get the Mac and cheese...delicious!!!



We have the same favorite ride. I am hoping DD grows the 3 more inches she needs for most of the rides with height requirements. I think we are doing H&V and Sci-Fi for our sit down meals this day. Is your DD a fan of Toy Story? If so don't forget the buzz and woody M&G. And if you do H&V, you won't need to worry about the Disney jr M&G since it is jake and Sofia both of whom are at H&V along with Doc and one other (forget who stayed with the change).

Love, love, love Tower of Terror
Reviews for Sci-Fi are hit and miss, i'd mainly want to go for the themeing. I'm not sure how many character meals I can talk DH into yet, but I know DD will love H&V. I think Doc and Sophia replaced Handy Mandy and Agent Oso?

 

[angelabrezovsky]

I don't know if you heard or not but Elsa and Anna will be in Magic Kingdom starting April 20th. Where the princess are. And they will have a fast pass + available!!!!!

 

[sock2you]

I don't know if you heard or not but Elsa and Anna will be in Magic Kingdom starting April 20th. Where the princess are. And they will have a fast pass + available!!!!!

Ooh I didn't know that, thanks! DD is obsessed with Elsa right now, hopefully the craze will have died down some when we're there so the waits aren't still 5 hours.

Finally got some pictures up for our intro!

 

[angelabrezovsky]

Ooh I didn't know that, thanks! DD is obsessed with Elsa right now, hopefully the craze will have died down some when we're there so the waits aren't still 5 hours.

Finally got some pictures up for our intro!

Yay! Also they won't be in Epcot any more after April 19th, Only Magic Kingdom!

 

[sock2you]

Yay! Also they won't be in Epcot any more after April 19th, Only Magic Kingdom!

Great, which means there is a hight chance that it will be even more crazy over there. Is that the one where the princesses rotate so you never know which one you're going to get? That's how it is in Disneyland at least.

 

[sock2you]

Dropping the Cinderella's Royal Table from the list, it's just too much $$ and after looking over the menu items i'm not that impressed. Plus we'll see the same characters if not more for Akershus breakfast. Although that may get cut as well, it depends on if we want to spend time tracking down those characters at the meet and greet spots or just hit them all at once for breakfast. Tusker house has made the list though (not sure if it was previously on the list as i'm too lazy to go back and check), it has all of DD's favorites and the breakfst menu looks good.

In other news I realized that DD will be tall enough by our trip to ride some of the bigger rides as she only needs to grow 2 inches between now and then and let's be real kids grow quick. That sort of puts a damper on how I was planning to use rider swap and FP+ since I believe the policy is only for kids who are too short to ride and not kids who don't want to ride. But on the other hand i'm super excited to ride Spash Mountain with her and maybe Tower of Terror. I spent a bunch of time on the FP+ thread and had mapped out which rides we want and where they fall on the scale but can't find the peice of paper I was writing on, hopefully it will turn up soon.

 

[sock2you]

Oh my gosh how could I forget 7 Dwarfs Mine Train! That will be a must ride and i'm sure will be a fastpass+. On that note though the recent announcment for a revolving 4th pass will be great and makes trying to plan everything a bit easier. Oh and I found my fastpass + list! but we'll get to that in a minute, first some updates.

coming up.


Had a blast at Disney on Ice, Let's Celebrate. To make the announcement DD got a special message from the big cheese himself (with a little help from google and the amazing people on the DISign board).







This is sadly the only picture from that night, what can I say the show was so good I didn't pick up my phone the rest of the night.


Another big thing happened recently as well, DD got her first bike! We think she made the perfect choice for her first bike, what do you think?



Now back to the planning portion of the pre-trip report.
Like mentioned way up at the top of this post I found the list I had originally made for fastpass+, so without further ado.

I'm only putting down the ones that we'll most likey use.

Epcot- Tier 1
Soarin-ridden this in Disneyland so if we dont' make it no biggie.
Maelstrom-though I hear this can be a walk on
Test Track-We will most likey use our tier one for this one

Tier 2
Mission Space
Turtle talk with Crush
Seas with Nemo

Hollywood-Tier 1
Rockin Rollercoaster
Toy Story-If we get this one it will be for DD

Tier 2
Tower of Terror
Star Tours
Voyoage of the Little Mermaid

Now the next ones are a bit different after taking a look at the awesome fastpass+ guide on the boards. They are rated A/B and will only be the ones we're planning on utilizing.

Magic Kingdom-A
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Enchanted Tales with Belle
Anna&Elsa meet and greet
Peter Pans Flight
7 Dwarfs Mine Train
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain

B
Buzz Lightyear
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
Barnstormer
Winnie the Pooh
Tommorowland Speedway
Little Mermaid Under the Sea

Animal Kindom-A
Expedition Everest
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safari

B
Dinosour-For DH not me
Finding Nemo
Primeval Whirl

And that folks concludes this exciting update.

See Ya Real Soon

 

[makochibi]

I would love to take my DD to a Disney on Ice. I always here about the the week of and then can't take off from work. your fp+ selections are good

 

[katriscari]

Following along too

 

[sock2you]

Following along too ��. We just took our first family trip (DH, DS5, and me!) May 7-13. Fabulous time. Planning on going back may 2015! We are hooked! Stayed at AS Sports. Value rooms are teeny but doable. If you can tolerate not really being able to unpack your clothes you will be fine...we will look into CBR for our next trip or renting dVC PTs.

we got the dining plan this past time and will not get it next time. It is simply too much food in hot weather in my opinion. There were so many other drinks and treats I would've liked to try, but I was way too overstuffed to do so. We basically did it for all of the character meals (4) and Ohana dinner.

Do the tusker house breakfast before the park opens. We had an 8 am res. food was so good and characters were awesome. Daisy was totally hitting on my husband...she could've kept him LOL. then, head right over to the safari ride which is about 200 feet away. We were first in line that morning. Able to switch that fp to something else. It was such a neat thing.

Hollywood and vine for lunch wAs awesome. This was probably my son's fave. They sing and dance with the kids. All around a fun time. Word of warning. They were running 45 minutes behind the res times when we went. Don't book any fp selections for right after when you think you will be done because you may not be!

The only other thing I'm so glad we did was the crystal palace breakfast with pooh and friends at MK. Food was really great there too, and we got the coveted family photo in front of the castle with no other people in the background, since the park wasn't open yet.

Can't wait to keep following along!

Welcome! I've toyed with the idea of Crystal Palace but there are so many other places I want to go and DD really isn't that into Pooh and Friends so i'm still debating, though it would be great to be able to enter the park before everyone else.

Thanks for all the great information.

Not much else to report, May was by far the busiest month for our family with DH finishing the school year, vacation, being in a wedding and then finding out our daycare is closing.

I believe I have decided to go with a travel agent though. We're just too busy during the school year for me to be able to get all the reservations I want and make all the changes i'm sure are to come. Since I listen to the podcast we'll be going with Dreams Unlimited.

 

[sock2you]

Inspired by Makochibi timeline on her PTR I decided to nail down a rough outline.

Day 1 Travel Day: Hoping for a morning or early afternoon flight so i've left this one open. We'll most likey do dinne at Art of Animation or if we get in early enough Downtown Disney.

Day 2 Magic Kingdom
Quick breakfast in room or downstairs-thinking about ordering groceries
Gastons Tavern-for the cinnamon rolls
BOG-Lunch (hoping for FP)
Leaving dinner open

Day 3 Epcot
Akershus breakfast - Still debating this one, mostly for the $$
Viap Napoli for a late lunch
Dinner is open, probably around the world.

Day 4 Animal Kingdom
Tusker House breakfast
Yak & Yeti for a late lunch
Dinner is open once again - Maybe Captain Cooks

Day 5 Rest Day
Kona breakfast
Wolfgang Puck for lunch
Ghiredelli for snack
Dinner is open - Maybe O'hana if I can convince DH

Day 6 Magic Kingdom
Crystal Palace early reservation - If I can't get an early reservation this day we have another day to try for.
Sleepy Hollow for lunch
Dinner is open

Day 7 Hollywood Studios
Hollywood & Vine breakfast - Depending on if DD is still obssesed with Disney Junior
50's Prime Time for a late lunch

Day 8 Magic Kindom
Light breakfast or Crystal Palace early reservation if I didn't get it before
Columbia Harbour House lunch
Pecos Bills Dinner

Day 9 Travel Day
Open as i'm not sure when our flight will be

The only thing i'm not sure of is O'hana and I left Beaches N Cream out to see if it will fit in our schedule. I left most of the dinners open since i'm planning on a later lunch and am not sure how hungry everyone will be. This is a very rough draft as I think we have too many character meals for our stay and may cut it down.