The *Official* February 2011 Thread - Happy Dance Time...The Park Hours Are Out!

We leave one week from today!!! Actually, flying down to FL on Thursday and visiting relatives in JAX for a day, then on to DISNEY! :) We check in on DS 4th birthday, and we're staying at POFQ--never stayed there before but can't wait! Hoping the Prez day crowds are on their way out as predicted. Either way, we'll be out of the cold and AT DISNEY! :goodvibes:goodvibes:goodvibes
 


For anyone who will be there between 2/24 and 3/4.. will you have any distinguishing characteristics? I am trying to think what I can do to signifiy that I'm a disboarder and a part of this subgroup. I would LOVE to run into one or more of you and just say HELLO!!!

If I get the lime green paint strips from Lowe's, what do I do with it? Any other way to show who we are? Here is my schedule of which park I'll be in each day. If anyone is in the same one... maybe we can look for each other? Completely understand if it won't work.

We are staying offsite (Windsor Hills with our own private pool... can't WAIT!!)

Friday 2/25 - Not in the parks, too busy for us! Will go to WCC for lunch and spend the rest of the day at the Sheraton Vistana resort where we'll be the first 2 days

Saturday 2/26 - Downtown Disney Lunch at T-Rex (parks still too busy for us this day)

Sunday 2/27 - Epcot, Chefs De France dinner, private Illuminations cruise that night.. celebrating my hubby's 50th in style! haha

Monday 2/28 - Magic Kingdom - CP for lunch... winging it the rest of the day

Tuesday 3/1 - Animal Kingdom - Tusker House breakfast, Wolfgang Puck dinner

Wednesday 3/2 - Disney Hollywood Studios - 50's Prime Time for lunch

Thursday 3/3 - Epcot Biergarten for lunch... back for Fantasmic to DHS in the evening

Friday 3/4 - Magic Kingdom (final day:mad:) Cinderella's Royal Table for late lunch.

Saturday - Flying back to Ohio!

Anybody want to see if we can meet?

Thanks! So excited!!!!!
Dee
 


Friday 2/25 - Not in the parks, too busy for us! Will go to WCC for lunch and spend the rest of the day at the Sheraton Vistana resort where we'll be the first 2 days Hollywood Studios

Saturday 2/26 - Downtown Disney Lunch at T-Rex (parks still too busy for us this day) AK

Sunday 2/27 - Epcot, Chefs De France dinner, private Illuminations cruise that night.. celebrating my hubby's 50th in style! haha MK

Monday 2/28 - Magic Kingdom - CP for lunch... winging it the rest of the day Epcot

Tuesday 3/1 - Animal Kingdom - Tusker House breakfast, Wolfgang Puck dinner MK

Wednesday 3/2 - Disney Hollywood Studios - 50's Prime Time for lunch Universal

Thursday 3/3 - Epcot Biergarten for lunch... back for Fantasmic to DHS in the evening Universal

Friday 3/4 - Magic Kingdom (final day:mad:) Cinderella's Royal Table for late lunch. home

those are our exact dates too. we're going to brave the crowds Fri. & Sat. though. Not a single day matches up.
 
We are home after a great trip - we didn't make it to any rope drops (enjoyed sleeping in a little bit) but it didn't really matter the crowds weren't horrible. The weather was marvelous sunny and warm it was so hard to come home to cold and snow. We saw so many great characters and Keith (DS) stood by his word and had no pictures with the princesses. Kate (DD) rode Big Thunder Railroad and Splash Mountain; a major accomplishment she does not like rollercoasters. Keith (4) rode Big Thunder Railroad and Splash Mountain for the first time and would have rode them all day if we had the time. He is such a little dare devil he even rode Tower of Terror. When he got off he didn't want to ride it ever again - but by the time we got home he said he would ride it next time we go;).

Loved the meal plan it was great not having to worry about prices. We did realize that you don't really need character meals at WDW as much as you do at DL. The only thing I really missed was a good cup of coffee.

Time to sign off and start laundry :laundy: and pack the summer clothes away:sad: it's a long time until we will be wearing shorts again.

Thank you all for the great advise it made for a great trip. Can't wait to start planning for the next trip.
 
Only 5 more days for us!!! First trip ever :)

5 more days for us too! Hoping DS gets over this stomach bug and DD's ear infection is gone before then. I kept thinking about what we would do if they are sick. Didn't sleep much last night (changing sheets three times might have had something to do with that too).
Hope everyone leaving has a safe trip!
 
1 week from today! At this very time we will be checking in to POR and heading out to Epcot for lunch @ Le Cellier :) What a perfect way to start vaca!!!!
Just 5 more work days and I am officially on vacation for 9 days. I'm giddy!!!
 
I'm jealous of all of those going. We just got back last Thursday and I already miss it! :guilty:

I knew I would get the Disney depression after it.

Gina, how was your trip? Maybe I missed your update.
 
I'm jealous of all of those going. We just got back last Thursday and I already miss it! :guilty:

I knew I would get the Disney depression after it.

Gina, how was your trip? Maybe I missed your update.


Hi Beth! Dealing with the Disney depression here too. :( We had SUCH an awesome time. I hope you did too!! I was going to post a mini-trip report on the other board, so I'll just post it here too.

The weather was absolutely stunning -- cool enough for a light jacket, but still bright sun the entire time and clear blue skies. Just gorgeous. LOVE this time of year. But I know it's subjective, especially weather-wise. I was thrilled at the temperatures, just absolutely loved the chilly evenings sipping hot chocolate at Pop, but I know plenty of people who yearn for the sweaty heat of warmer times at WDW. I question the sanity of those people, but we're all different. :thumbsup2

Crowds were wonderful -- but DS and I try to zig when people zag. I knew what parks to avoid when, and being on the QS dining plan meant we weren't tied down to ADR's. Love that. Hoppers meant that we could go to a morning EMH, then jump to someplace else when that park started getting more crowded. We also were at rope drop almost every morning, and we were able to literally walk straight onto all our favorites. Nothing like riding Splash three times in a row! There was literally no one in line. But by the afternoon, waits were 30-45 minutes +.

We saw lots of groups of cheerleaders, but staying at Pop meant we didn't have to deal with them on an extended basis. In the parks, we saw them, but they didn't cause any sort of backlog or anything and were very polite. Can't say the same about the South Americans!! The groups were mostly gone, there were just lots of families -- and nearly all of them we encountered were just rude. Would shove people out of the way, cut in front of you in line, basically act like they were the only ones in the parks. It was ugly, and it made me sad. I get cultural differences, but courtesy should be a pretty universal thing.

Aside from that, we found magic and joy everywhere -- I even got to make a happy fool out of myself dancing with the Mayor and the Fire Chief on Main Street. :thumbsup2 We didn't encounter one rude CM, and even my DS commented on how extra super friendly all the CM's seemed this time.

He had his birthday button on the whole week and every CM would call out "Happy Birthday Tyler Dean!" He was embarrassed and loved it all at the same time. There was one really great and funny CM at Pop who we saw every morning and every night when I would be hanging out in the smoking area. Every time he saw my DS coming he would yell "HEY EVERYONE, THAT'S TYLER DEAN AND IT'S HIS 15TH BIRTHDAY!" Then everyone would cheer and clap and my son would turn bright red, lol. And once at Cosmic Ray's, a CM had the entire giant place singing Happy Birthday to him. It was awesome. :) I had my new sparkly, jeweled, pink-veiled ears on and at 44 years old it was still awfully nice to have CM's keep calling me "princess." :cloud9:

Transportation was great -- but DS and I just seem to be very lucky in that aspect. We'd walk up, and here would come a bus/boat/monorail. The longest wait was the one night we stayed in MK until park closing so I could see MSEP one more time... And I remembered at that point why we never, ever do that. Lol. But other than that, transport was great.

As always, we loved having the QS dining plan!! We snacked our way from one end of the World to the other. And the new Karamel-Kuche in Germany?? OMG... I have one precious slab of dark chocolate-covered caramel at home, and I hope to make it last. Just incredible. All our CS meals were good, and DS and I both really loved the new BBQ Angus burger at Pop! ::yes::

Our one sit-down dinner at 'Ohana was YUM. Loved it all, everything was hot and delicious, and I think I ate my weight in both potstickers and bread pudding. :rolleyes1

We left at the very best time -- we spent our last morning at MK as always, and the President's Week crowds had started pouring in. By mid-day the lines had jumped WAY up, and we were glad to be leaving when we did!

One thing that took us both by surprise was how many things kept breaking down, over and over again. And again! I can't remember a trip when so many rides kept going down. One morning at DHS, all three of the biggies were down. There were a LOT of pissed-off people there. We waited until about 10:30, then ended up giving our TSM fastpasses to two people entering the park. :( Space Mountain, Splash, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, all kept having repeated problems. And as has sadly become seemingly the norm as of late, the monorail broke down a couple of times. One lady told me they had to be towed off one night after being stuck for about 40 minutes. Not sure what's going with all the break-downs. :confused3

Got to see all of our favorite entertainment -- The Dapper Dans, the saxophone quartet, the Mayor and the Fire Chief, Off Kilter, Mo'Rockin, Matsuriza (the taiko drummers), and Miyuki the candy lady. Was really happy to catch Mo'Rockin as I always seem to miss them.

It was just a great, wonderful, magical time. :goodvibes
 
We are in WDW right now. :) Well...technically we are at the vacation home , but we are returning again to Epcot tonight. :) It's crowded but very manageable. (we're in EPCOT) It wasn't crowded till around 10 this morning when sleep-in-ers started to arrive. Everything was virtually walk on or 10 min wait the first hour this morning.
 
Hello. Yes, I am heading out this week. :cool1:

I signed up to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon on the 27th and purchased a 3 day park hopper ticket. I'm doing my planning last minute because, well, this year has been a little crazy. It is my first solo trip and since I have no kids to freak out about losing, the crowds aren't going to bother me too much.

That said..I do want to do some stuff, so could anyone post the crowd calendar/best parks for me for Feb 25 - 28? I know it will be crazy but, hey, I'll be at Disney!
 
Got back today!!! :guilty:
I had an amazing time spending 5 days in Disney world with my high school choir.

Weather: GORGEOUS Florida weather. Mid 70's, low 80's. We wore shorts and shirts most of the time. Got kind of chilly at night, but just enough for a light sweatshirt.

Crowds: With it being presidents day weekend, it was difficult to do everything we wanted, but I think we fit in alot more than we had expected to. People were nice over all, but some people just forget courtesy...

example #1- When your in line for a ride, it is NOT right for someone to hold the spot for a group of 7 people to come join them in line! :headache:

Another thing that really upset me was when I was in Pizzafari, and I bent down to tie my shoelace this family of 4 cut me in line! Right there! I got up and said, "excuse me?" but she completely ignored me. :rolleyes:


Favorite trip highlights: We did a Disney performing arts workshop at Saratoga springs theatre. We made sounds, sang the Lion king medley of- Can you feel the love tonight, and the circle of life choral peices. We put our sound effects, and choral music onto the back track of scenes from the movie the Lion King. It was pretty magical. :hug: Disney still amazes me.

I also got a little teary eyed at Wishes.... :lovestruc:

Over all, I had an amazing trip, and I cannot wait to return!

I hope everyone who has yet to leave, have a magical time! :wizard:
 
Hi everyone!

For anyone who is going to be in Disney on the 26th a bunch of us from Central Florida are going to be getting together at the Dole Whip stand at the MK at 1pm for a meet up! Would love to have anyone else join us as well!

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions or if you will be able to make it!
 
2 more days for us! :cool1: I have the kids' suitcase packed, now just have to tackle mine & DH's. I have a severe overpacking problem and every trip I *swear* I'm going to pack light. And every trip I am struggling to zip the suitcase. :rolleyes1
 
Gina! So glad you had a great trip

Lamb - safe travels

Am I the only one crazy enough to be already planning my next trip?
 
Allison,

When are you guys thinking of going back?

I'd love to plan our next one but I don't think DH will be on board. :guilty:
 
Hi Beth! Sent you a PM- Our dates are..... Jan 21-Jan 28. A bit chilly possibly, and tour group heaven but we couldnt get over how low crowds were in the beginning of our trip this time so we are hoping late January will be about the same. Also, even with the flight cancelation/snow storm- it was so nice to get away from the Ohio snow for a while. Oh and its a lot cheaper during value season too :)

My hesitation this time is we were spoiled with a 10 day stay- I am thinking if money and flights permit we will add on a few days at POP in the beginning of the trip but DS will be in kindergarten then and I am super hesitant to pull him out of school for more than 5 days.... Darn school getting in the way of my Disney lol
 













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