Two Castles in 24 Hours...Bring it On! A Sept 2013 PTR **NEW 10/14 w/ TR Link**

[disney-inspired]

Day 2 - Tuesday, Sept 3rd – Getting a Little Wild & Crazy

Our first full day is going to be an early one for us as we will be heading to a new to us restaurant for breakfast – Tusker House!

With our reservation being at 8:05, we are hoping to finish up just as the park opens at 9am so we can make a beeline to Everest!!!


With adding an extra day on our trip we now will have two AK days during our trip and I fully plan on seeing Finding Nemo again and seeing Lion King for the very first time (I know, I know, it’s just been one of those…oh, we’re gonna definitely see it this trip that just doesn’t seem to happen). Lunch will most likely be at either Pizzafari or Flame Tree BBQ.

Evening plans will take us over to Epcot and our absolute favorite restaurant in all of Disney World (and the only restaurant we have eaten at on every single one of our trips)….Teppan Edo!!!

Day 4 Time to Move
Living so close to Disneyland, we have the advantage that we dont feel that obligation to do the Soarin rush at Epcot. With the ride being identical to our DCA version there really isnt a draw for us to ride it in Florida. I am sure we will get Fastpasses at some point during the morning because hey, its air conditioned and well need a break from the September heat/humidity. I can say with pretty good certainty that our first ride of the day at Epcot will be Test Track. I dont know what it is about Test Track but it is up there as one of my favorite rides (both before the rehab and after). By getting there first thing the hope is that we get to go through the normal line to fully experience building your own car, etc that gets shortened when you do single rider or Fastpass.

Lunch will be at Sunshine Seasons. It took us 5 trips to finally eat there in January and we were kicking ourselves for not trying it sooner. Seriously, I am craving the strawberry shortcake. Today is also a day that I am really looking forward to because we will be doing the Behind the Seeds tour!!! I love getting behind the scenes at Disney. I know some people feel it ruins the magic for them but for me it gives a greater appreciation for all that they do to keep things running smoothly. Plus I think it is one of the least expensive tours offered.

PS....today we hit 44 days until WDW!!!!

My dads side of the family is German so I grew up on Spaetzle, Rouladen, etc and to be able to get that at Disney World is fantastic. Of course, it can never compare to my Omas home cooking but we thought the food was very good the first time we ate there. Along the Germany lines, I can also say that a German Pretzel will be on our list of snacks at some point during the trip.

It looked so happy!

Okay, it's like we have the same brain or least at the very least, very similar thought processes.

I'm also a SoCal native (about 1 hr from DLR) so I share a lot of the same sentiments about Soarin'. I've been on it too many times to count!

I'm going January 2014 and have a VERY similar game plan. I don't know how people can think AK is a half-day park I'm still on the fence about parkhoppers but I'm leaning towards getting them at about 90% now.

We also share a lot of the same ADRs. The only reason I'm doing Donald's Safari breakfast is to get that amazing, empty-park shot with my sister. Also, the food is very good I loved Teppan Edo as well so I'm taking my sister there on our trip. And who doesn't love Ohana, right?! Oh and that pretzel is definitely on my to-eat list!

I'm in!
Oh, I went in September last year and the 'crowds' were so non-existent, I LOVED it!

 

[klacey1]

Congrats on the sale of your condo and the purchase of the new one!! That's great that you'll have so much more space and the attached garage!

Mickey mail is so exciting!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We can't believe that we hadn't seen your PTR sooner. We have a lot in common like getting married at DLR (ours was at the Grand Californian), LOTS of trips to DLR (especially for dinner after work), and most of all WL in September! We will be there Sept 6-15th. We are looking forward to flying Jet Blue out of Long Beach for the first time, and just can't wait to be back at WDW.
I really enjoyed reading about the marathon, I started running a little over a year ago and haven't done any races yet but I'm seriously considering a Disney race soon.
Your bunnies are so cute too by the way, we would love a bunny but I think our dogs would love it too much. -Melissa

 

[blabbermouth]

Hooray for Mickey Mail!!!

Southern California in general is overpriced for what you could get in other areas throughout the Country and unfortunately, where we are in Orange County is on the higher end of the scale. In another state or even other parts of California we would probably be in a single family home. It's funny the things you are willing to compromise on when you fall in love with a home. I was willing to give up having my car in a garage if we fell in love with a condo that only had 1 garage or a garage/carport situation. Having an attached garage was one of B's big must haves though (my list of wants was so much shorter than his) and the condo having a driveway basically sealed the deal. It helped take away the sting of losing out on the 1st condo we fell in love with/put on offer on by less than a day.

Its going to be so weird moving out of here though...this was our first home together - lots of memories. I can't wait to have the girls back home though! We all agreed they will stay with the "grandparents" through vacation so we aren't stressing them out by moving them home for 3 weeks only to pack them up and take them back to my parents for 2 weeks. Truth be told, I think my dad is going to be missing having them up in their bonus/game room with him. He was a big proponent in keeping them through our vacation!

Houses are super expensive where we are too. Therefore we live in a 1000 sq ft house with no garage! But it's really cute and nicely renovated, and plenty of room for the two of us. But still, it was well over $400k. Ugh.

Cute about your parents keeping the girls . It's like when we had a flood at our place and had to move into my parents basement, I think they would have kept us forever and we're not even cuddly, haha.

 

[Disneyluvr81]

Okay, it's like we have the same brain or least at the very least, very similar thought processes.

I'm also a SoCal native (about 1 hr from DLR) so I share a lot of the same sentiments about Soarin'. I've been on it too many times to count!

I'm going January 2014 and have a VERY similar game plan. I don't know how people can think AK is a half-day park I'm still on the fence about parkhoppers but I'm leaning towards getting them at about 90% now.

We also share a lot of the same ADRs. The only reason I'm doing Donald's Safari breakfast is to get that amazing, empty-park shot with my sister. Also, the food is very good I loved Teppan Edo as well so I'm taking my sister there on our trip. And who doesn't love Ohana, right?! Oh and that pretzel is definitely on my to-eat list!

I'm in!
Oh, I went in September last year and the 'crowds' were so non-existent, I LOVED it!

It's always fun to meet another local!! I put my vote in for park hoppers. I couldn't imagine doing WDW without them - I would feel so constricted not being able to go to more than one park.

It will be awesome to be in AK before opening. We've only ever done breakfast in MK and loved having the empty park shots. Really looking forward to trying Ohana's - it always looks so good!! September will always be our favorite time to go but December comes in at a very close 2nd. We'll eventually make it back there to see it all decorated for the holidays again!!

Congrats on the sale of your condo and the purchase of the new one!! That's great that you'll have so much more space and the attached garage!

Mickey mail is so exciting!

Thank you so much!!! It's all been so exciting and scary and nerve wracking. My husband and I realized tonight that in less than 3 weeks we will no longer own our condo and that is just crazy to wrap my head around!

We can't believe that we hadn't seen your PTR sooner. We have a lot in common like getting married at DLR (ours was at the Grand Californian), LOTS of trips to DLR (especially for dinner after work), and most of all WL in September! We will be there Sept 6-15th. We are looking forward to flying Jet Blue out of Long Beach for the first time, and just can't wait to be back at WDW.
I really enjoyed reading about the marathon, I started running a little over a year ago and haven't done any races yet but I'm seriously considering a Disney race soon.
Your bunnies are so cute too by the way, we would love a bunny but I think our dogs would love it too much. -Melissa

Welcome!! That's awesome that you were married at DL too. Our 1st choice would have been at the Grand for the ceremony but that location wasn't available when we got married due to the DVC construction. We loved having our reception there. I wish life would quit getting in the way of doing Disney after work!! So ready for vacation!

How funny that we will both be doing Jet Blue (although this will be our 2nd time on the airline). You check in to WL the day after we move over from the Poly. Maybe we'll see each other.

I can't suggest enough having Disney be your first race. They put on a great event (I haven't done a 5k yet so I can't speak to those races) but they have gotten me spoiled to doing other races. When we did Surf City in February, it was my first race outside of Disney and I kept comparing to Disney and honestly, it just couldn't compare!! I am part of a couple Disney racing groups on Facebook - they are a lot of fun and great information - if you're ever interested in joining, let me know and I would be more than happy to PM you the info.

Totally understand about doggies and bunnies. B's parents dogs aren't allowed over to our condo because they would literally tear through the cage to show our girls how much they love them with their teeth. My parents Golden is such the exception - worst thing he does is drop off his toys around their cage so they'll play with him.

Houses are super expensive where we are too. Therefore we live in a 1000 sq ft house with no garage! But it's really cute and nicely renovated, and plenty of room for the two of us. But still, it was well over $400k. Ugh.

Cute about your parents keeping the girls . It's like when we had a flood at our place and had to move into my parents basement, I think they would have kept us forever and we're not even cuddly, haha.

Wow, you sound about the same as us in terms of pricing. How scary about flooding - was it part of the awful flooding that happened up in Canada last month? I take it everything ended up being okay with your home?

I was trying to convince my mom today to get a rescue bunny for my dad after we take home the girls. He'll never admit to it but she's caught him down on the ground loving on Snowflake several times now - granted, its hard to resist her and her big blue eyes when she comes running over for pets!

 

[mmbl]

Houses are super expensive where we are too. Therefore we live in a 1000 sq ft house with no garage! But it's really cute and nicely renovated, and plenty of room for the two of us. But still, it was well over $400k. Ugh.

Cute about your parents keeping the girls . It's like when we had a flood at our place and had to move into my parents basement, I think they would have kept us forever and we're not even cuddly, haha.

Ugh is right!!! Are you all in Ca.? Our home is 3300 sf, with a pool, on 2 acres in a city of 400,000 , metro area of 7 million and our home value is right at $350k. Only problem: we have to fly to DL and WDW. That's our ugh!

 

[Disneyluvr81]

ONLY 29 DAYS TIL WDW!!!!! And if the next few weeks go by as fast as this past one did, it will literally be here before I can even catch my breath!

Heading down to San Diego tonight to see 311 and wanted to get another update up before we headed out...

Day 7  DHS, I thought Youd Never Get There&

As you can see from how late in the trip it is, DHS is our least favorite park of the 4 and we were in no rush in trying to get there earlier in the trip (although I realize we have yet to have a full day at MK at this point and thats my favorite park...that has more to do with the crowd calendars than anything else). We dont have any set in stone plans for DHS besides seeing the Indiana Jones Stunt Show again and possibly Lights, Motor, Action (although that one isnt a must do).

The counter service choices at DHS have never thrilled us and assuming we were at the park for lunch time will most likely hit up Pizza Planet. DHS truly is a ½ day park for us, I dont know, its just never wowd us and if there was one park we absolutely had to skip on a trip, it would be this one.

Dont get me wrong, we have fun when we are there and love Tower of Terror and the theming around the Star Tours area, its just not our park. One thing we havent done at DHS in previous trips is the Animation Academy, so I would like to hit that up and meet Sorcerer Mickey. If we are at the park late enough I would like to try to hit Characterpalooza that I have read so much about. For anyone who hasnt heard of it, apparently at a certain time in the afternoon at varying locations a bunch of characters are out for meet and greet and its a great time to get pictures with characters, especially ones that arent always out.

I'm not sure what it is about DHS but I always seem to find epic Mickey clouds when we are there...I swear, Disney controls the weather (except for in Hawaii, Pudge controls the weather there...)

Dinner tonight surprisingly doesnt take as back to Epcot. We will be hitting Magic Kingdom and Be Our Guest tonight! I am excited to try this one and not sure if we should request the ballroom or the West Wing. For anyone who has eaten here already, which did you like best? MK is having EMH tonight and open until 12pm  so we may take advantage of some extra park time after dinner if it isnt crazy crowded.

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[Disneyluvr81]

Ugh is right!!! Are you all in Ca.? Our home is 3300 sf, with a pool, on 2 acres in a city of 400,000 , metro area of 7 million and our home value is right at $350k. Only problem: we have to fly to DL and WDW. That's our ugh!

I think a couple of us are here in California. That would be awesome to have that much space and a pool and a big home but having to fly to DL and WDW would definitely be a big huge UGH for us!

 

[blabbermouth]

Wow, you sound about the same as us in terms of pricing. How scary about flooding - was it part of the awful flooding that happened up in Canada last month? I take it everything ended up being okay with your home?

I was trying to convince my mom today to get a rescue bunny for my dad after we take home the girls. He'll never admit to it but she's caught him down on the ground loving on Snowflake several times now - granted, its hard to resist her and her big blue eyes when she comes running over for pets!

Nope thankfully. That was a mess. It was just that the pipe between the wall and the toilet broke! Clean water at least. Insurance was really good, but the contractors did a few things that weren't quite as nice as before. We have to get over it and move on. We're happy to be home! My mom likes being a grandma to my brother's cats

 

[blabbermouth]

I think a couple of us are here in California. That would be awesome to have that much space and a pool and a big home but having to fly to DL and WDW would definitely be a big huge UGH for us!

Wow! And I still have to fly I'm in British Columbia Canada. Although we did road trip to DL once!

 

[Disneyluvr81]

24 Days til WDW!!!!!

What's even scarier and exciting is that in 10 more days, we will no longer own our condo! It still hasn't quite sunk in yet but contingencies got removed on Monday (after much drama with the buyer but...that part is done and behind us). We should be lifting contingencies on the condo we are buying tomorrow and closing on the 23rd. We decided it would be cheaper to put our stuff in storage and stay with my parents than do the rent back so we realized today we won't be sleeping in our own bed for a MONTH!! Instead of trying to cram in moving to the new condo before vacation we have everything all lined up for the weekend we come back...so at least something fun to look forward to when we are flying home. I can't wait to see the bunnies every day before vacation we've missed them so much these past couple months.

As we start finishing getting the rest of our stuff packed up my brain has clicked in to vacation packing mode too and I plan to pack our suitcases with vacation clothes, our pins, etc so they don't get lost in the shuffle of everything.

Finally stepped in to the world of Vera Bradley for this trip and got myself a laptop backpack to use as my "personal item" carry on.

I also got a small backpack in the same pattern to use to carry around my DSLR. If we make it to Disneyland this weekend I am going to test run it to see if it will work.

In addition to the backpacks, I also got a really pretty journal to actually chronicle our days.

I've never been a journal/diary kind of girl but especially with the intention of coming home and doing a trip report, I wanted to be able to remember as much as I possibly could and the little notes I would take on my phone just don't cut it.

I couldn't really find a purse style I liked but we were down at our local outlet stores which includes Fossil (oh my glob do I love me some Fossil ) when I found the cutest purse and wallet. I like it because the strap can either be shoulder length or down at the hip (I can't do crossbody....)

Hope everyone has been having a fantastic week...still not quite sure how we are already to Thursday but I am not going to complain...every day that goes by is a day closer to DISNEY!!!

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[blabbermouth]

What a busy month you have coming up! I really like your Fossil purse I will be taking notebook notes this trip too, or at least trying to I will at least write down names and one-liners I want to remember.

 

[Disneyluvr81]

What a busy month you have coming up! I really like your Fossil purse I will be taking notebook notes this trip too, or at least trying to I will at least write down names and one-liners I want to remember.

On top of everything else going on, I will be up in Seattle for 3 days next week for work. If I could have rescheduled the trip, I would have done it in a heartbeat but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

Thanks, I got lucky, it was the last one in the store and I was able to snag the matching wallet. My husband has journaled on our last couple trips so I figure if he does and I slack on my writing, at least I have something to kind of look back on!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

It must be so stressful trying to move in the middle of a big trip! I was stressed about trying to plan a birthday party for the weekend after we get back from Disneyworld so I just gave up. Poor kid, at least we're going to Disneyworld right, that counts for something. Your new VB bag is super cute, and I am a Fossil lover too. I just got a new Fossil bag from Downtown Disney about a month ago and I'm still in love I journaled last trip and I'm so glad I did. I wish I would have done it when we were there for our Honeymoon. I can't remember much detail about that trip. You've reminded me though I need to find a journal for this trip. -Melissa

 

[disney-inspired]

That last bag is super cute! I hate crossbody bags. I have a small baggalini and I just tighten the strap and put it around my waist, it's perfect! I don't have to take it off for most rides either.

 

[klacey1]

Aww, it'll be great to be with your bunnies in your new home and have everything be back to normal!
Love the VB backpack! I don't carry Vera IRL, but for travel, I love their bags!

 

[Disneyluvr81]

It must be so stressful trying to move in the middle of a big trip! I was stressed about trying to plan a birthday party for the weekend after we get back from Disneyworld so I just gave up. Poor kid, at least we're going to Disneyworld right, that counts for something. Your new VB bag is super cute, and I am a Fossil lover too. I just got a new Fossil bag from Downtown Disney about a month ago and I'm still in love I journaled last trip and I'm so glad I did. I wish I would have done it when we were there for our Honeymoon. I can't remember much detail about that trip. You've reminded me though I need to find a journal for this trip. -Melissa

When we put our condo on the market earlier this summer, things were selling so fast and we never expected everything to hit so close. Work and life have been throwing me for a loop - I just keep chanting "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Ready for August to be over!!

The Fossil store in DTD is dangerous for me. I love all of their stuff!!!

That last bag is super cute! I hate crossbody bags. I have a small baggalini and I just tighten the strap and put it around my waist, it's perfect! I don't have to take it off for most rides either.

Thank you!! I wish I could do crossbody bags - I've tried several times and always end up just hanging it off my shoulder. I'm not big on wearing things around my waist, I don't even do belts but that would be nice to not have to worry about storing my purse on rides.

Aww, it'll be great to be with your bunnies in your new home and have everything be back to normal!
Love the VB backpack! I don't carry Vera IRL, but for travel, I love their bags!

It's funny, I don't do Vera Bradley IRL either....I am not a patterned kind of girl. I had never even heard of them until our 2nd or 3rd trip to WDW. Funny story, when we went with my in-laws in 2011 my DMIL got a kick at how many she saw everywhere and it kind of became a game of pointing them out to each other. She wasn't big on them when we were at WDW but a couple months later we went up to see them and she couldn't wait to show off the VB she scored at a thrift store - it even came with the wallet. She has since gotten herself at least one more and my DH's grandma has a beautiful bag now too. VB has started to spread through the family haha!!

 

[Disneyluvr81]

19 Days to Disney and it can not get here soon enough!! Life and work keeps piling it on and I am ready to take some weight off my shoulders. Knowing we have Disney at the end of the tunnel is one of the biggest things keeping my from going full fetal position under my desk at work everyday!

I apologize for the gaps in updates, the days just get away from me - I still don't know how its August 13th already!!

Day 8 – Our 2nd to the Last Full Day

Today starts out early again for us with a 7:30am ADR at Kona Café.

Shock and horror, we aren’t going there for the Tonga Toast. I am weird about bananas, I will only eat them on their own. I don’t like them in anything else (smoothies, banana bread and banana cream pie included). So the thought of having bananas in a french toast loaf just doesn’t do it for me.

We will be heading straight over to MK for Rope Drop after breakfast and I am so excited for today – it’s finally our full Magic Kingdom day. I am on the fence about whether to head straight for Enchanted Tales with Belle or not because I know it’s not really B’s thing. We also have the luxury of not having to rush right to Little Mermaid. I can’t wait to go through the line for the theming (when it’s short enough) but can honestly not justify spending more than 5 minutes in line for this one. The one at DCA is almost virtually walk on all the time and while the building the ride is in is nothing to write home about, the two rides are nearly identical. Weather and tired feet/bodies aside the plan is to spend as much time at MK today as possible. I do like being able to just take a boat back over to WL if it starts to get to warm for us in the afternoon.

We will be in the park for dinner tonight as well for one of our other favorite restaurants, Tony’s Town Square.

B LOVES the ice cream bomb!!

It will be nice knowing that when we leave MK tonight that we will still have one more full day to look forward to instead of having to go back, pack and be ready to leave the next day!

Continued Next Post...

 

[klacey1]

Augh I know what you mean-- I am going to be so busy in these next few weeks with work before my trip! It'll make Disney that much sweeter. I'll just have to resist the urge to check my email!
We have an ADR at Tony's too-- although it gets mixed reviews, I'm excited for it!

 

[Disneyluvr81]

Big Life Update!!! We spent the weekend getting all moved out and as of Monday afternoon, our condo officially sold!!!!

We signed the loan docs this afternoon and are set to close on our new condo on Friday. We get possession Monday but won't move everything in until we get back from vacation. Everything is finally starting to get exciting. T-minus 11 days....(technically 9 more sleeps til Disney(land))

Day 9  Boo to You!

Ugh, how did we get to the last full day already! Seriously, every vacation that goes through my head  it feels like vacation will never come but then its over in a blink of an eye! We will be spending the day at Animal Kingdom to take on the Yeti once more. Well use today to catch Nemo and/or Lion King if we werent able to work them in earlier in the trip. We will probably head back to WL in early afternoon to catch a nap because we are going to be up late tonight!!

Tonight is the first Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party. The sole reason we added an extra day on to our trip. It is our absolute favorite party we have been to in either WDW or Disneyland. We are not parade people but LOVE Boo to You! Such a catchy little song! Hallowishes is fantastic too and seriously puts DL Halloween fireworks to shame! So excited!!! Figuring out a costume has been a challenge. Originally B was going to be Jake the Dog and I was going to do Fiona, both from Adventure time. I already had a blue running skirt and 3/4 blue t-shirt that would have worked perfectly for my costume BUT I waited too long to purchase the Jake costume for B and its now sold out and I am not able to find it anywhere. Okay on to Plan B. I hit up BuyCostume.com to go through the Disney costumes and they had a super cute Sulley Costume for girls and then B would have been Mike. When I first found it, it was originally set to be released around 8/13. Well, once the pre-order happened it got pushed back to 8/30...no bueno!! So there went Plan B.

So after going through a ton of costumes we decided to improvise and kind of make our own. First thought was to get Mickey Mouse Club shirts through Zazzle and be Mouseketeers. When I was scrolling through the ears hats on the Disney Store I passed Oswalds rabbit ears and that got the gears going. B is going to be Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and I am going to be Minnie. More Disneybounding than actual costumes but should still make for cute pics and be cool too!!

We have an early ADR at Crystal Palace and its giving me even more motivation to dress up so we can get cute pictures with Pooh and the gang!

We are going to play the party by ear in terms of what we do. When we did it in 2008, the lines for the characters were so short all night and we had great character experiences. However, we went later in September in 2011 and the characters were INSANE! With it being the first party, I have no idea what crowds are going to be like. I am just hoping for decent weather since we wont have an opportunity to go to another party if the weather is awful! While being soggy will put a damper on the night we will still have a great time!

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