It's Happening One Way Or The Other! - Oct 2016 PTR - Updated 10/11 - Single Digit Dance

[IowaTater]

DISNEY UPDATE
​

According to our DVA (Disney Vacation Account), we are about 1/4 of the way to our goal. Yahoo!!

While we were camping this weekend, DH and I discussed some plans. Because we are still more than a year out & there are lots of changes going on at WDW right now, these plans will most certainly change in some way, shape, or form but I'm going to post them anyway just to get some feedback on them.

Since I don't have a lot of time left to post, we'll start with our least favorite park....

Animal Kingdom

DH pretty much hates AK & would probably be happy just skipping the whole thing. However, there are a few things (new & old) we'd like to experience.

1. Rivers of Light - this is scheduled to open in spring of 2016. We have already seen FOTLK so I thought this might be a nice way to rest our tootsies for a bit.
2. Met Dug & Russell - We did this last time & loved it. It was such a fun character interaction that we decided we definitely want to do it again.
3. Partake in an adult beverage at Dawa Bar - This is more for me than DH, as he doesn't drink. I saw the Dawa Bloody Mary on one of Leshaface's TR and it looks fantabulous.
4. Ride Expedition Everest - Again something that we did last time and we both loved it!
5. Meet Tarzan & Rafiki - both characters we didn't get to meet last time so I'd really like to be able to do so on this trip.
6. Become a Wilderness Explorer - Yes, I am fully aware that it is for little kids but everyone is a kid at WDW and I figure this is the only way I can get DH to stick around AK longer than a couple of hours.
7. Kilimanjaro Safari - We did this last time and I really liked it. DH was kind of eh about it. I'm not sure I can talk him into it this time.
8. Have breakfast or lunch at Tusker House - Because DH is so picky, we seem to do better with buffets. However, I'm not sure he'll go for this one. I have a feeling he may think it's too "exotic". He'll probably want to eat at Flame Tree (which we've already done) or Restaurantosaurus.

I know DH would like to make AK a half day park but I'm hoping with us doing Wilderness Explorers that it will push us into the full day category. After we are done there, we'll probably either head back to the resort to relax or hop over to DHS for a bit.

Let me know what you think of our AK plans.

 

[IowaTater]

 

[Elevationist]

According to our DVA (Disney Vacation Account), we are about 1/4 of the way to our goal. Yahoo!!

Isn't that an awesome feeling?! I love the little progress tracking thingy on it!

Let me know what you think of our AK plans.

Love them! AK for me is easily a full-day park or at least two half-days. But I love it dearly and enjoy everything it has to offer. Almost. Not Primeval Whirl. Screw that ride, man.

 

[IowaTater]

I'm with you on the Primeval Whirl. Can't do. I have vision of the movie Problem Child. I can do roller coasters just fine but not spinning. *shudder*

 

[IowaTater]

As with every other October, things have been busy at the Pasta & Taters household. A quick real life update.

October 2 was Pasta's 40th birthday so I decided to throw him a superhero themed party. It was a lot more difficult than it seems. I found tons of ideas on the interwebs but most of them were geared towards kids parties. Luckily, I was able to adapt some of the ideas to a more grown-up feel. Because our house is on the small side, we decided to have it as an open house. Plus we know our friends and how the majority of them run on a different time schedule than the rest of society.

I made all the decorations myself and most of the food. Pasta's sister made the spice cupcakes & Rotel cups for me while his mom made olive bruschetta and bacon wrapped chicken bites. Bless our friends Milo & V who came over early to help me set up because I was in total freak out mode. I'm too much of a perfectionist for my own good. We ended up having about 45 people show up through the day with the first one arriving shortly after 4 pm and the last ones leaving at 2:00 am. I was exhausted but Pasta had a good time as did all of the guests and that's all that matters.

 

[IowaTater]

The following day, V and I took Indy to the zoo. They were having their annual Ottertoberfest and I love the otters. Plus they always decorate for Halloween It was a little chilly that day and Indy was a little fussy but it was a lot of fun. Afterwards, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Yummm-o.



Seriously?? How can you be irritated with that face??? On a side note, Pasta's mom made him that hat

 

[IowaTater]

Disney Update
​

I finally got a hold of a Disney TA to get the ball rolling on booking our package. I emailed her all of our information but it's now been 2 days & I haven't heard back from her. Unfortunately, I am a diva when it comes to this so the fact that it's been over 24 hours makes me a little irritated & second guess my decision. And on top of that, when I looked at the WDW website yesterday, all of the Value resorts were showing up as unavailable.



When I was explaining what happened to DH last night, he suggested that if it wasn't just a glitch on the website that we could always postpone the trip to 2017.



To which I ever so polite told him that I NEEDED MY DISNEY FIX and I didn't care if we had to stay at my dad's timeshare. We were going in 2016. Thankfully, I checked the website this morning and all seems to be back to normal.

We did put together a tentative schedule for EPCOT.

Rides:

The Seas with Nemo
Soarin' (new to us)
Spaceship Earth
Test Track (new to us)
Living With The Land (new to us)
Gran Fiesta Tour (haven't done in a long time)
Innoventions (hopefully this will be back by then but I don't know what the construction schedule is on it)

Misc:

Meet Provincial Belle & Mulan (met Belle at ETWB last year but not at EPCOT. Missed Mulan)
Visit Pick A Pearl (did this last time and LOVED it!)
Visit as many F&W booths as our bellies will let us
Play Agent P game
Play Remy game (if they have it next year)

Because we were so rushed last time, we'd really like to spend 2 days at EPCOT this time. Like with AK, we're hoping the games will make it a little bit more interesting.

 

[Elevationist]

PMing you, Tater.

 

[IowaTater]

I have been so busy at work, I complete ran out of time to post this the other day. We are...

OFFICIALLY BOOKED
&
UNDER A YEAR!!!!





(Bonus points if you know what the first gif is from)
​

We got All Star Movies, which I am so excited about, along with the regular dining plan and 6-day park hopper tickets. We also got Memory Maker because we used the crap outta that thing last time.

Even though we are booked, there's still not a whole lot of planning we can do until they release park hours for October. I have figured out what date we are able to book ADRs and FP+. Luckily our FP+ date falls on a Saturday but our ADR date falls on a Friday so I will have to see if I can work from home that day.

I did get our countdown done (and have since commissioned 2 more since posting it on Facebook). (Obviously not the correct amount of days).


Thank you to my awesome TA for getting everything booked for us (we did end up going with someone different). Now the trip is really real!!

 

[lilpixiebabe101]

I love your countdown calendar!!! And yay for having things booked. I cannot for life of me figure out that gif haha

 

[Elevationist]

OFFICIALLY BOOKED
&
UNDER A YEAR!!!!

I already knew this, but screw it, I'mma dance with you anyhow!

(Bonus points if you know what the first gif is from)

They sure do got... The Right Stuff...

I did get our countdown done (and have since commissioned 2 more since posting it on Facebook). (Obviously not the correct amount of days).

OMG. THIS IS ADORABLE. I WANT ONE!!!

Thank you to my awesome TA for getting everything booked for us (we did end up going with someone different).

 

[IowaTater]

They sure do got... The Right Stuff...

DING DING!! You are correct! It's from the old New Kids on the Block cartoon. Still love those guys.

Thanks for the compliments on my countdown. I think I'm going to add them to my business website.

 

[Elevationist]

DING DING!! You are correct! It's from the old New Kids on the Block cartoon. Still love those guys.

I was a huuuuuuge NKOTB fan back in the day! I remember that as a kid, I was on this bowling league, and when it was time to return for another season, they had moved my age group to Saturday morning, so I refused to sign back up because it would mean missing the NKOTB cartoon every week. So dumb.

Thanks for the compliments on my countdown. I think I'm going to add them to my business website.

Wait wait wait. You MAKE those??? If you start selling them, I'm going to need a link!!!

 

[IowaTater]

Wait wait wait. You MAKE those??? If you start selling them, I'm going to need a link!!!

Yep, I make them. I actually just made it for myself but as soon as I posted it on my Facebook page, 2 people contacted me about making one for them. I'm also thinking about making them to countdown anything (wedding, graduations, holidays, etc.)

So a little bit of a life update to explain why I have been MIA for so long. Way back in the spring, I got a raise at work with a promise of a promotion. Well, that promotion became official in August when our Marketing Manager resigned. At that time, I became the new Marketing Manager but they didn't have anyone to replace me yet so I was also still the Administrative Assistant. After 2 months of asking, they finally hired someone on October 23. So I spent the week of Halloween trying to get everything caught up so that she didn't come into a huge mess and then spent all of last week training her. I'm now out of my Admin position and into my Marketing position. WoooohoooO!!!

Another thing that completely derailed me from the Boards is that I had a bit of an incident with my car on October 29. I was coming home from work and my car died as I was going up the hill by my house. Like DIED died....not even enough battery power to turn the hazard flashers on. I thought I was close enough to the flat part that I could just push it around the corner because I didn't want to get hit by another car), As soon as I pushed on the dashboard, the car started to roll back down the hill. I tried to jump back in it to apply the brake but couldn't do it so I just cranked the steering wheel as far as I could and managed to steer it into some bushes along the side of the road. Thankfully there was no damage to the car except for breaking the turn signal lever (a $600 fix ) but the car had dragged me about 7 or 8 feet. My wounds weren't as bad as they could have been but I was definitely feeling it all weekend long. Most of them have healed up now except for some of the bruises and the abrasions on my right knee & left skin. Definitely a lesson learned though. WARNING: The next photo may make some people a little ookey.























Well now that that's out of the way, how about we move on to something a little bit happier: DISNEY PLANS!!!!

 

[lilpixiebabe101]

Oh no!!! That's not nice! At least you didn't seriously injure yourself more!!!

 

[IowaTater]

More Disney Plans
​

Let's talk Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios today. DH absolutely loves Hollywood Studios and we both liked Magic Kingdom so our "must-dos" are pretty long for these 2 parks. I would imagine they will get even longer with the changes coming to Hollywood Studios as DH is a big Star Wars fan.

Hollywood Studios (items with a * are things we haven't done before)

Rides:
Toy Story Mania
Star Tours
Tower of Terror
Great Movie Ride
Rock N' Roller Coaster
Muppets 3D
Fantasmic * (may possibly do in conjunction with dinner at Mama Melrose)

Dining:
SciFi Dine Inn
Mama Melrose* (see above)
50's Prime Time *
Minnie's Dinner* (depending on menu & reviews)
Villain Dinner* (depending on menu, reviews, and if we want to pay OOP)

Characters:
Green Army Men*
Mike & Sulley
Phineas & Ferb
Characterpalooza* (but I thought I read somewhere that they got rid of this or maybe are moving it??)
Launch Pad meet & greets

Magic Kingdom

Rides:
Buzz Lightyear*
Space Mountain
Stitch's Great Escape
Dumbo*
Big Thunder Mountain
Hall of Presidents*
Haunted Mansion
Jungle Cruise*
Winnie the Pooh
Philharmagic
Pirates of the Caribbean
Seven Dwarves Mine Train*
Splash Mountain
Under the Sea
Peter Pan's Flight*

Dining:
Be Our Guest (dinner)*
Columbia Harbour House*
Crystal Palace (breakfast)*
Pecos Bill*

Characters:
Daisy Duck*
Fairy Godmother*
Gaston*
Marie*
Peter Pan*
Tinker Bell*
Tremaines*
Woody & Jessie*

Misc:
Dole Whip*
Festival of Fantasy*
Main Street Electrical Parade
Move It! Shake It! parade*


As you can see there are a lot of firsts on our Magic Kingdom day and I'm so excited!! Anything I missed?

 

[Elevationist]

WARNING: The next photo may make some people a little ookey.

Yikes!!! Your car really beat you up, you poor thing! I hope you're feeling better by now. Glad you weren't hurt worse, how scary!

Let's talk Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios today.

LOVE the must-do's lists! What fun!!!

 

[IowaTater]

Oh no!!! That's not nice! At least you didn't seriously injure yourself more!!!

Yikes!!! Your car really beat you up, you poor thing! I hope you're feeling better by now. Glad you weren't hurt worse, how scary!

Thanks, ladies. Yeah, it definitely could have been a lot worse. Thankfully all of the bruises are gone and the majority of the scrapes/road rash has healed. I still have a deep bruise in my tibia though and I'm going to have some lovely scars. AND the stupid car broke down again yesterday while DH was driving it. Of course, I was right and it was the alternator all along but because mechanics go by what a stupid computer says, it took 3 breakdowns for them to figure it out.

So 11 months from today, we will be in WDW!!!!



Since I probably won't be able to give a proper update until after the first of the year, what with all the holidays coming up, how about one big HUGE update????

DISNEY SPRINGS

We are really excited for all the changes coming to Disney Springs. Below is a list of places we'd like to see. (Disclaimer: Some things I think might be closed now but I was having trouble finding an updated listing of what all was there)

Arribas Brothers*
Art of Disney*
Basin*
Disney's Days of Christmas
Disney Pin Traders
Ghirardelli *
Goofy's Candy Company*
Marketplace Co-Op*
Mickey's Pantry
Marketplace Fun Finds
Wonderful World of Memories (I've been told they have started to stock more scrapbooking items recently)
World of Disney
Candy Cauldron*
Shop for Ireland*
Wolfgang Puck Express* (DH will likely eat at Earl of Sandwich while I'm there)
Raglan Road*

We are also planning on going to MNSSHP again this trip because we liked it so much. Here is our plans for MNSSHP.

MNSSHP

Boo To You parade (2nd parade)
Trick or Treating (of course!!!)
Hocus Pocus show (providing they have it next year...fingers crossed)

Dine at Liberty Tree Tavern (if we can get a 4:00 reservation) - we did this last time & have decided to make it a tradition. It was so tasty & filling that it kept us from having to stop for a snack during the party itself)

Meet:
Tarzan, Jane, Terk*
Abu & Genie*
Captain Jack Sparrow*
Anna & Elsa*
Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Piglet*
Lotso*
Mickey & Minnie*
Jafar*

I'm not sure what rides we'll do but I know we'll do Haunted Mansion & try to get the 2 special Magic Shots.

We are also planning a non-park day, probably that Saturday. We'll spend the day resort hopping, pin trading, and adding to our pressed penny collection. Below is a list of the resorts & resort-based dining we'd like to try (although obviously not all in one day).

RESORTS

Art of Animation - mainly just to take a boatload of pictures
Port Orleans Riverside
Port Orleans French Quarter - try beignets. There's also a bar I'd like to try but I think it's actually in the pool area so that may be a no-go.
Beach Club - try a No Way Jose at Beaches & Cream
Boardwalk Inn - Big River Grille or Boardwalk Bakery (or maybe both)
Grand Floridian - morning or afternoon tea (this has a 0.000009% chance of happening because of DH but I would do LOVE it if it did)
Wilderness Lodge - Whispering Canyon (lunch or dinner)
Polynesian - Ohana breakfast (I'm determined to meet Stitch on this trip)
Animal Kingdom Lodge - go on the culinary tour

As with all of our plans, I'm sure this will change multiple times before our trip (especially if I can't keep myself away from the Dining Reviews boards).

 

[IowaTater]

Yesterday was an awesome Mickey Mail day. I ordered my first bow off Etsy and that arrived. I plan to coordinate the bows to what park/outfit I will be wearing that day. I have some more bows to order & I'm still debating on getting ears (I don't own a single pair of Mickey Ears ) I kind of feel like my first pair should actually come from a Disney park.



This, of course, will be worn on one of our MK days.

We also got this in the mail.



We didn't get anything like this on our last trip and it made me tear up a little bit! Even DH looked through it and said "I'm so excited for our trip." SCORE!!! He also said I had to save it for the scrapbook. Well D'UH!!!!

Like I said before, there probably won't be much to update until after the first of the year. With the holidays coming up, we'll be super super busy so I won't be doing any Disney planning (oh who are we all kidding?? ) and I can't really make any major plans until April. But if there are any changes or exciting things going on, I'm sure I'll pop in. Even if it's just for a quick life update.

 

[lilpixiebabe101]

Love your updates! I need to do that as well. List out all,the must do's. I really want the DF to sit and do that too but I may have to wait till closer to the trip to get his. I'm trying not to overtalk him on the trip since he doesnt get the whole Disney love thing yet. I'm so sad we will miss each other by only a few days!