Compromise is a Disney word: Taking one for the team over Thanksgiving 2016* August PTR link! 5/28

[wdwnut61]

First off I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie love love that show!
I love the picks on Splash especially your ride photo Steve is hysterical
We love Splash looking forward to riding in March and I try to protect the hair as well.
I love your Dooney and Bourke bag super cute.
Glad you enjoyed BOG we only sat in the West Wing and while it was really cool it was also way too dark.
I'm with you there's something about riding BTMRR in the dark makes it so much better. Splash is also very cool in the dark right before you go down the final drop looking out you're so high up the park and castle are so pretty all lit up

 

[Raeven]

I really wanted to go up front so Mr. Smee could see my shirt since he walks in the parade, but people had already been waiting when we got to the arcade and I would have had to squeeze in front of folks which we all know is a no-no. I'll be trying to get up front in May, believe (Sm)me !

That would be so cute if Smee saw your shirt! You should do the Pirates and Pals and wear that shirt when you meet him. (Sm)me jokes never get old

The ballroom is very pretty especially when the Christmas tree is up as I think it makes the snow falling look more special, but it's the noisiest room and to me, feels more like a cafeteria. Just my opinion, guys! This time we were seated in the Rose Gallery so the boys were happy and it was fine with Steve and I.

I like the ballroom, and I loved it all decorated for Christmas, but I would like to eat in the Rose Gallery. We got to look around before we left, but it's the only room we've never eaten in.

 

[ariane37]

And it looks like you are getting lots of selfie practice though my DH says it is not a selfie if it includes others, but whatever...lol.

There's a comedian, Sabastian Maniscalco, he's hysterical. He's does a joke where selfies should be called "lonelies" because if you don't have anyone to take pictures with you, and you have to stand alone in your bathroom and take 30 pictures of yourself with duck lips (he was referencing teen girls) you must be really lonely! It's not that funny when I explain it but it's great when he does it!

I want to try for the west wing at BOG on our next trip. We were in the ballroom before and it is very loud. My only concern with the west wing is the darkness but I think we will be okay for one lunch.

Yeah it's dark in there, that's where we ate on our first visit during soft openings. We could barely read the menu's! Chris was 6 and was a tad freaked out by the thunder and changing picture of the Beast but he adapted. At least for lunch you wouldn't be there as long and you'd have picked your food already so wouldn't be reading the menu.

BTMRR is soooo good at night! It was the last MK ride for me and Dad on our past trip.

I remember that from your TR

Glad to hear you're excited about it - I am too, and while not a huge fan of the movie, I think the theming for the new park area and two new rides is going to be SO awesome and fit right in! I'm tired of all the negativity!

I wasn't excited when they first announced it - like, 5 years ago? But at this point I'll pretty much take anything new! And while I didn't LOVE the movie, I understand now why it's a decent fit. The movie did have a good message.

I just don't do bangs for that reason lol. I hate my hair!! But if I did bangs that would mean I would have to actually DO my hair every day!

LOL! I've tried doing no bangs but my forehead isn't attractive enough!

We watched wishes from here in December on accident, and I was so sad to see it this way lol. It was neat, sure, but it was the only time I had planned to see Wishes so I was upset watching it from this view

I can see if being disappointed if you were counting on watching Wishes from in front of the castle; when we accidentally stumbled upon the carousel location in 2015 we'd watched from the Hub a couple nights prior so that view was fresh. I like feeling as if they're going off ALL around us, plus it just isn't as crowded.

I love your bang protection pose lol!

Ha, thanks! Steve makes fun of me every single time.

We discovered watching Wishes by the carousel and love it as well.

I love it! I like not having to find a spot with all the millions of other people. However since I want to watch the new OUAT show on one of our next trips I'll probably end up watching once from the castle.

I just bought the first season of Little House on the Prarie to watch with my girls. Let's see if they like it.

Ooh, let me know! I have all the seasons My friend is from Malone, NY, which is where the real Almonzo is from. It's about 3 hours north of here and she goes back to see her parents often. Almanzo's original farm house is still there and you can tour it plus they have some type of festival every year. She promised to take me one of these days lol!

Sounded like a busy and crowded day but a good one!

It was a very good first day for all of us

First off I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie love love that show!

So did I! It was on Monday nights at 8 here for years Did you see my comment about Almonzo's farm house above?

Glad you enjoyed BOG we only sat in the West Wing and while it was really cool it was also way too dark.

Yes, definitely dark in there but it's just so cool!

Splash is also very cool in the dark right before you go down the final drop looking out you're so high up the park and castle are so pretty all lit up

I don't think we've ever ridden splash at night! I think I'll put that on the list for May because I bet the view as you said is gorgeous.

That would be so cute if Smee saw your shirt! You should do the Pirates and Pals and wear that shirt when you meet him. (Sm)me jokes never get old

I want to do Pirates and Pals the next time we go with the boys! And if we do I'll most definitely wear the shirt

I like the ballroom, and I loved it all decorated for Christmas, but I would like to eat in the Rose Gallery. We got to look around before we left, but it's the only room we've never eaten in.

When you check in, you can request a certain room. Sometimes they flat out will say no but other times they'll tell you if you don't mind waiting a bit they can accommodate you. We've always taken the room they tell us but I've read that many times about requesting a certain one

 

[bpadair32]

Following

 

[Whit64130]

Good morning everyone! Off-topic first (kind of), Steve and I watched "Avatar" for the first time Sat. night. Man that's a long movie

I need to make a point to watch it. Maybe this summer....I am excited for the opening of Pandora but I guess I need a little back ground knowledge of it beforehand.

I love that the smells are stronger since the last refurb but it's weird, sometimes they're really noticeable and you can ride the next day and hardly smell them..........

When I talk to my non-Disneygoing friends they just don't understand.

Our Big Thunder FP was actually for after dinner and we wanted to ride after dark, so we couldn't make another one and wait times had really grown

BTMRR at night is one of my all time favorites!

Looks like y'all did get a lot done this day even with the crowds!

 

[fallonkendra]

I've started reading your report so many times, but kept being pulled away for one thing or another, and keep going back to the beginning to start over. I'm going to comment now before I forget though!

Great luck on DME! Both trips we've gone on, we've had to wait once we boarded the bus for some time...
The rooms at Beach Club look great! Maybe one day...
I'm with you on the waiting thing, 40 minute posted time? No thanks!
That's where the Muppet show is! Luke mentioned at one point about wanting to see it, but then we forgot which park it was in and never actually got around to watching any of it...
BTMR is my favourite MK ride too! Good choice, Christopher!
I finally got to ride Jungle Cruise on my last trip - so great!
Cute picture by the Ariel statue!
I don't care for beer at all, but I made Luke buy a Schofferhofer and I tried a bit - it was so good!
Great view of Illuminations from your balcony!
Hurray for Chris being a trooper and riding TOT with you!
That story about meeting Whitney is too cute!
Another long wait time? Good for you being a great momma and waiting in that line!

Ok, I'm to the end of page 5 now. I'll keep reading in a bit

 

[fallonkendra]

I laughed so hard at your story about the lazy river! I've yet to go into any Disney pool (the downside of January trips), but I thought Stormalong Bay looked so gorgeous!
Great Christmas pictures! You have a lovely family
Narcoosee's is on my short-list for places we haven't tried yet. I really want to do the brunch!
I need to stop by Basin on my next trip. It kind of sounds like Lush?
Congrats on having your next trip dates picked out! Now to plan one for next January...
I love your empty World Showcase pictures! And I love the Garden Grill! We've only ever done supper, and it's always been an hour+ by the time we see all the characters.
I went on Soarin' for the first time on my last trip - loved it! I actually think we ended up going on it 3 or 4 times...

Ok, that brings me to the end of page 8 - I'm slowly getting through your report!

 

[wdwnut61]

So did I! It was on Monday nights at 8 here for years Did you see my comment about Almonzo's farm house above?


Yes, definitely dark in there but it's just so cool!


I don't think we've ever ridden splash at night! I think I'll put that on the list for May because I bet the view as you said is gorgeous.

I did see about Almonzo's farm house that's amazing!

Yes the West Wing was really cool lots of great details just couldn't see the menu

I hope you do ride Splash at night it's really pretty.

 

[pepperandchips]

Had to switch to the laptop. Stupid disboards kept crashing on my ipad. I blame the ads, not the disboards, but still... ugh!

I love that the smells are stronger since the last refurb but it's weird, sometimes they're really noticeable and you can ride the next day and hardly smell them..........

Oh we had a very brief last minute visit over MLK weekend and I was DYING to go on Pirates as it had been so long and the smells were just so divine but they crammed us 4 adults into a row with two strangers of average to large size and so it was a bit of a squeeze. I contemplated being "that guest" and not boarding with the other people we were supposed to join but we followed instructions and I think R was pretty miserable the whole time leaning out of the boat. Nevertheless it smelled amazing.

So if I've straightened it and it gets wet it gets frizzy.

I feel you girl. However, your hair always manages to look wonderful in these "lonelies" youre posting so I am calling some BS on your frizziness! Also how do you manage to look so THIN in a ride pic? I've never managed that...

One of the things I love when in Philharmagic, is when we're sitting by kids who are experiencing it for the first time. I love seeing them reach out to touch things and squeal when they get wet!

Oh me too! My NYE trip's sole attraction (spoiler alert?) was Soarin with a family who'd never ridden it before and I was seated front and center next to their grandpa and he was so freaking cute commenting the whole time and experiencing it for the first time. Made my day. Well... almost made my day (we did eat at Le Cellier and V&As that day, hard competition to stack up against)

the Peoplemover was ONLY 20 minutes

that's awful. we waited 7 minutes the other day and I thought that was pretty bad for the peoplemover. Still my favorite attraction. Well. And country bears.

Instead we grabbed drinks and the boys got ice cream from Storybook Treats and we sat on the wall by 7DMT.

Too bad they don't offer adult drinks for fireworks enjoyment! We have also seen the fireworks from the wall by the dwarf transportation and greatly enjoyed the show!

Loving the TR!!! When are we having our dis dining meet again?????

 

[xlsm]

I've started to reply to this a dozen times and I always get pulled away!

We were going to watch Avatar last weekend too, because I noticed it was free on demand, but it was only in SD, not HD. That means Matt refused to watch it
He says we can't watch something like that if it isn't in HD because it won't look it's best. I managed to watch tv just fine before all of this fancy schmancy television innovation, but whatever, lol!

Speaking of Avatar, I mentioned it on my TR, but I watched the youtube video of Shanghai Disneyland's Pirates ride, which is supposed to be the same tech used for the Navi River Journey...and I cannot WAIT!! I think it's going to be amazing.

Your Splash picture is hilarious, I love it!!

Oh, we all love Philharmagic It is one of my favorite things in the entire MK! It never gets old.

Ricky is really looking very grown up! Ugh, these kids! Why do they do this to their mothers?? I'm just about to the point where I have to look up at X, and it's killing me.

I am slightly disappointed we didn't do BOG in December...we're ok missing the meal, but I was sad to miss the holiday decorations.

We didn't get personalized goodbyes on IASW, either. Something was wrong with the sound when we were riding, because the song was muffled and hard to hear. I know people get annoyed by the song, but I love hearing it in all the different languages, and then I cry at the end when all the countries are together. High five to Steve, because I love it too!

Oh my gosh, L is always telling me to put my camera away on BTMR, Splash, and Everest. Drives me nuts! I tell him to hush, I am perfectly capable of hanging onto my phone during the ride...plus, I have to take 9 million pictures of us going up the track toward impending doom!

I'm really looking forward to Once Upon a Time, but I also really enjoyed Celebrate the Magic. I was sad to miss it in December. I was glad to go to MVMCP, but it was kind of challenging to plan park days around party nights. I felt like our MK days were really disjointed because of it.

Looking forward to your AK day!!

 

[ariane37]

Following

Thank you for following along, very glad to have you

I need to make a point to watch it. Maybe this summer....I am excited for the opening of Pandora but I guess I need a little back ground knowledge of it beforehand.

I had absolutely no desire to watch the movie but Steve kept bringing it up so I said, what the heck! Very glad I did because it'll totally help me understand things-like you said, background knowledge! Rumor is that it might open Memorial weekend which means you'll miss it next trip and we'll miss it by like 5 days But you'll get to see it in November hopefully

When I talk to my non-Disneygoing friends they just don't understand.

I know, RIGHT?? We need to just come here and post all our Disney happiness and sorrow.

I've started reading your report so many times, but kept being pulled away for one thing or another, and keep going back to the beginning to start over. I'm going to comment now before I forget though!

I'm glad you're here and got to post You've been very busy since the holidays, so I totally understand!

Great luck on DME! Both trips we've gone on, we've had to wait once we boarded the bus for some time...

That's how it is when just Steve and I travel, we always have to wait for DME and Steve is NOT patient. He said just the other day "how much you want to bet we're going to be waiting for awhile for DME when we go again?" I think he's bad luck lol

The rooms at Beach Club look great! Maybe one day...

With 2 exceptions all our deluxe stays have been on rented points; its the way to go!

I laughed so hard at your story about the lazy river! I've yet to go into any Disney pool (the downside of January trips), but I thought Stormalong Bay looked so gorgeous!

I never have any desire to go swimming in Disney, I feel it's something I can do in my own back yard and it takes away from valuable park time! Even when we go in August I hate planning pool time but I do so the boys don't complain.

Great Christmas pictures! You have a lovely family

Thank you I enjoyed seeing all your holiday pictures on FB, too!

Congrats on having your next trip dates picked out! Now to plan one for next January...

Um, more importantly you need to start planning your

DISNEY WEDDING!!!
why can't I find a groom lol?

Oh we had a very brief last minute visit over MLK weekend and I was DYING to go on Pirates as it had been so long and the smells were just so divine but they crammed us 4 adults into a row with two strangers of average to large size and so it was a bit of a squeeze. I contemplated being "that guest" and not boarding with the other people we were supposed to join but we followed instructions and I think R was pretty miserable the whole time leaning out of the boat. Nevertheless it smelled amazing.

We did MLK weekend last year, great vacation! That stinks about Pirates, I hate when they stuff you into the seats with strangers Steve would be someone who doesn't follow directions lol!

I feel you girl. However, your hair always manages to look wonderful in these "lonelies" youre posting so I am calling some BS on your frizziness

LOL! Well, November is actually the ONLY month of all the months we've been to Disney that my hair ends up looking half way decent. Wait until I post pictures from our next trips! And as I mentioned to @xlsm over on her TR, I started using Wen cleansing conditioner a couple years ago and it's really made a huge difference. It will still frizz up in certain types of weather but not nearly as much as it used to and it barely ever frizzes now in NY.

Also how do you manage to look so THIN in a ride pic? I've never managed that...

Um.......you need glasses, that's how And......make sure there's no close-ups of my chin(s) But thank you very much for the compliment, the non-best pictures are yet to come!

Loving the TR!!! When are we having our dis dining meet again?????

Next time I get down to Georgia, it's on Unless you can swing a quick weekend in March or May

We were going to watch Avatar last weekend too, because I noticed it was free on demand, but it was only in SD, not HD. That means Matt refused to watch it
He says we can't watch something like that if it isn't in HD because it won't look it's best. I managed to watch tv just fine before all of this fancy schmancy television innovation, but whatever, lol!

OMG! If I'm watching something and Steve comes in to watch it, and I'm not watching in HD, he'll immediately change it to the same channel but in HD He constantly asks me "can't you see the difference?????" No! Even if I CAN notice a little difference it doesn't matter to me, I'm fine with old-fashioned regular TV. Just let me watch my shows, darn it!

Speaking of Avatar, I mentioned it on my TR, but I watched the youtube video of Shanghai Disneyland's Pirates ride, which is supposed to be the same tech used for the Navi River Journey...and I cannot WAIT!! I think it's going to be amazing.

I did read that and now I need to watch that youtube video!

Ricky is really looking very grown up! Ugh, these kids! Why do they do this to their mothers?? I'm just about to the point where I have to look up at X, and it's killing me.

It's exciting and depressing at the same time Tonight his high school had their annual basketball fundraiser called the Orange Out for childhood cancers. Holy moly you should see some of the Varsity players! They make our 14 year olds look like babies, these seniors are almost 7 ft. tall and look like full fledged men! They even make husbands look like tiny lol!! At least Ricky and X don't look like REAL men yet!

Oh my gosh, L is always telling me to put my camera away on BTMR, Splash, and Everest. Drives me nuts! I tell him to hush, I am perfectly capable of hanging onto my phone during the ride...plus, I have to take 9 million pictures of us going up the track toward impending doom!

When will they realize we're perfect at everything?? No need for them to worry

 

[fallonkendra]

With 2 exceptions all our deluxe stays have been on rented points; its the way to go!

Renting points was great on our last trip, and I think it'll be the only way we go from now on!

Um, more importantly you need to start planning your

DISNEY WEDDING!!!
why can't I find a groom lol?

I can't can't book anything with Disney for another few months, but I need to get our guest list finalized - we can only have a max of 18 at the ceremony...

 

[ariane37]

Hi All!
I'm interrupting my TR to share some news that pretty much nobody else is overly excited about. Well, my friends are somewhat happy for me and my mom thinks the first part is cool, but nobody feels the excitement the way I know you guys will. So if you don't mind, here goes!

1. So you all know back in Dec. Steve and I planned a little May getaway to WDW with a return stay at WL, and based our dates around my moms work schedule. Yay! I've been wanting to go back to F&G again. We're booked at WL May 18-22nd. We also lucked out and got $80 RT flights, and believe me luck is NOT our middle name!

2. Now some of you may know this already from my dining report, but I got an unexpected text from Steve on Jan. 2nd. I was at a friends and sent Steve a text letting him know he was driving into freezing rain. His text, completely devoid of punctuation, went something like this: "OK I don't think I can wait till May for vacation so look at Feb and March" WHAT???? O-kay!!!!
It took us awhile, checking flights every few days, and a few days ago we finally booked Now we'll be going TWO times during F&G!!! One of the best things about this is that I was having trouble deciding where I wanted to eat since I knew I wanted to spend time eating at the F&G booths, and now I can spread out some restaurants over both trips! We're going March 25-28th and while we didn't hit $80 RT flights, we did find flights for $74 each way Because we don't have to pay for tickets for these trips (AP's) and even though we got a great AP rate on WL in May we're still paying a decent amount, we're trying to keep the March trip on the less expensive side. So, we decided to do a moderate again and right now we're booked at


We stayed here back in 2014 and liked it. I toyed with the idea of trying CBR or POR, the 2 mods we haven't stayed at, but I think we rather go back to what we know we like. Got a king bed though! For this trip my stepson Eric 25 is staying with the boys, he got laid off back in Dec. and doesn't go back until April 1st so works out perfectly and we don't have to ask my mom to watch them twice.

So cool, right?? See what I mean about most of my family and friends not being as excited? I mean, they get that I'm totally excited but they can't understand it. I know you guys can. You can also understand the one thing that stinks about these trips is the amount of my Dis friends I'm MISSING on these trips! I can't believe how many of you are traveling between March-May, not to mention @ArielSRL and @Jfsag123 going in June and @Vernie822 going every single month except the months I am lol and none of you are going when I am! Ugh!
OK, now on to

3. Guess where I'm going next month??? Nope not Disney.......
http://s1190.photobucket.com/user/ariane37/media/IMG_1477_zpsga0xhhqm.jpg.htmlhttp://s1190.photobucket.com/user/ariane37/media/IMG_1477_zpsga0xhhqm.jpg.html

Except I'm going by myself! Well, not totally by myself, but sans family I'm going on my first agency training as a travel agent, so from Feb. 6-9th I'll be at Universal with 59 other agents from all over learning all about their resorts, restaurants, and parks, including Volcano Bay!! I'm SO excited about this one!!!!

Thank you for letting me go on about what I'm doing the next few months, and I hope you don't mind if I end up doing a little PTR'ing in the midst of this TR. I'll probably do some type of TR, possibly combining all 3 trips. Also if you aren't my FB friend and want to be, I'll definitely be posting pictures from Universal next month so feel free to friend me-Ariane DeVizio.
I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

​

 

[Vernie822]

YAY for Universal training!! That sounds so fun!! Hopefully you can check out some of their eats and drinks, too!

 

[ArielSRL]

Wahoo for more Disney! You are incredibly lucky to have such a Disney fan for a hubby! I'm hoping to hook mine on this trip! I also think you guys need to look into DVC with all these trips planned!

I'm very excited to read all about all your upcoming trips. It should help pass the 133 days until my trip!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Wow that sounds awesome, I get it for sure lol!

 

[xlsm]

One of my local friends is also going to that training at Universal (or at least a similar training there, also early next month)! We're not close friends, but she was my Box Tops coordinator when I was PTA president at our elementary school and she sells me Scentsy, lol! She became a Disney agent last year, too.

I'm excited for you and your trips!!

Because it means I can live vicariously through them, lol!! If I can't be there myself, I want YOU to be there documenting things FOR me

 

[fallonkendra]

More Disney trips, how exciting! Now you just need to book one for early next January...

I'm so jealous of the flight prices you guys get in the US. We paid just under $600 each round trip for our trip earlier this month, and that was a decent deal....

 

[buteraa]

Wow $80 RT flights, thats crazy cheap, good for you! We love POR so at some point take a leap and try it. I love being able to take the boat to Disney Springs. Sounds like you have some great plans coming up. We are heading to F&G on the 14th of March so super excited for that. Thanks for sharing your trip!

 

[cinderkelly]

I'm still here and reading! I love that you guys have been to BOG for dinner so many times. I've only been for breakfast and lunch and would love to do dinner but DH isn't a fan, so I'm going to have to try it on a Bob free trip!

Lol about your bangs on Splash. my hair and Florida don't get along either. Going from a very dry climate to a very humid environment freaks it out and it ends up looking like crap for the whole vacation.

Had to switch to the laptop. Stupid disboards kept crashing on my ipad. I blame the ads, not the disboards, but still... ugh!

Ugh, I'm having the same issue! I do all my DISing on my iPad and ever since these ads starting it's been so slow and glitchy!

1. So you all know back in Dec. Steve and I planned a little May getaway to WDW with a return stay at WL, and based our dates around my moms work schedule. Yay! I've been wanting to go back to F&G again. We're booked at WL May 18-22nd. We also lucked out and got $80 RT flights, and believe me luck is NOT our middle name!

That's so awesome!!!!!!! Wow, $80 r/t is amazeballs!

Now we'll be going TWO times during F&G!!! One

Sweet!

So cool, right??

That's very cool! I'm so excited for you! We are going to catch the very first day of f&g before we leave

going every single month except the months I am lol and none of you are going when I am! Ugh!

We need to fix that! Which means you need to book another trip for around October 21 ( hint, hint)

Except I'm going by myself! Well, not totally by myself, but sans family I'm going on my first agency training as a travel agent, so from Feb. 6-9th I'll be at Universal with 59 other agents from all over learning all about their resorts, restaurants, and parks, including Volcano Bay!! I'm SO excited about this one!!!!

I'm so jealous! You have my dream job