We've Been Here Two Hours...Let's Figure Out When We Can Come Back! (updated 10/2)
- Thread starter Born 2B a Princess
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Born 2B a Princess
Where's my tiara?!?!
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,411
Day 1 of the trip (but not the parks) They say getting there is half the fun
who the heck are they?
As a preface note sorry, but I didnt take any pictures of our pile of luggage, grocery boxes, unloaded/loaded vehicles, anything on the trip down, or even WDW when we arrived first of all, I was too darn busy trying to get out the door, and second of all, the car was moving too fast for me to take a picture when we drove under the arch, and finally, it was dark and I was tired by the time we got there and The Plan was unhappy with us for being late and I wasnt exactly happy myself. Youll see why
Since it was summer, DH and the girls were out of school so I took Friday off work so I could get everything ready to go, get a haircut (a Princess must always look the part, and I wouldnt want to visit Mickey without a fresh haircut!), and make sure we were ready to leave on time. We were scheduled to leave at 2:30 Grandma and Papa were getting off work at 1:00 or so and we thought that would give them enough time to get home, pack the car, and be at our house by 2:00 so we could leave by 2:30. I had hoped to sleep in but was too excited and had too many things to do. The Plan was demanding that we get back on schedule! Minnie went with me to my hair appointment and then we went to the bank where we encountered a line that really, really needed to have a FP machine. It was crazy! Ive never waited that long in a line at the bank. By the time we got home, DH had his things packed and I hurried to get all of my things packed, along with the grocery box. I couldnt find my master packing list anywhere I think perhaps DH and the girls hid it from me as they tend to tease a bit about my obsession with planning and lists. Oh well I had most of the list memorized anyway! I also typed up the notes for our house/pet sitter. I gave up on getting some grocery shopping done for our house/pet sitter and just left her cash to buy whatever she wanted instead (plus I left her a fully stocked freezer and pantry) .so I took out the envelope of cash from the bank and left some on the counter for her and then dropped the envelope back in my handbag or did I?
As we were finishing up last-minute things around the house, the clock struck 1:30 (well, ok, our clocks are digital so they dont strike anything use your imagination!) and what to my wondering eyes should appear but Grandma and Papa pulling up in the driveway, 30 minutes early! Do you think maybe theyre a bit excited? DH loaded our car as I reminded Minnie and Tinkerbell to grab a few things like DVDs to watch on the way down. They had the DVD player but no DVDs. LOL. We grabbed blankets and pillows for the car, the DVD player and DVDs, iPods, and programmed the GPS units in both cars and finished loading everything and it was time go to. And guess what? It was 2:00 officially 30 minutes ahead of schedule! The Plan was literally doing the happy dance
because The Plan wanted us checked into the resort (CBR), both vehicles unpacked, and our happy bodies either at OPR or on one of the beaches at CBR so we could watch the IllumiNations fireworks at 9 pm. The Plan and I thought that would be a lovely way for us all to relax while at the same time getting excited for Epcot the next day.
And so we pulled out of the driveway 30 minutes early and Papa decided he needed to get gas before we got on the freeway so we stopped at a gas station about 5-7 miles from our house. The girls, Grandma, and I ran in to get some sodas and Icees to have in the car and when I went to pay for them, I realized that the envelope of cash from the bank was not in my handbag. As in gone. Not there. Nowhere. Well, thats not a good thing, considering that yes, this was stupid on my part it was a relatively sizeable amount of cash. Thank goodness we werent far from home, and I knew I had the cash at the house when I got money out to leave for our house/pet sitter. So we had to go back to the house so I could find the money. Of course, DH asked why I didnt just deposit the money in the bank and use our debit card while we were there. I tried to explain to him that there were certain things I wanted cash for like tips and some meals, and that I was trying to keep the trip on budget and it was easier for me to do that if I had cash with me that was allotted for certain purposes. Yada yada yada
LOL Anyway, we quickly drove to the house and I found the cash in my handbag where I had left it
except it was in my OTHER handbag the one I was leaving at home, that was sitting on the desk right where I keep my handbag. LOL At least we had it and we could leave!
We were still ahead of schedule, but now only by about 10 minutes. No worries we still had time to get to CBR, get checked in, unload the cars, and watch the fireworks.
The drive down was rather uneventful, other than a really heavy thunderstorm in south Georgia that lasted for about 45 minutes. We stopped at a rest stop in Georgia and got absolutely drenched running through the rain...the umbrellas and ponchos were packed in the trunk but we could have used them! We had to slow down as we drove through the storm, but we were still running on time. We stopped somewhere just over the border in Florida for gas and dinner at Subway and all I could think about was that we needed to get back on the road because The Plan had plans for us!
The GPS units were programmed with the address of the resort and I also had the UOG driving instructions in the car with me. As we got closer and closer to Orlando, I told DH which exit we needed to take. I reminded him a few times and I carefully watched for the exit. And guess what? He missed the exit! In his defense, he said that he thought he remembered the freeway exit sign being bigger, more illuminated, and saying Disney World on it. Um, no. Well, thats ok the GPS (her name is Hilda) showed we were 15 miles from WDW and it quickly calculated another route for us. Hilda said to take another exit and DH missed that exit, too. Not sure why but that was two exits that we had missed. And somehow we were still 15 miles from WDW, according to Hilda. So then DH decided to just take the next exit, no matter what it was, and let Hilda reroute us again. So we took the next route but it was some kind of spaghetti junction and we couldnt read Hildas screen well enough to figure out where the heck she wanted us to go. And yet, somehow, we were still 15 miles from WDW! We drove down a major street and Grandma and I kept calling each other on our cell phones, trying to figure out what to do since their GPS was giving them different directions than Hilda was giving us. Somehow, we managed to be 15 miles from WDW the entire time I think we just made a big loop around it. I was getting rather aggravated and The Plan was downright ticked off because we were now running late and were going to miss the fireworks and the magical start to our magical vacation. Minnie and Tinkerbell kept telling me to relax and that they didnt mind if we missed the fireworks. Theyre so sweet and they know I can get a little (well, a lot) wound up when things dont quite go according to The Plan they always remind me to just relax and enjoy things. Theyre good at that.
After driving through what appeared to be an industrial area with lots of hotels in it, we got back on the correct freeway and managed to find our exit, and then arrived at CBR with no further problems except that it was dangerously close to 9 pm.
We went straight in to check-in at the Customs House and there were no lines, which was good because we only had about 5 minutes until 9 pm. OK, The Plan quickly recalculated and decided that we would check in and drive straight to OPR, watch the fireworks, and then go find our rooms. Sounds good to me! Except that
.it didnt work out that way. Papa and I both went up together to check in, and a family behind us went to another window. While Papa was getting checked in, I realized that I could go check in at another window and get done faster, so I did. I had requested Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51 (or is that Jamaica 51 and Aruba 45?) and a room with a king sized bed for my parents
we didnt end up with either of those requests. I was a little disappointed but really wanted to get to where my parents could see the fireworks so I didnt ask them to change us. I had also ordered a welcome gift for my parents from the Disney Florist which I thought would be delivered to their room, but the CM brought it out when we checked in. Instead of a generic "welcome" balloon, it had a happy birthday balloon on it (no, it wasnt anyones birthday) which made us all laugh. I also asked them to go ahead and bring out the welcome baskets for Minnie and Tinkerbell now instead of delivering them to the room later, and the girls were thrilled and very surprised with their baskets.
I know I was rushing the CM through the check in process, but I really wanted to see those fireworks so after getting our resort packet, maps, pins, keys, etc., we decided to quickly get to where we could see the fireworks. It turned out that our rooms were in Barbados, directly across the street from the Custom House, so DH decided we should just drive over there and walk to OPR...except that the fireworks started as we pulled out of the Custom House parking lot. So we drove across the street as parked in the parking lot by our building and quickly ran the street corner by our building, across the street from Custom House, and watched the fireworks for a few minutes. It wasnt the the lovely beach or OPR setting The Plan and I had imagined
, but at least we got to see a few minutes of the fireworks.
No one but The Plan and I seemed to mind that we only saw a few minutes of the fireworks, so we let it go. We were just happy to finally be out of the car and at WDW!
By this time, everyone wanted to get unpacked and do a little swimming to unwind from the car ride. Grandma wanted to go see what kind of shopping there was in OPR, and Minnie realized that she hadn't brought any running shorts with her (she was going to run several times to condition for cross country). Papa, DH, the girls and got our swimsuits on and we drove to OPR so we could all swim and Grandma and I could shop. Fortunately, we found a pair of knit shorts for Minnie ($30!) that she could run in.
Up Next: An overview of OPR and CBR
As a preface note sorry, but I didnt take any pictures of our pile of luggage, grocery boxes, unloaded/loaded vehicles, anything on the trip down, or even WDW when we arrived first of all, I was too darn busy trying to get out the door, and second of all, the car was moving too fast for me to take a picture when we drove under the arch, and finally, it was dark and I was tired by the time we got there and The Plan was unhappy with us for being late and I wasnt exactly happy myself. Youll see why
Since it was summer, DH and the girls were out of school so I took Friday off work so I could get everything ready to go, get a haircut (a Princess must always look the part, and I wouldnt want to visit Mickey without a fresh haircut!), and make sure we were ready to leave on time. We were scheduled to leave at 2:30 Grandma and Papa were getting off work at 1:00 or so and we thought that would give them enough time to get home, pack the car, and be at our house by 2:00 so we could leave by 2:30. I had hoped to sleep in but was too excited and had too many things to do. The Plan was demanding that we get back on schedule! Minnie went with me to my hair appointment and then we went to the bank where we encountered a line that really, really needed to have a FP machine. It was crazy! Ive never waited that long in a line at the bank. By the time we got home, DH had his things packed and I hurried to get all of my things packed, along with the grocery box. I couldnt find my master packing list anywhere I think perhaps DH and the girls hid it from me as they tend to tease a bit about my obsession with planning and lists. Oh well I had most of the list memorized anyway! I also typed up the notes for our house/pet sitter. I gave up on getting some grocery shopping done for our house/pet sitter and just left her cash to buy whatever she wanted instead (plus I left her a fully stocked freezer and pantry) .so I took out the envelope of cash from the bank and left some on the counter for her and then dropped the envelope back in my handbag or did I?
As we were finishing up last-minute things around the house, the clock struck 1:30 (well, ok, our clocks are digital so they dont strike anything use your imagination!) and what to my wondering eyes should appear but Grandma and Papa pulling up in the driveway, 30 minutes early! Do you think maybe theyre a bit excited? DH loaded our car as I reminded Minnie and Tinkerbell to grab a few things like DVDs to watch on the way down. They had the DVD player but no DVDs. LOL. We grabbed blankets and pillows for the car, the DVD player and DVDs, iPods, and programmed the GPS units in both cars and finished loading everything and it was time go to. And guess what? It was 2:00 officially 30 minutes ahead of schedule! The Plan was literally doing the happy dance
because The Plan wanted us checked into the resort (CBR), both vehicles unpacked, and our happy bodies either at OPR or on one of the beaches at CBR so we could watch the IllumiNations fireworks at 9 pm. The Plan and I thought that would be a lovely way for us all to relax while at the same time getting excited for Epcot the next day.And so we pulled out of the driveway 30 minutes early and Papa decided he needed to get gas before we got on the freeway so we stopped at a gas station about 5-7 miles from our house. The girls, Grandma, and I ran in to get some sodas and Icees to have in the car and when I went to pay for them, I realized that the envelope of cash from the bank was not in my handbag. As in gone. Not there. Nowhere. Well, thats not a good thing, considering that yes, this was stupid on my part it was a relatively sizeable amount of cash. Thank goodness we werent far from home, and I knew I had the cash at the house when I got money out to leave for our house/pet sitter. So we had to go back to the house so I could find the money. Of course, DH asked why I didnt just deposit the money in the bank and use our debit card while we were there.
I tried to explain to him that there were certain things I wanted cash for like tips and some meals, and that I was trying to keep the trip on budget and it was easier for me to do that if I had cash with me that was allotted for certain purposes. Yada yada yada
LOL Anyway, we quickly drove to the house and I found the cash in my handbag where I had left it
except it was in my OTHER handbag the one I was leaving at home, that was sitting on the desk right where I keep my handbag. LOL At least we had it and we could leave!We were still ahead of schedule, but now only by about 10 minutes. No worries we still had time to get to CBR, get checked in, unload the cars, and watch the fireworks.
The drive down was rather uneventful, other than a really heavy thunderstorm in south Georgia that lasted for about 45 minutes. We stopped at a rest stop in Georgia and got absolutely drenched running through the rain...the umbrellas and ponchos were packed in the trunk but we could have used them! We had to slow down as we drove through the storm, but we were still running on time. We stopped somewhere just over the border in Florida for gas and dinner at Subway and all I could think about was that we needed to get back on the road because The Plan had plans for us!
The GPS units were programmed with the address of the resort and I also had the UOG driving instructions in the car with me. As we got closer and closer to Orlando, I told DH which exit we needed to take. I reminded him a few times and I carefully watched for the exit. And guess what? He missed the exit! In his defense, he said that he thought he remembered the freeway exit sign being bigger, more illuminated, and saying Disney World on it. Um, no. Well, thats ok the GPS (her name is Hilda) showed we were 15 miles from WDW and it quickly calculated another route for us. Hilda said to take another exit and DH missed that exit, too. Not sure why but that was two exits that we had missed. And somehow we were still 15 miles from WDW, according to Hilda. So then DH decided to just take the next exit, no matter what it was, and let Hilda reroute us again. So we took the next route but it was some kind of spaghetti junction and we couldnt read Hildas screen well enough to figure out where the heck she wanted us to go. And yet, somehow, we were still 15 miles from WDW! We drove down a major street and Grandma and I kept calling each other on our cell phones, trying to figure out what to do since their GPS was giving them different directions than Hilda was giving us. Somehow, we managed to be 15 miles from WDW the entire time I think we just made a big loop around it. I was getting rather aggravated and The Plan was downright ticked off because we were now running late and were going to miss the fireworks and the magical start to our magical vacation. Minnie and Tinkerbell kept telling me to relax and that they didnt mind if we missed the fireworks. Theyre so sweet and they know I can get a little (well, a lot) wound up when things dont quite go according to The Plan they always remind me to just relax and enjoy things. Theyre good at that.
After driving through what appeared to be an industrial area with lots of hotels in it, we got back on the correct freeway and managed to find our exit, and then arrived at CBR with no further problems except that it was dangerously close to 9 pm.
We went straight in to check-in at the Customs House and there were no lines, which was good because we only had about 5 minutes until 9 pm. OK, The Plan quickly recalculated and decided that we would check in and drive straight to OPR, watch the fireworks, and then go find our rooms. Sounds good to me! Except that
.it didnt work out that way. Papa and I both went up together to check in, and a family behind us went to another window. While Papa was getting checked in, I realized that I could go check in at another window and get done faster, so I did. I had requested Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51 (or is that Jamaica 51 and Aruba 45?) and a room with a king sized bed for my parents
we didnt end up with either of those requests. I was a little disappointed but really wanted to get to where my parents could see the fireworks so I didnt ask them to change us. I had also ordered a welcome gift for my parents from the Disney Florist which I thought would be delivered to their room, but the CM brought it out when we checked in. Instead of a generic "welcome" balloon, it had a happy birthday balloon on it (no, it wasnt anyones birthday) which made us all laugh. I also asked them to go ahead and bring out the welcome baskets for Minnie and Tinkerbell now instead of delivering them to the room later, and the girls were thrilled and very surprised with their baskets.I know I was rushing the CM through the check in process, but I really wanted to see those fireworks so after getting our resort packet, maps, pins, keys, etc., we decided to quickly get to where we could see the fireworks. It turned out that our rooms were in Barbados, directly across the street from the Custom House, so DH decided we should just drive over there and walk to OPR...except that the fireworks started as we pulled out of the Custom House parking lot. So we drove across the street as parked in the parking lot by our building and quickly ran the street corner by our building, across the street from Custom House, and watched the fireworks for a few minutes. It wasnt the the lovely beach or OPR setting The Plan and I had imagined
, but at least we got to see a few minutes of the fireworks. No one but The Plan and I seemed to mind that we only saw a few minutes of the fireworks, so we let it go. We were just happy to finally be out of the car and at WDW!
By this time, everyone wanted to get unpacked and do a little swimming to unwind from the car ride. Grandma wanted to go see what kind of shopping there was in OPR, and Minnie realized that she hadn't brought any running shorts with her (she was going to run several times to condition for cross country). Papa, DH, the girls and got our swimsuits on and we drove to OPR so we could all swim and Grandma and I could shop. Fortunately, we found a pair of knit shorts for Minnie ($30!) that she could run in.
Up Next: An overview of OPR and CBR
Born 2B a Princess
Where's my tiara?!?!
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,411
Sorry -- I just realized that my installments tend to be a bit long and wordy! 
tinkerbell60
DIS Veteran
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- Mar 14, 2004
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- 3,034
Sorry -- I just realized that my installments tend to be a bit long and wordy!
They are not long and wordy - they have great details which make them fun!
NikkiLovesWDW!
"Are you seeing an increase in lateral forces?" "S
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2006
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- 9,169
And the good news...as I was tucking Tinkerbell into bed on Wednesday (yes, 10 year old Tinkerbell still gets tucked in, as does Minnie and I'll keep doing that just as long as they want me to!), I looked down at her floor and saw her camera just sitting there in the middle of her bedroom. We had looked EVERYWHERE for that darn camera ever since we got home from our trip...she had looked, I had looked, Minnie had looked, DH had looked, Grandma had looked, and my sister had come over and looked. We looked everywhere, emptied every bag and suitcase (except mine, which still hasn't been fully unpacked but that's where I've stashed the birthday and Christmas gifts I bought at WDW...yeah, that's my excuseand pixie dust must have been involved -- but we're so glad we found it!
Okay, now that is just WEIRD! Actually, I'm a little freaked out by that. Someone HAD to have packed it somewhere to take it home. Someone HAD to have taken it out of the car or whatever bag it was packed in. How could it just magically appear out in the open like that?
FREAKY!!!Are you sure she even brought it??
jmskinner
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2006
- Messages
- 4,267
So glad you found Tinkerbelle's camera and so sorry about the photopass pics.
Your trip to WDW sounds like ours last September. Running into little problems the whole way. But you made it. Looking forward to what you have to say about CBR. Not long now until we are there.
Your trip to WDW sounds like ours last September. Running into little problems the whole way. But you made it. Looking forward to what you have to say about CBR. Not long now until we are there.
girliewhirlie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2009
- Messages
- 117
I am loving your report!! Can hardly wait for more!!! 
/
Born 2B a Princess
Where's my tiara?!?!
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,411
Okay, now that is just WEIRD! Actually, I'm a little freaked out by that. Someone HAD to have packed it somewhere to take it home. Someone HAD to have taken it out of the car or whatever bag it was packed in. How could it just magically appear out in the open like that?
Are you sure she even brought it??
I know -- it's very weird! As we were leaving BB, I took her camera out of the bag (our "beach bag") I was carrying to take a couple of final pictures...then I put it back in the beach bag and we put that in the back of the van. We then drove to DTD, where apparently she got the camera out of the beach bag and carried it with her. We had lunch, bought a few pins, and went to World of Disney where she used the camera to take a few pictures of Cinderella's Castle in the store. After that we headed to the car to leave. I thought she put the camera back in the beach bag, but she said she thought she kept it with her in the car. So we got home, unloaded everything and took the van back to my parents. That night we couldn't find the camera or her bag from DTD with her pins in it. The next day we found her pins -- the bag was in her bedroom. But the camera was most definitely NOT in the bag with the pins (I emptied the bag myself and all that was in it was two Tinkerbell pins) and it wasn't in her suitcase (once the suitcases were loaded in the car at CBR, they didn't get touched until we got home so we knew it wasn't in the suitcase). We looked and looked and looked -- like I said, my Mom and sister even came over to look! It was NOT in her bedroom when we searched it, multiple times. So yes, it's really freaky that it showed up suddenly on the floor in the middle of the room! I had already started looking at prices to buy her a new one...and then it just magically (or mysteriously) reappeared. VERY strange. But I'm glad it showed up!
So glad you found Tinkerbelle's camera and so sorry about the photopass pics.
Your trip to WDW sounds like ours last September. Running into little problems the whole way. But you made it. Looking forward to what you have to say about CBR. Not long now until we are there.
Thanks! We didn't have too many more problems...it just seemed like getting there was a little bit jinxed. LOL
I am loving your report!! Can hardly wait for more!!!
Thank you!
You're so sweet!
Born 2B a Princess
Where's my tiara?!?!
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,411
Some pictures of our Cast of Characters...
DH...
Minnie...
And a first day of school picture from this week (just because my girls are beautiful and I want to show them off...)
Tinkerbell...
And a first day of school picture of Tinkerbell from this week (showing off my beautiful girls again!)
Grandma...
Papa...
My next post will have pictures and a description of The Plan...
DH...
Minnie...
And a first day of school picture from this week (just because my girls are beautiful and I want to show them off...)
Tinkerbell...
And a first day of school picture of Tinkerbell from this week (showing off my beautiful girls again!)
Grandma...
Papa...
My next post will have pictures and a description of The Plan...
NikkiLovesWDW!
"Are you seeing an increase in lateral forces?" "S
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2006
- Messages
- 9,169
Oh, your girls ARE beautiful! And excellent choices for "first day of school" outfits! 
MickeyisBeast
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2009
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- 37,536
I'm so glad you found Tink's camera! That is very odd, yet very magical :]
Can't wait for more!!!
Can't wait for more!!!
Born 2B a Princess
Where's my tiara?!?!
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,411
The Plan for this year's trip was an expanded, improved version of The Plan from our last trip. I knew I needed/wanted to have specific information available at my fingertips. For our last trip, The Plan had the UOG touring plans and pages for notes for each park, with the daily planning pages from the UOG web site. Nice, but not quite the "everything you need to know in one place" concept I was going for. After looking through some trip planners here on the DIS, I found some planning spreadsheets that were just what I needed. I can't remember right now who the DISer was that prepared and shared the spreadsheets, but as soon as I can find that information I will share it because she really deserves the credit for the amazing spreadsheets she put together and so generously shares!
I'm not a very good photographer, so I apologize for these pictures being fuzzy!
The Plan is 8.5x5.5 inches, with a comb binding on the side. This size was very easy to work with both in terms of layout and convenience/portability.
OK...the cover. For our last trip, the cover was red, white, black, and yellow. This time, The Plan wanted something a little more colorful...
On the inside cover I had some contact information as well as a map of WDW for the first page of the "General Info" tab. (got it online and sized it to fit)...Also, I wrote down some notes from our last park day on the inside cover because the notes page format I included didn't really fit what we ended up doing on the last day (hopping to three parks in one day)...
Master spreadsheet of the 8 days of our stay showing the hours, EMH, parades, and fireworks for each park. Again, this format was provided by a DISer and I just filled in the information...
Next page in the "General Info" section with the hours for DTD for each day of our stay, plus "ADRs at a Glance" showing ADR location, time, and confirmation number. The next section is Reseort information with notes on confirmation numbers, check-in time and welcome gifts, as well as where to activate our tickets and the hours of the water parks...Again, this format was provided by a DISer and I just filled in the information...
Next is a page showing the UOG crowd counting results and recommended parks information...I really should have consulted this page a little more on our last two park days!
And then we have a tabbed section for each of the parks, as well as a tabbed section for DTD/Water Parks, FP attractions and CS menus for each park (also obtained from a DISer -- when I find her name I'll post it to give credit), and a section for Notes.
I'll go through the Epcot section to show you what was in each section of The Plan...don't worry, I won't go through the other sections! The section for each park was similar to the Epcot section.
First, two pages of spreadsheets (from the same DISer who provided me with the spreadsheets in the General Info section) showing park hours, EMH parks/hoursw, UOG alternate park for that day, a listing of attractions and must do's (broken down between Future World and World Showcase), a Character Checklist (I used this for notes on where to see the characters and recommended times), and PhotoPass locations (I ended up not using this part of the spreadsheet). Page 2 of is our ADRs and the CS play I had selected for lunch, information on shows/fireworks, and information on show times for various performances we might want to see in WS.
After that I had the park map, sized to fit:
Followed by the UOG touring plan (for some parks I had multiple plans, depending on what we ended up wanting to do/see while we were there). For most parks (not Epcot), I used the UOG printouts to track which rides we did and how long the posted/actual wait times were, as well as what deviations we made from the plan. I didn't do that for Epcot since that first park day was more about making sure Grandma and Papa got to do the things they wanted to do. This UOG touring plan is two pages -- I'm only showing the first.
Next was the UOG "Cheat Sheet" for that park, which we ended up not having to refer to during the trip, but I was glad we had it just in case.
(Yes, this is the Cheat Sheet for MK, not Epcot -- sorry!)
My notes on the day -- bus wait time, what we did when we split up (since the UOG touring plan printouts don't really provide space to track what you really ended up doing...LOL), and a page showing the rides we did with their posted/actual wait times:
Finally, where and what we ate....
The sections for each park were like the Epcot section. The DTD/Water Parks section had maps of DTD and the water parks, recommended places to find good seating areas in the water parks, and a place for my notes on what we did in each place.
In the "Notes" section, I had extra notes pages, extra pages to keep track of where/what we ate, and information on the Disney outlets in the area (never did get to those).
So, that's The Plan!
I'm not a very good photographer, so I apologize for these pictures being fuzzy!
The Plan is 8.5x5.5 inches, with a comb binding on the side. This size was very easy to work with both in terms of layout and convenience/portability.
OK...the cover. For our last trip, the cover was red, white, black, and yellow. This time, The Plan wanted something a little more colorful...
On the inside cover I had some contact information as well as a map of WDW for the first page of the "General Info" tab. (got it online and sized it to fit)...Also, I wrote down some notes from our last park day on the inside cover because the notes page format I included didn't really fit what we ended up doing on the last day (hopping to three parks in one day)...
Master spreadsheet of the 8 days of our stay showing the hours, EMH, parades, and fireworks for each park. Again, this format was provided by a DISer and I just filled in the information...
Next page in the "General Info" section with the hours for DTD for each day of our stay, plus "ADRs at a Glance" showing ADR location, time, and confirmation number. The next section is Reseort information with notes on confirmation numbers, check-in time and welcome gifts, as well as where to activate our tickets and the hours of the water parks...Again, this format was provided by a DISer and I just filled in the information...
Next is a page showing the UOG crowd counting results and recommended parks information...I really should have consulted this page a little more on our last two park days!
And then we have a tabbed section for each of the parks, as well as a tabbed section for DTD/Water Parks, FP attractions and CS menus for each park (also obtained from a DISer -- when I find her name I'll post it to give credit), and a section for Notes.
I'll go through the Epcot section to show you what was in each section of The Plan...don't worry, I won't go through the other sections! The section for each park was similar to the Epcot section.
First, two pages of spreadsheets (from the same DISer who provided me with the spreadsheets in the General Info section) showing park hours, EMH parks/hoursw, UOG alternate park for that day, a listing of attractions and must do's (broken down between Future World and World Showcase), a Character Checklist (I used this for notes on where to see the characters and recommended times), and PhotoPass locations (I ended up not using this part of the spreadsheet). Page 2 of is our ADRs and the CS play I had selected for lunch, information on shows/fireworks, and information on show times for various performances we might want to see in WS.
After that I had the park map, sized to fit:
Followed by the UOG touring plan (for some parks I had multiple plans, depending on what we ended up wanting to do/see while we were there). For most parks (not Epcot), I used the UOG printouts to track which rides we did and how long the posted/actual wait times were, as well as what deviations we made from the plan. I didn't do that for Epcot since that first park day was more about making sure Grandma and Papa got to do the things they wanted to do. This UOG touring plan is two pages -- I'm only showing the first.
Next was the UOG "Cheat Sheet" for that park, which we ended up not having to refer to during the trip, but I was glad we had it just in case.
My notes on the day -- bus wait time, what we did when we split up (since the UOG touring plan printouts don't really provide space to track what you really ended up doing...LOL), and a page showing the rides we did with their posted/actual wait times:
Finally, where and what we ate....
The sections for each park were like the Epcot section. The DTD/Water Parks section had maps of DTD and the water parks, recommended places to find good seating areas in the water parks, and a place for my notes on what we did in each place.
In the "Notes" section, I had extra notes pages, extra pages to keep track of where/what we ate, and information on the Disney outlets in the area (never did get to those).
So, that's The Plan!
tinkerbell60
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2004
- Messages
- 3,034
Wow - that is very impressive. I thought I was a planner but you have me beat!
NikkiLovesWDW!
"Are you seeing an increase in lateral forces?" "S
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2006
- Messages
- 9,169
Wow, I thought I was bad! I LOVE IT!
dolfinjuls
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2008
- Messages
- 1,208
I'm in...sorry I'm late! haha
Great start, can't wait for more! And man that planner is impressive!
Great start, can't wait for more! And man that planner is impressive!
Born 2B a Princess
Where's my tiara?!?!
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,411
Yeah, I'm definitely a planner!
Wow, I thought I was bad! I LOVE IT!
I'm glad you're here! Thanks!
Born 2B a Princess
Where's my tiara?!?!
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,411
Last night we were at my parents' house and I started asking them a bunch of questions so I could get the plans pulled together for our upcoming trip.
I must admit -- I have fallen down on the job on planning this one. When I realized that we could go for MNSSHP, I quickly looked at the listing of dates and found a Friday date and jumped on it...didn't even realize it was during the Food and Wine Festival. Having never been there during Food and Wine Festival, I'm a bit concerned about how crowded Epcot will be -- and particularly WS -- since that's the main park my parents are going to go to on their one park day (yes, they're using their five park days in one day increments...whatever works for them). Oh well...that's just the way it's going to be.
So I was telling them to expect some crowds and then started asking where they wanted to eat so I could make their ADRs. My DH commented that he doesn't think I'm truly happy unless I have something -- anything -- to plan, but especially trips.
Then he said our next vacation is going to be one that he plans -- by not planning -- he'll just wake me up one morning, tell me to pack, and we'll get in the car and go...without any plans, reservations, anything. Oh my goodness, NO. That would completely freak me out and I would be a big ball of stress the entire time! 
We had a good laugh.
Anyway, I won't have much to plan for our upcoming trip since it's just a quick one, but I'm excited to plan it anyway! I've already made one ADR -- T-Rex for a late lunch. I can't wait!
I must admit -- I have fallen down on the job on planning this one. When I realized that we could go for MNSSHP, I quickly looked at the listing of dates and found a Friday date and jumped on it...didn't even realize it was during the Food and Wine Festival. Having never been there during Food and Wine Festival, I'm a bit concerned about how crowded Epcot will be -- and particularly WS -- since that's the main park my parents are going to go to on their one park day (yes, they're using their five park days in one day increments...whatever works for them). Oh well...that's just the way it's going to be.
So I was telling them to expect some crowds and then started asking where they wanted to eat so I could make their ADRs. My DH commented that he doesn't think I'm truly happy unless I have something -- anything -- to plan, but especially trips.
Then he said our next vacation is going to be one that he plans -- by not planning -- he'll just wake me up one morning, tell me to pack, and we'll get in the car and go...without any plans, reservations, anything. Oh my goodness, NO. That would completely freak me out and I would be a big ball of stress the entire time! We had a good laugh.Anyway, I won't have much to plan for our upcoming trip since it's just a quick one, but I'm excited to plan it anyway! I've already made one ADR -- T-Rex for a late lunch. I can't wait!
katiebelle21
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2009
- Messages
- 790
Wow! The plan is even better than I thought it would be! It really is impressive. How long did it take you to make?
Born 2B a Princess
Where's my tiara?!?!
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,411
I worked on compiling all of the information for a while...but once I got those amazing spreadsheets from a fellow DISer (I have her name in my work email -- I want to be sure to give her credit!), it didn't take too long. I had looked at the free planning pages on the UOG website (and that's what I used on our last trip) so I already had an idea of what I wanted. I worked on it over the course of a few weeks, here and there. Once I had everything all printed out, it took me a couple of hours to cut it all to size, put it in the order I wanted it, and decorate the front and back covers. So it wasn't too bad.
The best thing was those spreadsheets -- so I didn't have to invent them myself. They were wonderful! Really, though, I had a lot of fun doing it. I'm strange that way...
Born 2B a Princess
Where's my tiara?!?!
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,411
An Overview of CBR
Now seems like a good time to provide an overview and our thoughts on CBR although I will come clean and admit that none of these pictures were taken on the day of our arrival. If you recall from the previous installment, we didnt arrive until 9 pm. Everyone was stiff from being in the car so long and they all wanted to shop and swim (well, Papa and DH didnt want to shop and Grandma didnt want to swim), and The Plan called for an early morning wakeup the next day so we quickly changed into bathing suits and cover ups and headed to OPR to look around a bit and swim. So no pictures were taken upon arrival. The resort pictures in this installment and the next installment were all taken at various points during our trip. Sorry!
The first stop was OPR to look around a little bit and find some shorts for Minnie to run in since she left all of her running shorts at home and she was supposed to be running to get ready for cross country. $30 later we had a pair of white knit shorts with the CBR logo embroidered on them. Those will stay white with the red Georgia clay we have at home. Not. We were pleased with the selection and variety of items in the shop. My favorite item was a shirt that I really wanted to buy for DH Im Grumpy because youre Dopey.
I wanted to buy it so badly and we saw it several times throughout the trip but he would never let me buy it for him
for one thing, it was a character shirt (DH doesnt do character clothing), and also because he would really want to wear it to school because it applies to some of his students but he wouldnt be able to wear it to school. Ill let you in on a secret, though Im trying to order the shirt from Disney Merchandising to give to DH for Christmas. 
And back to our TR the girls enjoyed looking at various souvenirs but we convinced them to wait until later in the trip to buy anything so they had a chance to look other places. Grandma and I also had to restrain ourselves -- we love to shop and we were having lots of fun looking around at everything.
My first impression of the food court was that it really wasnt much different from the food court at POP in terms of variety of food, but I did like the set up and the décor was fun. It seemed like it has less seating than the food court at POP, though. We never did eat at Shutters but Ive seen lots of mixed reviews so I wasnt sad about that. It was very convenient to have a guest services kiosk right in the middle of OPR and the CMs working there were generally quite knowledgeable and helpful, and always friendly. Every CM we encountered at the resort was friendly.
A couple of exterior shots of OPR the first is the back entrance to OPR from the pool/patio area:
And a fountain in the patio area I just thought it was pretty.
We had seen pictures online of the main pool and we were not disappointed! The only complaint we had was that the water was rather warm (the water in the quiet pools was cooler, possibly because the quiet pools are deeper than the main pool). Even when the main pool was crowded it really didnt seem too crowded. The girls enjoyed the water slides (especially the bigger of the two). There were plenty of lounge chairs as well as tables with chairs and umbrellas. There were always plenty of towels at the main pool. The childrens pool area looked really fun but we never went in there because Minnie and Tinkerbell are too big. I knew there were two hot tubs but it wasnt until our last night that we actually went and found the second hot tub. The first hot tub is on the front side of the pool and it was always full. That was ok because there was only once that we really wanted to use it, and that was the after our first park day when Grandma and I wanted to soak our feet. There was room for us to sit on the side and soak our feet, so we were happy. The second hot tub is behind the back of the structure with the bigger water slide and when we went and found it, it was completely empty (even though the other hot tub was packed full and there were lots of people at the pool). Its really well hidden and I guess a lot of people didnt even realize it was there! It was quiet and wonderful. We used the main pool a few times during our stay, but actually used the quiet pool in our village more during the day because the water was deeper, much cooler, and because there werent as many people.
A few pictures of the main pool:
The empty hot tub in the back:
The kiddie pool area:
We also thought the landscaping around the entire resort was really lovely. The flowering bushes and shrubs were beautiful and we saw the groundskeepers out every day working on trimming and keeping things pretty. I think they're mostly the same plants and bushes they have at all of the resorts (I know I had seen many of them at POP). It is a huge job to keep all of that looking beautiful all the time and they did a great job.
Now seems like a good time to provide an overview and our thoughts on CBR although I will come clean and admit that none of these pictures were taken on the day of our arrival. If you recall from the previous installment, we didnt arrive until 9 pm. Everyone was stiff from being in the car so long and they all wanted to shop and swim (well, Papa and DH didnt want to shop and Grandma didnt want to swim), and The Plan called for an early morning wakeup the next day so we quickly changed into bathing suits and cover ups and headed to OPR to look around a bit and swim. So no pictures were taken upon arrival. The resort pictures in this installment and the next installment were all taken at various points during our trip. Sorry!
The first stop was OPR to look around a little bit and find some shorts for Minnie to run in since she left all of her running shorts at home and she was supposed to be running to get ready for cross country. $30 later we had a pair of white knit shorts with the CBR logo embroidered on them. Those will stay white with the red Georgia clay we have at home. Not. We were pleased with the selection and variety of items in the shop. My favorite item was a shirt that I really wanted to buy for DH Im Grumpy because youre Dopey.
I wanted to buy it so badly and we saw it several times throughout the trip but he would never let me buy it for him
for one thing, it was a character shirt (DH doesnt do character clothing), and also because he would really want to wear it to school because it applies to some of his students but he wouldnt be able to wear it to school. Ill let you in on a secret, though Im trying to order the shirt from Disney Merchandising to give to DH for Christmas. And back to our TR the girls enjoyed looking at various souvenirs but we convinced them to wait until later in the trip to buy anything so they had a chance to look other places. Grandma and I also had to restrain ourselves -- we love to shop and we were having lots of fun looking around at everything.
My first impression of the food court was that it really wasnt much different from the food court at POP in terms of variety of food, but I did like the set up and the décor was fun. It seemed like it has less seating than the food court at POP, though. We never did eat at Shutters but Ive seen lots of mixed reviews so I wasnt sad about that. It was very convenient to have a guest services kiosk right in the middle of OPR and the CMs working there were generally quite knowledgeable and helpful, and always friendly. Every CM we encountered at the resort was friendly.
A couple of exterior shots of OPR the first is the back entrance to OPR from the pool/patio area:
And a fountain in the patio area I just thought it was pretty.
We had seen pictures online of the main pool and we were not disappointed!
The only complaint we had was that the water was rather warm (the water in the quiet pools was cooler, possibly because the quiet pools are deeper than the main pool). Even when the main pool was crowded it really didnt seem too crowded. The girls enjoyed the water slides (especially the bigger of the two). There were plenty of lounge chairs as well as tables with chairs and umbrellas. There were always plenty of towels at the main pool. The childrens pool area looked really fun but we never went in there because Minnie and Tinkerbell are too big. I knew there were two hot tubs but it wasnt until our last night that we actually went and found the second hot tub. The first hot tub is on the front side of the pool and it was always full. That was ok because there was only once that we really wanted to use it, and that was the after our first park day when Grandma and I wanted to soak our feet. There was room for us to sit on the side and soak our feet, so we were happy. The second hot tub is behind the back of the structure with the bigger water slide and when we went and found it, it was completely empty (even though the other hot tub was packed full and there were lots of people at the pool). Its really well hidden and I guess a lot of people didnt even realize it was there! It was quiet and wonderful. We used the main pool a few times during our stay, but actually used the quiet pool in our village more during the day because the water was deeper, much cooler, and because there werent as many people. A few pictures of the main pool:
The empty hot tub in the back:
The kiddie pool area:
We also thought the landscaping around the entire resort was really lovely. The flowering bushes and shrubs were beautiful and we saw the groundskeepers out every day working on trimming and keeping things pretty. I think they're mostly the same plants and bushes they have at all of the resorts (I know I had seen many of them at POP). It is a huge job to keep all of that looking beautiful all the time and they did a great job.
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