Surprising the Kids with a NYE Trip! Jan '16 PTR (Update 12/29 We're off! See ya in 10 days!)

[locashaina]

Here is my first attempt at a pre-trip report...http://www.disboards.com/threads/pre-trip-report-nye-at-the-grand-floridian.3428409/#post-54362144 I've kind of hit a point where I do not have anything new to add... mainly because I don't know what other info to include!

 

[locashaina]

Day 7 1/5
Epcot 1/2 day?
Lunch or dinner @ Via Napoli. Pay OOP. Since Dec is my birthday month, we'll get a $50 Gift Certificate from the Patina Group by signing up for their mailing list! Saw this tip here on the Dis! Here's the link, if anyone's interested Patina News & Notes. Not sure if they will actually accept the GC at Via Napoli but supposedly they will if you put in an Orlando zip code and choose it as your "favorite restaurant" on the form.

Thanks for the info! If that works I will be HAPPY! December is my birthday month as well!

 

[locashaina]

Do you guys do Disney Movie Nights? We love doing them. Sometimes I go all out and do a whole themed night with a special menu, decorations and crafts but most often we just take our dinner to the family room, snuggle in and pop in the film.

I thought I'd keep a running list here of all the movies we want to see before our trip. Some we've seen over and over and over and over... (I'm lookin' at YOU Frozen!) some the kids havn't seen yet (oh Aladdin, hurry up and come out of the Vault!) And some they haven't even heard of (so THAT'S where the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House came from!)

A will mean that we've featured it in a DMN. I'll also include new movies we see in the theater in RED. So here it goes!

A Bugs Life
Aladdin
Aristocrats
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Beauty and the Beast
Big Hero 6
Brave
Cars
Cinderella
Cinderella (Live action)
Dumbo
Fantasia
Finding Nemo
Frozen
Incredibles
Inside Out
Jungle Book
Jungle Book (Live action)
Lady & the Tramp
Lion King
Little Mermaid
Mary Poppins
Monsters Inc.
Monsters University
Mulan
Peter Pan
Pocahontas
Pinoccio
Princess & the Frog
Ratatouille
Robin Hood
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White
Star Wars: A New Hope
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Swiss Family Robinson
Tangled
Tarzan
Tomorrowland
Tom & Huck
Toy Story Trilogy
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Winnie the Pooh

So what do you think of the list? Did I leave anything out? Which movies do you watch to prep/get excited for your trips?

Still catching up and this is where I'm at! lol what about the 101 Dalmatians?

 

[locashaina]

So a couple weeks ago the Disney Store was having a sale on T-shirts and I found some that I really liked! They came last week and they're a little more matchy-matchy than I thought they would be. When I ordered them, the picture of Evelyn's shirt looked like a deep purple and the picture of Eric's shirt looked like a very light blue. It ended up that they boys' shirts are both the same color and the girls' shirts are the same color but I still like them! I'm happy with these! Maybe we'll wear them on New Year's Eve??


Mickey Shirts by Lauren Parker, on Flickr

I keep seeing people on here talk about the difficulty matching with partners! MY guy likes to match more than I do!

 

[locashaina]

Okay! So now that our flights are booked and we have OUR schedule all figured out, I decided to consult Touring Plans'see crowd calendar to try & get the rest of our park days nailed down* and possible ADRs.

(*As we all know "nailed down" means: my plans are absolutely firm... until I change my mind again! )

So here's what I have in mind. A couple things are still up in the air. I'll note those in PINK along with my thinking. The first couple days are pretty detailed in my head just because I've been stressing about those the most. The rest are definitely more go-with-the-flow. Feel free to poke holes where you see snags.

Day 1. 12/30/15
Arrival day! Flight arrives @ MCO 6:05 am!
Magical Express to AKL Kidani (Check in isn't until 4:00 pm, right? This means we have time to kill!)
Bus to Magic Kingdom! Crowd Level 10/EMH 2:00 am
Breakfast ADR at Crystal Palace (Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger)- Since we are now leaving too early on our departure day to venture to the MK for this must-do breakfast, I thought it might be fun for our arrival day! How long do you guys think it will take from airport to Park? Is 10:00 am a realistic time for an ADR? Is this just a bad idea?
Stay in the MK through the Christmas parade then back to AKL.
Hopefully our room will be ready! If not, then pool time. (We'll pack our swim suits in our cary-ons)
Explore the resort, nap, rest
Dinner ADR @ Sanaa - I was sort of thinking it would be nice to have a sit-down meal since we'd probably be kind of tired. On the flip side... we might not feel like a sit down meal because we'll probably be tired. I still don't know about this one. Thoughts?
Return to the MK late to see Holiday Wishes & the preview of Fantasy in the Sky.
Back to AKL
Bed time!

Day 2. 12/31/15
New Year's Eve!
Bus to Hollywood Studios! Crowd Level 10/ EMH 2:00 am
Grab a quick breakfast in room or snacks at the park
Arrive prior to rope drop
Stay in HS until 11:00 am or just after the first Indiana Jones show finishes
Return to AKL
Lunch @ the Mara
Pool/resort time, naps
Return to HS/ Dinner ADR @ 50's PTC or SciFi Dine-In - Not sure which one to choose; to be honest, it will probably depend on which I can actually secure a late ADR for! I'm leaning toward SciFi, even though I personally would prefer 50's but I think SciFi would be a better fit and here's why: We're in WDW longer than we'll have DP credits for PLUS I really, really want to do CRT this trip which means we'll have about 3 meals we'll have to do OOP. SciFi is relatively inexpensive so I figured this could be one of our OOP meals. Also, in reality my family would probably like the food better at SciFi. I absolutely LOVE 50's comfort food (mmmm... pot roast... drooool) but Eric does not. He calls meat loaf "hunk of meat dinner" and refuses to buy fried chicken because he "doesn't want to pay for bones." The kids won't eat mashed potatoes or green beans, although they'd get a kick out of the theatrics. SciFi's menu would really appeal to them and the cars are really cool. Anyhoo... that's the delima.
The rest of the evening will be about enjoying the NYE festivities!
Will probably try & see Osborne Dancing Lights
NYE Fireworks!

Day 3. 1/1/16
New Year's Day!
Sleep in a bit
Uber ride share to Polynesian
Breakfast ADR at O'hanna (Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, Pluto)
Monorail to Epcot! Crowd Level 9

Days 4-9 in the next post...

Like I've said I'm still catching up so you are already booked for ADRs. One possible issue I'm accounting for is the first day for ADRs. We're also doing a red eye and have a layover in Cincinnati. We're not making ADRs for the first day IN CASE we get delayed by snow.... *crossing fingers for NOT***

 

[locashaina]

Your PTR is one of the few I have found for this time. I found the thread for the tree exchange if you are interested in participating!
http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-...exchange-thread.3162428/page-10#post-54399768

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Hi, Lauren! I'm trying to catch up with what I've missed the past few weeks (months?! ) and can't believe your trip is just a few months away!

I'm super excited about all of your dining plans! I'm thrilled you got a Fantasmic dinner reservation (I don't believe I'll see Fantasmic another way again!) and I love your princess-filled day of BBB, BoG, and CRT! I'm also excited that you made the Pirate's League reservation.

I think going ADR-free on your first day is a wise move in case of flight delays or cranky children (or a cranky husband ). The good news is you can always make a last-minute ADR if you're just dying to eat somewhere. There seemed to be plenty of examples of restaurants "not taking walk-ups" but having ADRs available earlier in the day. I think they just want people to make the ADR.

I hope adding your extended family to your ADRs isn't TOO stressful (although it would certainly stress me out! ). The worst case scenario for the hardest-to-get meals is that you go to your ADR, they find their own dinner, and you meet up afterwards.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Followed you from my PTR...I'm definitely along for the ride! You have a beautiful family!! Your NYE trip sounds amazing, and what a surprise it will be!!
I wish I got surprises like that when I was growing up! Your ADRs look great! Very yummy choices and the Fantasmic package is great - very good seats for the show!

Yay! Chunkymonkey visited my thread! I may lurk your other TRs... and your blog... Okay, I'm a total stalker! So, SuLynn! Glad to have you following along!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Here is my first attempt at a pre-trip report...

I popped over! We NYEers have to stick together

Thanks for the info! If that works I will be HAPPY! December is my birthday month as well!

Yah! Disney AND birthdays!

Still catching up and this is where I'm at! lol what about the 101 Dalmatians?

Good one! Lately I can only find the live action one. Its not bad but its not as good as the animated one, IMHO.

MY guy likes to match more than I do!

Lol! Seriously, mine too! I'm coming around though... and maybe going overboard...

IN CASE we get delayed by snow.... *crossing fingers for NOT***

Oh dear lord, this is my nightmare.

I found the thread for the tree exchange if you are interested in participating!

OOOoooo fun! I'll have to check it out!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

For NYE we are going to Animal Kingdom during the day and that night we are going to hang around our resort. As much as I would love to check out MK or HS or EPCOT I am worry that it will be too crowded to be enjoyable. Really, its only the actual NYE crowds that scare me, I think the other days will be manageable.

Oh I hate being bound by the school calendar. What a pain! I want to go to MNSSHP so badly, we have even planned two different trips and both ended up canceled. Maybe, after Bob retires we will make it?

Sounds like a wise decision with two littles. I know we're completely nuts for going into a park but I figure, we're THERE so why not? Our kiddos are *probably* old enough to handle it and if it starts to go south, we can always make a run for it.

I say the same thing.. "when Eric retires we'll do it..." Of course THAT's when he wants to travel the country going to college football games.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Hi, Lauren! I'm trying to catch up with what I've missed the past few weeks (months?! ) and can't believe your trip is just a few months away!

Yay! You're back!! We've missed you! Now I've got to go see if you've started your TR yet.

I'm super excited about all of your dining plans! I'm thrilled you got a Fantasmic dinner reservation (I don't believe I'll see Fantasmic another way again!) and I love your princess-filled day of BBB, BoG, and CRT! I'm also excited that you made the Pirate's League reservation.

Thanks! I'm pretty excited about our Princess day too. I think it will be fun! I can understand why the Fantastic package is so popular now that I've seen the map. Looks like the best seats are reserved for it AND you don't have to "waste" a FP+ selection!

I think going ADR-free on your first day is a wise move in case of flight delays or cranky children (or a cranky husband ). The good news is you can always make a last-minute ADR if you're just dying to eat somewhere. There seemed to be plenty of examples of restaurants "not taking walk-ups" but having ADRs available earlier in the day. I think they just want people to make the ADR.

Yah, there are so many great QS places at the resorts and the MK that I don't think we'll miss having an ARD. And like you say, seems that same day resies aren't TOO hard to come by if you aren't picky. It might even be a fun way to try something new... like russian roulette of Disney dining!

I hope adding your extended family to your ADRs isn't TOO stressful (although it would certainly stress me out! ). The worst case scenario for the hardest-to-get meals is that you go to your ADR, they find their own dinner, and you meet up afterwards.

Oh geez. This is going to be a toughie. STILL haven't heard back from MB as to which restaurants to book for them. There's already a couple (CRT) that are going to be dang near impossible. Been checking every day and there's no availability. Deep breaths... it will all be alright...

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

106 Days until Disney!!!

What?!! How is this going so fast?! I can't believe it, one week from now we'll be in DOUBLE DIGITS! Also, I finally purchased our tickets. I tried last week but our credit card had been stollen!!! We never use it so we didn't realize it had been compromised until I went to buy the tickets and our card was denied. Luckily, they hadn't been able to purchase anything but they were able to hack into our account, add themselves as an authorized user and change the contact email to their own!!! So scary! Luckily our credit card company is super on top of fraud prevention and caught it right away and issued us new accounts so I was able to get them today. Now that THAT's done, there's just Memory Maker left and to save up some spending money! I'm feeling very accomplished!

In other news I have a little announcement...




We're adding to the family!!!!




Let me introduce DAPHNE!!


Daphne by Lauren Parker, on Flickr

What ? Did you think we were going to have a BABY?!! Actually, if you knew Eric getting a puppy is just as shocking. When we were first married, he told me straight up that he's not a dog person. He's always hated other people's dogs; doesn't want anything to do with 'em. THEN, a couple months ago he was all "I think I want a dog."



We sort of talked it over and decided that now wasn't a good time since we were planning this trip and all. Fast forward a few weeks and I'm scrolling through Facebook and a friend posted a photo of these 11 week old puppies. AS A JOKE, I tagged Eric in the post. The foster mom just so happened to be a band parent so she PMed me immediately asking if we were really interested. I told her "Yes, they are ADORABLE but NO, we aren't ready for a dog just yet." So she asked if the kids would like to come over anyway to play with the puppies. She said they really needed someone to come play with them and we really, really needed to get out of the house...

*Side note: So did you guys hear about the Washington fires? It was HUGE news. The smoke was so thick we couldn't go outside for days. It was awful! Everything smelled like smoke, you were always coughing and hacking, the sun was red through the smoke but we couldn't see blue sky for over a week. It was WEIRD! This pic was taken from my back yard around 3:30 in the afternoon:


Smoky sky by Lauren Parker, on Flickr

...Okay. So anyway. We had been stuck in the house and even though the smoke was still heavy in the air, it was one of the better days so I thought sure. Lets go play with the puppies and burn off some energy.


puppies by Lauren Parker, on Flickr

We went over, played and were about to leave to watch the tail end of band practice when the foster mom suggested we take one of them with us! Again, AS A JOKE we brought the little yellow one along with us to see Eric's reaction. "Hey daddy! Look who's coming home with us!" I knew exactly how he was going to react...



Imagine my surprise when he asked the kids "Do you guys really want a dog?" They were all (DUH!!) And he goes "Okay, fill out the paper work and lets do a sleepover to see how it goes." We had Daphne over that weekend and, well... you know how it went! So now we're first time dog owners! Its definitely a learning curve but we love her and she fits well into our family. She's such a sweet little thing!

So to follow in the footsteps of the lovely @Elevationist, Show me your fur babies! You know you love posting them and I love seeing them. So post those pics!

In other news Ev started Kindergarten, Josh started 3rd grade,

first day of school by Lauren Parker, on Flickr

Eric's marching band show is a crazy twist on Disney Princesses with 8 giant mirrors and a fire-breathing dragon, and I've added "puppy trainer" to the many hats I wear on a daily basis. Dr. Who season premier is on the 19th, Once Upon a Time premiers on the 27th, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D premiers on the 29th, and Homeland premiers on October 4. OH HOW I LOVE FALL TV!!!! And... AND!!!!! There's going to be a Christmas Special for Sherlock!!

Okay, now that you know the extent of my geekdom... Signing off. Thanks for stopping by!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Aww, Daphne is so cute! Adorable! And your kids look like they adore her! Did you guys name her or was her name already Daphne?

That's so scary about the wildfires. My in-laws live in So Cal and they get the wildfires too. Hope you all stay safe and it doesn't get any worse!

I'm so excited about Fall TV too!

 

[NJlauren]

Oh my! What a cutie! My DH wasn't a dog person when we met but I already had a dog and now that little bugger likes him better then me!!!!



I've got my dancing shoes ready!!!! DOUBLE DIGITS!

Edited because I don't think the picture was coming through!

 

[skier_pete]

Yikes on those fires. Hopefully at least your house isn't being threatened. After all the rain in Florida last week I can't imagine somewhere so dry. Our DD wants a dog, but won't take care of her current pets, and DW and I are both not dog people. (DW has a fear of dogs - at least medium to bigger size ones, and I just think they are way too much work.)

 

[locashaina]

Daphne is adorable!!! I totally thought you meant a baby at first! I'm getting ready for work but I will totally share my fur baby pictures later! I was in color guard in high school... marching band is amazing!

 

[Elevationist]

Let me introduce DAPHNE!!

OMG! Hi, Daphne!!!

Once Upon a Time premiers on the 27th

Yaaaassss!!!

So to follow in the footsteps of the lovely @Elevationist, Show me your fur babies! You know you love posting them and I love seeing them. So post those pics!

You betcha!

My 10-year-old, Fatty McFatFat, old man cat... Butters.

And my 5-year-old, Fluff Bucket, mouthy brat cat... Harley.

Love my boys!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Oh my! What a cutie! My DH wasn't a dog person when we met but I already had a dog and now that little bugger likes him better then me!!!!

View attachment 124046

I've got my dancing shoes ready!!!! DOUBLE DIGITS!

Edited because I don't think the picture was coming through!

Oh look at your puppers!! Isn't it funny how animals seem to find the most reluctant person and try to "turn" them? I think that's what happened to Eric. Our friend's dad has a couple dogs at his lake place and when we were up there they were all over Eric; trying to get up on his lap and snuggling his legs!

Yes! Double digits in less than a week! I can't believe it!

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Aww, Daphne is so cute! Adorable! And your kids look like they adore her! Did you guys name her or was her name already Daphne?

That's so scary about the wildfires. My in-laws live in So Cal and they get the wildfires too. Hope you all stay safe and it doesn't get any worse!

I'm so excited about Fall TV too!

Awah! Thank you! Yes, they LOVE having a dog. They help each other burn off energy for sure. Daphne was named by the daughter of the foster family, who just so happens to be a student of Eric's. We thought about changing it but it really seems to "fit" her and when Eric mentioned in class we were thinking of another name, this poor girl was SO disappointed we decided to keep it.

Oh man, they get those wildfires bad down in Cali too. We're all okay and it looks like the worst of it is over so that's good. Mostly I feel bad for the firefighters and their families.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Yikes on those fires. Hopefully at least your house isn't being threatened. After all the rain in Florida last week I can't imagine somewhere so dry. Our DD wants a dog, but won't take care of her current pets, and DW and I are both not dog people. (DW has a fear of dogs - at least medium to bigger size ones, and I just think they are way too much work.)

Thanks! Our city was safe from the fires. They were miles away, its just that they were so huge and the way the wind blows all the smoke comes this way and settles in the valley. Plus with no rain for over a month, it just hung there in the sky. It was disgusting!

Lol! Yes, our kids also PROMISED to take care of the dog (which I already knew wouldn't happen and was totally prepared for). They do a great job playing with her and walking her and feeding her... but when the pooper-scooper comes out... crickets! Its kind of fun for me to get focused on puppy training and walking, now that I'm home with no kids in the house for half the day.