Seattle Goobers' January '12 Trip! UPDATE 1/30: The TR has begun! :)

[danimaroo]

I wouldn't worry too much about touring plans in January, it usually is such low crowds!

I like your touring style, very much like ours, go with the flow/up in the air type.

Yeah, I totally have to remind myself that we are going the same time we did this past January and we never even used a Fast Pass. But there is something fun about "planning" out a few days. Especially those first two, since there's so much to see and do! I'll probably stop planning the rest of our days. I realize planning 10 days will get pretty boring for people to read about on here, considering they'll usually involve us going to a park we've been to, haha.

We are very up in the air and like to go with the flow.. It makes the trip way more fun but relaxing.. I am being totally honest when I say there's a good chance that most of our plans will change. Probably not on Day 1 since we have a pretty good idea of the things that we like to do on that day (doing a monorail tour of the resorts is a MUST for Matt, as is visiting MK for both of us on Day 1, etc.), but from that point on I'm totally just going with whatever. I find that a bit easier, in case things go crazy. You can't plan every second of a trip, it's just not possible. I also think it's a recipe for a meltdown when things don't go exactly how you planned.

 

[Colleen27]

I love the go with the flow planning... One of these days I'll do a trip like that, but not with the kids!

Don't worry about the planning sites - it seems like during the slower seasons when there aren't any really bad days they can never seem to agree with one another. I absolutely won't pay for TGM again and will only continue subscribing to TP for the Lines app, because for touring plans and crowd calendars EasyWDW is just as good but free!

 

[danimaroo]

I love the go with the flow planning... One of these days I'll do a trip like that, but not with the kids!

Don't worry about the planning sites - it seems like during the slower seasons when there aren't any really bad days they can never seem to agree with one another. I absolutely won't pay for TGM again and will only continue subscribing to TP for the Lines app, because for touring plans and crowd calendars EasyWDW is just as good but free!

Haha, I'd imagine it's probably difficult to not plan when you have kids. I'm enjoying these kid-free trips while I can... because (hopefully) in a few years that will all change.

And yes, I agree on the planning sites. It just cracked me up that TP was actually trying to tell me that Epcot, which has no EMH or ANYTHING going on that day, on a Thursday, is going to be a 7 at the end of January. I have the same plan as you, I'm going to stick with easywdw and use TP's Lines app on my iPhone while we're there. Not too worried about crowds but it's always nice to have an idea of what is the best park to be at, even with lower crowds!

 

[danimaroo]

Hi everyone! It's Sunday afternoon and I have some free time to update this PTR, and it's a long update so I hope you're buckled in tight (and are in the mood to hear me blab)! I'm enjoying the heck out of this whole extra hour thing for today.. It was so nice getting 9 hours of sleep and waking up at 8! Felt like I had the whole morning and afternoon to enjoy.

I've got some Trip-related news here and also just some random fun stuff to share, so hopefully you enjoy!

Anyway, this work week was kind of stressful. I'm working on creating brand new content for a brand new website, and it takes a toll on you when it's been your only focus for months. That and well, I don't really get excited about investment products, so it's a little boring to write about. But this weekend has been a really good one, starting off with a trip to Hallmark's Holiday Open House for Christmas ornaments! We are HUGE Christmas fans and I guess you could consider us ornament collectors, especially from Hallmark. It can be a bit expensive but it is really fun to get new ones every year, especially because Hallmark has such cute stuff. In terms of our collection, I'd say Disney/Pixar and Peanuts take up a bit of our tree.

We have been collecting The Christmas Carol series over the past few years, as they release a new ornament for the series every year. This year is Goofy as the ghost of Jacob Marley. We made sure to get him so we will have that entire collection once they end it!

Hallmark has also begun doing a Pixar series, beginning this year with Up. Well, I'm a HUGE fan of this movie (it's only second to Wall-E for me), so I was really excited to get this ornament.

The Disney-related last one we got was an old school Disney one of Mickey and the gang as Clock cleaners. You actually turn the handle on the clock and it plays Mickey whistling while everyone cleans the clock. Expensive but totally had to have it.

We also spotted some Jim Shore busts, which were adorable but also kind of pricey. The Mickey and Pluto one was REALLY tempting, but we were already spending a ton on ornaments and other stuff, so we held off. I did sneak a few photos though!

Saturday I finally took a photo of the t-shirt I bought for our trip! I found this at Target and knew I had to have it. I just love those little green guys!

Speaking of Disney shirts, I also ordered this one for the trip. As you can see from a few posts before, I find mustaches to be pretty awesome... So when I saw this shirt I just had to have it! It was also on sale on disneystore.com, PLUS a 25% discount, so it was a great deal!*

So now I've got 2 awesome shirts for our trip, and I'm pretty stoked to wear them.

Onto our big dilemma we've been dealing with! As you know from my intro, Matt and I have our two lovely fur children, Milo and Anya, and their older kitty sister, Snifter (didn't mention her earlier, but she's a good little cat). We love them dearly, so when we go on vacation, we prefer to leave them with people who they are familiar with. We had one trip where they stayed at a house they were not familiar with and Milo had a really hard time with it (he hid INSIDE of a box spring at my SIL's house! ). Needless to say, we now try to keep them all at our house or a place they are familiar with.

After we got all of our flights, resort, etc. booked, we realized we need to find cat/dog/house sitters! It's always a little difficult to ask people to watch the dogs, as I always feel guilty, and my in-laws never offer to watch them (not sure why since our dogs looooove them and looooove their house ), so we were trying to figure out what to do.

Our awesome friends who live 5 mins. from us and watched our dogs during our last trip to WDW came over on Saturday and we nervously asked if they'd be at all willing to watch our dogs again for any part of our 10 days away. They were totally fine with it, saying they would do it the whole time... but we still felt guilty since they have dogs but have never asked us to watch them (our friend's mother insists she watches their dogs whenever our friends go on vaca).

We told them as a way of saying thank you both for being good friends and also for watching our dogs, cat and house when we go on really long trips, that when we plan our trip to WDW with them in (hopefully) January 2013, we will be taking care of the resort part of things. Whether we rent the points from my in-laws or they give them to us, we are making sure our friends don't have to pay for their room. On top of helping us out with watching our pets, they are amazing friends who we want to vacation with badly. Our friend (who we will call A) has only been to Disneyland (B, her husband, has been to WDW 2-3 times with Matt when they were growing up), but she LOVES Disney so we want to show her how amazing WDW is! I can't wait for that trip and really hope we are able to go with them, as they are amazing friends who we get along with so well! Fingers crossed for a couples trip in 2013!

Having someone to watch our animals while we are on vacation was one of the last few big weights to be lifted off our shoulders. I can't even begin to tell you guys how thrilled we are.

In other trip-related news, I was nicely asked by another DISer (okw19) to be part of a PhotoPass share! Since we will be visiting at the same time it just made sense. I am so excited to have the PP this year as last year we didn't do the CD, but paid for a few photos that we liked on our PP card, which was stupid crazy expensive. This is going to make it so much easier for me in not having to worry about lugging my DSLR around the parks after the first few days. I won't have to bother some random person to take our photo, or feel bad, nor will I have to constantly do the whole "MySpace" photo angle to get Matt and I both in a photo. I'm hoping to get a lot more photos of us together on the trip in all of our favorite places, and also hope this will encourage me to take out the time to meet my favorite characters! I didn't do this nearly enough last trip, so I'm making it a point to say hello to more of my favorites. But don't worry! For my TR I will be using my lovely iPhone for when I don't have my DSLR with me, so there will be plenty of photos to post!

That's about it on the trip-related stuff! I did want to mention one BIG bucket list item, that you will all be shocked about me having on my list.. Buuuuut it just means you're going to have to wait to find out what it is! I can't spill all the beans in this post! We've still got way too many days til our trip (74! 74 days!!!) Next post, more bucket list stuff!

I'll leave you with a photo of my breakfast this morning, as I thought it was pretty cute.

 

[poisonapple_PRINCESS]

Ohhhh I LOVE hallmark! The ornaments you got are SO cute! I was thinking about getting that clock cleaner one also! I like getting my wrapping paper from hallmark...especially the Peanuts! (DBF's favorite)

Love your shirt! They're some of my favorites! Do you have a Pandora bracelet? I love my Pandora bracelet and charms! And is the ring you have on the claddagh? I love those...they are so cute! (sorry for being kind of a creeper!)

And I'm glad you found someone to watch your pets and cute pancake!

 

[okw19]

Yay for an update!
I am absolutely Hallmark obsessed too. I love those Jim Shore busts! Too cute.
Great shirts! I love the aliens, I feel like they don't get enough attention when it comes to merchandise. I bought a couple of long sleeve Disney tops from Forever 21. I love wearing Disney while I'm in Disney.

I'm glad you found someone to watch the fur-babies, and congrats on the PP share. I'm such a dork. I'm so excited!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I love love LOVE Hallmark ornaments but I find them too heavy for our tree, they always make the branches sag. I don't buy as many as I used too for that reason. I do love looking at them though.

I love the Jim Shore figures too but they are so expensive, they are great though.

I love both of your tshirts you got, both are very cute.

We have 2 kitties and I hate having to ask people to stop by the house and feed them while we are away. Luckily I have a great friend that loves my kitties just as much as I do so I know they are well taken care of.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I'm glad you found someone to watch your furry kids! I'm a petsitter, so it's doubly hard for me since I can't watch my own pets when I'm not here! luckily, we have a friend that has a college student (friend is a professor) of theirs stay at their house on weekends and she came over and met our animals and is going to stay here while we are on our trip. It's a HUGE relief as I don't think I could enjoy myself if I was worried about them and I know my dd would not. She doesn't even want to LEAVE them, even for WDW, so knowing someone will be here with them the whole time is a huge weight off the shoulders. Wow...look at my mini-ramble on YOUR PTR!

 

[danimaroo]

Ohhhh I LOVE hallmark! The ornaments you got are SO cute! I was thinking about getting that clock cleaner one also! I like getting my wrapping paper from hallmark...especially the Peanuts! (DBF's favorite)

Love your shirt! They're some of my favorites! Do you have a Pandora bracelet? I love my Pandora bracelet and charms! And is the ring you have on the claddagh? I love those...they are so cute! (sorry for being kind of a creeper!)

And I'm glad you found someone to watch your pets and cute pancake!

Thanks! We are Hallmark addicts. The clock cleaner one is so cute! We sometimes get our wrapping paper from there, too! We have leftover Peanuts from last year, and we also just got vintage Mickey wrapping paper from Target!

And thanks, I just thought it was different but fun! I DO have a Pandora bracelet! My husband got it for me a few years ago and I've been getting beads ever since. I was actually wonder if someone would notice my bracelet in that photo! I totally notice those kinds of things, too, so don't worry for feeling like a creepster because I'm totally guilty of it as well! Hahaha.

Yay for an update!
I am absolutely Hallmark obsessed too. I love those Jim Shore busts! Too cute.
Great shirts! I love the aliens, I feel like they don't get enough attention when it comes to merchandise. I bought a couple of long sleeve Disney tops from Forever 21. I love wearing Disney while I'm in Disney.

I'm glad you found someone to watch the fur-babies, and congrats on the PP share. I'm such a dork. I'm so excited!

Love when I have time to update! Matt was playing a video game and it was a perfect opportunity to sit down and write on our lazy Sunday.

There is no love with the aliens, and that's exactly why I was happy to see a shirt for them! Love picking up a few items before we go so I can walk into the parks with a fun shirt on and be totally happy to be running around! I have an Expedition Everest shirt from our last trip that I am totally bring as well!

Thanks again for including me on the PP share! Really excited to get some awesome photos this year throughout our trip. Without your offer we weren't planning on doing it!

I love love LOVE Hallmark ornaments but I find them too heavy for our tree, they always make the branches sag. I don't buy as many as I used too for that reason. I do love looking at them though.

I love the Jim Shore figures too but they are so expensive, they are great though.

I love both of your tshirts you got, both are very cute.

We have 2 kitties and I hate having to ask people to stop by the house and feed them while we are away. Luckily I have a great friend that loves my kitties just as much as I do so I know they are well taken care of.

Oh I totally know what you meant about them being heavy. We have to take extreme care in putting them on to make sure they won't weight things down. We also kind of cheat since we use fake trees (I fear that Milo will pee on the tree and Anya will just drink the water. ), so the branches don't sag too much. But some of them, especially the fancies ones, can be really heavy!

And yes, it's always awkward/hard to ask people to do you that big favor, especially when they never ask you for the favor. Fortunately our friends are just awesome and know we would take care of their dogs ANY time, and live 5 minutes away so it worked out. Even still I feel guilty and want to make sure they know how much we appreciate it!

I'm glad you found someone to watch your furry kids! I'm a petsitter, so it's doubly hard for me since I can't watch my own pets when I'm not here! luckily, we have a friend that has a college student (friend is a professor) of theirs stay at their house on weekends and she came over and met our animals and is going to stay here while we are on our trip. It's a HUGE relief as I don't think I could enjoy myself if I was worried about them and I know my dd would not. She doesn't even want to LEAVE them, even for WDW, so knowing someone will be here with them the whole time is a huge weight off the shoulders. Wow...look at my mini-ramble on YOUR PTR!

OMG you totally understand where I'm coming from over here! Our first trip EVER away from the dogs was to Boston after our wedding (as we were having another reception there for my side of the family), and my SIL and BIL offered to take care of our dogs down at their house. Our big dog was fine since she loves my BIL and SIL, but Milo was not too happy. It also didn't help that they themselves went away for a few days and left all of the dogs (theirs and ours) with a petsitter. This put Milo into complete panic mode, and apparently he wouldn't leave the bedroom he was hiding in except to go outside.

I felt SO bad that he was so upset, and so did Matt, to the point it sometimes ruined our trip! We decided from that point on the dogs needed to either stay put at our house or go to only a house they know (which I guess would be my in-laws, but that's about it)... It really can be stressful finding the right people to watch your babies, and I'm glad you totally get where I'm coming from!

 

[danimaroo]

I wasn't planning on an update today, since work's been nutso and all that fun stuff, but I've had some free time today, so I've been looking at Disney trip stuff and I just got so excited about something planning-related that I just HAD to share it with someone other than my husband... and I know you guys will understand my excitement, so here I am! (Also, the updated title has to do with my bucket list, which you will come across later in this post!)

Matt and I have been discussing our dining reservations and have been looking at our handy dandy spreadsheet via Google Docs throughout the work day, debating on if we should change any of the time on our reservations. We realized that Day One, it'd make more sense to make our dinner at Crystal Palace a little bit later to give ourselves more time to make our way to MK, and switched a few other things around.

Anyhoot, as I was staring at the spreadsheet I noticed that Animal Kingdom is open til 7pm 3 times during our trip. As I mentioned before, Expedition Everest is my absolute faaaavorite ride in WDW (speaking of which, I have a video of us riding and will be posting here momentarily because it cracks me up! ), and I think it would be REALLY awesome to be able to ride it during the evening. Animal Kingdom usually closes at 5pm, and never has EMH at night, though I've heard about how it used to... and have been so jealous of people getting to ride EE when it's darker out. Problem is, we had a ADR at Via Napoli for 4:30, and obviously that would be really hard to run to AK afterwards to try to squeeze in a ride or two.

(For anyone interested in my video, here's a link to it as I have no clue how to embed videos on DIS... There's me screaming a bit, laughing, and asking Matt if he's okay, hahaha.) Our ridiculous Expedition Everest Video

I wasn't sure Matt would be up for it, but I asked if we could switch our ADR at Via Napoli to around 7:45ish, so we could stay at AK past sunset, ride EE in the dark and basically make my entire day. He was totally happy to do it and I know most of you guys are probably thinking it's not a big deal but I am SO excited at the thought of riding EE after sunset! We figure we'll spend most of our day at AK, grab fast passes for EE earlier on, and then use them that evening! Then we'll head to Via Napoli for a late dinner, then spend a few hours over at Magic Kingdom until it closes at 11.

I knoooow I said I wasn't going to plan many other days during our trip, but this day is an exception! In fact, if you look at our spreadsheet most other days are empty (aside from days one and two) for our plans, so it's a pretty laid-back trip.

BUT YAY! I'm even dorky enough to have looked up the time the sun sets on that specific day (it sets at 5:57). Go ahead, you have total permission to make fun of me, but this is something I've really really wanted to do! Cannot wait to spend a really fun day at AK!

Hokay, I know I promised in my last post that I would tell you about my number one item on my bucket list. Something I canNOT believe I have not yet experienced, especially if you know my love for this kind of ride... but...

(FINALLY) RIDE SPLASH MOUNTAIN!



Okay, hopefully you've stopped laughing at me for not having been on Splash Mountain... but it's true, I've never been on it! You see, when I was younger I was terrified of any thrill ride (I rode Space Mountain last trip for the first time and screamed so much Matt said I sounded like someone was murdering me, even though I was just having a blast! )... So my first 2 trips I never made it onto Splash Mountain. Our honeymoon was last January and unfortunately Splash is notorious for being shut down in January for a refurb. I was so depressed about this as this was the one ride I was looking forward to the most.

When I found out BTMRR would be down this January, while most people were super bummed out (and don't get me wrong, I love that ride but it really needs some extra TLC right now), I was actually thrilled because I suddenly thought to myself, "There's no way they would shut down both BTMRR and Splash Mountain at the same time!" So far, it's still looking like it'll be open! I WILL FINALLY RIDE IT! And I can't freakin' wait. I looooove log flume rides; I remember as a teen being obsessed with the log flume ride at FunTown USA in Saco, Maine (Lady Lallie, have you ever been to that place?! Loved it growing up!)... So I can't wait to laugh my way down the big drop on Splash Mountain! This might give Expedition Everest a ride for its money on being my favorite ride in WDW, but we'll see about that.

I am so excited for this trip you guys, I can't even tell you. I read TRs daily and smile because it's getting closer and closer to our turn to join in on the fun.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I can't see your video! Says I don't have permission.

I am not a thrill rider AT ALL. I kinda hate them to be honest. I can't breathe and it really freaks me out. I'm happy you get to ride EE in the dark though, that sounds like it will be fun for you. Note how I said YOU and not me.

 

[danimaroo]

I can't see your video! Says I don't have permission.

I am not a thrill rider AT ALL. I kinda hate them to be honest. I can't breathe and it really freaks me out. I'm happy you get to ride EE in the dark though, that sounds like it will be fun for you. Note how I said YOU and not me.

Well poop. What happened was I originally uploaded it to Facebook, then got it linked to this VodPod site, but apparently it still pulls it from Facebook and has the security settings that my FB has (Friends-only). I *think* I justed fixed it by making it available to the public on FB, so if you can try re-loading it and tell me if that works that would be awesome! Otherwise I'll have to hunt down the file on my Mac and upload it onto YouTube (which I should've just done from the start! )

I can do WDW thrill rides, but I am NOT a Six Flags kinda gal. That is just way too much for me to handle! I am very excited to ride it in the dark but can also understand how it's not everyone's cup of tea. Even Matt gets terrified every time we go backwards in the dark and also down the big drop. It's pretty funny to see the ride photos. I've got this huge smile on my face with my hands in the air, Matt is holding onto the front bar for his dear life. I need to get a photo of it this next trip.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Well poop. What happened was I originally uploaded it to Facebook, then got it linked to this VodPod site, but apparently it still pulls it from Facebook and has the security settings that my FB has (Friends-only). I *think* I justed fixed it by making it available to the public on FB, so if you can try re-loading it and tell me if that works that would be awesome! Otherwise I'll have to hunt down the file on my Mac and upload it onto YouTube (which I should've just done from the start! )

I can do WDW thrill rides, but I am NOT a Six Flags kinda gal. That is just way too much for me to handle! I am very excited to ride it in the dark but can also understand how it's not everyone's cup of tea. Even Matt gets terrified every time we go backwards in the dark and also down the big drop. It's pretty funny to see the ride photos. I've got this huge smile on my face with my hands in the air, Matt is holding onto the front bar for his dear life. I need to get a photo of it this next trip.

I will try to watch it when I get home, I can't watch videos at work.

Have you seen Marc & I's EE picture? I thought I was going to die. I was shaking when I got off that ride, I will NEVER EVER ride it again.

 

[okw19]

Riding EE after sunset sounds awesome! I might have to spend an evening in AK to do that!
I can't believe you've never been on Splash! It is one of my favorites. You will love it!

I'm bursting with excitement too! I think I'm going to have to start emailing you since I'm not doing a PTR.

 

[danimaroo]

I will try to watch it when I get home, I can't watch videos at work.

Have you seen Marc & I's EE picture? I thought I was going to die. I was shaking when I got off that ride, I will NEVER EVER ride it again.

No rush or anything; I'm just hoping it actually works now... I have NOT seen this picture but I am thinking that when I get a moment this morning I am going to have to hunt it down! I really need to get a photo this year of us on EE, especially when we're in the front because it results in hilariousness every time.

I'm sorry you were shaking though; I was kind of the same way the first time I rode Space Mountain. Terrified but also liked it, but when I got off I was just... Whew! But I went on it again because I think I was having more fun than I was terrified, though you'd never know with the way I'd been screaming.

Riding EE after sunset sounds awesome! I might have to spend an evening in AK to do that!
I can't believe you've never been on Splash! It is one of my favorites. You will love it!

I'm bursting with excitement too! I think I'm going to have to start emailing you since I'm not doing a PTR.

I know, right?! I am super super excited that we're going to do it. Last trip we always went to AK in the mornings, so I've never been there later on in this day, but I think it's going to be a total blast. Really happy they extended the hours at AK to 7 in January during the weekends!

And I know, I can't believe I've never been on it either. I cannot tell you how sad I was when we found out it was closed during our last trip. It had been the ride I most looked forward to going on! But this year it looks like we're lucking out and it'll be open. I CANNOT WAIT!

You should totally e-mail me! I love hearing how excited people are for their trips... It's so much fun to get really excited for it!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I went and found it just for YOU.

Can you appreciate my terror?

 

[danimaroo]

I went and found it just for YOU.

Can you appreciate my terror?

I am SO sorry! You look absolutely terrified! I can definitely appreciate it, as I'm telling you, if I'd caught the photo of me on Space Mountain that first time it probably would be similar to this, but I would probably be wide-eyed and screaming with a look of terror on my face.

I shouldn't laugh but that is a total look of "OH DEAR GOD I WILL NEVER RIDE THIS STUPID RIDE EVER AGAIN!"

It does make me wonder what my first time on Tower of Terror will be like, as I'm pretty sure I'm going to be screaming like a little girl.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I am SO sorry! You look absolutely terrified! I can definitely appreciate it, as I'm telling you, if I'd caught the photo of me on Space Mountain that first time it probably would be similar to this, but I would probably be wide-eyed and screaming with a look of terror on my face.

I shouldn't laugh but that is a total look of "OH DEAR GOD I WILL NEVER RIDE THIS STUPID RIDE EVER AGAIN!"

It does make me wonder what my first time on Tower of Terror will be like, as I'm pretty sure I'm going to be screaming like a little girl.

I am never going on EE again....EVER. Nor will I ever go on Tower of Terror. There is no way in h-e- double hockey sticks. It's not gonna happen.

 

[danimaroo]

Totally confused on how the heck my post showed up after yours. I'll definitely have a funny report I'm sure of my first time ever on ToT!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Totally confused on how the heck my post showed up after yours. I'll definitely have a funny report I'm sure of my first time ever on ToT!

I noticed that too! It happened on another thread too. Very weird!