MagicBands + Margaritas + Muggles + Minions = TRP. New TR link is up! 10/31

[saintstickets]

I love this ride.



Berry Merry margarita. For me

A well deserved treat for such an awesome ride pic!

 

[eandesmom]

Love the pics! Sorry you didn't find your coffee mug yet though and had to make due.

They are tiny, that's the issue but they do the job. As did the food including the mushy pear that barely survived the trip down (I'd brought a bunch of fruit with us

I actually love this new attraction...so much better than the naria thing.


I am not sure that there has been much attention given to it. I wonder if people still think it is the narnia thing.

I think you are right. The Narnia thing was just sad. I am a huge Narnia fan but oh, that sure didn't deliver much did it.

there is live action?

See, it's THAT good!

You are so brave! I have never... probably will never go on this ride.

It's not for everyone. I love it though!

I think I would have had a hard time choosing between that and the gumdrop. Both look very yummy!

It was delicious!!!!!!!!!

Oops sorry! I was going over a list of restaurants with DH about our trip in January and I kept insisting that we do RR and clearly that's all I could think about!

You should do RR, it's fabulous!

Oh my that looks good. I have never seen a cart outside of the tune in lounge before! Need to keep my eyes open next time. Maybe those drinks will still be there when I go!

I don't think they are normally there, just during the holidays. It was good!

Wow, seriously. No fries for Jeff.

He was not happy, you wouldn't think it would be that hard, would you?

I am enjoying your report so far. Nice day at Hollywood Studios. I am glad to hear FP+ is working well for you all. I have been roughly planning our park days for our trip and like some of the things we can do with it that we couldn't do before. Like you siad you all were able to do the headliners on a crowded day and didn't even have to get there are rope drop. Can't wait to read more about your trip!

It was especially nice for afternoon or evening FP's.

I can't believe that you shopped that quickly. I know it took a long time to check out, but you haven't been grocery shopping with Fran! In and out in an hour doesn't happen!

I shop weekly, sometimes more than that. I'd better be able to get in and out of there in an hour, and usually less than that or I'd lose my mind! I'm pretty set in my ways though. I have a list, stick to the list and boom, am done. An unknown store though throws me off a bit, I felt like it took me a good 10 minutes longer than normal to find everything I wanted.

The long checkout though? That happens every Saturday at Safeway. Usually I can't even blame it on a faulty scale, just understaffed and poorly trained staff.

Yay for too many groceries that they don't fit in the cupboards! That means you got enough. DVC is great except they don't have enough room in the pantry when you buy groceries.

THV does, wow did I love that kitchen! Interestingly enough though in the pots and pans category, the BWV villa was better stocked. Plates, glasses, etc, THV won. Go figure.

I actually did really well with what I bought, it's always the fear, either way too much or not enough.

Also Yay for getting in the top three attractions arriving after noon and doing them in less than three hours. Boo for no fries. I'm sure that they could have sold them to you separately, but maybe not. It's Disney, unless they had a button on the register for that they couldn't.

Several CM's told us that they were "pretty sure" you could order just a side at a few different places but the lines were so long, that without them on the menu, we weren't going to risk it.

I love RnRC too! It's one of my favorite rides too. Ever.

It just makes me GRIN like an idiot!

What a great update and time at HS. Love the pictures and it looks like you really shopped out that Super Target!

Well, we can't let the minions go hungry...or the adults thirsty!

Whilst I love the pictures, it made me realise something. Dang!!! I COMPLETELY forgot that RnRC has those ride pictures and I forgot to claim ours!

We didn't claim all of ours. A lot, possibly most or the majority but at a certain point the boys and Jeff got annoyed telling me we had enough and not to bother claiming.

 

[glennbo123]

Pat's the bomb!

I wasn't familiar with that Jack Sparrow thing. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Pat was kind enough to offer to run me over to the store to pick up some things.

Ok, a LOT of things.

That was awfully sweet of Pat! Sharing some Christmas spirit!!!


So many groceries they wouldn't all fit in the cupboards…



That IS a lot of groceries!!!

Breakfast was on the balcony of course

With a very lame coffee cup.



Well of course you had to have coffee on the verandah! Isn't that why you sent the rest of the family off to the park and Jeff stayed behind.......

Mom and Dad had arrived at the park before anyone else. What park? Why the one next door. The other one. The Studios!

And stopped for a photo



Oh, this is a GREAT picture!


Quin had seen something he really wanted to do, and had grabbed a time slot, so we headed over to something new for all of us. The legend of Jack Sparrow. We had a little time to kill before going in and waited in our assigned areal. Everyone seemed to be very intent on planning!


I thought it was a very cool combo of technology and live action, really really enjoyed it. As did most, especially Quin, who was happy he’d "fought" for it. Jeff was less than thrilled, I don't think it’s on his list for September for sure.

I think LoJS has some really cool effects! A definite upgrade from Narnia.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your ride on RnR.........

 

[KatMark]

How very sweet of Pat to offer to run you to the store so you could get your shopping done.

And you sure did do the shopping, didn't you?

You did awesome with the attractions...three big time ones in a short amount of time.

Great job!

 

[Chilly]

Love that photo of you on RRC! Liking the sound of a Gumdrop. I remember a cold night in DHS on my birthday, not nice, hope you found a solution.

 

[Poolrat]

Well Shucks guys - It was a pleasure spending time with Cynthia even if it was time spent in the Super Target.

If my memory serves the scale at the register was not working so the cashier would hand the produce to another cashier at the next register and he would call out the weight and the cashier would then manually punch it in.

It was a fun adventure!

I think you did wonderful having breakfast and then getting to DHS.

 

[englishrose47]

Finally caught up!! Those goodies Pat gave you looked yummy!!I have to try that Jack Show this year !! Yes 3 headliners before 2:30p is impressive !!!!

 

[eandesmom]

Hi Cynthia! I'm glad your bags weren't lost - that was my thought

that was my first fear too!

How special you got to see CP with your mom, and that you had Amy Grant!

It was very special that it was Amy Grant though honestly I'd have LOVED to hear her sing!

You know, there are so many awesome choices for food right outside the parks at DLR, I thought I'd mention those. We love MiMi's café on Katella across the street from DL, and the new Gardenwalk area is where we usually end up on the CA side http://www.anaheimgardenwalk.com/dining/

I always love the Pacific Wharf café clam chowder bread bowl at CA, and Flo's looks like a fun new choice.

Jeff loves that bowl too! thanks for the offsite ideas

How sweet of Pat to take you out grocery shopping!

It was a HUGE help

Of course, would expect nothing less.

Not a lame cup for long, I'm sure!

we shall see!

I have yet to do the Jack Sparrow thing. I'd like to see it some time, just to say I did.

I really liked it

LOVE the RnR pics!! That's one of my absolute favourites.

I rather enjoyed it

Without a doubt, that's one of the best parts of the new system.

The system has pro's and cons. For this trip the pro's vastly outweighed the cons. It will be interesting to see how it plays out over the next couple of trips.

Great update! Nothing beats a full and overstocked kitchen, especially on vacation!

It came in handy to be sure!

Your view is awesome! I'm sorry for your lame coffee cup. I find the villa cups so small!

They are tiny!

Best RnRC pic ever. Love the hands.

I was enjoying myself for sure

We've had two trips to WDW with large groups. Everything seems to move at a slower pace as we spent so much time corralling/coordinating. You guys are doing great! I forgot how much I like big group trips. I've put WDW out of my mind for this year until now.....

We had a blast. It was a good mix of being together, splitting up, something for everyone.

No side of fries? How odd. They can do the entree minus fries so you'd think they could just do the opposite?

you would think, with it not on any menu we could find we weren't going to waste 10-15 min in line to find out

I'm intrigued with FP+. By the time I get back to WDW I'll need a tutorial if it hasn't changed. Do you love FP+?

There are things i loved about it, things I didn't. I'll have a better feel after the next couple trips. For this one, with the large group, holiday crowds I thought it truly was a godsend and can honestly say we didn't miss paper or ever feel stymied by the system. Some of that was just dumb luck though.

New grocery stores are so hard for me. I'm a creature of habit.

It takes SO much longer to shop in an unfamiliar store!

Yuck. Not the best way to spend a morning, but at least that chore was behind you. Very nice of Pat to help out.

It was such a huge help! And yes, nice to have it over with for sure.

Naturally

Wouldn't want to dissapoint

I'm glad Quin spoke up and convinced everyone to check it out. Id love to see it myself, but I'm pretty sure our kids wouldn't care much for it.

All the boys liked it

You look mildly excited...

One of my favorites too!!! Speed, thrills and rock n roll. Hard to beat.

Exactly!

So in other words... you should have just gone with Mom, Dad and Mel to begin with.

Yep.

but the man wanted fries!

Ok... admittedly, I'm an FP+ skeptic, so I'm going to be Devil's advocate here. What do you think you'd have done if you booked FP+ after the tier system was put in place? You wouldn't have been able to do RnRC and TSMM both.

We'd have done single rider line. In fact that's what we did do later in the trip, worked out just fine.

I get the skepticism I do but I have to tell you, the not watching your "window" to open, running across the park or constantly checking wait times and FP return times on an app? Did not miss that. At ALL.

I will say though, for your case, it definitely did work very well. Getting to the park late like that and doing those attractions would be virtually unheard of any other way.

Exactly, it really impacted our trip in an absolutely wonderful way.

It looks like you and your mom had a great time at CP. I love that show. Such good memories you made with her.

It was very speical

How nice of Pat to take you grocery shopping. We met her several years ago in Charlotte. She is such a nice person. She gave the boys tickets to her water park for the day while I was in meeting. Jeremy still talks about it.

She is! It was so nice of her and a huge huge help.

Too cute about the boys riding It's a Small World!

Isn't that a riot?

Glad the luggae worked out okay.

Me too, it was a nail biter for a minute or two.

We only did one table service at DL. It was Carthay Circle World of Color Package. We loved the food and the restaurant and would highly recommend it. You do get a DVC discount on those packages.

Yeah, I'm just having a very hard time springing for something like that after the NYE trip, right now FP's are the plan but that could change

As far as counter service, we really liked Tortilla Joes. Flo's is good in CA as well. It is more home cooked style foods. One thing is for sure, if you or your boys like Churros, they are easily to find at DL. I never saw so many churro carts. I am not sure I have ever saw one at WDW but they are everywhere in DL.

I didn't realize Tortilla Joes had CS, we did TS there back in 2010. LOL on the churros.

We missed out on Mrs. Knotts. We went to the park Thanksgiving Day with plans to get it to go for a late lunch back at the hotel. The line was super long when we got ready to leave so we decided against it. I have eaten there years ago and it is delicious. We did get a boysenberry funnel cake in the park which was delicious too.

It is VERY yummy!

So excited that you get to see your son perform in DL. Hoping that Jeremy sticks with band. His school goes every 4 years in the spring and performs in Epcot. They just went last year so it should be his sophomore year when they go again.

I am looking forward to it! It will most likely happen again in 4 years for Eric.

Anxious to see if you get a few more Disney days before your cruise!

Well it's official, we will be there 2 before and 2 after. Only 50% of it is booked, but we have BWV before and the flight from MCO to San Juan booked and then we have a flight from Orlando to Seattle booked for the return. Still need to get to Orlando in the first place, from San Juan back to Orlando and then book the last 2 nights stay. both of those legs went up in cost so we are holding for a bit to see what happens and what SW's rates look like on Tuesday.

 

[eandesmom]

That was so nice of Pat to take you shopping

Yes it was!

They were able to sell us fries only at Rosie's All American Cafe on Sunset Blvd, but they weren't on the menu, we had to ask.

We figured it was likely but the line was SO long we didn't want to waste the time confirming

The special effects of Jack were fabulous. It almost felt like he was there jn the room.

Great pic on RNRC!

I thought it was very well done

A well deserved treat for such an awesome ride pic!

Pat's the bomb!

I wasn't familiar with that Jack Sparrow thing. Thanks for sharing that.

yes she is! Jack Sparrow was cool.

I think LoJS has some really cool effects! A definite upgrade from Narnia.

Definitely an upgrade! Narina was like an ad...

Sorry you didn't enjoy your ride on RnR.........

Hated it. Every second.

 

[eandesmom]

How very sweet of Pat to offer to run you to the store so you could get your shopping done.

Yes it was!!!

And you sure did do the shopping, didn't you?

Sadly my cart is that full every week but yes, we picked up a few things

You did awesome with the attractions...three big time ones in a short amount of time.

Great job!

Loved showing up at the park at 11 and hitting so many things it really was wonderful to have the FP+.

Love that photo of you on RRC! Liking the sound of a Gumdrop. I remember a cold night in DHS on my birthday, not nice, hope you found a solution.

It wasn't cold at that moment, we just knew we wouldn't make it till midnight with what we had with us. I absolutely love that ride!

Well Shucks guys - It was a pleasure spending time with Cynthia even if spent time in the Super Target.

retail therapy?

If my memory serves the scale at the register was not working so the cashier would hand the produce to another cashier at the next register and he would call out the weight and the cashier would then manually punch it in.

Yes, who would have thought I had that much stuff that needed to be weighed but apparently I did!

It was a fun adventure!

Grocery shopping is always an adventure! Or it would have been if I'd have tried to get all of it upstairs by myself or with just Jeff!

I think you did wonderful having breakfast and then getting to DHS.

We were pretty much on schedule all around

Finally caught up!! Those goodies Pat gave you looked yummy!!I have to try that Jack Show this year !! Yes 3 headliners before 2:30p is impressive !!!!

they were VERY yummy!!!!!

Jack is fun, definitely go

I was happy with how it played out, the FP+ was incredibly beneficial for late park arrival!

 

[merbobear]

Just found this so now I am all caught up and subbing to follow along

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I had set my alarm to get up. I had a mission in the morning that didn't involve the rest of the crew.

Grocery shopping!

Sounds exciting I know.

Pat was kind enough to offer to run me over to the store to pick up some things.

Pat seems like she's incredibly awesome.

By 9:30 I was checked out. Actual checkout took FOREVER! The scale on the scanner was not working so anything I had that needed to be weighed, the manager had to do at the register adjacent and then verbally tell the cashier what it was so he could ring it up. It wasn't his fault and they kept apologizing but oh, it took a long time. Made me want to take all the produce and deli stuff back. Except we did need it.

Nah, it's vacation. Gorge on the junk food!

I had to test them before the kids. Of course!!!

Well, sure. You wouldn't want them to be poisoned or anything. Way to take one for the team.

I thought it was a very cool combo of technology and live action, really really enjoyed it. As did most, especially Quin, who was happy he’d "fought" for it. Jeff was less than thrilled, I don't think it’s on his list for September for sure.

At least you can say you did it once.

I love this ride.

Can you tell?

C'mon, at show a little enthusiasm.

We could not find a side of fries anywhere to save our soul. Fries WITH stuff, but not sold as a side.

It's a sad day in America when you can't find french fries.

FP+ has it's pro's and cons to be sure but let me tell you, on December 30th in a PACKED park, strolling in around noon and knocking out 3 headliners by 2:30 was pretty stinking cool. Amazingly cool.

I'm sure there are still bugs to be worked out, but it's nice to hear some positives about the system.

 

[eandesmom]

Just found this so now I am all caught up and subbing to follow along

!!! Thrilled to have you here

Sounds exciting I know.

You gotta do what you gotta do.

which really means feed the minions

Pat seems like she's incredibly awesome.

An incredibly accurate assessment!

Plus she's fun to hang with!

Nah, it's vacation. Gorge on the junk food!

amazingly there wasn't much junk in the cart. Some chips, one box of (ice cream) drumsticks and...that might have been it.

Unless you count beer and wine...

And soda (I think I bought soda but am honestly not sure, my sister may have vetoed it.

Probably the most unhealthy thing in there was the salami or the honey nut cheerios. We are boring that way.

Well, sure. You wouldn't want them to be poisoned or anything. Way to take one for the team.

Quality Control!

At least you can say you did it once.

And I'll do it again!

Though only if Mary Ellen wants to, I am positive this isn't on Jeff's list for September

C'mon, at show a little enthusiasm.

I know, it's so hard to tell if I like something, isn't it?

It's a sad day in America when you can't find french fries.

Jeff apparently thought we were on a cruise and could just walk up and find them anywhere...probably in unlimited supply too. It was so funny...I don't ever recall him being on a mission to find a side of fries as a snack before.

I'm sure there are still bugs to be worked out, but it's nice to hear some positives about the system.

I know there are many folks who don't want to hear it but...it really was a godsend for our trip. I cannot imagine it without it.

 

[eandesmom]

I spun the wheel and....

I lost.

A bit.

I hate this game.

As we hemmed and hawed about whether to stay before and after the cruise in Orlando flights went up in price.

Some of them anyway.

The two I didn't book right away.

Sigh.

We gambled. I figured that the flight from Orlando to San Juan was the most likely to go up in price so we bought that one first (leg #2). Our plan was to buy leg #1, the red eye from Seattle to Orlando and then buy the flight from San Juan Back to Orlando (leg #3), then then lastly, the return from Orlando back to Seattle, leg #4.

The first flight we bought, leg #2? Still at the same price. Figures huh.

I tried to buy the red eye for leg #1 but at check out, found out that my Alaska credit wouldn't work on the ticket. Though I was booking via Alaska, it was partially flown by American and thus my credit wasn't allowed. So I didn't do it.

The Red Eye I didn't buy?

Went up $200 per person!

CRAZY!

It's still over 6 months away and hardly at peak travel season.

The return leg from San Juan to Orlando?

Went up $20 pp. Ok, in the big picture of things that's not much but BLEH.

When the red eye jumped, so did my target return flight (leg #4). Thankfully that one was only by $6 so we bought that one next. Besides, my credit did work on that one and almost paid for one of the tickets! YAY for the evening non stop home.

Yesterday SW released fares. Which caught me off guard, I'd thought it was going to be today not yesterday. I don't know if missing it by several hours cost us anything or not but we booked SW for the San Juan to Orlando leg. Much as we'd prefer to fly Jet Blue, $100 less is a lot of DOTD. Or rum bought in port. Or a whole how of other things. Leg #3, booked!

That left us with the first, and arguably most important leg. I mean the trip can't happen if we don't get to Orlando in the first place right?

All of the red eyes had jumped in price, leaving only one airline less than the day time direct the next day. Direct was tempting. 6 hours on the plane (ok 5.5, whatever) versus a 8-10 hour trip d3epending on layover time.

But you lose that whole day! We'd leave at breakfast and land at dinner and not make the time change.

Today is Jeff's 50th birthday. He took the day off. I took him out for lunch and we discussed our options. Wait and see if they go back down? Losing the leg that was $137 really hurt. Book the direct at $210? Or book the Jet Blue Red Eye at $207.

You know what we did, don't you?

Jet Blue baby, via JKF...only 1.5 hour layover. Leaves Seattle at a much better time than that long LAX layover (9:30pm), long leg is first, lands in Orlando at 9:30 am and we have the whole day to enjoy.

BOOKED!

With the Alaska Credit I used, we came in at $550 each. Which is about as good as I could have gotten going direct there and as good as we expected to come in at given that we are coming from Seattle so we are pretty happy.

Plus free bags on every leg doesn't hurt.

Of course I still need to book the 2nd 2 nights in Orlando and then actually pay off the cruise but...

It's progress! We are going!

Oh and my parents ARE available to watch the boys. Minor detail confirmed

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Glad to see your plans are starting to make progress again! Juggling flights and prices can be quite the challenge for sure!

Happy 50th Birthday to Jeff!!!!

 

[englishrose47]

I am soooo glad I can get Non Stop flights at usually a decent price !! But nothing beats our first Orlando flight that totalgot 5 of us there and back for $900 !!!!!!!!!

 

[Poolrat]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JEFF


I am trying to figure out my fall flights as SW surprised me too and released a bit early. Only thing they don't do a red eye and you have me convinced that is the way to go.

My problem is they released util Oct 31 and I am trying to fly back Nov 3.

 

[jedijill]

Happy Birthday Jeff!!!!

I'm so behind...I looked at flights and was pleasantly surprised by the cost. I'm still debating tacking on F&W before the cruise vs just checking out San Juan.

I should really make a decision!

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

Congrats on getting flights and making the decision to go!

Happy Birthday.to Jeff!