Peekaboo, I see Pluto! A 1st Birthday TR; Wrapping up PTR and TR 10/02!

[heaven2dc]

After we paid the bill, we all joined him. I had never seen Illuminations, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Watching from the bridge was cool because we could hear the music and we saw lots of the high fireworks.

It was the perfect teaser to get me excited to FINALLY see the show in the park later in the trip! We slowly made our way back to the Boardwalk, taking in the majestic sights.

Can you believe this is a resort? It is so pretty all lit up. We stopped and watched some of the performers.

With our bellies full, it was time to call it a night. We’d managed to pack lots of fun into arrival day, but we were all exhausted. It was definitely time for bed.

Well friends, our trip’s first day is in the books. What did you think? As much as I loved staying at Contemporary in October, it just doesn’t have the same “Wow” factor that Boardwalk does, so I see it quickly becoming our favorite resort. What is your favorite resort at Disney World?​

I absolutely love your pics! You take amazing photos! We have only stayed at the BWV and would love to try another resort one day but love the atmosphere plus view of Illuminations and walk to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. We have rented points on the last 3 visits and had Boardwalk view rooms on the last two - we feel so spoiled staying there.

Tanner is so adorable - in 2008 I treated my daughter and my grandson who was 14 mos old at the time to a stay at BWV and he really enjoyed all the sights and sounds - esp Its a Small World. Someday I'd love to buy DVC points and I would def pic BWV as my home resort.

 

[Shazzasmd]

Just found your TR. very much enjoying your writing style and Franklin's photos. And, of course, what a cute guy Tanner is - looks like a wonderful family trip.

 

[Joyciemc]

Missy- I totally lost your TR! But I found it again and am all caught up! Really loving reading and Tanner is still amazingly adorable!

 

[Missyrose]

Aww the Test Track pictures! I love that ride! I hope they don't change it too drastically.
I could go for a Mickey ice cream right about now.

As much as I like Test Track, I can't wait to see what they have up their sleeves with this re-imagining of the ride. They have said they're not changing the outside track part of the ride (which, IMO, is the best part), but I have high hopes for the changes they'll make for the "testing" stuff inside.

I could ALWAYS go for a Mickey Bar.

Great Test Track pictures! It's nice that he got them before the ride changed!

OMG MONORAIL SET. I want that!!! Love the pics of yall with the Mickey ice creams! You can never be too old to enjoy Mickey shaped food hahah.

I was really glad Franklin took the pictures on the ride (I didn't even realize at the time that those would be of our last ride on the "old" TT).

The monorail set is amazing, I'm especially impressed with all the buildings they've made to go with it. You can create your own little Disney World!

My mom has always wanted the monorail set to run around their house. She wants to put it on the ledging in the lower level. I think it's a great idea! Everyone needs a monorail set.

I would do anything for a Mickey bar right now.

That would be so cool to have the monorail run around the house!

It's a gloomy, rainy day here in D.C., a Mickey Bar would definitely make the day brighter.

Loving the Test Track photos. Especially the one taken on the track. And the photopass picture with you sleeping is cute! I'll have to settle for the great pictures since TT will be closed during my trip.

So what was the return time on the Soarin' FPs?

I love your midmorning snacks and your purchases!!!

When I was doing the "sleeping" thing for the photo, I didn't realize quite how long the barrier test room was! My eyes were closed and I was like, "Why are we not outside yet?"

The Soarin' FPs had return times of 2:30-3:30, a perfect post-lunch slot for us!

Those snacks really hit the spot.

I absolutely love your pics! You take amazing photos! We have only stayed at the BWV and would love to try another resort one day but love the atmosphere plus view of Illuminations and walk to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. We have rented points on the last 3 visits and had Boardwalk view rooms on the last two - we feel so spoiled staying there.

Tanner is so adorable - in 2008 I treated my daughter and my grandson who was 14 mos old at the time to a stay at BWV and he really enjoyed all the sights and sounds - esp Its a Small World. Someday I'd love to buy DVC points and I would def pic BWV as my home resort.

Thank you! I can't take credit for any of the photos, those are all Franklin. He's truly an artist with his camera.

I'm so glad to hear you love BWV! I can't wait for our first stay there, just more than eight months from now! We even just bought our plane tickets for that trip.

I think BWV would be a great choice for a DVC home resort, but I may be just a tad bit biased.

Just found your TR. very much enjoying your writing style and Franklin's photos. And, of course, what a cute guy Tanner is - looks like a wonderful family trip.

Thanks for joining in! I have so much fun writing these TRs, so I'm glad to hear you enjoy reading them!

Missy- I totally lost your TR! But I found it again and am all caught up! Really loving reading and Tanner is still amazingly adorable!

That's okay Joyce, you're here now! Plus, I don't know how you're juggling a PTR and a TR?!?! I wouldn't have time for anything else on the Dis.

​

 

[brookelizabeth]

Wait, AKV in February? When in February?​

The last full week...Feb 16-23ish. Are you going in February too?

LOVE the Test Track shots! Those will be really fun to look back on years from now and remember the old Test Track!

Ahhhh, a Mickey bar. Yummmm. I miss them. I will be having one soon!

I have the same bag-purchased at Disneyland! It was so cute I couldn't resist!

 

[Missyrose]

The last full week...Feb 16-23ish. Are you going in February too?

We're going earlier in the month. January 26-February 2. Franklin's birthday is Jan. 30, so we couldn't think of a better reason for our first trip "home" to Boardwalk!

LOVE the Test Track shots! Those will be really fun to look back on years from now and remember the old Test Track!

I love that he got to take those pictures, it will be great to look back on them years from now. I also can't wait to see what they're going to do with the TT update.

Ahhhh, a Mickey bar. Yummmm. I miss them. I will be having one soon!

Soooooo envious! Are you guys ready for the cruise?

I have the same bag-purchased at Disneyland! It was so cute I couldn't resist!

I know, I felt the same way... I just couldn't resist. Though there's not much in Disney shopping that I can resist.
Except maybe Vinlymations, I still don't understand the appeal of those things. ​

 

[Missyrose]

I hope everyone is kicking off their summers with a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend! It's hot as heck here in D.C., so what better way is there to beat the heat than to sit in my air conditioned house and compose the latest chapter of my TR?!?!? I've got to leave for work soon, so on with the show...

We last left off with our group refueling with some delightful Mickey bars and frozen Cokes. Perfection! We still had plenty of time before our lunch ADR at Le Cellier, so we made our way to The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

The posted standby wait time said 30 minutes, but I didn’t think it would take that long. We hopped in line and waited about 15 minutes.

Soon we climbed aboard our very own clamshells!

And who can go on Nemo without spending some time looking at the aquariums at the end?

And I couldn’t resist taking a photo with my buddies Tanner, Marlin and Nemo!

While we were in the Seas, our Mission Space FPs came due. On our way over to the other side of the park, we stopped to take in the fountain.
Family photo at the coolest fountain at Disney!

It was 12:30, 45 minutes before our ADR and we thought that was plenty of time for all four of us to ride (with the help of the rider swap pass). Lala and Keith went first and Franklin, Kotkham and I took Tanner to the play area at the end of the ride. Of course, you can’t get there without going through the dump shop.

Finally, we made it here.

There were benches outside the indoor playground, which ended up being perfect. Tanner loved standing on the benches and watching the kids in the play area.
He was waving and banging on the windows. So cute!

Keith and Lala’s ride took longer than I thought it would, so instead of Franklin and I taking a trip to Mars, we headed back toward the World Showcase for lunch. As a group, we don’t move very quickly, so I took off to check us in. I checked in and the hostesses said they would try to seat us within 15 minutes of the ADR, but they had been running behind. 15 minutes later, my group still hadn’t materialized in Canada. Where were they? I had no clue until Franklin posted these pictures.
Apparently they had lots of fun making their way to the restaurant.

Ah, finally! Canadian scenery! How would lunch go with 3 ½ Le Cellier newbies? Would the cheddar cheese soup be as good as I remembered? Would we have Prince Charming for our waiter again? Stay tuned, lunch is coming up!​

 

[natebenma]

Once again- loving the photos!!! The pictures from The Seas with Nemo are outstanding. Even the picture of the sign is beautiful!

And the lone lionfish blew me away.

How nice that everyone was having some World Showcase fun while you were slaving away, checking in for your Le Cellier res.

Looking forward to drooling over some serious food porn!!!

 

[marDgreen88]

Love that picture of you and Tanner. How cute!

Hahah, don't you love remembering things (or in your case, finding things out for the first time!!) by looking at pictures? Too funny!

I hope your Le Cellier lunch was excellent, I look forward to hearing all about it!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Haha, don't you love being the person that checks everyone in, but then has to wait for them to show up? That's happened to me before.

Beautiful pictures of the F&G festival.

 

[Missyrose]

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. I'm at work for a change, shocker! But we did get to have a lovely lunch with Keith, Lala and Tanner, so it was a good day.

On our way home from lunch we stopped by the mall to check out the completely renovated Disney Store. I knew everything was on sale and I wanted to pick up beach towels for our Owner's Locker. And am I capable of just buying what's on my Disney shopping list? Ha! Absolutely not. Here's the rundown of what we got:

Four beach towels

A T-shirt for me

A T-shirt for Franklin

A shirt for Tanner

And finally, an adorable tumbler for me to take my iced tea to work

Quite the haul, but at least everything was on sale, plus we got our 10% discount for our Disney Visa.

Once again- loving the photos!!! The pictures from The Seas with Nemo are outstanding. Even the picture of the sign is beautiful!

And the lone lionfish blew me away.

How nice that everyone was having some World Showcase fun while you were slaving away, checking in for your Le Cellier res.

Looking forward to drooling over some serious food porn!!!

Franklin really outdid himself again with the Nemo pictures.
I have no idea how he manages to get such great shots on the continuously moving rides.

It was pretty hot the day of our Le Cellier lunch, so I was pretty happy to take refuge in the dark cave that is Le Cellier.
I just didn't realize I was going to be there alone for quite so long.

Lots-o-food porn coming your way very shortly!

Love that picture of you and Tanner. How cute!

Hahah, don't you love remembering things (or in your case, finding things out for the first time!!) by looking at pictures? Too funny!

I hope your Le Cellier lunch was excellent, I look forward to hearing all about it!

I love that picture of me and Tanner too!

Franklin thought it was funny that I didn't know where they were on that day until I looked through the pictures to put together this chapter.

I figured they'd stop to take some pictures along the way, I just didn't think they would need to photographically document the entire journey from Future World to Canada.

Haha, don't you love being the person that checks everyone in, but then has to wait for them to show up? That's happened to me before.

Beautiful pictures of the F&G festival.

The joys of being "the planner." You're in charge of the schedule and getting everyone where they need to be, checking in for ADRs is just one more task on "the planner's" to-do list.

I was really blown away by the F&G festival, it was truly gorgeous. But we didn't get to spend nearly enough time looking around. Luckily, Franklin and I are scheduled to take a May trip next year.

​

 

[natebenma]

Nice purchases! I love buying practical things.

Have a great weekend!

 

[teekathepony]

Ooh love the Seas pictures! I always end up being the one to run ahead and check in just to wonder where everyone else got to. I feel your pain.

Love the new purchases! I saw the Minnie Mouse t-shirt and read underneath it; "A T-shirt for Franklin" and was a little confused for a second. It was a funny moment in my head when I figured it out.

 

[Missyrose]

Nice purchases! I love buying practical things.

Have a great weekend!

I've definitely learned I have a soft spot for Disney housewares. I'm slowly converting my kitchen by bringing home a new item or two from every trip. And now all my work drinks are brought by my various Disney cups/mugs!

Ooh love the Seas pictures! I always end up being the one to run ahead and check in just to wonder where everyone else got to. I feel your pain.

Love the new purchases! I saw the Minnie Mouse t-shirt and read underneath it; "A T-shirt for Franklin" and was a little confused for a second. It was a funny moment in my head when I figured it out.

One day all of us planners will have to go on a Dsiney trip where we can take turns being the ones in charge so it can be someone else's problem each day!

I went back to look at how I labeled the shirts and I can totally see how confusing it could be. But hey, maybe Franklin just really wanted a T-shirt with a glittery Minnie bow?

​

 

[Missyrose]

So the Disney Food Blog tweeted that they set a date for its annual Snack Attack Illuminations party, where they have a private Illuminations viewing area and have all of the best Disney snacks brought in:

Starring Rolls’ Butterfinger Cupcakes
Classic Disney Popcorn
Animal Kingdom Lodge Zebra Domes
Mickey Ice Cream Bars
Norway’s School Bread
Writer’s Stop’s Carrot Cake Cookies
Boardwalk Bakery’s Cheesecake Brownies
Starring Rolls’ Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes
And more!

Sounds amazing, right? The only bummer was the party was scheduled for three days before we would arrive at Disney in October.

But you guys know me, the planning wheels began to turn in my head. I called JetBlue and found out that the airfare to fly out on October 3rd instead of the 6th costs the same, I would just pay their $50 change fee to change flights.

I checked the Disney Web site to see how much a value room would cost (without any discounts) for three nights. It was almost $400.

So I moseyed back over to the DVC member site and did some calculating. I found that if I bumped our May trip from a Boardwalk View villa down to a Standard View, we'd have enough points to cover a Standard View studio at AKL for three nights in October!
Franklin and I both did some calculating to see if we had the extra vacation days and it all worked! So I booked the AKV studio and changed our flights!
We get three more nights at Disney in October.

AJ from the Disney Food Blog was kind enough to set aside two tickets for us since we changed our trip to come to the party. It will awesome to finally meet after all the tweeting back and forth we've been doing recently.
And now we get to have an amazing 10-day Disney trip! I can't believe it!

Join me in a happy dance, will you!

I'm off to update my ticker...
​

 

[natebenma]

NICE addition to your trip!!!

What a really cool idea for a fireworks viewing. And that should really help with the Disney Food Bucketlist Count.

YUM!

Congrats!

 

[marDgreen88]

YAY EXTRA DAYS! Wow, I wish I could do that! Awesome!

 

[Maestra99]

Join me in a happy dance, will you!
​

Yay for extra days!!! That Illuminations thing sounds amazing! Isn't it great to have so much fun stuff to look forward to?! I get a smile everyday from thinking about our October trip.

Can't wait to read about Le Cellier!

 

[MrsTeddy]

The snack party sounds amazing!! And a few extras days is pretty nice too! Looking forward to more!

 

[Missyrose]

NICE addition to your trip!!!

What a really cool idea for a fireworks viewing. And that should really help with the Disney Food Bucketlist Count.

YUM!

Congrats!

I'm so excited to get to try all those snacks. I already told Franklin that I'm trying EVERYTHING, even the things I wouldn't normally like.

YAY EXTRA DAYS! Wow, I wish I could do that! Awesome!

I may get extra days, but you get to go to Disney in less than two months! So jealous.

Yay for extra days!!! That Illuminations thing sounds amazing! Isn't it great to have so much fun stuff to look forward to?! I get a smile everyday from thinking about our October trip.

Can't wait to read about Le Cellier!

I would just like these next four months to fly by. With the Olympics and the start of football season at work, I may just get my wish!

The snack party sounds amazing!! And a few extras days is pretty nice too! Looking forward to more!

The TR for this October trip is going to be epic! Anyone care to set the over/under for the number of photos Franklin will take in 10 DAYS AT DISNEY?!?!? His official quote when I asked him about it was "I think I'm going to need some more memory cards."
​