Some people ARE worth melting for ….. 40 Disney days – the trip of a lifetime updated October 10

[MAGICFOR2]

Sorry for the stress with tests. My DDS AND DDIL are middle school teachers. He teaches history so does not have the "benchmark" testing required, but she is very stressed and frustrated in Spring with required testing. She teaches algebra, and they always seem to give her the difficult kids, too. I don't know how you have taught for so long. They are already burned out 8 years in, and she is studying to be a counselor.

Looking forward to seeing what you have at the HBD lounge.

 

[huntwoof]

Your trip report is amazing ... so happy for you two.

You hitting Five Guys, KFC, and (My Fav) Krispy Kreme is just icing on the top.


WOW!! What a trip you had

 

[dizneeat]

Sorry again for the long time in between updates, it is still crazy at school (still have a pile of geography exams and we had to do one of the Engish exams again because there were so many negative results - and I still have to mark those) and I have had a huge case of PDD. So when I was taking a break I was thinking about going to Disney.

And low and behold I found a cheap(ish) flight into Tampa and an AP holder discount for Pop - did the maths and it would be tight but work. And then I went to go and book and realized that there was one hurdle. What about Pixie, the princess cat? Tom called the cat sitter and she got back to us the following day with bad news - she was booked solid. We don't really want to leave Pixie alone for 10 days so we had to say goodbye to our plans.
Didn't help my mood in the least.
I went on looking for deals and came up with another idea. Pixie has never minded being home for a few days on her own (we have another sitter coming in) so why not look at something else? I checked Barcelona and weekend trips to Vienna, but nothing really tickled my fancy - I was missing Disney and only Disney would help.
So I started checking into DLRP for my half term holiday. I found an apartment at a reasonable price and booked it. We wanted to wait to book our flights with miles only 2 weeks before the trip (it saves about half the miles), but then I had the idea that I could look into different countries offers on the Disney site (most countries have their own DLRP site and there are very rarely offers for Austrians). I punched in our dates and a list of offers opened up. Went through them and the last one was just unbelievable. 20 percent off hotel and tickets. Great price. We quickly talked about it, then decided to just "pay cash" for the flights and book that offer - we would be able to just walk to the parks and the Disney Village and it included breakfast as well. Sat down and tried to book the flights and the flight that we used to take going to Paris was no longer an option. There was one flight going through Vienna with a 35 minute stopover. The airport is not really large, but 35 minutes is not much. The other one had a 6 hour layover in Frankfurt. So no fun and it would take away all of our first day.
So I started looking around again and the flight we had wanted to get on was offered the day before. So a quick look and there was a really cheap offer in a good neighbour hotel, so we booked the flights for a day earlier, leaving here at 7am and arriving in Paris at 1.45pm. Not quite the short flight we had wanted but much better than the other one. I went ahead and booked the Kyriad hotel and then the Disneyland Paris one. And when the confirmation came it hit me! The dates were wrong - they were for exactly one month later!!!
So I called the British office and they were able to change it for us, BUT the offer that I had booked was not valid for our new time frame. So it just got a little more expensive!
But we are booked at Hotel Santa Fe (haven't been there in ages) February 20 - 23 and one night February 19 - 20 at Kyriad with four day hopper tickets.

Once I got over the original shock of the now even more expensive hotel I found out something even more thrilling for our summer vacation. We had always wanted to try Food and Wine Festival, but thanks to my job the dates never fell into my school holidays. But in 2017 it will start on August 31!!!! Which IS within our vacation time.
We decided that we would drop the second one of our cruises in favour of F&W!
So that leaves us with the following summer vacation:

Aug 22 - 28 WDW (no hotel booked so far - I need to wait for the 7 month window to open) hopefully OKW
Aug 28 - Sept 1 Bahamian Cruise on the Disney Dream
Sept 1 - 9 WDW for Food and Wine!!!! Yippie

We are HAPPY!!!


And Tom has created his Christmas Calendars again!

Here are the links:

Food Calendar

Hat Calendar

They both start on December 1st, but you are welcome to take a peek already!


​

 

[franandaj]

You folks really know how to travel! I am so envious of your long trips! I'm so glad you get to take advantage of F&W next year! Let me give you one hint, resist the urge to book regular ADRs! It's hard enough to hit the food kiosks (there are so many), but if you have full meals planned it's hard to find room to eat from the kiosks. I did really enjoy the special F&W lunches that we booked!

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh my, that was a whirlwind of planning but YAY for the end result!!! DLP looks so much fun. I want to ride the Ratatouille ride sooooooo bad!

Awesome about your summer trip

Thank you for the calendar links

 

[KathyM2]

Wow that is sooo exciting...a DL Paris vacay AND Food and Wine...how great is that???

 

[momof3princes]

Wow exciting news! You always seem to find great deals, that is so great. I was excited to see the new date for Food and Wine too! Now if my boys were not always on a sports field...

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I love your love of Disney. If there is a will there's a way for you to make it work.

I've always wanted to be in Disney for the Food and Wine but it just doesn't work out around the school schedules here. I'm glad you'll be able to try it out and I can read all about it on another of your trip reports.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Karin! I'm happy you get to take a Disney fix at DLP

Of course your Aug trip will be amazing as usual! We are headed to DLR on Christmas Eve, so the excitement is building here! I have so much to do, and we have been spending our weekends babysitting while Mark and Lindsay take Londynn to Cheer competitions. Crazy times.

 

[englishrose47]

Am trying to catch up so am at page 6 but my laptop or the Did keeps messing up !!!

 

[dizneeat]

Don't forget to open the Christmas Calendars!

Here are the links:

Food Calendar

Hat Calendar ​

 

[dizneeat]

I am truly sorry about taking so long to get back here, but it has been a stressful few last weeks. Not only did I (and the kids) have to redo the test, there have been a few other exams along the way (smaller ones, but exams none the less) and there was nothing else I could fit in other than a few hours of sleep every day. But I am already enjoying my weekend (yesterday was a holiday here and Friday is considered a window day) and I caught up on emails yesterday (all day ) and I am trying to get and update or two in today. There are also a few updates on upcoming trips as well.

So, without any further ado ...........

I guess that is one bonus to FP+...you can show up at 10:30 and still get to ride TSMM lol. Fun day so far! Even with the parking kerfuffle lol

That is the biggest bonus for us - being able to show up whenever we want and at least have three rides to get on without a long wait. And about parking - we seem to be the lucky ones to start a new row at most parks.It's become a running gag.

Hello! Long time lurker here, just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed reading your various TR's.

How awesome that you came out of lurkdome. I just love knowing my readers.

You have an excellent way w/words.

Thank you so much for your kind words. I means a lot to me, especially since English is not my first language.

For some reason I can't quite explain I think it's really cool that you and Tom enjoy your snacks & casual foods from Publix as well as WDW dining. I love my Publix sweet tea lol.

Coming from another continent, there are some things we cannot get around here and Publix seems to be the perfect fix when it comes to soft breads, spreads and salads. You should see what all is in my suitcase when we go home.

Look at those beautiful zebras! Those hallways at Kidani are very very long. I've heard the BW are even worse.

The view was awesome and I just loved waking up and looking out onto the Savannah and seeing those animals. And you are right - those hallways are long, but I think the ones at WL are at least as long. The one time we stayed there it took us forever to get to our room (view of the quiet pool) from the lobby.

The artwork at the AK resorts is so cool.

Yes, it is beautiful, but the fun fact was that they had those crocheted blankets on display and my grandma used to make the same ones.

Is there another back check at HS that I don't know about?

Yes, there definitely is. If you walk from the parking lot on the left side, you'll get to a small bag check, right before you get to guest services outside the park.

I think the only thing good about being at the end of the row is your car is easily found.

IF you find the right section and row.

Oh my about having to give those students a second exam. Not fun.

No fun or either them or me - marking another 20 exam books - no fun at all.

Looking forward to seeing how your Brown Derby experience was, that place always seems all over the place service wise.

Update coming up soon. But without getting ahead of myself - we are looking forward to stopping by there again in the summer.

When we go on Toy Story Mania I am the one that sits in the middle and observes, I don't think I would do very well anyway

I am proud to say that my accuracy is always higher than his, but he gets the most points.

 

[dizneeat]

How was the cake? I've often thought about getting one, but haven't done it yet.

This was the second time I ordered one and they were both delicious. The cake was really moist and the filling (dark chocolate mousse) and icing (buttercream) were so good. This one had fondant on it, but buttercream underneath.

Looking forward to seeing what you have at the HBD lounge.

Update coming up soon - later today.

Your trip report is amazing ... so happy for you two.

You hitting Five Guys, KFC, and (My Fav) Krispy Kreme is just icing on the top.


WOW!! What a trip you had

Thank you! It was an awesome trip and great things are still to come.
As far as food goes - we tried to hit as many of our US favourites that we cannot get over here and we were doing pretty well.

You folks really know how to travel! I am so envious of your long trips!

I am so envious of how close you live to Disneyland.

I'm so glad you get to take advantage of F&W next year! Let me give you one hint, resist the urge to book regular ADRs! It's hard enough to hit the food kiosks (there are so many), but if you have full meals planned it's hard to find room to eat from the kiosks. I did really enjoy the special F&W lunches that we booked!

We will definitely take that to heart as during F&G we had too many ADRs and could not taste as much as we would have liked. We can have all our ADRs the first few days though - we will stay at WDW for 5 nights before the cruise next summer.
How did you find out about the special lunches though - will they be advertised on the Disney site? Since we have never been able to attend I have not paid any attention to it. Help!

 

[dizneeat]

Oh my, that was a whirlwind of planning but YAY for the end result!!! DLP looks so much fun. I want to ride the Ratatouille ride sooooooo bad!

I needed something to keep me sane and planning to go see Mickey is the best thing.
We have not been back to DLP for two years, so it is going to be exciting, even for us. And I promise to ride the "rat-ride" for you. We have yet to go through the regular line and I am hoping that we will be able to hit the park soon enough to be able to do it.

Awesome about your summer trip

I am counting on seeing you there. Sharing Disney Magic with good friends is the best.

Thank you for the calendar links

Hope you like it. He takes real pride in creating them and this year we got some really good photos.

Wow that is sooo exciting...a DL Paris vacay AND Food and Wine...how great is that???

Couldn't believe that Food and Wine would be able before I retired. So so so happy we will be able to experience it next summer.

Wow exciting news! You always seem to find great deals, that is so great. I was excited to see the new date for Food and Wine too! Now if my boys were not always on a sports field...

Thank you! It is exciting to be able to count down to something other than the next exam. So far I was pretty lucky with finding good deals and I have some more news as well. Too bad your boys are such sports heros, but one day ......

I love your love of Disney. If there is a will there's a way for you to make it work.

I need to make it work. Austria is pretty under developed when it comes to Disney.

I've always wanted to be in Disney for the Food and Wine but it just doesn't work out around the school schedules here. I'm glad you'll be able to try it out and I can read all about it on another of your trip reports.

I so understand what you are saying. I have always wanted to go and it had always started just a few days after we would leave. So imagine how excited we were when I found out when it will be starting next summer.

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Karin! I'm happy you get to take a Disney fix at DLP

Yes, and only 72 more days until we get there.

Of course your Aug trip will be amazing as usual! We are headed to DLR on Christmas Eve, so the excitement is building here! I have so much to do, and we have been spending our weekends babysitting while Mark and Lindsay take Londynn to Cheer competitions. Crazy times.

Wow! DL for Christmas - that sounds just wonderful. Hope you take a gazillion photos. We loved being back at DL this summer and I wish we could make it there again rather sooner than later. Guess your grandkids are loving spending time with you and how can Londynn be old enough for Cheer competitions. They grow up too fast.

Am trying to catch up so am at page 6 but my laptop or the Did keeps messing up !!!

Not sure if you are all caught up by now, but you can use the links in the first post for shortcuts, Rosie!

 

[dizneeat]

Before the next update on the "trip of a lifetime", here is a little update on what's on the agenda for 2017.

Paris is all booked, all that was left to do is check menus and I am sorry to say, there is not a lot that tickles my/our fancy, so I guess it will be 5 days of Earl of Sandwich, quick service and baguette, cheese and ham from the supermarket, plus some yummies from our favourite boulangerie.
There is no online ADR to do (you can call in, but same day will work IF you need an ADR), all that is left to do is rent a car. Guess that will be done once my Christmas vacation starts on December 23.

BUT

There are a few things to add to our summer vacation.

Our flight is only coming in at 6pm and until we have gone through immigration, customs and picked up a rental it will be around 8pm. We decided not to spend that first night at a Disney hotel, but to stay offsite at the Clarion Lake Buena Vista. We have stayed there before for a night and while it is not Disney it was always clean and okay for one night. Well, it is only 75$ so that was easy.
And then we will move on to the ......






wait for it





did you say OKW?





Nope!





Wait for it ........

We won't have enough points to cover both 5 nights in the beginning and 9 nights at the end of the trip, so I had to shop around for an affordable hotel. I checked on the Disney site, hoping for an AP discount later this year, but still Pop would be close to 900$. I started looking at other sites and came across an unbelievable offer. I did some background checks, but in the end it sounded like a great offer - so we are now staying at the Grand for the first five nights.

The other thing that I managed to do was to finally buy two new Annual Passes (Gold, as we won't be there for any blackout days anyway). Getting them was quite an adventure in itself as our current APs are still good until end of March. I could not buy them on the website, so I had to call. took some time to explain to the CM that I wanted a NEW AP that I would only activate in August, as she kept telling me that it was much better to just renew my old one. But after quite some time and explaining we got what we wanted and are now happy to hold a Gold AP good for 13 months, that will not only cover 2017's vacation, but even 2018's.




Okay, and now on to a TR update!

​

 

[dizneeat]

Day 8, August 10

High Score!! - Part 2

We looked at the sign and found out it would open in just 5 minutes, so we hung around and when they finally let people in we were within the first ones to enter.
It was now noon and the sun was hot, so we needed a seat under an umbrella. They have a few regular tables, but they were in the sun, so we had to climb onto those bar stools at the side of the lounge. Once we were comfortably seated, we had a look at the menu and a server was right at hand with some ice water and giving suggestions of what they had on offer. It took us a few more minutes to make our mind up, but when the server returned we were able to place our order and soon she returned with our drinks. Tom had ordered the

Bloody Mary, Absolut peppar vodka and bloody Mary mix garnished with house-made pickles, pickled green beans, celery and olives, while I had my heart set on the

Grapefruit Cake Martini, Deep Eddy's ruby red grapefruit vodka, Stoli vanilla vodka and a splash of cream with a vanilla wafer rim. And they both did not disappoint. I loved my drink, it was soooo good and Tom raved about his Bloody Mary as well. So we sat there, posted photos of our yummy drinks on social media and waited for the food we had ordered. It took a little time until it was served, but it was more than worth the wait.
We had ordered two dishes and were now going to share them. We had ordered the

Andouille-crusted Shrimp served on Cotswold Cheddar Grits, Micro Salad with Lime, and Piment d'Espelette Oil and the

Derby Sliders,

Wagyu beef with cognac-mustard aioli, smoked gouda cheese, bacon and avocado, and

duck confit, Taleggio cheese, chipotle vegetable slaw, sweet onion and orange conserve, and crispy leeks and both were as delicious as the description had sounded. There was no doubt we were going to finish both. It was so nice sitting there, nibbing on the yummy food and sipping our drinks, but after about an hour we were ready to head out into the park again.
We still had some time until our next FastPass and The Great Movie Ride was just nearby, so we walked over there. There was quite a long line, which actually started way outside the theatre,

but it had said that there was just a 20 minute wait, so we decided to just give it a try. Waiting in the hot sun outside was quite something, but after about 10 minutes we had made it into the air conditioned building and slowly but surely we moved forward.

It took a bit over those 20 minutes until we sat down in the ride vehicle and off we went into the movies.

Somehow, no matter how often we have been on that ride, it is always a fun ride.
Once the ride was over we again were way into our next FastPass window, so we headed over to the Tower of Terror. Scanned our bands and jumped right in line, passing quite a few people in the stand by line. It did not take long and we found ourselves in the library, watching the movie and then on to the boiler room. The boiler room was packed, but they were using all elevators and soon we were told where to go and sit and off we went into the Twilight Zone. There were a few first timers on our ride and we had a lot of fun watching them react to the ride. Once we got off, we scanned our magicbands for the photo and off we went. There was one more thing we wanted to do, check out some facts about Rock’n’Rollercoaster for one of Tom’s geocaches and after doing so, we slowly strolled through the shops towards the exit. And while doing so, we found ourselves inside Starbucks. Why not get another beverage there? So I got my trusted favourite, the

Shaken Iced Tea Lemonade and Tom tried something new, the Cool Lime Starbucks Refresher. It took a while for the drinks to come out and we enjoyed the airconditioning in there. Drinks in hand we slowly walked down to the exit and over to the tram stop. Again, one had just pulled out, so we waited and got on the next one, where we sat and roasted in the sun until we finally got moving. Once we got off we started the long hike back to the car. Once there we drove back to Kidani and while doing so, the skies got darker and darker. We arrived at Kidani and went to our room, relaxed for a bit and while doing so we heard that the rain had started. Even more reason to take a little break. We started to pack up things we had purchased and downloaded the photos we had taken and just watched a little TV. Time went by fast and soon it was time to get ready to head out again.

To be continued ....


Don't forget to open the Christmas Calendars!

Here are the links:

Food Calendar

Hat Calendar ​

 

[momof3princes]

I have never had a Bloody Mary but the one Tom got looked great! Your drink looked good as well!
That is awesome you get to stay at the Grand Floridian!!!!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Glad to hear you got your annual passes straightened out. Wow, you already have your 2017 and 2018 vacations figured out. I love reading your trip reports so that assures me they'll me more.

 

[franandaj]

How did you find out about the special lunches though - will they be advertised on the Disney site? Since we have never been able to attend I have not paid any attention to it. Help!

They will start to release information between May and August, usually on the Disney food blog. At first it is just a few announcements about "what's new!" or "what's returning!". I'd have to go back and look at my TR to see when I posted about finding them out. Generally by 1st of August they're released and then about a week or so later they have a call in to sign up. It's crazy. Events sell out in 20 minutes. Think first day of DCL booking crazy!

I'm just about to post our French lunch experience on my TR (when I get caught up on replies). As far as others, I have done the tequila pairing, (although I would only recommend that if you like to sip tequila), we did a Mediterranean lunch this trip, and I've also done the sake pairing in Japan. Italy has beer and wine lunches, but I've never done those. Trader Sams had an event, but it was not while we were there. There are also events like Party for the Senses, dessert parties, burger bashes and all kinds of stuff including American Celebrity chefs. I'll try and post a link to last year's listing so you get an idea. Every year is similar with only a fee tweaks and changes.