If it wasn't for bad luck we would have no luck at all...Update 1/4 Evening at the Magic Kingdom

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Now for our Disney Plans:

We have decided we are going to Decline the flights and drive down a day early, staying offsite. I can't extend the trip too much because Abby will be a Freshman in High School, and Ethan will be a 6th Grader, so I don't want them to miss too much school.

I printed out the crowd calender from easyWDW for the month of October.

We have decided our first day will be at Magic Kingdom, there is a MNSSHP that day, so we will leave after the parade/or right before dinner. Disney is making arrangements for us to have VIP Seating for the 3:00 parade that day. Then we will have dinner at Chef Mickeys and go back to the Beach Club and explore the resort and swim!!

The next day will be morning at Animal Kingdom then lunch, I don't know where yet, Yak and Yeti is really good, so is Tusker House. I like to have a table service lunch because it is so nice to sit and take a break in the airconditioning. In the afternoon we can hop to the Magic Kingdom, there isn't a MNSSHP that day so we can have an evening in the park and watch the MSEP and Wishes.

Sunday we go to Epcot and start out in Future World and then we have lunch at the Biergarten.

Monday is Hollywood Studios day, but we won't stay too long because there isn't a lot we like to do there. Ethan and Abby don't like Tower of Terror, and I am scared of it LOL. Abby really wants to ride Rockin' Roller Coaster. We all love Toy Story Midway Mania. I want to walk through One Man's Dream and we may meet some characters and catch the muppet show. Henry and I might check out the Playhouse Disney show. We are so disappointed they are closing the Art of Animation, we used to love to do the Drawing Class. We want to eat lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe and then decide what to do after that. Then we can hop to Epcot, for dinner and the Food and Wine Festival.

Tuesday is our last day and I hope to go back to the Magic Kingdom before we drive home.

I started trying to make our ADR's yesterday and so far, I managed to get the Biergarten reserved.

 

[Teacherali1]

I always wondered who usually won the Disney trips. I'm happy that you won! It is nice to know that a deserving family is able to go after everything that has been happening for you and your family.

 

[kcpinwdw]

Decline the flights

How does that work? Do they compensate you in some other way? Or just pay less taxes perhaps!

 

[allysetraskos]

A way to help find the dining reservations your looking for is to join facebook groups with the month & year you are going... People post what ADRs they are dropping all the time, and alot of people pickup ADRs they know they arn't going to use just to help out others that are planning in that group. There should be an ADR drop list on this board too with the month your going to help out.
I would also make sure that they change the prize value so you don't end up still paying taxes for flights your not going to need.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Yay for the Beach Club! And October is a great time to go with Food and Wine and MNSSHP!

We love the Food and Wine Festival! And we have gone to the Halloween party twice so I think we will skip it this year because we have Park Hopper tickets! We have never had Park Hoppers!

We stayed at Beach Club on our first trip. It is nice not having to take a bus to Epcot or Hollywood Studios. And my youngest really liked the pool and slide there. Plus, you have Beaches and Cream close.

The resort looks beautiful! I love Disney Boat transportation, so nice to ride along with the breeze blowing.

Congratulations! You will be at Beach Club during the Food and Wine festival. The back entrance to Epcot is just steps away and we love it. Enjoy!

Epcot is our second favorite park so we will really take advantage of that back entrance.

How exciting! I am so happy for your family! Can't wait to follow along...

Thank you!

Beach Club! During Food and Wine! OMG!

That's fantastic news. Excited to be following along!

Thanks for reading! We are so excited

If you haven't--check out the crowd calendars before you pick a park for each day. I always find them super helpful. Mostly I use easywdw.com for crowd calendars, but there are others out there too.

Thanks for the tip, I printed out the October calendar, and it has been very helpful.

Ahhh Beach Club is my DREAM!! AND during Food & Wine!!!!! How exciting for you. I faithful check mousesavers each week and enter all the contests every. single. day. Including the Food Network contest! While I haven't won one (yet) it is so nice to know that real people actually do win these contests. Congrats to you and your family!

Just keep entering, I have been entering different contests for years, what have you got to lose? I guess just a little bit of time.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Beach CLUB!!! How EXCITING!

you sure were pixi dusted!!! YOU HAVE to spend time at the pool!!!!
my pick of a character meal would be Ohana breakfast! if you do Chef Mickey's you can also watch wishes from the Contemporary! ohhhhhhhhh HOW WONDERFUL!
I am just over the moon excited for you! check the closing too and see what attractions your REALLY must do and go from there!

The pool looks amazing and October will be so warm. One of the good things about Chef Mickey's dinner watching wishes (or maybe Hallowishes) from the Contemporary. I just hope the food is good.

I'm just catching up to your post! So sorry for all of the bad luck!

But Yippee!!!! On the win and confirmation of your trip! My fiance and I will be there
from Sept 27-Oct 4 - Should be a good season to go - less crowds!

October in Disney is really nice, warm enough to enjoy the pools at the resorts, but not unbearably hot!

I'm jumping in from Mo's ptr. So happy for you to have won a trip and change your streak of bad luck. That same thing (irs) happened to both my sister and her hubby! They owed $12,000, so the government was only too happy to take their check. But what a mess!!!!

As for using the magic bands, they are so great! And simple. They open your room door, get you into the parks, pay for food and souvenirs and get you into attractions for fastpasses. Love them! I do not love the new fastpass system. I much preferred the paper tickets and being able to get them when you get there instead of planning so far in advance. But, still better than nothing and better than having to pay for the fastpass privilege.

Have you given any thought to adding a couple of days to your trip? You could switch to Pop or somewhere to keep the cost down. Just a thought.

I'm so sorry to hear about your Grandmother. She sounds like a wonderful person.

Can't wait to hear more about your plans. This is very exciting to all of us who enter the contests and never win. We can live vicariously through you! Have a great day!

Wow, I guess if you don't get a refund the IRS will resolve the whole issue quickly...we are still waiting....
I miss my Grandmother, her husband died a year before her and we miss him a lot too. He was 97 years old, and such a loving generous person.

As for the contests, just keep entering!

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

I always wondered who usually won the Disney trips. I'm happy that you won! It is nice to know that a deserving family is able to go after everything that has been happening for you and your family.

Thenk you, that is sweet.

How does that work? Do they compensate you in some other way? Or just pay less taxes perhaps!

Yes, they will change the value of the trip and we will pay less taxes.

Disney customer service has been amazing, and the lady we work with is so sweet!! The rules state no substitutions, so we didn't expect anything in return, we just didn't really want to fly, and we would have had to buy a plane ticket for Henry too. Poor Abby was very disappointed but then Disney offered us another Gift Card so that was it, we agreed to the gift card, and now we have a little more spending money.

 

[kcpinwdw]

e agreed to the gift card, and now we have a little more spending money

That is excellent!! Im glad DIsney came through!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Things have to look up you WON A TRIP TO DISNEY!

I am so sorry about your loss...

Disney is making arrangements for us to have VIP Seating for the 3:00 parade that day. Then we will have dinner at Chef Mickeys and go back to the Beach Club and explore the resort and swim!!

This is AWESOME!!!

I started trying to make our ADR's yesterday and so far, I managed to get the Biergarten reserved.

I hope something works out. Does Disney make the reservations for you or do you have to do it?

How does that work? Do they compensate you in some other way? Or just pay less taxes perhaps!

I was wondering the same thing!

Yes, they will change the value of the trip and we will pay less taxes.

That's awesome too!!!

Poor Abby was very disappointed but then Disney offered us another Gift Card so that was it, we agreed to the gift card, and now we have a little more spending money.

OMG this is fantastic!!! I mean you have Pixi Dust coming out of your.... EARS!

 

[Pluto0809]

we are taking it to the Apple Store on Sunday to see if we can get it fixed or replaced.

Ugh, I hope you were able to get this resolved.

Disney is making arrangements for us to have VIP Seating for the 3:00 parade that day.

This is just awesome! Do you know where the seating will be?

We are so disappointed they are closing the Art of Animation, we used to love to do the Drawing Class.

Tell me about it. I was seriously sad yesterday knowing it was the last day. This was one of my favorite things to do. I'm holding out hope that they will bring it back in a larger area so more people can participate.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Things have to look up you WON A TRIP TO DISNEY!


I hope something works out. Does Disney make the reservations for you or do you have to do it?

OMG this is fantastic!!! I mean you have Pixi Dust coming out of your.... EARS!

We have to make our own dining reservations, I keep trying for '50s Prime Time and Chef Mickey's but I haven't gotten them yet. No worries though, because I know something will open up. I'll just keep trying. We are 87 days out right now.
I love the pixie dust Mickey Head

Ugh, I hope you were able to get this resolved.

This is just awesome! Do you know where the seating will be?


Tell me about it. I was seriously sad yesterday knowing it was the last day. This was one of my favorite things to do. I'm holding out hope that they will bring it back in a larger area so more people can participate.

Alas, Apple was not able to fix my phone, so when we got home my husband upgraded it to iOS 9 Beta. That seemed to solve the problem with staying on the WiFi, the phone doesn't keep time though, which is becoming kind of funny. We may be able to upgrade in November. Apple did offer to sell me another iPhone 5C for $269 but we can't really swing that right now. So we'll just wait it out. I can call people and send text messages.

We don't know where the seating for the parade will be. I guess I need to ask Disney about that.

After making a couple phone calls I was able to figure out why Henry wasn't showing up for the Magic Bands. His name wasn't on the Hotel Reservation, so they fixed that, and tonight I ordered his Magic Band.

I really wish they would open up the Animation Academy in a bigger place. Or any place. I loved those Mickey Easels in there though! I wonder if it would do any good to tell Disney how disappointed we are about it closing?
We looked at the closings on Disney's website, I am so glad Pirates of the Caribbean should be open in September.

I know how to post pictures on the site using Photobucket, but is there an easier way? I wanted to post more pictures in my introduction, but i was having some problems.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

One more quick update...

Still working on getting the ADRs that we want. I managed to get Lunch at '50s Prime Time Cafe, but it is only for 4 people, need to add one more to the reservation. So far I can't get any dinner at Chef Mickey's, but I'll keep trying.

We also have our VIP viewing area for the Festival of Fantasy Parade booked. The viewing area is on the Liberty Square Bridge! We can't wait to see this parade.

 

[Chicago Mo]

We have to make our own dining reservations, I keep trying for '50s Prime Time and Chef Mickey's but I haven't gotten them yet. No worries though, because I know something will open up. I'll just keep trying. We are 87 days out right now.
I love the pixie dust Mickey Head

Dang. I wish Disney would help you a little bit to try and get your ADR's!
YES keep checking everyday things have been opening up.

We also have our VIP viewing area for the Festival of Fantasy Parade booked. The viewing area is on the Liberty Square Bridge! We can't wait to see this parade.

YAY for getting 50's!! The parade is amazing! can't wait for you to see it!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

About posting pictures--on your computer or phone, you can just click on the "upload a file" button right under the box where you type the text. It will open your pictures on your phone or open the desktop on your computer. On your phone you just click the pic you want, on the computer you go to wherever you store your photos and the open the one you want. It's a lot easier then using photobucket but I still do photobucket too since I keep our trip pics there

 

[Kirby]

About posting pictures--on your computer or phone, you can just click on the "upload a file" button right under the box where you type the text. It will open your pictures on your phone or open the desktop on your computer. On your phone you just click the pic you want, on the computer you go to wherever you store your photos and the open the one you want. It's a lot easier then using photobucket but I still do photobucket too since I keep our trip pics there

I've tried to do that myself from my computer and it always tells me that my photo is too big. I don't know how to make them smaller.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

I've tried to do that myself from my computer and it always tells me that my photo is too big. I don't know how to make them smaller.

Oh--on our computer i open them in paint and then resize them and save again. I mostly just play around with them until I figure it out so there may be an easier way to do that.

 

[Kirby]

Oh--on our computer i open them in paint and then resize them and save again. I mostly just play around with them until I figure it out so there may be an easier way to do that.

Thanks! I'll give that a try.

 

[disneynan]

I am also a Nancy and my dad's name is Ron!

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

The UPS truck brought us a package from Disney today!!

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

I was trying to use my phone to post some pictures and I wasn't sure if it was working.

Ethan was using my laptop, he loves to watch Lego videos on YouTube so now I see it worked, but he is using my cellphone to talk to his friend.

Anyways, we received our 4 park Hopper tickets and 2 gift cards in our package. The picture above is the front of the little folder they sent the tickets and gift cards in. I will try and get some more pictures up. This sure makes it feel REAL!!

Now we need to start figuring out the Fastpass + system.

Any tips for Fastpass +?? This is our first time using the new system, and I am not sure which rides to pick for each of us. I don't think Henry will like the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

I don't like Splash Mountain or Space Mountain, but Abby, Ethan and Ron like those rides. I think we all will ride 7 Dwarves Mine Train together.

At Hollywood Studios Abby and Ron want to ride Rock n' Roller Coaster. I think we all want to ride Star Tours and Toy Story Midway Mania.

At Animal Kingdom Ron and Abby ride Expedition Everest but Ethan and I don't.

Henry is 41 inches tall.

When we used the paper fast passes we would just use all our tickets to get Fastpasses, so sometimes Abby and Ron would ride twice using the Fastpasses, because Ethan and I don't ride everything.

Do you get Fastpasses for the shows? Like the Disney Junior show at Hollywood Studios?

 

[kcpinwdw]

Do you get Fastpasses for the shows? Like the Disney Junior show at Hollywood Studios?

I wouldn't bother with the Disney junior show to get a FP, because you can actually see better sitting a little further back. The seating is on the floor in there. I did get FP for the frozen sing-a-long show at DHS (it easily shuts out the standby line unfortunately, so get a FP or line up early), and also the Lion King show at AK (which is not necessary, but I am not a scary ride person).

I found it pretty easy to split our family up and do FPs for different things. If you do have a ride both you are your hubby want to ride but your little one can't, only one of you will need a FP for it, you will get a rider swap pass if you ask and then you and the bigger kids can ride again through the FP line. Or get the pass and use it again... for example, with expedition Everest. Get Ron and Abby FPs for that ride. When you go to the ticket booth, ask for a rider swap pass. You will get a paper ticket. Then later Ron can take Abby back through the FP for a second go if you don't want to ride it.

7DMT is really tame and fun and I am looking forward to my three year olds trying it out. I would definitely get a FP for that one!