Pluto: Son of Violet and Chernabog! Now with hipsters and grandparents! Jan 2015 PTR

[TillyMarigold]

Please, no one tell my sister I called her a hipster. Even if she totally is.

So Chernabog and I have been to WDW a couple times and to DLR a couple times more recently, but not since our sproglet was born in the fall of 2012. Next winter, we and my sister and BIL are taking my parents to WDW for a 41st anniversary trip (because we're too disorganized to have gotten our act together for their 40th).

Let's start with...

The Cast:
Me (Violet): mid-30s, professional language geek, former CM.

Chernabog: mid-30s, computer geek, originally from Scotland, recent Disney convert.

Pluto: Our son, who's almost 1½ now and will be 2-and-change when we go. Right now he likes people from a distance but not up close, but we'll see how things evolve. Favorite things are balls, music, and dogs.

Daisy: my sister, almost 30, corporate trainer, total hipster.

Crush (formerly known as Stitch): my BIL, early 30s, big scary guy with tattoos and a huge beard, wears only Hawaiian shirts with matching brightly colored sneakers. Plays in a band. Hipster-adjacent.

Mrs. Potts (formerly known as Wendy): my mom, early 60s, has worked as a teacher and a florist, now mostly is a crazy dog lady, loves Disney and is the only one who doesn't think I'm crazy for planning already.

Mr. Incredible (formerly known as Carl)l: my dad, mid-60s, just retired from academic administration and works part-time doing sound design and also construction management. Math nerd. Outward grump with a soft spot for Pluto [my son, not the character] and classic Disney rides.

The Plan:

• 8 days/7 nights in late January and early February, 2015
• Renting DVC points for 2 studios, with [regular] dining plan
• 8-day park hoppers with WPF&M so we can do DQ (I can't believe they still let you use one allotment for DQ!)
• Tentative plan: whoever wakes up early heads out to whatever park they want, afternoon break, evenings together with FP+s
• Lots of buffets due to both big eaters and picky eaters

 

[TillyMarigold]

I've been using SurveyMonkey to harass everyone else into telling me what they want to do. The biggest response so far has been to the attractions survey. I asked everyone to rank every attraction (yes, all of them! well except I missed some "extras") from 0 (I would rather be at the dentist) to 5 (this is a must-do). I cautioned everyone to pick no more than 2-3 must-dos at each park, and here's what they gave me:

Violet:

• Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion, Wishes
• Test Track, Journey into the Imagination, Soarin', American Adventure
• Muppet*Vision 3D
• Kilimanjaro Safaris, Festival of the Lion King, spend time looking at the Tree of Life

Chernabog:

• Wishes
• Star Tours
• Kilimanjaro Safaris, Maharajah Jungle Trek

Daisy:
finally filled out her survey!

• Test Track, Journey into Imagination, Maelstrom (really?)
• Muppet*Vision 3D
• Kilimanjaro Safaris

Stitch:
Seas tank/Bruce's Shark World

Wendy:

• Pirates of the Caribbean, Main Street Electrical Parade
• Kilimanjaro Safaris, spend time looking at the Tree of Life

Carl, who was the first one to fill out the survey:

• Captain Jack Pirate Tutorial, Enchanted Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Hall of Presidents, Haunted Mansion, Riverboat, Wishes, Main Street Electrical Parade, afternoon parade
• Spaceship Earth, Universe of Energy, Innoventions, Germany Pavilion
• Kilimanjaro Safaris, Rafiki's Planet Watch (all parts)

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[TillyMarigold]

Following along!

Welcome!

 

[TillyMarigold]

I think it will be interesting to see how plans evolve, so here are the tentative plans at 11 months out:

Sunday: Arrive MCO at approximately 12:00-1:00 pm, ME to resort (BWV :crossing my fingers Unpack, walk to Epcot, do some WS, maybe Agent P's, and IllumiNations

Rest of the week: The basic plan is that whoever wakes up early will go into the park for a few hours, and then we'll go back to the hotel for a break, and do all our FP+'s in the evening.

On the night of our Animal Kingdom day, my parents will watch Pluto while Daisy, Stitch, Chernabog, and I go out to JellyRolls.

Current restaurant candidates: Sci-Fi Dine In, Kouzzina, 1900 Park Fare dinner, Sanaa, Raglan Road.

Current leading me & Chernabog date candidate: Flying Fish.

Things I think Pluto will enjoy (he's too young to actually get a vote): Jungle Cruise, It's a Small World, Under the Sea, all parades, princesses and other face characters. anything having to do with music, staring at Spaceship Earth (he's a little obsessed with balls).

My not-so-secret devious plan: get Stitch to be That Guy at ****. I mean, hello, 6'2" guy with a shaved head, giant beard, covered in tattoos, wearing a Hawaiian shirt? They've got to pick him, right?

ETA: I was going to write out the name of ****, but it's funnier this way. You all know what I mean. And Disney should've thought of something with a better acronym.

 

[TillyMarigold]

Apparently my sister loathes the movie "Lilo and Stitch." I was surprised, I thought she'd love it, but her exact quote was "I'd rather watch Bambi." (My sister does not watch animal movies under any circumstances, they're too sad, and of course Bambi is a particular offender.)

After a quick "Which Disney character are you?" quiz, Stitch will henceforth be known as Crush. At least until it changes again. We've got awhile.

 

[TillyMarigold]

Grrr ...

I had contacted a DVC points broker about two weeks ago (recommended by this board) and asked him how to be sure he would check for availability at exactly the 11 month mark. He told me to reply to his email when it opened. I did. And then he emailed me back and told me taht although they usually respond within 24 hours, it has been so busy since Christmas that it now takes "a few weeks." I don't know why he couldn't tell me this when I first contacted him a few weeks ago! So now I'm scrambling to see if we can get the points, because I know BWV is so hard to get. I've submitted to requests to 2 brokers that don't require a down payment to check, and one that does, plus a couple members. So far both the free ones have no availability at BWV. One member sold out of points before I got there and the other won't do less than 200 points.

I mean, I'm sure Pop will be fine if that's where we end up, but I was really getting into the idea of staying deluxe for a change.

 

[TillyMarigold]

The paid broker found availability for BWV but doesn't have enough points. I told them we'd wait a few weeks and then go with OKW.

Meanwhile, my aunt who's a points-renting fiend gave me a lead on another broker she loves but I can't figure out how to rent through them (they're primarily a reseller). Waiting to hear back from them.

 

[TillyMarigold]

Now that everyone has finally filled out the attractions survey, here's the rankings. A + means FP+ is available, and the number of *s is the number of people who consider it a must-do.

1. Pirates of the Caribbean+*** (4.33)
2. Haunted Mansion+** (4.17)
3. Wishes+*** (4.0)
4. Main Street Electrical Parade+** (3.83)
5. It's a Small World+* (3.67)
6. Jungle Cruise+* / TTA PeopleMover (3.5)
7. Under the Sea+ / Carousel of Progress (3.33) (tie)
8. Tiki Room* / SFR Treehouse / BTMRR+* / Hall of Presidents* / 3pm parade* (3.17) (tie)
9. Riverboat* (3.0)
10. Carousel / Peter Pan+ / Country Bears / Buzz+ / Speedway+ (2.83) (tie)
11. PhilHarMagic+ (2.80)
12. 7 Dwarves Mine Train + 2.60
13. Town Square Theater Characters + 2.60
14. Pirate Tutorial* / Monsters Inc+ 2.50
15. Winnie-the-Pooh+ / Tom Sawyer Island (2.33)
16. Magic Carpets+ / Teacups+ / Dumbo+ (2.17)
17. Splash Mountain+ (2.0)

 

[TillyMarigold]

I read a report on Facebook from someone who was just able to get a Boardwalk reservation through David's for around our dates. Hopefully we're next!

Continuing list of favorite attractions. Man, my family is weird.

1. Test Track+** / Imagination+**
3. Phineas & Ferb World Showcase Adventure
4. Germany model train* / Spaceship Earth+*
6. Universe of Energy** / China acrobats / Japan drummers
9. Voices of Liberty / IllumiNations+
11. Soarin'+** (are they nuts?! 11th? It's my #1 in all of WDW!)
12. Seas w/ Nemo & Friends
13. American Adventure* / Maelstrom+* / I Cantanapoli / Turtle Talk+ / Innoventions*
18. Living with the Land / Off Kilter / Terracotta Army in China
21. Anna & Elsa M&G / World Showcase Players
23. Captain EO / Bruce's Shark World* / Gran Fiesta Boat Tour
26. Mexico art exhibit / UK characters
28. Circle of Life
29. O Canada! / Reflections of China / Impressions de France / Japan art gallery
33. Mission: Space+ / Norway pavilion

 

[TillyMarigold]

Hollywood Studios Favorites.

1. MuppetVision 3D **
2. Toy Story Midway Mania+
3. Fantasmic!+
4. Great Movie Ride
5. Indiana Jones Show / One Man's Dream
7. Animation Academy / Citizens of Hollywood
9. Voyage of the Little Mermaid / Beauty & the Beast
11. Star Tours+*
12. Phineas & Ferb
13. Lights, Motors, Action!
14. HISTK Playground
15. Disney Junior show
16. Backlot Tour
17. Legend of Captain Jack
18. Sounds Dangerous
19. RnRC+
20. Tower of Terror+
21. American Idol

 

[TillyMarigold]

Animal Kingdom Favorites:

1. Kilimanjaro Safaris+*****
2. Oasis trails / Rafiki's Planet Watch*
4. Tree of Life trails**
5. Festival of the Lion King* / Pangani Forest Exploration Trail
7. Maharajah Jungle Trek* / Discovery Island trails / Dino Sue
10. Flights of Wonder / Boneyard / TriceraTop Spin
11. Kali River Rapids+
12. Finding Nemo / Adventurer's Outpost
14. Fossil Fun Games
15. Expedition Everest+ / Dinosaur
17. It's Tough to Be a Bug
18. Primeval Whirl

My poor dad. The rest of us are HUGE zoo fans and HUGE Animal Kingdom fans, so I suspect we're going to spend a lot of time there.

 

[TillyMarigold]

I also asked people to rank from most to least enjoyable the following activities. So here's the vacation focus:

1. Attractions.
2. Watching Pluto enjoy himself (aww)
3. Restaurants / Spending time with my individual family
5. Spending time in a big group
6. Relaxing in the parks
7. Spending time iwth my partner [I suppose this is the same for everyone except me and Chernabog]
8. Other activities (e.g. mini golf, Boardwalk, DTD, DisneyQuest)
9. Swimming or relaxing at the pool
10. Meeting characters
11. Water Parks
12. Shopping

 

[TillyMarigold]

We got a hotel!

David's came through with two BWV standard-view studios. With a toddler, location trumps all.

Now on to the fun stuff!

• Planning our days
• Choosing restaurants
• Picking date night
• Ordering Magic Bands
• Deciding on tickets

 

[TillyMarigold]

My parents have declared their desire to be known as Mrs. Potts and Mr. Incredible. So there you have it.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I read a report on Facebook from someone who was just able to get a Boardwalk reservation through David's for around our dates. Hopefully we're next!

That was probably me! I'd love to try to meet up with you there

We got a hotel!

David's came through with two BWV standard-view studios. With a toddler, location trumps all.

Now on to the fun stuff!

• Planning our days
• Choosing restaurants
• Picking date night
• Ordering Magic Bands
• Deciding on tickets

My little girl will be six this trip, but we're still excited about the location! Where are you thinking of eating?

 

[TillyMarigold]

That was probably me! I'd love to try to meet up with you there

My little girl will be six this trip, but we're still excited about the location! Where are you thinking of eating?

Yep, we've talked on Facebook. My real first name starts with B.

I'm afraid we're traveling with unadventurous eaters but DH and I are hoping to get in a date night at Flying Fish. I'm also trying to talk everyone into Kouzzina (DH and I have eaten at both before). But the leading contenders for food for the group right now [Crush still hasn't weighed in] are:

Rose and Crown Pub (the only unanimous-so-far "sounds good")
California Grill
1900 Park Fare
Biergarten
Coral Reef
'50s Prime Time Cafe
Sci-Fi Dine-In
Sanaa (apparently "animals out the window" trumps "I only eat boring food")
Boma breakfast
Kona breakfast
Whispering Canyon Café breakfast

So glad we'll have the kitchenettes, though, I think we'll mostly prepare breakfast in the room. (Note to self: stock up on the Via.)

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Yep, we've talked on Facebook. My real first name starts with B.

I'm afraid we're traveling with unadventurous eaters but DH and I are hoping to get in a date night at Flying Fish. I'm also trying to talk everyone into Kouzzina (DH and I have eaten at both before). But the leading contenders for food for the group right now [Crush still hasn't weighed in] are:

Rose and Crown Pub (the only unanimous-so-far "sounds good")
California Grill
1900 Park Fare
Biergarten
Coral Reef
'50s Prime Time Cafe
Sci-Fi Dine-In
Sanaa (apparently "animals out the window" trumps "I only eat boring food")
Boma breakfast
Kona breakfast
Whispering Canyon Café breakfast

So glad we'll have the kitchenettes, though, I think we'll mostly prepare breakfast in the room. (Note to self: stock up on the Via.)

I know who you are now

I checked out some of your dining reviews from your past few trips. I can't decide if Kouzzina looks like something we would enjoy or not. We are pretty basic (meat and potatoes) kind of food people. Have you by any chance tried the ESPN Club or Big River Grille? I'm thinking we might like to try one of those since they are right there on the boardwalk.

Of the places you're thinking of trying we've only been to two, but there are several others we are thinking of trying. Coral Reef was just amazing! One of the best two meals of our trip 50's Prime Time was really good as well.

 

[TillyMarigold]

I convinced my sister to try Kouzzina with "slow roasted lamb shank." It was one of our favorites, but we're adventurous and like Greek food. Greek food is mostly lamb and potatoes or seafood and potatoes, and a lot of roasted things (roasted lamb, roasted vegetables, roasted potatoes, etc.). And pita bread.

I, er, have a slight fish phobia. I actually used to work at Epcot (both Imagination and Seas) so I could deal with eating at Coral Reef again if I have to, but it's not high on my list. It's high on everyone else's, though--all the ones I listed (except R&C, which is unanimous) were chosen by 4 of the 5 people who have responded so far. I was the holdout on Coral Reef.

I haven't been to ESPN Club or Big River Grille. Of the ones on our list, I've eaten at all but the first 3 (Rose and Crown, 1900 Park Fare, California Grill).

I've taken my parents and sister to '50s when I was a CM, so I kind of want to nudge them to Sci-Fi for a different experience (although I love both). But they mostly want to go back to '50s.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I don't see how you could eat at Kouzzina with a fish phobia! That whole fish looks scary I think it might be a little out of our comfort zone, but I'm tempted to step outside of it and give it a try...

I'm totally jealous that you got to be a CM! How long ago was that?

Any opinions on the other restaurants we're wanting to try? Ohana for dinner, Mama Melrose for dinner, Garden Grove for the seafood buffet, and Tusker House for breakfast.