PTR - Our Disneyfied 2020 Christmas B-Day Fix Part Deux! - TR Started!

[mnmrmustard]

PTR CHAPTER LINKS HERE

TR Link Here - A Disneyfied X-Mas B-Day Fix Part Deux!

Part 1 – Introductions!

Greetings and Salutations from the McClures (and Groot)!

I am returning from semi-lurk status to invite you on another family adventure. I thought it was time as we just officially hit double digits today – 99 days to go! I don’t need to tell you all how complicated it is traveling in the time of COVID-19 and the inherent risk of leaving your semi-insulated family and work routines to fly across the nation and partake in some Disney World/Universal Orlando fun. But we made a promise to our son that he would have an amazing 21st birthday celebration just as his sister did 3 years ago at DLR.

It was an amazing experience, literally our best Disney trip ever. And a part of that was an Adult Beverage Walkabout for our daughter that our DS Jinx was unable to partake in. He luckily made a friend at the parks while he was there (he was 18 at the time so we had no issues with him blazing his own trail while we did our walkabout). But he still didn’t get that full experience. For anyone feeling like some “light reading” AKA a picture-heavy 37 chapter TR – here is the link!:

Get Your Disneyfied Christmas B-Day Fix! - Nov/Dec 2017 TR

So a year ago my wife and I started talking about our next trip, and that we hadn’t been to WDW/UO since 2012. That’s right, 8 years since we’ve been back there (other than me attending an IT Security conference at the Dolphin resort in 2018 – but the closest I got to the parks was walking the Boardwalk and getting a shake at Beaches and Cream). We knew we had to make this one a WDW/UO trip. At the end of 2019 when the family was all together for Christmas we talked to the “kids” about the trip and that we would dovetail in Jinx’s 21st birthday into it.

We discussed timeframes and our two favorite holidays are Halloween and Christmas. There was much debate but Christmas eventually won out …and this is really no surprise as our last Orlando trip was in early December, as was PumpkinGirl’s 21st B-Day at DLR. I’ve been talking about us for a bit, I suppose some introductions are in order!

Mike AKA MnMrMustard

I am an IT Director for an Oregon Community College and have been working there for 28 years. I am a Member and Scout for the Oregon Chapter of an international beard club called the Bearded Villains, whose focus is on Family, Charity, Honor, and Loyalty. I am a Cold War Army Veteran (13M MLRS) and am celebrating my 10th year as a Make-A-Wish Volunteer Wish Granter. As you can see from the hat, I’m a big Raiders fan. And I am the official Disney addict in the family …and Star Wars fan (Dark Side Rules!). And no, I haven’t been to Batuu/Galaxy’s Edge yet!

Roxy

My wonderful wife is an Office Manager for a precision CAD/CAM shop. She is amazingly supportive woman who assists me in my charity and club endeavors. She enjoys sewing and doing puzzles and is a recovering LuLaRoe addict, with the Disney leggings to show for it. She is the dynamo that keeps our family moving forward and I wouldn’t be the person I am without her. She is the Harry Potter addict of the family – the goosebumps I get from walking onto Main Street USA she gets from walking into Hogsmeade Village. And as you saw from the timeframe of our last trip – Kings Cross/Diagon Alley was still under construction during our last trip, so I’m really looking forward to seeing her reactions walking around there!

PumpkinGirl

Our DD works for Stone Coat Countertops (check them out on YouTube – very cool DiY countertops, flooring, and shower stuff). She handles international shipping and quality control among other things. She turns 24 at the end of August. She loves Anime and Cosplay and is a talented ceramic artist. She has a really cool fashion sense and gets compliments wherever she goes.

Jinx (the birthday boy!)

If you read older TRs (except for the 2017 trip) you will see him referenced as "Bean”, our DD2. He came out as transgender at age 15 and now goes by Jinx. He is very into cosplay, LARP, and theater and has been in several community theater productions. I was proudly on stage with him last Christmas for a retelling of It’s a Wonderful Life (I played Mr. Martini and he played Ernie). He moved up north, living just over the Washington border in Vancouver and working in Portland for a private security company.

He turned 21 in July (and as you saw, PumpkinGirl also has a summer b-day) but we DO NO go to Disney in the summer heat/summer crowds! We were one of those families that had no problem taking the kids out during school to go when weather was better and crowds were lower. We always made active plans with their teachers and both kiddos graduated near the top of their classes, so I’ll continue to suggest that to others weighting that particular decision (as long as both the parents and the kids are on board and committed to making sure the kids follow thru with the coursework).

So that’s us – I hope I’ve peaked your interest to follow along and maybe even give the occasional thought on our plans. And of course any advice in relation to traveling/going to the parks in the time of a pandemic is greatly appreciated.

Click here for Part 2 - Where and When ...since we’ve already covered “Why” pretty well ;D

 

[mnmrmustard]

CHAPTER LINKS

Part 1 - Introductions!

Part 2 - Where and When

Part 3 - Family Disney/UO History

RL Update - Family, Fires, and Furry Friends

Part 4 - Itinerary

Part 5 - 50 Days, Food, and 15lbs

Part 6 - 30 Days Out - Pub Crawl Past and Future

Part 7 - 2 Weeks to Go!

Part 8 - 2 More Days to Go!

 

[suse66]

Joining in for all the fun planning! You have a beautiful family and I love how open and accepting you are. The world needs more of that. Looking forward to hearing about all the plans!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Joining in for all the fun planning! You have a beautiful family and I love how open and accepting you are. The world needs more of that. Looking forward to hearing about all the plans!

Thank you for joining in and for the compliments on my family. I certainly agree that more openness and acceptance of everyone is needed now more than ever! I'll get those plans rolling

 

[mnmrmustard]

Part 2 – Where and When

We have been to Orlando 4 times and go back and forth between off property and on. Our last trip we stayed at POP and really enjoyed it there. But this time around we were given a generous gift by DW’s boss. They have a timeshare that they knew they wouldn’t be able to use up the points on and they heard her talking about starting planning on the trip this past year. So after a talk with DW they gifted us our accommodations for this trip!

We looked at the options and decided on Cypress Pointe Resort

We were able to book Dec 1st thru Dec 9th – that’s right boys and girls, 8 full days in the parks! Plus we’ll be doing a half day on the 10th as we have an evening flight back to the PNW. CPR is located on Treasure Kay Lane, just up from the Saratoga Spring Resort. We plan on doing a 2/3 split between WDW and UO so the Disney commute will be a bit shorter.

We landed a 3 bedroom lockout:

Pretty nice accommodations with everyone getting their own bathrooms – whoohoo! DW and I get the master suite, DS will get 5 nights in the second suite (Bedroom 3) as the B-Day boy and DD will get the other 4, so each will have some time in the nicer room

So there was our accommodations, now we had to figure out travel. Driving is a no-go for WDW as we live in Oregon, waaayyyy too far. So flying is really the only option – we don’t even drive to DLR. I monitored flight prices from December thru mid-February and then we pulled the trigger on them. We have a direct flight from PDX to MCO but had to settle for a hop back thru PHX. Either way it will make for two long travel days.

Now I know you may be thinking – hey, those prices have probably come down with the whole COVID-19 thing going on. And on that you would be right. However, we booked the flights leveraging timeshare points also so they did have a built in discount. So if we cancel we would forfeit those points. We’re still crunching the numbers as we still may find it worthwhile to rebook. If anyone has been down the rebooking road and has any advice I’m totally open to it.

As far as transportation when we get there, we are leaning heavily towards MCO Luxury Transportation for getting us and our bags to and from the resort on our travel days and just doing UBER/LYFT for the day to day. A big reason for this is that the cost of a rental vehicle plus the daily fee for parking for all of those days was going to be in the neighborhood of $750. And our family will have days that DS and I leave for parks early while DW and DD sleep in, so we’d still need a separate ride.

We haven’t used UBER/LYFT to WDW or UO before so any thoughts anyone has on that are also very welcome. I think that about covers the where, when, and a bit of how as a bonus

Click here for Part 3 - Family Disney/UO History ...or just keep scrolling since its the next post

 

[mnmrmustard]

Part 3 - Family Disney/UO History

For the majority of my life I've lived west of the Rockies (Arizona and Oregon). My family took one big Cali trip in the summer of 1976 when I was 7 years old. It was a whirlwind trip hitting the Sand Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, the now defunct Lion Country Safari, Knotts Berry Farms, and Disneyland, plus a beach day. It was a blur and was very hot.

Disney itself was a bit of a blur, us trying to cover everything in one hot summer day. I specifically remember all of the red-white-and-blue theming for the Bicentennial. I also remember how cramped the submarine was and how much walking we did. Some of the high points were PoTC, Peter Pan’s Flight, riding the Skyway, the Matterhorn and the Main Street Electrical Parade.

We went back home and I didn't give Disney another thought other than the occasional cartoon. I grew up, graduated, did a stint in the Army and came home to Oregon. I went to college and met my wife there and we had two kids. In 2002 when the kiddos were 2 and 5 respectively, we planned a trip to Georgia to see my parents and then a trip to Florida for some theme park fun.

We were a young family with little kids and not much cash so I knew we couldn’t swing both WDW and UO. And I’m a bit of a research nut so I dug in and found that UO actually had more rides that our wee ones could ride (largely thanks to Seuss Landing and other rides like ET). So off we went with my mom in tow – here are a couple of the pics from that trip:

Dig that crazy looking Shrek!

Back when the Rugrats still ruled!

It went well and was an October trip so as we left the parks each evening they were starting up HHN, which became something of a bucket list item that we still haven’t cashed in.

A couple of years down the road we decided to plan our first true Disney trip. And as west-coasters we decided to do DLR in early January of 2005. One of DW’s brothers and his fam came along too. We had a good time, but it rained a good portion of the time. At one point it got so bad that the drains in CA couldn’t keep up and the pathways started flooding. One downpour started while DD and I were on the Goofy Coaster and I had to cover her up with my poncho and got battered by big stinging raindrops. But that wasn’t as bad as my brother-in-law and his oldest DD, who got trapped on the top of Grizzly River Run in that same downpour.

A few pics from that one:

Despite the rain, in going to DLR I was HOOKED! The Disney magic had coursed thru my brain and I knew that our next trip had to be a full one at WDW. DW started saving and I started planning in 2006. In May of 2007 I stumbled across the DISBoards and joined the fun in here. This trip landed in January of 2008 and would include my mom and stepdad. We did 6 Disney Park days, a Typhon Lagoon day, 2 days at SeaWorld and a day at Discovery Cove.

If you are interested in that one there is a big ole TR for it here:

I’m Not as Tink as you Kronk I Am

We had a great time with LOTS of Disney Magic plus good fun at SeaWorld and Discovery Cove.

I knew we had blown the doors off financially so I wasn’t expecting another trip for quite a while. But we were ALL hooked by that point and wanted to experience some DLR Halloween Magic. One of our nephew’s had come to live with us at the time so 5 of us headed down to enjoy some trick or treat fun. TR for that one is here:

A Gregarious Ghostly Gallivant

Now I knew we had to save up for a while and decided that 2012 would be our next adventure, this time back at WDW. But my DW surprised me with a “just the two of us” trip for my 42nd birthday in April of 2011. I found out she had an ulterior motive as she had REALLY been jonzing to see Hogsmeade Village at UO. THAT TR can be found here:

We’re Doing WHAT For My Birthday???

Then came the actual trip we had been planning for, a 2012 Christmas-themed blow out to WDW and UO for the four of us. This was a great trip and we fell in love with Disney Holiday Magic to the point that we haven’t traveled back to a park any other month than December. Looking back is was an amazing trip where even things like DW and DD getting sick had a silver lining in creating a deeper bond between the two of them and between my son and I. Among other things we instituted a day where each pair would go blaze their own adventure around a park. And I have such a great memory of us standing under the Osbourne Lights – so glad we got to enjoy that before it was gone. And things like the Backlot Tour and the Great Movie Ride (a family favorite *sigh*).

The TR for it is here:

Disney Holiday Firsts At Last!

If you don’t read any of the past TRs or this one, but want to read a piece of real Disney Magic – just check out the chapter on our Akershus Princess Breakfast and a DD who had lost her voice: Akershus Princesses bring Smiles to a DD with no Voice

So that was our last trip to WDW (other than my conference in 2018 at the Dolphin, but that doesn’t count as I never entered a park). Our last Disney outing was in December of 2017 at DLR to celebrate DD’s 21st birthday, which was literally THE BEST TRIP EVER!!!! So many great moments, so much good food, short lines, and great weather.

And of course a TR to go with that one too!

Get your Disneyfied Christmas Birthday Fix!

So here we are, all up to date. Only we have COVID-19 throwing us curve balls and things changing at the parks almost daily. But we have another 21yr old who deserves some Holiday Birthday Magic and we’re going to make it happen!

Next Up – Current Itinerary

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more

 

[mnmrmustard]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more

Thank you so much! I've been away for a bit but I'm getting back on track!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Sorry I've been away from here the past 3 weeks. We are going thru some tough times and I'm finally coming out the other side. We've had some restructuring/downsizing at my work with more to come due to economic downturn from the pandemic.

My mother-in-law almost went into hospice care. She is instead now on "palliative care" which allows her doctors to focus better on pain management, unfortunately it is at the expense of her mental clarity. That situation is day by day and is made worse by her being in lockdown in a nursing home so we can only see her thru her window.
And we've had wildfires burning thru the valleys around us and hazardous smoke for a week and a half. We are the circle in between the fires. The Almeda fire was too close and so damaging. Colleagues and one of my high school friends have lost everything.

But we are all safe and healthy and the rain we had on Thursday/Friday helped turn the tide on the fires. Air quality is much better. And we escaped to the coast for the weekend to adopt a dog. We had lost our oldest dog Cleo earlier this year and finally got to the point of brining another pup into the family.

His name is Loki and he is a 4yr old Shih Tzu & Yorkshire Terrier mix or a "Shorkie" - the littlest guy held by my daughter up front in the picture along with Gus, our 5yr old Havanese held by me, and Antony, our miniature "party" poodle held by Roxy.

We just got back home after a good weekend and Loki is in my lap as I type. We're focusing on all the positives we can and I hope all of you out there are too. I hope to get that itinerary together and posted tomorrow and get back on track with some Disney Magic!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Part 4 – Itinerary


The past two trips we flew out of the local hub here in southern Oregon. But this time around when we were looking for flights we found noticeably better prices flying out of Portland/PDX. And our birthday boy Jinx now lives up there. So we’re packing over the weekend and on Monday making the 4hr drive up and staying at a La Quinta close to the airport before our flight.

Monday, November 30th – Pre-Travel Day

• Load up and drive to PDX and check in at La Quinta – DS will be taking an uber over from his place and checking in with us
• Grab dinner at Shari’s Café and Pies (short walk from the hotel)
• TRY to get to bed at a decent hour!


Tuesday, December 1st – Travel Day

• Wake up at 5am for a 6am shuttle to Airport – 5am seems early but we usually have to get up around 3am so this is a bonus for us!
• We have an Alaska Airlines direct flight leaving at 8:55am and landing at 5:30pm at MCO
• Breakfast and lunch will both be purchased before we board at Flying Elephants Delicatessen in the airport – great spot with such items as the Chili Con Queso Breakfast Burrito and the Jambon et Fromage (French name + cheese is always a winner!)
• We have N95 masks and tiny hand sanitizer bottles with us for the flight and plan on having as little interaction with other passengers and crew as possible
• DW, DD, & DS will be together in a row and I will be behind them on the aisle
• Arrive at MCO and pick up luggage
• Take Luxury Minivan via MCO Luxury Transportation – cost of $55 plus tip – 30 minute drive
• Drop off at Cypress Pointe at Lake Buena Vista (same exit off of I-4 as Disney Springs)
• Settle in to our room and GrubHub Giordano’s deep dish pizza for dinner or walk down to Hokkaido Chinese & Japanese Buffet and get take-out
• Receive Instacart delivery of grocery order (mostly breakfast stuff and other items for day to day in the parks)
• Collapse into heaps in our beds and sleep!


Wednesday, December 2nd – Magic Kingdom (9am – 8pm)

• Up at 7ish and eat breakfast
• Uber to the Contemporary at 8am (10-15 minute drive) and take Monorail to MK from there
• Contemplating trying to hit 7 Dwarves first since it was still under construction when we last visited
• Work our way thru Fantasyland to hit Peter Pan and then over to Haunted Mansion
• From there work thru Frontierland and Adventureland
• Counter Service lunch
• Tomorrowland after lunch
• Window shop down Main Street, then back over to the Contemporary for 8:55pm reservations at The Wave


Thursday, December 3rd – DHS (10am – 7pm)

• Wake up at 6:50am and have everyone try for a RotR Boarding passish and eat breakfast
• Uber to DHS at 9:30am (10-15 minute drive)
• Ride Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway if the line is still short otherwise head to Galaxy’s Edge (our first time) and walk around/ride Smuggler’s Run
• Double back to Toy Story Land and ride Slinky
• Head down sunset Boulevard and do multiple rides on RnRC and ToT
• Lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-In (family tradition) if we can get the reservation
• Feel sad that the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular is closed - I got to be an extra once and my kiddos wanted a chance at trying
• Spend the afternoon hitting whatever rides we hadn’t experienced earlier and if 1st boarding group didn’t pan out, try again at 2pm
• Head back to Galaxy’s Edge for (hopefully) a reservation at Oga’s Cantina and take in the look of the land after sunset/ride Smuggler’s Run a couple more times
• We currently have a 4:35pm 50's Prime Time dinner reservation, but are trying to get one closer to park closing
• After the park closes Uber to the Poly/Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto if they are open/we can get in
• Uber back to the resort


Friday, December 4th – Universal Studios (10am – 6pm)

• Up at 8ish and eat breakfast
• Uber to UO at 9:15am (15-20 minute drive)
• Hit Despicable Me, Rip-Ride-Rockit, Transformers (new ride for us), Race Through New York (new ride for us), and Revenge of the Mummy
• Lament that Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Revue no longer exists
• Make a face as we move past the heap of trash that is Fast & Furious
• Leap for joy as King’s Cross Station comes into view – it was all framework and construction walls the last time we were here
• Spend the rest of the day in Diagon Alley – planning on grabbing lunch at the food cart outside the station for the shepherd’s pie potato or in the leaky cauldron
• End the day with a trip or two on the Hogwarts Express (we have park hopper tickets)
• Dinner TBD, may just Grubhub or Uber Eats something back at the resort and enjoy the pool if it is warm enough


Saturday, December 5th – EPCOT (11am – 9pm)

• Sleep in!
• Breakfast in the room when we get up and around
• Dress in our dapper best for Jinx’s 21st/Adult Beverage Ambulation
• Uber to EPCOT around 10:15am (10-15 minute drive)
• Hit Mission Space, TT, then across to Soarin’ and Nemo (and maybe Living with the Land and Journey into Imagination)
• Start eating/drinking around the World counter-clockwise to enjoy Festival of the Holidays, celebrate Jinx’s 21st, and see as many Character Cavalcades as possible
• Hopefully complete the WS circuit before park closing
• Uber to The Edison for 9pm reservations


Sunday, December 6th – Animal Kingdom (9am to 6pm)

• Up at 7ish and eat breakfast
• Uber to AK around 8:15am (10-15 minute drive)
• Probably fall to the crowd flow to the left to check out Pandora since we’ve never experienced it
• Otherwise we’ll go right and hit Dinoland/Dinosaur ride and continue from there to EE
• Whether left or right we’ll end up in Africa and hit the safari before it gets too far into the day
• Lunch at Yak & Yeti or Tusker House if we can swing it – never eaten at either of them …or fall back on Flame Tree BBQ
• Afternoon spent hitting up whatever we’ve missed including Its Tough To Be A Bug – DD was very sad that it had already closed at CA to make way for the Avengers Campus – it is one of her favorites
• As 6pm approaches we’ll probably be in Pandora hoping to see at least a little of the nighttime look of the place
• Trying for Yak & Yeti for dinner but may fall back to Rainforest as we have done it several times after AK days
• Uber back to resort


Monday, December 7th – Universal – Islands (10am to 6pm)

• Up at 8ish and eat breakfast
• Uber to UO at 9:15am (15-20 minute drive)
• Try and get an express pass for Hagrid’s – the only experience in Hogsmeade that we haven’t experienced
• Start by going thru Seuss land and hope for some Christmas Who/Santa Grinch sightings
• Move on into Hogsmeade and enjoy some more Harry Potter goodness
• Hit the Jurassic Park area for the River Adventure and then a quick service lunch
• Ride King and then move into Toon Lagoon
• We will be hitting the water rides multiple times and this time we’ll bring a change of clothes!
Last time:

• Finish off with Spider Man and Hulk
• Dinner and drinks on CityWalk
• Uber back to resort


Tuesday, December 8th – Universal Park Hopping (10am to 6pm)

• Get up when we feel like it and eat breakfast
• Uber to UO and probably go to Studios side
• Probably hit Despicable Me again, then double back and head down Hollywood Blvd
• Skip Bourne – saw YouTube of it and just doesn’t grab us although we like the movies – if we are going to do anything there it will be the Horror Make-up Show
• Gotta do ET then on to Springfield! We were there after Back to the Future converted, but before Springfield itself was built
• Ride MiB and then back to Diagon Alley
• Hogwarts Express to IA and bounce around over there as time allows
• Uber back to resort


Wednesday, December 9th – Magic Kingdom (9am – 8pm)

• We end where we began at MK - up at 7ish and eat breakfast
• Uber to TTC at 8am (10-15 minute drive)
• Take Monorail or Ferry over to MK
• Literally no plan here, totally depends on what we were able to do on that first day
• Enjoy as much MK holiday goodness as we can
• Dinner reservation at 4:05pm at the Plaza Restaurant
• Uber back to resort and pack


Thursday, December 10th – UO/Travel Day

• Have breakfast and finish packing up
• Take bags down to reception to be held for us
• Take Uber to Universal and enjoy a few more hours of fun there
• 2pm Uber back to resort to pick up bags
• Take Luxury Minivan via MCO Luxury Transportation Back to airport
• 5:35pm flight from MCO to PHX arriving at 8:05pm
• 9:15pm flight from PHX to PDX arriving at 10:56pm
• Say goodbye to DS as he will be getting an Uber back to his apartment
• Shuttle back to La Quinta and sleep

Friday, December 11th – Drive home

• Sleep in and then pack up the car and drive the 4hrs back to Southern Oregon
• Spend the weekend decompressing, doing laundry, and dealing with those post-trip blues


Now I know I put a decent amount of detail into some of those days. I recognize that plans can change at the drop of the hat, a lesson hard-learned during our first big trip to WDW/UO back in 2008. So more than anything we want to be flexible and enjoy the ride wherever it takes us. Again we are there to ride rides, enjoy the holiday fun, and generally eat, drink and be merry while we celebrate DS’s 21st year on this earth during a very strange time in the world.

I’m up for any thoughts, suggestions, or comments on all of this. I know things are pretty quiet on here so I’m happy with a simple “looks good” or “you guys are crazy” ;D

Oh, and as of today we are 69 days and counting!

Next Up – Weight Loss and Health Goals

 

[mnmrmustard]

Part 5 – Part 5 - 50 Days, Food, and 15lbs


Hello Everyone, sorry I’ve been away for a bit – still have family stuff going on with my mother-in-law’s health. But at least the fires are under control and as of some rain a couple of days ago we are currently clear of smoke in our valley!

So here we are at 50 days out! The trip is really creeping up on us fast. We have been continuing to watch all the YouTube VLOGs and are keeping a cautious eye on the increase in line waits and crowds and how both Disney and Universal are responding. When we hit 60 days out I did get up a couple of mornings just shy of 3am (6am EST) to try and get a couple of ADRs. Unfortunately since we are not staying on property all the slots for the places we wanted were already fully booked by our fellow travelers who are staying on property.

So we will be checking back in thru the app here and there and more than anything hoping to get them in that sweet spot of 5 days out or less when other parkgoers decide to change plans and give up reservations. What are we trying to get?

At MK – The Plaza Restaurant for dinner or maybe Be Our Guest if it comes our way. A family favorite has been Liberty Tree Tavern but we decided we didn’t want something that heavy this time around
At AK – Yak & Yeti for dinner with CS lunch at Satu'li Canteen. An old fallback will be Rainforest Café, another family tradition
At DHS – Oga’s Canteen at some point in the day along with 50s Prime Time for dinner
At EPCOT – No reservations this time around as we will be eating/drinking our way around WS for the Festival of the Holidays

Disney Springs – one evening we want to hit The Polite Pig for a meal and have drinks at The Boathouse and The Edison

We have some ideas for Universal like Cowfish and The Leaky Cauldron but we’re open to suggestions for in the two parks or on CityWalk. The last time we were there we did their dining plan and just ate quick service at the Classic Monsters Café, The Burger Digs, and the Comic Strip Café.

From a travel perspective we love going in early December as the temps are a bit cooler and the hurricane season is over. But from a food perspective my DW and DD are always bummed as they would much prefer the flavors of Halloween with all of its pumpkin spice goodness. Neither likes the peppermint that is so prevalent. I love peppermint so it’s a small win for me as I don’t do too many sweets in the parks. I’m more of a beer and savory snacks kind of guy. Oh, and DS is pretty easy to please food-wise.

On the subject of food, we are trying to buck the norm of weight gain during COVID-19/lockdown. We started our weight loss journey at the beginning of February and I initially lost 20lbs in 6 weeks but then plateaued when I was sent home to work remotely in mid-March. April thru October I fluctuated and overall have ended up down another 5lbs. My DW has been more dedicated, doing mostly keto and has lost 70lbs since February first!

She has actually met her initial goal and set a new one. My goal is to get down to 210lbs by the time we leave for our trip. I had initially been on a schedule to lose 5lbs per month to get there …but now I’ve to 50 days to lose the last 15 pounds. It is still do-able but I’ve really got to focus and get off my butt to get it done.

Speaking of getting off our butts, we were going to be doing evening walks. But the fires/smoke has kept that from happening. We have a treadmill that sits in the back corner of our living room mocking us as we try to pretend its not there. But we know we have to get some conditioning if we’re going to survive all of that walking! On top of that I have a room set up with my weight bench and will be focusing on core and leg work. Any tips are appreciated!

Next Up - Planning a Pub Crawl during a Pandemic

 

[mnmrmustard]

Part 6 - 30 Days Out - Pub Crawl Past and Future!

Hey All! We are officially 30 days out from our flight day!!! As promised I'm going to talk about our Adult Beverage Ambulation or Pub Crawl. This was something we did for our DD at Disneyland on the year of her 21st B-Day. We did it fully "dapper" and did it this exact same time of year back in 2017.

Unfortunately, DS was not able to participate as he was just 18. He had a friend to spend time with so they rode rides and had character interactions and we met back up here and there throughout the afternoon/evening.

Our first stop was Trader Sam's at the Disneyland Hotel

Then on into CA and the Carthay Circle Lounge

Then we dived into the booths of the Festival of the Holidays and DD got a mimosa flight and I got a beer flight. We met back up with DS at Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!

When we came out we had a wonderful interaction with Groot

DS then split back off and had a great interaction with Captain America & Thor/Loki

Meanwhile we headed to the former Paradise Pier and the former Cove Bar for Lobster Nachos and more drinks

DD had a secret menu drink (the Fun Wheel) ...she was feeling pretty good!

DS got a shot with Big Al on his way to meet back up with us

We had to ride Guardians ONE MORE TIME!!!!

On the ride this time we made sure to get front row and DD was the star, flashing "21" for the camera!

DD had a fantastic time and had enough to drink to really enjoy herself without drinking too much and get sick.
..........................................

So fast-forward 3 years and we have a pretty high bar to meet for DS's outing. This is a big reason that we didn't cancel our trip.

My plan is for us to have the main event at EPCOT, doing a loop during Festival of the Holidays. I'm still getting my bearings on the booths, but even without them I have these options:

Stop Number	Pub Crawl Stops:	Location:	Signature Drink
1	Choza de Margarita	Mexico Pavilion	The Mayan
2	Kringla Bareri	Norway Pavilion	Viking Coffee
3	The Joy of Tea	China Pavilion	Canto Loopy
4	Biergarten Restaurant	Germany Pavilion	Barenjager Honey & Bourbon
5	Via Napoli	Italy Pavilion	Frizzante
6	Block & Hans	America Pavilion	Whiskey-Spiked Frozen Lemonade
7	Katsura Grill	Japan Pavilion	Hot (or cold) Sake
8	Spice Road Table	Morocco Pavilion	Spice Road Signature Sangria
9	Ves Vins des Chefs de France	France Pavilion	Orange Slush
10	Rose & Crown	United Kingdom Pavilion	Welsh Dragon
11	Popcorn in Canada Food Cart	Canada Pavilion	Torontopolitan

Obviously we won't hit all of these, but we have plenty of options for sure! And after we leave EPCOT we will be ending the evening with reservations at The Edison at Disney Springs at 9pm.

The only thing missing from the trip is Trader Sam's Grog Grotto, which DS would really like to experience. Currently it is closed and I don't know how the renovations are part of that. But with other things opening you never know - it may still open up!

But just like DD's, the key is to pace ourselves, drink water in between stops, and eat enough food to absorb the alcohol.

I'm interested to see what y'all think or if you have any suggestions. I hope you all had a great Halloween weekend!!!

NEXT UP - 2 Weeks to Go!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Part 7 – 2 Weeks to Go!


Okay, so here we are. In two weeks we will be snug in our beds after a long travel day to Orlando dreaming about our first park day. That is as long as COVID-19 restrictions don’t come down at the last minute that impede our ability to travel or close the parks. I am pretty stressed about this given the spikes in the past few weeks and the states that are implementing shutdowns/new restrictions. I understand the reason for them, but I also understand all of the checks and balances that both the airlines and the parks have put in place to make a vacation as safe as possible.

So here’s to hoping that this trip happens! Any good mojo you can send for us is appreciated.

We have nailed down every reservation we wanted with the exception of Oga’s, which both DW and I are trying for multiple times per day. At least we can still join the Walk-Up list if all else fails!

Beyond that:

Travel day (Tues. – 12/1) from PDX to MCO, arriving at Cypress Pointe around 7pm. Postmates grocery delivery soon after, then a late dinner locally or at Disney Springs or if we’re tired we’ll just incorporate dinner delivery with Postmates

1st park day (Wed – 12/2) is at MK and we have dinner set at The Wave after the park closes.

2nd park day (Thur. – 12/3) is at DHS and we do have a reservation to build a Droid and an early dinner set at 50’s Prime Time Café

3rd park day (Fri – 12/4) is at Universal Studios and we plan on just doing QS meals

4th park day (Sat – 12/5) is at EPCOT and we have a reservation at The Edison after the park closes

5th park day (Sun – 12/6) is at AK and we are still trying to figure out dinner – may just be a quick service day or head to Disney Springs

6th park day (Mon – 12/7) is at Universal Islands with Grinchmas Photo Experience booked and have reservations for Give Kids the World’s Night of a Million Lights celebration that evening

7th park day (Tues. – 12/8) is Universal Park Hopping with QS meals

8th park day (Wed – 12/9) is at MK with a QS lunch and an early dinner set at The Plaza Restaurant

9th ½ park day (Thursday – 12/10) morning at Universal after checking out of villa and dropping bags at front desk, then back to grab bags and transport to MCO for evening flight home


Beyond The Edison at Disney Springs we’d like to hit The Polite Pig for eats and Raglan Road/The Boathouse for drinks

For weather we’re currently looking at low to mid 70s in the daytime and low 60s at night. Some days with cloud cover but very low chance of measurable precipitation – crossing fingers that this holds for us. So we’ll be dressing in layers and keeping jackets and such in lockers at park entrances. We will also be going to Universal Studios one day with a change of clothes to bathing suits/t-shirts/flip-flops/small towels so we can tackle the Toon Lagoon rides, get soaked, and then change in restroom stalls without having to leave the park.

We have also spent the past few months buying custom masks both locally and online so each of us has at least a dozen masks. Our villa has a washer/dryer in room so we can wash whatever we need to as we go. And we all have newer broken in shoes along with a backup pair just in case.

There’s a million other things we’re working on/talking about but that’ll do it for today’s installment. I hope you all are having a Disneytastic day!

Next Up – Outfits for the trip

 

[mnmrmustard]

Quick Update - we are officially in single digits with 9 days to go!

Had a snafu with our flights, both were modified on us. We have to get up earlier (probably 4am) for our flight out, but it will put us at our resort around 5pm (2hrs earlier). So that's a win overall and gives us better dinner options.

The downside is the flight back home. It was going to depart at 5:30pm, allowing us to spend few hours at Universal before we left for the airport. Now we fly out at 3:30pm so there probably won't be enough time to make that worthwhile. I need to crunch some numbers on it.

Still need to get outfits together and travel lists. And still trying to nail down that Oga's res. Hope everyone's Thanksgiving plans are coming together. We're having pizza!

 

[princessbelle2015]

Following along. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Following along. Hope you have a great trip.

Hello Kristin, thank you for following Along!


And a quick update on that flight day and do we/ don't we try for a little more Universal Orlando fun:

CityWalk opens at 8am
Universal Studios opens at 9am
Islands open at 10am

We can pack as much as we can on the 9th - MK closes at 8pm so we would be back at the resort between 8:30-9pm

Get up at 7am, do morning stuff, & finish packing
Drop bags off at front desk at 8am and have Lyft ready to pick up at same time
Drop off at UO, pass security, and enter CityWalk to be in line for the 9am opening of US
Roughly 3hrs in the park(s)
Leave Universal Studios at noon with Lyft already requested
Arrive at Cypress Pointe at 12:30-12:45pm and pick up bags/have shuttle ready to take us to MCO
Depart for MCO at 1pm and arrive around 1:30pm giving us roughly 2hrs to drop bags, get thru TSA, and get to our gate

We'll make the decision on the morning of. If we don't try for more park time we'll get the bonus of a leisurely morning of packing up and getting ready, and order in some lunch before the transport comes to pick us up.

And I talked to DW and another option may be to send the "kids" to Universal and her and I will chill at the resort and have a leisurely morning and lunch for two. Then have the shuttle pick us and the bags up and have them swing by Universal to pick the kids up, then off to the airport. I'm leaning towards that option but we'll see.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Another quick update - managed to land a dinner reservation at Be Our Guest for our last day! We've never been in there so we're excited

I had to cancel our Plaza Restaurant dinner res to make room for it, but later in the day was able to rebook The Plaza for lunch!

Now just Oga's left to land - wish me luck!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Part 8 - 2 More Days to Go!

See above if you missed my last two mini updates

This is probably my last update before we fly out. It is Saturday and we drive up to PDX on Monday - so 48hrs before the trip itself starts. Still haven't swung that Oga's reservation but the walk up lists don't look too bad depending on the time of day. We did have a reservation come open but it was too close to our 50s Prime Time early dinner and the app wouldn't let us book it - blarg!

But everything else is set an we are spending the weekend getting our outfits together. Since I had a bit more time off I'm a little ahead of the curve. Here are the main outfit options I have (plus a couple are in reserve):

And ye old dapper outfit for out EPCOT WS Crawl for Jinx's 21st

We also decided to splurge a bit since we don't have Disney Transportation taking us to our resort, we booked a deluxe SUV for the trip to the resort and back to MCO at the end of our trip. I even paid the small upcharge to have the driver meet us at baggage claim. We're feeling fancy! And this is also the right thing to do since we had a similar arrangement 3 years ago for DD's 21st trip. Only that one was paid for with points on a credit card

DW has our Walmart order set to deliver between 6-7pm on our arrival day, then we'll probably head down to Disney Springs for a late dinner at the Polite Pig. If we can swing it we'll get a res at The Edison instead. We had that set as the capper on our Dapper Pub Crawl day but Disney has again extended EPCOTs hours on Saturday, now set to 10pm. Our reservation for The Edison is at 9pm and I don't think we'd want to leave EPCOT early enough to make it.

So yes, all that is left is to re-check our packing lists and pack everything up. Its getting close enough that we can taste it!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving Weekend!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Last minute update - I landed a reservation at The Edison at 7:45pm at Disney Springs on the day we fly in so we can still experience it in our dapper stuff without having to leave EPCOT on the pub crawl day on Saturday.

AND got Oga's Cantina at 11:50am on our DHS day!!! All that is left is landing the Rise of the Resistance boarding group on Thursday morning.

But all of the reservations we wanted are set!

 

[princessbelle2015]

Have a great time! I am sure you won't miss the cold weather we are having in Oregon this week.