Our Grandest Trip Ever... Literally! - August 2019 PTR *TR LINK POSTED 8/25*

[Newsies]

Hang On... I Think I've Figured Out Some Plans!
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Happy Fri-YAY! I hope you guys are having a great start to your weekend! It's a 3-day-weekend here in the USA for Memorial Day and my family is excited to spend some more quality time together!

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Despite the unpacking process, I have so much free time on my hands now that I'm out of school for the summer. I forgot what it was like to have this much free time. It was kind of scary this week? I was, like, double-checking for commitments I had this week despite the fact that the semester is over which means no sorority events, no shifts at my campus job, and of course, no school work. But I still find myself in these weird moments where I'm sitting on the couch and all of a sudden I'll kind of sit up and think "... is there something I'm supposed to be doing right now?" and then I'll have a mini heart attack remembering that I have to check my grades and then I'll remember that I don't have to check my grades, they're just up for my convenience and there's no due date for checking my grades and my grades aren't dependent on me checking my grades before 11:59 PM tonight.

So in this period of... adjustment... I, of course, have been focusing 100% on this upcoming trip. This morning, our cleaning company was in the house, which meant I was cooped up in my room for the bulk of the morning... which gave me the perfect opportunity to actually sit down and start planning this trip past our ADRs!

Here's what I've come up with so far. I only have Sunday-Tuesday planned out, and Tuesday is stressing me out a little bit, so it's going to change. This trip, so far, is proving to be a lot more complicated than I thought it was going to be for a few reasons.

If you recall: My family and I have two completely different touring styles. Like, we're talking miles apart here. I love to rope drop, but my mother refuses to rope drop and the rest of the family follows her lead. She has requested that none of her FP+ be booked until after her dinner reservations. So for our Epcot day, I'm going to try a strategy I've never done before: I'm going to book two separate sets of FP+-- one for me, and one for the rest of the family. I figured Epcot would be the perfect ginea pig park to try this out. The stakes are going to be at their lowest in Epcot on Tuesday, so it's going to be easy for me to book that fourth FP+ later on in the evening so that I can rejoin my family when they get here. This way, I'll be able to have the action-packed morning I crave, and my mom can relax at the pool in the morning until it's time to go to dinner.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 16-17 // ON THE ROAD
For anyone who has never followed along on my TRs, Disney is always a road trip for our family! On Friday night around 11:00 PM, we'll pack up my dad's truck and start the drive from NJ to Walt Disney World! We'll be on the I-95 from the time we leave the house until 6:00 in the evening the next day, when we pull into Kingsland, Georgia for the evening.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 18 // ARRIVAL DAY - CONTEMPORARY RESORT, MAGIC KINGDOM
4:00 AM- Wake up and back on the road!
8:00 AMish- Arrive! Check-in at the Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.
10:30 AM- ADR: The Wave at Disney's Contemporary Resort. We're excited to try The Wave, BUT, we're still holding out for California Grill Brunch.

If we DON'T book California Grill Brunch...

12:00 PM- Magic Kingdom
12:30 PM- FP+ Meet Mickey & Minnie in Town Square Theatre. This is the ONE FP+ that I will NOT negotiate for this day. We 100% have to meet these two! I'm obsessed with this M&G and their birthday outfits.
1:30 PM- FP+ Peter Pan's Flight
2:30 PM- FP+ 7DMT
3:00 PM- Back to the Grand Floridian once we get that room ready text, which I will assume will be sometime between 2-4 PM. Grab QS lunch, relax in the room, & unpack.
7:15 PM- ADR: The Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen. I booked this dinner in case Cali Grill brunch ends up not happening. My fingers are STILL crossed that my ADR finder will come through!

MONDAY, AUGUST 19 // EPCOT
9:00 AM- Rope Drop Epcot. I will be doing this alone, my family does not rope drop.
9:15 AM- FP+ Soarin' So my ACTUAL plan is this: Book my FP+ for Soarin' at 9:15, but go meet Ralph & Vanellope before heading to Soarin', that way I can minimize turnaround time between Soarin and my next FP+.
10:15 AM- FP+ Spaceship Earth. Obv. Spaceship Earth FP+ is likely not going to be necessary this early in the morning, but my thought is this: if I book and use my FP+ as early as possible, I'll be able to re-book FP+ later on when my family arrives, since I'll be booking different FP+ for them to fit their touring style for Epcot.
11:15 AM- FP+ Figment. Book my FP+ for Test Track with my family later on once I scan in.
11:30 AM- World Showcase time! Photos, food, characters, and fun. I'll likely Stand-By FEA and the M&G, since I'll have a lot of time and I don't think Epcot is going to be horribly busy on this day. Alone time in WS is hands-down my favorite part of every trip!
5:30 PM- ADR: Chefs de France
7:30 PM- FP+ Test Track Mom's instructions for this trip were "no FP+ until after dinner," and everyone wants Test Track this year.
8:30 PM- FP+ Spaceship Earth

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20 // DHS, MK
9:00 AM- Rope drop Hollywood Studios. Once again, I will be alone for this. The plan is to RD SDD and MAYBE AS2, take some pictures in TSL, then go to the Municiberg city block to meet Edna Mode, grab some more pictures, and try Jack Jack's Cookie Num Nums.
1:00 PM- Back to the GF. This is my 100% definitive cut-off for going back to the resort, since I have to get ready for MNSSHP that evening.

The rest of the evening will be our MNSSHP touring strategy. I'm hoping it will include some pre-party FP+ at MK, but I'll have to wait until more MNSSHP details are released before I can start planning!


Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

It's nice that you have extra downtime now. I'm sure you'll find ways to fill it soon enough lol.

Your plans so far sound great! It sounds like a good choice to book separate FPs for you and the family. No FPs until after dinner gives my rope-dropping-self anxiety

 

[Cloe Colton]

I feel like that's probably a good plan for you to have your own FPs for EPCOT in the morning. I read somewhere that you can sometimes get an anytime FP for EPCOT if you book a FP there the night before because it goes down so often? Maybe you could try for something like that which would give you the ability to go whenever your family does. Or FP refresh because thats also awesome too haha

Its always so fun when plans start to come together!!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm just saying that you might want to make sure to go somewhere else than Pixar Place and Toy Story Land during your Studios visit. Y'know... just saying...

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

I completely relate to that end-of-semester feeling! It's just such a sudden change that it's definitely hard to adjust.

Your plans look so great so far! Your FP+ day is just a couple weeks away, right?

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Dang girl I missed so much.

First of all- YAY IT'S GETTING SO CLOSE!!

It's my sworn duty as a DISBoards OverSharer™

Thank you for acting with honor in this.

As I stand up, I hear the most horrendous cracking sound in the entire world and I feel the worst pain I've ever felt in my life on my lower back.

Uuuugggghhh I can't even imagine what that felt like both physically and emotionally. You are a warrior.

Time to do the darn thing, WITH my hospital bracelet still on my wrist. My sorority sister took an AMAZING photo of me walking into this final with my bracelet on, but the caption has some non-DIS language, so I won't attach it here

Okay I need to see this.

I did 3 before I absolutely could not focus any longer because of my back. He accepted it, but I don't know what my grade is going to look like.

Those three were bomb tho I just know it.

He and my Big ended up being the only people I was able to say goodbye to in person, which I'm happy about, because they're the two most important people in my life that are leaving and will be far, far, away from me.

So glad you got to say a real goodbye!

Yesterday was my 22nd birthday! Look at this adorable not-so-hidden mickey cake my mother ordered for me!

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY!!! WELCOME TO 22!

She also got me another "piece" of that surprise I have planned for June

Dang it I got all calmed down about this and you went and brought it up again.

I'm going to book two separate sets of FP+-- one for me, and one for the rest of the family.

Whoooaaaa. You are truly a brave soul.

 

[Lesley Wake]

If you recall: My family and I have two completely different touring styles. Like, we're talking miles apart here. I love to rope drop, but my mother refuses to rope drop and the rest of the family follows her lead. She has requested that none of her FP+ be booked until after her dinner reservations. So for our Epcot day, I'm going to try a strategy I've never done before: I'm going to book two separate sets of FP+-- one for me, and one for the rest of the family. I figured Epcot would be the perfect ginea pig park to try this out. The stakes are going to be at their lowest in Epcot on Tuesday, so it's going to be easy for me to book that fourth FP+ later on in the evening so that I can rejoin my family when they get here. This way, I'll be able to have the action-packed morning I crave, and my mom can relax at the pool in the morning until it's time to go to dinner.

So from my experience, you shouldn't have any problems entering with your family even if you aren't able to get the same FPs. Fairly often at Disneyland, and nearly every day at WDW last trip, we just go up to the CM working FP and very nicely explain that so-and-so has a FP but someone else doesn't. Is there any way we can go in together? With the full expectation that they could say no. It helps a lot if you have FPs for the ride, just not at the same time, but honestly, I've never been denied, even if its just down to someone not having that FP because they had another one for a different ride/time. As long as you are a single person tagging along with a group of 3 others, or just fewer people needing a FP than already have one. It has even worked on the Pandora rides, Slinky Dog Dash, 7DMT, etc!

 

[Newsies]

It's nice that you have extra downtime now. I'm sure you'll find ways to fill it soon enough lol.

Your plans so far sound great! It sounds like a good choice to book separate FPs for you and the family. No FPs until after dinner gives my rope-dropping-self anxiety

I'm hoping that'll be the best choice for us, too. I'm in the same boat as you-- I don't know how my mom can stand to wait until after dinner to use a FP+!

I feel like that's probably a good plan for you to have your own FPs for EPCOT in the morning. I read somewhere that you can sometimes get an anytime FP for EPCOT if you book a FP there the night before because it goes down so often? Maybe you could try for something like that which would give you the ability to go whenever your family does. Or FP refresh because thats also awesome too haha

Its always so fun when plans start to come together!!

I think it's probably our best bet, too. I was just thinking about how frequently TT goes down, so that might be the best way for me to go about this situation. FP+ refresh is also great! I'll have to put more thought into this plan, but booking a TT FP+ for early in the morning when it's normally down is a great idea.

Yay planning!! Wooooooo!!

I'm just saying that you might want to make sure to go somewhere else than Pixar Place and Toy Story Land during your Studios visit. Y'know... just saying...

Well, that goes without saying! I can't leave DHS without tending to my favorite strawberry.

I completely relate to that end-of-semester feeling! It's just such a sudden change that it's definitely hard to adjust.

Your plans look so great so far! Your FP+ day is just a couple weeks away, right?

Yes! It's SO jarring!

Thank you dear! Only a few more weeks before we can book FP+!

I'm LIVING for your Europe coverage!

Dang girl I missed so much.

First of all- YAY IT'S GETTING SO CLOSE!!


Thank you for acting with honor in this.


Uuuugggghhh I can't even imagine what that felt like both physically and emotionally. You are a warrior.


Okay I need to see this.


Those three were bomb tho I just know it.
View attachment 402957


So glad you got to say a real goodbye!


HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY!!! WELCOME TO 22!


Dang it I got all calmed down about this and you went and brought it up again.



Whoooaaaa. You are truly a brave soul.

You didn't miss anything, I just posted my updates too early.

SO CLOSE! SO CLOSE! SO CLOSE!!!

DISboards honor: Like the Girl Scout's Honor, except with people you've never met before.

Thank you dear, you're the best

LOL I can DM it to you on IG if you want!! It's a p. rough image of me but also iconic, so I'll send it to you.

They were NOT the bomb, but I ended up with an A- in the course so I can't complain

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Please don't get excited over this surprise, it is not related to Disney OR this trip and will impact everyone here VERY little... just don't want certain people from IRL to find out about it!

Brave? Or FOOLISH? Only time will tell. But I thank you generously for your support.

So from my experience, you shouldn't have any problems entering with your family even if you aren't able to get the same FPs. Fairly often at Disneyland, and nearly every day at WDW last trip, we just go up to the CM working FP and very nicely explain that so-and-so has a FP but someone else doesn't. Is there any way we can go in together? With the full expectation that they could say no. It helps a lot if you have FPs for the ride, just not at the same time, but honestly, I've never been denied, even if its just down to someone not having that FP because they had another one for a different ride/time. As long as you are a single person tagging along with a group of 3 others, or just fewer people needing a FP than already have one. It has even worked on the Pandora rides, Slinky Dog Dash, 7DMT, etc!

So, the real tea is this: I did my DCP at Peter Pan/Small World in 2016, and we were told that in situations like this, we were not allowed to turn an extra person away. It's a rule, so I'll have no problem doing that if worst comes to worst. But I always try to book a valid FP+ anyway.... I'm a goodie-goodie

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Yes! It's SO jarring!

Thank you dear! Only a few more weeks before we can book FP+!

I'm LIVING for your Europe coverage!

Awww thank youu!!! It has been the most amazing experience so far, and I have just barely gotten started!

 

[Newsies]

Awww thank youu!!! It has been the most amazing experience so far, and I have just barely gotten started!

I can't wait to see more!! What an amazing summer!!

 

[Lesley Wake]

So, the real tea is this: I did my DCP at Peter Pan/Small World in 2016, and we were told that in situations like this, we were not allowed to turn an extra person away. It's a rule, so I'll have no problem doing that if worst comes to worst. But I always try to book a valid FP+ anyway.... I'm a goodie-goodie

Wow-didn’t know that! Yeah, I would normally try to get the right FP, but at least it’s a decent backup!

 

[Newsies]

Wow-didn’t know that! Yeah, I would normally try to get the right FP, but at least it’s a decent backup!

Yeah! The same policy applies to ADRs if you show up with one extra dear friend who was suddenly able to join you on your magical day at WDW. But you didn't hear that from me.

 

[missangelalexis]

Your plans for the first few days sound great! Your plan to book your own FPs in the am for Epcot sounds smart and you should be able to snag a TT one to join your family later that night!

 

[Newsies]

Your plans for the first few days sound great! Your plan to book your own FPs in the am for Epcot sounds smart and you should be able to snag a TT one to join your family later that night!

Thank you!! Fingers crossed

 

[Newsies]

Slow Week...
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Hey again! First things first: happy pride month! Wishing all of my LGBTQIA+ family a happy, healthy month full of reflection and celebration. ❤

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As we're all aware by now, the Boards got a whole new look! I honestly adore the new server. The look itself is going to take a lot of getting used to! But these changes were definitely for the better. I love the newly added ability to place Emojis into our posts, but it looks like the feature to add Smilies in general is acting a little wonky! I also really love the ability to add text colors from a HEX code! BTW: the code for my purple is BA4DFF and the turquoise is 00BACE

Best of all, they improved the photo uploading function. I used to not be able to upload photos directly from my computer, because the files were too large! But with the new and improved board, I can, and the photos don't come out ginormous like they used to when I had to host them on Shutterfly. Observe!

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Speaking of Shutterfly... I am EXTREMELY annoyed that Shutterfly was the latest photo hosting service to bite the bullet and force their members to pay to share their photos . Like so many other members on the Boards, I switched to Shutterfly when Photobucket stopped allowing users to share photos for free. Uploading images on the old board was a hassle, because you could only upload 10 at a time and they had to be relatively small images-- a typical download from Photopass or shot from a camera would be too big to be uploaded in my case. Lo, many of us have resorted to using photo hosting websites to copy and paste pictures into our posts.

I was nervous when I got that email from Shutterfly informing me about the rules, because they made it sound like all of the photos I've already uploaded would be watermarked in my TRs, so I'd have to go back and re-upload them if I wanted to preserve them in their full glory. However, I checked both my Nov. 18 and Julaugust 17 TRs and nothing seems amiss for now... knock on wood. I'll keep checking and if I lose those pictures, maybe I'll undertake a summer project to reupload them with the new Board format.

Last night, my mom, Grace, and I saw Beauty and the Beast at Paper Mill Playhouse! I've seen BatB live before, but PMP did a really great job with this production. I'd honestly say it's been the best show we've seen at Paper Mill since A Bronx Tale. Gavin Lee, who we most recently saw as Squidward in SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical, was Lumiere and he was the highlight of the show! Belinda Allyn was Belle and she was also incredible. The costumes were SO glittery and the set was amazing! We all conceded that this was one of the best shows we've ever seen at Paper Mill.

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In trip related news: this past week, I have basically just been waiting. On Wednesday, DVC Members with existing resort reservations will be able to book Moonlight Magic tickets. I will be ready in the kitchen with two laptops, my iPad, and my phone at 9 AM on Wednesday ready to #snatch our tickets! Whether we get them or not, I definitely need to know what we're doing on Thursday so I can plan the rest of this trip! The whole family really wants to do MM. We've been watching Moonlight Magic vlogs on YouTube for the past few days. Fingers crossed we can get into our first ever DVC Member event!

I also may have bought another pair of Ears this week. #whoops. If you guys follow LeBownitte on insta (who makes the BEST ears!!!), she had a sale on Friday and I won a $10 shop credit for the sale!

Other than trying to book MM... I'm seeing Rocketman with my friends on Tuesday, making dinner for the fam on Wednesday, and Grace's senior prom is on Friday night! What are your plans for the week?

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[PlutosRHM55]

Happy Pride, my darling sis! Love you bunches.

Ugh, I'm so over all these photo sharing websites changing over to these tiered paid plans. Flickr did it on me but I've cracked the code on them so I've gotten around it. It does take quite the creative effort but it works out. I am glad that uploading photos here makes them much more minimized which was my worry since I always used Flickr because you could determine the size of what was posted since my DSLR takes massive shots and I can't have that sprawled across the page, no ma'am. Thank you for being my DIS tech expert, love.

GAVIN LEE AS LUMIERE?! Darnit, why am I in Florida when that brilliance is happening? UGH. Maybe it'll tour or whatever but that just sounds like perfect enough casting to really warrant buying a ticket no matter what the cost.

What a fun life you are having. What fun life is. *happy sigh*

 

[TanzUnited99]

Hi Kaitlyn,

I’ve caught up on your PTR thanks to your handy links.

Love the plans and glad they’re coming along nicely

Wowsers on what happened on the final day of semester at school. Glad you’ve recovered and all is well now.

Happy belated 22nd birthday! Love the cake and the bathing suit.

Looking forward to reading more.
Tanz x

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

WHAT. I did not know this about Shutterfly!! Ughh--do you know if the 10 photo limit still applies even with the new server?

 

[Newsies]

Happy Pride, my darling sis! Love you bunches.

Ugh, I'm so over all these photo sharing websites changing over to these tiered paid plans. Flickr did it on me but I've cracked the code on them so I've gotten around it. It does take quite the creative effort but it works out. I am glad that uploading photos here makes them much more minimized which was my worry since I always used Flickr because you could determine the size of what was posted since my DSLR takes massive shots and I can't have that sprawled across the page, no ma'am. Thank you for being my DIS tech expert, love.

GAVIN LEE AS LUMIERE?! Darnit, why am I in Florida when that brilliance is happening? UGH. Maybe it'll tour or whatever but that just sounds like perfect enough casting to really warrant buying a ticket no matter what the cost.

What a fun life you are having. What fun life is. *happy sigh*

LOVE YOU MORE!

Seriously, WHAT is wrong with these money-hungry photo sharing websites??? I don't even think this WORKS for them, because everyone I know just moves onto the next website. I don't know anyone who pays to host photos. I feel you on the DSLR massive shots, my canon shots are genuinely the size of a small planet before any editing (which, TBH, I'm trying to edit my pics now that I have Lightroom so maybe that'll change). Thankfully this new server seems to have it together, but I need to know whether I'll be able to upload more than 10 images at a time or not!

HE WAS SO FIERCE. You would have LOVED last night's performance! My mom cried and she NEVER cries during shows. I know Disney has been talking about a BatB Broadway revival, so my hope is that Gavin Lee will transfer from this cast to Broadway!

YOU are the one with the fun life right now, love. Hope Orlando is treating you well already go kill 'em tomorrow! I wanna hear all about your roomies!!!

Hi Kaitlyn,

I’ve caught up on your PTR thanks to your handy links.

Love the plans and glad they’re coming along nicely

Wowsers on what happened on the final day of semester at school. Glad you’ve recovered and all is well now.

Happy belated 22nd birthday! Love the cake and the bathing suit.

Looking forward to reading more.
Tanz x

Tanz, thank you so much for checking in! I appreciate it!

I definitely got quite a scare back in May! Throwing my back out was not the way I wanted that semester to end, but I'm thankful it was nothing too serious!

Thank you very much! Can't wait to update you again!

WHAT. I did not know this about Shutterfly!! Ughh--do you know if the 10 photo limit still applies even with the new server?

Girl, tell me about it. I'm SO annoyed over it I don't know about the 10 photo limit yet! I'll personally test it out soon and tell you!

 

[NJlauren]

So happy to hear you liked Beauty and the Beast at Paper mill! We are taking my daughter in a few weeks. granted we had to get not as good of seats as normal, but i am still really excited!


Good luck on you MM tickets!!!