365 Days of Disney?! Right now?! I'm Going to Need More Coffee.

[HoliPoli]

BOOM! Yesterday was a whirlwind! I thought I had a month! I had all these intentions to sit down with a giant cup of coffee and plan out my year-of-Disney pre-trip report. And then yesterday, at 2:22pm, to be exact, my beloved S/O whisks us off to the Ticket and Transportation Center and we buy our first ever Disney World annual passes! Just.Like.That. My plans to plan are careened out the window, and replaced by a spontaneous, real-time, trip report of my attempt at 365 days of Disney! Welcome aboard! I've got quite the Disney story to tell, and I hope to thou roughly entertain you! So, please feel free to post, but lurking is OK, too!

7-31-17
I've spent the past week coming up with some ideas on how I wanted to attack this quest. I have a feeling that many of my park days will be spent solo. No objection here! So to clarify, I wanted to set some parameters for my 365 days of Disney. Because life can get hectic, I don't expect to spend every.single.day. in the parks. But I'm going to try like a madwoman! I am going to cheat a little and include Disney related things like Disney Springs, resort visits, water parks, golfing/mini golfing, the theater for a Disney movie, and creating some Disney themed videos here and there, etc. But mostly, I'll be in the parks!

My goals for the next 365 days are:

• collect every pressed penny
• meet every possible character
• eat at as many different restaurants as possible
• visit every resort
• make new Disney friends
• ride every ride at Disney
• The Magic Behind our Steam Trains Tour
• Behind the Seeds Tour
• be active every day

Some projects I'm working on for this experience include a few park bag videos, a video series on taking food into the parks (I'm really looking forward to this one!), and I'm creating my own custom autograph book! I would love to see some of your suggestions, and read about your park projects and goals on your own Disney bucket lists!

 

[dnllmz]

Following along.

 

[abarriger]

Excited to hear about what I'm sure will be an amazing year!

 

[HoliPoli]

Following along.

Welcome!

Excited to hear about what I'm sure will be an amazing year!

Welcome! Thank you!

 

[HoliPoli]

We've had a wonderful two days at Disney, but first thing's first. Let me begin by telling you about my family, and why our story is unique. For a long time, it was just me (Holi), and my son (B), having yearly Disney adventures, sometimes with and sometimes without various family and friends joining us. I frequent the Dis-boards A LOT, and on December 6th, 2015, innocently enough, I sent a PM reply to a man I came across in a forum. My goal in that conversation was to express how truly wonderful an experience it was to visit Clearwater Marine Aquarium, earlier that year. Fast-forward one year and seven months later, we just moved to Florida together! I never got to officially thank Pete and everyone, and up until now, I've never told the story on the boards. Secret's out! Over the last seven months, we've been learning to become a family.

Our decision was never really a decision. We've always wanted to live closer to Disney. One day, this past June, my S/O (Sean) applied for a position in Orlando (on a whim!) and a few days later our life was catapulted into cross-country move mode. We left Tennessee the beginning of July, lived in a hotel for two weeks (with my son and our dog) while we looked for houses, found the perfect place, and went back for our things. Boom. We're pass holders! To commemorate our move, the passes, and our family, Sean purchased these ears as soon as we walked into the Magic Kingdom on our first day as pass holders.



Sean and I don't officially have an anniversary because when we met we always just felt like we were together-like there wasn't going to be any alternative. So, after purchasing our passes, we declared July 23, 2017 to become our official Disneyversary and got it embroidered onto the ears!

 

[cinderaimee]

Following along! I love the spontaneous decision to move to FL and become passholders! Sounds like a dream come true. Looking forward to reading about all your adventures!

 

[HoliPoli]

Following along! I love the spontaneous decision to move to FL and become passholders! Sounds like a dream come true. Looking forward to reading about all your adventures!

Welcome! For my S/O, the decision was because he loves Disney. For me, it was my love for Disney and hatred of any type of cold weather. Yes, it gets very cold in Tennessee. Especially the mountains! So the decision was made with my having one foot already out the door and pointed toward Florida!

 

[Texans_loyal]

so cute! following along!

 

[abarriger]

What a beautiful story! What does your SO do that he could transfer so easily?

 

[princesspat209]

Great story. Will continue to follow.

 

[HoliPoli]

so cute! following along!

Welcome!

What a beautiful story! What does your SO do that he could transfer so easily?

Am I allowed to say per Dis-boards rule? Well, if I'm not then I wholeheartedly apologize, but he's in the HVAC business. It's a job in incredible demand here in Florida!

Great story. Will continue to follow.

Welcome!

 

[Raeven]

Following along!

 

[HoliPoli]

Sunday, the ride to the TTC was the longest of my life. Of course, I'm exaggerating, but not really. I'm legitimately worried because I don't yet have my Florida license. (Reason being because I had to order my birth certificate and am waiting on it to arrive.) But this was OK since Sean had his switched already. Disney website states that only one member in your household needs to have a FL license. The others must only provide proof of residence. Wouldn't you know it, every piece of verifying information I brought along was not accepted. I thought our quest for Florida resident passes was over until she asked if I had a bank statement with my Florida address, and said that it was acceptable if I pulled it up on my phone. After 7 minutes trying to find it, there it was! She briefly glanced at it-I don't even think she really looked. Regardless, two minutes later we snapped this beauty.



We already had our fast passes selected and were headed to the Haunted Mansion! Soon after we rode PoTC, Peter Pan, Ariel, and saw the Philharmagic. (That last one was really just a buffer in between our fast passes.) We did manage to stop by Memento Mori's and look around. Back in March, I was lucky enough to grab the complete set of Tsum Tsum's they had in the store! (You'll come to discover my serious Tsum Tsum addiction, when I actually begin posting pics of them.)

Our dinner that night was at Liberty Tree Tavern. It's a favorite of ours and we always eat way too much! John-Erik, our server, was entertaining, though very busy. Dessert that night was amazing. It was this chocolate chip cookie filled with caramel, and topped with toffee bits, caramel and chocolate sauce, and served with ice cream. I can't remember the name of it! We forgot to get a pic before we dug in, so pardon the imperfect photo.



After our bill came, we laughed about how eating at Disney all the time is going to break us, lol! And decided that we probably should come up with some wallet friendly ideas. That didn't seem to deter us the following two nights, though. Epcot on Monday led us to Via Napoli for our favorite pizza!

 

[HoliPoli]

Following along!

Welcome!

 

[SCSteve]

Welcome to FL! Watching this thread. Rooting for you to achieve your goal of 365 at WDW!

 

[HoliPoli]

Welcome to FL! Watching this thread. Rooting for you to achieve your goal of 365 at WDW!

Welcome! And, thank you!

 

[HoliPoli]

Sorry all! I've still been hitting up the parks these last few days, but also have been trying to recover from dehydration. The heat is just zapping everything out of me. I'm feeling much better today and have some plans for Hollywood Studios later tonight-after it begins to cool off! Let me see if I can get everything caught up.

So, Monday Sean had to work leaving me and the kid to fend for ourselves. B wanted to go to Epcot (my least favorite park), so that's where we went. Epcot's not really my least favorite at all, it just involves so much walking! And in the dead of summer- that's exhausting. This was the first time we got to use the passholder line, and that was a little exciting!



Our fast passes were for Soarin', The Seas with Nemo, and Spaceship Earth. Sean spied on our fast passes at work (!) and asked me to reschedule Spaceship Earth until the evening so we could ride together. It was such a sweet request I obliged. We've never been on it together and I appreciated him wanting to do it with me. Interestingly enough, I'd never ridden Spaceship Earth before, but afterward I kept having these vivid flash backs to being on that ride. I just knew it! But I'm going to attribute it to all the ride videos I've watched over the years. After Soarin' and Nemo, we jumped on Living with the Land- I love riding it periodically to see the new plant growth! I sort of have a background in horticulture, which makes the ride interesting for me. That was it for the day, and we headed home to refresh ourselves for our return that evening. I'm really going to start taking time to take better photos.



As soon as the three of us returned to Epcot that evening, we headed straight to Spaceship Earth. I sort of already spilled the beans on that experience, but it was really neat to experience for the first time. After our third fastpass was complete, we picked up another one for Sean's favorite ride, Soarin', and rode that one again. I truly cannot ride Soarin' enough. Fiji really does it for me! After, we headed toward Starbucks, where our drinks were horrible. I always get a grande iced mocha, and Sean got a vanilla sweet cream cold brew. Both were disgusting. Now, this was his first time getting the vanilla cold brew, but I tasted it- there was no vanilla anywhere in that drink. It tasted like straight mud. Mine was completely bitter. We remedied the Starbucks by grabbing some Mickey pretzels on our way toward Mexico. I love the ride in Mexico because it's pleasant and always a walk on! We left Mexico and walked toward Norway. The line for Frozen appeared non-existent, but was 110 minutes. We said, "NOPE!" in unison and headed toward Italy, enjoying the countries as we walked. I have learned, though, that Sean is a worse picture taker than I am!



We had 8:05 reservations for Via Napoli- one of our favorite restaurants. After all, we haven't been there since the 4th of July! I know it hasn't been that long, lol. But it really is one of our favorites. We checked in at 8:00 and waited about 20 minutes to be seated. We were seated in a room off the main dining area, which was freezing. It was so hot that day, you'd think it would feel great, but we were thoroughly shivering throughout our meal. We knew exactly what we wanted so we went ahead and ordered. Our server, Yannik, was sweet, but lacked...ambition. Our pizza came out 30 minutes later, and it was cold! The manager brought it to us, we had no idea where Yannik was, but you could tell it had been sitting in the back for a while. It wasn't appetizing at all, but we ate. I was disappointed that during our entire meal the staff was more concerned about closing up the restaurant. At one point before we were even served out meal, a server came to our table and took our clean plates. We just looked at each other like, "Is this really happening?" We left a tip because we're nice tippers and because it's expected, but I really didn't want to. Lesson learned and we will go back, but not near closing time.



Illuminations was still going on as we left the restaurant, and we had a nice crowd-free walk up to the front, for the most part.

It doesn't look like I'm going to get caught up today. Sean's off work today and the family is getting anxious to make it to Hollywood Studios. I'm dragging my feet because I want it to be a little cooler before we go. Wish me luck!

 

[FrozenOne16]

I love the idea of your trip report! Can't wait to follow along! I usually lurk, but I am trying to get better at jumping in. I hate that your starbucks and via Napoli experiences were not great! I don't tend to get coffee in the parks, but on the rare chance I do, it is usually good! And my DH and I went to Via Napoli on our last trip and we loved it! I hate that you experience that! I would've been extremely bummed if my pizza came out cold! Next time you go, you should try the Ugly But Good dessert. It's my favorite on Disney property!

Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[HoliPoli]

I love the idea of your trip report! Can't wait to follow along! I usually lurk, but I am trying to get better at jumping in. I hate that your starbucks and via Napoli experiences were not great! I don't tend to get coffee in the parks, but on the rare chance I do, it is usually good! And my DH and I went to Via Napoli on our last trip and we loved it! I hate that you experience that! I would've been extremely bummed if my pizza came out cold! Next time you go, you should try the Ugly But Good dessert. It's my favorite on Disney property!

Can't wait to read more!!!

Welcome!

Normally, Starbucks and Via Napoli are awesome. I've never had a bad experience until that day. My coffee slump was rectified last night when I stopped by the Trolley Car Cafe before Fantasmic, and my Mocha was delicious! Unfortunately, my dinner service experiences are starting to feel more like PSA's. We went to Si-fi last night and the service was terrible. More on that later, though. That dessert sounds amazing! With desserts, in general, I have to be careful because of a life-threatening raw-dairy allergy. Anaphylaxis is never fun. However, I can consume baked dairy, so I don't have to miss out on everything. I can even eat cheese cake because it's baked! Lol, now that I type it, it doesn't seem like it should be that thrilling. Oh, but it is!

 

[heaven2dc]

Enjoying the beginning of 365 days of Disney! I always wondered what it would be like to go every day - I live close enough to Disneyland that I could go every day but don't.

You mentioned moving across country - did you live on the West Coast and move to Florida? I think you mentioned something about Tennessee. We have contemplated moving across country from CA to Florida but I was outvoted in that no one else can deal with the humidity for most of the year lol. We lived in Orlando area from August to December years ago and then moved up to VA where the humidity wasn't as bad. However, I could deal with it with the prospect of going to Disney World more often

Sorry to hear about your Starbucks and Via Napoli experiences!