They get it now! They really get it! - A November 2019 PTR (updated 11/18/19 - TTFN!)

[kimberwee]

​

We are headed out of town for our second trip of the month...both of which, weren't/aren't Disney. I do notice that I start planning things in a way similar to the way I plan Disney. There is no chill with my family. We always have a plan and we always have backups for our plans. We know where we want to go and what we want to eat.

Last week we were in Branson, MO for DD National Dance Competition. This is her first competitive season and her team did well. We always enjoy Branson.

This week we are off to Annapolis to celebrate my step-grandmother's 90th birthday. Annapolis is truly one of my favorite places on the planet. We are there for 4 nights (3 full days). There are a couple of family gatherings we have to attend, but have always made stops at places like Grumps and walk along Ego Alley. We will also probably head into Baltimore for a day to go to the aquarium and eat at Phillips.

In the meantime, we are looking at our game plan for rides by park/day and trying to decide on what to FP. Again, the whole HS debacle stinks. I have reiterated that we will be riding RnR this trip and for me it takes precedence over ToT, which we rode last time. We also talked about hitting Expedition Everest at AK this trip, which we didn't do last time, but first we need to get our FOP FP to determine if we will do Pandora in the morning or later in the day. Sooooo many moving pieces...

 

[kimberwee]

Earlybird gets the worm...errr, I mean airfare...

Well, we are back into the swing of things after a great weekend in Annapolis and one of my fears happened this morning. After getting an announcement about a SW Airline sale, I logged in to see that out return flight is sold out. Why is this a problem? The W Family hasn't booked flights yet. It shows 2 additional flights in the evening still having availability, but it looks like we will be getting back at 9:15 while they get back at 11:20. Maybe they marked them as sold out for the sale and will release it again after the sale is over(??)...wishful thinking?

Also, in other airport news, they raised the daily parking rate at OKC. So, we are convinced that we will Uber in the future. That Uber to the airport at 4:15 am is going to be fun.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Oh man! Hopefully it was just the sale fare that was sold out !

 

[kimberwee]

Earlybird gets the worm...errr, I mean airfare...

Well, we are back into the swing of things after a great weekend in Annapolis and one of my fears happened this morning. After getting an announcement about a SW Airline sale, I logged in to see that out return flight is sold out. Why is this a problem? The W Family hasn't booked flights yet. It shows 2 additional flights in the evening still having availability, but it looks like we will be getting back at 9:15 while they get back at 11:20. Maybe they marked them as sold out for the sale and will release it again after the sale is over(??)...wishful thinking?

Also, in other airport news, they raised the daily parking rate at OKC. So, we are convinced that we will Uber in the future. That Uber to the airport at 4:15 am is going to be fun.

So we were right and it was removed for the sale...its available again for purchase, but prices are astronomical...
Back to the waiting game for the W family...

 

[mdsouth]

I am enjoying your PTR! I think it would be lots of fun to go to WDW with close family friends. And since you have already been to WDW together once already, you know how your get along and what works for each family. So, I expect this trip will go just as well or better than your last trip, even with the SWE crowds.

I am planning my first trip back in five years and we are going over the New Year's holiday (not my choice on timing but at least I will be at Disney) I was already worried about planning and crowds during Christmas season which is their busiest time of the year but with SWE opening and The big Star Wars riding just opening in early December I am especially worried about the crowds in all the parks. Right now, I think we will check out the SW area if we can just to see it and Pandora but If we can't get FPs for the big rides, I don't plan on spending hours waiting to ride the new rides.

I have not eaten at Yak and Yeti but it is now on my list of places to try. I also was thinking about Whispering Canyon Cafe too since I know my son would love it. Just not sure about the time and effort it would take to get there and back to the parks.

I made an ADR for The Plaza in MK. We have not eaten there either but I think it will be a good choice for us on one of our MK days. MK is my favorite park too. So, we definitely will be spending a lot of time in that park.

It is too bad your friends did not book their airfare the same time you did. I guess I just assumed they did since you are all traveling together. Hopefully, they will book soon so you all will have that done with and not have to think about and watch prices for much longer.

 

[kimberwee]

I am enjoying your PTR! I think it would be lots of fun to go to WDW with close family friends. And since you have already been to WDW together once already, you know how your get along and what works for each family. So, I expect this trip will go just as well or better than your last trip, even with the SWE crowds.

I am planning my first trip back in five years and we are going over the New Year's holiday (not my choice on timing but at least I will be at Disney) I was already worried about planning and crowds during Christmas season which is their busiest time of the year but with SWE opening and The big Star Wars riding just opening in early December I am especially worried about the crowds in all the parks. Right now, I think we will check out the SW area if we can just to see it and Pandora but If we can't get FPs for the big rides, I don't plan on spending hours waiting to ride the new rides.

I have not eaten at Yak and Yeti but it is now on my list of places to try. I also was thinking about Whispering Canyon Cafe too since I know my son would love it. Just not sure about the time and effort it would take to get there and back to the parks.

I made an ADR for The Plaza in MK. We have not eaten there either but I think it will be a good choice for us on one of our MK days. MK is my favorite park too. So, we definitely will be spending a lot of time in that park.

It is too bad your friends did not book their airfare the same time you did. I guess I just assumed they did since you are all traveling together. Hopefully, they will book soon so you all will have that done with and not have to think about and watch prices for much longer.

Thanks for joining in! I totally agree that we will try to get into the SW area if we can, but wont wait for rides or be sad if we can't even check it out.
We LOOOVED Yak & Yeti.

 

[kimberwee]

SOOOOO, POTENTIAL PLOT TWIST RAMBLING SIDE STORY...
​

Over July 4th, we spent time with friends and family at Lake Texoma. We keep our boat there and have a trailer home in an extremely small community. My in-laws have the trailer next door to the east, the W Family has a trailer next door to the south and there are a few other families that have trailers very nearby (we are talking 3 or 4 lots away). ANYWAY, MIL knows we are headed to Disney in November and hinted that she wants to go..."How many people can fit in your room?" type questions. First of all, I've already booked rooms. Second of all, we've already booked dining. Third of all, she snores. Fourth of all, she gets motion sickness. Fifth of all, she's really pushy and not shy with her opinions. I about passed out.

NOT ONLY THAT, but she also mentioned it in front of some other friends, who we will call the D Family, who tend to be sensitive when they aren't included in things.

So what did I do...????

NOT MUCH.
​

I explained to my MIL that I'd already made impossible dining reservations. She quickly replied that she would call and "handle" changing them. I finished the conversation with "that's not how this works"...I also floated right over the mention of this in front of the other family, who were right there...reiterating that we'd planned this for a long time and how planning for Disney is different than any other vacation. The funniest part is that my MIL complains about her Mom inviting her on vacations and being upset that she isn't involved in everything...and MIL is doing the same thing!

I am not overly concerned that there are hurt feelings with the D Family. We travel with the W family often and have known them longer. Plus, there is a huge "single white female" side-story and a bit of "smack-talkin" drama with the D family. Which, OMG...now that they know about the trip, will they just show up?!

Pray for me.

 

[mdsouth]

SOOOOO, POTENTIAL PLOT TWIST RAMBLING SIDE STORY...
​

Over July 4th, we spent time with friends and family at Lake Texoma. We keep our boat there and have a trailer home in an extremely small community. My in-laws have the trailer next door to the east, the W Family has a trailer next door to the south and there are a few other families that have trailers very nearby (we are talking 3 or 4 lots away). ANYWAY, MIL knows we are headed to Disney in November and hinted that she wants to go..."How many people can fit in your room?" type questions. First of all, I've already booked rooms. Second of all, we've already booked dining. Third of all, she snores. Fourth of all, she gets motion sickness. Fifth of all, she's really pushy and not shy with her opinions. I about passed out.

NOT ONLY THAT, but she also mentioned it in front of some other friends, who we will call the D Family, who tend to be sensitive when they aren't included in things.

So what did I do...????

NOT MUCH.
​

I explained to my MIL that I'd already made impossible dining reservations. She quickly replied that she would call and "handle" changing them. I finished the conversation with "that's not how this works"...I also floated right over the mention of this in front of the other family, who were right there...reiterating that we'd planned this for a long time and how planning for Disney is different than any other vacation. The funniest part is that my MIL complains about her Mom inviting her on vacations and being upset that she isn't involved in everything...and MIL is doing the same thing!

I am not overly concerned that there are hurt feelings with the D Family. We travel with the W family often and have known them longer. Plus, there is a huge "single white female" side-story and a bit of "smack-talkin" drama with the D family. Which, OMG...now that they know about the trip, will they just show up?!

Pray for me.

OH, NO! Let us hope they do not just show up. If they do, try giving them your biggest smile and then point them towards guest services so that they can make their own resort arrangements, etc. And then head out to the park, etc and tell them you will plan on catching them later! Of course, they might think later means that day when you can mean when you RETURN HOME! Tee hee.

What an awful situation for you! Hopefully, she will move on and not mention it again. But if she does, perhaps you could suggest that she might like to plan a trip of her own and maybe D family could join her.

 

[kimberwee]

Saturday was our 4 month mark...

 

[kimberwee]

OH, TP Reservation Finder...how I love thee...

I received a text yesterday from a "finder" I set up on TP to cover breakfast on our last day. That feature of TP has to be one of the greatest pieces of code ever written, because now we have a breakfast reservation at... OHANA! I am so excited! Because we are staying at the Poly, we can drop our carry-ons with Bell Desk, head to breakfast and then hop right on a monorail for some more time at MK. WOOOHOOOO!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Awesome score on the reservation!

 

[kimberwee]

Another bit of "pre-trip" pixie dust...kind of
The W family still hadn't booked their flights as of today, so I logged in to see if they were sold out or if there was a change in price...and HOLY MOLY. Remember earlier when I said that we book using points and I have a companion pass. This means that essentially, I am just paying for 2 round trip tickets between OKC and MCO. Well, we've hit the sweet spot for booking airline travel apparently, because I was able to re-book our flights (with some modification) and save almost 16k points!!!! That's a whole future round trip ticket back to Disney! You wanna know what's better than that? The return flight we were originally booked for wouldn't save us as much as the return flight that leaves 2 hours later...SO GUESS WHO GETS 2 EXTRA HOURS OF DISNEY MAGIC?!?! THIS GIRL!!!

 

[kimberwee]

HOW DID I MISS THIS?!?!?!??! I feel like such a rookie...
Ummm...Hello Food & Wine.

Not even on my radar people! We've been to F&W before and I always thought it ended before this trip timing. We weren't overly impressed with it on our last trip, but considering that TP has crowds at a 2 on our arrival day and MK at a 4, I AM SWITCHING UP OUR ARRIVAL DAY PLANS! That's right boys and girls! Even though it is tradition for me to head to the MK on arrival day, we are headed to Epcot instead. Because we are doing the MVMCP on Day 2, this isn't that bad. AND, this leaves Sunday open to head back to the MK or HS if we feel like we want to brave more SWGE crowds.
AND...The W family has never ridden Soarin'...None of us have ridden Test Track...did I mention TP has crowds at a 2?!

So arrival day looks like this:

Arrive at MCO @ noon (barring any delays) & take ME to Poly
Drop our stuff @ resort

Now I just have to figure out what to do when we get there...by the time we get off of the plan and to the Poly, it could be 1:30...so, realistically, I shouldn't make any plans before 3 right? Do we still eat something at Captain Cooks? I feel like I am starting all over...HA!

Stay tuned!

 

[kimberwee]

Not really writing this as an update, but MIL asked what the dates for Disney World were again...
pray for me.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Wow great news on the flights!

I would play your arrival day by ear as much as possible. If you get to the resort and are absolutely starving, maybe share a few things at Captain Cook's before heading to Epcot. We did Epcot on arrival day in June and I made our first FP for Spaceship Earth since it's right there when you walk in the park. If you end up not having enough to eat from the Food and Wine booths, there's still tons of QS in Epcot!

 

[kimberwee]

Another non-update update...DD started 7th grade yesterday and I can't believe how fast she's growing. Makes planning things like trips to DW all that more special, knowing that I will blink and she will be off to college. Here's to hoping we never hit a "too cool to travel with Mom and Dad" phase.

 

[kimberwee]

BRACE YOURSELVES...THE FP+ POSTS ARE COMING

Alright, so we are less than 30 days away from FP time and I've decided to start planning down to the times. Currently, we have the following plan scheduled (which has been adjusted a million times so far):

Wednesday - Arrival Day - Head to DHS, despite the fact that we should go to Epcot. All of the great advice on starting with Epcot was not taken for granted, but I REALLY think that the kids would enjoy the fun of Jingle Bell Jingle Bam and we've never seen DHS at night. I am not holding my breath for a Slinky Dog FP, but hey, it will be late afternoon and we will see what happens

Thursday - Epcot & MVMCP - I know Epcot is a big park, but it was the least favorite of the group last visit. TP Crowd Calendar has us at a 3, so we will plan wisely for FP+ and a "shortest walking distance type plan" before heading back to the resort @ 3.

Friday - Animal Kingdom - we absolutely know that the first FP to schedule after trying for SDD on Day 1, is FOP. We didn't ride EE last time either, which needs to be a morning priority.

Saturday - Universal Day - we aren't going to purchase express passes unless we absolutely feel like we need them while in the park that day.

Sunday - Magic Kingdom - this is for re-rides of our favorites: 7DMT, Space Mountain & Thunder Mountain...the problem with this day is that its a party day and MK closes at 6. And, you might also remember that we have a brunch @ 11 @ Homecomin'. This doesn't give us long in the park and seems like kind of a waste. HOWEVER, it will force us to slow down and enjoy the Polynesian at least 1 night while we are there. I am looking forward to cocktails at Trader Sams and at this point in the trip, we will probably be glad for the break.

Monday - Back to Animal Kingdom -this is for re-rides of our favorites and ones we missed on Friday.

Tuesday - Magic Kingdom & Travel Home

Stay tuned for FP+ "logic" and list...

 

[kimberwee]

CURSES...maybe...

Well, we got a letter from Southwest this morning stating that our second leg flight to MCO was cancelled and they re-booked us on the next flight, which will put us into MCO an hour and a half later than expected...BOOOOOOOOOOO
SO, we deliberated over a couple of options and decided on the following plan:

Waitlist 2 Studios at Poly for 11/19 (yeah, I am not holding my breath) for up to 31 days before arrival
If waitlist comes through, change outbound flight to leave on 11/19 with arrival at 12:20am (SW gave us until 14 days before departure to make that change)
Grab luggage and catch ME to Poly

If waitlist does NOT come through, keep current flight reservations and new arrival time at MCO is 1:25pm
The silver lining with this is that our layover is longer, giving us time to eat a meal that we would have had to eat upon arriving at MCO anyway.

Praying for Waitlist Pixie Dust!!!

Regardless, we will have had to buy the same number of park tickets for either option and I will have already had to make FP reservations. It would be AWESOME to get the Waitlist before our FP window opens, so that we can book them a day earlier than anticipated. If we don't get them before then, its ok. We will just be sure to not schedule any DHS FP before 4.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

On Sunday, watch the MVMCP fireworks from the Poly beach or Trader Sam's terrace!

 

[kimberwee]

On Sunday, watch the MVMCP fireworks from the Poly beach or Trader Sam's terrace!

I was totally thinking Trader Sams would be AWESOME for this. What time do you think we would need to be there if fireworks start at 10? I am guessing that a lot of people do that...right?