A Very Merry unBirthday! We're taking a stroll on the Boardwalk_A Sept 2018 PTR_link to TR

[kclark9830]

Getting Closer and Closer Every Day...
And I'm Almost There, Almost There!
​

We've been watching lots of Disney movies in prep for our trip. Last week we rewatched The Princess and the Frog . Such a great movie!

Anywho, we're making all kinds of plans. Do we or don't we want to do Memory Maker? Well, we definitely do...but do we want to pay for it? That is the question. I really want some of the ride shots and magic shots I've been seeing online. I'm thinking we're going to add it soon, but I haven't made up my mind with a definite answer.



These are just a couple I've found that I'd love to do. I don't even know if these are currently available.

I'm also making a list of foods I want to try. Oh my gosh, so many foods! For some reason, I really want to try some different mac and cheese dishes, and french fry dishes. What am I?! A 12-year-old boy?!?! LOL Anyway, really yummy ones can apparently be found at The Plaza Restaurant in Magic Kingdom, Eight Spoons in Animal Kingdom, one of the food booths at F&W in Epcot, and at Flame Tree BBQ in Animal Kingdom. I really want them all.

I plan to do a day-by-day itinerary for you all before our trip. If Miles awards me the time! I swear, I keep trying to do stuff and he just won't let me. I forgot how time consuming 1 year olds are! However, I'm super excited to tell you about a recent development.

Two days ago, Ashlyn says, "Mom, I really want to go into the parks first thing in the mornings."

I'm like..."Well, Daddy doesn't like getting up early." But inside I'm dancing for joy! haha

Micheal says, "You guys can go, and me and Miles will come later."

SQUEEEEEEEE!

So, I know for sure that at least on the Thursday of our trip, Epcot has morning EMH. I thought with us staying at BWV this will be an excellent opportunity to head into Epcot at 8AM with Ashlyn. We plan to ride FEA at least twice, meet Anna and Elsa, and try to hit up Soarin' at least once before meeting Sadness and Joy, and Baymax, as soon as 9AM hits.

We also will try to do Animal Kingdom morning EMH maybe on Monday (there's also morning EMH on Saturday, departure day, so that's another possibility) to ride Navi River Journey.

I cannot even explain the level of my excitement at Ashlyn having brought this up on her own, and for Micheal to have so readily said, "Y'all go and have fun!" Well, maybe he didn't say it quite like that, but I'm going with it.

I've also bought Micheal a Magic Band slider watch shaped like a Mickey head. This is on account of him mentioning on our last trip that he kept looking at his MB thinking it was his watch, and it was really throwing him off.

ALSO! I got a load of glow sticks after July 4th for $.10 each. Ten measly cents, y'all! Score! We'll be packing those for evenings in the parks.

I apologize that this update is all over the place. Hopefully I can start on more organized daily plans soon!

 

[kclark9830]

Tomorrow is 45 days and counting!!!
​

I'm not sure why, but for me once we drop under the 45 day mark it feels REAL, you know?! We've been watching all sorts of YouTube videos about snacks to try (I want cheeseburger spring rolls, a fried twinkie sundae, and a Peter Pan float!).

We've also made a few changes, which I'm sure won't surprise...uh...anyone. That's what this update is about!

CHANGE #1: We switched our "rest" day. Originally, we had Friday as our rest day, but then I realized Friday was a MNSSHP day, and so crowds at MK were bound to be low. We originally had our MK day (outside of our arrival MK day) set for Monday, Labor day. That's also a party day, but with it being Labor day the crowds were bound to not be quite so low.

So, we swapped those days. That meant needing to shuffle around our Bon Voyage breakfast ADR, from Friday to Monday. It took a few days but we finally got it. I also had to swap Miles's Harmony Barber Shop res, which was simple enough.

Our schedule now looks like this:

MONDAY: Bon Voyage at 9:15, relaxing around the Boardwalk (which has plenty of options). Maybe Disney Springs, but maybe not. Then, that night my sister and BIL will head to MNSSHP, and we'll babysit their kids. Pool time, and probably the movie under the stars.

FRIDAY: EMH at 8AM for MK (Ashlyn and me!) Return to BWI around 9:30-10. Return to MK with Micheal and Miles, ride rides and get Miles's haircut. Leave MK around 4PM to make it to Ft. Wilderness at 4:30 for our Mickey's Backyard BBQ ADR.

You may be wondering why I'd leave MK just to return with Micheal. That isn't set in stone yet. We'll see.

CHANGE #2: We nixed Ashlyn's appointment at the Pirates League. We decided to take up pin trading instead, as that was money spent on something fun to do all week, and take home with her. (She totally made this decision all on her own!) We've bought our pins from ebay.



CHANGE #3: We've decided to get a hotel room near the airport the night before our flight to MCO. I'm stoked about this, as the airport it 2 hrs from our house and we have an 8AM flight! This will help us be less tired when we arrive, and we can use CC points to book our hotel, as Micheal has them built up from traveling for work. So, now our vacation technically starts a day early!!! (That counts, right?!)

 

[Araminta18]

Glad you were able to get all the reservations after switching your day! It sounds like a good plan to me--gotta chase those low crowds!!

Oooh, good plan with the hotel the night before the flight. And yes, totally counts as vacation starting early! Our flight leaves early, but we only live half an hour from the airport...and I don't think I could convince DH to do a hotel. But I'm super excited for you! Especially since it's basically free!

 

[kclark9830]

I am happy to announce that I'm confident Miles will be getting a haircut at Harmony Barber Shop while we're in Disney . It's short on top, but the back is growing pretty scraggly!

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I attended my big writers conference in St. Louis over the weekend (I had three editors request to read my next manuscript! Yay!). My Winnie the Pooh Disney bounding went over like...well, like a lead baloon. Ha! People just didn't get it, and when I tried to explain Disney bounding they just stared in confusion. This was a sci-fi and fantasy conference for goodness sake! I totally thought they would get it! They didn't.

​

Anyway, I had ordered an oversized bumble bee charm to wear as a necklace but it never came (ordered it weeks ago!). Oh well, I enjoyed it even if I was the only one! Haha

By the way, my friend here won a Realm Award at the awards banquet for her book The Mapmaker's Daughter, so that was exciting .

I hope to start a day-by-day itinerary later this week. School starts here in 3 weeks, and I'll be busy then, so I want to get it rolling before then .

 

[Bama Mom]

Jumping on your trip report. Hello from one Bama mom to another. I'm in the beginning stages of planning a 25th wedding anniversary trip for my hubby and I. We will hopefully be going in September 2019 (although or anniversary is in May). We are putting it off until September for several reasons ,one being that our "baby" graduates high school in May and another is so we can hopefully get free dining. So wit that in mind I am reading a lot of September trip reports/pre trip reports because we've never been in September. I was on the old Disboards and am just now getting active on the "new" ones now that I have something to plan. I look forward to hearing about your trip.

 

[kclark9830]

Jumping on your trip report. Hello from one Bama mom to another. I'm in the beginning stages of planning a 25th wedding anniversary trip for my hubby and I. We will hopefully be going in September 2019 (although or anniversary is in May). We are putting it off until September for several reasons ,one being that our "baby" graduates high school in May and another is so we can hopefully get free dining. So wit that in mind I am reading a lot of September trip reports/pre trip reports because we've never been in September. I was on the old Disboards and am just now getting active on the "new" ones now that I have something to plan. I look forward to hearing about your trip.

***WAVES*** Great to have you along! Where in Bama? We're in N. AL.

I really enjoy Sept, though I do think it'd be nice to go in April or May. Maybe someday!

 

[Bama Mom]

***WAVES*** Great to have you along! Where in Bama? We're in N. AL.

I really enjoy Sept, though I do think it'd be nice to go in April or May. Maybe someday!

I'm in North Alabama aw well. I'm in Rogersville. Its a small town in Lauderdale County.

 

[kclark9830]

I'm in North Alabama aw well. I'm in Rogersville. Its a small town in Lauderdale County.

Rogersville?!?!?! I'm in west Athens!!! We're only a few minutes away!!! Sorry about the exclamations but I'm excited . Hahahaha

 

[Bama Mom]

Wow, we are close. its rare to find someone who knows where Rogersville is even if they are from North Alabama. I shop in Athens all the time.

 

[Araminta18]

Aw, I love your Disneybound--it looks great! Sorry it didn't go over well. But that's great about your manuscript--hopefully all the editors love it and start a bidding war....

 

[kclark9830]

Aw, I love your Disneybound--it looks great! Sorry it didn't go over well. But that's great about your manuscript--hopefully all the editors love it and start a bidding war....

A bidding war! Ahhhh....one can dream!

 

[kclark9830]

*Hi everyone! I thought I would start on my daily plans with you all. For the purpose of not being a total fun sucker, I thought I'd skip our "first" day, which is us just going to Nashville and staying the night before our flight at 8AM. This report will start with the day we're getting to Disney, which will be Saturday.*

*Also, full discloser, most of these pics are borrowed from the interwebs*

Day One...Arrival Day (Magic Kingdom)​

Our morning will start off with an early flight out of Nashville. We'll have a short layover (please be short) in Atlanta, but we won't have to change planes. Then, we're set to land at MCO at 12:30PM.

We'll take the Magical Express to the Boardwalk (yay!!!). I've requested a room facing the Luna Park Pool with a view of the Tower of Terror. I don't think the clown is creepy--I think he's fun!



Once we've arrived at the Boardwalk Villas (presumably around 2:30PM), I'm not sure if we should order groceries and wait around until our room is ready OR just head to the Magic Kingdom. Will bell services hold our groceries for us if our room isn't ready? I'm actually pretty confused on this point. I get mixed answers when I've asked on the resorts board. I plan to use Instacart. Anyone have any experience with Instacart delivery and whether they'll drop at bell services?

OK, so, at some point we'll head to Magic Kingdom. Our first fastpass of the day is Peter Pan!



We'll do other stuff around Fantasyland, probably IASW, the carousel, Philharmagic, and then our next FP+ at 7DMT.


(This pic is not from the interwebs, but from our last trip )

After that, maybe we'll grab something to eat? I want one of these from Storybook Treats...



We'll hit up Dumbo and Barnstormer then head into Tomorrowland for Space Mountain FP+'s.



Then, try for other FP's at Buzz. Ride People Mover, do Laugh Floor (we LOVE Laugh Floor), and head back to Fantasyland for Winnie the Pooh and Journey Under the Sea with The Little Mermaid.

Depending on the time, we may stick around for the Happily Ever After fireworks. I really want a pic of us, with the castle and fireworks in the background.

(I have no idea what fireworks show this is...looks like pumpkins on the castle, ha! But you get the picture...)

Then, back to the Boardwalk to check into our room and REST before our early morning at Epcot the next day.

 

[kclark9830]

Day 2 - Epcot Day!
​

Our next day will be Sunday, Sept. 2. We'll be spending the day HERE!!!!!!!!!!!! (Epcot is my favorite!)

(we don't look particularly happy in this picture, but it was the end of that trip and I'm guessing we were all exhausted! haha)​

This will be an early morning, as we'll be taking an Uber to a local church first (Community Presbyterian in Celebration), for their 8AM service. From there we'll Uber straight to Epcot's main gate, and I'm hoping to be there around 9:30AM (?).

We have FP's at Mission Space and Test Track at 9 & 10, so we'll be hitting those up first thing. These are both FIRSTS for us, so I'm excited about that.

​

After that we have a FP for Living with the Land in The Land Pavillion. That's at 11AM, so I'm hoping we can snag Soarin' FP's as soon as we tap in, for later. We plan to eat at Sunshine Seasons for lunch, then probably spend a little time at The Seas Pavillion. Timing will depend on whether we get that Soarin' FP, and when.



We also want to do the Pixar Shorts, and Journey Into Imagination. Both of those will be firsts, as well.

We'll probably do a midday break at that point, which will be just a short walk over to the Boardwalk.

Then, we have an evening ADR at 6PM for San Angel Inn. While I "hear" it's just OK, every actual review I read is great...so I'm hoping for good things! While we're over there, I'm sure we'll fit in a ride with the Three Cabeleros (I have no idea how to spell that! Ha!). We've never been in the Mexico pavillion at all, so I'm pretty excited for that .

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I'm sure we'll do some wondering at that point, but we don't plan to make it a late night since it will have been an early morning. I want to make a stop at the Canada pavillion because I want to pick up some souveniers I saw mentioned on another trip report here. This soap looks fun and cute for my nephews, and when I saw it I knew I needed to buy some!



I also want to try some of the snacks around F&W, but I'll be saving those for Tuesday night (so stay tuned!)

Next up is "rest" day!

 

[kclark9830]

Day 3 - Rest Day
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This morning will be a relaxed one of sleeping in and lounging around. At noon, we have an ADR at Trattoria AL Forno for the Bon Voyage Breakfast, right at the Boardwalk. I'm excited about doing this on our off day to bring a little extra magic to a non park day.




I have big plans for my latest book on this particular day. This plan is two-fold. First of all, the book is about a princess, so I plan to get it signed by the princesses at the breakfast.

Then I plan to head to the Bellevue Lounge.




This is because the hero in my story is named Prince Benjamin Bellevue of Lox. When I heard about the Bellevue Lounge an idea hatched. I'm going to do a live video for my social media readers page from the lounge, giving away a copy of the book signed by the princesses. (Ok, so I might have to get two copies signed so I can keep one!)

I'm pretty excited about this promotion, but I'm sorry if my little side track here was totally boring! Haha

After all that, the afternoon is pretty free. Disney Springs? Wandering around the resort? Who knows!

At 4'ish, we'll collect my sister's kids so they can head to MNSSHP. We'll hang at the pool for a good long while.



The Boardwalk Villas also have lots of other activities we'll check out, and we'll eat something that's easily accessible. The community hall has games and crafts, pool tables and stuff like that. I'm sure it'll occupy us all for a while! Then, I'm guessing we'll do the movie under the stars.

I'm hoping it will be a fun, relaxing day!

 

[kclark9830]

I got Mickey mail!!! These came two days ago, and I received an email this morning that my Magic Bands have shipped.



My one tiny complaint about renting DVC points is that you don't get all the fun Mickey mail that you get with booking a package. Oh well, the trade off is worth it!

 

[Araminta18]

I have big plans for my latest book on this particular day. This plan is two-fold. First of all, the book is about a princess, so I plan to get it signed by the princesses at the breakfast.

This is because the hero in my story is named Prince Benjamin Bellevue of Lox. When I heard about the Bellevue Lounge an idea hatched. I'm going to do a live video for my social media readers page from the lounge, giving away a copy of the book signed by the princesses. (Ok, so I might have to get two copies signed so I can keep one!)

Your promotion sounds AWESOME! I'm sure your social media readers will love it (and yes, def get two copies signed--you need one! )

also yay for DME tags!

 

[kclark9830]

Your promotion sounds AWESOME! I'm sure your social media readers will love it (and yes, def get two copies signed--you need one! )

I'm honestly so glad to hear someone else's opinion on this. I was beginning to second guess myself, and worried I was being cheesy!

 

[kclark9830]

***My Magic Bands are here! My Magic Bands are here! Aren't they beautiful?! ***



And now back to your regularly schedule program...

Day 4 - Animal Kingdom
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Day 4 will be Tuesday, and today we will be headed to Animal Kingdom presumably around 11AM. I've got FP's for Kali River Rapids from 11:30-12:30. This is Ashlyn's "favorite" ride (which she regularly swaps out with Soarin' and 7DMT ). But I love it too, and I'm looking forward to giving it a go once again!

I'm thinking of doing the Up! A Great Bird Adventure, but we watched part of it on YouTube and were...underwhelmed. Still, I hate to not give it an honest shot. So, we will either try to catch that, or catch Nemo (which we haven't seen since 2011). If you've seen the Up! show and actually LIKED it, can you chime in?

We will likely make our way to Dino Land. I want to see Donald's Dino Bash (is that even what it's called? I can't remember.). We have 12:50 FP's for Dinosaur, and I'm sure we'll spend some time in the Boneyard and letting the kids ride the Dumbo/Dino ride. We've never done Primeval Whirl, and Ashlyn is tall enough this year so we might be inclined to give it a try. Or maybe not.

At some point throughout that time we'll grab a QS lunch.

Then, at 2:20PM we have FP's for Flights of Passage. Yay! I can't wait to see what the hype is about. I also want to spend a bit of time wandering around Pandora.



When we're all done with that, it's my "plan" to head back to the resort, but that's a really loose plan. We'll see how we feel, and what everyone wants to do.



This evening will be mine and Micheal's date night at Epcot. Yippee!!! Epcot has evening EMH from 9-11PM. So, we don't really "need" to be back at the resort by any certain time but I'm guessing Micheal will want an hour or two to chill before heading into WS.

I have a few plans for this date night, but again they're pretty loose. I have my eye on a few booths at F&W. After looking through (and drooling over) the menus, I'm pretty sure Micheal won't want to try ANYTHING. He can grab whatever catches his fancy along the way. But I want a few offerings including... (full discloser, most of these aren't actual pictures of the Disney items, they're just random pictures of the item in general)


The Pumpkin Chai Shake


The Loaded Mac and Cheese


The Sweet Potato Poutine


Strawberry Smoothie

AND THIS ONE IS MY #1


A Maple Bacon Funnel Cake

Here's a side story, but it's true! EVERY YEAR we go on vacation and I say I am not ending the trip until I get a funnel cake, but every stinking year I forget and end up walking away without one. Go back over my other TR's and I'd bet money you'd find a mention of a funnel cake or lack thereof at least once! This year? It's not happening. I am getting a maple bacon funnel cake!

I also want to check out the "movies" in France and China, and hear the Voices of Liberty in the American Pavillion. These are things we have always want to stop for and never have ended up doing. I AM DETERMINED (to do at least one of them ).

MercyMe will be there on this night for the Eat To The Beat concert series. We aren't particularly fans of MercyMe--and OK, if I'm being honest I'm not particularly fans of ANY music group, unless they're singing Christmas songs, yes, I'm that kind of person--but we still thought it'd be fun to stop by for a set. So, we'll try that.

After all, I want one of these remember, and they're right there.

I am also determined to see Illuminations from whichever spot we're at when the time comes. I've never seen it, and I must!

After Illuminations I'd like to try Test Track after dark, so we'll definitely give that a shot.

When push comes to shove, I have lots of stuff I'd like to do but no real timeframe of when we'll do it, or in what order. Spontaneity isn't my strong suit, so I'm feeling a little OCD at this point, but I'm going to try and relax a little *think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts*.

 

[Araminta18]

I'm honestly so glad to hear someone else's opinion on this. I was beginning to second guess myself, and worried I was being cheesy!

Only cheesy in a good way! It's definitely a promotion I'd be interested in, as a reader. Hopefully they love it too!

Also your date night sounds fantastic--a little bit planned, but relaxing and go with the flow. I'm rooting for you to get your funnel cake!!!!!!!!

 

[kclark9830]

***Only 23 days until departure! Woo hoo! Yippee! Hot dog! I am so ready for this vacation, so much that it's hard to focus on anything else. Ashlyn starts back to school next week, and I'm actually hoping that will draw my focus away from WDW for a bit. I'm exhausted from waiting!

I've started shopping for items to bring with us (nothing exciting, don't get your hopes up ). I've seen SO MANY cute items I wanted to buy (shoes, t-shirts, hats) but Micheal and I made the decision we weren't doing it this time. I know, we are SO BORING. Seriously, I'm trying to be frugal. We have tons of Disney merch, so for this particular year we don't actually need all of that to enjoy our trip. Kill joys, aren't we? But it's hard, y'all. It's very hard.

In other news, my sister MADE US try watching Star Wars in prep for our trip. I've tried in the past and haven't been able to get into it, but she was very insistint and promised that if I just kept watching I'd get into it. She was mostly right. We made it through #'s 1 and 2 last night. We like it well enough, and I get how people have fallen in love with it. We're going to watch #3 tonight when hubby gets home from work. BUT, we're still not uber fans.

A different sister announced on Monday she is getting married. It was very odd, and she showed a complete lack of excitement. We practically had to force her to show us her ring, and when we asked how he'd proposed she said she was nagging him on the couch about wanting to get married (this has been ongoing for several years), and he threw up his hands and went and got her a ring. So, now they're getting married. ??? The wedding is supposedly to take place in CT next spring, though methinks I shouldn't make hard travel plans just yet. If they do actually go through with it, I guess I know what we'll be doing for next year's vacation (hello New York City and Washington D.C.).

Ok, ok, enough of all that. Now onto our day 5 plans...***

Day 5 - HS/AK
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Today's plans start around 11AM with a FP for Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios, followed shortly by a noon FP for Rockin' Roller Coaster. At 1PMm we have a FP for Toystory Mania. These are Micheal's 3 favorite rides in all of WDW, so I thought we'd start the morning off to his enjoyment. Honestly, only half of us will do these things (traveling with sister and fam, remember) so I'm not sure what the other half of us will be doing. Maybe Beauty And The Beast? Then we can meet up to do Toystory together? We'll see.

Once we're done with those things, it's my great hope to hop to Animal Kingdom. I want to do Navi River Journey, and do the Rafikki's Planet Watch (because we've never done it). I also want to see FOtLK because I think Miles will LOVE it. Miles is going to grow up to be some type of musician, I have no doubt. He loves music and dancing like nobody's business. FOtLK will be right up his alley.

I hope to stay in AK until Rivers of Light because I'd really like to see it.

But look at me, making all these plans when I have no idea if this is what we'll actually do! Ha! Magic Kingdom has evening EMH on this night, so my sister and her fam may actually opt to go there. If they go...well, there's a good chance we'll be tempted to just go along with them.

See how I'm trying to be good and accomodate others on this trip? Aren't I nice? I'll try not to break my arm as I pat myself on the back...

Seriously though, I'm trying to learn to sit back and enjoy the ride a little more. Does anyone else have extreme control issues where your WDW vacation is concerned (that's not a real question--I'm assuming most people on this board have those issues, which is why I feel totally comfortable commiserating with you all! hee hee). That's all for today. Shall I leave you with a cut baby pic?



We took him to a local carnival. He was not impressed.