Compromise is a Disney word: Taking one for the team over Thanksgiving 2016* August PTR link! 5/28

[wdwnut61]

Love your mini PTR looks like you squeezed a lot in a 3 night trip
I know you and Steve will be able to cover more ground with it just being the two of you.
I'm really looking forward to ROL so glad it's out in time for our trips. We have the dining package booked one night and a FP for another night so we can enjoy EE and Safari later.
I'm so sad about Wishes but glad we are staying at the CR, plan to walk over to MK several nights during our 10 days stay.
There are so many yummy new food and choices at the F&G this year.
I saw someone else post it was your birthday so I wanted to wish you a belated

 

[kittylady1972]

Loved your mini TR for March. Sounds great to me. Like you, I also wanted the chance to see ROL and on the advice of some other "experts" I have also booked a Dining Experience package...but with Tusker House instead of Tiffins. We just really enjoyed Tusker House and I couldn't see us getting our money's worth out of Tiffins...and probably won't for Tusker House either. I'm actually hoping to cancel it anyway once I can make FP+ reservations at the end of next month and I'll just book a straight FP for it. I will have the added complication of the fact that Avatarland will be opening on our arrival day so I'll need to probably hold off until the end of our trip to even attempt to hit AK, which is going to be tough. It is staying open until 11pm most of those days, so maybe just MAYBE we'll just wait and try to head there later at night and hope for the best since I have yet to be in AK after dark and I'd love to try to ride EE at night!

I think you'll be fine with eating and drinking around the various booths. I just love the EPCOT park during Flower and Garden. We haven't been there during that time since I think May 2009?

I actually may drop a few of our ADRs because I hate being tied down to them. I have a few I have to keep due to family requests (Chef Mickey) and my own preference (Beaches and Cream) but beyond that I'm okay with having no other ADRs at all and just eating whenever and wherever.

Looking forward to more and maybe I'll do a more outlined PTR for our May trip eventually!

 

[jessicar82]

I have been following along since the beginning of your trip report but haven't commented yet so I thought I would now. My husband and I are going for our adults only trip the exact same dates you are! Well, me be being me, I decided to change our flight to Friday night (3/24) because our original flight was scheduled to leave CT at 5AM on the 25th which means we would have needed to get up at like 1:30 in the morning to get ready. No way. We also leave late on the 28th (10pm direct flight home!) AND the flights were super cheap so I feel like we really lucked out. We just went in Sept and Dec but we took our kids so I am REALLY looking forward to his quick trip

A Little OT PTR For My Dis Peeps
​

So it's been very hard for me not to start a PTR for my upcoming trips, let alone a TR for the Universal training I just did Instead I'm going to post our March plans here just to make myself feel better. I'm trying very hard to hold off doing the Uni TR (which I'm going to combine with our March and May trips) until I finish this one, we'll see if I can do it!

MARCH TRIP:
When: March 25-28th
Where: CSR
Who: Adults only! Steve and I

This is a quick 3 night trip that was planned AFTER our May trip was planned, because Steve decided he couldn't go from Nov. to May with no vacation. Who am I to argue?? What works great is that my youngest stepson Eric is laid off until April 1st (he works for a pool company, installing pools) so he's staying here with the boys and they are thrilled. The other thing that works great is that we're flying in to Orlando real early on the 25th, getting in at 9:15am, so we actually have that whole day. Then on the 28th we don't leave until 8:30 at night, so really we have 4 park days My plans have already changed from what I originally had due to Disney FINALLY getting RoL up and running and taking away Wishes, so I had to adjust to fit both in. I managed to get a dining package for RoL the day after they were released, not because I really wanted one but I figured I had a better shot at that than getting a FP since I was a day late. I was away at my training too and didn't have much time to look, and just happened to check for the dining packages first.

Saturday, March 25th
Land 9:15 (fingers crossed!) stop at resort and go to
EPCOT
Start eating and drinking all the F&W booth goodies
FP's for Soarin' and SE beginning 5:20
**I originally had a 12:30 lunch ADR at Homecoming figuring we'd then hit up the booths later in the day, but Steve wasn't liking the idea of going to DS first. So I cancelled Homecoming for now but I'll get there eventually! I'll be fine with the booths all day I'm sure but Steve will probably need something more substantial, so I assume we'll go to the QS in Mexico or Morocco later at night.

Sunday, March 26th
Magic Kingdom probably around 9:30ish
FP's for 7DMT, BTMRR, Space.
FP's start at 10:30 and go until 12:30; I had planned on staying at MK until mid afternoon and then going back to Epcot UNTIL Disney announced RoL was opening. So now we'll try getting on BTMRR and Space (our later FP's) SB, get to Epcot ASAP to spend some time there before going to AK. We have the RoL Tiffins dining package booked with dinner at 5:35 and the show at 8:45. I'd like to get on EE after dark, see some of the Tree of Life Awakenings again and if I can catch my African acrobats, my night will be perfect

Monday, March 27th
HS, MK, maybe Epcot?
First we have the Wave breakfast booked for 10am. I've wanted to try this, just not sure if we'll keep it. RoL and Wishes ending has messed up the trip a little bit as we're now spending less time in Epcot than I'd planned and not trying Jellyrolls, so it's really good we have our May trip to do that and more F&G! But still not sure if I want to spend time at a TS breakfast or no. The way we like to eat - we'll probably keep it!
FP's for RnRc and TOT starting at noon
Citricos dinner 5:50
MK -Wishes for the last time
Other than the rides we have FP for in HS there isn't anything else we'll do there so we'll have time to do something between there and dinner. Epcot? Back to resort? IDK and that's OK. I'd prefer cancelling Citricos and eating more at Epcot but if I haven't mentioned this before, it's Steve's one request for this trip.

Tuesday, March 28th
MK, Epcot
Our last day, but I won't be completely sad since we'll be back 2 months later! However I always pretty much need to be somewhere at RD on my last day and since we haven't experienced the new opening show/procedure at MK I'd like to do it today, if only so I can explain it to clients. You'll notice I have 2 of the same FP's today that I have on the 26th but Splash instead of Space, I just can't remember without looking what time they start exactly.
We won't have to catch DME until about 5:30 so hopefully by 12 or 1 the latest we'll be over in Epcot eating and drinking again until we go back to the resort to head home.

I know some of you who didn't read about our adults only trip last Aug. are probably saying, "I can't believe she isn't planning out more where they'll eat! Can they really eat so often at the food booths??!" "Why isn't she accounting for every hour of every day??!" First off, one of the best things about going without the kids is the ability to NOT plan so much, and to be able to make/change plans spur of the moment. That's pretty much how our kid-free trips have been. And because of that I know we'll have no problem getting in at a TS somewhere if we decide we want to, rather than eating at the booths. Same way all those park plans I have could totally go out the window! Even though my kids aren't small anymore it's still better to have more of a plan when they're with us. I love the freedom to change things up at the drop of a hat when it's just us

Thanks for dealing with all my words! I'll get on to our Black Friday fun in my next post!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I know some of you who didn't read about our adults only trip last Aug. are probably saying, "I can't believe she isn't planning out more where they'll eat! Can they really eat so often at the food booths??!" "Why isn't she accounting for every hour of every day??!" First off, one of the best things about going without the kids is the ability to NOT plan so much, and to be able to make/change plans spur of the moment. That's pretty much how our kid-free trips have been.

This must be such a nice change of pace. Kind of like two whole different types of trips!

Can't wait to hear more of this trip and all the doings of your next two trips to come!

 

[ariane37]

Just a little over a month away! Oh and I hope you had a great birthday today!!

Thank you It was a really nice day, especially considering the kids were off from school! But that also meant 2 of my closest friends who are teachers were off so I got to go to lunch/shopping with them before going out to dinner with the family at night

I can't wait for F&G myself! And I'm really liking the lack of planning going into this trip myself. I feel like I have sooo many options...

I always feel like we have more options when we have less planned. It's kind of silly because even with plans they can be cancelled and changed, but I think we're just less inclined to changed things around when we've carefully planned stuff out.

Also guess who finally watched Avatar?!?!? I am now ready and super excited for Pandora opening!

So what did you think of it??? I'm glad we watched if a few weeks ago, too! Not that I fell in love with it but I definitely feel more ready for Pandora!

I'm glad you'll get a chance to see Wishes again. We're excited about a lot of things for our August Disneymoon, but I'm pretty disappointed that Wishes will be gone by then. I know I'm still pretty young, but I remember watching it as a kid on family trips and it's just so nostalgic and means a lot to so many of us...

I feel your disappointment and I hope the new show is super good so you enjoy that just as much! I also understand the nostalgia part. I have fond memories of riding Peter Pan, HM and the Skyride with my grandmother when I was VERY small. Even though I completely understand why they had to take down the Skyway I was still very sad when they did so, and each time I ride PP and HM I think of my Grams

I agree that it's easier when you're a small group/adults to go without too much of a touring plan. That's how we're planning to spend a lot of the Disneymoon, with the exception of some ADRs and FPs

Awesome! Yeah for a major important and special event like that I'd do ADR's too, and we do FP's even when it's the 2 of us because, well, why not??

But I'm already worrying about DF's family who will be visiting for the first time for the wedding and won't likely be very open to the idea of arriving at the parks before rope drop and having a touring plan...there'll be 5 of them...Canadians in the heat of a Florida summer...most of them hate waiting in line for stuff...still working on persuading them... haha (I wish we could tour the park with them and give them a little guidance, but they're planning to do their park day [possibly only one day...] the day before our wedding, and we expect to be a little busy that day! )

Here's what I have to say about this: you can lead them to water but you can't make them drink Give them a rough itinerary; give them pointers, tell them
even though it might not be their preference the benefits of getting to the park early are A,B,C. If they're doing a TS meal, maybe suggest it be so they have a break from the heat in the middle of the day; if not, give them some of the indoor attractions and suggest they do them during the afternoon. You definitely don't want to be worrying about them the day before the wedding!!

Can't wait to hear your review of RoL. I'm not sure how I'll feel about it, but I'm definitely looking forward to experiencing it at least once no matter what.

I'm not sure how I'll feel about it either.....after reading early reviews I'm afraid I won't love it But like you mentioned I do like to experience anything new they do at least once. I did it with Jungle Book, Alive with Magic lol!

Love your mini PTR looks like you squeezed a lot in a 3 night trip

Thanks! I wanted to do a tour but then with RoL debuting and Wishes ending I didn't want to add anything else. I'll say it again, thank goodness we go in May!

I'm so sad about Wishes but glad we are staying at the CR, plan to walk over to MK several nights during our 10 days stay.

CR is like the perfect resort to be at to catch Wishes multiple times

There are so many yummy new food and choices at the F&G this year.

Right?? When the menus came out I couldn't believe it, they just kept going and going lol! And every booth has multiple things I need to try!

I saw someone else post it was your birthday so I wanted to wish you a belated

Once again thank you Yes it was yesterday and it was very nice

I also wanted the chance to see ROL and on the advice of some other "experts" I have also booked a Dining Experience package...but with Tusker House instead of Tiffins. We just really enjoyed Tusker House and I couldn't see us getting our money's worth out of Tiffins...and probably won't for Tusker House either.

We have always enjoyed TH too and if the kids were with us I'd have booked that, but since it's just the 2 of us I want to try Tiffins. I know the kids won't like it so now's our chance! I did check for a FP once I got back from Universal but none were left; I could have possibly gotten one if I'd jumped online down there asap but I couldn't, so I'm glad I have the dining package for now.

I will have the added complication of the fact that Avatarland will be opening on our arrival day so I'll need to probably hold off until the end of our trip to even attempt to hit AK, which is going to be tough.

Man, I don't envy you that Yeah no sugarcoating, it's going to be mobbed. Even when @ArielSRL goes down not long after you I think she's in for some big AK crowds lol

I think you'll be fine with eating and drinking around the various booths. I just love the EPCOT park during Flower and Garden. We haven't been there during that time since I think May 2009?

I love it then, too! We went for the first time during F&G in 2013 as a family, then Steve and I went during it on our first kid-free trip in March 2015. We barely tried any of the food booths then so this will be *almost* a first for us

I have been following along since the beginning of your trip report but haven't commented yet so I thought I would now.

I'm glad you did, so

My husband and I are going for our adults only trip the exact same dates you are! Well, me be being me, I decided to change our flight to Friday night (3/24) because our original flight was scheduled to leave CT at 5AM on the 25th which means we would have needed to get up at like 1:30 in the morning to get ready. No way.

That's cool! And I don't blame you for switching to the night of the 24th. We'll be up around 3:30 in the morning on the 25th to catch our 6:30 flight which isn't ideal, but Steve likes to get down there early. The next flight would have gotten us to MCO around 2:30 which works fine for me but I let him do the choosing......

No way. We also leave late on the 28th (10pm direct flight home!) AND the flights were super cheap so I feel like we really lucked out.

Nice We got $74 flights each way for this trip and then $80 ROUND TRIP for our May trip. We almost never have good luck so I'm waiting for the other show to drop

We just went in Sept and Dec but we took our kids so I am REALLY looking forward to his quick trip

Is this your first adults-only trip or have you done them before? I love going as a family but the kid-free trips are so different and so awesome. I'm fairly certain we'll all go in August but I'm 100% looking forward to these 2 trips with just Steve. What are your plans?

 

[ariane37]

This must be such a nice change of pace. Kind of like two whole different types of trips!

LOL that's exactly how I'd describe adults only trips, completely different type of trip than when you go with kids! Touring (at least for us) is almost completely different, where we choose to eat is almost completely different. Level of planning is SO much less. Plus you can do things that you can't do with kids, like spend more time chillin' in WS, tours, and Jellyrolls which we've planned on before but never gotten to. I swear we're doing it in May!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Plus you can do things that you can't do with kids, like spend more time chillin' in WS, tours, and Jellyrolls which we've planned on before but never gotten to. I swear we're doing it in May!

Like my one item on my list is go to Trader Sam's! Hard to try and convince the girls to leave the theme park to go to a bar! Maybe I should add that to my "birthday" items next trip.

 

[wdwnut61]

Once again thank you Yes it was yesterday and it was very nice

You share a birthday with my Grandson Owen. He turned 1 year old yesterday
We're having his party on Saturday.

 

[heathsf]

I SO wanted to do SE and tried to get Chris to go on after TT but he just wasn't budging.

I'll ride with you!

We then backtracked to the Mexico pavilion to ride the Grand Fiesta Tour. I enjoy this ride even though it's nothing major, and my favorite part are the fireworks on the ceiling!

Me too!!! They make me so happy, every time. They just feel so magical.

Just like our plane, Steve and Ricky ended up landing almost 30 minutes early at 8:50, yay!!! Then they got lost trying to find ME because I wasn't with them obviously. I'll stop writing words and say they got to the resort at 10:37: grabbed bagels and walked around eating them
checking things out, and we were on our way to the bus stop by 11:10:

Yay! You must have been so excited they were finally there.

OMG I'm hysterical! This thing cracks me up and it's not even dirty or offensive lol!!! I wanted to go up to everyone while I was wearing it and scream, "LOOK AT MY SHIRT! IT SAYS HI IT'S SMEE, GET IT????? Because I'm a dork and I don't care, that's why.

I love it!

Oh and I see a ticker in your signature! How exciting

YES!! Ryann's first WDW trip! We took her to DL in April when she was 10 months because we were out in LA for a wedding. It was just a short two day trip but now she's actually old enough to be totally excited. I've already turned her into a little Disney loving monster

 

[Whit64130]

So what did you think of it??? I'm glad we watched if a few weeks ago, too! Not that I fell in love with it but I definitely feel more ready for Pandora!

It wasn't what I was expecting. I really liked it better than I thought. I mean I'm not rushing out for a copy or anything but I am excited for it to open and me have some idea about it.

 

[jessicar82]

Is this your first adults-only trip or have you done them before? I love going as a family but the kid-free trips are so different and so awesome. I'm fairly certain we'll all go in August but I'm 100% looking forward to these 2 trips with just Steve. What are your plans?

We actually went last December AND January without the kids We love taking the kids but it's such a different experience with just adults. We are hoping to get to Jelly Rolls this trip and possibly Trader Sam's and Splitsville. Trying to pack a bunch of stuff in and yet still try to make it feel like it's a relaxing, carefree, kid free trip

 

[jessicar82]

Nice We got $74 flights each way for this trip and then $80 ROUND TRIP for our May trip. We almost never have good luck so I'm waiting for the other show to drop

WOW!!! $80 RT?!?! That is dirt cheap! I was impressed with my $180 round trip p/p but at $80 round trip how can you honestly NOT go. It would be a crime

 

[Raeven]

It makes sense to eat at the food booths especially since it's a short trip. I'm considering canceling a TS for more food booth snacking but I can't think of which one I'd want to cancel

 

[Jfsag123]

Your report is so much fun! I kept talking out loud to my computer screen reading about your transportation (mis)adventures). I admire your patience, lady! I may or may not have lost it a teensy bit with DH a couple of times in the past when he was ridiculous about listening to simple instructions at WDW...

Going way back here, but, while I'm sorry about your injury, I had to laugh because it made me feel like maybe you're a kindred. When I broke my foot a few years back I literally did it while walking...in flats...not even upstairs, but on a very slight incline. Whenever I had to tell people how I broke it I was so embarrassed! I love that yours was clapping! But seriously, I hope you and your star athlete are both recovering well!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Food Booths are the way to go during Food & Wine. I actually always wondered why you would go to a sit down restaurant during Food & Wine.

 

[heathsf]

I'm going on my first agency training as a travel agent

OMG!!! When I read this I had to go back to your older TR (which I completely missed in my absence - I'm so sorry!) and look up the details about you becoming a TA. It's COMPLETELY nuts because.... SO DID I!!!!!!! It seems like you're really enjoying it! I just wish I had done this yeeeeears ago and not waited until I just had a baby to try to find time for a second job!

Those guys on the end are in the AIR!!!

I totally did not realize they were in the air until I saw you wrote that. Then I scrolled back up to look at the pic again!

So....safe to say this wasn't our BEST day at Disney??? But it was better than when I got the stomach bug last year on Thanksgiving down there so there's that, and looking back it really wasn't that awful I'll end this post with our fortunes from Yak and Yeti which summed up our day perfectly (NOT!) but they do sum up our family and in the case of #3, sum up my Christopher perfectly:

FINALLY the bus came at 11:56.

Whoa! That is WAY too long to have to wait for a bus.

ends up they were sitting on the WILDERNESS LODGE bus, not the FORT WILDERNESS lodge bus. So that's where they went first. I can't make this up!!!

Q: when we pulled up to WL, who asked me what we were doing there?
A:

Again!

This is a quick 3 night trip that was planned AFTER our May trip was planned, because Steve decided he couldn't go from Nov. to May with no vacation.

This should have been at the top of my list of "qualities I need in a husband"

 

[ariane37]

Like my one item on my list is go to Trader Sam's! Hard to try and convince the girls to leave the theme park to go to a bar! Maybe I should add that to my "birthday" items next trip.

It's certainly a fun thing to add to a birthday trip Maybe if you tell the girls you they can get a Dole Whip afterwards they'll give you permission to try it

You share a birthday with my Grandson Owen. He turned 1 year old yesterday
We're having his party on Saturday.

Happy Birthday Owen! Enjoy his party Saturday

Me too!!! They make me so happy, every time. They just feel so magical.

Don't they? I ride it just to stare up at them.......

Yay! You must have been so excited they were finally there.

I was, really we both were (until the old fashioned "brotherly love" kicked in) I completely enjoyed having time alone with Chris but it was weird not all being together in my Happy Place!

YES!! Ryann's first WDW trip! We took her to DL in April when she was 10 months because we were out in LA for a wedding. It was just a short two day trip but now she's actually old enough to be totally excited. I've already turned her into a little Disney loving monster

That's our job. So congratulations, you have succeeded at motherhood

We actually went last December AND January without the kids

Whoa! And I thought some of our trips were close together! Awesome!

We are hoping to get to Jelly Rolls this trip and possibly Trader Sam's and Splitsville. Trying to pack a bunch of stuff in and yet still try to make it feel like it's a relaxing, carefree, kid free trip

Ha! We always say we're going to take it easy, and last August we kind of did, but usually we go just as hard as when the kids are with us! We've been to Trader Sam's and almost did Splitsville on this Nov. trip but didn't, and I'm crossing my fingers we make it to Jellyrolls in May.

WOW!!! $80 RT?!?! That is dirt cheap! I was impressed with my $180 round trip p/p but at $80 round trip how can you honestly NOT go. It would be a crime

Even $180 RT is great! The $80 RT was a total accidental fluke. Steve logged in to JeBlue and they made a mistake. They were supposed to put up a flash sale the next day for 30 minutes, for $40 one way flights, but ended up making it go live right as Steve went on However when he got to the page to pay it wouldn't let him so he called and they weren't going to honor the price at first. He shmoozed them a bit and finally they agreed We never luck out like that! I keep waiting for the other show to drop, like a meteor to crash through our roof or something lol.

It makes sense to eat at the food booths especially since it's a short trip. I'm considering canceling a TS for more food booth snacking but I can't think of which one I'd want to cancel

You know I gave you my advice on your PTR and I think you responded but I haven't looked yet. Interested to see what you decided............

Your report is so much fun! I kept talking out loud to my computer screen reading about your transportation (mis)adventures)

I'm so happy I'm entertaining you! And it's good to see you stopping by, too

I may or may not have lost it a teensy bit with DH a couple of times in the past when he was ridiculous about listening to simple instructions at WDW...

What's WRONG with them when we're down there Don't the realize we know EVERYTHING??? At all times.......about everything.........

Going way back here, but, while I'm sorry about your injury, I had to laugh because it made me feel like maybe you're a kindred.

If that's the case I'm getting a metal detector and going over all the rugs in my house for sewing needles...........

When I broke my foot a few years back I literally did it while walking...in flats...not even upstairs, but on a very slight incline. Whenever I had to tell people how I broke it I was so embarrassed! I love that yours was clapping!

That's funny! Yup, I was a tad embarrassed too, especially since it was still all purple when I went to the Universal training. I notice my co-workers whom I was meeting for the first time staring at it I did tell the truth because I couldn't think of a cool enough lie!

But seriously, I hope you and your star athlete are both recovering well!

Thanks! Finger is fine; athlete, eh. Not much pain when he's sitting but every once in awhile when he walks he feels like his knee is going to go out He can't run, jump, squat or straighten his knee all the way, but we'll get there. Unfortunately probably another 3 or 4 weeks before he can play so no travel ball this spring and probably no All-Star game for him in 3 weeks. He's SO miserable to live with right now!

OMG!!! When I read this I had to go back to your older TR (which I completely missed in my absence - I'm so sorry!) and look up the details about you becoming a TA. It's COMPLETELY nuts because.... SO DID I!!!!!!! It seems like you're really enjoying it! I just wish I had done this yeeeeears ago and not waited until I just had a baby to try to find time for a second job!

WOW that's awesome, congratulations!!! I am completely enjoying it, how about you? It's only been about 7 months for me. Do you only do Disney or will you do other destinations? It's like the best at-home job one could have

Whoa! That is WAY too long to have to wait for a bus.

I know Luckily it was really the only time the whole trip we waited what I consider a ridiculously long time; the other transportation issues were our fault-well, not mine

This should have been at the top of my list of "qualities I need in a husband"

OK to be fair I had no idea when I married him that he'd get this "into" Disney! After our first trip together he didn't care to go back until we had kids. Then when we got home from our first trip with the boys in Oct. 2006, I found him on the computer like 3 weeks later-planning a return trip for Jan. 2007! And I had him hooked good

 

[disneyAndi14]

I am all caught up, I just got back from WDW! It was wonderful. I love your story about getting to HS from FW via WL ha! The dessert party looks like a nice way to see the busy show on Thanksgiving. How exciting for your upcoming trips.

 

[ariane37]

I am all caught up, I just got back from WDW! It was wonderful. I love your story about getting to HS from FW via WL ha! The dessert party looks like a nice way to see the busy show on Thanksgiving. How exciting for your upcoming trips.

Glad you had a great trip I can laugh at the whole FW transportation fiasco now but believe me, I wasn't laughing then lol!
It was definitely nice to know we were getting a good spot to see the show on such a busy holiday without the hassle of having to go stake one out an hour or more before the show started. And it did end up being a very, very nice ending to the day!

 

[ariane37]

**hey guys! Before I move on to our Black Fri-day, just want to share something I'm very excited about. So you know how in my last post I said we're staying at CSR next month? And then even though I haven't really said much about May, some of you know we were returning to my fave, WL. Well similar to every PTR update that @Raeven does (love you!) we've made some changes! We are now booked for our very first CLUB LEVEL stay in May at the Beach Club, so it'll be our 2nd stay there. "But Ariane, you cancelled your WL reservation????" And then I rebooked WL for next month and cancelled CSR!!! It's one night shorter but I'm happy we're still going back. Steve wasn't really feeling returning to Coronado even though we loved it there, and he really wanted to be in the BW area for at least one of our F&G stays. Looking at the TA rates it made more sense based on availability and my plans to stay there in May, and luckily there was also still availability at WL next month. Now we're both happy and I'm totally excited to try the CL experience!!

Fun on Black Friday
​

After such a full Thanksgiving day you'd think we'd sleep in, and some of us wanted to. But uh-uh, we're still in Disney baby and we only have 2 days left! Since Steve and Ricky came down we'd done MK, AK, and HS so today we were going to Steve's favorite park, Epcot.
We knew it would be pretty crowded since lots of experiences were starting today - Candlelight Processional, Holiday Storytellers, and the Holidays Around the World food booths, plus Chris and I were anxious to show the other 2 new Soarin', so of course we hit RD.
Epcot was opening at 9 and since we were ready by 8:35 we decided to try and find the "secret" door that supposedly brings you closer to Epcot. I don't feel like going and checking the BC thread but it's room 5 something something something But then once we got outside, instead of walking into the main bldg to head to the 5th floor we turned left and ended up on the path that we see under our balcony. Not a bad move because technically it is a shortcut of sorts to Epcot, because rather than having to go out the front entrance and walk by the beach you bypass a big section of that and are literally steps from IG. However we also decided we wouldn't want a ground floor room on that path. Many rooms had their curtains and in some cases slider open, enjoying the cool morning air as they got ready. One guy took it a step further and was sitting on his bed NAKED with the curtain and slider open the boys were hysterical. Just thought I'd mention that.
IG was a bit more crowded than when Chris and I walked in that way on Monday for our GG PPO breakfast but we were through pretty quick. We beelined towards FW since we didn't have a FP for Soarin', we had one for TT and this is where we were held:


The boys entertained themselves by thumb wrestling while waiting. Luckily all thumbs survived.
We were actually pretty close to the front of the crowd when we got there at 8:47 but by the time they freed us, which wasn't until 8:56 this day, there was about 70,000 people behind us (no lie!). We had a 20 minute wait when we got to Soarin'. Not terrible but I would have liked a lesser wait being RD.
We all enjoyed the new trivia questions they have on the walls in there though! And I got to take a picture of my twins:

If you read my PTR you may remember this shirt as the ugliest Mickey shirt I'd ever seen, but Steve picked it out so I smiled and bought one for all the boys because he was just so excited when he found it! Neither of the boys liked it but I sweet talked Chris into wearing it; Ricky not so much. Oh, well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad!
New Soarin' itself was a total hit. I was as much in awe as I was the first time I'd ridden earlier in the week and Steve and Ricky both liked it much more than the original. In fact just yesterday Steve said we don't need to ride Frozen on our upcoming trips which I agree with, but we both said we'll be riding Soarin' more than once.
Next we went over to Nemo at Chris's request. On our first Epcot day he hadn't felt like exploring the Seas; I think having the family together made him more excited:

First we rode Nemo with absolutely no wait. Has anyone ever had a wait here? Because I think that's the longest queue in all of Disney!! It goes on forever!!! I can only imagine the lines that ride saw when it first opened. When we got off Chris wanted to explore the interactive games over in the shark reef:


I thought this was pretty cool:


By now some of us were getting hungry. The boys and I had all eaten an energy bar before leaving the room but my teen garbage disposal needed more, and he was craving his Starbucks turkey bacon egg sandwich so we headed that way. We stood on line for about 25 minutes, yes 25 minutes at stupid Starbucks and I kept asking Steve if he could flash his business card and get us to the front but it doesn't quite work that way. I got a peppermint mocha which came out about 15 minutes before Chris and Ricky's sandwiches so I went in search of a map showing the times of the storytellers. I had all this written down on my handy-dandy first-time-using-them notecards, which I conveniently left in the room every single day.
I had to go all the way to guest services by SE and while walking back I get a text from Steve that after taking one bite, Ricky had DROPPED HIS SANDWICH ON THE GROUND AND WAS POUTING LIKE A LITTLE GIRL SO THEY HAD TO GET BACK ON AN EVEN LONGER LINE TO GET ANOTHER ONE. No sir, not me. You are 14 boy, hold on to your food!!! I met them, got Chris, and we went into Mousegears in search of a shirt for my niece back home.
I did find a shirt but what I picked up for myself is prettier:

I wasn't going to get another Alex & Ani this trip so I hadn't stopped to look at them anywhere until today, since I knew we had time. But when I saw they had 2 different Christmas bracelets I HAD to get one!! Now I wasn't so pissed about the extra Starbucks time, which of course wasn't impacting me at all since I didn't have to stand on the line again
I put my bracelet on, found the shirt I needed and we met back up with Ricky and Steve to go ride TT with our FP. As we were approaching, these guys were out which was great because I'd tried to get Chris to watch them earlier in the week and he refused. We'd never seen the JaMMitors before!

This is the kind of street entertainment I love and unfortunately the type that seems to be getting cut at all the parks left and right. Their set was short but good and soon we were inside TT making our cars. Steve and I made a car and the boys made one. This is pretty much the only instance currently where they can successfully work together!
Mine and Steve's car, designed primarily by me (not my favorite thing to do but he thinks I enjoy it so lets me do it):

And here's our very unexciting ride photo, which the boys couldn't care less about:


We had one more FP but it was for later in the day; Epcot had always been the plan for today since I love the Holiday storytellers and of course wouldn't miss the new food booths this year, but we originally were going to go to HS in the morning and I had FP's there. When I changed them around for reasons you all know and that have been stated here way too many times, I couldn't get SE any earlier than 2:30. I had no problem getting that 11:00 TT though, weird! Since WS was now open and I was closing in on hangriness, we left FW and entered WS, ready for some interesting holiday eats. I'll leave off here, so until next time!