"Look Ma! We're planning a Disney Trip!" - Nov 10-20 PTR (11/09 Final Update?!)

[skier_pete]

Awesome news about the tickets! They actually just recently talked about the issue of picking up tickets before the start of a package on the Dis Unplugged podcast. DH and I were wondering why on earth you'd need to do that, but after reading your posts, makes total sense!

As for the $150 for the rooms, I'd definitely pay $150 more for all of the reasons you listed to stay at POFQ! It would have to be significantly more in savings for me to want to switch personally, just because we loved our stay at POFQ for all the reasons you said! We loved that it was quiet and small, so you were never a far walk from anything. We loved the theming (imagine that ) and we don't mind the lack of TS restaurants since we are mostly food court eaters anyway when staying at a Disney resort. You can't beat being first on and first off the buses either, in my opinion! So if it was me, I'd just stay with my reservations at POFQ unless the savings would be a lot more to move resorts.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Glad you concur...thanks for the feedback. It makes me feel better spending the extra money knowing other don't think I'm nuts for wanting to do it.

Pete - Great news on the tickets!

POR was actually really nice. Yes it was a sprawling resort but we stayed in the Oak Manor section and it didn't seem too far to anything. It just depends on what you would think is a lot of walking or not. Oak Manor to Ol' Man Island was about 5 - 7 minutes walk. And it took us about 5 minutes to get to the main complex. The food court was awesome.

I had originally requested to stay in the Aligator Bayou section but had been a bit disappointed when I didn't get my request. But I did walk through AB and it seemed much more noisy and busy than the Mansions. That's where the families stay - especially the ones with 5 people or so. I get why some of the buildings in AB is popular .... really close to the facilities....but not all the buildings in AB are close. The ones further out seemed further than the Mansions.

And even though there seems to be a lot of people staying at POR, the buses seem to do a great job getting everyone out. The longest we ever waited for a bus was 15 minutes. But we usually left early, during "peak" period and I figure they must schedule extra buses during that time to move everyone out.


But I agree with the other posters....stick with POFQ for now and unless you think that you can use the extra $150 for heaps of other things.

See, you say 5-7 minutes, and doesn't sound like much, but too much for me. Last time out, we had a near perfect room in building 5. It was maybe 2 minutes to the bus stop, and probably 20 seconds to the food court and the pool. (It was an incredible room location and even at the time I kept saying the whole trip "best room EVER!".)

But, if we can get into one of the central buildings, the walk to the bus stop should be 2-3 minutes, and to the pool a food court very similar. It just makes the whole place seem smaller. While I certainly could use the $150 elsewhere, I think we couldn't do better.

You mention the buses...our experience at POFQ was great with buses - EXCEPT Animal Kingdom. We had awful luck with AK buses, once waiting almost 40 minutes for a bus. In fact it was for morning EMH. We were out at the bus stop at 7:30 AM. We saw THREE buses each for the other parks AND DTD (which didn't OPEN until 9 AM), waiting for the AK bus. It finally showed up about 10 minues after 8 AM - with the park opening for EMH @ 8 AM - and then proceeded around the POR - taking almost 40 minutes to get to AK (It stopped at Blizzard Beach, which again didn't open until 10 AM.) By the time we got to the gate at AK, it was 8:45 AM, with a whopping 15 minutes left of EMH. I think one of the things that has me totally off of EMH. (Our experience with EMH has almost always been bad - crowded and not worth it.)

Anyways...off subject.

That is great news about the tickets! Your first-half plans look good!

It sounds like your plan is coming together perfectly!!! And for $150 I would stay at my preferred resort too - that's a drop in the bucket really. I mean we are going to get MVMCP ticketa even though I hear it's not as good just because my Mom and I want to see the wooden soldiers in the parade - lol, a resort is more important than that!

Thanks. As my childhood hero Hannibal Smith would say. "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Well, I do have to say the Christmas parade is pretty cool. I guess even though we didn't have a great experience with MNSSHP I wouldn't discourage you too much there. But that's a good point...$150 for a 8-hour experience, or $150 for the whole week.

Thanks everyone so much for the feedback! The more I think about it, the more I feel it's the right move the stick with what we got.

 

[skier_pete]

Day 6 (Nov 16th) – We’ve hit all the parks once, and it means that we can slow down – a little bit. Today is our second (sort of third) EPCOT day.

I am a pretty big stickler for getting to the park in time for rope drop. That means (to me) leaving the hotel room at about 8 AM to ensure that we are there well before they let us into the park. However, I am more lax with this for Epcot, especially on our second day there. By this point, we’ll have had 5 previous days, 4 of which involved making a rope drop. Having a bit a of a sleep in day is probably a good thing. However, I would still like to see us out to the bus by 9 AM. A few years ago, when staying at POFQ, we did the same thing – arrived at the bus stop at about 8:50 AM. The Epcot bus pulled up, and we were the ONLY family to board it. Thinking that we would then circle around POR, we figured it would take a bit of time to get to the park, but our driver went straight to the park. We were at the gate by 9:05 AM, and hardly missed any park time, even though all the crowds were dispersed.
So, today will depend a lot on what we did and how much we got done on our first day, but the most likely scenario is we’ll go and grab some FP for Soarin’, but then head over to Test Track. The focus today I think will be on Future World, with slightly less time in World Showcase. We’ll probably check out Spaceship Earth,

and see what our FUTURE holds!

and maybe even check out Ellen’s show, which we haven’t done in 14 years!

Innovations is low on the priority list, but maybe we’ll have a bit of time to check it out. DD will probably want to do the seas again, and maybe JII with Figment.

No love for Mission Space with this family, though I wouldn’t mind trying it again as I’ve only done it once. The rest of the clan won’t go near it. I think lunch will be at Sunshine Seasons – a favorite CS of our family. (Just after or before our Soarin’ trip.)

You can see that a firm plan is clearly not in place here. It is funny how our park touring style has changed. Early on, I had very detailed plans and schedules for each day, but now that we know the parks so well, we sort of know what to do early, and what can wait, and we just do it. Because I don’t expect big crowds, and only a few headliners, I think we will have an easy time being spontaneous with our plans. I don’t know if others feel this way, but I find that by going once a year, it gives us the freedom to miss some things and just catch it next year. In this case, it’ll be close to two years before we come back, but even so we don’t feel we have to see everything.

So, as the day winds on we may eventually make it into World Showcase. The only real “must” for the day is dinner at 5:30 PM at Biergarten.

I’ve scheduled the time so we catch the band as well – playing @ 5:55 pm, I figure we should show up 5-10 minutes late for our ADR will be perfect with us sitting down to eat. My father is from Austria, and while my mother and he divorced many years ago, she will still get a kick out of the German music and food.

This evening is also the most likely for DW and I to have our “adults only” night. Since Pleasure Island and our much-adored Adventurer’s Club closed, we’ve been meaning to check out the one nighttime entertainment of interest to us…Jellyrolls. So, after dinner, we will probably send DMom back to the hotel with DD to get her a little swim time and a reasonably early night. Perhaps we will spend the evening strolling through some more of world showcase, or we will head over to the boardwalk and stroll there a bit before going into Jellyrolls. Don’t plan on a real late night – but we’ll hopefully spend a few hours there, and then take a taxi back to our hotel.

And of course being the consumate planner - we get to sleep in (a bit) tomorrow. Well not really that long....next up is....DAY 7!

 

[teekathepony]

Sounds like a lovely relaxing day! I love Ellen's Energy Adventure. I don't quite know why. The nice long time off your feet maybe?

 

[PrincessInOz]

Oooh! JellyRolls! I'll be really interested to see any pictures of it.

I had hoped to go in May 2010; but no one else wanted to go with me.


Day 6 sounds like a great day. Even though you're saying that you'll take it slower, I somehow suspect that you'll find that it is still attraction packed.

 

[teekathepony]

Sounds like a lovely relaxing day! I love Ellen's Energy Adventure. I don't quite know why. The nice long time off your feet maybe?

 

[skier_pete]

Sounds like a lovely relaxing day! I love Ellen's Energy Adventure. I don't quite know why. The nice long time off your feet maybe?

Yeah, it's kind of the way we tour. Tour hard the first day in the park and try and get a lot done, then later in the week when we return, try to dial it back a bit. Usually only from a 9 to a 7 or so...but dial back none-the-less.

Oooh! JellyRolls! I'll be really interested to see any pictures of it.

I had hoped to go in May 2010; but no one else wanted to go with me.


Day 6 sounds like a great day. Even though you're saying that you'll take it slower, I somehow suspect that you'll find that it is still attraction packed.

We've wanted to check out Jellyrolls for AGES. But first, we were enjoying Adventure's Club too much, then the last three trips with PI closed we just couldn't fit it in. In December 2009 we really wanted to while we had DMIL with us, and it was just too packed full a trip with all the Christmas stuff. Last year we had the Cub Club, but still couldn't work it in. This trip we are determined to fit it in. Hopefully on a Wednesday it'll be busy but not TOO busy.

I do think we'll be doing quite a bit today. Epcot - even with two plus days is a park full of stuff to do. I think I said this earlier, but even though it's not our favorite park, we've NEVER reached the point with this park where we've felt like we've seen everything we want to see, whereas we've been able to reach that with every other park. I still don't think we will this trip either.

 

[khertz]

Great Epcot plans! Loved our lunch at Biergarten with the entertainment a couple of years ago. It's such a pretty little restaurant to escape the park into!

And yay for Mom & Dad night! That's what grandparents are for after all, right?

 

[skier_pete]

Great Epcot plans! Loved our lunch at Biergarten with the entertainment a couple of years ago. It's such a pretty little restaurant to escape the park into!

And yay for Mom & Dad night! That's what grandparents are for after all, right?

Yeah, we don't get the "free sitting" a ton since both our families don't live here in Buffalo. (DWs is about 1.5 away in Rochester, and her mom helps out a lot, but it's not usually a "let's go out tonight" situation, it has to be planned around.)

Beirgarten does feel different than a lot of Disney restaurants, even in World Showcase, I don't know why. It's funny, I would have chosen a "nicer" restaurant (Chefs De France) for our other Epcot day, but this is one DW wanted to do, but the more I think about it, the more I like that we're going here. Our only other time there was one of those rare "Spur of the moment" decisions where we actually made our ADR the day of, and we really enjoyed it. It was the last meal of our first trip with DD. So I think it does keep in with the trip theme of "greatest hits".

 

[joy13]

We are going to Biergarten too. We ate there on our 2009 trip and liked. My Mom likes German food, so I figured she'd like it Though she's been to the real thing in Germany -but she'll still like it and she loves looking at the shopping in Germany. A couples night sounds very nice!

 

[skier_pete]

We are going to Biergarten too. We ate there on our 2009 trip and liked. My Mom likes German food, so I figured she'd like it Though she's been to the real thing in Germany -but she'll still like it and she loves looking at the shopping in Germany. A couples night sounds very nice!

My dad in Austrian, so does make tradional Germanic dishes. The food at Betrgarten really is pretty good imitation of traditional food.

Speaking of which - yesterday was 60 days until our trip! To celebrate, my dear wife made Keilbasa as part as dinner. Here is how she served it:

She even put them together with toothpicks! Yes, we have some real psychological problems. (If you look really close, there is also some Mickey/ Minnie shaped pasta mixed in with the flat noodles.)

 

[PrincessInOz]

2 months! Before you know it, mickey mail will be arriving!

 

[skier_pete]

2 months! Before you know it, mickey mail will be arriving!

Garsh! I didn't even think about the Mickey Mail! Soon! Soon!

 

[skier_pete]

Day 7:

Another “sleep-in” day of sorts, or at least an extra hour…for today we are expecting to go where….

A furious storm once roared ‘cross the sea,
Catching ships in its path, hopeless to flee.
Instead of a certain and watery doom,
The winds swept them here to Typhoon Lagoon

I probably say this a lot, but those that go to Walt Disney World without venturing to one of the water parks really don’t know what they are missing. Both parks are as elaborately themed as any of the main parks, and the options are widespread enough to please small tikes up to the wildest thrill seekers. (There is not a ride in all WDW, or probably all of Florida, as insane as Summit Plummet.)

We’ve done Typhoon Lagoon 3 times with our Daughter now, and was looking forward to giving Blizzard Beach a try, but Disney pulled the old swith-a-roo on the normal refurb schedule, and BB is going down for the month of November, so it’s back to Typhoon Lagoon we go. Not that it really matters, as we love it there. I don’t know if my mom will be joining us or not. For the three of us, we already have passes from back in 2008 when we go the WP&M and non-expiring option. I’d have to buy a pass for my mom, though. Honestly, I don’t think there is a lot that would interest her here…she could ride the lazy river and maybe go in the wave pool, but that would be about it. So, I half think she might want the day to spend at the resort and have a little “me” time.

Either way, we will still want to hit rope drop on this park if we can. This means leaving the hotel by around 9 AM instead of the usual 8 AM, which is why it’s a sleep in day.

DD always wants to head right for the wave pool,

but we are very insistent that it is “slides first”. We want to get at least one round of the park, starting with the tube slides:

Then the body slides (Storm Slides) and the speed slides (Humunga Cowabunga!):

We might do the shark reef or not…not sure. If not we’ll hop in the lazy river to get back to the front of the park for Crush N Gusher.

Then we will no longer be able to hold her back – she wants that wave pool and as I like to call it, the “Whoomp, EEEEEEEEE!” That’s the sound of the wave triggering followed by 1000 people screaming in terror as this wall of water and people come at you:

At some point in our stay here, we are DEFINITELY getting at least ONE large order of the fresh mini-donuts. This is hands down our favorite SWEET TREAT in all of WDW. I don’t know if we will eat lunch here though – I had suggested to DW that we eat a hearty breakfast in the morning and then just snack at the park because of the evening plans.

So – Figure we have to unfortunately leave this park around 3 PM, one of these years I really should plan a day where we can stay all day, but we have other plans with our evening. We are going to head back to the hotel to change and then head into MK for our 4:45 ADR for Crystal Palace. I am not one of those for having Traditions or “we must do this every trip”, but our one constant is Crystal Palace. We’ve eaten there every single trip, all the way back to 1997 before it was a Character Buffet. The fact is we really like the food here. We’ve done breakfast, lunch and dinner, and truthfully I wanted to rebel and skip it this trip. But, DD wants to do it, and I don’t know how much longer Pooh will interest her, so I gave in on that one. I was really disappointed that I couldn’t get lunch over dinner, because for lunch they have this awesome Frittata that is one of my favorites, but this was the only date on the schedule that made sense.

The reason we are in MK at all today is to see the nighttime shows. The Castle lighting ceremony (around 6:30 PM), Main Street Electrical Parade (7 PM) and Wishes (8 PM). So, I figure we wrap dinner a little before 6 PM and head out to find our spot waiting for the parade. DM or DW can alternate going off to do a bit of shopping, but we’ll hopefully be able to get a spot near the hub. I know there are lots of places to see Wishes from, but in my book there his only one and it’s where the Imagineers designed it to be seen – right at the hub. Simply awesome.

At that point, we’ll be calling it a night. Not a super long day by any means – but long enough.

Next up – Day 8!

 

[FosterA]

Hey Peter,
I've been meaning to go through your report from the very beginning and never seemed to have time. But today since I've been home most of the morning, I finally did it. You guys are going to have a FAB time!
But...what is jellyrolls? I keep hearing about it but for some reason I don't know what/where it is or anything else about it.

 

[skier_pete]

Hey Peter,
I've been meaning to go through your report from the very beginning and never seemed to have time. But today since I've been home most of the morning, I finally did it. You guys are going to have a FAB time!
But...what is jellyrolls? I keep hearing about it but for some reason I don't know what/where it is or anything else about it.

aboard Aimee! Thanks for coming over for a visit. I am sure we will have a great time. (As will you!) The other day my DW and I were discussing something about our trip and she said "Well, hopefully we'll get lucky" and I said "Disney trips have nothing to do with luck." It's sort of ridiculous, because bad luck can strike anywhere (a canceled flight or getting stuck on a ride) but my point was when you - or at least when we - go to Disney World very little is left to chance. That's why I can feel confident that we WILL have a great time!

So, to Jellyrolls. There WERE two adult/nightlife entertainment districts at WDW for a long time. One of them was Pleasure Island, which closed back in 2008. This had the single greatest creation by Disney, a bar/entertainment venue called the Adventurer's Club - but I digress. (For all AC members out there - Kungaloosh!)

The other is still open, and it is the Boardwalk area that is below the Boardwalk Inn next to Epcot. There are several bars & restaurants, Street Performers in the evenings, as well as a dance club (the Atlantic Dance Hall). In additon, there is a bar called Jellyrolls, which is a dueling piano bar. Don't know if you've ever been to one, but they have two pianos on stage with two guys that basically play off of eachother playing songs and getting a lot of crowd involvement. I've been to a few, most notably down in New Orleans, and they can be a lot of fun. When Pleasure Island and our beloved Adventurer's Club closed, we figured it was finally a chance to check out Jellyrolls with our free evening, but just haven't gotten to it.

So - if you and your DH want to ditch the kids back at the hotel on the 16th after Fantasmic, come on over and join us at Jellyrolls. Maybe that'll be his "favorite thing".

We'll save you a seat!

 

[khertz]

I like your Day 7 plans!

We have never tried the water parks, but one of these days when DS is older, we'll have to give them a try. I have never seen a TR where people went to to a Disney water park and didn't enjoy themselves!

We are also trying CP for the first time this year ourselves, so maybe it will become our "tradition"?

Even though you are hitting 2 parks in 1 day, it sounds like a very laid back schedule.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Day 7 sounds great!

I have plans in the works for going to the World in 2013. Definitely going to hit a waterpark whilst we are there. DS will KILL me if we go to WDW again and not take him to one!

 

[skier_pete]

I like your Day 7 plans!

We have never tried the water parks, but one of these days when DS is older, we'll have to give them a try. I have never seen a TR where people went to to a Disney water park and didn't enjoy themselves!

We are also trying CP for the first time this year ourselves, so maybe it will become our "tradition"?

Even though you are hitting 2 parks in 1 day, it sounds like a very laid back schedule.

You'll love them - but I would agree to wait a few years. Most of the big slides he wouldn't be able to go near for a while. The kiddie areas in both parks are fantastic though. We took our DD for the first time in 2008, and she was 5 at the time. You can go even younger as long as you don't mind playing tag team to do the slides. I would definitely recommend TL with the younger set. Not only is there Catchakiddie creek but there a bay to the left of the main wave pool that has a couple of larger slides (maybe 20-30 feet long and is very shallow and the waves come in gentle. So - I would say even age 3 or 4 a good time would be had - but i WOULD wait until potty training is complete.

Day 7 sounds great!

I have plans in the works for going to the World in 2013. Definitely going to hit a waterpark whilst we are there. DS will KILL me if we go to WDW again and not take him to one!

2013 Eh? That'll be our next trip too. I don't have an idea on dates yet, except it will likely be the fall. At the age your son will be, if you are going to pick one, I would go with BB - especially if your DS is into slides. We love TL - but there is not a lot of slides there.

 

[PrincessInOz]

2013 Eh? That'll be our next trip too. I don't have an idea on dates yet, except it will likely be the fall. At the age your son will be, if you are going to pick one, I would go with BB - especially if your DS is into slides. We love TL - but there is not a lot of slides there.

There is a DisGamer's meet in the works. We have picked the first week in October 2013. Fits in with most and school hols in Oz.

 

[skier_pete]

There is a DisGamer's meet in the works. We have picked the first week in October 2013. Fits in with most and school hols in Oz.

We'll keep it in mind. Unless it involves free dining, I try to avoid early October. The heat/humidity usually break about mid-month.