"Or you could just go to WDW for a couple of days..." - May 2017 PTR -updt 2/28

[Raeven]

I've tried to write this update several times but I keep getting interrupted. I am determined that this one will go through!!

Happy Belated Halloween!!

View attachment 205047

That is my Halloween tribute to my favorite WDW ride! I wanted to scratch in the "Expedition" portion so that it just illuminated through but the skin was a couple of inches thick so I couldn't. But all you DIS people know what I mean!

In the back, to the left, you can see my computer. It was out because earlier that day on Sunday, I had another planning meeting with my MIL.

And we are official, official for the second week of May! Yay!!!

We also went over our dining picks since our ADR day is coming fast. I also floated the idea of coming in on Friday instead of Saturday. She kind of nodded absently and didn't really say anything. But never fear, my friends, I am starting to get the hang of this. I knew that she needed to think about it so I didn't bring it up again. I just popped in a Disney Vacation planning DVD.

While watching, I mentioned about a rental car. She seemed also skeptical about this (more skeptical than the extra day) and asked if it was easy to get around. I assured her that it was and that I would be driving so she wouldn't have to worry about it. The real answer is that it is easy and it isn't easy. It's easy in that there are roads to everything. It isn't easy in that you can get turned around if you aren't careful but I drove a lot my previous trip so I'm feeling pretty good. Especially from AKL. Everything is all in the same direction. Far away. Well, except AK - that's super close.

She left in what seemed to be good spirits. I don't think that she'll ever be super excited because she just doesn't know what to expect and can't imagine it in her mind. It makes it difficult from a planning perspective but I'm really looking forward to showing her everything that makes Disney great!

I emailed her this week with two schedules - one for a Saturday arrival and one for a Sunday arrival. She just emailed me this morning and said that she was good with a Friday arrival!

YAY!!!

I really wanted this extra day. It frees up our schedule a bit.

Here is our schedule (for now!) with the times that we would like to get our ADRs:

View attachment 205061

I called our TA this morning to add the Friday. I don't know if we'll get it before Sunday, which would be our new ADR day. Otherwise, we'll be making ADRs on Monday!!

I'll be back next week with an ADR update. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep, everyone!

182 Days to Go!!

Yay for adding Friday! I hope they extend Club Villain!

Hm now I'm wondering if we should do Epcot the 1st or 2nd day so we have more time there and if we should plan to eat at our hotel on the night you are so we could see you.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Yay for adding Friday! I hope they extend Club Villain!

Hm now I'm wondering if we should do Epcot the 1st or 2nd day so we have more time there and if we should plan to eat at our hotel on the night you are so we could see you.

Ooooo. So you're saying you won'tt do EP on your arrival day and we'll meet and eat at the Lounge or Whispering Canyon?

 

[Raeven]

We'll probably meet many times the way the schedules are! But I am thinking of it. I was leaving Saturday for DS because it might be busy but if it doesn't look that way maybe we can do that. But we might do MK in the morning because I have to put the Marceline tour somewhere if we do it.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

We'll probably meet many times the way the schedules are! But I am thinking of it. I was leaving Saturday for DS because it might be busy but if it doesn't look that way maybe we can do that. But we might do MK in the morning because I have to put the Marceline tour somewhere if we do it.

I think I was trying to edit my comment while you were replying because everything jammed up on me for a second there. I totally read your comment wrong. I get it now. Yes, that would be great if you could join us at Whispering Canyon on Weds.

And hopefully Club Villain is extended!!!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

My TA came through so my ADR day was yesterday!

Very early. Even with the extra hour it was really hard to get up at 4:45am. The lure of BOG eventually dragged me out of bed.

I would like to think that after all these years that I would have this process down pat. No mistakes.

Ha!

I went to get my BOG reservation first. I had read on Touring Plans that you should type in your date MM/DD/YYYY in a different program, copy it, and then paste it into the dining website to go faster. So I did that. Found a lunch BOG for 11:15am, no other options. Wow! Things were disappearing fast!

I got to the confirmation page and realized that it was for TODAY. ARGGG!!! (But I guess kudos to me for getting a super last minute BOG reservation!)

After trying the date thing again and watching closely, I found out that it reverts back to today even after you type it in and press Enter. You have to go through the calendar thing in order to make it stick. I decided to just go directly to the restaurant's page and do it there. There were A LOT more options.

Whew!

I also noticed that my window was only open until May 9th, which is when we switch from POR to AKL. Darn it! I had forgotten that split stays have two separate confirmation numbers and that means that it's two stays and not linked whatsoever. Which is a change from several years ago when they used to be linked and you could call and make all your dining with the first reservation. Apparently the computer won't even let the CM at the call center make ADRs "early". It's so stupid. You can see that I have another reservation right there!

I think it's going to be okay for me but I can see the benefit for maybe having double reservations if you want to do a split stay during busy times. Like making the POR reservation for the whole week, also still have the AKL reservation overlapping, and then just dropping the dates after the 180 day window. According to some people online, Disney does not even acknowledge the term "split stay" and pretends it doesn't exist.

After I made my ADRs up until the 9th, I got a little nervous about California Grill on Friday night since I would be booking well after most people would be able to book for the week. So I made a reservation for that on Sunday night just in case.

This is what I have:

Friday - Arrival
Saturday - EP - F&G booths
Sunday - MK - 11:30am BOG and 7:40pm Cali
Monday - USO - 8pm Raglan Road
Tuesday - AK - 7:30pm WCC

And that is all. Boooo. Now I have to get up again on Thurs but this time I won't have the extra hour and I will have to go in to work.

Thinking about it further, it might be a good idea to have Cali the first night and leave the last night open. I'm not sure.

I'm also looking at flights. 1:24pm arrival in MCO and then departing MCO at 6:30pm. It's sub $300 which is what I always consider a good price. There is another flight out at 2:20pm for the same price. I'm leaning towards the later time because then we'd have some time to do last minute shopping at DS which I always seem to need. But maybe we'll be super sick of each other by then?? But if Club Villain is extended we'll want to do it that first Friday night so that will take away our arrival day DS plans, making the later departure date more important.

Decisions, decisions! Hard to know what is best 6mos out with someone you've never traveled with before!

179 Days to Go!!

 

[Raeven]

My TA came through so my ADR day was yesterday!

Very early. Even with the extra hour it was really hard to get up at 4:45am. The lure of BOG eventually dragged me out of bed.

I would like to think that after all these years that I would have this process down pat. No mistakes.

Ha!

I went to get my BOG reservation first. I had read on Touring Plans that you should type in your date MM/DD/YYYY in a different program, copy it, and then paste it into the dining website to go faster. So I did that. Found a lunch BOG for 11:15am, no other options. Wow! Things were disappearing fast!

I got to the confirmation page and realized that it was for TODAY. ARGGG!!! (But I guess kudos to me for getting a super last minute BOG reservation!)

After trying the date thing again and watching closely, I found out that it reverts back to today even after you type it in and press Enter. You have to go through the calendar thing in order to make it stick. I decided to just go directly to the restaurant's page and do it there. There were A LOT more options.

Whew!

I also noticed that my window was only open until May 9th, which is when we switch from POR to AKL. Darn it! I had forgotten that split stays have two separate confirmation numbers and that means that it's two stays and not linked whatsoever. Which is a change from several years ago when they used to be linked and you could call and make all your dining with the first reservation. Apparently the computer won't even let the CM at the call center make ADRs "early". It's so stupid. You can see that I have another reservation right there!

I think it's going to be okay for me but I can see the benefit for maybe having double reservations if you want to do a split stay during busy times. Like making the POR reservation for the whole week, also still have the AKL reservation overlapping, and then just dropping the dates after the 180 day window. According to some people online, Disney does not even acknowledge the term "split stay" and pretends it doesn't exist.

After I made my ADRs up until the 9th, I got a little nervous about California Grill on Friday night since I would be booking well after most people would be able to book for the week. So I made a reservation for that on Sunday night just in case.

This is what I have:

Friday - Arrival
Saturday - EP - F&G booths
Sunday - MK - 11:30am BOG and 7:40pm Cali
Monday - USO - 8pm Raglan Road
Tuesday - AK - 7:30pm WCC

And that is all. Boooo. Now I have to get up again on Thurs but this time I won't have the extra hour and I will have to go in to work.

Thinking about it further, it might be a good idea to have Cali the first night and leave the last night open. I'm not sure.

I'm also looking at flights. 1:24pm arrival in MCO and then departing MCO at 6:30pm. It's sub $300 which is what I always consider a good price. There is another flight out at 2:20pm for the same price. I'm leaning towards the later time because then we'd have some time to do last minute shopping at DS which I always seem to need. But maybe we'll be super sick of each other by then?? But if Club Villain is extended we'll want to do it that first Friday night so that will take away our arrival day DS plans, making the later departure date more important.

Decisions, decisions! Hard to know what is best 6mos out with someone you've never traveled with before!

179 Days to Go!!

Your Cali Grill reservation is the same time and same day as ours right now

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Your Cali Grill reservation is the same time and same day as ours right now

I was wondering about that! Since we were seeing the same availability. I'm stalking you. But you're not supposed to notice!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Hello all.

Rough week so far. For many reasons. One of which was that I had to get up this morning to do my second set of ADRs. It was really annoying having to go through it again. I really think that it's stupid that even though I'm staying continuously on WDW property, I still have to get up twice. I am not a morning person. Especially at 4:45am. I would MUCH rather stay up until midnight. Well, actually, it would be 11pm for me. Those poor people on the West coast have to get up 2:45am for ADRS and FP+. Yikes.

Anyway, because I had to wait, the only ADR left for Cali on Fri was 8:50pm. That is really late. And 10min before Wishes starts. I know it won't make a difference for our food - we'll probably have only ordered drinks or have just sat down by the time Wishes starts - but we'll be there that much later, then.

Oh and I almost forgot to make the Boma ADR but I remembered and in the middle of doing it, my computer lost battery and shut down. So I went to my phone and brought up the MDE app. Got to selecting times and it said that the server was down. I was able to bring it up on a browser on my phone and get it there. By the time I did, my 6:30pm time was gone. I got 6:20pm so it's really not a big deal but it just shows how important it is to do things quickly and always check your battery. I'm just destined not to have a smooth ADR booking experience.

I'm going to keep looking and see if something earlier pops up. Or I'll switch to the reservation on Sun instead.

Fri - Arrival
Sat - EP - F&G booths
Sun - MK - 11:30am BOG - 7:40pm Cali Grill
Mon - USO – 8pm Raglan Road
Tues – AK – 7:30pm WCC
Weds – Waterpark/Resort Hopping – 6:20pm Boma
Thurs – HS – 12:30pm 50s Prime Time
Fri – MK – 11:30am BOG – 8:50pm Cali Grill
Sat – Departure

I’m feeling that maybe we want to stay at USO until close at 9pm so we can see WWoHP at night. It’ll just be an incredibly long day because I want to get there at open. We’d probably have to skip Raglan then or eat after 9pm which makes the day even longer. I’m not sure how worth it it would be since sunset is at 8:05pm but it isn’t full dark at that point. However, Diagon Alley is blocked in by buildings so it should get darker sooner. What we really should do is eat at Citywalk and then go back into Studios after to see it at night. I’m still not sure we’ll have that kind of stamina. Especially after a long day at MK the day before.

Becky won’t know the difference. I think I’ll just save nighttime WWoHP for another day.

I also got our plan tickets! And our rental car!

We are arriving in MCO at 1:00pm on Fri and leaving MCO at 6:00pm on Sat. We got the tickets for under $300 so I’m happy.

I also got our car for $265 which actually is cheaper than when I looked a few weeks ago. What I love about rental cars is that I can cancel and rebook whenever I see a cheaper price. I wish we could do that with plane tickets!

So it’s really been a big week for us in Disney planning. ADRs done, plane tickets done, rental car done.

There’s going to be nothing left to do except move things around!


176 Days to Go!

 

[Raeven]

For many reasons. One of which was that I had to get up this morning to do my second set of ADRs. It was really annoying having to go through it again. I really think that it's stupid that even though I'm staying continuously on WDW property, I still have to get up twice. I am not a morning person. Especially at 4:45am. I would MUCH rather stay up until midnight. Well, actually, it would be 11pm for me. Those poor people on the West coast have to get up 2:45am for ADRS and FP+. Yikes.

It is stupid. Because you're staying continuously, and because a lot of people have to make them in the middle of the night.

I think I’ll just save nighttime WWoHP for another day.

We'll see it

We are arriving in MCO at 1:00pm on Fri and leaving MCO at 6:00pm on Sat. We got the tickets for under $300 so I’m happy.

We'll be there the same time on Friday! I didn't book our last flight yet.

 

[xlsm]

Caught up!
Since my MIL and I will be there the week before you, I promise to take really good care of things!

We are waiting to book plane tickets because this month is our anniversary for our air miles card, and we have a free ticket available starting on our anniversary date, which is next Thursday. It's the last piece of the travel puzzle and I can't wait to get it taken care of!

So, for our December trip, we were in California on vacation on our ADR day. That was not fun. Not fun at all. And for the May trip, ADR day was a day off from school so I could have slept in. Where is the fairness?? I feel your pain!
Crossing my fingers for you that an earlier Cali Grill time opens up for you!!

 

[Chelley00]

WwoHP is okay at night. It's not worth staying and exhausting yourself for it though.

 

[ariane37]

I think your plans look good and so do your ADR's, although I totally understand wanting an earlier GC on Friday. DH and I did a 9:05 dinner there with 10:00 Wishes and while it didn't suck, it would have been nicer to start earlier because the meal took awhile and we ended up not being done until almost 11:30. At least if our ADR was for 8 we could have still been there for Wishes but been out earlier. I Hope you can eventually move it up!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Caught up!
Since my MIL and I will be there the week before you, I promise to take really good care of things!

We are waiting to book plane tickets because this month is our anniversary for our air miles card, and we have a free ticket available starting on our anniversary date, which is next Thursday. It's the last piece of the travel puzzle and I can't wait to get it taken care of!

So, for our December trip, we were in California on vacation on our ADR day. That was not fun. Not fun at all. And for the May trip, ADR day was a day off from school so I could have slept in. Where is the fairness?? I feel your pain!
Crossing my fingers for you that an earlier Cali Grill time opens up for you!!

I asked you on @Raeven's PTR how your planning was going but I guess you already answered it here. Sorry!

Please do take care - I would hate for anything to be broken before we get there!

Deciding about plane tickets are always stressful! I always wonder if I'm getting the best deal but I also don't want to wait too long either. And it doesn't always seem like a trip until those tickets are purchased.

I'm so sorry you were in Cali for your ADR day. What poor planning on your part. Your entire life should revolve around Disney planning. Obviously.

No Cali Grill time yet but I keep looking!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I think your plans look good and so do your ADR's, although I totally understand wanting an earlier GC on Friday. DH and I did a 9:05 dinner there with 10:00 Wishes and while it didn't suck, it would have been nicer to start earlier because the meal took awhile and we ended up not being done until almost 11:30. At least if our ADR was for 8 we could have still been there for Wishes but been out earlier. I Hope you can eventually move it up!

That is really late. Especially for a richer (both in price and taste!) meal. Right now, with an 8:50pm ADR, we're looking at an 11pm end time, at least. So maybe we'll just switch to Sun.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

WwoHP is okay at night. It's not worth staying and exhausting yourself for it though.

Good to know. You're right, I don't want to overwhelm my MIL.

 

[xlsm]

I asked you on @Raeven's PTR how your planning was going but I guess you already answered it here. Sorry!

Please do take care - I would hate for anything to be broken before we get there!

Deciding about plane tickets are always stressful! I always wonder if I'm getting the best deal but I also don't want to wait too long either. And it doesn't always seem like a trip until those tickets are purchased.

I'm so sorry you were in Cali for your ADR day. What poor planning on your part. Your entire life should revolve around Disney planning. Obviously.

No Cali Grill time yet but I keep looking!

Our companion pass is now active, DH just got the word from MIL about ten minutes ago that she's good with the flights I picked, so we are booking our airline tickets tonight! (after we get home from Fantastic Beasts!!) I am so happy to have that squared away! We'll be leaving here from our local airport at 6am CST, one hour layover in Atlanta, and landing at MCO by 11:30am EST on arrival day....departure day, we leave MCO at 6:30pm and get home around 10:30. I'm glad we can extend the trip to overflow onto arrival and departure days with an early arrival and later departure. Since this is a shorter trip (relatively speaking), it's going to make all the difference I think. And the fact that we only have to pay for one plane ticket is awesome!!

It was poor planning on my part!! That's all I could say over and over, "HOW did I let this happen?? I am a terrible planner!!" I was beside myself...you're right, it's not like I have a million other things to think about besides Disney, LOL!!
And I have now learned...if you're going to be on the west coast while planning an east coast trip, make sure ADR day does not fall during that time!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I saw Fantastic Beasts on Thursday and it was great!

Unfortunately, the sound was messed up in the theater. It was not surround sound at all – it kept the same levels as the advertisements/First Look that you see before the previews. I went out and found someone and told them but they didn’t do anything about it.

Blair and I decided that we have to see it again with proper sound next time. We probably should have complained and got our money back but I didn’t want to go through the hassle.

I really want Newt Scamander’s Hufflepuff scarf. The exact one. Well, not the EXACT exact one. An exact replica. But not the one that they are selling online with the fringes and the Newt Scamander patch.

I guess I should have said SPOILER ALERT. Newt Scamander wears a scarf.

Over the weekend, my sister heard me say “I want Newt’s…” and she covered her ears and started singing “Lalala…Don’t tell me! I haven’t seen it yet….lalala…” I just looked at her until she stopped. And then I finished: “…scarf. Spoiler alert – Newt wears a scarf.” Then I laughed and started mocking her over the HUGE spoiler I just gave her. She didn’t think it was funny. She deserved it though. As if I would spoil something important.

In Disney news….I made a *slight* resort change. It’s technically not really a resort change but it is.


Sort of.


I changed from a savannah room at Jambo House to a deluxe studio savannah view at Kidani Village. For a few reasons. One, because I am very familiar with the Sunset Savannah at Kidani and I know it’s good for seeing animals throughout the day. Two, we get to park in the underground so no hot car and it’s usually close to your room. Three, cooking options with the kitchenette. Four, it’s very quiet and peaceful, even in the lobby. Five, we are saving $150 by switching. Six, it’s a little larger than the room at Jambo House.

There are some cons, though. One, I will probably be the one to sleep on the pullout couch. I did it last time and the time before that. It’s totally do-able but there is barely any cushion to it at all. Two, we have to walk over if we want food at Mara. Depending on where our room is, this could be quite the walk. Three, I haven’t told Becky yet or get her permission. I just did it. I think she’ll be fine but she won’t understand. I debated telling her at all but I think I will closer to the trip. Just so she understands the differences between Jambo House and Kidani and the reasons why we aren’t close to food.


In other other news, Becky just retired last week! I knew that she was going to do it by the end of the year but she never really gave us a firm date. I found out from FB. Which is weird but she’s been kind of cagey about the whole retirement thing and she’s not into parties. Instead, Blair and I are going to take her and Blair’s dad out for dinner tonight. Then we’ll have Thanksgiving and then they’ll be leaving the cold and snow behind for Arizona. And they won’t be back until February some time. Not even for Christmas, I don’t think. The flights are really expensive so they are going to skip it, I think. Though Becky is really wanting to be up here so when it comes down to it, she may not be able to stand it and they’ll come up regardless of the price.


And we had a baby shower for my middle sister this past weekend. I gave her a stuffed Chip (n’ Dale – my other pregnant sister is getting Dale but she doesn’t know it yet!) and these:

I can’t wait to see the baby in the Mickey ears. ADORABLE! Gotta start the Disney love early, right?

We also found out that the baby isn’t growing like it should so they are going to induce labor by Dec 5th at the latest. I’m going to have a niece or nephew (I think it’s a girl!) to spoil at Christmas! (Her original due date was just after Christmas) I can’t wait! My other sister is due at the end of February. She knows that she’s having a boy.


Our family is going from no grandkids to two just like that!

165 Days to Go!

 

[Raeven]

I really want Newt Scamander’s Hufflepuff scarf. The exact one. Well, not the EXACT exact one. An exact replica. But not the one that they are selling online with the fringes and the Newt Scamander patch.

I bet Universal will sell something like that eventually. Because they have the patch ones and then the "real" replica ones for each of the Hogwarts houses too.

I think she’ll be fine but she won’t understand. I debated telling her at all but I think I will closer to the trip. Just so she understands the differences between Jambo House and Kidani and the reasons why we aren’t close to food.

Yeah just tell her closer to the trip. I doubt it would matter much to someone who doesn't know the difference as long as it was the same hotel.

I can’t wait to see the baby in the Mickey ears. ADORABLE! Gotta start the Disney love early, right?

Aw, yes you do!

 

[ArielSRL]

Joining in! Over the last few days, I've read your PTR. I had saved it to read a few weeks back when I was looking for PTRs for May/June trips. We are headed down June 3 so our ADR is fast approaching.

I'm glad you are able to go with your MIL. Mine loves Disney, but you have to take her in small doses, so I'm not sure I'd ever do a trip with her. Besides, she always takes my SIL and her family and never us (long story I won't get into on your PTR).

I almost always go with my folks and we just went this past June but it's just getting harder for them to do it. They are in their upper 60's and not in the best shape, health-wise. This next trip will be my DH, who hasn't gone in 35 years, our boys, and me.

I like that you switched to the studio villa and I like the make up of the Kidani studios. I looked at it a lot when choosing a resort this trip. We are renting points so we ended up deciding on Wilderness Lodge.

Your ADRs look good, too. Sorry you had to do two booking sessions bc of the split stay. Now you are in the extremely long wait between ADR booking and FP booking. I know it well and it will be my reality after Dec 5th.

Going to check out your TR now!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Joining in! Over the last few days, I've read your PTR. I had saved it to read a few weeks back when I was looking for PTRs for May/June trips. We are headed down June 3 so our ADR is fast approaching.

I'm glad you are able to go with your MIL. Mine loves Disney, but you have to take her in small doses, so I'm not sure I'd ever do a trip with her. Besides, she always takes my SIL and her family and never us (long story I won't get into on your PTR).

I almost always go with my folks and we just went this past June but it's just getting harder for them to do it. They are in their upper 60's and not in the best shape, health-wise. This next trip will be my DH, who hasn't gone in 35 years, our boys, and me.

I like that you switched to the studio villa and I like the make up of the Kidani studios. I looked at it a lot when choosing a resort this trip. We are renting points so we ended up deciding on Wilderness Lodge.

Your ADRs look good, too. Sorry you had to do two booking sessions bc of the split stay. Now you are in the extremely long wait between ADR booking and FP booking. I know it well and it will be my reality after Dec 5th.

Going to check out your TR now!

Hi! I saw you on my TR too! Welcome!

MILs can be really tricky. I think it's going to be okay with mine but it is a little bit of a leap of faith. What would be harder if I was going with my SIL. She is the one I can only take in small doses. She talks ALL the time. About things you don't really care about and if you try and contribute, she usually talks over you trying to make her point again. The best you can do is just nod and smile as she goes on and on. The holidays are difficult on that side...

I think with my parents it would be better if there were all of us kids going and (soon to be) grandkids. Then there would be people coming and going and more time spread out instead of just at the parks all the time. Is your DH excited to be going to WDW or are you having to strong arm him?

I hate the looooong wait. Good thing @Raeven is going soon to break up the wait. I'll be living vicariously through her updates. And I'll have to check out more TRs here. If only the DISBoards were faster on my computer!