Pilgrms on the Move-updated 11/21-leaving in the morning!

[psupple]

Great PTR so far! I'm subbing to keep up-to-date on your plans. Mom and I are planning to go back in early December to see the decorations... I have 2x now but she hasn't yet! And, she LOVES Christmas!! Should be fun~

 

[sbynon]

We're definitely looking forward to Biergarten with you guys and my family. Last year they put us at a table with people who couldn't be bothered to talk to us; unlike the first year where we sat with a bunch of retired military people who loved Disney and were AWESOME! They were also DVC members, so we had a lot to talk to them about. We're hoping R won't be so shy about the dancing with her friends and cousins there--you can see from the pic posted that she loves to dance.

I do have to say that the food there is not my favorite, but the atmosphere is so much fun, I love to go--I think it will make a great first dinner on our trip!

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

We're definitely looking forward to Biergarten with you guys and my family. Last year they put us at a table with people who couldn't be bothered to talk to us; unlike the first year where we sat with a bunch of retired military people who loved Disney and were AWESOME! They were also DVC members, so we had a lot to talk to them about. We're hoping R won't be so shy about the dancing with her friends and cousins there--you can see from the pic posted that she loves to dance.

I do have to say that the food there is not my favorite, but the atmosphere is so much fun, I love to go--I think it will make a great first dinner on our trip!

no comments about our fateful trip to Oktoberfest? Hopefully we will be able to stop the kids from eating any "homemade" pickles made with unknown (suspicious ) spices!

I don't remember the people we sat with the 1st time, but last year a kid from another table kept coming up and grabbing our friend's son's Legos. The mom kind of said, "Oh let us know if he is bothering you," and turned around to keep eating. The kids' dad finally looked at the grabby kid and said, "that's enough-LEAVE." and the othe mom looked shocked that her precious snowflake was not invited to bother us anymore.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

Great PTR so far! I'm subbing to keep up-to-date on your plans. Mom and I are planning to go back in early December to see the decorations... I have 2x now but she hasn't yet! And, she LOVES Christmas!! Should be fun~

I think we will be leaving right before you get there. I am hoping to take my mom down for the holiday lights next year

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

I am getting some pics from FB righ now so I can upload some for D and S. How many posts do you need to be able to upload pics?

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

Thursday morning will be the 1st full day we have at Disney, and it will be my family's 1st holiday there-THANKSGIVING!!!

And as all seasoned DISers know, you should not go to Magic Kingdom on a big holiday-so guess where we will be heading for rope drop???

to see Mickey open up Magic Kingdom, of course!!!

MK has morning EMH and since we will be at Wilderness Lodge we will boat on over. The night we did our planning we all decided that we couldn't wait longer than one day to head to MK. Since we will be so close and there is EMH we will head there and start getting FP. My kids love a ride that most folks think is quite boring-the Tomorrowland Speedway

and since there is no FP I know we will probably hit that as one of the 1st rides. TheBoy should be able to drive by himself this time which I think he will like.
I know Rapunzel will be a bit sad b/c her FAVORITE ride was the Goofy's barnstormer, which is no longer there

but I am sure there will be a lot of other things to keep her busy!

Our first job will be to grab some FP for Space Mountain. By the time those are ready to use we can grab FP for BTMR or Splash Mtn. Our plan is to do ride some rides in the morning and collect FP for use later on in the day. As it gets crowded we will probably head back out so we can swim or relax at Wilderness Lodge before our early dinner reservations.

Here is what I am hoping we can get FP for before we leave:
Space Mtn.
BTMR
Splash
Jungle Cruise (<- my kids would ride that every day if they could!)

If we get there around 8am what do you think the odds are that we can get FP for all of those by 1pm? Will we be happy

or leave with a sour look on our faces?

 

[kdka421]

Hello cam&phoebsmom and friends!

cam&phoebsmom mentioned over on my PTR that some of you have taken the autotrain recently...we're going to be taking it for the first time in 16 days, and I was wondering if any of you had any tips or comments you could share!?

Thanks in advance

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

Hello cam&phoebsmom and friends!

cam&phoebsmom mentioned over on my PTR that some of you have taken the autotrain recently...we're going to be taking it for the first time in 16 days, and I was wondering if any of you had any tips or comments you could share!?

Thanks in advance

I am checking with a friend who regularly takes it-I can't remember if D and S have or not (I know they were researching it).

 

[mommyof3princess27]

I am checking with a friend who regularly takes it-I can't remember if D and S have or not (I know they were researching it).

OMGosh! I have been following this thread and just had to say-not to hijack- but we planned a couples trip to see the lights THIS year( dec 2-5th staying at POP) We got FD so we could afford it!!! And we still get to go next year too!!! YAY!! I am so excited to hear more about your trip!

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

OMGosh! I have been following this thread and just had to say-not to hijack- but we planned a couples trip to see the lights THIS year( dec 2-5th staying at POP) We got FD so we could afford it!!! And we still get to go next year too!!! YAY!! I am so excited to hear more about your trip!

Hello to a fellow MDer!!!

We are not getting free dining this trip

We already had a pin starting Sunday so we are doing a split stay but staying at the WL the whole time. Originally we did that to save money, but now I think we may have been able to get FD for the week had we left earlier.

To get FD we would have had to buy a 2 day ticket starting Sunday which would have eaten up the savings we had with our pin, so we will just pay OOP for the Sun-Tuesday.

So your trip is adults only? That is awesome!!!

 

[sbynon]

no comments about our fateful trip to Oktoberfest?

Ummm...nope, no comment on that. I think you said it all and D would not forive me if I said more.

 

[sbynon]

And as all seasoned DISers know, you should not go to Magic Kingdom on a big holiday-so guess where we will be heading for rope drop???

I still think we'll be fine--we've gone to MK before on Thanksgivind Day and it's never been a problem. Maybe the morning is different, but when we get there in the late afternoon it's always fine. Plus, we can go back after our early dinner reservation and I'm sure it won't be crowded.

My kids love a ride that most folks think is quite boring-the Tomorrowland Speedway and since there is no FP I know we will probably hit that as one of the 1st rides.

R loves this one, too--we usually start with BTMR and Splash Mountain--since you can go on one and grab a FP for the other--might need to negotiate the order a little .

I know Rapunzel will be a bit sad b/c her FAVORITE ride was the Goofy's barnstormer, which is no longer there
but I am sure there will be a lot of other things to keep her busy!

Our first job will be to grab some FP for Space Mountain.

I think we might actually get her on Space Mountain this year.

 

[sbynon]

Hello cam&phoebsmom and friends!

cam&phoebsmom mentioned over on my PTR that some of you have taken the autotrain recently...we're going to be taking it for the first time in 16 days, and I was wondering if any of you had any tips or comments you could share!?

Thanks in advance

Hi!

Unfortunately, we've talked several times about taking the autotrain, but have never ended up doing it. We seriously considered it for this next trip, but then realized that it would take more hours on the train than hours in the car and my DH would not do well sleeping in a seat overnight--too expensive to get a sleeping car.

I will recommend that you if one of you is a student or a veteran you get either the Student Advantage or Veteran's Advantage card--you save 15% on Amtrack with that for the cardholder, including the cost of transporting the vehicle. TOTALLY worth the $20 fee to get the card. (Now I just reread and realize you probably already have your tix, but if you enjoy it, this will be good for next time--looking forward to hearing about your experience!)

Enjoy your trip!

 

[kdka421]

Hi!

Unfortunately, we've talked several times about taking the autotrain, but have never ended up doing it. We seriously considered it for this next trip, but then realized that it would take more hours on the train than hours in the car and my DH would not do well sleeping in a seat overnight--too expensive to get a sleeping car.

I will recommend that you if one of you is a student or a veteran you get either the Student Advantage or Veteran's Advantage card--you save 15% on Amtrack with that for the cardholder, including the cost of transporting the vehicle. TOTALLY worth the $20 fee to get the card. (Now I just reread and realize you probably already have your tix, but if you enjoy it, this will be good for next time--looking forward to hearing about your experience!)

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for your response Hmm, you know, I know had a student advantage card when I was in undergrad. My husband is in grad school now, I wonder if he still qualifies, I'll have to look into that. You're right, probably too late now though, we definitely already have our tickets.
Although, I think we did get a AAA discount though, so I'd guess we probably couldn't get both. Still worth investigating though!

I'm anxiously awaiting to see what the experience will be like. We just have seats, didn't want to pay extra for the sleeping car, so I am a little concerned how well we'll all be able to sleep.
My biggest fear is if the train will arrive late, I really hope it doesn't!
The train was the best option for us though, because my parents already have to do a day of driving from NY to VA, and my mother's anxiety issues mean that the only person allowed to do the driving from VA to FL would be my dad, and that's a LONG day of driving for just one person. So, no matter what happens, the train will be a good decision I'm sure.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

R loves this one, too--we usually start with BTMR and Splash Mountain--since you can go on one and grab a FP for the other--might need to negotiate the order a little .

BTMR and Splash aren't open until the main part of the parks opens at 9 so if we get there for rope drop at 8 we will have an hour (give or take) before we can head over. I am hoping Sassy is tall enough for Splash (and agrees to go on it!). If not we can get rider swap passes and switch out that way and hit both of those early on

These are the only attractions open for morning EMH:

Magic Kingdom:

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
"it's a small world"
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mickey's PhilharMagic
Peter Pan's Flight
Space Mountain
Stitch's Great Escape!
Tomorrowland Speedway


I know it is sacreligious, but I can skip Dumbo if need be. My kids like the Speedway a lot more. I am not sure if TheBoy can drive the other kids around or not, but I know he is HOT to drive without an adult in the car with him.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

I just checked the Disney reservation site and now we have

100 DAYS!!!!



which means 99 days until our trip officially begins!

 

[mickeygirl14]

Congrats on hitting the double-digits in your countdown!!!

My DS and DD are very sad about the Barnstormer too...that was DS's favorite ride last time and his little face just dropped when I told him it wasn't there anymore when we started planning this trip. But BTMRR is a close 2nd favorite and I'm hoping to get him on a couple of "new" rides (for him anyway) this trip.

And, I'm thinking we need more details, possibly some pictures to go along with the Oktoberfest story. Particularly someone getting shoved into the phonebooth and the dropped cheesebread.

 

[sbynon]

Thanks for your response Hmm, you know, I know had a student advantage card when I was in undergrad. My husband is in grad school now, I wonder if he still qualifies, I'll have to look into that.

You definitely still qualify--grad school is how I have mine!

 

[sbynon]

And, I'm thinking we need more details, possibly some pictures to go along with the Oktoberfest story. Particularly someone getting shoved into the phonebooth and the dropped cheesebread.

Fortunately there are no pictures of that day--it is one better left to memory...I don't think a picture of my DH flat on his face at the bottom of the stairs would be nearly as funny as I remember it being.

 

[sbynon]

100 DAYS!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!

I told R this morning that I was sad we weren't going to Disney again until next year, too, and she looks up at me and says, "Ugh. Daddy." Tee-hee!