The One Where They Go To WDW - January ‘19 PTR - SINGLE DIGIT DANCE! (1/17 Update)

[disney-inspired]

“Hello, Disney Reservations Line? I swear this is the last I’m going to call...”
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Oops, I did it again...

So this little smal voice inside me said, “hey why not call and see if any 1 bedroom villas opened up at AKL with the military discount?”
Well that led me down the rabbit hole and kept me on the phones with Disney for a couple of hours.

In the end, for a little bit more money, we were able to do 4 nights at Art of Animation and 4 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge in standard rooms. We decided against the 1 bedroom villa even though it was cheaper because the having only 1 bathroom thing was still going to be an issue.

I’m done with the stress of changing and making new room reservations.

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[disney-inspired]

I'm 54 days out before we can make Fastpass selections for our trip.
So now I need to figure who is going on what ride and when!
Here's a rough draft/preliminary look
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Monday - Magic Kingdom
No tiers (aka as no tears )

1. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
2. Dumbo
3. Winnie the Pooh

Tuesday - Hollywood Studios

Tier 1
1. Slinky Dog Dash

Tier 2
2a. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (Diana & Tyrae)
2b. Star Tours (Anais, Lola, Vivian & Cristabel)
3a. Disney Junior Live on Stage (Anais, Lola, Vivian & Cristabel)
3b. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Diana & Tyrae)

Thursday - Animal Kingdom

Tier 1
1a. Avatar Flight of Passage (Anais)
- I know, I know! I've read all the glowing reviews for this ride but some of us are worried if we'll fit because of height or ahem, girth. Anais will have no problem getting on and she LOVES the movie so it's must do. I'm working out to get smaller so hopefully I can fit on this ride!
1b. Na'vi River Journey (Diana, Tyrae, Cristabel, Lola, Vivian)

Tier 2
2. Kilamanjaro Safaris (Everyone)
3a. Expedition Everest (Diana & Tyrae)
3b. Primeval Whirl (Anais & Cristabel)

Friday - Epcot

Tier 1
1. Frozen Ever After (MAYBE - Cristabel, Anais, Vivian & Lola)
1b. Test Track (Rider swap)

Tier 2
2. Spaceship Earth
3. Journey Into Imagination with Figment


What do you guys think?

 

[missangelalexis]

Your FP plans sound really good!

 

[disney-inspired]

Your FP plans sound really good!

Thanks! I'm sure they're going change at least 10 more times before our FP date

 

[disney-inspired]

DOUBLE DIGIT DANCE
We are 99 days away from our trip
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[disney-inspired]

Time has FLOWN by!
We are now sitting at 74 days.
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We fumbled a bit on getting the military tickets and my sister found out the closest base won't have them until January 2019! So she is going to buy them through Shades of Green and fingers-crossed we get them before our FP+ date - 11/28.

We aren't too stressed about it - whatever happens, happens.

My cousin's bought tickets as part of their package so I'll be making their FP+ reservations on 11/28 for sure.​

 

[disney-inspired]

We made it by the hair of our chinny chin chin!
Tickets arrived via mail Monday night, I just got off the phone with Diana to link them MDE and our FP+ day is tomorrow!

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[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I just stumbled onto your PTR:it looks like you're planning a really fun trip.

Good luck on your FPs tomorrow!

 

[disney-inspired]

I just stumbled onto your PTR:it looks like you're planning a really fun trip.

Good luck on your FPs tomorrow!

Thanks for joining! Funny story about FPs...just about to post an update.

 

[disney-inspired]

Gather round everyone, it's time for a story about how I monumentally goofed up on FP day.

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Ok, here we go:
I thought because we have separate reservations (room only, military + dining AOA, military + dining AKL) that I wouldn't be able to book FPs until 60 days prior to our second reservation because that's when our tickets would be "effective", which would be today 11/28 - my cousin bought them directly from Disney while we were adding on military hoppers. Well I logged into MDE yesterday in the afternoon and there's a notice under the Fastpass+ circle saying "Starting Today!".

So I thought it was confused and decided to test it out.
Nope, the site is not confused and I really did miss my 60 day FP window in the morning.

I'm at work scrambling to get all our FPs booked, arranging and rearranging to try and get our initial 3 FPs early in the day so we can get more in the afternoon.

Well, since it's now late afternoon on the West coast (3:30ish) and no one is scrambling to make FPs so I didn't get any Olaf screens. Yay!

I managed to score FOP and Slinky Dog with no issue but I couldn't get a FP for 8 people for Test Track (weird). Today I went back in and found that I could make FPs for smaller groups within 15 min of each other. I ended up canceling our Figment FP (TBH I felt that was a waste of FP anyway) and getting three separate FP reservations for TT. Woo hoo!

I'm still trying to get a better dinner reservation for 'Ohana but that's something I probably won't get until we are much closer and people start canceling.

 

[rideswithchrist]

We will be WELL into our 60day window as well because our trip is also a cash/refund trip as we pay down some bills and kick debt to the curb.

Way to go on a cash floated-huge family DW trip!

 

[petals]

Joining in

 

[missangelalexis]

How stressful! But glad you were able to play around and get what you wanted!

 

[disney-inspired]

We will be WELL into our 60day window as well because our trip is also a cash/refund trip as we pay down some bills and kick debt to the curb.

Way to go on a cash floated-huge family DW trip!

It is so nice to know I can enjoy this trip and not worry about a credit card statement when I get home.
Surprisingly easy to get my FP for even the more desirable attractions - so good luck to you!

Joining in

Hi! Welcome! Was it my Friends reference that pulled you in???

How stressful! But glad you were able to play around and get what you wanted!

So stressful - especially since I was also trying to work at the same time
We are all very happy with the selections.

 

[sheri18]

Sounds like you did good on FP...we are having trouble with ADR and FP 11 of us...will try and tweak ours with smaller groups in smae time frame...(good idea)
for me...trip is up in the air....we are also all paid for in advance...thanks to jetblue points and Amex points and of course many many many Disney gift cards...
my co-worker had a minor stroke so I am not sure if she will be back to work by then 41 days out...fingers crossed....

 

[disney-inspired]

Sounds like you did good on FP...we are having trouble with ADR and FP 11 of us...will try and tweak ours with smaller groups in smae time frame...(good idea)
for me...trip is up in the air....we are also all paid for in advance...thanks to jetblue points and Amex points and of course many many many Disney gift cards...
my co-worker had a minor stroke so I am not sure if she will be back to work by then 41 days out...fingers crossed....

Yes, seating as a group of 10 is hard but I thought it would be easier with 'ohana as the restaurant is pretty large.

I'm sorry to hear about your coworker! I hope they recover and that you are able to go on vacation. Not sure of your job type, any chance of working remotely if you absolutely have to work?
This is small concern of mine if anything were to go wrong - we are fully paid and the tickets are non-refundable so we'd all be out a ton of money.

 

[disney-inspired]

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Here we sit at 53 days out and I'm constantly searching for a better 'Ohana dinner reservation for 1/27.
Our current reservation is for 3:55pm but who eats dinner that early?!
It's harder to find something because a) it's 'Ohana and b) we are a group of 10.

Hoping something opens up soon, otherwise we'll be there for the early bird special.

My whole crew is very excited for this trip and we cannot believe we are going NEXT MONTH!
All PTO has been requested, packages have been mostly paid (my dad's paying the balance for my little sister's portion), airfare has been booked (yay Southwest!).

Now we just need to get closer before we can start planning what to wear. I've heard Florida can be a bit temperamental in January with temps ranging between 40s and 70s. Like how do you plan for that so far ahead?
If we were going in September like last time, it'd be easy - just bring shorts and t-shirts 'cause it's gonna be hot as heck.

January is an unknown beastie. Anyone care to cast lots on the week's weather forecast?

 

[missangelalexis]

Getting close! Hopefully you find an Ohana res for the time you're looking for. Otherwise, hey at least you're still eating there!

Planning for January is TOUGH! When I went in 2016 it was not warm at all lol I haven't even started thinking about what I will pack for my upcoming trip because I just have no idea what the temp will be like yet.

 

[rideswithchrist]

When we went in February last time, we were in everything from shorts to hoodies!
I plan on checking the weather the week before we leave, but making sure I pack warm socks and jackets just in case.

 

[disney-inspired]

Our package has been paid in full!


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We are in the 30s and I can't even believe it. I'm so excited and honestly am pretty useless at work because all I can think about is the trip. Well, I guess I'm not useless because LIFE UPDATE: I won my company's EPIC (Exception Performers & Impactful Contributors) award and with it a cruise to the Bahamas . We will be sailing out in May 2019!

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