Added Trips! Now May, August, October & December!!! What?

But I was looking at our schedule and somehow I TOTALLY missed the fact that The Festival of Arts will still be going on for the beginning of our trip. For some reason I thought it was over the day before we came... I guess I was too distracted by the fact that we were missing Flower and Garden that I didn't notice!
Yay! Should be fun to get to try those dishes again!

I was also toying with if need be, hit Hollywood Studios twice i wanted to get Slinky Dog Fast Passes for 2 times. Again, cause we will have park hopping with our annual passes.
Sounds like a good plan. Especially since you guys like to do the mid-day break more, which makes park hopping just as convenient as doing same park morning and afternoon.

Andy thought I was crazy planning that so far in advance, but turns out his sister already did a bounce back rate from there last trip.
He really doesn't get it yet, does he?

I do think we can plan next years Feb trip over Presidents Weekend. It will be busier but she would miss less days that way. Someone please tell I am not crazy!?!?!
I heard the crowds this past year weren't half bad. I'll have to let you know since we will be leading into that weekend (though we leave on the Saturday evening).
 
He really doesn't get it yet, does he?
He doesn't, but that is half of what he likes about it. I plan it all out, he just pays and shows up! Ha!

I heard the crowds this past year weren't half bad. I'll have to let you know since we will be leading into that weekend (though we leave on the Saturday evening).
I also figure, we are talking Feb with Star Wars Land opening basically Christmas... or at least that is the rumor, so, really January and February maybe the busiest they have EVER been regardless of when.
 
He doesn't, but that is half of what he likes about it. I plan it all out, he just pays and shows up! Ha!


I also figure, we are talking Feb with Star Wars Land opening basically Christmas... or at least that is the rumor, so, really January and February maybe the busiest they have EVER been regardless of when.
Yeah, but that's going to be the case, no matter when you visit then!
 
You guys have stayed at a couple hotels with construction lately haven't you? You need a good non-construction visit! Good Luck figuring it out!
Yes we stayed at CBR during construction last year and some minor construction at Beach Club this year. CBR was a war zone but we got comped $75 a night and for that I think I may stay in a literal war zone.

But I was looking at our schedule and somehow I TOTALLY missed the fact that The Festival of Arts will still be going on for the beginning of our trip. For some reason I thought it was over the day before we came... I guess I was too distracted by the fact that we were missing Flower and Garden that I didn't notice! :confused3
And thankfully you are in fact planning for me too without knowing it and now I'm aware of this too :P I was disappointed we'd miss Flower and Garden but didn't even think about Festival of the Arts. We were disappointed in it 2 years ago but I know to do more research this time around. Heck what am I saying you'll just do it for me :-)

THIS gave me some serious anxiety!!!!! As our annual passes will bleed into 6th Grade. And I REALLY don't like going for less than a week. The trip just feels rushed. But I do think 6th grade is going to be a big adjustment for Morgan. But Morgan has always been an honor roll student, I always give the teachers ample notice on us going away and always make sure the girls do whatever homework the teachers give them.
I'm sure it does get harder the older they get. An amazing family with a kiddo the age of your younger one may be going in mid-August if that makes a difference :P
 


I do think we can plan next years Feb trip over Presidents Weekend. It will be busier but she would miss less days that way. Someone please tell I am not crazy!?!?!

You see how much we go and how much fun we have, and R is a teacher! So we ONLY get to travel on school holidays. Presidents' Day weekend is a great time to go. Even if it is busy and there are lines it is not 100 degrees!!!
 
Sounds like a good plan. Especially since you guys like to do the mid-day break more, which makes park hopping just as convenient as doing same park morning and afternoon.
That is true!

And thankfully you are in fact planning for me too without knowing it and now I'm aware of this too :P I was disappointed we'd miss Flower and Garden but didn't even think about Festival of the Arts. We were disappointed in it 2 years ago but I know to do more research this time around. Heck what am I saying you'll just do it for me :-)
We weren't impressed with it last time either. But it's better than nothing. It def isn't good enough still to make it the reason to go. At least not for us. Hopefully they will add more to it each year. And I will def let you now what I think looks good once they announce the food!

I'm sure it does get harder the older they get. An amazing family with a kiddo the age of your younger one may be going in mid-August if that makes a difference :P
I def think we will do the August trip. It will depend on whether we go in the middle like we want or push it back to go at the end with Andy's sister.

Even if it is busy and there are lines it is not 100 degrees!!!
So True! I also figure if we do Feb. 2019, Summer 2019, and I am thinking a short Dec trip, by Feb. 2020 we will be ok with just doing some stuff not everything.
 
Hello Everyone!

Happy Halloween Eve!
(that's a thing, right? no? oh well)
Well, I did it!!!! I purchased our first annual Pass!!!! Woo Hoo!!! :jumping1:

A very kind @Lesley Wake looked up annual pass discounts for me this morning. And I found I could save a little more on our nights at the Poly. So, I told Andy and he said to go for it! So, it is official!!!!

I am going to keep my package until I have all 4 of our passes, I am going to buy Andy's next month and then we will probably have to double up on the girls in January. But at least that way we can pay them off each month. Or at least that is the theory....

I rebooked the Poly portion of our stay, and saved another $30 bucks a night! From my original booking, we are saving, $56 bucks a night. Which seems like the best we will get without renting DVC points from someone.

So, with that ball started, I can now plan slightly differently. We aren't HUGE park hoppers, but I do think there is a couple days that we can take advantage of having park hoppers. And the fact that we have "free" or extra days.

I have to clean up my reservations and really crack down on the plans! I want to get things settled. More to come. I have off tomorrow to go to the girls school parties, and I plan to do some good planning in the morning!
 


Not sure if they are basically the same discount but different inventory set aside?
Yup, pretty much! Just like Visa discounts aren't any different than whatever current promotion is out; just different inventory for the Visa offer and then occasionally of course the Visa offer is released earlier than the GP offer

was tempted to actually upgrade us to a Standard Club Level room. I want to say it was $50 more a night with the discount from the standard room rate we currently have. And I have to admit, as I type this I am tempted to still do i
Too bad you didn't, I was pulling for you! Can you get it with the AP discount?

When do they release annual pass discounts? Are they ever any good?
Well I quoted this before I read through all your updates lol so you know already :) I changed a couple clients to the AP rate for around your dates not long ago. Glad you got to take advantage of them so soon!

do think we can plan next years Feb trip over Presidents Weekend. It will be busier but she would miss less days that way. Someone please tell I am not crazy!?!?!
We've done Presidents week and didn't find it that bad at all. Better than spring break :scared:
 
Oh I meant to say, I don't think you need to worry about 6th grade but of course that's my opinion. We took Ricky out in 6th and he was a really good student; I think it's fine until 7/8th and even then it's ok for a day or two. But we also take Ricky out for two days in HS lol so you may not want to listen to me :laughing: Life is too short NOT to take the trip :thumbsup2
 
Well, I did it!!!! I purchased our first annual Pass!!!! Woo Hoo!!!

Congratulations!! That is so exciting!! I actually purchased an Annual Pass for myself for the first time last week... it didn't quite make sense to get one for our whole family, but we do plan to take 2 trips within one year, so we decided at least one of us should get the AP for all the discounts that go with it :)

So, with that ball started, I can now plan slightly differently. We aren't HUGE park hoppers, but I do think there is a couple days that we can take advantage of having park hoppers.

I thought this would be a nice perk too! We've never park hopped in the past, but if we all had the AP I definitely would have played with that a bit on our next trips. It would be nice not to stress about adding extra days/half days and feeling like you have to get your worth out of each park day!
 
Too bad you didn't, I was pulling for you! Can you get it with the AP discount?
I am wondering now if I was seeing it wrong, the AP discount isn't that low either. But I do think it might be good to try the DVC room, that will be a first for us. And I mean, maybe I will get some of that pixie dust you got recently...

We've done Presidents week and didn't find it that bad at all. Better than spring break :scared:
I am thinking we can go and come back ON Presidents day. I feel like it is always busy now, so really what does it matter. And actually I said to Lesley, that will be Feb. with Star Wars land opening VERY late December. Sooooo.... really.... that time of year will probably be crazy busy regardless. that trip might just be, get into SWL and get out. Who knows.

Oh I meant to say, I don't think you need to worry about 6th grade but of course that's my opinion. We took Ricky out in 6th and he was a really good student; I think it's fine until 7/8th and even then it's ok for a day or two. But we also take Ricky out for two days in HS lol so you may not want to listen to me :laughing: Life is too short NOT to take the trip :thumbsup2
Morgan is a good student, so for the most part I don't worry too much. But middle school will be new territory.

And I am TOTALLY with you on life being to short! It is important to learn but it is also important to have family time.

it didn't quite make sense to get one for our whole family, but we do plan to take 2 trips within one year, so we decided at least one of us should get the AP for all the discounts that go with it :)
It def helps that we are planning on doing the summer trip, so really 3 trip on the annual passes. And I do think I want to squeeze in a short December trip to see Christmas stuff. So, that will really get us over the hump.

Congrats on your annual pass. Now let's talk about the tables in wonderland card :P
YES!!!! I def plan to ditch the dinning plan. We just never have been able to get one. I do think we will like that better. Especially since we will be some discount on alchol as well.
 
I am thinking we can go and come back ON Presidents day. I feel like it is always busy now, so really what does it matter. And actually I said to Lesley, that will be Feb. with Star Wars land opening VERY late December. Sooooo.... really.... that time of year will probably be crazy busy regardless. that trip might just be, get into SWL and get out. Who knows.
At least I've started to teach you my tricks, so you will have better luck! For me, I definitely plan to avoid rope drop (or if I do it, it would be to see the land without people everywhere, not go on the rides). And make sure I have FPs, which should give me access to the land mid-day even if they are making people queue just to enter it (that's what they did for Pandora - if you had a FP you could skip the overall land line).

YES!!!! I def plan to ditch the dinning plan. We just never have been able to get one. I do think we will like that better. Especially since we will be some discount on alchol as well.
Just ordered my card yesterday! I think I will definitely be making use of it with all the trips I have planned! It also seems less stress than trying to make sure you use all the credits on the dining plan.
 
Happy Saturday Everyone!!!!

I survived Gwen's sleep over! Her little friend that stayed over is such a good kid and they get along so well! I was very lucky! They went to sleep at 10:30-ish and were up at 5:00 AM!!! Thankfully, I was able to sleep till 7! Morgan is at a full-on sleepover party, so I will have to see how she is later! Good thing they don't have swim lessons and swim team this morning too..... Oh wait they do! Pray for me!

Life is def starting to go fast now. I mean how is it November already!?! I have a million things to do. And one, being getting my Elf on the Shelf Schedule completed and make sure I have everything for there advent calendar. I seriously keep waiting for Morgan to "figure" things out. And she just keeps going! When did your kids start to catch on? I am pretty sure I asked this last year too. But it's just because I can't believe Morgan still believes!

Well, I wanted to talk overall park plan, I am under 60 days till fast pass booking!!! Woo Hoo. Which means I am nearing the double digit mark!
111 Days as of today!


OK, so now that I know we are going annual Passes!!! i started to look at my schedule a little again.


Day One / Travel Day
Friday, Feb. 22nd
Our Flight leaves Philly @ 11:15 AM.
So, I am thinking if we can keep it a secret, we will wake the girls up like they are going to school and just pretend we are going to school. And see how long they take to realize that we aren't going to school. This has been Gwen's request for awhile now. I am thinking of telling Morgan about the summer vacation to throw her off the sent of this trip.
We are scheduled to arrive in Orlando @ 2:00 PM
We will take Magical Express to Caribbean Beach and check in. If our room isn't ready, we will just drop off our carryons with bell services and head to EPCOT!


Festival of the Arts will still be going on, so I think we will just snack and eat around the world at either the booths or counter service.

Fast Passes:

  • Frozen (or test track)
  • Figment
  • Spaceship Earth
I really want to do Frozen ride again, but I know the girls will want to do Test Track. We will see.

This is kind of a bonus day, so I don't want to push it too much. So, hopefully it won't be a late night, just a couple hours to get some food and ride a couple rides.

Day Two
Magic Kingdom

Saturday, Feb 23rd
We always like to kick off the trip with Magic Kingdom.

Fast Passes:

  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
  • Big Thunder Mountain
  • Space Mountain
Our first MK day tends to always be the mountains FP's.

Food/Reservations:

Breakfast: Probably just QS in the room or something ordered from Garden Grocer
Lunch: we have BOG lunch reservations, I am still iffy on this. I do want to see inside the castle again. But it gets mixed reviews on whether the food is any good. Thoughts?

Dinner: we have California Grill @ 7:30. I think we will spend as much time as we want in the park but probably head back to the room at some point to rest and change for dinner. Right now, the park is to close at 8:00 PM, so we should be able to see the fireworks from there. Which I think will be a lot of fun!

Day Three
Hollywood Studios
Sunday, Feb 24th
HS has Extra Magic Hours Morning, so hopefully we can get up and take advantage of that. Maybe we will uber over in the morning to save some time. But the goal will be to go straight to Toy Story Land and try and ride all 3 rides during EMH then grab some breakfast at Woody's Lunch Box!
I know that the girls will love the Smores breakfast sandwich and the breakfast tots are calling my name.


Fast Passes:
  • Slinky Dog
  • Rock'n Rollercoaster
  • Tower or Terror? or Star Tours?
I think the plan will be to go back to the room at some point and rest and come back for fireworks. Should I go for a day Slinky Dog Fast Pass and play it safe? Or should I try for an evening one and hope we can ride in the AM and then in the PM with our FP?

Food/Reservations:
Breakfast: Def want to try and hit Woody's Lunch Box for some breakfast items.
Lunch: Sci-Fi Dine-In
Dinner: ??? Whatever we feel like. Probably just snacks will be all we need.
Sci-Fi was Gwen's request from the survey I gave them. And I am personally looking forward to doing it again.

I was debating doing the Star Wars Dessert Party, but I think I would rather have the evening open to decide what we want to do. See either Fantasmic or the Star Wars Fireworks, or even just check out Toy Storyland in the evening.

Day Four
Animal Kingdom

Monday, Feb. 25th
Today is another Extra Magic Hours day, but I am not as conserned about getting there RIGHT as rope drop. Not sure if we will stay all day or go back and rest and swim again. We will play it be ear.

Fast Passes:
  • Flight of Passage
  • Safari
  • Everest

Food/Reservations:
Breakfast:
probably food in the room again, either QS or GG food
Lunch: I def want to try Santu'li Canteen
Dinner: BOMA @ 5:00 or 7:00 PM
We haven't been here in awhile and it is a hit with the whole family, so I am looking forward to that. I still have both reservations. But I am def leaning towards the 5:00 one. If we stay all day, we will def be ready to sit down and eat by then. Originally I wanted to come back to Animal Kingdom to ride Everest at night, but we will see how long dinner takes.

This is also the last day of Festival of the Arts, so if there was anything else we still wanted to do. We could hop over to EPCOT. Maybe mid day? Or after Dinner? But probably wouldn't want food then... hmmmm....

Day Five
Magic Kingdom

Tuesday, Feb. 26th
Today we switch hotels! We will have to pack up in the AM, so probably won't be rope dropping anything but hopefully we can get out of the room not too late. We will be switching to the POLY!!!!

I totally plan to keep this a secret from the girls. And think that the Tinkerbell Gift for this morning will have to be Hawaiin themed to give them the big reveal!

Fast Passes:
  • Peter Pan
  • Splash Mountain
  • Haunted Mansion
My goal is to get some of the "other" attractions today.

Food/Reservations:
Breakfast:
Maybe Waffles from Sleepy Hallow or Gaston's Cinnamon Roll
Lunch: QS of some sort or snack it as we might be eating dinner at 4:00.
Dinner: Ohana @ 4:00 or 6:00 PM
Again I am still not sure which reservation I want. I am thinking the 4:00 one. We can stay at the park till check in-ish time. Hop on the monorail to the Poly. Check in and even if our reservation isn't ready we can just head to dinner. With a 4:00 reservation, we should still have time to check out our room and maybe head back into Magic Kingdom or a ride or two before the park closes.

Day Six
Rest Day/Resort Day

Animal Kingdom (maybe)
Wednesday, Feb. 27th

Today, the overall plan is to relax and enjoy the Poly! Swim and recharge from a few full days. But with our APs now, I was toying with the idea of grabbing a second FOP FP and have us head over to literally do just that! maybe try and get Kali River Rapids FP as well, That way if we get soaked we could just head back to the hotel.

Fast Passes:
  • Flight of Passage
  • Kali River Rapids
If we did do this, I think it would be best to do early-ish. The pools tend to not open till 10:00 this time of year, so we could in theory book a 9-10 and 10-11 fastness and be back at the hotel fairly early? What do you guys think? What would be a reasonable time frame?

Food/Reservations:
Breakfast:
Kona Cafe @ 9:15
Lunch: TBD, Probably Captin Cooks?
Dinner: I DEF want to get to Trader Sams' right at 4:00, so we can expierence that. I was also thinking we could try and get a bread pudding desert at Tambu Tambu lounge in the evening. (And maybe another Lapu Lapu for mommy)

I def think we will do some night swimming and watch the electrical water parade and fireworks from there.

Day Seven
Magic Kingdom

Thursday, Feb. 28th
Possibly Disney After Hours

So, at first I thought it wouldn't be a good idea to do the DAH today since we are switching hotels. But now that I am thinking about it, maybe we it's not....

We could swim in the morning and "check" out. Change somewhere, maybe actually do Animal Kingdom mid-day? Head to AK around noon, spend a couple hours there, then check in at Riverside and rest some more.

DAH for this day is 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM. So, we would have plenty of time to rest and we will be coming off a true rest day.

What do you guys think!?!?! I think I am talking myself into it as I type!

Food/Reservations:
Dinner:
Skipper Canteen @ 5:15
I am sure I could find another reservation for SC, if I needed to shed this one.

Day Eight
Hollywood Studios / EPCOT

Friday, March 1st
I started to think that we would go back to HS in the morning and try and get another Slinky Dog FP. Then head to EPCOT. BUT if we do DAH, maybe we just plan to take it slow in the AM and head to EPCOT when we are ready? Or really, even just push everything back a bit?

Food/Reservations:
Dinner: Via Napoli @ 5:30
Today will hopefully be slightly less crowded as it is in-between the two festivals. I think we will want to try and see Illuminations tonight with the girls.

Day Nine:
Magic Kingdom

Saturday, March 2nd
This is our last full day.

Fast Passes:
  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
  • Big Thunder Mountain
  • Space Mountain
Back to the mountains! Today will more than likely be park open to park close as it will be our last time in the park. We will just muscle through!

Food/Reservations:
Breakfast:
Food in the room
Lunch: The Plaza @ 12:05
Dinner: Snacks/QS because we have the After Dessert Party!!!!
Magic Kingdom is scheduled to close at 8:00 PM tonight, so I thought this will be the perfect way to close out the trip. Watch the fireworks in the nice closed area and then enjoy some desserts while the crowd leaves the park. Hopefully get a night pic on main street with few people and possibly see the Kiss Good Night!

Day Ten:
Travel Day Home

Our flight leaves at 11:45 AM, so we will have to get up and get Magical Express. But we will get home by 2:00 and will give the girls time to rest before school the next day!

Thanks for hanging in there with ALL of my plans in one giant post! But this really helped me think out the whole trip!!!
 
So, I am thinking if we can keep it a secret, we will wake the girls up like they are going to school and just pretend we are going to school. And see how long they take to realize that we aren't going to school. This has been Gwen's request for awhile now. I am thinking of telling Morgan about the summer vacation to throw her off the sent of this trip.
I like this idea!

This is kind of a bonus day, so I don't want to push it too much. So, hopefully it won't be a late night, just a couple hours to get some food and ride a couple rides.
Yup, that’s the beauty of APs-not needing to rush and do everything! Also make sure to stop at GS to get the physical AP cards for discounts!

But with our APs now, I was toying with the idea of grabbing a second FOP FP and have us head over to literally do just that! maybe try and get Kali River Rapids FP as well, That way if we get soaked we could just head back to the hotel.
That could work! Or this day or the next could be a chance to get a daytime SDD FP and then do an evening FP on your DHS day?
 

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