STACE Mountain @WL Aug2010 PTR with PICS- Update 7/22!

[camsmomE]

annmarieda! We crack each other up on this thread- I swear it goes both ways!

Mindy- I vote for EMH over Chef Mickey's breakfast. From what I've been reading on TRs from the past month, the wait for TSM is getting ridiculous. PLUS then you'd have an excuse to have breakfast at The Writer's Stop or Starring Rolls (this is MY plan)

Also- DH and Cameran have lanyards with pins already on them (that I spent over a month accumulating and organizing...) that DH thinks we'll be leaving home this first trip (too much to have on us I guess).

Ok, time to get us ready for church. I have nursery duty today MUST START DRINKING COFFEEEEE.

 

[dolfinjuls]

I love your new camera & bag. I really want a new camera but doubt we'll be getting one before the trip.

And Mindy we do the same for tipping...$1 per person per night, but round up to $5 a night.

 

[Overexcited]

I'm sure every crazy person has a day like this (with over a month until the trip!) but today was MY day to be crazy. I "dummy packed" all our luggage that I plan to take on our trip to WDW with pillows, blankets, heavy objects, JUST SO I COULD "TEST LOAD" THE CAR! Here was the result:

You are so funny!! I start packing way early but that is great! Of course we fly not drive. I wonder if I can get my husband to do a test drive to the airport?

 

[Simba22]

It's actually GOOD that you test-packed the car AND took pictures because now when you are actually getting ready to leave, you know where everything goes and you won't have to worry about wasting time getting it all in there.

I keep telling my BF that we should drive to WDW once...just to see what it's like and make it a "real" vacation (when I was little, we drove EVERYWHERE). So today we drove an hour to see my sister who lives up in Mass.... about 15 minutes from her house my BF goes "Why does this trip take so LONG!?" Guess we're not ever driving to WDW...He can't even make it one stinkin' hour in the car...nevermind 18-20 hours.

 

[camsmomE]

It's actually GOOD that you test-packed the car AND took pictures because now when you are actually getting ready to leave, you know where everything goes and you won't have to worry about wasting time getting it all in there.

I keep telling my BF that we should drive to WDW once...just to see what it's like and make it a "real" vacation (when I was little, we drove EVERYWHERE). So today we drove an hour to see my sister who lives up in Mass.... about 15 minutes from her house my BF goes "Why does this trip take so LONG!?" Guess we're not ever driving to WDW...He can't even make it one stinkin' hour in the car...nevermind 18-20 hours.

I'm with him on this one! My MIL lives in West Palm, and it takes around three hours to get there... ARG, too long! I think she feels the same way because we only get to see each other one a year around the holidays

 

[Mindy5767]

It's actually GOOD that you test-packed the car AND took pictures because now when you are actually getting ready to leave, you know where everything goes and you won't have to worry about wasting time getting it all in there.

I keep telling my BF that we should drive to WDW once...just to see what it's like and make it a "real" vacation (when I was little, we drove EVERYWHERE). So today we drove an hour to see my sister who lives up in Mass.... about 15 minutes from her house my BF goes "Why does this trip take so LONG!?" Guess we're not ever driving to WDW...He can't even make it one stinkin' hour in the car...nevermind 18-20 hours.

That's so funny!! The longest I've ever driven my own personal self is from my house in Friendswood Texas (where we lived 89-94) to my in-laws in Waco Texas. It took exactly 4 hours. My DH does nearly ALL the driving to Orlando. He's a really good long hauler. My parents used to drive us to New York alot when I was a kid (from Maryland). It was about 3-4 hours depending on the speed limit and traffic. My parents couldn't drive 1/2 hour though, without packing snacks. One time, when my DD21 was 16 and had her learners permit, she volunteerily drove nearly all the 889 miles to Orlando. Alas.... the new and eager driver!! We now make the trip in 2 days. We drive to Georgia, then stay overnight and the next day, make the rest of the way. We once did a "road trip" straight through from Houston to Orlando which was 19 hours of straight driving! Never again... but we were young... and..... less crotchety!

 

[Simba22]

That's so funny!! The longest I've ever driven my own personal self is from my house in Friendswood Texas (where we lived 89-94) to my in-laws in Waco Texas. It took exactly 4 hours. My DH does nearly ALL the driving to Orlando. He's a really good long hauler. My parents used to drive us to New York alot when I was a kid (from Maryland). It was about 3-4 hours depending on the speed limit and traffic. My parents couldn't drive 1/2 hour though, without packing snacks. One time, when my DD21 was 16 and had her learners permit, she volunteerily drove nearly all the 889 miles to Orlando. Alas.... the new and eager driver!! We now make the trip in 2 days. We drive to Georgia, then stay overnight and the next day, make the rest of the way. We once did a "road trip" straight through from Houston to Orlando which was 19 hours of straight driving! Never again... but we were young... and..... less crotchety!

crotchety is a word I use all the time and people always look at me like I made it up! I'm so glad someone else out there (besides my mom) knows that word! I would love to make the drive straight through but we would definitely need at least 4 drivers....and a mild sedative for my BF! Which would leave 3 people to do all the driving.

 

[Mindy5767]

crotchety is a word I use all the time and people always look at me like I made it up! I'm so glad someone else out there (besides my mom) knows that word! I would love to make the drive straight through but we would definitely need at least 4 drivers....and a mild sedative for my BF! Which would leave 3 people to do all the driving.

The last trip that our whole family made together was last July. We had 4 drivers.... but driver #4 DS17(at the time)... thought driving to Sam's club for batteries before we hit the road was plenty driving for him! But having 3 was great for the rest of the trip, but we still did it in 2 days. Our upcoming August trip DD22 will not be along, so its DH to do most of the driving. I'll do some.. and DS18 will probably top out after the grocery store!!

 

[annmarieda]

It's actually GOOD that you test-packed the car AND took pictures because now when you are actually getting ready to leave, you know where everything goes and you won't have to worry about wasting time getting it all in there.

I keep telling my BF that we should drive to WDW once...just to see what it's like and make it a "real" vacation (when I was little, we drove EVERYWHERE). So today we drove an hour to see my sister who lives up in Mass.... about 15 minutes from her house my BF goes "Why does this trip take so LONG!?" Guess we're not ever driving to WDW...He can't even make it one stinkin' hour in the car...nevermind 18-20 hours.

I wouldn't want to take a road trip for vacation because of how much time we already spend in the car for work. Dh's commute is 4hrs a day round trip. Right now, for me it can be as much as 3 round trip.... If we go see our family it is 5 or 6 hours there..so 10 to 12 round trip. Needless to say... road trips for us do not equate to vacation time.

 

[Mindy5767]

I wouldn't want to take a road trip for vacation because of how much time we already spend in the car for work. Dh's commute is 4hrs a day round trip. Right now, for me it can be as much as 3 round trip.... If we go see our family it is 5 or 6 hours there..so 10 to 12 round trip. Needless to say... road trips for us do not equate to vacation time.

Ooooh that is an evil commute! I thought it was bad because my DH takes 1/2 hour to get home. We live right on the "bike path" (The Washington & Old Dominion Trail) and my DH's previous workplace (the whole company moved) was also ON the bike path. He could ride his bike to work 13 miles each way. He adored that commute. Now, its 17 miles and much of it is not ON the bike path so he has to ride in traffic. I dislike that alot. I bet when you go on vacation, you don't want to SEEEE a car! I bet the monorail suits you just fine!

 

[camsmomE]

Ok, this is my plan for minimizing wait time in lines on our vacation. SOMEONE PLEASE tell me if there are any flaws with this (mainly because I do not want to look like a doofus).

Since we will have two adult tickets (Cam's still 1, so no ticket at all), I plan on just getting ONE fastpass per ride, and using "rider switch" to get the other person right back on. This should (in theory) allow us to get fastpasses for TWO rides in ONE window. I've done a few searches on the DIS boards on this, as well as on allearsnet.com, so the only thing I worry about now is, they all say there is a "very minimal" chance that the CM *might* ask for both parents to have a fastpass, and then exchange my fastpass for a rider switch. MOST people say this has never happened to them (in fact I haven't seen one single person say they've ever had to exchange a fastpass for a rider switch), but I worry about the possibility, then I won't have one to give them... Kinda a gamble. Any of you parents experience this unliklihood??

 

[dolfinjuls]

Well we really just tried the rider swap on our last trip. The trip before that our MIL came and watched the baby for a few rides, and we just skipped others.

But we did use the rider swap the way you said last year and it worked out well. We were never asked for the other adult's fastpass before entering the line or handed a swap pass. I'm going to say we used it for Soarin', Test Track, Kali River Rapids and Star Tours. The other rides my husband doesn't want to ride, so I rode the single rider line or with a fastpass for myself! So I don't have that much experience trying it, but I was never asked for another fastpass to show.

 

[camsmomE]

Well we really just tried the rider swap on our last trip. The trip before that our MIL came and watched the baby for a few rides, and we just skipped others.

But we did use the rider swap the way you said last year and it worked out well. We were never asked for the other adult's fastpass before entering the line or handed a swap pass. I'm going to say we used it for Soarin', Test Track, Kali River Rapids and Star Tours. The other rides my husband doesn't want to ride, so I rode the single rider line or with a fastpass for myself! So I don't have that much experience trying it, but I was never asked for another fastpass to show.

Oh good! I've been hearing similar stories, so I think it will work. I also read on allears that rider switch passes DO NOT EXPIRE UNTIL THE END OF THE NIGHT (or in some cases THE WEEK!) So.... Hmmm... Let's say DH get a fastpass for R&Rrc (which I will not ride)... we then ask for a rider switch pass for me... and then he comes back at the end of the night and rides with my rider switch. tricky, I know, but it just might work, plus I won't feel bad beacuse while it IS a loophole, obtaining the passes is totally legitimate (who really cares if I ride or not?)

 

[Mindy5767]

You could always try it. The only time we did rider switch was on Test Track, and we had special return passes because the ride had broken down on us when Henry and the two older kids were already boarded onto the ride vehicle. So, when we came back, we had been given these very special fast passes that were good any day or time during our week there. We all got them. That ride breaks down ALOT.... but its so much fun! I haven't done rider switch anywhere else since I'm such a ride wimp anyway.

 

[dolfinjuls]

I don't see a problem with that at all. They give you the pass knowing that someone will be riding it, it doesn't say who!

 

[Mindy5767]

I don't see a problem with that at all. They give you the pass knowing that someone will be riding it, it doesn't say who!

Yeah, I agree with Julie. All Disney should be concerned about is numbers and crowd flow. Who rides specifically is not related to crowd flow.

 

[Overexcited]

We did rider switch at ToT, they did not give us anything, the CM just walked me to the line for the elevator.
I was kind of thinking the same types of questions. If we go with my parents and my dad and husband ride, can I then go on and one of them with me again?

 

[camsmomE]

We did rider switch at ToT, they did not give us anything, the CM just walked me to the line for the elevator.
I was kind of thinking the same types of questions. If we go with my parents and my dad and husband ride, can I then go on and one of them with me again?

yes, you can (have them ride with you I mean). The rider switch allowance is three riders. Also, I looked it up and ToT and a couple other rides (like Space Mntn) have special ways to "trade off" the kids, I guess...

 

[therussells08]

I'm subbing! Your DD is so adorable! She does look like a cute little Stitch!

You are so creative! I love your t-shirt designs and Mousekeeping envelopes!

I can't wait to read more!

 

[camsmomE]

I'm subbing! Your DD is so adorable! She does look like a cute little Stitch!

You are so creative! I love your t-shirt designs and Mousekeeping envelopes!

I can't wait to read more!

Thanks Joni!!! Glad you're here!!