Chunkymonkey & Chubbyhubby's Year of Disney PTR! NEW 12/27 THE END and New TR Link!

[chunkymonkey]

I just checked the times schedule and it looks like MK is having an early morning magic ( or whatever they call it) special ticketed event on Sunday morning, so those folks who fork out another $65 can get into MK at 7:45am and only PP, 7DMT and Pooh will be open for them, so there may already be lines at PP and 7D by the time they do normal RD at 9:00. I'll check the wait times when we get there, but if Fantasyland looks busy we are planning on heading to BTMRR first thing and just doing multiple rides until our FP window opens

Oh wow, I didn't realize that it was EMM that day! I think that is a good plan

Ugh, me too, but the latest forecasts look pretty darn nice. I thought it was going to be colder also
Sunday looks like it's going to be beautiful!

I am really excited to wear t-shirts and flip flops again!

Have a great travel day tomorrow

Thanks you too!! See you Sunday!
PS I still have nothing to wear to MVMCP. I realize I have very few things that are red. I think I'll just have to get some holiday ears!

 

[chunkymonkey]

How do you manage to look so georgeous on the beach?? I always look like a drowned rat. Beautiful photos!

Thank you! It's all smoke and mirrors really...tinted moisturizer, bronzer, tinted lip balm, and lots of sea salt hairspray!

Wow that's really incredible. As if I didn't want to go to Hawaii enough already lol

LOL, that's why I keep returning! Can't get enough of it.

 

[franandaj]

The shots of the beaches were beautiful! And you got some very pretty shots of yourself as well.

Someday I want to go to Aulani but after you mentioned all the food around Honolulu, we'll be pretty far away from that from what I know about its location. I hadn't thought about the metropolitan component. My past two trips we stayed on the big Island in Kona, so I've only changed planes in Oahu and had a few hours in Waikiki on the layover.

I'd love to try all those unique Asian fusion dishes, but my other half is not as adventurous. I love Poke, they actually have several different versions in oe of the upscale markets, I know of. Can't say I shop there often as my bank account is not that rich!

 

[bcwife76]

Hope you have arrived safely at WDW!

Your beach photos are just breathtaking!!!!!!Stunning!

Oh god I'm reading your food porn post on an empty stomach and now I want ALL THE POKE!!!! There is a restaurant in Vancouver that I want to try called the Poke Shop http://thepokeshop.ca/ hoping to get there soon and see how it stacks up against some of the amazing poke we ate in Maui earlier this year.

Oh my.....all ......the.....foooooood!!!

 

[ArielSRL]

ENJOY your trip!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Strawberry red bean mochi: This is really popular and delicious!

Oh yum! That looks good! Believe it or not Costco down there has great fresh Mochi. (DH was born and raised on Ohau. MIL still lives there.)

interesting.

Shave Ice - We got shave ice all over the island. But my new favorite place is called Island Vintage and it's a kiosk in front of the Royal Hawaiian hotel. They have delicious natural fruit syrups and shave their ice atop frozen yogurt or ice cream. It's sooooo good!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[chunkymonkey]

The shots of the beaches were beautiful! And you got some very pretty shots of yourself as well.

thank you! Being there just makes me so happy!

Someday I want to go to Aulani but after you mentioned all the food around Honolulu, we'll be pretty far away from that from what I know about its location. I hadn't thought about the metropolitan component. My past two trips we stayed on the big Island in Kona, so I've only changed planes in Oahu and had a few hours in Waikiki on the layover.

Aulani is one of those places where it's very self-contained. It's pretty far from the other areas of the island we like to visit so I always suggest a split stay when doing Aulani. We usually spend a week in Waikiki and then a few days at Aulani or the North Shore to get away from it all. It's worked for us!

I'd love to try all those unique Asian fusion dishes, but my other half is not as adventurous. I love Poke, they actually have several different versions in oe of the upscale markets, I know of. Can't say I shop there often as my bank account is not that rich!

I love poke too! I have actually made it with some success. As long as you can get some fresh fish, just add some toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, scallions and some hot pepper flake as a base. then you can add other things to it - crushed mac nuts for crunch, onions, seaweed, sesame seeds, oyster sauce, etc. I'm going to experiment a bit to get the same style that they had at Kahuku Market.

Hope you have arrived safely at WDW!

Thank you!! We just got back home. We had an amazing time. Weather was great except for one day of on and off showers. The Christmas stuff was very cool to watch. Glad Christmas is almost over though. Haha.

Your beach photos are just breathtaking!!!!!!Stunning!

Thank you!

Oh god I'm reading your food porn post on an empty stomach and now I want ALL THE POKE!!!! There is a restaurant in Vancouver that I want to try called the Poke Shop http://thepokeshop.ca/ hoping to get there soon and see how it stacks up against some of the amazing poke we ate in Maui earlier this year.

Oh my.....all ......the.....foooooood!!!

Poke is soooo goood! Part of what makes poke great in Hawaii is because....well, you are in Hawaii, hahahaha.

ENJOY your trip!

Thank you!! We just got home
Gonna start my dining report soon!

Oh yum! That looks good! Believe it or not Costco down there has great fresh Mochi. (DH was born and raised on Ohau. MIL still lives there.)

Oh yum! Your costco is better than our costco. LOL
Wow that is cool. Do you guys ever visit? Your DH must miss it!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Oh yum! Your costco is better than our costco. LOL

Not my Costco just the one on Ohau. Though I did get a Mochi cookbook from the in-laws once for Christmas I have yet to try to make some. I keep meaning to though.

Wow that is cool. Do you guys ever visit? Your DH must miss it!

Nope. DH and I have only been once. plane tickets alone cost as much as a disney trip!

As far as missing it goes.... DH misses the State... his mother on the other hand......

Let's just say we all live happier lives with the rest of the country and an ocean between us.

 

[chunkymonkey]

PTR Update as of 12/9/2016: We're back! December Trip is over! Lodging booked for Aug and Oct 2017

Our Year of Disney 2016-2017:

DECEMBER 2-7 2016: COMPLETED! We had a blast!
Lodging: WDW Dolphin

FEBRUARY 23-28 2017:
76 Days until Princess 5k and my birthday trip!
Lodging: Contemporary Garden Wing
ADRs: Complete
FP+: TBD on Christmas Day

MAY 3-7 2017:
145 Days until May the 4th Trip for F&G!
Lodging: Boardwalk Garden View Studio
ADRs: Complete
FP+: TBD on March 4, 2017

AUGUST 5-12 2017:
239 Days until big Family Trip
Lodging: Polynesian Village Standard Room
ADRs: TBD on February 6, 2017
FP+: TBD on June 6, 2017

OCTOBER 21-28 2017:
316 Days until Disney Cruise Line - 7-night Canada Coast with Marvel Day at Sea on Disney Magic

OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 4 2017:
325 Days until Halloween and our 9-year Anniversary plus Food & Wine at WDW
Lodging: Grand Floridian Standard View Studio
ADRs: TBD on May 3, 2017
FP+: TBD on Aug 31, 2017


Hi everyone! Our year of Disney has started! We just got back from our 5 day trip to WDW. We had such a merry time with all the holiday festivities. We really enjoyed ourselves and experiencing the holiday decor, music and shows were wonderful. It's good to know that I am not as sick of the holidays as I thought I will be.
​

(my left leg is apparently really shiny from the sunscreen and bug spray)

MVMCP was fun, and we even got to hang out with @cinderkelly and her hubby and sweet daughter. I really enjoyed meeting you guys! We spent an HOUR in line to meet the Seven Dwarves. Let's just say Chunkysis would be proud of me even though I was getting so restless and impatient in line. I was like...really? is this worth it? All my party time is spent on this line! But in the end it was all good and we were able to ride a few rides (including 7DMT with a 25 minute wait), watch Elsa freeze the castle, saw the parade, and watch the fireworks. I've never drank so much hot chocolate or eaten more cookies in my life either!

(I told Bashful he was my favorite and he tried to hide)

We had some great meals, including Yachtman Steakhouse, and Brunch at the Top at California Grill. Brunch was great and the view was gorgeous. It was really overpriced though. If they had some lobster, crab, or caviar I would be much more inclined to return in the future. There were holiday food booths at Epcot too, not as many as during the F&G or F&W festivals but it was nice they were there. We were so full from all our meals though so we didn't get to partake in them as much as I would have liked and the ones that we did partake of were hit or miss. These booths were announced after we made all our ADRs already and I didn't' want to change them. I will create a dining review of all that we ate shortly!

I'll do a quick little photo TR at some point after I've downloaded all the PP pictures. I actually took much less pictures on my own camera on this trip, which was really nice as it's much less work to try and go through everything! We just let photopass do most of the work for us. Hehe.

And some other updates on our year of Disney: I have booked our lodging for our August and October/November 2017 trips. For August it is our big family trip. Potentially 13 adults and 7 kids. I've never planned anything that big before, much less a Disney Trip with that many people but I really want to show my family the magic of Disney. Unfortunately due to school schedules August is the only time everyone can make it so we'll have to deal with everything that I dislike about Disney in the summer: crowds, heat, and high prices. SIGH. Since my sisters remember liking 'Ohana so much from our sister's trip, they have requested to stay at the Polynesian. I would have personally liked to have stayed at a value or mod resort due to how expensive everything is in the summer, but I wanted to be close to them so just gonna have to deal with it. It is probably one of the more expensive rooms we've had to pay for at WDW. Chunkysis will be joining for this trip as well and because everyone else has kids in their room she'll have to stay with DH and I again. I was hoping to rent DVC points for this so we'll get the split bathrooms but there wasn't much available and the point requirements for August were a little more than room-only. Anyhoo, we put our deposits down and now just waiting for everyone else to do so. I told everyone they needed to be made by beginning of February so that I can make our ADRs. I don't know how I'm gonna be able to pull this off but I think I'll have to call the group dining instead of making ADRs online.

For our Oct/Nov trip though, I managed to secure a DVC point rental for a studio at the Grand Floridian!! It's cheaper to stay here during this time than it is to stay at the Poly in August. I'm so excited to stay at this flagship resort. With this stay, we'll have hit the trifecta of monorail resorts! We'll be going for 5 nights and we'll be there on Halloween as well as our 9-year wedding anniversary on Nov 1st. Hmm I wonder where we should eat on that day. Maybe we can do Victoria and Albert's again! YUM.

After all our scheduled trips, I think we'll just be flat broke, LOL, but our annual passes are good until Jan 2nd 2018...I have dreams of doing New Year's eve too! Just for a few nights to see what it's like. We may or may not do this but I'm tempted!
​

 

[dizneeat]

Loved our TR of Hawaii - so beautiful and all that gorgeous food.

Your plans are coming together nicely too! Sent you a PM.

 

[ArielSRL]

Welcome back! Glad you had fun.

Love how all your plans are coming together, at least accommodation-wise. Nice resorts planned!

I did NYE at WDW once but it was probably more than 20 years ago.

Looking forward to your DR, and a photo TR if you post one!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Loved our TR of Hawaii - so beautiful and all that gorgeous food.

Your plans are coming together nicely too! Sent you a PM.

Thank you! Thanks for the PM, will definitely look into it!

Welcome back! Glad you had fun.

Love how all your plans are coming together, at least accommodation-wise. Nice resorts planned!

Thanks! It's like a dream for me to stay in these resorts and it's finally happening!

I did NYE at WDW once but it was probably more than 20 years ago.
Looking forward to your DR, and a photo TR if you post one!

I hope NYE is not as bad as it seems. It may be worth going once though since we still have the AP then.
I have just downloaded all my PP pictures! So I will post some pics soon!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Dec 2016 WDW Trip PhotoPass Pics

Here are some photopass pictures from our trip. Still downloading the ones on my own camera! But I didn't take too many, just mainly food which will be reserved for my dining report.

Sat Dec 3rd - visited AK and Epcot

Here's the new location of the Chase Visa Character Spot. This line was always long! We only did it once. Apparently everyone has a Chase Disney Visa now.
It was much easier to just get an FP+ for Character Spot as the waits were shorter. It is definitely a cute pic though and I like the backdrop of the pink Spaceship Earth.

We had dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh (stay tuned for dining report) for their Candlelight Processional package. It was quite yummy and relaxing. It was chillier at night so we went to change then headed back to Epcot for the actual Processional.

Whoopie Goldberg was our narrator:

The show was really nice to watch and I thought the choir was great. I wouldn't consider this an absolute must-do but it's a free event and people line up really early for stand-by so I think it's a good idea to book a package. We caught an early show so we had some time to explore Epcot more later.

I had had some Gluwine at this point so I'm a little toasty...

I wanted to drag Baymax home!

Loved the Inside Out crew but their line was always soooo long even during Illuminations!

Sunday Dec 4th - MK including MVMCP! (I will upload the pic of our Dismeet with Cinderkelly in my next post after I've downloaded pics from my camera)

More pics coming soon!​

 

[purplelover88]

I hope NYE is not as bad as it seems. It may be worth going once though since we still have the AP then.

This was our thinking this year. We had the AP and NYE is on a weekend so less time off work. Let's hope it's not as bad as people make it out to be!

 

[cinderkelly]

Wow you got so many great photo pass pics! Your 7D photo turned out great after waiting so long in line for it You always look fantastic in your photos, Florida does such weird things to my hair I always look horrible!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I hope NYE is not as bad as it seems. It may be worth going once though since we still have the AP then.

This was our thinking this year. We had the AP and NYE is on a weekend so less time off work. Let's hope it's not as bad as people make it out to be!

I hope so too! Let me know how it is!

Wow you got so many great photo pass pics! Your 7D photo turned out great after waiting so long in line for it You always look fantastic in your photos, Florida does such weird things to my hair I always look horrible!

Thanks! Thank goodness those pics turned out ok, I would be so mad if it didn't!
I don't know what you're talking about, I thought you looked sooo cute! I understand about the FL weather though...I have naturally frizzy hair. I have to use a lot of product in it to make it work. It wasn't so bad this time, but when we're there when it's more humid, it's another story!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Dec 2016 WDW Trip Pics Part 2

Here's pics of our Dismeet with @cinderkelly! We met up in MK during the day on Dec 4th and later that night at MVMCP! See you in February Kelly!

Dec 5th - Another Epcot day!
I could live in this park so you'll find us in Epcot a lot!

We had lunch at Via Napoli and dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse. Both were very good meals (stay tuned for dining report). We enjoyed the decor at the Yacht Club.

Dec 6th - DHS

It rained on and off that day at DHS, the only rain for the trip. DH left the hotel with this HUGE umbrella and I was so annoyed he brought it but let me tell you I was so grateful for that umbrella when it poured. We went to see Indiana Jones and it was coming down really hard so they had to cut the show short after Indy does his act at the beginning. There was talk about some lightning in the area so they couldn't do any of the outdoor scenes.

We enjoyed TSMM with lower wait times, thank goodness for the third track! We were even able to ride it standby in addition to our FP+

There was some new photo spot with Minnie and Mickey called Red Carpet Dreams. It was really cute and I guess it replaces their meet n greets at the old Animation Academy (now Star Wars Launch Bay)

We did the Disney Visa meet n greet with Kylo Ren. I thought they had changed this to Darth Vader but it's still Kylo representing the dark side. I hope they bring back Vader, because I crack up every time I meet with Kylo Ren and it isn't very Dark Side to me. This meet n greet had no wait, but Chewie's line was long in the afternoon. We had to meet him right before the Jingle Bell Jingle Bam party.

I'm literally trying not to crack up.

The skies cleared up in time for this picture:

We had lunch at the Brown Derby with a same-day ADR. I will reveal what we ate in my dining TR. I will just say it's ok, some things I liked and some I did not.

We got to meet Moana! Very excited as we loved the movie. She thought we were Polynesian and I told her we go to Hawaii a lot and everyone thinks we're local. So that counts, right?

Here's us with Chewie, finally!

Here's the Jingle Bell Jingle Bam party, which I will also reveal in my dining review. It was fun to do but not sure it's worth the money. I think I could have drank more but I was just kinda too full to be ingesting anything.

The fireworks were cool, but I still say nothing could top the Symphony in the Stars fireworks they had in previous years. I feel like now it's more lasers and projections as opposed to pure fireworks. I think it may be a cost-cutting thing, but still it was a cool show and I liked how they made it snow at the very end, although it would be better if it weren't so rainy in the day because we just felt the atmosphere was damp enough.

We decided to plow through and went to Epcot for EMH that night and it was a lot of fun. We rode Soarin' a few times - we love the Epcot version!! The additional theater really makes a difference too, barely 20 minute waits during EMH. Baymax had no wait at all.

We went to meet Anna and Elsa in their new digs...it's really nice inside! I facetimed one of my nieces who had never met any character before in her life (she's 3) and she didn't say anything to Elsa and ran away after a few minutes. LOL.

DH got to ride LWTL twice and we were in our very own private boat. LOL. There was no one there!

Stay tuned for our last day!

Update 12/13: I did start my dining reviews over here!
​

 

[soniam]

The weather looks nice. I can't decide if I want it to be warm or slightly cool after xmas on our trip. The worst is when it's warm during the day and cold in the morning and at night. We decided to not do the CP, since the narrator for our trip didn't sound that interesting. Someday, I am going to do the xmas party. It looks like so much fun.

I didn't know that they had such a cool train display at Yacht Club. I hadn't planned on going over there, because people said they didn't really have a special xmas thing. We will be staying at Beach Club, so we will definitely head over to see that. My FIL loves model trains, and DH picked it up. We don't really have much of way though.

I don't know if we will see Jingle Bell Jingle Bam; I think we will try though. How was it? We decided to skip the Jingle Bell Jingle Bam dessert party. I want to save room for the special holiday desserts in DHS and Epcot.

I can't wait to get some gluhwein. We have these cute little mugs from our Nuremberg trip last year. They charge a deposit for the mugs. You can either keep it or exchange it for a clean one at the next booth. They are really cute, so we kept some. I think we will bring the mugs and pour our gluhwein into themI am looking forward to spending a lot of time at Epcot this trip getting food and doing tours. You inspired us to the Behind the Seeds tour, and we are going to do the Undiscovered Future World Tour.

Your trip looks really great! I can't wait to hear about the food. Have you started that report yet?

 

[chunkymonkey]

The weather looks nice. I can't decide if I want it to be warm or slightly cool after xmas on our trip. The worst is when it's warm during the day and cold in the morning and at night. We decided to not do the CP, since the narrator for our trip didn't sound that interesting. Someday, I am going to do the xmas party. It looks like so much fun.

The weather was beautiful aside from that one day of rain. It reminded me of February weather. It did get cold in the evenings but that was only 2 out of the 5 nights we were there. The rest of the time was still pretty warm. I would do the Xmas Party over the CP. Although the CP is free, so it's really if you want to book a dining package. We spent an our of the Xmas party on line for the 7 dwarves! Which is the max I will wait on any line I think. They kept taking breaks. The rest of the time we were on rides. You have to pick your battles I guess, rides or characters. It was fun though although too many sweet things. They should supplement with things like popcorn.

I didn't know that they had such a cool train display at Yacht Club. I hadn't planned on going over there, because people said they didn't really have a special xmas thing. We will be staying at Beach Club, so we will definitely head over to see that. My FIL loves model trains, and DH picked it up. We don't really have much of way though.

I didn't know either. We stumbled upon it while walking to Yachtsman. I wish I could have seen more holiday stuff at the resorts but we didn't really have time to.

I don't know if we will see Jingle Bell Jingle Bam; I think we will try though. How was it? We decided to skip the Jingle Bell Jingle Bam dessert party. I want to save room for the special holiday desserts in DHS and Epcot.

It was not bad, kinda cool but I'm ok with missing it. I just kept thinking, why is this not Star Wars?!? Hahaha. I wish they had more fireworks, less lasers and projections.
I also wish I had more room to eat stuff at the holiday booths. But whatever you do, do not get Three Kings bread at Feast of the Three Kings. It was horrendous.

I can't wait to get some gluhwein. We have these cute little mugs from our Nuremberg trip last year. They charge a deposit for the mugs. You can either keep it or exchange it for a clean one at the next booth. They are really cute, so we kept some. I think we will bring the mugs and pour our gluhwein into themI am looking forward to spending a lot of time at Epcot this trip getting food and doing tours. You inspired us to the Behind the Seeds tour, and we are going to do the Undiscovered Future World Tour.

Your trip looks really great! I can't wait to hear about the food. Have you started that report yet?

That's cool! The gluhwein was strong!! But I like any sort of mulled wine or cider. That future world tour sounds like fun!
I did start my dining review. It's over here!

 

[ArielSRL]

Looks like a fun few days thus far. It rained for us on our DHS day also and the same exact thing happened with Indy! I'm really hoping we don't get a downpour at DHS next trip! Heading over to the DR....