The Many Adventures of the Ayers’ Family - July 2016 PTR

[JaimeAyers]

Hey Everyone!

and Welcome aboard!

I’ve tried to start a PTR before and failed miserably but this time I’m hoping that I can keep on top of it! Life sometimes gets in the way and things like my PTR fall to the wayside. I promise to try my hardest to keep this one going.

Why this trip?

Well I didn't go to Disney world in 2016...It's the first time in 8 years that I did not go. That's just not right! So we HAVE to go!!

When are we going, you ask?

JULY! HOT HOT HOT!! I must be crazy. Typically we go to Disney in October/November, but since we aren't taking our son this year, we don't want to worry about having someone at home to make sure he gets back and forth to school and all that. So we decided to go during the summer when he could go to his biological mom's house for the week. Our dates are July 9th - July 14th.

Where are we staying?

We will be trying out Poly for the first time! I rented points for a Deluxe Studio for 5 nights. The room is PIF!

I guess we need park tickets!

Originally we wanted to get Park Hopper plus tickets with the water parks, but I told the hubs that I would just rather lounge around the new pool while at Poly instead of fighting crowds at the water parks. So we are just going with 5 Day Park Hopper passes for this trip.

What about the food?

I ran the numbers like I always do and it looks like we are paying out of pocket.

So, who’s all going?

Me: I’m Jaime, step mother of 2 teens, wife of a big kid, and full time financial analyst. My first trip to Disney was for my 2001 Senior Trip. My favorite park is Epcot and my favorite ride is Living with the Land. Don’t ask me why, but I love this ride!


So that’s the Why? When? And Who?

Next time…I need to talk more about this food situation....

 

[buzzrelly]

Joining! I followed your link from my PTR You are going to fall in with The Poly! We stayed there for the first time last April and I ended up purchasing more DVC points there for my upcoming November trip! I agree with you just getting the 5 day PH pass for now…you can always add on the water parks while you're there if you are dying to go. Can't wait to read more!

 

[JaimeAyers]

I know I said I'd talk about food in this update, but first I wanted to talk about my tickets...

Tickets

The original plans were to do 5 evenings in the parks with 2 days at water parks and the remainder of the days just enjoying the pool at the resort. With that plan I was going to get 5 day park hopper tickets plus water parks. Well, I changed my mind a million times and since we will only be at Disney for 6 days and 5 nights, I decided to just do 5 evenings at the parks with 1 day at MK for an early Crystal Palace breakfast and 4 days hanging out at the Poly and enjoying the pool and pool bar.

Since we will be staying at a monorail resort, we knew that park hoppers would be great since we can get to EPCOT, DHS (via EPCOT) and MK pretty easily.

Side note: I planned on NOT going to AK this trip, but the opening of Pandora threw that plan out the window...so we will just do 1 evening there to see ROL.

So the verdict is: 5 Day Park Hopper Passes.

Now onto the good stuff! FOOD!

I will just do this day by day so that I don’t become overwhelmed by the deliciousness that is DISNEY FOOD!

Our first day at Disney will be July 9th
- We are driving down from South Carolina (about a 6-7 hour trip) and will probably just stop along the way for a quick lunch/snack. Once we arrive and get checked in, we will have some time to make our way over to Magic Kingdom for our 7pm ressie at Liberty Tree Tavern. My DH LOVES this place...and it's pretty much become tradition to make this our first meal of any trip NO MATTER WHAT. DH is a creature of habit and if he's coming to Disney with me to make me happy, by gosh we are eating where he likes to eat! LOL!

Next time: Day 2!

 

[JaimeAyers]

Joining! I followed your link from my PTR You are going to fall in with The Poly! We stayed there for the first time last April and I ended up purchasing more DVC points there for my upcoming November trip! I agree with you just getting the 5 day PH pass for now…you can always add on the water parks while you're there if you are dying to go. Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for following along!!

I have been DREAMING about staying at the Poly since 2009 when we eat at Kona Cafe. This year that dream is coming true! We are planning on buying into DVC, but DH is wanting to see more of the resorts before he decides on one. I'd love to buy into BWV or BCV just because we LOVE F&WF and being able to walk there, but I'd also be good with any of the monorail resorts.

 

[buzzrelly]

Thanks for following along!!

I have been DREAMING about staying at the Poly since 2009 when we eat at Kona Cafe. This year that dream is coming true! We are planning on buying into DVC, but DH is wanting to see more of the resorts before he decides on one. I'd love to buy into BWV or BCV just because we LOVE F&WF and being able to walk there, but I'd also be good with any of the monorail resorts.

I thought about the BWV/BC area also, but ultimately decided on BLT and now PVB. I figure being on the monorail gives us the best of both worlds with the monorail access, and I feel I made the right choice for us...I love them both! I also like that the contracts are longer because, of course, I am going to live to be 100 and still love WDW! Not really, but I'm hoping to pass it along to my kids to enjoy with the families someday

 

[Shrfleen]

My favorite park is Epcot and my favorite ride is Living with the Land. Don’t ask me why, but I love this ride .

Joining in. I love Living with the Land as well! Its just a nice peaceful experience.

 

[JaimeAyers]

So here we are with 116 days left to go and I just ordered our 5 day park hopper passes. Delivery date says Monday, March 27th, so we will have those well before fastpass selections need to be made. Now on to the fun stuff:

July 10th, 2017 - Day 2!

Today will be our first full day. We have a 8:55am breakfast reservation for Kona Cafe. I've already decided that I am getting the steak and eggs so that I have a good base for alcohol consumption. I don't drink normally, but on vacations, I love to just sit next to the pool and have a few signature drinks while I enjoy the sun.

After breakfast we plan on spending most of the morning and midday lounging by the pool at Poly.

Drinks that I plan on trying are:

• Pago Pago Pain Killer - Myers's original dark rum, orange and pineapple juice, and cream of coconut over crushed ice
  
• Grand Margarita - Jose Cuervo gold tequila, grand marnier, fresh lime juice and sweet-and-sour
  
• Big Island Iced Tea - Pau Maui handmade vodka, Sammy's beach bar rum, Hendrick's, cointreau, and sweet-and-sour with a splash of Coca-Cola

Around 4:00 we will venture off to DHS to hit up some fastpass times (which I haven't even thought about yet) and do a little shopping before our 7:30pm dinner reservation at the Hollywood Brown Derby. We've eaten here twice before and loved it, so we are back for a third time.

Fastpass wants are:

• Rock 'n' Roller Coaster
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Muppet*Vision 3D

Stand by wants are:

• The Great Movie Ride (if still around)
• Star Tours 2: The Adventures Continue
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (x3 because this is my favorite ride!)

Our first full day will be a lazy, laid back day which will more than likely be the trend for the rest of the trip.

Next time: Day 3!