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

[katt789]

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!!

Ahaha, oh well! Hahah Sounds like a plan!!

 

[katt789]

(p.s. in this update I know I'll be using some pictures from old trips, so if you see pictures with people in them, and you're going "wow katt, way to be a creep and use other peoples families vaction pictures" I'm not, they're my older ones haha!)

Thursday will be yet another really early morning for us! We'll have to be up in time to get to the bus stop by 7:15 at the absolute latest! Why is that do you ask? Well, because we're off to another set of AM extra magic hours, and this time, they're at:

And I am definitely one of those people who cannot miss the opening show at MK, it's just so magical and amazing and every time I watch videos of it on youtube, I'm the person that cries! So it's something that I do not want my mom to miss out on at all! So naturally, we're going to want to be there on time (p.s. random thought, the rope drop show, what exact time is it? I know it's just before the official opening time...*pondering*) to catch the show!!

Chances are, thanks to the extra hour of the park being open, we'll be heading straight to somewhere that's usually left for later on my trips, Fantasyland! Naturally, our first stop will include flying over London

And then we'll move on to things like:

And even:

Haha! I'm not kidding, I love the Barnstomer, it's super fun! Haha, yes I know, I'm a child!

Hopefully that will take under an hour, and we'll have some time to head back to the hub before the official park opening to get some nice photopass pictures with no one else in them!

Then we'll most likely start heading over towards Frontierland (unless it's right aronud 9, then we might pop just behind the castle first to see if any friends are out) Like such:

And I mean hey, if we're back there again, we may as well grab a fast pass for PPF for later, right?

And then it's time for Frontierland!! (Hopefully the rest of the crowds will be heading to Fantasyland) And thanks to it being my first ride on Splash Mountain since April, I'll probably be this excited:

Yup...I'm the cool kid that does cartwheels through Frontierland! We'll definitely be heading to Splash first, it's the BEEEESSSSTTT!!!

AAAHHHH IT'S JUST SO AMAZING!! (Pause: I have the song on my Ipod, and this is the song that I play when I'm in a bad mood...un-pause Naturally, it'll be time to be moving along to:

It's been a year since I've been on this (not including Disney Land's version, which I liked waaay better) so it'll be interesting to see how I like the refurbed version!

We'll be done with the Wildest ride of the west, and head over to Adventureland to battle some pirates, and visit some birds next (and maybe even fly through the skies of Agrabah?) and maybe even stop for a second character meet of the day!

Since we're in the area, and it'll be around 10, 10:30 am around this point, we'll probably be getting hungry, and I have a feeling I know the greatest snack!

Hey, when in Disney, you can have ice cream any time you want, right?! Honestly, we'll probably end up sharing the dole whip, I can never finish one (and would never want to as I'm lactose intolerant haha) and I know my mom's been a lot more concious of what she's eating, so 1 will definitely be enough haha!

Oh, would you look at that, we happen to be right beside the Adventureland Veranda, and it's 10 am (ish) you say, well, what is a mermaid lover to do?! DUH, get in LINE FOR ARRRRIIIEEELLL. She's my fave, she's the best, in all my trips to WDW, I've never had a mediocre experience meeting her, she's always amazing, and I'm pretty sure Eric can now recognize me (last trip we said we were from Canada, and he went "Calgary, right?"...I think I may go a little too often...)

Hopefully Peter will be out on the bridge, but if not, that's totally cool too. Since we're already on that side of the park, we'll probably circle around to get Haunted Mansion to complete that whole side in one go!

*Continued in next post*

 

[katt789]

Mom & I will cut across the hub and into Tomorrowland and hope that the lines aren't that long over there! We've got some stuff to do, some Galaxies to save:

Some Mountains in Space to conquer (don't know if I will do this yet...)

Some more friends to meet:

And of course what's a visit to Tomorrowland without the People Mover?!

Depending how we feel we might also hit up the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor or Carousel of Progress. And hey, if Mom want's to check out Stitch's Great Escape, she's more than welcome to, but I will definitely not be joining her.

Somewhere in there we'll end up using those PPF fast passes that we grabbed earlier, and then it'll be time for lunch, and since we're in Tomorrowland, I highly expect us to eat at Cosmic Rays

There's a 100% chance I will be getting that Turkey Pesto sandwich (with no fries) it's just too delcious to turn down! I really reccommend Cosmic Rays for food, they've got so many choices and different options and it's all so delcious!

After lunch we'll do the best to meet the rest of the characters that are a "YES!" for me,

And check out the parade, the Move it Shake It Celebrate it (my favorite!) and of course Dream Along with Mickey!

And of course we'll spend some time re-riding rides, and doing anything we skipped out on earlier! But once it hits 6:45, we've got to check in for dinner, and this is the special BIRTHDAY dinner (well, the whole week's celebrating Mom's birthday, but this is the special dinner all for her. Any guesses where we might be going?!

Well, this is where I'm going to have to leave you hanging, it's a surprise for Mom, and she might be reading along, so I'm afraid I can't say anything haha. However, after dinner, we will definitely be heading to the hub to catch Wishes,

And then headed back to the hotel, we've got another early morning (and even later night) the next day. Not to mention, after the parks tonight (and the previous day) I will be scavenging the Disboards for MNSSHP info, on who's out, where they are, and how to plan everything. Granted, we'll probably just go with the flow, but I want to have an idea of things before getting there, and the first party is on the Tuesday of our trip! So I certainly do have my work cut out for me!

 

[katt789]

Hey friends! So, just figured I would update on everything that's going on around here!!

#1: I have confirmed 100% that Paige will be coming on the trip, and she's gotten money to me to confirm that. so YAY! I also have been keeping a close eye on flights, and after dropping from 580 to 517, they went back up to 518 yesterday, so it's safe to say I'll be booking next week! I think yes!!

#2: I got a 2nd job!! YAY! More Disney money (although it just starts in August, but it'll be extra money nonetheless! It's working at my gym, in the daycare section, so I get to hang out with kids all morning and colour and play and watch movies, and then have time to work out, get some lunch, and go right next door for my evening job! Heck yes!

#3: I was on the Disney website and found out that my AKL trip still had 6 day park hopper tickets (which is NOT what we needed, considering I have an annual pass) so I got them to change that and it saved me a good chunk of money!

#4: I'm PRAYING that I suddenly get a surplus of money, or flights get really cheap, as there is the perfect disney audition for me at the end of the month, and it would only require 2 days off work, now if I only had the money!! *fingers crossed*

So that's the goings on here! Hope you all are well and amazing!!

 

[katt789]

#1: Finally got out to seeing Brave last night, and I aboslutely loved it!

It definitely has darker/scarier moments, I found myself a little scared (while anticipating things) at moments. It has a great message, funny moments, and I just loved how strong & "different" from classic princesses Merida is. If you have the chance to go see it, I strongly suggest it!! I also find it kind of funny that there are movies all over the place that are making things popular again with various age groups. Brave & the Hunger Games are brining back archery, while HG and Tangled are bringing out braids in girls of all ages. Awesome


#2: Did some Disney shopping recently, I have plans on being Rapunzel at one of the MNSSH parties that I'm going to, but any time I have tried purple make up, it's looked HORRIBLE. However last week I got some new purple shadows, and it works! Yay!

Value Village was having a huge sale yesterday, and I managed to find 5 Disney movies for 99 cents each! (and it was buy 4, get one free!) I think yes!!

So that's Peter Pan 2:Return to Neverland, The Rescuers Down Under, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty & Homeward Bound. I'm about 1/2 way through PP2 and it doesn't seem to be any good haha! And yes, those are Disney princess coloring books, and Princess Certificates on my table. I'm 6 years old in side, and my room mate does Princess Parties. We're a pretty Disney house haha


I also found a super cute pair of black flats at spring that I'm probably going to go back and buy. They were only $30, and I love Spring's shoes. I'd wear them in the parks and also with my Alice costume.

#3:Flights went back up to $518.00 at the end of last week, and I thought that I'd buy them over this Monday/Tuesday, but lo and behold, I go to check prices, and they're back up at $537. Fml. I'm hoping they'll go back down, but I definitely don't want to hold out much longer. I'll probably end up buying them today anyways. Boo.

 

[katt789]

It will be our fourth full day in the parks, and it’s our last park to visit today, and lucky for us, it opens right at 8 am! Yaaaaaaaayyy. (I know, it means we’ve got to be up earlier, but I’m okay with that, it means PRIME park time). I’m hoping we’ll be on the bus right by 7:30 am, and arriving at the park right for 8am! If you haven’t figured out where we’re going yet, here it is:

We won’t have bothered with breakfast in the room at all, because we’ve got breakfast planned somewhere else! Yay! Once we get through the turnstiles and over to Discovery Island to wait for the rope to be dropped. Our first destination of the morning will be Asia, as we’ll be climbing mountains and escaping Yetti’s!

Seriously, so excited!! Expedition Everest is definitely one of my favorite rides of Disney World, and I love the feel of it early in the morning. Walking through Animal Kingdom when it’s still got that nice brisk feeling in the air, heading straight to Asia and conquering the mountain, ah-may-zing. Cannot wait. I’m sure that we’ll ride EE (or at least I will) a few times, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns into a “Just one more ride Mom, pllleeeaassse!” “You’ve already been on it 4 times!” Kind of thing. I love it, there’s never any wait this early in the morning, and considering it’s Sept, it’ll hopefully be even less of a wait. Before we do finally decide to leave, we’ll definitely be grabbing a fast pass for later, and then, heading over to Dinoland!

Time for my all time favorite ride! NOT! Ugh, I’m not a fan of Dinosaur, but I’ll go on it once a trip, it’s just that it’s in the dark, and it’s jerky and bumpy, and things jump out at you. All things I am not a fan of, but I’ll go on it for the sake of everyone else! Haha

We’ll probably cycle back past Discovery Island in search of Africa this time (just for a change of scenery) as it’s time for us to take two weeks off to go exploring!

After that, we’ve got time to browse some of the shops, and maybe even hit up Everest one more time before heading over to Tusker House for our 9:30 reservation! Yay!

I love love love eating here, the food has a variety of traditional, and “African” fare to eat, and this way you get the fab 5 crossed off your character list, and they’re wearing little safari outfits! Cutest! TH also has the GREATEST rice in the world!

Om nom nom!

I’m assuming breakfast will probably take around an hour, so next we’ll be heading over to Camp Minnie Mickey, possibly meet a few characters that we haven’t already!

And then it’s time for Festival of the Lion King! EEEEEKKK. Only the GREATEST attraction in all of WDW, seriously, I LIVE for this show.I would absolutely love to be the bird dancer (in Can You Feel the Love Tonight) and plan on auditioning in February for it, and *fingers crossed* Ugh. There’s just so much talent and amazingness that goes into this show, I love it too much!

I also just really really love the Lion King, it was in its prime when I was growing up, and I was all about it, totes loved it, and it has great music, so that definitely helps! Haha. After FOTLK is done, we have all the time in the world to wander the park, check out shops, probably go on EE at least one more time (at least I will haha) and meet some more characters (if there’s any left that we want.) I’m not sure if we’ll stay for the parade, it’s almost too long of a wait, so I’m guessing by 2:00, we’ll be headed back to the hotel, maybe take a quick nap or go for a quick swim, and then start getting ready, cause we’ve got big plans tonight!! (and as we’re getting ready, we’ll probably skip down to the food court to grab a counter service dinner)

 

[katt789]

Ack!! A disboards app!! Well this certainly means I will be on just all the time. In upcoming trip news: flights are still at 537, Im going to end up booking this Mon/Tues, thats for sure. I also am going to have to start saving every penny I can, numbers are not looking so great over summer, so it looks like I'll only be working 3 days a week, which isn't good. Luckily, I start a second job in August, so that will help!!

 

[katt789]

I finally just decided to pull the plug on flights! They had been around $20.00 cheaper a few weeks ago, but I didn't want to risk them going up a lot (which would probably happen with my luck). So today, they were still the same as usual, and I booked.

My mom & I fly out of Calgary at 6:00am (that'll be an early start) with a hour and a half layover in Denver before arriving in Orlando at 3:30! HECK YES! (We'll have tons of time to explore the resort, possibly Downtown Disney, and get to dinner by 8:00pm!

Mom fly's out at 12:15 on the 17th, meaning she'll have a relatively relaxing morning of sleeping in, checking out and getting on the plane.

Paige & I fly out at 3:15pm on the 21st with a layover in Houston, before getting home at 9:15. I like having the later flight to give us time for a character meal in the morning, or a late check out, etc.

Paige & I both paid $536.00 for our flights, while my Mom only has to pay $136....thank you airmiles!!

 

[katt789]

I left off with Mom and I’s plans to leave Animal Kingdom, and head back to the hotel. My guess is we’ll have just enough time to freshen up, grab a quick service dinner from The Mara and eat in our room while we’re getting ready. We’ve got BIG PLANS tonight, as we’re going to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party!!

I went last year with my friends, and it was the HIGHLIGHT of the trip, we all loved it, and I cannot wait to go back again. It was a tough decision when costumes came into play, I loved the idea of being Lottie from Princess & the Frog, but I figured without a Tiana or Naveen, no body would get who I was supposed to be. I thought of Tink, but was her last year, and the rest of the princesses all have long dresses (which I did not want in that heat!) I finally found a Rapunzel one that was either a tutu, or a costume that was thought of for kids, but could be made adult sized (aka, short sleeves & mid leg length) HOWEVER, there wasn’t a lot in the “theme” of Tangled that my mom could go along with, so I scraped that idea, and went with the back-up, Alice!

I found the costume on Etsy, for a reasonable price (considering most princess dresses are upwards of $300.00!) and there’s a lot that my mom can go with to stick in the Wonderland theme. At this point, I don’t know what she’s being, but it’s something we’ll figure out! Haha

Once we’re ready, I’ll be sure to grab the tickets, and we’ll head over to Magic Kingdom and get our wristbands right away. I’m hoping to be there right at 4, to beat the crowds, and get some other stuff in first. Considering it’s Halloween, we’ll probably take a quick spin on the Haunted Mansion (and get to see some other friends)

And then really just take it all in, definitely catching the Villians Show

And meet some of them after the show

There’s tons of characters all around the hub (and various areas) that we’ll be sure to make a stop and see!

And some in other areas that we can’t miss!

There’s the dance parties going on that we’ll most likely hit during the first parade!

And then head back to the hub for Hallowishes! Eeek, my favorite!!

And of course, we’ll stay to watch the second parade!

There will probably be some time for a last couple of character meets, and then of course, some Trick or Treating before heading back to the hotel for the night.

I cannot wait for MNSSHP, it was such a fun time last year, that I’m really happy that I get to go again (and twice at that!) it’s a lot of fun to be able to actually dress up and have that extra pixie dust for a night! The whole thing’s great, it has both my favorite parade, and fireworks, and some awesome character meet and greets!

Character must dos:
-Alice & the Hatter
-Gaston/Tremaines/Facillier/Cruella/Lotso (going off the list of villains they had last year, these are the ones I would like to meet, but just special event characters in general)
-Princesses & Princes (in TST, the obvious reason behind this is Flynn….haha!)

I’m hoping it’ll be a successful night!!

 

[katt789]

Good morning everyone!! You'd think that today, after a late night at MNSSHP we'd be sleeping in a little bit, but no, we will be up bright and early yet again! With us getting on the bus around 7:30 am, we'll be headed straight back to where we last left:

That's right! The Magic Kingdom (although, there will be no one waving hello, and no opening show for us this morning) So why are we there that early, you may ask? Well, we've got some pre-opening breakfast reservations, that's why!! Mom & I will zip through the entrance and down a nearly empty Main St where we can get some awesome practically empty park photos!

And then it'll be off the hub, over to the left, which of course, leads us to Crystal Palace!

I've done both breakfast and dinner here before, with breakfast at times of pre-park opening, and closer to 10:00am, and the pre-park breakfast was always my favorite. I found that the food at dinner wasn't really worth it, and the food at breakfast was amazing. We did the 10am time slot in April, and it was a HUUUGE mistake, I just couldn't stop thinking about all the things we had to get out and do, and we honestly wasted some serious park time So, that brings us to the pre-opening time slot. I love it. Things I'm hoping for: chocolate mickey waffles!

They had them my first visit to Crystal Palace, and I haven't seen them since! They're so good!! I'm also looking forward to seeing my favorite this morning, Tigger!

He's just so awesome! I've loved him since I was a kid, and actually used to go around telling people he was my boyfriend... Ha! Naturally, my mom will probably have a lot to say on that topic!

Once our friendship celebration is done, we'll be paying our bill, and actually, heading OUT of the Magic Kingdom! I know, I know, but we'll be back again the next day, and we were just there for MNSSHP, so we'll be park hopping!! Where to, you may ask, well;

Back to Hollywood!! Now, DHS does have some EMH that morning, and we won't get there until at least 10 am, so I'm *really* hoping that it won't affect the crowds too much! Today is a day of just, re-doing things that we want to do, as it's closing in on the end of Mom's trip, so it'll kinda be up to her. It's very possible that we'll leave a couple of the shows for today as well.

My guess is we'll head towards Toy Story Mania to check the fast pass return time, and the standby wait time, and possibly ride it again.

Before heading down Sunset Boulevard to grab some Tower of Terror fast passes, and check out the Beauty and the Beast show again!

'Cause I mean, who doesn't love a little theatre here and there? Plus, I find it a grand idea to see the show more than once a trip, and see if you get a different cast, and sometimes the show is a heck of a lot better than the last time you saw it! Mom and I will probably just spend the rest of the day putzing around DHS, and maybe head back to Animal Kingdom Lodge to relax, hang out, swim, nap, you know, the usual! (It's very possible that we'll just end up doing that after breakfast too!)

Once the time frame hits around 5:30pm, I'll be turning on my phone, as we have a friend coming in that day! Let me introduce Paige (and part 2 of my trip!)

She's 18, and a friend of mine from work, and a Disney nut. She was never able to go on any of our past trips, as she was still in school, but this past May, she graduated! Yay!!

So, on the 15th, at approx 6:00pm, she'll be checking in to Art of Animation!! My guess is that Mom & I will head over there to meet her Magical Express (because let's be serious, I wanna check out that resort!!) It will also be less hassle for her if we help her through the check in process, as everything's in my name, haha! Once that's done and we've checked out or room (I'm a little nervous, as today will be the opening day of the Little Mermaid rooms, and that's where we're staying, but if anywhere can get things done early, it's Disney!) and the rest of the resort, we'll head over to Downtown Disney!

Our target for tonight will actually be Wolfgang Puck Express for dinner, and then some shopping, as its really our only time here during the whole trip! My target definitely includes TrenD, and fingers crossed I don't spend all of my month's salary there! Ha!

After wandering around for a bit, I'm sure we'll all be tired, and it will be time to head back to our respective hotels (and for me, my last night at AKL!) and get some shut eye as we've got a full and exciting day ahead of us!!

 

[katt789]

Today will start around the same time as a regular day, definitely not as early as usual. Mom & I will probably just eat some small snack in the room while we get ready, and head down to the bus stop. It's another park hopping day for us, and we'll be starting the day off at:

Epcot!! We'll arrange a specific place to meet Paige before entering the park, and zip through bag check and the turnstiles. Obviously, it will be time for some photopass pictures on the way in with the 3 of us, and some of just Paige & I. Then we'll head straight over to Soarin!

Where of course, I'll send them onto the ride, and sit out (possibly be in charge of picking up snacks from Sunshine Seasons too?). Once they're done flying over California, we might take a nice boat ride:

Before journeying under the sea & into our Imaginations!

Yes, our plans will probably be very similar to the previous day we spent at Epcot, but really, we're doing it so Paige can see everything. Originally when this trip was planned, it was Jeff & Cody doing Epcot by themselves while Mom & I had our last trip day, but obviously that all changed haha!!

Hopefully we can hit up Spaceship Earth before the lines get too busy for it, and then it'll be time to head out into World Showcase. Thanks to the last 5 times I've started in Mexico, I think it's safe to say that we might just start in Canada!

And work our way around the countries backwards to what we usually would do, definitely stopping for a couple characters along the way!

And of course, what would a trip to the France pavillion be without some GM slushies!!

Now, while we're in France, since both Paige & I dance, I really want to get some nice dance pictures throughout WS (and infront of the castle haha) so I'd really like to stop at the fountain beside Chefs to get some of them there!

That one! As you can tell, back in April we took some shots there, and I realized it would be a fantastic place to get some really pretty ones!

We'll continue through WS at whatever pace we want to, stopping to see some characters, but honestly, we'll probably skip most of them unless the lines are good. We'll be seeing all of them later in the trip except for:

-Marie

-Belle (in her blue dress)

-Snow White

-Mulan

-Mexican Donald

So those will be the ones we might stop for along the way, we'll have to kinda figure it out as we go haha! Somewhere along the way will be lunch as well, and I just looked through my map app on my phone and my votes will be for:

La Cantina de San Angel in Mexico (chicken tacos! yum!)

Or Katsura Grill in Japan (and honestly, I looked at the picture of it and went "Why have I never seen this before!? clearly I need to explore a little more!)

And of course before we leave, we'll have to make sure to grab a margarita!!

Or at least I will! Haha! I love my tequila, and in blended delicious flavour, yes please! Hopefully it will be around 2ish pm by this time, and it will be time to once again, park hop. There are not only dinner reservations, but plenty of Magic to get to tonight!!

*Continued Here!*

 

[katt789]

We'll head out of Epcot and get to take a new mode of transportation, yayayaya!! The MONORAIL!!

Words cannot express how much I LOVE the monorail. Staying at the Poly in January was amazing, simply because of the monorail being at the resort, so amazing! Absolutely love it! Since we're on the monorail, I'm guessing you'll have figured out where we're heading;

I've always liked to start & end my trips at MK, and it worked out that this last day landed on some pm EMH over at MK, so we'll have even more time to play!! Depending on what time we get there, we might have the time to squeeze in some characters before they do their last set of the day (specifically the favorites of both Paige & I)

(Yes, it is a fact that Paige & I have the same favorite characters, hilarious, we are such the same person, definitely meant to travel to Disney together!!) Today is really all about just exploring and taking in the atmosphere for Paige & I, while for my Mom it's squeezing in any last minute "do-overs" for rides/shows, etc!

I know I'll want to get on Splash at some point

And the Peoplemover is always a nice relaxing way to spend a little bit of time.

And I mean, since we're in the Magic Kingdom, it just wouldn't feel right to not go see Tiana & Naveen again!

And by then it will probably be time to head towards our dinner reservation, which will be back down on Main Street!

The appeal to Tony's is all the Lady & the Tramp theming, I absolutely LOVE it, I have always loved Lady & the Tramp, so this was a no brainer. Now, this meal is one that all 3 of us will actually be paying for OOP, Mom & I will be done our dining plan credits now, and Paige only has the QSDP, so we'll probably just be getting dinner, no apps & such. I definitely have my eye on the lamb, with the spumoni (spelling?) for dessert!

If we get out of dinner in time, we'll be in a pretty prime spot to watch Wishes;

And then hit up some more favorites while the crowds die down and we head into EMH

Judging by the fact that it was a very busy week for Mom & I, and Paige just had a full day of awesomeness in the parks, I doubt we'll make it into EMH very late, we'll probably all be tired & full of dinner, and might even head out after Wishes, who knows?!

Tonight, we'll all get on a bus back to Animal Kingdom Lodge, where I'll be packing up my bags, and bidding good bye to my Mom. She'll be spending her last night alone in AKL, and checking out before getting picked up by the Magical Express in the morning.

Paige & I will then hop into a cab (thanks to all my luggage and it being late) and head back over to Art of Animation, where I'll be spending my first night, and our trip will officially be underway!

It will be interesting to see how I do with 11 straight days of Disney magic (not to mention getting up early! haha)

 

[katt789]

Alright, so today will officially be our first morning together at Art of Animation! Yaaaaaaaayyyy. I'm seriously so excited to be staying at this resort, and everything in the Little Mermaid section opens on Sept 15th! That's the day we'll be checking in! I'm so excited for it!! It also helps that Little Mermaid is a favorite of both Paige & I. UGH! I cannot wait!

We'll most likely do a quick breakfast in the room before heading out to the bus stop sometime between 8 and 8:30am, I'm not too picky to get there super early, we'll see how we're feeling that morning. I've also found it's good to just grab the breakfast and take it with you, eating it at the bus stop, it takes less time!

Soon enough, we'll be on our way! Where are we headed to this lovely morning, well, Disney's Hollywood Studios of course!! Now, I just decided to check my Undercover Tourist app about stuff, and it has DHS as a "red" park to avoid this day, I checked why, and apparently DHS has evening EMH tonight. I wrote down the park was open 9-11, but didn't clue in that it was EMH haha! Hopefully that won't affect morning crowds too much!

Hopefully we'll arrive right around rope drop, with not much time to wait, since we should probably get an early start today, lots of things to do! Paige & I were talking about rides the other day, and she said there was no way she was doing Rock N Rollercoaster, so that takes that out of the "what do we do first?!" dilemma. Naturally, our first destination will be Pixar Place!

We'll grab some fast passes for Toy Story Mania, and likely then we'll jump right in the standby line for it as well. May as well get 2 rides in when we can, right?! Now it'll be time for some back tracking, as we head down Sunset Boulevard to get our scream on!

Who knows, maybe we'll do that twice in a row, and get some photopass pics on the way out to kill some time!

Before heading into the live action version of our favorite! Voyage of the Little Mermaid!

If it's not time to use our fast passes for TSM yet, we can pop into One Man's Dream!

Then it'll be time for some exploring while we're on our way to our next destination

Muppet Vision 3-D?! Sounds like a good idea to me!!

We'll explore a little more, and I'll send Paige onto Star Tours if she wants to

Then I'm guessing it'll be nearing lunch time, and we'll be stopping to grab some food!

After checking out the show time schedule (we'll most likely do this on our way into the park, and decide which shows we want to see and when, I usually scratch out the ones we don't want to see, then circle the times of the ones we'll go to) Paige and I will make our way over to various theatres to check out a jumble of the following:

I know we won't be missing Beauty & the Beast, but aside from that, it's whatever Paige is interested in. Sometime in the afternoon, if she's into the whole character thing, we'll definitely be popping into the animation building to see some Character Palooza!

Before we know it, it'll be time to line up for Fantasmic, and I'm hoping that the crowds won't be that bad:

And hopefully we won't be too tired by this point:

Lol. Although, when is a better time for a nap than an hour to two hour wait before Fantasmic?! (not including CoP or HoP that is! lol) And then; it's SHOWTIME

I still have very mixed feelings on Fantasmic! And maybe this time around I'll be able to make a definite decision on whether I really do like it or not. The very first time I saw it (in DLR in 97) I loved it more than anything else in the world. Seeing it again last Sept, not so much...I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. I haven't seen it since, in either park, and am hoping I like it more this time.

Once Fantasmic is over, Paige & I will make a decision on whether to stay in the park and see if we can squeeze in some more rides in the next couple of hours, of if we want to just head back to bed. Chances are that will all depend on the level of the crowds. So we'll just have to wait and see!

That, ladies and gents, concludes our day at Disney's Hollywood Studios!

 

[katt789]

It will be a bright and early day for us over at Art of Animation this morning (Tues 18th that is, and it’s our 3 rd day of the trip together! Yay!) I’m guessing that we’ll be up a little earlier today, say around, 7:30ish, to head down to the food court for some breakfast!

I usually go for eating in the room for breakfast, it saves money and it saves time, a lot of both. Most trips recently I’ve been brining apples & granola/protein bars, good for a morning snack or eating both for breakfast. However, this trip we’ll have the dining plan, and thanks to a couple of sit down meals we’re having, we’ll have some extra credits (kind of) And I mean, it’s a new resort, with a new food court, naturally, we’ve got to try something from it!

We’ll be headed to a bus that will take us to Animal Kingdom next! Yay! Another day spend traveling around the world! Seriously, I love me some Animal Kingdom, the fact that the ground is all cracked and has little like “foot prints” and stuff in it is just so incredible. Disney does themeing well! I’m hoping we’ll get there right around 8:45, so that we won’t have to wait long to be let into the turnstiles, but will still make it for rope drop. Since I have recently discovered that it doesn’t really matter how close to the front of the “race” you are at (seriously, people start out fast, and then start to lag, and I mean, you still make it onto the ride really quickly) we can stop for some photopass pictures on the way in!

And here’s the part where I hope that the photographers working in Sept are creative and have some ideas for different poses, and can hopefully do some magic shots with us as well!

Our first stop of the day will of course be Expedition Everest. Ahh, can you feel it now, the slightly cool breeze (okay, maybe that’s just the air conditioning) as you enter the cue and travel through Asia to the Himalayans! Such a great feeling early in the morning!

You know what else is a great feeling bright and early in the morning? Oh yeah, being chased by a wild YETTI!! EEEEK!

That certainly wakes you up, no need for coffee in Disney World! (Completely kidding, coffee is essential EVERYWHERE, I cannot wait for the Starbucks to open on Disney property! Yay!) We’ll probably ride a few times, grab a fast pass, and then head over to explore Dinoland a little bit!

Who knows, if it’s a quiet enough morning, maybe we’ll even take a spin through the skies on some flying Dinos! (P.S. Does anyone else find it a little odd that it’s the TriceraTop spin…why not Pterodactyls? Or something that actually flies…..)

Flying dinosaurs aside, we might stop to take a spin, you know, conquer the kiddie rides before we blast, fast, back into the past to try and save a herbivore without getting eaten by the T-Rex!

Yeah, that’s Tanessa & I in the front row there, and that about sums up how I feel about this ride. It’s dark, it’s loud, it’s jerky, and things jump out at you. I’m not a huge fan, but because it’s someone’s first time in the World, I’ll go on nearly everything!

Paige and I will continue the way we were going through Animal Kingdom, possibly hitting up some Wilderness Explorers, or the Hundred Acre Wood gang on the way!

You may ask why we’re going this way, and don’t you fret, you’ll eventually find out why we’re not actually doing the Safari yet, time will tell! If the time is right, we can either now, pop into Festival of the Lion King (which is NOT to be missed!) or we can stroll through some of the characters in Camp Minnie Mickey first!

After we’re done meeting some more furry friends, and singing along to Circle of Life, it will finally be time to venture into Africa!

This again, depends on time, but we will most likely head into our 2 week Safari first, we’ve got to see some animals while we’re here in Animal Kingdom!

Maybe we’ll even pop over to see some awesome monkey friends of ours afterwards!

Or use our fast passes for Everest if the time limit on them is still good!

And then, it will be time to head towards Tusker House (approx 1:00pm ish) for our LUNCH reservation. I had originally been planning on doing another breakfast, at 10:30 (which for AK, works for me, you can accomplish all the main rides by that time) but then found out that they did a character meal with the lunch as well! Well, I’ve done breakfast there twice now, and will also be doing it with my mom, so now’s the time, right?!

And yes, Donald duck is number one!! I’m excited to see what options they have for lunch, and I’m hoping it’s going to be delicious (I’m sure it will be!) I absolutely love the rice they have with the breakfast, and I’m assuming it will be on the menu as well!

Once Paige & I are done stuffing our bellies and saying Hi to more of our friends, we’ll be on our way out of Tusker House, and back to exploring the park. We’ll hopefully stop for a bunch more photopass pictures around the park, and just do anything we hadn’t gotten to before lunch, which won’t be a lot. Once we’ve done that, it’ll be time to head out of Animal Kingdom, and back to the resort! We’ve got a party to go to, and we’ve still got to get ready!!

 

[katt789]

It's been an exciting couple of days over here!! Both of the trips are now officially paid off in full! Yaaaayyy!!

Paige has completely paid me for everything included in her trip (all that she'll need to do now is have the cash to get 1 more day of park tix, baggage, and the few character meals!) Yay for free dining!

I have wanted to get into pin trading for a while now, and a few people on the dis suggested ordering a starter lot off ebay to have pins to trade instead of having to buy a bunch in the parks. I ordered a bunch about a month ago, and yesterday they came in the mail! YAY! 50 pins for $30.00! Heck yes, that's a major win if you ask me! They're pretty much all ones I'll trade too, so that's a bonus!

As I said earlier in the PTR, I had ordered an Alice costume off etsy, and yesterday, it ALSO came in the mail! It was a BIG DAY! I of course tried it on immediately, and it's absolutely perfect, nice and poofy and when you spin, it's amazing! Ah! So excited!!

I've also been searching hard for a different job, as much as I like working at the dinner theater, it just doesn't cut it. When I could be doing less work somewhere else and make over $100.00 in tips a night, getting $25.00 tips (we pool them and split them) just really isn't worth it. I'm officially starting at the day care center of my gym on the 8th, so that's a good day job to have, now to just get a different serving one and I'm all set! More money = more savings, more Disney spending money, and less debt. Yay!

 

[Fratthouse]

I'm enjoying your PTR! I love how you already have pictures you can use of all the things you'll be doing Definitely makes it more fun to read
Looks like we'll be there at the same time - can't believe how soon it is coming up! We'll be at Disney before you know it!!

 

[katt789]

Paige and I will be heading back to the resort quickly after out lunch reservation since we have a very important plan that night! Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!! YAY!! We are dressing up as Tinkerbell & Periwinkle (she's the newest fairy to join Pixie Hollow, she comes from the winter woods, and is actually Tink's sister!) Paige is wearing the same costume I wore last year:

And I'll be going as Periwinkle, in a home made costume. My mom was able to take the topmost layer of my grad dress, and make it into the top half of Periwinkles outfit! It'll be this:

(and yes that is me, it's safe to say I've changed since high school, and yes one of my friends and I actually ended up having the same grade dress, good thing we liked each other and didn't really care haha!)

And we're turning it into this:

I'll grab some white leggings from Ardenes and put them underneath, and there's my costume.

Once Paige & I are ready, we'll be headed to the bus stop to get over to Magic Kingdom. I'm really hoping that we'll make it to MK by 4:00, but anytime between then and 6:00 is totes cool with me!

We'll head into the park and just soak up the environment, grab our wrist bands & trick or treating bags, and get some photopass pics on our way in!

Since it’ll be early, and we’ll have some time to check out a couple of the rides, we’ll do that first, but of course, it’ll be the rides that don’t require too much work with us both wearing wings….(so naturally, no Space or Splash haha) Maybe a spin through Adventureland or Fantasyland. If Cinderella’s coach is out this year, we may as well head there;

And then we’ll spend the night just doing everything, meeting characters:

Trick or Treating:

Watching the Villains Show (and meeting some of them!):

We definitely won’t miss Boo To You:

Or Hallowishes:

And we’ll most likely hit up some of the dance parties!

Last but not least, we will definitely be making a stop in Pixie Hollow, we’ve got to make our way over to our fairy friends!

The plan will pretty much be the same as the first night, (get in and ride a ride, get in line for a couple of characters/the coach) watch Villains show, meet some of them, circle around the hub, watch the 2nd parade, etc) The upside is now I will know where everything is, and be able to manoeuvre us to those spots easier. I know for sure we will be headed into the Princess meet & greet, with us having not hit up Magic Kingdom yet, we need to see Rapunzel, and hey, if Flynn’s out too, that’s a bonus!! It’ll be a grand gathering of a night, and I’m so excited!!

 

[katt789]

I'm enjoying your PTR! I love how you already have pictures you can use of all the things you'll be doing Definitely makes it more fun to read
Looks like we'll be there at the same time - can't believe how soon it is coming up! We'll be at Disney before you know it!!

Thanks!! I know that I really like when there's lots of photos in TR's, so I do my best to include as much as I can haha!!

Yay!! I know! 18 daaaaayyyss I'm beyond excited! Do you have a PTR on the go?

 

[Fratthouse]

Yay!! I know! 18 daaaaayyyss I'm beyond excited! Do you have a PTR on the go?

I do! It's my first attempt at writing anything, so it's a little......unpolished
Here's the link: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=45848347&postcount=4

 

[katt789]

After a late night at MNSSHP the night before, I'm sure we'll be sleeping in a little bit today, and just doing a breakfast in the room while we quickly get up and get ready in the hotel room. Paige and I will head down to the busses, and hopefully arrive at Magic Kingdom no later than 8:45 am!

As we don't want to miss the rope drop show, it's a classic, and I love it. Seriously, makes me want to cry every time I just hear the music!

After the show is over we'll head down Main Street, possibly stopping for some photopasses, probably!

And grabbing some Peter Pan fast passes!

Then it will be time to head through to Frontierland, and we'll be very excited!

As Paige and I will be making our way over to Big Thunder, and Splash Mtn!

We'll head back through to the Haunted Mansion;

On our way over to Fantasyland to use our fast passes and play around in the rest of the land!

Once we're done with Fantasy, well, Tomorrowland is naturally our next stop!

Who knows, since we're in the area, and it'll probably be nearing lunch time, I'm going to guess that we'll probably stop here for some food, and where else to go but Cosmic Rays?? (and what else would I eat but the turkey sandwich)

With our bellies full and most of the rides done, it's naturally, time for characters!

Of course, some of those stops we'll make earlier in the day, just by who's out where and when. Then we'll take the time to re-ride any rides, of course, visit Adventureland. (where the lines usually aren't that bad, or the rides are super kid-y).

We'll of course, stop for the parade, make sure to watch the Move it Shake it Celebrate it, and Dream Along with Mickey. Then it'll be dinner time, where we'll grab some food, take a break in the air conditioning, and then take some time to watch the evening parade, and Wishes!

And I'll try not to cry! Ha! Then it'll be time for Paige & I to slowly make it back to the bus stop, and we'll promptly fall into bed after such a long day back at the resort!