MVMCP - My Very Merry Chistmas Pre-Trip Report

[G'day Disney]

Subscribing, I have just read the 1st 8 pages and will have to read more tomorrow!! Thanks for sharing your trip with us

 

[exwdwcm]

I know. I just saw my ticker. Time is just flying by. Gotta head over to your ptr and check out your calender. I have a picture of mine hanging in my cube that I am checking off the days on. I can't believe it's almost November.

LOL- shhh i won't tell. i have a countdown on my iphone for just me.

LOVE all your pumpkins, so awesome!!! oh and so sad, no disney theme this year. my son was capt hook last year and we had a peter pan costume for him this year (clearance from last year), but we made him a trash can instead- he loves trash cans, i know, strange kid. we plan to find the jammitors at disney and last year he saw the cop/streemsophere at HS hiding in a trash can and loved it.

LOVe the 'sick pumpkin'. man i felt that way myself a few weekends ago after my BIL's party. reminds me i am way too old to be doing jello shots or riding the mechanical bull he rented for his party (yep, we are in TX!).

 

[PRmamiDEdos]

oh and so sad, no disney theme this year.

Don't feel bad, we didn't even do pumpkins this year. DaddyofPrincesses has us all beat!

 

[jenseib]

OOps. I posted the wrong thing here! LOL!

What I meant to say was, I LOVE your pumpkins. The kids look adorable.

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

The pumpkins and costumes look great! We had a good Halloween except we ran out of candy. We went through 6 bags, including a huge bag of suckers. We did not expect that many kids. In order to satisfy our Halloween candy fix, I had to go to the store and buy a few bags of the 50% off candy the next day.

 

[happenin2you]

Weren't you supposed to be working on some shirts? I wanna see pictures buddy! What's going on in your world of planning?

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Weren't you supposed to be working on some shirts? I wanna see pictures buddy! What's going on in your world of planning?

Unfortunately work has gotten in the way. I'm beginning to think the t-shirts aren't going to happen. As far as planning goes, I haven't even had time to get that done. I think I have a decent map of what we are doing the first 3 days, but haven't gotten back to finish it.
I have to work today, but I am off the rest of the week. Thursday will be spent driving 2 1/2 hours to my sisters, visiting and eating, then driving home. Friday I go to my other sisters who only lives an hour away. If I am lucky, I will be able to get some planning done over the next two days.
Thank you for reviving my stale PTR though.

 

[PoppyGirl]

He's ALIIIIIIIIVVVVVVE!!!

 

[exwdwcm]

lol at He's Alive!! we missed you!

I know all too well about work getting in the way.....stupid work, why do we have to work anyways? oh yeah, to pay for this trip!

hopefully you get some planning done on your break- have a safe visit with the family!

 

[stephielela]

It's times like this I am glad that my job is so boring. I have TONS of time to plan, too much really. Well at least you know you will have time on the way down there!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

OK, it's been what 3-4 years since I have posted a Vacation related post. I thought I would take a stab at the plans for the 1st day.

Our flight leaves Philly at 7:00 AM which is great since the chances of a delay are pretty slim. Downside to this is the early morning wake up call. It's probably overkill, but I want to be at the airport by 5 am to give me time to get through security. I haven't been on a plane since my wife and I went to Hawaii, so I'm not exactly sure what to expect. Of course, getting there this early means I gotta leave the house by 4 am. But hey, I'm going to Disney so it's worth it.

We get into Orlando around 9;30, hop aboard ME, speaking of which I gotta call them since I haven't gotten my ME stuff yet. Get to AKL around 10 I guess. Not sure how long the ride from the airport takes. Do a quick checkin and head off to Hollywood Studios.

First thing we do is head down Sunset Blvd to get FP's for Rock n Roller Coaster. If the wait isn't long, I will go on this with Ally, while the wife takes Olivia over to Playhouse Disney onstage.
If there is a long wait, get the FP's and we will go see Beauty and the Beast On stage.
After that we can go see the Magic of Disney Animation followed with the Voyage of Little Mermaid.
Around this time I gotta start looking at my watch more since we have ressies for Mama Melrose at 2:55 as part of our Fantasmic Dining Package.
By this time we should have been able to ride the Rock N Roller Coaster so it's off to get FP's for Toy Story Mania, hopefully there will be some left.
Then we go see Muppets in 3D. Loved this show in 2007, so I'm sure the kids will love it.
I really have no concept of how long it will take to do all this so hopefully we can get it all in.
6:30 is Fantasmic, after that is over we can go check out the Osbourne Lights.
Tomorrow night has Extra Magic hours at Hollywood Studios, so after we leave Animal Kingdom, we will head over to Hollywood Studios to hit anything we didn't get to. If we manage to knock out the park on the first day, then the end of day 2 will be chillaxing at the Lodge.

So what do you think, sound doable?

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

It's times like this I am glad that my job is so boring. I have TONS of time to plan, too much really. Well at least you know you will have time on the way down there!

I like what I do for the most part. I am currently working on implementing two software tools for a department. So learning something new is fun. Starting in January we will be upgrading the PeopelSoft Financials form 8.8 to 9.1, so that will be four months of fun as well. I have to train someone as my backup so I've been waiting for the upgrade. No point in showing her the system, then saying ok, now here is what the new way will be. Of course while I am doing this I still have to support the department for it's current tools. Luckily I don't sit in their group so I don't get people knocking on my cube every 5 minutes, unluckily we now have IM's so I get those every 5 minutes, sometimes having multiple conversations at once. I am definitely looking forward to Disney. No access to work. I was off today, but logged in a few times to check emails.
On the plus side, I am watching the Phineas and Ferb Christmas special for the third time this year. Wish we had On Demand when I was a kid.

 

[Tinkermom76]

Good plans, we aren't going to a park our first night.

Nice to see you back on the boards and posting updates, DevonsDisneyMom has been on 6 trips to WDW since you last posted

 

[PoppyGirl]

Don't ask me why, but I checked your plans with my RideMax software....and it's almost doable! It will depend on if FP's are available for Toy Story.

By the way, you arrive on the 11th, right? That's our DHS day too. Maybe we'll see you at Fantasmic! They added an hour and a second Fantasmic show at 8pm that night so that should help you out with doing everything you have in your plan.

 

[happenin2you]

Glad to see you're back in action! Have a safe Thanksgiving with all that driving. I think your plans look fine. I'm sure you'll be able to fit most, if not all, of that in.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Hey there! Great plans... we're chillaxing on our first day but you get there in plenty of time to hit a park.

Say hi to Ozzie for me....

Hey, if I don't get the chance to pop back here before we go, Happy Thanksgiving to you and have a wonderful trip!! Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Good plans, we aren't going to a park our first night.

Nice to see you back on the boards and posting updates, DevonsDisneyMom has been on 6 trips to WDW since you last posted

Only 6, she is slowing down.

Don't ask me why, but I checked your plans with my RideMax software....and it's almost doable! It will depend on if FP's are available for Toy Story.

By the way, you arrive on the 11th, right? That's our DHS day too. Maybe we'll see you at Fantasmic! They added an hour and a second Fantasmic show at 8pm that night so that should help you out with doing everything you have in your plan.

The Toy Story thing isn't a deal breaker. If I can do it, great, if not I won't be too crushed.

Glad to see you're back in action! Have a safe Thanksgiving with all that driving. I think your plans look fine. I'm sure you'll be able to fit most, if not all, of that in.

I have an 8 day park hopper, and have 3 days to do AK and HS, with some time spent at DTD, so if I don't get it all in day one, I have extra time to get it done.

My only concern is for day 2. Since the Pin code I used started on the 12th, I had to book a 1 night reservation, then a 2 night reservation for AKL. Hopefully I can just stay in the same room throughout my stay, and the checkout/checkin on day two will be easy.

 

[jenseib]

I like your plans, but I would get a FP for Toy Story Mania first thing. If they are available even then, which they might not be.

 

[Woth2982]

Great first day plans! Ours are very similar, only we have lunch at Sci Fi Cafe. Couldn't get Mama Melrose. Oh well. Next time. We are thinking about heading to DTD or MK after Fantasmic. I guess it depends on how tired we are. We have a 645 am flight that morning, thanfully the airport is only like 45 minutes away at the MOST! I agree with a PP about the Toy Story FP, TSM is a great ride, but not worth the super long wait. We did it one year at EMH so it wasn't too bad. We waited til like a half hour before park closing to ride it. Worked out great.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

OK. lets look at day 2 and 3.

Beginning of Day 2 will have me in the Lobby early in the morning to checkout and check back in. Like I said before, hopefully we get to keep our room and don't need to bring all the luggage down for them to hold while we go to AK.

We have breakfast at Tusker House at 8:15 am.
After breakfast head to the Kilamanjaro Safari. Then take a walk throught he Pangani Forest Exploration trails. Walk the Discover Island Trails, then go see Rafiki's Planet Watch to check out Habitat Habit, Conservation Staion, and Affection Section.
After touring that area, we head over to Camp Minnie-Mickey to watch the Festival of the Lion King. I'm hoping by this time it isn't quite so crowded as it will be in the morning. Hit the Autograph Trails. Gotta get a good picture to use for the Christmas cards we will be getting created while down there. I'm sure everybody is going to like getting mail from Lake Buena Vista. Of course they aren't Disney-aholics like us, so they probably won't even notice. Nitwits
Its a shame they got rid of the Pocohontas show. We saw it in 2007 and just happened to sit near the mother of the lady who played Pocohontas. We got to stay after the show and have about 10 minutes alone with Pocohontas. This was our first park so it was a great way to start the trip.
After pictures and autographs, I will head over to get FP's for Expedition Everest. Hope some are left. We then head to Aida to see the Flights of Wonder and Maharajah Jungle Trek. We will skip the river rapids, not sure what the weather is going to be like, but would prefer not to be wet and cold. Assuming we got a FP for EE with Ally while Diane takes Olivia to DinoLand. I'm not a big fan of DinoLand, but if the kids want to ride some of the rides, we will let them. After the park closes we will head over to HS and finish anything we didn't get done the day before and have dinner at Pizza Planet.

The only thing not specifically planned is Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade. Wherever we are when this starts is where we will watch it.

Day 3 plans are pretty simple. EMH at AK so we go there first thing in the morning. We have breakfast at 8:45 am at the RainForest Cafe. From there the day will just be finishing up anything from the first day at AK. This will most likely be Expedition Everest. otherwise we will spend time on Discover Island walking the trails, seeing It's Tough to Be a Bug. Maybe head to Camp Minnie-Mickey to see if there are different characters.
Once we are done with this park we should be done with HS as well, so we will head to the resort for a little bit to enjoy that. That evening we can head to DTD to get dinner and do some shopping.

So there is the current plans for days 2 and 3. Day 3 will be our last day at AK, so Day 4 will start with checking out of AKL, and getting our luggage sent to the Poly while we head over to EPCOT, but that's another entry.

I don't know about anybody else, but the AK plans might not be realistic. Luckily we have the EMH the next morning to pick up wherever we leave off the day before. I probably should go to one of those planning sites.