The "Maddest" trip of my life-2 Coasts in 12 nights-Nov 2016 PTR (UPDATED 8/23)

[ToyStory90]

The ULTIMATE Disney trip (for me, at least)

Oct 30th-Nov 10th, 2016


Who is going:


Me and my two best friends, Kristen and Kelly. We have all worked for Disney before (one of us still does) and this will be our 2nd trip with all of us together. Our last trip was in January 2016 and we stayed a couple of nights at AKL (club level), a night at Caribbean Beach, and a couple of nights at the Contemporary.


Since both of my friends still live in Florida, I will be the only one doing some traveling, coming from Las Vegas. 2 out of 3 flights for myself have been purchased and my TSA Precheck is done. Just have to wait until June for the last part of my flight to be purchased.

Why I am going:


5 reasons:

--Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (my favorite party and favorite parade-BOO TO YOU!)

--A quick first ever trip out to Vero Beach

--Wine and Dine Weekend’s 5k and after party

--Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (I haven’t experienced one in years as a guest)

--Disneyland's Super Hero 5K

Where we are staying:

Beach club (club level) 10/30-11/1

Vero Beach: 11/2-11/3

Art of Animation (family suites) 11/3-11/6

Yacht club (club level) 11/6-11/09

Paradise Pier (club level) 11/9-11/11


As you can tell I like to resort hop. On my last trip I experienced club level for the first time and I am OBSESSED. The service is fantastic.


What needs to be planned:

--I am a crazy planner. I keep a spreadsheet and will plan out everything, every minute of the day if I could.


Dates: Oct 30th -Nov 11th, 2016

Hotel: Beach Club/Vero/AoA/Yacht Club/Parade Pier

Tickets: Annual Pass (which will have photopass on it woo!!)

Flights: LAS-MCO: PURCHASED
MCO-SNA: PURCHASED
SNA-LAS: Still need to buy (delta doesnt have any available)

ADRs: Can be made 5/5 CRT, BOG, PT on the list

Fast Passes: Not happening till I purchase my AP in September

Transportation from the airport: Made DME reservations for my MCO flights but still not sure if I want to do a car service or not.

Packing list: ive got a running list in my mind


Right now I am going crazy because not much can be planned at this stage. Going to start working on my mousekeeping envelopes in the coming weeks.

 

[ToyStory90]

So today I had a sick day and decided to do some more research for my trip.

Every trip I order a case of water for my room (usually from Sams club or the resort). Even though club level includes drinks that doesnt include late night cravings for soda. So instead of getting screwed by paying $4 a soda from room service this trip, I realize we need to have soda as well. I think i might use Garden Grocer. Ive heard good things about them and after perusing their site today I saw you can also order alcohol. I think theres a minimum spending amount (which is why I havent used them before) but this may be the time to try them. Now another list to make....

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

I'll be there at the same time (and am going for many of the same reasons - MNSHHP, MVMCP and F&W) so can't wait to hear about your plans as well!

 

[DisCatGirl]

So today I had a sick day and decided to do some more research for my trip.

Every trip I order a case of water for my room (usually from Sams club or the resort). Even though club level includes drinks that doesnt include late night cravings for soda. So instead of getting screwed by paying $4 a soda from room service this trip, I realize we need to have soda as well. I think i might use Garden Grocer. Ive heard good things about them and after perusing their site today I saw you can also order alcohol. I think theres a minimum spending amount (which is why I havent used them before) but this may be the time to try them. Now another list to make....

In my experience, you can ask at club level for some cans of soda to take to your room. They have always been pretty generous about it.

 

[emilyhuff]

Sounds like a great trip!!! I'll definitely follow along!

 

[ariane37]

Just noticed you have one going too! Sounds like you have a lot packed in to your trip; going to be lots of fun

 

[ToyStory90]

In my experience, you can ask at club level for some cans of soda to take to your room. They have always been pretty generous about it.

Really? Haha maybe I should just do that then! That's a great idea! Thank you!

Sounds like a great trip!!! I'll definitely follow along!

Welcome!

Just noticed you have one going too! Sounds like you have a lot packed in to your trip; going to be lots of fun

Yes it will be a crazy trip! Welcome to my PTR!

 

[ToyStory90]

I'll be there at the same time (and am going for many of the same reasons - MNSHHP, MVMCP and F&W) so can't wait to hear about your plans as well!

Finally more people going this time of year. Seems quiet right now on here with all of the summer trips being posted about!

 

[ToyStory90]

So I've officially gone mad....

The other day the Avengers Super Hero Weekend registration opened and didn't sell out. So I looked at the dates. I can extend my trip by one day, leave Orlando a day early and get a day in Disneyland before doing the Captain America 5K...

So now that's the plan. Time to update all of my spreadsheets.

Also repeatedly checking for MNSSHP and MVMCP tickets to go on sale...

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Not mad - I'm flying over for the Avengers Half marathon (and Disneyland) too!

 

[ToyStory90]

I've finally booked flights for most of my trip.

I LOVE Delta first class, but the prices keep going up! (WHAT?!?!? 6 months+ out?) Finally bit the bullet last night and purchased 2 of my three flights. LAS-MCO and MCO-SNA. Delta doesnt have any SNA-LAS flights on my way home so I will wait for Southwest to release their fares (looks like not until june!) because I will be running the 5k on my departure day and then head to the airport. I'd rather fly out of SNA to have a 20 minute shuttle to the airport as opposed to an hour+ shuttle to LAX. We will see how this works out for me...

ALSO, I got my TSA PreCheck approved. Hoping this will help get me through the airports faster. I'll get to test it on my flight to Spokane at the end of May.


Like i've said, i'm an over planner, so I started putting my 180 day marks in my calendar...which are in a few days! Hurray!!

Current list of Dining Wishes:
Prime Time (a tradition Kelly and I do on EVERY trip)
CRT (my christmas gift to both of my friends)
Be Our Guest (duh)

I've also decided I want to do the Pirates League for the 10/31 MNSSHP...When I called to confirm how to make reservations the CM on the phone was super impressed by my planning...

DISNEY PLEASE RELEASE THE ON SALE DATE FOR THE PARTIES...PLEASE!

 

[ToyStory90]

The Dining Nightmare
​

Today is my 180 for dining, for the first part of my stay. I had two reservations to make: Prime Time (easy peasy) and Be Our Guest (Halloween night).

I was on the website at 245am (west coast time), refreshing the page until it became 3am. The website kept giving me an error message so i'm thinking, "Okay its probably not just me." I start noticing the time I saw for BOG and PT disappearing...Then I hop on Facebook and people are posting theyve gotten their Halloween trips' dining all done. So I wait another hour until the phones open up. Pirates League hold time is 54 minutes, dining is 25. So I do two seperate calls and put Pirates League waiting line on hold while I speak with dining.

I got Pirates League for 310 on Halloween! Not bad considering we'd be in the park for the party at 4 anyway. Unfortunately I was not able to get BOG Halloween night but I made a lunch reservation and a dinner for the next night (just in case). (I will do prime time later in my stay)

I was telling the woman with dining about my issues and she said that since I was staying club level I could contact itinerary planning services.

This is why I love club level. They put me on a wait list, but they can check every day for me to see if anything opens up. It's personalized service that keeps me coming back.

Since I am doing a split stay i can't make my next group of resses until this Saturday. This one will have CRT and Ohana so I really hope I don't have these issues. I was on the computer and phone from 245a-615a....

 

[LadyD]

Just found your PTR! What a whirlwind adventure!! Sounds like so much fun. I can't wait to hear more about your planning. We're going to be in WDW during that time as well!

 

[ariane37]

Glad you got Pirates League on your party day! We did PL a couple years ago, not on Halloween though but both boys, myself and DH did it - I got the mermaid makeover I would've loved to do it one of the days we did the Halloween party!
BOG is SO hard to get on party nights; tons of people have that as their plan lol. Glad you got it or the next night; one of our favorite TS's.

 

[ToyStory90]

Just found your PTR! What a whirlwind adventure!! Sounds like so much fun. I can't wait to hear more about your planning. We're going to be in WDW during that time as well!

YAY welcome to my PTR! Finally starting to see people who are going in November!

Glad you got Pirates League on your party day! We did PL a couple years ago, not on Halloween though but both boys, myself and DH did it - I got the mermaid makeover I would've loved to do it one of the days we did the Halloween party!
BOG is SO hard to get on party nights; tons of people have that as their plan lol. Glad you got it or the next night; one of our favorite TS's.

Super excited for PL! We are doing the mermaid makeover as well! Any tips? Any makeup remover that works best on it? Or how did you get it off cleanly that night?

 

[ToyStory90]

More Dining


On Saturday I was able to make reservations for the AoA part of my stay. Woke up late (ack!) about 10 after 3 and went online to make reservations...still got the error message. (Im beginning to think its my computer with the issue). Then I called Dining at 4am and was able to get CRT and Ohana, just different days. (ugh!!!) Wednesday morning is my 180 for the last part of my WDW stay. Those resses will be easy. Prime Time and Kona Cafe....


Wednesday I can also book my spa treatments!!!

Im getting kind of sad most of the planning is done at this point. I cant do much for the next 4 months....It's going to be long, cruel summer.

 

[ToyStory90]

So it's been a minute since i've updated and that's because...well...there's not much to do!! The good news is next week August 31, is my FASTPASS DAY #1. Since I booked multiple resorts I have to wait for the 60 days for each resort.

Now funny thing about August 31st...that morning I will be flying to Disneyland! Which is at 6am west coast time so plenty of time to do FPs, BUUUUUTT, I havent exactly renewed my pass and was planning on doing it when I got to Anaheim. Which wont be until about 10am. I am in some hot water but there's not much I can do about it. The good thing is that for my first fastpass day I am only trying to get Soarin. As soon as I get my new AP from the ticket booth at Disneyland I will IMMEDIATELY get on my phone to try to get a Soarin fastpass. I am not going to hold my breath, but I will try. The other members of my party are cast members, so they cant book fastpasses that advance...darn!! We dont have a ton of fastpass plans, but I think it's because we've done so many trips and worked in the parks, there's only a handful of attractions we want to do..exploring new offerings like the expansion at Disney springs, spa time, etc are what interest us.

Kelly & I have been working on our schedule and it's almost done...


10/30: Arrive Orlando at 11:30pm, go to sleep
10/31: Relax in the morning, MNSSHP and BOG at 620pm (you WONT believe our costumes!!)
11/1: Epcot day (Soarin FP) (Kelly works at 1 so i'll have the afternoon to myself--this may be spa day for me!)
11/2: VERO! Also probably stopping at the Florida mall for Joey Fatone's new hot dog stand
11/3: Come back from Vero, expo to pick up bib, DLuxe burger in DS for dinner
11/4: Mickey's holiday 5k, DAK (Everest, Dino & Safari FP) Ohana at 525pm, early bed time because we will have gotten up before God this morning.
11/5: MK day (Mine train, Thunder, Space) CRT at 540pm
11/6: Disney springs and resort hop (hopefully some holiday decorations have been put up at this point) --also need to eat everything at DS! Food and wine after party so this is when we'll do 90% of our food and wine indulging
11/7: late start since the party ends at 1am, DHS (Coaster, TSMM Star Tours FPs), our tradition of lunch at Prime Time, then a beverage Seminar at EPCOT, then dinner on the boardwalk, star wars fireworks (if thats a thing) and jelly rolls
11/8: Packing/Epcot (Frozen FP) MVMCP at the end of the day
11/9: Kona (9am) and then off to the airport to start the Disneyland portion!! no plans for this day
11/10: no plans yet, maybe another spa day
11/11: Captain America 5K, fly home

Now to obsess over the fact I will be in Disneyland in a week. I'll update again after my FP days!

 

[LadyD]

So it's been a minute since i've updated and that's because...well...there's not much to do!! The good news is next week August 31, is my FASTPASS DAY #1. Since I booked multiple resorts I have to wait for the 60 days for each resort.

Now funny thing about August 31st...that morning I will be flying to Disneyland! Which is at 6am west coast time so plenty of time to do FPs, BUUUUUTT, I havent exactly renewed my pass and was planning on doing it when I got to Anaheim. Which wont be until about 10am. I am in some hot water but there's not much I can do about it. The good thing is that for my first fastpass day I am only trying to get Soarin. As soon as I get my new AP from the ticket booth at Disneyland I will IMMEDIATELY get on my phone to try to get a Soarin fastpass. I am not going to hold my breath, but I will try. The other members of my party are cast members, so they cant book fastpasses that advance...darn!! We dont have a ton of fastpass plans, but I think it's because we've done so many trips and worked in the parks, there's only a handful of attractions we want to do..exploring new offerings like the expansion at Disney springs, spa time, etc are what interest us.

Kelly & I have been working on our schedule and it's almost done...


10/30: Arrive Orlando at 11:30pm, go to sleep
10/31: Relax in the morning, MNSSHP and BOG at 620pm (you WONT believe our costumes!!)
11/1: Epcot day (Soarin FP) (Kelly works at 1 so i'll have the afternoon to myself--this may be spa day for me!)
11/2: VERO! Also probably stopping at the Florida mall for Joey Fatone's new hot dog stand
11/3: Come back from Vero, expo to pick up bib, DLuxe burger in DS for dinner
11/4: Mickey's holiday 5k, DAK (Everest, Dino & Safari FP) Ohana at 525pm, early bed time because we will have gotten up before God this morning.
11/5: MK day (Mine train, Thunder, Space) CRT at 540pm
11/6: Disney springs and resort hop (hopefully some holiday decorations have been put up at this point) --also need to eat everything at DS! Food and wine after party so this is when we'll do 90% of our food and wine indulging
11/7: late start since the party ends at 1am, DHS (Coaster, TSMM Star Tours FPs), our tradition of lunch at Prime Time, then a beverage Seminar at EPCOT, then dinner on the boardwalk, star wars fireworks (if thats a thing) and jelly rolls
11/8: Packing/Epcot (Frozen FP) MVMCP at the end of the day
11/9: Kona (9am) and then off to the airport to start the Disneyland portion!! no plans for this day
11/10: no plans yet, maybe another spa day
11/11: Captain America 5K, fly home

Now to obsess over the fact I will be in Disneyland in a week. I'll update again after my FP days!

They've really created an interesting situation for FP+ and AP Holders, especially for people getting Premier passes. Our current DL pass does not expire until October 14, and I am not waiting that long to book my FP+ for my trip that starts on Oct 26. I ended up buying 10 days of tickets for us and I'm crossing my fingers a cast member will work with me when I go to DL to upgrade to the Premier after Oct 14. I've heard from a few people that they will apply the un-activated ticket prices toward the value of the pass when I go to upgrade and it just will require a call to WDW to verify ticket prices. Majorly crossing my fingers.

I hope you're able to get all your FP+ for your first round of booking!!