This time, I walk!!!

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

It seems like a huge $$ waste to me. The Disney Photogs are happy to take pictures with your camera. I guess I never really saw the benefit. Maybe if you don't want to bring your own camera, but you'll miss a lot more by not having a personal camera than benefit by Disney photo pass

Hey davedmaine! Happy to see I have more than 1 reader!
Thanks for the input!

Don't forget though that I always WILL have a camera... the iPhone's camera is a very good point-and-shoot! Not perfect of course, lacking in wide angle and low-light... but in most settings, you can't tell the difference between it and dedicated camera! I could never go anywhere without any camera...

 

[swwake]

Wow...lots of updates!

I always buy Photopass. Is there an option for a refund after the trip if you decide not to use it? We always get the benefit from it.

As for US rides:
Spiderman is very motion-y. For someone who gets motion sickness, probably not good.
RRR - hurt my head and I lost my cell phone on it. I wouldn't do it again. And I love roller coasters. Do not take your phone on this ride. You will lose it.
Have not seen Despicable Me.
Forbidden Journey - again lots of motion. I wouldn't recommend for Mama.
Mummy has less jolting and jostling than Spiderman and FJ.
Jurassic has just one or two drops. You get wet, but it's not bad motion-wise.

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Ain't I productive today?!

Or maybe you could say I'm bored? Spending 2 weeks (and counting) bedridden (or LaZboy-ridden, depending on time of day) gets old fast.
Watched the whole 1st season of Buffy on Netflix yesterday (nope, had never seen it), and felt laptop-y today.

Susan, I had just been reading your PTR from a year ago... or should I say re-reading, at least for a good 2/3 of it. See, I had stopped following at some point, can't remember why for the life of me... and couldn't remember when I had, of course, so I started all over!

I'm now at the point where you were only 2 weeks from leaving and making to-do lists and it's a real help because I'm getting there (33 days to go!)... and that convergence of trip prep and holidays prep is not easy!

Now that I know I won't be going to China next week it makes it easier, but at the same time it's like I can't just sweep everything under the rug with that excuse! Then again, I do have pneumonia so even if I wanted to go crazy, I can't and shouldn't... I have to really save myself for the trip!

A few examples:
I usually bake Holiday goodies, mainly cookies, which I give out as gifts. We're talking about 10 kinds and a few hundred total. I had to cut that down to only 3 types of cookies and my famous brownies this year... And no fancy shapes or decorating like I sometimes do. No gingerbread men, just gingerbread patties, for example. And maybe not even sprinkled with candy.

Since we come back on December 16th, we plan on putting the tree up that week... and for the first time ever, if I crash upon return and am too weak to do that, I won't bother Mama about it. I'm big on decorating and putting up the tree... but we have to pick our battles and it wouldn't be fair.

I usually mail holiday cards. And I usually don't get a single one. In fact, I don't even get a thank you.
Last year, I even made the cards myself... with no more "result"
Now, I'm sure most of you would agree that altough you never do such a thing to get something in return... spending so much time, effort and money on postage and either cards or material (money that, honestly, I don't have)... and not even have that get noticed... well there's a stretch.
So I decided that it was the perfect year, perfect excuse to stop that tradition I had started.


I plan to buy most of my gifts in the World, as I can't see a better place to buy kids gifts, my goddaughter is a huge princesses fan, the twins (my best-friends boys) are the perfect age for light-sabers... and so on... So the wrapping will have to wait until I come back anyways. (That's one point where we'll be so glad to be driving and not having to worry about luggage weight! or size!)

That said... there are still things to think about and plan... and not being able to do much for the next few weeks doesn't help.

I'll get my passporter PDF out now to list what I need to do...
And I'll go finish reading your PTR, Susan... until I switch to your ABANDONNED TR...

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Wow...lots of updates!

I always buy Photopass. Is there an option for a refund after the trip if you decide not to use it? We always get the benefit from it.

As for US rides:
Spiderman is very motion-y. For someone who gets motion sickness, probably not good.
RRR - hurt my head and I lost my cell phone on it. I wouldn't do it again. And I love roller coasters. Do not take your phone on this ride. You will lose it.
Have not seen Despicable Me.
Forbidden Journey - again lots of motion. I wouldn't recommend for Mama.
Mummy has less jolting and jostling than Spiderman and FJ.
Jurassic has just one or two drops. You get wet, but it's not bad motion-wise.

Argh... Photopass... contradictory opinions, nooooo!
I'll hope for more input... and will have to discuss with Mama.
To answer your question Susan : if I take the pre-order (cheaper) CD, there is no refund possibility.
I see how you can always benefit from the photopass... you seem to all enjoy taking pics and being photographed in your family, and even Chris is willing to take silly poses and have fun.
...Not Mama. I started discussing the Photopass... she has no idea either, for now, on what to do. But her first comment was that last time, she felt there were too many pics of her!
She said she's happy to have pictures of where we went, of the THINGS, not of us. I said I feel, if we have just pics of places, that it's impersonal and it could've been taken by anyone. She said "Alright, yeah, but then let's take lots of pictures of you in front of those places!".
I said "um, but then how will we know you were there too?" Her answer? "Well sure, I was the one behind the camera, taking the pictures!"

She positively hated that picture with Tinkerbell in our hands, when we had to fake it in front of the photograph. That was no fun for her, she just felt silly and self-conscious.

And she did not like waiting for the photographs.

On the other hand, she said it would indeed assure us of memories together (she hates it but she does see my point, and those pictures would look better than just taking pics of ourselves) and that we wouldn't have to take as many pictures ourselves.
And she HATES having to ask strangers to take our picture, and even more handing strangers our camera, or my iPhone.

So... we will both wait for more opinions AND think about it.


As for the rides, thanks for the details!
Looks like Mama really won't do much. She doesn't mind, thankfully, and it won't be a big part of the trip either.

But thanks for the RRR tip... I'll make sure to hand everything to Mama before riding, even the phone!
I can't wait!

 

[swwake]

At IOA, eat at Mythos. You need a reservation (lunch). And try Posseidon's Adventure across the street. A little dated, but still kinda cool. It's a walk-through show thing and your mom can do it.

At US, the Beetlejuice show was fun.

 

[swwake]

I can't believe you're reading my old PTR from a year ago. I barely remember it! (I'm in the middle of writing my travel blog on Allure of the Seas)

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Would you look at me, on a roll?!

OK, so first off, Mama was wondering (hoping? curious? worried?) about the chicken exit options at Universal.
Since in 2008 she HAD to accompany me on every ride right until the last moment, because she was pushing my wheelchair, she learned that you could always chicken out.
Altough, she missed quite a few of the queues, as did I, because wheelchair entry are often a different queue (for those who think it's all great to be in a wheelchair and you get to go front of the line and all, think again.).

After looking around I found that there are chicken exits in at least a few Universal rides, the most important being FJ in WWoHP. I had read how the queue part could take over 25min and was all in all a tour of Hogwarts, and we were both figuring it would be stupid and impossible that people unable to ride would miss that.
I learned that you could just tour Hogwarts, using a special dedicated "just visiting" line... but that if you accompanied someone riding you could also chicken out. YAY.

Do any of you know if ALL attractions offer easy chicken-out exits?
Thing is, it's not just for the fun of enjoying the queue theming for Mama, but also for my peace of mind... I must admit I'd feel safer with Mama close at hand in a long queue with lots of walking, or worst, in a long wait, standing motionless... that's where I'm the most at risk of fainting.

Which brings me to another wondering. But it's more a depressing worry than a simple wondering.

After hating the wheelchair experience last time, for so many reasons (hard physically for Mama, hard psychologically for both of us, hard to communicate, Mama often being hesitant and me having to let her "drive" and not lead... to name a few), we had decided we would use a scooter on our next trip.
Since I'm much better, I was sure I could walk.
Going for a long time was one way to make sure I could do it... having plenty of time to rest, take breaks, and even a few days off if needed.

But with that damn pneumonia, all bets are off. I can't be sure anymore.

It's really useless to worry about it now, since I won't know until I'm there, really. But I can't help but think about it.
We had not budgeted for scooter rental and it bums me out to think I might need it.

Mama said we could just rent a scooter on days I needed it, or for the hardest parks... except she hadn't realized/known scooters are limited in numbers and unless you get one early in the day you have little chance of having one... and that it's 50$/day.

Most of all is that I DON'T WANT TO. My PTR isn't titled "this time I walk" for nothing. I don't plan on ruining our fun just not to use a scooter... but I really, really hope I don't need to.

On a lighter note, I am wondering what to do about cellphone.
We both have a cellphone, and since, scooter or walking, we might split up sometime, it could be nice to be able to communicate, either by texting or calling.
Mama is NOT used to texting. She doesn't have a texting plan and only texted once or twice. She owns a regular phone, not a smartphone, so WiFi is of no use to her.
I own an iPhone, so I could mostly rely on the WiFi and use Skype or email... but in case of emergency I'd love to be able to receive a call...
If Skype numbers were available in Canada, this would be a nice solution... I could give that local number for folks to call and I'd receive the call on my iPhone through Skype on WiFi... But it's not possible. And it still wouldn't solve the "Mama/me contact" or the "if the emergency happens while we're not in a WiFi zone" problems.

For those not in the know, Canada has the worst pricing in cellphones and roaming charges are no exception. (we have never heard of unlimited data plans here, and paying less than 30$/month for the smallest voice-only plan is rare).
If I take a travel plan with voice, text and data, for one month use in the US, I'm looking at about 140$ if memory serves right. And of course we would need to take a second voice or text plan, probably for at least 50$.
...Or we don't take a plan and just pay the higher per-minute fee if we do use the phones.

I just went back on our carrier's website to check those details so we could decide... and I don't know what is happening, but absolutely no details are available anymore! I twitted the company to ask.

We might go the route of "it would be surprising to need to contact each other, we'll probably be together most of the time" and I guess I could install Skype on my dad's iPhone and explain to him how to use it in case of emergency... plus, he can text me for free (iPhone to iPhone is free)...
Since we'll almost always be in a WiFi zone (WiFi is free and available everywhere at BLT), if WE need to make a call we can use my Skype...
Yeah... I don't see the need for a plan.
Do you?

And to finish this update, a very good news: I finally booked our en-route hotels! Per Mama's request, all Hampton Inn's.
I became a member of HHonors just before... I just hope the fact that we pay with Mama's credit card and I'm the one being HHonors member won't be a problem... But I couldn't find any info about that... I guess that as long as the owner of the card used for booking is there at check-in, as well as the HHonors member...

We got good prices with the CAA discount (now we need to not forget that card... it's added on the packing list!).
That was a good reason to become a HHonors member and book all Hampton Inn's hotels... not having to fill out the details each time!

So now, the list of things to do is getting shorter! One huge thing done. All hotels booked. Ahhhh.

 

[swwake]

I assume every attraction's queue would have a chicken exit. I think they probably have to for safety/OSHA reasons. And many times people wait in line and do indeed "chicken out" right when they get to the front. Not to mention the children who do not meet the height requirements, who must be escorted around the ride.

As for the cell phone, when we went to Europe last summer, I researched and found that you can rent SIM cards. Maybe check on that? You will buy it now and have it sent to you. Set a start date and insert in your phone when you hit the US. I would assume they would have US one, like they have European ones. If you Google and can't find it, let me know and I'll do some quick research. Basically you get a lower per-minute rate for calls using the sim. You may have to use a different phone number during that time. I am not sure.

Also, if it's really for emergency only, I'm sure it would be worth any cost if you have to contact each other in an emergency, or for one of your health or safety. So maybe if you don't plan to use the phone, you don't need to change plans or get the SIM.

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Susan, how do ressies work at Mythos? Do we just ask for it in the morning or the day before? Or do I need to make it now?
Still... I'll need to ask Mama, cuz we had planned to eat only QS in US to save money...

As for phones, I know about international SIMs... but it would be moot for the "contact each other" part, because it's not something we could do with my iPhone. You need an unlocked phone for that and my iPhone is locked.
I have an unlocked, old cellphone, which I had taken to Cuba where I had rented a SIM card (since I was staying there for 1 month at the time).
But we won't need to use the phone enough to do that there. Unlike in Cuba, where there is no other way to communicate (and where any international phone call or text costs a fortune), as I said before, we will be able to use Skype through WiFi for free, and text my dad for free also since he's also on iPhone.

And, as you said, in case of emergency, if we do need to use the phone, the cost will still be less (a few minutes) than renting a SIM card or taking a US-roaming and minutes plan which would exceed our needs...

Still... always sooo frustrating to see how stuck we are in Canada with the carriers.

Thanks Susan!

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

WE LEAVE IN EXACTLY 4 WEEKS!!!

I am getting SOOOOO excited! I can't even leave the computer to watch figure skating on TV... wayyy too inactive.
Of course when I mean "leave the computer" I mean "close the laptop"... as I'm still too weak to sit in front of the desktop, on a straight back chair (well, office chair) for more than 5min before everything starts spinning...
I try not to dwell on that... because it's scary...

So I spend days in the laZboy with the laptop on my knees. Lucky I can do file sharing between the 2 computers.

In fact, I'm even weaker than I would be with "just" the pneumonia, as my migraine medication (the one I take daily to keep the migraines down) has been doubled... and like when I started it, or started taking more the last time... I have side effects for a few weeks... which include appetite loss (not so bad so far this time, either it hasn't kicked in yet or it's because other meds I'm on actually make me hungry all the time... so I'm just normal now?!) and being very tired. I feel like I took sleeping pills all the time...
The good news is, I know this side effect should have gone away 2-3 weeks from now. Which is why I started this week. Otherwise I would've waited in January (crazy, preferring migraines to side effects... but I would've done it).

As for the pneumonia effects, well I'm hopeful, still.
I'm still on antibiotics for a few days, and they always make me weak, so I'm thinking I should already feel much better when it stops... and I'm already feeling a bit better every day (very slightly, but still in the right direction).
I also started taking multi-vitamins, which should help.

I'm thinking, the continued rest and all... well, crossing fingers.

2 news today:
1- We have decided to go with the photopass CD, preordering to save money. Mama has made the final decision (altough it's something I am paying). She offered that we split the cost 50/50, but I can afford it and since I will be the one enjoying those the most and using them most... I figure I should pay. But she made the decison (weird, I know).
So... I'm heading on the website to pre-order it now.

2- In 2008 I had decided, in the last week of the trip, to buy a starter pin lanyard kit to do some trading... and I really enjoyed it! I wouldn't say I caught the bug, and it wouldn't take over anything. I wasn't eyeing others lanyards, I wasn't looking to buy more pins and I wasn't going over to people to trade... But I enjoyed when someone asked me to trade and I enjoyed trading with CMs. My problem was that I had very few pins, and very few I wanted to depart with...
I had not got pins prior to departing and did NOT want to pay 50$ in brand new pins just to trade them with pins I liked less!

At first I really did not know if I would do pins this trip. I did not enjoy having the lanyard in my neck... that thing was heavy, made me itch and did nothing to make me look good in pictures. Of course I wasn't there to look nice, not with the wheelchair, no makeup and baseball cap and so on. But it was one more thing.
I asked myself : do I really need do bother with that?

And then I remembered the pleasure of trading and getting a new pin... talking to a few strangers and CMs, it being a conversation starter... Plus, I figured if I did NOT trade pins this trip, the lanyard and pins in a box would just be souvenirs and wasted money.

But I needed more pins!

So... I hit eBay!
And I just won an auction for a 25 pins lot!
I can't wait to see them! I hope I don't like ANY! But I do hope they're nice so I can easily trade them and the person I'll trade with would want them and be happy to get them.

It's just that, I hate being stuck with a pin you're in love with and just don't want to depart with... it's of no use at all when you want to trade! Right now I have, I think, about 8-10 pins, one or 2 being a duplicate... and of those, I have 3 I just can't trade, because they're too special to me...

I need to take a refresher's "class" on how trading works... like, should I remove the pins I don't want to trade from my lanyard? And I never can remember what color lanyard CMs are for kids only? I think it's yellow...

I wish I could look at my pins right now... sadly it's in the hangar behind the house... and I'm not well enough to go there yet.

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

I have been working on one of my worksheet and putting everything together in a more detailed daily schedule, and double-checked with the park hours, knowing they often change about one month prior...

When I had made my plans the first time, it was about a year out... mostly based on the previous year, like most of us do here on the boards... then before making my ADRs I had used the newly released park hours and I was lucky, very few things had changed and I didn't need to make a lot of adjustments.

But now today I look at this and I'm in distress!!!
I'm too tired now to try and get other ADRs, but tomorrow I'll go on the website and try... but I'm not too hopeful.

I'm just 1/3 down, and already I have 2 major problems.
1- On Sunday Dec. 2nd, we have a 5:20pm Boma ADR, because AK was supposed to close at 5pm. It now closes at SEVEN. So we basically lose 2 hours of park fun!!! Alright, granted, it's very possible that I will be totally pooped and will be happy to "have to" leave at that time... but... that's not the idea right now. I don't want to plan that way! We had planned such an early dinner because of the park closing that early!

But the worst (so far...)
2- On Wednesday Dec. 5th, we had ADRs at California Grill timed perfectly for the Holiday Wishes (the one during MMVCP, scheduled at 9:30pm) at 7:55pm. Plenty of time to eat.
Well, now Wishes is scheduled at SIX and there is no MVMCP that evening!!!!!!! WTH!!!

I guess we might have a chance with a later Boma time... but getting another California Grill time/date... well I'm not betting on it.
I honestly think we should just cancel it altogether and save the money. We wanted to go there for the wishes experience...

I hope there won't be much more of those surprises...

 

[swwake]

Susan, how do ressies work at Mythos? Do we just ask for it in the morning or the day before? Or do I need to make it now?
Still... I'll need to ask Mama, cuz we had planned to eat only QS in US to save money...

Just make them trough Opentable.com. I don't think they open until 30 days out, but you should be there now.

For pins, Chris trades them. He keeps a lanyard in the room with all the ones he loves and wants to keep, and wears a lanyard for trading (the ones from eBay lots like you're doing). When he trades for a "good" one, he doesn't put it on his "wearing out" lanyard, but puts it in his pocket until he's back at his room.

Don't let the changes stress you out. You may have had enough of AK by the time your Boma reservation hits anyway. It's hard to be a compulsive planner when things don't go according to plan. Just let yourself go with the flow, and know that you'll have fun no matter what. You're at Disney!

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

26 days!

When I told Mama about my "meltdown", she wasn't that bummed (I should've known! )

She was disappointed, a bit, to learn that our California Grill "dinner and a firework" evening wouldn't work out... but quite glad to learn we would save lots of cash by not going (which was my plan).
I myself wasn't as bummed after thinking for 5min and realizing we could just go to the Top of the World Lounge as BLT resort guests to watch the fireworks...

As for AK closing later, Mama reminded me AK is her least favorite park (sadly, one I like a lot, so she "endures" it to make me happy), so, exactly like Swwake said... she didn't even want me to try to change the time for a later dinner, she said she'd have enough and didn't want 2 more hours of AK.

I must say though, I'm sure she will enjoy it much more this trip. Because last time she had to push a wheelchair... on those uneven and small paths, the least wheelchair friendly of all WDW.
If we are just walking, and she doesn't have to push me uphill, hit a pothole or swirve around people in small spaces... she'll probably enjoy it much more!
But it's true that she prefers the princess theming of MK to the "zoo" type thing.

Today I'm trying to figure out a way to improve on my worksheets.
I am using passporters worksheets and others I made myself... and I realize I don't have a single one that is exactly what I want.

I have one with all park hours.
One with all my ADR infos (dates, times, conf. numbers)
One with an overview of everyday (only general info, like ADR place of the day, main park and main event if there's one).
The one I use to plan the whole trip, where I put parade and show times and which parks to avoid each day, and add when special events occur (like MVMCP).
I have my "final plan spreadsheet" with the schedule of everyday: split in morning, afternoon and evening (and breakfast, lunch and dinner), where I also add EMH and special events and ADR location...

Last time I only used that last final plan spreadsheet, which I had printed, and the ADR one for the conf. numbers (which I didn't need at all).

But a few times we decided to ditch that plan and I needed the infos like park hours and parks to avoid... of course park hours will be easy to get... but other things like parks to avoid and things to do... I'd like to have that close at hand and all together.

So right now I'm trying to improve on my worksheet... without cluttering it...

Aren't we crazy?!

And I know I'm not too bad... There are no in-park planning for me. No commando-style. (I couldn't physically do it anyways)...
The only exception to that is that we WILL get up early in Universal to do the early entry at WWoHP and hit FJ first.

So...back to Numbers (that's Excel for Mac, for you who didn't see the light yet )

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Well, my spreadsheet is coming along... I looked online to find inspiration... and turns out there really isn't any that makes me more happy than my own (with the few adjustments that I made)!
Most of them either had too little detail, or were for commando-style touring, with hour-by-hour scheduling. Woh. Can you say too much?
I'll try to post a picture when I'm done.

...and while doing it and collecting the info to make it real complete, I remembered we wanted to try going to the Pop Warner Cheer and Dance Championships which will be going on at Wide World of Sports during our first week!


We are big fans of anything related to dancing... and it turns out we have a few open evenings during that week, so we definitely could go!
But looking around the web, even on the official page of Pop Warner, I can't find any info about buying tickets to go!
Has anyone ever attended? Do we just take the bus there on the evening of a competition and pay to enter? How much does it cost? Can anyone attend? It feels weird that there are only entry forms on the website and no info for ticket sales!

Oh, and by the way Swwake I forgot to come back to you about the pins... thanks for the reply about how Chris is doing it...
I have read somewhere else that some people use a messenger bag instead of a lanyard... I might consider that, altough a messenger bag could be even more bothersome than only a lanyard!
And I think kids might be intimidated by something non-traditional... with a lanyard they can be sure you are trading, you know?

(oooh! first big gust of wind from Sandy, every one jumped... and the worst isn't even here yet. It's gonna be a big one... We're used to big winds here, but... )

OK, let's turn up the music and go back to the spreadsheet... oh, and I should turn off my main computer... (still on the laptop/laZboy duo).

 

[swwake]

I receive and store email on my phone. My last trip, I did away with the ADR listing and if I ever needed the confirmation numbers, I just went to my email on my phone and got them. I don't really remember needing them, but they were there just in case.

Stay safe up there!

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Yup, another change...
Curiously... I'm starting to get a hang of it and didn't feel to bad. Even if it was a much more major change as the previous ones...

Tracking back, here's what happened so far:
AK is closing later than planned one evening, so our ADR means we won't take advantage of that. Mama is almost happy about it...
I'm not... but I'm thinking it might be a blessing in disguise, with my health. An early night could be a good thing.

The night we had planned on having a special holiday wishes dinner viewing at California Grill (meaning, the MVMCP wishes), well turns out there won't be a MVMCP that evening, and the Wishes that were planned right as we would've been seated... will be 2 hours before our ADR after all.
I will cancel that ADR soon.
I'm not too bummed, as we will be staying at BLT with the Top of the World Lounge where we'll be able to view the fireworks... and if we're lucky, we might even see them from our balcony! (not counting on it though). That meal was the costliest (is that a word?) of the whole trip, so I almost feel better now that it's canceled.

The latest news... I wanted to enjoy the ABC Christmas day parade... I know, it will be packed and all. But I never had the chance to go to a Christmas parade, not even here in Montreal. It just never happened! And I always watch the Disney one on Christmas morning (or tape it and watch it during the holidays) and thinking I could actually be there and then watch it later and think I WAS THERE... It would just be magical!
...But I finally found details... and it really looks bad. Too bad.
First, I learned that they tape it as a TV show and not just tape the parade as it happens. Which means they do a bit, re-do it and then once more, and then the next part, and so on... and it can last for over 5 hours. The worst part for me, even on a good day when it's not too hot... is standing. Walking is much less of a problem. When I just stand the blood pools and the risk of a BP drop is much higher. Just watching the regular parades might be a problem... but standing for 5hrs is totally bad.

Then I learned the people lined along Main Street for the filming are usually CMs and their family, which are given tickets. Sometimes annual passholders can get tickets also... but I'm guessing IF they do give some tickets to APs, by the time I activate my AP there won't be any left.
And, if you get a ticket, you have to agree to stay for the entire duration of the taping... and there's my biggest problem after all.

I could, technically, go anyways. Maybe I could get to be there, 4th or 5th row and catch a glimpse of the parade. If we did that, we wouldn't have to stay for the entire time, and I could say that I was there... technically. Not sure it's worth it.
Especially not with MK pegged as the park to avoid that day.

So, I now have to decide which park we will hit that day instead... (the good news is we won't have to get up so early!)

...and what day I switch around to make up for that MK day... because when I made up that plan, I thought we would get up extra-early (as I had heard taping started early), be there for a bit of taping -or that it ended mid-morning or around noon... and hit the rides for the rest of the day...

So far it's not easy. I end up with 2 consecutive days at the same parks, which I want to avoid... But I'll figure it out.
Argh, I wish I had done that part of the research better at first!


As for the cheer and dance competition, I learned it would happen in the new HP Field House and the tickets are either 16$/day or 48$ for the whole week.
We don't have any details about the schedule yet (only that it's Nov.30th to Dec. 8th) and we can't buy the tix either.
I'm thinking, we will not go more than twice, so we probably won't go for the event tickets.
It should be fun!

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Truly, I am... a bad DISer I mean.
For years, other times months at a time, I totally ignore the boards... usually between trips, because it bums me too much... but then I should still DIS... if only just to give back.
I also stop listening to the podcast...

And now that I'm back, I'm back full-on (I'm sure no one noticed... )
A good thing about being sick lately is having lots of time to catch up on past podcasts... I mean, can anyone do something while listening to those things? I know I can't. So I listen before going to bed... and eventually have to stop because it creates insomnia...

I went back about 18 months ago... I'm now listening to the podcasts from April 2011. Of course I skip some and lots of things are outdated or non-relevant now... but I got some interesting info.
And I can't wait to listen to the 2011 and 2012 Food and Wine festival and Halloween episodes... as we plan to be going back during that time next year (having our APs paid!)...
I also can't wait to listen to the episodes about December 2011, of course!

OK, so that was my confession of the day.

As for the changes... I decided to try and change a few ADRs yesterday (I LOVE that new online ADR thing! )

Since AK closes later, I decided to try to get later ADRs on both nights I had dinners after AK closing.
I know, just yesterday I said I wouldn't change that, since Mama isn't an AK fan, and thinking maybe it would be better to have shorter days... but it was bugging me... and if I end up not being able to last 1-2 more hours after a short AK day, what will I do with those 8pm ADRs?!

So I checked... and turned out to have some luck! I could get a 7h40pm Boma time on the day AK closes at 7pm (so, plenty of time to get there at a leisurly pace), and a 5h45pm Yak & Yeti time on the day the park closes at 6pm (we had 4h45pm, which is mighty early for dinner!).
This makes me very happy!
And it just means we won't feel the need to rush to get there in the morning.

I also changed our last dinner ADR, at Portobello, which was at 10pm. Mama thought it was much too late, not only because she hates eating that late, but because we are leaving the next morning and we don't want to leave too late...
I could only get 9pm instead, but hey, it's better!

Plus, I didn't want TOO early (I was going for 8pm), because I figure we will go to DTD in the afternoon and spend our time there. We won't be going any other time during our trip, so... it's shopping, dinner and leaving (and we'll take the car).

I looked at changing one of our Epcot ADRs for a Candelight Processional package, but it seems they are all taken. The crowd forecast is very low anyways, so I think if we go to the earliest showing and get there early we shouldn't have a problem without it.

And finally, I heard the Tomorrowland Terrace dessert firework thingy was back, and it made me dream when I learned it existed, but I had heard it was over so hadn't looked into booking it back at the 180 days mark...
I checked... and it's all full of course.
It wasn't working very well in my plan anyways, but hey... would've been nice.

Maybe it will still be available next fall!

Makes me think... We won't be deciding for sure on next fall until we come back from this trip... but there's a high probability we will go back to BLT on points... except we will be past the 11 months mark! ...hope there will still be availability!
I wouldn't mind going to a value like AoA, which looks real cool, but Mama is spoiled... and she hasn't been at BLT yet! She hates the buses more than anything. I told her about BWV where you can walk to Epcot, but MK is really her favorite so... we'll have to see I guess.

While putting the finishing touches to my plans, I realized how free I felt...
unless you went to WDW in a wheelchair... and unless you stayed at a non-monorail/non-walkable to a park resort... you have no idea what I mean. (especially the wheelchair part, haha).

I was looking at my plan, and reading other people's TRs... and realized, unlike last time, we would be able to decide, after a meal at Epcot for example, to go back to the room with a doggie bag, and go back to the parks... and we would have lost less than 90min!
We could decide to go to Epcot or MK 1hr before park closing! We will be that close, and fast enough on foot!

Everything takes more time with the wheelchair... you can't go everywhere, you need to negociate obstacles... stop not to hurt the kids that throw themselves in front of you... plus, Mama is often unsure of herself and that makes her slow. If we walk side by side, we are at least twice as fast (not even powerwalking, just normal speed).
We will also know where to go and how to navigate the parks and resorts since it'll be our second time... much less time spent lost, looking around, going to the wrong place and backtracking, etc.

In 2008 we were in POFQ, at a time where a new bus system was implemented and was much slower than it is now. We always had 2 stops, because buses also served POR. Waits were often over 30min and rides to parks were usually over 20min. Our bus stops at the parks were always the further from all moderate resorts.
The few times we will need to take a bus, I know we won't share it with any other resort, plus our stop will be closest to park entrance also! Which right there means shorter transit times!

Taking all that into account makes me giddy!

I can't wait for that time when we decide to go somewhere last minute... and be able to do it, have the time to... where we can actually tour the World Showcase in one afternoon... can't wait for that time when we decide to split up, one going to get FPs while the other gets a snack...

It will be such a different trip!

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Here is the famous spreadsheet!

Now it's a bit small (and, mind you, it's only half the stay!)

Top row is day # (1st day, 2nd day, etc)
Then it's date... in french.
Then it's the park with a morning EMH (if there's one)
Then I split the days between, more or less, Morning, Afternoon and Evening. I didn't want hours because our plan is pretty flexible.
At first I had "breakfast, lunch and dinner" in between, but sometimes it wouldn't make sense, because, say, we would spend the evening at a park, but have dinner "earlier" at another place... a LATE dinner. So I just removed that altogether. I didn't need to have that detail, I'm not dumb!

My color coding is easy to see : purple for MK, green for Epcot, orange for HS and yellow for AK. Oh, and blue for the resorts and grey for DTD (it looks like I don't like DTD with that color... I just wanted it to be clear!). And I added a different shade of green for WWoS, which I put in there just to make sure we don't forget it, but really... it's not that scheduled.

Each day I put where we would be, more or less, without any times. I put the ADR we have, with time and conf. #.
I put the parade or special event info (like "dreams: 15h" yup, french time too! ) for the park we plan to be in.
The "schedule" part ends with the park's evening EMH, if there is one.

Then I added all the park hours (including MSEP, Wishes and F! times), in case we decide to change plans or something comes up...
I also noted which nights are MVMCP so I would know when it could be fun to go watch the special holiday Wishes on the TOTWL (which I had also put in the schedule, along with the EWP).

I then added the parks to avoid each day.

And finished with a few infos I didn't want to forget, like CP hours.

It's not perfect... some lines are in bold, others aren't; some boxes aren't boxed... I had created the original file in Windows Excel before migrating to Mac OSX and it's Numbers version... and altough compatible, some things don't play 100% nice together. Honestly, I didn't want to spent time on those details so much!

I'm very satisfied with it (for the moment, anyways!)
And it fits on two 11x8" sheets... I think it could fit on one legal sheet of paper (need to tinker with settings when I'm on my regular desktop computer).

If someone is interested, I can send you a copy so you can adapt it to your trip!

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Why today more than yesterday? Honestly I don't really know
Maybe because it's been my 7th night of insomnia (due to one of my meds being doubled, which leads to side effects for a few weeks... including this)... and thus listening to the DISunplugged podcast for hours every night for a week?

Maybe because I finally discovered the DIS iPhone app? (I know, I lived under a rock) and started reading random threads for the first time in years (literally).

But it's working. I'm all hyped up!
We are leaving THIS MONTH!!!

I discovered the "December 2012 roll call threadS". Yup, with an S... it's going on the 3rd part... which means over 500 pages.
I'm gonna die!
I NEED to read them all now!

I wouldn't be going crazy with hours (what am I saying, DAYS!) of such reading ahead of me if I hadn't stopped reading along the way... I was subscribed, had been one of the first to sign up... in fact, my DISname is the first one on that list!
But after a while as you know I kinda deserted the DIS... and since it seemed to be just posts of "hey, I'm ... and I'll be at ... from ... to ..." I kind of didn't really get the idea and got disinterested.
It seems I should've stayed tuned because it looks like it got interesting along the way!
So now I have LOTS of reading to do!
As if I wasn't excited enough!

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

I'm sure I had told you that we had decided to do our own Yuletide tour... not only to save the money, but to see even more and go at our own pace... of course, it meant not learning some inside stories and not visiting some behind the scene stuff... but our interest lies more in the decorations...

I decided to do that on the day following our MVMCP evening... first off, it will put us in the holiday mood (well, even more!) and it will make for a relaxing day.
I made a late breakfast ADR, at Kona Café (10am).
Afterwards, we will take back the monorail, to the TTC and then Epcot, where we will take the boat at the International Gateway to Boardwalk Inn.
From there we will walk to the Swan/Dolphin
From where we will walk to the Yacht/Beach Club, where we will snack or have a late lunch at Beaches & Cream! (yum! Have been dreaming of that for years!).

And then we will walk back to Epcot and take the monorail back to BLT.
Depending on the time, we will rest or take the boat to Fort Wild Resort & Campground to do the wagon ride (since they start around 7pm, this is the reason we might have to rest a bit at BLT... or maybe we will rest because we'll be tired... )
After the ride we will walk over to Wilderness Lodge... and then take the boat to MK where we will finish the evening, since there's an evening EMH... and it's sooo close to our room!
I love this!

---------------------------
Update... Reality set it... There's just no way I could read the 500+ pages of all 3 threads of December roll call...
Still super excited to have found it and will catch up the latest one.