She's Making a June Trip, a June 2023 PTR (Updated 4/17)

[DaisyDuck001]

Your dining reservations look amazing. In my opinion, the only thing missing is Space 220.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Congratulations for getting all your ADR's. That is one thing that you don't have to worry about anymore. The rental car will come in very handy for this trip.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Your dining reservations look amazing. In my opinion, the only thing missing is Space 220.

Yeah, we looked at trying for it, but it just didn’t fit with what we had room for this trip. There’s always next time.

Congratulations for getting all your ADR's. That is one thing that you don't have to worry about anymore. The rental car will come in very handy for this trip.

Thanks! We have very rarely gotten everything we hoped for, so that will be a nice plus this time.
Having the rental should help ease some transitions, but we definitely won’t use it all the time. It will be as nice option though.

 

[rdkeim]

Congrats on the ADR's! Almost makes getting up at 3 am worth it. Almost.... All your choices are great. Anxious to follow along on your trip!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Hi everyone! We were able to call and add one extra reservation for our upcoming trip. We were thinking about booking something special for our anniversary night, and one extra thing kept rising to the top of our list of ideas.

One of our favorite things to look back on from all of our trips has been our fireworks cruises. I LOVE not having to fight crowds to watch them and we get arguably the best seats in the house. So we thought it would be a perfect treat for our anniversary.

We also like getting to go for a boat ride, so I called to book it on Monday. I was happy that the wait on the phone was only a couple of minutes, but they were only able to offer the fireworks cruise from Beach Club, which is for Epcot fireworks not MK ones. We like Epcot, but wanted to do it from WL for MK fireworks, so I waited a couple of days and called back.

There is something magical about the Magic Kingdom fireworks. I remember sneaking away the night before our wedding to catch the Disneyland fireworks. Its one of my favorite memories from our wedding weekend.

That was a fun pre-wedding night. Fortunately when I called back a couple of days later I was able to book a MK cruise, but WL was not available since the marina was not listed as being open. The nice CM advised us to go ahead and book a different resort, and they could switch it to WL at a later date if the marina is listed as being open. Even with only having four of us, the cruise will be a real treat.

So we're setting sail out of the Contemporary which should be just fine. We can drive over there or take a taxi depending on what we've got going on. It might be fun to go out of a different marina anyway. We haven't left from there before.

It might be another case where having a car works out well, since we are anticipating that the Blue Flag boats still won't be running. (Insert my personal rant here about how this is the biggest thing missing from WDW post-COVID. I urge Mr Iger to personally resolve this injustice, but that's another rant...)

Personally resolve this injustice?? Wow. Anyway, It should be a fun evening and much warmer than our last couple cruises. I'm looking forward to not freezing on the boat.

That is very true! A nice summer night on the water sounds great to me.

Another trip update is that we got Mickey Mail!

We got brand new magic bands for this trip. The fancy schmancy new ones that do fancy things.

I feel like we have been in the dark ages of Magic Bands, since I was actually surprised that they now have chargers. Yay, another thing to keep charged during the trips. We would feel like we were missing out if we didn't get them though, so we played along. Everyone was super excited to see their bands.

Seriously I had no idea they needed to be charged but I suppose it makes sense. Hopefully this means they'll last more than a couple years.

It's the price you pay for blinky lights and other interactions.

It is shaping up to be a great trip.

And it is going to be here before we know it!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I figured you'd do the fireworks cruise!

I used to love that boat route between Wilderness Lodge, Ft Wilderness and The Contemporary. It's so crazy that they haven't restored that service yet! But yes, it will be an easy and short drive over there for you, if those boats aren't running yet, and if you can't switch to a WL departure for the fireworks cruise.

The new magic bands look great. I especially like the Orange Bird one.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Hi everyone! We were able to call and add one extra reservation for our upcoming trip. We were thinking about booking something special for our anniversary night, and one extra thing kept rising to the top of our list of ideas.

One of our favorite things to look back on from all of our trips has been our fireworks cruises. I LOVE not having to fight crowds to watch them and we get arguably the best seats in the house. So we thought it would be a perfect treat for our anniversary.

We also like getting to go for a boat ride, so I called to book it on Monday. I was happy that the wait on the phone was only a couple of minutes, but they were only able to offer the fireworks cruise from Beach Club, which is for Epcot fireworks not MK ones. We like Epcot, but wanted to do it from WL for MK fireworks, so I waited a couple of days and called back.

There is something magical about the Magic Kingdom fireworks. I remember sneaking away the night before our wedding to catch the Disneyland fireworks. Its one of my favorite memories from our wedding weekend.

That was a fun pre-wedding night. Fortunately when I called back a couple of days later I was able to book a MK cruise, but WL was not available since the marina was not listed as being open. The nice CM advised us to go ahead and book a different resort, and they could switch it to WL at a later date if the marina is listed as being open. Even with only having four of us, the cruise will be a real treat.

So we're setting sail out of the Contemporary which should be just fine. We can drive over there or take a taxi depending on what we've got going on. It might be fun to go out of a different marina anyway. We haven't left from there before.

It might be another case where having a car works out well, since we are anticipating that the Blue Flag boats still won't be running. (Insert my personal rant here about how this is the biggest thing missing from WDW post-COVID. I urge Mr Iger to personally resolve this injustice, but that's another rant...)

Personally resolve this injustice?? Wow. Anyway, It should be a fun evening and much warmer than our last couple cruises. I'm looking forward to not freezing on the boat.

That is very true! A nice summer night on the water sounds great to me.

Another trip update is that we got Mickey Mail!

We got brand new magic bands for this trip. The fancy schmancy new ones that do fancy things.

I feel like we have been in the dark ages of Magic Bands, since I was actually surprised that they now have chargers. Yay, another thing to keep charged during the trips. We would feel like we were missing out if we didn't get them though, so we played along. Everyone was super excited to see their bands.

Seriously I had no idea they needed to be charged but I suppose it makes sense. Hopefully this means they'll last more than a couple years.

It's the price you pay for blinky lights and other interactions.

It is shaping up to be a great trip.

And it is going to be here before we know it!

Love the new magic bands but am so mad they are phasing o it a lot of the old ones! It’s one more thing to charge lol

 

[Wood Nymph]

The MK fireworks cruise sounds lovely, even if it is from the Contemporary.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I figured you'd do the fireworks cruise!

Yeah, it's no big surprise, buit will be our first time doing it with just the four of us. It is still going to be very much worth it.

I used to love that boat route between Wilderness Lodge, Ft Wilderness and The Contemporary. It's so crazy that they haven't restored that service yet! But yes, it will be an easy and short drive over there for you, if those boats aren't running yet, and if you can't switch to a WL departure for the fireworks cruise.

Yeah, those boats were great, and made everything on Bay Lake feel much more connected. Now it is more of an ordeal to get over to FW or even the Contemporary. I am hopeful that they will come back this summer, but my fear is they have gotten used to not running them, and it is just extra expense at this point.

The new magic bands look great. I especially like the Orange Bird one.

It is super cute. Allie was very excited to get it.

Love the new magic bands but am so mad they are phasing o it a lot of the old ones! It’s one more thing to charge lol

I really wish they had a Wilderness Lodge one, but they don't have a new one of those. We never got one when they were available for a short time.
Yeah, another USB item, we'll throw another charging brick in the suitcase...

The MK fireworks cruise sounds lovely, even if it is from the Contemporary.

The cruise itself will be great either way. It is funny that getting to the CR isn't simple anymore, but driving our car over there and parking will be an option if we have to. Either way, it will be great.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Driving a car from WL to CR is really easy.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Driving a car from WL to CR is really easy.

Yeah, we've done the quick trip in a cab. Without the boats, having the car will come in handy.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Hi Everybody, we are down to 37 days to go! That makes the trip feel really close, and tomorrow it will be next month.

Yesterday while hanging out with Marshall by the pool Paul bought our park tickets! We talked about this in an earlier post but when we finally ordered them there was a sneaky surprise.

Ahh yes, I had mentioned that AAA appeared to be cheaper than Undercover Tourist, but it turned out they added Tax after the fact, making the total actually a few dollars higher than Undercover Tourist.

So we went with Undercover Tourist for our tickets so now we should be able to make our park reservations. I'm glad Paul is on top of all of this because I completely forgot that we had to make our reservations.

Yeah, it is still an extra step we aren't used to. We are betting on being able to park hop during our trip, since with fewer days we want the versatility to visit multiple parks per day to fit in our favorites. We did make the call to go for only four park days though, which will leave us with time for other activities on our arrival and departure days.

I think we'll be ok with only 4 park days. It feels really short but it is a shorter trip than we normally do.

And on our departure day we can go do some running around, which should be fun in the Jeep. Speaking of the Jeep, we got some Disney rubber ducks to share with other Jeeps during our trip.

The kids are excited about "ducking" other Jeeps on vacation and we found the cutest Disney ones. If you have no idea what we're talking about, that's ok, it's new to us too.

It is a Jeep thing where you leave little rubber ducks as a compliment to other Jeeps. The kids have gotten into it, and it is another fun aspect of having a Jeep.

So that's about it for now, we're winding down planning and will start packing soon! I've been trying to get the house ready for our house sitter and do it in stages so I don't go completely crazy.

It's coming, and we can't wait!

 

[Wood Nymph]

And on our departure day we can go do some running around, which should be fun in the Jeep. Speaking of the Jeep, we got some Disney rubber ducks to share with other Jeeps during our trip.

Those little ducks are adorable. The recipients will be very happy.

Four park days are definitely doable, especially when you have been to the parks a lot and don't have to do every ride.

 

[rdkeim]

Getting close! Nice you have the ticket purchase out of the way. Getting so $$ if you add on Genie, ILL etc. Wish my DH was ready to go back. I'm still working on him. The rubber ducks are so cute - that would be a fun thing to do!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Those little ducks are adorable. The recipients will be very happy.

Four park days are definitely doable, especially when you have been to the parks a lot and don't have to do every ride.

We were excited to find Disney Ducks for the trip. We’ll see if the rental Jeep gets “Ducked” in return.

We should do well with four days, especially since they are park hoppers. We will have some park hopping days and will fit the most fin we can on a shorter trip.

Getting close! Nice you have the ticket purchase out of the way. Getting so $$ if you add on Genie, ILL etc. Wish my DH was ready to go back. I'm still working on him. The rubber ducks are so cute - that would be a fun thing to do!

Yeah, the tickets are a big chunk of the trip cost. We aren’t doing Genie+ or Lightning Lanes, so this should be the total, and we’ll see what we get.

Hopefully you’ll both be excited to get to go back soon!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Your trip is soon!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Your trip is soon!

Yes it is! We are working on our single digit day post right now, but we are really looking forward to the trip. We have a busy week ahead of us getting ready, but the reward at the end of it will be great.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Hi everyone, we are popping in with a quick update since today is our single digit day!

I can’t believe the trip is so close!

In nine days we will be arriving at Wilderness Lodge, which coincidentally is turning 29 today.

Happy Birthday to our favorite resort.

We are super busy getting the house ready for sitters and work ready for both of us to be gone.

We made our first trip there what will be exactly 16 years ago during our trip, so that will be cool. Yeah we haven’t had much extra time, and haven’t even done much packing yet. Most of that will be done next weekend.

I truly can’t believe that the suitcases are still in the garage.

That is definitely a record for us. Welcome to a new kind of busy. Now that Allie is out of school for the summer she has started to pack, and she has outfits coordinated to match her mouse ears. It is pretty darn cute.

It’s so nice she can do most of her own packing now which helps me out.

The biggest question is how many checked bags vs carryons are we going to take.

Yeah, one or two checked bags is a question. We could probably get by with one and a couple carry-ons, but it might be easier to pay for two and go with one fewer bags to deal with in the plane. If we go that route we could nest a carry-on in a checked bag so we have more options for bringing stuff home, but anything huge we will just have shipped anyway.

I think the latter is probably my favorite option.

Looking back I think we did the same thing for Hawaii, which was a similar length trip. We’ll probably do two checked bags and two carry ons then, and have more room to work with.

Anyway, that probably won’t be resolved until after four more days of work. At least we’re off tomorrow, except for dealing with on-call issues.

Thank goodness for three day weekends.

And having one more weekend before we go…

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Curious, why are there disembodied hands in the picture with the outfits?

 

[Wood Nymph]

I have absolute faith in your packing skills and know that you will be ready in time.