Our Split Stay September Shenanigans!-Updated 9/9!!

[katt789]

Hello everybody!!! And welcome to my newest Pre-trip report!

I usually don't to PTR's, but have gotten so excited for this upcoming trip that I just have to share everything with you guys!! And let me tell you, there is a TON of information to share!!

First, I'll start off with the good old W's.

When: Sept 10-17th/15th-21st

You may ask "Why is your stay split up like that? It overlaps?! Well, you will soon find out, that this is two trips, built into one!

How: Since my first trip down to WDW last May, I realized I wanted to go with my mother, she had never been, and I figured that for the years raising me, and taking care of me, I would surprise her with a trip to Disney. I wanted nothing more than to experience it with her. Since her birthday is in Sept, and I could get free dining, I booked it!

THEN, about a month ago at work, I was talking with a friend about the Halloween Party, and he got so excited that we pulled out my computer and looked up trips. I wanted one we could get MNSSHP, and then noticed Free Dining was still out, well, we needed that too, right?! FD ended on Sept 15....my mom's trip ended on the 17th.... OH WELL, we booked it! And now it's a split stay for me, and two trips in one!


Where: Me & My Mom, from Sept 10-17th will be staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge!! (And I splurged, and got a savannah view room!)

I've always wanted to stay here, and my Mom loves all things Africa (although she went a few years ago, so who knows if it'll be the same ) I had originally booked with a pool view, but after seeing some of the pictures of those, I was umimpressed, and upgraded!

Paige and I will be staying at: the new Art of Animation!! IIIEEEEEE!! I had been looking at it, but originally it wasn't available with free dining, so I was going to go with an All Star, but when I went to book, it was!!

I'm including a ton of pictures from tumblr with this as I don't know if you guys have had the chance to see everything!


And now, we'll get into the last part of the introductions; the WHO!! First, we have Me:

Katt, 23 years old, and self certified Disney NUT! I am a Premium Annual Passholder (meaning I spent a lot of money to get me into DLR/WDW, and all the waterparks as many times as I want for a full year!). I started going to WDW last May, then again in Sept, Dec, Jan, and April. Along with that, I travelled over to DisneyLand in March. I've travelled with friends, and solo, and have had amazing trips each time, they've been incredible. I currently work as a bartender at a Dinner Theatre up here in Calgary, Canada, and really do like it. When I'm not in Disney, or working, I dance! Mainly ballroom right now, but also stuff like ballet, lyrical & jazz.

My Disney Stats:
Fave park: Magic Kingdom, the atmosphere of it is just so amazing! I could sit on Main Street and people watch all day!
Fave Rides: Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Expedition Everest, and Test Track!
Fave Quick Service:Cosmic Rays! They have the greatest turkey sandwiches!
Favorite Fab 5 Character: Donald! He's too adorable!
Favorite Princess: Ariel & Rapunzel!
I also have a strong love for Tinkerbell, and Prince Naveen (which if you've read any of my last TR's, you know why haha!) Alright, I've babbled on about myself long enough!

Next, My Mom!

(She's on the far right! That picture is actually the moms of the "fab 3" from elementary school!) She will be turning...Mom aged...right before our trip, and part of it being in Sept was so it was to celebrate her birthday! She took me to Disneyland back in 1997, and I don't remember much of it, but loving it. After I planned and took my first trip to WDW I called her and thanked her for going through all of that as a single parent working part time. It's incredible. She's currently retired (though possibly working part time doing some easy work?) and she also is on The Dynamos, which is a seniors gymnastics team!

She grew up as a gymnast, and passed that along to me, before I switched to cheerleading and dance/acting. This is her first trip to WDW, and she is super excited! I'm not really sure on who any of her favorite characters are, and I know she'll need to be refreshed on some of the newer ones! Hahah!

Next: In part 2 of our trip, we have Paige (picture to come!)

-She's 18, super bubbly and awesome and fantastic, and works with me at the dinner theatre. She also dances! And her favorite characters also include Tink, Ariel and Rapunzel. Paige has never been to Disney World, and when we started planning the trip, she thought we were going to California. I know we'll have an awesome amazing time!

We're all suuuuper excited about going, and pumped to try new things and have new adventures! Hopefully our expectations and dreams will come true!!

With that, I'm going to end this post, and start a second one involving more plans!

 

[katt789]

Trip # 1 Overview!

Day 1->Monday Sept 10/2012

Day 2->Tues Sept 11

Flight & Other Updates!

Day 3-> Wed Sept 12

Day 4-> Thurs Sept 13:Magic Kingdom!

Day 4 Continued!

Life Update!

Brave, Disney Shopping & More Flight Info

Day 5->Fridy Sept 14th Part One

Pulled the Trigger->Flight News

Day 5->Sept 14->CONTINUED

Day 6-Sat Sept 15th

Day 7-> Sunday Sept 16th (look for part 2 at the bottom!!)

Day 8->Monday Sept 17th!

Day 9-> Tues Sept 18th

Day 9-> Continued! MNSSHP!

Pins, Payments & Costumes

Day 10-> Sept 19th

A Few Disney Character Things
Summer Life
Disney In Every Day Life
It's Time To Pack!

Day 11-Sept 20th

Disney Vacation Video Plans
Day 12->Sept 21st

 

[katt789]

So these days are dedicated to the trip with my mom & I. As I've said, we are booked in at AKL, Savannha View and we're very excited about it.

I had originally told her that she should come down to Calgary, and we could spend some time around here and go out to Banff/Jasper for a few days for her birthday, so she should clear out Sept 9-17th. (the extra day for the drive down). Then at Christmas, I put together a scrapbook type thing, that said "SURPRISE! We're not going to the mountains, we're going here instead" And the book had a bunch of pictures of AKL, and the Orlando Airport, and palm trees and such. She had no clue where we were going until the picture of Mickey waving next to the Magical Express came up, and she was so surprised she had nothing to say.

We have 2, 3 day park hopper passes (which my Mom will be using both of) and got the Dining Plan for free (1 Table, 1 counter and 1 snack credit per night for each of us)

We also have Tickets for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Which I have attended in the past, and LOVED, so I'm super excited. I will be Alice, and she'll be someone from The Wonderland characters!

I worked long and hard to figure out where we would be eating, and how many credits it would take, and what parks we'd do what day (some of which go not with touring guides and plans, but hey, I love my EMH!) For some more detail, stick around!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

I'm here... And ready to hear all about your next trip!!!

And taking your Mom to Disney totally rocks in my book...

 

[mike the canuck]

I'm here to follow along

 

[katt789]

I'm here... And ready to hear all about your next trip!!!

And taking your Mom to Disney totally rocks in my book...

Yay! I'm glad you're here! And yes, it totally will, I'm so excited!!

I'm here to follow along

Welcome! Glad you came to join

In other completely un-happy news, I appear to have a curse...a curse that when I start a Pre-Trip Report more than a month before the trip, something happens that someone has to back out...Cody just texted me saying that he's been having money troubles...and doubts he can come...

f.m.l....every.freaking.time... For those who don't know, I've had people back out after airline tickets were booked last May, last Sept, and again this April (luckily I talked him into coming anyways and just paying me back) UUUUGGGHH.....

 

[cfw213]

Just stopping by to say hi

Can't wait to see what your plans are!!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

f.m.l....every.freaking.time... For those who don't know, I've had people back out after airline tickets were booked last May, last Sept, and again this April (luckily I talked him into coming anyways and just paying me back) UUUUGGGHH.....

Are you serious??? Backing out is not allowed once the airline ticket is purchased... How dare they!!!

 

[katt789]

Just stopping by to say hi

Can't wait to see what your plans are!!

Hi!! Glad to hear that you're here!! Welcome!!

Are you serious??? Backing out is not allowed once the airline ticket is purchased... How dare they!!!

Yup....happened twice....it's alot more understandable when you're around th age of 20, and don't really have the finances, so I get it. If it was someone who had a substantial job, it would not be okay. AAAND to make matters worse, one of them refused to pay the cancellation fee on her airplane ticket...needless to say we don't speak anymore

It's horrible, but I am super glad Cody told me now, and then if I do find someone to fill his spot, I can, and then if he gets money and is able to come, it's easy to add him back in.

 

[katt789]

Trip number one will most likely start midday on the Sunday, where my Mom will be driving down from Edmonton to Calgary to stay over at my place overnight, and probably come see the show at the dinner theatre I work at for some entertainment. My roomates have said that they are available to watch my dog while we're gone, so that's an added bonus!

The actual start of the trip will start bright and early, probably around 5am on the 10th, when my Mom & I head out to the airport!!

She's offered up her airmiles to pay for her flight, so that's helped out a lot, and I haven't actually booked them yet I know, I know, but last year they were nearly $200 cheaper, and I'm holding out for a sale, so if anyone knows anything, let me know!!

We won't be flying direct, too pricey, we'll stopover somewhere along the way, where I'm sure we'll get some lunch before boarding another plane, and finally landing in ORLANDO!!

Hopefully this will be around 5pm, flights are usually around that time, and I'm hoping for earlier rather than later! Once we've collected our baggage from the caroseuls, we'll head over to the correct side of the airport (here's hoping!) and board the Magical Express!!

Whoop Whoop! This truly is where the magic begins! It's defintiely one of my favorite parts of the whole entire trip, and I'm so excited to be sharing it with my Mom! And before we know it, we'll be pulling into our home for the week, the beautiful, Animal Kingdom Lodge!!

I'm hoping that we'll be there around 6, and have some time to really move in and check in and explore the resort as much as we can in the next hour or so!

Because right after this, and 8:00pm, we have a dinner reservation! This is the first time I've ever had an ADR on the first night of a trip, and I'm super excited to try some African cuisine!

That's right! BOMA! I'm excited, and it gives us a nice relaxing start to the trip while we can really get into the groove of things and explore the resort.I'm guessing once dinner's done, we'll be heading straight to bed, we have some AM EMH the next morning, and will probably be wiped by the time we finish eating!!

 

[HappyGal]

This is going to be great! Everything looks wonderful, you've put a lot of work into this already...

 

[katt789]

This is going to be great! Everything looks wonderful, you've put a lot of work into this already...

Thanks!! I'm glad you're intrigued!!

 

[katt789]

(This is my impressed face: I had the update half typed up, and then hit the back key on my keyboard, which sent internet explorer back a page and lost my post...ugh...attempt #2!)

GOOOD MORNING! NO SLEEEEPING!!! (somedays I wish I could wake up to that at home!) Today is a BRIGHT and early morning for us, and it's the first day of the trip, so that's a good thing! I will be sure to brew some coffee and grab a piece of fruit to eat on the balcony while getting ready (gotta take advantage of that Savannah view, am I right?!)

Once Mom & I are ready to go, we'll head down to the bus stop (around 7:30am) and jump on a bus to head to EPCOT! Usually I would want to do a different park for the first day, but I always find that I'm too tired to walk around WS near the end of the trip, and Epcot has some AM EMH that morning, so I figured why not use them?! Up until January, I had always followed the advice that you should AVOID EMH, but after finishing nearly everything in AK by 11am, I figured the AM ones were okay!

Hopefully we'll be at Epcot right around 8:00am, when they open, and we'll head right on in, stopping for a bunch of photopass pictures on the way into the park. Our first destination of the day will be:

I will be sending my Mom straight into Soarin, and if she likes it, we'll grab some fast passes for later so that she can come back (and ride it twice at that!) I would be joining her, but Soarin's the one ride that I can't do, just makes me naseaus, so I'd rather not, but I want her to experience everything!

After Mom's done flying over California, we'll jump on a boat, and Live with the Land for a bit, before heading over to the BIG BLUUUUEEEE

It's such a cute ride, yes, it's kinda boring, but it's cute, and what's even cuter?!

HECK YES! (I'm not sure if this will actually be open this early, but if not, we'll definitely be coming back to it) Turtle Talk is adorable, the kids are adorable, Crush is hilarious, and there's definitely humour in there for the adults too! After some humours events, it will be about time for us to explore our Imaginations a little bit more!

Once we've checked all that side of Future World, it's time for us to do somethign that I have never managed to do in any of my time in Disney (I know, right?)

Spaceship Earth! I somehow always end up just walking past it and never actually going on the ride, so I should probably check it out on this trip! Around this time, we'll be done on Future World (thanks to Test Track being closed) unless Mom wants to do Mission Space, I mean, who knows, she might?! And we'll probably be getting a little hungry, and I know the perfect place for a snack!

I had the most delicious cheese & fruit plate from there in April, and definitely plan on eating it again, it was all so fresh and amazing and incredible!

You may be wondering why we're only having a snack, and not a full blown meal yet, and that is because we have some very important lunch reservations, but they're not til 2:30.

Naturally, our next course of action will be to head into World Showcase!!

With some stops along the way (and of course, depending on what time of day it is) we will probably get some treats!

I managed to actually get some great photos around World Showcase last trip, and am looking forward to getting some fantastic ones around the world on this trip as well! And of course: the greatest treat of all:

My Mom actually commented on this photo on facebook saying "Yum, you gonna buy me one of these when we go?" Hahah! Of course along the way through World Showcase we'll also be stopping to meet characters, as they're the most important part! I also want to get some dance photos in France, on the ledge of the fountain right beside Chefs de France.

Since UK is next, it will probably be time for a drink I wanted to try in April but forgot about by the time we got to the UK pavillion. It's called the "Welsh Dragon" from the Rose & Crown, it's peach schnapps, melon liquer, creme de menthe & Orange & pineapple juice!

God only knows if we'll hae accomplished all of this by 2:00pm, with the extra hour in the morning, it's very possible that we will, but I'm more than okay with it not, as we'll still have tons of time afterwards. But either way, by around 2 we will have to have reached our home country of Canada for our lunch ADR!

For my food choices (though now I'm curious, if we each get an appitizer, does the appy trio for 2 count as both our appys?) I'm leaning towards the appy trio, or just the Tomato Stack. I would of course get the Cheddar Cheese Soup, but I'm lactose intolerant, and doing my best to eat dairy free (and 90% gluten free too, but that will probably go out the window at Disney...as will some of the dairy...seemings I'm already planning on having a cheese plate today)

For the entree I'm definitely doing the Mushroom Filet Mignon

(although I'm going to ask that that be dairy free, it'd just be too heavy for me) And for dessert, I'll probably just ask about dairy free options, as nothing on the menu really appeals to me, we'll see.

Once lunch is over, our plan will probably include going back over parts of WS that we skipped (if any) or very possibly heading back to the hotel for a swim/break, who knows?!

I've become alot more adaptable to taking breaks midday after travelling to Disney, and who knows, we may need it! After a break, whether that's at Epcot or not, we will head back into Epcot for dinner and Illuminations! I have NO clue where we'll eat for dinner, something light? I'm very open to suggestions!!

And that, will mark the end of our first full day in the parks, rather successful if you ask me!! Tomorrow will be another full day for us (surprise) so we'll probably crash into bed pretty early!!

 

[mxkris]

Following along!!! Your trip sounds awesome so far! Can't wait to hear about the next 10 days!!!

 

[katt789]

Following along!!! Your trip sounds awesome so far! Can't wait to hear about the next 10 days!!!

Hi! Thanks for following! I'm glad you think it sounds awesome haha, I did my best to work everything out for the best!

 

[katt789]

Okay, so just a little bit of the goings on around here, I monitor flights like it's nobody's business. Some places/people say that it's cheapest to buy flights on Tuesday, some people say Thursday, so I make sure to keep checking at least once every couple of days.

Well, yesterday I checked around 5, and they were the same, then when I checked around 8, the prices had all DROPPED! HECK YES! I've also checked with airmiles, and my mom is only 1000 away from being able to get 1 roundtrip ticket, and one 1 way ticket. So hopefully she can earn 1000 quickly and then we'll only have to pay taxes (and me coming home)

In other news of things I check practically everyday: Disney Auditions. I had auditioned in Dec of last year, meaning my 6 months (when you can audition again) was up this month. Knowing that Disney would start looking for people to be "friends" with the new fairy, Periwinkle, I was holding off on going back until then. Well, they JUST posted the audition notice (I seriously stopped writing this to check and it was UP) However they say that Periwinkle is 4'11- 5'2 and "very slender"....I was seriously considering it, hitting up that audition on Tuesday, and a regular "parade mover/friend of character" on Friday, but really. In the last like 10 minutes (ha!) I've thought it through and it wouldn't be worth it, I'm not "very slender" I have a bust, and being just on the brink of the tall end of 5'3'', it wouldn't be worth the money to try and push it. Boo. But oh well, next time!! Sometimes I just hate my height!

Wooo, okay. Now my ramblings are over.

 

[katt789]

Hello again, and welcome to the wonderous Day 3 of our trip! Today will start off not quite as early as the day before, we'll probably get up around 7:45, and take a leisurely breakfast either in the room, or use one of our counter service credits to head down to The Mara to grab some food before heading out!

Hopefully we can get to a bus by 8:30, and if not, I'm not too worried, we'll get to the park by 9:00ish, and that's okay! What park is this, you may ask? Well, it's still not time for the Magic Kingdom yet! It's time for Disney's Hollywood Studios!!

Yayayayayay!! *insert Muppet dance here*

This morning the plans will be to join the MAD DASH off towards Toy Story Mania, make sure your shoes are tied, and you're nice and warmed up! <-Except not really, as we won't have a scooter.....

If we do in fact make it to the park for opening, I'm sure we'll grab a fast pass, and then also jump into the standby line. Every time I ride TSMM I'm reminded on how much I do actually LOOOOVE it, it just has all the elements you need for a fantastic ride. I also have an app on my Iphone that's pretty much the game, and it's totally awesome!!

Once our playing with our Pixar Pals (nice alliteration hey!?) is done, it's time to head back to Sunset Boulevard to get our scare on!!

This is the ride that I'm honestly most worried about my mother not liking, I'm not sure what she does and doesn't like, BUT this is the one that's strictly dropping, versus a coaster, so we'll see if she likes it or not. I will definitely be going on it more than once though, that's for sure.

Now, here will come the moment of truth, the moment that we will rock, or I will fail...lol. Some of you may know, on my last trip, I was supposed to do Rock n Rollercoaster with Tyler, but wasn't feeling well, and on the last day chickened out (it didn't help that he kept pestering me about it, and I got all anxiety ridden and freaked out....) So I said to myself, okay, it's honestly not that bad, so many small kids have ridden it, and people say that it's waaaay easier than Everest, and you love Everest. Thus, is my Mom decides to go on it, I will go on it.....

Granted, if I start having anxiety, I'm not going to be able to go on it, because I don't want to risk an attack in the middle of the park, that would not only ruin the day, but be reeeeally embarrassing...so let's avoid that, shall we?

Now will be the time that we really just check the show schedule, and decide what shows we want to see, and pick the times (this is how I do it) I usually take the times guide, completely scratch out all the things we DON'T want to see, and then decide on what times we'll do the other shows, and circle that time on the guide. If there aren't any shows coming up, we can head over here next:

Love love love love love the Muppets, they're amazing, seriously, I have such love for them. Next we can wander the Streets of America

And if my mom has any interest in Star Tours, we may as well send her off to save the galaxy while we're in the area, right!? (this is another one I can't do for risk of strobe lights)

Then it will really be time for shows, knowing me, we will definitely not be missing my two favorites, Voyage of the Little Mermaid;

And Beauty and the Beast, Live on Stage:

Somewhere in there, I'm sure we'll stop to grab a snack, or maybe some lunch. It depends, if we ate in the room, we'll grab a small lunch, if we ate at Mara (or had a big room breakfast) then we'll just grab a snack, either way, it will be from Starring Rolls, as they have delicious food (and not many other places in DHS do!)

I mean REALLY, look at that amazing sandwich!! Of course, there's no forgetting the greatest cupcake known to mankind!

Somewhere in there, we'll go see the Indiana Jones show, maybe Lights Motor Action, we'll see how time works out. We'll also definitely take another spin on Toy Story Mania (especially since we've got those fast passes!) and some more rides on Tower of Terror (and maybe RnR).And honestly, yes, we will be stopping for the 3 o'clock parade (wait...what time was that at again? BAHA)

(I also table set at work, and spent a good hour watching Disney parades while polishing cutlery the other day, and honestly, I love this parade, it's so high energy, and it's awesome!) After the parade it'll definitely be time to go check out Character Palooza and see if there's anyone that we want to see hanging around.

However when it hits around 5:20ish, we've got to start heading towards Echo Lake as we've got some dinner reservations to get to! 50's Prime Time!

I've never been here before, and am suuuper excited to eat here, it seems like it can be such a great experience, and I love places that the servers get into the fun too, it makes it awesome! For food, the only appitizer that really appeals to me is the onion rings...om nom... and I'll either end up getting the "blue plate special" or the meatloaf, and for SURE the dessert I'm getting is the S'mores! Greatest meal ever!

After dinner we've got some time to kill, probably hit up one more ride before getting into the massive wait for Fantasmic!

I haven't seen the show since last Sept, and my Mom's only seen the Disneyland version, and that was WAY back in 1997. Now, I remember absolutely loving the DLR one, and wasn't too keen on this one, who knows why? Maybe it's cause 8 year olds are easier to amuse? Maybe it's because it's way more awesome? (I wouldn't doubt it... I was in DLR in March, and their nighttime shows are FAR superior, in my opinion to WDW, but I somehow skipped Fantasmic! Hahah)

And that, ladies and gents, concludes our day, right after the show, we'll head back and go to bed, as we've got a VERY early morning ahead of us!

 

[mxkris]

This has me really excited for our DHS day!!! Ugh that cupcake looks so delicioussss!! If you like Tot, You'll be FINE on RnR!!! I LOVEEE rollercoaster. I'll ride ANY of them without thinking twice, but ToT makes me a little nervous in line! I love it while i'm on it.. I just hate dropping! I don't even like jumping off like diving boards cuz I don't like the dropping straight down feeling! Rollercoaster drops are different cuz they have forward motion I guess? ANYWAYS.. IF i was there that day I'd ride with you, but we won't be there until a few days later! Maybe later in your trip!?!?

 

[katt789]

This has me really excited for our DHS day!!! Ugh that cupcake looks so delicioussss!! If you like Tot, You'll be FINE on RnR!!! I LOVEEE rollercoaster. I'll ride ANY of them without thinking twice, but ToT makes me a little nervous in line! I love it while i'm on it.. I just hate dropping! I don't even like jumping off like diving boards cuz I don't like the dropping straight down feeling! Rollercoaster drops are different cuz they have forward motion I guess? ANYWAYS.. IF i was there that day I'd ride with you, but we won't be there until a few days later! Maybe later in your trip!?!?

Yay!! That cupcake is probably the most delicious thing you will ever eat! Make sure to get one!! Haha, I'll do my best to go on it, I LOVE the drops, and love the dropping feeling, I think I'm just scared of going upside down haha!! I'll be there again for a bit on the 15th (probably) and again on the 17th haha

 

[mxkris]

Arg I think the only day we'll be there is the 18th. HOWEVER, our plans will likely change since I've made our whole itinerary and i'm sure someone will want to change it around at some point! I we're gunna be there any other day I'll let you know!!