Top Secret Pixie Dust! A Surprise 13th Birthday PTR! NEW! TRIP REPORT LINK PAGE 220!

[BrooklynnsMommy]

Let me look at it at home tonight or MeMom can probably beat me to it. Since we are used to the heat and crowds. We have our plan of attack for every park and it usually works really well.

 

[shannon47142]

Jackie, you have already gotten great tips! Yes it will be hot and there will be crowds, but we have gone in July and the first week in August on our previous two trips(and again this July) and we had a great time with seeing all the attractions! The best advice is to go early and use those fast passes with a break in the afternoon!
You will have a great touring plan by the time you leave

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Good luck Jackie! I used TGM for the first time in December and it worked wonderfully!! I loved his "green" parks and put together a super efficient touring plan for each day. I hope you find something that works for you and the fam. I agree that being out there in the heat will be tough after awhile, especially if you are crisscrossing all over the park.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Since I'm going in late July too, I'm paying close attention. Would you all advise deciding generally which "land" or even which specific ride to do first and then work around the park? I don't want to criss cross either, and am making a list of must do's. We don't have many of the big mountain type rides thankfully.

What we are planning is to get there for either am EMH or rope drop and head to a headliner and/or an FP ride so we utilize the FP system best by getting one right away. Then the FP window will open up sooner for the next FP you want. For us, we will probably only be needing FPs for BTMRR (if I can convince the girls to do it!) and maybe Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise. I'm hoping we can do the other rides in Fantasyland during EMH and hit up POTC early too.

 

[dancin_princess]

Hey everyone, Is it too late for me to pick a code name? If not, I choose starchick cause I like stars and LOVE Chick-Fil-A. I want to add that I can keep a secret. I'm now going back to read the rest of the report.

So, Operation Thirteen Candles it became!

We will arrive July 18 -- the day after Chelsea’s actual birthday since all of our family lives here now and would be disappointed to miss out on her celebration at home -- and we will leave July 23. It is a little bit shorter trip than we are used to taking, but we will just have to make sure we squeeze in all of our birthday partying into the six days that we will be down there.

Yay for Operation 13 candles and a July trip. Do you guys have any DISmeets planned?

 

[MRYPPNS]

Here's my go at MK:

Wednesday:
gate 1/2 hr before RD
get FP for Space Mt (do not ride yet)
Peter Pan
IASW
Mickey's Philharmagic
Mad Tea Party

Buzz
Space Mtn with FP
Work In TTA as it makes sense to do

Add in whatever until time for

lunch and break at resort

Fireworks and Parade tonight

Friday AM:
gate 1/2 hr before RD

Send someone to get Splash Mtn FP (do not ride yet)
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
BTMRR
Splash Mtn with FP

Haunted Mansion and Hall of President as it makes sense with the timing of the next HOP showing.

 

[dancin_princess]

I'm 50 pgs in. I'm determined to get all caught up by the end of the day.

Here's my little input so far.

I love your ADR choices. I have not have the privilege to eat at many locations however I am looking forward to changing that.

In the predawn hours of July 29, 1981, my mother woke me up to come out to the living room. Sitting there for the next several hours, I was transfixed by the pageantry unfolding on the television. My six-year-old self had never seen anything quite so glamorous or as beautiful as Princess Diana’s wedding.

I was 4.5 years old and that was the first wedding I attended via !
I've always been fascinated by the Royal Family! I was so sad when she passed away!

I guess I'll tell on myself here, ....I was there,... but not as a pre-schooler or 1st grader----but, a teenager! 13 to be exact!

I wasn't even born when she got married. It was very sad when she passed away. The Princess Di exhibit must have been really exciting. What a great experince.

How exciting to be staying at the GF! My dream is to spend at least one night of my Disneymoon there. I better start saving now.

Edit: I just got to post #963 (pg 65) and I'm sorry to hear GF is out. Even if you can't go to GF for her 13th you can go for her Sweet 16 and if something special is already in the works for that you could celebrate it the Spanish way and go for her quincenera

 

[disney<333]

It's been really hot here in Georgia lately! So hot that I am beginning to wonder how we will ever survive Disney in the middle of July! Throw in summer crowds, and I am really beginning to stress about this trip. I know it is going to be imperative to get to the parks early in the morning, take an afternoon break back at the resort, and then, head back to the parks in the evenings for dinner and more park touring.

Here's where I need help! In order to maximize our morning park time and avoid the crowds as much as possible I need a plan of attack. I want to avoid criss-crossing the parks as much as possible, but I don't mind being the one to run for Fast Passes for attractions. I have looked at the touring plans in the Unofficial Guide, but I don't like them all that much -- there is a lot of running back and forth across the parks as a group, and they include some attractions that we just aren't interested in.

So, who wants to help me create our own touring plans? Here are my must-do attractions for each park, and the day we are going to be there.

Disney Hollywood Studios on the Sunday afternoon we arrive or Thursday:
Toy Story Mania (Will Fast Passes be gone by the time we get there on Sunday?)
Tower of Terror
Rock n' Roller Coaster
Star Tours
One Man's Dream
Lights! Motors! Action! (Maybe)
Great Movie Ride (Another Maybe)

Epcot: Monday and Possibly Thursday
Soarin'
Test Track
Mission: Space
Spaceship Earth
Captain EO
The Mexico Ride
Maelstrom
The Sum of All Thrills
Kim Possible

Animal Kingdom: Tuesday
Everest
Safari
Dinosaur
Kali River Rapids
Primeval Whirl (Maybe)

Magic Kingdom: Wednesday -- Possibly Sunday afternoon and Friday Morning -- This is the one giving me the most fits.
Pirates
Jungle Cruise
Splash Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain
Haunted Mansion
Hall of Presidents
Peter Pan
It's a Small World
Mad Tea Party
Mickey's Philharmagic
Space Mountain
Buzz Lightyear
TTA
Main Street Electrical Parade
Fireworks

Please help me figure out the best way to tackle all of these rides and avoid the crowds and heat!

Sunday- What time do you plan on getting to the park? I just checked and DHS is open until 9, so I would go there on Sunday. You don't need a full day there and this way you can have two Epcot days.
TSM FPs will be gone before 11:30/12ish.
LMA is at 1:20 and 4:20. I'm assuming you won't be in the park before 4:20. Let me know what time you think you'll be at the park and I can help you better from there.
Monday: Do RD and run (well, walk quickly) to Soarin'. Do standby and then get FPs. If you want after go to Character Connection, if not do SOAL. While there get your tix for KP. I know you usually spend some time in Innovations so assuming you spend in hour in there. It should be about 10:30ish. Do Mission Space standby and then get FPs for TT. The single rider shouldn't be too bad yet so maybe you could do single rider after you get FPs. Do Spaceship Earth and Caption EO. I'm surprised you don't have Nemo and Figment down. They never have waits and if for some reason they do, the lines are indoors. I would recommend both of these. If you do them then after Caption EO. Next head to the WS to get started on your KP fun. It depends on where you have to go. When you get towards the Mexico side get FPs for Maelstorm. It should tell you to come back in hour. During that hour you can do the Norway or Mexico KP, do the mexico ride, and the kids can pose with hats and such. After that ride Maelstorm and then continue with the KP. After go back to the resort for a swim before coming back to use FPs and have dinner.
I'll be back for the rest of the parks later.

 

[punkin413]

what's funny about this is MK is the easiest one for me to figure out! the rest aren't terribly difficult but it's inevitable that there will be some criss-crossing on those, at least in my mind.

here's my plan of attack for MK

~swing by space mountain to get a fastpass.
~fantasyland first thing (peter pan and dumbo first since those are always the longest lines)
~go back to tomorrowland and do that/use FPs to space
~take secret pathway beside space to toontown and conquer that area
~take the train to frontierland
~get FPs to either splash or BTMRR, depending on which one has the longer wait, and ride the other one
~go to liberty square and do that area
~take a shortcut through where the bathrooms are to get to adventureland and do that area.

that's usually how we do things and how i advise clients to do it, as well.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Wow! There are some master planners here. I'm not even going to try to add my two cents... but I am going to take some notes for my upcoming trips!

Sorry the heat is getting to you. Remember heat in WDW is better than heat anywhere else and just think how fun it will be to cool off at CBR or with a grey goose slushie, lost on safari, insert adult beverage here.

 

[Charleston Princess]

do you have more than one day at MK?

I would suggest tackling part in the a.m. and then grab fp's before you leave the park for later in the evening...

I would probably hit SM, Buzz and anything else you want to do in that area, then head over to adventure land and grab a fp for BTMR or Splash Mountain then do pirates and jungle crusie while you wait for your fp time.

Or watch Mickey's Philharmagic while you wait...it's air conditioned.

Thank you, Cherie!!! We have all day Wednesday and Friday before we leave around lunchtime. I like your idea of escaping into Mickey's Philharmagic because it's air-conditioned! That is going to be very important in July.

arrive before RD say 8:45 am at the latest
go thru security and hang out till let in "I Spy w/ my little eye something grey..."
once in, send a runner to the Land and grab FP's for Soarin my est return time btwn 10-11 am
rest can start heading over to Mission Space but first those waiting could check out Scrappie's LAL tiles

Where are your LAL tiles located? Now I want to find them.

ride Mission Space do you do orange or green?
then hit TT
next go use the Soarin FP's
grab a snack from Sunshine Seasons to go...
up next catch the next showing of Captain EO at the Imag. pav (may have to adjust as needed based on showtimes)

Charles and the kids do the orange one -- I won't go near the ride at all because I tend to be slightly claustrophobic.

Now it should be time to head into WS and have an early lunch...is it too early for the Pomegranate Kir or Grey Goose Slushie in France?
as you head in, "grab" a time for your KPM-I think you can request a specific country
I'd take the Friendship shuttle across toward Morocco and then wind your way back toward Mexico.
On your World Tour do your KPM (think you can check in early too)
Malestrom in Norway and grab a yummy treat from the bakery too
Gran Fiesta Boat Ride in Mexico
now head back into FW

make a stop in Mouse Gear for a little afternoon shopping ?

go to Innoventions East and do Sum of all Thrills
and SSE on the way out
have dinner at your resort or ??? and go swimming!

I don't think it is ever too early for a Grey Goose slushie.

If you want to split it up into 2 days or put in a mid day swim/break I'd break right after Soarin and come back and finish or do the WS things a diff day...just arrive say 10:30 ish am and head straight over to await entry into WS.

Hope this helps...

It does! It does! Thanks so much!

Let me look at it at home tonight or MeMom can probably beat me to it. Since we are used to the heat and crowds. We have our plan of attack for every park and it usually works really well.

Yes, I need all the pointers you have for avoiding the crowds and dealing with the heat! I am so worried about both of them!

Jackie, you have already gotten great tips! Yes it will be hot and there will be crowds, but we have gone in July and the first week in August on our previous two trips(and again this July) and we had a great time with seeing all the attractions! The best advice is to go early and use those fast passes with a break in the afternoon!
You will have a great touring plan by the time you leave

Thank you! Hearing that people have survived their trips in July and August gives me hope that we will, too!

Good luck Jackie! I used TGM for the first time in December and it worked wonderfully!! I loved his "green" parks and put together a super efficient touring plan for each day. I hope you find something that works for you and the fam. I agree that being out there in the heat will be tough after awhile, especially if you are crisscrossing all over the park.

Thank you, Kelli! See, I know my family, and they will revolt if I make them tramp back and forth around the parks.

Since I'm going in late July too, I'm paying close attention. Would you all advise deciding generally which "land" or even which specific ride to do first and then work around the park? I don't want to criss cross either, and am making a list of must do's. We don't have many of the big mountain type rides thankfully.

What we are planning is to get there for either am EMH or rope drop and head to a headliner and/or an FP ride so we utilize the FP system best by getting one right away. Then the FP window will open up sooner for the next FP you want. For us, we will probably only be needing FPs for BTMRR (if I can convince the girls to do it!) and maybe Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise. I'm hoping we can do the other rides in Fantasyland during EMH and hit up POTC early too.

That's right -- you are in the same boat as me! How many days are you going to be there again? Part of my stress is that we are there for a shorter time than normal.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hey everyone, Is it too late for me to pick a code name? If not, I choose starchick cause I like stars and LOVE Chick-Fil-A. I want to add that I can keep a secret. I'm now going back to read the rest of the report.

Yay for Operation 13 candles and a July trip. Do you guys have any DISmeets planned?

Thanks for coming over to play!!! I have seen you over on MeMom's trip reports. It was your dad that they met up with at CBR one time, wasn't it?

Here's my go at MK:

Wednesday:
gate 1/2 hr before RD
get FP for Space Mt (do not ride yet)
Peter Pan
IASW
Mickey's Philharmagic
Mad Tea Party

Buzz
Space Mtn with FP
Work In TTA as it makes sense to do

Add in whatever until time for

lunch and break at resort

Fireworks and Parade tonight

Friday AM:
gate 1/2 hr before RD

Send someone to get Splash Mtn FP (do not ride yet)
Jungle Cruise
Pirates
BTMRR
Splash Mtn with FP

Haunted Mansion and Hall of President as it makes sense with the timing of the next HOP showing.

Beautiful, Heidi! I love it!

I'm 50 pgs in. I'm determined to get all caught up by the end of the day.

Here's my little input so far.

I love your ADR choices. I have not have the privilege to eat at many locations however I am looking forward to changing that.

I wasn't even born when she got married. It was very sad when she passed away. The Princess Di exhibit must have been really exciting. What a great experince.

How exciting to be staying at the GF! My dream is to spend at least one night of my Disneymoon there. I better start saving now.

Edit: I just got to post #963 (pg 65) and I'm sorry to hear GF is out. Even if you can't go to GF for her 13th you can go for her Sweet 16 and if something special is already in the works for that you could celebrate it the Spanish way and go for her quincenera

Sadly, the Grand Floridian is out -- we are staying at CBR and still have all the same ADR choices!

Sunday- What time do you plan on getting to the park? I just checked and DHS is open until 9, so I would go there on Sunday. You don't need a full day there and this way you can have two Epcot days.
TSM FPs will be gone before 11:30/12ish.
LMA is at 1:20 and 4:20. I'm assuming you won't be in the park before 4:20. Let me know what time you think you'll be at the park and I can help you better from there.
Monday: Do RD and run (well, walk quickly) to Soarin'. Do standby and then get FPs. If you want after go to Character Connection, if not do SOAL. While there get your tix for KP. I know you usually spend some time in Innovations so assuming you spend in hour in there. It should be about 10:30ish. Do Mission Space standby and then get FPs for TT. The single rider shouldn't be too bad yet so maybe you could do single rider after you get FPs. Do Spaceship Earth and Caption EO. I'm surprised you don't have Nemo and Figment down. They never have waits and if for some reason they do, the lines are indoors. I would recommend both of these. If you do them then after Caption EO. Next head to the WS to get started on your KP fun. It depends on where you have to go. When you get towards the Mexico side get FPs for Maelstorm. It should tell you to come back in hour. During that hour you can do the Norway or Mexico KP, do the mexico ride, and the kids can pose with hats and such. After that ride Maelstorm and then continue with the KP. After go back to the resort for a swim before coming back to use FPs and have dinner.
I'll be back for the rest of the parks later.

Thank you so much!!! After talking with LL today (Lady Lallie), I am switching things around a little bit, and we are doing Epcot the day we arrive. So we will have a day and a half there.

what's funny about this is MK is the easiest one for me to figure out! the rest aren't terribly difficult but it's inevitable that there will be some criss-crossing on those, at least in my mind.

here's my plan of attack for MK

~swing by space mountain to get a fastpass.
~fantasyland first thing (peter pan and dumbo first since those are always the longest lines)
~go back to tomorrowland and do that/use FPs to space
~take secret pathway beside space to toontown and conquer that area
~take the train to frontierland
~get FPs to either splash or BTMRR, depending on which one has the longer wait, and ride the other one
~go to liberty square and do that area
~take a shortcut through where the bathrooms are to get to adventureland and do that area.

that's usually how we do things and how i advise clients to do it, as well.

Thank you so much, Dawn!!! This is great!

Wow! There are some master planners here. I'm not even going to try to add my two cents... but I am going to take some notes for my upcoming trips!

Sorry the heat is getting to you. Remember heat in WDW is better than heat anywhere else and just think how fun it will be to cool off at CBR or with a grey goose slushie, lost on safari, insert adult beverage here.

This is true! However, I worry that the other people in my family won't feel the same way. I may need lots of adult beverages to make it through this trip!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Thank you so much to everyone for all their input and help! I feel much better after reading everyone's ideas and advice! Over the next few weeks, I will be posting our park plans (Lady Lallie helped me tremendously on park days and touring plans today over email, too, and we made a few changes).

I also amused myself today with dreaming of resorts. No, I am not changing because the price differences are staggering, but I am curious (because you know I can never decide myself):

If you had to stay at a monorail resort, which one would you choose and why?

 

[disney<333]

I would go with Poly. It seems to be real popular with the DIS and it's gorgeous. Would renting points for BLT be cheaper then CBR? I should probably shut up, you changed way too much already.
My past 4 trips have been for 5 nights with a 13 yr old and an 11 yr old. We can always exchange email addresses if you have any questions I can answer for you.

 

[Charleston Princess]

I would go with Poly. It seems to be real popular with the DIS and it's gorgeous. Would renting points for BLT be cheaper then CBR? I should probably shut up, you changed way too much already.
My past 4 trips have been for 5 nights with a 13 yr old and an 11 yr old. We can always exchange email addresses if you have any questions I can answer for you.

Oh, I can't rent points at this point because the trip is paid for, and we are past our 45-day mark. That's probably a blessing in disguise.

You are very familiar with the kind of touring we will be doing, then! I didn't realize our kids were so close in age!

 

[Native NYer]

Glad you made some progress with your park plans. I'm terrible with that stuff.

Hmmm.... I'd choose the GF. It's the only monorail resort I haven't tried. But I the Poly.

 

[dancin_princess]

My goal is met. I am all caught up with your report.

The straw that broke the camel’s back occurred on Sunday night when I asked her if she was planning on studying for her language arts final (which was the following day.) She hadn’t even brought anything home with her and attempted to tell her father that she didn’t know the final was Monday. Really? The irony of her trying to use this excuse is the fact that I am her language arts teacher. Hmmm, let’s see. I know I told her class every day last week when their final was, and we spent three days reviewing for said final. Charles and I were livid with her.

[/b]

I dunno how she thought she could get past that one.

On a more humorous note, Connor cracked us up the other night at dinner. This was the conversation:

Connor: Does your belly button really have any purpose once you are born?
Me: No, not really.
Connor: Well, when I am older, I am going to get it filled in.
Me: But then you won’t have a belly button!!! Won’t that look strange?
Connor: But I don’t need it…
Me: People will think you are a clone or an alien.

Of course at that point, the conversation completely degenerated into the “What if people suspect you are a clone…” type of discourse because that's how we roll at our house.

Now, on the trip planning front, Chelsea is obviously getting a bit antsy about the lack of Disney trip discussions occurring at our house.

Chelsea: Have you booked our summer trip yet?
Me: Nah. (Lord, please forgive me for lying point blank to my daughter.)
Chelsea: WHAT??? When are you going to do that??? I feel very unsettled without a Disney trip booked! (Hmmm, where did she learn that?)
Me: Well…(I tried the whole nonchalant, noncommittal shrugging thing.)
Chelsea: I think you need to…(she pulls up the calendar on my cell phone) book a trip for July 14 through the 19th. We need to stay at Caribbean Beach Resort, I want a birthday button to wear all week, and I want to eat at Teppan Edo on my actual birthday.

See, she has it all planned out in her mind what she wants.

Two out of the four things she wants are pretty good, right?

how did u manage to keep a straight face when she had the trip all planned out?

what was she thinking???



so funny!

my friend jen's little boy, lex, who's 4, asked his mom how babies ate while they're in their mommy's bellies recently. she went into the whole thing about how the baby is connected by the umbilical cord and that it becomes your belly button and that the doctor cuts it when the baby is born. she said he gave her this horrified look when she said the doctor cut it off and then he pulled down his pants, looked at his private and shook his head vigorously, saying, "no, look momma, i still have mine!!!!"

Now everything else is little notes I was making while i was reading.

*sorry to hear about the changes in charles's pay and poor connor to burst into tears.

*Staying at Hilton Head Island will still be a fun Disney getaway. It will be fun to see that Resort in a TR. (maybe now you can save this for a weekend getaway for you and Charles?)

*It must have been so fun to see the gorillas hunt for jello eggs. I would love to see that.

*I've been meaning to ask, Did you guys have to do a lot of convincing to get MeMom to be in the picture?

*ive heard of the sillybandz thriugh my sister. She says she is not planning to get in on this craze. I'm not so sure I believe her.

*I love Chelsea's new glasses. Much more stylish than the ones I'm wearing. Its about itme I get myself a new pair - and i wanna try contacts.

*Nice list of edible wishes. The Dole Whip is on the top of my list. (and tonga toast)

*Yes, that was my Dad that MeMom met up with at CBR. So if you go to TSM on sunday afternoon you just may see him there. (his name is ed) He only works there on weekends.

If I chose to stay at a Monorail Resort I would pick the Poly just because I love the smell of it.

 

[MeMom]

If you had to stay at a monorail resort, which one would you choose and why?

The Polynesian Resort for me. I love the tropical, relaxed atmosphere, fireworks from the beach, sitting on a swing under a palm tree, the pretty flowers all over, the shopping, Kona and 'Ohana - all of it.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I don't think it is ever too early for a Grey Goose slushie.
I'll second that!

Yes, I need all the pointers you have for avoiding the crowds and dealing with the heat! I am so worried about both of them!
Ditto.

Thank you! Hearing that people have survived their trips in July and August gives me hope that we will, too!
Ditto again (should it be ditto ditto?)

That's right -- you are in the same boat as me! How many days are you going to be there again? Part of my stress is that we are there for a shorter time than normal.

We will be there four nights - only three full days. We got 5 day non-hoppers so we could use one either the first night, the last morning, and/or come back from the beach for a day during the next week. We are skipping AK again.

If I had to choose a monorail resort - it would be Poly. Here's why: I've stayed at BLT (eh), and Contemporary (garden wing where BLT is now). The best part of those was walking to MK. Poly has great restaurants, a beautiful beach, view of MK, cool pool, relaxing atmosphere...DOLE WHIPS! Definitely more my speed than GF. Makes me think we're on a whole other vacation plus Disney. We're going to try the Luau this trip. We've eaten breakfast at Ohana x2 and lunch at Kona.

 

[Nicole786]

I haven't stayed at any of the monorail resorts, but staying at the Poly for the first time in August!!

I think my answer would depend on who i'm with...I guess the answer would be the GF but since i'm traveling in August with my brother (the GF is reserved for mom/daughter trip or boyfriend/husband trip lol) I'll go with the Poly!