Is it Time to go Yet?!- December 2013 PTR! ***UPDATED 12/15/13***

[Britbrie]

Hello everyone! My name is Brittney, and I am SOOO excited about my upcoming trip that I had to give this TR thing a go!

This trip took a lot of work to make happen, and I had to use my awesome selling skills to convince my family and boss to let me go! After getting super sick during our summer cruise, I felt like I was owed a re-do vacation. So, obviously the only vacation destination to choose was WDW!

I quickly worked on a 'presentation' that consisted of a list of prices, reasons why, etc. After spending hours upon hours convincing my parents to go (ok ok maybe like 5 minutes), I was exhausted and needed to devise a plan to persuade my boss to let me go during the busiest time of the year.

The problem with persuading my boss was that I had already used up all of my vacation for this year, and being that I work retail that time is SUPER busy. After begging and pleading with my manager, she reluctantly agreed and I rushed home to get this vacation plan in action! More on this story later!

Enough with the boring, let's talk about me for a few minutes... haha.

My name is Brittney, I am 24 years old, and I am a Disney addict.



I work at a large craft store as the Frame shop manager. I have been to WDW 33 times, and I have been accepted in the DCP twice (but never got to go ) I go to LSU (Geaux Tigers!!), and I have a wide variety of majors that include photography, studio art, history, poli sci, and marketing... don't judge! I love Soarin', Big Thunder Railroad, Stitch, and Expedition Everest.

My mom, Michele.



My mom teaches high school, and her class is referred to as the United Nations due to the amount of foreign students she has. She loves to learn, and is currently trying to learn Spanish/Arabic/Chinese. (Side story: the other day I saw an Egyptian hieroglyphics paper on my printer, and I know it belongs to her... so I'm sure she's trying to learn that too. haha) My mom loves It's a Small World After All, and Disney ducks. She's terrified of the Maelstrom... I guess she had a bad troll experience as a child?

My dad, Billy.



My dad has worked for a major oil company for 22 years, and is as obsessed with Disney as I am. (He was my partner in crime in convincing my mom to go to WDW). He is trying to learn how to play the electric guitar, and currently owns 11 of them (a little obsessed... haha). My dad loves Pirates of the Caribbean (for the Mark Davis influence), O Canada (I don't understand why), the Safari, and the Haunted Mansion.

Next Installment: Where we are staying!

 

[Britbrie]

So, back to the whole convincing my job to let me go/planning this vacation...
After my manager told me yes, my parents and I sat out to figure out where we were going to stay. A few months went by, all of our planning was done, and my manager was fired. I was immediately concerned that I wouldn't be allowed to go to my favorite place in the entire world.

The next week, the new manager arrived. I knew he'd be busy with getting settled into his new role, so I left him alone for like an hour. After that long hour, I presented the situation to him only to hear "Yeah, she was crazy to let you off in December... No vacations until February. Sorry." I was devastated! Not only had we already paid for the vacation, but I had already gotten into the 'I am going to Disney mentality'.

After brainstorming with my mom, I went back to work the next day with the receipt printouts. Armed with them in hand, I once again asked my manager and presented a plan for that week I would be out. He then finally agreed!

Anyhow, back to where to stay... When I made my price list I was secretly hoping we could stay at the Contemporary, but since we had already gone on vacation this year I would have to settle for another property.

My proposal:



Although we are rarely in the room when we go to Disney, we usually stay at AKL or the Caribbean Beach. Both are very nice hotels, with Animal Kingdom Lodge being our favorite. However, this trip we decided to stay at the Pop Century!



My dad has never stayed in a value at WDW, and I was slightly concerned with how he would react to the resort. After explaining the theming and how we were rarely in the room anyhow, he was pretty excited to be going back to WDW.

Up next, we purchased our park hoppers and the dining plan. We chose the park hopper option, and just the counter service/table service dining plan.



Next Installment: ADR's, Fastpass+, Magic Bands!

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Looks like fun!!!!

 

[Britbrie]

So let's talk for a minute about our ADR's that we chose. We mainly wanted to do dinners at sit downs, and lunches at counter service.

On our first night (Sunday), I really wanted to try Raglan Road in Downtown Disney. I've seen other people post on their trip reports about eating here, and how cool of an atmosphere it is soooo I hope it lives up to the hype!
Here is their main course menu:



Monday: In the morning we are going to be eating at Kona Cafe for breakfast, and Mama Melrose's for dinner.

Tuesday: We are eating a early dinner at The Plaza in the Magic Kingdom. (Being that this is New Year's Eve, it was very hard to get any reservations at all.) We plan on spending the whole day in the MK this day, so it'll be okay!

Wednesday: We will eat dinner at Boma. (yay Zebra Domes!!)



Thursday: Yak and Yeti.

Friday: 50's Prime Time Cafe

Saturday: On our last day we chose to eat at Narcoossee's.

Of course we will eat at Columbia Harbor House for a lunch one day, as it is a location we always visit at WDW.



Alright I have to go to work now, so I'll try to come back soon and talk about our fastpass + picks!! Hope everyone has a good day!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[JessM]

I'm following!

I just got back from a trip to the World with just my parents too! And we stayed at Pop, small world

 

[Britbrie]

Thank you to the few of you that are following! I appreciate it!

Okay so now to talk a little about our fastpass+ picks (well my picks, I didn't really give my parents any options... hahaha).

So, our first day we are flying in super late or early (depending on how you want to look at it). I figured we wouldn't get to Disney until 3 am, so then we will definitely want to go to bed. So, for the first day I picked later Magic Kingdom fastpasses.

12:45-1:45pm Big Thunder Railroad
2:25-3:25pm The Haunted Mansion
4:20-5:20pm Space Mountain

While we are talking about the Magic Kingdom, here is a picture from August 2012 of me in front of the castle.



anddd the beautiful castle that I will be standing in front of in 14 days!!!



and the back of that beautiful castle



Moving on... haha sorry.
The next day, I picked for Epcot.

11:25-12:25pm Spaceship Earth (really, who needs a fastpass for this ride...?)
2:30-3:30pm Soarin'
3:30-4:30pm Living with the Land (once again... who needs a fastpass for this ride...?)

Epcot's picks aren't that good, but I am VERY excited to have a fastpass for Soarin'! Usually, we would have to get to the park at open, then haul butt to Soarin', ride it twice, get fastpasses, and come back later. Now we don't have to rush quite as much!

The next day is once again the Magic Kingdom. (We love MK, and spend most of our days there btw).
Since it is New Year's Eve, I really wanted to pick later times for the rides.

5-6pm Splash Mountain
6-7pm Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
8-9pm Space Mountain

Obviously the three mountains was the smartest choice as this day will be SUPER busy!!

Alright, the next day is our MGM (Hollywood Studios Day). (You guys can call it what you want, but it will always be referred to as MGM in my mind. haha)

10:15-11:15am Rockin Roller Coaster
12:15-1:15pm Toy Story Midway Mania
1:50-2:50pm Star Tours

I am very excited to ride both Toy Story Midway Mania, and Star Tours since the update. Last August we were only in Disney for 2 days and never made it to get a fastpass for TSMM.

The awesome frozen margarita bar in MGM!



The view from that awesome bar:

 

[Britbrie]

So while we are on the subject of MGM (Hollywood Studios), let's discuss the Brown Derby. Out of all of our trips, we have definitely gone to the Brown Derby at least 25 of the trips. So, last August my mom and I were in WDW for 2 days and we decided to go there for lunch.

I ordered the potato soup, and it came out ice cold. I decided to skip the entree and just get grapefruit cake. Omg, they must have changed the recipe because it was nasty! I'm very sad to report that the Brown Derby is not what it used to be.

Grapefruit Cake:



On a positive note, the American Idol Experience was fun. The show was very cute, and gives you something to do for 30 minutes.



Anyhow, moving on the next day I chose Animal Kingdom.

10:05-11:05am Kilimanjaro Safari
1:05-2:05pm Expedition Everest (yay!)
3:35-4:45pm Dinosaur

Next is Epcot

11:30-12:30pm Soarin'
12:40-1:40pm The Seas with Nemo and Friends
2:20-3:20pm Mission Space

and our last day: Magic Kingdom once again

1:35-2:35pm Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
3:35-4:45pm Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
4:45-5:45pm Space Mountain

I am actually very excited about these picks, and I think it'll be nice to already have our fastpasses before we even enter the park.

Up next MagicBands, and other random things.