Summer's over and I'm sad. So let's start a pre-trip report! Feb 2015 *update 1/7*

[Joyciemc]

I can't wait to hear all about your DL trip!! I hope you had an amazing time.

Your tree is so pretty, and glad you had a wonderful thanksgiving! Congrats on the AP's and good luck in a couple weeks with FP selections!! YAY!!

You do hit a lot of points good & bad about FP selections! One other REALLY GOOD one is having FP's already for a park you enter later in the day. I think if they did away with tiering, and added in the ability to always carry, say, 3 fast passes (i.e. after you use your first, you can go on your app and add in another one) I would be one happy camper for sure!

Yes! Those changes to FP would make things almost perfect (well, at least much better, lol)

I just spent 2 hours uploading and editing pics from just our FIRST day at DL! I have the beginning typed up and hope to finally get something posted tomorrow!

 

[Joyciemc]

I know this is getting repetitive, but I seriously can not figure out where the time is going! How the bleep is Christmas next week?

Anyway, I still haven't started posting my DL trip report... but I have been working on it.

Here's a sneak peek from our first day in the parks: (WHY AREN'T MY AWESOME EDITS SHOWING UP? DOES PHOTOBUCKET HATE ME?!? Edit: ok, they seem to be working now)

And the razor blade that came with the hotel where we spent our first night:

More related to this pre-trip report... we got our Annual Passes!

Ok, ok, we technically got our exchange vouchers. But close enough!

And I was worrying about the vouchers arriving in time for us to make our FP+ selections because I thought I'd have to link them to our Magic Bands. Imagine my astonishment when I logged in to My Disney Experience to find that it was already updated with our APs! Woah, that is freaky. And impressive. I know lots of folks are not so keen on the whole MDE/FP+/Magic Band thing, but I have to say that my experiences so far have been pretty good.

Since I can now technically make FP+ selections for the next 60 days, I've been practicing I don't actually book anything, but I like playing around to see what's available. I consider that entertainment, so yes, I am easily amused.

We have been on a planning kick, because we also booked our Universal hotel!

We're staying at the Royal Pacific for a night! We wanted Express Pass access, and this way we also get early entry on our second (and only) morning. We're going to have just shy of two days at Universal, but I am SO eager to be going back after getting just a teeny-tiny look at Diagon Alley in September.

Just a little over two months away, and I have a feeling it's going to be here in an instant, considering how quickly I've lost the last few months...

 

[Imagineer5]

Woohoo!!! Yay for staying onsite at RPR for a night, that will be so much fun! How are you playing around with booking 60 days of FP's if you aren't at the 60 day mark yet??? LOL. Awesome for getting your vouchers though! That's great! It just reminded me my AP expired 3 days ago and I didn't even give it a ceremonial goodbye. (I'm just getting a new one for May since I think have a 6-month span of AP being unused seems wasteful!).

 

[BennyFedora]

Woohoo!!! Yay for staying onsite at RPR for a night, that will be so much fun! How are you playing around with booking 60 days of FP's if you aren't at the 60 day mark yet??? LOL. Awesome for getting your vouchers though! That's great! It just reminded me my AP expired 3 days ago and I didn't even give it a ceremonial goodbye. (I'm just getting a new one for May since I think have a 6-month span of AP being unused seems wasteful!).

Since we have AP vouchers, we technically could be at the parks today, so we've been checking what FP+s are currently available. We schedule what we'd want if teleportation were a thing, fine-tune them for practice, and then cancel them

 

[Joyciemc]

Woohoo!!! Yay for staying onsite at RPR for a night, that will be so much fun! How are you playing around with booking 60 days of FP's if you aren't at the 60 day mark yet??? LOL. Awesome for getting your vouchers though! That's great! It just reminded me my AP expired 3 days ago and I didn't even give it a ceremonial goodbye. (I'm just getting a new one for May since I think have a 6-month span of AP being unused seems wasteful!).

DUH! I meant that I can make FPs for 30 days out, lol.

It's sad when an AP expires, but it makes sense not too waste 6 months!

Also, thanks for sticking around this report!

 

[Joyciemc]

I've finally started my Disneyland Trip Report! I'd love for folks to check it out

No Potatoes?!? A Disneyland trip report

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Hooray for a night at the Royal Pacific Resort! I look forward to your thoughts on the resort we're headed there for three nights in May - I may be a TEENY BIT excited about it. dance3

Jumping over to your Disneyland report now...

 

[Joyciemc]

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Hooray for a night at the Royal Pacific Resort! I look forward to your thoughts on the resort we're headed there for three nights in May - I may be a TEENY BIT excited about it. dance3

Jumping over to your Disneyland report now...

We did have a Merry Christmas! Hope that you did as well!!

I am SO excited to return to Universal! We stayed at Portofino Bay a few years ago and just loved it. Can't wait to check out a new-to-us resort!

 

[Joyciemc]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Any one have any resolutions this year? I don't normally, but this year I've decided to give up caffeine. I drink a LOT of coffee and a LOT of Diet Coke/Coke Zero and I was curious to see what would happen to me without all of that caffeine. So far? I'm sleepy... but today I can kinda say that maybe I'm benefiting from de-toxing off my drug of choice. We'll see how long it lasts, though...

We've officially de-Christmased our house which means now I can set my sights firmly on our Disney trip! It also means the holidays are over and I have a little time for trip reporting. Which is good because both this pre-trip and my Disneyland report have been sadly neglected.

The day after Christmas was our FP day, so naturally I stayed up late so I could book them as soon as possible. It wasn't too hard to stay up because Ben and I spent the evening binge watching an amazing show called "Orphan Black". If you haven't seen it yet, DO IT! But be careful; it's addictive!
Anyway, soon enough it was midnight and I thought I could make my FP selections. Except they didn't become available until about 1:30am. And yes, I was still awake, like a crazy person. I may have been a zombie the next day, but at least I have my trip planned!

Now that all of our reservations have been made, I figured I may as well jot down our daily plans. I'm going to start with the Universal portion of the trip:

Day 1:
Arrive 9:35am and pick up rental car to drive to Universal. Hopefully our room will already be ready, but it doesn't really matter since we're heading right out to the parks. I think we'll focus on non Harry Potter stuff this day, but I'm sure I won't be able to resist poking in to see Diagon Alley (the brief bit I saw in September really has me itching to go back).

Once the parks close, it'll be time to find some dinner either at CityWalk or at Royal Pacific. Not really sure where, and open to suggestions!

Day 2:
A bright and early start to take advantage of early entry to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Then we'll finish up whatever we want to see more of at both parks before heading out around 5pm. We'll check in at Old Key West and then make our way to dinner at Whispering Canyone Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. I don't have plans for us to visit a Disney Park this day, but we do have Annual Passes, so you never know!

 

[Imagineer5]

Hope you got all the FP you wanted! And had a very merry Christmas of course!!

Your first two days sound fun, fit in some pool time if you can! I'd spend some time in Hogsmeade the first day so you can focus on Universal & Diagon Alley the 2nd day. For dinner - margaritaville was delicious and fun, and tchoup chop was delicious as well. Or you could pop into Mythos for a meal!

 

[Hyonlyf]

I am enjoying following along! Look forward to seeing how your trip unfolds.

I couldn't resist following another Joyce (who is under 50) Funny how I know NO one my age named Joyce lol

 

[Joyciemc]

Hope you got all the FP you wanted! And had a very merry Christmas of course!!

Your first two days sound fun, fit in some pool time if you can! I'd spend some time in Hogsmeade the first day so you can focus on Universal & Diagon Alley the 2nd day. For dinner - margaritaville was delicious and fun, and tchoup chop was delicious as well. Or you could pop into Mythos for a meal!

I'm hoping it will be warm enough for some evening pool time... I've never been to Florida late Feb/early March before, so I'm not totally sure what to expect.
I had my eye on Tchoup Chop, especially since it's at our resort so it's good to hear you enjoyed it... but Mythos gets great reviews and we've never been there, so I'm torn. Lol

I'm kinda obsessed with Hogwarts Express, so I have a feeling we'll pop back and forth between Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley a bit. Gringotts and ice cream from Florian Fetescue's are my two top priorties for Harry Potter fun.

I am enjoying following along! Look forward to seeing how your trip unfolds.

I couldn't resist following another Joyce (who is under 50) Funny how I know NO one my age named Joyce lol

What?! Another Joyce? That's awesome!! Are you SURE you're not over 50? Growing up I always heard "Oh, that's my mom's name"
Thanks for popping in!

 

[Hyonlyf]

What?! Another Joyce? That's awesome!! Are you SURE you're not over 50? Growing up I always heard "Oh, that's my mom's name"
Thanks for popping in!

I am in my 40's and have never, ever met another Joyce my age. My mom was born in 1925 and had me late in life so I got the old fashioned name. I see many older names making a comeback, but poor Joyce is not making that resurgence lol.

 

[Joyciemc]

I am in my 40's and have never, ever met another Joyce my age. My mom was born in 1925 and had me late in life so I got the old fashioned name. I see many older names making a comeback, but poor Joyce is not making that resurgence lol.

My dad was a UPS driver and got my name off a package he delivered shortly before I was born. No great story there
I've always liked my name and it was pretty convenient to not be one of many in school or at work, but I do get excited when I meet another one!

 

[Joyciemc]

I had another Disney nightmare last night... I won't bore anyone with specifics, but it involved not being able to get ready fast enough and missing a bunch of our plans. Doesn't take a psychologist to figure out the meaning of that... I have these dreams whether there's a trip coming up or not, but they get more frequent when a trip's getting close and this one is sneaking up on me pretty quickly!

Here's some more of our plans:
Day 3:
Our first full WDW day. We're heading to the MK in time for the opening show, one of my favorite Disney things!
We have FP for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, followed by Thunder Mountain. They're on the early side to be before lunch- which is at Liberty Tree Tavern. Our third FP is for Space Mountain. We'll ride other stuff depending on wait times/ how much time we have, but those three are the ones we want to be sure not to miss.

After Space, we'll probably head back to Old Key West for a break. Later on, we might head to Epcot before dinner at Yachtsman's Steakhouse.

Having to make ADRs and now FP+ means we're planning our days more than we typically do, but we're still keeping things fairly loose and trying to have time to relax so we don't come home compltely exhausted like we usually do. We'll see how that goes..

Day 4:
This is less of an early start, since we're planning on going to Epcot. Neither of us care much for Soarin or Test Track (we're obviously the odd ones out around here), so there isn't much need for us to get there early. We mostly just like to drink at the World Showcase, anyway (if I'm being totally honest ) We don't have a lunch ADR and we're thinking of heading to the Dolphin to grab something at the Cabana pool bar since I've read soome good reviews and we've never spent much time at the Swan/Dolphin.
I didn't make any FP for Epcot, instead using them for when we hop over to Hollywood Studios. I got Rock N' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror and Star Tours.

Dinner is at Sanaa, one of our absolute favorite WDW restaurants. Yum yum yum!