PTR...we are 9 days away! First Post :-)

[Amy Mouse]

Hello, all!

I’ve been reading all the great trips and have been inspired to write a PTR myself

We are at the 9 day countdown, so no better time than now!

The crew
Me and my SO. I’m a…um…planner to say the least. To me, thinking, planning and charting the trip is part of the fun!

I’ve been to WDW many times, with my most recent trip in 2004. I am super excited to finally be returning, especially since my SO hasn’t been in almost 20 years (when he was 8!)! He’s been relentless about reading and researching the culture of WDW We are meeting up for a few days with my long time best friend and his SO; my BF and I went to WDW for a week in 1999, so we are so looking forward to reliving some of our memories from ten years ago. (Yikes- times flies!)

My SO has a number of chronic health issues (lupus among them), so we were planning to rent a wheelchair at each park. Unfortunately, 8 weeks ago, he had a seizure (1st one ever-scary stuff) and fractured a vertebrae in his spine. We worried what this meant for the trip, but he’s been healing well, and we’ve decided (with adding the insurance to make us both feel better) to still go, but wanted to have a wheelchair available at all times.

We rented one from Walker Mobility (because of all the positive reviews people gave!). It should be at check in, and we will have it until we drop it off when we leave (unless I decide to take up residency somewhere in the castle!) Hopefully, SO can transfer to many of the attractions, and my only nerves are because this is a new part of the experience. I’ve read the boards here, and we bought the “Walt Disney World with Disabilities” by Stephen Ashley, which had some useful tips, but I welcome additions or advice that anyone wants to offer! I’ve read that one particular challenge is that it is hard for the bus drivers to see that there is someone in a wheelchair at the bus stop.

Enough real life…onto the good stuff!

The details
We are staying 7 days, 6 nights in the All Star Music resort, grabbing the Magical Express, dropping off our carry ons and catching a few attractions before seeing the late Fantasmic show. Most days we’ll be out there RDing at the morning EMHs, taking an afternoon break and returning for some evening fun. I’ve never checked out the evening EMHs, so we have that planned for MK and EPCOT.

We are on the DDP (1st time), and I called to make ADRs 90 days out (yes, I even went to Dunkin donuts to make sure that I was well caffeinated before 7am!) I must admit that the little “bring” sound of magic you hear just tickles me silly! We had pretty good luck getting into our first choices. We are heading off to

Yak and Yeti
Liberty Tree Tavern
Sci Fi Dine-In (I really love the chocolate shakes here)
Coral Reef
Le Cellier
Tusker House Character Breakfast

I haven’t eaten at many of the full service places, so this is definitely part of the adventure I’m looking forward to!


Attractions I am most excited about trying out for the 1st Time
Soarin
Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory
Expedition Everest
Toy Story Mania

Attractions I am most excited to return to
Kali River Rapids
Philharmagic
Spaceship Earth

We’ve stocked up on a funky spray fan (I’ve finally caved- at the very least it will be a fun distraction), extra batteries, ponchos and travel tubes of just about everything. We online checked in yesterday (a little weird if I do say so myself), need to pack, and the hardest part---waiting out the next 9 days!

I hope everyone is enjoying a bit of Disney Magic, today and everyday!

[SilverL]

Sounds like you're well prepared. Welcome to DIS!