krysenchips
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2013
Yes, it is 2 per person.
Healing at our Happy Place: making GOOD 2017 memories: Mar, May, Aug, Oct, Dec TRs (3/24 UPDATE)
- Thread starter kittylady1972
- Start date
Yes, it is 2 per person.
piglet1979
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2015
Thank you. I was looking at prices today for our trip over the summer but now Southwest took the dates down so i can't do any more research.
Jenny Sanders
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2007
Why yes it is!!!! Plus, you get 1 carry on...
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
I'm not the best at packing either. I always make it into one smallish suitcase but it's ugly and the poor zipper is STRESSED the entire time. So I'm with you and have faith you can do it!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
Happy FRIDAY to all!
Nothing exciting to report here, I continue to stalk both the DVC Reservations site, the WDW Reservation site and the SOG Reservations site. So far, no real luck. Yesterday I could get 3 of 4 nights at least at Port Orleans French Quarter and Port Orleans Riverside...but not the Thursday night I needed. Crazy. I can't imagine making my FIL check-in for one night, move to another resort, then check in for 3 more nights back at another resort. Even Shades of Green has all nights available but different categories, the first night being a handicapped room. Somehow I feel guilty even booking that one since we don't need it. And so we will continue to wait, as we are still outside of the 30 day mark and I SUSPECT some stuff may open up as we get closer. However I have no knowledge that that is true.
And so, I continue to try to get excited about Pop Century and tell myself that it will all work out if we end up there instead of keeping our room at Port Orleans Riverside.
This week I feel like my energy level has taken a bit of a hit, and while that is to be expected when you are going through radiation 5 days a week, I thought the worst would be in the final week or two. I still have 14 sessions remaining of 30 total. The next step will be hormone therapy, but I'm planning to delay that at least until after my trip, if no the holidays, just to give me some time to recover a bit. I have to make the next appointment with my oncologist and it will most likely be in December sometime, and I'm still thinking I'll talk to BOTH of my oncologists to see if the concur on my next treatment plans. I feel like this next step is crucial but I want to make sure I've got all of the options and understand them. I have read some nightmares about hormone treatments so I'm a little bit concerned about how that will go for me.
Anyway enough talk about that stuff. I'm ready for another visit to our happy place and I've tweaked our tentative December plans. Wanna see?
Nothing exciting to report here, I continue to stalk both the DVC Reservations site, the WDW Reservation site and the SOG Reservations site. So far, no real luck. Yesterday I could get 3 of 4 nights at least at Port Orleans French Quarter and Port Orleans Riverside...but not the Thursday night I needed. Crazy. I can't imagine making my FIL check-in for one night, move to another resort, then check in for 3 more nights back at another resort. Even Shades of Green has all nights available but different categories, the first night being a handicapped room. Somehow I feel guilty even booking that one since we don't need it. And so we will continue to wait, as we are still outside of the 30 day mark and I SUSPECT some stuff may open up as we get closer. However I have no knowledge that that is true.
And so, I continue to try to get excited about Pop Century and tell myself that it will all work out if we end up there instead of keeping our room at Port Orleans Riverside.
This week I feel like my energy level has taken a bit of a hit, and while that is to be expected when you are going through radiation 5 days a week, I thought the worst would be in the final week or two. I still have 14 sessions remaining of 30 total. The next step will be hormone therapy, but I'm planning to delay that at least until after my trip, if no the holidays, just to give me some time to recover a bit. I have to make the next appointment with my oncologist and it will most likely be in December sometime, and I'm still thinking I'll talk to BOTH of my oncologists to see if the concur on my next treatment plans. I feel like this next step is crucial but I want to make sure I've got all of the options and understand them. I have read some nightmares about hormone treatments so I'm a little bit concerned about how that will go for me.
Anyway enough talk about that stuff. I'm ready for another visit to our happy place and I've tweaked our tentative December plans. Wanna see?
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
DECEMBER PLAN v1.1 (changes in this color)
WEDNESDAY: School and work first, then we'll grab something to eat to head to the airport around 4pm for our 6pm flight. This is a bit later than our flight last week, so here's hoping our hit-the-ground-running plan works out better. We should land around 8:30pm and we'll head directly to our resort which is currently Pop Century. This could change, as I am still considering the WDW Dolphin or Swan. MK is open until 1am, so we may get to the resort, drop our stuff, and hit that park as we've done our last TWO trips.
THURSDAY: Depending on how late we are out the night before, we will plan to hit the parks as early as possible the next morning. I am considering hitting EPCOT for EMH since it's open at 8am, if we are all up for that. If we did, it would be drive to EPCOT, hit EMH for the first two hours (8am-10am) and then leave that park and head to MK, making it in time for our first FP which is 10:40am-11:40am. This time our plan is to head to MK for the day. It is a party night, so hopefully won't be crowded since it closes at 6pm to the public. I'm debating doing the Christmas Party. We do have lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, one of my favorites from long ago...mostly for the dessert!
We have 3 FP+ reservations at MK. If we do NOT to the Christmas Party, then we'll make plans to head to AK that evening close to the 8pm closing time and ride FOP standby. OPTION #2 would be to hit Studios that evening to see the new holiday stuff there, since this may be the only night to do that. I haven't seen JBJB! yet, and I'd love to see some of the new sunset evening stuff they have planned here.
FRIDAY: This is our EPCOT day, so I have our 3 FPs scheduled here. Once again, I'm also thinking this is a 7am EMH at MK, so if we are up for that, we could hit MK early and knock out a few rides there first, and THEN head to EPCOT. We would leave MK no later than 10am, to arrive at EPCOT for our first FP+ reservation 10:35am-11:35am. That would mean we probably would have to skip the next plan here, which was Soarin' and FEA, but if we had done EPCOT the previous day at EMH then we would have most likely taken care of those rides during that time. Otherwise, we follow this next part...
Like last time, we'll plan to arrive as close to the 9am start as possible and hit Soarin' first thing. After that we should have time to head to FEA and ride that one standby as well. We will return and use our FPs (Test Track and Mission: Space) and then do other rides around there like The Seas (we missed that our last trip) and maybe even The Land. If we didn't hit AK the night before (and maybe even if we did) we will head there close to the 8pm closing time and ride FOP on standby. Yes it is THAT good.
SATURDAY: This is our actual planned day at AK. Arrive close to opening (it is an 8am EMH day) and ride Everest Standby and maybe even the Safari and Dinosaur. I'd like to get Safari done so I we don't have to stick around until our 2pm FP+ for that one. I am hoping the new Tiger Cubs are out by this time, so we'll make plans to hit the Maharajah Trail to see them if they are our. Our FPs here are Everest (12pm), FOP (1pm) and the Safari (at 2pm) but if we get some of those rides done at opening we can redo the FPs...well all but FOP. Lunch I'm sure will be here at Satu'li Canteen. I'd like to catch the Lion King show again, and Flight of Wonder which we missed last time also and is rumored to be on the outs! We need to be out of AK and over to EPCOT by around 3pm as we have a 4pm reservation at Marakesh followed by the 6:45pm CP show with Kurt Russell. If we are still feeling good that evening, we can even hit MK afterwards for a few rides before the 12am closing, making it a 3-park day.
SUNDAY: Departure day...it goes by so quickly. Final day will be spent in HS, which at this point we have no plans to visit until this day. It's an easy last-day park for us. We have some FPs here, with our last one at 2pm. We'll do all we can here, departing for the airport around 5:30pm for our 8pm flight home.
And that's our more aggressive December plan. It may not come to fruition, but I like to have some options for us in case we are feeling extra motivated.
WEDNESDAY: School and work first, then we'll grab something to eat to head to the airport around 4pm for our 6pm flight. This is a bit later than our flight last week, so here's hoping our hit-the-ground-running plan works out better. We should land around 8:30pm and we'll head directly to our resort which is currently Pop Century. This could change, as I am still considering the WDW Dolphin or Swan. MK is open until 1am, so we may get to the resort, drop our stuff, and hit that park as we've done our last TWO trips.
THURSDAY: Depending on how late we are out the night before, we will plan to hit the parks as early as possible the next morning. I am considering hitting EPCOT for EMH since it's open at 8am, if we are all up for that. If we did, it would be drive to EPCOT, hit EMH for the first two hours (8am-10am) and then leave that park and head to MK, making it in time for our first FP which is 10:40am-11:40am. This time our plan is to head to MK for the day. It is a party night, so hopefully won't be crowded since it closes at 6pm to the public. I'm debating doing the Christmas Party. We do have lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, one of my favorites from long ago...mostly for the dessert!
We have 3 FP+ reservations at MK. If we do NOT to the Christmas Party, then we'll make plans to head to AK that evening close to the 8pm closing time and ride FOP standby. OPTION #2 would be to hit Studios that evening to see the new holiday stuff there, since this may be the only night to do that. I haven't seen JBJB! yet, and I'd love to see some of the new sunset evening stuff they have planned here. FRIDAY: This is our EPCOT day, so I have our 3 FPs scheduled here. Once again, I'm also thinking this is a 7am EMH at MK, so if we are up for that, we could hit MK early and knock out a few rides there first, and THEN head to EPCOT. We would leave MK no later than 10am, to arrive at EPCOT for our first FP+ reservation 10:35am-11:35am. That would mean we probably would have to skip the next plan here, which was Soarin' and FEA, but if we had done EPCOT the previous day at EMH then we would have most likely taken care of those rides during that time. Otherwise, we follow this next part...
Like last time, we'll plan to arrive as close to the 9am start as possible and hit Soarin' first thing. After that we should have time to head to FEA and ride that one standby as well. We will return and use our FPs (Test Track and Mission: Space) and then do other rides around there like The Seas (we missed that our last trip) and maybe even The Land. If we didn't hit AK the night before (and maybe even if we did) we will head there close to the 8pm closing time and ride FOP on standby. Yes it is THAT good.
SATURDAY: This is our actual planned day at AK. Arrive close to opening (it is an 8am EMH day) and ride Everest Standby and maybe even the Safari and Dinosaur. I'd like to get Safari done so I we don't have to stick around until our 2pm FP+ for that one. I am hoping the new Tiger Cubs are out by this time, so we'll make plans to hit the Maharajah Trail to see them if they are our. Our FPs here are Everest (12pm), FOP (1pm) and the Safari (at 2pm) but if we get some of those rides done at opening we can redo the FPs...well all but FOP. Lunch I'm sure will be here at Satu'li Canteen. I'd like to catch the Lion King show again, and Flight of Wonder which we missed last time also and is rumored to be on the outs! We need to be out of AK and over to EPCOT by around 3pm as we have a 4pm reservation at Marakesh followed by the 6:45pm CP show with Kurt Russell. If we are still feeling good that evening, we can even hit MK afterwards for a few rides before the 12am closing, making it a 3-park day.
SUNDAY: Departure day...it goes by so quickly. Final day will be spent in HS, which at this point we have no plans to visit until this day. It's an easy last-day park for us. We have some FPs here, with our last one at 2pm. We'll do all we can here, departing for the airport around 5:30pm for our 8pm flight home.
And that's our more aggressive December plan. It may not come to fruition, but I like to have some options for us in case we are feeling extra motivated.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
OCTOBER TRIP DAY TWO: Herding cats!
So we had made plans the previous night to still try to make at least 8am departure from our resort the next morning, even though many of us weren't even getting to but until 2:30am. How did we do?
We met in the lobby of our resort and amazingly we did pretty well. We knew we would be eating at EPCOT as planned, but people got some drinks to start off their day and then we all piled into the rental van. Funny how two of the party staying at the resort with us who did NOT go out with us the night before did not make our early morning meeting time. Oh well.
I drove us all to EPCOT and we arrived not too long after 8am as this photo was taken around 8:27am according to the timestamp, so right as we got into the gates. We were doing good!
We headed to Soarin' first, because we had no FP+ for it and knew we would want to ride it early. Love the looks when I tell the CMs there are 12 of us...taking up a row and then some on the ride! This was a big hit for everybody, and I heard our group laughing and really enjoying themselves. We really had almost no wait so were done probably close to 9am, and then it was time for FOOD!
We hit Sunshine Seasons, and thankfully they were able to easily get food for our one person who needed gluten free food. We grabbed some tables together and enjoyed a nice breakfast. We ended up meeting up with two other members of our travel group who were staying at another resort and they had ate with us.
Now what to do next, as our first FP+ wasn't until 11:05am. I decided I really wanted to try to do FEA, but the kids were looking for thrill rides. Even though we had FPs for Test Track next, they decided they wanted to ride it now as well. The guys mostly followed suit. So 5 out of 14 of us headed to FEA to ride Standby, and the rest headed to Test Track to ride.
Honestly the FEA line wasn't too bad even at close to 10am and it moved pretty quickly. I hadn't been in the regular queue ever but it was fine. I'd say we maybe waited 25 minutes?
The rest of the group hit Test Track. A few of those photos:
We ended up meeting them at Test Track so we could all then ride using our FastPasses. So that went well and we had our own photos:
With that ride complete, it was time for Mission: Space next. We ended up meeting up with more of a group that was with us, as well as our two stragglers from our resort who finally made it to the park. We ended up waiting a while for everybody but once we gathered the total group together, it was time for a BIG group photo:
That's the whole group, 4 different families, but really the only time we were ALL together. Most of the time there were 12 to 14 of us at most to keep together, and at times it did seem like herding cats. I'd look behind and lose people, at one point some stragglers were so far behind they missed a turn at EPCOT and we saw them far away from us.
Several of the women of one family had this as their own trip, a birthday celebration for the mom/grandmom on the very far right here, and her two daughters with with her and her granddaughter. They didn't ride Mission: Space with us but went off on their own. The rest of us braved Mission: Space and I tried to get this photo of some in their travel vehicle:
This was a pretty big hit for some. Once off that, we had some time to kill before our Spaceship: Earth FP+ reservation. I feel like we sorta wandered around the area, though I think that I walked off at some point to hit a Food and Wine Booth with one friend and I'm not sure where everybody else went at that point. Oh yeah, I think some of the guys went to get beer in the Odyssey area, and that wasn't our interest which is why a friend and I got food. I know we ended up at the Chocolate place and split the Chocolate Truffle which was AMAZING. I am still thinking about how good it was even now! Wow.
I do recall we all met back up at Spaceship: Earth though and rode that one together, and I think even some of the kids met us there.
After that, we let the kids loose for the rest of the day. The adults were mostly going to wander to hit up as many Food and Wine booths as possible. The kids were going to do whatever kids do. And what was that? (continued)
So we had made plans the previous night to still try to make at least 8am departure from our resort the next morning, even though many of us weren't even getting to but until 2:30am. How did we do?
We met in the lobby of our resort and amazingly we did pretty well. We knew we would be eating at EPCOT as planned, but people got some drinks to start off their day and then we all piled into the rental van. Funny how two of the party staying at the resort with us who did NOT go out with us the night before did not make our early morning meeting time. Oh well.
I drove us all to EPCOT and we arrived not too long after 8am as this photo was taken around 8:27am according to the timestamp, so right as we got into the gates. We were doing good!
We headed to Soarin' first, because we had no FP+ for it and knew we would want to ride it early. Love the looks when I tell the CMs there are 12 of us...taking up a row and then some on the ride! This was a big hit for everybody, and I heard our group laughing and really enjoying themselves. We really had almost no wait so were done probably close to 9am, and then it was time for FOOD!
We hit Sunshine Seasons, and thankfully they were able to easily get food for our one person who needed gluten free food. We grabbed some tables together and enjoyed a nice breakfast. We ended up meeting up with two other members of our travel group who were staying at another resort and they had ate with us.
Now what to do next, as our first FP+ wasn't until 11:05am. I decided I really wanted to try to do FEA, but the kids were looking for thrill rides. Even though we had FPs for Test Track next, they decided they wanted to ride it now as well. The guys mostly followed suit. So 5 out of 14 of us headed to FEA to ride Standby, and the rest headed to Test Track to ride.
Honestly the FEA line wasn't too bad even at close to 10am and it moved pretty quickly. I hadn't been in the regular queue ever but it was fine. I'd say we maybe waited 25 minutes?
The rest of the group hit Test Track. A few of those photos:
We ended up meeting them at Test Track so we could all then ride using our FastPasses. So that went well and we had our own photos:
With that ride complete, it was time for Mission: Space next. We ended up meeting up with more of a group that was with us, as well as our two stragglers from our resort who finally made it to the park. We ended up waiting a while for everybody but once we gathered the total group together, it was time for a BIG group photo:
That's the whole group, 4 different families, but really the only time we were ALL together. Most of the time there were 12 to 14 of us at most to keep together, and at times it did seem like herding cats. I'd look behind and lose people, at one point some stragglers were so far behind they missed a turn at EPCOT and we saw them far away from us.
Several of the women of one family had this as their own trip, a birthday celebration for the mom/grandmom on the very far right here, and her two daughters with with her and her granddaughter. They didn't ride Mission: Space with us but went off on their own. The rest of us braved Mission: Space and I tried to get this photo of some in their travel vehicle:
This was a pretty big hit for some. Once off that, we had some time to kill before our Spaceship: Earth FP+ reservation. I feel like we sorta wandered around the area, though I think that I walked off at some point to hit a Food and Wine Booth with one friend and I'm not sure where everybody else went at that point. Oh yeah, I think some of the guys went to get beer in the Odyssey area, and that wasn't our interest which is why a friend and I got food. I know we ended up at the Chocolate place and split the Chocolate Truffle which was AMAZING. I am still thinking about how good it was even now! Wow.
I do recall we all met back up at Spaceship: Earth though and rode that one together, and I think even some of the kids met us there.
After that, we let the kids loose for the rest of the day. The adults were mostly going to wander to hit up as many Food and Wine booths as possible. The kids were going to do whatever kids do. And what was that? (continued)
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
OCTOBER TRIP DAY 2: Fun with Food and Wine
While the adults made plans to hit as many food and wine booths as possible for the rest of the day, the kids went off on their own. I think they did a few rides, like maybe Imagination? I know for sure they decided they wanted to meet Baymax, and they got some GREAT photos from that Meet and Greet:
Loved these! I'm not sure what else they did, but I know the girls at least stopped a lot of the PhotoPass photographers and had photos done. A LOT of photos of the four of them. They were so great!
Adults were doing Food and Wine, but we lost a few of them along the way. That was fine, we were hungry and thirsty!
One stop was this place with the swine brine that DH indulged in. He liked it...no thanks!
We started counter-clockwise and made our way around World Showcase, sometimes stopping for food and drink, getting some items and grabbing a table to share things. Other times, it was just drinks. All I know is we had a great time, had some great food, and before long we were about halfway around at America. The guys had some flights to share here:
This was one of our fun moments. One of the girls in our group asked the other one: "What country are we in?" and she responded "America". The first girl replied "Yeah okay smart a**, I KNOW that we are in America but what country are we in here?". Yep....still America! That's where these great benches were found for us to chill for a bit.
I do recall we also stopped at China at one point just to watch the Acrobats. The show wasn't nearly as good as it was last time we saw it, the opening act quite long and pretty boring. I wonder if they are rehearsing some new "stunts" they aren't ready to debut yet? If anybody has seen it, you'll know what I mean though. The first act was a person who just kept changing faces...and it lasted forever. I love the girl who does the basketballs, but beyond that the other acts were pretty boring. Kinda disappointing.
We made our way all the way around the World Showcase eventually and did head into Mexico where many people got drinks and we did ride the boat ride there.
At one point we did meet up with the kids again and decided to head into the Pixar Film Festival which I had never seen before. Many thought this would be a good place for a nap...but then they enjoyed the movies so much that they stayed awake anyway. As it closed in on dinnertime, we decided to leave the park and grab some food back at our resort...only it wouldn't be quite that easy.
It was now dark...and apparently NONE of the 12 people in the van remembered exactly where we parked. One of the girls was nursing a bad ankle and really couldn't continue to walk the parking lot, but we found a courtesy wheelchair out there to wheel her around. At some point we split up, as I was sure it was one direction and DH didn't agree with me. Can you guess who was right???
If you guessed ME...BINGO. So I flagged down some of the party in the aisles with me and got them in the van, but now to search for DH and my youngest son...in the parking lot somewhere...in the dark and where I was parked was not a travel lane to get to the other side where DH was located. We tried calling and texting him, which was frustrating him. It was funny...and not...but eventually I had to drive the WRONG way down a parking aisle to get to the area where I could pick the rest of the group up.
We headed back to our resort and hit the bar/grill there to get some food. A bunch of us grabbed a table and ordered way too much food to eat but it was nice to be seated. It was a long day on very little sleep, so soon after we were done with the food we hit our rooms for the evening to shower and prepare for the next day.
While the adults made plans to hit as many food and wine booths as possible for the rest of the day, the kids went off on their own. I think they did a few rides, like maybe Imagination? I know for sure they decided they wanted to meet Baymax, and they got some GREAT photos from that Meet and Greet:
Loved these! I'm not sure what else they did, but I know the girls at least stopped a lot of the PhotoPass photographers and had photos done. A LOT of photos of the four of them. They were so great!
Adults were doing Food and Wine, but we lost a few of them along the way. That was fine, we were hungry and thirsty!
One stop was this place with the swine brine that DH indulged in. He liked it...no thanks!
We started counter-clockwise and made our way around World Showcase, sometimes stopping for food and drink, getting some items and grabbing a table to share things. Other times, it was just drinks. All I know is we had a great time, had some great food, and before long we were about halfway around at America. The guys had some flights to share here:
This was one of our fun moments. One of the girls in our group asked the other one: "What country are we in?" and she responded "America". The first girl replied "Yeah okay smart a**, I KNOW that we are in America but what country are we in here?". Yep....still America!
That's where these great benches were found for us to chill for a bit.I do recall we also stopped at China at one point just to watch the Acrobats. The show wasn't nearly as good as it was last time we saw it, the opening act quite long and pretty boring. I wonder if they are rehearsing some new "stunts" they aren't ready to debut yet? If anybody has seen it, you'll know what I mean though. The first act was a person who just kept changing faces...and it lasted forever. I love the girl who does the basketballs, but beyond that the other acts were pretty boring. Kinda disappointing.
We made our way all the way around the World Showcase eventually and did head into Mexico where many people got drinks and we did ride the boat ride there.
At one point we did meet up with the kids again and decided to head into the Pixar Film Festival which I had never seen before. Many thought this would be a good place for a nap...but then they enjoyed the movies so much that they stayed awake anyway. As it closed in on dinnertime, we decided to leave the park and grab some food back at our resort...only it wouldn't be quite that easy.
It was now dark...and apparently NONE of the 12 people in the van remembered exactly where we parked. One of the girls was nursing a bad ankle and really couldn't continue to walk the parking lot, but we found a courtesy wheelchair out there to wheel her around. At some point we split up, as I was sure it was one direction and DH didn't agree with me. Can you guess who was right???
If you guessed ME...BINGO. So I flagged down some of the party in the aisles with me and got them in the van, but now to search for DH and my youngest son...in the parking lot somewhere...in the dark and where I was parked was not a travel lane to get to the other side where DH was located. We tried calling and texting him, which was frustrating him. It was funny...and not...but eventually I had to drive the WRONG way down a parking aisle to get to the area where I could pick the rest of the group up.
We headed back to our resort and hit the bar/grill there to get some food. A bunch of us grabbed a table and ordered way too much food to eat but it was nice to be seated. It was a long day on very little sleep, so soon after we were done with the food we hit our rooms for the evening to shower and prepare for the next day.
Jenny Sanders
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2007
What fun!!!!!
cheryllarsen
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2011
Thanks for posting. Enjoyable reading!
cheryllarsen
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2011
So sorry for your losses!
Raeven
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2015
We'll be at the 5pm show that day!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
DEFINITELY!
Thanks for reading!
Cool! Yeah we are really looking forward to seeing the CP again, and especially with Kurt Russell!
Thanks! I'm glad we're getting so many visits in this year as well. We definitely had the best time at Food and Wine and want to try to work it in again on a future trip with a group!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
DECEMBER UPDATE
So no major news to report. Despite my best website stalking efforts, we still have two rooms booked at Pop and one room booked at POR. I really go back and forth about that, because on the one hand I would LOVE to stay at POR again, as it holds such great memories, plus we would all be in the same room (well 5 of us). On the other hand, we've never fully experienced Pop Century and the room there is MUCH cheaper and we spend so little time in it anyway. I think if we get connecting rooms there, and put my oldest son in the room with his grandfather just for sleeping, that will work out just fine. The truth is I'll be happy with either one and I'm not willing to pay extra money to stay in some of the places that have opened up (I'm talking to you Old Key West).
I've updated our schedule a little bit, adding in a few more ADRs even though I said I wouldn't do that. I really don't want to spend a ton of time sitting down to eat. However there are still a few places I'd like to try (Tiffins) and some I think would be fun first-time places for us (Trails End). I also added Tutto Italia, a place we used to eat at when it was called it's former name (that I can't remember) and with the Italians in this family I think would be a hit. Sadly right now Tiffins and Tutto are on the same day, with not a lot of space between them, so hoping we can maybe squeeze into Tutto Earlier than planned.
I moved a few FP+ reservations around due to the ADRs, and I really like our plans to save HS for our very last day with so few rides left there to do, and it being an EMH morning, I think we knock out more than one ride on some favorites (TSM, ToT) and then finish up maybe catching Indiana Jones for the first time in a LONG time.
I have another thread posted regarding a VERY crazy plan I have to try to do CP, JBJB and HEA in the same night! I really don't think it's possible, but with so few nights available for us to see HEA (one) and JBJB (3) and some other evening plans in the works...this could be tough. I do think CP and HEA is possible though, so we'll see if we can swing that, since our CP is the 6:45pm show.
Other than that, not to many other plans have changed. We leave in just 29 days!
So no major news to report. Despite my best website stalking efforts, we still have two rooms booked at Pop and one room booked at POR. I really go back and forth about that, because on the one hand I would LOVE to stay at POR again, as it holds such great memories, plus we would all be in the same room (well 5 of us). On the other hand, we've never fully experienced Pop Century and the room there is MUCH cheaper and we spend so little time in it anyway. I think if we get connecting rooms there, and put my oldest son in the room with his grandfather just for sleeping, that will work out just fine. The truth is I'll be happy with either one and I'm not willing to pay extra money to stay in some of the places that have opened up (I'm talking to you Old Key West).
I've updated our schedule a little bit, adding in a few more ADRs even though I said I wouldn't do that. I really don't want to spend a ton of time sitting down to eat. However there are still a few places I'd like to try (Tiffins) and some I think would be fun first-time places for us (Trails End). I also added Tutto Italia, a place we used to eat at when it was called it's former name (that I can't remember) and with the Italians in this family I think would be a hit. Sadly right now Tiffins and Tutto are on the same day, with not a lot of space between them, so hoping we can maybe squeeze into Tutto Earlier than planned.
I moved a few FP+ reservations around due to the ADRs, and I really like our plans to save HS for our very last day with so few rides left there to do, and it being an EMH morning, I think we knock out more than one ride on some favorites (TSM, ToT) and then finish up maybe catching Indiana Jones for the first time in a LONG time.
I have another thread posted regarding a VERY crazy plan I have to try to do CP, JBJB and HEA in the same night! I really don't think it's possible, but with so few nights available for us to see HEA (one) and JBJB (3) and some other evening plans in the works...this could be tough. I do think CP and HEA is possible though, so we'll see if we can swing that, since our CP is the 6:45pm show.
Other than that, not to many other plans have changed. We leave in just 29 days!
Raeven
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2015
That is crazy! I think it could work on some days though, but I don't know if you'd have enough time to get between the parks JBJB and HEA are pretty close together when you factor in transportation.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
That is crazy! I think it could work on some days though, but I don't know if you'd have enough time to get between the parks JBJB and HEA are pretty close together when you factor in transportation.
If they still had that Disney Express transportation, I'd probably have a better shot at it. Oh well...I'll think of something.
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
OCTOBER TRIP DAY 3: Never too old for characters
After a pretty long and productive first full day, on very little sleep, we had made plans to meet around 9am the next morning in the resort lobby. Hopefully this would give everybody time to recover from their first park day experience.
A quick photo from the lobby:
This seemed to work out pretty well, as many of us grabbed food in the small cafe at Shades of Green. We were going to try to hit Hollywood Studios as early as possible, and I think we got on the road around 9am. Traffic that morning, however, was HORRIBLE and we couldn't even hardly make a right out of the SOG driveway. Thankfully we knew there were other ways to get where we wanted to go (Hollywood Studios) so it took longer than planned for sure.
We arrived and decided first ride would be Toy Story Mania, since we had no FP+ for that one. We picked up a wheelchair also for our youngest kid, since she was having some ankle issues. This is where it got extra fun for us and our "experience" got in the way a bit.
Before getting in line, we asked if the wheelchair could be left behind once we approached the steps. A little background is that we have gone many time with my MIL and she has had a scooter with us in line for this ride. We knew the wheelchair, like the scooter, could be taken all the way up almost to the end, but then we recalled how we were always sent off to the side to the track where we had to wait for them to pull one of the cars over for all of us to ride. If you have ever been in line for the ride, and at the top of the steps and glanced right, you know what I am talking about here. We wanted to avoid that wait.
Oh and the woman in line in front of us was taking a photo of her kid approximately EVERY SECOND. No joke. She would walk a step or two, have kid pose with various line queue prop, continue two more steps, more photos. I get it, it's cool but OH MY GOSH every 5 seconds, we were laughing about this constantly. So bad I finally made my DH and DD take a photo in line:
Oh and our own group selfie:
So as we approached the glasses pickup area, we told the CM we wanted to leave the wheelchair behind and have our kid walk UP the steps to ride with us, avoiding that extra wait and that side track. The CM kept telling DH that we could take the wheelchair all the way with us. We weren't getting it...until we were directed to the LEFT through the turnstiles...on what I imagine is the 'NEW' track and we've never experienced that side at all. AH! This is where the experience just got us in trouble, because we didn't know the "new" side existed before that!
Anyway...soon we we were all loaded up and ready to go!
My son and one of our other friends were riding together there, far right, and placed a bet on who would win. Kinda unfair with the experience my son has had, but whatever.
I did not do all that great:
I loved the new ride exit area though:
Finally off our first ride, it was now time for our first FP at Rock N'Roller Coaster, where we would meet up with some other members of our bigger travel party, the ones not staying with us at our resort.
We found it funny just how much of the ride vehicle we would be taking up!
And I posted those shots in an earlier thread I think...but here you go:
This was a fun ride for everybody, of course. I should note that the kids were all making those faces on purpose, at least mine were, since they are no longer really that surprised at the ride here and know well enough when the photo is being taken.
After this, we had some time to kill before our next FP at TOT. There were a few administrative things we had to get done at this point. One of our friends had purchased MagicBands for her two girls to use for the trip, but of course they had not been properly activated in the MDE app and had been complicated when the girls decided to get their own MDE profile. Since we had time, we headed up to the front of the park to Customer Service to have that resolved. I went along with them, and while they were waiting I took time to get my popcorn bucket refilled as well.
We told the rest of the group we would meet them at ToT around 11:45am, our next FP+ time. I don't know what the rest of the group did, but eventually we got the admin stuff resolved, the girls would finally be able to use their MagicBands and we'd test it out at ToT next!
After a pretty long and productive first full day, on very little sleep, we had made plans to meet around 9am the next morning in the resort lobby. Hopefully this would give everybody time to recover from their first park day experience.
A quick photo from the lobby:
This seemed to work out pretty well, as many of us grabbed food in the small cafe at Shades of Green. We were going to try to hit Hollywood Studios as early as possible, and I think we got on the road around 9am. Traffic that morning, however, was HORRIBLE and we couldn't even hardly make a right out of the SOG driveway. Thankfully we knew there were other ways to get where we wanted to go (Hollywood Studios) so it took longer than planned for sure.
We arrived and decided first ride would be Toy Story Mania, since we had no FP+ for that one. We picked up a wheelchair also for our youngest kid, since she was having some ankle issues. This is where it got extra fun for us and our "experience" got in the way a bit.
Before getting in line, we asked if the wheelchair could be left behind once we approached the steps. A little background is that we have gone many time with my MIL and she has had a scooter with us in line for this ride. We knew the wheelchair, like the scooter, could be taken all the way up almost to the end, but then we recalled how we were always sent off to the side to the track where we had to wait for them to pull one of the cars over for all of us to ride. If you have ever been in line for the ride, and at the top of the steps and glanced right, you know what I am talking about here. We wanted to avoid that wait.
Oh and the woman in line in front of us was taking a photo of her kid approximately EVERY SECOND. No joke. She would walk a step or two, have kid pose with various line queue prop, continue two more steps, more photos. I get it, it's cool but OH MY GOSH every 5 seconds, we were laughing about this constantly. So bad I finally made my DH and DD take a photo in line:
Oh and our own group selfie:
So as we approached the glasses pickup area, we told the CM we wanted to leave the wheelchair behind and have our kid walk UP the steps to ride with us, avoiding that extra wait and that side track. The CM kept telling DH that we could take the wheelchair all the way with us. We weren't getting it...until we were directed to the LEFT through the turnstiles...on what I imagine is the 'NEW' track and we've never experienced that side at all. AH! This is where the experience just got us in trouble, because we didn't know the "new" side existed before that!
Anyway...soon we we were all loaded up and ready to go!
My son and one of our other friends were riding together there, far right, and placed a bet on who would win. Kinda unfair with the experience my son has had, but whatever.
I did not do all that great:
I loved the new ride exit area though:
Finally off our first ride, it was now time for our first FP at Rock N'Roller Coaster, where we would meet up with some other members of our bigger travel party, the ones not staying with us at our resort.
We found it funny just how much of the ride vehicle we would be taking up!
And I posted those shots in an earlier thread I think...but here you go:
This was a fun ride for everybody, of course. I should note that the kids were all making those faces on purpose, at least mine were, since they are no longer really that surprised at the ride here and know well enough when the photo is being taken.
After this, we had some time to kill before our next FP at TOT. There were a few administrative things we had to get done at this point. One of our friends had purchased MagicBands for her two girls to use for the trip, but of course they had not been properly activated in the MDE app and had been complicated when the girls decided to get their own MDE profile. Since we had time, we headed up to the front of the park to Customer Service to have that resolved. I went along with them, and while they were waiting I took time to get my popcorn bucket refilled as well.
We told the rest of the group we would meet them at ToT around 11:45am, our next FP+ time. I don't know what the rest of the group did, but eventually we got the admin stuff resolved, the girls would finally be able to use their MagicBands and we'd test it out at ToT next!
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
OCTOBER TRIP DAY 3: Never too old for characters (cont'd)
When we last left, we were heading to Tower of Terror so of course we got on that ride next. I could not believe that the wait time posted when we approached was 70 minutes for standby. I don't think I've ever seen that wait so high. Crazy! Glad we had that FP for sure!
Ride photo:
What was funny about this, was we told the CM we had 14 people and so he told us which numbers to line up on outside of the ride...only one of us didn't have a number. He kept telling us which numbers, when I finally told him clearly he had COUNTED wrong...those numbers weren't enough for all of us. Oh well...we got it straight eventually.
This was probably one of the best rides on this one for sure. We were all laughing and enjoying ourselves and my friend (2nd row on the left, in the orange shirt) actually ended up holding hands with the stranger sitting right next to her (lady in white) which was pretty funny! I can tell you the kid next to me (far right in the back) was NOT happy, and after speaking to his mom later she told me how much he didn't like this ride. That's pretty clear from this photo.
I believe after this we were now getting hungry, but I think we did our last FP+ at Star Tours first. We then headed to Backlot Express for some food.
Since we had a girl with a gluten allergy, we definitely had to have her in line with her parents to find out her options. We sent some of the party off to find some tables for all of us (now back to 16) and we managed to find 3 tables close enough, and a 4th nearby, so we could all eat together.
During lunch, I realize we were pretty close to one of the Frozen Ever After sing-a-long shows, and I really wanted to finally see this one. The kids weren't all happy about it, but they did agree to go, though some of the adults chose to stay behind and skip it. We got the show right as the door were almost closing, so we were near the back of the theater. I'll say this, the show was cute enough, but definitely not something I'd need to see again. Even some of the adults in our party were singing a bit though.
Show complete, we met up outside with our remaining party. By now, the kids were winding down. One adult really wanted to catch The Little Mermaid show, and I was fine with seeing that one again since it's been a while. The kids were not at all interested in this, and decided instead they would head back to the resort for maybe some rest and a swim. We sent them off and the adults spent a little more time at HS, catching the Little Mermaid Show. This is another one for sure we could skip in the future though.
Not much left other than shows, and not wanting to wait around for any other shows, the adults contemplated the next move and decided drinks in EPCOT sounded good to them. We had to be at our dinner reservation at Tusker House later, so I figured it was easier just to drive to EPCOT and then to AK next.
We got a quick photo done at HS before leaving:
Then it was off to EPCOT!
Oh I think at this point the last remaining kid (the 17YO) decided he'd also head back to the room for some rest, so we left him here. This is clear as we arrived at the entrance to EPCOT and got another photo done:
We headed off to get some food and wine. Most of the adults wanted some more drinks from Mexico. Some of us weren't drinking, so we hung around waiting for them.
Oh and because two of our party had missed their chance to ride Test Track the previous day, we decided we'd go get in line single rider for that one, and that's what we did.
However not too long after getting into the single rider line, and when we were just steps away from boarding the ride...it broke down. Oh TEST TRACK...so typical of you! As compensation, there were giving all of us anytime FP+ to use later. We exited the ride and had those added, and discussed if we would wait around to see if Test Track was back up later. Then somebody mentioned that we could also ride Soarin' with the FP and yes, we could, and it was another ride the two adults on the far left here hadn't done yet. We headed there instead!
Got in our ride on Soarin', always a great ride, and then it was time to leave the park. We were closing in on dinnertime by now.
We were communicating with our kids, and just told them to make sure they were on a bus about an hour before dinnertime. They had tried to wake the other teen who had left us, but after calling/texting and banging on the door they couldn't get him. We said they had done their best, and made sure they caught the bus!
As it turns out, they actually got to the restaurant before we did and checked us in and got our pager. Good kids! There was quite a wait even with our ADR, but of course we were a pretty huge party.
Eventually it was our turn for dinner, and this was our first dinner experience here and it didn't disappoint. Food was as good as the breakfast/lunch we had back in November here. Everybody seemed to enjoy not only the food but the characters, even the adults:
Waiting for food:
Oh yeah, since we arrived just as characters were about to enter the room, we made the kids wait for food, which didn't go over that well, but they did thankfully.
I think we saw Goofy first:
And then the rest....
When we last left, we were heading to Tower of Terror so of course we got on that ride next. I could not believe that the wait time posted when we approached was 70 minutes for standby. I don't think I've ever seen that wait so high. Crazy! Glad we had that FP for sure!
Ride photo:
What was funny about this, was we told the CM we had 14 people and so he told us which numbers to line up on outside of the ride...only one of us didn't have a number. He kept telling us which numbers, when I finally told him clearly he had COUNTED wrong...those numbers weren't enough for all of us. Oh well...we got it straight eventually.
This was probably one of the best rides on this one for sure. We were all laughing and enjoying ourselves and my friend (2nd row on the left, in the orange shirt) actually ended up holding hands with the stranger sitting right next to her (lady in white) which was pretty funny! I can tell you the kid next to me (far right in the back) was NOT happy, and after speaking to his mom later she told me how much he didn't like this ride. That's pretty clear from this photo.
I believe after this we were now getting hungry, but I think we did our last FP+ at Star Tours first. We then headed to Backlot Express for some food.
Since we had a girl with a gluten allergy, we definitely had to have her in line with her parents to find out her options. We sent some of the party off to find some tables for all of us (now back to 16) and we managed to find 3 tables close enough, and a 4th nearby, so we could all eat together.
During lunch, I realize we were pretty close to one of the Frozen Ever After sing-a-long shows, and I really wanted to finally see this one. The kids weren't all happy about it, but they did agree to go, though some of the adults chose to stay behind and skip it. We got the show right as the door were almost closing, so we were near the back of the theater. I'll say this, the show was cute enough, but definitely not something I'd need to see again. Even some of the adults in our party were singing a bit though.
Show complete, we met up outside with our remaining party. By now, the kids were winding down. One adult really wanted to catch The Little Mermaid show, and I was fine with seeing that one again since it's been a while. The kids were not at all interested in this, and decided instead they would head back to the resort for maybe some rest and a swim. We sent them off and the adults spent a little more time at HS, catching the Little Mermaid Show. This is another one for sure we could skip in the future though.
Not much left other than shows, and not wanting to wait around for any other shows, the adults contemplated the next move and decided drinks in EPCOT sounded good to them. We had to be at our dinner reservation at Tusker House later, so I figured it was easier just to drive to EPCOT and then to AK next.
We got a quick photo done at HS before leaving:
Then it was off to EPCOT!
Oh I think at this point the last remaining kid (the 17YO) decided he'd also head back to the room for some rest, so we left him here. This is clear as we arrived at the entrance to EPCOT and got another photo done:
We headed off to get some food and wine. Most of the adults wanted some more drinks from Mexico. Some of us weren't drinking, so we hung around waiting for them.
Oh and because two of our party had missed their chance to ride Test Track the previous day, we decided we'd go get in line single rider for that one, and that's what we did.
However not too long after getting into the single rider line, and when we were just steps away from boarding the ride...it broke down. Oh TEST TRACK...so typical of you! As compensation, there were giving all of us anytime FP+ to use later. We exited the ride and had those added, and discussed if we would wait around to see if Test Track was back up later. Then somebody mentioned that we could also ride Soarin' with the FP and yes, we could, and it was another ride the two adults on the far left here hadn't done yet. We headed there instead!
Got in our ride on Soarin', always a great ride, and then it was time to leave the park. We were closing in on dinnertime by now.
We were communicating with our kids, and just told them to make sure they were on a bus about an hour before dinnertime. They had tried to wake the other teen who had left us, but after calling/texting and banging on the door they couldn't get him. We said they had done their best, and made sure they caught the bus!
As it turns out, they actually got to the restaurant before we did and checked us in and got our pager. Good kids! There was quite a wait even with our ADR, but of course we were a pretty huge party.
Eventually it was our turn for dinner, and this was our first dinner experience here and it didn't disappoint. Food was as good as the breakfast/lunch we had back in November here. Everybody seemed to enjoy not only the food but the characters, even the adults:
Waiting for food:
Oh yeah, since we arrived just as characters were about to enter the room, we made the kids wait for food, which didn't go over that well, but they did thankfully.
I think we saw Goofy first:
And then the rest....
Last edited:
kittylady1972
Disneyholic
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
OCTOBER 2017 Day 3: More characters and FoP
and when Goofy came back, I decided I needed a selfie:
We finished up dinner...and then we had only one other thing on our agenda: Flight of Passage. We figured this would be the best plan, to wait in line close to the 9pm closing time of the ride, and so we met up with a few other people from our group and that's what we did. Some others headed back, but many of us hit the line for FoP sometime around 8:30pm.
The kids kept themselves entertained in line by playing Disney Heads Up, so that was fun to watch. Honestly the line moved quite well, and we knew we would be on the ride within about an hour, and I'd say it was close to that if not a little before that.
It was so funny to have all of the kids on one side of the wall in that ride, the adults on the other, and to hear them screaming as things were taking place before the ride and listening to them during it as well. One thing was for sure...they all agreed best ride in the parks and well worth the wait!
Last ride done, we headed back out of the park and drove back to our resort, another full day where at the least the adults even managed to hit 3 parks in one day!
and when Goofy came back, I decided I needed a selfie:
We finished up dinner...and then we had only one other thing on our agenda: Flight of Passage. We figured this would be the best plan, to wait in line close to the 9pm closing time of the ride, and so we met up with a few other people from our group and that's what we did. Some others headed back, but many of us hit the line for FoP sometime around 8:30pm.
The kids kept themselves entertained in line by playing Disney Heads Up, so that was fun to watch. Honestly the line moved quite well, and we knew we would be on the ride within about an hour, and I'd say it was close to that if not a little before that.
It was so funny to have all of the kids on one side of the wall in that ride, the adults on the other, and to hear them screaming as things were taking place before the ride and listening to them during it as well. One thing was for sure...they all agreed best ride in the parks and well worth the wait!
Last ride done, we headed back out of the park and drove back to our resort, another full day where at the least the adults even managed to hit 3 parks in one day!
Last edited:
Share this page
GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
