"Love is a Song that Never Ends" - PTR Oct 2016 Trip

[PrincessAshlee]

PROGRESS REPORT - July 29, 2016

I cannot wait to see this view in 2.5 months!!!​

Trip Dates? October 12-19, 2016

Resort? Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, 7 nights

Park Tickets Purchased? Booked through TA – Convention 7-Day w/PH + 1 FUN tickets

Memory Maker? I love all of the pictures that I got from my last trip. I want to try to get more magic shots this time!

Room & Tickets Package Payment Progress? 66%; final payment on August 28, 2016 (waiting for this month’s Disney Visa rewards points to post)

MNSSHP? Purchased for Tuesday, October 18, 2016!

Club Villain? Reserved and paid - Saturday, October 15, 2016 @ 8:30pm!

F&WF Seminar? Reserved and paid - Beverage Seminar (Macallan Whiskey) on Monday, October 17, 2016 @ 5:30pm.

Itinerary? General itinerary planned out and spreadsheet is complete; still making small changes and working on daily itineraries, which will not be completed until Fastpasses are made.

ADRs? Booked! Changed! Cancelled some… Booked New! Currently hoarding some that I don’t think that I will need, while still hoping for a couple times to open up, so that I can change them again… I’m not sure that I’ll ever be done making ADRs

FastPasses? Will be made on 08/14/16… I have a list of what I would like, but I’m still waiting on DF to decide what sounds good to him.

Shirts? I still need to make our shirts. I’ve finalized all of our designs and purchased all of the shirts, I just need to get around to actually painting them.

Mickey Ears? I am debating on making a couple pairs of Mickey ears. I’ve seen them on Etsy and they all look so cute! I watched a tutorial and they don’t seem hard to make, I just don’t know if I’m going to have the time, with all of my other projects.

Packing? I am slowly making a pile of things to pack on the bed in our guest room… I’m trying to see what we have and what I still need to get.


Updates:

I was able to book the beverage seminar that we wanted. I only had the one seminar that I wanted to book, so I was somewhat annoyed when it said that I would have to call in, in order to take advantage of early booking (available with my Disney Visa). I had heard stories of 1-2+ hour long hold times. Regardless, I was all ready to call right at 7am on the 19th. Unfortunately, I just kept getting an “all circuits are busy” message. However, while I continued to try to get through on the phone, I read on the F&WF DisBoard that many people were having success booking the small demonstrations and seminars online. I tried it and sure enough it worked! I was done by 7:15!

I don't like beer and DF doesn't like wine, so I was excited to find a Whiskey Seminar. Whiskey is actually DF alcoholic beverage of choice, so he is also very excited.​

Other than that, there is not much to update. Only 15 days until fastpass day. I’m working on trying to get DF more involved in picking our FPs, but he doesn’t like planning and wants to be able to just go with the flow. However, he also hates crowds and standing in long lines, so planning our FPs is very important. I have a general idea of what he likes and a list of my must-do’s, so I’ll probably just have to go with that. I’m really trying hard not to over-plan. I’m trying to pick just a few things that I really want to do each day (so that I can schedule our FPs) and we can go with the flow the rest of the time.


We are also watching Disney movies to get ready for our trip. I have seen most of them, but I want DF to be able to recognize the characters when we meet them. However, I also realized that I had not seen any of the movies that came out after Frozen! So this last week, we watched Zootopia and now I’ve seen them all. Zootopia was really cute and I really like it!! Maybe not as much as I liked Finding Dory, but I liked it much more than Inside Out or The Good Dinosaur (which weren’t bad, but somewhat slow, IMO). Next up, DF actually made a request eek: This is a first! His usual response is “whatever you want” lol). So we are going to be watching either Tarzan or the Jungle Book (haven’t decided on animated or live action yet… maybe both!)

Non-Disney Update:

The first of our pre-wedding events was this past weekend; which means wedding day is just around the corner! As if planning the wedding and honeymoon were not enough, there are so many pre-wedding events to plan/attend: pre-wedding party with co-workers, bachelor party, bridal shower, bachelorette party, rehearsal & rehearsal dinner. It’s exhausting!

So this past weekend, I hosted a wine & painting party for my work friends. We are having a relatively small wedding and not planning to invite any co-workers, but I still wanted to celebrate with them, so I decided to have a pre-wedding party. It was so great to see everyone! We are all telecommuters (who used to work altogether in an office, until six years ago when they decided that we could do our jobs from home and didn’t need an office). So now, we only see each other about once every month or two when someone plans a get-together. It was so nice having everyone together and I love my new painting!

DF proposed while we were watching fireworks, so I thought a fireworks painting was just perfect!​

DF’s bachelor party is this weekend, but I have a couple of weekends off before my bridal shower. By off, I mean no planned events, there are still a million things to get done! I’ll be spending all weekend crafting with my mom and sister, while he is away.

I just have to remember the “Disney light” at the end of the long “Wedding tunnel.”


I Can’t Wait for our Disneymoon!! 75 Days To Go!!!

 

[amalone1013]

I love your painting! Was it a wine/paint place or at home? I really like the wine and paint places, and thought of doing it for my bachelorette... It's more my thing than a bar crawl. And I had a friend who did painting at home for her bachelorette party. Her MOH got her husband to cut out wooden flowers for door hangers, and we each got to paint one! I thought that was really cool, especially with our big group.

We also watch Disney movies before trips. We just got back from DLR and met Nick and Judy!

I'm glad we were planning on 3ish months between our wedding and Disneymoon, because I'll have lots of projects just like you! And neither of us have been to WDW, so everything is new!

 

[PrincessAshlee]

I love your painting! Was it a wine/paint place or at home?

It was at a wine and paint place. It's a lot of fun! DF and I have gone twice and I have gone with my mom and sister a few other times.

It's more my thing than a bar crawl

Bar crawls aren't really my thing either, so for my "bachelorette party", I am going to Cedar Point (an amusement park in Northern Ohio, about an hour away from me) with my sister and my cousins (that I went to Disney with in 2014) and another cousin that is about the same age. We like to go once every September for Halloweekends anyways, so I figured why not just call that my bachelorette party. I'm sure that I will have more fun than I would have at a bachelorette bar crawl!

My sister, me, and my cousins at Cedar Point Halloweekends in 2012... They look so young here! The cousins in orange and white are going into high school this year and the little one in pink is as tall as me now!
​

I'm glad we were planning on 3ish months between our wedding and Disneymoon, because I'll have lots of projects just like you! And neither of us have been to WDW, so everything is new!

I thought that I was smart waiting 3 days after my wedding to leave for my Disneymoon, so that I can rest and pack. Now I wish I had 3 months in between! I'm sure that I'll get it all done, it's just going to be a hectic couple of months!

 

[Raeven]

I am slightly concerned about the size of the resort. I am used to the AoA from my last trip, where walking from one end of the resort to the other was only about a half mile

We're staying at CBR in September and are a little concerned too. However we had to walk decently far at Pop Century last year. I like the idea that there's transportation at each building because I don't think we'll need to go to the main building too much.

Therefore I don’t think that we need to arrive right at 4pm. Has anyone attended the party before and have an opinion on when we should arrive?

We went last year, and were already in the park all day. If you're not trying to meet the characters with long lines, and you have a dinner reservation I don't see any reason to rush over. Last year we had dinner shortly after 4 pm and we were so hot from watching the parade that we took our time. By the time we got out it was 6 pm ish and I thought it was the perfect time.

Decisions, decisions... Should we keep our 'Ohana reservation or plan on going to the party early?

We're actually doing a 4 pm Ohana ressie before the party too so I say that's the perfect time!

However, I have read that the seats are quite small and DF and I are not small people. I am worried that we will not fit or will be extremely uncomfortable if we do squeeze ourselves in. Should we skip it all together and leave the Fastpasses for someone who can use them?

There was a guy in back of us one time that was very large and he still rode with someone. From what I can tell everyone rode with someone, and I didn't see anyone having an issue getting into the seats.

This one is just for me. Not all of our shirts will be matching… only about half of them

My boyfriend lets me pick out his shirts for the trips, but he will only do so many matching shirts

I cancelled our reservation at Minnie’s Halloween Dine at Hollywood & Vine on 10/15 and instead booked us reservations at Club Villian!

We're doing Club Villain too and I can't wait! If it makes you feel better I haven't read a single negative review about it.

Booked! Changed! Cancelled some… Booked New! Currently hoarding some that I don’t think that I will need, while still hoping for a couple times to open up, so that I can change them again… I’m not sure that I’ll ever be done making ADRs

Story of my life too

I am debating on making a couple pairs of Mickey ears. I’ve seen them on Etsy and they all look so cute! I watched a tutorial and they don’t seem hard to make, I just don’t know if I’m going to have the time, with all of my other projects.

I thought of making some too. However I'm not very crafty, but I can recommend some Etsy shops.

 

[PrincessAshlee]

Hi @Raeven ! I haven’t been on much lately, but I did read through your PTR a while back, when you posted that you were going to Club Villain. 2+ Disney trips in one year AND Universal, I’m quite jealous. We seem to have quite a few of the same plans, so I can’t wait to hear how your trip goes!

 

[PrincessAshlee]

Fastpass Update​

I’ve been so busy with wedding planning lately that there just hasn’t been enough time to keep up on the DISboards. My bridal shower was this past Sunday though, so now at least some of the stress has lifted and I can get back to Disney planning!!

I finally found my Disney Countdown! I made it for my last trip, but then it got lost in a box somewhere when I moved.​

So as you can see, we are under 60 days now! Which means that I made our fastpass reservations this past weekend! I was not happy to have to wake up at 6:30am on a Saturday , but I was able to get everything that I wanted, so it was worth it! I think it helped that most of the times that we wanted were in the late afternoon/evening and most people seem to be scheduling theirs early in hopes of getting additional fastpasses. I was a little stressed at how it would all turn out though, since we only have about a four hour window (after our breaks) in which to book them. Here are the FPs that I booked:

Wednesday, October 12, 2016 – Magic Kingdom

6:40pm – 7:40pm Jungle Cruise

7:40pm – 8:40pm Pirates of the Caribbean

8:40pm – 9:40pm Haunted Mansion


Thursday, October 13, 2016 – EPCOT

2:10pm – 3:10pm EPCOT Character Spot

3:15pm – 4:15pm Soarin

4:25pm – 5:25pm Mission SPACE


Friday, October 14, 2016 – Magic Kingdom

3:00pm – 4:00pm Meet Mickey Mouse

4:10pm – 5:10pm Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

5:20pm – 6:20pm Space Mountain


Saturday, October 15, 2016 – Hollywood Studios

2:50pm – 3:50pm Toy Story Midway Mania

4:55pm – 5:55pm Star Tours

5:55pm – 6:55pm Tower of Terror


Sunday, October 16, 2016 – Animal Kingdom

(I am still hoping for ROL to be open, so if there is a FP for that, I will cancel our Meet Disney Pals FP. If there is no nighttime show, then we will likely choose to go to EPCOT instead.)

3:50pm – 4:50pm Meet Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost

5:00pm – 6:00pm Expedition Everest

6:00pm – 7:00pm Kilimanjaro Safaris


Monday, October 17, 2016 – EPCOT

4:10pm – 5:10pm Mission SPACE

5:20pm – 6:20pm The Seas with Nemo & Friends

6:35pm – 7:35pm Frozen Ever After


Tuesday, October 18, 2016 – Animal Kingdom

9:50am – 10:50am DINOSAUR

11:30am – 11:50am Finding Nemo – The Musical

12:40pm – 1:40pm Expedition Everest

​

In other news… Our hotel and tickets are now Paid in Full!! Our Memory Maker, MNSSHP tickets, Club Villain, and F&WF Beverage Seminar are also all paid for. All that’s left is to set aside money to pay for our food and souvenirs while we are there. Saving up for a wedding and a Disney vacation, was a challenge, but it’s all coming together now! I’m so excited!!



I Can’t Wait for our Disneymoon!! 57 Days To Go!!!

 

[Raeven]

Hi @Raeven ! I haven’t been on much lately, but I did read through your PTR a while back, when you posted that you were going to Club Villain. 2+ Disney trips in one year AND Universal, I’m quite jealous. We seem to have quite a few of the same plans, so I can’t wait to hear how your trip goes!

I'm so excited I can't wait! And yes I'll be able to let you know about some of the stuff before you go when I post my TR.

I was not happy to have to wake up at 6:30am on a Saturday , but I was able to get everything that I wanted, so it was worth it!

Yuck. I actually forgot to wake up on time for mine But it was a work day so I was close enough.

In other news… Our hotel and tickets are now Paid in Full!! Our Memory Maker, MNSSHP tickets, Club Villain, and F&WF Beverage Seminar are also all paid for. All that’s left is to set aside money to pay for our food and souvenirs while we are there. Saving up for a wedding and a Disney vacation, was a challenge, but it’s all coming together now! I’m so excited!!

 

[Enchanted]

Joining in! We're about the same age (I'm 28), and we're going in October too! We arrive on the 22nd!
Congrats on your engagement and all of your wedding plans! I'm so jealous about a Disneymoon. I hope when I find my prince, we go on a Disneymoon.

I love the pics of your trip with your cousins!!! It looks like you all had a blast! And I love the shirts and backpacks you made, those look awesome!

Your plans for your trip look awesome! Caribbean Beach is one of our favorites, it's perfect for a honeymoon. Plan some time to just hang out on one of the beaches. They used to have hammocks, if I remember right. We loved just strolling the grounds, it's so pretty!

You guys are going to LOVE MNSSHP. It's my favorite party/event, and we have to go whenever we attend in the fall. It's amazing. Make sure you watch the 2nd parade from somewhere in Frontierland to avoid the crowds. Even if you're not a parade person, it's a must do. There are so many awesome elements to the Halloween parade. I'm super pumped about seeing the Hocus Pocus stage show this year. It's my favorite Halloween movie.

As for arrival time, we usually arrive around 5 or 6pm. The best part about the beginning of the party is seeing everyone's costumes as they arrive. You won't miss any of the "event" stuff. Just people watching stuff. If you're worried about the Ohana wait times though, you could try Kona Cafe for a late lunch/early dinner instead. It doesn't have the ambience of Ohana, but we like the food waaaaaaay better, and they're much quicker about getting you seated and served than Ohana.

Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[PrincessAshlee]

Hi @Enchanted !! That is so exciting that we will be there around the same time. I’m definitely going to have to make time to read through your PTR!

Congrats on your engagement and all of your wedding plans! I'm so jealous about a Disneymoon. I hope when I find my prince, we go on a Disneymoon.

I am very excited for my Disneymoon! I was very shocked when DF brought it up, because he is not really a big Disney fan (yet!), but I hope that when we are there, he is able to see why I love it so much and maybe he will start to love it too.

I love the pics of your trip with your cousins!!! It looks like you all had a blast! And I love the shirts and backpacks you made, those look awesome!

Thanks!! It really was the best trip ever! The weather was perfect and the lines were so short and everyone got along (well not all the time obviously, but way better than I ever expected). I am slightly worried that this trip won’t live up to the amazingness of that last trip , but how could it not, because this time I get to go with my favorite person ! And if that’s not enough, there’s alcohol (which I’ve never had at Disney before), so that will be fun too.

Your plans for your trip look awesome! Caribbean Beach is one of our favorites, it's perfect for a honeymoon. Plan some time to just hang out on one of the beaches. They used to have hammocks, if I remember right. We loved just strolling the grounds, it's so pretty!

We are planning a 2-3 hour break each day back at the hotel, so we should be able to explore some then. I’m really trying to build in time to just enjoy our resort this trip. Last time, I stayed at AoA and I was too exhausted to even see all of the resort. I never did see the Cars area; my sister took my cousins over there to swim one day, but it was towards the end of our week and I was so tired that I stayed in the room and took a nap by myself.

You guys are going to LOVE MNSSHP. It's my favorite party/event, and we have to go whenever we attend in the fall. It's amazing.

MNSSHP sounds fantastic! I can’t wait for them to start next month, so that I can get more information and make a real plan. I have been trying to plan based on the information from prior years, but I really want to know for sure what they are doing this year! They have been making so many changes to their "usual schedules" lately; it is really making my planning difficult!

 

[PrincessAshlee]

Day 1 – Wednesday, October 12, 2016
​

Now that we have our FPs booked, I can get into making more detailed plans for our trip. Here are our plans for arrival day:

Flight Arrival @ MCO: 1:05pm
DME to Check-In @ Caribbean Beach Resort
Disney Springs
ADR: STK Orlando (5:00pm)
PM Park: Magic Kingdom (EMH until 12:00am)
FP+: Jungle Cruise (6:40pm), Pirates of the Caribbean (7:40pm), & The Haunted Mansion (8:40pm)​

We have to be up and ready to leave the house by 7:00am. We will arrive at DTW around 8:00am, park the car and check in/go through security. Since we will be in the air around lunch time, I mentioned to DF that we could get Subway on the way to the airport. Then he could get a breakfast sandwich and another sandwich for lunch. He seemed to like that idea. However, I’m not a big fan of breakfast or sandwiches, so I don’t know what I will eat. I’ll probably be too excited and nervous for breakfast, so I will just get coffee somewhere near the gate. We are flying Delta and when I booked our flights, I decided to splurge a little since it is our Honeymoon and I upgraded us to Delta Comfort+. (That means that we get more legroom, priority boarding, complementary premium entertainment, and complementary beer, wine, and spirits and superior snacks.) I’ve never upgraded before, but it sounds like a pretty good deal since it only cost about $100 total for both of us and both flights. I didn’t think that the alcohol was really necessary for our morning flight, but a little Irish cream in my coffee might help me relax and put me in the vacation mindset. Also, I’ve read that the “superior snacks” in the morning include muffins and bananas, so I may just eat that for breakfast. We are scheduled to land in Orlando at 1:05pm.
​

​

Once we land, we will catch the DME and be on our way to our home away from home – the Caribbean Beach Resort. We should arrive there around 2:00pm and hopefully our room will be ready, so that we can freshen up and change before dinner. (I will be packing our dinner clothes in our carry-on, as I expect that our checked luggage won’t arrive for few hours.) After we are changed, we will head down to the bus stop and wait for the bus to Disney Springs.

​

Once we arrive at Disney Springs, we plan to hit up a few happy hour spots (House of Blues, Raglan Road) before our 5:00pm reservation at STK Orlando. I have heard that this restaurant can be quite loud, but I have requested a table on the second floor away from the DJ, so hopefully that will help. In regards to food, unless we change our minds that day and feel like having something else, the plan is to split the 32 oz Porterhouse. For sides, we are looking at the Mac & Cheese and Parmesan Truffle Fries and if we’re not completely stuffed, we may even try some dessert. They all look soooo good! I know that DF will probably want to try the Orange Dream Cheesecake.

Because who doesn't love yummy food pics...

32 oz Porterhouse

Mac-n-Cheese

Truffle Fries

Desserts
​

After dinner, it’s off to the Magic Kingdom, to walk off all the food we just ate.

I have never been in the fall, so I am very excited to see all of the Halloween decorations!!​

First up are our FPs for Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. Then depending on the time, I would like to ride the Liberty Square Riverboat on the way to our FP for the Haunted Mansion; I’m not sure that we will have time though since the Riverboat closes at 8:00pm. I am sad that we will miss seeing the Main Street Electrical Parade by less than a week. That was in our plans for this night as well. As is, after we ride the Haunted Mansion, we will make our way to the front of the Castle to watch Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. This will be DF’s first time seeing Wishes and I’m excited to see his reaction. He loves fireworks, so if nothing else, I’m sure he will enjoy that part.

From my last trip... Can you tell that I completely forgot about sunscreen the first day?? We went in February, so I wasn't used to needing it, since we had about a foot of snow at home. Definitely not a mistake that you make twice!
​

Then, since MK has EMH that day, after Wishes, we plan to explore Fantasyland. No specific plans here, except that I know I will want to ride Mad Tea Party, since it is my favorite! Also, when I went to WDW in 2014, it was a tradition that I would ride the Carrousel last every night before we would leave MK, so that is on my must do list for this trip as well. We are usually night owls, but I don’t know if we will make it to midnight after such a long day of traveling. Plus, the plan is to be up bright and early the next day to see the MK Welcome Show.

Weekly Update: We made a little bit of progress in preparing for our trip this week. First on Saturday, we went shopping and got a new backpack to carry in the parks and also some random bathroom/first aid essentials (Tylenol, Motrin, Band-Aids, Moleskin, Eye Drops, Deodorant, etc.) Then on Sunday, we went to the local park and began our walking training. DF and I both have desk jobs, so training to walk so much at WDW is a must! We walked over 3 miles on Sunday. The goal is to get up to 10 miles before our trip!

​

I Can’t Wait for our Disneymoon!! 50 Days To Go!!!

 

[Raeven]

The food there looks delicious!

I wanted to get to 10 miles too before the trip. I don't mind walking 10 miles but walking that far without blisters is another issue. We have walked 5 miles on a trail nearby though and the insert in my shoes I just got and cushioned socks seem to be helping me avoid blisters.

 

[Enchanted]

Day 1 – Wednesday, October 12, 2016
​

Now that we have our FPs booked, I can get into making more detailed plans for our trip. Here are our plans for arrival day:

Flight Arrival @ MCO: 1:05pm
DME to Check-In @ Caribbean Beach Resort
Disney Springs
ADR: STK Orlando (5:00pm)
PM Park: Magic Kingdom (EMH until 12:00am)
FP+: Jungle Cruise (6:40pm), Pirates of the Caribbean (7:40pm), & The Haunted Mansion (8:40pm)​

​

We have to be up and ready to leave the house by 7:00am. We will arrive at DTW around 8:00am, park the car and check in/go through security. Since we will be in the air around lunch time, I mentioned to DF that we could get Subway on the way to the airport. Then he could get a breakfast sandwich and another sandwich for lunch. He seemed to like that idea. However, I’m not a big fan of breakfast or sandwiches, so I don’t know what I will eat. I’ll probably be too excited and nervous for breakfast, so I will just get coffee somewhere near the gate. We are flying Delta and when I booked our flights, I decided to splurge a little since it is our Honeymoon and I upgraded us to Delta Comfort+. (That means that we get more legroom, priority boarding, complementary premium entertainment, and complementary beer, wine, and spirits and superior snacks.) I’ve never upgraded before, but it sounds like a pretty good deal since it only cost about $100 total for both of us and both flights. I didn’t think that the alcohol was really necessary for our morning flight, but a little Irish cream in my coffee might help me relax and put me in the vacation mindset. Also, I’ve read that the “superior snacks” in the morning include muffins and bananas, so I may just eat that for breakfast. We are scheduled to land in Orlando at 1:05pm.
​

​

Once we land, we will catch the DME and be on our way to our home away from home – the Caribbean Beach Resort. We should arrive there around 2:00pm and hopefully our room will be ready, so that we can freshen up and change before dinner. (I will be packing our dinner clothes in our carry-on, as I expect that our checked luggage won’t arrive for few hours.) After we are changed, we will head down to the bus stop and wait for the bus to Disney Springs.

​

Once we arrive at Disney Springs, we plan to hit up a few happy hour spots (House of Blues, Raglan Road) before our 5:00pm reservation at STK Orlando. I have heard that this restaurant can be quite loud, but I have requested a table on the second floor away from the DJ, so hopefully that will help. In regards to food, unless we change our minds that day and feel like having something else, the plan is to split the 32 oz Porterhouse. For sides, we are looking at the Mac & Cheese and Parmesan Truffle Fries and if we’re not completely stuffed, we may even try some dessert. They all look soooo good! I know that DF will probably want to try the Orange Dream Cheesecake.

Because who doesn't love yummy food pics...

32 oz Porterhouse

Mac-n-Cheese

Truffle Fries

Desserts
​

After dinner, it’s off to the Magic Kingdom, to walk off all the food we just ate.

I have never been in the fall, so I am very excited to see all of the Halloween decorations!!​

First up are our FPs for Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. Then depending on the time, I would like to ride the Liberty Square Riverboat on the way to our FP for the Haunted Mansion; I’m not sure that we will have time though since the Riverboat closes at 8:00pm. I am sad that we will miss seeing the Main Street Electrical Parade by less than a week. That was in our plans for this night as well. As is, after we ride the Haunted Mansion, we will make our way to the front of the Castle to watch Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. This will be DF’s first time seeing Wishes and I’m excited to see his reaction. He loves fireworks, so if nothing else, I’m sure he will enjoy that part.

From my last trip... Can you tell that I completely forgot about sunscreen the first day?? We went in February, so I wasn't used to needing it, since we had about a foot of snow at home. Definitely not a mistake that you make twice!
​

Then, since MK has EMH that day, after Wishes, we plan to explore Fantasyland. No specific plans here, except that I know I will want to ride Mad Tea Party, since it is my favorite! Also, when I went to WDW in 2014, it was a tradition that I would ride the Carrousel last every night before we would leave MK, so that is on my must do list for this trip as well. We are usually night owls, but I don’t know if we will make it to midnight after such a long day of traveling. Plus, the plan is to be up bright and early the next day to see the MK Welcome Show.

Weekly Update: We made a little bit of progress in preparing for our trip this week. First on Saturday, we went shopping and got a new backpack to carry in the parks and also some random bathroom/first aid essentials (Tylenol, Motrin, Band-Aids, Moleskin, Eye Drops, Deodorant, etc.) Then on Sunday, we went to the local park and began our walking training. DF and I both have desk jobs, so training to walk so much at WDW is a must! We walked over 3 miles on Sunday. The goal is to get up to 10 miles before our trip!

​

I Can’t Wait for our Disneymoon!! 50 Days To Go!!!

That sounds like an AWESOME first day! That food looks downright amazing.

I've never flown before, we always drive, but that Delta+ upgrade sounds like a pretty good deal!

I'm working on walking training as well! I have a desk job and don't get to exercise as much as I'd like. I just signed up for a StepBet to get my butt in gear and start walking more before our trip.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[PrincessAshlee]

I don't mind walking 10 miles but walking that far without blisters is another issue.

We don’t usually have issues with blisters (mostly we just get tired and sore), but I am planning to buy new cushioned socks for our trip. However, I will probably wear my Croc flip flops most of the time. I wear them for our 30-45 minute weekday walks now and have not had any issues, but I will pack a couple pairs of tennis shoes, just in case.

I've never flown before, we always drive, but that Delta+ upgrade sounds like a pretty good deal!

Hey!! I read on your PTR that you are from Ohio. We are from Ohio too! What part of the state do you live in? We’re in the Northwest corner, in a suburb of Toledo.

This will be my second time flying to WDW. My parents drove the first time I went and we took a commercial bus when I went with my HS band. My last trip we flew, because we were pulling my cousins out of school and my aunt didn’t want them to miss the extra days we would have needed to drive; plus she paid for all of our tickets.

We considered driving this time, since we have a full 2 weeks off of work for our Honeymoon, but cost wise it ended up about the same, because we would have needed to pay for food, hotel rooms, and some sight-seeing along the way. This way, we just show up at the airport and from then on, neither of us will have to drive for an entire week! This is a bigger deal for DF than it is for me, since he is basically my chauffeur (but only because he says my driving is scary ).

I wanted to get to 10 miles too before the trip.

I'm working on walking training as well!

Unfortunately, we have fallen off the wagon a little on our walking training this week. Last weekend, we had three family birthday celebrations to go to, an eye doctor appointment, a haircut appointment, and a meeting with our DJ. So then of course, the time that we did have set aside to go for our walk, it was pouring down rain. We've been trying to keep on track during the week, but it is end of the month, so DF’s work is crazy busy, he was stuck there for over 12 hours yesterday and today. I’d say we would make up for it this weekend, but we are headed out of town to Columbus for the OSU/BGSU game!! It will probably be a hike from where we have to park our car to the stadium, so that counts, right?

 

[PrincessAshlee]

Day 2 – Thursday, October 13, 2016​

AM Park: Magic Kingdom
ADR: Be Our Guest (10:30am)
PM Park: EPCOT
ADR: Via Napoli Restorante (6:45pm)
FP+: EPCOT Character Spot (2:50pm), Soarin’ (3:55pm), & Mission SPACE (4:55pm)

​

First, I should explain that DF and I are not early risers. We are actually terrible at getting out of bed! We are night people; it is not unusual for us to stay up until 3-4am on a Saturday night. Getting up for work is always a challenge. We usually have to set our alarms for at least 30 minutes to an hour before we actually have to get up, because we will hit the snooze button numerous times.

​

Therefore, our plans to arrive at rope drop almost every day of our vacation will be interesting to say the least. I think that I will probably be excited and jump out of bed at the first alarm, but DF is going to take some more convincing. I keep trying to explain to him how important it is for us to be there at rope drop, so that we can tour the parks while they are less crowded and not so hot. We also hate standing in long lines during the hottest part of the day, so getting up early is really the lesser of two evils for us.


Anyways, onto our plans for our first full day at WDW… The plan is to be up, ready, and waiting for the bus by 8am. First stop for the day is back to the Magic Kingdom to watch the Welcome Show. I just loved the Welcome Show when I saw it on my last trip. It’s so fun and upbeat; the perfect way to start a magical day!

​

After the show, when we are allowed to enter the park, we will either (a) head for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and ride together or (b) I will head over to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and ride by myself, while DF gets us coffee and something to eat from one of the QS options (Main Street Bakery, Sleepy Hollow, Gaston’s Tavern). He is unsure whether he wants to ride 7DMT, because we’ve read that it isn’t very comfortable for larger people. Also, as I mentioned in my last post, I don’t normally eat breakfast, so that would be a good time for him to get something to eat. Breakfast it is DF’s favorite meal of the day, so I have to keep reminding myself to plan in ways for him to get something to eat. If he does decide to ride with me, we will get something quick to eat together after. He will decide that day, what he wants to do.

7DMT opened a couple months after my last trip, so I am really looking forward to riding it this trip.
​

After we’ve had a quick bite to eat, we will explore Frontierland; which probably won’t take very long with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closed for refurbishment. Then we will ride/see anything in Fantasyland that we didn’t get to the night before. Then it’s off to an early lunch at Be Our Guest. That was one of my favorite meals from my last trip and I am really excited to go back! I will probably get the Braised Pork (Coq Au Vin Style); which is what I got last time. It was soooo good!! I know that DF will want the French Onion Soup, but it is a toss up as to which sandwich he will want: Croque Monsieur (ham & cheese), Carved Turkey, or Prime Chuck Roast Beef. If we decide to order ahead, it will likely only be that morning on the way to the park. DF doesn’t seem to be a fan of deciding what he wants to eat more than a day or so in advance.

More yummy food pics...

French Onion Soup

Carved Prime Chuck Roast Beef Sandwich

Braised Pork (Coq Au Vin Style)

Try the "Grey Stuff". It's delicious!​

After lunch, we will leave the park and head back to our hotel to relax by the pool or if we are really tired we may take a nap. I love naps! If I have to pretend to be a morning person, I know that a few naps throughout the week will be necessary.

After our break, around 3pm, we will freshen up and head out to the bus stop to catch the bus to EPCOT. First, we will use our fastpasses to meet Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy and to ride Soarin’. Then, if the line isn’t too long, we will ride Spaceship Earth, on our way to use our FP for Mission SPACE. Then it will be time to leave Future World and head towards the World Showcase to explore a little bit of Mexico, China, and Germany on our way to our dinner reservation at Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzaria in Italy. Pizza is on DF’s list of favorite foods, so this was a must do for him. Looking at the menu, I don’t really know what we will order. We’re not particularly adventurous when it comes to Italian food, so I think that we will likely share a cheese or pepperoni pizza and maybe some chicken or veal parmesan. If we’re being really adventurous, we may get some mushrooms or prosciutto on our pizza.

Pizza Ovens at Via Napoli

Can you ever have enough pictures of yummy food?

Arancini (Fried Risotto Balls)

Quattro Formaggi Pizza

Prosciutto Pizza

Pollo Parmigiana​

After dinner, depending on the time, we may explore the World Showcase some more; maybe get dessert at one of the F&WF booths. However, we plan to leave before Illuminations and head over to the Boardwalk. I want to go see the dueling pianos at Jellyrolls and I’ve heard that they get very crowded after Illuminations, so we’re hoping to beat the rush. We may explore some other late night spots on the Boardwalk, before calling it a night and taking an uber back to our hotel.

Weekly Update: No real progress made on preparing for our tip this week. I’m still working on designing our shirts and picking up the random items that we need.

It was a productive week in wedding planning though. I went for my gown fitting, picked out shoes for the bridesmaids, and ordered our guest book. We also met with our DJ to discuss the music for our ceremony and reception.

Also, I just noticed the countdown in my signature and now I’m freaking out a little. When I say 42 days, it still sounds far away… but when I say 1 month, 1 week, and 5 days it sounds like it’s really close! I’d better get working on my to-do list!!

I Can’t Wait for our Disneymoon!! 42 Days To Go!!!

 

[Raeven]

Cushioned socks are awesome!

About Be Our Guest lunch if I could do it over again I wouldn't get the roast beef sandwich, I'd probably go with the turkey. It was one of our worst meals. We both got one and they were pretty awful.

 

[PrincessAshlee]

About Be Our Guest lunch if I could do it over again I wouldn't get the roast beef sandwich, I'd probably go with the turkey. It was one of our worst meals. We both got one and they were pretty awful.

Thanks for the heads up! I will warn DF. On my last trip, my sister got the turkey and my cousin got the ham. They both really liked them, so he's probably better off with one of those sandwiches instead.

 

[Enchanted]

Hey!! I read on your PTR that you are from Ohio. We are from Ohio too! What part of the state do you live in? We’re in the Northwest corner, in a suburb of Toledo.

Awesome! We're from southwest Ohio. We're about 40-50 minutes north of Cincinnati!

We considered driving this time, since we have a full 2 weeks off of work for our Honeymoon, but cost wise it ended up about the same, because we would have needed to pay for food, hotel rooms, and some sight-seeing along the way. This way, we just show up at the airport and from then on, neither of us will have to drive for an entire week! This is a bigger deal for DF than it is for me, since he is basically my chauffeur (but only because he says my driving is scary ).

Heck yeah, if it costs the same, I would definitely fly too. More time in Disney and no having to stress about driving? That's a no-brainer!

Unfortunately, we have fallen off the wagon a little on our walking training this week. Last weekend, we had three family birthday celebrations to go to, an eye doctor appointment, a haircut appointment, and a meeting with our DJ. So then of course, the time that we did have set aside to go for our walk, it was pouring down rain. We've been trying to keep on track during the week, but it is end of the month, so DF’s work is crazy busy, he was stuck there for over 12 hours yesterday and today. I’d say we would make up for it this weekend, but we are headed out of town to Columbus for the OSU/BGSU game!! It will probably be a hike from where we have to park our car to the stadium, so that counts, right? [/QUOTE]

Totally counts!

Day 2 – Thursday, October 13, 2016​

AM Park: Magic Kingdom
ADR: Be Our Guest (10:30am)
PM Park: EPCOT
ADR: Via Napoli Restorante (6:45pm)
FP+: EPCOT Character Spot (2:50pm), Soarin’ (3:55pm), & Mission SPACE (4:55pm)

​

First, I should explain that DF and I are not early risers. We are actually terrible at getting out of bed! We are night people; it is not unusual for us to stay up until 3-4am on a Saturday night. Getting up for work is always a challenge. We usually have to set our alarms for at least 30 minutes to an hour before we actually have to get up, because we will hit the snooze button numerous times.

​

Therefore, our plans to arrive at rope drop almost every day of our vacation will be interesting to say the least. I think that I will probably be excited and jump out of bed at the first alarm, but DF is going to take some more convincing. I keep trying to explain to him how important it is for us to be there at rope drop, so that we can tour the parks while they are less crowded and not so hot. We also hate standing in long lines during the hottest part of the day, so getting up early is really the lesser of two evils for us.


Anyways, onto our plans for our first full day at WDW… The plan is to be up, ready, and waiting for the bus by 8am. First stop for the day is back to the Magic Kingdom to watch the Welcome Show. I just loved the Welcome Show when I saw it on my last trip. It’s so fun and upbeat; the perfect way to start a magical day!

​

After the show, when we are allowed to enter the park, we will either (a) head for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and ride together or (b) I will head over to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and ride by myself, while DF gets us coffee and something to eat from one of the QS options (Main Street Bakery, Sleepy Hollow, Gaston’s Tavern). He is unsure whether he wants to ride 7DMT, because we’ve read that it isn’t very comfortable for larger people. Also, as I mentioned in my last post, I don’t normally eat breakfast, so that would be a good time for him to get something to eat. Breakfast it is DF’s favorite meal of the day, so I have to keep reminding myself to plan in ways for him to get something to eat. If he does decide to ride with me, we will get something quick to eat together after. He will decide that day, what he wants to do.

7DMT opened a couple months after my last trip, so I am really looking forward to riding it this trip.
​

After we’ve had a quick bite to eat, we will explore Frontierland; which probably won’t take very long with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closed for refurbishment. Then we will ride/see anything in Fantasyland that we didn’t get to the night before. Then it’s off to an early lunch at Be Our Guest. That was one of my favorite meals from my last trip and I am really excited to go back! I will probably get the Braised Pork (Coq Au Vin Style); which is what I got last time. It was soooo good!! I know that DF will want the French Onion Soup, but it is a toss up as to which sandwich he will want: Croque Monsieur (ham & cheese), Carved Turkey, or Prime Chuck Roast Beef. If we decide to order ahead, it will likely only be that morning on the way to the park. DF doesn’t seem to be a fan of deciding what he wants to eat more than a day or so in advance.

More yummy food pics...

French Onion Soup

Carved Prime Chuck Roast Beef Sandwich

Braised Pork (Coq Au Vin Style)

Try the "Grey Stuff". It's delicious!​

After lunch, we will leave the park and head back to our hotel to relax by the pool or if we are really tired we may take a nap. I love naps! If I have to pretend to be a morning person, I know that a few naps throughout the week will be necessary.

After our break, around 3pm, we will freshen up and head out to the bus stop to catch the bus to EPCOT. First, we will use our fastpasses to meet Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy and to ride Soarin’. Then, if the line isn’t too long, we will ride Spaceship Earth, on our way to use our FP for Mission SPACE. Then it will be time to leave Future World and head towards the World Showcase to explore a little bit of Mexico, China, and Germany on our way to our dinner reservation at Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzaria in Italy. Pizza is on DF’s list of favorite foods, so this was a must do for him. Looking at the menu, I don’t really know what we will order. We’re not particularly adventurous when it comes to Italian food, so I think that we will likely share a cheese or pepperoni pizza and maybe some chicken or veal parmesan. If we’re being really adventurous, we may get some mushrooms or prosciutto on our pizza.

Pizza Ovens at Via Napoli

Can you ever have enough pictures of yummy food?

Arancini (Fried Risotto Balls)

Quattro Formaggi Pizza

Prosciutto Pizza

Pollo Parmigiana​

After dinner, depending on the time, we may explore the World Showcase some more; maybe get dessert at one of the F&WF booths. However, we plan to leave before Illuminations and head over to the Boardwalk. I want to go see the dueling pianos at Jellyrolls and I’ve heard that they get very crowded after Illuminations, so we’re hoping to beat the rush. We may explore some other late night spots on the Boardwalk, before calling it a night and taking an uber back to our hotel.

Weekly Update: No real progress made on preparing for our tip this week. I’m still working on designing our shirts and picking up the random items that we need.

It was a productive week in wedding planning though. I went for my gown fitting, picked out shoes for the bridesmaids, and ordered our guest book. We also met with our DJ to discuss the music for our ceremony and reception.

Also, I just noticed the countdown in my signature and now I’m freaking out a little. When I say 42 days, it still sounds far away… but when I say 1 month, 1 week, and 5 days it sounds like it’s really close! I’d better get working on my to-do list!!

I Can’t Wait for our Disneymoon!! 42 Days To Go!!!

Love your plans for Day Two!
I'm not a morning person either, definitely a night owl, so I feel your pain about getting up early for the parks. Midday naps are definitely a good way to catch up on some sleep and still get to experience the lighter crowds in the mornings. That and coffee. I need my Starbucks/iced coffee fix to keep me going.

I've had the turkey sandwich every time we've had lunch at Be Our Guest, and I really like it so that's my vote. Lol.

Via Napoli is one of my top 5 favorite table service restaurants at WDW. The pizza is sooooooo good. We usually go every trip, but since we're going during Food and Wine this year, we're resisting. I think you guys will love it!

Our trip is sneaking up on me too. It's crazy how quickly it arrives when you don't even realize it!

Can't wait for more!

 

[PrincessAshlee]

We're from southwest Ohio. We're about 40-50 minutes north of Cincinnati!

I am familiar with that area. My sister lived in Cincinnati for a year and I visited her a few times. We were also just down in Oxford in May for my cousin’s wedding.

That and coffee. I need my Starbucks/iced coffee fix to keep me going.

Yes! I’m sure we will have lots of Starbucks! I redeemed some of my credit card’s rewards points for a $50 Starbucks gift card, so now we have to get it.

Via Napoli is one of my top 5 favorite table service restaurants at WDW.

What are your other favorite restaurants? Even with the trip so close, I’m still moving things around.

 

[PrincessAshlee]

Day 3 – Friday, October 14, 2016​

AM Park: Animal Kingdom
PM Park: Magic Kingdom
ADR: None!
FP+: Meet Mickey Mouse (3:00pm), Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (4:10pm), & Space Mountain (5:20pm)

While I would happily plan every minute of every day of our trip, DF prefers a more go with the flow style. Therefore, in an effort to compromise, much of what we do this day will be decided based upon what we feel like doing that day.

However, like most days, in order to avoid the crowds, the plan is still to be up, ready, and waiting for the bus by 8am. This morning, we are headed to the Animal Kingdom. I had originally planned a PPO breakfast at Tusker House this day, but then we decided that we did not really want to get up before the sun on our honeymoon, so that will have to be for another trip. Since we now have no ADR for breakfast, we decided that we will probably just grab doughnuts at the Joffrey's stand before we go into the park.

We don’t have a lot of plans for once we are at the park. In fact, the only things that I really want to do that day are ride the Kilimanjaro Safari and watch Festival of the Lion King. Although we may also wander some of the trails or meet a few characters, depending on how we feel.

​

When we are ready, probably around 11:30am, we will leave the AK and decide where to go for lunch. I had originally planned to eat lunch somewhere at the park, but now I am thinking that we may go elsewhere. We already have plans to eat at Yak & Yeti and Flame Tree BBQ on other days and none of the other lunch options are really appealing to us. So now I’m looking for other options and I’m pretty much driving DF crazy with all of my “what if” scenarios. He says that I need to stop arguing with myself.

We thought about going over to Disney Springs for lunch, but I estimate that it would take us 1.5-2 hrs just to get there since we won’t have a car and there is not a direct bus until 4pm. We considered getting a taxi or uber, but it’s probably not worth the extra expense, when there are other good places to eat that are closer. So, now we are thinking of picking somewhere at EPCOT to eat, since we have park hopper passes, but I’m not really sure where. We have two other meals set aside to eat around the world, so I’m thinking that I may want to pick a table service or good quick service for this meal. Any suggestions?

Wherever we end up for lunch, after we eat, we will head back to our hotel to rest and freshen up, before we head out to the Magic Kingdom, around 3pm. First, we will use our FP to meet talking Mickey at Town Square Theater. Then, we will explore Tomorrowland and use our FPs for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Space Mountain. As is tradition, we will end the night riding the Carrousel before heading out around 7pm, as it is a MNSSHP night and we are not attending that night.

From the MK, we will ride the monorail over to the Polynesian Resort. If we do not eat before leaving the MK, we will likely get something to eat at Captain Cook's, before heading over to Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto. I would like to check out the inside before finding a seat out on the Tiki Terrace. I’ve heard that if you’re lucky, you can find a seat with a view of Wishes. I’m hoping that with some patience and maybe a little pixie dust, we will be that lucky. We’re hoping to get a good seat, because our plan is to spend the whole evening relaxing on the terrace trying the specialty alcoholic drinks that come in different souvenir glasses. DF likes to collect specialty glasses and we feel like this would make for a fun evening, plus we would get some special souvenirs of our trip.

Since we have no ADRs, we are short on yummy food pics for this post , so here are some fun drink pics :

Polynesian Pearl

Uh-Oa!

Krakatoa Punch

HippopotoMai-Tai

Shrunken Zombie Head​

If we cannot find a good seat on the terrace, we may choose to head down to the beach around 9pm, so that we can watch the Electrical Water Pageant before Hallowishes.

In the spirit of keeping the plans open, there is another option, where after the MK, we catch a bus to HS. They have extra magic hours until 10pm that night and will be showing the Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular at 8pm. I do not think that we will have time to see this show when we go to HS the following night, because we will be on our way to Club Villain, so if we want to see it, this will be the night to do so. However, we are not really Star Wars fans, so I’m not sure that it’s really a must do for us. See I’m arguing with myself again… it must be time to wrap this post up. Not having set plans is killing me! But I’m sure that we will have a magical day, regardless of where we end up.

Weekly Update: This week I picked up some more of the random items that we will need; new socks and underwear for both of us! We also got back on track with our walking training. We did LOTS of walking and lots of stairs this weekend! Plus we went for a walk around the neighborhood last night.

But the really exciting news is that I finished making one set of our shirts for our trip! One down, only nine more to go! I wanted to make Ohio State shirts to wear on game day while we are at Disney and I decided that I had to get them done, so that we could wear them to the game this past weekend. I’m really happy with how they turned out! Since DF isn’t a big Disney fan (yet), he requested that not all of his shirts be Disney themed, but really once we decided on designs, this is the only one.

​

I Can’t Wait for our Disneymoon!! 35 Days To Go!!!

 

[fallonkendra]

Love these shirts! Are these ones you made yourself? The Pooh characters are close to the top of my favourites list!

I have checked out some of the adults only trip boards, but does anyone have any must-dos for an adults-only trip? Also, any suggestions for how to slow down during a Disney trip, when there are so many cool things to see and do?

My boyfriend and I went this past January with just the two of us, and are going again next January. We love our adults-only trips (mind you, we don't have children, so we don't really have anything to compare it to...). Enjoy being able to sit down at a nice restaurant and have some great conversations with your new husband without worrying about anything else!

When I originally brought up the idea to DF, he said no way! He didn’t want to wear anything Disney themed (as I mentioned before, he is not a big Disney fan to begin with). Then I explained that he wouldn’t be the only guy there wearing Disney shirts. That going to WDW is kind of like when we go to a sporting event; we wear the logo and colors of our team (not everyone does it, but I like to).

My boyfriend was also not into the idea of wearing Disney clothes on our trip last year, but I did buy him an Incredibles tshirt. This year though, he's completely on board!

That and wedding planning; which I have been neglecting in favor of Disney planning! Definitely not a Bridezilla here; let’s just get it over with, so I can go to WDW!!! Just Kidding! I am actually very excited for our wedding; it’s just that reading through pages and pages of sample wedding ceremonies is not nearly as much fun as planning our ADRs and FP+ selections!

My boyfriend and I are not even engaged yet, but we've both already agreed that our Honeymoon will be at a Disney park! I don't even care about the whole wedding thing, I just want the Disney trip haha!

We are flying Delta and when I booked our flights, I decided to splurge a little since it is our Honeymoon and I upgraded us to Delta Comfort+.

I need to remember this! We typically fly Delta when flying in the US, and this would be nice

Then on Sunday, we went to the local park and began our walking training. DF and I both have desk jobs, so training to walk so much at WDW is a must! We walked over 3 miles on Sunday. The goal is to get up to 10 miles before our trip!

I'd suggest going to an actual Running store and being properly fit for sneakers. My boyfriend (who is a runner) made me do this before our last trip, and it was so worth it! We walked A LOT on our WDW trip, and by switching out my sneakers every other day (pink ones one day, blue ones the next, etc) I did not deal with any pain at all! The previous year, on our Disneyland trip I wore Toms and my feet were killing me after only one day.

First, I should explain that DF and I are not early risers. We are actually terrible at getting out of bed!

Me too!

If we decide to order ahead, it will likely only be that morning on the way to the park. DF doesn’t seem to be a fan of deciding what he wants to eat more than a day or so in advance.

I'd HIGHLY suggest ordering ahead! When we went for lunch earlier this year, the line of people waiting to order was at least half an hour long.