(Update 9/14!) WDW Sept 2014 Come Hell or High Water...Adults-only trip!

[DexLabDeeDee]

Last night, Bubbles confirmed that she is going to Disney with us!!

Here is some more information about her:

As I said before, Bubbles is my youngest sister, she'll be 27 when we go. She married and works as a barista currently but has a music degree. She's looking for a music job but not having much luck. Her husband will not be joining us on this trip.

Here she is on our trip last May 2013.



She is the creative and funny one. She always has something witty to say or a neat way of doing things. (Though sometimes I find her way less "neat" and more "slow" and "annoying". )

Bubbles LOVES princesses. Her favorite is Cinderella but she also really likes Jasmine and Pocahontas. A complete girly girl. Where Nature Girl and I would be requesting the boy toys (Hot Wheels) for the McDonalds happy meals when we were younger, Bubbles would always go for the girl toy (Barbie). Her MB color will definitely be pink.

While she can annoy me at times at home, she is a GREAT traveling partner. She's game for anything and wants to try new things.

We grew up with Disney at our home, though we weren't Disney World crazy like we are now. Our mom insisted on a very wholesome upbringing and my parents LOVE movies so we basically grew up on Disney animation and live action. I don't think I saw a PG-13 movie until I was really close to the age of 13. Walt Disney World definitely brings us back to our childhood. One of our favorites was the Swiss Family Robinson. We wanted a tree house so bad!!!

Bubble's favorite ride is ToT and her favorite park is Epcot with Japan as her favorite country.

One of the things I'm looking foward to is Bubble's ride photos. They are TERRIBLE! She truly tries to do something cool or funny and ends up being ridiculous!

This delightful picture (she would KILL me if she knew I posted it) is from Space Mountain last year. There were some pre-teen girls also standing looking at the ride pictures and they pointed at Bubbles' pic and laughed and then they turned and asked if it was her and said that her photo was really bad. Bubbles was definitely embarrassed but she took it in stride; she knew it was terrible!



I don't know what she was going for here. Shock? Awe? Stop in the name of love?

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

As I am waiting to hear if Nature Girl can come and if Free Dining will be released or not, I decided to put together a very short TR about the trip my DH and I made in Sept 2008.

DH won’t be going on the trip this Sept, mainly because he didn’t have all that great a time when we went in 2008, though these pictures tell a different story! He preferred DL when we went in 2010. I was there for work and DH tagged along. We added a day before and after the trip to go to DL twice. While I was working during the week, DH was able to go around and check out other museums and sightsee in the area. I think that’s part of the appeal of Disneyland, he wasn’t trapped for a whole week!

But when you’re in the Happiest Place on Earth, who needs to go somewhere else??

See…

We stayed at this very gorgeous, quiet location:



Alligator Bayou in POR. DH did really like it there. Many people say that it’s far away from the main building and it is but we really didn’t mind the walk. It was SO pretty at night. We’d deliberately get off at the first stop and then walk through Fulton’s and then out the back to the marina and through the lit paths, past Ol’ Man Island pool, and through the lush greenery to our room. Perfect!

We started off with a visit to AK, my favorite park! As you can see, we were very hot:


Ewww...look at that sweat!

Though someone doesn’t seem to mind!



So beautiful.

We saw this little cutie on Safari:




And really laughed over this guy:



Why no, we haven’t had our crocodilian today! Would we like some? If by crocodilian you mean McDonald’s french fries, then YES!

Unfortunately, he didn’t have any to give us so we settled for a drink at Boma



And stuffed ourselves silly!

We did an Epcot segway tour:



Loved it! DH wanted to get one of his own. Sorry, bud, they are waaaay too expensive! Gotta save some of that dough for future Disney trips.

I attempted to get a really good grossed out picture by handing him Beverly and standing by with a camera…..but he liked it! That boy is crazy, I tell ya!


Sorry about the sweat, Sept is REALLY hot!

Take small children by the hand, the creepy girl is running free!


I love Halloween, though I didn’t walk out with that hat. Kinda regret it now…

Before I went to the Halloween party (by myself because DH is a party pooper!), we hit up 1900 Park Fare where a certain stepsister made moves on my guy!



Ladies, you gotta watch her, she’s man hunting! Loved loved loved the evil Stepmother and the stepsisters. They were a riot! The Stepmother made DH get up and take a picture with her. I wish I had taken a picture of the look on his face when she INSISTED he stand up. Like the loving, caring wife that I am, I just shrugged while he looked at me in panic!

The Castle is in the Halloween spirit!




Cruella told me her true feelings about children and how awful it was that they were everywhere! I couldn’t stop laughing, she was hilarious.




But of course, I’m talking about OTHER children. I’m sure YOUR children are well behaved and perfect.


CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Let’s see, what else did we do? On this trip we got to…

Bake a cake!



I don’t know why anyone has any trouble with cake baking, all you do is turn on the oven and up it pops! Frosting and everything!

We had a narrow escape from this guy:



No, sir! We do not know where Luke Frywalker is!

DH is so hard to travel with – he’s always monkeying around…




…and EATING THE EARS OFF OF POOR UNSUSPECTING RICE KRISPY MICKEYS!




I sang and danced in the rain…



…and tried to book a vacation but my agent was gone!



Though I can’t blame her!

Both DH and I made some friends…





Though some friends seem to be better than others…

Did I mention we like McDonald’s fries??

And finally, we took a lot of selfies. Maybe we should write a song….
















…or maybe not!


That’s our 2008 trip in a nutshell!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I have sketched out an itinerary with ADRs just in case FD is announced. I'm hoping that we'll hear on Monday since there have been some rumors floating around that the DRC is gearing up for a discount offering mid-March...

Everyone, cross your fingers!

This is what I have so far with potential ADRs and FP+ choices-

Day 1 - Arrival
Check-in at AKL Kidani Villas (unless Nature Girl doesn't go, then it will be AKL Jambo House - no villa)
Pick up rental car at AAA Car Care Center
Dinner at DTD - WPE (pizza for me!) and Earl of Sandwich for everyone else

Day 2 - Animal Kingdom
Lunch at either Pizzafari (did I mention I LOVE pizza ) or Flametree
FP+ at EE, KS, and Dinosaur
Dinner at Boma 7pm

Day 3 - Relaxing day (wake up late)
DMom and Bubbles will probably do High Tea (2pm) at GF
DDad and I may walk around the Worldshowcase
Maybe FP+ at TT and 2 others
Dinner at Raglan Road 8:30pm

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom
No plans to attend MNSSHP but we'll see, will have to change ADR if that's the case
Hopefully FP+ at BOG for lunch
FP+ at SM, BTMRR, and PPF (DMom's fav)
Dinner at California Grill 7:45pm

Day 5 - Hollywood Studios
Lunch at Pizza Planet for girls, Turkey Leg for parents
FP+ at TSM, ToT, and somewhere else (darn tiering!!)
Dinner at Captain's Grille 7:45pm

Day 6 - Relaxing Day (wake up late)
Lunch at resort, maybe
Wild Africa Trek Tour in AK
Maybe FP+ for EE and 2 others
Dinner at Paradiso 37 6:30pm (this is kind of a throw-away ADR - the last time we did free dining, we kind of hit a food wall this day and so I don't want a really good restaurant and not eat anything)

Day 7 - Epcot
Lunch at a country of F&W booth
FP+ at TT, MS, and SE
Dinner at Via Napoli 7pm


We're going pretty relaxed this year - for us. The FP+ system is throwing me a bit. We, like a lot of us here, were super-users. We also are a bit like children in that we want to do our favorites over and over and over and over again! Our absolute favorites being EE, ToT, TSM, RnRCC, SM, SE, BTMRR. So basically, all of the E-ticket rides. But that may be difficult since we can't get FP for the same ride like we used to.

Because of the changes we (especially me!) are trying to adjust our expectations and focus on some of the things that we like to do that are not rides. We'll get there by rope-drop probably and be able to do quite a bit anyway. Our normal touring is rather intense in the morning and then really relaxed in the afternoon. We have a plan but also allow for deviations as things pop up. There is no way that I can go without a plan. Even if I try, my brain plans something anyway! It's a sickness, I tell ya!

Luckily for me, my family doesn't mind and loves me anyway! Even when I'm dragging everyone out of bed really early. Last trip, when it was just Bubbles and me, I dragged her out of bed really early to make it before rope-drop. She was a little bit grumpy but generally willing. That trip, we got to ride the following in a row with no wait: EE three times, TSM four times, and ToT two times (TSM and ToT were on the same day - it was raining and they opened the park 15min early. Moral of the story: if it's raining in the morning - RUN to the parks!!). I also got her to say - on camera - that it was totally worth it getting up early.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

YYYYYYAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!

What a BIG week last week! We got Mickey Mail AND made our Dining Reservations!

But first, a message from my cat:



"You may think that you are cool with your happy dance and all but let me tell you right now, you're not."
Thanks, Sirius, for keeping it real.

The reason for all the happy dancing:



This little packet which isn't really much of anything except cool pictures and confirmation that - yes! - we ARE going to WDW!




Yes, please!



What a gorgeous pic of my favorite ride - Expedition Everest!!

We also got all of our dining reservations at basically all the times that we wanted (score!):

Sunday - AK - Boma 7pm
Monday - Free day - Raglan Road 7:30pm
Tuesday - MK - California Grill 7:30pm
Wednesday - HS - Captain's Grille 8:00pm
Thursday - Free day - 1900 Park Fare (change-up!) 7:00pm
Friday - EP - Via Napoli 7:00pm

We changed to 1900 Park Fare on Thursday because Nature Girl hasn't seen the Wicked Stepsisters in all their glory and DMom really wanted to go and this is the excuse that she gave DDad. We're still not sure if she's going to be able to go but she said to give her a couple of days notice before we buy plane tickets and she'll see what she can do with her schedule.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I have an update!

NATURE GIRL CAN COME!!​

And for the whole week too!

So....that means that we will definitely be staying in AKL Kidani with our 1 bedroom suite! I made all of our reservations as if she was going and I guess all that positive energy paid off! Now, everyone just has to remain healthy between now and when we go.

Since she's coming along with us, I thought that I would tell you more about Nature Girl:



As you can see, she's a hearty soul.

She works as a wildlife educator at a small zoo. She often brings zoo animals (small ones!) to classes and events for the purposes of education and conservation. We were worried that she'd have some zoo programs in Sept that would keep her from coming but that week was free!!

She is the middle child out of the three of us and she is definitely the peacemaker. Nature Girl just wants everyone to get along. Which is not always the case between Bubbles and me.

She is very frugal (well, she needs to be - wildlife educators just don't get paid much!) and practical. She has worked all over the US at State Parks and conservation places but she's been home for the last few years. We are so glad to have her home!

Nature Girl has a wry sense of humor but when her and Bubbles get going, they can really go crazy and get silly! If I was the Picard of the family (which, let's face it, I kinda am), Nature Girl would be my Riker. I trust that she is going to do what she says she's going to do and she'll do it the right way.

I can't wait for her to do all the things that we've been doing without her the past several years. She hasn't experienced TSM, 1900 Park Fare (well, any of the restaurants), Soarin', the new TT, staying on Disney property, the new Fantasyland expansion, Wishes, and all the little things that we've discovered over the years.

Oh! AAAANNNNDDD we just bought all of our plane tickets so there is no going back now - we are committed!!

As Mickey would say, "Oh boy!"

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Okay. I've completely rearranged the schedule.

Welllll....sort of. I have four schedules going right now. Wellllll...actually two with two scenarios for each.

We are waiting to hear if we are going to get the 35% off discount in Sept or free dining or nothing. So, I have our original schedule with two sets of dining plans - one if we get FD and one if we don't.

We were also going to forego MNSSHP this year and I was fine with it - at first. Then I started thinking about the parade and the fireworks and how awesome it all was. DDad doesn't want to go again, DMom and Bubbles remember how hot and crowded it was last year so they're on the fence. I kinda want to go. It was really hot and crowded last year but I don't think that we did the party quite right. I'm going to have to research it more and maybe we should get there way earlier than 7pm since they let you in at 4pm. But then, when would we eat dinner? Normally we go to 1900 Park Fare this day. Hmmm. Maybe a third schedule is in order.... Does anyone have any good touring strategies? Meeting characters isn't really high on our list. Experiencing the unique party offerings and riding rides is our main goal.

Nature Girl hasn't been before so she should be the deciding vote. I've sent her some information and I'm waiting to hear back. We have a lot of time to think about it though....boo. (no pun intended ) I don't want to wish my summer away but I do want to wish my summer away. Wow. I have such big problems.

My spreadsheet is getting kind of crazy with all the scenarios. Once we decide something, we'll be in good shape but right now, my ADRs are all in a mess. I think I have three reservations for Raglan Road at the moment. Yikes. Apparently we are going to be eating A LOT.

In other news, I brought Frozen over to my parents last night. They had never seen it before. Both of them liked it a lot though it wasn't their favorite Disney movie ever. DMom especially like it since it took place in Norway, which she swears she is from. In actuality, we are very German and nothing else. She loves Norwegian traditions and culture. I think we have more Norwegian Christmas decorations than German. And we always make lefse for Nature Girl's bday (which is near Christmas). Not that I'm complaining, lefse is really delicious. Especially with cinnamon and brown sugar and a special "Norwegian" sugar made of white sugar, cardamom, and cloves. Yuuuuummmm.

We've gotten the lefse from Norway in Epcot and it tastes different from ours. I don't know if it's been sitting out awhile but it was rather dry and it was wrapped with a thick layer of butter. I didn't like it. Probably because I'm used to mine hot off the iron with sugary sweetness. I wonder how they really eat it in Norway?

Here we are a couple of Christmas' ago, making lefse:



Mmmm. That's looking good, Bubbles, better take it off soon!

We also each have our own personalized lefse stick with a hand painted handle. Did I mention that my mom thinks she's Norwegian?? And she's really crafty so we always have very nice handmade things. Our Halloween costumes were always awesome. In fact, she's still making them for us. Here is my most recent mom creation for Halloween a couple of years ago:



LOVE my Belle dress. She's my favorite princess and I prefer her in her blue dress than her gold. I also picked fabric that was a little darker than her normal dress. Actually, in a lot of the movie, her dress looks like a darker blue.

See?



I wore it to the Halloween party in 2011 and I got a lot of comments on my dress and most of them were that my dress was the wrong color. Well, technically yes but why would you feel the need to point it out to me? I willingly chose a darker blue because I thought it looked better and for a lot of movie, her dress does appear darker, anyway. One CM actually said, "Your costume would be really neat if it was the right color." Again, why would you feel the need to point it out to me since there really isn't anything I can do about it at that point, even if I wanted to? I wasn't hurt exactly but more so taken aback that they would try and "set me straight". What if it was the only fabric I could find/afford? Well, whatever. I would still wear it proudly to another party if we go this year.

Wow, I ended up writing a lot. Sorry if I put you to sleep! TTFN!

 

[benji2012]

Joining in! I'll be at AKL Kidani in September for 5 days. I'm doing a split stay and Kidani will be for the solo part of my trip.

I'm sure you'll love it!

I've no plans for MNSSHP...yet!

Can't wait to hear more.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Joining in! I'll be at AKL Kidani in September for 5 days. I'm doing a split stay and Kidani will be for the solo part of my trip.

I'm sure you'll love it!

I've no plans for MNSSHP...yet!

Can't wait to hear more.

to my PTR and Happy April Fool's Day! (Neither of those two comments are related! )

Ooo...solo! I did a day solo last year when I went with Bubbles. She wasn't able to stay the whole time so she left on Thursday and I had that afternoon and the next day to myself. It was definitely a different experience. I was also solo at DL for most of a day while my DH was sick at the hotel. I'm such a great wife for leaving him behind! He did get better and join me later.

In comparing the two experiences, I got a lot of strange looks (or at least it seemed so - maybe I get strange looks all the time and I just don't notice if I'm with someone? ) while standing in line at California Adventure for TSM but no one approached me. At WDW, on the bus to the MK, I had a family quiz me about where my family was. I wasn't about to tell them that I was on my own, just in case, so I said that I was meeting the rest of my family at the MK. Of course, I ended up seeing that family AGAIN at Mickey's Philharmagic later that evening. And AGAIN, they approached me to ask where my family was. It got a little weird but luckily I didn't seem them after that. The next day at EP was loads better. I was there for Flower and Garden so I ate and drank all around the world at the different booths. It was great! I didn't feel any pressure at all to do anything and when I was tired, I just went back and hung out at the pool. Good times!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Joining in! I'll be at AKL Kidani in September for 5 days. I'm doing a split stay and Kidani will be for the solo part of my trip.

I'm sure you'll love it!

I've no plans for MNSSHP...yet!

Can't wait to hear more.

Oh my gosh - Ellen! I didn't put your screen name here together with the monster not-a-wedding-destination-wedding-trip PTR! I just read the update in your plans. So good to see you back!! I'll post more on your PTR...

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Thanks to Benji2012, I now have tea scheduled for my mom and sister (Bubbles) for one of our free days!

I don't think I can schedule our tours yet - and I don't really want to anyway because my plans are a bit in flux, like I meantioned before.

Oh, and tomorrow and Friday we are going to get dumped on like a lot of the midwest is, so yay for that. We have been teased horribly! We keep having some nice 40deg weather days and then we get snow and then we get some nice days and then snow again! Arggg!!

I definitely feel that between work and the weather, I am definitely earning my Disney vacation!!

So many days to go - still in triple digits!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Hello once again! We've moved to the "high water" portion of the PTR title. It just rained for the last five days straight and the rivers are up over their banks. Hopefully we won't have major flooding. Luckily, none of the people in my family are in a flood plain but it does affect driving in some places and I feel for the people who have to worry about their homes every spring.

I have a few updates!

Bubbles celebrated her 27th birthday. I made her a card (but for got to take a picture - sorry!) that said "Second star to the right and straight on til morning" on the front and "Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust gets you tea!" on the inside. Along with "Happy Birthday." Also on the inside was a Tinkerbell giftcard sitting in a teacup (made from paper, not an actual teacup). This is for her to use to pay for her tea with DMom at the GF.

Nature Girl decided that she definitely wants to do MNSSHP - yay!! That also means that we have to rearrange the schedule (see below) and figure out costumes! I'll be sticking with Belle for sure but everyone else is up in the air. We'll see what happens...


Hooray for more than three FP+s in a day! That definitely alters my strategy for FP+ times. I was going to do mid-day to afternoon picks but if we can get more, I'll do early selections, though we'll be doing rope drop as well. I am a little concerned about the kiosks being WAY overrun with people picking up their 4th, 5th, etc. FP+s but I did read on TouringPlans some of the out of the way kiosks that aren't used as heavily. Now don't you go finding out and making the line long!


Free dining is here! Well...sort of. It is if you are a Disney Visa card holder. Which my DMom used to be but then got rid of it! Why?? She can't really explain. She said that her and DDad decided to get rid of any extra cards a few at a time to not affect their credit score and the Disney Visa was one of them. I get that but why that one?? Oh well. <sigh> I did go on the Free Dining thread the morning it was released and hung out (read: lurked) with all the people waiting on the phone for their turn. It was fun. We'll have to wait until the general release on May 7th (reportedly) to see if we'll be able to switch our ressie to FD.

I called and spoke to the wonderful Susan (what up!!) at Minneapolis AAA travel. She's amazing and so very nice. She's going to call me on Weds if FD is released and we'll quickly go over the numbers. Right now, with Disney raising the prices a bit, the gap between the Memory Maker discount and Free Dining for five people is narrowing a bit but we'll still eat better than if we paid OOP for 3 TS restaurants, the rest CS. With FD, we'll be eating at 5/6 TS restaurants.

So, with the addition of MNSSHP, our schedule has changed. Here it is:

*Lest you think I am an uber-planner (I am), lunches are not set in stone*

Saturday
Arrival
Dinner at DTD

Sunday
AK
Lunch at Pizzafari/Flametree
Dinner at Boma

Monday
EP
Lunch at Katsura Grill
Dinner at Via Napoli

Tuesday
Wild Africa Trek (Me, DDad, Nature Girl)
Dinner at 1900 Park Fare
MNSSHP

Wednesday
MK
Lunch at BOG (cross fingers!)
Dinner at California Grill

Thursday
HS
Lunch at Pizza Planet
Dinner at Raglan Road

Friday
Most likely back to EP
Tea at the GF (DMom, Bubbles)
I have a reservation for Via Napoli this day when it was going to be our main EP day but we may just cancel it and eat from the F&W kiosks. Like I mentioned before, we always hit a food wall this day. I can't imagine people on the DxDDP eating two or three TS a day!

Saturday
Depart



Oh - and I just checked our flight prices again for funsies (as Bubbles would say) - there was some discussion around whether or not we should buy at the time that we did. DMom insisted that we not check after we bought lest we find that we paid too much - well, prices have gone up $70 each, with a total of $350 for us all! I think we made the right choice. However, we are leaving at 7:00am and we did want to leave around 9am but in years past our flight has been chanced from 7am to 9am. I don't think it's going to happen this year as Delta has now added a 9am flight. Oh well, it's fine. We'll be arriving in the morning - a first for us, we usually get there in the afternoon - so we'll be able to pick up our car, go get groceries for breakfast and then head to DTD for fun and food.

Four more days until we hear about FD....

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

YAY WE GOT FREE DINING!!!!​

Whew! It was a close one.

TA Susan was able to get us FD after two days of trying and many many MANY hours on hold. She definitely earned her commission and I hope it was large! She tried on Wednesday but after being on hold for 2 hours, her call was dropped and she kept getting a busy signal when she tried again. From what I was reading on the Free Dining thread, that was a typical experience. She told me that on the Disney website (I assume the TA Disney website) that they should expect the phones to be busy all through Friday. WOW!!

I didn't think that we would get it, but by Thursday afternoon, she finally got through! I'm not sure how it works since we had an existing reservation but when I checked yesterday morning, our resort - Kidani - was entirely sold out! This happened in less than 24 hours because when I checked the afternoon, there were rooms available in every category. I guess that we can expect a very busy resort. Wow. Hopefully it won't be too noisy. I wonder if that is an indication of how busy the parks are going to be that week. We were hoping for a little less people. Oh well, we'll have a touring plan and we've been there during Easter week. If we can do that - we can do Disney any other day of the year (except maybe Christmas)!

I also signed up DDad, Nature Girl, and I for the Wild Africa Trek at 8:45am on Tuesday. I'm really excited. Nature Girl hasn't done a Disney tour before. Last time we were there together, DDad and I went on the Wild by Design tour. We were the only ones on the tour so we had a personal guide! It was awesome and I highly recommend it. She took us around and explained why they designed the areas the way that they did and the backstory to the Dinosaur areas. She also then took us over to the bat house where a CM was feeding them and we got to talk to him and ask tons of questions. I love those bats! As I understand it, you always have some sort of animal CM interaction during the tour but it changes each time depending on the day's schedule. I was so happy we got the bats. I LOVE those darn bats! She had to drag me away, almost literally. I think she was surprised at how much my Dad and I enjoyed talking to the bat CM.

For the Africa Trek, we're going to have to figure out how we're going to get there - I think we'll take the bus instead of the car. I've heard that the parking lot doesn't always open early enough (why? ) and DMom and Bubbles might want the car while we are gone.

I bought MNSSHP tickets for DMom, Nature Girl, Bubbles, and me. DDad is on the fence about coming so we'll get his ticket later or on the day if there are any left and he wants to go. I'm thinking that he'll just want to go back to the resort and relax. I'd be surprised if he went to the party.

That's about it for now. We are on our way! The one thing that I am wishing we could do is go to WWoHP. But our schedule is already jam-packed, I just don't know how to fit it in. If we don't get two days at Epcot, my family will mutiny and we have the Wild Africa Trek and MNSSHP on our other available day. If only we were going for 10 days! Eventually, I would like to do a 10 or 14 day Disney trip. I also want to go to the water parks and we, again, are never able to fit it in.

Guess we'll just have to come back!

 

[benji2012]

Hello once again! We've moved to the "high water" portion of the PTR title. It just rained for the last five days straight and the rivers are up over their banks. Hopefully we won't have major flooding. Luckily, none of the people in my family are in a flood plain but it does affect driving in some places and I feel for the people who have to worry about their homes every spring.

YIkes! Glad your family was okay!

I have a few updates!

Bubbles celebrated her 27th birthday. I made her a card (but for got to take a picture - sorry!) that said "Second star to the right and straight on til morning" on the front and "Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust gets you tea!" on the inside. Along with "Happy Birthday." Also on the inside was a Tinkerbell giftcard sitting in a teacup (made from paper, not an actual teacup). This is for her to use to pay for her tea with DMom at the GF

Cute! Wish I was more creative!

Nature Girl decided that she definitely wants to do MNSSHP - yay!! That also means that we have to rearrange the schedule (see below) and figure out costumes! I'll be sticking with Belle for sure but everyone else is up in the air. We'll see what happens...


Hooray for more than three FP+s in a day! That definitely alters my strategy for FP+ times. I was going to do mid-day to afternoon picks but if we can get more, I'll do early selections, though we'll be doing rope drop as well. I am a little concerned about the kiosks being WAY overrun with people picking up their 4th, 5th, etc. FP+s but I did read on TouringPlans some of the out of the way kiosks that aren't used as heavily. Now don't you go finding out and making the line long!

My BFF and I were there last weekend for a quick get away and while we only used the extra FP+ once it was pretty simple. Hopefully by September we will be able to make changes on our phones though!


Free dining is here! Well...sort of. It is if you are a Disney Visa card holder. Which my DMom used to be but then got rid of it! Why?? She can't really explain. She said that her and DDad decided to get rid of any extra cards a few at a time to not affect their credit score and the Disney Visa was one of them. I get that but why that one?? Oh well. <sigh> I did go on the Free Dining thread the morning it was released and hung out (read: lurked) with all the people waiting on the phone for their turn. It was fun. We'll have to wait until the general release on May 7th (reportedly) to see if we'll be able to switch our ressie to FD.

I called and spoke to the wonderful Susan (what up!!) at Minneapolis AAA travel. She's amazing and so very nice. She's going to call me on Weds if FD is released and we'll quickly go over the numbers. Right now, with Disney raising the prices a bit, the gap between the Memory Maker discount and Free Dining for five people is narrowing a bit but we'll still eat better than if we paid OOP for 3 TS restaurants, the rest CS. With FD, we'll be eating at 5/6 TS restaurants.

So, with the addition of MNSSHP, our schedule has changed. Here it is:

*Lest you think I am an uber-planner (I am), lunches are not set in stone*

Saturday
Arrival
Dinner at DTD

Sunday
AK
Lunch at Pizzafari/Flametree
Dinner at Boma

Monday
EP
Lunch at Katsura Grill
Dinner at Via Napoli

Tuesday
Wild Africa Trek (Me, DDad, Nature Girl)
Dinner at 1900 Park Fare
MNSSHP

Wednesday
MK
Lunch at BOG (cross fingers!)
Dinner at California Grill

Thursday
HS
Lunch at Pizza Planet
Dinner at Raglan Road

Friday
Most likely back to EP
Tea at the GF (DMom, Bubbles)
I have a reservation for Via Napoli this day when it was going to be our main EP day but we may just cancel it and eat from the F&W kiosks. Like I mentioned before, we always hit a food wall this day. I can't imagine people on the DxDDP eating two or three TS a day!

Saturday
Depart

Your plans look great! Raglan Road is one of my favorites, and I'm trying 1900 Park Fare for the first time on our trip!

Oh - and I just checked our flight prices again for funsies (as Bubbles would say) - there was some discussion around whether or not we should buy at the time that we did. DMom insisted that we not check after we bought lest we find that we paid too much - well, prices have gone up $70 each, with a total of $350 for us all! I think we made the right choice. However, we are leaving at 7:00am and we did want to leave around 9am but in years past our flight has been chanced from 7am to 9am. I don't think it's going to happen this year as Delta has now added a 9am flight. Oh well, it's fine. We'll be arriving in the morning - a first for us, we usually get there in the afternoon - so we'll be able to pick up our car, go get groceries for breakfast and then head to DTD for fun and food.

Four more days until we hear about FD....

YAY WE GOT FREE DINING!!!!​

Whew! It was a close one.

TA Susan was able to get us FD after two days of trying and many many MANY hours on hold. She definitely earned her commission and I hope it was large! She tried on Wednesday but after being on hold for 2 hours, her call was dropped and she kept getting a busy signal when she tried again. From what I was reading on the Free Dining thread, that was a typical experience. She told me that on the Disney website (I assume the TA Disney website) that they should expect the phones to be busy all through Friday. WOW!!

I didn't think that we would get it, but by Thursday afternoon, she finally got through! I'm not sure how it works since we had an existing reservation but when I checked yesterday morning, our resort - Kidani - was entirely sold out! This happened in less than 24 hours because when I checked the afternoon, there were rooms available in every category. I guess that we can expect a very busy resort. Wow. Hopefully it won't be too noisy. I wonder if that is an indication of how busy the parks are going to be that week. We were hoping for a little less people. Oh well, we'll have a touring plan and we've been there during Easter week. If we can do that - we can do Disney any other day of the year (except maybe Christmas)!

I also signed up DDad, Nature Girl, and I for the Wild Africa Trek at 8:45am on Tuesday. I'm really excited. Nature Girl hasn't done a Disney tour before. Last time we were there together, DDad and I went on the Wild by Design tour. We were the only ones on the tour so we had a personal guide! It was awesome and I highly recommend it. She took us around and explained why they designed the areas the way that they did and the backstory to the Dinosaur areas. She also then took us over to the bat house where a CM was feeding them and we got to talk to him and ask tons of questions. I love those bats! As I understand it, you always have some sort of animal CM interaction during the tour but it changes each time depending on the day's schedule. I was so happy we got the bats. I LOVE those darn bats! She had to drag me away, almost literally. I think she was surprised at how much my Dad and I enjoyed talking to the bat CM.

For the Africa Trek, we're going to have to figure out how we're going to get there - I think we'll take the bus instead of the car. I've heard that the parking lot doesn't always open early enough (why? ) and DMom and Bubbles might want the car while we are gone.

I bought MNSSHP tickets for DMom, Nature Girl, Bubbles, and me. DDad is on the fence about coming so we'll get his ticket later or on the day if there are any left and he wants to go. I'm thinking that he'll just want to go back to the resort and relax. I'd be surprised if he went to the party.

That's about it for now. We are on our way! The one thing that I am wishing we could do is go to WWoHP. But our schedule is already jam-packed, I just don't know how to fit it in. If we don't get two days at Epcot, my family will mutiny and we have the Wild Africa Trek and MNSSHP on our other available day. If only we were going for 10 days! Eventually, I would like to do a 10 or 14 day Disney trip. I also want to go to the water parks and we, again, are never able to fit it in.

Guess we'll just have to come back!

Congrats on free dining! We have TIW, so I've never used the dining plan but I think it would be nice to try once.


I'm still debating MNSSHP myself, I've always wanted to go, but I'm not sure how I feel about going solo .

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Congrats on free dining! We have TIW, so I've never used the dining plan but I think it would be nice to try once.


I'm still debating MNSSHP myself, I've always wanted to go, but I'm not sure how I feel about going solo .

That's so awesome that you were just there! Are you going to do a mini TR?
I'm also hoping that we'll be able to make changes on our phones with the extra FP+. BUT I do have a strategy for that ! Did you use the extra FP+? Maybe you can tell me if my plan will work: TouringPlans lists the kiosks that are all through the park and notes the ones that are in more out-of-the-way places. So hopefully, lines there won't be long. And from what I've been reading on the Boards, it sounds like the CM helping you at the kiosk looks up a specific ride and they are not listed by FP return times at all. However, once you pick a FP, you can change it in your phone. So I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to grab whatever comes up and then change it in your phone away from the kiosk to best get what you want. It's not ideal, but it would cut down on having to stand in front of the kiosk taking up time and then potentially ending up with something you don't really want.

The wicked stepsisters are great at 1900 Park Fare - you'll love it. The food is decent, pretty standard buffet but those girls steal the show! Keep watching them through out the meal, not just when they are at your table. Hilarious!

The first time I did MNSSHP, I did it solo. DH was not interested in joining me. I was a little nervous/intimidated going by myself. I desperately tried to convince him to come with me but it was a no go. But I love Halloween and I was determined to have a good time! I didn't have a costume, I just wore my Mickey ears. I did end up enjoying it. I've since been with others to the party and I was able to move and do a lot more by myself that first time than with a group. I got a great spot for fireworks because I was able to just insert myself somewhere. Same with the parade. CMs somehow knew that I was by myself and I got a lot of attention from the different ones I encountered. Good attention - they sprinkled me with extra pixie dust. It definitely felt weird to be at a party by myself but I didn't feel excluded. I felt safe the entire time, even traveling back to my resort by myself at midnight.

I would recommend doing it. Even if you only stay long enough to see the parade and fireworks, it's really worth it. I haven't done MVMCP so I can't say for sure but MNSSHP has the best fireworks and parade that I have seen at Disney. But I love Halloween so I may be biased. It's fun to see everyone's costumes too. Plus when will you ever be able to trick-or-treat as an adult without a child and not look really creepy??

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Hello! I'm interrupting my Disney PTR for a little life update.

My cousin got married on Saturday!! She rented out an entire restaurant and we had a blast. Nature Girl and I were bridesmaids and Bubbles played the flute for the ceremony. She's an awesome flute player and I don't get to hear her play now that we aren't living together any more so this was a treat!

Here is my whole family (minus our husbands):


Mom, Me, Bubbles, Nature Girl, and Dad

Can you believe that we forgot to take one with our husbands? Talk about instant Christmas Card! We are sooo stooopid!! Arg!

Here is another one of us and another cousin of ours:



And one of me and the Bride! We were all taking turns getting pictures with her and when I went up for my picture, I said that it was like we were taking pictures with a Disney character! She looked at me in confusion (I think that she thought I meant that she looked like a cartoon! ) and I said, it's like I'm at Disney and you're Belle and I get to take my picture with you! It really was like that. We all were lining up and we posed almost the same as you would with a character. See?



Good times! And aren't those flowers gorgeous??

Better take a good, long look at us dressed up and pretty. Our Disney pics are not going to look so nice - certainly not in the heat of Sept! Hello sweat!!

I was actually a little worried about how the day would go. It was a more casual wedding and there wasn't a dance. Which we (my whole family, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.) were very disappointed about. But the groom was really worried about dancing in front of people, which I can kind of understand, but then maybe you could not do any of the formal dances and then you don't have to dance, just your guests can dance? Oh well, doesn't matter, they didn't have one anyway and we had a great time besides. People did end up staying quite awhile after dinner and cake even though there wasn't much going on besides talking. I think the open bar helped. And they did have some music playing and I might have slipped on some sneakers and I might have danced a bit all my myself. It's kinda hard to stop me, especially if I've had a few!

We have another wedding coming up in June and there will be a dance so yay! No drinks there, though. Apparently you can have drinks or a dance but not both!

And after that wedding, in July, we'll be going up to a resort for our annual extended family vacation. There will also be trips to Blair's family cabin this coming weekend and 4th of July.

And then, in Sept, we go to Disney!!! AHHHHH!!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

We got more Mickey Mail!!!

And here you see Mr. Sirius Black modeling THE go-to fashion for the fall:



MNSSHP Tickets!

And doesn't he look thrilled??

He's actually pretty good about us putting stuff on him. All the other cats that I have would have jumped off and run away when I set it on them but not Sirius! He's a talker so you can tell when he's not cool with something by the lack of noise coming out of his mouth. I think he mentally goes to his happy place!

And he is so black! You can barely see him against the chair. We always joke that when he closes his eyes, his face disappears!

I wonder if I can find mini-Mickey ears in WDW for him to wear. I know it would not last long but I would love a picture of him in them. So they'd have to be cheap. We think he's part Siamese (we are siamese if you please....meow....) because of his face and the face that he talks and talks and talks. We've gotten to the point where we talk back just because he looks so expectantly at you - like he's waiting for an answer. Our talking back probably makes him talk back which makes us talk back....it's a vicious cycle. I swear, though, sometimes I think he's trying to imitate us. Every once in awhile, I'll say something and he'll repeat my tone of voice, especially if it goes up or down, like when you ask a question.

And now you know way more than you wanted to about my "talking" cat!

So, MHSSHP tickets. I have gotten them in the past so I know that there isn't anything special about them but I really wish they would have a MHSSHP design on them instead of the generic characters. I know I'm not the only one. Boo.

Our next Mickey Mail should be our luggage tags, I think. Then our MB. I wish we would get them right after we pay our final deposit but they're not slated to ship until 30 days before we go. We want to decorate them and there aren't going to be a lot of weekends available before we go to do that. We want Nature Girl to participate and since she lives farther away, weekends are the only chance we get. So maybe we'll have to take a trip up to see her.

Other people have posted it on their PTRs but I think it is worth posting again. Here is the MB decorating thread:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3190181

I'm torn between doing a tiger stripe on mine (I'm orange) or just using colored duct tape or using temp tatoos. Decisions, decisions. Luckily the bands are silicone and with a little acetone, anything will come off so you can change your mind.

Still in triple digits but getting there!

To everyone in the US, have a wonderful (and safe!) Memorial weekend. We'll be heading out to DH's family cabin tonight. It can be fun but there will be close to 30 people there in a very small space. Luckily, not everyone sleeps in the cabin, there is another property close by that is not on the lake but plenty still sleep there and it's just too many people for my introverted self. Especially since we aren't really close with that side of the family. They think an adult getting excited about Disney is crazy. Obviously not my kind of people!

And that's why I come here. Cheers to us all!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

WE ARE DOING THE DOUBLE DIGIT DANCE!!!


Hooray!!!!

It definitely feels like it's getting closer but it also feels far away!

It's been rough again at work and my personal life has been very busy. When my husband sees me getting frustrated or working hard he always asks, "How many days 'til Disney?" I always know the answer! And it puts me in a good mood thinking about it! He knows me so well.

The weather has gotten a lot nicer though we are still getting rain. And the mosquitoes are out. They are bad this year. There's always something, isn't there? But I am enjoying running outside once again and playing sand volleyball two nights a week. And grilling. Not that we didn't grill in the winter but now we can actually sit on the deck next to the grill. Yay!

In Disney/PTR news, we had a "Wonderful World of Disney" night and watched Blackbeard's Ghost. I really enjoy that movie. It reminds me of Disney World with the music and the pirate ship inn set. It's also just plain silly. A good watch for the entire family. Interestingly, I also got it in Disney World back when Once Upon a Toy had all the old movies on DVD. I wish they still had them available there.

Also, I had to buy a new suitcase because my old one was damaged last time I flew down to Orlando. I loved my suitcase! It was rather large and had an extra flap in the front where you could put nicer clothes which was completely segregated from the inside chamber. It was wide and so the clothes that you put in the extra flap part fit very comfortably without a lot of extra folding.

Unfortunately, one of the wheels broke and I had to drag my luggage across Pop Century to my room because it was a last minute trip and we didn't get luggage tags in time. I could have asked Bell Services for help but that is just not how we roll (or not roll ). I couldn't fix the wheel so that was that. My lovely suitcase was DOA. I went searching and searching for a replacement but nothing was the same size anymore - everything is smaller. I ended up deciding to go back to the same manufacturer (Ricardo) because they had a the closest approximation to what I had and liked before.

Meet my new suitcase!



It is next to the lovely red (dead) suitcase. In this picture, it looks a lot bigger, however, the wheels take up some of the height and the inner chamber is not as deep as the red and the zipper cuts in so the opening (you can kind of see it in the upper left corner of the blue suitcase) for the inner chamber is actually smaller than the actual length and width of the suitcase, which makes my next point a problem. There is a little flap on the inside of the "door" of the suitcase to put your nicer clothes but, again, since the opening is smaller than the actual length and width, it's more cramped and difficult to access. But it was the best I could find. I'm also not sure how my luggage tags are going to work with the weird handle on top.

It does have the crazy, go-in-any-direction wheels that I find hilarious. Bubbles and I were in the airport to pick up our parents this past Spring Break and their luggage had those wheels too. Bubbles danced with it until she slipped and landed on it. It was pretty funny. I can see some "luggage dancing" in our future - I'll try and get video!

Because of the crazy wheels and the Ricardo manufacturer and the fact that I feel like I am cheating on my lovely red suitcase, I have named the new suitcase Ricardo Shilly-shally. (A "what up" to any Big Bang Theory fans out there!)

Ricardo Shilly-shally and I will be running off together to Disney World come Sept. Red doesn't know yet.

Okay. Enough silliness. Back to work!

DOUBLE DIGITS!!! WOOOOOO!!!!!

***Edit: I forgot to tell you that my family thinks I'm crazy about this suitcase. They laugh at how big it is (but it isn't!) and to prove it to me, Bubbles zipped Nature Girl into the suitcase. Yep. All the way. Nature Girl is 5'3" and slender but not skinny. So it was a big deal that she fit. However, it doesn't matter because it's still smaller than my previous bag. One might say that it doesn't fit my personality to have a big bag - I'm not that into clothes and cosmetics, etc. What I am, though, is a planner and I like to have my bases covered for as many situations as possible. Plus I want room to bring stuff back. So...I'm the one with all the ponchos, extra sunscreen, several pairs of shoes (not for fashion - to rotate to mitigate sore feet), carrying bags, garbage bags, various pharmaceutical items (legal ones!) for anything from a cold to the plague, ziploc bags, chargers, etc. My mom says that it's okay for me to have such a bag but she doesn't want to look ridiculous. Haha. So I asked her if she thought I looked ridiculous. Her answer was: "Well......" <crickets>. Ah, got it. Oh well. I don't go to Disney to win fashion/attractive points. My family can just deal!

 

[DISNEY180]

Hi subbing..

We are going to Kadani in August for a second time and we love it there. You will really enjoy the villa and will want to never leave We usually have breakfast in the villa due to full kitchen so we save money there. This time we are in a studio so only a toaster is available but no bigger..we are in DISNEY!!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Hi subbing..

We are going to Kadani in August for a second time and we love it there. You will really enjoy the villa and will want to never leave We usually have breakfast in the villa due to full kitchen so we save money there. This time we are in a studio so only a toaster is available but no bigger..we are in DISNEY!!!

Hello and welcome!

I am really excited to stay at Kidani. We'll probably be very spoiled and never want to go anywhere else! Maybe we can save money by buying points next time. I am so glad that we are getting a car so that we can go and get things to have breakfast. Normally, we just bring bagels from home in our luggage and get peanut butter and jelly from the cafeteria at the resort. I'm looking forward to having something different for breakfast, though maybe it won't feel like Disney without bagels, peanut butter, and Stacy in the morning! I'm willing to risk it, though!