Once, Twice, Three Times to Disney? (Sept, Nov, & Feb PTRs)

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Welcome! Please bear with me for my first Pre-Trip Report, and first thread, which will actually be three PTRs in one. I’m writing this to try to help keep all of the plans straight and to make sure I don’t miss any deadlines (ADRs, Race Registration, etc).

Anyway, let me introduce myself (other characters will be introduced in their first trip). I am new to the DISboards, but have Disney running through me. I’m a 26 year old computer engineer, as well as a theater junkie (on and off stage), and I moonlight tutoring almost anything STEM related to help pay for my growing Disney addiction. My first Disney trips were to Euro Disney (now Disneyland Paris) in the early 90s, I believe it was 2 trips in total. Growing up I went to WDW 2 or 3 times with my family, and since graduating high school have taken a total of 3 additional trips to WDW. Disneyland is still on my to-do list, and my goal is to knock that out before I hit 30. Also, I ramble a lot.

Favorite Park: Used to be Hollywood Studios, but with Backlot Tour closed among other things, this is probably changing to Magic Kingdom this trip

Favorite Ride:

Favorite Character: Mary Poppins

So, Trip 1 – Boy’s Not So Scary First Disney Trip! (BNSSFDT)

Cast:

Brittany (Me)

Boy – My boyfriend (who is shy, so we will call him “Boy”) will be taking his first trip to Disney (at 31!!!). This trip is mostly all about him, and making sure he sees and understands the magic. He’s a geek/nerd at heart, a little shy, but willing to break out of his shell for some silliness (more on this later). He loves food, and is a little bit leery about the roller coasters, but I’m hoping to break this (his first roller coasters were at Six Flags last Halloween, I keep trying to help him understand that Disney is much more mild, but you will see how this shapes into the touring plans with strategic single rides early on to hopefully get him onto Rockin’ Roller Coaster in the end).

Where: Port Orleans Riverside. This will be my first time at a MOD, and I’m excited!

When: September, for 8 nights, and (hopefully) 9 days, depending on flights

What: Multiple park days, MNSSHP, and Food & Wine!

Trip 2 – Wine & Dine & a 10k This Time!

Cast:

Brittany (Me)

Mom – My mom (Val, but I’ll probably just call her Mom). She’s been to Disney multiple times, loves Magic Kingdom, and does not ride any “thrill” rides, although she will go on the Barnstormer. Going to Disney with her is great, we’ve taken a few girls trips and mother daughter trips throughout the years, and it’s been overall good experiences. I also bring her along (sometimes) to leverage the military discount that I can’t get myself as a dependent/child of the armed forces.

Mom at the park which shall not be named

Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom

Favorite Rides: It’s a Small World, Buzz Lightyear, and TSMM

Favorite Character: Tigger/Pooh (This will be a birthday trip for her as well as the run, so Crystal Palace is a must)

Where: All-Star Music

When: Wine & Dine 10k Weekend! Arrive probably late Thursday, and staying through Sunday.

What: MK and Epcot, with a 10k (and Food & Wine)

Trip 3 – Princess Half Marathon for Real!

Cast: Me, Myself, and I. Yup. This is a solo trip at this point (my second).

Where: ??? TBD, once I figure out discounts/pricing

When: Princess Half Marathon Weekend! Arrive late Thursday or early Friday, staying hopefully through Monday.

What: Hrrmmm, TBD. Probably a day per park. Oh yeah, and a half marathon…whatever that is.

 

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Notice that there is no “why” above. That is due to the “why” being a nice, long-winded story (feel free to skip past).

I’ve gone on a nerd cruise the last few years, which normally leaves out of Fort Lauderdale. In early 2015, I took off two weeks and did a week of Disney and Universal before the cruise (my first solo trip!). It was amazing, but it was that “once every 5 years or so” trip. Well, then I found out that the 2016 cruise would leave from Port Canaveral, and the gears in my head started spinning. “I can’t possibly take yet another two week vacation to go to Disney before the cruise, that would be crazy!” I thought.

Fast-forward a few more weeks, and I’m mulling it over…and I realize that the Sunday departure of the cruise is at the end of the Princess Half Marathon weekend! “Well, it would be okay to go to Disney if it’s for a run, you know, for shifting to a healthier lifestyle, right?” So, I called up my mom, and suggested a giant family trip to do the 10k during the Princess weekend. One thing led to another, she insisted “princess” meant girls only trip, we were not on the computer right at noon, etc, etc, etc, and we ended up with a 3-4 day trip for 5 of us to do the Princess 5k and hang out at Disney.

I loved the Disney run, and I love that it was a motivator for me to get off my behind. When I got back, I was already considering working towards a 10k and eventually a half at Disney…and getting fast enough I was comfortable stopping for characters.

I had kind of mentioned this to my boyfriend, and discovered that he had never been to Disney World (how did I not know this)! So, I mentioned how I would love to take him some day, and that we should look into planning this. We started these discussions around Feb/March of this year, and starting looking at dates in 2017. I mentioned how I really wanted to do one of the holiday parties, but I knew I couldn’t take him around Christmas for his first trip (he would hate the crowds and never want to return). Eventually, we settled on September 2016!!! We decided this around 190 days out…so of course I immediately starting panicking – we had to get booked so I could do ADRs!

We booked POR after he reviewed the hotel choices, and within the next week it was announced that Wine & Dine weekend was adding in a 10k. Well…that sounded to me like a perfect excuse to get an annual pass and plan to do the WDW runs this year, right? So I got myself an AP, and decided that this would be a “year of Disney” with at least three trips (you’ll hear about the rest of it throughout this report).

 

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So, on to the planning aspect, and trying to keep 3 very different trips, with very different approaches all straight! Also, for clarity, I will try to use different colors for plans regarding each trip. Orange, for BNSSFDT, Purple for Wine & Dine, and Green for Princess. I will also have the occasionally fitness/running update, I’ll do those in blue. Hopefully this will allow you to skip to any parts you may be interested in.

Table of Contents

BNSSFDT
1. Planning Up Until Now
2. Free Dining!
3. Overhauling the Schedule

Wine & Dine
1. Planning/Preparation
2. ADR Trouble

Princess

Running Updates

 

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BNSSFDT (1) – Planning to Date:

So, as soon as we decided to go, I got us booked at Port Orleans Riverside, and started planning out ADRs. I booked them banking on using the Free Dining Promotion (even with having to buy myself a ticket, it will still probably be cheaper than a room discount, because of our plan, but I’m constantly re-crunching the numbers and waiting for discounts to confirm this).

Day 1:

Arrive late morning/early afternoon – Check in, relax, and hit Epcot

Wanted FPs: Test Track, Seas w/ Nemo & Friends, Turtle Talk w/ Crush

ADR: Garden Grill @ 6:35 PM (Boy was really excited when I told him he would meet Chip and Dale – I’m hoping this will ease him into the characters, as he was a little nervous about character interactions being an adult).

Day 2:

First full day, First Magic Kingdom Day

Wanted FPs: Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Peter Pan

ADR: Be Our Guest @ 4:45!!!! (This one is for me, so glad I was able to score it!)

Day 3:

Hollywood Studios Day

Wanted FPs: Toy Story Midway Mania, Frozen Sing-Along, Star Tours

ADR: Sci-Fi Dine In @ 6:50 (Really hoping this is a winner for Boy, he loves milkshakes and old movies)

Day 4:

Animal Kingdom Day

Wanted FPs: Kali River Rapids, Kilamanjaro Safaris, Meet Disney Pals? He won’t touch Everest, and this is somewhat flexible because I’m assuming ROL will be open by then and the park will be a full day

ADR: Tusker House @ 1:25

Day 5:

Magic Kingdom Day with MNSSHP!

Wanted FPs: Seven Dwarfs, Haunted Mansion, Pirates

ADR: Cinderella’s Royal Table @ 1:25

Day 6:

Epcot, with Food & Wine Touring (Hopefully)

Wanted FPs: Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, and Character Spot (if I have to get a third)

ADR: Akershus @ 12:15

Day 7:

Unidecided Day – This will either be relaxing and Disney Springs, or possibly more Food & Wine with the Boardwalk, or something

Day 8:

Mostly undecided, except for…

ADR: DINE WITH AN IMAGINEER! I could not believe I was able to get this, and have to assume it’s because it was so close to the 180+10 date.

 

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I was excitedly talking with Boy about Disney (I’m still not sure whether it’s okay or I’ll drive him insane before we actually get there), and I mentioned Disneybounding and how it is something I’ve never done but was thinking about doing. His response, “That’s cool. I’d do that.” Wait. What? Did he really say that? So, now that he’s game, I have to add planning out Disneybound outfits and taking him shopping between now and our trip.

Any thoughts on the easiest outfits to put together? Should I start with characters and figure out an outfit, or start with clothes and figure out a character? I'll add pictures as I figure things out...

 

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Wine & Dine (1) - Planning/Preparation

This trip will have the run as well as my Mom's birthday. Her one request is Crystal Palace for breakfast, so that should be pretty easy to honor. I am bouncing back and forth trying to decide how much planning should actually be done for this trip, and how much should just be played by ear. I've never been for Food & Wine before, so I'm not sure what to expect there, or how much time we will want to set aside for it.

Day 1:

Arrive in the afternoon/evening, relax.

Day 2:

Magic Kingdom(w/ Crystal Palace?), and getting our butts to the expo to register. Early to bed for the 10k tomorrow.

Day 3:

10K!!! Epcot, with food & wine

Day 4:

Probably more MK or Epcot (mom's two favorite parks), and then flying back home.

I'm still not sure if we want to do Crystal Palace Friday (her actual birthday), or after the run. I'm thinking Friday because then we aren't rushed to get back/into a park once we finish up, but we'll see.

 

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BNSSFDT (2) - Free Food: Heck Yes!

As I'm sure you all know, free dining is about, and it aligns with my September trip. Given the desire to do a lot of table service restaurants, FD is most likely our way to go. I couldn't sleep the morning it was released, but still couldn't get anything for POR...so as of right now we're booked at CBR, but we're hoping something opens up to move back to Riverside. Boy preferred Riverside when given the choice, and I'm okay with anything, as I've only ever stayed in values before.

I am debating upgrading to the Deluxe dining plan, as boy eats like, well, like a boy, and I do enjoy appetizers...but I don't think I would get enough value out of it for it to be worth it for both of us. If it was just him, he would get his money's worth, but with me, probably not.

Also still trying to decide on one more TS, we'll see what it ends up being!

 

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Update: We're now officially reserved in a Garden Room at Port Orleans Riverside for BNSSFDT instead of CBR!!!

 

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Wine & Dine (2) - The 180+1 ADR Troubles???

So, my TA was up at 6AM Saturday (as was I) to secure ADRs for the November trip. The Only ADR that mattered was a pre-park reservation at Crystal Palace for my mom's birthday. I was really surprised we weren't able to get anything before 9:25!

I made an 8:25 for the last day of our trip, but am now obsessively checking for something to open up on the 4th so I can take her on her actual birthday.

 

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BNSSFDT (3) - Overhauling the schedule

So, I very well may be talking to myself, but that's all good. If you are reading, I'm sorry there are no pictures - I'm not having much luck figuring how to upload and link/share pictures.

I went back to look at our schedule...and changed all of the things.

Attached you can find my current plans.

I'm trying to keep things flexible as I don't know how boy will take to the parks. I'm also trying to get a good mix of food in there, without having to run from one ADR to the next...

The biggest hold up is the Animal Kingdom unknown, but I'm also not sure how insane Food & Wine will be. I'm hoping that by going on the first day (since it's a Wednesday this year) it won't be too crowded...but have no idea if that's true? Should I shift things around and plan Epcot for prior to F&W to hope for a soft opening? Or leave things as they are?

 

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So, I guess I'm talking to myself at this point, anyway...

September won't be my next trip to WDW, it turns out now I'll be going for a day in July! I landed a trip to my company's Florida offices, and I have 1 day floating around on a military ticket (apparently they don't expire until the calendar year?), so I'll be adding on a day or two for a trip to the parks. This will be great as I'll take this chance to explore POR so I know what we're getting into as well as developing a plan for the fall.

I haven't decided if I'll be doing any dining or the likes.

Also, for a fitness update. I have been a sloth and while I've been working out and adjusting my diet (for health reasons I've basically been told to cut out gluten and dairy both...insane), I haven't really been running. I was running 3 miles every Sunday for a bit, but haven't done anything in the last month with all the crazy weather we've had. So this update is my way of making myself kick it back into gear and hopefully get in some running this memorial day weekend. When I last ran (well jogged) I was at about a 13.5 min mile, so I really need to improve. My goal is to get down to a 10 min mile, with a minimum of 12 minutes (at that point I'll be disappointed in my lack of effort).