Obsessive planning for 1, make that 2, now 3 trips

[Raecheal]

I"m still here and reading along with your plans... Your only 2 1/2 hours away... oh.. that would be amazing.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

Wow I'm loving your plans!!!! You really do have your ducks in a row!!!!! Also enjoyed reading your must dos!!!! You guys are going to have so much fun!!

Can't wait to hear more about your trips!!

I am really excited. I don't think we will get annual passes again next year so we are trying to take advantage of them while we have them.

My plans may be a little detailed but I am a list person, and last trip I had everything planned out so I think my family expects it now. I don't want to disappoint them. I really hate trying to figure out what to do next every 10 minutes so this keeps us on track. Although I am the only one following the plan so if anyone in the group sees something shiny, we go off in a different direction. Sometimes I need to remind myself to go with the flow.

I wish I lived that close!! Lucky!!

We have never been over to that area either. Next trip we are definitely doing it.

It is really great living so close. Last year we did so many trips to Sea World and it was great to just do day trips or go ahead and stay in a hotel for a weekend trip when the budget allowed. I need to get my DH to stay in a Value so we can spend more weekends at Disney.

I am really not that excited about checking out the Conservation Station but I am going to go with an open mind. DH and DD love trains so we'll have that, and maybe we'll get to see an animal having a procedure. I hear you can meet Pocahontas and Jiminy Cricket with little wait and we haven't seen them before so that will be good. I am a little worried about the goat petting area. We have one at our zoo and it takes a lot to pull DD away from it. She is such an animal lover.

I"m still here and reading along with your plans... Your only 2 1/2 hours away... oh.. that would be amazing.

Glad you are still along for the ride. Is your trip this weekend? I need to head over to your PTR and refresh my memory. We are really trying to take advantage of being so close.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed a new camera for our upcoming trips. I think I have the first version of a digital camera that they came out with. My father in law gave it to me for Christmas in 2000, I believe. The delay on the camera is so bad I always miss pictures of DD since her attention span is almost non-existent. So I had planted the idea with my family and my parents even offered to get the camera as my birthday present but I wasn't sure what I wanted.

So, this weekend we had to go shopping for a new TV - our less than 3 year old TV completely died about a month ago and DH has been very patient with getting it replaced. Since all of the stores that sell TVs also sell cameras, I spent some time looking to figure out what I wanted.

This was a rough weekend on the pocketbook. Saturday we got the new TV (50" plasma, poor DH, we had a 56" before but that wasn't in the budget this time). Sunday DH had to get a new lawn mower, ours died a couple of weeks ago and he had been using his mom's but we really need our own so he doesn't have to haul one back and forth. Lawn mowers are much more expensive than either one of us thought, but oh well, we have to have it. So last night I figured I would go check out a camera I had seen that was on sale this week.

The camera worked out to be just what I was looking for and it was a $199 camera on sale for $99. I got a 4GB memory card, rechargeable batteries, and a battery recharger for under $150. I was very happy. I got a Nikon Coolpix P60. Not the top of the line, but it has everything I need, fireworks mode, museum mode, sports mood, and not too much of a delay between pictures. I can't wait to try it out in Disney in 3 weeks!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Woo hoo for the new camera!!! I got my first digital at Christmas and have loved it ever since!

 

[lovedonaldduck]

I remember reading your first trip report and being completely shocked that you did not have a digital camera.

I am really happy with it, I think it will do everything I want it to do and solve some of the problems I have been having with the old one. I'm really excited that I have 2 mini trips to try it out on before the big vacation too.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

I have been hard at work on my touring plans for the big September trip. I think I have them down, although DHS, AK, and Epcot plans may change based on our trips between now and then.

Day One

• Epcot at rope drop
• DH, my dad, and I will ride Soarin’ , my mom and DD will be on fastpass duty for Test Track
• Living with the Land
• Journey into the Imagination with Figment (this will be a first)
• Ride Test Track
• Let DD play in the fountains
• Lunch at Cantina de San Angel (maybe Sunshine Seasons)
• Gran Fiesta Tour (this will be a first)
• Back to resort for rest
• Magic Kingdom around 4:00
• Country Bear Jamboree
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Liberty Belle Riverboat (this will be a first)
• Carousel of Progress (this will be a first)
• Dinner at The Wave 7:20pm (this will be a first)
• Magic Kingdom has EMH until 11pm so I am hoping I can convince everyone to head back to MK
• Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Tomorrowland Indy Speedway
• Winnie the Pooh

I hope I can get everyone to go out for EMH but I am not holding my breath. For those of you who have ridden the Figment ride, is there anything in it that is scary? Is it a very long ride? There is some reason I skipped this before and I can't think of what it was.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Nope, I don't think Journey into the Imagination is scary at all -- it is a very short ride and we have never encountered a line for it -- it's cute and DD would probably like it!

 

[lovedonaldduck]

Thanks for the info, I think we will give Figment a try in September. I will let you know how DD likes it.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I don't think Figment is scary at all, I bet your DD will love it.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

Here is the touring plan for our Hollywood Studios day.

Day Two
• DHS at rope drop
• Toy Story Midway Mania (first time)
• See Beauty and the Beast (first time)
• Star Tours – only if my dad is interested (first time)
• Magic of Disney Animation for character greetings (first time)
• Muppetvision 3D (first time)
• Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set (first time)
• Lunch – I have no idea where since we have never done counter service at DHS, I am going to study menus and locations and see if I can make a decision
• Fastpass Rock N Roller Coaster or Tower of Terror on our way out of the park for our afternoon break (I may do this while DD is playing at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set)
• Back to resort for rest
• Back to DHS by 3:30
• Fastpass whichever we didn’t on the way out
• Dinner at 50’s Prime Time Café 4:10pm
• Ride ToT (first time)
• Ride RnRC (first time)
• Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular (first time)
• American Idol Experience
• Backlot Tour (first time)
• Since DHS is only open until 7pm, I am going to push for us to swing by either MK (open until 9) or Epcot (EMH until midnight)

I am not happy with the time of our dinner reservation at all. Last time we had a reservation at about the same time and by the time we were seated (we waited forever) and ate, we only had time to get the American Idol Experience in before park closing. I am going to try to move this later as we get closer to our trip.

Does anyone know of any good counter service at DHS?

 

[lovedonaldduck]

I don't think Figment is scary at all, I bet your DD will love it.

Thanks. I think we are going to give it a try!

 

[Charleston Princess]

We really like Backlot Express as a counter service. It is tucked in between Star Tours and Indiana Jones, and is usually very quiet with lots of seating.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

I think we may end up at Backlot Express, I checked out the menu and I think it will work for us. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

Our third full day we are planning on heading to MNSSHP. I want to make sure we get the most out of the party, so we are going to sleep in and take it easy until dinner time so hopefully we can make it until close to the end of the party. On a normal night DD will stay up until 10pm if we let her, so I am thinking with sleeping in and a restful morning she might be able to make it a little later than that. My parents will probably be more of a challenge. They are not old by any means but my mom loves to go to bed early - I would say before 9pm every night.

I am going to talk to my mom this weekend, I think we may add a photo shoot on this trip. I think it would be nice for DD to be able to get pictures with her grandparents and then I wouldn't have to get Christmas pictures taken this year. If we decide on a photo shoot, this morning might be a good time to fit that in.

Day Three
• Sleep in
• Breakfast at resort
• Pool time
• DD nap
• Head to Downtown Disney
• Dinner at Raglan Road 4pm
• Magic Kingdom for MNSSHP!
• Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse
• Haunted Mansion
• Adventureland characters
• Storytelling in Liberty Square
• Villain Show
• Boo to You Parade
• Dance Party at Cosmic Ray’s
• Alice in Wonderland Treat Path
• Hallowishes
• Tommorland Transit Authority
• Monster Inc. Laugh Floor
• Mad Tea Party
• Cinderella’s Carrousel
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic

Since we have never been to MNSSHP I have no idea if my plans are reasonable or not. I think we will be at MK around 5:30, so we should be able to get some attractions done before party start time. I want to make sure DD gets to experience everything party related, so I just plan on fitting in the rides around that. Maybe we won't get on any rides after 7, depending on how busy we are with the characters, shows, parade, and fireworks. This is going to be one night when I just go with the flow.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

I have been hearing a lot lately about Tour Guide Mike, does anyone have any experience with him? I already have a subscription to the Ultimate Guide Touring Plans. I'm not sure if I should add Tour Guide Mike or maybe Passporter or if what I have is enough? Any thoughts?

 

[KAMKIM]

I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed a new camera for our upcoming trips. I think I have the first version of a digital camera that they came out with. My father in law gave it to me for Christmas in 2000, I believe. The delay on the camera is so bad I always miss pictures of DD since her attention span is almost non-existent. So I had planted the idea with my family and my parents even offered to get the camera as my birthday present but I wasn't sure what I wanted.

So, this weekend we had to go shopping for a new TV - our less than 3 year old TV completely died about a month ago and DH has been very patient with getting it replaced. Since all of the stores that sell TVs also sell cameras, I spent some time looking to figure out what I wanted.

This was a rough weekend on the pocketbook. Saturday we got the new TV (50" plasma, poor DH, we had a 56" before but that wasn't in the budget this time). Sunday DH had to get a new lawn mower, ours died a couple of weeks ago and he had been using his mom's but we really need our own so he doesn't have to haul one back and forth. Lawn mowers are much more expensive than either one of us thought, but oh well, we have to have it. So last night I figured I would go check out a camera I had seen that was on sale this week.

The camera worked out to be just what I was looking for and it was a $199 camera on sale for $99. I got a 4GB memory card, rechargeable batteries, and a battery recharger for under $150. I was very happy. I got a Nikon Coolpix P60. Not the top of the line, but it has everything I need, fireworks mode, museum mode, sports mood, and not too much of a delay between pictures. I can't wait to try it out in Disney in 3 weeks!

ouch sounds like an expensive day out LOL But I love the nikon Coolpix!!! And $150 for all that is not bad at all...My camera isn't old but I still wanted a new one before Disney...probably not gonna happen Maybe before the next trip.

3 more weeks for you

 

[scoot241]

I have been hearing a lot lately about Tour Guide Mike, does anyone have any experience with him? I already have a subscription to the Ultimate Guide Touring Plans. I'm not sure if I should add Tour Guide Mike or maybe Passporter or if what I have is enough? Any thoughts?

I'm not going to be much help here. I had the Ultimate Guide for Disneyland when my wife and I went on our honeymoon. I really didn't like that book. The attempts at humor and the comics just got on my nerves. So based on that, I wouldn't subscribe to the Ultimate Guide Touring Plans.

The book I did get this year was The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2009. This book is more beautiful than Birnbaum's and it's much more informative and neutral. It has lots of background information and other little hints, including the best way to score big points on Buzz and TSM. I know all that information is on the web, but I thought it was neat that it was in a book.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

ouch sounds like an expensive day out LOL But I love the nikon Coolpix!!! And $150 for all that is not bad at all...My camera isn't old but I still wanted a new one before Disney...probably not gonna happen Maybe before the next trip.

3 more weeks for you

It was a ridiculously expensive weekend, if not for this weekend our September trip would now be paid off. Oh well, we still have a few more paydays before we hit 45 days.

I think a new digital camera for your birthday sounds great! I got the great deal at Office Max. They also have some at Best Buy for around $117.

I'm not going to be much help here. I had the Ultimate Guide for Disneyland when my wife and I went on our honeymoon. I really didn't like that book. The attempts at humor and the comics just got on my nerves. So based on that, I wouldn't subscribe to the Ultimate Guide Touring Plans.

The book I did get this year was The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2009. This book is more beautiful than Birnbaum's and it's much more informative and neutral. It has lots of background information and other little hints, including the best way to score big points on Buzz and TSM. I know all that information is on the web, but I thought it was neat that it was in a book.

I read every Disney guidebook the library had in preparation for our April trip. I was not thrilled with the Ultimate Guide either, but I loved that they had touring plans so that sucked me into the website, plus it was only like $9. I think I am going to hold off on adding another subscription right now. The touring plans I used in April seemed to work and I have modified from their touring plans for the next trip so I am probably not going to gain anything by adding something new. May cause information overload at this point.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

I will be doing some serious Disney planning this weekend. My dad travels for his job and he leaves on Sunday for 5 weeks so tomorrow I have to tie up all of the loose ends with my parents for our Disney planning. We have to cover the following:

• Will my mom be joining us for our Magic Kingdom trip?
• Can my aunt watch the dogs for our Magic Kingdom trip?
• Should we spend the night at my grandma’s after the Magic Kingdom trip?
• Should we schedule a photoshoot for our September trip?
• Do we need to reserve a boat for the September trip?
• I need my mom’s top two ride/attraction choices for Animal Kingdom and DHS, and MK if she is joining us.
• When are we taking our 2010 vacation?
• Where do we want to stay for our 2010 vacation?
• What kind of shirts will we be wearing for MNSSHP?

Hopefully that is everything. It looks like I will have quite an update to post on Monday.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

After our last trip, the other adults asked if we could build some down time into our next trip which is why we have no real plans for 2 mornings of the trip. I'm also hoping taking the morning of MNSSHP off will help us to stay out later that night and will make us want to take the next morning off.

Day Four
• Sleep in
• Breakfast at resort
• Pool time
• DD nap
• Magic Kingdom around 3pm
• It’s a Small World
• Peter Pan
• Dumbo (depending on line)
• Toontown – Mickey’s House, Donald’s Boat, meet Mickey, meet Fairies
• Railroad to exit
• Dinner at Ohana 7pm
• DHS has EMH until 10pm, so if we missed any must dos, I may push to head here for a bit

If we meet Mickey at DHS, we will probably skip meeting him in Toontown this trip.